Cyborg paced back and forth. "So, what you're saying is, you have no idea how we can get everything back to normal?"
Raven yelled with frustration and said, "Why does it always have to be me with the solution!? Why can't someone else do it?!"
In the far distance, a small explosion could be heard. Cyborg recoiled and apologetically said, "Sorry!"
Raven said nothing, merely turned away.
Robin looked up and said, "Hey, I think I have an idea. Maybe instead of having to walk around looking for Trigon, we can just fly up and look for him from the air."
Raven replied, "What difference will that make?"
"Well, if we're in the air, then we'll be able to see the huge castle you know he has."
Raven gave Robin a funny look. "What makes you so sure he'll be in a huge castle?"
Robin smiled and said, "I was Batman's apprentice for years. I know bad guys inside out, and if there's one thing that they enjoy more than anything else, it's flattering themselves. Besides, Izevm did the same thing."
Raven shook her head. "Yeah, but if we take to the skies, then we'll be easy target."
"We would, but not if they can't see us. You know how to cloak, right Raven? Then just do that."
Raven sighed. "Fine. I guess we could try."
Raven moved her hands in front of her, palms facing out, and muttered, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
A soft, white light spread out from her hands, and covered each of the Titans in a white bubble that conformed to their skin perfectly. It radiated a soft, almost holy white light. Starfire looked at her arm and gingerly touched it. A small, white sandy substance rubbed off onto her fingers.
Raven shook her head and said, "No, Star, don't do that. That substance is what keeps you concealed. Keep it on."
Starfire shrunk back. "Oh. My bad."
Raven turned away and grabbed Robin by the armpits, pulling him up as she became airborne. Starfire followed suite and picked Cyborg up, flying after Raven. The group steadily rose until they were above the buildings. Raven leveled her flight upon surpassing the top of buildings. To her surprise, a large, lavishly decorated palace rested far off in the horizon.
Robin grinned. "See? What did I tell you?"
Raven rolled her eyes and flew towards the palace.
After an unspecified amount of time, Raven and the others found themselves facing a monstrous ironclad door. The door was plain, unlike the cathedral, with but a simple doorknocker adorning the center. Starfire stepped forward to open the door, but Raven grabbed her by the arm and shook her head.
"Star, we can't afford to be seen or heard at all. We have to keep a low-profile, okay?" Raven whispered quietly. Starfire nodded softly.
Raven tentatively touched the door and pressed her ear against it. She silently whispered "Azarath Metrion Zinthos"
A small, black hole of sorts appeared in the door, allowing the Titans to see past it and into the palace itself. Inside, they could see a giant throne adorning the middle of a spacious room. Trigon was walking quietly beside it, looking tired
Trigon shuffled over to the throne and slumped down. He appeared physically and mentally exhausted. A diligent servant who looked like Black Muse and couldn't have been any more than four feet tall, walked up next to Trigon. He was clad in luxurious blue and red robes, with Trigon's symbol painted in gold on the back. The servant fidgeted with his bony hands as he walked, and in a throaty and surprisingly aristocratic voice, said, "Master, why are you so fatigued?"
Trigon sighed and slouched over. "It's just one of the downsides of raining down fire and brimstone and slaying an entire world. Ktulu, mass genocide is the hardest physical activity one can partake in, next to soccer."
The creature, whose name evidently was Ktulu, waved his hands gracefully and conjured up a bottle of tequila. Trigon bent over and grabbed the bottle, throwing the entire thing, glass and all, down his throat.
Trigon shook his head. "You know, it's a real shame I destroyed all of humanity. They can make damn good drinks."
Ktulu nodded with poise and said, "I agree, sir. It is a shame their brewery skills far surpass their usefulness."
Trigon smiled. "You know, I like you. You're a hell of a lot better than that stupid Izevm."
Ktulu nodded his head charismatically. "Thank you, sir."
Raven pressed her ears closer to the door, only to be answered by a loud, thunderous explosion behind her. She whipped around reflexively, and saw a huge path of green fire that smoldered in front of them. A huge, skinless hand reached out from the pit, pulling itself out and revealing –surprise!- Black Muse.
Raven closed off the hole and turned to face Black Muse completely. The skeletal creature grinned maliciously, baring its pasty tusks in their entirety. In his right hand he held another scythe, this one stubbier and coated with miniature spikes that descended its entire staff. He leapt up onto the top of a building that lay off to the side and crouched down, its grotesque head lowered below its knees. Cyborg grimaced and aimed his sonic cannon at the beast. Black Muse merely grinned and threw the scythe like a boomerang, twirling around in an oval trajectory. Cyborg dove to the ground and covered his head as the scythe sailed past by him and flew in a circular loop back to Black Muse. The creature grabbed it as it flew, jumping down from the building as he made contact with it.
Robin reached into his belt and pulled out a handful of explosives, throwing them forcefully at his airborne target. They detonated on touch, releasing a veil of fire and gas. But Black Muse was unaffected, and sliced right through the cloud and landed on the ground nimbly. He raised his scythe upward and struck the ground with the butt of the weapon. Where the scythe hit the ground, it spilt the land into a cavernous chasm, from which a tower of flames erupted. The abyss slowly grew until it had made a full circle around the Titans, confining them within the inferno.
Raven growled and took the air, Starfire following closely behind. But as soon as she began to take off, an unseen force kept her glued to the ground. She turned her head around and saw a huge pair of hands that sprouted from the ground, each the size of a minivan, wrapped around her, impeding her flight. The hands were see-through, almost intangible, until they rose out the ground, followed by a head, arms, then an entire body. Raven struggled to see who her captor was, but by contorting her head a certain way, she could see it. Her subjugator was a huge entity, very close to the size of her father. The creature was almost angelic, with beautiful wings shooting from a humanoid body. It radiated a white light and was nearly transparent, its blue and red gown the only completely opaque thing about it. The creature sported long, flowing black hair and a Mephistophelean beard coated his pale face. At first glance, a pure and uncorrupted creature, but Raven glanced south and saw a malevolent sword hanging from a tight belt that wrapped itself around the creature's waist. The sword seemed to almost radiate evil, polar opposite of its owner. It was ablaze with a seemingly biblical green fire, clad in a jet-black hilt coated with various gems, with the symbol of Trigon emblazoned in the tip of the blade. The creature shifted its glare to Raven, which sent a menacing shiver down her spine. Its black and gray, yet strangely empty eyes seemed to exude a feeling of futility, as if once he set his glare on you, there was no hope left. Raven struggled against the creature's obstinate grip, but the beast merely growled and flew up higher. With one hand he bragged Raven by her waist, twisted his arm back behind him, and threw her at the ground with all his might.
Raven plummeted with such mind-blowing speed that neither she nor her friends saw her fall. All that was visible was a blur. She yelled three words out of reflex. In response, a tight black bubble covered her, granting its protection just in time. She hit the ground with such force that she was embedded below the surface, a crater towering above her. The bubble disappeared. Raven growled, and flew out of the crater.
Her friends weren't having much luck either. While she had been fighting with the unnamed creature, Black Muse had been systematically crushing each of her friends. With a laugh and a swing of his hand, he sent Starfire flying into a building, a cloud of debris and rubble emitting from where she had landed. Cyborg yelled with fury and grabbed onto Black Muse's foot, although his grip could barely grasp the circumference of his enemy's ankle. Robin followed suit, firing off his grappling hook into Muse's opposite foot. The utility sailed with great accuracy until it hit its mark and latched onto Muse's Achilles heel. Robin grabbed the steel cable from the tool and pulled it with all of his might, bringing Muse's feet together and knocking the monster off balance. Robin and Cyborg tied Muse's feet together as fast as they could, before the monster recovered. Black Muse roared with frustration and tried to break the cable, but it was too strong. Robin and Cyborg grinned and exchanged hi-fives.
Their victory was short-lived, however, as the anonymous creature that attacked Raven came flying towards them from its previous place in the sky. Cyborg fired off a round of his sonic cannon, but the creature merely deflected them with his sword. The beast landed forcefully onto the ground and stood up in his entirety, towering well above the other buildings. It glared at the two Titans, its black-gray eyes penetrating their being, like they were staring into their very souls. Robin found himself lost, almost hypnotized, by the creature's stare. Cyborg, with his one bionic eye, was immune to the spellbinding tricks of the abominations eyes, and was confused by Robin's captivated state. He pushed Robin on the shoulder and said, "Robin! Wake up!"
The masked leader snapped out of his condition. The angelic monster roared again and raised its sword up above its head, preparing to strike. Cyborg pushed Robin out of the way and rolled to the side, the sword nicking him in the side and singing him slightly as he dodged. The monster growled and kicked at Cyborg, his monstrous foot nailing the hybrid head on. Cyborg flew into a wall, only half-conscious from the blow.
The anonymous creature grinned and raised its fiery sword at the latent Cyborg, but was interrupted as a volley of starbolts struck him in the back, knocking him off balance and causing him to drop his weapon. Before the monster could react, Starfire had rammed him in the back with her shoulder, knocking him askew. The creature teetered on one leg, trying to restrain stability. Robin got up from the ground and seized the opportunity to whip out his Bo-staff. Running towards the falling creature, he twirled the staff and swept it upward against the monster's leg, whacking him off his remaining foot and into a nearby building.
Robin sighed for a moment, and leaned against a nearby building to catch his breath. Starfire lowered herself from the sky, panting. In between breaths, she said, "Did...we...win?"
Robin nodded breathlessly. "I...think...so..."
Unbeknownst to them, Black Muse had grabbed his scythe and had begun to hack away at the cable that bonded his legs together. With one last laceration, the cable snapped, freeing him. Muse grinned and charged head-on at Robin and Starfire, still undetected. Before they could react, he had swept the butt of his scythe up, sending them flying into the air. In one swift and fluid motion, he swatted them like flies into a close by edifice.
Raven had been watching all of this; all while her anger had slowly been rising. When Black Muse had gotten free, she could take it no more. In a voice unlike her own, she screamed, "Stop it!"
Black Muse and his angelic assistant watched as Raven's eyes violently flared red, and a cloud of dark energy began to swell around her, growing and growing. Black Muse could take it no longer and, with a yell, charged at her, scythe extended. The beatific monster followed after, picking up its fiery sword. Raven screamed again as the energy exploded outward, hitting the two malevolent beings straight on. The energy engulfed them, spinning them around in their volume, all the while slowly disintegrating them. Raven abruptly snapped out of her trance, and as she did so, the sphere of energy dissipated with it. The two monsters fell to the ground, apparently dead.
Raven panted with utter exhaustion. Flying slowly over the area, she gathered her unconscious friends and laid them side-by-side, grateful they were still alive. She held her hands out in front of her, preparing to heal them, when she heard a loud clapping behind her. She whipped around and saw her father clapping, a spiteful grin on his face. Ktulu stood next to him, perched atop yet another building.
Trigon laughed softly and said, "Very well done, my daughter. You've managed to dispose of my two best servants. Very well done indeed."
Raven growled and retorted, "Stop calling my that! As far as I'm concerned, I have no father!"
Trigon made his lower lip quiver in a false expression of sadness. His mouth then split into a wide grin, and he laughed again.
Raven clenched her fists in anger. "Stop it! I hate you!"
Ktulu interrupted and said, "Master, please allow me to dispose of her. She is well within the sphere of my control."
Trigon shook his head and said, "No, let me deal with her. You're dismissed, Ktulu."
Ktulu sighed and disappeared. Raven growled again and flew towards her father, her common sense blinded by her rage. Trigon snickered and swatted Raven off, sending her crashing into the ground. Raven got up quickly, her eyes flaring red again as her rage began to slip away from her control again.
Trigon smiled as he felt a new surge of power course through his muscles. Raven yelled again and fired off a round of dark energy aimed at Trigon. The demon merely opened his chest and absorbed the shots.
Raven yelled again, anger having completely taken over her. But it was in this time of blindness, that it hit her.
"Fighting is not the answer, Raven," Azar sternly said as she shook her head. "I thought you knew that."
Raven then realized it. 'His power comes from my hatred!'
Trigon laughed and said, "Come on, Raven! Fight me!"
With a calm and composed tone, Raven said, "I will not fight you, Trigon. I refuse to."
Trigon stared at her blankly. "What?"
"I said I refuse to fight you."
Trigon roared ferociously. "Fight me, damn it!"
Raven sat down and began to meditate, calmly chanting, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."
Trigon screamed and charged at his daughter. But with each passing step, his towering height began to diminish, and by the time he reached Raven, he stood no higher than a blade of grass. With a final yell, he screamed, "I'll get you, Raven!"
With that, he disappeared from sight. Raven sighed with relief.
All of a sudden, a giant wave of white light erupted from where Trigon had previously been. It grew and expanded until it had engulfed everything in Raven's sight.
"Raven?" a soft voice whispered into Raven's ear. The Azarath's eyes softly fluttered open, revealing a similar white oblivion. As she had expected, Azar stood above her, beaming.
Raven smiled and got up. Azar laughed and threw her arms around Raven, saying, "I'm so proud of you!"
Raven smiled softly and hugged Azar back. The two parted, a huge smile still plastered onto Azar's face. Raven's mentor laughed again and said, "See? I told you that you would understand my advice when the time comes!"
Raven nodded and replied, "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry I was so mean when we last talked. I suppose I should have been more attentive, seeing as how you contacted me from the dead and all."
Azar placed a hand on Raven's shoulder and said, "Think nothing of it, my child! I'm just glad you came around."
Raven grinned again. With a wave of Azar's hand, Raven's sight began to blur and distort yet again.
Raven awoke with a start and jolted up in the air. She found herself lying on a hill outside the park, a few sparse grass stains on her cloak. Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire lay next to them, most likely still unconscious or asleep. She gently nudged each one of them awake, making sure they were okay. When she took a moment to look at her surroundings, she was greatly relieved to see everything back to normal. The park off in the distance was filled with families enjoying a normal Saturday afternoon. Or, what they thought was a normal Saturday afternoon. Titans Tower lay where it always had, perfectly intact. The buildings were normal, and everything was back to where it had been.
Starfire rubbed her head as she awoke. "Where...what happened?"
Raven smiled and said, "We won, Starfire. We beat Trigon and now everything is back to normal."
Starfire looked at Raven with hope in her eyes. "That is great, Raven! Finally, out home is back to normal!"
Robin stirred up from his sleep, and took in his surroundings. Grinning, he let out a huge sigh of relief. "Man, am I glad that's over with."
Cyborg groaned and said, "Meh...just five more minutes...stupid alarm..."
Raven rolled her eyes. She turned to the side, and to her absolute joy, she saw Beast Boy sitting off to the side.
"Beast Boy!" she yelled ecstatically. The shape-shifter turned lazily to her, as if he had just woken up. The Azarath ran over to him and pressed her lips against his, feeling joy in its most pure form. As she broke the kiss, Beast Boy gave her a funny look and said, "What was that for?"
Raven looked at him softly and said, "You died, Beast Boy. Izevm killed you."
She buried her head into his chest, and cried, blissfully happy he was back. Beast Boy's eyes widened, as he said, "I died?"
Robin nodded. Beast Boy grunted and said, "Damn it! Not again!"
Cyborg jolted from his slumber. "Hey, if BB's fine, then that means..."
Without another word, he sprinted as fast as he could towards Titans Tower. The others followed, barely managing to keep up. He threw the doors open, sending off a loud echo against the walls of the Tower. He flew up the stairs and ran into the living room, but stopped in his tracks when he got to the kitchen. Raven and the other had just caught up, and gasped. Starfire whispered, "Oh my..."
Carmen's head lay against the kitchen counter, a crimson liquid flowing freely. Cyborg fell to his knees, devastated.
But to everyone's great surprise, Carmen stirred and opened her eyes. Cyborg stared at her, mouth agape.
Carmen was confused by the strange looks, but then shifted her eyes to the liquid. She chuckled slightly and said, "Oh, sorry Cy. I must have fallen asleep and spilled some juice. I can clean that up."
She motioned to an empty cup in her hand. Cyborg didn't say anything. He merely walked over to Carmen and embraced her. Carmen giggled and said, "Cyborg, you're acting like I had just come back from the dead."
Raven smiled and said, "Actually, funny you should mention that..."
Woohoo! The first act is done! Now only two more to go. Unless I decide to have a fourth act, which I have been considering lately. And since I felt kind of bad about not having a lot of romance in these last few chapters, I decided to make all of the second act romance and humor. How's that?
Okay, you all saw "Spellbound", right? If you didn't you suck. It was definitely my favorite one yet. Since Raven is my favorite character, I was just happy to begin with. Raven hugged BB...hella awesome. But the main reason I liked it was because it revealed so much of Raven...not to mention the fact that she got romantically involved with a book. Creepy...
Ah, what the hell, I go ahead and do review replies. Just cause I love you guys so much and it's the end of the first act and...ah forget it.
ScarletAngel68- Jesus Christ monkey balls, your reviews are long. Umm, I'll try to respond to all of it, but I'm only human. Give me a break, god dammit! Hah, we talked for like two hours while you were reviewing. That was fun, wasn't it? Yeah, insane Raven is hella awesome, but she can't be insane all the time, because then Beast Boy's in trouble. Hey, he's alive now, too! Time to celebrate! Umm, I don't know why all of the villains say 'farewell'. I guess they have to, because they're all conformists and they're bad and conformity is bad. Dammit, I'm, ranting again. Actually, I think I might have Silenoz make an appearance in the third arc. KISS, heh. Pure last-minute stuff.
Mrs. Myxztipik- Hey, I know. I hate it when stories aren't updated in a while. So, I made sure to update extra fast this time around. Well, this wasn't really ultra fast. Uh...I got nothing.
Bold Achilles- Yeah, I'm glad a lot of people didn't see Trigon. Makes me happy to manipulate people And thank you! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one thinks that Kurt Cobain didn't kill himself. Stupid Courtney Love. Die! Die! Die you stupid disgrace! Oh, I mean her, not you.
Daeren Ryft- Hah! There you go! Happy ending!
Moezy-chan- well, don't wait! Here it is!
Kestrel- Thank you! And don't worry about update time, it can get pretty erratic. Like now.
Cd lover- That's okay, I don't really care whether you review or not, as long as you like it. Hey, Beast Boy's back! There, you can be happy now.
PrincessCat- Well, I used Barbara Streisand 'cause I don't like her. Hee.
Soraoathkeeper- thank you! I always have enjoyed writing the fight scenes he most. They just seem to flow off of my fingers...Uh, anyways. Yeah, black needles are cool! And crazy Raven is cool too, but only until she gets sane and becomes normal Raven again.
Snea- Thanks a bunch! Aw, sorry you were in the hospital. Well, here's your 'get better' present!
Twin-Lupus- hey, I didn't know you had an account. Thanks! I guess everyone likes my fight scenes...it's a curse, really. Wait a minute...what the hell am I saying? It kicks ass!
