Disclaimer: I own no part of the Teen Titans or their associated canon nor, any other already copyrighted material.

(A/N): All the world weeps, and hope is lost…


Chapter 8

Those Who Fight for Peace

Gathered around a small fire the four titans, Hunter and the statue sat in relative silence. They had found a deep, dark subbasement to hide out in. Having scrounged some food they ate a small meal quietly. Robin and Starfire sat together on an I-beam. Star had attempted to move it closer only to be forcibly reminded that her powers were on hold. Beast Boy had also been affected. His attempts to change form were leaving him more and more winded. He was dozing near a large piece of rubble. Only Cyborg, sitting near Beast Boy, seemed unaffected by the chemical. It seemed to mimic the effects of anemia on people who lacked exceptional powers. It had taken four hours of careful movement to find this place and the last eight had been spent making it livable, if only for a couple days.

Robin turned his attention Hunter, who was sitting against a pillar near the solidified form of Terra. His eyes still intent on the flickering flame he spoke.

"Something on your mind Robin?" Robin either hid his surprise well, or was too tired to feel any.

"Yeah…I was wondering…how you came back."

"Surprised it didn't come up earlier. Okay…you remember the final fight with Arkanus, when I was stabbed with the sword?" He nodded, as did the others who had gathered around. "Well, up to that point, the sword had claimed the lives, the souls of everyone else from my village. Taken as they were, they were trapped within the weapon. By sacrificing my life I allowed them to move on. In exchange, I was to be trapped in the sword forever. Seemed like a fair exchange."

"So…what happened?"

"Trigon. I'm strong of will, but I cannot fight a demon. He imparted some of his essence on the sword, and then it found its way to Raven. When the portal opened the sword began to pulse with his power. Soon it was channeling so much of his essence, I was squeezed out. I was reincarnated into this world once again."

"Damn."

"Basically."

"So...what happens if we banish Trigon?"

"I'll be...reabsorbed into the blade. This is merely a temporary reprieve for me."

"Fortunate for us though. We'd be dust if you hadn't shown up."

"Maybe it wasn't such a great thing I did. I may only have spared you and easy death for a horrible one." Robin fell silent again at his observation. No one else seemed much interested in talking and one by one they began drifting off to sleep on blankets they had collected.

Cyborg had managed to rig a slow charging unit from the building's power grid and lay down near the junction box connected to his chest. Robin had an arm wrapped around Star as they dozed off in one corner. Beast Boy curled up in a sleeping back away from the fire. His face contorted as he slept, unspeakable torment wracking his unconscious mind. So it was only Hunter who was still awake when the conversion tore through the stone girl lying near him. Unlike the others she didn't shake and stumble. She lied very still for several minutes, allowing herself to come out of the fog.

When finally she stirred, Terra rose to a sitting position facing the fire. She saw Hunter but made no other move. She looked around the room, saw the others and tried to figure out what was going on. Finally she turned to Hunter as he handed her one of the prepackaged sandwiches they had found.

"Thank you." She weakly tore into it and devoured the food. He handed her a second and a bottle of water, which she readily accepted. After working her way through the food and most of the water she slowed again. "Thank you."

"Figured you'd be hungry." His eyes never left the flames as he threw another piece of wood on the small fire. "I'm Hunter by the way."

"Terra." She placed the wrappers in an offered bag and held the bottle in both hands, waiting.

"Beast Boy told me a little about you." His eyes never moved, still watching the flame.

"He…never mentioned you."

"I…they helped me defeat a particularly dangerous foe, a man who betrayed my people. Something for which I owe them a debt of gratitude."

"Oh…" Silence descended, neither of them knowing what, if anything, to say. Terra's thoughts turned to the others. They had decided to bring her back as well. Her plan, such as it was, had worked. When she had overheard Cyborg talking in the infirmary she had been intrigued at what he had revealed. She had snagged the plastic box thinking she might one day need to use it on herself. When she had seen what was happening after Raven…lost it…a flash of a plan appeared in her mind. She wanted so badly to have told them…but she panicked and there wasn't time. She drank down the last of the water and set the empty bottle aside. "What…what do we do now?"

"We wait…and rest. The chemical's side effects need time to wear off."

"It took over a week for my powers to reach a useable level…can we wait that long?"

"Cyborg apparently modified the compound. It should wear off faster then before. Hopefully it will be fast enough."

"A week or a day…does it matter anymore?"

"Of course."

"Are you sure? I haven't looked outside since before, but it didn't look like anything was going to survive."

"We're here. I'm here because of what happened, but alone I would have no chance. The others are here because of you. You saved them, and in doing so, gave the world a chance."

"You really believe there might still be hope?"

"There is always hope."

"How can you have such faith?"

"When you've been to the other side, it's no longer a matter of faith."

"Other side…you mean you were…dead?"

"Technically…I still am."

"Then…how…"

"It's a long story."

"I've got time."

"Very well…"


Beast Boy woke slowly and freed himself from the sleeping bag. Pushing back against a column he sat and tried to gather his thoughts. His sleep had been restless and haunted. Images came back to him from his dreams. They mixed with his real memories and roared around his head. He drew his knees up toward his chest and crossed his arms over them. Leaning his forehead to his arms he let the torrent of emotions tear through his body. On some level he had always known what could happen to Raven, what was prophesized to happen. That hadn't made it any easier.

He pulled up every memory he had of her, from the first time they had met to seeing her hanging motionless in the sky. He had carefully cataloged every little smile, every twitch, every glimpse of her self he had ever seen. Every nuance of her being was gently stored somewhere in his mind. He drew on these now and let them flow through him like a home movie. The night of the JLA party and the following night on the island he played through at least a dozen times. A few tears of joy escaped his eyes as he recalled what had been two of the best days of his life.

The tears slowly turned bitter as he reached the end of his memories. Everything they had done, and still Raven was doing exactly what had been predicted. Prophesy or no he still couldn't help but feel he had failed her. He was suppose to be there, protect her from anything, just as she had protected him from himself. But in the end, her past had finally caught up with her; he had been unable to stop it.

He had to see her again, if only from a distance. Careful not to disturb the others he made his way across the chamber to the stairway. Silently climbing the concrete steps he reached the ground floor and headed for one of the large windows. The side on the building held several window casements, each containing a lead framed grid made up of seventy five individual six inch square plates arranged five wide by fifteen high. Many of them had been broken out and replaced with cardboard or steel over the years and others were recently destroyed. The building was cast in an odd illumination of sunlight and bloody electric light from the portal in the sky.

Crossing through light and shadow Beast Boy approached the least damaged of these windows and looked out to the city. Little had changed in the city over the twenty hours since he had last been able to stand and watch. Buildings still looked smashed and statues dotted the landscape where people should have been. It was quieter though. Engines that had been left running had finally run out of gas and shut down. Above the city was another matter.

The portal had been steadily expanding, casting more and more bloody light over the city. Beast Boy had no idea how long it would be before the portal was complete, but they were running out of time. Soon…another day at most…the fissure would be large enough to touch the ground. Somehow he instinctively knew that when that happened, it was all over.

Tears flowing from his eyes he watched the form of the one girl he had ever truly loved hover over the city, consumed by a power beyond any of them.

"I'll find a way to help you Raven. I promise."

"Good to see you haven't given up." Beast Boy wheeled around to find Hunter a dozen paces behind him, also staring through the window at Raven.

"Never."

"Good attitude. Now…any ideas on what to do?" Beast Boy's whole being seemed to slump slightly. He shook his head slowly.

"No." Hunter nodded in response and walked closer, eventually taking a place beside him at the window.

"Well…we have to stop this, at all costs. Agreed?" Beast Boy nodded. "And the only way we can stop this is to stop Raven, right?" Beast Boy nodded again. "So how do we do that?" Beast Boy considered that for several moments.

"Can we stop Trigon instead?" They both turned as Robin and Cyborg approached from the stairway. Hunter shook his head at the red and green Titan's idea.

"I felt the power he commanded when I was forced from the staff. Unless you have some incredible power I've never heard of then there's no way we could go head to head with him." Starfire appeared, floating shakily across the concrete. "No, we have to stop Raven. One way…or another." Cyborg nodded slowly in agreement.

"And to get to Raven…we're going to have to go through Verge."

"Do you think the five of us can beat him Rob?"

"I don't know Beast Boy, he took out Slade and is working for Trigon. Hard to say what he's capable of." Hunter double checked on his fingers.

"There's six of us."

"What?"

"Terra. She can help." Robin shook his head.

"Not the best idea. She's not trustworthy." Beast Boy looked at him with slight disbelief.

"Dude! Have you been paying attention the last few days? She saved all our lives."

"Okay, so she's about even in my book. That doesn't mean I'll trust her to fight beside me."

"Whatever X." Beast boy spoke just loud enough to be heard.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means you have no right to judge. So she's switched sides, again. It's not like she's the only one Red."

"You son of a bitch. She'd a liar and a traitor. You said so yourself!"

"Yeah…I did. But at least I haven't been so blinded by hate and obsession to see that she's trying to change. She saved your life Rob! She saved all our lives. We'd still be statues right now if it weren't for her. And it's not like we're in any position to turn down help right now." Robin was about to do or say something violent when a restraining hand grasped his shoulder.

"Friend Robin…perhaps we should calm down…" Taking a deep breath to retort Robin instead used it to calm himself. Hardly normal but at least restrained he nodded.

"Thanks Star." She nodded and released his shoulder. They all turned again as the stumbling form of Terra emerged from the stairwell. She slowly made their way over. Robin was the first to speak as she arrived. "Good morning Terra." Surprised at being addressed by him in such a pleasant, if forced, tone, she could only nod. "We were wondering if you would like to join us in the upcoming mission." She was so surprised by the question it took several moments for her to answer.

"What…mission?"

"Just the usual. Defeat the ancient demon from another dimension and save the world."

"Are…are you sure you can trust me?"

"Honestly? No. But this is the perfect time to prove it. It may be the only time."

"I…I don't…I don't know what to say."

"How about 'yes'?"

"Yes. Thank you." Cyborg half smiled.

"Don't thank us yet. This is basically a suicide mission."

"That bad?" Hunter turned from the window.

"Yeah. We have to get to Raven to stop this. Problem is, to get to her we have to go through Verge, which promises to be no small task. Plus he has the massive advantage of not having to defeat us." The others looked at him surprised.

"He doesn't?" Cyborg and Beast Boy said in unison.

"No…he just has to stall us until that," he pointed to the portal, "is complete. Then he can turn us over to Trigon to finish off. Meanwhile, we're racing the clock, which creates desperation and risky tactics." Eyes widened as they took in what he was saying. Terra spoke, thinking out loud.

"If there was only some way to get to Raven with out going through Verge…" Beast Boy looked up at her sharply. A moment later he was struck by an idea.

"Terra…you're a genius." Before she could respond he turned to Cyborg. "Cy, you remember that mirror of hers?" Cyborg nodded slowly in response, getting a glimpse of what he was planning. "I can use that…to go directly after her emotions. Maybe I can get to her from the inside."

"Beast Boy…are you sure that will work?" Beast Boy shook his head slowly.

"No. There's no guarantee I'll even be able to get in. But it's a chance I have to take."

"So…we still have to attack…in case that fails."

"Afraid so."

"And without you."

"Considering the gains…I think it's worth it."

"Agreed." Hunter spoke from the window again.

"Looks like Verge isn't our only problem anymore." He pointed as the others ran to the window. A few robotic troops were slowly patrolling the street. Cyborg zoomed in on them from his vantage point.

"Slade bots? And only three?"

"Verge must be searching for you guys after you disappeared from the docks. Looks like we just ran out of time."

"Okay…we'll split up. We'll meet up at Jump City National Bank. That should put us close enough to downtown to attack. Stay quiet, stay hidden, and don't destroy anything you don't have to. Teams?" Beast Boy spoke as he turned toward the door.

"I'm going for the Tower. I'll join you later if I can." He turned into a small bird and flitted out the doorway. Cyborg headed for the stairs.

"I think I can take the sewers from this building. See you there." Hunter approached Terra and held out his hand. She accepted it and they headed for the door on the far end of the building.

"I can protect Terra until her powers come back. See you there boss. Don't be late." They slipped silently out the door, skillfully avoiding the Slade Bots. Robin turned to Star and shrugged. They both began walking toward the building's side door.

"Titans, go." Robin turned, surprised as Star spoke his favorite line. "I always wanted to say that." Smiling, he grasped her hand.

"Star…if we live through this…you can say it whenever you want." Her face split into a smile that melted into focus as he carefully pushed the door open.


Beast Boy flitted around the outside if the tower for several minutes trying to find a way in. Spying a broken pane of glass near his destination he shot through and transformed back to his normal form. After a second trying to deal with the horribly tipped floor he transformed into a large cat and began making his way through the tower. He had entered a hundred yards from Raven's room. Carefully making his way through the darkened corridors angled sharply to his right he approached the clearly labeled door. Switching to gorilla he forced the powerless doors apart and jammed them open with a metal bar he tore from the ceiling.

"Forgive me Rae." The human Beast Boy braced himself and entered the room. Everything that wasn't nailed down was piled against the right wall. Stagger stepping his way down to it he began searching the area around her crashed dresser for the hand mirror. Digging through the pile of stuff he finally spotted the handle pinned against the wall by the dresser itself. A horrible possibility appeared in his mind. 'What if it broke?'

Again becoming the gorilla he carefully pulled the dresser aside with one massive paw and simultaneously grabbed the delicate mirror with the other. Gently letting the dresser slide back into its original position he turned over the mirror and was relieved to find it unbroken. Something else was odd about it though. Turning he leaned against the pile of debris and stared at the portal. Its edges were dancing with red energy and the surface seemed to shimmer like a pool of water…or blood.

Slowly reaching out his fingers made contact with the surface. He seemed to sink into it for a moment. A moment after that he was pulled like a fish on a line. He fell through an unfamiliar darkness for longer than he could guess. Without warning he came to sudden and painful stop and he landed in a field of green grass. His right arm wrenched painfully and he crashed down. Gasping in pain he rolled to his back and checked the arm. It seemed to be intact. Testing this theory he pushed himself up to a sitting position with in. When he found it to work he turned his attention to the surrounding area.

That it was Happy's domain was obvious…but…the area, as far as he could see, was covered with what appeared to be shredded black energy books. It was also dead silent. Rising to his feet he could see no movement anywhere within the area. Turning around he did see something. A massive column of energy was rising from somewhere over the hills. Crackling black and red it stretched out into the sky, disappearing overhead. Knowing from Raven's instruction he turned and headed for the next area of Raven's mind. He had to take the long way, but he was relatively sure where he would end up. Transforming into a cheetah he shot off.

Even knowing what was coming it was a shock to see Sorrow's area. The buildings within had changed very slightly form his last visit. They now looked exactly like the ruined buildings of Jump City, though they were still blended with the others he couldn't pinpoint. Making his way to the place he had last seen Sorrow he found only a pile of bodies that, again despite expectations, still disturbed him.

Tearing through the domains of Courage and Gross he found similar silence and lack of emotions. Between this and the column of energy he was beginning to be seriously freaked out. Reaching Anger's home he made a beeline for the cage where she had been the last time through. To his horror he found the cage smashed open and Anger gone. He wheeled around looking for the escaped emotion, her threat the last time that he had been here ringing in his head. Knowing that if she was loose it was probably already too late he took a few cautious steps and then set off at a dead run.

Passing rapidly through the library he didn't even slow down, already knowing Knowledge wouldn't be there. The empty desk confirmed this as he dashed past. Emerging into the dark forest path he changed into a more agile wolf and continued his trek. Ahead was the bridge he hadn't crossed last time. Where its lustrous span led he had no idea. As the trees began to thin he could see the column of light again. What ever was across that bridge, it was the source of that beam. Hesitating for a moment as he approached he threw himself forward onto the bridge. Reaching the far side he changed back into himself as he climbed a small hill. The higher he got the more he felt that he was an invader here and this was somehow sacred ground he was treading.

Cresting the hill he saw perhaps the last thing he had ever expected to find in Raven's mind. A small country church was planted squarely in the middle of a small dale. This was odd enough, but it was column of energy shooting skyward from the roof that was really messing with his mind. Automatically making his way down the incline he eventually reached the front of the building. Rising the front steps his hand grasped the old fashioned handle and he pulled.


Robin and Starfire crouched against the wall and glanced out the second floor window of the Jump City National Bank. They had been observing the movements along the quarter mile run to the city's only remaining intact tower for several minutes, gathering any data they could. They turned away as Cyborg's steps could be heard on the marble stairs. A moment later, the half man, half robot appeared. Taking his cue from them he crouched and approached their position.

"Any problems."

"Nope. Not a bot in the sewer. You?"

"No. Not a lot of bots anywhere. I get the feeling Verge isn't hunting us too hard. He knows that if we're alive, we have to come to him. I think he's just waiting for the showdown."

"Cocky son of a bitch, ain't he?" Hunter and Terra kneeled beside them as well.

"Reminds me of someone we just faced. You took care of him."

"Yeah…but Arkanus didn't have demonic powers at his back. This is going to be a hell of a lot harder."

"Agreed. I wonder if Beast Boy is having any luck."

"No way to know until he shows up. Or we die."

"You mean WE die. YOU'RE already dead."

"Fair point Boss. So…any plans?"

"Frontal assault?"

"Damn…I was hoping for pistols at dawn." Terra, glancing at the tower, finally spoke.

"You'll be glad to know my powers are back…so I can be of some help to you."

"Good. Okay team, it's a strait shot up this street. We get to the tower, occupy or defeat Verge and if anyone gets a clear path, go after Raven. Just try to knock her out. If you have to go further…" Cyborg nodded at the unspoken command.

"We know Rob. She would have wanted it that way." The others sat in silence for a moment before Robin rose and pushed the large window open.

"Titans, GO!" One by one they shot out the window to the street below and began tearing toward their goal, smashing aside any bots that were foolish or unlucky enough to get in their way.


Verge stood at the edge of the roof looking out over the city that would soon belong to his master. He was annoyed that the Titan's had found a way to escape. He had wanted immediately to hunt them down and slay them. Fortunately reason had quickly returned. He was here now because he knew they would be coming. They had to. From this vantage he could see the city entire and would immediately be able to counter any moves the desperate heroes might try and make.

The robots had had commandeered form his old master were doing some of the searching, but he was really using them as mobile alarms. As soon as one was destroyed, he would know. He looked forward to taking on these Teen Titans. He had been toying with them for weeks, wrecking their focus, messing with their minds. He had always been able to defeat them in training simulations, and now he would get to face them, without Raven. She had always been the prime threat when he faced them in the training room. The others had formidable capabilities but her raw power could win if he wasn't careful. With her gone, it would be almost too easy.

He would defeat these mortals with the gifts Trigon had given him, and then he would receive the reward he had been promised when he had first started along this path. He thought back a popular saying he had heard. 'It's better to rule in hell then serve in heaven.' He would sit at his master's right hand for all time as they conquered world after world. He was pulled form his reverie by an explosion down the street.

Looking down he could see figures tearing through the few bots that got in their way. Five figures. They must have found someone to replace Raven. Perhaps this Terra person? Smiling in anticipation he double checked his guns and headed for the elevator.


(A/N): If you feel it is warranted feel free to review. I welcome any and all opinions.