Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
…..
On one early afternoon, Raven awoke to hear a low grumble of laughter ricochet throughout her room. It burned and pressed against her eardrums, jeering her endlessly.
"The time has come, Raven…" Slade's voice joined with the mingled cackling.
She crept into the front room to see the rest of the Titans up and staring at the large windows. Swirls of crimson red blotted out the blue, blue sky and the sun shone faintly like a dying candle. Starfire had shrunk away from the terrible scene, her usually joyful face now somber. "I do not like this, Robin," she whispered, folding her arms around herself.
His mask narrowed. "We know who we're up against. Just be prepared to fight."
Raven came from behind them and her body suddenly began to glow red with symbols, the mark of Scath on her forehead burning for all to see. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself but Robin tugged the hood down, gazing at the markings as the rest of her team did. She murmured, "He's coming. There's no stopping him."
"We can and we will."
The alert sirens went off and Slade's position in Jump City locked on the main console monitor.
"Titans GO!" Robin roared to everyone.
…..
Raven flew apart from her teammates as they raced through the city. Her fear beginning to vibrate through her body.
What was she suppose to do? Stop herself from becoming the portal? How does one go about doing something like that?
She was contemplating the possibility when a fireball about the size of a MAC truck came raining down upon her head. Raven encased it with her energy and threw it aside, the ends of her hair alight. She slapped out the hot strands and looked up at the water tower to see Slade above stalking her expectantly.
"Leave me and my friends alone or I'll deal with you myself!" Raven shouted as she threw metal sewage pipes at him.
He dodged them and stated calmly as she floated in front of him, "They have their own battles to fight." With one hand, Slade gestured to the farthest street. Craggy demons threw flames and the Titans fought with bravery and wit against the horde. She watched on as Starfire threw her star bolts viciously as Beast Boy charged at the demons in rhino form.
Steel fingers clutched her shoulders and she cried out alarmed when flashes of lava rivers and her friend's stone bodies invaded her mind.
Weakly, she fell on all fours, hanging her head.
"You will destroy this world, Raven. You will become the portal as you were destined to be." She closed her violet eyes tightly as Slade bent down and tucked a strand of her violet hair out of her face. "Those people down there... they are not your friends. You know better than that. They fear you."
"...No."
"Even Robin does not love you. But you love him, don't you?"
Her head snapped up.
"Shut up."
His tone became harsher.
"You wish that you were the one who holds his heart so dear. But he loves someone else, doesn't he? That will always be the case for you, Raven. When he leaves you for her, what will you do? Lock yourself in the dark and pray for death to come quickly? Why let him deceive you before it's too late-?"
"-I said SHUT UP!"
Her eyes flashed blood red as she threw him off the tower, his body twisting into a bone-crunching heap at the bottom. He pulled himself together within seconds.
Raven didn't care. Something powerful was taking her.
Her body soared upwards into the red, red sky and her screams were the only noise to be heard within the cryptic sounds of fire and combat. Her powers were out of contol. Chaos consumed everything within a five-mile radius, winds picked up, and the ground turned to ash and molten rock. Her markings burned brighter than anything. Twin sets of blazing eyes appeared on her face. Below, the Titans looked on shocked and unsure of how to help her. A new mass of fire demons were approaching only a half a mile away.
Robin glanced at his friends, his jaw clenched. "We don't stop until this is over," he ordered.
Their faces tightened with acknowledgment and the next battle set in motion.
High above, Raven's body convulsed with the power inside her.
Slade screamed from the ground, "Rise, Master, Rise!" The heaviest skyscraper crumbled, crushing him with tons of metal. Her many eyes tore away from the rubble.
"I am coming, Daughter."
An agony beyond anything she ever experienced claimed her entirely and a monstrous roar erupted from her throat. From the black energy coming out of her mouth, it formed a spinning hole. Something giant was emerging. The demons felt this utter sense of evil and fled, leaving the Titans to stand below in confusion and horror.
The vertex widened. A large claw tinged with red swiped several structures out of the way and killed the remaining fire demons running. Raven was in daze.
Pain was the only thing she felt.
'No… I refuse to die like this….. Damn the prophecy!'
She summoned every fiber in her being, every last breath, and gave her father what he deserved. Her power struck into Trigon who was barely a foot out of the breach. It blocked the entrance. He broke through it like wet paper. "No! I am not a monster! I will stop you!" she screamed, piercingly.
The world seemed to hold its breath when she vanished into the gap. Robin must have wanted to go after her because Cyborg was holding back his struggling body.
"We have to stop her!"
His metal half of his face reflected scarlet as Cyborg answered him, "No, man, she's gone." Before Robin could protest, another high-pitched scream surrounded them along with a black energy force. It knocked them off their feet and brought many remaining buildings shaking to their foundations.
In a wink, it was gone.
The blue sky were blessedly colored with the setting of the evening sun and clouds; the fire, the destruction, it was gone. Everything… was silent.
A mouse Beast Boy came out from hiding under Robin's cape and morphed back, gaping.
"...Dude, what just happened?"
But no one was listening to him.
Raven floated in the distance, a strange, blue glow around her. Her eyes shined with the same color before returning to their normal hue. A shadow over her screeched and disappeared into the clouds. She wavered, her indigo cloak fluttering like a tattered flag, and suddenly plunged lifelessly through the air.
Robin pointed to her, shouting at the top of his lungs, "STARFIRE!"
She didn't hesitate to go after Raven. Starfire flew back to them, her orange arms cradling her female friend and her lips quivered.
"...Should she not be breathing? I cannot feel her heart beat."
…..
Spinning, spinning into darkness, but she had won. Trigon's life had slipped into the deeper depths of the Forgotten Lands and she fell into comfortable shadows.
'Not a monster…. About the whole kissing thing… it never happened… why did you run out… we will always be your friends no matter what happens… I'm not an idiot, Raven; I can take off my own mask… even Robin does not love you… Robin… Robin, I'm sorry…'
Her head bounced against hard ground. Raven opened her eyes, to see the familiar shapes of white and gray doves feeding. With a hand to her head, she sat up.
'Am I dead? Why am I not dead?'
A soft accent made her head turn, "You did it, Raven." A white-robed woman smiled proudly as Raven stood up unsteadily, shaking her head.
"How?" Raven asked, "I was suppose to help him…?"
"The prophecy was true to its word from the very beginning. But it never said you couldn't fight back if you were truly willing to save your world and sacrifice yourself for it. You discovered that power inside of you to defeat Trigon. Now, he is gone and we can embrace a new beginning."
Raven looked up to see her homeland no longer in ruins, but slowly being rebuilt. The soft purple and oranges of the sky above her head, no longer ominous.
"It will take time to recover but your people thank you."
Arella threw an arm up, encircling it to her daughter hugging herself against her.
"Mother…I don't know how I can…"
"Come, you have things still to learn."
With that being said, Arella placed a gentle hand on her shoulders, and led her into the gates of Azarath.
…..
A/N: Oh dear, I seemed to have left a cliffy. Yes, I'm so evil. I think I came pretty darn close to the End(s). Bwa. I made this before they came out. Sorry for its shortness. I'll put up Chapter Thirteen probably next week. My fantastic reviewers, I give my thanks to: Blank, TheGirlWithDemonicTemper, moon-struckperil, evilsangle, Cherry Jade, , and neetfreek ! I'm looking forward to watch the End Part 1 in good quality on Saturday. Remember to watch!
Evilsangle: I hope you have fun wherever you're going, you'll love what I have cooked up when you come back.
Cherry Jade: Your welcome. Yeah, he probably did. lol.
Neetfreek: I'm touched, lol. Once Trigon's out of the way, everything will be fine…or will it?