(Disclaimer: No, I don't own them. And at the rate I'm going, I never will.)
-CHAPTER SIX-
The following day was filled with what had become routine for the Titans over the past few days. A couple of possessions, a mugging that they just happened across, and watching television reruns in between. Raven excused herself from the table early after dinner, saying that she had to meditate, but it would be hours before she would have to start her nightly meditation. She really just wanted to break the monotony of the day by listening to some music in her room. The Titans probably would have understood, since they were just as bored as her, but there was no way Raven was going to admit to doing something as normal as lying on her bed listening to music. She had a reputation to keep up.
As Raven approached her door, she noticed a small piece of paper taped to it. She pulled it off, and unfolded it to reveal a short note written in spidery and nearly illegible handwriting.
There will be another possession tonight, in one of the abandoned warehouses on the docks. Come alone.
Raven narrowed her eyes. She didn't recognize the handwriting, but something about the note just seemed to say "Drakon".
How did he get in here without setting off the alarms? Raven thought. Does this suggest that he's the one summoning the demons? And if he's this powerful, why in the Nine Hells did he use Scotch tape to put this note on my door?
She scowled and crumpled the paper in one hand in a failed attempt to vent some frustration. She opened her door and was about to step into her room when she was interrupted by the alarm.
Oh, what now?
OOO
"It's another possession," said Robin as Raven stepped back into the living room. He was briefing the other Titans. Raven glanced at the main screen, noticing that the coordinates for the possession placed it right at the docks.
It could just be coincidence, she thought. Or it could be a trap. But this might give me more information about the possessions and Drakon—can I take the risk of ignoring it?
"It's close, so we should be able to take care of it quickly," Robin continued.
"I'll handle it," Raven said, still staring at the screen.
"Pardon?" said Robin.
"I said I'll handle it," Raven repeated, turning to face the other Titans' questioning looks. "Like you said, it's close, so it won't be too much of a problem. Plus, it's only one, so it's not really worth all of us going. You guys just stay here."
"Uhhh…okay, if you're sure," said Robin. "Call if you need any back up."
Raven nodded, closed her eyes, and flew off in her astral form. Robin frowned, deep in thought, but quickly cleared his expression as he turned and walked back to the table to finish his dinner with the others.
OOO
A raven-shaped shadow slipped through the wall of the warehouse. It dissipated, leaving Raven standing in the middle of the large empty space, her hood up, hiding her eyes in shadow. She looked around impassively—the warehouse looked like it had been deserted for years. The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the few crates that remained were empty, little more than dusty dried-out wood lying in a corner. Raven concentrated her mind to scan the warehouse, and found only one other mind present. It was human, but vague and fuzzy, as though it was unconscious.
Great, thought Raven. Sleepwalking demons, now.
She levitated herself with a thought, and floated off in the direction of the mind. She quickly found the source—a man who was dressed like some kind of dock worker lay slumped against one of the walls, half-concealed in the darkness. Raven approached cautiously. She knew that demons could be tricky creatures, and while the man did appear to be unconscious, it could still be a trap. As she got closer, Raven noticed a white piece of paper sitting in the man's lap. She recognized it immediately as a sutra.
It looks like Drakon got here before me, Raven thought. But where is he?
"Hello. It took you long enough to get here."
Shit! Behind me? How could I not have sensed him? Raven spun, her eyes and hands glowing with barely contained power as she prepared to attack.
"Really, now, we can't have that," said Drakon, who was standing barely a dozen feet away. "I just came here to talk."
He held up a hand, and Raven suddenly felt weak. The power in her hands dissipated, and her eyes returned to their normal deep violet. She sagged to her knees, sending up a small cloud of dust.
He's draining my power, Raven thought. I can't even feel his presence, let alone fight him. How is this possible?
"I am not your enemy," Drakon said, stepping closer.
"Heh. Yeah, right," Raven said, her mouth twisted in a cynical half-smile. "You lure me into an obvious trap with a cryptic note—hey, you're my best friend. You're probably even summoning these damn demons."
Raven surged back to her feet with a snarl, a second burst of power surrounding her fists, only for Drakon to again drain her, almost casually. This time, though, he didn't just let her sag where she stood, but sent out a wave of his own power. Raven saw the dust on the floor scatter in its path before it collided with her like an invisible freight train, sending her crashing into the wall behind her. She coughed, dust filling her lungs, and clutched at her midsection in pain—without her powers, Raven had had nothing to protect herself with, and had taken the full force of the blast. Drakon walked towards her, his usual good-natured smile replaced with an imperious glare.
"As I said, I am not your enemy, Raven of Azarath," he said. "But even so, do not push me, child."
"Who are you…calling a…child?" Raven said between clenched teeth as she tried to stand. Drakon chuckled, some of his former good humour returning.
"Defiance, eh? I wouldn't expect any less from you," he said. "Well, to me, Raven, you are a child. Despite my appearance, I am actually quite a bit older than you."
"Define 'quite a bit'."
"Heh. Sorry, my little secret."
Raven finally managed to come fully to her feet, although she still had to lean against the wall for support. Inwardly, she took stock of the damage that had been done to her body.
Lots of bruises, a few cracked ribs, maybe some minor internal bleeding—nothing I can't heal in a few minutes or so, Raven thought. That is, if he lets me use my powers again. I need to buy some time.
"So if you're so much older than me, what's with the look?" she said. "You afraid to show a few grey hairs?" Drakon laughed.
"No, no. This is actually my true form," he said. Raven arched an eyebrow.
"You don't look convinced, but you must have felt it yourself," Drakon continued. "It's in the nature of sorcery. Time…touches us differently. I just happen to have been lucky in the way time has touched me."
"You're lying," Raven said.
"Are you saying you haven't felt it?" Drakon asked.
"No, I've felt it, but that doesn't change the fact that you're lying," Raven replied.
"Heh. I guess not," said Drakon. "But it was a good lie, wasn't it?" Raven ignored the question.
"And 'Drakon'—I'm guessing that's not your real name," Raven said.
"No. Cliché though it may sound, I have many names," Drakon said, and grinned. "I just like Drakon best."
"The fact that it pays homage to your snake familiar plays no role in that preference, I'm sure," Raven said. "Where is your scaly friend, anyway?"
"Oh, he had places to be," said Drakon. "Are you done trying to heal yourself now? I'd kind of like to stop wasting time on small talk."
Raven swore under her breath. She had still been unable to summon even the small amount of power required to heal her injuries—Drakon's suppression of her magic appeared to be complete. Besides, her questions hadn't resulted in any helpful answers. Drakon had responded to them, sure, but he had done so in ways that didn't actually provide any information. Raven sighed.
"Fine," she said. "Why did you lure me here?"
"Now, now. 'Lure' has such a negative connotation," said Drakon. "I invited you here because I wanted to clear up your obvious confusion a little bit. I figured I owe you an explanation. Besides, my investigation is over, so it doesn't really matter now whether you know or not."
"Investigation? You were investigating me? Why?"
"I am a member of an order of sorcerers known as The Circle," Drakon said. "Have you heard of us?" Raven said nothing.
"No? Good. We do try to keep a low profile," Drakon continued. "Anyway, I was sent to check up on you."
"Why?"
"Tell me, Raven, have you been getting odd looks from people in Magic Alley lately?"
"No. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Hmmm, not surprising, really. It's mostly just low-level practitioners there, so they likely haven't heard about it," Drakon mused, half to himself.
"They haven't heard about what?" Raven asked, beginning to get exasperated. "I thought you said you didn't want to waste any more time."
"Ah, my apologies. You see, there's a prophecy that's been circulating recently," Drakon said. "It's nearly a thousand years old, but it was only recently rediscovered. The entire magical community, or at least that part of it that is in the know, is up in arms about the whole thing."
"And what exactly does this prophecy say?" asked Raven.
"Well, I'll paraphrase a bit, both because it's somewhat long, and because the seer who wrote it was an exceptionally bad poet," said Drakon. "Anyway, the basic gist of the prophecy is this: at some point, Trigon the Terrible will launch a massive assault on the magical enclave known as Azarath. If left unchecked, this invasion will destroy Azarath completely, and then Trigon and his forces will move on to Earth."
Raven was silent for a moment, absorbing what Drakon said.
"When will this happen?" she finally asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"Presumably soon," Drakon replied. "The prophecy gives three signs of the coming invasion, all apparently unrelated, and all having something to do with you."
"With me?"
"Yes. The daughter of Trigon, that would be you, plays a very important role in the prophecy," Drakon continued. "In fact, much of the prophecy focuses on you and those three signs I mentioned."
"And what are these signs?"
"First, that a dragon will be reborn out of your loneliness, but cast back to wherever it came from after it betrays you," said Drakon. "Obviously, this refers to the brief reappearance of Malchior a few months ago."
"You know about that?" asked Raven. "How do you know so much about me?" Drakon grinned.
"We have our sources. Second, the prophecy says that your love will go mad and become a murderer," he continued. "At first, we thought it was referring to the person you love going mad, so we were keeping an eye on Beast Boy, especially considering his recent feral transformation, but it looks like it actually meant that unfortunate little episode five weeks ago with that duplication ray."
"My love…as in that aspect of my personality?" said Raven, and then she frowned. "Hey! I am not in love with Beast Boy!"
"Right. Sorry," Drakon said, rolling his eyes. "Finally, the third sign is some kind of plague that comes before an army of deserters, or at least that's what the prophecy says. We're not sure exactly what that might mean. It might not have happened yet."
"Well, Robin had a bit of a cold a little while ago, and then there was that time Cyborg got infected with a computer virus," said Raven. "I don't think either of them counts as a 'plague', though, and there certainly weren't any armies involved." Drakon shrugged.
"Yeah, so anyway, after these three signs have appeared and Trigon launches his attack, the prophecy says the daughter of Trigon, that's you, will 'have a role to play'," he said.
"What? 'A role to play'?" Raven said. "What kind of stupid, vague prophecy is that?"
"Hey, 'stupid, vague prophecy' is redundant, you know," Drakon said. "Double redundant, even. And that's the best translation to English we have."
Raven narrowed her eyes in thought for a second, but her eyes widened again as realization dawned.
"Wait, that's exactly why you're here, isn't it?" she said. "This prophecy is ambiguous as to what role I'll play in Trigon's invasion, so for all you know, I might even help him. That's why you're investigating me—to see where my loyalties are."
"Very good, Raven. You got it in one," Drakon said with a chuckle. "Hanging around that Grayson boy really is rubbing off on you."
Raven was about to ask how Drakon knew Robin's name, but he cut her off with a dismissing wave of his hand.
"Oh, like I said—we have our sources," he said. "Do you want to know Beast Boy's middle name?"
"Tempting, but I think I have more to worry about, what with the Apocalypse being all imminent and all," Raven said with a crooked smile. "Oh, and by the way, why the Hell should I believe you?"
"Ah, yes, I was wondering when you were going to ask that," said Drakon. "You could always check the prophecy yourself. I think a translation of it appears in the Jirel text."
"Uh huh. And why did you feel the need to lure me all the way out here to tell me all this?" Raven asked.
"I know that you're a private person," Drakon said with a shrug. "I figured you wouldn't appreciate all this being outed in front of your friends, just in case you don't want them to know about it."
"That's very thoughtful of you," Raven said, in a flat monotone.
"Oh, and hey, if you still don't believe that I'm not your enemy, there's always the fact that I left you alive," Drakon said. Raven glowered at him, but he only laughed and turned to leave.
"See you around, daughter of Trigon," Drakon called over his shoulder as he disappeared into shadows that Raven could have sworn hadn't been there only a second before. She tried to follow, but the pain from her ribs speared through her body again. Gritting her teeth to distract herself from the pain, Raven once more tried to summon her powers to heal herself. This time her powers obliged her, and her hands were surrounded with a hazy blue light.
I guess Drakon's hold on my powers ended when he left, Raven thought as she healed herself. Ugh. Even with this, I'll still be sore for days.
She turned to look at the recently possessed dock worker, who still lay unconscious against the wall.
"And what the heck am I going to do with you?" Raven wondered aloud.
OOO
Robin was waiting on the roof of the Tower when Raven returned. She let herself drop to the cement in front of him, and met his masked stare. She was painfully aware of the advantage he had—while her hood hid much of her face, her eyes still showed clearly, but his mask totally hid his eyes, making it virtually impossible to know what he was thinking. Even her empathy was of little help, since after years of apprenticeship to the Batman, Robin had become accustomed to thinking in complex spirals and loop-de-loops that just gave her a headache when she tried to read any deeper into his mind than the very surface.
"Well, what took you so long?" Robin asked after a few seconds of staring at Raven in silence. Raven shrugged.
"He was a little tougher than I thought he would be," she lied. "Then I had to drop him off at the hospital." That part was true, at least, although it had only taken her a few minutes. Robin didn't look convinced, but he only grunted and turned to go back inside.
"Come on," he said, not even looking over his shoulder. "It's late."
Raven sighed, and followed Robin back into the Tower.
OOO
Drakon watched Titans Tower, surrounded by darkness. Somehow, he seemed to be looking through the Tower, seeing all that was going on inside. He had been watching as Raven had taken the man to the hospital, as well. He was always watching—it was, after all, one of the reasons he had come to Jump City.
"Well now, Raven," he muttered to himself. "What will you do now? Will you tell your friends? Or perhaps go off on your own? Either way, I know you will fight him."
Slither wound his way up his master's body in his usual manner, coming to rest in his accustomed place on Drakon's shoulder. He hissed.
"Ah, so you're back. That was quick. Did you tell them?"
Slither hissed again.
"Good, good. The Circle was pleased, I presume?"
An affirmative hiss, a slight pause, and then another hiss. Drakon chuckled.
"Oh, you worry too much, old friend. No, I only told her what she needed to know in order to be useful—just a little push in the right direction."
Another hiss.
"The demons? She'll figure it out soon enough. She's a smart girl. No doubt she'll make the connection to the last sign of the prophecy, too."
A searchlight beam, most likely from some nightclub on the waterfront, passed by, revealing that Drakon was standing not on solid ground, but on an impossibly calm strip of water in the middle of the bay. He took one last glance over the dark shape of Titans Tower, and then turned and began walking across the waves back towards the shore.
"So, you hungry?"
A hiss.
"How does Chinese sound?"
-END CHAPTER SIX-
Author's Note: Well, that took me a deuce of a long time to write. I've had a bunch of ideas for other stories bouncing around like crazy in my head, so I've had to release some pressure by doing some Silly Villainy (my apparently on-going comedy thingy in script format—not suitable for the faint of heart, small children, or the elderly). Most of my stuff is pretty Raven-centric, but I've had this one idea that focuses on Starfire for some reason, which is weird because I view the character as fairly flat, aside from a (very) few wrinkles (although, as with most of the characters in the Teen Titans show, she is miles ahead of the characters in most other American cartoons). I won't go into any details about it here, but I might get around to writing it after I'm done with Stalker. I think I'm starting to lose focus here, as well as perhaps losing some interest in this story, but I'll keep going since I've already got it started. I hate not finishing things.
Some of you may have noticed that this story is doing a little bit of exploration into the interaction between Robin and Raven. That's kind of a side project for me here. I see the two of them as in tension, not romantically (sorry RaeRob fans), but as mutual unknowns. They trust each other, but neither of them is fully able to read the other, and neither of them likes that. Raven isn't as obsessive about it, of course, but I think it still bothers her. Needless to say, the secrets Raven is keeping in this story is deepening that tension—I've tried to show this by having the scenes between her and Robin be shorter and more direct, kind of like quick, fast-paced cuts to increase the tension in a film scene. This is one of my few forays into the realm of purposeful stylistic variation, so let me know if this has worked.
Semi-Quasi-Maybe-Contest-Like-Thing! I'm beginning to think that "Stalker" isn't the best name for this story. My initial idea was for it to seem like Drakon was stalking Raven, but that hasn't really made it to the final product. He seems more like the Smoking Man from X-Files at the moment than some deranged, obsessive fan. However, try as I might, I can't for the life of me come up with a better name. So, I'm putting the question to you, the readers: what do you think a better name for this story would be? And please don't give me something like "OMG DRAKON MEETS THE TITANS!!1" That was, like, the first thing I crossed off my list. Important Note: I reserve the right to say "Screw it, I'm sticking with 'Stalker'" at any point. Consider yourselves warned!
To My Reviewers:
nevermoretheraven: No 30-character chapters here. Also, I have something like a bazillion paragraph divisions, with the way I structure my writing. Does it just keep getting better the more paragraphs I have, or is there some limit to this? (Hmmm…take the limit of f(x) where x approaches infinity, and f(x) is how good a story with x paragraphs is…carry the three…)
staticsponge123: While I tend to think of swearing as a tool for the purposes of writing (to express a character, or for shock value, for instance), I know that it can often be used excessively, which is where problems start. As a general rule, I try to stay away from swearing in my serious stories, both to keep them within PG-13 limits, and because I think that too much swearing can cheapen a story. I hope you'll overlook what little swearing I do have in here, since I think it's in appropriate places (like when Raven realizes Drakon is behind her, etc.), and am not going to remove it. You might want to avoid my humour piece called Silly Villainy, though—it's not exactly swearing, but it might be the kind of stuff your parents will laugh like crazy about and then forbid you from ever coming to this site again. Oh, and, uhhh…Happy Birthday to you, too, I guess. (Geez, that was long for just a response to a request for no swearing…)
CloudsHalo: Just doing fencing is good, and a lot better than some people who just read a few manuals and then think they can fence. You might know exactly what I'm talking about if I showed you, but just not know the terms I'm using to describe the techniques (I'm only half sure of them myself). However, I think that at some point some exploration of the theories behind fencing, or even just tactics in general, is necessary—for instance, I think that a firm understanding of George Silver's four governors (which were given rather short shrift in his manual, in my opinion) is a must for any fencer wanting to take their fight to a higher level. But this probably isn't the place to be discussing that. Anyway, I hope this chapter advanced things a bit more. At the very least, it set up a whole slew of stuff that might only pay off in future stories, not just chapters. Like I said in an author's note a few chapters ago, I now have Da Plan, and everything is falling into place…yesssss… I don't know about the Sir Robin song from Holy Grail, since I'm trying to be a bit more serious with Robin now. As for Cyborg and Robin joining in with the Ghostbusters theme song, who doesn't love that song? Well, maybe not love, exactly, but you know what I mean. I will be continuing with Silly Villainy. I have a few new chapters lined up, although I'm kind of running out of ideas. Funny is hard to do, man. And about the new episodes: Is Feb. 5th the Cartoon Network airtime or something? Because I'm in Canada, and don't get the American cable channels like Cartoon Network or the WB. I might have just missed them, but I haven't seen any episodes past Wavelength. And NO FREAKIN' SPOILERS!
Blackbird: Thank you for the compliments. I had the same "seeing it as a movie, and therefore can't translate it properly into text" problem with parts of this chapter, mainly the bit where Drakon slams Raven against the wall. I pictured the former as kind of a Matrix-esque bullet time sequence, with the dust rippling out of the way and then Raven getting thrown backwards, but of course bullet time is a pain in the ass to put into text. I usually have the same kind of problem with at least one part of every serious chapter I write (and even some of the humour ones). Oh, and feel free to use Magic Alley if you want. I probably won't be having any more scenes there, so you can do whatever you want with it, in terms of changing things around, adding things and so on, without having to worry about disagreeing with me on it. Not that you should really worry about that anyway. (Side Note: you might already have seen it, but I did put up a review for Songbird. The bury-age on FanFiction can be a pain, can't it? "I swear, I just posted this, and already it's at #392…")
Dear God! My ending notes are over a page and a half long! Oh, well. Back to the Bag Cave!