! The Sequal, Trigon Apotheosis, is up. Go to http: for the sequal !

Teen Titans: Half Life

Chapter 27 – The End of the Teen Titans. (Part 2 – "…What Became of Them?)

And the battle's just begun,
There's many lost, but tell me who has won?
Trenches dug within our hearts,
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart

On a…

Sunday, bloody Sunday

Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Wipe your blood shot eyes

Sunday, bloody Sunday

U2

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Raven stood silent watching, underneath her impassive mask she was very unsure of the situation, but confident in Robin and Cyborg's ability to handle the situation, without resorting to violence.

It was clear that Knives was suffering from some sort of altered mental state, the vacant and swaying stare in his eyes said that, but she could sense more to it than that. Her poise nearly broke when she felt two separate lines of thought emanating from Knives.

Raven's unique powers were a mixed bag of telepathy, telekinetic, and physical disciplines, she could even peer into the future from time to time. While her skills weren't advanced enough to allow her to read a person's mind, unless in direct contact with the subject, she could sense it when another individual used telepathic methods in the surrounding area.

It was this malignant outside force that had taken hold of Knives and was directing his actions against them.

If Raven could get close enough, she could certainly find out who was doing it and stop it. However the problem became more complicated as Knives, seeing a threat upon his person, drew his sword and held it at waist level with the blade hovering in front of his face. Robin and Cyborg both instinctively went for their weapons, but they did not draw them. Doing so might force Knives on the defensive.

The outsider must've sensed Robin and Cyborg's hesitation to use force and saw an advantage. Without warning Knives raced towards Raven, his sword lowered aiming for a vital organ. Cyborg and Robin's flanked positions on the right and left of Knives respectively, unfortunately left Raven wide open to this sudden frontal charge.

With no time to properly protect herself, she raised her hands, palms forward and parallel, with an eruption of impacting energy, the sword smashed against an invisible shield of negative energy. The arcing power revealed a dinner plate sized area of energy hovering between Raven's palms. If the sword had traveled a few inches more in any direction, it would have passed the barrier and sunk right into Raven's midsection.

But the danger was not over.

Using his weight as extra force behind the thrust, the blade's magical edge was slowly forcing its way past the thin barrier, like acid eating through a layer of cardboard. With quick reflexes, Raven bent her right knee, allowing gravity to pull her down, rolling to the side just as the blade sliced air.

Robin and Cyborg hadn't been idle; tracking from behind they grasped control of the situation by restraining Knives by the arms. Driving him to the ground beneath their combined strengths. Once down, Cyborg used his weight to limit Knives movement, while Robin disarmed him by kicking the sword to the side, where it disappeared into the darkness. Knives struggled like a wild animal, but it was futile under Cybrog's watch.

"What's wrong with him?" Cyborg sounded like he was having more trouble that he appeared to."

"Someone is telepathically controlling him from the outside." Raven regained her composure.

"Do you know who it is Raven?" Robin inquired.

"Not yet," Raven said simply as she kneeled on the ground next to Knives. With no concern for the still struggling boy, she reached out and placed both her hands on the sides of his head.

"Azarath metrion zynthos…" she spoke her idiom repeatedly. Her voice become slower and quieter with each repeat of the phrase until it was inaudible to normal human hearing. As if acting in synchronization with her voice, Knives struggle slowed, becoming calmer, until both of them grew silent and were breathing in tandem.

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Raven's vision blurred like a blanked of misty fog had fallen all around her. When it cleared, she was standing outside an old, run down apartment complex. She stood inside a small playground; there was a small slide, a few swings and even a little see-saw. The gentle red and orange sky pointed to early evening. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this place, she had seen many before in passing, stakeouts, and even on the occasional news show. The three people she saw on the seesaw were what stood out as extraordinary.

Knives and Xavier both sat upon the seesaw, motionless on their seats. Knives, raised into the air, as he appeared back in reality, and Xavier, resting upon the ground, still clad in the armour he had received from Slade years before. However, the seesaw was unnaturally tilted in favor of the armour clad Xavier due to the third individual who was resting her foot upon the ride, upsetting the balance.

"Id," Raven spoke the name with a mixture of hate and respect. Id, who still used the appearance of the four eyes, red clad Raven, the form that symbolized everything that evil about, not just Id, but Raven's nature as well.

"At least you remember me." Id's smiled, but she looked more like a hungry and ravenous beast stalking its prey, enjoying the hunt.

"Show me your true face." Raven stepped closer.

"Say please." Id cupped her ear, waiting for Raven to ask properly.

"I'm not playing games." Raven was clearly getting agitated.

"I am," she spoke earnestly, "with you and your 'brother' here." Id turned toward Xavier, "he's a pretty handsome boy, I like him better with the armour. Which one do you want?"

Raven didn't answer, but took another step forward.

"Maybe I can convince Trigon to let me have him as my personal servant."

"Quit the small talk. Why are you us?"

"Oh you should know the answer to that one, isn't it obvious?"

Precious moments slipped away, before Raven answered, "Trigon fears our combined power, my darkness, with Xavier's light."

Id sucked air through her teeth, "Close! You got the basic idea, but not quite. Still, I'm pleased you figured out that much."

"What are you saying? What else is Trigon planning?"

"That's for you to figure out."

"That's what people say when they don't know either." Raven felt like rolling her eyes.

Id shrugged and leaned back, removing her foot from the seesaw. Immediately Xavier raised into the air and in turn Knives descended to the ground. "Right now your other friends are being massacred to my associates, so I suggest you hurry." With the conversation ended, Id vanished as if she had never existed.

Raven knew what Id meant by, 'other friends.' She surrendered control over the flow of power and the entire scene melted away like water washing away a paint.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Raven snapped back into reality, Robin immediately assaulted her with question after question about what she'd seen, done, etc.

"Will you get off me!" Knives said in a most heated tone to Cyborg unyielding weight.

"It's alright Cyborg." Raven assured him.

"You sure Raven?" Cyborg asked, yet didn't wait for an answer before he allowed, even helped, Knives regain his standing.

"I'm sorry Raven," Knives apologized, "I don't know what came over me." Knives was sincere in his regret.

"It was Id." Raven confirmed, "she used you as a medium to contact me."

"What did the ol' gal' have to say?" Cyborg asked.

Raven didn't answer the question, instead she turned with newfound sense of urgency, "Stafire and Beast Boy are in trouble, we should help them first."

"Agreed," Robin concurred, "Knives where are they?"

"The end of the tunnel of course."

"You stay here, we'll handle this." Robin made it sound like a friendly request. But in actuality it was more of an order. But Knives made his decision, a decision he would later come to regret.

"No," Knives offset Robin, "I'm not going to run from this, while others handle my problems. I'm going to fight."

The three Teen Titans didn't want to waste time arguing, truthfully each one of them knew that if their roles were reversed, they too would choose not to flee from the danger. They truly understood and could sympathize with him.

…………………………………………………………………………………

There was a blur of fast moving bodies, and the four teenagers, Robin, Raven, Cyborg, and Knives, were gone; making tracks to the tunnel's finish, and to the aid of their allies and friends, Starfire and Beast Boy.

No one spotted Alexis on their way out, partly thanks to the hidden spot Knives had placed her and that he hadn't revealed her existence to the other three.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Beast Boy wheezed with exhaustion and Starfire could barely stand up. Their foe was far too strong for them to handle. Just the two of them were no match against two of Trigon's followers, not even close. In the end, what transpired could hardly be called a fight. BB and Starfire never had the chance to counterattack, spending the entire time dodging numerous, potentially lethal attacks.

Seeing victory was at hand, Jigo released her web of illusions and promptly nine-tenths of the damage incurred during battle vanished. Yet the landscape was still filled with charred marks, craters; basically looked as if the military was using it as a firing range for the latest artillery. Flare and Jigo, showing no signs of fatigue, stood over the two Titans both of them mighty pleased with their easy victory.

"They're late" Flare crossed his arms, and tapped his foot in impatience

"You would better serve Trigon, by learning some patience and faith in his plans."

"Humph." Flare humphed.

But they didn't have to wait long before Robin and the others appeared from the nearly clogged railway tunnel.

"Starfire, Beast Boy!" Robin's call filled the distance separating them.

Flare sighed and smiled in relief, thankful that he didn't have to wait anymore.

…………………………………………………………………………………

While Knives insisted on sharing the front line, Robin insisted that he have some measure of protection. So he still ended up in the back, behind the others, but still in front of Starfire and BB. At least he got to guard someone this time.

"Be careful friends, they are strong." Starfire warned in-between ragged gasps.

"Don't worry Star, I'll give them a good work over." Cyborg eagerly anticipated a challenging fight after all the robots they had all to easily trashed.

Flare, true to his name, had more than a two handfuls of various fire based attacks, from fireballs to firewalls.

If it had been just Flare, the Titans would've had a chance of victory, however Jigo more than tipped the favor of battle against them. She had more illusions and tricks than an entire magic parlor's worth. True most of them were harmless, with very few attacks that caused harmed directly. In truth she played more of a behind-the-scenes support role and less actual combat. But that didn't make her useless.

Far from it, her illusions caused massive amounts of confustion. If one of them got a clear shot at Flare, suddenly there was ten of him. Swarming all over the battlefield, distinction between real and fake became impossibility. When Flare initiated an attack, the nine fakes would strike at the same moment, all in different fashions. None of the Titans could help each other since they were too busy defending themselves, not sure if they were being attacked by the real one or not.

It did not help that Jigo could defend herself against harm and still maintain her illusions at the same time.

While all the Titans were all healthy and in superior physical condition this intense one-sided game of dodge ball quickly exhausted their reserves of stamina. None of them were ever injured severely; they were just became quickly drained and couldn't fight until they had rested; something which the apostles never allowed them to do.

The battle lasted an impressive two hours. The Titans, never gaining sway for long, came to the painful and obvious conclusion that they were far outclassed. It was like a cat playing with an injured mouse. The cat wouldn't kill the mouse, cause then it wouldn't have anything to play with. The Titans had to escape before this cat became bored with its quarry.

"Time to finish this." Flare declared triumphantly. Reaching into his pocket he pulled a small object, which all the Titans recognized as the late afternoon sun struck its metallic surface. "I do believe you've seen this before."

The item was a cylindrical disk roughly 7 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches thick. Its surface was flawless, except for a small hole that bored, depth wise, all the way through this disk constructed of a polished metal alloy.

The same object Money had earlier used and later several members of the HIVE had stolen from Titans Tower.

"Where did you get that?" Robin suddenly had a bad feeling, much like the one he had had several months ago right before the incident at City Hall; the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

"Our subordinates stole it from you, if you remember."

"Subordinates?"

"The fools at HIVE think they are a self governed entity, but the truth is that Trigon is the true master of the organization. Your kind pose a threat to our master, one he wouldn't mind eliminating and what better way than through the tried and true strategy humans have employed for thousands of years, divide and conquer. But," Flare affixed the disk to his belt, "direct involvement from our side is sometimes necessary."

"But isn't Trigon only after me and Knives?" Raven spat venom at her father's name.

"Of course he is, silly girl. But Trigon had plans to take this world over anyway. Your presence only sped the process up a little."

"But why go through all this trouble."

"He could conquer any world at any time, but as it turns out, his 'hobby' is the manipulation people's lives and turning them against each other. Earth in particular has kept him occupied for hundreds of years."

"What do you mean?"

"Name a human atrocity, most likely he had a hand in it. Nero when he set fire to Rome, the rise of the Nazi party, even the discovery of nuclear weapons, were all his doing."

"Was he responsible for the incident two years ago." Raven wanted to scream, but refused to allow their exaggerated claims get to her. More importantly she didn't want to give in to her dark nature, but from the situation it might be the only way out.

"No," Flare sounded dissatisfied; "eventually we will figure out who and thank them for eliminating a thorn in our side." The accumulation of power in his fists signaled the end of the conversation.

The Titans readies themselves as best their could, in their weakened state. But it was plain to see; the next attack would be the final blow. The battery on Flare's belt started humming with power. Arcs of power discharged out of the hole in the center. Flame covered him from head to toe, but did not consume his flesh. Tremors, deep underground, shook the Earth from its foundation. Fissures carved their jazzed impressions in the landscape, opening pathways into deep underground, surrounding the Titans cutting of their retreat over land. It was from these chasms that rivers of lava erupted forth spiraling into the air turning, expanding, and formed a dome overhead, sealing them inside.

With the Titans now trapped within a coffin of superheated liquid rock, Flare could only wish he could see inside his handiwork and watch them suffer their final fate. The heat inside alone would soon burn them into ash, but that was not in the plan. He surrendered his control over the swirling mass of lava; now freed from his control the natural laws took over. The dome of lava ceased its intertwined flow and began to collapse like a burst bubble.

It would soon be all over.

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The heat was unbearable and still rising, the air becoming a searing gas painful to even breathe. Then the ceiling began its downward plummet, slowly at first, but picking up speed quickly. The six Titans inside the coffin could only watch in horror as their deaths rushed down upon them in the form of boiling liquid mantle.

Raven looked around, everyone was exhausted; nearly unconscious from the heat, but everything seemed to take on a surreal feel to it. No one had any energy left to do anything about this irreconcilable situation they had gotten themselves into. The future is unwritten, the future is what you make of it; many times she had heard those words spoken in movies, in books, and even from her friends. What had happened to force them into this situation?

She could only blame herself; because of her very existence she had brought nothing but suffering and death to family and friends. Her mother had sacrificed herself to protect her, Xavier too, and now every one else. Raven was at least comforted in knowing the pain and struggle would soon be over.

"Knives…" Raven croaked in her parched and burning throat. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks she thought it was sweat. For as much as she wanted everything to end, she wouldn't just give up on everyone. Half crawling, half dragging her body, felling as if her whole being was made of lead, she pulled her way next to Knives' prone body.

"Raven," he quietly whispered in return.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" she asked earnestly. Much to her relief Knives smiled at her in return.

"Yes I do,"

"What happened after that day?"

"I resigned my life as Slade's apprentice."

"And?"

"That's all I was ever able to remember, sorry." Knives apologized.

What remained of Raven's shattered strength she turned Knives body so his head rested on her lap, his eyes remained closed. By this time Raven could really feel the heat scorching the back of her neck, the lava was really falling now, they only had a few precious moments left.

"I convinced myself that you were dead," Raven acknowledged the tears falling from her eyes, "The best years of my life, I threw them away. I buried my past and suppressed my emotions. I believed that I could become stronger if I never needed anyone and could never be hurt by anything."

"Heh," Knives managed to chuckle, "that sounds both selfish and stupid of you. If you go through life without feeling anything, without experiencing sorrow as well as joy, you miss the moments, and the moments are all we have when everything is said and done."

"All I've ever done is walk away." Raven stopped resisting the flow of emotion and let the sorrow fill her being. They were all going to die here anyway, control over emotion was no longer a matter for concern. "I walked away from my past because I wouldn't face my father. I buried my emotions to avoid the pain of losing you and walked away again. I used the job to escape my personal life, and meditation to run from everything."

"Always defining your existence from what you aren't but never from what you are." Knives had opened his eyes, reaching up with his hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I. But you must always remember Raven to define your existence from what you are."

"And what am I?" a sob cut her from saying anymore.

"Alive!" Knives shouted his final words, as if trying to avoid the inevitable through willpower alone.

But there was no time left.

A blanket of lava and fire fell over their bodies, engulfing them, wiping their existence from the earth.

Raven never felt any pain. All she ever remembered was a burst of light and a feeling of her soul separating from her body and the world.

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Alexis was unsure of how much time had passed since she had lost consciousness, it was impossible to tell. The faint overhead lights did not tell time, like the sun could. She felt lightheaded, her whole body felt as if she were floating; very akin to the time she had been given laughing gas at the dentists office. She had been aware of the heavy sounds of combat before she passed out, now it was so quiet she heard her heart beating its clichéd tune.

Floating onto her feet she peered down the tunnel left, then right, unsure which way to go. The teenager in her felt compelled to head towards the tunnel exit and find the Teen Titans, not because she really cared for them, but more through curiosity about what had happened. But the thief portion of her nature, said that hanging out with do-gooders would only get her in more trouble.

The two argued unrelenting about the next course of action. She would take two steps towards the exit before turning around and taking two steps back towards the purifier plant, and in the opposite direction. This went on for some time, before her foot knocked into something long and metal, from the sound it made, on the ground.

She bent down to retrieve the mystery item, definitely a sword from the feeling of the blade in her hands. Holding it to the light, she recognized the design on the hilt as belonging to Knives. Somehow the fool had managed to forget his own weapon behind.

"What idiot forgets to take his own weapon into battle? If he doesn't care for it then I'll keep It." the thief reasoned.

"But something might've happened to cause him to leave it behind, we should see if they are ok," the teenager pleaded.

Again she had come to an impasse with herself. The long conversation developed into a screaming argument, and then degenerated into a fist-fight.

In the end she theorized that if he had forgotten his sword then he would have to pay her to get it back. On the other hand if they were in trouble and she came to their rescue, providing it wasn't too dangerous, the Teen Titans would owe her a debt of gratitude; one, which she definitely would come collecting.

She discovered, upon leaving the subway, what appeared to be a pond made of lava covered with a flat and solid layer of segmented rock, similar to a sheet of ice that forms over a regular pond, but this one was very hot and not something people would consider skating on.

She searched all over the desert as well as the city, but never found what had become of the Teen Titans.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Alexis fervently pressed the call button that was situated next to the Titans Tower main entrance. Two days had passed and still there was no response from any of the inhabitants. Worse still, they had not responded to any of her calls or even to several acts of high profile crime that normally they were all too happy to interfere in. It seemed as if they had simply dropped off the face of the planet.

The whole city was in a panic, the unexpected eruption of lava two days past had convinced many that Jump City was the next Pompeii; that a volcano would arise and drown the city in a river of lava and bury the rest in ash. The city officials had taken immediate steps to call upon a coalition of scientists who's job it was to inspect the site for just such a possibility.

It was on the third day that the news finally hit the papers and televisions all over the country.

…………………………………………………………………………………

"What is your relationship with the deceased?" The coroner asked Alexis.

"I was to be a new recruit." She lied, but knew he had now way to confirm it.

The coroner wrote the information onto the form in worryingly neat handwriting. "If you'll just sign here," he said tapping his finger on the relevant spot, "I'll take you back to the freezers and you can have a look at them. But there ain't much to see."

Alexis agreed with the last statement, but nevertheless she insisted on seeing the bodies. She couldn't believe they were dead; it just didn't seem possible.

…………………………………………………………………………………

The coroner pulled out six bodies, all of which had been placed in their own individual horizontally sliding freezer stalls. Skeletons was what they were; black and charred, devoid of all organic substance which normally composed a body. The corner's words struck true there wasn't much to look at, the bones could belong to anybody.

"How do you know it's them?" Alexis hoped the medical officer couldn't answer.

"We took molds of their teeth and compared their arrangement to every dental record of everyone who lives in the city. As far as their dental records indicate, these five skeletons are all that remain of the Teen Titans. However this sixth one over here," the coroner indicated the last one in the line, "comes from an Xavier Kage, who was reported as missing over two years ago. It's amazing that we were able to recover all of their bones, well except for the third one here."

Alexis stopped listening to the coroner; she searched for any sign, and any clue she could use to prove that these corpses were not the famous Teen Titans. The little hope she held was nearly smashed when she came to the third skeleton, which was missing both arms, both legs, pelvis, most of the lower spine and ribcage, and half the skull. What did remain was covered in metal, which had been heated to the point it fused with the bone.

This one was evidently Cyborg.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Alexis left the coroner's office, still unable to come to terms with the situation. Despite the coroner's undeniable proof, she couldn't help but feel there was something wrong. Lava, hot enough to melt Cyborg's mechanical body, was still cool enough to leave behind skeletons, perfect skeletons at that, even the coroner admitted that it was an amazing feat of circumstance.

Her stomach growled in protest, she hadn't stolen a decent meal in days. With the official announcement of the Titan's demise, crime had skyrocketed into levels never before seen in the city's history. No one would notice one more petty thief stealing a burger and fries from a fast food joint.

Still carrying Knives' sword with her, she sprinted down the street in search of food and after that, answers.

She still was not convinced.

…………………………………………………………………………………

After the coroner had escorted the young girl leave out of his office, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the child. It was a terrible thing to loose ones friends. He had seen it many times, and still he couldn't keep the sorrow back.

He returned to the freezer, ready to slide the skeletons back into storage. He slid the first one back into place, but as he reached for the second one, he discovered that the body was missing. He pulled the first one back out, missing as well. In fact all six skeletons were gone, replaced with piles of bleached sand.

"I shouldn't have left the units open, someone stole the bodies." The coroner panicked and he had every right too. A scandal like this could cost him his job. He was so upset he failed to notice Jigo, dressed in her specialized kimono, exiting through the back door.

…………………………………………………………………………………

"And…" Flare inquired once the door was securely shut.

"She is skeptical about their deaths. Either she is too stubborn to accept it or she knows something we don't." Jigo said unassuming.

"Maybe you just messed up and why wouldn't it be better to kill her?" Flare cracked his knuckles articulating his willingness for the job.

"The master mentioned he had a mild interest in her unique powers. Her performance in the purifier plant showed an original approach in elemental manipulation," Jigo was referring to when Alexis fabricated her self-sustaining wall of ice, "therefore it would be best not to displease the master by acting in haste before the matter is investigated thoroughly. Concurrently we don't need her interfering in our plans for the Teen Titans, best to keep her unaware of our presence."

"Even after I used this," Flare juggled the circular battery amongst his fingers, "you still think they survived."

"I know, because I saw it," the eyes on her dress blinked sporadically, to add weight to her statement, "just as Trigon predicted they would."

"How?" Flare beckoned her to continue.

"The same way Knives did two years ago."

"That being?"

"Metrion's gate."

…………………………………………………………………………………

EndHalf-Life

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Thank you everyone who has stayed with the story since the beginning. Rest assured that this is not the end of the story as a whole, merely the first part. Just like the television show ends each season with a climatic episode, I'm ending this story in much the same way.

The next story, "Half Life: Trigon Apotheosis" will begin with a refresher chapter to summarize everything that has happened so far and to get everyone up to speed whether you read the first story or not.

Comments and reviews are, as always, highly appreciated, with added initiative this time. Tell me which Titan/s you want to focus on first. Should I tell Raven's story first, or should I start with Beast Boy, or begin with one of the others instead.