Clash of the Titans by CidGregor

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Chapter 5

"So you're telling me that's all that happened? C'mon, Rob, there's got to be more to it than that…"

"I'm telling you, that's it!" Robin snarled back at the cybernetic titan through the communicator's private channel. "She kissed me to free me from the mind control, and somehow I lost my memory of it, but Raven fixed it, then I went to apologize to Star, and we talked for a bit, and then we made breakfast. Nothing else happened. End of story. Now will you please DROP IT?"

"No way, man, you're still holding out on me, I can tell!" Cyborg said. "Spill it, Rob, and I'll shut up, I promise!"

"And I'm telling you, there's nothing else to tell!"

"Yeah, right."

"Oh, go make love to your car."

"HEY! You do not insult the T-car! It took me the last three weeks to get it back in working order after you decided to wreck it, Boy Blunder!"

"I told you I was sorry! I wasn't in control of myself! I made you your stupid meat waffles for two of those weeks to make it up to you!"

"Yeah, and you burnt 'em half the time! That means you still owe me a week's worth of good meat waffles!"

"I'll get right on that, just as soon as hell freezes over," Robin muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. This conversation is over, Cyborg."

Robin clicked off the private com-link to Cyborg and his T-car and opened the public one. "Star? BB and Raven's communicator signals have cut off. Do you see any sign of them from up there?"

"No, not of our friends specifically…" she answered from high in the sky above them. "However, there is a large amount of very irregular light originating from a building approximately two miles to the southwest. It is the same color as the light that was emanating from the book that Malchior is contained in. Shall I investigate it, Robin?"

"No, wait for us, Star…we don't know what we're going to find in there…best we take it on together, whatever it is."

"Understood. I shall await your arrival before entering."

Robin clicked the communicator off and gunned the engine of his R-Cycle. It sounded like Malchior was in there, somewhere, and probably Raven too. The problem was, he didn't know how much power the dragon in disguise had gained, he had no idea if Raven was okay, and there was still no sign of Beast Boy. It was not a situation the Boy Wonder liked being in, knowing so little of what he was facing. Raven and Beast Boy could both be in trouble…they could be seriously hurt, or maybe worse…he didn't know. There was too much he just didn't know. If knowledge was power, then Robin was feeling pretty damn weak right then.

And as he sped toward where he hoped he would find his friends, it suddenly struck him just how ridiculous it was that not two minutes earlier he'd been more worried about meat waffles and a kiss from Starfire three weeks old.

"WAHH!"

With a wild, instinctual leap, Beast Boy just managed to dodge the blast of purple energy that 'Raven' fired at him. The blast singed a few hairs on his skin as it passed; too close for comfort for the changeling. He took a leaf from Bumblebee's book and morphed into her namesake, making himself a much more difficult target.

In theory.

Malchior seemed intent on proving him wrong, however. The blasts he fired through Raven's eyes were still coming at Beast Boy with remarkable accuracy, and even as a tiny little bee, the blasts were still burning the hairs on his insect body.

The changeling decided to opt for speed rather than size; he flew down to the ground at top speed and morphed into a cheetah, and now at last he was avoiding Malchior's assault with ease. The villain realized it quickly enough and ceased his assault, apparently unwilling to waste any more energy. He locked Raven's eyes with the big green cat.

"So…Beast Boy, is it?" Malchior's voice spewed out of her mouth. "My my…Raven certainly doesn't hold much respect for you, I see…"

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed, his whiskers twitching.

"Oh, but it's true," Malchior continued, raising one of Raven's hands and tapping it to her skull. "I have access to every corner of this girl's mind. Her every thought, her every secret, belongs to me, now. And I must say, changeling, she rarely finds your antics amusing. You're little more than a pest to her. An annoying fly she longs to swat."

Beast Boy resumed elf form. "Tell me something I don't know, you body thief!"

"I believe I can do that…"

The green Titan could almost see the wheels turning as Malchior dug into Raven's deepest secrets, and he felt an immense pity for the dark girl; to have her mind being read like a book by anyone, much less a villain like Malchior, when she was powerless to stop it, must have been a terrible experience.

"Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh…" Malchior laughed suddenly. "Ah, changeling…how you must have loved that dear girl of the earth…Terra, was it?"

Beast Boy froze. His hands quivered momentarily, and a fury in him rose that hadn't been known since the day he lost his first love. "Don't you ever talk about her!" he shouted back.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…yes…Raven could see how much you cared for this girl…and thought you quite the fool for it…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Terra betrayed you, Beast Boy…she betrayed all of the Titans. How you can still care about her is beyond the both of us…Raven always thought you were a fool for still harboring feelings for that wretched girl…she did terrible things, changeling…hurtful things…you have no idea how much Raven hates that traitor…though I must admit, it's not as strong as her hate for me right about now…ha-ha-ha…"

"You…you don't know what you're talking about…" Beast Boy managed to say. "Raven may be cold, but she's not that cold…she doesn't hate…"

"Really? You think so, changeling?" Malchior whispered. He turned up the corners of Raven's mouth into a sneer. "Then why has she been keeping from you the most important secret of all?"

"What? What secret?"

"Your friend Terra has been sealed away in stone for more than half a year now, hasn't she? And all this time you believed Raven has been searching, unsuccessfully, for a way to free her…"

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed. "What are you saying? That Raven hasn't been searching at all? I don't think so. I've seen her at it."

"No, changeling…I am saying that Raven has known the secret to freeing Terra for quite some time now. Ever since I first came into her life, to be precise…just one of the many spells she learned under my teachings. But she kept it a secret from you and all the other Titans…because she wanted Terra left in stone forever. She didn't care about how the rest of the Titans felt about her, least of all you, with your pathetic little crush…"

"That's a lie!" Beast Boy shouted.

"Didn't you ever wonder, changeling, when I was first defeated? Raven gained so much power thanks to me…she learned hundreds upon hundreds of new spells through me. Didn't it occur to you to wonder that maybe, just maybe, out of all those new spells, there might be one that could free the titan of the earth from her prison?"

"If there was, Raven would have at least said something to us!" Beast Boy insisted. "Raven wouldn't hide something like that from us!"

"She did, changeling. And even now, as she's hearing me spill her secret, she's not sorry she did it…"

"SHUT UP!"

In a split second a green lion had crossed the distance between the two of them and pounced upon Raven/Malchior. Raven's body fell to the ground, the crushing weight of the lion's front paws pressing on her collarbone. Its foaming jaws were twisted into a furious snarl, and a guttural roar was issuing from deep in its throat.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh…going to…kill your friend…to get rid of me, are you?" the dragon-in-diguise choked out.

Beast Boy snarled louder.

"She…wants you to do it, you know…" Malchior said. "You should hear her…begging you to finish the job…she'd be free of my possession…free of me rooting through her every secret…free of her father's demonic essence…death would be a release for her, Beast Boy, if you would only grant it to her…heh-heh-heh…"

The changeling's eyes narrowed angrily.

"But you won't do it, will you? Heh-heh-heh…your kind never does…"

"BEAST BOY, NO!"

A blast of blue energy crashed into Beast Boy's flank, throwing him off Raven/Malchior and sending him skidding across the floor. He morphed back to elf form, shaking his head, and looked toward the source; it was Cyborg's sonic cannon.

"Yo, BB, what's your problem? Raven could've choked to death!"

The rest of the Titans knelt behind the metallic titan, tending to 'Raven.'

"Raven, please speak to us, it is your friends!" Starfire said, cradling the dark girl's head in her arms.

"NO! THAT'S NOT RAVEN!" Beast Boy shouted. "GET BACK, BEFORE…"

But the changeling was too late; a pulse of purple light exploded from Raven's body, hurling the rest of the Titans away in the same manner as Beast Boy.

"Serves you right," he said to Cyborg as they reoriented themselves. "I had her right where I wanted her 'till you blasted me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, man, I guess I should've realized that Raven was gonna try to KILL US!" Cyborg shot back. "Seriously, BB, we walk in and see you practically choking Rae to death, what were we supposed to think?"

"Cut it out, you two!" Robin ordered. He snapped his head back to 'Raven.' "Why did you attack us, Raven?"

"Raven didn't attack you, my dear songbird," Malchior's voice issued from the dark girl's mouth. "I did."

Robin's eyes bulged behind his eye-mask. "Malchior? But how…?"

Raven's lips curved into an evil smile. Her eyes flashed purple, and suddenly a dome of energy appeared around the other four Titans, sealing them within before they even noticed it had appeared.

"What the…?" Cyborg said, touching the dome wall. It was solid, and cold as ice.

"How pathetic…with one simple spell I have defeated all of you at once…ha-ha-ha-ha…and still you call yourself 'Titans?' You are not worthy of sharing a name with those great beings."

"Huh?" Beast Boy said. "You mean there are other Titans like us?"

"No, you fool!" Malchior snarled. "Not like you! The Titans were the greatest beings to ever walk the face of the earth! Their power was unequaled; even the gods of Mount Olympus were trembling in their togas in fear of the Titans!"

"Yeah? Well if they're so great, where are they now, huh?" Beast Boy shot back.

"Unfortunately, Hercules and his father, Zeus, somehow managed to seal the Titans away, locking them in a prison meant to hold them there forever, until they became the stuff of legends…much the same way I was imprisoned by that meddling wizard Rorek. But their imprisonment, like mine, ends at last tonight! The almighty Titans of old will live again…they will annihilate this world of common men…they will bring about the end of your team that dares to bear their name…and you will have a front row seat as the first of them returns!"

The Titans could do nothing but watch as Malchior closed Raven's eyes and thrust her arms out to her sides. A massive wind picked up, again lifting into the air everything that wasn't bolted to the ground. Just as before, the large desks and razor-sharp shards of glass swirled around in the wind, but Malchior's dome kept the Titans safe, while Malchior himself was repelling the objects before they could get close, keeping Raven's body safe. This time however, the wind did not stop growing in strength. It grew to rival the force of a tropical storm, and soon enough even the bolts holding down the heavy machinery were groaning under the pressure, and the walls and ceiling were beginning to split open.

"What in the world is going on?" Beast Boy said, marveling at the sight.

"He intends on raising these 'Titans' from a prison similar to the one he himself was in," Starfire recited, taking the changeling literally. "But Robin, I am confused…who are these other 'Titans' exactly?"

"They were beings of immense power in Greek mythology," Robin answered her. "Said to be almost as powerful as the gods of Mount Olypmus. There were five of them altogether…and they were the most feared creatures in all of Greek mythology; they killed many people and destroyed many villages before they were stopped. The ruler of the gods, Zeus, and his son Hercules defeated the Titans and sealed them away, supposedly forever…"

"And now Malchior intends to unleash them upon the world again?" Starfire gasped.

"It can't be, though," Robin said. "Its just mythology. Ancient stories. There's no way he could bring something back to life that never existed in the first case."

"Well he's sure as hell givin' it the old college try," Cyborg countered, jerking a thumb toward the dragon-in-disguise. The Titans looked again; while the dome was still shielding them from the wreckage swirling around them in the wind, the rest of the building wasn't so lucky. The walls and ceiling were nonexistent now, having torn away and joined the swirling debris moments earlier, and the bright colors of the setting sun bathed them all in bright reds and oranges. Malchior himself had risen Raven's body off the ground; they were now hovering just above where the roof had been, a good fifty feet in the air.

"He's chanting something," Cyborg said, noticing the dark girl's lips moving. "It sounds like he's speaking in Greek!"

"Raven doesn't know Greek, does she?" Beast Boy said.

"If she doesn't, apparently Malchior does," Robin said.

"Oh, I cannot bear to watch this! Is there no way to help our friend?" Starfire pleaded.

"Not while this dome is around us…" Cyborg said. "If Malchior is controlling Raven's powers as well as his own, this wall has got to be damn near impossible to break."

"Cyborg, can you translate what she's saying at all?" Robin asked.

"Not a word," Cyborg said. "I really should get a universal translator…it's hard enough never knowing what Mas y Menos are saying."

But it mattered no longer, for Malchior suddenly switched over to English.

"Speak to me, great Titans of old…I, Malchior, summon you…I, Malchior, grant you the power to break free of those chains that have bound you these many centuries! Rise, ancient beings, and reclaim this world that is rightfully yours! RISE, TITANS, AND DESTROY THOSE WHO DARE DEFILE YOUR NAME!"

The wind was gone instantly. With a crack louder than a thunderbolt the foundation of the building split open, forming a massive fissure in the ground. Earthquakes ripped through the landscape, sending the titans and the rest of the city falling to their knees. Nearby buildings, many of which were not nearly as abandoned as the warehouse, began to crumble under the massive magnitude of the earthquake; some were unlucky enough to be right in the path of the fissure and sunk down into the hole, taking the screaming people inside with it.

"No!" Robin shouted in frustration. "Malchior, stop this! Innocent lives are being lost! You're killing them, Malchior!"

"Exactly," the dragon-in-disguise sneered. "The raising of the Titans begins tonight, and your pathetic city will be their first victim. This city will succumb to the gaping maw of the earth…be crushed under the weight of her most powerful son! You will fall to the mercy…of the Earth Titan!"

A blazing yellow light erupted from the crater, followed quickly by an earsplitting roar of fury. And then…then, it appeared.

A massive hand, twice as big as the T-sub, reached out from within the fissure. A second hand followed quickly. The wielder of the hands pulled itself out of the fissure and stood looming over them all, standing as tall as Titan's Tower. Its whole body was solid, tough, unyielding rock of a dark gray color, its form craggy and uneven. Short, stubby legs connected to a torso that looked like a small mountain. Two bobbing heads, two gaping mouths, and four glowing red eyes glared down at the crowd beneath it.

"I…I don't believe it…" Robin whispered.

"It…it's enormous…" Cyborg added.

"It is the Earth Titan, you fools…" Malchior said. "And it is what will rid this world of you once and for all…urk!"

Raven's hands suddenly clutched her head, and Malchior let out a scream.

"AAAAUUGH! NO! THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE! HOW ARE YOU…YOU CAN'T…YOU…NO…AAAAHH!"

An eruption of purple energy came from Raven's body; energy that quickly turned into lightless obsidian. In the same instant the dome around the other four titans also flashed black, before fading away entirely. The dark girl let out a groan of pain…and fell lifelessly from the sky.

"RAVEN!"