Clash of the Titans by CidGregor
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.
Chapter 14
"Starfire! Starfire, talk to me! Wake up, Star…"
The alien girl did not respond to the Boy Wonder's pleas. She lay unconscious in his arms, her breathing shallow and slow. Robin cradled her head under one arm, feeling her hair on his skin…and even that seemed lifeless. Where her hair usually was silky-smooth, now it felt…rough. Stiff. Dead…
"Starfire…what did that psycho do to you…?" Robin whispered furiously.
A shadow passed over the room; Robin looked over at the gaping hole in the wall where the window used to be, and saw Beast Boy and Terra hop into the room from a floating rock, horrified looks on their faces.
"We…heard the scream…" Beast Boy whispered. "Robin…what happened…?"
"Malchior happened," Robin growled. "He took control of Raven again, and sucked up all of Star's energy."
"Is she…okay?" Terra asked.
"I don't know…she's breathing, but…she looks so lifeless…"
Cyborg hurried into the room next. "What's all the noise over-" he said, but cut himself off when his eyes registered the sights in the room before him. He swore under his breath. "My God…what…what happened here?"
Robin quickly explained again what had happened, leaving Cyborg looking nonplussed. He didn't appear surprised at all.
"Here, Rob, let me take a look at her…" he muttered.
Cyborg's scanners waved back and forth over the alien girl's body, and let out a series of small beeps as a display came up on the mechanical titan's forearm. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Nothing to worry about…he drained some of her energy, but you know our girl, she has plenty to spare. She should be fine in an hour or so…her energy levels are filling back up pretty fast…if she were human it'd take more like four hours to recover this much energy."
Sure enough her eyes opened a moment later. Her eyes, normally sparkling, had lost a lot of their glow, but Robin could see it slowly returning.
"Robin…Malchior…he…" she muttered.
"Shh…" Robin whispered. "We know. Save your strength, Star."
"No…it is something…else…"
"Something else?" Robin echoed her.
Starfire sat up, shaking her head to clear it. "I believe that Malchior has been in control for some time before now…I believe he has been acting the part of Raven, fooling us."
A dawning comprehension crossed Robin's face. "Of course…Raven's attitude during the meeting…"
"She was way too cold, even for Raven," Beast Boy said, catching on. "She wouldn't have blown everything off like that, unless…"
"Unless that wasn't really her," Cyborg finished the thought. "I could tell she wasn't herself…somehow, I knew…dammit, I could've stopped him…"
"Don't blame yourself," Robin said. "Malchior fooled all of us. He's to blame for doing this to Starfire. The question is, why? Why pretend to be Raven? What does Malchior get out of it?"
"He lulled us into a false sense of security, Cyborg said, "so he could steal Starfire's energy. She was the only real choice; he already had Raven, and my energy weapons are all in my cybernetic parts; he'd know there would be no way he could suck energy out of electronics. Starfire was the only other one of us with energy-based powers, and she has a lot of it to give…what I want to know is, what does he plan to do with all that power?"
"…M-maybe…he wants to put the Earth Titan back together?" Terra offered hesitantly.
"That's possible," Cyborg admitted. "If he-"
"No!" Robin suddenly shouted.
Cyborg stared at the titan leader, and was shocked at the horrified look on his face. "What's gotten into you, man?"
"He doesn't just want to bring back the Earth Titan!" Robin told him. "Right before he left, he said to me, 'the Titans will rise again…all of them.' He's going to use Starfire's stolen energy to charge him up enough to raise the other four Titans!"
"Oh, man," Cyborg muttered. "If he can manage that…Robin, there's no way we can fight all of them together…"
"If he can summon all five Titans…" Terra started.
"Then this city is in serious trouble," Robin finished.
A screeching alarm and flashing red lights interrupted the conversation; the Titan Alarm. Something was happening in the city.
"Perfect…just what we need…Cyborg, stay here with Starfire," Robin ordered. "I'm going to check the main computer, see what the problem is."
"Don't bother, dude," Beast Boy said before he could leave. "Take a look for yourself."
The changeling pointed out the window. The team looked out where Beast Boy was pointing, and let out a collective gasp. The clear, definite silhouette of the Earth Titan was towering off in the distance, slowly marching out of the quarry…and straight toward downtown.
"If he gets into the city, the death toll is going to skyrocket," Robin snarled. "Dammit, I thought we had more time…"
"We've gotta get over there and stop him!" Beast Boy said.
"You're right…but Starfire still needs time to recover…and if Malchior decides to come back here and attack, I don't want her to be left alone against him." He took a deep breath, mentally making his 'leader' decisions. "Okay. Terra, you're still the best chance we have against the Earth Titan, so that's what you're going to do. Stop that…thing from reaching downtown. Cyborg and I will be going with you. We'll try to deal with Malchior. Beast Boy, I want you to stay with Starfire until she's strong enough to fight, and then both of you get over there as fast as you can. Got it?"
Beast Boy threw a worried glance sideways toward Terra, and looked ready to protest at being separated from her, but with a reassuring look from the earth maiden, he held his tongue and nodded to Robin.
"Okay then. Titans, GO!"
Terra ripped up a larger platform of rock than usual, giving Robin and Cyborg enough room to stand there with her. Terra laid a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder for a moment, sharing a glance into each other's eyes. Then her, Robin, and Cyborg hopped onto the rock, and Terra flew them as fast as she could toward the Earth Titan, hoping they could get there in time to stop any more deaths from happening.
"Good luck, guys," Beast Boy whispered. "And…Terra…be safe…"
Deep in the red and black nightscape within Raven's consciousness, the dark girl was in a storming rage.
"Malchior, you are insane!" she shouted at the black and violet dragon that loomed over her cage. "What could you possibly gain from all this? What's in it for you?"
"Simply the pleasure of eliminating every last wretched human soul from this planet," the dragon hissed. "They have lost their respect for the mighty Titans, and for that they must die. What more 'gain' could I strive for?"
"This city has placed their faith in a new set of Titans," Raven shot back, "and they will stop your insane plan!"
Malchior only laughed, his snout flaring with violet fire.
"Besides, I know the extent of my power and yours. Even with the energy you stole from Starfire, you don't have the power to raise the rest of the Titans."
The dragon laughed again. It pointed one wicked, sharp claw at the cage in which the cluster of Ravens stood. Suddenly, bars shot out from the floor, sealing in one of the Ravens, separate from the others. Red.
"What? What foolishness is this?" Red snarled.
Malchior beckoned with his claw, and Red's new cage lifted and passed straight through the ceiling. The cage flew upward, and came to a halt directly in front of the dragon's serpent-like head.
"The lady is, admittedly, quite right," Malchior hissed to Red. "As things are now, I am still lacking the power I require to raise the Earth Titan's mighty brethren."
"What concern is that of mine?"
"It is very much your concern. Tell me…you are the true extent of Raven's power, are you not? You are her demon side. Her true strength. And yet, she has always bound you…afraid to let you out…"
"Oh no," Raven whispered, realizing what was happening. "NO!"
"Side with me, demon," Malchior said. "With my power and yours combined, we shall destroy these worthless humans…and you can have this body, just as you've always desired."
"…You do not desire this girl's body?"
"Of course not!" Malchior snorted. "You think I want to remain in this wretched girl any longer than I have to? No…when we have raised the Titans, I will rebuild my own body…greater and more powerful than before…THAT shall be mine…and the girl…shall be all yours."
A slow, sinister grin crept onto Red's face.
"NO! DON'T DO IT!" Raven screamed. "YOU'LL DESTROY US ALL!"
"Destruction sounds quite nice to me," Red answered.
"Yes…so what do you say, demon? Do we have an agreement?"
"We have an agreement."
"NOOOOOO!" Raven echoed.
The cage around Red vanished. The demon's four red eyes blazed, and the tiny form grew…morphed…mutated…until its true demon form was revealed. Hulking, muscular limbs. Long white hair. Dark red skin. Pointed ears. Four glowing yellow eyes.
The demonic essence of Trigon.
"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"
The demon bellowed into the empty red and black sky. His body pulsed with an unnatural red light, and at the same time, Malchior's dragon form began glowing purple.
"Now, demon…give your strength to me…and make our powers one!"
The red light engulfed the demon until his body was no longer visible. It was glowing so brightly, the rest of the Ravens were unable to even look at it directly. And then, like wisps of smoke caught in a breeze, the light began to flow into Malchior's body.
"Yes…YEEEES…YEEEEEEEEEESSS! THIS IS THE POWER I NEED! THIS IS THE POWER THAT WILL RAVAGE THIS WORLD!"
Now Malchior, too, was engulfed in the combined purple and red light. He let out a serpentine roar of his own before he vanished, and the light seemed to literally explode, it was so bright…even closing their eyes, Raven and the rest of her emotions were blinded by it.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the flare faded, and Raven could begin to make out what was going on outside of the cage. And as soon as she did, she realized she'd rather not have known. The demon form of Red had vanished…but where Malchior remained, he had transformed into something ten times worse.
In sheer size, the dragon had grown. Where once he had stood perhaps as tall as the Earth Titan, now he towered even over that giant. His scaly purple and black skin had changed colors; now it was a blazing, fiery red. Hi wings had elongated, spanning twice the length of his body when fully extended. The outside of them was the same flaming red as the rest of his skin, but the inside was a pale, empty gold. Long white hair had sprouted from the dragon's head, hanging down around his snake-like neck.
"By Azar…" Raven whispered.
"HAAAAAHH! YEEESSSSSSSSS…SUCH POWER…SUCH PHENOMINAL POWER…MORE THAN ENOUGH TO RAISE THE TITANS, AND LAY WASTE TO THESE WORTHLESS MORTALS…"
The transformed Malchior sneered down at Raven, enjoying the horrified expression on her face. "YOU SEE, RAVEN, HOW FUTILE IT WAS TO OPPOSE ME? HA-HA-HA-HA…YOUR WORTHLESS FRIENDS SHALL NOT STOP ME NOW…THEY SHALL FALL, RAVEN…AND THE TRUE TITANS SHALL RISE IN THEIR PLACE."
The dragon laughed once more, and then vanished in a flash of light, leaving Raven feeling utterly and completely defeated.
"He's won…" she whispered. "My demon side has made him more powerful than ever…there's nothing left to stop him from raising the rest of the Titans now…"
"He may have the power to raise them, yes…" Yellow interrupted her thoughts. "But he has not won. Not yet."
"Of course he has!" Raven snapped at her other self. "He has the core of our power at his fingertips, on top of his own! He's about to have all five Titans at his disposal, and there is NOTHING my friends could possibly do about it!"
Yellow sighed. "One of these days, Raven, you're going to remember that I'm the core of your intelligence and rationality, and you'll realize that when I say something like, 'Malchior has not won yet,' you should take my word for it."
"Wh-what?" Raven stuttered. "What are you saying?"
"What do you think she's saying?" Green broke in. "Look at who you're talking to! This is your intelligence right here! And she ALWAYS has a plan! And they usually involve lots of bad guys to beat down on!"
"Yeah, Rae-rae!" Pink said with a smile. "Cheer up! We'll be out of here in no time!"
Raven's eyes narrowed. "You're telling me you have a plan to stop this disaster from happening?"
"Yes," Yellow said. "It's a long shot, I will admit…but it's also our only shot."
Raven took a deep breath, and nodded. "All right then…let's hear it."