Here I am again! I didn't want to keep anyone waiting for long. Many people are really enjoying this story, so I decided to post two parts at once. Yay! Less reviews, but yay anyways! People like it when more than one part gets posted at the same time, so here you go! I don't own Teen Titans!
Raven's Game
Part 14: One Thousand Guardians
"There." Raven had finished reassembling the vellum. She saw all twelve symbols, all at the same time. "Wait… this is the order they go in?" Her brow furrowed. Making double-sure she'd pieced everything together correctly, she stared at the completed puzzle in shock. They were in the same order she'd found them in! "Lussa, Kars, Oliviak…" she mumbled down the list, heaving a sigh. "Now what am I supposed to–"
A spike of pure shadow pierced her body, spraying blood across the vellum!
Raven screamed in unholy agony, wrenching away. Clutching her abdomen and hyper-ventilating in pain, she looked up through tear-blurred eyes. "Oh God…" she whispered. She was sprawled helplessly against the display case, in severe pain.
The shadow had come for her. Thousands of whispers accompanied it. It was a giant, teeming mass of sharp spines and eyes. I slithered along the ground, no feet to speak of, in a giant messy blob. It had no definite shape… it just kept changing at will. Raven groaned, but refused to take her eyes off of her enemy. "Raaaaaaaaaaavennnnnnnn……" It's eyes glowed red, and an icy shiver went down her spine. She began shaking uncontrollably.
"Lussa." Raven whispered, swallowing. She was bleeding badly. She had to finish it… finish it while she still could. The shadow flinched hard at the word, as though it had been struck by lightning.
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Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg whispered amongst themselves for perhaps ten seconds before they had to fight again. Cyborg grabbed Beast Boy and hunkered down like a shield. "NOW!" He cried. Starfire threw her hands up to cast her dome attack, but was suddenly slashed across the arm. She cried out in pain, doubling over and clutching it.
"Ouch…" she stood to do it again, but had to dodge. Their hasty plan had failed, and they would die fighting –
A hail of exploding pellets blew a ten-foot radius of specters away.
A shadow flashed back and forth amongst the ghosts, and they fell to pieces at the rage of a bow-staff. A sonic disk skittered across the floor and more of them were blown into their smokey state again. A young, gallant boy skidded to a halt, near the red head. He gasped for breath a few times, seeing the look of disbelief his team was giving him. "Sorry I'm late." Robin said, offering an apologetic smile. "I heard a T-rex roar." He cast Beast Boy a grin. The green teen's eyes filled with happiness, as did the metal man's and the red-head's. "I'm with you…" The enemy had already reformed and was coming for them in a wave of claws and scythes. "Titans go!" He roared. All three of them stood proud for battle as their leader led them straight onward.
Depositing pellets into his hands Robin threw them with a flourish. They exploded here and there, dispersing spirit after spirit into their smokey state. They would reform in a few moments. He noticed this and desperately tried to think of a plan for battle. "What can we do! They're already dead!"
"One of us has to get to the shrine at the end of that hall!" Cyborg shouted, sweeping his sonic cannon across a crowd of specters. "The three of us know the spell to seal all of 'em away, but we gotta get there first!"
Starfire, who was still bleeding from the arm, had slowed considerably. She was Tameranian, but she was still feminine. Her limits came much faster than the boys' did sometimes. And this was one of those times. She was barely fast enough to even dodge anymore. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her newly beloved Robin dancing amongst his foes, his weapon flashing to slay them all. Her heart swelled with happiness –!
A set of claws tore into her shoulder and collarbone.
Starfire screamed in agony, flying back and hitting the stone wall. She fell with a yelp, unmoving and bleeding. The specters closed in on her, and she moaned as she tried to find her senses. His heart beating desperately, Robin let out a cry of battle! Cyborg put his hands together and made springboard for the boy wonder. Robin flew over the crowd and landed near the beautiful Tameranian girl. "The first one to touch her dies." He said, twirling his staff and standing at her side. Rooting himself between them and her, he almost didn't noticed elephant Beast Boy ramming through the shadowy guardians. He trumpeted wildly, an angry Cyborg riding and blasting from his back.
Beast Boy shrank back to normal as Cyborg leapt off. "We don't have time for this!" Beast Boy roared as the enemy drew closer. Cyborg blasted the next wave away, but that only bought them a few moments before the next wave would come. "We have to get down that hall, not stand here and fight 'til we're DEAD!"
Starfire sat up, shaking her head. "Oh…" she groaned, holding her wound. She was down to half of her strength, and only one of her arms would obey her. "It hurts…" she whispered, almost falling to her knees at the pain. Robin shouldered her so she could stay up, but couldn't keep his eyes on her. There was too much going on. Cyborg blasted another wave of spirits away, but they were getting smarter. They came in quicker, smaller waves now to keep them off-guard.
Cyborg looked down the hall, maybe fifty feet away. The rubble of the broken stone was still there, the hallway just beyond it… It was a straight shot… The metal man turned and looked at Robin soberly. Then, he spoke the words that would be their final plan of attack. "I got the sonic… if you got the boom." Robin stared at him for only a moment, then nodded. "Starfire, we'll clear a path. Use your good arm and throw Beast Boy down the hall." The red-head and green teen nodded. "Sorry man, but you gotta finish this on your own." He touched his best friend's shoulder, then wrenched around to blow another wave of the guardians away.
"Carve me a path, buddy." He said softly, tears making his eyes shine. He turned to Starfire. "Throw me as hard as you can, Star." He turned into an armadillo and rolled into a perfect ball. The armored creature would be okay so long as it didn't strike a stone wall head on. Letting go of her wound and taking a deep breath, Starfire held him with one hand.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
"TITANS GO!" Time slowed down like it would in a Matrix movie. Tiny sparkles of energy gathered in Cyborg's sonic cannon. Robin seemed to float through the air as he leapt, twin disks between his fingers. Starfire was winding up to pitch the green ball that was Beast Boy…
The blast was devastating and Titan's Tower shook on its foundations! And then, through the fire and destruction, flew a green armadillo. It landed in the perfectly smooth hallway, bounced a few times, and became Beast Boy again. He tumbled with a cry of pain, twisting his ankle in process. Running as quickly as he could, he pressed onward to his destination.
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"Kars. Oliviak." Raven whimpered the words, but they were still powerful. She was bleeding so badly… she pressed her cloak desperately against the wound. Stop the bleeding, stop the bleeding… The shadow writhed and tried to escape. "Frenic!" The symbol for Frenic appeared, enormous, on the wall. The shadow hissed, unable to escape that way. "Morcana!" Raven grunted, thrusting out her hand. "Tyma! Malus! Larsus!" The walls each had a symbol. "Olkas! Mortym!" The ceiling and floor matched, and the shadow screamed in desperation. Raven felt a little tug, right behind her navel. "Ixiam…" she groaned, falling to the floor. Her blood was gathering on the carpet. The shadow couldn't take anymore. It was time to make her leave. It was no longer a game to be played. She only had one word left to say in the final recitation…
Raven fell out of the game world, and into the real one.
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Beast Boy ran as fast as his twisted ankle would allow, which was a galloping limp. He passed endless amounts of Azar writing, all of it describing and warning others away from what was up ahead. He arrived at the shrine, and it was more horrible than he remembered.
It was a semi-circle shaped room, and there was a well in the middle. Green and black mist hovered around it like an oozing, spectral trail. Four columns held the roof up, but looked equally disturbing. Each had a faceless, stone statue leaning out of it.Their arms seemed to be out in offering, a stream of green was spouting lazily from each one. A smokey substance than looked like Starfire's powers in liquid form was coming out of each one. Four bottomless bowls were there, one under each fountain. The columns themselves had hundreds of eye-less faces carved into them, and they all seemed to be staring at him.
Beast Boy shuddered, coming closer. The ancient stones tha made up the walls, columns, and well seemed to pulse at his presence. He came and got a closer look at one of the bowls of green goo.
"Help us…"
"Save us please…"
"God save us all…"
"It's so dark…"
"Who's there…?"
"Oh Jesus, I'm scared…""HELP US…"
They all seemed to be talking all at once. He couldn't make much sense out of them, and quickly turned towards his goal. The well. "I want Raven back. Now!" He threw his hands into the air, making to say the first symbol. A giant portal suddenly split open on one of the walls, and Raven tumbled through with a cry of pain! Crashing to the ground and clutching her wound, she made herself stand and hobble over near the well. Beast Boy stared in dumbfounded disbelief. "Raven…?" he whispered, tears in his eyes.
Raven turned with a sharp glare, as though he were an enemy. But… he was crying to the sight of her… he was the real deal, she suddenly knew. "Beast Boy…" she tried to go to him, but staggered and fell. He rushed forward and caught her, seeing the horrible state she was in. She was dirty, bloody, sweating, and trembling. Her lips were moving, though… He quickly leaned down, putting his pointed ear near her lips. "The… last symbol…" she whispered, tears of pain pouring from her eyes. "Say it…… finish it…"
The darkness exploded from the well, knocking them both back against the wall! Crying out on impact they slid to the floor as it emerged in all its unholy glory. A thrashing, misty darkness that knew no mercy. Its claws were of quicksilver, bubbling and changing every second. Its skin was indefinable, swirling and bubble in a spectral, smokey state. Its horrible red eyes pierced them both to their very souls, haunting them forever with its lust to feed on souls. Its mouth, a horrible thing filled with teeth sharper than razors, came open –!
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"Aagh!" Robin hit the wall with a grunt, a giant bruise appearing on his chest and back. Starfire twirled, going full-auto with her star bolts. More and more spirits fell, but more and more were coming. Cyborg was starting to wear down his batteries, and wouldn't be able to go for much longer. There were simply too many. What was taking Beast Boy so long?
Starfire's powers gave, and she fell to the ground on her hands and knees. Near Robin, she looked over at him with tears budding in her eyes. "I… cannot… fight… anymore…" she said between gasps. "Robin…" she passed out completely. The boy wonder crawled desperately to where she lay, cradling her in his arms.
"Starfire…" he whispered. A misty shadow cast itself upon them, and he looked up. He had no more to give either. He'd tried as hard as he could, but this was the end. The gargoyle-like creature raised its scythe high. Robin clutched at the beautiful Tameranian, bending over her with tears in his eyes. "I love you…" he whispered.
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The creatures teeth dripped with the green, shadow goo Beast Boy had seen earlier. Raven clutched his hand, and he looked down at her. She was wear what looked like a red glass eyepatch on her face, and symbols covered her body. Quickly looking back at his enemy, he saw it raising a mighty set of claws. It was going to hack them both to pieces with one swipe. Cradling the bleeding Raven in his arms, Beast Boy quickly drew breath.
"Raka…."
What happens next? What happens next? Aaaaah! Its almost over, peeps! Beast Boy has finished Raven's incantation. Starfire and Robin are about to die. Cyborg's power cell is failing. Raven is bleeding to death. Next time on Raven's Game! It's GAME OVER! See ya there!