Two Halves

I don't own Teen Titans.

Chapter 10: More for me

Raven increased her flight speed as the voice in her head became less and lessin its volume. It was barely a whisper as she continued to follow the path. She looked down at the city I order to get any signs of trouble. But her visual continued to be unsuccessful. The only lead she had was the voice in her head.

She continued to tell herself that they would be okay, that her emotions could be okay. However, doubt was still grasped over her hope. The cry she felt was of pain. They were in danger and they were losing. They could possibly be dead. But Raven couldn't except that. They were in trouble and she had to save them. Forget what the demon said. They may be copies, but they were once a part of her. She couldn't let them die. Yet the possibility of death was becoming…

It stopped.

She halted her flight and hovered in mid air as the worst scenario was beginning to play out. The voice has stopped its plea. She reached out with her mind to try and find it yet again. No luck came. The voice was no more.

(Damn. Come on. Please be okay,) she thought.

She then heard the faint noise of sirens from beneath her. Looking down, she notice five squad cars up in front of the open-air mall. Still looking, she could see the officers behind their cars, gun drawn and discussing amongst themselves. A crowd of people stood behind the barricade, obviously wandering what was going on.

"Not now!" she yelled.

Another damn villain crisis. Must be the HIVE five or Mumbo screwing around again. Cops are either waiting for the team or are just to damn scared to move in. She didn't have time for this. But, she had to fill her civic duty and play hero. She flew down lower to see into the mall. But she saw she would wish she hadn't.

"Oh God. Please don't. Just please don't," she said as she saw what was in there.

She flew down into the mall and put her hood down as she tried to tell herself that she wasn't seeing this. But it was truth. And it hurt.

Her emotions were here. At least the good ones. But she was too late. Rage had gotten to them first and had disposed of them. She looked around at this battlefield and looked at the bodies of her emotions. They wore different clothes, but she could tell them apart like they were family. To her far right in black clothing was Timid. Her body was against a wall. The wall behind her was cracked and dried blood had etched onto the wall and became a halo around her head making her look like a dead religious figure in real life instead of a stained glass window. A little ways next to her was Love still in her purple leotard and cloak. Her cloak had been torn off and her frail body was laying in a pool of fresh blood. She probably died last. Hanging out of a store window was the upper body of Bravery, who was clad in commando like wear. Reflector glasses hung askew on her face and pieces of large broken glass fragments jetted out from under her along with one large piece embedded on her forehead.

Over near the tables was Happy. But the face of that smiling girl Raven had known was gone. He face was now unsmiling and it was on a head that was hanging off of a sliced neck. Dried blood stained the Starfire uniform she had borrowed, making her look like a victim on Halloween. The worst had to be Intellect. She was dressed in some kind of business like clothing. She was at the bottom of the flagpole, which had been drilled into her stomach. Dried blood was down the length of the pole. A pair of glasses laid to her side which were bent and the lenses shattered

"No. No," Raven weakly said as she dropped to her knees and her body trembled all over. She then slammed her fist into the ground and yelled," Noooooooo!"

Still bent over, tears began to course from her eyes as this grisly murder scene continued to remain in her head. They were dead. They had been killed. Their corpses had been dishonored. Raven felt like she was in her own Hell. And the worst part is that she could have stopped it. If only she knew what became of them if she became pure. She could have saved them. She could have brought them into this world. They could have been friends. None of this would have happened. It was her fault. It was all her fault.

Just then, off to her side, a cough broke the dead silence that had filled this spot. Raven looked up and turned her head slightly to the side to see the cough was generating from Love. Her chest was moving up and down as she was breathing, but it was very slow and the breathing was just in short gasps of air.

Raven quickly ran over to the body and dropped to her knees. She then wrapped one arm around the body and another around her head. She then lifted it up and cradled it, looking into the slowly fading eyes of her emotion.

Giving a meek smile, Love said," Hi, Raven. What took you so long?"

"Hang in there. I'll try to heal you," Raven replied. She then removed her arm from around Love's body and lifted her hand up in order to begin her healing. But suddenly, Love shook her head.

"No. The healing wouldn't work. I talking to you through only a portion of my soul."

"What are you talking about?"

"Rage ate the other emotions souls. That demon, from your mind, he…he made his human…so our power could grow and she could gain it. We tried to fight…but our efforts…were futile."

"No. No. You did fine," Raven lied.

"Don't lie. It never helps."

"I'm sorry. Its just that…I wanted to help you…but I couldn't…I should of…"

Raven began to feel tears run down her face yet again. Love then weakly lifted one of her hands and slowly wiped her eyes with them.

"Don't cry for your follies. It was our fault. The demon told us you forgot about us on purpose. But, you…wouldn't do that, right?"

"Of course not. I would of helped you if I knew," Raven replied.

Love smiled again and said," That's nice. I like to…hear that. Maybe when…I go to the other life, I can tell the others if they are there. Then we can wait for you with our…hearts filled with joy. Do you think we'll go to the otherlife?"

"Yes," Raven replied, not knowing either.

"That would be nice. I would like…to see mom again." Love then let out a raspy cough that made Raven want to break out in tears at not being able to quell her suffering.

"Raven…you have to beat Rage…and the demon. If they keep…going, they will harm others."

"Don't worry. I will,"

"And Raven."

"Yes."

"I have to hurry for my time is sort. It's about…Beast Boy. When you went on your...date, I tried to take you down. But I didn't. For that…I don't deserve your sympathy."

"Hey, don't be like that. I understand-"

"Not yet you don't. Love…is confusing. I do things…that don't epitomize the true meaning of love. I am your love…for Beast Boy."

"But I-"

"I no you are unsure of…it. But I sense it in your new love. It is uncertain, but time…can do amazing things. You will…see…the truth. You will experience…the love…you…want." With her last breath, which felt to Raven like she was waving goodbye as her little bit of spirit left her, her body finally went limp and her head feel limply to the side, the eyes finally closed.

Raven clutched the corpse tightly to her body and whispered, "I will avenge you."

"To bad I didn't get all of her. Stupid little bitch didn't fill me up," Rage replied a few feet in front of Raven.

Raven slowly put down the now dead Love and got to her feet. Lifting her head up, she locked her gaze with Rage. Her eyes were now perching into Rage with waves of anger and disgust.

"How dare you harm them and humiliate their bodies!" Raven yelled at her.

Rage let out a bellowing laugh and replied," Harm them? Kill them? They were all ready dead. They should have kept an open mind, but you forgot about them and it lead to their deaths."

"If I knew, I would have helped them."

"That's your fault alone. And that crap about them going to heaven, they aren't going anywhere. Love maybe, but not the others. They're in me and they tasted pretty good going down."

"You!" Raven yelled as she then flew straight at Rage. She immediately sent a high kick right at her. Before it made contact, Rage caught her foot and threw Raven to the ground. Once on the ground, Rage then tried afoot stomp. Raven threw herself backward to avoid the blow and brought herself back up. She then tried to punch Rage, who blocked it and retaliated with her own. Raven ducked under this and tried an uppercut. Rage dodged the blow and came in with a crescent kick. Raven blocked the blow and then threw another punch at Rage, getting her right in the mouth.

Rage cried out in surprise and jumped away. Blood started to flow in a small trickle from her mouth. She put her finger on it and looked at the blood on her fingertip. "Impressive. At least you made me bleed unlike this other infidels."

"Shut up!' Raven yelled.

"By the way, do you like what I did with the bodies? I decided stealing their souls wasn't enough and corpse vandalism would be more dramatic. It was excellent of how precise I was in getting the pole right into Intellect's middle."

"I said shut up!" Raven yelled as she then wrapped a table in black energy and threw it at Rage. Rage punched the table just then and it broke into two pieces that went to her left and right.

"I thought you now used white energy? Oh well, I think you still can't let those good old days of having demon energy go."

"I am not a demon anymore."

"In spirit you aren't, but you are still the daughter of Trigon, in body and to the eyes of others. You and me are always going to be called 'Daddy's little girl'."

Raven then wrapped another table in black energy and threw it at Rage, who jumped over it.

"I may be born of his blood, but I will not be related to him in any way."

"You're right. He's 'dead' to you. But, you have to admit, he had some character unlike that mother of ours."

"Never talk about her!"

"Come on. She was a coward. She had no faith in you or any of the emotions. She just allowed Trigon to murder her. You know what, if I were exactly like you, which I am glad I am not, I would of wished that she died giving birth to me. I would rather have a dead mother then a coward."

Raven suddenly felt intense anger wash over her. She then chanted the all too familiar "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" and from her right hand shot out a black lighting bolt. It surged along the ground, breaking up pieces of the pavement as it went straight towards Rage. Rage put up a black energy shield around her and deflected the bolt into the air. Dissolving the shield, she then chanted as well and out of the ground came a huge mound of earth wrapped in black energy. She chucked it right at Raven, but Raven raised her left hand and shot out an energy ball of at the projectile. It exploded and sent out a light cloud of dust over the area.

With that done, Raven pointed and finger at Rage and yelled, "Never! Never talk of my mother like that!"

"Come now, she can be called my mother too. I'm essentially the same thing," Rage replied.

"You aren't like me!"

"And what about the others? Huh? Would you accept them?"

"I would."

"Right, like you would. You didn't care about any of us. You even lied to Love as she lay dying and that's really low even for you. And Timid once thought you saw us as your sisters. You really are pathetic."

"I would allow them to live together with me! If they came to me, I could have helped!" Raven stated.

"Yeah right. But they were only focused on being accepted as their own persons. But, in the end, they were just the same as you. I too follow such a path."

"Even you want to be recognized as a different person even if you just talked for the other's goals as being in shame?" Raven asked.

"I don't want to become a different person. I want to be the new you. I just needed to absorb the other one to gain some strength, all thanks to that demon. Of course, I will need to absorb your soul to ascend to my strongest level. And after that, people are going top notice this face as the new Raven," Rage replied as she pointed to her four eyed, fanged mouth face.

"And you think that demon will let you go on with this?"

"You bet. I know the whole 'never trust a demon' thing, but he gets me the power and hasn't tried to stop me yet. I guess he's just making it up so he can see a good show."

"I think you are on a pathetic journey for dominance, but I will stop you."

"It wouldn't be pathetic after I take over your identity and turn this world upside-down. So come on. Let us she who will win: Light or Darkness!"

Upon saying this, Rage then wrapped three chairs in black energy and hurled them at Raven. Raven ducked and dodged under the projectiles and then flew at Rage. She grabbed her around the waist and flew into the wall behind Rage, knocking her into it. Raven flew back and then suddenly Rage launched herself from the wall at Raven. She delivered a spin kick to Raven that sent the girl flying away from her. Rage followed that blow with a black energy beam going right for the crippled Raven.

Raven recovered control over her body just in time to block the beam with an energy shield. She then generated three black energy disks in front of her and sent them spinning straight at Rage. Rage knocked them back with swipes of her hand. Raven dodged two of the projectiles, but took one of them right across her check. A small cut now appeared at it was slowly leaking blood.

"Come on? The battle has yet to escalate and we only have done minor damage to each other. I was expecting a challenge," Rage stated.

"I still have power to spare," Raven replied.

"Oh really, then let's see it!"

Suddenly, a black mass formed over Rage. It formed itself into a giant black raven with four red eyes. Raven did the same, a black mass forming over her and taking the form of a black raven with red eyes. The two ravens then let out loud caws and flew at each other. Upon hitting each other, a blast of black light that filled the mall and about half of Jump, momentarily blinding most of the residents. When the dust settled, the two combatants were as they were. However, Rage was smiling and her red eyes seemed to be filled with amusement.

"What's so funny?" Raven asked.

"I'm just surprised at how weak you are," Rage replied.

"How so?"

"Well, where's that white magic you used on Trigon? I wanted to see it in action. Is it that you feel pity towards me? Or is it that you can't use it? I am guessing that the last question was the right one."

Raven didn't answer, but she felt as though Rage had finally hit her with a psychological shot and it was going to get worse.

"So you can't use it. Do you even now how to activate it? You say you are done with the past, but it still holds on to you. You are so pathetic."

"Shut up and fight me!"

"I see I got you there. Oh well, no white magic means I can beat you. I have only yet to start this fight. When I'm done with you, you're going to beg me to finish you off."

Suddenly, a black energy rope came flying out of the ground behind Rage and wrapped around her right arm.

"What?" Rage asked out loud.

Three more ropes came then and wrapped around her free arm and two legs. The, out of the ground rose the towering form of the demon from Raven's mind. The strands were coming from his cloak, which was now opened. But inside of it was nothing more then a vast darkness.

"What are you doing?" Rage asked as she turned her head and stared into the demon's eyes.

"My dear. You have served your purpose," he replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Isaid you would get stronger, but I didn't say you would keep it. I wouldn't let that power go to waste on such a bland life form."

"But you promised!

"Don't you know the number one rule on demons: You never trust them!"

Suddenly, Rage felt to the ground and the ropes began dragging her into the creature's cloak. She roared with anger and tried to pull against the bindings. It was to no avail, for she was dragged into the darkness and disappeared into it. The demon then wrapped his cloak back up to cover the darkness that was his body and then all of a sudden, he let out a bellowing roar and a red color could be seen through his black cloak. The glow then ended and he fixed his gaze on Raven, a smile spreading across his face.

"Nice to see you again," he replied.

"Can't say the same," Raven stated.

"Sorry about the trance. It's needed so I can get my power boost."

"I take it that power was never meant to be for Rage."

"Correct, my dear. I survived not getting wiped out when you lost your demon mind, but I tookthe emotions for absorption. However, I decided that if I could concentrate the power into one of the emotions, I could increase my all ready impressive strength by ten folds just by absorbing one of them. I just gained Rage's trust, feed her some essences, turned the remaining one's into humans and got her to absorb them. And I can tell you that this strength is unbelievable, my niece."

"Niece?"

"You're kidding me. Haven't you wondered why I can absorb your emotions so easily? Or why I have lived in your head? Might as well get this out of the way. Trigon the Terrible…is my brother."

Raven's eyes went wide with shock just then. "Trigon's brother?"

"You really should have took the time to think it over. That makes me your uncle."

"I am not part of Trigon or any of his bloodline! What are your plans? Domination just as your brother?"

"My plan is a little more organized unlike that fools. But, it has the general idea as his. You know: fire, death, and all that good stuff."

"Not if I can stop it!" Raven yelled as she lifted her right hand and shot a black energy orb at the demon. It hit him, but he just laughed. He then suddenly materialized from his original spot to in front of Raven. Taking his lower right hand, he wrapped it around her head and lifted her up. He then sent a wave of black electricity through his arm and into her body. Her body went rigid and her muffled cries were heard for a few seconds before stopping.

"Sweet child. Without being in your mind, my powers herehave no limits. Also, the powers I have acquired have giving me even greater strength. They make your current energy weaker then mine. If you want to stop me, you better get that pure magic foryours working. Otherwise, everything you protect and care for will be destroyed. Especially-"

"Oh my God!"

The demon turned his head towards the entrance of the mall to see the Titans standing there, their faces shocked at what lay before them.

"I was waiting for some challenge. Your friend sadly didn't provide it."

Beast Boy looked at the demon. He looked at the dead bodies of Raven's emotions before him. But mots of all, he saw the unconscious Raven in the demon's grasp. She was hurt because he wasn't there for her. But not anymore. Anger engulfed his body as he charged at the demon.

"Beast Boy! Stop!" Robin shouted.

However, Beast Boy droned him out. Leaping into the air, he took the form of a gorilla and raised his arm back to drive this bastard into the ground.

A demon who says he posseses unspeakable power. But how strong is this being? The Titans are about to face the brother of Trigon, but can they survive? Chapter 11 is coming soon!