First, a note or two:

This is the second of my stories, and once again, I beg those of you who know everything about the included series not to complain. I am not trying to be as faithful to the comics or TV series as possible, so if you want accuracy, I suggest you look somewhere else.

Also, this story departs from cannon just before the first of the "The End" trilogy of episodes, as, obviously that being the end, I can't make my own story line stemming from that. Although, since the Titans still seemed together after that, maybe I can...

KEY:

'Blah' thought

"Blah" speech

I don't own the Teen Titans or any of the undermentioned items. Teen Titans is a trademark of some large comic company and Cartoon Network. Don't own Star Wars either, which is a trademark of Lucasfilm, ltd., but I wish I did. Don't know much about history. As far as I know, Findleschnort is an original word. If it isn't well, then, that's just screwed up. Taking more than the recommended dose may cause such minor symptoms as bloating, rash, or complete neural failure. Not recommended for children over the age of 18. Do not take before bed or after consuming bread, as this may cause rising. Shutdown via the Start menu.

Please review if you've read this story.

Also, on a slightly perverted tone, since Starfire is arguably of feline descent (see comics for details), are any attempts at coitus with her therefore bestiality? 'Cause that'd be very disappointing. Probably not though, considering that no one considers sex with another human bestiality, even though we share 99 of our genetic material with Pan troglodytes, the chimpanzee.

Meow. (ÔÔ) – Cat

And now, on with the show.

Four figures stepped cautiously out onto the Northern Ysalamari planes of Tamaran, their bodies making small eddies of disturbance in the waist-high mist that covered the brown and otherwise featureless landscape. The mists quickly filled in again whenever the four stopped moving, seemingly unwilling to release its grip on the travelers. The barren silence was broken only by the soft chirping of some local wildlife, and then by the mask-clad leader as he spoke.

"Let's go," said Robin simply. His lack of happiness at his present mission, brought on as soon as they had stepped out onto this stygian plain, was echoed in the others. Beast Boy's elvish ears drooped slightly, and he had failed to make a single joke, much less even smile. Cyborg's red electronic eye was dulled slightly, and even the human side of his face seemed unusually hardened, almost as if it were no longer his face but a cruel model made of glass. Starfire found herself unable to fly. No joyous thoughts could find their way into her mind, and those that did found their way out again so quickly that Starfire was only capable of a sort of extended hopping, much like an injured bird.

"Your friends seem to be attempting to find us," said Trigon, smiling slightly in a way that would have made Edgar Allen Poe run away screaming. "We'll go and have a little fun with them, shall we?"

"No," cried Raven's mind, "Leave them alone. They're no match against you and – "

"My thoughts exactly," interrupted her father, as he used Raven's powers to blast a hole straight through one of the security guards. The other guard, clad in the red robes of his profession, goggled in disbelief at his dead partner, before regaining his composure. He stared defiantly at Trigon, his hands beginning to glow a dull blue. "Oh, please, you've got to be kidding," said Trigon irately. The demon waved a hand dismissively and the lone remaining security guard flew up in to the air. Trigon flicked his wrist, and the man slammed down brutally, his spine impaled on one of the defensive spikes that lined Raven's former containment area. For a moment, the man seemed not to realize what had happened, his angry expression, defiant posture, and flickering orbs of energy around his hands still there despite the iron spike protruding through his middle. Then the glowing energy surrounding his hands vanished. His face remained frozen in a rictus of pain, anger, and death.

The small Tameranian that was Starfire was numb with horrified despair. This was not the Tameran she had left so many years ago. These barren, dead fields. These dark, lifeless skies. Where were the colorful gardens, the verdant forests? The joyous brap-brap of the Tameranian findleschnort? Was it not this day Blorthog, the time of much celebration and noise-making?

Starfire was so engrossed in her own despairing thoughts that she, not paying attention to where she was walking, walked right into Beast Boy, who was walking in front of her and had suddenly frozen in mid-stride. Starfire was in such a foul mood at the destruction of her planet's liveliness that she almost shouted at Beast Boy for blocking her path before she realized that it was really her fault for slamming into him, and that he probably had enough on his plate already. She looked at the small green changeling curiously, wondering what could have stopped him in his tracks.

Beast Boy was standing perfectly still. He was staring at the ground – no, through the ground, almost as if he could see something fascinating just below the surface. His face was one of concentration mixed with fear. "She's escaped," he said, breaking the silence suddenly, as if he had already been talking about it for a while, "and I think Trigon has too."

Through the constricting mists that covered the strangely dead alien world, Raven suddenly perceived four shapes. Her mind, the only part of her she still reigned over, silently cried 'No', but it was just a whisper now, so broken was she by her complete isolation from the world of possibility. Her now distant vehicle of a body advanced towards the other four teenagers, her movements steady and sure. Arrogant.

She was turned to look at the lone Tameranian. Starfire was walking a small distance away from her fellows, her eyes ablaze. She alone sensed what was really going on here. She alone knew that it was not her beloved friend and companion Raven, but the Dark Lord of the Rift.

"You will step down from this confrontation now, friend Raven," ordered Starfire, a note of hatred saturating her speech.

"Unfortunately, dear sweet Starfire," replied Raven with an equal tone of hatred mixed with a deep unshakeable arrogance, "I don't take orders from anybody. Oh, it may look like I do," – she spotted Robin's incredulous look –, "but I'm the only one I really listen to. Now, I'd suggest – no, order – you to get out of my way, friend Starfire, as there is work to be done."

"I shall not move, Raven of Azeroth," replied Starfire stubbornly. "May the light of the thousand stars of this Tameranian night stand behind me." She held up her hands, which began to glow slightly.

"I found starlight really isn't that useful in getting anything done," said Raven, now smiling an eerie smile. She continued to smile at Starfire for about half a minute, before the purple sorceress' hands began to emit the ethereal black energy. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and then opened them suddenly. Robin cried "Star!" as a jet black spear seemed to erupt from Raven's hands, traveling at the speed of a nightmare from the sorceress' hands to the chest of the young Tameranian. The black spear penetrated with a sickening crunch, before splitting into a kind of grappling hook on the other side of the now terrified Tameranian. Raven smiled her eerie smile again, before wrenching her arm back brutally, pulling the ethereal weapon straight through her former teammate, leaving a gaping hole, surrounded by the ragged edge of a bloody shirt.

Starfire's brain was reeling in its last moments. Its first reaction was "This can't be real", followed by "I really am going to die", finally followed by a sense of silent peace. As she lay fading in the arms of her beloved Richard Grayson, the boy with whom she had shared so may an adventure, she smiled at him. "I love you," she whispered weakly. She convulsed once, and then the light that had shone in her eyes since the Titans had first formed their unbreakable group faded slowly, drifting away, lost, into the cosmic night.

Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg all stood and faced the purple sorceress. "You have gone to far, Raven," said Robin, his eyes ablaze with anger. "You have killed a member of our team. You have gone so far against the original pact laid down so long ago that I –" words escaped him as he quaked with anger.

Trigon smiled to himself. His plan was working perfectly.