Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, Flamebird, the recipe for pocky or any other random thing you can think of.
I do however own Drajo, his four (not Rorek) other incarnations and the sword of Azarath.
Chapter 10: A new Titan?
Drajo opened his reptilian eyes and moaned in pain, his vision was blurry, he couldn't make out the room he was in but he was lying on his back in a bed with his wings hung in two supports, like those used in hospitals to support broken legs. He tried to get up but someone laid a hand on his chest and pushed him back down gently.
"Stay where you are you're not strong enough to get out of bed yet" said a monotone voice, by the second syllable Drajo knew who was speaking to him.
"It's good to see you've recovered sister" the room slowly came into focus.
Raven was sitting in the chair next to his bed, a happy smile on her face which had tear streaks running down it and her eyes were red and puffy, showing she'd been crying for a while. Her cloak and leotard were creased and her hair was messy, showing she hadn't been considering her appearance much in the last few days There was an IV in his arm, the screens showed his heart rate and other vital signs and part of his Kevlar armour on his left side had been cut away with a white gauze over the almost fatal wound. The other Titans came in.
"Nice to see you awake Drajo" Robin said.
"How long was I out?"
"A week, Raven didn't leave your side for anything. I'm surprised you even survived"
"Why?"
"Whatever made that gash in your side reached your heart, I've never heard of anyone surviving an injury like that"
"I'm not human remember? Dragons are very resilient to damage but even I think that should've killed me" then he remembered something.
"I didn't tell Yuri and Anya where I was going, they'll be worried sick!" he moved to get out of the bed but Raven gently stopped him again.
"Relax I took care of it, they think you're in America visiting me, your old civil war friend" he smiled
"Well technically that's true" Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast boy all walked to the door.
"It's good to know you've recovered Drajo, we'll come back in a few hours" with that the Titans departed leaving the two dark siblings alone once more.
"Are you safe? Did we stop Malch…" Raven raised a hand to silence him.
"Relax brother, he's too weak to try and break out of that glass box now thanks to you taking half of his essence" she paused and looked at him, more importantly at the charka that now adorned his head.
"How's your half of his essence being contained?" Drajo shrugged
"I don't really know, I'm guessing Rorek's making sure it's locked up somewhere" he looked down and noticed the sword of Azarath leaning against the side of the bed. He reached down, picked it up and held it out to Raven.
"Here you should have it back since Malchior's been beaten" she shook her head and placed it back at the side of Drajo's bed.
"No Arella wanted you to have it, you're her champion now so you should keep it" he smiled faintly when she mentioned Arella.
"Speaking of Arella how is she?"
"I haven't seen her since you defeated Malchior, it's weird, all the other emotions, even Rage I can sense but I was never able to sense her"
"She did say you never needed hope before so it's probably well hidden, waiting to reveal itself it you ever need it again, is your mind back to normal?"
"Yes, all the damage Malchior caused has been undone and all of my emotions have been restored"
"Even Rage?"
"Yes Drajo even Rage"
"Well I suppose you can't have everything you want" Raven chuckled.
"You took on a thousand year old dark dragon, you nearly died and you still manage to keep your sense of humour. It seems like every time I see you I learn something new. I just wish there was some way I could repay you"
"You should know by now that I don't want repaying, just seeing you happy again is enough for me" Raven drew something out of the folds of her cloak and set it down on the small table next to Drajo's bed. It was a mirror with a dark purple handle, much like the sword of Azarath's.
"Since you've got half of Malchiors essence in your mind now this ought to help you keep it in check, it's for meditation, just like mine, I had to go to Azarath for it"
"Thank you sister, I hope I never need to use it" after he'd finished speaking Raven stood up, she'd had a stroke of inspiration.
"I think I'll go freshen up and catch up on what I've missed while I've been here with you, you just stay here and heal" with that she left the room, looking for Robin to tell him of her idea.
Drajo lay back on his bed and was about to go back to sleep when he saw a faint, ghostlike figure appear out of nowhere.
"Glad to see you are finally awake, we were beginning to worry that you weren't going to recover" Drajo smiled faintly
"Yes it's good to see you to Rorek and what do you mean by we?" The wizard smiled beneath his scarf.
"Your other past incarnations, don't tell me you've forgotten already, I know you nearly died but that doesn't make you lose your memory" Drajo laughed.
"Yes now I remember, I absorbed half of Malchiors essence from my sister, how come he hasn't taken over my body like would have done with Raven's if we hadn't stopped him."
"We are keeping him under control, come and see for yourself"
"How?"
"All you need to do is use your new mirror and you'll be able to go into your mind just like Raven can" he grabbed the mirror from it's place on his bedside table and looked down into it, his two yellow eyes turned into a pair of blue ones and, just like before he was dragged into the mirror but this time it was into his own mind.
He appeared in the fog bank again but this time he wasn't alone, Rorek was standing a few meters away waiting for him, barely visible in the fog which now had a orange tint to it.
"What's up with the colour change?"
"It is because of Malchior?"
"I figured as much, so how are you keeping him under control?" the wizard stretched out his hand and a tunnel appeared in the fog.
"Follow me and you will find out" Drajo silently followed Rorek through the tunnel in the mist.
They arrived at the edge of a great pit about a hundred feet across, where the orange glow was coming from, when Drajo peered down into the pit he could see why. Malchior, or at least half of him was at the bottom of the pit, he had been impaled with several silver stakes, each as big as a tree trunk and with glowing green runes etched into them, the same runes that were on the sword of Azarath and was bound by scores of thick silver chains that were bolted to the floor of the pit. There was only the left half of the dark dragon bound there, as if someone had taken a large sword and sliced him clean in half down the middle.
"When Raven said I'd taken half of his essence I didn't think she meant literally" Drajo said, Malchior raised his half a head and his one red eye bored into Drajo's own fierce yellow orbs.
"You…. I will see you suffer for this….this mutilation of me boy. I will get free then I will make your life an eternity of torment." Drajo laughed and shook his head
"I don't think so, after all, you're only half the dragon you used to be" Malchior roared in anger and tried to rise up to his full height to get at Drajo. A pair of arrows flew through the air and struck the glowing chains, making them crackle with green lightning and making the dark dragon roar in pain.
"Foul dragon, a disgrace to his kind" came a disgusted voice from a little way off in the fog. Rorek turned to face the direction that the voice came from.
"Ah Kai, it is good to see you back on guard duty again." From out of the fog stepped a teenage boy, dressed in the style of ancient Japan, with a suit of samurai armour, a bow on his back and a katana at his belt. He bowed.
"Domo" he said, Drajo and Rorek returned the bow.
"So you are one of my past incarnations?" Drajo asked Kai, he nodded.
"Yes, I am Kai-Sin, I lived and died in ancient Japan and I was a samurai warrior, I lived for war and that's what took my life"
"Why do you look so young? You can't have died that young, don't you need to train for years to be a samurai"
"Because you do, we all appear to be your age but as you grow older, so will we. I'm grateful for you taking half of this foul beasts essence, it's been a tiresome existence until now, the others are not as skilled as the warriors were in my time"
"Feh! You are not as good as you claim Kai-Sin! Have you forgotten that I have defeated you the last six times we have fought" came another voice with a heavy Russian accent.
"And I defeated you only a few days ago" said another
"And I vanquished you a few hours ago" said yet another voice from the fog. Kai groaned.
"I was hoping they wouldn't show up," he muttered. Three more young warriors came out of the fog, one dressed in furs and a heavy Cossack Uniform, one dressed like a soldier of Rome and the last one dressed in black with a black veil around his head, showing only his eyes and had two traditional Arabic curved swords sheathed at his waist.
"Who are all of you?" Drajo asked them. The one wearing the furs bowed slightly.
"Vladimir Kurov, soldier of the Tsar" the Arab bowed next.
"Al Jakarra, warrior of Saladin" the legionnaire raised his hand.
"Ave, Martinus Liang, 4th Cohort"
"Is it you that are keeping Malchior's essence under control?"
"Yes, rest easy friend. He will trouble you no longer" Drajo turned to leave.
"I know I can trust you all to guard him" They all walked up to him and drew their weapons.
"You fought with great bravery," Kai said as he raised his katana
"Yes, you are a true warrior" Martinus said as he raised his gladius to touch Kai's katana.
"I am proud to share my soul with you" Jaraka added as he raised a scimitar to touch the other blades.
"I…ah forget it, I was never good at this heroic talk, you fought well, I will leave it at that comrade" Valdimir said as he raised his sabre to touch the collection of blades. The sword of Azarath was raised and it finished the quintet of swords. There was a bright flash and Drajo awoke in the infirmary. Raven returned to the room.
"What happened? Were you using the mirror?"
"Sort of, just taking care of some loose ends." He replied, a few feet away the ghost like apparition that was Rorek nodded his head slightly and faded away, happy the battle with Malchior was finally over.
Two Days Later
Drajo checked that his heavy travel robe was tied correctly and sheathed the sword of Azarath at the Kevlar sword belt (a gift from Robin) that he'd added to his armour. Finished packing he left the infirmary and made his way down the hallway, intending to slip out without bothering the Titans. Suddenly Cyborg appeared at the end of the hallway.
"Yo Drajo, we've got an emergency" he yelled and ran down the adjacent hallway, inclining that Drajo should follow him. Drajo quickly followed him, the sound of the mechanical Titans heavy footsteps led Drajo to a room on the floor where the living quarters were, a few doors down from Ravens. The dragon caught up with Cyborg at the door, gasping for air, having just run about the length of Titans tower.
"What's…the…emergency?" he asked Cyborg. The robotic teen gestured to the door, which slid open, he followed Drajo into the Room. Inside the room was a large supercomputer, with a massive monitor the size of a screen door. The other four members of Titans West were present, along with the face of a teenage girl with long blonde hair and a pair of orange glasses/mask and dressed in a red costume.
"What's going on here?" Drajo asked, directed at anyone who'd give him an answer. Robin turned to look at him.
"Well Drajo I saw how you fought Malchior and I gotta tell you, I was impressed, you showed courage, passion and determination even when it looked hopeless and, well there's no real easy way for me to say this but…"
"We wish for you to join us," Starfire blurted out. Robin held a Titans communicator in his green-gloved hand.
"That's not an easy of saying it?" Cyborg muttered to Beast Boy who chuckled.
"So I'd stay here? Be on the same tem as my sister"
"Not exactly, that's why she's here" Robin said, pointing at the girl on the monitor who waved at Drajo.
"Hi, I'm Flamebird, leader of Titans Manhattan"
"Titans Manhattan? I thought there was only two teams of Titans, West and East"
"Ever been to New York kid?" Flamebird asked him. He shook his head.
"Well trust me, it'll be a lot safer with its own team of Titans to clear out its crooks. Robin's picked me to lead the team and, after hearing about what you did I'd be honoured if you'd join us in New York" Drajo remained quiet for a few seconds.
"Well, what's your answer?" Flamebird asked the dragon, he took the communicator from Robin.
"Count me in Flamebird, it was getting dull in Romania anyway"
"Awesome" Robin and Beast boy said in unison.
"Booyah" Cyborg called out, high fiving Drajo.
"Congratulations" Raven said quietly.
"Yes congratulations friend, I hope you will be most happy in the York of New," Starfire said, giving him one of her trademark bone crushing hugs.
"So how long till you can get here?" Flamebird asked him.
"May I prepare the pudding of prosperity first?" Starfire asked innocently, setting alarm bells off in every Titans head.
"I'll need to contact Yuri first to make some arrangements" Drajo said.
"No problem, I'll let you use the mainframe" Robin said and along with Raven and Starfire he left with Drajo, knowing that he could help explain things to Drajos old friend. Cyborg turned to Beast boy.
"Do you remember when you told me you'd never turn down a dare?"
"Yeah, what're you thinking? Why don't I like that look in your eyes?" Beast boy said nervously.
"Well I dare you to….
Twenty Minutes later
"I really need to stop giving in to Cyborgs dares" Beast boy muttered to himself as he rummaged around under Ravens bed, trying to find her diary, not fully comprehending the great danger he was placing himself in.
"If I were Raven…"
"You'd be wondering why a obnoxious elf was looking under your bed for your diary and how you were going to punish him for going into your room AGAIN" Raven said, her face growing redder by the second. Like a streak of green lightning Beast boy leapt up and ran for the door, stopping when it opened. Drajo was standing in the hallway.
"Err, hi Drajo, I thought you were making a call."
"I was and now I'd like to know what you're doing in Ravens room," he said, his expression darkening. Beast boy looked frantically from one Titan to the other, wondering who'd be the easier to out run or to grovel to. Suddenly he smelt smoke.
"What's cooking?" Drajo pointed down.
"You" he said, Beast boy looked down and saw his rear end was ablaze.
"AAAHHHH! HOT! HOT! HOT!" he shrieked and ran out of the room, desperate to find a way to put out the fire.
A few minutes later Robin, Starfire and Cyborg saw Beast boy clutching his behind (which was smouldering) re-enter the room and Raven and Drajo follow him inside, still laughing their heads off.
"What happened?" Robin asked. Raven told the other three Titans telepathically and for the next few minutes all Flamebird could hear was continuous laughter.
Finally Robin was able to control himself enough to activate an experimental two-way portal (recently borrowed from Wayne Enterprises) that would enable Drajo to travel to the Titans Manhattan tower on Ellis Island.
"Nervous about your new team?" Raven asked her brother, as he was about to step through the portal.
"A little" he said, smiling as he hugged her goodbye and vanished through the portal.
"Brother, I think you'll do just fine" Raven said softly as the newest Titan joined his team.