Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, sadly. But I will! Mark my words, I will! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! cough Ow…

Title: Obsidian Midnight

Author: S.K. Midnight

Pairings: Raven x Malchior, Robin x Starfire, Beast Boy x Terra, Cyborg x Jinx

Summary: Set three months after the episode "Spellbound". In Jump City, the Teen Titans are the greatest force of justice to be reckoned with. Raven, finally realizing that Malchior truly wasn't evil, releases him from the book, and he joins the Titans in their crusade against evil. But when a mysterious bounty hunter appears from the shadows, hunting victims with bleeding eyes and possessing powers similar to Malchior and Raven, the Titans must stop him at all costs…before they are hunted next.

Reviewer Answers! Woohoo!

OurScars: Once again, I am humbled by your magnificent praise. It has been my goal to make the characters as true to their natures as possible. I do the best I can. I thank you greatly for you taking your time to read this.

kittyblah: I'm glad you think so. I shall continue.

raex18: Thanks, and good luck with your fanfic! I like your idea, and will be incorporating into my own fanfic. Congrats! showers you with candy, confetti, and shiny things

Sith Lord Vaderet: I'm dark too! But I'm also evil…MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! …Anyways. Thank you for your idea, it was really appreciated. I was considering that, but I'm not evil enough to do that. Enough has happened to the both of them, just read this chapter and find out! But thank you anyways!

(A/N): Such wonderful reviewers! flutter Have an arsenic cookie! I baked them myself! holds up plate of cookies Ah my adoring fans, how they love me! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA gets hit on head by coconut Ow! Who did that! Anyhow, on to more Raven/Malchior goodness! I have ideas, thanks to everyone who reviewed and gave me their input. Now to incorporate it! If I do a good job, shower me with shiny things! Please? kitty eyes Anyways, welcome to the melee!

Chapter Two: Realization and Purpose

Raven gazed at the book for a little bit, pondering her questions. There was so much she wanted to ask him…but where to begin? The answers lay in front of her, at her beckon. But…something was wrong. The feeling tugged at the back of her mind. She shook her head slightly and the feeling disappeared. "Now, Malchior, my first question. Who are you?" The coal-black eyes looked confused. "What do you mean, dear Raven? You know who I am; I am Malchior, of course." "I know that," Raven snapped. "What I mean is…who are you? I know nothing about you, really."

Comprehension flashed in Malchior's eyes suddenly. "Hmm…true. I suppose you do know nothing. Well then, open my pages to the beginning and read. I will tell you my story." Raven's fingers quickly closed the book, and then reopened it to the first page. This is what she read:

Long, long ago, in the ages where the powers of magic ran through the world like currents in a river, I existed. This was my age, and into it I was born. My name is Malchior, son of Lord Corven and Lady Katrina of Nole. I was born into the mysteries of magic, and my older brother, Marcus, and I both attended the most prestigious schools in the land. While my brother was popular among everyone, and blended easily, I did not. He was a White Mage, a healer, one of the finest the school had ever seen. And I was considered a sort of outcast, a loner, if you will, which everyone avoided, simply because I didn't share his same principles. Power had always been my concern, after all, if you couldn't defend yourself, how could you hope to save anyone else? My brother's notions were foolish.

One day, I was lost in the halls of the school, and came across a large set of oak doors I had never seen before. And it was in there I stumbled upon a library. Within it contained a multitude of books on harnessing the powers of the universe itself, namely magic. My interest was peaked. I came to spend many days there, because also within its dusty shelves I found my first friend, a young boy by the name of Rorek. He too, sought the power that magic could grant, and for many years we studied together, even after we completed the school. We formed a close bond, we were like brothers, he and I. But one day, I stumbled upon an ancient tome in my family's library, one that contained knowledge of the forbidden magics, the Dark Powers. In the cover, it contained a small black orb that seemed to…call to me. I wrenched it from the cover and placed it in my pocket for later study.

I was eager to learn the dark magic; after all, it was only for the sake of defense right? I had no intention to harm anyone, only to gain more power. But my family found out that I had been studying the tome. They demanded that I stop, claiming that those secrets were never for mortal eyes to know. I refused, only for the sake of knowledge, and when I did, they disowned me from the family and attempted to kill me, their only justification being that I plotted the downfall of the family. Even my own brother tried to slay me! In fear and shock of seeing my loved ones turn against me, I summoned forth all of my newfound powers to try and defend myself, but to no avail. I couldn't fight my family! I was wounded and beaten beyond recognition. The world began to fade. I knew I was dying.

But then, a small voice awoke from the orb and spoke into my barely conscious mind. It spoke lightly, and offered to give me the power to save my life if I bound us together for eternity. In my fear of death and the anger of being rejected by my family, I accepted the pact. Out of the sky, great beams of light shot down upon my form and shattered it into fragments, while my shadow grew to enormous size. And in that moment, I did the impossible, which few wizards have ever accomplished in their lives. I became a dragon.

"So, that's how you became a dragon," Raven said in awe. Malchior's voice was silent for a moment, but when he spoke again, it was filled with heaviness and sorrow. "That isn't all, love. Continue." Raven flipped back to the page and continued to read.

The power! The sheer strength that flowed through me at the moment was indescribable. I had thought that now, since I had transformed, they would stop their madness. But even then, seeing me how I was, they merely switched their weapons to ones with dragon bane in them and continued the assault! I was outraged! My own kin wanted my death for no other reason than I didn't agree with their morals! In a fit of uncontrolled rage, I released my dragon breath upon them all. I melted them until they were nothing but puddles of blood on the ground! The townspeople saw my act and ran in fear of me, screaming. I tried to explain, but none would listen! Anger flowed through me again, and in a rampage, and I burned the town to the ground. Finally, unable to sustain my form any longer, I reverted back to normal and in shock, fear, overwhelming sadness, and fatigue, I blacked out.

Raven could only listen. She was in shock. "Your family…tried to slay you…only because you didn't agree with them?" Then, it occurred to her, what if…she was wrong? She snapped outof her reverie as Malchior continued.

When I awoke, I found myself in a bed, inside a strange house. As I wavered between the realms of consciousness, the most unlikely person walked into the room. It was my old friend from the academy, Rorek! Quickly, I reached into my pocket and grabbed a black scarf and tied it around the lower half of my face just under my eyes, to hide the three small lines, the Mark of the Dragon, which had appeared there because of my transformation, and the small pair of fangs I had grown. As it is known, the Mark of the Dragon is proof that a person has transformed into a dragon, and the fangs resulted from an excess amount of dragon power flowing through me after I changed back. If Rorek saw them, he would know that it had been I who had destroyed Nole. I resolved, from there on, to never reveal the lower half of my face to any soul, living or dead. Though Rorek questioned my actions, he knew to leave well enough alone and didn't try to convince to remove it. He knew, as with all wizards, that I had something I wanted to hide, and he respected that. As the weeks passed, he cared for me, and I slowly grew stronger.

Raven twisted with guilt for a little bit. Of course, every magic-user had something to hide, some more than others. Especially her. Slowly, ever so slowly, she was beginning to understand what drove this man. It was an exhilarating, yet scary feeling at the same time. To know how someone like Malchior, ambitious, brilliant, dark, and absolutely cunning worked, it was too much. She continued to listen, deep in thought as his tale washed over her.

All seemed well for a long while. My bond with Rorek grew even more deep, and we began to study again. We revealed new secrets to each other, helped one another, and even though I could barely move still, guarded one another. It was Paradise. Nothing could shatter the little world Rorek and I had. Everything seemed so bright and peaceful. But then, one day, that changed. My cousin, Malorin, came to the house with an angry mob behind him. Apparently, he had learned that Nole had been destroyed, and visited the ruins of my old home. There he had found a small orb, and contained within was a recording of all that had happened, but it showed me as the one who had begun it all. Rorek, hearing all of this and seeing the recording, turned towards me with the most frightening and deadly look I had ever seen. Faster than I knew he could, he moved over to my bed and tore the scarf off my face, revealing the Mark of the Dragon and my fangs.

Rorek's face contorted and twisted until I barely even recognized him. He walked over to his wall and pulled from it a weapon, which I realized was the ancient dragon-slayer, the Dragon Buster. Even though I begged and pleaded for him to spare me, tried to explain that it wasn't my fault, he raised the sword into the air and plunged it into the pillow, an inch from my head. With a deadly gleam in his eye, he told me to run. And I did just that. I snatched my scarf from the floor where it had landed and jumped out of the window, smashing through the glass. I gathered as much energy as I could and transformed into my dragon form, and with a mournful roar, I flew off into the mountains, hoping never to be seen again.

Raven gasped at this bit of knowledge. "I…I didn't know…" "It's all right, my sweet. No one knew. And no one ever bothered to learn either, that's what so disappoints me. But enough of that, allow me to continue." Raven nodded and turned back to the proper page.

And for a long time, no one did hear of me. At this point I had taken to remaining in dragon form constantly. But then, some humans found my lair and wandered into it. I was sleeping there, resting quite peacefully, when I was awakened by an annoying man smacking a sword into the scales of my tail, apparently trying to slay me. I yawned, and merely swept them out of my cave with my tail before going back to sleep. It turns out they had run to a nearby town, and making up greatly exaggerated stories about how I tried to kill them and they bravely fought me off, barely escaping with their lives. Humans are SO ridiculous; I mean really, do they think they actually could have hurt me, let alone killed me?

At this Raven giggled slightly, the sound escaping her mouth without her even realizing it. "And then what happened?" she asked, almost but not quite sounding like a little girl having her daddy read her a bedtime story. It was…just so hard to resist him. His quick wit and bravado, his emotional responses that made her feel so alike to him; it was almost too good to be true.

So those humans gathered together an angry mob, (A/N: What is it with medieval people and the angry mobs?) and stormed my lair, intending to end my life. For intruding on my lair, I boiled them all into puddles. Watching them burn was rather fun, I must admit. Anyhow, they kept on sending people, apparently not getting the hint they should leave me alone. So I emerged from my cave and burned the town into ashes. I watched the flames lick the buildings and burst them into splinters, and reveled in the smell of it. It was a strange perfume, but rather addicting.

Over the course of time people continued to hear of me, and knights came, seeking to kill me and win glory for themselves. Wizards came as well, wanting to turn me into powerful magical artifacts. Since I didn't fancy being dead or an accessory, I killed them all, but only in defense of myself. I spared who I could, but they were few and far between. Then one day, a wizard approached my lair. The moon was full and in its light I could see a figure I thought I'd never see again. It was Rorek! I thought he had finally forgiven me, realized it wasn't my fault, and come to help me. But no, that was not the case. He began to fight me. I didn't want to battle him, he was the only person who came closest to my heart, but he left me no choice. We fought one another, and the battle raged for hours. Finally, Rorek unleashed the most powerful curse I had ever seen, and sealed me within this book. And for a thousand years, I remained here, always regretting my actions but knowing that it had never truly been my fault in the first place. And so, this is my tale, I end it here.

Raven stood…well…sat in shock. This was the legend of the infamous Malchior? If this was true, then history's perceptions of him were utterly wrong. It must be a lie…it MUST. There was…no way that he could be telling the truth. But all of it, it sounded so…real. But she had no time to ponder this, because her communicator beeped loudly throughout the room.

Robin's voice echoed over the comm. "Raven, go to the computer room, quickly!" Then it snapped off again. Raven closed Malchior's book, placing a small stone between its pages allowing for telepathic conversation between the two, and then flew off towards the room as quickly as possible. As she entered the room and the door shut behind her, the main console screen flickered to life. Slade's face appeared on it, grinning rather triumphantly. "Well well well, Raven, the last one left," Slade said. "What do you mean?" Raven asked. The screen then turned to show Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Terra, all of them locked together in a metallic sphere. "Slade! Let them go or else" Raven growled.

"Or else…what? If you want your little friends back, I suggest you be down here within the next twenty minutes. Or else I'll crush them to the size of baseballs" Slade's eyes narrowed menacingly as he said it. Then, the screen turned back to the Titans for a few seconds before it went black.

"I have to go rescue them…but why does Slade want us all in one place?" Then Malchior's voice echoed in her mind. Perhaps my love, he's setting a trap for you. Don't go. 'I have to save them!' Raven exclaimed in her mind. Then let me out, so I can help you. 'No, I can't do that! You…betrayed me the last time, and hurt me beyond measure! How can I trust you now! I still know even know…why you hurt me…' Raven trailed off at that. I hurt you…because I wanted to be free. I loved you, and I wanted to stay by your side forever. I was trapped in a book for a thousand years, but with that also came another curse that Rorek placed upon me. The curse was that should I ever be freed, I would immediately turn on the one that freed, so that no one could ever trust me again, even in the future. Thus he sought to torture me forevermore.

'But…how can I believe you?' You can't right now, I understand that. I will wait patiently for you, no matter how long. And with that, Malchior quit talking and the connection was silent. Raven focused herself, and the dark raven appeared behind her and swept her into its embrace, teleporting them far into the night. When she opened her eyes, she found she was at the doors to the warehouse. Walking in, she almost instantly spottedthe orb that held the Titans captive. Floating up to it, she began to destroy the machinery around it before Robin pounded on the orb in front of her and pointed behind her. But by then it was already too late. Raven turned around and was struck in the chest by Slade. Raven went flying through the air and smashed into a large stack of crates, which fell around her, almost knocking her unconscious. Through her wavery vision she saw Slade walking up to her, grinning behind his mask.

As Slade picked her up by her arm, he carried her over to the orb and opened the door, placing her in it. "And thus the end of the Titans has come to pass," said Slade. He turned to the controls and pressed a few buttons, then pulled a lever, and the orb began to shrink. Slowly, inch by inch, it began to compact itself. As it prepared to turn the Titans into jellied baseballs, Malchior's voice resonated in Raven's head.

Raven! You are in danger! 'I…know…but I can't do anything…I'm too weak…" Then let me! Free me and I'll save you all! "…No…" Raven! Please, I'm begging you! Let me out! I'll save you all, I swear! I love you! Just trust me…if only now and never again! "…How do I know you…won't betray me again?" Once I save you, if you still don't believe me, I'll willing go back into the book for the end of time, just let me help you! "…" Raven! Let me out! NOW!

"…You better not be lying to me, or I'll skin you alive when I can stand up again." Then she took a deep breath and chanted, "Hesberek Admoriney Gostwenthin Verbusnex. Indobrium Bispendruay Haransicortis Rex! " At that, she felt Malchior's presence leave her mind. Well, it's all up to him now. That was the last thing she thought before the world went black.

(A/N): Whew! Eight pages! I doubled what I wrote last time! I know most of it was Malchior's history, but I had to put that in there so that some things will make sense in later chapters. Also, I know Malchior's supposed to be evil and everything, but I decided I wanted to make him alright. I mean, not everyone is truly evil, right? (Besides Slade and moi, of course. Hehehe.) He might sound sappy, but remember this has Raven/Malchior romance in it, so I made it quasi-romantic. Besides, wouldn't you say whatever you could in order to get out of a book you've been stuck in for 1,000 years? Thought so. Other than that…CLIFFHANGER! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm evil, aren't I? Now, all you have to do is press the little button that says "Review" and tell me exactly how evil I am. If you have any ideas let me know, because I love incorporating reviewer knowledge stuffs in my fics! Ha ha ha! Well, this was fun. I'll be back with Chapter Three soon. Farewell!

S.K. Midnight