Hey guys!
I know it's been a while, but I was making a few changes.
This is the last chapter in this story, but I've got one last thing I'm posting at the same time. I'm also thinking of writing a sequel.
Well read & review and please read the next chapter.
A few days later
The last few days had passed rather quickly. Luckily no one found out about Raven and Rich's date.
"We have to tell them sooner or later." Raven said. She and Rich were taking a walk in the palace grounds along with the dogs.
"I know." Rich said. "But when? And how?"
"That I don't know." Raven sighed. "I guess we'll just have to tell them."
"Hmm" Rich said. At this point a green dog came running up to them. Beast Boy morphed back into human form.
"Hey Raven do you mind if I talk to Dick for a minute." Beast Boy asked nervously. Raven nodded and walked away followed by Blaze.
"What's up BB?" Rich asked.
"It's about me and Terra." Beast Boy said. "I thought about talking to Cyborg or Speedy, but I realized they'd probably just tease me like there's no tomorrow."
"All right. What's up with you and Terra?" Rich asked.
"We…err…we kissed." Beast Boy said blushing. He looked at Rich who was smirking. "Oh no. Your not going to tease me about it are you?"
"No. No. Teasing is pointless if you ask me." Rich said. "Now I have three EXTREMELY important questions. How? When? And where?"
"We were talking and it just happened. The day we went camping. In the woods where we were camping."
"Well that's good to hear……" Suddenly Rich froze. "Oh Lord." He cried before spinning around to face the palace.
At the same time there was a massive explosion. Rich started running towards the palace followed by Beast Boy. The other Titans, Tony, Carrie, Damian, Eli, Obi-Wan and the emperor and empress were standing outside.
"What happened? Is everyone all right?" Rich asked.
"Everyone's fine." The empress said her voice calm despite what had just happened.
"Who did this?" Raven asked.
"I did." Said a figure who had just walked out of the palace.
"Who is that?" Eli asked.
"My name, little girl, is Draconis." Said the figure.
"Little girl?"
"What do you want Draconis?" The emperor asked.
"You know as well as I do what I want Jonathon. Your Empire." Draconis said.
"And you know as well as I do that's not going to happen." The emperor replied.
With that Obi-Wan, the emperor and empress pulled out their sabers and raced at Draconis. Draconis pulled out his own saber and the battle began. Rich was shocked. He never saw anyone so easily defeat his parents and Obi-Wan. Every attack they launched Draconis blocked. Every attack Draconis launched they barely managed to stop. Finally Draconis tripped them up with the force and they all fell over.
"I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got places to go, things to do, people to kill. Speaking of which." With that Draconis raced forward, pulled out a dagger and stabbed the emperor who cried out and fell on to the ground.
"DAD!"
"JONATHON!"
The twins, Obi-Wan and the empress raced to the emperor's side. Draconis laughed cruelly. The empress raced towards him with a rage filled roar, but before she could attack Draconis muttered a spell and disappeared. The empress raced back to the emperor's side.
"Dad? Are you all right?" Eli asked. The emperor looked at all of them.
"I love you," he whispered. "All of you." Slowly his eyes closed.
"DAD!" shouted the twins.
"JONATHON!" shouted the queen.
A few hours later
The twins, the empress, Obi-Wan and the Titans were all seated in one of the many lounges in the palace. The empress was still somehow managing to keep extremely calm. In fact it was her level of calmness and clear thinking that had prevented the entire kingdom from getting into a panic about Draconis' newly found power. She had spoken to the people and announced the emperor's death and told them not to worry and everything was under control. She had called a council meeting and they had discussed what to do about Draconis, but no one could think of a warrior greater than the emperor, empress and Obi-Wan combined.
"So who exactly was that guy?" asked Rich. He was, with great difficulty, holding back tears.
"His name is Draconis. He has been an enemy to the empire for as long as anyone's memory lasts. He is immortal. He wants to take over our empire. The last attack we had from Draconis was that rebellion when you were a baby. It seems he's become much more powerful than the last time we had an attack." The empress explained.
"Do you know where we could find him?" Rich asked.
"Yes as a matter of fact we do." Obi-Wan said.
"Wait a second. You knew where he was and you just let him be?" Raven asked giving them both disapproving looks.
"He was never a major problem so we didn't bother taking him down. But now that he's a problem it looks like we can no longer handle him." The empress said.
"Where is this lair of his?" Rich asked.
"Deep inside a mountain. Why?" The empress asked.
"I'm going to go fight him." Rich said standing up.
"WHAT! NO!" The empress shouted standing up as well. "I'VE LOST YOUR FATHER, I WON'T LOSE YOU."
"Mom. He killed my father. It's my duty as the first born and the heir to avenge dad's death." Rich said.
"RICHARD………"
"Is right." Obi-Wan said. The empress stared at him and was quiet for a minute before speaking.
"As much as I hate to say it, I agree. We will take you there. You go in and fight. However we shall remain outside. If you need help you can call us." She finally said. Everyone nodded.
The next day outside Draconis' hideout
"Be careful Rich." The empress said as she hugged him.
"I'll be fine mom." He stated confidently.
"I know you will be. But if you need any help just turn on that button and we'll be right there."
"Rich." Raven said. He looked at her. She had spent every moment since they had decided he was going to fight Draconis in her room. She wouldn't tell even him what she was doing. "Take this." She said handing him a necklace.
"I'm no fashion expert Raven, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't go with what I'm wearing." Rich said with a slight laugh.
"It's a magical necklace. It's what I was working on last night. To activate it you have to recite my chant. It will probably defeat that Draconis guy, but it's only to be used as a last resort. You see it completely drains the user off all their energy and converts it to raw power. It should create more than enough to kill Draconis and destroy that lair of his. But after using it you'll barely be able to move."
"But if it will completely drains me and the place starts to collapse then how will I get out?" Rich asked as he put the necklace around his neck.
"That's what I was working on last night." Raven answered. "You see I have a similar necklace. When you use yours my necklace will sense it and transfer some of my power to you. Unfortunately I could only get it to transfer enough energy to revive and give a bit of strength."
"Thanks Rae." Rich said. I hope it works.
'Remember you're not the only one who can read minds. And don't worry it will.' Said Raven's voice in Rich's head.
With that Rich entered the lair. He moved swiftly through the hideout taking down all the guards as he went along. Finally he came to a set of double doors. He took a deep breath, flung them open and entered the room.
"Well done Master Richard. I'm impressed at how quickly you reached me." Draconis said. He was standing in the middle of the room. The entire room was empty. It was obvious he was waiting for Rich. "Well I assure this is the end of your mission."
"Yeah. Cause I'm going to permanently dispose of you." Rich shouted as he drew his saber and raced at Draconis.
Draconis ducked the attack. Rich spun around and threw a punch at the same time. Their fists made contact and in that one punch both realized that finally they were going to fight a fair fight. Rich started doing hand springs until he reached the wall. He used the wall to launch himself at Draconis. He kicked Draconis square in the chest. He continued kicking until Draconis banged into the wall. Rich leapt off the wall and landed a few feet away. Draconis roared and raced at Rich activating his own saber. He fiercely started attacking, but Rich managed to block anything that he threw at him. Similarly Draconis blocked anything Rich threw at him. They fought with their sabers until they came to a pillar. Draconis slashed at rich with his saber. Rich ducked and the saber went through the pillar. Rich leapt to the other side of the pillar, used the force to scale it, slashed the top, kicked off it and landed a few feet away. The pillar crashed on top of Draconis. Draconis pulled himself out from the ruins.
"Now you're gonna get it." He said as he used the force to push Rich against the wall. He pulled out his dagger and raced at him. Rich managed to move most of his body, but the dagger went through his arm. He punched Draconis in the face ignoring the pain in his arm. Draconis pulled out the dagger and slashed him across the face. Rich dropped and rolled to where his saber was. He attempted to chop off Draconis' legs, but Draconis leapt in the air and came crashing down on top of Rich's back.
"Had enough kid?" He said.
"If you think that a few scratches are going to beat me you are sadly mistaken." Rich said. He then muttered a spell and electricity flowed from his body and shocked Draconis. Draconis was thrown across the room dropping his saber in the process. Rich pulled out his sword and leapt at Draconis. He slashed at his chest. He made a straight line. Then he made another line that attached to the first kind of forming a one. Another slash and it became a p. One last slash and it formed an R. Draconis roared and launched himself at Rich. Rich grabbed him and smashed him into the floor.
Rich stood up and tried to bring his sword through Draconis' heart, but Draconis threw up a barrier. The instant the sword made contact Rich was sent hurtling through the air. He smashed through a pillar. But off course that didn't stop our Rich. He summoned two energy balls and sent them at Draconis. Draconis dodged the first ball, but the second made contact. Rich then summoned two more energy balls and sent them at Draconis. Draconis quickly teleported and appeared behind Rich. He slashed fiercely at Rich's back. Rich spun around and did a round house kick which made contact with Draconis' face. Draconis fell to the floor, but thinking quickly he slashed at Rich's foot. Rich quickly leapt across the room. Both warriors remained silent as they tried to catch their breath. They were both starting to feel the effects of blood loss.
"I hate to admit this, but you're good." Draconis finally said.
"So are you." replied Rich. Both were pleased by these compliments not only because it meant the opponent was having a hard time, but because it meant that they were in a noble battle. Both knew it takes the noblest and greatest of warriors to admit their enemy is powerful.
Then with a roar they returned to their battle. They met in the center of the room and started fighting. They attacked and slashed fiercely. They were moving so fast that anyone who saw them wouldn't have seen anything at all. Each knew who ever hit first would have the upper hand for quite some time. Finally after about fifteen minutes of this Draconis managed to kick Rich. But Rich was more well prepared than Draconis thought. Rich managed to summoned two balls of energy and launch them at Draconis. Then he started to throw non-stop balls of fire at Draconis. One of these hit a huge computer in the corner that burst into flames. Slowly the whole room started to burn. Draconis managed to find his saber and teleported behind Rich.
Draconis took out his sword and gorged it through Rich's shoulder. Rich cried out. He reached behind himself, grabbed hold of the blade and yanked it out of him. He spun around pulled out his own sword and slashed Draconis' hand. Draconis dropped the sword and Rich kicked it into the flames that surrounded them. Draconis reached for his saber, but Rich was too quick. He used his sword to slash Draconis' saber in half. Rich then summoned an energy ball and threw it at Draconis. Draconis was sent into the air. Rich leapt into the air. He grabbed Draconis' waist and using the force smashed him through a pillar. He then used the force to land. Draconis managed to teleport himself to across the room and closer to the ground.
This is it. I have to use the necklace. Rich thought to himself. He took the necklace in his palm. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." He shouted. The necklace started to glow and slowly Rich started to glow and lift into the air. He felt energy flowing through him. Then suddenly the most powerful burst of energy Rich had ever seen was released. And when I say powerful, I mean POWERFUL. Rays of energy exploded from his body. The rays went off in every direction destroying everything in their path, including Draconis who tried to put up a force field. But he was fighting a battle whose winner was all ready decided. The energy kept getting more and more powerful and a huge beam burst through the roof.
Meanwhile outside
"What is that?" Speedy shouted.
"Rich has used the spell." Raven stated. "I just hope it's enough."
Back inside
The energy was too powerful. Draconis was weakening and so was Rich who was started to feel unbearably tired and worn out, but he was determined to win. The flames were growing higher, the ceiling and walls were collapsing and practically everything was being destroyed. Draconis looked around him, he looked up at Rich's determined face and he knew it was over. He sighed and with that his shield collapsed and he disintegrated before Rich's eyes. Then finally the energy collapsed and so did Rich.
Outside again
"The spell's done." Raven said as she took her necklace in her palm and muttered a spell. She saw the necklace glow and she felt herself lifting into the air and felt her energy being transferred to Rich. After a little while she returned to the ground. "That's all I could get through. I hope it's enough."
Inside again
Rich opened his eyes. He could feel Raven's transferred energy. He climbed to his fee. He had to get out off here. He muttered a spell that allowed him to fly and sped through the lair avoiding collapsing pillars, walls and pieces of ceiling. He went as fast as he could. He could see the exit. He sped up. He had to reach it. The exit had a portico and it was under this that he ran out of energy and collapsed.
"It's Rich." Eli shouted. "The place is going to collapse on him!"
"No it's not." Raven stated her eyes starting to glow. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos" The entire front portion of the lair was covered in black energy. "Get him." She said. The empress muttered a spell and teleported to right beside Rich. She grabbed hold of him and teleported back just as Raven let go of her hold on the building. They all watched as the entire place slowly crumbled.
A day later in Rich's room in the palace
Rich moaned as he sat up. He opened his eyes and looked around The Titans, Tony, Eli, his mother and Obi-Wan were standing around him along with the head doctor. "What happened?" He asked. He was still feeling immensely worn out.
"You collapsed as you reached the portico. I held up the building with my powers while your mother teleported you away and you've been unconscious since then." Raven said. Rich looked at her. She still looked worn out as well.
"So did you beat him?" Speedy asked.
"Do you think we would be having this conversation if I didn't." Rich answered. "Yeah I beat him. But it was all because of Raven's magic necklace. Thanks Rae. You saved us all." He said smiling at her.
"Anytime Rich anytime." She said.
"Well done Rich. Your father would be really proud." The empress said. "Rich I've discussed this entire thing with the council and it has been decided that although you are still quite young you've proven yourself worthy of being crowned emperor. As soon as you're completely healed I will crown you. But I want you to remember that this is totally your decision. If you feel you don't want to be emperor yet or you're not ready that is completely all right. There is absolutely no pressure on you whatsoever." Rich stared at her.
"Really? I can become emperor anytime I want?" he asked.
"Yes." The empress replied. "But I don't want you to jump into this. I want you to think about it. Weigh the pros and cons. And above all if you do become emperor, but you can't handle it you can always ask me to rule until you feel you're ready." Rich nodded.
"I'll think about it mom." Rich said. The empress smiled.
"Good. But right now you need to rest. Give your body time to heal." She said. "And I think that pretty much goes for everyone." Her tone told the others that it was pointless to argue. They all left the room except Raven.
"You look a little worn out. You all right?" Rich asked.
"Yeah. Performing energy transfer spells isn't exactly relaxation method number one. All I need is a good night's sleep." She said. He nodded. "How are you feeling?"
"To be perfectly honest. Like shit." He said. "I guess I won't be able to do much for a while. It's going to be pretty boring hanging around me."
"Don't worry, I'll just fool around with another one of my boyfriends." Raven said playfully. They both chuckled.
"Thanks for saving me." Rich said.
"No problem." Raven replied with a smile. "Besides if anything happened to you there would be no one to take me to expensive restaurants and to shower me in expensive gifts." He smiled and leaned up to kiss her. The two were so involved in the kiss that they didn't hear the door opening.
"OH MY GOD!" shouted several familiar voices.
Rich and Raven's eyes popped open. They broke the kiss and spun around to find the Titans staring at them.
"All right you guys. I know this is a bit of a shocker, but it's really happening." Rich said. "I know we should have told you guys and this is the worst way you could have found out, but I guess this is pointless now."
"We wanted to tell you guys, but there was never an appropriate time." Raven continued. "We know it's a bit weird and it may take some getting used to, but please accept this." The Titans just stared at them. "Guys?" The Titans continued to stare.
"Guys?" Rich asked. They kept on staring.
"Guys?"
"Hold on a second." Rich said. He walked into his bathroom and came out carrying a can of shaving cream. He lifted Speedy's hand and filled it with cream. He did the same to Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Terra. He threw away the now empty can and walked to the bed.
"You are sooo childish." Raven said. They were silent for a moment. "Want to dye their hair pink and pour honey on it?"
"Okay." Rich said.
An hour later the Titans all had pink hair which was covered in honey, one eyebrow had been shaved off, toothpaste was filled in their mouths. They also had ice poured down their shirts, had thick layers of mascara, eyeliner, lipstick and powder and all sorts of other rubbish done to them.
Rich and Raven were laughing on the bed. The Titans were still all frozen. Raven leaned towards Rich and whispered something in his ear. Rich nodded. Raven turned to the Titans. Black energy surrounded them and they were moved out of the room. Next black energy surrounded the door and it shut in the Titans faces.
"My prankster like nature seems to be rubbing off on to you." Rich said.
"It seems so." Raven said. The two continued talking for the rest of the evening and eventually fell asleep in Rich's bed.
The next morning
All was peaceful around the palace. The birds were chirping, the gentle sound of the waves of the sea breaking the shore could be heard and all was quiet and peaceful and tranquil. Until……
"OH MY GOD! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! HOW COULD YOU HAVE NOT TOLD US!" Cyborg screamed as he entered Rich's room. He was spitting out toothpaste and had shaving cream on his head and face. He was the first to get over his shock. Rich and Raven literally leapt twenty feet into the air, banged their heads against the ceiling and fell back down on to the bed.
"Wow you sure got over the shock quickly." Raven said sarcastically. Cyborg's voice had awakened the other Titans as well. Eli and Tony had also been awoken by Cyborg and came running into the room with their swords drawn.
"What's wrong?" Eli asked. She and Tony stared at the Titans. "Who the hell did that to you?" she asked.
"Whoever did it is my idol." Tony said.
"These two have been secretly dating." Beast Boy said pointing at Rich and Raven who were both rubbing their heads and looking very annoyed at their ungracious awakening.
"Is that it?" Eli asked also starting to get annoyed.
"You knew?" They all shouted.
"Yes. I know, Tony knows, mom knows, Obi-Wan knows, dad knew and so does anyone else who has half a brain." Eli said. "Now if you excuse me I have much better things to do on a Saturday morning than hang around listening to who dated who. Oh and by the way you two. I take it you messed them up." Rich and Raven nodded. "Well done." Eli said with a laugh and she and Tony gave them a thumbs up before they walked back into Eli's room.
"I fully agree with Eli." Raven said. "Now if you would be so kind as to LET US GET SOME SLEEP." She said her voice dangerously low. The Titans all gulped and ran out of the room.
"How do you do that?" Rich asked.
"It helps if your father is a demon." Raven replied. Rich nodded. "You're stressed. What's wrong?"
"What do you think I should do?" Rich asked. She looked confused for a minute. Then she realized what he was talking about.
"Well if I remember correctly. Your mother said your not supposed to get stressed about it." Raven replied.
"Yeah, but what do you think I should do?" Rich asked.
"Do you want to be emperor?" Raven asked.
"Yeah. But I'm just worried that……" Rich began.
"You won't be able to handle it?" Raven asked.
"Yeah." Rich answered.
"You'll do fine." Raven said. "You're a born leader. You said Obi-Wan trained you to fight. You'll do fine. And your mom did say she'll take over if it's too much."
"Yeah." Rich said after a few minutes of thought. Raven smiled at him. "But if I do become emperor it's the end of traveling around and goofing off."
"Well your goofing off level probably will go down. But if you're emperor you get to travel through your empire. You'll have to travel to planets to work out peace treaties and what not. I think there will be plenty of traveling."
"Yeah I guess so. I think I'll do it." Rich said. He paused before continuing. "But if I become emperor will you stay here with me and maybe eventually become empress." Raven was quiet for a bit before answering.
"Well I guess it'll be fun to rule an empire, but I don't know much about how. And I can't speak all the languages in the empire." Raven said.
"I'll teach you. And I'm sure Master Obi-Wan and Mom and Eli will as well." Rich said. "I mean I know it'll be tough leaving Earth and everything, but we can visit as often as you want. What do you say?"
"I do like it here. A lot. And I've grown pretty fond of Eli and your mom is like a mom to me. And I love you." She said. She looked at him. She was quiet for a while before speaking. "Yes." Rich smiled from ear to ear. He pulled her into a deep passionate kiss. (Cheers and clapping in the background.)
"Rich, sweetie, just one question." Raven said after a few minutes.
"Yeah?" Rich asked.
"How do we tell the others?" Raven asked.
"I've all ready thought of that." Rich said. Raven looked at him. "You pretend to have the flu and stay here while the others go home. In three months if they haven't figured it out we can write them a letter." Raven looked at him for a while.
"I think we need to rethink this whole you being emperor thing." She stated.
A few weeks later in the empress' room
"Mom can we talk to you?" Rich asked as he and Raven entered the room.
"Off course you can sweetheart." The empress said. She was pretty sure she knew what he wanted to talk about.
"I've decided to take up being emperor." He said. His mother smiled.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" she asked.
"Yeah I am."
"All right then. You will be crowned on Friday night." The empress said.
"Also mom. Raven is going to stay here." Rich said. "That's okay right?"
"Off course it is." His mother said and smiled at them. "This is wonderful news. How are you going to tell the Titans?"
"Actually we were wondering if you could give us some advice on how to tell them." Raven said. The empress was quite for a minute before replying.
" Well, you could pretend to have the flu and stay here while the others go home. In three months if they haven't figured it out you can write them a letter." The empress said. Raven stared at her.
"Ladies and gentlemen the rulers of our empire." She said.
Later that day
"Hey guys we have a little announcement to make." Rich said. All the Titans were seated in Rich's room.
"What is it?"
"I've decided to be crowned emperor and Raven's staying here with me." Rich said quickly. There was a loooooonnnnng pause. All the Titans stared at the two. "Guys?" Rich said.
"Guys?" Raven asked. The Titans continued to stare at them.
"Writing a letter doesn't sound so bad now huh?" Rich whispered. They were quiet for a while. "Want to go get some ice-cream?" Rich asked.
"Yeah let's go." Raven said. With that they left the room.
When Raven and Rich eventually got back
"Your both staying here?" Cyborg asked.
"Yeah." Rich said. "Is that okay?"
"Well we talked about and if you guys want to do this it's fine by us." Cyborg said. Raven and Rich smiled. "So when is the coronation?"
"On Friday." Rich said. "It's just a small thing. I take the oaths and mom crowns me." The others nodded.
That Friday
Rich was on one knee before his mother his head bowed.
"Do you swear to protect the people of your land no matter what?" the empress asked.
"I swear it." He replied.
"Do you swear to put the lives of others before your own?"
"I swear it."
"Do you swear to bring happiness and joy to your people?"
"I swear it."
"Do you swear to always make decisions that will help benefit your people?"
"I swear it."
"I hereby name you emperor of the Xarthian kingdom." The empress said as she placed the emperor's crown on Rich's head. He rose to his feet and his mother hugged him.
A couple of weeks later
All of Raven's things had been brought to Xarth. Rich and Raven had moved into the master bedroom. Rich's old room looked like nothing compared to it. It was larger than Rich and Raven's rooms combined. It had been quite some time since the Titans had left Earth and it was time for them to return.
"Dick." Speedy said as he walked towards Dick. "I want to talk to you."
"About what?" Rich asked annoyed.
"Listen man. I'm sorry. For what happened all those years ago." Speedy said. "And I know it's kinda late, but I really am and I really want to be pals again." With that he held out his hand.
Rich stared at Speedy's hand. The more level headed clear thinking calm side of him wanted to shake the hand and forgive Speedy. But the angry revengeful side of him wanted to hold the grudge forever. He thought about it. He had always believed in true love. And he believed in people dating their trueloves. He no longer had feelings for Starfire. He loved Raven and she loved him and they were both happy with each other. Holding a grudge is pointless. Grudges come from sorrow. Sorrow leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to the dark side. Therefore grudges lead to the dark side. He repeated the words he had told Beast Boy once more in his mind. Finally he slowly lifted his hand and took Speedy's hand. The two boys smiled at each other.
An hour or so later
"Well we're really going to miss you two." Cyborg said.
"Yeah. I have to admit it was fun being the Teen Titans again." Rich said.
"It's gonna be weird not having you around." Beast Boy said.
"Yeah it was cool hanging out with you guys." Eli said.
"Well we are going to visit. And you can visit us." Raven said. Then after several good byes hugs and tears the Titans entered the ship and the ship took off for Earth. Rich wrapped an arm around Raven and kissed her forehead.
"I'm going to miss them." Raven said.
"Me too." Rich said. "Me too."
Well that's Emperor Richard.
Read the next chapter. It'sabout the sequel.
Read & review
Until the next chapter.
Dragon. Out.