The End: Chapter 3
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The city was in ruins. Fire rose from the shattered buildings. The magma that made up the streets below gave more light than the crimson sky above. She looked over the edge of the cliff she stood on, down at the molten stone. A broken S—identical to the horrible mark written on her forehead—stared back up at her.
"Wonderful, isn't it?" Raven spun about, trying to find where Slade's voice came from. "It's that old paradox—so close, and yet so far." The sound of stones shifting just behind her made her turn again. "The time is drawing near, Raven." The wall of a building fell to the ground and she jumped at the massive crash.
"Stop it!" Raven shouted. "I'm not afraid of you!" She felt his body before she felt his spirit and whirled around one last time. His face was too close, his eye too wide, the mark on his forehead too bright. With a gasp she didn't want to give, Raven jerked backwards.
"Me?" Slade asked with a chuckle. "No, no, dear girl. I'm only the messenger. I'm not the one to be afraid of." He vanished in a flash, and she only had a fraction of a second to react to the fireballs that rushed at her. In the crackling roar of the flames, she heard a voice snarling.
You cannot run from what you are!
"I am not running!" Shadows swelled and pushed the flames away. They danced in a perfect circle, and Raven stood in the center of that circle. "I won't let this happen! It's my destiny—I'll change it!"
"You can do nothing," Slade's voice said. "You were born for one purpose—you will bring an end to the mortal world on Earth." The images of ruination flickered before her eyes. Fire consuming everything—her friends trapped in stone—Starfire frozen in the midst of a cry. Raven did not know if the cry was of pain or rage or sadness, and she never wanted to learn.
Darkness much deeper than she could ever conjure swirled out from under her feet and blanketed the world. So pure and endless was the darkness that it was like a mirror, reflecting the horror on her face. As she looked into the darkness, four glowing red eyes appeared.
The portal must be opened!
She made her eyes open.
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Her heart hammered against her ribs, and she fought for every gasp of breath. She felt a strange touch on her forehead—like a feather ghosting across her skin—and knew the mark had appeared. As her hand pressed down over the mark, her body began to tremble. A sob threatened to emerge, so she swallowed hard to stop it.
Raven tore her hand away from her face in a furious gesture, and a book flew out from under her bed. She had not touched the book since hiding it a year ago. It had been ten years since she had been given the book, and she had never opened it. Until that moment, there had been no reason to open the book of Azarath.
The book was a relic, steeped in powerful holy magic. She knew some of the spells and the history of Azarath that the book contained, but had not learned these things by reading the pages. Chaos had taught her, just as she had taught her everything else. Because Chaos had done so, Raven had been very confused to receive the book as a present on her seventh birthday. The only explanation the demon woman offered was that if Raven ever needed to know about Azarath, she could turn to the book.
Raven knew that the truth about the mark lay hidden within the book's pages. What fear she still held about her destiny could not keep her from frantically flipping through the book. She had to know if that fear could be dispelled—if it was some sick plot that had nothing to do with the fate she had supposedly been born to. So fervent was her search that she nearly passed over the page she needed to see.
Blood red ink had been appropriately used to scribe the broken S. She read every word under the symbol carefully. She read the passage four times before closing the book slowly. It was true. Slade was working for the demon she never wanted to know about. She hugged her legs to her chest, closing her eyes as she put her forehead on her knees. Someone knocked at the door to her room.
"Raven?" The call was muffled by the door, but Raven could recognize Starfire's voice no mattered how distorted. "Please, may I come in?" Raven gestured quickly, hiding the gray book under her bed once more. As she stood up, she waved her hand again and the door hissed open. Starfire walked in, hands clasped at her chest and her eyes wide and worried.
"Yes?" Raven asked. Her voice cracked when she spoke, and she would not look at the other young woman. Starfire lowered her eyes, trying to find the words to say. When she could not do so, she walked to Raven and pulled her into a gentle hug.
"What is wrong?" she whispered. "You have not left your room in days. You do not speak with us any more." She took a deep breath, letting it out in a shaky sigh. "Please, Raven, tell me what is happening to you."
"It's nothing. I just—he's trying to scare me with visions."
"Tell me what we can do to stop Slade," Starfire pleaded.
"It's not Slade," Raven murmured. She looked at Starfire's eyes—those bright, innocent, lovely eyes—and felt her fear increase tenfold. The idea that Starfire would be trapped forever in stone ripped at Raven's heart enough, but she had no idea as to how the alien would react to the truth. It was one thing to be threatened with Starfire's leaving her by death. It was something else entirely to face the threat of her leaving by choice.
"Then who?" Such a simple, honest question deserved an answer. After coming so far, after giving and receiving so much love to and from the beautiful young woman who held her close, she could not think of lying to Starfire.
"It's—" The hallways and rooms lit with red as alarm klaxons blared. Robin's voice came crystal clear from the speakers embedded in the walls.
"It's Slade!"
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Slade took in a rapturous breath as fire swirled around his hand. The rush of power he felt was unending and absolutely sublime. He chuckled as he looked for a new target. There certainly was pleasure to be found in following someone else's orders. Hand nearly blurring out of sight from speed, he started to throw another fireball.
The beam of sonic energy that stopped his hand barely registered in his mind. No pain raced up his nerves, but it was just enough to turn the flame into wisps of smoke. Slade turned slightly, moving his eye across the Teen Titans. He ignored the green lion, ignored the sonic cannon aimed at his head, ignored the boy holding the sword made of two birdarangs, and ignored the girl floating with emerald energy dancing in her palms. His gaze fell on Raven, and there his gaze stayed.
"Hello again," he said conversationally. "If you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of something. I'll play with you in a moment." He leapt up and away, flinging the renewed fireball at the ground under him. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy charged after him, easily tracking him by the small explosions that he created with every jump. Starfire started away as well, but stopped and looked back at Raven.
Her eyes were closed, unwilling to look at the flares of red and yellow in the night. Her hands were white-knuckled fists, shaking terribly. The sight of Raven's fear brought a great swell of pain into Starfire's chest, and so she went back to her. As she hugged her, she could feel her trembling. She kissed Raven gently, pulling away only when Raven's eyes opened. Taking Raven's hands in hers, she smiled.
"It will be all right." With another soft kiss, she flew away.
Slade was easily able to leave the heroes behind, but stopped atop one of the taller buildings. He threw the fire with a single-minded fervor, but none of it struck the Titans. Buildings, condemned because of age and decay, began to burn. Beast Boy flew high as a pterodactyl and jabbed at Slade with the talons on his feet. He managed to knock the man from the ledge he stood on before taking a fireball in the chest.
Bursts of sonic energy tried to strike Slade as he fell. He twisted like a cat, dodging each beam with a hand's width of clearance. Star bolts washed over the ground he was falling towards, but he twisted again to face the building behind him. A sustained rush of fire pushed him out of harm's way, and he landed in a balanced crouch. Before he could stand, however, Robin swung in on a grappling hook's line. The boy wonder's feet caught Slade under the chin and threw him into a wall.
As soon as his hands touched something solid, Slade sent fire erupting from the ground under Cyborg and Starfire. They were thrown away trailing smoke, leaving Robin to face Slade alone. The young man stood his ground even as Slade rose to his feet.
"How did you come back?" Robin snarled. "How did you get those powers?" The sound of Slade's cold chuckle was so ingrained in Robin's mind that it no longer sent ice dancing down his spine.
"What you really mean," Slade murmured, "is who did this. You want to know about this, don't you?" He reached up and tapped the glowing mark on his forehead, sparks flying from each tap of his fingers. "I suppose I could tell you, since you seem to be in the dark." His hand fell away from his face, reaching out toward Robin. He started to write the mark in the air, and his fingers left behind trails of red light. "It's known as the mark of Scath, dear boy." He drew a circle around the completed mark, and fire filled it.
Robin had no time to demand Scath's identity. He barely dodged the massive fireball thrown his way, thrown much further than his jump could have carried him by the concussive blast of the explosion behind him. When he got back to his feet, he looked about. The world around him was burning.
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Slade leapt from a high building and landed lightly in front of another. The way he stood waiting seemed odd, until the shadows of the stoop split apart. Her eyes glowing bright white, Raven stepped into the light of the fires.
"Leave them out of this," she murmured. Slade laughed at her, blue eye shining in amusement.
"Surely you mean leave Starfire out of this?" he asked sardonically. Raven's hands tightened into fists.
"I mean all of my friends," she snarled. "Leave them out of this."
"Ah, ah, ah, Raven," he said in return. He wagged his finger at her, flames surrounding it. "You can't put all the blame on me. I never brought them into this." He pointed at her, the flames casting bizarre shadows on his mask. "You did."
"What?" He chuckled and shook his head. Her back teeth ground together at the sight of him.
"The instant you let them into your life, you damned them to this," he explained. "Their deaths will be your fault, and no one else's. They will be burned away because of your selfishness."
"You're wrong!" Raven snapped. "I won't let that happen!"
"You are remarkable uninformed about the truth of it all," Slade said. "Just as your friends are uninformed about the truth of your destiny." He leaned forward, eye narrowing. "If you're having trouble telling them the truth, I'll tell them for you."
"Shut up!" A burst of magic struck Slade hard across the face, but he did not lose his footing. He turned his head to stare at Raven once more, his eye showing nothing. "Stay away from them!" After a moment, Slade shrugged, somehow managing to make the gesture look eloquent.
"It doesn't really matter if either of us tell them," he said. "They'll know soon enough. The time is drawing near, Raven. The portal will be opened." He stepped back, fire surrounding him. When the fire ceased, Slade was gone.
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The mark of Scath burned brightly in the night, but briefly. When Slade disappeared, the fires died down. In the end, a near perfect circle that measured three city blocks in diameter was reduced to ash and half-molten steel girders. The only thing that miraculously remained was an old library.
"It's the original city library," Cyborg said. The Titans stood before the building, staring up at the simply carved piece of stone that read "Library." "But it's been abandoned for years."
"So why'd Slade leave it alone?" Beast Boy asked. "It's a dump." He kicked at the nearest Romanesque pillar. Spider-web cracks rushed up the pillar from the kick, and it broke apart. The sign collapsed without the pillar as a support. The other pillars fell against one another, shattering on impact. The face of the building crumbled away from the vibrations, and Raven recoiled at what was revealed.
"The mark of Scath," Robin snarled. Raven turned to stare at him, and he felt her eyes on his back. "Slade told me what it's called." He started to move aside the rubble in front of the door.
"We shouldn't go in there," Raven said quickly. "It's—Slade probably set a trap."
"He was looking for something," Robin said in return. He grunted as he lifted a large chunk of stone. "This place wouldn't have survived the fire if he hadn't wanted it to. Whatever he wants has to be in there somewhere." His words carried such an air of finality that Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire joined him in moving the rubble and breaking down the moldy doors. They crossed through the doorway, and Raven hesitated a moment before following after them.
Dust rose from every footstep. The beam of light from Cyborg's shoulder lamp was visible in a tightly focused cone. The light would not travel far, choking on the dust. Half-empty and rotted bookcases stood in broken uniform aisles. The walls were bare. No sound but their footsteps was heard. At Robin's commanding glance, Cyborg checked his scanners and sensors.
"Nothin'," he murmured, "except a bunch of old books." Beast Boy opened his mouth to make a comment, and Raven felt the mark on her forehead appear and disappear in two heartbeats. On the wall in front of them, the mark of Scath wrote itself in bright red light. Part of the wall slid upward, and Beast Boy squealed in shock and jumped away. When nothing came rushing out of the newly created hole, he coughed and cleared his throat.
"Um, secret passage." He pointed unnecessarily. "Cool." Robin strode into the dark opening, followed by Cyborg. Beast Boy whimpered and cautiously trailed behind them. Raven stood rigidly, staring at something beyond the passageway. Starfire went to her and took one of her shaking hands. The touch was enough to give strength to Raven's legs, and she slowly followed Starfire down the dark passage and the stairs therein.
When the chamber at the bottom of the stairs came into view, Raven hesitated once more, letting go of Starfire's hand. The taller young woman entered the chamber, looking at the massive statues carved out of the stone walls. Skull-faced creatures wearing long, ragged cloaks stared back. Casting wary glances all around the room, Raven slowly stepped through the chamber's entrance.
Hands of ice caressed her, fingertips tracing the symbols on her skin. Red light began to sweep across the walls, spreading out from where she stood. New marks, so similar to the ones that had begun to glow on her, appeared and lit the room. Above, the empty eyes of the statues filled with light. Ghostly images of the statues pulled out of the stone, hovering silently. The Titans stared at the apparitions, and they began to speak.
The gem was born of evil's fire. The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim. He comes to sire—the end of all things mortal.
Starfire heard Raven's strangled gasp and turned. Her eyes widened at shock when they saw the glowing marks on her body. For an instant, their eyes met. Absolute horror was etched in every centimeter of Raven's face, and the sight of it filled Starfire with fear she had never known. The instant ended, and Raven rushed back up the stairs. Starfire flew after her, leaving the chamber where the ghosts' words echoed pitilessly.
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She ran, cloak fluttering out behind her. The ice in her body was spreading faster than she could run, and a cold sweat was running down the back of her neck. Her body was heavy, but her feet light. It was a moment of frantic elegance as she ran panting but never slipping.
"Raven!" Her feet were instantly frozen to the stairs. Raven turned slowly, unsure of what she would see. Starfire put her feet down on a stair a foot away, eyes wide. "Raven, what is happening?" Raven swallowed hard and backed up the stairs, shaking her head.
"I can't be here," she croaked. "I can't. I have to leave. Please, Starfire—please." Her eyes began to glow white, and her body faded into shadows. The shadows flew into the low ceiling above, and were gone. Starfire remained staring at the ceiling. She did not know what Raven had been begging for.
—to be continued—