The End: Chapter 5
Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.
What woke Raven first was the gentle kiss of the day's first sunlight upon her brow. What brought her consciousness fully back to her body was the harsh flash of pain she felt immediately after the sunlight. Her eyes snapped open, and she stared in horror at her hand. It was curled in a gentle fist before her face, and the symbol that had been burned into it glowed bright red.
She wanted to sit up and see if the glowing from her hand was a mere fluke, if the rest of the symbols were alight. She was stopped, however, by the arms Starfire had draped around her. The last thing she wanted to do was wake Starfire from her deep, content sleep, especially because of this. A hard bite on her lip kept her from letting out the sob that swelled up in her throat.
There was no real need for her to see if the marks were visible. The ache that burned in her flesh was enough, and she was only slightly surprised. It had been a full two months since they had last appeared. Every time the team had received a call for help, she had been grateful beyond measure that it was not Slade. It had been a brief respite, but she had always been on edge.
But now that time of halfhearted peace was at an end. The day had finally come.
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Those gathered at the table swallowed rather nervously. The entire team was composed of teenagers, and none of them was able to concoct dishes that the rest would enjoy. It was the primary reason they consumed so much fast food. In their own rights, however, the majority of them knew how to cook the dishes they would personally enjoy.
Raven, however, was on the lowest rung of the food-preparation ladder. She certainly knew the basics of what to do; eight years of living with Chaos had taught her that much. Despite that, she was only able to cook the simplest of things. Not only this, she disliked cooking immensely, and her friends were aware of that fact.
Thusly, they were both confused and frightened when she informed them that she was making the notoriously difficult dish of pancakes for their breakfast. Standing at the stove, she gave no sign to her friends that she was having any trouble, but she scowled as she stared at the pancakes. They had become charred, overlarge bubbles forming and popping lazily in the disgusting blend of black char marks and off-white undercooked batter.
In a barely contained fit of rage, Raven jammed the spatula under the nearest pancake and wrenched upwards. The pancake flew over her shoulder and only an instinctive reaction from Robin saved the offending breakfast food from hitting the far wall. He caught it on a plate, but the effort of the catch nearly unseated him. Heaving the unaccountably heavy pancake and plate back up onto the table, he winced and shook his quivering wrist.
"Good throw," he muttered. Raven grimaced, scraping the remaining pancakes from the griddle on the stovetop and slapping them on a large platter.
"Um, how come you're making breakfast?" Beast Boy asked. He squealed in surprise when Raven slammed the platter on the table before him. She glowered not at him, but at the pancakes. For a moment, she wanted to tell them the truth. Her fingers tightened in that moment, but loosened and let go of the platter when the moment faded.
"I felt like trying," she murmured. She looked up with a wry smile. "And I was getting sick of hearing you and Cyborg argue over tofu and bacon." She waved her hand, and small stacks of pancakes piled themselves on plates. The plates settled in front of each of her friends. "Dig in." Everyone picked up their forks and knives, but none of them moved for a few minutes after that. Eventually, Beast Boy tentatively prodded at the stack in front of him with the tip of his knife. The char marks were hard as stone, whereas the undercooked regions had the consistency and elasticity of rubber.
"Can I have a shovel?" He jerked at the sharp jab Cyborg's elbow gave to his shoulder and worried his upper lip with a fang when he saw Raven's dejected expression. The sound of someone eagerly eating broke the uncomfortable moment, and everyone looked to Starfire. She was smiling and chewing, bliss causing her eyes to slide shut and her cheeks to flush.
"Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" she said after swallowing. "I cannot begin to describe the wonders of the tastes I am experiencing!" A few seconds later, her plate was clean. She held it out to Raven with a broad grin. "May I have more?" Utterly mystified, the boys passed their plates down to Starfire. She started to eat once more, and Raven could only smile and shake her head. At least Starfire was happy.
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It was only an hour or two later when they were contacted. There was trouble in Black City—the kind only the Teen Titans could handle. Raven tried to reach out and sense the villain that they would face as they traveled through the city, but she could do no such thing. Her heart was beating painfully in her chest, and her mind was consumed by the hope that Slade would not be their adversary.
When they arrived on the scene, Raven let a sigh of relief pass through her lips. It was only Plasmus sucking toxic waste from a tanker truck. Granted he had caused major property damage and was a general menace, but he could be easily dealt with. The creature shrieked and spat green gobs of goop at the Titans the moment they declared their presence. Beast Boy and Cyborg were unable to dodge, and were coated in the viscous ooze. For the sake of their already wounded pride, Raven made no mention of her thoughts.
Robin threw a birdarang with a shout, and the weapon sliced deep into Plasmus's chest. His arms went to his chest before he let out another shriek. Starfire let loose a star bolt, the energy rushing into the pathway carved by the birdarang. Compressed too much too quickly, the energy exploded inside Plasmus's body. The muck that formed the creature was blasted apart, leaving a faintly smoking peel atop spindly legs surrounded by blobs on the street.
The creature reformed immediately, grabbing the empty tanker and ripping it from the flatbed that carried it. Plasmus swung the tanker, aiming for Starfire. A second before impact, Raven appeared before Starfire. Her sword manifested in her right hand, and shadows formed a shield before her left arm. A quick swing cut through the tanker, and the mass of metal crashed against the shield. Plasmus spun about, thrown out of balance, as the portion of the tanker he still held did not impart its force upon Starfire as he had planned.
With a resounding crash, the other piece of the tanker fell to the ground. When Plasmus stomped forward and swung the piece he held again, Raven swept forward and sliced the creature's arms off. The tanker hit the ground with another crash, Plasmus's arms with a splat. An instant later, new arms had grown from the stumps. The clawed hands swelled into massive blocks, and the arms swung to clap the blocks together.
Starfire grabbed Raven's hands and pulled them both higher up into the air. The blocks smashed harmlessly together, reverting yet again to clawed hands while Plasmus shrieked his rage. He swiped at Robin, tearing gouges out of the street when Robin leapt out of the way. Beast Boy flew in as an eagle, jabbing at Plasmus's face with his talons. Plasmus's attempts to slap the eagle away were halted by a few choice shots by Cyborg's sonic cannon.
The shrieking fit that Plasmus decided to throw thereafter was enough for Raven. She closed her eyes and pressed the first two fingers of her right hand against the gem on her forehead. For a moment, the gesture only suggested irritation. Shadows surrounded her hand, and her eyes were glowing white when she opened them. Her hand came away from her face, palm open and facing toward Plasmus. A raven made of shadows pulled from her hand, flying toward Plasmus unnoticed. It vanished into the gooey creature, and he went quiet and still.
He exploded after a moment, covering the street and the Titans in ooze. All that remained of him was a human lying on the ground. The heroes came together to examine him, and were glad when they found that he was sound asleep. Still dripping muck, they grinned at one another.
"Who wants pizza?" Raven asked.
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"Oh, man, I am stuffed!" Cyborg declared.
"Me too," Beast Boy said.
"You guys said that four times already," Robin said with a chuckle. "I think the city knows you're stuffed."
"The squirrels here might not know yet." Starfire giggled at Raven's remark, but the boys paused and stared at her.
"Time out, time out!" Beast Boy cried. He jumped in front of Raven, forming his hands into a T, and looked at her quizzically. "You just made a joke!"
"I'm not allowed to?" she asked.
"No!" Beast Boy replied. "Well—yeah, you can, but…you usually only try to make Starfire laugh." Raven sidestepped around him, taking a few steps away from the group. With her back to them, they could not see her hug herself tightly. They could not see the worry and pain in her eyes.
"You're all my friends," she said after a moment. "You've always tried to make me laugh." She looked up at the clear blue sky, where the sun was steadily climbing toward high noon. "Besides, it's a nice day. We should enjoy it." She had no time to think, While we can, before it happened.
The world and sun darkened as if an eclipse were suddenly occurring. The darkness did not come from the shadow cast over the sun, however. It flowed from Raven. A hand of ice reached through her skin and took a tight hold of her spine. The hand jerked her suddenly backwards, and she felt her flesh burn and ache. She was yanked to the side, and then spun about. Eyes wide from pain both physical and mental, she saw the shock and horror on the faces of her friends. The hand pulled one last time before vanishing, and she fell back to the ground.
"Raven!" Her friends rushed to her, and Starfire did not hesitate to gather Raven into her arms. The marks were glaringly bright, the red light glittering in the tears that had welled in Raven's wide eyes.
"Today is the day?" Starfire whispered.
"The end of the world," Raven said. Two tears slid unstoppably down her cheeks, and she clenched her eyes shut, pressing her face against Starfire's shoulder.
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"OK everyone, you've heard it said before: this is not a drill." Raven stared at Robin from her placed cradled in Starfire's arms. He turned to face her with an encouraging smile. "Ever since you told us what would happen, we've been getting ready. We've never given up without a fight, and we aren't going to start now."
"Especially with our friend at stake," Beast Boy said with a fierce nod. They came to the end of the long hallway. After the incident in the park, the heroes had returned to the Tower immediately. Without an explanation, they had taken Raven down into the foundations of the building. It had been a perfectly practiced escort: Robin in the lead, while Beast Boy and Cyborg flanked Starfire and Raven from the rear.
Robin pulled the glove off his right hand, pressing his exposed skin against the scanner on the side wall. The door in front of them took up the entire wall, from ceiling to floor. With a clear, loud beep, the scanner recognized Robin's fingerprints, heat signature, and biometric readings and started to unlock the door. A rapid succession of clicks rang out as locks slid from their recesses. Two loud clangs came after the clicks had stopped. A faint hum that had been ever-present ceased abruptly, and the door swung open automatically.
"Twenty-four titanium deadbolts," Cyborg explained. "Four of them the size of steel girders going vertical and horizontal. There's an electromagnetic lock that holds the door right where it's supposed to be."
"But that's not all!" Beast Boy said. He grinned and jumped into the room behind the door as soon as it was possible. The walls seemed to gently glow. He gestured to the markings painted in light blue against soft white, and his voice reminded Raven of a television ad. "We've also got these awesome doodles on the wall that are guaranteed to kick invading demon butt, courtesy of one of the books that Starfire found in your room! Nothing's getting in to—um, get you! Pretty cool, huh?"
Starfire carried Raven into the room and set her down. Raven stared at the markings, recognizing them as powerful warding spells that could have come only from the book of Azarath. To be useful, the marks had to be scribed perfectly. From what she had memorized from the book, everything was perfect. No line was thicker or shorter than was needed, no angle too acute or obtuse. The protective magic was just as strong as the gate barring the way to Azarath.
The room was a perfect example of a safe chamber for her. The door would take hours if not days to either disarm or dismantle. The stone walls were thick enough to stop most explosives, and the magic sealing the room was strong enough to stop most demons. Again, hope appeared in her chest, and it was because of her friends.
Alarm klaxons blared, red light bleeding into the room from the hallway. Raven turned to find her friends glaring at a view screen built into the wall. She went quickly to them, looking at the screen. An involuntary gasp slipped from her mouth at the sight she found. The camera was focused on the area outside the Tower, and Slade stood in the center of the shot. All around him were creatures made of hellfire, standing in formation as if they were militarily trained. An army of demons stood on their doorstep, and Raven knew they had come for her.
"Just like we planned," Robin growled. "We hold them off. Titans—"
"No!" Everyone turned to look at Raven, the hardened expressions on their faces contrasting sharply with the terror on hers. "You can't hold them off forever!"
"Only until midnight," Beast Boy replied with a shrug.
"That's still more than ten hours away, and we don't even know if they'll stop when today ends! You can't!"
"Hey, we've done the impossible before," Cyborg said with a proud smile.
"It's not the same thing! You aren't fighting against giant men made of rocks or monsters made out of electricity!"
"We are fighting for our friend," Starfire murmured. She took Raven's hands in hers and smiled. "Our dear friend." Raven could find nothing to say in reply, and so held tight to Starfire's hands in a silent plea for them not to go.
"Don't worry," Robin said gently to her. He turned to the others, nodding at them. "Let's go!" He, Cyborg, and Beast Boy charged down the hallway. Raven would not let go of Starfire's hands, and Starfire could feel the trembling that overwhelmed the young woman.
"We will not let this happen to you," she said. "We are not afraid to fight for you."
"But I am." Raven bowed her head, her voice fading to a whisper. "Please, don't go. I don't want any of you to get hurt because of me." Because she would not let go of Starfire's hands, Starfire tightened her grip. Raven looked up at her, wet trails on her cheeks. Starfire kissed her, letting the love she felt for Raven give both of them strength. They separated reluctantly, and Starfire smiled brightly.
"Stay here," she said. "We shall keep you safe." Raven closed her eyes and let go of Starfire's hands. They parted, Raven entering the room and Starfire locking the door behind her. She went to join her friends on the field of battle.
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Raven sat in the center of the room, legs drawn up against her chest and arms wrapped around her knees. Unable to form coherent thoughts because of her lingering fear, she cast her eyes around the room. She dwelled on how perfectly made the marks on the walls were and how much they reminded her of Azarath's gate. If Trigon were on Earth, the marks would certainly hinder him as the gate would. Only for two demons would the magic be useless, and it would be laughably so.
Protective magic can act as a silencer. If there was magical activity within the area being protected, it could go undetected by those that are not powerful enough to break through the protective seals. A spell to contact a person would be watched for in a siege, but the stronger the protective magic around the person casting the spell, the longer the message could be.
It was this idea that made Raven cross her legs in her meditative position, rest her hands on her knees, and close her eyes. She pulled in a breath, held it for a moment, and let it in a long sigh. Focus regained, she brought the spell to the fore of her mind and cast it. The bond she had to Chaos was strong—only dominated by the bond she had to Starfire. It took less than a second for the magic to find Chaos and connect their minds.
"Chaos?" Raven whispered aloud.
Raven? The voice she heard was familiar and comforting, and Raven managed a small smile despite herself.
"Chaos, I need your help," she said quickly. "The prophecy—tell me how to stop it, please!"
Trigon's coming?"Yes—my friends are fighting Slade and an army of demons! Trigon sent them for me!"
Dammit to hell and back! Listen to me. You've got to stop them from fighting. You're the only one who can protect anything now.
"What?"
Keep them safe. They're the ones who need saving right now, not you.
"What are you saying?"
I'm coming to help you, little blackbird. Everything will be fine—I promise.
Chaos's voice was so strong as she spoke the promise that Raven was unable to reply for a full minute. She still felt a strong connection in her mind, however, and drew breath to say a simple "thank you."
Daughter.
The deep, rumbling voice make her choke on her own breath.
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"I'm here for Raven." It was a blunt statement, and like many blunt statements, it caused a stir. The Titans stood before the entrance to the Tower, glaring at Slade with all the hatred they had ever known in their lives. Slade stood at the head of a formation of demons, arms crossed behind his back.
"You're not going to have her." Robin stood with a short staff in each hand, eyes narrow.
"I assume you're all going to try and save her?"
"We're gonna save her, and we're gonna kick your butt." Cyborg's sonic cannon was at the ready, a shot charging in the barrel.
"What makes you so very certain of that?"
"We've kicked your butt before, and we'll do it again!" Beast Boy was in a knife fighter's stance, legs wide and bent and fists in front of him.
"You may have slowed me down, but you've never actually stopped me."
"We will not let you take Raven from us." Starfire hovered just off the ground, rage fueling the emerald energy in her hands and eyes.
"You don't have any say in the matter." Slade's hand came out from behind his back and began to rise. He pointed toward the Titans as Robin pointed toward him.
"Titans, GO!"
"Attack!"
Starfire grabbed Robin's two staffs and lifted him from the ground, flying high and fast. She threw him, and her aim was true. He flew through the air, leg extended, toward Slade. His foot caught the masked man in the face, the blow carrying both of them to the ground. Robin skid to a halt on the loose rocks, whirling to face Slade even as the man rose from the ground as if pulled by an invisible hand. The two staffs struck as one, hitting Slade's head on one side hard enough to snap his neck and send him spinning through the air. He righted himself and hit the ground feet first, neck healing instantly. His hands, enveloped by flames, clawed into the ground to stop his skid. Robin and Slade regarded each other for a moment before charging, their battle cries echoing alongside the shouts of the others.
Cyborg stood at the entrance, targeting systems in his robotic eye easily handling the swarms of fire demons that came his way. Blasts of sonic energy ripped them apart, flames dissipating in the night. He would remain where he stood as the last line of defense, and there was nothing that would make him leave his post. He paused only once to help Beast Boy, and it took a mere second out of his shooting. Despite the redoubling of his efforts to compensate for this lost second, he was forced to keep up his new pace as larger teams of demons tried to slip past.
Beast Boy leapt into Cyborg's hand as an armadillo in that second, spiraling perfectly into the sky over the center of the largest regiment of demons. He became a humanoid for the last three seconds of the flight to increase his drag and start his fall where he wanted to. His eyes closed for those three seconds, and he turned all his focus in upon himself. It had been a long time since he had looked at his own inner monster. He had been terrified of it, never knowing if it meant he was truly a savage beast. For the past two months he had dwelled on it, wondering endlessly if he should become the monster and risk loosing his humanity.
Beast Boy's decision came from Raven. He thought of how she used the strength of her demon's blood to fight for what was right, despite her obvious fears of what could come from the use of those powers. At that moment, his friend needed his help. That, Beast Boy decided, was the greatest reason to tame the beast that waited within him.
The great beast's claws tore through two demons before he hit the ground. Another three demons fell under one swing of his massive, shaggy arm. A hand made of flames grabbed his shoulder, and he twisted his head to bury sharp fangs in the hand. He jerked, flinging the demon that had tried to ambush him from behind into the one that was rushing him from the front. The instant the two demons collided, he was there, tearing them apart with his claws.
Starfire found herself surrounded by more adversaries than was possible to count in a single glance. She did not care. With her fingers closed around star bolts and rage coursing in her blood, she did not care if her enemies numbered ten or a thousand. A small leap lifted her from the ground, and she twisted her body. Hovering, she spun and let loose streams of energy. Dozens of the demons were eradicated in that single attack, but it was only the first.
Starfire rushed forward into the heart of the next regiment. She lashed out with a hard right hook, her fist breaking through a demon's body entirely. When the demon vanished into wisps of flame, she overbalanced, tipping forward. Another demon lunged forward, taking the obvious opportunity. Starfire put her hands onto the ground and turned the fall into a flip, striking the demon with both feet. The blow reduced the demon to piles of ash. The ash was whipped into the air as Starfire flew on.
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"You're not here. You can't be here."
I can go wherever I like. I am with you wherever you go. I am part of you, daughter.
"This is just a vision. I'm not going to help you." She stood on a flat stone amidst a cavern filled with flames. She stared up at four glowing red eyes, hands clenched and shaking at her sides.
You have no say in the matter. You are going to destroy the world that I may conquer it and the rest of mortal life.
"No! I'm not your puppet!" She rose from the ground, eyes glowing white. Shadows enveloped her hands, and she cast them at the glowing eyes. They struck not the eyes, but a hand that appeared from the flames. A figure that she had never seen before but found all too familiar manifested, standing in the middle of the flames. The light of the flames was lost upon the figure of the red-eyed man, black nothingness forming his body.
No. That is all you are. I will always hold the strings, because your blood is my blood.
"I'm nothing like you!" The light flooding from her eyes was dyed with the color of blood, and a new set—so much like her father's—opened on her forehead. The sensation was a slap in the face, as it always was, and she clapped her hands over her eyes. She sank slowly to the ground, breath coming in choked gasps.
You surprise me, daughter. How could you ever think that you were anything more than the portal?
He began to walk towards her, his footsteps shaking the ground. She looked up at him, four eyes wide.
You have no power over your destiny. No matter what you have been told, you cannot escape this. No one can escape.
She was irresistibly drawn into the air, and his clawed hand rose up to act as the ground she stood upon.
Your friends are fighting a loosing battle. You know this, and yet you allow them to suffer. I thought you cared for them. You hid your lineage for so long to protect them, and now you send them to their graves because of it. You are beyond help, daughter—mortal or otherwise.
"But—" Her protest was cut off by the flaring of the flames around them.
There is nothing you can do but accept this.
"But father—I don't want to."
You cannot run from your destiny any further, daughter.
His hand closed, and Raven was lost to his darkness.
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Slade's boot caught Robin's chin, flinging him into the waiting arms of a demon. Robin thrashed, and he saw that his friends were caught in the embrace of fire just as he was. He turned to glare at Slade, but did not give up in his struggles.
"I expected nothing less of you," the masked man murmured. "You've always gone out fighting. It's appropriate that you spend your last day alive fighting an impossible battle."
"It is not our last day!" Robin snarled.
"I beg to differ," Slade chuckled. He lifted a hand before Robin's face. It burst into flames, and Robin could not stop the sweat that began to roll down his face.
"STOP!" Slade's hand closed automatically, flames dying. The demons let go of their quarry, backing away to stand in formation. Those nearest the Tower parted, allowing the cloaked figure to pass through their ranks.
"Raven?" Starfire whispered. Raven did not look at her friends, walking to stand before Slade. She looked at him, her face grim and her eyes hard.
"I'll go with you," she said.
"No!" Beast Boy and Cyborg shouted.
"Get back in the safe room!" Robin ordered. Starfire's hands took hold of Raven's shoulders. Her grip was tight, but her fingers were trembling.
"Raven, please, do not do this." Raven reached up and touched Starfire's hands. "Do not leave us."
"I'm sorry." Shadows arced out from Raven's hand as she lifted it over her head. The moment the shadows touched them, the Titans were gone, taken into unconsciousness. They were lifted from their feet and laid gently on the ground. Raven looked at them, her gaze lingering on Starfire. "Please—be safe." She turned back toward Slade, unwilling to meet his eye. "Let's go."
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"So what has he promised you? Money? Power? Minions?"
"That, dear girl, is none of your business."
"He'll never deliver it, whatever it is." Slade chuckled, and the sound echoed in the stone hallway. It echoed alongside their footsteps and the faint crackling of the fire demons' bodies. Raven no longer felt the sinister chill that followed Slade's laughter. She sighed, shaking her head inside the shadows of her hood as Slade spoke again.
"You have no idea what you're talking about." His tone was confident, but there sat a small point of doubt within him. She sensed that doubt, and could not help but speak a few choice words to make it grow.
"I know my father," she murmured. "He doesn't really care about things that aren't useful to him. The only reason you and I are here is because he needs to use us. Once we've done our parts, we'll both be disposed of. You won't get a thing from him."
"Shut your mouth, you stupid girl!" She felt the heat of the flames roiling in his hands as surely as she felt his anger. Both the heat and the anger vanished suddenly, replaced by confusion as Slade found himself taken into the grasps of three fire demons. They forced him to his knees, pulling his arms until they popped out of his shoulders and holding them against his back. "Let go of me! Damn you—obey me!" One of their hands grabbed his head and wrenched it, forcing him to look up at Raven.
"You're already useless." Her voice was cold, the echo of her words drowning out all other sound. "He knows it. That's why they aren't listening to you." Her four eyes were glowing red, glaring at him with a malice that managed to tighten his throat painfully. She turned away after a moment, starting down the dark hallway. "Leave him." The demons released him, and he watched them vanish before standing up.
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The Titans struggled to their feet. For a brief moment, they stood in silence. None of them understood, and so they did not ask the questions that could not be answered.
"Cyborg?" Robin asked. Cyborg lifted his right arm, tapping at his sensors to hone in on the signal of Raven's communicator. With a small beep, the sensor typed out the location and provided a small map of the city on which a red pulsing dot appeared.
"The old library," Cyborg murmured.
"It is not too late," Starfire said quickly. They looked at one another and nodded
"Titans, GO!"
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Raven stared up at the slowly moving sun. It was blackened, tendrils of eerie white light fluttering out from behind the black shadow to give off something similar to moonlight. She stood with her arms wrapped around herself, stalling. There were only three more minutes until the spell had to be cast. She shuddered, closing her eyes tight. There had been a chance. If she had remained at the Tower, she could have escaped it. The tradeoff for her escape, however, was the lives of her friends. If she had remained for an instant longer, they would have been killed.
Now she stood on the precipice. The window for her freedom was shrinking with each minute that ticked away. Chaos had to appear. She had to—she promised to help. Raven swallowed, looking up at the sun once again. Two minutes were all she had left. The call was stronger than ever. The hatred she felt for her destiny had not weakened in the least, but the uncontrollable demand in her blood to fulfill it was overwhelming. Her hands, once trembling and tight, grew still and loose.
She had started to take a step toward the stone hand rising from the ground when an explosion rang out. Flashes of bright green and blue cut through the red sheen of the fire demons, and battle cries bounced off of the stone walls. Raven turned and saw her friends charging through the demons, dozens upon dozens of the creatures falling from their attacks. Before she could speak, the demons rose up as a single massive wave of fire and washed over the Titans. They were instantly captured in fire that did not burn, but threatened to snap each bone that it touched. The boys struggled furiously, but Starfire reached out a pleading hand.
"Raven!" she cried. Raven's eyes lit with white and she gestured quickly. The demons withdrew, sinking into the ground and vanishing. The heroes met each other halfway, stopping a few paces apart. Raven looked at them, and her eyes were wet with unshed tears.
"You can't stop it," she murmured. "It's already started."
"No!" Starfire said. "Please, Raven, do not do this! This does not have to be your fate!"
"It is," Raven replied. "I know that it is."
"You do not have to do this!"
"I've known all my life that this is what I'm supposed to do." She sighed and looked toward the ceiling. One minute was left. "I've tried all my life to fight it, and look at where I've gotten. I've done good things—fought evil—Heaven has touched me—and nothing has changed what's going to happen."
"But how can you know that this is what will truly happen? You cannot know all that is to be." The words brought a smile to Raven's lips as she looked at her friends once more.
"I didn't know a lot of things about my life," she murmured. "I didn't know I'd find such wonderful friends." She reached out and took Starfire's hands in hers, pressing a soft kiss against her knuckles. "And I didn't know that I'd find a lover like you." Tears streamed from Starfire's eyes. She clutched Raven's hands tightly, her shoulders beginning to quake.
"Do not do this," she pleaded. "Do not leave me."
"I don't want to," Raven whispered. She kissed Starfire softly, longingly. It was a kiss from a lover that was soon to leave—a lover that would not return. When Raven pulled away, Starfire was too overwhelmed to keep her grip tight. Raven's hands slipped away from hers. "I'm sorry." A sweep of her hand brought a wall of shadows up between Raven and her friends. She turned away, raising her hood over her head.
"No." Starfire's choked whisper brought about a flurry of action. Robin rushed at the shadows, ramming it with his shoulder. Beast Boy backed away before becoming a rhinoceros and charging. Cyborg fired shot after shot from his sonic cannon. Starfire hurled a punch hard enough to make her arm quiver when the wall did not give way. She pummeled the wall until the skin of her knuckles threatened to break. Blasts shot from her eyes and hands, but produced no more of an effect than any other attacks—either from her or the boys—had done.
Raven walked forward, and stones lifted from the ground to provide her with a stairway. She strode up into the clawed stone hand, stopping only when she stood in the center of the palm. Her feet lifted from the ground and her legs tucked under her body. Her hands closed, middle and ring fingers touching her palms. Raven closed her eyes, knowing that time had run out.
"The gem was born of evil's fire."
Please, Starfire, forgive me.
"The gem shall be his portal."
I'm sorry.
"He comes to claim."
I'm so sorry!
"He comes to sire…"
Starfire—please, forgive me!
"The end of all things mortal."
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Hell's tortures are not unique to the dead. She discovered this as the marks became the inscriptions needed to open the portal. They had been burned down into her body, and now they were taken from her. They were ripped from her bone, strained from her blood, torn from her flesh. No part of her was spared of this pain, and it barely faded as the symbols began to circle around her. Her eyes were flooded with light, and her mouth was open in a silent scream.
The pain of the flesh is nothing, however, compared to the pain of the soul. She could not even shed the tears that had gathered in her eyes the pain was so great. Her soul was rent from its place within her body, bits and pieces tearing away from the ragged thing as her body began to change. Light consumed her, but the pain of the twisting and warping body faded as her soul was dragged away.
STARFIRE!
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"RAVEN!" Starfire could only watch as Raven's body vanished in the light. The red symbols swirled faster than ever before, shrinking and contracting upon the sphere of light. With a flash, the sphere became a flat circle of dancing fire. It began to lower through the air, breaking apart and annihilating the stone hand as it went. The portal came to lie upon the ground, opening to reveal nothing but darkness and flames. A clawed hand was thrust up through the portal, and a body followed the hand.
Horns looking of crooked tree branches rose from a white-haired, red-skinned head. Four glowing red eyes stared out from above a mouth filled with massive fangs. He was bare-chested, wearing only a loincloth and jewel-encrusted belt. His hands were clawed, and his feet cloven hooves. His head tilted back as he let out his first words on the planet.
"THE EARTH—IS MINE!"
—to be continued—