Ok, here are standard disclaimers. I do not own, nor claim to own any rights to the Teen Titans, or any other borrowed characters. I also make no claims towards any original characters I invent for this story.
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Raven stared in horror as Beast Boy vanished into the fiery inferno. Snapping out of her surprise she charged towards where he was last standing and was repelled by the searing heat. Raising her dark shields she pressed forward as loud popping sounds continued to snap under the grandstand, which shuddered as people continued to flee from the compromised structure. Sirens blared in the distance and Raven was able to see fire engines flying towards the scene of the explosion, still too distant to help. As she reached the center of the grandstand she was finally able to see how big the collapsed section actually was, the chasm was almost 20 meters wide. Peering down into the fiery pit she was unable to discern anything beyond a reproduction of Hell on Azarath. As she stared into the infernal maw the entire grandstand shook violently and collapsed under her. She instinctively raised a protective bubble around herself and levitated as the floor under her vanished as it fell into the flames below.
"GAAARFIEEEELD!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice drowned out by the roaring inferno around her which licked her spherical shield with its hungry flames.
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Chaos ruled on the street in front of the grandstand as civilians ran for their lives, running in any direction that would take them away from the furnace that had once been a grandstand.
In the middle of the street a single figure stood, immobile as if in shock. Her hair was green and she had blue eyes, which were consumed in terror and horror. This wasn't supposed to have happened; he wasn't supposed to even be there, that's what everyone she had asked had told her yesterday, that only Matriarchs would be in VIP box, including Raven.
She had slipped under the grandstand the night before, hovering on one of her ubiquitous rocks, gliding past the old night watchwoman who had been drinking the bottle of Azarathian rum Terra had left in her guard booth earlier. It had been easy to setup the bombs and the only glitch was that the remote detonators wouldn't work as there was some sort of radio jamming mechanism in place. Thinking quickly, as time wasn't on her side, she set a timer to detonate 5 minutes after the celebration was scheduled to begin, but in her hurry she had unintentionally set one to explode after only 4 minutes. She had planned on double checking the settings, but was interrupted by the semi drunken security guard who was making her rounds in spite of her inebriated state, leaving Terra no choice but to retreat as any disturbance would attract more guards who would no doubt find her Slade bombs which waited like a predator to make their kill, with their signature "S" logos dark.
When she had seen Beast Boy emerge from the limo with Raven she panicked. She tried to cross the street but was pushed back by the security ring that surrounded the main grand stand. The truth was she didn't know what to do. She considered summoning a boulder from the ground and flyi to Beast Boy, but she knew that Raven would her and would immediately engage her and they would all be consumed by the blast. Warning them wouldn't help, they would never believe her.
Finally she decided to summon a boulder and fly to them, but she had wasted too much time vacillating and second guessing herself as the first bomb exploded just as she became airborne. She too had watched in horror as Beast Boy was unable to escape from the fiery deathtrap he had fallen into. Recovering from her shock she steered her flying rock into the inferno.
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Raven's heart sank as she descended into the white hot furnace; the metal girders that supported the grandstand had melted from the intense heat. She felt a lump form in her throat as the grim reality sank in. There was no way he could have survived this. She began to weep as the fire engines arrived and began to spray their retardant foam, putting out the fire. Within a few minutes it was over and though she was sill trembling from her loss she stoically began to search for his body amid the ruins of the grandstand.
Using her dark energy she began to remove the debris that now formed a twisted, macabre patchwork of destruction and death. She continued methodically when she sensed that someone was approaching. Without stopping her task she turned around and saw a girl with green hair who had a horrified look on her face.
"This place isn't safe for civilians Miss, you need to leave." Raven croaked.
"Have you found BB yet?" The girl whimpered in a familiar voice.
Raven did a double take at the girl, her own face a mosaic of disbelief and disgust. It took a moment to finally recognized her, but there was no doubt about it, it was her. Raven's expression changed as a sense of nauseous fury consumed her.
"You bitch! You did this! You killed my Garfield!" Raven shrieked in a guttural voice, her eyes now 4 and glowing a deep crimson red. Terra saw red tears streaming down Raven's face, tears of blood.
"I, I didn't mean to." Terra stammered as she fell to her knees and began to wail. "Oh my God, what have I done?"
"I warned you once that if you hurt him it would be the last thing you ever did." Raven roared as the dark tentacles made their appearance. "This is the end Terra!"
The Geomancer bowed her head, ready to accept whatever fate Raven had in store for her as she had nothing left to live for and was consumed with an agonizing sense of guilt and regret. Her only hope was that her end would be swift and painless, but judging from the look on Raven's now fully demonic face she knew it would be neither. She did not flinch, she was ready to accept the punishment for her colossal mistake.
Before Raven could deliver her fatal blow a pile of debris began to shake, its detritus falling to the side as it appeared to come to life. Raven and Terra stared mesmerized as the mound of debris grew taller before it fell to the sides, revealing a green and heavily armored ankylosaurus which was visibly burned and staggered towards Raven as if in a daze and collapsed after taking several steps.
"Garfield!" Raven cried out as she ran to his side, followed closely by Terra. "Gar, can you hear me?"
"Is he OK Raven?"
"Barely, no thanks to you." Raven snarled at Terra. "Gar, forgive me for what I'm about to do, but it's easier to heal you when you're in your human form."
Using the unspoken black magic spell that Malchior had taught her years before she forced Beast Boy back into his default human form. She grimaced at the sight before her as his costume was nearly completely destroyed and he was covered in third degree burns. She immediately went to work, covering him in her healing blue light. Terra watched in quiet reverance as the changeling's burns were reduced from third degree open wounds to second degree blisters and finally to first degree burns. Raven paused, clearly exhausted from her effort.
"Is he OK Raven?"
The sorceress nodded.
Terra grinned wickedly.
"Then let's resolve this now, once and for all!"
"There's nothing to resolve Terra." Raven replied in her monotone.
"Oh I disagree, witch. We both want him, and I'll fight you for him."
Raven picked her husband up bridal style, in a demonstration of the strength of her partially demonic physiology.
"He needs to be taken to a hospital, traitor. But get this through your thick skull: he's mine. He's my lover, my mate, my man, my husband. But don't you worry, after he's recovered and safe I'm gonna find you and give you what you've had coming for a long time."
"Bring it on bitch." Terra replied coldly. "I'm looking forward to it."
"You'll be sorry you ever came to Azarath Terra, I promise that." Raven snarled as she phased into the ground.
Terra heard firefighters approaching. It was time to leave and head back to her hideout.
She would be ready for Raven. She had beaten her before and she was ready to do it again.
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"So that's Azarath." Cyborg commented in an amazed voice. "It's just floating … in the air … like a cloud."
The three Titans approached the far edge of the bridge, which was barricaded, and guarded by a lone officer, who paced nervously as they approached her, not taking her eyes off of the three unusual looking strangers. The three aliens stopped before her.
"We need to enter Azarath" Robin announced.
The guard ignored the Boy Wonder and instead addressed the Tamaranian.
"I'm sorry, but the city is under lock down. No one can enter at this time."
"What happened, why is the city locked down?" Cyborg asked him. The border guard glared at the tin man. She had heard about alien worlds, were men were considered to be the equals of women. Of course it was one thing to read about such things in a textbook at school, and quite another to experience it in the flesh. Once again she addressed Starfire.
"The reason for the lock down is not your concern. What business do you have in Azarath, alien?"
Starfire returned the woman's glare. While Raven had never actually taught her, over the years by simply observing she had learned the fine art of facial intimidation from her gray teammate.
"Our business is to find our friend Raven. We have learned that an assassin is seeking her."
"You mean Raven Roth, the Trigon slayer?"
"The one and the same." Robin replied.
The guard harrumphed at him.
"I don't know what the rules are like where you come from male, but here in Azarath men only speak after they have been spoken to first. As for you miss, you are too late, Mistress Raven has been attacked already."
The three Titans exchanged worried glances with each other, which did not go unnoticed by the border guards.
"Is Raven unharmed?" Starfire asked.
"She is, but her husband is in the hospital."
"Her husband?" Robin blurted out. "Since when does Raven have a husband?"
The border guard let the male outburst slide.
"Of course, you wouldn't know. You're Earthlings, aren't you?"
"I am a Tamaranian." Starfire corrected her. "And we are Raven's friends and teammates from Earth. But please tell me, who is she married to? It cannot be possible."
The border guard sighed.
"She married that uppity green boy she brought with her from Earth." She informed them as she shook her head in clear disapproval. "She's got the mono movement all fired up."
"Is our friend Beast Boy OK, you said he was in the hospital." Starfire continued.
"I really don't know. I'm sorry."
"Please, you must grant us access to Azarath, we must be allowed to assist our friends."
The guard shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I don't have that authority."
"Then you must contact someone who does."
The border guard eyed them cautiously.
"Just a moment." She replied as she stepped up to her border station console. She picked up the handset.
"Get me the hospital."
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Raven watched as Beast Boy was lowered into a tub of pink fluid, until he was completely submerged. He had a small breathing apparatus on his face and his expression was blank. Raven was still covered in ashes, her cheeks were smudged with soot. Three doctors worked quietly as they monitored several sensors on a console. Raven knew that it was going to be long; her only consolation was that he was in no real danger at the moment.
Her thoughts returned to Terra and Raven could literally feel Rage thrashing at her chains in the dark pit she occupied in Raven's psyche.
Let's kill her, let's go find the traitor and kill her right now!
Raven silenced the voice in her head, and not because she disagreed with Rage, but because she knew that this would have to be carefully planned. She remembered all too well how Terra had used her anger as a weapon against her the last time they fought one on one and that Terra had defeated and almost killed her that time.
It would not happen again, not if she could help it.
"Excuse me Mistress; there is a call for you." A nurse handed a datapad to Raven.
Raven gasped as she saw her 3 friends on the screen, standing next to the border guard.
"Forgive me Mistress; but these foreigners claim to be your friends."
"They are. Please have them brought to the hospital."
"We are still in lock down Mistress …"
"Override, on my authority as the Matriarch heiress of the House of Roth."
"Are you sure Mistress? The council might not approve…"
"Half the council is dead! Bring them here, immediately!" Raven barked at the woman.
"Right away mistress, I'll send them over in a police car!"
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The three Titans were led into the therapy room where Beast Boy remained suspended in the healing tank, still unconscious. Raven turned to face them; her disheveled appearance did not go unnoticed by her teammates. Starfire ran to her and wrapped her in a pincer like hug.
"Oh Raven! Are you unharmed?"
"I'm fine Starfire. My cape is burned and ruined that's the extent of the damage I suffered."
"What happened to Beast Boy? Did Terra do this to him?"
Raven nodded.
"She set up some bombs. They were meant for me, but he got the worst of it. He suffered burns all over his body."
As Raven explained the physicians removed Beast Boy from the tank.
"Mistress, your husband has finished his therapy. His burns have been completely healed; mostly thanks to the early treatment you gave him, had it not been for that he would have without a doubt perished. He will awake in a few minutes." The head doctor informed her.
"Thank you doctor." Raven replied. As she turned back at her friends she saw the incredulous looks on their faces. After a pregnant pause Robin spoke up.
"We thought the border guard was mistaken …"
"No, she wasn't, it's true."
"You and BB … are married?" Cyborg asked. "No freaking way…"
"I can explain." Raven replied.
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BB is fine, so stop worrying
Now to where did Terra run off?
Jack b - "Hurray for the More tougth times, ive allways liked your use of 4 red eyed raven, some fanfics say that the eyes are trigons, and they only appear on raven because of him, but I like the idea of raven being more accepting of her demon half. Anyway keep up the goodwork!"
Sometimes the only way to move forward is by coming to terms with who we are.
titanfan45 - "Great chapter as always. I really enjoyed seeing how Raven kept putting Arella in her place. I especially enjoyed Arella's failure to intimidate Beast Boy."
I'm really making Arella into an unlikeable character, someone who was corrupted by power and wealth.
Hairul The Nightrage Beast - "Oh s**t, hopefully Gar doesn't lose a limb or limbs, shit man the Titans have the worse records for KIA'd Members in the comics."
Actually, I think Terra is in greater danger of having her head ripped off now.
Author Penholder - "dude, don't just leave me hanging like that! Please update ASAP."
Done!
wolfenstien - "Great chapters dude, I sure hope Garfield is gonna be okay.. Can't wait till Raven and Terra have the showdown over Gar..."
It's coming! Of course Raven now has backup!
FelynxTiger - "oh noeees cliffhanger T.T
the confrontation between Raven and Aurella was most amuzing that mother/daughter fight is just what it adds more drama to the story
I wonder what would Robin and the other do now ,
ummm seeunextch "
Mothers and daughters, even when they love each other, don't always see eye to eye. Plus it doesn't help that Arella is about to lose everything.
GreenRock - "Yeah, you're right. Nothing I love more than a juicy, 100% full-fat cliffhanger.
I've said it before, the reimagined version of the original is certainly looking a lot better and is more enjoyable to read. There is more action in the early chapters as well as signs of a more developed plot. It feels as though that this will be a great story and shows promise that it won't disappoint the massses.
Keep on rockin'."
Thanks, there are a few surprises left in the wings.