RR76: Blah blah blah blah. Yap yap yap yap. Babble babble, pointless banter, blah blah yap yap dribble dribble dribble. Come on, did you come to hear me babble, or did you come to read some hardcore action fight sequences?
Well, either way, you're gonna be disappointed, because this is one of those sappy, tear-jerky chapters. I'm trying to broaden myself past Carson decapitating things left and right, as much fun as that is. So yeah.
Responses:
Due to circumstances beyond the author's control, he can no longer post review responses. He sends his apologies.
I still only own the OCs. And Gzzzllbzzklllk. And the word zonsphar.
This chapter contains mentions of cannibalism and bloodiness, plus some possible swearing. So yeah.
Wanna know something funny? I had a three paragraph rant about how I hate myself typed out. Now it's gone. I'm laughing.
With this chapter, Ascension has passed Carson to be my longest story, wordwise. Yeay.
The door to the observation deck slid open and the heads of the two men standing guard rolled in. An audible sigh could be heard coming from the man at the windows. "I really should get better guards," he said.
"Yeah. Too bad you won't get the chance, 'Headmaster'," the attacker called back to him.
The headmaster turned around to face his attacker. "Why Darkside, whatever do you think you are doing?" he said, a smarmy smile crossing his face.
"Hmm, well, I think I'm about to either disembowel you, cut off your limbs one by one, slit your wrists and let you bleed to death, or just rip your spine out, I couldn't decide on my way up here," the H.I.V.E Academy student called Darkside said, stepping inside. He drew a sword from his side and admired the gleaming polish on the blade. "But I think I'm going to go with the classic disembowel. Nothing like the look on someone's face when their own entrails come spilling out of their belly. Loads of fun."
The headmaster stepped forward, his smile broadening. "Ah, so you must've been the one who staged this rather impressive coup. Half my students dead, the other half about to die...I must compliment you Darkside, I've underestimated you and your friends. Not something I tend to do."
"Great. Wonderful. Can we skip the meaningless banter portion of the fight and get to the part where I kill you?" Darkside asked in a bored tone. "I'm kinda anxious to get back home."
The headmaster just laughed. "Confident, aren't we?" He stepped within arms reach of his opponent. "You realize that losing doesn't necessarily mean that you die right away. The next few months--years, decades, centuries--will be filled with agony and torment beyond anything that your plebian mind could have ever conceived."
"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not going to lose," Darkside spat back, raising his sword.
Headmaster Pavayne unsheathed his own weapon. "Whatever you say, Elam," he said menacingly. In the blink of an eye, his free hand darted out and smacked Carson's sword from his hands. Carson stared up at the headmaster, who seemed to tower over him. His evil grin widened. "Whatever you say."
"I hope you don't mind; the door was unlocked, so I let myself in," Pavayne said, stepping towards Raven. "Not a bad mind you got here Raven. I've been in better ones, of course--you'd be shocked at how neat J. Edgar Hoover kept his--but this, this is good. You know, for you."
Raven backed away. "What are you doing here?" she asked nervously.
Pavayne smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "Why, I came to visit my dear friend Trigon's daughter. He spoke quite highly of you--'She will be my gateway into the Earth, together we will make all mankind bow before us'. You know, father stuff. I wouldn't know because I've never been a father. Killed plenty, of course, but never been one myself."
Raven closed her eyes and formed a message in her mind (heh, funny). Carson, we have to run. Now. She waited for a response and, when none came, turned around to see a notecard with the words "Way ahead of you," in the spot where Carson was. "Great time for a site gag Carson..." she muttered under her breath.
Pavayne laughed heartily. "Well now, you certainly have found yourself between a rock and a hard place. You can't take me, and the only person in the whole wide world--or your mind, at least--who can, is AWOL. This certainly should be interesting." Pavayne was so wrapped up in taunting Raven that he didn't notice the bright flash behind him. Nor did he notice the black-clad, thoroughly beaten teenager who appeared in that bright light, who then drew a wicked black and purple knife from his belt and lunged forward...
...passing right through Pavayne. Carson stumbled forward and turned around in shock. Pavayne sighed. "Ah, it seems my dirty little secret's been exposed. Sorry kids, it seems I'm having solidity issues of late. We'll have to do this another time." He winked at Raven. "Be seein' you soon kid." His body wavered slightly and then, like a fog in the afternoon, dissipated. Carson sighed and put away his knife. He stood there for a long, long time before he turned around to face Raven. "Guess it's about time I gave you the full story on our mutual friend," he said.
"If you don't mind," Raven replied. "And by that I mean--"
"I know, tell you or it's likely that I'll never have children. I know the drill." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. "Well, for starters, Pavayne isn't necessarily human. Around...oh I'd say, 25,000 B.C. the boys downstairs, if you catch my drift, cast out the first original evil and crowned Lucifer the fallen angel as their king. The F.O.E. was banished to the mortal plane to live out his existence trapped in the body of a mortal, until the day of Lucifer's ascension came."
"Wait--what does that mean?" Raven interrupted.
Carson sighed (for the third time). "I don't have all the answers, okay Raven?" He got back on topic. "Eventually though, the F.O.E.--Hellgod, if you wish--was able to subvert control of the human being and proceeded to bash open the skull of his mate and um, eat her brain. Not a pretty sight." He walked to the edge of the rock platform and sat down, dangling his legs off the edge. "The boys downstairs saw this and got frightened. The Hellgod could, conceivably, find a way to return to Hell and wrest control from Lucifer, the Devil, Satan, whatever you want to call him. So they created a companion for him. A demon bodyguard of sorts."
"That would be Pavayne?" Raven asked.
Carson shook his head. "Yes and no. He hadn't come across the name Pavayne yet. What his name was in those days, not a man among us can remember. Of course, neither Pavayne nor the Hellgod were immortal. Their bodies aged, and eventually, died. But before that could happen, the Hellgod transferred his essence into the body of a human baby. And Pavayne had the uncanny ability to possess people, which he did. And they did that for millennia afterward--using up one body, and taking a new one. It worked quite well--that is, until..."
"...Until what?" Raven pressed.
"Well, Pavayne got ambitious. He began plotting the death of his master, and in mid 1990, killed him in his sleep. The Hellgod had no way of transferring his essence to another body and so faded out of existence. Pavayne, meanwhile, became the headmaster of the H.I.V.E. Academy at the young age of 25, and continued on as their leader until yours truly killed him. Or so I thought." He stopped talking for a long time.
Finally, Raven piped up. "So...is that it?"
Carson rolled his eyes. "No, I'm just taking a dramatic pause," he said sarcastically. "Of course that's it. Now get out."
Raven gaped. "Are you telling me to get out of my own mind?"
"Well, gee Raven." He paused. "I can't think of anything sarcastic to say for once." He shrugged and his body was engulfed in flames, and he was gone. Raven sighed (see, Carson isn't the only one allowed to sigh). "I really need to put a bell around his neck," she thought, making a mental note to look into that.
Raven stepped into the living room of Titans Tower and looked around. The sun was setting outside, and Starfire was in the kitchen stirring in a bowl and chattering excitedly to the other person in the room. Raven expected it to be Robin, but remembered that he was in Gotham doing her a favor, and pondered who Starfire was talking to. Silkie, perhaps?
Her question was answered when she saw Beast Boy sitting in a chair, staring forlornly into a steaming cup of...something. Great. Beast Boy's the last person I need to see right now, Raven thought bitterly. She couldn't exactly explain to him that it was a 27,000 year old demon/demon summoner that had spouted that venom at him earlier. Besides, apologies weren't exactly her thing. This definitely wouldn't be easy. Starfire saw her out of the corner of her eye and gave Raven the most scathing look she could muster, before silently returning to her stirring. Raven sighed (again!). Not easy at all...
She walked up to Beast Boy, searching for the right words. She caught a whiff of the liquid Beast Boy was drinking. Pointing at the cup in his hands, she asked "Isn't that my tea?"
Beast Boy jumped, but calmed down a bit when he realized it was just Raven. "Um...yeah. Sorry," he said sheepishly, not looking up. "I was in the mood for something new."
"Which is the reason for which I have prepared this delicious Gzzzllbzzklllk of my home planet!" Starfire chirped, tossing a plate of a translucent pink blob that resembled watermelon-flavored Jell-O. "Please devour the fruit of my labors, my humorous green friend! I do hope that this will raise your spirits," she added, throwing another glare Raven's way. She walked into the living room and settled down to watch World of Fungus.
Beast Boy took a spoon, dug into the Gzzzllbzzklllk and shoved it in his mouth. "Not bad," he said with his mouth full, and swallowed the blobby goodness. He held out the plate to Raven. "Wanna share?"
Raven wrinkled her nose. "No thanks."
"It really isn't as disgusting as it looks Raven," he whispered so that Starfire couldn't hear him.
"This coming from the king of disgusting soy products," Raven said dryly, rolling her eyes. Beast Boy's face fell and he went back to shoveling down his plate of Gzzzllbzzklllk. "Look, Beast Boy...about earlier...I wanted to say--"
"Something really really hurtful that makes fun out of either my green skin or the fact that I try nonstop to make you happy and you constantly reject me?" Beast Boy snapped angrily, dropping the spoon into the gelatinous blob.
"Well, I was going to go with 'I'm sorry,' but--"
"Yeah, sure. 'Sorry Beast Boy. Won't happen again. By the way, you're a dumbass.' I've memorize this tune Raven, sing me another one," he said sarcastically.
Raven was surprised, to say the least. "When did you get this cynical?" she asked, part frustrated with her lack of progress, part impressed by his cynicism.
"Somewhere between Terra burning to death and you telling me to kill myself, I lost track of time," he snapped.
"Look, Beast Boy, I'm trying to apologize--"
"Why don't you go tell it to Robin, since he's the only one you talk to anymore. Or better yet, why don't you have a nice long chat with Malchior? I'm sure he's dying to hear how you're do--"
A grey hand suddenly slapped him across the face. Beast Boy looked up to see Raven, her eyes red, tears forming. Without another word, she stood up and strode right out of the living room. Beast Boy knew from experience that it was in his best interests not to follow her, so instead he did what any normal teenage boy would do in his position: He picked up the teacup and hurled it into the wall, shattering it into a million pieces and getting the attention of Starfire.
Beast Boy's shoulders slumped and his ears drooped. He stared at the ground, feeling the tears forming in his own eyes. "Why does she hate me?" he said, his voice cracking.
A comforting hand rested on his shoulder. "She does not hate you, friend. The Malchior remains difficult for Raven to discuss with others. Perhaps reminding her of it was not an especially--"
"You think I don't know that?" he roared. He said it with such force that Starfire took a step back, a shocked expression on her face. Beast Boy's face softened. "Star...I'm sorry...God, I'm so..." he broke down. Starfire stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, letting Beast Boy cry into her shoulder.
Blood flew from Carson's mouth as another punch landed. He ducked, avoiding a kick to his head and thrust outward with his knife. His opponent sidestepped the thrust and drove her knee into Carson's face, making him fall to the surface of the rocky platform he was on. He looked to his right to see he had dropped his knife and reached for it. A metal clad foot smashed his wrist, making him howl in pain. His attacker brushed a strand of blond hair out of her face and stooped over, picking up the knife. She held it over Carson's chest and, with a haughty laugh, brought it down, stabbing through his heart. She picked up the body, knife and all, and threw it off the edge of the platform. Carson landed in the concrete streets with a thud, a laugh echoing in his ears. He looked over his shoulder to see Terra lead Slade's robot army away from his broken body.
Carson shouted in frustration and slammed his fist into the sidewalk. "What the hell am I doing wrong?" he yelled to no one in particular. The image of the deserted city faded and was replaced by the dull reds and rocky platforms Carson had grown accustomed to. "That's the third time she's beaten me!"
"Maybe she's just...better than you?" a silky voice said...silkily, I guess. Carson turned around to see the body of Cassius Pavayne materialize, his ever-wicked smile present.
"You should be happy I killed her them," Carson mocked. "If she's better than me, and I'm better than you, well...I guess it goes without saying."
Pavayne gave a loud sigh. "You were so much better at insults when you were evil." He shook his head. "But I didn't come to trade...how was it you put it? 'Meaningless banter?' Yes, that's it. I came to make a deal."
"Is that right?" Carson said with an air of not-caring.
"Well, since your last job was for an interdimentional demon--one of the Three, I might add--I figure it's only natural that you would do an old friend a little favor."
Carson laughed and walked right through Pavayne, down the path to some different part of Raven's mind. "We aren't friends," he called over his shoulder.
"Not you and I, perhaps. But way back when, say, 1810?" Carson stopped. "It was just you and me, Napoleon. Well, you, me, and an army of thousands at our back but I think you get the picture." His grin grew ever more wicked. "Perhaps I should paint one for your friend Raven? I do wonder what she'd say when she learned that she has the Hellgod living in her mind."
Carson continued walking. "She already knows," he called back to Pavayne.
The demon summoner rematerialized in front of Carson. "Would you at least hear me out?" he said, putting on a fake pout. Carson sighed (again) and folded his arms. "Fine. Talk."
Pavayne smiled a regular, Pavayne-y smile. "I want you to kill Raven."
Carson unfolded his arms. "What?" he asked. "I'm sorry, lemme rephrase that: WHAT?"
"It's quite simple: You kill Raven, I can take full control of her body and powers and use them to kill her friends. You'd be indirectly responsible for the deaths of the Teen Titans."
Carson gave a small smile. "Sounds interesting. What's in it for me?"
"I'll give you your life back," Pavayne said. "I will return you to the outside world. Plus, all the money in the Tower's vault. Hell, take the Tower for all I care. I won't have any need for it."
"Done deal," Carson said with a grin. "On one condition."
"Name it."
"I want to be the one to kill the Titans."
The vortex dissipated around Raven as she appeared in her mind. She glanced around, again noticing the lack of any of her emotions, wondering about that, but brushing it off for later. She walked to the edge of the platform and sat, dangling her legs off the edge and burying her face in her hands, sobbing softly.
She didn't notice the 14 year old boy walk up behind her. She didn't notice the gleam of menace in his eye. Nor did she notice the shotgun in his hands, the evil smile. She didn't notice any of it.
Carson stopped walking and cocked the shotgun. The sound caught Raven's attention and she turned around, her eyes red, tears streaming down her face. "What do you want now?" she asked, her voice cracking.
The evil smile on Carson's face disappeared. There was no fear in Raven's voice. No rage. No sarcasm. And Carson didn't see the warrior he had come to hate along with the rest of those self-righteous punks. He saw a frail, emotionally wrecked girl in need of someone.
When Carson spoke, it wasn't an insult. Nor a threat or a warcry. He said "What's wrong?"
Raven turned away and looked down at the void beneath her. "I don't wanna talk about it," she said, sniffling.
"Is...is there anything I can do?" Carson asked.
Raven wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and turned back to face the void. Slowly, hesitantly, Carson walked over to the edge and sat down next to her, setting the shotgun next to him. The two of them sat there in silence, staring at the red and black sky.
Raven finally spoke. "Why are you being so nice?"
Carson smiled faintly. "I guess...I...don't really know." He stared down at the void beneath him. "Oh, and F.Y.I, Pavayne hired me to kill you."
Raven spun around.
"What?"
RR76: I really, really didn't like the ending to this chapter. Tell me what you thought. Review. Now. Or face the wrath of something.
The medicine cabinet, people. Pickle it. Varnish it. Store it in a jar. Just WATCH it. FOCUS people.