I knocked on Raven's door and held my hands together in front of me. There was silence on the other side. Hesitantly, I knocked again.
"What?" Raven hissed.
"It's Ciela." I said.
I heard Raven sigh. The door slid open, and Raven stood in front of me.
"What do you want?" she said.
"You know why I'm here." I said.
Raven furrowed her eyebrows and turned away. "I'm not in the mood to talk about it."
"If you ever are, the others and I are here to listen." I smiled. "Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us."
"Maybe for now..."
The Tower filled with red and screeching sirens. My stomach dropped.
"Trouble." Raven mumbled, sneaking past me and down the hall.
"Raven." I said. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "I doubt you want to hear this, but... Happy birthday."
"Thanks... but there's nothing happy about it."
Raven disappeared down the corner. I pulled out my pistols and transformed them into gauntlets.
In no way was I looking forward to today's reunion.
I glanced nervously through the yellow-tinted glass covering the tangled mess of pipes below. My friends and I stood near the door, at the base of a rectangular platform winding in different directions on top of the glass. Large, orange cylinders moved quickly like the pipes of an organ. A mountain of giant gears turned on the other side of the room. I stole a glance at Raven. She kept her eyes forward, but I noticed her eyebrows still furrowed and her face tense.
"So! Who's the dude causing trouble here?" Cyborg said. He patted my shoulder, jolting me out of my thoughts. "The reports are vague, but you can fill us in, right?"
I looked up at my friends, but my eyes immediately diverted to a shadowy figure standing on a balcony above us. My stomach turned, and I could only utter a small squeak. My friends followed my line of sight and found him, too.
"No..." Robin gasped.
"Hello, Titans." Slade said. He turned his face, revealing his single eye. "It's been a while since we've last met. I was beginning to miss your sunny dispositions."
Instinctively, my friends stood in front of me, remembering perfectly the last times we had encountered Slade. I, however, stepped in front of Raven, who lingered in the very back of the group.
"How are you alive? You should be buried in a vat of lava!" Beast Boy said.
Slade chuckled. A glowing, red "S" symbol, the Mark of Scath, appeared on his forehead. He stood straight.
"There's no need to worry, Titans. For the first time ever, I'm not after your dimension-hopping friend." he said. "I've come back for something far greater."
Slade clenched his fists, and pure red fire engulfed them. He thrust his arms toward us and launched a large column of fire at us. We lunged out of the way, but the fire continued to follow Raven. Wrapping herself in her astral magic, she flew through the wall. The fire rammed into it, leaving a deep, charred scar in the brick. I watched Slade shoot fireballs at my friends, making them scurry around the room like rats.
In a single moment, he turned and met his eyes with me. I gulped, preparing to have my own heat-seeking fireball chasing after me. Instead, Slade turned his attention back to the others. He leaped off the balcony and onto the ground floor, his hands covered in flames.
"Stop!" I cried. My friends turned to me as I hurried over to them. "It's no use; we can't defeat him like this. He's too powerful. We have to get out of here!" I turned to Raven. "We've got to get you out of here."
"Oh, come now." A pair of warm hands gripped my shoulders. I tensed. "Why cut the party short? After all, it's someone's very special day."
Raven's eyes widened. Slade shoved me into her.
"Happy birthday." Slade said. He brought his hands together and created a giant fireball. He reared his arms back, ready to throw.
"Stop!" Raven screamed in my ear, causing me to flinch. The grinding of gears, the whirling of machinery, all came to a screeching halt. The silence was just as deafening. Raven's magic filled the room, blocking out the lights and making everything dark. Slade stood frozen in his stance, his arms raised above his head with the fireball dark blue instead of red. Behind me, my friends stared at Slade with shock and surprise in their eyes.
"Raven..." I turned to her.
"We've got to get out of here." she said, tightly gripping my wrist.
"When are you going to learn you can't stop running?" We turned to Slade as his contour glowed orange. Color flowed back into his body, and he craned his head toward us. He lowered his arms, and the fireball snuffed out. "I have a message for you, Raven."
Raven took a step back. Slade reached out and grabbed her wrist. The fabric around it burned away, exposing her skin. Raven cried out and yanked her hand away. She stared at the Mark of Scath glowing on her wrist.
"I never realized how... capable you were. When I found out what you could really do, the power brewing inside you, I was greatly intrigued." Slade said. "Today... it begins."
Raven tugged on my arm, and we began to run. As we did, I heard the groaning and snapping of metal. I looked behind me and saw the factory's machinery bend to Raven's will, creating a giant obstruction in hopes of keeping Slade away. Above this noise, Slade's footsteps could always be heard.
"Did you really believe you had any chance of making this all go away? You blow out the candles, and your wish of all this disappearing would come true? I have bad news for you, Raven..." Slade's voice echoed. "You can't stop this from coming. It will happen. Your friend can vouch for you. No matter what you try, no matter where you think you can run and hide, you can't escape your destiny."
Black engulfed my vision, and my feet were swept off the ground. Raven used her magic to carry us out of the factory and into the city. The entire place was tint with different shades of blue. A flock of birds were frozen in flight. Citizens were paused in the middle of their stride, meal, and chatting. Raven carried us to the middle of the street. My feet hit the asphalt, and I turned to her.
"I just want it all to stop..." Raven said, holding her wrist.
"You managed to do that... sort of." I said. "He's going to find us again. I don't want to sound negative, but... you have to let this happen."
"You want me to end the world?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant." I held my arms. "I mean it's important that you go through with all of this. You may not know what the outcome will be, but I do. Things... things are going to get really bad... but we're the Teen Titans! As long as we stick together, as long as we do our best and not give up, we'll make things right. Everything will be okay."
"I know you mean well, Ciela, but... I'm having a hard time believing you."
I sighed. "I understand. But whether you believe me or not, what I say is true."
A wall of fire erupted between us, and we jumped back to avoid getting touched by it. I heard something land behind me, and I turned and saw Slade stand up straight. There were slight indents in the road from his landing.
"I've heard that you've been awfully busy since I last saw you." Slade said. "Are you relieved knowing you're not my target for once?"
"Your 'target' is still one of my friends. I don't really appreciate that."
Slade chuckled. "I'd love to chat some more, but I have a message to deliver." Slade bowed sarcastically. "Good luck. I hear the future is going to be a doozy for you."
Slade catapulted over me and through the wall of fire. I tried to run after him, but I stumbled back from the raging flames. I searched my side of the area and found an alleyway. I ran into it, navigating through the dimmed hallway. A wooden fence blocked my path, and after a few swift kicks, I created an opening to crawl through. I navigated the city, the eerie echo of my footsteps in this frozen world sending chills down the back of my spine.
As I entered a new street, a thin wave of astral energy swept through the area, returning the world back to the flow of time. Everyone around me continued on with their routines, oblivious to what just happened.
At the top of a building that resembled the Space Needle, I saw two silhouettes. The one standing tall released the one slumped over, and the second silhouette began to freefall.
"Raven!" I called. I sprinted as hard as I could and stood on her landing spot. Opening my arms and bracing myself, Raven's limp body crashed into me, knocking both of us to the ground. Pedestrians nearby noticed and mumbled to each other curiously. I heard Raven stir, and she rolled off me and rubbed her head. Her chin-length hair had grown several inches, almost as long as Starfire's, and she tugged on a strand.
"Thanks." she said.
"No problem." I groaned, my head throbbing from when it hid the asphalt. I sat up and looked at her. "Let's go home. The others are probably wondering where we are."
Raven nodded. We stood up, but Raven's knees collapsed. I caught her and slung one of her arms around my shoulders. Together, we hobbled down the streets.
On the other side of the door, I heard the snipping of scissors gliding through hair. I reached out and knocked on the door.
"What?" Raven said.
"It's me." I said.
There was a pause. "Come in."
I reeled back, surprised by this invitation. I opened the door and stepped into Raven's dark room. She set down the scissors and turned to me, her short hair back again. Clumps of extra hair rested in a pile on her vanity.
"I'm not going to tell the others about you unless you want me to. But, in my opinion, this something you should tell them yourself." I said.
"I know. I will tell them... eventually." Raven said.
"We're always here for you."
"I sure know that; you keep pounding it into my head."
I smiled. "I guess I understand where you're coming from when you say you don't like your birthday." I said. Raven raised an eyebrow. "I mean, my birthday's still a ways off. It's in a few months, but it'll be past my time here. I haven't really had a good one since I was younger." I paused as my thoughts scrolled through my mind, and my face fell slightly. "You know, we do have a few things in common..."
"Like?"
I smiled again and waved my hand dismissively. "Oh, it's nothing. It's getting late; we should both get some sleep. I need to rest these bruises I got from breaking your fall."
"...All right. Good night."
I nodded and headed out of her room. Her door closed, and I walked down the hallway. A small smile twitched on my face. It was nice to speak to Raven. Since I've developed a good relationship with the other Titans, this season was my chance to get to know the most mysterious member.
Although... I could do without the end of the world.
