AUTHOR'S NOTE:

How would you feel if I told you this story hit 50,000 views? I'm a little numb, if you ask me.

Happy reading!


I awoke on the hard ground. A blanket-like veil covered my body. The veil lifted, and I opened my eyes. I sat up and looked around. The sky was blood red, with neither cloud, star, sun, nor moon in sight. Buildings had decayed, their broken pieces laying in heaps around me. I climbed to my feet. Below was a severed road. I crawled off the ledge and landed on my feet. I rested my hand against a crumbling building beside me, running my fingers along it as I turned the corner.

A statue appeared in front of me, and I yelped and stumbled back. My eyes widened as I stared at it. It wasn't a statue; it was a person. Citizens, frozen in stone, lined the streets. Each looked stuck in time, striking a pose fitting to the mundane activity they were just doing.

Right before the end of the world happened.

I cupped a hand over my mouth. The shriek of a bird startled me. I looked up and saw a black bird circling above me- a raven.

I reached out my arm. The bird descended slowly before perching on my arm, digging its talons into my jacket sleeve.

"...Raven?" I whispered.

The raven blinked, its red eyes peering into mine. It lifted its wings and took off down the street. I ran after it, passing by men, women, and children, stuck as statues forever unless something was done. A chill crawled down my spine, and I picked up the pace. The raven led me to one of the city's tallest buildings, which resembled the Tower of Pisa with its lean. The raven circled above my head.

"You want me to climb this?" I said.

The raven perched on a ledge above me. It tilted its head to the side and tapped its beak against the building. I sighed.

"Fine."

I carefully climbed up the foot of the building, which was covered with large pieces of cement that was once attached. Thanks to the slope given by the building's lean, it was significantly easier to climb. As I reached the top, I heard the caw of the raven, but it was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed the top ledge and pulled myself up, pausing on my hands and knees to catch my breath. I climbed to my feet and gazed at the view below. As I observed this post-apocalyptic scenery, I realized that everywhere around the world looked exactly like this- barren. Morbid. Lifeless. Sadness weighed on my heart.

"Glad to see you alive." I jumped and turned to my friends, who gathered around me.

"Yeah..." I said. "You all saw that raven, right?"

"It led us all here." Beast Boy said. His ears drooped. "Almost all of us."

"We were fortunate to have survived." Starfire said, holding her arms.

"'Fortunate' is not the world I had in mind. Look around us; there's nothing left. What's the point?" Cyborg said.

I clenched my fists. "There is a point. We survived because of Raven. Do you think she would have protected us from Trigon if she didn't believe we had the capability to fix this?"

"Ciela's right." Robin said. "As long as we're still around, there's still hope. We're going to stop Trigon and save Raven, no matter what it takes. We've saved the world before. Let's do it again."

"Yeah!" Beast Boy said, pumping his fist in the air.

"We can't do it alone, though." I said. "There's someone who we need help from."

My friends looked to me, confusion in their eyes. I sighed.

"Follow me."


We stood at the edge of a large crater. At the bottom was the secret area of the old library, which had been obliterated. Traces of the stairs and pillars in the room were still present. We lowered ourselves into the room.

"Of all the places, why did you bring us here?" Beast Boy said.

"Because... he's still here." I said. I took a few steps towards the dark corridor leading out of the room. "I know you're there. Come out."

Slow footsteps echoed from the corridor. Slade emerged from the shadows.

"Hello." Slade said. "You're all looking well."

I heard the shing of metal behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw each of my friends poised to attack. I turned around and stretched my arms out to the side, staring down the barrel of cannons, starbolts, and bo-staves.

"What are you doing?" Robin said, lowing his bo-staff.

"Out of all the people still left in the world, I'm touched that you thought of me when searching for an ally." Slade said. "Of course, there weren't many options."

"Ally?! Why would we ever work with you?!" Beast Boy said.

"We don't have a choice. Raven is still alive. She became the Portal, but she's still out there somewhere." I said. My friends stared at me as I faced Slade. "We both have something we want back. We'll work together... but just this once."

"Sounds good to me." Slade said.

"Are you sure about this, Ciela?" I looked back at my friends.

"I've never given you a reason not to trust me. Please, don't doubt me now." I said.

My friends remained silent.

"Good. I see we're on common ground for once." Slade said. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I suggest we get moving."

"Tell us where Raven is, and we'll go get her." Cyborg said.

"I'm afraid that won't be the case. The journey to Raven is something only a party of two can make. In order to keep Trigon, the all-seeing buffoon, occupied, we cannot have all of you going to fetch your friend. Unless you would rather doom her to oblivion. I don't care either way."

"Make it three." I said, stepping out from Slade's touch. "Your skills won't be enough for what's down there."

Slade folded his arms. I stood tall.

"You want your humanity back, don't you?" I said. "Then I suggest you listen to what I say."

I noticed the faint slouch of submission in Slade's shoulders. "Choose wisely."

I turned around. "Robin."

Robin stood at my side, the skepticism in his gaze never leaving Slade.

"What are we supposed to do?" Cyborg said.

"Taking over the world has drained Trigon of most of his power. To keep him from finding us out, you'll be the diversion. Whether you win or die is beyond my concerns; just keep him distracted." Slade said. He tossed a golden ring at Starfire. She reached out and caught it. "That is a Ring of Azar. It might help your chances of survival."

Starfire slid the ring onto her right hand's ring finger. She approached me and Robin and wrapped her arms around us.

"Please stay safe." she said.

"You can do it." I said. I pulled away and smiled. "We'll get through this together."

"So... We'll see you later?" Beast Boy said. I nodded.

"As tear-jerking as this moment is, we haven't got any more time to waste. Let's go." Slade called from the start of a winding staircase leading deep into the earth.

I glanced back at my friends one more time before looking at Robin. He nodded, and we headed for the staircase.


Our descent down the stairs was intensely silent, save our echoing footsteps against the stone. The stairs shifted into a straight path. At the end, I saw large double doors with a Mark of Scath on them.

"A word of warning before we continue." Slade said at the doors. "If we somehow manage to succeed, I can't guarantee you'll like what you find."

"That's a chance I'm willing to take." Robin said. We walked over to the doors and pushed it open.

We stepped through and walked close to the ledge. I peered below at the river of lava. Statues of raven heads were chiseled into the walls, and they poured more lava out of their mouths and into the already heavy river. The heat traveled up and stuck to my skin.

"There's our ride." Slade said, pointing to the small rowboat below that sat in the lava. "And there's our way down."

A narrow pathway sat against the wall and led down to the boat.

"Ladies first." Slade said, gesturing the path to me.

"In your dreams." Robin said, shoving Slade. Slade went first, followed by Robin, then me.

We made it to the bottom of the path and climbed inside the rowboat. Slade manned the front and rowed the boat while Robin and I sat and held on for dear life.

"So why did you do this?" Robin said. "Selling out your own world for your own personal gain is a new low, even for you."

"The world would have come to an end, with or without my contribution." Slade said.

"But you still chose to be a part of it."

"Whether you want to accept it or not, you also played a role. Congratulations."

The area filled with shrieks, sending chills up my spine. Flame soldiers emerged from the river and lava waterfalls and surrounded us.

Slade and Robin leaped from the rowboat, causing it to teeter. I clung to it. Lava sloshed against the sides, making my heart stop every time some almost fell near me. Some of the fire soldiers diverted their attention to the other two. I pulled out my energy pistols and transformed them into my bazooka rifle. I fired at those closest to me, and they vanished. Once the group devoted to killing me was gone, I looked to where Slade and Robin were fighting the others. I transformed my rifle into my bow and shot down those with their backs to me, creating an opening for me to see my companions. I carefully wobbled to the front of the rowboat and rowed to them.

I watched them from afar as they fought together. Their unplanned, yet perfect synchronicity that helped them take down all those in their way was something beautiful to watch. In fact, it made me smile a little; even if Robin didn't want to admit it, he and Slade were similar in a few ways.

I reached the base of the rock leading to the next path, below Robin and Slade. Slade stood at the edge and offered a hand. As I raised mine to accept it, another fire monster emerged from the lava. Slade backed away. The fire monster thrust its arm at Slade, and I heard him grunt from being hit. I picked up my bow and shot an arrow. It pierced through the monster, starting at the bottom and traveling all the way out the top of its head. It shriveled into black ash and rested at my feet. Robin knelt at the ledge and helped me up.

At our feet, I saw Slade's mask. With a gulp, I looked up. Slade stared at us, unmasked. Skin was absent from his face, replaced by a naked skull. One eye socket was empty, and Slade's single, red eye stared at us. Red markings from the fire monster's strike were embedded into his skull, starting from his forehead to his right cheekbone. Slade approached us, bent down, and picked up his mask.

"I rather you hadn't seen that. Don't worry; it's only temporary." Slade said, putting his mask back on. "Let's continue, shall we?"

"Not until you give us some answers." Robin said, shortening his bo-staff and tucking it back onto his utility belt.

The shrieks of the fire monsters returned. Their arms reached out of the lava. Robin folded his arms with an eyebrow raise and a smirk.

"Come with me. I have a story to tell." Slade said. We headed down the path and away from the fire monsters. "It seems my luck with apprentices is most unfortunate. When Terra betrayed and cast me into a vat of lava, it should have killed me. Luckily for me, someone was watching over me. An angel of the most cruel and demonic kind. Trigon promised me my flesh and blood if I did a few simple chores for him. While my end goal was my true desire, the benefits were enjoyable. It's a pity things didn't work out as planned. Trigon stripped me of the power he granted me and left me for dead. But I guess that can't happen when that's what you already are."

"So you didn't come down here to save Raven. You came here for yourself." Robin said.

"A deal is a deal. Ciela knew my intentions, and yet she still agreed. So, if anything goes wrong, I'm not the one who's truly to blame."

I scowled and opened my mouth, ready to retort. That is, until I saw a tiny flash of light in the distance. It only appeared for a split second, but I still saw and recognized it- the glint of a sniper rifle.

I shoved Robin and Slade into the wall. The whoosh of a laser ripped past me, causing a harsh breeze in its wake. The thick, red energy hit the wall, exploding and leaving a deep crater in that section of rock.

"What...?" I gasped. A laser like that could only come from one of my weapons. I turned and saw, with wide eyes...

Me. That is, what would happen if my shadow sprung to life. Nearly her entire appearance was black: her clothes, skin, hair, and even the bazooka rifle that she held in her arms. The only color on her was her pure red eyes.

Shadow Ciela wordlessly raised her rifle. We leaped out of the way as she pulled the trigger. The laser zoomed past us.

Did Trigon create her? I thought. No, if he did, she'd be black and white. Who did, then?

"You two go on ahead." Robin said, pulling out his bo-staff. Shadow Ciela transformed her bazooka into pistols. "I'll take care of her."

"Are you sure?" I said.

Robin nodded. He reached for his utility belt, pulled out two birdarangs, and handed them to me. "Use them if you need to."

"Wait a minute-!" Slade snagged my wrist and pulled me down the path. Shadow Ciela's eyes followed me as I passed by. As we rounded the corner, gunshots fired.

"You reacted way too quickly to that." I said, yanking away from Slade's grasp.

"Robin has nothing to worry about. I've seen the way you fight; it'll be a short battle." Slade said.

We walked side-by-side down the path. I tucked the birdarangs Robin lent me onto my belt. Silence had returned.

"You may have answered the questions Robin had for you, but now you have to deal with mine." I said. "You knew Jane was here. Tell me what's happened to her."

"I see you finally figured things out. Glad to know there is a brain inside that blonde head of yours."

"Enough with the banter!"

Slade chuckled. "Very well. Yes, I knew Jane was here. In fact, I was the one who first found her. It's been so long, pinpointing an exact date is out of the question. However, I do remember finding her right after Terra completed her training under my mentorship, perhaps around the time she left to make a second attempt at joining the Teen Titans. Jane seemed to recognize who I was immediately, as if we had met before. After already encountering you a few times prior, it led me to believe that she has the same familiarity with this show that you do.

"With Terra away, I took Jane under my wing. I trained her in hand-to-hand and weapon combat. I believe you've already seen her beautiful companion. I designed it with your weapons in mind. Unlike you, with your ability to travel back and forth between your world and this one, Jane has been trapped here ever since she arrived. I didn't know what happened to her after Terra's betrayal, but I had the opportunity to meet with her recently.

"After my supposed demise, the poor child wandered helplessly before she learned of another mentor; I believe you know of a man named Brother Blood. She acted only as an anonymous donor, sharing secrets of someone within the Teen Titans who's just like her. While you helped your allies through the episodes, Jane helped hers as well."

"So... all of this is your fault." I said.

"Is it? Is it really?" Slade said. "I'm not the one who brought her here. I'm not the one who trapped her within this world with no way of an escape. During our last meet, she spoke only of one person- you. I've never seen such perfect hate before. Perhaps she mildly disliked you in your world, but it's clear to see how badly this world has corrupted her since she entered it. Being surrounded by the baddest of the bad for extensive periods of times may do that to someone. The Jane you've known has been replaced with someone much more ruthless, and she is out for your blood."

"Enough." I held my arms. "No more."

"You wanted answers. I gave them to you." We stopped at a crossroads- one road leading straight and the other leading west. Slade pointed down the straight path. "You'll find Raven down this way. This is where we part."

"Well... Thanks for your help."

"Considering your position, you're going to need a lot more of it in the future." I could feel Slade smirk under his mask. He saluted smugly. "It was nice knowing you, Ciela Brunson."

Slade turned around, and I watched him walk down the west path until he disappeared.