Author: Nazran
Shattered: Act I
Chapter 4
§Oo–.–oO§
"We found him, he's in Jump City." The dark spoke into a small handheld device, his eyes shrouded by the dark lens of his glasses and the white suit impeccably fit to his fit body.
The man cocked his head, nodding to himself in silence as a voice spoke through the speaker on the device. The other men in the vehicle—a white SUV outfitted with a high end suspension, heavy black bumper guards and a turret that folded up from the ceiling in the backseat—were silent and stoic. They were leaving the city in question, speeding along a wide highway in a line of nearly a dozen other vehicles identical to the one they were in. The tall high rise towers of the inner city vanishing to be replaced with low apartment complexes and smaller private shops with lower price tags. Beyond that was some industrial storage, warehouses for goods headed to the docks and then finally the open Californian countryside. The vehicle deviated from the interstate, rolling down a rough gravel road to a low white building of strange metal.
"You're not in charge of this agency, you don't have a say in our operations." Small amounts of anger entered the man's voice. He paused, listening again. "No. We will bring in Phantom, you're not my superior."
The vehicles rolled into the building, a wall rising up from the dusty gravel ground to reveal an expansive interior. Swinging to sharp stop the agents, all wearing identical suits of white with black ties and white dress shirts beneath, piled out of their vehicles, unloading various collections of gear from the rears of the custom transports. The man, the highest ranking agent in the agency that had gone on that particular operation.
"What? No, I'll be taking this up with the Director." The large man smashed a button with his thumb, turning off the device and shoving it into a pocket. He growled and spit out a few commands to the men around him.
The Operation Commander moved to the elevator at the rear of the chamber and swiped his access card, allowing the camera above the entryway to scan his retina for verification and entered the elevator. Another biometrics scan and the elevator jolted into motion, sinking below ground. The corridor beyond the elevator was sterile and white, wide with a camera mounted above the door at its end. It wasn't apparent but the Op-C, as the grunts called them, knew that in the event of a security violation turrets would drop from panels in the ceiling capable of firing high powered lasers.
He reached the far side and entered more security clearances. The door, thick and heavily armoured, slide to the side and revealed an office beyond. It was not white as the rest of the compound but rather a dark grey. A long desk was opposite the door, a panel of displays rising from one side of it and a pile of papers and manila on the other. Behind it was an ergonomic chair and behind that was a high shelf of various files and books. In the chair, dramatically shadowed, was a figure of indeterminate gender. The Director for the west coast operations sect of the GIW. Directors commanded the active field work of any agents under their command and worked in concert with the Coordinator, who directed the theoretical and research side of the agency.
A muffled voice spoke, "What do you want Commander Y?"
The Op-C took a breath and spoke, "I have concerns about this outside influence you've allowed into the fold. He thinks he can direct our activity regarding Phantom."
"Commander, I have given that particular man control concerning the entity designated Phantom. He has provided us with a considerable amount of resources regarding our research." The hands clasped in the shadows, "You're to follow his direction as if it were from my desk, and everything he does is vetted by me. Now forget these concerns."
"But Direct—"
"Commander, silence yourself. You're to follow orders, like any other operative. Now begone."
The Op-C clenched his jaw tightly, his fists balling. But he knew the consequences of speaking out against orders. He would not risk removal. The outsider would learn his place eventually, it would only be a matter of time. Bowing the suited man spun on his heel and strode from the office. He would retire to his own office on the floor above and consider what would happen next. Phantom would remain free for now, with the interference of the Titans changing the dynamic. Something else would have to be thought of.
§Oo–.–oO§
"Freeze! Rewind."
"Dude, we've been looking at this thing all day. I'm telling you, there's nothing else there!"
"There has to be, play it again." His eyes scanned the screens before him, searching for any tiny detail that could reveal more.
His green companion sighed, "Slade kicks our asses, take three hundred and four." The video file played again.
"Cyborg, anything?"
Another teen walked into the wide open space of the Titan Tower's main room, "I've crossed referenced the data with every database we have access to."
"And?" the voice was impatient. The video froze with the blank visage of black and orange splayed across it. Just above the single dark eye, stamped into the middle of the mask was a fiery glowing red symbol.
"Nothing, I don't think the symbol is from earth."
"Cryptic threats, new powers and targeting Raven . . . Slade is playing a whole new game now." Robin clenched his gloved fists again, "And we have no leads about any of it. This symbol is the key, we will find out what it means."
"Dude, why don't we just ask Raven? I mean, Slade is focussed on her isn't he?"
"Not a bad idea Grass Stain." Cyborg slapped him on the back. "C'mon let's go see her."
"Let me know if she knows anything, I'm going to keep searching here." Robin flopped onto the couch, pulling a clear tablet of synthetic material from a drawer and flicking it on. The screen lit up in a pale blue and the system booted up.
"Suit yourself dude."
The two male Titans made their way away from the kitchen, living room, briefing room, and command center that had been amalgamated into the top chamber of the T-shaped tower. The inner reaches of the tower were labyrinth like, many corridors and branches breaking off into a wide variety of rooms. Closets of cleaning supplies, spare gadgets for Cyborg and Robin, Starfire's collection of human items she found most curious, Beast Boy's broken game consoles and discarded things, several pantries of non-perishable food stuffs and even spare bedrooms for any guests they might have. Raven's room was sequestered away in an inner corner, a windowless but large square chamber.
Having learned from the last time they had been in the dark Titan's room Cyborg knocked gently on the door. A few moments passed and the door slid open, revealing Raven cloaked and hooded, half obscured by the door frame. "Yes?" her voice was low and filled with deep seated exhaustion, but monotonous as ever.
"Uh, hey Rae, were we just wondering, if, ya know, you found anything out about that symbol?" Beast Boy spoke, always nervous when Raven was in these moods.
"No. it's not in any of my books."
"You okay Raven? You look, well more pale than usual."
"It's nothing. . . I just haven't been able to meditate recently."
"Don't worry Rae! If Slade scared you its okay, we'll find out why he's after you!"
The blank dark eyes of the girl stared at Beast Boy, "Slade doesn't concern me."
A siren blared through the tower and the overhead lights of the corridor flickered red in rhythmic pulses. Robin's voice came over the intercom system and announced a summons to the Operations Centre. The trio moved quickly and entered the central room where Robin and Starfire awaited them. The screen was lit with a map detailing streets of an old section of Jump City, one that had been slated for demolition some time ago. It was to be replaced with more of the mega living complexes and shopping centres that had begun to spring up in the central downtown area. And there, in the centre of the condemned area was a graphic of a mask, one like what Slade would wear.
Robin commanded strongly, his face set hard as stone behind the eyelet mask he wore. Without further ado the team moved, Starfire carrying Robin, Raven flying alone and a pterodactyl carrying the robotic team member. The night sky was dark with clouds and only a few faint stars peaked out from behind the dark curtain. The buildings the team found themselves surrounded by were dark and worn. This part of the city had stood for many decades, since the Great Wars when the city had been founded as a military port for the Pacific to support the Hawaiian bases.
They landed on the broad street, alert and in a tactical formation. It was silent and a cold wind whistled through the derelict hulks of brick and mortar, carrying mildewing pages of cast aside newspaper. Suddenly fired erupted on both sides of the street, explosions tearing chunks from the buildings like a pick through ice. The man appeared in the flickering light, his shoulders low and his gait rocking back and forth. He was a twisted caricature of the villain that had haunted the team.
§Oo–.–oO§
Danny rolled over and sat up. He had found shelter in a condemned area of the city. It had been abandoned long ago and except for the odd shady dealing there was little population about to bother him. The Halfa had avoided some of the larger buildings that rose storeys above the street, not trusting them overly much, and had instead found shelter in the shadowy recesses of an old library. It was dry and musty but the shelving cut the wind out and a few of the abandoned books were still in fine enough repair to read even. The glass of the roof had long since broken away and many of the books left to rot had done just that. But it was dry now and the old paper made for a reasonable cushion and buffer away from the stone of the floor. Fenton had been awoken by a very loud booming, rumbling and red light visible from the ceiling and the main doorway. The boy could feel the waves of heat rolling into the repertoire of literature from the street. He sighed, it seemed he couldn't catch a break to save his own life.
After the GIW encounter the half ghost had set Cujo back to the zone to bother someone else and decided to stay away from the populace. There was no feasible way he could care for the ghost dog and remain relatively low key. He knew that he would be doubly on the Titans' radar now. He had had terrible luck in the past weeks avoiding them. First the Pizza Corner incident, then at his apartment building, then with Cujo. And it appeared he would still not be able to get away from them. It was beginning to get exasperating, all of this hero activity. And with the government obviously aware of where he was and actively trying to capture him still he needed to shift gears. Raven had protected him, at least that one time. He probably wouldn't be able to rely on that again.
More rumbling, and from behind the doors of main entry the sound of a slab of stone falling free and breaking upon the step reached his ears. Danny quickly got up and quietly made his way toward the entry. He paused behind a row of shelving and peeked around the corner. He heard voices, then the doors burst outward. Five figures made their way in and with his powers enhancing his vision in the dark the Halfa could identify Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven entering his temporary abode. He sighed again. Always they were forever appearing before him, wouldn't be long and he'd just end up living in their damned tower.
Danny retreated deeper into the building as Beast Boy spoke, "Dudes, even without the creepy librarians I'm not digging this place."
Cyborg was leading them, a light on his shoulder casting long shadows. The group paused as Cyborg's flash light turned blue and cast twin beams of blue light to trace over the dark shelving at the end of the building.
"It's a dead end." The leader spoke.
"There's nothing here. Can we go now?" Raven's voice sounded curiously strained and nervous to Danny's ears.
He swore softly and ducked behind a pile of books, as the beams of the half robot's scan passed over his location and stopped, flashing red, "I got something!" some mechanical noise Danny took to be a sonic cannon arming sounded.
"Shit." He swore again.
"Whoever you are, come out now before I light you up!" Cy called out, his teammates preparing for combat.
Grimacing Danny pushed himself up and called out, "Damn it, can't you guys just leave me well enough alone?" a bright white light glared into his pale ice blue eyes, "Put that light out!"
"Daniel Fenton." Robin spoke, "What're you doing here?" His voice was hard and angry.
"Home invasion kind of forced me away from where I was living. Thanks for that by the way." He spoke with a lot more flippancy than he had any right to but if he could piss of the Titans maybe they would get frustrated and leave him be.
"Do you—"
Starfire broke off as Danny's eyes locked onto Raven. In the shadow of her hood a red symbol flared to life and then died out. A nearby wall dropped away with a flash of white light and Beast Boy yelped loudly. The Halfa was the only calm one, the rest of group turning in a startled mass.
"Uh, I mean . . . cool, secret passage." The changeling tried to recover. He elbowed Cyborg, "You go first."
Danny interjected, "Well, I'll just be going now."
"Oh no you don't Danny, you're coming with us. It's the only way we can guarantee your safety." The tone brooked now argument so Danny said nothing but snorted softly at the words. He needed no protection.
The robotic teen lead the way down the staircase that had been revealed. It was dark, filled with dust and cobwebs and pockmarked stone. The air was stale and close and it all felt very old. The stairs were mouldering and beneath a thick layer of grime and dust the rock was sharply hewn and precision cut. Danny was forced into the center of the group—behind Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy but before Star and Raven. The group was silent and Danny almost whistled just to break the oppressive silence.
"I did not realize your libraries housed such unpleasant sculptures." Danny had to agree with the alien girl, hooded skeletal figures lined the wall of the chamber at the foot of the stair. The ceiling was high and lost in shadow and the statues were looming and menacing in their silent vigil. Cloaks of stone cast shadows on cold still faces, skeletal and dead.
"They don't. This part of the building is old . . . like before the city was built old."
Danny stopped near the entrance, looking around with enhanced eyes. The air was infused with an energy not unlike that of haunted places. He could feel the ever so slight touch of the undead on the room. It was strange to find such a place buried in a city that was less than a century old. Vaguely he could also feel energy like the magic that Raven used. Speaking of,the Halfa turned and saw Raven walk out of the tunnel behind him. The red symbol lit on her forehead again and the walls burst in light of the same hue, a bloody crimson that cast violent rays around the group.
The statues shifted and apparitions rose from them. Danny sucked in a breath, the mist threatening to break his control of his powers as his ghost sense screamed loudly about the ecto-signatures. A voice, many voices really, echoed through the room. They spoke of a gem, evil and fire, portals and the end of the world. The dark titan backed away, genuine fear entering her eyes and she retreated up the stairs. Danny didn't hesitate to follow her.
"Raven wait!" Robing's voice echoed up the spiral stairs.
Danny caught up to her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around, he looked at her face, filled with uncertainty and fear as it was and spoke, "You know something about this don't you. What does it mean?" he noticed the symbols, fiery brands, on her pale legs and burning through her black one piece.
"I-I can't. I shouldn't be here, it's all wrong, I can't go back in there." her voice was cracked with desperation and panic.
His hand on her shoulder he spoke as soothingly as possible, "Relax," his hand cooled with the icy touch of his power, "Breath and tell me what's going on. Maybe I can help."
"No. No! No one can help, I have to go." Black magic flared up and she vanished through the ceiling.
Danny stood staring at the dark spot she had disappeared into, wondering at what exactly was going on. Robin appeared from around the corner, "Where's Raven?"
"She left . . . What exactly is going on here Boy Wonder? Why is this happening?"
"Why should I tell you Daniel?" Robin's voice was just a disdainful.
"Because whether I like it or not you're dragging me along with you. I want to know what exactly you're shoving me into." Danny looked stoically at the young man before him. They were of equal age but Danny was built taller and just slightly broader than the lithe hero. Blue eyes burned into the lens of the mask.
Robin sighed giving in and Danny couldn't help but smirk triumphantly. Having faced down a millennia old Ghost King doing the same with an eighteen year old human was far less of a challenge. Even if that human was extensively trained by one of the most famous heroes on the planet. The pair walked down the stairs, returning to the others and while they weren't particularly pleased to be together the two young men had established a working relationship of respect. Robin was the leader of the group and knew what was going on, Danny was more than first appearances suggested and was along for the ride. The Halfa was filled in on enough to satisfy his own curiosity for the time being. Robin managed not to reveal anything too intimate about his team. It worked for both of them—at least in the midterm.
"—serious evil, even for Slade."
Robin broke in on Beast boy as he and Danny walked back into the chamber, "Not Slade. Whoever's he's working for."
"Scath." Starfire's melodic alien voice was solemn and the air seemed heavier as she spoke the word.
"The Gem shall be his portal . . ." Danny turned the thought over in his mind, speaking in a murmur. There were any number of interpretations for the prophecy, particularly as to what the gem was. The Halfa had dealt with enough paranormal to know that the 'gem' was not necessarily an actual gem. The end of all things mortal. The mortal and Ghost Zones were intimately connected and interwoven together and should one end then the other, too, would suffer. Just as the alternate future had those years ago under the tyranny of Dan. He couldn't afford to let that happen if he could help it. But who was Scath?
"Scath is coming and this Gem is how he gets here." Robin's voice picked up in energy, a hound on the hunt, "And if we're going to stop whoever this bastard is we need to find it and destroy it!" he place a disk onto a sealed doorway and backed away as a beeping noise emanated from it. It picked up into a high pitched whine before going silent and the closed stone doors crumbled.
"Robin? Where is Raven?"
Blue eyes looked to Starfire's and Danny said, "She's not coming."
The team, with Danny in the center of it, ran down the tunnel. It was dark and Cyborg yet again led the way, the white beam of light spilling out in the narrow corridor. Some minutes passed and light revealed an open space beyond the tunnel. The group slowed and came to the edge of a circular hole, the depth obscured in deeper shadow. A stair wound its way around the interior of the sheer walls, snaking into the inky black of the darkness. Beast boy knelt at the edge, staring into the dark with his crocodilian eyes.
"So, how far down do you think it goes?" Cy's deep baritone was a echo in the chamber, disturbing the oppressive silence of the deep place.
"Only on way to find out." The changeling hocked and sucked in air. A horrible wet sniffling filled the air as the youngest member of the group tried to build up what could only be imagined as a large slimy ball of fluid.
Three of the others blanched, disgusted by the disturbing noise whereas Danny sighed a reached into an inner pocket of his grey canvas jacket—one of the few things he had grabbed before abandoning his apartment—and pulled out a thin green rod. It was about as thick as one of those large novelty pencils in toy shops and just over a foot long. It wasn't visible in the dark but a thick fluid filled the inner chamber of the rod. Danny cracked it sharply with his enhanced strength and instantly acidic green light flared into the chamber. The amount of light given off was impressive for a small device and the group and much of the upper chamber were illuminated.
The others looked at him surprised, Robin's eyes narrowing suspicion. Danny shrugged at the onlookers and tossed the rod over the edge of the hole. They watched the bright green light fall, flickering past layers of the staircase and growing continuously smaller until finally it hit the ground with a clatter below. It was a small speck casting faint light now, very far below.
Beast Boy swallowed his product, grimacing as he did so and looked at Danny, "Dude, what else you got in that jacket?"
"We'd better get started, I'm willing to bet that gem is down there."
"But what else is down there with it?" Cyborg voiced the thought hanging around the group.
§Oo–.–oO§
Raven flew as she never had before, fleeing the library and the Mark of Scath as well she could. Fear, trepidation consumed her as her skin burned hot and flushed and her heart raced with her chest. The cold wind whipping through her hair did nothing to cool the burning heat of her skin and the pain emanating from where the marks had been. Only dimly in her crazed mind did fear for her friends exist as she fled back to the Titan's Tower. And for Danny, that mysterious boy who had offered her help before she had fled, despite a small voice telling her to listen to him.
Her magic flared and she phased through the building, and to the door of her room where wards prevented magic from entering easily. The door slid open, recognizing her, and candles popped into tiny flames as she began. A book flew to her hands and the other piles scattered about the floor were shoved aside as they were covered in the telltale shadow of her power. She needed space to create the portal. The portal to go . . . home. To Azarath. She hadn't been back since leaving control of the monks and her mother at the age of twelve. Nearly four years had passed since then.
"You may be able to stop me from meditating but you can't stop me from leaving!" she spoke to the empty room with vehemence.
Bottles of sand imbued with the magic of Azarath, taken from the shores of the floating city uncorked and spread in a circle around her. Four candles of special wax on silver stands carved with intricate ruins arrayed themselves, two behind her and two before her. She assumed lotus position in the center of the ceremonial circle and put her hand over the tome of Azarathian magicks. And she began to chant in a low voice. The sand flared, flickering in pale blue light, like flat flames that leapt into the air. They formed an undulating pillar, swirling energies within them bright and hot. Raven lifted from the ground, her hair shimmering in a myriad of color as was its want. The crescendo of her voice reached its peak and her eyes opening, glowing with blinding light. A churning grey portal opened above her and it sucked her in, blurring the lines of reality on the mortal plane.
She flew through a tunnel of glittering blues and white. Her cloaked fluttered behind her in the wind like a butterfly in a warm breeze. In the distance she could see the end of the inter-dimensional tunnel, burning brighter than the surroundings. Behind her she felt a disturbance as the end of the tunnel lit with red and orange, a hot fire of hellish magic lit behind the fleeing girl.
From before her pale shapes whipped past, screeching as the tearing metal. Apparitions of demonic creatures—pale skeletal wings, long claws, trailing tattered cloaks, and sharp faces lit with bloody red eyes—flew past her. Their cold misty bodies passed so close to her they disturbed her flight and slowed her own movement. They entered the fiery disk behind her and began to gain ground. She turned back to her goal and pushed her magic farther, the speed of her flight tearing at her clothing. And still the fire of her heritage chased behind. She was more than halfway to the exit before the fire caught her and wrapped her in its burning clutches, imprisoning her in a sphere of red energy.
Hot wind lashed at her pale grey skin and seared her cloak. The red light was bright, painfully so, and her eyes dried under the intensity of the scarlet glare. The half-demon Titan pushed with her power at the walls but they pulsed and pushed her magicks back. The girl snarled, frustrated and desperate to get free from the grasp of demonic magic. Her thin but fit arms lashed out, blades of her power slashing against the confines of the fire. This time it broke through and created more of the blades. A half dozen cut into the sphere and with a final flare she became her raven form and dispelled the prison.
Immediately she flew forward, heading to the seal of Azarath at the end of dimensional tunnel. It glowed it purple and flagrant shocking pink, ruins glowing in a band around its edge. And in the center a collection of interconnected triangles with a tri-knot symbol at the center, a sigil common to both Celtic and Azarathian culture. It had been a long time since she had seen the seal of Azarath and it brought back a rush of memories. She approached the gateway but was repulsed by a flash of magic.
"Let me in!" Raven pushed back with all of her power, fighting against whatever was preventing her from her dimensional home. The gem on her brow blazed with scarlet light and the seal gave way beneath her power.
She tumbled to the dark stone of a plain on the dimension of Azarath. And there she beheld the majesty of the dimension she called home for a long time. An amber sun blazed in the distance, casting rays of light on the stone of the Temple of Azar and the city that was built around it. The sharp architecture and high towers were a sight to be seen. All of the city was formed of sandy coloured stone, it veritably glowed in the perpetual sun that hovered in the sky.
Azarath was empty, barren and silent. With the high towers and carved pillars all around her the city seemed inviting and less like the Azarath she remembered. Her soft footfalls echoed loud in the still air and some disappointment entered the teen's mind. She remembered Azarath being full of life and beauty. Bustling and never sleeping as its many inhabitants wandered and did their business. She remembered the only place of silence was the temple, where the Monks of Azar lived and served the leader of the temple. And Raven remembered Azar herself, the gentle woman with power beyond anything on the plane, the one who had mentored and trained her in her magicks.
The air was disturbed and a dove of purest white flew past her. She watched it glide away, flapping its wings to climb next to the wall of a tower. A golden sigil was etched onto the surface of a stone, a bird with wings stretched high. And at the top she saw a figure in white, a cloak not unlike her own but in untainted and simple white. The dove set upon the figure's hand and it turned away from its position gazing down at her.
Raven floated up, reaching out toward the woman, "Aurelia." The figure did not turn and made to walk away. "No, wait! I've come back . . . Mother . . . Please help me."
"You've always had a home here my child, but help we could not give." She spoke in a soft voice, solemn and filled with tragedy. The woman bore a close resemblance to Raven, with the same delicate chin and brow, the same deep hair and thin lips. But her skin was a healthier colour and not the same pallor of her daughter and her eyes were smaller and narrow. She stood taller than her young daughter and her cloak covered her.
More doves fluttered about the pair, "The prophecy—it's happening. You have to tell me how to stop it . . . please. I don't want to become this," She held up a book, the one with details of Trigon's rise, "I don't want to help him!"
"The promise of your birth was absolute Raven."
Her voice rose in anger, "I don't believe you! There has to be a way!" Raven looked away, eyes cast downward, "Mother . . . I'm afraid." Her strong voice broke, trembling in fear.
"You forever had the love of your people Raven, even knowing what you would become. And what that would bring. Have hope my sweet daughter, be strong and do not waiver. It is too late for Azarath." The elder woman's eyes closed, her voice fading. The doves that had collected around them took off in flurry of movement and wing beats. The world was drowned in white light.
Raven's breath caught in her throat. Azarath as she remembered vanished to be replaced by a hellish version. The sky was dark and smouldered like brimstone. The stone of the great city was crumbled and reduced to rubble around her. Fires roared all around fueled by magic and waves of heat rolled through the air. Flows of lava flooded around the broken stone, forming eddies and sluggish rivers in the destruction. "No . . ." her voice was a hoarse whisper. And the deep evil laughter of her father, of the Demon King Trigon boomed through the ruined plane of Azarath.
§Oo–.–oO§
A whiff of mist slipped from Danny's mouth. He paused on the stairway and looked over the edge carefully. Faintly in the far depths of the chasm his keen eyes could picked out the faint glowing shapes of apparitions. A wailing moan carried up from the approaching collection of creatures and Danny groaned along with it, "You just had to say something didn't you?" he glared at Cyborg.
"Enough, we have company!" Robin yelled. "Keep Danny Safe!"
And Beast Boy and the Tamaranean let out screams as the creatures, the ghosts, rose through the solid stair. They were cloaked and skeletal with long bird like faces, two pairs of narrow glowing red eyes burning beneath the hood they wore. In their hands were long staffs with curved blades on one end and in some cases both. Robin burst into action, flipping and somersaulting through the blades as they slashed around him. He land further down the path and kicked out with his boots.
His foot passed through a specters face, distorting the misty shape but doing nothing, "I can't hit them!"
Cyborg was tackled from behind, knocked to roll and tumbled to the edge of a chasm. "But they can hit us!"
More and more of the creatures hovered up from the darkness. They charged the group on the stairs and they were forced to doge of get hit. The robotic teen was not fast enough and flew into the wall, carving out a sizeable piece of the weakened stone. Scythes cut into the stairs as Danny rolled away from a strike. Starfire and Cyborg fired their weapons, lighting the circular arena up with blue and green light. The changeling kicked out in animal form only to pass through one of the attackers. Robin retreated back up the stairs, racing with bow staff in hand away from a group of the creatures. Cyborg fired his cannon to aid the Boy Wonder.
Danny growled and reached into a pocket, pulling out a flat white disk of echo-tech. He depressed a small green square on it and metal expanded, folding out from a clever collapsible design. The Halfa then held in his hand a Fenton thermos, a version that had been improved shortly before the incident in the Antarctic. He uncapped the device, "Get down Robin!"
The leader of the Titans looked up to the new teen and dived low. Danny pointed the device to the swarm of ghosts and fired it. A beam of spiraling white energy exploded from the end of the ecto-tech and struck the ghosts. They screeched and writhed as they were sucked into the compact device. The energy stuttered unexpectedly as the ghosts resisted but eventually fell to the advanced technology. Danny filed that under consideration, supposing that perhaps the magic that the ghosts were imbued with aided the resistance. The ectoplasm levels did feel off considering the properties of the ghosts.
"Dude . . . seriously what else is in that jacket!" Beast boy stared at Danny.
Before anything else could be said more of the specters rose from the stairs. Some grabbed at Cyborgs ankles and tried to drag him down the path but Danny sucked them up into the thermos. Others charged Robin and he was pushed back into the wall roughly. The sonic cannon fired and Cyborg roared, and the spiral staircase disintegrated, crumbling beneath the beam of energy. Dust and particulate rose from the collapsed and rumbling sounded as the stone fell into the shadows.
Cyborg stared at the destruction, "Oops."
Robin scrambled back from clutching fingers of thin mist and commanded, "Follow me!" he charged forward and leapt from the edge, falling spread eagle like a sky diver from a plane. Starfire and Beast Boy followed close behind, being able to fly.
Cyborg stared after them for an instant then yelled, "Uh maybe you didn't get the memo Robin but some of us can't fly!"
Danny fired the thermos again. He knew it wouldn't be to contain many more of the ghosts though, and the ectoplasm that the things were made of wouldn't power the device for very long if the battery indicator was any hint, "Cyborg this technology doesn't last forever, we had better follow them!"
"Aw man!" Cyborg watched Danny swan dive from the stairs, seemingly unconcerned that he couldn't fly. Or maybe he could, the team knew Danny was a meta but what his powers might be they had no clue. The robotic Titan followed, cannonballing off of the edge.
Danny and Cyborg caught up to the others, Robin was using his cape, impermeable as it was, to slow his descent in a spiral and the lagging pair were diving. The chasm was incredibly deep for they had been falling for some seconds, the ghosts trailing behind them and slowly gaining. They swooped among the group, slashing with their weapons and bodies. Danny's eyes watered as the stale air lashed at his face and he twisted in the air to avoid clawing hands. Robin flipped over and fired a grapnel, the powerful but tiny winch inside reeling him in rapidly. Beast Boy, as a pterodactyl, caught Cyborg about the shoulders with his large articulated feet and began flapping to drag the hulking nineteen year old upward. Danny blinked as the three disappeared and began to wonder if he should start to fly to escape death but Starfire's strong hand clasped his forearm and with a jolt began to rise higher in the air. The Halfa nodded his thanks as he was deposited in another tunnel that Robin had revealed from behind a slab of stone carved with the Mark of Scath.
The group continued to run, fleeing the horde of being behind them and turning to fire blue or green beams backward. Robin frisbee'd a disk that exploded it a large blast of fire and heat behind them to slow the ghosts. They came to a divergence of paths and Robin yelled about following the mark before continuing down an arched doorway where a raised symbol was set. The ghosts fell behind but they kept moving in the darkness. Another divergence, this time with many paths only a few minutes later.
"Which one?" Beast Boy yelled.
Robin turned and threw more disks down the way they had come, "Pick one!"
"uh. . . eeny meeny miny mo!" the youngest teen took off down the last passage on his right, disappearing into the depths only to come sprinting back with a mob of glowing pursuers, "Not mo, not mo, not mo!"
Robin turned as Starfire, Cyborg and Danny faced the coming ghosts, firing with their respective weapons. He examined everything quickly, searching for some sign and then faintly saw a hollow indent where a mark may have been once. "This way!"
They frantically retreated further, desperately trying to stay ahead. Danny was the last in the group to make it through the doorway and when he thought no one was looking he pulled another piece of anti-ghost technology from his jacket. It was a small round thing, about the size of a clementine orange and he activated it before throwing it down into the horde. It exploded and the tunnel collapsed behind them. He was beginning to appreciate his own wisdom in packing his person with a large variety of technology from his bag.
"It appears we cannot get out."
"Yeah but at least those things didn't follow us in. What happened back there Danny?"
Danny shrugged, stowing the thermos away, "I don't know, the tunnel just collapsed behind me."
"Uh guys, you kinda need to see this!"
Beat boy and robin stood some distance down a curving pathway that opened through a curved doorway to a large chamber. It was massive, cavernous and filled with darkness. Except for a distant beam that cut through the shadows in the center of the chamber and focussed upon a carved hand. Palm upturned the forearm of the carving met the stone floor, a spiked bracelet carved onto the wrist. All along the oblong cavern were more carving of hood figure with blank faces. Cloaked were carved in lieu of bodies and they stood upwards of twenty feet tall.
"Uh I'm getting a serious sense of déjà vu here."
"Not only that; but something about this place seems very familiar." Beast boy had a suspicious, contemplative look on his face as he said those words and Danny shook his head at it.
Starfire flew into the room and examined a statue, "Yes . . . they look like Raven."
Danny crouched at the edge of the doorway, looking to the floor a dozen feet below before sliding off and landing in a roll. The other followed, Cyborg jumping down and landing on his metal legs, cracking the stone with his heavy unyielding body. Robin let Starfire fly him toward the stone pedestal of a hand with the changeling following. The stone floor was dry beneath the feet of the two grounded teens and they jogged behind the others. Cyborg jumped with his powerful fluid filled robotic muscle up the heel of the hand where Star, BB and Robin were. Danny climbed by hand, scaling the surface quickly.
"The gem, it's gone!"
"You must be disappointed." A deep cold voice spoke, menace creeping through it's tones. They looked up there stood a man dressed in black with a metallic armour of sorts at his shoulders and forearms. A belt of pouches at his wait and the black and orange two tone mask with a glowing red Mark of Scath stamped against the brow of it created the a familiar sight. Danny did not know the specifics of who the man was but the Titans tensed immediately. They knew who he was.
"Where's the gem!"
"Not here." The mysterious man jumped down. "But it is much closer to you than you think, dear Robin.
"Who is Scath? Tell me who you're working for Slade!" Robin jabbed a finger at the man.
"Hm, I'd love to introduce you but I'm afraid you won't be leaving this place." His large hands stretched out and at the center of each a tiny pin point of red appeared.
The pin points glowed brighter and suddenly exploded with a wave of bright red fire that washed toward them. Starfire and Beast boy took to the air, the other three leaping back and off the edge of the heel of the stone hand. Danny felt the hot air from the fire lap at his back as he slid through the air, close to the cold stone of the carving. He hit the ground and rolled with the jolt, it wouldn't hurt him with his powers but the jarring was uncomfortable when in human form. Slade leapt after them blasting apart the stone with his powers and throwing them backwards.
"Now Titans, you're only delaying the inevitable." The man appeared from the cloud of dust his attack thrown up, near enough to Cyborg to grab him and casually toss him aside.
Robin rushed in, striking with a booted foot and yelling, "We're not leaving without the Gem!"
Slade, with his slack shouldered stance smoothly ducked and twisted around the Boy Wonder's strikes, "Oh, haven't I said—you won't be leaving at all."
Star flew up behind Slade and grabbed his shoulders, hefting him about and throwing him into a statue at the wall. The man crashed into the wall with enough forced to crumble the wall and throw up most dust. Twin green beams burst from the Tamaranean Princess' eyes and cut through what was left of the statue. The rubble, cut cleanly slid from the base and crashed into the prone villain.
She did not stop in the assault, flying close to where the piece had fallen and looking to see if Slade had made it out. He appeared above her, as silent as a ghost, and with one hand drove the girl into the ground, smothering her with flames. He stood over her disoriented form, hand glowing to deliver a final blow when a beam of blue whipped in from the side and hit him. Cyborg lowered his arm, his mouth hanging open when the man cocked his head at the teen, standing as if nothing had happened. More beams flew at him and ducked and slid through the onslaught easily, even ignoring the sharp pieces of rock that clattered against his sides and back from the blasts.
Danny stayed away from the fight. There was little he could do without revealing his powers and he didn't want that to happen in the least. With luck the Titans could handle it themselves, they were supposed to be the famous team. He watched, interested in the man that had he had briefly fought some months ago. And curious as to how the Titans would handle him.
Robin rushed in again, throwing quick jabs left and a right. The larger opponent avoided them with laughable ease and using the boy's cape whirled him into a pile of rubble. Beast Boy charged as a great dinosaur, powering through the smaller balls of fire thrown at him with his armour skull plate. But he too was foiled by a pillar of fire that exploded from the ground beneath him and he flew through the air to land with a crash on Cyborg. Starfire's disks on energy rained on Slade like machine gun fire. Catching one the man threw it back the alien, the green being overcome by the crimson of his fire and slamming her into a wall.
The Boy Wonder lay on the ground, struggling to stand. He reached for a birdarang, a red bladed device that lay a few inches from his outstretched hand. The man walked forward casually, his foot crushing the weapon into a scattered pile of composite materials.
"You know, I actually like working for someone else. It lets me be a little more . . . hands on than I used to be." The hand glowed red.
Danny had seen the man moving toward the prone Robin had begun to move. He shed his jacket, not needing the restriction on his movements and he moved. A tendril of fire shot from the hand and Danny redirected hit, deflecting the hand and the flame upward to the ceiling. Slade's head turned to see Danny's cold glacier blue eyes glaring at him, "Well then, let's be hands on shall we?"
"And who might you be, boy?" Slade stepped back away from a swiping strike.
"No one you need to know."
Danny stepped in, striking with a fist but as a feint, his leg coming up and cracking into the man's side. He had been trained by his mother after that unfortunate episode at Vlad's cabin. His mother had been extremely pleased and quite astonished at his progress. Fighting ghosts had given him a lot of practice and motivation. The Halfa ducked a blast of flames as the man flipped back to his feet. His opponent went on the offensive for the first time, Slade moving in with fire glowing at his hands. Danny backpedaled, sidestepping the hot strikes and blasts of fire.
"You are interesting aren't you? Unfortunately, you, just like your friends, won't be leaving."
Brilliant red fire flared up and Danny stumbled, shielding his eyes. As soon as he did so he swore and then felt the heat of a tendril wrap around his ankle. It whipped him off of his feet, his back smashed into the rock of the floor. It dragged him along the stone, through the dust and grime as he wriggled and kicked, trying to get free. Frowning Danny released a trickle of his power, the ice of the cryogenic ectoplasm cutting off the fire. The Halfa rolled to the side as a blast struck where he had been, leaving a crater in place of his body. He staggered upright and ran behind a pile of stone for cover.
"Come now, boy. You wouldn't want your friends to suffer now would you?" Danny peeked out from behind the low pile and saw that Slade had an arm raised, tendrils of flame trailing out from his palm. And hovering in the air were the Titans, wrapped in the red fire. "Struggling only makes it worse." Danny raised his hands in the air and stood upright, glaring at Slade and barely holding back the transformation. "Good, you see reason after all."
Danny snarled and his eyes flashed green briefly but a tendril of fire suddenly appeared snaked around him to encase him. "Ah ah," Slade continued speaking, "None of that. Now, this won't hurt a bit." Danny could hear the cold smirk behind the emotionless mask.
"Want to bet!" Raven's voice sounded through the cavern, strong and filled with fury. A plate of stone encased in her magic slammed into Slade, cutting of his power and smashing into a wall with incredible speed. She stood in the beam of light on the stone hand, her eyes glowing white her magic writhing at her hands. The fiery symbols layered over her outfit and skin, glowing bright. She hovered down to the ground as Slade blasted the slab of stone pinning to the wall apart, "I told you to leave them out of this!"
"How sweet, you've come back to save your friends. I must say the new one is unexpected, but still, you're only delaying their pain. And yours." His hands lit up.
The Titans stood behind her, Danny to her side but Raven's attention was focussed solely on Slade. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she began to stalk forward, "Aren't you going to attack? Reduce me to ash. Or did your master order you not to harm me? Did he order you keep his gem safe?" She stood, glaring up at the taller man.
Danny's eyes widened. Raven was the Gem. She would be the portal to bring the destruction of this dimension. Things started to click into place in his mind; the marks were ruins, a way to bring about the magic necessary to open the portal. He made his way back toward where his jacket was, knowing that Raven would end the battle. The Halfa could feel her powers singing in the air, the magical energy permeating everything as it bled of the half-demon
Slade relaxed his stance, the power at his hands fading, "I'll be sure to give him your regards." Slade began to sink into the floor, the stone around him undulating with veins of orange fire.
Raven knelt and reached into the stone, grabbing him with her magic. "I'm not finished yet!" She ripped him back from the stone, encasing him in her magic. "This time, I have a message for you." Her eyes began to glow again, the violet drowned out in the white glow. Slade was thrown to the ground, then into a wall, and across the room to crumble another statue. Raven floated after him speaking in vicious menacing voice, "You can tell him he'll have to destroy me before I help him!"
Slade pushed himself to his knees, "You can tell him yourself. The hour is near."
A pillar crushed him flat. A clawed hand grabbed him and threw him again. He soared into the ceiling, bring large chunks stone down with him. Raven caught him with her power, holding him limp in the air and making a fist, entombed him in rock. The prison smashed apart when she threw it into another wall. And then she held the man before her, glaring at him with hatred.
Her power grew more oppressive, the air tingling with it. From behind her grew the raven in her magic, a massive black apparition with four eyes and a sharp beak. The girl roared, stretching her hands out and the bird flew forth, beak gaping open. It struck Slade and thunderous explosion emanated from where he stood. A cloud of dust burst up and rock was crushed into powder and fire and light leapt from the floor. The Titans and Danny turned away, shielding their eyes from the bright and the blast of hot wind.
Raven swept aside the cloud with her magic and revealed Slade, standing haggardly with his neck at unnatural angle and his arm twisted about. The man straightened, his bones cracking audibly. "I'm not afraid of you anymore!" Raven was defiant and powerful in her declaration.
"You might not fear me, but look who's afraid of you now." The villain gestured behind the girl.
She turned and saw the Titans standing, eyes wide with trepidation and fear. They were in defensive stances, their muscles tense and ready to flee. Her scowl softened as Beast Boy spoke her name in a soft question. She looked away from the team only to see Danny, his clothes torn and battered, blackened by the heat of fire. He had his jacket on again and as he looked at her, and she at him, he smiled at her. Danny knew it was a small gesture on his part but she had done an amazing thing. She had overcome her fear of whatever was going to use her. So he smiled, letting his lips turn up at the edges just enough for her to see. And he noticed the breath she had been holding release.
§Oo–.–oO§
Six teens stood in the Op Center of Titan's tower. The sky beyond the watery horizon was rapidly becoming lighter, the deep navy of the night sky fading to lighter and lighter blue. Soon the first rays of sunlight would be visible and the dawn of a new day shine upon the T-shaped structure. Raven, without the glowing symbols or wrath of magic in her eyes, sat on the long couch with her head bowed and her hands clasped in her lap. Her friends, her teammates were around her. Robin stood beyond the coffee table with his arms crossed over his armoured chest; Starfire sat over the back of the seating, her legs dangling onto the cushion; BB lounged, sucking back a questionable smoothie and Cyborg stood behind the group.
She felt their confusion with her powers. Not even an hour earlier the group had been deep beneath the surface of the Earth fighting desperately against a collection of supernatural creatures. Raven had ended that fight and she had held little back. That side of her was something she kept from the teammates she had lived with for the past four years. The side that was without mercy. It had been buried beneath her fear of the coming apocalypse, of the futility of the fight and her role in the coming death of the world. And when she had seen her mother that fear had changed. Despite the woman being dead and gone thanks to Trigon, her spirit had retained the strength to deliver a message—have hope . . . be strong, do not waiver—that meant maybe things could change. Maybe at least some could be saved and with the way her friends had fought she thought maybe there was hope after all.
Apart from the four that wafted that feelings of being lost there was another. Danny stood apart staring out the window with those crystalline blue eyes. It hadn't been easy for Robin to get the other teen to come to the tower but once Star broke in with demands that he stay as their friend it was difficult for him to say no. The Tamaranean was a hard girl to argue with, particularly when her grip could shatter concrete and bend steel. So they had dragged Danny here, and Raven was strangely okay with that. Whatever powers he did or did not have the teen had fought Slade to defend her friends. He had stared down a villain possessed with demonic abilities and managed surprisingly well. Of course that lent itself to the Boy Wonder wanting to find more out about the boy and what better way to do so than let Danny into the Tower. Robin was startlingly transparent sometimes and Raven could tell that Danny saw through that thin façade easily. His emotions were guarded and carefully reserved behind an adamant wall. His mental barriers were impressive and not altogether natural feeling, there was the muted quality to them she had felt before. That boy was more than he seemed.
She sighed a little bit to herself. They all expected an explanation for what was happening with her. With her father. She couldn't explain that to the team, to her friends.Her thoughts were once more confused and mixed into a tempestuous roil. Her father was an infamous Demon King of godlike powers that was prophesised to destroy the mortal world. And she was to bring about that destruction. The reason she had left Azarath was the discovery of her fate. She had fled. But she couldn't run any farther from the truth, her sixteenth birthday was approaching and soon so would Trigon.
"T-the ancient order called their deity Scath to conceal his true identity. Scath is really Trigon."
"Trigon! That's who we're up against? Aw man."
"His cruelty is renowned even on my world."
"So what makes you go all glow-y in the dark?"
Raven considered her answer for a moment before speaking, "It's a warning . . . That Trigon is coming to this plane. The portal he uses to get is through me. I'm not just a person. I am the portal, on the prophesied day I am to be the gateway for the demon and will bring him into this world."
"But why you Raven? Why is he using you?"
The girl bit her lip in an unusual sign of discomfort and she stood, walking to the window to stare at the waters that began to glitter with the light of day. But darkness still ruled the sky. "Trigon . . . Trigon is my father." She felt the eyes of the Titans snap to her back, sensed their shock and disbelief. And Danny's eye slid to her profile from his position to her right. But the eddies of his emotional background did not change. "Bad things are going to happen soon, truly horrific things. And it will all be my fault. I thought, maybe, I could handle it by myself . . . I tried. But ultimately, I failed. I was wrong and it put all of you in danger."
Starfire's delicate hand clasped her shoulder and she felt the others crowd around her. "For confiding in us, we are most humbled friend Raven."
"I only have one question. How do we stop him?"
"We don't. We can't. Trigon is a god. He will come." The half demon shut her eyes against the glass.
"That doesn't mean we can't try though." The changeling was overly enthusiastic. Raven supposed maybe he didn't understand exactly what Trigon was and what he could do.
"If you'll allow it, I would face this doom with you guys." Danny's quiet voice reached their ears. "If the world is going to end I want to be involved in the fight. You've seen I am capable enough."
Robin turned to the taller boy and made to speak but Raven cut him off with her own quiet tones, turning to lock eyes with his own, "Thank you."
It was silent and the sun rose above the horizon, bathing the water of Jump Bay in an effulgent display of colour. Yellows and red lit up the bay and rays of light pierced the shaded window. Danny smiled at her, a barely perceptible nod to her actions just as in the chamber beneath the Earth before he turned and walked from the room. The team stood puzzled by the interaction and Raven blinked and thought carefully about the boy. He was definitely something.