An Author's Note: By now you should have figured out that I really don't like to stay strictly within whatever is laid out in a series if I can think up something I think is more interesting. Raven's demon form is not exception. I figured I try something other than just her with red skin or something like that. If you are a traditionalist and I offend you: sorry.
For those of you who don't care about a little intellectual tweaking, enjoy.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Primal Demon
Beast Boy could barely comprehend what he was seeing as he fell backwards. He caught a glimpse of dark red, almost black, fur with bright white stripes and what appeared to be a pair of bat-like blue wings. He closed his eyes, half expecting to feel fangs at his neck, but it never happened. Instead the screams of a certain wizard filled his ears.
Beast Boy looked to where the screams where coming from and saw a dark figure standing over the evil wizard. I was partly hidden by its wings. The figure was snarling like an enraged cat. Then it spread its wings, and Beast Boy got a really good look at what Raven had become.
She now looked more like Trigon than she had ever before. She had grown almost to the size of Cyborg, but she lean instead of muscular. She had long dark red fur with white stripes. Her face had transformed to something more reminiscent of a lioness except for the huge swept back horns on her head. Her hair…actually it was more like a mane now, had become pitch black. She had a long tufted tail. She was standing on her hind legs, but the fact that she was leaning forward a bit gave Beast Boy the impression that she could also go on all fours. Bits and pieces of her uniform fell to the floor in tatters, the only thing that remained completely intact was her cloak, which was still hanging around her long neck.
Worst of all, she had four red glowing eyes, and all of them where aimed directly at Sumal.
She roared, again like an enraged lioness, and lunged for Sumal. Long claws extended from her furry hands and started tearing at the wizard. Her fangs dug into Sumal's shoulder and she started shaking him around.
"RAVEN NO!" Beast Boy was horrified, not just by what she was doing, but what might happen to her because of it. He could clearly remember the first time he turned into a beast, and the threat Robin had made about putting him in jail for it.
His shout attracted her attention, and she turned to look at him, blood streaming down her chin. She snarled, and Beast Boy could not tell if she could recognize him or not, for he could not read those savage red eyes.
"Rae…it's me." Beast Boy held his hands up. "Come on, you know me. Don't let her take you over Rae. If I can do it so can you!" As he spoke Raven was slowly stalking towards him, her head cocked to the side. Judging from her behavior Beast Boy thought she was more curious than anything else, and that was good. It meant she was thinking.
While all of this was going on, on the other side of the Titans kitchen counter, Winterwing was staring down Riki. Jinx had managed to make it to Kid Flash. He was in a pretty bad state. It looked like both of his legs had been broken, and he was covered in cuts. Jinx was trying to get him to wake up, but he wouldn't, or maybe he couldn't. She was trying to take care of him when the spider attacked her. However, the big wolf had jumped in front of both in them and had started growling at the spider.
Winterwing lunged at the spider. The two rolled about the floor, Wintering snapping at the creature's ugly face. Finally his teeth found a leg, and he started pulling. Within a few seconds he had torn the limb off. The spider backed up and reared on its remaining legs.
An enraged and pissed off Jinx then got from where she had been examining her boyfriend an sent the most powerful hex bolt she had ever created at the horrible spider. She knew perfectly well what it would be like for wizard to lose his familiar, it would be like tearing off a limb for a wizard, but she did not care. In fact, you might say she planned on it. For a second she was villain again, and Sumal had just gotten on her bad side. She attacked the spider mercilessly.
Riki was blown back, but was only stunned. Winterwing, who did not have the morals as a Titan…or even a human for that matter, took the opportunity that presented itself. He jumped on the spider and sank his fangs into what he perceived to be the spider's venerable spot. Riki writhed and kicked its legs, but then lay still, dead.
Then Sumal, feeling the affects of losing a familiar, howled in pain and rage. For some reason this seemed to agitate Raven. She whirled around and from out of her mouth came a huge fireball. Sumal tried to dodge it, but it still caught him in its blaze. He screamed and stared rolling around, and the other Titans rushed over. Sumal was put out, but he was also unconscious and badly burned.
Perhaps all those people running her direction at once startled Raven. She snarled at her friends, the middle of her back rose to the sky and she hissed. She ran to the window and crashed through it. Once outside her wings caught the air and she took flight.
Beast Boy didn't even think about waiting for the others. He ran to the hole in the window and turned into a hawk, desperate to bring his love back.
Robin ran the widow as well, now thoroughly angry. It was like a repeat of the Beast incident, except now it was Raven and not Beast Boy, and it looked like her more primal form was even more powerful than the Beast.
"Illeria…what was that?" He turned to the feline warrior, who eyes had glazed over, lost in memories. At the sound of Robin's voice she snapped out of it.
"That's…Raven's demon form. That is what happens when she feels so much rage and anger she cannot handle it anymore. We have to stop her!"
"How?" Cyborg asked.
"Whatever means necessary." Was Illeria's grim answer.
Looking back it was probably a very stupid thing to have stayed that late at the library doing research for school, but the young girl had left off this particular assignment for to long. So she had stayed late, and now she was paying the price by walking home to her foster parent's in the rain.
She paused to look at the huge T shaped tower in the distance. A piece of blond hair fell into her blue eyes and she brushed it away. It had only been a few months since that strange green boy…Beast Boy, had taken her to that tower and insisted she was someone else…someone named Terra. The girl had to admit that something had seemed familiar about the tower, but she had shoved those feelings away as some sort of strange deja-vu.
Suddenly she saw a black shape land in an ally. She turned, and a two pairs of glowing red eyes glared at her from the darkness. There was something familiar about those eyes…so familiar, and so hateful.
The girl backed away slowly, thinking this was some sort of wild animal, and this thought was confirmed when the thing slunk out of the shadows, snarling in anger and hatred.
"No...stay away." The girl backed away from the red monster, but it kept coming, its unnatural eyes glaring at her.
Just before it lunged a green hawk dove from the clouds and shifted into human form. Beast Boy looked from his past love to his current one, now desperately trying to divert a bloody disaster.
"Rae, no! Stop!" he begged, but the sight and smell of her old foe had enraged Raven, and she lunged for Beast Boy. To her he was nothing but an obstacle now, and there was only one way to deal with obstacles. She sprang and sank her fangs into his upraised arm. He screamed and fell, shocked that she would do such a thing.
The girl, who may or may not have really been Terra, decided this was the best opportunity to leave, and she ran off for home. She silently vowed never to stay at a library this late again, or to walk within two miles of Titans Tower.
"RAVEN!" he screamed in horror, and her expression changed.
Perhaps it was the taste of his blood, or his scream, or the sight of his terror filled eyes, but whatever it was Raven let go and backed up. She whined, looking terribly confused and upset.
There was a whistling noise, and suddenly an arrow was sticking out of her back. Roaring in anger she turned to face this new attacker, but then stumbled and fell.
"NOOOOO!" Beast Boy got to his feet and managed to catch Raven's head before it hit the pavement. She looked up at him, the anger and hatred was back, but a few seconds later her eyes closed.
"Okay, did you have to us an ARROW!" Beast Boy bellowed in Illeria's face.
Illeria gave him a strange look, somewhere between grief and exasperation. "It was just meant to stun her a bit. Honestly, one arrow was not going to take her down, but the tranquilizer I coated the tip with should keep her out for a while."
Beast Boy growled. He was really unhappy. First they had shot her with an arrow, then they had stuck her in that "safe room" they had used during Trigon's arrival (only now it had been converted into a kind of prison for her), and on top of all that he still was not sure what Robin was planning for her. Sure he was her familiar and all, but the dude had once threatened Beast Boy in a situation very similar to this one.
It was hard for Beast Boy to forgive, let only forget, that instance.
"Illeria, what do you know about this?" Robin demanded. "We've seen Raven lose her temper before, but we have never seen her do this!"
"It is only triggered by a state of extreme rage." Illeria replied "And it is not natural at all. Trigon did this to her."
"How?" Starfire asked.
Illeria looked out the widow from the observation room at her sister, who was still asleep from the drugged arrow.
"It happened when she was just an infant, and I was a little girl. She had just been born a few days before, and her mother was still very weak from giving birth. Trigon's forces came and stole her away. The General followed to try and save her. But…he was too late. He brought her back, but the damage was done." Illeria was still looking at her sister.
"What did Trigon do to her?" Cyborg asked.
"Normally Raven's demon form would have…SHOULD have been like Trigon: A demon, but still more human than animal, but Trigon used his power to influence her demon form. He regressed it to a primitive state."
"But why?" Starfire asked.
"What is easier to control? A thinking being or an animal?" Illeria replied. "Trigon did it as a failsafe. In case his daughter decided to rebel against him. A primitive demon would be unable to deny the orders of a more advanced one. It is jus the way they are created."
At that moment Raven woke up. Screaming in anger she clawed and at walls and roared. Her claws created deep furrows in the wall, but thankfully they held.
"How long does this last?" Robin asked.
"I wish I knew." Illeria replied.
For three days she was like this.
When she was not attacking the walls of her prison or throwing fireballs from her mouth she was pacing around and snarling at the windows.
It broke the other's hearts to see her like this, their proud, sophisticated friend acting like an animal, but there was nothing they could do but wait, wait and hope that she would somehow snap out of this.
For Beast Boy it was even worse, this was the women he loved after all. But he was more upset by the fact that she was caged then the fact that she was more animal than human now. For some reason he found her demon form just as captivating as her human one. There was just something inside him that said there was nothing wrong with this at all, and to him she was still beautiful. Even the fact that she had bit him did not change his opinion.
At night Beast Boy was starting to have a strange dream. He was in his Beast form and Raven was in her demon form. They were running around a dark forest together, not hunting or fighting, just running. Enjoying the freedom of the wild and everything it stood for. He would always wake up feeling happy, but then he would feel horrible when reality set in.
At the end of the third day Robin walked into the observation room to check on Raven, and noticed something. She had changed again. She was huddled in the middle of the room, her cloak now completely covering her, something that she could not have done in her demon form.
"Raven!" Robin took a chance and ran down to the room entrance and went in. Her approached the form huddled on the ground "Are you okay?"
"Robin…" she whispered "What have I done?"
Robin finally managed to get a look at her face, and he gasped.
Robin tried to smuggle Raven back to her room, but it did not work. The others had had the same idea, and soon they had come down to check on their friend. When they saw her and Robin standing the halls they thought see was normal again.
Starfire squealed in joy, flew to Raven and preformed her famous hug attack. Raven tried to back away, but Starfire was just to fast for her.
"No…don't." Raven's voice was filled with anguish, and soon everyone found out the reason. Her hood dropped, revealing what Robin and Raven were trying to conceal.
Raven was still not quite fully transformed back to her normal form. Her face was normal now, but still covered in dark red fur. Little fangs poked out the sides of her mouth, and she still had small horns on her head. Quick as a flash she pulled her hood over her head and lowered it to the ground so they could not get another view.
"I, I just need to meditate…that's all. It'll go away if I meditate."
Beast Boy tried to get close to her, but she had already teleported back to her room. Beast Boy's ears drooped.
By that night Raven was back to normal…all most. Sure she looked normal now, but that was not the problem. It seemed to the Titans that she had regressed back to how she was like before they meet her, she rarely spoke to any of them, and when she did it was in a very subdued tone of voice. She acted like some with an explosive tied to their body ready to explode at any moment.
However, Beast Boy was not going to give up this easily.
Okay Garfield, you can do this…after all she kinda already said yes…
"Hey Raven." He knocked on her door, which stood before him like Dante's entrance to Hell, cold and unwelcoming. "Please open up."
The door opened a small crack. She looked out at him with sad eyes. He decided to forge ahead.
"You know its Friday right?" he tried for his best happy voice "Remember you said you'd go out with me? Well, I thought-"
"How can you even think about that?" Raven interrupted him; she looked at him like he had lost his mind. "I can't go out with you…no matter…how much I want to."
"Aw come on, it won't be that bad! I promise I'll behave!" Beast Boy pleaded.
"Beast Boy." Raven was not looking at his face anymore, she was looking at his arm, the arm she had bitten "It's too dangerous…I'm to dangerous. I could hurt you again…it's better that I be alone."
"No! Wait Raven!"
"I'm so sorry Beast Boy." She said before she slammed the door in his face.
He banged on the door, but she did not open it again. "Raven no! We can work through this! I know we can…come on, open up!"
The door did not open.
"I'm not giving up on you Raven!" he shouted at the cold steel "Even if you've given up on yourself I won't give up on you!"
He left, but he vowed to come back again tomorrow, and the next day and the next, until she finally stopped acting like this.
Even if I only irritate her back to her old sarcastic self it will be worth it. He thought.
With Beast Boy gone, for now, Raven went back to what she had been doing. Specially she was glaring at her back and willing what she saw there to go away. It was not working.
On her back, so small they could be easily hidden, but still there, where a pair of leathery dark blue wings. If she moved her shoulders just right they would flap around like they where trying to lift her into the sky, but they were far to small for that right now.
"Come on, go away!" she growled at the wings. "I don't want you here, buzz off."
The wings refused.
Sumal Kijak was sitting in his cell in Jump City jail, mad as any wizard can be. It had been bad enough that they had taken away all his magic items, leaving him with only the power he had been born with: the power to cause sensations to others through his hands, but they had also killed Riki! Oh they would pay for killing his precious little Riki!
Especially the pink witch and the wolf.
Right now said wolf was running about the Titans Island.
"Kinda small, but it will do." He muttered as he surveyed the territory. He had already spied a few caves that would do for a den, and he had a water source and plenty of small animals to munch. Illeria had gone home, but Winterwing was committed to staying.
"Well, time to claim the spot!" He pointed his muzzle to the sky and started to howl.
Somewhere in the city, something heard the howl and opened its eyes. It snarled through its own sharp fangs. A bushy tail lashed once, and then lay still. The creature shifted in its change and tried to howl back, but the muzzle around its mouth prevented it from doing such.
It sighed and lay down again. Closing its eyes it dreamt of the trees.
Jinx watched the heart monitor go up and down, the annoying beeping ringing in her ears. Even though the Titans had done everything they could, including Raven and her healing powers, Kid Flash refused to wake up.
"Come on you idiot, wake up! You can't slow down now!" Jinx said, but there was still nothing. She cursed.
She would stay there in the med lab all night, just like she had for the past four nights.
But still Kid Flash refused to wake up.
A few dimensions over a group of guards led a strangely familiar looking woman down a long dark hallway. It was clearly a prison hallway, due to the abundance of bars, but the prisoners were not making the usual fuss. In fact, a few of them where hiding under their beds, desperate not to catch the eye of their new cellmate. A single purple eye glared at everything, the other side of the person's face and eye had obviously been slashed by something in the past, but this disfiguring injury did not cause the guards to be any less cautious around her.
"I can't believe we finally caught his first lieutenant!" On of the guards whispered to another. "Let's see what that madman does now!"
The prisoner growled "Call Coyote a madman again and I'll rip your heart from your chest!"
"Yeah right! He is a nutcase and so are you! Besides you can't do anything! Your going to the big house, little lady."
"We'll see." The prisoner said, and as if that was a signal a creature appeared from out of a black void. It looked for all the world like a small flying Velociraptor, but the guards knew what this creature was, as it had been seen with the prisoner before.
"Shoot it!" their leader bellowed, but another flash of blackness consumed it and it escaped just in time.
"How is she using her powers? I thought we took care of that!" One of the guards bothered to ask.
The prisoner was laughing like a maniac. "Fool! Familiars can use the powers of a wizard!"
As she spoke the creature teleported to the guard and sank its fangs into his neck, ripping out his jugular vein. Black energy encased the prisoners bonds and they fell off.
Most of the guards decided now would be the best time to get backup, they ran like chickens, but the prisoner jumped on the one that had insulted her. Snarling like an animal she plunged her hand into his chest and snagged his most vital organ. After a moment of looking at it she gulped it down. For some reason this made her feel better.
The creature landed on her shoulder and gave her a look "Nice job." She said "now let's get out of here."
"Oh, leaving so soon?" The woman turned around. The Black Fox was leaning against a wall, throwing her dice into the air and gazing at the carnage. "That's to bad…I was hoping we could talk…Shantak."
"You know my name?" Shantak growled.
The Black Fox cocked an ear in behind her. "We probably should not be talking about this here. Not very…private. If you will come with me…" the Black Fox held out her hand.
Shantak glared at it, but after a moment of thought she took the hand, and they vanished long before the guards ever got there.
Deep within the couch cushions of the Titans sofa lurked a secret. The other copy of the evil book still existed, and during the battle it had somehow ended up between the cushions.
There it lay, waiting for someone to come along and pick it up.
Waiting patiently.
An Author's End Notes: Well, that is it for the first…book I suppose you can call this. It's just about as long as a full fledged novel…I think.
Don't worry, more will come eventually, and some of the little hanging plot threads I left around will be coming together.
Just for you info, I got the name Shantak from Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, in which the shantak are these really not nice bird monsters…see if you can figure out why…
I would like to thank all my nice reviewers, past present and future, for taking the time to read my story. To those of you read but did not leave a review for whatever reason, thank you as well.
Once again, with feeling, I do not own the Teen Titans, H.P. Lovecraft, Meat Loaf, the Chronicles of Narnia…oh heck if you see it and recognize it it's not mine and I make no claim to own it.
However, I do own all of my OCs. If you use an OC without my permission I will be very sore with you…and you won't like me when I am angry…(and I don't own that phrase either).
Tune in for the next part, which will be coming at you…eventually.
Have a nice day.