Ch 14: In Time
So maybe I didn't finish by Sunday, but whatever. I DID, however, fix chapter 11 to correct the fact that Azarath is not a planet, but a dimension.
Anyway, here's the next chapter! Only a few more after this! Sorry it's short.
Big thanks to all of those who have reviewed the new stuff: mcveras (you're literally the best), valenciabelieves, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, DEADKRAKEN75, JuneGrayson, RobRaeFan2014, mar, and the anonymous guests!
The ground was gently quaking, and as Tempest opened his eyes and looked at the dancing pebbles, he knew this was not his doing. The silver-haired man groaned and moved so his elbows supported his body, half-sitting up on the cot he called a bed. The bleeding in his side had stopped, but he cringed as he felt the mattress squish; it was soaked through with the rusty-smelling substance.
"That's foul," he grumbled to himself, moving to swing his feet off the edge of the bed and sit up straight. With relief, he noticed it did not pain him any more than it had yesterday. Tempest stood and moved to brew his morning coffee, not caring that he had broken his only mug the other day in a fit of anger. While the water boiled, he limped to the cave opening.
"Hmm," he mumbled in forced indifference. The skies were darkening again, but it was as if the blackness was coming from above rather than racing along the horizon like a normal weather pattern. Heavy clouds seemed to descend upon the sky, eating up the sunlight as they settled in place, unperturbed by the heavy winds that accompanied them. The wisps took on geometric shapes: these were not cumulus, not cirrus, not altostratus. The sky was like a drawing of black and grey chevron mixed with an architectural fret pattern. It was most unnerving; Tempest had hated the sky patterns of the mages even as a child. This was it, the final warning. He had until the end of the day, or the next morning at the very latest, until the mages touched the dirt of Earth.
…
Raven quietly nibbled on a spare waffle, her head propped up on one hand at the breakfast bar while she watched Cyborg continue to pile things onto a plate. He didn't even stop to sit down; as soon as one batch of eggs or bacon or pancakes was done, he would start eating it while moving onto the next thing. She didn't even ask for the treat he had presented to her so kindly. Like Robin, Cyborg was a man of action, and she could tell how anxious he was by how he spent his downtime. In this case, he was in full force, his hands never stopping as he cooked and cleaned and ate. Raven sighed inwardly. With all that had happened with her, it was easy to forget that Cyborg had his own close call with their new villain. She could just barely make out some of the weld marks on his back, only imperfect because he had been rushed and could not see his work when he had been forced to make that mid-battle repair.
"More bacon, Star?" Cyborg appeared with a plate in front of Starfire where she sat next to Raven.
"No thank you, friend. I am most stuffed," Starfire said kindly, pushing her empty plate aside.
"Rae?" Cyborg switched to the empath, almost desperate as he held food out to her. "More waffles? Bacon?" Raven could feel the anxiety rolling off him in waves despite the calm face he presented.
"It's okay, Cyborg," Raven said, her voice full of quiet reassurance. She reached out to lower Cyborg's plate-laden hands to the counter, her own small hands gently resting on his. "Sit down. You'll make yourself sick." She sensed him take a calming breath and his grip relaxed beneath her fingers.
"Robin will love the leftovers," Starfire said helpfully.
"Speaking of," Cyborg said, "where is he? Beast Boy isn't that hard to wake up."
"I don't think Robin is as willing to stick his finger in Beast Boy's ear as you are," Raven said dryly. Cyborg chuckled, feeling some of his stress lift. He hadn't even been thinking about his own encounter with Tempest earlier; he was worried most about Raven. The dark circles beneath her eyes had not gone unnoticed by Cyborg; he knew his little sister was tough as nails, but Cyborg felt a sense of foreboding in the air that had little to do with Tempest himself. The talk of other people from beyond Earth, these powerful weather magicians, made Cyborg nervous. But as he watched Raven try to lighten the mood with her Beast Boy comment, he knew worrying would get him nowhere right then. After all, if Raven was willing to tease (which was as close to joking around as Raven ever got), then there was hope for a good day, right?
"Man, the wet willy is the only way to get grass stain up without a foghorn." Cyborg wiggled his finger in Raven's direction and smiled when her hands flew to cover her ears. She glared at him when he laughed at her.
"Or the belching!" Starfire laughed along with Cyborg. Raven rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Charming," she deadpanned. Cyborg and Starfire burst out laughing again, and this time, Raven let a small half-smile accompany her eye roll.
"Thanks, Rae," Cyborg said, gently ruffling her hair. She half-heartedly swatted at his hand, making Cyborg chuckle again.
"Make anything for us?" Robin's voice floated into the kitchen as he and a half-asleep Beast Boy entered. Moving to stand beside Raven, Robin rested a hand on her back as he leaned over the counter to look at the spread Cyborg had left.
"Have at it," Cyborg said in response, sweeping a hand over the plates. "I even manufactured something for Beast Boy."
"Wha?" The changeling raised his head at the sound of his name. One eye was struggling to stay open.
"Tofu eggs and toast." Cyborg pointed at a plate set very far away from the others. Beast Boy gave him a wobbly thumbs up and stumbled over to the plate.
"Dudes," Beast Boy managed, taking a few bites of toast. "It's still night. I don't see why you had to wake me up."
"Um, it's almost ten in the morning," Robin said through a mouthful of bacon.
"Then where's the sun?" Beast Boy asked, pointing behind the group to the window visible beyond the kitchen.
"Um, friends?" Starfire said. "Beast Boy is right. The sun is gone." They turned as one, looking out to the patterned clouds beyond the windowpane.
"Shit," Raven said simply, ignoring the looks her teammates gave her when the curse left her mouth.
"It is them, is it not?" Starfire asked. She held out the long-forgotten book from earlier. Raven took it and flipped to a page near the end.
"It's like a calling card," the empath explained as she gestured towards the designs on the page and in the sky. "They're coming for him."
"And what do we do?" Robin asked. Raven shrugged.
"This is their business. And they usually do it quickly and quietly. Chances are, we'll never even see them while they're here."
"They do tend to value the discretion," Starfire added. "And Sycorax is known for diplomacy with others. Well, most others." She glanced at Raven.
"That's good, right?" Cyborg asked.
"They are also known for great violence," Raven said darkly. Robin frowned.
"I'm not going to just sit back and watch," Robin said.
"We really should not get involved between Tempest and those coming for him," Starfire warned. "There is no way to really know what's going to happen."
"But how are they going to find Tempest?" Beast Boy spoke up, finally awake.
"They can track the power signatures coming from the swords," Raven answered.
"But we have the swords," Beast Boy said as realization dawned on the five. A great bolt of lighting cracked through the sky and struck the shore of Titans Island.
"Is that them?" Cyborg asked, standing.
"They are not flashy," Starfire said, her brow furrowed and eyes beginning to spark green.
"Tempest," Robin snarled, marching towards the window with the others close behind him.
"Is he back for the swords?" Beast Boy peeked around Robin. A figure far below leaned heavily on a stick, small waves lapping at his boots as he made his way further inland. Bright silver hair whipped around in the wind, and as Tempest raised his head to look at the tower, he raised a hand and sent a scream of electricity into the tower's roof. The fire alarm began blaring, and Raven narrowed her eyes as she watched Tempest stumble on the sand.
"He's not here for the swords," she said angrily. With no further explanation, she phased through the window and shot down towards the beach below.
"Raven!" Robin yelled. He reached for her a second too late, and his fist pounded into the glass.
"This is not good!" Starfire squeaked. "Azarath and Sycorax do not get along!"
"And we don't get along with Tempest!" Beast Boy retorted. Starfire shook her head.
"Oh no, friend, it is much worse than that." Starfire placed a palm against the window, watching as her friend flew towards the villain. "I do believe he wishes to draw us into the battle between him and the mages. He kept saying he was a legend, did he not? A battle between them, us, and him would be most memorable. Raven has figured it out, but oh, I wish she had stayed inside! We have the swords here, so the mages will come to us."
"Then why doesn't he hide?" Cyborg wondered.
"He wants to be a legend," Robin repeated. Starfire nodded. Below, Raven was hovering above the sand. No attacks had been thrown yet, but Robin was itching to get down to the beach.
"I believe you call it, 'a blaze of glory,'" Starfire said quietly. "I do not know what friend Raven wishes to accomplish by talking to him, but I fear it will fail." With that, the four turned and ran out the door.
…
"Here to stop me?" Tempest shot Raven a lopsided grin that was almost a sneer. His breath came in heavy gasps as he leaned on his walking stick.
"Why are you doing this?" Raven responded, landing on the beach. Her muscles were taut, poised for battle, but though her hands were raised slightly, she did not summon her powers yet.
"I think you've figured it out, otherwise you wouldn't be down here talking to me," Tempest said. "I am a man of legend, Azarathian."
"Why Earth?"
"I was born here, child. The rest of the universe has had its share of heroes and tyrants, but Earth? Magic does not fade so quickly from memory here. I will never be forgotten. You have the swords; the mages will come for you. And I'll leave the destruction in my wake and continue on, a man to be feared and respected." Tempest held out a hand, palm upturned and a small vortex of sand spinning at his fingertips. Bits of static sparked in the handheld tornado. He grinned.
"You will not harm my friends," Raven said, her voice low and dangerous. "Leave us."
"I don't think you have any say in the matter," Tempest said as he shrugged, watching the small vortex dance in his hand. "Anyway, the mages will be much more interested in you. I'm looking forward to watching."
"So that's all you're going to do? Sit and watch like a coward?"
Tempest narrowed his eyes. "Your insolence is foolish. The mages are only interested in the swords. A little group of heroes has no hope of standing up to the mages of Sycorax. You will be destroyed, they will leave, and I'll be here to reap the benefits of your destruction."
"You're wrong," Raven shouted at him, hands glowing black. "That wound in your side? At the end of the day, if you manage to escape, you're just going to die in a cave somewhere and nobody will know or care. You're just another villain to the world, just another idiot who thinks he can best the Titans. Criminals are nameless, and you'll die a villain."
Tempest only laughed, low and gritty. Raising his eyes to hers, he smirked.
"I will live a legend," he sneered.
Quick as lightning, Tempest sent the small vortex spinning towards Raven, sand and sparks shooting at her like bullets from a gun as it grew in size. Raven yelled and threw up a shield, the attack pushing her back along the sand. It was taking all of her concentration to keep the shield solid against the brutal force. A door crashed open somewhere nearby, and over the drone of the electric sand cyclone, she heard Robin yell.
"Titans, go!"
sorry it's so short! The next chapter is going to be crazy, though! Crazy GOOD! Promise! =)