Chapter 22: The Day of the Gem
Raven stepped through the portal, followed by Control Freak. She still could barely believe his age, his size; he'd grown into a grizzled veteran. As he flashed her a smirk she saw a bit of the old nerdy boy, and couldn't help but smile on the inside. They were never friends, but still, times being what they are...
She looked around, and saw the calm of the endless sea, but this time, it was above her head. They were floating, but it didn't feel like water.
She knew they were submerged, as from her vantage she could see the bottoms of the lighthouses, domelike with long chains and ropes hanging from their apexes.
The tethers extended down, and Raven shifted to follow the lines. Through a shimmering watery veil they plummeted, only instead of getting darker, the substance grew brighter as it deepened. It was an odd contrast to the endlessly darkening void above.
"You brought us here before he woke!" she concentrated and felt herself slide through the water, until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Looking down with a frown she found Control Freak shaking his head, hand on his belt.
"I told you that you wouldn't like it,"
"What?"
"Raven, you can't stop them."
The empath jerked free of his hand, and her eyes sparked with dark energy. "What? Why did you bring me here then?"
"To talk," Control Freak sighed, "You saw the stars going out, right?"
"Yeah," Raven grunted, looking upward, ready to bolt but oddly felt like obeying the man.
"You know what it is?"
"The universes, realities, burning," she answered, and he nodded, "There is more."
Control Freak pointed up, "You know who he is?"
"Trigon, and I know I can't kill him, but I can stop him, I can save them all,"
"No, you can't," Control Freak interrupted, "Don't you get it? This is the starting point, I told you, this is the backbone of reality, this ocean,"
Raven frowned, "Yes... it was bricks before,"
"No, it will be bricks, a maze, a labyrinth, but that's not the point, ALL reality, that is."
He pointed up again, "That Trigon up there, that is the Trigon, the Trigon that destroys the universes."
"My father," Raven interrupted, but Control Freak shook his head, "No, and yes, this place... is beyond time and space. He is the prime, Trigon prime, if you will."
Raven rolled her eyes and prepared to rocket upwards, but that hand grabbed her again. She turned around with a snarl, and Control Freak raised his voice, "He's all of them, every Trigon ever, created here, beyond space and time. He cannot be stopped because in every reality he already exists simultaneously!"
Raven stopped, and looked at him, confused, "How do you think he's omniscient? He is in every timeline at once, knows everything, this place," Control Freak make a sweeping gesture, "Is Genesis, the beginning, the shapeless eternity, and he is the destroyer."
"No Satan then? No God, no angels, is that your point?"
"No, maybe, I don't know," he growled in frustration, "This place we're in, it's all times at once, so it is both the beginning of death and the end of death, he is Armageddon, the flame that burns the Universe to the chaff."
He continued, "The Trigon you defeated a year ago, he was just a splinter of this one, a fragment of the one that will be born above us, this one is the real Trigon, a boundless entity capable of creating life!"
Raven looked up, face paler than normal, "The Annunaki..."
"You know what they are,"
"The Nephilim, lost souls never meant to exist, with no place in eternity," Raven recited, remembering her childhood lessons, of Giants, the men of renown, the souls that wander the earth in torment, banished to the abyss at judgement.
"Yes, this isn't just Trigon, this being is everything evil that has or will ever exist anywhere, brought together into a single point; it is beyond impossible, it simply is, has, and will not happen."
"Then why,"
"Or can it?" Control Freak's face split in a smile, and Raven looked at him warily, "I was going to get Samuel Colt's Pistol, but given the track record of that show he would probably come back..."
"This," he said, motioning to the walkman device on his belt, "is a quantum core. I lifted it off of some nut job voiced by James Wood, Owlman, he built it as a bomb, to destroy all of reality,"
He was rambling now, and stumbled over his words in haste, "He thought if he set it off on Earth Prime, all of reality would be destroyed, but he didn't find Earth Prime... he found one, yes, but not the real world."
Control Freak's eyes became unfocussed, and he frowned, "The real Prime dimension is protected, nothing can get through, save by imagination. We're just words there, Raven, words typed out and posted on the interenet."
His eyes focussed on her, "But this bomb is still Universe shattering, and should it go off, its effects would be... catastrophic."
She waited, suddenly scared of this man, carrying a reality ending bomb on his belt. She had no doubts of his claim, or his willingness, as the half crazed man fiddled with the device.
"You cannot defeat Trigon, but I can," he said, and patted the box, "If I can set this off on him, in him, whatever, he will cease to exist, and his children, and all he's ever done!"
He looked back at her, "This place, will cease to be a calm nexus, or even a maze, a gateway between what exists and what doesn't, the worlds would be cut off... but he won't be in control."
"But then... I wouldn't have been born," Raven frowned, temporarily forgetting about the impending birth above them, "If I didn't exist, I wouldn't come back here to kill Trigon, and Trigon would be born anyways," she felt a vein pulse in her forehead, and added time travel to the list of things she hated.
Control Freak had an answer, "The Time Machine paradox, and you'd be right, except there's no Jeremy Irons here to explain it, and this place is outside of time."
Raven gave him a look of non comprehension.
"Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey, the how isn't important." He took a sharp breath, "I have to set it off, and I have die to do it."
She frowned, "You can't rig a timer, or teleport out at the last second?"
"No,"
"Then what do you need me for?"
Control Freak smiled, "Distraction... you can't defeat him, but you can hold his attention while I get in close. Here, he has no foreknowledge, he is just like us."
Raven nodded gravely, "And I'll die as well, and not just die; I will never have lived. Everything I've done, the Titans, the people I've saved... all gone," and Beast Boy, she added silently.
"You knew that already," he floated towards her, placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you willing?"
"You haven't left me much of a choice," she huffed, and let out a bitter chuckle.
"There isn't much choice to anything really, for those of us with the courage to do what is right."
Raven looked into the older man's tired face, and noted, "You have changed so much,"
"I had a lot of time to think about things," he replied, and looked up.
Far above them, the smooth white sheen of the Azarathian ship splashed into the calm water. Control Freak looked back to Raven and she nodded, "The needs of the many outway the needs of the few," she began.
"Or the one," Control Freak finished with a sad smile. Together, they rose.
It was a far ways, and as they approached, there was a flash, and the ship exploded, sending debris their way. They dodged the pieces and broke the surface as Trigon awoke. Raven, other Raven, collapsed to the Lighthouse, and flames roared in a mighty wave as Trigon howled.
Raven reached out with her powers as the Titans of the past rushed through the Lighthouse portal. She raised a shield around the doors, and herself as the torrent of flaming death gushed forth.
Just then a body splashed into the water by Raven, Azar.
The woman had burns along her beautiful face, and her white robes were greyed with soot. Raven watched as she sank into the water, and then felt a chill on her spine.
A targeted stream of destruction shot from over her head and struck her shield, breaking through and chasing the Titans. Raven turned, and looked up at the Destroyer, who laughed at the sight.
"You, I sense some small measure of myself in," the giant's red face glowered, his four red eyes burning into her soul, "Who are you, born of my fire?"
Raven's eyes blackened and she rose from the water, completely dry. "I am the Gem, your daughter, and I destroyed you."
Trigon simply laughed, his long white hair shivering with the vibrations as it floated. His whole body seemed weightless, the 200 ft tall giant seemed completely cut off from gravity.
Raven watched her peripheral vision, but she couldn't see Control Freak anywhere. She hoped he was in position somewhere.
"Such a small thing, and weak," Raven felt her powers strain as an invisible hand gripped her. She slashed away, but the demon merely laughed.
Beside her, the limp form of Azar rose, and Trigon smirked, "A light for all creation, this one, and look at what she birthed?" He gave Raven a hiss, "It would seem my offspring are equally disappointing."
Azar began to squirm, and a shout of pain left her as she struggled in mid air. Raven knew there was no point, that she'd be dead anyway, but she concentrated, and shouted "Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos!"
With a surprising crack of energy, the pressure on Azar was broken, and around her shoulders a silhouette of a Raven hulked. Trigon laughed again, and raised a hand.
Pain, pain beyond measure, as invisible claws reached into her soul self, sinking talons deep into her very being. The silhouette was torn from Azar, who Trigon threw haphazardly. She struck the ruins of the lighthouse island.
Raven herself felt agony as her Avatar was torn apart with savage glee. Trigon raised his hand againm and Raven felt herself be lifted by an invisible hand.
"Now, you die,"
Just then, in the water below, Control Freak surfaced. He pulled the box from his belt and turned a dial, and without a sound he rose from it. But as he approached, Trigon sensed the presence of another.
With invisible talons he clutched Control Freak, and from the air he plucked him, and looked with mild amusement and the two mortals clenched in his invisible fists.
Control Freak squirmed, but to no avail, and frantically tried to activate the bomb.
Another telepathic hand caught that as well, and Trigon pulled it from his hands. Scoffing, he simply let the device fall.
"Your plan seems to have failed, Gem. Now watch as I burn everything you tried to save,"
Trigon laughed manically as he turned his face to the void, and roared. From his mouth came tongues of fire, and they spread with vengeance. Below, the great calm sea boiled, and above the void lit with angry flame.
Across the sea of the in between place the lighthouses exploded, and living fire violated their passage ways. Trigon's blood lust was not sated however, and with his mind alone he tore new rents in space time. They opened with the shriek of overheated glass, and were filled with probing fire.
As the fire spread, the tongues took shape. In the void the fire solidified, and soon Trigon's minions were born, more numerous even than when Slade lead them. Raven watched in horror as Trigon made souls for these unnatural bodies, and with her soul self she saw them, the Annunaki.
Invisible to the eye, these demon souls latched on to the flaming bodies, and animated them. They wore the bodies like a skin, and underneath was pure hatred of all that lived.
Control Freak looked over to Raven, terror in his eyes, and she couldn't help but fear as well. They had one chance, and they blew it, and the screams of the innocent on their hands was matched only by the wicked howls of Trigon the Terrible.
A sound, distant and hopeful, came into being. It was drowned out at first, but it grew in volume and intensity. The familiar sound caught both Raven and Control Freak's ears, and they looked down at the same time.
At the water level, a flickering glow of a light faded into existance, and the whirring grew stronger. The TARDIS!
Control Freak gasped, and as the box solidified, he cheered. Trigon took notice, and ceased his destruction to look down at his prey. The doors opened, and out stepped the Doctor.
"Aw, not David Tennant," Control Freak grumbled, but the Doctor waved nonetheless.
"Oi, big boy, you'd better put them down!" he hollered, and Trigon growled, "And who are you?"
"I'm the Doctor,"
"Doctor who?" Trigon asked, and the man just smiled, "The oncoming storm, a Timelord of the planet Gallifrey, Time Traveler, war veteran, saviour of millions and destroyer of billions, and you have got my friends. I don't make threats, but I do make promises; let them go, give this up, and I will let you go, in peace."
Trigon stared at the man, so tiny in comparison, and laughed, uproariously. The Doctor simply stared the giant down.
Whirring sounded, more than one, and while Trigon laughed Raven watched in amazement as ten other TARDIS's materialized, and from each stepped a man, some old, some young, with umbrellas, celery sticks, and scarves, and stared down the giant.
Then, as one, they stepped aside their doors, and out came the Titans. All of them.
From the comics they came, with Robin's legless outfit and Cyborg's metal garters, Raven looking human at their head. More came, another team with a black clad Raven, no Cyborg but a man with a black T-shirt and superman symbol followed. From television, novels, Fanfictions and films they came, every reality, every timeline, pouring out of these tiny blue boxes.
Soon they had Trigon surrounded, and at last Raven's Titan's emerged, one by one, kicking off the ground to float to their siblings. Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy.
Trigon stopped his laughing and looked with mild curiosity at the hundreds of mortals now surrounding him. Robin raised his fist, and shouted, "Titan's, go!"
With that, the Titans rushed the giant. Trigon seemed disinterested, but as they struck him his face fell. Pain, he could feel pain, and it angered him. Throwing Raven and Control Freak away from himself, he fought back, swinging and throwing flame about.
Like ants the Titans rushed and surrounded the behemoth, and with energy bolts, fists, animal might, and magic the demon was beaten to his knees even as he floated in mid air.
Raven caught herself, and Control Freak as well, she watched in wonder as the Titans seemed to be winning.
But Trigon was not defeated. In fact, as yet he had not even been scarred. With a mighty yell, and an explosion of force, he stood, sending a shockwave that threw the Titans to the water. His retaliation was brutal and precise, as he targeted groups, catching and crushing them in his palms, burning others to stone.
The Titans fought valiantly, but Trigon was too great, and soon, Titans began to die. With each death, Trigon's rage grew, and he pressed on all the harder.
Control Freak grabbed Raven's shoulder, and pointed to the water. She nodded and grabbed him with her powers. She sent him flying to the depths, and turned to Trigon.
Not knowing what to do, she shouted, "Enough!"
No one listened.
In desperation she screamed, and let go of her emotions. The conflicting and contrary emoticlones aligned behind Red, and as one her rage poured out unfiltered in a black crackling beam.
The bolt struck Trigon clear in the face, and he rocked back, hands flying to his face.
Silence fell, as all of the Titans held their breaths.
Trigon's hands fell slowly from his face, and under his right eyes was a thin black line, a wound, and in bled a thin black drop.
"How dare you," the demon's voice was low, and calm, it rumble with barely contained fury, "I am god, yet you defy me?" His voice raised sharply, and he spit as he yelled, voice shaking the air, "I am Trigon! I am the Destroyer! You will die!"
As one, all the Ravens rose from the ranks of the Titans, and Raven spoke, her own voice booming and shaking with power, "The Gem was born of evil's fire, but today that fire is quenched!"
Together they let go, of their fear, their reserves, their inhibitions. Like one Raven they all pooled their energy, and a stream of black energy passed between them. It went from Raven to Raven as their soul selves touched and merged.
Soon, Trigon was encircled, and the beam grew into a great crackling wall. It encapsulated Trigon, enveloped him, and as one the Ravens pressed inward. True empaths among them sent waves of understanding along the line, and Trigon knew their pain, their fear, and felt every wound he ever would inflict on anyone. He tried desperately to escape, but his hands and fire turned back on him, and he screamed in pain.
Below, Control Freak had caught the quantum trigger as it fell. Pressing buttons and spinning dials, he activated his jump jets in his boots, and emerged from the water, rocketing toward Trigon.
The Ravens opened a portal for the man, and he rocketed through.
In the sphere was nothing but pain. As Control Freak rose, he felt his flesh blistering and blackening, but he ignored all of it. He was on a mission.
Memories of decades of travels passed through his mind's eye, of people he'd loved and people he'd hated. He remembered opening his first portal, and he wondered if this was what he was meant to do all along. A lifetime he'd given to helping people, now he'd give his life, the greatest sacrifice a man can make.
Did he fear death? Certainly, but his life flashed before his eyes, Control Freak had to admit that it was worth it. He'd become the hero he'd always wanted to be, even if at a young age he had denied it.
Hobby ho, let's go, he thought, as he reached Trigon's face. The Demon was shaking with pain as he struggled to escape.
As he screamed, Control Freak released the trigger and threw the device into his mouth.
The Ravens saw what happened, and braced themselves. Trigon screamed and beat against the shields, but to no avail, and in the depths of his throat the device detonated, and soon cracks began to form on his red skin.
Blinding light shone from the cracks, and they spread like cobwebs over his body. With a final cry Trigon shattered, exploding outwards like shards of glass. The Ravens held fast as the detonation continued, unfazed by the destruction of Trigon.
Soon, the shield began to crack. One by one, Ravens noses bled, and some dropped to the sea. White light shone through the barrier as the power of the explosion grew and grew.
Then, seemingly from nowhere, four figures appeared, just beyond the circle of Ravens. Two men and two women, they seemed calm and collected, and they deliberately approached the black sphere. They seemed human, a pair looked like twins, while the other blond woman wore a smart red dress.
As one, these four mysterious beings raised their hands and touched the sphere. From their palms the orb turned white, and the Raven's felt their energy sapped by these beings.
The four lowered the sphere, and when it touched the water a great hiss sounded, and the water around it boiled. The very air shook, and they kept pushing the sphere down. As it was fully immersed, grinding and groaning joined the hissing, like an earthquake, only stronger than any known to man.
The void above flashed and sparks appeared, spreading like stars in the dark. From below the water's surface bricks rose; they broke the surface at varying heights. B y the millions they rose, turning the water into an endless brick plane, and soon the whole sea was a labyrinth.
The shaking slowly eased, and one by one the Titans fell, gently, in a clearing just large enough for them all. It was a circle, as large as the sphere containing Trigon, and indeed was over the spot where it sank. The TARDIS's were around its perimeter, surprised looking Doctor's in front of each. A well was in the exact center of the clearing, and it contained all that remained of the once boundless ocean.
From the small circle of water, the four beings rose, each holding a ball of light in each hand. They raised their arms, and the bright orbs exploded, hurtling shards of Trigon into the abyss as they faded.
As one the four turned back to the water and jumped in, faded from view.
There was silence for a long while. The Titans looked around at one another. Some hugged, some kissed. But one Robin summed up what they were all thinking, with a simple phrase, "Well, you can consider me thoroughly whelmed,"
TtTtTtTtTtTtTtTtTtTt
A/N Well, there we go, the big finale. Just some wrapping up to do now. Thank you for everything, it's been a fun, confusing, frustrating and lengthy ride. Lots of references here, I hope I didn't get too confusing. As always, I'd love to hear what you thought! Until next time, peace and love.