Hello! FirefliesWish here welcoming the willing readers with open arms!...Or maybe you're here by accident and wanted to read that other story. Either way, I'm happy/panicky about my first fic ever. Please review when you are finished, give a reason if you want to flame. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Teen Titans anything. If I did, I would make it so crazy, the show would be cancelled.
Glimpse
Chapter 1
A warm summer night engulfs the bay at the location of Titans Tower. The island itself seems to be breathing calmly as the dark-blue stained water glimmers with the reflection of the ever white, waxing moon. The enchanting scenery couldn't be more perfect, soothing and quiet. This was the type of night Raven admired. And she would have, had she not been tossing and turning in bed, her mind plagued with the events of her birthday.
-Flash-
"It's been a long time, hasn't it Titans? A Month? A Year? A Millennium? Far too long for my taste, anyway."
-Flash-
"There is nothing to celebrate."
-Flash-
"I have to say Raven, when I found out the truth I was very impressed. All this time, I had no idea the power lurking inside you. The glorious destiny that awaits. It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?"
-Flash-
"You do not wish to partake in the nuts of dough? It is like eating sweet, tiny wheels!"
-Flash-
"What you have concealed, you will become."
-Flash-
"Come on, Raven. I know you hate fun, but it's your birthday. It's special. You can't let
this day end without—"
"NO!"
-Flash-
"But honestly, did you think you could just blow out the candles and wish it all away? Today is the day it begins. You've known this all your life. It is going to happen. And no matter what you wish... no matter where you go... no matter how you squirm... there is nothing you can do to stop it."
-Flash-
"No! This is just a vision…this can't be real!"
-Flash-
"You're going to destroy the world, Raven."
-Flash-
"Oh…and happy birthday."
Raven suddenly jerked awake, sitting up her dark room gasping for breath. Several beads of sweat had formed along her forehead and temple, and were now slowly gliding down to her chin. She was still breathing heavily before telling herself that she was acting foolish. Just as quickly she had sprung up in fear, Raven collected herself and regained her calm and unfeeling state. After doing so, she glanced to her window that revealed the dark but serene night. She let out a sigh and thought to herself, 'This is just stupid. I'm getting worked up over nothing. My birthday…was...that was months ago.'
Raven sighed again, but this time, she leaned back to her pillow, causing it to make a small thump upon impact. Closing her eyes, Raven stroked her hand over her forehead to wipe off the sweat and comfort herself in the process.
"Get a grip. It was just a dream," she said aloud.
"Oh…you and I both know it's not 'just a dream' now…" said a voice from the shadow closest to Ravens bed.
Raven's hand froze in place as her eyes shot open. Her mind dove into chaos, racing with thoughts that tried to convince her that she was hearing things. 'That voice…it can't belong to him…it does! But he's not here! That's impossible!'
Raven tried to move her body to get a clear look around the room, opposed to the ceiling that she had been staring at for the last split second while thinking in disbelief. She had succeeded, but her body was shaking from fear. Raven felt as though it was no longer blood that ran through her veins, but ice that was splintering her entire body, paralyzing her.
Her mind was swarmed with thoughts as she fixed her eyes on something in the darkness. She felt reassured that she was not going insane and hallucinating, but the feeling was fleeting, for it also affirmed the sinister truth. Staring back at the red glow of the mark of Scath, all Raven could do was sit in horror. The figure bearing the mark of Scath was now barely but visibly outlined; just enough to see it edging out from one of the triangular like walls that somewhat separated Raven's bed area from the rest of her room.
It was none other than Slade who stepped forward into the thin beams of moonlight that escaped into the room. Ignoring the shocked and bewildered expression on the titan's face, Slade continued in an eerily cool tone that sounded deathly when dragging out the last word of his sentence.
"It is…a reality."
Raven quickly snapped out of it. Casting away her previous fear as if it was a charade, Raven struck Slade against the opposite wall with a materialized "shadow-claw," letting out a fierce yell in the process.
"Aaaaargh!" Ravens eyes were now white, indicating the large amount of power she had released. Promptly following was the sound of Slade colliding into the wall with a thunderous BOOM, chunks of the wall clattering to the ground and dust rising from the area. The cloud temporarily obstructed Raven's vision as she glided towards the middle of the room, hoping to see a fallen Slade. But when has he ever retreated after one blow?
Slade's stone like fist quickly met the face of the hovering titan as he rocketed forward with supernatural strength. The hit launched Raven backwards, causing her back to crash into the angled bookshelf. Several tomes, caused by Raven's impact, fell while a groan of pain escaped her mouth. In an almost bowing position, Raven looked up seeing Slade casually walk over and made eye contact.
Whether it was quick reflexes, or a force of habit, Raven's eyes glowed white once again as she raised her aura encased hand to lift the books that lay next to her. In an instant, she had hurled them to Slade's head. He didn't even bother to block the attack, something Raven had noticed about Slade ever since the battles that took place on her birthday.
His head was now positioned so that it was leaning all the way back. The rest of his body stood frozen as the nauseating sounds of bones and cartilage grinding and snapping suddenly made themselves present. Slade was repositioning his head without the aid of his hands, in a zombie like manner. His eye reappeared from behind the mask and he continued forward.
Raven lunged in anger at him and the fight lasted another several minutes with the occasional, but small, explosions and battle cries. At last, Raven found herself leaning against a wall with a single trail of blood trickling down from the corner of her mouth, uniform grayed with wear and physically exhausted after being flung three yards through the air into the wall. 'I can't keep going on without the rest of the team,' Raven thought desperately. Although she hated to call for help, Raven knew her odds if she were to continue. Slade didn't delay the fight to let Raven think of a strategy as he wrapped his fingers around her hair, lifting her off the ground so her seemingly limp body dangled a foot off the ground.
Raven's eyes narrowed as she focused on his masked face, hissing menacingly through gritted teeth, "…Slade…" She was wearing the most loathsome expression on her face. Slade merely chuckled.
"Feeling so confident in fighting me, you wanted to stop and chat?" He replied in an amused tone. Slade's eyes narrowed as well, but into a taunting glare.
"I just didn't want to keep the battle all to my-SELF!" And with that last word, Raven slammed her fist into the security alarm button that was installed in her room and conveniently behind her at the moment. Raven had never used it before, but knew well where it was located. Up until now, Raven couldn't reach it, but realized it where it was when Slade picked her up so she could see the bookshelf behind him.
Seeing that he was tricked, Slade threw Raven once again, but to no avail as the alarm was sounding through the entire tower, accompanied by red flashing lights. He walked over to Raven, wishing to inflict some last minute pain while they were still alone. The once slumbering titans would soon be coming.
Robin awoke in a startled manner and seemed to be momentarily hypnotized by the bright red numbers on his alarm clock.
"1:37? Who tripped the alarms?"
The boy wonder fumbled out of his bed haphazardly to run to the source of the problem. He only prayed that he wasn't getting stressed over one of Beast Boy's pranks.
Starfire was woken up immediately and gasped quickly while heading towards the door. Thinking it was Robin who sent the alert, Starfire flew to the direction of the living room.
Cyborg was the next to wake up. He was quite aggravated since his power was only charged up to about one quarter of what it should have been. He grumbled to himself as he started for the door, preparing himself for some grueling battle that would take place half-way across the city when he heard the sound of something heavy falling. 'That came from inside the tower…' he thought. He started to run, mentally noting that he would kick himself if someone managed to break into the tower again. After the incident at Titans East and when Terra betrayed the team, Cyborg was bent on upgrading security codes in the tower.
Cyborg was about to run right past Beast Boy's room without a second thought until a very audible snore came from his room. Cyborg groaned inwardly as he changed his course to the changeling's bedroom. What he found didn't exactly surprise him, but this was an emergency situation, and he thought Beast Boy would know better.
Beast Boy had cotton wedged in his ears and his alarm clock was smashed on the floor next to a sledge hammer. His sleeping form was on the verge of falling off the top bunk when Cyborg voice suddenly boomed a rude awakening.
"YO, BEAST BOY! GET YOUR BUTT IN GEAR! WE GOTTA MOTOR!"
"WHOA!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he fell off his bed, arms wavering in the air for balance. It was too late. "Oof!" he stared up at his robotic teammate, and long time best friend, "I didn't do it, I swear! You gotta believe me!" he said in his half-cracked, pleading, nervous tone as he put both hands in front of his face in defense. Cyborg gave him a stern look that said 'Beast Boy-you're-not-in-trouble'. With that, the green teen sat up, removing the balls of cotton with a small pop.
At that moment, Starfire hovered to the doorway, with a quizzical look on her face.
"Friends, is Raven not with you?" Her emerald eyes showed concern for her missing ally.
"She must have been the one to trip the alarm," Robin replied as he joined the small gathering, "But why—"
Robin was cut off by a thunderous crash that echoed down the hall. The teens turned their heads in unison to the direction that lead to Raven's room. "Titans, MOVE!"
The four distraught teens were now racing down the hall. At some point, the alarms were disabled. Slade was now standing in the same place from where he threw Raven, but his fingers were intertwined in the wiring in Raven's wall which was now crackling with electricity. He didn't flinch as sparks flew from the entanglement of circuitry. Infact, there was no sign at all that Slade was feeling pain. He stood still waiting patiently for the others to come, but it seemed that he was getting distracted by the blaring sirens so he fixed that problem first.
"TITANS—" Robin shouted after bursting through her door. Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg stood close by in their battle stances. They didn't know exactly what to expect, but a break-in from Slade was something that had never occurred.
Starfire gasped as her eyes widened from pure shock. Cyborg was just as dumbfounded.
"No!" Cyborg was completely surprised, but it was sudden fear that had hushed his tone.
"Slade…" Robin wore his signature death glare as he prepared for an immediate battle. His retractable bo staff was gripped tightly in his palm as it extended swiftly with a click. There was a short deadlock while both sides glared at the opponent. This was broken by Beast Boy who had just realized where the missing titan had been.
"Raven!"
The other team members quickly remembered that it was Raven who raised the alert, and they all turned to focus on where she was.
Barely visible, was a dark mass that was partially covered by some rather large chunks of wall. The light from the hallway fell onto the pile, revealing an unconscious Raven who was slumped in the rubble. The titans quickly turned their attention back to Slade who had not moved since they arrived. Slade looked back at them with a contented gleam in his eye, half satisfied with himself that he had enraged the teens. However, his main objective was yet to be completed. Meanwhile, Raven's breathing was noticeably becoming heavier in the background.
In an even-tempered but serious tone, Robin spoke, saving his bottled up rage for the fight. The battle was about to begin.
"Let's go."
What a strange and annoying place to stop this chapter
Sorry if I put BB in a bad light earlier, I can be un-neccasarily descriptive. I basically have this whole story planned out, but I want to know what you, the reader think will happen. Review! I'll give out pie. Pie is better than cake. Everyone loves pie. Mmmm.