32 Productions Presents…
A Teen Titan Fan FictionThe Teen Titans in…"Tales From the Tower"
Starfire's Room
Starfire: …oh dear. Hmm…perhaps a more tame story this time. Let's see…oh, here's one. A more serious, but not depressing tale called…
"The Price of Peace"
Raven's P.O.V.
It wasn't supposed to happen the way it did, of course. Was it so wrong to try and bring peace to my lover's mind and soul? I certainly didn't think so. So I attempted to fix his traumatic past. I was more powerful then I was when our dating began. Though it was a strain, in the end, I erased the pain from his heart. It was either the greatest mistake of my life, or the single luckiest move I could have made.
He seemed fine at first. A bit distant, as if thinking of something very important, but other then that, he was fine. No, more then fine. His power had increased. It seems that his fear of the past had been bottling his true potential, something that no amount of time would have corrected. Yet when we snuggled at night, I felt that his mind was always elsewhere, not on me. That annoyed me a bit, but when I brought it up, he'd kiss me and make me forget in his…usual fashion.
I should have realized something was wrong after three weeks of him not pissing me off through mistakes and ignorance. Shade was on his best behavior now…and frankly, I missed his foot in gut syndrome. I called it that because I always said that he went a step beyond putting his foot in his mouth. He swallowed it. Shade didn't do it anymore. He was even calling Beast Boy by name. He seemed to be a new man…but at times I was concerned that he wasn't a BETTER man.
My fears were soon realized, however. None of us could have realized the true depths of his might. I woke up next to an empty bed one night and a chill in my heart. I knew I had to find him. So I searched the tower all over, bottom to top. …if only I had started on the top, maybe…no. Forget the could haves and should haves. Shade was releasing shadows into the world. All over. By the time I arrived, he had them all over the world. Stopping him was impossible. He was gentle with me, of course. Despite the change in personality, he still loved me. I called for help…but even combined, we were no match for Shade's new power. I had foolishly removed the safety off a near god-like being! Trigon himself would have been ripped asunder by Shade in minutes! And then…in a voice as empty as my heart felt when I heard it, he told us. While we were fighting him, Shade had successfully killed ¾ of the human population.
We were aghast, naturally. We didn't want to believe it. Shade corrected himself, saying that he didn't actually KILL them, so much as make them disappear. They didn't even leave bodies behind. He then had his shadows patch the hole in the ozone layer. When asked why, in the name of all that was holy, had he killed all those people, he told us…it was for the greater good. Shade had decided to fix all the world's problems…sadly, overpopulation was one of them. Pollution came next. Factories, cars, anything that wasn't alive, if it was releasing toxic material into the air, he removed it. We were helpless. He then gave us all a choice. If we sided with him, he'd let us live in peace…wherever we wanted. If we chose to rebel, he'd regretfully deal with us.
…damn Robin for his stubborn streak. He had convinced Starfire to help him as well. Shade removed them from his sight, like swatting away an insect. He told us he sent the pair to Tamaran. …sometimes I wonder. After that, we surrendered. I think the others had decided to wait until Shade let his guard down…but me? I truly was surrendering. It was my fault. I had done this. If I had just minded my own business, it never would have happened.
Years passed…and to my shock, the world DID fall into place. Humanity adapted and moved on, as Shade predicted. Cyborg began working on clean energy sources at Shade's behest. Beast Boy and Terra left the tower. I haven't heard from them since. …and me? …I'm the queen of the world. Strange, isn't it? It's only a title really. I married Shade, thus I'm queen. Officially, Shade isn't the king of anything…but he does control everything, so there is little other term for it. I take no joy in my position…though damn it all, I do still love Shade. I never stopped. I worry for the world…who is to say what will happen when Shade dies. …as for me…I find myself periodically rubbing my swollen stomach when I'm not doing anything. …just three more months. I wonder…I really do wonder…will what it be a god or a demon that I give birth to? …perhaps it will be both. It may come as a shock, but I must admit…I can't wait to find out.
Not all Trauma is Bad