Fan Fiction ❯ Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, For You ❯ Happy Raven, Sneaky Slade ( Chapter 8 )

Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, For You

 

Chapter Eight

“Happy Raven, Sneaky Slade”

 

A/N: So sorry for the delay between chapters, hope no one minds too much. I liked the way this chapter turned out; and I'm curious to see how many of you do too, so I'll cut the notes off here rather than waste time with them.

 

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Galfore's attempts to imitate the rooms of the Titan's weren't much better than Shady's, however it was comforting to Raven to know her current room was free of listening-devices and shoe-worms; though she had still made a quick check after she'd been dropped off. The room itself was exactly what she had expected it to be - fit for a queen and not at all her style. The bed was so large it took up the majority of floor-space, there were several blankets in fabrics ranging from the finest silk to the fluffiest cotton and the pillows were piled high. Of course, the “best” part of it all was the color.

 

“It just had to be pink.” Raven's sarcasm was wasted since she was alone in her pink, frilly room, but it still showed up right on cue. As for the rest of the room, there was not much to say. The floors were the same marble as the rest of the Royal Palace, and other than a bookshelf that had been stocked with spellbooks (just as before Raven either already had these or had no interest in them) and a small nightstand that contained the Tamaranian version of a lamp; that was it. This was her home for the duration of the Trails and she had better get used to it.

 

Luckily, she was too tired to care. As long as Starfire did not come bursting through the door trying to force Raven into a fluffy Christmas sweater, and as long as something horrible and ugly didn't appear and try to kill her; she could sleep now. There was nothing left stopping her, nothing in the world could keep her off the horrible pink bed and prevent her from getting a much needed and well-deserved slumber.

 

Nothing, that is, except for a young man named Garfield Logan.

 

Raven's head was sunken down into the pillows, her eyes were shut and sleep was dissolving away the confusing mass of thoughts and emotions that made up her mind. She was on the verge, the edge, just about to cross the point-of-no-return and fully enter sleep when it happened. Something smacked into her door; something about the size of a tennis ball. That was followed by something much larger falling onto the ground with a thud, and that by the sounds of Beast Boy cursing and then trying to shut himself up.

 

Beast Boy was now sitting on the marble floors, rubbing his sore bum with one hand and covering his mouth with the other. He had only a second ago been a small green hummingbird, but he had miscalculated the distance between his room and Raven's and wound up unable to turn before smacking head-first into the door; which caused him to fall on the ground. It did not really matter though, since it looked like he would be just fine -

 

The door shot open and Raven appeared in it's wake. Her eyes were narrow slits and her mouth was currently supporting a thin smile. It was impossible to tell if this was sarcastic Raven or scary Raven; though Beast Boy knew he would find out soon enough. He looked up at her and chuckled nervously as he moved his hand from his rubbing his rear to rubbing the hairs on the back of his neck.

 

“Hiya Rae, can't sleep?”

 

“Not anymore.” Raven replied swiftly. “Apparently I'm not the only one.”

 

Beast Boy realized what she meant faster than he might have if he had been under less stressful circumstances, and quickly her gave another chuckle and responded. “Oh, me. Yeah, well I'm in the room next to Starfire and she's excited about the trails. I think she's talking to a stuffed animal or something; but who really knows with Starfire . . .”

 

“Beast Boy.” Raven warned.

 

Beast Boy chuckled again, muttered a quick sorry and continued with his explanation. “So I decided to take a walk over to Cyborg's room and see if we could play video games.”

 

“Uh-huh. What video games? We're on Tamaran.” Raven's patience was wearing thin and Beast Boy's excuses were ever worsening.

 

With a sigh of defeat, Beast Boy dropped his arms to his side. “Okay, okay, I was coming to see you. It honestly was Starfire who kept me awake, but I left the room and came over here `cause, well you know, all that stuff . . .”

“Good.” Raven cut him off, allowing her eyes to un-narrow and the dangerous look to fade away; much like her chances of ever getting to sleep. “Believe it or not I'm starting to enjoy your company. Sometimes.”

 

Beast Boy was saved and he let out a huge sigh and finally stood up so he and Raven were on eyelevel once more. He also allowed his own joke making to return to normal; although in honesty the joke he told was only half-kidding. “Does this mean I get another kiss?”

 

Raven narrowed her eyes. “You're pushing it.”

 

Beast Boy laughed and Raven allowed her smile to become more obvious. It was nearly impossible to resist certain things when she was tired like this. She and Beast Boy never would have shared the mentioned kiss or anything else if she had been fully rested back on the ship. Not because she would not have been tempted too, she would have. Nevertheless, Raven knew herself; she would not have done it just because those were emotions she usually didn't show. It was funny to think of it, but so much had changed since Shady woke her up in the middle of the night a few days ago; and so far, the changes were mostly positive. It was almost enough to make her feel sorry for Shadarias; but trying to murder them all and then trying to kill them all off in his own suicide was still a bit much to forgive at this point.

 

“I really like you when you're like this Raven.” Beast Boy's sudden voice broke her out of her mind once again.

 

“Like what?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“This. Sarcastic. Playful. Instead of all quiet and moody and alone.”

 

Raven sighed once again, and this time it was a genuine sigh of depression. Not the depressed-goth-girl everyone saw when they looked at her; that was just suppressing her more dangerous emotions, not actual distress. However, her eyes filled with the genuine dejection that few people ever really feel. “I like me when I'm like this too.”

 

“Then why—” Beast Boy began right on cue, but Raven was already prepared.

 

“You know why, Gar.” Raven responded, and there was no mistaking the grave severity in her voice or in her use of his real name. “You've been in my mind, you've met my emotions, you've seen what I can do; you're probably one of the few besides me who really does know why; so don't ask me that.”

 

It was Beast Boy's turn to sigh and become serious. Serious was not his strong suit. He did not like being grim and he was not very good at it; it cramped his style and it reminded him of memories he would rather forget forever. Memories of his childhood living in Africa, memories of the parents he'd lost at a young age, memories of the disease and the treatment that had given him the abilities he had now, memories of Terra and Slade and the twisted web that had been woven between the three of them; Serious just was not him. He'd do it for Raven, though.

 

“I know why Rae. I know you have your reasons for doing things the way you do. I also know you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Raven. I've seen you push yourself; I've seen you control things that you didn't think you could. And I know I'm here for you if you need me.”

 

Beast Boy gently placed an arm around her, and she made no objection to it. In fact, Raven's next move was to close and open her eyes as she leaned against his body for support.

 

“Yeah, we covered most of that already. It's just . . .”

 

Raven stopped. She broke away from their brief embrace and instead took to leaning on the railing of the hallway balcony and staring off at the bedrooms across the way. Beast Boy approached and leaned the same way next to her, not bothering to look at her but staying close enough that she knew what he wanted to know.

“Just what Raven?”

 

“It's just . . . what happens when it's my turn to be there for you?” Raven asked quietly. It was out in the open now; the thing had been holding her back the most ever since their kitchen confrontation. Beast Boy and Raven were not fools; they could see how they felt about one another.

Beast Boy was not an idiot. His parents had been genetic engineers and while he was far from being a genius, he was not a fool. Now it all made sense. Everything clicked into place and he understood the real underlying problem. “Then you'll be there for me. It's simple Rae.”

 

“No Beast Boy, it's not simple.” Raven snapped, now angry and looking at him with a mixture of intensive rage and deep sadness. “Life is not simple, love is not simple and I am not simple! I might not be there for you Beast Boy; I might not be able too. So don't tell me it's simple.”

 

Beast Boy did not step back, not this time. His own fury bubbled forward. “But it is simple. I trust you Raven. I trust you with my life and with my heart; and I'm not as trusting with either one as you might think, and to quote you, `you know why'. The only question is do you trust me?”

 

Raven stepped back. She returned to leaning over the railing, as quiet as a mouse and as thoughtful as a scholar. Her mind was quick at work, processing thoughts and emotions faster than any mere human, or in fact many computer systems, could have possible tried. Then she decided something she had been trying to decide for a while now.

 

“Yes, I do trust you Beast Boy. And . . . there's something else.” Raven took a breath before she said it. “I want to try. Us. I want to try it. I can't and won't promise that it will be easy, or fun, or that we'll have any real future together at all; but I want to try it. I'm alone right now, and I'm tired of it. So I want to try being with you. And for the record, this isn't because you saved me from the shoe-worm, or because of what you said about my dad. This is because you honestly do make me happy - sometimes - and I don't want to live my life knowing I had even the tiniest chance at real happiness and threw it away.” Raven stopped here and waited to see his reaction.

 

Beast Boy's reaction was total shock and surprise. He had been terrified that he'd finally crossed the line and was about to be face to face with “Scary Raven” once again; and instead she was telling him she sincerely wanted to try dating him, or something along those lines. There had to be a catch, Beast Boy knew it - and there was one.

 

“But.” Raven added in a no-nonsense tone. “I think this is something that should wait. At least until we know more about the traps waiting for us, and how people like Slade and my father are involved in them. So bottom line, are you willing to try?”

 

Beast Boy blinked once, then again, and then grinned broadly and said: “Well duh! I totally want to try! But can I ask one tiny little favor?”

 

Raven hesitated. Small favors were seldom small and usually a burden. “What?”

 

“Can I have one little tiny kiss? Then I promise I'll go back to my room and go to sleep.”

 

Raven let an eyebrow rise as she weighed the possible outcomes; but in truth, she didn't need to think about this one. “Yeah, alright.”

After that Raven leaned forward and pressed her lips lightly against his; Beast Boy attempted to deepen the kiss but failed; apparently, `one little tiny kiss' had been taken too literally. From the look on her face, he knew she had done it simply to irritate him; but that was part of the attraction to her.

“Goodnight Rae.” Beast Boy said as he transformed himself into a tiny green hummingbird and began the journey back to his room. She waited until he had actually gotten inside and closed the door to respond with her own quiet “Goodnight Beast Boy.” and then return to her room.

 

The second the door was closed, however, Raven did something surprising. She squealed. It was not loud, and it had only lasted for a moment; but it was enough to open her eyes wide and cause her to cast fearful glances around for onlookers. It even made her talk to herself. “Okay. That did not happen. I do not squeal. I'm Raven. Not Starfire. I don't do squealing.”

 

“Apparently you do.”

 

The shock of hearing herself squeal was nothing compared to the surprise she was filled with the moment his voice reached her ears. However, surprise was not the only emotion now filling her brain. Utter terror and silent horror were already hard at work the moment the icy sound filled the room. Raven turned around, her hands and eyes glowing with black fury and she found the speaker. She had known his voice - that terrible voice that had haunted her for her entire life - the moment she heard it. Still, hearing her father and seeing him were two different things.

 

She now stood face to face with Trigon the Terrible. The red mass of muscle glared back at her with his four-eyes burning like red suns and one of his long, bony fingers twirling his mustache wickedly. She did not even hear herself say her usual mantra before she blasted him with every ounce of strength she had; which sailed through his chest harmlessly and instead destroyed the shelf of spellbooks.

 

“What makes you think this is anything more than my spirit-self?” Trigon asked, grinning wickedly at his daughter. “Honestly Raven, this is why father's should always approve of their daughter's boyfriends ahead of time. Love makes you do stupid things.”

 

Raven may have, any time before this, begun an intense argument with her father. However, the mention of Beast Boy caused something to change inside her. She realized two very important things and both of them delighted her. So of all the things she could have done she did the most unlikely; she walked away from her father's spirit and instead laid down in bed with her back to him.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Trigon demanded.

 

“Going to sleep. Goodnight daddy.” Raven replied, only half sarcastic.

 

Trigon was beyond angry. He slammed his hands down on the nightstand - or tried too. Since he had no physical form, they merely glided directly through it. Shaking with rage he made his way as close to her as he possibly could before shouting at her. “Is this some kind of joke? What makes you think you can just sleep? Just ignore me?”

 

“You're not on Tamaran. I am. You can't kill me right now, and you are too far away to get here before I wake up. So I'm going to sleep. Please keep it down.” Raven didn't even bother to look at him; she was enjoying herself too much imagining the aghast look on his face and was sure that the real thing would only be a disappointment next to the one she was picturing.

 

“You insolent little half-breed! How I long for the day when I shall finally have the pleasure of pealing the flesh from your bones and squeezing the juice from your eyes -”

“Okay, dad, the whole flesh-peeling Hannibal Lecter speech is getting pretty old. Why don't you come back when you think of some new material?”

 

Trigon's mental image was shaking with fury and had he really been there with her, Raven would have been killed. However, she was right; he had no means to harm her now and he had already screwed up by revealing himself to her so early in the game. He had not expected this reaction from her; it was all that damn humans fault. Suddenly Trigon's anger vanished and was replaced with a cold-hearted pleasure as he smirked and spoke.

 

“Be careful dating humans Raven. They're fragile things.”

 

Raven had to stop herself this time. She wanted to turn around and attack him again, to tell him that she would not allow him to threaten her through Beast Boy and that she would stop him dead if he ever tried to harm him. She did not say these things, instead she stayed exactly like she was and spoke exactly as she had been speaking. “Mom was a human. You were with her.”

 

“Yes, but I raped your mother; we never dated. There's a difference.” Trigon responded showing that sarcasm ran in the family; although his anger was reaching its limit. Never before, had his daughter resisted him like this; it was intolerable.

 

Raven had to stop herself again; and this was the hardest time yet. She had messed up. She had mentioned her mother and now she had to pay the price for it. Her fellow Titan's knew that mentioning her father was risky around Raven; but mentioning her mother was strictly forbidden. No one had ever done so before and that was a blessing. She was holding her breath trying not to release the intensive hatred she had suddenly filled up with; she focused on Beast Boy and the kisses instead and tried her hardest to hold it in. However, she knew she could not keep it contained for long.

 

“Mark my words Raven.” Trigon spoke suddenly, turning the tides of the conversation away from the dangerous subject. “You will die a horrible death, and it will be very soon. Then you can discuss these matters with your mother while you burn in hell together.”

 

Then he was gone. Raven heard him vanish from her room and she released her breath. She could not have held it in any longer. Raven was not sure if she wanted to lose control and destroy something, or just lay in bed and cry. However, her wants did not matter. Trigon had sent his soul-self after her in the real world; not in her mind. That was critical information that needed to be reported as soon as possible. In truth, she wanted to do it alone, but she knew she could not. Not now.

 

Without another word or second thought, Raven was out of bed and out of her room. It was a struggle not to question everything going on, but she managed well enough. It was not until she was outside Beast Boy's door that she actually did hesitate; and it was not because of Beast Boy that she had stopped. She could hear the sounds of a still-awake Starfire in her room, chatting away rapidly to someone or something. While Raven had no clue what Starfire was actually saying, words like “Robin” and “The Trails” popped up enough for her to get the idea.

 

It was that which made Raven hesitate. She had been so wrapped up in her own developing romance, and her own problems that she had forgotten the reason she was here in the first place. Robin and Starfire. Wasn't this supposed to be their trip? Their romance? Their big moment? So why did it seem like there was more happening to and between herself and Beast Boy than the actual couple? With Trigon and Slade involved, it could be that Robin and Starfire were merely a distraction like Shady or the Shoe-Worms; but that seemed too much. There was something missing; some grand part of the scheme that she had either overlooked, underthinked or missed completely.

 

Raven shook her head. It did not matter now. Whatever was missing she'd have to figure it out later; her priority was informing someone else of what had transpired between herself and her father; confirming his role in all of this and raising questions. Raven knocked on Beast Boy's door, but did not wait for a reply to step through the wall using her powers.

 

Beast Boy was not asleep, nor had she expected him to be. He was sitting on the edge of his bed writing in a book; and upon seeing Raven he blinked and looked up at her at a total loss of words.

 

“My dad was just in my room.” Raven explained, finally releasing her breath. That caused a reaction out of Beast Boy; he instantly jumped to his feet and attempted to shout - but she had anticipated this and incased his head inside a black bubble of her powers as she had done on the starship. “I'm fine; I was able to keep him out of my mind. I wore him down and he wound up leaving; but we have to tell the others. This proves my dad's part of all of this, and it raises a lot of questions that can't wait.”

 

Beast Boy was up at attention in a flash. “Then we'll go tell everyone, I'll knock on Star's door and -”

“No! Everyone's still too tired from the ship. Let them sleep. We'll find Batman and tell him. He's not in his room anyway.”

 

Beast Boy blinked. “He isn't? How can you tell—”

“I can sense people, remember? And his rooms right next to yours. Besides, I'd rather not ruin this for Starfire and Robin until we have too. Now let's go.” Raven's word on the matter was final, and Beast Boy obeyed her request once more. The two quickly hurried to find the Dark Knight, who was currently keeping his meeting with Galfore.

 

However, Bruce Wayne and Galfore were not the only people involved in a meeting right now; and the others were much deadlier.

 

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Trigon's soul-self had not gone straight to where it needed to go. The moment he had vanished from his daughter's room, he had reunited with his true body and began to kill his servants out of anger. They were all slaves, victims of the planets he had conquered over his years, and many of them welcomed his fury and the salvation of death. He had to change his personal slaves every time he was around them; serving Trigon the Terrible personally was a job no one could do for more than six hours. Either they would kill themselves or Trigon would do it for them.

 

Now however the room was empty of all life aside from the demon master. Every slave had been slaughtered and his anger was not even close to being appeased by the bloodshed. The hellish ruler screamed, stomped his feet and destroyed many of his valuables around the room before he finally calmed down enough to think about anything but his lust for Raven's death.

 

After a moment, he re-released his spirit from its prison of flesh; but not to find his daughter. Instead, his soul self went directly to the only other person as involved in all of this as he -- Slade Wilson.

 

Slade was still on his way to Tamaran, sitting back in the cockpit of his ship and waiting patiently. The emptiness of space did not give him a lot to look at; but the quiet did give him time to think; Time to plan his arrival and go-over every last detail of his duties once he got there. He had thought he had planned for every possible contingency; and now apparently he had been proven wrong.

 

Trigon's soul-self appeared directly in front of Slade, now shrunken down even further. The true Trigon was too big to fit on Tamaran; much less in Raven's room, and had before been present only at the size of a large man. Now the spirit was even smaller - small enough to sit on Slade's dashboard like a hideously ugly doll. “Slade!”

 

His voice however was still thunderous and booming; and as venomous as possible.

 

“There's no need to shout.” Slade responded calmly, keeping his emotions in check.

 

“Don't play cute with me!” Trigon demanded. “The plans have changed; my daughter is to be killed as soon as you reach Tamaran!”

 

Slade kept his composure, although he found it more difficult than usual. “The plans have not changed; not if you want them to succeed. You should calm down before making decisions as important as these.”

 

Trigon's already narrowed eyes became even thinner; almost impossible to see given his current size. “That sounded like an order.” His voice was at its deadliest as it had been back in Raven's room before he had lost it.

 

“The plans are what they are because we've both spent too long, and have too much riding on them, for them to go any other way. I believe that upon calming yourself you will realize that. Raven is a key player in what we've staged, and killing her now will ruin everything. However, if you tell me why you're so adamant in changing things there may be something we can do.”

 

Slade truly was the mastermind, no matter what Trigon may think. He was a master of diplomacy and manipulation even against others who possessed such skills. His constant need for a challenge, the drive to find an opponent worthy of facing him whether their contest was combat or mind-games such as these; that is what made him the true architect. Once again, he had proven that.

 

“It's that green one. She's developed feelings for him, and now their interfering in everything. She just lay there in bed! She didn't break; not even when I talked about raping her mother. Raven cannot become resistant of me Slade; if she does then none of our planning means a damn thing. We may as well forget about the trails and just destroy the planet now.”

“No.” Slade responded. “Raven is a key part of our plans; but not the only key. Robin and Starfire must undergo the trails. However, I cannot think of a single reason for `the green one', as you call him, to live that long. Rather than destroy Raven; I'll simply kill Beast Boy. That should make it even easier for you to regain control of your daughter. Now if that's all you needed to discuss I'm almost to Tamaran now and need to concentrate on the plan; so get the hell off my spaceship.”

 

Trigon narrowed his eyes, but did not say a word. Instead, he vanished completely leaving Slade alone to ponder these new developments. Things would proceed as planned; they would just have to do so without Beast Boy's life. Slade would have to be careful that this was the last time this sort of thing happened. Losing a Titan did not change much; but if they had to lose another, it would destroy everything.

Slade was not going to lose everything; not when he had so much to gain when his plan finally took shape. Things had changed a lot for Slade in life. He had served many masters and ordered many minions. He had been a solider, a mercenary, a terrorist, a servant of things much too evil to name and a master of things even fouler. However, the one thing he had never been and would never be was a man who gave up easily. He and Trigon's past was sketchy at best; but he would not allow even the demonic force of Raven's father or his personal interest in either one of them to stand in the way of his ultimate eventual goal.

 

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The meeting between Bruce Wayne and Galfore was well underway, and already the two mentors had confirmed the impressions they had gotten for one another. They were both proven warriors and accomplished parents; and that was good enough. The “meeting” had not been the type either was used too. For Bruce a meeting was either the boredom-filled world of corporate stocks at Wayne Corp; or the high-paced and dangerous type whenever he needed aid in his crime-fighting career.

 

The same could be said of Galfore, who had until the return of the King and Queen actually been running the entire planet - as Starfire had decreed he should. He had done a fantastic job, of course, and the King and Queen had almost been tempted for another outing upon their return. Only disappoint in not seeing Starfire held them here.

 

This meeting was not about numbers, or crime fighting or the management of a planet. This was simply two people who had been around the block exchanging their favorite stories. That was it. Bruce, who still had not found the time to change out of his uniform, had already told some of his favorite tales of both combat and parenthood. Galfore had gotten a kick out of hearing about Robin's discovery that his new foster-father was also the Dark Knight of Gotham; and he was impressed when he heard just what Robin had to do to prove himself worthy of being mentored by the aged superhero. Of course, not all the stories involved such tragedy and revenge-like themes. Bruce had nearly died of laughter upon Galfore's recollection of Starfire's brief, but very serious, addiction to a Tamaranian delicacy called `Gorvish'. Apparently it was some kind of fish that when eaten in small portions is perfectly fine; but causes advanced hallucination and intoxication whenever too much is taken at once. The bottom line; a drunk six-year-old Starfire flying around the palace results in a story guaranteed to make even the hardest of hearts warm and even the toughest of men break down in tears of laughter.

 

“Standing around talking about Robin and Starfire behind their backs, huh? Some important meeting.” Raven's sarcasm kicked in naturally; which reassured her slightly. As shaken as she was from her encounter with Trigon she had managed to make a joke. Beast Boy actually seemed more worried than she did right now - which was both incredibly disturbing and amusing at the same time.

 

“Shouldn't you be in bed?” Galfore asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“I was, but my father paid me an unexpected visit.” Raven replied, and quickly she launched herself into an explanation that was every bit as grim as the actual encounter. Beast Boy had not heard the details and he too was captivated by the tale. She told them everything. She did not look to her side when she mentioned Trigon's threats on his life, but she did not hold the news back from Beast Boy. She had warned him that getting involved with her was dangerous. Now she'd just have to make sure he stayed alive - which seemed a lot less impossible now than it would have in the past given the ease she'd recovered from seeing and confronting her father - and given the fact she'd actually driven him to anger, and sent him away. Beast Boy had been right before; she was stronger than she gave herself credit for.

 

“If this Trigon can move through the castle at such ease, and if he's connected to the assassination attempts then we must inform the King and Queen at once.” Galfore announced. “Extra security must be added immediately, we can send away for more troops and -”

 

“No.” Bruce shook his head. “Trigon was here in spirit alone; not in presence. Until his physical form comes there's no reason in adding any extra security or adding any extra worry.”

 

“Okay, number one, even if he were on his right now it'd still take him days to reach Tamaran in his physical body. And number two, if he does show up in person he can just eat the entire planet like he normally does.” Raven announced, trying to keep from slipping back into the `depressed bearer-of-bad-news' role she was so used too and failing miserably.

 

Galfore and Bruce were both silenced by this, and Beast Boy's stupor remained unbroken. None of them knew quite what to say; since none of them really knew what fighting Trigon meant. It was a fight that only happened once and only had two outcomes; winning or losing. There was no rematch, no plan B, and no complexity. Trigon was as simple as Slade was complicated. If you failed to stop Trigon the first and only time, he would destroy everything. If you succeeded, he would be gone forever. While Slade was the opposite in every way, everything always had a second chance. Defeating Slade merely meant Slade would change his plan, or his target, or his way of doing things. Being defeated by Slade, unless he killed you, was the same. He would give you another chance to stop him - he would do it and he would enjoy it.

 

However, none of them had even been thinking of Slade's involvement at that moment. Trigon had been the only sign of their enemies since the arrival on Tamaran; so why would they have. The assassin was still waiting to be questioned in the interrogation room and under heavy guard. Unfortunately, for everyone - especially Cyborg, the single person who had managed to fall asleep - Slade was whom they should have been thinking off.

Slade had just arrived on Tamaran, and he wanted to start things off with a bang.

 

The four watchtowers that stood on the four corner of the security wall had never been breached before in all the years of war. No matter which way the enemy had come; by land or air, the towers had always managed to spot the attack and send out the warning in time to save the castle. However, the ability to see the enemy was mute in this case, and they heard the sounds too late.

 

The only sound was the whirling whistle that followed the missile; but by the time the guards on duty in the lower left-hand Tower, the one called “Alpha” by the military personnel and the one directly on the left of our heroes, heard that sound it was too late. The missile sailed into the tower's wall and fulfilled it's purpose with the kind of deadly precision that ensured a search for survivors would only be a waste of time. The explosion from the bomb itself was relatively small; but when combined with the high-tech electronics and defensive systems inside the tower as well as their own explosives it was more than enough to annihilate the entire tower from the point of impact upwards.

 

The sound of a ship flying overhead could barley be heard over the sound of the blast; and this ship was unseen anyway. Slade's had been so adamant in his refusal to change plans for a single, simple reason; this one worked.

 

“Raven, Beast Boy where are you guys?”

 

Robin's voice was now breaking the static over the communicators attached both to Raven's hood and Beast Boy's belt. Starfire had been awake talking to her stuffed animals anyway, and Robin had been awake thinking; while the King and Queen had been thinking of the Trails and the possibility of a wedding. Really, the only person in the entire castle who had managed to get sleep was Cyborg; but he was not complaining too much.

 

“We're just above the main security gate with Bruce and Galfore, the castle is being attacked by something. You guys?” Raven replied quickly. The team on the roof had already reached an unspoken agreement to stay put but keep their escape routes many and open.

 

“The other Titans, the Royals and I are in middle of the castle; ground floor - and we guessed the attack from the explosion. Raven you've gotta be our eyes, what's out there?”

 

Raven sighed. She had already looked in every direction for the culprit behind the attack and not just with her eyes. It was defiantly a machine of some kind - she could not sense any lifeforms flying around. The Tamaranian military was too loyal and too well trained; not a single solider had abandoned his or her post despite the obvious danger.

 

Suddenly a second tower - this one the far-right corner that had been known as “Gamma” to the base went up in smoke like the first; and this time Raven had been staring directly at it. She swore as fluently as Cyborg did whenever he lost at video games and then announced to Robin and the others over the radio “It's mechanical and invisible.”

 

The news was not met well with anyone. However, inside the palace King Myand'r managed to find his smile. The group all had to stare at him in surprise; but the Queen seemed able to predict this because she merely rolled her eyes. If there were two things, in the world Myand'r loved almost as much as he did his daughter then they were combat and his toys; and now he had a chance to get involved with both.

“Master Robin, relay this to the lass on the roof! I have an aged looking glass in the armory that was a gift from one of the planets Luand'r and I visited; supposedly, it makes that which cannot be seen visible again! I'll fetch it and meet them on the roof in -”

“I'll go.” Starfire suddenly said. It was hard to tell who denied her request first; he father or her boyfriend. However, both Myand'r and Robin were firmly against this and they made it very clear, very quickly and in very loud voices.

 

“Why not?” The redhead demanded.

 

“Starfire, we don't have time to discuss this.” Robin told her. “There's something invisible flying around out there blowing things up. Let your dad go.”

“No Robin.” Starfire replied, her voice so unnaturally dangerous that it may have been the most out of place thing to be found since the beginning of all of this. “I know where the armory is, I know of what father speaks and I can get to our friends faster than he can - and we have no time left to argue any further on this! The two of you simply cannot treat me as more than a child!”

 

That was that. Starfire was away like a bullet and already she had shot up into the armory. Robin admitted secretly to himself that he knew Starfire was capable and confident in a dangerous situation; but he was in love with her. He felt wrong sitting here in safety while she was in any kind of danger - whether it was danger from an unseen missile launching machine or just a stray dog. Myand'r's feelings on the subject were the same - love was love, his was just a father's love and not a boyfriends.

 

Starfire arrived in the armory and found what she needed instantly. The looking glass was not fancy; it was completely black and poorly carved from cheap wood. Probably the result of a bored navigator on a ship somewhere years earlier; although if the stories her father had been told were true this navigator - or one of the owners since then - must have known a thing or two about magic to have enchanted it with such a unique ability. Not having time to ponder such matters now, Starfire smashed the case and grabbed the glass before exiting through the window. She could have chosen a better way to leave than the window; but none of the cuts she received were sever enough to stop her determination and she quickly found her four friends waiting just where they said they would be.

 

Yet as hard as they had tried to be fast, they were not fast enough. A third tower - this one the “Beta” tower and the last remaining one in front of the palace - exploded just as “Alpha” and “Gamma” had. Only the “Delta” tower in the rear remained and they all shuddered to think of where the fifth missile was destined to head once the security was down.

 

“Starfire, use the scope! Do you see anything?” Raven ordered.

 

Starfire pressed the scope to her eye, thankful of the pirate movie they had rented the weekend before this whole mess so she knew which direction to point it in. As she scanned the skies, she found nothing and her hopes began to burn into ash - just like the walls of the palace - until she saw it. The sleek spacecraft that had played home to Slade's conversation with Trigon not long ago was now streaking towards the final tower and the missile was undoubtedly on its way.

 

Starfire suddenly knew what she must do. Raven was too tired and the ship was moving too fast for her powers to stop it. Batman's gadgets would not help in this situation, and while Galfore could do the same thing she was now planning, she felt it was her place to do this, not his. Starfire narrowed her eyes, which had become green, and launched herself forward. First, she screamed, and then she fired every starbolt she could manage to squeeze in before that crucial second when she simply stuck her fists forward and used herself as the final blow. The combination of damage from the exploding starbolts and her alien strength caused Starfire to sail through Slade's ship like a giant redheaded bullet. She shot smoothly through the mass of metal and out the other side. Unlike the tradition movie-stereotype, the ship did not explode immediately afterward. Instead, it fell out of the sky, now severed in half, and in a diagonal course that ended when both halves crashed into the prison compound the “glassy assassin” had been locked in hours ago. It was then that the missile that had been preparing to launch exploded and engulfed the building and both halves of the ship in the flames that had been reserved for tower number four.

 

“Oops.” Starfire whispered to herself. “Perhaps I overdid it?”

 

That was the end of order on the base for a long time. The soldiers went scrambling to assess the damage, search for survivors, begin the clean up and pray their prisoner was either dead or still in captivity. The Titans on the inside of the castle were all just as disorderly in their search of information about the outside while those on the roof wanted to know what was going on inside. Starfire settled herself in with the roof group, feeling ashamed. She had been so sure she could handle this and now the assassin, one of their best leads, may be lost because of her. Robin would have told her it was not her fault and that she had been tremendously impressive in what she did in both skill and terms of bravery - but Robin was inside and she was outside.

 

One thing they all did agree on, however, was that the ship had not completely its mission. Damage was done, confusion was created; but they had survived and the castle was untouched. Surely, that was another defeat for their enemy.

Slade however was perfectly satisfied at everything. He had been controlling the ship with a remote the entire time and everything had gone even better than he expected. After all, damage was done, confusion was created; and it was in that confusion that he was allowed to stroll into the castle through the front door unseen by all around him. He would have ample time to find a suitable hiding spot; and just as much time to wait for Beast Boy to walk into the waiting hands of death. The only downside was everything had gone so well and he'd only get to claim one Titan for all his trouble - no matter; Beast Boy would be joined in hell soon enough.

 

The Teen Titans would never see Earth again; not if Slade had any say in the matter.

 

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A/N: Well, I hope everyone enjoyed it and that it was worth the wait. Chapter nine's being planned/written now so it should be up sometime in the next few days; it all depends on my time and creativity. Here is the part of the show where I ask you for reviews, and you hopefully give them to me. See you next time folks.

~ Golden Sama (Brandon Rice)