20Chapter Two: When the Sky Catches Fire
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOOOOM.
Loud vibrations constantly rang out above the inky black sky, each one bringing with it a vibrant emerald light. Tarduk was enthralled, to say the least. For as long as he could remember Bota Magna had been silent save for the sounds of the jungle. Silent and dim. This was a nice change.
In a dank, shadowy corner of his mind, he wondered why this was happening now. Wouldn't it have made sense for something like such to occur at a more… momentous time? At the moment it was a cool, dusty night, and no one was out. The Agori was the only person awake to witness it, as far as he could tell. What a shame!
It would've been much better, he noted, for the strange force orchestrating such strange illusions to shift their conductor's baton earlier. Like when Mata Nui, bless his soul, had reformed Aqua Magna, Bota Magna, and Bara Magna and brought life and beauty back to the soulless shell that was once the Jungle Tribe treasure hunter's home planet. Back then everyone had been partying, celebrating new life, new beginnings. But not now. Now they were peaceful. Boring. Tarduk hadn't even considered returning to the tribe he grew up in until he learned who the cavalry had found on a patrol and were currently keeping hostage.
Toa Lewa…
BOOM.
Where had he heard that name before? It sounded familiar; the source hung on the tip of his tongue. Perhaps he had caught it in a conversation between Kiina and Gresh, the Glatorian. The two were always talking about the Toa who had saved the world. Or maybe he was thinking of Tuma instead…
BOOM.
Oh well. It wasn't important that he knew at the moment- sleep took more of a priority, since Tarduk was set to head off on a treasure-hunting expedition early the next morning. He would visit the village jail and ask who exactly this mysterious being was just before he-
BOOOOOM!
"KANARI XA IRROLI!"
"NADH! ME'STAMUS PAZENQ, RUTAN'GAH!"
"SLOPFORN IORNAT! SLOPFORN HESKA IORNAT!"
"PAZENQ! PAZENQ! RUTAN'GAH PAZENQ! ME'STAMUS PAZENQ."
Oh…
"KIA!"
That did not sound good.
The people of the Jungle Tribe had never exactly the most blessed in terms of physical prowess- that honour fell to the Sand and Skrall. Whatever strength they lost to them, however, had been made up tenfold in their acute sight, hearing, and sense of smell. The vivid green flashes had flooded Tarduk's vision to a certain extent that made him place wherever they had been coming from at about two to three mio above the ground. The yelling- it seemed to be two specific voices doing most of it, a youngish girl and an older, gruffer male- was definitely being broadcast much lower than that. One and a half mio, he estimated. And that meant-
"Something tells me I'd better go tell the chief what's going on," Tarduk mused to himself. "He wouldn't like it if he woke up at sunrise to find a large flying object crashed outside his window. Heh. Funny old coot…"
He was distracted, however. Vivid, vibrant emerald was fading to a vastly dimmer red- a surefire sign that something bad was about to happen. Disoriented at the sudden change, Tarduk rubbed his eyes, grumbling at how ineffective some of the Great Beings' "enhancements" had been. Then he noticed something.
It was now much easier to discern what exactly had been giving off the flashes- a large, complexly built spaceship, jerkily hovering in the havoc the voices had been causing. Nothing special compared to what the Beings' ships or Mata Nui's robot body had been- those were immense. Huge. Heck, Mata Nui once held an entire civilization inside him! This seemed a lot plainer. It was immaculately constructed, true- Tarduk was specifically able to note smooth stainless steel paneling, bladed winglets, clear, polished glass, and four huge rockets- but it wasn't as sturdy as them. It was slowly cracking, breaking apart… and he, vagabond archaeologist of the Jungle Tribe, was the only one awake to witness it.
Or so he thought.
"So… let me see if I've got this down correctly."
Raven sighed, inwardly cursing the day she was born. "Go ahead. I've got all the time in the world."
"Great!" Superman said, flashing his signature warm grin. "Your father is Trigon the Terrible, an interstellar space demon, he intends for you to become a portal he can use to get to Earth and take it over, your mother took you to a dimension called Azarath to protect you from his wrath, you have strange, mystical powers as a result of your heritage, and you yourself came to us because you'd heard we have the power to possibly take him out-"
"Wait! I think I missed something…"
The League members who had had the patience to stay at the Watchtower throughout Raven's interrogation all shot angry glares at the Flash. He smiled sheepishly, reddening a bit under his mask- it wasn't his fault he had fallen asleep midway through the third hour! The girl was polite, yes, but when she talked about something she obviously felt a lot of passion for, she went on forever… it was a miracle Superman's Kryptonian intelligence allowed him to retain much of her talk. Barry had to praise him for that…
"Do you mind, Allen? Clark was just about to finish…"
But he couldn't praise the others for the same thing. Evidently they were just as cranky as he was- John in particular, given the especially heated way he was staring at the Flash.
"Yes, Barry. I, for one, am just about ready to go home."
"Now, now, Shayera- don't get too hasty-"
"No! I have had ENOUGH! I sat through six hours of that demon's ramblings, thinking I would find out why she had the audacity to seek our help, when she obviously has the power to do so herself. But did she tell us anything interesting?"
"She actually kind of did," Flash said, holding up his hands in defense. "Anyone else remember her mentioning Doctor Fate at about 1:13 or so?"
"Yes-" Raven mumbled, "I went to his daughter, Zatanna, for initial advice, but I was-"
"QUIET, you little hellspawn! Don't give me any bullshit as to why I should listen to you. Clark- give me one good reason why we shouldn't throw her out right this instant."
Sensing a heated argument incoming, Martian Manhunter took this moment to cool things off. "Perhaps it would be a good idea for you to vacate these premises instead?"
Superman stared at him confusedly. "J'onn, please. Shayera, I already told you- everyone who comes to us should be treated humanely. From the looks of things, you don't seem very interested in-"
"She's a DEMON!" Hawkgirl was close to shrilling now. Aquaman quickly left the room, avoiding a stern talking to from Batman later. "For FUCK'S sake, Clark! It's not worth treating her humanely, because we KNOW she's going to destroy the world. How can you just stand by and let her do this? Doesn't she deserve to be kept somewhere safe, not here, where she'll be vunerable to anybody with bad intentions?"
"I…" For once, Superman did not know how to respond. He instead leaned over to Wonder Woman and tapped her on the shoulder. She flinched a bit, but began to speak quickly.
"That is true, sister, but understand. Raven may be the daughter of a terrible monstrosity, but she is a good person. She would not mean to harm any of us. Is that not correct, Miss Roth?"
"I would think so, yes," Raven mumbled.
"Fuck you, Diana. No, fuck you. She's lying. You can't see her true colours because she's masking them. That's her plan- that's Trigon's plan! She'll lure us into a relationship, get all chummy with us- then when she gets what she wants, she'll incinerate us with demon magic and throw us away like we're trash!"
This last remark crossed more than a few lines. Superman, despite being known for being kind and caring, was now more than a little angry, eyes twitching and fists clenching. Batman looked at Hawkgirl disapprovingly, having just returned from a patrol with his ward Robin, who looked just as annoyed but a little bit more sympathetic. Flash was confused, but seemed to be in the midst of severe irritation. Martian Manhunter showed no emotion, as per usual. Wonder Woman was probably the angriest of all, next to Green Lantern- who had especially good reasons to be incensed, given that he and Shayera had recently been getting more than a little romantic.
And what his girlfriend had just said extinguished any hope they had at going on a date for the next six months.
"Hawkgirl…"
"What, John?"
"Are you…" he sighed, lowering his head into his hands. "Do you seriously believe that Roth is our enemy?"
"She's Trigon's daughter. Has to be. We Thanagarians have run afoul of the man before, or did you forget?"
"That doesn't mean you should hold it against her. She had nothing to do with it…"
"She had EVERYTHING to do with it, you idiot! He and her are connected! It's how he's going to be able to make her his portal! Don't be taken by her lies!"
Raven glared at Hawkgirl a little more coldly than she had when first meeting her, but said nothing. It was just as well she get chewed out for this now, she figured.
"Maybe now would be a good time to leave," Batman suggested. "Please, Shayera. You're only making things worse."
"Not you too, Bruce. You're the most resistant to mind control out of all of us! How could she have roped you in with her arrows of lies? Robin-" Hawkgirl said, looking directly at the teen now- "what do you think? Is Raven as evil as I make her out to be?"
Dick Grayson had actually not been too invested in the heated debate taking place before him. He was currently thinking over what had happened today at Gotham Academy, when his friend Artemis Crock had given him the evil eye over the recent breakup of Young Justice and a strange green kid with fangs and a mask had tried to accost him for an autograph. Neither were his fault, true, but in some way or form he felt the Batfamily was to blame. Namely Bruce. In the last few weeks of the team's existence he had been exceedingly controlling; more so than usual, in fact. Dick couldn't help but resent his adopted father for this- he'd been doing it so much as of late! Even when the Dynamic Duo weren't on patrol. It was unfair to him.
He would have to talk to the Bat about his anger later- now he had to figure out why he was suppose to hate this Raven Roth. She didn't look too evil, really. Maybe it was her eyes that Hawkgirl despised? They were a dull shade of lilac- cold and uncaring, uncertain and inviting. Or her hair, which while being silky and cut in an enticing way was still an unnatural amethyst. Her skin? Nah- Robin'd seen plenty of grey heroes before. Miss Martian was at times one of them, and she was pretty cool (despite being somewhat annoying, but that was another story for another time.) Her clothes seemed fine- a bit out of place in this day and age, but still acceptable. In the end, Dick figured it was the large, glimmering red jewel set right in the middle of Raven's forehead that was setting Ms. Hol off so much.
But… "That still doesn't make her evil…"
"What? What makes her evil?"
"Her jewel," Robin said. "I've never seen anything like it before- and I know what you're going to say, Hawkgirl- 'that means she's evil'- but we can't judge her for it. Maybe it's actually kind of helpful? Like… can you shoot lasers out of it?"
Raven knew the Boy Wonder was talking directly to her now, but she still stayed discreetly silent, only giving him a thankful wink. It wouldn't do to get angry now- not when a pissed-off warrior could have her head on a plate at any second, or her demonic powers could produce vice versa. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos… Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…
"Lasers. Psh. As if. Don't be a fool, kid. I can't believe she's got you too," Hawkgirl pined, trudging towards the interrogation room's lone window.
"But she hasn't-"
A single Bat-Glare© was all it took to shut Robin up. Some historians say that was the moment that forevermore split the Batman and his sidekick. Some disagree. Some believe the time would come later on, when the last vestiges of Young Justice met up for a farewell party of sorts. Some have proposed-
"We needn't persist about this any further," Hawkgirl said. She was now pacing rapidly, a behavior she had retained from her days in the force. "Let's establish what we know right now- Raven is a demon. Raven will one day destroy the world. Raven is evil. Your girlfriend agrees with me, Robin, so I know I'm right!"
Robin said nothing, only sadly looking at Raven. The rest of the League stared at Hawkgirl with incredibly mixed gazes.
Hawkgirl smiled. "All in favour, then. Raven? Do you have anything to add?"
The hatred Raven felt for the Thanagarian at that point in time was unrivaled, matched only later on by her similar reaction to Rorek. Hawkgirl may have been a righteous person but from what the mage knew she was a total brat. If she didn't have the restraint, self-control learned through years of training with Azarathian monks, Raven would've gotten up out of her seat and ripped the woman to pieces. But she knew better- it wouldn't help things any if she did, so she continued to meditate. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos…
"Figures," Hawkgirl spat. "You can't defend yourself, because you agree with me. I shouldn't have expected any less."
Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos-
"Enough, Shayera. If you know what's good for you-" he didn't make it very evident, but from the faint red glow ringed around his eyes it was very obvious Superman was just about to explode exactly like Raven would- "you'll walk out of this interrogation room, take a trip in the zeta tubes, and leave. Go home. Let off some steam. Relax. You can't be a valuable asset to this team if you're bottling up all your anger like this."
"'Bottling up?' Clark, I am not 'bottling up'-"
"Please," Wonder Woman pleaded.
"Don't make us say any more than we have to."
"I think I should take J'onn's notes and go," Flash said, grin more sheepish than ever.
"NO! You will not leave these premises at all, you ignorant sap. And neither will I. Not until this… this… trash either fesses up to her crimes or leaves. Judging by how long this conversation's gone on, I'd be a fool to assume the latter." Hawkgirl leaned over to an increasingly irate Raven and smirked. "Isn't that right, Raven? Weren't you a fool to go to Thanagar for help when you knew we didn't accept scum like you?"
No response.
Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos Azarath Metrion Zinthos Azarath Metrion Zinthos Azarath Metrion Zinthos-
"Don't-"
"Isn't that right, demon spawn? Isn't that RIGHT-"
Azarath Metrion ZinthosAzarath Metrion ZinthosAzarathMetrionZinthosAZARATHMETRIONZINTHOS-
"QUIET!"
The aura in the room turned deathly cold almost immediately. Silence reigned supreme, dominating the previous rancorous banter into submission. Martian Manhunter, when he had recovered from the shock of Raven's yell enough to look at her, almost fainted.
Hawkgirl had been… right. Rachel "Raven" Roth did not look human. She did not look normal. She was a demon. She would one day destroy the world. She was evil.
And that's another chapter knocked off the board. Not a very good one, but I haven't been at this story for a while so hopefully you see why the writing quality is so bad.
I have no idea why I chose Tarduk to be the first to witness Starfire (because hopefully everyone got that the girl who was yelling was Starfire) or why Hawkgirl was the one who hated Raven. I guess... they just fit. Tarduk's part of the Jungle Tribe and at one point in time he probably knew the sect of Agori who kidnapped Lewa. Hawkgirl's a rude, sarcastic person with an incredibly short temper (I think), so it made sense to have her take Zatanna's role from the comics (y'know, given that I used the lady's nicer, much younger YJ incarnation instead.) Hopefully the decisions I made were good ones, at least to some degree.
Robin and Raven first meet in this chapter. He mentions encountering Beast Boy (or Changeling, given the time period we're in) sometime earlier as well. At one point in time he will run into Cyborg as well. No particular reason for this except that I figured it would be a good idea to string all the future Titans (save Starfire and Lewa, when they appear) together since their initial meeting in Go! was a bit... sudden, so to speak.
Some canonical details are probably wrong in this chapter but I haven't sent this to a beta yet. I plan to, though (keyword: "plan".)
Any and all feedback is appreciated, as per usual.
