Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Evermore ❯ A Kingdom of Cards ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: A Kingdom of Cards

The sun was a brilliant orange half-circle on the horizon the next morning, washing the whole sky and even the sea in the warm ambience of perfectly blended red and yellow color. From her position, floating at the edge of the roof of Titan's Tower, Raven would have had the perfect view of that sun ride, if she had been paying attention to it. Though she was in the posture for it, Raven was not missing the sun rise due to meditation, she was instead missing it in favor of watching her teammates train far below her. Robin was running the obstacle course at the moment, the first of the four who would do so. Unable to really see them from her height, Raven's mind filled in what her eyes could not make out. He was of average height, with a very athletic build, which afforded him a good balance of speed and strength, a trait he made good use of while running a gauntlet of laser-launching autoguns, keeping one step ahead of each blast while smashing the previous guns with his bo staff. As the costumes of the team went, his was probably the most flashy, done up in bright reds, greens, and yellows that somehow managed to match up anyway. A red torso piece that had Robin's "R" emblem on the left breast and three yellow clasps running down the center of the chest, loose, short green sleeves, green tights that lead into heavy, boot-like shoes with steel toes and soles made up the bulk of the costume. Included was his bright yellow utility belt around his waist, short cape that was yellow on the underside and trim, and black on the top, and lastly was the simple, rather ineffective mask, formed just around his eyes.

Little of his costume was just for show, though, as Robin demonstrated when he used the cape to deflect an unexpected last blast, and then produced a number of small disks from his utility belt, which were thrown at the offending last cannon array with rather explosive results upon impact. He smiled and reproduced his collapsible staff from that same belt before continuing on, his short, spiked black hair swaying in the wind just a little as he ran on, dodging explosion, obstacle, and pit traps left and right. When it came down to the final robot between him and the finish, Robin took the direct approach, as he often did. A leap high, high into the air while running full speed, and a spin into an overhead strike with his staff left the robot as little more than scrap metal, and ended his exercise. Raven envied Robin, and for much more than just his combat skills, something she had to an extent, but lacked the time to truly develop, as he had.

There was no time to consider that subject, though, as Cyborg was stepping up to the plate then. Quite tall and built like a tank even before his cybernetic enhancement, Cyborg was a powerhouse of human and mechanical might, already smashing his way through half of the obstacles he encountered even just after the start of the course. Laser cannons were rendered useless by his sheer endurance, and then shortly thereafter by a crushing blow from his mechanical fist. Cyborg's "costume" was less that and more his actual body, constructed hardy and heavy with the sum of his parts forming something like armor, which bore a curious symmetry, with the more vital areas of his body completely covered in armored metal, like his torso. His combat effectiveness was also not limited to only smashing foes too stupid to get out of his way, as he demonstrated when the parts of his right hand and forearm shifted and rearranged to form his trademark sonic blaster, which was then promptly used to destroy a swarm of insectile robots, an addition to the training program after the Killer Moth fiasco. Even more so, the young African-American cyborg's abilities included a great aptitude for the creation, repair, and modification of both mechanical and technological systems, as he had demonstrated by not only constructing a submarine for a deep sea mission, but by then effectively modifying it for interstellar travel. Another five drones fell before the unstoppable juggernaut that was Cyborg, and then the finish line was in sight.

His nearly blind charge for the checkered line almost cost him dearly when a pit suddenly opened up in the earth before him, but Cy didn't even hesitate to run on. At the very edge of the immensely long pit, he leapt, and sailed through the air like some mythical creature of legendary significance, and then landed safely at the other end, though just barely. Raven knew the other Titans were cheering for him then, but naturally she couldn't hear them from so high up, so she contented herself with contemplation. She had found middle ground with the technological terror not long ago, after the incident that followed the creation of his car, and this had given her a new measure of respect for the young humanoid.

But, once again, there was little time for thoughts on that subject, as Beast Boy was already up to go next. As soon as the starter rang, the short, averagely built hero was off like a shot; or, more accurately, a cheetah; effortlessly shooting through the first few lines of obstacles and defenses before any could even activate. Beast Boy required a bit more imagination to envision, as he was never actually in his normal form the whole time he zipped back and forth across the training field, sometimes smashing through obstacles as one huge beast or another, and other times bypassing them completely by scampering by as a small, harmless creature. Raven found the mercurial nature of Beast Boy himself rather amusing, as it existed not only in his personality but in the way that he could never seem to stay in one body for long. The antitheses of calm and stable Raven, and therefore a curiosity for her, but little more. Regardless, she knew quite well what Beast Boy looked like, just as she knew the same information about the rest of the Titans. In his normal form, Beast Boy wore a full-body suit, leaving all of his form covered except for his head, with the center of his mass colored purple and suggesting the shapes of a pullover armless shirt and shorts at the areas where the black sections that filled out the rest of the suit met the purple. The outfit was completed by a pair of sneaker-like shoes in grey, heavy grey gloves, and an utterly useless utility belt which Raven was sure Beast Boy used for nothing more than storing snacks.

Another four security bots fell beneath the crushing fists of a giant green gorilla, and then Beast-Boy himself was charging for the finish line, knowing from previous exercises that there was nothing left to throw at him by that point. His short cut, bluish green hair was framed by a pair of pointed ears that sat at either side of his skull, and this all served to accentuate the enjoyment which was radiating out from the set of the shape-changer's small, playful eyes and bushy eyebrows. Of course, all of that vanished when he went tumbling head-first into a carefully hidden pit, dug right before the finish line. Raven knew Robin would chastise Beast Boy about always being on guard and never believing everything was over until the villain was in handcuffs, once he fished the green-skinned boy from the hole, and she smiled a little, because those were exactly the antics she expected from the foolish changeling.

Her attention was drawn away from the spectacle, though, when she noticed the fourth and final Titan who would run the gauntlet that day preparing to do so. Starfire was of a very lithe build, standing just short of average height, though that was a little hard to tell as she floated just a little bit off the ground, wringing her hands in anxious anticipation. Unsurprisingly, considering her alien heritage, Star's skin was not quite a normal human pigment, being a decidedly orange color to the eyes of those who looked closely. This was built upon by Starfire's undoubtedly alien eyes, for though they had utterly normal pupils, and only slightly unusual cornea in how dark of an emerald color they were, what would normally have been white of the rest of her eyes was instead a soft lime green color, overall creating an interesting contrast with the girl's orange skin and very dark red hair. Her hair was immensely long, hanging down all the way to her waist in a waterfall of crimson, with only a short brow separated at the middle and twin, long hanging before her ears really showing the silky mass on her head. It was very simply, but that was the essence of Starfire, simplicity and innocence, and so the lack of style was in and of itself more attractive than any fancy style could ever be. Just beneath the parted brow of her hair, and a little above where eyebrows would have existed on the alien girl's forehead were two, oval dots, the same color as Starfire's hair, and beneath them a distance down, below her rounded eyes, was the faint ridge of cartilage that was her nose, and even further down from there lay her mouth, little more than a line on her face with the differential coloring of make-up, but not without merits regardless. Her jaw line came down from her small, rounded ears to form a slightly curved "V," which almost seemed to act as an arrow that led the eyes down to her thin, bird-like neck, which drifted gracefully down from its position beneath her chin into her shoulders.

The musculature and bone structure of her collarbone were sadly hidden from view by the extremely extended metallic choker that Starfire wore, beginning with a collar that extended up half the length of the alien girl's neck, and flowing down from there to straddle the midpoint to her breasts at the lowest, and the edges of her shoulders at the farthest, lastly being set with a dark green gem over what would be the hollow of her throat. That was then attached to the purple substance that Star's top was formed of, which wrapped about the whole of her remaining torso and slightly smallish breasts, though it terminated just above the edge of her ribcage, leaving the skin below all the way to her skirt, which sat low on her hips, exposed. Each forearm bore one glove, which hugged the length of each thin, but somehow still very substantial, half-limb from elbow to wrist, with a further overhang set with the same type of gem as the choker running up to cover the top of each hand, seeming to emphasize the Tamaranian's long, elegant fingers. Curiously, as if in defiance of the symmetry that was the rest of her outfit, Starfire's right bicep bore a band of the same strange, metallic fabric as much of the rest of her outfit was of, which was not mirrored on the opposite arm. From below her well-attired torso, a gentle curve swelled in from each side of her waist to touch one another, but fell quite short of doing so, giving the girl something of an hourglass-like figure, but not to the point of absurdity and diminished appearance. From there, the belt of the outfit's skirt emerged, once again of the same material as the choker and gloves, but unadorned by a jewel as the others were, and falling from that was a short skirt of the purple material of the outfit's top. Lastly came Starfire's long, graceful legs, mostly hidden by the extremely tall boots that she wore to complete her outfit, which stretched from her feet all the way up to her upper thighs, stopping just below the hem of her skirt.

The starter fired, and the image in Raven's mind blurred with the indistinct model for the imagination to detail gone, but Raven's eyes caught up with Star as she began the course, already meeting the laser firing defense drones with her signature starbolts, blasts of burning green plasma which the Tamaranian could produce almost endlessly to annihilate almost any foe. A number of drones were done for in the first few seconds, and the remainder followed shortly thereafter, leaving the alien girl to cry out in glee at her perfect aim and decimation of the opposing force. That is, until the barricade burst form the ground directly in front of her, too close for her to stop before she would crash into it with terrible force. Raven's hand was up in an instant, glowing darkly with the energy of her power, but she hesitated as Star gave a cry and fired a pair of especially large starbolts right through the barricade, allowing her to fly through it without incident. Raven's hand returned to her side to rest on her thigh, and she continued to watch Star's run, though she breathed a small sigh of relief before fully focusing her attention. The next obstacle made itself known in a hail of explosive disks that seemed to come from every direction at once, several combusting even as they barely brushed the alien girl's skin, causing her to cry out in pain. Still, the moment of indecisiveness was short lived, as starbolts seemed to explode forth from every part of Starfire's body, absolutely destroying any trace of the offending disks and their launchers.

Even if Star was normally very playful, she knew when it was time to be serious, and so she flew on with a stern face, watching closely for any sign of the next attack that would warn her of its coming. As the large mecha rose silently up from the ground she'd just passed over, hands already set for an overhead hammer blow, Star almost missed the sign completely. When she noticed the tiny clouds of dust lazily floating through the air beneath her, she barely turned in time to block the blow with her crossed arms, though the force still smashed her into the ground hard. For a moment, it looked like the Tamaranian might be stuck, unable to use her arms for anything more than keeping the large robot's assault at bay, but then beams of brilliant green energy lanced forth from Star's eyes and ripped the mechanical beast's top half in half, ending that challenge. The mecha was thrown from atop her body, and then Starfire was flying toward the finish line at full speed, hoping to make up for the time she lost wrestling the large robot. The laser cannons that appeared in her path vanished almost as soon as they made themselves known, so intent was Star on finishing in a timely manner.

She was quite surprised when yet another of Robin's new additions to the training program reared its ugly, tooth-filled maw, rising up out of the beach sand before her like a leviathan of myth and devouring her whole in a single chomp, before sliding back under the sands and completely vanishing from sight. Atop the tower, Raven's eyes even more wide and disbelieving than those of Cyborg and Beast Boy, who were standing down beside Robin. A moment of unbearable silence went by, hanging heavily over the heroes, and then the beach itself exploded, metal, sand, and other debris flying in every direction. When the smoke cleared, Starfire sat whole and unharmed, besides her slightly frazzled hair, over the finish line. Though she couldn't hear it from her vantage point, Raven imagined Star saying, as she turned her gaze on Robin . . .

* * *

"Robin, I believe that you enjoy `training' us too much." Starfire said, looking at the other Titan with a slightly bewildered and overwhelmed look to her eyes. Robin smiled, walking out to help Star up from her sprawled position on the ground.

"Maybe, but it is all for a good cause." His smile slipped into a grin as he stepped back to give her room to stand now that she had her legs back underneath her. "Besides, it's always good to have your greatest threat be your best friend." Starfire blinked, looking at Robin curiously.

"I do not understand what you mean, but I will remember that . . ." It was at that moment that a glint of light high in the sky caught Starfire's eye, and she looked up to find the flash had originated from one of Raven's bracers.In her anxiousness and nervousness about running the obstacle course again, Starfire had completely forgotten that Raven was not down with them, but rather was up on the roof of the tower. She smiled, and waved up to the other female Titan, and gave a little giggle of amusement when her eyes caught a motion from Raven that must have been a return wave. Even as she looked up at the splotch of color high in the sky over her that was Raven, her mind brought up memories of the girl's form, supplementing and making up for the weakness of her visual recognition at that distance.

She wore those cute little boots, with hard-rubber soles as all shoes had, but they were otherwise an oddity due to the fact that they were made of the same, soft blue fabric as her cloak, with a heavy overhang that moved up her leg, making them almost like anklet socks turned into shoes. Above that there was nothing but her thin, ashen-skinned legs, all the way until her mid-section, where the lower portion of her skin-tight leotard covered her like . . . well, a second skin. Around it was her belt, a linking of about six deep-red gemstones set in gold, attached to one another by a thin thread that kept them hanging at an angle on her upper hips. From there, her form scrunched inward into a healthily thin waist, and then her body rolled back outwards into shoulders that were only slightly broader than her waist, and breasts of average size that were displayed surprisingly unabashedly by the skin-tight clothing. The leotard continued out into clinging sleeves which held tight against the thin, yet not devoid of strength, lengths of muscle and bone that were her arms. Attached at her wrists were a pair of cuffs of the same material as her cape, giving the illusion that the overhang set with another red gemstone inlaid in gold on the top of her hand was part of a glove rather than the body suit. Her fingers, probably now shifted so that her index finger and thumb were pressed together while the rest of her fingers were splayed out in a meditative position, were very long and rather thin and topped with finely manicured nails. All that lay on her shoulders slipped up into a formless collar that held half of Raven's small neck in its grip, and outward around that flowed her cloak, a long item that hung all the way to her feet and included a very large hood, though that was not up now.

Curiously, Starfire observed that the garment appeared to be more a part of Raven herself than any kind of fashion statement, moving almost seamlessly with Raven's whim, sometimes enclosing her form completely in its folds, and even growing with her as it had when they'd fought Dr. Light. But . . . that was not a moment Starfire liked to think about, not a Raven she liked to think about. Her mind returned to the mental image of Raven, not wishing to ponder on that disturbing night any further than necessary.

The whole of it was held about Raven's petite form by a single clasp, situated right over her heart, and locked beneath yet another dark jewel in gold. From above that rose Raven's purple-haired head, framed by that very hair, cropped just around her face with an almost "M" shape made of her brow, and no visible part in its locks to speak of. The hair itself hung nearly perfectly straight from her head, curling back upward slightly at the very bottom edge, but it still gave off an almost listless sense, although it somehow did so without such a negative connotation.

Truthfully, an accurate description of Raven's whole being, Starfire noted, a person hanging on the very edge of negativity, but remaining just out of its range. And Starfire knew why Raven was so, giving her a certain amount of pity for the other girl, and from this pity which she'd held even before she knew the truth came Star's almost relentless need and attempts to befriend such an obviously antisocial person as Raven.

The dark magus' jaw line curved gently down from her hidden ears, forming the ever faintest hint of a very feminine chin, and above that lay the dimple that divided the rise of her lower lip from that of her chin. Her lips were not very large at all, though more substantial than simple lines in the curves of her face, but were almost difficult to discern due to only being a slightly darker grey color than the rest of her skin. Rising further, the small triangle of Raven's nose was found, setting the line above which sat her eyes. They were large, though usually only half-open, and were a shade of almost violet, but a little darker, and seemed as though they would sparkle most beautifully in the light, if Raven could only afford enough emotion to give them such luster. Above each lay a heavy, dark eyebrow, perfectly groomed and between both was situated Raven's forehead jewel, a light red stone that Starfire had yet to even learn the name, or purpose, of.

Of course, the Tamaranian girl had learned by now that Raven was not the most easily understood of people, and had many secrets, but she did not doubt that eventually she would know more about her mysterious friend.Starfire's brief reverie was broken when she realized that the stone set in her choker and those on her hands were flashing brightly, as were parts of her fellow Titans. Robin needed to take only one look at his personal communicator, and then just as always he knew exactly what was happening.

"Titans, trouble in downtown, let's move!" At those words, everyone was off in a run, even Raven who was now gone from the edge of the rooftop. They were heroes, they were the Teen Titans, and villainy was afoot. Other things could wait until later.

* * *

"And the amazing Mumbo Jumbo completes another perfect show!" The blue-skinned top hat and suit wearing villain cried out in glee as he swung the last bag of stolen gems over his shoulder, before turning to his "audience." "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but I'm going to have to ask you to hold your applause until . . . well, until you turn back into flesh in a few thousand years!" With a maniacal laugh tinted deeply with barely disguised giddiness, the mad magician went charging out the door of the gem store in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind five very horrified and realistic looking statues. He was forced to stop his flight only a few feet out into the street, though, as he found himself faced with five heroes, the Teen Titans. "Drat, not you meddling fools again!" He shouted at the heroes, glaring darkly as his magic wand came to his hand.

"I thought we told you never to practice your act in our city again, Mumbo?" Robin said, staff and bird-shaped throwing blades already in hand, and Cyborg picked up the line, a smirk on his face.

"Guess we'll just have to show you some magic of our own." A series of pops and cracks followed as the cybernetically enhanced human laid one huge hand over another, and then his smirk grew as his right arm shifted into its sonic cannon formation. Mumbo smiled sneered thinly at the overt threat.

"I think not, I'd rather just show you my amazing disappearing act and be on my way." And, before anyone could react to the proclamation, the wand snapped forward and the arcane absconder's magic words were shouted."Mumbo Jumbo!" In an explosion of dark purple smoke, he was gone, leaving most of the Titans staring in bewilderment at the empty spot where he had been just a moment before. Most, but not Raven.

"He's right over there." She pointed to the far right as she spoke, and sure enough, the amazing Mumbo Jumbo was attempting to quietly tip toe down a nearby alley.

"Eh, heh heh . . ." He smiled nervously, and then took off full speed down the alley way, and wasting no time, Robin gave the shouted order,

"Titans, go!" The chase was on then, with all five heroes charging after the fleeing filcher, dodging conjured obstacles left and right while doing their best to close the distance so that they could actually engage the magical maniac. That problem was solved a little sooner than usual when a truck that had been across the street from the alleyway exit suddenly turned pitch black and came screeching over to barricade that exit. Mumbo looked unperturbed, despite his now dead-end path, and only continued running, raising his wand as he did so to probably make the massive machine disappear or turn into something smaller, but he never got the chance to do so. A single starbolt impacted the truck cab on the side, and the whole vehicle went up in flames quite explosively, leaving the path once again clear, besides a little burning debris, but also leaving the malicious mage flat on his back in the middle of the alley.

"You will not be running anymore, it is time for you to go to jail for what you have done." Starfire said quietly as she floated just inside the confines of the alley, the flames just behind her silhouetting her form in dark light, her position effectively blocking any possibility of escape. Padding in menacingly in from Star's side of the alley was Beast Boy in the form of a tiger, moving very slowly toward the prone prankster, and from the other end came Robin, Cyborg took up a similar block position as Starfire on the opposite side. Just as the feline and avian heroes came within striking distance of Mumbo Jumbo, though, everything went wrong. The magician sat up, smiling from ear to ear, wand in hand.

"Sorry, but I've got another five shows to do before the day is out, and I really can't be late." He gestured, and suddenly there was a rather large flower growing beneath him, almost instantaneously reaching a height greater than that of the two buildings and allowing the mad magician to hop right off onto the roof of the slightly nearer one. He still was not done, even as the plant withered to dust as soon as he was no longer in contact with it, as he demonstrated when he turned about to look down on his heroic foes, and then gestures to the buildings with his wand. "Mumbo Jumbo!" Suddenly, the two buildings were moving inexorably together, threatening to crush anything and everything between them, and the mysterious plates of metal that had appeared all around the open parts of the alley made the situation all the worse. "See you in the funnies, or more likely, the obituaries!" Mumbo called to the trapped Titans with malicious glee, before taking off across the rooftop and leaping to the next building, assured of his victory.

Raven, floating high above the two buildings would have stopped his flight, but for the time being, saving her friends had a much greater priority for her.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!!!" Streams of absolutely black energy flew outward from the mysterious girl's outstretched finger tips, flying down and sinking all the way to the foundations of the two buildings. And then Raven was gritting her teeth, as she attempting to stop the virtually inexorable movement of the buildings, though it appeared that she was only managing to slow it. A feminine scream slipped up through whatever small space there was between the buildings and the metal blockers put in place by the evil magician, and then there came a tremendous "SNAP" that filled the air. A moment later, the blockers vanished, their spell broken by sheer force, as the two buildings now sitting and extra two feet apart from one another attested to. From within the slightly less cramped confines of the alley came a few cheers from the less serious Titans, but much like Robin, Raven understood that they only had a small amount of time to catch Mumbo Jumbo before he caused more trouble, and took off at top speed after the eccentric evoker, the rest of the Titans following just slightly behind her for a few different reasons.

After hopping ten buildings already without any sign of chase, Mumbo was quite sure that he had nothing left to worry about when it came to the Teen Titans, and gave a rather dark chuckle at why he assumed such a thing. So he was indeed quite surprised when he felt the heavy weight of a packing box smash him in the side, blowing him several feet back on the rooftop from the force of the impact.

"You tried to hurt my friends." Raven growled from her position not more than six feet from Mumbo Jumbo, another five boxes glowing with her power and floating in the air behind her. The villainous magician managed to hide his surprise at Raven's appearance, and simply smiled.

"Well, I don't think I'm the fir-" His words were cut off by having to dodge to the side so as not to be struck by yet another box, and the Mumbo laughed mockingly. "Your tricks are all so simple, let me show you what a real magician can do." He gestured with his wand toward the remaining boxes and . . . they remained floating in the air, enveloped in Raven's power. The arcane absconder blinked, and gestured again with the same total lack of effect.

"I think it's time for you to go back to jail." Raven said quietly, before letting the boxes drop of her own accord and starting to advance on Mumbo, step by step. In an attempt to stop her, he fired off everything he had, trick cards, explosive flowers, geysers of water, even rampaging buffalo, but all were stopped with a simple gesture of Raven's hand. Finally, the rest of the team appeared on the next roof top over, having caught up to the fighting pair. The mad magician looked back briefly at the new arrivals, then to Raven again, and knew that he wasn't going anywhere. But, that didn't mean that he didn't have one last parting trick up his sleeve.

"I may be going back to jail, but I'll be going back happy if I know that you've disappeared from existence." He said to Raven darkly, before a small kerchief appeared in his other hand, glowing dangerously. "Get thee out of my realm, leave no black plume as a token of that life thy soul has lived, take thy beak from my sight, and take thy form from off my land!" The fact that the kerchief was fairly sizzling with energy by the time Mumbo Jumbo had finished speaking the spell was not a good sign, and with a quick malicious smile, he sent it flying straight for Raven, the cloth expanding in size as it flew through the air so that it would be large enough to envelope the dark magus.

"Raven!" Starfire cried in worry for her friend, as she watched the extremely dangerous looking square of fabric fly toward her, and the rest of the Titan's looked on in horror, knowing they were all too far away to do anything to help. Raven, her face hidden from view by the shadow of her cowl, only raised her hands.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Her hands positively exploded with black energy as she spoke her magic words, and with but a single shove, she sent the spell-imbued kerchief flying right back at Mumbo. He screamed in fear of what he knew the spell would do to him, and his cry turned midway into one of despair as the cloth instead landed on his wand, taking a moment to wrap around the object completely before it and the fabric blinked out of existence. In a flash, Mumbo Jumbo became a middle-aged balding man with a large nose, and several sacks of jewelry plopped about him.

"Eh . . . can't we discuss this?" He asked nervously, as all five Titans advanced on his seated form.