I saw the batsignal for requests of characters. Ya girl lives with Teen Titans brainrot and stalks enthusiastically consumes your posts (they're amazing btw) so can I ask for Raven who almost lost reader once and how it affects the way she reacts to things from then on, if that makes sense? If not thats also perfectly okay. <3 I hope you're able to get a variety like you're asking for. If not, batsignal again and I'll bring more TTs requests lol.
this made me laugh so much bc of the batsignal and the irony of it!
Not 100% sure if this is what you wanted bestie, but I did get carried away, I edited everything but I did not proof read it. I tried to split this in half the best I could, sorry y'all
Requests/asks are still open! Titans Tower Database
The first sign that something was wrong wasn't the blood-red sky. It was Raven. She had gone quiet. Quieter than usual. The halls of Titans Tower had always carried some kind of noise. Gar's laughter echoed from the living room, Victor arguing with the television as another one of his video game characters inevitably lost, Kory humming softly while she attempted another disastrous Earth recipe in the kitchen. Normally, somewhere between it all, there was Raven. Reading in the common room. Meditating by the window. Watching everyone from the corner of the room without ever truly participating.
Today... She hadn't left her room. You stopped outside her door, lifting your hand to knock before hesitating. "You've been standing there for forty-three seconds." Her voice drifted through the door, calm as still water.
You smiled despite yourself. "You counted?"
"I could hear your heartbeat."
"...That's mildly terrifying."
You pushed the door open and saw that the room was dim, lit only by the pale glow filtering through the curtains. Candles flickered lazily around the floor where Raven sat cross-legged atop one of the meditation mats, her cloak pooled around her like spilled ink. She didn't look up. You quietly closed the door behind you and crossed the room, settling onto the floor beside her without asking. Silence settled comfortably between the two of you. It always had. That was one of the things you loved most about Raven. She never expected conversation simply to fill the emptiness. Minutes passed before she finally spoke. "The others sent you."
You leaned back on your hands. "They're worried."
"You wanna tell me what's going on?"
"...Okay." That earned you the smallest glance from beneath violet lashes.
"You aren't going to keep asking?"
"I figured if you wanted to talk, you would."
She studied you for a long moment. "So you'll just sit here?"
The corner of your mouth tugged upward. Victory. Small victories were still victories. You reached into the pocket of your hoodie before producing a small bag. "I brought snacks."
Raven looked at it. Then at you. For a heartbeat... Barely one at all... You caught it. The faintest upward twitch of her lips. Gone almost before it appeared. But you saw it. "So," you said triumphantly, nudging the bag toward her, "I made Raven smile."
"I merely adjusted my facial muscles."
"I was... correcting my posture."
"Yes." You laughed. Not loudly. Never loudly around Raven. Just enough for the sound to fill the room. She found herself listening to it longer than she intended. Strange. Months ago she would have found it distracting. Now... It had become familiar. Comforting. Dangerously so. Without thinking, her hand drifted across the floor until the sleeve of her cloak brushed yours. Not quite touching. Close enough that she could feel your warmth. You noticed. You didn't comment on it. Instead, you simply let your shoulder rest lightly against hers. No expectations. No pressure. Just... There.
Raven closed her eyes again. For the first time in days... The chaos inside her mind quieted. Not completely. It never completely disappeared. The whispers of her heritage still lingered beneath every thought, every heartbeat, every breath. But with you beside her... They seemed... Farther away. She hated how much she had begun depending on that feeling. Because peace was never meant to come from another person. It made them vulnerable. It made you vulnerable. And Raven had spent her entire life learning one truth above all others. Everything she loved... Eventually suffered because of her. She refused to open her eyes. If she looked at you now... She wasn't sure she'd be able to convince herself to let you go when the time came.
The days that followed settled into an uneasy rhythm. Life in Titans Tower continued because it had to. Gar still managed to convince Victor into late-night video game tournaments that inevitably ended with accusations of cheating. Kory continued her earnest attempts to understand Earth culture, though her latest endeavor—combining pancakes with hot sauce because "both are favorites"—was unanimously declared a disaster. Dick kept everyone moving from one training exercise to the next, pretending not to notice the growing tension that lingered behind every conversation.
Only Raven seemed untouched by routine. Or perhaps... Burdened by it. She attended training. She joined briefings. She meditated longer than before. And every now and then, when she thought no one was watching, her gaze would drift toward the windows as though she were listening for something only she could hear. Something approaching.
The training room echoed with the sharp crack of staffs colliding. You ducked beneath Dick's swing, rolling across the padded floor before springing back to your feet. "Better," he called, spinning his escrima stick between his fingers. "But you're still dropping your left shoulder."
"You literally just did."
Dick grinned. "That's what my brother used to say."
“I’ve never met him, but he sounds incredibly smart."
Before you could answer, a burst of green shot between the two of you. Gar, in the form of an overgrown tiger, tackled Dick squarely into one of the padded walls. "Time out!" Gar announced triumphantly as he shifted back into himself. "Snack break."
Victor walked in carrying a cooler under one arm. "I've never respected anyone more than I respect whoever invented sports drinks."
The room relaxed almost instantly. Dick groaned dramatically from where he'd landed. "I was winning."
"You were getting old," Gar corrected.
Kory laughed brightly as she handed everyone bottled water. Everyone. Including Raven. She accepted hers with a quiet nod before retreating to the edge of the room. Almost instinctively, you wandered after her. She hadn't realized you'd followed until you were standing beside her, offering half of the granola bar you'd stolen from the snack table. "You don't have to keep feeding me."
Raven turned the granola bar over in her hands, her thumb smoothing absentmindedly over the crinkled wrapper. "...Then why do you?"
You shrugged, tearing open your own half. "Because sometimes you forget to eat."
"You skipped lunch yesterday."
"And dinner two nights ago."
A flicker of recognition crossed her face before it disappeared behind practiced composure. "You also walked into the kitchen this morning, opened the refrigerator, stared inside for thirty seconds, and left without taking anything."
"You were thinking at the refrigerator?"
You let out a quiet laugh, shaking your head. "I worry about you, Rae."
For the first time, Raven's gaze lifted fully to meet yours. There wasn't annoyance there. Only quiet curiosity. "...Why?"
The question caught you off guard. You blinked. "What do you mean, 'why?'"
"You have no obligation to concern yourself with whether or not I've eaten."
"No," you admitted softly. "I don't." You leaned your shoulder a little more comfortably against the wall. "But I care about you."
The words weren't dramatic. They weren't spoken like a confession. Just a simple truth. Something so matter-of-fact that it seemed to catch Raven off guard more than any declaration ever could. Her fingers tightened almost imperceptibly around the granola bar. "...I understand." She looked away again, though this time her voice lacked its usual certainty. It was quieter. Almost thoughtful.
You smiled to yourself. "Good." You nudged her elbow lightly with your own. "Now eat before I have to start scheduling your meals."
"I would simply ignore the schedule."
Raven's eyes widened by the smallest fraction. "...You wouldn't."
A beat passed. "...That does sound like something you'd do."
"That almost sounded like a joke."
"It adjusted its facial muscles." There it was again. Another tiny victory. Raven took a small bite, her eyes drifting toward the observation windows overlooking the city. The sunlight reflected against the glass. For just a heartbeat— The reflection changed. The room disappeared. The glass ran crimson.
Her breath caught. The vision vanished as quickly as it had come.
"...Raven?" You were looking at her now, concern softening your features. "You okay?"
"I said yes." The words came sharper than she'd intended. Immediately, guilt twisted in her chest.
Your shoulders dipped ever so slightly. "...Sorry."
"No." She reached for your wrist before you could step away. The movement surprised both of you. Her fingers wrapped gently around your sleeve. You looked down at her hand. Then back at her. Raven slowly released you. "...I didn't mean to snap."
"No." Her voice was quieter now. "It isn't."
You hesitated before smiling anyway. "You wanna know a secret?"
"I've seen Gar eat an entire family-sized bag of chips in one sitting."
"...That's not a secret."
"Fine." You leaned in conspiratorially. "Dick sings in the shower."
"Vic cried during that dog movie."
"...Do I have any information you don't already know?"
For the first time all afternoon, something softened in Raven's expression. "...Probably not."
"I adjusted my facial muscles again.” You laughed. The sound was warm. Easy. For one impossible moment, Raven wanted to believe the visions were wrong. That Trigon wasn't coming. That fate could be ignored. That this— This tower. These people. You. Could simply remain hers. Then every light in Titans Tower flickered.
The alarms erupted through the halls.
WARNING. UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED.
Victor's easy grin disappeared. Dick was already moving. "Kory, with me. Gar, east side. Raven—"
But Raven wasn't listening. She had gone perfectly still. Because she recognized that energy. She had known it was coming. She just hadn't known... how soon. As the windows overlooking the city exploded inward in a rain of shattered glass, only one thought echoed through her mind. It's starting. And somewhere behind her, your hand found hers for the briefest second before you both ran toward the fight together.
The hallway erupted into motion. Red emergency lights bathed Titans Tower in an ominous glow as the alarm continued to blare overhead.
WARNING. UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED.
WARNING. UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED.
The calm atmosphere from moments before disappeared entirely. Dick was already barking orders. "Gar, with me! Vic, get Tower security online! Kory, civilian evacuation!"
"I'm on it!" Victor answered, metal fingers already flying across the touchscreen mounted near the training room doors. Static crackled across the display. Then... Nothing. Every monitor went black.
Victor hit the console harder. "...I'm locked out."
"I'm locked out of my own system." The words hung in the air. That had never happened before. A chill crept down your spine. The Tower wasn't just under attack. Someone, or something, had already gotten inside. Another violent tremor rolled through the building. The floor lurched beneath your feet. Somewhere below, glass shattered.
Gar stumbled into the wall. "What the heck was that?"
No one answered him. Raven already knew. She could feel him. Not as a presence. As an inevitability. Like a storm that had always been destined to arrive. The air itself felt heavier. Each breath became more difficult than the last. Every instinct screamed at her to run. Not from the danger. From all of you. "You need to leave." The words escaped before she could stop them.
Dick turned toward her. "What?"
Dark energy crackled faintly around Raven's hands. "You don't understand."
"We're not leaving you," Dick said firmly.
Gar let out a nervous laugh. "...Okay, see, when Raven says something like that, maybe we should actually listen."
She wasn't exaggerating. She wasn't predicting. She was remembering. Remembering futures that hadn't happened. Yet. Her gaze found yours. For just a second. In that instant she saw it again. Your body thrown backward by an explosion of crimson energy. Your fingers slipping from hers. Your heartbeat... Stopping. Her breath hitched. "No..."
You stepped toward her. "Rae?"
She took one step back. "Don't."
You froze. Confusion flickered across your face. "What?"
The words struck harder than you expected. You searched her expression for some sign of anger. There was none. Only fear. Not fear of the thing outside. Fear of you standing too close.
Dick noticed it too. "Raven."
"You all need to leave the Tower."
"We're not abandoning you."
"This isn't about me!" she snapped, her voice cracking in a way none of you had ever heard before. "It never was." The room fell silent. Even the alarms seemed distant now. Raven closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe. When she spoke again, her voice was barely a whisper. "If you stay..." Her throat tightened. "...he'll use you."
No one understood. Not yet. Only Raven knew that Trigon had never intended to destroy her first. He would destroy everything she loved. And then leave her to watch. That had always been the plan.
Dick's expression hardened. "Then we'll deal with it."
"We've handled impossible before."
"No." Her voice trembled despite every effort to steady it. "You don't."
The floor groaned beneath your feet. Another violent tremor rippled through the Tower, sending dust drifting from the ceiling. Somewhere in the distance, an explosion rattled the walls. Victor looked toward the security monitors lining the corridor. Every screen was still black. "Tower systems are completely offline," he muttered. "I can't access communications, security feeds... nothing."
Gar swallowed. "That's... bad, right?"
Victor gave him a flat look. "I'm gonna go with 'world-ending' bad."
Kory stepped closer to Raven, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Raven," she said softly, "whatever darkness approaches, you shall not face it alone."
Raven flinched. Not away from Kory's touch— From the words. Alone. She had spent years convincing herself that loneliness was safer. Safer for everyone.
"If you stay," she repeated, barely able to get the words out, "you will die."
"Maybe," Dick answered. The word hung in the air. "But if we leave..." He stepped forward until he was standing directly in front of her. "...then we're not the Titans."
Raven stared at him. He wasn't trying to be inspiring. He wasn't making a speech. He was simply stating a fact. The Titans didn't leave family behind. No matter the odds. No matter the cost. For just a moment, Raven hated them for it. Because they made it impossible to protect them. A deafening crack echoed through the Tower. The windows at the far end of the corridor burst outward. Not inward. Outward. As if something inside reality itself had torn open. A wave of blistering heat swept through the hallway. The clouds overhead twisted into impossible spirals, swallowing the afternoon sun. Buildings stretched and warped like reflections in disturbed water. The sky bled crimson.
"...Dick," Gar whispered.
People flooded the streets below. Cars screeched to a halt. Some simply abandoned their vehicles altogether, running with no destination in mind. The world was unraveling. And it had only just begun. Raven's breathing became shallow. "No..."
She knew this. She had seen this. Every nightmare. Every vision. Every meditation she'd forced herself through in silence.
It was happening exactly as she'd feared. Her gaze darted wildly across the room before landing on you. You hadn't moved. Everyone else had instinctively spread out, preparing for whatever came next. You were still standing where she'd left you. Watching her. Not the sky. Not the city.
Your brows knit together with quiet concern. You took a cautious step forward. "Rae."
Her heart lurched. "Please..." she whispered. You stopped. "Go." The single word cracked as it left her.
"Then help me understand."
She closed her eyes. How could she explain that she'd already watched you die? That every time she looked at you, she saw blood staining your uniform? That every future she reached for ended the same way. With your hand slipping from hers. When she opened her eyes again, they shimmered with restrained emotion. "He'll hurt you..." Your expression softened. "...Because of me."
The admission was so quiet you almost missed it. Your chest tightened. Slowly, carefully, you crossed the remaining distance between you. This time... She didn't step away. You reached for her hand. Not quickly. Giving her every chance to pull back. She didn't. Your fingers threaded gently through hers. They were cold. Shaking. "You've spent so long carrying this by yourself," you murmured.
Her eyes fell to your joined hands. "...You don't have to anymore."
For one fragile heartbeat... The fear quieted. The visions. The whispers. Even the weight of Trigon's presence seemed to fade beneath the simple warmth of your hand. Raven squeezed your fingers. Just once. So lightly that anyone else might have missed it. You didn't. And because you smiled... She did too. Barely. A smile so small it almost wasn't there. Then the Tower shook with such force that everyone was thrown off their feet. The floor split down the center of the hallway. A roar unlike anything human echoed through the building. Not heard. Felt. It reverberated through bone and blood alike. Raven's smile vanished. Her grip on your hand tightened. "...He's here."
The words had scarcely left Raven's lips before the Tower lurched violently to one side. The lights exploded overhead. Glass rained through the corridor. "Everybody down!" Dick shouted.
The ceiling groaned. A support beam tore free, crashing onto the floor between Gar and Victor in an explosion of concrete and sparks. Vic threw an arm over Gar, shielding him from the worst of the debris. "You okay?"
Gar coughed, waving dust from his face. "I've definitely had better Tuesdays."
Another deafening roar rolled through the Tower. Not from outside. From everywhere. The walls vibrated. The floor trembled. Even the air itself seemed to scream. Then—
Silence. Complete. Utter. The alarms stopped. The emergency lights flickered once before dying entirely. Darkness swallowed the hallway. For one endless second, no one moved. No one breathed. Then a deep crimson glow began to spread through the corridor. Not from a light. From the cracks running through the walls. The fractures pulsed like veins beneath the Tower's foundation, glowing brighter with every passing heartbeat. "What..." Gar whispered. "...is that?"
"It isn't the Tower anymore," Raven answered. Her voice was hollow. "It's becoming his." The words settled like lead in everyone's stomach. The crimson glow climbed the walls, twisting over the ceiling in jagged, branching lines. The familiar steel of Titans Tower warped beneath it. Metal blackened. Concrete cracked. The very structure seemed to bend beneath an invisible weight.
Vic stared in disbelief. "That's impossible..."
"It shouldn't be possible," Dick corrected quietly.
Kory looked toward the observation windows. "They are gone."
Everyone turned. The windows no longer overlooked the city. Beyond the glass... There was nothing. No buildings. No ocean. No sky. Only an endless sea of crimson clouds split by rivers of fire stretching farther than the eye could see. The world outside had vanished. Gar's voice came out barely above a whisper. "...Please tell me that's not outside."
No one answered. Because no one could. Raven's breathing had become painfully shallow. Every instinct screamed at her to push everyone away. To run. To hide them. To save them. But they refused to leave. Especially you. She glanced sideways. You were still standing beside her. Your hand hadn't left hers. Even now. Even as reality itself unraveled around you. "...You should go," she whispered.
"You don't know what you're saying."
"No." For the first time since the alarms began, genuine panic crept into her voice. "You don't." She pulled her hand free. Not roughly. Desperately. As though letting herself hold onto you for another second would somehow seal your fate. "If he sees you—"
A low laugh echoed through the Tower. Deep. Ancient. It seemed to come from every wall at once. From the floor. From the ceiling. From inside your own chest. Gar instinctively backed closer to Victor. "...Tell me everybody else heard that."
No one answered. The laugh came again. Longer this time. Amused. The crimson veins spreading through the walls pulsed brighter. Then every shadow in the corridor stretched toward Raven. Not toward the Titans. Toward her. Like living things answering a silent command. Raven went perfectly still. Her face lost what little color remained. "No..."
The shadows rose from the floor. Curling around her boots. Wrapping around her ankles. Crawling upward like grasping hands. "Kory!" Dick shouted.
Before anyone could move, brilliant golden starbolts lit the hallway. Kory launched herself between Raven and the advancing darkness, hurling blast after blast into the living shadows. The explosions illuminated the corridor in flashes of emerald and gold. Victor's sonic cannon roared to life a heartbeat later. Gar shifted mid-stride into a massive rhinoceros, charging straight through the writhing mass. For a fleeting moment—
It worked. The shadows scattered beneath the assault. Dick seized the opening. "Move! Get Raven to the operations room!"
You were already there. The instant the path cleared, you caught Raven's hand again. "Come on."
She didn't argue. She couldn't. The two of you sprinted after the others as the hallway collapsed behind you, pieces of Titans Tower disappearing into crimson fissures that hadn't existed seconds before. Another laugh followed. Closer. Patient. As though whatever hunted you knew there was nowhere left to run. And Raven realized, with a sickening certainty, that it wasn't chasing the Titans. It was her. Everything else...
The operations room was gone. Dick skidded to a halt so abruptly that everyone behind him nearly collided with his back. "...What?" The hallway should have opened into the Tower's central hub. Instead— There was only empty space. Not a collapsed room. Not rubble. Nothing. An endless expanse stretched beyond the broken doorway, a crimson sky rolling with thunder overhead. Chunks of black stone drifted weightlessly through the air as though gravity itself had ceased to exist.
Victor stared in disbelief. "That... wasn't there five seconds ago."
"No," Raven murmured. "It wasn't."
The floor beneath them groaned. A crack snaked beneath Dick's boots. Then another. "Move!" he barked.
The Titans scattered just as the hallway split apart, the metal flooring peeling away into the endless void. Gar shifted instinctively, feathers erupting around him as he transformed into a massive eagle. With one powerful beat of his wings, he caught Kory around the waist before she could lose her footing. Victor fired his grappling cable into the remaining wall, anchoring himself as another section of floor disappeared beneath him. You stumbled. The ground lurched violently beneath your feet, pitching you toward the widening chasm. For one terrifying second...
There was nothing beneath you. Your stomach dropped. The void rushed up to meet you. Then—
A hand caught your wrist. Dark violet energy wrapped around your arm, halting your fall inches from the edge. You looked up. Raven knelt on the fractured flooring, one hand outstretched, dark magic swirling around her forearm. Her breathing was uneven. Strained. Yet she refused to let go. "I've got you," she whispered.
The words were almost lost beneath the howl of the wind. You smiled despite yourself. "I know." The simple certainty in your voice struck something deep inside her. You trusted her. Without hesitation. Without question. She pulled. You scrambled onto solid ground, your knees striking the metal floor with a sharp clang. Before either of you could catch your breath—
The shadows moved. Long tendrils erupted from the crimson fissures, lashing toward Raven like hungry serpents. "Raven!" You shoved her sideways. The shadow spears slammed into the floor where she'd been standing, punching clean through the steel. Another followed. And another.
Dick flipped over one of the strikes, escrima sticks flashing blue as he severed a tendril in half. It dissolved into black smoke before another immediately took its place. "They're only going after Raven!" Gar shouted from overhead.
He was right. Every attack curved toward her. Every shadow ignored the rest of the Titans unless they stepped between Raven and its target.
"They're trying to separate us!" Victor called.
"No," Raven answered quietly. She watched another tendril snake toward her feet. "They're trying to bring me home."
The words chilled everyone. Home. Not prison. Not battlefield.
The realization settled heavily across the group. This wasn't an invasion. This was a retrieval. A deafening crack split the sky. Everyone instinctively looked up. The crimson clouds overhead slowly began to part. Not naturally. Something enormous was pushing through them. A shape. Far too large to comprehend. Only fragments were visible. A claw. A horn. An eye opening somewhere impossibly high above the drifting landscape. Its gaze swept lazily across the fractured world. Searching. Raven's breath caught. "...Father."
Nobody spoke. Nobody could. Even Dick, who always seemed to have a plan, simply stared. The figure wasn't fully there. Not yet. And somehow... That made it worse. A voice echoed across the endless expanse. Not loud. It didn't need to be. It simply existed inside every mind at once.
You felt her tense beside you. Her fingers found yours before she even seemed aware she'd reached for you. They were trembling.
"No." The answer left Raven immediately. Firm. Certain. The sky trembled.
The crimson clouds churned violently. The drifting stone islands began to shake. Every shadow around you rose in unison. Thousands of them. Watching. Waiting. Then the voice spoke again. This time... It was almost amused.
The words had barely finished echoing when the shadows surged. Thousands of them. The ground beneath your feet erupted as black tendrils burst from the crimson stone, twisting together into towering creatures with glowing red eyes. "Incoming!" Dick shouted.
The Titans sprang into motion. Kory shot into the air first, starbolts blazing from her hands as she tore through the nearest creature. Golden light exploded against black smoke, scattering pieces of shadow that dissolved before they hit the ground. Victor planted his feet. "Sonic cannon online."
A deafening pulse ripped across the battlefield, flattening the front line of monsters. Gar leapt from floating stone to floating stone, shifting between forms faster than you could follow. A tiger. An eagle. A gorilla. Each transformation carried another Titan out of danger before crashing back into the fight. Dick was already weaving through the chaos, escrima sticks flashing electric blue as he barked orders over the roar of battle. "Kory, keep them off the left!"
"Vic, watch the platform!"
You found yourself back-to-back with Raven. Almost without thinking. A shadow lunged toward her blind side. You spun, driving it back before it could reach her. She lifted one hand. A wave of violet magic crashed into another creature barreling toward you. For several frantic minutes...
Neither of you spoke. You simply moved. Years of training had made it effortless. You covered her blind spots. She covered yours. When you ducked, she already knew to fire over your shoulder. When she stepped back, you were there before the shadows could reach her. It was seamless. Like dancing. The realization struck Raven harder than any attack. You trusted her. Completely. Despite everything. Despite the visions she'd never shared. Despite the danger surrounding her. You still instinctively chose to stand beside her. Her chest tightened. A scream shattered her concentration. "Gar!"
You looked up just in time to see one of the larger creatures slam Beast Boy into a drifting slab of stone. He hit hard. Too hard. Before it could strike again, Victor launched himself between them, driving both metal fists into the creature's chest. The impact echoed across the battlefield. Gar groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm okay!"
"You better be!" Vic grunted as another monster crashed into him. "I'm not carrying you home!"
Despite everything... You laughed. Just once. Short. Breathless. Gar heard it. "So we're joking during the apocalypse now?"
"It's a coping mechanism!" you called back.
Dick landed beside the three of you, already breathing hard. "Everyone still with me?"
A chorus of tired affirmatives answered him. For one fleeting moment... Hope flickered. Maybe they could do this. Maybe together— The battlefield fell silent. Every shadow stopped moving. Every creature froze exactly where it stood. Even the wind died. An uneasy stillness settled over the crimson wasteland. "What..." Victor muttered. "...Why'd they stop?"
Raven already knew. "They've been testing us."
The words had scarcely left her mouth before every shadow bowed. Not to her. Behind her. A slow, deliberate sound echoed through the battlefield. Footsteps. Heavy enough to shake the floating islands beneath your feet. One. The crimson clouds parted further. Two. A clawed foot descended from the storm above, landing on the largest fragment of earth with enough force to send cracks racing across its surface. Three. Another followed. The figure was still partially obscured by swirling clouds, impossibly massive, his horns disappearing into the red sky itself. No one breathed. No one moved. Even the shadows remained perfectly still. Waiting. Watching.
Then Trigon stepped fully into view. His eyes swept across the Titans with complete indifference. As though they were nothing more than insects gathered at his feet. Until they found Raven. The corners of his mouth curled. "My daughter."
Raven's fingers curled into fists. "I am not your daughter."
"I carry my mother's heart." For the first time... The smile left Trigon's face. The temperature around you dropped so suddenly that frost spread across the black stone beneath your boots. His gaze shifted. Slowly. Deliberately.
Past Dick. Past Kory. Past Victor. Past Gar. Until—
The world seemed to hold its breath. You felt Raven go rigid beside you. Her hand shot out, wrapping around your wrist so tightly it almost hurt. "Don't..." she whispered, panic flooding her voice. It wasn't a warning to Trigon. It was a plea. Please don't see them. Please don't choose them. Trigon smiled. And Raven knew, he already had. Raven's grip on your wrist tightened until her knuckles turned white. "Don't..." The plea was barely audible.
You turned toward her, confusion knitting your brows together. "Rae—"
"Don't look at him." Too late. Trigon's crimson eyes remained fixed on you. There was no anger in them. No hatred. Only amusement.
"You." His voice rolled across the battlefield like distant thunder. "So..." The demon king tilted his head ever so slightly. "This is the one."
A chill settled over every Titan. Dick stepped forward without hesitation, planting himself between you and Trigon. "You'll have to get through us first."
Trigon's gaze never left you. "I have no interest in you boy”
Dick tightened his grip on his escrima sticks. "My apologies."
The demon's smile widened. "I meant the one holding my daughter's heart." Silence. Your breath caught. Beside you, Raven's eyes squeezed shut. No. No, no, no. He wasn't supposed to know. He wasn't supposed to see.
Gar looked from you to Raven, then back again. "...Oh."
Kory's eyes softened with understanding. Dick glanced over his shoulder, surprise flickering across his face before it disappeared beneath years of practiced composure. Nobody said a word. Nobody had to. Trigon laughed. "It seems your companions were the last to discover what was so obvious."
Raven finally opened her eyes. "You leave them out of this."
"I cannot." Dark energy rippled around Trigon's feet. "They are already part of this."
"They have nothing to do with you."
"They have everything to do with you." His enormous hand lifted lazily, pointing in your direction. "You believe they are your strength." His claw slowly curled into a fist. "So naturally...they become your weakness." The words hit Raven harder than any physical blow. Every vision. Every nightmare. Every meditation that had ended with your blood on her hands. He had planned it. All of it.
The shadows around the battlefield stirred once more. Not charging. Waiting. Awaiting a command. Raven took a step in front of you. Small. Instinctive. Protective. You frowned. "What are you doing?" She didn't answer. You gently touched her arm. "Raven."
Your heart sank. "...What?"
Her head whipped toward you. "You don't—"
"I don't care if he's the strongest being in the universe." Your voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. "I'm not leaving you."
"You could die. You've seen what he can do."
"You don't know anything!" Her voice cracked. Dark energy burst around her in an uncontrolled wave, sending loose stone skidding across the battlefield. "You haven't seen what I've seen!" The words echoed through the crimson sky. Tears shimmered in her violet eyes before she blinked them away. "I have." Your expression softened. "Every time I close my eyes..." She swallowed hard. "...you're the one who doesn't get back up."
The battlefield seemed to disappear. It was just the two of you now. Just your hand reaching slowly toward hers. "You've been seeing the future." It wasn't a question.
Raven lowered her gaze. "I've tried to change it." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I stopped sleeping." Another breath. "I meditated until I couldn't feel my legs." Another. "I searched every possible future I could reach." Her shoulders trembled. "And every single one..." She couldn't finish.
You stepped closer anyway. "So that's why." She nodded once. "So that's why you've been pushing me away." Another nod. "I thought..."
A shaky laugh escaped her. "I thought if you hated me..." Her voice broke completely. "...you might survive." Something inside your chest ached. Slowly, you closed the final distance between you. Ignoring the shadows. Ignoring Trigon. Ignoring the impossible monster watching with detached amusement. You reached for both of her hands.
She didn't pull away. Instead, she stared at your joined hands as though she couldn't understand why you were still there. "You've been carrying this by yourself."
"No." You gave her hands the gentlest squeeze. "You thought you did."
A tear slipped free before she could stop it. "I can't lose you." The confession was almost too quiet to hear.
You smiled sadly. "And I can't lose you."
She looked up immediately. "So we're both staying."
"No." Her voice came out desperate. "You don't understand—"
You brushed your thumb across her knuckles. "I know you're scared."
"I know you think pushing me away will save me." She nodded. "And I know it comes from love." Another tear fell. "But, Raven..." You smiled with a warmth that somehow survived the apocalypse surrounding you. "You don't get to make that choice for me."
For the first time in her life... Someone chose her with complete understanding of the danger. Not because they didn't know. Not because they were naïve. Because they knew...and stayed anyway.
Trigon watched the exchange in silence. Then he smiled. "Excellent." The single word made Raven's blood run cold. "Now..." The ground beneath your feet began to crack. "...let us see whether love is stronger than despair."
The floating island erupted. Stone exploded upward in a shower of crimson dust as a shockwave ripped through the battlefield. "Duck!" Dick shouted.
You threw yourself toward Raven on instinct. The force of the blast hurled both of you across the fractured ground. Your shoulder struck hard against the stone, momentum carrying you into a rough roll before you finally skidded to a stop. Somewhere to your left, Victor's sonic cannon roared. Golden starbolts streaked overhead. Gar cried out as he shifted into a hawk, barely avoiding another explosion. The battlefield descended into chaos once more. Only louder. Only worse.
"Raven!" You pushed yourself upright, coughing through the dust. Your ears rang. Everything blurred together into flashes of gold, blue, and violet. Then you saw her.
She was several yards away, one knee pressed into the stone as she struggled to stand. Dark magic swirled violently around her, no longer flowing with its usual graceful precision. It lashed outward in jagged bursts, responding to her panic more than her control. Another shadow creature lunged for her. You were moving before you realized it. "Look out!"
Your shoulder slammed into the creature, knocking it off course just as Raven's soul-self tore through it in a streak of violet light. It dissolved into smoke. She turned sharply. "What are you doing?"
"And I told you I wasn't going to." Another monster emerged behind you. Raven reacted instantly. Its claws stopped inches from your back, suspended in midair by bands of dark energy before she crushed it into nothingness. "You can't keep doing that."
"You'll get yourself killed."
"I know." You offered her a small smile anyway. "But if I'm being honest, I'm a little busy right now."
Despite everything... Despite the destruction surrounding you... Raven almost smiled. It disappeared as quickly as it came. Because Trigon laughed. The sound rolled across the battlefield like an avalanche. "So predictable." His massive form remained motionless, towering above the floating islands as though none of you posed even the slightest threat. "You protect one another." A clawed finger pointed lazily toward Kory. A dozen shadow creatures changed direction at once.
Before she could react, they crashed into her from every side. She unleashed a brilliant burst of starfire, scattering most of them, but one slipped through the barrage and struck her across the back. She cried out as she hit the stone. "Star!"
Gar dove after her in the form of a falcon, shifting back to himself just long enough to help her to her feet. "I'm okay," Kory insisted through gritted teeth.
"I have experienced worse."
"You literally have smoke coming off your hair!"
Victor fired another sonic blast, forcing the creatures back. “Nightwing!”
"I know!" Nightwing’s eyes darted rapidly across the battlefield. Too many enemies. Too much ground to cover. Every time they protected one teammate, another opening appeared somewhere else. It was exactly what Trigon wanted. To spread them thin. To make them choose. Dick's jaw tightened. "Everyone fall back!"
No one argued. The Titans regrouped, forming a rough circle without needing to discuss it. Victor covered the front. Kory took the sky. Gar shifted into a massive bear on the left flank. Dick watched the right. And in the very center... Stood you and Raven. You glanced around the circle, breathing hard. "Anybody else thinking this is a really bad day?"
Gar let out a strained laugh. "I was thinking worse."
Victor snorted despite himself. "I had plans after this."
"You still have plans," Dick said.
Victor looked at him. "...Yeah?"
"We're getting out of here." The confidence in his voice was enough to make everyone straighten just a little. Even Raven. Dick looked at each of you in turn. "We've beaten impossible before." He spun one escrima stick in his hand. "We do it together."
A chorus of determined nods answered him. Trigon watched the exchange with detached amusement. "How touching." His eyes settled on Raven once more. "You still cling to hope."
Raven stepped forward. Her cloak whipped violently around her as violet energy surged from beneath her feet. "I learned that from them."
Trigon's expression changed. Not anger. Annoyance. A faint crease formed between his eyes. It was small. Almost imperceptible. But Raven saw it. And so did Dick. "He doesn't like that," Dick murmured.
"No," Raven replied, her eyes never leaving her father. "He doesn't." She drew in a slow, steady breath. The fear was still there. The visions were still there. She could still see flashes of futures where you fell beside her. But now... When she looked to her left...
You were standing there. Not because fate demanded it. Not because Trigon had manipulated you into it. Because you had chosen to be. For the first time since the visions began... Raven let herself believe that perhaps the future wasn't as fixed as she had feared. Perhaps... It could still be changed.
From the wound in the heavens, creatures poured into the battlefield like a living tide. Winged demons descended with shrieks that rattled the floating islands beneath your feet. Hulking beasts of stone and shadow followed close behind, their footsteps splitting the fractured earth. There were hundreds. No. Thousands. Gar stared upward, his face paling. "...That's a lot."
Victor's targeting systems flickered as they attempted, and failed, to count the incoming host. "I don't think we have enough ammunition for this."
Dick spun his escrima sticks into a ready grip. "Good thing we're not relying on ammunition." He looked over his shoulder. No fear. Just determination. "Titans." Every pair of eyes turned toward him. "Hold the line." It wasn't a speech. It was an order. One every member of the team answered without hesitation. "Titans!"
"Together!" everyone shouted.
The battlefield erupted. Kory shot skyward in a brilliant explosion of golden light, streaking through the descending horde like a comet. Starbolts lit the crimson sky one after another, scattering demons before they could reach the ground. Gar launched after her, shifting from eagle to hawk to falcon in rapid succession, weaving through the swarm before transforming into a massive dragon high above the battlefield. His roar shook the heavens.
Victor planted both feet against the stone. His sonic cannon charged until the air itself vibrated. "Fire in the hole!" A deafening blast tore across the battlefield, carving a path straight through the advancing army.
Dick disappeared into the chaos. One moment he was beside you. The next, he was ricocheting between enemies with practiced precision, blue arcs of electricity dancing from his escrima sticks every time they connected. The Titans fought as they always had. Not as six heroes. As one.
You stayed with Raven. Not because anyone had assigned you to. Because every instinct drew you back to her. A demon lunged from the smoke. You met it head-on, driving it backward just as Raven's soul-self swept over your shoulder, erasing it in a flash of violet. Another came from your left. You ducked. She already knew to fire. One reached for Raven's blind side. You intercepted it before she ever turned. Neither of you needed to speak. Months of training. Months of quiet evenings spent sparring after everyone else had gone to bed. Months of learning each other's rhythm. It was enough. "You've gotten faster," you managed between breaths.
A second creature crashed toward you. Raven raised both hands. Dark energy exploded outward, hurling the monster into three others before they dissolved into ash. "You've gotten reckless."
You smiled. "I learned from Dick."
"I was going to say Gar."
For the briefest heartbeat—She smiled. A real one. Small. Soft. Beautiful. You almost forgot where you were. Then a scream echoed across the battlefield.
“Cyborg!” You turned. A massive demon had wrapped both arms around Victor, lifting him clear off the ground. His sonic cannon fired wildly into the air as metal groaned beneath the creature's crushing grip.
"I'm trying not to panic!" Victor shouted.
"You are panicking!" Gar yelled from overhead.
"I'm trying to panic constructively!"
Dick sprang onto the creature's back, driving both escrima sticks into its shoulders. “Cyborg!”
"I'm working on it!" Electricity surged through Victor's cybernetics. With a roar, he drove both elbows backward into the demon's ribs before firing his cannon point-blank into its chest. The explosion lit the battlefield. The creature collapsed. Victor landed in a crouch, smoke curling from his armor. "...Okay." He looked at the scorch marks covering his arms. "I officially hate demons."
A laugh escaped you before you could stop it. The familiar sound carried across the battlefield. Raven heard it. She turned toward you instinctively. Alive. Still smiling. Still beside her. Relief flooded her chest— Until she felt it. Not from ahead. Behind. Her eyes widened. "...No."
Time seemed to slow. High above the battlefield, hidden within the crimson clouds, one of Trigon's generals descended without a sound. Its spear was forged from black crystal, its edge burning with crimson fire. It wasn't aiming for Raven. It had never been aiming for Raven. It was aiming for you. "Move!" Raven screamed.
You spun at the sound of her voice. Too slow. The spear was already falling. The world narrowed to a single heartbeat. Raven's breath caught. Every vision. Every nightmare. Every future she'd tried to outrun. She knew this moment. She had lived it a thousand times in her mind. And every single one... Ended with you dying in front of her. "No!"
Dark magic erupted from Raven with a force she'd never unleashed before. The floating islands shook. The sky itself seemed to recoil. Every shadow on the battlefield exploded outward in a wave of violet light as Raven threw herself toward you. She reached for your hand just as the spear came down. Time fractured. The battlefield disappeared beneath a rush of violet and crimson as Raven hurled herself toward you, every ounce of her power exploding outward in a desperate attempt to change what she had already lived through a thousand times in her visions. She reached for you. Your fingers brushed. Then—
The spear struck. A deafening crack echoed across the floating islands. For one impossible heartbeat... No one moved. No one breathed. Raven's eyes remained squeezed shut. She couldn't look. She already knew what she would see. Blood. Your blood. She had seen it every night. Every meditation. Every nightmare. "...Raven?" Your voice. Shaky. Confused. Alive.
Her eyes flew open. The black crystal spear had stopped inches from your chest. Not because it had missed. Because Raven's soul-self had wrapped around it like chains, every thread of violet magic straining against the weapon's relentless descent. The spear trembled. Cracks spread across the dark crystal. Raven gasped, her knees buckling beneath the effort.
You looked from the spear to her, horror dawning across your face. "Raven..."
Her jaw clenched. Every muscle in her body shook. "I..." Another crack splintered through the spear. "...won't..." The weapon pushed forward another inch. Blood trickled from Raven's nose, splattering onto the fractured stone below.
Victor saw it first. “Nightwing!” Dick turned. His heart dropped.
Her voice broke. "If I let go—"
The spear lurched forward again. Barely half an inch. But it was enough. Enough to send panic crashing through her chest. "I lose them!" The words echoed across the battlefield. There it was. The fear she'd carried alone for weeks. Months. The truth she'd hidden behind every cold glance, every harsh word, every attempt to push you away. She wasn't afraid of Trigon. She was afraid of surviving you. A roar ripped across the battlefield.
He watched from his throne of crimson stone, the corners of his mouth lifting into a satisfied smile. "Excellent." The shadows surged.
Not toward Raven. Toward the spear. They wrapped around the crystal shaft, feeding it, strengthening it. Raven cried out. The weight doubled. Tripled. Her magic flickered.
Without hesitation, she streaked across the battlefield in a blaze of golden light, slamming both hands into the side of the spear. Starfire exploded against black crystal.
Victor joined her a heartbeat later, bracing one metal shoulder beneath the weapon. “Beast Boy!”
"I'm coming!" A massive gorilla crashed into the spear from the opposite side, planting both feet against the fractured stone as he shoved with everything he had.
Dick landed beside Raven, dropping to one knee. "Listen to me." She couldn't. She couldn't hear anything over the pounding of her own heartbeat. "Raven." His voice cut through the chaos. "You are not doing this alone." She looked up.
Victor was pushing. Gar was pushing. Kory's hands burned brighter with every passing second. Dick stepped beside her. Then... You. You moved in front of the spear instead of away from it.
"What are you doing?" Raven gasped. You ignored the weapon hovering only inches away and crouched in front of her instead. Your hands found her face. They were warm. Steady. Despite everything. "Look at me." She couldn't. "I said look at me."
Slowly... Her violet eyes met yours. "You are not fighting this by yourself."
Another tear slipped down her cheek. "I can't..."
"I've seen it over and over."
"I can't watch it happen."
"How can you be so sure?"
You smiled, even with a demon's spear suspended beside your shoulder. "Because you've spent all this time trying to carry everyone's fate by yourself." You rested your forehead gently against hers. "But that's never been what being a Titan means."
Around you, the others dug in harder. Victor's servos whined under the strain. Gar roared as every muscle in his transformed body trembled. Kory's starbolts blazed so brightly they rivaled the crimson sky. Dick stood at Raven's side. Ready. Unmoving. You weren't alone. The realization struck Raven with overwhelming force. Every vision she'd seen... She'd always been alone in them. Always. Trying to save you by herself. Trying to stop Trigon by herself. Trying to carry the future by herself. But this...
This future was different. Because this time... Her family was here. And they refused to let her carry it alone. Something inside Raven shifted. Not her power. Her belief. The fear she'd clung to for so long loosened its grip, replaced by something quieter. Something stronger.
The gemstone at the center of her forehead flared with blinding violet light. The soul-self surrounding the spear expanded in an instant. The black crystal shattered. Thousands of razor-sharp fragments burst harmlessly into the air before dissolving into ash. Silence fell across the battlefield. Even Trigon's smile disappeared. For the first time... His daughter had done something he had not foreseen. The last fragments of black crystal dissolved into ash.
Silence settled over the battlefield. No demons advanced. No shadows stirred. Even the crimson clouds overhead seemed to pause. The Titans remained exactly where they were. Victor's cannon was still raised. Gar's claws remained dug into the fractured stone. Kory stood protectively at Raven's side, golden energy still dancing between her fingertips. Dick slowly lowered one escrima stick. "...Did we..."
"No," Raven answered quietly. "It's not over."
You were still kneeling in front of her. Your forehead rested lightly against hers, your hands cradling her face as though the world hadn't nearly ended around you. "You okay?"
A laugh escaped her. Small. Breathless. Completely unexpected. "I..." She shook her head. "I don't know."
"That's a start." The corners of your lips lifted. "So we're improving."
She looked at you for a long moment. Really looked at you. Alive. Unhurt. Looking back at her with that same impossible warmth. The vision had changed. For the first time... The vision had changed. A tear slid silently down her cheek. You brushed it away with your thumb before it could fall. "You saved me."
Her voice was barely audible. "We saved each other." Before Raven could answer— A slow clap echoed across the battlefield. Once. Twice. Three times. Every Titan turned. Trigon stood exactly where he had before, impossibly still upon his throne of black stone. His expression was unreadable. "You surprise me."
There was no amusement now. Only curiosity. "I have watched civilizations rise and fall." Another step. Mountains trembled beneath his weight. "I have watched gods kneel." Another. The floating islands shifted violently. "I have watched worlds abandon hope." His crimson eyes settled upon Raven. "And yet..." His gaze drifted toward your joined hands. "...one mortal changes everything." The words sent a chill through Raven. She instinctively stepped in front of you. Trigon noticed. "Fascinating."
He tilted his head. "I threatened your world." Nothing. "I corrupted your city." Still nothing. "I summoned my armies." Raven's expression remained resolute. "But the moment..." His voice lowered. "...I reached for them..." The air itself began to crack. "...you became stronger." Dark energy exploded from beneath his feet. Not wild. Controlled. Ancient. The crimson sky split open once more as countless symbols ignited across its surface.
Victor looked upward. "...Guys..."
None of you had noticed. The symbols weren't in the sky. They were surrounding the battlefield. A circle. Miles wide. Raven's eyes widened. "No..."
Dick followed her gaze. "What is it?"
The words came out in a whisper. "He's not trying to kill us."
Gar frowned. "...Then what's he doing?"
Raven's blood ran cold. "He doesn't need to." The realization struck her like lightning. "He only needs one."
Trigon smiled again. There it was. The cruel satisfaction she knew all too well. "My daughter finally understands." The symbols flared. The floating islands lurched toward one another, drawn by an unseen force. Stone collided with stone in thunderous crashes as impossible walls rose around the Titans. Victor fired a sonic blast. It struck the crimson barrier— And vanished. Kory launched herself skyward. She slammed both palms into the glowing wall. Golden starfire erupted across its surface. Nothing. She rebounded, landing hard beside Dick. "It will not break."
"It wasn't made to keep us in."
You looked at her. "What do you mean?"
She couldn't tear her eyes away from the growing circle. Her breathing became shallow. "It's made..." Another symbol ignited. "...to keep everyone else..." Another. "...out."
Dick's heart sank. "If this thing closes..."
"No one can help us," Victor finished.
The final symbol ignited. The circle began to close. Not quickly. Deliberately. As though Trigon wanted them to understand exactly what was happening. He wasn't isolating Raven from the world. He was isolating the world from its protectors. And for the first time since the battle had begun... Dick Grayson realized they weren't fighting to save the city anymore. They were fighting to keep Trigon from escaping it.
The barrier continued to rise.Its glowing symbols spun slowly overhead, weaving together into an impossible dome that swallowed more and more of the sky with every passing second. Victor fired another sonic blast.The beam struck the barrier and vanished without so much as a ripple."...Nothing."
Gar shifted into a rhinoceros, lowering his head. "Maybe if I hit it really, really hard—"
"You'll break your neck," Dick interrupted.
"...Right." Gar shifted back with a defeated sigh. "I hate when you're reasonable."
Another section of the barrier sealed shut. The opening to the sky grew smaller. Kory's fists tightened. "There must be another way."
"There is." Every head turned toward Raven. She hadn't taken her eyes off the glowing sigils. "I know this magic." Her voice was calm. Too calm. "It isn't feeding on power."
Victor frowned. "Then what's powering it?"
Raven swallowed. "...Me."
Silence. The realization settled over the Titans one by one. "It's anchored to your soul," Dick said quietly.
She nodded once. "If I remain inside the seal..." She didn't finish. She didn't have to. Trigon would remain connected. The prison would become a gateway.
"You can break it?" Kory asked hopefully.
Raven hesitated. "...Yes." Hope flickered across everyone's face. Then she added, "But I'll have to sever the connection."
Victor crossed his arms. "Okay."
Dick noticed the look on Raven's face. "...What's the catch?"
She looked away. "There always is one." The wind howled across the floating islands. Her cloak snapped violently behind her. "If I sever the bond..." She took a slow breath. "...I'll have to do it from the inside."
Gar blinked. "...Meaning?"
"I'll have to face him alone."
"No." The word left your mouth before anyone else could speak. Raven looked at you. "You can't."
"No." Raven stepped toward you. You matched her step. "No."
A sad smile tugged at her lips. "You really are stubborn."
"I learned selective stubbornness from Dick." Despite everything... A tiny huff of laughter escaped Gar.
Dick pinched the bridge of his nose. "...Now?"
"What?" you asked innocently. "If we're all about to die, I'm allowed one joke."
"We're not dying," Dick answered.
You looked at him. "Confident."
Victor snorted. The brief moment of laughter faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. Raven reached for your hand. This time... She was the one who closed the distance. Her fingers intertwined with yours naturally, as though they had always belonged there. "I've spent weeks trying to push you away.” Her thumb brushed gently across your knuckles.
"I thought..." Her voice trembled. "I thought if you stayed far enough away..."
She nodded. "It didn't work."
You squeezed her hand. "It hurt both of us."
Another section of the barrier closed overhead. Only a narrow opening remained. Raven looked toward it. Then back at you. "I have to go."
You shook your head immediately. "We'll all go."
"So am I." The words hung between you.
Her expression softened. "I know."
"Then stop acting like you have to do this by yourself."
A tear slipped free before she could stop it. "I don't know how not to."
Your heart broke. Of course she didn't. She had been raised to believe her existence was a curse. Every instinct told her that burden belonged to her alone. Slowly... You stepped closer. "So let me show you."
Before she could ask what you meant... You wrapped your arms around her. Not tightly. Not desperately. Just enough. Just enough for her forehead to rest against your shoulder. For one suspended heartbeat... Raven froze. She couldn't remember the last time someone had embraced her without fear. Without expectation. Without asking for anything in return. Tentatively... Almost uncertainly... Her arms lifted. They settled around your back. Lightly. As though she were afraid you'd disappear if she held on too tightly.
The world around you continued to crumble. The barrier climbed higher. Demons gathered beyond the circle. Trigon watched in silence. Yet none of it seemed to exist. Not for those few precious seconds. Dick quietly looked away. Victor rested a hand on Gar's shoulder before the younger Titan could make one of his usual jokes. Even Kory smiled softly, her eyes shimmering with emotion. Raven buried her face briefly against your shoulder. When she finally spoke... Only you heard it. "I'm scared."
You closed your eyes. "I know."
"I don't want to lose you."
"You won't face this alone."
"No." You pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. "You hear me?"
She searched your face. "We've followed you into every impossible fight." Your hand came up to gently cup her cheek. "So wherever you're going next..." You smiled. "...we're following you there too."
For the first time since Trigon's arrival... Raven believed you. Not because the odds had changed. Not because the future was suddenly certain. But because she finally understood something the visions had never shown her. Every future she'd feared... She had imagined herself standing alone. She wasn't alone anymore. She never had been. Behind you, Trigon's expression darkened. Hope. Trust. Love. Family.
They were making his daughter stronger. And that... Was something he could no longer allow. "You still do not understand." His voice no longer echoed. It simply existed. Inside every thought. Every heartbeat. Every breath. "You mistake attachment for strength." The crimson barrier pulsed. One by one, the glowing symbols surrounding the battlefield began to peel away from the dome, drifting through the air like burning embers.
Raven's eyes widened. "Dick..."
He was already watching them. "I see them."
The symbols circled the Titans slowly. Patiently. As though deciding. Then each sigil chose a target. One settled over Dick. Another over Kory. Vic. Gar. You. The final rune hovered before Raven.
"What are they doing?" Gar asked, his voice uncharacteristically small.
Raven felt the blood drain from her face. "No..."
"What does that mean?" Victor demanded.
"It means..." Her throat tightened. "He's connecting us."
Trigon smiled. "Correct." The runes ignited. Pain exploded through Raven's chest. She staggered forward with a gasp, one hand flying to the gemstone on her forehead. Almost immediately—
"So that's what this feels like," Victor hissed, clutching his side. Gar doubled over. Dick stumbled to one knee. Kory's starbolts flickered wildly as she grabbed at her shoulder. You sucked in a sharp breath. Your knees threatened to buckle beneath you. "What...?"
You looked down. There wasn't a wound. No blood. Yet it felt as though invisible hands were crushing your ribs.
Raven looked around in horror."No..." Understanding struck her all at once. Every injury. Every ounce of pain. It wasn't being inflicted. It was being shared. Dick looked from his own trembling hands to Raven. "The runes..." She nodded weakly. "They've linked us."
Victor frowned through gritted teeth. "Meaning?"
"If one of us is hurt..."
"We all are," you finished quietly. Silence. Trigon spread his arms. "You have built your lives upon unity." His crimson gaze settled upon the Titans. "Let us see how long that unity survives."
Without warning, one of the remaining shadow creatures lunged. Dick intercepted it immediately. His escrima stick cracked across its jaw, but the creature's claws raked across his forearm. A shallow cut. Nothing serious. Dick barely reacted. Victor did. He cried out, clutching the exact same spot on his own arm. Gar stumbled backward, hissing through clenched teeth. Kory's hand flew to her forearm. You instinctively grabbed yours as the burning sensation raced across your skin. Even Raven flinched. The cut appeared on all six of you simultaneously. Gar stared. "...No way."
Victor slowly lowered his hand. The same thin line of blood ran across every arm. Identical. Dick looked at Raven. "...Can you undo this?"
She closed her eyes. "I don't know."
"Excellent." Trigon's satisfaction was unmistakable now. "You call yourselves a family." Another shadow stepped forward. "Then every sacrifice..." A second. "...every wound..." A third. "...every death..." The creatures rushed them all at once. "...shall belong to all of you."
No one hesitated. The battlefield erupted once more. Kory launched skyward in a blaze of gold, intercepting three demons before they reached the group. Gar transformed into an elephant, sweeping another wave away with his trunk. Victor's cannon thundered beside him. Dick disappeared into the melee. You instinctively moved toward Raven—
Then stopped. She was already looking at you. You both understood. If either of you was injured... Everyone would pay the price. "Rae..." you whispered.
"I know." Her voice was almost lost beneath the battle. "I know." She wanted to tell you to stay back. To let someone else fight beside her. To protect yourself. But she couldn't. Not anymore. Because this wasn't only about protecting you. It was about protecting all of them. She drew a slow breath. Then, for the first time since Trigon appeared... Raven stepped forward. Not behind the Titans. Not hidden by them. With them. Dark violet energy burst around her feet, lifting her cloak into the air. She raised both hands. "I am done running."
The words carried across the battlefield. Every shadow froze. Even Trigon's smile faltered. Raven's soul-self unfurled behind her, not as a weapon, but as vast, radiant wings of violet light stretching across the crimson sky. You looked up at her, unable to hide the awe on your face. She wasn't standing alone anymore. She had finally allowed herself to stand beside her family. And somehow... That made her look stronger than any vision had ever shown.
Trigon's eyes narrowed. "Then come to me, daughter."
Raven's gaze never wavered. "I think..." She glanced back at the Titans. At Dick's unwavering resolve. At Kory's encouraging smile. At Victor's determined grin. At Gar, who somehow still managed to give her a thumbs-up despite the apocalypse. Finally...
Her eyes found yours. You smiled. Just as you always had. Steady. Certain. Waiting. Raven turned back to Trigon. "...it's your turn to come to us."
The battlefield fell silent. For the first time since Trigon had descended from the crimson sky... His daughter had challenged him. The wind died. The floating islands ceased their endless drift. Even the shadows recoiled, as though the world itself held its breath. Trigon regarded Raven for a long, unreadable moment. Then, he laughed. The sound was deafening. Not mocking. Disappointed. "So much like your mother."
His enormous form shifted. The floating island beneath him shattered beneath the weight of a single step. Another. Each footfall sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield, cracks racing through the black stone beneath the Titans' feet. Dick planted his escrima sticks against the ground to steady himself. "Incoming!"
Before anyone could react, Trigon vanished. The impossible happened. A being the size of mountains simply... Disappeared. Raven's eyes widened. "Where—"
A hand the size of a building erupted from the crimson mist behind them. "Scatter!" Dick shouted. The Titans leapt in every direction as Trigon's claw slammed into the floating island. Stone exploded upward. The impact split the battlefield in half. You felt the ground disappear beneath your feet. There wasn't time to think. Only to fall. The world spun as chunks of broken earth tumbled into the endless abyss below.
Raven's voice tore through the chaos screaming your name. She reached for you. Your fingertips brushed hers. Then another slab of rock crashed between you. "No!"
She hurled herself after you without hesitation. "Raven!" Dick shouted. She didn't hear him. Or perhaps... She chose not to. Dark magic burst around her as she dove through the collapsing debris, weaving between tumbling boulders and streams of crimson fire. "There!"
She spotted you. You'd managed to catch hold of a jagged piece of stone no larger than a dining table, the fragment spinning wildly through the void. You looked up just as Raven landed beside you. "You okay?" she asked, slightly out of breath.
You blinked at her. "...I was gonna ask you that." Then the stone beneath your feet lurched violently. Cracks raced across its surface.
"I noticed." Above you, the rest of the Titans fought desperately to reach the two of you. Gar transformed into an eagle, diving through the falling debris. Victor extended his grappling cable. It fell just short. "Damn it!"
Kory shot downward, weaving through collapsing islands with impossible speed. Dick watched from the edge of the fractured battlefield, calculating. Too much debris. Too many unstable platforms. One wrong move... And they'd lose all of you. Below... Raven helped you to your feet. The tiny island was already breaking apart. Another few seconds... And there'd be nothing left.
She looked across the endless gap separating you from the others. "We won't make it."
"We'll think of something."
"I have." Your smile faded. She wouldn't look at you. "I can teleport you."
"I won't have enough strength for both of us."
"No." You took a step toward her. "No."
She finally met your eyes. There was no fear in them now. Only heartbreaking resolve. "I've spent this entire time trying to save you."
"And you've been succeeding."
She shook her head. "I almost lost you."
"This time." The words caught in her throat. "What about the next one?"
"There doesn't have to be a next one."
"No." You reached for her hands. "But I know you." She looked down as your fingers laced with hers. Warm. Steady. Real. "And I know," you continued softly, "that if our places were switched..." A sad smile tugged at your lips. "...you'd never leave me here."
Silence. Because she wouldn't. She never could. She closed her eyes. "...No."
"So why are you asking me to leave you?"
Her breath hitched. She had no answer. Not one she believed anymore. A distant cry echoed from above. "Raven!" Kory. Another. "Hold on!" Victor. Gar circled desperately overhead, unable to find a safe opening through the rain of debris. Dick was already climbing down the collapsing rock face toward you, ignoring every danger in his path. They were all coming. Every single one of them. Just as they always had. Raven looked up at her family. Then back at you. A memory surfaced unbidden.
"You don't have to carry it by yourself either." Your voice. Back in the Tower. Before the sky had turned red.
Before the visions. Before she'd convinced herself that love only ended in loss. She drew a slow, shaky breath. "...Okay."
"We're doing this together."
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