Oh, no, EP- you're not in heaven.
You're in the Golden Land.
Anyway, while you're playing Wind Waker AND talking about how complex my plot-webbing gets (more webs than Spider-Man shoots out in a week, methinks, which reminds me, I'm sure he'll make a came sooner or later) I'll let you know that I have it planned out that Wind Waker will tie in directly with my storyline, and I will write it in such a way that the events of Wind Waker were CAUSED by this war.
I love it.
Anyway...
Kingdom Hearts HAS crossed over into Q4D!, but not much, and only in Q4D! Black...
And yes, I pride myself on all of this stuff...Prelude, eh?
Well...Yea, I guess so...Afterall, this whole fic's purpose is to show how the Titans wind up in the War to begin with...
But believe me, the next few Chapters really pick up the pace.
Yes, I do intend to throw Brother Blood into the mix. Actually, the Titans will bve dealing with Brother Blood AND Slade at the same time, in a sense. It's just that they will be affecting different Titans. I also intend to add ONE more Titan to the team, though I can't say at this point what will HAPPEN about it, as I don't know yet...(I can see pieces of the future, but I can't determine it all, *winkwink*)
http://wf.toonzone.net/WF/teentitans/episodes/deception/
There ya go. It has some screens of last weeks episode and such, and a couple of the screens will illustrate what I intend to DO with this new character besides add them to the team- maybe you'll figure it out.
Brother Blood plays an important role in the character coming in and such...
And while that starts up, the conflict invlolving Slade will rise, too. Fun times, indeed.
(By the way, if you're wondering what's up with the dress and such, it's Cyborg's fellow students being mean to the newbie.
And then the Titans picking on him about it when he gets back. Yes, that IS Raven smiling, and this ISN'T my fic, so yes, it only shows that Raven is opening up more on the show, too, if only a little.)
By the way, I'm feeling generous.
So here's Robin and Ray.
-----
Robin glared at him with that piercing suspicion that he had kept since they'd met eyes earlier.
"...Why was she crying...?" he asked to start off, breaking the tense silence.
"Because she remembers," he put it simply.
"...What?" Robin let down his bitter guard as he asked.
"She knows the cruelty of the war that has started."
Robin had his arms folded over his chest.
"A war?" He said it quite critically. "...What kind...?"
DS scratched his nose. "Oh, well...Interplanetary and all that," he said it with sarcasm. "It's bigger than you could imagine. And it's sucking you in."
Robin shook his head. "And how would you know all of this?"
Destiny Smasher smiled. "Of course, you would ask me that, wouldn't you? I would know because...-" he rotated his hand, looking for the right phrase. "-...Well...It's the reason I'm here- because I know. I know because...I choose to create the questions, and I choose to seek the answers..." He glanced up at Robin, only to see the purely doubious expression upon his face.
"...Riiiight..." He seemed to find his speech to be quite pointless.
"That's not important," DS dismissed it. "What's important is YOU."
Robin cocked his head to the side a little.
"Uh huh...How's that?"
"Have you been heeding my warning?" Destiny Smasher questioned with a sigh.
"Not particularly," Robin answered honestly.
"You should be," DS told him quickly. "You have a lot of big decisions coming your way, and I fear that without a little help, your choices may result in a series of unfortunate events..."
"...What kind of choices...?" Robin pondered slowly, lifting a brow.
"Choices you don't understand yet." Robin huffed through his nose at the vague response.
"You said that one of us will...'fall to darkness,'" he muttered, bringing up the topic. "What did you mean?"
"Ah, now there's the question I knew you'd ask." DS cracked his knuckles as he yawned and leaned back, floating a few inches from the ground in a laid back state. "I can't quite explain it to you in full, but...I'll put it this way- some things never change, and some things do."
"...?" Robin stared at him expectantly.
"Terra was meant to become Slade's apprentice- that changed. But Slade is still looking for an apprentice- that hasn't. The question is- if not Terra, then who?"
"...Doesn't matter," Robin spat out solemnly. "We'll get them back. I was once-"
"I know, Robin, you don't need to tell me," DS interrupted. "But if you DO 'get them back'...What price will you have to pay...?" he asked sneakily. Robin's jaw opened slightly, as this phrase almost frightened him, giving him a very unsettling feeling in his gut. The way DS had said it gave him goosbumps.
"...'The Light will come from an unexpected place- the Darkness,'" Robin quoted, breaking out of the shivers. "What are you trying to tell me?"
"Oh, come ON, Robin- you're a smart kid. You'll figure it out when the time is right; you always do."
"...Mm," was all he said in response, frustrated by all of these riddles.
"So," DS said began on a much lighter note, "What movie are you taking Starfire to see tonight?"
Robin's face bubbled up with annoyance as he groaned- EVERYONE just HAD to be nosy, didn't they?
"..."
"Might I suggest Wicked Scary 2? Horror movies are always good for dates."
"...I don't need your advice," Robin growled, eyeing him irritably.
"Didn't say ya did," DS defended with a shrug. "Just a thought. I hope you realize just how lucky you are, ya know."
Robin's fists, which had clenched up, loosened up, as did his whole demeanor.
"...Huh?"
"I'm sure the choices I'd make would be drastically different than yours, though," he mumbled- to himself, it seemed. Robin seemed in the dark, so DS clued him in. "Star's a really great girl...Wish I was in your position, to be frank."
Robin smiled weakly for a second as thoughts flooded him. They were right- as mysterious as he was, he had good intentions, but...Robin still doubted him.
"...Listen...Uh...Destiny Smasher..." He had one hand on his mouth, its index finger extending to his cheeck. "How can I believe what you're saying...?"
DS loosened his gloves a little, as his hands were getting a tad sweaty.
"Hard to say, ****...It's all whether-" (NOTE- This is SUPPOSED to be D-i-c-k, but the stupid bleeper bleeped it. *groan*)
"Wait- what?" Robin interrupted him, his voice alert. DS stared at his surprised face for a moment before smirking.
"Ya know, your old pal Vic had a much easier time believing me than you do, Mr. Grayson." Robin's jaw was agape, his eyes wide and amazed. "Oh, but, uh...You know him better as Cyborg, don't you? Geez, what am I saying? I mean, it's not fair to call you by your old name if you don't know mine, is it?"
Robin was speechless for a moment or two, and before he could manage a word in, DS added on.
"Did you think it was a mere coicidence that I wanted to meet you on the WAYNE building? I mean, come on!"
Robin, who had lifted his finger, dropped it and took a deep breath. After a pause of thought, he responded.
"You could've found out those names without too much trouble," Robin confidently told him.
"Yea...You're always a skeptic, aren't you? I guess if I had lost my parents in a trapeze accident I'd be cautious, too..."
Robin's face evolved into one of fury and frustration.
"...You...-" he couldn't finish his sentence, because he didn't know how.
"So you'll keep my little warnings in mind, then?" Destiny asked with optimism.
"...Yea..." Robin murmured, confused. How did he figure that out? How could he have known that...?
"Hold on to that letter. It should come in handy- what, with your Bat-given detective skills and all..." He grabbed Robin's hand and shook it wildly before giving him a hug and patting him on the back roughly.
"Ya know, Robin, never underestimate yourself. You're the leader of this crazy bunch- and you're the only ****ed full human here. No superpowers- just brains and raw talent. Don't put it to waste."
Rubbing his head in a daze, Robin realized that DS had hauled him over the gap and back with his teammates.
"All right, you," he said as he place Robin down. He wasn't talking to Robin, though. His comment was aimed at Raven. "Come on, now."
Raven obliged and followed him over, leaving Robin puzzled and solemn.
[-{[(*)]}-]
Raven could feel warmth poor into her slightly chilled body by his embrace. It felt so familiar to her- it felt like Starfire, in some strange way. After the brief 'hello hug,' Destiny Smasher began to speak.
"You seem like the hugging type to me," he told her, explaining his previous action. "At least, you do NOW. Geez...But look back a month ago, and you were definitely different..." He examined her new outfit. "By the way, did I happen to tell you how much better I think you look in that?"
Raven smiled weakly at his compliment- the difference a mere wardrobe change seemed to make was amazing...
"I think you might have," she mumbled, looking at the sneakers on her feet. "It feels a little weird, but I know it'll grow on me..."
"It will," DS assured her. "You used to think you'd never be accepted by your friends, and that's changed, hasn't it?"
Raven brows shifted into a worried expression as her purple eyes glanced up at him.
"Yea...I have changed, haven't I?"
"No denying it. You're still Raven- but now you're inside out- the walls have been broken down, ya know?"
She nodded, her lips curved upward slightly.
"Thanks to Starfire," she added.
DS stared at her eyes for a moment or two, feeling emotion pouring out of them.
"She helped you remember what love is," he murmured aloud.
"...I-...Yea...She did..." Raven mumbled, realizing this fact herself. "She's helped me appreciate what I have. I don't know where I'd be without her, or what I'd do without her."
"Yea, best friends are like that," Destiny Smasher told her warmly. There was a pause, and he decided to bring up another topic. "By the way, when are you gonna ask Link out?"
Raven's face turned pink, her eyes wide, and her brows raised.
"I-uh...I was-..."
DS chuckled at her embarrassed manner.
"Soon," Raven answered. "Very soon." Her eyes narrowed at him as his laughing died down.
"What are you afraid of?" he asked her.
"I...What if he doesn't like me? What if he thinks I'm creepy, or ugly, or-?"
DS slapped his hand lightly on her lips, cutting off the rest of that sentence.
"OK, before you say ANOTHER WORD, you're going to take that back."
Raven, surprised, blinked at him as he removed his palm from her mouth.
"...?"
"You're not ugly," DS firmly told her. "Say it."
"...I'm...not ugly," Raven mumbled awkwardly.
"There's a pet peeve I have," DS told her with a smile. "I can't stand it when a cute girl puts down her looks."
Raven lifted a brow at his comment.
"...You think...I'm-?"
"Of course," he honestly replied. "I'm certainly not the only one, at that..."
"...What are you talking about?" she curiously questioned. DS knew he'd get her with that last sentence.
"Oh, well..." He tilted his head left and right a little bit. "On my way here, for example- I met this little kid. Freckled little freak he, was," he said with a chuckle. "Kind of annoying, too- really clingy. Anyway, once he found out I was going to see the Titans, all he could talk about was 'how hot Raven' was." He grinned devilishly at Raven's pink face.
"But besides looks, you've got a good personality in you- now that you accept YOURSELF. And you've got a good head on your shoulders...You're bound to find someone soon."
"...Are you...-" she eyed him slyly, "-...hitting on me...?"
DS laughed. "If that's how you wanna look at it, be my guest. SOMEONE oughtta be, if ya ask me. You shouldn't give up on Link so easily, you've got a lot of good qualities he might like- you'll never know if you never give it a chance."
Raven was flattered by his flow of compliments, but she wanted to know why he pressed her about Link.
"Do you...know what he's going to say if I ask...?" she quietly asked him.
DS bit his lip and shrugged. "Well, yea, but...-"
"I know," Raven muttered. "I don't need you to tell me."
"...Just because I know what the answer is, it doesn't mean I know what will work out and what won't. I see Starfire and Robin going out on a date tonight, but I couldn't tell you where they'll be a year from now. Who knows? Maybe they'll be married, maybe they'll still be 'kinda-sorta' dating...I only know pieces, but I can tell the near future the best."
"Oh..."
Raven seemed to be very curious about all of that, and DS had chosen to make it a point to try to explain that a little later on.
"...Yea...Starfire's so lucky...I wish I knew what it was like- what she feels," Raven whispered, almost to herself, it seemed. "No matter how close I get with my friends...-"
"There's still that hole in your heart," DS finished for her solemnly. "Like part of you is missing- like your life in incomplete."
Raven stared at him- he seemed to understand fully well what she meant.
"I know what it's like," he told her as he stared up into the dark bllue sky. Traces of light rested in the horizon behind him, and the stars were getting ready to come out. The moon was almost full, and he could see it well up above. "I feel content with my life- except that one thing. If I could find that special someone...it would all be complete..."
Raven felt kind of strange for a moment, but she decided to say what was on her mind.
"...We both seem to be looking for the same thing..." she murmured, looking up to the moon as well. Her voice had a hinting about it, conveying a possibility.
"...Yea," DS mumbled in agreement, seeing what his earlier comments had brought upon himself. "...You want to know what Starfire feels, hm?" he muttered as his glance came down.
"...I...I-I guess I do," she stammared with a small shrug.
DS nodded slowly. He made a very strange choice at that moment. He reached out his arms and welcomed her in to a deep hug. He poured every ounce of emotion within him into it, envisioning the joy he would have when he met his soulmate some day. At least, that's what Raven got out of it. She could feel this emotion coming through, and she realized that he shared the same longing for it that he did. She returned it, feeling an understanding about the matter. She knew what Starfire felt- she just had yet to find the time and person to fully realize it and express it.
"...I think that's what it is," DS told her as he let go. His sentence ended with a cough.
Raven stood in a small daze for a moment. "...I know why she gets so worked up, then," Ray mumbled to herself. "...You know..." she glanced up at him, feeling her guts tremble. "...We...-" She had started her sentence very slowly, but it got cut off by DS.
"Can't," he interrupted. "Believe me, Ray, if it was possible, I would've gone after you some time ago," he told her with good humor and a hearty laugh. She blinked at him in confusion. What was he talking about? Why couldn't it be possible?
"...'Possible?'...Why...-?" She was puzzled, indeed. She felt a little rejected at the same time. She hadn't even ASKED.
"Welcome to my world," DS told her, regarding her feeling of rejection. She knew it was what he was referring to, somehow.
"Listen- It can't work out. It's not possible."
"...You said that," Raven mumbled. She felt like he'd toyed her, in a sense.
"Sorry," DS muttered, once again speaking of her thoughts- and she knew it. "It's...complicated...But I'll try..."
Raven stared at him expectantly, getting over the previous situation.
"Ya see...We're...from different worlds..." he began slowly, having trouble.
"Starfire and Robin are," Raven quickly reminded him.
"I know, I know, that's...not what I mean..." His brows furrowed as he tried to process how to tell her.
"Ya see, Ray...I'm...not really here..."
Raven blinked at him. What was he babbling about? She'd just hugged him- he was there, all right.
"...I'm here to YOU- but I'm not really here. See..." he groaned. "This is reality to you- it's your reality. So when I'm here, I can seem real...But I'm not really here."
Raven sighed. This wasn't making much sense at all.
"Like I said, it's complicated." He scratched his neck a little. "...Where I come from, you're...not real. You don't exist- not physically. In a state of mind, you do. You affect my 'world' just like a physical thing would- but you don't really exist."
Raven nodded slowly, sort of grasping the concept.
"I myself don't quite fully understand it," he admitted. "I feel like some of my friends are people who don't exist- and yet, they DO. They HAVE to, in some sense..." He growled at himself and tossed his arms. "It's too complex. It would take hours to sort it all out and explain it to you properly. It's not important. The point is that we have two totally different lives to live. Though they're connected, they're drastically apart at the same time. After tonight, I don't know if you'll ever see me again," he concluded with a shrug. "I'll see you, though. I'll be around to keep on eye on all of you, don't worry about that."
"..." Raven frowned sadly. She'd just met him, and she'd have to say good-bye? Why did this seem to be happening a lot lately...?
"You'll probably see me around again, sooner or later," DS guessed, nodding slightly. "After all, this whole mess is my fault, now isn't it?"
Raven blinked at him, expecting him to explain- but he didn't, really.
"I've gotta start what I finish-" he paused, realizing the way he'd mixed words. "Scratch that, reverse..." he muttered, shaking his head quickly.
"Raven, just remember this- never give up on yourself. You're stronger than you think you are." He had his hands on her shoulders and was speaking very confidently, trying to get his case across. "You've been down a rough road, but it's only going to get tougher."
Raven's sad eyes stared at her face in the reflection of his sunglasses, and she nodded quickly.
"And Raven, I'm telling you- you'll find your soulmate, somewhere. I don't know who, or when, or where...But you will..." He smiled at her, and she cracked a shy grin as well.
"...What about you?" she wondered.
He dropped his hands to his hips and took a deep sigh.
"I don't know...Maybe...Maybe not. I guess it all depends on what Fate has planned for me and what choices I make as a result..." He shrugged. "Maybe Fate has her in my plan- whoever she might be. Maybe she doesn't. But maybe I'll decide not to follow those plans- in which case, who knows what will happen. When Fate's plans aren't followed, you never know what will happen amidst the chaos."
Raven remembered what Tikal had spoked of earlier that morning. Perhaps she had a grasp on this idea he was speaking of.
"I can PROMISE you this-" DS told her quite seriously, pounding his chest with his right fist. "If I ever DO find her...I'm gonna try like he** to make her feel like the happiest girl in the world..."
Raven smiled at his words. They touched her inside, for she felt the same way herself- and she had a hunch that Starfire shared this, too. Star seemed to have a head start on them both, though.
"...Yea, so...Well, I guess that's that," DS mumbled as he glanced at the Titans on the other building, conversing to each other.
Raven caught him off guard with a friendly good-bye hug, patting his back gently.
"Thanks, Eddy," she muttered to him, remembering the name Starfire had called him. He blushed a bit as he straightened her smooth, straight hair a little, as it has gotten messed up by the wind that was picking up slowly.
"Yea...Thanks to you, too. But you shouldn't be thanking me- you know who you should be thanking." He let out a chuckle. "I need to thank her myself."
-*-*-*-*-*-
*blinkblink*
Soooo...Yea...What do ya think?
Only one more section until this Chapter is over...Tomorrow school starts for me...A coupel days after that, my computer arrives...^_^
And uh...Kuja, buddy, if you want me to read your fic, I'll do it later when I have the time. My comouter comes soon, and when it does I'll be able to read fics easier.
[/sarcasm]