-Chapter 3: Insert Dramatic Music Here, Here, and HERE-

In my room, the lights turned off, Beast Boy’s body between my thighs. And for a moment, it doesn’t matter that I could make everything explode with just a snap of my fingers…or that I could turn into some sort of demon any second. All that matters…all that there is in my tiny little world is him, groaning beneath me, begging for more. And I willingly—

“Oh, Raven! Awaken, friend of best!” a strange shaking of my shoulders. No, no, you stupid girl, I need my rest. This is the best of dreams. “Come, we have things to do! You have to get up!” says who, you? Can’t you let me have dominance, at least in my dreams for five minutes? “Come…shine and rise!” the voice tries, getting steadily louder, the shaking now a full on earth quake. Gods, make it stop!

“I’m awake,” I say, dryly, lifting one eyelid. The peculiar creature who has shaken me has a name, that of Starfire. And I’m met by her bright green eyes and beautiful alien face the moment I awaken. There’s something otherworldly about her. Something in the way she moves; the way she speaks, a beauty that only comes with not belonging to this planet; that, and the fact that she butchers the English language with every other word. She also has a small array of super powers, like flying, and shooting energy bolts from her hands. Factor it all together and you’ve got one of two Tameranian women on Earth. The other one being her psychotic sister, but we took care of her.

“Friend Raven!” she gasps, “You have awakened!” and that’s her stating the obvious. She does this often, too often even. But we love her for it. The backwards grammar, the over-use of physical affection, the flying, the ‘joyous celebration’…it’s all very her.

But being on a team with Starfire also has its downsides. Such as having to invest in personal massages once she’s damaged your bones with a crushing hug one too many times, or learning to make do with getting kicked in the face when she flies in the tower.

Granted, it can be troubling, having an alien in your hous—your tower, but it’s also beneficial. When you’ve got an army of demons or Slade-bots, or something of that nature surrounding you, it’s nice to have someone who can pick up a two ton truck and throw it at something, but that’s just my perspective. Not to mention Starfire can be whatever you need whenever you need it. She can be your twin sister (for me), your best girl friend (Beast Boy), your little sister (Cyborg), or your…lover (Robin, Robin and more Robin).

I throw my legs over the couch, wondering why I didn’t go to sleep in my room. It probably had something to do with the constant sex, and all the power that had been oozing out of me on a daily basis because of it. I close my eyes for a moment, searching inside myself. The sleep had refueled my powers, I’d used to time to meditate deep within my own mind, not quite true sleep. “Raven, I have the most marvelous things to tell you!” Starfire says; her smile enormous.

I blink a few times, trying to get used to the light, “Go on?” I glance at a clock behind her head, checking the time. 2 P.M. I’ve slept half the day away. “Wait, I thought you were supposed to be in Tameran—?”

“Yes, I was. But then I had to come back here because of something…anyway, I was in Tameran and I went to a seer…an alien that can show me the way to my future, a-and she saw me marrying Robin—“

“Oh, Starfire, that’s great,” I say, enthusiastically, well, at least, as enthusiastic as you can get with a monotone voice like my own, which, admittedly, isn’t very. “But…why are you home so soon? I thought you said you were going to be staying a few weeks?” Starfire stares at me for a moment, biting her lower lip.

“There were…complications…the seer said something…that I should be home.”

“Why? Is something wrong—“

I hear it then, a shaking, rumbling noise. It feels like an earth quake, and the whole Tower is shaking. The Alerts are going off; Beast Boy is out of his room in seconds, eyes wide. “Raven, what’s going on? Is it Trigon—oh, Starfire, hello…um…anyways, are the demons coming again?” he asks, frantically. I don’t answer as I feel my own eyes start to widen. I look through the many windows that make up the top of the T; thank god I had them repaired with a spell before Starfire got home.

Outside though, it is quite a sight. The water all around our little island is rippling, as if the very planet is roaring in protest. It’s bubbling as well, and slowly steaming. The city is shaking with the earth quake, and I can see miniature explosions occurring all over.

Starfire is the first to truly react. She stands up, calmly. “Trouble.”

-Beast Boy-

There’s no time to figure out what’s going on. Starfire floats up into the air and flies through the window with a crash. She’s already halfway to the city by the time I blink. “Robin’s gone East; Cyborg is still in the city somewhere…” Raven says, murmuring, almost as if she’s not aware that I’m there. She too starts to levitate in the air, a darkness welling up around her. I morph into a cat, jumping into the back of her hood. She hardly notices, flying through the hole that Starfire made.

She increases speed, as air whips past us. I keep my new claws firmly imbedded in her hood—she’s going to get on to me for tearing into her fabric later, I just know it—and then we’re entering the city limits. People are running around in circles, screaming. Others cower in corners, some even on their knees, praying. I wonder if they’ve got a God to pray to…I wonder if it cares.

Raven flies by the buildings, and some of the people point up at us, jumping in excitement. The Teen Titans are here, we can save them now. And we can…I know it…kind of…but this whole situation reeks of bad stuff. I don’t know what it is but…it doesn’t feel like we can win this. Whatever we’re dealing with, it’s something we’ve never encountered.

Raven passes another building, and then I see it, a great crater in the ground, maybe caused by a meteor. But the weird thing is that all the shaking and the ripples seem to be coming from this spot, waves of air are radiating off of it, as black cracks spread through the floor. Raven stops in midair, and I jump out of her hood, morphing back into my human form. I land on my feet, crouched low to the ground. I let out a small growl, my left hand half morphed into that of a Jaguar.

The crater is vomiting out little tentacles of…of blackness, they wrap around things like street lamps, or people, dragging them into the abyss. Starfire is hurling Star Bolts into the little whirlpool of power, screaming for it to stop. And then, out of nowhere, a large body sized ball of fire erupts out of the hole, crashing into a nearby building. It creates a huge explosion, which Raven cringes at.

I look into the pit with some kind of awe, wondering what will happen next. I’m answered quickly, as something wells up out of the pit. A huge thing covered in the inky blackness of the tentacles. It stretches as the thing comes out more and more, and the blackness starts to tear, revealing armor like skin, and gaping black eyes.

The thing has huge horns on its head, and it’s snarling. It looks like one of those creatures from the Greek legends…like the Hydro…Hydra, whatever. But this looks worse then any of the illustrations from Raven’s dusty old books.

It roars, this thing, and it steps out of the pit, glancing around. Starfire flies over its head, spinning to drift in front of it, close to its face. It’s several heads taller then me, about the size of Cyborg. It snarls as Starfire gets close to its face.

“May I ask why you are here? You are causing a disturbance in our town—“Starfire breaks off with a choke, for the monster has grabbed her by her throat. She struggles to remove its grip, but it seems too strong for her. It hurls her away, and Starfire goes crashing through a wall. She doesn’t get up.

“Star!” I scream, turning to run after her. She’s made a large hole in the building, and I see that she is unconscious, thrown right into an office where several businessmen look at her wide eyes. I fall to my knees beside her sleeping body. “Oh, Star…” I feel an anger boil up in me, and I glance back at the monster, which is staring at me with an amused expression, its pitch black eyes challenging me.

I get to my feet, turning my head to the businessmen, “Watch my friend. If any of you touch her…I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.”

My body becomes unhinged, morphing, changing, becoming. Suddenly I’m a cheetah, and I’m flying through the building’s gaping hole, right at the monster. I jump to claw its eyes out, but it moves to fast, striking me in the stomach. I’m thrown into a wall. Raven calls out my name, gesturing to a lamp post, a darkness spreads over it, and she yanks it right out of the ground, hurling it at the beast.

It grabs the pole before it can hit it, swinging it at Raven. The sorceress goes down, the glass smashing against her head. She lets out a cry, crawling to her feet. Darkness wells up around her hand, and a talon of it explodes into the monster’s chest. It flies backwards, crashing into the building behind it.

It crashes right through the wall, screams echoing as people gather around its body. It isn’t even down a second, hopping to its feet. It opens its mouth, speaking for the first time “Silly demon girl…why do you hinder me? We are of the same power.”

Raven’s eyes are wide, “How did you know—?” It comes charging, flying at Raven. She flies out of its way, but it moves to fast. A ripple of color and it’s suddenly underneath her. She’s floating, everything is in slow motion, and the thing snatches her by her ankles, slamming her through a window.

She screams, and I morph into a Bear, running at the thing. I bring my claws down on it, rage boiling through me. “You don’t hurt Raven! You don’t…stupid, ugly beast! Shut up!” It raises an arm to protect itself, and my claws shatter on impact. My eyes widen as it punches me in the stomach. I go down, and it leans on one knee beside me, huge horns glowing with a sudden red light.

“Move aside, Champion. You are not strong enough to defeat me.” It backhands me, and I go flying right into another wall. I’ve morphed back to my human self, unable to retain the form with all this pain. My head is pounding, and there are about a thousand bruises on my back, god knows what’s happened to Raven.

“…Heroes…Champions…Freaks…stand aside. You cannot defeat me. I am Lammas, the Scourge of Kingdoms, guardian of Death’s Gates, servant of Gods, and I have come to claim this place. Allow me to stay here and further pain will not be inflicted on you. I need only a few days…let me rule you and I will make sure that you are spared.”

“N-no,” I whisper, getting to my feet unsteadily. “You can’t stay here…whoever you are…whatever you are. This is not your world. You’re hurting my friends. And for that…I will beat you.”

“Fair child…if this is what you wish,” it extends one hand, and the arm seems to reform, the black-metal liquefying, reshaping into a blade, hardening. Fire bursts out of the sword-arm, and Lammas smiles. “Then so be it.” It takes a battle stance.

I change into a Gorilla, grabbing a sharp piece of metal lying beside me. I brandish it like a sword. Lammas flies at me, bringing his sword down on me. I raise up my pipe, and the weapons clash.

“Why do you fight? You cannot win.”

“We’ll see!” I growl, slamming the pipe into his side, he isn’t even phased, swinging his sword right in my direction, barely dodging it in time. He tries to hit me on the side, but I become a snake, wrapping around his middle, my weapon in my mouth. I transform into the Gorilla gain, grabbing him in a headlock.

“Is it because I hurt your lover?” He asks; his voice like a rumbling storm cloud, broiling and destructive.

“How did you—“He stretches his arms behind me, throwing me over his head. I slam to the ground.

“You cannot stop me, I am all powerful.”

“See,” a voice comes from behind him, “That’s what they all say. You know,” a beam of blue light crashes into Lammas’ back. He flies forward, slamming into a wall. A half-man, half-machine steps out of the darkness, a huge grin on his face, “Just before they get their asses kicked.”

Oh look, our friendly neighborhood Cyborg.

A/N So, here it is, a probably long awaited update. I am SO sorry that it took so long, I’ve just been so busy with my life right now, and I’ve had little time for anything else.

Anyway, this chapter is the beginning of the first Arc of this “Season” as the chapters are more episodic. This is called the “Lammas” arc.

Now, some of you may complain that this chapter had an absence of the usual sex and funny dialogue, which is understandable considering I focused more on developing an actual story out of this. Lammas is an interesting character for me, although he does seem as the stereotypical monster now, just wait until later.

Please, Please, PLEASE review.