Demons

by AuDC Productions

Raven's spell did more than give him a second chance at life. Now he has to deal with those side effects. *Part of the Jake Cross series.*

AuDC Productions Showcase: Jake Cross

Demons

[Unknown Location]
[Unknown Time]

The plan was simple. Kaldur delivers the killing blow. Jake would fall in front of Gemini who would transform into Jake's lifeless body. Raven would transport Jake to his former home in New York where he would stay until he was well. And then they would systematically take out the Light.

But that's not how it happened.

Kaldur's shot did not kill Jake at all. Gemini did transform into him but he nearly got caught switching bodies in the morgue. Raven would do her job dutifully but would grow worrisome seeing Jake's lifeless body and leaving. And Jake would be up within twenty-four hours, something Raven had advised against.

Jake's eyes slowly open and he looked around his former bedroom. He was finally back in New York City after all these years. It took all of his willpower not to scream. He didn't even know why he wanted to scream, it was just an urge. But he would be stronger than this urge. He would will himself to his feet and continue where he left off.

"Damn…" Jake stumbles as soon as he tries to stand, falling against his dresser. "Come on Jake. You can do this."

Jake stood himself up straight, only his right hand on the dresser now. His eyes scanned his childhood bedroom and he grimaced when the memories came rushing to him. His mother was killed in this house. He and his sister were kidnapped from this house. It was in this house that Jake and Rose became assassins.

Jake took an experimental step on his wobbling legs, getting one step closer to the door. He lets out a small hiss of pain and took another. He was not weak. He had taken a beaten from Talia and Nyssa at the same time, he had battled against all five members of the HIVE Five without his Red X suit, and he had rescued Artemis with a lame arm. He was not the same boy that hid in the closet while his mother was murdered. He was not the same careless idiot that didn't check in on his sister before she died.

He was Jake Cross and he'd be damned if a fall from a building defeated him.

Jake made it out of his room, using the wall as a crutch. He was in so much pain, much more than he had ever experienced. What was worse was the fact that his right arm was now beginning to sting, much like it did months before. Without Shiva's trainings, he might have passed out from the pain. It was logical after all. But he had Shiva's and Ra's training. Pain could be ignored until after the mission was done and the mission was nowhere near finished.

"Damn steps." Jake mutters when his feet automatically stopped. He didn't remember the steps being so many and steep, but he had to get downstairs somehow. "Should've installed an elevator. I bet Birdbrain has one in his house."

Jake slowly descended the stairs until he reached the bottom. He released a silent breath and trudged towards the kitchen. The screams in his head grew louder and louder with each step he took until he reached the kitchen. The screams died as he eyed his three accomplices in one of the biggest fake deaths in history. Yet, something was off about them.

"Are you alright?" Gemini asked.

Jake's eyes narrowed. "Fine…"

"We were talking about our next step." Kaldur spoke. "We have come to the understanding that… Your plan won't work." Jake turned his glare from Gemini to Kaldur. "We understand that this is the only way for a better world, but for that to happen, you will have to kill."

"And all of you agree with this?" Jake's question was answered with three nods. "I see." Jake moved towards the fruit basket on the island counter in the middle of the floor. "Then what do we do, Raven?"

"I don't know." The mystic said.

Jake grabbed an orange. "Uh-huh? And Gemini? I take it that you have something planned."

"Nothing." Jake nods his head.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Jake took the orange and launched it, hitting Gemini directly in her face. The girl falls onto the ground before shimmering out of existence. "I don't know where I am or who put me in here, but there are three things you did wrong. One, I never say 'Raven' and she answers. Her name is Rachel. Two, Kaldur is a hell of a lot braver than you think. And finally," Jake picks up a kitchen knife placed by the fruit bowl. "No one enters my house uninvited."

"You doubt that you will succeed," Kaldur's voice changed, causing Jake to quiver at the sound of his former boss; Ra's al Ghul. "You and I both know that you have done nothing but run your entire life Jake. That is why you choose to be a thief. Something easy. Something small. People don't rely on you as much."

"You said it yourself," Raven's voice was also Ra's voice. "You're looking out for number one. No one but yourself because you failed at saving your mother. You failed at protecting Rose. You will fail at protecting Artemis…"

"Jake," Jake turned to see Raven standing at the entrance into the kitchen. However, unlike the Ra's speaking doppelganger near the refrigerator, this Raven wore her former Teen Titan's outfit. "They aren't real. This is all in your head."

Jake raised a brow before flinging the knife into the chest of Kaldur. The Atlantean gasps before vanishing like Gemini did before him. The Raven doppelganger soon disappears with a smirk on her face. Jake looks at Raven as she removes the hood from her head.

"What's going on?" Jake asked.

"When Rachel put that spell on you-"

"Wait," Jake began. "Aren't you Rachel? Or are you one of these clones?"

Raven sighs. "I'm neither. Jake… I'm you." Jake frowns in confusion, his head pounding more than it did earlier. "When Rachel- I- put that spell on you, I had to put a bit of myself inside of you. And like the emotions in her- my- head, your mind created a new world. This world."

"So this…" Jake begins.

"Is your Nevermore." Jake nods a bit. He had been inside of Raven's head a few times and knew of her emotions taking life-like forms. "I am Wisdom."

"Do all of my emotions take the form of someone I know?" Jake asked.

"You hold a lot of respect for people. Therefore, when you want to feel a certain way, that person comes to mind." Wisdom explains. "You shaped me into the person who you think is the wisest."

"Huh… I must've lied to myself." Jake mutters.

"No. You didn't." Jake frowns. Wisdom surely acted like Raven and definitely sounded like her. "Your mind is being plagued by something. Something big. And we have to fix it or else…"

"Or else what?" Jake asks. "Tell me what's going on."

"After we left that ring in Rachel's room at Titan's Tower, we passed out in our former apartment in Jump City. Whatever that is haunting your mind has been growing stronger since then." Wisdom said. "In the event that we cannot fix it, I'm sure you will die."

"How?" Jake questioned. "I survived Kaldur's shot. I lived that fall. I lived that twenty percent!"

"The blow to the chest didn't kill you, the fall did. And you left before the spell could completely heal you." Jake grunts at Wisdom's explanation. "Your body may feel eight percent, but your mind has yet to heal from the trauma that you received from dying. That was the twenty percent chance that Rachel spoke of and you know it."

"I know, I just…" Jake pauses and sighs. "Okay. What do we have to do?"

"Find the rest of us and take out this problem." Wisdom said.

"How many are there?" asked Jake.

"Including me," Wisdom answered. "Twelve. The others are: Love, Lust, Courage, Rage, Hate, Depression, Happy, Fear, Greed, Compassion, and Will." Jake nods. "Each of them have become people who you see exuding each emotion the most. And when whatever began to plague your mind, they scattered."

Jake sighs. "That's not good. Tell me this, if one of them is destroyed by my inner demons, it will affect me in all the wrong ways, won't it?" Wisdom nods. "Then we need to find them before I kill myself. Or something kills me."

"Even within your own mind," Wisdom stated. "You're going to need some weapons. You have seen a lot and done a lot. You've learned a lot. All of those memories and knowledge can be used by any of us. Well, if you believe we can do it that is."

"So… In my mind, you can cast some of Rachel's spells?" Again Wisdom nods. "That's good. Unless my other emotions hate me."

"Only Hate is allowed to hate." Wisdom said. "If the other emotions don't wish to help you, it's for their own reasons. Such as Greed and his, well, greed and Fear being too afraid."

"This just got a lot harder." Jake said.

Wisdom smirks. "It will become much harder." Again, Jake realized that he had somehow put too much of Raven's personality into Wisdom and was beginning to regret it. "I don't know how much time we have. We should get started."

"You read my mind." Jake said.

---

[Mindscape]
[Unknown Time]

In Jake's mind, he had reshaped New York City into something big, bigger than the city was. There were elements of Gotham, Jump, and even Egypt. It seemed quite childish to him that his mind would recreate a city with the lights and glamour that he was currently viewing from atop of a bank.

"This is my mind?" Jake asked Wisdom.

For some odd reason, Jake was unable to find his Red X suit at the manor in New York. However, he was able to find a lot of his father's uniforms which oddly fit him. So here he was, wearing Deathstroke the Terminator's armor with his weapons. He chose not to wear the mask only because this was his mind. It wasn't like he had a secret identity here.

Wisdom nods. "Mostly. There are things that you don't remember and things you've forced yourself to forget that are locked away in here."

Jake only shrugs. It would make sense that the top secrets of his mind was locked in a vault that even he couldn't crack. Though, just the thought of having an un-cracked safe made Jake question if he could break into it.

"They're here. Somewhere." Wisdom speaks up again. "I can sense them."

"Where's the closest one?" Wisdom answers by pointing in a general direction. "Alright, take us down there."

"With pleasure."

Jake has never been comfortable with Raven teleporting him the way she did. It made his skin crawl every time and was very much different from the technology used to make Red X teleport. The Red X suit just made one feel breathless after a jump. But Raven… Having one's body being transported in the form of a raven made of slightly demonic magic was quite the ride.

But soon she stops and Jake is able to stand again. He was nowhere near the bank, but instead in front of a familiar pizza parlor.

"The Pizza Corner. I remember this place." Jake said. "Many days gaining information on you guys took place here."

"You do remember that I'm your wisdom, right? I already knew that." Wisdom responded. "And on that note, you couldn't have spied on me. I'm you."

Jake only bristles. Wisdom or not, this person surely sounded like Raven. And her- or its- choices of words were very Raven-esque as well. But he ignored her for a moment as he walked inside. Undoubtedly, he recognized many of the faces from his multiple of times of eating there. However, he didn't know most of their names.

"She is on the balcony." Wisdom said.

Jake nods and follows the faux-Titan to the pizza-shaped balcony. It didn't take him more than a second for his eyes to land on a familiar blonde-haired girl who was casually talking to her everyday friends. Like normal, she was flanked by her two loyal friends, all of them casually talking about something Jake was probably not going to like. Or would he? It was his mind after all.

"Um," Jake said as he made his way to the table, gaining the girls' attention. "I take it that you're really not Artemis but my emotion of love."

"Actually," The Artemis look-alike says. "My name's Happy. I'm your happiness."

Jake looked at Wisdom for more information.

"When you think of happiness," Wisdom elaborated. "You think of your normal life with Artemis. Therefore, Artemis Crock, the girl from school, represents your happiness and not the archer whom you fought against."

"Ah…" Jake replied. "Makes sense."

"So," Happy said. "I guess you're here to take out whatever it is that made us separate, huh?" Jake nodded. "Well I'd be happy to help but I don't know what it is or where it is." Happy then looks at Wisdom. "Do you know?"

"Unfortunately, no." Wisdom answered.

"Well that's alright. I guess we can find out together, 'kay?"

Jake just stood speechless. Sure he got that his happiness took the form of the person that he thought of being happy with, but he didn't even know he had such optimism in him. This Artemis wannabe was just radiate of the stuff. It heavily contrasted with half of the forced smiles that Artemis had to do in order for Jake to believe she was alright.

Though they never worked…

"Alright," Happy said rising with a smile. "Let's go find the others!"

Jake actually cringed. Artemis had her moments of being completely upbeat, but not this upbeat. He was used to the determined girl who sometimes used said stubborn charm to get him to help her on homework at odd hours of the night. That was to be expected though. They did have to work after all.

"Jake, prepare." Wisdom said.

Jake looked around. He couldn't find what Wisdom was talking about but knew something was wrong as Happy seemed less happy, if that was possible.

"Kill Happy!" Jake recognized the voice and found himself moving without thinking. Before he knew it, he had tackled Happy away from the oncoming bullets, only for Wisdom to protect them with a shield.

"Are you okay?" Jake found it a habit to instinctively protect Artemis, whether it was actually Artemis or just the Artemis in his mind.

"I'm fine." Happy replied.

Jake rose and looked at the buildings that lined the streets to see what he feared to see; Snipers. They were all ready for the kill shot on him and his two emotions that were present. Worse they were all dress as if they were part of the League of Assassins.

"Four against one," Jake said. "I've had worse." Jake's jaw nearly drops when he sees five men in gray climbing onto the balcony. "Oh boy…"

"Can you beat them?" Happy asked as the mental images of Barbara and Bette vanished from his mind.

"We're about to find out." Jake said as he pulled out the retractable staff.

"You are one with the Demon! Join us! Kill Happy!" The assassins spoke.

Jake sprung into action. He found his father's weapons to be an extension of his body somehow. The way the staff was able to twirl effortlessly in his hands, going across the faces of two of the assassins. With a simple roll, Jake was able to dodge the blade of the third assassin while somehow hearing the sounds of the snipers loading their guns.

"Rachel, shield her!" Wisdom was going to correct Jake that she wasn't Raven and could only do things that he believed she could do, but instead she simply raised her hands in order to create a bubble of dark energy.

"Give up!" One of the dream assassins demanded as he attempted to gut Jake with his blade. The elusive thief sidestepped the strike and knocked the man out with a blow from the staff.

"No." Jake's eyes looked at the snipers now. "Alright, let's see if this is indeed Dad's staff."

Once more, Wisdom kept quiet about things inside of Jake's mind being able to change and do whatever he thought. So when he pointed the staff and fired a dart that effectively took out one of the snipers, it was only his belief that the staff could do so, not the fact that it was an actual replica of Slade's ballistic staff.

"Great!" Happy cheered, obviously feeding off of Jake's current emotional condition.

Jake smirks before firing more darts at the snipers, taking them out one by one. He was actually glad to have his father's gear now even though he gained it through inexplicable means. Slade's equipment had long been thrown out of his mother's former home so why was it there in his mind?

"Alright," Jake said before knocking the last assassin off of the balcony with a thrust from the metal staff. "One emotion down, ten to go."

"I know where Will and Courage are. And I think I know where Fear is. But she's… I don't know. She kind of makes me sad." Happy said.

Wisdom rolls her eyes. "Depression makes you sad. Fear is just afraid."

Happy plants her hands on her hips. "Well aren't you a know-it-all."

"I'm Wisdom. I'm supposed to."

Happy only smiles. "You're right! My mistake!"

Jake was seconds away from throwing himself off of the building but he feared what the consequences would be if he didn't wake up in his apartment. While Wisdom was nearly spot-on with Raven's personality, Happy was just too optimistic and exuberant to be Artemis. Maybe in another universe Artemis was this happy all the time, but it wasn't this one.

"Happy," The blonde looked at Jake as he collapsed the staff and put attached it to his hip. "Lead the way."

"I'd be glad to!" she chirps. "All you have to do is-"

"Mm-mm." Wisdom interrupts while shaking her head. Happy gives her a frown. "He must learn that on his own. In the meantime, you will physically lead the way."

"Oh… Okay. Well, come on. They're this way fighting crime." Jake groans at Happy's statement. If his emotions were in harm's way, he could potentially die. And he really did not want to die yet.

---

[Mindscape]
[Unknown Time]

Most of the newspapers in his mind only showed things he already knew, while the others showed what he dreamed of. One of them had Rose's obituary right next to his mother's, despite the three years between their deaths. Another talked about how the great and elusive Red X made Batman's computer disappear from the Batcave.

They were currently within an area that Jake knew as Crime Alley. How he was able to reconstruct the infamous area within New York was beyond him. There was even an outline of two bodies lying on the pavement with a rose there.

"The Waynes…" Jake comments quietly. Wisdom and Happy watched as Jake traced the outlines with a finger. "Why is this here?"

"Like I said," Wisdom said in a softer tone. "You have a lot of respect for a lot of people and why they do what they do."

Jake just looked at the chalking. It was a great replica- no- a perfect replica of their bodies. What surprised him was how many times he had even seen the chalking before; twice. Once when he first came to Gotham and wanted to know what Crime Alley was all about, and the second time was after he returned from his trip with Shiva.

"Ugh!" Jake's eyes snap up to see a masked assassin, like the ones that attacked earlier, being thrown against a wall. The man slowly faded out as Jake looked to see the reason behind this.

"You're kidding…" Jake said as Aqualad walked towards him. "Kaldur?"

The mental image shook his head. "No. I am Courage. And that," Jake looked to see who Courage was pointing to and gaped. "Is Will. We are responsible for your more daring adventures."

Happy giggles. "You don't get a lot of common sense from these two!"

Jake could only stare as Will walked towards him. He soon realized that Artemis was probably the only person who he saw outside of her gear and in her civilian clothes as he was now staring at the newer Aqualad and Robin, his courage and will respectively.

"Dick is my will?" Jake finally states as he looks at Wisdom.

The dark-haired emotion shrugs her shoulders.

"When you think of someone stubborn and determined, you think of Robin." Wisdom said. "Without Will, you wouldn't have been able to pull Artemis up on New Year's Eve." Jake huffed at that. "Might I remind you that he is only in the form that you made him?"

"Remind me to change that." Jake said. Will only stares at Jake. "Do you know what's plaguing my mind?"

Courage turns to Wisdom. "You didn't tell him?"

"No." Now Jake frowned. Earlier Wisdom had made it seem as if she didn't know. "I don't know what caused 'it' to appear. I just know that it's here. And no matter how many times we can defeat it, it'll take Jake beating the source to remove it once and for all."

Will crossed his arms. "We're doing pretty well on our own. The more that shows, the more we put out."

"And how long do you think you can do so? We will eventually need to finish this once and for all." Wisdom replied. "We all know about Rachel and her inner emotions. We know the powers she wields when they all join forces. If they can defeat Trigon than we can defeat what's threatening us."

"Sounds like a plan," Will said. "But Rage has been through here lately, sometimes aiding these 'assassins' and sometimes doing what he does best. Destroying everything."

"I'll stop him." Jake states confidently. "What about the others?"

"Fear was the first to run off. No one has seen her since then." Courage elaborated. "Compassion and Love soon left afterwards to find her, though I'm not sure where they went. I figured if any of us knew…" Courage's words died as Wisdom merely shook her head. "Right."

"Anyway," Will adds on. "Hate doesn't necessarily show up. He is a special case. And Lust… Well she's in her room."

Jake frowned. "Her room? You guys have your own room and instead of staying there, you just break out and do what you want?"

"Isn't that what you do?" Jake's fists clenched. Punching Will would do him no justice, even if the guy did look like his rival. Instead Jake slowly calms down and looks at Courage.

"And the others?" he asked.

Courage sighs. "Greed will come around. He normally travels around just taking things that he wants. Things that other people have that he doesn't. And Depression is where she always is."

"So finding Depression will be easiest, then Lust," Jake begins. "If what you're saying about Greed is true, I won't find him, he'll find me. Love and Compassion are with one another searching for Fear, which is good. I'm glad someone in my head is doing something to help."

"I don't know if you've noticed or not," Will counters. "But your mind is being tormented and Courage and I are the only two doing something about it because you can't!"

"I-" Jake was stopped when Happy places a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see a sliver of gray in her hair.

"Please don't. Anger will only weaken me." she said with a weak smile.

Jake takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes. With her hand on him, he was able to focus on happier moments of his life. Some of them were well forgotten like he and Rose throwing snowballs at tourists in the Alps while others were fairly recent moments with Artemis. Finally he was able to forget the Robin look-alike (as Will was in costume) in front of him and focus on what they had to do.

"Maybe we should split up. We can cover more grounds and…" Will's words died when Jake simply raised a hand.

"We'll stick together. That'll stop us from being ambushed." Jake said. "These assassins are after my emotions for some reason. So the more of you I know is safe the better."

Will apparently did not like Jake's idea but went along with it anyway. Jake realized that the two of them would have their differences mainly because Jake's subconscious shaped his will and determination into Dick Grayson- actually into Robin- instead of someone else. Anyone else would have sufficed.

"Alright," Jake said. "Take me to-"

"Get down!" Jake was pushed to the ground by Courage while Wisdom shielded herself and Happy from the small explosions.

"What was that?" Jake asked looking around.

"Rage…" Will growls.

Jake looked upwards to see the figure atop of a building. Will was Robin. Courage was Kaldur/Aqualad. Wisdom was Raven. Happy was Artemis Crock. And Rage… Rage was Red X.

"I'm…" Jake stopped himself. The person that he chose to represent all of his anger and rage was himself.

"Stop right there!" Will called out before firing a grappling hook.

Jake was hardly amused that even in his mind Robin chased Red X. In fact, he didn't even care. As he stood up, he only wondered why he chose himself to represent such a dark emotion. If anyone, he was certain that Slade would be his physical representation of rage.

"We have to catch up." Jake said aiming his own grappling hook to the ledge of the building. "Don't get left behind."

Jake didn't stay long enough to hear what Wisdom said. He was now angry, angry at himself. Why would he make himself anger? There were tons of people who he has met that would better represent rage; Roy Harper, Slade, and even Dick were examples of that. But for some reason, he chose himself to be rage.

Why?

Jake rolled onto the roof and easily took pursuit after Will. The one thing he found ironic about this whole ordeal was that he (dressed in Slade's uniform), was chasing after Will (Robin), who was after Rage (Red X). If circumstances were different, this might even be funny. But it wasn't. In fact, it was the farthest thing from humorous at the moment.

"Rage, stop!" Jake heard Will shout.

Rage soon vanishes in mid-leap before reappearing with a kick to Jake's face. This knocked Jake completely onto his back, his body now sliding towards the edge of the building.

"Hurts doesn't it?" mocked Rage as Jake slowly picked himself up. "Even in this hellhole of a mind you got here, pain still exists. And it hurts."

"I'm going to give you just one chance to come with me on your own free will." Jake grunts.

Rage laughs, the computerized voice of Red X never sounding more annoying.

"Haven't you heard? I'm not Willy over there." Jake saw the saw blades of the Red X suit activate. "I'm Rage!"

Jake pulled the two katana blades from off his back.

"I'll show you rage." Jake returns before the two runs towards each other.

Jake had never gone against the Red X suit before. He never had to. He was Red X. But now, as he was pretty much forced onto the defensive, he realized just how dangerous the suit was. Jake may have used it for simple robberies, but it was obvious that Dick created the Red X suit to do something far more than just thievery.

"Weak!" Rage called as his foot met Jakes midsection, knocking the air out of Jake. "You are fucking pathetic!"

Jake used an evasive roll to his right to dodge the incoming saw blade. His eyes caught onto Rage charging at him with ferocity. Jake began blocking his anger's shots with the swords in his hands, trying his hardest to find an opening. If there was one.

Jake leaps away from his opponent and takes in a deep breath. His mind must have been a very observant one as he could feel real life effects such as stamina taking his toll on him. He was also lightly sweating and nervous, very nervous.

"Our parents," Rage spoke. "They were the worst pieces of shit in the world." Jake's eyes widened. "I don't hate them though. It's thanks to them that you were able to make me, Rage. Adeline and her damn rules. And Slade was just never there when we needed him." The blades deactivated as Rage held a gloved hand towards Jake. "Anger… Chaos… Rage… They taught us that Pandora's Box is nothing compared to the hell we could unleash!"

A blast of red came for Jake, the boy immediately dodging it. His left hand came to the handgun in its holster on his left thigh; opposite the staff's on his right. He didn't think it would come down to shooting an emotion, but he would if he must.

"I was kind of glad that she got shot." Now Jake's eyes narrowed. "Let's be honest. We were never going to replace Slade. The bitch was insane and we both know it. Hell, she didn't even trust us with that Vigilante Incorporated shit! Why? Weren't we the prized son? Weren't we the prodigious child?" Rage snorts. "I guess it doesn't matter. You were too dumb to even follow the lead once we removed them from the manor."

"Vigilante Inc was made to keep people safe." Jake returns. "If Mom didn't want me to have it, she must've known that I wouldn't keep people safe."

"Bullshit! We were trained to do it!" Rage shouted. "And now what are we? A fucking common thief in a high-tech suit?!"

Jake revealed the ballistic staff, extending it in front of him before twirling it a bit.

"No. I am Jake Cross. You are just a petty boy in a suit." Rage chuckles at that. "What's so funny?"

"You think I'm you? Hardly. But I guess, this is what happens when Wisdom leaves you. Or what little wisdom you have." Again Jake was not amused by the taunts. "I take the shape of what you perceive is rage personified. I'm not Dick Grayson. I'm not Jake Wilson. I am Red X, the very persona you tried to erase!"

"And now I can do it personally. Thanks."

Rage let out a roar before firing several X-shaped shuriken at Jake. Jake had no idea where his newfound energy came from, but it allowed him to spin the staff in front of him, swatting the projectiles away effortlessly.

"You bitch! Fight me!" Rage shouted as he ran towards Jake.

Jake smirks as he sidesteps the skull-masked emotion.

"You know if I sucked like you," Jake said. "I'd be angry at myself too." Jake's smirk grew. "And that rhymed so it must be true!"

"Ugh!" Rage grunts before vanishing.

For a reason unbeknownst to Jake, he could automatically tell when and where Rage would reappear and slapped the Red X dressed emotion with the staff in hand. Rage, of course, was not finished and only rolled to his feet.

"Bastard!" Rage cried before firing a red laser from his palm, much like Pink X's.

Jumping away from the attack, Jake took in a deep breath.

"That's new…" Jake said once the attack ended. "But this is where I end it."

"Try me!" Rage shouts as he charges for Jake.

Time itself seemed like it slowed down as Jake timed his counter perfectly. With a simple grab and a spin, he successfully executed his counter while dodging Rage's attack at the same time. The two stood back to back as Jake smirked.

"Why won't you hit me?" Rage growls in a low tone.

"Because you're a liar. You're the part of me that lied to Artemis and then took it out on cops and others who didn't deserve it." Jake replied. "Mom never hated us. I can't speak for Dad, but Mom wanted us to find Rose and protect her. And we were so angry… No. I was so angry and pent on revenge that I didn't do that." Jake held up the belt to the Red X suit. "This suit was supposed to help me. We were supposed to be number one."

"And I still will be!" Rage turned to punch Jake, only to be met by Jake's fist knocking him onto his back.

"I was so angry at myself for all of my failures. Mom… Rose… Now I have someone to be pissed at."Jake's eyes turned to Rage, who was still on his back. "Get up. We have some business to take care of."

"Why would I want to work with someone as weak as you? You don't even have the balls to finish me!" Rage replied.

"Because if you come with me, I'll give you this back so you can unleash all the anger you want." Jake said. "But in return, you help me beat what's killing us."

"It's not like I have a choice, do I?" Jake smirked.

"I could always find out how to absorb you like Rachel does." Jake said. "We both know that while I can't perform magic outside of my mind, in here, I make Trigon look like amateur night in Vegas."

"Tough words from someone who just got his ass kicked." Rage points out.

Jake shrugs. "Apparently I have a lot of memories cast away that even I don't remember. Do you want my inner rage and anger to be the next? I have been doing some deep meditation tricks, you know."

Jake could see his emotion's masked face drop. True to his words, the "memory bank" that Jake stood on earlier could rival Gotham City's skyscrapers- or even New York's. So it was apparent to him that there were some memories that he just did not want to remember.

"You didn't kill him…" For the first time, Jake was aware of his other emotions around him. He frowned as they were not that close to him a few minutes ago.

"Where'd you come from? And how come you didn't help?" Were his only two questions.

"We're always with you silly! We're your emotions!" Happy answers with a small giggle.

"And you wouldn't let us help." Wisdom adds on. "Remember, we don't respond to your verbal orders. We respond to what you're feeling, such as anger. And none of us can channel anger except Rage."

Jake retracts the staff. "Alright, let's go find Depression and Lust."

"You remind me a lot of Slade." Jake's eyes meet Courage's for a moment. It didn't shock him that Courage was the only one brave enough to say so. In fact, it was more than suiting.

But Jake does not verbally respond, just nearing the edge of the building and staring downwards. Wisdom shoots Courage a glare, one that makes the larger emotion shrink back a bit. They all knew that if Jake believed that Wisdom could become a Trigon-possessed Raven, then she would be. And none of them wanted that.

"Let's go." Jake calls over to his emotions. "I have a feeling I'm going to hate this."

"Trust me," Will said. "We all will."

---

[Mindscape]
[Unknown Time]

No one said a word as Jake eyed the many dark birds in the trees. Though it was Raven that put the spell on him, he was sure that these birds were crows. Worse, these crows were speaking to them. They were muttering repeatedly everything in Jake's life that he regrets. One that he constantly heard was not being able to stop whoever from killing his mother.

"There she is." Will spoke quietly. Jake gazed out into the cemetery to see the blonde representation of Depression.

"Only you can go get her," Wisdom stated. "The rest of us have to stay out here, Rage especially."

"Why?" Jake's question was answered when Happy pointed to the birds staring at them and muttering.

"Regret kills every emotion and fuels anger." Wisdom explained. "Even I get affected by it." Jake nods at the information. "Jake, remember not to let any of the regrets get you. You can get buried by regret."

"I'll remember that." Jake said before looking at the silent Rage. "Keep an eye on him. If he does anything send him…" Jake paused. He was going to tell Wisdom to send Rage into another dimension, forgetting that they were not Raven and Red X respectively. "Just keep an eye on him."

None of the emotions spoke as Jake walked into the cemetery. Had any of them would have attempted to follow, the crows that were now focusing on Jake would have attacked them. The guilt would have forced them out of the graveyard and Depression would simply add more grounds to her domain.

Then again, she did have that ability as Tara.

Jake did his best to ignore the whispers from the birds, but was beginning to pay more and more attention to them. It started when one bird spoke about the incident that caused Rose to lose her left eye. Jake felt his fists clench before hearing hissing. Looking around, the crow now had four red eyes, each of them glaring at Jake. He may not be in Raven's Nevermore anymore, but there were some of the same elements. Most noticeably, angry birds.

Taking in a deep breath, Jake attempted to forget the incident. His feet, which had been sinking into the ground all the while, resurfaced.

"Keep focused." Jake muttered to himself.

"Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…" Jake heard Depression mutter.

Jake watches as the crows fly off, screeching as they did so. Oddly enough, the birds only circled over the area. The bizarre event almost made Jake smirk at the physical representation of him "balling his emotions up" inside of him.

Turning his attention back to the blonde, Jake took another step only for a stone wall to form between them.

"Leave. You'll just give me something else to be sorry for." Depression spoke softly.

"Actually," Jake said. "I need your help. We all do."

"No. I'll just get in the way." Jake sighs. He had met Tara on three separate occasions and each time she had more to regret. Of course, he met her as Red X the last two times and she has no idea who he really is. Though she could have figured it out. It wasn't as if he was being but so discrete about it.

"Depression, we're going to die without you." Jake said. "I need-"

"No you don't. I'm sorry." Jake sighs heavily, something that doesn't go unnoticed and the hissing returns.

He was growing frustrated.

"I get it. I regret a lot. I'm saddened by a lot. But I don't just sit around and do nothing about it." The stone wall grows higher. "Depression listen to me. I forgive you."

"For not saving Mom?"

Jake sighs. "Yes. And for what happened with Rose." The wall sinks into the ground a little. "And for not telling Artemis. For never being strong enough…"

The wall descends into the earth and Jake now stares at the former Titan that went by Terra. He knew a bit of her past with his father, some of it being completely unprofessional and illegal, but he didn't care much. Slade was his own person and it was hinted that it was completely consensual by Tara, even if Jake believed that Slade somehow manipulated the girl.

But this wasn't Tara. This was him.

"We have to go. We don't know how long the others will last." It was a bit of a low blow using guilt against Depression, but when her blue eyes met his dark eyes he knew he had her. "Please."

Depression nods. "O… Okay. I'll try to help but… I doubt I'll be much help."

"I'm sure you will." Jake said. "Now, on to Lust." Depression gasps. "What?"

"L-Lust? I don't think she likes me much." Jake groans until the hissing returns and he went back to being his stoic self.

"I'm sure she will when we get there. Now, please, let's go." Jake replied.

"Before I go," Depression states. "I have to pay my respects. Ask for forgiveness."

Jake opened his mouth until he looked at the grave she was in front of; Rose Wilson's. Rose was the only person in his life that Jake feels that he had completely failed. He failed at being an older brother. He failed at protecting her. He even failed at being a good friend to her. And in the end, it was his greed and need for vengeance that had him breaking into Chang's lab while Rose battled the Teen Titans alone. It was his fault for not being there when he could have.

He should have…

"Jake." Depression's voice snaps him out of his reverie and he realizes that he was near knee-deep in the ground. Jake looked at her as she simply lifts a hand, forcing him to rise.

"Thank you." Jake spoke with sincerity. "Now let's go join the others."

"Sure."

Jake realized that he was once again having trouble walking. Every step felt like his feet were being weighed down and Depression had to constantly keep him upright. Was this the true power of guilt? Had he been ignoring his own guilt for so long?

Jake brushed the thoughts out of his head as the squawking crows circled above him and his other emotions. He figured that they would follow him, or more like Depression, everywhere now. He didn't even realize that he felt so guilty about so much until then. Yet, again, he just smiles.

If his mind was this screwed up, he wondered how bad off Dick was.

---

[Mindscape]
[Unknown Time]

"Alright," Jake said looking up at the large hotel. "My lust lives in a hotel. Do I even want to know why?"

"You're a fucking whore, that's why." Rage spats.

"Wouldn't that make you a whore by default? Just wondering." Jake returns as they enter.

"Lust isn't a whore. She's just…" Happy taps her chin in a thinking manner. Jake nearly gags when a light bulb appeared over her head and she smiles. "Free!"

"Right…" Rage sardonically says. "She's free. That doesn't sound anything remotely to whorish."

"What room?" Jake asked.

"All rooms here are Lust's rooms." Happy said.

Jake eyed Wisdom for more information but she just shakes her head, a small blush adjourning her cheeks. He noticed that all of them (except for Rage who had a mask on) were all blushing quite a bit as a door opened.

His lust must be quite powerful.

"Alright," Jake said extending his ballistic staff and heading towards the open door. "I'm going to get her. If any of those ninja guys come in here, wipe them out of my mind. Literally."

"We will do our best." Courage responds on behalf of the others.

Jake doesn't reply as he attempts to grasp the situation. Lust lived in a hotel, in every room. Apparently Lust didn't leave her room(s) much. And as Jake walked into the room, he realized why.

She was naked.

"Mm, about time you showed." Lust purrs as she lies in bed, her upper body propped up on her elbows. "What took you so long?"

"Get dress. We need to go." Jake said.

Lust raised her brow, reminding him once more that his emotions had some of the characteristics of the people they appeared to be. Will was annoying like Robin, Depression moved rocks like Terra, and Wisdom had dry humor like Raven. Now there was Lust who was none other than Jade Nguyen, the last girl he had slept with.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to spend time with me?" Jake sighs heavily. Was he this annoying to the people outside of his mind or was it just his emotions?

"I want to save us from whatever wants to kills us." Jake said as Lust flips her legs over the edge of the bed, now seated with a small smile on her face. "Come on already. Get dress so we can get out of here."

"I'm sure you've heard, but I don't necessarily leave my domain. It's a bit scary out there for a frail girl like myself." Jake found himself rolling his eyes at her comment. The assassin doppelganger left the bed and nearly glides towards Jake. "Come on Junior, you know you want me. I'm irresistible. I am the very thing that makes every girl you've come to know dream about you, and in return, I give you that desire to make their dreams come true."

"You're deranged." Jake said as Lust circled him. "Let's go."

"Is it this form? I do change forms, you know?" Jake ignores her, staring directly in front of him at the red bed spread. "How about this? Do you not like me like this?"

Jake's eyes glazed over Raven's nude body before returning in front of him.

"Or maybe this is what you have the craving for? I promise to pay you in full this time." Now she was Starfire, just as naked as the first two. "Or perhaps someone with a bit more… Experience?"

Jake has never seen Talia naked before, but his mind surely thought of it. He noticed that he had somehow made almost every detail on how he assumes (or how he thinks he assumes) her body to appear without clothes.

Lust runs a hand across Jake's back and shoulders as she circled him.

"You know that this is what is meant to be. You shall kill Ra's al Ghul and then claim me as your prize." Even Lust's accent and diction perfectly matched Talia's. "You are the Heir of the Demon. And I shall be the bearer of your heir. Take me, beloved. Take everything you've ever wanted. Money. Power. Inner peace…"

Jake wasn't as power hungry as Lust appeared to be, but he could always use a little more money and inner peace. And as much as he hated to admit, but killing Ra's was clearly the way to get all three items. Plus, whether or not he would get Artemis forgiveness, he would have either Talia or Nyssa to choose from. So maybe…

Jake soon snaps out of his thoughts and realizes that he is somehow seated on Lust's bed. She was now in her original (Jade) form and standing in front of Jake, her hands on his shoulders.

"Relax. Give in to me…" Lust says, her voice filled with desire.

Jake's left foot soon kicks Lust beneath her sternum to push her away from him. When the emotion attempted to retaliated, she found one of his two blades being held beneath her chin.

"Not the sword you were hoping to see, I'm assuming." Lust actually snorts at the joke. "Here's the deal. I'm dying by something in my head and I need you to help. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I'd rather not do the hard way."

"Tough luck Junior. I don't feel like saving your precious thoughts of your precious blonde." Lust said with her hands on her hips. "So you're going to have to do this the hard way or else."

"If I die," Jake hissed. "You do know that I will never be able to fulfill your true desires, right? I will never be able to add Artemis or Talia to that list. Hell, not even have a chance to see Catwoman…"

Lust's face shows her disapproval before she claps her hands. A green sheet wraps around her body, covering her completely before apparently converting to a dress. Her eyes grew sharp, sharp enough for Jake to think that he was staring at his partner and she was not happy.

"Fine, I'll help. But make no mistake about it Jake. You will succumb to me again." Lust said.

"So sure, are you?" Jake questions.

"All of us want you to favor one over the others. Depression will bury you with guilt until you're as hopeless as she is. Rage will constantly throw jibes until you're furious at the world." Lust elaborates. "I made you sleep with Cheshire. I made you accept Starfire's offer. I will make you do it again."

"Thanks for the warning." Jake said before removing his blade. "Now let's find the others. I don't know how much time we have and you've wasted enough. But then again, you do seem very selfish."

"I'm not the selfish one, Greed is. I'm all up for sharing… We both know that the more… The merrier…" Jake ignores Lust's tone of voice, placing the sword back onto his back with the other. "Of course you know. After all, I am just a part of you."

Despite her flirtatious voice, Jake realized that Lust had a strong point. When he fought Rage, his anger taunted him and was angry (or angrier) when Jake chose to ignore him. At the same time, Depression did not stop Jake from sinking the first time. So maybe his emotions were trying to pull one over on him.

This made him worry about one emotion he had yet to come by.

Hate.

---

[Mindscape]
[Unknown Time]

There were only five emotions left; Love, Hate, Fear, Greed, and Compassion. From what he gathered from those that he had, Hate would be the hardest to find. So Jake turned his attention towards Fear first. But as he traveled with his emotions, he found out a lot about himself through those traveling with him.

For starters, Rage was an asshole. There were no other words that would fit the Red X costumed emotion but that. Rage had attempted to start a fight with all of them, only Will and Courage actually accepting said offer until Jake and Wisdom broke them apart. Apparently, only Lust had the ability to divert Rage's anger momentarily with her coy remarks and sly smiles.

Which brings Jake to the newest member of the group. Lust had the ability to transform into anyone, though she and the others have wholeheartedly stated that she was not Gemini, Madam Rouge (since Jake has never desired Madam Rouge sexually), or any other shape-shifter. Wisdom went on to say that they all changed due to who Jake met and how Jake saw that person, but Lust was the only one that changed anytime she felt like it. It got weird when Lust became a replica of Artemis, making it hard to tell between her and Happy.

Jake didn't know if he hummed or if he secretly liked to hum, but Happy hummed a lot. Too much for Jake's liking. And she was seemingly unfazed by Rage's anger, always attempting him and Depression to feel better about whatever it was that was making them angry or sad respectively. Out of all of the emotions present, she was the friendliest and was easy to talk to. In fact, Jake found it harder to get her to be quiet than to get her to respond.

Next were Will and Courage. While the two may seem similar, there were major differences. Will and Jake butted heads, a lot. In fact, Jake was going to go out on a limb and say that Will was more than "strong-willed" but stubborn. Courage on the other hand was a lot more peaceful. When it came to arguing with Rage, Courage simply stated that he wasn't afraid to fight Rage if it came down to it while Will simply wanted to fight then and there. Wisdom quietly explained to Jake that Will was this way since Jake also saw Robin to be very prideful.

Depression didn't talk much and was still being followed by the muttering crows. To Jake, she was just creepy. She tended to stay away from the others, Happy especially, and would cause one of the emotions to sink in the ground if they got too close to her. Out of all of them, Jake viewed her as the second strongest, only behind Wisdom. Depression was periodically heard muttering to herself or speaking quietly to a crow that took rest on her shoulder, making her all the creepier. Despite that, Jake gave her the Red X belt to hold as he knew that Rage could not get close to her without her say. Therefore it would be a while before he got that belt back.

Finally there was Wisdom. Wisdom scared Jake. She seemed to know more about him than he would like, despite her constantly reminding him that they were the same person. Wisdom was the only one of his emotions to know his other emotions strengths, weaknesses, and characteristics, though she did not go into detail about the emotions not there with them. And whenever Courage brought up anything about the assassins in Jake's mind, she simply shushed him with a simple shake of her head. Apparently even Jake's brave side wasn't stupid enough to fully piss Raven off. Worse, Jake felt as if Wisdom was hiding something. Something big at that.

"Thanks!" Happy says to some random person in Jake's mind. In truth, he was a mailman that Jake remembers from his childhood. How or why Jake even remembers how the guy looked was a question left unanswered. "He said that Fear went up onto the roof."

"She's afraid to go onto the roof…" Wisdom points out.

Jake frowns. "Why? I'm not afraid of heights."

"It's not the height that scares her, it's falling." Wisdom returns. "Fear has your fear of dying, just multiplied by her nature. Anything that can cause that, such as falling from a building," Jake swallows at the glare he received. "Is something she tries to avoid."

"Alright then, I'll go in and-"

"Can't you sense them?" Lust asks.

"The assassins. They're everywhere in that building." Wisdom answers Jake's unasked question. "More than you can take out alone. We're all going to help."

"I'll need my belt." Rage said.

Jake looked at his anger before turning to Depression.

"Keep the belt. Make sure that no one gets it." Rage growled at Jake's orders.

"You asshole! Don't you understand that I can't fight without that?!" Rage shouts. "I knew I should've-"

Rage's words were interrupted when Jake grabbed him by the back of his collar. Jake doesn't say anything just eying Rage's feet, which were slowly sinking into the ground. Jake knew that Rage regretted losing their earlier bout and he did not want his anger to sink into depression. Or in this case, sink because of Depression.

"You'll be fine." Jake says before looking at Lust. "Can you give us some cover?"

Lust transforms herself into Nyssa, two automatic handguns equipped.

"Don't worry about me. It's you that they want to kill." Once more, every time Lust transforms, her personality transforms with them. And now she was Nyssa Raatko. "Try not to slow me down. I'm beginning to crave… Blood…"

When Lust kicks in the door, Jake realized where they were at. Years ago, his uncle Wade had kidnapped Jake and his sister Rose and ran to this place. It was some secret government building that created the serum that made Slade into what he is. It was also the same location that attempted to recreate the serum that made Wade into the insane psychopath that he is today. It was one of the few places in the world that Jake Cross did not dare to venture in to.

"Die!" Lust shouts as she fires at the assassins, snapping Jake back to reality.

Grabbing the ballistic staff again, he enters after Depression to see his emotions fighting off a horde of the smoke gray-clad ninjas. Well, all except for Happy. She was content playfully dodging her opponents while calling out for Fear. Jake had no idea why he was busy watching Happy. He figured that it was due to her appearance as Artemis.

"Happy, sniper!" Wisdom calls out.

Jake quickly retrieves a grappling hook, firing at the man and reeling himself towards him. In no time, Jake had landed a kick to the man's face, knocking him against the concrete wall.

"You could just shoot these assholes!" Rage shouts at Jake before stabbing one of the unknown assassins with a knife.

Jake doesn't respond only because he was busy protecting Happy. He found it a natural reflex to protect Artemis, or at least an Artemis double. At the same time, he knew that Rage (Red X) would pretend not to care. That was something that was supposed to happen. Jake Cross would forever protect Artemis but Red X was her enemy, even in his mind.

"Jake," Wisdom said as she raised her hands, four assassins floating into the air. "Take Happy and go get Fear."

"We'll stop them down here. Just go!" Will adds on.

Jake nods and follows Happy up the steps. Every step he ascended, he grew more nervous. Despite the fact that he and Rose were locked in a basement this was nearly identical to the stairway there. There were no windows. There was no sunshine. There was no hope. For two children under the age of ten, the thoughts kept them up for many nights as they were too afraid to even close them. For a boy who would be eighteen in a couple of months, it was the memory that gave him nightmares periodically.

"Come on! Fear's in trouble!" Happy tells Jake.

Jake has no idea how she knew this but he follows her higher and higher up the steps. The smell of smoke soon filled his nostrils and he realized that he was no longer just in his former prison. He was somewhere else.

But he would have to figure out a later time as Happy somehow pulls away from him. It is taking more energy to keep up with her which makes him think that there were some of Artemis's traits within the emotion.

"Fear!" Happy yells as she tackles down a door, showing Jake where the smoke had been coming from.

They were now on the roof, flames being spread all around them. There were four ninjas in gray that turned their attention towards the newcomers. But it was the person behind the assassins that had Jake momentarily freeze.

"R-Rose…" Jake stutters.

There near the ledge of the building was his younger sister. She looked to be five, but not much older. The fact that she had two water-filled eyes instead of one told Jake that his guest was accurate considering she lost her left eye at six.

"Jake," Happy said, getting him to look at her. "You have to stop them."

Jake put the staff away before grabbing the two blades from his back. For some reason, he did not care that this was just an emotion. To him, this was his sister. This was his time to redeem himself for all the mistakes he made. If he had became the assassin Slade wanted him to be, he would have been there with Rose when she died and would have saved her.

Now it was time to take all of those regrets and do something about it.

"Get away from her!" Jake called as he ran for the attackers.

He met the first ninja two or three steps away from Happy, blocking the mysterious assassin's blade with one of his before driving his second blade through its chest, effectively dispelling it. The second came with a high swing, only for Jake to spin around it, swiftly placing a bomb on its back. The third man came with a deep roar, Jake leaping over him before eying the remaining two. The teen didn't flinch when the two bodies behind him exploded into dust, sending an ash-like substance everywhere.

"I'll say it one more time," Jake's voice had dropped two octaves as he spoke in a more sinister tone. "Get away from her."

The last two bolts for Jake with their blades ready. The Heir of the Demon retaliates by leaping into the air and twirling with his katana pointing away from his body. Becoming nothing more but a twirling blade-wielding cyclone, Jake hacks through the remaining two.

"Are you…" Jake paused when his voice sounded a lot like it did while he was wearing the Red X suit. He cleared his voice and calmed down. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh." The childish version of Rose said. Jake grinned and lowered himself onto his knees. "You're afraid."

Jake had no idea how to respond to the statement. It was true after all. It always was. But he had done a good job, or at least he thought he has, of keeping his fears hidden from Rose. Now Rose there was no hiding them from her.

"It's not her." Jake looked over his shoulder at Wisdom. The girl's violet eyes stayed locked onto him, avoid of any emotion. "You can't become consumed by your personal feelings for our appearance. Especially Fear's…"

"You look like you could use some cheering up." Happy suggested.

Lust, now back in the form of Jade, smirks and waltz towards Jake.

"I could do that…" Jake only sighs heavily before rising to his feet.

"Let's find the others."

There was a silent agreement amongst the group as Jake walked by the other emotions and headed down the steps. He did not notice the flames around him dying. He did not pay attention that Lust was now sporting Jade's Cheshire outfit, mask included. He didn't care.

Someone was messing with his mind and when he found out who, he would most likely beat them within an inch of his or her life. He just prayed for it to be someone like Roy Harper or Wally West. That way he could fill his fake grave with a body deserving to be there.

---

[Mindscape]
[Unknown Time]

He was back at Titans' Tower once more. And like the previous time, Starfire answered the door. But this wasn't Kori at all.

"Friends," Compassion said. "We have been waiting for you."

It was no shocker to Jake that Koriand'r would be the person whom he thought of when he thought of the word "compassion". She was very passionate about a lot of things and was not afraid to tell him about it during their short time together. If things had been different, maybe she would have been his "happy" instead of Compassion. Who knows?

"So you've found Greed?" Wisdom's question sounded more rhetorical than anything. Compassion nods her head before stepping aside to let them in. "What about the others?"

"You do not sense their presences?" replied Compassion in a confused manner.

Jake was no idiot. He knew that Wisdom knew where the others were all along, whether she "sensed" them or just knew was not even important. Why she kept quiet while Happy led him to most of the others was a question he did want to know. Also, whenever Happy or Courage made a comment about how they were traveling (by foot) Wisdom would immediately hush them and they would continue on their journey. Jake was now more suspicious about Raven's clone in his head than he was earlier.

"So we're all here again? Lovely." Slade Wilson. By now, Jake knew that his father was somewhere in his mind. The man was probably in everyone's mind due to the mind games that he played. For Jake, Slade played a bigger role in his life than just some sadistic assassin with a fetish for getting children to do his dirty work. "I guess now we can move on and get this over with."

Jake huffed. The man looked and sounded exactly as he did on New Year's Eve, safe for his mask. Jake realized that the Deathstroke suit that he wore was slightly more armored than the one his father was currently wearing.

"Jake, this is Hate." Compassion introduced. "Love has taken Greed up stairs to… Correct his behavior."

"Am I going to like whoever Greed is?" Jake asked. Wisdom answers him by shaking her head. "Oh well. At least there are no more ninjas."

Compassion frowned. "I am deeply confused. How could there not be any more-"

"We haven't discussed that. Yet." Wisdom said, adding the last part as an afterthought.

Jake remained quiet. Just another reason why he doubted half the things Wisdom was telling him.

"Hi Compassion!" Happy happily says before hugging the Tamaranean copy.

"Oh hello my dear friend! I have missed you so much!"

"Kill me now…" Rage said loud enough for the others to hear.

"It is good to see you too Rage." Compassion said. "Even if you have tried to kill and destroy everything that I cherish, it is still good to see you."

"We're ready." Yet another person that Jake had braced himself to see descended the steps with a larger surprise behind her. The person who he expected to see somewhere in his mind was Adeline, the person speaking. Behind her was one Wally West in his civilian clothes.

Jake looked at Wisdom for her to explain what the hell Wally West was doing in his mind. And as he expected, she picked up on his question without him saying a thing.

"He," Wisdom said. "Is the person who you… Envy. Yes, envy is the best word. He has the only thing that you, as Red X, could not steal." Jake nods. Considering all the hell he went through New Year's Eve just for Artemis to kiss the damn speedster that made a little sense. "And she is Love. I don't think I have to explicate why you would see your own mother as the emotion Love."

"You managed to round up the others? I'm proud." Jake swallows. Even if this was not his mother, she sure sounded like her, looked like her, and acted like her.

"I think it's time we go to the source." Wisdom's words make Jake grunt.

"I knew you knew all along." Wisdom doesn't even look ashamed as she shrugs her shoulders and removes the hood from her head. "I could've defeated whatever is out there without going through the trouble of finding you."

"That would be foolish. I hate foolishness." Hate spoke, crossing his arms.

Jake glares. "Really? I didn't see that one coming."

"I hate sarcastic remarks as well." The man shoots back, apparently unafraid of Jake and his obvious grudge. "You think that just because I take the form of your father, I'm supposed to automatically attack you. But that's not what I do. As your hate, I only appear to remove the threats that I hate most."

"Sounds more like Rage." Jake points out.

Hate chuckles. "You can have a calm hate, my boy. Revenge is best served cold. You should know that by now."

"I know," Jake said as he sighed heavily. "That this is all a figment of my imagination and when I wake up, I'm never going to put a demonic seal on my back again."

"We're very real now. Thanks to Rachel's spell, your emotions are now emoticlones." Jake was too stunned by the fact that Hate- Slade- had referred to his friend as Rachel and not Raven to even notice the new word at the end of his sentence. "Besides, she's told you that in order to achieve your perfect stage, you need all of us. And as much as I hate to admit it, she's right."

"You need balance." Love elaborates. "Much like you need me, you need him as well." Jake eyed Hate before looking back at Love. "Think about it. You fight best when you are trying to protect something you love because you would hate for something bad to happen to it. You hate the League of Assassins and Teen Titans for killing someone you love. Like your parents, without one of us, you wouldn't exist in the world."

Jake looked between the two. This had been nothing but a learning experience for him and it just kept going. True, he did owe his parents for his existence even if one of them abandoned him while the other had him hide while she was murdered. But he needed his parents' guidance to get him through the days. Things such as cooking and fighting were things that they taught him as a child that carried on today.

"Before we do anything," Jake said as he crossed his arms. "I want to know exactly what we're going up against." When the other emotions- or emoticlones as Jake now knows them as- looked at Wisdom, he turned to her. "And be honest with me."

Wisdom releases a breath. "Alright. We believe that it is an extension of Fear except it is what you're afraid of the most. Your fears and nightmares are haunting us."

"Then why doesn't Fear just stop them herself? If it is my nightmares, she has control over that, right?" Wisdom shakes her head.

"I don't know." Wisdom said. "Whatever it is, I do know that it makes us question. It makes us hesitant. We lose trust between us and we spread. My domain of wisdom and knowledge doesn't have an answer to this problem."

"Forgive my interruption," Compassion said. "But I think that it is best if we were to show him where this foe is coming from instead of just talking. It may be time to kick the butt."

How Starfire-like, Jake thought with mirth.

"How far is it?" Jake's question was met by Hate's laughter.

"Dear boy, you do remember that you are within your mind, right?" Hate said. "If you simply believe that the door to your problems is, say right there," Hate pointed to the door that led out of Titans' Tower. "Then when you open it, you will be there. Why Wisdom didn't tell you that, I don't know. But as you can assume, I hate wasting time."

Wisdom, once again, didn't look bothered that another secret of hers had been revealed. Jake would have retorted in an angered fashion but didn't have the energy. Despite this all being inside of his head, fighting countless of ninjas in gray was starting to take its toll on his stamina.

But he had to get whatever it was that was killing him out of his mind.

Taking in a deep breath and releasing it shortly afterwards, Jake went to the large doors. In his head he was more determined than anything to find out whatever it was that was hurting him mentally. And emotionally considering it was his emotions that were in danger as well.

Opening the large doors, he found himself in a place that he had only been once and vowed to never return again. No, not the cells that Deadpool once held him captured. Instead it was an old underground tomb in Egypt. It was practically where all of this began.

"Let's move." Even Jake's voice showed his uneasiness about the place. But the others complied and followed. "I hate this place."

"We know." Hate and Wisdom responds in unison.

"It's where you met Blackfire." Lust remembers aloud. "Or rather, the day after you left Blackfire."

Jake nods. He remembers this grave all too well. The Centauri gem that he had stolen from Blackfire was never his intended target. He had stumbled upon Egypt when he heard of some great piece of technology that Kord Industries had discovered that would be beneficial for Jake's own Cross Enterprise. However when he got there, he discovered nothing but danger and hieroglyphics.

"Wh-what does it s-say?" Fear stutters, walking closely beside Jake.

"It's about a weapon. A beetle." Wisdom answers. "It sounds pretty dangerous."

"I'm in the weapon-making industry. Dangerous is profitable." Jake counters.

"If you truly believed that," Love said. "Then would you care that Rose was in such a dangerous organization for a paycheck?"

"No…" Jake said before pausing at a split. "I… I don't remember a split being here."

"It's this way." Hate said taking the lead.

"How do you know?" Jake asked with more curiosity than anything.

"We can all feel it." Compassion states. "It is… Powerful. Frightfully powerful."

Fear clutches onto Jake as he follows his father's replica down a torch lit path. His eyes scan the walls, seeing odd shapes and hieroglyphics that he remembers from his time in Egypt. There were also some words that he had seen Ra's texts and teachings.

"Drink of its blood and become the demon. That doesn't sound too bad." Rage announced.

"It's my drink and my title." Greed replied. "Those losers just want to take it for themselves."

"I don't want it. Not now. Not ever." Jake said. "So get that out of your head."

"That would only make sense if you get it out of your head." Hate's words cause Jake to reach for the handgun he had.

This was too much like Slade.

"Ah, welcome," Ra's voice echoes along the walls as the group enters a large circular room. "You are just in time."

"Ra's," Jake spat. "What have you done to me?"

"I haven't done anything. In fact, you put me in your head, not the other way around." Jake saw the man surrounded by the gray clad assassins near the center of the room. "But here in your mind, I have come to realize a few things about you, Jake Wilson. Things such as your wants… Your desires… Your fears…!"

"So you're my fears, huh? I can take care of some old has-been." Jake comments.

"I doubt that you'll even touch me." Ra's spoke. "Not when you see your missing self."

"Wha-"

Jake never gets the question out as he feels something grab the back of his neck and hurls him away from the group. His body crashes onto the floor and topples into the stone wall. His dark eyes scan the area for the perpetrator, only to see one Vandal Savage.

"Oh shit…" Jake mutters.

"Oh yes. Be afraid!" Vandal says as he palms Jake's face and lifts him into the air. Jake fought out of the grasp, but only barely, flipping away from the large man afterwards. "You can't outrun me. You can't outrun the Light!"

"Wisdom! I could use some help!" Jake said.

"I can't! My powers aren't working!" was her reply as Jake was forced to dodge several assassins that came for him.

Grunting, Jake retrieves the two blades on his back and begins to defend himself. But again, just barely as his eyes kept searching for Savage and Ra's. Neither was present and his other emotions seemed to be having a hard time fighting off the assassins now.

"Miss me?!" Jake was unprepared for the large Vandal to just appear in front of him and knock him through a wall with a single punch to his chest. He was shock to know that he somehow managed to keep a hold of his two blades during the act. "Heir of the Demon my ass."

Jake looks up and rolls out of the way of Ra's sword attempting to behead him. Now standing in a three-point stance, Jake eyed his opponents.

"To think that I thought of you as the one to surpass me." Ra's taunts as he holds his sword with both hands. "You will never replace that godforsaken detective!"

Ra's makes an upward slice with his sword that kicked up sand and sent an unseen force towards Jake. The boy braced himself but was still knocked off of his feet once more. As he slid on his back he questioned how he would beat just one of them, let alone both of them.

"Get up." Jake looked up to see Lady Shiva staring down at him. He closes his eyes and thinks of his problem instead of the woman above him. "I said get up Cross."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hearing the disdain in Vandal's voice, Jake realized that Shiva, or whoever she was in his head, was not here to kill him.

Jake stood up. "So what emotion are you?"

"I'm not an emotion. I'm Shiva. You know that." Lady Shiva said. "Do you remember anything that I've taught you or were you simply pretending? Have I wasted my time with you?"

"Shut up!" Ra's orders, sending another shockwave towards them.

Jake was seconds away from flinching before Shiva leaps in front of him and thrusts her left palm forward. The unseen shockwave disperses, leaving Jake unharmed.

"What… How did you…?" Jake was too stunned to even form his question.

"I gave you answers, not just about the world, but about yourself. I made you own your emotions, control them at a whim." Lady Shiva announces. "I taught you moves that Talia couldn't even master. And now you doubt, not only your skills, but my teachings? I should kill you myself."

Jake grips the blades in his hands tighter before releasing them and closing his eyes. Shiva taught him hand-to-hand combat. She taught him secrets about the League of Assassins and some about the Justice League. The different kind of kryptonite, how to tell if Batman is following you, how to EMP Mr. Freeze, these were just some of the things that Shiva taught him in-between their sparring sessions.

She even made some of his parents' actions make sense.

But above all, she taught him how to keep his emotions in check. How to soothe anger and enrage happiness. How to forgive things that he hated and then scold or harm things he loved. She taught him how fear could be used to his advantage and how determination could make him nearly invincible.

"Believe in yourself." Shiva told him.

Jake opened his eyes, feeling somewhat empowered. It was the same feeling he had gotten the moment he put on the Red X suit except multiplied with something else. He looked down at his hands, seeing them covered in black.

"I told you, you are the venom that can poison the Light and the carnage that can ruin the Justice League." Shiva said. "The only person that can walk the web of lies is you. Remember that."

Jake looked up to see Lady Shiva had vanished and now he stood alone with Ra's al Ghul and Vandal Savage. He looked down at his body again, seeing a strange silver spider emblem on his black chest before looking back up at his opponents. Balling his fists up, he was pleased to see metal stingers sprout from his wrists.

"You can't beat me!" Ra's shouts. "I made you! I am you!"

"I taught you to never doubt an assassin, including yourself." Shiva's voice was loud and clear and Jake felt his anger rising. "You will have to break free of you former self and become something great. And with that power…"

"Comes great responsibility." Jake finishes before running towards his opponents in his Black Spider outfit.

"Above you!" Now Shiva's words came to him as if they were his thoughts and he could somehow sense every danger there was.

Jake leaps, finding himself able to jump much farther than he has ever done so, and sticks onto the ceiling like a bug. He eyes the assassin that was doing the same thing and smirks beneath his mask.

"This might hurt." Jake said before jabbing his blade through the ninja's face. The assassin screams in pain before falling downwards. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Rocket!"

Jake consciously free-falls to the ground, dodging the rocket propelled grenade that was launched at his previous location. Jake liked this new sixth-sense that told him of danger as he could now be as reckless as, well his Rage, and not suffer the consequences. Even as the rocks and sand poured from the breaking ceiling, Jake did not worry. His body could react without him thinking and eventually got him out of harm's way.

"Great. Now how do I get back over there?" Jake asked himself as he stared up at the large hole in the ceiling. His eyes spot Vandal crawling up the hole and smirks. "Found you."

Jake ascended the rubble in front of him before leaping onto the ceiling once more. He crawls into the hole, scaling upwards after Savage. He questioned how the hole was as deep as it seemed to extend upwards for at least ten floors, but followed Savage nonetheless.

Before he could reach his target, he sensed someone from behind him attacking. Not knowing how he would do so, he knew he had to grab the attacker without taking his hands off of the walls. Jake looked over his shoulder to see four black tentacles holding the masked assassin.

"That's pretty damn badass." Jake says to himself before flinging the assassin towards the ground.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Shiva's voice chastised. "We have yet to remove the real problem."

"On it." Jake said as he continued to climb out of the hole.

The teen was now crawling faster. He had no idea what it was, but he felt confident even with Will and Courage not with him. He felt almost invincible and unafraid to go straight into battle with his two foes. Shiva… This suit… Something was making him feel empowered and he never wanted to go without this feeling ever again. That way he could always save those important to him from whatever. He would never have to feel like failure again.

"So, here we are."

Jake looks around for either Ra's or Vandal only to find that the area was vacant. They were somehow in a desert of some sort, nothing but sand and more sand surrounding Jake. Oddly enough, the heat from the sun was somehow felt even in his mind and he wanted nothing more but to leave the sunlight.

"What's the matter," Jake looked left, seeing Ra's al Ghul standing alone with his arms crossed. "Don't you recognize the own vastness of your mind? This empty wasteland is where I was created."

"It's where I'll bury you as well!" Jake retorts as he ran towards Ra's.

The old man simply holds out a hand. Grains of sand move to the open palm, a sword somehow materializing before Jake could close in on him.

"Aagh!" Ra's shouts as he thrusts the blade forward.

Jake saw the blade nearing his abdomen and leapt, somehow flipping over Ra's and landing on his feet easily. The teen did not have time to revel in his newly gained acrobatic abilities, his body twisting in time to stop two downward blades attempting to hack the teen in thirds.

Jake grunts as he feels his arms buckle under Ra's immense strength. The metal stingers kept the swords from slicing him but now he was in a stalemate and already on one knee. He doubted that he could keep up especially if Vandal decided to attack.

"Pathetic!" Jake hardly had time to register the knee that knocked the boy flat on his back. Slowly sitting up he saw Ra's stalking towards him. "I knew you could never replace them! You knew that you could never replace them!"

Jake grunts as he scrambles to his feet.

"I don't want to be like them!" barked the teen as he charges for Ra's.

Ra's eyes narrows dangerously as the old man grips the swords in his hands.

"You're weak!" Ra's said as he blocked Jake's initial strike. Jake spun and attempting to slash Ra's with his left blade, being stopped again. "You'll never beat me!" Jake grunts and uses his right hand to jab towards Ra's, though it was blocked as well. "We will always win Jake Wilson. Embrace the Light or forever be blinded by it!"

Jake could not respond as his body was knocked to the ground again, this time by the shirtless Vandal Savage.

"Don't bother getting back up," Vandal spoke. "We both know that you won't win this. So either join us… Or die."

"I died once. Didn't like it." Jake jokes dryly as slowly rises.

"If that's your answer…!" Vandal released a feral roar afterwards and stomped on the ground hard.

Jake could feel his heart racing as the earth beneath him began to split and give away. Even with this new sense of telling him of imminent danger, there was no way he was going to dodge this. He was literally about to die.

"Shit!" Jake cursed as he grabs onto a hardened piece of earth, his body dangling over a dark abyss now.

"That's it," Vandal taunts. "Continue to fight the worthless fight."

"You thought you could win and now you have failed again." This time it was the Brain's robotic voice that rang through Jake's head. "As predicted, you are just another aspirant to Ra's throne who has failed miserably."

"I have a question," Vandal says. "Even if you found your mother's killer, what would you have done? Do you think that you were just going to kill the person or people who killed your mother? You would've died Jake. Just like you're going to do now."

"Not quite," Ra's voices. "To break a person, you must break their will first." Jake was able to see sand pile in front of Ra's before shaping and forming his mother and sister. "And like it was in the past, you will be reminded of how powerless you truly are."

Jake went to move his dangling right arm to pull himself up, but a new weight in his hand forced his attention to it.

"Don't ever let go… Please Jake…"

Jake gasps as Artemis- the real Artemis- was clutching onto his right hand for her dear life. He realized that this particular fear came on New Year's Eve when he nearly let her fall into deep space. That particular moment actually scared him a lot more than he put on and he was somehow able to hide the fact from everyone around him.

But this was not like that time. Now he could feel his grip slipping with very little control of it. He had to save her. He had to do something now or watch Artemis die just like his mother and sister.

Turning his head back to the events going on above ground, Jake saw that Vandal had now stepped directly in front of him to block Ra's execution of Adeline and Rose.

"Even if you admit you're afraid," Vandal said. "You still doubt that you can survive. You still doubt that you can avenge your family. You doubt that you can save Artemis. And truthfully, there isn't a single person alive that believes that you're a good person. Not Rachel. Not Echo. No one believes that you can do anything you say!"

Jake feels his body sink into the abyss though his left hand was still gripping onto the cliff for his life. Vandal was right to a point. He did not believe that he could defeat the Light, though he realized that he would have to fight them sooner or later. And Raven did doubt that they could do anything to even slow the Light down. Even Dick, someone who Jake had unconsciously deemed the most willed person ever, doubts that anyone could stop the Light.

So maybe he should just let go?

"Dad," Jake frowned and looked at the person that he now held in his right hand. Instead of Artemis, there was a familiar redhead with golden eyes. "I love you."

Jake just stares at the girl. Where did she come from? Where was Artemis? And why…? Why did she still love him? He had failed. He was never going to beat the Light. He was never going to beat Ra's. Logically speaking, there was literally no way for him to walk away from this…

Until he realized who Ra's was supposed to be.

"Phoenix," Jake spoke firmly to the redhead. "Go."

The girl nods and releases Jake, her glider somehow forming into her hand and sending her high into the sky. Jake watched and waited as she circled the air before plunging for Vandal.

"What?!" The man shouts before being tackled away from Jake.

Jake immediately pulls himself up from the cliff and begins to walk to Ra's, each step with purpose.

"I get it." Jake said angrily. "You aren't Ra's. You're just another part of me. That's why you can't kill them." Ra's eyes widen and the swords drop from his hands, the Adeline and Rose replicas turning into a pile of sand now. "You are what have been terrorizing my mind for years now. You are the reason Wisdom couldn't use her power and why Will and Courage were the only two that could fight back. Just like Kaldur and Gemini in the kitchen… You are Doubt!"

Doubt grunts. "Even if you know this, I can still feel the doubt radiating off of you. I'm still much stronger than you are!"

"You must've forgotten, I've seen the future. I know I live this event." Jake says before a hand of dark magic grips Doubt tightly, Wisdom appearing next to Jake. "Just like I know that every time I begin to doubt something, I push it aside and replace it with another emotion like Rage!"

"Wha-" Doubt never got the full word out as Rage appears in the air next to Doubt, landing a spinning roundhouse that sends the old man replica sprawling into the sand.

Rage then holds his right palm out towards Doubt and fired a red beam that blasts Doubt deep into the sand.

"I know that doubting myself will just give me more to grieve," Jake spoke before Depression causes a small pillar of stone to launch Doubt into the air. "And I know doubting myself will make me less happy," Happy, now garbed in Artemis's heroine clothes, fired three arrows that stuck into Doubt's body as the man fell. "But with a little Courage, I will defeat you!"

Doubt hits the ground hard and only has a moment of rest before a whip of water wraps around his legs and slings him into Will. Will then knocks Doubt near unconscious with a powerful blow with his extendable metal pole.

"You…" Doubt coughs. "You can't win! This is my world now! You know you can't destroy me! You doubt you'll ever get rid of me!"

"Actually," Greed said as he super-speeds to the crawling Doubt. "This world is mine! All mine! And I'm not sharing!"

Jake was somewhat amused by Doubt being beaten by the Wally-clone in his head. He was glad that he was starting to beat Doubt. On the other, it was still Wally doing it.

When Green zips away, Doubt was hardly able to get to his hands and knees, though the man still attempted.

"You haven't won yet…" Doubt wheezed before Love and Hate stepped towards him.

"I hate doubting myself." Hate mutters.

"Understand that this is out of love." Love said before the two deliver a knockout blow to Doubt.

"I must say," Compassion said. "That was… Most unkind. Necessary, but unkind."

Jake ignored the Starfire look-alike for a moment as he watched Aliyah battle Savage. He realized that Ra's was Doubt (or rather Doubt took the form of Ra's al Ghul) so now he questioned who Savage was in his mind. There were not many emotions that came to mind when he thought of the name of Vandal Savage; Hate, Rage, and Fear already been taking by others.

So just what was Vandal doing in his mind?

He then remembered Wisdom's words from earlier. Her domain of wisdom and knowledge could not understand the situation likely because Vandal was always around Doubt. That would also explain why Wisdom could not use her powers because Jake doubted that she could do anything to hurt them. But at the same time, Vandal was supposed to also represent something that Jake feared. Something that, with doubt, could plague his mind for all eternity…

Jake's eyes widen in realization. When he was holding onto the mental image of Artemis, she requested that he never let go. He had already saved her from the mission on New Year's Eve, but he feared that someday in the future he would ultimately fail her like he did his mother and sister. Doubt and Savage constantly reminded Jake of, not what he feared at the moment, but what he feared about the future.

"Anxiety…" Jake's word stopped the fighting around him as Vandal, now known a Jake's Anxiety, stares at him. "You represent what keeps me up at night… Those thoughts of the future… That's why Phoenix can beat you."

Anxiety grunts. "Even figuring that out, there's nothing you can do about it. This is my domain! This is where you will end and you know it!"

"Actually, we're in Lust's domain." The area around them shimmers to the hotel lobby where Lust lived. Jake could see his other emotions sporting their earlier blushes as Lust walks up to Anxiety. "And a part of being who I am, is being anxious of who will be next on that list of nightly partners. Even one as dangerous as…"

"Me…" Lust, now in the form of Poison Ivy, purrs as she rubs Anxiety's shoulders. "Ooh, you're so tense. Why don't you just relax a bit?"

"Stop this!" Anxiety, who was truly aroused by the display, calls out.

Jake takes in a deep breath and slowly releases it, the Black Spider suit receding. He found himself standing in the Deathstroke armor he had earlier while he stares at Anxiety struggling to get rid of Lust.

"You've conquered your inner fears!" Happy cheers as she hugs Jake. "We should celebrate! Pizza and ice cream for everyone!"

"Actually," Jake said, gaining Wisdom's attention. "There is one thing I have to do. I just need a doorway to the bank. And all of you." Jake looks at Anxiety. "Which means you too."

"What is it?" Courage questions.

"Is… Is it s-scary?" Fear stammers.

Jake nods. "I'm afraid so. But in order for me to wake up, we have to face this one person. He is a reflection of myself… Someone who has already conquered most of his fears already."

"I know," Wisdom said as she walks to the door. "This will lead you to him."

Jake walks to the door cautiously. He knew that once he opened the door he would have to face the man behind said door and unlike his battles with his emotions, this man had a lot more arsenals and techniques than a certain realm of emotions.

"I was dragged in here not to fight with you guys, but to unite you so we can defeat the real problem." Jake said, Wisdom smiling a bit. "Doubt and Anxiety forced you guys to separate and fear what we're really after." Jake put his hand on the knob to the door. "So are all of you with me?"

Rage snorts. "You already know we don't have a choice if you force us to, asshole."

"Rage is somewhat correct. So long as you have this newfound confidence and control over us, we are at your service." Compassion said. "However, I do not think of you as the hole of the buttocks."

"I would love it if you were to open the door now." Love said.

"Yeah. We hate waiting." Hate adds.

Jake takes in a deep breath. "Alright. Just remember, losing isn't an option."

"I believe in you." Jake looks at the mental image of his daughter before nodding.

"Here we go."

As soon as Jake pushes the door open, he and his emotions were instantly swarmed by bats, an omen as to the man locked inside.

---

[Ra's Hideout: Somewhere in Egypt]
[December 13, 00:02:06 AST]

Ra's watched in awe as Jake's eyes opened. For the last six hours, Jake has been meditating in fear toxin, a feat the average man could not do. The fact that Jake went to do this after their physical training was also quite impressive. Yet Jake's eyes did not show any insanity or fear in them. They were staring at some invisible object with focus and anger.

"It's done," Jake said quietly before removing the mask that fed him the fear toxin. "I'm back."

"How are you feeling?" Ra's cautiously questioned.

Jake looked at him. "Hungry." Ra's nods his head slowly in a skeptical matter. "I'm fine sensei. For the most part, I've beaten my inner demons."

"Your father, I presume." Ra's said.

"My parents," Jake lied. "But I'm learning how to put them behind me. What happened has already happened. I can't change it. I can't pick my parents and I can't change what they've done. But I can change the future and beat anyone who stands in my way."

"Then I haven't chosen wrong," Ra's said. "Only Bane and Batman went through this particular training and Bane did not fair too well afterwards. The fact that you seem unaffected both impresses me and startles me."

"What did you expect? I am the Heir of the Demon." Jake said as he walks for the exit. "But I am hungry. I do hope your chefs prepared something great. Really not in the mood for their healthier choices tonight."

"Well it is your birthday. I'm sure they will fix anything you want." Ra's says as the young man exits the room. "Jake Cross… Heir of the Demon… Could he be the one?"

---

Author's Notes: Fun fact: Remember on the Past chapter I said that it went through six rewrites? I wasn't kidding. This was going to be the original chapter with the Past chapter happening later. That's why the beginning is the same, word by word. In that particular chapter (in the beginning and end) Jake comments about the "voices in his head" which are these guys. This chapter also explains why he free-falls quite a bit (like in Games) to get over some of his fears. It also dives a little deeper as to Jake's response to Talia in that very chapter. Be on the look-out for the next chapter of Arkham Rising and the upcoming showcases. As always, leave a review or PM for any thoughts, questions, or comments you have and I'll respond later. Ciao.