So I just decided to start the whole thing over again. So sorry for messing everyone up and all that, but now that I've got it all set and ready to go, we're ready to experience Dragons Reighn together.
Read and review and on with the show.
Chapter 1: Church of Blood
San Francisco, California
Black ominous clouds began to take shape, circling the spire of the church at the top of the mountain peak, as if the heavens knew of the dark deeds about to take place. The half-moon crept slowly but inexorably towards the proper alignment for the ritual, its cold glow adding a corpse-like hue to the multitude of candles that tried unsuccessfully to illuminate the cavernous interior of the church. A man in his late twenties and wearing a helmet made from the skull of an impossible animal observed the congregation, frowning. Attendance was sparse due to the interference of the Teen Titans two months ago, but those who still "believed" had answered his call zealously enough, eager to receive "enlightenment" at his hands. He may not be the actual son of the late Brother Blood, but no one except for him was aware of it. He had made sure that the knowledge of that fact died, together with all of its owners.
The inside of the aged gothic style designed church was built almost like a stadium, the pews arranged in a descending fashion surrounding a wooden alter at the base of the pews. The Choir area was alive with slow songs being sung in dedication to Brother Blood and his ideals for a better world under his rule, though when anyone had time to write such music was anyone's guess. The occupants in the stands swayed slowly from side to side, following the tune and mouthing soundlessly the words as they allowed the rapture to creep over them. Each of the men and women were dressed in long, floor length, snow white robes with gold trims and hoods drawn over their heads.
The music ceased and the stands became quiet with eager anticipation, but it was still about five minutes before their esteemed leader stepped out from the shadows to the ambo at the far right side of the front of the church, his arms raised to accept the cheers and applause from his followers. Sebastian Blood the II, or so he called himself, wore a smug grin as the cheers fed into his vanity like water filling an empty glass, and he craved more. He couldn't help but reflect on the idea of how impressionable and desperate people are to believe in something, anything that could give them some sort of validation in their pathetic lives.
He rotated the palms of his hands to face the stands, signaling for his followers to quiet down. He let the silence settle for a moment. "My friends! Tonight we push on with the work of my father, tonight we take another step closer to achieving his noble goals!" Soft agreeing and cheers echoed from the stands. The fake Sebastian Blood removed his odd skull helmet, running his hands through his platinum blonde hair and straightening his robes to as if to appear more presentable. "Bring forth my bride!" he gestured to a doorway in the center of the stands.
Over the murmuring of the crowd a young woman, dressed in a long, elegant white gown, was heard struggling and fighting the grip of two men who were pulling her towards the altar. She continued to fight, even as the men chained her wrists and ankles, imprisoning her to the wooden alter. The two men joined the congregation in the stands looking down at Brother Blood and his "bride".
Brother Blood held up his hands again, silencing the crowd, but couldn't silence the growls of anger from the young girl attempting to free herself from her chains. "Behold. That daughter of Trigon, his gem," he glanced down at the young girl, meeting her furious violet gaze, "and my bride. Raven."
The one called Raven glared furious daggers up at the cult leader, however he remained calm and composed, not the least bit intimidated by her stare. Slowly he made his way from the ambo towards dark damsel. "Don't worry child, your going to be apart of something wonderful."
She rolled her eyes, "Wouldn't be the first time I've been told that, and it's just as much a lie as it was the first time." her voice was very monotonous, but was still laced with venom as she spoke.
Blood chuckled, cupping her pale skinned face with his hand. She recoiled as his thumb began to caress her cheek. "I never would have thought the child of our lord Trigon would be so lovely," a dreamy sort of look came over his eyes, "we will make a beautiful child together."
Her eyes widened, shifting from anger to horror, "You can't be serious!"
He snaked his hand around her neck and pulled her closer, "Deadly. The child that we shall create will help to bring this world to its knees, and together we will cleanse it of sin, as husband –" he took her chained hands. "– and wife."
Rage ignited again in Raven's eyes as she heard Blood's words and saw his smug egotistical expression. Her head shot forward, her forehead smashing with a sickening crunch into Blood's nose. He jerked back and lifted his hand to touch the warm, red liquid that now seeped freely from the broken nose. She glared with pure hatred, not bothered by the fact that his own blood was flowing down from the chakra stone on her forehead, though she was bothered that she could hear the voice of her father applauding her attack.
Bloods arm extended in a swift arc and slapped a backhand over the chained girl's face, leaving an angry red welt, but still she stood with demonic fury. He grasped her chin with the other hand, but she twisted violently away and sank her unaturally sharp teeth into his forearm. Blood howled in pain and fury, both fists rising, clenched in choleric outrage, with the obvious intent to crush the half-demoness into submission, just as the windows suddenly shattered, spraying glass and pieces of wood over Blood, Raven and his followers.
Blood shook the glass off of himself, then looked on in anger at those that dared to interrupt the ceremony. "NO! NOT AGAIN!"
He knew who they were instantly. The curvy, orange skinned, firy red-headed leader of the Teen Titans, Starfire. The blue and black armored figure of Blue Beetle, and the green shape shifter Beast Boy. The powerless, but still leathal Nightwing, and the newest ward of the Batman, Robin. Lastly the newest member of their team, the black haired, blue eyed Wondergirl.
The alien princess Starfire, floated above the others, "Sorry, but we're cancelling the honeymoon." Her pure emerald eyes glowed with rightious fury, aimmed directly at Brother Blood.
Blood's face twisted in absolute anger, "KILL THEM!" He shrieked. A handful of men stood up from the crowed, each one raising an automatic weapons, and opened fire at the young team of heroes.
The Titan power couple stood side by side, "TITANS GO!" The Titans seperated, Blood's congregation scattering, Blood cursing the Titans as he struggled to release Raven from her chains.
"Your fathers power WILL be MINE!" he growled, but was kicked in the head by a steal toed boot, knocking off his helmet and taking him to the ground.
The new Robin, Damian Wayne, drew the sword he was known for carrying. "Are you alright?" he asked, but before Raven could respond he was kicked away from the alter by Brother Blood. Damien got to his feet, facing Blood, and threw his sword at his heart, but Blood blocked the attack with a nearby candelabra. Blood charged the young swordsman all while Raven pulled against the chains in order to free herself, cursing herself for feeling useless.
She shook her head, black hair whipping about her face, when she heard a low buzzing fly by her ear, which shifted from a green fly, to her green pointy-eared teammate. "What took you so long?" She asked dryly.
Beast Boy shrugged, changing his normal human hand to the razor claws of a grizzly bear. "We stopped for some take out. We got you a burger, extra pickles."
Without missing a beat she responded, "I hate pickles."
He broke the chains apart with his claw and tossed them aside taking notice of the white gown that clung to her curves. "Nice dress-"
"-shut up," she hissed rubbing her wrists.
"How come you haven't gone all 'red four eyes' on everyone?"
Raven rolled up the sleeve on her right arm, wincing as the fabric passed by a brand on her arm. "When they took me, they put this on me. It keeps me from using my powers."
The brand looked like a star, with a smaller star in the center and small dots placed at each point.
"GET DOWN!"
Damien tackled the two getting them to the ground just as a barrage of gunfire sailed past them. "For someone who has omnidirectional senses, you sure don't use them that much!" he glared at Beast Boy. The changeling snarled, shifting into an enormous green gorilla and beating his chest with a massive roar. Damien got defensive, but then the gorilla threw a punch at the cultist that was sneaking up behind them.
"And here I thought Nightwing was the only dick around here." the gorilla quiped.
Two batarangs sailed passed them from the stands taking down some of the escaping cultists who were heading out the back. "I heard that!" Nightwing growled.
"RAGH!" Brother Blood came back at them with the candlelabra. Without turning around, or even showing much effort, Damien blocked the attack with his sword, then gave a roundhouse kick to Blood's face, knocking the occult leader to the ground. Damien stood over Blood, the tip of his sword placed under the cultist leaders chin.
"Don't. Even. Think about it." his eyes narrowed from behind his mask, keeping Blood on the ground and at his mercy.
Nightwing leapt from the pews landing beside the young Robin. "Lucas Alburn, your under arrest."
"Pfft, Lucas?" Beast Boy scoffed. One by one the Titans gathered the members of Bloods group, Nightwing handcuffing the cult leader himself.
"Where is Blue Beetle and Wondergirl?" Ask Starfire.
"Right here Star." Blue Beetle and Wondergirl floated towards the other Titans, having gone after a few of the congregation members who attempted to flee during the melee.
"And here I thought you said these guys were tough." Wondergirl tossed two of them on top of the growing pile of men and women.
"Well he isn't super charged with OUR powers." Beast Boy stuck out his tongue.
"Real mature Gar," Raven rolled her eyes, "How did you guys find me anyways? And Damien if you say 'tracker' again I will-"
"Believe it or not, we got an anonymous tip telling us where you were and what Blood had planned." Starfire responded.
That confused the demoness even further. "An anonymous tip?"
No one had noticed how quiet the church had gotten, not until an icy chill passed through each of the Titans as well as Blood and his followers. Raven however, instantly felt a presence, a powerful . . . demonic presence, followed by slow clapping coming form the doors. The Titans turned to see a man dressed in a dark black suit, black button up shirt neatly tucked into his black pants with sharp shinned black shoes, and a dark midnight blue tie. He was pale, as if he didn't see much of the sun, with black, carefully combed hair. Everything, besides his skin was dark, including his eyes, dark brown eyes that were almost black. His handsome appearance almost completely masked his troubling presence, even as he flashed a white dazzling smile that had the capability to light up a barn.
He continued his slow clapping as he approached the team of young heroes. "Spectacular! Bravo! Bravissimo! Tens all across the board! Standing 'O' from the remaining judges." He spoke with a thick english accent, that once again added to his charming appearance, but each of the Titans were on edge.
Damien stepped forward, his fingers twitching against the handle of his sword, "Who are you?" he demanded.
Raven put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to settle him, "Calm down, I think I know who it is." she stepped in front of him and cautiously approached the dark stranger, "Your . . . him, aren't you?"
He smiled down at her, a smile that made her knees buckle, "That I am darling, Landon, King of Hell, at your service." He gave a small bow with his head, but when he lifted his head again, each of the Titans were battle ready, "Please don't everyone bow at once."
"Wasn't going to." Damien snapped, but once again someone had to pull him back, this time it was Blue Beetle.
"Easy," he told him.
Jaime Rayes, this creature is inhuman, I cannot tell if it means harm or not, defensive measures recommended.
Blue Beetle looked over his shoulder at the alien creature attached to his spine, "I'll keep that in mind."
"King of Hell?" Beast Boy raised a brow, "I thought her dad was king of hell?" he pointed to Raven.
"Sort of cabbage patch. See there are MANY different hell dimensions out there. Hades, Azarathean hell, or my hell, the Luiciferean hell, to name a few. When Trigon rose about a year ago, and was subsequently trapped, I took over the lease. So I've been managing his hell as well as mine, and having silly humans who want to bring big red back again is just bad for business."
Nightwing narrowed his eyes, "So you were the one who sent the tip on where Raven was?"
Landon grinned, "Indeed I am."
"Why not finish them yourself?" Wondergirl asked with arms crossed. "I'm sure being a king makes you more then capable."
Landon gawked at the Amazon, "And miss a chance to see the famous Teen Titans in action? I think NOT." Landon reached into his suit coat, "Plus I need to make sure no one tries to free Trigon again."
"And how do you plan on-" Before Raven could finish, Landon tapped something against the chakra stone on her forehead. A flash of blinding red light erupted from the contact, her head whipping backwards, as if he had just hit her in the head with a sledgehammer, knocking her backwards, unconscious, into Starfire's arms.
"What have you-" she shrieked.
Landon held up a large round stone in his hand tossing it between his hands like a baseball. "Relax darling. I was just introducing Trigon to his new home."
Damien lifted his sword until it's tip was an inch from Landon's face, "How do we know you wont free him, the SECOND your out of sight?"
Landon's smile vanished, showing impatience and annoyance at the boy. His left eye twitched instantly setting the sword ablaze, burning the boys hand and causing him to drop it to the floor with a clatter. "I told you, someone who spreads chaos needlessly is bad for business. I'm more of a 'organized chaos' man my self."
"And what are you going to do with him?" Blue Beetle asked.
Landon looked down at the stone, "There are six hundred and sixty six crypts on earth, I'm sure one of them will make a nice home for him." Landon placed the stone back into his suit pocket, not at all bothered by the power that pulsed angrily from within it. "Well now I have other business to attend to in the area." He glanced around at the Titans, but his eyes soon found the cult members gathered together, "and pray tell what do you plan to do with them?"
Nightwing stepped in front of his line of sight, "They will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Landon stared with a blank expression, " . . . . and . . . " Nightwing maintained his stoic expression, the one taught to him by his mentor, "Look darling, I know your all about the 'law and order' thing, considering I can't have ANY of them loose to try to free big red, and as king of hell, and punishment, I can afford a more . . . permanent solution." Landon snapped his fingers.
The screams of agony, fear and pain were instant, the Titans spun around seeing each and every member of the cult group being swallowed in shadow and hellfire, being dragged downwards to . . . . the heroes didn't want to IMAGINE where they were going. And there was NOTHING they could do to stop it.
They turned back around glaring with fury at the demon king, who only smiled, not in the least bit remorseful for what he had done. "What?" he asked nonchalantly checking his phone, "If you don't mind I have an appointment I need to make, but I hope to see you all again, real soon." He passed each of them a wink complete with his signature grin and vanished in black mist, leaving the Teen Titans alone to soak in the horror of watching human beings dragged to hell.