Chapter 4-Twisted

Raven had felt fear very few times in her life and always made sure to keep such horrible memories stored away under lock and key never to be opened. First and foremost was her Father in general in being connected to her as well as somehow returning to this world to take it over. The second one was her being afraid in at all, which she had conquered after that Wicked Scary Movie incident, and finally Slade after what he did to her friends and namely Nightwing with that nerve agent that made him go crazy.

Though at this moment in time, the giant scaly body of the darkness dragon in all his rage filled glory topped them all topped them all hands down, and Raven was now very much afraid. She could still sense Nightwing through their bond, but it wasn't as strong as once was as the conscious mind that was Nightwing had taken a back seat, and the darkness dragon itself was now in control.

"We are so screwed," said Beast Boy flinching and taking several tiny steps back from the roaring dragon letting every sentient being with ears know of its existence.

Windows on building broke, glass from cars shattered, and the vibrations from the noise made building crack or crumble beneath the great beast. Lightning and thunder raged from the sky above, as it started to rain giving the darkness dragon an even greater fear driving look.

Without warning the dragon struck, launching a stream of dark fire from its mouth, and tearing through the streets as well as buildings making the ground erupt in fire. The great beast, in its draconic fury fired randomly in all directions, and not caring what or who it is it hits so long as something felt pain.

The group of superheroes scattered to avoid being hit dividing them up into two groups with Fate, Batman, Cyborg, and Starfire were in one group. Raven, Zatanna, and Beast Boy were in the other with both divided by a 30 foot high wall of unearthly dark fire.

"We need to get out of here before the he kills us!" said Cyborg covering his human ear when the darkness dragon let out another unholy roar.

"But what about Nightwing? Surely Rij'ze would not strike those close to Nightwing's heart," said Starfire looking at the dragon flying higher into the air to get a good view of what lay below.

"I doubt the dragon even cares about that right now Starfire. Both of them are filled with so much rage that neither Rij'ze nor Nightwing himself can tell friend from foe," said Fate unsure on how to deal with draconic entity much less defeat it.

"We need to calm him down. If Nightwing finds out that Blackfire is not really dead he'll calm down," said Raven into her communicator to the others so Batman and Fate would hear her.

"And who is going to do that? I'm not!" said Cyborg yelling into his robotic arm with the built in comm. before scrambling to avoid another fire attack.

"You will all die! Life will be no more. Your time has come. Judgment day is here. All will be found guilty and die for your crimes," said Rij'ze before shooting red electrical energy from his eyes in all directions striking the ground causing explosions all within a 150 yard radius to erupt.

(Ares Lair)

"Quite the destroyer isn't he?" said Ares watching in his plush chair watching the events unfolding through a circle of fire in mid-air showing the destruction the great beast was unleashing.

"This is why I'm glad that the Blackfire we 'killed' was just a clone of the alien woman, which I expect to be reimbursement for Ares. It took me months to create that clone from the strands of hair and blood I got from the Tamaran when the world was ending at the hands of the Four Horsemen. It was a less then a Month away from full maturity that I could train and mold as I saw fit," said Slade having stolen the hair and partial blood samples during the fighting in the Shadowlands, which was incredibly difficult with all the small army of heroes around.

"You will be more then compensated when this is over Slade," said Ares knowing the man hated losing valuable tools such as that clone.

"If you two are done observing the darkness dragon causing death and destruction could you both help me with this spell I am preparing," said Morgaine Le Fey with a hint of annoyance as she used her own form of magic incantation to deal with the dragon.

"Bossy woman isn't she," said Slade walking over to the sorceress and handed her the ingredients that she needed that were next to him.

'Most women are,' thought Ares taking one last look at the destruction before he began assisting the two in the spell being brewed.

(With Rij'ze)

The giant draconic like form of Rij'ze took himself higher into the air before flying off to destroy another portion of the city not caring for the carnage he had made below him. All that mattered was that the world suffered, burned, and died at its dragon like hands so that when it was over nothing was left.

As Rij'ze flew away intent to causing more harm, several magical barriers yielded, and as each shield faded away the group of superheroes could only look at the massive amount of damage done to LA.

"Soooo...what do we do now?" said Beast Boy feeling that this whole situation was WAY out of their abilities to handle.

"You won't do anything. The League will pick up the slack and we intend to have you all removed from the Titans organization for your part in defending Nightwing," said Fate, who was glaring at the group.

"Hey! Maybe if you guys didn't take Blackfire away from him in the first place none of this would have happened," said Beast Boy getting nods from his fellow Titans.

"Take Blackfire? We did no such thing and even if we did, such an action would not have gone unnoticed by the Original Seven, and they would have stopped this from getting out of hand like it is now," said Zatanna looking at Batman, who was currently in a "thinking state", and not really looking at anyone.

"Don't lie! That was the whole reason Nightwing came here. You were the one, who hid him from us when we began searching for him," said Raven seething at the wand waving magic woman.

I may have stopped you from detecting him earlier, but other then that, neither I nor Fate laid a hand on Blackfire, and for your information half-breed that boy is a serious danger to everyone just as you are. Or have you forgotten? Daughter of Trigon!" said Zatanna, who soon found herself wrapped in a shadowy black claw with a towering Raven with four eyes glaring down at her wanting to rip the woman apart.

"I never asked to be his daughter. NOT ONCE! Just as Nightwing didn't ask to be the host body for the darkness dragon. If you ever call me a half-breed again, mention my demon Father, and/or make anymore remarks about Nightwing while in my presence, I will annihilate you!" said Raven before tossing the woman into a pile of debris and she flew off into the sky intent on catching up to Rij'ze in the hope of reasoning with him.

Either that or joining him, given her current state of mind, Raven wasn't sure just which one sounded more appealing.

"Friend Raven please wait!" said Starfire flying to catch up to her surrogate sister and exact opposite.

"We need to go after them," said Cyborg, but was stopped surprisingly by Batman.

"You can't since it would be too dangerous and if we even tried, it would be a waste of time. Were going to quickly head back to the Watchtower in order to plan a strategy for this," said Batman, who turned to Fate, as the sorcerer nodded his head, and teleported them all to the Watchtower with his magic.

"As if you could plan a strategy for this," said Cyborg caring an injured Zatanna in his arms knowing that she'll need treatment for her wounds.

(With Raven and Starfire)

The two women flew with all the speed they could muster intent on intercepting the great dragon now unleashing its rage over a more populated and frightened populous. Raven knew that would eventually follow her since the Tamaran Princess still cared for her old flame just as she did. They knew that they needed to calm the man behind the darkness dragon down or else more people would be hurt by the rampage.

"Nightwing!" yelled Raven hoping the dragon or Nightwing locked inside of the dragon would hear her voice and stop if only a moment.

The darkness dragon had indeed heard Raven's voice before turning its head back to stare at two women unsure of whether to incinerate them or not. The dragon soon recalled its vessel's memories of them and the one, who had called out his vessel's name. Rij'ze felt the bond the half-demon had with his vessel and felt the concern the woman had for him. He also felt a bond with the Tamaran Princess next to her and found it a bit odd that such a noticeable bond existed, but this was neither the time not place to think about it.

Now was the time for the infamous dragon to get answers from his vessel's closest friends.

"I know your face. I recognize the sound of your voice. You are the one known to my vessel as Raven," said Rij'ze speaking yet its mouth not moving with the words that echoed around them.

"Yes. You know I mean you no harm. I am not your enemy and neither is Starfire," said Raven feeling several beads of sweat coming down her face at being face to face with the great beast knowing he could destroy her with just the hot breath from his nostrils alone if he so desired.

"Yes. I sense that from you. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be planning to fight me with your Justice League allies?" said Rij'ze no even trying to hold back his grief at the superhero group while his red glowing eyes drilled into Raven's own and into her soul.

"We don't want to fight you or Nightwing. We came to tell you about Blackfire being...," said Starfire, but was stopped the echoing growl that came from the darkness dragon's throat.

"Dead?! I know all about her demise Princess of Tamaran. I was holding her when I learned the bitter truth!" said Rij'ze turning his fiery gaze upon Starfire, who did her best not to flinch, and look back at those rage filled eyes.

"You were being deceived Rij'ze. She is not dead," said Raven floating slightly closer to the face of the darkness dragon.

"You are LYING! My vessel held her in his arms. She was DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEEAAAD!" said Rij'ze his voice mixing with Nightwing's as the dragon yelled out that single word.

"It was a clone of the original. I checked the body myself it had no residual energy of soul leaving the body. I wouldn't lie to you about this," said Raven feeling the growing heat coming off of dragon's face.

"Oh? Are you sure about that? How do I know this isn't some chance for both of you to be with my vessel for your own heart's desire? Give me one good reason to believe anything you say?" said Rij'ze ready to send them into both oblivion.

"Because we love Nightwing. We don't want him to suffer and if that means we can't be with him, then Raven, and myself will accept that," said Starfire now floating right beside Raven staring into the eyes of the darkness dragon.

Rij'ze narrowed his eyes at them seeing into their eyes and could tell they were telling the truth, but it wasn't enough, and the only one person could truly tell if what they spoke of was true. Focusing on his vessel's body, the physical form of Nightwing slowly rose from the very top of the darkness dragon's looking head like that of a lifeless puppet stopping at the waist area. After a few minutes however, Nightwing's body started to move, and straightened looking at both female Titan's for answers.

"Raven. Starfire. It is good to see you both again...despite the circumstances behind it," said Nightwing breathing heavily since this caused a great deal of stress to even perform.

"Ditto," said Raven smiling slowly floating over with a slightly nervous Starfire before both Titans landed on Rij'ze forehead slightly surprised how scales seemed cool to their touch when they sat Indian style before the dragon vessel.

You said that the Blackfire I rescued was a clone?" said Nightwing locking his gaze at Raven, who nodded back.

"Yes. The clone was physically complete, but the mental center of the brain was still in production, and when the clone awakened it would have been perfect in molding to ones image," said Raven trying to keep her blush down from staring at Nightwing's muscled body pressed tightly with his clothing like it was a second skin.

"So I was deceived. Again!" said Nightwing frustration scowling at the number of lies he had been fed to make him this angry.

"Batman also denies taking Blackfire from you, as well as Fate, and Zatanna when we first encountered them before you went into a fit of rage," said Raven seeing Nightwing's eyes narrow at the name of his surrogate Father while frowning at the other heroes being mention since they help fight to stop the end of the world Months ago.

"The Justice League is not to be trusted, at least not anymore until this gets figured out, and get some answers," said Nightwing looking at the two Titans, who nodded since they felt there was more to this then they realized.

"If I may speak? If my sister was cloned, then...where is she?" said Starfire, as she ran one of her small hands around a dark scale beneath her enjoying the feel of it in her hand.

"Most likely with the very same person, who cloned her in the first place from what it seems. Fortunately, I know about cloning technology enough to know that depending on the equipment in ones possession, it takes Months to create a full fledged clone, and the only person I know that has the resources to do that given the time frame is...Slade," said Nightwing growling out the name like it was the most poisonous thing in the world.

"He must have been the one that took Blackfire and tried to frame the Justice League for it," said Raven since it did fit into Slade's mindset in causing chaos for other gains to be made in the process.

"If Slade did take my sister then we should try to find her since Slade will try to make an army of clones of her to use as he sees fit," said Starfire not wanting her sister to be used like some lab rat for the villains own amusement.

"I have a feeling that there is more to this then just Slade. Has anyone other then Slade come into contact with you Nightwing?" said Raven knowing that the more pieces were put together in this puzzle the better.

Before Nightwing could respond a blast of energy struck the large dragon body of Rij'ze turning their attention to several superheroes from the Justice league descending down upon them. The Green Lantern that was John Stewart, Starman, Dr. Light, and Shining Knight on his winged horse ready to fight the darkness dragon with more heroes arriving soon.

"Cease and desist dragon or I will slay thee with my sword given to me by the very same sorcerer, who imprisoned you," said Shining Knight pointing his magical sword at Rij'ze, who growled at knight.

"Find out where Blackfire is and hurry. Start with trying to track down Ares. He came to me moments before I let out Rij'ze," said Nightwing knowing that while he fought the League's members, his closest friends could find his love.

"What about you? We won't leave you here to fight them!" said Starfire seeing many of these heroes possessed powers that would hurt or restrain the dragon if given enough time to try.

"Starfire is right Nightwing. If they succeed in taking you down, you will either be taken aboard the Watchtower for a trial, and then you'll most likely be...," said Raven fighting the words she didn't want to say, not wanting to speak them knowing that she knew they would sound so bitter coming out of her mouth.

"I know Raven, but it's not about me that should concern you now. This is about helping Starfire find her kidnapped sister and reunite them together. I could never forgive myself if I deprived Starfire of her family like that because it was somehow my fault that it had happened," said Nightwing before he started sinking back into the dragon's skull.

'Even now he thinks of others over himself,' thought Raven, who felt she was only going to get one chance at this and ran over to a completely surprised Nightwing, who was not expecting the sorceress to cup his face, and deliver upon to him a massive kiss right on the lips that seemed to last a life's age.

"R-Raven?!" said Nightwing when they broke the kiss wondering what to even say.

"It's something I've always wanted to do since you saved me from my own Hell. I didn't want to leave without giving you that in case I never get to again," said Raven, who was now surprised when Nightwing gave her a kiss back, and nearly got lost in the moment.

Another blast had unfortunately, cut off the moment sooner then the two would have liked, and now Nightwing was pissed.

"We will have to talk when this is over. All of us," said Nightwing glancing at Starfire knowing that she still held a candle for him and some serious talking would have to be done after they rescued Blackfire.

The two female Titans nodded before flying off of him and set out to track down Slade and hopefully find Blackfire in the process.

"Finally! Now we can cut loose. Its time these foolish mortals remembered just who it is they are dealing with," said Rij'ze letting out a chuckle as Nightwing's body retreated back into the dragon's skull.

"What just happened?" said Dr. Light seeing the two women on top of the dragon's head fly off before she looked back at the darkness dragon itself, which growled at her like an angry beast.

"Forget those two, we need to focus on containing the dragon, and fast before it causes anymore damage," said Green Lantern before firing a barrage of green energy bullets the size of basketballs at the darkness dragon, but in the end caused little to no damage at all.

"Puny human," said Rij'ze unleashing a feral grin before shooting red lighting from his eyes sending the Green Lantern flying back several hundred yards after bringing up a protective barrier before the man could recover.

"Take him down!" said Shining Knight charging in with his winged horse ready to slay the dragon with his magical sword.

"When I send you to Underworld, tell Merlin that I sent you, and that he knows I will forever laugh at his attempts to keep me locked away from the world!" said Rij'ze, as he sent dark fire from his mouth at Shining Knight, who barely got away, as more heroes from the Justice League came down to engage the darkness dragon.

"Give it up Rij'ze. Even you can't take on all of us," said Shayera with her battle mace in hand ready to beat down the dragon and its vessel.

"You all think you can stop me? Your overconfidence will be your undoing little bird," said Rij'ze letting out a sickening chuckle while his eyes glowed, as more heroes came down to intercept the beast, and stop the damage caused in this now deserted part of LA.

"The same could be said for you dragon," said Shayera seeing the number of superheroes slowly growing around her.

"You think because you outnumber me that you now have the advantage? Again your foolish arrogance is what will get you killed or make you pray to your God that you did. My vessel does not want you to die or any of you for that matter, but if it is necessary, then I will destroy you, and take back what is rightfullyours!" said Rij'ze his body sending out a pulse of energy creating a shockwave that made the League members fall back slightly on the defensive before they had to scramble as streams of dark fire were shot at them.

"Watch out for that dark fire. Etrigan says its almost hotter then the sun itself and will burn anything it touches," said Batman in his Bat Jet now flying over Rij'ze, who saw him, and sent a sound wave from his roar that sent the Dark Knight temporarily out of control.

"You may bare the symbol of the wing rodent, but you are nothing like them. There is only one true dark creature of the night and I am IT!" said Rij'ze sending more red electrical energy at his foes forcing them back on the defensive.

"He's a lot more powerful then we gave him credit for," said Booster Gold before he was forced to dodge the draconic tail, but the wind that followed sent him flying into a nearby building.

"His body is just as dangerous as his dark fire from his mouth and the red lighting from his eyes," said John Stewart before creating another shield of green energy from his ring, as Rij'ze tried to grab the Green Lantern with the dark draconic energy from the clawed hand, and was now conflicting with the green energy from the hero's ring.

"Time to die," said Rij'ze closing his dragon clawed hand making the ball shrink in size knowing it would eventually crack and crush the man into nothingness.

Shayera attacked using her mace to bash at the closing draconic hand forcing Rij'ze to let go of Green Lantern, who flew a safe distance away out of arm range of the dragon. As this happened, Rij'ze turned his attention to Shayera, and remembered from his vessel's mind that her battle mace had the power to disrupt magic or magic things related things.

"Try not to make such a big mistake next time Rij'ze," said Shayera smirking while she tapped her mace on her left hand several times.

"I'm going to enjoy ripping your wings off little bird before I show you just who rules the skies and the night," said Rij'ze before charging at her with impressive speed for an animal of his size and had the Thanagarian not moved on instinct, she would have lost one of her wings to the darkness dragon's teeth.

Her movement however, got Shayera in the range of the dragon's claws leaving deep cuts her along the waist and knees making her fall towards the ground before John Stewart used his ring to catch her. Dr. Light tried shooting blasts of white energy at Rij'ze, but the darkness dragon was surprisingly more nimble then he looked. Before she could react to such movement, Dr. Light found herself hit with a slice of dark energy from the dragon's tail after Rij'ze spun in a quick circle to create a slashing type action with his tail.

As the good doctor and superhero went flying into a nearby building, Shining Knight saw his chance to charge forward, move left and right from the unholy fire coming out of Rij'ze's mouth. The fearless Knight soon saw his shot and thrust his magical sword into the shoulder of the darkness dragon.

(With Raven and Star Fire)

Raven suddenly let out a scream before clutching her shoulder and hissing at the pain that was not rightfully hers with Starfire flying over to her should she fall.

"Raven are you all right?" said Starfire holding her own shoulder from the unexpected pain while looking around for the hidden enemy while sticking close to her friend.

"It's not me Starfire, its Nightwing who is in pain, or rather it's his draconic guest that's in pain right now," said Raven knowing that whatever had hit Rij'ze must have had some pretty potent magic packed inside of it to cause pain.

The fact that Raven was half-demon made the pain she was feeling even worse.

"Should we go back and defend our friend?" said Starfire looking back to hear the echo's of a howl that was not of this world and couldn't help, but shiver at the sound.

"We can't Starfire; we need to find your sister before Slade disposes of her once he feels she is no longer of use to him. I can still feel Nightwing through our bond and he's telling us to push forward to find Blackfire," said Raven hearing the echo of pain in the distance and wished she would listen to her other Ravens that were the emotions inside her head and just go back to help the hero.

"Are you sure Raven?" said Starfire knowing that Raven's heart was torn between love and duty the same as her own.

"Yes. I trust Nightwing and to some extent Rij'ze. We need to find Slade and I can use you to find Blackfire since you're her sister. I just need to get far enough to do a special incantation spell to find her spirit signature," said Raven, who had to admit they should have done sooner, but they had been more focused on finding Nightwing then the older of the two Tamaranean sisters.

"Then let us hurry," said Starfire, who got a nod from Raven and took off to a nearby building that was away from the dark draconic energy of Rij'ze where they could begin the spell.

(With Blackfire)

She had been unconscious for so long since her last encounter with Slade and trying to free herself from her prison to be with her love again. The restraints were just like before and the more she tried to call upon her powers, the more shocks went through her body. While she was unconscious she felt several emotions that were not hers, but rather the echoes of another somehow connected to her by a bond she had heard of from various species on the planets she visited.

Blackfire could feel the bond between her and Nightwing.

Blackfire could feel his pain as the sting in her shoulder became apparent.

'Soon. Soon Nightwing will save me and make that asshole pay!' thought Blackfire not letting her faith in her love falter knowing he was doing everything in his power to find her.

She tried to reach out to him through this bond, but it conflicted with her powers earning her yet another shock to her body. How she hated Slade with a passion and wanted to tear that man a new windpipe or something else a little further south. One way or another she would be rescued whether by Nightwing or those he gathered to assist and when she was in his arms again, she was going to give him such a kiss it would blow his mind away.

And then later...oh the things they were going to do together, the bedroom would not be the same again after that.

(Back at the Battle)

Rij'ze let out an unearthly roar as the magical sword forged by Merlin himself inflicted untold amounts of pain upon his being. However, before Shining Knight could even do anything else to Rij'ze, the said darkness dragon retaliated using his uninjured arm to grab hero, who detached from his horse to spare it any damage, and began crushing the man's back with intense pressure while staring at Shining Knight with a venomous stare.

"Go ahead foul beast I am not afraid to die," said Shining Knight staring defiantly at the great dragon he had heard the story from Merlin about.

With each telling of the said story ending with how the dragon's power overwhelmed and nearly killed the great sorcerer.

"You will be Knight from the age Merlin. You will be," said Rij'ze, as he started licking his dragon tongue across his teeth with a look that said Hell awaited whoever faced such a being.

Rij'ze was about to consume Shining Knight within his mouth to deliver a fate no hero wanted to face no matter how fearless they may be when Dr. Fate used his sorcery to fire a concentrated beam of magic to sever the draconic hand at the wrist. The clawed hand itself became dark liquid like black tar, as Rij'ze howl again in pain, and anger at being denied the satisfaction that would have come with killing Shining Knight. Turning his attention to Fate shot both flame from his mouth and red energy from his eyes at the sorcerer making the attacks intertwine into a powerful combo. All Fate could do was scream, as the shield he created to protect himself from the attack shattered, and left the hero to be caught by Booster Gold, who flew to the Watchtower to get the man medical attention.

(Unknown Location)

"Aren't you done yet?" said Slade impatiently watching the sorceress weave her magical web over the cauldron now showing the image of the darkness dragon fighting off the growing number of Justice League members.

"Patience. With this spell I can send a one time shockwave into the dragon's very being and make him collapse back into his vessel. Depending on the boy's inner strength he may recover from it if he survive the fall," said Morgaine Le Fey her hands glowing with magic before placed them both in the water creating green electricity upon the watery form of the darkness dragon in the cauldron.

"And now begins the fall of modern civilization, starting with the fall the man, who holds the darkness dragon inside of him, and ironically the hope of the world on his shoulders," said Ares grinning madly at the sight before him wishing he could be delivering the pain himself.

The grin left him when an explosion rattled the compound they were in and alarms went off indicating that unwanted guests had entered the base disrupting the spell being done.

(Back at the Battle)

Rij'ze didn't understand it. His whole body felt like it was in pain, but that just was not possible! It was like some kind of invisible force was hitting him from the inside out and he knew for certain it was NOT his vessel's doing since Nightwing would also be in pain.

"Rij'ze! What's going on?" said Nightwing like his body was being electrified.

'I don't know! But whatever hit us has weakened my form severely. I can't maintain my draconic form anymore. I need to get close to a nearby building where you can take over in your body. Do you have the strength to continue fighting?' thought Rij'ze in his head while mentally looking at his vessel through the fog of darkness that had surrounded them.

"I'll do what I can," said Nightwing seeing the dragon nod before leaving to focus on the now failing body that was once his many years ago.

Rij'ze body was starting to fall apart piece by piece almost like a cat shedding heavily its fur only in this case was it unnatural. The Justice League members watching could only look on in wonder at what was happening to the darkness dragon, as they were unsure if they had caused it, or if the dragon was messing with them.

"It seems the dragon is giving up control back to Nightwing. Mr. Terrific is dispatching division of Zeta robots with Cyborg and Beast Boy to help restrain him once Nightwing's body is back to normal," said Green Arrow looking at the monitor in the Watchtower seeing the decaying body of the darkness dragon clinging to a nearby building while the draconic head rested on the roof.

It wasn't long before Rij'ze head began liquefying revealing Nightwing breathing hard from the transition the two went under and felt weak from in the process. By the time Nightwing had risen to his feet, a flash of light surround him, and he soon found himself surrounded by a large quantity of Zeta robots along with two of his old friends looking at him with apologetic faces.

"I take it you're not here to help me fight them all," said Nightwing cracking his neck left and right while seeing the quick flinch from both Titans.

"Sorry man. We only agreed to do this to help ensure you surrendered peacefully to the Justice League," said Cyborg, as his hand turned into his sonic cannon.

"You know I can't surrender. It's been trained into me to fight to the end no matter who it is I'm facing," said Nightwing pulling out his bo-staff while the Zeta robots got ready to fight.

"Duuude! You could at least think about it!" said Beast Boy sulking at the former Titan making Nightwing chuckle at the green changeling's antics.

(Watchtower)

"Batman! Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" said Green Arrow looking at the monitor, as it showed Nightwing fighting off the Zeta robots with destructive precision.

"I see it. Get down there to support the two Titians, I'm going to land on a nearby roof," said Batman flying his Bat Jet close enough to get a descent view of the action.

"On it!" said Green Arrow heading to the teleporter with Mr. Terrific at the controls, as he sent another division of Zeta robots through.

"You're going in after I ship these guys's out," said Mr. Terrific seeing Green Arrow was going up the steps of the teleporter system.

"Do you have a way to contain Nightwing once he's retrained?" said Green Arrow, as the man was known for making near to inescapable prisons.

"Its already being built by Superman and Wonder Woman," said Mr. Terrific casually, as he pointed to the teleporter for Green Arrow to get on.

(With Nightwing)

Body parts of Zeta robots lay everywhere around Nightwing, as they came at him one by one, and turned them into scrap metal with his skills. Somewhere along the line he had lost his bo-staff and resorted to hand to hand combat before deciding to be more ruthless in his fighting and used his sword to decimate the robots around him.

"Even in my currently weakened condition I can do this all day," said Nightwing, as he grinned before spinning around a Zeta that was behind him and cut its head off.

'I was afraid he would say that,' thought Cyborg pointing his sonic cannon at him while Beast Boy turned into a Jaguar.

"I have no intention of killing you, but if you fight me...I will break you," said Nightwing knowing that when it came to fighting his friends it was not something he wanted to do.

An explosive Batarang came flying at Nightwing from his side and he caught it with ease before he threw it at Green Arrow, who was able to dodge it while he was setting one of his arrows into his bow. Batman scowled at Nightwing, who returned it with his own, and then turned his whole body to face the Dark Knight. There was a lot of unspoken tension between the former student and teacher making everyone become wary, as to what would happen, and it wasn't until Batman got into a fighting stance did they all understand.

'So that's how you want it eh Bruce? Fine! I'll enjoy sending you to the Watchtower's Infirmary. Maybe then you can have Wonder Woman become your nurse or Cat Woman can play the role as your worried wife,' thought Nightwing smirking at his former mentor before he became serious and put his draconic sword pointing down onto the roof floor while getting into a similar fighting form as Batman.

"Should we do something?" said Beast Boy turning back to his normal humanoid form.

"Hell no! I'm not getting in front of that!" said Cyborg looking at his friend as if he were nuts.

"Whether Nightwing wins or loses is irrelevant. Just be ready to take him down when its over," said Green Arrow with his bow and arrow at the ready.

(With Raven and Starfire)

The spell had been simple enough since both sisters were just few years apart and once they locked onto Blackfire's darker aura they flew to their destination. After Raven used her powers to sense the real Blackfire in the building, she sensed a sudden flare of magic being used, and soon sensed pain hitting her body like a freight train. Starfire had felt it too and knew something was happening to Rij'ze since his pain was also Nightwing's pain too. The two charged in with Raven heading for Blackfire and Starfire being sent to cause the distraction needed to assist in freeing her sister from Slade.

At first, the plan went off without a hitch, as Starfire was destroying everything in sight with her powers whether it were walls, support beams, and/or Slade's robots. Everything was being destroyed while Raven used her magic get Blackfire out of her restraints. It was almost amusing to the Titan sorceress to see the shocked expression on the Tamaran warrior, but now was not the time for such humor.

Now was the time to make like birds and fly out of this hellhole Slade called a base.

However, the problems came soon after the two met up with Starfire, who was heavily surrounded by Slade's robots and Slade himself. He didn't look pleased and had hellfire in his palms once again, which reminded Raven of when the man was once under the service of her Father.

"If it isn't the two women, who are in love with my former apprentice. I must say that this is quite the interesting development here that even I did not foresee happening. Two former lovers of Nightwing saving his current lover from me. How did you ever figure it out?" said Slade ready to take on the demon half-breed and two alien sisters.

"Let's just say family bonds are a lot stronger then you think," said Raven wishing she could rip out Slade's heart for the remark about her being Nightwing's former lover.

She was certainly NOT a former lover and the same went for Starfire.

"Indeed. I take it my former apprentice had a hand in this somehow. Though I think it's a little strange just how he has all the women in his life helping him," said Slade mockingly shooting hellfire at three women only for Starfire to counter with her star bolts.

"Soon it won't matter what you're thinking Slade. Soon we will return to Nightwing with my sister and tell the Justice League of your involvement in causing Nightwing's horrible rampage throughout LA," said Starfire using her eyebeams to send Slade into a wall.

"Come on let's get out of here before anymore surprises show up," said Raven using her soul self and grabbed Starfire making her way out of the base to head back to Nightwing before he was captured.

"They're getting away!" said Morgaine Le Fey looking at Ares, who just looked at the scene of destruction before him with Slade getting out of the rumble around him.

"It doesn't matter. With the League occupied with Nightwing they will be unable to stop what I have planned next for the world. Let them take the alien girl since it will only let them become more distracted and focused on Nightwing and besides I need both you and Slade to occupancy me to the island of Themyscira to proceed with the next phase of the planned," said Ares smiling at Slade, who was cracking his neck, and seemed otherwise unharmed.

"Do you want to anger the Greek Gods that much? Zeus will have your head regardless of being you being his son or not," said Slade narrowing his one eye at Ares cautiously.

"Normally that would be true, but since he is distracted with the situation with darkness dragon, and the Justice League busy with restraining its vessel I have nothing to worry about," said Ares smirking knowing that with the revival of the darkness dragon Zeus and the other Gods would be focusing on Nightwing while Themyscira would be wide open to attack.

Then when Hades was free from the depths of Tartarus, it would be "game over" as the humans of this generation always said.

(With Nightwing)

Nightwing dodged a punch and blocked a kick before countering with an elbow to the exposed leg with an uppercut to Batman's face. They had been going at it for some time now with the two fighting on pretty even terms despite the fact that Nightwing had been clearly holding back. As for the Dark Knight, he was nursing a serious bruise to his ribs as it was, and now it felt like his former student had cracked his jaw.

"Hurts doesn't it? I remember you did the same thing to me when I was still in training as Robin before you decided to cut me loose a few years later," said Nightwing smirking at his former teachers pain, as Batman rubbed his jaw, and flinching at that memory finding that his past with the boy was coming back to haunt him.

"For what its worth I'm...," said Batman, but was silence when he had to dodge a blast of dark fire aimed at him from Nightwing's right arm.

"Don't even begin to try and say you're sorry. You tried to take away my purpose in life in protecting others, just as you did, and for what? Because I got hurt? So did you! How many times did you nearly die on countless battles throughout the streets of Gotham? How many broken bones, concussions, and torn muscles did you go through whether I was with you or not? I've had my fair share of near death encounters long after I had left your shadow and I refuse to let you try dictating my life again," said Nightwing before rushing in with incredible speed and kneeing Batman right in the stomach sending him into Green Arrow, who barely had time to react, and made him drop his weapon to catch the Dark Knight.

Cyborg fired his sonic cannon at Nightwing only for the warrior to dodge every shot fired at him and sent several birdarangs in retaliation. One of the flying weapons hit its target and hit the Titan's cannon temporarily disabling it while Beast Boy turned into a Cougar ready to pounce.

Picking up his sword, Nightwing sheathed it, and looked around him finding that he was surrounded on all sides from Zeta robots to superheroes above him ready to fight. With a smirk on his face yet again, he picked up his bo-staff, readied himself, and made a hand gesture for them to come at him.

Of course when they didn't out of hesitation, Nightwing just went for the more direct line of making them come at him, and gave them the finger.

Deciding that the rude gesture was the last straw, the superheroes of the Justice League swarmed at Nightwing all at once before finally after a solid 20 minutes of resistance of fighting, they restrained him. Even after they had him restrained, Nightwing still was still struggling with against his captors, as J'onn teleported them all to the Watchtower, and to imprison him until it could be decided what the League would do with the rogue hero.

(With Raven, Starfire, and Blackfire)

The trio of women were flying at top speed to Nightwing hoping to assist in his defense before things got out of hand and tell the League what happened to justify his actions. It had been rather tense flying the whole way to there destination, considering how all three women cared for the same man, and it was hard not to control the female possessiveness they each had for Nightwing.

"I still can't believe I got saved by my sister and her albino witch of a friend, who are both trying to take my man away from me," said Blackfire annoyed by who her rescuers were.

"Your man? He was mine first dear sister or has your time in Slade's arms blinded you to that fact," said Starfire not liking the fact that her sister was once more reminding her of the love she had originally lost due her own stupidity.

"How dare you?! I was a prisoner the moment I was knocked out by that filthy scumbag, with restraints on me that disabled my powers, and I got shocked every time I tried. Just because you were too stupid and afraid of the dragon inside of him doesn't mean it's my fault he left you for me!" said Blackfire before Starfire gave into her anger and punched the older of the two into a nearby abandoned building.

"Starfire! Stop it. What would Nightwing say if he saw you now? He would be ashamed of you," said Raven knowing that while the urge to hit Blackfire and possibly scar her face was there, she knew it would not look good in the eyes of Nightwing.

Starfire stayed silent at Raven's words, but lowered her head in shame at them knowing they were true, and when she looked up again she saw an angry Blackfire now had a large bruise on her face.

"We will finish this little disagreement later dear sister and when we do, I want you as far away from Nightwing as inhumanly possible," said Blackfire knowing her race's healing abilities would make the obvious injury on her face down to almost unnoticeable, but the fact that there was a distinct possibility that her lover would see the bruise no matter how faint it may become was unacceptable in her eyes.

"It will not be you who decides such an action sister, but rather it will be Nightwing" said Starfire seeing Blackfire scowl deepen at her words.

'Great just what we need right now. Sister vs. Sister fighting over one guy that I also like meaning I'll most likely be playing referee,' thought Raven just picturing it in her head with her in a referee uniform with both sisters on either side looking like that old robot boxing toy.

"Oh he will see that you stay away Starfire. Especially, when I get him alone with me and we have some fun!" said Blackfire smiling at Starfire knowing she had done the one thing that made her envious of both her sister and the half-demon witch.

Now Raven couldn't help, but get upset.

"Enough! You two are both wasting time and we need to get to Nightwing before it is too late," said Raven snapping the two sisters out of their feuding like state.

"Raven this is Cyborg. Come in Raven," said Cyborg from Raven's communicator.

"This is Raven. Cyborg what's wrong?" said Raven knowing that her cybernetic friend wouldn't contact her unless it was an emergency.

"Did you find Blackfire yet?" said Cyborg hoping that she was indeed found.

"Yeah. She was being held by Slade along with Ares and some other person that could have been a sorceress with them," said Raven and heard the sigh of relief from Cyborg and Beast Boy, who was in the background hearing the conversation.

"Dudes! You have to get up to the Watchtower pronto. They got Nightwing up here in a prison made by this Mr. Terrific guy who is good at making them," said Beast Boy, who got hit on the head by Cyborg who quietly told the green changeling that he shouldn't say that.

"What? They were able to capture Nightwing?" said Raven shocked at this news getting Starfire's and Blackfire's attention and leaned over one of her shoulders now to hear this clearly.

"Unfortunately. He kind of flipped them off after went toe to toe with Batman to make them all come after him. He put up a good fight for 20 minutes after they came at him, but he was overpowered in the end. Something happened earlier where Nightwing went from being all dragon like, back to his usual human body, and then he started fighting the Justice League members, who brought in Zeta robots as backup.

"How many did Nightwing take down?" said Blackfire knowing her man was going to leave those superhero sissies with quite a hefty bill before he went down for the count.

"All the Zeta robots were pretty much destroyed, Hawkgirl is out of commission, Shining Knight's got a few injuries that need his attention, and Dr. Fate is currently unconscious from the big hit he took from the darkness dragon while suffering from multiple injuries," said Cyborg, who was not sure if he should be glad Blackfire was talking to him or not.

"We'll be there soon. How is Nightwing?" said Starfire wanting to know more about her loves condition.

"He's okay. Mr. Terrific knows his stuff when it comes to containing things or people. He designed a special prison that covers Nightwing in an energy shield that is powered by Rij'ze own draconic energy signature. The poor guy is shacked along his elbows, his knees making him unable to stand, which he's been doing for some time now, and he's being watched over by both Etrigan and Zatanna just in case he tries something in order to escape," said Cyborg having visited Nightwing, if only for a brief time.

"Zatanna? That no good bitch was the reason we couldn't locate Nightwing in the first place!" said Raven closing her communicator before summoning her soul self to wrap the alien girls in her form, and head to the Watchtower to defend the one man they all loved.

(Watchtower)

"Hey Elongated Man! Did you ever have this feeling that something uneventful was about to happen?" said Flash looking up from their robot punching game feeling that there was something wrong, but not in a serious way.

"Now that you mention it, I do. It feels like...oh I know! I've had this feeling before! It was when I was secretly dating three superhero women when I was younger. I was dating one woman openly at the time, then other two confronted me at the restaurant about it, and before I could explain myself they...," said Elongated Man, who immediately stopped when he saw the expression on Flash's face, and knew what it meant.

"I think we better go," said Flash, as he rushed to the teleporter with Elongated Man, who was trying to move as fast as possible to catch up not wanting to on the space station at the moment.

As the two goofballs of the Justice League ran, the trio of Raven, Blackfire, and Starfire arrived onboard the space station looking rather upset at the moment.

"I know where Nightwing is. Come on!" said Raven flying through the station with both Tamaran sisters behind her.

"Sister, can I ask you a personal question?" said Starfire curiously looking at Blackfire slightly, but shyly like she used to back on their home planet when she didn't understand something the older one did.

"What's the question?" said Blackfire not really in the mood for her sister's little goody-goody moments.

"What is it like between you and Nightwing? What I mean is, what is it like for you when you are doing 'it' with him?" said Starfire not being able to keep her blush down.

"Oh so you want to know huh? Well I guess I could tell you since we are family and I do owe you for rescuing me for Nightwing when you could have at least tried to have him all to yourself," said Blackfire smirking at Starfire before getting serious since she was talking about Nightwing here.

"Please tell me," said Starfire whispering so no one else, but possibly Raven would hear them.

"All right I'll tell you. It's like I have entered a hot bath or spa only there is no water, yet I feel more refreshed, and alive then any other time in my whole life. He makes me feel like I am complete inside and that no matter what happens he will defend me from harm. With every touch, with every kiss, and with every sensation I receive from him I don't have to fear anything around me knowing that Nightwing's by my side...always," said Blackfire letting out a sigh of bliss at the memories of her and Nightwing together.

"Thank you for telling me...sister," said Starfire, as she wanted to hear the description of what she wished she could feel with Nightwing rather then not at all.

'Why do I feel sorry for her now? I shouldn't be feeling sorry in the first place and here I feel something close to that with my own sister and with that albino out in front. Doesn't matter, once I'm in Nightwing's arms again, I can forget all about that, and focus my full attention on him,' thought Blackfire, as the trio followed Raven to the room where their love was imprisoned.

When they saw him, they gasped in horror, as Nightwing looked like he had been beaten up pretty badly from the fight with the League's superheroes. His body was healing the various injuries affection him, but they seemed to be going slower then usual on account of he prison sapping his strength to power the prison that held him. In front of the cell was a smug looking Zatanna, who waved her magic wand flimsily at the dark warrior, who didn't look intimidated.

"Not so high and mighty now are you Nightwing? Granted you were invaluable when it came to fighting off the Four Horsemen and Ares, but now you're a threat to the world if left unchained, and when Fate recovers from his injuries were going to make sure you're put on a tight leash," said Zatanna smugly wondering how she could get Fate to take care of Trigon's daughter afterwards.

"You...can go to Heellll! And Dr. Fate can go to Hell with you," said Nightwing finding that letting Rij'ze out was now starting to create some side effects with his voice making him sound draconic.

"Why you ignorant little dragon! If it weren't for Etrigan here I would use my power to make you twist and bend under my finger until you begged me to finish you off," said Zatanna, who ignored the large demon's scowl in her direction.

"Watch what you say wench or I'll stain this room with your blood," said Etrigan, who had come to respect Nightwing just like Jason Blood, and was not about to let some spell caster treat a fellow creature of the darkness like garbage.

"Back off Etrigan! Don't think I don't have the necessary spells to deal with you. I don't care if you are friends with Batman, I will obliterate you with my magic if you go against me," said Zatanna looking at the powerful demon, who snarled at her before he turned his attention to the trio watching the whole thing.

"I suggest you let Nightwing out of that prison before we make you," said Blackfire, as purple star bolts glowed in her hands and her eyes now glowing ready to fire at anytime.

"Blackfire. Starfire. Raven," said Nightwing in a loving tone before turning his head to see them all and smiled at them.

"That accursed half-demon must have bewitched the younger of the two sisters," said Zatanna glaring at Raven, who scowled at Zatanna's hateful words.

"There is nothing wrong with Raven being half-demon. And if you call her that again with the same level of venomous hate as you just did now, I'm going to break out of this prison, and beat the crap of you," said Nightwing moving slightly against his arm restraints since he would not allow anyone to talk ill of those he cared about.

"We won't ask again. Release him now...or else!" said Raven her powers forming around her and she readied to attack.

"I choose 'or else'," said Zatanna hitting the alarm and getting ready to fight with Etrigan getting ready as well though he was only doing it because he was under orders to prevent Nightwing's escape.

"Damn it! We don't have that much time. Knock them down and free Nightwing," said Blackfire charging in with the other two behind her.

(Themyscira)

The island of the Amazon Women never saw it coming as Ares appeared out of nowhere with a strange looking sorceress and a one eyed man with the power of fire. Though the trio had been surrounded by the fierce army of women, they were hardly afraid since they were much more powerful then the Amazon's suspected.

"Ares! How dare you show your face here and with two outsiders no less? Zeus will have your head for this regardless of blood ties," said Hippolyta armed with her trusty sword and shield.

"I think not. Certain events have taken place, which have temporarily drawn the eyes of my Father, and the other Gods away from here. But don't worry I'll be sure to get their full attention again once I release by Hades from Tartarus," said Ares smiling at the Queen, who knew what would happen to her people if the horrible God was allowed to escape his prison.

"I won't let that happen," said Hippolyta, who was ready to strike when Slade walked towards her calmly with his hands behind his back.

"You may want to reconsider opposing us Queen of the Amazons. Do you really want this place to be covered in the blood and ashes of your fellow sisters?" said Slade brining his right arm out and covering it in Hellfire.

"It would be better then to be enslaved by Hades," said Hippolyta glaring hatefully at this man, who seemed unaffected by her strength.

"I tried. It's a real shame I have to destroy this paradise," said Slade now with both hands covered in Hellfire, as he along with Ares, and Morgaine Le Fey charged at the Amazon forces that blocked them from their goal.

Hell on Earth was fast approaching.

(A/N: YAY! I updated. Hope you all enjoyed it. I'll be working on either my Bleach or C&D fic next. Until next time...PEACE!!)