Chapter 7: So it Begins…

Earth 2- Titans Prison

Beast Boy turned his head and closed his eyes as he braced himself for the ultimate punishment, only further enticing the menacing woman. "You can scream now if you want…" Supergirl added with a note of pleasure.

Her eyes glowed bright red, the depths becoming cold and pitiless as she prepared to end the life of yet another victim. Although she had originally respected the responsibilities that came with having such deadly abilities, Kara had become noticeably demented in the last few years as she became drunk with her own power. In a way, she had followed Superman's example, as both of the alien heroes had become noted for this frightening side of their personalities. She paused for a second or two to admire the fear in her victim's face, but seemed to grow angry when she saw none. Beast Boy was determined to die with his dignity, something that did not sit well with his executioner.

Supergirl scowled in annoyance s she prepared to kill the green-skinned menace, but a small blast of energy soared over her shoulder and made a crack in the nearby wall before she could carry out the sentence. Surprised by this turn of events, she turned around to face her attacker to find the warden with his arm cannon raised in her direction. Her victim gasped in surprise as he realized what had happened, both of them turning towards the source of the attack. Although he was shocked by this sudden twist, his captor looked positively furious, something that seemed out of place on her face.

"Let my buddy go!" he sneered angrily. Cyborg took a step forward as he wrenched the bars off the hinges with his other hand, his blaster pointed at her.

"Oh my… It looks like you've forgotten your place." The female commander slammed Beast Boy's form onto the ground with a single fluid movement and placed a foot on his back before turning her attention to the immediate threat. "To think that a mechanical freak like you would be dumb enough to raise a hand against one of the Seven Justice Lords."

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything else, the blonde woman shot forward like a bullet and planted on a punch in his midsection. The warden doubled over in pain as his metallic chest plate crumbled beneath her hand, the blow knocking him through the brick wall on the opposite side of the cell. Wrenching his eyes open, he rolled sideways as her fist came down again, taking advantage of her opening by firing a blast of energy. His attack hit her dead on, allowing him a moment to fire a projectile into the air. Reacting quickly, he blasted the device, releasing a thick wall of smoke, which provided enough cover for him to move back towards the cell where his friend was being held.

Although the smog was thick, his robotic eye allowed was unaffected by it, giving him a momentary advantage. Beast Boy glanced up through the smokescreen as the half-robot emerged from within, stopping when he was standing a few feet away from the cell. A blank expression filled his face for a moment as he stood in awe of what had just happened, his eyes filling with horror as he caught sight of the giant crack in his friend's metallic torso. Cyborg scrambled over and flipped a panel on his arm, pressing a quick sequence of buttons on his arm as he typed in the prison security clearance codes.

"You saved me…" the green changeling replied with a stupefied expression.

"Not now! That blast I sent at Supergirl used up a lot more of my power than usual, and something tells me that no matter how powerful it was, it won't keep her down for more than few more seconds." Cyborg replied with an expression of mingled panic and annoyance.

Beast Boy looked surprised by his sudden change of heart, but couldn't help but feel a sudden rush of respect for the half-robot. "I thought you were one of them…" he began nervously. "Why are you helping me all of a sudden?"

"Shut up before I change my mind!" the warden barked angrily. After a second his expression softened considerably, and in that moment a shadow of the hero he had been so long ago spread across his face. "I'm only going to say this once… For the last couple of days I tried not to think of you as he buddy I lost, but no matter how much I tried to tell myself you weren't the same guy, the worse it got."

The green hero held out a hand to his friend. "It's good to see that the old Cyborg I knew is still in there somewhere!" he replied with a quick nod. "Now let's hurry before that crazy blonde wakes up!"

The robotic hero nodded with a similar expression as he continued his work. After a few more seconds of punching in numbers on the pad built into his arm, the robotic warden finally entering the codes. Beast Boy's eyes moved own towards the restraint around his neck as the lights began flashing again, but instead of tightening, the behavior collar fell loosened with a resounding click, splitting into two pieces and falling to the floor seconds later. The prisoner rubbed the back of his neck where the device had been moments before, a look of relief settling onto his face as he remembered what Slade had told him. Now that he mo longer had that metallic monstrosity around his throat, he could use his powers again without limitation.

"Thanks a lot, dude." Beast Boy replied with genuine gratitude. His friend looked as though he was about to say something else, but the sight of a familiar shape darting toward them quickly shattered the peaceful moment.

"Get out of here now!" Cyborg pushed the green-skinned hero away as Supergirl plowed into him with the power of a freight train, the sheer force causing him to crumple beneath her superior powers.

Beast Boy vacated the cell and looked up and down the aisle for a chance of escape, but his eyes gravitated towards the fight happening behind him. The female hero hammered Cyborg in the shin with a roundhouse kick, causing him to stumble backwards in pain. He raised his own fist to strike back, but she caught it in the palm of her much smaller hand, crushing several of his fingers with a vice-like squeeze. He bit his tongue as the vindictive woman forced his body into a kneeling position with one hand, her alien strength many times greater than anything his partially mechanical muscles could match. Once he was down, she raised her fists into the air and nailed him into the floor with a well placed smash to the back.

Supergirl paused midway through the beating as she remembered the real reason she had come down here, her face twisting into a smile as she noticed the escaped prisoner standing across the room. "Really courageous for your friend here to take the beating that should have been yours, although considering how dumb he was to fight me, I can't say it was a compliment."

The green changeling looked down at Cyborg's broken form, nothing the patches of blood staining his metallic body in several place. His face twisted into an angry scowl, but the man on the floor reached out to him with a pleading expression. "Get out of here!" The former prisoner looked up at him with a worried expression, but he shook his head firmly. "This'll all be a waste if she kills both of us."

"Shut up!" She backhanded her captive across the face, the small slap sending him back to the ground with a crash. "We gave you status and power under this new order and you threw it away to save someone, even knowing that the person isn't the same friend you knew. This really does surprise me, since I never believed for a second that you would throw your life away over something so pathetic."

"You're the one who's stupid…" Cyborg's expression twisted into a cocky smile as he raised his opposite hand. Her eyes widened as he fired another blast at point blank range, the energy stream knocking her off of her feat instantly. The robotic hero stood back up with noticeable difficulty, a series of sparks erupted from his cannon arm. "Giving me a few seconds to charge my weapon was your mistake."

The green changeling glanced at the hole in the wall where Supergirl had smashed through, quickly running over to see if his friend was all right, his body swaying slightly before falling down. Beast Boy supported him just long enough for the metal hero to settle into a leaning position against the nearest wall. He hissed slightly in pain as the spots where she struck him began to throb, but being half robot meant that repairs could always be done so long as he was still alive. Biting back his pain, he stood straight up again with considerable effort and grabbed his friend by the shoulders.

"You idiot, I told you to leave." He explained with annoyance.

"It's no good if you don't survive either. The Beast Boy from your dimension would never have wanted a friend to die because of him! I know this because I wouldn't want that either." He replied with an equally stubborn expression.

Cyborg opened his mouth again, but they were interrupted by a familiar stirring coming from the opposite room, made more unsettling by the glowing spot on the wall behind them. The robotic hero dove onto the floor as he realized what was going on, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by his fellow Titan. Beast Boy leapt backwards as a pair of heat beams shot a hold through the wall, coming very close to hitting the place where he had been standing moments before. Supergirl cursed to herself as she had been watching them with her X-ray vision, and planted her fist into the wall, causing it to crumble as the two heroes scrambled out of the way. The half-metal hero shot another blast at her as he stood back up and broke into a run, but she repelled it by holding her hands out in front of her, at this point having grown tired of toying around with her victims.

It only took the green shape shifter a second to make a decision. Despite what his friend had said, he wouldn't allow him to fight alone against such an opponent. He had never fought Superman before, but if his sidekick was this powerful when she was just playing around with them, he shuddered to imagine how deadly the Man of Steel would be if he ever fought against him. If fighting her was the only way that they could get out of this mess, then he had no other choice but to risk it. His friend so badly beaten up was something he had rarely seen, seeing how Cyborg was so tough and durable due to his robotic parts, yet their current opponent had severely damaged his metal alloy with barehanded punches, something that even the giant robot Atlas had not been able to do.

The female hero glared at them, looking irritated by their resistance. "That's it, I'm done playing with you weaklings." She replied menacingly.

"So am I!" the former Doom Patrol member squared up to face her with a defiant expression, although he knew that there was very little chance he could prevail.

Beast Boy watched her movements carefully, knowing that the alien's super speed would complicate any attempts to flee. The robotic warden waited in silence as his best friend glanced back at him, his subtle gestures indicating that he had a plan in mind. Although he had expected Supergirl to make the first move, the green hero dashed in her direction with renewed vigor, his eyes blazing as she shot forward to intercept him halfway. Using his powers, he morphed into and dashed beneath her guard, causing her to looked down in search of him. With an irritated scowl she turned around and began shooting her heat vision at the green rodent, only realizing her mistake at the last second.

"What the hell!" she fumed with a murderous expression.

The mechanical hero raised his cannon and blasted her in the stomach, stunning her for less than a second, allowing him to slam her in the stomach with his metal fist. Although she bore no sign of injury from his attack, the impact sent the Justice Lord flying back in the opposite direction. She turned with an angry growl to address the situation, but Beast Boy had actually planned this from the beginning. He transformed into an elephant, his sheer size causing the room to shake violently as he filled the space. Using his newfound strength, the green animal charged her with all of his might, knocking the wind out of her.

Cyborg ducked into the cell where his friend had been held as the female hero soared past them, her body slamming clean through the wall at the end of the room. She attempted to get up, but he pointing his cannon at her again, this time releasing a large net which bound her to the ground. She tore at the net with her hands, but the shiny material was unfamiliar to her and only stretched in response to her struggling. The female hero attempted to fly away, but the warden did not bother to spare her a second glance as he shot a second blast at the ceiling, causing an avalanche of debris to all from above and onto her in mid flight. He repeated the action several more times until the broken bits covered the hole in the wall leading to the room where Supergirl was still struggling. Beast Boy returned to his human form, but the opposing Titan ran past him with a slightly frenzied expression.

"Hurry up and follow me!" the mechanical hero ordered. "That net was made out of a strong alloy I created, but with her superpowers it won't buy us much time."

"Can't she fly?" Beast Boy questioned nervously.

Cyborg shook his head quickly as they ran for it. "The net was charged with an energy that disrupts metahuman powers, similar to technology that Lex Luthor once developed to use on superheroes, but I couldn't duplicate it completely." He explained hastily. "It won't completely cancel out powers as strong as hers, but it should buy us some time!"

The green hero nodded as they ascended the staircase leading to the next floor, leaving behind an amused prisoner. Slade had seen the entire spectacle from his own cell, although he had been hoping that the commotion would have allowed him a chance to escape as well. His eyes glistened slightly as he watched them flee the scene, a look of amusement appearing on his weathered face. The sound of Supergirl's struggling made him wary, but he had seen quite enough of what had happened.

Slade Wilson let out a quiet laugh, a sense of life returning to his face that had not been present in years. "And so it begins…" he mused to himself.

As the two Titans fled, the half-robot used his security clearance as warden to open all the doors in their path, occasionally pressing the buttons on his arm to instantly undo and reset the electric locks, which seemed to be built into most of the doors of the prison. They tore through the halls as several guards turned their heads to watch, but they did not care question this potentially suspicious activity so long as their superior was involved. Although most of them wondered why he was running around, Beast Boy had been wise enough to transform into a dog, partially hiding him from prying eyes while allowing himself to keep up with the robotic man's superior agility.

When they entered an abandoned hall several floors above the place where he had been held captive, the green changeling returned to his human form and ran a little faster to catch up. "So, where are you taking us anyway?" he glanced at his friend with a panicked expression.

"This way leads to my personal quarters, so we won't run into too many people around here." Cyborg answered through hurried breaths.

They rounded another corner and ducked into an elevator, but the lift shot up with incredible speed, the doors opening to reveal a remarkably familiar living space, very similar to the living room that had been in the Titans Tower he remembered from his own dimension. A sense of déjà vu came to him as he saw a hauntingly familiar couch and the large plasma screen television hanging on the wall, but he ignored these things and continued down the nearest hallway leading into another familiar place. Back home this series of hallways near the top of the tower had been used to house the main team, but the room they entered next was starkly different from what he remembered from his home.

Back there it had been Raven's bedroom, but now it had been converted into a finely decorated office with several bookshelves filled to the brim with important resource materials, and a pair of filing cabinets behind the desk. There was a small glass cabinet filled with several familiar objects, including an old Teen Titans communicator and several other bits of memorabilia from past missions, but their purpose had become purely decorative. The green hero looked around with around at the fancy drapes and plush carpets, the sheer luxury of the place giving him the impression that this was the warden's office.

"Nice new digs…" Despite the fact that they were still in danger, the green joker could help but comment. "I see working for those jerks had some benefits."

Cyborg looked slightly ashamed as he realized the truth of his position, and for the first time in years he could see things clearly. The system he chose to support had created a false peace, rooted in tyranny, and although it seemed to work, no one had any choice but to support them or suffer the consequences. He wished he could say something, but the shame he felt made him temporarily neglect the mess they were in. Meanwhile Beast Boy crossed the room with a curious expression, but one of the objects inside the curio cabinet caught his attention.

He stared at a framed picture behind the glass, depicting the five members of their original team. It was obvious that the photo was quite old, seeing how the heroes it depicted were all smiling, even Raven, whose shadowy expression seemed to hide a sense of inner peace. The warden noticed this gesture and seemed to understand, his own thoughts returning to the days when things were so much simpler, and the world still had some sense of real justice. He wished he could say something, but the sound of rumbling from below quickly caught his attention, jarring them both back to the present peril.

"Yikes, what one Earth was that?" the green hero screamed frantically.

"It sounds like Psycho girl is looking for us. Knowing her, she probably already knows where I took you, so we gotta make this fast!" Cyborg crossed over to his desk and began typing commands into his computer. Seconds later, a panel behind the desk slid open to reveal a trapdoor leading down into the floor below. "This passageway leads to an escape vessel I made for emergencies like this… Get in…"

Beast Boy glanced down at the dark passage hesitantly, but he sighed with a sense of relief as the thought of getting to safety. "Great, so that means we can both get out of here!" he declared with a triumphant smile.

To his dismay, the robotic warden shook his head. "The pod only holds one person…" he answered with a downcast expression.

"You're kidding me? I won't just jet off and leave my best friend behind the deal with that maniac alone." The shape shifter exclaimed.

Cyborg's expression hardened considerably as he the floor direct beneath his feet rumbled, his hand wrapping around his friend's shoulders as he shook him violently. "Don't be an idiot!" he screamed into the other man's face. His seething glare vanished again as he released his friend's shoulders, and he looked away as if pained by the sight of the green hero. "This is the least I can do for helping those jerks make this world the way it is, and for letting my best friend die to last time."

The opposing hero opened his mouth. "But what about…"

"Shut up and listen!" the warden commanded with a sense of authority, beads of sweat running down his face as the ground shook again. "The pods beneath this spot has an autopilot programmed into the system that should take you to a small bunker I built. No one else but me knows about this, and the stealth device built into the craft should stop anyone else from following you."

The green-skinned hero looked as though he was going to argue, but was forced to leap sideways as the door leading into the office was blasted off its hinges. They both avoided the flying door as it smashed the through the large window behind them, showering the room with shards of broken glass. Supergirl stepped into the room with a cheerful expression as she prepared to carry out the sentence she was tasked with, but in this moment Cyborg shielded his best friend with his body and as Beast Boy blocked the glass from getting in his eyes. Using this opportunity, he shoved the smaller hero backwards, causing him to stumble into the trap door behind the desk and into the cockpit of the small escape vehicle below. Their enemy attempted to follow, but Cyborg slammed a button on his desk, causing the vehicle to start up.

"Don't bother resisting, I'll just kill him once I finish with you!" Supergirl replied with a furious expression. "You can't save your friend… You can't even save yourself!"

The warden only smiled as he watched the vehicle rocketing out of the small bay where it was kept into the night sky. Beast Boy regained his senses moments later, his eyes widening in horror as he realized where he was. The Titans Tower Prison was quickly growing smaller as his craft rocketed away, with him trapped inside the small cockpit barely big enough to hold one person let alone two. He scuttled around frantically and tried to pry open the pod or override the autopilot, but the computer refused to allow him to do either.

Back at the prison Supergirl scowled in annoyance as she watched the craft fly away. She prepared to fly after him, but the warden stepped up to challenge her. "What did you do?" she fumed dangerously.

Cyborg looked back at her with a shadow of a smile. "I just did what the rest of us failed to do all those years ago… I saved the life of my best friend."

"You won't be forgiven for this treachery, even if your friend is one of the top brass." She hissed venomously, her expression twisting into a sickening smile moments later. "My cousin is the one who really holds all of the cards, and as long as he does your punishment for this will be far worse than death."

The robotic hero raised his energy cannon as his previous injuries worsened, causing blood to leak from his newly opened wounds. He knew that this might be the end, but was not planning on going down without a fight. As Supergirl smashed her fist into his stomach, his eyes wandered back towards the rapidly shrinking aircraft. No matter what anyone told him, he felt honored to stand on the side of true justice once again, now that an old friend he thought was gone forever had opened his eyes.

Trapped in the aircraft, Beast Boy watched in horror as a series of explosions and crimson beams shot forth from the top floors of the tower. He prepared to use his powers and escape the confinement of the small pod, but something else quickly caught his attention. The wind of the flying machine appeared to be turned invisible, temporarily stealing his attention for a moment as he watched the stealth device activate. This light show mesmerized him for a moment, but second later the craft swerved in a different direction, the flashes vanishing into the night as they became intermingled with the now distant lights of Jump City. Realizing how far this machine had taken him in a matter of seconds, the green hero pounded his hands against the safety glass cockpit. He called out to his friend, but no one could hear him.

In the ruined warden's office, Supergirl had little trouble dealing with her weakened opponent. Seeing him lying on the ground gave her an insane rush, the blood leaking out of his mouth, and one of his mechanical arms having been torn off and forcibly discarded. She seized him by the throat and help up his broken form with relative ease. Although his robotic parts could easily be detached from his body, many of his body parts still had organic components that allowed him to bleed if brutally punctured. She had severely damaged him, perhaps more than anyone had ever done before.

"So warden… Do you have anything witty to say to me now?" she mused with a sarcastic note as her gaze hardened.

To her surprise, Cyborg choked back his pain, a look of genuine happiness leaking through for the first time in years. "If you did it now, I wouldn't have any regrets." He replied with an arrogant smirk.

She relaxed her grip slightly as she saw his expression, looking slightly unnerved by his reaction in the face of death, but the notion gave her an even better idea. "Although I could just end your miserable life right now, that would be way too boring." Supergirl mused with a devilish expression. "I'm sure that Superman can think up something much… much… worse… … …"

Earth 2- Nightwing's Ship

Dick Grayson stood on the bridge of his ship as a pair of workers piloted the craft, closely watching for signs of error. Several of the heroes he had brought with him were waiting in the area below, preparing for the battle that was sure to follow, although as his personal bodyguard, Starfire had not left his side for even an instant. Although her mind had been altered to a state that made her seem like a robot, sometimes he still saw signs of her old self, hiding just underneath the surface, as though the girl he once loved was trapped inside of the thing she had been forced to become.

As his thoughts trailed off, one of the workers noticed something on the monitor. "Sir, we are currently approaching the target zone. Requesting permission to land the craft."

"Denied…" Nightwing answered him. "We already have this planned out, so just be prepared to drop the bombs. Even if it doesn't finish the job, it'll probably force them to reveal their position to us. One you do this, just open the bottom hatch of the ship and let the rest of us will handle the situation from there. Circle overhead until I say otherwise…"

"Yes sir!" the pilot replied with a small salute.

Meanwhile below the bridge of the battleship, the four other heroes remained rather stoic and unresponsive. The room where they were waiting was rather large and lined with metallic paneling, giving the entire place a futuristic appearance. They were gathered around the small table in the center of the room, Kilowatt naturally silent as Hawkman sat across from him polishing his giant war axe with a rag. Red Tornado seemed uninterested in speaking, seeing how he was an android and had no reason to address the others. The other member of their group seemed to be enjoying the lack of noise, due to her solitary nature.

Raven was seated in the last chair, a madness dancing in her eyes as a certain sense of bloodlust returned to her. She struggled to resist its pull, but after a minute of waiting she found this to be increasingly difficult. A soft growl escaped her lips as she felt the evil half of her personality surfacing once more, her deep blue eyes turning blood red as a second pair sprouted on her forehead. Seeing that no one else had bothered to take notice, the young sorceress shook her head slightly, allowing he top of her black hood to conceal her eyes from view. After a few moments of contemplation she gave into the evil within, allowing the final step of her demonic transformation.

The second pair of eyes on her forehead seemed to retract back into her skin as her eyes returned to their normal coloration, but a deep-seated desire to kill all those around her spread throughout her very being like a malevolent poison. Although she looked relatively normal, the darkness had taken hold once more, and she smiled in anticipation for the coming battle. The red markings on her body began to glow, although they were hidden by the long-sleeved sorcerer's gown she had begun wearing over her black leotard for this reason. A shadow fell over her eyes, but a sense of vindictive happiness came over her at the thought of the kill, and she licked her lips in a sadistic manner. Although Trigon was dead, she still bore signs of his parentage that she once tried to ignore, but now the evil that she had worked so hard to vanquish had become one of her greatest weapons.

She continued to ponder the complexities of her personality, but a groaning noise caused her to look up. The doors leading into the room slid open to reveal the form of their superior, all suited up and ready to take on the enemy. The Tamaranean Princess followed after him with a blank expression, her ample cleavage grabbing the attention of the room's men for a moment. Nightwing headed towards them with a relaxed expression, but his eyes widened slightly as he noticed Raven's sudden change in demeanor. It wasn't anything physical, but after a moment he recognized that familiar aura of insanity that she had exuded after Beast Boy's death. He contemplated this for a moment before clearing his throat, instantly grabbing the attention of the room's occupants.

"In a matter of minutes the raid on the rebel sanctuary will begin." He declared with an anxious nod. "Is everyone prepared to face the resistance? It's time for us to show those bastards they won't be able to cast society into chaos! The Justice Lords will not allow this fragile peace to disappear as long as we draw breath!"

Hawkman placed his weapon in its holder and stood up. "So how do we know when to begin the assault?"

"Be patient… The battle will begin soon enough…" Raven spoke in an even tone, but a sense of malice could be heard behind her words.

"Do not forget that our success in this upcoming struggle is not guaranteed." The winged hero replied sternly. She turned her head away from him, but he seemed not to care and instead faced their leader. "By the way, have our sources gathered any more intelligence concerning this matter or are we going down there blind?"

Red Tornado nodded in agreement. "It is imperative that we have information if it is available to us beforehand." The robot added in his synthesized tones. "If we are prepared for the enemy, we will be able to drastically increase our success rate."

The young vigilante nodded in agreement and decided they were correct. "From what we have gathered through our information network, the enemy's ranks include several heroes who refused to see the truth about our cause. Among them are some heavy hitters such as Green Arrow and Captain Marvel, both of whom where well-respected heroes among the Justice Lords before deserting us and siding with Batman's resistance."

"Are you certain that he isn't with them?" Hawkman questioned him.

"Our sources indicate that this may not be the main headquarters for the rebel forces, so the chances are that he is not present." Nightwing explained carefully. "I believe it would be to our benefit to capture hostages during this attack, this way we will have some leverage over the other members of the rebellion. The more valuable the hostage, the more useful they may be to us in the future."

Hawkman fingered the handle of his axe with a slightly conflicted look. "So you're saying that we have to take them in alive, then? This could be a bigger challenge than just taking care of them without restraint."

"Certainly Superman did not authorize this plan of yours…" the red-colored android responded.

The dark-clad sorceress sitting across the table shifted a little bit, her heavy robes swaying with her movement. "It was our orders to deal with this by any means necessary… We should take care of this without showing mercy. After all, anything else would make us look like weaklings to the rest of the world." Her hood slid back a little, revealing a sense of lunacy in her eyes. "You wouldn't want the Kryptonian to blame us on any loose ends, would you?"

Nightwing looked as though he had just been slapped, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stepped towards her. "He's not here right now, so what I say goes…" he responded in a level tone. "Kill if you have no other option, but if the enemy is weak enough for capture than I want you to handle the situation according to my commands."

Starfire moved forward as if to challenge the other heroes. "Follow his orders, or I will be forced to teach you your place."

The young vigilante held out a hand to halt her procession, but the demoness sitting across the room seemed to find them almost comical. Raven let out a dry cough to catch her attention as she pulled her hood back into place, once again hiding her facial expressions. "I'll do my best… my lord." Her tone was its normal monotone even though a sense of sarcasm lingered in the air.

Her superior cast aside this comment and decided to drop the conversation, considering how awkward it had become. Dealing with her constantly fluctuating personalities had grown increasingly difficult over the years, and over the last few hours he had seen her behavior switch between both her human and demon sides more than once. Sometimes talking to her felt like dealing with two entirely separate beings, even though he still continued to wonder if she still considered him a friend as they used to be before the incident. Before he could contemplate further, a loud siren went off above their heads, followed by a voice from the intercom.

"Sir, we've successfully hit the target! Are you ready for the drop off!" the pilot asked them.

The group shared a collective nod as they prepared for the next phase of the plan. Hawkman withdrew his axe and moved his wings into position as Nightwing reached for the mechanism on his back. Starfire seized hold of Kilowatt and Raven braced herself as the large hatch on the other side of the room finally opened. Wind gushed through the opening, but in a mater of seconds they were ready to begin. Starfire jetted through the exit along with her cargo, closely followed by Red Tornado and Raven, both of which seemed unfazed by the wind as they propelled themselves into the open sky. Hawkman opened wings wider and floated into the air, closely followed by their leader. Nightwing opened the winds of his glider and caught a gust, allowing him to delay the fall while granting him considerable mobility due to the use of this trademark technique.

Looking down below, the young Justice Lord could see several people running away from the burning ruins of the rebel base. Kilowatt landed seconds later as his ride dropped him onto the ground, and quickly began immobilizing enemy fighters with blasts of electricity, his shots easily overpowering the ordinary soldiers as they we stunned, their weapons falling harmless to the ground. Hawkman swooped down upon one of the guard towers, dodging the flying bullets as he pounded and pounded the structure with the broad side of his axe, causing the structure to collapse along with the gunmen inside. Several of them leapt from the tower to escape getting crushed, but a wall of dark energy wrapped around their bodies as if to protect them from the fall. The enemy soldiers looked relieved for a moment, but seconds later the dark barrier compressed the men trapped inside as terrible screams emanated from within.

Nightwing joined his men on the ground as the sheer magnitude of Raven's powers slaughtered all of the minor soldiers, but before he could criticize or admire her work, he was forced to dodge an incoming arrow. He looked up just in time to see a team of enemy heroes emerging from the base, having guessed that they had attempted to help the survivors of the bomb attack escape before vacating the premises. Green Arrow stood in the front of the group, his bow aimed directly at the young vigilante. Behind him were Stargirl, Vigilante, Bumblebee, and a small child that he didn't recognize.

Oliver Queen was a tall man of comparable height to Batman, with a neatly trimmed blonde beard and a green outfit. Without a second to waste, he reached into his quiver and moved another arrow into position with machine-like agility. "Can we help you?" he questioned with a tense expression.

The other heroes moved into position around their leader, the two girls floating overhead with Hawkman as the remaining three faced their opponents on the ground. Their leader raised his hand to stop them from attacking and stared down his enemy. "You know why we came here, so don't waste my time with stupid questions."

"Then you know how this is gonna go down, so why waste the time? Why not just kill us all just like you did those peaceful protesters back in Jump City?" Green Arrow questioned the man standing across from him.

"Watch you tongue!" Starfire declared with a serious expression. "You stand before one of the Seven Justice Lords who protect the peace of this planet from evildoers. He wishes to speak to you, so do not interrupt."

Her former boyfriend ignored her and turned to face the enemy force. "If you surrender and agree to come quietly, I can ensure that you will not be killed for your actions." His expression became darker as he said this. "However, fight us and you may be brought in by force, or merely executed on the spot."

The green-clad hero ignored faced down his opponent. "Neither!" he screamed, firing an arrow at the young Justice Lord.

Starfire shot in front of him and caught the projectile with her bare hand, but was caught off guard as the energy arrow exploded in her face. Although she recovered quickly, the others immediately launched into action. Nightwing leapt over her still-smoking form with a fistful of birdarangs in his hand, tossing them at his opponent with a well-placed movement of his wrist.

Green Arrow dodged them with an impressive display of acrobatics, moving his large form into a more maneuverable position as he shot three arrows at once. This time it was Nightwing's turn to dodge, only he found it a bit easier due to the size of his opponent's chosen weapons. He recognized the technique from the time he fought Speedy and had already prepared a countermeasure against this type of opponent. After all, the sidekick he once was friends with had probably learned from the hero, meaning that this might not be so hard after all.

As he maneuvered around the flying arrows, Starfire moved in to attack but found herself face-to-face with a young boy wearing a red shirt and jeans. "You are not my enemy… Leave!" she replied in a robotic tone.

"Quite the contrary!" the brunette child answered with a small nod. He looked up at the sky and raised his arms. "Shazam!" he screamed, causing a lightning bolt to rain down from above.

The electricity struck him dead-on, but seconds later he emerged as a full-grown man of considerable height and build. He wore a bright red costume with a golden sash and boots, a short white cape hanging loosely from his shoulders and a lightning bolt symbol emblazoned on the front of his costume. Captain Marvel wore a proud smile as he bore down on his now smaller opponent, his eyes bright with confidence. As if recognizing the threat he posed, Starfire sprung to life and flew backwards away from him, her eyes firing beam of green energy in his direction in an attempt to take him out.

Captain Marvel dodged sideways with his enhanced speed and shot into her with incredible force, sending his opponent sprawling through the air. She flipped around and attempted to return his attack with one of her own, but the captain seized her by the waist and floated into the air, positioning her struggling form towards the sky above him. Taking a deep breath, he shouted "Shazam" multiple times, causing the bolts of electricity to strike his victim as she took the force of the magical lightning. She made no noise in response to the bursts of pain, and managed to wriggle free from his grip, kicking her adversary in the face and freeing herself with one powerful movement.

As she squared off against the captain, Red Tornado generated a twister with his powers, sending Bumblebee flying out of control. She screamed as the whirlwind caught her wings and spun her in circles, but the android attempted to use this chance to disable her. Flying towards her, he raised a fist to disable the insect-themed hero, but she used the spinning currents to her own advantage and responded by zapping him with a surge of electricity from her weapons. The attack seemed to catch the robot off guard allowing her to escape the fearsome winds and launch more attacks of her own.

Kilowatt appeared to be locked in a similar battle with the cowboy themed superhero Vigilante, whose shower of bullets were useless against such an opponent. Possessing the ability to control electricity, he easily disarmed the opposing hero of his dueling pistols, and moved at speeds too fast for the other man to follow. Although the cowboy ready his movements, his body was too slow to react and was easily taken down from behind by a powerful surge of electricity. Seeing how their leader ordered him not to finish off the enemy, Kilowatt decided to take him in, but was stopped by a blast of energy from above.

A young girl with blonde hair and stars on her hero costume narrowed her eyes at the enemy as she moved in to rescue her fallen comrade. "The next one won't miss!" she warned with a deadly serious expression.

Stargirl raised her golden staff again as she prepared to send another blast at the electrifying enemy, but was forced to divert her attention as waves of darkness began to swallow her up from behind. Spinning around in mid-air, the patriotic hero fired her staff into the opposing mass of energy, disturbing it's progression just enough for her to escape it's grasp. She had seen what this attack could do when the demoness used it on their soldiers, and shuddered to imagine herself getting crushed into a bloody pulp within the darkness. As she fled to distance herself from the unseen enemy, the young hero turned to find a swirling vortex composed entire of shadow waiting behind her.

Raven slid through the vortex, her eyes blazing with a vindictive madness. "Going somewhere!" she bared her teeth in a demonic manner, her eyes turning red.

Her opponent seemed to back down slightly and raised her weapon to defend herself, but the staff in her hands gave off a dark glow, diverting her attention as the weapon sprung to life and wrapped itself around her body like a snake. She began to sink like a rock, but the demonic sorceress caught her with a wall of magical energy, which covered her limp form like a dark bed sheet. She opened her mouth to scream, but Raven waved her hand, causing a gag made from her magic to appear on the other girl's mouth.

"I'm sorry, but I prefer my victims to be silent." The black-robed demoness commented as a second pair of glowing red eyes erupted from her forehead again.

She watched in anticipation of the death of her victim, but a shape shot through the darkness from the other side, shattering the barrier surrounding Stargirl and freeing her in one powerful movement. Raven fumed angrily as her face returned to its more normal appearance, but despite this her anger seemed to increase as she sited the Tamaranean's body lying on the ground several meters away. Captain Marvel returned to the ground once he had finished rescuing the half-demon's victim, cradling Stargirl's traumatized form in his arms. He used his enhanced strength to remove the staff from her body, bending it back into it's original shape as best he could and laying the weapon by her side.

"Thanks for saving my butt…" Stargirl replied with a serious look of gratitude.

"Just stay safe…" Her savior gave her a small salute and a wink before flying back into the sky, this time hovering at a similar level to the demonic sorceress.

Raven raised her hands angrily, her powerful rage causing her to seemingly grow in size as the shadows surround her body. "How dare you interfere with my work!" she screamed with a look of utter revulsion. "My rage shall consume you… The dark magic I wield is far stronger than whatever power you possess!"

"Magic, you say?" Captain Marvel raised an eyebrow with a cheerful expression, pounding his right fist into his left palm to emphasize his words. "How do you think I got my powers? Magic is what I'm I'll about! Why don't you take me on, and then we'll see how your magic matches up to mine?"

"Yes, let's find out!" Raven replied with an amused expression, her voice echoing sinisterly as she spoke.

The young sorceress clapped her hands together with a single motion, drawing up a barrier of dark energy around her adversary. She attempted to crush him, but the powerful hero smashed the magical confines with his bare hands and flew around back in an attempt to snare her from behind. Without even turning around, the demoness materialized a wall of darkness to her back, but this time she poured a much larger amount of her spirit into her creation to increase the protection it provided. Captain Marvel lashed out with his fist in an attempt to shatter the barrier, but was instantly repelled by an unseen force.

As the two magic-oriented heroes battled in the skies, Green Arrow fired an arrow at one of his attackers, the projectile releasing a series of cables that bound Hawkman's wings and instantly grounded him. His weapon lay abandoned several feet away as the winged hero struggled against his binds, crawling on his hands across the grounds in order to reach it, but before he could grab a hold of the axe, a stream of energy bound his arms and tossed him into the air like a whip. Stargirl, who had recovered from Raven's attack, quickly immobilized his limbs using the power of her staff. Despite the damages that the weapon had taken during her earlier bout, it was still perfectly usable.

Nightwing was unable to do much to help as his path was blocked by a certain archer who seemed intent on preventing him from helping his defeated teammates. He tossed a smoke bomb into the air in an attempt to obtain some leverage over the agile marksman, but Green Arrow imitated this move by firing a series of smog-inducing arrows at the other hero in an attempt to even the playing field. With vision impaired for both fighters, Nightwing relied on his ears to fight, throwing birdarangs in the direction from which he head the familiar footsteps of his adversary, but was made aware of his opponent's similar strategy as an arrow soared past his face.

Meanwhile Raven followed up her original strategy by forming another barrier around Captain Marvel, only this time she learned from the previous experience and made sure to strengthen it so that he could not escape. The man inside seemed to struggled as the dark walls began to crush his body, his struggling making it much more difficult for his attacker to deliver the finishing blow. The young sorceress grew angry with his resistance, drops of sweat running down her face as she exerted more power into her spell, but even from several yards away she could see small cracks forming in the magical walls.

At the same time, Captain Marvel could feel his strength waning, but after mulling over the situation he quickly came up with a solution. "Shazam!" he bellowed, the resulting bolt of lightning instantly shattering the prison that held him. The newly freed hero soared overhead with a confident expression. "You see now that my magic is stronger!" he declared.

The demonic witch scowled in response to his comment, realizing that to win she would have to take this seriously. Her mind began searching for a spell powerful enough to end this fight, but as her mind replayed the last action she decided that there was a better solution that didn't involve exerting herself again. It was clear that her adversary could use that lightning bolt as a weapon in addition to inducing his transformation into a superhero, but thinking back to what she knew about him made her realize that this ability was a double bladed sword in itself. No matter how he looked, she knew that he was still a naïve little kid. With a wicked smile, Raven repeated her previous action, creating yet another wall of energy around his body.

Her opponent let out a hearty laugh as he judged the strength of the barrier. "Haven't you learned yet!" he called mockingly. "Shazam!" he roared for the lightning.

She raised her hand with a smile, altering the barrier's shape and consistency so that a small hole was present at the top. By the time her victim realized what was going on, it was too late to stop the consequences of her trick. Captain Marvel shouted out as the lightning struck his body, and seconds later a young child stood where the great hero was moments before. Stunned that he had been turned back into little Billy Batson. He opened his mouth to repeat the magic words, but before he could speak, a stream of dark energy twisted itself around his head like a tight scarf, instantly preventing him from saving himself.

"Nice magic words, but I've got some of my own…" Raven said with an cruel grimace. She closed her eyes for a second while chanting. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Her eyes shot open as the barrier surrounding her prey reshaped itself into a man-sized board, which floated horizontally in the air. She snapped her fingers, causing dark chains to shoot out of the object, forcibly binding her target to the torture device she had created. Billy's eyes widened in agony as series of shackles bound his arms and legs. Raven's eyes turned red again as she opened her mouth, a pair of fangs protruding from the upper half of her jaw. For a moment the marking on her skin expanded to cover her entire body, giving her flesh a deep red color very similar to her father's skin, and in that moment her braid fell apart to reveal a mane of long gray hair.

"I wouldn't given you a quick, painless death if you hadn't been so much trouble." Her voice sounded more sinister than ever as she bore down on the child. She raised her hand again, creating another board of equal size using her dark energy, this one with several large spikes sticking out from the flat surface.

She prepared to finish the frightened child when a voice called out to her. "Stop!"

Nightwing came walking through the night, having defeated his opponent less than a minute ago. Starfire came forward closely followed by a recent freed Hawkman, the former carrying an unconscious Stargirl on her back. Red Tornado glided down from the sky with an equally unresponsive Bumble Bee in tow, her wings bound and her hands and legs cuffed with titanium shackles. Killowatt had left Vigilante's unconscious form on the ground after taking him down, along with several other gunmen that were aligned with the rebellion's forces.

"The battle is over, but these rebels are no good to us dead. We can use them to find out where the others are hiding, and perhaps even ransom." The silver-clad vigilante explained with a patient expression. His facial features hardened as she looked away from him. "Stand down and prepare the prisoner."

"Make me…" the demonic entity replied angrily, her voice bearing very little semblance of the friend he once knew.

Her superior shook his head with a saddened expression before exchanging a nod with the winged hero standing behind him. Hawkman raised his axe and struck out at her, the Thanagarian metal instantly canceling out her magical abilities. She drew up a barrier, but the amp metal axe sliced through it like butter, the feedback from the weapon jamming her powers as soon as it came close to her. He turned it so that the broad end was facing her before striking her flesh. The blow was non-fatal, but extremely painful at the time as the sheer force of his strike sent her flying, completely rendering her powers useless for the moment.

She let out an agonizing groan as her skin and hair changed back to normal. Raven looked up at her attacker with a hateful expression, but the red glow in her eyes subsided, and she grabbed her head between her hands, as pulses of dark energy spewed from her open mouth and eyes. After a moment of painful transformation, she returned to her senses, the human half of her personality becoming dominant once more. At this time a feeling of regret filled her stomach at the lives she had taken tonight, but this only brought her a sense of confusion. The young sorceress let out a blood-curdling scream as she cursed herself for feeling this weakness… She hated the fact that she felt regret for taking the lives of a few meaningless people. Her human half had so many emotions… Things that were useless to someone like her.

"There was a reason why I asked Hawkman to come… Whenever you begin to kill, you lose sight of the goal and defy orders, and that is not acceptable." Nightwing stepped towards her and held out his hand. "Raven…" he began with a concerned expression.

"You okay?" Hawkman added with a much less sympathetic expression.

"Leave me alone!" she hissed, silently using her other hand to conjure a portal. The demoness glared at him as she choked back tears of frustration, forcing him to dodge as several nearby rocks sprung to life her dark magic and flew at him. She sunk through the dark portal, her features becoming swallowed up by the swirling torrent of shadows as she left the other members of her team standing among their defeated foes.

Note to Readers: Phew, long chapter… I have a feeling this one has more errors in spelling and grammar than usual, but I usually write late at night. No to mention that I like writing action scenes like the ones that were in this chapter. Raven's dual personality seems to be becoming more of a problem, but I hope now that it's clearer why? It's because the emotions and guilt created by her inherently good human half make it hard to do the things she wants to do without feeling guilty. She gave into the darkness so that she could perform evil acts to fill the void without feeling bad about it.

I hope the go back to Earth 1 next chapter, although you have to admit that a lot of stuff if going on in Earth 2 right now. Anyway I really need some REVIEWS and support. Give me some good critiques or ideas to work with, I appreciate and have even used or adapted ideas submitted by reviewers before if I liked them. Either way, it keep me motivated to continue this story, seeing how it always helps to know what parts people like and what they want to see while writing. It's partially what keeps me writing Fanfiction.