Chapter Nine: Darkest Fears

Vaati had grabbed his pillow and blanket off the couch in the lounge and had proceeded to follow Raven into her room. Quietly, Raven made herself comfortable in her bed while Vaati laid himself on the floor right by her bedside. Slowly sleep overcame them, and they prepared themselves for the inevitable confrontation with the Nightmare Dethl.

"We have been expecting you," a voice whispered in the dark.

Vaati and Raven realized that they were in an alley somewhere in Jump City. But something wasn't right. The atmosphere was tinted a sick shade of red, and rain was coming down in torrents. They looked around, searching for Dethl, but they couldn't see it anywhere. Suddenly the sinister demon appeared in front of them both while they were looking behind them.

"Surprise!" it cackled, shoving them both back with its dream-based magic.

The two of them fell to the sopping-wet ground. Dethl stood menacingly over them, its halberd pointed at Raven's throat. "We knew you could not resist sweet slumber forever. Now you shall see what we have in store for you."

"Not this time, Dethl!" Vaati yelled, unleashing the strongest blast of wind he could muster at the silhouette-like shapeshifter. At the same time, Raven cried, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" and shot a blast of dark magic at their foe.

Dethl casually spun his halberd in front of him in a windmill fashion, effortlessly deflecting Vaati and Raven's combined attacks. "A valiant but wasted effort," it hissed. "We told you once before. We cannot be defeated in this world. Daughter of Trigon, we shall give you another chance. Will you do as we ask?"

Raven glared at Dethl and spat in its face, startling it. Wiping the spittle from its face, a contemptuous and angered glint flashed in its eyes. It then retaliated by backhanding Raven across the face. "Half-demon harlot! You will regret that and your decision to deny our request!"

"Not if I can help it!" Vaati roared, throwing himself at the creature.

Dethl grabbed Vaati by the throat and tossed him back to the ground. "Wait your turn, Wind Mage!"

Vaati struggled to lift himself to his feet, but as he did, he was met by a sight so horrible that it made him retch.

The other Titans were strewn around the alley, all of them dead, their bodies horribly mutilated.

Beast Boy was hanging upside down by a string, his eyes gouged out and his throat slit, allowing his blood to flow freely out of the wound and stain the puddle below him in a crimson sheen. Cyborg's head was lying idly in the street, while his body was slumped against the wall. Robin's body was spread-eagled in the middle of the alleyway. His empty gaze was cast towards the heavens, and his heart had been carved out of his chest. Starfire was by him, looking as though she had been beaten and raped repeatedly before being brutally stabbed to death. And in the middle of this gory scene was Dethl, staring down at a convulsing Raven. "Horrifying, isn't it?" it taunted, its evil grin returning. "Your worst nightmares coming to life right before your very eyes. This is but a minor taste of the power we wield, a power which, no matter how you fight it, is growing from yours. This is the fate that awaits your beloved friends!"

Then, to Vaati's horror and revulsion, the corpses' faces all turned towards Raven and spoke in tandem with the Nightmare. "Do not underestimate our powers. We know your fears, your weaknesses, and your dreams. We are all-powerful, and we are unstoppable. We are your darkest fears. WE ARE THE NIGHTMARE!"

Dethl cackled like an insane person, while Raven kneeled pathetically at its feet, unable to look up at her slain friends. When Dethl let up, it glanced sadistically at Vaati. "And do not think for a minute that we have forgotten about poor little Vaati."

Suddenly the entire scenery melted away, including Raven. Fear gripped the Sorcerer of Winds as he realized that Dethl had temporarily closed off Vaati's connection with Raven. There was now only a black plain that stretched on forever, overshadowed by ominous red-and-black clouds thundering in the distance. "Have you ever wondered why you were always so different from the other Minish, Wind Mage?" Dethl asked.

Vaati just stared at it, a hateful gleam in his eyes. "Allow us to fill in a few details about your sorted past. You have no memory of your parents. We can tell you now, you were correct in the assumption that your mother died giving birth to you. But your father is not dead."

Vaati's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, not dead?"

"Your father…was not Minish, Vaati. You are the offspring of a wretched union between a Minish mother…and a demon father."

"W…what?"

"Yes…you heard us correctly. Long before you were born, a demon came and attacked your mother, planting its seed in her womb. The curse it placed upon her would also cause her to die in childbirth, for she would be giving birth to a half-demon, the most wretched creature that could ever walk upon the mortal world. Thus was the demon's goal fulfilled; a curse that would haunt the memory of the Minish race forever…you."

"How…how do you know this?"

In answer, the Ganon-like shape of Dethl shifted into a larger form, growing a pair of large arms with a spherical head. And on its face, a gigantic eye opened, its luminous gaze fixed on a shocked Vaati. The Wind Mage's eyes were wide with horror and dismay, knowing the answer. "Because…we are that demon. We are your father."

Vaati felt his breath leave him as he stared dumbstruck at the creature that had just declared itself to be his father. "Your demon form was not a result of your power fusing with that of the light force. It is a power bestowed upon you by us, a power which mutated to fit your aura, and the wishing cap and light force allowed you to access its might."

Vaati took this all in, too appalled to respond. "You are Vaati, Son of Dethl!" it shrieked with sinister glee. "And we are now your worst fear!"

Vaati had no time to respond before Dethl vanished, leaving Vaati alone in a void of blackest night that could only exist in the absence of dreams.