Author Notes:

3 more chapters left! *breathes in and out quickly*

Thank you guys for reading! I hope you enjoy the rest!


They ran for a long time, until young Raven could show Beast Boy where the other Ravens were, losing sight of Trigon. According to her, there was this ritual, for which she was needed to complete. But she wasn't able to explain more. When Beast Boy got to see the scene, his eyes widened.

There was a circle, in whose line each one of the emoticlones were tied up to a piece of rock, passed out. At its center, they could see Dark-blue Raven, tied up and unconscious as well.

Beast Boy ran to the center and turned his hand into a Bear's paw, to cut the ropes. She slowly opened her eyes.

"Beast Boy?"

"Yeah, I know, I'm your hero, your-welcome, we can save the kiss for later, but now you have to come with me, ok?!"

There was doubt in her eyes; but she nodded anyway. Beast Boy freed her and carried her to a corner, lying her down on the floor but still holding her head.

"You've got to tell me how I can kick your father's butt."

"You can hurt him, but not enough." She said, weak. Her voice was more like a whisper. "I must defeat him."

"But... No offense, Rae, really, but the only thing you could hurt right now is an ant."

"Good. Then turn into one."

He rolled his eyes. "That's not the time to make fun of me!"

At that moment, young Raven joined them, sitting next to him. Then, he looked at the circle. "What's this ritual about?!"

"My father's heritage is trying to take control of my mind." Raven answered.

"Yeah, I got that. But why does he need this kid? I mean, I didn't see her when I-""

"Just let me finish, stupid. I'm going to explain: when I lost my memories, I was sent to a limbo, and my 6-year-old version decided to help me..."

"But why six yeea..." He stopped when he saw her glare at him. "Sorry, go on."

Raven rolled her eyes. "This child represents my innocence... She tried her best to bring me back while responding in my body, for me. But soon things got complicated... She didn't have enough training to deal with emotions and control Trigon's influence, mainly because she didn't know about this." She stopped for a moment to breathe deeply. "The monks told me who my real father was when I completed seven years old. If Trigon has this child..."

"He could control even the most innocent part of you."

Surprisingly, she didn't get mad at him for completing her sentence. She just nodded. "He was able to gather all my emotions together to do this ritual, in which he had to send the other Ravens to the limbo and... And kill me. To take control of everything. He's already taken almost all of my strength."

As soon as the boy heard the word 'kill', something awoke inside him, getting him angry.

"He won't hurt you, you heard that?! Just tell me, Rae! How can we stop him?"

She shook her head. "I must do this alone. And you're not even supposed to be here."

"You and I know you won't make it alive!"

Suddenly, heavy footsteps took over the ground they were. Trigon had reached them. Now there was no time left for discussion; Beast Boy was determinate on helping his friend, no matter what.

He rested Raven's head on the ground, gently enough, and turned into a T-Rex, running towards the demon to attack it. Before he could hit it with his head, a punch stopped him, making him fall. But the boy got up right away.

This time, he was able to hurt Trigon, biting its back, making it roar, angry.

Meanwhile, Raven watched the scene, without a real reaction. Think Raven... Just think.

"You don't have enough strength; but I do."

She turned her head quickly at her younger version, who had just spoke.

"What?"

"Maybe, I'm able to absorb all the emoticlones and get enough strength to defeat him."

She thought about it for a second. They couldn't wait too long, otherwise Beast Boy would get badly hurt; or even worse. Finally, Raven nodded. She still worried about the child's lack of training, but decided to give it a try. Raven managed to sit upright and watched as the child ran towards the circle.

The green dinosaur tried to push the demon to the rock's edge, so that it could fall, but it stood again and threw fire at him. He ducked down, avoiding the flames, and kicked its stomach.

As soon as young Raven arrived at the circle, she stood right in the middle of it, closing her eyes and gaining strength. Some seconds passed by until all the other ones began to fade, slowly, turning into light of their own colors and getting into the child's chest.

"No!" The demon shouted when he saw what had just happened. That distracted him; and a next kick came from Beast Boy, which made it lose its balance and fall from the floating piece of rock.

Beast Boy breathed heavily, relieved; in spite of knowing that was not the end.

"BEAST BOY!"

At Raven's warning, he noticed the big rock coming towards him. The boy ran as fast as he could, but it was not enough: the rock fell right on his foot, getting him hurt and stuck. That was when Trigon got up again, from under the ground, and was about to smash Beast Boy. Raven felt her heart jump from her chest, as she made an afford to get up.

Suddenly, a white lightning bolt hit his hand. He roared again, in frustration, and saw the responsible for the blow. Raven turned around and saw it as well, not quite believing in what she saw, and feeling a little more confident, at last.

It was child Raven. The young girl wore a colorful hood, and was surrounded by a white and bright aura.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" She shouted and fired at her father once more. He ran, ready to attack his daughter.

Raven finally managed to get up and, weakly but fast enough, walked to where her friend was, lying down and in pain.

"I told you not to do this!"

"Yeah! And you should've known I'd not listen- AH, dude!" He closed his eyes. "That hurts!"

"Okay, just calm down." She said, quietly.

"But-"

"I told you to calm down!"

Hiding his lips, he nodded. She took a deep breath and, with eyes shut, she made her hand glow, getting it close to the place of the wound. And it took a while, but Beast Boy felt a strong relief.

He turned into a gorilla and was able to toss the rock around.

"Wow, thanks Rae!"

"Your-welcome. Now get out of here."

The sentence got him by surprise. "What?!"

"I really appreciate the help. But I cannot put you in such risks any longer."

She was about to do the spell to open the portal back; but he grabbed her arm.

"Let me go." She said, angry.

All he did was look at her, serious. Behind them, father and daughter fought against each other, exploding rocks and making the ground shake. That made her see there was no way she could convince him to go back. He was really willing to help her; and a little help might be actually useful. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Fine. But now, you do as I tell."

He smiled and saluted; making her smile as well.