Author's Notes
To JP-Ryder, we are finally at the end and karma will finally have her day cconsidering everything that has happened in the past few years and beyond.
To William the Werewolf, we're just about at the finale. Raven being controlled wasn't exactly meant to be a huge surprise - I had that foreshadowed from the first chapter, as well as how the control would be overridden in the second chapter. Waller isn't stupid, she knows just how dangerous it would be to bring in a real, full-blood demon, and how badly it would end, so it would be much safer to control Raven, who also had no natural thoughts of human annihilation in her head, so the consequences of her breaking free weren't quite so deadly. Besides, in this story, Trigon can't get back from hell after his defeat at Raven's hand.
Hard to believe it folks, but we're at the end of the story. It's certainly been a very long journey from chapter one to now, but thanks for your support. After this, I will likely continue with my other active stories Ascendant, Ziva David: Redemption, and Fear, Hope, Loss, Love, as well as likely starting a new story (eventually, the details are below).
And here is the longest chapter of the story (and the longest chapter for one of my stories to date, just a bit ahead of the final chapter of Collapse from Misunderstandings).
Also, reader discretion is advised for the final scene of the chapter.
Now, let's finish the story.
The Titans had somehow managed to do it. They had managed to bust Raven and Ravager out of Bele Reve, the most infamous (and secure) prison in the country, and quite possibly the world. And from there, they had to fight an unrestrained Raven under the Demon's Hand's influence or else they would have been killed.
Right now, the Titans were at a nearby hospital in Mississippi, where they were being treated for their wounds in the fight with Raven, while the half-demon was having what remained of the Demon's Hand extract removed from her bbloodstream, hopefully ensuring that she would never be Waller's pawn again. Before Waller had taken control of Raven inside of the van, they had removed around fifteen percent of the Demon's Hand concentrate already in her system, or around eleven percent of the intended dosage, leaving about sixty-five percent of the total dosage remaining, and considering how it took around three hours to get that fifteen percent, it would likely be at least a day or so before she'd be clean.
And then would come a lot more of the ramifications of the breakout - there were already quite a few dead in the riot (fortunately, none of which were guards or innocents), but the big deal would come from perpetrating a criminal act and going behind the League's backs to do so. State Troopers were already ready to arrest them all, but were called off for some strange reason. And Nightwing had a bad feeling about just the reason behind them standing down.
As Raven rested for the Demon's Hand concentrate to work its way out of her system, Ravager sat by her bedside, awaiting her lover to wake up while Nightwing watched the two from a window. Animal Man and Starfire were still having their wounds treated while Cyborg was performing a systems check and repair following what happened.
Whilst he watched, he then commented, "I expected you here sooner." Turning around he saw the Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader, the Batman.
Batman began, "What you did was illegal and reckless. You broke two convicted felons out of a federal penitentiary. That's one hell of a felony charge you will be facing."
"Technically, Belle Reve was corrupt thanks to Waller's run over the prison. Raven was innocent of all the charges while Ravager was imprisoned without due process or a trial after being tortured for months on end."
"You also stole countless documents without a warrant. What makes you think that any of this will be admissible in court?"
"Nothing about this case was ever legal - Raven wasn't permitted an attorney until her trial, and by then it was too late as the whole thing was just a sham. I'm not even sure she was read her Miranda rights. And besides, this was just like taking down any other supervillain - go to their lair and stop their plan. Nothing out of the ordinary - same risks as always."
"And you went to Deathstroke, a known and wanted felon in multiple countries for help!"
"Like we had a choice. He was the only person who could help us get in Belle Reve."
"Because of your actions, there stands a high probability that Waller and her associates go free and try it again."
"They won't try it out. Everything they did and planned to do are now on the Watchtower servers. They don't have any more plans, and hopefully, we won't lose anybody else to her. We still have some of a case - we need to find Harley and have her confess to setting up Raven, and link this whole shitstorm to Cadmus."
"That won't be possible, though. Harley was murdered a few hours ago by Deadshot. We have the audio recording that proves it, so the evidence you have linking her to Cadmus is all circumstantial."
"But we have the Demon's Hand concentrate, which will give further help us prove what was going on. The artifact will be proven to exist, and will finally clear Raven of the crimes she committed under the Joker's control."
"We also have Brainiac to worry about. The bastard always has a tendency to slip away and reconstitute himself."
"No we don't. Slade went down to Peru to take down Brainiac, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to upload the files. Suffice to say, he's gone for good. Do you think Supes will lose any sleep over it?"
"Probably not. Brainiac was always hard to defeat, and really couldn't be killed. Add in the fact that the other trace of Brainiac vanished with Darkseid, and he'll be pleased that the computer is no more. How is Raven doing?"
"We're still removing the Demon's Hand concentrate from her body. We already got out forty percent of the concentrate that was there, but it'll be a while before it's all gone. Four years, Bruce. For four years, she languished in Belle Reve, powerless and at the mercy of other inmates. If it weren't for Ravager, she'd be long dead, and even then, Waller kept Raven as a puppet on her strings, and could destroy her life any time she chose. I think it's about time this finally ended."
"I couldn't agree more, but this still won't be the end. We've got no clue how the public will act, especially considered what Raven was tried for, and her heritage. And without the Demon's Hand in our possession, it'll be hard for them to buy our explanation, regardless of what they have seen. Godfrey dealt a very low blow to Raven, one that won't be fading away anytime soon. And what about Ravager? She's a known killer."
"That part I'm still uncertain about. Will she get put back in prison for all the crimes she had committed, regardless of how she slipped through the legal cracks?"
"And her father? Hal and John found the Peruvian base where Brainiac was being kept. We only found two bodies in the base, and neither of them were a match to Deathstroke, as well as one at the base of the Andes Mountains, which also did not match his body."
"Then he got lucky, again."
In Washington D.C. at the U.S. House of Representatives was a massive gathering of Senators, world leaders, ambassadors, surviving governors and representatives of businesses and organizations. They all sit and watch as the speaker from the surround sound system starts to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States." the speaker spoke as the President came into view as he marched towards the podium. The clapping died down as soon as the President makes it to the podium as he took a deep breath and began his speech.
"My fellow Americans." he started "It has come to my attention that due to recent events, there has been a conspiracy of a string of events that we didn't notice or predict."
"And in doing so, we have lost so dearly and were close to being destroyed."
Up in the Watchtower, Mr. Terrific was watching multiple monitors as the League went out to take out each member of the Cadmus conspiracy. Through one of his comms, he was asked, "Have all members been located?" by Wildcat.
Mr. Terrific responded, "I have multiple possible locations on each target, so you've been split up into pairs to go get them. Confirm if you capture one of them, this goes to all of you."
"Yes, T. Atom Smasher and I are here in Puerto Vallarta."
"All Leaguers, this is Terrific. You are clear to move in. Take down once you have the opportunity." Ending the transmission, Mr. Terrific watched as the Justice League proceeded to hunt down the conspirators.
"And the truly ironic part was that the reason all of this happened was because we wanted to feel more secure."
In a cafe in Ivy Town, Plastique is busy planting some C4 depositories in the building. As she sets up her bombs she is heard a voice behind her.
"Bette Sans Souci," spoke Captain Atom as he along with Stargirl confronts the explosive woman "You're under arrest. Turn yourself in and come in quietly."
"I don't think so!" Plastique shouts as she held her explosive device in her hand "Try to contain me, Captain Crud, cause with one push of a button the innocents in the cafe will be dead unless they don't get out of here!" she declares thinking that she has the upper hand.
Stargirl and Captain Atom gave her a look as Stargirl uses her staff to disintegrate the detonator out of her hands much to Plastique's shock. She tries to escape from the two heroes only for Captain Atom to atomize her clothes.
"What the hell!?" Plastique asked as she feels her clothing disappeared leaving her bare naked save for her boots. No undergarments included "My clothes!" she cried out as not only is her clothes gone but so are the rest of the explosives. Her naked body is seen for public display.
"Cuff her, I'll check out where she set up the rest of the explosives." Captain Atom said as he flew to find the remaining C4 explosives. Stargirl has to force Plastique in cuffs due to trying to cover herself as the citizens laughed at her exposed state.
"In our efforts for security, we were willing to strip civil liberties and entrust our country to those willing to do what was supposedly necessary."
Over in Colon, Panama, the Electrocutioner was staying off the radar, having been alerted that the League was on them and were hunting them down. By staying outside of the country, he hoped to elude the League's efforts, where they would have pronounced support from the United States government and law enforcement.
Of course, while he wanted to stay off the radar, he did keep his suit on in case push came to shove and the authorities came gunning for him. It always paid to be prepared, especially when dealing with fighting the cops.
Despite all that he did, the League always reared its head, and they found him. Ducking into a bar, Electrocutioner watched as Ice and Aquaman headed his way. Prepping his equipment to zap the two, the electrician waited for the two to pass so he could get the drop on them. His only shot would be to ambush them, as those two happened to be among the best heroes suited for taking him out.
Once they walked past him, strolling towards a nearby fruit stand. Once he was certain their eyes weren't on him, Electrocutioner made his strike, moving both of his hands towards the Atlantean, as dual currents would guarantee a fatal zap, especially with a creature so based on water. He made his move...
Only for Aquaman to hook the wire with his hook hand, thereby causing him to twist his arm and forced him to cry out in pain. This also left his suit wide open for Ice to do her magic and thereby shut it down, rendering the Electrocutioner powerless.
Aquaman said, "Lester Buchinsky, you're under arrest for conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity and treason."
The portly electrician yelled, "You're not even human!"
Ice countered, "But I am, and we are both members of the Justice League, so it all counts."
"What we didn't see though, was that these people didn't have our interests at heart, only theirs, seeking power and domination."
In Star City while hiding in an alley, Captain Boomerang was drinking his energy drink as he prepares for his target to appear. He looks through his binoculars to see a high-ranking businessman, Edwin Alva, coming out from his hotel. Boomerang smirk as he picks up one of his sharp boomerangs and aim for Alva. As he throws it towards him a small tornado suddenly appeared intercept the boomerang.
"What the-!?" the Australian villain was shocked as he saw Red Tornado floating down towards him.
"Come with us quietly, George Harkness. You're under arrest." Red Tornado ordered.
"Not on your life, you bloody tin can-" Captain Boomerang was cut off when he is hit in the head with a mace before he can throw another boomerang. Hawkgirl has hit him with full force as the Australian villain was knocked into a car.
"Don't you think that's a bit excessive, Hawkgirl?" Red Tornado asked her.
"He killed Hawkman." She scowled as she gripped her mace "I think he deserved it."
"Orchestrated by a mad woman who wanted power, we've lost so many lives over the course of four years."
Over at one of the Cadmus safe houses in Krakow, Poland, Temple Fugate, better known as the Clock King, was inspecting camera footage of the city, as once he got a good idea of the schedule, he could better blend in to avoid detection by the Justice League. He was the master of efficiency, so he needed to get it down, especially since he hadn't been in the city that long. Each member of Task Force X received tickets for flights to multiple countries, to prevent the League from forming patterns as to where each member went, with some of them still in the States especially.
As he watched the people in Krakow, the Clock King quickly got a good feeling as to how the people moved and was ready to leave and become one of the crowd. Walking outside as a wave of individuals passed by, he slipped in the crowd and followed them up until he entered a bar a few streets to the south. Stepping into the bar, the bartender asked, "What'll you have?"
"Scotch. Two fingers." As the bartender poured Fugate his drink, the Clock King sat down at one of the tables, watching to see if any members of the League were headed his way. Once the bartender had poured his drink, he turned to pay the man and received the scotch. Turning back around, he saw Booster Gold sitting in the seat across from him.
The time-traveling superhero commented, "Hello, Mister Fugate. You are so predictable that we knew you would be at this very bar. Benefits of being a time traveler."
As the Clock King walked away from Booster Gold, he bumped right into the Crimson Avenger, who slapped a pair of handcuffs on him. The Crimson Avenger and Booster Gold then proceeded to walk the conspirator right out of the bar and then off towards court.
"The Justice League and the Titans have lost many of their friends and colleagues because of these conspiracies."
In the Himalayas, Shining Knight is seen beating up the guards as Black Canary knocks most of them with her canary cry. Coming in his base was David Cain, who is shocked to see the two heroes attacking his base. Shining Knight focuses on the guards as Black Canary march towards to Cain. David was too shocked to react as Black Canary charges towards him. Before he can pick out his gun he was struck down by Canary's side kick to his jaw. This cause him to stumble to hit the floor hard just in time for Shining Knight to knock out all of Cain's men.
The two went through the base to search for Cassandra Cain and Lady Shiva. Shining Knight went to the cells as Canary finds a training room door. She opens the door to find Cassandra, training by practicing kickboxing on the training sack. Cassandra notice the blond hero as she gets into a stance.
"Stand down, Cassandra." Black Canary told her in a calm voice. Cassandra was hesitant by the stranger's calm movement as she steps towards her "I'm not your enemy, can you understand me?" she asked using sign language as Cassandra can read her body movement. The young girl did as she is told as she stand down and walks with Black Canary. While the two exit out the room, they find Shining Knight carrying a woman in his arms.
"The damsel and her daughter are secured." Shining Knight said as their rescue mission was a success.
"Heroes we thought we did not need necessarily, heroes we at one point believed that could have very well been our downfall."
Over in Detroit, Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot, was hiding out after being informed that he had been made. The League knew that he had killed so many people, including the Atom, General Wade Eiling, and Harley Quinn, and were actively hunting him down.
Holed up in a low-rent apartment complex in the center of the city, Deadshot made sure not to be noticed by anybody, especially by law enforcement as he watched out his window, hoping he had not been compromised.
Peering out through the scope of his rifle, he soon noticed that Green Arrow was walking down towards the apartments, signifying that perhaps he didn't have any time left, and the archer almost certainly had a partner checking the apartments as well. Oh well, he might as well go down swinging, taking out another of those blasted Leaguers. At least this one didn't have any superpowers, making it an easier task.
Taking aim at Green Arrow, Deadshot readied his rifle only for Green Arrow to send an arrow right at his position. The marksman ducked, but the arrow struck the rifle's barrel and melted it. He couldn't use the rifle again, so he dropped it and switched to his wrist-mounted gun, the only weapon he still had available. Before he could get out of the apartment, Vigilante burst in and aimed both of his revolvers at him.
"I reckon you drop it, partner." With Green Arrow outside with his sizable quiver and Vigilante inside, Deadshot knew that this was a losing fight and dropped the wrist-mounted gun, putting his hands in the air as Vigilante put a pair of shiny metal bracelets on him.
"Now, we see that their vigilance is perhaps the true key to our security, especially considering how much the world has changed and evolved in the past decade."
Somewhere in Toronto, Gemini was in disguise to look for her next target. She was in the streets disguised as a police officer as she looks and finds her target getting out of a car. A office worker talking to someone in his phone, Mike Turner.
As she walks towards him she calls out to him "Mr. Mike Turner, I would like to have a word with you." she said using her disguised voice, ready to use her gun to attack and replace him.
"Actually officer, I got a few questions as well." Turner replied as he turns around and grasped her hands as he changed shape. Gemini was shocked to see in Mike Turner's place was the Martian Manhunter, who's eyes turned red as Gemini changed back into her basic form.
"No!" she screech as she stretch her body away from him, only to be cornered by Metamorpho, who restrained her by covering her with solid iron restraints made out from his hands.
"Gemini is restrained. Repeat, Gemini has been restrained." Martian Manhunter reported through his comms link.
"And let us not forget that the heroes aren't just the victims. The civilians and the villains are also victims of the travesty…"
Superman and Green Lantern rapidly converged on their target, the central Cadmus lab outside of Roswell, New Mexico. There were a lot of dangerous experiments there and they all needed to be accounted for. Kryptonite rifles, paralytic and fear agents, nanites, and so much more. And who knew just what kind of opposition was about to confront them, so the League's heavy hitters were dispatched to take down Cadmus HQ.
John Stewart asked Superman, "What do you see, Clark?"
"About three hundred armed robots, a lot like training bots we use."
"Three hundred to two. Pretty bad odds."
"Yeah...they don't stand a chance."
With that, the duo burst through Cadmus and were met with automatic rifle-wielding drones. Green Lantern took around half of them down with his ring, forming a green buzzsaw construct, while Superman downed the other half with his heat vision. Flying through the base, they quickly located Florence Crawley in her office, frantically trying to delete files incriminating her and the others. Superman burst the door down and Green Lantern constrained Crawley in an energy construct shaped like a straitjacket.
Superman said through his comms link, "Cadmus is secure. Bring in the cavalry."
From the Watchtower, Mr. Terrific replied, "Understood. National Guard officers are on their way now to take Miss Crawley into custody."
Examining the rest of Cadmus, Superman began to look for Hamilton's files on Kara, intending to finally get true closure for Supergirl's death - being critically wounded while he was under Darkseid's control and then pulled off life support by Waller.
In his search, Superman found a room labeled "Galatea" - that was the name of the Supergirl clone listed in the first set of files the Titans acquired. Ripping the door from its hinges, the Man of Steel saw Galatea in stasis, hooked up to several tubes and wires monitoring her breathing and giving her nutrients, those tubes and wires being the only things covering her completely bare body, with a rack that would make Wonder Woman seem flat-chested.
Supes was ashamed to look at the clone, seeing just what his cousin had been killed to create. Before he could annihilate the clone, though, he noticed a significant draft of cold air nearby, in a storage locker. Opening the locker, Superman noted to himself, "My God", before calling Mister Terrific with, "Terrific, we have a situation here. Get Doctor Mid-Nite down here now."
"People filled with such promise and potential. While we never wanted some of them, they were still people nonetheless..."
In New York City, the Black Spider is seen hiding on a dark wall waiting for his next target. The assassin keeps waiting for his target until his target came out from his apartment. He was about to make his move however, as he felt a force from the wall as he fell onto the ground. But he is caught by a net which reliefs him from falling to his death. Unfortunately he slipped out of the net and hit the ground inches from the net.
"Ugh." the Spider groans as he notice two pairs of feet walking toward him. Looking up, he saw Wonder Woman and Zatanna confronting him.
"Stand down, bug. You're out matched." Wonder Woman told him.
"I don't think so!" The Black Spider refused as he picks out his handgun and aims at Wonder Woman. She has deflected the bullet with her arm bracelets as she stomps him in the face.
"JLA to Zatanna, Wonder Woman and I have stomped the spider." Zatanna reported.
"…in both America and worldwide…"
In New Orleans, Louisiana, Steve Economos, Waller's deputy warden and one of the key figures in the Cadmus conspiracy, was intending to get as far away from the States as possible, with a boat ready to take him to Cuba, and from there, he would fly to Somalia, where he likely would be out of the League's hands.
Driving his car through the streets, he remained inconspicuous as by now, the League most likely had facial recognition alerts in place if he was located, with a warrant almost certainly placed for his arrest. The police hadn't caught up with him yet, so he was most likely clear of the NOPD, but the League was a different matter altogether.
As his car made a turn near a closed park, he soon heard the unmistakable sound of an arrow flying through the air, which proceeded to puncture one of his tires. Without the tire, the car spun well out of control and crashed into a wall.
Dazed from the impact, Economos unbuckled his seatbelt as he rushed to get out of his car before whoever attacked his vehicle got to him. Opening the car door, he fell onto the ground, breaking the fall with his hands. As he got up, a mysterious figure then grabbed him and pushed him against his car's hood. Staring right at the literally blank face of the Question, he began to stutter, "What do you want?"
The Question replied, "Where is Amanda Waller? Cooperate and you may be able to avoid a much lengthier prison sentence."
Economos answered, "I...I don't know where she went. Believe me."
Suddenly, he saw out of the corner of his eye a crossbow aimed at his head, and turning around resulted in him seeing Huntress, who was also holding a bag, having joined the Question. "We don't believe that, so talk. Now!"
He knew what was inside of the bag - the Demon's Hand, and thus they had everything they needed to put him away. His only chance was to talk.
Economos meekly nodded in acceptance as he began to blabber what he knew about the conspiracy.
"...rendering us vulnerable at a time we can no longer be vulnerable..."
Hidden in his base, Javelin uses his predator drone to watch out for any unwanted guests. He's already got a proximity alert that the League is after him so he programs the drone to attack anyone trying to break in.
As Javelin watches through the camera of his predator drone on his video screen. He held his remote controller to lurk his drone around until he notice his drone was shot out of the sky.
"Oh shit!" Javelin cursed.
"Javelin, how's it to ya?" spoke the Flash as he appeared in front of Javelin. The former Olympic contender picks up his javelin to stab the speedster, but with Flash's speed he intercepted the villain by making him drop his javelin and hand cuffed him. "Sorry Mikkelson, but you won't win a medal for murder."
As Flash walked Javelin out of the base, he saw Blue Beetle waiting right by the door, plasma cannon out and smoking, indicating it was freshly fired.
"…and these actions will not be turned to with a blind eye any longer."
Meanwhile, in Tahiti, Amanda Waller was getting out of her plane, having fled the United States upon realizing that her scheme had completely failed - the League and the Titans knew everything and now had enough proof to undo her. Already, her associates were being captured by the authorities and it was only a matter of time before they found her, so she decided to get out of the States and out of their sight. She bought a ticket for this flight under an assumed name, one that the League almost certainly did not have on their files, and was then going to take another flight under a different name to Cambodia, where the League would be unable to reach her.
As the rest of the passengers deboarded the plane, Waller made sure to lay low and not get singled out in the crowd, nor get telepathically noticed by the Martian. Heading over to the gate of her next flight, Waller handed the attendant her ticket and walked through the gate to the plane. Before she could reach the plane, though, she was intercepted.
Two armed guards were aiming their rifles at her, and these weren't any old guards - these were United Nations peacekeepers, specifically assigned to capture her. Turning around in an attempt to quickly get away, things were much worse, as an old face cornered her.
Batman.
The Caped Crusader smirked as the two peacekeepers arrested her. One of them said, "Amanda Waller, you are under arrest for committing crimes against humanity, for orchestrating mass murder and terrorism." Waller frowned at him as the peacekeepers handcuffed her and dragged her out of the gate and right onto a flight heading back to the United States, where she would face charges for everything she had done.
"And so as for this to say, I would like to inform that due to the circumstances of the wrongfully convicted Titan member, Raven, and Ms. Rose Wilson aka Ravager, a full pardon because of their circumstances of their imprisonment. As for the charges against the Titans for their role in the breakout, have been dropped." It soon became apparent that seated next to the President were Raven and Ravager, both well-dressed up (and no longer in their prison clothes) for the occasion.
"Some of you may think that freeing two convicted felons is wrong, but they still have their rights under the American legal system, and they were violated by individuals willing to pervert justice for power. The one thing that we must ensure for our future is that such corruption will never happen again. May God bless us."
Once the President finished, there was massive applause in the House for his speech.
After the President's speech was finished, Raven and Ravager were teleported out of DC and back to Jump City where the other Titans were waiting. After four long years (at least seven for Ravager), it was all over. They were free, finally free of Belle Reve.
No longer would they have to fight for their lives, no longer would they be constrained by the inhibitor collars, no longer forced to perform sexual acts or be vulnerable to prison rape, no longer being used as pawns in a larger game. All they wanted was to live their lives, and now they could.
After arriving back in the city, Raven enveloped the duo in her soul-self and brought them back to the Tower. Upon reaching their destination, Ravager stumbled for a few seconds, still uneasy to the feeling of Raven's preferred mode of transport. Raven asked, "Are you alright, Rose?"
The silver-haired mercenary answered, "Fine. Just going to take a while getting used to that."
Set down in front of the door, the two then proceeded into the Tower lobby, where the other Titans were waiting for them to leave from DC. Nightwing greeted, "Welcome back, Raven."
Raven remarked, "Yeah, it's been a while. I've spent the past four years in prisons, so it's nice actually being free and able to see the world again."
Walking up through the Tower, the Titans arrived at the ops room, which was relatively low-key, per Raven's request. A few balloons and streamers, nothing real fancy, like the Titans' attempt to throw her a birthday party.
Before things could proceed, Animal Man commented, "You know, you can change before we continue."
Raven replied, "Thanks, Gar, but I'm sure by now that most of my clothes are borderline unwearable."
Then, Cyborg pulled out one of Raven's cloaks and leotards, explaining, "We washed one for you, and have the others ready for wash, if you want them."
"It'll do for now, but I think that it's about time I moved on from the leotard."
Ravager teased, "I agree. Maybe you go down to just the cloak, or better yet with nothing at all. You honestly look better naked."
Raven scowled at her girlfriend, "Rose!"
"What? It's true."
"Well all you had seen me in before was just those orange jumpsuits. I pull the leotard a lot better off."
"I suppose so." Ravager replied in mock disappointment.
Raven used her magic to grab the cloak and leotard before phasing through the floor so she could change in privacy. In addition, while Raven went to change, Ravager asked Nightwing, "So what's next for me?"
"That depends on what you want to do. Whether you want to stay with us, lead a civilian life, or", Nightwing seemed a bit more bitter as he finished, "go back to your father."
A second later, Raven emerged wearing her cloak and leotard. Immediately, the Titans saw that the leotard was looking a bit small on Raven, with the crotch area certainly tight around her, as well as around her chest, pressing down on her breasts to make them seem wider, but thinner. Starfire and Ravager would have to take Raven shopping for some new clothes, not just for a uniform, but also for some civilian clothing. Her current wardrobe was simply too dark.
Ravager walked over to her former cell-mate to bring her over into the celebration of their freedom. As the party began, Nightwing sensed that something was up and headed over to the elevator. Going up to the top floor, the former Boy Wonder went to see just what was going on, or if anything was going on.
Arriving on the roof, Nightwing pulled out his two eskrima sticks in preparation for combat against anyone that was up on the roof. Taking a few steps, he couldn't see anybody up there, but his hearing said otherwise.
Turning around, Nightwing saw Slade up on the roof, having somehow managed to survive his fight with Brainiac. Of course, he wasn't in the best of shape - his left arm was in a sling and cast while his right arm was tending to his stomach, from which there was some bad wounds from the battle. In addition, his mask was off, revealing there was some nasty bruising with a black eye over the one without an eyepatch.
"So you got lucky, again?"
Slade responded, "Believe me. I was ready to accept the end - you got my daughter out of Belle Reve and you took down Waller."
"Why are you here, Slade? There are still plenty of warrants out for your arrest."
"Do you know what Ravager wants now?"
"She still doesn't know. I assume you're here to claim her."
"Actually, that's the last thing I want. I think that Raven will be good for her, as will you and your Titans. Besides, I've decided to retire. I've spent far too much time in this business, and I can't do it any more."
"I take it that this is our goodbye then."
With that, Slade fully raised his face for Nightwing to see, allowing him a true glimpse at the mercenary's face, one that Nightwing had been seeking for eight years and had previously never achieved - the closest he came was in hell several years prior, and that was only a skull.
Nightwing then walked back downstairs to the festivities as Slade then made his exit from the Tower.
At Wayne Manor, the home of Gotham's benevolent billionaire, Bruce is seen having a relaxing cup of tea with Stephanie. The two were up early in the morning after being Batman last night. It was a calm and quiet morning with Stephanie reading a magazine on the couch as Bruce was sitting on his comforter. But their moment of morning peace was interrupted by the sounding of the door bell.
"Wonder who it is at the door?" Stephanie asked wondering who would be up at Wayne Manor this early.
"Alfred's at the kitchen making breakfast, I'll get it." Bruce said going to check who's out at his doorstep.
Once he walk towards the brown decorative door he opens it to see who it was. The person by his doorstep was to Bruce's surprise a young boy, younger than Stephanie. He has jet black hair, blue eyes and wears a black suit, tie and dress pants with black shoes. To Bruce the kid reminds him of someone but he can't tell who.
"Hello there, what's your name, son?" Bruce asked the mysterious boy.
"My name is Damian, and I am looking for my father." the boy respond.
Bruce look perplexed at the boy's answer. If he was looking for his father than why come here? His curiosity has been solved once he saw a mysterious man near the entrance. Bruce recognizes the man as his eyes narrowed.
'If Ra's is here, then that can only mean one thing about this boy.' Bruce realized now that Damian is indeed the son Ra's has told him about. The son that Talia gave birth to from his seed.
"Alright, come inside." Bruce told as his illegitimate son went inside as he calls out to the blond "Stephanie, can you go and show Damian around the manor? I got some business to talk with a certain someone."
"Sure thing, Bruce." Stephanie accepts as she walks over and grabs Damian's hand "Hey little guy, wanna go look around the manor?"
"I'm not little." Damian dismissed "But if you want me to look around the house, I'll allow it." Stephanie sighed as she walk with Damian to show him around the manor.
Bruce walks up to Ra's al Ghul who was sitting on the balcony. Ra's wasn't wearing his traditional outfit but he wore a black suit just like Damian's.
"Alright Ra's, why bring my son here?" Bruce asked his former adversary.
"I thought bringing him would be what my daughter would've wanted." Ra's explained "Since Talia is gone, custody for Damian goes to you legally. It was time for Damian to deserves to know who his true father is, and what does he stand for." he gave Bruce a look of sincere, something that even the Batman didn't expect "I also promise to stay around to keep an eye on my grandson. It is the least I can do for my deceased daughter."
In the medical bay of the Justice League Watchtower, Superman was watching a young blonde woman rest. It gave him great satisfaction knowing that she was still alive. It had been a very long process, especially having to go through multiple consecutive surgeries for her organ transplants. Even moreso when she hadn't even been awake for several years and had been kept in cryogenics this whole time. And there was the matter of even getting into her, considering her skin.
It had been at least two days since they found her and more than two-thirds of that had been her in surgery. Now, she was resting and it was only a matter of time before she awoke, if she managed to wake up. Her body still needed to thaw a bit, meaning it would be quite a while before she was back to normal, but considering her physiology, it would be a lot faster than a normal human.
The Man of Steel had been at her bedside ever since she got out of surgery, not leaving to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom, not that he necessarily needed to.
Finally, his waiting paid off as the girl began to stir, giving a loud yawn as she raised her arms in the air, arising from bed, eyes fluttering open. With her eyes open, she found herself in a very unfamiliar place, and quickly began moving her head around in an attempt to figure out where she was. It wasn't until she saw Superman that she began to get a little more ease.
She asked, "Clark? Where am I?"
Superman answered, "Kara. Welcome to the Watchtower."
"Watchtower?"
"It's a very long story."
"Just how long was I out for?" Superman began to hesitate before giving Kara an answer. She added, "Clark? How long?"
Superman replied, "Eleven years. You've spent most of that time in cryogenic suspension, and you weren't uncovered until several days ago."
"What do you mean!? How did you leave me on ice for over a decade?"
"Frankly, Kara. I thought you were dead. You were pronounced dead, officially."
"Unofficially?"
"Your body was used to create a clone, one far stronger than you, one designed to be a weapon of mass destruction."
"How did they even get away with this?"
"After you were badly injured in Darkseid's attack, I took you to Professor Hamilton for healing. Unfortunately, in your injuries, you had massive organ failure and needed transplants, of which you were the only possible donor. A clone was the only way you could get the organs you needed. The process was commandeered and you were put in cryogenics while the world was told you died."
"How did you find out?"
"Hamilton's conscience caught up with him and he told me a week ago about what happened to you, and so much more about the people who did this to you, just before he jumped off a bridge."
"Oh. So how long am I going to be in bed?"
"At least a few days, just until your body recovered from the transplants, and you are completely defrosted."
"Transplants? I thought you said that there were no compatible donors?"
"Your clone. We used her organs to revive you. Officially, she never existed and that was her original purpose after all."
"But wasn't she a living creature?"
"Kara, technically your clone was never alive. And if it was, it would be just a husk, a mind-controlled slave. Not something that she would deserve."
As Kara processed the information Superman told her, she soon had thousands of new questions to ask.
"So, what is the Watchtower?"
"It's a satellite orbiting the Earth where the Justice League, a group of the world's heroes, is coordinated to combat worldwide threats."
"So how did you get this whole shindig together?"
"It started a decade ago, when Batman was investigating a series of thefts at a Gotham factory..."
Up at the Watchtower, where in the League's control operations and communications center Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter are discussing with an agent. The aged agent has white hair, blue eyes and wears a gray business suit. The man the two founders were talking to was government liaison King Faraday, who is the liaison for both the Justice League and the US government.
"It's good to hear those Cadmus conspirators are getting the justice they deserve." Wonder Woman said.
"Indeed. If the Titans haven't investigate this, we would've lost more friends." Martian Manhunter respond.
"With all of the conspirators away, they will be facing trial for their actions." King Faraday told them with his arms behind his back.
"So what will the conspirators receive for their trials?" Wonder Woman asked the agent.
"Well because of the many deaths they've caused, they will serve a harsher sentence." Faraday states "Clock King will serve 30 years of imprisonment without the possibility of early parole, considering he wasn't a killer. Florence Crawley is getting 30-50 years imprisonment. Electrocutioner, 40 years to life; no early parole. Deadshot gets two life sentences, as Gemini received six life sentences. Plastique after killing many officials including old veterans and General Eiling gets 300 years of imprisonment without early parole."
"Fitting." Martian Manhunter comments.
Faraday continued "David Cain will serve 165 years of imprisonment without early parole and no custody for his daughter. Steve Economos gets 45 years without early parole."
"Only 45?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Economos's sentence was reduced from life after he told us anything about Waller and her conspirators." Faraday states. "You should thank your friends Huntress and Question for making him spoil the beans."
"What about the rest of the conspirators?" Wonder Woman inquired with interest.
"Javelin will get 350 years to life without early parole. Captain Boomerang will serve three life sentences, and Black Spider will get 75 years without early parole. And as for Amanda Waller, she'll get the death sentence by lethal injection."
"Isn't that a little harsh?" Wonder Woman asked the agent.
Faraday explains "Considering for all of the inhuman crimes she's done, it's best that someone like her shouldn't be alive. She's practically worse than Hitler, who at least cared about Germany and making it a respectable nation."
"It is probably for the best." Martian Manhunter said in agreement "Whatever your government decides on how to deal with criminals, the League has no right to judge on the criminals fates."
"Also to add is Gemini will be spending time in Belle Reve." Faraday adds.
"But wouldn't that be a bad idea since her mother is there?" Wonder Woman asked knowing about the unpleasant relationship between Madame Rouge and Gemini.
"Don't worry, as a minor courtesy, Madame Rouge will be shipped off to a new metahuman facility in the coast of Iceland." Faraday explains "We're not cruel enough to place a criminal daughter in the same prison with her abusive mother. Anyway, what about Cassandra Cain and Lady Shiva?"
"Bruce Wayne has announced that he will adopt Cassandra, and that he hopes to rehabilitate her to function in society." Of course, Diana knew that Bruce also was going to train her to be the new Batgirl, in addition to her rehabilitation.
"Lady Shiva will be placed in witness protection in exchange for her testimony against David Cain."
It had been a lengthy day of shopping for Raven and Ravager - the two had no civilian clothing and needed to get quite a bit, not to mention Raven needed a new uniform as her others no longer fit her. As for shopping though, they had to get around that damn little conundrum. For the first try in dressing Raven, Ravager simply sliced off the bottom strip of her leotard, where Raven then added a pair of panties. However, her breasts were still squished in the leotard, and a bra wouldn't fit. With too much risk of her outfit tearing up, leaving her unclothed in public, they needed a new plan.
Fortunately, Starfire had some clothing that didn't fit her to spare and gave it to her, and surprisingly, it fit her. As for Ravager, they went with a hooded sweatshirt over her usual jumpsuit. At least Ravager had pants on her uniform.
Ravager dragged Raven seemingly all over the mall, looking to expand her wardrobe (as well as to get some for herself). She made sure Raven got several pairs of jeans, blue, black, and purple - she tried to get Raven to buy a pink pair of jeans, but Raven responded by picking up a orange shirt for Ravager. The one-eyed ex-mercenary noted that the response was certainly Raven stooping low, and dropped the case.
With pants covered, Ravager then moved Raven onto shirt shopping, not only getting her some button-down shirts but also some plain shirts and graphic tees, ones that Raven certainly would like to wear (or not).
After getting Raven a civilian wardrobe, then they moved on to selecting a new uniform - Raven's major requirement was that it would have to allow her cloak to be easily worn. Of course, she also did not want to go around strutting around like a whore. When she was a child in Azarath, her standard wear was a black dress that went down to her knee (along with the blue cloak), changing to the leotard as she thought it would be more practical and allow her better mobility.
She didn't want to think that her father's machinations had influenced her decision as to make her more sexually inviting.
When selecting her new outfit, Raven decided to go with something that balanced her old outfits - a black dress that went down to her knees, but with slits cut that would allow her to flex her legs for better movement. With this, she could also wear underwear without it being too pronounced, considering that her cup size was bigger than most girls her age.
As for Ravager, she kept the general design of her old uniform, but altered it into a two-piece allowing it to be easier taken off.
After buying pants, shirts, and uniforms, the two then went about getting shoes and socks. Raven mostly went with boots and a pair of sneakers, while Ravager went with low-heeled shoes.
All their clothing picked out, the two checked out and went back to Titans Tower and then stored their new acquisitions in Raven's closet. Of course, once that was done, Raven did change into one of her new uniforms, putting on the black dress as well as her old blue cloak, which thankfully did still fit on her.
Heading out of Raven's room, the two walked towards the kitchen before Nightwing pulled them aside. "Raven, can I talk to Ravager?"
Raven nodded and Ravager moved towards the Dark Knight's former sidekick. Ravager asked, "Is this about my dad?"
"Sort of. I spoke with him yesterday and he said he is retiring, especially after what had happened to him in his fight against Brainiac."
"Did he want me back?"
"Actually, he said you'd be better off here. He thinks that Raven will be good for you."
"And what do you think?"
"I think you'll be good for her."
"Thanks, Nightwing." Ravager then walked back towards her girlfriend, who had been listening in on their conversation. Now that they were in a relationship (and out of Belle Reve), Raven now would have to feel, which was still hard for her considering that her emotions were still fractured, meaning that they were still liable to cause things to break whenever she felt too much.
As the two headed over to the kitchen, Raven began thinking about just how she was going to be able to feel and love, especially considering how physical she and Ravager were in Belle Reve (even though they only did it twice, and both times out of necessity - first to help Raven learn how to perform cunnilingus, and the second to protect Raven from further rape attempts).
Once they got in the kitchen, Raven poured herself a cup of tea and sipped it down as Ravager grabbed a slice of toast. Raven sat down on a stool while Ravager hopped onto the counter. Ravager asked, "Yo, Rae. What's up?"
"I've been thinking about how to truly feel emotion without my powers going haywire. That was easy in Belle Reve as my powers were inhibited, but now..."
"Well, I'm sure that you'll find a way to do so. After all, you sent away your dad, and he was the fucking Devil."
"True, but this is something that has been affecting me since my childhood. I honestly don't know what it's like to feel."
"Have you tried to merge your emotions? That would remove that whole fractured thing."
"I've looked into it, but I've never been able to figure out how to do it successfully."
"Maybe you just need something to motivate them into merging."
"Motivation?" Thinking about what Ravager had said, Raven tried to figure out what she had meant by that. Then, it all became clear - she now had a reason to feel emotion.
Quickly, Raven flew back to her room to test her new theory, with Ravager running after her, uncertain of just what Raven was about to do.
In her room, Raven grabbed her hand mirror and let it float in the air, as she watched her emotions form a circle inside of Nevermore. Closing her eyes, Raven chanted her mantra, "Azarath metrion zinthos." The mirror floated down to her chakra, and once the two touched, a swirl of white light swarmed around Raven as she briefly floated back in the air before gently setting herself down on the ground.
The hand mirror fell only to be caught by Raven, who stared at it only to find a regular mirror. Raven smiled as she realized that it worked - her emotions were no longer fractured, but again whole. Not only could she feel for the first time in forever, but she felt her powers grow substantially in the wake of her merge, now able to use all of her power, not just twenty percent of it.
When Ravager opened up Raven's door, she saw the empath actually smiling, holding the mirror in her hands. Raven responded, "I did it, Rose. I'm whole again."
Ravager let loose a proud smile as she practically pounced Raven, leaving a barrage of kisses all over her face. The half-demon moved the mirror back to her dresser as she returned the kisses.
Kicking off her boots, Raven then slid off her cloak and dress, exposing her bare pale body, her luscious breasts and smooth pussy, to the mercenary. Picking up her girlfriend bridal-style, Ravager deposited her on the bed as she kicked off her boots.
While she began to strip out of her clothes, Ravager went to work on Raven's womanhood, jabbing her tongue at it for Raven to moan in pleasure. Once Ravager was naked from the waist-up, she fully delved into Raven's nether regions, eating the empath out, licking Raven all over the place as she writhed in climax, one so passionate Raven was left fondling her breasts in an attempt to appease her heat down below as she panted like she never had before.
As Raven cooled down from her orgasm, Ravager finished stripping and hopped on the bed, kissing Raven as she stroked her short violet hair. Raven slipped under the silver-haired mercenary and started to perform oral sex on her, licking at Ravager's vulva and lightly stroking her thin line of platinum blonde tuft. As Ravager moaned, she added a finger to her cunt to join Raven's tongue. With two forces offering Ravager vaginal pleasure, she felt the orgasm quickly come, and then again and again.
Once Ravager had finished, Raven licked off her face and slid back up to Ravager, stopping once their crotches were aligned. The two then proceeded to trib, grinding together their glistening, wet crotches. As this went on, it became clear that Raven had much more stamina than Ravager, who was soon getting worn out, something that rather surprised her considering she was quite experienced, and Raven was basically a virgin until they met.
As they finished, Raven fell off Ravager, landing next to her with her ass up with a fair amount of the girls' salty fluid on the sheets, which she would definitely need to wash, without the other Titans finding out (or rather without them making too much of a fuss. She quickly flipped herself over, laying her head next to Ravager on a pillow.
Ravager went down onto Raven's stomach and crotch, cleaning up any remaining cum that had stuck to her body in their intercourse before checking her own body, using her fingers to extract dollops of cum from her torso and lick it off. Of course, Raven made sure to help, clearing the area around her breasts, which while not as big as Raven's, perfectly suited her athletic frame.
With the two girls clean and laying in Raven's bed, Ravager inquired, "Rae?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I stay with you tonight?" Echoing a question Raven had asked Ravager years earlier, Raven responded with the answer to that very question.
"You never have to ask."
As Ravager started to fall asleep, Raven pulled up the one-eyed mercenary to her breast, allowing her to use it as a pillow as she brought the sheet up, soon joining her in slumber, getting the best sleep she ever had.
Okay, as for what I'm going to be starting next, I'm putting up a poll to determine which story will become my next one - "The Scars of Beasts", "Surviving the HIVE", or "Raven: Beyond". The poll will be up for a bit, at least until one of the three has a pretty clear lead over the others (and until I get more work done on my other stories).
In addition, you can expect that I will remaster this story, just like I remastered "The Poison of the Raven", fixing up much of the grammar, spelling, and continuity issues, as well as adding some new scenes and content.