-Chapter 25-

"Good." Raven said taking a deep breath letting it out slowly. "I'll give you some time to continue to gather your strength." She said moving away from the dragon who looked almost shocked that she had known his plan.

"Evil bitch…" Malchior mumbled to himself as he struggled to move beneath the chains, testing their limits.

Slade glared at Malchior with anger in his eyes as thoughts of how to kill the beast ran through his mind. He forced himself to turn away from the dragon knowing that if he lingered any longer, he may very well kill the creature now. He followed Raven who had walked away from Malchior and sat down on a large rock taking a moment to rest.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, kneeling before her. He could see her panting softly as though she was trying to catch her breath while her power faded from her skin and eyes.

"I'll be fine…" She replied to him while she tried to ignore the slight shake in her body. "I was bluffing before…"

"About what?" Slade asked, reaching out laying a hand on her knee. Her hand found his, wrapping her small fingers around his as tightly as she could.

"About tying those chains into the Earth. That had been my intent, but I didn't have enough strength left to do it. He'll be able to break those chains soon." She replied looking to his face. "If you don't kill him Slade… I won't have the strength to stop him. I've reached my limit…"

"Don't worry. I'll kill him." Slade spoke through their bond firmly with a slight grin. He was confident that with his power, he could defeat Malchior. He had slain beasts before, what would make this one any different?

Raven however was not as confident as he was. While she did not know the details for everything that was happening to them, instinct was being very clear to her on this. If he did not evolve, he was useless to her. 'How can I make him understand what I don't completely comprehend?' Her thoughts flashed back to memories of when Slade had shown pieces of his power before. 'I need him angry… No…' Her thoughts suddenly became clear as everything fell into place. When Doctor Light had attacked her… Or even when Robin had hit her… His power had come flowing forth not because he was angry… But, because his instinct to protect what was his had taken over. 'I need him to feel like he has to do this, not to just make himself stronger but to protect me…' Raven took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. She knew she had to manipulate his feelings for her to make sure he did not lose. 'Please don't hate me for this…' She thought to herself as she stood up before him letting his hand fall away.

Slade looked up at her questioningly as he stayed kneeling before her on one knee. She had pulled her soul from his and he did not understand why. "Raven, what's wrong?"

Raven was quiet as she reached out and held his face in her hands. Softly she ran her fingers over his skin and through his hair. She stroked his cheek and down his neck with one hand while the other ran through his hair. "If you lose… I will die." She whispered to him as her fingers pulled off his mask, revealing his eyes to her.

Slade's hands reached up to her hips, holding her gently. "Never." He said firmly.

Raven continued as though he had not spoken. "I will suffer… Malchior will maim me… He will make me bleed… Break my bones, just to hear me scream…" She could feel Slade's anger start to grow and his hands tighten around her waist, but it was not enough… She stepped into him, pressing her small form against his, wrapping her wings around his body as she cradled his head in her hands. "You have to kill him to protect me… If you don't… He'll rape me…" Slade's hands tightened around her already bruised hips painfully, but she ignored it. Slade growled in Raven's embrace as his anger and instincts started to cloud his thoughts. Raven continued, knowing full well that she was turning him into something dangerous… Even to herself. "He'll rape me and claim me for himself."

"I'll never let anyone take you from me…" Slade said in a deep tone through their bond, feeling a heat begin to rise from deep inside his being. He stood, sliding out of her embrace, moving his hands to her upper arms, holding her carefully. "I will protect you." His blue eyes burned with a fire that Raven could not deny.

"Then do it." She said firmly. "Kill him with your own claws."

Slade let her go and looked at his hands, flexing his fingers. "How?" He asked wondering if he had claws like she did.

"You have to become what I've changed you into, Slade." She said trying to figure out how to explain what it meant to be what she was… But, did she even know what that meant? "You have to let yourself go. Release all forms of control that you have and give into the power that is over flowing inside of you."

"What if I hurt you?" He asked feeling worry start to temper his rage.

"You won't. You have a target this time." Raven said with a smile.

As though right on cue, the sound of break chains brought their attention to Malchior who had started to free himself from his bindings. Slade smirked as he turned from Raven allowing his power to flow to his fists as flames. "Yes…" He spoke aloud darkly. "Yes, I do…"

Malchior roared as he ripped himself free of the last of the black chains that faded into dust around him. He glared at Raven and Slade with his own fire burning in his eyes. "Now it's time for my revenge!" Malchior called out while taking in a deep breath, building up his flames in his jaws that he released in a hot burning stream, aiming for the two.

Both Raven and Slade avoided the attack with relative ease. Raven had used the last of her strength to teleport far enough away that she could still watch the fight but be out of harm's way. Slade had lunged and rolled away from the attack, ending in a crouched position as he thought about his plan of attack. Malchior had the advantage of being much larger and taller than Slade, which made dealing the dragon a lethal blow, that much harder.

'Raven said I have to let go of control…' He smirked. 'Which means I have to stop holding back… Time to really see what I can do…' Slade charged at Malchior with flaming fists, jumping high into the air, he punched Malchior in the jaw before the dragon could turn his head to unleash his flames on him.

Malchior roared in pain and stumbled back, shaking his head as his lower jaw hung limply, the bone shattered from Slade's strike. Malchior wasted no time to nurse his wound and lunged at Slade with his claws when he landed. Slade was able to dodge Malchior's first swipe of his front claws but not the second that caught him and sent him flying away.

Slade hit the ground roughly but forced himself to use his momentum to quickly get back onto his feet. Three large gashes along the side of his body dripped blood down onto the ground where Malchior's large, sharp claws had cut into his flesh. Slade ignored the wounds that were healing rapidly and rushed back into the fight.

Malchior snarled and crouched down putting his head within reach. Slade moved to punch Malchior's muzzle but Malchior had anticipated the assault. With a jerk of his head, Malchior's jaw finished healing and snapped back into place. Slade was too far into his strike to pull away and realized his mistake a moment too late. He had been a fool to think that Malchior would not have close to the same level of regenerative ability as him. Malchior's teeth snapped down on his arm painfully as his powerful jaws snapped the bones and pierced his flesh.

Slade gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore the pain he felt as Malchior destroyed his arm. Slade drew back his other fist and struck Malchior in his large eye. His fist went through Malchior's eye with a spray of fluids and blood. Malchior roared in pain, opening his jaws, tossing Slade away as he tossed his head back and forth, stumbling away from Slade in agony, half blinded. Malchior roared and blasted flames randomly as he struggled with the crippling pain from losing an eye. Malchior whined and rubbed his eye with the back of his paw, trying to relieve himself of some of the pain. A broken bone and some torn flesh could be mended quickly but organs and eyes were more complicated things that took greater time to heal.

Slade took the moment to assess the damage to his arm while Malchior was distracted. His right arm was useless to him for now. Malchior's teeth had crushed the bones in his arm and severed the tendons leaving it to uselessly hang from his shoulder. He could not even twitch his fingers! 'Damn it! How could I have been so stupid to fall for that?!' Slade knew every moment he sat back waiting for his arm to heal allowed Malchior the same for his eye. 'I have to press my advantage while I have it!' He thought to himself as doubts ate away at the back of his mind. Did he really have the advantage right now? The price to take out Malchior's eye had been too high, as he had miscalculated Malchior's abilities. Something he could not afford to do again.

Slade raised his left arm and called up his fire. 'If it's too risky to attack up close then I'll just have to attack him from a distance.' A fireball of red and black flames filled his hand and he chucked one after the other at Malchior's face, hoping to burn out his other eye.

Malchior roared as the first fireball struck him but no others hit their mark as he raised up a wing to block the attacks while still nursing his eye that was bleeding profusely. "Flames will never work against me you fool!" He yelled with confidence despite his lack of sight in his right eye. "I am a Dragon! A creature of fire and magic!"

"Yeah… I fucking figured that…" Slade mumbled to himself and stopped wasting his strength while he tried to think of a new plan. 'I need a blade…' He thought to himself wishing he had his scythe. That weapon would make killing Malchior so much easier… He looked down at his left hand still not seeing the claws that Raven was so sure he had. 'Well if I can't beat him from a distance I'll just have to do it up close and personal…!' Slade twitched his fingers on his right hand, testing to see how much longer before his arm would count as at least functional. While his healing was rapid, the extent of the damage had been great.

With the knowledge that his arm would be of use to him soon, Slade rushed Malchior who had yet to lower his wing and got underneath Malchior before the dragon could catch him. 'Time to break some bones!' Slade yelled in his mind as he drew back his left arm and punched one of Malchior's back legs, cracking the thick bone.

Malchior roared in pain and stumbled back from the blow. He twisted his head down and blasted fire at Slade beneath his belly. Slade rolled away from the strike and went after Malchior's other back leg, doing the same thing to it. Malchior fell back, digging his front claws into the ground to keep slightly stable as he lost the use of his back legs temporarily.

Slade dived out from under Malchior with ease and quickly jumped up, scaling Malchior's body. Slade knew he could not win this match if Malchior took to the air. He had to make sure he kept the beast grounded.

"Get off of me you insolent flea!" Malchior yelled telepathically as his head whipped around and glared at Slade with flames building in his jaws.

"Not before I deal with these wings!" Slade yelled as he grabbed one wing with his left hand and drew back his right that had finally completely healed.

"NO!" Screamed Malchior as he realized Slade's plan. He unleashed a ball of fire at Slade to stop him, but it was just a little too late. Slade's strike was faster as he used all his might to obliterate Malchior's wing bone that connected to his back. Blood sprayed into the air as shrapnel of bone exploded from the strike. Malchior's fireball struck Slade, blasting him off Malchior's back but the damage had already been done and this time Slade had not miscalculated.

Malchior all but collapsed onto the ground as the agony from the attack blinded him to all else. "What have you done!?" He screamed in pain and rage as he looked over the ruin of his wing. Hot blood leaked from between his scales where shards of bone could be seen sticking out in horrific ways. The damage done would take days to heal if not weeks to heal completely. Slade had truly grounded him, and it infuriated him. "I'll bite your fucking head off for this!" He yelled as he faced Slade who, while smoking and singed, was relatively unharmed.

"Bring it on." Slade said fisting his hands that were surrounded by his flames. "You're half dead already anyways!" He counted with confidence building in his being. He did not need any claws or weapons to kill this beast! His own two fists would be enough!

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Raven watched the battle between her mate and the dragon with worry. Even as Slade gained the upper hand over Malchior and crippled his wing, she still worried. 'Don't lose focus Slade! He may be grounded but he's still dangerous! Don't drop your guard just yet! This battle isn't over until one of you is dead!' She thought to herself as she tried to keep her doubts to herself. She did not want to risk distracting Slade.

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"Holy shit…" Beast Boy said as the Titans all watched the battle from the big screen TV before them in shock.

"Yeah…" Cyborg agreed with a slow nod of his head as they all watched flabbergasted by the intense battle before them.

"I see now why friend Raven did not want us around…" Starfire whispered as the watched Slade shatter Malchior's wing.

"Yeah… No wonder…" Robin said as he was finally starting to comprehend the true level of power Slade now possessed. However, was it going to be enough to take down Malchior?

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Slade dodged strike after strike as Malchior lunged at him with tooth and claw. Malchior's back legs had healed quickly and it now seemed he had Slade on the run. Every time Slade went to attack he was forced to either dodge or block a rapid strike that Malchior made in retaliation. Malchior's rage was so great of a driving force that his attacks came at Slade faster than ever before. Slade dodged the swipe of Malchior's tail that was aimed for this chest and lunged forward to strike Malchior's face, hitting him in the jaw. Malchior had pulled his head away from the attack so the damage done was minimal. Malchior lashed out with his claws and slammed his left paw into Slade. Slade stopped the strike by grabbing onto Malchior paw, pushing against him. It became a test of strength between the two as Malchior pressed down on Slade with all his might. Slade gritted his teeth and pushed back, his feet dug deeper into the ground as he matched Malchior's mighty strength.

"You think that you are strong mongrel?!" Malchior yelled as he glared down at Slade. "You're only human! You could never defeat me!" Slade caught sight of Malchior's tail but could do nothing to stop it as it struck him and swiped his feet out from under him. Malchior slammed Slade into the ground with all his strength, cracking the hard dirt and forming a crater around Slade. Slade coughed up blood as his ribs broke from the impact and air was knocked out of him. Malchior pressed harder, not giving him a chance to regain his breath. "This is where you die…" He whispered sinisterly with a feral grin above Slade. "First, I'm going to kill you, and then I'll take my time enjoying her screams…"

Slade pushed against Malchior with all his strength, but it was not enough to get the great dragon off him. He squirmed beneath Malchior's foot until he could tilt his head back enough to look to Raven who stood far away from them, watching the scene unfold. Pain filled his thoughts as Slade realized he was not strong to enough to defeat Malchior. "RUN!" He shouted to her through their bond.

Raven locked her eyes with his and time seemed to slow around them. "I told you to let go of your self-control…" She said emotionlessly.

"I did! Raven you have to get away from here!" He yelled feeling a panic forming in his veins.

"No… You didn't… But I'm going to make you… I had thought you would be able to give in on your own… But I should have known… You're just like me… Always forcing your own self-control…"

"What…?" Slade questioned as he watched her. "Raven…?"

"Forgive me for what I am about to do…" Raven whispered through their bond as she raised her left hand, claws extended and drug them across her chest. She whimpered and gritted her teeth as her claws sliced through her shirt and flesh. Her dark blood spilled from the wounds filling the air with the scent of her blood.

Malchior sniffed the air, catching the scent and looked away from Slade who was also too distracted to notice that Malchior's attention had drifted away from him. "What is this?" Malchior questioned as he looked to Raven. "Are you offering your own flesh in exchange for his?" He asked with a smirk.

Raven ignored the dragon, her eyes locked with Slade's. "If you fail… I will die." She sent him an image of Malchior above her with his claws buried deep in her gut as she lay on the ground, dead. "Even if I ran away now, it would not save me." A new image ran across his mind, one that terrified him and enraged him all at the same time. A man he had never seen before held her down beneath him, his naked form arched over her own exposed flesh. Her once glowing moon skin was dulled by bruises and blood. Raven screamed in pain as he forced himself inside of her, thrusting with all his might, his teeth going to her throat, clamping down and drawing fresh blood that dripped from his lips. Slade was trapped in the image, unable to look away as Raven was raped before him, again and again. "This…" Raven whispered as she forced him to see her darkest fears. "This is the fate that awaits me should you fail… I will suffer." She could feel Slade slipping away from her, the darkness inside of him was beginning to take over. She knew he just needed one more little push to send him over the edge. A part of her questioned if she should… The other part of her knew it was too late to turn back now. "I will be beaten, tortured, and raped. I will suffer for eternity, all because you failed to protect me… The one you love…" Raven paused as fear tried to temper her words. 'I have no choice…' She thought to herself. 'I have to push him…' She closed her eyes and looked away from Slade, her mind drawing back from his and the dark instinct that had clouded him. Her last words to him were the ones she knew would break his control. "The one…" She spoke aloud. "Who loves you."

Raven's words triggered a change within Slade that would never be able to be undone. The smell of her blood in the air and the images in his mind, made him blind to all else around him as his power consumed him. A dark demented roar came from his lips as black and blood red flames erupted from his body blasting Malchior off him who stumbled back in alarm. Slade continued to scream in rage as agony coursed over his flesh, burning him from within. He stumbled to his feet, still howling as his black flames burned away his flesh filling the area around him with black smoke. A sharp wind whipped around him, feeding the flames that billowed around him.

Slade's scream began to change as the smoke surrounding him reached its peak, becoming a thick layer, cloaking him in its dark shadow. A bird's cry came from within the smoke, a sound not unlike Raven's own cry but this was deeper, darker, bigger. A pair of giant flaming black and red wings snapped opened from within the smoke with such force the smoke dissipated in an instant.

Malchior gapped in amazement and terror as a giant dark fire phoenix stood before him, glaring at him with blood red eyes and his wings held high. The phoenix screeched at him once more before lunging at the dragon with his sharp talons extended. Malchior reacted too slowly to jump out of the way as the phoenix slammed into him with such force they went flying back until they hit the raised wall of the crater they were fighting in. The stone they smashed into cracked and crumbled around them as Malchior tried to blast off the bird with his flames but to no effect. The phoenix's talons sank deep in his body, easily piercing his thick scales and hide. Malchior roared in pain and struggled to free himself but was unable to grab ahold of the bird who pressed him against the stone as he only seemed to grab flames that burned his mouth. The phoenix gave one last fierce cry before his beak clamped around Malchior's neck just behind his head and chomped down with hidden teeth that pierced his flesh. Malchior roared and thrashed uselessly in the bird's hold until the bird bit down as hard as he could. The sound of slicing flesh and the crunch of bone was followed by the loud thump of Malchior's head falling to the ground with a spray of blood.

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Silence was all that was heard in Titan's tower as the group watched the outcome of the match fall to the ground having been released from the phoenix's grasp.

Beast Boy broke the silence first. "Holy fucking shit…" He whispered.

"He did it…" Followed Cyborg. "He actually did it…"

Robin watched as the giant bird turned to Raven and gazed at her with its blood red eyes. Fear gripped Robin as it spread its wings and cawed at her. "Run…" He whispered knowing she would not hear him even if he screamed. "Run Raven… That thing isn't safe…" The hero in him told him that she needed them, that she was not safe. But, what could he do against that thing except die? He understood now why she had sent them away… They were nothing compared to what Slade had become. 'Raven… What have you done?!'

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Raven trembled before Slade in his phoenix form but forced herself to stand her ground. The giant flaming bird screeched at her and flapped his wings roughly sending flames and dust into the air. She could feel the panic that was starting to fill Slade now that the threat to his mate was dead. "It's okay…" She spoke trying to sound calm as she raised her hands before her. "This is just one form…" His red eyes locked onto hers as she took a hesitant step forward. "Breathe, breathe and focus on your other form." The phoenix slowly closed his eyes and dipped his head, taking deep breaths before her. "That's it…" Raven grew bolder and took a few steps forward. "You are in your soul form right now… You must picture your body and build it in your mind. Command your soul to once again take the form of flesh…" She said trying to explain what she had to do though she realized she had never before explained her powers to anyone.

A grimace of pain crossed Slade's face and he cried out in pain. His black flames flashed a bright yellow and orange, forcing Raven to shield her eyes. The bright flames consumed the dark bird until Raven could no longer see him within the flames. His bird's cry soon turned into the roar of a demon and when he fell silent, the flames burst outward and dissipated before they reached Raven who was not very far away from him now.

The form Slade had taken before Raven was not a form she knew nor expected. He crouched down on one knee with his hands braced against the ground as he breathed heavily, as though a great weight was in his chest, forcing his breath.

"Slade…?" Raven whispered as she gazed at the man who was so much more now… Slowly, Slade began to rise and allowed Raven the chance to truly see the full change in his form. Flames danced beneath his skin, colors of red, orange, and yellow with highlights of white. Upon his forehead rested a pair of silver horns, just a shade darker than his hair. The horns curled back over his head and Raven knew that while they were small now, as with any Devil, they would grow with age. Attached to his back were two very large silver bat-like wings that stretched as he stood. Slade opened his eyes and looked down to his hands, flexing his fingers, watching long white claws slip in and out of his skin.

Raven swallowed down the lump of fear in her throat as she looked over his naked form before her. He had suddenly stopped taking power from her when he changed into this form. Now she could feel just how strong he had become. "You're a Devil made flesh…" She whispered softly.