Author's Notes: Greetings, it would appear I have an abundance of free time again, time that I can fill with writing. I am a bit ahead of schedule, so here is a little present for you all.
avp5 – Slade will get what's coming to him, I just hope it meets with everyone's approval.
Taeniaea – Thank you, I wish you happy reading in the chapters to come.
Levous' Darkness
It was dark. The sounds of the last loose pebbles falling into place echoed through the cave as a young boy sobbed quietly next to the pile of rubble that now blocked the entrance.
"Father… Mother…." The child whimpered, holding tight the blood soaked clothing to his right side.
"Don't let her get away!" The voices of men began getting fainter and fainter as they gave chase to their prey.
"No, don't leave me alone… Father… Mother…"
It really was an obnoxious laugh, Slade's condescending chuckle that is. Having just explained the 'rules' they would have to follow to rescue Raven.
"So who are you going to pick?" Levous asked glaring death at the monitor displaying the captive sorceress as Slade appeared.
"A moment, Levous. One of you left the Tower already, didn't you?" The armored villain asked.
"Don't fuck around! You didn't even mention any rules." The ivory haired teen replied in pure rage.
"I suppose you are right, still I should hand down some sort of punishment." Slade said, swiftly pulling a knife from his belt and cutting a shallow, but long wound into Raven's right arm. "Also, every five minutes it takes for you to get here, I will repeat this act, Levous."
"Will you tell me where you are so I can RIP YOUR GUTS OUT?" Levous declared, his form shaking in rage.
"For once fledgling, I agree. That girl saved your life, and by extension my own, I'll not see her harmed further." The draconic voice of his other self echoed through his mind.
"Jump Stadium, you better hurry." The ever calm Slade replied, unflinching before the furious inter-dimensional being. "And leave your pet dragon behind." And with that, the screen went black.
It wasn't rational thought that carried Levous' feet but pure, unrestrained rage as he produced a shield-shaped charm from his pocket. Though it was a regular sized shield, the handle formed a fist shaped gauntlet, which he promptly used to bash the too slow moving doors open.
"Damn it, Slade! I swear I'll kill you." He thought as he bashed the elevator doors open and jumped down the shaft. "Raven, just wait for me, I'm on my way." As he neared the main floor, Lev quickly placed the shield under him and pressed a button on the rod fixed to the back of his shield, suspending it in mid air. Placing his feet on the wall opposite to the door, Levous released the shield from its magical restraint and quickly bashed the door out of his way.
His pace didn't slow as he reached the main doors to the Tower, as he once again began punching his way out. The large heavy doors however didn't yield to a straight forward attack, and took the fury of blows with relatively no damage.
"Damn it, I don't have time for this!" He yelled, turning the rod slightly and heaving one heavy punch to the doors. This time, a shockwave of force rippled through the doors, deforming them enough to gain him passage through. He wasted no time putting the shield back onto the bracelet as he dove into the frigid waters that surrounded the island.
Swimming with all his might, Levous raced against time, counting the seconds in his head as he went. "295, 296, 297, 298, 299…"
"Ah!" A chorus of cries filled Lev's head, which in all honesty surprised him for a moment.
"What has happened?" A Raven-esque voice asked.
"Where were you guys?" Lev asked, realizing that the four persona's Raven gave him where still in his mind.
"We are still linked to Raven. When she sleeps, we sleep." The same voice replied, and judging from the tone it was probably Intellect.
"Do you realize what's happened?"
"Slade's explaining it to Raven now…"
"You still see and hear what she does as well?"
"Yes."
"Tell her not to worry; I'm almost across the bay now."
"He's quite twisted. What kind of sick pleasure does he get from this?"
"It doesn't matter… He would live long enough to enjoy or regret this." His tone was harsh, carrying the promise of death with it.
"Don't allow Slade to corrupt your heart, Levous." The much kinder toned Raven rang in. "He is merely inflicting flesh wounds, allow for society to decide his fate."
"We'll see how things go…" He replied, pulling himself out of the water as he raced down the street. "This won't be like then… This time I have power, power enough to protect…" As he ran towards the stadium, his mind recalled the day he lost everything.
"Hey, mother?" The child-age Levous asked looking up to the emerald haired woman whose lap he laid on. The camp fire was burning well, blanketing them warmth while Lev's father was out patrolling the area.
"Yes, what would you like?" She said, smiling down to her precious child.
"Could you tell me that story again?" He asked cheerfully. "The story about Faust."
"Faust, the man that created the Legion?" The woman asked, to which Levous nodded. "I have told you that story hundreds of times already, and it's not the type of story a growing boy should enjoy."
"I know, but Faust is almost as cool as father!"
"I'm not sure if I should be faltered or insulted." The voice of Levous' father chuckled as he emerged from the forest. "We're safe for the night, dear."
"Well, I know he went on to create the Legion and all, but before all that he was super cool and stood up to the Gods that unjustly oppressed him." Levous said with a childish laugh. "When I grow up, I want to be as strong as you father, but if I can't achieve that it'd be awesome to be like Faust was."
Lev's father sat behind his mother, and wrapped his arms around the two of them. "You can do it son, you can become even stronger than Faust or myself could have ever dreamed, and as long as you remain as kind and pure as you are now, I'll always be proud of you."
"Okay father!"
"If you like the story that much, I will tell you it as long as you wish." His mother said.
"Yay! Thanks mother."
"Okay, it all started long, long ago, not too long after humans began developing cities and towns." She began. "The gods oppressed the freedoms of us humans in exchange for their power. Life was easier with the gods' power, but one day Faust's family was killed for helping an infant monster that was injured. The gods killed his family, and cursed Faust at a very young age." She paused for a moment and looked sweetly to her son. "Roughly your age actually. Faust grew up with a deep hatred for the gods, vowing he would kill the gods that have been abusing their powers."
"And then he met the evil goddess Magi, right?" Levous interjected, frowning at the deity's name.
"Yes, she told him that she would side with him and help him destroy the gods." She continued, not minding the interruption. "During their first battle against the very god that cursed Faust, Magi betrayed him, and he struck her down and stole her power to put himself on equal power with the gods. Do you remember what he said then?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah! This is my favorite part." Levous exclaimed, standing up and positioning himself between the fire and his parents and struck the coolest pose he could think of. "He said, 'If you are the gods that maintain order in our world, I'll become the darkness that will plunge it into chaos.' Right?"
"That's right, monster brat." A sinister voice said from the shadows of the forest. His parents quickly stood, and placed Levous between them as they glared in the direction of the voice. "And Faust went on to create the Legion of Darkness that plagues us now, even after his own death."
"How did you here?" Lev's father asked as a group of armored men strolled out of the trees surrounding them.
"What, you're pathetic alarm spells?" The man in the most fancy armor asked. "They don't go off if you dispel them you know."
"You two get ready to run…" The white haired man whispered to his family. "I'll draw them away and meet up with you later."
Tears began to form in the emerald eyes of Levous' mother as she grabbed her child's hand. "Yes, dear."
A grey rune appeared under his feet, and as Lev's father raised his arms, a thick fog enveloped the area. The as Levous and his mother disappeared into the forest the last words he heard from his father were, "I love you both. Be safe."
"Levous… was that?" Kindness asked.
"The day I lost my parents, I guess you guys share my memories when I think about them too." He replied, sliding to a halt as he rounded a corner to find a street full of Slade robot commandos. Reaching into his pocket, Levous retrieved his glaive and stood ready to attack. "If you think these tin bots can slow me down Slade you're sorely mistaken!" He proclaim as he charged the street.
A single robot leaped at Levous first, but was quickly met with a blade through its chest as he spun around and slammed it into three of its comrades. As the first exploded, the shrapnel caused a chain reaction, causing the others to explode, but this didn't even register to Levous as he continued straight forward, impaling another commando. This time he leaped, digging the his weapon into the ground and used it to vault up to four others that were trying to take advantage of him being in mid air. In one swing, he dissected the offending robots, continuing his attack into a whirling slash that cleared the area where he landed.
"If this is the best you got I won't even be warmed up by the time I get there. SLADE!"
As useful as the mist may be as a smoke screen for escaping, it did make it difficult to run in a forest. Lev tried his best to follow his mother's movements as they tried to elude their pursuers.
"We've got this one, the rest of you fan out and get the woman and their spawn!" The leader ordered as a violet burst of wind blew the mist away.
"NEVER CALL MY SON A 'SPAWN' AGAIN!" Levous' father howled in rage, but the trees where already blocking view of the camp.
"Hurry sweetie, we have to get away." His mother said, squeezing his hand tighter but not looking back.
"But what abou-" Levous stopped mid sentence as a drop of water hit his cheek. IT was a clear night and hadn't rained recently, but he somehow knew what it was. "No, I don't want to leave father behind." He sobbed.
"He'll… He'll catch up with us later."
"No, he won't. You're lying mother."
Just then a armored figure appear in front of them, one that was swift dealt with by a lightning bolt cast from the sorceress mother.
"We must run." She said, still not looking back.
They continued to race and weave through the forest, Levous having not reached puberty yet being without magic had no choice but to rely on his mother to protect him. It wasn't until they jumped into a little gorge that Levous collapsed, his small frame and underdeveloped physique unable to supply him with the strength he needed to continue.
"Mother… I… I can't…" He panted, gasping for breath.
"They went this way!" The voices of more pursuers grow louder as they drew closer.
"This is enough sweetie; mother will take care of the rest." She said, standing on unsteady legs as the light from the torches grew brighter and brighter. She grabbed her child and lifted him up, kissing him on the forehead. "Grow strong and free." She whispered was she spun around to face the way they came, using her left hand to throw Levous into the small cave she spotted. She didn't have time to notice as she cast another lightning bolt and hit the edge just as a couple of pursuers appear, but Levous saw it. The image was burnt as deep into his mind as the wounds to his flesh were, the image of his mother, her eyes fierce like an enraged beast filled with tears, and long black obsidian claws on her hands as lightning sprung from them. He landed harshly on the rock floor of the cave, and before he could call out to his mother, the entrance collapsed.
There was nothing more he could do now, but without the strength to move, Levous sat in the dark, and cried.
"Father… Mother…." He whimpered, holding tight the blood soaked clothing to his right side.
"Don't let her get away!" The voices of men began getting fainter and fainter as they gave chase to their prey.
"No, don't leave me alone… Father… Mother…"
He had lost count of just how many of the damnable robots he had slain, the scattered debris of what remained of the one he did at his back, the one waiting to become scrap standing before him.
"This time I have power. Power enough to protect those that I hold dear."
A commando circled behind him and launched a sneak attack while two others charged in from the front, one leaping over the other to attack. His patience wearing thin, Levous quickly reached back and grabbed the robot behind out of the air and threw it at the other two in front of him, the sea of Slade-bots was not decreasing, and he had only one more block to go before he was on the street that led to the stadium. His attacks became fiercer and fiercer as he charged through the mechanical minions ranks with large sweeping attacks.
"How is she doing?" He asked, leaping as far as he could to make it to the intersection.
"She still alive and none of the cuts are life threatening." Intellect replied, as a mass of commandos tried to block his path.
Finally the stadium was in sight, as about ten to fifteen more robot corpses fell to the street, but Levous was now surrounded. Cutting down foe after foe, Levous finally lost his weapon when one of the heavily damaged robots lunged at him just as it exploded. His glaive lost in the sea of commandos a couple dozen feet behind him, Levous quickly grabbed his shield and a sword hilt that was much like a Japanese katana, with a black wrap and guard and blue and red gems set in the handle.
The jumbo screen at Jump Stadium lit up, all the robots creased their attack as Levous turned to see what was going on and what he saw broke his spirit. The screen showed Raven, with six large cuts in various spots all over her body, and what seemed to be hundreds of smaller cuts all over her body. She was bleeding profusely, but was still conscious.
Levous couldn't stand, not after seeing what had happened to Raven. It was his fault she was in this mess, his fault Slade had her, and his fault she had been hurt. As he began to fall, he could only watch as the sea of robotic minions all took their chance and leap for an attack. It wasn't until the perpetrator of Raven's injuries appeared on the screen at the last second that Levous' anger and rage burned through his body again, and with a swift crack of his fist, Levous sent a 30 foot shockwave of force surging forth, instantly destroying all the mechanical commandos caught in the blast.
"SLADE!" He roared, tightening his grip on the katana hilt and as he swung his arm up, black flames erupted from where the blade should be. The flames burned their entire way to the stadium entrance, leaving a cloud of cloud in its wake.
The dust still thick Levous began to make his way forward, towards the stadium, towards Raven.
"She's alright Levous; there is no need to rush." The voice of Raven's intellect said, trying to reason with him.
"She's not alright; Slade is mercilessly cutting her while I waste time removing his damned minions." He replied, and try as he may to pick up his pace, he was becoming physically fatigued, a sensation he didn't experience often.
"Very impressive Levous. I thought it would have taken longer for you to arrive, but you always seem to exceed my expectations." Slade's voice carried through the smoke, along with his devious chuckle. "I suppose this is the last I will be able to cut Raven before you reach me, so I'll make it a good one."
Levous' eyes grew wide in shock, and the sound of flesh being sliced was drowned out by the muffled cry unable to escape Raven's lips.
"RAVEN!"
"Mother… Father…" The lone child's sobs didn't carry far, his voice hoarse from crying all night and all day after he navigated his way out of the tunnel his mother tossed him in to protect him.
"Why? We… never hurt anyone… We were happy… Why?" He cried, as he weaved some twigs together to form two large rings and two smaller rings. He unraveled some length of copper wire around his leg and connected each of the smaller rings to the larger ones, and using some leaves he created a domed cover for each, making two lanterns. He lit the two lanterns and released them, the heat of the flames carrying the lanterns skyward.
"Please… please come back…"
"Levous."
Her wounds were superficial, none of them were truly life threatening or painful but the vision shown to Raven was heart wrenching. She didn't know that she could now share memories with Levous, nor did she realize it as a possible side effect, but that was no excuse for it. Whether he was willing to share his past with her or not, this was taking things too far.
Yet the pain she felt…
"My, my, so it appears that you can cry." Slade said, standing in front of her. "It appears I cannot play with you any longer. You're knight is here to save you."
"SLADE!" Raven's rage, both vocally and magically muffled was on the verge of exploding.
"Oh now, now. No need to be so jealous. I enjoyed our time together, but I can't spend all my time on you. That just wouldn't be fair, now would it?" The masked villain mocked, as he turned and left the room and Raven futilely struggled against her restraints.
His feet were shaking with every step, but the white haired sorcerer was not sure if it was from his exhaustion, or the pure rage he felt for the bastard that stood in the center of the stadium. The hilt by his side burst into a brilliant blaze of ebony flames as he made his way towards Slade and with a sheen of onyx frost, a black blade emerged from the blaze.
"Any last words." He asked, stopping a few paces in front of Slade.
"The time for my final thoughts is still a ways off." The masked villain replied, drawing his own blade. "Are you sure you'll be able to fight Levous, without your heart I mean?"
Levous didn't answer the question; instead he passed Slade in an instant, slashing open the villain's chest.
"Today is the day you die."
He stood stunned for a moment, his body not realizing he had been cut but then fell to one knee. "I'm afraid you're a few years too late for that." Slade said, as he turned to face Levous, the wound where he cut exposing rotting flesh and deteriorating organs.
"I read that you died when Terra betrayed you, and that Trigon saved your soul and made you his slave." Levous stated, all emotion draining from his voice, and the kindness gone in his eyes. "You managed to retrieve your body for the underworld, but it appears that wasn't enough."
"Correct. Trigon's taint on my soul corrupted my body, and soon it will fail."
"Is that why you so desperately need an apprentice, so your life may mean something?"
"No… not since you appeared."
"What do you mean?"
"That fantastic liquid you brought to our world, Mana, is was able to pause the decomposition of my body. I wanted you as my apprentice to keep that resource close."
"And now what? Kidnapping Raven… cutting her like that… I'll kill you here and now!"
Levous led with a strong horizontal slash to Slade's neck, but the armored villain blocked it with the metal plates on his right forearm. Still the force behind the seething sorcerer's attack was enough to brake Slade's arm and he managed a shallow cut on his neck. Slade was thrown back slightly by the attack, but countered with a spinning slice aimed at Levous' back. The attack, however, did not find it's mark and in an inhuman movement of highly tuned reflexes Levous brought his blade up, separating the hand on Slade's broken arm from the rest of his body.
The pain forced Slade to drop his sword and as he clutched his arm, he brought his left knee up to strike Levous in the gut. "Conceited brat!"
But today, no deity would dare favor Slade's hand, and this attack was met with a black blade stabbed right down through it, the blade running from knee to heel. Slade stumbled back, attempting to distance himself from this merciless attack, and had he been his usual self Levous would have allowed it, but he wasn't himself. With a flick of the wrist the leg that the sword was in was split in two, while the other lost its heel entirely.
"You'll find nothing but hell here." Levous stated coldly, as he stood over the clearly out matched villain.
"Do you expect me to beg for mercy?" The defeated Slade asked, glaring up at Levous.
"No." His response was cold and harsh. "You'll do nothing but suffer."
Author's Notes: Well, somebody picked the wrong guy to piss off. You will have to wait to see how this one plays out.
Until then.