Author's Notes: And here is the next chapter. I got my groove back in a biiig way and got this out in a hurry. Hopefully, it's still up to snuff as my previous chapters.
Haunted Destiny Chapter 35: Burn, Baby, Burn…
"They all need to burn…" Valara stated with an icy stare, "Everyone who dares try to take you away from me. I'll burn them all, every last man, woman and child till there is nothing but ash. I'll reduce all of the cities of that wretched planet to ruble and scorch the ground till there is nothing but glass." She paused for a moment, her face becoming slightly soft, almost somber, "And then, maybe then, when there is nothing left for you to care about, nothing left for you to protect; maybe then, you'll love me…" Danny's throat went dry a from Valara's twisted declaration. He knew from the look in her eyes that she was entirely serious; she meant every single word. His mind couldn't comprehend why she would go so far, just for him. He knew right then and there that there was no turning back. He willed himself out of his stupor and took an offensive stance.
"I can't let you do that," he declared, "We can't let you do that." Valara regarded him silently.
"I know," she responded solemnly as her eyes flashed yellow. Before Danny could even move an inch, fire engulfed her hand. Four of her dragon constructs leapt from the flames, shooting straight for the young halfa. Danny tried to evade the oncoming attack, but at such a short range, the creatures were too quick for him. One of them reached him first, sinking its fangs deep into his right shoulder, piercing both spandex and flesh alike. The others soon followed, each of them fastening themselves onto a limb. Danny bit back a scream as their hot, razor sharp teeth sent searing pain throughout his body. The attack sent Danny flying back, the dragons carrying him as far away from their master as possible.
"Danny!" Raven cried as her mind caught up to what was happening. Despite her exhausted state, she lifted her hand, intent on casting a spell to retrieve him. Before she could even find the focus to do so, however, Valara was already in her way, an eerie smirk plastered on her face.
"Let's chat," Valara declared, before a fist slammed into Raven's gut, knocking the wind out of her. The young sorceress fell backwards, rolling a few times before coming to a stop. Raven sucked in air painfully as she struggled to get onto her hands and knees. A sudden fit of coughing erupted from her lips as she hacked up a splatter of blood onto the ground. As the coughing began to cease, she groaned loudly from the pain. She could feel a high temperature presence looming over her.
"He's mine," Valara seethed, "How dare you even think you can lay a hand on him." Raven was struggling to get back onto her feet when a boot connected with her still tender side. She hissed as stars flashed in front of her. "You're just like everyone else. You're trying to take something away from me, just like how Azarath took away my dignity and my father took away my life." Valara boot was sent flying once again, launching Raven a few feet away. Somewhere in between the pulsing in her ears and the white hot pain, Raven could have almost sworn she heard something snap. The stabbing feeling confirmed that it was probably a rib, which was probably now impaling one or more of her organs. The world swam around her in a confusing mix of shadows and bright spots. It hurt to move, it hurt even more to breathe. She yearned for the relief of unconsciousness, but the pain kept her in the world of the living.
"He's the only thing that I have left; but you and every living thing on that pitiful little realm of yours are trying to keep him away from me!" Valara was raving now, he temper getting the better of her. Her hair reacted to her anger, burning wildly. She was about to kick her adversary again when common sense (or whatever passed as common sense in her mind) overtook her. She calmed herself down, staring at the almost still form of Raven. "Did that hurt? I'm sorry; my temper does get the better of me sometimes. Must be something I inherited from Daddy. Now where was I? Oh, yes…" Bending over, she grabbed Raven by her neck and effortlessly lifted the sorceress until she was dangling. Raven gripped Valara's arm, though the throbbing coursing through her body made her as weak as a kitten.
"There is one thing I can thank you for. Without you, I would have never met Danny. So, to thank you, I'll give you the honor of helping me right before you die." Valara noticed Raven's eyes slowly closing shut. She promptly added a little heat to her grip, causing Raven to gasp, "Now, now, you can't die yet. You still have to know your part. You see, I'm having a little dilemma. In order to get Danny to forego his foolish ideals, I'll have to get rid of the source of his obsessive need to protect; mainly the living. Sure, I could just go down to Earth and start torching everything; it would probably be fun for a while, but that takes too much time. It'll get tedious, boring, etcetera. So I began to think of how I could do it all in one fell swoop." She was grinning as she monologued, a somewhat wild glint in her eye,
"Then it came to me: Daddy's domain. Or should I say my domain. This is a part of me now. This island is sufficiently large enough to make an… impact, don't you agree?" She chuckled at her own joke, "I do crack myself up sometimes. It's brilliant, really. The collision would be more than enough to wipe out all life. And anyone who did survive would die from the fire that would consume the planet. It would actually make it quite a lovely place for Danny and I to settle down, just the two of us. There is a slight problem. I, unfortunately, despite all my father's immense power, wouldn't be able to create a portal big enough to cross over to the living world. That's where you come in."
"You are, after all, are the portal; the Gem of Skath. You're the one who brought Trigon himself across dimensions. Transporting this would be child's play with your powers."
"If you think I'll help you…" Raven was able to manage hoarsely. It hurt to speak but she wasn't going to go down without a fight.
"But you will help me, whether you want to or not," Valara declared gleefully, "You see, just because my father's jewel is in me, doesn't mean it doesn't still work." She watched as understanding washed over Raven's face, "I'm going to suck you dry, though not too much. I'll leave just enough so that you can watch me destroy the world you and Danny were so eager to protect, with your own powers. After that, then you will die, in the most vulgar, excruciating way I can imagine. And I have a rather active imagination."
"So, you're going to do to Danny what you claim everyone did to you?" Raven queried, "You going to steal everything he loves, everyone he cares about? Just so he'll notice you? Do you think he'll forgive you for that?"
"He'll get over it," Valara answered, "Just like I got over it. I would be doing him a favor. They would never have accepted him, just like no one ever accepted me. When everything is all said and done, I'll be there to comfort him, to hold him, to caress him. He'll forget all about it after our first night of bliss… and all the ones afterword." She smirked as obviously lewd thoughts played out in her mind, "But I'm getting ahead of myself. First things first. I could say that this won't hurt, but I would just be lying." Valara's smirk grew wider as her eyes changed color from yellow to black. Raven could feel the effects of the spell immediately; her power was being ripped from her, first in a trickle that soon grew. Raven gritted her teeth from the pain as more and more of her essence was sucked away from her. Soon the pain was too great and for the first time since the fight began, Raven began to scream…
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"This is taking too long," Robin stated as he fended off another attack from one of the firebeasts. He kicked up into a back flip, throwing a barrage of exploding disks while doing so. The flying incendiaries did their job, as they stopped the creature in its tracks and provided Robin with some precious time needed to devise a strategy. The other Titans were locked in similar combat: Beast Boy, as a cheetah, was currently out running two of the fiery creations, while Cyborg was fending off a few with his brute strength alone. The mechanized Titan was being careful not to run down his batteries too quickly, with hopes of helping Raven and Danny later on.
"Excuse me!" Robin heard coming from above, "I am in need of doing the 'coming in'." Robin knew immediately that it was Starfire, who was still trying to shake two more of the beasts that were on her tail. She leveled off until she was parallel to the ground and then faced upwards, releasing a barrage of her starbolts, finishing off with a blast from her eyes. The attacks all hit their targets, but they did little to slow them down, as their wounds healed in an instant. Robin then noticed something that had been nagging him for a while; one of Starfire's starbolts had hit one of the creatures in the head. The healing in that spot wasn't as fast as the rest, so that meant… He put his theory to the test as he took one of his cryo-discs and aimed straight for his adversary's maw. The beast caught it as if a dog catching a Frisbee. The weapon detonated, encasing the head in ice. Before it could break free from the temporary permafrost, Robin swiftly went into action, swinging his sword and severing the head. Stabbing it for good measure, he watched as the head, as well as the body lost their luminosity and crumbled into volcanic dust.
"Aim for the head!" Robin called out to his team, giving them some ray of hope. They heeded their leader's advice, changing their attacks to aim for the enemy's weak point. Robin went off to help his second in command, his sword slashing away.
"I wish I knew what was going on over there," Cyborg wondered as he stood back to back with the boy wonder, "That ghost looked pretty tough. And Raven didn't look like she was in the best shape."
"That's why we need to fish with this, so we can help them," Robin said, agreeing with the larger Titan. Their conversation, as well as their fight was interrupted as what seemed to be a large fireball headed straight for them. What was weird about it was that it seemed like it was screaming. Cyborg and Robin tumbled out of the way as the object made landfall, creating a crater. They eyed it suspiciously, suspecting it was another hoard of creatures to slow them down. What they didn't expect was the sudden blast of cold air that expanded from the crash site, freezing most of the immediate area. All of the creatures on the battlefield were effected; those closest were frozen solid, while the rest put as much distance from the crater as they could. The Titans watched as Danny crawled out of the hole in the ground, blood trickling down his face and body. He held onto his shoulder, which was obviously wounded, his other hand hanging limp on his side.
"Dude, you look like crap," Beast Boy commented. Danny gave him an annoyed look, shutting up the changeling.
"What happened to you?" Cyborg asked, curious about the current situation.
"Doesn't matter," Danny replied, "We have to get back. Raven…" He couldn't continue, as he was interrupted by a blood curdling scream. All of the Titans, as well as Phantom, froze; the owner of the shriek was unmistakable. All of their faces seemed to be drained of all color, "RAVEN!" Danny cried, as he kicked off in the direction he had been thrown from. He ignored all the pain, all of the damage he had sustained, as if they never had happened. All that mattered was Raven and her safety. Was he too late? Behind him, he could hear the other Titans following; Starfire was keeping pace with Robin in tow, while Beast Boy galloped along as a horse, with Cyborg riding bareback. They all feared the worse.
They all gasped as they neared the scene: Valara held onto Raven by the neck, cackling wildly as their comrade continued to scream. They watched as black bolts of energy snaked their way from Raven into Valara's arm. Seeing her in danger, Danny picked up speed, his fist glowing white. The halfa slammed into the fire ghost, causing her to lose her grip and sent the ghost soaring. Starfire, who had dropped Robin off before hand, swooped in, grabbing Raven's limp form before it fell onto the ground. The others surrounded their fallen friend solemnly.
"Raven?" Starfire pleaded, "Friend Raven, please, are you alright?" The Titans all held their breath as Raven just lay there almost peacefully. All of them were terrified that they had been too late in reaching their friend. Suddenly, Raven's frail body shuddered as a fit of coughing overtook her. Though they all noted that she sounded bad, they were relieved to see some sign of life. Her eyes fluttered open as the coughing passed, a moan emitting from her lips. As the conscious world came back to her, Raven was greeted by the sight of her friends, their faces full of concern. She couldn't help but smile. Her face grew a bit sterner as she furrowed her brow.
"We don't have much time," she said hoarsely, "Where is Danny?" The others had quizzical looks, but they complied as they made space for the halfa to enter the circle.
"I'm here," Danny replied. Raven could see the guilt plastered all over the halfa's face.
"It's not your fault," Raven stated, addressing his unspoken remorse. Danny was about to retort, but Raven's hand stopped him from doing so, "It isn't the time. We have to stop Valara before it's too late…" she was interrupted by more coughing. Starfire stroked her back comfortingly until it subsided, "She's going to smash the island into Earth. That's why she stole my powers. If you hadn't stopped her, I don't think I would have made it."
"She has those crazy fire powers and yours? How the heck are we going to beat her now?" Cyborg's question was one they all had on their minds. The situation seemed to go from bad to worse. They wondered how they were going to do to end this.
"She didn't take all of my powers," Raven assured, "though it's not going to do me much good in my condition. I only have enough to do one last thing." She motioned for Danny to come closer, which he obeyed. Raven laid a hand on his chest and closed her eyes, her signature chant playing across her lips silently. Danny suddenly felt a surge of … something coursing through him like a jolt. It felt as if he was lighter and that his wounds had all but disappeared. He looked questioningly at the sorceress, who looked even more tired now than before. "I gave you almost all that I had left," she said, eliciting a protest from Danny. She silenced him again, "You need it more than I do right know. It should give you enough energy to stop her. I also gave you a retrieval spell of sorts." She closed her eyes, unable to keep them open any longer, "If she tries to use my magic on you, the spell should kick in and absorb it into you. It won't be enough to defeat her, but it'll help. The only way to return my powers is the jewel…it's embedded in her chest. If your able to destroy it…" she coughed violently again.
"I understand," Danny replied. It was up to him now. Everything now was riding on him. He couldn't afford to feel guilty. He began to stand up, but Raven's hand grabbed hold of his tightly, despite her weakened state. She managed to find the strength to open her eyes.
"I know you can do it," she said with a smile that defied the situation. With that said, her hand lost its grip and she once again fell into unconsciousness. Danny's mind was finally clear of all doubt. He had to do this. She trusted him enough to lend him all that she had left. He couldn't fail.
"Someone needs to get her to safety," he said as he finally stood upright.
"I'll do it," Beast Boy volunteered, transforming into an emerald gorilla. Starfire gingerly transferred her best friend into the primate's arms. Beast Boy, despite the large, primal form he was now taking, cradled Raven's form gently, as if she were a baby. Nodding and giving a grunt, the green beast used his remaining three limbs to hightail it out of there.
The remaining Titans were all interrupted by a wild cackle, which coincided with the ground trembling underneath them. Valara, who had been silent and unmoving before, rose up into the air. He head was tilted back as she continued to laugh, whatever form of sanity she had left seemingly gone. Her hair, which was now shooting high into the air, suddenly changed color from its usual bright red flames to something darker, till it was almost black. The tattoos on the exposed parts of her body did the same, as well as the designs on her red dress. Dark flames danced across her fingers as she relished in this new power.
"Incredible!" she screamed with twisted delight, "And this wasn't even all of it. It should be more than enough, though, wouldn't you agree?" She held up a hand just as the Titans were about to strike. They found that their bodies suddenly froze in place, no longer to take orders from their minds. Each one of them was then encased in Valara's newly acquired dark flames, causing them to cry out in pain. The mystical fire seemed to burn down to their very cores, causing every pain receptor in their bodies into to fire all at once. "Can't have you interrupting, now can I?" Valara stated with a grin, "Now, as they say, on with the show." The ghost raised her hand, sending a bolt of energy into the sky above. The bolt stopped as if it had hit something, which resulted into a swirling black vortex that seemed to grow with every waking moment. "They won't know what hit them…"
JCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJC
Detective Dick Wolf was having a long night… or rather a long morning now, as the first rays of daylight were beginning to shine through the city. He sipped his cup of coffee in a desperate attempt at a few more hours of consciousness. The officer's night had started out quiet enough; there had been no activity from the ghosts that had attacked downtown days before. The Titans were quiet as well, which was normally a good thing. His silent night was interrupted, however, by the reports that the Titans were locked in battle once again with some spectral assailants. By the time his men had arrived, however, there were no signs of the teen heroes whatsoever. There were signs of combat, as well as … Wolf didn't know what it was. Some sort of swirling vortex in the middle of the street. Officers currently had the area corded off, preventing any civilians from getting to close.
He sighed again as he finished another cup of Joe. The Titans were nowhere to be found. All attempts of contacting the Tower had failed, which only meant that they were probably at the other end of the weird swirling thing that his men were currently guarding. He sure hoped that they would be the ones who would be coming out of the vortex, because he didn't think his men where equipped enough to handle otherworldly creatures. That type of job he normally left for the Titans to deal with.
"Uhh, sir?" an officer asked, interrupting Wolf's train of thought.
"What is it, Jenkins?" he replied as he focused his attention to his subordinate. He noticed that the young officer was slightly perturbed about something and had his gaze currently pointing upwards, "Well, spit it out already." Jenkins complied by simply pointing up. Wolf followed in the direction the finger was pointed and then froze, as his jaw hung slack. His favorite mug slipped from his fingers and shattered into a million pieces upon the sidewalk, though he didn't notice.
In the sky above then was a noticeably black swirling cloud. Onyx lightning cackled around the unusual metrological anomaly as it began to grow larger and larger. Soon the rest of the squad took notice and became noticeably agitated. "What the f--- is that?!" one of the junior policemen asked, unsure of what he was seeing. They got their answer as the center of the swirling mass contorted and then cleared. What they got was a view of a very large rock (or at least a section of rock), covered in tracks of lava. The portal grew with each passing minute, until it seemed to be as wide as the city, the landscape of that other world becoming the sky of theirs.
Where the hell are those kids?" Wolf cursed under his breath as he wondered what he was going to do.
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Valara snicker again as her newly formed portal grew in size, accommodating itself to her domain's size. Her plan was working flawlessly. It would only be a matter of time until it was big enough to fit it through. She watched the city above her and pondered how the people were reacting. They were probably running and screaming, begging to whatever deities they believed in (or not) for salvation. She went over what would probably happen in her mind: the impact from the island was only part of the equation, though that would cause a lot of damage in and of itself. She would set the island's core to detonate, causing a massive explosion upon impact, spreading carnage even further. Her fire would spread and grow, killing off all life on the planet until there was nothing but death, fire and brimstone; in other words, a paradise. Once it all settled down, she and Danny could exist happily ever after. Free of the annoying distractions like duty and friends and family. She would finally have someone who understood how she felt, someone to love her.
"Stop it," a voice called, distracting her from her planning. The ghost girl found that it came from none other than Danny himself. Unlike the others, he had stopped screaming and seemed to be actually resisting. To her utter dismay, the flames around him and the Titans began to diminish, loosing their darkness as they did so. "Stop it now!" he screamed loudly as a gust of cold air flew out in all directions, finally extinguishing the flames. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg, no longer held up by Valara's magic, all fell to the ground, gasping for air and thankful for the relief.
"How did you…" Valara wondered in disbelief, "You shouldn't be able to, even with your powers. How could you… It was her wasn't it?" She growled in annoyance, "Once again, I make the mistake of not killing her when I had the chance. No matter."
"I'm not going to let you win," Danny stated, his face full of determination, "I'm not going to let you kill all those innocent people on Earth."
"And that is the reason why I'm doing this!" Valara cried, clearly frustrated, "You are so obsessed with…them that you can't even see US. When this is over you'll thank me."
"I doubt that," Danny retorted, "I'm not going to ask again."
"Neither am I," Valara returned, her body crackling with energy.
AN: I hope you enjoy reading this, because I sure enjoyed writing it, especially the look into Valara's twisted head. Next chapter is the last of the fight (hopefully) and followed by the epilogue, so two more to go. Stay tuned!