Raven can sense that things are going to go wrong the minute the tip of her toe lands gently against the pavement. She rushed over to the park, making it there much quicker than any of her teammates in order to scope out the situation. And immediately she feels anxiety wrap its fingers around her spine through her skin. She stands in front of four of her brothers, who stand in a semi-circle formation. Malchior is leaning against a tree off to the side, grinning. She looks around. They emptied the park?
"Sister, nice to meet you," Wrath acknowledges, looking characteristically serene against the bright blue sky. He stood as if his ginormous, bulging body was weightless. Raven eyes Gluttony who's a part of the circle but standing a little further back. His cheeks hollow as he sucks roughly on a lollipop. He's skinny enough for the wind to blow him over even though Raven suspects he probably eats enough for eight or nine athletes in one day. He stands a foot and a half shorter than Lust and the difference is even more extreme between him and Wrath who must be at least a few inches taller than Cyborg and impossibly wider. She runs her eyes to Envy who's eyeing her from head to feet, lip twitching. His chin is tilted up and his arms are crossed over his chest.
They aren't fighting anyone.
Or killing anyone.
Or making anyone fight or kill each other.
The wind rustles the leaves in the trees around them.
"You called my team over for a conversation?" Raven asks, peaking at Malchior who winks at her. Judging by the way Lust and Gluttony are looking at the sky behind her, her team has just reached the park. Raven doesn't look back to know they are currently getting into formation behind her.
"You came. We never beckoned you," Wrath says, hands behind his back. Raven rolls her eyes.
"But you knew the presence of all five of you, in the open, would alert us," Raven clarifies. Wrath nods once, smoothly.
"Indeed."
And then no one moves. Or says anything.
Wrath assesses her whole team much like she assessed them. A small smile plays on his lips.
"We do not have to fight one another sister."
Raven arcs an eyebrow.
"Join our side. We can spare your friends. Perhaps you can negotiate positions of power for them in our new world."
"Yes because deals with the devil are almost always honored."
Raven notes how Wrath's smirk never reaches his eyes. It's more of a slight tick in the corner of his lips. It's the most unnatural part of his appearance. He's completely comfortable in his weight and height. "Very human of you to make things so dichotomous. Devil bad. Human good. You know very well we can only play with people's natural tendencies. We could never make something out of nothing."
"Very demonic of you to think manipulation is so much more holier."
"There can be honor even amongst the worst of beings."
Wrath purses his lips, looking off into the distance. He rubs his hands together.
"Dragon," Wrath says once, continuing to look off into the distance. Suddenly Malchior's giant chest is expanding towards them, his claws pushing pounds of dirt into their face as he digs them into the ground. Terra is quick to stop the mounds of dirt from hitting her teammates. Raven has only a few seconds to put up a quick barrier as she watches Malchior inhale a giant breath. Even with the barrier the whole team is still smacked with an incredible wall of heat, like they had just opened an oven. Flames flicker up the edges of the wall of her black energy.
"Dragon!" Raven yells through her gritted teeth, looking back at Garfield. Garfield rolls his shoulders a couple times. "Anytime now," Raven says, pushing against the force of Malchior's fiery exhale. She focuses her attention forward, ensuring her friends are protected
"I do this everyday," Garfield drones. Raven rolls her eyes and looks back. She's met with the muscular underside of Garfield's belly: The sun reflects off of his shiny scales. Her barrier falters completely but Malchior has stopped blowing.
"That's-" Raven starts, her eyes trailing up Garfield's long neck. The sunlight behind his head is blocking her view of his face.
"Sexy," Terra finishes for her and she has to swallow because the word fits a little too perfectly in her sentence starter. Raven shakes her head and flies up the length of Garfield's neck. He meets her halfway and bends his head to her. She quickly straddles one of the ridges on his forehead. She places her hands on his head.
Garfield, you'll be able to hear my voice in your head but I'm not going to be going through anything. I've just put up a field-
Raven's distracted as Garfield blows fire at Malchior's underbelly. Suspiciously close to his-
Garfield!
What? The prick loves talking about his dick so much, might as well put a spotlight on it.
I should explain the link a little-
What's there to explain? I can hear you, you can hear me...
Gar-
Rae, you can poke and prod-
Garfield pauses to deflect Malchior's fiery breath.
-whatever you want. Poke and prod whatever you need to so we can stick this asshole back in his fucking book. I trust you…but it's kinda hard to chit chat. I'm new to this whole dragon thing.
...I won't invade your thoughts.
Didn't think you would. Garfield thinks flippantly before charging at Malchior. Hold on tight.
Garfield takes a quick, open clawed swing at Malchior, immediately forming three, long, oozing stripes in the dragon's neck.
Okay this guy clearly knows nothing about hand to hand.
Raven is rocked forward, her head smacks against Garfield's.
What the-
Raven notes how the ground shifts like waves beneath them before she's rocked backwards.
Fly off the ground, He's trying to dislodge me.
But Garfield was already hovering above the shaking ground before Raven finished her sentence.
Clearly that man has never seen me with a few Jacks in me. If I can keep my balance then-
You're a messy drunk; now pay attention!
Hey! Cyborg says I'm a great drinking buddy!
Cyborg? Also a messy drunk!
Hey, you'd be a messy drunk too if you-
Suddenly Garfield's head swings around like a bobble head. He's gurgling. Raven clenches her thighs over the ridge on his forehead and narrows her eyes towards Malchior who is a football field away. Malchior's claws are clenched around an invisible object.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven calls out, wrapping Malchior's arms in dark energy and locking them over his head. Garfield coughs, little sparks passing his lips.
Did he just? Choke me?
Will you pay attention now?!
How was I supposed to know he was going to choke me?! He was nowhere near me!
He can astrally project!
He should see a therapist about that.
He should see a therapist about a lot of things. Astral projection is not one of them. Watch-
Garfield dodges Malchior's frontal attack.
-out…
Raven puts up a shield as Malchior shoots fire at her. Garfield shoots fire at Malchior's open wound. The black dragon hisses and falls back.
The man is terrible at hand to hand combat.
He's...not.
Garfield grabs Malchior by the tail and tosses him, cutting a bunch of trees in half.
Are you really defending your psycho ex?
Raven purses her lips. Garfield. This is too easy.
Raven looks around. Starfire is locked in a grip with Wrath. Nightwing and Cyborg are tag teaming Lust and Wrath. Terra is mostly just trying to block Gluttony's attack; no one has taken the offensive against him. Aqualad is jumping between each group and filling in whatever gaps are left open.
She believed fully in her team's potential to stop her brothers. But something wasn't right. Garfield was able to toss Malchior like a rag doll and they're the same weight.
He's barely casting any spells.
You're always saying that a good spell requires a lot of energy.
For me. Malchior has done this for centuries.
Malchior charges at Garfield. Garfield takes two quick steps backwards, kicking up chunks of Earth that Terra uses to block the two benches Gluttony hurls at the team. Garfield bites at the wounds in Malchior's neck. The black dragon howls in pain, aimlessly spewing a stream of fire past his lips. Directly past the bulk of Garfield's body.
Raven watches intently as the flames meet their mark several hundred feet away from Garfield. She almost brushes off Malchior's poor marksmanship as a result of his incredible hubris. It's a weak, last ditch effort to inflict pain from a losing opponent whose head is heavy with unwarranted pride. She's about to move her eyes back to where Garfield's teeth are sunk into their opponents neck when she notices something almost imperceptible in the flames. A shape. Two little deformed circles, almost parallel to each other. She squints her eyes. That's odd.
And then it hits her.
Those are eye sockets.
Malchior had casted a spell.
They hadn't emptied the park.
Everyone was camouflaged.
Garfield!
Garfield sinks his teeth deeper into Malchior's neck. Malchior spews out another thick stream of fire.
Garfield! The park isn't empty.
Garfield spits Malchior's neck out of his mouth, blood immediately begins oozing out of the black dragon's wounds.
What?
Raven looks around. Trees were knocked over. Car windows were broken. Street lights were bent in half. Sidewalk had been ripped from the ground. Her eyes land on a playground three hundred feet away. Entire chunks of bright yellow and red steel were turned on their sides. She feels hot liquid rises in her esophagus, burning away at her body. Her skin suddenly feels too tight.
The park's not empty. Malchior just made everyone invisible to us.
Garfield grabs Malchior by the neck and shoves his head into the ground.
"Uncast the spell," Raven threatens, using her powers to hover the sharp end of a street light over Malchior's eye. Malchior looks towards the rod, chuckles and crumples it. Garfield shoves his head deeper into the ground. Malchior spits some blood into the ground.
"You tethered me to that book. The walls were my only companions! We could have ruled the world!" Malchior screams, spitting blood in her face. She grabs him by the neck herself.
"Uncast. The. Spell," Raven says, trying to reign in her desire to tear the dragon apart limb by limb between each word.
"No."
Raven, you have to tell the rest of the team before they accidentally hurt anyone else.
He'll transform you.
Not if I detach his head from his body first.
Raven notes how Garfield tightens his palm around the semi-conscious dragon's neck.
Garfiel-
Get Aqualad. He'll cover my ass.
Raven makes quick work of teleporting Aqualad over to the group.
"The park's not empty. Malchior cloaked everyone in an invisibility spell." Raven tells him before he can even steady his feet. "You need to stay with Garfield while I inform the rest of the team and figure out how to reverse the spell."
Be careful Garfield.
She places a gentle hand on her friend's forehead.
I'll do my best.