Note: Reader beware, if you think poor Robin has had it bad so far, think again.
Trigger Warning: Writing this, I feel compelled to mention it is rated M, and that if you're a fan of Robin, don't read. Poor guy, or gal, whichever. *shudder* At the moment, I'm thinking s/he might deserve some compassion and happiness at the end of the story.
The Wedding
"Are you two okay?" Jinx asked, dragging an unconscious Robin to the team's mobile headquarters, a transport truck.
"He's out cold," Billy said, referring to Beast Boy. "Other than that he seems okay."
Jinx nodded and handed the leg of the girl she was dragging over to the man. "Tie her up," she commanded. "And make it good."
"Her?" Billy looked at Robin. "Who knew?" he said, scratching his head, clearly puzzled.
"Certainly not me," Jinx said, getting in the driver's seat. "Strip her first and use the full case of duct tape."
"I can't do that," the man yelped, blushing. "It would be wrong."
Jinx sighed. "I know what I'm getting you for your birthday, a dictionary. Villains are bad people, remember? We do bad things." When the man still looked reluctant she slid out of the driver's seat and handed the keys to the man. "Be careful," she ordered, knowing he was less than well-coordinated after having so many clones destroyed.
Eyes lighting up, Billy took the keys and slid into the seat. Jinx, meanwhile, stripped the girl who'd so effortlessly taken down so many of Team Idiot. Mine are better, she noted with some satisfaction when she'd removed the girl's top. With Robin fully naked, except for her mask, she went to work with the duct tape, using roll after roll to ensure the girl would be able to move nothing from her fingertips to her arms and legs. With the girl now little more than a grayish blob she checked on Beast Boy, frowning when he didn't move.
"Some alcohol might do him good," Billy suggested.
"Not on my watch," Jinx retorted. She'd been around Billy Numerous long enough to know when to ignore him. Besides, given where they were going, who they were going to meet, being drunk was sheer suicide. They would just have to hope the boy came around before they got through the gate, before they met Trigon.
The truck pulled up beside the ten quad tankers, one now empty, and a waiting Connie who was idly dipping a finger into the indentations of the runes she'd drawn and licked it. "AB positive," she told the pink-haired girl who'd turned green. "Quite tasty."
Jinx swallowed and lowered her eyes, not meeting those of the strange girl who drank blood. Instead she looked around the circle, wondering how many people it'd required to fill the runes with that blood. Swallowing again, she turned back to the girl. "We have Robin, but why is he a she?"
"Don't know. Don't care." Connie stood and walked to the center of the circle. "Ready?"
"No. Beast Boy is still unconscious."
Connie sighed. "You do know Trigon won't be pleased if we use old blood for the ritual, right?" She pointed at the circle. "On the count of ten." The girl closed her eyes, remembering the taste of the fresh blood she'd just had. It'd been truly good. Then she braced herself and started the incantation. "Quia sanguis est anima et vita est virtus, et potestas sanguinis est. Qui obtulerit sanguinem et spurcissima, sambucae Fuscus. Admitte hanc circulus æstimas a tua virtute."
Within the circle the laws of nature bent to force the coexistence of two places at the same time. A wormhole powered by dark magic and a massive blood sacrifice.
"Forward," Jinx screamed at the quad trucks whose drivers were hesitant. "Triple pay for the first through, double for the second," she added, still bellowing the words. "Last through I leave behind in there." Nine of the trucks moved, slowly entering the pitch black sphere that'd formed over the circle. The girl nodded and Billy hit the gas. They too left the earth behind and entered the blasted landscape of a world in ruin. Azarath.
Jinx turned to Beast Boy. "Wake up," she screamed frenetically, adrenaline flooding her blood stream as panic possessed her. She slapped the boy, hard.
The shapeshifter reluctantly opened his eyes, wanting nothing more than to cut off his own aching head. "Ow," he said, sitting up. "What hit me?"
"A girl by the name of Robin," Jinx retorted. "Why didn't you tell me he was a she?"
Beast Boy blinked, then sniffed the air. "Smells like him, except for being female." Shaking his head, trying to think, the shapeshifter came up empty. "What's going on? Is it Trigon messing around?"
"If Trigon could do that from his prison, I doubt very much he would be in that prison," Jinx retorted.
"Better send the drivers home," Beast Boy said, deciding to focus on the task at hand.
Jinx nodded. Outside she handed out ten debit cards and pointed at the doorway back to the earth. The men, faces pale, took off running holding a whole year's worth of wages in their hands.
"Okay," Connie said. "Ready for the next step?" Impassively she eyed the shapeshifter.
"Already? We just got here. Don't you have to draw more runes?" Jinx looked around, shivering at the destruction.
"Someone drew them years ago," Connie answered.
"Oh right." Jinx forced herself to stand up straight and took a deep breath. "I'll never be ready, so might as well do it now."
Feeling the same, the strange girl nodded and walked to a large circle that was half buried under debris.
"Don't you need blood to open the gate?" Jinx asked.
"My blood is a lot more potent than any human blood," Connie replied, extending inch-long claws on her right hand. Without hesitation she tore them along the wrist and palm of her left hand, opening five deep slashes that gushed glowing-red blood that hissed upon meeting the air. Still glowing, causing Team Idiot to shrink back as they sensed the dark power it held, the blood fell in streams to the ground where it ran in rivulets, carving tiny channels in the solid stone as it did so. Once again the strange girl chanted the ritual incantation to open the portal. Then, faster than any mere human, she turned and dashed back through the portal that led to the earth. "No mistakes," she hissed in passing.
Jinx reached into the truck and dragged out a struggling Robin whose eyes were wide with fear and disbelief. Meeting those of the pink-haired girl that look changed to pure fury.
"All's going according to plan, sir," Beast Boy told the girl who was wrapped securely in duct tape. "I'll admit though that this whole villain gig has lasted a longer than I expected. You think maybe I'm good at it? Hope I get to see that psychiatrist soon." The boy frowned and his eyes turned to covertly glance at Jinx. "But not too soon. This is fun," he whispered.
Unable to speak, Robin stared angrily back at the boy, wondering what he was talking about. Something in the back of her head told her she should know, but at the moment she was too scared and angry to think. Her eyes opened wider and her fear grew greater when Trigon stepped out of the portal.
"Freedom," the great beast bellowed across the torn landscape, raising his hands as if to embrace the sky. "At long last my time has come." The sixty-foot figure glanced down at the insects. "Where is the Titan of Lust?" he demanded, six eyes all ablaze with rage.
Billy, Beast Boy, and Jinx all pointed at Robin who, quite understandably, was trying to roll under the truck.
The massive figure of Trigon bent down, studying the bound girl. "Strange. Last time we met you were a boy. But I guess this suits my purpose just as well." The being focused, then cursed under its breath in an unknowable language." It rose to turn its very much unwanted attention back to Team Idiot. "And how am I supposed to mate with an insect?' it demanded.
For a short while Team idiot looked confused. Then Billy understood. "You mean your pee-pee won't fit," he said, looking from sixty-foot demon to five-foot girl. He frowned, going pale. "Wow. That's going to hurt going in," he said.
"Understatement of the year," Jinx added, looking in pity at a frantically struggling Robin. "Might need some lubricant for that, honey."
Beast Boy scratched his head. "Can't you shrink?"
Trigon roared in anger. "I am still bound to my cage. The size of the circle you used to summon me determines my size here."
"Oh." The shapeshifter shrugged. "It just has to be sex right?" He looked between the two and shrugged again. "Seems to me she'll be a perfect fit the other way around."
Jinx shook her head. "He's a she, remember. And even if she were still a he, I seriously doubt Robin had a pee-pee big enough to satisfy that." She pointed at Trigon's rear.
Beast Boy nodded. "She wouldn't, or rather he wouldn't, or . . . ." The boy shook his head. "He or she, that doesn't matter. What I meant is that she, all of her, would be the right size."
Jinx blinked while Robin increased her panic-stricken struggles. "I see," Jinx said. "That might work." The girl looked up at a frowning Trigon. "Would it?"
"You mock me." The words were uttered with such darkness that Team idiot drew closer together for illusory comfort. "But it would." Trigon looked around, then shrugged. If it was this or prison again, he would take this.
"No . . . ." Came a long, high-pitched scream as Robin finally chewed through the duct tape around her mouth. "Stop. This is wrong. This is so wrong."
"Stop talking," Trigon said, holding the girl up to his face. "I hate dildos, and I hate talking dildos even more." He frowned. "But if it's any comfort to you, you'll be remembered as the guy, I mean woman, who took my backside cherry."
"I'll gladly skip the honor," Robin begged. "I'm not worthy."
"No one is," Trigon admitted with a dark sigh, holding the girl in his left hand. Wondering how to proceed, he knelt and placed Robin on the ground, standing upright. Then, still holding the girl with his left hand, he turned around . . . . The girl fell over. The demon repeated the process, . . . and the girl fell over again.
"Well, . . . . I don't know what to say," Beast Boy admitted, watching as Trigon struggled to situate his uncooperative bride just right.
"Me either," Jinx replied, eyes not moving from the duo who, by demon law, would soon be wed. "I wonder if there'll be cake?"
Home Sweet Home
The bookstore girl, Connie, walked through what most would've called hell. It wasn't, there being another place with that name; few though would've been able to tell the difference. She could. This was her home. Here she'd been born to a mother and father that'd loved her dearly. Here she'd played with friends and hunted hidden pools of blood. Here she'd had her first kiss and made love for the first time. Here, a child of despair, she'd lived her first ten thousand years in torment as the Keeper of Knowledge for her people.
The girl's feet splashed through the molten rock of Trigon's domain, dishonoring the blood of her people. That blood ran plentiful now, putting forth light that dazzled her eyes, causing agony. But then, that was the nature of this place. Kneeling, she lowered her lips into the blood and drank deep as she had not since before humanity had concocted the idea of vampires and werewolves.
Connie stood again to gaze across the land of her people. A people that Trigon had made for amusement. That foul beast had made them a good people. a noble race that longed for peace and happiness. But he'd made their blood from the molten rock of this cursed world, and he'd made them hunger for more. The girl looked down and splashed the blood with her foot. Back then there'd been no more except for what existed as the blood of the people. To get it one had to kill. Despite Trigon's temptation her people had, for the most part, resisted that urge for ages. To that beast it hadn't mattered. He'd been able to feel the need within them, the agony that infused every second of their lives. And he'd been content to wait, basking in that misery, until her people had broken. They'd fought their wars over blood, then bred more people with that blood only to fight more wars. With the idea of suicide abhorrent, a concept burned into their very souls by Trigon, it'd continued for generations. Then they'd made the pact and fought to the last of their kind. She'd been the last - a single being with no other of her kind and no way to continue the atrocity. The later made her happy; the former tore at her heart.
Determination lit the girl's eyes and she headed for her destination, the throne of Trigon. In actuality it was merely a pile of black rock that had formed from fossilized cells, cells the cruel demon had shed over the eons. Connie smiled. For all his terrible power her God had his weaknesses. Though able to see nearly all that occurred within the plane he dwelt in, the beast could only see outside of that plane by deliberate use of his power. While the others kept him busy she was free to wander here, to take what she'd come for. With the smile becoming a grin, she stepped onto the throne.
A Fish Out of Water
Aqualad, not having been sedated, came to soon after Team Idiot left. I failed, was the boy's first thought, tempered with disbelief. I failed. And poor Jimmy. His eyes came across the tiny shrimp and his desire for self-condemnation halved. "Hello, Jimmy," the boy said, rushing to pick up his friend. "Boy, am I glad you're okay. That Jinx is crazy."
"No, really," the aquamancer insisted after hearing Jimmy's side of things. "She was going to eat you."
His first course of action, once he'd checked on his fellow Titans, was to call an ambulance for Argent. While sedated she might not feel much pain, but that would without a doubt change once she started to wake up. The next was to move the other Titans to the infirmary where he gave them a thorough checkup, paying extra attention to Starfire. He was tempted to do the same with Raven but his code of honor, and strong sense of self-preservation, kept him honest.
With medical sensors set to alert him if anything went wrong with his friends he then checked the security footage. There was none. It seems Jinx had used a few hexes on the way to the vault, scrambling the system. He would've asked Jimmy if he'd seen what happened, but he was sure the poor thing was traumatized and didn't want to add to that. So he waited.
"Where's Robin?" Cyborg asked, his cybernetic system having help clear the sedative from his system.
"Gone." Aqualad hung his head in shame, wondering what else he could tell the man.
"Where's Robin?" Raven asked, her body having purged the sedative from her system.
"Gone." Aqualad still didn't know what to add to that.
Raven stood and stretched, noting the many bruises and scratches her body bore. "You know what I should've done?" she said, frowning, angry at herself. "I should've put Robin in Azarath. Team Idot would never have got to him there." Still frowning, she checked on Bumblebee, using her power to numb the pain the woman would feel when she woke up. "I'm going to kill Beast Boy and Jinx," she said, frowning, noting the porcupine quills in her lover's foot. "I'll send them to Trigon and see how they like that."
Cyborg stood and checked the tower's electronic systems. "If I knew where the T-car was, I could get it back while they're busy." He looked at Raven. "What?" he asked, seeing her staring at him.
"What's more important? Saving the T-car or saving Robin?"
"The T-ca. . . ." The man flinched. "I mean saving Robin."
"Is there a way to track her?" Aqualad asked.
"I had a transmitter on her," Cyborg replied, still scanning the tower's systems, "but it seems to be out of range or destroyed."
Raven looked around the infirmary at the sleeping Titans, eyes resting for a few seconds on Bumblebee. "We should've asked the Justice League for help," she admitted.
"Better do it now," Cyborg told her. "We're still unsure of the situation, and they might be able to help."
It was a little under an hour when the Flash and Vixen showed up. Both were eager for a second chance at Team Idiot. More help was promised if needed.
"The signal," Cyborg bellowed, just as the two Justice league agents arrived. "I got a signal." He leapt from his chair as if possessed and ran. A few seconds later their Titan's communicators gave an alert.
Back to Robin's Ordeal
"Is it actual sex if he doesn't . . . you know . . . climax?" Beast Boy asked.
"No idea," Jinx replied, eyes still on the event.
"How long does it have to be to count?" Beast Boy wondered aloud, watching as the girl in question fell over again, much to the demon's annoyance.
"No idea," Jinx admitted.
"Will she be able to breathe in there?"
"Hope so," Jinx answered. "Might not be the freshest air though."
"Can . . . ."
"Beast Boy," Jinx growled.
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
The shapeshifter gulped and was quiet for all of five seconds. "She's really into this whole undercover thing," he said, admiring the sense of duty the Titan leader had. "I expected her to call it all off."
"You wouldn't get to see a psychiatrist then," Jinx said, doing a facepalm.
"True," Beast Boy said. "It's great to have friends like her."
Jinx nodded, agreeing.
Trigon was still manhandling his bride, clearing not wanting to go through with the whole ordeal any more than his pale and shaking bride did. "Argh," he growled under his breath, and the whole of reality seemed to quake, to flicker, and be in danger of breaking.
"Don't you have to climax for it to count?" Jinx asked, recalling Beast Boy's words even as she quaked and shivered herself. Her hand reached out to the shapeshifter's for non-existent comfort.
Trigon frowned at the woman. "You're the ones who messed up the circle," he pointed out.
"True," Jinx quickly admitted, not daring the question the demon further.
The massive creature continued to frown. "Before I always did," he admitted. "Better make sure." The frowned deepened. "This is really going to hurt." He looked at Robin. "Both of us," he added. "A lot." The beast stretched out, his member towering into the air. It was at least twice the length one would've expected and a lot thicker. "This is going to really hurt," Trigon repeated with a grimace. He then held Robin just above his erection, head dangling downward, eyes wide as she stared down at the demon in his full glory."
"Oh gods," the woman spoke, sounding like she was deep in shock. She closed her eyes, but even so still struggled in vain against her bonds.
Beast Boy gulped, feeling his own legs quake as his mind sought a way, anything, to ease his leader's, or rather former leader's, plight. "Wait," he yelped, knees wobbly. "You know, in some cultures even a kiss counts as sex." He took a deep breath and silently uttered a quick prayer to Azarath, the stone-dead god of this place. "It's only a ritual, right? So wouldn't that count? It's all symbolic."
For a full minute, or a full hour if you counted time according to the trio who watched, or a full century if you counted time by the poor bride's recollection, Trigon just stared into a sky that was void of life and all movement. "Perhaps," he admitted, not wanting to go through with the deed anymore than his bride did. "I think it would."
Robin collapsed when she was placed back on the ground, body quivering in terror, eyes out of focus.
"Done," Trigon said five minutes later. Having had trouble with kissing someone whose mouth was too small, he eventually just dropped the whole girl in his mouth, and then spit her out. "We're now married."
Covered in slime, Robin just sat there, not answering. Her eyes were distant points of fury that promised hellfire for a certain shapeshifter and pink-haired sorceress.
Jinx glanced at her two companions and knew it was up to her, the leader, to take the next step. "Now for your part of the bargain," she said.
Trigon nodded. "You brought me the Titan of Lust, betraying your companions, your people, your world, your whole universe to do so." He studied them. "Is a few trinkets worth it?"
Beast Boy shrugged. "Won't you win in the end anyway? With this we just make sure we get what we want before everything is gone."
"True," Trigon admitted. "Very wise of you." He studied the Rings of Azar each member of Team Idiot wore. "To ensure your loyalty I give you a gift." The demon smiled.
Beast Boy felt a tingle pass through his body, causing him to step back. "What did you do?" he asked, heart racing. He frantically twisted the Ring of Azar, praying it worked.
Jinx also felt a tingle and frowned with her right hand moving to coveri the ring on her left hand. Her heart hit two-hundred beats a minute.
Billy took a step back, knowing this was the biggest heist he'd ever been part of and ever would be. He then stood his ground, knowing this would make him a legend. He too, though, touched the ring he wore, needing its comfort.
"In due time you will find out," Trigon assured them.
"And the land?" Beast Boy asked in a nervous whisper.
Trigon stood to his full height and looked around. "It's undone," he said.
"That was the reward for bringing the Titan of Lust," Jinx said, knees shaking. She turned her eyes towards the quad tankers. "About those?"
Trigon nodded, considering the deal. The quad tankers cease to exist while dozens of bright-red gems fell to the soil in front of Team Idiot. "The deal is complete," he said. "And the circle starts to lose its power. When the Titan of Lust enters the world of man once again, I will be free." He grinned. "But a reward for my bride least you think to betray me and kill her here, keeping me sealed." He glanced at the silent woman, then disappeared.
"We're still alive," Jinx said, falling to the ground. "By all that's holy, we're still alive."
Beast Boy nodded, looking around the land that'd once been Raven's home. "But this wasn't our main goal. It's just icing on the cake."
Feelung dizzy with relief, Jinx stood. "We better get back and see if Connie got what she went in for."
'"If I go back, Trigon goes free," Robin said, still in shock. "Why?"
"All according to plan, sir." The shapeshifter blinked. "Or is that ma'am now?"
"Whatever," Robin replied, struggling against her bindings, knowing it was futile.
"And you don't need to worry." Beast Boy winked at Robin. "I told Jinx and Billy about the plan, ma'am."
Plan, Robin idly wondered, pondering the best way to commit suicide before she was taken back to earth, before she became a portal for Trigon.
Jinx bent to pick up the red gems, smiling. "Even if Connie doesn't get what we wanted, this is still something," she said. "Thirty-six. Four for each tanker."
Billy stared, struck silent. "Big time for a small-time villain like me," he finally said, studying the sparkling gems. "Really big."
"But I'm still wondering what that tingling sensation was," Beast Boy said, fretting over it. "Anyway, regardless of what it was, we need to get back. The portal home won't last forever, and I'm not sure Connie would come for us."
Billy caerfully lifted Robin into the truck, making sure the duct tape was still keeping her secure. He then placed a Titan's communicator on the duct tape close to her mouth. "When you get back, you know how to use it."
"As if it matters," Robin retorted. "Trigon will destroy everything."
Billy laughed. "Don't worry," he assured the girl. "Villains don't make fair trades."
Robin frowned, but even so she knew a bit tongue wouldn't kill her fast enough. She would still be alive when the truck crossed through the portal. Best to be ready to call the Titans via the communicator and warn them of what was to come. Perhaps the Justice League would be of help. Perhaps . . . . She prayed, though not being religious she had no idea who to.
The truck crossed through the portal and she was rolled outside. Beast Boy was even kind enough to hit the button so she could speak.
The Flash and Kid Flash, Birds of a Feather
"She's back," Jinx said, seeing there was just one portal when they returned to the earth.
Beast Boy nodded, pointing to the empty quad truck that'd been left behind. On it there was scrawled the words, 'call me.'
Billy hit the gas, heading rapidly away from the point where they expected the Titans to soon arrive. They were beyond tired and in no shape for a fight. Team Idiot, having just done battle with ten powerful Titans and bargained with Trigon the Personification of Evil, desperately needed time to recuperate. Beast Boy, with his head aching, couldn't risk making clones. Billy, having just suffered a huge psychic backlash an hour before, was in much the same condition. Jinx was out of magic and just wanted to relax. They would be easy game for any decent hero to roll up. Or villain to attack.
"Whatever Trigon did to us," Jinx wearily said, trying to sound hopeful, "we'll be long dead before he gets free. That's unless some idiot actually tries to free him."
"Heaven forbid," Beast Boy said, cringing. "Anyway, best not think about it. When Robin calls me back from undercover, or I get caught, I'll ask Raven about it. If anyone can figure out what he did, it's her."
Jinx nodded. "Best not to worry." She was still trying to believe that when the truck came to a stop with the Flash having made a circle around the vehicle, taking the time to carefully remove all the tires. Being a kind-hearted soul, he placed them on the truck roof so they could be replaced. Just not by those currently inside.
"You fight him," Beast Boy said to Billy.
'"Let me nap first," the man said. "Have Jinx fight him."
"You can go first," Jinx said, pointing to Beast Boy.
"Ladies first," the boy insisted, watching as the Flash patiently tapped his foot on the pavement.
"I agree," Jinx said adamantly. "Ladies first, and this lady is taking a break first."
"Never argue with a lady," Billy told the shapeshifter. "You go first."
Beast Boy sighed, admitting defeat. "Okay," he said, stepping from the truck. He sighed again when Vixen landed beside the Flash. "Look, I'm tired," he started. "Can't we reschedule for next week?"
"No," the two Justice League heroes chorused as one.
Beast Boy scratched his head. "Don't make me have to use this," he said, drawing a spear from the truck.
"The Spear of Longinus," Vixen said. She blinked.
"Thanks," the Flash said, smiling. "I can make good use of this."
"Didn't your mother teach you not to steal?" Beast Boy asked, ruefully shaking his head.
"I've learned to enjoy stealing from thieves," the Flash said. He looked at the spear, still smiling. Then he frowned and place the other hand on it, tugging.
"How many times have you saved the day by dashing into a lair and stealing the all-powerful-thingy from the villain?" Beast Boy asked, casually sitting on the hood of the truck.
"Lots," the Flash admitted, still pulling on the spear.
"Well, I'm going to tell you what your mother would," Beast Boy said. "Karma's a bitch."
"I'm starting to figure that out," the Flash said. "But I can get rid of this anytime." He started to vibrate his hands, only to be knocked back on his behind.
"Try again?" Beast Boy suggested. "I'm in no hurry. I need the break."
The Flash was knocked back a second time. "It's glue," the man said, standing up, still radiating confidence. "If I go fast enough it'll melt." The fastest man alive went to go supersonic. He was knocked off his feet while the spear remained in his hands.
"Try again?" Beast Boy suggested, wondering if the crude contraption would hold.
"I don't need super speed to handle you," the Flash said, boasting as he arrogantly strolled forward. He was knocked off his feet. The man sat there for a while. "Friction will generate heat," he said and moved his hands on the staff as much as the glue would allow. The poor guy was knocked over.
Vixen raised an eyebrow. "I don't see this going anywhere good," she said, staring at the shapeshifter.
"I'll just break it," the Flash decided, grinding his teeth.
"I wouldn't if I were you," Beast Boy cautioned, crossing his fingers.
The Flash rammed the handle of the spear down on his knee. He was knocked to the ground again. When he tried to stand the spear was now stuck to his knee as well as both hands, forcing him to hobble while bent over.
"You don't think we would use something so easily breakable for a decoy, do you?" Beast Boy asked, sounding insulted.
"Not anymore," came the growled reply.
Beast Boy watched as the man inched closer to him, already knowing the hero's plan. Get close and get him stuck on the spear as well. That would keep him from fleeing. He tapped a button and the Flash was sent falling backwards. "Almost anything can be turned into electricity," he told the man. "Motion can be, so if you move you know what happens. Same with heat, so if you try to use friction you know what happens." He shrugged. "Technically even an impact, like hitting it with a hammer or cutting it with a saw, will generate energy."
"Freezing," the Flash said immediately.
"That might work," Beast Boy admitted. "Once the battery is drained that is. Good luck surviving that."
"I have a feeling I'm going to be late for tonight's date," the Flash said, disgruntled. "You know how humiliating that'll be? The fastest man alive, late? It's absurd."
"I'm not good with tools," Beast Boy admitted, "so I can't take credit for it. Billy put it together when I asked him to." He nodded, looking satisfied. "Worth every m&m I paid him for it."
"You paid him in candy?" Vixen asked.
"Anything can be used as a currency," came the satisfied reply.
"Hope you didn't steal them from a baby?" Vixen muttered. "I wouldn't put it past you."
"Course not, they were at least five years old," Beast Boy joked.
Vixen shook her head and sighed. "Guess I'm up," she said.
"Didn't think you would be back on duty yet," Beast Boy told the attractive woman, carefully looking her over, drooling a little. "Hope everything healed all right."
"I threatened to quit if they didn't let me have the chance to fight you again," the woman said with a nasty smile, recalling the pain the boy had put her through. She was going to do more than just kick him where it hurt, though she was certainly planning to do that as well.
Beast Boy cast a questioning look back at Jinx who was still in the truck. The pink-haired girl nodded, frowning, not at all liking the look the boy had given the attractive woman seconds earlier. Why it bothered her she didn't know. It just did. The girl shook her head and focused on the task at hand - surviving this encounter with the Justice League. Inside her something changed.
The shapeshifter stood on the ground, waiting.
Vixen grimly called on the power of a gorilla, eagerly rushing in to kick the boy. It was the same attack she'd opened up with last time, but today she'd made sure to wear boots no quill would get through. The boy didn't shift into an animal, merely fell back. Then the world around the woman erupted in a blast of energy that sent her flying. She brutally crashed to the ground thirty feet away. Stunned, the woman only had the time to summon the power of an elephant before she was sent rolling on the ground by the massive tail of a thirty-foot crocodile. To her horror, and bad luck, she came to a rest butt first on the spear the Flash was holding. Not only that, but the man's left hand was now in an awkward place between her legs, resting solidly against the most private of private parts. Trying to stand the spear moved. Both her and the Flash received a severe electrical shock, sending them together to the ground.
Not having the energy to set another trap, Jinx gave a sigh of relief, glad things had gone right the first time around.
"Good job," Beast Boy said, getting into the van where he sank wearily into a seat while Billy rushed out to replace the tires.
"You too," Jinx said. "How did you know she would step on that particular piece of ground?"
"It was the best place to kick from." He smiled at the sorceress, noting how pretty her eyes were.
"Oh." Jinx nodded, having known the answer herself, but wanting to question the boy's potential. Back on that first day when he'd interrupted her and Kid Flash she would've never guessed he was so capable.
Soon the vehicle was on its way again.
Where's the Portal
Cringing at every sound she heard, wondering if it was Trigon, Robin called for help. Cyborg, Raven, and Aqualad arrived less than ten minutes later. To the girl's fury, a fury that eclipsed what she felt towards Jinx and Beast Boy, the cybernetic man was riding her motorcycle, pulling Aqualad in the small red wagon. Above them flew Raven.
When she mentioned the portal that she'd passed through the half-demon woman had gone pale and pulled out her communicator. It seemed portals usually required large amounts of blood, meaning people had to be missing and dead. When she'd mentioned the red gems the half-demon woman had gone silent, wondering what the tankers could've held of such value to a demon. Then, knowing she had to spill it all, that the earth and its people came first, Robin mentioned the sexual acts Trigon had performed. At that the half-demon girl had merely raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe now you know what it's like to be a woman who's seduced by someone under false pretense," the demonic girl had said, not at all sympathetic. "Someone who tapes those sexual encounters, creating tapes which can be used for blackmail should any villain get access to them. Someone who leads an incredible woman like Starfire on for years, always teasing her with promises, never fulfilling them, never setting her free. You did that for six years."
"The portal?" Robin had simply asked, knowing the woman was right.
"It should've opened as soon as you got here," Raven explained, giving the girl a relieved smile. "Since it didn't that means something was wrong with the ceremony and it won't happen, that it's safe. The risk is gone until Trigon gets hold of you again for another try at . . . at what he did to you."
"Oh." Robin had sunk back onto the ground, waiting while she was unwrapped from around two-dozen rolls of duct tape. "Hope I didn't get pregnant," she added a while later.
Morning After
Within their lair Team Idiot was sound asleep. Billy was dreaming of strip poker with Starfire, while a naked Jinx and a naked Beast Boy were in bed together. Despite her exhaustion, Jinx had decided to go back for seconds and had enjoyed it just as much as she had the first time.
Within her bookstore Connie was sitting, happily eating her morning meal of human flesh. While it wasn't the blood of her people, corpses did possess fragments of the soul the body had once housed. It kept her alive and, best of all, there was plenty of it. In a world of billions there were countless accidents and she merely had to scavenge the result. A hatred of killing had been built into her people, and she desired little more than her books, peace, and to never have to kill again. To that goal she'd robbed Trigon of a piece of his throne.
She knew how the upper eyes of Trigon worked. They scanned the whole of a dimension, learning all there was to see. But when it encountered his own power those eyes assumed the lower eyes would see it, that through them Trigon would know whatever there was to see. By burying a twenty-ton chunk of that rock, his own fossilized flesh, in the center of Jump City she'd ensured those upper eyes would never be able to see into the city. It was also the rock that was used for the Rings of Azar. The power the demon wielded was powerful enough to hurt even Trigon himself, and of its own volition that power would turn aside from any who possessed such a stone. The foul god of her people would be hard pushed to use his full power now in her home.
The goth girl who was tens of thousands of years old, time being different in Trigon's domain, smiled and licked her lips as she nibbled at the severed, bloody arm of a human girl. She knew many humans considered it an abomination to eat their dead, but she wasn't human. To her kind it was an honor, even a necessity, lest the precious blood that could be used for another soul be lost. She always thanked the spirit of the flesh she ate, hoping it would forgive her.
Raven awoke with Bumblebee still asleep, cuddled up to her. The woman's foot had been healed, but even so it'd placed a stress on her body best treated by rest. So, gently and with a fond smile, she'd eased her arms and legs away from the clinging woman and dressed. Despite the situation the half-demon girl felt well rested with the dark, nagging sensation she always felt in the back of her mind severely reduced. It was as if she were now within some barrier that prevented her father's attempt to break her. Happy and optimistic, she leaned down and kissed her lover on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, precious," she murmured before turning to leave the brightly painted room.
In the infirmary, her first stop to check on Kid Flash, she saw Vixen and the Flash were still securely glued together with the fake Spear of Longinus. Cyborg had mentioned how simple the contraption was, yet even he hadn't been able to free the two so far.
"Bet he won't make fun of me so much now," Kid Flash signed.
"For sure," Raven replied, smiling. It was her birthday and the world was still around. She'd examined Robin with several different types of magic and there was nothing to suggest she could open a portal to Trigon. Whatever the ritual had done, the world was safe. And while the ordeal the girl had gone through was rather extreme, it seemed she'd learned something . . . sex, as well as love, was something to be shared, not taken with false words or by force. Back in the tower Robin had gone directly to Starfire and, on her knees, apologized for the six years of deception.
"Any news?" she asked the super-fast boy?
"Superman searched the city. No sign of Team Idiot," he signed. "Well hidden wherever they are."
Raven nodded. "That's to be expected from someone who understands the animal world. They have a hundred ways of hiding."
"There was a break-in at a blood bank yesterday," Kid Flash added. "Seems someone stole over a million liters of blood." The boy shook his head, disgusted. "Hate to think what they want that for."
Team Idiot, Raven immediately knew. That's where they got the blood for the rituals. They didn't kill anyone. Heart even lighter than it had been before, seeing things in the infirmary, even if sticky, were going well, Raven wandered around the Tower, ending up in the kitchen.
"Morning," Superman said to the girl with a cup of hot coffee in his hand.
"Morning," Raven replied, smiling. "Sorry for all the trouble, but we do appreciate you taking the time to help out."
"It's my job," the man replied before taking a sip.
Raven looked around. None of the Titan's were there and she was hungry. Almost she was tempted to try cooking. Surely she could toast some waffles, right?
"I was told I could save the world by keeping you from cooking," the man of steel said. "He became a blur and seconds later there was a second plate on the table with eggs, bacon, toast, and a cup of steaming coffee.
"Thanks." Raven smiled again. "They say I'm a danger in the kitchen, but it can't be that bad; no one actually died from all the horrors I accidentally summoned."
Sitting down to eat, she casually chatted with the man of steel. She'd just finished when Batman rushed into the room. "There's a situation outside," he said before dashing off. Moving at incredible speed, Superman vanished from view. Raven, knowing the day was going to be a peaceful one, took the time to walk.
"What is it?" Batman demanded, holding a guy in a delivery suit up against the side of a truck? "Who sent it and how do I disarm it?"
The delivery boy was obviously frightened of the masked maniac and could only stutter. "B-B-Birth-day," was all he managed to get out before he was once again slammed against the van.
"I can't scan it," Superman said, frowning with a serious look in his eyes. He looked at Raven. "But I can feel it's magical."
Raven stooped to stare at the cubic meter of black rock that stood beside the van's back doors. "Can't be," she said. While her knowledge of the black rock was limited it did explain why Trigon's influence over her had been so reduced. The girl licked her lips, eyeing the small bag and envelope on top of the boulder. "The rock isn't dangerous," she told Batman, reassuring him. "At least not in its raw state."
"What is it?" Superman asked, wondering if the delivery boy needed rescuing.
"I'm not sure where it comes from, but it's the raw material for the Rings of Azar. It's a ward against Trigon's influence. If he ever gets loose, something like this would be invaluable in fighting him." She took the bag from the black rock and looked inside.
"What is it?" Batman asked a full minute later, carefully looking at the girl who seemed stunned, or perhaps under some malevolent force.
"Power beyond words," a dazed Raven quietly answered, holding a sparkling red gem up to the morning sun. "It's a drop of Trigon's blood."
"Should I get rid of them in the sun?" Superman quietly inquired, not liking the change in the girl's demeanor.
Raven grinned, replacing the gem in the bag. "Sorry. These gems are the blood of an immortal being who can never die. If used correctly they can heal any wound, no matter how severe. They're so powerful they can even raise the dead, assuming they died recently and still have a body to use the blood on."
"Raise the dead?" Superman repeated, eyebrow raised. "Very useful, to say the least, but can Trigon affect a person through them?"
"For a few days there might be a very slight increased risk that he could," Raven admitted. "But it goes away after three days. Basically this is just ordinary medicine. A medicine that can bring back a dead person." She gulped. holding tight to the bag. There were nine gems in it.
The girl took the envelope and pulled out a card. Her eyes went wide with disbelief coursing through her very soul. "Wait here," she commanded, disappearing in a black flash of shadow that resembled a Raven.
The frowning girl stood in Azarath, looking across the devastated land when a white blob fell on her face. Raven raised a hand to wipe at the substance, thinking it was Beast Boy playing a trick on her. Then she looked up to see a small flock of maybe seven birds, none of whom were green, going about their daily business. A business that it seemed including doing their business on her. She turned away to continue looking across the broken landscape. Broken, but alive.
The girl turned around and around. There was rubble on the shattered streets of the city, but also a faint fuzzy green to their sides, contrasting with the white. Grass and flowers would soon break through the soil. The sky boated clouds that were white and fluffy. They also moved. She tilted her head and, in the distance, could hear this world's equivalent of birds chirping and the sound of crickets waking up to greet the bright, sunny day.
"How?" she asked to the empty air.
"Morning, daughter," a very familiar and welcoming voice greeted the girl.
Raven whirled around, knowing she dreaming. "Mom," she said, rushing into the arms that were held open for her.
"Some idiot played with something best left alone," another familiar voice said. "Welcome home Raven."
Raven opened an eye, peering over her mother's shoulder, to see Azar herself watching her. Immediately the half-demon girl went to her knees to say words she'd said a thousand times. But all those times there'd been no one to listen. "I'm sorry," she said, weeping uncontrollably. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"Even if you'd not opened the way, he would've found access to this place in time," Azar said, comforting the girl. "I do trust though that you've learned your lesson. Trigon is not to be trifled with. Nor is he any kind of father."
Raven kept her head low. "I have," she assured the woman. Then, unable to contain herself, she looked around. "How?"
"Trigon was summoned here and he undid the spell of stone," Azar said. "Beyond that your guess is as good as mine. I do know that he now rages in his prison speaking of treachery and vowing revenge. While many of us are dead, most now live. Azarath is reborn"
"The prison still holds him?" Raven asked, needing reassurance.
"It does," Azar assured the girl.
An hour later Raven returned to the earth, knowing she had to explain to her friends. She descended upon the land to see Batman and Superman still waiting along with several of the Titans. "Morning," she said, pulling Bumblebee in for a long, deep, and very passionate kiss.
"You're happy this morning," Bee said, eyes filled with lust.
"In all the mornings of my life, there will be none happier," Raven said, kissing her lover again. Then she let go and dashed into the tower. She returned with the book titled, 'Bride of the Most Evil One.' She held it in her hand, focusing her power. "A fake," she said.
"But you said it was made of human flesh and was centuries old," Robin countered.
"It is, but I can guess where one might find an empty book," Raven replied, recalling the girl at the Shady Coroner Bookstore. Briefly she wondered if she could get a refund to aid the team's failing finances, but the girl had never lied to her. The book was indeed one of a kind, having been written solely for a prank. And, she was sure, to the bookstore girl it'd been very amusing. "It was a prank by Team Idiot," she said, shaking her head, wondering at her green friend.
"A prank?" Robin and Cyborg said, looking at each other and then at the half-demon.
"For my birthday," Raven said happily. "He remembered my birthday and got me presents." She looked around, seeing the look on Batman's and Superman's faces. "Don't be angry at them," she pleaded. Raven turned away from them to smile at her friends. "We need cake," she said. "We can't have a party without cake."
"Raven? Cake?" Robin and Cyborg wondered together. That was when they knew the girl was crazy and needed to be locked up.
Unaware of her friends' determination to lock her up, Raven paused in thought as she studied Robin. So, she asked herself, if it wasn't my father, then how the heck did Robin become a girl? Not that the leader seemed unhappy with it. The girl was currently looking at her crush, Cyborg, as if they were sharing some secret knowledge.
End of Chapter
Just for the heck of it, what the incantation used by Connie says in English:
As blood is life and life is power, so is blood power. I offer blood to the one most foul, Trigon the dark one. Enable this circle with thy power.