Chapter 29: Revenge

For a moment, Noel wondered if he was dreaming.

It might make sense. He'd dozed off on the roof and dreamed the whole incident with Raven's mirror and Raven, and now the Lord had returned. Hell, maybe in the new minute he would turn into a gummy worm or something just as crazy…

But what clinched it as real was the Lord's face. He wasn't wearing the mask he had been wearing beforehand, and his hideously scarred face was there for all to see. And considering the fact when Noel had actually seen that face, he had been a bit distracted. It didn't strike him as a memory his dream would drag up. He would most likely remember the masked face of the Lord, the face that actually let him look human.

But no, it was the scarred Lord, sword in hand, calmly walking up to the foot of the bed and placing one of his feet on it, leaning on it as he looked at the two.

"I killed you." Noel said. It was all he could think of.

"Ah, wrong. You TRIED. You failed. But you tried. And a fair try too." The Lord said.

"But…all that blood! It was everywhere! You should have bled to death! You…!"

"Oh, you mean this blood?" the Lord said, raising his mechanical arm. There was a slight whirring, and then blood began flowing from the wrist, splattering on the floor. It went on and on as the two Titans stared in horror at it.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't be testing the blood you found. Pig's blood. That water tower hurt, believe me, but I survived it. A little blood of my own and a lot out of my arm, and I kept you from chasing after me, which, considering the state I was in, would have been bad for me. Always have a backup plan for everything, dear boy. Even losing."

"What do you want?" Raven said. The Lord glanced at her, her arms crossed over her chest to cover her bare breasts. There was no sexual desire in the glance though. The Lord was beyond such things.

"Well well, after all the heartbreak and denial, I turned out to be right. Here you two are, rutting like animals. Congratulations, I suppose." The Lord said, and turned back to Noel, who had tensed up, ready for the slightest indication of an attack.

"Relax child. If I wanted to kill you outright I would have stabbed you both in the back while you were, how shall I say, occupied. But that would be dishonorable for a pair that actually managed to best me in combat. Considering the devotion I have to the future that this world needs, that is quite an accomplishment indeed…." The Lord said. He stepped back off the bed, and then looked at the two again, his eyes darkening.

"But you interrupted my quest. Your delusions have allowed this world to get even sicker as I regrouped. I can forgive your beating me, but I can and WILL not forgive what you have allowed this world to suffer in your action. So this is what I want. I will go to the top of the Tower. You will meet me there. And we will settle this. So get dressed, and enjoy this moment together, because it will be the first and last you ever have."

The Lord stepped backwards into the darkness, and by the time Noel got over to him he was gone, vanished into thin air.

Noel glanced back over to Raven, who had pulled her shirt back on and zipped it up. In the back of his head, he mourned the lost moment, but only a little. There would be others, and the Lord took precedence over them. If he was allowed to run free, who knew how many people could die?

His shirt was suddenly floating in front of him, encased in black energy. He looked at Raven, and she smiled slightly. He smiled back and took the shirt, putting it on. He grabbed the jacket with his Shimmer, and picked up Raven's cloak and offered it to her at the same time, but she shook her head as she floated over to her closet.

"I have something special I had made that I haven't had a chance to use. Until now." Raven said, pulling a new cloak out of the closet. It looked pretty much the same like her old one, but Noel was sure she had her reasons.

"I'll be right back. Stay here." Raven said as she vanished into the shadows. Noel blinked.

He did a few tasks while he waited, stretching and preparing for the fight, among others. Raven returned four minutes later, and motioned for Noel to come over to her. He did, wrapping an arm around her, knowing what she was going to do. On an impulse, he gave her a quick peck on the lips, a kiss she returned before she pulled her hood up and activated her power again, sending both herself and her new love through the darkness to take on its supposed master.

The Lord was facing away from Raven and Savior when they appeared on the roof, but he turned around just as they were finished teleporting. He cocked his head, looking at the two. He had put his katana back into the sheath on his back.

"My my, déjà vu. The more things change." The Lord said. Indeed, it was very similar to their last fight: alone on a roof (though no rain this time).

"I can see you haven't changed. Still as insane as ever."

"And you're still applying such ludicrous notions as sanity to me to try and disguise the fact that part of you is terrified I might be right." The Lord replied. "Remember children, I can read you like a book. I know things about you that YOU'RE not even aware of. Parts of what I said to you…you think I may be right. But you deny it, because to accept reality as it is would be to shatter your own personal version of reality, and you humans rarely survive such things."

"I think you are the one who can't handle the truth." Savior snapped.

"And I think you are mistaking me as being one of you. A flawed, unpractical human. I am not. And you will not defeat me this time. Lightning never strikes the same place twice." The Lord said.

"You're not a force of nature." Raven said.

The Lord chuckled.

"True." He said. "Not YET."

And he dashed at the two, showing incredible speed as he covered the twenty feet between them in less then two seconds, as his mechanical arm whirled and snapped a four foot blade out of his wrist, a blade he slashed at Raven. Raven recoiled, and the Shimmer flew out, grabbing at the Lord, trying to keep him away from Raven. The Lord smirked.

"Disgustingly predictable." The Lord said, and slashed the Shimmer. Savior collapsed with a scream. "Stupid tactical move, child. You have clearly learned nothing."

"Oh really?" Raven said, as she reached into her pocket. As the Lord turned around, she threw something into the air.

Sewing needles, dozens of them. Needles she seized with her power and hurled into the Lord's face. He recoiled with a yell, his attempt to block mostly foiled by the small size of the projectiles.

"I learned that when your battlefield doesn't present you with good weaponry, bring your own." Raven said.

The Lord staggered back, and Savior kicked him in the back. The Lord spun, pulling needles out of his face as he simultaneously slashed at Savior with his arm blade. Savior ducked under the slash, flipped over the follow-up, and punched the Lord in the face, driving some of the needles he had missed removing in deeper. The Lord yelled, clutching at his heavily scarred visage, and Savior rammed the Shimmer into his gut and then across his face, sending him flying across the roof.

The Lord flipped up, pulling out the remaining needles a second before Savior attacked him again, punching. The Lord blocked the blows but Savior didn't let up, even as Raven disappeared into the shadows.

The Lord's guard was finally cracked as Savior got a punch in. The Lord recoiled, as Raven appeared out of the shadows behind him, her hand glowing with black energy as…

The Lord fell, sweeping his leg out and tripping Savior, and then spinning around and roundhousing Raven across the face, throwing her backwards. Savior flipped back up just to walk into the Lord's follow up back roundhouse heel kick, knocking him down again. He rolled with the Shimmer as the Lord altered his arm, forming it into his crossbow blaster. He aimed and fired, and Savior quickly threw up a shield, letting out a growling half snarl half scream as the arrows cut into parts of the shield and caused him pain.

The Lord smirked and reloaded, but before he could fire again a telepathic bolt slammed into his back, and at the same time Savior thrust his shield forward on Shimmer-springs, crushing the Lord between twin blasts of force. The Lord stumbled out, a bit dazed, and Savior struck, grabbing for his mechanical arm and crushing it…

Until the katana slashed down, cutting through the Shimmer. Savior screamed again, falling away. The Lord pulled the cut strand off his arm and looked at distaste at the now sparking, damaged limb.

"Well, back to basics." He said, as he pressed a button. Several parts of the arm fell off, leaving a smoother mechanical limb. It looked a bit odd, being somewhat smaller then his normal arm, but it was clear it worked perfectly as claws sprang from it and slashed at Raven as she flew in behind the Lord. A black shield of energy appeared over Raven, but several follow up slashes shattered it, driving her back. Raven grabbed one end of her cloak and held it up as the Lord approached.

"Oh, what you got in there, a bunny?"

"No." Raven said, as a dozen blades flew out of an inner pocket. "Knives."

And Raven threw the blades at the Lord, as the Lord brought his sword and claws out and went into a blocking frenzy. He wasn't quite fast enough though, as one knife ripped open his arm at the shoulder and another impaled itself into his right thigh. He staggered back, and then reached down and pulled the knife out of his leg in more annoyance then pain.

The pain came immediately afterward, as Shimmer loops flew over him, pinning his arms to the side. The Lord couldn't slash his way free as Savior lifted the Lord up and swung him over his head, slamming him into the ground before Savior spun and threw the Lord across the Tower. He hit the ground and bounced violently, nearly falling off the edge.

"You ok?" Raven said as she floated over to Savior.

"I'll live. Nice cloak. I see why you picked it. Pockets."

"To hold things. You noticed. Let's finish him off." Raven said.

The Lord flipped to his feet as Savior reached him, leaping at him in a charge. He ducked and Savior flew over him, but no sooner did he get up then Raven swooped down and planted her foot in his face. He staggered back and Savior swung on the makeshift ring bar/platform he had formed in a second via the Shimmer and rammed both of his feet into the Lord's back. He rolled with the blow and came up slashing, Raven blocking his katana strikes with temporary black energy shields. The Shimmer lanced at the Lord, and he flipped away, slashing at the strand. But it recoiled away from him, as Raven held out her cloak. Small metal rings flew from the pockets she had in them.

"Borrowed these from Robin's room." She said, and hurled all the tiny metal projectiles at the Lord, barraging him with sharp, hard impacts, the last three catching him square in the face and knocking him on his back.

Raven landed near Savior, who looked at her and then held out his hands. Twin Shimmer strands emerged and formed into swords. Raven looked at them and understood.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she said, and the Shimmer was encased in her black energy. Savior ran forward as the Lord got up. He saw him coming and smirked, and snapped out his claws and waved them in a "come hither" motion.

Savior swung his blades, and the Lord blocked them and spun, sweeping Savior's legs out from under him. But his follow-up stabbing attempt failed as Shimmer strands shot out of Savior's side and spun him around in the air, allowing him to punch the Lord across the face. The Lord staggered, and then slashed at Savior with his claws. Savior dodged aside and slashed his swords across the Lord's back, drawing a yell. The Lord spun, slashing again, but Savior blocked the blow with one of his blades. The Lord tried to claw Savior then, but Savior blocked it with his other blade, and then, shoving the weapons aside, opened his mouth and fired a Shimmer strand out of it, smacking the Lord in the face. The Lord staggered back, and Savior dispersed the Shimmer blades and reached out, grabbing the Lord with strands of the white energy. More Shimmer strands shot out into the ground, and then Savior balanced on them and flipped upward, slamming his heels across the Lord's face and throwing him into the air. Savior spun around as the strands recoiled and then they threw him up into the air after the Lord, and finally he lashed out with another strand, smacking the Lord downward again. As the Lord fell, Raven appeared out of the shadows behind him and let loose with twin telepathic bolts into his back, sending him flipping and bouncing across the T-Tower again.

The Lord slowly got up, blood dripping from his face, as Savior and Raven headed over to him. He smiled.

"Well well, nice work children. It appears your skills have greatly improved."

"You thought it was bad before?"

And then Robin landed next to the two. A second later Starfire dropped Cyborg down and flew down beside him, and Beast Boy swooped down as a hawk.

"Your night just got a whole lot worse." Robin said, cracking his knuckles. Before Raven and Savior had headed up to the roof, they had sent a distress signal. And it had been answered. The Lord, after all, hadn't said anything about that being bad.

"So this is the Lord of the Night. Man, you are SO toast buddy." Beast Boy said.

"We will not let you commit any more crimes!" Starfire added. The Lord looked at the Titans, and then he smirked.

"Well then, perhaps it's time then." The Lord said, and with a quick snap of his hand he threw a smoke bomb down on the ground. The Titans recoiled, thinking it may be a poison of some kind, but it quickly faded.

The Lord was no longer alone.

One his left was a female with short, little less then shoulder length black hair, a combat suit similar to the Lord's, and a black bandage tied around her face. Though her eyes were covered, she seemed to look right at the Titans.

Though the black haired female was probably in good shape, the redhead at The Lord's right definitely was, if only because she was wearing what looked like a tight one piece bathing suit and boots and nothing else. Her fiery red hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she looked at the Titans with clear disgust.

The last one was a thin, spindly pale man with short black hair that fell over his eyes. His skin was extremely pale, though little could be seen due to his combat outfit, also similar to the Lord's but with several different cosmetic touches.

The Titans stared at the newcomers with some surprise.

"What? You think I always have to stand alone? Hell no. My quest is what matters, above all. And if that means siding with others, then I'll damn sure side with others." The Lord said. Near the end of the fight, he had lost his katana, or at least that was what it seemed until it came sliding past the Titans, moving along the ground via some kind of magnetic pull. It had gotten close to the crouching man when his arm shot out with great speed and tossed the blade behind him, where the Lord caught it.

"We know you Titans, but you may not know us. So, from right to left, this is Sizzle, Shadowmaster, and Murdercrow. And you know me, I'm the Lord of the Night."

The Titans all assumed combat positions. The Lord chuckled again.

"Ready to fight already? You may not be so eager. This, as I mentioned to those two earlier, will most likely be the last act of your lives."

"We'll never led you harm an innocent again! We'll take you down!" Robin said.

"After tonight, you will no longer plague the world!" Savior added.

"Plague? My dear children, we are no plague. We are what the world needs. We are what the world deserves. We are Genocide." The Lord said, giving his own team a name.

"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled, and the Titans leapt to the offense. The amusement vanished from the face of the Lord, replaced only by a murderous sense of determination.

"Right then. Let's get SERIOUS."