Satan's Child
Castles: There's gonna be some fan art for this chapter, and maybe the ending chapter, (which isn't far off) but for now, worry about Rae…She's gonna be sacrificed!! No!!
Kitty: Castles does not own the Teen Titans. She only puts claims to Shinta, Deathstroke, (Shinta's mysterious boss) The Haden Mountains, (of her own creation) and Kiya!
===
Change-Of-Heart2: Updates have been a while, yes, mainly due to the fact that it a few members of my fan club to find the next few chapters! Reviews are the life blood of my stories, it's what keeps me going.
Writer of love 17: Um yeah, I'm a HUGE Charmed fan, so yes that idea probably did come from there, but oh well…
Evil Knievel That's a good question. Too bad I can't tell you, it would give the storyline away! I just knew you'd love that twist! And besides, if I can take my entire computer to pieces, so that the monitor, CPU, printer and all is unplugged, and manage to clean the separate parts, and manage to put it all back together in a functioning manner, (I'm typing now, aren't I?) then I'm pretty sure you won't muck up your Dad's computer!!
Wolf Pack Leader Welcome to the fan club! I can't believe you spent an hour finding me, that's real determination! Thank you for the support!
Scribs: Shush, don't tell anyone, but I'm a girl…. ::crickets chirp:: I'm bisexual, which partially explains why my crush doesn't want me. However, I do like guys too, Spike and Angel from Buffy are absolutely SEXY!!! Besides, you sound like a really nice guy, and I'll put a few more baby making scenes along the lines just for you!
===
Castles: I regret that updates have been slow due to the fact that I am moving house soon, and the house has to be absolutely spotless. I am working my ass off cleaning everything, and the taking apart/cleaning/putting back together of my computer didn't help! I am the only person who can do that, so I'm the idiot who'll have to take the damned thing apart to transport it to the new house! Plus, reviews are my stories life blood, I'm just not motivated to write without your support guys!! Please keep reviewing, you keep me going!!!
=ó=ó=ó=ó=
"I've found her." Cyborg grimly announced through gritted teeth, still bent over the computer's keyboard.
"You've got a lock on her location? Where is she?" Robin dashed to his friend's side, his hopes rising.
"Towards the North, on the Haden Mountains. I'm also detecting a strong energy source from there, something unusual. And there's a young girl, about 6 or 7 years old, around that area as well, not far from Raven's location." Cyborg tapped into the small chasm Raven was in, keying in for more information. "And BB, just to put your mind at rest, from what the computers can detect, Raven's baby is fine."
"Thank god.." He whispered, eyes strangely haunting with darkness.
"Are we going to get her then? Obviously, it's important to get her back so we can ensure the safety of her child. " Starfire reminded them, adding to the tense atmosphere in the room. With Kiya in bed asleep, exhausted from the night's events, the adults had remained up for a good part of the night trying to find Raven.
"We'd better go soon, I'm not happy about that odd energy source. Star, go get Kiya if it's ok with Beast Boy for her to come. Robin, down to the loading bay, we're going to the Haden Mountains." Cyborg announced his orders, Starfire running for the exit at the changeling's nod of approval, Robin making for the opposite exit. He stopped when he saw the depressed look on Beast Boy's face, strangely worried about his old friend.
"Beast Boy, what's wrong? Are you worried about Raven?" He asked kindly.
"It's not only that Robin. That child might not be mine, and if it takes after it's mother, there's a good chance we might not know. I'm questioning myself, - why am I fighting to save something that might not even be my own? I want to save Raven more than anything in the world, but a good part of me doesn't want anything to do with that child." His voice showed a lot emotion, as the boy wonder could tell he was close to tears.
"And what if it is yours? What if you reject something that does have everything to do with you? And even if it isn't, how could you even think of leaving Raven to take of it on her own?" Robin's words made sense, but he could see they were having no affect on his distraught comrade.
"I don't know Robin…I don't know…We'll know when that child is born…Until then, I'll just have to live with it." A few tears did drop then, Robin feeling the utmost pity for him.
"Have you considered telling Raven how you feel?" Cyborg chipped in.
"If I ever see her alive again. " Beast Boy grimly replied.
===
By that time, Raven was beyond panicking. There wasn't words that could describe her immense feeling of dread as she waited, trapped on the edge of an unsteady platform. There had been calls from help coming from the young girl at the other end, her voice carried on the wind to the demon.
"Well my dear, are you ready for the ritual?" Deathstroke gloated from in front of her again, making Raven jump in fright.
"If I say yes, will you do me a favour?" She nervously asked.
"What?" He asked with a snarl.
"Don't suddenly appear in front of me and scare me again, would ya?"
He laughed slightly at this, eyes glittering with amusement. "I'll try not to, but you won't live much longer anyway. And besides, at midnight tonight, you're going to die, and it's 9.00am already." He spoke the truth, the sun had risen a few hours ago, nearly blinding the demon.
"Just one more question before I die then? I mean, why do you have that other little girl tied up at the other end of the tower? She obviously isn't enjoying the morning sunrise." Raven's tactics weren't working well, distracting the men wasn't going to work.
"Oh you mean Anna? Yes, she's there because we need innocent blood as well, so she'll be cut the same time you are, allowing Trigon to pass into this world. Shame to kill such an innocent being, but still, sacrifices must be made for survival in this world." His smile of triumph was back, but Raven personally thought she was going to be sick.
"You would kill an innocent young human? How sick are you? I would rather die that kill someone like that. You disgust me." To prove her point, Raven spat roughly in his face, which earned her another cuff around the head.
"You are in no place to debate with me like that. You wanted to know why she was there, and now you know. So, I'll leave you in peace to enjoy your last 15 hours of life." With that, he turned, the black shiny suit he wore glinting in the morning sun.
"May the Gods of Azarath have mercy on us both." Raven whispered, her eyes looking with pity at Anna's terrified young expression at the other end of the tower.
=ó=ó=ó=ó=
==14 hours later==
"Well, are we all set to go? " Robin asked. He was wasting no time at all, determined to find Raven as soon as possible.
"Hang on a minute, I'm not quite done yet. And don't worry, we'll save Rae." Cyborg hastily replied, fixing a few more bugs in his systems.
"Dad, will mum be okay? She will be okay won't she?" Kiya prodded nervously, her fears showing in her tone of voice.
"I don't know to be sure Kiya. Lets hope we get there in time, before it's too late." Beast Boy's mood had gone from bad to worse, his own deep doubts surfacing and showing in his rough, aggressive manner of things.
"Don't worry Kiya, we'll find her, and Robin will probably murder Slade at the same time, but still…" Starfire comforted the frightened young changeling, the unsettling mood between them all ever growing as the rescue mission began.
It was not far to the Haden Mountains, and before long, Cyborg had them within sight on his radar. He was pretty certain by that time that Raven was within the source of the huge energy field, but with it being within such an open-spaced area, approaching whilst concealing themselves from view was going to a difficult, even somewhat perplexing affair.
"Shush, we don't want to alert them." Robin whispered, crouching behind a rock.
"Dad, Robin, look, up there." Kiya softly commented, pointing up to a huge metal construction in the middle of the crater. At the top, stood on the edge of the platform, Raven was chained to two lead poles,
"Raven…" Beast Boy uttered, slightly louder than intended. Guards nearby picked up on the mutter, calling to others on duty near the cavern headquarters of Satan's Sign, of which were built into the very stone of the mountains, reinforcements coming from every cave opening that could be seen.
"Oh bloody hell…" Robin muttered. "Titans, GO!" With that, he sprung into action, whipping out his staff, and smashing in the face of the nearest soldier.
"Get to Rae BB!" Cyborg shouted, blasting several more guards as he also jumped out.
"Oh none of you are going to get anywhere near her, not until her dead body lies upon the ground anyway." A familiar arrogant drawl called from in front of them, the speaker being none other than Shinta, back with an army of villains of the criminal underworld, and an equally huge military of dead souls backing her up.
"Scrap what I said before. Oh fucking hell! We are so fucking dead!" Robin cried, but still pushing himself and his team forward into battle. The odds were a million to one with the sheer size differences in the two sides, but if there was one thing all of the Titans still held and embraced, it was the willing determination to never give up.
And above the huge battle, which was beginning to take place, Raven picked up the faint cries of her friends and family, as they willingly threw themselves into battle to save her and the world. She looked down with hope fluttering faintly inside of her, her heart sensing the comforting warmth of her baby.
We'll get through this, I promise, but please don't give up. There's a family waiting down there for us, and they're going to save us. With such hope rising inside of them, Raven didn't see Deathstroke creep up behind her, her eyes too lost in the battle thousands of feet below.
"Well my dear, it appears that the cavalry has arrived. Hopefully Shinta and her armies will keep them busy long enough for me to kill you." He smiled when she jumped in shock.
"I though we agreed you weren't going to do that if I said I was ready for the ritual." She reminded him in a deadpan tone.
"You haven't said that you're ready yet, have you? I must say, I'm quite impressed at the efforts of your friends. They've taken down about a third of Shinta's armies already." The villain sniffed in disapproval as the demon focused her gaze back on the battle, deliberately ignoring the annoyed criminal.
Eventually, bored, and needing to do other important things, Deathstroke turned away from Raven, angry and determined to get his way.
The wind blew around the demon, as she surveyed the savage battle taking place below her. Robin going head to head with Shinta, Beast Boy and Kiya working together to try in a desperate attempt to get through the ranks and scale the tower to get to Raven. Cyborg and Starfire took to the rear, both taking on anything else that got through the others.
"Come on! We're nearly through! Keep going! " Beast Boy shouted, fighting with all his heart and soul to get to the one he loved so dearly, Kiya fighting alongside him with almost as much desire to get to her mother. But the armies were too strong, and within a matter of minutes, the Titans had been pushed backwards, even those able to take to the air being held back by the masses of dead souls and other creatures of the night that took place in Shinta's army.
For hours the battle raged on, the day dragging into noon time, Raven watching with anxiety from above. The stats and advances of each side changed constantly as the dead were slain into the underworld once more, demons and other creatures were banished, and the heroes themselves faced injuries and even coming close to death. Kiya was forced to fight for her life as well as that of her family, and more than once she came close to being fatally stabbed, being literally 'beheaded' and even narrowly avoiding being impaled on sharp rocks.
Others weren't as lucky, Starfire ended up with a nasty gash to her forehead, blood spilling down her T-shirt. Robin didn't fair any better either, his arm received a vicious slash that took the actual tip of his right baby finger off. The stump lay on the floor in a small pool of blood, the boy wonder taking absolutely no notice of either the pain or the bleeding as he continued to fight. Beast Boy, locked in combat with Shinta, as Robin fell back to deal with her minions, gained blow after blow tussling with the angered demon. She wasn't playing around, one slash had taken a tiny chunk out of his left ear, causing a surprisingly small amount of blood.
The battlefield in the crater of the mountain was a blood strewn plain. Enemy weapons and torn clothing littered around the huge barren, bloodstained wasteland. Although nobody was going to admit it, the heroes were losing. Shinta's armies were just too much for them.
Until, from behind the HQ of Brother Blood, a miracle came to aid the Titans from the darkness of the huge loss that was about to befall them.
===
"Hey! Evil freaks! Why don't you come and pick on someone your own size?" Aqualad, leading numerous heroes coming to lend their help to the Titans, stood firmly above the many caves adorning entrances to the Headquarters.
"Get them! Make sure they don't get to her!" Shinta cried, re-directing a huge number of her troops to stop the oncoming backup, which surpassed the small army sent to stop them.
"ATTACK!" Speedy shouted from behind Aqualad, firing his arrows into the oncoming enemy. He was joined by Hot spot, Wildebeest, Thunder and Lightning, numerous Atlantians, who had formed a backup line, and various other superheroes that were hidden in the darkness that lingered there.
The battle resumed, the exhausted Titans relieved at having half the work released from their shoulders. The newcomers roared and struck, Shinta being forced to use up more of her energy just to bring forth more of her evil forces. She was being worn down, but it would be a long way before any sight of a victory would come into view.
It was whilst the fight continued, a huge amount of Shinta's forces missing from the Titans side of the battle, that Beast Boy saw his chance. With Kiya behind him, and Robin taking down enough bad guys to follow them, the changeling headed for the tower, swinging up the stairs with ease, aiming to get to Raven as fast as possible.
None of them saw Slade, hiding behind a metal pole, lying in wait for them. He shot out with speed, despite his aged self, kicking Beast Boy full on in the solar plexus, causing him to fall directly backwards onto Kiya. The two tumbled down, landing painfully on a platform between the staircases. Robin however, having seen the kick, had jumped above the two, ending up clinging like a sloth to a slippery bar, finding himself dangerously losing his grip and sliding downwards.
"Beast Boy! Kiya!" Robin shouted, eventually giving up and falling back onto the steps below.
"Ow…" Came a response from Beast Boy, lying on top of Kiya.
"Extremely heavy weight on top of me." The younger changeling beneath called.
"Go on, get to Raven…Please save Raven…" Beast Boy added, his head pounding as the lights flickered out for a minute, the world turning black around him.
Turning in anger, Robin's lip curled as he drew his staff, uncountable years of pain, rage, and above all hatred for the aged villain in front of him surfacing as he charged at Slade. With a swift, quick, deadly move, Robin impaled his enemy on the staff he rammed into the metal behind. Blood soaked through the black suit, Slade's breaths coming fast as unbearable pain ripped through the wound in his chest.
"It's over Slade. For good. Go to Hell." With that, Robin withdrew his staff, Slade sliding slowly to the floor, a stream of blood left behind on the pole. A small, blood stained hole remained above the villain's body, the shear force with which Robin had packed behind the staff actually penetrating the metal pole.
"Deathstroke, my dearest son…I am coming…We will reunite at last…." Slade's sentences were spoken as his chest heaved, each word a desperate struggle.
"What are you talking about? The only son you have is holding my friend captive. At least that's what Shinta said." Robin snapped.
"My real son is dead…The son Shinta talks of is my adoptive son…And he will kill your friend in less than 10 minutes…." Slade gasped, the pain become less acute, but his breathing rapidly failing.
Robin was speechless. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Slade choked suddenly, rasping in pain, his lone eye rapidly closing. "Goodbye…Tim…"
The staff dropped from Robin grip. Slade, his archenemy, his nemesis, his adversary, was coughing up blood, in the worst state that he had ever seen him.
Slade was dead.
And Robin had killed him in his anger.
Shaking his head, Robin turned, swallowing deeply. He bounded up the staircases, his mind settled on one thing, - saving Raven.
Things weren't going well for the demon above. Deathstroke was taunting her without mercy, drawing his knife about her body. He had already left two scratches on her neck, and Raven's legs were aching from nearly 21 hours of standing. She was about ready to snap the chains binding her to the metal stakes and punch the guy in the face repeatedly.
"Ah the full moon. Is it not miraculous? " Deathstroke declared, the ritual knife still glinting in his hand.
"Yeah, on nights when I want to MEDITATE, not get sacrificed to raise my bastard of a father!" She retorted. Again, to show her anger, she did the only thing she could, and that was to spit in his face. He retaliated by raising his knife, holding it to her neck, pressing it into the skin.
"Do that again, and I will slit your throat quicker than you can take two more breaths." He dangerously replied, hurting her neck as he pushed on the knife.
"So? I'm going to die anyway." She answered. "As you said, no big deal."
"That may be so, but the fact that you die is written in legend. It's a prophecy. When a spawn of a great deceased demon like Trigon is impregnated with their own spawn, it is possible to murder that demon in a ritual at the hour of the full moon, to raise that dead demon. And prophecies are never wrong. So, in what, 30 seconds, you're going to die as said in the prophecy." He explained this with careful precision, Raven understanding that her pregnancy was actually necessary for the ritual to have effect.
"I have to be pregnant for this to work?" She asked.
"Oh yes. And oh look, it's midnight." A smirk of triumph came across his face.
To prove his point, a clock chimed in the distance, both silently counting the strokes. As the twelfth chime gradually faded away into the darkness, Deathstroke advanced, and with one clean swipe, had cut a straight, deep wound in her left leg.
Raven cried out in pain as her ripped trouser leg began to soak up the dripping blood. Her breaths came in deep gasps as she watched the drips of her dark red blood fall silently upon the cold, metallic platform she was standing on. As the drips continued, her blood ran in rivets to the end of the metal, - and fell into the oblivion of darkness below.
Deathstroke muttered unfathomable words, and without warning, the first few drops of blood merged together, causing a black and red whirlpool to swarm into existence, the winds sweeping even more strongly as the portal to the demonic underworld continued to fuse and grow in the air just below Raven.
The destruction had begun.
=ó=ó=ó=ó=
Castles: Did I mention that somebody else, (other than Slade) is going to die? Not telling who. I know, lets kill off Star, she's too happy anyway!!!
Kitty: If you kill off Star then she won't be able to do anymore baby making. And then Scribs will be most distress, as well as Robin.
Castles: Good point. And the ritual has begun! Slade is dead! Robin is on the way to save Raven! BB and Kiya are lying in a heap unconscious somewhere…Anyway, c ya when we update!!