Chapter III
Robin groaned as he opened his eyes suddenly, closing them almost as quickly as a intense light blinded him making him wince as he shut his eyes tightly. He waited for a moment until he tried to open them again, this time much more slowly allowing his eyes to get used to the light as he opened them. He looked around himself weakly, blinking a few times as he tried to rid his vision of the colour spots that where plaguing it. It was thanks to his blinking that he realised he had been unmasked, making him growl in anger at the thought of the world seeing his whole face.
"He is finally awake" said a voice from the darkness that seemed to surround Robin, making him snap his head round in various directions as he tried to see who the voice belonged to. His sudden movements also revealed to him that he was chained or bound to what looked like a inverted stone cross, making him smile grimly as he realised he had no chance of escape…for a while at least. He looked down at his feet and saw what looked like a stone lid in the ground, it looked ancient and was covered in various runes and symbols. Robin recognised some of the markings from books Raven had allowed him to read but he couldn't remember what they meant.
"Shall we begin the ritual now?" asked another voice as someone or something shifted in the darkness, making Robin's eyes lock onto it as he did his best to focus on the mysterious figure.
"No we wait until the master arrives" replied a new voice as something shambled out the shadows, making Robin's eyes go wide as he saw the reanimated corpse walk towards him, blood dripped from its almost destroyed face as it looked at him with it's one good eye, "Then we spill this one's blood" it smiled with it's ruined mouth as it looked at Robin, making a sudden and unwelcome wave of fear sweep through the soul of the brave teen hero.
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Cyborg yawned as he scratched his head slowly and methodically, he was nowhere near full power but his organic stomach's demand for food was something he couldn't ignore. He yawned again as he entered the kitchen and opened the fridge, looking up from it occasionally as he remembered what happened last time he felt like having a late night snack. He eventually smiled as he picked out a huge sandwich, drooling as he looked at the amount of meats packed into it.
"I think I earned this" he said happily as he shoved the sandwich into his mouth, his eyes fluttered as he slowly chewed on it. The meat tasted heavenly as he took another bite, taking out a can of soda as he closed the fridge with his butt.
"Nothing like a foot long gut buster sandwich to make a body feel happy inside" he purred happily as he opened the can and drank from it as he walked back to his room, scratching his butt as the door closed behind him. Sebastian dropped to the floor softly and quietly as the door closed, his dead eyes scanned around the darkness as he stood up once again. Without saying a single word he stalked towards the door Cyborg had left through, his feet barely touched the ground as he approached the door. He had watched these so called heroes all night, studying them because his master had commanded him to do so. With a single motion he opened the door and slide into the darkness on the other side, quietly stalking down the corridor as he kept his body pressed tight against the shadow covered wall.
"Relax ladies there is plenty of the green man to go around" muttered Beast Boy in his sleep as he kissed his pillow lovingly, Sebastian watched this strange display with curiosity before he left Beast Boy's room and entered Starfire's. The first born felt sick as he looked around him at the pink filled room, his kind hated pink…it was the colour of warmth and love, something he could never feel again.
"Robin I love you" smiled the sleeping alien girl as her head hung from the other end of her bed, making the corpse slave move closer as it watched her with its remaining eye. He watched her dream for quite a while until he grew bored and moved away, moving back towards the door in complete silence.
"Lord Sebastian the boy is awake" said a much smaller corpse slave as it appeared behind the first born slave, making the creature turn and look at its much smaller counterpart.
"Excellent I will inform the master" smiled Sebastian as he pressed his body against the door and melted into its shadow, leaving the smaller slave alone in the room with the still sleeping Starfire. The smaller corpse puppet looked at the alien and snorted in distain before it melted back into the darkness it came from.
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Raven tossed and turned as she tried to sleep, Trigon was having trouble coping with this need to rest the human body. Raven finally gave up and sat up, rubbing her four tired red eyes as she yawned wearily.
"Who would be a human?" she asked herself as she looked around her room, stopping as she saw a single eye looking back at her from the darkness at the end of her large bed, "Yes Sebastian what do you want?" she asked as the first born slave stepped out of the shadow and dropped to one knee, dipping his head low to her.
"The boy is awake" he answered plainly as he continued to look down at the floor, "The resurrection ritual can finally begin" he said as he nervously looked up, blinking once as he looked at his master.
"Good" smiled Raven as she got out of bed and cast a simple spell, making her feel refreshed and wide awake, "Soon his blood will allow me to blind the others from my true goal" she said to both herself and Sebastian as she walked towards her wardrobe and opened it, taking out one of her uniforms as she closed the door again. She didn't care that Sebastian was watching as she stripped off her sleeping clothes and put her uniform on. The first born of the corpse slaves showed no emotion as it looked at its masters naked form. Once Raven had finished she looked at herself in the mirror, her four red eyes filled the room with an evil red glow as she looked at her reflection.
"The time is nigh, soon the portal will be opened and the creatures long since gone shall walk this realm once again" she smiled before she turned and motioned for Sebastian to stand next to her. The corpse slave did as he was commanded and stood beside his master making sure it didn't look at her unless he was commanded to do so. Raven waved her hand once and made the large black bird engulf their bodies, removing them from the room as it vanished back into the darkness of the room.
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Starfire rubbed her eyes and yawned as she sat up in her bed, looking down at her feet as they rested comfortably on her bright pink pillow.
"Robin?" she asked out loud as she looked around her room, holding her bed cover against her near naked form, "Just a dream" she sighed as she got out of bed and reached for her dressing gown, putting it on and smiling as she felt it warm her body slightly. She left her room quietly and walked towards Robin's room, making sure she didn't make any noise as he passed Raven's door. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she reached Robin's door and knocked on it gently, hoping the slight noise wouldn't awaken anyone else in the Tower.
"Friend Robin are you awake?" she asked as she reluctantly pushed the door open, peeking around it for any sign of her friend. She was surprised to see how tidy his room was, it was the complete opposite of Beast Boy's and Cyborg' rooms she thought as she entered, being extra careful to close the door quietly her.
"Robin may I please talk with you?" she asked nervously as she walked towards his bed, hugging herself as she came closer to it. She gasped in shock when she saw he wasn't there, the clothes he wore while he slept where there but there was no sign of him.
"But if you are not here then where are you?" she asked as he looked down at the unmade bed, she couldn't stop thinking that something bad had happened to him.
"Cyborg please waken!" she pleaded as she shook Cyborg's huge body, making him grumble sleepily as he opened his eyes slowly.
"Star it's three in the morning" yawned Cyborg as his vision cleared, "You ok?" he asked as he saw the look of extreme worry on her face.
"Robin is not in his room" replied Starfire, who was now in a state of panic, "I fear our friend is in trouble" she said loudly as Cyborg sat up on his recharge station.
"Calm down I'm sure he's in the gym or something" smiled Cyborg as he stood up and held her close top him, doing his best to try and calm down his friend, "I'm sure he's fine" he smiled as he sensed Starfire beginning to calm down slightly.
"But what is he is not?" she asked as she looked up at her friend, showing him her tear filled eyes.
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Robin roared again as he tried to break the chains keeping his arms bound to the inverted cross, making the reanimated corpses near him smile as they watched his struggles.
"It is no use mortal" said one of them as Robin stopped, panting heavily as his sweat dripped onto the ground, "No force on Earth can break those chains" it smiled as it looked at him with it eyeless sockets, licking the blood from its face as it ran down towards and into its mouth. Robin somehow knew the creature was telling him the truth, but that didn't stop him from trying again.
"What do you want from me?" demanded the teen hero as he stopped his latest attempt of breaking the chains looking at the nearest corpse as he panted heavily. The creature just looked at him and tilted its head as it blinked a few times with its dead eyes.
"The master will use your blood to open the doorway to hell" it replied with after a moment of silence, "Allowing the daemon hordes to roam free once again".
"Not if I can help it" growled Robin as he tried once again to break the chains that bound him, closing his eyes as he felt his arm muscle begin to burn.
"Begin the ceremony" commanded Sebastian as he stepped out the shadows and walked towards Robin, making the leader of the Titan's stop and look at him as he approached the 'altar'.
"Yes" hissed countless voices in reply as a mass of bodies began to move about in the darkness, making sure to avoid the area Sebastian had appeared from.
"Who are you?" asked Robin as Sebastian walked around the cross, making sure the chain bindings where still tight and secure. Sebastian didn't answer as he looked at Robin with his eye, smiling as he ripped the shirt off the teenager, revealing his bare chest to the world.
"I am a servant of my master" replied Sebastian as he threw the tattered piece of clothing into the darkness, "I am that and nothing more" he said before he walked to the base of the inverted cross and stood with his back to Robin, looking down at the spot where he had entered the church.
"Decrosa Samat Testra" chanted Sebastian as he held his hands into the air, chanting the words over and over again as he looked into the sky. His chants where soon accompanied by the chants of the other corpse slaves, both those visible to Robin and those still hidden in the darkness of the shadows. Robin once again felt the unwelcome sensation of fear sweep through his body as he heard the chanting, but this time the fear was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He returned to his futile struggles, completely oblivious to the four red eyes that where watching him from the shadows.
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"I checked the gym, garage and evidence room but there was no sign of friend Robin!" said Starfire in a fast worried tone as she flew into the living area, landing gracefully behind Cyborg as he activated the large computer screen.
"Dudes what's with the loudness?" asked a very tired Beast Boy as he staggered into the living area, dragging behind him the pillow he was kissing while he slept.
"Robin is not in the Tower and we are trying to find him because I am worried that something bad has happened to him" replied Starfire in a single breath making Beast Boy drop his pillow in both amazement and shock at what she had just said. Beast Boy didn't know how to react to the situation, should he make a joke of it and try and lighten the mood or should he take it seriously…the latter was something he did on only the rarest of occasions.
"So where is he?" asked Beast Boy, mentally kicking himself at the stupidity of the question but he didn't know what else to ask.
"That's what we're trying to find out" replied Cyborg without taking his eyes from the computer screen, "But unfortunately the city is a big place and our computer isn't as up to date as it should be" he said in an almost angry tone as he slammed his fist onto the table beside the keypad. Starfire wanted to say something cheerful but her mind was to full of worry and doubt to string anything that would sound happy, for once the carefree alien everyone seemed to love was no longer carefree.
"Hey calm down I'm sure we'll find him besides he's Robin, wherever he is I'm sure he's fine" smiled Beast Boy as he tried to lighten the mood in the room, failing as both Starfire and Cyborg continued to stare at the large computer screen.
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Robin struggled once again to break the chains that bound him to the inverted cross, roaring through a closed mouth as he tried to at least free his arms. None of the corpses seemed to even notice his struggles as they continued their chanting.
"Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra" echoed around the once sacred halls of the church as Raven watched from the shadows, her four red eyes seemed to dance in the darkness as she looked at each of her corpse slaves.
"Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra" continued the mindless corpses, each of them bowing as they rested on their knees. The chanting was already beginning to take its toll on Robin, the usually masked teen was beginning to show signs of panic as he continued to struggle against his bindings. Sebastian ceased his own chanting and looked in the direction of Raven, waiting for her signal to start the true part of the ritual.
"Are you almost prepared to cross the threshold yet?" she asked the darkness as she closed her eyes and muttered a simple spell in the tongue of her father's race.
"Not yet" hissed a voice in reply, "Not all of my brethren are at the gate yet" hissed the voice as Raven opened her upper eyes, keeping the lower ones closed as she concentrated some of her power into her hands.
"Then tell them to hurry for the gateway with will be open for only a short period of time" she said as she opened her lower eyes and looked down at her right hand, smiling as she watched her black power intermingle with her fathers red energy. She looked back towards Sebastian and held her hand out to him, whispering a single word of power as the energy snaked towards him. Sebastian winced at the sudden pain the energy caused him but soon relaxed into it as the energy began to take the shape of a ornate dagger, its blade was made of a strange black metal that seemed to glow red when he moved it. She nodded at him before she melted away into the shadows once again making the first born smile as he turned to face Robin, the blade of the dagger glowed red as it moved through the air.
"With this blood the gate shall be open" he said in a commanding voice as he walked towards the still struggling Robin, "With this blood the seal shall be cracked" he said as he raised the blade into the air above Robin's stomach, making the teenager only struggle more as he desperately tried to free one of his arms at least from their chains, "With this blood the old order shall fall" he said as he looked down at the seal just below Robin's feet, "With this blood a new order shall rise".
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"Got him he's at the old church on twelve and main!" yelled Cyborg triumphantly as a map of the city appeared on the huge computer screen, " BB Star you rea….uh Starfire?" he asked in confusion as he turned and saw only a sleeping Beast Boy standing in the living area. Starfire had taken to the sky as soon as she had heard where Robin was, luckily for her she knew where the street was…thanks to the fact that they had battled Plasmus near that area a few short weeks ago.
"I am coming Robin" she said to herself with determination as she flew through the city, her eyes glowed a bright emerald as she ignored the biting cold of the wind blowing against her, "Please be ok".
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"Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra"
"With this blood I shall open the doorway to the void" said Sebastian as he looked at Robin, smiling as he saw a look of fear in the teens eyes, "With this blood I shall cast this world into darkness" he said loudly as he looked at the mass of corpses that where chanting the same words over and over again.
"Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra"
"With this blood all will end" said Sebastian as he closed his eye and looked down at the seal once again, "With this death the old shall live again" he smiled as he sliced the blade across Robin's chest, making him scream out in pain and fear as he felt the black metal cut through his flesh. Robin's eyes went wide as soon as he felt the blade enter his body, making him exhale a wet cough as he felt it cut through his skin and flesh. Then the pain hit him, making him cry out loudly as it lanced through his body.
"Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra, Decrosa Samat Testra" chanted the corpses even louder, drowning out Robin's yells as tossed about on the cross much to the delight of Sebastian as he pulled the dagger free of Robin's chest.
"With this blood I allow the old to rejoin the new!" he yelled as he dropped the dagger onto the seal, making the runes and symbols turn a bright white as the blood from the blade dripped onto it. A noise engulfed the room, a noise so loud that it drowned out any and all other sounds making the corpses stop in their chanting as they all looking intently at the bright white seal. The seal suddenly exploded in a bright light, making each of the corpse slaves shield their eyes as the light washed over them. Some of them where sent slamming into and through walls as beams of white energy stabbed out from the seal, but Sebastian refused to move even as one of the beams streaked over his head and destroyed a large pillar behind him. The light eventually subsided and faded leaving only a thick curtain of smoke as Sebastian looked eagerly at the place of the seal. He was shocked to see that it still remained, seemingly untouched by the display of power it had displayed a few moments before.
"The seal is not open?" he asked dejectedly as he watched the runes on the seal stop glowing white and return back to being stone, "The blood failed" he said as he turned and looked at Robin, the teen was barely alive as blood oozed from the deep wound in his chest. Sebastian reached down and picked up the knife and walked back towards Robin, clutching the knife tightly in his dead fingers.
"You will die for this failure" frowned Sebastian as he raised the knife into the air once again and prepared to stab it straight into Robin's heart. A sudden blast of green energy stabbed out through the darkness and sent Sebastian slamming into the wall behind him, making him drop the knife as he looked up and saw a single figure floating in the air with smoke rising from one of her hands.
"Leave him alone!" commanded Starfire as she glared back at Sebastian, her eyes and hands glowed an angry emerald as he tried stand back up.
"Destroy her!" ordered Sebastian as he stood back up, making each corpse look up at Starfire with their dead eyes before they leapt towards her. Starfire flew away from the creatures and threw a flurry of starbolts at the creatures nearest to her, making them fall back to the ground as the emerald energy bit deep into their rotted flesh. She continued to avoid any attempts to bring her to the ground as she blasted away at the creatures with her powerful eye blasts, maiming some of the creatures as the emerald energy beams severed limbs from bodies. Starfire tried her best to keep an eye on Robin and occasionally threw a starbolt at Sebastian, making him roar out in pain as the emerald energy sent him slamming about the room. Starfire was to busy watching to see where Sebastian had gone that she didn't notice several of the creature's perched on the beams above her, making the creatures smile as they dropped onto her slowly dragging her towards the ground as they pinned her arms to her side. A smile appeared on Sebastian's face as he watched Starfire being swarmed by several more of his master's corpse slaves, feeling a slight twinge of respect for Starfire as he watched her continue to fight the undead minions despite the odds she faced.
"You will not stop me from helping my friend!" she yelled as the creatures numbers began to give them an advantage blasting anything that came near her with either her eye blasts or a barrage of starbolts, "ROBIN!!" she screamed as several of the creatures leapt on her, pinning her to the ground with their long dead hands. Robin opened his eyes slowly as he heard someone scream his name, looking around himself weakly as his blood continued to ooze from the wound across his chest.
"STARFIRE!!!!" he screamed as he watched her being swarmed, making him forget about his pain as he struggled to break free once again. Every time he moved the pain made him stop as it lanced through his body but the sounds of his friends screams made him block it out as he tried to break the chains that held him down.
"Please God grant me the strength I need" he pleaded with tear filled eyes as he looked up to the sky above, "Please help me save her" he whispered as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, doing his best to block out the pain that was shooting through his body. Sebastian turned his head and smiled as he watched Robin try once again to free himself.
"Try all you want boy " he said as he watched Robin, "But you'll never escape from those chains" he smirked. His smile was wiped from his face as the chains holding down Robin exploded, allowing the teen to roll off the cross onto the hard ground below clutching his chest as he panted heavily.
"STARFIRE!!!" he yelled out again as he pulled out his spare bo staff and rushed towards her, batting away any corpses that dared to stand against him. Sebastian watched in awe as Robin knocked away corpses near Starfire, roaring as he smashed his bo staff into their bodies and faces.
"Incredible" gasped the first born as it watched the battle mad teenager battle to protect his friend. He contemplated getting involved in the battle until a burst of blue energy completely obliterated another of the corpse slaves, leaving only dust as the smoke cleared away revealing three more figures standing beside Robin and Starfire. One of them the creature recognised as the metal one they called Cyborg, the name of the green one was a mystery to Sebastian but he remembered seeing the strange boy sleeping at the T shaped building. The last he instantly recognised as his master, knowing that she was only here to help make them believe she was still their friend known as Raven.
"Another time Titan's" smiled Sebastian as he melted away into the shadow behind him. The remaining corpse slaves followed suit and dove into the shadows nearest to them, leaving only the Titan's alone in the vast room of the church.
"Well that was easy" smirked Beast Boy as he watched the last of the creatures disappear into the shadows. Robin forced himself to smile before he dropped his bo staff closing his eyes as he began to fall towards the ground.
"Robin!!" called out Starfire as she rushed forward, catching Robin in her arms before he hit the ground and held him close while his head rested on her chest.
"He's lost a lot of blood" said Cyborg as he knelt down beside Robin and quickly checked him over with his arm scanner, "Raven can you stop the bleeding?" he asked as he turned and looked at his pale faced friend.
"I can try" replied Raven in her usual dry tone, making Trigon growl his displeasure at helping another once again. He was forced to ignore his fury as Raven placed glowing hands onto Robin's chest and closed her eyes, doing her best to make the walls of the wound close over and heal.
"This wound was made by a daemon blade" she said as he looked up at her friends, keeping her periwinkle blue hands on Robin's chest as she did her best to stop the bleeding, "With out medical treatment he will be dead within a few hours" she said, concealing the happiness her father was feeling with a fake look of concern.
"Then take him to a hospital with that shadow thing you do" said Beast Boy loudly, his tone made the sentence sound almost like an order as Raven looked up at him.
"I can't my shadow hopping has a limited range" replied Raven as she removed her hands from Robin's chest. It was a lie of course, but it was a lie wrapped in a thin veil of truth. Normally Raven couldn't shadow hop great distances but now her father was in control she could anywhere.
"Then lets get rollin" said Cyborg with a grim determined voice as he picked up Robin and carried him quickly to the T car, closely followed by the worried Beast Boy and the panic stricken Starfire, the latter was unable to tear her tear filled eyes from Robin's almost lifeless body. Raven prepared to follow after them until she stopped and looked back towards the large inverted cross, smiling as she watched the dust settle around it.
"Yo Raven come on we gotta go!" yelled out Cyborg from the T car making Raven turn away from the cross and move quickly towards the vehicle, still smiling as she left the room behind.
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The room was once again plunged into an eerie silence as the dust stopped settling on the already dusty ground. The silence was broken as a huge jet black claw stabbed out from the ground, shattering the seal into pieces as another smashed through beside it. A large wedge shaped head looked around at it's new surroundings, blinking once with it's huge crystal blue eyes as it pulled the rest of its immense body free from the ground.
"The end shall be our new beginning" growled the huge daemon as it twisted its long neck and looked back at the shattered seal, "Rise my brothers and smell freedom" it spoke in a harsh voice, making six more claws smash up from beneath the ground.
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Well how was that for a third chapter good or bad? I hope to have this story updated soon so keep your eyes peeled. Take care of yourselves people.
Oh and sorry for any and all spelling mistakes
Later days.
PS: Thanks a tonne for each and every review so far, they all mean a lot to me.