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Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the Teen Titans so don't even try suing me for the minuscule property I have.

Ch. 33: It Can Only Get Worse

Lucifer casually strolled out of the alleyway with a simple grin on his face. He looked around the dark night and spotted a green dog and a half metal man running toward his position. As if planned, a black raven suddenly appeared in front of him depositing the rest of the heroes of Jump City. When they all finally gathered, they stared at the sight in front of them. The little Tamaranian in pink was the first to speak. Oh how he hated her.

"SoulBurn?" Lucifer only grinned at her question and slowly shook his head. He could feel his daughter's eyes upon him, taking in his presence. She may have had some use before but now she was nothing but another insect that would be crushed. A grim realization dawned on Raven as she finally knew what stood in front of them.

"Hello Father." All of the Titans felt a chill run through their body at the words and felt themselves shudder as a dark voice came from the body of SoulBurn.

"Good job Daughter. It is flattering that you would recognize me even in this body. How has my little girl been doing? I mean its only been a few months which to me is not even a blink of an eye but I really have missed you." The voice was filled with malice and sarcasm. Robin protectively moved closer to Raven with a birdarang in his hand. It was Starfire who spoke next.

"Where is my sister? What have you done with her?" Lucifer laughed darkly at the question.

"Oh she's laying bleeding and naked in that alley behind me but I didn't do anything. That murder suspect of yours is lying a few feet over there nearly minus his head though he did get to Blackfire before I intervened. Honestly you should all be thanking me. I solved your little problem. How about a parade?" Starfire could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Right now she didn't know if her sister was dead or alive and something was terribly wrong with SoulBurn. Frantic thoughts raced through her head. It was supposed to be over. They had stopped the prophecy. SoulBurn had already suffered enough. Her sister had finally come back to her. This shouldn't be happening! Robin was the next to speak, trying to sound confident though his voice came out just a bit shaky.

"I really don't care what you think but one way or another you're not leaving here. You will let SoulBurn go and then we will send you back to Hell." Again Lucifer only laughed.

"Foolish, pathetic mortals...to think you would even stand a chance against me. I finally have the power of heaven again flowing in me after so long. I am finally free to carry out my revenge, free to make this Universe mine! Do you think I will allow you to take that from me!" The waves of anger could be felt flowing off of Lucifer and everyone could feel themselves being pushed back by it , though Robin managed to stand firm.

"I repeat, let SoulBurn go." Lucifer only shook his head smiling as if he was dealing with an ignorant child.

"Are you really that stupid to have no idea what Azrael truly is. The being you know is a fake. Azrael was never meant to fight against me. In fact, he is me in a way. Long ago I envisioned a way to bring perfection to this universe all seen with my grand sight. I even eventually engineered my exile from heaven and imprisonment in Hell to make it happen. Azrael was a part of it all since his birth more so than you my dear daughter. I small piece of my essence was placed in him shortly after his creation, too small to be detected. Over the countless centuries, it slowly grew, merged with his essence, became a part of him. It was all part of my grand plan. He became exactly what he was supposed to...hee became just like me." The last words were said with a sinister grin. Beast Boy whose eyes were wide open spoke next.

"I don't know about the rest of you but how the hell can SoulBurn be centuries old? It doesn't make sense." Another dark chuckle echoed into the night.

"You mortals really don't know anything. Azrael is far older than the dinosaurs that once walked on this planet. However, it is only recently that he was cast from heaven by his very own father, the same fool who refused to see the glory of my vision. The same fool who turned against me when he once called me friend. The one who could have stood beside me as we ruled over a perfect universe.

In the end he paid the price for resisting me. I destroyed his soulmate and corrupted his child without him knowing, carrying the knowledge that it would be his decisions that would ultimately allow my escape, knowing that everything he did to me would allow me to accomplish my ultimate goal. However, there was one mistake, one even I did not foresee. Azrael was cast into the mortal realm by Heaven to learn to appreciate all life, his father would never send his own son into Hell. He hoped he could still save him from the darkness within, the darkness I had placed there though he did not know that. He was supposed to learn humility and to respect the balance of all things, stripped of all his power to live as one of you lowly creatures. This was what I had waited for, for so long, what I had envisioned so long ago.

Before being cast from Heaven myself, I had placed a spell that would allow Azrael to retain his powers when he was cast down. All I had to do was wait for it to happen but when it did something even I did not see occurred. The spell did allow him to retain his power, the power of heaven I needed to help break the seals on my prison, but it locked away his memories, blocking Azrael's true self, the one who would have stood by my side as we destroyed Heaven itself. Instead an amnesic mortal with the pathetic instincts of an angel was created. It forced me to have to work through other means to acquire my release but you all know what I am speaking of." All the Titans looked on with wide eyes. So much was being revealed but in the end it only raised so many more questions.

"Instead of being my greatest ally he turned against me. He stopped my release into this world, one mistake prevented my plan from being fulfilled." Anger and bitterness could clearly be heard in Lucifer's voice.

"In the end I still took Azrael to Hell with me and he suffered pain beyond description, pain for his flawed decsions." Again a sinister smile graced SoulBurn's possessed face though it was clear he was not done talking.

"It was then that I realized as a living mortal he could enter back into the mortal realm, it was then that I realized how I would truly win. Over time I pushed my way through the barrier in his mind, placing myself within the chaotic mess that is Azrael. When he came back to this realm, I came with him. All I needed was for him to feel such rage and hatred that it would allow my presence to be embraced, to break the barrier and give me control of his body, his power. His pathetic love for Blackfire and the work of that worthless garbage on the ground over there provided what I needed and now I am free. I am free to destroy this realm. I am free to have my revenge on all my enemies in the high heavens and I will do it using the power they took from me so long ago. I will do it using the body of the son of their highest member and I will destroy them all!"

The evil radiating off of the being in front of Raven was almost overwhelming her. Blue energy as well as fire seemed to be pulsing around him, and it frightened Raven. She knew he had all of SoulBurn's power but she also knew he had the powers of Hell as well, the powers that Slade once wielded against them. She knew there was little hope of defeating this new threat.

"Oh and here I am ranting about things that really won't make much difference to you since you will be dead soon. I guess I should at least properly introduce myself." The burning eyes seemed to burn darker as they glared at the Titans.

"I am the Fallen angel Lucifer, formerly great seer of Heaven. Known in this realm as the devil, Satan, and even Trigon by those worthless Azarathians. Bow to me for I am your new God." The ground started cracking around him as energy pulsating from his body, his dark laughter tainting the very air around him. Raven grabbed Robin's hand squeezing it tightly. He squeezed back for it was the only thing he could think of to do. His entire mind was numb as what they were facing truly settled in.

He knew his hopeless thoughts mirrored Raven's thoughts. They both knew that they were fighting a darkness beyond comprehension and most likely would die, but they both knew they would fight anyways. They would try and find a way to free SoulBurn from the darkness that controlled him. After what he had done for them, they owed him that much, to at least try and save him. It was just like with Terra. They knew that none of them could kill their friend no matter what had been done or would be done. Known of them could pull that trigger even if it needed to be done. Even when they had all their weapons pointed at Terra as that rock hovered over Beast Boy telling her she would die, all of them knew they couldn't destroy someone who they knew not to be in complete control of themselves. Robin was surprised when the energy around SoulBurn's body dissipated. He almost thought he saw a confused look on the dark face of Lucifer though whatever it was, was quickly gone.

"On second thought, I won't destroy you right now. I like knowing that if I let you live longer, you'll only be filled with hopelessness and dread. Those feelings are like music to my ears." Another malicious grin graced Lucifer's face. "I will give you until tomorrow afternoon. I'll be waiting on this exact spot for you. You can be my warm-up. It has been a very long time since I've fought anyone and I could use the exercise."

Lucifer slowly turned around and walked away whistling a happy tune. All the Titans could do was watch as he disappeared into the night. Starfire immediately flew into the alley looking for her sister. A cry of anguish ripped through the night. She came out carrying her sister's bleeding and naked body screaming for help. Raven ran over and began using her healing ability on the prone form of Blackfire. Raven gave Starfire a small smile.

"She's alive Star. She's hurt but she's alive. We need to get her back to the infirmary." Starfire gave Raven a small nod as she could feel the tears already streaming down her face. Starfire, Raven, and Blackfire disappeared into the blackness of Raven's power flying toward home. The rest of the Titans who were still standing in the exact same spots, finding themselves unable to move, finally turned to look at Robin, hoping that he would say something. Robin could feel the eyes on him but did not immediately respond. His mind was having trouble focusing on one thing but eventually it slipped into leader mode just enough for him to issue some orders.

"Cy, I want you to contact Titan's East. Tell them to get here as soon as possible. We could use all the help we can get." Cyborg gave a nod of understanding. "Beast Boy, you're coming with me. We're going down to the police station. We need to tell them that the city is in danger at that everyone needs to be evacuated right now. I have a feelings things are going to get messy so we need to make sure the innocent bystander factor is removed. Terra, go back to the tower. I think you will be needed there more than here right now." Terra gave a grim nod in understanding of what he meant. Everyone slowly started moving, starting on what they needed to do but never once being able to shake the feelings of impending doom still hearing Lucifer's dark laughter in their heads.