Rasemune

by Professor Curly

It starts out a fairly normal day, fighting off villains such as Mad Mod and Mumbo Jumbo. But when a shadow from Raven's past appears, what bad omens does it bring? What relation does it have to the 'Prophecy? FINISHED! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!

13. Showdown

1Chapter Thirteen: Showdown

Einderan's eyes opened slowly, though even when the heavy lids managed to lift from their positions, he didn't see anything. Just a dark blur with a darker blur around it.

A noise echoed around in his head, vague and ununderstandable. So far away, he didn't really care. He tried to say go away, but barely managed a groan that sounded a little negative.

Frista looked over to Kians, who was kneeled down on the other side of their leader, "Well?"

"Seems perfectly fine. I think that last little blast of his was too much for his body to handle though. Sleeping it off from the looks of it."

"Well, can you, wake him up?"

"You're the healing expert, you do it."

"That's not the same thing. You do it."

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know how. You should be able to sense it, his life force is draining itself to restore his magic. He's in about as deep a sleep as you can get. So unless you want to give him a bit of your life, he's not waking up any time soon." Kians told her, standing up.

"Um, is there anything you could try at least?"

The Mystellian thought a moment, then a wicked smile crossed his lips, "I think I do know a way, but if he gets mad you take the blame."

"Take the blame for what? Wait, what are you-"

She was cut off as the sorcerer reared back, and kicked Einderan in the stomach as hard as he could. The half-demon son of Trigon's eyes shot open, a gasp coming out of his mouth as the pain registered in his now-fully functioning brain. He rolled over on his side, bringing his exhausted body into the fetal position. He whimpered slightly.

"Well, there you go, he's awake. I don't know why that was so satisfying..."

"Kians, I'm going to kill you." Einderan mumbled threateningly.

"It was her idea."

"No it wasn't, I told you to wake him up, not kick him!"

"Hey, you weren't coming up with any ideas."

"Shut up, both of you." The older sorcerer said, trying to stand. Stand, heck he was trying to get to his knees. And failing miserably. He actually rose to the position once, only to fall when he tried to bring himself to full height. However, he had some measure of pride, and didn't ask for help. Not that it mattered, the look on his face asked for him, and the two helped him stand up and lean against a wall.

"What was that spell you cast? I've never seen such power from anyone but... Trigon."

Einderan mumbled, then realizing that he wasn't being understood said a bit clearer, "That's kind of the point. I let my emotions out... then pulled them back in... I had complete control, over all of my power, all of my emotions... Then it was just a matter of pouring that energy into a spell..."

"Y-you mean you've figured out a way to have complete control of your powers?" Frista asked, several pieces of rubble flying through the air behind them unnoticed.

The older sorcerer sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry, not in the way you're hoping. It only works for a little while, and it's... hard to cast... dangerous as well. Believe me, if I couldn't silence my emotions as well as I can on my own, it would've ripped me apart. In fact, it still almost did..."

Frista nodded sullenly. She had been hoping to...

"The power... such a rush..." Einderan mumbled, eyes gazing off into space, then he looked back at them, "By the way, the dragon didn't get back up did he?"

"No."

"Good... Very good... Where's my sister?"

"Fighting Mael." Kians told him, then reconsidered, "Actually, watching that bard fight Mael. So far he's been doing well."

"Alright... Kians, the dragon has something on him... A white book... Find it and bring it to me... I wish to read it later..."

"Right." Kians said, turning to complete his orders.

"Frista..."

"Yes sir?"

"Can you teleport us to where Mael is?"

"Einderan, that may not be the best of ideas."

"If it's possible, then do it."

"In your condition you won't be able to defend yourself if he attacks!" Frista told him, shocked by his insistence.

"I know, but I have to see it... I have to see him finally lose... For the evil that he's done..."

"Sir..."

"Now Frista."

She looked into his eyes, and shuddered. This wasn't a request, it was an order. An order she couldn't refuse him, if his eyes said anything. With a sigh, she waved her hand and created a portal which she helped Einderan walk through, "I don't have enough power to take us the whole way there, we'll have to go some of it on foot."

"As long as we get there."

MEANWHILE...

Rocker watched in horror as Mael got up, again. His teeth gritted against each other angrily. Alright, nothing should be able to take that much punishment. There was a rule against it in the 'GREAT RULE BOOK OF HOW MUCH PUNISHMENT THINGS SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE'. In it, page three hundred and seventy nine, paragraph three, it clearly states:

'There is a point at which all things will drop dead in a pile of liquified goo, which will not get back up again. This point is usually after half an hour of constant beating that reduces the surrounding area into shambles, leaves the very ground cracked, as well as causes every living creature able to see the damage cringing at every blow, as just looking at the attacks makes them feel pain. Getting up after this point is not allowed.'

And yet, HE STILL GOT BACK UP! Darn it, it just wasn't right! Rocker's hands were actually starting to ache from playing! His-hands-were-starting-to-ache! He had been playing guitar his entire life, and his hands never hurt anymore!

"Are you a... cockroach demon or something? I swear, if you don't stop getting up I'm going to so go "Slayer" on you!"

Mael chuckled, "Frustrated yet?"

Gritting his teeth harder, the guitarist played/asked, "Alright, at the risk of sounding cliche', WHY DON'T YOU DIE! I MEAN, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO DIE! JUST STOP GETTING UP DARN IT! JUST STAY DOWN, BE KNOCKED OUT OR SOMETHING!"

This time though, something was different. The power that Rocker was letting loose had before been enough to toss Mael around like a rag doll. But the demon just stood there, smirking as it just flowed over him harmlessly. He didn't even flinch.

"Fool."

Raven, a spectator on the side, realized what was happening. Bait and lure, "KIRK WATCH OUT!"

But it was too late. Suddenly a very hard demonic fist flew the few dozen meters that separated the combatants, and hit Rocker dead in the chest. The guitarist was suddenly sure that his entire rib cage had collapsed in on it self, and landed on his back, hard. Mael stood over his opponent, smirking.

"Did you really think that you were hurting me? Hmph, idiot, you can't hurt a demon."

Rocker's mind reeled, trying to process information while at the same time screaming HOLY CRAP THAT FRICKIN' HURT! Needless to say, his mind was not processing information at any determinable rate. Luckily, his breathing only hurt when he inhaled. Unluckily, that probably meant on of his ribs was poking his lung or something equally gruesome.

Alright, he would just lay there and sit the rest of this one out. That sounded like a really good idea. It sounded like the best idea he had ever had.

"Ah, did that hurt?"

Mael had other ideas though. The demon stomped on the defenseless guitarist, bringing forth another gasp of pain. Rocker tried to struggle, to crawl away, but his body wouldn't function. His brain was still sending the message of how much pain he was in, so his muscles refused to respond. So, he just lay there, paralyzed in the agony of it, unable to fight back at all.

"I'll probably see your soul in the after life. Until then." Mael told the helpless bard, charging up energy for a blast to finish the job. Kirk could feel the heat on his face, and clenched his body in anticipation.

Yet as soon as the blast fired, a black sheild rose up in front of it, preventing all damage that would've been done.

The demon soldier scowled, "You know, that's starting to annoy me. Every time I'm ready to kill someone something get's in the way..."

Mael kicked the guitarist for good measure, then walked towards Raven, who stopped projecting the sheild so she could fight more effectively. The evil glint in the demon's eyes was both disheartening and unnatural. Raven almost took a step back. Almost.

"Well, well, well, Princess Rasemune. We seem to be in this situation a lot you and I, me and you with no one else to interfere. This time though, I'm not going to settle for a few hairs. I'm going to take your whole head!"

He lunged, summoning up his sword and swinging it right level with Raven's neck. She managed to put up a black sheild with the wave of her hand though, before the attack could connect, and then shot a ball of energy that made Mael slide back a few feet.

However, he took it with a grin, and slowly walked back towards her, "Honestly Princess, you're friend over there laid waste to every single one of you until Einderan showed up. And I just took him down in the blink of an eye. What makes you think that you can win?"

"My brother is going to cast you back into the pit where you belong!" Raven yelled, lashing out with her powers and driving him back a few feet again.

And still the demon's smile didn't fade, "Oh will he? And where is dear Einderan? Hmmm? Don't you see, he may not be dead but we both can feel his life force is already weak, and is getting weaker by the second. Even if he is alive, he doesn't have near the strength to do anything at all to me. Your bard friend was foolish enough to believe that he could beat me into submission, and payed for it. So then, I believe that's your two top possibilities of doing anything to me. The Mystellians don't stand a chance, the Azarathians barely provide a challenge, and you dear Rasemune don't even rate on the same scale."

"Then what about us?"

Mael turned to see a silver staff flying for his head. Surprised, he didn't even stop it, and the blow connected with a sickening 'snap'. The demon went down, and Robin jumped away. Cyborg and Starfire formed up on the Boy Wonder's left, Beast Boy on his right. The four waited for anything to happen.

Something did indeed happen. With an equally sickening sound, Mael popped his bones back into place and stood, smirking, "Please, didn't we go through this already? Didn't I nearly kill you all?"

"Ya, but now we know what you are!" Cyborg told him, turning his arm into the sonic cannon.

"You are a being of evil, and will be stopped!" Starfire continued, eyes and hands glowing green as she hovered in the air.

"I don't care what you are, you're going down." Beast Boy finished, getting into a fighting stance.

"Titans, GO!"

Sonic energy roared, starbolts filled the air, exploding disks flew, and with a roar a long ancient reptile charged the demon. Mael dodged the sonic cannon, and deflected the starbolts and disks easily with both hand-to-hand blocks and well placed magical shields. As Tyrannosaurus Rex Beast Boy opened his massive mouth to take a chomp out of him, Mael caught one of Robin's explosives and tossed it. The force of it blowing up inside of Beast Boy's mouth was more than enough to knock him back and into human form.

Cyborg launched several small missiles from compartments on his shoulders, and while Mael was busy dealing with those, charged forward and leaped. The demon turned to see a very large half-metal form flying at him fist raised, poised to strike. As the half-robot's fist swung through the air though, a only slightly surprised Mael stepped to the side, causing Cyborg to miss entirely. His momentum continuing to carry him forward, he was suddenly in a very bad position with Mael to his right and a little behind.

The demon hit him in the back with a kick that used the forward momentum already present to send Cyborg flying headfirst into a stone wall. Starfire, angered, charged strait towards the evil sorcerer, ready to rip him apart. However, as her punch neared him, he reached behind himself without looking and grabbed onto her wrist, flipping over and putting her arm into a very painful hold that she was unable to get out of. Robin flanked the demon, attacking with another jumping overhead smash with his bo-staff.

Mael, using his free hand, grabbed a handful of Starfire's bright crimson hair and pulled her around quickly, putting the Tameranian between himself and Robin. The boy wonder gritted his teeth, only just able to redirect the strike to avoid hitting his friend. The demon then swung Starfire in a full circle, using her as a weapon against Robin. The impact of her body meeting his legs while he was in mid-air was enough to cause him to flip upside down, and she was sent crashing through several walls.

Grabbing the bo-staff, which had slipped from Robin's grasp, Mael smirked. The former student of Batman slowly turned in mid-air, until he was stomach up, back level to the ground. The demon lieutenant raised the staff high above his head with both hands, and drove the end of the staff right into Robin's stomach, sending him crashing into the ground gasping for air.

He struggled for a few moments more, then his body went limp. Mael chuckled and tossed the staff away carelessly, "Well, that was fun. Maybe I should do things without magic more often."

Raven blinked. It had happened so quickly, she hadn't even reacted. It was as if her body was frozen, she couldn't move at all. She could only watch in horror as Mael Kirheinse disposed of her friends in rapid succession with a sense of ease and grace that out did even Slade. Even as he turned back towards her, she couldn't move.

"Once again, I defeat all of your friends and leave you and me. Except this time big brother isn't coming to save you. No one can save you now. Give up, who knows, maybe you'll live through this..."

The sorceress finally seemed to snap out of it, and got into a fighting position, replying angrily, "Shut up! You'll give up before I do."

"Oh? I recall your mother saying something similar to Trigon. Just before he killed her if I remember correctly."

"Azarath Metreone Zinthos!"

A huge rock lifted off the ground, and slammed down on top of Mael. However, the demon pushed it off, only to find more rocks flying to bury him further. He stood through the storm of bludgeoning objects, barely even feeling any of the impacts at all. Soon he was completely hidden from view. By rubble and debris.

Raven panted heavily, tired from the assault she had unleashed. Tired enough that when Mael burst from the pile unharmed, the force of it knocked her down.

As she was getting back up, he began to chuckle darkly, "I see I struck a nerve. I don't know why though."

"You aren't good enough to talk about my mother!"

Raven launched various objects at the demon again, but he advanced as if he didn't even care. Finally, when he was a few feet away, he made a backhand motion. Magical energy rushed towards the sorceress, and knocked her spinning through the air. Rolling along the ground, she finally came to a stop on her back, weak, dazed, and disoriented.

Suddenly, he was standing over her, smiling darkly. His red eyes glowed, and you could almost see his demented mind at work through them. He went down on one knee, and gently caressed Raven's face. His hand lightly made it's way down, from her temple, to her cheek, the side of her chin. Confusion spread across her face.

Then his hand went lower, and savagely tightened onto her neck.

She grabbed his arm, desperately trying to pull it off. However, his arm was like iron, his grip like a vice. He was going no where. Evil light danced in his eyes with demonic glee. She struggled, fought, but he wouldn't budge. She hit him, lashed out with what power she could, to no avail.

"You know, suffocation is my single favorite way to kill a person. I get to see the look in their eyes, on their face, as they realize their life is ending. I love the feel of their life exiting their body, to see the spark of their life slowly dim and then go out completely. The anger and determination, then the fear, and finally, the pleading. Slowly growing weaker, and weaker," He shuddered, still smiling, "To feel the warmth of a person's soul pass away under my hand, leaving nothing but cold nothingness... To see the glimmer in their eyes fade... To feel their struggles under my grip, trying to brake, free. Slowing and slowing, until they stop altogether."

Raven limply hit his arm with her own, blackness filling the edge of her vision. She could feel it. She could feel her body shutting down. Pain, then numbness, then not even that. Her lungs, her heart, her brain, were shutting down one small step at a time. She choked, sputtered, trying to get fresh air into her body, but the grip over her windpipe just tightened all the further. Everything seemed to get further and further away, she was falling. Falling, into the blackness that is death.

"Don't worry, I'll burn your body next to your brother's..."

Then she let go.

Mael laughed, growing in pitch with every passing second. It was wild, insane. He yelled between bursts, "YOU FAILED EINDERAN!"

However, then a roar the likes of which had never been heard before filled the air. It was shrill, yet powerful, full of anger and contempt. It filled the city, echoing back and forth, filling every heart with fear.

Mael included.

He didn't even have time to look up as something huge and powerful leapt on him, slamming, punching, kicking, slashing, biting, ripping, tearing, rending. And it was hurting. It was actually hurting. He could feel it, the rage and angst giving this new monster the strength to attack. And he could've killed Mael. Or at least gave it a run for the money.

But instead, it tossed the demon away, sending him flying several hundred meters over a few buildings before finally being stopped by one and falling to the street.

Part of the monster wanted to pursue, but it didn't. Something held it back, and it soon became apparent what.

Beast Boy changed back into a human kneeling over Raven in a panic, "Raven? Rae? Can you here me? Come on, wake up!"

He put two fingers to her neck. He didn't feel a pulse. Eyes widening, he shook his head, "No." then it became an angry thrashing, "No! YOU AREN'T GOING TO DIE!"

His animal instincts and human knowledge suddenly merged together into one, and he knew what he had to do. He prayed that it would work.

Beast Boy tilted her head back, opened her mouth, pinched her nose shut, and took a breath. He breathed into her, then got a breath and did it again. He listened, nothing. He put his hands on her chest, and pushed down several times. He listened, and breathed into her mouth twice more when there was no response. He alternated, two breaths, then pushing down on her chest a few times, then back.

Tears began to flow down the changeling's face. He knew that every second meant that she was less likely to come back. He knew that she was slipping further and further, right in front of him. Had he been too late? Was she really... The only thing that kept him from breaking down completely was the hope, that on the off chance, "Come on... Don't die..."

A cough. Then another. He stopped, his eyes brightening, "Ya, that's it. Come on, Raven, that's right!"

She sucked in a breath, and it felt like the air was literally bringing her body back to life. Which it was. Wondrous oxygen finally found itself back into her blood stream. She heard a voice, faint and vague, but... familiar.

Her eyes opened into slits, and she asked weakly, "Beast... Boy?"

"Ya, it's me. I'm right here."

"What... happened?"

"That guy was choking you. So when I came to, I saw him, and I attacked. I threw him somewhere, but then I checked you. You weren't breathing, and your heart wasn't beating. So I uh, started giving you CPR, and... You woke up."

"Y-you?" She began, the drifted off.

"What?"

"You drove him off? How?"

"I don't know really... I transformed into that Beast, and... then I saw you..."

Tears glistened in her eyes, "You really do care..."

"Ya, I do."

She sighed, closing her eyes, then a thought struck her, "Wait... since when do you know CPR?"

Beast Boy chuckled, "Hey, not even I can zone out everything Robin says during our training sessions."

Raven smiled weakly, "Idiot..."

A loud roar of anger brought them back to reality. They looked over, and a figure descended from the sky, landing near the two.

Mael glared with pure and utter loathing at... everything. His cloak was in tatters, and there were large claw marks on his face and all over his body. Black blood trickled from the wounds.

Then he saw Raven. He stared at her in shock. She stared back in horror.

"No... It's not possible... I saw you, felt you die! Your life force was gone! You can't be alive!"

Beast Boy quickly positioned himself between the demon and Raven, "Run, get the others, I'll keep him busy!"

"Out of the way boy!" Mael screamed at him, tossing the green changling to the side with his magic, and advancing on Raven.

Mael staggered forward a bit as a large green lion clawed and bit him from behind. But other than that, the demon shrugged it off as an inconvenience.

"Kier Niet Tal."

Beast Boy changed back into a human and was flung into a far building. He crashed through the glass on the bottom floor and careened through everything in his path until he finally came to a stop on the floor.

Mael turned back to Raven, and glared. Glared, but smiled at the same time, "There will be no mistakes this time. I don't care who or what you are, you can't regenerate a pile of ashes!"

The sorceress backed away slowly, looking around for help. She saw no one.

Raising his hands, the demon muttered an incantation in a low voice. Fire shot from his shot from his palms, two comets of red flame that spiraled and turned around in the air. Mael directed, and they began to circle Raven, around her, over her, sometimes grazing just over her skin, close enough for the heat to become apparent but not close enough to burn. Finally, they wrapped around her like fiery pythons, preventing any sort of escape.

"I never miss twice Princess. Good bye."

The two fireballs rose into the air, doing a wide arcing loop, then rocketed back down. Raven quickly formed a sheild to protect herself, but knew that it wouldn't stop the attack, if it even phased it.

A blue beam came from no where, hitting Mael dead on and knocking his concentration off. The fireballs faded into nothingness feet from where Raven lay.

"Watch it devil boy, play with fire, and you're gonna get burned!"

Cyborg leapt into the air, firing two small missiles from his shoulders. They streaked towards Mael, who clearly perturbed by this interruption, made to catch them. One approached, and he raised his hand to grab it, then...

It exploded, sending out a liquid that was set alight as soon as hit the air. Mael jumped back to avoid the intense fireball, surprised by this sudden occurrence.

The second missile hit him right in the face.

"Ya, how that napalm taste!"

Raven took a few deep breaths, getting everything in her head back under control for the moment, and stood up ready to fight, "It's not over yet."

Cyborg ran up beside her, and immediately lifted her chin up a little, eyes widening, "What happened to your neck? It looks like your skin is just naturally purple."

She pushed him off, "Later, right now we have bigger things to worry about."

"Right. Any ideas for how to beat this guy?"

Raven thought, then shook her head, "I honestly haven't the faintest idea. Beast Boy managed to do some damage, but that was minor, and for all of Kirk's work Mael didn't have a scratch. I don't know of any spells to seal demons."

"Where are the sorcerers and stuff?"

"I don't know, probably helping out the injured or dealing with some cataclysmic problem we haven't heard about yet."

"Well then, it looks like we're just going to have to do this the old fashioned way aren't we?" Cyborg told her with a grin, turning his hand into the sonic cannon.

"What choice do we have?"

"YOU COULD BOTH DIE!"

The two titans whirled back to Mael, and the sight made their blood run cold. He stood in the flames, eye blazing, his clothes on fire, the flames licking at his skin but leaving no marks.

He could've had 'demon' tattooed on his forehead and it wouldn't have been any more obvious. Cyborg and Raven immediately readied their various attacks. Mael walked out of the fire calmly, his clothing ablaze, yet not really burning.

"I'm going to kill you. No, I'm going to slaughter you. I'm going to skin you alive and rip your organs out one at a time. And when your body goes numb and you can't feel the pain any more, I'll end your pathetic life and put your head on a spike."

Mael was directing this at Raven, who took a step back without realizing. Because no matter how she tried to hide it, she was afraid. Afraid of the demon that advanced on her with slow, measured steps.

Cyborg stepped a little in front of the sorceress, and said in a strong, even tone, "You'll have to get through me first."

The demon chuckled, "You still don't get it. Allow me to demonstrate why you can't beat me."

Just as he was about to charge forward with his shadowy magic blade though, two solid emerald beams collided with his chest, knocking him off balance. Starfire augmented her eye beams with a hail of starbolts from her hands, which impacted the demon in various places, driving him back.

"Separate we may not be able to defeat you, but together we can not be beaten!" Starfire told him, preparing for another assault.

Robin stood up slowly, still wincing from the pain in his stomach, "Starfire's, right, as long as we are fighting as a team, nothing can stop us. Demon or otherwise."

"Wonderful, now I get to kill you at the same time. This should be fun."

"Don't bet on it pal."

Mael turned to see Beast Boy stagger out of the store, pulling a large piece of glass from his shoulder. The demon looked at the one at a time, the determination on their faces.

It was hilarious.

As he laughed, he told them, "Look at you fools! You are so set on beating me! It's almost as if you think you will always win! Well let me tell you, you won't win this time."

"Haven't you heard? The good guys always win." Robin told him with a smirk.

"Hehehe, do any of you really believe that?"

"Yes."

"Indeed."

"Yep."

"Uh-huh."

"I do."

Mael sighed, "Oh the stupidity is starting to make my head hurt! I can't take this any more! Rasemune is going to die, you are all going to die, and there is nothing you can do to stop it!"

"Titans, GO!"

Explosive disks, sonic energy, starbolts, pieces of rubble, it all filled the air, flying towards the demon. He jumped to the side quickly, avoiding the attacks, and sent a black sphere at Starfire. She couldn't dodge in time, and was knocked into a deep state of unconsciousness.

"Starfir-"

Robin was silenced by a rather hard punch to the jaw, jerking his head sideways and knocking him out cold almost instantly. Cyborg aimed his sonic cannon, but at a wave from the demon something inside his robotic body shut off, causing the rest of him to follow suite. He fell over in a heap.

Beast Boy leapt at Mael, changing into the Beast, but before he could the demon caught him with his magic, and tossed the green changling headfirst into a building several blocks away. Raven chanted her magic words, and lifted a pair of cars which were sent hurling towards the soldier of darkness. Mael knocked one aside, and stopped the other in mid air. He sighed in boredom.

"Child's play. But play time is over. I don't know how you came back from the dead Princess, but it doesn't matter now."

Then a sound that Mael thought he would never hear again pierced the air. Invisible energy streaked across the ground, catching him off guard, off balance, and knocked him a few dozen yards away.

Rocker stood up, shaking badly. Pain criss-crossed his body, mostly his chest, but he wasn't going down that easy. Nu-uh you want him to stay down you make sure his head is off of his shoulders.

"Kirk! Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not. My rib cage just got busted in by a sadistic demon pyromaniac! Now come on, you have to have something! Anything! Anything that can beat this guy!"

She shook her head, "I don't know the spells good enough, and even if I did not only am I not strong enough, he's too strong."

"What if he was weaker? Could you do anything then?"

"Maybe... Yes, if he was a lot weaker I could seal him away. But how do you propose?"

"Easy. I'm going to do the same thing as last time, only harder!"

Mael glared at Rocker, "What is this? Why don't any of you just stay down and let me kill you in peace?"

"Same to you demon-boy."

The demon cursed. This wasn't going to be as easy as last time. It wasn't likely he was going to be able to do the same trick twice. And the bard in front of him, though injured, was still a force to be reckoned with.

Rocker grimaced, taking in a shuddery breath. He stared at the demon, who stared back. Neither moved for a span of about, two seconds.

Then Mael shot forward, his magic lashing out violently towards the guitarist. Rocker quickly struck deep rift, creating a barrier around himself while delivering a solid blow to his opponent as well. But it wasn't enough to stop the demon, who barreled on like a freight train. He raised his fist for a punch, his hand alight with red flames.

He let his fist fly, and Rocker hit a hard 'D'. The force of the two attacks met, and knocked both combatants back.

This did much more to hurt Rocker than Mael. The guitarist's breathing was pained, every breath sending new agonies throughout his body. His vision blurred, and he almost blacked out.

He got up through sheer, stubborn force of will. His legs were wobbly, but he did stand, and glared defiantly at Mael.

"Well, one more attack like that and you should be down for good. PIRON MATEAR LOGIAN!"

Blue-white flames shot from the demon's hands, hurtling towards Rocker. The bard quickly went into a shrill guitar solo, pouring everything he had into it. The fire crashed against an invisible wall, which Rocker was just barely able to hold.

He finished the solo, and then sent about the hardest attack he could towards the demon, almost sending him backwards. However, in all it just beat back the spell that Mael had cast. And the demon was grinning at his weakness.

It hit Rocker like a ton of bricks.

I'm not strong enough.

He looked at the sneering demon, so confident and self assured. But he had the right to be. Rocker did not have the strength to beat him. Not on his own.

Wait...

"Raven..."

"What?"

"Lend me your singing voice for a minute."

Raven blinked in shock, "W-what? But my singing doesn't have any power!"

Rocker smiled, "Oh, it does. Anything done from the heart has power, be it singing, playing an instrument, if you put your soul into it, the power it holds is incredible. Your song gave me the strength to resist the demonic hold this idiot had over me. Just because you can't channel it's power, doesn't mean it's not there. And besides, I can."

Raven looked at Rocker, then Mael, the a smile crept across her face, "This is like that show Cyborg watches, Robotech, where they use pop music to weaken alien invaders. Alright, lets give it a shot."

Rocker nodded, then took a deep breath, despite the pain. He closed his eyes, and started nodding his head to a beat. The tune started out simple, a little melody. However, then the song started getting faster, and more complicated. Quicker, and quicker, Rocker began to strum the chords, filling the air with high pitched shrills.

Raven smiled as she listened. She just let the words find themselves, as she was almost sure that there was never a song like this. It began to form itself in her mind, and when she had it Rocker lowered the volume of his playing to let her voice ring out.

"Good will triumph again,

Evil again will fall,

Strong though the evil is,

And the fighters of light small."

"Again this classic struggle,

Between dark and light,

No matter how strong our enemies,

We will win this fight."

"The sword of dark is subtle and strong,

Deception, suspicion, and pain.

Using lies and tricks to confuse,

And using the memories of innocents slain."

Rocker went into a deep, fast, hard rift at this. His eyes were closed, he was totally gone in the music. Nothing was distracting him.

Mael was shocked and in pain. The little brat was singing, and it was some how doubling Rocker's power! Doubling, no, tripling! The guitarist's energy was soaring, and Mael could attest to it. Wave after wave, blow after blow, not as physical as before, but with each passing second he could feel pain lacing around his body, and his energy was dropping steadily. His eyes were wide with fear.

"But here is good's greatest weapon,

A blade no lie can turn away,

Truth banishes deception,

Truth decimates the chaotic fray."

"Truth will defeat lies,

Evil will fall to good,

Those who walk the darkness will never win,

They never could."

"So back to the shadow with you,

I'm tired of your twisted game,

You don't deserve to be here,

I banish you back from whence you came!"

The demon went down on his knees, holding his head. The music was echoing inside of his head. The song... The singing... She was redirecting the power... He was channeling the strength into energy, and she was sending it where it would hurt most. Not bodily harm, but mental harm. Mael's energy was depleting. And his body was aching from the pain of it.

Einderan, leaning heavily on Frista, finally made it, standing a safe distance away, watching with grim satisfaction.

Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin were awake by now, brought back when they heard the song.

Rocker opened his eyes, bit his lip, and began to play. I mean, actually play. He started thinking about what he was doing, paying attention, using every trick, skill, and flashy move to enhance the power of the music. His forehead was beaded with perspiration.

"NOW OR NEVER!"

Raven nodded and held out her arms towards Mael, "Iliate Kianet Tiema! Iteraso Kileo Itaka Ieam! Keb et Semune!"

Silence. Nothing happened. Nothing...

Until white lights shot from her hands. The two columns of energy hit Mael, wrapping themselves around the demon. He screamed in pain and horror of what was happening. Struggling, lashing out.

Much to Raven's horror, he began to brake free. She made a mental decision, and then poured everything she had into sealing the demon away.

Mael felt the magic tightening around him, and even though he struggled, his powers had been drained too much for him to resist. He felt himself slowly fading away, and with one last breath yelled, "THIS ISN'T OVER EINDERAN!AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The light gathered itself into a sphere around the demon, then it exploded outwards. And all that remained of Mael Kirheinse was that haunting last scream.

Rocker staggered over to Raven. He looked at her questioningly.

She smiled and nodded weakly, "Yes, he's gone."

Many sorcerers and sorceresses came to investigate the light and explosion. They filed in slowly, as if unsure what was going to happen.

Einderan smiled, and walked unsteadily over to his sister without any assistance. Though it was hard, he managed to keep his balance.

"You did it... You just sealed your first demon sister."

"Great..."

However, the battle weary souls found one last thing disturbing their rest.

With a roar, Malchior the dread dragon, flew into the air. He was unsteady, and clumsy in his flight, but he was still alive. They all looked upwards in shocked horror.

"You should know better than to assume you know how to beat a dragon!"

Kians appeared that second, running with a white book in hand, "Alright, what do you propose we do about THAT?"

Einderan was still looking upwards in horror. Then he sensed it. The dragon sounded threatening... But the only reason that he was able to fly was he was a dragon. And that was about all it could do. Einderan had beat it. The half-demon looked to the book, then back up to the dragon a grin across his face.

Taking the book, he handed it to Raven, "Do the honors?"

She took the book and grinned, "Gladly. I'm not strong enough to do the spell though. I need some..."

Kians put a hand on her shoulder, and she nodded. She opened the book skywards, and then began to cast the curse.

Malchior's eyes widened, his claws going to where the book was. They must have taken it when he had been unconscious! He began to fly away, fleeing fate in the book. But it was no use. Energy poured from Kians into Raven, from Raven to the book, and from the book to Malchior, pulling the dragon back.

With a final roar, the dread dragon sorcerer was locked once again in the book that he had resided for the last millennia.

Rocker chose that moment to collapse from wounds and exhaustion. Raven fell soon after that, falling onto her brother, causing both to fall to the ground.

And finally, the weary souls could rest without fear.

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Hehehehehe... Am I good or what?

I debated ending the chapter when Raven 'died', but then I realized how evil that would be-

Mael: I wouldn't do something THAT evil.

Me: That's why I didn't idiot.

Mael: Oh.

Anyway, ya. There is one more chapter of this story. Just one. Review people! I need to know how I did! And remember, there's only one chapter after this one!

God Bless,

-Professor Curly-