Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or any other show portrayed in this.

Chapter II: The Guardian Emerges

Darkness, the first element, and the last. All things begin and end with darkness.

The Guardian slept deeply, knowing that his realm was in good hands.The Imiko was a blessing, he thought, grateful for the strange boy's appearance. Jere, or Hiei, as he was known previously, was the perfect person to govern his realm. Five years, and not a whisper of trouble. He slept well, dreaming fond dreams of the past, and of the greater future that was coming.

His dreams were interrupted by an ghostly apparition. It was a slight elven woman wearing a night-blue robe. Her flowing dark hair was held in place by a delicate golden crown, and a golden belt encircled her waist. Her expression was grave, but she smiled slightly.

My Son...

"Yes, Mother?" He said it formally, but fondly.

It is time.

"The prophecy?" He asked with resignation.

Yes. Even I do not know who it will be, but the other is coming.

"Well, compared to what brought us to where we are, the rest should be easy."

Do not fall into the trap of arrogance. He may well be your match.

He smiled slightly. "No one has ever been my match, except you."

She frowned at him severely. No Demon King should ever be taken lightly.

"Hmm...another Demon King? You never mentioned that before."

It would not have meant anything to you. His name is Trigon.

"Raven's father?"

She looked stunned. How do you know that?

"I've been considering whether I should bring her here to study. I'd decided to leave well enough alone, but perhaps I should reconsider."

You plan to drag her into this?

"She's already involved. Family business, you might say." The Guardian sighed. "I've done everything I can to prepare. It all comes down to who the true Demon King is."

I will not be involved, unless you fail.

"Let's hope that it doesn't come to that."

Yusuke was running out of patience.

Hiei was still missing, even after Yusuke had made a trip to Earth with Genkai to observe Terra. If he hadn't been convinced the acid-tongued fire apparition was indestructible, he'd would have thought something went wrong. Where the hell is he?

Boton flew in through one of the arches in an uncharacteristic rush. "Yusuke! Bad news! Hiei destroyed one of Shura's patrols!"

Great. Wonder what old three-eyes was thinking? Yusuke thought without enthusiasm. Ever since the first Makai tournament and the return of Raizen's cadre, a tentative peace had prevailed. Yusuke hated having to rule, but the practice of selecting a King every four years meant that he had to enter and win on the years when some loser would enter saying that he was going to "Put things back the way they should be!"

Before Yusuke's insane proposal over a thousand years ago, the Demon World had been at war with the Human World and Spirit World. Demons needed to consume human flesh to survive and grow, and that weakness had until that time dictated their actions. In the prosperity that had followed the ascension of Raizen's friend Enki, a solution was found and the demons no longer required humans to survive. The Makai had become a surreally peaceful place in comparison to the eons before.

Many, though, longed for the "glories" of the past. What a bunch of idiots. Most of them would have been dead years ago if we still did things that way. Hell, I probably would have been the one to kill them.

Yusuke had always done things his own way, and so he was better suited to the Makai than he normally would have been being born human. Even so, it was strange for him to remember how he'd once been a spirit detective for Spirit World, hunting down demons and evil humans that used supernatural powers. Now he was one of the Demon Kings, once feared as the most powerful of all beings. God, if life isn't a total curve-ball.

Some days though, being one of the rulers of the Makai really ticked him off. Shura's such an ass, just like his dad. Yusuke wasn't looking forward to soothing the other Sovereign's ruffled feathers. While Hiei was strong enough to be a King, he hadn't entered the tournament since he took up residence in another dimension. Yusuke wasn't sure what the Imiko was doing here, as Hiei had been characteristically closemouthed when Yusuke had asked.

Yusuke sighed in irritation. "Fire-eyes is going owe me for this."

Boton was straightening out her hair and kimono from her hurried flight. "That's not all, Yusuke," She said with her usual peculiar accent. "Koenma sent a messenger. Some demon was caught in Spirit World preaching some nonsense about the God of the Demons returning." She gave him a significant look. "It took all of the Spirit Defense Force to capture him."

Both of them straightened as they felt portal energy. A moment later, a fiery gateway appeared in the throne room, and Hiei walked through followed by a young girl with pink hair and a small boy in a green flight suit.

"Where have you been you little bastard!" Yusuke asked, ill tempered.

The Pink haired girl looked at Yusuke askance. "He's your boss?" She asked Hiei skeptically.

"Of course not. He just runs Demon World." Jere said in an unconcerned voice. combed his fingers through his hair. "It's nice to see you too, Yusuke," He said sarcastically.

"That's not funny, Hiei! Shura wants to know why you fried the patrol he sent to you!" Yusuke responded instantly.

Jere took his sword from his back, and tossed it negligently into an alcove. He frowned in annoyance that Yusuke was calling him Hiei again. He had been Hiei before, but in his new life, he was Jere. People often forgot that, but he couldn't entirely blame them. Even though he was more than Hiei, many of Hiei's mannerisms and general attitude had carried over. "You have bigger problems, King of the Makai. One of the members of Shura's patrol covered the escape of the demon that was here. Whoever sent it knows about this place now."

"And what's so important that you're doing here that you have to risk war in the Makai to protect?" Yusuke asked angrily.

A young boy stirred, stretching as he woke up.

Two years… He thought wonderingly. He'd slept for two years, wandering in his dream form as his body grew younger. He'd spent hundreds of years gathering the necessary components and tracking down the obscure lore required to cast the rejuvenation spell, but it had all been worth it.

He stared at his right hand, once a twisted mass of scars. Now the skin was smooth and healthy. As he twisted it experimentally, it moved easily, unlike before when it had been burned with the black flame.

I am whole! I am young again!

The Guardian had had lived for more than a thousand years, born a child forged of Demon blood and Faerie glamour. A truly forbidden union, much as Hiei's had been.

So, Trigon is coming. Good. I'm ready, you pathetic excuse for a demon!

The Guardian had forgotten his name. A tragedy of epic proportions had been spawned when he was born more than two thousand years before. He had been named at his birth as "The one who shall hold the darkness in his right hand," and that prophecy had destroyed his life and the lives of all around him.

Nevertheless, even after losing his soul, he still returned to the mortal plane, determined to find out who and what he really was. The prophecy haunted him for more than five hundred years beyond that, when at last he had found the solution, and it had brought him to where he was at that instant.

To think that the prophecy was derailed, and has returned in full force. Ironic. Without me, Trigon would have no one to stop him but Raven…Those who hunted me and tried to interfere with my destiny were fools…

He stood at that moment, fully souled and rejuvenated. He'd never felt so alive, and so sure of what was to be. Let his mother doubt. He would be the one to win.

His enemies would know fear again.

He looked to the dragon that had been cradling him as he slept. He smiled fondly.

"C'mon, Strata. It's time."

Strata stirred. Strata was a Black Dragon, fearsome and deadly. His scales were like polished adamant, and his lean form spoke of great agility. He was small for a dragon, only twenty feet long, but no one who looked into Strata's gemlike red eyes ever mistook the dangerous potential of the deceptively little dragon. Strata growled in annoyance.

The Guardian laughed, and it was strange to hear himself laugh at such a high pitch. It was almost a giggle. I forgot, I'm only about ten years old now. The thought struck him as funny, and he found himself laughing so hard that he almost fell over. Isn't this the best joke ever! One of the oldest demons anywhere, and I'm wearing the form of a kid!

"Alright Strata. You can stay here and sleep. It's only fair, I suppose. You kept watch over me."

Strata made a rumbling sound of contentment and closed his eyes. Sleep well, my little friend. The Guardian thought affectionately. Strata was his guardian spirit, and no one was closer to his heart than the bad-tempered razor-winged dragon

-----------------------------------------

As the Guardian left the sealed cave he'd been sleeping in, he felt the presence of things moving in the lava tubes that led to the surface. He saw a distortion in the air, and he raised his right hand, preparing to summon the black flame.

"Wait! Mr. Guardian! Ms. Reece sent us to guard the tunnels!" A surprisingly childlike voice piped as a mechanical spider suddenly decloaked before him.

Tachikomas…Reece is amazing.

The Guardian reached out to touch the blue mecha. The robot was strangely harmless looking because of it's earnestness and childlike innocence. When he touched it, he felt the network between the one he was touching and the other seven.

Amazing. They share their thoughts, so the expansion of their perceptions is geometric. Who knows how far they'll go here.

The Tachikomas had been dismantled and reprogrammed in their homeworld because of the threat of them rebelling. The Guardian had asked Reece to make them bodies here, and he had summoned their souls to his realm. He wasn't afraid of them getting out of hand- he and Strata were the ultimate law in this place.

"Hello, little one. Do you have a name?"

The Tachikoma seemed flustered, and it seemed to the Guardian that it would have blushed if it could have. "No, Mr. Guardian. We're just Tachikomas," it said uncertainly. He had the impression that "it" was a female.

"You have a ghost, so you can have a name, little one."

The Tachikoma looked up to him, looking self-conscious. It amazed him to see how expressive the little robot was.

She's not little. You aren't as big as you were, he told himself firmly, but the sense that she was like a little kid was hard to shake.

"We weren't sure if we had 'ghosts,'" The Tachikoma said as she comically tapped her chin. "The Major thought we might." She seemed to frown thoughtfully. "How do you know we have ghosts? And what happened to us?"

The Guardian sighed. He always hated this part.

"Three of you got out of the lab, reprogrammed."

"Yeah. I remember that part. We wanted to help Mr. Batou."

"Yes, and that power armor pilot killed you."

The Tachikoma looked shaken for a moment. "We're dead?"

"In a manner of speaking. You were dead, and now you're alive."

The Tachikoma seemed to wrestle with that for a moment, and then seemed to confer with the others. "Did it work?" She asked quietly.

The Guardian knew what she was asking. "Batou is alive because of you. Live with that knowledge…but you can never go back."

The car sized robot nodded. "We weren't strong enough. Ms. Reece said that she could upgrade us if we do a good job, though!" She said as gloom was replaced by excitement.

The Guardian nodded. "I know you'll do well here. From now on, you are no longer 'Tachikomas.' You are 'Shugotenshi.'"

"Guardian angels? Yes sir, Mr. Guardian!" She looked downward, shuffling slightly. "Are you sure I can have a name?" She asked hesitantly.

"Of course. Would you like me to give you one?"

She looked to the side. "Will you?" She asked softly.

"Alright. Your name is 'Iki.'"

Her stance conveyed confusion. "Spirit?" She asked.

"It means 'Soul' or 'Heart.' Qualities that your Major might have referred to as 'a ghost.'"

"Oh!" She said with dawning comprehension. "Thank you, Mr. Guardian!" Her mood seemed to shift. "What are you doing away from your chamber?" she asked severely. "Ms. Reece said that you were not to be disturbed, and that you shouldn't be up and about for another year!"

Don't remind me, little one. Even though his body had regenerated, he needed more recovery time. That time was not available to him, now. I'll have to be careful, or I'll wreck my body all over again. The thought was a glum one. He loved to fight more than anything, but his entropic powers literally ate his body away. I can't participate directly in this war until I recover fully, but I can help the ones involved.

"I have something to take care of, Iki. I'll go back to sleep after that."

"Ok, but don't do anything Ms. Reece would disapprove of! She's scary!"

The Guardian chuckled, but it turned into a wracking cough. Damn! I'm already starting to backslide! His condition was something he was familiar with, but he hated it nonetheless. Maybe if I kill Trigon, I'll be free of this.

It was something to hope for.

He arrived in the throne room as Yusuke was shouting at Jere. He stayed in the shadows, catching his breath. Iki had helped him get there, but he was still very weak. He had to be strong in front of strange group of people there. As stepped out of the shadows as he noted who was in attendance. Jere, Jinx, Gizmo…those other two must be Yusuke and Boton.

"I bid you welcome in my house." The Guardian said ironically.

Yusuke looked at the young boy, and then back to Jere. "I thought this was your place."

Jere frowned at him. "Don't be a moron. I just run it. He's the one who commissioned it."

Yusuke's natural belligerence surfaced. "So who the hell are you? And what are you doing here!"

"My name isn't important. This realm is mine, and I shelter children here. What else would you know, Spirit Detective?" Yusuke seemed taken aback by the young boy's cool glare.

Jinx had been eyeing him with suspicion. "I'm not sure I like how you phrased that," The young sorceress stated. "Gizmo and I don't need 'sheltering.'"

The Guardian turned a pitiless gaze toward Jinx. "Terra Markov cost you your spot at Darkway Prep. Tell me that didn't hurt."

Jinx flinched at the reference to the disaster that had taken most of her options away from her. "What does that have to do with sheltering?" She spat at him.

"How would you like a second chance? My realm makes Darkway look like preschool. You could become an arch-sorceress here."

"Pitsniffing mystics," Gizmo muttered. "Boy am I ever in the wrong place!"

"I didn't forget about you, Gizmo." The Guardian felt a slight smile creep across his face. "I don't practice magic exclusively, so to me it's just another tool. We study technology as well."

"What does this have to do with anything!" Yusuke interrupted bluntly.

"Nothing, really, except that it's important to me. I know something that concerns you, though," The Guardian said with a smirk.

"Really? What would that be?"

"A real Demon King is coming."

Yusuke frowned. "We have Kings. Lots of them."

The Guardian shook his head. "Remember when Enki told you that Yomi and Mukuro were nothing but the scum on Raizen's boots before you ancestor's health declined?"

Yusuke scratched his head. "Yeah, so?"

"You are now easily five times stronger than Raizen was at his best. Still, you and the other S-Class apparitions are like schoolkids on the playground."

"Really…and you're so much stronger?" Yusuke asked skeptically.

"Remember Yusuke, when someone else is stronger, it seems like no power could ever be higher. Shinobu Sensui could have been considered godlike in his power, yet you would make short work of him at your current level. Younger Taguro seemed all powerful to you in the Dark Tournament, didn't he? I bet you were surprised to find out that he was only B-Class."

"Ok, you made your point. How much more powerful can this bastard be though?"

"It's not how powerful he is. It's what he can do to us," Jere surprisingly answered.

Yusuke turned to Jere. "What do you know about this?" He asked harshly.

"Shura's patrol had an A-Class demon named Sazuken in it. He almost killed me."

Yusuke looked shaken. "How is that possible? You're a freakin' S-Class!"

"His power was being augmented, probably by this other Demon King. Also, I couldn't draw my full power in his presence." Jere ran a hand through his hair, a sign of frustration, the Guardian knew. "Who knows what powers this demon can grant?"

The Guardian decided that enough time had been devoted to the subject. "Yusuke and Jere, pull yourselves together. Either we can win or we can't. That's all there is to it. In the meantime I want you to find every S-Class demon in the Makai, Yusuke. Bring them to Raizen's grave in two weeks. We need to warn them about this and recruit as many as possible for the coming battle."

Yusuke looked irked. "You aren't my boss, you freak! Do it yourself!"

"Fine. I'll let you fight all of Trigon's minions. How does that sound?"

"What are you going to be doing, then, if I call them all together?"

"I'm going to be sleeping."

"What?" Yusuke looked incensed. He turned to Jere. "This guy's your boss?"

Jere gave him a look. "You should try using that brain of yours more often, Urameshi. Look at him more closely."

Yusuke stared at the Guardian closely. "You don't look so good. How come?"

The Guardian started to answer, but coughed several times. "My powers are of oblivion itself. Whenever I fight, I slip closer to the grave. Only rest, food and enough time can erase the damage. I must not fight until Trigon shows himself. The battle for the Makai is in your hands."

"Great…what is he good for again?" Yusuke said sarcastically.

Jinx, however, was shivering, as was Gizmo. "I told you we were in over our heads!" The little techno-geek declared to Jinx. "He wants US to fight!"

Jinx was adamantly shaking her head. "I don't fight demon gods! I'm gone!"

"Then you will probably die with a lot of other people, and your lives will become part of the forgotten dust of history," The Guardian said with grim finality.

The Guardian's words seemed to hit all of the people in the room with the force of a coffin lid slamming.

"I'll find them," Yusuke said unexpectedly into the dead silence.

The Guardian tilted his head with an inquiring glance.

"I'll bring every S-Class demon I can find to the meeting, even if I have to kick their asses and carry them there myself."

The Guardian's icy visage softened slightly. "I'll do whatever I can to keep this from reaching the Makai," The Guardian said softly. "I can offer you no guarantees though. A prophetess foresaw all of this, and her words were this:

"During the turning of ages, the true King of Demons shall arise, and in his path all shall bow or shatter before him. Kingdoms will fall, alliances will fail, and brother shall raise hand against brother when he comes. He will herald a new age, and destroy all that came before…"