Chapter 3: Old Acquaintances

It was as if the creature had been born from the depths of Tartarus. A mere silhouette was visible, but it portrayed a humanoid figure, with four elongated horns that emerged from its forehead. It remained motionless for a moment, adding to the terrifying atmosphere and projecting a calm and cold exterior, quite contrary to its fiery backdrop. Its muscular arms were folded, and no sound was heard, expect for the snapping and crackling of the raging fire behind it, and the distant wailing of police and fire department sirens.

It made a move first, albeit a slightly unexpected one. It unfolded its arms and approached the trio of Titans. As it closed the distance between them, more distinguishing features were visible, such as the distinct lack of demonic wings, and the presence of a brown fur cloak that wrapped around its powerfully built upper body and floated to the ground beside its tree-trunk legs. A large medallion with a pentagram design hung on the centre of its bare chest, and Mark found himself remembering what he had been taught at school regarding that symbol. In mathematics oddly enough. They had been discussing the Greek mathematician Pythagoras, and the reason as to how the conversation turned from Pythagoras' Theorem to the Pentagram escaped him. There were numerous theories as to where the Pentagram came from, but it is widely accepted that, throughout the ages, it had been regarded as a myriad of different symbols. The Pythagoreans called it the 'Pentalpha', as it resembled five capital 'A's interconnected. Celtic priests called it 'The Witches Foot', it has been called 'Solomon's Seal', and during the Middle Ages, it was regarded as 'The Goblin's cross'. It was never revered more-so, however, then in the mystical Druidic culture, who regarded it as 'The God's Head.' They believed it would guard them from Demons of the deep.

"A Druid…"

A Druid with red skin. Red skin that reminded Mark of Trigon.

"Aah!" Mark clutched his head as the thought of Raven's father caused Mark's head to explode in pain yet again.

"Am I some sort of twisted, American McGee version of Harry Potter?"

Mark clenched his fist and punched the ground beneath him with gritted teeth. The thin layer of skin that lay on his knuckles split open instantly, spilling red blood on the asphalt. With a distinct look of pain upon his face he looked up. The red figure stood right in front of them now, and he cast a concerned gaze towards Mark, who was still on the ground.

"Are you alright, young hero?" He asked slowly.

Mark raised an eyebrow and replied, leaning back into a kneeling position.

"I'm fine. Who are you?"

The figure stepped back and looked at the other two Teenagers, a mixture of surprise and caution mingled on their faces.

"I am Ragnarus, Herder of Mother Nature herself. She does my bidding, and I tend to Her."

Mark tilted his head to the left, gazing around the towering Ragnarus and to the blazing inferno which was now being slowly put out by the collection of Fire Trucks from various districts of the City. He pulled himself to his feet and proceeded to speak.

"Did you… do this?" Mark asked in a disbelieving tone.

Ragnarus' eyes flashed quickly as he replied.

"I would never do such a thing. Never before have I seen such blatant disregard for human life, and I intend to punish those responsible."

His hand moved almost involuntarily towards a magnificent sword sheathed around his waist, but he made no attempt to withdraw it. It was clear to the Trio of Titans that Ragnarus, although demonic in appearance, was not evil. Mark opened his mouth once more to introduce himself, but he was abruptly cut off.

"I don't know who you are, but no-one's gonna spoil my fun!" A strange, almost metallic voice was heard, and the trio and Ragnarus turned to face the source of it. A small, diminutive figure emerged from the darkness, and upon closer inspection, it looked like Robin. Starfire briskly flew towards him, intent on asking the first question.

"Robin? Why are you here? Were you not supposed to be looking after the intruder? What do you mean when you said 'Fun'?"

Robin opened his mouth to speak.

"Starfire… I'm so sorry… please help me…" He said in a tortured voice, extending his arms out in a gesture of affection. Starfire approached him and slowed down.

"Why are you sorry?" She asked curiously.

"Something is not right…"

That precise moment, Robin's whole personality changed. His masked eyes narrowed in hatred, and he smiled evilly as he replied.

"Psyche!" He swiped the air, and Starfire was flung backwards, smashing into the brick wall on the other side of the street and slumping to the ground, motionless. Beast-Boy ran to help Starfire while 'Robin' approached Mark, who still had no idea why he had attacked her. As he approached, however, a startling thing happened. He morphed, and within a split-second, Raven was standing right where Robin was only moments ago.

Despite himself, Mark's features softened, and in that short period of time, 'Raven' grew sad, and slowed her approach towards a very confused Mark.

"Mark… please help me… he's getting stronger… My father is winning!"

Mark's eyes widened in shock.

"No…"

Raven grinned, her eyes turning a bright crimson and she spoke again.

"Psyche!" She struck, in much the same way he/she/it attacked Starfire, simply by swiping the air in front of it and Mark was flung of his feet.

But it was no longer Mark.

Mark had lost control in mere moments, and Crow took over. Anger coursed through his veins, and rage consumed him at being so easily duped. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, feeling the flames travel their way up from his hands to his arms and reaching his torso. His hair brightened tremendously, and when he opened his eyes, they were once again, pitch black.

Crow straightened himself out from his current, involuntary, trajectory and flung himself towards his adversary. It was at that moment, however, out of the corner of his eye he spotted Ragnarus charging towards the unknown enemy as well, his sword withdrawn and hatred etched upon his face. Crow narrowed his eyes and increased his speed, determined to destroy him first, but it was to no avail.

Ragnarus swung swiftly, but the figure dodged the blade and landed a hard kick to his exposed side. Ragnarus exhaled quickly, and using his right hand he grabbed the figure's foot and lifted him into the air and slammed him into the ground with brutal velocity. He repeated this movement and slammed him into the asphalt yet again, this time cracking under the force of the impact. He released his foot and stepped back, hardly out of breath, and examined the disturbed dust and dirt that had risen and obscured his view. There was silence for a second, and then a dark lump of mass emerged from the dust cloud and struck Ragnarus on his chest, sending him stumbling back and causing him to drop his sword. Crow saw this as an opportunity to strike, and he sped towards the figure that had fired that projectile and was still enveloped in dust. His fists blazed with fury and flames and his hair was a blinding white. He sped like a comet and smashed into the figure, driving him into the ground once more. The figure recovered quickly, however, and he was up first and rammed a fist into Crow's nose, blinding him with tears.

"Trust me, never mess with Psyche." It said in the same metallic voice he had first spoken in, and drove his fist into Crow's nose once again. Crow's head snapped back, then rolled forward lazily, hanging limply. The creature, Psyche, cocked its head to the left, unsure as to whether Crow was unconscious or not. He wasn't.

In a mere iota of a second, Crow had reared his hand back and punched Psyche in it's chest, the flames on his fist doing no damage to its metallic armor. The pain, however, somehow registered in its mind, perhaps it was still human underneath the metal plates, and it let go of Crow with a heavy gasp. Crow lifted his knee up and struck, striking it in the head with size 10 shoes. Psyche stumbled back, clutching its face in agony. It lowered its hands slowly, and Crow gasped in surprise when he saw its face. It was… smiling.

With a sadistic grin, it spoke once again.

"Psyche!"

A dark red figure raised its arms in the background, its massive fists clenched and bathed in blue. Its eyes darkened until they matched the blue on his hands. He muttered a mantra more ancient then the world he walked on, and behind him, a green cloud was forming. His adversary, Psyche, turned around to identify the source of the disturbance, but in the time it took for this new threat to register in its half robotic mind, it was far too late. The green cloud headed towards it with a reckless abandon, weaving and swerving in the air as if it was avoiding unseen obstacles that lay in its path.

"Oh S-." He began, but he never managed to finish that statement.

The green cloud pummeled his metallic chest, tearing the armour into ribbons and entering its body with almost no loss in speed. Psyche hunched over, his lungs no longer functioning, as the green cloud entered its chest and burst through its back, shredding its skeletal structure and breaking its spine.

The green mass of death was not through with it, however. The cloud parted in two and did a U-turn in midair, re-entering Psyche's now shredded body through its side and exiting through the front. With one final U-turn and entry, the cloud slowed down and fell to the road, redder now then green.

Crow could only watch this slaughter take place with a limp jaw and saddened eyes. He had seen death before, but this was just so brutal and reckless, it shocked even him.

"So this is what he meant 'They do my bidding.' He controls plants…"

"You killed him."

Ragnarus walked towards the now unrecognizable form of Psyche that lay motionless on the road.

"He deserved to be punished for what he attempted to do. He could have killed an innocent."

Crow smiled coldly, and then raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I get it. So you kill, in order to prove to others that it's wrong to kill. I get that."

"Do not question my methods of dealing with villains. I have been doing this for much longer then you."

With that, Ragnarus spun quickly and walked away, his cloak billowing in the wind, until all that remained of him was a darkened silhouette beyond the yellow embers of the fire.

Crow watched him go, still wary of what was yet to come. He sighed and his hair darkened, reverting back to its original black color, and the flames dissipated on his arms and body. His eyes turned back to sky blue, and he turned to Beast-Boy as he spoke.

"Come on dude. We gotta take her back to the Tower quickly." Beast-Boy said. He motioned towards Starfire, and Mark nodded sadly. He gently picked up Starfire, and with a final glance towards the robotic body which was once human and lay still in a small crater, he lifted off and followed Beast-Boy back home.