Disclaimer: Still don't own Teen Titans.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Sorry to leave you at such a dead-end last time. Hopefully, this chapter will be worth the wait. I really enjoy all the comments and suggestions everyone makes. I find it ridiculously cool that there are people reading this story who enjoy it enough to comment on it. Also, I'm incredibly flattered by the people who pay detailed enough attention to point out flaws. That kind of editing is hard to come by, since authors usually have to pay money to get people to read for that sort of thing. At some point, I might go back and try to fix a few things, but for now, I'm just trying to keep up with every other day updates. But, I want to let everyone know that the input is appreciated. And of course the encouraging reviews are always appreciated; when I get too caught up in worrying about the critics, (and the flaws in my story) it's good to know that some people out there do enjoy what I'm writing. Hopefully this chapter clears up a few things and makes up for the slight cliff hanger last time… Anyway, please let me know what you think of it, if there's anything I can do to improve, what you like/don't like, predictions… and so forth.

The Swords: A quick word on the swords in case all of that got a little confusing. There are three swords; each of the Demon Hunters has his/her own. Solaris uses the Blade of the Pure, which kills demons. Lunis uses the Immortal Blade, which can steal their powers/any immortality. Pax uses the Soul Sword, which can immobilize any demon along with his/her powers. The usual order that the Hunters follow can be seen in Chapter 1: The Hunters. Pax immobilizes it, Lunis makes it mortal/steals any powers, and Solaris comes in for the kill.

Demon Hunters

Chapter 12: Counterattack

Pax burst into Raven's cell, so startled from her scream that he even forgot to speak mentally to her. "What's wrong?"

-I'm not going to die like this.-

-Oh?- he asked, slipping back into their mental communication.

-I refuse.-

Pax laughed, amused by her flat refusal, as though death was something that one could simply say 'no' to. –So you refuse to die? Well, it's a good thing you aren't really poisoned.-

-I… what?-

Her eyes were really very pretty when they were so wide with confusion, he thought. It was almost a pity to explain and watch them return to their normal scowl -We thought that if you were convinced you were dying, he'd think you were dying, and he might try to save you.-

-But I'm not really dying?-

Pax looked at her arrogantly. –If we had wanted to kill you, we wouldn't have used poison.-

She sent a wordless interrogative in his direction and was answered by cascade of information that sent her numbed mind reeling.

Pax sighed and slowly explained, -Poison is for amateurs. Demons aren't all alike. Trying to kill one with poison is like taking a shot in the dark. Some aren't even manifested on this plane of existence.-

-So the poison was never meant to kill me?-

-It wasn't even poison.-

-?-

-Strong wine and sedatives.-

Raven felt embarrassment prickle along her spine. –So perhaps I overreacted.-

-You were meant to.- Pax hid his mental amusement, thinking that this particular half-demon was rather attractive when she blushed furiously and avoided his gaze. He wondered if he should explain the dampening effect that some sedatives had on empaths, but decided against it. She was still the enemy, after all.

Raven desperately wanted to say something crushing, but nothing particularly brutal came to mind; at least not anything that she could say without endangering her life. She quickly dismissed the appealing idea of retorting: I hate to disappoint you, but even if you did kill me, my father probably wouldn't raise a finger to stop you. As satisfying as it would be to get the better of her captor, she probably wouldn't be alive for very long afterwards to enjoy it.

So instead of commenting, Raven looked away and pushed that thought further and further into the corner of her mind, hoping that Pax wouldn't be able to find it. As long as they thought there was a possibility that Trigon would somehow put himself in danger for her, she was valuable bait. Even one contradictory thought might mean the end of this short hostage situation in a very unpleasant manner, and now that Raven had decided to live, she wasn't about to risk saying anything stupid just for the sake of pride.

-So you pretended to poison me?- she asked instead, hoping that by keeping him talking, she would also keep him out of her thoughts.

-Yes. Just to scare you.- Pax felt a tremor of hope come from her, which he quickly squashed. -We want Trigon, but whether or not we get him, we will kill you.-

Raven tried to scowl at him, but the paralysis from the "poison" had only partially worn off. –How do I know that the next time you "kill" me won't just be another trick?-

Pax opened his mind to her, showing her all that he knew about Solaris's sword, the Blade of the Pure.

Raven took her time searching through this information. Instead of the usual avalanche, she was free to roam around; albeit her movement was limited to the subject of the sword. She prodded Pax's memory and knowledge, learning that the sword was the only universal means to slay any demon and that its name was derived from the curious property it had that no one with any trace of demonic heritage could wield it.

She grimaced as she explored a series of memories that portrayed several demons being slain. Countless battles, countless executions, all blending together into a single life-long mission… She backed away from those memories, but from what she had seen, Pax had been involved in these killings since he was old enough to hold a sword. She shuddered, thinking about how those experiences at such a young age must have influenced the teenager in front of her.

Pax's laughter jarred Raven out of his mind.

-You worry about me,- he stated in her mind.

-No one should be forced into a life they didn't choose.-

The expression on the boy's face turned cold. Pax shut his mind to her, clipping her off with such suddenness that she gasped.

Raven watched his eyes and felt something very close to fear starting to run through her.

With a thought, he tore through her mind with a callous disregard that came from many years of seeing demons as nothing more than pure evil. He reached into her memories and pulled up her thoughts about her own life.

Whatever Pax had done to her earlier to calm her emotions, it was no longer in effect. Raven struggled against fear and terror as Pax opened up her past thoughts and forced her to face them.

-Did you choose your life?-

Raven saw herself meditating while the other Teen Titans played volleyball. She felt her own resentment; wanting to play but needing to meditate. Resenting her powers, her heritage.

-Is this what you wanted?-

Raven was thrust into a memory during which her anger was out of control. Demonic black tendrils curled out from her cloak, reaching forward to grab the hapless villain of the day who cowered before her. Four red eyes gleamed from beneath her hood, and on her face, a cruel grin…

-You hate who you are.-

Raven meditated while the Teen Titans played football in the park. They seemed to enjoy the sunny day, but something in Raven winced away from it and sought the shelter of a nearby tree so she could concentrate. Why couldn't she enjoy the carefree life that her friends seemed to soak up every day? Then meditation began, the never-ending fight for control.

-And you pity me?-

Raven stayed in her room while Beast Boy knocked on her door. She couldn't face him, not now, not when he might stir up emotions in her. She heard his voice and a giddy feeling flooded her, which she quickly had to crush before her emotions ran out of control. While Raven struggled with herself, the sound of Terra's voice came from outside the door, and the knocking slowly faded, followed by footsteps walking away.

-Where was your choice, demon?-

Raven watched Starfire tackle Robin in an exuberant hug that sent the pair tumbling to the floor. Raven looked away, wishing that for just one moment, she could feel that joy and not have to worry that some demonic force was about to overthrow her.

-Save your pity for yourself.-

Raven felt herself go limp as Pax left her mind. She gasped for breath, still overwhelmed by the force his presence had exerted on her mind.

Pax turned and walked out, laughing as he went. Raven… no, this demon, he corrected himself, was certainly amusing. He brushed aside a wave of affinity for her and doubled his resolve to see her dead within the next day.

-You're infatuated with her.-

-Get out of my head, Lunis.- He turned a corner to find his sister waiting for him, arms folded resolutely in front of her.

-It's true. That's why you want us to get rid of her so quickly; you're afraid of what you'll do.-

Pax tried to force a mental wall between himself and his sister, as he had done countless times before, but she shattered it with a thought.

-Don't try those tricks on me, little brother. Remember who taught you.-

He could tell by her tone that she was through being patient with him. On any other day, she would have given him his privacy, but today, irritated resolve radiated from her so strongly that Pax didn't need to be an empath to know that she was in no mood for tricks.

-What do you want, Lunis?- he asked wearily.

-I want what's best for you,- she told him, but her tone was crisp.

-How would you know what that is any better than I would?-

-I haven't been corrupted by that demon spawn in the holding cell.-

-She isn't like the other demons we've fought, Lunis,- he said, not knowing why he was trying to defend her. –I've spent time in her memories,-

Lunis gave him a sharp look and a mental nudge that was about equivalent to a telepathic slap in the face. -You've spent too much time inside her mind.-

-She's fought her demon half for control.-

-And she has lost, on occasion. And she will lose again; it's just a matter of time.-

-But she tries.-

-How can that matter, little brother?- Lunis's tone was kinder for the moment. –She is still a risk that we cannot accept. What if she loses control in a crowded area? Do you want the blood of innocent children on your hands?-

-No. But…-

-She is a demon, like all the others we have found. She is dangerous, like all the others we have fought.- Lunis's voice took on a hard edge to it. –And she will die, just as they did.-

Pax looked away, not wanting to reply.

-There is no choice about this.-

The sound of broken glass cut off any response Pax might have made.

"Lunis! Pax! Get the hell over here!"

Lunis and Pax exchanged wide-eyed looks of surprise and bolted to where their older sister was.

Solaris simply did not panic. Solaris did not call for help. Solaris would chew off her own arm before she admitted that she needed anything from either of her siblings. What would make her scream for them?

They arrived to find a battle going at full tilt.

Lime green starbolts flew in all directions, colliding against the walls of the temporary headquarters the Hunters had set up. They arrived to see Robin battering Solaris with a series of staff strikes before jumping out of the way so Cyborg could deliver a powerful shot from his sonic cannon.

Solaris was thrown back into a wall, taking the full impact on her left side.

Lunis and Pax had barely comprehended the scene when a green tyrannosaurus rex lunged at them.

Their reflexes kicked in enough so that they dodged, but Beast Boy managed to clip Lunis's shoulder and leave her dazed enough to be hit by a round of starbolts. Pax ran to Solaris's defense, bringing him face-to-face with Robin.

The masked boy launched himself at Pax, aiming to kick the Hunter in the chest. Pax didn't have time to react before Robin's steel-toed boot planted itself on his ribcage and sent him crashing to the floor.

Frantically, he groped for the Soul Sword, forgetting that not only was it still implanted in the half-demon's shoulder, but also that it would do no good against a human opponent.

-We're not equipped to fight humans,- Lunis hissed in his mind.

Pax narrowed his eyes, gripping Robin's foot and throwing him off of him.

Robin flipped acrobatically back, leaving room for Beast Boy to charge in as a rhino. Pax barely managed to avoid getting trampled, but Beast Boy's horn rammed into his stomach. The green rhino continued charging until the boy was pinned against the wall.

Solaris, who was just getting to her feet, grabbed a handful of dust from the debris the fight had caused. She threw the dust into the rhino's eyes.

Beast Boy backed up, instantly shifting back into his normal form so he could rub the dust out of his eyes.

Solaris turned to Pax. The Blade of the Pure was in her hands. "I'm going to finish the job," she informed him as a few starbolts peppered the area where they were, forcing them to move.

Pax nodded, even though a part of him desperately wanted to beg her to spare the strange half-demon. It's better this way. She has to die.

Solaris started to dart off, but Pax had stopped her before he realized what he was doing.

"What is this?" Solaris demanded sharply as they dodged Robin and Cyborg's attacks.

"You can't kill her," Pax found himself saying. "She's different. She's not like the others we've killed before."

"You idiot. Lunis, I thought you said you had it covered." Solaris seemed to be oblivious to the fact that Lunis was currently fighting large green gorilla and a very perturbed alien.

-She's tricked you, she's corrupted you,- Lunis hissed in Pax's mind as she dodged a starbolt. –Demon spawn's clever little ploy to divide us.-

-No!- Pax screamed back. –She doesn't even…-

One of Robin's bird-a-rangs hit Solaris's hand, sending the Blade of the Pure clattering to the ground. Lunis dove for it, but Beast Boy, still as a gorilla, snatched her out of the air and Starfire sent a round of starbolts at the restrained girl that left her dazed in the primate's hands.

The sword landed at Pax's feet. He looked up and met Solaris's eyes, and then grabbed at the hilt.

"No!"

-Don't!-

But it was too late. Pax had grabbed at the handle. The skin of his hand sizzled and burned, sending up steam as the hilt blazed against his touch.

He stared at his blackened hand in shock as his sisters were swamped by another wave of attacks from the Titans.

-She has corrupted me,- Pax thought slowly. –I can no longer touch the Blade of the Pure.-

He forgot for the moment that he had never held it before. He only remembered the times Solaris had dropped it and Lunis had grabbed it to finish a kill.

-There's only one way to end this,- he thought.

Gritting his teeth, he made another grab at the sword, this time grabbing the blade. It bit into his hands and flashed power that hit him painfully, but he kept his grip.

"I'm going to end this," he said before darting out of the room and disappearing down the hall to Raven's cell. -I'm going to redeem myself,-