Chap. 4
At Dark Noon
"Uhhh." "Hey, I think he's waking up." "Brett, come on, we need you." Something shook him, as he slowly opened his eyes. Looking up, he saw a couple of faces slowly come into focus. "Bart? Sara?" "Well, at least you don't have brain damage." Bart replied, as he and Sara helped the bat to his feet. Running his hand over his face, Brett asked, "How long have I been out?" "I'm assuming since last night." Sara replied. "We've been looking for you all morning; this was the only room left to search." "What were you doing in here anyway?" asked Bart. For a moment, Brett looked through his mind, trying to find the answer. But then, he noticed what room he was in, and the huge burned spot on the bed. His eyes widened in horror, as he turned to Sara. Grabbing his wife by the shoulder, he drew her close and said, "Sara, why do you need me? What's happened!" The fox did not meet his eyes, but that told him all he needed to know. "Oh dear God, please no!" he screeched, as he let go of her, and raced out of the room. The bat sped through the corridors of the Tower, praying the whole way that somehow he could be wrong, that somehow last night had been a bad dream. Finally, he reached the doors to the main room. Forcing them open, he burst into the room.
The others were all there; they immediately stopped talking and focused on him. But Brett saw none of it. He only saw what was beyond the windows; huge black clouds that blotted out all traces of the sun, and the clock that read noon. His face a mask of horror, Brett collapsed to his knees. Grabbing his head in his hands, he began to moan; "We're dead! Game over, man! We're all gonna die!" As he continued to moan and writhe on the floor, the others all looked at each other in concern. They had never seen this kind of reaction from the bat. He had always been the confident one, who had the solution to every problem. That was the Brett they needed now, not this blubbering figure.
Slowly, Robin made his was over to the bat. Kneeling down, he said gently, "Brett, do you know what this is?" Brett looked up for a moment then, his eyes meeting Robins. "It's the end." He whispered. "It's Judgment Day." "But what can we do about it?" the boy wonder pressed. For a moment, Brett was silent, and then he let out a nervous laugh. "Do? Do? We can't do anything! No one can stop this, not even me!" Getting to his face, the bat began to pace, muttering the entire time. "Oh sure, I could have done something about it. Hell, I could've stopped this all from happening. But no, I had to start to like her! I had to be compassionate. Why did I let that happen? Why? I knew everything, I knew what she could do, I should have ended it right there. But instead, I had to listen to someone else. I listened to a child! Why did I listen to a child!" He continued to rant, as Bart and Sara entered the room. "Why did I listen to you, Bart?" he moaned, pointing at the young boy. "I could have taken care of her, but I listened to you, and now we're all gonna die!" "What is he talking about?" Nelson spoke, as the bat continued to pace. No one gave an answer, but Sara walked up to her husband.
Taking his hands, she said, "Brett listen to me. You did what you thought was right. It's not your fault." "Not my fault? Sara, I knew! I knew, and I did nothing." "We both know that knowing and seeing are different things. You saw something in Raven that the books didn't see. That I didn't see." "Raven? That's what this is about?" asked Beast Boy. "Does he know where she is?" Milhouse asked. To that, Brett raised his hand and pointed out the window. "She's in that." He responded. "She's creating it." "What!" the others cried in shock. "Yes, and I could have stopped it. Why, why didn't I kill her when I had the chance?"
"Kill her!" Bart cried out. "Yes, that was my plan. Back when we first met, I was gonna kill her and make it look like Slade did it. But I didn't. Goddamit, why didn't I kill the little bitch then!" Suddenly, there was a crack in the air, as Sara's hand whipped across the bat's face. His face was knocked back; slowly, he turned it around. He flexed his jaw once, twice, as if making sure it still worked. Finally, he looked at his wife. "I needed that." "Don't ever say that again, Brett." She hissed, her voice tight and drawn. "You were not the only one who cared about her." The bat stood still, his face reflecting shame. Then, he turned back to his friends. "I suppose I owe an explanation, don't I?" Shaking his head, he said, "I-I guess I knew I would have to; I just hoped that she would be here, and that we would tell it together." "Brett, please. Drop the suspense and tell us what the hell is going on." Martin begged.
The bat took a deep breath. "The thing that's causing all this is a demon named Trigon. But he's more then that. He is one of the eight crown princes of Hell. He's also the only being in history that's been dammed by both Heaven and Hell." "What do you mean?" asked Starfire. "Despite what you may believe, God and the Devil are on better terms then religion lets on. They're not on a chess board; they're more like different sides of the same coin. Each needs the other to survive. So there are certain agreements on both sides, to keep each other in line. One of them is that while they may make small battles here and there, neither side will ever try to destroy the other, until the end of the world, when the balance no longer matters. Everyone agreed to it, all the angels and the demons. Except Trigon. He wanted the forces of good completely wiped out, so he organized a rebellion against heaven and tried to take Paradise. He was driven back by the forces of Heaven and Hell, the only time they've every fought together. After he was defeated, God and Satan cursed him to remain in the darkest corner of Hell, until one of his earthly offspring wished him back to this plane. Since Trigon had no children, and there was seemingly no way to escape, it was thought he'd be there forever."
"But Trigon had a power no one knew about. Even from his prison, he could enter the dreams of mortals. You know how they say if you die in your dreams, you die in real life? Well that's not the only thing. Trigon entered the dreams of one hundred women, impregnating each of them. But they all ended their own lives, rather then bring his child into the world. Except one. The hundredth woman was named Arella. After Trigon took her, she was too weak and scared to end her life. It was thought that Trigon would finally return. But then, she was taken by the people of another dimension, where pacifism was the religion. They believed that if they raised the child there, it would be able to suppress its demon side. After months passed, Arella finally gave birth. The child was raised there, and in order to keep its demon side suppressed, no one was allowed to show it any kind of emotion. The child grew up with no real knowledge of love, happiness, sadness, anything. The only thing it knew was a hatred for its father. Eventually, it learned all it could from that world, and was sent to the earth of its mother's birth. It has remained here ever since."
The others stood silent, absorbing Brett's grim tale. Finally, Robin said, "So, we have to find this child to stop Trigon?" "Exactly." Brett replied. "But it could be anywhere." Starfire argued. "Yeah besides, we don't know anything about Trigon." Cyborg pressed. "How could we fight him?" "It didn't seem to bother you the first time." Brett replied. "What?" "We've already met his child. And you and Beast Boy have already fought him. Hell, who do you think was controlling me?" A puzzled look came across Cyborg's face, but then horrible understanding came into it. "What do you mean we fought him before?" Beast Boy questioned, still not getting it. "Do you remember what happened in Raven's mirror?" the bat asked. For once, Beast Boy actually understood. "But, that can't be…" "It is. Arella was taken to the world of Azarath, and gave birth to a daughter. A daughter she named after the birds that rested in Azarath from that day on. She named her Raven."
"How could you not tell us this?" Nelson cried angrily. "Don't you think I wanted to? But if I had, we never would have come here. Besides that, it wasn't my place after a while. At first, I planned to end it all myself, but I started to like her, the same way we all did." Brett snapped. "But you knew this the whole time?" Robin asked in disbelief. "He wasn't the only one, Rob." Sara spoke. "But we couldn't tell you, not until she was ready. She was so scared of it. Raven hated what she was, hated what it made her do. She knew it made you distrust her, and fear her at times. But you know what? She told me back in the other world that you guys were the only thing that kept her sane." No one knew how to respond to that, except to feel slightly unworthy of that sort of praise. But finally, Nelson asked "But why couldn't you tell us? I mean, if you knew what she was.." "She thought she was a monster.. Besides, don't you think she would have known if we had?" Sara answered. "Oh sure, it wouldn't be obvious. But she'd know. No one would have looked at her the same. There would have been that glint in everyone's eye about her. We know what that's like." "So how do we save her?" asked Beast Boy. "We don't." Brett said.
"What?" "Saving Raven is no longer an option." The bat explained. At that, Beast Boy grew angry and walked over to the bat. "I don't care if she is a demon, there has to be something we can do. I thought you knew about being a monster." Brett's eyes flared, and he grabbed Beast Boy's collar. Lifting the shape shifter up, he looked him dead in the eye. "I'm going to make this extremely clear. We can't save Raven, because the Raven we knew is dead!" The anger broke apart on Beast Boy's face. "Trigon's evil snuffed out her soul the minute he took her." the bat explained, more gently, as he lowered his friend back to the ground. "All that's left is an empty, corrupted shell. It looks like Raven, it talks like her, and it knows everything she did. But it's not her."
Everyone around looked at each other, shocked by this last burst of news. "Then what can we do?" asked Martin. "There's still one way. I've used it before." Reaching behind him, Brett drew forth his Shadowblade. "The way of the sword." "Brett no." Sara pleaded, knowing what this meant. "There's no other way." "You would kill someone who meant this much to you?" she asked, as tears began to run down her face. "You know it's not the first time." He said gently, running his hand through her hair. "This is destroying her memory. It's a mockery of everything Raven stood for. We have to do this. It's what she would want. Besides, I can't let the others have this kind of stain on themselves. They're just kids." Sara nodded, though she still wept. Turning to the others, he said, "We leave in an hour. I'll be in her room."