Chap. 7
The Terror Begins
… into the pavement next to Raven. Lightweaver stared, unable to believe what had just happened. The others, slowly waking from their pain, were gaping in shock. Nightstalker just stared at his sword. Even Raven was silent, looking at the blade buried in the pavement. But then, she laughed. "I knew you couldn't do it, fool." A burst of dark energy erupted from her hands and into the chains, shattering them. It then exploded, knocking both Knights back in a wave. Laughing evilly, Raven rose up into the air, energy crackling around her. "Prepare for the end, my friends!" She cried, as her hands reached for the sky. As the energy shot forth, the clouds began to part, revealing a blood red sky. Suddenly, a red burst of energy shot down and into Raven. For a moment, she held it, but then she released it into the ground.
As the others watched in horror, the ground around them shook apart, pavement flying everywhere. Suddenly, a huge hole appeared in the ground, right underneath Raven. A huge black whirlwind floated out, four sets of red eyes glowing within its center. Slowly the winds disappeared, revealing the figure of Trigon the Terrible. He stood seven stories high, his scaly skin glistening with power. His clawed feet touched the ground, and the heroes felt all their hope die. This was a being none of them could defeat, none of them could hope be victorious over. A dark cloud seemed to settle over their hearts as this being, so evil that even the devil had seen fit to reject him stood before them. But then, they remembered each other. They remembered who they were. And as Trigon began to speak, they began to fight.
"Mortals! Your time is ended!" the demon spoke, his voice a harsh symphony. "Your world belongs to me! And with it, I shall take both Heaven and Hell and rule over all!" "Never!' Robin cried as the heroes leapt forward. There was no catchphrase from either leader this time. No battle cry led the heroes in this day. This was a battle that they would not return from alive. Yet they fought on, as all heroes do. Starfire and Heatstrike let loose a burst of power, striking the huge demon directly in the face. Beast Boy took the form of a T-Rex and bit into Trigon's leg. Polar fired the coldest burst he had ever created right at the demon's body. Cyborg and Whimpernel created a wave of a million decibels of sound and hurled it at their immortal foe. Bartman and Robin grappled onto the demons face and as Bartman threw a bomb-disk at the monster, Robin threw a gas cloud into the demon's eyes.
But Trigon did not fall. Instead he laughed. "Your people have grown even softer then you were on the first day." He declared. "See what real power is." He opened his eyes and slowly, they began to glow. "I think this is it guys." Cyborg said, as they watched. Suddenly, four beams of raw energy flowed out of the creature's eyes and struck the group. They managed to roll out of the way, but the street where they had been became a huge crater. "See what the death stare can do, mortals!" he yelled as he took another shot. The heroes continued to dodge, but it meant their group became divided. Starfire andNeuron were forced to flee together, while Cyborg, Robin, and Whimpernel went another way. The others ran alone. Trigon smiled at he continued to attack. Soon this last gasp of annoyance would be gone, and the earth would belong to him.
But he had made a mistake. Nearby where he had risen from the ground, two beings stood who held a chance of defeating him. However, only one of them was able to recognize that. The other was in shock, standing silent at his great failure. "I couldn't do it." Brett whispered, as he stood silently, oblivious to what was happening. Numbly, his fingers relaxed, and his sword fell from his hand. But it did not fall to the ground. Sara, who stood before the numb mass that was her husband, caught it. "Brett come on." she urged, a horrid fear in her voice. "Our friends are getting slaughtered!" But the bat gave no notice. "I've done it before. I've killed people I considered brothers, sisters. I almost killed my best friend. Why couldn't I kill her?" For a moment, Sara almost wanted to answer. But then, she gave up. "I don't know Brett. But if you want to kill something, there's a huge demon behind you. And guess what, he's killing your friends for you!" Snarling, the fox pushed the sword back into Brett's hand and left him to join the battle.
Brett stood alone then, his mind reeling from what had happened. He knew what was going on around him, knew the danger that his friends were in. But he had to know. He had to know why he had failed them. His heart was no longer locked; that skill had left him. Slowly, he dove into it, allowing his feelings to overpower him. He drank it in like a fine wine, searching for the sour grape that had led to this monstrosity. But as he searched, he found nothing. All he found was a sense of failure and loss. For a moment, Brett felt that he would damned on this day, for letting this thing happen. But then, he found it. A pair of eyes, a voice, and something else, something familiar. He saw a figure in a chair, in a small room. The figure was holding something in its hand and there was a bundle on its lap. As Brett watched, the bundle gave out a coo. The figure turned and looked at him. And then Brett knew. He withdrew from himself then, and looked at his hand. Gripping his sword tightly, he turned and faced the monster.
"Keep going!" Robin yelled, as the demon fired again. Sara tried to comply, but it didn't appear to be doing much. She and Starfire stood together blasting at the demon, but he showed little pain. Though Sara's power hurt him, it could not cripple him. It was like a bee sting to him. He continued to advance getting closer with each step. Finally, he let loose with the death stare. It cut through their power, and for a moment, the end was near. But suddenly, a black flame shot up in front of them, blocking the power. It disappeared in an instant, but it gave them the opening they needed. Sara quickly fired a burst light right into Trigon's eyes blinding him. As he roared and stumbled around in pain, Brett suddenly appeared next to them. "Glad you could make it." Sara greeted him, with a slight chill in her tone. "Sara I know." He replied. "You know what?" Starfire asked. "I know why I couldn't kill her." He said almost joyfully. "She's still alive."
"What!" all three cried out. "Brett, you said that he snuffed out her soul." Robin said. "I was wrong. When I was standing over her, I saw her eyes change. I heard her voice in my mind. I thought it was a trick, but it wasn't. She's trapped in there, and if we can free her, it'll end this!" "How are we supposed to do that?" Sara asked. "If we go into her mind and break Trigon's hold on her." The bat answered calmly. "Do have any idea how crazy that sounds!" the fox practically screamed. But Brett didn't seem to care. Grabbing his wife's shoulders, he pulled her close. "Sara I have to. I understand now. I have to do this for us." "Why?" "I lost us a family once, and it's never gone away. I have a chance to make it up here. That's why I couldn't kill her. Because she is my chance to rebuild what we had."
Sara would have told him how crazy that sounded. She would have told him he was out of his mind. But instead, she felt something in her break at that moment. She could feel something course through her veins, that made her fears disappear. So she said, "I'm coming too." "Sara no. I can't lose you again, and here.." But she placed her finger on his lips and said, "She's my family too." Brett was quiet for a moment, and then he nodded.
Turning to Robin and Starfire, the bat said, "Guys, we're going to try to enter Raven's mind. Trigon will follow us in. He….. could kill us this time. He has enough power to slay an immortal. So, if we die, tell the others this; we've never been prouder to fight with anyone." "And that the Knights were never as much fun as you guys." Sara added. "But this is madness!" Starfire cried out. "How do you know that she is even alive?" "I don't. I have to believe that she is. And even if I'm wrong, we stand a better chance in there then we do out here." "Sara, are you sure.." Robin began to ask. "Yes. Please guys, you have to let us try. It's the only chance we have. He's too powerful to destroy in the real world." Finally the Titans nodded, understanding that they could not stop them. Not that they wanted to. The two Elementals looked out, at the form of Raven, floating silently next to her father. Slowly, their eyes began to cloud over, turning a milky white….