This is a work of fanfiction. I do not own Teen Titans or any DC comics alluded to in this story. Kenkaku and his swords are mine, however, as well as the basic 'Prophecies Universe' and characters.

Rolling the Dice:

The Second Prophecy

A 'Prophecies Universe' fanfiction.

"text": spoken English

"text": spoken Japanese (translated or flavor text)

"text": war cry, English

"text": war cry, Japanese.

text: thoughts

-text-: stressed word

text: printed or typed English

text: printed or typed Japanese

'text': sound effect

Hmm, thought Ittou as he walked to class, I could have sworn that Soothsayer said something about Karasu-koishii's half-sister not being a demon at all. Meh, that girl is probably still worth checking out.

"…here."

"Repeat that, if you would, Mammoth."

"We are here."

Ittou turned to see the label Martial Arts on one of the hexagonal, yellow doors next to him. "Excellent."

"Thanks for showing me around, Jinx."

"Oh, no problem, Stone. Our course schedules are very similar." Jinx took a look at his schedule. "Actually, except for Vehicular Combat and Cybernetics, I take all of your classes at the same time as you."

The shortest member of Team Hydra grumbled as he flew past them, heading to Applied High Energy Physics. "Snot-munching new barf-brain," he muttered under his breath.

Both Stone and Jinx ignored him. "So, how's Hero Psychology? As a class, I mean," asked Stone.

"Oh, it's really good," answered Jinx with a smile. "It's a pretty high-profile class. The old Headmistress used to teach it personally. Said it was the most important class for any H.A.Y.E.P. student to take. But I heard that Brother Blood isn't taking over the job. Brought some new teacher in. Supposedly, they're really good at getting into people's minds."

"Huh. Sounds good at least." The two walked in.

"I am Sanjuro Adia. You will call me Master Adia, Adia-sensei, or shishiou. I am the teacher of martial arts for the HIVE." He turned his harsh stare upon the class. "Your powers do not matter here. In fact, I would hope that you would be so smart as to not use them, as I -will- administer punishment for the use of said powers, unless I allow them. Now, I know that many of you have been a part of my class before. Do not expect favoritism. You will earn your worth from the beginning, just like when you started." The man who had showed Ittou and Stone to their rooms stood up, and started pacing among the students, all of who were sitting in neat rows, either in seiza or anza. "Now, to introduce the class, according to what internal team they might be assigned to." He indicated three well-muscled teenagers, all having similar looks, two guys and a girl. "Starting with our freshmen, we have Maus, Neb, and Switch, all from Team Cipher. They recently ran afoul of the Titans, and were taken down. Hopefully my teachings will prevent this in the future."

Sanjuro moved along the students to Ittou and Mammoth. "Ittou and Mammoth, Team Hydra. These two are sophomores, but both deserve respect. Team Hydra was one of the first groups to ever defeat the Titans soundly, even if they were defeated in another engagement. Ittou was not part of the team then, but he is the Bladeheir to Lord Trigon the Terrible, considered to have been the mightiest Demon Lord of all time."

He moved on "White Wolf and Cephalis, Team Loki." He indicated a large boy dressed in snow-white wolf pelts and the one Ittou was sure was a demonic magic user. "These two begin our junior class."

Next was a boy wearing a generic sports uniform, sitting next to a sharp-faced girl wearing of all things, a golfing outfit. They were also accompanied by a boy in a dogi. "Sportsman, Driver, Heavenstep, Team ESPN, and the final part of our junior class in this particular period."

Next was a black girl wearing tight black leather pants and a sleeveless yellow and black striped short top. Her hair was gathered into two poofy balls. "This is Bumblebee, of Team Swarm."

Sanjuro indicated a girl encased completely in shiny black armor, a goth boy wearing ratty black and gray robes, and a person wearing very baggy blue robes and a large straw hat that completely obscured their face except for two glowing yellow eyes. "Black Knight, Hades, and Mage, three of the members of Team Myth." He looked out at the class again. "That's everyone. You'll soon learn what the specialties of each person in the class are, whether it be the easy way, or the hard way."

Sanjuro pulled down a very large projection screen. "Today's class will be on your primary adversaries, the Titans. You will get to know their fighting styles inside and out, and analyze the best way to apply your particular fighting style to them before you ever go up against them in practice, using some of our training droids." He walked to the back of the room, where the projector waited, turning off the lights as he went. By the time he got back there, the only sources of light in the room were two silver eyes, two yellow eyes, and a faintly glowing red aura. "Experience against your classmates will prepare you for more generalized situations. Now, we begin with the leader of the Titans, Robin." A file picture of the red, yellow, black, and green costumed superhero showed up. "He is an accomplished martial artist wielding a style descended from a number of subsets of Wu Shu including Wing Chun, Monkey, Crane, Praying Mantis, and Shaolin Long Fist. He also seems to have training in bojutsu, the use of nunchaku and tonfa, as well as Escrima.

"Robin, of which we do not have the real name of on file, is simply a human teenager in his prime. He does not take any sort of performance enhancer that we know of, but is not ignorant of Chi Gong, enabling him to do many things which some would deem 'superhuman'. Do not underestimate him, but also, do not overestimate him. Now, on to his equipment.

"Robin, to this day, has been seen carrying an extendable bo staff, of which he most likely has multiples of, Escrima sticks which might be a partially collapsed form of his staff, nunchaku both of the proper variety and the Bruce Lee style, and a pair of tonfa. He also carries a type of razor-edged boomerangs of both the returning and one-way variety known as Birdarangs, as well as a number of types of discs that range from energy explosives to freeze payloads. He is well-versed in the throwing of these.

"Also, interestingly, Robin has been observed to have possession of a traditional yari, a Japanese spear, though whether he uses it or not is unknown. So, to sum up the situation, Robin is a threat at all ranges, but is weakest at long range, where his finite throwing ammo puts him at a disadvantage. However, I do not teach, for the most part, long-range combat. Therefore, you must learn this Titan's fighting style very well, and your own better, so that you may beat him at his own game, so to speak. We will go into more detail later. Next is the Tamaranian, Starfire…"

"…So therefore, my class is for those of you who wish to actually make it big as a modern-day terrorist," intoned the robed HIVE instructor teaching Hero Psychology. "In battle you might gain a slight advantage through my teachings, but it is in the planning stages that you will reap the greatest benefits. Now that we have put that out of the way, we can move on to our first lesson." He clicked on a remote which brought the wall screens to life, filled with notations. "We will be learning of the basic motivations of the hero today. Attend to wall number one." The class looked over to see a picture of the famous Superman.

"Superman. Perhaps the most famous hero, super or otherwise, on the planet. Origin is from the destroyed planet known as Krypton, his race is Kryptonian, which is related to the Argosian race, of which the hero Supergirl is from. Real name is Kal-el, and he goes by the name Clark Kent when not in costume, working as a reporter at the Daily Planet in his home city of Metropolis. Possesses the power of flight, near-invulnerability, x-ray vision, heat vision, and of course, super strength. Known weaknesses are to kryptonite, and it is known that he requires oxygen to survive. Magic is considered to be a good way to combat him.

"But as you will learn, the best is to make sure he can't fight you. You will do this through psychology. The first thing to consider is what makes him want to be a hero. In Superman's case it seems that his surrogate parents on Earth brought him up 'right'. In all things, Superman is very shall we say…boy scoutish. Truth, honesty, fairness, the absolute regard for life in all forms, all of these are very much a part of Superman's creed. For most, the easiest to exploit is his regard for life. Let's explore that, shall we?"

"…his jian remains an unknown quantity, but for the most part, this Titan should be treated as hopeless when it comes to martial arts. Therefore you'd do well to remember how to disable animals." Beast Boy's image faded from the screen, and was replaced by an out-of-date picture of Raven in her old costume.

"Raven, which by all indications is her real name. A deceiving quantity, she is a half-demon sorceress with blood from Trigon, but also has a fair amount of skill in martial arts. She is not known to follow any traditional style, with one exception, but melds basic avoidance fighting with her powers, taking full advantage of them. She is one of the most physically frail Titans, but her powers let her make up for that. Instead of blocking with her arm, she will draw a shield with her hand. Though her arm-based strikes are actually very standard, she will directly apply telekinetic force to her target as she strikes. The one area she needs no help from her powers in is kicks. She has quite strong and quick legs. Combined with her ability to levitate, this lets her release a rapid-fire assault. Until recently, she was not observed to have carried and weapons or equipment other than a communicator, but she now carries a supply of depleted uranium spheres to use as projectiles, as well as a pair of wakizashi which we suspect she is just starting training with. Therefore, this information on her may soon be obsolete, as is her picture. She still wears the cloak, but has abandoned the leotard for a synthetic sportsbike riding outfit and wears her hair longer. The reason for this is our next file." A picture of Kenkaku replaced Raven's on the screen.

"Kenkaku, real name Ker Selais. He was a registered metahuman drifter hero until recently. Accounts label him as a half-demon with blood from a line of Wind and one of Soul. Carries a pair of enchanted katana, called Kanesada and Muramasa, only able to be wielded by him. He is quite skilled in their use, as he has trained in Touki no Fenikkusu-ryu. He also practices the art of kiaijutsu, the complete form, not the limited form that I teach. Recent events credit him with a victory in a duel to the death over Trigon and victories in another number of duels with demons and 'gifted' humans. Probably the most dangerous of the Titans, speaking strictly with regards to martial arts combat style. His primary weaknesses are his apparent reliance on his swords, as he seems to be less than skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and his tendency to quickly use all his ki due to his extensive use of kiaijutsu. And as mentioned before, he will kill if pressed in the wrong way, and is quite capable of doing it too. Only so much can be done to prepare you for battle with someone like him. The rest is up to your skills and quite unfortunately, a good bit of luck. That's the Titans, students." Sanjuro walked along the wall, flipping the lights back on. "Now, as we have a bit of time yet, I think it would be good if we had a short exhibition match between…Heavenstep and Ittou. Staff-based weapons, no killing or maiming, but as always, do not hold back anything else. Powers are allowed."

Both Ittou and the boy in the dogi stood up and bowed to Adia-sensei before walking onto the mat. Heavenstep selected a naginata from the weapons he had brought to class while Ittou pulled out his blades, locking them together by the bases on the handles to form a staff-blade. He spun it in his hands, the silver blades seeming to form a continuous buzz-saw like blade in the air. "Ready."

Heavenstep held his naginata forward, gaining the range advantage. "Ready."

"Then…"

"…they'll really get it!" crowed Gizmo as he stripped an extremely high-voltage wire. Examining it, and finding it good, he inserted it into the socket it was meant for, hooking the power supply to the high-frequency emitter before fastening the whole assembly into the rifle casing that the whole project was to go in. For a little warm-up they were making charged particle rifles. He was far and away the nearest to completion in the class with nothing left to do but work on the collimator and put the casing together. He pulled over his set of tools and went to work adjusting the collimator, making sure the rifle actually fired a blast rather than flooding the casing with high energy radiation and eventually killing the operator. "I tell you, those new students are going to get it but good."

"Right," said the guy at the workbench next to him. "So who exactly is going to help you with this?"

"I've got favors I can call in. Besides, with my genius, I don't need any help."

"Right, right. Well, tell me when you're going to do it. I want to see it firsthand."

"You got it."

"…Begin!"

"YAH!" Heavenstep lunged forward, circling the naginata so as to confuse Ittou as to the direction of the strike. Good luck. The spinning blades picked off the strike, forcing it far to the right of the demon. The red-skinned Bladeheir lunged forward, delivering a straight-armed palm strike to the other combatant's sternum. Heavenstep danced back, keeping on his feet, even if the strike had hit him full on. Ittou's luminescent eyes narrowed. It seemed that Heavenstep's power was always-impeccable footwork. Certainly a start to being a very, very good martial artist, but not the only part. Well, when in Rome…

Ittou's glowing eyes had been mere embers to the silver flame which now issued from his ocular sockets. His numerous black tattoos flared bright silver as well, sending dancing shadows about the room as his muscles moved. Ittou bared his fangs, a profoundly disturbing spectacle.

…KICK ASS! The demon blink-dashed at his opponent, swinging the flat side of his blades into his opponent over and over and over…

'ZAAM!'

Gizmo smiled as he saw how the few modifications he had made to the compression chamber had boosted the rifle's power. "See, -that's- how you make an energy rifle."

The teacher looked over his work. "Very good Gizmo. I see no faults. Full marks." The rest of the class were still working on their rifles. Quite a few of them shot Gizmo nasty looks as he basked in the teacher's praise.

"Well now, we're running out of time. So then. Your assignment. You will research the times where someone used Superman's code against him, and then, picking one, show what the plan was missing, as after all, Superman is still out there."

The class groaned. Most elective teachers assigned minimal extra assignments, but it didn't seem like that would be the case here. Jinx just shrugged. "Sophomore year isn't so bad for assignments, and it'll give use something to do since we're banned from most leisure time activities."

"Guess you're right. So, what's next?"

Jinx thought a bit. "We go to the testing course next. Team demonstration. Look, the plan is that you and Mammoth lead, Gizmo and I support, and Ittou protects Gizmo and me."

"Sounds good. Is Mammoth going to tell blade-boy?"

"Yeah. You sure it's safe to call Ittou that?" she asked as they picked up their books and walked out into the hall.

"I'm not dead yet," laughed Stone. "Ittou's just a big softie." Suddenly he gulped. A very familiar blade was under his chin.

"A softie, huh?" growled out Ittou. Flipping the blade out from under Stone's chin, he sheathed it on his back. "There's a pile of hamburger back in the martial arts room who says different."

Stone gasped. "You didn't kill someone already, did you?"

"No, I just tenderized him."

Stone and Jinx looked at Mammoth. "He did…"

"Masterfully too," said someone walking down the hall past them. "I look forward to seeing you and your team in action, Bladeheir."

Jinx stared at the retreating leather top-clad back. "Was that just Cephalis?"

"Yeah," answered Mammoth, "I'm pretty sure it was."

Stone looked confused. "Wait, who's Cephalis?"

"She's a human who has great capabilities to use demonic magic without her form or mind being changed in any way," said Jinx.

"That's quite a feat," added Ittou to set things straight. "For the most part, only half-demons and full blood demons can use such magic without side effects."

"Side effects? Like what?"

"Oh, psychosis, dementia, strange growths, slowly turning into a Demon of the Book, things of that nature," listed Ittou, remembering what had been in the tomes retrieved from Ker's sensei. "Some half-demons are actually susceptible to the last side-effect and turn into full demons."

"Cephalis would probably be happy to have the last side-effect. She's pretty much determined to transcend her humanity. Very solitary, very studious."

"It was somewhat of a shock to see her in martial arts," contributed Mammoth. "From the beginning, she's only taken magics in electives. Maybe she heard about you, Ittou."

"Are you saying that a human girl might have a crush on me?"

"One that would rather be a demon, but yes, that sounds about right."

"Gahhh. That bodes badly."

A/N: Well, I feel it's time I reopened this story, and got back into the swing of writing. Actually, another telling of the story of Ker has been going through my head, but I think I'll get this one more complete before I really work on that one. Anyway…I'm back.