A/N: Did you know that 30 of all the people in America get sued, but only 1 of that number actually did something wrong? The American justice system is screwed, SUCK IT UP YA WIMPS! Geez! You know if I had a dollar for every time I heard of someone suing someone else for something completely ridiculous (most of all the times when it's the fault of the suer's own shocking stupidity), I'd be able to afford that new Nintendo SP! Almost makes me want to be a judge of these things so I can come up and say, "Wait, wait, wait, you mean, to tell me, that you're suing the mailman because he kicked your dog, which was currently trying to attack him? Is that what I'm hearing? I dunno, this looks to me like a ploy to get some money, and you do realize that if I let you sue him for something that stupid, he could turn around and sue you because the dog pounced, right? We're clear on this, correct?" I mean, really, this is just pathetic people, real pathetic.

XP

The day that followed Raven's confronting of Chire'ni was one that seemed oddly cheery. Zacroma was in perfect spirits, and instead of being pulled apart, she and Malchior had become closer. The titans found out what had initially happened of course, but now that it was passed and Zacroma looked to be completely over it, the subject didn't seem to need discussion, in fact that very afternoon found Zacroma cracking a slight joke about it.

Beast Boy, also, seemed to have brightened up a lot too, whatever happened when he had brought Zacroma her tea had definitely made some sort of start. Not only that, but he seemed to be getting better at transforming, having finally mastered a dragon with relatively good proportions, and even getting better at sparring with Zacroma using the duel blades. Though this might have something to do with his newfound encouragement.

Cyborg was almost in ecstasy, after having completely recovered from his ordeal, he'd hardly left the training room. He was pushing himself to his limits like no one could believe, and the blasts from their robotic training partners barely did a thing to him, even when he just stood there and let them blast away. And he was hardly ever tiring now, as his battery not only had a limitless quality to it, but it also contributed to helping his still-human parts keep going as well.

Robin and Starfire were going to go on another date that weekend (which merited the buying of even more magazines), and Zacroma had promised Robin she had a dress that he would love (not Starfire, Robin). Needless to say, he was a bit iffy about this, but that didn't spoil his spirits much in looking forward to it.

However, that's about where the cheer stopped, Raven, Malchior, and Rorek didn't want to spoil the other's spirits, so they mostly kept their problems to themselves. Raven, currently, was a little depressed over the whole thing with Chire'ni, she couldn't help it, the emotion was just there. But she was getting over that, what was worrying her now, was Judora. So far, Vincent's attack had been the only sign of her. It felt disconcerting that, now that Judora had a Death Wraith, she wasn't using it.

Malchior and Rorek agreed with this, but that wasn't all that was bothering them.

Well, they weren't exactly being bothered, but it was causing a disturbance of sorts. A casual hovering of several people in a room found the two of them standing next to each other, and then when they realized this, at opposite ends of the room. They were sending glares at each other one moment, and then the next finishing each other's sentences. Then Raven had actually caught them in a sort of push-and-shove session that might have escalated into an all-out fist-fight had she not stopped it in time. And then the two of them tried to have private time with her, at the same time. This was where she drew the line of course (mostly because this triggered a little too much sexual tension and she was not ready for that quite yet), and sent them both out of her room. That didn't go over too well as they were hissing at each other the entire time.

They were merging, shockingly fast, that much was obvious, but they were fighting it pretty hard. The only problem with this was that it was exactly what Judora wanted.

The day came and went much like the last, save Raven was going to work instead of confronting Chire'ni.

"Sorry I couldn't make it yesterday, there were…uh, a few issues." Raven told her boss.

"That's okay, I understand." Auron said with a bit of a sigh. "I've hired a full-time employee, him combined with Justin and you at intervals will help keep me from busting my rear end so much. Forget this 'saving money' crap, I'm getting too old for this." He muttered. Raven stared at him. Seemed she wasn't the only one having a hard time, well duh, Auron had to have a life too.

"Ever hear from Elsa?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, actually, she asked me to say goodbye to you, and gave me her phone number to give to you, in case you wanted it. She said she was going to miss working with me, but she's been getting small-time offers after that movie, Ferosin I think was it's name. But yeah, she's already moving to LA." He answered.

"Ferosin? That's the new horror film, I saw it on a commercial once, didn't see Elsa though." Raven considered, "Of course I wasn't exactly paying much attention to it."

"Yeah, well, you're co-worker's currently manning the register, why don't you go over and say hello while I finish with these books?" Auron asked.

Raven nodded, and went to see who she would be working with. But it seemed Auron's standard had dropped a bit in the looks department. The boy was around 16, with messy jet black hair, brown eyes, and not one piercing save for one earlobe, and that was just a simple metal band, nothing special. He had on a black t-shirt with "I'll be laughing at your funeral" on it, but his plane blue jeans fit him properly, he had a square build and was average in the muscular department. Raven felt her spirits lift, perhaps Auron had found a medium between Elsa and Justin.

"Hey, I'm Raven, you're co-worker, nice to meet you." Raven said, approaching him as he mused over something on the desk.

"Hey, name's Duke." He answered, only glancing up at her and then back down, seeming to be pricing a few things for the display, and then his eyes shot back up again.

"Right, I'll be telling off immature customers for rearranging the bookshelves, tell me if you'd like a break from the counter." She said.

"Actually, could you help me with this? Auron says you're good as spotting the true value of things." He asked hastily.

"Alright." She said, pretending not to notice a thing. She picked up a book that he'd priced and frowned, "This is a peace of junk." She said, flipping through the pages, "You can't sell this for 50 dollars, it's an imitation, better make it 15." She told him.

"Oh." He said, looking a bit embarrassed, and guilty.

"These two look good, however, and this one's, well, actually I think it could sell for about 50." She said, studying the rest of the tombs he had. "As for those figurines, well, since they're modern works you sell them for more than you bought them, so they're probably alright." She told him.

"Er, right." He said, still staring at her. Raven raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why don't you let me handle this while you take care of the nice customer waiting for you over there." Raven said, gesturing to the girl who was biting her lip to keep from laughing.

Unfortunately, as time went on, Duke progressed past just staring at her, and started the subtle flirting. Mind, it was much better than she usually got "Hey baby, wanna come to my place and chill?", yeah, it was a lot more...smooth, but nonetheless obvious. Though that didn't last long.

"So, ah, me and some friends were gonna go to this hot new dance club called Cybiria, you wanna come? You could be my guest, I'm sure my friends would like you." He asked her. "I know you might not be into dancing, but it's got a bar, and they'll sell you anything so long as you don't give them proof that you're not over 21."

"Been there," She told him, not even turning from putting the books back in order, "Met the person who killed me in a past life, and I'd rather not run into her again." She said.

"You had a past life? Sweet, what was it like?" He asked.

"I don't remember much." She answered, wishing he would leave her alone.

"Well, what do you remember?" He pressed, stepping forward.

Like I'm gonna tell you. Raven thought irritably. "Look, do the words, 'I have a boyfriend' mean anything to you?" She asked.

"Yeah, it means I have competition." He answered smiling. Raven turned back to the books, forcing her temper down.

"No competition," She said, "Both in my own eyes and viewed by the male's testosterone-based way of thinking." She answered.

"Really? I doubt that, give me a chance and I'll bet I can go past his standards. I bet he's got nothing that I can't match and surpass." Duke bosted.

"I bet he does." She snorted.

"Really? What?"

Raven was about to turn around and answer with something snappy, but then saw Malchior standing behind Duke. To say he was ticked would have been an understatement.

"Fangs and the ability to breath fire for one." He said with a low dangerous growl.

Duke turned around quickly, and found himself looking slightly up into a pair of blood red eyes, boring into his own with a look that could turn a braver man into jelly. Duke had readied some sort of retort, but it came out as a cough.

"You'd do well to keep your eyes, and hands, off my woman, mortal, else your internal organs become a part of my internal organs." Malchior said, calmly, but dangerously. He seemed to tower over Duke even though he was only half a head taller. Right now he was cutting a very intimidating figure, the black armor helping, but the fact that his entire air seemed to give off a non-human vibe made him downright terrifying. That, coupled with the fact that his death glare had been fixed upon Duke, it was no wonder the poor boy seemed frozen with fear. "Is this human bothering you, Love?" He asked Raven, though he was still leering at Duke.

Raven raised her head, which she had previously been covering with her hand in a 'why me?' sort of why, and said, "Not enough to warrant a death threat, by you of all people, Malchior what are you doing here?"

Malchior looked at her, taken aback, "Removing a thorn in your side of course! Also making sure this puny human knows his place." He said, turning back to Duke, who was trying, ever so subtly, to scoot away, but froze the moment Malchior's eyes returned to him. "You've got a lot of nerve thinking you can compare yourself to me." He said, his voice back to being low and dangerous.

"Malchior." Raven warned, "Enough, leave him alone, he wasn't doing anything, and he won't be doing anything after this so you can quit asserting your superiority now." She told him.

"But, but it's fun to be the jealous boyfriend! And I'm not asserting my superiority, okay maybe I am, but I'm being territorial! Only this bloke isn't helping, he isn't even challenging my gaze, much less my claim over you." Malchior said, frowning in disappointment now.

Duke just stared at him, amazement and confusion overpowering his fear. "Um, what?"

"Forget it!" Raven snapped before Malchior could start explaining some dragon custom or social rule. "What did you want?" She asked Malchior again.

"Mmm, to catch you before you were off work." He answered, a mischievous glint in his eye. Raven raised an eyebrow.

"Riiiiight, just don't terrorize the customers." She told him.

Malchior looked at Duke, who was regarding him as though he were a little out of it, but not wanting to make any assumptions, "He's a worker, right?" He asked.

"And don't terrorize the workers either!" Raven snapped.

"D#." Malchior grumbled.

XD

"I think the kethnic water's probably ready by now, but searching for Slade seems like a waste." Raven mused. "Perhaps we could use it to find Judora instead, but we don't have anything of Judora's to use. You think there's another round-about way we could use it to search for her?" She asked.

"You're doing this on purpose." Malchior, who had been grazing her neck with nips and kisses, grumbled irritably, trying with all his might to heat up the mood of the cool night air. He'd drug her to a quiet spot in one of the local parks, found a bench, and had pulled her onto his lap.

Raven couldn't keep the smirk down. "Doing what?" She asked innocently.

"You know exactly 'what'. I go to all the trouble of giving us some very alone time, without the chance of being interrupted, and here you are trying to talk about that woman." He growled. Raven fought back a snigger, which turned into a gasp and a start as Malchior's finger traced the bust-line of her left breast. "That's more like it." He whispered seductively.

Raven's insides seemed to shiver, as the sensual pleasure she'd been fighting against began to spread, gradually pushing Judora and Slade from her mind as Malchior's thumb continued to rub that area. She knew she should stop him, before he went any farther but…why?

His lips began to trail up and down her neck again, only this time he was getting the reaction he wanted. She shivered and sighed, gasping when his hand trailed down and began to rub her bear legs, first on the outside, and then he began stroking the inside. Raven regained herself enough to keep his hand from going a little too far up along her leg. He obliged and brought it back up her torso so he could resume what he had been doing previously.

Finally, Raven decided to contribute, she turned around in his lap and caught his lips up in hers and started kissing him forcefully. He took in a deep breath through his nose and returned the kiss with a new vigor. Soon their tongues where entwining with each other, and Raven found herself pushing against Malchior, for the second time becoming the dominant one. She realized this, and hesitated, breaking off for a second with an uncertain look. But then Malchior smiled encouragingly to her, and began to trace his fingers up her spine, "Does Dark Raven want to come out and play?" He whispered.

Something was taking hold of Raven, something not entirely foreign, but something she found herself fighting against. However, it only took another second before she caught herself, and decided to go with it. She pressed her lips back to Malchior's, and they began to kiss with even more passion.

Malchior tried to reclaim some of his dominancy by pulling her down onto the bench beneath him, but this Raven wasn't going to have it. She grabbed him and pushed him under her, pinning him down as best she could on the bench, which was far too narrow for a bed substitute, but would do for this. Malchior wasn't complaining at all, however, especially when Raven's lips trailed down and she began licking his jaw line like he always did to her. He gasped and groaned, his hands groping restlessly about her back and waist, urging her on. She didn't disappoint him, she nibbled his ear a bit, and then pushed his already gathered up scarf down even farther to expose his neck. She bit him, a little harder than she meant to, but made up for it by licking the wound.

He seemed to melt beneath her, his eyes only half open while his hands began to massage her back for nothing better to do. She continued giving him far more gentle love bites, ones that weren't going to leave marks, and then licking them.

And then she stopped, froze, her eyes wide with a sudden realization. "What?" Malchior gasped, his voice sounding extremely put out, but nonetheless concerned.

"I just remembered…when Rorek and I were on our date, when Judora made the circle that transported us…she'd have had to use some of her own blood in order to make it. And unless she took drastic pains in order to gather up an entire block's worth of dirt from that area, the remains will still be there. We could very well use the dirt to find out where she is because it hasn't been a full moon cycle since then!" She exclaimed.

Malchior looked up at her with a pained and pitiful expression, "You stopped just for that? Were you thinking about it the entire time?" He wined.

Raven looked down at him and gave him a rather incredulous look, "For your information, no, I was merely thinking a little about that date because we're in a very similar situation, with a few drastic differences, but still. And then I remembered, and this is a little more important than a make-out session alright?" She said.

"Well, yes I know, but did you have to just, stop?" He complained, his expression and voice were increasingly immature, looking as though Christmas had been canceled, and he was a little boy who counted down the days until it came.

Raven sighed, "Alright, sorry, I guess that was a little sudden." She said, and she pressed her lips back to his, engaging in a sort of finishing kiss to keep him happy. It lasted for a few minutes, and then they broke off, "Now can we go check it out?" She asked.

He sighed heavily. "If we must." He mumbled, looking still dejected.

XD

Raven and Malchior landed softly on the ground, near the familiar bench that she and Rorek had shared their own passionate out-door kiss, and under the very lamp that illuminated the entire area. Raven knelt down, knowing that they would be standing right on top of the circle, and began to feel the ground. "It's still here! I can feel it, I don't believe this, you would think she'd do a better job of making the circle in the first place, even if she did have to teleport it. If I can trace the lines, and I can, then it's like she didn't even bother to clean up after herself, at all." She muttered.

"Which makes you wonder if it's really her blood she used." Malchior said.

"Well, there's one way to find out." Raven said, walking out of the circle just in case. She summoned a knife from her room and sliced open her wrist, flinching slightly as she did so. But the next moment it was gone, leaving no marking on pure white skin. Dark Raven walked back to the circle and bent down, touching the earth as she had before, but after a moment she stood straight back up and howled in rage.

"What! What is it!" Malchior demanded.

"Hangman's blood!" Raven hissed, kicking the ground. "She used her blood alright, but she also used Hangman's blood as well, to be sure I can't curse it and therefore her." She explained.

"Um, what now?" Malchior asked, eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Oh, right. Well, it's a little hard to explain, but, well, if done right a dead man or woman's blood would have the power to undo my purification if I absorbed it." She sighed and scratched her chin in concentration, "How to explain this, okay, you know enough about blood to know that, as it circulates through the body, it can pick up and absorb memories and emotions right?" He nodded. "Well, certain memories and emotions can have power, a lot of power if they are brought out properly. Not least of which is a dead human's blood. Do you follow?" she asked.

"I think so, but why would Hangman's blood have that sort of effect and none other?" He asked.

"Well, think of it this way, a sudden death would give very little time for the blood to record the memory. But a slow, deliberate death, that's different. What goes on through the mind of someone when they know, without a doubt, that they're about to die? And what happens to these thoughts when they do die? Someone who was tortured to death would be a bit different, because they have a lot of pain taking away from their ability to actually think. When you're hanged, you have time to actually experience the sensation of your death, depending on how light you are anyway. But this slow, not entirely painful death leaves the victim's blood time to record the whole process, and, sometimes, the actual death is recorded." She explained, "That's why hangman blood is such a valuable asset, especially if it was a criminal being hanged, and the criminal was innocent."

"So, how would that effect you?" Malchior asked.

"Think about it, the most powerful memory of that blood would be the death, and I would absorb that, I would have death in me, I could likely go insane with it and revert. I'm a purified demon, but nothing is set in stone." She answered.

"Great, so we can't use this blood to find Judora?" He asked.

"Well, I can't do it in the way that I'd like to, but, and I'll have to consult Rorek on this as it's his spell, the dirt should be good enough that we can scurry for her." Raven said. She then summoned an empty jar from her closet, and began poking around to find the spot that had the most remains in it before scooping it up into the jar. "That should do it." She said, banishing it.

"So…" Malchior began, his hands slipping down along her arms, and then holding them along her waist, "Now that you're out, does Dark Raven want to play?" He whispered seductively.

"Heheh." She said, bringing a hand up out of his grip to flick his nose playfully, "You already had yours, it's Rorek's turn next." She told him, releasing herself from his arms.

"But, but but—" He argued, but she pressed her finger to his lips.

"Alright, I need a little blood so I'll do it this way." She said, pulling his scarf down farther to reveal his neck. She started licking the spot she was going to puncture first, making him shiver and groan with anticipation. Then she sank her fangs into his skin and he gasped. It probably hurt a bit, but in this situation it was a sensual pain, one that he would like. She took only as much as she needed and let go, but then began to lick the duel wounds until they stopped bleeding, and then continued a little, putting some frosting on the cake. When she finished, she reverted back to normal. "Alright let's go, the sooner we get this done, the better." She said, taking hold of Malchior's arm and teleporting the both of them back to the Tower.

XD

"I don't know, I mean, the spell requires a sort of ownership of the item, I'm not sure blood-soaked dirt would work." Rorek mused thoughtfully.

"Well, if your spell works the same way Voodoo does with that, it should only be a matter of changing a few things to tell the spell that we're using blood instead." Raven said.

"Voodoo? What's that?" Malchior questioned.

"I'm surprised Rorek doesn't know of it, if he was in Africa for a while, but then it doesn't get too much attention nowadays. It's a very unsavory branch of magic that originated in south Africa I believe, I'm not exactly sure because I never liked it, but it's most powerful spells involve using something that belongs to the person you want to cast the spell against. The reason for this was because that item most likely had been handled by this person a good deal, and therefore there would be enough fragments of their skin to override anyone else's handling of it. The skin is needed for DNA, and they are able to use DNA like how Dark Raven and some spells from the Book of Blood can curse someone using their blood, only it's a bit different in that they can only use it to effect the person it belongs to." She explained.

"DNA, that's the genetic makeup stuff isn't it?" Malchior asked. "I think I remember being owned by someone who once talked about the concept, so I think I have an idea of what you're saying."

"Just about any part of the body, save hair I think, can be used to extract DNA. Blood is a major source, so if you can give me details about this spell you're using, Rorek, I might be able to fix it. That is, if it doesn't work already." Raven mused.

"Well, thinking of it that way, it probably will." Rorek said.

"How do you know?" Raven asked.

"Well, you were the one who invented the spell in the first place, and you distinctly told me that sometimes it might not work with just anything, because it had to be something the person touched a lot." He answered.

"If we're lucky, you were on the same line of thinking then as you are now." Malchior mused.

Raven blinked, "Oh. Well, I think I got plenty of dirt, we can try it with a sample first and, if it doesn't work, see about altering the spell." She said.

"Sounds good. When do we start?" Asked Rorek.

"Tomorrow morning, as soon as possible." Raven answered.

XP

A/N: Wow, it is really hard to type with band-aids on your fingers (wrapped up gifts from my loving kitty, I think I hear the word 'de-clawing' echoing in the background), ahem, yeah, I barely got this chapter done in time because of this old game I've been re-playing (muuuuust focuuuuuuuusssssss). So yeah. Anyways! I'm gonna try and make this quick because it really isn't easy to type with damaged fingers.

Crimsonsun-rk: Well, it's like when you think in words, it's sort of like there's a voice in your head, but its your voice. That's what's happening with raven, they're her thoughts, however they're the thoughts of the darker her. Say you have a split personality, it'd sort of be like you have one side of your head thinking this, and then the other side would be thinking that, and people do talk to themselves sometimes. So that's sort of the way it is. They're different personalities, but yet they're still Raven as a whole. Make sense?

Jemerik: of course I missed you! I can hardly get to sleep at night without the sounds of biting chests flinging themselves into the walls and you're screaming to lull me to sleep! Lol, just kidding! But yeah, I want to be a writer sooooo baaaaaaadly when I grow up, it's my dream job! Heck, I'm living in my own worlds more than this one, might as well make some money off of it so I don't have to do anything else! HAHAHAHAHAHA! And yes, Wish I Had an Angel is one of my favorites off Once. And a good day to you too madam. (If you are a sir, I apologize many times over in advance).

Dark ki: LOL! OMG THAT'S GOOD! Well, I dunno about the book store, and I don't know about the kid thing (are you sure we want something like that running lose on the earth? Madness I tell you!) but I might, might go with this idea you gave me about Cyborg's love interest. Won't say more about it! And Starfire talking slang? Well, that might be fun, heheheheh. She can get a slang dictionary next!

Pandora Kattalikis: Ooooooh don't worry, she's come'n! We've just hit the calm before the storm, and I hope you like what I have in store for you guys!

Storm Front: GAH! A HOLE! A HOLE IN MY PRECIOUS STORY! AND I DIDN'T CATCH IT, AAAAAAAAAHHHHH! Okay, let's say for the sake of a patch, that Judora couldn't kill him, but she could beat him down until he was so week he couldn't stand against any spell she might want to place on him. And also, with the thing with Chire'ni, we can either day that Zacroma didn't know they couldn't be killed that way, or that they could only be killed by an outside force if it was at the exact same time, which it would have been, so yeah. I WILL HAVE TO FIX THAT LATER THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CATCHING IT FOR ME! (begins to grumble irritably) Can't believe I didn't catch it, this sucks…

To all of you who like Chire'ni, she isn't dead, don't worry, I didn't go through all that trouble of making her character just to leave her hanging over there, collecting dust. Alright? Alright.

Ja ne!