A/N: IMPORTANT NOTICE! The last chapter has been reposted, if you read this and don't get anything that's happening, you probably didn't read the rest of the last chapter. So, just in case you have only been checking to see if there's a next chapter, you might want to go back and read the rest of chapter 28. Okidoki?
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It burned, almost like fire, but different. It reminded Raven of the images she'd seen of the sun on the television, where strips of it seemed to coil about, or become released from it to create a solar flair. The light's color was golden, like the sun, but also white, like the moon. Sometimes simultaneously, and other times it looked one color.
It was definitely a cross, a huge one, standing upon its own island, it wasn't as large as some of the buildings that had been able to keep themselves erect so far, but it was big enough to classify itself as a building. And in its light Raven could see that there were dozens of lesser demons, not close enough that the strips of smoky light would reach them, but hanging around in sections of land that surrounded it, swimming around and sometimes taking flight.
For a while, Raven could only stare at it, in spite of it's near blinding quality. She couldn't take her eyes off it, and also couldn't help but notice that it's light seemed to be muffled by the darkness, it didn't seem to illuminate the place as much as it probably should, and Raven could only guess why. But, the thing about it was, she'd seen that cross before.
"Ror-er, Malorek," She breathed, giving him an apologetic look, which he brushed off with a wave of his hand and nodded for her to continue. "That cross," She said, "It's the same, the same one as in my dream." She told him. "And this place, it seems so…familiar." She said, looking about. The area around the cross was definitely a lake, one that the city was built around, and whose waters were definitely far calmer than they should be.
"Probably from the dream." He said, frowning.
"Maybe but…" She shook her head, and continued to stare. "You think, this place, maybe…" She turned to Malorek, "Before we fell, I saw it, the white cloak, I saw it. It was exactly as it was in my dream, in all my dreams it feels. Out of my reach, and getting farther away from me. And then the Cross, what if this is where we were meant to be? What if the answer to everything is somehow in this world?" She asked. "What if our friend was from this world, and in return for helping us out, he or she somehow made it so Judora's spell sent us here of all places?" She asked.
"Yeah, well if that's the case I don't fancy his chances against Judora, if he couldn't handle the problems in his own world…"
"But maybe this is something that only you, or I can fix, what if this Demon and Sorceress are more powerful than Judora? Remember, on a one on one match with Judora, I would win. And now, you definitely would as well. Judora's just so deadly to us because she knows all of this and has been able to come up with ways to get around that rather efficiently. The only reason this didn't go as she planned was because of our friend, otherwise I imagine it would have worked. So, don't we owe it to them to help set this world right?" She asked.
Malorek paused, opened his mouth, and closed it again. He shook his head, "I still don't know, you told me about this 'friend', but I'm not sure they're entirely trustworthy, I mean, well, he didn't exactly show you his face, or approach you. He could have just asked and explained what he was going to do or something. Wouldn't it have been easier to help us kill of Judora first, and then ask for help? He'd have gotten it that way, I'm sure." He said, scratching his chin in thought.
"…Good point." Raven said, considering. Why hadn't their supposed friend avoided letting them see him or her? It didn't make sense.
"What tha—oh, you two again? Did you purposely follow us?" Asked a familiar male voice.
"No, we just came here to enjoy the view. That's the second time we've run into each other." Malorek mused, turning around to face the group they'd recently acquainted themselves with.
"This is one of the safest spots, right in The Cross's light yet not close enough to attract the attention of the guards. Though we're usually the only one's brave, or stupid, enough to get even this close." The girl, Shila, said.
In spit of the rather stifling effect of the area, the foursome's faces were all thrown into sharper relief, and Raven could make out hair styles and colors, as well as skin tones. She blinked, and squinted, they all seemed to have some form of dark hair, some of them were gray, others black, and their skin seemed to have been darkened. None of this was natural, which was quite obvious. Their clothing was all darkly colored, with blacks, grays, and even some browns in the mix. All designed for swift movement and protection, though she could see a few cleverly disguised gadgets on their wrists and feet. Most likely they had a sort of laser on their wrists, and something in their shoes that allowed them the ability to jump so high.
Also, it seemed, they were easier to make out as well.
"Are you insane, woman? Wearing white in a place like this, I'd change that outfit fast if I were you." Said a dark gray headed man, he was rather big and muscular, with skin that looked tan, but Raven was sure it had been tattooed that color somehow. He had a harshly set face, not very handsome, but one that looked well rounded to the conditions of this world.
"So I'm beginning to feel." Raven said, glad, for some strange reason, that her hood was over her head and her cloak over her body.
Shila's hair was short and choppy, but she looked gaunt, thin, almost the opposite of her gray headed friend with a small frame and bony arms. She regarded Malorek with narrowed eyes. "Um, is that…your hair?" She asked, staring blankly at his silver locks.
"What this? Oh no, it's a helmet, very fashionable on my planet. Yes it's my hair, you think I'd walk around like this if it weren't natural?" He snapped. Raven put a hand on his shoulder, and he seemed to calm down under her touch.
"Stop. This is neither the time, nor the place." She told him simply.
"Actually, this would be the best time and place for a row. The Demon's a good ways away right now, we're in the light of The Cross, and we're on top of a building, meaning whoever looses will get thrown off rather quick and the battle will end quick, and with the guards feasting on the looser far enough away that we get a head start in getting away." Pointed out a rather scrawny, yet weather beaten youth with a mop of darkened brown hair.
"I'm so glad." Malorek muttered, looking over his shoulder at The Cross. "Well, we're not getting any answers standing around here. And I'm up for a good work out," He said to Raven, jerking his head towards The Cross.
"Don't be stupid!" Raven hissed before anyone else could, "You can't just go barreling in there like that!"
"What, you think I can't handle a few demons?" He asked, looking indignant.
"That's not it," Raven snapped, "You could attract the attention of this Sorceress real easily that way, and we don't know how powerful she is! She might already know we're here and is just waiting for us to try something so she can trap us." She wanted to go on, but Malorek silenced her.
"You're too use to Judora," He said flatly, "I don't think this sorceress will think the way she does, and I seriously doubt she's quite as omnipotent-seeming as well. How the heck could she, for one, know we're here already unless she's specifically looking for us, and, for another, know how powerful we are and how to trap us? Hm? I doubt anything she tries to throw at us right now would work, even if she did know about us." He stated.
"Oh, think you're a big man don't you?" Hissed Gray Hair.
"Shut up, human, or I'll have your heart for supper." Malorek suddenly snapped, his temper rising and his eyes flashing a fierce violet.
"Malorek, what's gotten into you! They didn't do anything to us!" Raven exclaimed.
Malorek looked at her, and the fire in his eyes dies, "Sorry," He muttered, sitting down and holding his head, "I don't know, negative vibes I suppose. There's too much of it in the air." He muttered.
Raven turned to the group, who were just staring at them, and sighed. "Sorry, you didn't ask for that, but for now, we're in the same boat as you." She said, sitting down beside Malorek.
Shila chuckled, "Wow, a peacemaker. Don't get many of those." She said, coming over to sit down near Raven. "So what's your name? I'm Shila." She asked.
"Raven, and this is Malorek." She answered.
"That's Grissom, there." She said, pointing to the big gray man, who relaxed and nodded, sitting down near enough that they were making an oddly shaped circle.
"Blade." Introduced the black haired Asian-looking boy who'd been silent the entire time. He sat down near Shila, as the last came over to Grissom.
"I'm Mace." Said the dark brown haired boy.
Malorek just grunted his greeting, not looking at anyone. Raven put her hand on his shoulder and scooted closer to comfort him. He placed his own hand on hers in a silent 'thank you'.
"So, ah, from another world, are you?" Asked Mace.
Raven nodded, "We think we were sent here to help, but…" She trailed, looking up into the sky. There were no stars, just thick black clouds it seemed. "A demon that powerful…I don't think I've ever faced one that was resistant to rosary." She said. Never mind that she was one, well, in human form anyway. As a demon she wasn't too sure.
"Hey, if you can get a handful of people and take them with you back to your world, it'd be a start. You might come back and sneak some more." Shila said.
"No, adding to our own world's population would hardly be the answer. This is your home." Malorek suddenly came up. "I'm sure it'll be a chore to rebuild, but you've survived this long, haven't you? And you've already colonized your moon, meaning you've somehow managed to cultivate it and get proper food sources from it. After getting rid of The Sorceress and The Demon, somehow, it would be a simple matter of searching out all the little minions and getting rid of them. You could probably put them to work, show them what it's like to be oppressed and all." He said.
"And just how are we suppose to get rid of our two main oppressors?" Asked Grissom, fighting to keep the edge of his voice down.
"Excuse me, 'we'? There's no 'we' in this. Raven and I will be getting rid of these two, you just have to stay alive while we figure out a good way of doing it." Malorek said.
"Malorek, I'm not sure,"
"You know, Raven, I'm beginning to think that you believe I'm not powerful enough to handle a bloody sorceress. Judora's got nothing on me now that I'm whole, and unless this sorceress is a demi-god, I doubt she does either." He said.
"That's the point, what if she is?" Raven asked.
"She can't be, if she has to hide behind a bloody cross just to hold her own against a demon, high or not. And you're no weakling either, may I remind you? You're being a little too cautious about this,"
"Mainly because every time we've taken risks so far we've ended up doing exactly what our enemy wants us to!" Raven interrupted.
"This is not our enemy, and this is not our world. They don't know us here, so there's no way this sorceress will be able to do anything about it." Malorek pointed out.
"And what happens if we're underestimating her? What happens if she's somehow a contact to Judora and knows exactly who we are, and what to do with us?" Raven asked.
"Well, then she'll only have that kind of information on you won't she? It wasn't in Judora's plan for me to get sent here too, remember?" he answered.
"Uh, can we save this lover's quarrel for another time?" Asked Shila. Raven looked over, and found she was standing up, and staring at something in the distance. She stood up as well, and looked.
"What's that?" She asked, seeing something, something she could only see because of its lights, dip through the clouds above, and descending, seemingly to go straight towards them.
"A shuttle!" Gasped Grissom. "Are they insane! What the f333 are they playing at!" He cried, just as the steady sound of wind reached their ears.
"They're mad, landing here where there are the most guards about, I don't believe this." Spat Mace. "Come on, we'd better get inside before it lands, don't want to be spotted by the guards." He said, gesturing to the door, which would lead them beneath the top of the building.
"Right, coming?" Shila asked Raven.
But she shook her head, "If we can save the shuttle, you might be able to get to the Moon Colonies on it." She told them.
"Alright, we'll see." She said, running to the door with her three male companions, "Us, we've not got a magical bone in our body, so we'll just be out of the way." She called before the door closed.
Raven and Malorek watched the shuttle as it made its decent upon an uneven building top not too far from them. And no sooner had it landed than what seemed to be hundreds of demons began to swarm towards it, most coming out of the lake and taking flight towards it, their wings making a chorus of loud rustling sounds as they flew towards it. And they didn't ignore Raven and Malorek either, several split from the original swarm, coming at them, their huge fangs bared as they swooped.
"Argenteus, Cendere, Spiritus!" Malorek cried.
"Necronom, Hesburek, Mortix!" Raven exclaimed.
If The Sorceress hadn't known they were there before, she would now. Not only did a wave of silver flames erupt and send the sky ablaze with their inferno, but dark violets, reds, and blues in black seemed to cradle these flames, twist in them, and then spread throughout the sky, crackling as flicks of it destroyed any demons who were trying to get away from the entity-like mass it had become.
When Malorek and Raven stopped sending their power into the mass, it stayed, hovering for a space of time to seek out stragglers, and then dissipating, leaving but a few demons.
Unfortunately, these that were spared had wasted no time in gawking, they'd run over to the shuttle and were currently in the process of ripping it's pilot up in two before Raven and Malorek got there. However the pilot seemed to be able to defend himself somehow as he had yet to be demon food.
Raven and Malorek teleported. There were three demons, Malorek grabbed one and ripped its head off its shoulders, Raven took hold of another using her natural power to levitate, and held him still so she could send a beam of destruction at him, and the third, having no other buddies to distract the pilot, suddenly found himself headless as well.
"Thanks." Huffed a young, male voice. "I don't know who you are or, how you did that," He gasped, "But we owe you, big time. Especially me." He said.
"What, were you on some kind of suicide mission!" Malorek snapped, "You could have been killed! And what's with the outfit, you look like—" Malorek stopped abruptly, and Raven turned to stare.
No, it can't be, but, what a coincidence. She thought, looking the youth up and down. He had a full body suite on, one that covered his entire body, somehow the suite covered his lips and eyes as well, but allowed him the ability to speak with an opening that didn't fall off the mouth. His nose was covered, and his eyes were just white places, sort of like Robin's mask. But the thing about him was he had two tall ears, and a red bat symbol on his chest.
"Someone you know?" He asked, raising an eyebrow that amounted to little more than one of the white spaces stretching open.
Raven shook her head, "Doesn't matter, what were you planning?" She asked him. He pointed, and the two of them turned to look.
A boatload of people, several of them, all with guns, had just landed on the island where The Cross was at, and filling towards it with goggles on, probably to keep out the light.
"Oooooh, I get it. You were planning to lure all the demons to you, so your friends would have time to get a piece of The Cross and get back without too many of them to deal with. That was quite risky." Malorek said, but the boy wasn't listening.
"What? You're not making any sense." He was muttering, two hands on his temple as though he were listening to something. He then turned to Raven. "Um, this is going to sound really strange, but is your name Raven?" He asked.
Raven whipped all the way around to face him, "How do you know my name?" She asked, staring at him, wide-eyed.
The boy's eyes widened and he just stared, from her, to Malorek, and then back again. "Your not, you can't…no, that's not…" He muttered, shaking his head. "It's impossible, but…would you lower your hood?" he asked.
Raven did as he asked, not seeing what the point in this was suppose to be. The boy held his hand to his temple again, "Alright! Alright I get it!" He muttered to whoever seemed to be yelling in his ear. "Come on, it's not safe for you here." He said, gesturing to the shuttle.
"Are you sure we'll fit?" Asked Raven, looking at it as she put her hood back over her head automatically.
"There's enough room for 12 people if you squeeze, come on." He said.
"Then can we fit 4 more?" Asked Malorek abruptly.
"What!"
Raven shook her head, clutching it. Her mind was reeling, but years of training stopped it, and she focused on the matter at hand. "Four more people, I'll get them, I'll be quick." She said, teleporting to the other building.
She was lucky, the group had come out to see what was going on, and were currently goggling at Raven. "You did it? You killed them off? I don't believe it." Shila said.
"No time for that, we were able to save the shuttle, and it'll be able to take us to the Moon Colonies." She said swiftly, grabbing Shila. "Join hands everyone, questions can wait." She told them. There was no guarantee that the youth was going to wait for very long.
Numbly, they did as she asked, and she teleported them all to the next building with surprising ease. The youth was ready, he had the shuttle open from the back. "Come on." He said, not looking at all loath to take some people back.
"What about your friends?" Malorek asked, gesturing his head towards The Cross.
"They've got their own way back. I was on a suicide mission, remember?" The youth replied as Raven followed the four into the shuttle.
He had been right, Raven could definitely see how 12 people could fit inside, even though it looked like it had barely enough passenger space for two from the outside. She brushed this away and sat down in a chair. Malorek took the one next to her's in the pair. Shila and Grissom were in the set next to them, and next to them sat Blade and Mace. There were two more seats just behind the single driver's chair, but that was it.
This world's batman closed the hold and slipped into the driver seat swiftly. He fired up the engine with such speed, it felt like they were in the air only a second after he sat down. Well, that made sense, if you were going to have a shuttle coming down to the main planet, it had better be able to take off in the blink of an eye, especially if the driver is being chased by guards.
Soon they were in the clouds, which looked just as black inside as they did outside, and not long after that they were over them, the sun burning brightly and brilliantly. The four tagalongs gasped, and Shila let out an "oh!"
"Haven't you seen the sun?" Asked Malorek curiously.
"No!" Shila answered, unable to conceal the wonder in her voice.
"Sometimes the clouds thin and we can see better than today, but they've never dispersed completely. Not around Cross Hope." Grissom told them.
"Why?" Asked Raven. "I mean, what's the point?"
He shrugged, "Make the place seem more gloomy than it already is I suppose."
"Or, make us more miserable than we already are, I'll wager." Said Mace.
When they began to break the atmosphere, Raven had expected to feel the G-force, but she felt nothing. They seemed to get through it without any problems. Apparently the devastation of the main planet had not kept the Moon Colonies from advancing in technology. And when they had done so, the youth driving let out a slow sigh of relief, which seemed to erase all the tension inside the capsule.
"We'll have to orbit a bit in order to reach the moon, but that won't take long." He said, he then turned around in his seat and looked straight at Raven, "Once there, I'm sure my superior will be able to explain what the heck is going on because I have about as good an idea as you probably do."
"How you know my name would be a good start to this conversation." Raven told him, lowering her hood again to frown at him.
"Well, honestly, it could be a coincidence. The old man's getting on in years, he could be delusional." He answered, turning his seat around, apparently having engaged the autopilot. "But for some reason he shouted your name in my ear when I saw you."
"Say what?" Both Raven and Shila asked at the same time.
"He's able to see through this suite, so he knows what's happening, he can also hear through it as well. I imagine the reason he isn't bantering me for calling him delusional is because he's no longer at the controls. Probably overseeing the return of the others." He said.
"So why were you chosen to be the suicide agent for this?" Asked Malorek. "You don't seem much older than 17."
"Um, that's Batman, he's at the top of The Sorceress's To-Kill list, and is still alive." Mace said. Raven's eyes widened, and she looked from Mace to the youth in front of them.
"Second to top," he corrected. "But we're unable to make contact with the trio who's gotten to the top, and even if we could, they'd be irreplaceable. Still, I was enough to get all of the guards coming after me, wasn't I?" He asked.
"I was wondering why they all felt the need to attack you." Malorek muttered.
"Wanted a piece of the glory, no doubt!" Mace exclaimed, regarding 'Batman' with a look of deep respect.
"But how would you know Raven? I mean, they're from another planet." Shila said.
Batman shook his head, "I don't know, we'll have to wait until we get to the Colonies to figure that out. Maybe you once helped our planet out before?" He asked her.
She considered, "It's…possible." Yes, it was also possible that Batman had become known to this planet as well and they recreated him. She'd have to ask this 'supirior'.
"There it is!" Mace exclaimed, pointing. Everyone turned to look, and saw the moon coming slowly closer to them.
Even from this distance Raven could see the cultivation. Huge dome structures built on the surface, within them were large cities, some with plant-life, and one she saw that had a huge lake in it. They headed for one of the smaller city structures, which looked to be more like a sort of headquarters as there were few colors to it, and were soon landing inside what could only be a docking area.
Batman waited for the door to close, and then the outside voice to tell them it was safe to exit, before he opened the ship again.
"I don't believe it, we're actually here, on the moon. It's so unreal." Shila breathed as everyone unbuckled.
"Ironic that the ones who we thought would get us into some major s611 ended up being the ones who saved us." Grissom pointed out. "We owe you big time." He said to the two.
Raven just shrugged it off and turned to Batman, "So when do we get to me—" But she was cut off by a loud scream, issuing from a woman with short red hair and blue eyes.
"Oh Terri! You're alive! You're alive! Oh my goodness, when he told us, you wouldn't imagine, you're still here!" She cried, and she grabbed the youth into her arms and sobbed.
Terri pulled back the hood of his outfit, revealing a young man, definitely no older than 17, with a handsome face, cropped black hair, and eyes like the woman, and he bent down to hug her back. "It's okay, Mom, I'm sorry for putting you through all this but,"
"It had to be done, I know." She wept. The woman then pushed herself back, wiping her eyes frantically. "And it worked Terri, the others came back safely and with ample amounts of The Cross! Well," She pulled herself up, and turned towards the rest of them, "We'll have to arrange your living quarters, of course." She huffed, "And where you're working, I'll get Padin to make sure you're together. Oh my," She said, suddenly noticing the oddity that was Raven and Malorek. "Who—"
"They're from another world." Shila said. "They said they're here to help, and they did help, they're the reason Batman's still alive. They're magic users, and powerful ones." She gave Raven a smirk.
"Oh!" The woman gasped, and then she beamed at the two of them, "I don't know how to thank you!" She exclaimed, tears still glittering in her eyes through her bright smile.
"Gratitude accepted, but the boy will be needing to see a healer." Malorek told her, pointing to a spot on Terri where a bright red patch of blood just surfaced.
"Oh goodness, yes, Terri, off to the infirmary ward with you! Come along, let's not waste time in the hanger." She said, gesturing for them all to follow her through the door she'd come out of.
The woman fussed over her son, who had to tell her several times that he was, indeed, alive and going to live, until they found themselves, having gone through several halls, into what looked like a sort of waiting room, where a single aged man was sitting, leaning somewhat on his cane. He had a large build, and looked as though he had been quite the athlete in his younger days, but now his eyes were closed, either in thought, or a doze, it was hard to tell.
"Oh, um, Mr. Wa—" Terri's mom said, but this time was the one interrupted.
"YOU! How the f—what the, YOU!" Malorek cried, his tongue fumbling, and his eyes wearing an expression of extreme shock and confusion. Raven stared at him, then at the old man who merely looked up, calmly. Not seeming at all surprised at the sight of them, nor, it seemed, having been awakened suddenly.
"Malorek, what—"
"Malorek, eh?" Said the man's deep voice, withered slightly, but still the same, and unmistakable. He turned to Raven, who's face was twisting into a look of dawning comprehension. "It's, been a long time." He sighed, surveying her rather oddly, "I remember, the last time I saw you like that. Raven, you're not in another world." He said. "This is Earth, it's your own world."
"Bruce Wayne?" She breathed. He nodded.
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A/N: Well now, isn't this a twist? Heheheheh. Yeah, some of you figured out what was going on already, but I'm about to run out the door and cash a check so I don't really have time to do individual reviews this time, sorry!