Say Your Name

Part Five

Sakura had a suspicion that the Master of Games wanted her in his possession immediately. That was the only explanation for the battle arena: a cavern, slick droplets of water poured off rock spikes hanging hundreds of feet above their heads. The earth was soft beneath her feet; the red-brown color emphasized the presence of clay and muddy water… everything Terra needed to topple her opponent.

Sakura watched Terra with one eye as she rubbed a finger across the cave wall. It shook as a small amount of the clay rubbed off on her hand. She narrowed her eyes to Terra, the rumbling hadn't come from the earth, she could tell by Terra's smirk.

"Not so confident are you now Sakura?"

Sakura smirked as she shook her head in disbelief. She took a stance, readying her weapon. She had fought battles stacked up against her much more than this… she had only lost one… she wasn't going to add anymore to that side of the tally.

Sakura tilted her head to her opponent. "Okuyo?" She didn't wait for her response.

…

Raven and Jinx walked in a perfect circle, pacing around the unbearably small room. The two women stood half in light, half in shadow. Bright strobe lights twirled around them, highlighting areas in the room in a random pattern. They both knew that in a single shift of light to dark the other would attack, moving constantly was their only defense.

Raven watched Jinx disappear and reappear, not totally sure if it was the illusion of the light or if Jinx had stumbled across another ability. Raven's eyes widened as Jinx made a sudden move, hiding herself in the darkness. Raven's eyes scattered out, landing on highlighted empty space. She continued to move: eyes open, ears open, energy concentrated.

"Raven." Jinx's voice shot out from a million directions at once. Raven's eyes flickered left and right. Where is she--! Jinx's boot slammed into her back, knocking Raven onto her stomach in the center of a spotlight. Raven looked over her shoulder and saw Jinx step forward. Her sweep kick wasn't fast enough, Jinx back flipped back into the shadow.

"Raven." Jinx's voice echoed off all the walls in the room, passing through Raven's ears at several different frequencies.

"You've gotten better Jinx." Raven said. She pulled herself up. Her eyes continued to watch for any move Jinx made and any she didn't. It was just by a split second that Raven managed to drop her shoulder under Jinx's next attack and deliver a mule kick that knocked Jinx to the ground. "But so have I."

A spotlight dropped on both of them as Raven generated her energy around her hands. Her soul self escaped, a single claw advanced on Jinx. Her ability to faze was slowed by her surprise; the claw dragged her several feet until she encountered a wall. As Raven stepped forward the spotlight vanished from over her leaving Jinx to scout the darkness for Raven's next attack.

…

Any boulder that Terra threw, Sakura could smash. Some were small enough that her bare fist could strike down, others the might and whorl of her hiraikotsu could take apart. Quick tumbles for the most part prevented Terra from catapulting Sakura into the air with columns of earth. Sakura had to constantly move to keep out of Terra's reach.

Sakura dashed forward and unleashed the hiraikotsu with dead accuracy at the Terra. At the last moment Terra rose a column of earth in front of her hoping to interrupt its path. It shocked her to watch the weapon slice through the soft soil and continue at her. She dropped to one knee, the boomerang whizzed over her head. Sakura charged forward as the boomerang made its return. Her drop kick connected with Terra's shoulder knocking Terra onto her back, Sakura landing on her side. The hiraikotsu flew over both their heads. Sakura didn't make an effort to grab it. She and Terra crawled to their knees. Sakura grabbed Terra, wrenching her arm behind her back.

"Let go of me!" Terra shouted.

"This can't be as good as you can give it. If you can't keep up, I suggest you quit now. I promise I'll rescue you when the tournament is over."

Terra struggled in Sakura's grasp. A jet of mud rocketed over Terra's shoulder and slammed into Sakura's face. Stunned, Sakura released Terra and wiped the mud from her eyes.

"Gross."

Terra laughed. "We're in my element now Sakura! Get ready to eat dirt!"

Mud jets erupted from cracks in the earth, slamming Sakura from all sides. Sakura coughed and sputtered, wiping as much of the mud from her eyes as she could.

"It's going to take more than that Terra." The Holy energy circled her fingers.

"Oh? How about a mudslide?"

Sakura's eyes widened as a tidal wave of mud and earth came her way. Her lips didn't move as she laughed nervously. Sakura prepared to run for her life.

…

Jinx couldn't find Raven's energy. In the specific light, she swore she caught hints of a dark robe or long hair, but she couldn't be sure. Against Raven, it was too risky to make a move. Already she was paying for not fazing fast enough. Luckily there was nothing for Raven to throw, dodging and fazing was still something Jinx was getting control over.

A hand grabbed Jinx's shoulder, pulling her backwards into deep shadow. She couldn't tell if it was the back of Raven's left hand or the front of her right that slapped her across the face. Either way it hurt. Jinx bolted out an echo wave and was satisfied to hear Raven grunt and slide across the ground.

"Raven… this is getting boring. You may have gotten stronger, but I've got new powers."

Jinx caught Raven moving, half her body was exposed in the light. Jinx threw another energy blast, grinning with the 'umph' that echoed in the shadows.

"It's amazing what studying the Helectra Books can do." Jinx stated, observing her nails.

Raven stood up slowly. She wobbled a bit, her hair falling over her shoulders and across her chest.

"You studied the Helectra Books? Who did you have to steal it from to get your greedy hands on it?" Raven asked. Her eyes darted, looking for Jinx to make her next move.

"It was birth right… just like your Iranda Scrolls and Azar Mirror. Being half demon does have amazing benefits doesn't it?"

"You're the child of a demon?" Raven couldn't be sure, but she thought that Jinx's voice was slightly more intense to her right. She shifted her weight, prepared for a strike against her right side.

"You aren't the only person with a powerful daddy… Trigon was strong… but weak enough to get locked up. That's why you were born."

"How do you know about…" Raven's question was cut off when a thunderous punch connected with her right hip. Raven stumbled but kept her footing.

"I know all about you Raven… I know everything about anything that has to do with Trigon… A girl has to keep up with her father's rivalries."

"Rivalries… !" She couldn't mean…

"So you do know about Doomgaze then? The greatest of the Great Demon Kings… The one demon that remained unscathed in the Wars of Light and Dark…" Jinx slipped between the light strobes.¹ Flashes of her image were playing with Raven's sight.

"He didn't remain unscathed. The Azar took most of his power."

Jinx tumbled across the light and dark areas. She smiled as she completed single handed cartwheels around Raven.

"He did take some… but left more than enough to make me… Look at us Raven! The daughters of great rivals… maybe that's why we don't get along." Jinx laughed.

"No, we don't get along because you're bad!"

Raven's fist skid across Jinx's cheek, stopping her somersault and hurling her into darkness. Raven remained hidden and waited, circling silently in her steps, waited for Jinx to make another mistake.

…

Generating a barrier while running was something Sakura was still getting the hang of. Her control fumbled if she did and a spill could throw off her concentration and leave her susceptible to anything Terra attacked with.

Terra was having too much fun watching Sakura run about. The waves of mud followed her like a shadow, as she crept closer and closer to her opponent. Terra was doing a good job keeping her on the defensive, but she made one big mistake. She didn't keep Sakura and her weapon separated.

Sakura sprung forward, her hiraikotsu pulled behind her head. Her attack drove the weapon in an overhead shot downward at Terra, like a club striking at a spike. Terra leapt back just enough to avoid the attack. While Sakura set her feet and pulled her weapon from the ground, Terra decided that play time was over. She was going to take away Sakura's running ground and put an end to this battle.

"Laaa!" The column of earth shot under them both like a rocket, raising them from the ground and into the air at least twelve stories. The narrow column waved and tilted under its own weight. The earth loosened under Sakura's feet, she flailed her arms to keep her balance, the movement turned her head over her shoulder and she got a wonderful view of just how high they were.

Sakura collapsed to her knees, clutching at a few random blades of grass. She tried to keep her eyes open, but on their own accord her eyes tightened with fear. Terra's eyes widened in surprise.

"Sakura… don't tell me you're afraid of heights? My, my, my… doesn't this change everything?"

Sakura's fingers flexed: trying to block out Terra's voice, trying to forget how far their fifteen foot wide platform was from the ground.

"You know if you want to be on lower ground… I could drop you right now…"

Sakura's eyes shot open. The earth beneath her was shaking, Terra was exercising her advantage.

"You couldn't." Sakura replied.

"I definitely could… but 'will I' is really the question you should be asking yourself… because the answer depends entirely on you."

Sakura swallowed hard. She was not going to be taunted like this. She was afraid, but she wasn't helpless. "You can stop right there Terra. I've been in worse situations than this, fighting people much stronger than you."

"You've never encountered anything like me! You don't know me! You think you're sooo tough… but Sakura… no Holy can protect the meek from the strong."

Beneath Sakura the column shook and gave away.

…

In the darkness all Raven could hear was her heartbeat. She shifted slowly across the dark patches. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but Jinx was nowhere to be found. Up and across her eyes traveled waiting for anything. A change of wind, the rustle of a sleeve, the step that was too heavy… but none of it ever came.

Suddenly the room was flooded with light. All the darkness was stolen away in a single instance. The half demons shielded their eyes. The incoming light spoiled their vision, blinding them from everything around them.

Raven was the first to realize what their shifts and turns in the darkness had done. They were standing back to back with each other… Jinx was the first to act. The elbow struck Raven's neck, knocking the mage to the ground. A quick sweep with her legs toppled over Jinx.

The daughters of demons struggled against each other. Jinx grabbed both of Raven's wrists, but Raven resisted Jinx trying to pin her arms down. Raven didn't have the upper body strength to compete with Jinx, but her legs were the equalizer. Her left boot kicked Jinx's chest brutally, catapulting Jinx into the air.

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" Stuck thirty feet in the air, Jinx struggled against Raven's trap. The barrier resisted her hexes and didn't cave under her kicks.

Raven staggered to her feet. "Try and faze your way out of that one!" Raven taunted… and Jinx did. It was only after she had cleared the barrier that she realized her mistake. Jinx fell waving her arms as if the motion would inspire flight. A split second before she hit the ground a bolt of lighting struck her, removing her from the tournament.

"Winner! Raven!"

…

Sakura's short cry echoed across the cavern walls. Through some miracle that she would have to thank a deity for later, she had managed to grab the column side and stop herself from falling more than four stories. Her fingers trembled in their grip; the soft clay wouldn't support her weight for long. Her feet dangled, kicking at the harder ground just under her. Holding herself up would have been infinitely easier if she had left her weapon behind. Her hiraikotsu was weighing down her right side, allowing her to only hold onto the ledge with only one hand.

"Hey!" Terra yelled from over her head. Sakura looked up and saw Terra overlooking her position. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Sakura gritted her teeth.

"It's still a long way to the bottom! Need a hand?"

A hand…Sakura smirked as the plan began to form in her mind. Terra took a seat on the column Indian style. She wasn't really going to let the older girl fall, but scaring her might teach her to recognize the value of Terra's capacity for control. Terra dropped her head onto her palm, blowing a few strands of hair out of her eyes. Wonder how much longer this is going to take?

Sakura sunk the fingers of her left hand deeper into the clay and earth, as deep as she could. When her grip was as good as it was going to be she pressed her feet into the column getting just enough traction to raise her right hand and shove the blunt end of her weapon into the column above her head. It sunk in easy.

It won't hold long… I've got to be quick.

Wrapping her right arm around the body of her weapon, she pulled her left hand from its grip and balled all five fingers into a fist. The Holy energy wrapped around her fist, the silver glow growing in intensity. Please let this work. Sakura pulled her arm back and swung with an arcing path, a heavenly shatter thrust.

The energy jolted Terra from her seat. "Huh?" Terra crawled to the ledge and saw what Sakura had done. From Sakura's palm, Holy energy seeped into the cracks and faults of the column, rushing through, tearing up the imperfect structure. The energy pushed the earth apart, escaping through the sides of the column. The tower above Sakura's head wobbled and shook loosening more earth. Eventually the column head toppled, ripping apart the bottom half, a fault running from the base to Sakura's hiraikotsu. The shift in the compaction of the column allowed the weapon to slide down the fault to the ground. Sakura held her eyes shut as she felt the rush of wind beneath her.

Terra gawked in disbelief as the tower beneath her rumbled and caved. For a few seconds she dropped until she remembered she controlled the land and pulled a rock from the falling pile to ride back to the level land.

With only ten feet remaining, the hiraikotsu stunted to a halt. The abrupt stop caused Sakura's fingers to lose their grip and she fell the remaining distance. After the initial impact Sakura rolled off her shoulder. Terra rode the stone to about twenty feet away from her.²

"Are you insane?" Terra screamed.

Sakura looked up at the splintered column. "Just a little bit… I should really never do that again."

"How did you know that would work?"

"Oh I definitely didn't. I figured the Master of Games wouldn't have let me take that fall."

"You and Robin are really alike. I thought only he'd be crazy enough to do that."

Sakura laughed. "It must be in our blood. Okuyo?"

"What?"

"Okuyo. It means ready."

Terra sweat dropped. "Okay."

It was almost too fast for Terra to see. Sakura shot forward and just before Terra could throw a punch, the older girl somersaulted and landed directly on top of Terra's shoulders. Terra let out a grunt, which would be silenced when Sakura performed a quick series of stomps on top of her shoulders, weighing Terra down with each blow. Finally when it seemed that Terra was ready to throw her off, Sakura let her feet slip from under her, dropping all her weight onto Terra. When her thighs rested on either side of Terra's neck, Sakura twisted her hips and completed a hurricarana, throwing Terra over her head. The surprised geomancer sailed feet over head and slammed into the remaining splinter of the column. Her body jackknifed her knees about her ears. She didn't get to see the column shake with the blow. A bolt of lighting took her away.

"Winner! Sakura!"

Sakura leaped up and in three attempts pulled her weapon free from the column. With the hiraikotsu dislodged the remaining column tumbled to the ground.

…

The Master of Kings sat triumphantly as a winded Sakura and thoroughly displeased Raven approached his seat.

"Congratulations Raven and Sakura, you truly are the best of the best! But only one of you can be named the Greatest Heroine. Here in this room, one of you will be called the victor! So prepare yourself!"

"Already?"

"Sakura, the sooner we do this, the sooner we can leave."

"You say that because you didn't fight Terra!" Sakura replied, rubbing her shoulder.

"I fought Starfire." Raven replied, "I think we're even."

Sakura sighed. The two stepped back into the center of the room.

"Final Battle! Raven vs. Sakura! Let the championship battle begin."

"Okay Raven… don't hold anything back… I won't." Sakura taunted. Raven nodded her head, Sakura returned the nod.

The energy claw caught Sakura by surprise. By some luck of grace her barrier held as the dark energy bombarded it. When the energy receded, Sakura threw her weapon forward. Raven repelled it, sending it right back to Sakura. Sakura grabbed the hiraikotsu, the effort wrenching her arm. Again she threw the massive weapon.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven's dark energy pooled around the flying boomerang. With a flip of her wrist the weapon's path changed, flying over her head and lodging into the arena wall, thirty feet over head.

"That's really getting old!" Sakura shouted.

Raven turned to the dark haired girl and extended a hand. The energy pulse knocked Sakura off her feet. Sakura knew that this battle would be infinitely more difficult than fighting Terra and Celine and that was saying something. Both of her other fights had taken a lot out of her and she had won just as much from their making mistakes as her own skills… Raven wasn't going to make mistakes.

Raven said absolutely nothing as she chased Sakura's tumbling form with energy wave after energy wave. Sakura leaped and tumbled and eventually stopped when Raven stopped. Sakura and Raven were at least forty feet away from each other. Raven stood perfectly still, her arms extending in a feminine -X-³. Sakura watched nervously as in a rapid row, Raven's soul self escaped… and duplicated eight times.

The eight black soldiers attacked in succession. Punches and energy blasts all targeted to Sakura. The swings sailed over her shoulder, her body twisting to remain out of the path of the strikes. Her barriers crumbled under the onslaught.

Raven watched her energy bodies attack Sakura with one eye and the Master of Games with the other. He was watching intently, waiting for one of them to fall. He'd let his guard down and Raven would strike with everything she had. She tried to remain impassive as Sakura waged war against her soul bodies.

Sakura's Holy crumbled one of the Raven Spirits. She heard Raven, the real Raven, groan with its collapse. She looked amongst the seven remaining soul bodies. At this rate, I can get two more… then I'll have to get the real thing.

Just as she had predicted, Sakura was able to return two more of the fragments of Raven's energy back to Raven's body. The remaining five cornered her to a wall. They each remained in a still battle line, floating above Sakura waiting for a single twitch to exploit.

Above Sakura's head, her weapon was jammed. Sakura looked up at the soul bodies and smirked. All at once they charged in at the same angle and speed. When their path was unchangeable, Sakura somersaulted over them. All five of them crashed into the wall, the tremor of the exertion rocked the wall. The hiraikotsu shook free. Sakura caught it and with a single swing halved the remaining energies. The split energy returned to Raven, the loss of connection jumbling her body. Sakura returned to the center of the arena, twenty feet between her and Raven.

"I think I'm ready to win this." Sakura didn't smirk.

"I don't think so." Raven did.

Sakura pulled her arm back and Raven wrapped her fingers in her might. The Master of Games leaned forward. He knew this would be the knockout blow. He had waited patiently for this moment, when the blows would reduce them to easily manipulated pawns… the spoils of victory were indeed very sweet. His jewel sparkled in the harsh light…

At the same moment, with the unison of disciplined power, the two fighters released their attacks. The aim was perfect to lay out the Master of Games.

The black energy slammed into the beast's chest and the hiraikotsu cracked along the stone. The Master of Games roared in pain, clutching his chest. The hiraikotsu returned to Sakura. As the dark haired girl caught it, Raven stepped to her side. It became apparent to both of them that they'd underestimated the Master of Games.

"Fools! You will pay for your insolence! The Master of Games will not be defeated!"

The red jewel flickered. A boulder shot forward with the speed of a train. It slammed into Sakura, taking her on its collision course. Raven watched in shock as Sakura was laid out. Her stun ended when a green eye beam struck her in the stomach, hurling her back, skidding across the ground.

The Master of Games stalked forward, one eye glowing purple, the other green. An outstretched hand generated pink echo waves, smashing into Raven, knocking her into the southern wall.

"Righteous fury, control of the earth, keen strategy, and the strength of one hundred men! Do you think I can not withstand the attacks of a mage and a mere girl?"

"I'm the strongest sorceress in the world." Raven replied, pushing herself off the wall.

Sakura pulled herself to her feet. "And I'm no mere girl."

"Before me you are but ants. With the other heroines trapped within my power, you have no hopes of defeating me!"

Sakura turned to Raven with a smirk. "Is that what I sound like when I gloat?"

Raven returned the smirk. "He's not nearly as insufferable."

"Figures he'd be second rate. Let's show him why girls do it better."

The two girls split paths as blackbolts and echo waves were heaved at them. Raven lifted her arms again and generated her soul bodies. Only four escaped, doubled in magnitude. All four charged in perfect unison. While the Master of Games shot waves of energy to topple each one, Sakura threw her weapon, smashing into his right side. Only two of the energy bodies were felled by the sonic waves. The surviving bodies grabbed the Master of Games, pulling his arms apart.

"Raven!" Sakura yelled. Raven rose above the air above Sakura's head and waited. Sakura took aim. When the soul bodies had the Master of Games at their will, she unleashed the hiraikotsu.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven called. Her terrible energy shrouded the spinning boomerang.

"Ike!" (Go!) Sakura shouted.

The two watched as the weapon continued its path, burning with demonic energy, until it stuck the dead center of the red jewel. The Master of Games roared. The soul bodies shattered. An eyebeam escaped the crumbling beast, striking Sakura in the chest. A quick shout escaped her as rolled across the ground. Raven dropped to the floor, giving the fallen girl one look before turning back to the Master of Games.

His body trembled and rocked, his roar echoing across the arena. One by one the female competitors spilled forth from the cracked crystal. When Starfire spilled out as the last fighter, the Master of Games dissipated, fading away into nothing.

The female fighters regained their footing. Sakura grabbed her shoulder as she approached Raven. Raven turned to the other girl. Sakura was breathing hard, half crouched, fatigue was apparent on her face. Raven regarded her for a moment then with one finger pushed over the weakened fighter. Sakura fell flat on her face. From the ground she looked up at Raven, a vein throbbing from her forehead. The other fighters turned to the sight. They each waited with an eyebrow raised.

"What was that for?" She yelled.

"I think I just beat you… Looks like I'm the Greatest Champion." Raven replied.

"You wish." Sakura let her face fall back into the floor. In a flash of lightning, the arena was cleared.

…

"A Tournament of Heroines then… we thought so." Robin said as he walked with Raven up the stairs to the roof.

"We knew it was a trap, but we had to fight for real to keep the Master of Games off balanced."

The two stepped out onto the roof. Raven was pleased to see that the sun hadn't set yet. She stood silently beside Robin as the oranges and purples began to own the sky.

"So who won?" Robin asked.

"I did… but if you ask Sakura it was a tie."

Distinctly, in the far distance, they could hear Sakura yelling "It was a tie!" Raven and Robin laughed.

"So we're both the champions of the young heroes then… Raven wins… That's my girl." Robin said.

"Your girl?" Raven blinked slowly. Robin took both her hands in his.

"Raven… before you disappeared… we did something."

"We kissed." Raven supplied. A faint blush walked over her cheeks.

"Yes." Robin whispered, leaning close to her, pulling one of his hands around her waist.

Raven looked into Robin's face, leaning into Robin's hand as it trailed through the hair at the side of her face. In the setting sun, when the sky was a frenzy of beautiful colors, they might have been the most beautiful sight to be witnessed.

"Would you like to do it again?" She asked. Her pale fingers traced his lips. He knew what she wanted.

Robin nodded. "Very much."

The two leaned into each other slowly forgetting the outside world in favor of the heat of their bodies. Robin's lips met Raven's as he gave her a kiss, a kiss he had never given another girl, never thought of giving anyone else. Raven sighed at his touch, a feeling of well-being rushed over her body. This is happily ever after isn't it?

Robin pulled back from Raven. Her huge eyes were gentle and happy. Robin smiled at her and pulled her into a soft embrace. Her head laid perfectly into his shoulder.

"And now for the grand finale." Robin whispered.

In the background the snap dragons sprung to life: reds, oranges, purples and blues shot from delicate petals, throwing their scent into the air. Raven's eyes took in each of the vibrant hues, the moment etched forever into her heart.

"How did you know?" Raven asked.

"I didn't. I had to learn from Sakura and Celine… I'd like to continue learning about you Raven… but from now on… I want to learn from you."

Raven closed her eyes and inhaled as deeply as she could. The sun sank behind them and the night chill came. Robin and Raven didn't let go of that embrace. In the back of their minds they both knew they owed Celine and Sakura a huge thank you.

End of Chapter Seven

A/N

¹Remember this for later parts.

² I know, that was ridiculous. In my mind it looks awesome though.

³ Like in Nevermore when she gathered her powers to fight Trigon.

At first I was going to have Terra beat Sakura, but then I thought I could come up with a better scenario for when Raven and Terra have their "moment". The one I came up with is infinitely better and I didn't want to dull it down by having two of them.

Don't worry! There's lots and lots of RavenxRobin fluffiness to come!