Hey guys. So I used to be XxRavenStar, but I changed it and now I'm Padfoot the Black. Sorry if you got confused. But yeah. I took a REALLY long hiatus from for a while, but I'm back now and I aim to FINISH In the End. That's right, finish. So here goes. This may not be the last chapter, but we're closing in.

Chapter 15

Raven yawned, but she wasn't tired. It was just late. The room was dark around her, shadows moving as if in formation on the walls. There was a clock nearby; she could hear it ticking. "Raven?" She looked around at him.

"Hi." He picked up her hand.

"You okay?" She nodded.

"It's getting closer, Robin." He moved to kiss the back of her hand, then paused.

"Closer might be a bit of an understatement," he whispered, leaning in. Raven felt his lips brush her neck, followed by the burning sensation that she knew all too well. Her eyes widened in fear as his arms came around her, securing her against his body. "I love you," was what she heard before falling into unconsciousness.

She wasn't out for long. When she came to, her friends were standing in a circle around her. Somewhere beyond them, an army of fire loomed large, commanded by Slade. She could hear the flames. Voices were yelling, slurred in her foggy mind.

"Raven!" Beast Boy's big green eyes looked concerned. "Are you okay? Physically, I mean." She nodded, wondering that he had perceived that she wasn't emotionally okay. He flashed her a sheepish smile. "Robin's having a battle of words with Mr. Ugly over there." He jerked his thumb over to where Robin and Slade were almost at each other throats.

"You can't do this, Slade!" Robin's mask was lit eerily orange from the slowly advancing army.

"I can do whatever I want," the man sneered. "Did you not tell me I couldn't make you my slave?" The mask narrowed dangerously.

"She is a different story." Without taking his eyes off his adversary, the boy wonder gave his famous command. "Titans, go!" His authority wasn't questioned.

"Raven," Slade intoned. "It's time to go." Wordlessly, she emerged from the circle and followed him. As they went after her, she threw up a barrier that they couldn't destroy. Looking back, she seemed sad.

"Thank you," she said. "For everything." Then she was gone and they threw themselves at the enemy with renewed vigor.

The empath was climbing a winding path that wouldn't stop. Higher and higher she went, until she was standing on a flat plateau with the barren landscape spread out below. There she sat cross legged on the stone, as if meditating. Reluctantly, she spoke the one word that spelled doom for everyone involved. "Come." Her chakra glowed bright white and there was a rolling explosion. When the air cleared, Trigon stood above his daughter's body.

"The prophecy, my daughter." He strode down the way she came, leaving her there under an angry sky. He didn't notice the purple-haired child, clad in white robes, who looked fearfully around her lifeless form.

"Daddy?" the child asked, following the demon's thunderous footsteps.

At the sound of the explosion, every Titan looked up toward the mountain that towered over the bay, so close and seeming like an eternity away.

"Uh oh," said Beast Boy. Cyborg nodded.

"Uh huh. We're about to get some company." Blocking Slade's blows, Robin was thinking the same thing. And a moment later, the company arrived.

"Talk about Mr. Ugly," BB observed.

"You're tellin' me," his friend replied. "Time to cut this cat down." He looked up, and up, and up again to see Trigon's face. "From like...way farther up than us." The green kid nodded.

"My thoughts exactly."

The little girl climbed haphazardly over the rocks after the four-eyed monster, looking about with huge lavender eyes. Her cloak caught the wind and flew out behind her like a pure white wake. She stood carefully and gazed down at the scene playing out by the foot of the mountain, where her father now was. He glowered at the four small people, his yellow glance piercing. It seemed like they were fighting, and she wondered why. Behind her, the body of the older girl had disappeared. Struck by a sudden sense of foreboding, the young one pressed forward, toward the fight.

Robin and Slade were working their way backwards, into the ranks of the blazing army when the ground began to shake. The latter laughed, the former swore. "Trigon is going to kill you, my boy," Slade said.

"I'd rather be dead than be you," the boy wonder retorted. "At least I still have some of my dignity. At least I'm not somebody's toy." This incensed the evil man, whose grip tightened where he'd grabbed Robin's bo staff.

"You were once my plaything, Robin. Do not forget that."

"I haven't. And I never will be again!"

"Slade." A red foot had slammed down behind the demon's minion. "You have better things to do than waste your energy on this worthless boy." Slade looked up at his master.

"What is your bidding?"

"The prophecy," Trigon rumbled, "must be fulfilled." He shot a glance with two of his eyes towards the other Titans. "As for them, they will be properly taken care of." With a final challenging glare at Batman's prodigy, Slade left. Robin watched him move away, swallowed by the army. He turned towards the mountain. Where's Raven?

"Star!" She looked up to see Cyborg and Beast Boy coming toward her.

"Friends! What are we to do? And where is Robin?"

"Robin's over there with Ugly Number Two," BB informed her. "But we have to take care of THAT thing first, before we do anything else." The trio regarded the scarlet demon with general distaste.

"BB can fly," Cy said, "but I'm gonna need a lift, Star." She nodded, gripped him around the waist, and took off. The changeling became a falcon and pursued them like a compact missile, the whole group bent on revenge.

Robin started toward the massive pile of stone that loomed ominously, daring him to see what was at the top. He tackled the task stoically, like he always did, and was making his way sure-footedly up the path when he caught a flash of bright white cape. Not wanting to hope, he peered around the rock behind which it had disappeared and discovered a small, shivering, miniature Raven. He appeared bewildered for a moment, then knelt beside her and said as gently as possible, "Raven?" She jumped, her hair falling into bright, frightened eyes. "I'm sorry," he murmured, reaching to comfort her. "Don't be scared. It's okay." Laying his green gauntlet against the side of the chid's face, stroking her cheek with his index finger, he studied her silently. There was no doubt that this was Raven, but he hadn't the faintest idea why she was suddenly around three or four years old. A booming noise came from the foot of he mountain, and both of them reflexively turned their vision that way. One word formed on Raven's lips.

"Daddy?" The boy wonder looked at her with care and understanding in his masked face. Quickly he scooped her up, before she could run away. Her left hand closed around his fingers, so small in proportion to his body. She buried her face in his shoulder and he felt a deep pity for the young girl. She had been thrown in the middle of a war she knew nothing about, and she was stuck with someone she didn't know, along with a monster for a father. There was a sense of pride that came with the fact that she already trusted him, but he knew it would be difficult to protect her. Nonetheless, he resolved to, no matter what else happened. The child, Raven, would escape unscathed.

The Tamaranian was approaching her target, who wasn't really that hard to miss anyway. Hanging from her hold, Cyborg's arm clicked into cannon mode. She notified him of her actions from above. "We are coming close, friend. Be ready and of the caution." He gave a single nod, lifting the glowing blue cannon so that it was held steady on the four-eyed, evil face. "B, I got the bottom covered." Swooping by him, a peregrine falcon winked, prompting a grin across his face. Prophecy or no, the Titans could still kick ass. Star dropped suddenly, flying towards the two pairs of searing yellow eyes. "Eat my sonic," Cyborg growled, (see A/N below) letting loose with several short, earth-shaking blasts. Trigon roared in pain, surprise, and anger, and his mood wasn't helped by the fact that a green bird of prey, equipped with a devilishly sharp, hooked beak, was determined to peck out the top two eyes. As he fought off the double assault, the orange alien added a third prong to the attack, her emerald eye-beams slicing through the dusty air to find targets on the unattractive face of their foe. Trigon, Demon Lord of Doom, (see A/N below) was getting beaten by three teenagers with a serious beef.

The attack on his master had not escaped Slade. He stood among his flaming ranks and eyed the three irately. They just would not stop. This piece of information didn't surprise him, but they were grating on his nerves, even more than usual. From his belt hung three small bottles, each sealed with a cork. Now he unhooked them and studied their contents with a faraway smile beneath the cover on his face. They were making a huge mistake by crossing the demon. Inside these containers was the most dangerous secret weapon concocted by himself to date, matched only by the nanobots. Still smiling, he popped out the cork of the first bottle, and with a noise like that of a brief but strong breeze, a pewter-colored, Starfire appeared with glowing red eyes. She hovered in the air while he released a Beast Boy and a Cyborg of the same complexion. Watching him intently, they waited for the command. "Go," he told them, the smile widening as they flew off toward their righteous counterparts. It was Titan versus Titan now.

The boy kept skillfully out of the way of the raging battle before him, still holding the girl in his arms. She peeked out from behind a curtain of thick violet hair, first at him, then at their surroundings, then at the massive form that was Trigon, angrily enduring a three-cornered convergence orchestrated by the remaining Titans. Robin smiled. They were doing good work, and he was proud. Something darted over his head, barely leaving a shadow, and Raven began to cry suddenly. "What's wrong?" he asked her. She pointed to a group of shadowy figures, dimly familiar, except..."What are they?" She shook her head miserably and buried it in his neck again. He ran a hand absently through her hair, which helped a little. She was back to looking around somewhat fearfully, secure in the fact that he could protect her.

Drops began to fall from the sky. At first, the boy wonder thought it was rain, but then he realized it was thicker and looked up. Trigon was down an eye, courtesy of the resident shapeshifter. Now it was raining demon blood. He made a face. How gross could you get? Ducking under an overhang out of the way, he settled Raven on his lap and gazed at her. She tugged curiously at the bottom of the mask, wide-eyed. A smile appeared on his handsome face as he took her hand away. "Hey," he said, and gently pulled a lock of purple hair as retaliation. She copied his action in removing his hand. She was so innocent and so damn cute. It wasn't fair.

Beast Boy dropped the eye he was holding and dove for the ground. Back in human form, he stuck his tongue out. Demon eyes tasted horrible. Especially ugly demon eyes. But he could dwell on that later. Right now, the situation was urgent. As a burly green rhinoceros, he focused himself on Trigon's right leg and charged, throwing all his weight behind the rush. The top horn dug deep into Trigon's flesh, and the monstrosity roared, swiveling so fast that BB was almost driven into the ground by a foot. He dislodged himself and backed up, preparing again. A familiar half robot dropped down beside him.

"Beast, there is the freakiest shit going on up there!" he said, gesturing with his finger. "There's us up there...and we're evil!"

"What?" the transformer practically shrieked, reverting to teenage form. "We're evil? I'm so not evil." Apparently, Trigon was having issues dealing with their orange alien friend; he was moving erratically and roaring every now and then. Cyborg slammed a beam into his other leg.

"Dude, shut it!" he shouted angrily. "We're tryng to have a discussion here!"

"The case is closed," said a cold voice. Cy turned around.

"Oh, hell no," he said. He was looking at a replication of himself, colored grey, eyes bright red.

"Um, Cyborg?" Beast Boy asked, facing his own self gone bad. "These dudes are really kind of creepy..."

"I know, right?" his friend replied. "So let's give it to 'em good!"

Starfire locked in a hold with her opposite self. "I do not appreciate you! You are not my friend! You are not ME!" she screamed in furious defiance. "You are like my evil glorfbag sister!" This time no one was paying enough attention to raise an eyebrow to the Tamaranian insults.

Beast Boy lay pinned under a malicious big cat, who sat hissing and snarling on his chest. "Give me a break," he said. "You're not all that important, considering..."

Little Raven watched the melee from her position on Robin's lap. Her father was being driven backwards toward a heap of his own wreckage. Someone flitted like a butterfly around his head, piercing him with vibrant green jets of energy. At his feet, two figures darted in and out, eluding the grey things she hated and trying to trip him up at the same time. Several times, they were almost successful, and then he stepped into the pile of ruins, throwing himself off balance. The figures on the ground barreled headlong into the leg that was on the ground still and toppled him forward. He hit with a resoundng crash and shudder.

"Daddy..." said the child. She toddled slowly out towards the fallen monster, and Robin followed curiously. As soon as she was within six feet of the giant, he turned his head and met her innocent gaze.

"You!" he bellowed. The force of his voice seemed to knock her backwards, and when she sat down, a blinding flash seared the ravaged landscape.

"Dude!" Beast Boy said, rubbing his eyes. The Raven they knew had replaced her toddler self, clothed in pure white, dark hair cascading over her shoulders.

"Hot damn," Cyborg remarked. She gazed back at Trigon and her expression darkened.

"Demon," she said, almost casually. Her eyes began to glow. "You are not my father." There was hard steel in her tone this time and a huge spiral of white power surged from her now standing form, striking the ogre between his three remaining eyes. Another explosion shook the ground. "Don't even kid yourself."

"Slade!" Trigon screamed. "You are a failure!" The ground opened beneath the masked evil one, swallowing him whole. After it closed, his voice still echoed in a terrified yell.

"Save it," Raven said, another burst of power forcing into him. "You'll be gone soon anyway." Again, he was struck. "You did nothing for me. You did not raise me, you were not there for me, you did not love me. They," she continued, glancing at the four Titans, "love me. I cannot say the same for you. I was your tool. Your portal into this world. No more." A fourth spiral smacked into his forehead. "I will not call you Father. That is not what you are." Trigon was glowing now, as was his daughter. Then, the former was consumed by the light and gone, while she stared at the empty space where his body had been. Her friends crowded around her; she found herself briefly and tightly in all of their arms.

"Yeah, Raven!" Beast Boy grinned. "Serious power, girl."

"Yes! That was the kicking of the...butt?" Robin and Cyborg snickered at that, and Star smiled joyfully.

"Thanks, guys." They began to prepare for the journey home, knowingly leaving the wonder and the sorceress a moment alone. He came and slipped his arms around her waist.

"Way to kick ass," he said, grinning slightly.

"Hmm." She rested her head on his shoulder, lightly stroking the back of his neck. "You still love me?" Robin gave her a look.

"Of course I do," he murmured.

Okay then. :D That could be the last chapter. What do you guys think? Should I make one more? dun dun dun...please review. It was a little long and random, but whatever, you liked it anyway. Yes you did.

Padfoot.