That boy.

That insufferable boy.

Why did he insist on trying to make Tara remember a life she had walked away from? I know that it hurt her to lie to him; to deny who she was because of she wanted to be, but she did it. He had no right to ask that of her- a choice compelled is no choice at all.

If I was still what I had been he would have suffered for his insolence …

Calm. Calm. I must remain calm.

Raven had banished the Demon Lord Trigon part of me, but I still retained my demonic heritage. I could fall again. If I were not careful …

That is the risk I take in choosing to keep the power to try to return my friends to what they had been.

And today I make a down payment on my debt.

Today I free Atlas.

It's a logical choice. Of all my friends, he poses the least threat to me in my weakened state. And if I can convince him to work with me, he can help me free the others. I will need Atlas and Mae if I am to have a chance of besting Malchior. A dragon's wrath is a terrible thing- and once he remembers what he had bee what I made him do …

Let's just say I am not looking forward to it.

"I can help you," Tara says without looking at me when I tell her that I have located Atlas and will be going to restore him. "You might need my power."

"No." I smile at this girl who has grown to be so important to me. "You do not have to walk this path with me, Tara Markov. "

"You helped me."

"I didn't do so because I was expecting you to help me with my quest. I did so because it was the right thing to do. You made your choice of how to live your life. I will not ask you to change it again on my account."

"All right." She bites her lip and looks away. "Be careful."

"I will," I promise, and I hope that I am not lying.

Father had taught me to be a warrior. To use my magic and physical skills to conquer whatever danger I might find. It was Arella who had taught me that you didn't always have to take the most direct route to achieve your objective.

Jump City was not large by the standards of this world, but it still would take months- possibly years- to find Atlas through a mundane search. Even with magic, searching for one robot in a city as … unique as this one … would have been challenging.

So I didn't.

Atlas still bore the curse I had placed on him.

So I didn't look for Atlas.

I looked for traces of my magic.

True, this city still bore the scars of what I had done. Raven had been able to repair the damage, to make most people forget what had happened, but there were still scars. I had to examine each before I determined it was not what I had wanted.

It was not pleasant..

As a young man, I had dedicated myself to opposing my mother the Demon Queen's evil. I had sworn time and again I would not let her corrupt me. More than once, I had faced her with my friends at my side, and we had driven her back from my world.

But in the end, she had won.

The price of my defeat- of my arrogance- was paid not just by my world, but by this one as well. Raven had done what she could, but scars do not fully heal. There are men and women in Jump City who wake up screaming and do not know why.

Raven is one of them, but at least she knows why.

Finally, I found Atlas.

He was in a sewer, near a power grid that he could easily tap into to supplant his own energy needs.

On the whole, I would have preferred someplace else to face Atlas in probable combat. He was stronger than me, but I was faster and more agile. (At least I had been in my youth.) I could not cast the spell that would remove the curse until he was subdued, and with my magical powers weakened defeating him would be challenging. If I could have gotten him out in the open … gotten him to burn up his power, then I would have had a much easier time of it.

Now I was going to be dealing with a giant robot who's an expert at hand to hand combat with unlimited power and in a confined space.

Somehow, I'd have to get him out into the open.

I have my magic. (Such as it is.) My wits. (Such as they are.) And my staff. (For what it's worth.)

"Piece of cake," Arella would have said with an arrogant smile and a flip of her hair. Then she would have rushed into it and pulled victory out of defeat as she had done dozens of times when she led our team.

I would give anything if she was with me now.

But she's not.

So I walk into the darkness alone.

"No one defeats Atlas! No one!"

The voice is the same, but the tone, the words, are not.

Atlas had always been formidable, but he had been kind to. A machine built for war, but wanting peace more than anything else. He had loved playing games before I had twisted him, but he had never been so adamant on being the victor. Win or loose, Atlas had been happy just to do his best.

"Hello, old friend."

He whirls about in his chair and stares at me.

I am older now. Taller. Just as thin, with the same long white hair, pale skin, and violet eyes he'd known.

"Who are you?" He asks finally. There's a glint of something that might be recognition in his optics, but it's very faint indeed.

"An old friend. One who has wronged you and seeks to make amends."

"I don't know," he grunts as he stands to his feet. Had he always been so tall? I don't remember him being this big. "I don't know you and I don't like you. Go."

I smile. "I'm afraid I can't do that. Noctis Lux Anima!" My staff bursts into flame.

He stares at the staff for a moment. He stares at me. Again there's a ghost of recognition, but then something else is born … anger.

"No! Not again! I'll destroy you!"

And he charges at me.

I quickly learn three things:

Atlas is faster than I remember. Or I'm slower. And it really hurts when a giant robot grabs you by the throat and slams you against a wall.

"Noctis Lux An-"

That's as far as I get before he squeezes the air from me.

"I don't know you, but I don't like you. I hate you. Why do I hate you? Why do I want to kill you so badly- and why do I hate myself for wanting to kill you?"

"It's going to be hard for him to answer when you're choking the life out of him."

Terra leans against the doorway looking at both of us.

Not being able to speak, I glare at her. I told you to stay out of this.

"Yeah, you're handling this so well." She nods at me. "I'm going to have to ask you to let him go. He pays the rent and my tuition and I don't want to have to break in a new guardian."

Atlas stares at her for a moment. His optics dim and then brighten … his equivalent of blinking. Then with a rumble of static, he drops me and charges at her.

Terra gestures and the floor grabs Atlas's feet and he lands flat on his face. Stone hands grip his arms next. "Better hurry, Trey." Her face starts to sweat. "He's stronger than he looks and I'm not sure I can hold him much longer."

I rub my throat and grab my staff again. "Noctis! Lux! Anima!"

I stab my staff down at his head.

A jet of black flame leaps from his head and hits my staff.

The dark flame wages war with my white fire.

So strong. So powerful. A Curse made at the height of my power and evil. And I'm just a shadow of what I had been …

"Trey, you can do this."

I can do this. I have to do this. I owe it to Atlas. I owe it to all my friends.

"Noctis! Lux! Anima!"

And finally … finally … the black flame dies.

Atlas screams and then collapses.

"Is he-?"

"I don't know." I'm sick with worry. Have I destroyed my friend instead of saved him?

"Accessing blocked memory files. Retrieving data. System restoration … now."

Atlas looks up, and I can see that he knows me once more. With a grunt, he shatters his stone bonds and rises to his feet. He lumbers toward me.

Terra raises her hands, but I shake my head.

He looks down at me for a long moment. At least, he says a single word: "Trigon."

"Atlas."

"Trigon."

"It's me, Atlas. I'm back." I smile and lay a cautious hand on his forearm. "And so are you, my old friend. Words cannot express how sorry I am about how I wronged you..."

He looks at me for a moment, and then sweeps me up in his arm and draws me toward him.

This is going to hurt …

But then it doesn't. He's not trying to crush me. He's hugging me!

"Trig! You're back! I'm so happy! I thought I would never see you again. I thought I would never see any of my friends again."

In our youth, I tried to keep my friends at bay.

I would fight alongside them. I would heal them when they were injured. I would eat with them. But I always tried to keep a certain distance, a certain formality, between us. I knew what I was, and that I didn't deserve friends.

But now … now I hug my giant robot friend with all my strength.

"The others?" Atlas finally asks. "What about the others? What do we do about the others?"

"We save them," I tell him through my tears. "We save them all..."

And for the first time, I believe that I'm actually going to be able to pull this off.