Six
The Darkest Light
"Are you ready sister? Are you ready to die and perish just like this pathetic world you live on?" Shadow taunted. He lifted his hand and cried a foreign incantation to Raven. Just the words seemed saturated with evil and they twisted and burned the air around him. Excruciating pain engulfed Raven, who fell writhing to the ground, screaming in sheer agony. She felt gashes open up on her skin and blood ran openly. Raven did not know where Shadow had learned this curse; it was not Azerathian by any extent of the mind.
"Was that too much for you Raven?" Shadow laughed. "You see, when you travel to the corners of the universe, you tend to learn things."
Raven slowly struggled to her feet. The blood had clotted and was not running as freely, but the pain remained. She gritted her teeth and growled, "You twisted fiend. I'm ashamed to say you're my blood, just like Trigon. You're going to die today Shadow. You're going to pay for everything you've done."
"Do you honestly believe that?" Shadow laughed.
In the depths of heart, Raven knew she did not, but she had to try. The Titan stretched out her hands and cried, "Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" Black lightning crackled from her hands and shot towards to Shadow.
Shadow laughed. "Sohtniz Noirtem Htareza!" he flicked his wrist. Raven's spell stopped dead, convulsed and faded into nothing.
"Poor, poor Raven. You should've listened to me. You can't win, but if you surrender to me now I might spare you, seeing as you're blood. You can work in the fire mines of Laptor, or perhaps in the rat farms of Azerath," Shadow grinned evilly.
Anger and hate swelled up in Raven. She could not surrender. She could not abandon Earth; it was her home and she loved it. She couldn't abandon Robin, Starfire and Cyborg. Most of all, though, she couldn't abandon Beast Boy, the person she loved the most in life. If she surrendered he would be gone, along with all of humanity. Shadow would cripple the world and kill all the life in it. It would be nothing but a desolate rock, floating in space.
"I hate you, Shadow. Do you hear me? I HATE YOU AND I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Raven screamed. "AZERATH METRION ZINTHOS, INCARATAS FERENZA CRELEXERA!" Raven's world erupted in roaring flames. Huge pillars of flame encased Shadow, burning him down to his flesh. Lightning crackled from Raven's eyes as she watched her brother perish in her spell. Just be dead… just be dead, she thought as the spell receded. She found herself floating above the shimmering platform, and saw Shadow's scorched body crumpled on the ground. Raven lowered herself and squatted in front of Shadow.
Shadow clenched the platform in his hands. "You pitiful, damnable fool," he hissed. "Look at your friends, look at what you've done."
Burning tears fell from Raven's eyes. All of the heroes, her friends included, were torched to the bone. She cursed herself for a fool: Shadow had still been connected to them and thus, they had been harmed. But if they had been harmed, didn't that mean that…?
"Yes," Shadow looked up. His face was untouched, unscathed. He got up as if though nothing had happened. "You see, all the pain you inflict upon me… it will be redirected to the ones you love. You can't win, Raven. I am invincible," he hissed.
Raven dropped to her knees, tears still running down her face. "No…" she sobbed. "I—I failed…"
"You lost this battle before you started, wench," Shadow jeered. "You pathetic waste of space and magic. You're worthless Raven. You're weak, you're hideous, and you're ambitionless. And now, you're going to be crushed like the insect you are. Now, you're going to die, slowly and painfully because it's the only death you deserve. Now despair… and die!" Shadow raised his hands up above his hands, and Raven sat there, hopeless and helpless. She knew she was going to die, and there was nothing she could do. Shadow was just too strong.
"Pull yourself together woman!" Angry roared. "If you give up now, after all we've been through, well you'll have bigger things to worry about than Shadow when you die 'cause I follow you everywhere!"
"I—I can't…" Raven sighed.
"You have to Raven," Smart said. "Everyone depends on you…"
"You're not alone. We're with you always, and so are your friends. If you do it for nobody else, do it for Beast Boy. If you die now, then you'll never see Beast Boy again," Happy put her arm around Raven. "Do it for Beast Boy."
"Beast Boy…" Raven whispered.
"NO!" Raven roared. She forced herself up, and kicked Shadow in his stomach. The villain gasped and was knocked back. Then she began to speak, intoning the Lost Prophecy of Azerath. "The day gives way to the night as light becomes dark and Shadow rises. But the Raven soars, always does the Raven soar. When light gives way to dark, the Raven soars, and the Darkest Light shines. And if Light is Dark, what is Dark but a figment of the past. Above the Shadow does the Raven soar. Always does the Darkest Light shine. Always does the Raven soar. And when Light is Dark, Dark perishes, for not even Dark is eternal. Always does the Raven soar… AZERATH TESRION DARKEREKAS YURXIS!" Raven roared.
There was a blinding flash of pure white light, and was sucked into Raven, assimilated totally by the Azerathian princess. Power swirled around her in a great maelstrom as her clothes turned the darkest of black, but a shining aura of white light glowed brilliantly around her. Her eyes glowed silver; emanating power and light.
Shadow grinned and rose, widening his eyes. They turned from golden to blood red, and they flared with evil. A crackling deep purple aura surrounded him as his clothes became doused in red light. "Finally a challenge…" he laughed.
"Prepare to die, Shadow!" Raven roared.
"Not if you die first Raven!" Shadow hissed.
The two juggernauts tore through the space that separated them, setting the air afire with their might.
Then they collided.
Light met Dark in an epic clash. All Raven heard was an explosion, and all she saw was a bright detonation of fire, lightning and magic. There was a huge boom and the two rebounded off of each other, but in an instant they were back at each other's throats. They perfectly countered each other, neither of them harming nor being harmed.
They fought for what seemed like hours. They collided into each other and assaulted each other with magic, but neither of them gave way nor lost energy.
Finally, Raven had had enough. She prepared herself for one last move. Her trump attack. She spoke the ancient incantation, and black lightning crackled into her and ran through her veins. And Raven transformed. She tripled, no quadrupled in size, and her skin was replaced by black feathers, her hands by wings and her feet by sharp-clawed legs. Her mouth became elongated and amber until it was a beak, but her eyes remained as they were: white and glowing. The white corona still surrounded her.
Always does the Raven soar.
Raven screeched as she saw that Shadow was also transforming. He too grew immensely in size, but scales replaced his skin, and his neck grew long and powerful. His skin turned as black as the night sky and a long powerful tail erupted from his back. His hands and legs became muscular, clawed legs and his teeth became fangs. Great black wings shot out from his back and huge spikes grew out. Two horns crowned his reptilian head. Like Raven, his eyes remained red and evil, and deep purple aura surrounded him. He roared and a great plume of crimson fire was belched forward.
Raven rose and dove, spiraling around the fire until she reached Shadow, who was still much bigger then her. She slashed at his face and rose back up, but was horrified by the sight of her friends. She had forgotten completely that any harm she did to her brother she did to them. They looked horrible and withered, and all of them had huge gashes across their faces. The dragon rumbled, and Raven realized that he was taunting her. She screeched and spiraled straight to him. At the last second he opened his great maw and shot out a jet of flame. Raven sidestepped and flew beneath him, barely dodging his claws and great spiked tail. She had reached her target, the black cords of magic that were still attached to his back.
Raven ascended quickly and sharply, and cut through several of the cords. The dragon roared in pain as his connection with some of the heroes was severed, but the powerful magic forces of the cords shocked Raven and sent her hurtling through the air. Shadow recovered first. He rose into the air and whipped his tail at Raven. The spikes dug into her down and blood matted her feathers. Raven screeched in pain and the great wing of the dragon swept her away.
Raven caught herself and spiraled forward. She opened her mouth and a jet of white lightning crackled towards more of the cords. Before Shadow could stop the lightning, his connection with all of the remaining heroes was lost. The dragon roared in agony, and Raven took advantage of her brother's pain. She sped towards him, and the white aura crackled as her magic and power grew. Shadow's on the other hand, seemed dimmer and she noticed that he was considerably smaller.
Raven tore through Shadow completely. Her beak skewered through his black, pulsing heart and veins. Black blood covered her, but she continued on, ripping a straight hole through her brother. She came out on the other side and ripped his tail off. Shadow screamed in pain and Raven muttered an incantation. There was a flash of light… and Raven was back on the shimmering platform, completely human and in her long dark blue robes. Nonetheless, blood covered the cloak and her skin, and it ran down her back and side from the wounds Shadow had given her. Her temple was bleeding from the force of severing the cords.
Not far away from her lay Shadow in a crumpled mass, and Raven knew he was near death. A pool of black blood surrounded him, and his breaths were sharp and ragged. No longer did strength emanate from him, only weakness, the weakness of a young teenage boy. Raven knelt by her brother's side, and could not help but feeling sorry for her brother, no matter how twisted he was.
Shadow smiled. "I—I underestimated y—you s—sister… and I f—failed, just like f—father…" he gasped. "Y—you truly are the R—Raven…" And with those words, he breathed his last, and Shadow, the evil and feared conqueror of the universe, was gone forever, and his body drifted away like a wisp of smoke.
(A/N: OK well this story is coming to an end… so here's the romance part hehe)
