Sorry for taking so long everybody, but I had to drive to Boston and back over the weekend, plus work on my Avatar story. I hope you like the new chap anyway.

Chap. 34

From One Comes Many

Before anyone could react to that, Slade called demonfire to his hands and hurled it at the New Titans. But Nightstalker drew up his sword, and batted it away. "You're going to have to try harder then that, Slade." The bat said, as he got to his feet.

"Oh believe me, I will." Slade answered with a tinge of demonic glee. Slade suddenly crouched down, and then sprang at 'Stalker, his body going alight with demonfire. But this time, green fire halted his attack, as Sunblaze fired off a series of starbolts, knocking the undead villain off balance. But Slade recovered quickly; dousing the demonfire, he managed to flip back onto his feet, and suddenly slammed his fists onto the ground, sending fiery cracks towards the two Titans. The cracks moved too swiftly for them to avoid, and the fire washed over their bodies. Screaming in pain, they collapsed to the ground.

"I think you need to try harder as well." Slade said as he looked at his two fallen foes. "Now then, I believe I have some revenge to play out." He said, as he looked down at the unconscious body of Owl. "She'll do for starters." He whispered as he called upon the demonfire once again.

But before Slade could put his plan to effect, there was a roar, and a set of teeth and claws sank into his back. But despite the attack and weight of the tiger, Slade merely grabbed Manimal's paws and flipped him down onto the ground. "And I thought your father was pathetic." Slade muttered, as the tiger reverted back to human form.

"His father wasn't pathetic, and neither is mine!" came a voice from behind him. Slade turned to face it, only to be met by a sonic cannon burst. The villain was hurled against the wall of the room, cracking the rock wall. "I don't care how strong you are, you're not taking us down without a fight!" Metallix yelled, as he hoisted his cannon for another shot, the other Titans standing behind him. Slade turned, and saw that Nightstalker and Sunblaze were getting to their feet, as was Manimal.

"Perhaps you're right. So, let's have a more appropriate battlefield." The villain said. Underneath his feet, the demonfire burst forth, shooting him up into the air. As the group watched, Slade forced the fire out form his hands as well, drilling a hole through the rock ceiling.

"He's getting to the surface. Come on!" Nightsatlker yelled, as he raced for the stairs. Sunblaze paused a moment to pick up Owl and then followed, Manimal and the other Titans behind him.

Above, the streets of Jump City were calm. Few people came to this section of the city, generally known as the 'waste dump.' It was filled with nothing but broken buildings and cracked streets that were too expensive to fix. Therefore, no investors or businesses put up shop there. Tonight that was a good thing too, because if anyone had seen the city's greatest villain shoot out of the ground in flame and land, the panic would have spread like a plague.

Slade looked over the city with almost nostalgic eyes. It had been so long since he'd seen a living city. Everything had been fire and brimstone and death for many years; now he was finally able to look at the city where he had done so much in his life. And as he looked, Slade felt pity. Pity that he returned to this city, only to burn it down.

"It is rather beautiful." He said aloud. "Sad really."

"It's less of a pity then you think." A voice yelled from behind him. Slowly, Slade turned to see the New Titans emerge from the staircase.

"I suppose you want to stop me?" the villain asked nonchalantly. "Do you really think you can?"

"You bet we do!" Kestrel yelled as she ran forward. Flipping up into the air, she prepared to drive her talons into Slade's mask. But the villain simply reached up and caught her by the throat.

"I nearly broke your father." He said as Kestrel struggled to break his grasp. "What chance do you think you have?" With that, he threw the girl into a nearby wall; she slumped to the ground.

"You son of a bitch! Get away from my sister!" Sunblaze yelled, as he charged the villain, starbolts flying. They struck Slade, but if they had any effect, he didn't feel it. Slade simply called the demonfire to himself again, and fired at Sunblaze. But before the flames could strike, the ground rose up into a shield that took the brunt of the blow.

"Not bad, Terra." Slade said, as the young earthmover brought the wall down. "But I don't remember teaching you to protect people."

"She got that from me." Groundquake said, as he popped out of the ground behind Slade. The villain whirled around as the dog brought his hammer down. But Slade merely reached up and caught it, as he and 'Quake became locked into a battle of strength. Slowly, but surely, Slade pulled the hammer back up, as Quake stared in disbelief. But before he could push the hammer back all the way, there was a roar, and a huge pair of furry arms wrapped around the undead villain as the bear-Manimal threw him to the ground.

Slade pulled himself up, only to be pushed further back by a bombardment of shadowfire and lightwaves. He skidded for at least twenty feet, and when he finally came to a halt, Slade saw all of the New Titans standing together, Nightstalker and Lightweaver at the front. As Slade rose to his feet, the group suddenly let loose with a combined barrage of all their powers, a huge wave that rushed towards Slade with unbelievable speed. But as it came for him, Slade fought back with a wall of demonfire. The two forces battled it out, each side pressing with all their strength. But somehow, Slade managed to press him wall forward, pushing both it, and the attacks from the New Titans back at them. The energy crashed into them hard, and they slammed through a nearby building. As Slade watched the rubble settle around them, he said, "My, that was easy. I expected at least a good fight."

"You're not done yet." A voice said from behind. Slade turned to see Owl standing there, her powers at the ready.

"Oh, I see you managed to avoid the fighting. How nice." Slade said. "So like your mother. You know, she ran from me; it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"You gonna talk or fight?" Owl said, confidence echoing in her voice. "You're not gonna destroy me with words."

"Oh, you think I plan to destroy you?" Slade asked in astonishment, as he faced down Owl. "I have far bigger plans for you and your parents, as does my master."

"And what would that be?" Owl asked, her guard up for any attack.

"Why don't I show you?" Slade replied as he held out his open palm. The villain's one eye closed a moment, as he concentrated on some strange power. Owl watched in amazement as a tendril of demonfire grew from his outstretched palm, then began to change. It grew darker, more crimson, before finally becoming blood red. Then, it parted a moment, as something that looked like a 'will o' the wisp', a ball of light, flew into the flames that then stretched back to cover it.

"This is my plan little girl." Slade said, as he opened his eye again. "And you'll understand it better in a few minutes." Suddenly, he shot forth a blast of demonfire above Owl's head, striking the lamppost that she was right under. It sliced right through the supports, and it fell and pinned Owl to the ground before she could even see what it was. As she struggled to free herself, Slade wound up his other arm and hurled the strange blood-red fire at the young girl.

At the same time, a figure began to emerge from the rubble. It shook its head to clear the cobwebs, and then turned just in time to see Slade launch the fireball at Owl. It immediately starting running.

Owl stopped struggling as she saw the world around her begin to glow red. Looking up, she saw the flames coming towards her, and she froze like a deer in the headlights. All her confidence and collectiveness fell apart under the gaze of that red fire. The flames overtook her mind and her eyes widened as she waited for the fire to consume her and work their evil magic. But then, something appeared in the path of the flames. There was a flash, a scream, and then the red faded. As it did, Owl shook her head, trying to clear her mind. But when she did, she almost wished for the flames to return. For lying on the ground, writhing against some unknown pain, was Sunblaze.

"NOOOO!" she screamed out, as she struggled against the lamppost again. Slade merely shrugged and said, "Well, that's one early. Time for number two." He began to call the fire again, but before he could, the earth around him suddenly grew around, surrounding him like an amoeba. Before Slade could finish, it had wrapped around him, encasing him in a human sized tomb.

"Hurry, we can't hold him forever." Terra gasped, as she and Groundquake tried to hold the earth shut around Slade. Owl turned her head to see the other Titans, battered and bruised, but alive, come forth. Metallix pulled the lamppost off of her, and she got up and ran over to the form of Sunblaze, the others following.

"What is it? What's happening to him?" she asked frantically, as the young boy twisted in pain.

"I-I don't know." Nightstalker stammered, his confusion fueling his worry over the boy. "I didn't expect something like this…."

Suddenly, Sunblaze arched forward and let out a howl like he was having a spear run through him. As the others stared in horror, his skin began to change, as red scale flowed down over his arms. His armguards popped off, as long spikes grew from his forearms. The rest of his costume began to tear as well, as his body started to grow. But the worst change was his forehead. As Owl gasped in horror, the skin split apart, and two eyes poked their way to the surface.

"Rivers!" Kestrel screamed, as she saw the transformation wracking her brother's body. "Help him, please!" she begged Nighstalker.

"I don't know if I can." The bat said. "But I do know what this is. This is a demon possession. That flame had a demon spawn in it, and it's inside Rivers and changing his body to fit itself."

"Well, then get it out!" Kestrel yelled. "Where in the hell did he get a demon spawn anyway? Does Trigon fucking have them too?"

"Oh my God, he does." Manimal said suddenly. "Don't you remember Grampa? You said Trigon had ninety-nine unborn children before Mom? What if that's how Slade got back; what if he merged with them somehow?"

"Of course." Lightweaver breathed. "They're not alive, and they hunger for life, so they'd be able to sustain Slade in the mortal world; that's why he was able to come out before and why he needed another spawn to wish him back. The spawn are held to the same rules as Trigon, but they aren't blocked like he is. But Slade can't hold them forever or they'd destroy him. So he's giving them mortal bodies."

"But how do we save him?" Owl asked, as Rivers let out another howl as the demon inside altered his body.

"It's moving too fast. We'd never be able to do an exorcism in time." The bat answered, a weary tone creeping into his voice. "We have to stop it before it takes over."

"Stop it…. Wait, NO! I won't let you!" Kestrel cried out, as she started to leap at Nightstalker, only to have Lightweaver grab her and hold her back. "It's the only way." The fox said as she held the girl.

Nightstalker moved to stand over River's body. Owl looked up at him, unsure of what he was going to do. The bat motioned for the girl to move to the side; she did so quietly. Slowly, the bat drew his sword; as it glinted in the moonlight, the New Titans understood what he planned to do. He flipped the sword downwards, so that it was held blade first over River's head. The bat tightened his grip on the handle, raised it above his head, and whispered, "Star, Robin, forgive me." Then, as he had been prepared to do twenty years ago with the possessed Raven, the bat drove the blade of his sword down…..