La Historía de los Nuevos Infernos

The History of the Nine Hells

"Dick, you're here too?" Raven asked rhetorically as she watched her old teammate slowly being herded into her room. He was walking on his own, though rather slowly, and was dressed in a red robe of all things. His mask still adorned his face.

"Just as much as you are. I guess we've just had different suites to recover in by the looks of things." Dick replied. It was good to see Raven again. At least he knew one face in this place.

"If you call being taken care of by our mutual captor recovering then yes. I'm pretty sure these are Stone's private quarters in Hell. At least that's what he told me." Raven said sweeping her arm around the room from her perch in bed as Dick sat down in a chair.

Dick was still very sore and weak but he was in a lot better shape then he was a few weeks ago. Raven was in the same condition of being better but still not 100.

"In Hell? Does that make us"

"Dead? Far from it Mr. Grayson." Stone cut Dick short as he strode into his main bedroom.

Dick leaned forward in his chair making the motions of getting up but stopped at the sudden appearance of a rather shape looking blade at his throat.

"I suggest that you remain seated Dick, it will be better for your health." Stone retracted his blade and took a seat himself being rather weary from his recent travels. He wanted nothing more then to rest but he had more pressing matters to attend to first.

"How have you been Di'Candra?" Stone inquired the purple haired beauty that reclined on his bed.

Raven shot Stone a piercing glare.

"Charming as always I can see." Stone commented to himself. "Now to more pressing matters. Tell me what happened in the tower I found you in. Why were you being attacked?" Stone sat forward in his chair and set his powerful gaze on Dick and then to Raven.

"It's complicated and personal." Dick spat out.

"My lord?" An inquiring voice called from the door.

"Speak." Stone barked.

"She knows and has gone to the Lord Master." The voice informed Stone.

"Leave us and make sure I have no further interruptions from anyone. Even the Lord Master." Stone instructed the voice.

"As you wish Lord Stone." The voice replied.

"This complicates things significantly. She moves faster then anticipated." Stone muttered to himself.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Dick asked Raven.

"Not a clue." Raven replied.

"There is no more time to hide; you are proving to be such a burden Miss Raven Roth, I hope for your sake you are worth my troubles." Stone addressed Raven.

"I'll make sure I'm your worse nightmare once I have my powers and strength back." Raven replied in a cold, even voice. She was still healing and without her powers but now that she was over the shock of her new surrounds and had assessed her situation, she was back to her old self.

"I'm counting on it Raven, being docile never fitted your style. Nor yours, Mr. Richard Grayson. I'm sure once your strength has returned you will be just as reckless and relentless as when you were a Titan. Now tell me why you and Raven were combating Starfire and some of her kin." Stone told Dick.

"How do you know what happened in the Tower and how do you know Starfire?" Dick replied with a fierce growl.

"Please, Robin, I've just returned from a rapid campaign 300 leagues south of here. Do not make this even more stressful then it already is for me. Now tell me why you and Raven were fighting Starfire in the Titan's Tower." Stone demanded again with a very clear edge to his voice.

"Not until you answer my question!" Dick snapped. Stone's talk about Starfire had gotten Dick's blood boiling.

"Calm yourself, Robin. I am not in the mood to argue with you. Were you anyone else I would have killed you for speaking to me in such a tone. I know how you are, how you were anyway, though I doubt you have changed that much. Now shut the fuck up and listen while I get you up to speed. When I am done you will answer my questions." Stone leered at Dick before walking over to a window that looked into his enclosed garden.

"About a three decades ago a boy was born. His parents were scientists that were on the frontier of cybernetics and experimented with creating cyborgs, half human, half machine. His parents were hired out by the American government to create a new type of soldier; a soldier with the armor and durability of a robot with the mind and will of a human.

One of the test subjects went malfunctioned and destroyed half of the lab, killing the boy's mother and severely hurting the boy. His father saved the boy by fitting him with cybernetic parts.

That boy was only 10 years old. His father died soon after, in a cruel twist his saved son was a constant reminder of what had taken away his wife so he took his own life leaving his son to fend for himself." Stone's voice tightened at the memories he was recalling. A sharp, distinct metal on metal sound filled the air as Stone whipped out his arm blades, hands tightened into fists.

Turning to Dick and Raven Stone spoke again; "Perhaps if I still had my sonic cannons you would recognize me but I doubt they would help. They say that what really changes a person is their soul; it affects their mannerisms, their appearance, their aura. I have no soul." Stone finished his last note with a deep menacing voice, both his eyes glowing a fiery red.

"Those years as a Titan were fun but you were always so high strung and obsessed with Slade that it was a pain to live with you Robin. You're obsession made you betray the Titans again and again and yet we still did not turn you away, though I can not say why we didn't. In hindsight I would say it was because you were a friend, and that is the only thing keeping you alive right now, a memory of a memory from an old part of my shattered past. I can see now your obsession was all that drove you, you proved to be half hearted after Slade disappeared into that lava flow and came down here."

Dick tensed in his chair, arms gripping the armrests with force now that he know Slade was somewhere here. Dick still didn't know where here was exactly but he would find out soon enough.

"Yes Dick, you already have that itch to go after him again don't you? Never mind that the love of your life nearly killed you a several weeks ago." Stone goaded Dick but he remained silent choosing instead to glared heatedly at Stone.

"However more on that later. You Raven were quite something else back then. A light gray complexion, lavender eyes and locks that were cut to frame your face and give the illusion of a raven in flight. Cute back then, beautiful now you truly were an enchanting sorceress. You with your weak demonic rituals, your untamed and untapped powers, which might I add are useless here until you get some backbone back into yourself. Unable to 'feel' because of your wild uncontrolled powers, or so you claim. I did my research well Raven, you couldn't feel because your powers would destroy things, it was because you didn't allow yourself to feel. I didn't pry into your past prior to the Titans, some part of me still forces me to respect the Titan pact we made, no questions asked about our pasts prior to the team being formed. However I do know that you had for some reason shut yourself off from the world for so long that whenever you let yourself feel anything it was too much and your powers would react violently to the unusual phenomenon. You simply never wanted to feel emotions again and had chosen to shut yourself off from the world. Of course little did you know, or perhaps you did know but just didn't tell us, that you were the heiress to the Blood Throne of the Nine Hells. Now that is quite a title Di'Candra.

And someone found out about you, came to the Tower, had his 'daughter' teach you the ways of Black Energy, how to control it, great lot of good that did. After all his help you nearly kill him. And so his plans had to change, a wounded and old Tanar'ri had no way to retake his home territory and expand it, it takes a strong leader, a strong fighter to do that. He did something for me that neither of you did, he saw past my metal body, past my false façade as a champion of 'good' and showed me that a vision that called to my true nature. 'Good' could never exist without 'evil' but 'evil' can exist without 'good' but in reality both are moo points. Tir'eir had a vision of a united Nine Hells.

You see, after your half-brother Telir dead his pathetic empire fractured and splintered just like Alexander the Great's did. They both failed to pick a successor and their generals tore apart the empire in their greed. The Hells were plunged into a dark time and the Blood Throne made vacant.

That is the world in which I was reborn to. Rearmed, reeducated and revigorated. I became Tear's right hand man, his heir, his general among generals. In this realm you will both refer to me as Lord Stone when in the presence of anyone else or Lord General Stone if in the presence of any of House Tir'eir's other generals. Am I clear on that point?" Stone emphasized his point by displaying the razor sharp tip of his arm blade.

Dick growled back a "Crystal" while silently vowing to avoid having to call the robotic bastard by his apparent title.

"Princess Raven had wounded Lord Tear badly and ended his fighting career making him useless as an effective combat leader. As a political figure he is still good to keep around as he has the know how to deal with the boring politician House leaders. I am the best fighter this House has because of Raven's lack of feeling so I suppose a thank you is long overdue.

A decade overdue in fact. I rebuilt his power base and expanded it so rapidly that I had built Tear an empire before he or anyone else realized it. In a decade I have conquered the entire North of the Nine Hells cementing House Tir'eir's resources, manpower, strategic positioning and political place as one of the powers to be reckoned with. No single House has as much land, wealth, or manpower.

You both must be wondering what the bloody hell I am talking about. Let me paint you a picture of the realm you are both in and you are indeed princess to.

The Nine Hells is a curious place. This is where everyone goes after they die, their soul filters down, weighed down not because of their sins but because Satan was a smart guy. The Nine Hells isn't a place for suffering and Heaven a place of pleasure, no the restrictions on getting into Heaven are so hard that few can qualify to get in. Satan saw that, split with Heaven and created the Nine Hells as a place for the vast majority of souls to be reborn with all their earthly experiences. A second chance is given here, no disease, no hunger, no war.

People and infernal creatures alike lived in peace until Tirgon dethroned the Father of Lies. Life carried on as per normal but when Tirgon died he never had named his heir. Telir, his son, your step-brother, tried to prove his worth for the Blood Throne by hacking and cutting his way to it, he obviously failed because for the last decade the Nine Hells have been torn apart at the borders of clans that have been fighting for supremacy.

The Nine Hells are squared shaped with a finite area that it covers. The edges just are wastelands that nothing survives in. Mountains surround the edges with one single land entrance to the world above. They are the Gates of Hell, the Pillars of Hercules. The only way to get into the hells proper is to cross the Styx River, which flows in a circle around all nine levels of the hells. After crossing the Styx you will find my territory, guarded by Hu Lou Gate, a single large stronghold fortress gate that is wedge between the only gap in the outer mountains for 1200 leagues. And my forces control those gaps and gates as well. House Tir'eir's empire stretched from the furthest northern tip of the Nine Hells down to third level of the hells. Close to 15 of all land belongs to me; all of the land north of the strategic Siren Mountains is under my happy steel fists. Curiously enough the first level of the hells is the highest and the lowest in elevation at the same time. The Nine Hells slope down with each level, which brings about climate changes and all sorts of different environments as on earth but in the center of the Nine Hells is a mountain fortress that extends up towards the clouds. It houses the infamous Blood Throne and was the palace for the previous Lords of the Nine Hells. Mount Sangre is on the ninth and lowest level as well as the highest level. All the Hells slope down to meet at the base of the mount, from which the highest point can be reached.

Quite something to wrap your head around, isn't it?" Stone asked Dick and Raven who were, despite themselves, quite baffled at what Stone had told them but for entirely different reasons.

"What the hell have you done with Cyborg, you're not the Victor Stone I recruited." Dick started.

"You offered free parts and pay, what fool would have not take up your little crusade when as desperate as I was? You offered a home for freaks to go to and look what you ended up with; a shape shifting green kid, a demonic princess, a tin man, and an alien that liked you enough to try and kill you! NOW WHY THE FUCK DID STAR TRY TO KILL YOU!" Stone roared at Dick who stood up and stared Stone straight in the eye. Or as close as he could since he had about 24 cm (8") less then Stone did.

Raven wasn't even listening to the two men argue, she was still trying to digest all of the information that Stone had told her. The description of her supposed realm, its history, his very brutal but accurate breakdown of a portion of her past, and more importantly who he was. He was Lord General Stone, a former cybernetic experiment named Victor Stone, a former Teen Titan called Cyborg…

A/N: I'm still alive, just celebrating being free at last from high school! Graduated June 3rd and that ceremony could not have gone any slower. Well here is another chapter, I'll be writing over this summer, net access will not be always available, I finally get cut off from my folks in august and get left in country that is strange to me and I am hostile against as you may have noticed. But the bright side is this, long summer, very bored me, new laptop (yay) long chapters for you guys when I do get the chance to upload. Some good twists coming up, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon cause I know all of you are going to love it and it brings up something most people can't stand to think about but I actually support strongly. You'll just have to wait and see what it is.

For my bashing for this chapter I would like to say how amazingly ignorant Americans are. They think that they are the only bloody nation and people on the planet and they make getting in touch with people in other countries to fucking hard. I normally don't swear as you may have noticed but this really pisses me off. It is close to impossible to get in contact with people in the US without making a long distance phone call because they are so damn backwards as far as technology goes. Now you may all say that, wait a minute, the US is the world leader in the Internet and all of this mobile technology but I news for you, that is a botched figure and fact. The technology is just in the northeastern coast and the west with a few select cities in the middle, the rest is vast country with nothing where cells phones don't work, a computer is an idol to be worshiped and the Internet a fictitious thing of the devil. I currently live in a third world country that have better mobile cell phone and internet access then the US. Just about everyone here has a cell phone and there are Internet cafés in the farthest flung provinces, not just here in the capital. About the only thing the US is the world leader on, well maybe not the world leader in with eight since China does this better, is how to control the media and making you think the US is the top dog in any and all things.

By and by, thank you all for reviewing!

LockDown over and out…

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