When I said you all would have to wait to find out, it turned out I wasn't joking. Man, has it seriously been almost two years again?

Seriously though, I'm sorry that this took so long. College has been rough. I'm in my Senior Year and working part-time at the Salt Lake International Airport. I've also been writing great stories in another fandom that I seriously love with all my heart. I just couldn't find the energy or brainpower to bring myself to finish this…

Since I decided to give myself a big break from writing and publishing in that fandom though, I decided to take the chance to finish this Beast once and for all. At the time of this chapter being posted, I am almost done writing out the rest of the chapters for this fic. You can thank my past self for leaving a detailed outline to help me get through to the end. The rest probably won't begin to be published for a couple of weeks so I can deal with Finals, but…

I hope that despite the wait, the climax of this story lives up to your expectations.

As a side note, yes, I am still single. RIP me.


Quotes for myself that helped me want to finish:

In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength. -Uncle Iroh

The only difference between a novice and a master is that the master has failed more times than the novice has tried. -Korosensei


Chapter Fifty-Seven: Battle for Survival


Wonder Woman slashed her sword in front of her rapidly. A line of demons was cleaved from shoulder to waist, falling to the ground in pieces. She then quickly turned, using her shield to knock another demon away through another line of them with the force of her attack.

She let out a battle cry as she charged forward, leading a squad of determined heroes behind her.

"Take this! And this! And more of this!" Shazam punched and kicked. His powerful strikes tore through every foe he came across.

Rocket followed right behind him, surrounding a group of demons in one of her signature barriers before crushing them into the ground.

The Justice Leaguers led the charge onto the large battlefield, comprised of the large technology-filled cave as well as the hellish landscape of the large prison portal Klarion had opened moments ago.

The two areas almost seemed to be merging on top of each other, making it difficult to determine if the Heroes were fighting on steel floors or hellish stone.

But it wasn't just the Justice Leaguers heading the charge against hell.

"Hurgh! Urgh! Argh!" Superboy ran from one demon to the next. His punches sent the fiery bastards flying sky-high one after the other.

"I'm going to wreck you!" Cliff lifted up a pair of demons overhead and threw them into more of their ranks. He then screamed his head off as he raised his arms like a shield in front of him, deflecting fire blasts from the remaining demons before plowing through the whole lot of them.

Hal Jordan followed right behind the pair. Swinging a large green hammer like he was playing a deadly game of whack-a-mole against any demons they missed.

It had only been a minute, and the battle for the fate of the universe was in full swing as all the Heroes who'd been fighting before came together against this world-ending threat.

"HUAHHHHHHHHH!" Rita, a sixty-foot-tall version of her, smashed her foot into the ground into the titanium floor in front of her. Those that had been underfoot were squashed. Those that had been near her were sent flying by the shockwave emitted from the attack.

Several demons levitating in the air came falling towards her. Mento blasted them with a wave of energy from his position on his wife's shoulder though, allowing her to focus on the ground.

Green Arrow, Speedy, and Artemis also stood on parts of her body, using the high vantage points to their advantage.

They were grateful Wonder Woman had at least given them time to restock on arrows before coming here. The fight earlier had almost exhausted all of their quivers. Though, the dozens of arrows they'd brought seemed like nothing compared to the size of the demonic force coming through the portal to face them.

As they launched explosive arrows simultaneously, two of the bow heroes struggled to come to terms with the fact that the past few months had seen them do some not-so-heroic things.

"There'll be no hard feelings since we didn't know what we were doing at the time, right?" Green Arrow asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see on that," Mento responded coldly. He blasted another demon into dust before lifting a finger to his headpiece. "Larry, do you see Garfield anywhere?"

Larry, who was zooming around in his soul self through demon after demon, blowing them up from the inside, zoomed back to his body as the Flash moved it to another safe spot for him. It was amazing how they were working together now after what'd happened at the Watchtower.

"No. He disappeared at the start, I think." Negative Man said into his comm link. "Not sure what he's doing now. Though it is certainly going to involve Raven... or I guess its Rage at the moment."

The Flash ran in a circle around him, punching many of the demons away while he spoke. "I haven't noticed where the green boy has gone either. I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"Hmph. Good, if we lost track of him, then so did the enemy." Mento raised his hand in front of him, and his helmet glowed, releasing another blast of mental energy at some close-by demons.

He looked across the massive shifting battle to Klarion and Rage's positions on the field. "He's always been a smart kid. I have no doubt he'll know when to make his move."

"Yeah, really a miracle considering how you raised him," Larry said calmly.

"Man, remember how I tried so hard to rot his brain alongside mine with all those video games?!" Robotman laughed genuinely. "Those were the good ol' days."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear any of that." Mento went back to blasting demons.

Negative Man shrugged and his soul self flew back out to fight. Flash took his body away to give himself a reprieve.

Even if the demons weren't that strong individually, they were very numerous. And there was so many charging onto the battlefield from out of the depths of the portal.

It really was like there were millions of them.

"So, there really aren't any hard feelings about before?" Green Arrow asked again.

"Just focus on the battle! We can discuss retribution for all our past issues after we've won!" Speedy told his mentor angrily.

"Pay for all the hurt you've caused my son!" Rita punched the ground, sending a whole platoon of demons into the air. It also almost sent the Green Lantern Hal Jordan flying away.

"Hey, watch it!" The man yelled before focusing on the fight again.

"All I'll say is that I won't vouch for whatever my wife does to you after this," Mento told the archers in a calm voice.

Both of the archers sweatdropped, and focused as intensely on the demons as Artemis was.

'Just strike when the time is right, Garfield. Strike when that troublesome kid is completely focused on the tough Heroes.' Mento thought, before sending another mental blast into the fray.


Boom!

Superman rocketed through the air, breaking the sound barrier as he struck the ground where Klarion had been standing. The boy villain had teleported out of the way though, and stood in the air above the Hero as the force of the punch blew apart an entire platoon of demons.

"Ahahaha! Were you even trying there Mr. Boy Scout?!" The villainous boy mocked. "I barely felt the wind on that one!"

Superman grimaced.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He followed up with one punch, and another, and another. Each one letting off an explosive shockwave from the speed and power behind them.

Yet Klarion dodged the multiple strikes that cracked the floor and sent demons flying all around. Even some of the nearby Heroes had to take cover to avoid being hit.

Klarion didn't seem to care how the collateral damage of Superman's strikes was destroying hundreds of his minions. He was like a kid playing around with his toys. Teleporting into the right spot repeatedly to avoid the hero's strikes.

"Tsk tsk. You really should do something about your weakness to magic Supes. You're making avoiding your attacks far too easy-!"

POW!

Klarion was hit hard in the side by the swipe of a long golden trident. He staggered away from the surprise hit.

"Ha, I told you I'd step on your puny little $# you little &%$#!" Aquaman laughed jovially. The portal Herald had summoned for him disappeared from view.

The boy villain screamed as he sent a blast of gold and red energy at the man, but a geyser burst from under Aquaman, sending the aquatic hero into the air over the blast. "Huah!" He then thrust his trident forward, and Klarion twisted sideways to avoid it.

Ksch!

In doing so, he twisted right into Superman's heat vision.

BOOM!

On top of that, Shazam rocketed out of the battlefield and his fist struck Klarion's chest dead center.

The boy villain was sent flying through the bodies of many demons into the cave wall.

Aquaman landed on the ground, giving Superman and Shazam a thumbs up. "Nice one. But my strike was better."

"Are you kidding me? That was my most solid hit ever!" Shazam said childishly.

"Your most solid hit doesn't even compare to my attack!" Aquaman said angrily while getting in Shazam's face.

"What, that stupid trident of yours? I bet it'd tickle more than it'd-"

"Sorry to interrupt. I'm afraid our attacks there were mere glancing blows at best." Superman said over them, watching as Klarion got back up again.

A golden glow-like armor surrounded his body. It dissipated as the heat from Superman's laser attack faded away. He was barely hurt and looked just as pissed as ever.

"No way... You can't be serious." Shazam said in shock.

"I'm afraid the longer we fight, the more his power is going to grow," Superman said ominously.

"That's right on the money Supes! Thanks to me putting on this helmet, I'm no longer limited! As more time passes, I'll be able to access more and more of my power! So you and your friends better deal with me soon, otherwise, I'll harness all of my power and truly become unstoppable!" Klarion screamed victoriously. Just a hint of his nasally tone came through.

He expected them to grovel at his feet in fear. To beg for mercy and give up, realizing their battle was futile.

Aquaman grimaced. "An unstoppable tantrum-throwing baby. I don't know what could be worse for our universe."

"Annoying everyone for the rest of eternity? Why couldn't the next Doctor Fate have been someone who was actually funny like me?" Shazam sighed.

"Because we're not that lucky, I suppose." Superman shrugged.

Klarion's left eye twitched under the helmet. "Stop talking down on me! I am above you insects in every way!" With a scream of rage, Klarion raced towards them again. Teleporting from spot to spot as he closed in.

The three Justice Leaguers rushed forward to meet him once again.


"Urgh!"

A demon general, larger than the underlings beneath it, was sent flying, its chest caved in by a powerful punch from Bumblebee. He landed at the foot of Rage's cloak.

Ever since the battle had started, she'd remained hovering in one spot, watching everything over with an acute eye. She had as yet to participate in the battle in any meaningful way.

She apparently wasn't looking for her underlings. As she only spared a glance at her general, and that was when his fist gripped her cloak.

"M-Mistress. Their power is too great. W-We can't beat them." The demon uttered in a broken rock voice.

Bumblebee took an offensive stance. Behind her was Pantha, Black Canary, Red Star, and Herald.

"Tsk. There are such a great number of demons with you and you can't even deal with a few simple pests?" Rage clicked her tongue.

"I'll show you pests!" Bumblebee shrank down, flying through the air towards Rage with stingers outstretched.

Rage simply waved her hand, and a black wave of power came from her. It was only thanks to a quick portal formed by Herald's trumpet that Bumblebee avoided being smushed entirely.

"You're not who I want. Leave me be." Rage muttered in a bored tone. Her eyes scanned over the battlefield again.

All these Heroes... but where was he?

Black Canary stepped forward and let out a loud screech. However, darkness covered Rage and the Demon General. The sound blast, instead of hitting them, decimated another column of demons.

"Damn it! We lost Rage's position! Does anyone else have eyes on her?!" Bumblebee yelled into her comm.

There was some broken chatter for a moment. All the Heroes seemed to be engaged in battle in one way or another.

"I see her," Jinx finally spoke from her perch. A wave of pink energy traveled off her hands towards the demons approaching her, and rocks suddenly fell on their heads, sending them crashing down below.

"What's her status?" Pantha asked gruffly next to Bumblebee.

"She took that big rock guy away from everyone else. She's…"

Jinx's eyes widened.

"M-M-Mistress, why?" The demon general said, sounding shocked and genuinely afraid.

Rage's fist was buried in his chest.

"You weaklings can't do anything. How you all managed to overwhelm Superman is beyond me.

"It's time you finally helped to make things more interesting. Maybe then my mate will decide to appear." Rage said, her voice a pur.

"Jinxie, what is she doing?" Kid Flash asked as he paused next to her. A pentagram appeared underneath Rage's feet as he stopped next to her.

Rage began to chant in a dark, ominous language that Jinx barely understood thanks to her study of forbidden texts while at Bro. Blood's academy. She could barely translate the words in her mind.

"By sacrifice… empower… with the… of the Great…"

"Stop her! Stop her right now!" Jinx screamed.

Aqualad, the nearest Hero, burst out of the army of demons with some water. Argent flew down from the ceiling on Rage's other side, wielding a large energy hammer in her hands.

Rage continued chanting in demonic while the demon general beneath her screamed.

"Unleash their power… devour this morsel for their gain…"

A red aura began to emanate from the pentagram below them.

"Stop-" Aqualad and Argent both swung.

Jinx didn't catch the end of the spell, but she saw the burst of red power that exploded out from Rage nonetheless.

"Wha-" Jinx grabbed her boyfriend and protected themselves with a bright pink barrier of energy.

Argent and Aqualad were both sent flying back. Other Heroes in the near vicinity were also knocked off their feet.

The demon general disappeared with a loud scream as a wave of energy, which he was the source of, washed over all of his underlings.

Their voices screamed in pain and fear as their bodies began to break down before the Heroes. Many of whom paused in shock at what they were witnessing.

Thousands upon thousands of visible demons cried out as their bodies dissolved into a blood-red mist. The cries of tens, if not hundreds of thousands more came from the depths of the hellish prison dimension as they were all similarly consumed with their general.

The red mist then washed over the rest of the demons on the battlefield.

"Urgh."

"Rurgh."

"Grrrr."

They began to grow larger. The flames coming off their bodies became hotter.

Where she'd been ready to hurl a group of them away with her psychic abilities, Miss Martian groaned as the heat went up.

"M'gann!" Kaldur was quick to catch her before she hit the ground. She looked incredibly weak though.

"Is she okay?!" Superboy ran up, managing to punch another demon away.

"K… Ken…"

Kaldur quickly doused her in water. It helped, but the air was becoming noticeably warmer from all the demons around them. They weren't just growing bigger, but menacing horns began to appear on their heads. Sharp spikes began to poke out of their shoulders.

"What did she do to them?" Kaldur asked, looking in Rage's direction.

"It's sacrifice magic," Jinx informed them over their comms. "She just sacrificed one of her main generals as well as the demons under him to strengthen the rest of the demons!"

"I... I didn't think Raven was capable of something like that!" Bumblebee said in a shocked voice.

"It's forbidden by the Lords of Order," Zatara informed the Heroes over their comms. "It's likely because of Klarion that she was able to do that just now. The rules of magic are losing their meaning in our dimension the longer that boy is in control of that helmet!"

"Save the explanation for the how later!" Superboy yelled, punching another demon away. "M'gann needs help!"

Little did he know how they were all going to need help soon.

"I'm here." The Martian Manhunter appeared next to them. He lifted the young heroine in his arms, but he looked to be struggling with the extreme heat too.

Superboy punched another demon into pieces and grimaced as he held his fist close. Looking at it, he saw burns developing on his fingers.

"This just became a million times harder." Jinx bounded from her perch, releasing another wave of pink energy at the demons that'd nearly surrounded her and Kid Flash.

The demons all crashed into each other, but only one crumbled to pieces. The rest turned and flew after them.

"Urgh, so hot." Argent fell to one knee. Her red energy manifested above her in the form of a dome, which the demons around her beat on. Their attacks were definitely more powerful, as cracks quickly formed.

Boom!

Before she could be overwhelmed though, the demons became much hotter, and then suddenly blew up. Hot Spot appeared, running up to her. "You okay?"

She smirked tiredly. "Of course, mate. Why wouldn't I be?"

Hot Spot focused his fire on another demon. It became super hot and then exploded in a burst of energy. "Come on, you look like crap, I'm getting you out."

"Whatever." Argent rolled her eyes but accepted the help from her boyfriend as he helped to clear a path towards some other struggling heroes.

Indeed, it was starting to become a struggle all around. Those who'd had the power to destroy whole platoons before could only destroy a few at a time. The demons had become noticeably stronger, and even some of the members of the Justice League began to struggle with the mass of them.

Black Canary screeched, and while several demons cracked under her voice, one managed to break through the sonic waves entirely and punch her square in the face. She was sent flying back into Red Star, who barely caught her in time.

"I am filled with radioactive energy. Not even a tank or a nuke can harm me... So why? Why is it that their flames can harm me?" The Russian superhero asked as he studied a new burn on his arm.

Herald blew into his trumpet. Several demons fell through his portal yet Pantha and Bumblebee were still struggling with the rest.

"Ow! My wings feel like they're on fire!" Bumblebee complained as she grew back into her normal size.

"They are." Pantha barely avoided a fist while pointing it out. She sent the rocky fiery behemoth flying back, but she was sweating heavily and covered in burns. "This is where the real fight begins."

Red Star nodded as he blasted some demons in the air around him back with red radioactive blasts.

But there was always more behind them.

And there was always more for everyone to fight.

"Mmmhmmhmm. Isn't this better?" Rage asked as she levitated above the battle.

Superman, as well as Aquaman and now Wonder Woman, since Shazam had just been buried several dozen feet into the Earth, were taking on Klarion. But they were only holding him in check.

Klarion had started launching red and gold beams of energy from his hands and cackled with delight at the Amazon Warrior before him as she blocked one such blast with her shield. Superman was grazed by one and held his arm where it'd just been burned.

Soon, her master would be so powerful that not even the heavy hitters of the Justice League would be able to stop him.

Still, there was that green boy. Why hadn't he appeared yet-?

"Ha!"

Rage merely moved her head, avoiding Jinx's blast of pink energy. She looked down at the witch as if she was just a mere insect. "Really, do you think a bit of bad luck is going to do anything to me?"

"No, but this will!" As Jinx yelled, both Kid Flashes ran at Rage to punch her simultaneously.

They were running faster than the speed of sound. Only someone like Superman could have seen them coming and reacted in time.

"Pathetic."

A wave of dark energy sprang up from the ground. Both Kid Flashes stepped into it and were stopped in their tracks, faceplanting into the floor at the speed of sound.

That probably hurt quite a lot.

"W-What-" The two boys were about to ask how the demoness saw them coming but didn't get that far.

Rage's powers covered their bodies, before burying them both into the floor below.

"Nooooo!" Jinx sent a massive wave of energy at Rage, who smirked as she sent a wave of her own energy back.

The two attacks collided, and Jinx's was easily overwhelmed. The witch was thrown like a ragdoll from the rest of the strike, smacking her into a far wall. She had several bleeding gashes on her body, and her right arm was twisted at the wrong angle.

"J-Jinxy!" The Teen Titans Kid Flash managed to vibrate his body out of the ground and ran to his girlfriend to save her.

The Young Justice Kid Flash, however, was still struggling to get out of his crater on the floor.

"I guess you could entertain me for now." Rage said boredly as she levitated over him. Another wave of energy appeared in her hand.

His eyes widened in shock. He raised his arms to protect himself.

"esaercnI ytivarg for ym tegrat!"

The energy in Rage's hands dissipated, but Rage didn't fall to her knees as the pressure around her increased immensely.

"Huh. Even without The Helmet of Nabu, you still hold quite a bit of power, old man." Rage turned in the air to face Zatara, the former Doctor Fate.

"Raven, stop this. We only want to help you." Zatara said, straining from the use of the spell to try and keep her pinned to one spot.

"Raven isn't here. I can leave her a message though if you'd like." Rage chuckled darkly. "Also, might I add, backwards chanting is so lame. You should really try to find a more creative way to cast your magic, now that Klarion is destroying the rules surrounding it."

Zatara opened his mouth to respond.

A fire demon hit him from behind, breaking his concentration. He turned around and used a quick spell to deal with it. "ecI!"

The quick second froze the demon, killing it. But it also released Rage from her shackles. "Now, let me show you what REAL power looks like!"

Zatara turned to face Rage, but clawed hands of darkness burst out of the darkness of her cloak one after the other. Heading for him.

"tcetorP flesym htiw a rei-" The older man was unable to get off his spell before the barrage slammed into his body over and over again.

Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!

"Your spell casts are too long for practical battles! What a fool you were coming at me all by yourself with no one to protect you! It's almost like you're begging me to kill you!"

Zatara collapsed to the ground. Kid Flash groaned as he managed to pull himself out of the hole at last. But both Heroes weren't in fighting shape anymore.

"Wally!" From her perch on Rita, Artemis yelled in worry.

"Welp, I'm done playing with them. Finish them off." Rage ordered the soldiers around her who'd been watching.

If her green little beast wasn't here, then she was tired of waiting for him to show up.

The fiery demons groaned in anticipation of finally getting to kill. Zatara struggled to stand, but he was bleeding from several gashes, and he didn't have the energy to try and cast another spell.

Worst of all, despite his distraction, Beast Boy still hadn't decided to appear and-

"Rowr!"

But as the demons began to step forward, a large green tiger tore through their ranks like paper. The demons, all caught off guard, turned to face the threat but were clawed and sliced before they could pull off any kind of attack.

"W-What the-" As Rage was caught off guard, Mas and Menos zipped through the carnage, grabbing the injured Zatara and Kid Flash before running off with them to somewhere safe.

Rage tried to form energy in her hands, but Beast Boy still managed to tackle her out of the air onto the ground after dealing with all the nearby demons.

She'd managed to counter the Kid Flashes. Yet somehow, Beast Boy had managed to catch her off guard. Could it have been because of...

"Huhuhuhuhu!" Seeing her beastie above her at last, Rage started to laugh. The green hero turned back into his human form.

"Ah, I was wondering where my boyfriend was. I've been eagerly awaiting your arrival, my little Beastie."

Beast Boy glared down at Rage. "Give me Rae back, now!"

Rage laughed more at his words. "You fool! Raven is gone! I am all that's left of her!

Beast Boy continued to glare down at her. "Don't worry though. You could join me. Be a general in my army. I'll even elevate you as my only mate. If you'll have me, that is." Rage purred in a seductive voice as she reached up to his face.

Beast Boy grabbed her hand with his, stopping the action. "I'm sorry. As hot as you are, I'd rather have Rae back."

Rage looked caught off guard, though it was probably because of the 'hot' compliment more than anything else. Before she could think about how she felt about that, his other hand pulled itself out of his pocket, holding a meditation mirror Rage was very familiar with.

The same one Raven had entrusted to her boyfriend only a short time ago.

Beast Boy sent the both of them into Nevermore as the battle for survival raged on around them.


To put things bluntly, Nevermore had seen better days.

The night sky full of stars was gone. It was nothing but a blistering desert across the whole landscape. A desert filled with jagged mountains, sharp glassy sand, spiked boulders, and air that even looked toxic from a distance.

Klarion's mark burned brightly in the sky here like a miniature blazing sun.

A portal opened in this hellscape, and Beast Boy and Rage flew out of it in separate directions. Rage slammed into the side of a boulder, and Beast Boy rolled across the sharp grains of sand.

When he managed to stand again, his outfit looked more torn up than before.

"What the hell, I don't remember it looking like this here." Beast Boy looked around worriedly.

He'd planned on bringing both him and Rage into here so Raven and her other emoticlones could talk her down. Rage was a part of Raven, after all. And if she didn't want to be reasoned with, they could have stopped her together.

But there was no sign of Raven. Or Brave. Or Knowledge. Or Wisdom. Or Love. Or any of Raven's other emotions.

This was a hell landscape. Nothing was capable of surviving here.

"Oh, so you wanted to talk in private." Beast Boy's eyes widened as Rage appeared from a portal in front of him, an ethereal hand formed at her side.

"Why didn't you just say so!?"

Pow!

Beast Boy raised his arms in front of him, but the force of the hit sent him sliding back across the sand feet first. Cutting through his boots and into the soles of his feet.

Rage raced forward, more fists formed around her which she threw at the animorph teenager.

"R-Rae, listen-" Beast Boy tried to speak.

"Raven isn't here right now!" Rage yelled furiously.

Yes, he could easily see that.

Kapow!

The young man was thrown through the air onto his back. He cried out in pain as the glassy sand dug into his skin.

Still, when a growling Rage tried to jump on him to strangle him with her own hands, he managed to grip her wrists and stop her. "Rae, please! You have to stop this!?"

"Rae Rae Rae. It's always about sweety old Rae." Rage said in a mocking tone. "No one ever cared about lil' ol' me."

"Th-That's not true-" She used two ethereal hands to grip Beast Boy's arms tightly, and as he screamed in pain, she began punching him in the face repeatedly with her bare fists.

"How about now?! Do I matter to you now Beastie-Poo!? Well, do I?!"

"Ugh R… Raven…" Beast Boy groaned.

Rage didn't stop. She continued beating her boyfriend like he was a pinata.

"Can't… can't you see… you're…"

"Huhuhuhuhu! What was that?! I can't hear you!"

Rage thought she had him down. And yet, as she was about to land another major punch, his hand appeared again and gripped her fist, stopping it in its track.

Her red eyes stared down at him in surprise. His nose was bleeding, and bruises were forming on his face. But he was still looking at her with such care and remorse.

"I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you on the Watchtower… I'm sorry for all that's happened to us…

"But… but you're hurting me. You're hurting Raven by doing this Rage. You have to stop this.

"I know this isn't what you want."

"How would you know what I want?! And I'm not hurting Raven! I'm hurting you, idiot!" Rage snarled at him.

"Then… why are you crying?" Beast Boy asked sadly.

Rage snarled. She tried to pull her fist away, but Beast Boy didn't let go. Bloodred tears fell from all four of her eyes.

"I… but I want this! I want-" Rage started to stammer, realizing, at last, the tears falling from her eyes.

"No, you don't." Beast Boy said to her softly. "After how hard you fought alongside Raven to win freedom from your Father, the last thing I could see is you wanting to throw that away for this." Beast Boy gestured to the landscape around them.

"You… you idiot! Can't you see I don't have a choice?!" Rage finally yelled back, her tone sounding more like her than it had before. Her body tensed as through extreme force of will, she restrained herself from trying to fight him.

"Don't have a choice?! You've always had a choice!" Beast Boy told her.

"You don't get it! That little peon forced me against my will to swear to him in demonic! He's filled me with nothing but thoughts of destruction and death! I can't resist him! I have no choice but to follow that bastard's orders!

"I can't sway from them no matter how much I want to! Please, I need to be stopped!"

An ethereal fist slammed into the ground next to Beast Boy's head. The scowl on her face was full of pain. "Rage, there has to be a way-"

"There is! We could still be together! We could have a world of our own spared from Klarion's schemes!

"All you have to do is join me! Please!"

"I don't want to be alone again! I BEG YOU! ANYTHING BUT THAT!"

Beast Boy looked up at her with wide eyes. Rage was still crying even as she looked down at him pleadingly.

...

He began to picture it in her shoes. For years, Raven had kept her separated from everything, even herself in a prison inside her mind. Then, gradually, she'd been allowed more freedom in Nevermore. She'd been able to interact with the other emoticlones, with Raven, with the real world.

Yet, here and now, she was alone. And if she followed Klarion's path, she'd remain alone as everything she knew was destroyed by her or Klarion's hands. She desperately wanted something to hold onto. Something that couldn't be taken away like everything else in her life.

The look on her face said how badly she wanted him to accept. How much she didn't want to kill him or anyone else. Yet all she could have was the mercy of him being spared. No one else they cared about would be extended that chance.

And... that hurt almost as much as her being alone again.

Beast Boy knew just how much she'd remain hurting for the rest of their lives if he were to just accept what was being shoved into their faces then and there. If he were to accept this choice and never look back.

"Rage, we won't be leaving here until you're free once again. I promise."

The demoness stared down at him with a stunned expression. He continued to look up at her with the most serious expression she'd ever seen from him, human or Beast.

"You're a part of Raven just as much as the Beast is a part of me. I promise I'll do anything to help you, no matter what…"

"You idiot…"

Another ethereal hand grabbed Beast Boy's head. Rage threw him into the air, but as he fell down this time, he transformed into a falcon and flew to the ground before turning back into his human form.

He saw the traces of a sad smile on her face. One last look of regret before a fiendish snarl took over her features.

"If you won't join me, then I'll kill you myself! I'll learn to live my life alone without you if I have too- but I don't want this! I don't want-!" Rage shrieked in pain and anger as she glared at him furiously. The Mark of Klarion burned brightly in the sky, and she howled as she clutched her head in pain.

It was just like with Superman, and Wonder Woman, and all the other Heroes in the past.

Now, it had happened to Raven, or rather, it'd happened to Rage.

The demon aspect of Raven, who wanted nothing to do with demonkind anymore, had now personally become a victim of Klarion's control and was being forced to do stuff she didn't want to do against her will. Only, this time, words or mere brute force wouldn't be enough to save her.

It was going to take everything he had to get her back. And as Beast Boy stared back at her, his face took on a glint of determination.

It was the ugly part of his girlfriend. The one that she feared the most about herself.

But Rage was still Raven. And she was still a part of the girl he loved with all his heart.

"Master, shall I?"

The green man nodded. He was already retreating back, allowing the Beast to come out of his mental den and take control. 'I'm entrusting this to you, dude.'

'Do whatever you have to do to save our mate.'

The green man slumped forward. His body fluidly shifted, growing in size and covering over with fur.

"No worries, Master. I will save our mate, even if I have to beat that oath out of her with my own paws."

"Awhooooooo!" The Beast howled as it became fully manifested in Nevermore's landscape.

Rage laughed as the last of her resistance crumbled. The personality implanted by Klarion took full control once more. "Finally, you make your appearance you mangy mutt! I'm going to enjoy ripping you to utter pieces!"

"Mate…" The Beast growled in a low voice. "I will help you... No matter what."

"So you can talk now, huh?! I'll gladly enjoy the screams you throw into the void when I'm done with you then!" A wave of dark black energy burst from Rage's hands towards the Beast.

Yet, he punched right through it with one fist.

"I will… help Mate... Always." The Beast reiterated.

Rage scowled, and more dark energy focused on her form. Bloodred energy wings appeared on her back, throwing her cloak up into the air. She began to levitate off the ground as a series of clawed hands appeared on both sides of her.

"Then I shall tear you apart myself!"

Their battle began on the glassy sands of the hellscape inside Nevermore.


Author's Notes:

Yeah, so again, sorry for the long wait. But as you can see, I am keeping with the tradition of leaving this fic on a cliffhanger. I won't say sorry for that, lol.

Please give me your thoughts if you have any. I look forward to hearing from this fandom again.

Till Next Time

Allen