Hunters of Justice

by trestwho

Remnant has fallen, its cities captured and its greatest defenders defeated at the hands of the alien conqueror, Brainiac. In the aftermath of his victory, the people of Remnant's last hope lies in the hands of two teams of students, whisked away to another world. A world where Gods walk among them.

23. Trigon, Part 2

Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)

Chapter 17: Trigon, Part 2

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Donna Troy's knuckles were bone-white as she tightly gripped the Invisible Jet's controls. She was going as fast as the jet could physically take her, the engines whining from the strain, but still Donna wished to go faster. Her friends were in danger, and the last thing she heard from them before their radios cut off was the sound of an explosion. Neither she nor the rest of the League could reestablish contact with them, and she was fearing the worst.

The fact that, a few minutes ago, the Watchtower was suddenly bombarded with a DDoS attack, halting it in its tracks and disabling its systems, only added to the feeling of dread.

"Watchtower to Titans, do you read?!" Mister Terrific shouted into the radio, Donna keyed to the same frequency. When her friends didn't respond, Donna's grip tightened ever more, and she forced the plane to go just a little bit faster.

"Donna, you need to ease up on the engines. You're pushing them into the red," Diana advised her.

"Those are my friends, Diana," Donna countered, "and they're in trouble."

"You won't be able to help them if you crash."

"I won't be able to help them at all if they're dead by the time I get there!"

Diana didn't respond to Donna's statement, and the Wonder Girl took it as a tacit approval to continue her present course. Her eyes briefly drifted towards her sword and shield, knowing that soon they would come into use, then returned her attention onto the horizon. Donna was getting close to Jump City, and soon she would be able to see it.

"Hera's mercy…" Donna whispered as she saw the top of Titans Tower appear over the horizon. From what little she could see beyond the bright purple magical shield encasing it, her home was in complete ruins. Half of it had collapsed into rubble, and the other was barely standing. But what was most concerning to her, however, was the fact that the shield was up to begin with. That shield was only meant to be used under one circumstance: the event of Trigon managing to possess Raven.

"Donna? Donna, what do you see?"

Donna fought back the tears and swallowed. "It's… It's Trigon. He's possessed Raven."

Donna could feel her sister's horror through the radio despite her not responding. Then, as Donna drew closer, she heard Mister Terrific's voice sound through.

"Wonder Girl, I advise you to stay clear of Titans Tower," he began. "The Watchtower is almost operational, and once it is, we're using the Ion Cannon."

"What? But that would—"

"I know!" Mister Terrific interrupted, shame filling his voice. "But right now, I have to assume the worst."

Donna felt her heartrate quicken as Mister Terrific relayed the plan over. With wide eyes, she stared out over the horizon, seeing more of the city with each passing second. Fires were breaking out everywhere, and police reports were coming in detailing how heavily armed mercenaries were engaging in open warfare against the police and hastily mobilized national guard. Then, she returned her attention back to Titans Tower, and suddenly felt a thought burst into her mind.

"Wait! Belay that order!" Donna ordered. "The shield is still up!"

"I fail to see how—"

"It means that Trigon hasn't won yet!" Donna insisted. "There's still a chance for them to turn things around, and if you fire that cannon down on them, all you'll be doing is killing them!"

The other line went silent as they contemplated her words. Even though Donna couldn't see her friends, she knew that they were still alive. She could feel it in her bones, and the shield still being up was all the proof she needed. Finally, after a pregnant pause, Mister Terrific responded.

"… Alright," he relented, a hint of relief entering his voice. He clearly didn't want to fire the cannon to begin with, knowing the odds of the Titans and RWBYJNPR surviving it were low, so the possibility of them still being alive was a welcome thought.

"But," he continued, "if that shield drops and no one responds, we will assume the worst and open fire."

Donna thought it over, then nodded. "I understand, but it won't come to that."

"For everyone's sake, I hope to God you're right. Watchtower out."

Mister Terrific's voice cut off as the other line shut down. Donna, taking a deep breath, removed her headset and placed it on the co-pilot's seat. She then activated the autopilot, stepping away from the controls and heading back into the cabin. She didn't have the time to fully change into her combat attire before the line went dead, and she was so focused on getting to Jump City, she hadn't taken the time to fully change. Given how she was rapidly approaching the west coast city, now was as good a time as any.

As she strapped on her boots and put herself into her cuirass, she couldn't help but glance out of the invisible walls of the jet. It would only be a few more minutes before she would arrive at Titans Tower, but she didn't know what would happen after that.

"So do I," she quietly admitted.

---

When Ruby stepped through the last portal, she knew that whatever greeted her would not be pleasant. The effects of a literal demon god forcibly taking over someone's mind could never be anything remotely like that. Still, when she finally saw what greeted her, she was appalled and horrified. Trigon's corruption, which had been spreading through Raven's mind throughout her time here, was concentrated to ludicrous degrees. Rivers of molten magma crisscrossed the mental landscape. Dried husks of what was once trees lay shriveled under a blood-red sky. Rather than being barren, the rocks were covered in a red fungus-like membrane that squished under her boots.

"My god…" Beast Boy breathed out, horrified.

"It's like she's being terraformed…" M'gann pointed out. Both Ruby and Beast Boy found the description appropriate. More squelches announced the rest of the Emoticlones arriving behind them, the portal shutting off and crumbling to dust once the last arrived. Ruby frowned, knowing that meant their only avenue for escape was just closed off to them.

A red flash went off in front of them, illuminating a dark silhouette of a titanic form. Ruby recognized it as the body of Trigon. He was so large, she couldn't even see his face, only the bottom of his knees. She felt small and insignificant compared to him, but she then heard someone scream. It sounded feminine, and there was only one person she could think of that would scream like that.

Without a second thought, M'gann grabbed hold of Ruby and began to fly them up towards the screams. Behind them, Beast Boy turned himself into a bird, momentarily wobbling as he took flight, and the Emoticlones followed suit. They ascended through the clouds, red lightning flashing all around them. Each was accompanied by a boom, loud enough that Ruby felt she was going to go deaf. Still, after a few minutes of flight, they broke the cloud cover and saw a floating stone platform.

Beast Boy recognized it as the very same platform he had seen Raven meditating at just an hour prior. Its once pristine white-stone architecture was shattered, blackened by ash and soot. The floating spiral staircase was gone, turned into floating rubble. Steeling himself, he and the others continued flying up to the top, where they finally saw Raven. Beast Boy's heart sank as he saw her condition. Thick chains were attached to her arms and legs, immobilizing her to tall pillars that stretched further into the clouds. Her purple cloak was torn and tattered, and they could see burns along her wrists and ankles.

"…azarath…metrion…zinthos…" she chanted, her eyes tightly closed. "…azarath…metrion…zin-AAAGH!"

Raven suddenly screamed in agony as red magic pulsed through the chains and coursed through her body. She screamed and thrashed, trying to do anything to stop it, but nothing was working.

"Oh, daughter," a deep, booming voice sounded, heralded by a red flash that illuminated Trigon's head for a moment. Almost as soon as it appeared, it was gone, leaving behind only the dark red glow of his eyes. "Why do you continue to resist? Why do you make me do this to you?"

Raven breathed heavily, regaining her bearings, then tilted her head towards Trigons' eyes and glared into them defiantly. "Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos."

Trigon chuckled, then sent more magic coursing into Raven's body. She screamed, and Ruby could no longer find it within herself to sit back and just watch. Leaping from M'gann's arms, she unfolded her cape and turned it into a glider. Using her Semblance, she sped towards the nearest chain and flipped, unfolding Crescent Rose and swinging it downwards with all of her body's momentum. The scythe made contact, but instead of cutting through like she had hoped, it simply bounced off. The thick iron chains sported no visible damage, while Ruby noted a small chink in Crescent Rose's blade.

Distracted, Ruby was almost unable to dodge an ocular blast from Trigon, turning herself into roses at the last second. A thick pillar was shattered as the magical attacks made contact, sending shards of rubble flying in all directions.

"There you are…" Trigon bellowed.

"Ru…Ruby?" Raven weakly got out, her head wobbling.

"Hey, Raven," Ruby greeted, holding out Crescent Rose with one hand behind her back. "Sit tight, we'll get you out of there."

"We…?" Raven slowly turned her head to see M'gann and Beast Boy flying towards her. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of them. "Garfield…?"

Before Beast Boy could even say anything to her, Raven's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped forward. They all felt the air shift as it suddenly grew hotter. The air began to warp from the heat, and the cloud of ash around them began to churn and glow red-hot. A booming laughter echoed from the void, and soon the clouds disappeared. Slowly, in disbelief, Ruby turned her head up to face the terrifying visage of Trigon.

The word 'titanic' barely described him adequately. His skin was a dark blood red, with black lines reminiscent of tattoos crossing his arms and torso. A pair of large horns, each black as night that heavily contrasted with his long, bone-white hair, came out of his forehead like a crown. He was shirtless, only wearing a pair of black iron gauntlets and a black half-cuirass that barely covered his stomach and the tops of his legs. They, themselves, were double-jointed like those of a goat, and although she couldn't see them, Ruby imagined that they ended in cloven feet. His eyes were no longer glowing red, and instead were an unnerving pale. There were no irises, no pupils, simply a blank sclera that promised only malice and unimaginable cruelty.

Ruby then whipped Crescent Rose around, aimed, and fired at Trigon's face. The bullet did nothing, other than make her feel good. Trigon didn't react to the blow at first, then slowly smiled to reveal his large fangs. He chuckled, each sound vibrating Ruby's bones. She felt like jelly but forced herself to stay upright. Then, loading another round into Crescent Rose, she aimed at Trigon's head once again.

"Get. Out." Ruby ordered with as much conviction as she could muster. Trigon laughed uproariously at her demand, leaning down to where his face was eye-level with Ruby's. This allowed for her to feel his hot breath, and she grimaced at the foul odor that spewed from his mouth. It smelled of death and decay, of burnt flesh and rotten corpses. Briefly, Ruby's mind traveled back to that first day of Brainiac's invasion, but quickly pulled herself out of it and steeled her expression. Behind her, M'gann and Beast Boy held out their fists defiantly, showing they were ready for a fight.

Rather than appear annoyed or angered, Trigon merely laughed.

"HAHAHA!" Trigon bellowed. "SUCH YOUTHFUL ARROGANCE, THINKING THAT YOU HAVE A CHANCE OF SAVING YOUR FRIEND. YOUR LOYALTY TO MY OFFSPRING WOULD BE ADMIRABLE, WERE IT NOT SO FOOLISH."

"Trying to save a friend is not foolish!" Ruby protested, remembering how such an act led to her, her team, and team JNPR escaping Remnant's destruction.

"IS IT, EVEN WHEN IT MEANS YOUR OWN DEATH?"

Immediately after he spoke, Trigon's hand was raised high above his head. Then, he slammed it down with the force of a meteor, his house-sized fist slamming through the rock and shattering it. Ruby shrieked as she was blown away by the force, carried away by a green pterodactyl. M'gann had turned herself intangible, allowing Trigon's hand to phase right through her, but even still her body reacted negatively to the heat his body exhumed. As soon as she was free from the confines of his flesh, she turned tangible once again and quickly scanned her immediate surroundings, trying to find Raven. She quickly found her, held in place by iron chains attached to floating orbs of red magic.

"Raven!" M'gann shouted as she flew towards her immobilized friend, only to recoil back as a red beam of magic struck her chest. She flew black, shattering one of the few remaining pillars that were stretched deep into the void below, and shook her head once she was able to regain her bearings. M'gann looked forward, expecting to see Trigon's face, only to instead see a red-cloaked Raven glaring at her with four glowing red eyes.

"I take it you're Rage?" M'gann rhetorically asked. Rage answered by screaming at the top of her lungs, forming a dark red astral projection of a flaming raven behind her. A dark, pulsing aura was surrounding her, and dark veins crisscrossed Rage's face. Knowing that the red Emoticlone was in no mood for discussion, M'gann flew away at high speed, with Rage close behind.

Below her, far beneath the clouds, a breathless Beast Boy lowered Ruby to the rocky ground. Rivers of magma swirled around them, making it hard for Ruby to breathe and the rock hot to the touch. The Red Reaper then reached into her pouch and pulled out a rebreather, gasping for air once she strapped it to her face. She heard a cough and looked towards Beast Boy in worry. He was clutching his chest wound, but before Ruby could even attempt to help him, he raised his hand and held her back.

"I'm fine, just a little winded," he admitted, then looked at the hellscape that surrounded them. His face held a look that combined sorrow and rage in equal measure, as well as discomfort from the hot air. "Uggh, it smells like sulfur."

"Are you okay? Do you need a rebreather?"

"Don't worry about me," Beast Boy repeated a little forcibly, causing Ruby to purse her lips. He was obviously toning down how injured he was, and from the sag of his shoulders and the paleness beginning to enter his green skin, he was running on fumes. Doctor Light's attack had done a number on him, and it was a miracle he was still standing.

They then heard a low rumble come from around them. The two teenagers whipped around, Ruby holding Crescent Rose out in front of her, and saw that they were surrounded by a sea of black and white. Grimm, hundreds of them, glared with red, hungry eyes. Their maws were opening and closing, clicking their teeth together, and Ruby admittedly felt a chill run down her spine.

"Alright… You take the hundred on the left, I'll take the hundred on the right," Ruby said.

"Heh, I'll take a hundred-and-one," Beast Boy playfully countered, and Ruby smiled.

"That's the spirit."

Then, without saying another word, Ruby fired her sniper rifle at the head of the closest Grimm. The Creep's head exploded in a cloud of black gore, as did the stomach of the Beowolf behind it, the bodies disintegrating soon afterwards. As though it were a signal, the Grimm horde roared at the top of their lungs and charged at Ruby and Beast Boy. Ruby fired Crescent Rose as long as she could, a cacophony of gunfire filling their air. Each shot landed true, exploding the heads of Ursas, Beowolves, and Creeps, but when the horde finally closed in, Ruby sprang up as a cloud of roses. She reformed herself at the top of her arc, her cape billowing outwards like a parachute to slow her descent, then spun in a circle. Ruby fired her weapon at each instant, hitting multiple targets with each pass, and when her body almost reached the ground, she reconfigured Crescent Rose into its scythe mode. She swung the blade in a mighty arc, decapitating multiple Grimm at once and leaving her significant breathing room.

As Ruby quickly sped towards the nearest Grimm, using Crescent Rose as a war scythe, Beast Boy was charging through the horde as a large green mastodon. He crushed Grimm underfoot, impaled yet more with his mighty tusks. He had a Creep wrapped tightly in his trunk, and he squeezed the life out of it. Beast Boy refused to let go until the creature was dust in the wind, then moved on to the next. He felt a couple of Grimm leap onto the top of his body, and he shook to try and throw them off. Most did, but one managed to keep hold and sink its fangs into Beast Boy's hide. He roared in pain, then shifted himself into an ankylosaur just as the Grimm tried to bite again. This time, its fangs broke against his osteoderm-covered hide. He swung his tail-club into the creature, crushing it along his back, then swung his tail the other way. The blunt weapon slammed into a group of Grimm, shattering their bones and rupturing their internal organs. Then, turning himself into a tyrannosaurus rex, Beast Boy snapped his jaws shut on an Ursa Major, shredding it with his banana-sized teeth, and roared out a challenge to the rest of the Grimm

The mindless creatures, enhanced by Trigon's magic, eagerly answered it, and charged with a fearless vigor.

Above them, M'gann dueled against Raven's Rage Emoticlone. The White Martian grappled with Rage, holding her tightly with one arm while repeatedly punching Rage's face with the other.

"Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!" M'gann chanted, but Rage merely shook it off and violently kicked M'gann away, her foot covered in a red magical aura. As M'gann flew back, Rage gathered magic in between her hands, then fired a focused beam towards Miss Martian. M'gann banked hard, the end of her cape singeing from the heat of the attack, and stared hard at her unfortunate enemy. Her eyes glowed bright white, then turned red as twin beams of heat shot out and struck Rage in the chest. M'gann flew forward, continuing to fire her Martian Vision until she plowed into Rage in an aerial tackle. They continued flying through several pillars, shattering them one by one until Rage felt woozy. Taking advantage of her opponent's current state, M'gann punched the red Emoticlone repeatedly in the gut then grabbed her head to bring it down to her rising knee. As Rage recoiled, M'gann punched her in the face again, then hurled her over her shoulder into the black mass below.

M'gann looked down to see if Rage showed any signs of activity, but she saw only Grimm. Her brother and Ruby were handling themselves well, killing the abominations left and right, but she couldn't help but notice how the particles emitting from the freshly slain Grimm were coalescing at the far end of their current platform into new creatures. She realized that Raven's Knowledge was right. These Grimm were merely copies of the original, ones that were being held somewhere in her city.

But she couldn't focus on that right now. Instead, she flew back up towards where she last saw Raven – the real Raven – and found her being surrounded by her other Emoticlones. They were simultaneously trying to repair the damage Trigon had wrought on her while defending themselves from his own attacks. The sphere of magic they had constructed around themselves was shaking and cracking under each of Trigon's heavy blows, whether they be from fist or magic. Seeing another crack form, M'gann frowned and flew straight towards the demon. A sonic boom went off as she broke the sound barrier, and she felt a stretching sensation all across her body. Trigon barely had time to look before a giant-sized Miss Martian threw a mighty punch into his face, causing him to stagger and clutch his nose.

"In case you've forgotten, jerk wad," M'gann taunted, resting her foot on the ground – incidentally, crushing dozens of Grimm underfoot – and cracking her knuckles, "I have complete control over my body's molecular structure. How does it feel to pick on someone your own size?"

Trigon, recovering from the unexpected blow, said nothing at first. Then, throwing his arms back, he roared and fired four beams of red-hot magic at Miss Martian. M'gann turned intangible, allowing the attacks to phase straight through her with no issue. When she turned tangible again, Trigon followed up the attack with a punch to her jaw, spinning her around. M'gann recovered and spun back, retaliating with a punch of her own, and the two giants descended into a chaotic melee. Now safe behind their shield, the Emoticlones continued their work, sending soothing magic into Raven's body while healing her wounds.

"There, there," Passion soothed, rubbing Raven's head. Her progenitor was currently unconscious, but Passion knew that the gesture was still felt and appreciated.

"Yo!" Bravery announced as she flew back up, holding a tightly bound Rage in her arms. "I got her!"

"Good, bring her here," Knowledge ordered. "Unless we can remove father's corruption from Raven's Rage, none of this will work."

Sloth burped and rubbed her mouth. "Like, we already know that. Why tell us again?"

"Because you slept through the last time she told us!" Rudeness chastised.

"Not my fault she was so boring…"

"Focus, both of you," Knowledge interjected. The two bickering Emoticlones quickly refocused on the task at hand, along with the other Emoticlones. While the majority focused on Raven herself, Timid and Joy sent their own magic into the thrashing Rage.

"Oh man! He's really gotten you all wound up!" Joy exclaimed through a toothy smile, somehow finding enjoyment during this process.

"Ragh!" Rage roared into Joy's face, who immediately brushed it off.

"Just as lively as ever!"

Timid said nothing as she shakily sent her magic into Rage's body. The thought was that the dual emotions would serve as a natural counterbalance to Trigon's immense rage. Although the difference was subtle, she could sense that they were beginning to make an impact. Still, as she looked down at the battle before them, she couldn't help but feel scared for her friends.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, then went back to work.

Back on the ground, Ruby and Beast Boy were in the fight of their lives. The Red Reaper had long since run out of bullets, and was forced to resort to melee only. But this suited Ruby just fine as she flew back and forth, swiping Crescent Rose wherever she went. One Beowolf attempted to lunge at her, only for Ruby to jump overhead and swing her scythe in a vertical spin, bisecting the creature from end to end. She then had to quickly burst back as one of M'gann's house-sized feet crashed into the ground where she stood only moments earlier. Ruby stared up in awe as her friend fought against Trigon, matching him blow for blow. Then, she heard a yell and shot her attention to Beast Boy.

Her friend had turned himself into a stegosaurus, swinging his tail back and forth. The thagomizers on his tail were impaled into Grimm, some of which futilely clawed at them in an attempt to free themselves before expiring, but there were too many of them. Beast Boy, unprotected by the Aura Ruby herself was running dangerously low on, now sported several gashes along his hide. Red blood was oozing out of the wounds, and his breathing was labored. Coming to a decision near instantly, Ruby shot forward and struck a Beowolf that had maneuvered itself to a safe position along Beast Boy's spinal plates, preparing to bite down into his flesh. Ruby speared it off of Beast Boy, pole vaulting off of it as they crashed into the ground, then swung her weapon vertically as she landed. She slammed the blunt end of her weapon into another Grimm's head, crushing it like a melon, then ducked as a Creep lunged for her head. As it soared over her, she looped her weapon around and sliced it in half before proceeding to flow into a dance of swirling petals and blades. Any Grimm that got too close were shredded, allowing Beast Boy time to recover. He turned himself into a brachiosaur, whipping his giant tail and slapping the Grimm with supersonic strikes. Finally, the horde began to thin, and Beast Boy turned himself back to his human appearance.

"Garfield!" Ruby exclaimed as she saw him lean against a rock. He was covered in cuts and bruises, trickles of blood running down his head and arms. The more minor injuries were being healed before Ruby's very eyes, much to her astonishment, but the more serious ones were healing much more slowly.

"I…" he said, breathing heavily, "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Ruby frowned at his admission, but at the same time understood where he was coming from. He was already injured before entering Raven's mind, and the hectic combat couldn't be good for his body. Another roar cut off her thoughts, and she patted Beast Boy's shoulder.

"Got a few more in ya?" she asked, and Beast Boy nodded.

"Let's kick their asses," Beast Boy emphatically proclaimed as he turned to face the ongoing horde. He bared his teeth and ran forward, stumbling the first few steps but quickly gaining confidence. Then, when he reached his top speed, he turned himself into a triceratops, angling his head down and his three horns forward. He gored and plowed into several Grimm at once, crushing yet more under his massive bulk. Ruby stood on top of him, keeping the Grimm from jumping on top of her friend while using her weapon's war scythe configuration as a lance. They worked as one, forming a cloud of dark particles that swirled around them. Ruby couldn't help but smile confidently as she quickly spun her blade around to decapitate a lunging Beowolf, followed by spearing an Ursa in its open maw.

Their attention focused on the Grimm, they didn't notice M'gann's foot slamming into the ground until it was right in front of them. Beast Boy dug in his heels in a desperate attempt to stop his momentum, but inertia carried them forward until they slammed into her red boot. Ruby flew off of Beast Boy in a flail, trying to right herself in midair, while Beast Boy rebounded back. His body returned to its normal form, and he laid on his back groaning for a few moments. When he heard Grimm approaching, he quickly shot back up to his feet, only to wobble for a bit. His chest hurt, and he winced in pain while nursing it with his hand.

Still, as the first Grimm neared, he snarled and turned himself into a gorilla to pound its head into dust. As another neared, he grabbed it and used its body as a mace, slamming it repeatedly into one abomination after another until its body disintegrated. More Grimm piled onto him, and he punched and kicked his way to freedom before turning himself into an eagle and flying upwards. From his vantage point, he was able to see more of the battle.

M'gann was losing ground, Trigon hurling powerful blows into her body. She was desperately shielding her chest and face from the demon's wrath, but she was unable to shake his blows to her side. He was forcing her against the magical shield the Emoticlones had constructed around themselves, the shield buckling under the added weight. The only consolation he could see was that Rage was visibly less corrupted, but that didn't mean much if Trigon managed to get to them first. If he did, the last remains of Raven's individuality would vanish.

Below him, he could see Ruby fighting off several Grimm at once. She was moving in a blur of rose petals, swinging Crescent Rose at every moment. Multiple Grimm were cut down at each swing, but there were too many. Several managed to land blows on her, and for a moment he saw her Aura flicker dangerously.

As Trigon's heavy footsteps boomed, he felt a sense of rage overtake him. How dare Trigon barge into their lives and try to subvert Raven for his own ends? How dare he hurt his friends? How dare he ruin the lives of so many innocent people, just so he could conquer the Earth for no real reason?!

"Aagh!" he heard Ruby scream, and Beast Boy watched as an Ursa managed to rip Crescent Rose away from her. As it prowled towards her, Beast Boy saw red, and he flew down towards them both. He felt his consciousness stretch and split as he, to his astonishment, turned from a single eagle into a swarm of wasps. As a cloud of insects, he swarmed the Grimm and stabbed it thousands of times with his stingers, biting into its furry hide with his mandibles. The creature thrashed, trying to shake the swarm off, allowing Ruby the chance to recover her weapon and swing her blade down into its head, killing it instantly. As the body dissolved into dust, Ruby saw as the swarm calmed and coalesced into Beast Boy. To Ruby's astonishment, his green skin had turned a deep red, but quickly returned to normal.

Then, Beast Boy's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell forward. Ruby caught him in her arms and slowly lowered him to the ground. She then heard more roars and growls as the replenished Grimm horde charged towards her. Even without her scroll, Ruby could feel her Aura's limits being stretched, yet still she stood tall in open defiance.

"HAHAHAH!" she heard Trigon's mocking laugh as he grabbed M'gann's head and repeatedly punched it with bone-crushing force, yet his attention was squarely on her. "EVEN NOW, YOU STILL RESIST THE INEVITABLE AND HANG ON TO YOUR HOPE? YOU TRULY ARE A BLIND, NAÏVE CHILD."

"So what?!" Ruby challenged. "So what if I still have hope?! That hope has carried us this far, and it hasn't failed us yet! The Titans beat you on that hope before, and we'll beat you with it now!"

"YOUR PRECIOUS ALLIES ARE ALREADY LYING BEATEN AND BROKEN!" Trigon revealed, much to Ruby's shock. Seeing her crestfallen expression, Trigon smiled wickedly. "YES, WHILE YOU, THE MARTIAN, AND THE CHANGELING TRAVERSED MY DAUGHTER'S MIND, I MADE YOUR FRIENDS INTO MY PLAYTHINGS. THEIR SCREAMS WERE SUCCULENT."

Ruby stared at Trigon for a moment, then felt an unending rage boil from within her. With a piercing scream, she slashed apart a nearby Grimm then charged forward, carving a path straight towards the demon. Everything became a blur to her, a sea of black broken by red, until she finally reached his hoof. Pointing Crescent Rose forward like a spear, she roared as she plunged the blade deep into his leg until her own hand meeting his flesh stopped her. She didn't have time to fully process what she did when Trigon's foot violently kicked her away. Ruby screamed as her body flew back, crashing into a pillar of rock and shattering it along with the last remains of her Aura.

"HMM," Trigon grunted as he socked M'gann across the jaw, causing her body to topple over. Leaning down, he carefully removed Crescent Rose from his body, holding it in the palm of his hand like a toothpick. He studied it, then smiled. "AN INTERESTING DESIGN. YOU PUT A LOT OF WORK INTO THIS WEAPON, DIDN'T YOU?"

Ruby didn't deign him with an answer as she pushed herself to her feet, glaring at him in open defiance. Taking that as her answer, Trigon smiled evilly, then quickly closed his hand. There was a crunching noise, and Ruby's heart sank as she saw the shattered pieces of her weapon falling to the ground.

"No…" Ruby mumbled under her breath, yet Trigon still heard her. Smiling, he grabbed M'gann's prone form and began to drag her to the sea of magma boiling around them.

"DON'T FRET," Trigon said just as M'gann regained consciousness. To her horror, she saw that Trigon was trying to plunge her head into the magma, and so she desperately pushed her body upwards from the rock as Trigon playfully pushed her down. "YOU WON'T DIE JUST YET. ONLY ONCE YOUR FRIENDS HAVE SUFFERED ENOUGH WILL I GRANT YOU THAT MERCY."

Ruby could only watch helplessly as Trigon continued to push M'gann closer and closer to the magma. Her bruised, green skin was turning white as her psychosomatic pyrophobia was beginning to kick in, yet Ruby remained still. Behind her, she heard the Grimm converge on Beast Boy, whom she just realized she had left undefended in her bid to futilely strike back at Trigon. Above her, Trigon's simultaneous magical blasts were weakening the shield surrounding Raven and the Emoticlones, and with the sound of breaking glass, the shield shattered. Trigon laughed victoriously as he kicked M'gann away, looming over Raven as he prepared to destroy the last vestiges of her as a person.

Her mind raced as she tried to contemplate what was happening. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of it was. As Trigon's hand slowly reached for Raven, threatening to end the life of someone she held dear, something within Ruby snapped.

Compan…plus un…joy…lo…

"NO!"Ruby screamed as her eyes glowed silvery white. A great white light poured from them, sweeping over everything in its path like a pair of majestic wings as everyone turned to face the unexpected development. Grimm caught in the light turned to stone and crumbled as Trigon's eyes widened.

"WHAT?!" Trigon yelled in shock and confusion before he, too, was consumed. Then, he began to scream in utter agony.

---

"AAAGH!" Trigon suddenly screamed, causing Raven's body to fall to her knees and halt her breaking of the Titans' barrier around their island. The bonds holding the teenage heroes were broken, and for a moment they were confused. After regaining their bearings, the ones who could stand looked over to Raven, where they saw a bright light escaping from her eyes and mouth. Their friend was screaming shrilly, but they could hear far more of Trigon than Raven herself.

"Yeah! Kick his ass, guys!" Jaune cheered out, realizing what was going on. A moment later, the others too realized what was going on, at least in the general concept. Whatever Ruby, M'gann, and Beast Boy were doing to try and save Raven from inside her mind – Jaune still didn't quite understand how that was even possible, nor what it exactly entailed – was clearly working. They were forcing him out, and that meant this nightmare would soon end.

Still, Nightwing wasn't content with only watching. Fighting through the pain wracking his body, he shot to his feet and sprinted towards Raven, pulling a bolo from his utility belt. He hurled it at Raven, the weighted cords wrapping themselves tightly around Raven's torso and pinning her arms to her chest. He saw Weiss form an Nth Metal infused Glyph, which increased the pull of gravity around her and glued her knees to the ground. Rather than respond, Raven's body continued to scream, and the light intensified.

Not to be outdone, Cyborg shot forward and fired binding cuffs at her ankles, which attached themselves to her body and subsequently drilled into the rocky ground. Starfire, ignoring the effects of Weiss' Glyph, flew in and grabbed hold of Raven's shaking body, pinning her with all her strength.

"Please, friend Raven! Fight him!" Starfire begged, holding Raven's body as the thrashing intensified. The light brightened even further, becoming almost blinding, then it suddenly stopped. A sense of dread began to fill them once more, only to be replaced with immeasurable relief as a dark red gas was jettisoned from Raven's gaping mouth. The heroes could sense the evil coming from it, and so with a murderous expression, Starfire fired the largest beam of concentrated ultraviolet light into its center of mass that she could. The evil entity thrashed and tried to escape, only for Cyborg to join in with his sonic cannon. Weiss, after releasing the Glyph holding Raven down, constructed another on the entity's back, immobilizing it. With a snarl, she then constructed a series of blank platforms, allowing Nightwing the opportunity to grab his fallen Nth Metal knife, charge up the platforms like a staircase, and plunge the weapon into its incorporeal heart while screaming at the top of his lungs.

As the blade made contact, the entity shrieked, then went still. Slowly, the entity dissolved into nothing as it ceased to exist, and once it was fully gone they immediately saw the effects. The sea of magma surrounding Titans Tower returned to clear sea water, the dark clouds hanging overhead completely dissipating. The blood-red sky returned to a clear blue hue, and they again felt the Sun's rays beam down on them. The heroes looked over it all with awe and wonder, relief flooding their bones.

Nightwing suddenly felt a little woozy and wobbled on top of the final platform, only for Starfire to fly up and gently catch him. With tears in her eyes, she wiped away a bit of the dried blood on his brow, then gave him a searing kiss that was filled with relief that this was finally over. Nightwing returned it, but the public display of affection only lasted a moment before they broke apart and Starfire gently flew them both down to the ground. There they saw the other heroes, the ones still standing, crowding around an immobile Raven. Tentatively, the two walked over to her and saw that Weiss and Cyborg were already crouching over her, Victor running his diagnostics over her body.

"What does it say?" Nightwing asked, and Cyborg looked back up at him with a smile.

"Trigon… He's gone! I don't know what they did, but he's been ejected from her body!" Cyborg announced, and Nightwing didn't even try to stop the smile from breaking out across his face. A quick glace at Raven's body told him that Cyborg was correct. Her demonic appearance had quickly receded. Gone were her horns, red skin, and extra pair of eyes. Instead, Raven looked exactly as she normally did, only her grey skin did look a little sunburnt. Her eyes were still closed, however, but her breathing was calm.

"How is she?" Jaune asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the rest of his team and team RWBY struggle to rise to their feet. Nora was using Magnhild as a crutch, holding Ren aloft with her other arm, while Pyrrha was leaning against a tilting pillar of concrete. Yang and Blake were holding onto each other for support as they slowly made their way over, and soon everyone gathered around their fallen teammate. Exhaustion was settling in on all of them, and their breathing was heavy.

"Raven's vitals are stabilizing, and she's just sleeping," Cyborg revealed.

"Can't say I blame her," Yang admitted. "Girl's been through a lot."

The others nodded, then redirected their attention back onto Raven. They wondered just how long she would remain sleeping, only for her body to suddenly stir. With bated breath, they saw their friend slowly rouse from her slumber, scrunching her eyes together before slowly opening them. Raven looked around at her friends, her vision first blurry then slowly coming back into focus. Her mouth was dry, and her muscles ached, but found that she and she alone could control their movements. Without saying a word, she looked back up at the relieved faces of her friends, and watched as they carefully removed the restraints they had placed around her. They stepped back as Raven struggled to her feet, momentarily collapsing only for her friends to catch her. Once she was fully stabilized, she looked back out at her friends and tried to speak, only she couldn't find the words. The impact of what had just occurred finally caught up to the half-demon, the things she was forced to do to her friends, the pain she subjected them to, and how she was unable stop herself despite all attempts to. Hot tears began to swell in her eyes as she lunged forward and grasped the closest person she could in a tight hug. It turned out to be Nightwing, who quickly wrapped her in an equally tight hug as the young girl sobbed.

"I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry…" Raven apologized through the sobs, her body shaking with each cry. She felt the other Titans surround her, wrapping her in a comforting embrace as they all cried tears of both sadness and relief. At first, the Remnantians remained distant, wanting to give the Titans their moment, only for Starfire to direct them to join in. Both teams did so, joining the group hug as they all comforted each other. Then, after a few moments, Raven's sobs slowly ceased, and only then did they break apart. Raven's eyes were red from the tears, and as she wiped a trail of snot running from her nose, she looked at Cyborg.

"Victor, could you get the mirror, please?" she quietly asked, and Cyborg nodded. He made his way over to the rubble, combing through it with his scanners until he found the small handheld object buried in rubble. He threw heavy debris off to the side, then reached down and grabbed the item gently. Looking at its condition, he winced and made his way back to Raven.

"The glass is completely shattered," he said as he handed the mirror to Raven.

"Not a problem," she replied as she calmly swirled her hands over the small mirror. The glass quickly repaired itself, each fracture disappearing with a cracking noise, and soon the object was in pristine condition. Without saying a word, Raven held the mirror out in front of her and waited. Then, the mirror shined bright as the magic opened a portal into Raven's mind. They saw three figures emerge from it, and to their relief found it to be M'gann, Beast Boy, and Ruby. That relief turned into surprise as they saw that both Ruby and Beast Boy were unconscious, being held by a heavily damaged M'gann.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted as she tried to run towards her fallen sister, only to stumble and nearly fall.

"What happened?" Weiss asked as M'gann gently lowered both youngsters to the ground. The White Martian then turned to face the group, a look of shock and surprise etched on her face.

"I… I don't even know," she admitted. "We got in and found Raven, only to find Trigon there, too. Backed by an army of Grimm."

"Wait, Grimm? As in our Grimm?" Jaune asked, and M'gann nodded.

"How is that possible?" Ren asked.

"You guys were right. Brother Blood had been smuggling Grimm into the city, and Trigon was infusing them with his magic to create copies that he then projected into Raven's mind. There were hundreds of them in there."

"Does that mean there are hundreds of Grimm in Jump City, too?" Blake asked, but M'gann shook her head.

"No, at least that's not what Raven's Knowledge thought," M'gann answered, and the Remnantians suddenly felt confused along with the other Titans. Seeing this, Raven sighed and rubbed her head, feeling a migraine coming on.

"Inside my mind are anthropomorphic avatars of my emotions. I meditate with them using that mirror to enter my mind. That's how Ruby, Garfield, and M'gann got in."

The others slowly digested this information, staring with wide eyes at Raven. The silence was heavy, then Nora coughed.

"Does that mean…we have that, too?" Nora asked.

"Nora, I don't think now is the time to ask that," Pyrrha lightly chastised, even though she herself desperately wanted the answer to that question as well. Nora, however, was unashamed.

"What? I want to know if my head's a living Pixar movie, and I think that's a very pertinent question to ask."

"Later, we can figure that out later," Weiss cut in, pushing the matter aside for the moment. She would get an answer to that question, her natural curiosity refused to allow her to leave that subject to rest, then turned to face Miss Martian. "That white light… What was it? It was pouring out of Raven right before Trigon was kicked out of her body, and you were the only one there who could tell us what was going on."

M'gann's wide eyes stared at Weiss, then she slowly turned them to face Ruby. The others followed her gaze, and realization slowly built inside of them.

"Ruby…did something," M'gann revealed, quietly. "Trigon was about to crush Raven's Emoticlones—"

Raven groaned at the name Garfield had given her emotions, while Yang felt a jubilant smile break across her face at the sheer brilliance of the word, but allowed M'gann to continue.

"—and he tried to force me into a sea of magma. Beast Boy was unconscious, and Crescent Rose was shattered by Trigon. I thought we were done for when Ruby just…screamed. Next thing I know, her eyes started shining like crazy and this white wave just cascaded out from them. The Grimm inside Raven's mind were completely destroyed by it and when it hit Trigon, he just started screaming in agony."

"We heard that from out here," Jaune revealed, shocked at what M'gann was telling them. M'gann nodded, then continued.

"Then…he was gone. Ruby ended up passing out after she did…whatever she did. Raven's mind slowly returned to normal as the damage repaired itself, and that's when you guys brought us back out."

The others slowly digested her words as they stared at Ruby's unconscious body. Surprise was etched across all of their faces, then a look of horror crossed Weiss' face.

"He knew…" she realized. The others looked at her in confusion at first, only to quickly realize the exact same thing. "Brainiac knew that Ruby could do something with her eyes, that they were some kind of genetic anomaly. If what you're saying is true, M'gann, then whatever Ruby just did is why Brainiac kidnapped her in the first place! He was trying to figure out how her eyes could do…that!"

With wide eyes, the other heroes looked down at Ruby once again. Everything Weiss just said made perfect sense, and it filled in so many holes regarding Brainiac's actions. Her explanation was a perfect fit. Nightwing then frowned and stared back up at the magical barrier. He hadn't yet closed it, and right now he had several teammates who were in desperate need of medical attention. He pressed a button, and the shield went down.

They were then immediately bombarded by radio hails.

"This is Officer Johnson on 4th Street! I am in need of immediate assistance, over!"

"Requesting backup on Henderson and Ditko! We are under heavy fire over here!"

"We got snipers on Johns Avenue! Can someone, anyone, take those bastards out?!"

"Guys, for the love of Hera and Aphrodite, pick up the gods damned phone!" Donna Troy's voice broke through the chatter. The Titans immediately honed in on her signal and blocked all other radio chatter.

"Donna? Donna, is that you?" Nightwing asked, they could hear the breath of relief coming from Donna.

"Finally! I've been here for the past thirty minutes, helping to fight off these blasted mercenaries!" Donna revealed. They could barely make out the gunfire going off around her, yet she treated it as a minor inconvenience.

"How's Raven?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Donna," Raven answered.

"Raven! You have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice."

"I know," Raven said, a faint smile on her face. She then became stoic once again, and calmly spoke. "Am I correct that the Watchtower is on this frequency?"

"We are, Titans. It's good to hear from you again. We were beginning to fear the worst," Mr. Terrific announced, and Raven nodded. Left unsaid was that the Watchtower's ion cannon was being shut down, but Raven didn't need him to tell her that.

"Requesting immediate medevac from Titans Tower. Several of us are heavily injured, and both Red Reaper and Beast Boy are unconscious."

"Javelins are en route as we speak."

"Be advised, I am requesting that League specialists personally examine Red Reaper," Nightwing cut in.

"Why?" Mr. Terrific asked, worry leaking into his voice.

"There is a significant possibility that her eyes are magical in nature. She emitted some kind of wave from them inside Raven's mind that not only banished Trigon from Raven's body, it also destroyed the Grimm Trigon had planted within her. I repeat, the existence of Grimm on Earth is confirmed."

"Christ on a-! Sending word now. I'm also sending in a League Task Force to bring in Brother Blood. We'll—"

"No!" Nightwing interrupted, clenching his fist. He quickly looked around, silently asking the ones still capable of fighting if they wanted him to continue, and they stoically nodded. "We have enough able-bodied Titans and Remnantians here take him in ourselves. After what that bastard did to Raven, he is ours."

"I don't think that—"

"Either you let us go in and take him down, or we go anyway, Watchtower," Nightwing coldly replied, and Mr. Terrific went silent. Then they heard a sigh, and the young heroes smiled.

"Request granted, but Superman is on standby just in case things go out of hand."

"We can live with that. Donna, meet us at Titans Island in five minutes."

"You got it," Donna replied, and Nightwing nodded.

"Titans, out," Nightwing disconnected from the radio, and turned to face the other heroes. "Alright, who's still capable?"

"I am," Jaune said, stepping forward. "If there's one thing I'm good at, it's taking a hit."

"I can, as well," Weiss stated, and Nightwing nodded. He felt Starfire pat his shoulder in support, telling him that she was in. Yang and Nora moved to join in as well, only for Jaune and Weiss to stop them.

"No, the rest of you are too heavily injured," Weiss stated, her tone leaving no room for argument. Yang looked angered by the accusation, but soon relented.

"Goddammit," she cursed.

"Don't worry, Yang. I'll punch him in the face for you," Jaune offered, and Yang looked at him.

"You better."

Jaune nodded at Yang's order, taking it in stride, then looked at the others. "Anyone else? Pyrrha?"

"I'm going to stay here and protect the others," she answered.

"So am I," Cyborg added. "My structural integrity's shot to hell, and my weapons' batteries are running low. Won't be much use out there."

"I'll stay as well," M'gann said with a wince. The heavy bruising across her body betrayed just how injured she really was, and Nightwing nodded incomplete understanding.

Nightwing, White Knight, Ivory Mage, Starfire, and Wonder Girl. That made five against a heavily fortified Blood Cathedral, filled with who knows how many mercenaries and cultists. The odds were clearly uneven, but the cultists would just have to deal with that.

"Alright, let's get go—" Nightwing began, only for Raven to stand up and cut him off.

"If you think you can just leave to take Brother Blood down without me, you've got another thing coming," she declared, clenching her fist and forming an orb of magic around her hand. Part of Nightwing wanted to protest, but he knew it would be pointless to even try. So instead he nodded and beckoned her to join them. They heard the sound of jets coming in and saw League Javelins break from the few scattered clouds, and left their injured friends just as their medevac touched down. They ran across the shattered remains of the bridge, their speed boosted by flight or careful usage of their grappling hooks, before finally meeting with Donna on the other side. She was busy beating back a small group of mercenaries who were attempting to hold the bridge, but they were having no such luck. Already they saw the shattered remains of an APC, its hull burning and spitting out black smoke, while other mercenaries were laying sprawled across the ground.

"AAAGH!" a cultist screamed as she fired her fully automatic rifle at Donna, only for the Amazonian princess to effortlessly block the gunfire with her shield while she herself charged forward. When she got close enough, the Wonder Girl slammed her shield into the rifle and knocked it out of the criminals hands, then slammed her fist hard into her opponent's stomach. As she doubled over, Donna heard the cocking of another gun and raised her bracer to block the bullet. It ricocheted off with a loud ping, and the gunman continued to fire his pistol at her while she blocked each bullet with her bracers. When the gun finally clicked empty, she unfurled her Lasso of Persuasion and looped it around the criminal's body.

"Hey there, buddy," she said in a sweet and gentle tone. "Tie up all your friends for me."

The cultist tried to resist, but soon felt his mind come around to Donna's request. He rose to his feet and quickly tied up all of the unconscious criminals, and once he was done he turned to face Donna once again.

"Thanks," Donna stated just before sucker punching the man in the face, spinning him around and causing him to faceplant into the concrete. Taking some rope from his gear, she tied him up and removed her lasso from his body, looped it back up, and clipped it to her hip.

"Donna," she heard Jaune announce, and she smiled and turned to face her friends. She quickly found herself wrapped in one of Starfire's famous hugs, and she laughed and hugged back.

"It's good to see you too, Kori," Donna laughed as they broke apart. The Amazon then turned serious as Nightwing came in, and Donna placed her hands on her hips. "I leave for one month, one month, and everything goes to hell. Literally. What gives?"

"What can I say, you're a calming influence on us all," Nightwing joked, and Donna couldn't help but chuckle.

"You know it," she said, then hugged the Titans leader. Seeing Raven, she moved to hug her as well, and to her slight surprise found that Raven didn't try to stop her. The poor girl must be shaken from her ordeal, but Donna was proud Raven was still willing to fight.

"Come on, let's go kick Blood's ass," Donna suggested, and Raven frowned as she stepped in front of them.

"Get in line."

---

Brother Blood watched in horror as the Dark Ones roared in pain from inside their cages. One by one, their thrashing ceased, followed by a series of crackling noises. Something crumbled, hitting the floors of the cages with a dull thud, and then everything was quiet. With wide eyes, Brother Blood stared at the cages, wondering just what had happened. Slowly, he turned towards the nearest cage and looked at the sliding viewing port. His hand shaking, he tentatively reached out and grabbed the handle, then slid it back to peer inside. To his shock, he saw only shattered rock where the Dark One once stood. Beginning to panic, he checked the other cages, hoping that their plan wasn't shot. One by one, he found the same result. Where once was a divine creature was lifeless stone.

"I… I don't…" Blood began, unable to finish his sentence. He barely heard a flutter of steps as one of his acolytes barged into the chamber, only acknowledging her presence when she shouted his name for the fifth time.

"Father, we have a problem!" she announced, breaking Brother Blood out of his stupor. Trying to recompose himself, he turned to face the clearly panicked cultist.

"What is it, my child?" he asked, fighting to keep his face calm and composed.

"It's the Titans!" the cultist revealed, and Blood's mask broke. The cultist took it as permission, and she continued. "Their defenses have gone down, they've left their island entirely! They're rallying the JPD and National Guard, and already we've lost most of our men!"

"I… I see," Blood quietly replied, then straightened himself. "There's no need to fret. The Allfather's work on Raven will—"

"Raven is with them," the cultist interrupted. "Under her own power. I don't know how, but the Titans… They forced the Allfather out of her, and they're on their way here. Father, what do we do?"

Brother Blood said nothing as he stared at the cultist in shock. Then a sense of sheer rage boiled from within him, and he lashed out and struck the woman across the face. She fell to the ground with a yelp, rubbing her cheek as she stared at him with fearful eyes. Yet Brother Blood did nothing more as he stormed off, making his way to Trigon's Sanctum. He ignored his flock's calls for aid, and instead zeroed in on the statue to Trigon. His pace only stopped when he noticed a shift in the statue's condition. The last time he had seen it, the statue was in pristine condition, but now it looked burnt and vandalized. Cracks shot across the statue's form, threatening to split it apart entirely.

"… My Lord?" Brother Blood quietly asked, only to jump back as the statue sprung to life. Flames danced around the statue, the air churning from an intense heat, and the statue roared with bone-rattling ferocity. Blood covered his ears, trying to block out the painful noise, only to feel his body being grasped and sharply pulled towards the statue by an invisible hand.

"Trigon, I don't-!" Blood tried to say.

"SILENCE!" Trigon ordered, shutting Blood up as the demon continued. "YOU WORTHLESS, INSIGNIFICANT WORM! YOU WILL EXPLAIN YOUSELF, NOW!"

"Trigon, what… What did I do wrong? I did everything you asked of me."

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL THE GIRL?! THE SILVER-EYED GIRL?!"

Brother Blood desperately scoured his brain, trying to find exactly what his Lord was referring to, but he came up empty. He genuinely had no idea what Trigon was talking about. One of the Titans had silver eyes? If that was truly the case, how was he supposed to determine what their eye colors were underneath their masks and helmets? Even then, he was confused as to what significance silver eyes held.

"My Lord, I'm afraid I still don't understand. I wasn't even aware of the significance of silver eyes, nor that one of the Titans held an individual with them in their ranks. Please, help me understand so that I may rectify my error."

Trigon didn't speak, the only sound coming from the roaring flames. Those flames then subsided, calming themselves yet still burning hot. Brother Blood felt the hold on his body release, and he fell to the ground. Collapsing on his knees, he coughed and tilted his head to look up at the statue. Trigon's head was boring into his, the demon's eyes filled with hatred, so Blood wisely said nothing as Trigon breathed heavily.

"The silver-eyed girl," Trigon began to explain, much calmer now, "has ruined everything. Somehow, her eyes held a power I didn't believe they held, and it forced me out of Raven's mind. She's closed it off from me now, and I can't get back in. Because of her…"

Brother Blood couldn't believe what he was hearing. Years of planning and preparation gone in an instant because a little girl pulled something out of thin air. It didn't seem possible, and yet the fact that it did was staring him in the face. Suddenly he remembered what his acolyte was telling him earlier, that the Titans were on their way to apprehend him at this very moment.

And Raven was with them. His face paled, and in a panic he shot up to his feet.

"My Lord," he began, "I must advise that we retreat. We've lost too much ground to recover, and—"

"We will not retreat, cretin," Trigon interrupted, and Brother Blood felting something grab his throat and lift him upward. "I have waited far too long for this day, and I will not let a child steal my victory from me!"

"Yo… Your wish…is my command," Blood coughed out, and Trigon growled deeply before releasing his grip. Again, Sebastian Blood fell to the ground and coughed, this time a few specks of blood spitting out into the ground. Slowly, he rose to his feet and looked at Trigon's statue in complete subservience. He knew what Trigon wanted them to do without him even needing to say it, and so he nodded dutifully.

"I will oversee the preparations. Shall I join them?"

"No. I have further uses yet of you. But know this. Should you fail me again, you will wish for death's sweet release."

With sweat dripping down Blood's brow, he bowed and calmly walked out of the inner sanctum. Unlike before, Trigon's statue remained lit even as the cult leader left the room. With a calm inner focus, Blood walked out to the main chamber of the church, where the remains of his flock was waiting for him.

"My brothers and sisters," Blood began as he turned to open a highly decorated chest and reached inside. "the Allfather has one, final demand of us. We are instruments of his will, and we shall not disappoint him."

Blood turned to face his cult yet again, this time holding a sharp, jagged ceremonial dagger. The eyes of his cult first widened in surprise, then closed in acceptance.

"I volunteer, father," a man walked up, lowering his hood to reveal his bearded face. Brother Blood solemnly nodded at him, grateful for his sacrifice, then led the man to a stone altar. As the rest of the cult chanted in an ancient, forgotten tongue, Brother Blood gently laid the man on the altar. Gripping the knife tightly, he slowly raised it up high overhead.

"For the glory of Trigon," the cultist declared, and Blood nodded.

"For the glory of Trigon," Blood repeated. Then, without saying another world, Brother Blood plunged the knife into the man's heart.

---

Jaune ran forward, his shield raised to block the oncoming fire from one of the last remaining mercenary encampments. The metal pinged as the bullets rebounded off of it, but Jaune didn't stop until he had rammed into the man's body. He flew back like a ragdoll, slamming against a storefront's brick wall and slightly cracking it. In a daze, the criminal could do nothing but futilely raise his arm in an attempt to protect his head from Jaune's shield-blow. His arm made contact with Crocea Mors' shield first, a loud crack sounding as the blow broke the limb, followed by a thud as Jaune slammed the helmet covered head. The criminal slumped over, and Jaune quickly cuffed the man before moving on.

'These bastards are going to pay,' Jaune thought as he engaged with another gunman, knocking her rifle out of her hands and kicking her in the gut. When another tried to shoot him, Jaune copied something he'd seen both Pyrrha and Donna do and threw his shield into the man's head, knocking him out. He quickly slammed the pommel of his sword into his first opponent, then calmly walked over to grab his shield again.

For the past few minutes, he and his friends had been systematically cleaning the city of the Blood's goons. Whether they were simply hired mercenaries or diehard true believers of his twisted ideology, he didn't care. What he did care about was that these people had turned this city into a hellhole, both literally and figuratively, almost turned Raven into a puppet of her demonic father, which almost got him and his friends killed, and ruined Ruby's birthday. The fact that they smuggled Grimm into the city was only icing on the cake.

Still, he was saving the worst of his justified retribution for Brother Blood. He was the man ultimately responsible for everything that had befallen them in the past few weeks. The others were doing the same, forcibly holding themselves back to non-lethal blows even now. Jaune saw Weiss immobilize a group of criminals wielding submachine guns with ice, Nightwing tying several together with bolos, while Starfire bombarded snipers from above. Wonder Girl was front and center, leading the charge against a heavy turret, destroying it and then handily defeating the turret operator.

Floating above them all was a calm yet furious Raven, sending powerful magical blasts across the city as she teleported herself from one group of criminals to the other. She was stretching her magic to its absolute limit, bolstered by her heightened emotional states. Ironically, Jaune figured this outcome was what the Cult of Blood wanted, just not directed towards them. He couldn't help but smile at that thought.

Another pair of shouts redirected his attention towards a nearby alleyway. Steeling his gaze, Jaune ran towards the alley where he found a trio of gunmen holding a red-haired, freckled young man wearing a green light coat. Seeing him, one of the criminals forcibly grabbed the man as a hostage and held a pistol to the side of his head.

"Not another step or you're going to see this man's brains splattered across the pavement," the mercenary threatened, and Jaune stopped in his tracks.

"Let him go," Jaune gently said, trying to ensure that the hostage wouldn't be harmed, but the criminal shook his head.

"Drop the weapons," he ordered. Jaune bit into his lip, but when the gunman pressed the barrel of his pistol further into the man's head, he relented. Both halves of Crocea Mors clattered to the ground, and Jaune held up his hands to show that he was unarmed. From behind their helmets, the gunmen smirked and threw their hostage towards Jaune, who deftly caught him as the man stumbled. Seeing that the men were still there, Jaune quickly placed himself in front of the freed hostage and clenched his fists as the criminals aimed their weapons at him.

"Sorry, kid. Nothing personal," one of the criminals said as they prepared to fire. Jaune's legs tensed as he prepared to dive both himself and the person he rescued to safety, only for his eyes to widen as he saw a woman with raven-black hair and wearing a purple coat sneak up behind the men wielding a pipe. She swung the makeshift weapon at the back of one man's head, causing him to collapse. Before the others could respond, she hit the next man in the gut with the pipe, following it up with an upward swing into his head.

"You little-!" the last remaining criminal shouted as he prepared to fire his weapon at her, only for Jaune to tackle the man out of the way, knocking his rifle from his hands. He punched the man's face repeatedly, only stopping once he had slipped into unconsciousness. With heavy breaths and his heart pounding, Jaune stood up and turned to face the duo.

"Thanks for the assist," he said to the woman, who was helping the first hostage to his feet.

"Likewise," she replied with utmost confidence, and Jaune couldn't help but smile. At the same time, he also felt that this woman looked familiar. He squinted his eyes, trying to find the connection, then found a clipped-on reporter's badge attached to the right side of her coat. The logo of Metropolis' Daily Planet newspaper was emblazoned on it, and immediately Jaune figured who this woman was.

"You must be Lois Lane," Jaune suggested, and Lois nodded in confirmation.

"Lois Lane, Daily Planet. This is my photographer, Jimmy Olsen. You must be the White Knight," Lois declared as she offered her hand to shake, which Jaune quickly acquiesced to.

"You've heard of me?"

"I've heard of all of you, actually. Jimmy and I were on the scene in Metropolis when the Boom Tube that you guys arrived in opened up. I was promised an interview with you guys then."

"Is that why you came here?"

"That and the Chief had us go to try and figure out what was going on. Smelled Blood's involvement almost immediately. Any comment on that?"

Jaune nodded, finding that he was liking Ms. Lane. "Yeah, this was Brother Blood. The maniac tried to help Trigon take over Raven's body, and we barely stopped him."

"I see," Loise stated as she took out a note pad and quickly jotted down notes, a frown on her face. She could already see the headlines now and smiled as she realized what she'd be able to do with a story of this caliber. Still, she felt that there was something missing, and turned to the only major source she currently had.

"Can you tell me anything else?" she asked, knowing that his time was short before the White Knight had to run back into battle. "Anything that can help us take him and his cult down, the better."

Jaune thought for a moment, torn between answering her question and rejoining his friends. A thought then sprang to mind, and he nodded.

"I do, actually. Can't delve into more right now, but I can confirm that Brother Blood has Grimm smuggled into the city."

"Wait, you mean those creatures that attacked Metropolis? I thought they were all dead?" Jimmy Olsen asked, clearly surprised. Lois' mind, meanwhile, raced at this bit of news. Brother Blood had smuggled Grimm into Jump City? That was supposed to be impossible. The only Grimm that arrived on Earth were destroyed by the Justice League, yet the fact that they were around meant that some got missed. The term 'smuggling' suggested that someone not only managed to get a few, they somehow managed to manufacture and ship them to prospective buyers. Slowly, as more and more pieces of a potential story fell into place, Lois' smile grew and grew until she was positively beaming.

It kind of unnerved Jaune that she would smile at this news, but he didn't let that show. He let Jimmy's obvious discomfort speak for both of them.

"Thank you, White Knight. That will be all," Lois said as she scribbled down more notes into her pad, then turned to run into the nearest building. "Come on, Jimmy. There's a good vantage point up on the fourth floor."

"You got it, Lois!" Jimmy responded as he ran behind her. The two reporters disappeared from Jaune's view as they closed the door behind them. He looked at the door for a few more moments, then nodded and ran back out onto the street. The others were mopping up the last remnants of the mercenaries besieging Jump City, and overhead they saw helicopter dropships arrive with soldiers. One helicopter made its way to them, landing on the street and allowing its compliment of soldiers to disembark. One man, wearing the insignia of a U.S. Army Colonel on his combat uniform, approached them. Jaune saw that the name 'Flagg' was posted on his chest and that Nightwing suddenly got very apprehensive.

"Colonel," Nightwing stated, and Colonel Flagg nodded at the vigilante. There was a hint of annoyance, but the army man didn't do anything further beyond jilting his rifle in the direction of Blood's cathedral.

"We've got this street under control," he said as armed soldiers apprehended the mercenaries. "You go and take Blood in."

"I don't recall taking orders from you," Nightwing replied, even as he waved his hand around to order the other Titans and Jaune and Weiss to continue on. Flagg frowned and glared at Nightwing.

"Ain't that the problem?" he accused. Before either man could do anything else, Starfire gently flew over to Nightwing and placed her hand on his shoulder. Calmed by the gesture, Nightwing pulled out his grappling gun and zipped away, leaving the soldiers behind. Jaune and Weiss had already done the same and they were all leaving the soldiers behind. Still, Jaune couldn't help but feel that Flagg's attention was particularly focused on him and Weiss. The look on her face, partially covered by her mask, told him she felt the same, and Jaune suddenly was particularly grateful that he was able to find his helmet before they set out.

"Nightwing, you mind telling us what that was about?" Weiss pointedly asked as they continued making their way across the city, the towers of the cathedral rising before them. Oddly, there was no one trying to shoot them, and Jaune felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise in apprehension.

"Later," Nightwing replied. "Just know that Colonel Rick Flagg Jr., and the woman he works for, are not our allies."

Jaune and Weiss exchanged a glance. This Rick Flagg and Nightwing clearly had history, but they didn't know who this supposed woman Flagg worked for was. Still, they understood that now was not the time to ask such questions. Right now, they had to focus on the cathedral standing in front of them. To their surprise and apprehension, none of them spotted any movement, yet the signs of battle were widespread.

"Anyone else getting a horror movie vibe here?" Donna asked, gripping her xiphos tightly.

Weiss nodded. "Clearly. Something's not right. Someone should have shot us by now."

"The fact that you think getting shot at is normal says a lot," Jaune joked, and Weiss playfully glared at him.

"Oh, just like you disappearing from a fight?"

"Hey, I was rescuing and then talking to Lois Lane. Told her about the Grimm smuggling."

Weiss looked a little surprised at Jaune's admission. She'd figured that Jaune was rescuing someone, but that someone being Lois Lane hadn't crossed her mind. Still, she registered the second part of Jaune's admission, that he had clued her in on the greater scope, and nodded. Donna did the same and flashed the White Knight a thumbs-up.

"Good work, Vomit Boy," she joked, and Jaune groaned. He knew exactly where she had gotten that infamous nickname from, and his hopes of it dying were dashed. Donna then frowned and looked back at the cathedral, then spied a balcony. She pointed to it and unfurled her lasso.

"We can get in from there," she said, twirling her lasso overhead before throwing the loop towards a spire. The lasso looped around a pointed rock on the balcony, and she drew it tight. Testing it, she found that it could support her weight, and then began to quickly climb it at an impressive speed. Following after the Amazon Princess, Nightwing grappled up to her while Starfire and Raven flew up.

"Allow me," Weiss said as she formed a platform Glyph underneath her and Jaune's feet. When the platform began to move up, Jaune stumbled for a moment but Weiss was able to catch him on the arm.

"Thanks," Jaune stated as Weiss helped to stabilize him.

"No problem," she replied as she checked the amount of Nth Metal currently in Myrtenaster's revolver. She frowned, noting that her supplies were running low, but shook her head and focused upward. The amount on hand would have to make do. Rejoining the other heroes, Nightwing quietly picked the lock and opened the door with a quiet creak. The inside of the church was dead silent, not to mention unnerving. Silently, the six made their way across the wooden floors.

'Attic,' Weiss suggested through their shared Heads-Up-Display. Her thought made sense, given how high up they were. Reaching a trap door, they opened it and saw a ladder leading down to another floor. Moving down it, they continued creeping through the dark corridors, the creaky wood making way for a dark red rug covering stonework. Weiss had to admit that the architecture was exquisite, and that Blood apparently had good taste in décor, however much it disturbed her. Behind the gilded appearance, she could sense something twisted and dark permeating the structure, and she wanted nothing more than to get this excursion over with.

They finally came across a dark wooden threshold, where they heard muffled chanting from within. Holding his finger up to his lips, Nightwing silently opened the door and entered, with the others following one by one. They found themselves in the main chamber of the cathedral, the chanting much louder. None of them recognized the language being used, but all felt it was disturbing and wrong on a fundamental level. Wanting to get a better vantage point, the Titans quietly scaled the walls and crouch-walked across the wooden support beams on the top of the church's roof.

"Brothers have mercy…" Weiss muttered as she saw the horrific sight below. She saw the cultists gathered below on a red pentagram sigil burnt into the ground. At its center laid a stone altar, a man lying on top of it. His chest was carved open, his internal organs ritualistically removed with surgical precision. His face was calm and tranquil, almost as though he not only accepted this terrible fate, he welcomed it. Standing over him was Brother Blood, his hands stained a dark red as he squeezed the man's heart over a golden cup.

"Brothers and sisters!" Brother Blood shouted in a mad sermon, the chanting of his followers increasing. "The time has come for our most sacred ritual!"

The cultists chanted louder, swaying back and forth as the heroes moved along the bannisters, angling themselves for maximum efficiency. Remembering his conversation with Lois, Jaune had set his helmet to record everything with the intention of giving it to her after this was over. He figured that she would appreciate the bounty of evidence this recording would provide. So he kept watching, even though a sinking feeling was forming in his gut.

'Uggh, that is nasty…' Jaune thought as Brother Blood drank the blood from the goblet, staining his lips red. He then passed the cup to another cultist, who drank from the cup as well. Jaune felt bile rising up his throat as more and more cultists drank the sacrificial victim's blood in a mockery of a holy sacrament until finally, the cup made its way back to Brother Blood. With a manic smile on his face, Brother Blood held the goblet up high and stared into it.

"Trigon, Allfather to all things, we offer this blood to you!"

"Glory to Trigon!"

"It is you who will cleanse this world in a baptism of fire, washing away the filth and sin!"

"Glory to Trigon!"

"But to do this most sacred, holy rite… You require a sacrifice," Blood decreed, holding out a bloody, jagged knife in his hand. Jaune stared at it with wide eyes, wondering exactly what he was going to do with it, only to gasp as the other cultists pulled out knives of their own. Raven's eyes widened as she realized exactly what they were about to do, and with a start, she tried to stop Brother Blood with a magical attack, only for an unseen barrier to block it. Sensing this, Brother Blood slowly turned his head to look at the Titans, his face telling them that he had known they were there the entire time.

"Glory to Trigon," he said, and at once every cultist stabbed themselves in the gut with their knives. They gurgled, blood spewing from their mouths as they fought through the pain and slashed their bellies open, then slumped back as the life bled from them. The heroes were too stunned to react to this mass suicide, watching in horror as the blood began to churn and boil atop the pentagram. The scorch marks shined a dull red, symbols from a long-dead language flashing in and out of existence as the blood pooled along its lines, converging in its center.

"Stop him! Stop him, now!" Raven yelled as she continued trying to break through the barrier. Knocked out of their stupor, the other heroes joined in on her attacks, trying to break it down. The barrier became visible as cracks appeared along its surface, each block further damaging it as the conjoined blood floated upwards as a massive sphere. Just as the shield finally broke, the blood orb churned and suddenly shot into an awaiting Brother Blood. Streams of the red liquid entered his body from every orifice, his screams of pain muffled into faint gargles as more and more of the blood filled his body until, finally, every drop was sucked in. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily as Wonder Girl charged towards him, intending to run him through with her sword.

"Aaagh!" she screamed as she swung downward, only for Blood's hand to shoot upwards and grab her arm in a vice grip, halting it entirely. Shocked, Donna could only watch as Blood tilted his face to look at her's, and she saw two pairs of human-looking blood-red eyes boring into her own. She then felt another fist slam into her gut, knocking the breath out of her while sending her flying back, crashing through several rows of pews. The wooden pieces of furniture shattered as her body tumbled, but she was able to right herself and land on her feet, dragging her sword into the stone floor to slow herself down to a screeching halt. Ripping the weapon out of the stone, she twirled and pointed it towards Brother Blood with her shield raised in front of her. The other Titans joined her as Blood's veins bulged, the cult leader thrashing in utter agony before throwing his head back to laugh hysterically.

"HAHAHAHAH!" Brother Blood laughed, his voice merging with Trigon's halfway through. "You are too late, Titans! There is nothing you can do that can stand against the power I now possess!"

Raven took note of Blood's choice of words. The use of 'I' was significant to her, telling the half-demon that the bonding with Sebastian Blood was not as absolute as her own. Ruby's attack, for lack of a better word, must have done more damage to him than she thought.

'Perfect,' she thought. Then, without saying another word, Raven fired a magical blast that knocked the possessed Brother Blood back, his body shattering the stone altar into tiny fragments. Taking this as a signal, Nightwing pulled out a wing-ding and threw it at Blood's head.

"Titans, Go!" he cried out, and as one the heroes charged towards Brother Blood. Starfire flew forth, hurling starbolts at the possessed man. Crossing his arms to shield himself, Blood winced as the orbs burnt his skin and bruised his arms. Still, when Starfire finally made contact, he managed to slam both of his hands into her chin, flipping her up. Recovering, Starfire continued the momentum and kicked Brother Blood up towards the ceiling. Starfire flew after him, throwing more and more starbolts that forced him through the cathedral's roof and out into the open sky. Once they were high enough, Starfire grabbed hold of him and tightened her grip on his arms.

"Burn," she said, and then released a pulsating wave of ultraviolet energy like a small neon-green nova. The possessed Blood was sent hurtling towards the ground, his body covered in burns and smoking even as the rest of the Titans alongside Jaune and Weiss ran to apprehend him.

"He's gotta be dead, right?" Jaune stated, only to stop and stare in bewilderment as he saw the mangled body of Brother Blood push itself off the ground. His limbs were visibly misshapen, in some cases bones were poking out of the skin, yet he didn't seem to mind. Then a series of cracks announced his bones forcibly healing themselves and pushing back into their normal configurations. The burns went away, revealing Blood's white, unmarred skin bare to the world.

"Uggh, that is nasty!" Jaune announced as he tried to keep his gaze off of Blood's naked body, while Weiss gagged.

"Oh gods, I did not want to see that!" she wretched, and Blood merely smiled while holding out his arms. His veins bulged, then they stared in abject horror as blood oozed from his arms and wrapped tightly around his body. Jaune felt the urge to vomit while Weiss' face turned green. Nightwing, Donna, and Starfire stared at Brother Blood, completely horrified, until Donna finally coughed.

"You have issues, you know that right?" she rhetorically asked as Brother Blood created a whip made entirely out of blood and whipped it towards her. She quickly brought up her brace to block it, allowing the end to wrap around her enchanted piece of armor. Grabbing hold of it with her other hand, she pulled and forced Blood to fly towards her, where she met him with the rim of her shield. Landing on his back, Blood rolled away from a downward stab, then punched her away, his strength boosted by Trigon's magic. He rose to his feet as Nightwing rushed to face him head-on alongside Jaune, and the three descended into a messy brawl.

Weiss watched as her friend battled the monstrosity, carefully trying to form a Glyph at Blood's feet without catching her friends in the crossfire. She was finding it difficult, given their close proximity to one another, and soon scoffed in annoyance.

"Screw it," she said to herself as she pointed Myrtenaster's blade forward, forming a Glyph behind her. She felt her body tense, and then she launched herself like a rocket, skewering the surprised Brother Blood in his chest. Her momentum carried them forward, Blood managing to stop himself by digging in his heels. He tried to punch her off, only for Weiss to inject him with raw Nth Metal powder. He roared in pain as the anti-magical metallic isotope worked its way through his body, allowing her the chance to rip her weapon out of Blood's body and kick him away.

"AAAGH!" Blood and Trigon roared in fury, attempting to remove the Nth Metal. They concentrated, and the metallic powder was forced out of his body in a faint puff. Breathing heavily, Blood glared at the Titans as they charged towards him, his mind split into two. For Blood, the sense of power coursing through his veins was electrifying, the fulfillment of lifetimes of work. He felt as though he were a god, and yet these heathens dared to challenge him? For Trigon, however, his feelings were far more primal. These insects had bested him. Even if only temporarily, they had bested him, not just now but before as well. Every fiber of his beings screamed to the heavens at this insult. He was born to conquer, borne of pure evil. He could not help but want to conquer everything he saw, for it was in his nature. So to see a group of children stand before him, halting his ever-expanding conquest, made his blood boil.

With a roar, Blood caught Wonder Girl's arm and pivoted, hurling the Amazonian princess into Starfire. He ducked underneath a thrown wing-ding, punching Jaune in the gut at the same time. Weiss tried to stab him, only for Blood to deliberately allow the rapier to stab into his hand. He twisted it, breaking his arm while ripping Myrtenaster from Weiss' grip in the process, then headbutted her away.

"You…children," Blood began, his voice wholly merged with Trigon's as he ripped Myrtenaster from his arm, blood oozing out of the open wound, "have been thorns in my side for far too long. I was content with exacting my vengeance upon thee, letting you live in suffering whilst I carry out my plans upon your world. But no more. I see now that letting you live, even to suffer, is a mistake. One that I shall not repeat."

Blood roared again, a blood-red aura enveloping him, as he lunged towards the nearest Titan. It happened to be Jaune, who was barely able to bring his shield up in time to halt the blow. Still, his arm vibrated from the force, and he gritted his teeth in an effort to stem the pain. With a defiant yell, Jaune pushed him off and swung his sword horizontally, slashing across Blood's stomach. For a brief moment, blood poured out of the grievous wound, but it soon healed.

"Oh, come on!" Jaune groaned before Blood fired an orb of Trigon's magic into him. Jaune flew back, Raven catching him in a net of her own creation before his back impacted against a nearby store. As he picked himself up, he saw a blur of white as Weiss was flung away. Without thinking, he dove to catch her, bumping across the ground while keeping her from harm.

"ow…"

Weiss looked down at her friend and shook her head while smiling. "My hero."

"It's nice for my efforts to be appreciated," Jaune stated as Weiss helped him up. Frowning, they turned to face Brother Blood again, who was currently in a four-way brawl with Wonder Girl, Nightwing, and Starfire.

"He's weaker," Raven noted as she floated up to them. "The connection my father has with his chief acolyte isn't as strong as it was with me."

"That's good," Weiss admitted, remembering the thrashing Trigon had given them earlier. She studied his body, seeing how most of the wounds the Titans were inflicting were being healed by Trigon's magic. The lone exception was the stab she inflicted, the one where she injected him with a raw dose of Nth Metal. An idea sprang to mind, and she turned to face Jaune.

"White Knight," she said, catching Jaune's attention, "you still have those grenades I helped you make?"

"Uhh, which ones?" Jaune asked. Weiss had helped him make a lot of specialty grenades from the substances she was using, and many of them would apply in this exact situation.

"The one filled with Nth Metal shrapnel."

"Oh, those! Yeah, I haven't used them yet. Didn't want to hurt Raven."

"Thank you for that," Raven added, realizing where Weiss was going. "Any compunctions using it on him?"

"Not a damn one," Jaune admitted with a frown while pulling out one of the grenades. "Only have three, though."

"It'll have to do," Weiss stated then turned to face them. "Raven, how much do you think it would take to force Trigon out of Blood's body?"

Raven studied the grenades for a moment, then nodded. "If you place all the grenades just right, what you have should be enough to expel my father."

"What are we going to do about him?" Jaune asked the obvious question, warily watching the battle. Weiss frowned, she hadn't gotten to that point, but from the corner of her eye, she saw Raven tentatively rub the chakra on her forehead.

"… I have a solution," Raven offered, the tone in her voice making Jaune and Weiss nervous. Seeing their expressions, Raven looked at them with utmost conviction. "Do you trust me?"

Slightly confused by the question, both Remnantians looked at each other for a brief moment then back at Raven with a nod.

"Of course, we do," Jaune emphasized, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You're our friend."

"Nothing will ever change that," Weiss declared, placing her hand on Raven's other shoulder. "Even if your family's evil."

Raven chuckled at Weiss' joke, then became stoic as she began floating away. "We only have one shot to make this work, so I need you to time it when I tell you to. Got it?"

"Got it," Jaune repeated, nodding his head. Weiss did as well, and together they turned to face the possessed cult leader. Weiss then formed a Glyph below herself and Jaune, and they both grabbed the other's arm tightly.

"This is gonna suck, isn't it?"

"Probably," Weiss admitted, then triggered the Glyph. They were suddenly thrown high into the air, the contents of their stomachs threatening to spew out of their mouths from the sudden acceleration. They were able to keep it down, however – Jaune with much greater difficulty than Weiss – and soon they found themselves arcing above the fight. They saw Raven meditating in the center of the heavily damaged cathedral's pentagram sigil, her cape billowing in the wind with her eyes tightly closed. Forming another Glyph to stop themselves, Weiss reangled themselves to face Blood entirely, calculating where he would move next. Then, once she had it figured, she primed the Glyph again, launching both her and Jaune towards Brother Blood. Jaune was out in front, his shield raised in front of them, and like a white-golden meteor, they slammed into a surprised Brother Blood with enough force to crack the pavement. Their momentum carried them forward, carving a rut into the pavement before slamming into a large concrete planter holding a decorative tree.

"Take this, you bastard!" Weiss yelled before stabbing Myrtenaster into Blood's shoulder, the rapier blade going through and into the concrete behind him. Trigon and Blood roared in pain while Jaune used his superior strength to hold him down.

"Good job, guys!" Donna yelled out as she raced towards them. Weiss looked at her lasso and pointed to it, trying to keep the struggling Blood pinned. Donna glanced towards her lasso then at Weiss before finally seeing Raven and immediately understood. Taking out her lasso, she looped it around Blood's body and pulled it tightly. Grinding her teeth, she dug in her heels, refusing to relent.

Nightwing and Starfire, meanwhile, rushed over to Raven, wondering what she was doing. Before they could make it very far, however, Raven's astral projection suddenly appeared before them, halting them both in their tracks.

"I suggest that you stay away for the moment," Raven's projection told them. "I am currently conversing with my avatars."

"Don't you mean 'Emoticlones'?" Starfire asked, and the astral projection simply gave her a look. Nightwing found it amusing that, even when mostly shadow, he could still feel the annoyance dripping from Raven.

"How long will it take?" Nightwing asked, hearing the struggle coming from behind him.

"Not long, although Rage is proving herself difficult again. White Knight and Ivory Mage know the plan. Help them see it through, and above all else, I ask you to trust me."

Before Nightwing could inquire further, the astral projection went away. Both Titans frowned, looking at Raven before shouts of surprise caught their attention. They saw Jaune getting hurled back, Blood grabbing the back of Weiss' head and slamming it into the concrete while ripping out Myrtenaster from his shoulder. He moved to stab her with it, only for Donna to quickly pull him towards her and socked him across the jaw. Unfortunately, the action of doing so loosened her grip on the lasso, allowing Blood to rip it away from her. The magical rope loosened, allowing Blood to stretch his arms experimentally. Then, he glared at the Amazon and marched towards her.

"You will be first," he declared, and Donna scowled while marching towards him. She banged her xiphos on her shield challengingly, then pointed it at him.

"Do you really think you can challenge an Amazon, monster?" she asked, then leaped towards him with her shield in front and her sword raised above her head. Yelling at the top of her lungs, she slammed into Brother Blood with enough force to slam him back into the concrete, shattering it. Blood, with a tight grip on the shield's rim, was able to keep his bearings, however, and dodged a quick stab from Wonder Girl. He began to push back, forcing Wonder Girl to lean back, before Starfire reentered the fray. The Tamaranean fired several starbolts into his back, charring away the blood-suit that had enveloped him and burning his back. Blood let loose an unholy screech, glaring at Starfire.

Donna took the opportunity to knee him in the gut, causing Blood to double over. She then clasped both of her hands together and slammed them into his back, knocking him to the ground. Donna tried to stomp, only for Blood to suddenly form a whip of blood behind her like a geyser. Catching her off guard, the blood-whip slapped her away with a shriek, allowing him to regain his bearings just as Starfire returned for another pass. Scowling, Blood formed a sphere of magic in his hands and fired it in front of her, causing Starfire to halt in her tracks. A second orb slammed into her, knocking her away. Brother Blood smirked, only to feel a sharp pain as a wing-ding sliced his head. Feeling a trickle of blood coming down his brow, he turned to face the Gothamite, clenching his fists as a red aura enveloped them.

With a wordless roar, Blood charged at Nightwing, intending to inflict upon him great and terrible pain. Nightwing nimbly performed a sliding duck underneath Blood's punch, jabbing the possessed man with his stun baton at the same time. Arcs of electricity coursed through his body, causing Blood to spasm momentarily and allow Nightwing to flip up and kick him in the head on his downward swing. Pivoting on his foot, Nightwing then socked Brother Blood across the face, spinning around and allowing Nightwing to dropkick him away. Rolling to his feet, Nightwing immediately charged towards Brother Blood, an angry snarl plastered across his face. The two men met, descending into a fierce brawl.

With Trigon's magic coursing through him, Blood was clearly the stronger of the two, but he was inexperienced as an actual fighter. His strengths lay with manipulation and planning, not hand-to-hand combat. Nightwing, even without powers, had years of experience and training over Brother Blood, allowing him to nimbly dodge his attacks. Each dodge was accompanied by an accurate counterattack, forcing the possessed priest back. The only reason why he was still standing was because of Trigon's magic, but it wasn't enough on its own.

Growing tired of their engagement, Blood roared as the dark veins on his body grew darker. A pulse of red magic shot out, knocking Nightwing to his back. He tried to rise up quickly, only for Blood to beat him to the punch and grab him by the throat. He squeezed, and Nightwing gasped for air only to receive none. Rather than gloat, Blood glared into Nightwing's eyes while continuing to choke him to death, even as Nightwing kicked and punched to try and escape.

"GAAGH!" Blood screamed as a sword was suddenly thrust through his back and out his gut, causing him to release Nightwing and stumble forward. With his hands clutching the end of the blade, he turned to face his attacker, only to receive a gauntleted fist to the face.

"That was from Golden Dragon," Jaune declared as he punched Brother Blood again. He threw punch after punch, using his shield to block Blood's retaliatory strikes. He punched him again, causing Blood to spin around from the blow and allow Jaune the chance to rip Crocea Mors from his body. When Blood spun around to face him, Jaune promptly stabbed him in the heart, causing the possessed man to stumble back once again. Breathing heavily, Jaune prepared to move again, only for Blood to glare at him and grab hold of the sword's hilt.

Then, with a single movement, he broke the blade right above the hilt. Only a small chunk was left, turning what was once a longsword into little more than a knife. Jaune stared flabbergasted as his family's ancestral weapon laid broken, the other half slipping out of Blood's body with a wet squelch.

"… Dude, the hell?" Jaune asked, utterly offended. "That was my great-grandfather's!"

With a snarl, Blood flipped the remains of Crocea Mors and hurled it towards Jaune, who simply reacted and twisted his body out of the way. His hand reached out, and to his surprise, managed to grab the hilt as it soared past.

"… Huh!" Jaune exclaimed in excitement at having just done that. With a confident smirk, he twirled his weapon around and threw it back towards Brother Blood. Not expecting the action, Blood felt the blade shard sink into his stomach. A sharp pain shot through him, and he tried to rip it out only for a sheet of ice to spring upward from a suddenly constructed Glyph. He turned his head to see a recovered Weiss, pressing a spot on her head with her hand while pointing Myrtenaster with the other. Hearing footsteps, he turned to face Jaune charging towards him. Roaring, he tried to break himself free, hearing the ice crack under his strength.

"Now!" Raven suddenly shouted from inside the cathedral, and suddenly the world seemed to slow down. Brother Blood saw Jaune pull out a trio of grenades, and he could sense the Nth Metal held within them. With wide eyes, he tried to fire magic towards him, only for a lasso to loop around his arm and stop him. A bolo forced the other to pin to his side, and a thrown starbolt knocked his head back. The actions of his teammates allowed Jaune the chance to reach the possessed man. Gripping Crocea Mors, he slid it down with all of his strength, causing Blood to yell. Jaune then primed the grenades before shoving them into Blood's body, much to his surprise and horror.

"I'll see you in Hell," Jaune declared as he ripped out Crocea Mors' hilt, grabbed the fallen blade, and sprinted away as fast as he could. The other Titans did the same, diving behind a wall of debris as Brother Blood tried to pull the grenades out just as his master's magic sealed the wound. Then, they all exploded. He felt his flesh tear as the grenades shot thousands of Nth Metal shards into his body, their anti-magical properties halting the magic of his master. Pain unlike anything he had ever felt coursed through him, the remains of Trigon's magic the only thing keeping his body intact and him alive. He felt a sudden weakness, and at once understood what was finally happening.

"No. NONONONnono!" Blood shouted as he fell to his knees, clutching his side in agony before shrieking into the heavens. Red mist erupted from his mouth, coalescing into a gargantuan cloud of pure evil. It vaguely looked humanoid, telling them that this was Trigon. The cloud angrily swirled around, intending to punish the Titans for their transgressions, only to feel a presence coming from behind. The cloud turned, and from the ruins of Blood's cathedral strode out Raven Roth. Her head was held high, free of its constricting hood, and her robes were a clean, spotless white.

"I've done a lot of thinking, father," Raven began as she marched towards the entity. It roared and tried to strike her, only for Raven to easily knock it aside and him back into Blood's church. "Why you do what you do, why you always come for me. You simply can't help it. It's in your nature, borne of the collective evil of a billion worlds.

"And just as it is in your nature to conquer," Raven spat, pinning him with magic of her own, "it is in mine to oppose you! For as much as you are my father, I am also the daughter of Arella, a human of Azarath. A realm you destroyed in an effort to get to me. For so long I thought that was because I, like you, was evil and that you were simply attracted to it. But now I know the truth. You fear me, father. Fear that I can do what none of your sons can.

"For I can beat you," Raven declared, flying upwards as an extra pair of eyes appeared. Instead of red, however, they were a brilliant white as she spread her arms wide. White magic swirled around Trigon's form, trapping him even as he tried to escape.

"Like you, father," Raven continued as she charged up a spell, "I, too, have learned my lesson! I see now that simply trying to keep you out is of no use, for you will simply plot and scheme against me and my friends from the shadows! Away from my sight! No more! Even if I cannot destroy you now, I can ensure that you will never hurt anyone else so long as I live!"

Raven thrust her hands together, pointing them towards Trigon who had begun to panic.

"AZARATH! METRION! ZINTHOS!" Raven shouted at the top of her lungs. A white beam shot towards Trigon, enveloping him entirely and forcing the rest of the Titans to cover their eyes. They heard only a wordless scream and a loud explosion as Trigon was consumed. The chaos seemed to last for an eternity, but slowly the light died down and the noise fled alongside it. Tentatively, the Titans poked their heads out from behind their cover to see Raven slowly floating down. Her white cloak was flickering, and when she finally touched down it returned back to her normal purple. The other Titans left their cover and went towards her, slowly at first, until she finally turned towards them. At first, they simply stared at each other.

Then, a large smile broke out over Raven's face, and at once both groups smiled in realization. They had won, against all odds. Starfire held the biggest grin on her face, and mimicking her friend, she pumped her fist.

"Booyah!" she cheered, and the others followed suit. Their joyous celebration was cut short when they heard a cough and the grinding of stone. Following its source, they turned to see Brother Blood trying to claw his way to safety, miraculously still alive after all the trauma. He was bleeding profusely and quickly losing strength, and without immediate medical attention, he would most assuredly die. Neither Jaune nor Weiss felt all that conflicted, given the hell he had subjected them to. Neither did Nightwing or Starfire, for that matter, but to their surprise, they saw Raven walk over and kneel over him.

"Raven, what are you-?" Nightwing asked, only to be stunned into silence as Raven healed him of his injuries. The Nth Metal shards had been ejected from his body for the most part, allowing her to heal his more life-threatening wounds. In surprise, he flipped over on his back to look at her stoic face.

"Do you know why I saved you?" she asked, knowing that Blood had no answer to give. Before he could even try, she continued. "My father told you that, should you fail him again, you would wish for death. Part of me feels that I should have let you, for everything you did to me, my friends, and this city. But I won't, because as much as I hate to admit it, my father was right about one thing: letting you die would be a mercy. Instead, you will face justice for your crimes, not just against me, but against everyone you have ever harmed. You will watch, behind a cold, dark cell as everything you've ever built crumbles before you. Your church will be hunted like the criminals they are, your secrets revealed for all the world to see, and you will be denied that which you crave most: power, over both others and yourself."

"No… No-!" Blood wheezed in realization at what awaited him, only for Raven to cut him off with a single punch, knocking him out. With a frown, she walked back and rejoined the others, who looked at her appraisingly.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Weiss asked, and Raven nodded.

"Locking him away will be a worse punishment than anything we can do to him. Besides, if we kill him, his remaining followers may turn him into a martyr. That is too good of a fate for him."

Weiss thought over Raven's explanation, then nodded in understanding. From what she knew of the man, this was a worse punishment. Jaune then looked appraisingly at Raven and tilted his head.

"What did you do to him?" he asked, and Raven pointed at her chakra.

"I sealed him away," she revealed, causing them to gasp.

"Friend Raven, you can't be serious!" Starfire exclaimed, but Raven nodded.

"I am. Trying to keep him away led to all this. His plots and schemes escaped our notice until it was too late. By sealing him in my chakra, I can ensure that he'll never leave my sight again, and when I finally die, he will, too."

"Are you sure? What if he breaks out again?" Nightwing asked, worried for his friend, but Raven merely smiled at him.

"He won't," she declared with absolute conviction, a victorious smile on her face. The other Titans studied her for a moment, then smiled back and nodded. They all trusted her and knew that she, and she alone, was strong enough for such a monumental task. Their attentions broke from one another as scores of Javelins emerged from above, ferrying Justice League relief crews all across the city. A sense of relief flooded through them, and they suddenly felt the exhaustion overwhelm their bodies. They collapsed onto the ground, letting their screaming muscles finally rest before they saw a man fly down to meet them.

"Titans, White Knight, Ivory Mage," Superman greeted them with a warm smile, checking them for internal injuries with his X-Ray Vision. "Good work."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! The finale to the Titans Arc is now over. Trigon is defeated and Brother Blood is arrested, his life's work made meaningless as his deeds are exposed to the world. A few major revelations and developments happened here, which will be followed up upon in a later chapter. Special thanks to NaanContributor and Jesse K for all their help in bringing this story to life.

Now, onto the Q&A:

Supermonaman: Thank you! I'm glad you liked the planning parts. I felt that showing the heroes make these plans show that they are proactive, as are the villains. It's just that in this case, the villains acted first as they tend to do. And I'm glad you liked the Beast Boy and Raven emotional moment. To us, we feel that if you don't emphasize the emotional core of a story, no matter how good the action scenes are, no one will care. Also, I too am a BBxRae shipper, so that probably bled through. I'm also glad that you appreciated Ruby being inspired by Nightwing. If you really sit down and think about it, Nightwing really is inspiring. A man with no powers willingly taking on a literal demon to protect his friends, his city, and the world. The other Titans respect him so much that they willingly follow his lead. It's not hard for Ruby to appreciate and respect that. Same with the others.

MadTitan9: No, Marvel and the MCU do not exist in this continuity. Expect, at most, a few references, but don't expect to see RWBYJNPR reading about Spider-Man. Also, I did know about the TV Tropes page. I've edited it a few times, but any assistance from you guys in adding more to it would be greatly appreciated.

I Am The Prophet: There are a lot of possibilities where we can go next, which we will delve into later on. I will say that foreshadowing is key and we do strive to foreshadow where appropriate. There's just as many red herrings, though. Which is which, you'll have to wait and see.

deadislandman1: I did not know that. Thank you for letting me know.

Jacob9594: Yeah, Trigon's a nightmare. I tried to emphasize how powerful and, frankly, terrifying he is. You may have noticed a horror vibe during his scenes, which I hope came off well.

Jackalope89: Yeah, Jacques Schnee ain't got nothing on Trigon. In actuality, Bruce and Jason aren't really that bad. It's strained, obviously, but they both sincerely love and care for the other. Case in point, in Nightmare on Gotham City when Scarecrow taunted Batman about his trauma. For as much as Bruce's sons think he's a pain in the ass sometimes, they do love and respect him. Jason is no exception.

And what happens to Cyborg's game consoles is the real question here. Do you know how many games he had on that thing? A lot.

Hey It's That Guy: Trigon's gloating is, ultimately, what did him in. Had he simply killed the Titans and RWBYJNPR when he had the chance, he would have won. He was 99% of the way there. But, as you can see, his gloating gave allowed Ruby to activate her Silver-Eye Powers, which he did not expect. This, ultimately, led to his downfall even after trying to merge with Brother Blood. Blood wasn't as much of a match as Raven, coupled with his injury, which allowed the remaining Titans to overpower him.

Beast Boy is, actually, able to turn into all animals (should he know enough about them.) Humans is a theoretical power he has, he just hasn't used it in the comics. As for Superman, he was on scene. Had the Titans lost, he would have immediately swept in.

Dracus6: It's fine, but if I spoil the story for you guys by answering the plot-related questions, that ruins the experience for everyone. I want to communicate with you guys, but I can't do that by spoiling what we have planned.

That's it for today. See you guys next time!