The two heroes made their way through the familiar foreboding arches beneath the city. Robin's mind was scattered with the ever increasing possibility of losing his dark companion. Inklings of what he'd seen in their nightmares creeped through his thoughts threatening to break his resolve. He managed to keep the paralyzing fear at bay for now focusing on the path ahead of him.
"So you really think they brought Raven back down here?"
Cyborg, however, had a different idea of how to pass the time. Robin sighed heavily having no desire to relive his memories to provide an answer. He knew he owed his close friend a proper explanation of what they were heading into but the thought alone of reimagining the visions to provide an answer made him cringe. He swallowed hard before he spoke.
"They took her to the cathedral."
It was the simplest answer he could give and even those few short words seemed to bleed the images of scorched stone, fire and an air of burning flesh. The horrifying scents and scenes made him physically recoil and wince. The influx of emotional responses overwhelmed him. He wished he could be back at the tower, able to retreat into the safety of his own room to avoid the constant questions of his comrades that would inevitably bring reminders of the heartache and horror he still may have to endure. Was this, perhaps, how Raven felt so frequently with her own rampant emotions? Suddenly Robin felt he understood the dark sorceress far better.
Cyborg only allowed Robin a short reprieve from his thoughts before beginning his search for answers anew.
"Cathedral?"
Robin's mind flashed with the tall broken pillars holding up what little of the ruined roof had survived that terrible day. The dark stone of the crumbling walls coated with soot and ash surrounded him as he'd searched hell-bent on finding earth's last hope in one of his closest friends.
"I saw it in the nightmare. This path leads to a cathedral. It's where I found raven when. . ."
Robin's words trailed off as he remembered the terrified expression of the little girl he found. His hands began to tremble and a tear formed beneath his mask. She hadn't deserved all she'd gotten. He'd fought through the depths of hell searching for the strong young woman he'd come to know and it nearly shattered him to see her so weak, so afraid, so vulnerable. He shook his head and tightened his grip into fists at the thought. He wanted to protect that young girl but he had to remember. This was the same girl who was literally born to the bringer of hell but still she stood above it all. She held onto the good in life with all her strength and she had the heart to hope for more. Against all odds and in the face of the incarnation of evil itself she fought... and she won. He had to keep going, he had to be strong and believe it would be alright because he knew, despite it all, she would.
'I'll come back to you'
His own words echoed in his mind bringing the shadow of a smile to his face.
"Look man, I know you probably don't want to relive it and I get that, but I'm flying into this blind. I need to know what we're running into."
It was clear Robin wasn't painting a clear enough picture of the scenario. Robin mustered his new-found determination in his response though the words that formed still terrified him.
"In the nightmare they take her to this cathedral and they... crucify and kill her."
He'd seen the terrible events transpire so many times but somehow saying it out loud seemed to make it real. Without a conscious effort his pace quickened on the path to the dark bird.
Cyborgs mouth dropped open as he interpreted Robin's short explanation. He'd expected nothing short of awful but crucifixion seemed to stand a measure beyond anything he could have imagined.
"Holy shit."
He muttered quietly to himself. Robin shook the memory out of his head as it tried to play out on the closed lids of his eyes between blinks.
"Exactly. We need to get there soon."
Cyborg didn't need to be told twice as the two quickened their pace again.
"Alright, so how much further is it?"
The hallway gave way to a massive stone cavern stretching upwards until the darkness consumed every ounce of light. The tail end of cyborgs question started to echo through the underground canyon.
"It's on the other side of this chasm."
As he finished his sentence a piercing scream echoed through the canyon. Robin's heart raced at the terrifying sound only beating faster as he recalled the familiar voice it came from. He immediately broke into a sprint down the stone steps toward the frozen river below. Cyborg followed quickly after him.
'Just hang in there Rae. . .'
—
"Daddy's little girl."
The words boomed out through the open void, echoing back from dead stars lost in an age long since passed. Raven could feel the haunting vibrations of his voice, all too familiar to her mind once plagued by nightmares of her fathers coming. She fearfully cracked her eyes open, expecting the harsh fires of hell but instead found the eerie cold of the void.
"My betrayer, you will pay dearly."
His voice rang out again, repeating in her ears as it echoed across the darkened expanse of her mind. The words elicited an internal growl of anger from rage as she grit her teeth and clenched her fists. Looking up at the black sky and mustering her strength she shouted back.
"What? Are you upset 'Trigon The Terrible' was put down by his own half-blooded daughter!?"
The ground beneath her quaked as a boisterous roar filled the thick air, shaking her to her very core. Raven could sense the rising anger of her father as her own blood began to boil within her veins. The fiery heat that permeated her flesh quickly grew unbearable forcing her to sink to her knees as she trembled. Her hands quickly covered her ears in an attempt to block out the ever booming sound of her father's voice.
"You wretched insignificant little girl, you are not worthy of my blood!"
As he shouted one of her arms was ripped from her head to stand straight out. She watched in confusion for a moment until a sharp pain stung from the center of her wrist causing her to wince. She frantically tried to tear her arm away but found the pain in her wrist only grew with each attempt at freeing herself. A few more seconds passed before her other arm quickly fell to the same fate being pulled to her side and a pain equal in measure engulfing her small wrist. Red eyes appeared in the sky before her and she increased her struggle against her unseen constraints.
"For your actions, I have no choice but to take back my mark. Your brother has proven to be a far better servant. Goodbye, dear daughter."
In a flash the eyes and voice were gone. Even the distant stars that had scarcely scattered the sky seemed to lose their light and replaced the display with complete darkness. She tried to blink but found her eyes heavy as though they'd already been closed. She waited a moment confused by the strange sensation when she heard a loud ringing noise from her left side followed by another one on her right. The pain that had emanated from her wrists began to throb in time with the now rhythmic ringing and she willed her eyes to open.
Her vision filled with a dark and damaged mural embedded high in the ceiling above her. It's intricacies were long lost to time and lack of care but they clearly depicted some sort of biblical scene. The constant pain in her wrists lead her to defer her gaze to the side where she found her arms stretched out atop a thick wooden beam. On either end, a dark armored man stood pounding away at stakes placed in her wrists.
She recalled her dream and nearly gasped as she recognized what was happening. She made an attempt to struggle but only hurt herself further. The ringing she'd heard before fell again as the two brothers pounded at the stakes. The old iron had rent her flesh and bone in two and she felt the full brunt of the pain in that second as she screamed in agony.
"How good of you to join us."
Beyond her pained tears her eyes fell upon the cold hard features of Jacob, a disturbing grin plastered to his face.
"I was beginning to think you'd sleep through all the fun."
The two other brothers stood up and placed hands on the wooden beam before slowly lifting it off the ground. The movement combined with her weight pulling on the barbaric tether caused her flesh to rip before catching on bone to support her. She internalized her scream as the pain racked her body and the beam was lifted into place on the cross. The brothers began work on securing the beam in place as Jacob approached her.
"I can't wait to watch fathers first born squirm like the worthless worm she is."
She pushed through her agony with gritted teeth before spitting at Jacob and hitting him square in the face. He recoiled violently from the action, wiping the spit from his face.
"You wretched bitch. I can't wait to tear his mark from you!"
He shouted and lashed out a hand ccross her face, the metal gauntlet cutting through her pale flesh. The brothers finished their work securing the beam and moved away. As the did Raven felt a slight warmth begin to build from beneath her skin as though a fire had been set in her veins. She stomached her torment and kept her eyes trained on Jacob. He too stepped back a pace before lifting his hood over his head and floating into the air. The burning in her flesh grew exponentially as Jacob began chanting in some unrecognizable language. Her thoughts were so focused on withstanding the excruciating anguish that her mind could not hope to interpret the words. As the moments passed and her boiling skin began to crawl she looked down to find the inscriptions of her birthmark lighting upon her skin almost as brightly as the day she'd ended the world. The marks burned like a brand as they began to rip through her flesh like a wire through clay. The markings started to split her skin as they left her body to circle round about her captor. The pain only grew more immense and unbearable until darkness finally overtook her vision and her other senses were shutdown by exhaustion.
—
*Crack*
The door shattered open and the two brothers looked to find a young man sprinting down between the pews, a bowstaff extended in his hands. Each readied their swords in preparation of the fight to defend their eldest brother but were surprised when the man tilted his polearm down into the ground at the last second vaulting over them. With the vertical distance he gained they could do nothing but watch as he flew past them and planted the solid steel of his boot-heel to the side of Jacob's head. His body collapsed to the side of the alter, a strange combination of red glowing marks following him.
As the man landed the brothers prepared to charge when a blast of blue light hit the ceiling between them dislodging the old stone ceiling and blocking the path to the cross. They turned their sights to the large metal man standing in the doorway, his sonic cannon still charged for another shot.
"Raven!"
The Robin shouted as he quickly approached the cross, the sound of sonic cannon fire and clanging swords playing out behind him. Robin stepped up to the cross taking on the state of his friend hanging limply from the wooden structure. Her breathing was shallow and erratic and blood ran down her arms staining her grey shirt with a sheen of crimson. A line of blood ran across her face up to cut on her brow and the corner of her nose. The sight made his skin crawl and his anger rage within him but as she slowly opened her eyes the feeling fleeted.
"Raven!"
He stepped closer a pace trying to move into her view. She managed to lift her eyes to him and he saw the torment deep with her lilac pools. Another stray shot of sonic energy hit the ceiling causing more of the roof to collapse somewhere behind him snapping Robin back to the time sensitive nature of their mission. He glanced up at either of her arms noting the rusty iron spikes that kept her to the cross. He grimaced at the sight and his heart sank a few leagues deeper. Looking back to her he gave a sorrowful look as if to say 'I'm sorry'. He wrapped one arm around her legs to remove the weight from the iron spikes before pulling out his grappling hook to shoot at the first stake. Once it securely wrapped around the ancient metal he gave it a hard yank. Raven's eyes shot fully open and she screamed out in pain as the stake ripped out of her wrist spraying the air with more of her precious blood. Robin spared no time as he repeated the motion on her other side and she fell completely into his arms. For a moment he just hugged her tight wishing he could console her in that moment. The sound of a sonic cannon going off behind him again reminded him to cut short as he scooped her legs up with one arm and swiftly carried her around the rubble and toward the exit. As he passed the on going battle Cyborg let out a sustained beam of sonic energy to fully compromise the ceiling. The stone began to collapse he turned to follow his companions, content with his efforts.
The two ran as quickly as they could down the icy scar then through the old catacombs before finally reaching the surface. As they stepped out of the front door of the old library the dim light of the street lamps illuminated just enough for the titans to see two figures standing and waiting for them.
"Did you honestly think a few old stones would stop us? You can't outrun us."
Cyborg grit his teeth then glanced back at Robin for a moment and nodded eliciting a look of confusion on Robin's face. It was clear he had no idea what he was about to do. Turning back around he spoke.
"Who said anything about outrunning?"
Cyborg pressed a button on his arm and the streetlights cut out. Very quickly the rest of the city was bathed in darkness as cyborg triggered a city-wide outage. The brothers scrambled, unsure what to do in the pitch darkness, they're senses not as keen as a trained empath. Cyborg scooped up his fellow titans and expertly navigated the site with his infrared sensors escaping quietly into the night.