Author: Nazran
Shattered: Act I
Chapter 7
§Oo–.–oO§
Danny sipped the hot tea lightly, enjoying hot liquid.
It had been several weeks since the attack on the Tower and he had developed a routine in the team—the tea was a not insignificant part of that routine. After everything had been explained to the remaining three members that had been rescued in the Tower and Mae-Eye shipped off to an appropriate prison, Pizza Corner had been called for dinner and the team took the chance to relax. Robin had expressed gratitude and made it very clear that the only reason they'd gotten free so quickly was because of Danny. They had all thanked him and the bonding that had occurred in the hours that followed had brought Danny more fully into the fold of the Titans. If Danny had not been completely welcomed in the few days he'd been with the Titans he was most assuredly now. About a week of cleanup later things had fully quieted at the Tower, with the appropriate news statements being made and everything finished up.
The ensuing weeks after that had allowed Danny to assimilate even further. That first night had ended with Danny watching the sunset on the roof of the Tower. He'd allowed himself a moment to release his control over the pain that he had hidden from the team. Danny had taken a beating more extreme than anything since his 'Dark Dan' self had attacked a few years earlier. So he'd lain with the golden red rays of a sinking sun basking him in a slowly receding warmth on the edge of the Tower. He had always found it easier to feel what pain he could and allow his powers to naturally soothe what ailed him. That was when Raven had appeared, two cups of tea clutched in her small hands and a slight nervousness exuding from her.
She'd sat beside him, hovered really, in lotus, and after a few moments spoke, "Do you drink tea?"
Thus had begun a ritual. Every night, and often in the mornings he and Raven shared a cup of tea on the rooftop spot that had become theirs. She had even offered to heal him that first night and quietly apologized for any of the injuries she had caused. It was oddly touching and unexpected to have those words spoken to him by the reserved and largely quiet girl. Danny had expressed gratitude but said no, privately unsure of how direct magical contact with his inner body would react. He had taken the tea though and was very surprised at the depth of flavor employed in the spicy brew. They hadn't talked beyond that interaction the first night and spoke rarely in following meetings. Danny had had to ask about tea in the morning but met her again in the evening. The question had seemed to startle the girl before she swept the mask over her face again and nodded, producing another cup and pouring for him. It was the most peace Danny had felt in a long time.
He had developed habits with other members of the team as well. He and Robin had begun to spar a few times every week, Danny relishing the chance to exercise properly again having lost the workout of ghost hunting. He'd both taught and learnt plenty of new techniques to and from the Boy Wonder. With Cyborg he'd started building things, working to improve the T-Car and ship with different engineering tricks from ghost tech work he'd done. Star and Danny had retrieved his bag from its stash point and bought more clothes for the young Halfa; something the alien girl had enjoyed far more than Danny had. But he humored her and had not suffered overly much from it. And BB, well BB hadn't really cared about doing anything overly much but a few games of Doom and MegaMonkeys later and they were okay.
Of course the team had grilled him extensively on his powers and their extent once Robin had explained just what had happened in the garage. Danny had lied for almost all of it. They didn't need to know he was Phantom and half dead yet. That would be hard to explain and require a lot of work. Easier to keep it a secret for a while longer, they didn't know him very well yet. He'd fed them just enough to keep it plausible and allow him limited use of his ice powers in human form; to the team he was strong, fast, durable, possessed of accelerated healing and able to rapidly cool particles to sub-zero temperatures. A close approximation of his powers with cryogenic ectoplasm. It simply avoided overt production of the other worldly substance. And they'd been satisfied with that explanation, though several demonstrations had been in order once his healing was complete. The GIW had been notably quiet following the confrontation with Raven and Cujo.
Today though, he thought as the sun slowly rose behind him to warm his back, felt different for some reason, something was settling in the air. He and Raven had met in the kitchen as usual and made the tea, the girl setting the kettle and murmuring a greeting to him. They never talked overly much, they didn't need to. But as he luxuriated in the warmth of the brew and the sun above, a gasp escaped his companion's lips and the cup clattered to the floor. He opened his blue eyes and looked to the younger teen beside him, her eyes were wide with fear and shock as her arms glowed with symbols from weeks before. The sun fully crested the horizon and the brands vanished, leaving Danny to stare at the girl and the heroine to shiver in dread.
"So it's today then." Danny didn't ask, he had thought that perhaps her birthday would be soon. The day of the prophecy. None of the team knew for certain. Her eyes snapped to him but she did not speak. "I won't tell. But they will fight and I will."
Robin greeted them loudly, "You two are up early."
"So are you." Danny replied, giving Raven the chance to recover.
"I love sunrise, the promise of a new day."
"Poetic. And very cheerful for so early." Danny sipped at his drink, a mild smirk on his face as Robin turned to look at him while his own eyes remained locked on the sun. Beneath the mask Robin's brow twitched as he considered Danny's mockery.
"We should have breakfast." Raven broke in, her voice flat and dead. "I'll cook."
§Oo–.–oO§
Danny carried Raven for the team through the corridors of the tower. An eclipse had struck just over a half hour earlier and hadn't faded. Its arrival had drained the energy from the sorceress and she had collapsed. Though the day had been busier than usual with Plasmus attacking, pizza following that and a walk further on; it was still concerning. The team now knew that the day had come. They had prepared for this, had created a room for their friend and had even integrated a basic form of ghost shield technology.
She stirred in his arms, "Where are you taking me?"
"You said there was nothing we could do. None of us agreed with that so we've been preparing for this day." Robin opened the door to the room, "We're ready to face Trigon."
"No! You can't, he's too powerful. You don't understand, my father is a demon god. He's beyond any of us. Just go, save yourselves."
Danny snorted, "What do you think we're doing? Trigon wants to destroy the world, by your own admission, running would solve nothing. I don't know about you, but I'd rather face the end than run away."
"Raven, you're the portal. Trigon needs you." Robin added.
"And if Trigon can't get to you, he can't come."
"So all we need to do is keep the Trigon from getting to you and all will be well." Starfire finished with a broad smile.
"We're not giving up and neither will you."
"You don't get it." She shifted free of Danny's arms, standing unsteadily. "Nothing you do will be enough. Prophecies are inevitable, they will be fulfilled no matter what we try to do to avoid them."
"We're still going to try. This room will protect you, all of the latest tech we could get has been put into this. Nothing alive—"
"Or dead for that matter." Danny shot.
"—is getting in." Cyborg finished.
"Stay here. We'll be watching from up there." Robin ordered pointing to a window in the room near the ceiling.
The team left the room, BB pausing to hand Raven a good luck penny that he had found earlier. Danny stopped and spoke, "Meditate. Calm your mind and soul. It'll be okay." He turned and left. Danny knew much of Raven's abilities. During their respites on the roof, despite the reserved nature of both, small talk had occasionally filled the hours and they had begun to learn about each other. The Halfa had inquired quite extensively about Raven's powers, being aware as he was about how they seemed to interact with his own energies.
Hours later Danny had gone to the Op Centre for a drink and had paused to look at the darkened sky of the eclipse. There was movement across the water, a faint red orange glow that grew steadily. Danny frowned and watched as it grew larger until he could make out shapes, torsos with formless tails lead by a broad man in black and steel armor. Danny blinked.
"Guys, we have a problem. Better come up here." Danny spoke into the intercom switch that was nearby on the wall.
"Meet us on the roof. We got the alert from the motion sensors." Robin's voice echoed back to him.
Danny rushed to the roof and stood at the top watching as the army of strange fire creatures broached the rocky shore of the island. The Titans arrived behind him, arraying themselves in an offensive V formation to stare down at the intruders. The being were black with red flickering flames limning their sharp arms and pointed heads. They had no legs and only glaring dead eyes of fire set in shadow over beaks with flaming manes. Before them was the man Slade, the symbol of Skath branded in magic light on his mask.
"Give me the girl." The voice broached no argument.
"You're not getting her Slade." Robin spoke with angry determination and the team attacked.
Green bolts and blue energy lashed through the being, cutting them down in droves as they charged on an unspoken command. Robin dived off the tower heading directly for his old nemesis with bow staff drawn. BB leapt as well, spiralling down as a falcon and hitting the rocks as an oversized gorilla. Danny huffed and jumped, slowing only near the bottom to avoid injury with his ghost powers. The heat was intense as it rolled off the creatures, prickling in sharp stings along the skin. The Halfa shut the sensation down with his cryo abilities and charged in with swinging fists of deathly cold. Shrieks of outrage and pain followed him as the flame creatures burst apart in his path, failing to reform afterward as the cold death of ghost powers ripped their demonic essence.
Robin struck in an overhand blow, bringing all of his weight to bear down on the man he hated above all others. Slade caught the blow in one hand effortlessly, whipping the staff around and throwing both it and Robin away. Star bolts exploded against the side of the possessed man, shrouding him in smoke while Robin flipped back to his feet and beat encroaching creatures off with his staff. It grew hot in his hands as it whipped through molten creatures but he ignored the burn through his gloves in order to fight, charging back toward Slade with a feral scream of rage.
Cyborg fired his cannon wildly, the blue energy beam cutting through swathes of the army effortlessly. The team fought desperately against the creatures literally from a form of hell as they swarmed over the shore in mobs of red light and heat. Danny was everywhere he could be, freezing out the demons. They wouldn't reform after his touch. Star circled above, cutting them down with blasts from her hands and beams from her eyes. BB marauded back and forth as different animals; roaring, grunting and hollering with rage. Robin viciously struck out at the man that had tormented him so. It was desperate and primal, a fight where everyone knew the cost of failure with startling clarity.
"Do you really wish to spend your last day alive fighting like this?" Slade's voice was utterly calm.
"STOP!" the voice ripped through the din of combat, the screams of the Titan's and Danny, the shrieks of the demons. Raven appeared, a shadowy wraith form of her body materializing and then coalescing into solidity as the pale half human.
"Rae. . ." Robin choked out, a fiery arm wrapped about his shoulder and chest.
"I will go with you." She looked from beneath the low brim of her hood at the five teens who had fought for her. "I cannot run from my destiny."
"Raven—" Danny frowned at her.
Tendrils lanced out, twisting through the air like lighting and striking each of her friends on the brow. The power lifted them up, their eyes shutting with magic. Except for Danny, the tendrils sparked against his skin before settling but his eyes remained open and sightless. They were each laid on the ground softly and Raven spoke to their unconscious form, "I must do this. Goodbye." And in a whisper she let slip beneath her sigh, "Be safe."
Raven followed Slade and the remaining demons to the dilapidated library that they had found Danny in. Down the long spiral staircase, to the bottom this time where a dark corridor wide enough to drive down waited for them. She floated a step ahead of the cursed man in the dark with his demon lackeys arrayed behind them. Acceptance was settling heavy in her heart. This was it, the end of the uncertainty and the worry, the anguish. Soon all would be blank and the prophecy would be fulfilled.
"You're a fool Slade if you think Trigon will deliver on his promise." She spoke with a bit of venom in her tone.
"You know nothing little girl."
"I know my own father and his will. He will give you nothing and cast you back into whatever pit he pulled you from, like a worm."
"You are nothing but a pawn in Trigon's game dear child, an insignificant means to an end. You mean nothing."
"We have that in common. You're no more valuable to him than I am Slade, even less so really."
"You shut you—" the fire demons turned on the man, several grabbing him as he lit his fists with Trigon's power, and pulled him back from Raven. "Let me go! I command you!" he snarled.
She turned to look at him, face dark. "You are nothing Slade, already insignificant. Less than the worm. Even your own army won't follow you." Two pairs of glowing red eyes lit in the shadow of the hood and a derisive smirk sneered across her face. "Leave him." The demons dropped him to the floor and she moved on, leaving the man kneeling in the dark.
She stood before another altar, larger and more ornate than the one in the higher chamber but with the same place for a beam of light to strike. She stared at the hand, the work of a cult that worshipped her father as a god, and bit back a cry of anguish. There was a flare, the roar of a fire and a call of her name in a familiar tongue. She turned and saw a fire demon be snuffed out as Danny grappled with it, her other friends struggling with their own captors. A wave of a silent hand and the demons released them. The Titans and Danny made their way to stand before her.
"Raven, don't do this. You can fight it."
"No Robin. I can't. I have known my whole life that I would do this terrible thing to this plane of existence. I tried to do good, to make up for my future. To fight evil."
"You can't know what will happen Raven, there are things you can't possibly know."
She smiled sadly at the five teens, "I know this; I was beyond lucky to make friends as wonderful as you all have been. You five," She looked at Danny who stood beside Robin and reached out a hand, letting her fingers brush his hand, "You five are the best friends I could ever have hoped for. You have to let me do this."
The sorceress turned away, a black wall of magic rising high to the ceiling far above. Robin and Danny beat their fists against the barrier, calling muffled cries out to their friend as she lifted into the air. Shockwaves rippled on the magic as Danny forced ghostly energy into his fists, trying to disrupt the power. The others joined in, striking with everything they had against the impossibly strong magic. Beams of light, explosions and thick skulls crashed against the wall. Raven rose on upward and crested the hand.
She moved into lotus, eyes down and began to chant, "The Gem was born of evil's fire; the Gem shall be his portal; He comes to claim; He comes to sire; the End of all things mortal." Her eyes lit white and her limbs flexed, symbols lighting along her body and lifting free of flesh as a bright white ball of magic formed in her abdomen and expanded.
It grew and pulsed and consumed the girl's body, the burning red symbols circling around the crescendo of light and magic. It spun faster and faster, forming into flat vortex of fire that plunged downward and tore apart the stonework to the floor. It grew and burned bright, so bright that the five teens had to look away though Robin and Danny glared through squinted eyes at the magic. Bursts of flame and power rocked the chamber and something moved. Horns rose from the vortex, massive and curved like ram's horns. A crown of bleached white bone followed, set on a barren brow of blood red skin. Long ragged white hair fluttered in the force of the magic and a face appeared huge before the heroes. It was pockmarked and gleamed bloody and crimson. It was like a baboon's, the jaw thrust forward with evil razor fangs shining in the fire light between lips that were pulled back in a snarl. Four eyes lit from within with a swirling energy of pure hatred and malice glared through angular lids. The face was nose-less, only four small slits visible on a flat space. Arms and chest followed, barren and rippling with muscle beneath red skin.
The demon god reared back, throwing his arms upward and screamed in a voice so foul and deep and filled with horror that it rocked the Titans back on their heels, "The Earth is mine!"
§Oo–.–oO§
Danny bolted upright, his blue eyes wide and searching. Beside him, only a few feet away a flicker of shadow disappeared and rock crumbled away to reveal Robin looking just as disoriented. The sky was filled with crimson light, snaking shadows oozing through it. The city was quiet, deathly silent and the buildings were ravaged and worn. Stone was black, covered in ash and soot and the ragged remains of windows glowed red. Danny flinched violently. It was happening again. The memories flooded back to him, tearing through his head like a screech of magic. The fires, the red burning fires and the screeching metal. The stone, hot to the touch. He gasped and shook his head clear, standing.
"We should have done something." Robin's voice muttered, "We could have done more to help her. To stop this."
Danny squeezed shut his eyes and blinked away the memories. "No. We couldn't. Let's get moving."
The two boys walked through the ruins. Each was lost in their own thoughts, Robin spiralling through guilty despair at the fate of Raven and Danny desperately blocking out memories from a life that had been only months before. He'd almost forgotten. Their footsteps were unnervingly loud on the dead rock and turning a corner they saw statues. People of Jump City frozen in stone, completely oblivious to who knows how many that had perished. Danny choked on nothing and forced away tears, focussing on what had to be done as best he could while the ache burned in his chest.
Movement, a rustle. "Who's there?" Robin called, his head snapping up.
The teen slowed the rustle, guessing at the direction and running after it. They moved fluidly over the wreckage of stone and between frozen people. Innocent people caught in conflict beyond their understanding. It was a bird. Black as night, nothing more than a darker blot slitting about on near silent wings. It perched on a jut of rock above them on a desolate street, looking at them without eyes and then it took flight again. It lifted away, flapping once and vanishing around another corner. They followed.
A tower stood before them lodged in broken slabs of stone. It was tall and graceful, even pockmarked and ruined as it was with broken windows. The corroded metal construction gleamed in the ugly light and swept skyward in an elegant curve to a double platform many, many feet above. They scrambled up the first few broken blocks, finding easy handholds and working together to climb. Minutes passed before they crested the tower's summit and Robin stumbled ahead calling out. It was empty, forgotten and dead.
The Boy Wonder slumped to the ground at the edge of a protruding ledge, a despairing sigh blasting from his mouth, "We failed her."
The platform creaked and groaned, the stone crumbled and Robin snapped into action. He turned and leapt toward Danny in a single smooth action his hand out stretched. Danny caught it, diving to make the maneuver and nearly sliding off the ledge himself before a strong hand caught him. Cyborg's cybernetic muscles hauled the two men back onto more stable ground.
"We saw something. Raven. It—she, brought us here." Danny breathed.
Cyborg spoke and BB and Star arrived behind him, "She brought us all here. We're the only ones left."
"Oh Robin, I am so glad you survived!" She rushed in and locked the leader in a tight embrace, kissing him soundly on the cheek. The others politely ignored this until Star spoke again, "But how? How are we the only ones that survived?" Starfire's voice was out of place in the devastated world, so melodic and soothing.
BB's voice cracked as he said, "It was Raven. She saved us, I don't know how, but she did."
"Her magic, at the Tower it protected us. I could feel something more in it as it touched me. She protected us from Trigon somehow." Danny breathed, an instant of amazement distracting him from the crushing reminders around him.
"As if it matters. What are we going to do against a demon God?" Cyborg sighed. "There's nothing left, no point."
"We're still here. There is still hope for us, the world and Raven. We're still going to fight, for our friend. For Raven." Robin's hand reached out to the group.
"For Raven." Starfire repeated, placing her hand over Robin's.
Cy and BB repeated the vow and they all looked to Danny. He was staring out across the city at the distant flows of lava and black stone. They all could sense the burden brimming behind his blue eyes. They almost glowed with some strange light. The Halfa turned to the Titans, considering each of the heroes that had become his friend in the recent weeks, true friends. And Raven, with whom he had silently bonded a deeper friendship. "For Rae." He used the diminutive for the first time and place his cold hand over the others. A black ball of familiar magic flashed over the appendages and exploded, arcs racing into each body and throwing them back.
"Okay. That felt weird." Cyborg said.
The magic burned on Danny's hands, writhing among his fingers, "She gave us her power." He breathed.
"And it grows stronger when we stand as one." Starfire finished.
They moved off toward the bay, being able to see Trigon languishing on a throne made partially of their home. He was massive, taller twice over than the Tower with pointed ears and dead white hair that hung from his head and off his jaw. Golden amber bracers covered his arms to the elbow, vicious curving talons tearing up from the surface of the metal to mimic his clawed hands. A skirt of the same metal hung on his hips, ending just above the knees with a tattered white flare of cloth leeching out from beneath it to his ankles between his legs on both front and back. Between the closed upper pair of eyes glowed a fifth, the mark that Raven had had on her own face—a miniscule gem on the girl that was a huge point on the giant demon god.
They attacked at once. Star fire lead the way, flying in from on high with dozens of her bolts spinning into the beast. Robin and Danny raced over a thin path of jutting rock in the lava each armed with exploding disks from Robin's many pouched arsenal. These exploded against his knees as BB and Cyborg flew in straight on, the black teen releasing a half dozen scrambled missiles and burst in fire and molten metal on impact. They all landed on the shore of the Titan's Tower Island, glaring defiantly up at the extradimensional monster that merely opened its eyes to regard them with disdain.
"Trigon. Stand and fight!" Robin called to the giant.
He closed his eyes again, ignoring what he viewed as the pitiful mortals. The team looked at each other, frustrated that their attack had done nothing so much as tickle the invader. They talked briefly, knowing Trigon wouldn't expend the energy to try to stop them from doing anything. They were beneath him.
"Raven's powers are strongest in us together, and they are controlled with emotion." Starfire said, "The more you feel, the more energy the power has."
"So in other words, get angry!" Cy yelled.
They joined hands, the energy of their friend sparking amongst them as they all concentrated on the emotions that would fuel whatever they were about to try. For Danny, it was pain, terror and anger. Hatred. It coursed through him like the beams of the ghosts who had turned him. The magic hummed in his fingertips and roared in his chest. He focussed everything he had, the silent suffering he had borne in the days with the Titans, what he had never revealed to them behind the façade of his calm. The tortured souls that haunted his memories from the day he had failed so utterly to save his friends and family. The ones that he kept locked away, desperately ignoring the reality.
They lifted into the air, limned in Raven's magic. And together, without thinking about it consciously, her mantra, her spell, slipped from their lips and an explosion of magic crashed froth from their bodies. It was black and curled, twisting through the air like a serpent with a head of crackling power that sundered the air between them and Trigon. It struck him, snapping his eyes open. Veins bulged and muscles contracted in the giant, a guttural roar ripping from a throat of fire. For seconds it lasted and for agonizing seconds Trigon felt the sting of his daughter. And then the magic left the teens and they dropped back to the rock.
Trigon regarded them with an amused smirk, "You might think it wise to use my own daughter's magic against me, mortals, but you are sadly mistaken. Not even that farewell blessing can help you as I gather my strength." He looked up, "Be gone!" Jerky ragged red beams zipped out of the monster's eyes and slammed into the titans, hurling backward with such force they nearly died in the impact with the ground hundreds of feet away. It was only BB and Star who save them, managing to catch the other three before the harsh impact and slow them.
"Of all the places to land, it had to be here." BB groaned as he realized they'd sunk into the blasted and burned pit of the library, or what was left of it.
Robin stood from where he'd landed in a rough barrel roll along the stone to absorb the momentum of the impact. Not far from where he now stood a great stone hand had reached up into the cavernous room that was now simply a deep trench in the ground. "She can't be gone, it doesn't feel like she is gone does it?"
Danny, to whom the question had been asked, responded, "No. I don't think we'd have her energy if Raven was truly gone. The magic would have left with her."
"Impressive Robin. Your skills have not dulled I see. Raven is still alive, still around but diminished greatly." Slade stalked through the shadows of an arched corridor. "I can take you to her Robin, but only one of you."
A half dozen of birdarangs whirled end over end through the air, cutting scores into the rock as Slade leapt away. "Why would we ever trust you!" A blast from Cy clipped the man's side and spun him about as Beast Boy charged in buffalo form to mow the Slade over. And finally a handful of star bolts cut into the stone wall that Slade found himself pressed up against before he fell to his knees. "What's the matter Slade? Lost your touch now that Trigon has ascended?"
"Think what you will about me Titans, but I never wanted this. What Trigon has done is . . . unspeakable." The armored clad man stood up, staring through the one eyelet in his mask. He looked at Robin, "Do not, however, mistake my words for remorse. Trigon has betrayed our deal and he will learn the consequences of that."
Robin raised a disk, a flat thing primed with an explosive plastic charge that would explode disproportionately large when compared to the size of the device. Danny spoke, "Wait Robin." He held up a hand, walking toward the man who watched them impassively. "You know where Raven is?"
"To an extent, yes."
"No games Slade. Tell us where she is."
"I can lead you to her, though exactly where she is I cannot say. She is diminished."
Danny sighed, "Take me then." Before the others could protest he spoke to them and not Slade, "His fire powers can't hurt me and you four work together better than I can with any three of you." He looked at the Boy Wonder, "I'll bring Rae back Robin, you know I can do it."
"No way man we can't trust him!" Cyborg was veritably yelling now, his cannon still whirring with the contained power of the energy.
"Cyborg's right Danny, Slade is a monster. He's killed and brought death to us before. We can't let you take that risk."
"We can't let Trigon win. Nothing else should matter and Raven is the key to that, Robin. The Titan's need you, but I can't offer anything to the fight. Not like this." Danny wouldn't reveal Phantom, not until he was sure there was no other option. "I can go with him," he jerked a finger to Slade, "And get our sorcerer back. He doesn't know me, we have no history."
Robin stared at his friend, his sparring partner closely for several tense minutes. The young man was set in a determined stance though his eyes were not backing down to the young leader. He and Danny butted heads a few times, both of them were similarly stubborn and held the same conviction to whatever they set themselves too—a few injuries had resulted during sparring because of this—but they got along because of that shared attribute just as much as they argued. Despite the conflicts they occasionally got into Danny respected the smaller teen's leadership and extensive training enough to follow his lead. Robin finally nodded his assent, "Alright Danny. You bring her back to us."
Danny smiled, "I will." He clasped forearms with the Boy Wonder, a silent sign of respect and mutual affection. BB and Cy both came forward and high fived the Halfa exuberantly, wishing him luck and telling him to be careful. Starfire went so far as to hug Danny tightly, her care for the new friend clearly quite strong. "Watch out for Robin, Star." He whispered to the girl.
Danny hauled Slade up, ignoring the man's jabs at the affectionate goodbye shared by the group of young fighters. Slade spoke then to the Titans who would remain, "Trigon is a god. He is all seeing. In order for your," he glanced at Danny, "Friend to have any hope of retrieving Raven you must keep the demon king busy. Distract him from the truth and perhaps you will succeed." He withdrew four rings from a pouch, "These will offer some protection from Trigon's wrath, Rings of Azar. Created in the namesake dimension to combat clerics of Skath." The rings clattered to Robin's feet and the boy glared at the villain but grudgingly collected them.
Danny wondered where they would be going, imagining that wherever Raven was she was in some sort of prison, trapped somehow. If fires were the prison that held the sorceress back then Danny would quench them with the dead cold of his ice powers, something he had decided to coin cryokinesis, the unique ectoplasm being cryoplasm. Fire was something he could combat, and Trigon produced no shortage of it in his transformation of the world. Slade dusted himself off and looked a moment at the blue eyed teen before turning and walking down the corridor, the descending shadows absorbing him. Danny followed without a word.
§Oo–.–oO§
The ring was heavy on his hand, uncomfortable. But it melded to the magic Robin could feel thrumming through his body. He vaguely wondered if Raven felt like this all of the time, or for that matter Superman, Starfire, Dr. Fate or any other powered member of the League or Titans. He spoke, "C'mon. We have work to do, Slade and Danny need the distraction."
"You think these ugly rings are going to help?" BB was looking at the ring. It was a simple golden band with a purple stone set in the face. It was plain and dark. Symbols, of Skath and others the teens did not know, glowed on the band.
"Slade said so. Not that I trust him but if they really are from Azar then maybe. Raven is from Azar."
"If you say so dude."
"How exactly are we supposed to distract Trigon?"
Robin smiled, "Oh I have an idea to get his attention."
The team climbed out of the trench and looked across the barren city to the lake of lava and the giant sitting on his throne, languishing with jaw braced on fist. The demon king had its many eyes closed though the dark gem set on the brow pulsed with intense red light, visible even from the distance. They moved as quickly as they could, Star and the changeling lifting Cyborg and Robin into the warm air and carrying them toward the shore of the lake. They landed behind an outcropping of rock, crouched in the dust and ash. The team looked expectantly at Robin and he outlined his plan to keep Trigon busy.
Beast Boy enjoyed the importance he would have in the next few moments. It was not often he could be so uniquely vital. The changeling took off from the group as a hummingbird, a creature small enough to avoid notice but fast enough to make it to the demon easily. He flitted around Raven's Father, looking carefully to see how conscious the thing was before slipping into his blade shaped ear. He flew deep enough into the ear to know it'd cause pain and then morphed. A thunderous roar, even louder from the inside than out, blasted through Beast Boy's very being as Trigon experienced the immense discomfort of a blue whale appearing in his ear canal. The changeling was shaken loose and he morphed into a falcon to land near the other Titans where they had moved into sight onto the shore.
Trigon glared at them, standing now and raised an arm. "Burn." A flicker of light appeared in the heart of his palm and suddenly a conflagration exploded from the light, a column of flame that sucked the oxygen from the air and washed over the Titans before they could react. As suddenly as the flames had appeared they vanished. The Titans stood, unharmed and untouched by the fires. "Ah, Slade has decided to act has he?" Fangs peaked out from behind the thin red flesh of the demon's lips, "No matter. These will finish you for me."
Ragged rocks rose from the lava, untouched by the heat. They were black and lava sloughed from them like water. The surface of the rock boiled, twisting and roiling darkly. Beneath the four the rock similarly boiled and they could not leap away. A bright mark of Skath appeared on the stone beneath them and on the stone across from them. Violent arcs of energy burst from the mark and ripped into the teens, burning their nerves with vicious pain before it stopped. The other mark flashed and figures rose from the stone. They were grey, colourless except for red glowing eyes. For each of the heroes there was a negative copy, a pale horrific apparition of themselves. In the eyes each teen saw the thing they could have been, the evil and darkness that had threatened them all at some point in their lives. The things, negative clones, grin maliciously at them and stalked forward.
Titans, go!" Robin's call rang out hollow in the wasteland.
Bow staff met staff as Robin attacked his clone. It matched him move for move, the red eyes glowing and the malicious fang filled grin wide in his face. Robin snarled and attacked, moving as quickly as he could, pulling no stops as he drew from every bit of training he had ever received from Batman and the master who had further his instruction. He rolled away as a booted foot knocked him backward, mindful of the rock that cracked beneath the staff. The clone was stronger than him. He drove back in with a thrust but the clone sidestepped, slamming his staff down with its own. Robin's nose crunched under an elbow that came up inside his guard. The broken bone smarted with sharp pain and the leader stumbled backward again. An overhead blow dove in at the distracted teen's head. He desperately raised the staff in a block above his head. The metal pole snapped in his hands and Dick Grayson had to roll into a retreat yet again, holding the two shortened pieces of metal.
"Weakling. Why do the others follow you? You, without powers or anything special about you. You will fail them just as surely as you did Terra. Just surely as you did Batman and your parents." The voice was hollow and guttural, snarling in Robin's face.
The words cut into the Boy wonder but he fought on. With two free hands he struck out at the clone in a new attack pattern. The two ends of his now sundered staff cut in from the sides in alternating patterns, searching out weakness in the clone's defence. The negative Robin defeated his every move, a derisive smirk never leaving the pale face. He spit blood, the wound of his nose leaking into his mouth. He ducked beneath a sideways slash and leapt forward, knocking the clone down in his first successful attack. He chopped at the clone but it flipped out of his range.
"Why do you fight Robin? Why do they trust you so? You are flawed, a worthless hero. You failed Raven. You're losing this fight. Nothing you do will change the reality now."
"Shut up!" Robin roared. Wading back into the duel with newly ignited fervour.
Cyborg was launched backward from the punch his clone delivered. He flew through the air away from the rest of the team, crashing through a ruined wall. The cybernetic teen stood back up in the rubble and ducked as a right cross narrowly grazed his face. He caught the next punch, spinning the clone around and throwing it through a wall. His right arm unfolded into the energy cannon and the beam cut into the hole where the clone had disappeared. The arm dropped, reforming into the hand, thinking the battle over with that powerful strike but the clone reappeared, leaping from higher in the building with an overhead, double fisted strike. He blocked but only just, metal knees crushing pavement beneath him and the armour of his left forearm crackling under the force. The follow up strike crumbled his shoulder and sent him flying again. The clone was strong, stronger than he was.
The clone appeared next to him, dropping in from a high leap, "Victor Stone. Subject to such an upgrade from your pathetic humanity, yet still inferior aren't you?"
Scrambler missiles fired from Cyborg's midsection with a blast. The clone grinned and stood as the missiles exploded all around him. The smoke cleared and the clone still stood, his own torso shifting and missiles of his own blasting out. Cyborg lifted a slab of stone and threw it desperately at the incoming ordinance. The blast of several exploding missiles scattered rocky shrapnel about and more of the projectiles continued to lock onto his systems. He ran, fleeing the weapons. Leaping over broken walls and boulders, dodging around corners in the barren buildings. Finally he saw a larger wall, part of a building that had collapsed partially and Cyborg leapt upward; the missiles catching his back with a hot explosion. He tumbled into the building, rolling end over end.
"You were worthless as a human and you're worthless as you are. Your mother died, your father fell to his science. What use were you to either of them? What pride do they feel for their monster? Your own father made you this thing."
Cyborg tackled the clone about the middle, knocking him over and into the floor. Punches flew into the clone's face, crushing it into the floor until the level gave way as the rock cracked and broke. The two fell into the lower floor. Cyborg rolled away from his clone and jumped back to his feet. The clone was already standing and struck immediately. A fist closed around the fibres of his arm, ripping the synthetic muscle away from body. Cyborg's arm fell limp and the clone sneered catching the fist that came in and hurling Cyborg once more through the air with such strength that he slammed fully through two more floors and out the side of the building.
Red bolts of energy fired the air all around her as she twisted through the air, flying up into the bloody sky. The clone hit her as she turned to fire back at it and they tumbled together toward the lava, the grey fists lit with red energy as they punched against her sides. Starfire clawed at the back of the thing, beating her own fists into its iron hard flesh with all of her Tamaranean strength. The clone drove her into a slab of rock sticking up through the lake and with a resounding crack it shattered into a roughshod surface. The clone stood above her an evil smile on its face. The alien girl frowned up at her clone and a line of bolts ripped from her eyes, tearing into the clone and tossing it back. Star shot back into the air, flying toward the clone before it righted itself. Her fists struck it, launching backward again and again as she chased the evil thing through the sky.
It caught her fist, forehead slamming into her face and throwing her into the ground fall below. This time it floated above her, just beyond her physical range, "I will win little alien and Robin will be mine. You could never offer anything to him that I couldn't."
Starfire rolled to her feet and took off, ripping a line of lava as she flew away. Red star bolts followed her as she zipped back and forth in evasive movements, rock and lava exploding around her. Twisting in mid-air Star loosed her own energy orbs, futilely trying to hit the agile clone that dogged every foot she flew through the air. The grey landscape blurred by them with their flight, they appeared as no more than streaks of the respective colours that glowed on their hands. The air rippled and great bangs echoed through the air as they met with blows.
"Foolish princess. What could Robin ever see in you?" The voice echoed in her ears, cutting at her fears.
Beast Boy ran from the clone as it flew above him in the form of a white hawk. He morphed into a dog but the clone copied him and pounced. The armor of an armadillo protected the changeling from the fangs of the wolf until it released him. As a bear the youngest Titan charged the wolf, batting aside with a great clawed paw to crash into rock. The clone took off as a bird and BB followed in the form of a great eagle striking with its talons before the clone became a gorilla and grabbed the eagle's legs in a crushing grip, throwing him to the ground from midair. Morphing again Beast Boy hit the ground as a kangaroo and fled in the form of a cheetah. A peregrine falcon swooped low and bowled the teen over as it became a pachycephalosaurus with the thick bone of its head cracking into the cat's side. Beast Boy came up as his human form, shoulder sore and head spinning.
"You trust Danny? You barely know him and yet you've all decided to rely on the stranger. Who's to say he won't betray you?"
"Shut up!" BB screamed. It turned into a roar as he morphed violently into the Werebeast ego that lurked within him.
He howled his feral anger at the clone and leapt straight up, shooting high into the sky and coming down with his claws and teeth brought to bear. He struck the clone who had yet to morph and drove him back into the stone. His teeth bit into rock hard flesh and shook the thing. A fist snapped in a hard blow over his snout and he dropped the doppelganger snarling. The clone morphed into the same creature and the two smashed into each other, hands grappling and slavering mouth snapping at throats and shoulders. The clone leverage his arm down and slashed across his face with long black claws, cutting parallel furrows through the light fur. The same paw backhanded the boy away with the clone pouncing behind.
It gripped his shoulders, the nails biting into flesh. Though his face was healing rapidly the wound still smarted and bled into his eyes, blinding the changeling. Its hind legs raked over Beast Boy's belly, slicing more bloody gashes into the green fur. BB blinked at the blood desperately, shaking his head and snarling before he morphed into a mouse and dropped out of the clutch of the clone. Immediately he became a tyrannosaurus and spun, a thick tail smashing into the clone.
It flipped through the air, becoming a bird to right itself and then humanoid again to speak, "Foolish boy. Danny will betray you, just like Terra. He does not care for any of you, you do not know him. And just like Terra, he will fall."