"Still seems a little risky," said Angel clutching the handle of battle-axe.
After a day of planning, the group was now in the middle of the canyons, outside of town in the middle of the night so the two vampires didn't erupt into flames.
The plan was simple; Ed, Robin, and the three Charmed sisters would create a portal to where Jake was fighting in the underworld. Once opened, Al, Spike, Angel, Blade, Leo, Dante, Vergil, and Inyuahsa would enter the portal, since they were all part demons and already dead.
The hunters and remaining fighters would stay behind in case the army of demons got through and the other fighters were too tired.
The Titans, minus Raven who would be with the support fighters, would be on the canyon walls, making sure no one interrupted the groups and tried to ruin things.
Shaking her head, "We already know that nothing else," said Raven, "will work this is going to have to be the only way this will work," turning to the five casters, "Are you ready?"
They nodded. Ed would focus his energy through Robin, while the sisters created a portal. Once the portal was open, Robin will use her magic and the added power from Ed, to keep the portal open in order for the fighter to get in and out. Once the group was in and out, the two portals should close at the same time, since they were tapping into the portal on the other side.
Raven looked at the fighters.
"We're ready as well ever be," said Blade.
Turning back to the casters, Raven signaled for them to start.
The charmed sisters took each other's arm, and spoke the spell that had come up with.
The gates of hell, forever barred,
to keep inside all of the unclean.
No1 should ever want to go inside,
but I need to find the key.
I need to find someone for whom I care,
someone I know doesn't belong there.
Opening portal caused heat to rush through the valley.
Clapping his hands then placed them on Robin's shoulder, "NOW!" shouted Ed.
Concentrating as a blue fire erupted from the sides of the portal, she held it open.
"GO," she screamed through her teeth, "I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG I CAN HOLD IT!"
Rushing forward, the fighters entered the portal.
What seemed like hours, only few minutes passed. Robin looked worse for wear. Blood dripped from her nose. The charmed sister thought it would be a good idea to add their powers as well. They began to chant, and the portal that was beginning to shrink slowly was torn open again from a bright light surrounding the fire.
Then, the fighters started to come out. First, it was Dante, carrying his brother, who seemed to have a broken leg. Then came out Al, who was missing half of his body, being carried by Blade and Angel.
"For not having a body," complained Angel, "you sure weigh a ton."
Then came Spike, who was holding on his arm as if it was going to fall off. Inyuasha thrown from the portal landing hard on the ground. Leo brought the rear.
Studying the fighters, "What happened?" asked Raven, "Did you guys, get Jake?"
Shocked, the fighters looked back at the portal, which was collapsing. Pressing her hands against her head, Robin screamed from the strain. She collapsed, and the portal began to close.
Losing hope, Raven saw something else shot out from the portal. Stopping, everyone witnessed a red wolf's head flying around the canyon.
"What the bloody heck is that?" asked Spike.
No one answered.
"Could it be," thought Raven "his soul?" .
Like a rocket, it shot into the sky towards the sea.
Looking at Leo, "Ok, what was that?" remarked Piper, "and where is Jake?"
"I don't know," replied Leo, "Angel and Blade threw him through the portal, then we came out."
"Perhaps," remarked Miroku, "it was his soul searching for his…"
Then it clicked in their heads, the body was intact, and it was just the soul that had been taken.
Without another word, Raven changed into a black bird chasing after the red wolf. Beast Boy and Starfire chased after her.
Jake could stand the sight of worms and looking at microscopic germs. Technicolor pachyderms is really too much for him.
Sucking in air like waking from a long slumber, his lidless eyes allowed him to see only the darkness around him. Yet he breathed, but couldn't see a thing. Trying to call out for help, nothing came out. Pain hit like a freight train. Everything hurt, his arms, his legs basically his entire body felt like it's on fire, and the temperature continued rising. A moment to calm his thoughts.
"Ok, Jake," he thought, "what the hell is going on?"
Doing his best to fight through the pain still lingered in his body while figuring out why he was on his back in a small, dark, space. Remembering the last thing he did. What was the last thing he did? Oh yeah. Jumping into that blood portal which killed him. He was dead. If he was dead, why was he experiencing this? It didn't make sense. Typical Jake.
Deciding getting out of here was his current priority. Unsheathing a claw, he slammed it against what he believed was the lid of a coffin. After about two minutes of slashing, the lid finally caved in covering him with dirt. Spitting out dirt, he tried his best to climb out discovering he was weaker then he ever been.
Pushing with all his strength, he had in his arm, he pushed up. What felt like miles, it was only a few feet. His hand broke through the ground which wasn't the normal six feet people were buried at. Feeling around until something grabbed his hand. It was soft fingers of not one, but two hands wrap around his hand. He felt a drop was it a teardrop? It was a teardrop. A teardrop from Raven.
Pulling his hand away, he fought with whatever strength he had to see her again. Getting closer to the surface, his ears detected voices.
"Hang on, Jake," came a male's voice, "we almost got you."
"Will you stop jabbering and dig for crying out loud," came a British voice.
His face broke through the surface, yet he couldn't see a thing. Detecting gasps around him, he tried to call out, but only heard a moan pass my lips.
"What the hell is going on?" he said inside his mind.
"Jake," whispered Raven touching his face.
Reaching out with his hand, he grabbed hers.
"Raven," said Cyborg, "we need to get him back to the tower."
"I can orb him," said Leo, "but I only want to take him in case something goes wrong."
Raven's hand left his comforting hand and gripped his shoulder. A moment of feeling lit as a feather got replace with feeling heavier, and placed on a bed. His ears caught more gasps.
"What has happened to our friend?" grasped Starfire.
"His body has decomposed at a higher rate," replied Leo, "but I don't know why it did."
"You think your powers can heal him?" asked Nightwing.
"I can try," came the reply.
Leo's hands placed over Jake's chest causing a warming sensation flow through his body.
The pain kicked in like bull running through a china shop being chased by a gnat.
Jake's body spasmodically then managed to weakly push away Leo's healing hands.
"What did you do to him?" asked Raven.
Unable to hear an explanation since Jake's mind was working in overdrive. Let's review the healer, Leo, tried to heal Jake while his healing factor was working and…. OH SHIT. With his healing factor working, it would attack any outside assistance trying to help his system therefore causing him pain.
Searching for something hard, Jake felt a cold hand
"Jake, you need to keep still."
That's Angel. And it click, the other two voices Jake heard earlier. The one with the accent was Spike, and the one who tried to heal him was Leo, the charmed witches' white lighter.
Fighting against his grasp, Jake unsheathed the claw in that hand, making Angel release it.
After another moment of searching in silence, Jake found the edge of the bed he laid on, and the metal roll bar.
"Perfect," he thought.
Tapping in Morse code, "Night, you understand me?"
After a moment tapping , "He's trying to talk," said Nightwing, "He's using Morse code."
If Jake had eyes, he would be rolling them.
"Thank you Captain Obvious, and I know why Leo's power won't work. Its my healing factor, it will fight tooth and nail against any outside source, even if it wants to help," he tapped out.
After Nightwing's translation, "Is there anyway you can stop it," asked Leo.
"If my body is in too bad of a condition, I have no control over it. And speaking of which, how bad is it?"
Taking a moment, "Your body has decomposed to the amount of someone," replied Nightwing, "who has been dead for three years, even though you've only been gone two months."
The shock hit home, no wonder the pain was unbearable. His healing factor was having to work from the ground up. It was going to be quite a while before Jake could do anything.
