Family Matters Chapter 23: Righting Wrongs II, a teen titans fanfic

Abel stepped into the very dimly lit room and waved Raven and Robin through. He made his way up the considerable amount of steps that led up to the throne and made his proposal to his twin, his older twin, and what was once Slade.

"Well, we have my son but apparently can't leave unless we bring you three with us. So, if you don't mind?" he said waving his hand toward the still open rift, which immediately sealed. Carthatagon (the younger one from Abel's dimension) stepped forward and slammed his energized palm into his brother's chest, sending him toppling back down the way he came.

"I think not." He said as his twin made his less than graceful way back down the stairs. Raven and Robin immediately ran to his aid and helped him up. When he was steadied, he glared up at the crowd of demons laughing at his fall.

"I guess we'll do this the hard way." He said to Raven and Robin. Abel brought his hands together and prepared a Dark Bolt. Rising into the air, he began spinning. At the throne laughter had stopped and they stood watching in interest at what was occurring. Abel released the bolt and it went hurtling toward them at blinding speed. It came so fast that Trigon barely had enough time to raise a barrier. Unfortunately for them the bolt managed to slip past the barrier and instead of blocking the projectile it contained it within the shield, which had devastating results. The barrier fell and the smoke cleared to reveal Trigon slumped forward in his throne and Carthatagon and Rycan unconscious on the stone floor. Abel found no sign of the three they had returned for. Signaling for Raven and Robin to keep a look out he drifted over to where the unconscious demons lay. He landed in front of Rycan and Carthatagon and turned his replica over with his foot and barely dodged a kick to the face as his copy righted himself.

"Are you always this easy to fool?" Rycan asked as he lashed out with his energy.

"Sure," Abel replied as he leapt to the side and dashed forward, driving his knee into his assailants face, "Are you always this easy to break?" he punctuated this with a drop kick to the chest that sent Rycan down the steps the same way he had gone. Turning back to the alternate of his brother laying on his side, he kicked him in the stomach and found that he was actually unconscious. He turned back to where Robin and Raven were and saw that they had managed to apprehend his brother's older self and Slade.

"Where are you little brother!" he taunted as he turned around, searching for his brother. Sensing something behind him he kicked out and came into contact with his brother's face. Carthatagon retaliated by forcing his superheated hands into Abel's face. Abel gave a shout of surprise and pain and grabbed his wrists and fell to the ground. Planting his foot on Carthatagon's stomach sent him flying over him and within reach of Raven who surrounded him with her telekinesis and held him in place. Abel made his way down to his siblings and opened a rift. As he brought his hand down there was a shout from the direction of the throne.

"Phylix Ortes!"

It was Carthatagon's doppelganger; he had regained consciousness and was glaring down at them from the throne. Before anyone could react, Abel felt a searing pain just below his elbow and stared at his severed hand lying on the stone floor. Abel fell to his knees as tears welled in his eyes. Raven and Robin reacted at the same time lashing out at the attacker. Raven lifted him by his ankles and Robin whipped him with his aura, leaving red lashes. When Robin had finished whipping him, Raven slammed him into the four pillars that surrounded the throne and threw him into the wall forty feet away. The duo turned and lifted Abel up and carried him through the rift, bringing their prisoners with them.

"What has happened?" Starfire shouted when she saw Abel clutching at his arm. "What is wrong with my Abel?" she placed her hands on his face and he looked up at her. His face was tear-stained and contorted in pain. He moved his left hand to show that he no longer had his right one. Starfire screamed, not at the sight of blood, but at the lack of it.

"Why does he not bleed?" she asked Raven as she set her brother on the couch. Raven shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know Starfire…"

"Because it is a magically inflicted wound," Carthatagon answered from where Raven had unceremoniously dumped him on the floor, "they do not bleed and it is impossible to mend it, unless you have the severed limb. You did bring his hand didn't you?" he said in a tone that suggested that he already knew the answer and hardly cared what happened either way.

"How can you be so cruel? Do you not care that your own brother is in mortal pain?"

"I am a demon. I have little in the way of heart."

"You will not have a heart when I am through with you!" Starfire's voice cracked and her eyes literally flashed. Carthatagon was unfazed.

"You would do no such thing, woman, for if you did your little sex toy would perish as well." This remark made Starfire snap. She rushed forward and picked him up, threw him against the wall, and blasted him with her eye beams.

"You will not call him that!" she screeched. She would have continued her onslaught, but was stopped by a solid black wall. She glared wildly at Robin and Raven, who shrugged. Abel seemed to have passed out, so that only left Noah. Cyborg and Beast Boy watched in amazement at what Starfire had done and looked down at the boy in Beast Boy's arms. His eyes were glowing white and his hands black as he raised a shield between his mother and uncle. Starfire immediately calmed down and went to Beast Boy, relieved him of his charge, and held the baby close.

"Thank you my son…" she said to him. Noah smiled and lowered the shield and tugged on Starfire's hair. Cyborg rushed to where Abel lay unconscious on the couch and examined the wound.

"I think I have another way around this…" he said after a while.

"What's that?" Robin asked. In response Cyborg raised his own hand and wriggled his fingers.

"I don't know about that. He might not agree." Raven said critically.

"Well get in his head and ask him." Beast Boy said. Without responding, Raven closed her eyes and dove into Abel's mind. An image of him appeared in front of her and her surroundings melted into that of their mind.

'Can you hear me?'

'Yeah. I'm in excruciating pain, got any ideas?'

'Actually, we do. Cyborg wants to build you a new arm.'

'Does he now? Well I guess it can't go too horribly wrong.'

With that Raven broke the connection and nodded to Cyborg. He hefted the unconscious Tamaranian over his shoulder and rushed to the infirmary. Raven and the others followed, bringing their cargo with them.

"That should do it. Now we just need to insert the power chip and connect the nerves and wires." Cyborg said as he wiped sweat off his brow. His counterpart finished his programming for the arm and walked over with the chip.

"This program is more advanced than your original one." He said as he handed the chip over.

"Yeah, thanks."

"I'm serious! This is the fastest program in existence. It may even move faster than he does"

"Wow. That is pretty fast"

"It's good that you're getting along so nicely and the compliments are great, but I still can't feel my hand!" Abel interjected.

"Yeah, yeah, wise guy." Cyborg said as he inserted the chip into the slot on the arm. "Okay, now we need to connect the nerves. You want an anesthetic?"

"Will it make a difference?"

"No"

"Just do it."

"Alright man. On the count of three... One…" With that he twisted the lever and the wires were inserted into the nerves and Abel's scream filled the room and he lapsed into unconsciousness. "He needs to rest."

Starfire winced as Abel's scream pierced the air. The door to the infirmary swooshed open and she ran to the first robot-human hybrid that walked out.

"How is he?"

"He'll be fine Star. The pain of the wires being inserted directly into his nerves caused him to go into shock. He'll be out of it for a while."

"May I go in?"

"Sure." Starfire hugged him and entered the room. She sat on the edge of the bed and stroked the cybernetic limb; she shivered slightly, it was cold as ice. It was slimmer and more delicate looking than the constructor's, but knowing Cyborg, the looks were deceiving. The arm was the same coloration as Cyborg's and twitched every so often as the computer ran checks to make sure it was in working order. Starfire brushed his damp bangs away from his face and kissed him on the forehead. Sitting back, she watched as his eyes moved behind his eyelids.

"What are dreaming about, my smorfka?"

Abel's arm hurt. He wasn't sure why, but it hurt. He looked down at it, but it was completely intact. With a shrug he stood and looked around. He wasn't in Teen Titan's Tower. He was in a square white room with no windows and no door. Abel knocked on the wall and was rewarded with a hollow sound.

"Might as well." He drew back his fist and punched the wall. Instead of it collapsing, it stayed right where it was and Abel watched in horror as his entire hand shattered. Abel backed away and clutched at the numb that remained of his forearm. He looked around wildly and found that he was no longer in a white room; instead he was in a cemetery. He turned around and saw his friends gathered around a single stone and it looked like there was a funeral just ending. Abel walked over and read the stone. It read:

'Here Lies Abel

Oh Well'

Abel stared at the stone in confusion. Who the hell put that?

"You did," said a voice from behind him. Abel spun around and saw his brother with his arm around Starfire's shoulders. Starfire was smiling and stroking his chest. "You specifically requested that"

"Why aren't you dead? And what the hell are you doing with Starfire?"

"I don't know why I didn't die but Starfire felt that if I could break away from our little bond that would kill us both, then I must be the stronger of us. And I agree."

"No! Starfire wouldn't do that!"

"Who are you to tell me what I would and would not do?" Starfire asked as she shoved him. He fell backwards into the still open hole and landed in the open coffin. The lid snapped shut and he heard the sound of dirt being poured on top. When the sound stopped Abel tried to teleport out of the coffin but did so in vain. Abel resorted to his Tamaranian attributes and channeled his energy through his eyes. As the power built up the heat grew. When he tried to release it, the beam would not fire and his eyes continued to burn. Abel shut his eyes and the burning stopped. He opened his eyes and found himself in a large grassy field. He recognized it as one of his emotions' domains.

"You finally stopped dreaming." He heard his own voice from behind him and turned to find Happy in his green shirt doing handstands on a boulder. "Personally I prefer you to meditate through the night. Peaceful."

"Can I wake up?"

"No, your body's too weak. You should be able to get up in an hour or so. Now come over here and join me. We never do anything together!" Happy replied as he set his feet down and started jumping in excitement.

"That's because you're a figment of my imagination."

"Fine, be that way." Happy turned his back and crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. Since it was not in his nature to hold a grudge, the happy-go-lucky rendition turned around and smiled. "Hey look, our girlfriend's here." He said pointing behind Abel. Abel spun around and discovered that Starfire was in fact there.

"How did you get here?" he said as she ran over and embraced him.

"I do not know. I fell asleep and had a terrible dream, and then I was here." She looked down at his arm. "Your arm is whole." Abel looked down at his mind and saw that it was in fact whole. He shut his eyes and heard Starfire gasp. He opened his eyes and saw that his hand had been replaced by the cybernetic limb.

"Come on, I'll give you the grand tour."

"How are we supposed to get home?" Robin asked the woman nuzzling his chest. Raven looked up at him and smiled. The Titans that were unfamiliar with this routine shifted uncomfortably, particularly the copies of the lovers snuggling on their couch.

"We have the power of six demons; we should be able to open an actual portal."

"Where do you get six?"

"There's you, me, the other me, Abel and Carthatagon, and the other Carthatagon."

"You really think he's going to help us?"

"Abel and I should be able to convince him. And by convince, of course, I mean threaten, brainwash, and or blackmail."

"Of course. Where is Carthatagon- can't we just call him Cain?"

"You expect him to be sticking around?"

"Well, I figured you and Abel weren't going to let him out of your sights, so he wouldn't be too far away from us."

"That's true. I didn't think of that. I put Cain in one of the storage closets, along with his counterpart and Slade. He won't be able to leave the tower anyway, I've put a spell on him and Abel; it's kind of like a leash, Cain will be free to move as far from Abel as he wants, but if Abel feels like it, he can reel him in. If he pulls hard enough Cain will come soaring back, avoiding any obstacle in his way; makes for one hell of a ride."

"Don't you think Abel'll abuse that a bit." Robin asked with an amused look

"I'm counting on it." Raven replied with mischievous grin. They both started laughing and the other Titans watched a little uncomfortably.

"It's weird," Beast Boy said with a laugh, "seeing Raven laugh and joke." In response, the Raven he was referring to straightened her face and glared at him.

"You're still not funny."

"Well sure he is. Just not in the way he would like."

Everybody turned in the direction of Abel with his arm around Starfire waist. Nobody noticed the other Starfire shift uncomfortably.

"You're not supposed to be up for another hour." One of the Cyborgs protested

"I have inherent healing powers. I decided not to wait; besides, I want to play with my new toy." He said as waved his right hand. "Where's 'his royal pain in the ass'?"

"You mean Carthatagon, Cain, and Slade?" Robin asked

"Cain being the one from our timeline?"

"They're in a closet somewhere." Raven said with a nod in response to Abel's second question. "You should be able to summon Cain here and possibly Carthatagon."

"Cool, how?"

"When I bound him while we were in Zynthos, I put a spell on him that binds him to the person his most strongly connected to. Just imagine him being next to you and he'll be here in no time." Raven explained. Abel smiled and closed his eyes. There was a crash from the basement and a shout of surprise as Cain was pulled to Abel. He skidded to a halt on the floor and sat there shivering.

"You put them in the freezer?" Terra asked.

"Is that what that was?"

"Y-y-you w-w-will s-s-suffer f-for this!" he said as he shook icicles out of his hair. "S-such extremes aren't n-necessary; I will not use m-my p-powers to d-destroy you."

"Only because you can't. You can't use your powers on family members past a certain extent." Raven retorted. Cain scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What exactly would that extent be?" Abel inquired, gesturing with his newly built arm. Raven shrugged. Cain stood.

"I hunger. I demand sustenance."

"Really?" Abel said, stepping forward to look his brother straight in the eye. "That's too bad. Unfortunately we're stuck with you and I'm not going to tolerate your demands. You're not royalty anymore." Cain glared at him, fists clenched and energized. Abel didn't flinch; he simply stood, staring calmly back at his brother. Cain, infuriated by Abel's calm, levitated, raised his fist and prepared to strike. Abel still stood there, but said.

"Down boy." Cain crashed to the floor with a dull thud. "I love you sis." He smiled at Raven.

"Consider it an early birthday present. I suppose we should get Carthatagon and Slade and go home." Abel nodded and teleported into the basement and returned a second later and dropped the two prisoners on the floor.

"How did you do that?" Beast Boy asked. "I've never seen Raven do that."

"Yeah, me neither." The other Beast Boy agreed.

"I have. On plenty of occasions. It just takes a lot to teleport like that instead of opening a portal."

"That doesn't make sense." Terra said. Raven glared at her. "What? Don't tell me you're still steamed up about what I did! I killed Slade and saved your lives!"

"Nice job with that." Raven replied sarcastically, indicating the Slade that lay shivering at Abel's feet.

"Actually, I killed this one." Abel said. Raven glared at him, but he just shrugged. "C'mon, you two are probably going to be living together, you'll need to kiss and make up sometime." Raven stared at him, Beast Boy smiled, and Terra had a look between slight disgust and mild interest. "You know what I mean."

"Fine." Raven said. "Forgiven but not forgotten."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Terra said and extended her hand. Raven took it after a pause and shook it briefly. Beast Boy jumped in the air and clicked his heels together, Robin and Cyborg nodded and smiled, Starfire joined Beast Boy in a dance that comprised of moves taken from old eighties' movies. The Titans that were not involved in the celebration watched patiently. Cain cleared his throat.

"Let us depart from this place." His voice trailed off and he began to mumble. Abel watched him with an interested look. 'What?' Cain projected into his head.

'Nothing.' Abel replied. Cain glared at him but joined the others in the ring to open the portal. The six of them began chanting in unison (two of them doing so grudgingly). A beam of light shot up from the floor and spread into a large circular gate. There on the other side stood Terra, who looked like she was struggling to keep her jaw and eyes from popping off and leaving. She hesitantly waved at them and smiled. Beast Boy jumped through the portal and engulfed her in a bone crushing hug. Cyborg shoved Slade through and followed, along with Starfire. Abel ushered Carthatagon and Cain through, then Raven and Robin followed. He turned to the other Titans.

"We'll keep in touch." He said with a sarcastic gesture.

"I hope not." Raven replied with a microscopic smirk of her own. Abel gave a short laugh and began to step through the portal. He paused and turned back and winked at Starfire before stepping through the portal. Starfire blushed furiously and Robin seemed to be raging. Before he could do anything, however, the portal closed and Robin just frowned at the space where it had been. After a while he sighed and addressed the others.

"So, about this Scath guy?"