The Wicked One
Chapter 13: Malchior
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The Dread Dragon let out a fiery yawn as he dozed on a particularly large mass of floating rock. He could hear his belly rumble and moan with emptiness but he couldn't bring himself to eat more of those white tentacled creatures, they didn't even taste good extra crispy! It wasn't the first time Malchior wished that he had eaten those two humans before they parted ways, at least he could have savored the taste of human flesh one last time before he died.
Malchior wanted to hold on to hope, something he wasn't very used to using and he was finding it a strange feeling to cope with. Ever since the human deemed See-More left through the portal he felt that same strange hope dwindle more and more. He must have been too far into his slumber to have heard him ask for the book. Malchior felt his anger flare up.
Stupid, weak, feeble humans. He must be a fool to have put his trust into one of their kind. When have they ever aided him before? The only reason See-More and the golden fool helped was to use him for their own needs, and now that the child was free he was going to leave the Dread Dragon to rot!
Malchior let out a large breath of enraged flame at that thought, but it didn't last long. The hunger ate away at his own fire and the dragon once again felt himself lying back down against the rock…weak…defeated…never before feeling more like a… human.
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"They're ship is at the very bottom level of the tower, the elevator straight down this hallway will take us right to it!" See-More called as the team of evil doers raced through the Tower.
"And what of their security system, where is the main hub located?" Blackfire replied as her android floated speedily beside them, the red alarm lights and sounds blaring all around them.
With expert skill See-More used his x-ray vision to follow the path of the intricate security wires beneath the walls around them. He quickly pinpointed the ones they needed and followed them all the way to their origin…
"It's in one of the Titan's bedrooms…Cyborg's by the looks of it."
"Red-X."
"I'm on it." Red-X replied with an overly dramatic sigh before vanishing into thin air. See-More looked to where the teen had vanished and couldn't help but be reminded of Kyd Wykkyd. Despite the hilarious position they had left him in, he couldn't help but feel a tad bit worried for his fellow teammate.
By the time they had reached the elevator the alarms had already been cut. As Blackfire's robot and Fixit stepped into it See-More began to do one final scan of their surroundings, more out of habit than anything else, but when his gaze fell on the insides of a particular room he stopped moving. Not only did his eye freeze, but his entire body. He subconsciously felt his hand gently twist the dial as his vision zoomed in on the room, but not just the room, but the chest…the chest sitting before the bed…but not just the chest either…but the book that lay inside it.
All at once the memories flooded See-More's mind. His imprisonment by the Herald, his alliance with Warp, all of those tentacled creatures, the trumpet, the portal, and the Dread Dragon-.
"Malchior!" See-More cried out and without a moment's pause he began running towards the room, only to run face first into the wall he was looking through.
"And just what are you trying to do exactly?" Blackfire asked quizzically as she and Fixit looked down at See-More as he rubbed his throbbing head.
"I'll be right back." See-More replied as he stood back up, switched his gaze to normal, and beginning to run back down the hall he called back, "There's something I need to take care of!"
"We are leaving when Red-X and Kyd Wykkyd are ready…with or without you!" Blackfire retorted but See-More was hardly listening, his ears rang with the beating of his heart, his breathing coming up short not just because of the running.
He ran through the hallways and up and down stairs, switching between his x-ray and normal vision periodically to keep the room in sight. It did not take long before the panicky thief reached his target. He stood before the door, his small chest heaving from the running, his single eye fixed on the single word carved into the door. Raven. See-More chuckled.
"I hope Kyd doesn't mind me sneaking into his girlfriend's room." See-More said to himself, he then walked closer towards the door and watched as it slid open before him.
Peering into it See-More was immediately reminded of Kyd Wykkyd's room, all darkness, no style.
"Those two are more made for each other than I thought." See-More admitted as he switched to his night vision. He peered around at all of the furniture and decorations, shivering slightly at the demonic figures that seemed to stare back at him through the darkness.
Doing his best to ignore them See-More quickly found the chest, large and ominous looking, as he stepped further into the room. With a better view See-More once again switched to x-ray and looked inside the workings of the chest only to find that it didn't have a lock.
"Too easy."
With careful hands the optical thief slowly opened the chest and peered down at the book. With his x-ray vision he could see all the pages beneath the cover, all of the words were written in a strange language but the pictures he could make out very easily, most of them consisted of some white haired boy and the Dread Dragon himself.
"I've almost got you out of there buddy." See-More whispered as he reached his hands in and wrapped his fingers around the edges.
"What are you doing…in my room!"
With a surprised jump See-More spun around, only to come face to face with a very naked Raven. Instantly See-More's face grew red as he threw the book into his face, only to find that his vision managed to penetrate its pages as well.
"Sorry, sorry! I just wanted to get this book…" See-More sputtered as his shaky hand turned his vision back to normal, though he didn't remove his hand from the dial. He watched as the Titan's eyes looked down at the book in his hand than back up to him, her face deadly serious.
"That book is not your property." Raven spoke in a dead monotone, "Either return it to me by your own free will or I shall make you return it."
The thief felt a cold shiver run down his spine, he fully believed that this Titan was capable of doing just that but neither of his hands moved, not from the dial and not from the book.
"What did you do with Kyd Wykkyd? He was supposed to have you…trapped."
"I escaped." Raven said simply before raising her arm towards the thief, her eyes growing black, "Now this is the last time I will ask you, return the book."
"My friend is trapped in this book, I gotta free him!" See-More argued, holding the book behind his back now. Raven lowered her arm slightly at this but her eyes never lost the black intensity to them.
"And by friend…do you mean Malchior?"
"Yes-."
See-More didn't get any further before black energy encased his body and threw him against the wall. The thief let out a cry with a mixture of pain and surprise as his hand lost his grip on his dial and the book fell from his other one. Before the thief even had time to regroup the same black energy formed around his hands and he felt an outside power pull them above his head.
"Do you have any idea what you are trying to release into this world!" Raven shot as she walked over to the now trapped thief, one hand still using the power to keep his hands encased she used her free one to reach down and pick up the book.
"I told you! I'm trying to free my friend!" See-More shot back, fighting fruitlessly against his restraints, "Your Titan friend Herald had Malchior, Warp, and I trapped in his weird dimension thing. We worked together to try and bust out but in the end it was Malchior who got me outta there, it is my duty as a fellow criminal to bust him out to!"
"Malchior is not some mere criminal. He is deceptive, manipulative, and incredibly powerful. Whatever he's said, whatever he's done to try and help you was only so he could use you to free himself. He's evil, worse than you or any other villain you've been in contact with, even a petty thief like you should see that if someone like him was released into our world it would not only spell destruction but almost complete annihilation."
See-More stared back into the cold black eyes of his captor as he hung in the air before her. Raven stared back into his single eye and, for a moment, she almost felt like he was suddenly peering into the depths of her soul.
"I don't believe he's all that bad." See-More replied in a serious voice, Raven's eyes widened slightly at his assurance but quickly returned to its cold demeanor.
"Then you are a fool."
"What did he do to you?"
"What?"
"What did Malchior do to you that makes you think so badly of him?"
"He didn't have to do anything for me to know how evil he is!" Raven shot and See-more could immediately feel the pressure on his hands increase uncomfortably, but he didn't let go of the subject, he could see through Raven's walls and darkness, he could see the deep routed betrayal that lay deep in her eyes.
"But he did do something…Raven, he hurt you…he got close and hurt you."
Raven's face blanked and all at once the blackness disappeared from her eyes and from around See-More's hands. The thief dropped lightly to the floor, rubbing his sore wrists, though his eye didn't leave Raven's, who looked at him with a mixture of anger and utter surprise.
"How…how do you know that?"
"I…ah…saw it, your emotions anyways…" See-More replied with a sheepish smirk as he pointed at his eye, "This thing does more than shoot cool lasers!"
Raven's eyes immediately dropped to the floor, her free hand clenching into a fist.
"It doesn't matter." Her fist then rose and immediately the thief was once again thrown against the wall, the black energy pinning him there.
"Malchior is evil, you are evil." Raven continued as the black energy began to consume him, "You fought against us, hurt us, broke into our tower, tried to steal our ship, and tried to release an all powerful dragon. I do not care what your eyes let you see, I am stopping you right here and right now."
"Not today, princess." Red-X whispered.
Raven let out a surprised gasp but even as she turned around Red-X pulled her hood down over her eyes and sent a hard knee into her gut. The Titan immediately fell to her knees gasping for air, Red-X standing over her.
"Oh sorry, I didn't bruise your ribs did I?" The master thief asked, a sneer in his voice. Raven looked back up in him, black once again in her eyes and surrounding her hands, but before she could launch an attack a large green bubble rammed into her. The surprised Titan fell inside of it and landed roughly at the bottom of the orb.
"Let me out of here!" Raven demanded as she stood up. Calling out her mantra the Titan sent black energy against the prison ball, only to have it bounce off and strike her instead.
"Nifty tool you got there See-More." Red-X commented as he poked at the ball.
"Thanks…" See-More replied, switching his gaze back to normal. He looked at his prisoner and she looked back at him, there was now only anger in her eyes.
"Oh, and we've run into a bit of trouble down where the ship is." Red-X announced, throwing a thumb at the trapped Titan in the floating ball, "Apparently not only did our little demoness free herself but she also managed to break the spell that Fixit had on the others. They are trying to break through the doors as we speak, we have security on our side now but it won't hold them off for long. Oh and Kyd Wykkyd is still missing to."
"Then let's take Raven with us. She can tell us what happened with Kyd Wykkyd and we can use her as a hostage so the rest of the Titan's don't try anything." See-More suggested, his single eye trailing to the book that lay trapped beside Raven.
"Couldn't of said it better myself." Red-X replied with a chuckle.
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"Ah, See-More, am I to assume that you being here means you finished with whatever you had to do?" Blackfire asked as the two thieves and their captive walked through the doors into the hangar. See-More only nodded in reply, his eye moving from the floating robot to Fixit as he rapidly keyed at a computer console that was situated near the enormous T-Ship.
"How much longer until that thing is ready to go? I can safely assume were only minutes away from being ambushed by the Titans." Red-X spoke up as soon as they reached the two, his mask turning towards the door they just entered from. "Possibly seconds with Kid Flash."
"I am working as fast as I can." Fixit responded, still typing rapidly on the computer, "I did not expect the ship's security to be so intricate…perhaps I should not have rendered Cyborg incapable of assisting us."
"You did what your emotions wanted you to do, there is no helping that." Blackfire quickly reassured.
"I had thought I was above such things." Fixit spoke in a low monotone.
"Guys we can have a heart to heart discussion later, my security senses are tingling."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"That the Titans are getting close."
"I do not think I can break the code in time. We need a distraction."
"What of Raven? I can guess that you two didn't just plan to bring her a long as a trophy."
"We could try…" See-More spoke up, his memories flashing back to the assault of Kid Flash on their base, "but I don't think any of us would be fast enough to stop that Kid Flash guy."
"Do you have a better idea then, kid?" Red-X asked, arms folded as he looked at the fellow teen. See-More looked back at him and then slowly drifted back to the book that still lay where Raven was. One of Raven's eyes opened as she hovered in her strange meditation, it locked immediately with See-More's.
"Do not even think of using this book." Raven breathed, the book quickly becoming incased in black energy.
"I don't think you're in the position to be giving orders here." Red-X replied as he placed a palm on the orb prison, moment's later red electricity surged through the green bubble and Raven let out a cry of pain as it connected with her body, the black energy quickly dissipated from the book.
"All yours kid." Red-X spoke, removing his hand from the orb. See-More nodded solemnly before reaching out towards the prison and watched as his hand effortlessly slipped through it and reached for the book. As soon as he hand on it Raven's own gray hand gripped his wrist, See-More jumped slightly but the grip was weak. His one eye trailed to the Titan's face, and in her expression he no longer saw anger, only desperation, defeat, and fear.
"Please…See-More…don't use…the book…" Raven pleaded between gasps of air. See-More held her gaze for another moment before shaking off her hand and pulling the book the rest of the way out of the cell.
"Like I said, Malchior is my friend. He freed me so I am going to free him. But if you want someone to blame, blame the girl who betrayed her team and joined yours."
"Well then let's hear it." Blackfire spoke up as See-More turned to face his teammates, "What is your plan? To release this Malchior I am hearing so much of?"
"Yes, he's a dragon, and he hates the Titans. I think he will be a pretty good distraction while we take off in the ship."
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Get with the releasing!" Red-X pressed, his masked face once again drifting to the doors.
"Well…the thing is…I don't exactly know how to release him…"
"You…what?"
"I mean, I think Raven does, it seems she has done it before…" See-More than looked to the Titan who was busy glaring daggers at him as she lay in pain in his cell, "…but I don't think she will be too keen on sharing the secret with us…"
"It matters not." Fixit spoke, stepping up before them, "I will enter her mind and force the information out of her."
"Are you sure that is wise Fixit?" Blackfire asked, the red lens turning to face him, "You told me that your mind control had its limits, you may have been able to control two simpletons and a teenaged girl but how do you think you'd handle against the mind of a half demon?"
"I am not fully mortal either, Blackfire." Fixit responded, his gaze now fixed with Raven as he stepped up before the orb, "My mind is not to be underestimated."
The two then continued to stare at each other for several minutes. Red eyes staring into the deep black ones. After another few seconds Red-X let out a cough before looking back to the doors.
"Fixit, do you think you could hurry this up? Those Titan's will be here any-."
Red-X was cut off however when Fixit suddenly grabbed him by the throat and rammed him against See-More's prison cell.
"You bastard! What are you doing!" Red-X cried out as Fixit kept him pinned there.
"Hey man, let 'im go!" See-More called as he rushed at Fixit, only to have the mechanic's other hand grip him by his face, the grip was surprisingly strong.
"Fixit, I order you to let them go!" Blackfire shot as the black robot floated closer to the struggling trio.
"I am sorry." Fixit responded, an unfamiliar, surprised expression invaded his face as his eyes grew black as night while he continued to stare into the pitch black eyes of Raven, "I could not…"
"Here, let me give you a hand!" Red-X called out as he slammed his palm against the cell, red electricity once again penetrated the cell and Raven let out another agonized cry. Instantly the blackness disappeared from Fixit's eyes and he released his grip on the two teens.
"I did not think her will would still be so strong." Fixit admitted, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully.
"Yeah, well, did you turn the tables yet?" Red-X asked as he walked over to help See-More up.
"Yes." Fixit responded as he continued to stare at Raven. The sorceress slowly rose to her two feet, her blackened eyes replaced with the familiar luminescent redness. "She is in my control."
A loud bang suddenly rang throughout the expansive room. The two teens jumped in surprise and the group looked over to see that the metallic doors now supported a very prominent dent.
"Quickly, dig through her mind and find out how to summon this dragon, I fear we have run out of time." Blackfire swiftly ordered as the robot moved towards the device. "I will hardwire this android directly to the console, it will sacrifice battery life but it should quickly break through the rest of this security."
"…I found the spell to unleash the dragon." Fixit responded almost at once, another loud bang resounded through the room after he had finished speaking. The mechanic then turned to the one-eyed thief.
"See-More, can you release the cell? Raven must speak the words herself and I need to have physical contact in order to make her do so."
"Yeah hold on." See-More replied as he quickly switched through his eyes, another loud bang made him jump slightly as he landed on his desired sight. They didn't have much longer.
Activating the eye, the prison zoomed towards See-More's eye, Raven falling through it as the orb disappeared behind the thief's lens. As Fixit's hands gripped both sides of Raven's head the doors finally burst open.
"There is no where left to hide!" Robin immediately called out as Starfire, Beastboy, Kid Flash, and Jinx stepped out around him.
"Ah, the Titan's, so good of you all to join us again!" Blackfire called back, just by her tone See-More could tell their leader enjoyed her role almost a little too much, "Sad to say you are just a tad bit too late, isn't that right Raven?."
"You let her go Blackfire!" Robin ordered, pulling a metallic staff from his newly restocked belt.
"Sister please, you do not need to do this!" Starfire pleaded, the green energy glowing dangerously at her hands.
"Oh I know, little sister, but it is just too much fun!"
"Enough of the chatter. Let's finish this." Jinx spoke up, her eyes glowing pink, Kid Flash standing close beside her. See-More's fists clenched as he glared at her, his former leader seemed intent to not look back at him.
"I'll get the kid whose supposedly too fast for us if you want the pink haired girl…that glare says you do."
See-More couldn't help but smile as his hand reached for the dial. "It won't matter in just a few seconds."
"Fixit, if you please. Let's bring our friend out to play." Blackfire suggested as the orb turned to the mechanic.
"As you wish." Fixit responded with a nod, he then held Raven up in the hair, clawed hands on either side of her head and the two sung out in perfect unison:
"Hesberek admorinay gostwenthin verbus nex, indobrium bispendruay haransicortis rex!"
In an istant a great light ripped open from the book and See-More was forced to drop it as its pages flipped open uncontrollably. The forces of good and evil watched in awe as the pages from the book began to pull themselves free and combine with one another. It only took seconds for the pages to finally fit the image they were after and before everyone's eyes a new teen stood before them, one entirely made of pages with piercing red eyes.
The figure stood perfectly still, almost as if it was just as surprised as everyone else that it was standing there. Slowly it raised its arms and examined them, holding its hands up before its face.
"M-Malchior?" See-More asked hesitantly, taking a step towards the figure. The thief watched as the paper boy jumped slightly at his voice before his arms fell slowly back to his sides. Just as slowly the thing turned its head until its deep red eyes were connected with See-More's single eye.
The two remained locked in that gaze for what seemed like an eternity, and as See-More stared into the eyes of that paper teenager he saw the change that only he could see. He watched as the confusion in Malchior's red eyes shift into true happiness for the first time in a thousand years.
"Thank you…human." Malchior spoke softly before turning to face the Teen Titans. The do-gooders immediately returned to their battle positions but they were still truly unprepared, for they did not see the smile that See-More did.
"Puny insignificant insects!" The voice of Malchior roared from the body of paper, "I have been reborn! Bear witness to my rebirth and tremble beneath the all consuming shadow of Malchior, the Dread Dragon!"
Then, without seconds pause, the paper teen burst into a million pieces as a great purple and black monster erupted from his prison and began his second attack against the Titans. His hunger and weakness vanishing entirely as adrenaline gave new life to his fire and his claws.
"The T-Ship is open and ready for the taking." Blackfire announced as the black robot floated over to the two thieves who were watching the battle raging before them with great interest. "Come on boys, there will be plenty of fighting once we reach the prison."
"Can't we just stay for two more minutes? It's like watching a movie!" Red-X pleaded, his eyes still locked on the fight.
"What about Kyd Wykkyd, we can't just leave without him!" See-More pointed out, turning to face the robot, but before Blackfire could reply a speeding blur of yellow and red flew past them and an instant later Kid Flash was standing before the T-Ship, hands on his hips and a smug smirk on his face.
"You guys didn't honestly thing such a big and slow dragon was going to be enough to keep me occupied did you?"
"Do I get to handle the guy who's too fast for us now?"
Yet anyone could do anything further a metallic claw suddenly reached out and gripped Kid Flash by his neck, holding him up in the air. Blackfire, Red-X, and See-More traced the claw down through the overly extended length of the arm and finally to where it connected to Fixit's body, an unconscious Raven still in his other, normal sized, arm.
"I am getting tired of your boasting." Fixit spoke in his stoic voice.
"Nice grip there mister tall, dark and gloomy, now let's see if you can hold it!" Kid Flash taunted before his body began vibrating until he was only a colorful blur again, though Fixit's hand remained steady and tight even after Kid Flash wore himself out.
"I'm afraid the heat at your level will not be enough to shake my hold on you." Fixit informed as he dropped the now starving and weakened Kid Flash on the ground.
"Bastard…" the speedster muttered before passing out.
"I believe it is time for us to go now, Blackfire." Fixit spoke, his now free arm returning to its normal length as most of it disappeared back inside his body.
"Agreed." Blackfire replied from the robot, the red lens then shared a glance with See-More before focusing back towards Fixit, specifically the Titan that he carried in his arm.
"And let us take Raven with us. I believe she will be ample incentive to keep the Titan's off our backs and I am fairly certain she knows where our silent little thief is being held."
"But I'm right here!" Red-X announced.
"No, I didn't mean you X, in case you didn't realize, you're not silent, ever."
"…Oh yeah."
"Well if that's the plan I think we'd better get moving before the Titan's realize that we can use their ship now." See-More brought up, his eye glancing back towards the still raging battle.
"Good point, and Fixit, save her communicator for now; I would like to give our good friends a farewell message before we get rid of it."
"As you wish, Blackfire."
The group then began to make their way towards the T-Ship and as they did See-More looked one last time towards Malchior, seeing the fire erupting from his jaws, the boasts and taunts called into the air, and the ever growing smile glowing in his red eyes. See-More couldn't help but smile as well as he turned away from the Dread Dragon.
"Take care of yourself." The optical teen whispered.
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I did not awaken from the pitch darkness for what seemed like an eternity. I have had strange dreams before, but a dream about nothing but falling through an endless darkness, now that took the cake.
I thought this as I opened my eyes and as the haziness began lifting from my vision. Though, when I looked around, I did not see the Titan's Tower, or the island, or Jump City or anything that would make me believe I was still on Earth.
All around me was blackness; in fact, the only thing that wasn't swallowed up by black was a very long expanse of a floating pathway of stone, of which I now laid on. As I stood up I tried to see any sort of ending to it on either side, but there was none to be had.
"Where am I?" I asked out loud and immediacy I gasped and immediately afterwards placed a hand over my mouth.
I stood there in awe for several seconds, not knowing what to do next. Very slowly I removed my hand from my mouth and taking a deep breath…
"Hello?" I couldn't help but jump again. It was a voice, my voice, I spoke! But that couldn't be, this couldn't be happening, I can't be talking, that's not how it worked…
"Hello there!" A very chipper and pleasant voice greeted, making me jump again. I couldn't believe it, I was on a world, some world where I could talk and where there was nothing but a very lengthy pathway, was there really someone else who was stuck here to?
"Who are you?" I tried out my voice again as I turned around, only to be shocked back into silence as I came into contact with a very happy looking, and very pink Raven.
"I'm Raven!" the pink robed girl greeted, her smile actually growing bigger, "It's a pleasure meeting you again Kyd Wykkyd, welcome to Raven's head!"
"Ravens…"
Oh god.
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To Be Continued…
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