In the deepest, darkest, and foulest of places, there was decorated chamber. Velvet draperies, polished wood furniture, books of the ages, all of it was in this dark room, the chamber personally controlled by one man.

One "man".

There he stood in the center of it all, lank black hair tied back, and glasses, while decorated robes covered his body, his sharp face serene.

Serenity was promptly ruined utterly when Valentine barged into the chamber, a stack of scrolls bundled under her arm.

"HALLO, EVERYBODY! God of Time delivery is here!"

The man turned his neck sharply to watch in shock at the mortal barging into his domain, "Weak creature! How dare you not prostrate yourself before me!"

The girl in the suit waved it off, "Oh, pshaw. I'm not that weak! Besides you were expecting me. God of Time and all?"

That caught the man's interest, "Then… you are Valentine? The rumored only human servant of the Lion-Headed?"

"Yep! And if you give me any attitude… just think what your boss would say if he accidentally got on the bad side of the Underworld's ONLY divine supplier of all things supernatural, for the supernatural! And it all being your fault…"

"To think a god powerful enough to disregard the matters of the realms of dark and light, would take interest in a weak creature like you…"

"Moving on! You're Griffy right?"

The man indignantly huffed, "You shall address me as Griffon, oldest and most trusted lieutenant of Mundus, ruler of the Underworld and future conqueror of the realm of light."

"Fine, Griffon-oldest-and-most-trusted-lieutenant-of-Mundus-ruler-of-the-Underworld-and-future-conqueror-of-the-realm-of-light. You paid up?"

"Yes, I have given the suitable tribute of demon souls, now give me the summoning rituals."

Only two of the three were given over. Griffon narrowed his eyes.

"Now, if I wasn't mistaken, I believed that the God of Time always gave what was promised…"

Valentine shrugged, "Yeah, he does. But you're the one who didn't live up to it. You're tribute's off by a few million. So I can't give you the last one."

Griffon made a threatening step towards the girl, "How dare you question-"

"Uh, uh uh… not another step closer, feather-face. I may only be a mere human sorcerer, but I am HIS servant."

Griffon still craned forward, hissing, "You do not understand the severity of our situation! It is vital that we have every summoning ritual on time-"

"Yeah, I know! I've been told, you've been buying up all the high-level summoning knowledge from God of Time for the past twenty years for your boss, for goodness-knows-what! Heck, you've been at this before I've even been born, but the deal's the deal! You don't pay up, I can't sell."

"Don't give me that!"

"Okay! Hmm… how about another sort of trade? Little gossip? A little in on what's all the summoning about? Maybe I might be able to trade info for info, huh?" Valentine teased, shaking the final scroll of knowledge in front of Griffon, who tensed up, gritting his teeth.

"Very well… Mundus is planning a resurrection on Mallet Island."

"Ah, I see. He's still sore over the whole Sealing and Traitor business is he?"

"All true demons curse His name. Traitor."

"Hmmm… didn't you kill him and his family though?"

"Save for one, who still lives, unfortunately."

"Still, what's the whole rush on the resurrection?"

"There is… competition."

"Oh? From who?"

"Trigon. It appears for once he's planned ahead with an ingenious plot." Griffon snorted.

Valentine thought wistfully, fingering her chin, "Ah, yes. If he conquers Earth and all its tasty souls instead of Mundus, he'll get the limelight, instead, right? Maybe even be considered King of Hell?"

That got Griffon bristling. Valentine fought down her smile, "Still, between the two of them, they may be equal in strength, but Trigon was always the stupider one. How's he going to break through the Seal?"

"Our spies have concluded…" Griffon led off, seemingly disgusted by the thought he was bringing up.

"Well? Out with out! Gossip! Gossip I say!"

"Trigon has lowered himself to employing a shameful loophole…fool…copulating with a weak human…"

"WHOA! Whoa, whoa, whoa! You mean to tell me that Trigon actually got himself a kid? A Halfling? Geez!"

"He plans to use her as an anchor to the realm of light and pull himself through with this link, once she is of the appropriate age to activate the summoning… that is why we wish to free lord Mundus before Trigon can complete his plan! Now give me that!"

Valentine, dazed by the thought of a Blood Boiler, let the scroll get snatched out of her hand, "Wait, a kid who could possibly be powerful as him? Is he an idiot?"

"Unfortunately, not this time. He's been taking great pains to use his link to limit her power… now if you excuse me-"

"Yo, Griffon! Where's this Armageddon kid living anyways?"

Griffon was getting irritated by the nosiness of the human, who shushed her away quickly with a, "The same place you do! Now leave, human!"

Valentine's eyes widened impossibly, "No way… HER? I always thought… but… I can't believe it… GRIFFON! More Gossip about her! Now!"

"I told you to leave-"

"Oh… Griffy… but I'm still willing to trade info for info… perhaps this nice extra summoning… without paying God of Time?"

"…Perhaps… you may wish to take a seat then, Valentine…"

-

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Queen of the Castle

-

-

-

Mr. Freeze sat back and looked through the minute scope, which expanded all the way until its massive size outside the observatory, where the partially covered lens spied down upon all.

Pawn Shop. Jewelry Exhibition. Warehouse. Bank of Perez-

"No! Freakin'! DIE!" Devil Hand shouted from somewhere, Terra's own cries of frustration mixed in. Mr. Freeze rolled back, and sat for a moment, taking in the noise.

A few more proud modifications joined the Friece and Valentine Foundation, since Terra's official recruitment. First, Valentine, in line with her strange obsession of blurring the reality between her Japanese Animations and real life, had decided to name their hidden fortress the completely nonsensical, "Olympus Height", referencing both their superiority over the Titans, and the Japanese Animated desire to use strange English terms for fantastic items.

Second, Devil Hand managed to sneak in a GameStation Live. Hence, the noise of frustration, as the two were being repeatedly defeated by people across the world.

"Devil Hand. Terra. Stop distracting me. I am conducting research."

"Dude! I can't help it! Freaking… I swear! They must be using a bot or something!"

"… Clarify, just for the sake of enlightening me."

"Day of Sagittarius! Five on Five Online game Sci-Fi with space fleets and… GRGGH! CHEATER!"

Freeze turned to the not yet overly livid of the game-playing pair, "Terra?"

"I don't know! We're playing this clan from Japan called 'SOS-Dan'. But their YUKIN player must be a like a hacked AI-bot or something!"

"Why?"

"There's no way a player can multitask so many mini-fleets at once! It's not possible! CHEATER!"

"Curious. I wonder what Valentine would have said about this."

Devil Hand hummed at that thought, "Yeah. Val' hasn't been leaving her room for a couple of days. You think she's caught a cold or something?"

"I suppose there is only one way to discern truth from this matter." Mr. Freeze responded, as he slid out of the chair and headed towards the Factory.

-

-

-

Valentine sighed dreamily in front of the computer monitors and LCD screens, which all glowed with the same continuous looping clips. Booted feet came a stop behind her.

"This is most disturbing, Valentine. Have you been performing this same action since three days ago?"

"She's so… cool…"

"Why are you watching continuous reruns of your battle with the other magic practitioner at STAR labs, and commenting positively on her? I find your positive connection with her unsettling."

Valentine spun about and pointed back at the screens, "Freezie! Raven is cool! Do you realize how cool she is? She's really powerful! She's like… ugh! You couldn't possibly understand what she means to me! She's like… a shining star! A beacon for all to envy!"

"Your metaphors only serve as a stellar insight into your disturbed mental state. Stop this nonsense."

Valentine folded her arms and frowned, "You're such a spoilsport. Still… I want to talk to her… I need to talk to her… she's too cool… and she's also such a waste… need to talk."

Mr. Freeze brought a cylinder to his lips and lit, "I do not know the exact desire for this communication. But if you did, no doubt the other members of the crime-prevention agency would also arrive to assist her."

"I know! If only I could have a whole city to myself… wait… I do have a whole city to myself! Freezie! You won't mind if I had a date with little Rae-Raven by myself, right?"

"Define the exact nature of this outing."

"Oh you know… send an invitation, go for a bus ride… have a talk about family and career…"

Mr. Freeze shifted slightly, eyes never changing, "Truly. If you were nobody else other than Valentine, I would have not trusted you being in such close contact with the enemy. But you seem to have a plan. Very well, you may go out on this little project. But do not make too much of a commotion. This operation is not officially sanctioned by our Foundation."

The sorcerer leapt up in delighted and wrapped herself carefully around the winter jacketed Freeze, "YES! Raven and I are going on a date! I'd knew you'd understand what we have between us in the end, Freezie!"

"Stop speaking like that."

-

-

-

And for once in an eternity, Raven had finally managed to stuff herself into a comfortable enough corner of Ops, and dive into the book with her usual passive vigor. The relative calm had even managed to make it past lunchtime time. With any luck, (though honestly, she shouldn't expect it), things might actually stay peaceful enough till next day.

Though she was never the most vocal of people, she could see it, the team needed a break from their constant attention over them. The Friece and Valentine Foundation, as they called themselves. They were only interested in small things like banks and jewelry so far, but it was obvious it wasn't going to stop there.

Not with the sort of people they've already got. People with strength like theirs in one neat little package are a cataclysm in the making. Raven darkly observed.

Mr. Freeze. Devil Hand. Terra.

Her.

Raven's hand curled tighter around the hardcover of the book for a moment, before a quickly repeated mantra in her head told her to forget that roiling energy inside her, that now was not the time.

Valentine. She was probably the most dangerous of the four, in Raven's opinion. But the others wouldn't understand. Just the fact Cyborg mockingly called her 'Ghoul Girl' told her enough. The others thought merely of Valentine as the crazy magician who played around with zombies. Just another magic-based villain, like Mumbo.

Not to Raven. Not when she understood the implications in the world of magic. Valentine's type were unpredictable and sadistically hedonistic. Ghouls were only the beginning. She would continue to dive deeper and deeper into more and more taboo spells and dark magic, if only to abate her curiosity. She was the type that would be willing to sacrifice anything to get more power or knowledge.

That's what made her so dangerous. And only Raven would understand that.

Hmm…I need more Kafka.

"Yo! Raven! Getcha nose outta the book! We got ourselves mail!" Cyborg enthusiastically cried out, on his shoulder a large box filled to the brim with various envelopes of various colors.

"Mail? Aren't you supposed to get that in the morning?" Raven noted with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, but today seems to be an exception because BEAST BOY WAS SUPPPOSED TO GET IT TODAY!" Cyborg shouted to the other side of the room to the absorbed Gamestation Live playing changeling.

"Dude! I was going to get it! But I have to beat these SOS guys first! There's no way a human player could multi-task like that!"

"Yeah, whatever! Just wait till after I get on, and I'll show you a real master of games! Checking the mail, Rae?"

"Please. It's a waste of my time to rummage through poorly worded fan mail and pleas for marriage, then dig out the infected portions of my brain with a spoon after reading the best one."

"Suit yourself." Cyborg shrugged, and dove into the pile himself.

And so Raven once more settled herself back into the book, prepared to finish it off once and for all. That was before a familiar sly echo invaded her thoughts.

Tooooo…rrraaaaaven…

She jerked her head towards the box that Cyborg was digging through.

Tooooo…RAVEN.BLOOD BOILER.

She walked up to the box, Cyborg looking amused somewhere in the back of her head as she drove one arm deep into the pile of envelopes, following the voice.

Toooo… Raaavaaaaa-

She pulled out a blood red envelope, even deeper crimson wax letters smeared across the front, while red ribbons and a wax seal tied up the package.

tO: RavEen

Cyborg guffawed, "Hey, BB! Check out this letter Rae got! It's capitalized in all the wrong places and the guy spelled Raven with two 'e's!"

Her hand tightened about the paper imperceptibly, while she continued to swallow down the familiar taste of disgust with more mantras, "Cyborg."

"Yeah?"

"Get the team here. Now."

In a few moments, they were gathered about the red envelope that sat by itself on the table.

"This letter has magic weaved into it." Raven finally said.

"You mean, like that Jinx we dealt with a few times?" Cyborg asked. Raven shook her head.

"No. This stuff is advanced. There's only one person who could write this."

Starfire seemed to catch on, "The Valentine?"

Beast Boy shivered at the thought, "Ew. Creepy magic pen pals…"

Beast Boy thus after was instantly murdered by Raven's death glare, while Robin analyzed the work, "Could be a trap."

Raven shook her head again, "I don't think so. It may have been from her, but it doesn't feel malicious."

"Only one way to find out, Raven." Cyborg critically noted, "It's your letter. If it's made of magic, I'd have half a mind to say it'd only open to you."

Raven paused for a second, before slowly reaching over a tugging at one end of the ribbon.

The ribbons and wax flew off the paper, shocking everyone for a second, before the paper started to fold on itself, reshaping repeatedly, finally forming a crude caricature of a mouth, from which Valentine's voice came through.

"Hallo, my little Rae-Rae-chan, as the Japanese would put it!"

Raven's face darkened at the mouth, "You again."

"Oh, and this is a recorded, message, so I'm don't exactly have any comebacks if any of you go 'you again!' or something. No shooting the messenger until this is over, please! A-hem… Oh, Raven! So full of grace and beauty! Your cloak is like the beauty of night itself! Your forehead shines radiantly with strength! Your legs erect as towers of ivory-"

Several of them balked at the cliché descriptions, and gave a strange look back at Raven, who only frowned back a facial "Shut up."

"-And you're kinda cute when you get angry! Ah, Raven, what fun times we had together the last time at STAR Labs! I really think we hit something off that night! But I'm heart-broken! You haven't called me since that day! And I'm sooo lonely. Which is why I decided to write to you! Let's go out and have fun again, just the two of us! We have so much to talk about! I'll even give you directions!"

Just that moment, the dull roar of an explosion caught everyone's attention, and they all looked out the windows to see a giant plume of smoke rising from the center of Jump City.

"Little Rae-Rae-chan! Please come and sooth my sorrows! We're the only two who REALLY understand each other. Don't disappoint. I'd hate to find ways to entertain myself. I'm sure the other people in you little city would hate it, too! I'll be waiting. Love, Ms. Valentine, of the Valentine Foundation."

With that, the letter twisted about itself, ripping its own body to little shreds in a few short moments.

"Titans, trouble!"

And they were gone.

-

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-

"Hey! Don't touch me!" The driver contested as the BooDoo People dragged him out of his car, before they started wheeling the vehicle past the other undead who had cordoned off the streets around the intersection. In the center of the streets, a large bonfire was flaming up into the sky, continually being fed by commandeered vehicles, including the one that was just stolen and rolled into the flames.

Nearby, Valentine lay backwards over her floating leather tome, which was large enough for the front cover to support her entire back, leaving her limbs to dangle off around the edges. In her ears were the headphones, which she used to recite aloud as she bobbed her upside down head.

"…Ooh-Ooh, Ooh-Ooh, yeah, Ooh-Ooh, Ooh-Ooh, yeah, help me be with you…"

The sounds of screeching tires, a new noise in a while, caught her attention. She lifted her head right side up to look over her body at the sight of the T-Car smashing through the BooDoo cordon, and coming to a halt in front of her, while Valentine sat up properly on her floating book, pulling down the headphones onto her neck.

"Rae-Rae-chan! My dear little blood boiling lone wolf! You came after all! You do care!" The sorcerer in a suit cackled.

"What do you want, Valentine?" Raven muttered.

"Why, to have our time together, didn't you read my letter? Of course, your chauffeurs of yours are going to ruin the fun…"

"Of course! We would not leave Raven to a dangerous girl like you! We will be most excellent in chauffering!" Starfire proudly shot back.

Valentine sighed with a tongue sticking out, "That's the problem. Rae-Rae, how about the two of us distract your friends while we get away from these squares?"

Gloved hands snapped their fingers. Windows in the buildings around them shattered as BooDoo People leaned out and fired their guns.

"Titans! Go!" Robin shouted, and the five of them scattered away as the pavement about them sparked with bullets.

Raven covered Robin with blackened shield momentarily, while the boy wonder retaliated with birdarangs and explosives into the windows. All the while, the Titan magician noticed Valentine waving a farewell as she floated away slowly on her impromptu seat.

But all those BooDoo People in the way… Raven had no choice-

"Robin, I'm going after Valentine. Get ready."

"Raven, wait-"

Robin had no more time to get ready. She had already disappeared in a flurry of Soul Self, leaving the Boy Wonder to rely on his agility to defend against the rounds.

-

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-

Valentine's backwards ride suddenly came to a halt as her back smacked into a car that smashed behind her, covered in darkness. Raven floated above her.

"You're not going anywhere."

"Why would I dearie, when I've got you? Just the two of us now!" Valentine sneered as she dodged away from more falling cars, "Letius, Myatar, Zecius, Fall'r!"

A bolt of lightning erupted from Valentine's fingertips, catching from one car to another, until all of them combined into a giant fireball, throwing metal pieces everywhere, which forced Raven to call up another shield.

A sudden blast of wind separated the smoke of the wreckage, while simultaneously blowing Raven backwards. As Valentine breathed the last of her wind spell, she immediately brought the palm of one of her hands over the opposite eye, chanting as she reached out with her other hand.

"Carrius, Metrion, Velcine, Talls."

In her single-eyed vision, Valentine used her free hand to cover the form of Raven in the air. After that, she quickly swung her closed hand towards the ground, causing an explosion of dust to kick up where her hand covered the asphalt in her vision. Releasing her covered eye, Valentine saw Raven smashed into the ground, and she pounced forward for attack.

One Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos later, Valentine was sliding back down the street herself. She huffed as the two rose to their feet, "Seriously, Rae-Rae. All you use is that focusing spell. I know you can do more than that."

"That's all you're going to get."

"I don't think so…" Valentine grinned, fingers snapping. Raven twisted her head to suddenly find a bus roaring, with its headlights on in daylight, speeding towards the two of them. The cloaked girl easily brought her hand up, commanding with black energy for the vehicle to halt.

It broke free of the black enshrouding it, and drove onwards.

"Sorry, Rae-Rae, gotta do better than that! I've warded it specifically for you this time."

"Azarath Metrion-"

Valentine's gloved hand twisted itself around Raven's neck suddenly shutting off her voice and leaving her choking, as the two of them stood in the headlights of the approaching bus.

"Metium, Y'lar, Heldis, Stelic. No Zinthos yet, Rae-Rae-chan. We gotta finish our talk first. After the ride, we'll have a whole city to ourselves to talk."

Raven continued to struggle with the iron-grip of a cheerful Valentine, as she held the two of them there in the path of the bus.

The world turned white in the lights of the bus, as they both smashed into chromed front.

-

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-

Raven rubbed her head, trying to squeeze the headache away as she got up from the cracked asphalt.

More of Valentine's magic. No way she would have just let that bus hit us…

Opening her eyes, she found she wasn't in the Jump City she knew anymore. The office buildings around her only a few seconds ago were fresh, now broken shells, hollow remainders.

All the buildings about around her, rotted, decayed. Street lamps fallen and rusted away. The ground beneath her was split from seemingly ages of disuse. Up above, the air swirled in a hazy red glow that spiraled into a yellow infinite, bathing the entire city in a macabre crimson.

Raven turned to her communicator, "Raven calling Robin… Cyborg… anybody?"

"Sorry, Rae-Rae. This place is for privacy. Even my phone wouldn't work here." Valentine advised, as she appeared, pacing down the streets nonchalantly.

"Valentine, where are we?"

"Otherside. It's a dimension that can only be accessed through certain Mirrors, one of which was on the bus that I used to transport us. Here, everything is upside down and topsy-turvy. Weakness is Strength and vice versa."

"I don't know what you want from me, Valentine, but you're letting me out. Right now."

"Or what?"

"Azar-" Raven doubled over suddenly, feeling an over exhaustion of her strength the moment her magic started. Valentine sighed.

"Rae… didn't I tell you? Everything is upside down in Otherside. The magic you're so proud of back in the normal dimension is weakened impossibly here. On the other hand… that boiling blood you keep suppressing with your meditation seems to be raging out of control, hmmm? That demon blood from Daddy that wants to burst free."

Raven looked up in shock, "How… did you know about that?"

"A bird told me." Valentine answered simply, raising her arms in a shrug, "Honestly, you're a bit of an urban legend, if you will, among the movers and shakers of the Underworld."

"Underworld?"

"Really, Raven! You really know nothing, do you! Let's have a bit of a crash course then! There are two main planes of existence in this universe. The Realm of Light, which is where all Earth is from, and the Realm of Darkness, where the Underworld exists. All the creatures you say are gods are from the Underworld. Zeus, Queztecoatl, Trigon-"

"Trigon is a demon." Raven spat back.

"True, but that doesn't make him any less powerful. And it doesn't change one drop of magic DNA in your blood, Rae-Rae-chan. The lil' kid who's destined to help Trigon conquer all of the Realm of Light…" Valentine cooed.

"Shut up!" Raven shot back, before hunching over, gritting her teeth, trying to keep her rage under control.

"C'mon Raven! You're half-demon! That's why you probably feel emotions as well! Demons eat flesh, and they prefer it flavored with the despair and horror of their victims. All that soul stuff? Naw, Demons are through-and-through carnivores."

"I am…nothing…like Him."

"Raven, it's been such a long time since I've seen a child of someone so powerful, and still alive and not killed by their parents to protect their interests. The last I've heard of were the Sons of Sparda. But think: daddy's little girl is still alive… I want to see all your strength Raven. Up close!"

"I'm not going to give in."

Valentine grinned, and brought her fingers up, "That's too bad, because that brings us to the second lesson in the Underworld. Might makes Right."

A snap of the fingers. A dull thundering started to emanate as Valentine continued, "You see, in the Underworld, the only people who have the right to say anything are those who are the strongest of the strong. Anything weak only has the right to be eaten to sustain the strong. That's why demons are so interested in conquering Earth. Millions of pitiful meat sacks just waiting to be gobbled up. It's a real free-for-all down in the Underworld. First demon who gets past Sparda's seal and conquers the world can only be considered the strongest of the strong."

Raven's features narrowed, "But you're human!"

"I know. But the end of the world isn't going to be the thing that kills me. I'm far too valuable to God of Time, and in turn, the demons."

"You're disgusting."

"I just take pride in my work. Like you should take pride in your family heritage."

"I don't care what you say. I'm not going to be anything like Him."

"Wrong. I'm going to make you use that amazing potential of yours, and you're going to want to. We're going to play a game. It's called Queen of the Castle-"

The thundering was deafening now, as creatures crawled around the sides of the buildings. Disgusting, lean, pale beings, with exposed sinew, grotesque eyes growing from everywhere, except their correct sockets. They all gathered by Valentine.

"W-What are those?"

"They're called Nobodies. Really low-level demons that infest any unstable dimensional rift between the Realms, like Otherside. If any tried to live in the demon realms, they'd get chewed before they even took a step."

Raven backed away, "You said strengths here were reversed."

"I know! I'd prefer my BooDoo People hundreds of times over this garbage. But I gotta make do. It's all a matter of your ingrained perspective really. Now about this game… I'm the Queen, and here, Might makes Right. Queen says, Raven isn't going to leave Otherside unless she's dead. What are you going to do about it?"

The Nobodies started growling, grating for blood as the girl backed away.

"Better start using daddy's genes Rae-chan, 'cause your parlor tricks won't work here. Nobodies, fetch."

The swarm of evil charged forwards, and Raven only saw one option.

Run.

And she cloak swirled behind her as she dashed down the endless cracked roads of Otherside, disgusting creatures hobbling and shrieking after her on all fours.

"Come on, Raven! This is pathetic! Your daddy is one of the high princes of the Underworld, and you're going to run from a bunch of mindless demon trash that's so weak they can't even live in their own homes?" Valentine's voice called up from above, as she observed from her hovering tome that supported her.

Raven kept on running. Valentine saw quickly she was being given the whole silent treatment. Not even given the dignity of a response. What a piercing strike to the heart.

Things were going nowhere as she continued to run. Apparently Otherside favored her running over her flying, as the Nobodies started to die away into the distance. That should say something about her physique in the real world.

Raven felt a hand grab her from behind her cloak, dragging her choking form upwards.

"Sorry, Queen says the running is boring. Shed blood, or the Nobodies'll shed yours."

Valentine dropped the two of them onto a surviving roof of a building under the red sky, where she slammed a foot against Raven's back, hand still grasping the cloak, "Really. The way you keep that hood, one would think you're ashamed to show your face. Time for a style change, darling!"

Valentine pulled on the fabric. Raven continued to gasp as the cloak constricted her neck, until she lashed out behind with a sweeping kick, knocking Valentine to her back. The fall was enough to rip away the hood from the rest of the cloak, though.

"See? A cape fit for a queen!"

"I'm not playing your game, Valentine! I won't give in!"

"Give in? Game? This isn't a game Valentine. It's a whole way of life. A whole philosophy born into you! You're denying yourself the strength daddy is giving you!"

"I don't need that strength." Raven hissed back.

"Oh, I'm sure you do. In about five seconds."

Shrieking filled the air, and Raven rushed to the side of the roof to see the swarm of naked white demons skittering up the sides of the building towards her.

"No room to run, Raven, no power to fly. Queen's painted you into a corner. What are you going to do about it?"

Raven refused until her last, as the Nobodies crawled over the roof, the magic weakened Titan trying to dodge every lunge, until one tackled her to the ground, latched onto her back.

They were upon her.

"Nobodies! Hold!"

Inside the writhing mass, they shrieked as their kill was prolonged. It parted slightly to let Raven's head come out, coughing at the smell and wretched flesh that had imprisoned her. Valentine walked over and crouched in front of her, resting her elbows on her knees, while one gloved hand had pulled out red marker.

"You know, you just really have no respect for your family heritage." Valentine commented, as she held Raven's face fast by the cheeks, while the other hand smeared two thick, short red lines above her eyebrows, "Have you no respect for yourself? Demons revere strength. How much more powerful can you be, when you're told you're the one thing that will allow daddy to conquer the entire universe? That's power right there."

"No…"

Valentine seemed irritated finally, as she grabbed either side of Raven's exposed head, "You are about to die, Rae-chan! Queen says you're about do die! There's only one way to win Queen of the Castle! And that's to usurp me and be the new queen, and reset the rules! Might makes Right, Rae-chan! You're a demon! You know the feelings running around through me! You know what you want! Break free! Tear me limb from limb! Eat my organs while I still live! Snap my bones and suck out the marrow! Glory in conquering as you eat my flesh that's marinated with fear and wondrous worship of your strength!"

"I'm… still half-human… that's what I'll use to beat your game…"

Valentine was silent for a moment, before she rose with a defeated sigh, "And for a moment, I honestly thought I'd found someone worth pledging my services to… Oh, well. Not all relationships are fairy-tale endings, yeah? Nobodies… do what you want."

Raven didn't even have time to gasp as she disappeared under the mass of demons, that all vied to devour her alive. Valentine couldn't see it from where she was, but she could spot a few telltale signs of resistance, before a silence as the Nobodies continued to gnash away."

Then it came, "Azarath… Metrion… ZINTHOS!"

Black energies surged, obliterating the frozen Nobodies out of existence, the gigantic pillar of dark power enough to even launch a surprised Valentine off the roof, hurtling through the air, smashing into the walls of another building with a shower of rubble and smoke that covered up the impact completely.

Raven fell to her knees panting, her body gashed and torn, glaring at the exploded building across from her, "I beat you and your demons. I win."

"Sorry! Queen is still in play!"

The building across exploded. A giant stone fist slapped down on Raven, pushing her down through the roof and the entirety of the building. Across, a rocky upper torso and limbs awkwardly protruded from the building. Valentine, covered in dust sat on a throne where the head of the living statue should have been, legs crossed, fingers clasped, canines wide out grinning.

"Man! Here is where dreams really come true! I couldn't even dream of doing this to you if we were back on Earth! I'm only the weakest of weak servants back there, but here, I'm one upside down god. But what does that make you?"

There was a silence. Valentine waited. Then a quiet whisper.

"I…am…"

"A weak creature in denial of true potential?"

"A DESTROYER!"

Black traveled up the stone arm, pulverizing it as Valentine's automated weapon backed away. In the center of the destruction it wreathed, pure darkness writhed and blew outwards, completely obliterating the building it was contained in. As the dust settled, Valentine watched in horrified delight at the wraith she unleashed, Raven's body disappearing into the shadows of a flowing black river, tendrils inching up and about the sides of the ruins. A body so black and dark it didn't reflect the red light of Otherside at all. So black it couldn't be defined by dimensions or depths. Raven's body was like a divide, a schism, a rupture in the fabric of existence itself. Her teeth stretched and screamed with countless fangs. Four glowing red orbs took up the space of her face as eyes.

An existence that had the power to define and destroy existence itself.

True strength.

"I'm still the Queen, Rae-Rae! What are you gonna do about it?" Valentine laughed uncontrollably

"FEAST ON YOUR REMAINS!"

Darkness speared through the air of Otherside, wrapping itself around the stone body of Valentine's building. The stone statue gave easily, pried off its foundation and dragged into the abyss in the center of Raven's body. Valentine shrieked with delight as she jumped off her fallen throne, and flew away on her leather bound tome. The darkness spread after her.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER? IS THIS GOD ONLY GOOD AT RUNNING FOR ITS LIFE? ONLY THE WEAK RUN! PATHETIC!"

"You're not much of a destroyer yourself, Rae!" Valentine sniped back as she raced down the streets of Otherside.

Raven seemed insulted by this, her red face grimacing in rage, before roaring into the sky. Shadowy shards erupted from her tall body, tearing through concrete, through metal, through everything. Valentine yelped as she was carried away in the blast.

The city of Otherside crumbled from the dark, throwing dust into the red sky.

As the city's remains settled, a tattered hand pulled itself out from under the toppled concrete.

Valentine drew a deep breath, and coughed out dust heavily. Her knit cap with the Valentine insignia had not survived the last attack, letting black bangs splay everywhere. "Ew! I'm sweaty and I ruined my Wednesday suit!"

The rubble under Valentine suddenly hoisted itself into the air, slamming Valentine into another levitating section, before the twisted sandwich was sent into the ground. Raven laughed as she appeared near the wreckage.

"IT'S NOT ALL I'LL BE RUINING!"

Tendrils reached deep into the rubble and snatched out the sorcerer, dragging her along the ground by her neck arms, hoping to pull Valentine into Raven's abyss body. Valentine slid onto her feet, pulling back with all her strength, even stopping her movement as she resisted.

"OH? LIKE TO DO IT SLOWLY? VERY WELL, WATCH AS I PULL YOU IN, LIMB BY LIMB."

Valentine gritted her teeth and pulled back harder than ever, and the fabric of her suit jacket pulled apart, letting tendrils draw in pieces of cloth, while Valentine wrestled with the energy about her neck, her torso clad only in a torn blouse.

"WHERE'S ALL THE WISECRACKS? WHERE ARE YOUR PRIDEFUL LECTURES? ISN'T THIS WHAT YOU WANTED! COME AND BASK IN MY HATRED OF YOU!"

Tendrils whipped about Valentine's ankles next, completely lifting her off the ground. Helplessly she hurtled through the air, until at last minute, her floating tome intercepted. Valentine's chest slammed into the unmoving volumes that was suspended stiff in the air, remained stuck.

"WEAK CREATURE! THIS QUEEN SAYS IT'S TIME TO DIE!"

"Sorry! But Valentine has one more trick for you demons! Add some iron filings, a bit of silver, a couple of spells, and they call it Holy Water as a joke. Acetius, Chelm, Pokias, ENTOS!"

The book supported Valentine flew open, magic turning its endless pages as a pocket dimensions was summoned. A multitude of iron-wreathed beakers filled with a clear liquid spilled out of the book, and flew right into the depths of a shocked Raven's body.

The effect was immediate. The demon screamed and tendrils lashed out of control, throwing Valentine onto her back.

Raven fell onto her back, swathed in a tattered cloak, breathing weakly. Valentine wearily walked forward, giving a wry look as she stuck a toe into the fallen sorcerer's side.

"See, Raven? That's how powerful you could be if you wanted to."

"…I can't even control it…"

"That's because of two reasons, really, if I got this right from Griffon-oldest-and-most-trusted-lieutenant-of-Mundus-ruler-of-the-Underworld-and-future-conqueror-of-the-realm-of-light. Seriously, whatever you do to suppress that power inside of you is only keeping it bottled up. You may be half-human, but you're also half-demon. You can't bottle something up like genetics. Daddy keeps a tight-leash on your powers, I hear. Every time you get angry, you use His powers. Every time you use His powers, He makes you go out of control. You go out of control, you get scare of your powers, and you stop using your full potential. A twisted cycle, eh, Rae-Rae-chan?"

Raven got to her hands and knees, coughing and glaring, "Get… away from me…"

"No way! I can't leave interesting, powerful people alone! You're turning out to be so fun! Imagine a dour end-of-the-world-kid like you being so interesting!"

"I'm not… ending anything… not if I have anything to say about it…"

"Really? Well, you sure are being productive, if I can see anything of it!"

"Shut up. I'll be ready when the time comes."

Valentine giggled as she settled down beside Raven on the rubble about them, "With whom, your friends? Don't kid! You said yourself they can't handle the world of magic, much less the Underworld. They wouldn't understand, right? Ready when the time comes? Why not just settle the matter before that?"

"Great. What do you expect me to do, walk up to Him and say I've got a problem with it?"

"Might makes Right, Rae-Rae. If you've got a problem, beat him down until he relents."

"You've got to be kidding."

"C'mon Raven! I'm the only person in the city who can help you when it comes to magic! The only one who knows anything about the Underworld…" Valentine whispered sideways into Raven's ear, stretching her palm towards an imaginary billboard in the distance.

"I don't trust anyone who works with demons and dark magic."

Valentine stuck out her tongue cheekily, and pulled back the bangs over her forehead, revealing an hourglass shaped mark upon her forehead, "I only work with the God of Time, who tells me to work with demons. But I'm willing to be your servant too, Rae-Rae."

"Why?"

"Think about it! Daddy vs Daughter! The match of the century right down in the Underworld, and I'd have front row seats to see who determines the fate of the universe! Be lucky I like you rather than your idiot daddy."

Valentine stood up and reached down, grabbing Raven by the throat and lifting the tattered demon to her feet.

Time seemed to move backwards.

-

-

-

The bus roared as it sped down the street towards Valentine and Raven. In the distance, the Titans were fighting the BooDoo People that burst out of the windows.

Valentine let go of Raven's neck and shoved her off the street, leaving Valentine to disappear under the wheels of the bus that screeched to a halt. Rather than the sounds of a body under tires and pavement, a tattered Raven looked up to see a messy Valentine waving from the windows of the bus.

"Locium, Vindai, Mundo, Accel."

A memory of a particular phone number entered Raven's mind, making her eyes widen with shock.

"This was a wonderful time, Rae! I just loved all we discussed, all the games we played! Think about it, though! If you go challenge Him, and defeat him, you'll have the say on whether you want the prophecy to go through or not, and you'll get to live the rest of your days in full control of your rightful heritage! And I'll be with you, all the way, because you're so fun! I'll be waiting for your call!"

The bus sped off, and Raven wanted to get to her feet, shout that it wasn't over and keep fighting, but all her strength left her as she collapsed to the ground again.

All that Holy Water…

-

-

-

Valentine smiled, felt like she was a million dollars, as she gracefully stepped back into the observatory of Olympus Height, covered head to toe in dust, her shirt torn messily.

"Dude! Val'! You're only gone for an hour, and you come back like this! What did they do to you?"

"Shut up D'! I had the greatest date of my life!"

Terra raised an eyebrow as she turned around to look over the sofa, "Date? You're really weird, Valentine."

Mr. Freeze didn't bat an eye, and just kept watching the television placidly, "The battle you have abandoned to your factory products are still being displayed live on the news broadcasts, Valentine. Jump City appears to be a war-zone. What did you do?"

Valentine thought for a moment, "Oh, you know. Send an invitation, meet up, ditch the chauffeurs, go for a ride, talked a little, played a game. Usual date stuff."

"As long as you didn't do anything particularly dangerous." Mr. Freeze concluded after he thought it over a few times.

Devil Hand pointed at Valentine, keeping himself between the sofa and the girl. "Dude! I'm not having dust on the couch! Get cleaned up, right now!"

Valentine leaned forward and joked, "And what are you gonna do about it?"

Devil Hand flicked her nose, making her jump back with her hands covering her face, "Ow! You're mean!"

"That's just the beginning Val'! Now stop dusting up the floor and get going!"

"Scar-y! Fine, see you later, queen!" Valentine laughed at the seething pugilist as she danced off to the showers with a light step.

-

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Episode 6: "Competition"- The weeks of grace for the Friece and Valentine Foundation for Extraordinarily Talented Persons are over. Now it's come for them to play with the big names of Jump City. Like the Hive Academy for Extraordinary Young People.