Demon in Us All
Titan's Tower
He watched as Wisdom pushed buttons on a control panel. She had run a blood test on John from his left hand to measure the dark magic in his arm. "I can't say no to Raven," he told her, "I guess that applies to you… all." As he sat in the chair, he got to know the other Ravens. He enjoyed talking to them. Happy told him how happy she was to see him, Rude burped in his face and told him how he didn't seem to enjoy her company, Love awed over him as she wanted to taste his lips [Wisdom said he had to keep a steady heart rate], Anger slapped him, Sloth explained to him a sock she found once, and Timid apologized to him about everything she did. He forgave her many times without losing his cool.
"Wow," Brave began after hearing John's story, "you really carried that guy through Vietnam?" she loved John's toughness and courage. She especially awed over him being a Marine. Wisdom finished analyzing John's arm as she wrote a note on a piece of paper. "It is true, you have dark magic in you left hand. It is the most powerful, and hardest to contain, type of dark magic. I call it Pure Zero." John eyed her curiously "Why do you call it that?"
"Well," the real Raven began, "it is the hardest magic to detect unless blood is spilled or shown. It is the strongest magic in the universe and is worth a pretty penny in the inter-galactic market. It seems only be used in a pure anger state, causing it to have a controllable level of zero." She looked at him with all seriousness. "She is correct," Wisdom added, "you seem to show the ability to control it while angry, like Azar." The other Ravens caught their breaths as they stared at John. "You, John, are a μεγάλος μάγος [megálos mágos]."
"What is that?" John questioned Raven. She bit her lower lip as she thought of how to tell him. "You are a…" she stopped as she sighed. "It means Great sorcerer in Greek. On Azarath, you would be treated like a god, as Azar was." He voice sank as she thought of if anyone knew. "You are an offspring of a mortal mother and an immortal father. I didn't want to tell you because… I care." A tear fell down her cheek as John stood up and walked to her. He smiled at her and held her hand. She smiled back as she hugged him. "Now," he began, "what does this mean for me?"
"If you don't learn to control it, you will destroy everything around you. But you seem to be in control. You see, it is like a curse, but you were expected to come." Wisdom sputtered out. She fixed the glasses she wore as she eyed the curious John. "You are known as the Yin and Yang of mankind on Azarath. You're thought to be a myth." She continued. John looked back to Raven who was in his arms. "So," he joked, "I'm special."
Raven smiled as they met in a kiss. Love fell over on the couch at the site. Happy cheered in joy, and Anger grunted as she looked out the window. Since the kiss, she couldn't stand John. She couldn't help but feel somewhat pleased by his bravery. She looked back to him and her complete self kissing. She smiled as she tasted his lips on hers. She shook her head as she stared back out the window. Beast Boy gave a "Ewww!" as the other Titans watched happily. Robin and Starfire shared a quick kiss as they walked to the door to go to the mall. Cyborg tapped BB's shoulder and motioned his head to the game system. "Oh ya, let's do it!" Brave cut in to Cy and BB as they walked to the couch.
John couldn't shake the help but feel weird about his arm. He never really knew his father. His dad had went missing when he was six. His mom never mentioned magic or sorcerers when he was growing up. He sighed as he looked at Raven. She was scared for him; bandits would easily make money on John's head. "Since Azar died, people like you quickly became very rare. You yourself are worth more than eight planets." Wisdom told him. He didn't take his eyes off Raven as her gaze lowered to the floor. He wasn't angry at her; he just wanted to make sure she was fine talking about the subject. She shifted her weight uneasily as Wisdom finished rambling about the price of John.
"Well," John cut in loudly, "it is about time for lunch, what does everyone want?" Beast Boy shifted his body around to eye John before he got killed by Brave again on the game. "Pizza!" he called as everyone turned to eye him. "I love that idea!" Happy replied as she nudged Sloth. "Sure, whatever." Sloth mumbled as she tripped walking to the door. John stopped her as she stumbled up the steps. "How about I go and get it?"
He drove in the T car, which was repaired and refitted after Trigon attacked, into Jump City to the pizza place they normally went to. He thought over his and Raven's relationship. He treasured it dearly, but he felt weird after learning he had an unexpected power. He and Raven were dating for about six months at that point, and John felt it was time to take their relationship to the next level, but he didn't know exactly how to take it any higher than dating. Either way, they were still teenagers. 'Well,' he thought, 'one of us is.'
He pulled into the parking lot and got out as he shut the door and walked into the pizza store. He quickly got to the counter and ordered three large pizzas; one cheese, one peperoni, and a tofu pizza. The woman wrote the order and told John to wait about fifteen to twenty minutes. He sat in a chair and waited patiently. A child the age of about eight walked up to him. Giving the child a smile, John asked the child: "Now who are you?" The child responded in awe "I'm David. Are you a real soldier?"
John chuckled nicely as he watched the curious child. "Why yes I am, David." He smiled as he gave John a salute. John stood and gave him a salute back. The boy giggled and thanked him for being a soldier and for protecting America. "You're always welcome." John told the boy as he ran to his smiling mother who invited him into her arms. John had seen many Iraqi boys just like him. He smiled to the mother as he met her glance. "You have a great kid there," he told her, "he can speak and show patriotism perfectly." She smiled and responded "Thank you."
"Mr. Raven, you pizzas are done." The lady at the counter called as she handed him the three pizza boxes. He paid her and gave her a "Good day." as he walked to the door. David watched as John looked to him and said "Have a good day to you both." The mother thanked him as David hugged John's leg. "Thank you." John replied to the hug as he knelt down and set the boxes aside. He hugged the child as awes came from the store. David then pulled away as he let John go. "Bye, bye." The boy said as John picked the boxes up and left the boy with a smile. As he sat in the car, he saw the boy wave his hand to John. Waving back, John started the motor and drove back to Titan's Tower.
The memory of the boy did not leave his mind as he opened the door to the living room, a warm smile on his face. He watched as the others came closer. He spotted the real Raven and smiled at her as she smiled back. Wisdom had gotten off the control panel and had found a book. Beast Boy went eagle as he swooped down and grabbed his pizza. Love watched him in awe as he landed on his feet without a moment to spare. "Brave just killed you again." Cyborg called to Beast Boy as he eyed the happy tomboy gloating in victory. Anger looked to John as he eyed the real Raven. She came away from the window and over to him, gripping his arm.
"I don't know what your deal is," she whispered angrily into his ear, "but you better stop it!" He eyed her in a confused manner as he quickly realized what she was talking about. "Are you worrying over that kiss?" She eyed him, but her expressions and grip softened as she pulled away and out of the living room. John sighed as he watched the door close behind her. Looking back to the others, he smiled to them all as he sat the pizzas on the table and opened them up.
"Great!" Sloth said aloud with food in her mouth, scarfing down the pizza. "Thank you, friend John." Starfire thanked John. He and Raven sat on the edge of the couch while the other Titans sat towards the middle. The other Ravens were scattered about. Wisdom sat at the kitchen table with Happy, Timid sat on the stares, Love sat next to Beast Boy, Sloth seemed to carless about where she sat and sat on the floor. Rude was burping and eating pizza like it was going out of style. John watched as Raven slowly ate her pizza to enjoy the taste. She seemed to enjoy it, unlike she did before. John sighed as he looked out the window to see the city. He couldn't help but think about the demon that seemed to be him.
"Never in my life," he said aloud as he stared out the window, "did I think that a demon lived inside of me. Nor that I have black magic in my body. I just can't believe it." Everyone turned to look at him with confused eyes. "But I guess there is a little bit of demon in all of us." He smiled at the others as he turned from his gaze. They smiled back as the thought of magic ran through his mind. His eyes widened as he thought of a certain British commando. "Jacob, Brother Blood, he… survived. I think I know why." John stood and walked out of the room. He was determined to find Jacob, and destroy him once and for all