Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.
Authors note: A few nights ago I was rereading some of the earlier chapters and I realized that I made a HUGE mistake in part 2 of this story. Kudos to GothicRavenRoth who in her own words:
"Um. Wasn't Star pregnant in the first part of the story? What happened to that?"
So I hang my head in shame! Anyway, I went back to chapters 28 and 29 and made a few minor fixes to address this monumentally stupid mistake!
Now on to the story!
Lamia was in her default demonic form as entered the dimly lit cavern. She had been more than happy to ditch Raven's leotard, cape and boots as she much preferred to be barefoot and wearing only her very revealing loin cloth. She was puzzled that Beast Boy wasn't already driven into a mindless, lustful frenzy over her. After all, not a single one of her previous 1037 mortal lovers had been able to resist her. He wouldn't even kiss her yet, insisting on 'talking' instead. Only at the end of their 'session' did he finally give her a peck on the cheek, and that was in exchange for a favor. Lamia stopped as she reached the other end of the room, and she dropped down onto her right knee.
"You wish to speak to me father?" she asked.
Trigon was seated on a throne that had been carved out of the cavern wall. He had grown since Beast Boy first saw him and now stood at over 10 feet in stature. The throne was elevated on a dais and he looked down disapprovingly upon his offspring. Even though she stared at the floor she could feel his 4 eyes boring through her, seeing all the way into her inner spirit.
"Yes, my daughter. We have a problem."
"What troubles you father?" She asked as she rose to her feet.
"Many things" He replied. "But I will start with the most troubling problem: you!"
Lamia stepped back in feigned shock. "What do you mean father?" She asked, knowing very well what he was going to say.
Trigon growled at his daughter.
"I fail to understand the hold the green changeling has over my daughters. Raven I can almost understand, as she is half human and therefore weak in such matters. But you are my daughter Lamia, a pure blooded demon, my only true daughter and you are falling in love with the changeling. Explain yourself!"
Lamia swallowed hard as she stared into Trigon's four blood red eyes.
"I do not love him father. He is merely a plaything to me."
Trigon snarled in reply.
"Do not lie to me Lamia. Your desire for him goes beyond mere lust. I have always tolerated this flaw in you my daughter, your obsession with mortal lovers, as you consumed your past lovers until they were mere empty husks and you always threw them away. But you actually have feelings for this unworthy mortal. You even promised to share your immortality with him! What is the matter with you?!"
Lamia stared at the floor as she replied.
"I wish to have a mate father."
"But why him? It was painful enough when Raven bonded with him. He's inferior Lamia, an idiot, unworthy of you, he's not even worthy of Raven. Why do you wish to bond with a mere mortal? Is it because he is Raven's mate?"
"I –I …" She stammered.
"And you promised him that you would not harm Raven in exchange for his affection? Have you forgotten why we are here?"
Lamia frowned. "That was a lie I told him. Of course I'm going to kill Raven. How else could I keep him?"
"Then you had best prepare yourself my daughter. While you were busy fruitlessly trying to seduce the boy the Titans have called for help. The Kryptonians have already created an entrance to our realm."
"The Kryptonians? What are they doing here?"
"That is the other problem Lamia. Under normal circumstances none of the mortal superheroes would pose a threat to us. But we are still weak. The Kryptonians, along with Raven, pose the greatest threat to us, but do not underestimate the others my daughter."
"What do you wish for me to do father?"
Trigon threw a small burlap sack at her feet. She bent over to pick it up and opened it, examining its contents.
"And what about the others?"
"Deal with them Lamia, you may avail yourself to the fire demons. And do not forget what our goal is dear daughter."
Lamia nodded.
"To avenge our past defeat and to make Raven pay."
"Good, I see you have not forgotten. Once Raven is vanquished you can do whatever you wish with the boy. You can even marry him. That is if you can convince him." Trigon chuckled. "You know well that he will be angry and will have nothing to do with you once he finds out that you killed Raven. Now go!"
Lamia bowed and left the throne room.
Raven removed the sword from the box. The sheath was exquisite, encrusted with precious gems. The hilt was also dazzling in its beauty. She had never seen such a sword, not even on Azarath.
Raven had been trained in swordsmanship during her days at the monastery. Her training had begun in her childhood and she had trained for years under the watchful eyes of one of the monks. She had become quite proficient and had they used a belt ranking system back at the monastery she would have been a higher ranked black belt, with at least the rank of Master, if not Grand Master. She could no doubt hold her own against Robin or even Slade in armed combat.
It had been years since she wielded a sword as she saw no point in doing so anymore. Her magical powers made wielding a weapon unnecessary. She knew that her training had not been a waste as it had proven to be an excellent exercise in mental discipline. She had not wielded a sword since leaving Azarath but nonetheless was drawn to the magnificent weapon and she reverently placed her hand the grip and slowly unsheathed it.
The blade was magnificent and without a flaw. Raven's eyes grew wide as she saw blue flames dancing from the perfect blade. Without saying a word she stood up and walked to the middle of the library's vestibule. As she adopted the ready position her emotions stepped away, out of the vestibule, giving her a wide berth.
Raven began form #1, the beginners practice form. Her stance was still perfect and she gracefully struck at the imaginary opponents and parried their attacks. Upon concluding form #1 she returned to the ready position and began form #2.
After about 40 minutes she was performing the most advanced form she had learned before leaving the monastery for Earth. It was a complex form with over 300 individual steps. As she was completing the form she found herself in front of a marble statue of Socrates, which was blocking the path of the final strike in the form. Raven performed the horizontal strike anyway and the blade passed effortlessly through the philosopher's statue.
Raven returned to the ready position and sheathed the sword. At that moment the top half of the statue slid off the bottom and fell on the floor with a loud crash. Raven then walked back to the reference desk she placed the sheathed sword back in its box.
"This is Michael's sword, correct?" Raven asked.
"Yes Raven and the real sword is waiting for you in your room." Wisdom replied.
"How did you get this? I've been calling for help but heard no answer." Raven asked.
"Your prayers were not unheeded Raven. You are ready. Now go and rescue our beloved, and hurry, for time is not on your side."
Raven nodded and closed her eyes. When she reopened them she was back in her room, with the box sitting next to her on her bed. Raven leaped to her feet and opened the box, removing the real sword. The sheath had a white belt attached to it and Raven wrapped it around her waist, securing it with its buckle. She turned and looked in the mirror above the bureau. The mighty weapon was exposed until she wrapped her white cape around her body, hiding it from view.
Beware Lamia; I'm coming to claim what's mine.
Beast Boy tugged at the shackle around his neck. Lamia had been summoned by her father and left in a hurry, but not before chaining him back to the wall. At least she left him dressed. Terra was asleep, under a blanket that he procured for her in exchange for giving Lamia a peck on the cheek while she was disguised as Raven. It was hard enough to do that; he couldn't even begin to imagine doing that while she was in her demonic form. He had also tried to morph; but his powers were still blocked.
He gazed over at Terra, feeling both anger and pity for her. He felt sorry for her sad lack of self esteem which always seemed to get him and the Titans neck deep into trouble. But this took the cake. He was stuck in a dungeon, without his powers, worried sick about what the demonic pair might do to Raven and his friends and to add insult to injury Lamia was all too eager to get into his pants.
Terra stirred and woke up, aware that he was staring at her with a frown. She then noticed that she was lying on a thin, flimsy mattress with a threadbare blanket covering her. She was still in the buff and of course chained to the wall.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her.
The geomancer coughed as she sat up, wrapping her blanket around her naked form.
"Better." She replied. "Where did this come from?" She asked as she tightly wrapped the blanket around herself.
"You owe me big time." He growled. "I had to kiss her to get you that pad and blanket."
Terra gave him a critical look.
"You're dressed."
"She's trying to bribe me." He replied. "She's also making herself look like Raven used to, gray with violet hair, like that'll make her any more appealing."
"So where is she?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She left in a hurry without saying anything. She was trying to grope me and just stopped."
"Maybe the Titans are mounting a rescue mission." She speculated.
"Maybe, who knows though?" He looked away and paused before looking back at her.
"Are you powers stronger now?"
Terra's eyes glowed and the rock she had levitated earlier once again was airborne.
"Yes!" She beamed. "Full strength."
"Can you break us free from the walls?"
Terra's eyes glowed and the wall anchors their chains were attached to crumbled and fell from the walls.
Beast Boy stood up and stretched his legs.
"The shackles and chains are heavy; they're gonna slow us down."
"Hang on; I've got a trick up my sleeve." She replied as two stone hands emerged from the floor and grabbing her shackle they ripped it apart.
"Dude!"
"Don't move, I'm gonna remove yours." She warned him as two other arms sprouted from the floor and ripped his shackle off as well.
"What do we do now BB?" She asked as she ran up next to him.
"We find a way out of here."
Raven emerged from her room and made her way to the living room, which was empty except for Starfire, who was cradling her young daughter.
"Kal-El and Kara have finished excavating the tunnel. The entrance is down in the ravine behind the house and everyone is waiting there for you. I offer you apologies my dear friend, but I cannot assist you on your rescue …"
Raven placed her hands on Starfire's shoulders.
"Your job is to protect your daughter Starfire. You have nothing to apologize for." She said as she embraced her friend. She then took Marie from Starfire and kissed her on her forehead before handing her back to the Empress.
"If I get him back Starfire we're going to get pregnant as soon as we can."
Starfire smiled at her friend.
"You will be victorious Raven, of that I have no doubt."
Raven smiled back at her before lifting off and flying away to the tunnel's entrance. As Starfire had predicted the Titans and the Justice Leaguers were waiting for her by its entrance.
"I'm ready." She deadpanned. "We must attack now as they're getting stronger by the moment. We can't wait for anymore reinforcements."
"There is a barrier at the entrance to the cave." Kal-El informed her. "Kara and I were unable to breach it."
"It's magical." She informed them. "I can bring it down."
"Then let's get going." Nightwing spoke up. "We've fought them before and beaten them. We'll defeat them again!"
Just as Nightwing spoke hundreds of fire demons began to pour out of the tunnel. Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, Robin and Wonder Woman were brandishing swords of their own and stormed into the river of demons and began to hack away at them. The Green Lantern began to swat them with his ring of power while the rest of the Titans used their powers and skills to fight of the invading horde. Speedy's arrows sang as they flew; Bumblebee's stingers sizzled while Cyborg's sonic canon boomed. Mas Y Menos sped through the crowd, knocking demons over and making them easy targets for the others while the Kryptonians pummeled them with their bare hands.
Raven watched as the battle began before unsheathing her own weapon. The blade shone like the sun and the flames danced on the blades as she raised it, holding it up high for all to see.
The fire demons shrieked when they saw the heavenly sword and fell back, calling off their attack against the others. They regrouped at the cave's entrance, holding their ground while Raven approached them. Then without any warning they all charged at her.
"Titans Go!" Raven shouted as she charged at the attacking horde. The others reacted and followed Raven in her attack.
The horde reached Raven first and she deftly began to mow them down with her flaming sword. She pushed her way into the tunnel hacking away at the fire demons as if they were underbrush in a jungle. She heard the others behind her, taking down any demons she had missed.
Raven did not tire as the sword provided her with the stamina she needed. The tunnel was long, well over a mile in length as it spiraled down to the demonic lair that lay below in the solid granite the mountain was made of. The battle continued with Raven steadily leading the combined forces down the spiraling tunnel. After nearly 30 minutes they had vanquished every single fire demon and reached the entrance to the lair.
As Kal-El had foretold a red force field blocked their entrance. The Green Lantern tried to breach it with his ring of power but was unable to overwhelm it. The others joined in, combining their powers and skills but were still unsuccessful.
Raven then stepped through the crowd and stood in front of the barrier. Without saying a word she unsheathed her sword and gripping it with both hands she raised it above her head. Then giving a martial arts yell worthy of Robin she brought her sword down on the barrier, which shattered with a loud crash.
Before they could charge into the lair they heard a voice.
"Well done sister, well done!" Lamia mockingly congratulated Raven as she emerged from the shadows. She was in Raven's old gray form and was also brandishing a sword.
"For your sake Gar had better be unharmed!" Raven snorted.
"Now, now Raven. You don't think I would do anything to hurt my mate, do you? And he will be my mate Raven."
"Over my dead body!" Raven replied.
Lamia laughed. "It will be my pleasure, dear sister!"
OK, I cranked this one out for you!
No mail bag today (I don't have time!)
Happy Easter!