"Teen Titans: Future Storm"

Story: "Hell Trigger"

Chapter 5: "Bright Shades of Conflict"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I claim ownership over any of the locations, either. The characters are largely the property of DC Comics and Capcom. Most of the primary Titans characters are created by Black Panther's Knight, while Nightstar is solely DC, and Mercury is co-owned by Marvel and DC as part of their Amalgam imprints. Dante, Trish, Lady, and any other Devil May Cry characters and locals belong to Capcom of Japan and of the USA. I'm just borrowing them – in the case of BPK's Titans, with permission – to tell this story to you, the reader(s). And for any reference, I'm pretty much going to copy and paste this thing for future installments, because I really hate writing disclaimers.

Author's Note: This story was written with the consent of Black Panther's Knight/Whatever penname he wants to go by in the future, and uses his characters and continuity, and is set in the 'missing year' period that was left up to our imaginations when we read it. Keep reading…you may be pleasantly surprised.

Since the other half of the team had gotten back, things had been tense, with Nightstar finally vocalizing her frustration with a series of Tamaranean curses, pointing at Hex and jabbing in her direction every so often, a furious look on her face – and no one there could blame her for it. At the moment, the witch in question was handcuffed to a steel chair, a different cuff for both wrists, keeping her firmly in place. However, what was really keeping her in place was her mother, seated across from her with a serious look on her face. The other Titans had been filled in on things when they arrived, and Dante went to put his Devil Arms back. Nevan had departed for the moment, perhaps to feed, perhaps to have some fun (perhaps a bit of both), and any injuries were being tended to by Raven for the moment, though after the minor injuries were cleared up, she began talking to Jinx.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Jinx? It's your reputation on the line if…" the half-demon began, the witch waving a hand and making a dismissive sound.

"My reputation was on the line ever since my idiot daughter decided to run around and cause trouble for the Titans. If they weren't laughing, they were talking behind my back, wondering what kind of mother I was…" There was a slightly haunted look in the pink haired woman's eyes, and Raven reached out, clasping Jinx's shoulders in her hands. She looked up, eyes watering, and brushing at them with one hand. "It wasn't easy, bringing her up alone…and it couldn't have been any easier for her to grow up without a father, or other family…but it's not like I could just marry some random guy…I wanted my independence…and this is what it cost me…"

"Jinx…you're not a bad person…you're a little confused…you always were. It probably didn't help that Wally…well…left you, and then he met Linda…"

"Yeah…didn't help one bit…" the witch shrugged her shoulders, sighing softly and giving Hex a glance, before smiling ruefully. "I thought I did a pretty good job, all things considered…but to have her turn out like this…god…" She sighed, letting out all the negative energy, then did her best to smile again. "But now we can straighten her out before she does something else she'll regret…or I'll regret, anyways. The only problem…"

"…Is Wally, I know," Raven winced a bit, not looking forward to the confrontation that would follow as soon as the former Flash made his way to the current hideout, the warehouse Lady was based out of for the moment, and that everyone had moved into for the moment – they wanted to keep the cavern they were hiding in a secret from their demonic adversaries.

"Ugh…can't wait for that."

Raven's prediction would be accurate, as the moment Wally and Bart arrived (Bart in his Flash costume, the mask in place, while Wally was wearing a pair of slacks and a button up shirt), and everything was explained, Wally threw a fit. And of course, Jinx responded in kind

"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT SHE'S DONE! SHE'S NO BETTER THAN THOSE LUNATICS SHE'S FRIENDS WITH!" Wally began, yelling rather loudly, making everyone present wince – though at the moment, Dante, Trish, and Lady decided to leave the Titans and their families alone to resolve the matter privately, while Dante went about ordering a pizza, and the two women began to talk amongst themselves, while cleaning their guns. Zatara had politely excused himself, and went to do some research, to hit up some sources he had in the city for information of the supernatural nature. Kiryu was forcibly pushed out of the room by Raven, the demon dragon showing little interest in the whole thing, but Raven wasn't letting him snipe anyone and make things worser than she'd thought they'd turn out.

"OH, DON'T YOU DARE LUMP HER IN WITH THEM, PAL!" Jinx screeched, an expression of hate on her face as she prodded her ex's chest with one finger, her eyes blazing with barely repressed anger, old wounds opening in this fight. Hex had an upset look on her face, realizing that, despite her hatred of her father, she had just made things worse for her mother.

"OH, YOU'RE ONE TO TALK! COULDN'T YOU HAVE AT LEAST TAUGHT HER SOME MORALS?!"

"HOW DARE YOU!? YOU PIECE OF CRAP!" Jinx promptly slapped Wally across the face, growling at him dangerously. While this was going on, Bart was attempting to put himself between the two. However, what none of them had noticed was that Jinx, with her wild hand motions, and finally the slap, had released entropy magic into the room, causing a ceiling fan to fall from the roof with a loud crash, sending a large coffee mug flying, smacking into nearby bookshelf, toppling it…and causing a large hardcover book to go flying. Before anyone could react, Bart was hit in the head, and fell down with a loud thump. "Yeeep…"

"Oh, my God! They killed Bart! Those bastards!" Rose snickered, paraphrasing an old American 'animated' series known for its low brow toilet humor.

"This isn't the time to joke. And nor is it a subject to joke about." Mercury responded in a somewhat sour manner, having rushed over from where he had been seated to help his father up, a concerned look on his face. "Dad, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay…that book hurt though…it WAS a book, right?" The current Flash stood up, somewhat shakily, pulling his mask off and exposing his short, wavy brown hair, a red mark visible on the side of his forehead, which he reached up to touch gingerly, before making use of his accelerated healing and metabolism to make the mark go away, leaving him in pretty good shape. Wally sighed finally, and looked to the abashed Jinx, who was biting her lower lip and laughing nervously.

"Uhm…ah…s-sorry, Bart…" she said, a nervous look on her face.

"It's okay, Jinx…I've healed already…" he said, smiling to her, putting her at ease. "Anyway, if you and Wally can't agree on what to do…I have a suggestion."

"What's that, Bart?" Wally tilted his head, curiously.

"We should probably register Hex, and we can get her placed on the Titans West team--" he indicated his son, Beast Girl, and the others in the room, Raven nodded in agreement, even though everyone else was looking rather upset by the suggestion. "Peter, please don't give me that look. I know you all have problems with Hex, and I don't blame you with everything she's caused to happen, or done to you guys…I really do understand…but you guys can be a positive influence on her, like…well, Wally was for Jinx…that turned out reasonably well, I think."

"Fine," Nightstar said. "We'll give it a whirl. After all, we let Rose on the team, so . . ."

Bladefire aimed a sidelong death glare at Nightstar. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"You don't need to fight my battles, Joh'n…" Ravager smiled to him, nodding a bit, a sly tone to her voice, prompting Hex to snort in derision. She soon found a katana in her face and, looking nervous, laughed a bit. "Yeah, that's what I thought…" smirking in a smug fashion, pulling her blade back. Jinx growled at the silver-haired girl, though not getting much of a reaction from Rose. Mercury sighed, and sat back down next to Beast Girl, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close.

"I still thinks this sucks…" he said, finally, looking at his girlfriend. "What do you think, Terri?"

"Well, I'd really like to see her pay for what she's done…but her mom's right – we can't put her in prison, even a meta-prison without running the risk of her escaping…if we do this, we can keep her close enough to watch over her…and with that said, I think Peter should be in charge of her."

"WHAT?!" Both Mercury and Hex cried out, eyes wide as they looked at each other, then to the others, dismay in both their eyes as everyone began to nod…even Wally, everyone agreeing at the compromise.

"Ah, Hell…" Hex muttered as she slouched as best she could, while Jinx looked to Raven.

"I'm sorry about all the trouble she's caused…and about what happened to Samara…I'd like to stay and help, if that's okay with you?" The witch tilted her head, Raven nodding a bit as she spoke.

"Certainly. We could use the help…plus I don't know if the League can help right now…I'm sure they're busy with something or another…" the Azrathian spoke as she looked to her friend, and then over to Bart, who was pulling his mask back on.

"Well, I don't know about the others, but I'd be glad to help if I can," he nodded, fixing the mask in place. "Right now I have to check in with the League, but I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, the Flash zipped out of the room, a red and yellow blur, running through the streets of San Francisco to rejoin the League in Metropolis, while Wally, after giving Jinx a look, groaned softly before speaking.

"Look…I'm sorry, okay? For whatever that's worth to you."

The pink haired woman smiled sadly, and nodded. "It means a lot…say hi to Linda and the twins for me, will you?"

"Sure." And on that note, Wally ran out as well, leaving the Titans alone for the time being.

"Well, that was certainly…interesting," Ibn finally remarked, having been silent for most of the arguing, not wanting to get too involved with the family affair, and indeed was slightly confused as to why he was told to remain with the others – perhaps it was because they were a team, and as a team, they had to make the final decision regarding Hex's fate…as distasteful as that was. "We're going to need some way of keeping Hex under control, however…it wouldn't be prudent for us to leave her without some form of restraint…"

"How about a restraint collar or something? You know, to shock her when she runs?" Beast Girl said, considering the question at hand, Hex furiously shaking her head. "Okay, IF she runs."

"Sounds fair to me," Jinx nodded, as did everyone else but Hex, who had a nervous look on her face. "Maybe we can get a really good one that no one'll notice…"

"I'll notice!" Hex protested, giving her mother a worried look, which was brushed aside.

"While you're my daughter, I'm going to let them do whatever it takes to make you clean your act up," the older witch said, sternly, a very serious look on her grey face. Finally, Hex sighed and slouched again.

"…Fine, I'll wear the stupid collar…" she muttered, under her breath, growling softly as she nearly ground her teeth, only to receive a bop on the head.

"Don't grind your teeth; you'll twist them up."

"Mom…"

It was shortly after that that everyone regrouped, Hex still for the moment handcuffed to her chair, until Mercury zipped out of the room, and came back a moment later with a special restraint collar that they placed around her neck – it looked rather like a piece of jewelry, than the device it was. It was then that they uncuffed her, the witch rubbing her wrists as she stood up, a sour look on her face. Then she took another seat, this one padded more than her last one, wincing a bit as she sat on her sore backside, and slouched forward, leaning onto her elbows as everyone else took their seats, her mother sitting next to her, Raven on her other side, and the Titans sitting next to whomever they wanted, while the Devil Hunters, Kiryu and Zatara took the other end of the table, the magician getting the occasional dirty look and heated glare from Mar'i before he cleared his throat, and began speaking, partly to keep things civil, and partly to share what he had learned.

"Okay, well, I've been asking my sources – don't ask me who my sources are…I can't tell you their names or occupations, or I'll be breaking some long-standing agreements my family has – about these demons, and they're connected to some kind of religious movement-slash-cult named the Order of the Eighth--" he was cut off before he could finish, as Nightstar raised her hand. "—yes, Mar'i?"

"I've heard about this cult…I thought it was just one of those new age movements preaching spiritual enlightenment…"

"That's what most cults are like in order to gain believers…we've all run across this before, such as the Church of Sebastian…though now I understand where the name comes from…" Raven cut in, sighing heavily. "I can't believe I never thought of it before – Trigon was the Eighth Demon Lord…I just never took much stock in it, considering how different it was to Trigon's other cults…"

"May I finish, please?" Zatara said, an impatient look on his face. Everyone quieted down again, and looked to him – save for Dante, who simply leaned back in his chair, propping his legs up on the table before them all and reclining, his hands behind his head, a bored look on his face. "Thank you…The cult has been operating for some time, even around the same time as the Church of Sebastian, Blood's group…but the Order of the Eighth was more secretive, until assimilating the members of Brother Blood's cult into them, and taking their place. However, from what my sources tell me, this cult is less about bringing a new heir into the world than actively bringing back Trigon. The heads of the cult are all his grandchildren, taking the places of their demon parents…not one of them is half human…save for the leader, Damien. In fact, he seems to be the weakest of the bunch, only able to manifest the power of flight and super-strength—"

"Better add the Devil Bringer to that list…" Dante remarked, offhandedly.

"Right…anyway, if Dante's finished with that bit of obvious information…no one knows why Damien's the leader, or even who his mother is…he's the only member of the demon family that doesn't seem to have any ties to the others. Uriah, you've all met – a demon sorcerer who specializes in entrapment spells and summonings. He's no slouch in the brute magical power department, but I'm confident his magic is no mach for mine, or Raven's, or even Jinx's." This prompted the pink haired woman to growl a bit at him, prompting him to tug on his collar a bit. "The next up is Astarte, a succubus. From what you've told me, you guys have seen her too…I don't know that much about her, aside from the standard succubus stuff – she drains people's souls for sustenance, usually during sex…she has access to shapeshifting abilities, the succubi brand of magic, flight, and teleportation." Zatara paused, as everyone who was taking this seriously nodded, Hex not doing much more than slouching, and Dante still maintaining his air of slacker-ness. "The other two you haven't met yet, and hopefully won't for a while yet – I don't know if we could take all five on at once. The first is an incubus, a counterpart of sorts to Asarte, named Caius. Again, same rules apply to him as any incubus. The fifth, but not the least, is Xera. She's a full fledged demon-warrior who, of any of the offspring, is most worthy of Trigon's name. She's utterly ruthless, cold-hearted, and is pure evil. The only thing she fears is her grandfather, and since he's dead right now, that leaves us in a tough spot." He paused again, before finishing his exposition with "Any questions?"

Raven raised a hand, before speaking. "If you and your sources are right about this, how could they have remained hidden for so long without doing anything to attack us? Why wait 25 years for revenge on me?"

"Apparently they've spent the last 25 or 30 years planning for this day, trying to bring back Trigon, starting with his imprisonment in Hell, before he escaped through you. When you killed him, their parents changed from trying to reclaim their kingdom to bringing Trigon back to life, terrified of you. I'm guessing their children aren't as smart, since they're so willing to pick a fight with you guys." Zatara spoke clearly, evenly, though anyone with any sense knew what he was saying meant bad news. Then Nightstar raised a hand, a blank look on her face, not trying to betray how she felt towards the magician.

"Do you or your sources believe they have the power to bring him back?"

Zatara sighed, and placed his hands on the table, before spreading them out, and then spoke. "Actually, to be honest, we don't think so. We're thinking they're trying to give Damien Trigon's powers to carry on the family name…and from what you told us, the 'theft' of the Devil Bringer proves this – that special attachment, to put it simply, allows a person or demon to absorb demonic weapons and matter to gain new abilities…and with the energy and weapons they have now, and Samara…well, I'm pretty sure they could give Damien more power than he has now…though I don't know if it'd be on Trigon's level. It would certainly be something to worry about, but nothing we couldn't handle, as long as we all work together. There'd also be their legion of demonic minions and vassals to deal with, of course. That could pose a problem. We may actually need back-up for this job, though it would be wise to save them for when we breach their headquarters. There's just one problem there…"

"And that would be…?" Ravager asked, a bored look on her face.

"I have no idea where they are," Zatara replied simply, everyone slapping their foreheads, except for Dante, who just snickered softly. "That's why I need something belonging to Samara. I could easily do a tracking spell – if they're here, on Earth, it'll lead us right to them, if they're in the demon world, the spell will point us to the nearest entryway. Well, hopefully, anyways. I haven't tried tracking someone through the demon world. I hoped I never had to. I do have some resources there, of course…a sort of inheritance, you could say…" He was mainly referring to his father, John Constantine, who was a paranormal expert and cosmic-level meddler of epic proportions.

"Great. The stage monkey doesn't know what to do…and you expect me to work with you people?"

"Hold on..." Bladefire raised a hand, and looked intently at Hex. "Mar'i, didn't you say Gemini was with the demons in Fortuna?"

"Yes, she was. Mrs. Wilson said she could sense that Gemini was Damien's consort…wait, you mean…?" his twin started, that same look on her face, as everyone else began to realize what Joh'n was getting at. Hex fidgeted nervously, a slight dry chuckle escaping her lips.

"Hex knows where they are…" Raven said, her eyes narrowing and beginning to glow black."

"Woah, hold on there! I don't! I really don't!" The witch shook her head fiercely, a worried look on her face. "Gemini's the only one who does! And they're gonna know you're making me work with you! I'm not any good to you!"

"I don't think so, Hexy…" Ravager said, faux-sweetly, standing up and walking over to the pink haired girl, drawing a sword, before suddenly tripping over someone's foot. She looked at the foot, noticed the platform boot, and followed it up a striped stocking, and growled up at the leg's owner, Jinx. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You honestly think I'll let you torture my daughter to get your information? I may be worried for Samara's safety, but not enough to let you hurt Hex….but she does know something more than she's saying…" The younger witched sighed in response to her mother's comment, and slouched in her chair, a defeated look once again on her pale face.

"Fine…Gemini and Damien hang around this seedy dive in Gotham from time to time…since he joined up with us, he opens portals in space to warp them there. As far as I can tell, Damien has a place in Gotham…one of the Joker's old hideouts." She responded, tilting her head a bit, before continuing. "They wouldn't be keeping Samara there, though…the place isn't appropriate for the setup he needs for what he has in mind…I know he needs a blood pit, a dungeon, a weapons area, and a place to house his demons…"

Raven looked thoughtful, before grinning, very softly. "I know just where they'd be…or at least, I hope I do…"

"What do you mean, Rae?" Jinx asked, using a nickname the Titans always had for the gothic sorceress/mage.

"Zatara said they took in Blood's followers, right?"

"Right…your point?" Cipher blinked, eyeing Samara's mother curiously.

"Simply put…what if it was't just the people they took in, but all the assets?"

Ibn slapped his forehead, nodding a bit afterwards. "Of course…they'd be hiding in one of Blood's 'churches', somewhere in this country. It would have connection to the demon world, the blood pit, and everything else Blood would've needed to start his takeover, so it's only natural that Trigon's descendents would take over one of those installations."

"I'll do a computer search on the Church of Sebastian…" Inferno nodded, coming out of his sullen stupor, a somewhat haunted look on his face, as he contemplated silently the worst case scenario, if they were unable to save Samara from her captors.

"Jeremiah…" Raven reached out, touching his hand gently, causing him to look up at her, blinking rapidly as she distracted him from his dark thoughts. "They won't do anything to her…it's ME they're after…they'll want to trade, if we can't find them…if that happens, I'll gladly take Samara's place…"

"I don't think your hubby would appreciate that, Ravey-poo…" Jinx said, regaining her composure and her humor, smiling somewhat snarkily to her friend, prompting her to roll her eyes. "Why don't we just get as many of the old guys together as we can, and all look into this? That way, we can find her faster…"

"Jinx has a point…" Nightstar nodded, smiling softly as she laced her fingers together. "If we get all the old Titans together in one big team, we can split up and search every Church of Sebastian, and interrogate anyone we find there, until we find the right one, and save Samara. And if we're lucky, they won't know Hex has switched sides, so we can use her to gain easy access…at least until they get wise to it."

"But I'm not that fast! You know I can't run for very long before I cut out!" the witch protested, eyes wide as her mother looked at her seriously.

"Hex…honey…I'm sure Raven can fix that…maybe dampen your magical abilities so you can run from church to church, getting each team in long enough to find out what's up…if that's okay with you…" The look she gave her daughter was full of worry, and a hand went out to grasp Hex's, causing the former Tartarus member to sigh in defeat once more, and offer her mother a weak smile.

"Sure, mom…I'll do it. Anything to make this right with you…"

Ibn noted that Hex had said 'with you', not 'with everyone', indicating that Hex was only concerned with her mother right now, and not the people she had actually wronged during her 'career'; to him, that didn't bode well for the immediate future. However, he wasn't about to voice his concerns publicly yet – rather, he'd wait till he had a chance to talk to Mar'i alone, and talk about this with her. But for the moment, he didn't get the feeling that she was lying to her mother, or any of them, and that she was honestly going to work with them for the moment. Finally, he spoke. "Now that that's settled…I believe we should get to work in our search…"

"Ibn's right…we should head to Gotham, and get in touch with Batman, and meet up with him there. He'd know all the hideouts and everything the Joker used to use, and it would certainly help us find Samara faster," Nightstar nodded, a serious look on her face now. Hex looked at her, and groaned loudly.

"Man…my rep is so in the toilet now," she lamented, receiving a nudge in her side from her mother, causing her to look up questioningly.

"It's no fun being the bad guy, hon. All it gets you is a beatdown, and you're too pretty for that," Jinx said, chuckling a bit. "Why do you think I quit? I had my chance at the big leagues, but I gave it up so I'd have my health and wouldn't spend my old age locked away in some hole in the ground…and if you keep up what you've been doing, you're going to end up retiring in Alcatraz, or worse."

"Right, mom…" she said in that bored voice any child would use when being lectured by their parents, tracing a circle onto the table with her fingertip. Jinx – and everyone else there – collectively sighed, seeing that Hex was going to be a bit of a pain to deal with, to say the least.

"What would our parents say if they knew we were doing this…?" Beast Girl commented, finally, realizing that not everyone's parents would be quite as receptive as Mrs. Wilson was right now…especially her own. With a hesitant exhale, she looked to Nightstar, a worried look on her face. "What if they make us disband the team?"

"It probably won't come to that…they didn't mind so much when we let Rose join, and she's a professional killer…" This earned her another glare from her brother, who she glared back at, good-naturedly. "Hex has the one black mark against her, but she wasn't directly responsible for it…if anyone's to blame, it's Slade." Nightstar then gave Hex a stern look. "And you're going to help us find him as well."

"Great..." she intoned, blandly, a blank look on her face as she rested her right cheek on her right hand. "I get to be the tattletale. Lovely." She snorted, finally, and groaned, her head falling on the tabletop. At first Jinx looked concerned, but realized soon enough it was just her daughter being dramatic…which earned her a kick to the shin. "Ow! Christ, mom!" Everyone snickered at that, while Jinx glared at her daughter.

"I don't care what you think, you're helping them however they ask you to! Otherwise, you behave!" the older witch snarled, while her daughter just sighed and nodded weakly, reaching down to rub her shin.

"Fine, mom…jeeze…" She said, moping about a bit, prompting everyone else to sigh somewhat heavily.

"We have to rely on her? This won't end well…" Mercury said finally.

End Notes: And this is where we leave off. The next chapter features the Titans and their new addition, along with some old allies, looking into things, to find Samara. To find out if they do, or not, keep reading.