"This isn't real," croaked Raven as tears slid down her cheeks. "It's impossible," she screamed.
This was the culmination of all Raven's fears and regrets; the source of her darkest nightmares that woke her in the middle of the night, sweat soaked and crying, and silently praying for the images in her head to return to the abyss from whence they came. Now the nightmares had come true. Trigon the Terrible had returned.
"My dear daughter," cooed Trigon in Solomon Grundy's voice. "You of all people should know that you couldn't possibly keep me in exile forever."
Too scared and in shock to move, Raven simply sat, knees to the ground, staring in disbelief at the possessed giant in front of her.
"I have been waiting a long time for this," said the monster, beginning to slowly close the gap between him and Raven. "For the moment when I could properly repay you." Clenching his massive fists and fixing his eyes on Raven's, a murderous rage overcame the beast. "For your betrayal!
The ground shook as Trigon charged the still kneeling Raven, anger burning in his eyes.
Raven did nothing. All feeling left her as she watched the demonic monster charge. Her body refusing to move as she did little more than stare blankly at her immanent death as it closed in.
The beast had raised his hands over his head with full intent to smash her into the pavement when Raven suddenly felt herself being lifted up into the air. Looking up she realized she was in the talons of a green Pterodactyl who quickly brought her to the rooftop of the nearest skyscraper and gently set her down. The dinosaur then immediately shifted back into Beast Boy while Raven resumed her blank staring.
"Raven, are you okay?" asked Beast Boy, full of worry. When all he got was an empty gaze in return, he felt the fear in his heart increase. "Raven, what's wrong?" he said, gripping her by the shoulders. "Raven, talk to me. Please!
A massive thump shook the rooftop and to Beast Boy's dismay, he turned to see the massive Grundy standing a few yards away. The beast charged at a surprising speed, leaving very little time to react. Quickly Beast Boy put himself between Raven and the monster and prepared for impact.
As luck would have it, though, the impact never came. Instead there was a flash of red and blue and before he knew it, Beast Boy watched the gigantic Grundy go flying from the rooftop to the streets below. Relief washed over him as he looked up to see Superman hovering overhead.
"Grundy can be quite a handful," said the man of steel with a small smirk. "Would you mind if I…?"
"Not at all, dude," replied Beast Boy with a thankful smile.
With that, Superman followed Grundy to the street and Beast Boy returned his attention to Raven.
"Raven, it's me, Beast Boy," he said calmly. "Can you hear me?" After again getting nothing, he placed a hand gently on her chin and raised her head so that their eyes met. "Raven?"
Gazing into his emerald eyes, Raven suddenly felt the world come back to her as her mind began working overtime, a thousand different thoughts racing through her head at once. Finally, realization hit her and she knew what she had to do.
"I need to go," she said suddenly.
"What?" replied a confused Beast Boy.
"I need to find out something."
"Raven-"
"I'm sorry."
Before Beast Boy could say another word, Raven was enveloped by dark energy and ported away.
A sadness filled Beast Boy's heart. It had been a long time since he had seen Raven this way. He had hoped she had learned to trust her teammates to help her, but still she seemed intent on leaving them in the dark on certain things.
A deep booming voice filled Beast Boy's ears, and he was shaken out of his thoughts.
"Where is she?" demanded the voice.
Beast Boy turned to see Batman arriving on the rooftop.
"Where did she go?" he said harshly as he made his approach.
"I don't know," replied Beast Boy, a little surprised at the sudden interrogation. "She just said she needed to find out something."
Batman narrowed his eyes at Beast Boy for a moment and then walked past him to the edge of the roof, jumping off when he got there.
"And I used to think Raven was scary," said Beast Boy, attempting to slow his heartbeat.
Grundy back peddled as Superman leveled him with Earth shattering lefts and rights before sending the giant spinning to the ground with a double axe handle, delivered swiftly to the cheek.
As the battle raged, Batman descended from the roof followed closely by Beast Boy.
"So, can Superman take this guy?" asked Beast Boy tentatively.
"He should," replied Gotham's Knight stoically.
"Well that's good, I guess," the changeling said, watching the battle.
A few yards away, the monster was far from out. Quickly rising to his feet, Grundy snatched up an idle car in his massive hands and sent it hurdling towards Superman. With no difficulty at all, Superman caught the vehicle only to be knocked momentarily senseless as Grundy's fist suddenly tore through the body, striking the man of steel in between the eyes.
Without wasting a second, the pale behemoth bent down and grabbed Superman by his ankles. Holding Metropolis' favorite son like a baseball bat, Grundy repeatedly slammed Superman into the pavement.
Superman was motionless when Grundy released his hold. Sensing victory, Grundy snatched Superman up by the cape and lifted him up to eye level as a malevolent grin crossed his face.
His joy would be short lived; however, as Superman suddenly snapped to life, grabbing the beast by his ears and delivering a head butt to its face.
Grundy was rocked. He attempted another attack, but his punch was easily blocked. Superman delivered another devastating punch and sent beast stumbling back several feet.
"Give it up Grundy," said Superman firmly. "You know you can't beat me."
"You are quite right, Superman," replied the brute.
Superman's widened his eyes in surprise. Since when did Grundy speak so eloquently?
"You're strength, Kryptonian, is just as great as your feeble minded enemies believe it to be," continued Grundy. "You are truly the one I have been looking for."
With blinding speed, Grundy grabbed a confused Superman by the throat and quickly placed a massive palm on his forehead. Earth's greatest hero screamed in agony as pain surged through his entire body like lightning.
Beast Boy and Batman looked on as Grundy took hold of Superman. They could only watch as Superman screamed in pain and a mysterious red energy suddenly enveloped the two superpowers.
"What's happening?" asked Beast Boy in confusion.
Batman offered no response, never liking to have to admit to not knowing something. Instead he simply looked on.
Almost as soon as the energy appeared, it quickly dissipated. To further add to the confusion, Grundy appeared exhausted while Superman seemed unharmed.
Beast Boy and Batman watched as Superman then delivered a vicious uppercut to Grundy, sending him crashing to the ground where he remained motionless.
"He got him," exclaimed Beast Boy happily. "Way to go, big S," he called.
Superman offered no reply and simply stood where he was.
Cautiously, Batman approached.
"Superman, are you alright?
An uneasy silence passed between the two.
"This power is quite impressive for a mortal," said Superman, his voice uncharacteristically wicked.
Batman readied himself. This was not Superman.
"Who are you?" Demanded Batman, expertly hiding his dread.
With his eyes glowing an evil red, Superman slowly faced the dark knight.
"I am your end."