"Uhh…" J'onn groans as he wakes up, realizing he is not where he was when he blacked out, but on a rocky world with dark clouds covering the skies. "Raven?" To his surprise, he doesn't speak the name his mind formulates, then he feels the confusion coming from the others. "Where am I?" Raven's voice erupts from J'onn's throat to his surprise as he notices he now has gray-skinned hands and legs as his vision shifts with Raven's movement as she sits up.
"Hmm, appears we have become lodged in her memory." J'onn sends, hoping that his thoughts are being broadcast to the others. "I will see if I can pry us loose, but till then we have no choice but to play it out till Raven or Memory can pull us out."
"Wonderful… half naked and powerless on a strange planet, what's next?" Raven sighs at her own state of undress as she gets up, finding herself standing on a small hill, being only dressed in her underwear only to be hit with a warm blast of foul smelling air. "I suppose there is life here." Raven notes at the smell of heated metal in the air before turning around and sees the dark city that was behind her. "Hmm, doesn't seem to be Tartarus." She manages before noticing movement and instantly drops onto her stomach as she sees movement emerging from the city.
Peeking over the top of the hill she sees two armed and armored men emerge from one of the alleys, both wielding pikes and wearing a strange combination of metal and leather armor, that even from this distance looks high-tech, but still old fashioned at the same time.
"I was certain it came from over here." One of them shouts in a gruff tone, there is a reply, but the wind carries it away.
"Crap." Raven whispers under her breath as the two begin advancing up the hill towards her. "Hopefully some time will pass before they are overly missed." She thinks and waits for them to make it three quarters of the journey up the hill before pulling her leg up under herself to make her crouch and then leap forwards into the closest of the two.
"What the…!" The other one says as his comrade is carried to the ground before Raven lands a single punch to his head. "Die for Darkseid!" He shouts as he brings up his pike and makes a chopping move Raven barely has time to avoid and his friend has none as the blade is buried deep in his chest. The man makes a few gurgling noises before he makes his final exhale, while his comrade retrieves his weapon in time to have his nose broken by Ravens elbow, making him drop his weapon. Raven keeps moving, grabbing hold behind the mans knees and pulls, making him fall onto his back before grabbing the pike and firmly plants the weapon at his throat.
"I am on Apokolips, aren't I?" Raven asks, getting a glare from the man. "Aren't I?" She asks again and pressed the tip of the pike against the throat of the man. Getting a bloody smile from him.
"You will be found human." He says before suddenly lurching forwards, impaling himself on his own weapon before ripping himself sideways tearing his own throat apart, Raven can only watch as he gurgles his last before dying.
"Not… good." Raven sighs in shock at the action. "Keep it together Rae! Can't do anything more for him." Something in her head says, jarring her into action and she begins stripping the man of his clothes and armor, since he is the smaller of the two.
After getting dressed and armed with the other man's weapon she sprints down the hill, knowing she would have to take cover and hopefully be lost in a crowd of people with the scarf she as wrapped around most of her face. "Wonder how I am going to get out of this one?" She thinks as she settles for walking between the buildings. "Think, files mention that those New Gods who have visited Earth carry a portable teleporter-device with them called a Motherbox. Getting one is the priority. Key to do that… find one of the New Gods that have been to Earth." A part of Raven doesn't like that plan at all, the Apokolips kind of the New Gods was never described as charitable or friendly, even Orion is a walking time bomb with that temper of his, and stealing from one was bound to bring trouble, the thoughts just cross her mind as she steps into the crowded streets of Apokolips.
She feels like she walks for hours with no true direction, just walking till she spots someone she could recognize from the files, best of all, someone she would feel reasonably sure of that she could subdue and rob without causing a ruckus. While she walks, she can't help but take in the place and the people that part before her like water around a rock. They are called Lowlies, the lowest part of Apokoliptian society, ill treated, almost bent out of shape by hard labor in this reddish industrial nightmare, smelly, starved and utterly devoted to their masters. It pains Raven to look at them, there is neither any joy or any hope in their eyes, everything they are is for Darkseid, as one of many posters reminds everyone of. There are other slogans written like; 'Hope is a lie!' 'Freedom is servitude!' Raven doubts the Lowlies need to read the banners as they all, man, woman, child and elder all look ready to cower at the slightest sign of danger and all of them quickly look down when she looks at them.
A small plus note is that she gradually feels some of her powers returning as she walks, but only a small amount and her teleportation abilities remain locked down. To her it is a mixed blessing, with her empathy, she can feel the misery of the people that surrounds her, their lack of hope and their pain. And she realizes just what kind of place she had ended up in; a place where hope was physically beaten out of you along with every good thought and deed. And with the realization she knows whoever it was that sent her here must have known this place would be like hell to her.
She enters onto a wider street, crammed with even more Lowlies, but also a group of three gigantic dogs with armed riders sitting on top a short distance away. As she spies them, the dogs all look up as well, drawing the attention of the men who exchange a few words as their mounts begin to growl. "You there! Halt in the name of Darkseid!" The lead man yells while pointing a long spear at Raven, who immediately bolts in the opposite direction, figuring the throng of people would slow them down.
At the shout the crowd immediately reacts with fear and everyone begins running to what safety they can find, turning the street into a stampede with Raven caught in the middle of it as they all try to get away. She only takes a few steps before she has to look behind her to make sure the dogs were being blocked, but to her horror, the beasts and the riders just trample those getting caught in their path. "No." She sighs as she sees one man getting knocked over by the lead dog and then getting stepped on by the one following behind them. Instantly she stops running away from the patrol, instead she starts running against the current of people towards the monsters.
"Ha, it comes on its own!" One of the men shouts happily as they see their target coming towards them, dropping its weapon as it runs.
"Easy meat for the dogs!" One of the others laughs as the crowds part before Raven, having scrambled to the sides to avoid the dogs, leaving a good ten meters of open ground between the opposing groups. It takes only a second before they are within five meters of each other and Raven leaps onto the snout of the huge gray furred hound in the lead and firmly slams the butt's of her balled fists down on the center of its skull. The effect is instant and the beast is knocked out, turning it's charge into a tumble that makes it roll over from the nose to the tail, trapping the rider underneath, while Raven only has to endure being under the snout, ending with her lying on her back.
She barely has time to gasp as she looks up into the descending maw of one of the other mutts before it has closed its jaws completely over her. "Smells worse than Garfield in here." Raven notes to herself as she manages to grab hold of two teeth before the monster tries to swallow her and squash her with its tongue. "Yuk! Time to move." Raven thinks to herself before kicking out with her right foot into the roof of the dog's mouth, getting a high pitched whine out of the dog before she is spat out.
Landing to roll back on her feet, she is almost immediately savaged by the beast as it tries to bite her again, but she manages to grab hold of the canine's teeth and arrest the attack.
"Oh, it's a strong one." The last rider says as he brings his mount around to attack Raven from the rear.
"You have no idea!" Raven growls as he comes within range, utilizing all of her Amazon strength she forcibly swings the hound she is holding around to smash it into the flank of its companion taking both beasts into the side of a building that is crushed under the assault, leaving both dogs lying in the ruins and Raven standing with a piece of the dogs teeth in her hands.
"H-hail Darkseid… bogey in Sigma quadrant... send backup…" Raven hears coming from within the ruins. "D-die for Darkseid!" She just has enough presence of mind to throw herself to the ground at the last sentence before something explodes within the ruins, showering the surrounding area with the pulped remains of the two dog-beasts, their riders and parts of the building.
"League is going to have a field day over this if I get back." Raven mutters as she gets up, her back covered in the remains.
She barely has time to get up before several shrieks is heard from above, looking up, she sees the ones who's making it; broad-shouldered and ugly humanoids wearing green suits with yellow gloves, boots and rigid mechanical wings strapped to their backs. They are on her before she realizes it, bowling into her and carries her into the sky.
"Let go!" Raven growls as she begins struggling against the swarm of parademons, punching and kicking several out of the sky. But she in unable to break free completely as whenever she hits one of those holding onto her, another grabs hold of one of her free arms or legs.
On the thirteenth demon she's sent falling to the ground, the others seem to have gotten the idea and breaks off the attack, leaving Raven to suddenly plummet the rest of the way to the ground, into an arena of some sort she speculates before she slams into the ground. "Gotta thank Bruce at some point." She thinks after her reflexes take over and she turns the otherwise bone breaking tumble into a roll, that only leaves her sore on the side she landed on and dizzy but otherwise unharmed when she collides with a wall. "Ow."
She lies there for a moment before slowly trying to get back on her feet, having to use the wall for support as her world is still spinning before she senses the presence of others. "Doesn't look like much." The voice makes Raven look up to see several women enter into the arena, Raven has read the files on them; the Female Furies, Darkseid's personal guard. In the lead, for now, seems to be the woman known as Lashina, a dark haired woman in a black body suit that only leaves her hair and some of her face visible, her nose however is covered by one of the white straps that circles her body. She is followed by her closest rival Guiliotina, a blond in something that looks like a cross between a white metal plate and a corset, along with tall boots and armguards in the same color, carrying two swords at her sides. To Lashina's other side is a huge bruiser of a woman that is known as Stompa, dressed in various shades of brown, while her eyes are covered with a black visor. The woman called Mad Harriet could be considered a female clone of the superhero known as the Creeper, as she also has yellow'ish skin, green hair and is known to be completely insane. The last member appears to be just a girl of eight, but what Raven has read of Malice Vundabar, she is probably the worst of the Furies. While barely over a meter tall in stature, Malice Is wearing an expressionless face while dressing as Alice in Wonderland; an old fashioned blue dress with a white apron while her hair is curled. However Malice herself is not as much the actual problem, her command of a shadow creature called Chessure that apes the Cheshire cat of the fairy tale and remains mostly as a shadow with red eyes and a huge mouth filled with razor sharp teeth is.
"Well, congratulations Raven, you found the people you were looking for, in spades." Raven sighs to herself as she tries to straighten up, with these people, violence is guaranteed.
"Now now girls, great lord Darkseid has demanded her presence, after being properly… prepared."
"By Azar, this couldn't get any worse." Raven curses as the deep rumbling voice of Granny Goodness draws her sights to the spectator seats, finding the aged but powerfully built woman standing there.
"Go get her girls. Get her for Granny." Granny commands with a smirk.
"Chessure, go fetch." Malice says with a voice devoid of emotion and the shadow beast surges forwards, joining the other furies storming towards Raven, easily overtaking them, but not the strap of white material Lashina whips out from her suit, aiming to have it wrap around Raven's throat, but to her surprise Raven easily catches the fabric with one hand.
"You know, I could come quietly if it means that much to you." Raven says with a flat tone before yanking hard on the strip, pulling Lashina off her feet and through the air towards herself before battering the woman into Chessure, causing the creature to stop a few feet from her in surprise at the sudden meal disappearing thought its open jaws. Allowing Raven to have the time to jump over Stompa who apparently wanted to level her with the ground. Landing again, Raven has to execute a number evasive moves to avoid getting disemboweled by Guiliotina and Mad Harriet. "Key is Harriet." Raven thinks as she formulates a plan, waiting for Harriet to strike again with her clawed gloves.
"Come closer my pretty, ehehehe!" Harriet laughs as she tries to rip Raven's face off with a horizontal slash, Raven counters by halting the hand and shoves Harriet into the path between herself and Guiliotina.
"I think I will." Raven replies before landing a blow to the left side of Harriets head. "Urg!" Raven growls as she realizes that her attack had left her open to the slash from Harriets other hand, having made a three fingered rip in Raven's right flank. "Keep moving!" Raven almost shouts to herself, before both she and Harriet are trampled into the ground by Stompa who hits Raven in the back.
"Lie still and it will be over." The huge woman says as she appears over Raven, raising her large booted foot over her. Raven thinks fast and grabs the foot before its descent can begin and twists it left, getting a muted 'crack' from the limb as Stompa is thrown to the side with a grunt.
"Enough of this." Someone says as Raven gets to her feet in time to have something wrapped around her throat from behind before it's is yanked on hard enough for Raven to be pulled off her feet and into darkness. The constricting material disappears while Raven feels like she is in a zero gravity environment.
"Must be inside Chessure." Raven thinks before she lets loose an involuntary scream of pain as something bites her left leg with something that felt like ice.
"Lord Darkseid wants her alive Malice." Granny's voice can be heard as Raven screams again as something bites her right arm.
"Fear not Granny, Chessure will only make sure she is no trouble." The girls voice replies.
"Right, kid gloves are off!" Raven snaps in a sudden flash of anger as the pain from the wounds breaks the lock that was preventing her transformation.
"Hurp!" Something says in sudden surprise as Raven lets her powers blast out from herself in an unending stream, certain that something had to be holding the monster together.
"Chessure?" Malice asks with a voice suddenly having gained concern for her pet.
There is a howl and a bang and for Raven a sudden bright light as she has Chessure explode from within, getting a scream out of Malice from the psychic backlash. The other Furies just stare at the demonic figure flapping its wings to keep it a few inches above ground.
"Oh dear… Eh… well, go get her girls!" Granny commands as Raven notices the woman having jumped into the arena with them.
"This is more like it." Guiliotina says as Stompa rushes forwards, while Lashina jumps onto her shoulders, using the bruiser as a moving platform.
"Get lost." Raven growls before sending Lashina flying with an impetuous gesture of her hand and a powerful blast of telekinesis, before she meets Stompa in a wrestling match as she digs her feet into the ground and arrest the womans charge without much effort and a few feet of dirt.
"Fun! Fun! FUN!" Harriet shrieks as she leaps onto Ravens back, locking her feet together around her waist and begins tearing at her back, but Raven seems not to notice it at all.
"You are strong." Stompa says through clenched teeth. "But I am stronger!"
"Keep telling yourself that." Raven replies without strain before pushing forwards before following up with planting a foot in Stompa's midsection, sending the woman flying back.
"Lets see how you fare against a true warrior of Apokolips!" Guiliotina snarls as she lays into Raven with her swords, forcing the half-demon to ball her fists and use her arms as shields, quickly earning her a huge number of bleeding scratches from the berzerkers rain of attacks. "Fall!"
"No." Raven growls as Guiliotina's swords are suddenly locked in place with telekinesis along with her hands as Raven towers over her, before bringing her fists down hard onto the woman's shoulders with a sickening crunch resulting in a scream as Guiliotinas shoulders are crushed, leaving her arms to dangle uselessly at her side before she falls over. Raven adds insult to injury as she deliberately plants her foot on Guiliotina's chest as she walks over her to take care of Stompa who has gotten to her feet.
"You know my name doesn't come out of affection right?" Stompa asks before stomping hard into the ground, causing the ground to shake in the manner of an earthquake, making Raven stop to keep her balance.
"I hear affection is a place far, far away from this place." Raven says as she flaps her wings and jumps into the air before flying towards Stompa, grabbing the neck of the woman's shirt and pulls her off the ground before also grabbing hold of her lower back. "Maybe it's over there?" Raven asks before she hurls Stompa away, sending the screaming woman flying over the stadium wall. Absent-mindedly Raven holds a hand up to shade her eyes as she looks after the projectile that crashes through a roof some distance away, only getting her attention pulled back as something wraps itself around her ankles, making her look down to see Lashina sanding with two straps coming out of her suit, one for each arm. "Really?" Raven sighs before she lets herself drop, using only her wings to guide her decent. Lashina only manages to take on a surprised look before Raven's feet becomes the thing that carries her into the ground with a crunch of broken ribs.
"You are no fun!" Harriet shrieks from behind Raven.
"What? Oh, it's you." Raven asks, having actually forgotten the woman was trying to tear her back open before she catches a glimpse of her mind.
"You should be screaming!" Harriet complains and tries again to rip Raven's back open, getting only small rapidly closing scratches for her efforts.
"No, but you will!" Raven growls as she grabs hold of Harriet's legs and forcibly untangles her before shoving one leg behind her and pulling on the other to have Harriet dangle by her ankle before her. "You know, you've been trying so hard to make me scream, I think it's only fair I return the favor." Raven says before grabbing Harriet around the throat then the lower front of her skimpy costume and raises her up to her eye level before pressing her hands together, there is a sudden snap and a scream from Harriet as her upper back snaps like a twig, leaving Raven to hold the limp woman up by her hair. "Consider that payback for the hundreds you've murdered." She growls, reminded of the countless screams and the sense of joy she had when she peeked into Harriet mind, before dropping the woman on the ground and turns to face the last standing Fury; Malice who just looks up at her with tear filled eyes as Raven walks over. Apparently Granny had thought discretion was the better part of valor and left.
"You are a bad woman, you hurt Chessure!" The girl cries.
"So sue me." Raven shrugs before backhanding Malice halfway across the stadium. Malice liked watching her pet feed on those live Lowlies condemned to be fed to it, which wasn't a quick process. There is a loud whine before the sound of an electrical discharge is heard and Raven suddenly has a sense of déjà vu reminded of her fight with Black Adam before she passes out.
"I have it." J'onn announces as he and the others feel they regain themselves in the darkness of Raven's unconsciousness where they all appear.
"So it was Apokolips." Batman thinks.
"Star, are you ok?" Garfield asks as he feels his fiancée's distress as she sinks to her knees. "What's wrong?"
"I… I never knew how… How Raven feels the world. By X'Hal, what kind of place is this?" She asks as she looks up at him and he nods in understanding, he didn't pay too much attention to it, because he had expected it, but Starfire was much more attuned to feelings, and it had shocked her what Raven had felt from that place.
"Batman. This Apokolips, what manner of hell is it?" Hippolyta asks Batman.
"Apokolips and New Genesis are twin worlds, one dark, one light. They call themselves New Gods. Darkseid's ultimate goal is to gain something called the Anti-Life Equation, one that he believes will bend all life to his will." Batman replies as he takes in the expressions of the group, noting how the experience had affected them.
"So another mad god with illusions of his own greatness." Io sighs, getting a look from the Leaguers. "What?"
"Darkseid is the one that's come closest to taking over the world after Trigon." J'onn mentions.
"So a proper threat." Antiope notes. "Why call themselves New Gods?"
"It has something to do with how they believe their planets came to be." J'onn replies. "They have another term for such things as Earths Gods."
"Mind if I ask, but are we getting this bit in real time as well?" Cyborg asks and waves at the surrounding darkness.
"I am unsure." J'onn shrugs.
"Well, I am going to get bored if we have to wait hours… and hungry." Artemis notes, getting a nod of agreement from Penelope.
"Unlikely, when we do get out, only moments may have passed." J'onn notes as the world seems to brighten.
"She's waking up." Penelope notes.
"This isn't good." Nightwing notes as he identifies the blur around them as some kind of prison cell with metal walls. Things gradually clear for them and the world around them seems to be slowly rendered into a clear image. They are in a prison cell, but Raven lies in her human guise, secured to a steel table, her head forced to look up at a machine that looks like a beehive in shape, but with a small white disk at the bottom.
"Not again…" Raven sighs in resignation that her powers were off once again and with the idea of her own predicament. Her limbs were held down with two clamps each and her arms were held in such an angle she couldn't pull them free, and breaking out wasn't made any easier with her head immobilized and that she had one clamp closed over her stomach. She closes her eyes and remains silent.
"What is she doing?" Cyborg asks.
"I think she is praying." Nightwing says grimly as the door groans before it parts in four sections that disappear into the walls and floor letting a weasel of a man in a purple robe enter.
"Desaad." Batman mutters, Raven only sees him when he leans over her, with the table facing the far end of the room.
"Desaad." Raven mumbles flatly. "I suppose I should be flattered."
"Oh the pleasure will be all mine." Desaad smirks as he looks her over. "Do change for me, I am most interested in seeing what you can endure." He smirks at her.
"What is he?" Hippolyta asks Batman.
"Darkseid's chief torturer." Batman mutters. "Nightwing!" He hisses as Nightwing moves forwards and tries grabbing Desaad by the shoulders, but his hands just pass through the man.
"Sorry, you short circuited a few things with that last blow." Raven replies flatly.
"And what a blow it was, we are intrigued that you have already recovered. So perhaps you are eager for more?" He says as his right hand starts to glow blue before he puts it on Raven's forehead. She clenches her teeth and growls in pain as the power courses through her and she strains against her bonds for a few seconds. "Delicious." Desaad smiles as he pulls out a small computer and checks a few things as Raven huffs, not knowing that she now had five burn marks after Desaads fingers on his forehead. "And I will have more." He says.
"Wait." Raven growls and Desaad stops as if surprised. "Do that again, and I promise I will find you!" She hisses getting a smile from him.
"I think it shall be I that find you more often." He says before he administers another shock to Raven.
"Desaad!" The deep shout has Desaad break off the torture in surprise to turn and see Granny Goodness in the door with Lashina and Stompa standing behind her. "Get your grubby hands off of her!"
"But Granny…" Desaad complains as Raven tries to regain herself.
"No buts!" Granny rumbles as she strides inside and again demonstrates the physical difference between the two. "Great Darkseid wishes her spirit broken, not her body."
"But you work with the young, I break the old." Desaad hisses as Stompa and Lashina lean over Raven, who just smiles at the two.
"You won't be wearing that for long." Lashina hisses quietly while wincing in pain from her broken ribs.
"Perhaps. But I'll wear it now just to annoy you." Raven replies, even if Desaads ministrations already had her body shaking and sweating.
"Oh come now girls, be nice." Granny rumbles as Desaad slithers out the door. "After all, she will soon be your comrade, if she survives." Raven remains impassive as Granny chuckles to herself while Lashina and Stompa manages to convey just how much they hated the idea by looking first at Granny, then at her.
"I suppose it's futile to suggest you skip this part and just kill me instead, because I don't do brainwashing." Raven sighs in a flat tone, the others aren't sure if she is playing for time, being overly confident or if she is being sincere.
"Oh I have lost count the amount of times they come here and say something like that." Granny laughs as she leans forwards and rubs Raven's cheek with a thumb. "But in the end, they all love Granny."
"I'm sure they do." Raven replies flatly.
"Oh, they do, don't you girls?" Granny asks the two Furies, Raven knows enough about the New Gods to know Lashina and Stompa along with the other Furies are products of Granny's Orphanage, they would have been growing up under these horrendous conditions.
"Yes, Granny." The two replies dryly.
"And soon, you will too." Granny rumbles before she picks out a rod that's hanging from her belt and turns a dial on it, making the machine hanging over Raven hum. "All we have to do is beat it into you." She smiles as she presses something on the rod handle and a white beam of light comes out of the bottom of the machine and transfixes Raven as it strikes her forehead. "Come girls, she will do fine." Granny says as Raven goes rigid and her muscles start to bunch.
"Please… can we skip this?" The others are pulled out of their own thoughts by Starfire's voice, finding her facing away from the scene and covering her ears while Granny and her Furies leave. Cyborg and Beastboy are quick to crowd around her, knowing she didn't want to be reminded of her own time in Blackfire's dungeon.
"Rae?!" Cyborg calls into the air, just before Raven emits a scream of pain from the table.
"Memory!" Nightwing commands and the image freezes.
"I don't feel well." Penelope mutters at Io, who nods in agreement. "What kind of cesspool is this?"
"We must be within one of Granny's Orphanages." J'onn says in a calm tone to Batman, who nods in agreement as a Memory emerges out of Raven's frozen form. "Where she takes orphans for conditioning and training, those that survive become part of Darkseids armies, the best become his Furies." He continues for the Amazons benefit.
"Those two with the hag?" Artemis asks as Memory forms completely getting a nod from J'onn.
"Sister? Are you in there?" Antiope asks Memory.
"Only a part of us are here, only Memory." Raven's bone dry voice rings in their heads. "You are in my realm, where I may speak with you."
"Aren't you allowed to otherwise?" Penelope asks.
"It is not my function to speak. Mine is to remember, to bear silent witness to what we experience." Memory replies.
"But we can skip this? Right?" Cyborg asks as Beastboy tries to calm Starfire down. "It's a bit much for her."
"I think it's a bit much for all of us." Hippolyta states, just as unwilling as the others to watch everything Raven went through.
"If we could have this in a shorter version." Batman suggests. "How long were you here?" He asks.
"Unknown, we had nothing to tell the time with." Memory replies as the scene behind them fades to black. "We know not how long this session lasted before we passed out." She says as a new scene takes place around them; a damp, foul smelling, dark, steel plated room with Raven sitting on her knees half-asleep with her wrists chained to the wall. "We would be taken here between sessions, we never saw the first room again."
"Was that to keep you guessing?" Nightwing asks, he knew well enough that such a thing would make these rest periods tense as well.
"No, in the waves of agony it inflicted upon us, it implanted a code into our mind that would haunt us in our sleep and aid Granny when awake."
"That creature that claimed to be Granny." J'onn notes thoughtfully getting a nod from Memory.
"What creature?" Artemis asks.
"A mental invader, one designed to terrorize those of our emotions that were deemed undesirable, like Hope."
"It would have tried with Bravery as well, at the least." Nightwing mutters.
"She was not impressed and cared not for its words." Memory shrugs as the door to the cell is opened and Lashina and Stompa enter to drag Raven out of the elbows. "We do not remember eating, the torture was exhausting, sleep draining." Memory says before she follows the trio, and the others follow after her. "We have to remain close." Memory notes offhandedly.
"How many times did you sleep?" Starfire asks, having regained herself, though she honestly wasn't sure she would remain that way.
"9 times that we remember." Memory replies as Raven is dragged up a flight of stairs into a larger room where a round table is waiting with open clamps. "Granny was serious about what she was to do and physically we suffered no strain on our body. Our mind, however… that was harmed, greatly."
"Get her ready girls, we are almost done." Granny says from behind a console where she appears to be programmings todays session, the two drag Raven over to the table and secures her on it, leaving her stretched out like an X. "Leave us."
"Yes Granny." Stompa mutters as the two lower their heads and leaves with the doors closing behind them.
"Granny had been muttering her frustrations about what she considered lack of progress with us."
"I am irritated Little One, Granny gives you all this love an attention, yet you give Granny nothing back?" Granny sounds hurt by the tone in her voice. "What is it inside of you that resist us so when you must know hope is a lie, that resisting us is futile?" She continues as Raven remains quiet. "Well, Granny will find out today. And then Granny will open you up to our love." She says as the table opens two panels where a pair of halves of a helmet rises at the end of robotic arms before they close around Raven's head covering her ears and eyes, while a screen is lowered from above. The others notices that Granny's movements become more stilted and the world becomes slightly blurred.
Raven's body jolts as the machine is turned on and the screen turns black. "Hmm." Granny hums.
"We cannot tell you, we cannot see yet." Memorysays.
"Ahh, so strong, but so riddled with flaws. Granny has found an unpolished gem indeed." Granny smiles.
"Doesn't she ever get tired of her own voice?" Io asks.
"Oh… Yes, there it is. Let Granny play with that." Granny says as the screen shows a towering silhouette of what can only be Trigon, only his eyes shine red.
"What is she doing?" Cyborg asks.
"I believe…" J'onn starts as the image on the screen gradually changes into the silhouette of Darkseid. "She is tampering with Raven's memories."
"Now… instead of resisting, you will adore and worship him." Granny says as the machine starts to hum.
"Grrr…" Raven growls as her spirit rises to do battle once more.
"Oh no Little One, you will break." Granny rumbles as she turns a dial and the machine hums louder.
"Keep fighting her Raven!" Beastboy calls, his instincts to help her tempered by knowing this wasn't real, but in fact a memory of a hellish computer game that Granny was playing in Raven's head.
"You will break." Granny continues as she turns the machine up on a higher setting, getting a groan out of Raven. "You will break!"
"No!" Raven hisses between clenched teeth. "My… mind… my… rules!"
"Your mind? Your mind belongs to… Darkseid." Granny growls as well as she turns the machine to full capacity getting a scream out of Raven. "YES!" Granny shouts as if she had succeeded and the image on the screen clears to be that of Darkseid.
"NOOOO!" Raven screams as most of the helmet is blasted off her face and a dark wave of power blasts out of her, causing the machine to short circuit and go out while pushing Granny over. "Hrr…" The group of spectators looks at Raven as she slowly looks up again, her eyes blazing red, her teeth sharpening and her skin slowly turning red before she starts to pull at her restraints that groan with her efforts.
"Oh dear…" Granny notes from the ground before she gets up and runs to the door as Raven gets her left arm free as her horns start to grow. "Open this door!" Granny demands, but the doors remain closed. "Open! Granny demands it!" She batters her fist against it as Raven falls to the ground while her tail and wings form. "OPEN!" She shouts desperately as Raven stands up to her full height and draws a deep breath as if she just woke up, then she suddenly roars at the ceiling at a deafening volume before she turns towards Granny who looks trapped against the door.
"You… You, tried to remove us from our daughter!" Raven speaks with a weird double voice, one is clearly Raven's, the other is far deeper, more narsal, the Titans still hear it in their nightmares when they first heard it. "Sought to replace us! Curb us!" She spits as she steps towards Granny.
"Eh… Now, now, we… we were only trying to make you care for us." Granny's stammered response is met with a deep growl of dissatisfaction from Raven.
"Care for you?" Raven hisses. "Yes… you did." She continues as she stops before Granny who slowly holds up her hands before she is lifted up to Raven's eye height. "Let me… show you, how much I can love you." Raven growls as she leans in close to Granny's face before pulling back, muttering something in a language that sounds more like rumbling and growling for a moment as her right hand glows red.
"Stop!" Granny cries as Raven stops mumbling and slowly raises her hand to touch Granny's face. "Don't!" Only to hold it right before her and the glow slowly fades, though the others can see it goes somewhere else.
"Why should I? Orphan Breaker?" Raven whispers before her tail, that heavy bone spike, now glowing red, darts forwards from under Raven's right arm, through Granny's chest and into the door with such force and speed that it's bent and torn from the wall and pushed into the hallway before them, where a number of Parademons, some regular human-looking guards along with Lashina and Stompa were trying to get in.
"Oh crud…" Stompa mutters as Raven pulls her bloody tail free of Granny's swiftly rotting carcass.
"She… She killed Granny." One of the humans mutter in shock as Raven steps into the hallway.
"Come then! Make up your mind." Raven rumbles as she gestures for them to attack her as her eyes burn with power.
Stompa rushes forwards, trying to tackle Raven again, hoping she would be weakened by her stay here. "Die for Darkseid!" But Raven grabs her again and easily arrest her charge.
"No, just die!" Raven rumbles before they are all washed away by the power emerging from Raven's burning eyes.
The spectators reflectively cover themselves at the flash of red light and the roar of the blast. As their vision clears, they see what Raven had done to them all; rendered them all into stone along with parts of the hallway. And Raven just stands there, looking at them.
"What are you doing?" Batman asks Memory, Nightwing guesses he had completely detached himself from the events to remain objective and observant.
"We are thinking, assessing the situation." Memory replies calmly. "We saw no Motheboxes on these, our powers aren't sufficient to take us home. And… we are being flooded with the taint of Apokolips, the rage, the pain, the despair and the hopelessness of this place." She continues as an alarm starts somewhere. "We realized we had only one thing we could do. We would not be captured again to be enslaved, we could not hide as they would find us and we had no aid to call upon. We had to fight, till we found a Motherbox… or died. We decided, that to hope and die in this place without hope, was better than live enslaved without it." She finishes as Raven looks to the ceiling before looking down again with her eyes dimming their light. "Regret, for what will be lost, for what has already been lost and for what has been accepted." Then she looks up again, her features hardening before her eyes carve her a path to the surface to which she rises.
"What have you lost?" Hippolyta asks as they follow her up, for the first time feeling like they were in an animated world as they didn't move to follow.
"The purity of our soul, forever it will be lost by our actions here. And accepting what we truly are." Memory replies as Raven emerges from the vast underground complex and looks at the surrounding area, one of an endless number of industrial sectors, before she takes off to fly across the city. "In this awful city, there is no hope here, no will to make it differently, there is nothing other than Darkseid. The gutters are full of blood and the bodies of those who have given their all, and Darkseid cares not who they were, only that they lived and died for him." Memory continues dryly as the city passes under them, with the Lowlies pointing at her when her shadow falls on them. Up ahead are three massive chimneys that rise into the sky, from their base rise a small swarm of creatures.
"Jockies! Die for Darkseid!" One of the insane metallic creatures shout as the group flies towards Raven, who continues on as a shield forms around her. As the creatures impact against the barrier, they explode and Raven passes straight through them all and leaves their ruin to fall to the ground as she passes through the chimneys and finds something she had been looking for; one of the endless number of statues of Darkseid that were to found across Apokolips.
"We thought it convenient that this one bordered one of the training fields." Memory mentions as Raven lands on the statue's shoulders and looks at the field beyond it, finding it in the midst of a pitched battle between two small forces that appeared to be using live ammunition. Raven extends her hand towards the armies and her eyes glow for a moment before she flies towards the groups that cease their actions.
"Soldier, where am I to go? I seek a Motherbox." Raven says as she lands before one of the men on the front line.
"You must be issued a Motherbox from great Darkseid himself Ma'am?" The enthralled soldier replies stiffly as he salutes her.
"So only those worthy may carry them?" Raven asks.
"Yes Ma'am." The soldier replies.
"Hmm, and where may I find one of these worthy today?" Raven continues as the others stand staring off dumbly into the distance.
"I don't know, Ma'am, I am but a simple soldier." The man replies, making Raven think there might be something else she could use the man for, before she invades his mind to find it.
As he falls to the ground she looks up and calculates how far away the armory would be before she take off and lets the others fall asleep.
"We figured there might be something of use in such a place, a weapon we might intimidate a possible carrier of a Motherbox with, if we weren't lucky to find one there." Memory adds as they fly over some other buildings and towards the large square bunker that houses the walled off armory. She barely gets over the surrounding wall before the armory explodes, taking the entire area with it and sending Raven tumbling backwards through the air before she can stabilize herself to see the debris fall.
"Not good." She mutters to herself.
"We assumed now that Darkseid, or someone else of high rank was watching." Memory adds as Raven looks around herself for an observer, but under her the building erupts as well, slowly followed by the rest of what appeared to be a military base.
"What are they doing?" Io asks as the Amazons see tiny figures being caught in the inferno.
"It is the way of Darkseid." J'onn mutters in lamentation as Raven draws dark power to her.
"Stop!" She commands and lets loose the power to quench the fires. "Show yourself!" She shouts at the sky.
"But what's the point?" Antiope asks seeing Raven being left completely unscratched.
"He's trying to unbalance her, maybe even draw out the worst in her." Nightwing replies as Raven takes to the skies again, seeing several specs on the dark horizon approaching her position.
They are still specs when they start shooting at her, though she is a small target and she immediately starts flying towards them, while dodging and weaving between the blasts till she reaches the box-like ships. She leaves them alone while she aims for the one at the back. Her powers peel it wide open, making it possible for her to get inside, the men offer her no challenge as they are all hurled around the bridge, leaving her to face the captain; a short man in a red army uniform with a monocle over one eye, the one she had been seeking.
"So Virman, are you going to blow up on me like everyone else seems to do around here?" Raven asks as she pushes him back into his seat. "Or are you fond of living?"
"I…" He manages as Raven feels a tiny bit warmer and instantly forces time to slow it's pace for her, she still hadn't completely mastered that skill yet, but she was getting better at it. She turns to see the floor starting to deform as something beneath their feet had been triggered. She doesn't have the time and she instantly grabs everyone she could see and sense on the ship and teleports them all to the ground before time resumes its normal pace and they hear the blast of the ship. "…Verdamt." Virman mutters as she holds him up to her eye height before her mind invades his.
"Your boss has confidence, of that we are certain." Raven says as she pulls back and drops Virman on the ground, now sporting a nosebleed. "Confiscating every Motherbox you people carry, knowing I'd break free, forcing me to come to him to find out where they are." She growls to herself in irritation. "Fine. But I think you should remember this day Virman, because after his day, things here will not be the same." She says as she eyes the sweating man before she takes off into the sky.
"Wait, all of this was planned and prepared?" Penelope asks as Raven flies just below the clouds.
"It seems so." Hippolyta replies with a hardened voice, feeling disgusted by the callous manner Darkseid was expending his minions. "Perhaps we should only be fortunate that she makes it back?"
"But what did she have to do to get here?" Nightwing asks, knowing it was the same question most of them had been speculating. "What are you thinking here?" He asks Memory.
"That this would most likely be the last good thing we would get to do. And that there was no longer a reason to not give everything I could to try and win. That it was time… for us to be the monster." Memory replies, but the pause gives them all the hint that 'monster' wasn't the word Raven had used.
"Here we are." Raven says to herself as she looks at a what she thinks looks like a massive conical stepped pyramid, nothing on the outside makes it look any better than the rest of the place, but Virman clearly identified it as Darkseid's current residence. "And he's home." She mutters as her senses probes the structure, the spectators receive a small glimpse of how Raven sees the structure. They see the tiny specs of different colors, going far under the ground and all staying clear of the central chamber where a black void seems to fill the place. As they look, two red eyes rise from the void and locks with Ravens. "You wanted me here, come out." She hisses, but receives only silence in reply. "Fine." Raven replies as their sights return to normal after seeing some of the specs vanishes. Her right hand burns with power before she swipes it at the palace, taking most of the façade with it, leaving all of the levels above ground open as Raven glides down towards the void.
The spectators have another brief glimpse of how Raven sees the world when they lay eyes on the throne and the silent figure of Darkseid sitting on it. Batman notes how Darkseid now seemed to be without the Brainiac-enhancements he had last time, but then he notices how Darkseid seemed like a giant shadow to Raven, far larger than his physical form implied and how the shade seemed to freeze them all. Next to this monster, Kalibak seems to fit his demeanor of a beaten dog as he hunches besides his father, obviously more intimidated by the display of power than his father was.
That doesn't stop the brute from rushing Raven, who could feel he was far more afraid of Darkseid than her. She knows he is powerful, nearly as strong as Superman and nearly as durable and he raises the rod he always fights with, but she has no interest in him and even less in fighting him. And his charge carries him through her soul-self and out the other side to have him tumble over the edge of the opened palace, leaving Raven alone with Darkseid. "You prepared to lead me here, and here I am; why?" She asks, her body tenses, weary of a potential ambush.
"You are here for this." Darkseid replies with the calm rumbling voice before he picks out a small metallic box from beside his throne that 'pings' in reply as he holds it up.
"I am." Raven replies, knowing it is a Motherbox. "But I doubt you are just going to hand it over." She says as Darkseid just huffs and closes his hand over the box before crushing it and lets the bits fall to the ground before he rises from his seat.
"I cannot permit something like you to remain free." Darkseid says as his own eyes glow red. "And contest my rule of Apokolips." Raven holds up a hand.
"I am not here by choice Darkseid, you know that much. As little as I desired to come here, I have even less interest in contesting you rule of it." She says but Darkseid just huffs disdainfully before his dreaded Omega-beams are unleashed, Raven's own beams are unleashed in the same instance and the two pairs of crisscrossing beams meet in the middle, causing a loud bang and shakes the structure. They both stop in slight surprise, but Darkseid recovers faster and fires once more. The short blast sends Raven onto her back with her head dangling over the edge, before she realizes it, Darkseid is closing in on her.
"You don't understand. They have seen you now, they have felt your presence here." He says as he enters her field of vision before a heavy foot is brought down on her chest to pin her in place. "You will be seen on your knees before me, or you will be destroyed." He rumbles.
Even as she wonders who he is talking about, she flips her legs up, knowing Darkseid made a mistake by pinning her here, and kicks him hard in the back. As he stands leaning slightly over her, he is sent tumbling head first over the edge, followed by Raven, who has his boot dragged over her face. Darkseid lands hard on his back, while Raven manages to break her fall with her wings spreading and twisting enough to land on her feet.
"RAH!" She barely has time to get her bearings before she assaulted by Kalibak once more, and feels the full force of the brute's baton, that sends her flying into the palace to collide with a pillar near the back. Kalibak leaves his father to get back on his feet as he runs after her, finding her getting back up as well.
"Cowardly, opportunistic, foolish." Raven hisses as he comes within range for her to leap at him, tackling him to the ground. "You must make your old man proud." Raven just lets the surprise play across his face before she brings her forehead down on his broad nose, breaking it and shaking the ground under them before he kicks her off.
She bounces back onto her feet to meet his charge, she knew well enough from the League that Kalibak was willing to do anything to please Darkseid, but that always proved to be an immense disappointment. She phrased the words carefully, because she knew Darkseid himself had said them, but to Orion, and that they would be like a finger in an open wound to Kalibak. She knows she can't take forever to dispatch Kalibak, his father will be back on his feet by now, so instead of trying to match his awesome strength, she parries his blows before landing her own in places that would hurt. A blocked blow to her head, results in a thumb thundering into the spot where his kidney should be. A low blow against her midsection results in a heavy blow against his right ear that has him staggering. Then he leaps at her in desperation, only to be caught by the arms, swung around before being smashed into the ground twice and buried under the thick stone ceiling she brings down on top of him. Just in time for her to bring up a shield as the Omega-Beams find her again as the owner slowly walks towards her.
"I know of you; Raven of Earth." Darkseid rumbles as she strains behind her barrier. "The Gem of Trigon, a tool, a means to an end, a servant. Without him; you are nothing. Serve me and you will know glory."
"I know glory!" Raven growls, figuring he was trying to bait out Carnage who would bend to him if he beat her. "There are people who have chosen me for glory." She says before she draws more power to her to push Darkseid back. "And they didn't need to have me beaten, terrified or enslaved. But entering such service requires free will, something you would know nothing about!" Raven says before it is her turn to fire at Darkseid, who growls in annoyance as he is struck in the chest before a shield of electric power springs to life around him.
"Nothing is all that will remain of you." Darkseid replies before he fires once more, his beams passing through his own shield, but forcing Raven to reform hers and stop her own, but it is not enough and she screams as the beams strike her chest. "Nothing is all you will ever be." Darkseid continues as he walks towards her as she falls over, while he keeps firing as she is writhing on the ground in pain before he stops both and lets her flop onto the ground with smoke rising from her.
"Nothing?" She asks wearily, though she is reaching out, drawing on whatever power she can find in this place. "I am many things Darkseid. Friend, ally, sister, teacher… I am none of those things here." She says as Darkseid powers his eyes up again, preparing the killing blow. "Here I am only one thing. Here I am The Queen of Hell!" She shouts an unleashed the power she had gathered into a tremendous blast of dark magical and empathic power, tearing much of the palace away as Darkseid is sent flying with it.
Darkseid rises again from the ruins of a building next to the palace in time to see it slowly collapse and Raven flying clear of it and towards him. He fires once more, but Raven teleports before they reach her, making the beams twist and turn around before they head back towards Darkseid, where they simply turn to avoid him and instead hit the stone Raven has risen into their path before they can reach her. She teleports again, rapidly from place to place to prevent Darkseid from getting a clear shot at her or a clear idea of her pattern. When she finally teleports behind him to strike, he still manages to block her, before his massive fist thunders into the side of her head.
She falls to the ground, realizing Darkseid was not only extremely strong and durable, he was also inhumanly fast and he could clearly track her movements, then she has to fire again before she even hits the ground to counter Darkseid's shot. The resulting pressure wave throws her backwards in a tumble she manages to teleport out of sight before Darkseid can take another shot at her.
She takes the chance when she sees he had landed on his stomach and was looking down while rising and hurls herself towards him. He sees her in the instant before she rips the air in front of her, her claws rip open the flesh above his eyes while her fingertips burn at the touch of his eyes before he batters her into the ground beside him. "AAARRRGGG!" Darkseid screams as he clutches his wounded face. "What have you done?!" He demands. "I can't see!"
"Good." Raven huffs as she gets up while keeping an eye on him, leaving her blind to the massive slab of the palace that lands on her, burying her beneath it.
"Father!" Kalibak shouts as he runs towards Darkseid, followed by several men carrying either weapons or boxes.
"Kalibak?!" Darkseid rumbles as he straightens up. "Where is she?!"
"I…" Kalibak starts as he points at the slab of stone he threw at her.
"I am right here." Raven's voice rings in Darkseid's head. "You say you know me, Darkseid, then I am sure you know what I am capable of, what manner of weapon I can bring against you."
"Where are you?!" Darkseid demands while looking around himself while his minions look to each other, unable to hear the voice.
"I am everywhere." She replies. "I am working my way into the minds of everyone on Apokolips. Tell me Darkseid, what price are you willing to pay to stop me from sharing my love, my hope and my free will with them? What do you think will happen, if I take away the fear they have of you? I do not belong here, you know that, let me leave and you can keep your world. Your minions need not even see any more of me."
Darkseid clenches his jaws in anger while his minions stay back, unsure what was going on. "A Motherbox you halfwits!" He growls at them.
"Sire." One man says quickly as he kneels before his lord, holding up the square metal box. Ping.
Darkseid takes it from the man who immediately scrambles backwards, fearful of his lord, while Darkseid holds the Motherbox up to his face. Ping! Ping! Ping! The machine bleeps for a moment before Darkseid discards it, then turns and leaves without another word, slowly followed by his minions. Almost ten minutes pass before Raven slips through the stone that had covered her, takes a careful look around to see if anyone was near before she emerges and hurries to pick up the Motherbox. Ping. "Now I just have to figure out how to operate it." She thinks before she realizes that the little machine is reaching out to her, talking to her in a way and she tries to convey her wish to have a boomtube opened back to Earth. The air pulls at her before the sound of thunder rings across the skies as the portal opens before her. "Easier than I thought." Raven mutters and makes to step into the portal before something comes the other way.
"HA!" Raven is caught completely off guard as Darkseid nearly leaps out of the portal and smashes her into the ground with a double fisted blow to her head. "You will not threaten me!" He shouts before the ground shakes with the blow delivered to the back of her head, she teleports aside before he can land another.
She appears in the air above him, seeing the boomtube portal close, making her realize the truth as she then looks into his eyes; her head is pounding, she is trapped on this hellish world and the only way she was going to get home, would be to go through Darkseid.
"Then so be it." She mutters to herself before she leans forwards and descends on him with a screech. He catches her charge and tries to throw her, but she hangs onto him and manages to land on her feet before she lands a blow to his chin that staggers him. The two then engage in a brutal fist fight where they seem physically equal, to Ravens irritation Darkseid doesn't have a human body and many of her strikes that would have incapacitated a human, Tamaranian or even a Kryptonian are shrugged off without a grunt by Darkseid. They hurl magic and energy at each other, either doing very little damage or none at all as shields spring to life to protect them both. Even manipulating time itself doesn't help her as he simply breaks the locks on himself. And while they strike their blows physically, they are at war on other levels as well, mentally, spiritually and levels known only to gods.
Their battle has its consequences to the landscape that is struck whenever they miss each other, and it is not helped when they hit each other so hard that they move into other sections of Apokolips, like this they manage to demolish most of Darkseid's vast palace complex and devastating the region surrounding it before they exit out the back of the palace ruins and fight each other towards one of the enormous Fire Pits that can be seen from space.
Darkseid keeps pushing and punching her towards the Fire Pit, which she tries to keep away from, whatever kept the pits burning, she wasn't sure she could survive it. She manages to teleport behind him and goes on the offensive, wanting to see if he feared the Pit as she did, but he doesn't appear to be concerned. And then she realizes, he allowed her to teleport behind him and send him towards the Pit and she realizes this as he hurls her through the wall that surrounds the Pit, leaving her to fall into the fire with a scream. Darkseid looks at the hole for a moment before he straightens up and reasserts himself, confident that it was over.
Just as he thinks this, Darkseid is thrown to the ground as something happens within the Fire Pit that shakes most of the region, then a black blast erupts from the pit, knocking over the surrounding wall as Raven blasts towards the dark skies. Some of her skin is still burning, making her easy to see for everyone on the ground. The observers can see that partly, this wasn't their Raven any more, it is Trigons Daughter, dark power now radiates off her form like some black star, then they see her stretch her arms towards the skies that roar in response as a voice enters their minds. "I am Raven, I am the End of All Things Mortal, witness my power!" Panic erupts below as the ground is bombarded indiscriminately with bolts of lightning from the sky that pounds buildings into dust as hurricane winds kicks up and the ground itself starts shaking and breaks apart.
The Master of Apokolips sees her as well and knows he has to do something, the Fire Pit had clearly pushed her beyond a threshold. And he can feel it in his being, she would destroy herself and his entire planet before bowing to him. What was seen now was only a small part of the damage she was doing now, her powers were seeping into the very core of Apokolips, choking the fire within while ripping at the crust above it.
He fire's his Omega Beams at her, only to have the meet her own eye beams. As the catastrophe continues around them, Raven slowly descends from the skies towards Darkseid both of them continue to pour power into the beams, uncaring how the rocks were beginning to melt at the meeting point between them. Their own forms catch fire as they close the distance between them. Darkseid then tries to open a boomtube right as Raven sends forth her Soul -Self, but the strain of the battle and the current situation causes him to make a mistake and it opens right where their beams meet, only two meters between them, and right in the center of the Soul-Self.
For the spectators time seems to slow as everything they can see is slowly pulled towards the meeting point, as if a black hole was opening. Darkseid and Raven are pulled off their feet as well, but as Darkseid manages to dig his fingers into the ground, Raven only manages to bury her claws in his leg. Then everything speeds up and buildings, huge rocks and people come flying towards the portal. They can see Raven's grip slipping as her claws open up more of Darkseid's leg.
He turns and looks at her, as she looks at him, both burning with hatred of each other. "Come at me and mine again Darkseid! AND I WILL KILL YOU!" Raven roars in a distinctly male voice before her grip slips and she falls into the glowing portal. As if it was waiting just for her, the portal immediately ceases its pull, only to replace it with an immense blast of white light that blinds them all.