*Ta Daaaa! Chapter 5! R&R and let me know how I'm doing!
Raven stared at her brother for a moment in shock and horror, unable to think. Finally she managed to force out a phrase. "...how could you let me leave...you knew the Demon Hunters...my friends..."
"I did what I had to do to protect you," Cobra said, leaning back again.
"Do you know what they could do to earth?" Raven demanded, anger flaring up inside her. "Do you know what they could do to my friends?"
"Keep your voice down," he urged sternly. He continued, quietly but firmly, "You were wrong, Raven. There is no good and evil in the world. There is just this. Existing. And I will do what it takes to keep you that way."
"No! You took Beast Boy to Trigon's dimension to stop me from becoming a full demon because you knew it was wrong."
"Keep your voice down! I stopped you because you weren't you anymore."
"And what made the demon part of me so different, Cobra? Because I wasn't good anymore."
"That's not the way it works!" he whispered harshly. "We survive, and we make sure the people we care about survive. That's all that matters."
"That is why I left earth! To lead away the Demon Hunters! To make sure my friends survived! You made me believe my leaving would defer them. You manipulated me. And I was too scared to focus and realize what you were doing."
"I did what I had to do to protect you," he repeated, glaring at her. "You would have done the same thing. And for the last time, keep your voice down!"
"Why?" Raven demanded loudly. "Because the Demon Hunters might-" She stopped suddenly. She looked around the small, dirty tavern. The locals were Flogians, four arms, two legs. Slight at best. Many were already staring at them. They were farmers, not fighters. It was a small planet, purely agriculture, but still...
"What?" Cobra asked, sensing an idea formulating in her mind. "Raven, what are you...No. No, Raven, don't."
Raven stood; her eye's flashed white.
"Raven," Cobra warned, rising from his seat, "don't make me-"
"Please," Raven looked down at him, daring him in an even, but malicious tone. "Try to stop me."
Slowly, he sat back down in his chair.
Raven turned around, black orbs of energy forming around her clench fists. The Flogians gasped. Many began running. With a war cry, the half-demon shot a blast of dark energy toward the bar.
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Robin and Starfire ran up the Titan ship, standing defensively in front of Cyborg and Beast Boy. "What's going on?" Robin demanded. He took out his staff as he studied the muscular man and lean woman before them. "Who are you?"
"Move, mortals," the woman said, waving her hand. Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire were swept aside by a strong wind. Beast Boy, however, remained kneeling before them. "Our business begins with this one."
Beast Boy looked up and got a better look at the two strangers. The man was powerfully built, with wide shoulders and abs that seemed chiseled into his black shirt. He had sandy blonde hair and electric blue eyes. He looked to be somewhere in his late thirties.
The woman was beautiful, beyond description. Her perfect figure looked especially slender in the black shirt and shorts she wore, cut off at her knees. Her hair was brown, seeming to shimmer in the sunlight, and there was lots of it; she had already flipped it out of her face twice. She had high cheek bones, full red lips, and the blackest eyes Beast Boy had ever seen. Both were dressed in tight fitted, black shirt and shorts,
"Control yourself," the man said. "There's no reason to make trouble if it is not necessary."
"We should not have to deal with mortals like this," the woman responded. Suddenly, she looked incredibly bored. "We shouldn't have to be on this puny planet. What demon would even stoop this low? To live in this hole?"
"Demon Hunters," Beast Boy breathed. "You are the Demon Hunters!"
"You've heard of us?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow. "Most humans do not refer to us as such."
"They've been warned by the Dark One," the woman said. "Perfect."
Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg returned to the scene. Robin helped Beast Boy to his feet. "What's going on?" he whispered as he lifted the changeling.
"Cobra came to warn Raven that Demon Hunters were after her," he whispered back. "She's gone, Robin."
"Who are you?" Robin demanded again, turning to their opponents.
"You are starting to annoy me," she responded, raising a hand towards him.
The man grabbed her wrist. "No. Don't kill him."
"He is of no consequence."
"Still, we should humor them for the time being." The man turned to the Titans and looked them over gravely. "Friends. You seem to be aware that we are Demon Hunters. We will be glad to explain what is happening and answer any questions for you."
"Speak for yourself," the woman mumbled.
"Is there somewhere more private that we could talk?" the man continued. "Our mission here is of the utmost secrecy."
The Titans exchanged looks. Robin finally spoke, "We can talk at the T Tower."
"No!" Beast Boy exclaimed. He whispered to the Titans, "They're after Raven. They're enemies."
"If Raven is gone like you said," Robin responded quietly, "then our best chance of finding and helping her is to cooperate with them as long as they are being generous." He turned again to the man and woman. "Follow us."
Beast Boy glowered behind the group as they made their way back to the tower.
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Raven stood amongst the rubble of the tavern, watching the towns people run away.
"Congratulations," Cobra said, clapping behind her. "You destroyed some innocent civilian's tavern. Feel better? Not really your thing, is it? Or did I misunderstand the meaning of the word 'good'?"
"One building is a small price to pay for thousands of lives on earth."
"You think destroying one rinky-dink tavern on a rinky-dink planet will get the Demon Hunters to leave earth? I thought you were the protector of right, not stupidity."
"If you didn't think it would work, why did you try to stop me?" she snapped.
Cobra glared at the rubble at his feet.
"The tales we heard as children said that they felt the presence of any demonic activity. If they are looking for me specifically, then they should be coming."
"Then we should be leaving. Come on."
"No."
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"Cobra, those Hunters have Bear and Vixen. I cannot desert them. It's my fault they were captured."
"That's why you've been trying to desert me," Cobra stated. He had felt a sense of guilt in her, but had assumed it came from lying to her beloved Beast Boy. Though that was mostly regret. Her regret was always there, clinging to the air, pressing down on him. Regret and sadness.
"It's not your fault. It's not your fight."
"You know I won't abandon you."
"Go," Raven said. "It's not your fight."
"I won't abandon you!"
She looked him squarely in the eye for a moment as both of them studied each other's emotions. Finally, Raven smiled. "Alright. We're in this together?"
Cobra smiled sardonically. "We children of Trigon always stick together."
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"I'm so tired of this form!" the woman exclaimed, flipping the hair out of her face again as they all stood in the T Tower common's room. "How inefficient it is." Suddenly, her hair began to shift around her head. It morphed into a shorter style, shoulder-length, and bangs formed, wavy, perfectly framing her face.
"What are you?" Beast Boy asked, looking the snarky brunette up and down.
"Sometimes humans call us shape shifters," responded the brawny man. "Sometimes they mistake us for deity. Most often, I believe, we are referred to as angels."
"Angels are supposed to fight demons," Cyborg said. "But, if you hunted demons here back then, why has it been so long?"
"We were elsewhere engaged," the brunette said, looking as bored as ever.
The man continued, "A great demon had gathered a slew of demons and attacked our forces, intending to destroy all of the Hunters completely. The battle has been going on for some time, and still continues even now."
"Why are you two looking for Raven?" Beast Boy demanded.
The man began to speak again when the girl interrupted him. "Why are you answering them?" she demanded. "Let's just find out where she is and get out of here."
"We will be asking them a fair amount of questions in a moment," he answered in a soft, low tone. "If we want them to answer our questions, we must be willing to answer theirs."
"Kill the green one and threaten to kill the redhead if they don't talk, and the masked wonder over there will sing like a bird."
Beast Boy, Starfire, and Robin all glared in response to this statement.
"We were asked to resolve this peacefully, if I may remind you."
The girl rolled her eyes and motioned him to continue in a stiff manner.
The man turned back to the Titans. "We are looking for the demon you call Raven because we are Demon Hunters. I am called Vince in this galaxy, and this is Giselle." The girl, Giselle, gave a mock salute before Vince continued, "We were sent away from the Great Battle to hunt down and kill the Dark One before it discovered its true power."
"The Dark One?" Robin questioned as the Titans exchanged glances.
"The powerful demon that began the Great Battle I mentioned earlier is called Gorin. He has terrorized this universe for many centuries. The Demon Hunters began as a small band committed to stopping him. We were unable to destroy him, but we removed a good portion of his powers. It enraged him so that he swore that through his lineage would come a demon unlike any other, more powerful than we could hope to imagine.
He escaped us. Since then, he has fathered many demons, which have gone on to breed, multiplying faster than we can keep up with. Luckily, as the heritage passes on, the demons fostered are remarkably less powerful than he was.
We knew Gorin's prophecy would come true. He had used a spell to bind his words. So, our job became to hunt down every demon we could and destroy it. Since then, this demon that is supposed to come forth has been referred to by us as the Dark One. Our goal is to destroy it before it learns of its true powers and abilities. We have been hunting demons ever since."
"...and you think Raven is the Dark One?" Cyborg asked after a moment of stunned silence form the Titans.
"Nothing gets past you, does it tin man?" Giselle said sarcastically.
"But Raven's not even a full demon," Robin stated.
"But she could be," Vince said. "By facing her demonic side, she has the choice to become a full demon, or to become a human. As I understand it, she has faced this decision before and chose to keep both sides. Rather an unusual choice."
"How do you know about that?" Beast Boy demanded.
"Your Raven is not the easiest demon to track," Giselle said with a haughty glance. "We first hunted down her father. Then her siblings. They were more than willing to talk once Vince gave them...a little persuasion."
The Titans glanced at Vince, warily. Beast Boy took in every hard, lined feature in the man's face. And yet, he seemed so kind, willingly answering their questions even though he could easily dispose of all of them. But there was a coldness in his appearance, a line that testified that he could, and would, harm or even torture to find a way.
"Among other things," she continued, "we also know that she has a fondness for you, changeling. That you are romantically involved. If this is the case, then you should know exactly where she is."
Beast Boy glared at her. "I wouldn't tell you where she is if-"
"Beast Boy doesn't know where she is," Robin cut in. "None of us do. She left without saying goodbye."
"You must understand," Vince said, taking a step forward. "This is a demon. She may walk and talk and act like one of you, but in the end, she is no different than Gorin himself."
"That's a lie!" Beast Boy cried.
"We must stop her," the Hunter continued. "Millions upon millions of innocent lives are at stake. We are only trying to protect everyone. It is the right thing to do."
"Protecting everyone is the right thing to do," Robin said. "And we would be glad to help in any way we could. But Raven is not like that. She is a hero, and a friend, and we will not help you harm her."
"Foolish mortals," Giselle snapped. "You claim to act in the name of justice, yet you will not punish one who would destroy everything just because she is a good actress? Because she posed as your friend?"
"She wasn't acting!" Beast Boy yelled back. "She is good. Just as good as any of us, and better than most."
"You cannot insist on this foolishness," Vince said, looking at Robin.
"It doesn't matter," Robin said. "We don't know where she is."
The large man sighed at the ground. "Very well. Giselle," he called.
She smiled wickedly and raised both hands, palms up. "With pleasure."