140. Mortuana part 9 Final

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".................."

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"Ana??"

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"Ana.........p-please........."

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"A-Answer me..............."

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"I............"

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"I can't see..............."

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"My eyes, Ana..............."

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"They..................they're............"

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"................................."

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"Can y-you see............Ana?"

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"Please.........a-answer me.........please........."

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"P-Please............"

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-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

RUMMMMMBLE!!!!

I marched forward.

Flashlights in both hands.

Breathing slowly....

RUMMM-MMMMBLE!!!

The dark City street around me shook.

I gritted my teeth and teetered to the side.

Asphalt pebbles danced beneath me.

Abandoned cars rattled in the shadows.

Then a clanking sound from above.

I glanced up.

A streetlamp quivered.

I gasped and jumped aside--

GROAAAAN-CLUNK!!!!

The metal structure collapsed hard besides me.

I shuddered.

A beat.

I re-gripped my flashlights and marched forward.

Panting.

My black eyes wide.

Piercing the darkness before me.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

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"Jordan??"

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"Jordan????"

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"There is.......bl-blood on your face....."

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".......oh my god.......your eyes....."

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".......your eyes.....oh god......what did they do.....Jordan......Jordan!!!"

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"Please.........s-stay strong, Jordan........."

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"P-Please....I........I-I..........."

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"Oh god.......th-they're coming for m-m-me next......"

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"Oh god......"

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-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I walked over broken canyons in the asphalt.

I hopped a ravine.

I landed on the other side.

I squatted down.

I held my flashlights out.

Listening......

"............"

Silence.

"............"

A rustling.

Shrieking sounds.

My black eyes narrowed.

RUMMMMMMMMMBLE!!!!

More shrieks.

Scuffling claws.

Pale bodies writhing and slithering.

I took a deep breath.

I shuffled forward.

Squirming things streaked across the bright halo of light eating into the black soup ahead of me.

A few poltergeists even flanked me in their howling migration.

They were heading in the same direction as I was.

The library.

The lich.

The pit.

All parted ways and squirmed so as to avoid my light.

I breathed steadily and kept my pace.

I followed the death march of pale forms shuffling and moaning towards the colder...colder...colder air.

Vapors....

Echoes....

Collapse.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!!

The dark swallowed my dim, bobbing form the further I went.

Cutting through........

-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-

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"Nnngh........."

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"Nnnnghhh!!!!! Nnnnghhhhh!!!!!"

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"Ana?? Ana?!?!?! What.........wh-what are you doing to her?!?!?!"

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"What......wh-.........nnnghh.........wh-wh-what are you doing to her?!?!?!?!"

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"Nnngnhhh-No......NO! Ana!!! Rghhhh!!!! Stop it!!! STOP IT!!!!!!"

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"NNNGHHHHH!!!!!! ANA!!!!!! YOU GOD DAMN BASTARDS!!!!!! NNGHHHH!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?!?!!?!?!?!"

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"NNNGHHH!!!!!! ANA!!!!!!!! YOU WILL NOT HURT HER!!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!!! GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!! LEAVE HER ALONE!!!!!!"

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".............nnnnNNNGHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!!............ RAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAUGH!!!!!.............. RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!! ANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NNNGHH!!!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!!!"

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"RNNNNGHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAA-HAHH-HAHH-HAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!!!!"

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-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I exhaled.

My black eyes narrowed.

I slowed down.

I resorted to only one flashlight in my metal hand.

My flesh hand gripped tightly....cautiously on the hilt of Myrkblade sheathed behind me.

".........."

I crouched in my white jumpsuit and crept slowly up the pale sidewalk.

The library rose beyond a hill of asphalt.

At least....what was left of the library.

The outer ring of the four foot structure was still in tact.

But the center crunched downward like a huge crater.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!!

I shone my flashlight upwards.

Cold mist danced in the black air.

"........"

I lowered the flashlight.

Pale bodies twitched.

Walking hulks of ghostly flesh.

Moaning flesh bags dragging themselves along with hooks for hands.

Crablike creatures made from two human torsos joined together and walking on their pairs of hands while whimpering through sewn lips.

Snakes of dog skin with ivory teeth acting as millipede feet.

A hooded figured hunched over, breathing red vapors, dragging five black-bleeding mannequins by rope nooses.

Leather-winged shriekers with dangling fish-eyes and forked tails.

The ghosts and ghouls and demons formed a pale train as they wandered through the cracked entrance of the library.

I took a deep breath.

I looked up with the light pointed.

My black eyes squinted.

I saw a line of dull windows on the third floor.

"........."

I held the flashlight squished under my right arm.

I fumbled through one of the two belts strung around my shoulders.

I pulled out a flare.

I took a breath.

I clenched my eyes shut.

I looked away and snapped the cap off the flare.

Pfft!!!!

A strobe.

I winced.

The pulse faded from my eyelids.

I exhaled.

I aimed half blindly up at the ledge.

I tossed the flare.

It landed on the sill, illuminating the third floor.

I re-gripped my flashlight.

I took a breath.

I summoned murk into my legs and ran up the building side above the haunted entrance.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

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".................."

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"Jordan??"

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"....................."

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"Jordan......wh-where are you going?!?!"

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"..........................."

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"Wh-What did you do, Jordan??"
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"JORDAN!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!?!?!"

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-T-T-T-T-T-T-

SMASH!!!!!

The dull glass scattered into a thousand fragments.

The flickering light from a flare shimmered down the black interior.

Crunch!!

I landed inside on my boots.

CHIIIING!!!

I held Myrkblade out.

I also held the flashlight out.

I shone the electric lantern down the length of my blade.

A disfigured halo soared down the hallway, ending about four doors down into the darkness.

I breathed in....out....in....out....

I walked forward.

Crunch....Crunch....Crunch.....Pad.....Pad....Pad....

The carpet was dry.

Stale.

The walls were dull.

It was freezing.

Vapor drifted out from my nose.

"................."

".................."

"................."

"..................N-Noir??"

I froze in place.

"................"

I turned and looked behind me.

Nothing.

The flare was dying.

The shattered window-hole was fading.

The dark was all-encompassing.

I heard a few shrieks and cries from the flocks of creatures outside.

Other than that...

Nothing.

.......

.....

"Noir??"

A chill swept up my body.

I swallowed and gripped tighter to Myrkblade and the flashlight at once.

The wound under my right shoulder's bandage throbbed.

"Noir......wh-why did you come back??"

I exhaled.

My black eyes narrowed at nothing in particular.

'.........Raven???'

A pause.

And then.....

"Noir......your voice......I-I can hear it......"

'I don't have a voice.'

My black eyes blinked.

'And you don't have telepathy!!'

"Noir!! You have to get out of there! You. Have. To. Get. Out. Of. There. NOW."

I shook my head.

I clenched my teeth.

'Shut the Hell up! Whoever you are. Get out of my—'

"You're so selfless, Noir."

'............'

"I told you that long time ago. On the boardwalk in Virginia."

'............'

That still isn't true......

"You remember the boardwalk......don't you, Noir?"

'Raven. I had to come back. When you told me that—'

"I knew it! I knew it! Just as I feared."

My face twisted.

'Feared???'

"I'm.........I'm............"

Silence.

Mental silence.

But only for a spite.

"I'm struggling, Noir. I'm struggling very hard."

'Struggling to do what, Raven?'

"T-To keep Mortuana in tact."

'...............huh??'

"I'm consuming the last shield. The shield to fear. I'm still meditating, Noir. I haven't finished......and yet I hadn't started."

'But......that's gotta be impossible to do, Raven! The strain on your mind! Why—'

"Because you're so selfless, Noir. I was afraid you'd come back. And that you'd come back alone. And you have."

'I can't let those twelve people go unsaved, Raven. So help me, I'll risk whatever. It's my job. I'm a Titan.'

"I---"

I took a deep breath and marched forward.

'You're not a Titan anymore, Raven. Do not dictate to me. Do not tell me what I should or shouldn't do!'

"I don't care about what you should or shouldn't do, I only care about what you can do!!"

'Same difference.'

"NO, IT ISN'T NOIR!!"

I winced.

I rubbed my head.

'Raven......'

"Noir, please---"

'Get out—'

"Noir, stop!!"

I halted my steps.

I sighed.

I gripped Myrkblade tightly.

"I......I do not know what I have become. I don't know the logics of it all. I know that the logic exists. I know that I set things in motion somehow. But......but I don't know anything anymore except for what I feel. I've been stripped down to these raw passions of happiness, sadness, anger, and now fear. And I can sense so much with fear......even when I have only half-tapped it. I am extending my essence everywhere at once, Noir. I am in the underground City. I am there with Jonas as he gives his speech to his fellow undead. I am there in the melody wafting out of Dimitri's flute. I am outside with the ghouls twitching and moaning pale in the endless midnight. I am the darkness and the darkness is me. And that darkness reaches out everywhere. As far as death will go. And death goes on for eternity. Noir, I am becoming Mortuana. I am b-becoming Mortuana. But the transformation is not complete. For I must give into the fourth feeling. I must consume the barrier to fear entirely. And once I have done so......the collapse will happen. Mortuana will be no more. For it will have collapsed within me. The Sacred Mother's child. The ending prophecy of these beautifully morose people......"

I took a deep breath.

My fingers played along Myrkblade's hilt.

'All well and fine, Raven. But that is what you set before yourself. In some twisted way......that is what you wanted.'

I pointed Myrkblade and the flashlight forward again.

I marched down the black hallway.

'And this......this is what I wanted.'

"To march into the lion's den, Noir?"

'Raven, my whole damn life is the lion's den.'

"..............."

'Were you going to close the beasts' mouths for me?'

"I.........I can guide you, Noir......"

'You have enough to deal with as it is, Raven.'

I shuddered.

'No need risking the two of us—'

"The only risk is you, Noir. You and the twelve people. Now I am suspending my exposure to fear for a reason. As hard as it is and as much of a strain it is in my head......my withholding is what's keeping the collapse from happening."

Silence.

I thinned my black eyes.

'You're.........you're giving me extra time.'

A beat.

"Stay with me, Noir.........in spirit.........in mind......"

Her 'voice' was desperate. Panting. Tired and cold.

"I will guide you.........I-I will show you where the Twelve are........."

My lips parted somewhat.

"Do you know where the Twelve are, Noir??"

I swallowed.

'No.........Raven.........'

"They are in the pit.........let me guide you........."

I took a deep breath.

"............"

'Okay.........'

"Thank you, Noir. I can't tell you how much that means to me."

'............'

"I'm so scared. Please.........b-be careful......"

'Just show me where to go.'

"Down."

'Down??'

"Wait a second."

"?????"

I stepped forward.

And suddenly....

The light caught a door.

I stopped before it.

I shined the light against the frame.

It read: 'Stairwell. Third Floor. Basement to Fifth Floor.'

"......."

I took a deep breath.

'So far......so good......'

"The pit. You can reach it from the basement floor."

'Thank you, Navigator.'

"Noir......even with emotions.........I don't get humor."

'Then expect everything else but.........'

I jerked a metal hand forward and gripped the stairwell door handle.

I breathed heavily.

3......

2......

1.........

"!!!!"

I yanked the door open—

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

--and stepped firmly out onto the stairwell platform.

"........"

I aimed Myrkblade and the flashlight left.

"........"

I aimed Myrkblade and the flashlight right.

"........."

Nothing.

Nothing but metal railings and cold steps.

Shadows danced before me from the shaky hold of the flashlight in my grasp.

I exhaled.

"You have nothing to fear in here, Noir.........not yet......"

I nodded into the darkness.

I marched down the steps slowly.

My boots clapped loudly.

Echoing against the walls of thin stairwell.

Blackness parted from above and below me as the fish-eye halo from my flashlight danced down the walls before my descent.

RUMMMMMMMBLE!!!!

I gripped the hand railing for a moment.

"............"

A beat.

"............"

I moved on forward.

Boots clapping.

Light bobbing.

Raven.......

"The Lich, Noir.........The Lich is stronger than anything I've ever imagined......"

'Do you know where the monster is, Raven?'

"It is at the bottom of the pit."

'Does the Lich have the twelve people?'

"......it has them, Noir."

I sighed.

I nodded my head.

'I thought as much.'

I descended.

-Second Floor-

"But they are not alone."

'Someone else is there?'

"I......I cannot tell.........the darkness is so clouding. I wish I had my old powers."

'Since when could you talk to my head?'

"Mortuana, Noir. Mortuana and I—"

'Yeah......I remember now.'

"I can sense the nature of things......but not the essence."

'And the Lich is too powerful for you to pierce through mentally?'

"It frightens me. It chills me to the bone."

'What does, Raven?'

"What the Lich feels like. It's almost like........."

'...............'

"..............."

'............???'

"Keep going, Noir."

I sighed.

'Any hints as to what I may be coming across would be nice.'

-First Floor-

"It is strange. It seems as if every poltergeist and haunting in Mortuana is flocking to that location."

'The Library?'

"The Pit."

'Well, I've seen them entering the library. They didn't seem to be paying any attention to me. Something's gotten into them.'

"But Noir—"

'Something tells me they're a lot more concerned with this collapse than I am.'

"Noir......there is at least one that will contend with you."

'Oh yeah? Who?'

-Basement Floor-

I stopped dead in front of a pale door...half hanging off its hinges.

Brown muck was drying on the sides.

A stench liken unto the inside of a tannery filled my nose.

And on the half-collapsed door hung a golden plaque.

It read:

'The Guardian'

"............"

'Super. Lemme guess......does it have three dog heads?'

"Noir......"

'Right. I'm going in.'

"Be careful—"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

CREAAAAAAAK!!!

I pushed the door open.

I slowly snaked through with Myrkblade and the flashlight.

My black eyes darted left.

Darkness and bookshelves.

My black eyes darted right.

Darkness and more bookshelves.

Like black tombstones of wood and paper stretching endlessly in hauntingly long rows......dancing into the darkness.

"......."

I stepped forward.

I shone the flashlight down a row of bookcases.

Dull covers and spines were illuminated.

Everything was still.....stale.....

The air felt dense. Cold....but without moisture.

I couldn't see any semblance of the rest of the basement floor beyond the bookcases....never mind the darkness.

I exhaled.

"........"

Silence.

....

....

....

CRASH!!!!

"!!!!" I spun around.

The uneven door had collapsed behind me.

The golden plaque spun on its end a few times before clattering to a still position.

I exhaled through clenched teeth.

'Son of a—'

"Noir??"

I snapped out of it.

'Ahem......yeah, Raven?'

"It's down there."

I spun around.

I faced the gravestone bookcases.

'The Lich?'

"No...."

'The Guardian......'

"........."

I took a deep breath.

I shuffled forward.

I walked past the first row of bookshelves.

Myrkblade and the flashlight aimed high.

Sandwiched between bookshelves, I slowed my pace.

My black eyes darted around.

"......"

I emerged from between the shelves.

A beat.

I crept through the second row.

'Raven......'

"Noir??"

'Tell me there's something worth looking for on the opposite side of this room.'

"You mean where you're walking to?"

'Uhhh......yeah......'

"I......I-I think it's the pit, Noir."

'You think??"

"I don't know!! I don't know, okay!!!"

I winced.

'Raven......'

"You're so deep down in that library and there're so many spirits filing about that—!!!!"

'Raven......take control of yourself.'

"............"

'You're experiencing way too many emotions. You have to achieve balance. I-I know you can't repress them, but at least you can be selective. Now choose an emotion.........and stick with it. It'll help you concentrate. I promise.'

Silence.

In both contexts.

I took a deep breath.

I shuffled forward past the shelves.

Third row.......

"......."

A beat.

"Wh-What.........What emotion helps you concentrate the most, Noir??"

I blinked.

Silence.....

'I.........I don't know...'

"How about right now? In this situation?"

'Necessity.'

"That isn't an emotion. Even I know that."

A beat.

I sighed.

'Loneliness.........'

Raven's 'voice' was silent.

I raised an eyebrow.

After a while, she conveyed:

"That......that is something I can do right now......"

I exhaled.

I slowed a bit in my pace.

"Th-That is something I can fear."

I bit my lip.

"Keep going straight, Noir. The pit is there. I know it. It'll take you down to the Lich..."

'And the Twelve?'

"And the Twelve."

I took a breath.

I nodded into the darkness.

'Very well.'

"Be careful, Noir."

'I'll be that which I am......'

I crept forward.

I exited the row of bookshelves......and came upon a row of leather sacks.

"........."

I froze.

A beat.

My black eyes gazed around.

The next line of bookshelves weren't exactly 'bookshelves'. And yet they were, in some twisted sense.

Some twisted, hellish, psychotic sense.

The next row was comprised of sacks of bloody leather hung over the bookshelves. Slash marks and stitches and splotches of questionable brown stains covered the despicable bodies. The smell of an inside dead cat floated through my nostrils.

"......"

I slowly turned around. I shined the flashlight back at where I had come from.

The bookshelves were also covered in butchered leather.

"....."

I glanced down.

The carpet was soaked in dark red liquid. It squished under my feet. And where it didn't squish, red rusted metal suddenly appeared.

'Raven?'

Silence.

The smell became worse.

'Raven????'

I exhaled.

I gazed ahead of where I was supposed to be moving.

I have.........jumped somehow...

I took a deep breath.

She's doing her part......I must continue doing mine......

With the flashlight and Myrkblade pointed forward, I padded across the moist, leathery landscape.

A low, gurgling sound filled the chamber. Some unnaturally natural ambiance.

Drops of dark brown and black dripped from the ceiling in random places.

The moist floor squished beneath me.

My flashlight highlighted the inner, red hues of the leather-bookshelves.

I breathed slowly.

My black eyes narrowed.

The smell got worse.....but it was shifting.

Like a tiny wind.

A strand or two of black hair from my bangs twitched over my eyes.

I held my breath.

I passed one row.

Another...

A third.

The floor got more moist.

More and more questionable juices squished out from beneath my boots.

I gripped my hilt and flashlight tighter.

The shoulder-straps of the two belts clung to my body....the one on the right aching into my bandaged wound beneath the white jumpsuit.

My metal arm was fine....for now.

RUMMMMMMBLE!!!!

Drops shook from the ceiling.

I walked through them, slowly....cautiously.

One row after another.

Nearly halfway through the chamber.

I realized that I was surrounded on three hundred and sixty degrees by blinding, bloody bookshelves.

The floor and walls and ceiling had stitches.

Where the leather split, bloody book spines showed....like innards of a hideous beast's organ.

The floor became more and more erratic....with stretches of rusted metal peering up through the bloody, torn leather.

A red glow seemed to be increasingly present as I walked forward.

"............"

I paused in mid step.

"............"

.................................

I peered left and right.

A beat.

Click.

I turned my flashlight off.

It turned doubly dark.....but the dim redness remained.

I let murk pour out from my limbs and eyes and cascade over my body.

I shuffled to the side and blended in with the shadows with a sack of leather behind me.

I slid myself against it.

Waiting.

"............."

..................thrump............thrump............th-thrump.........

I held my breath.

The glow intensified softly.

It felt warm.

Sweat ran down my brow.

My muscles tightened under the white jumpsuit.

The air vibrated.

I tilted my cheek against the leather bookshelf.

Two inches from my nose was a tear in the material.

Streams of red light shimmered through the gash from the other side and pivoted across the air like a passing subway train in slow motion.

I held my breathing.

............thrump......thrump......thrump......th-thrump......thrump......

It was just beyond the suitcase.

It paused for a moment.

It wheezed...snorted...hissed...and moved on.

............thrump.........thrump.........thrump.........thrump......

The red dimness pivoted away.

And faded.

"..........."

I turned my neck towards the far side of the chamber.

Beyond the rows.

I exhaled.

I gripped Myrkblade.

I snuck towards it--

"NRAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!"

THRUMP THRUMP THRUMP THRUMP

Red....more red....a lot of red......

I spun around.

Pale horns and goat hair exploded in my face.

WHAM!!!!!

"!!!!!"

I flew ten feet and tumbled wetly onto the leather floor.

I gritted my teeth, flexed my legs, and vaulted to my feet.

SW-SW-SWISH!!! I twirled Myrkblade into a fighting position. I panted and narrowed my naked eyes.

The creature trotted around.

Both creatures trotted around.

There was one atop the other.

Beneath....

A hairy, skeletal thing with bleeding hooves and a ragged spine. It was a goat....or a goat-creature. Three times the size of any natural specimen....and six times as emaciated as should be alive. The flesh was torn and a muddy ribcage showed briefly under long strands of gray goat hair. The head was simply a skull with tiny scraps of flesh attempting to cling to the horns and facial cavities. Red vapor streamed from the mouth and nose sockets as the goat-thing opened its mouth and hissed intermittently with a crimson glow.

On top....

A woman was riding backwards on the goat skeleton. She was naked...but any semblance of body parts were hidden by the fact that her skin was merely flaps of various flesh sewn and layered one on top of the other with awkward sutures. She looked like a brown salad wrap from Hell. Her lips were sewn together and her eyes were bulbous toad hides that leaked slime. Positioned backwards on the hoofed steed, she reeled back and forth and swung a rickety distaff in her twitching grasp. Huge locks of gray hair blew wildly in a nonexisting wind.

"MMMMMMFFFF!!!!"

I panted.

The woman groaned and aimed its distaff at me.

"NRAAAAAAA-AAAAT!!!"

With a draft of red vapor and steam, the huge goat stomped towards me down the row of leather bookshelves.

THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP!!!

I held my breath.

I blurred murk into my limbs and pulsed outward.

I jumped to the side.

I kicked up off the nearest bookshelf.

And vaulted myself off the next.

SWOOOOOOSH!!!!

I flipped high and near the ceiling as the Guardian streaked beneath me, swinging its distaff backwards and nearly clipping my head.

"!!!!!"

I toppled in mid-air, righted myself in the descent, and landed in a nimble squat on three limbs with Myrkblade outstretched.

"MMMMF!!!"

The flesh-woman slapped her distaff against the goat's rear legs.

"NRAAA-AAAT!!!"

The creature slowed down, slowed down two rows away, and turned around. It hissed red vapors and rubbed its bloody hooves into the ground like a bull about to charge.

I slinked up to my feet, panting.

The creature shook its horns....and charged again.

THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP!!!

I turned and ran.

My legs blurred.

I looked ahead.

The edge of a row of leathery bookshelves was coming up.

"NRAAA-AAAAT!!!"

The air warmed and turn red behind me.

I urged myself forward faster.

As the end of the next bookshelf came, I fiercely jabbed Myrkblade to the right.

THUNK!!!!

I stabbed my blade into the leather divider and yanked on it.

My body acrobatically spun to the right and into the adjacent bookshelf.

The goat rammed the air where I was and stomped out into the space between rows.

SLACK!!! I yanked Myrkblade—dripping—out of the bookshelf. I twirled the weapon and charged the goat when it wasn't facing me.

And I remembered that—though the goat wouldn't be facing me—the woman would.

"MMMMMMFFFF!!!"

It jabbed its distaff at me as I charged.

"!!!!" I slid down and backwards. I was forced to play limbo with her staff before summoning the strength to swing Myrkblade up and deflect the rod away—THWACK!!!

I vaulted to my feet and charged with an upswing. SLAAAASH!!!!

The rider spun her distaff to the right and knocked my blow to the left. CLANK!!! She swung at my head.

I ducked.

I jabbed into her chest.

She gripped onto my blade before it could pierce her womb.

"!!!!!"

"NRAA-AAT!!"

Suddenly, the goats' hooves kicked up and into my torso like a donkey.

WHAM!!!!!

I exhaled and flew back with my blade.

The woman shook and slapped her distaff into the goat's rib cage.

The animal turned around, ground its hooves, and charged at me again.

THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP!!!

I inhaled.

The creature lowered its heads and bore its horns down on me.

I lifted my boots---

THWUMP!!!!

My feet were planted firmly against its red-seething skull.

I was shoved down the row of leathery bookshelves on my back.

My body smoked all over protectively as I scraped along.

"MMMMMMFFF!!!"

The woman stretched around and repeatedly jabbed her distaff down at me between the steed's horns.

I gritted my teeth and twirled Myrkblade upward to deflect the rod.

CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANK!!!

I pulsed Myrkblade into my body, pivoted my body, vaulted up off the horns of the shoving goat, backflipped, and came down with Myrkblade slicing downward mercilessly.

CHTUNK!!!!

The blade slid a good halfway into the goat's skull.

The creature slowed to a stop...shook its head....and pulsed a bright flicker of red vapor.

FLASH!!!!

"!!!!!" I was tossed back across the library fifteen feet.

WHAM!!!

I landed hard on the wet floor.

C-Clank!! My flashlights went tumbling across the chamber.

I groaned.

I stood up in the dark.

"........" I blinked.

"NRAAAA-AAAAT!!!"

I spun around.

My black eyes scanned my surroundings.

I was dimly aware of the creature's red glow two rows down.

But beyond that, I was hard pressed to see anything.

And I was far too distracted to start my spatial sense then and there.

I jumped up to my feet, limped a little to a bookshelf, and reached into one of the belts slung over my shoulder.

I pulled out another flare.

I shut my eyes.

Snap!

Pfft!!!

A red halo against my eyelids.

I winced.

I slowly opened my black eyes, avoiding direct gaze at the flare.

I breathed desperately.....sweating....gazing down the rows of leathery bookshelves.

Again I saw the red glow that was the Guardian's position.

I took a breath and tossed the flare like a baseball with my metal arm.

The brilliant flame shimmered down the rows of leather and landed in the center of the library.

Pulsing.

Strobing.

......

No goat or rider.

"......."

My black eyes narrowed.

............th-thrump......

A red glow from behind me.

"!!!!!"

I spun--

SMASH!!!!!

The nearest bookshelf exploded in a splash of bleeding books and red leather scraps.

The goat charged on through. "NRAAA-AAA-AAAT!!" Its skull pivoted.

SLIIIINK!!!!

A pale horn slid between my jumpsuit and the right-most belt slung over my shoulder.

I was shoved along the library floor, dangling from the horn's twitching head.

Hooves stomped violently at my dragged-lower body.

THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP!!!

I gritted my teeth.

I kicked my feet, avoiding the stomping hooves.

My right arm with Myrkblade dangled in an awkwardly bent direction.

"MMMMMMF!!!!!" the woman shrieked and stabbed her distaff down at me.

I exhaled.

SWIISH!! I lifted my metal arm and held its broadside in the path of the rod's swing.

CLANK!!!!!

Sparks flew.

"MMMMMMMF!!!!" the Guardian struck again and again at my body as the goat shoved me along.

CLANK!! CLANK!!! CLANK!!!

I panted.

"NRAAA-AAAAT!!!"

The goat shook its head and rammed me against a passing bookshelf.

SPLORTCH!!!

Leather peeled off.

I gasped.

RIIIIIIIP!!!

SNAP!!!!

The shoulder belt stringing me to the monster's horn broke off.

I tumbled free, flip-flopping over and past the pulsing flare.

I groaned and stirred up from the floor.

That part of the library was too bright for me to easily gaze around...thanks to the flare.

I gasped and felt around my chest with my metal hand.

Both belts were completely gone.

My equipment!!

I exhaled.

My lights.........

A hissing sound to my right.

I knelt and glanced aside.

I shaded my naked eyes.

"Mmmfffff........"

The Guardian sat backwards on the skeletal goat.

She lowered the end of her distaff and 'dipped' it into the fire of the flare.

Flash!!!

The distaff end caught aflame. It smoked red and crimson. She held it high to the ceiling and eyed me menacingly....her hair blowing in the wrong direction.

RUMMMMMMBLE!!!!!

I stood up...

I glanced down the rest of the library's length...

I glanced at her.

She twirled the flaming, smoking distaff. She shrieked and kicked the steed into gear.

THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP!!!

I gripped tightly to Myrkblade.

The goat stomped towards me.

I stayed still.

The flaming distaff jabbed at me.

I squinted my eyes.

"NRAAA-AAAT!!!"

I held my breath.

I teleported into murk form.

SWOOOOOSH!!! The Guardian rode through me.

I materialized.

Flexed my muscles.

And backflipped.

PLOP!!!

I saddled the rear of the skeletal creature and rammed the hilt of my blade backwards.

WHUMP!!!!

I struck the off-stitched belly of the woman.

I spun with a mute snarl, Myrkblade swinging at the rider's skull.

SLASH!!!!!

She twitched her head away at the last second.

Long strands of gray locks fell to the leathery floor.

"MMMMMMF!!!" She elbowed me hard.

THWAP!!!

I cringed form the impact.

FWOOOOOSH!!! Her flaming distaff flew at me.

I ducked.

She swung again.

CLANK!!! I deflected up with Myrkblade.

"NRAAA-AAAT!!"

The goat skidded to a stop and reared its upper body up like a spooked horse.

"!!!!!"

I tumbled off.

TH-THWUMP!!

I rolled backwards into a leathery book case.

I winced.

"MMMMMF!!!"

The Guardian shrieked as the goat spun around and rammed towards me.

I held my breath.

CHUNK!!!! I stabbed Myrkblade reverse into the bookshelf leather high behind me.

THRUMP-THRUMP-THRUMP!!!

I put my weight on the sword and acrobatically lifted my lower body up horizontally---

RAM!!!! The goat's horns slammed into the bookshelf beneath me.

My lower body came down and planted on the goat's neck.

"MMM-MMMF!!" the distaff flew at me.

YANK!!! I ripped Myrkblade out of the bookshelf, vaulted off the creature's neck, and flipped over the swinging rider's flame.

Clump!!!

I landed firmly behind the goat.

SWOOOOOOSH!!!! The rider angrily swung the torch at me.

CLANK!!!! Sparks showered from the flame and the contact of our weapons.

The wind-blown guardian twirled and stabbed her flame at me.

I half-deflected, lunged back, side-twirled, and slashed forward.

SWIIIIIISH!!!

The rider jerked back.

SLASH!!!

I stripped goat fur and bone fragments.

"NRAAA-AAAAT!!!"

The goat ripped its horns out of the bookshelf and spun at me.

"!!!!"

I tried to duck at the last second.

SLIIIII-IIIINK!!!!

I let out a silent howl and drifted backwards, clutching my left shoulder.

Blood dripped through my fingers. It glowed a bright silver down there.

I gritted my teeth and looked up.

"NRAAA-AAAAT!!" The goat came for a second charge.

I ignored my pain and deflected madly with Myrkblade.

CL-CLANK! CLANG!! CLANK!!

The goat trudged menacingly towards me, pushing me back across the space of the library.

I panted and deflected with whatever strength I had left.

The darkness quivered around us with the alternating strobes of flamelight and red ambiance.

And all the lingered.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!

I sweat.

Salt water mixed with glowing lifeblood.

Rows and rows slithered past me.

And I felt the ground beneath my feet groaning.

"?!?!??!"

Amidst my sword-swinging struggle, I glanced down and back.

A breath escaped me.

The floor fell into utter blackness.

Ragged pieces of metal jutted into the oblivion.

Surrounding the fall in a ring were pale bodies. Naked forms of flesh. Stitched zombies and ghouls and tentacled things. Assorted poltergeists were dripping down from a huge gash in the ceiling and shuffling down into the abyss.

The pit......

And I was being pushed straight into it.

Not yet......Not YET!!!

I hissed and stabbed forward at the advancing Guardian with all my strength.

CL-CLANK!!!

She teetered back.

The goat stomped forwards.

"NRAA-AAT!!"

I stabbed straight into nose socket of the creature and twisted.

CRKKKK-RKKKKKK!!!

Bone fragments and red vapor littered the air.

The horned beast twitched.

The guardian leaned forward and swung her flaming distaff again.

I exhaled--

CHIIIING!!!

I slid the blade out of the goat's skull and swung it high up.

SLASH—CRACK!!!!

I severed the flaming head from the rest of the wooden rod.

The torch flipped through the air and shimmered down the black pit.

The poltergeists twitched, groaned, and slithered menacingly towards me from all sides.

I shuddered.

Surrounded......

"MMMMMMFFFFF!!!" the Guardian twirled her severed distaff.

I deflected the best I could.

CLANK!! CLANK!! CL-CLANK!! SWISH!!!

At the last second, the rider's rod stabbed through. The splintery, severed end sliced up the back of my right hand.

SLIIIINK!!!

I winced and fell back on my rear. I clutched my hand. Shuddering. Blood glowing and leaking out in a river.

And.....

The goat and the Guardian froze.

The closing-in poltergeists lurched to a stop.

Silence.

I panted....panted....panted...

My black eyes widened.

I looked up at the guardian.

The woman's bulbous eyes stared at me in horror. A flesh-stitched hand raised in front of her hair-blown face. She was trying to hide her gaze from something.

"............"

I stood up.

The goat trotted backwards, groaning.

The poltergeists around me and the pit stirred.

"............"

My ripped right hand throbbed.

A drop of blood came out, glowing bright.

The guardian recoiled. "Mmmmmfff!!'

The goat shook its head.

"........."

I raised my bleeding hand towards her.

A silver glow dimly showered her body...and it burned. Smoke literally rose to the ceiling.

"MMMMMFFFF!!!" she teetered back on her steed, reeling.

The goat shuddered in pain.

I blinked.

I twirled around.

CHIIIIING!!!

I sheathed Myrkblade. I brought my metal fingers back and dipped them into the wound of my left shoulder. I winced.

I held two hands out—both laced with my own warm blood.

Glowing....

The poltergeists shook, shivered, and shrieked. They scurried off like jackrabbits in headlights and plunged desperately into the dark hole beneath.

Not one could bear to exist within the aura....

I panted.

In the land of the dead......

I looked at my glowing hands. The pain throbbed.

In the land of the dead......blood burns......

I slowly looked the guardian's way.

Her stitched mouth quivered.

I hissed like a sleek predator, blurred a trail of smoke, and pounced onto the front of the goat. I saddled and leaned into her. I slammed my palm into her chest just beneath her twitching neck.

My blood burned into her skin.

Smoke rose up through my fingers....but it wasn't my smoke that time.

"MMMMMMMMFFFFFF!!!!"

I gritted my teeth in some form of snarl.

My black eyes widened. A touch of ivory in the corners...

"MMMMMMMMFFFFF!!!" the poltergeist twitched....shook....quaked all over like an epileptic dummy. Smoke rose up through it sutured mouth and she dropped her distaff as the burning blood trickled down to the goat beneath us and sent it toppling over.

THWUMP!!!

I tumbled across the floor.

I winced, throbbing from my cuts.

I got up slowly....sitting on my knees.

I looked over at the twitching masses of the two halves of the library's haunt.

The goat was melting into liquid fur and discarded bone mass.

The woman was flopping about on the floor like a dying fish. And a red mist was coming from her mouth.

I took a deep breath.

Come on......

The red vapor drifted towards me.

I hung my arms to my side and tilted my head back.

Meditating....

You know as well as I do that this is how we finish it......

The vapor flew into my nostrils.

I twitched once.....but then gave in.

Consumption.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

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"Norah Smith......"

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Her eyes flashed open.

She panted.

The horse beneath her sighed.

Her skirt was bundled up.

Her arms bound together.

The noose tight.

A line of shadows broke the gray horizon before her. The grainy gray New England sky.

In the distance, three black birds flew towards the disappearing sun.

They were fleeing the scene.

Norah's eyes joined her.

"Norah Smith......"

The woman gazed over.

Magistrate Albrecht stood besides two clergymen. The other elders of the town gathered behind them. Wind blew at their pale features and contrastingly dark hair. The air was wet.

"Do you renounce Satan and all of his faculties which have brought you to this point??"

The woman's voice quivered. "I......I-I......"

Silence.

Wind blew at her hair.

The village beyond the hills sank in the shadow of the overcast afternoon.

Tears welled from her eyes. "I have d-done nothing. By God......By Jesus......I have nothing to renounce......"

Silence.

Magistrate Albrecht took a deep breath. "Foolish child. The evidence weighs against your favor. We have ruled thusly."

A beat.

He lowered his head. "Norah Smith......for endangering the lives of this God-fearing town with your sorcery......we hereby sentence you to be hung in retribution of your malice. May God have mercy on your soul."

A hand-signal.

A man walked up to the rear of the horse.

Norah's eyes narrowed.

A beat.

Her teeth clenched.

"Albrecht......"

The man didn't look at her.

"Albrecht......you hypocrite!!"

The magistrate nodded towards the man.

The man swatted the horse's rear.

Norah spat: "IT WAS YOU WHO FORCED ME INTO YOUR BE—SNKKKKTTTT!!!"

YANK!!!

Norah's eyes rolled back.

Her lips quivered...tightened....fell limp.

Her feet twitched....then dangled.

The woman hung.

The clouds rumbled.

The night stretched into darkness.

The village folk wandered back to their somber households.

......

And Norah saw it all.

Through kaleidoscopic vision.

The noose wasn't tight enough.

She was bleeding on the inside of her neck and wheezing through thin nostrils.

The blood spurted out from her cranium and gave her a numb tunnel vision of pain.

And the last semblance of thought in her living being was that this torture all had a grand purpose.

For she could still see Magistrate Albrecht standing there.

Alone on the hill.

Gazing at her twitching figure.

...

And he smiled.

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-T-T-T-T-T-T-

RUMMMMMMBLE!!!!

"............."

RUMMMMMMBLE!!!

I twitched.

I groaned.

"Noir??"

I exhaled and struggled to get up.

"Noir......a-are you there???"

'Wait, raven.'

I sat up, wincing.

'Give me a second to rise from the dead.'

I rubbed my black eyes with a trembling hand.

I opened them.

"..........."

The library looked...normal.

The leather bookshelves....floor....and ceiling were gone.

The flare in the middle of the library was dying.

In its lingering glow I saw books and carpet and plastered walls.

The hole was still there. It yawned open black and murky.

The Pit......it hasn't gone away.

I stood on wobbly legs.

I took a deep breath.

That was merely the 'Guardian'......

I glanced at my right hand.

The blood was dried. But where the cut was, a faint glow could still be seen. I could sense tendrils of burning light itching to stream into the obsidian air.

The greatest fire......it is inside of me......

I flare died.

My black eyes twitched.

I fumbled into my pocket.

I found my very last flashlight.

Click.

A yellow halo swam through the library.

I guided it towards the hole leading into the Pit.

The poltergeists were gone.

I shuddered.

Bet I know where they went......

I stood over the pit.

Gazing down.

It seemed to go on forever.

"It leads to the Lich, Noir."

I nodded towards no one.

'Anything else it leads to?'

"It......it is saturated with tortured spirits."

'I imagine so.'

I glanced to the side. I shined the flashlight.

I found a bundle of electric extension cord.

I walked over to it.

"You have done well to consume the poltergeists you have thus combated......but you surely can't handle them all!!"

I started bundling the cord and wrapping its length around my forearm.

'I'll have to do what I have to do. There are Twelve people down there that need me, Raven. Every single one of them counts.'

I shuffled over to the Pit with the cord.

"But you still can't h-handle all those terrible spirits. I-I'm afraid for you, Noir......"

RUMMMMBLE!!!

I paused.

I looked up at the gash in the ceiling.

"........"

I blinked.

'How are you doing, Raven??'

"It's......I-It's so hard, Noir."

'Just concentrate. Stay with me, okay? Keep the link going. You won't have to give into your fear. Mortuana will still stay in tact. Just a little longer.'

"I know......I-I know.........I can then guide you..."

'Guide me?'

"Y-Yes. My powers may be gone......but I have a new power. I can focused my mind into yours. I can help you avoid the spiritual attraction of those poltergeists. You might be able to slip by them without having to fight."

'Ah. I see. A guiding light.'

"I-I guess......"

I strung one end of the cord around a metal bulkhead that formed part of the floorboard slashed apart by the hole. I looped it a few times, tied it securely, and tugged to test its security.

It felt firm.

I exhaled.

'I'll definitely be needing a guiding light.'

"Noir......it's not too late to go back. You don't have to endanger yourself. You can go back now and I wouldn't have to worry about you collapsing with all of Mortuana. Don't you know that??"

I gripped the cord in two hands, planted my feet into the side of the hole, and tensed my legs.

'Yes.'

I kicked off.

I gave the cord some slack.

I slid down into the yawning mouth of the Pit.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Ribbed concrete.

Flaky dirt.

Craggy rock.

I lowered and lowered.

My feet kicked off the vertical tunnel's wall as I 'hopped' down vertically.

My breath produced cold mist.

The parts of my skin not scratched had goosebumps.

My one last flashlight shook and wobbled as my body dropped down.

The darkness became something tangible. It reminded me of the murk that appeared when I used my powers. A perfect absorption of anything that tried to be 'light'.

I felt iciness in the air. And I tried to imagine just how powerful this Lich actually was. And why.

The tunnel went deeper.

The air colder.

The darkness....thicker.

The flashlight could barely shine a foot ahead of it.

I wasn't sure I was seeing anything anymore.

My black eyes were as wide as saucers to try and gauge what was around me in my descent.

"Keep going, Noir........."

I panted and dropped down more and more.

I was almost afraid I didn't have enough cord.

"That leads somewhere. It leads to the Lich. You must trust me."

'When did I not trust you, Raven?"

"........."

'When did any of us ever not trust you?'

"I never trusted me......"

'............'

"Noir??"

'Yes, Raven?'

"Your voice. It sounds so painful."

I exhaled.

'Thanks for noticing......'

I dropped down more and more.

My flashlight had become a tiny nub of dimness.

I knew that it was working......but down there in the darkest spot of Mortuana, it didn't seem to work well enough.

I lowered and lowered.

The cold practically condensed against my wide black eyes.

I shivered.

"Noir......will the Titans hate me??"

I panted as I hopped down against the wall more and more.

'How can we hate someone who isn't with us?'

"Before you came, we hated Terra when she was with Slade. She wasn't around us then."

'You haven't betrayed us, Raven. I know you've lost your logic and stuff......but try and rationalize that false analogy in your head. You never did anything to hurt us.'

"Not yet......"

'...............'

"I......I don't even know why I joined the Titans to begin with, Noir......"

I lowered more and more.

The cord slid between my numb fingers.

My muscles ached.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!!

"Yes, I wanted help. But......I would only be burdening everyone."

'With Trigon?'

"With my father......yes....................................Y-You should know that more than anyone, Noir."

I exhaled.

'I know nothing.'

A beat.

'Nothing but that which has always pushed me forward. And it's something that makes me ashamed too, Raven. I-I frankly don't know why I ever joined the Titans either.'

"What is that, Noir?"

I took a firm breath.

'Same as you, Raven. I have a past. And I'm concerned presently with having a better future. But there's an even better driving force than that.'

"And wh-what's that??"

PLOP!!!!

My boots hit solid ground.

I let out a sigh, relaxed my limbs, and let go of the cord.

'There are people to save. I am a hero. And saving people is what heroes do.'

CHIIIING!!!!

I unsheathed Myrkblade and stretched the flashlight out.

I twirled about slowly.

'You're helping me save them yourself, Raven. Just like you've always saved people with the Titans.'

I shone the flashlight around and found a dim tunnel of rock. Dank and moist. Cold.

'You're a hero, Raven. Always have been. And you always will be.'

"Even when everything around me collapses, Noir?"

A painful lump formed in my throat.

I fought it off and shuffled forward.

'Even then, Raven. Even then.'

My white figure crept into the dark bowels of Mortuana.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The flashlight was like a fading cigarette.

I swatted it a few times, as if that'd make it brighter.

Slapping sounds echoed against the claustrophobic tunnel.

I panted....shivering.

I looked straight ahead.

I swallowed....then reached a metal hand forward while walking.

I concentrated.

Smoke danced out of my eyes.

Currents of murk shimmered down my limb.

Smoke branched out into the dank, stony interior.

I breathed deeply.

Concentrating.

I felt for bodies.....and felt a wall of them.

I came to a stop.

"............"

I flexed my metal fingers some.

The wall of bodies was twitching. Curling.

Hissing sounds drifted towards me.

I aimed the flashlight in the direction that my spatial sense hinted of me.

I widened my black eyes and crept forward.

And I saw them.

Glistening pale bodies.

Snakes and reptiles and amphibians....and yet all sickeningly humanoid.

Headless rope-people stretched in and out of the pure stone. They moaned with mouths they didn't have and twitched about to find necks that were missing. Jagged arms scratched out at me, desperate for warmth to end them...perhaps.

I stepped backwards.

I turned.

I aimed the flashlight at another wall.

Two nurses cringed. Nurses with octopus things dripping out of their mouths. Their gowns were drenched in brown blood. They shuffled about against each other and seemed to be melting into the rock.

"........."

RUMMMMMBLE!!!!

The poltergeists twitched and groaned as one. And the sounds were numerous. Massive.

I realized that the entire tunnel ahead of me—winding and snaking—was lined to the teeth with squirming, clawing, agonizing poltergeists. It was like an intestinal tract in Hell. I envisioned pale limbs brushing up against me, finding my heart, and ripping me into ribbony shreds of meat to get at the juices.

And that's exactly when and where my flashlight started to flicker.

"!!!!"

I slapped it hard.

I shook it.

The light faded. It shuddered like a dying kaleidoscope....and soon was gone.

Utter, complete darkness.

The poltergeists' voices mingled into an ambient thunder around me.

Scratching noises.

Shufflings.

Liquid dribbles....

"..........."

I stepped backwards. One boot shuffling after another.

I limped into a crevice set in the stone.

Alone from the poltergeists....at least I thought so.

I shook the flashlight one last time.

Nothing......

"........"

Cl-Clack!!

I dropped the useless piece of plastic to the floor.

I breathed.....breathed.....breathed....breathed....

I shut my eyes.

I gently focused.

I stretched my metal arm out a bit.

I felt the currents in the frigid air.

I again sensed the twitching poltergeists hugging the wall.

The flailing limbs.

The pure line of living dead.

Going on and on down the full length of the tunnel.

Even if I tried navigating my way by spatial sense, I'd be victim to the haunts' devices.

"..........."

I took a deep shuddering breath.

I rested Myrkblade against the wall.

I took a deep breath.

I gripped the top to my white jumpsuit, tattered as it was.

I lifted it up and off my shoulders...over my head.

I tossed the fabric to the floor.

I flexed my right arm...feeling the bandage.

I slowly....carefully....peeled it off.

Wincing from the Bonewyrm's wound.

I dropped the bandage to the floor besides the jumpshirt.

I stood bare-chested.

I took a few deep breaths, the cold air clinging to my skin.

I gripped Myrkblade—Chiiing!

I knelt on the floor.

I breathed hard.

My left metal fingers flexed.

I meditated.

My black eyes closed.

I concentrated on the powers of Construction and Destruction.

I merged them.

I achieved balance.

".........N-Noir?"

'Don't look, Raven.'

"Noir, what are you doing??"

'Don't look......'

I meditated hard, momentarily severing my link with the dark girl.

Smoke poured out from my eyes.

My fingers blurred with dark tendrils.

I gripped hard to Myrkblade's hilt in my right hand.

I raised the sword up, and angled it diagonally downward towards my left hip.

I brought my metal fingers up and wrapped them about the tip of the blade.

I took a deep breath.

"......"

I gently lowered the wooden tip to my lower left ribcage. Planted firmly against the skin.

"......"

I swallowed.

I concentrated.

I ran murk down the length of the black blade. Smoke encased it. The blade became sharp.

An icy kiss to my skin.

I shivered.

I took a deep breath.

And.....

Drew the blade up.

Diagonally.

Towards my right shoulder.

Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink.

I clenched my teeth.

I shuddered.

Snnnkktk......nngh......

I steadied my shaking hands so as not to cut too dep.

A thin red line formed in my flesh from the long cut.

And the redness turned into glowing silver as it thinly crept up to the surface and kissed the black air.

My blade reached my right shoulder.

I yanked it out.

I panted.

Panted.

Panted....

I pivoted Myrkblade around.

I gripped it with two trembling hands.

I hiccupped a bit from the shockwaves running through my body.

I took a breath.

I placed the blade above my right hip.

I encased it in murk.

I gritted my teeth.

Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink.

My spine shook.

I forced myself to sit still.

Vapor hissed out of my breath.

I clenched my eyes shut...for they were starting to tear.

Nnghh......nnngh......God.........

As I was halfway through the criss-crossing cut, the stone wall before me became visible. A silver light was emanating from in front of me. My chest glowed as the blood came to the surface.

Snkkkkt......nngh......

The blade reached my shoulder.

I gasped.

I panted.

Warm trickles started to run down my chest.

My muscles quivered under the 'X' shaped scar meeting between my pectorals.

I have to make this quick......

I stretched forward. I bent my back.

I panted.

I took a deep breath.

I held it.

I brought Myrkblade down behind me.

I lowered it to the small of my back.

I clenched my eyes shut.

Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink.

I bit my lips till they nearly bled too.

The back seemed to take forever as I cut a shallow river up.

My whole body was hot with rushing blood.

My nerves were screaming white hot.

Nnngh......Jesus......snkkkt......

I finished at the back of my neck.

I pulled the blade away.

I panted.

A halo of silver brightly illuminated the area around me.

Every time I flexed my muscles, the light spread further outward.

The darkness was cut away by my own cuts.

The nearest poltergeists beyond the gaze of my black eyes twitched and groaned at the 'heat' they felt.

I shuddered.

I flexed my left arm.

I brought my blade to the broad front of my shoulder.

I took a deep breath.

"........."

Sliiink!!!

Aaugh!!......nngh......

I winced from the cut.

I forced myself—rather quickly—to do the same on my other upper arm.

Sliiiink!!!

The last one.

I fell over on my hands.

Panting.

I was leaking all over. The X-scar on my chest bled silver light. My back was wet. My shoulders...

Now......do it now......

I clenched my eyes shut and concentrated.

When I reopened my optics, black murk was pouring out of them.

I raised my throbbing arms.

I let out a silent scream.

FLASH!!!

I panted. I had extended outward from my center a tiny shield of smoke energy. I covered the 'X' on my chest with thin smoke, as I did the line up my back and the wounds in my shoulders. In so doing, I kept the blood from pouring out and draining me. At the same time, I let enough trickle out to brilliantly illuminate my surroundings.

"............." I breathed in and out slowly. Gaining my composure above the numbing pain.

Guiding light............Guiding light.........

I blinked my black eyes.

I swallowed.

I gripped onto Myrkblade's hilt, put my weight on it, and stood up. On wobbly legs I gazed down the tunnel. I twirled Myrkblade into a ready position and slowly crept down the tunnel.

A halo of silver light followed me. As it touched the poltergeists, it burned them with red smoke. The pale bodies shrieked and quivered, jerking and scrunching away from me.

I hobbled through them, eyeing back and forth with my black gaze. The blood on my chest was almost blinding to myself. I strained to keep my focus on where I walked....but soon found I had plenty of room to walk because of the pale creeps moving out of my way.

I didn't even need to move Myrkblade from where I gripped it alongside me.

I walked down the tunnel as long as the tunnel lasted......and marched on through the oblivion beyond.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Noir??"

'..........'

"Noir, speak to me please........."

'.............'

"I know you are mad at me."

'I'm not mad at you, Raven.'

"Then why are you—"

'I'm sorry. I'm trying to concentrate my powers.'

"How so??"

'To keep from bleeding to death.'

"What?!?!?!"

'Don't worry, Raven---'

"What did you do to yours—"

'I'm saving these people, Raven. I'm not letting darkness or any of its faculties stand in my way. Besides......there is bigger prey here.'

"Dr. Light."

'No, more than that.'

"What makes you say that??"

'............'

"N-Noir??"

'I can't explain things easily myself, Raven. You're not alone in your confusion.'

"How are you confused, Noir?"

'I'm always confused. It's a part of living.'

"I wished you would have told me you thought that way before."

'No......you didn't wish that, Raven.'

"............"

'You didn't wish for anything. You were you.'

"............I......I-I wish I was me again......"

'............as I wish I can find myself to begin with.'

"..............."

'...............'

"..............."

'.........where now, Raven?'

"Head left. Follow the rust......"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

My boots clanked against metal platforms.

"............"

I walked half-naked through a trail of mist over what appeared to be a metal catwalk deep in the center of the earth. Only—as I gazed over the cracked railings every now and then—I saw pure oblivion. I was walking across a paradox. I was no longer in Mortuana....much less any world...as far as I was concerned.

And yet I knew that—if I was to be stuck here during Mortuana's collapse—I'd still be royally screwed.

I held my breath and crept forward.

Winged pale-things saw me, shrieked, and flew off into the thickness of Nothing.

My pale light burned them.

It sent ape-creatures bounding away, their skewered heads clicking and uttering deep-throated sounds of pain and annoyance.

I glared at them with my black eyes and walked along.

The halo of silver light followed me.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!

The metal catwalk groaned.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

'............'

"............"

'............R-Raven?'

"Y-Yes??"

'You've been quiet.'

"I......I'm sorry......"

'Am I lost?'

"No, Noir. I can still sense what's ahead. I just—"

'What, Raven??'

"I......I c-can't help but feel this is all my fault. The p-people of Mortuana. They're all g-going to suffer. And it's because of m-me."

'You don't know that for sure. Don't worry.'

"I h-have every reason to be w-worried, Noir!!"

'Raven, stay calm. All of this has a purpose.'

"But why?!?! Wh-Why does it have a p-purpose?!?!"

'Because you told me so, Raven! You told me that this was once logical and—'

"But I don't r-remember why!! I-I'm going insane! I'm tricking m-myself!"

'Raven—'

"I've f-fooled you!! I've fooled th-the people of Mortuana!! I've f-fooled the T-Titans—"

'Raven, Cyborg loves you!!!'

"..............."

'Cyborg loves you, Raven.'

"..............."

'Don't pretend that it's not true. Don't pretend that he spends every waking moment of his days trying to understand you more because it's all some sort of stupid game with him. He loves you, Raven. As a friend...as a teammate...and—who knows—probably as more.'

"..............."

'You don't fool people, Raven. You show them how important, how serious, and how sacred life is. You've had it really tough, Raven. And because of that—people don't pity you. No, they respect you. They respect you because they know that—deep down inside and in spite of all your shit—you care about the world and the goodness that must be protected within it! I understand how this feels, Raven. You and the Titans...you respect me. If only you all realized how......how complete that makes me feel? After all these years?!?!'

"...............Cyborg............Cy-Cyborg trusts me......"

'He does, Raven. And......A-And so do I.'

"..............."

'I......I-I've always trusted you, Raven. I'm j-just sorry that I could never.........could never......'

"..............."

'...............'

".........I......I-I think you should take the inclined tunnel up ahead."

'Thank you, Raven.'

"............"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I gritted my teeth.

I crawled through a thin crevice in the rock.

The claustrophobic passage shimmered with my glowing blood.

I panted and reaceded forward with my metal arm.

My chest and back sweated between the bloody cuts as I dragged myself forward.

My glowing stretched forward across the rock.

Little, furred spiders with needle legs shrieked and scurried away from the burning sensation.

And then my glow started to grow dim.

The light faded as the blood finally dried.

I came to a stop halfway down the tunnel.

I panted.

My black eyes thinned.

I swallowed and held my breath.

I concentrated.

I hissed in pain as my smoke shield was dropped momentarily.

With the resistance gone, silver blood oozed out.

The tiny tunnel burned like an oil lamp.

A few brave spirits that were still hiding suddenly faced the intense heat of 'life' and slithered away, crying.

I swiftly gasped and extended another bubble of murk over my wounds...stopping the flow of blood.

I panted.

Panted.

Panted.....

I swallowed.

I crawled forward.

The rock face beneath me streaked with naked sweat and glowing blood.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

'...............'

"Are you......are y-you okay, Noir?"

'...............'

"Noir??"

'......this......is very difficult......'

"Why did you put yourself through with this?"

'I have to......the p-people—'

"It's more than that. Isn't it?"

'I know what you're thinking, Raven. But no. It isn't.'

"Are you sure?"

'No, I'm not. But what does it matter? I'm the only one right now who can do this. But not without your help. It's necessity. We have to do these things. We have to.'

"But......it feels like you're punishing yourself, Noir. You......you always do that......"

'..................'

"N-Noir??"

'.........s-sorry, Raven. I'm............'

".................."

'.........I......ugh......l-losing concentration. Sorry......it......'

"Take deep breaths. Use whatever oxygen you have down there. Try not to lose too much—"

'It's okay, Raven. I can meditate......only.........nngh............I-I should have left it at just the chest......nghh......'

"N-N-Noir???"

'Wh-What.........huh?'

"Concentrate. Stay awake. Keep focused on your journey."

'It's so.........so dark......l-like my room......'

"No, Noir!! Don't pass out! Stay awake! P-Please!!"

'Wish.........heheh......I-I had a tape recorder in my head. Y-You sound so emotional......'

"Noir???"

'............'

"Noir, stay awake! Focus on what I'm communicating to you!!"

'It's.........h-hard, Raven.........'

"Keep moving!!"

'Just......s-so tired......"

"Noir????"

'...............'

"Noir......I......I-I was jealous, okay?!?!"

'...............'

"I......I-I was jealous......when......wh-when you met Kara......"

'...............'

"It.........It w-wasn't about me sensing evil in her or......or truly knowing that she was involuntarily working for Braniac and whatnot. I mean......it was but........."

'...............'

"......I.........I couldn't see someone......someone like Kara possibly having the capacity to understand you, Noir. I...I didn't s-see how she was truly blessing you. I only saw selfishness in her......but......b-but that selfishness truly was my own. Mine and mine alone. I regretted it in the end, Noir......especially when it h-happened so soon......s-so soon after I distanced myself f-from you........."

'...............'

".........I-I've always wanted to c-confess that to you, Noir. But......at the time......it never occurred to me to be logical. I-I-I'm not so logical right now..............."

'........................'

"........................"

'.....................I knew......Raven......"

"??? Y-You knew?!?!"

'Mmmmhmmm.........'

"............a-and you're awake??"

'I felt......g-guilty......'

"But why??"

'I......got along with Kara so quickly. It didn't seem fair to you.'

"But, Noir. I was the one who---"

'Nobody did anything, Raven. For there was nothing to do anything with.'

"....................."

'That is why......that is wh-why I don't hate you, Raven. Silence only bred more silence. There isn't much to be jealous of in that.'

"............I......"

'And if you're wondering, I've been jealous too. But for other reasons, Raven. Sometimes I wish I had your capacity for patience and tolerance. But I'm too busy on the move. I pale in comparison to you. And for that, I feel guilty.'

".................."

'Where do I go now, Raven?'

"I.........I-I wouldn't know the answer to that, Noir."

'...............I mean here in the Pit.'

"OH! Uhm.........up the rock crags."

'Okay. Thanks.'

".........Th-Thank you, Noir..............."

'..................'

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I crouch-walked through the darkness.

I was in the center of a huge, cavernous expanse.

Hooting, howling, and cawing sounds echoed eerily around me.

I sensed a flood of poltergeists in a swarm beyond my black eyesight.

Bodies shrunk away from the burning halo as I crept forward, my torso slumped.

I crept on all fours over a peak in the rock.

I perched at the top.

My black hair draped over the top of my bare shoulder.

I took a deep breath.

The cuts on my bare chest and back throbbed.

I glowed from the shoulders to the hips to my back.

Splotches of dried blood had trickled down to the top of my white jumppants.

"............"

I gazed with flat black eyes before me.

I sensed a huge plain of rock.

3......

I took a deep breath.

2......

I held it.

1......

I leapt off the peak.

"......"

THWUMP!!

I landed in an acrobatic crouch.

The halo of silver light splashed around me.

Shrieks.

Groans.

Cackles.

My black eyes gazed up under tossed black hair.

Pale bodies were spreading wide around me.

Serrated tentacles.

Cracked flippers.

Dragging limbs of gnarled fingers.

The plane of rock was chock full of monsters and poltergeists.

I felt their icy cold breaths on my naked torso from all around.

"........."

I brought a metal hand up and tossed the hair out from over my face.

I took a deep breath.

Chiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

I unsheathed Myrkblade and crept slowly forward in a crouch.

Like a sneaking secret operative, I crept through the dense landscape. Every step I took, the silver glow slithered forward.

The creatures retreated from my blood with grunts and groans of agony and frustration.

I dragged Myrkblade against the rock beside me threateningly.

Scraaaaaaaaaaape.

I eyed the pale bodies about me icily.

They writhed and groaned on the verge of the knife-cut darkness.

The echoes formed a ring around me.

"........"

I gazed ahead.

My black eyes narrowed.

I became aware of a crimson aura ahead....as if emanating out of a long, smooth chamber.

Frigid air rushed towards me from the passageway ahead...achingly tracing the smoke-shielded 'X' cut into my chest.

I throbbed in pain.

And then I knew......

He waits for me up ahead......

I closed my eyes and sighed in concentration as I crept forward.

A halo piercing the menacing night.....

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

'Raven?'

"Noir!! You're near!! I just know it—"

'Raven......I have to break our link.'

"Wh-What?? Noir, why?!?!"

'I have to go in here alone. I can't let you join me.'

"Why not?!?! We've gone this far!! We can save the people!! We can figure a way to defeat the Lich together!!"

'I......I can't let you in there with me. I think......I think that whatever I find in there will be the confirmation of your fears. And that means Mortuana will collapse if you so much as see it.'

"How could possibly know that??"

'I don't. I feel it.'

"............"

'Goodbye, Raven.'

"B-But Noir—"

'I pray that—in some fashion or another—you still manage to exist after all of this.'

"Noir......"

'Goodbye.........'

...............

............

.........

......

...

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"............"

I left the creatures in the plain of rock behind me.

I crept into the passageway.

Red light shimmered down and met my black eyes.

I narrowed them.

I paused in the middle of the passageway, holding to Myrkblade.

"........"

A beat.

I took a deep breath.

I closed my eyes.

I concentrated.

Murk covered my wounds completely.

Any semblance of blood was hidden.

The silver glow left, and I was a dull, scarred person again.

A beat.

I opened my eyes.

I took one step forward.

A second.

I oozed down the passageway.

The red light intensified.

The air became colder.

My breath crystallized in the air.

Frost clung to my eyelashes.

Three more steps into the crimson....

And....

"......"

My black eyes twitched.

A circular chamber stretched before me.

It was a very.....red thing.

A crimson glow rose from the floor like hidden, burning embers.

And speaking of the floor....it looked like a highly tense bottom of a copper wicker basket. Or as if the loom of some goddess was strung in a spiral towards the center. Red strings of rusted metal stretched down cylindrically from a million points to a converging spot in the center of the glowing room. It looked like the bottom of a bleeding thimble. The inside of a circular piano. Hung with arms stretched out at equidistant spots around the room's circumference were the Twelve people. They appeared unharmed....unconscious....ready for a sacrifice of sorts.

"......."

My eyes fell on the crimson center.

A tall thing stood, breathing slowly, its back away from me.

It was a tall thing clad in tattered rags of shredded satin.

Between the rags peaked bone thin strips of white.

Then again.....the strips were bone.

Slowly....a fifteen-foot tall skeleton turned around with arms out-stretched. A horned-skull glared at me. Its eyes burned with red vapors. Its grinning teeth hissed out crimson crystallized air. Its rib cage was laced with thorns. Spikes jutted out of the joints of its legs, knees, and feet.

My black eyes thinned.

Plastered to the chest of the razor-edged Lich—arms stretched out along the Lich's arms—was the crucified figure of Dr. Light. The bearded man's wrists were encircled by strips of calcium that fastened him painfully to the being's joints. His legs were joined together by a similar loop of bone around the Lich's pelvis. Dr. Light's body stirred and groaned. Red vapor fluttered down from the Lich's eyes and clenched teeth and were inhaled into the poor man's body.

He's being controlled......

My gaze went up.

My heart stopped momentarily.

The Lich......

My lips parted somewhat.

It has......antlers.........

A blink.

And there are......four eye sockets......

The lich seemed to sneer. Its arms flexed, causing Dr. Light's body to shift more and more. The sharp teeth parted. The antlers shook.

"We meeeeeeeet again boyyyyyyyyyy........"

If I had pupils, they would have dilated.

"Tell meeeeeeee, Jordan............has she been a goodddddddddd little girl??"

I panted.

I gripped Myrkblade tightly.

The Lich took a step forward as Trigon's voice continued to pour out.

"She shoulddddd be thankfulllll. I finally gave herrrrrrr what she wanteddddddd......the no good bitccccch.....heheheheh...."

The Lich snickered.

Dr. Light twitched and moaned.

The Twelve circling the room hung silently.

I glanced at them.....then back at the demon ahead of me.

"When Dr. Light was firsssssst absorbed into Raven's esssssssssssence a year and a half aggggggo......I saw the answerrrrrrr. I saw the ssssssssolution.......I filled the patheticccccc man's mind with fearrrrrrrr. I showeddddddd him true dreadddddd and lonelinesssssssss........as only RRRRRRRRRage can do....."

The Lich's arms drifted upwards.

So did Dr. Light's puppet limbs.

"I instillllllled in Dr. Light the seed of darknesssssss......much like that in Raven's sssssssoul. The soonesssssst he could, Dr. Lightttt created a bomb that he callllllled the Absolute Blackkkkkk. It was through thisssssss that Raven—my imprisonmentttttt—was brought to this wonderful land of death."

The Lich's skull rose to the ceiling like a wolf to the full moon.

"Mortuana......."

A chill.

A red glow.

RUMMMMMMMMBLE!!!!

I breathed heavily, Myrkblade at ready.

"Mortuanaaaaaaaa.........heheheheheh........"

The Lich lowered his arms.

Dr. Light did too, groaning on his 'crucifix'.

"This exquisitttttttttte land of blacknesssssss and DEATH. I love it sssssssssso..........forrrrrr it is my key to claiming your patheticcccc dimension......."

Red smoke trailed from the four bony eye sockets.

The Lich's fingers clenched and cracked.

"As soooooon as Raven entered this world of missing lighttttttt.......I escaped from herrrrrrr bbbbbbeing......She thoughttttt that she was frrrrrrrree......but she didn't knnnnnow I had merely found a new host. Someone and something much prettier than herrrrrrrr."

The Lich gestured at itself.

"The Licccccccccccch. The mossssssssst powerful beingggggg of hattttttte and death in thisssssss land.......this landddddddd of death........"

The skull leaned forward. The antlers swayed.

"This realm......is a weighttttted portttttal of anguished souls. You can see it, can you?? It drawsssss in all ghosts and demonsssss from all over Mortuana. The Pit growssssss deeeeeeeeper. The poltergeissssssts keep collecting. The weight getssssss heavierrrrrrrr. Death gets strongerrrrr. Soon, the weightttttt of death will bbbbbbbbe so strong that it'll punch a hhhhhhhole into the worlddddd of light. And by then I shall have demonssssss of all nightmarish shapes and sizes to leapppppp upon the unspectinggggg puppets of bloodddd. I.......Trigon.....shall give birth to the NEW HELL!!!!!"

A crimson wave of breath shimmered at me.

I flinched, my metal arm held in front of me.

A chill.

A laugh.

A demonic laugh.

"Ha ha ha ha!!! The NEW HELL!!! And my foolissssssh daughterrrrr thinks Mortuana is collapssssing because of what she's doing. But she's wrong. It isn't collapsssssing. It's merely EVOLVING!!!!"

Another shimmer of crimson.

I gritted my teeth.

The cuts on my body throbbed.

But I kept the blood in.

I kept it in......

The Lich took a menacing, smoking red step towards me.

THUD!!!

A second.

THUD!!!

Trigon's voice vibrated outward towards me at a distance.

"You.......boyyyyyyy...........Jordan........I knew I would meet you again. You havvvvvve and shallllll always have a part in my daughterrrrrr's pathetic psycccccche. I can feel you......I can feel the burning white inside of you......"

I bit my lip.

"And I know........I knnnnnnow........from the day I ever firrrrrst possessed you to even now......you are part of the plan..........the plan.............the plan to destroy me........."

I lifted an eyebrow.

"You may not knowwwww itttttt.......but life and death arrrrre not for mortalsssss to know. You are two out of the whole. You are the halfway marrrrrk of the plan. The plan to destroy me........"

I gripped Myrkblade tighter as he crept close.

But I did not move.

Keep talking......

"I am notttt a fool...........I know about the Obsidian Trinity....."

The red vapors licked furiously from the four eye sockets.

"I know that I mussssst consume you.......I must know the secrettttt.......that is why I let Dr. Light live ttttto attack your friendssss.....to keep you alive. That is why I abducttttted these twelve worthlesssss humanssss. That is why I kept my patheticccc daughter in the darkkkkk about where and why I lefttttt her.........as much as I want the New Hell.......I wantttttt you firssssst of all, boyyyyyyy.......the plan will notttt go through...."

I breathed gently.

I eyed him with black eyes while I held Myrkblade up.

The skull's teeth seemed to grin.

"Heh.....heh.....heh........do you nottttt fear me?? That only provessss your threat. But you are stillllll weak. For I neverrrrr forgot, boyyyyyy. Have you forgotten???"

I clenched my teeth.

"We neverrrrr forget our sinssss......do we?? Heheheheheh......demonsssss of our own ilkkkk.......is this not the New Hell you see before me??"

The Lich and Dr. Light raised his arms.

A beat.

The skull leaned to the side.

"Or maybe thissssss???"

The Lich lowered his arms.

The center of the red room melted out towards me. The red stayed the same, but it transformed into rust. Moldy metal washed up towards me. The Twelve victims disappeared, replaced by smashed electrical equipment and crevices. Catwalks and railings. Dark shadows and even darker doorways. The scene washed over me and under my feet. I looked down. I was standing in puddles of blood. Brown and red bodies littered the floor around me. Bellies were strewn open. Intestines dangled across the floor. Entrails hung over cross beams and levers. Scattered hair and bone fragments scattered across the corners like cereal. And I was standing in the middle of this surrounded gore. And I was panting. And my hair was short. And my eyes were bleeding. And my throat was full.

And I was gripping onto Myrkblade.

Dripping with blood.

I hyperventilated.

I felt this terrific urge to laugh.

To explode.

"Heheheheheheheh!!!!!"

I gripped a shaking hand over my face.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

I shivered.

"HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!!! YOU ARE YOUR OWN POLTERGEIST!!!"

CLANK!!!

"............" the Lich grew silent. It glared at me.

I had just dropped Myrkblade.

The room was back to normal. The red metal strings. The victims hung to the side. The crimson glow beneath the menacing Lich.

I panted.

I slowly raised my scarred arms up.

I held them behind the back of my neck.

Submissively, I fell to my knees.

I looked helplessly up at the Trigon-possessed skeleton.

My black eyes were weak.....powerless.....

I give up.

".............."

Take me. Consume me.

"............."

I swallowed my empty throat.

Consume this poltergeist, Trigon.

A beat.

"Wise choice boyyyyy."

Criii-iiick!!

Crick!!

The bony strips clinging Dr. Light's crucified body to the Lich's limbs uncurled.

"Nnnghhh...," the scientific villain groaned and fell hard to the floor.

Not even a second passed as--

SWOOOOSH!!!!

The Lich flung its arm at me.

A shadowy limb of red smoke flew out.

It engulfed me.

I twitched with a violent gasp.

"!!!!!!"

SWOOOOOSH!!!

I was dragged across the floor, leaving Myrkblade behind.

I was toppled and tumbled a few times.

SWOOOOSH-THWUMP!!!

I was squeezed painfully up with my scarred back against the Lich's thorny ribcage.

"....." I winced.

SWOOSH!! SWIIISH!!

Red, smoking limbs magically stretched my arms out along the Lich's upper body.

Crii-iick!!

My wrists were bound to the Lich's.

My heart pounded.

Crii-iick!!

My feet were fastened to its pelvis.

I panted.

Sweating all over my naked, cut chest.

Icily clinging to the red-smoking skeleton.

It vibrated up against me as Trigon's voice drifted down at point blanc.

"You arrrrrrre mine......boy........butttttt......I will not destroy you......the Obsidian Trinity.......I must learn its secretsssss.....I mussst preserrrrrrve you in the prisonnnnn of the New Hell. I shall possssssess you. I shall consume the consumer of Poltergeisssssts and learn your secretssssss. And it is only fitttting. Heheheheh. You are made to be evil........you arrrrrre a demon by creation....."

I sensed a demon tongue licking my ear.

I winced.

I gritted my teeth and breathed harder.

Everyone.........everyone......

I clenched my eyes shut.

I hyperventilated.

Everyone has the capacity to change............

"Join yourrrrr evil with minnnnnne, Jordan. Let your essssence be known!!!!"

I popped my black eyes open.

And they were dancing with murk.

I have always let my actions speak louder than my 'words'......

And it was exactly then and there........that I released the shield of murk.

I tilted my head back into the thorned rib cage.

I clenched my fingers.

I tensed my ankles.

I flew my mouth open in a long, mute howl.

A flash of white in my eye sockets.

And.....

I bled.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!

I bled.

The 'X' shaped cut in my chest dribbled glowing-silver down my sides and onto the monster's ribs.

The slices in my shoulders trickled onto its arms.

The river down my back spurted onto its inner vertebrae.

And the Lich—being a poltergeist—burned instantly from the contact with my life juices.

And it happened to be the one vessel in which Trigon had a foothold upon the land of the dead.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

The bones burned and steamed forth red vapors like a hot iron to ice. The Lich's body sagged. Its eye sockets flickered in agony. Trigon's essence writhed and shook violently inside of it.

"NOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

I clenched my teeth.

I kept bleeding.

I kept leaking on the skeleton I was bound to.

And the Lich kept burning. Red vapor filled the air underneath the halo of hot, cleansing silver. The two of us teetered back.

The red vapor became a mist. Trigon was detached, and the essence of the Lich—tainted by the demon—bore itself before me.

I gritted my teeth.

My black eyes flared.

Feed me......

"CURSE YOU, BOY!!!!! CURSE YOU!!!!!"

Feed me, asshole!!!

I opened my mouth.

My scarred throat inflated.

And the red vapor sank in as

"NNNNGHHHRRAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!"

Soaring in.

My eyes twitched.

A gasp or two.

FLASH!!!!!!

"Someone please!!!!!"


Angela hobbled down a dark alleyway in Gotham City.

Half naked.

Clutching tattered blankets to herself.

Her belly swollen and glowing a demonic red.

"Please kill me!!!!"


She sobbed.


She burned inside out.

She scratched at the naked, red air.

"I don't want to give birth to this monster!!!!'

FLASH!!!!!

"N-NO!! Mommy!!!" the little, blue-haired girl twitched in the elderly Azar's grasp.

"It's been a long time.....you pathetic, mortal bitch!!!"

Arella stood her ground as Trigon stomped forward and ripped her body in twain.

SLASH!!!!!

"AAAAAAUGH!!!!"

"MOMMMMMY!!!"

FLASH!!!!!!

"AAAAAAAH!!!! GAWWWWWWWWD!!!!!"

Dr. Light screamed as Trigon ripped his gnarled hand into his chest and polluted his heart with his demonic seed.

"AAAAAUGH!!! PLEASE!!! LET ME DIE!!!! LET ME DIIIIIIE!!!!"

"SUMMON HERRR!!!"

"AAAAA-AAAAAAAAAUGH!!!"

"SUMMON MY DAUGHTER!!!"

FLASH!!!!!

Thousands of pale bodies spinning around the Pit.

Screaming and shrieking.

White wisps of souls fading into oblivion.

The blackness of Mortuana falling down the drain.

Collapse.

Collapse......

FLASH!!!!!

"Jordan......stay strong. Please."

FLASH!!!!

"ANA!!!!!!! LEAVE HER ALONE!!!!!!!!"

FLASH!!!!

"Mommy......wh-why did you want me to die?!?!"

FLASH!!!!

"CURSE YOU!!!!!!! YOU ARE NO PURER THAN I!!!! YOU ARE NO PURER THAN I!!!!! I HOPE YOUR PATHETIC FRIENDS DIE BECAUSE OF YOU BOYYYYYY!!!"

FLASH!!!

"JORDAN!!!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!?"

FLASH!!!!

SLASH!!!

Voices shrieking.

Then......

SLASH!!!!!

......no more.

SLASH!!!!!

Blood.

SLASH!!!

Rust.

SLASH!!!

A pool.

SLASH!!!

SLASH!!

SLASH!!!

FLASH!!!!

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"

Tilting back.

Bleeding.

Grinning.

Laughing at the skeleton shadow across the way.

At the man twirling daggers.

At the sea of entrails surrounding.


"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!"

FLASH!!!!!

Yanking, pulling, twitching in the dark.

"NNNNGHHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! ANA!!!!!!!!! ANAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

FLASH!!!!

"HAAAAA!!! HAAAA!!! HAAAAA!!! HAHAHAHA-HAAAAAAA!!!!"

A flash of red.

Streaming.

THUNK!!!!!

The exploding throat.

FLASH!!!!

"I never stopped loving you, Jordan"

FLASH!!!!!!

"WHAT DID YOU DO, JORDAN?!?!?!"

FLASH!!!!

Lying on a stone in the center of a field of sawgrass.

Blood streaming down my chest.

Clutching an armful of air.

Sobbing.

Facing east......

FLASH!!!!

"I never stopped loving you.................."

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"..............."

I stirred.

".............."

I shifted my limbs.

"....l-look."

My black eyes flew open.

"H-He's getting up."

"!!!!"

I sat up, panting.

I spun around.

Things came into twirling focus.

Bookshelves.

Bookshelves.

Carpet.

Soaked carpet.

A silver glow.

I panted.

I looked down at my chest.

I was bleeding.

I held my breath.

I concentrated......my head spinning.

Murk trailed down and covered my cuts.

The blood was held in place.....for now.

"Is he.....still alive?"

"H-How.......?"

"????"

I blinked.

Twelve bodies stood around me.

Adults.

Children.

Normal citizens.

"....."

I stood up. My legs wobbled.

I panted.

The library was back to normal.

My blood shone on the surrounding sights.

The freed victims were staring at me.

"Mr. Titan??"

I turned around, blinking.

A balding man stared at me, his lip quivering. "You........You c-came for us??"

".........."

I slowly nodded.

Trigon......the Pit.........the poltergeists.........

I gazed aside.

They're all gone......

RUMMMMMBLE!!!!

The men and women around me gasped.

The young ones clutched to the adults.

Fearful.

I gulped.

The collapse.

"............."

Mortuana......

I exhaled.

I stared down.

Raven...............


Myrkblade was held before me.

I looked over.

A little boy stood with the bloody weapon in his grasp. He gulped. "I-I believe this is yours, Mr. Titan."

"........"

I gently took the weapon by its hilt.

A breath.

CHIIIIING!!!

I sheathed it.

I motioned towards the distant exit.

The balding man nodded. "W-We need to get out of here....."

I nodded back.

"You are.....," a woman approached me from behind and hesitantly brought a hand to the cut in my back. ".....you're hurt...."

I gently gripped her wrist and lowered it from my wound. I slowly shook my head.

"Nnngh....."

The victims bit their lips at the sudden voice.

"????"

I turned and saw two citizens kneeling over a thirteenth body.

I walked over.

I knelt down.

I blinked once or twice.

"..........," Dr. Light lay on his back. His breath was erratic. His features....pale. His pupils were dilated. His face seemed to shrink inside his crested helmet. His bearded lips quivered. Pale eyes looked up at me. He had very little time left. He uttered: "Death.....it is.....so very and lonely.......do you believe that, Titan?"

A beat.

I sighed and slowly nodded.

".......," Dr. Light whimpered. "I......s-so look forward to that now......."

I lowered my head.

Dr. Light's eyes thinned. His breath left him. "Get out......"

RUMMMMMMBLE!!!!

"Get out before it collapses............your days are yet long....."

And the brightness left the last remote part of his being.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

WHAM!!!!

I kicked the entrance doors to the library open.

I marched out quickly.

Panting.

My naked arms swinging.

My wounds glowing a halo of silver.

The twelve—as instructed—formed a ring around me.

My lifeblood illuminated us as we cut through the pure darkness of Mortuana.

RUMMMMMMBLE!!!!

What was left of Mortuana......

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

We dashed across the asphalt.

The citizens trembled in fear.

They stayed close round me.

I panted.

I gritted my teeth.

My black eyes quivered.

The dull ground beneath my halo faded in and out before me.

I shook my head and re-focused.

I kept the shield of murk around my wounds in tact.

My breath was ragged.

I swallowed and pushed on.

I stumbled once or twice, but balanced myself precariously on a person's shoulder.

I felt a hand or two help me back onto my feet.

I breathed, nodded a tiny bow of the head, and pressed on quickly as if nothing happened.

RUMMMMBLE!!!!

The thirteen of us scurried along in the thick oblivion.

Heading westward.

Westward....

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

WH-WHUMP!!!

I fell to my knees.

I winced.

"M-Mr. Titan! Careful!!"

"Please....don't give up now!!"

"We c-can't make it out on our own!!"

I gritted my teeth.

"The l-light....."

"Oh gawd! It's getting darker!!!"

"I don't want to be stuck here!!"

"Shut up!! Calm down!!"

"Everyone!! Please!!"

"Don't panic...."

RUMMMMMBLE!!!!

Everyone silenced.

Trembling.

I panted.

Panted.

I took a deep breath.

"Oh my....I think he's—"

"Mr. Titan! Don't! You couldn't possibly manage another---"

I shoved them back harshly.

I held my breath.

I concentrated.

My whole body winced.

My face became tense.

"......"

I lowered the shield.

I bled.

My head spun.

"M-Mr. Titan!"

I exhaled.

I extended the shield again.

The silver glow protected us in the dark again.

I panted.

I stood up.

I stumbled....

A pair of hands steadied me.

I didn't know whose.

I panted.

I felt nauseous.

My world spun.

My body was numb.

I shook my head.

I swallowed.

I marched limply forward.

One foot.

Another.

Again.

Again.

Like a tumbling wooden puppet down the stairs, I hobbled us forward.

I stretched a cut arm out straight ahead.

Panting.

Illuminating the path before the thirteen of us.

Leading us forward.

Westward.

Out of Mortuana.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!!

Out of Mortuana......

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"I-I frankly didn't care if I survived the comet or not...," Kara explained to me.

We sat in the field under the Kansas stars.

"I saw it as 'going out in a blaze' of glory. After all, everyone I knew died on Argos. If I could join them by doing a bunch of other people a good deed....then....so be it, ya know what I mean?"

I closed my eyes and nodded, biting my lip.

"I've grown out of that.....angsty phase. I no longer see things so fatalistically. When I'm saving people, I'd like to save my butt too. Hehehehehe.......I-I've got things worth living for on this planet now. It's a waste to throw that all away."

Silence.

She looked at me again. Silence. She had a solemn expression as she said: "I wonder.....Jordan.....were you doing something similar when you were Wyldecarde? As brave as your actions were.....perhaps you also were trying to obliterate yourself?"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I tripped.

I fell on my knees.

The world spun.

I bled.

I wheezed.

"M-Mr. Titan.......," one of the citizens behind me murmured.

Everyone else was silent.

So close......

I panted.

I hobbled to my feet.

Dizzy.

Everything spun.

My black eyes were thin.

My lips quivered.

I hobbled forward.

My metal hand shivered.

I stretched my black hand forward.

I saw the edge.

I saw the western wall of the dome.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!

I hobbled towards it.

My bleeding-glowing hand groped for it.

My head teetered from left to right.

My feet had turned into lead.

My eyes twitched.

The world swan-dived.

I tripped.

I hobbled.

I leaned precariously.

Then forward.

My eyes rolled back.

My head emptied.

A spinning globe.

A liquid sigh.

I fell back.....I fell....

And a dozen pairs of arms caught me.

"Easy...easy....," said a man.

"Don't touch any of his wounds," said another.

"Gently now....."

"You got his legs, Johnny?"

"Yes, Fran. Now let's hurry."

I was carried the rest of the few dozen feet towards the edge of the land of the dead.

My limp body acted as a human torch in their arms.

My arms hung limply on either side.

My wounds throbbed towards the black sky.

My eyes rolled back.

My mouth hung open.

Raven............

The citizens carrying my feet slipped through the black curtain.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!

My naked torso followed suit in the second half of scurrying forms.

Take care.........

And we were gone.

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"Here they come!!!"

"It's the last of them!!!"

"Thank God!!!"

"Quickly!! It's collapsing!!"

"Hurry!!"

"Now!! Now!!"

Fire.

Blinding whiteness.

My black eyes clenched shut.

I winced all over.

The air was warm.

I smelled autumn.

I smelled life.

I felt my blood get colder.

VROMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

An alien sound filled the air.

The arms lowered me gently down.

"Careful.....careful...."

"God....he's bleeding all over!!"

"Someone get a medic over here!!!!"

"Hurry, god damn it!!!"

VROMMMMMMM!!!!

"Look!!!"

"There it goes!!!"

I gasped.

My lids forced my black eyes opened.

I bit my lip as I stared into the blinding whiteness with naked optics.

A huge black shadow loomed above buildingtops in the center of the sun-kissed City.

The black dome that was the 'doorway' lifted up and shrunk into a twirling sphere of obsidian.

VROMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

Wind blew at me and everyone.

The police barricades provided shelter for huddled, cringing officers.

The citizens around me—whom I had rescued—cringed and shaded their eyes.

From what??

I kept gazing.

The black sphere shrunk and shrunk.

It spun.

It vibrated high above the clean, brightly-lit City.

And---

VROMMMMMMM-FLASH!!!!!!!

Exploded in tendrils of black.

SWOOOOOOOSH!!!!

A downdraft of air kicked at my black hair.

"........."

My eyes narrowed.

The sphere was gone....but something else dark was in its place.

A dark girl.

"!!!!!"

Murmurs.

Uncomfortable commotion.

A cloaked figure floated down from the last spot the sphere was located. It drifted down towards us like a dying kite. A girl clothed in blue. In nonchalant grace, Raven floated down and settled her feet on the ground a few feet in front of me. Her face was deadpan. Emotionless.

Calm......

She shuffled quietly towards me.

People watched—dumbfounded—as she went by.

I saw Commissioner Decker standing with his lieutenant....scratching his head.

I saw the paramedics who rushed over to 'help me' pausing and dropping their jaws in shock and confusion.

My heart beat.

Raven knelt before me.

She blinked her blue eyes.

"Keep still....."

Her eyes glowed a bright gray.

She extended her hands towards me.

A gentle shine.

I blinked.

I glanced down.

The 'X' cut on my chest shrank.

The wounds on my shoulder and back disappeared.

They 'zipped' up into clean flesh and I gasped as I felt myself refilled magically with the blood I lost.

I stared at Raven.....dumbstruck.

".....," she clutched her cloak to herself and breathed gently. Beautifully. "Mortuana....." A beat. Her lips pursed. She raised a hand and gently moved her stubborn lock of hair out from over her brow. "Mortuana is in me....."

My lips parted.

I leaned my head to the side.

Her eyes zeroed in on me.

"I remember now....," she said. "I remember the logic of my actions. When Trigon left me....I knew it was too good to be true. So I let go of my emotions.....in a desperate attempt to suck my demon father back in. To suck in everything he was concocting in the land of the dead."

A beat.

She gazed up into the bright sky.

"I......I am a living portal, Noir. Ask Robin...Beast Boy...Cyborg. They'll tell you that. Azarath is more a part of me than it ever was a part of itself. And now......now Mortuana has joined the collective well of emptiness inside of me. I.....I....." She gazed up at me. Her lips curved upward ever so prettily. "I 'consumed' it......"

"......," I blinked. I smiled weakly....helplessly.

"Trigon is back where he belongs. And as for me....." She flexed her hands in front of herself. They still glowed from having healed my wounds. "I seemed to have learned some new tricks......"

I slowly nodded.

A beat.

"Noir.....," Raven murmured. "Let's go home......"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Outside of Phoenix, Arizona.

In the early morning light of the Sun.

Besides a suburban road outlined by a dry forest.

A hunched figure in a trenchcoat wandered up to the door of an old church.

A wrinkled hand knocked on the door.

Thap! Thap! Thap!

A beat.

The door to the gathering place creaked open.

A man in business casual opened it.

A beat.

"Ah....you're here already," the man smiled pleasantly. He gestured. "Come in! Come in!!"

The man in the trenchcoat wandered inside. He was an old thing of wispy, graying hair. His face was extremely wrinked....almost illegally so. It seemed to take every fiber of his being to stay alive. And yet he did so with eerie finesse.

His gray eyes fell over the pews. The aisle leading down to the simple, unassuming altar. The stain glass window with the early morning light streaming through.

The man took a breath.

The younger one shut the door behind him and wandered over. "So...Juris....what brings you here this hour."

Juris gazed coldly at the man. "Do you not sense it, Mr. Cain? Do you not sense the tides of fate in action?"

"I.....I-I'm afraid I don't understand....," the young one looked confused.

Juris took a deep breath. "Mortuana....," he breathed. "Mortuana has been consumed....."

A beat.

"It is His Daughter, Mr. Cain....," Juris glared off towards the stained-glass window. "Mortuana now exists within Raven. Our Almighty Lord has been sorely mistreated."

"That....th-that's the confirmation of the second prophecy...," Mr. Cain stammered. His eyes thinned suspiciously. "Are you sure you sensed this right, J-Juris?"

"Do you forget where I come from, young one??"

A beat.

Mr. Cain cleared his throat. "N-No....not at all, sir."

Juris paced towards the altar, his hands held together. "The second prophecy has been fulfilled. The pattern is now set in motion. We cannot deny the writings of the Red Elders."

"You mean.....a-about the Obsidian Trinity?" Mr. Cain remarked.

Juris nodded his head without looking. "Trigon's days are numbered. Our God knows not eternity....though He may think that He does. The Plan is in effect. He is to be outdone.....by the Destruction of Man."

"Then what is it that we await for next?" Juris asked. "The Final Prophet?"

"No.....there are more tests to remain....," Juris uttered. "Especially to confirm whether or not the boy is integral to the Obsidian Trinity. There are secrets still unconfirmed to me. But I cannot witness them alone."

A beat.

Juris spun around. "We stand on the precipice of destiny. I cannot wait any longer. I must speak with Jezebel."

Cain smiled neighborly. "I shall go summon her. I seriously doubt she'd mind meeting you finally. Especially over this."

Juris' eyes narrowed. "You.....mislead me?"

"Heheheheh," Mr. Cain laughed merrily. He clapped his hand gently over the elder's shoulder. "But of course not, Juris. You are more than welcome here at the Church of Blood."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"So you knew it all along??" Robin asked. He sat on a stool with his back to the kitchen unit's counter. His upper body was bandaged down the middle. He smirked. "From the very get-go....you knew that all you were doing was 'consuming' Mortuana??"

Raven stood across from us in the Main Room. She adjusted her robe and uttered: "I...knew at the beginning. But following that instant, I was confused. I couldn't remember what I was losing my emotions for. And it was a good thing. Because if I knew the challenge that I was up against—my father—my last exposed emotion would have collapsed Mortuana without any hope of my emergence. I couldn't face my fear at the end. And that's actually a good thing."

"Glorious....," Starfire beamed. She sat cross-legged on the kitchen counter above and behind Robin. "Such actions were quite brave of you!!"

"From what I hear, actually....," Raven blinked. "Everyone was putting in their fair share of effort into this.....'affair'."

I leaned against a wall, my arms folded. I glanced through my black shades—smiling—over at Tempest.

Tempest blushed a bit and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Er....I........l-let's just say I found myself at home in the sewers."

"You got a passing grade, that's for damn sure," Robin smirked proudly. "Great job, Tempest. We couldn't have saved all of those people without you."

"Yes!!" Starfire giggled. "'Damned to the sure'!! Hehehehe!"

I rolled my eyes.

"So.....you uhm.....," Tempest bit his lip as he looked at Raven. "You still have that demon inside you, huh?"

"My father?" Raven blinked. A beat. She smiled ever so slightly. "Some habits never get old."

I snickered.

SCHWISSH!!

Beast Boy hopped out of the elevator, jumping excitedly. "Guys!! Guys!! Cyborg's recharged!! He's coming too!!"

"Glorious!!" Starfire exclaimed. She flew in a streak towards the elevator doors.

Robin hopped down off the stool and walked with Tempest towards the far side of the Main Room.

"Well, it's about time!! I swear....we need a nuclear power plant to juice that guy up!!"

"Yes...but....," Tempest scratched his head in confusion. "If liquid was all you needed to supplement Cyborg's lack of energy, couldn't I have just summoned some water for him?"

".............try and keep quiet for a while, Garth."

"Uh....sure."

Robin glanced back. "You guys coming?"

I looked over.

Raven held up a finger. "We will in a moment."

I glanced at her.

"All right," Robin said. "We'll send word."

SCHWIIISH!!!

The other Titans were gone.

Raven and I were alone.

"..........."

"..........."

She took a breath. She hugged one of her arms and glanced aside. "So....uhm.........you r-really gave a lot to save those people, didn't you?"

I shrugged.

A beat.

".........I....I guess it's only natural. You knew what you were doing from the beginning. I knew what I was doing from the beginning. Now look at us. We both came on top."

I nodded. A smirk.

Her lips curved slightly too.

I motioned towards the stairwell.

"Huh??"

I gestured 'walking' with my feet and pointed at myself.

"You're going to your room?"

I nodded.

"Oh...right....I forgot," Raven droned. "You already paid Cyborg a visit, didn't you?"

Another nod.

A beat.

She cleared her throat. She walked across the room. "I....uh.......want to see him now myself....."

Silence.

Raven walked by.

I turned towards the stairwell and walked off.

And in the middle of it, we both paused.

For in going in our own separate directions, we suddenly ended up so very much close to each other.

Almost shoulder to shoulder.

And neither of us admitted that we stopped.

But we just......stopped.

And stood there.

Frozen.

Deep breaths.

I felt the heat of her proximity.

She took a deep, shuddering breath.

A beat.

She started once....twice....

I walked ahead.

She bit her lip and strolled on to the elevator doors.

Neither one of us cast a single glance at each other...

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Consumption

I saw it not once
I saw it always

Shuddering inside of me

Like a window pane against the plain

-

Night is just a preview

Of the perfect bane of evil

The pain lessened
The new heaven

Made strong and able
Inside of me

-

Mortuana has played its part

Mortuana, the end, the start

I gave myself I gave my all
Mortuana is in my heart

-

Mortuana, the endless night

Mortuana, the righteous fight

In secret sighs of violet eyes

Inside me Mortuana burns bright

-

-

Raven cleared her throat.

She humbly half-curstied.

"Th-Thank you...."

Applause.

The gentle snapping of fingers.

Muttered commotion of approval.

And....

The jazz reconvened.

Raven walked down from the podium and shuffled gracefully across the haze of the poetry café.

Cyborg pulled her seat out for her as she wandered over.

"There! See?? I'm being the perfect gentleman."

"That's a day that I'll croak like a frog...," Raven droned.

"Hah hah hah!!" Cyborg leaned back and laughed. "Come on!! The poetry was good, by the way."

"No it wasn't. I wrote it impromptu."

"Well of course you did. We just got over the whole Mortuana thing yesterday!"

"Impromptu is relative."

"Hey....," Cyborg shrugged with a smirk. "If you say so, cutie."

Raven glared. "Aren't you supposed to be choking on pretzels or something?"

"Pfft. I'm not hungry."

Raven lifted an eyebrow. "Are you sure you recovered fully from your recharge?"

Cyborg leaned forward. "Do I detect a hint of concern?"

A beat.

Raven looked towards the side. "You know about me and emotions, Cyborg....."

"Well....I thought I did," he said.

"......???" she glanced at him.

He leaned his head on his chin and smiled at her. "It's like something that Plato said. Or maybe it was Socrates. Whatever. Ahem. 'The more you know, the more you know you don't know'."

"..........."

"You're like a labyrinth that keeps on going, Raven."

"Gee....," hugged herself and looked off. "....thanks."

He chuckled. "I mean it in a good way."

"I know....it's just....," Raven brushed her stubborn lock away.

Cyborg leaned his head to the side. "Just what, Rae?"

"........."

A blink.

"Rae---" Cyborg suddenly gasped.

Raven was hugging him. Desperately.

"...........," Cyborg lifted an uncertain hand and placed it gently on her back. "Raven.....are you—"

"I'm okay, Cyborg.....," she breathed. She sighed against him. "I.....I think I'm willing to change after all. Only....slowly....."

A beat.

Cyborg smiled painfully. He patted her back. "I'm glad, Raven. I'm glad....."

But as she gazed over his shoulder....

Raven's eyes were elsewhere.

Elsewhere entirely.

Lingering........

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I sat on the bed, cross-legged.

I typed away at the laptop.

Waited.

And---

InzeUltima: So your okay and stuff right?

I typed.

SpSquirrel: Last time I checked, yeah.

InzeUltima: Good cuz I was really worried : (

SpSquirrel: You heard anything about the 'black dome' in the City?

InzeUltima: Yeah. It was on the news. Even here in Kansas!! Gawd I wanted to fly over there and stuff but...

SpSquirrel: Clark, I know.

InzeUltima: Yeah.

SpSquirrel: I think I know just what would cure your problem.

InzeUltima: Please Im open to suggestions!!!!1

SpSquirrel: Kryptonite in his Luncheables.

InzeUlitma: lol Actually, I was just thinking of a homophobic blackmail letter sent to the Daily Planet. Lololol

I leaned back.

And I smiled.

But my eyes lingered off and my heart shuddered.

Because.....

For the first time I could remember since the night of the Kansas stars..........the smile didn't feel real.

"........"

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Jonas looks to the sky.

Shimmering down in a queer gray from the cracks in the Subway ceiling.

Something is wrong.

Everyone is alive.

He takes a deep breath, smiles, and turns about to gaze at his people.

Dimitri, Raphael, and Victor walk about aimlessly.

They and the gothic citizens gaze in wonder at the light shining in.

The alien substance.

The land beyond the land of the dead.

"We are Mortuana......"

Strange bodies wander in through the Subway entrance.

"We are Raven......"

The underground citizens watch in wonder at the newcomers.

"We are Death......"

Dizzy......confused humans wander into the realm. Some hand in hand. Some just side by side.

"We are Healing......"

Trent Larson wanders in. He looks at his arms. They aren't burnt.

Norah Smith hugs herself. She feels her neck. She can breathe.

Moses stumbles at an explanation to everything. He gazes down to his side.

Little Hannah clutches a doll to her chest. She seems frightened...until Raphael walks over, kneels in front of her, and offers a pair of pale arms to hold.

Moses looks up as Victor walks over, extends a hand, and shakes it.

One by one, the spirits meet spirits. The cleansed poltergeists and the Mortuanan population.

In the midst of this soup of conglomerated souls, Dimitri steps up. His pale eyes thin. He gasps.

Clank!!

His flute drops to the floor.

He runs through the crowd.

Ayane runs to him.

The two embrace warmly in the pale sea. They twirl with tears under the gray skylight.

Jonas smiles more.

"The separatists founded this world to aid mankind. And for successive generations, they have worked selflessly."

The combined crowd wanders to the surface of the hazy streets.

The world is full of gray light.

Jonas and the others gladly squint their eyes.

"And finally......we have been rewarded......"

Raphael lifts Hannah up on his shoulders. They smile at each other. Hannah gazes up at the pulsing orb above them. The strobe of sacred energy.

"The New Heaven. The New Life. Within the heart of the Sacred Daughter."

Hannah lifted her little hand up as if to touch the distant orb. Reaching......reaching......

"Mortuana was......is......and shall be.........forevermore......"

The orb pulsed. And as everyone waited, it grew brighter.

Brighter.

Brighter...