Chapter Fifteen: War Angel
After having defeated Bellum and being blasted away from the battleground, oddly enough, I was on Themyscira again. A hand reached down to help me up. My vision was blurred at first, but in a few seconds, I recognized the person. It was Wonder Girl!
"You did it Scarlette! You won!" She told me as she helped me up.
I looked around to see all of the Amazons on the island had returned to normal, and most importantly, so had the rest of my friends! I rushed towards them, and Beast Boy and Cyborg each high-fived me in gratitude. Raven simply shook my hand. She wasn't really the type to show a whole lot of emotion.
"Thanks for the save, little red!" Cyborg told me.
"Yeah! Being a statue for all that time has given me a major cramp!" Beast Boy said.
"It's a little hard to believe." Raven told me. "I mean, you basically killed a god."
I guess that's true. Bellum was a phantom god, and I killed him. Or blew him up, or whatever. As long as he was gone.
"How did I even get here?" I asked. "The last thing I remember was being blasted off of Bellum when he exploded."
"You can thank Starfire for that. She caught you before you got too far." Robin answered me.
I turned towards Starfire, who had a big smile on her face.
"After the battle, we came here to make sure everyone had returned to normal." She informed me.
It was great that all my friends were back, but there was still something bothering me. It was my father, Ares. I still hadn't seen him back to normal yet.
"What about my father? Did he return to normal?" I asked.
Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Wonder Girl gave me some bad news. My dad had not returned to normal; he was still a statue!
"How can that be? Wasn't all of the life force supposed to return to their owners once Bellum was destroyed? You guys were able to put what was left of him back in the hourglass, right?" I asked them.
"We weren't able to find anything left over." Link told me.
Nothing left over? How could that be? Was Bellum destroyed for good? But then why was my dad still a statue? All of those questions were answered in a few minutes, but not in the way I had hoped.
We all noticed that the ocean in the distance had begun raging again. Then, all of the sudden, something rose from the depths. We were all shocked by what we saw. It was Bellum! He was back in the form he had taken when he took Ares' life force. Now it made sense; the reason why my dad hadn't returned to normal was because Bellum hadn't been destroyed! He was still alive, and he had a vengeful look in his eye. Looks like the battle wasn't over yet!
"Bellum?! But… how?!" Starfire exclaimed.
"That's impossible! I saw Scarlette stab him right where Majora was attached! All of the life force left him, he shouldn't even be in this form!" Link declared.
Bellum levitated himself over to where we were all gathered. The moment he arrived, all of the Amazons in the area, including Wonder Girl, tried to fight him off. It was no use however, as every one of them were knocked away. He then fixed his gaze upon us, and I saw that his eye was red and bloodshot, which reminded me of my dad's eyes.
"Looks like he retained the life force of Ares. That's why he's still alive." Raven informed.
He was glaring at all of us, but it appeared his gaze was mainly focused on me, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. Bellum wanted revenge on me for almost killing him. The others were soon aware of this too, because without warning, Bellum grabbed me in one of his tentacles and lifted me into the air. I was now face-to-face with him… or rather, face-to-eyeball.
"You will pay for what you did… Olympian!" I heard coming from Bellum.
What?! Bellum could talk?! Before, it was Majora doing all the talking! Actually, it was more like he was speaking into my thoughts only, because it didn't seem like the others had heard him. At that moment, to my surprise, Bellum had been hit with a bird-shaped projectile. It was one of Spikey's, and it was beeping (I think we all know what that meant). It exploded, causing Bellum to release me from his grip. I fell face-first to the ground (again?!) and went unconscious for a few minutes. When I came too, I saw Spikey kneeling over me with his hand reaching out to help me up. Seeing as he just saved my butt back there, I allowed him to help me.
"Looks like we're even, huh Nikki?" He said to me.
I smiled and gave him a small punch on his arm. Now wasn't the time for sappy moments though, because the other Titans were trying to subdue Bellum, and failing. Raven took one of the fallen statues in the area and hurled it at Bellum with her magic, but Bellum just caught it and hurled it towards Link. He rolled out of the way and fired several arrows from his cyber bow. The shots froze Bellum in several places, but he shrugged it off almost immediately. Still, this gave Starfire enough time to fling Beast Boy at him, who turned into a rhino right before impact. The attack sent Bellum into the ground, where Cyborg picked him up and hurled him back into the air, then blasted him with his sonic cannon. Before Spikey and I joined back into the fight, Bellum released a surge of energy that hit all of us. Spikey and I managed to avoid it because of one of my shields, but the others weren't so lucky and were hit by it full blast, knocking them all unconscious.
Bellum was about to grab me again, but Spikey jumped in the way and blocked his strike with his bo-staff. It was nice that Spikey was trying to hep me, but now Bellum had a grip on his bo-staff. I had expected Bellum to just pull the weapon out of Spikey's hands, but something far worse happened. Bellum grabbed Spikey with his remaining three tentacles and pulled himself over to him. Then to my horror, Bellum attached himself to Spikey's back! Was he going to drain his life force?! Whatever he was doing, I wasn't going to let him do it! I rushed over to him and tried to pull Bellum off, and when that failed, I tried to pry him off with a sword. Bellum simply grabbed me and threw towards a nearby broken statue. It really hurt, but it was probably nothing compared to what was happening to Spikey. Turns out Bellum wasn't draining his life force; he was possessing him!
Dark energy began to surround him, and formed into what resembled a black whirlwind. When the whirlwind ceased, Spikey was still standing, but was now being controlled by Bellum. His appearance had changed a little due to Bellum's possession. His hair was even spikier than it had been before, and his skin had turned a pale gray, not to mention that several of Bellum's tentacles were wrapped around his limbs. But what I noticed most of all, was that his eyes had turned blood red, just as Bellum's had been; it was visible even from underneath Spikey's mask!
"The will of this one is strong… but I can hold on long enough… to have my revenge!" Bellum said through Spikey.
Bellum forced Spikey to pull out his bo-staff, and the dark energy coming from Bellum caused it to change shape. What was once just a long, gray stick, was now lined with spines on each of it's tips, and it turned almost pitch black. With every swing he made with it, dark power came flowing out, which seemed to distort the air around him. My reaction was to form a bo-staff of my own, from the same red energy as I usually do.
"You think that by possessing Spikey that I'm gonna go easy on you?" I asked Bellum. "You clearly don't understand our relationship, you freak!"
That's what came out of my mouth, but what I was really thinking was this: of all the guys he had to possess, it had to be Spikey?! It didn't mean I couldn't kick his butt, but there was no way I could use the Omega Sword on him right now. While it would completely demolish Bellum, it could also kill Spikey, and that was the last thing I wanted to do! The two of us rushed at each other and our weapons collided. It would've been a stalemate, but Bellum cheated and swatted at me with one of his tentacles. This caused me to drop my guard, and Bellum got me right in the gut with Spikey's knee, then hit me in the jaw with a left hook.
So this was his game, huh? Using Spikey to keep me from using my full power. Without the Omega Sword, I couldn't do anything to Bellum without hurting Spikey. But Bellum did say that Spikey's will was strong, perhaps too strong for Bellum to stay in control! Maybe, just maybe, I could reach out to him. It was worth a shot.
"C'mon, Spikey! Fight him! Don't let this sea-food platter tell you what to do!" I shouted towards him.
Bellum laughed through Spikey, then attempted another attack, which I was able to dodge, but was still hit because Bellum cheated and used his tentacle again, which caused me to trip and fall down.
"You are wasting your breath, girl! Your boyfriend is under my complete control!" Bellum claimed.
"Okay, first of all, he is not my boyfriend!" I said as I got back up. "Second, if I know one thing about Spikey, it's that he's extremely hard-headed! He would never just allow himself to be controlled by a monster like you!"
As Bellum kept attacking (and cheating) through Spikey's body, I kept trying to get through to him. I hoped that it was working, cause right about now, Bellum was kicking my butt!
"C'mon Spikey! You're better than this! Don't let this thing tell you what to do!" I shouted. "You're supposed to be a hero, not a coward!"
I think that last statement may have gotten through, because he was beginning to act weird. He grabbed one on the tentacles entwining his arm and tried to pull it off. Of course I knew that wasn't something Bellum would've done, but it's totally what Spikey would do!
"I… am not… a coward!" Spikey snarled. "Get off of me!"
Unfortunately, just as Spikey was regaining control, Bellum forcefully smacked him upside the head, which knocked him out. This allowed Bellum to take control again, despite Spikey being unconscious. Are you kidding me?! Was there anything this thing wasn't going to cheat at?!
"A good attempt… but not enough!" Bellum taunted.
Bellum struck me again, with both Spikey's bo-staff, and several of his tentacles, which knocked me far back, towards the shore of the island. By now, every bone and muscle in my body was aching; it felt like I had been hit with a wrecking ball, several times. But despite all of this pain, I forced myself up. Although it felt like my limbs were about to break, I wasn't giving up. Either I'd win this fight, or die trying.
"I wouldn't have expected the offspring of the god of war to be so soft! Your father wouldn't hold anything back. I should know, for I still have his life force!" Bellum told me.
Now Bellum was really cutting it deep. Using the fall of my father to try and demoralize me; to make me give in? Well it wasn't demoralizing me, in fact, it was just making me angry. But not the same kind of anger that I had felt before when going into 'blind fury'. The anger I was feeling wasn't for me, or for vengeance; this anger was coming from the fact that I was failing to help everyone else. It was a heroic fury. A righteous fury.
"There are a lot of things you don't know, monster. And one of them is… I'm not like my father!" I snarled at him. "I don't fight for power! I fight for others, for my friends, for hope!"
At that moment, something unusual happened. The pendant on my necklace, Athena's charm, began to glow light red. That glow enveloped my whole body, and from out of nowhere my outfit began to change. Where before I was wearing a red bandana, halter-top, and black shorts, I was now wearing a red, winged, greek-style helmet, a medium breastplate, and black loincloth-like garb overtop my shorts. In place of my brown shoes, I was now wearing armored, greek-style, open-toed footwear, and my gloves had been replaced with protective black wrist plates. I didn't know how it happened, but what I did know was that I now felt more energized and ready to fight again! Plus, I looked totally awesome!
"Okay… this is new, but… cool!" I claimed. "Now where were we?"
I formed a bo staff again, and charged towards Bellum. My attacks were hitting him more effectively now, because whenever he tried to 'cheat' by using his tentacles, they just bounced off of me! It must've had something to do with my new armor, which meant now I would fare a whole lot better in this fight! Bellum still tried some underhanded tactics, such as trying to trip me, hitting me below the belt, and he even tried pulling my hair! When he tried that, I went and pulled on Spikey's hair. Actually, I ended up ripping some of it off, which left a bit of a bald spot (I'd have some explaining to do later). He then tried a sweep attack with his bo-staff, but I backflipped to avoid it, then used my bo-staff to pole-vault myself straight towards him and kicked him in the face. This sent him into flying into a broken statue, which crumbled upon impact. Before Bellum could get up, I grappled him with my whip and pulled myself towards him. He was knocked down with me right on top of him, which put me in the perfect position to land a few punches to his face (well, it was Spikey's face, but I bet Bellum was feeling all the pain right now!). When I was done punching, I grabbed one of his tentacles and ripped it clean off! One of Spikey's arms was now free, but Bellum still had control over his unconscious body. Fortunately by now, the other Titans had come to, and were ready to join me in the battle.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, little red. But we're ready to help whoop some butt now!" Cybrog said.
"Whoa! Where'd you get that cool armor from, mama?" Beast Boy asked me, noticing my new outfit.
"I have no idea." I answered. "It's cool though, huh?"
Beast Boy nodded in agreement and tried to touch it, but I swatted his hand away. Now wasn't the time to be gawking at my new outfit, no matter how hot I looked in it. We still had a Bellum-possessed Spikey to deal with.
"Is that… Robin?!" Link asked. "What happened to him?!"
"Bellum possessed him. He tried fighting free, but Bellum cheated and knocked him out." I informed him.
"How underhanded!" Starfire exclaimed.
"I know, right?" I responded.
Now that the whole team was here, I guess we could employ a new objective: get that thing off of Spikey's back! Bellum charged forward, still attached to Spikey, but I could tell he couldn't hold on much longer. Raven blocked his strike with an energy shield, which gave Beast Boy enough time to transform into a large crab. I was a little confused at first, but then saw that BB had leapt towards Spikey's legs and used his crab claw to snap off one of Bellum's tentacles. Spikey's left leg was free now, but BB didn't have time to snap off the other tentacles, cause Bellum threw him off. While he was distracted though, Cyborg and Starfire went in to try and hold him down.
"Scarlette! We have him subdued! Use your Omega Sword and finish him!" Starfire told me.
"What?! Star, are you crazy, I can't…." I began to say, without thinking clearly. "Oh! You meant Bellum! Right. Duh."
I focused and formed my Omega Sword, which came out with a big blast of blue lightning. Cyborg told me to hurry, for he and Star couldn't hold Bellum down for long. I told them to give me a break as I still wasn't entirely used to the tremendous power of the Omega Sword, but I rushed over as fast as I could. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough. Bellum broke free from their grip and knocked both of them away with Spikey's bo-staff. Well that was just great! I had the opportunity to end this battle right now, and I had to dawdle by 'getting used to my weapon', and I couldn't use the Omega Sword on Bellum now without killing Spikey in the process. I had no choice but to discard it. Bellum charged again, and I formed my bo-staff again, prepped to counterattack. However, before Bellum could attack, Link came in-between us and blocked the attack with his shield. He pulled out his Master Sword and braced himself.
"Careful Link! That's still Spikey your fighting!" I told him.
"I know. I'll just hit him with the flat of my sword." Link replied.
"Okay. Well, in that case… kick his butt!" I said.
Link nodded, then began his fight. As he fought, Raven came over to make sure I was alright. Fortunately my new armor had kept most of me safe, so I wasn't hurt too badly. I hadn't been too sure of the others, but Raven had already tended to them, and were now watching the fight between Link and the Bellum-possessed Spikey with me. The two of them seemed evenly matched for a while, mostly cause Link kept having to use the flat of his sword to attack, which didn't do much. Bellum kept trying underhanded tactics, such as trying to trip him, or attempting to grab his weapons out of his hands, but Link was able to avoid or stop most of those attacks. Bellum then tried to cheat again using his three remaining tentacles. Link was able to dodge the first two strikes, but the last one he wasn't able to avoid. Bellum's tentacle had grabbed Link's necklace, the one that had the odd green-and-blue orb attached to it; which Link called a 'spirit gem.' For some reason, it looked like it burned Bellum when he touched it and quickly yanked his tentacle away. But in the process, it tore the necklace from Link's neck, and it landed near Starfire's feet. She picked it up, and for some reason, she got a fearful look on her face.
"Oh no." She said.
"Oh no? Why oh no? Link just lost his necklace, what's the big deal?" I asked her.
I looked back towards the fight, and saw that Bellum had Link in a stranglehold with two of his tentacles, and Link had dropped his Master Sword. What was really weird however, was that the dark clouds overhead began to grow even darker. What's more, Link didn't look so good. I mean, I know he was being strangled and all, but it looked like his skin was turning pale for some reason. Even his outfit was darkening.
"Try all you want, hero. But you will never best me. I am in control of one who far surpasses you… in more ways than just one." Bellum said through Spikey.
Was Bellum peering into Spikey's thoughts and using his memories to mess with Link? If so, it definitely looked like it was affecting him, but it didn't seem like Link was just getting angry; it looked like his body was changing in response to it. To my surprise, and to the shock of the others, we could all see black vein-like things extend across Link's left arm, which kept going up to his face. When Link opened his eyes, they were no longer blue. They were now glowing red; a rather evil-looking shade of red. This sudden transformation caught Bellum by surprise, and he was blasted back by a surge of dark red energy that had come from… Link?! What the heck was going on here?!
Link stood there for a few minutes, staring down Bellum with a harsh look in his eyes. I recognized that look all too well, I had seen it before in my own eyes; it was the look that betrayed murderous intent. I had been traveling with Link for over four days, and from what I had seen, he was brave, strong, but at the same time, a kind person. But this?! This was a side of Link I had never seen until now. But it was a side of Link that Starfire was all too familiar with.
"Starfire, what's going on?! What happened to Link?!" I asked her.
"That is no longer Link, Scarlette. That is the demon that lives within his soul. It's was brought out by the hatred and jealousy in his heart." Starfire informed me.
"Jealousy? Jealousy for wha… Oh. I get it." I replied.
The 'jealousy' Starfire mentioned must've meant Link's jealousy of Robin. Starfire was once Robin's girlfriend, but she never told Link about it, and he found out the hard way. I guess that would make any guy angry and jealous, but I didn't think it'd make him this angry! So Link had a demon living inside him?! And I thought I had problems!
"I've had it with you… Robin. You think you're so great? You think you're always in control? You can't even control yourself right now!"Link said to him with a demonic resonance in his voice.
Link was kinda one to talk, seeing as he wasn't in control of himself right now either, but whatever. I could see through Spikey's barely visible eyes that Bellum was frightened. It was about time this thing cringed in fear like the coward he was, but at the same time I was worried. I know Link would never harm Spikey, but I couldn't say the same for this 'Demon Link.' Bellum, despite being afraid, kept trying to pull at Link's emotions. Honestly, that was a big mistake.
"You think you can intimidate me? You cannot possibly hold the Master Sword in your current state! Without that, you're powerless!" Bellum taunted.
Link clenched both of his fists, and even more dark energy flowed around him. What happened next made most of us shriek. Eight dark red tentacles, similar to Majora's, came out of his back! Beast Boy remarked that that didn't happen the last time he was like this (that was before I met any of them, so I wouldn't know). It was horrifying, especially for Starfire. For her to see the guy she loved turning into… this, it must've hurt.
"You were saying?" Link taunted.
Even the way Link talked was beginning to sound evil. Bellum charged at Link, but Link blocked the assault with his… umm… tentacles, and then counterattacked by punching Spikey several times in the face. I never really got to see Link fight hand-to-hand, but I never thought I'd see it like this! Bellum tried to grab Link with his tentacles, but Link grabbed him back with his own… tentacles (ugh, saying that is so weird!), hurled Spikey into the air and then slammed him back down into the dirt, leaving a small crater behind. Now Bellum was clearly afraid, cause he slowly tried to retreat.
"Where do you think you're going?! We're not done here!" Link snarled.
He grabbed Bellum by Spikey's leg, this time with his hands, and raised Spikey into the air upside down. Bellum himself was now facing Link, and when Link saw the terrified look in Bellum's eye, he laughed softly; and evilly. He gripped Bellum's eye with his free hand, and very forcefully, ripped Bellum off of Spikey's back. He threw Bellum off to the side, and focused his attention on Spikey again. He still had that murderous look in his eyes, and right now I was fearing the worst.
"Star! We gotta do something! He's gonna kill him!" I cried, with a very small tear forming in my eye.
"If we can get Link's spirit gem back around his neck, he should return to his normal self." Starfire informed me.
"Well then, what are we waiting for! Titans, go!" I shouted.
Heh. That was normally Spikey's line, but since he was unconscious at the moment, it was my turn to shout it. Starfire flew up to Link and pushed him, which released his grip on Spikey. As she faced him, Link looked even angrier for some reason. Well, I guess having your crush help their ex like that might make a guy a little miffed, but in this case it was making Link furious.
"I should've guessed…" Link growled.
"Link! Please stop! This is not you! I can help…" Starfire pleaded to him.
"I think you've 'helped' enough!" Link snarled.
He flung his tentacles forward to strike her, but Raven came over and blocked them just in time. Then she attempted to seize Link's tentacles with her magic. She stopped them long enough for Cyborg to come in and tackle him. He brought out his sonic cannon on Link, and warned Link to calm down or he would use it.
"You seem to be forgetting what happened when you tried that in our last encounter." Link told him.
In an flash of dark flames, Link vanished! He reappeared behind Cyborg a moment later, and pierced right through his armor with one of his tentacles! Cyborg stumbled forward in agony as Link walked forward to attack again. But Beast Boy jumped in as a kangaroo (heh. literally) and kicked Link in the gut. It knocked him down, but he immediately sprang back up. BB was about to change into another animal, but before he could, Link raised his hand and fired out a stream of red lightning from his fingertips. The attack paralyzed BB, and he fell to the ground all stiff and electrocuted. Seeing all of this senseless violence, between our own friends, I couldn't let it go on. I had no choice; I had to use the Omega Sword.
"Hey, Cat Ears!" I shouted towards him. "You need to get a hold of yourself and stop acting so crazy!"
He saw the Omega Sword in my hand, surrounded by a blue electrical glow. This sight only made Link laugh. I was getting tired of this 'Demon Link', I wanted the good Link back. We all did.
"Foolish girl. You really think you can defeat me with that sword?" Link taunted. "It may be powerful. But not powerful enough to kill me."
"I'm not gonna kill you with it. I'm just gonna use it to beat some sense into you!" I told him.
Link charged towards me, trying to stab at me with his tentacles. But just like with Bellum, his tentacles couldn't hit me thanks to my new armor. He tried a few punches next, but I blocked them all with my sword. He shot out red lightning at me like he did on Beast Boy, but my Omega Sword was strong enough to deflect it. Link then used his tentacles to lift himself into the air to try and kick me from above. I believe now was the time to try out the special parrying move that I had learned from Wonder Girl. As his foot came down on me, I leaned to the side and grabbed it in my arm. I swung him around a bit before finally slamming him into the ground face-first (about time it was someone other than me!). While on the ground, I pinned Link down with my legs while on top of him.
"Sorry Link. But this is going to hurt you more than it's gonna hurt me!" I said.
Well, it hurt me a little to do it to him too, but he clearly got the worst of it. Using the flat part of the Omega Sword, I repeatedly slammed it into Link's face. After about a minute, when it looked like he was close to losing consciousness, I raised the sword high and gave him one final smack. Link lost consciousness, and his body returned to normal. Thank goodness! Those tentacles were seriously giving me the creeps!
Just in time, Starfire flew over and placed Link's necklace back around his neck. She then stood back a little, a little shocked from the sight of Link's heavily bruised face.
"Scarlette. You… you didn't…" She began to ask.
"What?! No! Of course not! I just knocked him unconscious. He should be fine after a little rest." I answered her. "Believe me Star, I don't wanna go through that. Not again."
"Go through what again?" Starfire asked me.
"Oh! Umm… go through… what happened here just now. I don't like it when I have to hurt friends." I responded, though it was partially a lie.
She bought it, but what I had really meant was that I didn't want to go through killing people again, like I had apparently done that one night when I was still in Roman's gang. Hopefully, that would never happen again. But right now, there was one last piece of business to attend to. Bellum was still in the same area that Link had thrown him. All of his tentacles had been ripped off, and his eye was bleeding. I walked over to him and formed the Omega Sword again. It was time to end this. For real this time.
"It's over, Bellum! I'm getting my dad back!" I snarled.
"Today you may defeat me… but rest assured, child… what has transpired here… is only a taste of what's to come…" Bellum spoke within my mind.
"Well for now… you can taste this!" I replied, right before sending my sword straight through his eye.
When I drew it back out, Bellum began to not only bleed more, but he started leaking sand again. But this time, the sand was a red color. It was no doubt Ares' life force. Once all the sand leaked out, what was left of Bellum exploded, and all that remained was a pile of pitch black sand. As quick as possible, Raven came over with the Phantom Hourglass in her hands. She chanted an incantation of some sort, and with a flash of light, the black sand that was once Bellum was sucked back into the hourglass; where hopefully this time, it would stay there!
A few minutes later, Link and Spikey had regained their consciousness. Neither of them remembered anything from when they were possessed, but they both felt all of their injuries. Although Link hadn't remembered anything, he took a wild guess and asked Starfire if he had 'lost it' again. She reluctantly nodded her head to his question.
"I didn't say anything… mean to you… did I?" Link asked her.
"No. You didn't say anything hurtful, Link." Starfire answered him right before hugging him.
It was heartwarming to see that even after seeing what he had become, she still loved him. If you ask me, those two needed to stop kidding themselves and realize that they were made for each other. But hey, what do I know, I have amnesia. I went over to see how Spikey was doing. He looked alright physically, but mentally he seemed torn up.
"I can't believe I let that squid take over my mind like that!" He growled to himself.
"Hey. I knew you were fighting him the whole time. Bellum was just… cheating to stay in control. No villain could control you, Spikey. You're head's too thick!" I told him.
"Heh. I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult. But I'll take it as a compliment." He replied with a smile.
This made me smile too, and after making sure everyone was okay, I rushed off towards the colosseum at the center of the island. Hopefully, my dad was still there, and hopefully, he'd be in a talking mood. My friends were still busy tending to everyone's wounds, so I made the journey alone. It took about half an hour to get all the way to the top, but when entered the colosseum, I saw exactly who I was hoping to see. Ares was still here, and not a statue anymore, although he still looked weakened from the whole ordeal.
"Hey. 'Sup dad." I greeted him.
"Nicole." He responded. "You are the last person I'd expect to see here right now."
"You wouldn't expect to see your own daughter?" I asked him.
"Well, considering everything I have put you through… I would've thought you'd just let me rot here as a statue for eternity." He responded.
"Maybe you would've… but not me. Revenge isn't really my thing… most of the time." I told him.
Ares chuckled a little as he stood up before me. His figure was imposing, but to be honest, now that I knew he was my dad, I wasn't really afraid of him anymore.
"I assume that Zeus has spoken to you?" He asked me.
"Umm… yeah. How'd you know?" I replied.
"I can sense his power coming from you. He has given you the power of the Omega Sword." Ares told me. "Long ago, that same power was used to defeat an evil that was born from the Great War between the gods and the titans. Zeus would not have given it to you unless it was for a good reason."
"Yeah. He said it should only be held by the Champion of the Gods." I replied.
"Well, considering that you are wearing the armor of Athena, it is possible you may be fitting of that title." Ares informed me.
Armor of Athena? So that's what my new outfit was? So I was really the Champion of the Gods? That was cool, but honestly, I didn't want to have to wear this armor twenty-four seven. I asked my father if I'd be able to get my old outfit back. Turns out the answer was very simple. All I had to do was tap Athena's charm again. I did so, and the armor faded in the same light it had appeared in, and I was back in my old outfit, bandana and all.
"You still wear that bandana?" Ares asked me.
"Uh, yeah. Why? Does that bother you?" I replied a little rudely.
"On the contrary, I am pleased by the fact. I am the one who gave it to you after all." He responded.
Hold on. Ares gave me this bandana? I don't remember… oh, right, amnesia. I took it off for a moment to look at it. Now that I thought about it, the symbol it had on it looked a lot like the symbol on Ares' helmet, except that mine had a black upside-down teardrop shape, while his had a horned skull. I had always kept this bandana with me no matter what, but I had never been entirely sure why. But now I think I knew: that even though I had amnesia, I always had the love of my father with me. Even if my dad can be a major jerk sometimes… okay, a lot of the time! Even so, it was nice. Looks like mom was right; my father did still love us.
"Dad? Why did you leave us? I mean, why did you really leave us?" I asked him.
Ares looked down towards the ground, sighed, then raised his head towards the clouds.
"I suppose it is only right that you know the truth…" He began. "There was… a prophecy told by an oracle. The prophecy stated that a child born from mortals and gods would open the gates of chaos and unleash the Force of Destruction, which would mean the end of the world for both mortals and gods. Zeus feared that you may be the child spoken of in that prophecy; he did not want me to be around you. He ordered me to leave my family. I refused at first, but Zeus warned me that if I did not leave you, he would personally see to your destruction."
Zeus would've… killed me?! So that meant… dad left us to protect us. But I guess he still wanted to rule Olympus, so I guess that plan kinda bombed. But if Zeus thought I was this child from the prophecy, then why did he give me the Omega Sword?
"I left, but I would make certain that Zeus would pay for forcing me from my family. When Madeline learned of my plan for revenge, she pleaded for me to reconsider, telling me that it would not solve anything. As much as I loved her, I could not let her keep me from my goal of overthrowing Zeus, so I made certain that she could not follow me. However, during all of this, our home crumbled and you were caught under it. The impact caused you to lose your memory." Ares continued. "For five years, you had no memory of your life before that, and I was unable to confront you. It was only after I learned that Athena had spoken to Zeus about you, that I even had a chance to speak to you."
"Athena? What did she say to Zeus about me?" I asked.
"Athena suggested to Zeus that rather than eliminating the child on the spot, she should be given a chance of redemption. Athena even suggested that if the prophecy does come to pass, and you do unleash the Force of Destruction, perhaps you could also become the one to stop it." Ares answered. "Because of the evil that was brought forth from the Great War, all from a prophecy that Zeus' own father, Kronos, believed over the words of his own family, Zeus knew better than to completely trust the prophecy. So he decided to watch over you, to see if you were worthy of being the Champion of the Gods. Seeing as he has granted you the Omega Sword, I would assume that he sees you worthy."
Well, that was nice. My dad's dad, who had considered killing me before, sees me worthy of using the Omega Sword. The sword made quick work of Bellum; with that much power in my hands, I could, in theory, become a threat to the world. That is, if I was still a criminal in Roman's gang. But I wasn't, and I never would be again. As far as power goes, I only want enough to protect those around me.
"Okay, so Zeus sees me as worthy. That's cool. But I have to ask, dad; are you proud of me?" I asked him. "I'm not exactly following in your footsteps like you wanted."
"As far as that is concerned, I have realized something over the past few days. Mortal or god, the paths that we take in life are for us to choose. You and I may walk different paths, but know that I am proud of you, my daughter." Ares answered.
"Thanks, dad." I told him.
I took a step closer and held out my hands, but Ares didn't exactly respond warmly to that. What? So just because he's the god of war, he can't stand to show a little compassion and hug his own daughter? Honestly, my dad could be so hard-headed sometimes. Well, I guess it runs in the family. Heh heh.
"Could I at least get a handshake before I have to go?" I asked him.
At the very least he was willing to shake hands. Afterwards, I said good-bye and turned around towards the door. Before I exited the colosseum though, Ares told me one more thing. Well, two things actually. The first, was that he assured me that he would not make this kind of mistake again, and that if he ever saw Majora again, he would personally send him into the depths of Tartarus. The second was, simply, that we would meet again someday, as the fates have deemed it to be he vanished to who know's where. Umm… okay.
Once I had re-joined my friends, Wonder Girl approached me. I was a little worried at first, but my worries vanished as she held out her hand.
"Scarlette. On behalf of all the Amazons of Themyscira, we owe you our eternal gratitude." She told me.
I took her hand and shook it, but honestly, nobody had to owe me anything (well, except maybe for Spikey. Heh heh). Unfortunately, the T-ship was still back in Jump City, and it was wrecked. Raven offered to warp Cyborg back to the Tower to fix it. That was probably going to take a few hours, so the rest of us would wait here. While waiting, we decided to tour the island to kill some time. During the trip, I felt like I owed Link an apology for banging up his face so badly.
"It's okay, Scarles. I know you had to do it, and honestly, I'm glad you did. Otherwise, I wouldn't be myself right now." Link told me.
His face wasn't as banged up as it had been before, because Raven used her magic to heal most of it. Right now he just had a few bruises on the sides of his face and a black eye. The back of his tunic was still ripped up though, from where the… tentacles (ugh) had come out, but he could probably get that sown up later.
A little later, Spikey gave me a little punch on the shoulder as a way to say 'congrats.' I blushed a little from the gesture, but I turned my head to the side so he wouldn't notice. I told him that it was no big deal.
"No big deal?! Nikki, you saved us all! If not for you we all would've been devoured by Bellum for sure. You've come a long way from being that street thief we encountered that one night." Spikey told me.
"Hey, that reminds me. I've been thinking about a name for myself." I told everyone.
"What do you mean? You already have 'Scarlette' as a name." Starfire mentioned.
"Not to mention your real name: Nicole Sera." Robin also mentioned.
"Yeah, but 'Scarlette' was the name my old gang leader, Roman, gave me. It's… not very creative." I told them. "I've been thinking of a heroic name for myself, like what all you guys have."
Beast Boy commented that we finally heard the name of my old gang leader, and I went and told him that it wasn't a big deal (Roman can go drop dead for all I care). Link mentioned that 'Link Skyward' was his real name, so I guess he was an exception. Wonder Girl asked me what kind of name I had in mind.
"Well, seeing that I'm the daughter of the god of war, but also a hero, I was thinking of using the name: War Angel." I informed them.
The others were silent for a few seconds, but then Beast Boy chuckled and asked if that was the best I could come up with.
"Hey give me a break! It's not east coming up with names! Especially with me having amnesia and all!" I snapped at him.
"Well, I think it's a cool name." Spikey told me.
Link, Starfire, and Wonder Girl all nodded in agreement. However, Starfire asked me if it was alright to still call me 'Scarlette', with Link adding that the name was cool and just kinda fit with me.
"Seriously guys? C'mon, Roman came up with it. It's stupid and hardly makes sense." I told them.
But eventually, the others convinced me to think of it as a friendly term when coming from them. Plus they were just used to it, so I agreed. But I also told them that when I'm wearing the Athenian Armor, that they refer to me as 'War Angel'; that they could agree on. No sooner than we had agreed did Cyborg call us on our communicators, telling us that the T-ship was all fixed and that he'd be here soon to pick us up. Finally! It felt like we'd been waiting for ten hours. Oh wait… we had been waiting for ten hours. My bad.
Once Cyborg had arrived, we said our good-byes and boarded the T-ship. I had to squeeze in with Spikey again, but that was fine; I was looking forward to messing with him the whole way. Starfire shouted out to Wonder Girl, saying that she hoped to see her again soon. Although, she referred to her as 'Donna'. Hmm… I guess that was Wonder Girl's real name. Good to know. I shouted out at them too, saying to call me if they ever needed 'War Angel' to save them again. Donna gave me a funny look, but I'm pretty sure she responded by saying that she'd 'keep that in mind'. And with that, we piloted the T-ship back to Titans Tower, where we had a lot of work in store for us, rebuilding the tower and all. But it wouldn't be so bad. Hey, maybe now I'd get my own room! The couch was comfy and all, but I never really got any privacy before (except in the bathroom). Well, however we'd rebuild the tower, the others could count on War Angel to help out. Although I may take a few breaks in-between.
Elsewhere, in a meeting none of us witnessed, a tall, pale-skinned man in a white unitard and one pointed ear was standing near the entrance to the Jump City cemetery. It was Ghirahim, the so-called 'Demon Lord', and he was apparently waiting for someone. This someone would've surprised me if I had been there, for it wasn't a person, it was a mask; a demonic-looking mask with spikes and tentacles coming out of it's back. It was Majora; the fiend that I had supposedly destroyed.
"So, I take it that your plan went as well as I expected?" Ghirahim asked tauntingly.
"You can do without the sarcasm, Ghirahim. For while the Phantom God may have fallen, my plan was far from a being failure." Majora claimed. "All of the life force may have been returned, but I had hold of it long enough to extract all of the desire Bellum had used to take it."
"Desire? What exactly are you talking about?" Ghirahim asked with a skeptical look on his face.
Majora simply laughed evilly as he held out one of his tentacles and a strange dark green energy began flowing around it. The energy gathered at the tip of his tentacle, and began forming into a crystalline structure of the same color.
"Sometimes to take a step forward, you must take two steps back. But my efforts have yielded results. Behold, the Demon Shard of Desire!" Majora announced. "There is only one shard left to create, and once it is done, the key to ultimate power shall be ours! Still, with the three we have now, we have the power to bring forth the one who will aid us in the creation of the last shard. That is why we have come here."
"To a cemetery? There's not a thing living here that could help us." Ghirahim said.
"No, there isn't. Not yet." Majora replied.
The two fiends entered the graveyard and made their way to a particular grave. Once in front of it, Majora brought out his other two Demon Shards, one being dark red and one being dark blue. All three began to leak out energy of their respective colors, and the energy flowed down into the grave. At this point, Ghirahim recognized the name emblazoned on the tombstone.
"Hold on! This grave belongs to…!" He began.
"Indeed it does…" Majora interrupted.
More and more energy poured out of the shards, and the ground beneath the tombstone that the energy was flowing into began to shake. Then suddenly, a half-decayed hand burst out of the ground and slowly clenched it's fist, and it appeared that it was slowly being restored to a living state. The name emblazoned on the tombstone was one that the other Teen Titans knew all too well: Slade Wilson.
An even even bigger cliff-hanger than in the last chapter huh? Though this is technically the last chapter in this volume, it's not over yet! A bonus chapter is coming up soon! Well... hopefully soon. Cause before this volume ends, Scarlette is going to end up confronting her old "master", Roman. The memories of serving him have been tormenting her throughout this whole volume. Let me just say, it's not going to be a pleasant reunion.