Inside Raven's mind, everything is I chaos, with the quake having wrecked much of Azerath, including burying much of the council chamber in rubble that made up the roof.
"Ok, that wasn't my fault!"Flash exclaims as the Leaguers walk out of the rubble, phasing through the rocks like ghosts.
"I think we all know who's responsible." Shayera growls having had a short lived panic attack when the roof came down on them.
"Yeah, but what did he do?" John asks.
"Arella?" Batman asks as the ghost of the woman phases through the blocked doorway.
"Oh no…what has he done?" The woman gasps as she catches sighs of one of the council members, the others just stare wide eyed at it. They can't tell which one it is, but it still bears resemblance to Raven's demonic form they knew as it slumps in its seat with a large piece of rock covering its legs and arms with its hood having fallen back, revealing the usual four eyes who are now closed and the red skin. What the group is shocked about is the long forked tongue hanging motionlessly out of its mouth, the towering black horns rising above her head rising out of her head over her eyes near her hairline and the pair of batwings that is being squashed between her back and the seat. "By Azar."
"Find Hope!" Batman shouts and the League rush out to locate the closest emotion. It doesn't take them long as J'onn quickly locates the disturbed thoughts coming from the square with the statues, where they soon arrive to find Hemon and a large crowd of people standing around a fallen shape.
"I…I have never seen her like this." Hemon mentions as the crowd parts to let the League land and see.
Hope is lying face down on the ground before the statue of Azar, she is also sporting the horns and the wings that would span more than twice her height if they were stretched, but now lie motionless in a broken fashion like the rest of her. What the League couldn't see on the council member is now made clear; from her neck and down her spine onto the tail that has pushed its way through her leotard, a row of barbed bones has pushed through her skin in two rows ending in a solid spike of bone at the tip of the tail. The final change is her legs that have been distorted, resembling those of the hindquarters of a beast with large bone claws on its toes.
"I take it this is something more than just shape shifting?" Flash asks himself out loud.
"She never changes shape in here." A woman says as deep boom is heard over the city, followed shortly by another. "Is that..?"
"The gate to Rage's realm; the demon must have gotten loose!" Hemon exclaims. "It won't hold it long." The League is already taking off for the gate, knowing that Raven's demon half must be contained. They meet Arella there; watching the shaking gate at the foot of the council chambers.
"You should step back." Batman says, knowing that while she was already dead, he was almost sure the demon could still inflict harm on them all.
"It's not alone." Arella says without moving. "You will need me; I might be able to stay it." She says as the pounding suddenly stops.
"Mother?! Is that you?" A muted voice asks from the other side of the door.
"I shall not be tricked by another demon!" Arella yells back.
"You wound me, it is I; Anger, I only wish to speak." The voice says.
"Anger and Hatred is on the other side." J'onn mentions. "But so it the demon."
"Because you needed the proof that it has not broken free and wearing my face again." The voice says. "The Martian can tell where we are, we will back away and let you see for yourselves." The voice continues.
"They are backing away." J'onn confirms. "How fast are they?"
"Speed of thought." Arella replies. "But I don't understand; if it wanted entry into Azerath, it could have gone around the back?"
"I wish only to speak to you freely without a barrier; I cannot move my other half in the council." The voice says even more muted because of the distance.
"I cannot sense any hostility from them." J'onn mentions.
"I will go in, in case it proves false." Arella says as she moves towards the door.
"You could be lost." Shayera says.
"I have the best chance, I am her mother." Arella says before phasing through the door. "Where are you child?" Arella asks as she forms what seems to be a glowing yellow hole that seems to suck matter into itself, but illuminates the tunnel.
"Here mother." The voice says, sounding strangely slurred. Arella directs her light to the location of the speaker, spotting three similar looking demons, two with a black and a red cloak respectively and one on its knees in front of them. All three look as if they are losing balance, their tongues all hang out of their mouths' and the wings bat against each other and the tunnel wall that is only just tall enough for the added height. "What happened to us?" The red cloaked one asks without pulling its tongue in.
"I would ask you the same. Why are you three not knocked out like Hope and the others?" Arealla asks.
"We must be more used to the transformation, but never anything this…extreme." The red cloaked one says.
"We don't like it!" The black cloaked one continues.
"You never transformed like this before?" Batman's voice suddenly mentions as he phases through the door as well.
"We can hardly stand!" The black cloaked one snarls and ends up drooling.
"She has already bitten her…ow!" The red cloaked one turns away and holds a hand up to cover her mouth.
"Raven is going to be either furious or she will despair when she wakes up." Arella mentions to Batman who grunts in agreement.
Raven awakens groggily with swimming vision, an aching body and the taste of dirt in her mouth along with the sense that she is feeling very weird in some places.
"Ah good, you awaken. I trust you are feeling more at ease now than you were before?" A voice asks, Raven looks up at the voice, seeing only a white blob on a brown background. It dimly filters into Raven's mind that she dragged her tongue over the floor while lifting her head, without being aware of it she tries pulling it back in, only managing to get it halfway inside. "Hmm, I seem we may need to talk in demonic with that." The figure notes.
"Wa…wat appened?" She asks, finding it difficult to speak.
"I only returned you to your natural state." The blob replies.
"Raven, snap out of it, look what he's done to you!" Raven snaps to attention at Diana's voice, before looking down at herself, spotting her legs, one wing and the tail. Inside her head, a scream of terror is heard by all, as Raven stumbles to her feet a few times before storming off in sheer panic, tripping several times along the way.
"Hmm, that was unexpected. Billy, would you bring her back?" Shazam asks without looking overly bothered as his name is yelled somewhere and a red blur storms past him a second later.
"Raven stop!" Batman commands but Raven doesn't hear him as the newly grown horns scrape against the low ceiling at the entrance of the cave before she storms outside and over the edge. "Pull yourself together!" Batman continues as she tumbles through the air, the spinning world and the sensory overload is too much for her to form any thought at all, least of all to use her powers or flap her wings.
"Easy, I got you." Marvel says as he grabs hold of her cloak before getting an arm around her midsection and begins rising again with Raven struggling to get free. "Calm down, I'm here to help." He continues without looking at her, knowing the horns could end up in his eye. His only reply is a howl from Raven, sounding more terrified than fearsome. Marvel puts her down on the ledge outside the cave, much to his surprise; she struggles even harder to get free with solid ground under her feet. "Ea…" He tries again but gets an arm in his head along with a wing, which makes him let go in surprise. Raven again tries to storm off the opposite ledge again, but stumbles and almost ends with dipping her tongue into the small pool to the right of the cave entrance. The still waters cast an almost perfect mirror image of the looker, and Raven freezes on the spot as she looks at herself. Behind her Marvel takes it as a good sign that she has stopped moving and decides not to jump on her, while noting he had to be more careful, the blow he took actually hurt him.
"You are frightened; an unexpected response." The Wizards voice makes them both look around to see the ghost drift out of the cave, Raven look back into the pool for some kind of confirmation before struggling to get up. Neither of the two see her eyes go from yellow to a blazing red before she gets up and turns around. "You seem upset?" The Wizard notes without a hint of concern in his voice as something strange happens, Raven opens her mouth to say something but a small orange glow appears within her throat.
"Get down!" Marvel yell as he dives in front of the ball of fire that tumbles from Ravens throat, she seems surprised as well as she quickly closes her mouth as much as she can, biting her tongue again. Leaving Captain Marvel with blackened skin and a burnt costume, he stares at her in surprise for a second before collapsing on his back, leaving nothing between Raven and the Wizard, who now seems to regard her slightly wearily.
"Wat...ave..u..one..o..E?!" Raven manages without biting herself.
"I only changed you into your natural form." The wizard replies, it's not an everyday event that his champion is taken off guard and knocked flat.
"Ange…e…ack!" Raven demands, as she takes an ungainly step forwards.
"You realize this should be natural to you?" The Wizard says; Raven hisses and spits on the ground before she charges him, grabbing hold of his robe and slams him against the wall, easily cracking parts of it.
"O..IT!" Raven shouts as the glow again appears in her throat, with her anger awoken fully, her telekinetic powers are beginning to crawl away from her and begins ripping out pieces of the Rock.
"Very well." Shazam says before his eyes glow again. Raven immediately let's go of him and falls to the ground as the newly grown body parts are absorbed back into her body and her human guise is returned, leaving her heaving for air on the ground before the Wizard.
"Don't…ever…do…that again." Raven manages without looking up.
"Hmm, I shall wait inside." The Wizard replies without a hint of concern before floating inside, leaving both Raven and Marvel on the ground.
"Raven?" Batman asks.
"I'm here." Raven sends back as she tries to calm her breathing.
"What happened?" He continues.
"I…I panicked…" Raven admits.
"One of your nightmares?" Diana asks with a more concerned tone.
"Yes…I'm scared of the monster inside of me...the monster I could turn into…I-I thought it was permanent…" Raven sends.
"Good, it means your guard is up against it." Batman says firmly. "But you have to face this again, your reaction was unacceptable."
"Bruce…" Diana says, knowing he was about to lecture her.
"No! She has to do this, look at every angle and every possibility so the event of it happening won't have her run off a building!" Bruce cuts her off. "She has to know how far this goes so it doesn't surprise her again. Because it can." He continues in a slightly softer tone, knowing he had snapped.
"He is right; I endangered you all by panicking." Raven sighs. "I just didn't know I could go beyond what you had already seen."
"Did you ever try?" Batman's question remains unanswered for a few seconds; it is enough for him to know she hadn't.
"I never wanted to look even worse…" She sighs.
"Hey, don't worry too much about it; I remember Shayera nearly hyperventilated when she somehow got her head into her pillow cover…OW!" Flash adds before receiving a knock on his head.
"I told you not to tell anyone about that!" The winged woman growls hating being reminded of her claustrophobia that she thought was embarrassing.
"Raven, if you are ok, can you check up on Marvel?" Superman asks, on the outside Raven nods with closed eyes before rolling over and getting up, still feeling light-headed. Opening her eyes she makes her way over to the fallen man, noticing that the skin under his costume is already healed.
"He's out cold, but fine." Raven says flatly. "I don't know about you, but I am really not in the mood for a talk with this guy anymore."
"I would go in and punch him for it." Shayera mentions. "I mean; what kind of person starts off a meeting with transforming the other into something else?" She explains as some of the Azerathians around her looks at her strangely.
"I think most of would." John adds.
"I would implore you to remember your teachings this time." Hemon says. "Diplomacy comes first and now that he has wronged you, perhaps you can bargain with him for the knowledge you seek." Raven can almost see him smirking at the last part.
"All right." Raven sighs, knowing the old man was right and he had the level head now. "So let's go see if he decides to turn me into a frog this time?" She says before levitating Marvel off the ground and walking inside with him floating after her, finding the wizard seated in his chair.
"Ah, you choose to return."
"The voices in my head told me it might be wise, though I personally want to be far away from you after that stunt." Raven says venomously as she stops before him and let's Marvel drift off to the side and puts him down on the ground, while parts of herself is trying to put a lid on herself; while she was justifiably upset, it wouldn't help anything or anyone if Shazam was angered as well. "What is the point of this meeting?"
"Merely to finally sate my curiosity about what one such as you are doing outside your realm, and in wonder how you managed to trap all those souls within yourself?" The wizard says as he leans forwards in his seat, while Raven nods, knowing where he was going, which annoyed her.
"One; I am half demon, and if it held a safety guarantee, I would prefer to be only human. Two the souls are not trapped, they are there under their free will. Ask them if you don't believe me." Raven states without taking her eyes off the ghost, mentally ready herself to depart if he decided to return her to the Eight Pit, since he apparently only saw her as Trigon's daughter and a notable figure from the Pit, now that she remembers it. Then it hits her that he might actually only see her as the ruler of the Eight Pit, his interest in her is suddenly validated.
"Hmm, I see your words hold merit and that the souls seem displeased with my actions." Shazam says after a few seconds as he combs his beard with his fingers, somehow hinting that the souls of the Founders and Azerath wasn't the only thing he was seeing.
"Which I want to know your reasons for doing?" Raven continues.
"Like I said I wished merely to speak to you without false pretenses, I do not hide what I am and I appreciate honesty when dealing with those of the Nether Realms."
"Do all your visitors get turned into monsters then?" Raven grumbles, not satisfied with the answer.
"Of course not. I may have been presuming too much, I believed you were like the others you see." The wizard replies and Raven gets the impression that she was actually close to crossing the line of what he would tolerate.
"Others?" She asks. "What others?"
"Hybrids in general, but more specifically; the other versions of you, come, see for yourself." He says as he gets up, Raven follows him back out to the small pool, where the wizard holds out his hand, willing the pool's image to change. "If your dimension could be called 1, this one would be 16 above." He says as the image turns into that of a blasted wasteland, with a single figure walking amongst the ruins of a city. "This is the world another of you created after the defeat of her father, after losing to the evil within her. Names differ, places change, and things may have happened here that never happened in your dimension but in essence they are the same." The image shifts to a normal city with a darkened sky, before the image focuses on a group of people standing on a roof. When the image settles, the group is revealed to be, Raven dressed completely in black along with her hair. Batman stands at the front, and he has two pistols in his belt. Beastboy is green shaggy brute wearing only a pair of trunks. Cassandra and Conner are also there, wearing adaptations of Diana's and Clarks' costumes respectively. "78 below, this group is known as the Terror Titans by the Resistance fighting them, together they dominate the American continent. The Batman that you see is this dimensions Tim Drake, having lost both his mentor and his older brother; he then took up the gun that killed Bruce Wayne's parents in order to bring justice to his world. Kon-El accepted a truth he initially wouldn't believe, but he couldn't deny his heritage. And Cassandra Sandsmark may be called Wonder Woman here, Princess, but here she is the Champion of Ares." Shazam says, already knowing the Founders questions.
"What am I doing there? And what happened to the rest of the League?" Raven asks, thinking something must have happened to Diana and Superman for Conner and Cassandra to have taken up their names and titles.
"This version of you embraced her father and he has left that world alone, for now. It is because of her America lives in emotional numbness as she drains the emotions from an entire continent. The remains of the League here were killed by the Titans when they attempted to stop them."
"So you expected me to have embraced my other half?" Raven interrupts, the last thing she wanted to know was that her other-dimensional had lead the League to their graves.
"Yes, there are only very few of your kind that have not been able to overcome the influence of your father." Shazam says as he looks at her with an almost sorry expression in his eyes.
"Who have?" Raven asks flatly.
"Unfortunately, there is only one other left alive now that I remember." Shazam sighs as the image shifts to seeing a padded cell where a dark haired girl sits in a straitjacket while giggling to herself. "An unfortunate encounter with the Joker and the Scarecrow of her world left her like this. She had no knowledge of having any powers or her heritage before this happened to her, time will tell if they manifest."
"Why her then?" Raven asks while trying to banish any thought of compassion to her other self.
"None, she was caught in a gas attack in a shopping mall; she only got the tiniest doze of the gas that claimed over a hundred lives. Others versions of you were claimed in similar tragic manners, living normal lives before random incidents claimed them, some lived like you and were lost in the line of duty. And a few were forced to their destinies, yet did not have your fortunes in friends." Raven sighs as he finishes.
"That's terrible." Diana admits. "Is it the same for some of us?"
"Indeed." Shazam admits. "But it may be reversed in your case, so few of you have fallen to evil in comparison to those of you who stand true against it."
"Mean's I am freak, even in comparison to myself." Raven shrugs, though deep down in her own Bravery was cheering.
"Means you have even more reason to be proud of yourself." Shayera adds.
"Yeah, guess you are right, unless I one day fall." Raven admits.
"You won't." Batman adds firmly.
"Maybe not, but promise me one thing. Don't let me fall; I'd rather die than let Trigon win."
"I'm sure Bruce has something cooked up already." Superman mentions, knowing the Caped Crusader already has enough kryptonite stashed away to make a glowing suit if needed, which is far more than the single piece he gave him.
"Good." Raven says firmly, letting a sad tone enter her voice. "But I still want to know why you forced me to transform into that…thing?" She continues as she looks up at Shazam. "And you owe me a new pair of boots."
"Forgive me I thought you knew your true form and the abilities you inherited from…him." The Wizard says.
"I never transformed beyond this." Raven says as she turns into the usual demonic shape before turning back again. "And Trigon never had wings or a tail."
"As I believe you already know, the offspring of demons only bear specific similarities to their parents while having their own unique characteristics. While I know what powers you truly possess, it must be you who discovers them."
"Wonderful and I'll sound like an imbecile with that tongue." Raven sighs. "Look, I don't like that you did that and I only really came here in hopes that you would be able to help me and League."
"I know. But as you may know, magic always has a price. My carelessness will grant you your footwear back, but a bargain for such a spell I will require you to perform a task for me." Shazam says. "And I am afraid the wearer of Nabu's helmet will not find what you seek in his books." Raven narrows her eyes at him, knowing she has pretty much been cornered, if he is telling the truth.
"What do you want?" She asks flatly.
"Observe." Shazam says as he again orders the pool into action, showing the image of a powerfully built man with Arabic features and pointed ears. "Teth-Adam, better known today as Black Adam. Once my champion, who disgraced himself while wielding the powers I bestowed on him. Though I removed my blessings, his gods soon restored them, seeing him as the perfect champion for them. He has been my opponent and Captain Marvel's for many years now. He is your target." The wizard says.
"You want him beat?" Raven asks, wondering how she is supposed to manage that, she already knew Captain Marvel is a magical-based Superman and Black Adam appears to be very much of the same calibre.
"On the contrary, I want him rescued." Shazam replies.
"Come again?" Raven asks as she looks surprised at the request.
"Recently Black Adam was captured by a group of mostly addled scientists, they hope to be able to control him or duplicate him. That cannot be allowed to happen. One Teth-Adam is quite enough. Bring him here and I will grant you the knowledge of the spell you seek."
"Any of you know this one?" Raven sends inwards.
"Black Adam is a monster." Batman says. "He has Captain Marvel's powers, but has nothing but contempt for any who opposes him often resulting him in killing the offenders on the spot. Atom Smasher still maintains a friendship with him and claims Adam only does what he does out of his own sense of justice, an eye for an eye, usually."
"I put no claim to his condition when you bring him here, only that you do." Shazam mentions. "And that you must accomplish the rescue alone, not counting the ones inside of you."
"Hmm, wouldn't want it to be too easy." Raven sighs, this was just becoming better and better by the minute. "Where is he being kept?"
"A small island off the coast of China, called Oolong. The island, and its population, is under the control of a woman named…" Shazam says as the pool shifts between images of a complex on a tropical island and finally a woman's face
"Veronica Cale?" Diana asks in surprise as she recognizes her before Shazam can speak the name.
"Quite, she leads the aptly named Science Squad, the group of crazed men who subdued Adam through science." Shazam continues.
"I guess, I must have a chance against this?" Raven asks.
"There is always hope." The wizard smirks slightly, making Raven wonder for a second if it was from her he took that or if it was something else that amused him.
"Assuming I pull this off, what are you going to do with him?" Raven continues.
"That is my choice. But let's just say I desire some redecorating. Will you take up this challenge?"
"I don't like it; it sounds like you are going to be his personal hitman." John grumbles.
"But he knows a method to get you back, do we have a choice?" Raven sends back.
"Rest assured, I do not wish Black Adam dead, merely detained." Shazam says. "Killing him, while possible and certainly justifiable, will cause me too many problems due to his gods, who still favor him."
"What gods are these?" Diana asks.
"Those of ancient Egypt." Shazam says. "It is their hope that Adam's actions will ultimately restore faith in them."
"There is going to be a lot of planning needed before Adam can be retrieved." Diana sighs.
"I understand, but I implore you to make haste, they may be closer to succeeding than you suspect." Shazam says. "Go, I will know of your decision." He says before Raven and the others are blinded by a flash of light, before they find themselves back in Fate's tower, surprising the two men browsing the pile of books, with a new pair of boots on her feet.
"That was fast." Jason notes as he picks up the book he just dropped. "Didn't you just leave?"
"I…erm?" Raven asks equally surprised to be here.
"You have been gone from the Tower for 5 point 2 seconds." Amazo says as he appears around a corner.
"Time must slow at the Rock." Fate says. "Did you learn anything useful?"
"That none of you had really seen my true self for one thing." Raven admits after a second. "And that you can stop looking, according to Shazam, the spell we need is not in any of those books."
"But you retrieved it?" Jason asks.
"Shazam wants me to do something for him, and he will supply the spell we need."
"Which is?" Jason asks.
"Retrieve Black Adam from a group of nutty scientists." Raven sighs. "And I have to do it alone. I've got a lot of planning to do."
"And training." Bruce adds from within.
Authors notes: Pesky old wizards and their rules :)