XI
The Trouble With Trigon
Raven leaned over to place a kiss on her husband's cheek. Since the beginning, only careful embraces and small tokens of affection had been the extent of their sexual relationship. In a moment of sexual passion, Raven's demon half could manifest and tear apart the divide that separated her adopted world from the world of her demonic father. Her life was a constant struggle against something inside of her – powered by emotion - that sought to reunite with her demonic father. Her adopted world was far from ready for the arrival of Trigon the Terrible…
Bruce had been surprised at the kiss, however innocent it had been. It had been incredibly… difficult to have an amazing and beautiful wife and still remain chaste. When he was rational, Wayne knew he could never jeopardize the safety of the world for a night of passion with Raven, no matter how tempting it was to consummate their sacred vows. When he was irrational, Raven took him into her arms and drew away his fervent lust, replacing it with a succor born of pure happiness. She was the balm to his troubled soul.
Still, he wondered what effect this emotional transfer had on his young wife. Where did all that trouble go?
"I'd like you to be present when my team reports the findings of our Big Blue search. That, and I missed you," Bruce confessed.
"I am always at your side, beloved."
"I would also like to request his aid in the battle with your father... if we ever manage to track him down. From all accounts, Big Blue seems to be the most powerful force on Earth. What are your thoughts, Raven?" Bruce's initial investigations of Big Blue had uncovered feats of such unimaginable power that he had trouble comprehending such a being even existed. He wanted to behold the real thing.
"A unified front of every super-powered being on the planet would present a formidable opposition. It is possible my father may even be vanquished if such a unified force were to engage him. It is also possible that my father would obliterate that force and all life on the planet."
Bruce knew that he was woefully unprepared to grasp the true stature of Trigon's power. This was a demon that had conquered, enslaved and destroyed entire worlds. He had coerced every bit of information out of Raven that she had been able to provide over the past year, but such power was still incomprehensible to him.
From what he gathered, the people of Raven's home-world Azarath sought to establish absolute peace within their spiritual being. They were a race of mystics who sought perfect enlightenment. All negative thoughts and passions were exorcised from their souls by casting them beyond the Great Door of Azarath into the nether-realms. Azarath and her inhabitants were transformed into an ethereal paradise of the spiritually aware.
Abandoned, this negative energy accumulated in the nether realms and eventually took the physical form of Trigon. This embodiment of hate and desire was later summoned to an evil world that worshipped such dissension. Even so, this was the first world to fall to Trigon's wrath. Trigon gained power with each world he destroyed feeding on fear, hate and pain. According to Raven, he had destroyed thousands of worlds.
Raven's human mother, Angela Roth, had been an inhabitant of Gotham until twenty-two years ago. This was why Raven had returned to the city, to search for aid in her mother's old homeland. Her mother had told her long ago of her unfortunate conception. A despondent Angela had been seduced by the demon Trigon disguised in human form. To satiate the castoff Azarathian lust dwelling in his soul, Trigon had seduced, raped and fathered heirs across the multiverse. To her knowledge, Raven was the only child of Trigon to ever survive past infancy.
After learning of the demon's true nature, and now carrying his child, Angela decided to take her own life and that of her unborn child. Before Angela could perform the fatal deed, the Priestess Azar appeared to her to take her from the Earth and mend her emotional and spiritual wounds in Azarath, where Raven was later born.
Raven had explained to Bruce that her arrival in Azarath was less than desirable by the populace. Her birth had caused the skies to go as dark as midnight and a great blight to spread across the land. A feeling of ominous malaise took hold of those around her. Raven had shocked Bruce during their first month of their marriage when, after rigorously studying the religions of the world, she declared that she was the Anti-Christ.
She had laughed when Bruce had told her she had to be a pope or democrat before she could officially be recognized as the Anti-Christ. She was the child of a powerful evil, but she did not follow her father's path. The third month Raven studied Buddhism and pondered if Azarath had tried to create Nirvana.
Their short time together had brought about an amazing expansion of Bruce's consciousness. Before Raven, Bruce had measured the world in red and black. The concepts of right and wrong was something best left to your share holders. Spiritual beliefs were replaced by mission statements. With Raven, he was forced to question his own morality and beliefs.
His companies had developed remarkable things, things of undeniable value to national security and law enforcement. Wayne Industries was one of the premiere anti-terrorist equipment and technology makers in the world. He had an incredible responsibility to ensure it did not fall into the wrong hands.
It had given Wayne Industries a 10% hair cut in share price that day, but Bruce implemented tight corporate control over all WI weapon distribution, requiring full traceability on all their weapons. In the end, it actually worked out. The federal government were impressed by Wayne's stewardship of responsible armament and awarded him more defense contracts over the past year - most held formerly by LexCorp. He had heard that the president herself had selected WayneNet for their intelligence operations.
But should his company even develop weapons of destruction? By creating tools of death, was he enabling murder? These were the kind of questions he asked himself lately. In a world of Big Blue, was there even a need?...
"You seem conflicted, my love." Raven interrupted his memories and internal ponderings. As an empath, he could truly keep nothing from her.
"It would seem we're entering a brave, new world. Let us hope we are not alone."
Author's Challenge #2: Who made Big Blue ("Superman") disappear?
Final Hint: He's the greatest escape artist in the world. She's big. Find out tomorrow!