This is the probably the longest chapter. I was gonna combine this chapter and the next but I didn't think that you guys would want to read like 8,000 words lol. I really had no idea how to write this chapter. No matter how much battle music, action movies/anime/manga/video games, I had no inspiration. So if this chapter falls flat, I apologize but I'm so close to ending this story that I don't really care and I just wanna finish it.
This story has been out for almost 10 years people, I'm pretty much done with it.
I'm gonna clear up some things, Trigon lifted the city in the air. So you know how in the Avengers 2 when Sokovia was up in the air. Yep that's pretty much Jump City.
I already have the next chapter ready to go as all I did was cut it from this. Anyway, expect it within the next few days or week.
Chapter 30:
On the Precipice of Defeat
Trigon patiently waited with his arms crossed and a pair of eyes shut, deep in contemplation. Earlier, the demon emperor had morphed into Raven's form. His red cloak almost seemed to melt into his red skin and his white hair billowed in the wind. He heard a light footsteps on the ground. An arrogant smile crossed his features.
"So you've come."
His eyes opened to see the monochromatically challenged pair of heroes.
"We're ending this now."
"Oh ho? It seems you have hope now" Trigon smiled maliciously.
A loud rumbling echoed across the battlefield and the ground shook so violently that the pair of heroes struggled to keep their footing from the quaking. They looked around and they saw that the whole city began levitating into the air.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he fell flat on his bottom.
Raven bent her knees to keep her center of gravity low and she kept her hands close to her body.
"Beast Boy, stay here and rest. My father and I will settle this!"
"Gotcha!"
"I'll scatter your bones into the wind, you insolent child!"
The stage was set for their final battle as the city soared higher into the sky. When the city stopped rising, another rumbling could be heard and dozens of the city's buildings were being uprooted and floated in the air. The city looked dilapidated and the battle-torn area barely resembled a city anymore. Black lighting flashed and struck the city.
Raven took a battle stance as demon emperor's aura grew viciously and his blood lust grew to a fevered pitch. The two demons rushed each other. She felt her blow collide with Trigon's stomach but the emperor was unfazed and he retaliated with swift kick to her shoulder. The Azarathian cringed in pain as another blow connected with her diaphragm. She spat out blood as she backed off and landed on the ground.
"Raven!" Beast Boy yelled as he approached.
"Stay where you are! This is my fight!"
"But-!"
"You heard her, boy!" Trigon sneered.
Raven wiped the blood from her chin as another flash of lighting crackled. The enchantress hurtled towards her opponent but the red-skinned overlord axe-kicked the ground. The force of his blow created a crater and a tremor that staggered Raven.
"Raven, look out!"
"Wha-?"
She whirled behind her to see Trigon aim an elbow strike but Raven rolled out of the way and flicked her wrist. A second later, a dozen ravens appeared that absorbed his hit. Most of the ravens disappeared in a puff of smoke but some of her ravens were left and the umbrakinetic sent the birds to her father.
Trigon inhaled deeply and fire spewed from his mouth. The flames incinerated the birds and scorched the earth. Raven leaped out of the way as the asphalt melted away.
As she was in mid-air, Trigon teleported underneath her and grabbed hold of her ankle and spun her around before launching her at the ground below.
The strong throw didn't allow Raven enough momentum to escape and created a crater when she smashed into the ground. She spat out more blood, the copious red liquid dripping down her chin.
Trigon looked on, a disappointed look on his face.
"Is that really all you had? I expected more from you, daughter."
The embodiment of evil drifted down towards the crater, glaring at the blue-clad woman.
"I suppose it is."
A grin crossed his features after he Trigon raised his hand and he charged a blast. He was about to unleash the blast when a glowing white blade flared out from his chest.
The red demon whipped his head to look behind him. There stood an angry Raven and he turned his gaze back to the crater. The Raven lying in the crater began melting into black goop; it was a shadow clone.
The enchantress gasped as a purple aura flared from Trigon so she withdrew the light blade from Trigon's chest and jumped back.
"Resorting to cheap tricks now? You must be desperate."
Raven clenched her hand into a fist while her foot dug into the ground. She lunged at her father and aimed a punch at his cheek. He deflected the hit and closed the gap between them by wrapping an arm around her waist. Trigon wrapped his other arm around Raven's neck and used her momentum against her.
Raven slammed into the ground and pinned. Trigon rested his knee on Raven's diaphragm which made it hard for the Azarathian enchantress to breathe. She wrapped her legs around Trigon's waist and rocked sideways. Now Raven was on top of him, grabbed him by the hair and pummeled him with her fists. Raven was about to punch him again but she was sent flying back by an occular blast.
"Oof!"
Trigon simply dusted himself off and glowered at his daughter. His four eyes glaring daggers at her.
Raven resumed another stance, her senses on overdrive. What she didn't expect was Trigon aimed and fired a purple blast at Beast Boy.
"Beast Boy!"
He quickly shifted into a heron and swiveled out of the way. The green shapeshifter landed by Raven's side and morphed back to human form, angry.
"What the hell was that?!"
"You forget that this is a two-on-one. I can handle both of you."
"Gar, you distract him. I'll try to feint from the left and you get him from behind" Raven planned.
"Gotcha."
"You'll have to act fast because you'll only have 2 seconds to react."
"You're not giving me a lot of wiggle room."
"Can you do it or not?"
"I'll do what I can."
"Alright, lets go!"
Raven evaporated into a swarm of ravens while Beast Boy morphed into a Reticulated Python. Trigon dodged the strikes from the snake but Beast Boy managed to wrap itself around his ankle.
Trigon was momentarily distracted when he saw Raven aim a punch on his left. Beast Boy unwrapped himself from Trigon's ankle, slid behind Trigon and quickly morphed into a ram.
Unfortunately, the demon emperor reacted faster than either of them anticipated and side-stepped to the right. Raven's fist collided with the green ram's forehead, her hand in pain while the green ram rebounded and the two heroes landed hard on their back.
Raven's shook her hand and she looked over at her team mate as he shook his head then changed back. He held his hand on his head, still dazed from the punch.
"Did we win?" He asked shaking the stars form his sight.
Raven growled as her eyes scanned the area and caught sight of her father in the sky. Her gaze stopped on a building not too far from him. It was quickly cloaked in black energy and darted towards the demon emperor. He was hit in the back with said building. She watched as he went flying past.
"Gar! Garfield!" Raven said she shook his shoulders.
"Ugh, man. Rae, you hit hard."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Your dad is tough…I guess I know where you get it from…"
Raven frowned but her thoughts were quickly interrupted.
They two Titans glanced at each other when as a shadow loomed over them. The shadow grew in size and the two Titans looked overhead. A skyscraper was plummeted towards them, about to crush them. Both Titans separated on opposite sides when the sound of concrete, metal, glass brick collided at with the ground at 70mph. Suffice to say the sound was deafening. The force of the wind kicked up dirt and debris that created a massive dust cloud.
Raven coughed from the dust filled air and her eyes watered, trying to get out the dust that got in her eyes.
"Beast Boy! Where are you?! Beast Boy!"
The half-demoness was quickly sucker-punched on her left cheek. Dazed, Raven could feel another punch slam into her stomach made her cough up more blood. Then she felt an hand wrap around her arm and she was flung into the building.
CRAAAASH!
Her back slammed into the building and skidded to a stop. Raven quaked from pain and shock, blood pooling from her cuts and wounds. Her vision grew dark, her ears rung and she blacked out.
Down below, Trigon just smirked as he retreated into the dust cloud.
Meanwhile Beast Boy wandered aimlessly looking for his comrade in the dust cloud. He coughed from the dust-filled air and rubbed his eyes. The sound of the explosion still ringing in his sensitive ears.
"Raven! Raven! Where are you?!"
His ears perked up when he heard something in the distance. Instinctively, he ran towards the noise.
"Rae? Rae!"
"Beast Boy!" A familiar voice called out.
"Rae!"
Beast Boy ran towards the voice, relief washing over him as he made his way towards his comrade. He saw Raven's familiar silhouette and jogged towards it but the dust made it hard to see.
"Rae! There you are!"
"Beast Boy! I'm so glad I found you!"
Beast Boy stopped in his tracks, something was off. His instincts were telling him to run in the opposite direction but the therianthropist was frozen.
Before he could register what was happening, he was punched in the gut. The wind had been completely knocked out of his lungs and he felt a shin collide with his side. Beast Boy was knocked a dozen feet away, desperately gasping for air.
"Ahaha! You make this so easy!"
His green eyes tried to focus on the figure in front of him and he tried his best to growl menacingly. The green man glared at his attacker. Trigon, still mimicking Raven's form, perfectly imitated Raven's voice. It was terrifying and humiliating because he knew how to use their feelings against them.
"My daughter seems to be attached to you mortals. She should learn how fragile and short your lives are."
Beast Boy growled at the Raven-look-alike but he felt himself being lifted into the air.
Trigon's hands were around the Titan's throat and carried him towards the crushed building. The shapeshifter clawed at his hands but his grip was too strong and Beast Boy was too exhausted to really fight back.
He gasped for air as he saw the crater in the building.
"She should be stirring any second now."
Beast Boy squirmed at the demon's words but the grip around his throat tightened. He was lifted higher into the air and the air was quickly escaping his lungs. He clawed weakly at his captor as Trigon continued to choke the helpless Titan. Beast Boy could feel the life being drained away.
Trigon grinned from ear to ear; the twisted expression was frightening because of how identical he looked like Raven at the moment.
"R-ra..ve.."
"She can't help you. She brought this upon herself the day she came into your life."
They were too focused on each other that they failed to notice that said female had groggily made her way to the edge of the gaping hole in the building.
The demon emperor's aura turned sinister and he choked Beast Boy harder.
A bright purple aura flared around Beast Boy and Trigon quickly released his grip. The demon emperor jumped back, glaring daggers at the shapeshifter as the later tried to catch his breath. The green therianthropist gasped the air, stupefied and confused at what had just transpired.
'What the hell was that?!' He could tell the same thoughts were going through Trigon's mind too.
'Is this what Rae meant that her blood magic could have side-effects? I mean her and Trigon are-'
Trigon lunged at Beast Boy, ready to rip the man to shreds, but Raven snapped out of her stupor. She only seconds to save the green Titan so she summoned her soul self, dove towards the two and intercepted Trigon's attack with a kick to the red demon's face.
Raven grabbed her white-haired-red-skinned-4-eyed twin by the arms and chucked him at the building. She threw him with such force that the building completely shattered and he skidded across the ground. The enchantress gripped her head as blood dripped from her temple.
"Rae."
"Beast Boy. I…I don't know how much longer I can last."
The green man had to admit; he had never been pushed this far. Not by Terra, not by the Doom Patrol, not the last time they fought Trigon either. Nothing came close.
It was hard to imagine that hours ear ago, Raven was telling him what she had been doing 5 years ago. It was hard to imagine hours ago, he had just managed to get the stubborn woman to reconsider. It was hard to imagine that hours ago, the city was attacked and he was on death's door. It was hard to imagine that he would come back, immune to blood magic no less, and be trapped in another world. It was hard to imagine that the fights that these two had could have been seconds or even minutes to the outside world. It was hard to imagine that this had all transpired in one day.
He grabbed her by the shoulder and stared into her eyes.
The beautiful amethyst was losing its luster and giving way into exhaustion and emptiness. They were so close yet so far. They couldn't quit now. Everything was on the line; their lives, their friends lives, the world and many more.
They couldn't back down now. But how were they supposed to win against such an impossible foe?
She looked up at him with tired eyes and she grabbed his collar. The enchantress buried her face in his chest, the scent of his clothes had long since worn away from battle.
"I'm sorry," was all she said before taking off in Trigon's direction.
Trigon glared intensely at the duo. He took a deep breath and flames spewed from his mouth. The flames almost reached Beast Boy, which surprised the former Doom Patrol member.
"Oh shit!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he morphed into a bird and flew out of the way, towards a floating building.
His eyes scanned the area for Raven and cursed himself for loosing her cloak during his trap with the wraiths. It would have been useful in this fight now.
Raven ran with demonic speed in a zig-zag, avoiding Trigon's fire breath. The later continued to spew fire, the intense flames scorching the earth below. However, the older demon's fire breath was catching up with the younger demon.
'It's a risky move but I've got to close the distance! I have to hit him or else I'll be seriously burned!'
The enchantress hopped swiftly and began to spin in mid-air. Then she used her momentum to create an air vortex and darted towards him but he intensified his fire breath. Raven could feel herself being pushed back by the flames so she infused the air vortex with her own magic and closed the gap between them. She instantly stopped in front of Trigon, the backdraft of air came rushing forward and temporarily snuffed out the flames. Raven took this advantage and grabbed him by the hair and chucked him at a floating building. Chunks of rubble and debris rained down where he crashed.
Raven quickly teleported to Trigon's location but a red tendril wrapped around her.
"I am done" Trigon growled menacingly.
He teleported above Raven and landed and overhead strike to Raven's shoulder.
"AAH!" she screamed as she crashed through the building and descended to the world below.
The Azarathian quickly raised her left hand and a small triangle formed below her that broke her fall. A second later, her body froze.
'A shadowbinding!'
"Normally I detest having to stoop to your level but I grow tired of your impudence."
Her own shadow grew in size and 5 long tendrils writhed out of the ground. The black tendrils snapped loudly, taking on the forms of something akin to a sickle.
'I have to break out of this!'
Raven wiggled her index finger and slowed her breath. The tendril to Raven's left moved mockingly before it struck so fast that Raven almost could not follow. She managed to dodge to the right but she was not fast enough and it cut her cheek.
The tendril on Raven's right snapped and then she grabbed the scythe-like tendril but the other four scythes closed in. Raven exhaled and let her body drop, barely dodging the blades. Then she melted into her shadow followed by the tendrils stabbing the ground. The tendrils turned purple and she shot out of the black pool, and the tendrils stretched towards the demon emperor.
The tendrils snapped and slashed at Trigon but he avoided the strikes and slipped passed a tendril. He quickly grabbed it and it exploded, creating inky black splotches everywhere. He glided to the right and touched another, disintegrating the tendril which then exploded too. He stepped in Raven's shadow and the umbrakinetic took that opportunity to quickly immobilize him.
Raven flexed her fingers and the other tendrils slashed at Trigon. He quickly countered it by unleashing his eyeblasts and disintegrated them. She took a quick breath and mentally cursed herself again.
"There's no way I can beat him…but I can try this" she said to herself.
Raven lifted her arms higher and blood floated into the air. She felt the adrenaline and power pump through her. Blood magic would give her an edge, one that she greatly needed. Part of herself greatly disliked what this entailed but another part of her was beginning to enjoy the rush of power. She could not afford to get addicted to it but if she failed, it would not matter.
She dove at Trigon and slammed her fist into the ground. The demon emperor dodged out of the way and hurled his own fist at Raven and it collided with her cheek. The demoness staggered backwards but quickly recovered and sent a flurry of punches at Trigon.
"What's this? You seem to more energized!"
The blood magic user slammed her shin into her father's side. Raven's blood gushed from her wounds that floated in the air and wrapped around his arm. However Trigon countered it by using his flame breath and the blood quickly evaporated. Raven jumped back and took a stance.
"Hah! You dare to use blood magic against me? Archaic and foolish! YOU ARE OF MY BLOOD! IT WILL NOT WORK!"
"I can try!"
Now Raven was on the offensive. Raven's blood floated and encircled her before she rushed forward. Several buildings were coated in a black energy and rocketed towards the red-skinned demon but he was too nimble. He darted forwards and grabbed Raven by the neck by she waved her hand. A second later, her blood elongated and sharpened which stabbed the demon emperor. Trigon withdrew his hand and backed off.
Her eyes glow white and she raised her arm before bringing it down in a swift motion. Several bolts of black lighting from the sky targeted her opponent but Trigon dodged away.
Trigon let out a growl of annoyance and spewed fire but Raven kept her distance.
"Necronom Hezberek Mortix!"
The blood magic was augmenting her power combined with a powerful dark spells could give the empath a chance at victory. Like before, black energy escaped her mouth and eyes that swallowed up the fire but Trigon fired an eye blast at the empath. Raven was hit in the forehead. She dropped to the ground and quickly shook her head as Trigon charged up a black energy ball with red lighting and fired it at Raven.
"Shit!"
Raven slammed her palm down and snapped her eyes shut before the energy ball was fired her way. She tried her best to concentrate on the the energy in such a short time and mid-way the energy ball distorted and disappeared. Trigon teleported a foot away and kneed the empath in the face. The enchantress recoiled from the hit and grit her teeth but a second later the black energy ball appeared and collided with Trigon's shoulder but Trigon tried to counter the blast with his fire breath. Unfortunately, it proved ineffective and an explosion happened. The explosion caused the fire to be pushed out and scorched the earth and heated the air. Raven didn't have time to react to protect herself and the flames singed her. Then came the rush of air that blew her back.
"Hyaaa!"
Beast Boy flew down from the building in the form of a pterodactyl and took hold of the empath where they retreated to the building.
"Rae! Are you okay?!"
"Ugh…seems like you're saving me a lot lately…"
The green man looked her over; she had minor burns, cuts and bruises, was covered in blood, and her hair was mess. She looked like hell. He knew she sore and tired beyond imagination but here she was still fighting.
Before he could say anything, the building began to quake violently. Then it started to crumble for the bottom.
"Trigon!" Raven cried and took hold of Beast By's shoulder and the two leaped off the building.
"This is completely crazy!" Beast Boy yelled as they descended and morphed into an eagle.
Raven saw another building flying towards them and the two split off again. While evading the building, the empath was grabbed by the shoulders from above.
The enchantress raised her arms and grabbed hold of Trigon's arms. The two struggled against each other before Raven propelled herself forward. Trigon's back slammed him into a floating building which created a crater. But she wasn't done yet, Raven pushed him deeper into the building. However, Trigon was pushing her back far and they struggled in the air. The two demons split off from each other before attacking each other again.
Raven grabbed hold of Trigon's upper arm, spun him around and threw him to the ground where he made a loud CRASH!
He quickly recovered and was up in the air again. He rocketed towards Raven and gave her a strong uppercut to the jaw, which the empath went flying into another building. If it wasn't for the fact that she wasn't relying on blood magic at the moment, she probably would've lost this fight hours ago.
Slightly dazed, she shook her head and dug herself out of the crumbling structure. Raven retaliated by sending the demon emperor black energy blasts but he deflected all of the blasts. Those were just a distraction so Raven could get in close, grab him, teleported to the side of the floating city and slammed him into the cliff-face.
Trigon snarled and rushed at the enchantress and grabbed hold of her shoulders. A red ring formed around her wrists and she quickly found that she couldn't use her arms.
"!"
Trigon slammed her into the cliff-face and dragging her upwards back to the city. Her head and body exploded with pain. They hovered high above the city and she struggled to release herself as Trigon hands slid to her arms and they fell towards the city. Everything was happening so fast that by the time the reached the ground, Raven felt her back slam into the hard asphalt and she spat up blood and a crater formed around them but it Trigon didn't stop there. A devilish grin crossed his face and he continued pushing her deeper into the ground.
"Aaah!"
The ground around them began to suck them up as Trigon continued to push Raven deeper into the earth. Raven grit her teeth and Trigon shoved Raven through the dirt, clay and rock. All she seen was the darkness and the glow of Trigon's eyes. It was all happening so fast that they emerged through the bottom of the floating city towards the ground below. Raven felt the air whip around them as she tried to shake off Trigon to no avail. They were dropping to the ground fast and she needed to shake him off.
Raven splattered her blood on Trigon's face and he growled as the blood got in his eyes. He quickly released his daughter and rubbed his eyes. Raven backed off and clenched her fist which caused her blood on Trigon's face to boil and explode.
He let out a roar of annoyance and pain. When the explosion began to clear, a very angry Trigon appeared from the smoke. He quickly grew in size, reverting back to his old form. Gone was the mirrored image of her soft face, feminine body; it had been replaced by a hulking red demon that reappeared in front of her in his full size and took her into his hands. She struggled in against his enormous hands that threatened to crush her body.
"You insolent little child! You dare to defy me, Trigon!"
Raven screamed in pain as he continued to crush her body. The fell to the ground below, where Trigon landed on the ground with a ground-shaking THUUUD!
The enchantress struggled to no avail and she could feel her bones painfully grinding together.
"Shall I twist off your head?" He laughed maliciously.
Raven's eyes glowed blue and the floating city above them began to plummet. A smirk crossed onto the Azarathian's face. She had no more ideas on how to kill this demon. If a city falling on him wasn't going to kill him, then she had no cards left to play.
Blood trickled down her chin as she glared at the red behemoth. The sound of millions of tons of steel, rock, glass, cars and more screeched as it came crashing down towards them at an alarming rate.
The giant growled and focused his gaze above. His snarled at the trembling half-human in his hand before tossing her haphazardly. Raven bounced off the ground and skidded to a stop, her body felt broken as did her spirit. Her vision was cloudy and she seen a flash of green dance before her eyes.
"Rae! Rae!"
"Gar…field?…Wha-"
"No time!"
He grabbed her and slung her arm around his shoulder. The empath let out hiss of pain as the enormous shadow of Jump City came into view.
"If I was going to die, I would take him with me," she laughed almost hysterically.
The two Titans edged their way but Beast Boy knew that it was pointless. That city had the power equivalent to a meteor if it fell and nothing would survive.
"That's a fucking gutsy move, Rae. And stupid one, that's coming a lot from me" he laughed as they walked.
The monochromatically challenged duo whirled around after they heard a roar of fury come from the 200 ft monster. He turned his gaze to the two and fired an eye blast towards the pair of heroes. They knew they couldn't get away. The blast gained speed and collided with them.
Raven hit the ground on her left painfully and Beast Boy landed on his right.
"Gar…field…" Raven cried weakly.
"Sorry…Rae…" he said as his eyes closed.
Raven rolled on her back as she saw the underside of the city. It was jagged and sharp as boulders, rocks, and earth crumbled away from it. A smile crossed her face as she welcomed the abyss. Her eyes trailed to the demon emperor who held his arms towards the collapsing city.
'There's no way…the last of my power went into this…'
Trigon let out another roar and a red light and aura covered the area. Crimson energy fired from his mouth, eyes, and hands. The crimson beam shot towards the city and for a while the city didn't lose momentum.
Raven's smile grew slightly but then it began to disappear when she saw that the city decelerate. It paused for several seconds and she could have sworn it was her imagination that it was being pushed back up.
"No…"
"RAAAAAAAAAAHH!"
The embodiment of evil slowly brought his arms together and the red aura began to cover the base of the city. Seconds later the city was completely covered in the red aura before Trigon crushed his hands and jerked them apart. The city completely evaporated and imploded. There was nothing left of the floating city, save for the floating buildings that still hovered high in the sky.
"Impossible…"
He turned his gaze back to the empath and laughed.
"Did you think that such a thing was going to destroy me! I am Trigon!"
Raven shut her eyes. She had nothing left and accepted her
loss. The enchantress felt his heavy footsteps as he approached her.
Trigon's eyes glowed crimson and he snarled. He sent a powerful beam at the Azarathian.
Before the attack hit, a white light appeared before Raven. Orbs of light danced and flashed. Two transparent figures dressed in white appeared and held out their hands. The attack stopped.
"Azar! Mother! How-?!"
End Chapter