The Unknowing

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything dealing with DCU

Chapter Nineteen: Now You're Mine

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Mother Mayhem's POV

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Opening the door in front of me, I feel almost giddy to greet our newest member of the Church. This has been a long time coming and now that the plan is finally starting to move forward, I can't help but feel ecstatic. I have spent years finding and rehabilitating Sebastian ever since the Teen Titans defeated him last time. In his weaken state, the previous Brother Blood's managed to drag him to the ninth dimension of hell and torture him. Thankfully, he was strong enough to endure it long enough for me to get him out. I vowed they will never touch him again.

My eyes travel to Nightwing immediately to see he's still strapped to the chair just like I saw him in Sebastian's office. Trying everything in his power to escape his restraints I'm sure. Too bad for him, he's at our mercy now. He eyes me suspiciously while he waits for me to make the first move.

"Hello, Mr. Grayson. My name is Mother Mayhem but you can call me May. It's so great to finally meet you. Sebastian has told me so much about you and your friends. Some more than others of course but your name always circulated the mix frequently. I hear you can take down legions of men at once while only being a mere human. That's quite impressive." My head falls to the side as I size him up. He glares at me through his domino mask.

"If you know that then you can't possibly think having me here is a good idea." I'm surprised to hear that he's speaking in an even, almost relaxed tone. Batman has indeed taught him well well but it won't help him for what's about to happen next.

I smile as my hand finds my hip while my other rubs my chin in thought. "On the contrary, I think it's a marvelous idea. You see, we need a hard hitter such as yourself to join our Church."

"You're crazy, lady, if you think I'd ever help you. You're working for a lunatic who's going to end up in prison."

"Of course not now but I think you will be saying differently once you receive your proper dosage." I say as I head towards the med tray beside him to grab the needle with blue fluid and hold it in front of him. Just like that, his calm demeanor is long gone.

"What the hell is that? Don't fucking touch me!" From fear of the unknown substance, he starts struggling against his restraints but it's futile as the straps lock him into place.

I ignore his yells and ill attempts to escape as I hold his head in place and stick the needle into his neck. It only takes a moment for it to empty before I'm placing it back on the med tray. I watch as his body convulses. He tries to bite back the pain as it spreads but once it takes hold, he's no longer able to hold it in. I smile as I turn to leave, hearing his screams of pain get louder the closer I get to the door.

"The pain can be quite excruciating so I'll leave you be for now but I'll be back for you soon, my dear."

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Raven's POV

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Jason and I go over our plan one more time before we decide to leave to rescue Dick. Jason is doing a great job at hiding his emotions from me but I can still feel his nerves and they blend into mine. I'm sure this is harder for him than it is for me. He doesn't want to lose his brother and go through what I'm sure Dick went through finding out about Jason's death. If the team thought I hid more secrets than anyone, they'd be surprised about Dick's family. I wonder how much Kory knows, probably more than anyone else.

It's easy using my soul self to get Jason and I into a dark area of Brother Blood's hideout. Jason pulls out a dim light to reveal we landed in a cleaning closet. I try to step back from him but quickly find out there's nowhere to move in this small space. It's so quiet that I can hear his heartbeat with how close we are to each other.

"How close are we to Dick." He whispers so faintly I can barely hear him.

"He's close to here but more importantly, I feel people coming this way."

He nods and puts the light away. He quietly opens the door and peeks out. I hear small murmurs turn into rising conversation. I ignore whatever they're saying and watch for Jason's queue like we went over in the cave. After a moment, he nods. I close my eyes and open them up so they're fully glazed white. I immediately channel my magic into the two church members.

"This is your Daughter of Darkness and Queen of the seven hells and as your Queen, you shall do everything I command. Come here quietly and quickly give us your robes."

They do as I say and hand Jason their robes. He nods again and I open a portal directly under their feet. They don't make a sound as they fall into a dimension I keep people until I can send them to prison. Jason closes the door and grabs his light again as he hands me a red robe.

"That was smooth, Sunshine. Now let's save my genius big brother."

I nod as we quickly change. I try to ignore his body heat radiating off of him like a hot summer's day in the West Coast but it's hard. But what's proving more difficult is trying to get this robe on without touching him. At most my elbow brushes against his chest plates but I quickly place the hood on to hide the red surfacing it's way to my cheeks without my consent.

I don't sense anyone near us so we exit the closet and I guide us in the direction I feel Dick is in. We're wearing the same glamor rings Dick gave us for when we went to Hobb's Bar so no one should be able to recognize us. I don't get more than a couple steps before a wave of dizziness hits me and I'm grabbing onto Jason's arm for support. I feel his other hand wrap around me in order to hold me in place while I collect myself.

"Woah, you okay Little Bird?"

I would nod but I'm afraid that would make me even dizzier so I settle for closing my eyes and breathing through it. Once it passes a moment later, I let go but his hold on me doesn't move.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We should go." I can tell he wants to say something but instead he squares off his jaw and reluctantly releases my arm.

We continue to walk down the hallway and I'm grateful I don't feel anyone else around us right now but naturally, my optimism shatters as we turn a corner and I spot a woman walking in our direction. Her hands are folded in her sleeves before her and she smiles towards us.

"Brother, Sister." She nods.

"Sister," Jason and I harmonize in reply. I hesitantly smile back as I try not to panic. I didn't feel her presence at all, which is a big problem. Our disguises must be good because she walks by without a second glance and disappears around the corner. I know Jason doesn't have any history with the Church of Blood so I'm thankful he caught on quickly.

"A little heads up next time please." I hear Jason whisper close to my ear as we turn another corner.

"I would have if I felt her." I whisper back to him.

His sudden concern rises like waves on a windy day as he steals a glance but only for a second before he straightens his view before us. Like myself, he is fully aware that's not a good sign. Before long we stop in front of a large red door. I go to open it but a hand stops me first. My eyes catch Jason's worried blue ones.

"Are you sure about this?" He leans in to whisper in my ear again and I don't want to admit to myself that it sends shivers down my neck. I can feel the goosebumps start to take form but I mentally shake them off. I think about his question as his troubled eyes study mine.

"No, but we have to at least try for Dick." He wouldn't think twice to save me and I don't want to miss an opportunity to save him now.

He nods and takes his warm hand off my cold one. I would never say it out loud but I miss the warmth it brought me. I take a deep breath in to prepare myself for what's next and when I exhale, I open the door. It's dark but that doesn't stop us from stepping inside to get a better look and thanks to my demonic side, I can see fairly well in the blackest of nights. "Hello?"

As soon as my question leaves my mouth, the lights flash on, momentarily blinding me. Instinctively I cover my eyes with my hand and I hear Jason mumble a curse to my right. Once my eyes adjust, I can see we're standing in a large room that resembles a modern day Church. Tall, white pillars go along the length of the room on either side with stairs separating the lower half from the raised half. No doubt to section off when Blood preaches to his followers. The lower area has only has six pews with standing room behind them. On the raised half, which looks like a stage, is a large pool of blood in the middle that's outlined by carefully placed stone with red symbols littering all sides.

I don't see Dick anywhere though. Fuck. It's then that I hear the laughter of someone I was not expecting to be here.

"You two have perfect timing." Slade says as he steps out from behind a pillar in his full gear and sword in hand. "You didn't think we wouldn't know you were here, did you?" Jason's hand hovers over his gun on his holster, ready to grab it the second Slade makes a move. He growls at our situation and I can already feel that the pit is agitated. "Nice disguises by the way but it's obvious who you are."

"I don't know about that, it worked well enough for the follower we passed by coming here," Jason replies in an even tone. More even than I expected from him right now.

"And look where it got you now. Didn't seem to help any as far as I can see."

"What are you doing here Slade? You said you wanted to kill me so Blood couldn't use me to destroy the world so why the hell are you working with him now? What changed?" I'm racking my mind to come up with a reason why he would willing be here but I come up short. It just doesn't make any sense.

"It's a long story but you can say I had a change of heart. But enough about me, I know you're here for Nightwing. Unfortunately, Blood has other plans than you grabbing him and leaving so soon. That's why he sent me to deal with you two." Taking a step forward, he grabs his sword with his left hand as he prepares himself to fight.

"You know I've been itching to shoot someone lately. Looks like you have another eye to lose, Deathstroke. I can help with that."

Before I can comprehend it, Jason throws his robe to the side as he grabs his gun and fires it at Slade's face. He blocks the bullet with his sword and makes a run at Jason. Quickly, he runs between the pews as he tries to steer Slade away from me and buy me some time to locate Dick before we run into anyone else.

The next thing I see surprises me the most. When Slade raises his sword next, lightning shoots out of it and right towards Jason. He dodges it easily and sends more bullets his way. His shock is clear as day and I'm right there with him. How was Slade able to do that?

"I should have mentioned I've acquired an additional skill set. I'm still getting used to the lightning but I quite like the change of pace." Slade doesn't let up as he aims at Jason again.

I go to summon my powers, wanting to stop Slade before we find ourselves in even more trouble, but nothing more than a small spark comes from my hands. I look at them in confusion and shake my head in disbelief. This can't be happening right now.

"Having magic troubles, love?" My head snaps to my right as Brother Blood makes his presence known from what seems like out of no where. Instead of his usual uniform, he's dressed in a black and red suit that has a vampiric look to it, but worse of all, he's wearing an infuriating smile on those smug lips.

"I should have known this was a trap. You're messing with my powers now?" I growl as he is testing my patience.

"Only temporarily, they will return to you once you become enlightened. However, you don't deserve them right now." He smirks but doesn't make a move towards me.

"You're mad if you think I'll help you, Blood. And you're mad to think Trigon won't kill you once you bring him back. I know that must be what you want from me but you're nothing to him. You will always be nothing to him." And it's true. Trigon is only using him and his cult to break free from his prison. Once he gets what he wants, he will kill them all within seconds and he'll do it with a smile on his face.

He shakes his head which results in some of his blonde curls falling forward but he promptly sweeps them back into place. His red eyes gleam demonically and it sends shivers down my spine but not in a good way like I felt earlier from Jason. This time it feels more like a predator and prey situation.

"You know nothing of what I want for us, Daughter of Darkness. Not yet."

His words give me goosebumps but I shake them off. We need to find Dick and get the hell out of here. I curse to myself when I spare a glance at Jason to see him just barely dodging Slade's new found powers. Fuck. I turn back to glare at Blood, wanting nothing more than to rip his head off here and now.

"Where is Nightwing?"

"Who? Oh! You mean your dear friend Dick Grayson? He's closer than you think but you can't help him now."

This is worse than I thought. If he knows who Dick is then who's to say he doesn't know who the rest of the bat family is? Who Batman is during the day. They could all be in danger because of me. Now I'm really angry.

"The hell I can't." I hiss at him.

If I can just get to Jason then there's still a chance we can find Dick and get out of here. I have to believe that right now. But of course, before I have the chance to do anything, I hear the voice that I've been looking for since arriving here.

"Raven?"

I lift my gaze to see Dick in his full Nightwing suit walking up to me. He's smiling his iconic good guy smile he always flashed when interviewing with reporters and cops after the Titans took stopped criminals in San Fran. Relief instantly fills me with warmth. I'm so happy to see him that I don't take into consideration that he's walking freely. Without a thought, and filled with a second wave of optimism, I foolishly run to him.

"Nightwing, we need to grab Hood and get out of here," I say as I quickly half step back from hugging him.

"I agree we need to grab my brother but we're not going anywhere, Raven. We're exactly where we need to be." He says as his arms suddenly lock me in place to his chest. I instinctively try to pull away but without my powers, his sole strength overpowers me. It's in that next second I feel a pinch in my upper arm. The last thing I remember before fading into a black numbness is Dick smiling down at me.

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Third Point of View

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Jason has no idea how Deathstroke got these blue lightning powers all of a sudden but he's definitely not a fan of them. It allowed him to get the upper hand of this fight so he needs to do everything in his power to stop this before it goes any further. He needs to get back to Sunshine and find Dick and quick.

Narrowly dodging another blast, he manages to shoot Slade's leg in his only weak points of his armor. Deathstroke lets out a surprised yelp and Jason takes the small window of time he has to quickly scan the area for Raven. He spots her unconscious and in Nightwing's arms while he's listening to something Blood is telling him. That's not good.

"Nightwing, bring her to the rehabilitation room so she can start on her treatment."

"Of course, Brother Blood."

They both move towards the exit and a wave of panic immediately rushes through Jason. He needs to save her and knock some sense into Dick. However, before he can think about his next move, lightning strikes his chest and spreads across his body. It causes him to ground his teeth and drop to his knees as he feels more electricity hit him. Batman will be pissed to know he allowed himself to get hit so foolishly but he can't worry about it as the third bolt knocks him out cold and he falls to the floor unconscious.

"Is it just me or do the Robin's get more annoying with everyone there is?" Slade mutters as he stands up from his kneeled position. He can't deny that Red Hood has great aim. He almost got Slade a couple of times before he eventually managed to get his leg. At least he has rapid healing.

Taking a scan around the room, he sees Blood left already so he should probably go back to his office. Now that they captured Raven, Slade can finally do what he came here to do. The reason why he allied himself with a crazy cult leader to begin with. To kill Raven. He should consider himself lucky that he didn't even have to deal with the Joker while he was here.

"Thank you for your wonderful service, Deathstroke. You really did play such a vital part of my plan to obtain the Daughter of Trigon and for that you have my utmost appreciation." Stopping in his tracks as Slade hears Brother Blood's voice from speakers along the walls. It doesn't sound like he's going to enjoy where this goes. "Unfortunately, our partnership has come to an end as your services are no longer acquired. You see, I only allowed for you to be here because I knew you could help us achieve the key to the future I plan on building with my Queen."

"I made a deal with Trigon. I killed Ra's al Ghul for him and in exchange, I was to lead the League of Shadows. That's the only reason I'm here." The lies slipp out effortlessly.

"I never trusted your intentions, Deathstroke."

He looks up as green smoke starts pooling in from the vents but Slade is already reacting. His mask should buy him enough time to break out of here so without wasting time, he dashes for the door. Naturally it's locked but he still has his metahuman powers so he can use them to his advantage. Calling on his blue lightning, he aims at the exit but it doesn't come. He tries again but once again, nothing.

"Did you really think I would give you a normal dosage of Compound A? That would be foolish of me. No, I provided you with a very unique blend. Yes, you still have your metahuman powers but instead of five hours, it's only for thirty minutes and then the sedative kicks in. You should start to feel that at any second now. Cheers, mate," Blood says as he follows it with laughter before disconnecting.

Triple fuck. There's only one way out of this and it's the adrenaline he keeps on him at all times. As he grabs it from his belt, he starts to feel the sensation of pin pricks littering his skin. They come on fast and hard but all Slade has to do is take the cap off and use the life line in his hand. Unfortunately for him, he only managed to take the cap off before his hand stilled and he fell unconscious.

Once the room is clean of the knockout gas, Mother Mayhem orders a handful of the members to collect Red Hood and Deathstroke and bring them to their jail cells. Blood can't wait to show them first hand the kind of power he will possess with his bride to be.