Raven created a shield, blocking Zatanna and herself from a fiery blast. Red Robin, Artemis, and Robin were on the other side of the platform, struggling in their own fight against Flaw. Twice, Raven had to protect both groups at the same time mid-fight. "She is very powerful," Raven said to Zatanna, holding her shield as the little girl rained fire on them.
"You have no idea," Zatanna replied.
"Are you sure she's not human or alien?"
"Trust me," Zatanna answered, "this is just a corporeal form she, or it, took."
"Okay. I trust you. Asafsda ofoiep," Raven's eyes and hand glowed black. She swung her arm. Five black spikes sprung from the ground, piercing Child's corporeal form from 5 different reactions.
"Ahhh!" Child released a blood-curdling scream that shook Raven to her very core.
"Don't buy it," Zatanna said as she summoned chains, wrapping them around Child's wrist and yanking her to the ground. "She pulled the same stunt with Klarion, and then with me a week later." Raven approached the child, who lay in a pool of her own blood. She had her mouth open in a silent scream, and her eyes rolled back into her head. Raven frowned. Child appeared dead, but Raven still sensed a strange aura still emanating from the child. "Dang it." The voice came from Child's open mouth. Child's head snapped forward, her eyes returned to normal, and a sinister smile lit her face. "You ruined the surprise, Zatanna."
"That trick was getting old," Zatanna tightened the small chains around Child's wrists. "Nommus eht temleh!"
Child's eyes flashed yellow as her body vibrated furiously. "I think I won't," she said after her body returned to normal. "You're currently running low on power, Zatanna. But me? I've got plenty to spare." Child snapped her fingers. Next thing Zatanna and Raven knew, Zatanna's chains were wrapped around both Raven and Zatanna. "Ugh!" Zatanna exclaimed as Raven and her bodies slammed into each other. "Sniahc esaeler! Ezeerf!" she commanded. A block of ice surrounded Child as Raven took to the air. Child snapped the ice with ease.
"Didn't you try that the last time we fought? Still relying on the same old spells, I see. Growth is key to success, you know. It seems you haven't grown at all." Child waved her hand, and the ground beneath Zatanna cracked. Zatanna dodged out of the way as Raven shot tendrils at Child. Child effortlessly redirected the tendrils with a wave of her hand. ""I can sense you're holding back. Why won't you unleash your full power? Afraid I'll still beat you at your best?"," Child said to Raven, releasing tendrils of her own. Raven blocked Child's attack, but a scream from Red Robin distracted. She turned to check on her teammate when something wrapped around her and electrocuted her. "Aaah!" Raven screamed in pain.
"So easily distracted," Child smiled gleefully. "You must be new to fighting. Always concentrate on the – eek!" Child exclaimed as rubble from the crumbling ground fell onto Child's head. Raven released herself from the bonds as Child stopped the rocks from crushing her. "I was in the middle of a conversation!" Child released a barrage of rocks into the atmosphere with a scream. Both Zatanna and Raven created shields of their own.
"Look out!" Raven yelled as she threw another shield around Zatanna as Child sent tall flames their way. "This isn't working!" Raven said as her shield strengthened in power.
Zatanna turned to their other three teammates, who were somehow still on their feet. "I know you're holding yourself back, but you may have to give it everything you've got. Can you keep her occupied?" Raven nodded. "I'm going to go after her anchor. Keep her distracted. Teleport me over there."
Their initial attack on Flaw had been sort of successful. Robin had used his acrobatics to keep the magical monster occupied. He got in close, dodging every swipe while placing smoke bombs and exploding Batarangs at the monster's feet. Red Robin used his electric brass knuckles and released well-placed hits between Flaws joints. When that didn't have the desire effect, he resorted to using Batarangs, batclaws, grappling hooks, and tasers. Artemis fired specialized arrow after specialized arrow, disorienting Flaw, entangling him in nets.
Flaw, unfortunately, was a magically created being who could at times release borrowed energy from his maker. Red Robin barely made it out of the line of fire. His entire upper right side was singed. He had released a loud scream he knew Robin was going to mock him for after they survived this magical nightmare. At one point, debris from somewhere flew into them, injuring them and slowing Flaw's attacks. Now, Red Robin, Artemis, and Robin crouched behind a giant rock as Flaw resumed his fiery assault. Every breath Red Robin took was more painful than the previous. He had to inject himself with epinephrine to keep from passing out. Artemis was running out of arrows, and Robin was bleeding from his head. "Robin, please tell me you can still remember your date of birth," Red Robin gasped between breaths.
"I definitely have a mild concussion," Robin said, "but I can still see straight, and I can remember my name. We're good."
"This isn't working," Artemis said, wiping sweat from her brow. "We can't keep this up."
"I'm trying. I'm trying." Red Robin closed his eyes as he tried to think past the pain. How are we non-magic humans supposed to fight against a magical moving rock giant? "Let's just stay put." Suddenly, Zatanna appeared in front of them.
"Zatanna!" the three exclaimed. Red Robin was so happy to see her.
"I have a plan," Zatanna said, "but we need to move fast. I don't know how long Raven can hold Child back."
Raven's eyes glowed white as she summoned power to her hands and sent her shield hurling towards Child. Once again, Child deflected with ease; however, this time Raven quickly followed with a direct attack and landed a series of punches on Child's face. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Child exclaimed and used her power to throw Raven to the ground. Child brought a hand to her face and felt a sticky substance. "Stupid mortal shell," she growled before turning her red eyes to Raven, "punching now? Is that what we've resorted to? Uncivilized grappling?" She outlined Raven's body in red, lifted Raven in the air, and slammed her to the ground. "You have all this power flowing inside of you. I can sense it," Child said as she brought her arms together above her head. A giant fiery dragon formed behind her. "And you do nothing with it. Do you know what I would do if I had your power?" she asked as her eyes flashed. On Child's silent command, the dragon released a deluge of fire. Raven quickly created a shield, but Child's fire magic was unexpectedly powerful, and Raven saw cracks in her shield quickly form. Child laughed hysterically. "You can't kill me. You can't kill me. You can't kill me," she sang. Raven recognized the phrase from her dream. "But I can kill you."
"Crap," Raven breathed as she realized what was soon going to happen if things continued this way. "Come on, Zatanna," Raven muttered. She was trying to remain some semblance of control, but she wasn't sure how much more her body or mind could take. "Please hurry."
"Aparecium!" Zatanna yelled. "There!" she pointed at the glowing spots that briefly appeared on Flaw's body. "Concentrate on that area. Get him on his hands and knees."
Using a grappling hook, Robin landed a powerful kick to Flaw's jaw, causing the behemoth to stumble. Artemis unleashed the rest of her arrows in rapid succession. She aimed everything at the scar on his chest. One of her arrows exploded in his chest. Flaw roared in pain and went down on one knee. He struggled to his feet, but Red Robin fired a precise shot from his collapsible staff. The crack on Flaw's chest lengthened, and Flaw fell to his hands and knees. "Mroftalp nepo pu!" she exclaimed. The platform beneath Flaw opened. "Sniach morf dnoura mih!" Chains wrapped around Flaw's body. "Mroftalp esolc!" The platform closed, trapping Flaw's hands and lower legs while the chains held him in place. "Now, to end this."
"If I had your power," Child continued. She didn't finish her thought. She saw Flaw stumble. "How?" She then realized Zatanna wasn't fighting her. I've been tricked! Her eyes flashed red. Chains wrapped around Flaw. Child could feel herself weakening. "No! No! NO!" she screamed. Red tendrils shot from her body and wrapped the heroes in a vice like grip. "No! No! No!" she stomped her feet. "This is not how it's supposed to end! No!" she screamed once more. She felt her powers flicker. She quickly released the heroes, who all fell to the ground unconscious. "Flaw!" she cried out, appearing by his side. He no longer had the chains around him, and his hands and legs were now free, but he was wounded. "It's okay, Flaw," Child hiccupped. "I can fix you." Child placed a hand over his crack and healed him. Once she finished with him, she smiled. "I almost lost you. I – " A black spike whizzed past Child's head and embedded itself in Flaw's newly healed chest. "Flaw!" Child screamed. "Who dares - !" She froze. She noticed four glowing white eyes fixated on her. They belonged to - the cloaked girl. The girl was in mid-air and a giant black raven flew behind her. She uttered a word Child did not know, and the raven flew past Child into Flaw and destroyed him from the inside. "No!" Child screamed. Her body flickered, and she felt her form slipping. "No! I can fix this! I can fix this! Dang it." She prepared to disappear, but nothing happened. She was still on this earthly plane. "What is happening?" She could feel her mortal form trying to slip away, but something was keeping her in a corporeal form. She looked down. She was several hundred feet above the platform, and her body was outlined in black. "Dang it," Child repeated. She slowly lifted her eyes and saw four glowing white eyes looking directly at her. "W-w-w-what…are…you? W-w-w-who are you?" Child asked in genuine fear. She tried to escape the giant claw she was in.
"I'm Raven?" the cloaked girl answered. A slow smile formed on her face. "Where are you going?" Raven asked as she squeezed Child's body. Child cried out in pain as she felt the bones in her mortal body crack. "Don't you want to stay and play? You like games, don't you, little Lord of Chaos?" Child opened her mouth to speak, but the being – Raven – began choking her. "I may not be able to destroy your natural form," Raven said, "but I can destroy this form, and I can make it hurt." Child's eyes widened in horror. "Don't worry," Raven smiled sadistically, "I won't hold back this time." Child then screamed as she felt her entire body slam into the earth.
Raven's eyes flew open. Someone was screaming, then it stopped. Was that…me? She slowly sat up. Her head was pounding, but she could feel her powers very slowly returning in full. What was shocking most of all was the gold helmet on her lap. What happened? Last thing I remembered, Child was trying to drain our life force. Looking around, she saw the scattered bodies of her unconscious teammates. "Oh, no," Raven stood up. She took a step and stumbled. Her legs felt like Jell-O, and her arms ached. Her entire body was on fire. It felt like she'd gone toe-to-toe with her father again. "Robin," she limped to the 13-year-old. "Robin," she fell to her knees beside him. She placed a finger under his nose and sighed in relief. He was breathing, but she could feel the injuries in his body. "Okay, okay," she breathed. "Not a lot of energy. Guess I'm transferring everyone's injuries to myself." Closing her eyes, Raven placed a hand on Robin's forehead and one on his chest. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos."
A minute later, Robin shot up and asked, "Did we win?"
"Yeah," Raven chuckled, "we won. Are you okay? No, my arm is…" he rotated his arm. "My arm is totally fine. You healed me." he smiled at her. "Thank you."
Raven gave him a smile and limped over to Artemis. He must have had a twisted ankle, too. She kneeled beside Artemis and placed her hands on the archer. Robin, who had followed her, watched in awe as the bruises on Artemis' face disappeared. "That is so cool," he gushed. He turned to Raven, and the smile faded from his face.
"What?" Raven glanced at him.
"The bruises on your face – they just appeared out of nowhere." He looked back at Artemis. "Raven," he said, "when you heal people…?"
"Don't worry about it," she patted him gently on the shoulder as a groan left Artemis.
She quickly limped to Zatanna and healed her. She moved to Red Robin before Zatanna could open her eyes. Red Robin groaned as he sat up. "Are you okay?" Raven asked him.
"Yeah," Red Robin rotated his shoulders, looked at his hands, and felt his ribs. "You healed me. Thank you." He looked at her and stared. "You look rough."
"It's been a long day," Raven sighed heavily. I'm going to sleep for a week. Red Robin stood first and then held a hand out to her. Raven looked up at him in surprise, but his face gave nothing away. Raven placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her to her feet. "Thank you," she breathed. He gave a nod before releasing her hand and running to check on Robin.
Meanwhile, Zatanna walked over to Raven. "My powers are back in full, thanks to you," Zatanna said. "And I see you got the helmet," she motioned to where the helmet sat on the ground.
"Yeah," Raven said and levitated the helmet over to where they stood.
Zatanna grabbed it and studied it. "It doesn't seem to be damaged," Zatanna said. "I wonder if they're still trapped in there."
Raven blinked. Something was tickling at the back of her mind. "This may sound weird," she said unsurely, "but I think I can sense them in there."
"Really?" Zatanna asked in surprise. "That's a good thing. They're still alive., but how do we get them out?"
"I think one of them is trying to talk to me," she said as the prodding continued. Raven gently took the helmet from Zatanna. She covered the helmet with her black energy. Suddenly, her eyes turned gold, and she muttered a phrase she didn't understand. The helmet shot straight into the air. Gold streams of energy shot out from it, encircling it. There was a blinding flash of light, and then Dr. Fate was there, floating to the ground.
"Dr. Fate," Zatanna breathed in relief. Red Robin, Artemis, and Robin hurried over to them and greeted Dr. Fate.
"Please," Dr. Fate said as he pulled the helmet off, "call me Kent Nelson." He turned to Raven. "Nabu apologizes for briefly possessing you."
"It's fine," Raven replied. "I don't really know what happened, but I think I let him into my mind."
Kent Nelson studied her. "You're not from here," he stated. "Yes, I agree," he muttered under his breath. "I'll make sure to tell her." He turned his attention back to Raven. "You are very powerful, Raven. No doubt you will do great things. Also, welcome to our universe."
Raven was taken aback. How does he know my name? Scratch that. How does he know I'm from another universe?
"Now," Kent said. "I'm sure you all have many questions, but," he placed his helmet on his head, "there are visitors in the tower. I think they're here for you."
The young heroes appeared in a study, shocked to see who was standing there. "Dad?" Zatanna said and ran to him. "Dad," she paused to look at the other two men behind her father, "what are you guys doing here?"
"What are we doing here?" Mr. Zatara motioned to himself, Batman, and Constantine.
"You've been gone for like a week, luv," Constantine said.
"A week!" What the fuck?