Doctor Destiny smiled cruelly, watching his victims – the so-called 'superheroes - suffer. Now, with entire Justice League inside his nightmares – aside from Batman, but he would also surrender soon – he could spread his power over others, those arrogant superheroes and villain who thought themselves better than him.
"No, no, no!" Green Arrow screamed, grabbing another bow. In front of him, people screamed, being killed by the mutated animals released upon the city by a megalomaniac villain. He drew an arrow, only for the bowstring to fail again. "No!"
Destiny smiled coldly. Oh yes, it was such a small thing, to break someone. Just accessing their worst fears was enough to make the strongest of the so-called 'superheroes' helpless and harmless.
"Damn you, Team Magma!" Aquaman cried, seeing the oceans of Earth evaporate. Destiny laughed, seeing the mighty ruler of Atlantis fall to a bunch of literal cartoon villains.
This was truly enjoyable. Now, who else… right, he remembered, there are these teenagers. Teen Giants or something. And Batman's former sidekick was there, perfect. He could trap them both in the same nightmare, and force Batman to watch as Robin was slowly tortured and driven insane. He could even break the boy, make him his own sidekick in time. Oh, such a sweet fantasy! And now to make it into reality.
On a whim, he decided to start with this 'mystical' and 'dark one, what was her name? Some bird or whatever. He could not wait to see what kind of screams he could elicit out of her, what her worst nightmares were. He gleefully descended into her dream…
Only to look around in surprise. A sea of black and red, stone columns and ruins floating endlessly. Well, at least it won't be hard to change it into a nightmare.
"Why are you here! Get out!" He suddenly heard. Destiny turned around, surprised, to see Raven behind him, clearly able to see him and visibly annoyed. "What makes people think it is a good idea to invade my mind?"
"You can see me? Never mind." Destiny straightened out, growing to monstrous size, and looked at her with contempt. "You will know pain, and fear, little birdie. Your worst nightmares will be shown to you, and…"
"Oh, great, you're a villain. I should have guessed when I saw the skull face." The girl, totally not scared, sighed. "Get out. Trust me, you don't want to see my nightmares."
"How dare you! The last bitch who did not show the proper respect died, you know. In horrible agony." That got the little girl's attention. "It felt like hundreds of years for her, an unending torture, until her heart finally gave out. And now, you will suffer the same fate!"
To his surprise, the girl closed her eyes and… did she disappear? How?! "Come back here you…"
"OH DO NOT WORRY. I AM STILL HERE."
Doctor Destiny slowly turned around, and saw the annoying girl, but with notable differences. She was wearing red, and… wait, she had four eyes? And since when was she as large as he was?
And why was he suddenly feeling fear?
"YOU WANTED TO SEE OUR NIGHTMARES, DID YOU NOT?" The monster in front of him smiled, showing her unnaturally sharp teeth. "LET ME SHOW YOU YOUR FUTURE, THEN."
In a panic, the villain did the only thing he could think of, realizing that suddenly his life was in danger. He reached deep inside the monster's head, and pulled out the worst nightmare in there.
But the nightmare was alive. And as he pulled on it, it helped, and happily emerged on the surface, drowning him as well, while the demonic anger laughed.
After just a few moments – although it felt like long, agonizing minutes to him – Doctor Destiny forced himself to wake up in his hideout, breathing heavily and shaking. Although he gained much power as a result of the psychic experiment, he was still just a regular human, and was definitely not ready for what he saw. It was a nightmare beyond anything he could have imagined. And somehow he could still feel it in his own mind, like a taint spreading from the point of contact.
Screw that girl, he thought, focusing back on Batman. The caped crusader was now getting closer to his hideout; now, he was surely powerless against him, and the entire League would be under his control! He will figure out what to do with troublesome girl later.
In the Titans Tower, everyone was readying for a fight. Raven woke the rest up, and while they were planning the next move, she returned to her meditation, preparing for the villain's return.
Or at least, that's what she told them. In truth, she was staring down her Anger, who was acting suspiciously smug. "What are you doing?" Raven demanded angrily.
"Me? Nothing." Anger answered with a sadistic satisfaction.
"Do not lie to me. I can feel my powers becoming harder and harder to control lately, and now they are even worse."
"How can I lie to myself?" Anger asked, suspiciously calm. If anything, she seemed very satiated and satisfied, a truly rare sight. "You are doing this to yourself, as always. Pathetic."
"I will get the truth out of you…" Raven started, only to feel her friends calling her. "Later."
"Sure, keep lying to yourself. It will definitely help you." Anger smiled, showing her sharp teeth. Raven looked at her with annoyance, and left the Nevermore, opening her eyes in the main room of the Tower.
"Raven, sorry for interrupting." It was Robin. "We just got the answer from League, Doctor Destiny is now in custody and unconscious. We are safe."
"Seriously?" Beast Boy asked sleepily. "First all the alien ships just ignoring them, disappearing to other planets, and now this? Why couldn't they deal with this guy before we all had to wake up?" He yawned.
"Crime does not sleep, Beast Boy. We need to be ready to act even in the middle of the act." Robin reminded him, although the fact that everyone else was yawning made his stern voice much less effective. He sighed. "Everyone, get back to sleep. Remember to get up in time for training."
"What? But we just had a supervillain attack!" Beast Boy protested. "Don't we have a day off now?"
"If you actually fought that guy, sure. But you didn't, so you do not."
Beast Boy mumbled a protest and went back to bed unhappily. All other Titans did so as well. Raven tried to meditate more, but failed to get anything more out of Anger and finally just went to sleep, annoyed.
She had nightmares again that night.
"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos!"
Huge metal poles suddenly flew through the room; controlled precisely by Raven, they barely missed Starfire and hit a bunch of robots behind her, destroying them all.
Raven felt a small sense of pride. She had her eyes closed, but still managed to perfectly aim three large pieces of metal, hitting multiple fast moving targets. Even a year ago she would consider this impossible to achieve, but now it was actually pretty easy.
Of course, in an actual combat situation it would not be that easy. And recently, her powers were acting up a little, and she had trouble controlling them, especially after a night full of nightmares. Hopefully, a little more training would help.
While Raven was lost in her thoughts, Starfire finished her part of the training. The Tamaranian girl was by far the fastest and strongest member of the team, and Robin kept devising more and more advanced and challenging exercises for her, but she was able to keep up.
In fact, it was actually a very relaxing thing. Starfire was a warrior at heart. Training and fighting was something she truly enjoyed, unlike anyone else in her team. Of course, their friends were still amazing fighters, and Starfire would take them to any battlefield over a team of elite Tamaranian soldiers without hesitation.
And they were fighting their own battles as well. She looked at Beast Boy, remembering the traumatic experience he suffered just few months ago. Now, however, he was showing no sign of any trauma, pushing himself further and further, switching forms swiftly while running on a treadmill. She was amazed by his control. He was now able to transform mid-step and keep moving forward without losing momentum or tripping.
Robin was training as well, fighting a training dummy. While others would be satisfied with normal, wooden one, his was custom-made and powered, allowing him to set it up to any strength and speed levels. Right now, he was fighting an 'enemy' possessing over twice his strength, and slightly faster; of course, Robin was still keeping up. Starfire enjoed watching him train for a moment, admiring his fighting style, before looking at the last member of the team.
Unlike the rest of them, Cyborg's strength could not be increased through training. His metal arms and advanced synthetic muscles were already at maximum power. Robin prepared a more fighting-focused training regime for the mechanical Titan, since strength training was pointless; but Cyborg refused to accept it, and still tried to push his metal body beyond its limits.
To Starfire's sadness, he tried it again. Having finished his routine training, her friend was now trying to lift as much as he could, slowly adding more and more weights until he was physically shaking.
For a moment, everyone stopped their training and looked at Cyborg. There was a mixed feeling of hope and resignation, and sadly, the latter prevailed. The mechanical Titan groaned, and finally shouted in anger and fury, but had to surrender. The safety mechanism kept the massive weight above him from falling down as he fell on the floor, wheezing and shaking from exhaustion.
No one could think of anything to say. Finally, Robin walked to Cyborg and helped him get up. "You know, we…"
"Also have your limits, and I just reached them before you, yes, I know." Cyborg answered bitterly, before sighing. "I'm sorry Robin, but it's just… frustrating. Excuse me." He left the gym without another word.
"I wish we could help him." Beast Boy said, verbalizing what everyone was thinking.
"We can only try to support him. I hope one day he gets used to it." Robin answered. "Speaking of getting used to things, it's time for your evasion training. Starfire?"
"… you know, I have a feeling you both enjoy seeing her blast me." Beast Boy said in resigned voice before shapeshifting.
"Of course I do! Training together is a bonding experience, friend Beast Boy!" Starfire said happily, starbolts already prepared. "And you are a wonderful target, I am so much more accurate thanks to you!"
Her 'target' did not answer, but the look he gave Robin was worth a hundred words. And then he got blasted.
Cyborg stretched and sat at the couch, turning on his favorite fighting game. Now, he might not be able to improve his mechanical strength too much aside from some tinkering and upgrades, but he was definitely improving in the cyberspace.
In fact, he was one of the top players in the world… and the matchmaking system just paired him with number one! Cyborg smiled wickedly. Oh yeah, he was waiting for this moment. Maybe this day is not yet lost.
The opponent was amazing. Cyborg had to give his all in this game; his favorite style of ranged attacks mixed with punching was faced with a very resilient enemy. So resilient, in fact, that the first match out of three ended with his loss.
"A block-based build, hmm? Alright, mister Atlas, you have some skill there." Cyborg switched his strategy. He started with a barrage of ranged attacks, but when the enemy was powering through with perfectly timed blocks, he changed his tactics. Cyborg played a risky, but very effective feint, attacking once before switching to a longer, but block-ignoring low kick. The enemy was unprepared for this, and their character fell on the ground, where Cyborg quickly executed a perfect 5-star combo.
This round was his, and it was over soon, leaving them with a tie. Boo-yah, Cyborg thought to himself, getting ready for the last round. Say goodbye to your title as world champion!
This time, the battle was much longer. His opponent was still basing their attacks on perfectly-timed blocks, not missing a single one, but also mixing them with counterattacks to make sure Cyborg has no window for a feint and low attack.
Cyborg, however, was able to adapt to this strategy as well. Counterattacks were met with ranged attacks, slowly draining his opponents life bar, and when his opponent switched to pure blocks the feints made a return. It was much more evenly balanced fight, but in the end he triumphed.
As the screen was tinted gold, with a trophy for becoming a world champion proudly displayed in the middle of the screen, Cyborg noticed that his opponent was writing something on the in-game chat.
And while mechanical Titan expected insults or perhaps congratulations, he was not ready for what he read.
"Cheater! Atlas never loses! How about a rematch in person? Prove to me that you are not cheating!"
Cyborg chuckled to himself. Right, cheating. Coming from someone who literally made not a single mistake in high-precision blocking style, something that Cyborg himself was unable to match and never saw in any other match.
"No, thank you. I already know I am not cheating, no need to prove it." And with this, Cyborg closed the chat and prepared for the next match. World champion or not, there were always other top players to fight.
On the next day, Cyborg was in a much better mood. Whistling a happy tune, he prepared a breakfast for himself and the rest, mixing some vegan and non-vegan food as usual. Today, it was three slightly different meals; chicken curry with rice for himself and Robin, vegan version of it with chickpea instead of meat for Beast Boy and Raven (with some tofu added to Beast Boy's plate), and finally a spiced-up version for Starfire.
"So, will a big world champion still fight those below him?" Beast Boy asked ironically, with a big smile on his face. "This small ant would like to challenge the world champion to a rematch!" And, of course, he changed into an actual ant, causing Starfire to laugh.
"Very funny, BB. Sure, we can have a match, but get ready to lose once again!" Cyborg answered, smiling. It was a small thing, but it really made him feel much better, knowing he could push his limits and become a world champion at least in one thing.
"Don't be so sure. You know what they say, double the pride, twice the fall." Beast Boy answered, changing back into a human.
"Don't lose your head there, grass stain." The meal was, as usual, a nice moment to relax for all of them. Friendly bickering between the two gamers was a normal part of it, while Raven usually stayed silent and enjoyed both the food and relaxing atmosphere.
"Oh, oh, I know that quote! It's from Star Wars, isn't it?" Starfire beamed with happiness.
"That reminds me, we should totally come back to watching movies together!" Beast Boy said with excitement.
"Oh joy. More mindless action." Raven answered sarcastically.
"Hey! If you don't like action movies, we can always watch something else." Beast Boy thought for a moment.
"Maybe some horror?" Cyborg proposed.
"After tonight? Seriously?" Robin was the one to answer this time. "Besides, we fight supervillains, monsters and all other horror-like things all the time. What makes you think we would be scared of a movie?"
"It's different, trust me." Cyborg defended the idea.
"Yeah, you can get really scared with a good horror." Beast Boy stood up, stretching a little. "No more delays though, Cyborg, it's time to get defeated!"
"In your dreams." The mechanical Titan put his plate in a dishwasher and joined his friend on a couch, turning on the game. He logged into his account and…
"WHAT?"
Everyone jumped up and turned towards their friend., Robin drawing his bo staff and Starfire powering up her starbolts out of instinct. Ignoring them, Cyborg looked with disbelief at the message on the screen. "Disqualified?!"
Ignoring his friend's stares, he logged to his mail account and checked the inbox. "I can't believe it! This, this asshole, he actually reported me for cheating!"
"… and that's why you screamed so loud next to us?" Raven asked, annoyed.
"Well, I just lost my entire account, not just my world champion title! Unless I go and prove it to this… Atlas… and some independent judges." Cyborg looked with disbelief at the mail he received. "The rematch is scheduled for today evening, in the Jump Sport Center."
"Well, you can just go there and win again, right?" Starfire asked unsurely.
"Obviously, I will, but it's just… I can't believe this guy." Cyborg got up angrily and left for his room, talking to himself. "I will win, and then I will report him for the cheating. We'll see who will have the last laugh!"
To Raven's annoyance, Beast Boy proposed that all Titans should go with Cyborg. To her surprise, Robin agreed, citing that in case it was a trap – unlikely, but possible – they all needed to be there.
Raven was willing to go and support her friend if she had to, but frankly considered the whole thing to be blown out of proportions. And she was hoping to spend more time on meditation. With her powers acting up a little, and with her still failing to find the reason for it, every moment spent in Nevermore could help her understand what is going on.
But in the end, they all agreed to come with their friend.
At this hour, Jump Sport Center was mostly abandoned. Of course, being Titans, they were allowed in without any problems, and managed to use the back entrance and avoid any public attention.
"I wonder how did they manage to rent the main hall so fast." Beast Boy said as they walked through the white-blue corridors.
"Don't ask me. Probably some big event was cancelled recently, and they jumped in to to get it done." Cyborg shrugged. "No idea why the main hall, though. But it doesn't matter, I'll just win this and we can go back to the Tower."
The main hall was empty; neither judges nor Atlas were there yet. A row of chairs was set up – likely for spectators, and the rest of the Titans sat on them waiting – while two computers were set up in the middle, set up for both champions.
"Well, let's hope the guy won't be late." Cyborg said, sitting in one of the chairs set up in front of the gaming machines. "I just want to kick his butt."
"That is a surprise." A deep, mechanical voice said. All Titans jumped and turned to the entrance, seeing the other contestant entering.
He was enormous, towering over Cyborg and dwarfing him in size. He barely managed to fit in the doorway, in fact. He was also a robot with yellow and red paint on his armored body. Next to him, a human in blue uniform stood, pulling a small chest behind him.
"Woah, wait a moment. You're Atlas?" Cyborg looked at the big machine. "First, how do you even play with these hands? Seriously, do have a special keyboard or something? Secondly, what are you exactly?"
"Interesting." Atlas said, ignoring the questions. "Normally, humans just surrender the moment they see me. But you are different, aren't you?" He looked Cyborg over twice, before his mechanical face was split by an arrogant smile. "But you are still just a human. "It shouldn't be too difficult to defeat you."
"Well, and you are a sore loser." Cyborg said with annoyance. "And probably a cheater too."
This caught the robot's attention. "No one dares to say that Atlas is cheating!" He declared triumphantly. "I will crush you like an ant, and prove that I am stronger."
"Well, you have to wait for judges with that. But after that, sure, if you want to get your ass kicked."
"Oh, we won't need any judges." Atlas said, and snapped his mechanical fingers. They all heard a hum of working machinery below them, and moment later, the floor below Titans exploded. More surprised than hurt, Starfire jumped up… and hit a yellow, spherical barrier. From the sounds the other Titans made, it was clear they had experienced the same thing. All of them, except Cyborg, were trapped in some kind of a force field.
"Hey!" Cyborg jumped up, powering his sonic cannon. Starfire prepared her starbolts ready to punch through, and Raven was already half-enveloped in her shadows, ready to teleport. Beast Boy prepared to shred the force field and launch himself at Atlas.
Robin, however, had a different plan. "Everyone stop! This force fields are too indomitable to break." Hearing the codeword, other Titans stopped, looking at their leader with surprise. The Boy Wonder slowly nodded to himself. "Cyborg, kick his ass. Do not worry about us, just beat this guy."
"You don't need to tell me twice." Cyborg said, also a little confused but ready to fight. He trusted Robin, despite not understanding his plan. "So, what's it gonna be, big guy?"
"A duel." Atlas said, smiling with satisfaction. "Since you are not quivering in fear, we will solve this in a fair fight. No weapons, unless you want your friends killed; a fair, unarmed fight."
"A fair fight? Dude, you're like twice as big as I am." Cyborg glanced at Robin, who nodded. "But sure, whatever you want. Ready when you are!"
"Leaving the hall means forfeiting the duel. Feel free to surrender your title at any time, and you and your friends can go home. Mechanic!" Atlas ordered, extending his arms. The human next to him pressed an invisible button, and removed the arms. Barely managing to hold the heavy objects, he put them in a chest, taking out two other, much heavier and more armored arms, putting them in their sockets. Atlas paid no attention to him, simply stretching his new arms.
Robin observed the 'mechanic' with great interest. The rest of the team was still confused, but for now willing to wait and see. Cyborg was tempted to punch the arrogant robot in the face while he was armless, but decided to wait. It was obvious that Robin wanted him to stall for some reason, so that's what he was planning to do.
Besides, to be honest with himself, he was pumped now. This Atlas really got on his nerves.
Atlas roared and charged, forcing Cyborg to dodge and their battle started. They exchanged punches, blocks and dodges, while the Titans and the mechanic watched.
"So, what's your name? Unless it's just the Mechanic?" Robin asked, causing the man to jump in surprise. He was visibly not used to people asking him anything.
"Why do you want to know?" He answered, looking at the trapped teenager. "Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself and your friends? You can't think he can defeat Atlas."
"Honestly, I'm more interested in you. Did you built Atlas?" Mechanic averted his gaze instead of answering. "I thought so. You build him pretty recently, and he is your greatest achievement. Strong. Powerful. And he never lost, not even once, did he?"
"What's it to you?" The mechanic finally answered, confused. "I'm just here to keep him in top shape, so he can keep winning, nothing else."
"Tell me…" Robin winced as Cyborg was thrown at the wall above him. When mechanical Titan jumped back into action, he continued his thought. "Have you ever heard of Arnold Wesker?"
"You mean Albert Wesker?" Mechanic asked, confused.
"No. Arnold Wesker is better known as the Ventriloquist. Still doesn't ring any bells?" The older man shook his head. "Not surprised. But you may have heard of the Scarface, the doll he carries around."
"Oh, that crazy guy. Yeah, I heard about him once or twice."
"You remind me of him a little."
There was a moment of silence, as the mechanic tried to process the statement. Robin continued moment later. "Are you aware that you are a metahuman?"
"Who, me? But I am nothing. I don't have any special abilities!"
Now the rest of the Titans were slowly beginning to understand their leader's plan. Cyborg, while busy fighting Atlas in the background, almost stopped in shock after hearing that. His opponent used this moment of hesitation to start wrestling with him, totally ignoring the conversation in the background.
"You built a hyper-advanced, sentient robot." Robin pointed out. "Even if you had an advanced engineering degree, it is not something that one person can just do. Especially since no commercially available robots are this advanced. I had a hunch when looking at you, and now I am sure of it. Atlas isn't special by himself. You are."
"No, you're wrong! I am nothing. I couldn't ever achieve anything. I always lost. And Atlas, he is powerful, and strong, and…"
"Everything you could have dreamed of?" Robin finished. The silence confirmed his suspicions. "I know. But you are not nothing. You have an amazing talent. And I know of at least one company that would pay you very well for your work."
Cyborg lost the rest of the conversation, a little distracted by Atlas. They were wrestling now, and with the fight momentarily reduced to just a contest of pure strength, he was slowly losing. The robot laughed, slowly pushing the Titan back. "What's wrong, human? Cannot match my strength?"
"In your dreams…" Cyborg said through gritted teeth. He was well aware that his synthetic muscles were at literal hundred percent, and he needed a new plan.
"Cyborg! You can stop stalling now!" He suddenly heard from Robin, and then the fight was over in moments.
Instead of pushing back, Cyborg fell back, landing on the floor and pulling Atlas down. The surprised robot failed to keep his balance, and took a shaky step forward, falling down moment slater. But instead of landing on the Titan, he was thrown forward in a perfect throw by the Titan.
Atlas fell on the floor, cracking it with his weight. Before he managed to do anything, Cyborg got up, jumping up and landing on his opponent with so much power and weight he slightly bent his front armor. The Titan then walked away from the robot, shaking a little from the effort. "Took your sweet time there, Robin."
"I thought you may need some extra training." Wonder Boy answered with no regrets, as the mechanic turned off the force fields. "Besides, it was cathartic, wasn't it?"
"Oh yeah." Cyborg agreed with a wide smile. "Feels nice to beat up some bad guy, especially solo."
"Wait! Atlas is not defeated yet!" The robot suddenly roared, getting up from the floor. "Come back and fight!"
"… you know, I was going to make a really nice speech here, but I think you need something else. Star, would you mind explaining it to him?" Cyborg asked, rolling his eyes.
The Tamarnian girl smiled and walked up to the massive robot, who laughed at her. "What, is this little girl supposed to be scary! Ha!" He punched her. Or at least tried. She easily held back his punch, without even flinching, and she was still smiling. "What? What kind of trick is that?!"
Starfire shrugged, while Atlas tried to overwhelm her with pure strength. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm much stronger then I look." And then she punched him.
This time, Atlas stayed down for good.
"By the way, how did you manage to get me suspended?" Cyborg asked the mechanic, high-fiving Starlight.
"Oh, um. Atlas scared the judged before, and they just agree to whatever we say? Sorry?"
"How about reinstating my title, and we can forget this thing ever happened?"
Few days later, Raven slowly materialized through the floor of the old bookshop. The cursed amulet was still there, alongside lots of books; although there was a different smell, no longer that of ancient paper. Most of the books seemed much newer then before, with old ones irreparably damaged by water.
She stood there, unmoving, for a while longer. She found it hard to gather courage and speak, and she was tempted for a moment to just phase through the floor. But in the end, she cleared her throat, and saw Alexander walking into the main part of the shop.
"Sorry, sorry, the doorbell must… be… Raven." He looked at her, surprised. "I was worried I may never see you again. How are you? I saw you were horribly burned."
"Well. I am fine." She tried, but even she didn't feel convinced.
"I… see." Alexander also seemed unsure what to say. Two quite asocial people stood there awkwardly, with silence growing more and more unbearable with every moment.
"So, can I have the books? It's my birthday." Raven finally said.
"Oh, of course! Here, just let me…" Alexander went back and quickly returned with a small cardboard box. "All I could find about body transfiguration magic. And I wanted to apologize."
"Apologize?" She inquired, checking the contents of the box. There were multiple books in the box, a mix of older and newer ones, covering the topic. She really hoped she could find something useful there. "What for?"
"I acted like an idiot." He explained, looking down. "I wasn't sure what to do, but in the end, I shouldn't have just assumed things. I just gave you some… other books, much more dangerous, and it was hypocritical for me to decide that these ones are somehow worse. Especially now that I know why you were looking for them."
"No, it's fine." Raven stopped for a moment, unsure of her own feelings. "I know you did it because you were worried. Besides, I got you into trouble later, so I'd say we're even."
"Being kidnapped by a supervillains is definitely not high on my list of priorities, but it wasn't that bad. Don't worry, Raven." Alexander seemed lost again, before nervously clearing his throat. "So, these books are yours, and if I see any others on that topic I'll keep them for you."
"Thank you. Got any magical artifacts you need help with?"
"No, nothing right now. Go, rest and celebrate your birthday." He missed her face darkening for a moment. "Fingers crossed the books are helpful."
"Thank you." Raven answered, phasing down with the box.
Not that she planned to celebrate anything. Another year passed. Getting her closer and closer to the day when this universe would end. She returned to her room, and left the books aside for a moment, lost in her fear. Not that she would admit, even to herself, that she was afraid.
She did not sleep well that night. And her nightmare seeped slowly through the cracks.
While his body was now in vegetable state, Doctor Destiny looked around the place his mind ended up in. "Where am I?" He asked the darkness, confused. He remembered fighting Batman, and then… a needle?
And this darkness felt familiar. Yes, now that he thought about it, it felt like that girl's nightmare. What happened? Did she imprison him there?
"I heard you tortured someone for hundreds of years, but in span of just few hours." A voice said in the darkness. "Impressive, for such lowly creature."
"Who's there?" Doctor Destiny reached with his mind… and was blinded. It felt like looking at the Sun while standing right next to it. What he could feel with his power was a mind unlike any other, something so gigantic, so ancient, so alien, he couldn't even fathom to understand it.
"You will be a perfect warrior in my army, human. And who knows… perhaps I will even allow you to have you vengeance." Trigon said, basking in the fear radiating from the tiny insect. And then, pain joined fear, as the thousand-year torture commenced, slowly transforming the human soul into a demonic being.
"Such a well thought-out gift for me, my Gem. I will remember it… when we see each other again.
Soon."
Next episode is a big one for Raven, so stay tuned!