Fan Fiction ❯ Half Demons: Raven and Dante ❯ Nothing Cleanses Quite Like Fire ( Chapter 6 )

Nothing Cleanses Quite Like Fire

 

Raven slowly walked into the room, without her cape I might add, and was given a warm reception by the rest of the Titans.

 

“Raven you're awake!” said Beast Boy

 

“I knew you would come around.” Said Cyborg

 

“Glad to see you are ok.” Said Robin

 

“Thanks all of you. I'm glad each of you were watching over me.” Said Raven who flinched her cheeks(this was her version of a grin)

 

“No problem just doin our job babe.”

 

“You look happy to see me.” Raven said this because Dante was just sitting on the sofa looking nonchalant as usual.

 

“Ain't I always.” Said Dante cracking a smile

 

“Hey BB wanna play stankball?” asked Cyborg

 

“You got it, and this time I'm goin to beat your ass.” Responed Beast Boy

 

“Hey Robin, you wanna be ref?” asked Cyborg

 

“Why not. Might as well since everything is alright.” Said Robin

This left Raven and Dante in the meeting room all alone. Raven slowly walked up to Dante, sat down, and hugged him.

 

“Since you've shown up I always need saving, and you're always the one who saves me.”

 

“Do you think I would just let you get hurt? Come on you know I could never let a lady get hurt.”

 

“Stop with the macho act for once. I'm serious.”

 

“I know you are, and I am too. I couldn't let you get hurt. Those times I saved you; it was because I had to save you or else you would have gotten hurt, or worse.”

 

“So why do you do it? Because you have to or because you want to?”

 

“Both.”

At this Raven felt her heart go into her stomach not because of being upset, but because she was feeling something for Dante that she had never felt before.

Dante then put his arms around Raven and kissed her.

 

“OHH HOHO What do we have here.” Said Cyborg. The rest of the team was watching them the whole time.

 

Raven shot up, and she began to blush so much that her argent skin became red.

“WHAT DID YOU SEE?”

“Calm down Raven I don't think it matters if they saw a kiss.” Said Dante in a most nonchalant fashion.

 

“Please do not let us disturb you.” Said Starfire followed by a giggle.

“I need to…..”and with that Raven ran off to her room and locked the door.

 

“Hey Raven, wait..!” Said Dante trying to go after her until Starfire grabbed him by the arm.

“Let her go, she does not like to show her feelings. You know her ways; she needs some time

I would think.” Said Starfire.

 

“Dammit. OK.” Said Dante

 

“Man she can be a spaz.” Said Beast Boy

“She's having to deal with a lot of stuff so she will probably be like this until everything is settled.” Said Cyborg

“Hopefully things won't get out of hand.” Said Robin in a morbid fashion.

“Yeah.” Said Dante

 

Over an hour would pass before Dante couldn't control the need to talk to Raven.

“Raven, open up. Are you alright?”

Silence

“Hey Raven it's ok, there is no use in you getting embarrassed.”

Silence

 

Noon the next day.

 

TRAGEDY IN STEEL CITY

This was the caption on the tv. Every channel was covering the same story.

“Steel City has been completely destroyed; nothing remains except ash, burnt skeletons of buildings, and the maimed, charred, and mutilated corpses of the dead. Steel City has been completely destroyed. The attack began early in the morning and only lasted an hour, but in that hour the whole city was eradicated.”

That was one reporter's description of what used to be Steel City

 

“NO! THIS CANT BE.” yelled Cyborg.

 

“Titans East has to still be there.” Said Robin.

“Why didn't they alert us?” asked Beast Boy

“I don't know, but we need to check it out. Three of us will stay here, the others will go to Steel City.”

“I'm going.” Said Cyborg

“Ok, Raven I want you to go as well. I am also going so that leaves Beast Boy, Dante, and Starfire to guard the tower.”

“Robin be careful.” Said Starfire

“He's not going. I am. Robin you should stay here and guard the tower. I should go to Steel City because whatever destroyed it was not human.” Said Dante.

“Slade has to have been involved; so I'm going. How can you be so certain about what went on anyway?” asked Robin.

“Look at that fire and look at the sky, and the camera crews look like they are set up six miles from the city. Now unless somebody just nuked Steel City, I don't know if any group of mere humans could do that. Slade may have been involved, but he definitely wasn't alone.” said Dante

Robin consented and the group of three titans were on their way to a necropolis.

Steel City was basically annihilated; so much that, like Dante mentioned, camera crews couldn't get near the city. This was actually a blessing for no one should have seen what condition the city was in. Blood, body parts, charred corpses, impaled bodies, decapitated heads with the person's final expression left on their face, bodies of men women and children were all scattered around the city. Black ash covered the streets. No buildings were left standing, and the only remnants of buildings that still remained were burnt structures and rubble.

Hell had visited Steel City.

The three Titans arrived three days after the holocaust, and what they saw practically froze them in shock.

 

“My God.” Said Cyborg

Raven was speechless as her tears came pouring out.

Dante had a stern look on his face. He sensed something, but his fears would not tell him what he felt.

“We need to look around. Assess the rest of the city, and try to steer clear of any media. I don't deal with shit like that, but I doubt it since the government won't even issue emergency entry into the city. It is now a dead city.” Said Dante

“We need to check Titans East first, and then search the city. Should we split up?” Asked Cyborg

 

“Let's just keep together. It would be for the best.” Raven said struggling to find her words.

 

“Yeah, we stay together. Slade was here, but he wasn't alone. Something evil was with him, and I don't mean evil in a pissed of criminal kind of way. I mean hellishly evil.” Said Dante

“What do you sense?” asked Raven

“ Besides Slade, a strong essence, and not just one. There are at least four maybe more, plus an army of flame phantoms.” Said Dante who was looking dead ahead, but at nothing in particular. “Jesus Christ, a demon army came through here. More than one brigade.” Dante added looking most distressed

“Army? What the hell are you talking about; there are more than just the phantoms?” asked Cyborg

“Yes. Come on we need to do this quick; see what your scanners can pick up.” Said Dante

“Damn that Slade. I will make him pay.” Said Cyborg

“Slade didn't lead this assault.” Said Dante

“Then who did?” asked Raven

“I don't know yet. Cy see what your scanners can pick up.”

“I don't know if my scanners will find anything.”

“Not yet, but you never know what could be found in this hell on earth.” Said Raven

“Let's get moving. Cy do you want to look for the titans east or search the city first?” asked Dante

“Let's head for their tower first. I don't want to imagine what shape it could be in.” said Cyborg in a somber voice

“Then let's go, but we need to hurry.” Said Raven

“OK”

 

The walk to the tower was sickening. Searching the wreckage on the way led to nothing remotely good. Having to go through so much death and destruction got to them all. At one point Cyborg fell to his knees in tears over the burnt remains of a little girl who was holding her burnt teddy bear.

“WHO WOULD DO THIS. WHO! SOMEBODY IS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS.” He screamed

“This is only the tip of the iceberg, no, this isn't even within sight of the iceberg. More cities are going to suffer this fate, and some much worse than this. This was not an extermination, this was just for show, or maybe to send another message.” Said Dante in a grim voice.

Neither Cyborg or Dante had noticed, but right after Cyborg fell to his knees Raven went into a sort of trance. She was just staring dead into space, but her mouth was open as if she had just seen some abominable act.

“Raven d….Holy shit what's wrong?” said Dante with his hands now on her shoulders.

Cyborg stood beside her and tried to get her attention, but it didn't work.

“Come on Rae snap out of it.”

Dante then put his hands on her cheeks and said “Raven I know you can hear me, so can you say something please. Tell me what it is that has you so frightened please.”

“He was here; Malchior was here, but..Rorek was here too yet it's like they are one. What the hell happened here.” Raven then began to cry

“Malchior and Rorek as one; how did that happen?” asked Cyborg

“I sensed it too, and I think I know what happened. A sick use of demonic powers is what happened.”

“What.” Asked Raven and Cyborg

“Apparently Trigon was able to create a Rorek body, a shell, and then infused into it Malchior's essence. That would mean it has the combined powers of both Rorek and Malchior. A demon transmutation, Jesus help us.” Said Dante

“NO! WHY WOULD HE DO THAT. I WILL KILL HIM WITH ME BARE HANDS.” Screamed Raven. Dante then took her in his arms as she continued to cry.

“Don't cry Raven. Be strong. This is what Trigon wants.” Said Dante

Cyborg was silent. It was rather obvious that this whole situation was cutting him to the core of his soul. Sometimes Cyborg forgot he had a soul, and this was the worst way to remind him of it. This was the first time he truly wished he had no soul.

 

They continued moving towards the tower all the while searching the debris for any survivors. This task was utterly useless. Nothing in the city even moved except for the three titans; no birds, no wind, no bugs, no screams or cries, just dead silence. They finally reached the cliff on which Titans Tower East was built.

Not anymore.

Before they got to the edge of the cliff they came to five pikes each with a head of a Titans East member.

Cyborg went into a rage and swore vengeance on Trigon and the ones who committed this act of barbarism. That rage soon turned to tears as Cyborg raced to the edge.

The whole tower had been destroyed, and the foundation had been razed. The rubble left from the tower was burnt solid black and was now in the water (even though the water was now just a sea of blood).

Raven was trying her best not to cry, but it didn't work. Trigon's plan worked all too well because it not only destroyed a city full of innocent people, it destroyed other titans along with them. It also hit the other titans to the very core. This was psychological warfare, a blitzkrieg, an annihilation, a message, and a show of strength all in one.

 

“On your feet Cyborg we need to search the rest of the city.” Said Dante

“What the fuck is there to check, everyone is dead!” said Cyborg who was understandably in a state of shock and fear.

“Who did this? You know who it was; I can see it in your eyes.” Said Raven

“I'm getting 5 human scents: one seems to be a shadowmancer, but the other four are from the HIVE5.”

“Which one is missing?” asked Cyborg

“Captain Hive. The other essences, besides those we already know, are demons, and extremely powerful demons.

“How many?” asked Raven

“Don't know. Some of these essences are ones I've never sensed before. Cy tell Robin the current situation, and have him contact all honorary titan members and tell them to be prepared to fight. Have them group up; I will leave it up to him to give further instructions. This is going to happen again and we need to be ready. War will soon come, and I hope to God we can win it.”

Cyborg gave the instructions to Robin and he got right on it, but first he gave Robin the bad news. Robin was beside himself in anger and distress. Robin then asked who the perpetrators were, but Dante said that everything would be explained in time. Dante wouldn't even give Cyborg or Raven all the details, even to their dismay.

 

Cy, Raven, and Dante arrived three days later, but within that three days Dr. Light had been killed in his jail cell, Control Freak had been killed, and Mumbo the Magician was found dead as well. All were decapitated, but that we will get to later because Robin wanted to know the details on Steel City.

“Alright it's time you told everyone exactly what you know about the destruction of Steel City.” Said Robin

“Steel City was destroyed by More than a few demons. Slade was involved, but he wasn't even the one in charge. Jinx, Gizmo, Seemore, Mammoth, and an unidentified shadowmancer were the only humans involved. Rorek was involved…”

Starfire gasped then said “That is impossible Rorek is dead, and if you mean Malchior, Raven defeated him.”

“It's not Rorek, but it's not Malchior either. It's Malchior's soul transmuted into Rorek's body thus creating a creature that has both of their power's, but with Rorek's looks and Malchior's evil.” Said Raven

“But it gets worse. Vergil was there.”

“I thought Vergil was dead?” asked Raven

“He is well he was but apparently Trigon was able to bring him back. Now, back to what I was saying: The demon Bolverk and his two wolves: Freki and Geri were there as well. There were also smaller demons: the flame phantoms, giants, and other demons. Brother Blood was also involved. There were two unfamiliar demon essences as well, but I know who they are now: Fortinbras and Goth. If this is true then that means four seals are already open.”

“WHAT? Brother Blood was involved and you didn't tell me till now. How could you do that?” asked Cyborg, who if you couldn't tell was enraged by the fact that Dante withheld this from him. Cyborg was still emontionally and mentally shaken by what he had saw at Steel City so his emotions were understandably on edge.

“And do you actually think you were in any condition to handle that fact until now? If I would have told you that at Steel City you would have gone off the deep end.” Said Dante

“He does have a point. You most likely wouldn't have been able to handle it. You know how you tend to go into a uhhhh… rage.” Said Beast Boy

“That is definitely bad news, but it was to be expected; so what exactly are these seals?” asked Robin

“What Seals; I thought I was the portal? I didn't know seals were involved.” Asked Raven

“OK I will explain. All of you need to listen up, don't ask questions until I'm finished. Questions may mess up my train of thought.” Said Dante

“Make sure you don't forget to conveniently leave things out.” Said Cyborg

“Cyborg not now.” Said Starfire

Cyborg just stood there looking angry, as if he had quietly resolved to hear Dante out and put his anger aside for the moment.

“Alright Dante, continue.” Said Robin

“Ok. There are 10 levels of the Demon World. The one Trigon is contained in is known as the Circle of Trigon or the Maw of Hades. This level cannot open until all the other seals open first, and as you may or may not have guessed each seal is a gate for that level to invade our world. They all open on their on, and will all open before it is time for the portal to open. No one opens them, they just open sequentially at some point or another.-

The 10 Levels of the Demon World are:

Dark Realm- Ruled by Samael. He is the Satan of the bible, and is the Lord of Sin

Forbidden Land- Ruled by Fortinbras. He is sometimes worshipped as the god of Time

Dis- Ruled by Goth

Sheol- Ruled by Thanatos- Emperor of Death

Netherworld- Ruled by Erebus-Emperor of Darkness

Underworld- Ruled by Mundis- god of Malice

Hell- Ruled by Argosax- god of Chaos

Naraku- Ruled by D'Sparil - the god of Despair.

The Pit- Ruled by Azazel

Circle of Trigon- Abode of Trigon-The Dark Lord himself.

As for the prophecy, well lets just say that it doesn't give the whole picture. Yes you are the portal that will open the way for Trigon, but first all 9 seals must be broken. This means that Trigon will have the 9 Emperor's with him as generals, and he will have control of all the armies of the Demon World plus those he chooses to be the captains of his armies; whoever he picks to be his captains- Demon or Human.”

“And me.” Said Raven in a morbid voice

“Not if we can help it.” Said Robin

“Exactly” Trigon will not get you, we will make sure of it.” Said Dante

“So where were the other two rulers?” Cyborg interjected

“That's the problem, if only the second and third rulers were at Steel City then the other two have yet to show themselves. It is obvious that Trigon's plans are already in motion, but we have no clue how he is going to go about them. That is sort of stating the obvious, but that's all we have right now.” Said Dante

“Where do we start?” asked Beast Boy

“We know he is using our enemies, so that could be of some use.” Said Starfire

“He is also killing some off.” Said Dante

“You believe the deaths of Mumbo, Dr. Light, and Control Freak were caused by Trigon?” asked Beast Boy

“Yea.”

“It makes sense. Trigon still needs followers, and he also needs to get rid of his human opposition which would be us for the most part. He would know who most of our enemies our, and knowing this he would use them against us, but some of our enemies wouldn't fit into his plans for conquering the Earth; therefore, he would need to kill some off.” said Raven

“But if he has his own army, why would he need humans to help him?” asked Beast Boy

“Like Rae said, he needs human slaves, but it also would serve to strengthen his armies meaning two things: more destruction, and more lackeys to take out his enemies.” Said Dante

“So he is just enlisting more pawns.” Said Robin

“Exactly”

“Alright, so we know Slade, Brother Blood, the HIVE5, Malchior, and a lot of demons are working for him. Who does that leave out?” asked Cyborg

“Dudes, how are we supposed to know who is and who isn't working for him?” asked Beast Boy

“We just have to find out.” Said Dante

“OHH, we should remember that the HIVE5 were working for the Brotherhood of Evil the last time we fought them.” Said Starfire

“What? You're kidding right; the Brotherhood of Evil, Slade and the Brotherhood of Blood are all working under Trigon. This day couldn't get any better could it?” said Dante. He had assumed the Brotherhood of Evil were now working under Trigon because of the HIVE5's involvement. It wouldn't make any sense to Dante that some members of the brotherhood would be involved, but not the whole brotherhood.

“We might as well count the brotherhood in; I doubt it would hurt.” Said Robin

“We should contact the honorary titans and have them search out the other members of the brotherhood.” Said Starfire

“No, we need to honorary titans to join together into groups. If we have them searching for other members that leaves many cities open for attack. We can't risk that.” Said Dante

“No, we can't have them group up because that would leave other cities open for attack.” Said Robin

“Robin, didn't you learn from fighting the Brotherhood of Evil that if we split up we are vulnerable.” Said Beast Boy

“It doesn't matter, any plan we think of will do no good. We will still be vulnerable no matter what we do.” Said Raven

“Being in a group didn't save Titans East. We are fighting a losing battle.”

“Cyborg now is not the time to give up hope.” Said Robin

“Hope? I don't think there is much left.” Said Raven

“It doesn't matter we still have to fight.” Said Dante

“I have an idea: We should ask the Doom Patrol to look into the possible involvement of the brotherhood, that way we could have the other titans join together in several groups.” Starfire suggested

“Damn, that is a good idea.” Said Dante

“But we can't have any other titans leave their locations.” Said Robin

“Dammit Robin if we leave each titan to himself the people they protect are just as good as dead and so is each titan. It won't do any good to stay divided, so there might as well be teams.” Said Dante, who at this point was pissed by Robin's opinion on the matter.

“He's right. Damned if we do, damned if we don't.” said Cyborg

“Ok, I will have them put into several teams.” Said Robin

“Good, But that still leaves the emperor's and his captains.” said Cyborg

“It won't do much good to look for the emperors; we have to wait for them to come to us. The best thing to do is have every titan ready. Trish, Lucia, and Lady are already on the lookout. Preparation is the only thing we can do now.” Said Dante