Fan Fiction ❯ Hell Hath No Fury ❯ Daddy's Little Demon ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6: Daddy's Little Demon.

 

Cyborg looked down at the Reaper, on his knees kneeling before them. Everything was perfect, but then something happened. Something happened that only affected the Reaper. The Reaper fell to his knees just moments before, holding his head in agony. Then, something happened that none of the Titans had expected.

 

Cyborg stared at the Reaper in utter shock at what he had just heard. “W-What? What are you saying?”

 

The Reaper stood to his feet and looked the Titans dead in the eyes with his red ones. He was not joking. His sister's welfare was at stake, and he would do anything to keep her safe. Without making a sound, he mouthed the word “sorry” to the three remaining Titans, and then he was gone in a flash of light.

 

“This,” Robin stated wide eyed, “isn't going to be pleasant.” Robin turned to face Starfire and Cyborg with a worried expression on his face. “Okay, I'm going to take a wild guess, and say that Raven's father just ordered the Reaper to kill us all.”

 

“I think that we all got that, Rob,” Cyborg stated. “The question is, what are we going to do to stop him? I mean, if he gets his hands on his sickle, we are all pretty much dead. I get the feeling that when we fought him last time, he was only toying with us until Beast Boy showed up. He can go anywhere at any time. How are we going to compete with that?”

 

“I don't know,” Robin admitted. “I just know that we have to do something fast. With his powers, it won't take long for him to search the entire tower. We just have to subdue him before he finds his sickle.”

 

“Where is this sickle of the Reaper's,” Starfire asked.

 

“While I was bringing the Reaper in,” Robin began, “I left it in the…” Robin's voice trailed off as a thought entered his mind. “Nice try, Reaper, but it isn't going to be that easy. You'll just have to get past us to find it!”

 

Cyborg and Starfire gave Robin a confused look, but then their eyes widened as a flash of light left the Reaper standing behind them in the doorway.

 

“You can't blame a guy for trying, eh mate?” The Reaper smiled now that his sister's screams could no longer be heard by him. “Even though I don't know where it is, I will find it. You can rest assured about that, mates.” With that, the Reaper once again suddenly disappeared before their eyes.

 

“Right,” Robin sighed. “Split up! Find him and take him down at any cost! He cannot be allowed to reach his sickle! Titans, go!” At Robin's command, each of the three Titans rushed out the door going in three different directions.

 

Upon exiting Cyborg's room, Starfire took to the air, flying just below the ceiling in the hallways of Titan's Tower. Without trying to rationalize where she thought the Reaper might be headed, she just flew on instinct. Within seconds, she was in the common room of the tower.

 

Starfire flew to the center pf the common room and glanced around quickly, searching for any signs of the Reaper. Yet, all that she saw was an empty room, exactly the way it had been when she and Raven left it to meet with the Reaper in their custody. Yet, as she turned around to leave, she was face to face with the Reaper himself.

 

llllllllllllllllllll

 

Raven had been flying with Beast Boy held tightly in her arms for what seemed like an eternity. For the past few minutes, Raven had been wondering how it was that the scream she had heard sounded so close, yet she had traveled so far without any sign of solid land or the owner of the voice. Naturally, such thoughts were transformed to doubt in the teen goth's mind, and she could not help but second guess her decision to follow the sound of what she thought was the Reaper's sister's screams.

 

`What if…,' Raven thought unsure of herself as she continued to levitate across the seemingly endless ocean of fire beneath her. `What if Beast Boy isn't with or near the Reaper's sister? I would be in no better shape than I was when I arrived in this literal hell hole. What if Trigon wanted me to hear her screams? That would explain why I haven't come across anything. He is able to project his voice into my mind. I do not think that it would be too hard for him to project someone else's as well. That would mean that I am probably being led straight into a trap, or what is worse, completely in the wrong direction.'

 

Raven glanced down at the limp body of Beast Boy, frowning at the sight of his helpless condition. The body of the emerald changeling had the same blank stare on his face and empty look in his eyes ever since Beast Boy's soul was untimely ripped from his body. In fact, the only indication that the body of the green teen was the occasional rise and fall of his lungs and momentary blinking of his eyelids.

 

The look in Raven's eyes hardened, and her resolve grew to unknown heights as a single thought echoed through her mind. `What if he is there? I have to know. If he is, I will save him, and destroy anyone in my way. Especially if it is -`

 

Raven's thoughts were interrupted as she caught sight of something that she had not expected. The stalactite infested rocky ceiling of the enormous cavern which made up the hell dimension her father reigned in suddenly stopped. That is to say that it no longer formed a ceiling. Instead, it curved downward, creating a boundary blocking anyone's escape from the enormous cave. Raven had reached the outer edge of her father's dimension.

 

In her mind, Raven half expected the ocean of fire beneath er to go on forever, but the wall now less than a mile in front of her seemed to disprove her theory… at least in relation to the direction she was traveling. For a brief moment, Raven pondered the possibility of this cave stretching out for an infinite distance in only one direction, but she had very little time to dwell. As Raven grew closer to the stone walls of the cave, se could see that they were not only the border to this hell dimension, but they also were temporarily the home of two figures that Raven could make out in the distance.

 

Unknowingly, Raven's heart began to race and it independently commanded Raven's body to fly faster than it had been which was close to impossible but her body somehow managed to comply. Although her change in speed went undetected by Raven, she would have commanded her body to do so anyway if her mind was not so focused of the two figured she was rapidly drawing near.

 

The figure on the left showed almost no signs of life as it hung over a small pool of magma seemingly created just for her. The figure had long, white hair which hung just below the figure's feet with scorch marks on the tips. Raven soon found that it was not only the hair that had been burned, but from the figure's knees down as well. Raven could see some resemblance to the Reaper in the hanging figure and Raven knew instantly that it could only be his sister. What horrified Raven the most, was tat she saw that the Reaper's sister's soul was not the only thing being tortured. She still had her body, and Raven could only guess at how close she had come to death by Trigon's hands over the years.

 

The second figure was one whom Raven had hoped against all hopes to find here with the Reaper's sister. Raven saw the transparent soul of Beast Boy with his arms chained tightly to the wall with glowing red shackles. Raven was close now. Just less than a minute and she would be with him again. Beast Boy's soul seemed to be more fortunate than the Reaper's sister. He hung above solid ground, which was one up from his companion. Beast Boy's soul showed no evidence of torture, although raven doubted if anything could leave a tangible wound on someone's soul. Yet, he looked like he was unconscious. The Reaper's words echoed in Raven's mind as she recalled his explanation of why he could not return Beast Boy to their universe, and she knew that the red chains that bound her love were the cause of his weakened state.

 

It was over. Raven's long journey was complete. The dark teen landed swiftly just feet in front of the rock wall that her Beast Boy was shackled to, and gently laid the body of Beast Boy on the stone ground in front of his missing half. Well, she was there. Now, all she needed to do was free Beast Boy's soul from the chains that bound him, and figure out a way to reunite him with… himself. Yet, even with her goal so near, she could not shake the feeling that she was not alone.

 

Of course, she knew that Trigon was somewhere in this dimension, but something inside of her told her that he was everywhere around her. However, she knew that sis she could accomplish her task quickly, a confrontation could be avoided. Yet, she made a promise to him that she would destroy him once and for all if he had hurt Beast Boy, and he had crossed the line. Whether he showed up before she freed Beast Boy or not, she would not rest until she had made him pay.

 

“Beast Boy,” Raven whispered as she reached out for the transparent version of the green Titan. Yet, there was no response from Beast Boy's soul. He just hung there limp and helpless. No movement could be seen from the could of the changeling at all, and that worried Raven.

 

“Beast Boy,” Raven said louder and more urgent than before. Out of desperation, Raven attempted to grab the changeling by the shoulders and shake him back to consciousness. However, try is all that she could do. Raven's eyes widened as her hand passed straight through her fallen love and collided with the rock wall behind him. Yet, it did not feel like nothing was in her grasp. Her entire lower arm which was encompasses by Beast Boy's soul instantly was encompassed by a familiar sensation. It was the sensation that Raven felt each time that she felt, willingly or unwillingly, the emerald changeling's emotions. It was the feel of the very essence of Beast Boy.

 

Raven withdrew her arm from Beast Boy's soul and glanced at the two glowing red shackles holding him in place on the stone wall. These were different than the ones that held the Reaper's sister. It was obvious that the Reaper wasn't able to transport his sister out of the dimension that she was held captive in because Trigon drained the life out of her by keeping her in a continuous state of near death. That was why her shackles were normal. However, Beast Boy's were different. Raven knew that they were designed to drain what little life the soul of a person had on its own out completely. They had to come off.

 

“Azerath Metrion Zinthos!” Raven chanted, channeling all of her powers on the two shackles on each of Beast Boy's arms. Instantaneously, both of the glowing red shackles were engulfed in an aura of complete darkness. However, they did not stay in that state for long. Sparks began to fly as soon as Raven's powers came into contact with the dark energy her father had gathered in the shackles. To Raven's surprise and horror, her aura shattered loudly, and the sparks coming from the shackles ceased. Trigon had prepared for Raven. Her powers alone were useless in freeing Beast Boy, but she was far from about to give up.

 

Raven used her powers to chip off a hand sized stone from the rock wall, and gripped it tightly. The dark teen willed all of her physical strength into her right arms as she hammered the stone into the glowing shackle holding Beast Boy's right arm. `I have to free him.' Raven thought letting her mind concentrate solely on what was in front of her, completely forgetting everything else around her. She brought the stone down again managing to will up strength that she never knew existed from within her. `I've come so far to meet the impossible now.' Something rose up within Raven while she struck the shackle again and again. It was something that had lied dormant within her for years now. Raven's cloak began to grow brighter. `You're not staying here another minute, Beast Boy.' Again she struck, and again more power come from seemingly nowhere. `Not while I'm so close to the one thing that I've ever needed.' Raven struck again, and a small crack appeared on the shackle. `Not when I never got to tell you that I -` Raven never got to finish her thought. As soon as she struck the shackle again, it shattered, surprising Raven who was lost in her thoughts and was not truly paying attention to the shackle. Instantaneously after raven snapped out of her trance, her cloaked reverted back to it's original color.

 

With one shackle gone, Beast Boy's soul fell towards the ground, but was held up by his remaining bund arm. Unfortunately, one shackle was not meant to support a person, or a soul for that matter, alone. Thus, Beast Boy's soul hung with his arm bent near the middle at what looked like a very painful angle. The thought entered Raven's mind that if that were Beast Boy's body and not his soul, his arm would have surely been broken. However, the knowledge that Beast Boy was going to be fine did not help Raven as much as it should have. Hastily, Raven gripped the same stone tightly in her hand and prepared to assault the remaining shackle and free Beast Boy as fast as she could. However, as she plunged the stone towards its destination, Raven's current weapon of choice became engulfed in a deep crimson aura, and Raven's attack stopped dead in its tracks.

 

Raven's eyes widened in realization, and she let go of the stone. The red aura around the stone roughly threw the round object to the ground, shattering it completely. Raven didn't have to turn around to know who… what was behind her. The dark teen swiftly spun around only to be met with the enormous figure of her father towering above her, his yellow eyes glowing with pure hatred.

 

“Daughter,” Trigon bellowed almost laughing hatefully at his offspring, “what ever made you thing that you would be able to free him without me intervening?”

 

Raven glared daggers at her so called father, but she did not dignify his question with an answer. He did not deserve one, and she would not waste her breath on him. The only thing she cared about at that moment was finding a way to destroy him forever.

 

Trigon snickered at the hateful glare his daughter was sending him. Her reaction to him did not make a difference. He had already won. It was just a matter of claiming that victory. With a sinister smile, he spoke again. “The fact is, daughter, I let you get as far as you did. You see, the chains that bound that pathetic excuse for the object of your so called affections do more than just hold him in place as you have no doubt ably guessed. When both are attached to someone or something, they drain them of their energy. When only one is in place, as you have made possible, the subject regains part of his consciousness. Not enough to allow him to form a rational thought, but enough for him to wake up and witness your defeat by my hand first hand, daughter. Yet, that is only if you last long enough. You get your weakness from your mother.”

 

That was it. Raven lost it. Conjuring up every on e of power that her body and mind had, she fired beam after beam of dark energy at the sadistic demon standing before her while flying circles around him. She was not sad. She was not angry. She was not happy as she struck against the evil in front of her. She was everything. All of her emotions surfaced at once, lashing out against her father, and she for once did not want to control them.

 

Raven only cared about Trigon's defeat, and she was so intent on it that she did not even realize that an extra set of eyes had emerged on her once angelic face. She grew in size, and her power was amplified exponentially. Yet, even through her barrage of dark energy she sent at her father, he stood his ground never flinching. The mighty Trigon took everything that Raven had without retaliation. After all, there was no need for one. Raven would pay, but technically not by his hand.

 

Trigon watched intently as Raven continued to attack. She was faltering. She was weakening. She had always been weak. As soon as he saw Raven hesitate, if not only for a second, he struck. Calling forth his own demonic powers, two yellow beams of pure power shot forth from his eyes. Raven's mind was not clear enough to see or sense the attack and it connected dead on with her stomach, sending her crashing into the stone wall behind her. As se fell to the ground roughly, Trigon's laughs echoed throughout the cave.

 

“Daughter,” he mocked, “did you really think that you could stand against me? You are pathetic, as you always have been. Do you realize how close you came to loosing yourself to me entirely? Did you mean to offer yourself to me then, or was it just a feeble attempt to destroy your own creator? It is no matter any longer. I will admit that my plans were originally to force you to fall, but in your resilience, you provided me with an even better solution to my problem.”

 

Raven, emotions now under control once again, struggled to her feet. She sent a glare toward her father, but her eyes widened when what was in front of her came into her view. Beast Boy's body, surrounded by a red aura, was levitating mere feet in front of her, seemingly mocking Raven. “Beast Boy,” Raven cried desperately as she tried to run to his limp form, but another two beams of yellow energy sent her flying back into the wall.

 

“My minion's powers,” Trigon continued almost laughing at Raven's week attempts to free the changeling's body from his grasp, “although powerful, are quite limited. He is unable to use them on a demon, which is what I had originally intended for him to do.” Beast Boy's body was now levitating directly in front of Trigon's chest. “Thus, I sent him after you once he was prepared. You are… were the only way I could ever be free, but you changed that. You brought me my solution on a silver platter. You brought me a body that would never fight back.”

 

With a sinister grin, Trigon's body dissipated into a deep, crimson cloud. The cloud quickly engulfed the helpless body of Beast Boy, and in a red flash, it was over. Trigon was gone. Beast Boy's body was gone. The form that slowly lowered itself to the rocky ground was neither of the two. It was a sick and twisted merger. The body of Beast Boy and the mind of Trigon both glared hatefully at the wide eyed Raven and laughed.

 

“Hello, Raven,” the figure spoke with the voice of Beast Boy but with the pure hatred of Trigon. “I hope I didn't worry you while I was gone. I just want you to rest assured,” Beast Boy's body's eyes glowed red and a second pair appeared on his brow, “that I will never leave again.”

 

Amidst all of the horror, in a forgotten section of Trigon's dimension, Beast Boy's soul's eyes twitched.