Teen Titans 1. Prologue

**Hello people of the fanfiction world! I hope you're all ready for a seriously big dose of awesomeness, because here is the beginning of my very first multi-chapter Teen Titans story! As of this moment, I very much hope you guys read, review, and enjoy (but definitely leave a healthy batch of reviews)! Without further ado, I give you the prologue of the epic 6th season premiere of Teen Titans, A-LionGleek style.**

**A/N: While it would be awesome, I do not own Teen Titans or any other elements of the DC Universe that might be recognized as not mine. Also, for anyone who might take religious offense at certain events that unfold in this chapter, I apologize in advance.**

**And now, let us begin!**

**Prologue:**

It was a beautiful morning in Tokyo. The sun had long since risen, and was now hovering miles over the ocean as it continued to rise ever higher into the sky on its daily journey. It was 8:00, but already the people of the great Japanese city were beginning to get started on their daily business. All in all, things seemed perfectly normal within the city.

However, on a mountain not too far outside the city's borders, someone not quite so ordinary was standing nearby the edge of a cliff, watching the sun. And as this person in question stood there at the edge of the small cliff, watching the sun slowly continue its daily climb higher and higher into the sky, he couldn't help but let a small smile cross his serious toned face. Already, he had a feeling that today would be a very beautiful day in Tokyo, just like the past few days.

The individual, a young boy who looked to be around 17 or so years old, was standing near enough to the edge to truly appreciate the view, but far enough to avoid running the risk of slipping over the edge and falling off, had his hands on his hips, and had his face directed very carefully upwards towards the slowly ascending sun. Admittedly, being outside the city at this particular location all alone had the potential to develop into a very dangerous situation in this world. Fortunately, this boy was used to potential danger, and one needed only to get a good enough look at him to tell that he looked the part for someone capable of facing danger.

For starters, this teenage boy was very physically fit. Admittedly, while he didn't have the extremely bulky and musclebound body that could often be found in body builders, football players, and the like, he was still athletic in a more slender and flexible build that would be perfect for a dancer or acrobat. In fact, this same bodily build had not only proven very useful in the life he'd led before donning his new common identity, but had also been invaluable for the fighting style he'd later developed and mastered; a fighting style that had proved to be enough for him to take on beings and creatures far bigger and stronger than him on equal footing at the very least.

His physical appearance also hinted at how capable he was of fighting off a credible threat to his safety. As was sensible for a person such as him, his outfit exposed very little of his naturally fair skin that made him easily stand out as a foreigner among the darker skinned natives of Japan. His outfit, while worthy of laughter among some individuals, was also something that had come to be very widely associated with him. He wore green tight-like pants as well as black ankle-high steel-toed and steel-rimmed boots. He also wore green gloves that reached up to his elbows and a green short-sleeve t-shirt that was almost always covered up with a resplendent red armored vest with three short horizontal yellow stripes lining down the chest area and a small circular black badge with a yellow uppercase "R" on it located over his left pectoral muscle. Around his waist, was a bright yellow utility belt that contained all manner of ingenious gadgets and reliable weapons; and his eyes were covered up by a black and white domino mask. Even the jet black cape with a yellow interior that was attached to the back collar of his vest was proof of how he was more than capable of holding his own in the dangerous world he lived in. While at first glance, it looked no different from any ordinary cloth cape, it was actually made from a highly durable and sturdy polymerized form of titanium. This had allowed for him to use it as an effective shield against several forms of blast-type attacks, including flames and lasers. Even his hair looked like the kind of style that could be seen in a real teenage warrior. He had glossy black hair that was gelled up in backward wave-shaped spikes. If this outfit and bodily appearance had been on just an ordinary run-of-the-mill teenager, then the teenager would likely have been in big trouble if someone who had negative connotations associated with the appearance encountered them. Fortunately though, this teenage boy was no ordinary teenager.

Who was this person, you might ask? Well, the answer is a little complicated. Why? Well this person, had two identities, one of them an ordinary civilian name that he was born with, and the second a name that he was more commonly known by nowadays ever since very early on in his life that had become very comfortable to him and had become a major name among both households and the world of crime fighting that he was a part of. In fact, very few people at all knew of his birth name that he now kept such a closely guarded secret. Not even his four closest friends that had come to be viewed by him as a family were aware of his true civilian name. However, he very much planned now to make sure to change that before his dying day. The way he'd now seen it for a long time, if anyone deserved to know the name his parents had given him, not to mention hear it come out of his own mouth, it was them. They had more than earned it in his mask covered eyes. However, the name that they currently knew him by, and the name that he was known as by every civilian, hero, and even villain that knew him, was Robin.

Robin smiled, clasped his hands together, and stretched them over his head. He let out a relieved sigh as he felt the effects of his stretching. "Yep," he thought to himself. "Today's definitely going to be an amazing day."

At that moment, Robin heard a yawn coming from not too far behind him, and a voice then say, "Morning Robin. Enjoying the view?"

Robin smiled, turned his head to look behind him, and said, "Sure thing Cy."

Upon hearing this, Cyborg smiled, his blue-gray human eye and bright red cybernetic eye alight with happiness, and the hard sturdy metal that made up the majority of his body dazzling in the light of the sun. "Good to know," he said. The half-robot teenager turned his gaze to face the sun, and then said, "Certainly does look like a good day for us to go home."

Robin chuckled, rammed his right fist into his open left palm, and said, "I hear you man."

This day, as Cyborg had said, was indeed the day that the Teen Titans would finally be ending their now week-long vacation in Tokyo and returning to their home in Jump City, California. Admittedly, Robin had to admit that despite his original reluctance to stay in Tokyo longer than necessary for the mission they'd originally come to complete, even he had ended up very much feeling like his eventual decision for the Titans to have a vacation there for a few more days had proven worthwhile. Over the course of the past few days, he and the other titans had had quite a lot of fun. At least, he was pretty sure they'd all had lots of fun; though with Raven, you could never really tell. But now, having spent an entire week in Tokyo, Robin felt it was high time for the titans to end their vacation and return home.

Cyborg eventually nodded to himself, and said to Robin, "Well I don't know about you man, but I'm going to head back to the T-Ship. I'm sure the others are already there waiting for the goodbye wagon; especially your _girlfriend_."

Robin stiffened, and then shook his head side to side with an annoyed glare on his face. "Shut up," he groaned as the 19 year old cybernetic African American boy laughed and started walking in the direction opposite from the edge of the cliff. But even under his stern glare, Robin felt his heart flutter and a small smile fighting to come onto his face. His 'girlfriend' as Cyborg put it, and as he himself had to admit was an accurate way to describe it now, was Starfire.

His smile finally achieved victory in its struggle to appear as he thought of the beautiful Tamaranean girl who'd come to mean so much to him now over the course of the five years he'd known her. He chuckled as he thought of how very likely it was that Batman had almost certainly discovered his former protégé's current relationship status with Starfire due to his almost constantly keeping 'secret' tabs on him as well as keeping track of all the criminal activity he monitored. He already had a feeling that when Batman inevitably sent him a message or came to visit over this matter, his former mentor would be pissed off at him for 'stooping so low as to break the rules about romantic relationships with team members a second time, and this time successfully.' But at that moment, Robin didn't care. He knew what love was, and he knew, for a fact, that he loved Starfire. What he felt for her was much stronger then what he'd once thought he felt for Barbara Gordon during his time under Batman's wing. Chuckling at the memory, he thought, "Yep, I am definitely in love with Starfire."

He then turned his head to face the path that led away from the cliff edge he was currently standing by and towards where the T-Ship was parked, and grinned as he thought, "And Cyborg does have a point; I'd better not keep Starfire waiting." Smiling as he had that thought, Robin turned away from the cliff edge and confidently started walking down the path towards the ship.

. . . . .

At 9:00 sharp, Robin and the other Titans were at the location where the T-Ship was parked together, and so was a vast crowd of Tokyo citizens come to wish them a happy farewell. Among the crowd were almost every citizen of Tokyo who had come to view the Teen Titans as heroes of Japan. And of course, examples of the people who'd come to see them off were the chefs that Cyborg had at first ignited the ire of but later earned the favor of, the considerable number of fan-girls that Beast Boy had attracted, the bookstore owner Raven had met and had proven incidentally very valuable in the titans finding out the full story of Brushogun, and of course the major of Tokyo.

At this particular moment, the mayor of Tokyo was feeling very happy indeed as he stood before Robin. The mayor had to admit that the five teenage foreigners had proven to be amazing guests in his city after their names had cleared upon the defeat of Uehara Daizo, the former commander of the now disbanded Tokyo Troopers. Needless to say, the mayor now couldn't have felt more honored to have had the Teen Titans as Tokyo's guests.

Smiling, the mayor eventually reached out his hand towards Robin. The boy wonder smiled, and proceeded to grasp onto the mayor's hand in a companionable handshake. Upon finishing their handshake, the two let go of their hands. The mayor then said, "It was truly an honor for you to spend the past week in my fair city."

"Thanks," said Robin. "It was my pleasure, and that of my team."

The mayor chuckled. "Indeed," he said. "It is a real pity that you must now leave."

Robin nodded, a sympathetic look on his face, and responded, "I understand sir; and trust me, me and the other Titans don't mean any offense. The time we've spent here over the past week has been amazing, and we don't hold anything against you or your city; but as you and your people view Tokyo as your home, we have another place outside Tokyo that we view as our home. And at this point, we really need to return, because we miss our home, and just as Tokyo needed us last week, our home still needs us even now. And it just wouldn't be honorable for us to abandon our home in its time of need."

The mayor smiled, placed his hand on Robin's shoulder, and then stated, "Indeed it would not. Therefore, I wish you and your friends the best of luck and the most pleasant of journeys home. And all of us in Tokyo wish you great happiness outside our fair city. But know this; if ever in the future you decide to come back, know that you and your team will always be welcome here in Tokyo."

Robin smiled. "I couldn't have it any other way," he responded.

Meanwhile, closer to the T-Ship, Cyborg was watching intently. "Boy he definitely knows his way around the world of diplomacy," he thought to himself with a smile. "Heck, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear he was raised by Bruce Wayne himself."

A couple feet or so away from Cyborg, a pale gray skinned 16 year old girl with violet purple eyes, dark lilac purple hair, and dressed in a jet black long-sleeved leotard stood nearby one of the wings of the T-Ship, her arms folded across her chest, her hooded dark blue cloak blowing in the wind, and her face as emotionlessly grim and taciturn as ever. Not even the small bits of sunlight that shined down on the rubies on her belt, gloves, and necklace were enough to sufficiently brighten up the rather dark air around her.

Raven had not entirely had quite the same amount of fun on this trip as her four companions. In fact, out of all of them, she was the one who had enjoyed their karaoke night they'd had at one point during the week the least. Sending an emotionless glare towards Robin as she watched him talk with the mayor, she let out a small sigh, turned her head away, and thought to herself, "Just hurry up and say goodbye already."

Unlike her team mates, Raven hadn't made very many friends over the course of the week-long vacation. Practically the only friend she had made among the Tokyo natives was the bookstore owner. A small smile that didn't reach her eyes came on her mouth as she remembered how her already massive collection of books had grown considerably over the course of the past week thanks to her numerous visits to the bookstore. Still, apart from that, she wasn't all that eager to delay departure from Tokyo to return home any longer than necessary.

She turned her head to face the direction where Robin was, and found her glare returning as she saw that he was still deep in conversation with the mayor. "Hurry up," she thought to herself irritably.

At that moment, she heard a relatively higher pitched male voice from a few feet or so to her right yell, "Dude! Put that away! I already signed that three times! Can't you count?!"

She turned her head to look to her right. Sure enough, standing not too far away in that direction directly in front of a large crowd of screaming Japanese teenage girls was a 17 year old teenage boy dressed in a purple and black jump suit, gray gloves, and a pair of sneakers that had the same color as his jump suit complete with gray bottoms that had paw print designs on them. And even if she hadn't been familiar with his outfit, she would have still recognized him from 50 miles away with his iconic green skin, eyes, and hair; not to mention his pointy elf-like ears and rather sharp fang-like teeth. As she watched, the green boy directed an irritated glare at the ocean of girls standing before him thrusting autograph books, hands, and all manner of other things at him and screaming joyously like a pack of hyperactive first graders, and said, "Dude! Stop that! I'm trying to say goodbye here! Quit it! For the love of . . . enough already!"

Raven sighed as she watched the green boy have a hard time with the overexcited fan girls. Earlier the previous day, the boy in question had insisted that he be given a chance to say goodbye to his immense crowd of fan girls. Now, judging from his current voice tone and actions, he was beginning to seriously regret this decision. "Beast Boy," she thought to herself, "I'm surprised you didn't get this annoyed by them days ago." And indeed she was. She never could really understand how Beast Boy could possibly tolerate spending so much of his valuable free time in the considerably large company of all those ditzy and air headed foreign girls who seemed to mindlessly worship him as an angel from Heaven. "As if an angel would look like that," she thought to herself. While she had admittedly never encountered an actual angel before, she had a feeling that neither a real angel, nor the ones described in the Bible would look anything like Beast Boy.

Then Raven unconsciously found herself looking at Beast Boy again. In particular, she found herself focusing on his hair. She wasn't sure if anyone else, or even Beast Boy himself had noticed, but she had seen that over the course of the days that had followed Daizo's defeat, his dark green hair had started to show signs of turning lighter in color, to the point that his hair now looked more like a chartreuse blonde that artfully contrasted with his more lime green skin and emerald toned eyes. She then thought to herself in confusion. Since when did she pay so much attention to his physical features? She tried to shake her mind clear of these thoughts, but then she remembered how she'd often at some times made note of his fang-like teeth, taken the odd glance at his elf-like ears that he'd claimed 'chicks dug,' and once even briefly glanced at his hands on the night they'd arrived at Tokyo before he'd put his gloves back on and could have sworn that she saw what looked like small claws in the areas where his finger nails should have been located.

She shook her head violently to clear her head of these thoughts. "It's nothing," she thought to herself emphatically. But even at that moment she wasn't entirely certain as to the truth of her own words. To put it simply, her relationship with the green shape shifter was complicated. They spent most of the time arguing and getting on each other's nerves. Still, Beast Boy had also proven a very good and caring friend to her more than once. That being said, she still had no idea for certain about the odd feelings she sometimes got when around him that weren't annoyance or of a similar nature to annoyance. But she wasn't entirely willing to dig any deeper than necessary in that regard. She was accustomed to repressing her emotions after all.

Meanwhile, to Cyborg's left, looking intently at Robin as she hovered slightly over the ground, was an orange skinned 16 year old girl dressed in a violet purple crop-top, mini-skirt, and boots, as well as a silver neckband, belt, and gauntlets with emerald green jewels on them. She smiled as she watched the dark haired, fair skinned, and traffic light style costume adorned teenage boy talking with the political leader of Tokyo, her vivid green eyes alight with joy, and her long red hair blowing around in the wind as it dangled down past her shoulders.

Starfire couldn't have felt happier at this moment. Ever since she and Robin had finally had their first real kiss, admitted their painfully obvious feelings to each other, and become a couple, the past week couldn't have been more joyous for her. And now, she was very much looking forward to going home and spreading word of the news to her friends that hadn't accompanied her, Robin, and the others to Tokyo. Of course, she was also greatly feeling happy at the chance to finally reunite with her beloved pet mutant moth larva Silkie, peacefully relax in her own bedroom, and spend joyous time with her friends, especially her boyfriend Robin.

Eventually, Beast Boy noticed out of the corner of his eyes that Robin appeared to be winding down on his chat with the mayor, and he realized that it was now time for him to get away from his fan girls. Thinking quickly, he abruptly pointed his finger at the empty space behind them all and yelled, "Look behind you!"

Miraculously enough, they all fell for it, and they turned their heads as one to look behind them. At that moment, while the entire herd of fan girls was looking away, Beast Boy turned around and bolted over to take a position in between Cyborg and Raven. As Beast Boy stood there afterward panting in exhaustion, Cyborg chuckled at his green friend and said, "Boy you sure look happy to go."

Beast Boy glared at the cybernetic teenager and said, "Put a sock in it Cyborg."

Raven felt a small smirk come up on her mouth as she heard this. "Better late than never," she thought to herself.

Seconds later, Robin parted ways with the mayor after giving a final handshake and took his place in between Cyborg and Starfire, very unsubtly grabbing onto Starfire's right hand with his own left hand. Starfire smiled, a deep blush on her face as she closed her eyes at the contact.

With all the titans now positioned at the T-Ship, the mayor turned to face the assembled crowd and yelled, "People of Tokyo! Let us all wish a happy farewell to our honored guests and Tokyo's newest heroes, the Teen Titans!" The crowd went wild with cheering. Even Beast Boy's fan girls, much to his surprise and wariness, seemed as happy as ever as they cheered, seemingly not phased all that much by his abruptly leaving them hanging earlier.

As the cheering started showing signs of winding down, Robin winked at Cyborg, and the partially robotic teenager smiled before pressing a switch that caused the glass windows/hatches of the ship's seating compartments to open up at the ready for their occupants of the journey to climb aboard.

With this out of the way, Robin proceeded to smile at the crowd, readjust his mask, and give a slight wave before proceeding to climb up into the compartment located all the way at the very front end of the ship, dutifully pressing the button that would reseal the hatch upon taking his seat. Raven wasted no time at all, promptly disappearing in a flash of shadows and then reappearing inside the compartment located on the right wing of the ship. The hatch for her compartment closed seconds later. Cyborg yelled a "Booyah," and then proceeded to walk slowly over to the tail end of the ship before clambering into the compartment located there. He closed the hatch of his compartment soon afterwards. Starfire then proceeded to fly over to the compartment on the left wing of the ship. No sooner had Starfire so much as started flying over to her compartment, when Beast Boy quickly turned to face the T-Ship and began to climb up towards the compartment in the very center of the ship.

Unfortunately for Beast Boy, it seemed as if he'd only just lifted up his right foot after clenching onto the rim of the compartment with his hands when he felt a large multitude of hands grab onto his legs and feet and start to pull on them as if something were trying to pull him away.

Beast Boy groaned upon feeling this sensation, for he had a feeling that he should have expected for this to happen. He turned his head to look behind him, and found himself glaring with irritation when he found that he had indeed been grabbed onto by his fan girls. "Dude!" He shouted. "I'm trying to leave here!" The fan girls only screamed all the louder and started tugging on his legs even harder.

Raven groaned as she watched this. "Not again," she thought to herself. Robin also groaned mentally as he saw all this unfolding. Starfire, meanwhile, could only glance fearfully from within her safely sealed compartment as she watched her green friend struggle vigorously to break free from the grasp of his over eager Tokyo fan girls.

Cyborg, meanwhile, whistled as he watched all this occur. "Dang BB," he said out loud, "those girls must really want you bad!"

"Dude!" Beast Boy yelled. "Empathy man! Empathy!"

Of course, the fan girls only continued to pull on Beast Boy, who tried furiously to break himself free and wrench himself out of their grip and into his chosen compartment of the T-Ship.

"Good grief," he growled. "Enough with this already! I'm serious! You've already had your chance to say goodbye, and you blew it! For Pete's sake! Let go!" He shouted the last bit as he proceeded to turn his head, lift up his right hand and slap one girl's hand off of him in irritation.

Unfortunately, this action didn't seem to help at all, for even more girls than grabbed onto his legs, and all the girls redoubled their efforts to pull him away from the ship. Beast Boy shrieked in surprise and annoyance as he proceeded to have his right hand grab back onto the ship again and he resumed his efforts to wrench himself free.

After a few minutes of this struggling, Beast Boy gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and directed his head upwards towards the sky before yelling, "Let go!"

Seconds after he yelled this, he opened his eyes, growled, and proceeded to morph into a smilodon. Upon transforming into the iconic prehistoric cat commonly known as the saber toothed tiger, he dug his front claws and his two massive canine teeth into the exterior of the ship, trying desperately to give himself a hold on the ship that he could use to tug himself free from his unyielding fan girls and escape into the safety of the T-Ship compartment so he and his friends could go home.

Unfortunately, the girls, miraculously undeterred by the presence of the ferocious prehistoric beast they now held by the hindlegs in the place of the teenage boy they'd been struggling with earlier, continued to pull on Beast Boy. In fact, after a few minutes, their efforts were enough to cause Beast Boy to get slowly dragged a slight bit further away from the compartment, his claws and teeth sliding roughly across the exterior of the ship with an irritating whine and leaving small gashes on the exterior.

"You're messing up the paint job!" Cyborg yelled as he saw the damage that Beast Boy's fangs and claws had now left on his precious T-Ship.

Robin turned his head to look at Cyborg with an incredulous look on his face that not even his mask could hide. "You're worried about the paint job!?" Robin yelled in an almost scandalized tone.

Starfire gulped as she continued to watch her now very furry green friend continue to struggle furiously to escape from his very unhelpful fan girls, and then looked at Cyborg before saying, "I agree with Robin. I'd be more worried about friend Beast Boy then this job of paint of which you speak."

"Wouldn't we all," Raven stated in agreement, and of course in her typical monotone. Eventually, she then decided that this travesty had gone on long enough, and she snapped her fingers. In a flash, the fan girls squeaked as their hands were suddenly engulfed in what looked like tendrils of black lightning and they felt a small electric shock pass through their hands.

This intervention from Raven was enough to cause all the girls to let of Beast Boy's hindlegs and fall backward onto the ground as one. Exactly one second after his hindlegs were finally freed, Beast Boy pressed his hind paws on the side of the ship, removed the tips of his fangs and front claws from the side of the ship, and leaped into his compartment. No sooner had he landed safely within the compartment when he morphed back to human form, sat down firmly on his seat, and punched the button that would close the hatch to his compartment. The hatch couldn't have closed and locked itself more quickly afterward in his opinion, and he let out a sigh of relief as he heard the sound of it locking, effectively sealing him off from his off the rocker fan girls.

Smiling in relief, he turned his head to face Raven, who he knew had definitely caused the girls to let go of him, and gave her a thumbs up with a toothy grin on his face. "Thanks Rae," he said. "I owe you one."

"It's _Raven_," said Raven. "And you're welcome."

Beast Boy shook his head side to side nonchalantly, not too rankled this time by Raven's usual put down to the nickname he'd lately taken to calling her over the course of the vacation. At this point, he was too relieved by how he was finally free from the grasp of his fan girls and happy that Raven had at least accepted his thanks to be all that unhappy.

But then all Hell broke loose when the titans felt the ship start to shake as something heavy pressed up against the side of it. The fan girls, now even more driven than ever to get more time with Beast Boy were now pressing up against the side of the ship and willing to topple it over.

Beast Boy groaned at this development to the situation. "Seriously?!" he yelled out loud to no one in particular. "Find a local boy already!"

"Man," said Cyborg. "You sure have crappy taste in girls."

"If it weren't for the fact that this reinforced wall of glass is the only thing keeping me safe from all these locos, then you'd be so dead now," said Beast Boy.

Starfire squeaked in fright as she felt the ship list over towards the side. Raven groaned, rolled her eyes, and thought bitterly that their departure was now being even further delayed. Robin shook his head side to side, sighed, and thought to himself, "Heroes and villains I get. Civilians are crazy."

Fortunately for the titans, the mayor had the local police intervene, and before long, the overeager crowd of fan girls was driven back as the police proceeded to force themselves between the girls and the T-Ship, their shields drawn and positioned together in a wall, and push the girls back by moving forward and yelling for them to back off.

The mayor made a sheepish smile towards the titans after the girls had been forced back to a sufficient distance, and said, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," said Robin, just barely remaining calm. He then turned on his microphone and said, "Alright team, prepare for take-off. It's time to go home." The other titans eagerly agreed, and after the necessary preparations were made and coordinates entered in, they proceeded to cause the T-Ship to take off and start flying off into the horizon as it began its journey back to Jump City.

The people of Tokyo smiled as they watched the ship flying away. They hoped very much that the enjoyable young heroes who'd blessed the city with their presence for the last week would return someday. And of course, all the fan girls howled as one in despair behind the unyielding wall of police officers and police shields barring them out of the area.

However, there was one person in the area who was making barely any noise at all. In fact, she wasn't even among the crowd itself, but was hiding within a small patch of forest nearby as she intently watched the T-Ship flying off to the east towards where she knew it would eventually arrive at Jump City.

Her dark eyes narrowed, and a frown settled on her face beneath the grinning pink and white cat-like mask she wore. Making a small hiss, she rubbed her gloved fingers through her long black braid, and then whispered to herself, "This could put a wrench in the boss's plans." With that note made, she proceeded to quickly duck further into the forest and then silently make her way deeper into the woods. She had a feeling that she'd need to inform her boss about what she'd just witnessed, and she did not want to make it so close to the current Tokyo law enforcement. Considering the news she currently needed to inform her master of, the last thing she could afford was to end up in a Japanese jail, or any kind of jail period.

. . . . .

In another forest located near the coastal regions of California, a lone figure stalked through the dark woods in the night. Any ordinary camper or amateur would have made quite a lot of noise, but this man was trained to move silently. And move silently he did; he moved so carefully and meticulously that not a twig snapped under his feet. In fact, even in spite of the fact that his boots were made out of metal, one could barely hear the sound of his feet touching the ground.

As the lone figure continued to carefully make his way through the forest, he thought carefully to himself about the reason he was currently in this forest this late in the evening. "Whatever he's got to show me," he thought to himself, "it had better be worth my time."

The reason he was currently thinking this was because of how, the last time he'd met up with the partner he was about to visit, the end results had not proven satisfactory for the lone figure that was now wandering through the woods. For nearly a year now, the two had been in a partnership of convenience that came as a result of a more or less common goal. However, the man currently making his way deeper into the forest was still not entirely pleased at the relative lack of progress that had been made in the current objectives. He had expected for much more progress to have been made by now. Fortunately, he was patient; but even his patience could only last so long. "If he hasn't made a useful amount of progress tonight, then our deal is over," he thought to himself.

After what seemed like an hour to the figure trekking through the forest, he eventually caught sight of what appeared to be the light of a fire within a large clearing. Due to how bright the light was, the fire must have been considerably large. The man came up just close enough to just barely be at the border of the clearing illuminated by the light of the fire. He looked within the clearing, and sure enough, he saw another man standing nearby the large flames in the center of the clearing. This man, who looked much bulkier and more muscular than the man watching him, had his back facing the man who'd just arrived, and was looking directly at the fire intently, his long hair waving around in the slight wind.

After a few minutes, the man watching heard the long haired man by the flames sigh, and say without even turning his head, "I know you've arrived. Come on out of the forest and we can talk."

The man who'd been watching from outside the clearing stepped out into the clearing. In the light of the fire, the man in question was now revealed to be wearing a dark gray and black armored suit complete with armored boots and gloves. He was even wearing a two-toned armor plated mask. The right side of his mask was a dark black, and had no eye hole on it. The left side of his face, in stark contrast, was bright orange and had an eye hole. The eye that was revealed by this single eye hole was a dark black and had an unhappy look in it.

Soon after this, the long haired man turned his head, a small smirk on his hideously scarred face as he saw that his current partner in crime had arrived. "It is very good to see that you have finally arrived Deathstroke," said the long haired man.

The armored man groaned, and then said, "I've already told you Savage; I stopped using that name years ago. I now go solely by my first name."

The other man, named Vandal Savage, chuckled, and then said, "Very well then Slade, I will respect that wish. Once again though, I am pleased to see that you have arrived. Now we can discuss our current business again."

Slade sighed, raised his finger, and said, "I'm telling you this now Savage, whatever you called me here for tonight had better be worth my time. And even if it is, you'd better stick to your part of the bargain. The last time I had a partnership with another villain, it didn't end well. If this doesn't turn out any better, then I very much believe it would take me a miracle for me to ever consider forming a partnership a third time."

Vandal Savage smirked, waved his hand dismissively, and said, "Oh don't you worry Slade; you won't have any reason to feel disappointed this time."

"I'd better not," said Slade as he pointed at Savage. "Trust me; if you welch on me, then you're on your own, and I will be getting back to work on tasks that will be far more worthy of my time than your fool's quest."

"And I will be happy to let you get to those tasks," said Savage coolly, seemingly disregarding the insult in Slade's last words.

Savage turned to face the fire, smiled as he thought of the momentous task he was about to make his third and hopefully final attempt at making. He reached into one of the pockets of his heavy cloak and drew out what appeared to be an envelope.

Slade's eye narrowed at the sight of this. "A letter?" Slade asked. "How is that supposed to help us in your little experiment?"

Savage chuckled, waved the envelope around in his hands, and said, "Oh trust me, what's contained in this envelope is no letter. The stuff inside this letter will be guaranteed to allow this ritual to succeed as long as I do it correctly."

"And how would you know this?" Slade asked. "Have you tested it out already?"

"No," Savage admitted. "I'm not about to waste this valuable stuff on minor summons and Infernal chats. No, I needed to save this for the main event. But this time I know it will work. I do have my sources after all who have told me so."

"And who's to say that these sources will be any more trustworthy than the last ones you turned to?"

"The last two sources I used were humans," said Savage. "And ordinary mortal civilians at that. The source I turned to this time was a bit more . . . well, knowledgeable to say the least about the current subject matter." Savage turned his head to face the large bonfire once more. "But enough idle chatter, I have a ritual to attend to."

Upon saying this, Savage drew out a large knife, slit open the letter, and proceeded to pour out the contents, which appeared to be blood red sand into his outstretched right hand. Slade's one good eye narrowed in suspicion at the sight of the sandy substance, but wisely didn't ask any questions.

Savage hovered his hand above the large blaze, spoke a phrase in what appeared to be Latin, and then tossed the sand into the fire. With a flash of red light and a loud banging noise, a plume of unnaturally crimson smoke began to rise from the fire. Before long, the entire massive expanse of contained flames turned ruby red to match the color of the sand that had been tossed into it. The smoke faded away after this.

Savage smirked at the sight, for it seemed that this time his plan would work, and he proceeded to raise his hands up into the air and start chanting in Latin. As Slade listened to Savage's chanting, he found himself silently whistling under his mask. He was well versed in Latin himself, and if the words Savage was currently chanting truly meant what Slade thought they meant, then Savage was truly taking part in some serious work. As Savage continued to chant, the blood red flames seemed to writhe and merge upon each other. Eventually, they seemed to rise up in a large pillar before eventually moving around in a way that allowed them to converge together and form a hovering swirling vortex of red flames with a dark black interior.

Savage stopped chanting, and turned his head to face Slade. Slade raised his eyebrow in an apparent 'you've got a point?' look. But secretly, Slade was impressed. It seemed that this time his partner had indeed gotten it right. Savage chuckled, turned to face the ominous black interior of the hovering vortex of flames, and said, "Greetings your Malevolence. I presume you are prepared to speak?"

Seconds after Savage said this, what appeared to be seven pairs of blood red reptilian eyes with black slit-like pupils appeared within the ominous black background within the vortex. For an ominous few seconds, the eyes stared menacingly at Savage. After what seemed like an eternity, the eyes softened slightly and moved up and down as if whatever creature they belonged to was nodding its head or heads up and down in a gesture of 'yes.' "Indeed I am," said a seemingly timeless yet ancient voice that appeared to come from the center of the portal, where coincidentally the most human-like of the seven pairs of reptilian eyes was located. "Though I must say that it certainly took you long enough to finally come through to me with your attempts at calling."

"My apologies," said Savage. "My first two attempts failed. Apparently, not as many beings are as knowledgeable about this delicate subject matter as I originally thought. I had to find this out the hard way by wasting my time with two human informants."

The sound of snarling came from within the vortex. It sounded very much as if seven ferocious beasts were snarling. "Humans," the voice from within the vortex said in a tone that oozed with derision. "Of course they wouldn't have known the proper way to contact me anymore. The only history they have in these matters these days is summoning, chatting with, and making deals with my _underlings_. Did you really think they would have even the slightest inkling anymore of how to initiate contact with _me_?"

Savage bowed his head, and responded calmly, "Forgive me. I had not truly realized just how vastly human knowledge of these matters had diminished. Apparently, in all the years that have followed the last time a mortal human made a deal with you yourself as opposed to one of your underlings, all mortal humans on Earth have since forgotten the correct way to initiate contact with you. I learned this the hard way in dealing with those two human informants, and ended up having to turn to one of your own underlings for guidance."

"And this underling of mine proved more reliable did it not?"

"It indeed did. It knew how the proper way to communicate with you from outside of your home was with sand from the Judaean Desert soaked in the blood of seven of your underlings that is then tossed into a mighty blaze."

"Exactly," said the voice from within the vortex in a tone that shined with pride.

"Also," said Savage. "I would have contacted you a few minutes or so ago, but A: I wanted my compatriot to be present for this, and B: I received a message from an employee of mine named Cheshire; and on that note, she has recently informed me in this message of an element that could potentially place a wrench in the works of your current plans."

Seven of the eyes in the vortex moved upward as if the being they belonged to was raising it's eyebrows, and then the voice said, "Oh really? And what might this earth-shaking news be?" Slade also looked at Savage with his eyebrow raised. Savage had not informed him of that last detail.

Savage bowed his head, looked back up to face the fourteen eyes looking at him from the other side of the vortex, and responded, "You are familiar with the Teen Titans I presume?"

"You mean that team of prepubescent do-gooders who practically serve as a teenage version of the Justice League, whose five founding members that live in this local area are currently vacationing in Tokyo?" The voice asked. Savage nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"According to Cheshire," said Savage. "They started on their way home from Tokyo about half an hour ago, and they should be home at around noon tomorrow morning in the local time of this area. Cheshire appeared to have reason to believe that this unexpected element from my perspective might prove an unexpected obstacle to your plan."

The being on the other side of the vortex appeared to think to itself, then it appeared to shrug before responding, "I will admit, this element is indeed a bit of a game-changer; but no matter, it should prove but a minor inconvenience in the long run."

"I wouldn't be too quick to underestimate them," said Slade. "They may not be as old or experienced as the Justice League, but they are still capable of posing a credible threat."

"I understand," said the voice. "And fear not, I will nonetheless keep my eye on them just to be safe. But now, before we focus any further on the unexpected return of the Teen Titans, I believe that Savage had something else he originally wished to discuss with me?"

"Indeed," said Savage. "And having now indeed successfully initiated contact and gotten that other important topic out of the way for the moment, perhaps now we can discuss what we originally planned to discuss."

"Yes," said the voice. "But first, perhaps you could allow your compatriot to formally join in?"

Savage nodded, turned to Slade, and said, "You may now properly introduce yourself Slade, but I warn you, he prefers to be referred to as 'your malevolence' by everyone who isn't in his inner circle."

Slade raised his eyebrow, and then asked, "Must I?"

"Oh yes Deathstroke," said the voice inside the vortex. "I insist."

Savage smirked at Slade, who groaned, walked up in front of the vortex, and then scowled at the fourteen reptilian eyes that peeked out from within before making an exaggerated bow and dryly saying "Greetings your Malevolence."

The voice chuckled, and said, "Always the free spirited and more equal terms sort of fellow aren't you?"

Slade growled under his mask.

The voice chuckled, and then said, "Now my followers, let us discuss what Savage originally arranged for us to talk about. Shall we?"

Savage nodded, a predatory smile on his face. Slade simply stood where he was looking disinterested. The voice in the vortex chuckled again, and said, "Very well, let us begin."

The fourteen eyes looked intently at the two men who now dared to directly communicate with it, and the voice then said, "Savage, if I remember correctly, you wished to discuss with me about the Key of Dante that would allow for the unlocking and opening of a gate to my domain am I right?"

"Correct," said Savage.

"Well Savage," said the voice. "I will tell you this, as I'm sure you might be aware from what whoever told you about the existence of these keys might have already mentioned, they have been hidden away for centuries within their respective hiding spots. And as all of my underlings, my father's underlings, my brothers, my father, and myself know, we are the only ones who know the exact location of the multiple entrances that lead into them all, and that very few humans have been trusted with this powerful information. So therefore, you'd typically be better off beating randomly at a bush then to go searching for a way into my hidden crypt and getting your hands on the corporeal key to my realm."

"Indeed," said Savage. "But fortunately, we're talking to you right now, and you can tell us how to find the nearest entrance. No problem at all."

The voice chuckled, the central pair of eyes seeming to even raise its left eyebrow, and then it said, "Oh really? Did I say that I would do that?"

Upon hearing this, Savage narrowed his eyes, and said, "I believe we had a deal."

"A deal?" said the voice. "I'm pretty sure I would have remembered making a deal with you, especially considering both your particularly major status in the world and also what the currency of the deals my underlings make are."

Upon hearing this, Vandal Savage had to fight to keep himself from shouting at the being he was now talking to. "You said you were willing to give us a chance to help you achieve your current plans! Surely even someone as long in the tooth as you would understand that your current plan is incapable of success without that key?!"

"I do understand that," the voice growled, the fourteen red eyes narrowing angrily, "but I am also very careful in how I do my work. I have always been very careful in forming my countless plans, including the one I have currently chosen to attempt, and have been likewise careful in everything else I've done. And I will tell you this now, I am not going to end countless centuries' worth of carefulness just to increase my chances of leaving my domain early. And I'm certainly not going to blindly hand over this valuable information to you considering your responsibility for the fiasco that occurred involving a crime organization you created named after the Greco-Roman equivalent of my domain! Surely someone as decrepit and past expiration date as you would understand that, Vandar Adg?"

Savage winced upon hearing his old name from his time as a simple Cro-Magnon warrior, and he pointed at the fourteen red eyes in the vortex before saying, "Your Malevolence, I do not go by that name anymore. Please respect my wishes to be referred to by the name I've created to take its place."

"Then let me tell you this," said the voice. "I may not be as spiritually high class as my father and brothers, but you will still treat and speak to me with respect. Need I remind you that while my father was the one responsible for your arch-nemesis the Immortal Man finding and being endowed by the same comet that gave you your immortality, power, and intelligence, I was the one who first allowed for that comet to come down to Earth and be found by you in the first place? I could easily strip you of your immortality and send your soul plummeting down to my domain in the blink of an eye. Do not test your luck by insulting me."

The eyes looked down briefly, then looked back up to stare intently at Savage once more, and then the voice said, "It was only through sheer luck on your part that I was merciful enough to allow that foolish mortal thief to stumble upon my crypt and abscond with the Fallen Tools and Infernal Tablet and hide them where you could easily find them before my underlings caught up with and killed him. If you want to be able to go into the crypt yourself and get ahold of the Dante's Key that opens the gate to my realm, then you will need to earn the right to it."

Slade shook his head side to side. "I told you he wasn't to be trusted. His kin are never to be trusted. And believe me, I know."

The voice inside the vortex chuckled, the eyes turned to face Slade, and the voice then spoke, "What you say about me is both true and false. While I will not just hand over the knowledge of the nearest entrance to where the Infernal Key of Dante is located without good reason, I am willing to give you the chance to earn that knowledge. All I require is that you fulfill one simple task."

Slade glared at the vortex. "I didn't sign up to be an errand boy," he thought to himself.

Savage, however, was smiling hungrily as he saw how his plans still had the potential to yet continue smoothly on. "We accept this chance. What is it you want us to accomplish?"

"Like I said, it is a very easy task," said the voice. "As you are certainly aware, the Immortal Man isn't the only being to stand against me for the cause of my father and brothers. There are many others in existence in this world, both solitary and in teams. All I ask, is that before I deem you worthy of being given the knowledge you desire, you must simply arrange for an early trip to the afterlife for one such team of heroes who serve on the side of my father and brothers."

Savage considered this information to himself, and then nodded before saying, "Very well then; you have a deal. I shall send a squadron of your underlings to do away with the Doom Patrol tomorrow."

"No," the voice said with a tone of finality. "You will not be going after the Doom Patrol."

Savage's eyes narrowed. "And why is that?"

The voice growled in annoyance, and then responded, "The same reasons you believe that this team would make an ideal choice are the reasons I believe they are simply not worthy. Sure they even now continue a seemingly endless crusade against one of my biggest armies to my cause, and admittedly they gained some serious attention from both humans and the beings that live in the realms of my father and I more than once, but their glory days ended decades ago. Through the rules and nature of their leader, plus his refusal to let go of his obsessive personal crusade against the Brotherhood of Evil, they are so far behind and out of touch with the era that they have no hope of catching up with all the other heroes who have willingly allowed themselves to adapt and evolve with the times. Their thunder is almost all gone, and what little they have left isn't even enough to turn heads of entire cities anymore. Honestly, it would be a miracle for you to find two people who've heard of the Doom Patrol living together in the same house, much less the same city. At this point, any pansy amateur super villain could defeat them and no one would bat an eye. In fact, they could be wiped off the face of the earth and people would hardly notice any difference. No, if you want me to tell you the location of the nearest entrance to my crypt and get ahold of the Infernal Key, then you will need to eliminate a superhero team that the world will actually notice the absence of."

Slade turned his head to face Savage, his eyebrow raised as if to say, "You have any more stupid ideas?"

Savage thought to himself, and then said, "Perhaps the Shadowpact would be suitable for your purposes?"

The fourteen eyes positioned themselves as if the being they belonged to were thinking to itself and considering the offer. After a few minutes, Savage and Slade heard the voice say, "Hmm, I'll admit, the Shadowpact is indeed a much better choice than the Doom Patrol. After all, it certainly is more widely known and more competent then the Doom Patrol. Plus I'll admit that I do have a personal score to settle with one of its members; namely, Blue Devil. For not only does he still maintain his unworthy possession of my trident, but even now continues to misuse it for the purposes of good instead of the evil purposes I originally had it forged and designed for."

Savage smiled upon hearing all this. It seemed that he had now chosen just the right team to eliminate in exchange for the knowledge he desired.

But then the voice said, "But no, I'm afraid that settling my personal score with Blue Devil will have to wait; for while the Shadowpact is more widely recognized around the world and more credible a threat to my cause then the Doom Patrol, they are still far too obscure and overshadowed by certain other teams that serve the cause of my father to be suitable for the current purposes I ask of you. While the Shadowpact would be missed and their absence more likely to attract attention, their elimination would only cause a slight rustle in the world of crime fighting. I want you to cause a roar."

Savage now seemed to be very annoyed, and Slade shook his head side to side saying "tut, tut," in his mind.

"Fortunately," the voice said before Savage could run the risk of losing his temper, "I know the perfect team on my father's cause for you to go after."

"Of course you do," Slade thought to himself.

Savage smiled in an almost predatory glee, and said, "Let me guess, you wish for me and my partner to go after the Justice League?"

Slade raised his eyebrow upon hearing this. "I do believe that would be a bit over our heads Savage," he then said.

"Your compatriot is correct," said the voice. "While certainly not a bad choice, attempting to eliminate them, even with my underlings doing the dirty work, would be an exercise in futility. Besides, I have plans of my own for them. But fortunately, the team I have chosen for you to go after will be just as worthy, if not worthier."

Slade raised his eyebrow at the sound of this. "Why do I have a bad feeling I now know which team this being has chosen for us to eliminate?"

"Enlighten us," said Savage as he proceeded to fold his arms across his chest with an inquisitive look on his face.

The voice from within the fiery vortex chuckled, the fourteen red eyes narrowing and brightening with pleasure, and then said, "Well for starters, elimination of this particular team I have chosen will be appropriate in regard to how they are younger than the Justice League as a whole. As the sentiment goes, destroy the new material, and there will be nothing left to replace the old. Also, the loss of the team I have selected for you to go after would be particularly devastating for the teens and children of the world. For not only is this team just as popular among them as the Justice League, but they are also more accessible to them in regard to their relative similarities in regard to age-range."

The voice then chuckled as if having just now remembered something. "And finally, since they will soon be arriving right back in convenient range for you, a more perfect time to send my underlings after them couldn't be closer."

At this point, Slade was now almost entirely certain of what team of superheroes the being on the other side of the vortex had chosen for him and Savage to go after. For not only had the first two points it had made been the kind that he would have remembered being willing to use himself to convince potential lackeys of his own to attempt to prove their worth to him by going against them, but the last point that the voice had made matched perfectly with an earlier topic of Savage's discussion with it.

Savage raised his eyebrow, and then said, "You're saying . . . ?"

"Yes," said the voice. The fourteen eyes seemed to brighten up as if the being were smiling. "With all this information I have now mentioned in mind," the voice said as the eyes proceeded to rise upward as if the being were now repositioning itself to gaze more directly at the two men currently communicating with it, "what better team of superheroes to make an example out of, then the Teen Titans?"

**And just like that, the story begins! Dun, dun, dun! As of now, I am again hoping that you have all enjoyed this epic beginning to my first multi-chapter Teen Titans story on this website! And I also hope that you leave a nice healthy bunch of reviews! In fact, I very much recommend that you leave reviews. After all, my current plan is that the sooner I get 5-10 reviews for the newest posted chapter, the sooner I post the next chapter after I have finished writing it and my awesome Beta reader Montydragon has gone through it! So yeah, I hope you enjoyed! ^_^**

**Coming up next: The five core titans make it home to Jump City, and are given a warm welcome home by Titans East.**


	2. Welcome Home

**Hello everyone! I hope you're all ready, because here is the official first chapter of my personal Teen Titans Season 6 premiere. In this chapter, with the titans having now returned safely home from Tokyo, they are given a warm welcome back by the team polite enough to take care of things while they were away, Titans East. Here's to hoping you read, enjoy, and especially review!**

**But hopefully, you won't if I treat you to a little mail bag first:**

**HayleyR: I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far, and you're in luck! Here's the newest chapter! ^_^**

**TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne: You've certainly accurately described the situation as Slade making deals with the devil again, and I'm definitely happy to hear that I made this particular mystery being seem even more ominous then Trigon. He'll certainly turn out to be a little more worrisome in some regards than Trigon, that's for sure. And already I've said too much.**

**CleoArrow: I'm glad to see that you are enjoying this so far, and I'll definitely make sure to make the best effort at putting your advice about the paragraph lengths to good use.**

**Aurelianella: You're welcome, and I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. I hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

**And now, prepare to feast your eyes on the official first chapter of Night of the Cursed.**

**Chapter 1:**

**Welcome Home**

At exactly 12:00 pm the very next day, the T-Ship arrived home at Titans Tower in Jump City, California. Upon sight of the familiar silhouette of their home, Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg smiled happily, glad to finally be back home once more. Raven, meanwhile, let no emotion show on her typically blank face, but felt a slight sense of happiness deep inside underneath her blank façade. As for Beast Boy, he was currently still snoring away from the nap he'd ended up taking halfway through the journey home.

A few minutes later, Cyborg himself remembered this detail as he conveniently started hearing Beast Boy snoring once again. "Robin," he said into his com-link.

"Yes," said Robin.

"Should we wake up BB?"

Robin thought to himself. "Might as well," he then responded. "Go ahead."

Upon hearing this, Cyborg accessed Beast Boy's com-link, took a deep breath, and then promptly bellowed, "Yo BB! Wake up man!"

Beast Boy promptly awoke, letting out his trademark emasculating shriek. For a few precious minutes, he wildly looked from side to side, babbling incomprehensibly about danger and wondering what was going on. When he finally came to his senses, he happened to look in the direction of the Tower, and let his trademark toothy grin come on his face as he recognized the very obvious shape of the Titans' home base. "Well what do you know," he then said. "We've made it home."

"That we have Beast Boy," said Robin. "But don't get too excited, we'll probably still need to make a few minor repairs before we can relax."

At the sound of this comment, Beast Boy pouted inside his compartment. "You take the fun out of everything," he grumbled to himself. Cyborg simply nodded his head up and down nonchalantly with his human eye closed as if to say 'what will be, will be.' Raven, as usual, showed no emotion about this news at all. Starfire, meanwhile, looked as if she could care less about any work that would need to be done, as long as she got to spend some valuable quality time with Robin afterward.

But as it turned out, no repair work, or work period, would be necessary. A few minutes later, as the T-Ship came close enough to actually see the Tower itself as opposed to its dark silhouette on the horizon, Robin's eyes widened under his mask, and then he said, "Ok, looks like I might have spoken too soon."

The other titans followed their leader's gaze, and their eyes widened as they also noticed how the tower appeared to have been completely repaired over the course of the week they'd spent in Tokyo. Cyborg whistled after a few seconds. "Dang," he said. "I didn't think Bee had it in her."

Before they'd left to go to Tokyo, the Titans had made sure to have Titans East fill in for them while they were absent. Admittedly, they'd expected for their team's ancillary sister division from Steel City to do some repair work on the tower that was needed in the aftermath of Saico Tekk's attack on it, but they had not expected for them to completely repair the tower back to more or less the way it had been before Saico Tekk's attack.

Robin found himself directing a look of respect towards the tower. "I'll definitely give her and the rest of Titans East credit for knowing how to get the job done."

Starfire smiled ecstatically as she looked at the now very much repaired home base of her and her friends. "Oh how glorious!" she said. "Our home is no longer damaged!"

"It certainly doesn't look damaged anymore, that's for sure," Raven stated in her usual seemingly disinterested tone. "But they better not have gone into my room," she then added seemingly as an afterthought.

Beast Boy chuckled, his toothy grin back on his face, and said, "I say we really ought to thank Titans East for their help."

"Well that shouldn't be too hard," Robin stated seconds later after noticing five figures standing outside the tower right nearby the coast that was facing the oncoming T-Ship. "They're standing outside the tower right now to welcome us back."

And indeed they were. Standing right at the head of the relatively diamond-shaped formation on the coast was a tall African American girl who looked about the same age as Cyborg with two globe-shaped 'braids' in her hair, a pair of insect-like wings sprouting from her back, and dressed in a black and yellow striped outfit. Her hands were clenched into fists that she'd placed on her hips, and within her clenched fists she held two slightly harp or recurve bow shaped objects that appeared to have crackling beams of electricity in the places where the strings would have been located. The Titans needed only look at this girl and make note of these visual details plus the confident and determined look on her face to recognize her as Bumblebee, former student of the H.I.V.E. Academy turned honorary titan and leader of Titans East.

Standing behind Bumblebee to her left was a tall athletic ginger-haired boy wearing a reddish orange jumpsuit with yellow outlining around the edges. He had his arms folded across his chest, and a relaxed laidback look on his face that not even his domino mask that covered his eyes could hide. And of course, strapped to his back, was a large golden yellow longbow and a quiver full of mechanical arrows. Even without the presence of the bow and arrows, it would have been easy enough for the titans, particularly Robin, to recognize this boy as the honorary titan Speedy.

Another teenage boy stood to Speedy's right. Like Speedy, he had his arms folded across his chest. But aside from this positioning and his similar athletic, light skin tone, and lean bodily build, he looked very different from the ginger-haired archer. The outfit he wore was a dark blue unitard complete with black rubber gloves and boots. Also unlike Speedy, he had no mask, and allowed his obsidian colored eyes to be freely viewed by anyone who looked at him. And his hair, in stark contrast to Speedy's almost militaristically close cropped ginger hair, was pitch black and went all the way down to his shoulders. Upon sight, this boy was instantly recognizable as Aqualad.

Finally, standing close together directly behind the three teenagers were two small ginger-haired boys who looked as if they couldn't have been more than 10 or so years old dressed in white hooded tracksuits complete with yellow gloves and boots, streaks of red in various areas of their costumes. The two boys were obviously identical twins as they looked so much alike that one of the few ways anyone could tell them apart lay in how one of the boys had a bright yellow plus sign emblazoned on his shirt and the sides of his helmet while his brother had an equally bright yellow minus sign emblazoned in the same areas. Smiling giddily, they both joyously yelled in a mega-fast pace at the same time towards the approaching flying vehicle, "Bienvenido a casa amigos!"

Robin chuckled to himself upon hearing this. "Yep, Mas and Menos certainly haven't changed a bit," he said to himself. No sooner had he said this, when he found himself smirking privately to himself as he thought guiltily of how they would likely react to how he would respond in the hypothetical situation of Bumblebee or any of the two teenage boys in her team were to ask him if any news they'd heard of him and Starfire's now official status as boyfriend and girlfriend.

At the same time Robin was thinking about this, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg were also thinking about this topic. "Those two twins had better have the sense not to try to go after Starfire anymore if they know what's good for them," the three titans thought to themselves in unison. And of course, Starfire had a joyous smile on her face as she thought of how very happy she would be to personally inform her Titans East friends of the truth behind any rumors they might have heard about her and Robin becoming a couple if they asked about it.

Meanwhile, on the island, Bumblebee smiled upon hearing the two Spanish speaking twins joyously shouting a welcome home greeting to the five core titans. "You've got that right boys," she said. "Our friends certainly deserve a nice happy welcome home from us." Aqualad and Speedy chuckled in agreement upon hearing this.

"You got that right," said Speedy.

"Yep," said Aqualad. "They're just awesome that way."

Five minutes later, the T-Ship landed a meter to the left of the assembled ancillary division of the Titans, and the five core titans proceeded to disembark. The five members of Titans East promptly walked up closer to their five friends.

Bumblebee had a smile on her dark face as she looked at the five familiar teen heroes of Jump City. "Good to see you're back home," she said.

"Thanks Bumblebee," said Robin. "I trust you and the others were able to take care of things smoothly in our absence?"

Bumblebee made a dismissive gesture and said, "Piece of cake. Aside from the occasional common criminal and the odd minor villain every now and then, things were pretty quiet around here. Not that I'm complaining."

"Damn right we're not complaining," said Speedy. "After all, I certainly enjoyed having all that time to relax, not to mention be guaranteed to have the tower all fixed up by the time you guys returned home."

Cyborg chuckled, and then said, "I can definitely agree with you there; I must say, I didn't think you had it in you Bee."

Bumblebee chuckled, and responded, "You know me; I get the job done. Heck, my team and I were even able to do it without interruptions from one of Speedy and Aqualad's constant arguments."

"Oh come on," Aqualad complained. "We do not argue _that_ often!"

"Actually," said Speedy. "We kind of do."

"Do not!" the Atlantean teen yelled indignantly.

"Do to!" the archer shouted back.

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

And just like that, the two teenage boys ended up arguing once again in their seemingly endless cycle of arguing and chumming. As this happened, Bumblebee, Mas and Menos, and the five founding members of the Teen Titans stared blankly at the tableau. Bumblebee rolled her eyes. The two Spanish twins said, "Aquí vamos de nuevo," in unison. Robin had a very similar annoyed look as the one that Bumblebee had on her face while Starfire seemed confused as to just what she should do. As for the other three members of the core titans, they just stared at the two arguing boys while shaking their heads from side to side.

Beast Boy then stared at Raven out of the corner of his eyes and said, "And they say _I'm_ the idiot in this equation."

"Of all the things they could do," Raven said in agreement. "Here they are arguing over how often they argue."

"Geez, can those two get any stupider?" Cyborg asked in agreement.

Eventually, Bumblebee gave both of the arguing boys an epic slap to the face at the same time, Aqualad with her left hand and Speedy with her right hand. "Enough with this!" she yelled the instant the two boys were no longer dazed. "Could you perhaps allow your meaningless eternity of arguing to be put on hold long enough for you to properly welcome your friends home?!"

Aqualad and Speedy gulped, looking very much chastened, and they proceeded to walk over to the five core titans, shoulders and heads slumped with embarrassment. At the sight of the two humiliated teenage boys, Mas and Menos started laughing uncontrollably.

"Teehee," said Mas. "Quemar caliente!"

"Te han machacado," said Menos.

Speedy turned his head to face the two twins, a look of just barely restrained rage on his face. "You are so lucky I still don't understand a word you say you little . . ."

Aqualad smacked him upside the head. "Dude," he shouted. "Keep it PG! We have ten year olds present!"

Right as Speedy turned his head to direct his glare at the Atlantean, Bumblebee raised her finger and said, "Ah yes, speaking of those two." She turned her head to look at the 10 year old twin speedsters. With a facial expression that looked half guilty grimace and half conniving smirk, she said, "You two little fellas might want to sit down."

The two 'little fellas' raised their eyebrows in confusion. "Que quieres decir?" they asked in unison. At the sight of the smug grins that appeared on the faces of their Atlantean and archer compatriots, the two Spanish-speaking twin speedsters found themselves having an eerie feeling that whatever their fearless leader was about to do would somehow not end well for them.

But even as they had that feeling, they didn't realize just how drastically they'd be effected until they heard Bumblebee say, "So Robin, forgive me if I sound like I'm intruding, but current word on the street here in Jump City freshly delivered somehow from Tokyo is that . . . well . . . how should I put this?"

The two twins promptly found themselves developing very worried looks on their faces. They had a mega-bad feeling now about just what Bumblebee was talking about. Aqualad and Speedy sniggered at the sight, clearly fighting to keep themselves from laughing. Meanwhile, Cyborg and Beast Boy were directing smug looks at their fearless leader that screamed 'do tell, do tell," while Raven looked at nothing in particular with her usual blank scowl on her face. Starfire, in stark contrast to everyone else, found herself blushing immensely as she felt the urge to proudly confirm in words that the news she had a feeling Bumblebee was referring to was indeed true.

And seconds later, Robin, with a surprisingly calm look on his face considering how he'd often reacted in the past to any situations regarding his painfully obvious romantic feelings towards Starfire being called to attention, grabbed onto Starfire's hands, let a small smile cross his face, and said, "If this news you are referring to goes anywhere along the lines of me and Star now being officially a romantic couple, then yes it's true."

At the sight of the shell-shocked and horrified looks that came on the faces of Mas and Menos upon hearing Robin say this, it took all of Speedy and Aqualad's willpower not to burst out laughing. Beast Boy and Cyborg, meanwhile, let proud smiles come on their faces as they saw how confidant their fearless leader now was in openly talking about his relationship with Starfire.

Bumblebee also smiled, and then looked at Starfire before saying, "What do you have to say about the rumors we've all been hearing recently about your relationship status?"

Robin raised his eyebrow with a suspicion filled glare on his face.

"Oh I trust you Robin," said Bumblebee upon noticing the look on his face. "But I'd like to hear the news from my fellow girl." Upon hearing this legitimate explanation, Robin calmed down slightly, but still looked relatively ticked off.

Bumblebee looked back at Starfire and said, "So? They true?"

Mas and Menos looked intently towards Starfire and Robin, looking as if the fate of their world depended on Starfire's answer. Seconds later, Starfire let out a joyous giggle, her eyes closed tight with joy, and leaped up on Robin from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders in a loving embrace and said, "Oh indeed they are! My life couldn't be more joyous now that we are officially the boyfriend and girlfriend!" Upon hearing all this coming from the chipper Tamaranean beauty, Robin smiled warmly, not even bothering to complain this time about how her hug was as tight as be darn near suffocating as ever.

Upon seeing and hearing Starfire's reaction, Mas and Menos fainted, both falling flat on their backs and passing out in unison. At the sight of this, Aqualad and Speedy exploded into laughter. They didn't stop until they eventually awkwardly noticed how Bumblebee and the five native titans of Jump City were now staring at them with their eyebrows raised. The two now twice embarrassed teenage boys chuckled nervously and rubbed their hands across the backs of their heads.

Bumblebee rolled her eyes, looked back at the core titans and said, "I hope you don't have to live with this kind of thing every day Robin."

Robin chuckled, and responded, "The part that we just put a stop to for the moment, no. But the arguing, I can definitely relate to dealing with." As he said the last bit, he directed a meaningful look towards Beast Boy and Raven out of the corner of his eye.

At the sight of this, the two chromatically challenged titans in question directed a glare right back at their leader. "Why are you looking at me?!" Beast Boy's glare seemed to yell. Raven's glare, meanwhile, would have turned Robin dead as a dodo if looks could kill.

Fortunately, right at the same time this was happening, the sound of ten Titans communicators going off at the same time was heard. In a flash, Robin dutifully drew out his communicator, opened it up, and looked intently at the words on the screen before saying, "Trouble." All of two seconds passed after Robin said this before the sound of what appeared to be an explosion was heard from within Jump City, followed by what sounded like an ominous bestial roar.

At the sound of all this, the three conscious members of Titans East groaned. "Great just great," Bumblebee grumbled in annoyance. "You five just arrived home, and we get a call of trouble again."

Cyborg reached over Robin's shoulder and placed his hand on Bumblebee's shoulder. "Don't you worry," said the cybernetic teenager. "We've got this covered. Don't we guys?" Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy smiled in agreement. Even Raven let a small smirk cross her face as she silently agreed with Cyborg.

Bumblebee stepped back with her hands raised in mock surrender. "Well goodness me, we'd better not stand in your way then."

Robin chuckled, and said, "Indeed you'd better not." He then turned to face his four team mates. "You ready guys?" The other four titans answered in the affirmative.

Bumblebee chuckled, folded her arms across her chest, and then said, "So I guess this is goodbye?"

"Until the next time Bee," said Cyborg. "But now it's time for the Teen Titans to kick some butt!"

Robin gave a small wave to Bumblebee and the four Titans East boys, and then said, "See you again sometime guys. And thanks again for the tower and sticking around to fill in for us while we were gone. But now, we're ready to get back to work. And on that note." He turned his head to face the city and yelled, "Titans go!"

The instant he shouted this, Robin lifted up his hands in the air, just in time for Starfire, who'd taken to the air the instant Robin had shouted the iconic battle cry of the Teen Titans, to grab onto his hands and soar off towards the city with her fearless leader and boyfriend in tow. Immediately after Starfire started flying off with Robin, Raven spread her arms out to her sides and then took off as she proceeded to levitate close behind. And right as Raven took to the air, Beast Boy jumped up in a backwards flip, turned into a pteranodon while in mid-air directly over Cyborg, and then lowered himself just enough to grab Cyborg by the shoulders with his talons before flying off after his team mates with Cyborg in his talons, screeching out a furious pterosaur battle cry. And as the titans made their way over to the scene of the current commotion in Jump City, they all had the same thought on their minds. Whoever was causing trouble in Jump City now was going to be in big trouble now. The Teen Titans were now home, and they were ready to get right back to work.

**And there you have it people! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and leave a nice large bunch of reviews (and remember, a minimum of 5 reviews is needed to unlock access to the next chapter once its complete and gone through Montydragon, and this time I won't be so lenient as to count reviews such as the rather meaningless ones left by some guest dude named anon that I ended up deleting). On another note, for those of you who had trouble understanding Mas and Menos, feel free to look up what they said on the internet for translations. On another note, I also hope you find yourselves looking extra forward to the battle that is sure to occur in the next chapter ^_^. Anyways, like I said, I hope you enjoyed reading this, and that you leave a nice good bunch of reviews (but no flames are allowed).**

**Coming up next: The Teen Titans formally get back in business in Jump City with a battle against Jump City's favorite biker, Johnny Rancid!**


	3. A Homecoming Brawl

**Alright everyone! I hope you're all ready for some more Teen Titanic awesomeness, because now that I've finally received 5 reviews for the chapter that came before this one, here is the next chapter at the ready for you to read. In this chapter, the titans officially get back in business at Jump City by battling its resident biker criminal, Johnny Rancid! Here's to hoping you guys all enjoy it and leave a nice healthy bunch of reviews! ;) And for that matter, I shall now give a warm thank you to my awesome Beta-reader Montydragon for his work on making sure this chapter was presentable for you guys.**

**A/N: Just to clear the air, I do not own Teen Titans or any other elements of the DC Universe.**

**And now, on with the story!**

**Chapter 2:**

**A Homecoming Brawl**

Johnny Rancid laughed maniacally as he zoomed down the long Jump City road on his red and black motorcycle, firing his energy pistol again and again in random directions, almost completely disregarding who or what he happened to be firing at. He chuckled as he witnessed the damage he caused and heard the screaming of the civilians. "That's right people!" He yelled. "This street belongs to Johnny Rancid!"

The instant he finished shouting this, Johnny fired yet another burst of red energy from his pistol. The blast struck the base of an electricity pylon, and it proceeded to topple over, causing the wires extending from either side of it to disconnect from the two pylons it had stood between. The downed pylon and the wires fell straight towards a 19-year old blonde girl walking nearby with three kids with metallic prosthetic limbs. She screamed and just barely managed to leap out of the way, pushing the kids to safety, before the pylon crash-landed hard on the ground where they'd been standing, and the wires also landed to the sides, sparks of electricity flying from the ends of the disconnected cables.

Johnny laughed, and let off another salvo of energy blasts. The bursts of energy blew out numerous windows on the buildings to either side of the young woman and the three physically handicapped children as well as several bricks from the walls. Screaming, the young woman proceeded to position herself over the three kids as if trying to shield them with her own body. Through sheer luck, she and the children she was shielding just barely managed to avoid getting struck by any of the shards of glass or bricks that rained down on the area surrounding them.

Johnny laughed again at the sight of this, and was just about to start letting off another round of energy blasts when a massive beam of brilliant blue sonic energy blasted the ground almost exactly one centimeter in front of the front tire of his motor cycle. "Whoa!" Johnny yelled as he found himself promptly gripping tightly onto both handlebars of his motorcycle as the vehicle started swerving awkwardly as a result of the close proximity of the blue laser beam. The criminal just barely managed to get his motorcycle under control and avoid falling over. The instant he got his bike back under control, he positioned it so that it was now sideways, and put it to a stop. He was smart enough to realize that now would probably not be the best time to attempt to continue allowing the motorcycle to be actively moving in this situation.

As he moved his energy pistol trying to find whatever had unleashed the unexpected blue laser, Johnny was taken by surprise again when his pistol was sent flying out of his hands as a result of what appeared to be a mysterious spinning red blur slamming into it. The pistol landed on the ground a couple meters away, and the red blur went flying right back towards wherever it had come from.

Johnny turned his head to follow the path of the red blur just in time to see it come to a stop in a familiar green-gloved hand, revealing itself to be a small red mechanical object reminiscent of a boomerang, but shaped slightly like a mixture between an X and a bird. He'd only just managed to recognize the object for what it truly was and made the connection between it, the blue laser, and the identity of who had now interrupted his fun when he heard the teenage boy who'd just caught the device yell, "Show's over Johnny! You're going to jail!" The four other teens behind the familiar spiky-haired boy directed similar glares as the one on their leader's face towards the biker as well.

Johnny let a small smirk cross his face, and he said, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Teen Titans! Back from China I see?"

Beast Boy growled, a surprisingly animalistic noise considering the fact that he was currently in human form, and he yelled, "Oh we're back alright buddy!"

"And for the record," Raven droned, "we were in Japan you idiot."

Robin pointed at the muscular grayish-skinned biker and yelled, "Your dangerous road games end now Johnny!"

"You will not harm any more people!" Starfire yelled.

"That's right Johnny," said Cyborg. "Because we're now home again, and back in business."

"And no matter how you do the math," said Raven.

"It all adds up to you going down!" Beast Boy snarled.

However, much to the titans' brief surprise, Johnny only laughed. After his laughter ended for the moment, Johnny pointed back down the road in the direction from which he'd been riding his motorcycle down the street, and then said, "Oh really? Well, why don't you see what results you get when you add _this_ in to the equation?"

The titans barely had any time to process what Johnny could have possibly been referring to when they heard the same bestial mechanized roar they'd heard from outside the city once again. They turned their heads to look where Johnny was pointing just in time to see what appeared to be a giant robotic dinosaur lumbering out from an alleyway next to a tall building, not too far away from the one that the Titans were positioned on the roof of.

At the sight of Johnny's newest robotic 'pet,' the titans stared intently at it. Beast Boy even gulped. The mechanical creature appeared to have the same bodily shape as that of a tyrannosaurus rex, but was big enough to be much closer to the size of a giganotosaurus. Its large jaws looked like they'd been designed from the jaw-like blades of a steam shovel, it had three hook-like claws on both of its hands, two huge clawed feet that looked like a mixture between steam shovel blades and bulldozer shovels, and it had an immensely long tail that looked strong enough to uproot the building that the titans were standing on the roof of. As if to further add to the terrifying appearance, the robotic dinosaur had what looked half of an oversized buzz-saw blade on the back of its head positioned in a way that made it resemble spines arranged in a mohawked style, and its mechanical eyes were an ominous dark red. As the titans watched, these same intimidating eyes narrowed threateningly, the robotic beast positioned itself so that it was directly facing them, and it let out a furious roar of challenge.

Johnny smirked at the sight of all this, and proudly yelled, "Say hello to T-Wrex!"

Almost immediately after its master shouted its name, the robotic dinosaur lifted its head up to face the sky and let out a monumentally loud roar that would have sent some the most battle-hardened ordinary law-enforcement officials running for their mommies.

Fortunately, the Teen Titans were no mere ordinary law-enforcement officials, and they soon took back on their original combat ready stances and looks. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Robin growled. He then directed his gaze towards Johnny, spread his arms out and yelled, "Titans, go!"

The instant Robin shouted out the trademark call to battle for the titans, they all leaped off the roof of the building they were on. As Robin swooped downwards towards Johnny Rancid, he drew out his grappling hook and fired it at a small overhanging gargoyle on a wall of the building in front of the one he'd been standing on. The cable wrapped tightly around the stone statue's neck, and when Robin came close enough to the wall of the building the gargoyle was hanging from, he used his feet to propel himself away, only detaching the cable when his feet were just close enough to the top of a nearby street lamp for him to safely land there. Mere seconds after Robin's feet touched the top of the street lamp, he jumped downwards towards Johnny Rancid with his right foot positioned so that it was aimed right at the burly biker's face.

Rancid was caught by surprise, for he'd been expecting for Robin to jump off the lamp post in a way that would have allowed his feet to touch the ground first before attacking, and planned to catch the boy wonder by surprise by abruptly charging towards him on his motorcycle. The criminal only processed this for a few seconds before Robin's foot came crashing into his face and sent him flying off of his motorcycle.

Johnny landed right next to his energy pistol, which he hastily grabbed onto before getting up and opening fire at Robin. The teenage crime fighter drew out his bo staff and spun it around rapidly in circles like a professional martial artist, artfully deflecting the energy blasts away from him.

As Johnny was busy focusing on Robin, Starfire soared down towards the criminal, her eyes focused intently on the scene. Right when she was about a yard or two away from landing right next to Johnny, she sent a large star bolt flying from her right fist towards him. The biker just had time to see a bright green light from out of the corner of his eyes before he was hit by the burst of green energy and sent flying backward.

After landing, Johnny barely had any time at all to recover before he found himself under fire from a massive flurry of star bolts that the Tamaranean girl sent hurtling his way. And for good measure, she finished off her slew of attacks with a well-aimed laser shot from her eyes. At the sight of Starfire's laser beam blast heading towards him, he quickly raised up his hands, which were coated in armored wrist bands, in a defensive position. The beams were harmlessly absorbed into the wrist bands. The instant the beams had faded away, Johnny quickly pointed his energy pistol at Starfire, and struck her point blank in the chest with a blast of the red energy. Starfire shrieked in pain before falling out of the sky.

At the sound of Robin's angry yell that followed, Johnny Rancid turned his head to face Robin just in time to see the boy wonder lunging at him with his staff raised to strike at him. Johnny just barely managed to lift up his left wrist to parry the blow. And for the next few minutes, Robin continued to swing his bo staff furiously at Rancid while the biker just as quickly parried each blow with his armored wrist bands.

Eventually, Johnny swung his right foot at Robin, swiping the boy wonder's legs out from under him. Robin landed on his back and his staff was sent bouncing down the street away from him. Robin managed to lift his head up from the road in time to see Rancid standing not too far in front of him with his energy pistol aimed right at his face.

Fortunately, before Johnny could fire, Starfire slammed into him with a yell. The impact she slammed into Rancid with was enough for him to be pushed swiftly through the air by her before slamming into the wall of a nearby building.

Starfire swooped backward away from the building, preparing herself for if Johnny Rancid got up to attack again. And attack again he indeed did. He got up from his crumpled position, growled angrily at Starfire, and then jumped up high into the air. And as he plummeted down towards Starfire, he had his right fist raised up in the air as if about to slam it down hard on her.

"Eek!" Starfire yelled before she darted to her right just to avoid the crushing impact of Johnny's fist to her face. Instead, the criminal's fist struck the road hard enough to leave a large circle of cracks on it.

As Johnny turned his head in the direction Starfire had darted to escape, Robin threw a small disk-like object at Johnny. The disk came at Johnny too fast for the criminal to raise his wrists up to block it, and it crashed into him. Upon contact, the disk exploded, and revealed itself to be one of Robin's voltage disks when, instead of flames, tendrils of electricity spouted out and covered Johnny in a web of voltage.

At that moment, while Johnny was incapacitated by the electricity, Starfire flew high up into the air, her right fist raised, and then zoomed straight back down. Robin was able to jump into the air seconds before Starfire landed, slamming her fist so hard onto the ground that it caused a powerful shockwave. The area of effect produced by Starfire's ultra-powered fist slam sent Johnny flying backward.

Meanwhile, at the same time that Robin and Starfire were busy with Johnny, the other three titans were busy with fighting off Johnny's robotic dinosaur. This phase of the battle began with Cyborg activating his sonic cannon in his right arm once more while in mid-air before pointing it downwards towards the robotic beast and shooting its laser blast at it. The beam struck T-Wrex right on the top of its head with a bang, resulting in its buzz-saw shaped crest being blown to smithereens, and it roared in an almost angry tone.

Cyborg landed on the ground a couple inches away from the robot's right foot, which he proceeded to blast with his sonic cannon. The robotic monster roared, looked downward at the partially robotic nuisance that had now attacked it twice before snapping its jaws downwards towards him. Cyborg managed to leap away just in time to avoid getting gobbled up.

Beast Boy, who had been flying towards T-Wrex as a peregrine falcon, turned into a lion in mid-air right as he was two feet away from slamming right into the side of the robot's head. With a roar, Beast Boy proceeded to latch onto the left side of the creature's head, where he then started biting and scratching at it. The robotic monster growled, and started rapidly swinging its head around in random directions. The green lion latched onto its head managed to stalwartly hold on for the majority of the time. However, when T-Wrex abruptly lowered its head straight down, it was enough to catch Beast Boy off guard. And as a result, when T-Wrex then proceeded to rapidly lift its head right back upwards, the green lion was catapulted straight upwards into the air; and when Beast Boy started falling right back down towards the robotic monster, it positioned its head so that it was looking directly at the falling green lion and opened its jaws so that Beast Boy would land right inside.

Fortunately, Beast Boy was a resourcefully quick thinker in battle, and he transformed into an ankylosaurus seconds before he landed within the robotic dinosaur's jaws. And as a result, T-Wrex found its metallic 'fangs' crunching painfully into the rock-hard armor plated sides of an ankylosaurus instead of the soft furry lion flesh it had originally been expecting. Upon scrunching its 'fangs' up on the unexpected jawbreaker, it let out a metallic screech before spitting Beast Boy right out.

Beast Boy reverted back to human form as he hurtled down towards the ground, and upon landing managed to turn the impact into a small three step series of somersaults. After his third somersault, he landed with his hands and feet flat on the ground, and he slid backwards facing the robotic dinosaur. The creature glowered at him, its dark red mechanical eyes seeming to narrow in fury, and it let out another roar.

The roaring of the robotic dinosaur abruptly ended when it felt something heavy slam into the back of its head. It turned its head to look behind it in time to see Raven hovering a few feet behind its head, using her telekinetic shadow energy to lift up a large group of cars and other vehicles that the robot had smashed earlier.

The robotic monster glowered at Raven as she continued to hurl more and more smashed up cars, trucks, and other vehicles at it. It then roared, lifted up its long tail, and then swung it downwards straight towards her. Raven just barely had time to deploy a small shield of shadow energy in front of her, before the robotic dinosaur's tail slammed into the shield with such a colossal impact that not only did Raven lose concentration enough for the shield to vanish afterward, but she also fell right down onto the ground.

As Raven lay on the ground catching her breath, she heard T-Wrex roar, and she looked up in time to see it lift up its left foot in preparation to stomp on her. Raven was just preparing herself to summon a full-on shadow force field when the robotic dinosaur was abruptly sent staggering and off balance when the head of a large green brachiosaurus that abruptly appeared not too far away from it swung its neck in a way that allowed its head to smack into the robotic creature's side.

Soon afterward, T-Wrex managed to regain its footing and balance, and it turned around to face Beast Boy just in time to see the green sauropod rear up, its front legs lifted up and at the ready to be sent smashing into the robotic dinosaur. However, right as Beast Boy unleashed a groaning bellow as if announcing his oncoming attack, his robotic opponent charged straight towards him, ramming its head straight into his chest.

Beast Boy's furious bellow turned into a saurian squeal of surprise as the force of the robotic dinosaur's blow sent him falling down straight backwards. Beast Boy landed right on his back with his legs sticking upwards into the air and his belly now exposed. Upon eventually realizing that he felt a large object underneath him and hearing a familiar male voice yelling in pain and shock before the same voice then let out a series of unflattering grunts and growls, he also realized that he'd just pinned Cyborg underneath 60 tons of living, breathing dinosaur.

The roaring of T-Wrex brought Beast Boy back to attention, and he let out a surprised bellow when he saw that the robotic dinosaur had now lifted up its left paw in preparation to stomp down on the center of his exposed belly. Thinking quickly, Beast Boy turned into a hummingbird and zipped away just before T-Wrex's foot came crashing down on the area where he'd been. Fortunately, this area had not been the area where Cyborg was now lying down. In fact, Beast Boy took on the form of a cheetah soon after escaping from getting stomped on and landed right in front of Cyborg's feet. The robotic dinosaur leaned down so that its mechanical red eyes were looking straight at Beast Boy and Cyborg, glowered, and then roared.

In a flash, right as T-Wrex was roaring, Beast Boy the cheetah bolted right underneath the robotic dinosaur's chin and ran right between its legs. T-Wrex was taken by surprise, and it slowly turned around to face Beast Boy once again, only for the green cheetah to run right back between its legs all over again. T-Wrex growled in annoyance and turned to face Beast Boy and Cyborg all over again, only for Beast Boy to again run between its legs towards Raven. And for the next few minutes, Beast Boy continued to run back and forth between the robotic dinosaur's legs, all the while causing it to get dizzier and dizzier as it kept turning itself around to try to face Beast Boy. As Cyborg watched this, he whistled to himself and said, "Dang, you're smarter than you let on man." Even Raven found a small impressed smirk crossing her face. Beast Boy certainly knew how to use size differences to his advantage.

Eventually, after the umpteenth time Beast Boy ran between T-Wrex's legs to come up to Raven and the robotic dinosaur turned around to face Beast Boy, the robotic dinosaur finally lost its footing. The robotic beast had just enough time to let out a surprised roar before it fell straight backwards. Unfortunately, Cyborg was still standing now in the area where T-Wrex was now about to land, and he let out a surprised and worried groan as he belatedly started running further down the street to try to escape. But the robotic dinosaur was falling down too fast.

Cyborg just had time to scream as T-Wrex came inches away from landing right on him before he found himself shrieking again as he abruptly fell seemingly right through the road. In fact, Cyborg had stepped into a vortex of shadows that suddenly appeared on the street right in front of him, and he vanished through it from the area right as T-Wrex finally came crashing down onto the road.

Seconds later, a black vortex appeared right above the area to Raven and Beast Boy's right, and Cyborg fell right out onto the road, on his face. Beast Boy resumed his human form, looked at Cyborg, and asked, "You ok dude?"

Cyborg snorted, looked up at Beast Boy out of the corner of his human eye, and replied, "Meh, could be a lot worse. I could be stuck under the weight of _another_ dinosaur."

Beast Boy grinned sheepishly, rubbed his fingers through his hair, and said, "Eh, my bad."

The sound of metal clanging on the ground brought the three titans back to reality, and they turned to face where T-Wrex was in time to see that the robotic dinosaur had managed to position its tail so that it could get its feet firmly back on the ground and use that positioning as leverage to get itself fully upright once again. The three titans had time to gulp before T-Wrex roared and smacked them with its tail, sending them flying backward.

Meanwhile, Robin and Starfire were still busy battling Johnny Rancid himself. Robin was now sending his fists and feet flying at Johnny in a rapid flurry of martial arts moves. Johnny was just barely able to parry them all. But even Johnny couldn't parry Robin's attacks indefinitely, and Robin eventually managed to land a solid karate chop to Johnny's face, sending the biker stumbling backward.

Johnny attempted to use another leg sweep on Robin, but Robin was expecting it this time, and he back flipped out of reach. And as a result, Johnny was left open to getting hit by the laser shot that Starfire fired at him from her eyes. Johnny went sprawling, only to get up and barrel straight towards her and Robin with an angry yell, his helmeted head lowered as if he were a pachycephalosaurus. Starfire calmly flew out of the way while Robin calmly leaned so far to his right that only his left leg was still in Johnny's path. And so Robin tripped Johnny and sent him sprawling on his belly.

Johnny got up, looked at Robin, and growled before abruptly thrusting his left fist at Robin in a swift left jab. This move caught Robin off guard, and the boy wonder was sent flying when the blow got him right in the face. At the sight of this, a small smile came up on Johnny's face. Unfortunately for the criminal, he only had reason to smile for a few seconds before he felt someone kick him in the back.

Johnny stumbled forward a few inches before regaining his balance and then turning around to look behind him. Sure enough, Starfire was now right behind him, her fists raised as if she were now ready to try to punch him. Johnny snorted, and abruptly gave her a pounding head butt to the face with his helmeted head. However, the instant Johnny lifted his head back up to face Starfire again with a condescending smirk on his face, Starfire head butted him right back in his own face. Starfire's head butt attack was surprisingly stronger, and it sent Johnny rocketing backward. Robin cartwheeled out of the way of the flying criminal, and Johnny crash landed in a dumpster.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg were still battling T-Wrex. After recovering from the blow they received from the robotic dinosaur's tail, they had now taken on a strategy that involved them flying in circles around it while firing long range attacks at it. In other words, Raven levitated around T-Wrex in a counter-clockwise direction while hurling orbs of shadow energy at it while Beast Boy flew around T-Wrex in a clockwise direction as a pteranodon while carrying Cyborg in his talons, and Cyborg fired his sonic cannon repeatedly at the robotic dinosaur.

"In your face, windup toy!" Cyborg yelled as he successfully blasted T-Wrex on the side of its face once more.

Unfortunately, Cyborg's joy at his successfully landing attacks on T-Wrex would prove short-lived, for the robotic dinosaur growled, and got itself into a battle-ready position. And when all three of the teenage heroes battling it were directly in front of its face, it unleashed a roar so loud and strong, that it sent the three teenagers careening away from it out of control.

One by one, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven fell down on the ground once again. When they got up, they saw T-Wrex lift up its left foot and then stomp it back down, lift up its right foot and then stomp it back down, and then look directly at them before unleashing yet another roar of challenge at them.

Raven growled, and said, "We are so not making much progress against this thing."

"At this rate, it will take hours to defeat this thing the way we're currently doing it," Cyborg agreed.

Beast Boy growled, crouched down, and said, "Well I guess we'll just have to have it pick on something its own size!"

"Man," said Cyborg. "That monster is way bigger than your t-rex form."

Beast Boy directed a glare at Cyborg. "I didn't say I'd be battling it as a t-rex," he growled.

Before Cyborg could say anything else, Beast Boy turned his head to face T-Wrex once more, growled, and then proceeded to morph into a dinosaur that definitely wasn't a tyrannosaurus-rex. Cyborg and Raven gaped at Beast Boy, for the dinosaur he'd just now turned into was not something they'd ever seen him transform into before. While the massive carnivorous dinosaur that now stood before them with its back and tail facing them had the right bodily shape for a t-rex, it was much bigger, had slightly longer arms with three claws on each hand, and had a row of spike-like ridges lining the top of its head, the back of its neck, and its back. Only Beast Boy currently knew that he had transformed into a giganotosaurus. But right now, the important thing that the other titans needed to know now was that the dinosaur he'd turned into was the exact same height as T-Wrex. As T-Wrex gaped at Beast Boy with a facial expression that bordered on shock, the green giganotosaurus that stood before it growled, lowered its head, and then jerked it right back so that it was staring at T-Wrex face-to-face, letting out an even more menacing roar of challenge of its own.

Raven shook her head at the sight of the two dinosaurs that now stood facing each other. "Well, this should be interesting," she said.

Seconds later, T-Wrex's characteristic stern glare came back on its face, and it let out an angry mechanized roar at the same time that Beast Boy let out his own more life-like roar. After Beast Boy and T-Wrex had finished unleashing their roars of challenge, they proceeded to charge towards each other, the earth shaking underneath their feet as they stomped rapidly towards each other.

The epic battle began with the two gigantic beasts crashing their heads together. They came apart and roared at each other. T-Wrex growled, and reared upward, its jaws open and ready to bite at Beast Boy. However, Beast Boy, not being made of metal, was faster in his movements then the bulkier robotic dinosaur, and as his robotic opponent was letting out its angry roar as if to announce its oncoming attack, he lowered his head downwards to the right, and then swiftly lifted it upwards to the left, smashing the top of his head into T-Wrex's chin.

This attack sent T-Wrex stumbling backwards briefly, and it managed to regain its footing and shake itself out of dizziness a few minutes later. However, T-Wrex had only just managed to get its head positioned to look directly at Beast Boy when the giant green giganotosaurus crashed headfirst into the robotic dinosaur's chest with a powerful charging attack. The impact of this attack was enough for Beast Boy to push T-Wrex backward for at least a yard before the robotic dinosaur managed to regain firm footing on the ground and then push Beast Boy away by forcefully leaning forward.

Beast Boy stumbled backwards for a few seconds; and when he managed to regain his footing and recover from his momentary dizziness, he saw T-Wrex roar at him before swinging its massive tail straight at his head. Beast Boy ducked, and the heavy metal tail swung harmlessly over his head. T-Wrex, having expected its tail to meet resistance from crashing into the side of Beast Boy's head, found itself staggering off balance with its back facing Beast Boy.

Beast Boy promptly took advantage of his opponent now being off balance by swinging his own tail at it. Beast Boy's tail gave T-Wrex a firm smacking right on its backside, sending the robotic dinosaur flying forward before crashing down hard on the ground on its belly. The robotic dinosaur growled, positioned its legs and arms so that it was able to get itself back on its feet, and turned around to face Beast Boy before roaring again.

Unfortunately for the robotic dinosaur, Beast Boy had already started running towards it with his head positioned so as to be unleashing a second charging head slam attack before T-Wrex had even started turning itself back around to face him, and the green giganotosaurus slammed his head into T-Wrex's chest yet again and sent it stumbling backwards once more.

T-Wrex shook its head side to side to regain its bearings, and it let out another roar. But again, Beast Boy struck while T-Wrex was busy roaring, and he bit the robotic dinosaur on the neck and pulled it slightly to its right before abruptly letting go, causing T-Wrex to go stumbling to the side.

T-Wrex barely had time to even start lifting its head up again before Beast Boy began to unleash a mass flurry of physical attacks from his jaws, tail, and top of his head. T-Wrex, being made out of metal, was too bulky to move fast enough to dodge or effectively counter-attack its flesh and blood opponent, and it tried to give ground. But the green giganotosaurus kept moving forward and keeping as short of a distance between it and the robotic dinosaur as possible. Eventually, Beast Boy finished his grand show of attacks by lowering his head and then raising it up so fast that the top of his head collided with T-Wrex's chin, sending the robotic dinosaur flying backwards.

T-Wrex landed on its side; and within a few seconds, it wheezed, and then slowly managed to get its feet firmly positioned on the ground once more. However, before T-Wrex even had a chance to straighten its legs up and get itself to full height, Beast Boy plowed into the robotic dinosaur's right side, knocking it off balance once again. And this time, Beast Boy didn't give T-Wrex a chance to regain its balance, proceeding to latch his jaws tightly around the robotic dinosaur's neck, and then tightly move his head upward, twisting the robotic dinosaur's neck until its head came popping right off of its body. T-Wrex's head went flying through the air before coming to a crash land right in front of Cyborg and Raven. The two titans gulped upon sight of the severed robotic head with its previously malice-filled and ferocious mechanical red eyes now stuck in what looked like an expression of shock.

And as the Cyborg and Raven proceeded to look back at Beast Boy once more, they watched in stunned silence as the green giganotosaurus proceeded to lay into the headless body of T-Wrex with all it had using its fangs, tail, and claws, slowly ripping it into countless pieces. Before long, all that was left of T-Wrex was numerous assorted mechanical pieces and what looked like a small generator engine that allowed for it to function. Robin and Starfire also managed to watch the last of the carnage while holding down the lid of the dumpster that Johnny had landed inside earlier, and Robin found himself silently impressed with Beast Boy's work. Seconds later, Robin abruptly thought of an idea, and he whistled and beckoned for Beast Boy to come over.

Beast Boy growled, and came barreling over to where Robin and Starfire were. Robin grinned at the dinosaur, quickly pointed at the dumpster, and then after signaling to Starfire, he removed his hand from the dumpster lid. Starfire did the same, and Johnny lifted up the lid just in time to find himself staring right at the furious face of Beast Boy the giganotosaurus.

Upon finding himself abruptly face-to-face with a gigantic flesh and blood dinosaur, Johnny gulped, turned his head to his left, and saw the wreckage that remained of T-Wrex. Gulping again, he then turned his head to face Beast Boy, chuckling and grinning nervously when he heard Beast Boy growl. Seconds later, Beast Boy snapped his jaws open and let out a furious roar. Johnny screamed, ducked back inside the dumpster, and slammed the lid shut. "I surrender!" yelled his voice from within the dumpster. "Just don't let that thing eat me!"

Robin chuckled, and gave Beast Boy a thumbs up right as Cyborg and Raven made it all the way over to where Beast Boy had now gathered up with Robin and Starfire. Beast Boy growled at the dumpster, placed his right foot lightly upon the lid of the dumpster, and then lifted his head upwards to face the sky before unleashing a triumphant roar. The titans had now defeated Johnny Rancid and won their first battle to occur upon their return to Jump City. If there'd been any doubt about it before, there was now no more doubts. The teen titans truly were now back in business.

. . . . .

"This isn't over!" Johnny yelled as he was escorted into a police transport by the officers who'd come to take him away. "I will get out again eventually, and I will fight you again when I do! You haven't seen the last of Johnny Rancid!" After he finished shouting the last bit, the back doors to the police transport were slammed shut on Johnny, and the police proceeded to head off to take him to the Jump City Prison.

Robin smiled as he watched the police carting Johnny Rancid away. "All in all, yet another job well done," he thought to himself. Smiling still, he turned around to face the other titans and said, "Nice work team."

Beast Boy chuckled, clasped his hands together lazily behind his back, and said, "Are we awesome or what?"

"We certainly taught good old Johnny Rancid who's the boss, that's for sure," said Cyborg with a grin.

"Whatever," said Raven, her arms folded across her chest and her face as blank, emotionless, and seemingly full of disinterest as ever.

Robin smiled, slammed his right fist into his open left palm, and said, "Well now that this bit of business is over, I say we head back to the tower."

"Took the words right out of my mouth man," said Cyborg.

Right as the titans were preparing themselves to head off back to Titans Tower, they heard a female voice behind them say, "Excuse me, do you guys have a minute?"

The five teenage heroes turned their heads to look behind them, and saw the same 19 year old blonde girl Johnny Rancid had been menacing directly before they'd intervened standing a couple inches behind them. The three little kids she'd been with were standing right behind her. As the titans looked at the young woman they'd saved who now appeared to have come to talk to them, Cyborg happened to notice that the three little kids, one of them a dark haired Caucasian boy with a metallic right hand, a ginger-haired girl with a prosthetic right leg, and a blonde boy with a prosthetic left arm, appeared to be looking directly at him with looks of awe on their faces.

The blonde girl clasped her hands together as if wringing them, looked down towards her hands as if feeling self-conscious, and then said, "I didn't get the chance earlier, but I wanted to thank you for saving me and these kids earlier."

The titans found themselves awkwardly looking at each other, uncertain as to what to do in response. Admittedly, this hadn't been the first time they'd been directly thanked by civilians they'd saved. However, very few of these instances had truly been moments of genuine gratitude as opposed to characteristic schmoozing from crazed fan-girls and fan-boys, heat of the moment comments to occur directly after having been immediately saved, or obligatory statements of thanks made purely for the sake of politeness more than for genuine gratitude. In other words, the titans had rarely ever been thanked and left feeling in the future as if the thanks they'd been given was truly real. In fact, one of the few incidents in which they'd felt genuine gratitude from people they'd saved had occurred when they'd been thanked personally by the mayor and citizens of Tokyo, who'd treated them with surprisingly more gratitude than even the government of their own home town had treated them with at times.

The civilian girl standing before them seemed to sense this, and she grasped onto Cyborg's hand with both of her own. The other titans gaped at her with shocked expressions on their faces. The girl smiled warmly, and the titans only then noticed the very sincerely grateful look in her sky-blue eyes and the eyes of the three physically handicapped children. "I mean it," the blonde girl said. "I truly am grateful for what you've now done for me and these children today. I'm especially grateful for you." She said the last bit while looking Cyborg directly in the eyes.

Cyborg directed his gaze to his left, a slight blush coming on the human part of his face, and he said shyly, "You're welcome. Heh, heh, all in a day's work you know?"

"Nonetheless," said the blonde as she continued to gaze thankfully at Cyborg. "Thank you still. If it hadn't been for your team, and especially for you as a result of your well-timed sonic laser blast, I could very likely have died today, and so could have these three children. You and your friends saved my life today, and I truly couldn't be more grateful, and I also believe that no one else in this city truly understands how grateful they should be towards you. For continuing to do your job even in spite of this, and for what you have done for me today, I truly am thankful."

The titans gulped, and hung their heads with self-conscious looks on their faces. At this point, not even Raven with her empathic emotion sensing abilities or Beast Boy with his animal instincts could deny how truly grateful and sincere this young woman was being in her thanking them, and especially Cyborg. In fact, even the three 10-year old children showed crystal clear signs of genuine gratitude, for they had artless and genuinely thankful smiles on their faces that made them seem to glow with happiness.

The blonde boy stepped forward, his non cybernetic thumb raised towards Cyborg, and said, "She's right. You guys are awesome, especially you Cyborg."

Cyborg chuckled nervously, and said, "You really think so?"

"Sure we do," the red-haired girl happily squealed.

"Yeah," said the dark haired boy. "We're among your biggest fans; and so is my elder brother. Believe me, ever since he met you five years ago, he's never stopped idolizing you Cyborg."

After Cyborg heard this, he abruptly realized that this dark haired boy actually looked slightly familiar. In fact, he looked very similar to a young boy with a prosthetic left hand he'd once met five years ago on a day he'd ended up dealing with a dying power cell at an inopportune moment. "That kid must've been this boy's brother," Cyborg thought to himself.

Smiling, Cyborg said, "Well, I'm glad you guys view me so highly."

The three kids giggled, looked each other in the eyes, and then turned their heads to face Cyborg again before asking in unison, "Can I have your autograph?"

Cyborg blushed, and looked over at his four teammates. All of them had smiles on their faces. Even Raven had a wistful smile on her face. Cyborg looked back at the kids, a grin on his face, and said, "You sure can little fellas. Anyone have a pen handy?"

The blonde girl drew a pen out from her pants pocket and handed it to Cyborg. A few minutes later, Cyborg had proceeded to sign his hero identity on a page in a notebook the red head girl had handed to him, the back of the blonde boy's t-shirt, and a baseball that the dark haired boy had presented to him. The three children smiled giddily, and then proceeded to walk back behind their elder chaperone. The young blonde woman smiled once more at the titans, gave them a small wave, and said, "I hope to see you around again sometime."

"Thanks," said Cyborg. "Hope to see you around again to."

The other titans nodded in agreement with Cyborg, genuinely hoping to see this young woman again.

A few minutes later, long after the woman and three children had left the sight of the titans, Cyborg abruptly face palmed himself and let out a groan. The other titans looked at him, and he then said, "Darn it! I forgot to get her name!"

Starfire placed her hand on Cyborg's shoulder in a sympathetic gesture. "There, there, Cyborg," said the Tamaranean. "Don't despair. I'm sure we will see her again and you'll be able to get her name then."

"Yeah," said Raven. "I mean, it's not like she's going to just vanish off the face of the Earth. I'm sure you'll get another chance to talk to her some more, not to mention we'll get another chance to get to know her some more as well."

"I certainly hope we get to meet her some more again," Beast Boy agreed as he directed a toothy grin in the direction the young woman and three children had departed. "She sounds pretty cool, not to mention she actually thanked us and meant it when she did so."

"I definitely have to agree with you there Beast Boy," said Robin with a respectful smile on his face. "It's not every day we meet people like her who truly feel grateful for what we do. I definitely say we ought to make an effort to get to know her some more. She could very well prove a valuable ally."

Cyborg smiled at his supportive friends. He looked back in the direction that the young woman and the three children had left, his smile still on his face, and then said, "Thanks guys. You really are great friends."

Beast Boy chuckled, placed his hand on his partially robotic best friend's shoulder in a companionable gesture, and said, "Couldn't have it any other way dude."

The five teenage heroes spent a few more minutes standing where they were, looking proudly in the direction that their potential new friend had gone, feeling very proud of themselves. Eventually, Robin turned his head to face the direction of Titans Tower, turned his entire body around, and then said, "Come on team. Let's go home."

**And just like that, that's the end of this chapter! I especially hope you enjoyed the battle scenes in this chapter! And on that note, please tell me what you thought about my writing for those scenes. I really enjoyed writing the battle, and I hope that you guys think I did a good job at it (and if I didn't, by all means please give me some constructive criticism on how I could improve my writing of battles to occur in the future). On another note, though I'm pretty sure the answer will be obvious to anyone who's read any of the comics (whether it be the Teen Titans Go comics that were based on the original cartoon Teen Titans series or the original DC comics that the show was based on), any one willing to guess who that 'mystery' young blonde woman with the three handicapped kids was? And for that matter, I'd better warn all ardent fans of Cybee that they might not be very happy about this little element. And on another note, in case any of you are wondering what I'm referring to by my description of when Cyborg met that one particular kid's brother, I am referring to when Cyborg met that kid in the episode 'Sum of his Parts'. Well, on another note, I again hope you guys enjoyed reading this and leave a nice healthy bunch of reviews. Remember, 5 reviews is the minimum number required for you guys to post before I post the next chapter (and even after that, when I post it will depend both on when I finish writing it and when my awesome Beta reader Montydragon finishes going over it). Again, hope you had fun!**

**Coming up next: After all the excitement of returning home from Tokyo and the battle with Johnny Rancid, the titans have a relatively peaceful, relaxing, and easy-going night in the tower. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the night will stay peaceful all the way till morning.**


	4. A Quiet Evening at Titans Tower

**Hey ya'll! I hope you're all ready for some more Teen Titanic awesomeness, because here's a new chapter! In this chapter, with all the excitement of getting home from Tokyo and battling Johnny Rancid out of the way, our five favorite teenage heroes have a very relaxing night at the tower. But the question is, will the night continue to remain peaceful after they've all gone to bed? Well anyway, I hope you read, review, and enjoy!**

**A/N: In case any of you didn't know already, I most certainly do not own Teen Titans. And to further clarify on a small detail in this chapter, I do not own the Mortal Instruments book series either.**

**Now, onward with the fic!**

**Chapter 3:**

**A Quiet Evening at Titans Tower**

At 6:00 pm that night, the titans were gathered around in the kitchen area of the Tower heartily feasting on their favorite hometown dish, pizza. Having very recently gotten home from Tokyo that very day, Robin had decided that a pizza dinner would be a good way to unofficially celebrate their return home.

Beast Boy, as usual, was hungrily laying his fangs into his usual vegetarian pizza. Starfire was slowly consuming each slice of her anchovy pizza one by one, and also drowning each slice with a generous serving of mustard. Cyborg, of course, was devouring his hefty meat lovers' pizza so hungrily and quickly that he made Beast Boy look like a finishing school graduate. Raven, in stark contrast, was slowly and calmly eating her small cheese pizza, trying her best not to openly show her disgust at Cyborg's horrendous table manners. Even Robin was digging into a pizza of his own, a medium sized pepperoni pizza. And to make things even better, for the sake of not spoiling the mood for everyone, Beast Boy and Cyborg even chose to forgo their usual pizza dinner traditions that involved Beast Boy trying to get his teammates to try a bite of his vegetarian pizza and Cyborg going into a long-winded rant at Beast Boy about the joys of eating meat.

However, there was one tradition of Teen Titans pizza dinners that, just getting back from vacation or no, could not be ignored. The tradition in question, was the 'who gets to eat the last slice of pizza' moment. The slice in question for this night just happened to come from Raven's cheese pizza. And so, Raven was the first to stretch out her hand; but nevertheless, the hands of all five of the titans slammed down on the pizza slice at the same time.

As one, the titans glared at each other, and then lifted their hands off of the pizza slice.

"Come on," Cyborg yelled. "I totally deserve that last slice! I almost got squashed to death!"

"Dude," yelled Beast Boy. "For the third time, that was an accident! And besides, I'm the one who ended up finally trashing that stupid robot! If anyone deserves that slice, it's me!" Immediately after shouting this, Beast Boy snatched up the slice of pizza into his hand. However, before the green shape shifter could eat it, Cyborg reached over and tried to snatch it from his verdant green friend.

"Dude," Beast Boy yelled. "Hands off!"

"No way!" Cyborg shouted. "There's only one person in this tower who's gonna eat that slice of pizza, and it aint you!"

This brief squabble lasted for all of three minutes, with Starfire and Robin clearly itching to butt in with their own reasons for wanting to eat the slice of pizza before Raven abruptly roared, "ENOUGH!"

The other four titans turned their heads to gaze at Raven. The gray-skinned girl glared at them, and stated slowly, yet venomously, "Perhaps over the course of our little vacation, you guys all forgot that we only do this little tradition when we have _one_ pizza shared between the five of us. If we each have our own individual pizza, each of us gets to eat the last slice of his or her respective pizza. Therefore, would it kill you or permanently damage your thick heads in any way to even _consider_ that since the pizza involved in this equation is _my_ pizza, _I_ should have the right to eat the last slice?"

The other four titans were stunned silent for a few seconds. Then Robin and Starfire looked at each other guiltily before sitting back with their hands raised up in 'surrender' gestures. Cyborg gulped, drew his hands back to his own personal space and turned away with an embarrassed look on his face. Beast Boy, meanwhile, hung his head, his ears drooping and his face showing a look of very clear guilt and regret.

With his saddened look still on his face, Beast Boy looked back up to face Raven, slowly handed the pizza slice towards her, and said, "Here. Go ahead. It's yours to eat, and I . . . we should've respected that. I'm sorry."

Raven momentarily gaped uncomprehendingly at Beast Boy, only to then have a slightly chastened look of her own come on her face as she realized through her empathic abilities how the green boy sitting before her handing her pizza slice back was genuinely sorry and feeling guilty about the whole mess. She gingerly reached forward, grabbed onto her pizza slice, and said, "Thanks; um, apology accepted."

"It's ok," said Beast Boy, a slight nervous grin coming up on his face. "What are friends for?"

After an awkward silence of two minutes or so, Robin decided to change the subject and let Raven eat her last slice of pizza in peace. He turned to Beast Boy and said, "You know Beast Boy, I happened to look through the drawers where we keep our video games and video game technology, and I noticed that there was a small box in there with a note on it."

Beast Boy turned his head to face Robin. "There was?"

"Yeah, hold on," said Robin as he proceeded to get up from his chair and head over to the drawers in question. When Robin came back, he was holding a cardboard box with a post-it note on top that said 'Do not open this unless you are Beast Boy or one of the other members of the local Jump City Teen Titans.'

Beast Boy directed a look of curiosity at the box, and proceeded to grab onto it when Robin handed it to him. Beast Boy opened it up, looked inside, and smiled happily as he proceeded to reach inside and pull out none other than what appeared to be a video game designed for their Play Station System.

"I forgot that this was set to be released for sale in stores here the day we left for Tokyo," Beast Boy squealed happily as he looked joyously at the video game that he now clutched in his hands.

"What is it?" Cyborg asked.

Beast Boy gaped at Cyborg in shock. "Dude!" He yelled. "It's _Mutant Madness_! The very first game in the brand new franchise of the same name now being produced by the company that produced the Mega Monkeys and Super Ninja Fury franchises!"

Beast Boy looked back at the game, his ecstatic toothy grin back on his face, and proceeded to explain, "The premise; five teenagers have been subjected to illegal genetic testing involving combining their DNA with that of wild animals. The results of the mixtures caused the teens to mutate into humanoid versions of each respective animal that they had their blood mixed with the DNA of. And now, after later learning while being kept in the facilities of the lab that turned them that the lab people plan to use this genetic experimentation and all the resulting mutants that could be created as weapons, they now have to escape from the lab and then try to put a stop to the people in charge of the project."

Robin thought to himself, and then said, "I'll definitely admit, that sounds actually kind of fun. How many players does it allow for?"

"Maximum of five," said Beast Boy.

"Hmm," said Robin. "Well in that case, it probably wouldn't be too bad for you, me, and Cy to play this."

"I'm definitely game," said Beast Boy. He looked at Cyborg and asked, "What about you? Wanna play?"

Cyborg pointed his finger at Beast Boy and said, "Yes, but first, when did you first hear about this new video game series being in development?"

"Couple months ago," said Beast Boy.

"And how come I was not made aware of this?"

Beast Boy chuckled nervously, ran his left hand through his spiky chartreuse hair, and said, "Um, well, I . . ."

"I'm sure he just wanted to keep it a surprise for you all," Raven stated.

"Well yeah," Beast Boy stated. "That was one of the reasons I didn't mention this to Cy."

"_One_ of the reasons?" Cyborg asked.

"Please," said Starfire. "Must we fight each other so soon after getting home from our glorious vacation?"

Cyborg gulped, and looked at Starfire with a guilty grimace. "Er, no," said Cyborg. "I'm good, just surprised is all." Robin and Beast Boy smirked as they watched Cyborg's reaction.

"Leave it to Star to smooth things over before they erupted," Robin thought admiringly to himself.

Cyborg then turned his head to face the other two boys, clasped his hands together, and then said, "Well then, who's ready to play?"

. . . . .

"I've gotta admit," said Robin as he furiously mashed on the controls about an hour or so later, "this is actually pretty fun."

The three boys had spent the last hour or so after dinner playing their brand new video game. And as Robin had now admitted, they were having quite a lot of fun. At the moment, Robin's character, a humanoid lion with pyrokinetic abilities and an ultrasonic roar, was knee deep in combat against armed lab security guards in the first chapter of the game's storyline and had just now used the ultrasonic roar to defeat at least ten or so enemies surrounding it all at once. Beast Boy's character, a humanoid crocodile with geokinetic abilities, the ability to summon poisonous gas, and a corrosive slime breath attack was hard at work in destroying a series of power generators keeping a force field barring the game characters' progress active. As for Cyborg, he currently had his character, a humanoid rhinoceros with cryokinetic abilities, super strength, and an ultra-fast charging attack fighting the lab security guards alongside Robin's character.

Cyborg smiled as he proceeded to cause his character to fully deplete the HP of three of the game enemies with well-aimed icicle blasts fired from its hands. "I gotta hand it to you BB," the half-robot teenager stated. "You sure have good taste in video games."

"Thanks dude," said Beast Boy as he proceeded to have his character blast the final power generator to smithereens with its acidic breath attack, triggering a cut scene. "I'll bet your glad Aqualad remembered that this game was released for sale in stores here while we were gone huh?"

"You've got that right," Cyborg replied before proceeding to redirect his attention to watching the cut scene.

Meanwhile, from within the kitchen area, Starfire was leaning on the counter top where the stools were located, intently watching the boys and what was unfolding on the screen. She couldn't help but smile as she watched Robin enjoying himself with the Earth activity that he seemed to enjoy taking part in alongside Cyborg and Beast Boy so much. She always liked how happy he seemed to be when he was playing these games with the other boys. In her opinion, this happy version of Robin that was present whenever he played video games was much better than the aloof, guarded, and antisocial Robin that was often present whenever involved with investigations, or one of his, she shuddered at even thinking of the name, personal Slade obsession modes.

On the other side of the counter, Raven was hovering a foot or so away over the ground, reading a book. At the moment, she was currently rereading Cassandra Clare's _The Mortal Instruments_ series, and was now on the sixth book, _City of Heavenly Fire_. She felt a small smile coming on her face as she read a particularly exciting part. Out of all the books in the considerable number she'd read and reread in her life time, she'd always enjoyed books that involved supernatural elements. She'd always felt a bit of a kinship for the characters and worlds within such stories due to her own rather supernatural heritage. And of course, as she read her book, she paid barely any attention whatsoever to the boys and the events unfolding on the TV screen.

Beast Boy, however, somehow was now finding himself capable of stealing slight glances towards Raven out of the corner of his eyes every now and then, and still maintain near perfect focus on the video game at the same time. And while the gazes he'd direct at Raven every now and then only ever lasted for at least five seconds or so, he couldn't help but remember the surprisingly large number of things about her that he'd come to make a note of.

In recent times, heck perhaps maybe even since the day they'd first met, he'd always found himself rather enjoying how pale and pristine her pale grayish skin seemed to make her look when illuminated just right under the light of the moon. He also thought that her amethyst purple eyes were surprisingly easy to get lost into if he were to ever somehow stare at them long enough. Also, and this was something he was really embarrassed about, the musty smell of lavender and tea that wafted off of her was enough to get all the animal minds inside him yammering and rambling in a way that made them sound as if they were in heat, something that not even the mountain pine tree scent he remembered to always be lingering on Terra had managed to achieve. Finally, he couldn't help but admit that her short deep violet purple hair, with its very much characteristic short style, made her look surprisingly pretty to him in a rather mysterious and enchanting way that he guiltily found himself thinking put even Terra in all her drop dead gorgeous glory to shame.

Growling silently in annoyance, Beast Boy shoved these thoughts about Raven back into the back of his mind and resumed his full attention on the game. "I'll think more about this stuff later," he thought to himself. "I've already done a good job at handling this long enough to reach this point, and I can continue to handle it for another few days or so. And I'm certainly not going to dwell on it right now, especially since I'm pretty sure a boss battle will soon be occurring if I remember what I read in the online strategy guide I read about this game correctly." And so, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Robin continued to play the game, Starfire continued to watch, and Raven continued to read her book. At that moment, it seemed as if nothing could possibly ruin the relaxing night the titans were currently enjoying in their tower.

Eventually, at exactly 8:00 pm, the three boys finally reached a good stopping point in their game, and they saved it before turning off the TV and video game system. Cyborg yawned, stretched his hands upward, and then said, "That was fun. I daresay I'll be looking forward to playing that game some more tomorrow."

"I hear you man," said Beast Boy before letting out a yawn of his own that sounded very surprisingly like that of a lion. "But right now," he then said. "I'm so in need of a long good night's sleep."

Raven closed her book, yawned, and said, "For once, I agree with Beast Boy, I could certainly use some sleep."

"Agreed," said Starfire before she herself let out a yawn.

"Good idea," said Robin. "Come on everybody, let's get to bed. Hopefully we'll all be able to wake up at 8:00 am at the earliest."

The other titans were so tired that not even Beast Boy had the energy to groan and complain about the fact that Robin had set a deadline for them to wake up by.

Cyborg was the first to exit the common room, and he proceeded to make his way to his room where his inviting sleep-mode/recharging table was waiting. Raven was next to leave, and she made no hesitation to head straight to her dark and gothic themed bedroom that she still hoped that the Titans East members had had the sense to stay out of while she'd been away. Beast Boy followed close behind Raven, looking very eager indeed to curl up and sleep on the top bunk of his ever so familiar and cozy bunk bed.

For a few more seconds, Robin and Starfire remained standing where they were. Robin then turned his head to face Starfire with a smile on his face. "Good day?" he asked.

Starfire smiled back at her boyfriend, and responded, "Indeed it was Robin."

"That's good," said Robin with his smile still on his face. He stretched his arms and hands upward, yawning as he did so. "It's so nice to be home."

"Indeed," said Starfire. "As was said in that intriguing movie you once had us watch involving a wizard of some strange place called Oz, 'there's no place like home.'"

Robin chuckled, and said, "That's certainly true." He then looked back at Starfire, gestured for her to go ahead and walk alongside him out of the room before saying, "Come on Star. Let's get to bed. I have a good feeling that we'll have a pretty good day ahead of us tomorrow as well. Heck, maybe things will be relatively peaceful in Jump City for once."

Starfire smiled at the thought, linked her arm with Robin's, and smiled as she and her fearless leader and boyfriend proceeded to exit the common room of the tower, arm-in-arm, and feeling very happy at the close contact. They didn't unlink their arms until they reached Starfire's room; and as soon as Starfire entered her room and the doors to it closed behind her, Robin made his way calmly over to his room, feeling very giddy and happy with himself on the inside.

. . . . .

However, what none of the titans knew at that particular moment, was that they'd been watched for the last few hours. If either of the five teenagers had happened to look at the uppermost right corner of the window located the furthest to the right from the one that doubled as a TV screen in the time between their dinner and heading off to bed, they would have noticed what appeared to be a sea gull with unnaturally black eyes leaning its head down from where it was perched on the tower roof to look inside.

When the five teenagers had finally stopped their activities and headed off to bed one by one, the apparent sea gull waited for another few minutes or so just to make sure that no one came back into the room, appeared to let out a sigh of relief after that, and then lifted its head back up away from view from anyone who could have looked through the windows at it.

Seconds later, an unnaturally human-like and malicious grin came on the sea gull's face, and it spoke in a hollow voice, "Things are going exactly as planned . . . perfect." No sooner had the sea gull said this, when its beak suddenly snapped open and what appeared to be a powerful jet of pitch black smoke erupted from out of its mouth and into the open air before zooming off towards the forest located on a coast a few miles or so south of Jump City. The instant the last of the smoke exited the sea gull's mouth, the bird let out a croaking groan, closed its now naturally colored eyes, and plummeted over the edge of the tower roof before landing on the ground with a sickening thud.

Meanwhile, for the next few minutes, the ominous black smoke continued to rocket through the air as it made its way to its destination. It was now time for it to report to its comrades that the targets they'd been assigned to go after that very night were now ready for them to deal with.

**And there you have it everyone! I hope you guys enjoyed this (admittedly rather short) chapter, and that you leave a nice healthy bunch of reviews! And better yet, for the sake of reducing the chances of my Teen Titans fanfiction career becoming dead in the water before it can really truly begin, I've decided to stop my original policy of waiting until I receive 5 reviews before posting new chapters. But still, do not hesitate to review. I want to still at least have one review before my currently appointed day of posting a new chapter. Well anyway, again, I hope you guys enjoyed this, and that you are looking forward to the next chapter, particularly after the rather suspenseful note (in my opinion anyway) that I have left this chapter off on. ^_^**

**Coming up next: The titans get rudely awakened when they end up having to do battle with 5 very much unwelcome guests that invade the tower and turn the teenage heroes' relaxing night into a literal living nightmare from Hell.**


	5. Uninvited Guests

**Hey there people! I hope you're all prepared for more titanic awesomeness, because thanks to a polite request from veteran TT fanfiction author, TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne, I have now posted yet another chapter ^_^. In this awesome new chapter, the relaxing and peaceful night of our fab five teenage heroes is rudely transformed into a literal living nightmare from Hell when they're rudely awakened by five unexpected and very much unwelcome guests. Here's to hoping that you read, review, and enjoy!**

**A/N: Just to clear the air, I do not own Teen Titans. Also, in regard to elements contained within a dream that one of the titans is having before being rudely awakened, I do not own any elements from Disney's The Lion King either. Finally, any elements that some readers might potentially recognize from the hit TV series Supernatural are indeed borrowed more or less from that show and loosely adapted for this story (and in that regard, I apologize in advance if any inadvertent religious offense is caused by certain elements within this chapter). And now, without further ado, onward with the fic!**

**Chapter 4:**

**Uninvited Guests**

Robin was fast asleep in his room. He was sleeping quite soundly, which was not something that often happened to him due to how rarely he experienced nights in which he didn't have lingering worries, thoughts, or doubts on his mind that ended up somehow making their way into his subconscious while he was sleeping. Fortunately, this night was one of those rare nights in which he could truly sleep peacefully. And boy was he happy about it.

However, despite his current sound state of sleep, he was still more or less a light sleeper in nature. His nature of being a light sleeper was a lingering effect of his time under the tutelage of Batman. And as it would later turn out that night, it would prove very valuable indeed, for at the unexpected sound of the door to his room opening, Robin's eyes came wide open, and he quickly glanced towards the door from out of the corner of his masked eyes.

He looked towards the door in this manner just in time to see an ominous looking shape standing in the shadows directly outside his room. Robin made sure to remain perfectly still, careful not to make any noise or give any other hint that he was awake. For now, one of his biggest advantages was how, due to the obscure area of the room in which his bed was positioned combined with a small series of book shelves and other furniture as well as assorted newspaper clippings on the walls and clutter on the floor, his bed could not be seen just from looking inside the bedroom from the doorway. The other, as Robin currently suspected, was that this mysterious visitor, whatever it was, very likely didn't yet know that Robin was awake.

Seconds later, he quickly looked straight back towards the wall directly in front of his face and made a big show of pretending to snore. As he did this, he heard an ominous hollow snarling noise coming from outside his room, followed by the sound of footsteps coming inside. As Robin continued to maintain his current position in his bed and pretend that he was still asleep, he heard the sound of the footsteps coming gradually closer towards the area where he and his bed were located. The low snarling also continued at random intervals. Already, Robin had a feeling that whatever was currently inside his room uninvited was either an animal, or at least some sort of non-human.

Carefully noting this information in his mind, he continued to remain where he was, listening to the sound of the footsteps and snarling as whatever this mysterious intruder was got progressively closer and closer to him. When the footsteps started sounding particularly loud as if they were in very close proximity to where he was and the snarling took on a tone that seemed slightly happy, Robin deduced that the intruder was now not too far away from him.

What seemed to be exactly one minute later, Robin soon sensed in what could only truly be purely animal instinct that the mysterious intruder was now just a few steps away from being right next to his bed and in position to strike if it planned to attack. This same instinctive feeling he now had also got him to realize that the intruder would likely be at the opportune position to strike at him in his apparent sleep in just five more steps.

Careful not to show any sign to the intruder that he was awake and aware of its presence, Robin carefully grabbed onto the handle of one of his nunchucks. Just like his nature of being a light sleeper, he had been carefully conditioned to always keep a weapon at hand while sleeping, and he found himself once again silently giving a grudging thanks to Batman for teaching him this valuable lesson, for ever since leaving Gotham City, he'd always worn his utility belt in his sleep as well as everywhere else he went. And at the same time he grabbed onto his weapon, Robin carefully tensed himself slightly so that he'd be ready to lunge at the intruder when the time was right.

Robin heard the mysterious intruder let out one last snarl, and then he heard it make the last few footsteps necessary for it to reach the opportune position of attack. The instant Robin heard the sound of the 5th footstep, he abruptly leaped from his bed straight towards the intruder with his nunchuck raised, letting out a piercing yell.

Robin just had time to clearly see a pair of astonishingly blue eyes widen in surprise before he slammed his nunchuck across the mysterious being's face and sent it stumbling backwards away from him and his bed. Mere seconds after Robin's feet touched the floor, he threw a smoke pellet at it. The smoke pellet landed on the floor right in front of it and exploded into a massive cloud of dark gray smoke, obscuring it from view, and him from its view.

As Robin heard the mysterious intruder he'd just now momentarily subdued coughing and snarling within the smoky cloud, the boy wonder quickly ran out of his room. The instant Robin left his room, he hurriedly ran down the corridor in the direction that would lead towards the common room, and coincidentally to the two sub-floors beneath him where Starfire and Cyborg's rooms were located. Upon remembering this detail, Robin hurriedly increased his pace. Even as he eventually heard the sound of what appeared to be a furious roar coming from within his room, he still had one single very important thought on his mind, "I've gotta warn the others." And indeed he was very certain that he needed to call them up and warn them, for he had a feeling that he wasn't the only one to have received an unwelcome guest in his bedroom.

. . . . .

Cyborg wasn't entirely certain just how long he'd been in sleep mode before he suddenly heard a strange voice none too different from the kind he'd often heard coming from computers and other relatively high-intelligence machines state in a rather urgent tone, "Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Emergency activation initiated."

Seconds later, Cyborg's eyes abruptly opened just in time for him to see a large black figure with equally pitch black eyes standing right at the foot of his bed with what appeared to be clawed hands raised up to strike at him. At the sight of this, Cyborg screamed in fright. The intruder also appeared to have been surprised by Cyborg's unexpectedly waking up, because it also let out an inhuman shriek of shock and stumbled backwards.

Barely giving himself any time to recover from his shock, Cyborg quickly activated his sonic cannon, pointed it at the intruder, and fired at it. The blue blast of sonic energy crashed into the being's chest and sent it crashing into the wall directly across from the foot of Cyborg's bed.

No sooner had the mysterious intruder slumped down slightly upon impact with the wall, when Cyborg jumped out of his bed and ran out of his room, quickly making his way towards the common room while at the same time working to activate the video-phone communicator built into his right arm. "I've got to warn the others," Cyborg thought. "I have a feeling that whatever that thing was brought friends along."

. . . . .

Raven wasn't entirely certain how she managed to sense the intruder inside her room walking up towards her bed, much less how it had ended up happening while she was asleep. Perhaps maybe it was just her naturally being wary of others entering her room without her permission. Maybe it was a result of her past experiences of times in which she'd gotten terrified in her own room. Or maybe it was some sort of demonic danger sensing ability she had as a result of her demonic heritage. But whatever it was, she was glad she had it, because she had a very bad feeling, practically instinctive, that whatever was now inside her room heading towards her was not Beast Boy or any of the other titans attempting to play a joke on her, much less someone friendly.

After what seemed like an eternity to Raven, she sensed that the being was now just a few footsteps or so from her bed, and she quietly whispered, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," before abruptly sitting up in her bed and firing a blast of shadowy energy at the intruder.

The intruder's blinding yellow eyes widened in shock, and it let out a surprised howl at the unexpected sight of Raven sitting up in her bed awake in combination with getting hit by her umbrakinetic blast. The impact of the blast sent it flying backward before it landed directly outside her room. Unfortunately, it landed on its feet, and looked straight at her before growling, and lifting its clawed hands so that its fingers pointed at Raven. At the sight of the electricity that soon started crackling on the mysterious being's clawed fingers, Raven quickly yelled out her mantra again, and sank into a vortex of shadows that opened up directly underneath her and closed the instant she'd completely entered it seconds before the maelstrom of lightning bolts that leaped out from the intruders clawed fingertips struck the bed right where she'd been sitting.

And even as Raven hurtled through the shadowy emptiness she now found herself in as she hurriedly attempted to somehow manage to exit from it into the common room, she thought to herself, "The others, I have to find them. If that thing was what I think it was, it didn't come alone."

. . . . .

Beast Boy had been in the middle of a pleasant dream in which he was racing alongside the adult versions of Simba and Nala in his lion form when he suddenly heard a deep bestial voice from behind him growl, "Wake up."

Stunned, Beast Boy positioned himself so that he came skidding to a stop. The dream versions of Simba and Nala continued running far ahead of him, and he turned his head to look behind him. His lion eyes widened in shock at the unexpected sight before him. Standing right there about a foot or so behind him, was the Beast; the very same primal monster that he had first ended up being capable of turning into after the first time he and the other titans had battled against Adonis and now only used as a last resort, a case in point being when Trigon's army of demons had attacked the tower on the night Raven had been destined to become the portal that would allow Trigon to come to Earth in his demon form.

"What the?" Beast Boy yelled in what could have qualified as telepathy. "How did you . . . ? What are you doing in my dream!?"

"Wake up!" the Beast roared. "There is danger lurking inside your lair right this very moment while you sleep. Wake up and defend yourself!"

"Danger?" Beast Boy asked in shock. "In my room? What do you mean?"

The Beast growled in exasperation, and abruptly leaned forward so that its face was mere centimeters away from Beast Boy's own face and savagely roared, "I SAID WAKE UP!"

Beast Boy's eyes snapped open instantaneously after this, and he rocketed up into a seated position on his top bunk, shrieking in shock.

At the sound of an inhuman howl of shock coming from the area around where his bottom bunk was located, Beast Boy turned his head. His eyes widened as he saw that the Beast hadn't been kidding when it had told him that there was danger right there in his room. Standing not too far away now from his bunk bed was an unfamiliar and threatening looking figure. The darkness within the room combined with Beast Boy having still not yet quite gotten his full bearings back yet made it hard for him to make out just what the being looked like, but he could definitely clearly see a pair of blazing red eyes widened in shock at the sight of him awake.

Before Beast Boy could have a chance to make note of any other distinguishing features, the eyes soon narrowed, and he heard the intruder snarl before he saw it draw its right arm back as if about to throw something, and then thrusted it forward, sending a large ball of fire flying from its hand.

Beast Boy quickly turned into a hummingbird and flew out of the way just in time to avoid getting roasted alive by the flaming projectile, which crashed right onto the top of the wall his bunk bed was positioned directly next to. Beast Boy quickly hovered down towards the being, and then turned into a bighorn sheep right as he was about a few inches away from it.

With a gravelly bleating noise, he slammed into the intruder, horns first and sent it crashing onto its back. No sooner had he knocked the mysterious unwelcome guest onto its back when he proceeded to bound out of his room, still in bighorn sheep form. He skidded to a halt in a way that allowed him to turn to face the direction that he could run down to get to the common room, and then hurriedly bounded down the corridor, turning into a cheetah after reaching the end of the immediate corridor and letting out a snarl of exertion before running off to the right to run down the path leading down to where Raven's room was located, and from there past the restroom sub-floor and all the way to the common room.

"I've gotta find the others," he thought to himself in his cheetah form. "I have to find them! I have to warn them about that crazy intruder!" Then another thought popped up in his head as he ended up having to abruptly skid across the floor on his side to slide under a large slew of horizontal lightning bolts coming out of the entrance to Raven's room as he was running down the corridor that particular room was located on. "Oh great! It has friends! Oh God, I hope Raven's ok."

. . . . .

Starfire slept very soundly and peacefully with a smile on her face for almost an entire hour before she abruptly heard a piercing "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Starfire bolted up in her bed awake, letting out a shriek that would have given even a banshee nightmares. She barely had time to even begin processing what had just happened or calming her now very quick breathing or rapidly pounding heart before she heard a surprised inhuman growl coming from directly to her left.

She flicked her head in the direction she'd heard the growl coming from just in time to see a scaly green bipedal figure awkwardly stumbling backward on its right leg, its equally verdant green eyes widened in shock, and its left draconic foot lifted up in the air as if it had just recently lifted it back up after accidentally stepping on something.

Right as Starfire noticed that particular detail, she briefly directed a slight glance down towards the floor between her and the intruder in time to see Silkie's tail disappear underneath her bed. Silkie had been sleeping right on the floor next to her bed from that side, and it now appeared to Starfire that the intruder had accidentally stepped on him while making its way towards Starfire, causing him to wake up and unleash the ungodly screaming noise that had now woken her up.

All this happened in about ten seconds before she abruptly remembered the intruder, and let out a belated scream of fright before hurriedly blasting a star bolt at it. The bright green energy blast hit the intruder in the chest with a bang, sending it slamming hard into the wall directly across from the door to her room. Breathing rapidly, she took to the air and flew out of her room.

No sooner had she left her room and started rapidly looking to her left and right as if trying to decide where to go when she heard Robin's voice to her right yell, "Starfire!"

She looked to her right just in time to see Robin running straight towards her and then jump in the air towards her just in time to avoid a forceful jet of water that abruptly came from around the corner of a wall that separated her room from the upwards ramp corridor leading up to where his own room was located and blasted the floor right where he'd been before jumping.

Starfire almost reflexively extended her hands, and Robin grabbed onto them. Having thus taken their favored position when flying together, Starfire hurriedly flew down the opposite direction leading to the ramp corridor heading downwards to where Cyborg's room was located and from there to a nearby side entrance to the common room with Robin tightly clutching her hands. Almost immediately after the flying couple rounded the corner that bordered with the downwards ramp corridor leading down to the sub-floor division where Cyborg's room was located, jets of water and massive clouds of what looked like vivid green poisonous gas came pouring from the hallway they'd just left and pounded into the wall.

As Starfire continued to hurriedly fly through the corridors while carrying Robin, she fearfully asked, "Robin, what's going on? What are these nasty things in our home?"

"I don't know," Robin responded, "but whatever they are, we need to find the others and warn them, because judging from how both of us have ended getting visited by one of those things, the others probably had their own unwelcome guests in their rooms as well . . . look out!"

Starfire looked in front of her, and shrieked as she saw a massive ball of shadowy energy hurtling straight towards her. She swooped downward and the sphere of shadows crashed harmlessly into the ceiling. Terrified, she let her eye beams fly out towards the area in front of her. By sheer luck, the lasers she'd just fired from her eyes blasted the dark black figure that had tossed the shadow ball at her right in the chest, sending it flying backward and crashing right into the wall at the opposite end of the hallway where Cyborg's room was located.

The intruder Starfire blasted happened to zoom near enough in proximity to the common room doors within that hallway while careening backwards for the doors in question to open up and reveal that the lights were now on in that room. Robin pointed at the doors and yelled, "Quick, let's get inside the common room! I think the others might be there!"

Starfire didn't need to be told twice, and she soared straight through the doors and into the common room. Seconds after that, Starfire let go of Robin and he landed on his feet while turning the impact into a series of somersaults before Starfire herself flew up slightly higher so that she was hovering a few inches or so above Robin and the other three titans, who she could now see standing nearby the back of the sofa in what appeared to be battle-ready positions.

At the sight of Robin and Starfire now inside the room alongside him, Beast Boy, and Raven, Cyborg said, "I'm guessing you've also now met the unexpected guests?"

"Yes," Robin responded.

"Well good thing you and Star are here with us now," said Raven.

"Yeah," said Beast Boy. "Whatever these things are, they're definitely here to attack us, and this room's as good of a place to make a stand against them as we are likely going to get at the moment."

Seconds later, the titans heard what sounded like crashing noises coming from the walls, and they looked upwards just in time to see the two air vent covers, one at the top central area of the left wall and the other at the top central area of the right wall, come popping off of their respective air vents and come crashing down on the floor. At the same time the air vent covers came popping off, five ominous looking jets of smoke came rocketing out from them. The two jets of smoke pouring out of the left air vent were yellow and red, and the three smoke jets billowing out of the right air vent were blue, green, and black.

Seconds after the tail ends of the smoke streams had exited the air vents, the five smoke jets swirled around in the air before abruptly taking a nosedive straight down towards the floor. The five smoke jets all came crashing down on the floor in random areas a couple feet in front of each of the five teenage heroes before then seeming to solidify and taking on a more corporeal shape, revealing themselves to in fact be the same five mysterious intruders that had come into the titans' bed rooms and attempted to strike at them in their sleep.

. . . . .

Now that the titans were both in a room with the lights on and had sufficient time, they were able to get a much better look at the five intruders. The five beings now standing before them that had only minutes ago attempted to very likely kill them in their sleep looked very much like wingless bipedal humanoid dragons. In fact, since their bodily shape, complete with the tails, fangs, claws, scaly skin, and other draconic features seemed almost exactly alike in each of the five intruders, the only ways that the titans could tell them apart were the blaringly obvious differences in the color of their scales and eyes, the shape of their tails, and the way their heads were adorned.

The intruder that had been in Robin's room and was now standing in front of the boy wonder had icy blue scales, sapphire blue eyes, a fish-like tail, and a pair of straight vertical needle shaped horns on its head. The creature that Cyborg had encountered and was now standing in front of him had midnight black scales, bull-like horns on its head, a small mane of jet black fur around its neck, a tuft of black fur at the tip of its tail, and a pair of pitch black eyes that were so dark that they looked as if they were pupil-less. The being that had dared enter Raven's room and was now standing in front of her had golden yellow scales, topaz yellow eyes, a pair of lightning bolt shaped horns on its head, and a spiked tail that closely resembled the kind typically found on a stegosaurus or similar spike-tailed dinosaur. The draconic home invader that Beast Boy had dealt with had blood red scales, ruby red eyes, a ring of horns around its neck in a style reminiscent of a lion's mane, and a long tail with an arrowhead shaped spike at the end. Finally, the monster that had invaded Starfire's room and was standing on the floor area in front of her had venomous green scales, emerald green eyes, a barbed tail that closely resembled that of a scorpion, a straight row of scythe-shaped spikes lined across the top of its head in a mohawk-like style, and a verdant green frill around its neck. And as Starfire and the other titans watched, the green scaled intruder extended its frill to full length and hissed maliciously at Starfire, revealing a long forked tongue.

Starfire gulped in fear at the sight of the intimidating display of aggression from the creature. "Robin?" she asked fearfully. "What are these things?"

"No idea," Robin admitted. "But whatever they are," he said as he proceeded to ram his right fist into his left palm in an almost anticipatory for battle gesture, "they're not going to get away with this little home invasion without going through us."

Seconds after Robin said this, he and the other titans were very surprised when the five humanoid dragon figures let sickening grins come on their faces. The green scaled one then started hissing again, but this time in a tone that sounded similar to laughter. "How foolish," it then said in a raspy voice that sounded very much like the way Beast Boy himself would have definitely expected a snake to sound like if snakes could talk. "That little bird thinks he stands a chance against us, I can't tell whether or not to feel respect for his bravery or laugh at his stupidity."

The blue scaled being then chuckled in agreement, and stated, "Indeed, and it certainly doesn't help how even after all he and his friends have gone through and encountered, they still don't even know what we are."

The red scaled monster let out a harsh laugh, and said, "You'd think that at least one of them would have known, especially the shadow girl considering how half her blood comes from one of our kin!"

At the sight of this, Raven cursed silently to herself in her mind. It seemed that her earlier suspicions had just now been proven true.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," said Beast Boy. He pointed at the red scaled being, and then stated, "Half her blood comes from one of _your_ kin? I thought she was half demon?"

The yellow scaled creature laughed, and condescendingly hissed, "Oh indeed she is changeling."

"Hold on," said Robin as he proceeded to point at the five beings as well. "You're saying that you guys are demons?"

"At last," said the black scaled being in a tone that sounded prideful. "A modicum of intelligence."

"Oh come on!" shouted Cyborg. "You expect us to believe that?"

The five draconic figures directed stern glares at the half robot teenager. "And why would you not?" they asked in unison.

"Because we've fought _real_ demons before," said Cyborg as he proceeded to point at the five intruders. "And you guys don't look like any demons I've ever seen!"

The five intruders raised their eyebrows in confusion. Then the black one proceeded to gaze very intently at Cyborg, its black eyes seeming to turn even darker if that was possible. Then its eyes turned back to its normal shade of still rather dark black, and it grinned before saying, "Oh that's right; you're referring to those fiery disgraces you battled when Trigon attempted to overthrow your entire universe."

Cyborg's human eye, and the eyes of the four completely biological based titans widened upon hearing this information. "How did you know about that?" Raven asked, though she had a feeling she knew.

The black scaled being chuckled, directed its gaze at Raven and said, "Your friend's mind may be partially inorganic, but it is not immune to mind reading, least of all the kind that me and my kin possess."

"You read my mind!?" Cyborg yelled.

"Oh yes I did, Victor Stone!"

At the sound of that name, Cyborg looked as if he'd just been punched in the gut. "My . . . my civilian name . . ."

"That's right!" yelled the black scaled being. "Even your biggest secrets cannot be hidden indefinitely from a demon who's willing to dig deep enough!" No sooner had he said this when he and his four compatriots started laughing maliciously again. The five titans looked each other in the eyes nervously. It seemed that the five intruders were very likely telling the truth about what they were.

"But enough of the mind reading business," said the black demon. "Back on your doubts, even after your experiences with Trigon and his army, surely you didn't think that those demons and all the demons from every other religion out there were one and the same, did you?"

At the sound of this, Robin and the other titans apart from Raven looked at each other awkwardly.

The five beings chuckled, and then the blue being said, "Well regardless, you may have been able to handle the denizens of the Azarathian form of Hell, but with us, you're now dealing with a completely different kind of threat!

"Yeah," yelled the red creature. "Move over those big shot wannabes you fought during Trigon's pathetic attempt at the apocalypse! You're now dealing with the demons of the Abrahamic faith, the fallen humanity that haunts the Jews, Christians, and Islamics, the followers of Lucifer himself!" Upon finishing this little bout of bragging, the red demon and its four compatriots laughed once more.

Robin glared at the five laughing demons. He was now beginning to get seriously angered by how they were now laughing at him and his friends once again. He pointed at them and growled, "Well you may be a kind of enemy we're not entirely familiar with, but we're still going to take you down and send you right back to Hell!"

The yellow demon chuckled, licked its lips hungrily, and then said, "Very brave words, but I'm afraid you are very much wrong. You and your pathetic friends may have been lucky enough to awaken in time to prevent us from mercifully killing you in your sleep, but you have only prolonged the inevitable. And by the end of this night, all five of you will be dead; and not only will it be slow and painful now, but it will also be done without us even needing to possess you and cause you to deal fatal injuries to yourself that will cause you to die within seconds after we abandon your bodies!"

The demons laughed again, and then leaned forward as one in apparent battle stance. "Attack," the blue demon hissed. In a flash, the five demons rushed towards the five teenage heroes with Hellish roars bursting from their throats.

"Titans go!" Robin yelled as he and the other titans leaped out of the way of the charging demons. The demons crashed into the sofa with such an impact that they went flying over the sofa and towards the windows in front of it. But before the demons could crash into the windows, which the titans had actually been expecting, the demons abruptly turned back into their smoke forms and rocketed back at them before coming to another crash landing in front of them and solidifying once again.

The demons growled, and pointed their hands at them, their claws now starting to tingle with their own respective elemental energies. "Split up!" Robin yelled, and the titans each leaped away in different directions in time to avoid the blasts of elemental energy the demons fired from their hands at them.

"Spread out!" the blue demon yelled after it and its brethren had finished their failed attempt at blasting the titans. The five demons promptly began pursuing their own apparent targets of choice.

Robin carefully noted this detail in his mind. "Looks like blue boy's the leader," he thought to himself before he jumped off of his perch on the super computer counter top to avoid the water jet the blue demon spouted at him from its hands. It seemed like only seconds passed after Robin landed from his jumping escape before he then had to somersault to his left to avoid a second spout of water, cartwheel backwards to his right to avoid getting skewered by a gigantic icicle that rose up from the floor in direct response to the demon slamming it's right fist on the floor, and then jump backwards again with a back flip to avoid a gust of icy wind that the demon caused to spin around the area directly surrounding it. "And he's certainly tough enough to be worthy of that position," he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Cyborg found himself using his sonic cannon quite often as he continuously blasted the orbs and jets of shadow energy that the black demon threw at him again and again. And not only did Cyborg have to deal with the shadowy energy blasts that the demon summoned, but also from abrupt attacks that the demon pulled off in which it melted into the shadows and then abruptly seemed to materialize out of nowhere in a flash of shadows and attempt to strike at Cyborg.

"Good grief," Cyborg yelled as he ended up narrowly dodging a fifth such sneak attack from his shadowy assailant. "I am so glad that I'm on the same side as you Raven, because I now have a feeling that I now know exactly what it would be like to battle against you as an enemy!"

"Good to know," Raven growled as she remained where she currently was and put in as much effort as she could muster to keep the force field she currently had deployed around herself fully functional under the merciless barrage of lightning bolts that the yellow demon attacking her fired at her from its clawed fingertips.

She grunted from the exertion. While she certainly doubted that she would readily admit this to anyone who happened to comment on it now or later, she couldn't deny that against this particular type of demon, she was at a severe disadvantage. Due to her naturally shadow-oriented abilities, she had a natural weakness against light-based attacks. However, out of all the kinds of light-based attacks in existence, she was dangerously susceptible to electricity. Even the weakest electrical shock was enough to put her at risk of severe burns and draining of her energy.

And now, against this horrific electrokinetic demon, she found herself truly fighting one of her most potentially life-threatening battles ever. Not only were the beams of electricity it fired and bolts it summoned capable of ripping her shadowy energy blasts to shreds as if they were paper, but the ones that she was lucky enough to successfully strike it with didn't seem to cause any damage high enough to even wound it, much less kill it. In fact, whenever she was lucky to succeed in striking the thunder demon with one of her energy blasts, it only laughed, and sometimes even condescendingly asked her if she'd truly expected her blasts to hurt it. And her telekinetic skills didn't seem to do any better, for no matter what she tried to throw at it, the demon would almost contemptuously blast whatever object she'd thrown at it into dust before it got even remotely close. Of course, taking a defensive strategy now didn't seem any easier. Even now Raven was fighting to keep herself from losing her focus on keeping her shield up in light of her rapidly draining energy. And the demon seemed to know how weak she was getting because it was now chuckling maliciously like a mad man as it continued to increase the intensity of the bolts it was currently firing at her.

Beast Boy was also having a difficult time fighting against the fiery red demon he was currently doing battle with. Every time he'd attempted to get close enough to it to attack, he'd ended up forced to jump away as a result of his assailant shooting fire at him. And at the current moment, as the demon continued to throw more fireballs and jets of flames at him, the green shape shifter found himself with now choice but to continue to run, jump, and fly in his desperate race to continue to avoid getting blasted by the fire.

"Good grief," he yelled in his mind as he turned into a peregrine falcon and flew up higher towards the ceiling to avoid yet another jet of flames. "Is there anything I can do hurt this guy?"

Meanwhile, Starfire at first was able to hold her own against her assailant slightly more easily than her companions as she found it more or less easy to dodge the boulders and streams of acid it shot at her, and the small shockwaves it had proven itself capable of creating held no fear to her since they only seemed able to harm anything within their area of effect if the object in question was on the floor.

Unfortunately for Starfire, the verdant green poison demon had changed tactics a few minutes later, and was now appearing to summon a large mass of poisonous gas that concentrated in the air directly surrounding Starfire, and it followed her no matter where she flew. And even worse, it seemed that this type of gas was indeed capable of effecting her, because she soon found herself coughing and struggling to stay awake in spite of the fumes she was inhaling. She was so busy trying not to pass out, that she didn't even notice the poison demon start to climb up the wall she was now hovering next to like a gecko.

A few minutes later, the poison gas abruptly vanished. Before Starfire could fully process this information, she was taken completely by surprise when she felt a clawed hand come from out of nowhere to her left and clench tightly around her throat. She managed to look in the direction the hand appeared to have come from and saw the maliciously grinning face of the poison demon staring back at her. The demon chuckled, extended its forked tongue towards her face mockingly, and hissed, "Lights out Starfire," before positioning its barbed tail, which now appeared to have acidic venom bubbling up at the tip, as if about to stab her with it.

Fortunately for Starfire, Robin just happened to glance in her direction from out of the corner of his eye in time. "NO!" Robin roared before hurling one of his fire disks at the poison demon so fast and hard that it would have probably hit the creature with enough force to break its back if it hadn't been designed to explode. And explode it indeed did. The instant the disk so much as touched the demon's back, it exploded in a fantastic burst of flames.

"OOOOWWWW!" The demon roared in agony, and fell backwards off of the wall, letting go of Starfire in the process. Starfire also fell, still feeling relatively weak from the poisonous gas she'd inhaled in combination with the choking grip the demon had gripped her throat with. Fortunately, Robin quickly threw a freeze disk at the water demon he was battling to keep it busy, and then leaped through the air towards where Starfire was falling. The freeze disk crashed right into the force field of water that the water demon summoned around itself in a reflexive defense move and the resulting blast of frosty air caused the water shield to freeze solid, leaving the water demon trapped inside an icy dome.

Right as Starfire was seconds away from landing hard on the floor, Robin reached the area she was heading towards in time to catch her valiantly in his arms and then acrobatically position himself so that he absorbed the majority of the impact from landing on the floor afterward, shielding Starfire from suffering further damage.

The poison demon that had been attacking Starfire was not so lucky, and it crash landed hard on the floor, right on its back, which was now horribly burned as a result of Robin's explosive disk. It landed so hard that the acid that had bubbled up on its tail went flying into the air before landing right on top of the thunder demon's left foot.

The thunder demon hissed in pain, and it shut off the electricity spouting from its claws at Raven as it proceeded to start hopping up and down on one foot in pain. Growling it turned its head towards the poison demon and shouted, "Watch where you drop that stuff you fool!"

"Sorry," the poison demon groaned as it proceeded to get on its hands and knees and try to get up. "Ow," it whimpered as the motion caused waves of pain to flare up across his back.

Raven, seeing the distraction, briefly lowered her shield, and happened to notice Beast Boy hovering tiredly in the air in his falcon form. The fire demon he'd been battling was standing right below him about to shoot another fiery blast at him.

In a flash, with her assailant distracted, Raven summoned a shadowy hemisphere that engulfed Beast Boy and spirited him away in time to let him avoid getting blasted by the fire demon's blast. Another dark hemisphere appeared to her right and faded away to reveal Beast Boy in his falcon form. Beast Boy shifted back, and panted briefly before saying, "Thanks, I really owe you one now."

"You're welcome," Raven gasped, relieved to have saved her friend and to have managed to get a brief respite from the thunder demon's murderous attacks against her.

"What the Devil?"

Upon hearing the thunder demon's surprised voice, Beast Boy turned into a polar bear, roared as he turned to face it, and then slapped it right in the face with his huge right front paw.

The thunder demon was sent flying through the air and it crashed right into the shadow demon just as it was about to hurl another orb of shadow energy at Cyborg, resulting in the two demons collapsing onto the floor and the shadow orb rocketing off in the direction opposite the one the shadow demon had originally intended to throw it.

This direction just happened to be towards the water demon, who had just now managed to bust out of the icy prison Robin had managed to trap it in. Upon shattering the walls of the icy dome, it happened to look in the direction of the shadow ball, and its brilliant blue eyes widened in surprise and what Robin could have sworn was fear. Hissing in shock and apparent fear, the water demon lunged forward just in time to avoid getting blasted by the shadow demon's errant shadow ball, which crashed into the floor where it had been standing and blew the small circular base that remained of the icy dome to smithereens.

Soon after the water demon got back on its feet, it glared at the shadow demon and indignantly growled, "Watch where you're throwing those things you idiot!"

"Sorry," the shadow demon groaned weakly as it continued to struggle to get itself out from under the dazed thunder demon lying on top of it.

The water demon growled as it saw how the thunder and shadow demons were now momentarily incapacitated, growled again when it noticed the poison demon still lying on its belly groaning in pain, and then growled a third time when it saw the fire demon looking around in confusion as if trying to decide or remember what it was supposed to be doing at the moment.

"Enough with this!" The water demon roared. "Get your sorry acts together so we can finish the. . ." It turned its head to face the area where Robin and Starfire were right as it was about to finish that sentence, only to unexpectedly feel something sharp abruptly crash and jab into its neck.

While the water demon had been looking away from Robin as it yelled at its underlings, Robin had thrown one of his birdirangs at it, with full intention of attempting to kill it. And as a result, when the demon finally turned its head back to face Robin, the 'beak' end of the device had jammed point-first into the demon's throat like a knife.

For a brief moment, the demon had an expression of shock on its face. But then its eyes narrowed as if in disappointment, it shook his head with a half annoyed and half disappointed glare on its face, and then calmly directed its eyes downward towards the projectile sticking out of its throat. Seconds later, much to the shock and slight horror of the titans, the water demon calmly reached up and slowly pulled the birdirang out of its throat. The small hole left behind in the demon's neck almost instantly closed up afterward without leaving any signs of there having ever been a wound there in the first place.

As the titans watched in shock, the water demon glared at them and proceeded to derisively hiss, "Did you seriously expect a mundane human weapon, much less a toy like this . . ." it gestured at the birdirang it was now clutching in its hand, "to be capable of killing something like me or others of my kin?" The demon then proceeded to clench its hand that held the birdirang into a fist, crushing the birdirang like a bug. Robin gulped, and he and Starfire looked into each other's eyes nervously. It was now very much seeming that the titans were potentially in way over their heads in this situation.

The water demon growled, and then furiously roared, "You dare to mock me and my kin by being so insulting as to futilely attempt to kill me with something as insignificant as a toy?! We may be demons, but we deserve to die in much better ways than ones as ignominious as the one you have just now dared to tease me with!"

The demon growled, pointed its clawed finger at each of the five titans, and then said, "We have been going easy on you so far, but now that you have chosen to insult us the way you have now done with that pathetic toy, the gloves are off." The demon shouted out to its fellow demons in the room, "Comrades! Gather to me!"

One by one, the other four demons ran over to their leader and took positions by its side. The poison demon was the first to decide to make its way back to the water demon, and it slowly got back on its feet, hissing and wheezing in pain from the burns on its back before then slowly walking over to its leader, flinching and cringing in pain as it walked. Upon seeing its compatriot join up with its leader, the fire demon hurriedly rushed over to take a position by its leader's side. The thunder demon soon got off the shadow demon and back on its feet, still slightly dazed, and then limped over to join up with its fellow demons. It was clear that it was still feeling pain from the acid that had landed on its foot. The shadow demon was the last demon to join up with its comrades, and it didn't take long at all to get back on its feet and obediently march over to join its fellow demons.

No sooner had the five demons regrouped together when the water demon pointed at Robin and growled, "You and your team mates shall now regroup together near that large door near the back of the room. I want this battle to be done properly all the way from the beginning."

Four of the titans glowered and looked as if they were about to resist. Fortunately, they all managed to see Robin gesture with his head for them not to do so, and then mouth to them 'I have a plan.' The other titans raised their eyebrows, but then looked at each other, and then looked back at Robin before nodding that they understood. After all, their fearless leader had rarely ever failed them before when he made his plans for defeating the enemies they fought in the past. Besides, they knew that if this current plan Robin had formed up worked, then their potentially wounded pride at playing along with the demons' games for the moment would be a small price to pay for victory.

The titans quickly proceeded to gather together two meters or so opposite from the five demons. In a flash, right as the demons proceeded to position themselves as if they were gathering their strength and composure, Robin whispered to the other titans, "Alright team, do you have any abilities or skills you know of that you could use to possibly deflect any of the demons' elemental attacks in opposite directions from us?"

The other titans thought to themselves. "Well," said Starfire, "I think that if I were flying and happened to continuously kick quickly enough, I could potentially deflect the flames that the red creature uses in its attacks."

"Alright Star, that should work nicely," said Robin. He looked at the other titans and whispered, "What about you guys?"

"I could potentially whip any one of those blasts away with my tail as an ankylosaur or stegosaur," said Beast Boy. "But it would probably be more reliable for me to turn into a Galapagos tortoise and using my shell to redirect the water jets."

"I think I have just enough strength to create a shield strong enough to redirect the shadow blasts that the black demon conjures," said Raven.

"I still haven't yet used those shield extensions I had installed back in Tokyo," said Cyborg. "If they're truly as sturdy and strong as the guy who installed them said they were, then I could likely deflect all of those different elemental blasts those demons use, including the acid."

"Good to know," said Robin. He drew out his bo staff, allowed it to extend to full length, and then said, "With my staff, it should be easy enough for me to deflect those lightning bolts."

"Mind if I ask what exactly you're planning for us to do?" Raven asked.

"Starfire," Robin said. "Did you notice how much the fire from my exploding disk seemed to hurt the poison demon that I saved you from?"

"Yes," said Starfire.

"Raven," Robin said. "Remember how that thunder demon reacted when the acid from the poison demon landed on its foot?"

Raven nodded her head. Beast Boy also nodded, for he'd managed to see this while still in the air as a falcon.

"Cyborg," said Robin. "Did you see how quickly the water demon was to dodge that shadow blast that got knocked towards it? Or better yet, did you see the look on its face when it saw the shadow blast heading towards it?"

"I did see how quick it was in dodging it," said Cyborg. "But I didn't get a close look at its face."

"It was afraid of it," said Robin. "And with all that in mind, plus the knowledge of how water is an almost universal method of extinguishing fires and the relative similarities between the natures and abilities of Raven and that shadow demon, I think that we might be able to defeat them more easily if we could somehow manage to get them blasted in the crossfire of their own elemental attacks."

The other titans considered what Robin had said, and then smiled and nodded as they realized that their leader's plan actually made sense. Robin smiled upon noticing this, and then said, "When those demons resume their attacks on us, try to get whatever demon you pick to focus on and fire at you. When we're all positioned just right, I'll give the signal, and then we all need to let the demons' elemental blasts come close enough to you without dodging so that you can reflect them at the demon that's weakest against each respective elemental attack. Got that?" The other titans nodded and smirked, for they indeed understood and were now ready for action.

Seconds later, they heard the blue demon yell, "Now my brethren! Attack!" With a roar of challenge, the five demons bolted straight towards their targets once more.

"Titans move!" Robin yelled, and the five teenage heroes leaped in different directions and proceeded to initiate their newly formulated plan.

For the next few minutes, the demons fired their elemental blasts randomly again and again, now not seeming to care that some of them were now no longer firing at their original targets from earlier. Meanwhile, the titans continuously dodged and likewise evaded the attacks as they slowly got themselves and their attackers positioned for the trap the titans were now setting for the demons. And as the demons continued their efforts to kill their targets, they were now so angry and single-mindedly focused on their efforts that they didn't even notice how their targets were slowly but surely leading them straight into a trap.

"Come on," Robin thought to himself as he and the other titans continued to get themselves and their attackers slowly into position. "Almost, almost, any moment now."

Seconds later, when Robin, the other titans, and the demons were all in what Robin instinctively knew were the right positions for his plan, he yelled, "Now!"

Coincidentally, the demons all chose to attack at that exact moment. The thunder demon snarled, and sent bolts of lightning flying from its clawed finger tips at Robin. The shadow demon fired a massive burst of flame-shaped shadowy energy at Raven. The water demon sent a forceful spout of water from its hands at Beast Boy. The fire demon unleashed a brilliant jet of flames flying up towards Starfire. And finally, the poison demon caused a large stream of corrosive acid to spray from its hands towards Cyborg.

In that instant, the five demons caused their own downfall. Seconds before the lightning bolts being fired at Robin could touch him, the boy wonder started rapidly spinning his bo staff around clockwise like a stereotypical martial arts master, deflecting the beams of electricity to his right and causing them to spear the shadow demon in the back. At the same time the thunder demon's electricity struck the shadow demon, the shadow demon's own burst of shadow energy was reflected to the right off of Raven's own shadowy shield where it ended up smashing into the back of the water demon.

The leader among the five demons attempting to kill the titans fared no better in its efforts to blast the titan it was attempting to blast, for Beast Boy turned into a Galapagos tortoise and curled up into his shell just in time for the demon's water jet to pound onto the top of the shell and cause the shelled up tortoise to be pushed up into a position allowing it to be leaning against the counter that doubled as a table. As a result of how Beast Boy the tortoise was now positioned, the water demon's water spout ended up being reflected to the right off of Beast Boy's shell and splashing onto the back of the fire demon.

And of course, at the exact same moment that the water demon's attack was sent crashing into the back of the fire demon, Starfire ended up continuously kicking at the tip of the fiery jet heading towards her so quickly that she caused it to be deflected downwards to her right, where it plowed into the already hideously burned back of the poison demon, whose own jet of acid was sent flying to the right as a result of slamming into Cyborg's newly extended and artfully positioned arm shield extensions so that it forcefully splashed onto the back of the thunder demon.

The five demons howled in shock and pain as they felt themselves getting unexpectedly blasted in the back by their own comrades' attacks, and they hurriedly tried to shut off their attacks. Unfortunately for them, in a cruel paradox, instead of the pain causing them to lose the focus needed to maintain their elemental attacks, the pain proved so distracting to them that they were unable to focus clearly enough to shut off their currently active elemental blasts. And so, the five demons now found themselves hopelessly trapped in a web of their own elemental powers, completely helpless to escape or shut down the same powers they'd hoped to kill their targets with that were now causing their own demise instead.

After about a minute, the demons suddenly started jerking and vibrating in pain as they suddenly appeared to become engulfed in electricity that matched their respective scale colors and their eyes flashed with color complimentary lights on and off. But even though this caught the titans by surprise, they continued to keep their current deflection mechanisms they were using active, not daring to break the now perfectly functioning trap that they'd set against their would-be killers. For the next few minutes, the demons continued to jerk and writhe and hiss in pain as the electricity and lights sparking up on their skin and in their eyes continued to flash in and out of view. After what seemed like an eternity, the hellish lightning engulfing the demons sparked up and started crackling continuously without fading. In that moment, the demons had just enough time to close their eyes, raise their heads upward to face the ceiling, and despairingly howl "NO!" before they abruptly exploded into clouds of dust that matched their respective body coloring.

In that instant, time seemed to stop, and the five clouds of unnaturally colored dust seemed to hover in place in the air at the positions where the demons had originally been standing. After exactly three seconds, the elemental blasts harmlessly crashed into the walls of the common room as the titans proceeded to pause in their defensive tactics, and the clouds of dust proceeded to explosively spread out into circular vortexes of dust that then sprinkled down onto the floor. For a few moments, the titans remained standing where they were, staring wordlessly at what now remained of the five demons that had invaded the tower and attempted to kill them. But after about a minute, small vortexes of shadowy energy abruptly appeared on the floor directly underneath the dust, swallowing it all up before closing up and vanishing immediately afterward.

For all of five seconds afterward, the titans gaped at the now empty floor spots where the remains of the five demons had been. The awkward silence was finally broken when Starfire slowly stated, "It appears . . . that we are victorious."

Starfire's comment was enough to get the other titans back down to Earth, and they nodded and mumbled in agreement. "It certainly looks that way to me," said Beast Boy. "I mean, I'm not the only one who saw those things explode into dust right?"

"No need to worry about that," said Raven. "I saw it to, and if those things were about to reform any time soon, I would have sensed it."

"According to my scanners, they certainly aren't in the tower anymore," said Cyborg. "Odds are, they're definitely dead," he then said before looking at Robin and saying, "I daresay your plan appears to have worked man."

Robin briefly found himself lost for words, wondering just what he could say that would truly sound appropriate for the current moment. "Apparently so," he eventually said. He looked at the other titans. "Nice work team." The other titans nodded, and mumbled statements of thanks.

"Umm," said Beast Boy. "So now that those demon thingies are dead, does that mean we can go back to sleep now?"

"Soon," said Robin as he walked on over to the security monitor positioned on the wall directly to the left of the two large sliding doors located to the side directly opposite from the windows. "But first we need to quickly take care of a few things."

"Like what?" Cyborg asked.

"Well for starters," Robin explained as he logged onto the security monitor, "We need to figure out why the security system didn't go off the second those demons entered the tower, or even stepped foot on the island."

Immediately after he said this, Robin managed to log on, and his eyes widened as he noticed a very surprising detail. "It's off."

"You mean something's wrong with it?" Cyborg asked.

"No," said Robin. "It's literally been turned off. Someone's deactivated it."

The other titans gathered around Robin and the security monitor. Sure enough, the entire security system for the tower had been deactivated.

Beast Boy gulped, and then stated, "Well I guess that explains why the alarms didn't go off when the demons got here."

"Wow, what gave it away?" Cyborg asked sarcastically.

"Well with that done, now the question is how it got turned off, and more importantly, who turned it off," said Raven.

"I certainly didn't turn it off," said Cyborg. "Heck, as far as I know, we haven't even touched anything remotely related to the tower's security functions once since we got back from Tokyo." Directly after saying this, he directed a look of suspicion towards Beast Boy from out of the corners of his eyes before stating, "Then again . . ."

"Dude," said Beast Boy, "whoever turned that off, it wasn't me. I may be a prankster, but turning off our own security system? That's low, even for me!"

Beast Boy then suddenly looked as if he'd just had an epiphany. "Heck, how do we even know it was turned off today?"

Robin thought to himself, and then pointed at Beast Boy before saying, "Good point, I'll go check."

"Oh come on Robin," said Cyborg. "You know Bee. If anyone had turned it off before she left today, she would have turned it back on. And I know for a fact that she definitely would have neither turned it off herself, nor allowed any of the Titans East boys to do so while they were staying here or before they left."

"I know Cyborg," said Robin. "But it's better to be safe than sorry." At that moment, he managed to access the activation/deactivation history menu on the monitor. "And yes, according to this, it was indeed turned off today."

The boy wonder squinted at the time that the security system had been turned off, and then turned his head to face Cyborg. "Cyborg, do you think you could access your internal clock and try to match the time this was deactivated to any particular event that occurred today?"

"Let me see," said Cyborg as he made his way over to take a look at the security monitor. He stared intently at the displayed recent time the security system had been deactivated, his facial expression making him look as if he were deep in thought. "Well, from what I can gather from comparing this to my internal clock data, the security was turned off at the exact time we started battling Johnny Rancid earlier today."

Robin thought to himself. "Hmm," he then said. "Same time as we were battling Johnny."

"In other words," said Raven. "Either this was a coincidence, or our battle with Johnny Rancid was a diversion to allow for someone else, likely a demon, to deactivate the security system."

"But how would anyone have even managed to get past the security system while we were gone fighting Johnny?" Beast Boy asked.

"It might not have been that hard if the culprit was one of those demons," said Raven. She looked at Beast Boy and said, "Remember how they were capable of taking on that smoke-like form? The security system based on the island outside the tower is ground based. In their smoke forms, the demons were capable of flying. They would have almost certainly have been more than capable of avoiding triggering the security system while it was still on by flying over it."

"That doesn't explain how a demon would have managed to get inside the tower," Robin stated.

"On the contrary," said Raven. "It does. In incorporeal form, demons are like ghosts. They are capable of going right through solid barriers and objects when in their smoke forms. In that form, any demon would have easily been capable of both flying out of reach of the security system and phasing right through the front door, roof top entrance, or even through one of the common room windows."

"Well if they can do that, then why turn off the security?" Cyborg asked.

"Unlike with ghosts," said Raven, "phasing through solid barriers costs demons energy. Odds are, the demons wanted to be at full strength when they got in the tower and attempted to kill us."

"How do you know all this?" Robin asked.

"I'm half demon," said Raven. "I have a more or less firm understanding of demonology. And I also have more than one book in my collection about the subject of demons and similar hellish and demonic topics."

"And you wait till now to tell us about all this?" Robin asked.

Beast Boy placed himself protectively between Robin and Raven, a glare on his face. "Lay her off Robin," he growled. "This attack caught her by surprise just as much as it did the rest of us. Heck, until tonight, Raven was the only one who even suspected that the ones we fought during that incident with her father weren't the only ones in existence. And besides, even before then, demons have rarely ever actively gotten involved with the affairs of the world of the living. Would you have expected them to go after us now?"

The other titans gaped at Beast Boy in surprise. They had never seen Beast Boy act so protective of Raven before. And they then realized that what Beast Boy said did make sense. "He does have a point," Cyborg said to Robin.

Robin gulped, hung his head, and then nodded. "You're right," he admitted. He looked at Beast Boy and Raven. "I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," said Raven.

"Well on that note," said Cyborg. "Your knowledge on demons could probably be useful in answering a few more questions Raven."

"Well that would depend on the questions, but with the current circumstances you're free to ask whatever questions needed at the moment," said Raven.

Robin was quick to take advantage of the opportunity, and he asked, "Those demons that just now tried to kill us tonight, is there any chance they were working on their own?"

"Highly unlikely," said Raven. "Demons may be vicious and evil, but they rarely ever act solely on a whim. The majority of the time, demons typically do their work while answering to someone else's orders."

"Well that water dude was the leader of the group that tried to kill us just now," said Beast Boy. "Do you think he was the one behind the whole thing?"

"No," said Raven. "He may have been the leader of that group, but from what I know of demonology, he was probably more of a sergeant than anything else. And on that same note, that group of demons we just killed was most likely just a small advance party. Odds are, there's a larger force of demons somewhere else that sent them here."

At the sound of this, Raven's fellow titans looked at each other nervously. "Um Raven," said Starfire. "If there is in fact a larger group of these things you call demons out there who sent the ones who just tried to kill us, would it be reasonable to assume that more of them shall now end up coming to the tower now that we've killed their advance party?"

Raven hung her head. "Sadly yes," she responded.

The titans looked each other in the eyes nervously again. "Well I hope you know of some ways to defend ourselves against them," said Robin. "Because I doubt we'll be able to pull off that stunt we used against the advance party earlier a second time."

"The books I read do indeed make mention of the weaknesses of demons and defenses against them," Raven responded.

"Can you tell us what they are?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven nodded. "There's holy water."

"How does that help?" Cyborg asked.

"Holy water is like acid to Abrahamic demons," Raven explained. "Apply it to their skin and it burns them like crazy."

Beast Boy whistled. "That's cool," he said.

"Indeed," said Robin. "But the question is, how would we get ahold of holy water? I highly doubt that the nearest church will let us borrow any."

"I have a rosary in my room," said Raven. "And I know a ritual that we can use to make holy water."

"I say we do it," said Cyborg. He clasped his metallic hands together, and then said, "Now we just need to decide on what water we should bless."

"Could we use the ocean surrounding our home?" Starfire asked.

"I wouldn't recommend that," said Raven. "The ocean's too large. I'm not entirely certain of the area of effect that would be formed from attempting to make holy water out of the ocean surrounding our island. And besides not only would it be a little difficult for me to get the rosary back out of the ocean, but any demons that come to visit in the future will more likely than not just fly right over the ocean and land on the island surface as opposed to in the ocean."

"Well what water do we have right here in the tower we could bless?" Robin asked.

"Oooh," Beast Boy said. "How about the sprinkler system? We've always got loads of water stored up for use in that! And it's right outside the tower!"

"That will work," said Cyborg.

"How would we get it to activate?" Robin asked.

Cyborg made a dismissive gesture. "Piece of cake," he said. "I still have that feature on it that I installed during me and BB's last prank war that allows it to be automatically turned on whenever someone walks through an invisible laser line that serves as a trigger."

Robin gaped at Cyborg in surprise. "Ok then," said the boy wonder. "In that case, go ahead and turn it on and we can have this holy water defense set up in no time. But before we do that, Raven, I want you to tell us every other weakness you know that we might be able to use for tonight and the future. I want as many defenses set up as possible just in case any future demon visitors manage to get past the holy water."

"Demons can't cross iron," said Raven. "Place it in their path, and it's like there's an invisible force making it physically impossible for them to step over it in their corporeal forms. In fact, they're even incapable of flying over it in their incorporeal forms."

"Got it," said Robin. "We can set up some iron bar boundaries around the base of the tower, the edges of the roof, and the windows. Anything else?"

"Devil's traps," said Raven. "When demons walk within one of these, they are unable to get out unless the trap is broken in any way. We can paint them on the ceilings and floors of the tower for in case they manage to get in. And for that matter, we can also place salt lines in front of the doors to each room. Lines of salt have a similar effect on demons as iron. In fact, if you throw salt in the face of a being that's possessed by one, the resulting pain is so powerful that it causes the demon to automatically eject itself from its host and turn back to its natural corporeal form afterward."

Robin nodded. "Good," he then said. "Alright team, let's get to work. We've got to fortify this tower as quickly as we can."

Beast Boy and Starfire raised their hands. Robin sighed, and then said, "Ok, I'll let you two ask your questions first. But after that, we need to hurry and get the tower set up for future demon visits."

Starfire nodded, and said to Raven, "Raven, I remember that Robin once told me that when he and Slade were searching for you while Trigon was here on Earth, he was able to kill a large group of the demons that work for Trigon with his sword. Would it perhaps be capable of killing these demons that now attack us?"

Raven looked at Robin with an inquisitive look on her face. She had not been told about this. Robin chuckled nervously, and proceeded to summon his sword by interlocking the 'wings' of his two appropriate birdirangs together. Raven examined it, and then nodded before handing the sword back to Robin and saying, "Yes, it appears that whoever forged this placed the necessary spells upon it that would allow for it to be capable of killing demons."

Cyborg whistled, and said to Robin, "Looks like we've got our very own secret weapon against them."

Robin grinned sheepishly, and then said, "Apparently so." He turned to look at Beast Boy and said, "What did you want to ask Raven?"

"Raven," said Beast Boy. "Considering how you're . . . well, you know . . . do these things you mentioned have the same effect on you as it does on regular demons?"

Raven shook her head side to side. "Not exactly," she replied. "While I'll admit that I haven't tested out the effects of holy water or salt on me, I have demonstrated the ability to cross iron, and have also proven capable of walking in and out of devil's traps without any trouble. Odds are, I'm not quite as vulnerable to these things because of how I'm not a pureblood demon."

Beast Boy nodded, looking relieved, and said, "That's good to hear."

He then looked at Robin and said, "Ok Rob, I'm done."

"Good," said Robin. "Now let's get to work. I want to have as many demon defense mechanisms set up as possible before any more demons come to visit. And we also still need to turn the security system back on. Once we're all set up, we can go right back to bed. Titans, move." In a flash, the titans spread out to start setting up their tower for future visits from demons.

**And just like that, another chapter comes to an end! What you guys think? Did you enjoy this? For that matter, what did you think about the battles in this chapter or the big reveal about what that shadowy thing from the previous chapter (not to mention the ominous mystery fourteen-eyed being from the prologue if you were paying a particularly large amount of attention) has turned out to be? Once again, I hope you guys all enjoyed this, and feel free to comment on all manner of elements in this chapter in your reviews. And let's not forget, I hope you very much look forward to when I post the next chapter in this story.**

**Coming up next: The next morning, thanks to the results of some quick thinking from Cyborg, the Titans have their hands full interrogating a large number of demons for the sake of figuring who sent them and why.**


	6. An Early Morning Interrogation

**Hey there everybody! I hope you're all ready for some more Teen Titanic awesomeness, because here is a brand new chapter! In this chapter, thanks to some resourceful thinking on the part of our favorite half robot, the titans find themselves interrogating a large group of demons for the sake of figuring out who sent them after the titans and why. Here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy (but it definitely wouldn't hurt for you to review).**

**Again, I do not own Teen Titans.**

**Now, on with the fic!**

**Chapter 5:**

**An Early Morning Interrogation**

The very next morning, at 8:15 sharp, the Titans were gathered together in the common room having their breakfast. Unlike most mornings, the five teenage heroes were surprisingly quiet as they had their breakfast this morning. Robin was eating a bagel, and had his usual coffee next to his plate as he also proceeded to do his daily newspaper reading at the same time he was eating his bagel. Starfire was calmly consuming her favorite sugary cereal from Earth, but sadly in her usual fashion of slurping it down instead of using a spoon. Beast Boy was calmly gnawing away at his freshly defrosted tofu waffles. Raven was calmly sipping her tea, making sure to take a bite of her toast every few minutes or so. And of course, Cyborg was heartily devouring his own non-tofu waffles. But over the course of the entire breakfast, not one of them bothered to mention the events that had unfolded the previous night.

After getting started on their work at setting up the tower for defense against future demon visits, Robin had managed to get the security system reactivated in no time flat before heading off to help each of his friends with the demon proofing. Raven had initiated the process of demon proofing by going to her room and retrieving the rosary she had before, then teaching the water blessing ritual to Beast Boy. The changeling had then proceeded to go over to where the sprinkler water was stored and perform the ritual. Cyborg had begun his part by activating the invisible laser trigger that would cause the sprinklers to automatically turn on, and then proceeded to help out the other four titans in placing iron bar boundaries around the base of the tower, the edges of the roof, and the windows of the tower. With the outer defenses set up, the titans had worked together in placing salt lines by the doors to each room and painting devil's traps at assorted locations on the ceiling and floors. With all the preparations out of the way, only then had the titans finally gone back to their rooms and resumed their sleep. Surprisingly enough, they'd managed to sleep soundly for the rest of the night without any further abrupt wake up calls.

Now, after five minutes passed the completion of their breakfast, Robin decided to finally break the silence and discuss what had happened. "Well," he said, "I daresay I'm pleasantly surprised that we didn't have to deal with anymore demons last night after setting up the defenses."

"Agreed," said Starfire. "I am most thankful that we didn't get woken up again by demon visitors last night."

"Do you think that maybe no demons came last night after we set up the defenses?" Cyborg asked.

"Either it was that," said Robin. "Or none of the demons that did come after that managed to get past the holy water and iron boundaries." He looked at Beast Boy and Raven. "What do you guys think?"

Raven shrugged, seemingly noncommittal to this matter. Beast Boy, however, appeared to be deep in thought. "Umm, Robin," he stated. "I was just now wondering, if any demons did happen to come last night after we finished setting up the defenses and none of them made it past the defenses, then how we are going to find out who sent them after us?"

At the sound of this, Starfire gulped and looked at Robin nervously, clearly now worried about this detail now that Beast Boy had brought it up. Raven also looked at Robin with her eyebrow raised. Robin found himself cursing to himself in his mind. "Darn it," he thought to himself. "Why didn't I think of that?"

But then Cyborg said, "No need to worry. I've got that taken care of."

The other Titans looked at Cyborg. "How?" Robin asked.

Cyborg chuckled, walked over to one of the nearby computers, and said, "I'll show you."

The other Titans followed, and after they'd all taken positions by the computer, Cyborg proceeded to activate the security video footage, and then access one of the individual cameras. When the feedback from the chosen camera went full-screen, the other Titans were shocked to see that not only was the footage of a storage room located under the ground of the island past even the hangar and basement that had previously always been empty, but that the same room was now filled with a large seething and raging mass of demons that appeared to be contained within a massive devil's trap that had been painted across almost the entire floor.

As the other Titans gaped in shock at the large sea of demons contained within the massive devil's trap, Cyborg said, "As you can see, we have an entire Noah's Ark load of demons to interrogate."

"Cyborg," said Robin. "How did you manage do this?"

"Easy enough," said Cyborg. "I painted the trap in that area while you guys were busy painting traps on the ceilings and floors higher up. And as for how the demons got there, these are what I used." Upon saying the word 'these,' Cyborg pressed a button, and in a flash, what appeared to be large laser pistols jutted out from the undersides of the two horizontal 'arms' of Titans Tower and pointed at assorted areas around the island.

At the sight of the stunned look on Robin's face, Cyborg further explained, "I designed these babies last night. While battling the five demons that managed to get inside the tower last night, I managed to scan a complete sequence of their DNA, and I entered that data into the system. The scanners were updated to be capable of scanning for the pureblood DNA I scanned. The scanners detect an exact match of this DNA, and therefore a demon, these guns are designed to automatically come out into position and start firing. And the best part is, they're designed to fire zeta beams, so the moment the demons get blasted, they get teleported straight to the location I entered in the coordinates for, which in this case, is the storage area where I painted that big huge devil's trap."

After hearing this explanation, even Raven seemed vaguely impressed by what Cyborg had done. Robin eventually managed to say, "Cyborg. You are a genius."

"I have my moments," said Cyborg.

Robin then grinned, turned his head to face the other Titans, and said, "Well in that case, get ready team. We have an interrogation to make."

. . . . .

The large crowd of trapped demons were still milling around wildly within the giant devil's trap when the five teenage heroes entered the gigantic storage facility where they were currently being kept in. At the sight of them all, Robin whistled silently. Only now, with the entire crowd of demons directly in front of him as opposed to on a video screen, did he truly realize just how many demons Cyborg had managed to trap with his ingenious gadgetry the previous night. In fact, Robin had a feeling that it was a miracle that there'd been enough room within even the huge devil's trap in the room to contain them all.

Then Robin noticed another detail that only confirmed how lucky he and the other Titans were that Cyborg's massive devil's trap had worked. For not only were there countless black, blue, green, yellow, and red demons raging around on the ground, but there was also a likewise large number of purple scaled and eyed demons flying around in the air with taloned eagle-like feet, purple feathered wings in the places where all the other demons' arms were located, tufts of purple feathers at the ends of their tails and on the tops of their heads, and serrated beak-like mouths. Robin gulped at the sight of this, for if the amount of demons currently contained in the devil's trap had proven so large that all the flying demons had been forced to take to the air in order for there to be enough room, then he didn't even want to know the possibilities that could have occurred if there had been more demons than the devil's trap was potentially capable of containing.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Now's not the time for random thoughts," he thought to himself. "I need to have my game face on and my mind clearly focused for when I interrogate these things."

Taking on the most serious and emotionless facial expression he could muster, Robin determinedly walked right up to the devil's trap border that was closest in proximity to the doorway that led from the anteroom to the storage room. As their leader made his way over towards the demons, the other Titans remained standing next to a faucet-like area that connected to a large underground tank of reserve water. Each of them was holding a goblet that they'd recently filled to the brim with said water, and was watching intently as they waited for the business they'd come for to begin. After taking on a firm standing position about one foot away from the boundary of the devil's trap, Robin glared at the massive crowd of demons and yelled, "Silence!"

At the sound of the boy wonder's commanding shout, every single one of the demons seething around in the devil's trap went silent and turned their heads to directly face him and the other Titans. Robin snarled, pointed directly at the demons, and hissed, "Alright, you little fiends, I hope you're listening, because I don't want any funny business from you today. Last night, five of your compatriots invaded my home and tried to kill me and my friends. This attack against us will not go unanswered, and the only reason you lot haven't already followed in the footsteps of your little advance party by now is because I need answers, and you're the only ones conveniently available who can give me the ones I want. You got that?"

The demons snarled, but grudgingly nodded their heads up and down.

Robin took one step forward, leaning forward with his glare still on his face. "Good," the boy wonder growled. "Now before we get started, who among you is the leader?" The demons growled and hissed in response.

Robin narrowed his eyes, appeared to closely gaze at the demons, and then abruptly drew out his sword and slashed it across the chest of a black demon standing directly in front of him. The demon had just enough time to let out an inhuman scream of pain before it exploded into dust. The remaining demons let out a unified hiss of fright and shock and backed up as far as the invisible barrier produced by the power of the devil's trap containing them would allow, clearly surprised and now wary of the fact that at least one of their captors had a weapon capable of killing them.

Robin pointed his sword at the demons again, and then yelled, "You see this?! With this blade, I am perfectly capable of killing you all; and believe me, this isn't the first time I've used this sword to kill one of your kin either! And since you aren't legally protected against being killed, I will gladly kill you all if I have to! Understand!?" The demons gulped, and nodded as if to say 'yes.'

"Good," said Robin. He retracted his sword, pointed his finger at the demons once again, and yelled, "Whichever one of you is the leader, show yourself now!"

In a flash, a sudden disturbance appeared to occur among the demons within the very center of the devil's trap, and a large stream of blood red smoke rose up from the ground-based crowd before gliding around in circles through the air like an air-born snake.

Robin's eyes narrowed. "I'm guessing that's the leader," he thought to himself. He pointed at the red smoke and yelled, "Alright, now take up a position so that I can see you clearly. As leader of the Teen Titans, I want to talk directly to you, face-to-face."

The other demons promptly began to move and jostle each other around as they struggled to make sure that there was enough room for their leader to take up a position directly in front of the masked boy in the traffic-light themed costume. No sooner had the demons all managed to clear up an empty space just big enough for the tip of the smoke stream to touch down on, when the blood red smoke that their leader had become proceeded to rear up like a snake and then slam itself head first on to the empty space. It reverted back to its corporeal form directly after landing, revealing a blood red demon.

The red demon straightened up to full standing height, and directed its red eyes straight at Robin's mask covered ones, an emotionless glare on its face very similar to Robin's own commanding and poker-faced glare. The demon snarled, gave a slight grudging nod of respect, and said, "I am Carnax! Captain of the Theta Squadron of the 13th Infernal Legion, at your service!"

Upon introducing himself, Carnax bowed, a very slow motion designed to be an insulting gesture. Robin showed no sign of being phased by the insult, and gave a slight nod of his head before saying, "Alright Carnax, as I've already mentioned, my team and I have important questions that need answers, and you and your squadron of warriors are the only ones currently available who can give me those answers. Now we're going to either do this the easy way or the hard way."

A wolfish grin crossed the crimson demon's face, and it chuckled arrogantly before derisively hissing, "You dare think it to be even remotely possible for one such as you to get any demon, much less me, to tell you our secrets?"

Robin's eyes narrowed beneath his mask. "I don't think that," Robin growled. "I know."

All the other demons gathered around behind Carnax 'oohed' and looked each other in the eyes with spunky looks in their eyes as if to say 'feisty.' Carnax chuckled, raised his eyebrow, and said, "A very healthy sense of self-esteem I see."

Robin said nothing, and the demon chuckled before shaking its head side to side and saying, "But nonetheless, I sure as my kin's domain won't be telling you anything just on your say so."

Robin snarled soundlessly, and stated, "Hard way it is then." He turned his head to face Cyborg who was standing behind Robin alongside Beast Boy and the girls, and said, "You know what to do."

Cyborg nodded, walked up to Robin's position, and then proceeded to splash the water in his goblet directly on Carnax's face. Carnax howled in shock and agony as acrid red smoke began to waft off of his face as if it were burning. His underlings reared back in shock, for they'd once again been taken by surprise.

Cyborg smirked, lifted up his now empty goblet so that it was in clear sight of all the demons, and said, "That's right ya'll! As you can see, we've come prepared. That reserve water tank you see the faucet for right here in this room, we made sure to have its contents blessed earlier this morning right before we entered this room. Therefore, we're more than capable of making things pretty painful for you if you don't answer our questions."

Robin nodded in agreement with Cyborg, looked back at Carnax, and then said, "Perhaps now you're willing to talk?"

Carnax growled at Robin, his red eyes filled with fury, and stated, "Do your worst boy blunder; I guarantee you will not get a thing out of me or my soldiers!"

"Have it your way then," said Robin. He turned his head to Raven and said, "Raven, let him have it."

Raven proceeded to levitate her goblet of holy water directly over Carnax's head and then cause it to flip upside down, spilling the contents right on top of him. The sound of Carnax's agonized howling filled the air immediately afterward.

. . . . .

One hour later, Robin was forced to grudgingly admit that demons definitely weren't the easiest to get to talk. For the last hour, the Titans and demons had found themselves in a seemingly never-ending cycle that went along the lines of Robin asking Carnax either if he was willing to talk or one of the questions he hoped to gain the answer to if the demons did finally crack, Carnax making an insulting, sarcastic or likewise uncooperative comment, and each of the other four Titans taking a turn spraying Carnax in the face with holy water in their own unique way. Cyborg had simply thrusted his goblet so that the contents went flying into Carnax's face whenever it had become time for his turn at torturing. Whenever it had been Raven's turn, the dark sorceress had levitated her goblet and flipped it upside down directly over Carnax's head. Beast Boy's turns at torture had consisted of him gulping his entire goblet's worth of holy water into his mouth, turning into an elephant, and spouting it all from his trunk into Carnax's face. As for Starfire, her form of holy water torture had involved her forcing Carnax's jaws open and pouring the contents of her goblet down his throat.

Now, Robin was almost positive that the large underground tank of holy water was half empty now, and still Carnax seemed as if he could last for entire centuries of torture. Carnax chuckled, his wolfish grin back on his face as his most recent holy water torture session finally wore off, and said, "I will admit, you certainly aren't one to give up easily, but your current efforts at torturing me into revealing the secrets of our current plans are an exercise in futility. We'd sooner sing hymns in praise of Heaven before telling you our secrets. Sooner or later, my warriors and I will escape from this trap somehow, and we will flay you and your friends alive, starting from the toes and working our way up to the tops of your heads."

Robin's eyes narrowed, and he then hissed, "Well I can assure you that it will take far less time for me to get you to crack then it will for you and your army to escape that trap." He turned around, looked back at Carnax, and said, "But for now, you get to have a reprieve. I have some things to discuss right now with my teammates. But I warn you, when we get back in here, the torture will be recommenced immediately, and it will be much more brutal."

Carnax chuckled, licked his chops as if he were hungry, and said, "I look forward to it." The other demons chuckled in agreement, the poison demons even hissing like snakes while they chuckled.

Robin, showing no signs of emotion, turned his head away from Carnax to face the other Titans, and then said, "Meeting in the anteroom of this level, now." Upon saying this, the boy wonder exited the storage room, closely followed by the other titans. Beast Boy in particular seemed rather eager to go back into the anteroom, not to mention still very squeamish and nauseous after hearing what Carnax had said about flaying him and the other Titans alive. Raven, however, briefly stopped long enough to use her powers to paint what appeared to be some form of ancient runes on both the doors to the chamber and the wall the doors were located on before exiting the storage chamber herself.

Seconds after Raven joined her teammates in the anteroom, the large sliding doors to the storage chamber closed. "You wanted to discuss something with us?" Raven asked.

Robin lifted his finger as if to say 'hold it,' and then asked, "Before I get started, what did you just do before you came in here?"

"I placed some ancient Azarathian silencing runes on the wall and doors," Raven responded. "Apply these runes to any surface, and all noise that occurs on the side opposite the ones with the runes on them will be incapable of being heard by anyone or anything on the sides with the runes. In other words, we now won't have to worry about anyone eavesdropping on this meeting."

The other Titans nodded their heads with impressed looks on their faces. "Well, that's certainly useful," said Robin. He then clapped his hands together as if signaling the beginning of a meeting and said, "Well with that out of the way, let's discuss the original reason for this meeting." The other Titans listened carefully. Robin took a deep breath, exhaled in a weary sigh, and said, "I hate to say this, but I have a feeling that we're going to need to rethink our strategy in this interrogation. At this rate, we'll all be 100 years old by the time we get these demons to crack." The other Titans nodded and mumbled in agreement. With their current nonexistent rate of success, they definitely needed to come up with a different way to torture the demons sufficiently enough to get them to answer their questions.

"If any of you have any ideas we could attempt, speak now," said Robin.

The other Titans thought to themselves. "Well you do have your sword," said Raven.

Robin shook his head. "I doubt that will work. I don't know how, but I have a feeling that threat of death or severe injuries won't be enough to get that demon to talk. Heck, those things would probably welcome it."

Raven shrugged, for she hadn't truly expected this idea to be accepted as the new strategy.

"Maybe Raven could talk to them or read their minds," Cyborg suggested.

"How would my talking to them be any more effective?" Raven asked.

"Well he does have a point," said Robin. "You are half demon, no offense. I think that Cyborg's trying to say that the demons might be more willing to talk to you since you are related to one of their kin. And if that fails, you could always use mind reading."

Raven shook her head. "While not a bad idea, I'm afraid neither of those suggestions will work," said Raven. "For starters, demons usually tend to not have very high opinions of demons from other forms of Hell, and since I'm half Trigonian demon and these ones are all Luciferian, odds are they would be more likely to spit at my feet then talk to me. And in fact, they'd be even less likely to treat me with respect since I'm only half demon and they're all purebloods, pure being a relative term. And as for mind reading, while they are capable of reading minds themselves, they are also immune to getting their own minds read by others."

"Perhaps we could offer to set them free?" Starfire asked. "It would certainly be the last thing they'd expect and it might surprise them into telling us what we want to know."

Robin shook his head. "I'm sorry Star, but while I do understand your reasoning, I doubt that would work. Deals with demons rarely ever end well, and I have a feeling that more likely than not, they'd ask us to free them first and then kill us the second the trap is broken." At the sight of Starfire hanging her head sadly in apparent shame, Robin said, "But still, good try."

As one, they all looked at Beast Boy, who now appeared to be in surprisingly deep thought. "Well," he then said. "I'm not entirely sure if this will work, but I was just now thinking about how rarely demons ever actually make physical appearances on Earth and wreak havoc. You've gotta admit that is true."

Robin nodded in agreement, and then said, "Indeed; and you're mentioning this why?"

"Well," said Beast Boy, "with that in mind, since this is very likely the first time these demons have gotten to walk the Earth in who knows how long, they're probably considering their current time here on Earth their own equivalent of a vacation."

Robin thought to himself. "Hmm, I guess I can see what you mean. But how is this going to help us?"

Beast Boy grinned, clasped his hands together so that his fingers intertwined, and said, "Well since this is hypothetically a vacation for the demons and they've likely not been out here on Earth for very long, who among you is willing to bet that they're not all that keen on returning home at any time in the near future?"

Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg looked very much confused after hearing all this. Raven, however, only looked confused for about five seconds before it abruptly hit her. "I think," said Raven, "that Beast Boy's trying to say that maybe we should threaten to exorcise them."

Upon hearing this, Robin and Cyborg promptly realized that this suggestion actually did match up with what Beast Boy appeared to be talking about. "Hmm, an exorcism threat could actually work," said Robin. "Alright then, we'll give it a shot."

"Please," said Starfire. "What exactly is this exorcism of which you speak?"

"It's a ritual that's used to banish demons from the mortal realm and send them back to Hell," said Raven.

Starfire raised her eyebrows in confusion. "What is this Hell place?"

The other Titans looked each other in the eyes awkwardly, not entirely certain as to how to explain this to the Tamaranean girl. Eventually, Robin took a deep breath, looked directly at Starfire, and asked, "Star, do your kin have a concept of the afterlife?"

Starfire nodded. "Indeed. My people believe that when we die, the souls of the virtuous and likewise good Tamaraneans travel to M'ngwarl, the palace of our goddess X'hal, where they live in eternal bliss and happiness."

"What happens to the bad ones?" Beast Boy asked.

Starfire shuddered, looked down at her feet, and said, "A fate far worse than ceasing to exist. On my planet, it is believed that the souls of the evil are sent down to the dark and terrifying realm of Dahak, where they are eternally mauled and ravaged by the savage and bloodthirsty thirteen-headed fire serpent, Ahz'rogha."

Robin gulped, lifted up his finger as if about to make a point, and said, "Well Star, that realm you just described called Dahak, that's basically the Tamaranean equivalent of Hell."

Starfire gulped, and involuntarily shivered as she found her mind abruptly filled with nightmarish images.

Cyborg, ever the big brother figure, decided to get things moved away from the matters of what Hell was, and said, "So in other words, you think that the potential for us abruptly terminating their vacation when it's barely even begun might get them to talk?"

Beast Boy shrugged, spread his hands out to his sides, and said, "It might, I mean, I'd be pretty pissed off if my vacation were to be unfairly cut short. For all we know, these demons might feel the same way about their time outside Hell."

"Then that settles it," said Robin as he clasped his hands together. "Raven, do you have any books on how to exorcise demons?"

Raven smirked. "Thought you'd never ask."

**And just like that, another chapter over! I hope you guys all enjoyed this, leave a healthy bunch of reviews, and will be looking forward to the next chapter! Till then, this is A-LionGleek signing out.**

**Coming up next: The titans resume their interrogation, but this time with a far more powerful threat (aka. an exorcism) at the ready. Will there new powerful trick be enough to get the demons to talk? Find out next chapter! ^_^**


	7. The Exorcism

**Hey ya'll! I hope you're ready for yet more awesomeness, because here's a brand new chapter! In this chapter in the lives of our favorite teenage superheroes, the titans resume their efforts at torturing their demon captives into revealing who sent them to kill the titans and why. But this time, they have a brand new tactic up their sleeve (namely, an exorcism) that will hopefully prove much more effective at getting the demons to talk. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so! ^_^**

**To remind you guys once more, I do not own Teen Titans. Also, the exorcism rite used in this chapter is borrowed from the hit TV series, Supernatural. And with that out of the way, onward with the fic!**

**Chapter 6:**

**The Exorcism**

At the sound of the doors opening up, Carnax directed his head to face that direction in time to see the Titans walk back into the room. With a wolfish grin on his face, he said, "I see that you still yet choose to continue your useless endeavor."

"You could say that," said Robin. "But this time, we have a far more effective form of torture planned."

Carnax chuckled, bowed his head in an insulting gesture, and then said, "Well bring it on, bird boy. We're all trembling with anticipation." The other demons hissed and jeered in agreement.

Robin made a smug grin back at the demons, and then said, "As you wish." He turned to the other Titans and winked at Raven. In a flash, Raven drew out a large book from her cloak.

At the sight of the book, Carnax raised his eyebrow. "A little early for you to be reading us bedtime stories, don't you think?" he derisively asked.

"It certainly isn't for us to be reading this kind of story," said Robin. "Raven, you're free to begin."

Raven proceeded to open the book she was holding, hold it up to her face, and slowly read out loud, "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus."

As Raven said these words, the demon's eyes widened in horror as they realized too late what Raven was now reading. And even if they hadn't heard these words before, the slight feeling of nausea that was now starting to develop in their throats and deep within their stomachs was more than enough proof for them to know what Raven was doing.

Carnax looked straight at Robin with an incredulous look on his crimson dragon-like face. "An exorcism?" he hissed. "Seriously?"

"Yep," said Robin. "Since you and your army wouldn't cooperate and answer our questions like nice little demons, we decided to just send you all home and try our luck with someone else."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Carnax yelled, clearly horrified and surprised now. "Do you have any idea how rarely me and my kin get to leave Hell and walk the Earth freely? We only just got here yesterday and we haven't even been here for a full 24 Earth hours yet!" The other demons growled, hissed, and squawked in agreement with a similar fearful tone.

Robin made a tongue clicking noise as if to say 'tut, tut,' and then said, "Well, it's either you answer our questions," before gesturing towards Raven and continuing, "or your vacation comes to a premature end."

At the same time that this brief conversation occurred between Robin and Carnax, Raven continued calmly reading, "Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica."

Robin lifted his hand as if to signal Raven to stop, and she stopped reading the exorcism. The boy wonder looked at the demons and calmly asked, "Perhaps now you're willing to talk?"

Carnax growled, and responded, "You are clever, I will admit to that, but it will take much more than just one verse of an exorcism to get me or my men to answer your questions."

Robin grinned. "I'm happy to hear that," he stated. "Because this little 'bedtime story' as you put it is just starting to get good." He turned his head back to Raven and said, "Continue."

"Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te. Cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare."

As Raven read this verse, the demons started shaking and acting as if they were fighting not to vomit. Right as Raven said the last word of that verse, Carnax abruptly bent over and growled. Robin had Raven stop reading the exorcism and leaned forward to see if the demon was now willing to talk.

"Why are you here?" Robin asked.

Carnax snarled, "Kiss my backside!"

Robin shook his head side to side, looked back at Raven, and said, "Continue."

"Vade, Satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae, hostis humanae salutis. Humiliare sub potenti manu dei, contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine, quem inferi tremunt."

This time, Carnax opened his mouth and howled in agony as if the sound of the words Raven was reading were now causing him physical pain. Robin had Raven stop reading the exorcism, leaned over to Carnax and asked, "Will you answer our questions now?"

"Up yours," Carnax growled.

"Wrong answer," said Robin. He turned back to Raven. "Continue," he barked.

"Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus

omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica."

Robin, the other titans, and even the other demons were caught completely by surprise when Carnax started laughing after Raven finished reading this verse. Raven didn't even need Robin to signal for her to stop reading this time. Carnax eventually managed to finish laughing, point at Raven, and look at Robin with a half fearful and half insanely happy look on his face before saying, "Do you seriously expect this to work?!"

Robin shook his head in disapproval, looked back at Raven, and said, "Continue."

Raven looked back down at the page she had her exorcism book opened up to, and continued, "Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te. Cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare."

"Stop!" Carnax yelled with his right hand raised as if to ward off a blow. Robin gave his hand signal, and Raven stopped reading. With the exorcism now paused directly before the final verse, the titans looked intently at the demons "Stop," Carnax hissed in an almost pleading tone. "You win, you win! I'll talk! Just don't read the last verse!"

"You swear on that?" Robin asked.

"Yes," Carnax howled. "On Lucifer's crown! Just tell me what you want and I'll do it!"

Robin looked to Raven, who nodded, and stated, "He's telling the truth."

Robin nodded, looked back at Carnax, and pointed at him and the other demons before saying, "Alright Carnax, here's what I want. All you have to do is answer a few questions, and you and your army can get out of that devil's trap."

"Fine," Carnax said compliantly. "Ask away!" The other demons nodded hurriedly in agreement, desperate to avoid getting exorcised and having their first vacation in millennia terminated.

Cyborg whistled, looked over at Beast Boy, and said, "Looks like your plan worked BB."

Beast Boy chuckled, clasped his hands together on the back of his head the way Sora from Kingdom Hearts often did, and then said, "What can I say? I have my moments every now and then." Raven rolled her eyes at the sound of that comment, but said nothing else.

Robin took a deep breath, exhaled, and then asked, "Alright Carnax, here's my first question. How are you and your army now here on Earth instead of in Hell?"

"We were summoned," Carnax responded instantly.

Robin nodded. "I had a feeling that would be the answer. Alright then, who summoned you?"

"Two men," said Carnax. "Not quite mortal, but still capable of being sent to the afterlife."

"Can you describe these two men in further detail?"

"Yes, one of them was very bulky and muscular. He looked like a warrior from the days in which your kind lived in caves and hunted woolly mammoths but was dressed up in more or less modern day cloths. He had long hair, and he had scars all over his face as if something had slashed its claws across it."

Robin held up his hand to indicate for Carnax to stop talking. The demon paused in his speech, and Robin turned his head to face the other titans. "That man he just described, does he sound familiar to any of you?"

The other Titans shook their heads in the negative. "I'm pretty sure I would have remembered seeing a caveman-like villain if we'd ever encountered one," said Beast Boy.

Robin thought to himself, and reluctantly decided that indeed the Titans had not encountered such a person. Yet for some reason, he had a feeling that this person the demon had described sounded vaguely familiar. Deciding to file this information for later, he looked back at Carnax and said, "What about the other man? You said there were two who summoned you and your army."

Carnax thought to himself, grimaced, and then said, "Well, I can't say for sure just what he looked like. He wouldn't take off his mask."

"A mask," said Robin. "Can you describe that?"

"Yes," said Carnax. "It was black on one side and orange on the other. The orange side was the only one that had an eye hole on it. It made him look like he had only one eye. Does that help?"

Robin nodded, looked over at the other Titans, and then said, "Him we definitely find familiar."

Beast Boy and Cyborg mumbled in agreement, Raven closed her eyes and nodded slightly, and Starfire proceeded to look slightly to her left with a depressed look on her face as if she felt saddened by the thought of who the man the demon had described sounded like. No one needed to even say the name. They had a feeling that this man with the one eyed mask that had just now been described by their demon prisoner was their arch nemesis, Slade himself.

Robin nodded his head as if resigning himself to the information he'd now gathered, and then looked back at Carnax before saying, "Why did you come here to attack us?"

Carnax glared, and then stated, "Don't you think the answer to that's . . ."

At the sight of Robin turning his head and raising up his hand as if about to signal Raven to resume her reading of the exorcism, Carnax extended his hand out as if to stop with a terrified look on his face and yelled, "We were sent here to kill you!"

"That's more like it," said Robin. He looked back at Carnax and asked, "Why were you sent here to kill me and my friends?"

Carnax took a couple deep breathes, and eventually managed to say, "Our king, Lucifer, is currently in a partnership of sorts with the two men who summoned us, and he says that with their help, we could be on the verge of a breakthrough that could allow every single one of us to exit Hell without fail and conquer the Earth so that we can have an even easier time of attempting to allow his Malevolence to leave Hell himself earlier than foretold."

As Robin was about to ask how this information had anything to do with any need for him and the other Titans to be killed, Carnax continued, "According to what the long haired one said, his Malevolence won't give him and the man with the one-eyed mask the information they need to help him unless they arrange for an early trip to the afterlife for a team of heroes that serve the cause of his Malevolence's father and brothers. Apparently, his Malevolence thought that you would be the ideal choice."

Beast Boy whistled, looked over at Raven, and then whispered, "I'm not sure if I should feel honored that Lucifer thought us worthy of fighting against his soldiers, or insulted by how easy of a target he appears to have thought we would be."

"Good question," Raven droned.

Satisfied with this answer, Robin asked, "This information you mentioned that the two men who summoned you wanted, can you tell me what it is?"

Carnax shook his head. "I don't know what that information is."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure about that?" he asked with his voice clearly threatening to have Raven resume her reading of the exorcism.

"Yes, honest," Carnax howled. "I don't know. And neither do my men!"

"And how would that be possible?" Robin asked. "You're demons. Surely you know everything your precious king, Lucifer, has up his sleeve."

Carnax sighed, hung his head, and said, "There are some things that his Malevolence only shares with the five members of his inner circle. Whatever this information the men who summoned us want to know is, it is one such thing; and I'm only a captain. I just do as I'm told. Eviscerate first, and ask questions later. That's the code for us minor demons." The other demons gathered around behind Carnax nodded their heads in agreement, their eyes all closed.

Robin thought to himself, and then asked, "Is there anyone you know who could tell us what this information is?"

Carnax nodded. "Not very many. The best choices I know are for you to either ask one of the men who summoned us, one of the five members of our master's inner circle, or his Malevolence himself. And I doubt either of them will be all that keen on telling you."

"Hmm," said Robin. After a few minutes passed, he nodded, and then said, "Very well then. That takes care of all my questions for now." He turned his head to Raven, and then said, "Finish it."

At the sound of this, the eyes of the demons widened in shock and horror. "What?!" Carnax roared.

"You heard me," Robin growled, a glare on his face showing through his mask, and said, "Now that you've answered all our questions, it's time for you all to go now."

"You said you would let us out!" Carnax snarled. The other demons growled in agreement.

Robin raised his eyebrow. "Oh really?" he asked. "Last time I checked, I said that you'd be getting out of the trap. I didn't say anything about actually releasing you from it and letting you back out into the world of the living."

Carnax hissed, and then yelled, "Why you little swine!"

"I'd be careful if I were you," said Robin, his tone indicating how very close Carnax now was to getting a demon killing sword thrusted through his chest. "And besides, you should really be considering this to be a favor. After all, considering both how you've now failed to complete your mission and how my teammates and I have now learned very important information about your plans, you're going to need to inform your superiors as soon as possible. With that in mind, exorcising you will allow you to speed your way right back to home base."

Carnax and the majority of the other demons snarled in fury upon hearing this. The only exception was a single blue demon who appeared to be deep in thought. "He does have a point," the blue demon then stated.

"You idiot," roared a black demon standing right next to the blue demon who'd just spoken. "Whose side are you on?!" The other demons howled and roared in agreement with their comrade and they all proceeded to rush over towards the offending water demon as if about to beat it up.

"ENOUGH!" Carnax roared. The other demons turned their heads to face their leader. Carnax growled, and yelled, "Have you lost your minds?! I thought I trained you better than this! Have you forgotten that while you are right now about to squabble like younglings, we are in a far more dire situation?!" The other demons gulped, hung their heads, and proceeded to dejectedly get themselves back into a more orderly position.

Carnax snarled, turned his head to face the titans once more, and then stated, "I don't care what you had in mind when you said you'd allow us out of this trap, but you will release us right here in this tower now!"

"Or what!" Robin yelled. "Last time I checked, you're the ones stuck inside a demonic roach motel with your powers on timeout!" Carnax snarled irritably upon hearing this. "And besides," Robin then shouted. "Considering what happened to your advance party last night, you're getting off lightly! I could have just now gone ahead and drawn out my sword and killed you all right now! But instead, I'm letting you live long enough to be exorcised back to Hell so you can have a higher chance of informing your superiors about the current situation more quickly!"

Upon shouting this, Robin turned his head to Raven once again, and commandingly growled, "Finish it."

Raven glanced at the exorcism, then looked back up from it, her face now showing that she wasn't sure what to do.

Robin glared at Raven, his eyes narrowing, and then hissed, "Raven, that's an order."

Raven glanced at the demons, and then looked at Robin before saying, "Are you really sure about this? We are technically welching on them."

Robin groaned, grabbed his hair with his hands, and then stated, "Raven, exorcising them won't be breaking our part of the bargain. I said that if they answered our questions, then I'd allow them to get out of that trap, and exorcising them will indeed allow them to get out of the devil's trap."

"I'm serious Robin," said Raven. "It really might not be a good idea for us to just take on a technicality like this. If we don't follow through properly on this deal, then we'd be no better than them."

Robin sighed in irritation, glared at Raven with his fists clenched and his face blank and emotionless, and then proceeded to grit his teeth and tensely growl, "Finish. The. Exorcism."

Raven still seemed uncertain. Fortunately, before Robin could further lose his temper, Beast Boy then said, "Do it Raven. It's better for us to just exorcise them now then for us to release them from the trap right now and allow them the chance to cause further havoc."

Raven turned her head to face Beast Boy. "Beast Boy," said Raven. "I mean what I say. If we fulfill our part of the bargain we currently have with them on only a technicality, then we're no better than them."

"Well we'd be a whole lot worse than them if we allowed them to continue to walk the Earth and cause trouble for people when we could have prevented them from doing so by sending them straight back to Hell after having finished obtaining all the information we could get from them," Beast Boy responded.

"Oh you wouldn't have to worry about that," Carnax hissed. "Trust me, if you were to break this trap and allow us to be released back into freely wandering through your world, you won't live to regret it."

Robin's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the demons from out of the corner of his eyes. Cyborg examined a voice stress analyzer he had built into his arm, and then looked up from it before saying in an almost surprised tone, "He's telling the truth."

"I can sense that," said Raven.

Beast Boy nodded. "I know Raven. I do to. But my animal instincts are also saying that what he means is that he and his men will kill us so quickly that we won't even realize what's happening until we're already dead. Trust me Raven, my animal instincts are never wrong."

Raven sighed, looked at Beast Boy, and then said harshly, "Well if that's true, then how come you never seem to actually follow them?" Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg gaped at Raven in shock at the scathing comment they'd just heard. The demons also looked briefly surprised, but then a majority of them had sickening grins come on their faces.

Beast Boy took a deep breath as if trying to keep his temper from exploding, exhaled, and then said, "You'd be surprised at how often I do follow my instincts, Ra_ven_." He then looked back up in Raven's eyes with a slight glare on his face. "Contrary to your belief, I rarely ever disobey my instincts. In fact, the few times I've ever done so that haven't involved my efforts at getting you to smile or laugh, I've almost always ended up regretting it. The only times I've ever done so without regretting it are my ritualistic efforts at getting you to laugh or even smile; heck, the only animal whose even in open support of those efforts is the Beast, and you know I'd never follow _his_ suggestions unless it's truly worth it."

Raven and the other Titans were briefly surprised. Then Raven's glare came back on her face, and she folded her arms across her chest with the book still in her clutches before saying, "Well, name one incident where you truly did regret not following your instincts."

Beast Boy took a deep breath with his eyes closed, exhaled, and then opened his eyes back up to look directly at Raven before calmly stating, "I ignored what they said about Terra before she betrayed us."

For five seconds, Raven and the other Titans didn't quite grasp the meaning of what Beast Boy said. But then the full import of his words struck them, and they gaped at him in surprise. Raven in particular looked as if she'd just been slapped in the face. Even the demons now looked stunned speechless. Beast Boy sighed, hung his head, and then said "Yes, you heard correctly. In between the time Terra first ran away from us after Robin accidentally framed me for revealing her then secret and the time she betrayed us and revealed her allegiance to Slade, my instincts were roaring at me that she wasn't to be trusted. But I didn't listen to them. I didn't want to believe them; that's how much I loved her back then. But when all the animals in my mind turned out to have been correct all along that time, you wouldn't believe how much I hated myself."

The changeling took a deep breath, exhaled, and then said "This time, I cannot ignore my instincts, and believe me, neither can the rest of you. The cost this time, would be far too high for any of us to ever hope to afford." He looked at Raven, sighed, and then said, "You know what the right thing to do in this situation is Raven. Do what Robin says. Finish it."

For a few more minutes, Raven continued to gape at Beast Boy in stunned silence. Then she gulped, hung her head, and then looked back at the demons. At the sight of the now very sheepish grins on the faces of the demons, the sorceress's eyes narrowed. "He's right," she thought to herself. "Exorcising them is the right thing for us to do."

Now hard-eyed and determined, Raven raised the book back up so that the exorcism she was using was once again within her eyesight, and then began to read the final verse. And at the same time the demons were all snarling, growling, and seething around in rage as they furiously tried to somehow break themselves out of the devil's trap, Raven calmly read, "Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire te rogamus, audi nos."

"NO!" the demons howled in despair as their heads involuntarily jerked back, their mouths snapped open, and what appeared to be jets of smoke that matched their respective colors came rocketing upwards from their mouths towards the ceiling. And as the smoke came close to coming into contact with the ceiling, a gigantic portal of shadows appeared out of nowhere in the air and the smoke flowed into it. For the next few minutes, the smoke continued to spout up from the demons' mouths and into the portal. After what seemed like an eternity, the bodies of the demons seemed to collapse into smoke as well before joining up with the smoke streams that had been rocketing upwards from their mouths and flowing completely into the portal, which then closed and vanished seconds later, leaving nothing but a gigantic empty devil's trap.

After what seemed like an eternity, Cyborg broke the awkward silence by saying, "Well, that went nicely."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes, looked over at Raven, and then said, "You ok?"

Raven sighed, closed her eyes, and nodded her head. "Better," she responded.

"Um Beast Boy?" Robin asked. The changeling turned his head. Robin cleared his throat, and then asked, "What you said about your animal instincts and what they said about Terra, was that true?"

Beast Boy sighed, and nodded his head. "Yes, it's true," he then said before looking back up at Robin and saying bitterly, "I guess that means a lecture, huh?"

Robin winced, shook his head side to side, and placed his hand comfortingly on the green boy's shoulder. "No," the boy wonder responded. "I get how you feel. Heck, I myself had my own doubts about Terra in between when she came back to officially join us and when she betrayed us. Believe me, I know how you feel, and I have a feeling so does Raven." As he said that last bit, Robin directed his eyes towards Raven as if to ask for confirmation. The sorceress nodded in the affirmative.

Beast Boy let a nervous smile come on his face. "Thanks dude," he said.

"No problem Beast Boy," Robin stated with a smile. "What are friends for?"

Starfire placed her own hand on Robin's shoulder, smiling in agreement and admiration.

Cyborg then interrupted the tender moment by clearing his throat. Having caught his friends' attention, the partially robotic teenager asked, "So what now?"

Robin thought to himself, turned to face the exit to the storage room with the devil's trap, and said, "Let's get back to the common room and boot up the computers. With what little information we did get, I say the best thing for us to do now is to try to somehow figure out just what that information Slade and the other villain who summoned those things want from Lucifer is."

Beast Boy shuddered, and then asked, "Are you really sure you want to know what that information is?"

"If it's important enough for Slade and this other villain to try to have us killed, it's definitely worth knowing," said Robin. "Come on, we've got some research to do, and I want us to try as hard as possible to find out what the information is before Slade and his compatriot decide to send something worse than what we just exorcised after us."

**And just like that, another chapter is done! I hope you all enjoyed, and that you leave reviews ^_^**

**Coming up next: The titans make their best (albeit unsuccessful) efforts at figuring out just what the information worth their getting killed for is, have a very important discussion over matters of religion, and end up receiving help in their research from a very (and I mean ****_extremely_****) unexpected source (feel free to guess who or what that source is in your reviews and comments).**


	8. Dead Ringer

**Hey ya'll! I hope you're ready for yet more of my awesome story, because here's the newest chapter! In this chapter, the titans make their best efforts at somehow figuring out what the information apparently worth their deaths is, and sadly fail miserably until they receive help from a most unexpected source. Here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

**Again, I do not own Teen Titans or any other DC universe elements.**

**Chapter 7:**

**Dead Ringer**

At exactly 3:30 that afternoon, none of the Titans had made any progress whatsoever in their efforts to find any information that could even remotely qualify as a possibility for what the information that they were apparently worth getting killed for was. Raven had now gone through almost her entire repertoire of books related to demonology, but she still hadn't yet found anything that seemed like the kind of thing that might have qualified. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy, likewise hadn't had any luck whatsoever on their searches on the internet. Starfire, meanwhile, had no choice but to just sit on the sofa and watch helplessly as her friends did their research. She knew that she would only be in the way as she barely understood the concept they were currently studying, not to mention wasn't exactly the poster girl for computer savviness. The Titans had only stopped once over the course of their efforts to somehow determine what it was that Slade and his as of yet unnamed compatriot had tried to have them killed for, and that had been for a lunch break. But now, even after all their hard work, they still hadn't found anything that had even the most remote chance of qualifying as potential candidates for this element.

Beast Boy yawned, stretched his arms, and then said, "Dude, research can be so exhausting."

"I hear you man," said Cyborg as he continued looking through the website he was currently on. "If I could still feel my joints, they'd probably be swelling up right now."

Robin, meanwhile, found himself feeling very irritated after the website he'd now just finished reading through turned out to be just an online newspaper report about a false doomsday prophet in Star City who'd cried wolf by shouting and raving about an impending apocalypse so that he would distract the public long enough for a gang of robbers who'd hired him to successfully rob a local bank. Slamming his fist on the desk he was using, Robin growled, "There's gotta be some way we can figure out what Slade and this other villain want to find out by having us killed."

"Let me guess," said Beast Boy. "You're not having any more luck at this then we are."

Robin growled. "I just wasted the last five minutes reading a newspaper article on a false doomsday prophet aiding bank robbers in Star City by distracting the public with false announcements of an impending apocalypse; no, I'm not having any luck!"

"Tell me about it," said Cyborg. "The link I accessed right before the one I'm currently on was for a news article about a Halloween prank gone wrong in which a group of teenage hooligans dressed up like demons and scared the bejesus out of a bunch of preschoolers. They ended up getting their cover blown when the chaperones ended up pepper spraying them and nearly beating them to death with mallets before the teenage perpetrators managed to get them to stop and reveal that it was just a prank."

Beast Boy snorted, rolled his eyes, and stated, "I'm not sure which us worse; what you guys just found, or the tabloid article on an eyewitness sighting of Lucifer I just unwittingly stumbled upon."

At this point, Robin facepalmed, groaning in irritation as he felt a horrendous headache coming on. "This is insane!" he yelled. He turned his head to Raven and said, "Raven, I know this is probably a worthless question, but have you found anything in those books that might qualify?"

Raven shook her head, closed the book she'd been looking through at that moment, and said, "Sadly, no. And I have a feeling that I'm not going to any such information in any of the ones that I still haven't yet looked through."

"I certainly wouldn't be surprised," said Beast Boy. "I mean, those demons did say that this information was one of the things that Lucifer only told his five most trusted underlings. I have a feeling that if it's _that_ private, then it sure won't be in any random books, or websites for that matter."

Robin sighed in annoyance. "There's gotta be some way we can figure it out," he grumbled bitterly.

Starfire got up from her seat on the couch, walked up behind Robin, and placed her hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "There, there, Robin," she said. "Don't despair. We will stop Slade and whoever this other villain who's working with him is. We will be victorious."

Robin sighed, looked gratefully at Starfire, and said, "I'm sure you're right Star. Still, I just wish that we could be on equal footing right now with Slade at the very least instead of one step behind him."

"Well I'm sure that if worst comes to worst you could always pray to God himself to help us out," Cyborg grumbled sarcastically in an almost bitter sounding tone.

The other Titans looked at Cyborg with half confused and half worried looks on their faces. "Um, Cy?" Beast Boy asked. "Are you ok?"

"What?" Cyborg asked. Then he noticed the looks on his friends' faces and remembered what he'd just said before now. "Er, sorry, that was nothing. I'm just still having a little trouble wrapping my head around the fact that the demons of Abrahamic religions, and now apparently even Satan himself, are real."

Robin's eyebrow raised, and he said, "Are you sure that's all it is Cyborg? Because you sounded awfully bitter. Is there something about this situation you aren't telling us?"

Cyborg sighed, stared blankly at the computer screen he was sitting in front of, and then exited out of the window he'd been on before turning to face the other titans and responding, "Well I'll admit, the fact that such elements of Abrahamic religion as demons, Hell, and apparently Lucifer himself are real, well now I can't help but wonder if that means that Heaven, angels, and God are real."

The other Titans looked at each other, realized that Cyborg had brought up a valid point, and then looked back at him. "What would be wrong with that?" Beast Boy asked. "I mean, it certainly would be nice to know that there really is someone up there watching over the world, not to mention an afterlife apart from Hell for us to go to when we die."

Cyborg sighed, nodded his head, and said, "I know that, but still, I'm not entirely certain if whether or not God and the angels truly existing isn't just as much a bad thing as it is a good thing."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

Cyborg thought to himself, now clearly having trouble deciding just how to word what he was trying to say. "Well, how should I put this . . . well what are your religious beliefs?"

This unexpected question caught the other Titans off guard, and they looked at each other awkwardly before then calmly considering their own religious beliefs.

"Well," said Robin. "I was pretty much born and raised a Protestant by my parents. And in my time under Batman's wing, he made sure to continue my Protestant lifestyle. But I'll also admit that I've regretfully not been to church for a mass since two weeks before I left Batman and came to Jump City, and that was five years ago." Upon mentioning this, a look that appeared half sentimental and half regretful came on Robin's face as he now remembered how large a lapse he'd displayed in his loyalty to his religious faith over the last few years of his life.

Starfire thought to herself, and then stated, "While I am respectful of other religions and have witnessed proof of other religions having elements that are factually in existence, I still consider myself faithful to the native religion of Tamaran, and thus a loyal follower of X'hal."

Cyborg nodded his head in understanding, and then looked at Raven. The sorceress sighed, and responded, "Well, I'm not really overly big on religion. I am half demon after all, and my demon side tends to get a little agitated around religious elements. Still, my human side does have a religious aspect, and in that regard I don't really consider myself to be a deeply rooted follower of any one religion. After all, my mother was a Catholic before Trigon impregnated her with me, and I ended up becoming well versed in the Azarathian religion while in Azar's care. Still, every once in a while, I send a prayer to the Azarathian equivalent of God. After all, despite what my demon side says, I don't want to have to go to Hell when I die any more than you guys do, and I very much doubt you want to go to Hell." The other Titans gulped, and nodded in sympathy.

Then all eyes focused on Beast Boy. The changeling gulped, rubbed his fingers through his hair, and then said, "Well, I'm kind of indifferent to religion really; kind of on the same boat as Raven you know? I mean, my parents raised me as a Catholic, and the Doom Patrol were also devoted followers of that faith. Still, I was also exposed to the religious culture of an upper Lamumban tribe that my parents and I were acquainted with during our adventures in Africa. And with my education and all the life events I've been through ever since I got my powers, I've been exposed to so many different religions both dead and alive that I'm really not sure what faith to turn to. And it certainly doesn't help that it's been five years straight since the last time I attended mass."

Upon saying this, Beast Boy sighed, his ears drooping as he stared downward at the floor with a saddened and seemingly guilt-ridden look on his face. "Still," he then said. "I've always believed that there's at least _something_ out there."

With Beast Boy having now answered Cyborg's original question, the Titans looked back at Cyborg, who sighed, and stated, "Well now that you've made it a little easier by telling me your beliefs, I might as well talk about mine and how they're involved with my current thoughts I've just brought up." He looked out the window at the sun, and then said, "To tell you the truth, I used to be a Catholic just like you BB."

"Used to?" Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg nodded his head, and then said, "Born and raised that way by my parents. But that was before . . . well . . . my accident." The Titans nodded in understanding, for they knew Cyborg well enough to understand that he was referring to the as of yet undescribed to them accident that had caused him to become the partially robotic figure he was now.

"A few days or so after the accident," Cyborg continued. "Well, to put it simply, I more or less became an atheist. And even after the experiences we had with Trigon and his followers, I still more or less remained firm in that mindset until last night and this morning. And now, having now gotten confirmation in the existence of the Abrahamic demons, the Abrahamic form of Hell, and of course now apparently Lucifer, I'm now not sure whether or not it would really be logical or truly possible for me to doubt so easily in the existence of God, Heaven, and the angels. And after all that I've been through in my life, I honestly can't really decide whether or not I should be happy about that or resentful."

"Resentful?" Robin asked.

"That's a powerful word to use," said Raven.

"No kidding," said Beast Boy.

"Please Cyborg," Starfire asked. "Why would you have any reason to possibly feel such hatred for such a joyous possibility?"

Cyborg sighed, hung his head, and then said, "I understand that in some ways it is indeed better than the alternative, and yes part of me is happy about the possibility. But you see, after my accident and the surgery I underwent afterward that allowed me to become what I am now, I more or less convinced myself that I had to believe that there was no such thing as God, or angels, or even Heaven. After all, in light of what had happened to me and my mom both in the accident and in the immediate aftermath that followed, if God and the angels truly didn't exist, then all the stuff that had happened to me would feel more like just a natural part of the chaos that would exist in their place, and less like . . . well . . . like a betrayal."

The other Titan's eyes widened at this choice of words. "Betrayal?" Beast Boy asked in shock. "What do you mean betrayal?"

Cyborg thought to himself, considering whether or not to explain any further, and then sighed. "Might as well," he thought to himself. He looked at his four friends and said, "You know how sometimes early on in life you end up waking up screaming from a nightmare and you have someone to come and comfort you afterward?"

The other Titans nodded. "When my parents were still alive," said Robin, "they comforted me. But of course, after I ended up under Batman's wing, he more or less forced me to just deal with them on my own."

"I had Galfore to comfort me," said Starfire.

"I had Azar," said Raven.

"My parents comforted me after nightmares before they died," said Beast Boy. "And when I was in the Doom Patrol, I remember that Elastigirl would always be there to comfort me after a nightmare, against Mento's orders I might add."

Cyborg nodded, and then explained, "Well before the accident, my mom was practically always the one to comfort me and help me back to sleep. And I remember that directly before she left as I was starting to really get back to sleep, she would say to me as a parting call that angels were watching over me."

The other Titans looked surprised. "Wow," said Robin. "My parents certainly never thought of saying that."

"But I don't understand," said Starfire. "What does this have to do with you feeling as if the angels and God had betrayed you after your accident?"

"Because as far as I know," Cyborg responded, "she was wrong. There was nothing watching over her on the day of the accident, much less over me."

Cyborg turned his head to face the windows again, and then continued, "And even without counting all that, over time after the accident both before and after I came here to Jump City, heck even now, I've always made note of how such terrible things have happened to me, my mom, you guys, other civilians, other heroes, heck sometimes there have even been things I've noticed happen to bad guys that sometimes I end up feeling even _they_ didn't deserve. And with all that in mind, I just can't help but wonder; if God and the angels do exist, then why do they allow such terrible things to happen to good people? Heck, why do they allow bad things to happen, period?"

The other Titans gulped, and hung their heads as they realized how Cyborg had made a powerful point. Eventually, Robin placed his hand on Cyborg's shoulder and said, "Well Cyborg, I'm not sure how else to say this but, sometimes all you can really say is that God, if he exists, truly does work in mysterious ways. And whether or not you view God existing and not being there for you and your mom that day as a personal betrayal is your call. But I personally believe that while I do not believe in fate, God allows bad things to happen to people as his own way of testing us to see how we react. And the ways we react in the face of his tests proves to him whether or not we're worthy of going to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory.

"I'm sure that it would be awesome if God or his angels were to directly intervene in the world's affairs and help maintain order that way. But I also believe just as firmly that it is specifically to preserve order that they don't directly intervene, assuming they even exist. I mean, you've got to admit, if they intervened directly, it would upset the balance of order and chaos to much in favor of order. And things have to be balanced out really in order for true peace."

Cyborg thought to himself, and then sighed as he grudgingly realized that what Robin said actually made sense. "I guess you're right," said Cyborg. The half-robot teenager sighed again, and then stated, "But boy, does the natural order suck."

Robin chuckled at Cyborg's statement, and then said, "Yes, it sucks. But it is what it is."

Beast Boy chuckled, stretched his arms, and then said, "Well man, I'm sure that whether or not God and the angels truly exist, we'll almost certainly find out what Slade and this other villain guy are after some way or another without having to wait for another set of demons to try to kill us."

All the other Titans apart from Raven laughed at this. But right at that moment, they all heard the unexpected sound of a message being intercepted on the main TV window screen of the common room. Confused, the Titans glanced at the screen in question. At the sight of the sender ID, Robin's eyes narrowed in suspicion, for the ID simply read 'Unknown Source'.

"Wonder who's calling us," said Cyborg.

"Only one way to find out," said Robin, who walked over to the screen and selected the 'accept' option.

In a flash of static, the screen revealed none other than Slade himself sitting in an otherwise empty forest clearing. "Hello Titans," he stated to the shocked teenage heroes.

"Slade," Robin growled, his fists clenched at the sight of the Titan's longtime nemesis.

"I see your thoughts on me haven't changed a bit since the last time," said Slade.

The other Titans glared at the screen alongside their leader. "What do you want, Slade?" Robin snarled.

"Yeah," said Cyborg. "Whatever you're calling us for, it ain't pleasant conservation. Whatever you want, it had better not be a gloat about another assassination attempt on us."

"Relax, tin man," Slade stated calmly. "I'm not here to gloat, much less tell you of any more demons that have been sent after you, particularly since my associate hasn't yet sent any more after you after how you both killed the first five he sent after you and summarily dismissed the rest of the squadron they were with back home."

Slade then directed a glance at Raven and said, "And on that note, very impressive work, Raven. I'll definitely have to admit that you certainly don't seem to have any qualms about exorcisms in spite of your heritage."

Raven snarled, her eyes glowing red and dangerously close to splitting into four, and then ominously growled, "Flattery won't get you anywhere."

Beast Boy snarled, positioned himself as if about to transform into a predator and lunge at the screen, and then said, "Yeah Slade, whatever you want to tell us about, I say you stop wasting time."

Slade's eyebrow seemed to rise under his mask. "All business are we? Very well. I believe you are wondering what it is that Vandal Savage considers having you killed for, am I right?"

Robin raised his hand as if to say 'hold it,' and then stated, "Did you just say Vandal Savage?"

"Why yes I did," said Slade. "For the past year or so, we've had a sort of partnership. Need I ask why you just asked me that question?"

Robin growled, slammed his right fist into his left palm, and said, "I knew that demon's description of your partner sounded familiar."

"Who is this savage vandal?" Starfire asked.

"Not savage vandal," said Beast Boy. "Vandal Savage. I remember Mento once told me about him during my time in the Doom Patrol. He's some sort of big shot cave man villain."

"He's not just a big shot cave man villain," said Robin. "Batman's told me about him. Millions of years ago, when the people of Earth were still in the stage where they hunted woolly mammoths and kept wild wolves for pets, a cave man named Vandar Adg came across a mysterious comet that had fallen from the sky and landed nearby his village. His fellow tribesmen fled from it in fear, but he slept next to it for the sake of the warmth it provided that night. But the radiation and heat from the comet must have some sort of magic in it, because after the night was over and he woke up, he later discovered that he'd both ended up becoming immortal and gained a major boost in intelligence. Ever since then, he's plagued the world at various different time periods and under numerous names in his efforts at taking over the world, but the one name that he's now known as by nearly everyone in the world nowadays is Vandal Savage, a play on his old name from before he was endowed by the comet."

"Very good Robin," said Slade. "Your mentor taught you well, and yes, he is indeed the one fully responsible for sending your earlier house guests after you."

"What do you mean?" Cyborg asked. "Didn't you help?"

"Most certainly not," said Slade with a hint of derision in his voice. "Believe me, I have no idea why I should be credited by you for this, because Savage did all the work in summoning them, and I for one was not 100% on board with the idea."

Robin's eyebrows rose. "You weren't?"

Slade shook his head side to side. "No," responded the Titan's masked nemesis. "We may view each other as enemies, but unlike Savage I respect you; you have always proven worthy opponents after all. And I believe that you deserve better than being slaughtered like animals by a race of beings that serve a higher power too impatient to let the world's story unfold the way it's been planned out. And also, after my experiences with your father, attempting to unleash a second satanic figure on the world is far too despicable, even for me."

At first the Titans were confused by what Slade had said, but then Raven realized who Slade was talking about. "You mean Lucifer."

"Precisely," said Slade. "As I'm sure you might have been informed by those demons you interrogated and sent home this morning, Satan himself is at work once more in his efforts to escape from Hell earlier than foretold. And Vandal Savage has chosen to form a partnership with him in the current plot that has been decided upon. However, Lucifer is careful, and he refuses to tell Savage and I what we'd need to know in order to help him bring this current plot of his to fruition unless we first fulfill one small favor he has chosen to ask of us. And as you have now learned from your recent experiences, that favor has turned out for us to have you killed."

Starfire stepped forward, her eyes glowing green and her fists at the ready to produce star bolts, and said, "Well, what is this information that this cowardly and dishonorable monster wants us dead before he allows you to know it?!"

Slade stared at the angry Tamaranean, and calmly stated, "I cannot tell you directly what it is, for I do need to be mindful of potential eavesdroppers after all; however, I can tell you how you can find out what it is without asking me, Savage, or Lucifer."

The Titans looked at each other, clearly considering whether or not to take Slade up on his offer. Then they all came to a unanimous decision, and they turned to face Slade once more before Robin said, "Alright Slade, we'll take you up on this offer, but don't think that this will change anything between us."

Slade nodded. "I wouldn't have it any other way," he stated before he leaned forward and said, "Seek out the Brotherhood of Dante."

The Titans raised their eyebrows. "The what?" Beast Boy asked.

"Brotherhood of Dante," Slade repeated calmly. "It is a hidden organization of knowledgeable mortals that is dedicated to dealing with demons and all other things of an Infernal, Purgatorial, or Paradisiacal nature."

Raven stared suspiciously at Slade. "I've never heard of this order," she stated.

"Not many people have," Slade responded. "That's why very few ever enter it into a search engine or attempt to actively search for it in other ways."

The masked man then looked directly at all five of the teenage heroes, and said, "But if there's anyone apart from myself, Savage, Lucifer, or one of the five knights of Hell who can tell you what it is that Savage wants to have you killed for, it's them. And right now, I'd recommend that you get to work on searching for them as soon as possible. I have a feeling that Savage will send something far more powerful than the force you exorcised this morning in the very near future."

Slade then proceeded to draw out a small sheet of paper that had what looked like an address written down on it and presented it in full view of the Titans. "This is the address of one of their local headquarters bases. This particular base is located right in Jump City. Can you memorize it?"

Cyborg gazed intently at the address Slade had written down on the piece of paper he was now showing them, almost as if he were scanning it. A few minutes later, the partially robotic teenager nodded, and said, "Got it."

Slade nodded, and then said, "Very well then. I recommend you go there straight away. Farewell Titans. I'm sure that we'll hopefully meet again under slightly less potentially apocalyptic terms."

On that ominous note, Slade ended the transmission, and the TV screen turned back to a window in a flash of static. Robin nodded, turned to face his teammates, and then said, "Alright team, let's get to work. Cyborg, you know where that address he gave us is?"

Cyborg nodded. "City Section 13."

"Same place where I get most of my supernatural artifacts and books," said Raven.

"And the place where I got that wacked out pie," said Cyborg.

"What wacked out pie?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin turned his head to look at the changeling. "Remember Mother Mae Eye?"

"Oh," said Beast Boy. "_That_ pie."

Robin nodded, turned his head so that he was facing all four of his teammates, and then said, "Come on, let's get moving. If what Slade told us just now is to be relied upon, then we need to get there and study up as fast as we can before Savage sends another demonic hit man after us."

**And just like that, another chapter wrapped up! I hope you enjoyed and that you leave a healthy batch of reviews. On another note, I apologize in advance if the scene with Slade turning out to be the unexpected source hinted at in the sneak peek I left at the end of the previous chapter seems overly unrealistic or OOC. But this was the best I could do that would make even a remote bit of sense in my opinion. Feel free to voice your own thoughts on that (as well as on other elements in this chapter, particularly the major discussion the titans had about religion). But hey, like I said, regardless of your views on the whole Slade angle in this chapter, I hope you enjoyed reading this new chapter and that you leave a nice bit of reviews (and believe me, I very much would love to see you leave reviews, even if you are a guest!).**

**Coming up next: The titans travel to the address that Slade has given them and get straight to work in resuming their search for the information they desire, but this time with the entire database of the Brotherhood of Dante at their fingertips.**


	9. Silence in the Library

**Hey there everybody! Ready for more Teen Titanic awesomeness? I certainly hope so, because here's a new chapter! In this chapter, the Titans put the new information given to them by Slade to good use by paying a much needed visit to the local Jump City headquarters of the mysterious Brotherhood of Dante. However, they will not be the only ones paying an unexpected visit. Here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

**Again, I do not own Teen Titans. Now with that out of the way, onward with the fic!**

**Chapter 8:**

**Silence in the Library**

Half an hour later, the titans found themselves standing in the city block where the address they'd been directed to was located, staring blankly at what appeared to be a dilapidated and ruined warehouse with nonplussed looks on their faces. "This is the Jump City headquarters of the Brotherhood of Dante?" Robin asked in disbelief.

"I don't know what to tell you man," said Cyborg. "My internal GPS says that this is the exact address that Slade gave us."

Robin stared back at the derelict ruins before him, his eyes narrowed, and said, "I knew we shouldn't have trusted Slade. Now we've just gone on a wild goose chase."

"I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss this as a wild goose chase," said Raven. "I can sense a very distinct aura of magic around this area."

Robin's eyebrow rose, and he gestured at the area before hissing, "Well what element of the area could possibly have any magic involved?"

"Dude," said Beast Boy. "Have you forgotten what section of the city we're in? From what I hear, all manner of supernatural stuff is rumored to be kept here. Heck, the very road we're standing on could have some sort of supernatural element connected to it."

"Perhaps maybe this ruined building we're seeing is not what's actually there," Starfire suggested.

The other titans looked at her in shock. "What do you mean?" Robin asked.

Starfire interlocked her fingers together as if she were wringing her hands, and then said, "On my planet, there were some Tamaranean spell casters that I know of who were capable of creating illusions so realistic that one could never know they were illusions until one tried to touch them. Perhaps maybe the ruins that stand before us is just an illusion that's been casted upon this area as a shield to hide this fortress we seek from unfriendly prying eyes?"

Upon hearing this suggestion, the other titans briefly gaped at Starfire with facial expressions that were half shocked and half impressed. "You mean a glamour," said Raven.

Starfire thought to herself. "If such an illusion is called a glamour, then yes," she said.

Robin thought to himself. "It would certainly make sense," the boy wonder said to himself in his mind. He turned to Cyborg and said, "Cyborg, do your eyes have a feature that could allow us to determine whether or not this is truly a glamour?"

"Let me take a look," said Cyborg as he proceeded to fiddle around with his ocular functions. A few minutes later, Cyborg squinted at hard at the apparent ruins in front of him, and then nodded his head before saying, "Yep, definitely a glamour, I can see the real thing now."

Robin and the other titans apart from Cyborg looked at the building in front of them, and then squinted as they began to focus intently on it. Sure enough, a few minutes after they started intently focusing their attention on it, the building appeared to flicker and turn blurry like a hologram before eventually solidifying into the form of what looked like a small temple.

At the sight of this, Robin nodded. "Yep," said the boy wonder. "We're definitely at the right place." He turned to his teammates, gestured towards the building, and then said, "Let's go in."

One by one, the five teenage heroes proceeded to walk up to the doors of the building and enter it. Cyborg even made sure to close the door behind him so that it made an obvious clicking noise as the door settled into its fully closed position. Little did they know that an ominous pair of jet black dragon-like eyes were staring out at where they'd just been from a nearby darkened alleyway. Seconds after the door to the building they'd entered was closed, the eyes narrowed, and an ominous draconic growling noise was uttered by the being they belonged to.

. . . . .

At the sound of the door opening, the man at the front desk located within the main foyer of the building looked up from his paperwork towards the door. While he showed no outward signs of emotion, he was secretly feeling very surprised and honored on the inside to see none other than the Teen Titans now standing inside the local Jump City headquarters of the Brotherhood of Dante.

"Welcome," said the man. "What brings you here?"

The titans walked up to the desk, and Robin leaned up against it to look the man right in the eyes before saying, "This is the local headquarters of the Brotherhood of Dante; am I right?"

The man at the desk briefly allowed a stunned look to pop up in his dark brown eyes before he hastily recovered and calmly responded, "Could be. What do you wish to know?"

Robin took a deep breath, exhaled, and then said, "Alright Mr.," he directed a quick glance at the man's name tag, "Templesmith, the Brotherhood may or may not be aware of this, but Abrahamic demons are at work on a terrible plot. While we don't yet know very much, we know enough to be aware that if the plot they are currently attempting isn't foiled, then they could very well end up causing Lucifer himself to be capable of escaping from Hell and bringing about the apocalypse earlier than originally prophesized."

At the sound of this, the man took on a very clear interest, and he leaned back in his chair before saying, "Well I certainly must admit that this information is certainly unsettling. We haven't heard news of Lucifer making an escape attempt for centuries. How did you find out about this? And better yet, how did you find out about this organization?"

Robin looked at his teammates, silently asking them whether or not to tell the full truth. The sight of the up and down nods they made was enough to convince him of the answer. He looked back at Mr. Templesmith and replied, "You are familiar with us right?"

Mr. Templesmith nodded. "Indeed I am," he responded. "Hard not to be familiar with you considering how you're the local celebrities around here."

Robin nodded, and then said, "Well last night, five demons broke into our tower and attempted to kill us. We were lucky enough to figure out a way to overcome them in the midst of our resulting battle against them, but we then had to set up our tower so that it would be well defended against further demon attacks. This morning, as a result of one of our defense measures, we managed to interrogate the larger force that had sent the five demons that tried to assassinate us before, and from them we learned that they were summoned by two mortal villains who are currently in a partnership with Lucifer himself and have been offered information they need to help aid Lucifer in his current plans in exchange for having us killed."

At the sound of all this, Mr. Templesmith gulped, and then leaned forward with his chin on his hand. "I'll say, you have quite a situation on your hands. Very well, tell me what you want to know."

"I presume you have a location in this building where you store all your documented information on what you deal with?"

"Yes."

"Well we need to access it," said Robin. "If we're to stop whatever this plot of Lucifer's is, we need to know what the information that he offered to give the two villains he's working for in exchange for our deaths is. And I have a feeling that if there's anyone who has a document containing this information, it's this organization."

Mr. Templesmith thought to himself. "The archives are located further within the headquarters, but access to them is only allowed to official members of the Brotherhood of Dante."

"I understand that," said Robin. "But with the current circumstances, now's not the time to follow tradition."

"I really can't allow you to enter . . ."

"Listen," Robin growled as he leaned forward more threateningly towards the Brotherhood of Dante member. "This is serious business we're dealing with, and I'm talking end of the world level serious. The only option we have for figuring out a logical theory of what Lucifer's current plot is short of testing our luck in asking Lucifer, a higher ranking demon, or one of the two villains who are now working with them is accessing your records. And if we don't access them and get ourselves adequately prepared for working to foil this plot by accessing the information in your archives as soon as possible, then the entire world could be overrun by demons, and that's before they somehow figure out a way to bust out Lucifer himself. So what's more important to you right now? Following protocol? Or saving the world?"

Mr. Templesmith gulped, thought to himself, and then nodded his head up and down before saying, "Very well then." He stood up from his desk, gestured towards a hallway that led further into the headquarters, and then said, "Follow me."

The Titans proceeded to follow the Brotherhood of Dante member out of the foyer and further into the headquarters down the hallway they entered. As they made their way through the hallway, the titans began to notice other members of the Brotherhood milling around in the hallway as well. While they all briefly happened to direct a glance at the unexpected guests, not one of them otherwise showed any signs of surprise or emotion at the sight of the titans. "Azar would be very intrigued as to how they were trained," Raven thought to herself.

"I'm sorry if my colleagues seem to be rather rude," said Mr. Templesmith. "From a young age, all members of the brotherhood are trained to masterfully conceal our emotions around strangers. By keeping our emotions hidden, it becomes far more difficult for demons and other beings with mind reading capabilities to latch onto them and use them to their advantage. It also helps in setting up the ideal atmosphere for whenever we happen to make any interrogations."

Robin nodded. "I can see what you mean," he said out loud. Raven also nodded, showing no sign of emotion on her face, but feeling slightly impressed on the inside.

A few minutes later, they reached what looked like a large circular room with a large golden statue depicting what looked like an angel standing on a mountain extending his sword towards a roaring seven headed dragon positioned on the same mountain. Upon closer look, the statue had a plaque that said 'Michael and Lucifer: The Final Battle'.

Upon sight of the titans gaping at this statue, Mr. Templesmith nodded, gestured at the statue and said, "Indeed, this statue depicts the archangel Michael himself doing battle with Lucifer in the midst of the Apocalypse. This same image serves as the emblem of our organization as a reminder for how we stand to preserve the cause of Michael and the rest of Heaven against the followers of Lucifer."

The group came to a stop directly in front of the plaque and statue. Mr. Templesmith turned to face the titans and gestured towards the walls of the room, indicating how there were eight hallways that led in and out of the room, each in a different direction. "This room is considered the inner sanctum and hall of duty, where this statue serves as a reminder of our noble goal. Each of these hallways leads to a different area of the headquarters."

He pointed at the hallway directly behind the titans from which they'd just come. "As you already know from just leaving that hallway, the hallway behind you leads to the main foyer, located in the south wing." Next he pointed at the hallways located to the left and right of the one he and the titans had just exited. "The hallway behind you located to your left leads to our living quarters, and the similar one behind you to your right leads to the mess hall."

Mr. Templesmith then proceeded to point at the hallway entrance located on the exact rightmost side of the room. "This hallway," he began, "leads to our training facilities. In that area, we train for battle and missions." Then he pointed at the hallway entrance located on the exact leftmost side of the room and continued, "Whereas this hall leads to our executive offices and the room where we all gather to hold meetings."

To finish up his explanation of the area, Mr. Templesmith turned his head and gestured towards the three hallway entrances located behind him and the statue. "The hallway to the left among those three leads to the area where all the initiates take their studies. The hallway to the right among these three leads to the workshop where we make our weapons and other items, the lab where we conduct scientific studies, and a sort of miniature museum depicting a collection of our knowledge. Finally," he pointed directly at the hallway entrance in the very center of the area he was indicating and said, "This hallway is the one I am currently going to lead you down, because this is the hallway that leads to our library and archives. At this time, you may now follow me to this area." Upon saying this, Mr. Templesmith proceeded to make his way around the statue and directly towards the hallway he'd indicated to lead to the records hall. The titans followed, eager to get to their destination and begin their work on researching to find the information they'd come for.

Right as they were two footsteps or so away from entering the hallway that led to the library, the titans and their guide heard a voice behind them state, "I see we have visitors." The five teenage heroes and their adult guide turned around and saw another man dressed in what looked like the robes of a priest.

Mr. Templesmith nodded his head, bowing it slightly as if in respect, and then said, "Indeed we do master." He turned to face the titans and gestured towards the newcomer before explaining, "Titans, this is Master Balthazar Novak; he is the head of the Jump City division of the Brotherhood of Dante."

Robin directed a closer look at the man who'd now been introduced. "He certainly looks the part," he admitted to himself in his mind. While the man looked as if he was at around the mid 40's in age, Robin could see the signs of the stress that came with being a major leader. The man's already pale blonde hair was showing signs of becoming a very sickly white, his face appeared to show signs of a haggard and worn look, and Robin could also see a look in the man's eyes that screamed how very weary he was from the pressures and trials that came with his job.

Abruptly realizing that some courtesy in manners was required for this situation, Robin made a polite smile and extended his hand towards Master Novak. "It's an honor to meet you sir," he said. Novak gave a weary smile, and returned Robin's gesture in a firm handshake.

Upon finishing the handshake, Master Novak looked intently at all five of the teenage heroes, and said, "It is certainly unexpected for us to be seeing you here in our headquarters. May I ask to what we owe the pleasure of your presence here? And for that matter, perhaps you'd be so kind as to explain how you found out about us?"

Raven stepped forward. "I know this might sound hard to believe since you might not yet be aware of it yourselves, but very recently, a large number of Abrahamic demons have risen from Hell and walked the Earth. From our recent experiences with them, we have learned that they were serving as pawns in a plot that could eventually allow for Lucifer himself to escape from Hell earlier than apparently prophesized."

Master Novak's eyebrow raised, his steely gray eyes hardening at the news, and he said, "I'll say. This is a very serious situation. How it is you have found out about this news?"

"We learned it from a group of demons we captured when they came to our tower in an attempt to kill us," Robin responded.

At the sound of this, Master Novak's glare softened slightly, for now he had heard solid evidence to the potential truth of what he'd now been informed of. "You heard this from the demons themselves," he stated. "How do you know for certain they were telling the truth? Did they swear on Lucifer's crown?"

"Yes," said Robin. "Not to mention they were under threat of exorcism."

Master Novak closed his eyes, and nodded his head. "Then indeed they were sadly telling the truth. Such a vow is unbreakable if made by a demon. That in mind, the world is indeed at risk of being in very terrible peril." He opened his eyes. "Very well, how can we help?"

"Whoa," Beast Boy stated. "Hold on, you actually believe us?" Belatedly realizing how rude he might have sounded, he lifted his hands up as if in surrender and said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you trust us but, well I wasn't expecting you to believe us that quickly. I mean, considering how secretive you guys are, I'm kind of surprised that you seem so willing to trust relatively complete strangers like us so quickly."

Master Novak nodded, his face showing that he understood, and he said, "A fair point young shape shifter, and indeed we do know the perils of being too quick to trust complete strangers without being given good reason. Fortunately, we have the luxury of knowing for certain whether or not those we are talking to are trustworthy."

Novak lifted up his right arm so that the titans could get a good look at his hand, which they could now see had a platinum ring with an emerald on it. "Contained within this gem," Novak explained, "is a powerful charm that allows the gem to change color in accordance with the level of stress in one's voice. Simply by looking at it while people we are speaking to are talking, we can tell whether or not the people speaking are telling the truth by noting what color the gem is. If the people speaking are telling the truth, then the gem stays green. But if the person is lying, then the gem turns blood red like a ruby. The gem on my ring has remained green for the entire time you've spoken and told me about this escape plot of Lucifer's you've managed to catch wind of, so therefore, I know for a fact that you were indeed telling the truth. And presumably, so did Mr. Templesmith." As if to confirm what his master had suggested, Mr. Templesmith showed the titans his own ring, which also had a gem that was still emerald green.

At the sight of this, Beast Boy nodded his head with an impressed look on his face. "Well that's certainly cool," he thought to himself. He then looked at Robin and said, "Ok Robin, you can go ahead and explain how they can help us now."

Robin nodded, looked at Master Novak, and stated, "Master Novak, one thing that I didn't yet mention already is that the demons that were sent to kill us were not just sent to kill us out of spite, or even directly by Lucifer himself. You see Master Novak, from what we've managed to learn, Lucifer is currently in the midst of a partnership with two human villains we know as Slade and Vandal Savage. While the two of them, or at least Savage anyway, are willing to help him in his current plan, there is one bit of information they apparently need in order to be able to do so that Lucifer is currently refusing to tell them unless they first have us killed. The demons we learned all this from didn't know what that information is, so we're trying to find out what sort of information might qualify. And as far as we can tell, the only source we can turn to apart from Lucifer, a member of his inner circle, or the two villains currently working for Lucifer, is your organization.

"With that in mind," Robin continued, "for the sake of getting ourselves adequately prepared and at work in foiling this plot as soon as possible, my teammates and I wish to directly access your archives and hopefully find out the information we seek from there."

Master Novak thought to himself, and then said, "While I do understand your reasoning, I'm not entirely certain whether or not I should grant this request. As I'm sure Mr. Templesmith has told you, it is unheard of for us to grant direct access to the records to anyone who isn't an official registered member of this Brotherhood."

Robin took a deep breath, exhaled, and calmly responded, "I understand that, but in light of the current circumstances, this small breach of protocol might be the only way to avert a potential apocalypse. Believe me; my teammates and I have already had to deal with the effects of an apocalypse before when Trigon attacked, and I am willing to do anything to prevent a second one from occurring. And I have a feeling that you don't want Lucifer to succeed where Trigon failed any more than I do."

Master Novak sighed, nodded his head in understanding, and responded, "You are right in that regard, but still . . ."

Mr. Templesmith placed his hand on the master's shoulder in a companionable gesture and said, "Let them access the records master."

"Jonah," Master Novak began warningly.

"You heard what they said," said Mr. Templesmith. "And you know they're telling the truth. See your ring? The gem's still green. And besides, they have a point. The Brotherhood of Dante hasn't had to deal with a plot of this magnitude staged directly by Lucifer and his followers, much less with Lucifer himself, for centuries. It would be a miracle for us to find any member or executive alive today who has any experience with this kind of situation, much less one with a mental state sufficiently healthy enough to be of any assistance."

He pointed at the titans. "The last few plots that have been attempted and foiled weren't even foiled through our own efforts. And Lucifer wasn't even directly at the helm of the events that unfolded for those plots. Besides, when Trigon rose, the Teen Titans were able to fight him off and defeat him long after the entire Brotherhood of Dante had been turned to stone by his presence. If there's anyone who can help us foil this newest plot of Lucifer's, it's them. Trust me, this breach of protocol they ask of us will be a small price to pay."

Novak thought to himself some more, and then sighed, nodded his head up and down with his eyes closed, and stated, "I don't like this; but if the world's safety depends on it, then so be it."

"You mean?" Starfire asked.

"Yes," said Novak. "I shall allow you to directly access our library right now." He turned to face the entrance to the hallway that would lead to the library. "Come," he stated. "Let us head there straight away. We've got no time to lose."

. . . . .

Meanwhile, back outside the headquarters, the hidden figure that had watched the titans enter the building from a hiding place in a nearby alleyway was now standing about a foot or two from the front door. The being, a large black demon, was glaring intently at the door with its eyes narrowed to the point that its pupils were now even more slit-like than usual. It snarled, licked its chops, and growled silently to itself, "This is definitely the Jump City fortress of the Brotherhood of Dante. Whoever allowed for the titans to come here certainly knew what he or she was talking about."

"Master?" came a voice behind the black demon from a slightly higher elevation. "Is there anything to report?"

The black demon turned its head and lifted it up sufficiently to look directly at the being who'd spoken. The being in question was easy to recognize as a standard Luciferian wind demon with its purple scales and eyes, purple-feathered wings that served as arms, taloned bird-like feet, serrated beak-like mouth, tuft of purple feathers on its head, and long tail with another tuft of purple feathers at the tip. Unlike the black demon, this demon was about a foot or so shorter. As for why the black demon had to look up at it, the wind demon was currently perched on the edge of a balcony that adjoined with a room on the second floor of an abandoned and dilapidated apartment complex.

The black demon grunted, pointed at the apparent ruins that stood directly in front of it, and said, "Indeed there is Imbix. In fact, I have managed to stumble upon two treasures at once. The Teen Titans are definitely here, and better yet, I now have reason to believe that this building is in fact one of the many headquarters bases of the Brotherhood of Dante."

The wind demon's eyes widened, and it took all its willpower not to squawk in delight. "That's . . . that's excellent news."

"Indeed," said the black demon, who looked back at the doors to the building and said, "If this building truly is what I think it is, then I now have the opportunity to both eliminate the Teen Titans and to deal a powerful blow against the Brotherhood of Dante."

"Well what are we waiting for?" the wind demon squawked. "Let's get it done!"

The black demon raised its right hand as if to signal to stop right as its underling was about to take to the air. "No Imbix. Not yet. I'm waiting for the right moment to strike. And besides, my first priority is to take out the Teen Titans. If there is time after that task is done, then maybe I will stay to wreck further havoc on this base; but the titans come first. And on that note," he looked back at Imbix, "when I go inside to battle the titans, I will be doing it alone."

Imbix pouted. "You always get all the fun," he warbled bitterly.

"I'm serious Imbix," the black demon growled. "Stay put. I can't allow for the risk of someone seeing you flying around in the sky and causing a citywide panic. You know that his Malevolence doesn't like it when we bring widespread attention of mortals to ourselves before he's deemed it to be the proper time."

Imbix glared at his superior and hissed, "Well if you'd just let me go in there with you, then maybe I'd be sufficiently entertained enough to not stray from hiding to seek entertainment."

"I've already told you," said the black demon. "Your assistance won't be necessary. I'm powerful enough that I should be more than capable of taking on those five children alone without much effort. And even if I did need your assistance, I still wouldn't be able to bring you with me. In case you haven't noticed, this building has been built on hallowed ground. Of the two of us, I'm the only one who can so much as place a single foot on the floor of that building. Sure you can fly over it, but it will be physically impossible for you to even enter the building, much less set one of your feet on the floor."

At the sight of the deepening mixture between a glare and a pout on the wind demon's face, its superior sighed, and then said, "Look, I'll compromise. When I do battle with the titans, it will be in the library; and I know for a fact that the libraries in these headquarters always have reinforced glass roofs. As long as you stay above the roof, and thus within the glamour, you are free to watch me battle the titans through the roof and entertain yourself that way. Savvy?"

Imbix thought to himself, his head at an angle indicating his being deep in thought. Then he nodded. "Fair enough," he stated.

"Good," said the black demon. He turned his head to look back at the hidden local headquarters of the Brotherhood of Dante, and then said, "Now you wait right here while I scope the area to try to locate the library. When I'm about to do battle with the titans, I'll give you a signal and you can fly right over to take your seat for the show. But remember, do not attempt to intervene. Even if you do manage to break the glass of the roof, the warding won't let you enter; believe me I know."

. . . . .

"You don't seem to have very much security," said Cyborg.

Master Novak chuckled, and said, "Appearances can be very deceiving young warrior. I'll admit, we don't have any of the big fancy security technology that you have in your tower, much less the everyday gadgets that make up most mundane security systems these days. But trust me, this building, and all others that serve as headquarters for divisions of this brotherhood are much tougher nuts to crack than they might appear at first glance."

"How?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well for one," Master Novak replied. "All of our headquarters buildings are shielded from the sight of civilians and other humans who aren't considered official members or don't look hard enough by glamours. Since most people rarely ever look at glamoured objects hard or long enough, they almost never see our headquarters bases for what they really are."

Beast Boy made a silent 'oh' upon being reminded of how the headquarters was shielded from sight by a glamour, nodded his head, and then said, "That's true."

Master Novak nodded. "Also," he continued, "we have several security measures in place for keeping out unwanted demon visitors."

He pointed at the floor and stated, "For example, this building, and all our other headquarters bases are built on hallowed ground."

Raven nodded her head upon hearing this. "Definitely a smart idea," she stated. The other titans looked at her as if asking what she meant. "Hallowed ground has a similar effect on demons as iron boundaries. For the majority of demons, it's physically impossible for them to step foot on hallowed ground. But unlike with iron, demons can fly over hallowed ground. And also, unlike iron, hallowed ground only works on minor demons. Higher ranking demons, particularly knights of Hell, are able to enter hallowed ground without any difficulty."

"Indeed you are correct," said Master Novak. "Fortunately, we also have magical wards on the building that are designed to keep out all manner of demons from both low and high ranks. Admittedly though, I'm not entirely certain as to whether or not they're powerful enough to keep knights of Hell at bay. And believe me, I've tried my hardest to get my superiors at the Brotherhood headquarters in Jerusalem to give their consent for an upgrade in the warding, but I highly doubt that they're all that keen on granting that privilege just yet in light of how long it's been since the brotherhood's last encountered a knight of Hell."

At the sound of this, Beast Boy gulped, and anxiously looked behind him. While he still wasn't entirely an expert yet on the high ranking demons that were apparently known as knights of Hell, he was now starting to get the feeling that in light of what he'd heard said about them combined with how difficult it had been to battle the minor ranking demons he'd already encountered, he did not want to meet a knight of Hell at any time in the near future.

Sometime later, Master Novak said, "Here we are."

The Titans looked ahead and saw that they'd reached a set of double doors that appeared to have a pair of lightning bolts engraved on them. As the Titans watched, Mr. Templesmith proceeded to walk up to what appeared to be some sort of electronic lock and press on the numerical buttons as if entering in a code. Second later, with an electronic beep, the doors opened, revealing a large library.

Mr. Templesmith stepped to his right, gestured towards the open doors, and said, "Step this way, and you may begin your work."

Rendered speechless by the sight of the enormous library, the titans entered, looking carefully around the room. "I'll say," said Robin. "We sure have a lot of books to look through."

He turned to face Master Novak and Mr. Templesmith. "Which section do you think will be the most likely location for a book containing the information we're looking for?"

"Section X," said Master Novak. "But I'd recommend you take a look at our online database on the computer first; it's faster, and we also have a chapter in there devoted entirely to both confirmed and theorized escape plans of Lucifer. Granted, this current plan of his at work might not be in there, but it's a start."

Robin nodded, bowed his head in respect, and then turned to face the other titans before saying, "Come on team; let's move."

"Wait."

The titans turned their heads to face Master Novak. "The password is Beatrice," said the Brotherhood leader.

"Beatrice, got it," said Robin. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Master Novak. He turned away and said, "Come on Mr. Templesmith, let us leave our guests to their work." The two adult men proceeded to walk away. But Mr. Templesmith made a point to direct a wave at the titans as if to say 'good luck' before the doors closed.

Robin faced the other titans and said, "You heard him team. Let's get to work." In a flash, the five teenage heroes made their way over to the computer, which they could see lying right near the very back of the library. Upon reaching the computer, Beast Boy hopped up on the seat in front of it while the other titans gathered around him to watch over his shoulders.

At a speed that left Cyborg gaping in shock, Beast Boy typed in the password that had been given by Master Novak, and the main menu of the Brotherhood of Dante's electronic database came up on the screen. "Alright guys," said Beast Boy. "We're in. What should we look through first?"

"Start at the beginning," said Robin. "As proven from last night and this morning, we're nowhere near as familiar with these enemies as we ought to be. It's best we start at the beginning and continue on from there so that all five of us can be up to speed instead of having to always rely on Raven; no offense."

Raven nodded as if to say 'none taken,' her face as blank as ever.

"Beginning it is then," said Beast Boy. He clicked on the link that said 'Prologue.' The main menu screen changed to a prologue page, which the titans proceeded to read. Not one of the titans made a sound as they silently read the document that would begin their current quest for knowledge.

. . . . .

At exactly 7:00 pm, the titans had managed to read a surprisingly large portion of the database. And as would be expected, they'd learned quite a lot of information that they'd never would have suspected.

"To think that The Divine Comedy was in fact a true story and we didn't even know," Robin said to himself.

"You can say that again," said Beast Boy. "Man, Dante must have had some serious balls to willingly undertake such a journey."

Robin nodded in agreement. "Makes me wonder if he felt the way I felt when I traveled alongside Slade to search for Raven when Trigon was here," he stated.

"Don't remind me," said Beast Boy.

At the sound of the slightly jealous and bitter tone in Beast Boy's comment, Robin directed a glance at the green boy from out of the corner of his eyes with his left eyebrow raised. Seconds later, after thinking calmly to himself, he decided to let the matter drop for the moment. "I'll worry about this later," he thought to himself. "Right now, we've got more important things to worry about."

"I'll certainly admit that it was very informative to read all that stuff in there on demons, angels, and their respective afterlife realms," Raven stated. "And I will definitely say that it was very helpful in boosting my understanding of their respective hierarchies as well."

"Don't forget what it said in there about Purgatory," Cyborg stated. He looked at the computer screen and said, "I sure as Hell was taken by surprise when I learned about those things called Primordials. I know for a fact that the Bible never mentioned them."

The other titans nodded in agreement, for that particular bit of information Cyborg had mentioned had proven just as much of a surprise for them as it had for their partially robotic friend. According to the Brotherhood of Dante's database, the Primordials had been the very first animals God had created after allowing for the actual planet Earth and solar system itself to come into existence. However, in spite of how Lucifer had apparently found them to be very entertaining creations, God himself had eventually come to label them as too dangerous to coexist alongside any of his future creations after observing their violent and savage behavior that far exceeded what he wished to be present in any of his future creations. And as a result, he'd created Purgatory and locked them all away in there.

Over time, Purgatory had come to eventually become a place for the souls of those who'd been neither good enough for Heaven nor bad enough for Hell to go to after death where they could overtime prove themselves worthy of being transferred to either of the other two afterlife realms. As for the Primordials themselves, they had ended up getting themselves both a job and a partial source of food as a result of God's allowing for souls to come to Purgatory. The job was that they would serve as a Purgatorial 'police force' of sorts. And as for food, the concept was that as long as the souls in Purgatory followed the rules of battle properly according to the regulations of Purgatory, the Primordials would satisfy their hunger by eating purgatorial beasts; on the other hand, if the souls got overly violent, repeatedly violated the rules of the Purgatory battles, or attempted to escape, then the Primordials would eat them and thus cause them to cease to exist for all eternity.

Beast Boy soon shuddered at the memory of the information on Primordials. "I can definitely say that I'm glad the Big Man upstairs had the sense to lock them away in Purgatory before he created humans and all the other animals that exist now. I certainly wouldn't any creature as savage as those things roaming the Earth. After all, judging from their description, I'm thinking that even the Beast would be horrified by them."

"Correct you are," he heard the Beast say in his mind. "Those things you now speak of are much too vile, even by _my_ standards." Beast Boy made no sign of having heard the Beast.

"And while I'm at it," said Beast Boy. "I'm sure Robin found all that information we've gathered on the knights of Hell and Lucifer himself worth coming here for."

"You can say that again," said Robin. "And I'll definitely admit that it was nice of the Brotherhood of Dante to have their names written down in here. Believe it or not, I actually recognize the names of all five of those demons from my religious teachings. As for Lucifer," he shuddered, and then continued, "I hate to say this, but I'm seriously hoping that we won't ever have to encounter him in our lifetimes. Trigon was bad enough."

"No kidding," said Cyborg. "But on another note, when I go to Heaven, God and the angels are going to have a lot of explaining to do."

Robin sighed mentally upon hearing this. He'd had a feeling that all this studying wouldn't help Cyborg feel any better about his personal crisis of faith. Making a note to think about it some more later, he said to Beast Boy, "Is there anything else you think would be useful to look through before we go home?"

Beast Boy pointed at a link and said, "It says to see this section for further information on Lucifer's escape plots."

"Access it," said Robin.

Beast Boy clicked on the link, and thus opened up a document that contained information about confirmed (and foiled) escape plots of Lucifer that had occurred in the past as well as multiple theories of potential plots to be attempted in the future. Upon sight of this, Robin placed his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder and said, "May I sit here?"

Beast Boy got up, and Robin sat down on the chair before beginning to intently read through the document. As he read, he couldn't help but whistle as he found himself learning some very surprising information about how multiple major events that had occurred in the world both during his lifetime and before then had been connected in some way to Lucifer and his efforts at escaping Hell without hardly anyone even knowing about his personal involvement. In fact, according to the section with the confirmed plots, Lucifer had even apparently been partially involved with Trigon's efforts at the apocalypse two years ago.

"Dang," said Beast Boy. "I so didn't see that coming."

"Speak for yourself," said Raven.

"I must admit," said Starfire. "Learning how this monster has been involved in so many events without our knowledge makes me feel most uncomfortable."

"I'm certainly not surprised," said Cyborg. "But for now, the important thing for us to worry about is whether or not any of these theories the brotherhood has on potential future plots could possibly involve the information that Vandal Savage wanted us killed for."

In that instant, right before Robin could resume his reading of the document, the titans all heard an ominous hollow voice from behind them hiss "That is a secret for me to know and you to never find out."

Startled, the five teenage heroes turned their heads to look behind them, only to find that there appeared to be nothing behind them. At the sound of hollow laughter that split the air seconds later, Beast Boy tapped into his animal instincts and senses, Raven tapped into her empathic sensing, and Cyborg began scanning the area. Beast Boy growled, and said, "I can sense that there's someone here, but I can't say for certain where."

"Whatever this thing is," said Raven. "It's in the area, but I can't fully pinpoint its exact location."

Cyborg didn't even have a chance to say anything before the titans suddenly felt what appeared to be a strong breeze blowing around them through the library. And as the five teenage heroes reflexively positioned themselves as if to shield themselves from the force of the wind, they noticed that their shadows, and also those produced by all the bookshelves and other objects in the library appeared to be flowing like rivers towards the very center of the library, where a large vortex of shadowy energy had now formed right on the floor. Fueled by the shadows merging together to allow it to form, the vortex expanded until it completely covered the Brotherhood of Dante emblem illustration engraved on that part of the floor.

As the titans watched, the ground suddenly started shaking beneath their feet, and a large dark figure slowly rose from the vortex. Its clawed hands were the first to rise up from the shadowy portal, followed by its dragon-like head and the rest of its body before finally ending with the tip of its long fur tufted tail. The portal closed and vanished from sight when the creature's tail was a foot or so off the ground, and the being landed softly on the floor on its feet.

The titans barely had a chance to fully process the fact that an unexpected intruder had now appeared in the library right in front of them before it lifted its head up to look directly at them, its ominous black eyes agleam with pleasure and its teeth bared in a snarl of predatory glee. "Hello Titans."

**And just like that, another chapter is over. And for that matter, major cliffhanger! Dun, dun, dun! On that note, I hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless and that you leave a nice healthy batch of reviews (and I especially recommend that you guys review, even if you are a guest!). Feel free to comment on whatever you wish to comment on in your reviews and feedback to. I especially hope you enjoyed my introduction of the Brotherhood of Dante. I feel very proud of myself for how I did on them. And I especially hope you're looking forward to figuring out how things go between the epic battle to come between the titans and their unexpected demonic assailant (and for that matter, care to guess just what sort of demon this particular demon is in regard to the hierarchy of Hell?). Again, I hope you enjoyed this and are looking forward to the next chapter to come!**

**Coming up next: The Titans find themselves fighting one of their toughest battles yet against the powerful demon that has now arrived in the library with them. Can the titans successfully hold their own against their newest opponent? Find out, in the next chapter!**


	10. Abaddon

**Hey ya'll! I hope you guys are all ready for some more Teen Titanic awesomeness, because here's a brand new chapter! In this new addition to the story, the Titans find themselves fighting an epic battle against the powerful demon that has now unexpectedly appeared in the Brotherhood of Dante library with them. Can the titans prevail? Or will this demon be villain that they cannot defeat? Prepare to find out, in this epic new chapter!**

**Before we get started on this chapter, let me just remind you guys again that I own neither Teen Titans, nor any other elements of the DC universe. And I certainly don't own the demon featured in this chapter (and for that matter, I apologize in advance if I accidentally cause any religious offense). Now, without further ado, onward with the fic!**

**Chapter 9:**

**Abaddon**

For what seemed like an eternity, the Titans and the large demon that had unexpectedly appeared in the library with them remained standing where they were, facing each other intently. As the titans gazed at the demon now standing before them, Robin carefully made note of as much information as he could gather. In regard to its tail design, head adornment, and the color of its eyes and scales, it looked no different from any of the other Abrahamic shadow demons that the titans had encountered the previous night and this morning.

However, upon closer inspection, it didn't take long for Robin to determine that this demon was very different from the demons that they'd already dealt with before. Unlike all the minor-league Abrahamic demons they'd encountered, this demon seemed to radiate power and authority, almost as if it were demanding both respect and fear at the same time. And as if to further add to this image, while all the minor demons the titans had encountered so far had all been roughly around the same size range as them, this demon was the exact same size as Slade himself.

The demon chuckled, licked its chops hungrily, and then stated, "I must say, for a supposedly minor threat, you've certainly proven quite an annoyance for my client. But no matter, I will most certainly succeed where all those wannabes he sent after you before failed; of that, I can assure you."

Finally regaining her voice, Starfire pointed at the large black demon and shouted, "You will not succeed."

"Yeah!" Cyborg yelled. "Heck, you shouldn't even be in here! This is hallowed ground!"

At the sound of that comment from Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy looked each other in the eyes nervously. They had a very bad feeling that they knew how this demon had apparently managed to get in to the building without being phased by the fact that it was built on hallowed ground.

Sure enough, the demon chuckled, lifted his left hand up in a dismissive gesture, and said, "That may work in the minor leagues, but as I'm sure you might have already been told by that goody-goody Novak, you need something much stronger than that to keep out higher ranking demons, especially ones like me."

At the sound of this, a hard eyed glare came on Beast Boy's face, and he pointed his finger at the demon before shouting, "You're a knight of Hell aren't you!?"

"Very good young shape shifter," said the demon. "It seems that you are not quite as stupid as I was led to believe."

The knight of Hell turned its head so that it was once again placing equal visual focus on all five of the titans as opposed to just on Beast Boy, and then said, "And since you lot now seem to be entirely familiar on how high ranking I am, I might as well introduce myself properly."

The demon raised its clawed hands up in the air as if to show himself off and roared proudly, "BEHOLD! I AM ABADDON, DEMON OF THE PIT, BRINGER OF DESTRUCTION, KNIGHT OF HELL, AND CHOSEN CHAMPION OF LUCIFER!"

Robin's eyes narrowed. "I remember reading about you in the bible," he stated. "You certainly didn't get mentioned very often."

"Indeed," the demon stated, its tone clearly showing that it wasn't entirely pleased with this information. "But it matters not how I didn't get the attention I deserved in the Bible. All that matters now, is that I'm going to be the knight of Hell who gets the honor of personally sending you to the afterlife."

Robin glared, pointed at Abaddon, and stated, "I wouldn't be too confident about that. The minor leaguers that came after us before you more or less said the same thing, and we were able to handle them just fine."

"True," said Abaddon. "I will admit, you five children have proven yourselves to be far more formidable then my client, Vandal Savage, originally thought. After all, he may have had the confidence to dismiss the situation as a minor setback when last night's advance party never returned to our campsite last night, but when he caught the news from Lucifer about how you'd managed to send the rest of the squadron he'd been granted back to Hell this morning, well I must say that you certainly gave him a gray hair or two. In fact, you've also made Lucifer quite impressed. He truly wasn't expecting you to live past turn of day last night, and he's certainly feeling happy that you've turned out so tough that he's ended up having to grant Savage permission to send a knight of Hell after you."

The demon then proceeded to clasp its hands together so that its clawed fingers intertwined, and then stretch its arms upward into the air before saying, "And to be honest, I'm quite happy to finally get the chance to get back in the game. I'm sure it wouldn't be surprising for you that it's been Hell knows how long since me or any of my four compatriots have been called upon to handle a situation for Lucifer. With that in mind, I'm sure you will understand that I'm very much looking forward to battling you."

"Well I hope you're ready for a disappointment," said Cyborg. "Because from what you just said, I have a feeling you'll be pretty out of practice. And it's never good for someone who's out of practice in battling."

Abaddon chuckled, and then stated, "On the contrary, even without having been sent on many missions for quite a few decades or so, all of the knights of Hell, I myself included, have made sure to constantly train ourselves for battle every day in Hell. So needless to say, I haven't softened up in the slightest, and you will definitely be satisfied in fighting an opponent at full strength and skill."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Prove it," he growled.

Abaddon grinned smugly at Robin, lifted its right hand up in the air, and then snapped its fingers. In a flash, a gigantic bolt of pitch black lightning struck the floor literally one centimeter in front of Robin. The boy wonder just managed to catch a brief glimpse of the bolt of shadow lightning before it vanished seconds later. To say that Robin was startled would have been an epic understatement. The other titans were likewise stunned speechless by this horrifying display of power. Even Raven was visibly shocked.

Abaddon laughed at the sight of the five bewildered teenage heroes, pointed his clawed right middle finger at Robin and jeeringly hissed, "You should pay more attention to the weather report before flying little bird; it looks to me like there's a storm coming." He laughed again at his joke.

Robin glared at the laughing demon, pointed his own right middle finger at it, and yelled, "Well you may not be a pushover, but we're still not going to go down against the likes of you without a fight! And that's assuming the Brotherhood of Dante doesn't come charging in here to help us!"

"Ah yes," Abaddon chuckled. "Thanks for reminding me about that."

The demon snapped its fingers, and a nearby lock pad became engulfed in shadow energy. A minute or two later, at the sound of an electronic beep, the shadow energy faded away, the screen on the lock pad turned from green to red, and the silence was emphatically shattered by the abrupt blaring roar of an alarm. The titans had just barely realized that they were now hearing alarms going off before they heard what sounded like an immensely heavy object slamming on the floor directly on the other side of the doors to the library.

"There," Abaddon hissed in pleasure as it glanced at the doors and lock pad. "Now we'll have no need to worry about the Brotherhood of Dante ruining our fun."

The demon looked back at the titans, spread his arms out as if to gesture for them to behold his awesomeness, and said, "As you can now see and hear, I've just now gone ahead and triggered this building's emergency lockdown. That slamming noise you heard coming from the other side of the doors? That was the sound of the consecrated marble walls decorated with warding runes slamming down in front of every door in this entire building. As long as the emergency lock-down mode remains in effect, absolutely no one will be entering or leaving whatever rooms or hallways they happened to be in before the lock-down mode was triggered. The only way to manually turn it off without waiting for the threat, in this case me, to leave the building is to enter the override code into the central core supercomputer located in the computer room. And as my luck would have it, there is conveniently absolutely zero people in that particular room. So in other words, you can say goodbye to any hope of receiving professional reinforcements."

The titans looked at each other. It was clear that they would have to take care of this enemy on their own just like usual. Abaddon laughed, stood up to full height, and calmly announced, "Enough talk! It is time for our battle to begin! And as for that plan of Lucifer's that you shall soon be prevented from foiling, all you need to know is that my client has spent the last three months two steps ahead of you! All he needs is a single key element, emphasis on key, and the world will have until exactly two days from now to wait before all Hell literally breaks lose!"

The second Abaddon finished shouting that last phrase, he abruptly thrusted his right hand forward, and a tractor-sized orb of shadow energy burst from his hand and came flying at the five teenage heroes.

. . . . .

Robin just barely managed to yell, "Titans go!" before he and the other Titans lunged off in random directions just in time to avoid getting blown to bits by Abaddon's blast. The computer, however, was not so lucky, and the shadow ball plowed into it with enough force to cause a respectable sized explosion. When the smoke and lingering shadow energy cleared, a smoldering circular patch of ashes was all that remained of the computer.

At the sight of this, Robin whistled from the spot where he'd landed between two bookshelves, and he stated, "For a Biblical minor character, he sure is powerful."

He turned his head to get a closer look at Abaddon once more, and his eyes narrowed before he said, "We'll just have to find out the hard way how much light it's gonna take to light him up."

The boy wonder then shouted, "Titans, surround him," before lunging at Abaddon with his right leg positioned so as to give him a flying ninja kick.

Abaddon was quick to react, and he grabbed the flying boy wonder by his right ankle when the leg in question was seconds from smacking right into his face. All of one second passed before Abaddon took advantage of his newfound position of dominance in his current struggle with Robin by lifting him upward. Robin had just enough time to shriek in surprise before Abaddon then swung him through the air to the left and slammed him downward onto the floor. Before long, the demon proceeded to repeat the process four more times, alternating from right to left as he did so. After slamming Robin on the floor for the fifth time in a row, Abaddon lifted him up in the air again, spun him around four loops, and then let go of his ankle directly after finishing the fourth loop. As a result, the boy wonder was sent flying head first towards the doors to the library.

Fortunately, Robin was positioned close enough to the floor for him to halt his head on flight towards the doors by tapping the floor with his right fingers. Having turned his head on flight into a somersault, he proceeded to further reduce his speed and impact with the floor by making three somersaults across the floor before coming to a far more pleasant backwards landing that allowed him to skid gently to a stop on his hands and feet while facing Abaddon.

Abaddon was just about to tense up to lunge at Robin when he heard Cyborg yell from behind him, "Heads up!" Abaddon turned to face Cyborg just in time to see the cybernetic teenager fire a blast from his sonic cannon at him. The knight of Hell just barely managed to deploy a force field of shadows around himself in time to deflect the sonic laser upward. The blast hit the center of the reinforced glass roof, and ended up being deflected in random directions across the roof as a result before eventually hurtling downward back at Cyborg.

Cyborg ducked just in time to avoid getting zapped by his own sonic blast, and the laser blasted a nearby bust of Master Novak into dust. Cyborg managed to look behind him at the obliterated remains of the bust and say "Oops," in his mind before he heard Abaddon growl. Cyborg looked back at Abaddon just in time to see the demon, with his shield now gone, slam his right fist on the floor. Seconds later, before Cyborg even had a chance to blink, he was abruptly engulfed in a gigantic pillar of shadow energy that erupted from the floor directly underneath his feet. A few minutes later, the pillar faded away in time to reveal Cyborg hurtling upward towards the roof of the library, which he slammed into with a bang.

Cyborg had time to groan before he came plummeting down on his back on the floor. No sooner had he managed to get his eyes fully opened when he saw none other than Abaddon standing right by his head looking down at him. Smirking, the demon extended his right hand so that it was hovering palm-side down over Cyborg's face. "It took me only a minute to reprogram the security system so that this building would go into lock-down mode," Abaddon stated. "Considering how you are also a machine, perhaps I ought to see how long it will take for me to reprogram you into fighting alongside me." At the sound of this, Abaddon's eyes narrowed to the point that his pupils resembled such thin slits as to make him look pupilless, and his hand hovering over Cyborg's face began to glow with black energy.

Fortunately, before Abaddon could activate his 'reprogramming,' he suddenly felt something crash into the back of his head. Abaddon's eyes, now back to normal, narrowed in a mix between irritation and disappointment. Being a masterful wielder of shadow energy himself, he could recognize the feeling of shadow energy on his skin, and thus he immediately knew who had blasted him. He turned around to face the area behind him and saw, as he'd suspected, Raven hovering nearby.

Abaddon smirked, chuckled, and hissed derisively, "You think _that_ will stop me? You of all beings should know how useless such an attack is against a being who uses similar attacks. No one can fight fire with fire, and you cannot defeat darkness with darkness daughter of Trigon."

Raven growled, her eyes narrowed in anger, and her hands glowing with her own shadow energy, and then yelled, "Watch me try!"

In a flash, she raised up her hands and yelled, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Upon shouting out her mantra, Raven swiped her hands in an x-shaped slash, and what appeared to be a mysterious rune made out of shadow energy was formed. Abaddon had just enough time to catch the slightest glimpse of the rune before a gigantic beam of blinding white light was fired out from the center of the large rune. The beam engulfed Abaddon and then eventually vanished with a bang in time to reveal him being sent flying backward.

The demon slammed into a wall and landed on his belly nearby the ashes that remained of the computer. As he got on his hands and knees and lifted his head to look at Raven with a growl, the sorceress calmly stated, "That's what happens when you end up on the wrong side of an Azarathian holy light rune. When summoned, this rune causes a blast of angelic light to be fired out from it to smite all evil in its path."

Abaddon snarled, got up on his feet, and hissed, "Clever. But not clever enough!"

No sooner had Abaddon yelled that last phrase when with a wave of his hands, he caused three massive cables that looked as if they'd originally provided power to the computer to rise from the floor, electricity crackling at the tips. At the sight of Raven's stunned look, Abaddon growled, clenched his fists, and yelled, "My combined nature as both a demon and an umbrakinetic might make me susceptible to holy light! But let's see if your similar nature allows you to fare any better against electricity!"

In a flash, Abaddon waved his left hand forward, and the gigantic cable to his left proceeded to rear up like a snake and then slam its electricity crackling tip down towards Raven like a scorpion's tail. Raven just barely managed to hover out of the way before the cable end jabbed down on the floor right where she'd been before. The sorceress didn't even have a chance to catch her breath before Abaddon caused the cable to his right to do the exact same maneuver, forcing her to dodge again. And for the next few minutes that followed, Raven found herself hurriedly and continuously dodging the three cables as Abaddon caused them to strike out at her again and again in random directions.

After a while, Raven found herself in a position in which she was hovering directly over the circle of ashes that was left of the computer that the three cables had originally provided power to. Abaddon snarled in anger as he found himself glaring at the daughter of Trigon. "She certainly has stamina, I'll give her that," he growled to himself in his mind. But then he remembered an important detail that had influenced his original choice to have just the three cables he'd used to rise up from the floor, and his snarl turned into a wolf-like grin. At the sight of this, Raven prepared herself, for she had a feeling that that look meant that Abaddon had a nasty trick up his sleeve. Seconds later, with a backwards wave of his right hand, Abaddon caused all three of the cables between himself and Raven to arch up like snakes. Upon seeing this, Raven reflexively summoned a shadow barrier large enough to shield herself from the front.

Unfortunately, this had been exactly what Abaddon had hoped Raven would do, and with an upwards crescent-shaped swing of his left hand and arm, he caused a fourth cable to rocket out of the floor and diagonally upwards towards Raven from behind, and the electricity enshrouded end jabbed her right on the back. The sorceress let out an unearthly howl of agony as she felt the electricity crackle across her back. Seconds later, with a groan of pain and exhaustion, Raven's shield faded away, and she fell down onto the floor.

No sooner had Raven been brought down on the floor when Abaddon caused the cables to lower back down into the floor and he jumped over to her before grabbing her by the throat and lifting her up so that he could look her right in the eyes. Raven's eyes widened in shock, and she panted in a mixture of fear and shortage of breath at the sight of the smug dragon-like face of Abaddon staring her right in the eyes.

Abaddon chuckled, tightened his grip on Raven's throat slightly, and then said, "You are powerful, I'll give you that; but there's only enough room in the apocalypse for one antichrist, and I'd sooner die then let you steal that role from a rightful future child of Lucifer!" With a growl, Abaddon lifted up his left hand, his claws extended as if he were about to thrust them into Raven's heart.

Fortunately for Raven, help came for her right that very instant in the form of a strong, powerful, and now very angry green lion that lunged onto Abaddon's back and dug its claws into his shoulders and the small of his back. Abaddon howled in pain, and he let go of Raven as he proceeded to struggle to get Beast Boy off of his back. Beast Boy made it very difficult for this task to be achieved as he proceeded to continue digging his claws as deep as he could and even sinking his fangs into the demon's scaly hide for good measure.

Eventually, Abaddon managed to reach backward, grab Beast Boy by the mane, and throw him off of his back to his right. Fortunately, for Beast Boy, this direction happened to be towards a book shelf, and he positioned his legs and paws while hurtling through the air so that his paws touched the bookshelf, thus giving him the leverage needed to then propel himself right back at Abaddon.

Abaddon ducked, and the green lion landed on the floor right behind him, only to then turn into a horse and direct a powerful back kick at Abaddon. The demon straightened back up and turned his head to face Beast Boy just in time for the green horse's rock hard hind hooves to give him a pounding blow right to his jaw. The demon was sent flying backward by the force of the blow, and he landed hard in the exact same area he'd landed in after getting hit by Raven's summoned beam of holy light.

Abaddon got back up and looked towards Beast Boy in time to see him charging towards him in the form of an African elephant, trumpeting furiously. Thinking quickly, Abaddon waved his right hand, and the green elephant bellowed in surprise as it suddenly plummeted into a shadowy vortex that appeared underneath it from out of nowhere.

The instant the vortex closed after Beast Boy had entered it fully, Abaddon lunged up so high that he managed to get a firm foothold on the very center of the glass ceiling. With his left hand and both of his feet firmly gripping the ceiling, Abaddon snapped his fingers, causing a second shadowy vortex to open up in the air three yards beneath him and four times that distance above the floor. Beast Boy the elephant came rocketing upward from this vortex with a surprised trumpeting noise at the exact same time that Abaddon sent himself flying downward towards Beast Boy. And in the time it took for the vortex to close, Abaddon was able to position himself so that he had his right leg extended towards Beast Boy's back. As a result, the foot in question slammed into the elephant's back with a sickening crack, and the elephant was sent pounding down hard onto the floor right in the same area as the Brotherhood of Dante emblem engraving.

When the dust cleared, it revealed a sprawled out and in pain green elephant. It opened its eyes and let out a groaning bellow of pain before shrinking back into Beast Boy's human form. The shape shifter had just enough time to let out a second, and this time more human-like, groan of pain before he suddenly felt something hard that felt suspiciously like a clawed foot slam into his left side and send him rolling away to his right. He shrieked in agony as he felt his back slam into the hard wooden surface of the front desk as a result.

A crouching Abaddon seemed to appear in front of Beast Boy's face mere seconds after this, and the demon grinned at the young green teenager before saying, "You know what they always say about survival of the fittest. Now it's your turn to fall to the power of the natural order."

All of two seconds passed after this comment before Abaddon felt something plow into him from out of nowhere directly in front of him with an angry feminine yell. As he hurtled backwards towards a wall, Abaddon was just able to notice that Starfire now both had a firm grip on his shoulders and was pushing him backwards before he felt his back slam into the wall she was pushing him towards.

Abaddon had barely any time to get his bearings before Starfire's furious face came up to look directly at him, and her eyes glowed dangerously green. In a flash, Abaddon jerked his head to his left just in time to avoid getting his face fried by the laser blast that Starfire fired from her eyes. He then jerked his head to his right to avoid a second laser blast. Seconds after getting his head back into its original position, he growled at Starfire, and then abruptly gave her a powerful head butt attack.

The Tamaranean was sent staggering off balance, and she didn't even get the chance to regain firm footing before Abaddon sent a shadow energy orb the size of a bowling ball flying at her. The shadow orb slammed into Starfire's chest and exploded into shadowy smoke with a flash and bang, sending the Tamaranean princess flying backward with a shriek of pain and shock.

Starfire had just managed to get herself back on her hands and knees after this when she suddenly felt something grab her by the neck and yank her upward. She gasped at the sight of Abaddon's glaring face looking her in the eyes as well as his clawed hand clenched around her throat. Abaddon growled, and then stated coldly, "Even the brightest of stars eventually have to go out, and now it is time for your light to be extinguished!"

Ironically enough, immediately after Abaddon said this, he himself suddenly became seemingly enshrouded in light when he abruptly felt himself getting engulfed in electricity. He roared in pain as he was zapped mercilessly in the web of voltage, and he let go of Starfire, who wasted no time to fly as far away from Abaddon as she could. When the electricity web that Abaddon had become ensnared in faded away, the demon remembered how he'd felt something strike him on the back right before he'd gotten electrocuted, and then turned his head to look behind him. Sure enough, he saw none other than Robin standing a couple feet away.

Abaddon snarled, leaned forward towards Robin, and then pawed his left foot back and forth before rushing head-on towards Robin like a Minotaur. Robin remained where he was as Abaddon charged towards him, slightly tensed up as if at the ready to lunge suddenly to the side. Right as the demon was mere seconds away from plowing its horned head into Robin, the boy wonder abruptly somersaulted to his left and out of the way just in time. Abaddon skidded to a stop, jumped around 180 degrees to face Robin again, and proceeded to rush at him a second time. Robin repeated his earlier strategy, but this time to his right, and Abaddon again ended up running right past him without causing any damage.

Abaddon skidded to a stop, jumped a 180 degree angle turn to face Robin once again, and was just about to roar in rage at the boy wonder when he suddenly sensed two large objects heading towards him from either side. He just had time to take a closer look to notice two large bookshelves encased in shadowy energy flying through the air straight towards him. From the way they were positioned, it was clear that he was about to be sandwiched between them. Seconds later, the two bookshelves clashed together with a loud smack.

Raven held the bookshelves in position for at least three minutes before finally releasing them from her hold. The bookshelves fell down hard on their backs, revealing a seemingly empty space in the area where Abaddon had originally been standing. Frowning in suspicion, Raven levitated over to where Abaddon had been standing in order to get a closer look. However, right as she was on her hands and knees examining the area, she suddenly heard a voice from behind her and above saying, "Impressive, unless you were trying to hit me." Raven turned her head just in time to see Abaddon suddenly land on the floor right behind her and then throttle her in the face with a powerful right hook. Raven was sent hurtling upwards before she landed hard on her back.

Abaddon was just preparing himself to attack Raven again, when he suddenly heard the sound of energy blasts and noticed a sonic laser heading towards him from behind him at the exact same time as a salvo of star bolts hurtled towards him from the front. Snarling, Abaddon summoned a shadow force field around himself and the energy blasts harmlessly plowed into the walls of the dome-shaped dark barrier. Five seconds later, noticing a lull in the energy blast onslaught, Abaddon proceeded to lower his force field just in time to see the two titans who'd early been firing energy blasts at him hurtling towards him from their respective directions.

Unfortunately for them, Abaddon was ready, and he unleashed an ear-splitting dragon-like roar. Starfire and Cyborg discovered the hard way that this roar was ultra-sonic when they found themselves getting sent flying backward by the force of the noise waves. At the sight of the Tamaranean princess and partially robotic teenage boy sprawled out on their backs, Abaddon chuckled, and then mockingly stated, "Well that was certainly a roaring success."

Abaddon laughed at his wit, and then turned to face the area where he'd earlier left Robin and Raven lying around just in time to see Beast Boy barreling towards him in the form of a rhinoceros. Right as Beast Boy was inches away from plowing into Abaddon, the demon quickly grabbed onto him by his horn, lifted him upwards, and then slammed him down on the ground on the side opposite the demon.

Hissing in pleasure, Abaddon lifted the green rhinoceros up again. But this time, Beast Boy was ready, and he turned into a gorilla while in mid-air. No sooner had the transformation freed him from Abaddon's grip when he hurriedly grabbed onto Abaddon's bull-like horns in mid-air and positioned himself so that he landed on his feet on the floor, lifting Abaddon upwards in the air as a result of the momentum.

With Abaddon thus incapacitated, Beast Boy the ape proceeded to slam him down on the floor left and right four times before then jumping up and slamming him down even harder than before. The impact from Beast Boy's fifth slam was enough for Abaddon to bounce on the floor three times before skidding to a stop on his belly. Abaddon got back up on his feet just in time to see Beast Boy charging towards him as a grizzly bear, bellowing out a harsh roar of challenge.

Unfortunately, luck was once again not on Beast Boy's side, for Abaddon then proceeded to send a jet of shadow-fire from his palms that crashed into the green bear and sent it rocketing backward. Beast Boy crashed into a wall and crumpled to the floor, groaning in pain.

Abaddon chuckled, and was preparing himself to lunge at Beast Boy when he heard Cyborg yell, "Hey Abby! Try this on for size!"

Abaddon turned his head in the direction he'd heard Cyborg shout just in time to see that the teenage half-robot had uprooted the emblem engraving from the floor and was now swinging it towards him. The solid gold circular engraving slammed into Abaddon with a tremendous bang, sending the knight of Hell flying towards the wall that Starfire had originally been lying down near. Abaddon crashed into the wall, managing to get his bearings just in time to see that Cyborg had now jumped into the air and was now hurtling down towards him with his right fist drawn back as if to punch at him.

Growling, Abaddon thrusted his own right fist forward in a right hook of his own. His fist pounded into Cyborg's chest with such force that Cyborg could have sworn that Abaddon had managed to break the sound barrier before Cyborg himself was then sent rocketing backwards and up through the air before landing hard back on the floor quite a few yards away from Abaddon. The demon snarled when he saw Cyborg slowly get up, and he yelled, "How about you try _this_ on for size," before snapping his fingers. In a flash, Abaddon's own shadow suddenly detached from him, rose up, and then contorted and writhed as it proceeded to take the shape of what looked like a serpentine creature with a dragon's head and four octopus-like tentacles at the base of its body. The entire creature was made out of shadowy energy. No sooner had the creature fully formed when it reared its head back and then abruptly thrusted it in Cyborg's direction, unleashing a savage roar of challenge as it did so. Cyborg just had time to gulp at the sight of Abaddon's shadow monster construct before the creature suddenly slithered towards him at a speed that made it seem like quicksilver.

Abaddon just had enough time to smile snidely at the sight of the creature snap Cyborg up in its jaws before he suddenly found himself having to leap to his left to avoid getting caught in the sudden barrage of explosive fire disks, star bolts, and shadow bombs that came his way alongside a volley of books being chucked at him by Beast Boy in the form of a chimpanzee. Upon reaching a perch at a safe distance away, Abaddon suddenly appeared to blink out of existence and then reappear up on the very center of the ceiling. The titans barely had a chance to notice that before he then started rapidly teleporting again and again, reappearing in random locations within seconds so as to confuse the titans and cause them to aimlessly strike and fire their attacks.

Fortunately, Robin was wise to this trick, and he yelled, "Titans! Back to back compass formation!"

In a flash, Robin leaped into a position that allowed him to face one of the walls, Beast Boy positioned himself back to back with Robin so that he was facing the wall opposite Robin, Raven positioned herself so that she had her back up to the sides of the two boys and was facing the remains of the computer, and Starfire positioned herself with her back up the two boys and facing the doors to the library. Thus positioned, the four titans watched as Abaddon continued to teleport randomly around them while seeming to gradually move closer towards them without giving any hint as to which of them he'd attempt to strike at first. Robin's eyes narrowed, and he said, "Be ready to strike out at any moment." His three companions nodded, tensing themselves so that they'd be ready to attack if necessary.

A couple minutes later, Abaddon suddenly appeared in front of Beast Boy. Unfortunately for the demon, the shape shifter was prepared, and a powerful kick that came from him in the form of a kangaroo sent Abaddon hurtling backward. No sooner had Abaddon been knocked off balance when the four titans proceeded to hit him with everything they had. Robin showed no mercy in his tossing fire and electricity disks at Abaddon, Raven unleashed a storm of shadow orbs, Starfire sent a meteor shower load of star bolts, and Beast Boy unleashed a blinding assault of blows as a kangaroo, giant anteater, and rhinoceros in rapid succession. Over time, this assault was enough to get Abaddon positioned so that he a titan rushing towards him from all four sides. Unfortunately, right as the four teenage heroes were about two feet away from him each, he summoned a ring of shadow orbs around that he then caused to explode right when the titans were an inch in front of them. This fantastic ring of shadow orb explosions blew the four titans away.

Abaddon laughed, grinned snidely at the teenage heroes, and said, "Give up Titans! You can't win!"

Beast Boy got himself on his hands and knees, growled, and then turned into a Utahraptor before rushing towards the demon, snarling viciously. Abaddon chuckled, positioned his hands so that they were a foot or so above the ground, and sent what looked like streams of shadowy smoke pouring onto the floor, which seemingly proceeded to absorb them. When a flat circle of shadowy energy suddenly appeared on the floor centimeters away from Beast Boy's feet, the changeling had just enough time to skid to a stop, snarl in shock, and then turn into an ostrich and run away before the shadowy energy abruptly erupted upward in a fantastic spout of shadowy energy. And even worse, as Beast Boy continued to run, more shadowy spouts proceeded to form on the ground and erupt from there, continuously following Beast Boy's every movement like a heat seeker.

As Abaddon was thus focusing on Beast Boy, he suddenly heard Cyborg yell, "Take this!"

Surprised, Abaddon turned his head just in time to see that not only had Cyborg managed to somehow fight off the shadowy monster he'd been tangling with, but had also sent a large volley of missiles flying towards him. Cursing under his breath, Abaddon summoned a shield, and all the missiles hammered into it harmlessly. With the last of the missiles gone, Abaddon lowered his shield in time to see Cyborg bearing down on him with his fist drawn back. With a sweep of his tail, Abaddon knocked Cyborg's legs out from under him. Cyborg had been lying down on his back for three seconds after this before Abaddon grabbed onto him and proceeded to lift him up so that he was holding Cyborg up in the air directly above him.

Having thus positioned Cyborg like this, Abaddon snarled, and then yelled, "Tenebreo Caelum!" A gigantic bolt of shadowy lightning plunged down on Cyborg exactly one second later.

Cyborg screamed in pain as he was painfully blasted by the shadowy energy blast. When the shadowy lightning bolt vanished, he panted and gasped, and also happened to notice that the blast had been strong enough to jolt his power level down from 90% to 77%. "So this is how enemies of the Marvel family feel," he thought to himself bitterly.

"Tenebreo Caelum!"

Cyborg let out a second pained groan as a second bolt of shadowy lightning speared him in the chest. When this bolt of shadow lightning faded away, Cyborg had just enough time to notice that his power level had now been blasted down to 54% before he then heard Abaddon yell for a third time, "Tenebreo Caelum!"

The agonized howl that Cyborg unleashed upon getting struck by this third shadowy lightning bolt would have deafened a banshee. Seconds after this bolt faded away, Cyborg heard a computer-like voice in his mind say, "Warning, power level 26%."

Abaddon growled, and yelled, "Tenebreo . . . !"

However, this was as far as the demon got before he abruptly got hit in the back by a pair of vivid green laser beams. This sent him stumbling forward and caused him to lose his grip on Cyborg. Abaddon had just managed to turn his head to glare at Starfire before he was then forced to dodge another pair of her eye beams. Before long, he found himself having to deploy a force field around himself as he ended up under fire from both Starfire's eye beams and star bolts and Raven's shadowy blasts. After a few minutes of this, Abaddon caused his force field to explode outward in a rippling shockwave of shadow energy that slammed into the two girls and sent them flying. No sooner had Abaddon blasted the two girl titans out of the air when he snarled, and turned his head to face directly in front of him just in time to see Robin directly in front of him with his sword at the ready. Seconds later, before Abaddon even had a chance to blink, Robin thrusted his sword through the demon's chest.

Abaddon howled in pain, and crumpled onto his hands and knees, his skin becoming engulfed in weakly crackling black lightning. Unfortunately, much to Robin's shock, it soon turned out a minute later that while the sword was indeed causing Abaddon pain, it wasn't apparently enough to kill him. As if to further support this, Abaddon soon reached up, grabbed onto the hilt, and then pulled the sword out of his chest. As Robin and the other Titans gaped at Abaddon in shock, the Knight of Hell proceeded to point the sword at Robin with a look of half irritation and half grudging respect on his face and then hiss, "Well played boy wonder. Well played."

Abaddon tossed the sword over his shoulder, and it slid underneath the emblem engraving lying down on the floor where Cyborg had dropped it after earlier smacking Abaddon with it. Abaddon then pointed his finger at Robin and said, "But you'll need more than a simple demon-killing weapon to slay a knight of Hell! And while we're at it, how about I show you an ace I have up _my_ sleeve!"

The instant Abaddon said this, he snapped his fingers and an elephant-sized orb of shadow energy appeared in the air directly above his head. A second snap of the demon's fingers caused the orb to explode into at least fifty or so rhino-sized shadow orbs that began to fly erratically around the room in random directions.

"Run!" Robin yelled, and he and the other titans promptly began to run off towards a large group of toppled bookshelves just as the multiple shadow orbs began to slam down randomly on the ground like meteors. It was only by sheer luck that all five of the teenage heroes managed to successfully jump up behind the bookshelf barricade and reach safety without getting caught in any of the blasts resulting from the onslaught of shadow meteors.

"You can't hide from me forever!" Abaddon roared. "Sooner or later, you will come back out of hiding, and I will send you on your way to the realm of the dead if it's the last thing I do!"

Robin growled silently as he heard this, and then looked at the other Titans before saying, "I hate to say this, but he has a point. At this rate, we'll be dead before we're even a fraction away from overwhelming him, not to mention my sword is both apparently not strong enough to kill him and is currently unavailable. Any ideas?"

"We could try to exorcise him," Cyborg suggested. He and the other Titans looked to Raven.

"Well," said Raven. "From what I remember it saying in the database before Abaddon blasted it, knights of Hell are just as vulnerable to exorcisms as any other demon. However, it also says that Abaddon has, to date, never been successfully exorcized before. Granted, it doesn't say he's immune, but it does say that no one who's ever tried to exorcise him as ever to date survived against him long enough to finish it. As a result, the Brotherhood of Dante has come to nickname him the Unexorcisable."

Robin growled, rammed his right fist into his left hand, and then said, "Well we'll just have to see how long he still remains worthy of that nickname when we're done with him." He positioned his head to face all four of his team mates, and then said, "Alright titans, you all know that Raven is our exorcist here, so we need to make sure that Abaddon doesn't have any chance at attacking her. Spread out and try to distract as best as you can so that Raven will have enough time to finish reading the exorcism! Got that?"

The other titans nodded their heads, and Robin smiled. "Good," he stated. "Titans go!" Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg promptly jumped out from the hiding place and rushed towards Abaddon while Raven remained crouched behind the makeshift barricade. Within seconds, the four titans that had left the safety zone resumed their battling of Abaddon, making sure to hit him with everything they had and also to further keep him focused on them by goading and taunting him with insults to make him angry. And as they did this, Raven proceeded to summon her book of demonology that contained exorcisms and open it up to the one designed for higher ranking demons and knights of Hell.

Raven silently counted to ten in her mind, and then proceeded to read, "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus . . ."

Unfortunately, seconds later, the Titans' plan suddenly began to go downhill. Mere seconds after Raven began the exorcism and Abaddon felt the distinctive nausea that came to demons when they were being effected by an exorcism, he teleported away from Raven's fellow Titans, reappearing right in front of Raven just as she finished reading the first line of the exorcism.

Raven had just enough time to find herself gaping at Abaddon in shock before the demon swiped the book out of her hands, hurled it away towards the other four titans, and then grabbed her by the throat before lifting her up to his face level. As Raven gasped for air and the other titans found themselves paralyzed with horror as they stared, Abaddon snarled, and derisively hissed, "You dare attempt to exorcise me?!"

Raven panted and gasped in reply, as Abaddon's grip was far too tight for her to really say anything else. Abaddon growled, and then angrily roared, "Out of all the knights of Hell, I am the only one who has never once been exorcised! I have remained that way for the last few millennia, and I will most certainly not allow that record to be lost today, and especially not at the hands of a filthy half breed spawn from the union of a human and a _Trigonian_ demon!"

At this point, Robin was hurriedly flipping through the pages of Raven's discarded book, which had landed near his and Beast Boy's feet. As Beast Boy heard what Abaddon said, he groaned in exasperation, rolled his eyes, and swiped the book from Robin's hands. "Gimme that!" the shape shifter yelled as he grabbed onto several pages and yanked them over, revealing the same exorcism Raven had been reading before getting interrupted. Seconds later, right as Robin was about to indignantly yell at Beast Boy and Abaddon was on the verge of thrusting his claws through Raven's heart, Beast Boy extended his right hand towards Abaddon dramatically while holding the open book in his left hand before angrily yelling, "Spiritus, omnis satanica potestas!"

"What the!?" Abaddon yelled as he jerked his claws to a halt. "Who's reading that?" He stared in shock in the direction he'd heard the suddenly continuing exorcism in time to see Beast Boy still in the same position from mere seconds ago with a defiant snarl on his face.

Growling, Abaddon dropped Raven and started running off towards Beast Boy. However, right as the knight of Hell was halfway between Raven's position and Beast Boy's, Raven got back on her feet, her own left hand extended towards Abaddon much the same way Beast Boy's right hand was and yelled, "Omnis incursio infernalis adversarii!"

Abaddon shrieked in shock and pain, and spun himself around to face Raven, only to screech in shock and pain once more when he heard Beast Boy yell from behind him, "Omnis congregatio!"

And as Abaddon found himself ending up turning his head left and right rapidly in confusion as a result of the tag-team exorcism going on, Beast Boy and Raven worked together to finish the exorcism while Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg looked on in stunned awe.

"Et secta diabolica!" Raven shouted.

"Ergo, draco maledicte!" Beast Boy yelled.

"Ecclesiam tuam secura!" Raven howled.

"Tibi facias!" Beast Boy roared.

"Libertate servire!" Raven snarled.

At that moment, Abaddon finally made the snap decision to resume his hurried racing towards Beast Boy. Unfortunately for the demon, he'd made this decision too late; for in the time it took for him to take seven steps towards Beast Boy, the shape shifter managed to emphatically growl, "Te rogamus, audi nos!"

"NO!" Abaddon roared as his head involuntarily jerked back, his jaws snapped open, and a massive geyser of black smoke erupted from his mouth and into a shadowy vortex that suddenly appeared in the air directly above him. Minutes later, Abaddon himself crumpled into a mass of black smoke that conjoined with the stream that had erupted from his jaws and proceeded to get dragged along with it. And as the bottom end of the now combined spout of smoke rocketed higher up and closer towards the vortex, the very tip of it seemed to take on the shape of a dragon-like head that opened its jaws and let out what sounded like both a dragon-like roar and the word 'no' at the same time. The instant the last of the smoke that had Abaddon had now become entered the vortex, the vortex snapped shut and vanished.

For what seemed like an eternity, the Titans remained standing where they were. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg looked completely dumbfounded and stunned while Raven and Beast Boy remained calmly standing where they were and gazing blankly at their three speechless friends. Cyborg, finally managing to get his voice back, stated, "Well, it seems that you two have just now exorcised the unexorcisable."

The sound of Cyborg speaking brought Robin's own voice back, and he said, "I daresay, good job," before looking at Beast Boy with a still rather surprised look on his face. "Beast Boy," he asked. "How did you do that?"

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "How did I do what?"

Robin gestured weakly at the area where Abaddon had been hovering over the floor while in the midst of suffering the effects of the finished exorcism. "That. How were you able to exorcise Abaddon alongside Raven? I thought Raven was the only one among us who had the power to exorcise demons."

Beast Boy made a silent 'oh,' and then looked at Raven, his eyes seeming to silently ask her what to do. Raven nodded her head up and down in a clear gesture of 'yes'. Beast Boy nodded, took a deep breath, and then said to Robin, "You know how Raven and I were the ones who went out to pick up our lunch for today?"

. . . . .

Hours earlier, Raven and Beast Boy were at the Titans' favorite pizza joint, waiting for the pizzas they'd ordered to go to finish so that they could take it back to the tower. As they were waiting at their usual table, Beast Boy found himself staring intently at Raven out of the corner of his eyes. From her outward appearance, it looked as if Raven were completely calm. Beast Boy, however, had a feeling that she had something on her mind that she wasn't all that keen on voicing at the moment. And the fact that he himself still had both the exorcism from that morning and the attack from the previous night on his mind only served to strengthen this belief that he shared with all the animals in his mind.

As he had the thought, Beast Boy found himself wondering something else that had been on his mind ever since Raven had finished the exorcism that morning. Before long, he abruptly stated, "Hey Raven? Can I ask you something?"

This statement momentarily caught Raven off guard. She managed to regain her composure a few seconds later, and she said, "Well you technically just did . . ." At the sight of Beast Boy hanging his head down and groaning, she swiftly recovered by stating, "But yes, you can go ahead and ask me something else."

The shape shifter exhaled in a mixture of relief and exasperation, looked Raven in the eyes, and asked, "I've been thinking about certain matters of religion, and I've over time found myself wondering, how is it that you are capable of exorcizing demons? I thought that power only came from the authority of God and Jesus."

Raven's eyebrows raised in surprise. She had not expected Beast Boy to be that knowledgeable about his religion in spite of his lapse in maintaining full loyalty to it. She thought to herself, and then stated truthfully, "Before I left Azarath and came to Earth five years ago, Azar thought that I should be able to defend myself appropriately if I were ever attacked by demons. And so, she used her own spiritual power to grant me the ability to exorcise demons."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow in further confusion as if to ask Raven how it was possible for Azar to have that kind of authority, and the sorceress explained, "In the Azarathian culture, the authority to banish demons from the realm of the living back to Hell comes from both their equivalent of God, and the Azarathian angels. However, unlike in the religious cultures of Earth, the spiritual leaders of Azarath are capable of choosing a successor to share their power to exorcise, and in Azar's case, I was that chosen successor."

"Hmm," Beast Boy said. He then nodded, and asked, "Hypothetically, is it possible for Azarathian spiritual leaders like Azar to grant this power to multiple different people over the course of her life time? Or is it a onetime deal?"

"That depends," said Raven. "As Azar is a full-fledged religious leader in Azarath, she has the power to choose a second successor if her first successor chooses not to take the position in her place when her time to step down comes. However, such a situation in which a second successor has had to be chosen has rarely ever happened."

Beast Boy nodded, then seemed to take on an expression that made him look as if he were considering whether or not to ask Raven something else. A minute or two later, he seemed to come to a decision, and he said, "Hypothetically, as Azar's chosen successor, could you perhaps allow your exorcism powers to be shared with others the way she can?"

Raven thought to herself, feeling slightly confused as to why Beast Boy seemed so interested in this topic. Eventually, she decided that she might as well humor him, and she said, "Yes and no. I can indeed choose a person to share my exorcist powers with. However, unlike Azar, as I am not a full-fledged Azarathian spiritual leader, I can only do this with one person."

"Only one?" Beast Boy asked in a tone that sounded both surprised and awed.

Raven nodded in the affirmative.

Beast Boy whistled, and then said, "Wow, I guess that means you'll definitely have to make your decision count when you make it."

"Indeed," said Raven.

Beast Boy chuckled slightly, took a deep breath, and then said, "Well in that case, if it's ok with you, I'd like to be that person."

This comment caught Raven completely off guard, and she found herself gaping at Beast Boy with her eyes widened. After what seemed like an eternity, Raven finally managed to regain her voice, and she said, "You . . . want to be . . . my successor?"

Beast Boy nodded, his eyes closed in agreement.

Raven panted in surprise as she tried to think up a reasonable response. "Beast Boy," she stated. "Are you sure you want this? I can't share this power with anyone else if I give it to you, and this ability can be just as much of a burden as it can be a blessing. Are you absolutely positive you want it?"

"Yes Raven," he growled. "I do; and if you don't want to give it to me, then at least don't share it with Robin. All I ask is that you at least share it with someone other than Robin if you don't pick me."

At the sound of this, Raven found herself very surprised. "What do you mean?"

Beast Boy sighed, and then responded, "Look Raven, I get that we don't have very much in common, but I value you as a friend just as much as I'm sure you do for me and the others. But with me, I just don't think our friendship is nearly as strong as it is between you and any of the others. I mean come on, you and Cyborg get to have your time together to work on the T-Car, you and Starfire meditate together, and of course you also have that _oh so special_ Vulcan mind meld mental link between you and Robin."

Raven's eyes widened at the slight bitter tone that Beast Boy had when he brought up her and Robin's strong mental bond, but before she could say anything, Beast Boy said, "Maybe I'm not being entirely as selfless as I could be in asking you to share your exorcism abilities with me, but I just want something that we can share between us the way you have something of that nature between Robin, Star, and Cy."

At the sound of this Raven gulped, hung her head, and responded, "Wow, I never realized you felt that way, but we already share the knowledge of what it's like to have a broken heart, and the knowledge of what it's like to struggle with a literal inner monster, and also what it's like to have abnormal skin coloring."

"I know that Raven, but I want more than that!"

Raven reared back in shock.

Beast Boy winced at the sight of this, and he hurriedly said, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to explode like that." He sighed, hanging his head, and then lifted it back up before saying, "Look Raven, what I'm trying to say is that I want something for us to share between only the two of us that is both corporeal and entirely beneficial. And also, I want to be able to easily protect you from those demons like I wish I could have when I saw you in the midst of you battle against that Luciferian thunder demon last night."

The changeling directed a more serious look at Raven, and then said, "Don't try to deny it Raven. I saw how your battle against that particular demon was going last night before you managed to be lucky enough to get a lucky break, and I can tell that if circumstances had unfolded in a more unfavorable way, then you could have died against that demon."

Raven's eyebrows rose in shock, but she hastily recovered and then said, "I don't know what you're talking about Beast Boy."

Beast Boy sighed, hung his head, and then lifted it up with his eyes closed. "Raven, you may be capable of lying to Cyborg, it's a given that you can lie to Star, maybe it's possible in spite of your mental link with him to lie to Robin, and maybe you are somehow even capable of lying to yourself."

He sighed again, opened his eyes, and then growled in a mixture of exasperation and desperation, "But you can't lie to me!"

Beast Boy stood up, pointed at Raven, and said, "I saw how tired and weakened you were becoming during your battle with that thunder demon even while I was in the midst of trying to keep myself alive while fighting the fire demon, and both me and my animal instincts could tell without even needing to hear you say it that you could have very easily been killed by that thing. And do not deny it, I mean it! We both know that it's true!"

Raven opened her mouth, then thought to herself, and then nodded in the affirmative.

Beast Boy sighed in relief, nodded his own head up and down, and then said, "Watching you like that, and not being able to do anything. You don't know how guilty and self hateful I felt for seeing you like and being unable to help you. I was so tired and weakened by that point myself that not even the Beast was able to intervene in time.

"And also, with the demons we exorcized this morning almost certainly spreading the word down in Hell, it probably won't be too long before it becomes common knowledge that you're capable of exorcizing them. With that in mind, the next time we ever encounter any, odds are high that you'll very possibly be among the first of us to be targeted by them. And I don't want you to have to suffer that burden alone."

Beast Boy took a deep breath, exhaled, and then continued, "And finally, I know that this might make me look supremely selfish, but I want you to share your exorcism powers with either me or at least any other person apart from Robin." He looked at Raven and continued, "I don't know why but, ever since our experiences with your father, I've found myself feeling just so . . . well . . . jealous of Robin in regard to you. I mean, I know that I really shouldn't but, ever since we defeated Trigon, I found myself making notes of all the things he's done for you during that time and before then, and how strong your friendship with him is, and I've found myself unable to help but feel as if I'm perpetually overshadowed by him no matter what I do for you."

The changeling turned his head to gaze at the tower, and with a slightly bitter tone reentering his voice, he explained, "I mean, I took a more or less free tour of your inner mindscape alongside Cyborg, yet Robin's the one with a practically permanent telepathic mental link with you. I'm the one who knew exactly how you felt after Malchior broke your heart, yet Robin's the one you freed from the effects of the time stopping spell while I had to remain frozen in mid-morph and on the bench while he fought alongside you against Slade. I'm the one who shares your knowledge of what it's like to struggle with a living inner darkness that's making every effort to claw its way out, yet he's the one who stepped up the plate and attempted to talk you out of becoming the portal. And don't get me started on how he was the one who accompanied Slade to search for you. It's almost been a full year since then and the Beast still won't let me hear the end of it."

Beast Boy sighed, turned his head to face Raven with a surprisingly weary and depressed look on his face, and said, "Look Raven, I get it that I'm probably making myself look like a selfish jerk by saying all this, but it's just that, after all he's done to make me feel second best, and especially since he already has that sword that grants him the power to protect us against demons by killing them, I want to be more or less on equal footing with him in regard to protection against demons through sharing your ability to exorcise them. I know it's a lot to ask, but for the sake of our friendship and what we already do have between us, please at least grant me this wish."

Raven was rendered speechless, yet also slightly proud and admiring, by Beast Boy's heartfelt speech. Gulping, she hung her head, thought to herself, and then took one more look at Beast Boy's depressed and weary face before immediately making her decision. She lifted up her right hand, gestured for Beast Boy to straighten himself up, and when Beast Boy did so, she placed her right hand on the top of his head before closing her eyes, concentrating, and then saying with her eyes opened and completely white, "By the authority placed upon me by Azar, I bestow upon you the power to banish demons from the realm of the living and back to Hell."

No sooner had Raven said this, when her hand glowed with a blinding white light that spread onto Beast Boy to the point that he himself was engulfed in an aura of the same brilliant light. After a few minutes, and with a small flash of light, Beast Boy was revealed to still be slightly glowing with light before the aura eventually faded away entirely, and Raven's eyes took on their normal color.

After a few minutes of silence, Raven said, "How do you feel?"

Beast Boy thought to himself, and then smiled before responding, "Surprisingly, I actually feel pretty good, not to mention strangely warm and powerful inside for some reason."

Raven nodded. "That's good to hear." She then looked back towards the doors leading from the pizzeria rooftop patio to the interior of the restaurant, lifted her hand off of Beast Boy's head, and said, "Come on, let's go see if the pizza's ready. With luck, the next time we encounter and exorcise any demons, you'll be able to put your potential new powers to good use."

. . . . .

Hours later, at the library of the local Brotherhood of Dante headquarters, Raven and Beast Boy told the other titans about that incident. However, for the sake of diplomacy and preserving Robin's feelings, they omitted the matter of Beast Boy's lingering jealousy and feelings of being second best towards Robin. In spite of this though, Robin had a feeling that there was something that his two chromatically challenged friends had left out. But in light of how he and the other Titans had already gone through enough that day in his opinion, he chose mercifully to not push the issue any further. Instead, he nodded in acceptance of what Raven and Beast Boy had talked about in regard to Beast Boy's now having exorcist powers, and said to Raven, "Well I can definitely say that you made a good choice Raven. I honestly think that Beast Boy was an excellent choice for you to share those abilities with."

Beast Boy's widened in shock when he heard this. He hastily recovered before Robin could see it. The action, however, did not go unnoticed to Cyborg, who raised his human eyebrow inquisitively.

The titans were then brought back down to Earth when they heard an electronic voice say, "Threat neutralized. Emergency lockdown deactivating." Seconds later, they heard the sound of the heavy barrier on the other side of the doors rising up, and then they both heard and saw the doors to the library open.

Upon sight of this, Robin addressed all four of his teammates, "Come on team, let's go find Master Novak and the other senior members. I have a feeling that they probably have backup copies of their database on a flash drive or two. And if so, I have a feeling we're going to need to borrow one so that we can continue our research at the tower. I'm thinking that with the computer in this library destroyed, and with Savage having gone so far as to send a knight of Hell after us, we're going to need to work double time tomorrow to try to figure out a logical theory about what it is Savage is trying to find out for the sake of Lucifer's plot."

With that decision having been made, the titans promptly left the library to go find the Brotherhood of Dante members, only pausing long enough for Robin to retrieve his sword from where Abaddon had tossed it away. They now knew that it would definitely be worthwhile to continue their efforts that they'd begun that day at the Brotherhood of Dante headquarters. However, not one of them noticed a single purple demon fly above the glass roof and away from the headquarters to head off in the direction leading to the coastal forest located to the south of Jump City.

**And just like that, another chapter has been completed! ^_^ I hope you guys all enjoyed it and that you leave lots of reviews! I especially hope you enjoyed the fight scene! I really enjoyed writing this one, and I feel very proud of how it turned out. I especially hope you guys enjoyed all the BBRae stuff I included in having them double team Abaddon with the exorcism and having that little flashback conversation.**

**On another note, here are a few comments I wish to make to TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne. In light of what you said to me in a PM a while back regarding the previous chapter, I'm really sorry that this chapter has proven so long. Hopefully, this one will at least be more exciting to you than the previous one. On another note, since I'm sure you might potentially have some things to say to me in regard to my portrayal of Abaddon, let's just say that for the sake of this story and take on the DC universe, he is an umbrakinetic. Also, my thing about him (at least until this recent battle of his) being considered unexorcisable is based on how his counterpart in Supernatural (which happens to be a female, believe it or not) is entirely immune to exorcisms. The thing about Robin's sword not killing him is also based on how his counterpart in Supernatural proved immune to being killed by (but still at least feeling extreme pain from) a special knife that serves the same purpose in that universe as Robin's sword in this story. Finally, I also hope you find my explanation of how Raven is capable of exorcising demons (not to mention my immediate explanation for Beast Boy suddenly being able to do the same) is acceptable for you. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this chapter ^_^.**

**Coming up next: Vandal Savage finds out about his latest failure in assassinating the Teen Titans, which later leads to him and Slade cutting ties as well as to the immortal intelligent cave man having a discussion with Lucifer that leads to a change of plans in regard to finding what he needs to help the latest plot of the devil come to fruition. Meanwhile, the very next day, the Titans continue their research at the tower with help from a handy flash drive provided to them by the Brotherhood of Dante and manage to make a major breakthrough in the process.**


	11. A Race Against Time

**Hey there everybody! I'm sure you've probably been waiting for God knows how long, but at long last, your patience shall be rewarded! Here's the newest completed and posted chapter for this epic story! I hope you all enjoy it enough to make up for the ungodly amount of time you had to wait, and that you leave a nice respectable number of reviews. In this chapter, Vandal Savage learns about his latest failure in his efforts to kill the titans, and is royally pissed off. In fact, this soon leads not only to Savage cutting ties with Slade, but also with him having a conversation with Lucifer that ends with him having a change of plans in his efforts at helping the devil with his latest escape attempt. And finally, the very next day after all that drama, the titans continue their research from the previous day that got interrupted by Abaddon's attack and manage to make a major breakthrough in the process. Sound exciting? I sure as Hell hope so!**

**Now just so you all remember, I do not own Teen Titans, or any other elements of the DC universe used in this chapter, much less any religious elements. With that out of the way, read on, and enjoy! ^_^**

**Chapter 10:**

**A Race Against Time**

Vandal Savage was in a black fury that evening. With a snarl of rage, he clenched his fists and glared furiously at the cringing Abrahamic wind demon before him. "THEY EXORCISED HIM?!"

Imbix winced at the sound of this furious shout. Gulping in fear, he nodded his head timidly up and down, and said, "Yes sir. The Titans were able to hold their own long enough to send him back home."

Vandal Savage snarled, clenched his fists, and leaned forward with his head facing the ground before letting out an inarticulate howl of rage and jerking his head back upwards to look Imbix in the eye once more. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" the immortal cave man roared. "I WAS TOLD THAT SENDING ABADDON AFTER THEM WOULD BE FOOLPROOF AND THAT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANYONE, MUCH LESS THEM, TO SURVIVE AGAINST HIM!"

Imbix cringed, hung his head, and managed to fearfully whimper, "A . . . a . . . apparently . . . we were wrong."

Savage growled, clenched his fists once more, and started storming around the clearing where we was meeting with Imbix. For what seemed like an eternity to the terrified Imbix, Savage stormed around the clearing in a fit of blind fury. Eventually, Savage managed to calm down and quell his rage. But even after Savage had stopped actively raving and raging about, Imbix waited a full five minutes or so before daring to speak again.

"Sir," the purple demon stated, "there is something else you should know. Somehow, the green-skinned shape shifter has acquired the ability to exorcise us alongside the daughter of Trigon."

At the sound of this, Savage whirled around and gaped at the demon in a mixture of shock and fury. "WHAT?!" the cave man shouted. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! HOW DARE YOU MAKE SUCH A PREPOSTEROUS CLAIM?!"

Imbix hissed in fear, cringed, and whimpered, "I'm telling the truth! I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears! By Lucifer's crown I swear!"

For a tense moment, Savage continued to snarl angrily, but eventually managed to close his eyes, take a deep breath, and exhale heavily. Having managed to once again calm himself down, he looked back at Imbix and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Imbix shook his head side to side hurriedly. "No sir," said Imbix. "There is nothing else I need to report."

"Good," said Savage. "You are dismissed."

At the sound of these words, Imbix made a half nervous and half relieved smile with his beak, and managed to whimper out, "Thank you," before leaning over and then proceeding to vanish into thin air in a style very similar to the way that teleporting/apparition had been portrayed in the Harry Potter movies.

The instant Imbix was gone, Savage proceeded to re clench his fists, close his eyes, and unleash a series of deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling heavily as he tried desperately to keep his temper from erupting once more. Eventually, Savage growled, turned to face the area to his left, and punched a nearby tree so hard that the tree in question ended up uprooting and falling right down on its side. "GGGRRRAAARRR!" Savage roared in absolute fury.

"I take it Abaddon was unsuccessful?"

At the sound of the deep baritone, and at that moment almost sarcastic and smug toned, voice behind him, Savage turned around to see none other than Slade standing nearby. Gritting his teeth in a tense snarl, Savage managed to sarcastically respond, "Wow, what gave it away?"

Slade chuckled, shook his head side to side, and then stated, "I must admit, I had a feeling that the titans would survive. They've always been able to survive against even worse opponents than Abaddon. If anyone could have gone against Abaddon and lived to tell the tale, it would be them."

Savage snarled, rolled his eyes, and then stated acerbically, "Well I guess that means you probably almost certainly would understand how it would be even remotely possible for that bloody green animal boy to all of a sudden gain the ability to exorcise demons in the time that occurred between last night's skirmish and Abaddon's attack."

Slade's eyebrow rose. "He has?"

Savage grunted in response, nodded his head in the affirmative, and then stated, "According to Imbix, yes he has. Didn't believe him at first. But when he swore his honesty about the matter on Lucifer's crown, it didn't take me very long at all to realize that he in fact was telling the truth, particularly since he would have gone up in lights and died upon making the vow if he'd been lying about the information he was swearing to be true."

"So he would have," Slade responded. He thought to himself, seemed to smile, and then said, "And on that note, yes I can indeed give you an explanation as to how such a turn of events would be possible."

The masked man turned his head to face Savage once more, and then stated, "In Azarathian culture, a religious leader has the authority to bestow their power to banish demons upon any person they deem worthy of being their successor. This would be how Raven managed to have it. Now Raven herself, being the chosen successor of Azar, was capable of doing the same for her own chosen 'successor' of sorts. However, as Raven herself is not a fully-fledged religious leader of Azarath, she could, unlike Azar, only bestow her exorcist powers upon a single person. And from what has happened today, it would appear that she has chosen for Beast Boy to be that person."

Savage raised his eyebrows upon hearing this explanation. "And how may I ask would you happen to know all this information?"

Slade chuckled, directed his gaze at Savage in what could very likely have been amusement, and responded, "Believe me Savage, when you've worked alongside Trigon as long as I have, you'll be surprised about just how much handy information about Azarathian culture you can end up learning."

Savage growled grudgingly, shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, and then spread his hands and arms out to his sides before shouting, "Well nonetheless, that doesn't change the fact that we have again failed to kill the Teen Titans! And considering how they were able to survive against a knight of Hell, much less Abaddon himself, do you have any idea how difficult it will be to kill them off and get the information we need from Lucifer in time for it to actually be of use to us?!"

Slade positioned his head as if thinking to himself, then shrugged nonchalantly with his eye closed before then stating flippantly, "It will certainly be difficult, that's for sure."

For a moment, Savage gaped in shock at his masked compatriot after hearing this dismissive comment." Then his eyes narrowed, he clenched his fists, and he growled ominously, "Deathstroke. Do you not understand the gravity of this situation?"

Slade had just enough time for his eye to narrow angrily at the sound of his old alias before Savage pointed his right finger at him in an almost accusatory fashion and shouted, "Lucifer won't give us the information we need to find that damned key unless we have successfully sent the Teen Titans on an early trip to the afterlife. If the titans aren't dead by turn of day tomorrow, then Lucifer will have to wait until either this winter at the very least or God knows how many years from now at the very most before he has the opportunity to put this particular plot of his in action! And with the rate we're currently going, the titans will be able to survive against all five of the knights of Hell at once without even breaking a sweat!"

Slade merely shrugged, and then responded, "I don't see the problem with that. I've always enjoyed a good challenge."

Savage glared incredulously at Slade. "I'm serious!" shouted the cave man. "Do you even want this plan to succeed?!"

Slade shrugged again, waved his hand slightly as if in dismissal, and stated, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't; it's all a matter of interpretation really."

For a second, Savage simply stared uncomprehendingly at Slade. Then his eyes narrowed, he clenched his fists, and he glared furiously at the masked man before stating, "You don't do you? You don't want this plan to succeed! You're not even going to try to help me and Lucifer with this are you!?"

Slade stared intently at Savage. "Well it certainly took you long enough to figure that out," he stated in an almost sarcastic tone before his eye narrowed, and he continued, "You are correct. I'm not going to help you with this. In fact, I could personally care less about Lucifer. And I will most certainly not have anything more to do with you, especially as long as you continue your foolish efforts at achieving your world domination goals from working alongside Lucifer. And I will not play any hand in helping you, or anyone else, actively kill the Teen Titans either."

Savage was briefly taken aback by this emphatic confirmation of his suspicions, but then his anger returned, he pointed at Slade, and he asked accusingly, "You knew the Titans would survive, didn't you?!"

Slade thought to himself, then shrugged, looked back at Savage once more, and replied truthfully, "I'd hoped they would."

This response further strengthened Savage's fury. "What has happened to you over these last five years Deathstroke!? You used to be the world's best contract killer and the arch nemesis of the Teen Titans! Why, just why, are you now on their side!?"

"I'm not on their side," Slade stated calmly, yet nonetheless firmly. "I'm on my own side."

Savage growled, and then stated, "Well regardless of just whose side you're on, what is it about these nightmare teenagers that's got you all up on your high horse?!"

"The answer to that is simple," Slade responded. "Unlike you, I respect the titans. They have always proven worthy opponents, and I've learned my lesson about underestimating them. And as much of a villain as I might be, I nonetheless believe that such worthy opponents of mine as the Teen Titans deserve far better than being dismissed as children when they're already as close as they currently are to legal adult age and being slaughtered like animals by a race of beings too impatient to let the world's story unfold the way it's been foretold."

"Well we'll see how much your unnecessary respect helps you without the payment I was willing to give you in exchange for your service alongside me!" Savage yelled.

"You can go ahead and keep that payment," Slade stated as he pointed his finger at Savage. "It's not like you were even remotely planning to give it to me anyway."

Savage snarled in fury at Slade's continued stance against him as well as consternation at how Slade had been able to successfully interpret that he'd had no intention at all of giving him the payment he'd promised.

Slade stood tall, glared at Savage, and stated, "This partnership is over Savage; our agreement is void. I will not help you anymore with this insanity. I've already worked alongside one satanic figure, and I wouldn't have even worked alongside that single one if it hadn't been for the fact that I was practically a ghost at that time; and having been instrumental in the last attempt at the apocalypse to have occurred, I'd prefer to not have any direct involvement in any others, thank you very much."

The masked man pointed at the immortal caveman once more and said, "You can continue to follow your fools' quest with Lucifer as long as you want, I won't stop you. But I have far more important things to do that will be far less wasteful of my time and have been put off far too long."

Slade turned around so that his back was facing Savage, and then turned his head to face the caveman and said, "Goodbye Savage, I must admit that I'm not sorry that we must now part ways, and if I ever see your face again, I very much hope that it's on the sharp end of a wooden stake." With this hostile parting call, Slade turned his head away from Savage, and proceeded to quickly, yet quietly, rush off into the darkness of the forest. Savage growled, furious at both Slade's actions and his recent failure at having the Teen Titans killed. Eventually, with his fists still clenched, he took a series of deep breathes, managed to calm himself down somewhat once again, and proceeded to turn to face the direction opposite the one Slade had went before storming off in that direction towards the area he'd used for his meetings with Lucifer. He now had a feeling that yet another discussion with the devil was in order.

. . . . .

"I'm presuming from your current mood and voice tone that you have heard the news."

Savage growled irritably at the sound of Lucifer's smug voice from the other side of the fiery vortex. The fourteen blood red eyes likewise had a smug gleam within them as they stared intently at Savage with half of them positioned as if they'd raised their eyebrows. Gritting his teeth, the caveman stated, "I should have guessed that you'd already be aware of what's happened at this point."

Lucifer chuckled, moved as if shaking his seven heads from side to side, and responded "Indeed you should. After all, even without considering how Abaddon came plopping back down in my chamber hours before Imbix told you what happened, word has always traveled fast within Hell."

Savage growled again, shook his head side to side as if trying to clear his thoughts, and then glared back at the fourteen red eyes of Lucifer gazing back at him from the vortex before saying, "Well never mind that. The point to be made from this news is that the Titans have again managed to survive to foil our efforts, or more accurately at this point my efforts alone, to assassinate them."

"You certainly would be accurate in stating that the efforts were entirely yours alone," Lucifer responded. "After all, with dear old Slade having both not even tried to help you in your early attempts and now having practically nullified all chances of ever potentially giving you any help in that regard not too long ago, and myself just lounging around in my chamber while you and my underlings did all the work, that leaves you as the only one who could have possibly held any true responsibility in working to make the arrangements for the efforts at having the Teen Titans killed."

It took all of Savage's willpower not to explode in anger at this almost mocking statement from the fallen archangel. Gritting his teeth, Savage stated, "I see you're aware of Slade's cutting ties with us as well huh?"

"My brothers and I didn't inherit our father's omniscience for nothing," Lucifer replied.

"Well nonetheless," Savage stated angrily. "The titans are still alive, and they have now not only proven that it will likely be impossible for us to kill them in time for you to deem me worthy of knowing the location of the nearest entrance to where the Infernal Key has been hidden in time for it to be of any use this year, but they have also at this point managed to receive aid from the Brotherhood of Dante and will almost certainly be able to figure out about your current plan and prevent it from ever having the chance to succeed at all! So unless you have any advice on how it might be even remotely possible for this current plan of yours that you've decided to make an attempt at to succeed at this point, then you might as well just wait until the end of the 666th century like your high and mighty daddy wants you to!"

Having finished this furious tirade, Savage closed his eyes, his fists still clenched, and panted heavily. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Lucifer appeared as if he'd hardly been affected in anyway by the furious and almost insulting rant that had just now been directed at him. In fact, the fourteen red dragon-like eyes of the being staring at him from the darkness within the flaming vortex seemed to have an almost bored look within them.

"I am indeed very much aware of how much progress the titans have made in their efforts to figure out what we are up to," Lucifer stated seconds before Savage could explode in anger yet again. "And indeed, it will be supremely difficult at the very least, and impossible at the very most for you to fulfill the task I originally asked for you to complete in exchange for the location of the nearest entrance to my crypt."

"Tell me something I don't know," Savage hissed bitterly.

Lucifer chuckled, his eyes narrowing with what appeared to a predatory glee, and stated, "Well I can definitely tell you right this very moment, that with the current amount of progress the titans have made in their quest to figure out the reason behind your efforts to have them killed, you will now no longer find it necessary to kill them in exchange for the information you currently desire from me."

At the sound of this, Savage raised his eyebrow in half suspicion and half anticipation. "Are you saying that you are now willing to go ahead and tell me this information for free?"

"Don't be daft," said the king of Hell. "Of course I'm not." Savage had just enough time for his eyes to narrow in yet another angry glare before Lucifer continued, "But I now know of something you could do so that I won't even have to go to the trouble of telling you the location of any one of the thirteen entrances to my crypt, let alone the nearest one to your current whereabouts."

At the sound of this, Savage directed a look of confusion at the fourteen red eyes of Lucifer. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," said Lucifer, "that the titans will now be of far more use to us alive then if they were dead." In order to forestall any further questions from Savage, Lucifer explained, "Let the titans become aware of what it is I am currently plotting. They've already managed to gain access to all the data gathered by the Brotherhood of Dante in its entirety, and it shouldn't take them very long at all to put all the pieces together. And once they have, you yourself can both figure out the location of the nearest entrance to my crypt and get ahold of the Infernal Key by following them right to it."

Savage thought to himself carefully upon hearing this information. Then he smiled, for what Lucifer had now suggested sounded like a very useful idea indeed. "I see," Savage said to himself before looking back at Lucifer with a smile and saying, "Very well then, I shall do exactly that. But are you absolutely sure that the titans will figure out your current plan and make an attempt to get the key themselves in time?"

"You have no need to worry about that," Lucifer replied. "Knowing them, they won't wait until the last minute to try to figure out what it is I am up to, especially not after how Abaddon conveniently revealed that they have until the day after tomorrow to put a stop to it. That being said, considering the current streak of luck they've had, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if they managed to figure it all out first thing tomorrow morning after breakfast."

. . . . .

Unfortunately, as it would turn out, the Teen Titans would not end up figuring it all out first thing after breakfast the following morning. To their credit, all five of them had been perfectly willing to get straight to work on their interrupted research from the previous day after finishing their breakfast. However, Robin had literally just clapped his hands as if to signal for them to get to work when the alarm had gone off to alert them of trouble within the city, and they'd been forced to put their efforts at figuring out Lucifer's plot on hold in order to help foil a robbery at the Bank of Perez by a gang of mundane criminals.

Unfortunately, upon leaving the tower to deal with the robbery, the titans had only continued to find themselves further delaying their research again and again. Due to the robbers' sheer numbers, it had taken about half an hour for them to defeat them all and have them reduced to ideal condition for them to be carted off to jail. However, no sooner had the police left the bank area to take the robbers to jail when the titans had been alerted on their communicators about the H.I.V.E. Five terrorizing people at the Jump City Shopping Mall.

By the time they'd finished taking care of that little errand, all the effort involved had left them so hungry that they'd been forced to delay their research yet again for a lunch break. Unfortunately, all of two seconds passed after the titans had finished their lunch before they were called upon to deal with a dangerous light show that Dr. Light had decided to put on at the Jump City Zoo. While it had only taken ten minutes to reach the zoo and half that much time to actually defeat Dr. Light, the aftermath of all the attacks involved with the battle combined with the antics the doctor had managed to pull off before the arrival of the titans had allowed about 90% or so of the animals to escape from their enclosures. Thus the titans had ended up losing another five hours that they'd hoped to put to use for continuing the previous day's research rounding up the escaped animals and having them all successfully secured back into their enclosures.

By the time they'd finally finished quelling all the chaos at the zoo, it was 6:00 in the evening, and the titans had wasted no time whatsoever in heading back to the tower. However, the titans had literally just stepped foot into the common room of the tower when they'd been called to action yet again, this time to deal with Control Freak causing trouble at the video rental store. At this point, Robin had gotten so angry, that he'd promptly had Raven summon a portal straight to the video rental store. Raven had made no hesitation in summoning the portal, which Robin had jumped through exactly one second after it had finished forming. As a result, Robin had ended up right inside the store right as Control Freak was seconds away from pressing a button on his remote, and thus very likely either transforming an inanimate object into a savage monster or summoning a villain or creature from a movie or TV show. Upon sight of this, Robin had promptly rushed up to Control Freak, grabbed him by the lapel, and dragged him up so that he was staring the portly couch potato miscreant in the face before he'd even had a chance to press a single button on the remote. Seconds later, the other titans had come through the portal just in time to hear and see Robin furiously roar at Control Freak, "LISTEN UP YOU LITTLE PUNK! I'VE HAD AN EXTREMELY ROTTEN DAY TODAY, AND YOUR CURRENT ANTICS HAVE JUST FORCED ME FOR THE FIFTH TIME IN A ROW TO DELAY WORK ON A CASE THAT, IF LEFT UNSOLVED, COULD RESULT IN THE END OF THE WORLD! SO UNLESS YOU PUT AN END TO THIS MADNESS RIGHT THIS SECOND, THEN SO HELP ME, I WILL BEAT YOU DEATH RIGHT HERE IN THIS STORE WITH MY BARE HANDS! YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?" This had left Control Freak so terrified that he'd promptly dropped his remote without having pressed any buttons at all and surrendered right on the spot. After that, Robin and the other titans had only stuck around long enough for the police to arrive and get Control Freak loaded up into the cruiser to be taken back to jail before promptly taking another portal straight back to the tower.

Fortunately, after arriving back at the tower this time the titans had finally managed to get the desperately needed break in their work to finally get back to focusing on their efforts to find out what it was that Savage was trying to have them killed for. And for the next fifteen minutes, the titans proceeded to start carefully reading the section of the Brotherhood of Dante's database that contained information on confirmed and theorized Lucifer escape plots while chowing down on instant mac &amp; cheese at the same time.

As the titans continued to read over the numerous theories of potential escape plots for the devil, Robin found himself fighting with all his willpower to keep himself calm. If it hadn't been for the fact that Starfire currently had her right hand on his left shoulder in a desperate effort to help keep him relaxed, he had a feeling that he would have probably already gone flying off the handle by now.

"How can we even be sure that whatever it is Savage wants us dead for will even be included in there?" Cyborg asked at one point.

Robin sighed, took a deep breath, and stated, "If there's any source in this entire database that might contain even the slightest hint at whatever it is Savage is willing to have us killed for, it's this section. Odds are, whatever it is Savage wants is somehow related to one of these theories the Brotherhood of Dante has managed to consider."

"What if it turns out to be something that the Brotherhood hasn't even thought of yet?" Raven asked.

Robin took a deep breath, clenching his fist around the edge of the desk area where the supercomputer he was using was located, clearly struggling to keep it together, and said, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. But for now, we'll at least work to see if any of the possibilities that the Brotherhood of Dante has considered shows any reason for why Savage would want to have us killed to get information about it from Lucifer."

"What if Lucifer does turn out to be plotting something on this list, but it turns out to be different from the one that we do decide is the most likely?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin tensed up ominously, and after what seemed like an eternity, he eventually stated with gritted teeth, "Well if that happens, we'll just improvise." He then turned his head to face Beast Boy, and shouted furiously, "NOW FOR GOD'S SAKE, STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME WORRY!" As he shouted this, he slammed his left fist on the desk so hard that the hard material it was made of actually cracked.

Beast Boy reared back in shock and horror. For a few tense minutes, Robin continued to glare murderously at Beast Boy. Eventually, much to the titans' relief, Robin closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then stated, "I'm sorry. I so shouldn't have done that." Robin turned his head to face the computer once more, sighed, and then stated, "I'm just really stressed out right now. I know that we didn't have any other choice, but I just wish that we hadn't had to wait till now to get back to work on this. If what Abaddon told us directly before he attacked yesterday is true, then tonight could very well be our last chance to put a stop to whatever it is Lucifer is planning. That being said, the world could be at risk of undergoing the apocalypse all over again tomorrow, and we still don't yet even know what it is we're trying to stop. And I just wish that we could have managed to figure this out earlier than this. I know we've averted one apocalypse, but if this particular version of it successfully unfolds, then we might not even get the chance to survive and fight back this time. And I just feel as if we're about to let so many people down."

Starfire placed her hand back on Robin's shoulder, her face showing a mixture of sadness and compassion. "It's ok Robin, you don't need to worry so much. Just have some faith; we will stop whatever it is that Earth's equivalent of Ahz'rogha is up to. We will not fail this time, not when the world truly needs us to succeed."

Robin sighed, comforted by Starfire's efforts to cheer him up, but still feeling depressed by the lack of progress they'd made in spite of how little time they had to figure it all out. "Thanks Star," he stated, "but I just wish that we could have made enough progress by now for me to find it easier to believe that."

At the sound of this, Cyborg came up closer to Robin and placed his hand on the boy wonder's other shoulder. When Robin and Starfire turned their heads to face Cyborg, the bionic teen said, "Why don't you let me have a turn at the computer? Maybe if someone is else does the reading of all this stuff for you, you'll find it easier to relax."

Robin thought to himself, looked back at the screen, and then looked at Cyborg again before saying, "If you say so." Sighing with exhaustion, Robin got up from the chair and let Cyborg take the chair. For the next few minutes that followed, Cyborg proceeded to look through yet more of the files on theorized escape plots of Lucifer.

At around 7:00 pm, Beast Boy suddenly pointed at the screen and yelled, "Wait! Go back to that other one you were on!"

Cyborg looked intently at the screen area the changeling was pointing at, his eyebrows raising in confusion. "That one about the sacrificing of three innocent individuals?"

"No," said Beast Boy. "The one above that one! The one about the keys!"

"The keys of Dante?" Raven asked.

"Yes! That one!" Beast Boy. "I think I might have just remembered a potential connection to that theory!"

Cyborg looked back at the caption beneath the title link of the document in question. "You sure?"

Beast Boy groaned, leaned over so that he could grab onto the mouse, and said, "Here, let me show you," as he proceeded to click on the link and reopen the document in question.

"What makes you so sure that this is the one we're looking for?" Robin asked.

"Abaddon said yesterday before he attacked us that Savage only needed one key element at this point, emphasis on key," Beast Boy replied.

"You think he might have literally meant an actual key?" Cyborg asked.

"We can't ignore the possibility," said Raven.

"Thank you Raven," said Beast Boy as he read through the generic description of the theorized escape plot for Lucifer before then clicking on another link that related to a document specifically on the keys is question.

Upon opening this new document, Beast Boy began to intently read the information within while the other titans intently watched over his shoulders. "Hmm," said Beast Boy. "Ok, according to this, not too long after Dante finished his journey through the realms of the afterlife, he began to believe that there might potentially come a time in which the angels would need to come to Earth in full force without having to potentially waste time by exiting Heaven through the main gates and having to fly all the way down to Earth and into the realm of the living from there. So for that purpose, he had some sort of white gemstone-like object forged that he called, the Paradisiacal Key. And to avoid upsetting the balance of power between the Afterlife realms, he also created two other keys, a red one called the Infernal Key, and a black one called the Purgatorial Key."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Robin asked.

"Well," said Beast Boy. "According to this database, apparently there are these things called Stairways to Heaven. According to the database, a stairway to Heaven is basically a corporeal portal on Earth that leads straight to Heaven. If opened, angels can use it to come straight to Earth without having to make their way through the veil between the afterlife and the realm of the living. Similar concept exists with Devil's gates for Hell and Purgatory Paths for, well obviously Purgatory.

"However, regardless of whether it's a Stairway to Heaven, Devil's Gate, or Purgatory Path, they can only be opened from the outside, and if opened through the default spell, they only stay open for a limited amount of time, and is only strong enough for angels, demons, and Primordials to leave their respective realms in their incorporeal forms. However, with these keys, a person can open up the very first stairway to Heaven, Devil's gate, or Purgatorial path ever to exist."

"What's so special about them?" Cyborg asked.

"According to the database," Beast Boy replied, "These ones in particular are both capable of staying open for an indefinite amount of time and for allowing the respective natives of whichever realm has been opened to come to Earth in their corporeal forms."

"I am confused," said Starfire. "Weren't they not in corporeal forms when they attacked us before?"

"That's because they were either summoned," Beast Boy responded, "or they used the main entrance of Hell itself when they exited it to come to the realm of the living. But according to this, if they use any portal apart from the very first ones to exist, they end up coming out not only in incorporeal form, but they're also so weak that they absolutely cannot attack or even do anything else whatsoever unless they take possession of a vessel. And according to the database, this is especially problematic for angels since, unlike with demons and Primordials, it's physically impossible for them to take possession of a vessel unless they are given permission to do so by their desired hosts."

At the sound of this, Robin whistled. "Well in that case," he said, "I can certainly see the appeal in a portal that would allow them to come to Earth without having to use a vessel."

"No kidding," said Cyborg. "Not to mention this certainly explains why demonic possession appears to be so common compared to angelic possession."

"Indeed" said Beast Boy with a smile. "And to continue, the very first of these portals can only be opened through use of their respective keys."

At the sound of this, three of Beast Boy's fellow titans nodded their heads in understanding. Starfire, however, still looked confused. "Pardon me friend," she stated. "But there is something I still don't understand. With such tools in existence, why hasn't the one for your equivalent of Dahak already been used by the demons for their own advantage?"

"Very good point Star," said Beast Boy. "And apparently, Dante was also smart enough to consider that possibility." He pointed at an area of the document and said, "Because it says right here that, when he had the keys created, he also embedded a special security spell that would prevent the demons, Primordials, or even angels from using them for their own gains. As per the spells, if a demon tried to use any of the keys, it would be blasted back down to Hell. If an angel tried to use any of the keys, it would go rocketing back up to Heaven. Finally, if a Primordial tried to use one of the keys, it would end up back in Purgatory before it could even blink."

He turned his head to look back at his friends, a cheeky grin on his face, and said, "In other words, only a human would be capable of opening those gates."

At the sound of these words, the other titans eventually nodded. "Well that explains a lot," said Robin.

Beast Boy nodded, and then continued reading the documented information. "And according to this, not too long after being created, Dante had the keys hidden away in areas where no one could find them. In particular, he had both the Paradisiacal and Purgatorial Keys hidden in some place called Jehovah's Temple and the Infernal Key in a different place called Lucifer's Crypt."

At the sound of those two names, Raven's eyes widened, and she lifted up a finger before saying, "I think I may have read about those two places before."

Robin promptly seized this newfound opportunity for information, and he said, "What do you know about those two places?" The other titans seemed equally eager to hear what Raven had to say. Even Beast Boy stayed silent so as to be polite and let Raven have the spotlight.

Raven thought to herself. Then she answered, "I remember reading that that both places cannot be found directly on Earth, but are instead each located in their own pocket dimension. However, there are portals on Earth that can be opened with the right spell to both locations. There are seven for Jehovah's Temple and thirteen for Lucifer's Crypt. And what's more, if you destroy the locations for six of the Jehovah's Temple portals, the last one will automatically shut down and the entire set will be reborn in a new set of seven locations. Likewise, the same occurs if twelve of the locations for the Lucifer's Crypt portals are destroyed."

"Did the books say at all where the portal locations are?" Robin asked.

"No," Raven replied. "That detail was where the books' trail ran dry."

"It does give hints as to the current locations here though," Beast Boy said as he pointed at the screen. "Though admittedly, the descriptions are rather confusing and roundabout."

"Well what are the descriptions given?" Robin asked.

"Let's see," said Beast Boy as he stared intently at the descriptions of the current locations for the portals he was currently researching. "Ok, the current set of portals for Jehovah's Temple are reportedly located in, and I'm directly quoting what it says here, 'a barrier designed to shield almost an entire kingdom, a bookless library built within the walls of a canyon, the son of God eternally standing in all his glory, an abandoned mountain top city, an empty temple of a dead religion, an arena stained with oceans of blood, and a tomb worthy of being a palace.'"

"What the devil is all that supposed to mean?" Cyborg asked.

Robin, however, found himself thinking hard to himself. For some reason, those rather unusual descriptions sounded oddly familiar to him in some way. "Ok," he then stated. "Does it give descriptions for any previous sets of portal locations for Jehovah's Temple?"

"Yep," said Beast Boy. He pointed at a list directly above the one he'd read, and then responded, "The set that existed directly before the current one could be found within, and I quote, 'a cluster of tombs for desert kings, a garden lost to mythology, a statue of a god strong enough to grip lightning within its very fingertips, the temple of a master huntress, a tomb of both husband and wife and brother and sister, a statue to celebrate the sun rising to witness a great victory, and a lighthouse with light so bright that it took three attacks from an angry earth to extinguish it.'"

The sound of these descriptions was all Robin needed to confirm his newfound thoughts about just what the locations for the Jehovah's Temple portals were, and he nodded his head up and down with his eyes closed before saying, "The seven portals of Jehovah's Temple located in the Seven Wonders of the World. Obvious much?"

"Isn't the most obvious not the least expected?" Starfire asked. This question momentarily left the other titans stunned speechless. Then they thought to themselves, and nodded in agreement as they realized the logic in Starfire's statement.

"She certainly does have a point," said Cyborg. "Though I have to ask, what exactly about those descriptions BB read about caused you to determine that the seven wonders had anything to do with this?"

"The Great Wall of China was originally designed to protect China and its then empire from raids and invasions by nomadic groups from outside. In the country of Jordan, an entire city called Petra was carved into the wall of a canyon, but it has since been empty and sometimes even referred to as a library. In Brazil, there's a big giant statue of Jesus himself called Christ the Redeemer. In Peru, there is an abandoned mountain top Inca city called Machu Picchu. One of the most famous Mayan temples in the world is Chichen Itza. In Italy, the old Roman Coliseum used to be the site of countless battles in which people were forced to do battle with wild animals and each other for the amusement of crowds. Finally, the Taj Mahal in India looks very much like a palace, but is actually a tomb for the third wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan."

This explanation from Robin left Cyborg quite taken aback, and before the half robot teen could say anything else, the boy wonder continued, "The Egyptian Pyramids, particularly the famous ones in Giza, are both tombs, and were often reserved for pharaohs, who were basically the ancient Egyptian equivalent of kings. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the only ancient wonder of the world with a location that's never yet been confirmed, resulting in doubt over whether or not they actually ever existed. In Greek mythology, the king of the gods, Zeus himself, was believed to grasp bolts of pure lightning in his hands and hurl them down to Earth when angry, and there used to be a large statue of him located in a temple dedicated to him at the city of Olympia. There was once a temple in the Turkish city of Ephesus dedicated to Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt. The mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a tomb for Mausolus and Artemesia, who were both a married couple and also siblings. The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of Helios, the Greek god of the sun, and was designed to celebrate the victory of Rhodes against the forces of the ruler of Cyprus. Finally, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was able to remain standing until badly damaged beyond hope of repair by three earthquakes that occurred between 956 and 1323."

At the sound of all this, Cyborg and the other titans looked each other in the eyes, and then nodded their heads up and down. Robin's explanation certainly made sense. "You certainly know your history Robin," said Raven.

"Crime fighting wasn't the only thing Batman taught me about," Robin stated before looking back at Beast Boy. "What about the entrances to Lucifer's Crypt? Does it give any hints as to those locations?"

"Yes," said Beast Boy. "However, unlike with Jehovah's Temple, I have a feeling that these ones will be pretty obscure, even for you."

Robin took a look at the descriptions provided for all the confirmed locations of entrances to the crypt, and his eyes narrowed as he realized that Beast Boy was correct. "There certainly aren't any famous locations that spring to mind upon reading these descriptions," the boy wonder admitted grudgingly.

"I guess Lucifer must have decided to take the 'more obscure means harder to find' approach," said Raven.

Robin growled grudgingly in agreement, and Cyborg decided that now was the time to intervene once more. "Hey BB," he said, "why don't you go ahead and continue reading that document, see if we can find some more information about all this before getting back to figuring out about the locations of Lucifer's Crypt."

Beast Boy nodded, and promptly complied with Cyborg's request. "Well," said the changeling. "Here's something, apparently, even with the keys, there's still no absolute guarantee that whatever afterlife beings you open the gate for will actually listen to you. Granted, if you do it for purely selfless reasons, then the demons, angels, or Primordials will indeed be willing to do as you ask of them. However, if summoned through those gates for more selfish reasons, then they absolutely will not listen to your commands unless you also have two other things in your possession."

"What are those items?" Robin asked.

"Well according to this," said Beast Boy. "For each of the three afterlife races, there is a special tablet that documents all there is to know about them; their names, their ranks, how old they are, all the spells related to summoning them and such, and even detailed information on their respective realms. And naturally, the tablet for angels is called the Paradisiacal Tablet, the one for demons the Infernal Tablet, and the one for Primordials the Purgatorial Tablet.

"As for the other thing," said Beast Boy, "well actually the Brotherhood really might need to do a little work on their grammar, because apparently the last thing is actually really more of a collection of objects as opposed to a single item. The object collection needed for both angels and Primordials is called the Divine Instruments, whereas the collection for demons is called the Fallen Tools."

"I've read about those," said Raven. "Each of these sets of items consist of three items that all serve similar purposes to each other, but have effects that vary depending on whether or not they were designed by Lucifer or by his father and brothers. The first of the Divine Instruments is the Holy Grail."

"Isn't that the chalice that Jesus drank out of during the last supper?" Cyborg asked.

"Correct," said Raven. "There is also the Sword of Virtue, which is fueled by the power of Heaven and is designed to allow any person of noble nature destined for Heaven to be unbeatable when wielding it. Finally, there is the Mirror of Heaven, which despite the name is actually a shield designed to make a virtuous one invincible to all attacks and actions by those who are evil."

"What about the Fallen Tools?" Robin asked.

"Those, while slightly similar to the Divine Instruments, serve a far darker purpose," Raven responded. "There is the Chalice of Sins, which is said to magically fill up with a liquid that, if drunk, will cause the drinker's soul to become dark and twisted to the point of transforming the drinker into a demon. This same goblet is what modern demonologists believe to have been used by Lucifer when he twisted the soul of Lilith and transformed her into the first demon."

The other titans gulped upon hearing this description. "Well I certainly wouldn't want to take a drink from that thing," Beast Boy stated.

"You think?!" Cyborg asked.

"Please continue friend Raven," Starfire said, eager to get her mind off of the disturbing images she'd just now thought of upon hearing the description of the depraved chalice.

"The second item among the Fallen Tools is called the Devil's Scepter," said Raven. "Said to be a pure black obsidian staff with a ruby on the top, this staff is designed to allow the wielder to summon demons. However, unlike with the typical demon summoning spells, if this staff is used, then the demons summoned will be guaranteed to obey the summoner regardless of their rank or their numbers."

"In other words," said Robin, "you'd be able to summon every single demon in Hell at once and be able to have them guaranteed to follow your every command."

"Exactly," said Raven. "Finally, the last of the Fallen Tools is called the Eye of Lucifer. This particular object is a crystal ball made of a transparent diamond like material. It's designed to allow a viewer to witness anything that the viewer asks to witness, regardless of the distance, how well hidden it is, or even if the object in question is invisible or in another dimension."

"Dang," said Cyborg, "this takes omniscience to a whole new level."

"You can say that again Cy," said Robin. "And now that I think about it, I remember now that Abaddon said yesterday that Savage had spent the last three months two steps ahead of us. At first I thought he meant in terms of location or timing; but now I'm thinking that Abaddon may have been referring to how many of the items needed to be granted full control over the demons he had in his possession. In combination with what Abaddon said about Savage needing only one key element, emphasis on key, I'm thinking that Savage has managed to get ahold of both the Infernal Tablet and the Fallen Tools, but still needs only to obtain the actual Infernal Key of Dante."

"But why would he not already have it?" Starfire asked. "And if he's already gotten ahold of the other items he needs, then what's to stop him from going back to get the key?"

"Maybe he didn't get them himself," said Beast Boy. "Maybe he had someone else who did know the location of the entrances go there and get the items for him."

At the sound of that suggestion, Robin suddenly had another thought. "I just remembered something from the news three months ago," he stated before stating to Beast Boy, "Can I minimize that for a second?"

"Go ahead," said the changeling. In a flash, Robin had minimized the entire Brotherhood of Dante database, opened up the internet, and typed in a search query. When the results popped up, he clicked on a link for an article on the local Jump City News website. The title of the article was 'Wanted Thief Found Dead.'

"I remember reading about this before," said Robin. He pointed at a picture of the thief in question, a man who looked to be around middle age with graying blonde hair that looked as if it were starting to recede. "Damian Wormwood; a master thief notorious for how he'd often try to steal high profile artifacts and other items from museums and other locations they were on display at. Three months ago, he was reportedly found dead in the forest area southeast of Jump City's borders. Due to how he was covered practically head to toe with scratches, lacerations, and even what looked like teeth marks, he was originally thought to have been killed in an animal attack. But the police began to suspect that something different was involved when the resulting investigation showed that there was no sign of any DNA from any recognizable local carnivore or even any other evidence at all aside from what suspiciously enough look sulfur almost completely covering his body."

"I did read that Abrahamic demons leave traces of sulfur on everything they touch," said Raven.

"Good to know," said Robin. "That bit of information now strengthens my current belief that Wormwood may have managed to somehow find one of the nearest entrance locations to Lucifer's Crypt and gotten ahold of the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools, but was forced to flee before he could get ahold of the Infernal Key and ended up getting killed by demons that I guess must have been guarding the area. With Wormwood dead, I'm guessing the demons that killed him must have then reclaimed the stolen items from him and had them delivered to Savage."

Robin then lifted up his finger as if about to state another point, and then said, "And with that being said, with Savage not having been the one who went to the Crypt to get ahold of those other items himself and Wormwood dead before he could tell anyone else about where he got them, Savage himself still doesn't know the location of any of the entrances to Lucifer's Crypt. Therefore, it is very likely that the information Lucifer was willing to give to him in exchange for our deaths was the location of the Lucifer's Crypt portal entrance that was the closest to Jump City." The boy wonder then looked back at Beast Boy and asked, "Beast Boy, is there anything else in there you think we should know before we get back to trying to figure out that same information?"

Beast Boy looked back at the screen, started reading at the spot where he'd previously left off, and said, "Well apparently, even if one does manage to get ahold of Dante's keys or even those other things needed, the keys themselves are apparently very high maintenance when it comes to the timing for their use. According to this, all three of the keys can only be used once every seventh century."

Robin and Cyborg whistled upon hearing this. "Wow," said Cyborg, "that's certainly a long time to wait; I guess you'd have to really make it count if you decide to use it."

"It's currently the 21st century," said Robin. "So now would definitely be a good time to use them."

"That's not all," said Beast Boy. "The keys not only work only on specific years, but also apparently on specific days."

"Which days?" Robin asked.

Beast Boy squinted intently at the description given about the timing. "Um, it says here that the keys will only work on either A: a day where light is stronger than darkness, B: a day where darkness is stronger than light, or C: a day where light and darkness are equally abundant."

While three of the other titans started thinking to themselves as to what that cryptic description could mean, Robin looked as if he'd suddenly had an epiphany. "Wait a second," he said before he bolted over to the kitchen area and started hectically looking through cabinets and other spots within the kitchen. "Where is it? Where is it?" he asked himself.

"What are you looking for?" Starfire asked.

"I know it's here somewhere," Robin stated, almost completely ignoring Starfire's question. Then he just happened to open one cabinet he hadn't yet searched, and he said, "There it is," before looking intently at whatever had caught his attention. Seconds later, he said, "Of course," before grabbing onto the then hidden from view object and running back over to the computer area with it. The object in question turned out to be a calendar.

Upon reaching the other titans, Robin slammed the calendar down on the desk right next to the keyboard and pointed at the calendar square for the very next day. "Look at this," he stated. The other titans complied. "What's tomorrow?" Robin asked.

Beast Boy squinted intently at the calendar date Robin had indicated, and said half questioningly, "The summer solstice?"

"Exactly," said Robin. "And what's the most important detail about this day?"

Surprisingly enough, Starfire answered. "Isn't this the time you told me about in which the daytime lasts longer than the night?"

"Exactly Star!" Robin yelled in approval with a hint of pride in his facial expression as he pointed at his girlfriend. "And that being said, the light is in more abundance on that day then darkness."

"Which would make the winter solstice a day in which darkness is stronger than light," said Raven.

"And thus the vernal and autumnal equinoxes would be the days in which light and darkness are equal in abundance," Beast Boy stated.

"Exactly!" Robin yelled proudly. "And remember what Abaddon said before he attacked us? He said that as of yesterday, there would be two days left to wait before all Hell broke loose, and tomorrow's the summer solstice! It all makes sense now!"

"But we still need to know at least one of the locations where we can find an entrance to Lucifer's Crypt," said Cyborg.

"And apparently, so does Savage," said Beast Boy.

However, right at that moment, Robin smiled as he had yet another major thought. "Actually," said the boy wonder, "if I remember correctly, I might have an idea of the nearest one to Jump City. Beast Boy, may I see the descriptions of the current locations for the Lucifer's Crypt portals again?"

Beast Boy minimized the internet window, opened the database back up, and positioned the screen so that Robin could read the descriptions in question once more. The boy wonder leaned over Beast Boy's shoulder, read the descriptions carefully, and smiled before looking at Starfire and saying, "Star, you did say that the most obvious is often the least expected right?"

Starfire nodded, remembering very clearly how she'd said that not too long ago.

Smile still on his face, Robin quickly minimized the database document once again, restored the internet window, and started typing in the search query box while saying, "Well it said in that database document that one of the locations is a, quote on quote, 'A giant stone in the image of Lucifer's seven heads.' That being said, combined with the fact that Lucifer is said to take on the form of a seven headed dragon, and the location where Damien Wormwood's body was found, I have a feeling that I now know a very obvious choice of location to fit that criteria."

No sooner had Robin said this when he pressed the enter key, and the internet search engine did its work. He accessed the images option and pointed at a picture of what appeared to be a cluster of stones piled up and positioned together so that they formed what appeared to be the shape of a dragon's head. "This peculiar natural oddity is located in Dragon's Head Valley, which is located 6 miles to the southeast of Jump City, and is only three miles away from where Damian Wormwood's body was found. Plus, that one particular dragon head shaped rock formation seems to more or less fit the profile given here in this database. Therefore, I say that Dragon's Head Valley is our best bet at beating Savage to Lucifer's Crypt and obtaining the Infernal Key." He clasped his hands together, looked at Raven, and asked, "Raven, did those books you read about Jehovah's Temple and Lucifer's Crypt say anything about how to open the portals?"

The sorceress nodded. "Yes, I do believe they did. I'll just have to quickly look through them again to remember what I need to say."

"Good, you go ahead and do that," said Robin. He then looked directly at the rest of the titans and said, "And once Raven's done with that, it's time we all went on a little late night local tourism."

**And there you have it people! The first chapter in this story to be published in God knows how long. Here's to once again hoping that this proves enjoyable enough to make the ungodly long wait worthwhile, and that you leave a healthy number of reviews ^_^. A-LionGleek is back in business with the Teen Titans fandom, and it's time to get things back off to a roaring start!**

**Coming up next: The titans head off to Dragon's Head Valley to make a late night visit to Lucifer's Crypt and get ahold of the Infernal Key. However, are they the only ones who have come to visit this depraved location, much less to claim possession of this very dangerous key of Dante? Find out next time, on Night of the Cursed.**


	12. Lucifer's Crypt

**Hey ya'll! I hope you're still willing to read some more Teen Titan-ic awesomeness, because here's a new chapter! In this new chapter, the Titans come to Dragon's Head Valley, eager to find the portal entrance there to Lucifer's Crypt. But upon entry to the crypt, they find a whole lot more than they bargained for. And are they the only ones about to pay a visit to Lucifer's Crypt? Find out, in this new chapter! Here's to hoping that you read, enjoy, and review; and I do mean review, because believe me, the fact that no one left any reviews for the last chapter I posted (even though it was the first chapter I'd posted in months) kind of hurt my feelings. Well anyway, again, I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a healthy number of reviews!**

**Once again, I do not own Teen Titans or any other DC Universe elements. Now, onward with the fic!**

**Chapter 11:**

**Lucifer's Crypt**

Half an hour later, the Titans had gathered at the entrance to Dragon's Head Valley. As they stood there at the entrance, gazing intently at the eponymous cluster of rocks within the valley, they felt both excited and also slightly nervous. Beast Boy in particular seemed very nervous indeed. "I really don't like this place," he stated. "I don't know why, but this valley's seriously giving me the creeps."

"It's probably got something to do with your animal instincts," said Robin. "People have said that animals always seem to have some sort of sharp sense of the paranormal. I never believed it at first, but after all we've encountered, I certainly wouldn't find it surprising anymore if it did turn out to be true." He looked straight at Beast Boy before continuing, "Therefore, if your current nervousness has anything to do with your animal instincts, and through those an animalistic sense of the paranormal, then we are all the more likely on the right track here."

"You heard the man," Cyborg said to his jittery green friend. "Looks like we're going to have to go in there."

"I know that," said Beast Boy. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

On that note, the five teenage heroes proceeded to slowly make their way into the valley and towards the large cluster of stones that served as the valley's namesake. After about five minutes, they'd all positioned themselves so that they were standing directly in front of the 'snout' area of the dragon head-shaped cluster of stones. Beast Boy shuddered upon full sight of the thing, for even though it was made of rocks, the ominous dragon-head shaped rock pile looked very intimidating indeed.

As the Titans continued to stare intently at the ominous looking cluster of stones, Raven closed her eyes and appeared to concentrate heavily. "I can detect a distinct magical aura around these stones," she then said.

"I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing," Beast Boy stated.

Raven raised her hand as if to tell her friends to be quiet, tensed up as if in concentration, and then raised her hands to reveal that they were now glowing with her distinctive shadowy energy. As her fellow titans watched, Raven proceeded to calmly state, "The depraved have come knocking, hear how they've cried. Open your gate, open it wide."

For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened. But then, as the titans continued to watch, an eerie blood red light came up from within two small crevices that were positioned to resemble the dragon head's eyes, and with a crackle of red lightning, the stones positioned to form the dragon head's jaws and teeth began to move as if imitating a dragon opening its mouth. After about a minute, the dragon head's 'jaws' had opened to the fullest. Seconds after that happened, a flash of red lightning appeared at the stones located in the area that would have otherwise served as the interior of the dragon head's throat, and a massive blood red portal popped up into existence.

At the sight of the swirling blood red vortex, Cyborg whistled, looked at Robin, and said, "Well Rob, looks like you were right."

Robin nodded his head, looked at each of his fellow Titans one by one from Cyborg, to the now extremely nervous looking Beast Boy, and said, "Alright team, let's go in." And so, the five teenage heroes proceeded to slowly walk into the open 'jaws' of the dragon head shaped rock formation and through the portal, which promptly closed about five seconds after the last of the Titans had entered.

However, if Raven had happened to use her psychic contact or similar danger sensing abilities, or if Beast Boy's animal instincts hadn't already been overloaded by the sensing of the supernatural elements in the area, or Cyborg had bothered to scan the area, the Titans would have noticed that another figure was standing about a mile or two away, and had watched everything that had occurred through a pair of binoculars. Savage smiled as he saw the distinctive red light from the portal fade away five seconds after all five of the teenage heroes had gone through it. "I'll have to hand it to that dastardly dragon," he stated proudly. "The Titans have now led me right to the information I needed. All I need now is to reach the valley and just wait about a couple minutes or so before I make my presence known to the Titans."

. . . . .

If anyone had asked the Titans what they'd expected to find on the other side of the portal, they would not have been able to give a straight answer. However, what they did find was definitely something that they could have never have been properly prepared for. Upon entry through the portal, they had found themselves in a spacious room with a dark black marble floor and walls. The floor was riddled with cracks, dents, and other signs of damage. The walls and ceiling even had loads upon loads of cobwebs dangling around. However, it wasn't so much the actual room itself that left the Titans horrified and speechless. Rather, it was the way that the room was furnished.

Located in various areas of the room were several statues of absolutely horrifying looking demons. Five in particular were located not too far away from where the main altar would have been if this had been a church. These particular five statues looked so terrifying and lifelike that it was almost as if they were actual flesh and blood demons. And to make them even more terrifying, one of the five statues, which happened to be of a massive black demon, looked very ominously like an exact replica of Abaddon.

Beast Boy gulped, looked timidly at Robin, and stated, "I'm guessing those particular statues are of the knights of Hell."

And as it turned out when Raven went to get a closer look at those statues in question, particularly the area around the bases, the statues were indeed depictions of the five knights of Hell. And upon realizing this, the Titans found all the more reason to not want to ever encounter them again. The crouching blue demon statue that had massive icicles sticking out of the ground around its feet and what appeared to be blood dripping from its snarling jaws turned out to be a statue of Lilith. The green demon statue that appeared to be positioned the way a t-rex was often depicted in bodily posture with its frill extended to the fullest, its tongue fully extended from its gaping mouth, acid dripping from its mouth, and its barbed tail positioned as if it were about to sting at something turned out to be a depiction of Asmodeus. The red demon statue that had its hands in the air with live flames flaring upon them, its head facing upwards towards the ceiling, and its jaws and face positioned in a way that made it appear as if it were laughing turned out to be of the demon Samael. The golden yellow demon statue that appeared to have a wolf-like grin on its face, have a broadsword tightly clutched in each of its hands, and even have electricity crackling across its claws, fangs, and the blades of its swords was labeled to be a statue of Azazel. And of course, the snarling black demon statue was easily recognizable as Abaddon.

After another few minutes spent staring at the statues, Cyborg decided that it was time to resume their search through the rest of the crypt, as unsavory as it might be, for the Infernal Key. The other Titans promptly agreed. However, when Beast Boy just happened to turn around to face the area directly opposite the Knights of Hell statues and notice something that had completely escaped his notice in the midst of his being distracted by the sight of the statues, he immediately wished that he hadn't. Fighting not to vomit, he said, "Um guys, you'd best not look behind you."

Confused, the Titans did exactly that, and found themselves rearing backwards in shock, horror, and disgust as they to saw what Beast Boy had already been unlucky enough to spot right there in the center of the crypt. Lying right in that area, was a large fountain. However, it wasn't so much the fountain that had drawn out their horrified reactions. Rather, it was the ominous dark red liquid within it that looked very unnervingly like blood.

At the sight of this gruesome fountain, all five Titans found themselves desperately battling against the urge to vomit. Starfire even ended up looking away to her right, her face turning nearly the exact shade of green as Beast Boy's skin. However, when she happened to get a good look at one of the walls as a result, her eyes widened, and her face turned white at the sight of what was engraved on the wall.

"Friends," she stated fearfully, "whatever you do, don't look at the walls."

Unfortunately, her friends did exactly that out of concern for what now appeared to be bothering the poor Tamaranean. And upon sight of the disturbing images engraved on both the wall directly in front of Starfire and behind them, they all took on facial expressions that ranged from absolute horror, to scandalized shock, to downright rage. Carved on the walls in question, in very vivid and at times cruel detail, were vast hordes of demons engaging in all manner of sinful, violent, and just plain unforgivable actions.

Robin found himself clenching his fists and snarling inarticulately at the sight of carvings of demons running their claws, beaks, tails, and even teeth straight through the chests, hearts, and even necks of several humans. Cyborg found himself speechlessly gaping at carvings of demons causing wanton destruction, including a small pack of them laughing as they sent flames spouting from their hands at an already ablaze building that was clearly recognizable as a church. Beast Boy couldn't help but stare in horror with his mouth agape as he found himself unlucky enough to witness the sight of engravings of demons dancing around on corpses, latching onto all manner of animals and ripping them to shreds like paper, and most heartbreaking of all, holding stolen toys high up in the air and cruelly out of reach of sobbing children as they laughed pitilessly. Raven even managed to catch sight of what appeared to be an engraving of a demon positioned so that it was leaning down towards something that it had its left foot placed down firmly atop of as if pinning it down. The only hint within the mural as to what it was the demon was standing over was the fact that it was almost possessively clutching onto what appeared to be a pair of human arms with the hands positioned in a way that conveyed that the person was begging for the demon to let go and not do what it was about to do. While Raven couldn't see any detail about the human apart from the arms, she still had a feeling that she knew all too well what the demon in the mural was about to do, and the thought made her blood boil.

However, it wasn't until the other Titans heard Starfire crying before they finally looked to see the particular detail of the mural that she'd seen, and absolutely no words could have described the horror, sadness, and rage that they felt upon sight of it. The detail that Starfire had managed to catch sight of in the mural in all its despicable and unforgiving glory, was an engraving of two people, a man and a woman, on their knees sobbing at the feet of a demon that was just standing there holding onto the bottom of a wooden stake. But the part that really made this sight emotionally charged was how the pointed end of the stake was jutting right through the back of the skull and straight out the open mouth of a baby while the demon was laughing shamelessly.

For just the briefest of moments, Robin felt angry. But then he was brought back down to Earth by the sound of Starfire's sobbing and weeping. Desperate to calm her down and cheer his girlfriend up, he hugged her and let her lay her head on his shoulder, whispering words of encouragement to her as she sobbed profusely into his shoulder. Cyborg merely shook his head side to side and glared murderously at the engraved demon clutching onto the offending stake as if he wanted to find the artist who'd engraved the mural and beat his face in. Hell, he now didn't even care if the artist happened to be a female. The way he saw it, no one deserved to be allowed to create such unforgivable artwork and get away with it on account of gender. However, at the sound of inhuman snarling coming from the area where Beast Boy and Raven were, he looked at them in time to see that his two chromatically challenged friends were tensed up as if extremely angry, and that Beast Boy himself even had his hands up and positioned as if his fingers were claws. It was clear that the sight of this deplorable carving had put them on the edge of their temper control, and that they were about to flip out right there in the crypt.

Without thinking, the half robot teenager placed a hand on each of the two furious teenagers' shoulders. His two friends snapped their heads around to look at him, and Cyborg found his eyes widening as he saw that Raven's eyes had turned blood red and that Beast Boy's teeth were gritted in a feral snarl that was an exact match of the one he'd seen on the face of the Beast. After a tense few minutes, the two enraged teenagers appeared to visibly calm down and relax, taking deep breaths before they finally took on a more calm and peaceful appearance. When the two chromatically challenged teens opened their eyes, Raven's eyes had reverted back to their natural violet color and Beast Boy's face had lost its animalistic snarl.

After a few minutes, Cyborg asked, "You guys ok?"

Raven nodded her head. "I am now."

"I'm ok," said Beast Boy. "It's just," he looked back at the offending carving, and then said, "that . . . that . . . abomination . . ."

Suddenly taking on a tense posture once again, the green skinned shape shifter turned his head towards Robin and Starfire and said, "Robin."

The boy wonder looked up at Beast Boy, as did Starfire, who still had tears in her eyes. Beast Boy snarled, pointed at the carving that had caused Starfire to feel such sadness, and growled venomously, "I don't care how much more scary or disgusting this place turns out to be. We are going to brave our way through it and get that key. And when we get that key, so help me, I am going to find the nearest volcano and throw the dumb thing into the lava! I don't care if Dante wanted to have a balance in power between the three realms of the afterlife, but a race of beings as psychopathic and shameless as demons do not, and I mean do not, deserve the same luxury that these keys give to the angels and Primordials!" Upon shouting all this, Beast Boy turned his head to face the Knights of Hell statues, and past them at an ominous mass of what appeared to be some sort of strange darkness, and furiously snarled, "Let's get ourselves that key."

Their resolve now strengthened by this newfound desire to strike such a decisive blow against Abrahamic demonkind, the Titans made their way over to the suspicious mass of darkness directly behind the statues of the Knights of Hell. They came to a stop directly before walking into it. This soon turned out to be very wise when Beast Boy reached out towards it, only for it to turn out to feel suspiciously solid like a wall. "Huh," said the changeling. "This is kind of like one of your force fields Rae."

"It's Raven," said Raven. "But that being said, I'll see if I can deactivate it." She placed her fingers to her head as if concentrating, her eyes closed. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and lowered her fingers. "No luck," she said. "Whoever put this up is far stronger than I am. I can't get it to deactivate."

"Wait a minute," Robin said as he happened to look at the floor area near Beast Boy's feet. "Beast Boy, can you step back for a second?"

Beast Boy complied, and Robin got down on his hands and knees as he proceeded to closely examine what appeared to be some sort of runes engraved on the area where his green friend had originally been standing. "These runes," Robin stated. "They look like they're maybe Hebrew or something. Raven, can you translate these?"

Raven shook her head. "Sorry," she stated. "But Hebrew isn't among the languages I'm fluent in reading."

"It's ok," said Cyborg as he proceeded to look through several functions within his right arm. "I think I've got a translator function somewhere in here." Sure enough, he managed to find it. "Yes, alright, here goes." He held his right arm up to the Hebrew runes, and the translator built into his arm proceeded to scan them. When the results popped up, they were in English within the picture. "Ok then," said Cyborg. "According to my translator, these runes are Hebrew for 'Only the unforgiven may pass'."

Robin growled. "Great," stated the boy wonder. "Of all the defenses, now we need to have a criminal or demon present in order to just get ahold of the stupid thing."

"Actually," said Beast Boy. "It might not be that hard for us to get past that force field."

The other titans looked at Beast Boy, looks of surprise and confusion on their faces. "What do you mean?" Robin asked.

Beast Boy looked at Raven and said, "Raven, remember how you had me read the Lord of the Rings books in exchange for you watching the movies alongside me and the others?"

The empath nodded her head. "Yes," she stated.

"Well remember how in _The Fellowship of the Ring_, when the fellowship reached the entrance to the Mines of Moria, they had to say the Elvish word for 'friend' in order to enter?"

Raven and the other Titans nodded upon remembering this detail.

"Well this little scenario," Beast Boy said as he pointed at the force field that appeared to be barring their way to obtaining the Infernal Key of Dante, "might require a similar strategy. However, for this case, we have to each state one thing that we have never personally managed to forgive ourselves for."

The other Titans thought to themselves, and then realized that Beast Boy's suggestion actually sounded quite logical. However, there was one other thing that Robin thought worth bringing up in regard to what Beast Boy was suggesting. "Your logic is certainly sound," said Robin. "But are you sure it will work? I mean, we've already forgiven each other for all the stuff we've committed against each other."

"I understand that," Beast Boy responded calmly. "But in this particular case, I don't think whether or not we've forgiven each other or have been forgiven by others is what matters. I'm thinking that the more important factor in this equation is whether or not we've forgiven ourselves for the actions in question."

Robin thought to himself upon hearing this, and then found himself nodding in agreement as he managed to note the logic in Beast Boy's statement. "Well in that case," Robin stated before he then looked at the force field and said, "Which of us wants to go first?"

"I'll go," said Beast Boy. "It is my idea, so I should probably be the first to test it."

The other Titans stepped aside and let their verdant green friend walk straight up towards the force field. When the changeling came to a stop, he took a deep breath, exhaled, and then stared straight at the force field before saying, "The one thing I still haven't yet forgiven myself for . . . is not having been able to rescue my parents."

For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened. But then, Beast Boy began to glow, and a beam of a mysterious red light sprang out from his chest in the area where his heart was located and pierced the force field. The beam crackled and sparked, but the force field seemed otherwise unaffected.

As Beast Boy remained standing where he was, watching the beam spouting from his heart at the force field, he managed to say, "Well, it seems to be working, but I'm not sure if my confession is enough."

"Perhaps all five of us have to state our actions that we personally as unforgivable in order for us all to pass," said Starfire.

The other Titans standing nearby her looked at each other and considered her suggestion. Then they nodded, looked back at Starfire, and gestured for her to take her turn. "You go on ahead Star," said Robin. "It's certainly worth trying."

Starfire gave a half happy and half nervous smile, and then proceeded to walk up and take a position that was about a couple feet or so to Beast Boy's right. Taking a deep breath, the alien princess closed her eyes, exhaled, clenched her fists, and then opened her eyes to stare directly at the force field. "The one thing that I've truly never stopped regretting," she managed to state with some difficulty before she briefly tensed up, and then with clear effort to prevent tears from bursting from her now once again closed eyes, she managed to tearfully howl, "is not managing to say a proper goodbye to my family before . . . before . . ." she started crying, and then eventually stammered, "before my parents died, my brother vanished to X'hal knows where, and my sister was lost to the darkness of villainy!"

At this point, Starfire completely lost it, and she placed her hands up to her face as she started sobbing and weeping uncontrollably. She was so broken down in her sorrow that she didn't even notice the red glow that came upon the area of her chest where her heart was located and the beam of matching red light that sprang from that area and struck the force field not too far away from the beam that was coming from Beast Boy.

Cyborg, ever the big brother figure, impulsively made his way over to Starfire and placed his hand on her shoulder. Pausing in her weeping, Starfire turned her head to look behind her, tears still welling up in her eyes. At the sight of the look in Cyborg's face that silently said, "It's ok," she sniffled, wiped away her tears, and looked past Cyborg at Raven and Robin, both of whom had solemn looks that silently screamed how truly sorry they felt and that they were there for her. She also managed to see Beast Boy helplessly standing where he was as he directed a look of sympathy towards her. Sniffling, Starfire nodded her head, and turned her head to look back at the force field.

Cyborg, deciding that he'd already more or less volunteered himself to go next, moved up so that he was standing directly to Starfire's right, stared intently at the force field, and solemnly stated, "The one thing that I truly wish I could forgive myself for," before sighing, shaking his head side to side with his eyes closed, and then silently stating, "is my inability to save my mom."

All of two seconds passed after Cyborg said this before a beam of light the exact shade of red as his cybernetic eye burst from the area where his heart was located and pierced the force field. As this happened, the three beams of light seemed to transform and increase in size and intensity to the point that they now more closely resembled crimson bolts of lightning rather than standard red laser beams. The force field, meanwhile, began to show signs of ripples occurring at the areas where the beams were blasting it. But despite how the force field was now definitely being affected by the confessions of the three Titans who'd already admitted to their own personal unforgivable acts, it still needed a little more to go away completely.

Taking a deep breath, Raven stepped forward, coming to a stop at a point in which she'd be standing directly to Beast Boy's right. Preparing herself in much the same way her friends had, she soon proceeded to state, "Out of all the things I've done that can be viewed as unforgivable by anyone in any way, shape, or form, the only one that I truly feel as if I haven't forgiven myself for . . . was not having more faith in my friends when they put in so much effort to try to prevent me from fulfilling my prophecy to become the portal that would allow my father to come to Earth in his demon form."

Her friends had just enough time to gape at her in surprise and respect for a couple seconds before Raven's upper body became briefly encased in red lightning, and a large bolt of the same lightning sprang from the area where her heart was located and speared into the force field. Seconds later, with four bolts of red lightning ramming away at the force field, it started to show signs of what appeared to be cracks appearing in it. Unfortunately, three minutes later, it became clear that the four confessions that had already been made were still not enough to completely eradicate the barrier altogether. Upon realizing this, the four Titans who'd so far confessed turned their heads to look behind them, directly at Robin.

Robin sighed, took a deep breath, and slowly began to march his way over towards the force field. Truth be told, the boy wonder had quite honestly hoped that it wouldn't come down to this. But now, with the confessions of his friends alone not apparently being enough, he now had no choice but to air out his own personal unforgivable actions. Tensing himself up as if preparing himself to just get the whole unpleasant business over with, Robin came to a stop directly between Starfire and Raven, gritted his teeth, exhaled a heavy breath, and proceeded to state, "There is one single thing I still even now find impossible for me to forgive myself over. In fact, this single action, is a result of two combined factors. The first of these elements . . ." He tensed up, almost as if he were having a mental struggle within him, and then eventually stated, "was that I was once willing to practically give up on my friends and truly believe that it wouldn't be worth trying to bring them back to the light if they ever went bad. In fact, it even reached the point . . ."

Robin tensed up yet again, clearly wrestling between the side of him that wanted to keep this earth shaking information he was about to say a secret in order to preserve his friends' feelings and the side of him that wanted to get the weight of it off of his chest. "It even reached the point . . . that . . . that I went so far as to actively research them and create files on them containing information on them, their powers, and how to take them down if they ever turned evil."

At the sound of this the other Titans' eyes widened in shock and horror. Grimacing, Robin hung his head, and eventually continued, "And not only did I do this against my four greatest friends that live with me now, but also for all the other friends of mine that work alongside me in my . . . our work. In other words, I practically turned by back on my friends . . . no . . . on my family."

Robin tensed up, took a deep breath, and exhaled again before continuing, "Granted, I've learned my lesson since then, and I got rid of all the files, but the fact that I even considered having them taken out of the equation without even bothering to try to bring them back from the darkness of villainy, has made me feel so . . . so hateful of myself. But that doesn't even compare to . . . to how . . ."

He tensed up, lifting his head so that it was facing directly upward towards the ceiling, closing his eyes, and even unleashing a pained mix between a snarl and a howl, before then lowering his head back downward again, tensing himself up, and then almost growling, "To how I was so cowardly as to put my duty before my friends and my feelings so many times for so long."

Panting and wheezing heavily, Robin gritted his teeth, and then continued, "I already mentioned how I put my duty before my friends be going so far as to create contingency files on them without even bothering to consider it possible to bring them back to good if they ever turned evil. However, I also went so far as to directly threaten to take them down if they were to even dare to get in my way of my duty . . . no . . . my obsession . . . to take down Slade and bring him to justice. But what's more," he took a deep breath, and proceeded to take part in yet another mental struggle.

After what seemed like an eternity to the other four Titans as they watched their leader seemingly fighting to finish his confession, Robin tensed up, clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and closed his eyes tight before damn near shouting with bitterness and regret, "I dared to choose my job . . . my duty . . . my conditioned rules before what my heart wanted."

As the Titans continued to watch, their fearless leader took another deep breath, exhaled, and then said, "For such a long time, I tried too hard to keep my emotions and feelings for my friends, and especially for . . . for the one I truly love . . . locked up and repressed. In fact, I went so far as to openly push them . . . push her . . . away and discourage relationships of such . . . such a . . . such a nature as romantic or even remotely more personal than merely professional and strictly between fellow crime fighters and teammates. For so long . . . I . . . I thought . . . truly believed . . . that that was the right thing . . . how it should always be. But . . . when I finally just let it all go . . . and allowed myself to accept how I felt and allowed it the chance to truly become . . . more . . . only then did I realize . . . how wrong I was . . . just what and how much . . . I had . . . missed out on . . . and through both that combined with all the other times I'd dared to choose my duty over . . . over my . . . my . . . friends . . . no . . . my family . . . I . . . I finally realized . . . how . . . how much . . . like . . . like my . . . mentor . . . then I . . . had . . . ever . . . wanted to . . . be like . . . I had . . . had become."

Robin leaned downward, his head firmly directed downwards so that he was facing his feet with his eyes shut tight. Struggling to keep himself together, he finally stated, "And now, having realized how much more like my mentor I became, then I wanted to, only now, do I have the guts to say how ashamed I feel to have allowed myself . . . to go so low . . . and . . . failed my friends . . . my family . . . and most of all . . . myself."

His confession finally finished, Robin dared to look up at the force field once again. Tensing himself up, he said, "And that, is what I have truly never been able to forgive myself for."

For what seemed like an eternity, Robin stared at the force field, his friends stared at him, and the force field remained as it was. But then, Robin suddenly felt an agonizing pain in his chest area where his heart was located, and he had just enough time to let out a pained howl, before he suddenly found himself jerking his upper body backward and roaring in agony as what appeared to be a massive jet of red flames spouted from the area where his heart was located and slammed into the force field. The other Titans found themselves screaming as well as the red lightning bolts coming from out of them transformed into similar jets of flame. And seconds later, as the five teenage heroes continued to howl in pain, the force field appeared to crack even more severely, until finally, with an almighty burst of white light that engulfed the entire area, it ceased to exist.

Eventually, the light faded, and with it the pain and flames. No sooner had all the bright elements and pain vanished when all five of the teenage heroes crumpled to the ground, panting and heaving. Gritting their teeth and grunting with effort, they managed to get back up on their feet and look upward towards where the force field had been. The gigantic mass of darkness was gone, and in the area where it had been, they could see a truly terrifying, yet at the same time awe-inspiring, sight. Right there, on a more or less small island surrounded by a moat of molten lava, was a gigantic statue of a seven headed dragon. Upon closer inspection, this statue turned out to be very similar in appearance to the similar statue they'd seen in the Jump City Brotherhood of Dante headquarters. The only differences, however, were that this statue appeared to have more color than the generic metallic statue in the headquarters, and also had more details in the facial areas.

Each of the seven heads of the coppery red dragon statue was detailed in its own unique way. The head to the far left (from the statue's perspective) was riddled with scars and had an angry snarl on its face. The head to the right of the angry looking head seemed to gleam flawlessly clean and had a jewel studded collar around its throat. The head to the right of the collared head looked half asleep and even had its eyes closed. The head in the very center had a very arrogant and prideful grin on its face. The head to the right of the central head had a very flirtatious and sleazy look on its face. The head to the right of the sleazy faced head had what looked like a jealous glare on its face and was hissing like a snake. Finally, the head on the far right in the statue's perspective had a hungry look on its face and was licking its chops like a standard carnivore. For some reason, the Titans could tell just by looking at the hideous statue that it was of Lucifer himself.

After a few more minutes of just staring at the statue of Lucifer, the Titans' attention was drawn to a different detail when they heard what appeared to be the sound of something opening up. They looked towards the area near the base of the statue in time to see what appeared to be a large crystal dome retracting, revealing a blood red gemstone like object. At the sight of that object, the Titans' eyes widened, and without even thinking, they silently made their way across the small bridge that spanned the lava moat and over to the edge of where the crystallized dome had been. For they could tell just by glancing at the crimson gem that had been contained within the dome, that it was the very thing they had come for, the Infernal Key.

**And just like that, the Titans have found the Infernal Key! I really liked writing this chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it, and leave a nice large batch of reviews for all my hard work! And please do review! Even if you're a guest! I NEED my reviews! Sorry, had to put that all in there. Well anyway, again, I hope you enjoyed, and that you leave plenty of reviews to do justice for my hard work!**

**Coming up next: The Titans have found the Infernal Key, and they make plans on what to do with it. However, as they soon find out, they are not the only ones who have decided to pay a visit to Lucifer's Crypt, and before long, an epic battle unfolds for possession of the key.**


	13. Dante's Key

**Hey there everybody! I hope you're all ready for some more Teen Titans epicness, because here's a new chapter! In fact, I had actually planned to post this yesterday, but my home's wireless went AWOL. Fortunately, to make up for that, I am now posting the new chapter today! In this new chapter for A-LionGleek's epic Teen Titans season 6 premiere, the Titans have finally managed to reach the point that the Infernal Key is within their grasp. However, as they soon discover, they are not the only ones visiting Lucifer's Crypt. And before long, the battle of the century unfolds for possession of the most dangerous of Dante's keys. Sound exciting? It sure as Hell better! Here's to hoping that you all read, review, and enjoy! ^_^**

**AN: Just to get this out of the way and remind you all once more, I do not own Teen Titans, or any other elements of the DC universe. And if any elements within this chapter cause religious offense, I apologize in advance.**

**And now, onward with the story!**

**Chapter 12:**

**Dante's Key**

The titans gathered around the small red gemstone, staring intently with wonder at it. There were no words they could think of that could hope to accurately described how they currently felt now that they were actually standing there, laying their eyes on the sight of this powerful and very dangerous magical artifact of biblical proportions.

Barely even thinking, Starfire reached out and touched the gem as if stroking it, an almost dreamy look on her face. "It looks so . . . beautiful," she stated. "It's almost impossible to even imagine how such an adorable looking object could be so dangerous."

"Don't let that fool you," said Raven. "Looks can be deceiving."

"You got that right Rae," said Beast Boy. "Skunks can look mega cute before they spray you with their stink, piranhas may look docile at first glimpse but are real nightmares at feeding time, and the yellow cone snail has enough poison in their sting to kill an elephant."

Raven nodded, "The One Ring may not look like much, but it's powerful beyond belief, and Riptide could transform from a simple ballpoint pen into a mighty sword, and don't get me started on all the gadgets that have been used by Alex Rider."

"And don't forget my explosives," said Robin. "Some of the charges I've got in my utility belt are only about the size of a Walkman, but are powerful enough when they explode that they can blow a hole large enough to qualify as a miniature crater within solid concrete."

The boy wonder pointed at the Infernal Dante's Key, looked straight at Starfire, and said, "Needless to say, this thing may look harmless, but in the wrong hands, it could destroy the whole world."

Starfire nodded, seeming embarrassed for a moment, and then took on a more serious and focused face. "Right," she said before looking at Robin and asking, "What shall we do with it?"

Robin took a close look at the key, seeming to consider what to do and think of all the options and notes to consider and go over. Then he nodded his head, looked back at his teammates, and stated, "For now, we go back to the tower. We've gotten the key, and Savage is still in the dark about the Dragon's Head Valley portal as far as we know. At this current time, with Savage and the demons all at the ready and actively planning to put this to use, it's too dangerous to go traveling anywhere with it. Therefore, the best option for us now is for us to take it back to the tower with us and keep it locked away in that safe room we designed for Raven last year. We'll keep it there until after the day after tomorrow. With the summer solstice having passed at that point, Lucifer and the demons should switch their sights elsewhere, and we'll have until winter solstice this year to find a more permanent way to dispose of the Infernal Key." The other titans found themselves nodding in agreement with Robin's plan. It sounded like a perfectly logical way to handle the situation from this point onward.

Unfortunately, fate would soon turn out to have other ideas when the titans heard a voice behind them say, "Well it seems I've arrived here just in time then."

. . . . .

Eyes widening, the titans looked straight at the area where the voice had come from, and saw what appeared to be a large well-built cave man dressed in a mixture of furs and a suit that could have easily looked appropriate on a colonial politician standing right on the other side of the bridge leading up to where the titans were standing. At the sight of this man, as well as his long hair and the scars across the left side of his face, the titans were able to recognize him within seconds.

Clenching his fists, Robin glared at the unexpected fellow visitor to Lucifer's Crypt. "Vandal Savage," the boy wonder snarled through his gritted teeth.

Savage chuckled, an almost predatory gleam in his eyes as he directed a wolfish grin at the titans. "I will admit, I've been looking forward to meeting you myself. Perhaps now maybe I'll be able to learn firsthand just what it is about you five kids that's gotten good old Slade to respect you so much."

Raven snarled, caused her clenched fists to glow with her obsidian colored energy, and proceeded to hiss, "Well you can go ahead and try to kill us again if you want, but we're not going down without a fight."

"Yeah," Cyborg stated. "You can try whatever you want, but it's not going to do you any good at this point in regard to searching for an entrance to this bloody place!"

"A fair point," said Savage. Grinning still, he then said, "But fortunately, I wasn't going to try to have you killed anymore. Not after yesterday."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Beast Boy snarled.

Savage chuckled. "Silly changeling," he stated condescendingly before pointing at the massive Lucifer statue behind the titans. "After how you managed to survive against Abaddon and get ahold of the sources you needed to figure out just what it was that Lucifer was up to, his Malevolence was kind enough to decide that I would no longer need to kill you or even go to the trouble of convincing him to tell me the nearest entrance to this crypt."

Savage proceeded to intertwine his fingers, stretch his arms and hands forward as if preparing himself for battle, and then continued, "You're probably wondering why no more demons came after you today aren't you? Well I can tell you that I specifically made sure not to send any. Granted, my learning the news about your surviving against Abaddon did give me pause, but Lucifer was also instrumental in my ceasing my efforts at assassinating you lot. As he put it, due to how much progress you'd managed to make in attempting to figure out what he was planning, he decided that it would be far more useful for me to let you live and find out both what it was he was planning, and the information that I had hoped to get from him in exchange for your deaths. That way, when you traveled to that very same location to get the key for yourselves, I myself could get ahold of it by following you right here to the crypt."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "So that's why things went so relatively easily for us today on his front," he thought to himself. "I didn't take you to be the type to take the easy route," he stated aloud.

"Usually I'm not," Savage admitted. "But at this point, considering how you and your teammates have managed to survive three assassination attempts, which included setting a Knight of Hell of all things on you, and how very little time I have left at the moment for the current upcoming opportunity for using the Infernal Key; well . . . to put it simply, desperate times call for desperate measures."

Starfire gritted her teeth in a feral snarl, and lifted up her clenched fists, causing them and her eyes to glow dangerously green. "Well you may have made it this far, but we will be the ones who will have this depraved key in our possession when we leave this place!"

"You heard the girl," said Cyborg, "You're not going to lay a finger on that key. Not if we have anything to say about it." At the same time he said this, he activated his sonic cannon and pointed it straight towards Savage.

Meanwhile, Raven tensed herself for battle with her hands glowing with her black energy, Beast Boy turned into a wolf and crouched as if about to pounce, and Robin drew out his Bo staff, extended it, and struck a battle pose. "You want this key? Well you're gonna have to go through the five of us." Beast Boy snarled in agreement.

For a moment, Savage remained where he was, gazing intently at the five battle ready teenage heroes with his left eyebrow raised. Then he smiled, took on an attack stance of his own, and said, "Very well then. If it's a battle you want, then a battle you shall get." For a few tense minutes, the five teenage heroes and the primordial adult villain remained as they were in a standoff. Then Savage said with a grin, "Ready when you are."

Robin snarled, tensed up as if preparing himself to jump, and yelled "Titans go!" In a flash, the titans initiated the battle with Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven firing their respective energy blasts at Savage while Beast Boy and Robin lunged towards the immortal cave man. Savage calmly took a step back, grabbed onto Robin's staff right as the boy wonder was swinging it down towards him, and proceeded to propel Robin over his head and a couple of feet or so behind him. Only seconds passed after this before he sent Beast Boy the wolf flying to the side with a swing of his left arm. And even after that, he still had enough to jump backwards in a somersault to evade the star bolt Starfire had hurled at him, cartwheel to his left to dodge Cyborg's sonic blast, and rip off a small stone floor panel to use a shield against Raven's umbrakinetic energy bomb.

Savage lowered his shield, his infuriating wolfish grin still on his face, and took a look around at each of the five titan, all of whom had gotten themselves recovered from their recent attacks and were at the ready to unleash more. "Not bad," Savage stated. "Though surely you can try harder than that?"

Robin growled, drew out two birdarangs, and yelled, "Oh we're just getting started!"

Savage chuckled. "Good answer," he stated calmly before placing his makeshift shield back where he'd gotten it and drawing out what looked like two long poles made out of bones. "Very well then boy wonder!" He yelled. "Let us see if those toys of yours are as fast as your wit!"

"Gladly," Robin snarled before letting out an inarticulate yell and tossing birdarang after birdarang at Savage. Savage calmly swung his bone staves around and deflected each one of the projectiles away from him. Robin changed tactics, and rushed towards Savage with his right fist drawn back. With a yell, he thrusted his right fist at Savage, who leaned slightly to his right so as to avoid getting hit by Robin's punch. Then he proceeded to use one of his staves to parry a kick that Robin sent his way, and then lift it upward so that it sent Robin stumbling forward straight to the edge of the bank for the lava moat around the island where the Infernal Key was located.

Robin had just enough time to shriek, rapidly flap his arms, and just start to fall down face-first straight towards the lava before he suddenly felt two mysterious slender objects come up underneath his arm pits and halt his fall while a heavier weight came down on the backs of his feet. Robin turned his head to look behind him and saw that Savage had stopped his fall by using his staves to support Robin's arms and putting his own foot down on the backs of Robin's feet. "Perhaps you ought to pay more attention to the environment around you next time," Savage stated calmly.

However, before Savage could do anything else, the two bone staves suddenly became encased with shadowy energy, and lifted up seemingly on their own accord, sending Savage stumbling backwards. Robin, having prepared himself accordingly upon sight of the shadowy energy, jumped up over the lava moat with a quadruple front flip before landing on his hands and feet safely on the other side of it. He turned his head in time to see that Savage had managed to regain his footing and was now using his bone staves to knock away a small volley of shadow orbs that Raven fired at him.

Seeing that her shadow orbs were not making any progress, Raven proceeded to use her powers to telekinetically lift up chunks of the floor paneling before hurling them at Savage. Seeing that the floor panel stones were far too large to be deflected, Savage was forced to resort to dodging, but eventually ended up getting hit right in the chest by one lucky throw that sent him flying backward. The immortal cave man crashed right onto the floor in front of the foyer, his staves being jolted out of his hand and sent bouncing away back towards the lava moat.

Savage managed to get himself positioned so that he had his hands behind his back placed on the floor before he heard Cyborg yelling and turned his head in time to see the half robot rushing towards him with his right fist drawn back. Thinking quickly, Savage placed his right hand down on the floor and used it to propel himself up and away to his right, and Cyborg's fist swung harmlessly through the air right at the area Savage's face had been seconds earlier. At that moment, while Cyborg was off balance and Savage had managed to get back on his feet, Savage jumped up and gave a swinging kick at Cyborg's back, sending the bionic teenager stumbling forward and crashing right into one of the walls of the crypt. Upon crashing into the wall, Cyborg landed hard on his back, and groaned as he found stars briefly fluttering around in his eyes.

Savage didn't even have time to smirk at Cyborg before he was forced to do a series of flips and somersaults to avoid Starfire as she unleashed a raging storm of star bolts and eye beams. By sheer luck, he managed to land right by his discarded staves, and he quickly picked one of them up before hurling it at the airborne Tamaranean princess like a boomerang. But the Cro-Magnon immortal had underestimated Starfire's reflexes, and she managed to grasp onto one of the ends of the staff and push downward on it, sending the pole of bones rocketing right back at Savage like a javelin.

The staff end that was facing Savage plowed right into the cave man's chest, sending him rocketing backward. He only came to a stop when he painfully crashed right into the statue of Abaddon. He crumpled to the floor afterward, groaning in pain and discomfort, only to have to be yanked back down to Earth when he saw Beast Boy charging towards him in the form of a smilodon. Wincing and cursing under his breath, Savage hurriedly got back to his feet right as Beast Boy lunged at him with a savage roar.

Unfortunately for the changeling, Savage had encountered smilodons before over the course of his many years of life, and he knew just the way to handle them. In a flash, right as Beast Boy the smilodon was inches away from careening into Savage with his claws and iconic saber teeth of his smilodon form at the ready, Savage swiftly reached out towards Beast Boy and latched onto the saber toothed cat's eponymous teeth. Without even giving Beast Boy time for his paws to land anywhere, Savage let out a grunt, and started swinging him around in circles. After a couple minutes, he let go in time to send the mighty green saber toothed beast flying to its right. Cyborg had unluckily enough just started running straight towards Savage before Beast Boy ended up careening straight into him and sending him crashing right back into the wall of the crypt all over again.

At that moment, Savage heard Raven speak in an ominously angry tone, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" He looked in the direction he'd heard Raven's voice coming from in time to see the sorceress causing a large number of sharpened bone spikes sticking out of the floor in random areas to rise out of the ground and into the air. In a flash, she directed them all into pointing at Savage before sending them flying at him.

Savage was just barely able to avoid all the horrendously sharp bone spikes that Raven hurled at him. And to make matters even more difficult for both Savage and the titans, one of the bones managed to glance off of the Infernal Key. All of two seconds passed after that particular bone spike landed on the floor near the key's pedestal before the jewels that served as the eyes of the Lucifer statue suddenly glowed with brilliant red light and a hollow voice from within the statue said, "Defense mode activated." The seven heads of the statue reared up into position so that they were all staring straight towards Savage and the titans, and then opened their mouths, revealing the charging energy for breath attacks. The three heads on the right side of the statue had crackling sparks of electricity, the three heads on the left side revealed the distinctive orange glow of flames, and the head in the very center had what looked very ominously like the same shadow energy that Raven used in her attacks.

"Oh great," Robin groaned. He had just enough time to yell, "Run!" and jump away to his left before the seven heads of the statue unleashed their respective breath attacks all at once. And before long, the already chaotic battle became even crazier as both Savage and the titans found themselves attempting to juggle between fighting and avoiding the energy blasts from the unexpected guardian of the Infernal Key.

After a while, Savage found himself between a rock and a hard place when he ended up between Cyborg and one of the lightning shooting statue heads. And to make matters worse for the immortal cave man, not only did the statue head in question have its breath attack charging up, but Cyborg had activated his sonic cannon once more and was charging it up as he pointed at straight at Savage. Cyborg even found himself smirking as he felt his cannon charge up. "Say your prayers Savage," he thought to himself, for the villain now seemed to be very much a sitting duck.

However, Savage had learned over the course of several hunting trips he'd taken alongside his tribe back in his early days to make good use of his instincts; and as a result of those very instincts, he now knew something that the half robot teenager didn't. The information in question, was that the lightning breathing statue head would be the first to unleash its blast. Smirking, he waited until he heard the sound of the statue head discharging its electricity blast before immediately ducking out of the way. As a result, the lightning bolt fired from the statue sailed straight over Savage and right into the open barrel of Cyborg's sonic cannon right as the sonic energy within reached optimum blast power. Cyborg had just enough time to let out a pained shriek from getting electrocuted before the volatile combination of light and sound energy caused a massive explosion of light that sent the bionic teen flying backward, and he flew so far that he only came to a stop when he slammed into the back wall of the foyer area. He crumpled down to the floor on his belly, groaning in pain, the mechanical parts of his body crackling and sparking from the recent stress on them.

Savage smirked smugly at Cyborg before he then heard the sound of a feral feminine scream coming from his left. He turned his head in time to see Starfire zooming towards him with her fists at the ready to hurl more star bolts at him. Grunting and panting from the effort, the Tamaranean warrior princess hurled star bolt after star bolt at the cave man, who once again proceeded to carefully leap and somersault away to dodge them all. But this time, he made sure to carefully make his way straight towards the area where the Lucifer statue and the Infernal Key were located. The statue noticed this, and the center head lowered, preparing to fire a burst of shadow energy at Savage. However, right as the statue head was about to open its mouth and unleash its blast, Savage jumped up in a backflip in a way that allowed for his right foot to land right on the top of the statue head. Thus Savage was propelled up into the air towards Starfire when the surprised statue head lifted its head upward in an attempt to figure out where its target had suddenly disappeared, inadvertently firing its shadow breath attack straight at the lava instead of the area where Savage had originally been.

As Savage hurtled around through the air, he made sure to position himself so that when he began to head back towards the ground, his foot would be positioned directly at Starfire. And so Starfire found herself shrieking in pain and plummeting down towards the floor when she felt Savage's foot slam hard onto her back. She pounded down on the floor with a thud. Eventually, Starfire managed to open her eyes, groaning in pain. But she only managed to position her hands so that she could push herself back up before she felt yet another heavy impact come down on her back, and she screeched in agony as she felt herself get pushed back down onto her stomach. She turned her head in time to see Savage standing right there with his left foot pressing on her back and with his hands clutched around one of his bone staves from earlier, and the staff was raised up as if he were about to swing it downwards. "I've never had the opportunity to do battle with a Tamaranean before," he stated. "And this will be a good time to experience how physiologically resistant your kin are to head injuries such as the one I'll soon give to you with this staff. Any last words?"

Before Starfire even had a chance to say anything, the air was split with a furious roar. At the sound of the roar, Savage actually paled, and slowly turned his head to look behind him. He had heard that particularly type of roar before in his early years, and he was actually dreading the mere possibility of ever encountering the animal that he knew made that particular sound of roar. Sure enough, as he had expected upon hearing the sound of the roar, he saw Beast Boy in the form of a grizzly bear standing on its hind legs, its arms folded up almost like a mantis, and directing a menacing snarl towards him. At the sight of the angry glare in the eyes of the verdant green grizzly bear, Savage found himself struggling to stand his ground and not to show any fear. He had encountered a bear before, and unlike his encounters with most other animals, that particular incident had not left a happy memory for him.

Savage unconsciously found himself thinking about the time when he'd been a young Cro-Magnon teenager and had attempted to hunt a fully grown male cave bear alone. That particular battle had started out favorably enough for him in his mind. However he had barely even begun to start jabbing his spear at the bear to taunt it before the beast had roared, and slashed him across the left side of his face with a swing of its right arm, its sharp claws tearing into his skin and very narrowly avoiding direct contact with the young cave man's eye. Savage, then known simply at Vandar Adg, had never before been exposed to such pain on his face before, and he'd dropped his spear and placed his hand up to where the bear had struck him, screaming and howling in agony from the pain of the injury. Minutes later, he soon found himself drawing his hand away from his face when he felt an unfamiliar sticky sensation on his hand, and he became terrified when he saw that his hand was now covered with blood. He'd just managed to scream in fear at the sight of his own blood on his hand before a slap in the face by the bear's paw had sent him flying backward.

At that point, the young Vandar Adg had literally just managed to get himself into at least a seated position after having landed on his back before he heard a roar and saw the still very much angry cave bear charging straight towards him. Howling in fear, Vandar had hurriedly gotten up to his feet and ran as fast as he could through the forest, panting, screaming, and sobbing in exhaustion and terror in his desperate efforts to avoid getting mauled to death by the irate bear. In the end he had only managed to avoid becoming the bear's lunch by climbing up a tree so slender that the bear had no hope of climbing up to the top without its weight causing the branches to snap under it and cause it to fall. And even after escaping immediate death by the bear, he'd been forced to stay up in the three for nearly three hours before the bear finally decided to leave the area, allowing the boy who would later become Vandal Savage to finally come back down from the tree and rush off back to his village.

Now, as Savage found himself looking at Beast Boy in his grizzly bear mode, he found himself feeling the same deep rooted terror that he'd felt while being chased by that cave bear from all those years ago. The green bear stared hard at Savage, a combination of beastly rage and human-like smugness on its face. For both the bear's mind and Beast Boy himself could tell from instinct that Savage appeared to be afraid.

"Hmm, it seems I may have just found out a major weakness of his," Beast Boy thought to himself. Then he decided to test Savage to see if the immortal caveman was truly afraid of him. Thinking quickly, Beast Boy snarled, and he was both surprised and delighted when he caught sight of Savage flinching at the sound of the snarl. Beast Boy found himself smiling mentally, for it seemed that his instincts were again correct. "Still, just to be sure," he then thought to himself. He took a step forward with his left hind foot. Without even thinking, Savage took a step back. Exactly one second after making the movement, Savage realized what he'd done, and cursed himself mentally for the act of weakness before hastily trying to get his game face back on.

Unfortunately for the caveman, that single sign of weakness had not only confirmed to Beast Boy that the villain was in fact afraid of his grizzly bear form, but also triggered the grizzly bear's instinctive predatory protocol. Letting out a roar of challenge, Beast Boy got down on all four legs and charged at Savage. Savage cursed under his breath, jumped over Starfire, and ran as fast as he could, the verdant green grizzly bear quickly gaining ground on him.

Thinking quickly, Beast Boy jumped up onto the top of the statue of Abaddon, and then used it as a platform to propel himself through the air in a pounce. He landed right in front of Savage, got up on his hind legs, and turned his head to face the stunned immortal caveman. The caveman in question had fallen right on his back in shock after skidding to a stop as a result of Beast Boy the bear suddenly landing right in front of him.

Panting heavily, Savage quickly got back on his feet and ran the other way just in time to avoid getting slapped by Beast Boy's right front paw. Roaring in bloodlust, Beast Boy got back on all fours and proceeded to chase after Savage once more. Minutes later, Savage skidded to a stop when he found himself seconds away from crashing into a wall. Savage turned around in time to see Beast Boy skid to a stop about two feet in front of him. Savage cursed mentally. He was now trapped, and judging from the sight of the smug human-like grin that came on the face of the green grizzly bear, he had a feeling that Beast Boy knew it to.

Seeing no need to hurry now that he had Savage trapped, Beast Boy reared up on his hind legs, turned his head to his right, and roared in triumph. He then turned his head to his left and repeated the gesture. Then he turned his head to look behind him and roared in triumph yet again. Then he looked directly back at Savage and unleashed a fourth victorious roar. And then, savoring the moment, Beast Boy got back on all fours, snarled, and then let out a final triumphant roar. It was clear now that Beast Boy would very likely be the victor of this fight.

Unfortunately for the changeling, Beast Boy had chosen the wrong time to get back on all fours. Having been so focused on Savage and his apparent imminent victory, Beast Boy had failed to notice that while in the midst of his animalistic display of triumph, one of the fire breathing Lucifer statue heads had begun to charge up its breath attack. And right as Beast Boy got back down on all fours and unleashed his final victorious roar, the statue head had chosen that particular moment to shoot out its blast. If Beast Boy had still been on his hind legs at that particular time, the flames would have harmlessly rushed between him and Savage. However, since the changeling had gotten on all fours at that moment, he had unwittingly placed himself directly within range of the blast, and the resulting jet of flames that went pounding into him sent him flying away to the side.

Savage, panting in relief and exhaustion, hurriedly jumped to his left and ran towards the island where the Lucifer statue and Infernal Key were located. A couple minutes later, the fire blast came to a stop, and Savage moved back through the area where it had been rocketing through, gaining ground in the process.

Robin lunged over towards Savage, his bo staff extended to the fullest, ready to attempt to stop the immortal caveman from getting his hands on the Dante's Key. However, Savage's instincts kicked in again, and he quickly turned his head in time to abruptly reach out with his right arm like a snake in time to clutch onto the end of the staff and propel it so that he sent both Robin and the staff flying over him and straight towards the Lucifer statue.

Robin hurtled through the air, and only came to a stop when his fully extended staff became lodged into the open mouth of one of the Lucifer statue heads. As the boy wonder found himself dangling from the staff as a result, he noted that the particular statue head he'd just gotten thrown at was the one that had been carved with a face that looked as if half asleep. Upon realizing this, he found himself noting grudgingly that it now looked very much awake.

However, Robin was jolted out of his thoughts when the statue head lifted itself upward, yanking Robin himself upwards as well. As Robin found himself staring right in the face of the statue head as a result of this, the now very much angry and awake dragon statue head let out a groaning roar at the exact same time that a worrisomely distinctive orange glow appeared in its mouth.

Robin had just enough time to let out a shriek, hurriedly propel himself forward, and retract his staff before the statue unleashed its fiery blast. The burst of flames just barely missed the boy wonder as he sailed right over the top of the statue head's horns and landed right on the statue's back. Seconds after Robin landed on its back, the statue turned all seven of its heads to look at him, hissing and roaring in fury. Right at that same moment, Savage lunged through the air over the lava moat and managed to snatch the Infernal Key into his hand in midair. No sooner had he grabbed the key when he somersaulted thrice and landed right on his feet.

Unfortunately for Savage, the rightmost statue head had managed to see him snatching up the key from out of the corner of its eyes, and it snapped back to face him with a roar. In a flash, the other six heads snapped back to face the thief as well, roaring savagely. Savage cursed, and started hurriedly running away from the statue towards the foyer. Growling, all seven of the statue heads started unleashing rapid fire blasts of their breath attacks at once. Miraculously enough, even though he had to contend with both the near endless storm of elemental blasts from the statue and the attempts of the five teenage heroes to stop him from reaching the foyer, Savage made it to the foyer.

Wasting no time, Savage slipped the Infernal Key into one of the pockets of his coat, punched a stone on the wall that appeared to have a dragon's head engraved onto it, and the distinctive red portal that served as the exit appeared. Panting in exhaustion and relief, Savage turned his head to face the Titans and said, "Farewell Titans. It's been a real pleasure to meet you, but I'm afraid that I have some important business to attend to right now, so goodbye. And before I leave you to have some more quality time with that metallic clone of his Malevolence . . ." The immortal caveman drew out what looked like a large, jagged, flame-shaped cluster of black and red crystals and dropped it on the floor at his feet. No sooner had the mysterious object landed, when it suddenly glowed with an eerie red and black light.

Raven's eyes widened at the sight of the now glowing object that Savage had dropped. "A Hellfire bomb!" Raven thought. She had read about these objects in several of her demonology books. Hellfire bombs, also known as Luciferian flare gems, were actual flames from Hell itself frozen into crystallized form. However, if struck with significant force, they were capable of explosively transforming back into their flame forms. While the other Titans didn't know this information, the sight of the glowing gem cluster was still enough to cause them to gape at with mixtures of shock and fear.

But then Robin managed to pick up the information about the explosive from his mental link with Raven, and with his eyes widened he gestured for the other Titans to stay back. "Careful team," he stated, "that creepy looking crystal at Savage's feet is a powerful explosive from Hell itself. As long as we don't touch it while it's in that glowing state, the fire within it should stay safely contained."

Savage chuckled, and stated, "Correct you are." He then winked at the Titans, gave a small wave in farewell, and said, "So long Titans," before promptly leaping through the portal.

Robin growled at the sight, and he clenched his fist and stomped his foot before yelling, "Blast! He got away!" All of two seconds passed after Robin yelled this before the area directly in front of him was blasted by a bolt of lightning. At the sight of this, all five of the Titans turned their heads to see that the Lucifer statue was still active and trying to fire at them. Robin cursed under his breath, and then said, "We're gonna have to be careful team, we can't let that statue blast the crystal Savage dropped. If we can draw its attention and blasts towards us and as far away from that crystal long enough for it to settle down into a less volatile state, we should be able to run back through the portal and escape." The other Titans nodded, and positioned themselves as if preparing to dodge in their own respective directions.

However, this carefully thought out plan went straight out the window when they heard a hollow disembodied voice from above state, "Warning. Intruders still not eliminated and Infernal Key has been disturbed. Preparing for Code Omega Contingency protocol." At the sound of this, the Titans looked upwards in time to see what looked like a large obsidian crystal ball dangling from the ceiling. Within it was a small blood red spark that crackled and glowed. Soon after the Titans saw this, the spark crackled again as the disembodied voice stated, "Emergency lockdown initiating."

At the sound of this, the Titans looked each other in the eyes, then at the statue, then at the still open portal, then at each other again. With the Hellfire bomb still at high risk of being triggered if struck and the Lucifer statue still taking shots at them, it was extremely dangerous for them to try to leave, but with the whole crypt apparently about to go into lockdown with them inside, then the fate of the entire world very possibly rested on whether or not they were able to get out before the lockdown activated.

Seconds later, the disembodied voice from above said, "Full crypt portal shutdown sequence initiating."

In that moment, the Titans decided to throw all caution to the wind. Hellfire bomb, or no Hellfire bomb, they had to get out of the crypt as soon as possible. And so, right as all seven of the Lucifer statue heads prepared themselves to fire blasts at the Titans once again, the five teenage heroes prepared themselves for running towards the portal as fast as they could. Seconds later, the portal suddenly started glowing extremely brightly, and then they heard the skyward disembodied voice say, "10."

At the exact same time the spark voice said that number, the five teenage heroes leaped forward just in time to avoid getting blasted when the breath attacks from all seven of the Lucifer statue heads struck the area they'd been standing.

"9."

The statue blasted the area directly in front of the titans, causing the three boys to stumble and fall and the two girls to come to an abrupt halt.

"8."

The seven statue heads stared straight at the five teenage heroes, opened their mouths, and hurriedly charged their breath attacks.

"7."

The seven heads fired at the Titans at the exact same time that Raven managed to hurriedly throw up a shadow shield around herself and her friends.

"6."

Raven shut off her force field, transformed herself into what appeared to be a spectral energy figure with a raven's head, body, and wings and a long serpentine ghost-like tail before proceeding to engulf the other four Titans and glide hurriedly towards the portal.

"5."

The statue fired another round of blasts, which Spectral Raven dodged by flying upward, resulting in the elemental beams blasting the Abaddon statue to dust.

"4."

The statue fired upwards towards Spectral Raven, who hurriedly swooped downwards, thus causing the elemental blasts to strike the ceiling and cause a small cave-in.

"3."

Spectral Raven swerved to her right, thus avoiding yet another salvo of blasts. The blasts in question ended up striking the blood fountain and causing large spouts of blood to go flying in all directions.

"2."

Spectral Raven swerved to her left directly in front of the entrance to the foyer area with the portal just in time to avoid being in the line of fire for another series of blasts that ended up reducing the wall engraving of the demon holding a wooden stake impaling a baby to a smoldering crater.

"1."

Spectral Raven, with her friends in tow within the folds of darkness that her spectral form consisted of, zoomed straight through the portal, and a final series of blasts from the statue struck the Hellfire bomb right as the tip of spectral Raven's tail vanished through the portal.

. . . . .

All of three seconds passed after Spectral Raven emerged from the portal and back into the open 'jaws' of the dragon head shaped cluster of rocks before she was sent flying upwards by a sudden explosion that blasted out from the portal and caused the cluster of stones to blow to smithereens. Spectral Raven was sent hurtling upwards through the air, shrieking in surprise before then melting back into itself and reverting back to Raven's natural human form, and thus releasing the other four Titans from the folds of darkness that had engulfed them. "Whoa!" all five of the Titans screamed for another few minutes before they eventually all came hurtling down towards the ground about two or three feet away from the burning remains of what had once been Dragon's Head Valley's eponymous cluster of rocks.

Beast Boy was the first to land, and he landed hard on his belly right next to a smoldering rock that looked as if it had once been one of the 'fangs' of the destroyed 'dragon's head.' Starfire landed next about a yard away to Beast Boy's left. Cyborg was the third to land, and he landed directly to Starfire's left. Raven came to a crashing land directly to Beast Boy's left. And then Robin himself landed hard on the ground directly between Starfire and Raven.

For a few minutes after landing, the five teenage heroes remained lying down on the ground like that, groaning in pain. Eventually, they all managed to get up and look behind them. Only then did they finally get a good look at what now remained of the dragon head-shaped cluster of rocks.

Beast Boy whistled at the sight of the blazing ruins of the landmark that had formerly served as an entrance to Lucifer's Crypt. "Dude," he said, "how the Devil did that happen?"

Cyborg looked intently at the burning remains of Dragon's Head Rock, shook his head side to side, and then responded, "I'm guessing that the Lucifer statue must have blasted that freaky ass crystal thing right as we left. Well I guess it's a good thing we managed to get out, because we certainly wouldn't be able to exit through this particular Lucifer's Crypt portal anymore."

"Or any of the others for that matter," said Raven. The other Titans turned their heads to look at the dark sorceress, their eyebrows raised as if asking her what she meant by that. "The portal was still open when the Hellfire bomb went off. If it had been outside the crypt, it would have only destroyed the one landmark. However, since the bomb was both inside the foyer of the crypt and triggered while the portal was still open, then the explosion it caused was enough to damage the origin point for the energy of all thirteen portal entrances. And as a result, the resulting blast caused all thirteen of the locations containing portals to Lucifer's Crypt to explode."

The other Titans gulped, looked back at the burning wreckage of the dragon head shaped cluster of rocks, and then back at Raven.

"Raven," Starfire stated, "you said that the portal entrances for both this crypt and the Temple of Jehovah would be reborn in a new set of locations if all but one of the locations of the previous set were to be destroyed. About how long would one have to wait before the portals were fully reformed? And would the fact that all thirteen of the former entry points for this crypt have now been destroyed all at once have any effect on how long it would take?"

"Under normal circumstances, it would only take 24 hours for the portals to reform," Raven responded. "However, since this time the anchor point for the energy that makes up the portals needs to regenerate and recharge, it will take three times that much time now for a brand new set of portals to come into existence."

"So you're saying that if we'd still been inside . . . ?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes," said Raven. "We'd have been stuck inside Lucifer's Crypt alongside that homicidal statue for three whole days."

"Then it is most fortunate that we were able to escape," Starfire stated.

"We may have been able to escape," Robin said, "but we still have other problems to worry about right now. Savage has the Infernal Key now, and who knows where he could be at this point. For all we know, he might already be at the Devil's gate right this very moment and working on getting it open as we speak."

"He isn't," Raven stated.

The other Titans looked at her in shock. Robin, in particular, was the most shocked. "How do you know that?!" he asked in a mixture of shock, incredulity, and fear.

Raven gazed intently at the Titans' fearless leader, her violet eyes hardened into a razor sharp look of absolute certainty. "While we were in the midst of reading all that information about Dante's Keys and Lucifer's crypt," Raven stated, "there was one other detail I was able to read silently while the rest of you were talking. And according to that particular bit of information, we still have a fighting chance to catch up with Savage and stop him."

. . . . .

"I see you have successfully managed to get ahold of Dante's Key to my realm."

Savage smiled, and nodded his head as he continued to hold up the distinctive red gemstone in clear sight of the fourteen crimson dragon-like eyes staring out at him from the fiery vortex. "Indeed I have, and as a special bonus, the Titans are now trapped inside your tomb and will be out of commission for the next three days."

At the sound of this, Lucifer made what could have qualified as a nervous chuckle, and then said, "Well you might not be entirely accurate about that 'special bonus'."

Savage's eyes narrowed, he lowered the crystal, and then he asked, "And what might that mean?"

"Well . . ." said Lucifer. "I'll admit, due to how hasty you were in summoning a portal straight to our usual meeting ground immediately after exiting my crypt, you weren't around to see exactly what happened at Dragon's Head Valley after you left the crypt."

"What happened?" Savage asked pointedly.

Lucifer raised his middle left eyebrow, glared at Savage briefly, and then stated, "It would seem that, much like that bumbling fool Professor Chang once did in regard to Robin, you underestimated just what sort of risks the Titans were willing to take. Not too long after you left, the crypt's security enchantments prepared to initiate the full portal shutdown contingency. And over the course of the countdown, the Titans were able to evade the attacks of the statue replica of myself long enough to successfully make it through the portal and back outside the crypt into Dragon's Head Valley in time to avoid getting stuck in the crypt when the lockdown activated. And on that note, even though the countdown was successfully completed, the lockdown never even had a chance to activate. And to answer any questions you might have as to how that happened, the statue managed to blast that Hellfire bomb that you left in the foyer of the crypt at the exact same time the Titans exited. And as a result, since the portal was still open and had only five seconds left before safely shutting down temporarily for the lockdown, combined with the fact that you were so careless as to place the bomb right there in the foyer while the portal was still active, the resulting Hellfire explosion that occurred damaged the origin point for the portal's essence. Therefore, the explosion was able to permanently shut down not only the Dragon's Head Valley portal, but also the other twelve portals within the current set all at once."

Savage gulped. After all that Lucifer had just now said, even Savage himself couldn't help but feel lost for words. "But fortunately," said Lucifer, "since in the end you were able to successfully get ahold of the Infernal Key, you can be forgiven for this major inconvenience."

Savage sighed in relief, exhaling a breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding, and then stated, "Thank you very much your Malevolence, I apologize for the inconvenience, and I promise I shall make it up to you immediately. Just open up a portal straight to Dante's Isle and I'll have the gate opened in a heartbeat."

"Ah that," Lucifer said in what could have almost qualified as a sheepish tone. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer than a heartbeat to even get to Dante's Isle, much less open the Devil's Gate."

Savage's eyes narrowed. "And. Why. Is. That?"

"Well," Lucifer, "much like with the keys, Dante's Isle can only be accessed on either of the days of solstices and equinoxes."

Savage considered this information Lucifer had now revealed, made a note of the current time, and then shrugged. "Well it's after midnight now, practically summer solstice already. So I don't see anything stopping you from opening a portal to that island right now."

"Well here's the thing you don't yet see," said Lucifer. "Even on a solstice or equinox, one can only access Dante's Isle at an 11th hour."

"So?"

"Well in this particular case," Lucifer explained. "11th hour literally means 11 of the clock. So what I'm saying, is that you now have to wait until exactly 11:00 am this very day, not a second earlier nor a minute later, before you can even hope to travel to Dante's Isle."

Savage gaped at the fourteen dragon-like eyes staring at him from within the vortex of flames. This was certainly the first time he'd heard of that information. "Can't you just open a portal to Dante's Isle and allow me to access it without having to travel manually to its coordinates and wait till 11:00?"

"The 11th hour rule applies just as much to portals as it does to physically traveling to that island by air or sea," Lucifer responded. "If you attempt to summon a portal to Dante's Isle so much as a second too soon or a minute too late, then it will not, and I mean will not appear no matter how skilled a mage you are at summoning portals. Not even my brothers and I can bypass that rule, much less my underlings or any mortal magicians. The only being who possesses the power needed to bypass this rule is my father. So unless you're willing to risk suicide by divine smiting by attempting to ask my father himself to grant you such a favor as to access the island without waiting till 11:00 am at the very earliest, you'll just have to wait here until that time."

Savage slumped, gaping incredulously at the eyes of the fallen arch-angel. "You're telling me that I have to sit around here and wait another 11 hours before I can even reach the devil's gate?!"

"Do I look like my father to you?" Lucifer responded.

Savage growled, clenched his fists, and then proceeded to angrily snarl, "Why you scaly son of a . . ."

"I'd watch my tongue if I were you," Lucifer growled ominously, his fourteen red eyes narrowing dangerously. Savage growled grudgingly, and reluctantly held back the corrosive retorts he'd been about to yell. He was not about to be so stupid as to risk angering Lucifer into stripping him of his immortality.

Lucifer snarled, took several deep breaths, and then stated, "I understand how much of a risk this places on whether or not this plan succeeds, and I am aware of how his makes you understandably angry at how your carelessly executed efforts to trap the Titans within my crypt have now turned out to be even more in vain than you originally thought. However, there is no need to worry. Hope still yet remains for this plan to succeed."

"But since the Titans are still physically capable of putting a stop to us and we now have to wait till 11:00 am this morning before I can travel to Dante's Isle to access the devil's gate, they still have a chance to catch up with us and foil this plan!"

Lucifer seemed to shrug. "So they do," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Are you mental?!" Savage yelled. "How can you be so casual about that!? I'm talking about a legitimate threat against this plan's chances of succeeding!"

"I am aware of that Savage," Lucifer growled. "And if they do manage to foil this attempt, then so be it. After all, unlike the majority of my escape plots, use of the Infernal Key is not a onetime deal. If my current attempt at this particular plot fails, then all I have to do is wait until the proper time that I can use it again."

Lucifer's eyes then seemed to take on a tremendously happy and proud look, and he continued, "And besides, if the Titans do succeed to foil me, then I'll have all the more reason to respect them."

Savage thought to himself, shrugged as he conceded with what Lucifer had stated, and then asked, "I guess you're right, but how is it that you can possibly respect the Titans so much right now. What is that you and Slade see in those children that I don't?"

Lucifer chuckled, raised his eyebrows, and then stated, "You may not be able to see it Savage, but there is quite a lot about the Teen Titans that is worth respectability. I may have only been keeping such keen focus on them as I currently am for three short days; but in that miniscule amount of time, I have come to respect and be impressed by them far more than I ever have been by the Justice League or any of the other adult superheroes, league affiliated or otherwise, over all the countless centuries I've spent watching them. Granted, from what I've managed to witness of them both now, in the very little glances I gave them before now, and all my perusing through my scrying of all their escapades, I can understand why the adults don't entirely view them to be on the same level as them when I consider the matter from their point of view.

"But nonetheless, whether the Justice League likes it or not, that does not in any way change the fact that the Titans have been able to do things that they have not. And as if that weren't enough, I've seen the way the world has acted in their regard, and I truly believe now that someday or other, the Teen Titans could very well either prove just as great as the Justice League, or even potentially surpass them."

Lucifer closed his eyes, sighed in content, and then opened his eyes back up before saying, "Yes, if there is truly a superhero team among the newest generation of heroes that truly has proven worthy of my respect, it is them. And out of all the heroes that stand to fight against my cause, there are none that now truly deserve the chance to prove their worth as my opponents more than the Titans. They may not have reached the point that the Justice League has reached in regard to superhero standards, but they have both earned my respect as well as that of my father and brothers, and have truly proven themselves to be just as much worthy opponents of mine as they have for Deathstroke. Whether or not my plan succeeds today or not, the Teen Titans now truly deserve the chance to prove themselves against me. And as much as I hate to admit this, I just know that this is something on which my father and brothers will actually agree with me for once."

**And just like that, the chapter ends! Here's to hoping that you all enjoyed this chapter, and that you leave a nice healthy bunch of reviews! And definitely make sure to review, regardless of whether or not you're a guest! And please feel free to make your reviews as long and detailed as you wish! ^_^ Well anyway, coming up next, with the Titans still having a fighting chance of catching up to Savage and reclaiming the Infernal Key, the Titans waste no time in making their way to Dante's Isle, where they soon find themselves in an epic race throughout the island to beat Savage to the location of the Alpha Afterlife Portals before the immortal caveman can use the power of the Infernal Key to open the Alpha Devil's Gate and consign the world to a second apocalypse. Can the Titans stop Savage and get ahold of the Infernal Key in time to prevent Savage from releasing humanity's most deadliest enemy? Or will Savage successfully allow Lucifer the chance to finish what Trigon started? Find out next time, on Night of the Cursed!**


	14. The Road of the Fallen

**Hey there everybody! I hope you guys are all ready for some more epic Teen Titan-ic awesomeness, because here's a brand new chapter! In this epic chapter of the A-LionGleek style Teen Titans Season 6 premiere, the Titans set out in earnest to reach Dante's Isle and stop Savage in time to save the world from undergoing a second apocalypse. Will they be able to stop Savage in time? Even more importantly, is Savage the only obstacle they'll have to worry about on Dante's Isle apart from potential demon visitors? And tremendously more importantly, will the Titans even manage to make it to Dante's Isle in time in the first place? Find out, in this fantastic new chapter!**

**Again, just so you are all reminded, I do not own Teen Titans, or the DC universe, period. Now, with all that unpleasantness out of the way, onward with the fic!**

**Chapter 13:**

**The Road of the Fallen**

The very next morning, the Titans all woke up at 6:00 sharp. After Raven had managed to explain how, in spite of Savage having possession of the Infernal Key, they were still on equal footing with the immortal caveman, Robin had decided (partially as a result of the fact that they were more or less evenly matched with Savage in regard to the current situation and partially as a result of how late in the night it was and the Titans being quite tired) for the Titans to go back to the tower and get some much overdue sleep. However, not wanting to waste any time, he'd made sure to drill in the point that they would all need to wake up at 6:00 in the morning at the very latest.

Now they were awake, and were ready to get hard at work in catching up to Savage so they could reclaim the Infernal Key from him and prevent him from opening the alpha Devil's gate and allowing Lucifer's army to overrun the Earth so that they could then work to find a way to release him. They were so focused now on getting to work on this major league important task that they didn't even bother to say a single word as they hurriedly, yet calmly, ate their breakfast that morning. Yet even though Robin was trying his best to remain calm the way his friends were doing, he couldn't help but tense himself up mentally as if dreading the possibility of them being delayed by an emergency alarm for trouble in Jump City the way they'd been so many times the previous day.

But as it soon turned out, Robin's worries would not come to pass, and the Titans managed to both finish their breakfast and head straight back to the computer so that Raven could show them what she'd read the previous night and allow them to get full info on just where they had to go this day without a single alarm going off. But even without any alarms having gone off, Robin continued to remain tense as he and the other Titans quickly perused through the documents from the Brotherhood of Dante's database. With the stakes as high as they currently aware, he was now praying more than he'd ever dared pray before that there would be no delays to the important mission that needed to be completed on that very day.

Upon seeing this, both Starfire and Cyborg placed a hand on Robin's shoulders. Robin looked around at his girlfriend and the half-robot. At the sight of the understanding, but also slightly nervous, looks on their faces, he sheepishly smiled, and made very clear effort to relax his tensed up body. "Sorry," he eventually stated. "I know I really ought to relax right now, but I just keep worrying that we'll be called to handle trouble in the city and be delayed again like we did so many times yesterday.

Cyborg nodded his head up and down. "It's ok man," he said. "I understand perfectly. But just relax, the alarm hasn't gone off yet, and BB and Raven are already hard at work in studying back up on all we need to know about where to find the alpha Devil's Gate. And if the alarm does go off, I'm sure that we could possibly have some of us stay here at the tower while the rest of us take care of whatever mundane trouble just happens to be occurring. There's no need to worry."

"Yes Robin," said Starfire. "Friend Cyborg is right. Though today we indeed risk the end of the world for the second time in our lives, just relax. Everything we'll be fine, and we will not fail this mission when the world truly needs us most."

Robin took a deep breath, sighed, and then said, "I guess you're right. But still, the fact that the alarm still hasn't yet gone off a single time this morning just makes me all the more worried that it will end up going off right as we're about to leave the tower to go after Savage."

"Well in that case, the alarm has very limited time to go off in time to catch us as we're about to depart," said Beast Boy. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg looked straight towards Beast Boy just in time to see him and Raven turned themselves away from the computer they'd been on so that they could face their three friends.

"I found that one segment I read yesterday right before we left to go to Lucifer's Crypt," said Raven.

"And?" Robin asked.

Raven nodded. "Just like I remembered," she stated. "The Alpha Devil's Gate, Alpha Stairway to Heaven, and Alpha Purgatory Path are all located on a place called Dante's Isle."

Robin raised his right eyebrow. "And that information is helpful how?"

"Patience Robin," Starfire stated.

Raven nodded her head gratefully at the Tamaranean, then looked at Beast Boy, who nodded, and then said, "Dante's Isle is this special hidden island place. The reason it's so special in regard to being an ideal location for those afterlife portals is the fact that it's positioned in an area where the essence energy for all three afterlife realms plus the veil intertwines together, thus allowing for stronger affinity for the portals. In other words, since the veil, realm of the living, and the afterlife are all connected and anchored together in that location, then the Alpha Devil's Gate, Stairway to Heaven, and Purgatory Path are guaranteed to function properly as they should without fail."

"Where is it located?" Cyborg asked.

"Here's the coordinates," Beast Boy stated. He pointed at a picture of a map within the document that had the location of the island clearly marked. "According to this, the coordinates are 42, 7, 65, 13."

"42 degrees, 7 minutes north, 65 degrees, 13 minutes west," Robin stated almost mechanically upon hearing the numbers.

"That's not too far south of Nova Scotia," said Cyborg.

"Please," Starfire stated, "if the coordinates for its location are known, then how is it that this Brotherhood of Dante are the only people alive on Earth who know of its location?"

"God did his work well in guarding the place," Raven replied. "It's heavily warded by a protective energy barrier none too different from a force field."

"And that's not the only thing guarding that island," said Beast Boy. "Apparently, for the sake of adding even more security, the force field is surrounded by massive rings of thick white arctic fog."

"And as if that weren't enough," said Raven. "According to both the Brotherhood's database, and the books I've managed to acquire on the subject, this island can only be accessed on land on the four days in which the Dante's Keys are capable of being used. On those days, it reportedly rises out of the ocean at exactly 12:00 am, the fog then materializes and takes its position around the island, and stays like that for almost the entire day until the island sinks back beneath the waves at exactly 12:00 am the day after with the fog fading into thin air at the exact same time."

Cyborg whistled. "I can certainly give points to the big man upstairs for security."

Robin, however, had more important matters on his mind. "How thick is that fog?"

"According to this," Beast Boy replied, "thick enough to feel as if you're on Jupiter."

At the sound of this, Robin noticeably paled. He remembered from reading in astronomy textbooks while under Batman's tutelage that the gravity on Jupiter was strong enough to crush human beings. And apparently, the arctic fog that surrounded Dante's Isle was thick enough to subject a very similar suffocating effect on anyone or anything that dared try to pass through it. Cyborg seemed likewise horrified by this information. Even Starfire, who was capable of flying through zero gravity environments without getting violently ripped apart by the vacuum effect, looked unnerved by this information.

"And not only is that fog around to discourage manual transport there by air or sea," Raven stated, "but there's also a powerful warding spell woven within the force field that prevents portals from being summoned to reach the island. Not even Lucifer and all three of the remaining archangels are strong enough to override it."

Robin carefully noted all this information in his head. "Well if that's the case, then how is anyone even supposed to get on that island to access the Alpha afterlife portals in the first place? Ask God to help them and hope for the best?"

Beast Boy and Raven shook their heads. "Like I mentioned last night before we returned here from Dragon's Head Valley, there is a tiny window of opportunity in which the island is capable of being accessed by all forms of transport, whether they be magical or manual. As it says in the Brotherhood's database, the island can be accessed at an 11th hour, which in this case, literally means 11:00 in the local time of the area that it's located. Come 11:00 in the morning, and a rift is opened within the fog and the force field. That one opening is just enough to allow for those who are manually traveling there by air or sea to enter, and for portals to the island to be capable of being successfully summoned. However, this window of opportunity only lasts as long as the time remains at exactly 11:00. The instant the time changes to 11:01, the rift closes, and you'll then have to wait until either 11:00 pm that same day at the earliest or the next time a solstice or equinox occurs at the very latest before you get another chance to access the island."

At the sound of all this, Robin thought carefully to himself, noting down all the details and carefully planning things out. He quickly looked at the clock, and saw that it was now 6:20 in the morning. "How long do you think it will take for you guys to get ready?"

"About 10 minutes," said Beast Boy. "Maybe 5."

"And preparing the T-ship for travel will take about 10 to 15 minutes tops," Cyborg added.

Robin considered the information. "Well we'd better make sure that we have both ourselves and the T-ship prepared as quickly as possible. It's 6:20 here in Jump, so that means that it's about 10:20 am in the area where Dante's Isle is located. Therefore, we've got 40 minutes to get to those coordinates in time for the opening that will allow us to access the island. Titans move!" The other Titans did not need to be told twice, and all five of the teenage heroes proceeded to hurriedly run out of the common room to make the preparations they needed. There was now truly no time to waste.

. . . . .

At exactly 6:30, the Titans had gotten themselves prepared and on the T-ship ready for takeoff. At that point, Robin couldn't have felt more determined, yet also relieved and nervous, then he did right then as he sat in his usual compartment at the very front of the T-ship. He now truly felt ready for whatever came this day. Now that the ship was ready and there still hadn't been any interruptions to this important mission, Robin was beginning to noticeably relax. "I guess that sometimes the only way I am able to relax is taking on dangerous missions," he thought to himself.

He activated the com-links for each of the five compartments, and stated, "Titans, you ready?"

"You betcha," said Cyborg.

"Affirmative," Raven stated.

"Ready's my middle name," Beast Boy stated cheekily.

"I am ready Robin," said Starfire.

"Good," Robin stated. He then looked directly ahead, and stated, "Alright team, let's get this started."

He pressed a button, and the ship swiveled around to face the direction that it would need to fly in to reach the coordinates for Dante's Isle. "Main power online," Robin then stated.

"Oxygen tanks at maximum," Starfire stated.

"Defensive systems activated," Raven stated.

"Twin-turbo hyper drive jet engine ready," Cyborg stated.

"Coordinates entered and destination locked," Beast Boy stated.

Robin pulled down a lever, grabbed on tightly to his controls for movement, and yelled, "Titans, launch!"

They launched the ship, and it rose into the air all the way up high enough to be hovering a couple feet or so above the top of Titans tower, and then with a powerful burst of speed, it seemed to vanish into thin air as it began to rocket away at hyper speed towards its destination. The Teen Titans were now truly on their way to save the world.

. . . . .

Ten minutes or so later, in an ocean based area located more than a few miles south of Nova Scotia, the T-Ship seemed to burst out into existence in a flash of light. Having thus come out of hyper drive, the ship proceeded to hover around the area as if carefully searching for something.

"Remain calm," said Robin. "According to the ship's GPS, we should reach the coordinates real soon."

Seconds later, Robin then heard Beast Boy state over the com-link, "Dude, is it ok if I quickly open the window for my compartment?"

Robin raised his left eyebrow. "Why would you want to do that right now?"

"Is there anywhere I can dispose of any garbage that may have accumulated in here over the course of the trip here?"

"What are you . . ." Robin started to ask before he then thought of a very likely reason for Beast Boy's questions. "You threw up on the way here didn't you?"

A long pause ensued in response to Robin's question. "Um . . ." Beast Boy eventually said. "Maybe?"

Cyborg groaned very loudly at the sound of this comment. "Aw come on!" yelled the cybernetic teen. "I just cleaned out the interior, and I still haven't even fixed up the damage you did to the paint job yet! Can you go anywhere in here these days without causing some sort of mess for me to clean up?!"

"Dude," Beast Boy growled. "A: It's not my fault that those loco fan-girls tried to drag me away from the ship while I was in the form of a smilodon, and B: if you didn't want me to throw up in here, then maybe you should have put me through some sort of special training or something so that I'd be less likely to vomit when it went into freaking hyper drive!"

"Of all the times to argue," Raven stated in her usual droll tone.

"Please friends, we mustn't allow for us to fight each other," Starfire pleaded.

"The girls are right," Robin stated. "Right now, we've got more important things to worry about. So for now, I say you wait till tomorrow to argue and devote your full attention for today on making sure that there will actually be a tomorrow. Understood?"

After a brief tense silence, Beast Boy responded, "You're right, I'm sorry. I can wait till after we've prevented the apocalypse."

"Yeah," said Cyborg. "What he said."

"Good," said Robin. "Now let's get back to work. The GPS says that our destination is only a couple feet or two away from us, so pay close attention to the area."

The other Titans mumbled their acknowledgement, and they all began carefully moving the T-Ship around through the air to follow the directions given to them by the GPS. At one point, Robin looked up from his GPS monitor right as the T-Ship came to a stop at an area that the GPS said to be practically inches away from reaching their destination, and saw just the thing he'd needed to see.

"Um . . . Robin . . .," Starfire stated.

"I see it Star," Robin replied. "We've made it."

And indeed the Titans had made it to their destination. Right there in front of the T-Ship was a gigantic billowing mass of thick, snowy white, arctic fog. The Titans had arrived at the boundary for Dante's Isle, and as far as Robin could tell, they still had time to spare before the opportunity came for them to bypass it.

"Cyborg," Robin stated. "What time is it?"

"According to the local area clock, it's 10:45," Cyborg responded.

"Got it," said Robin. "Well team," he then declared into the microphone, "we've got 15 minutes to spare, so I hope you've brought some stuff along to keep yourselves entertained."

The Titans mumbled their acknowledgment and nodded their heads. For exactly one minute, all five of the teenage heroes were silent.

"Hey Robin," Beast Boy stated. "Can I ask you something?"

"Is it important?" Robin responded.

"Well," said Beast Boy. "I was just wondering, have we ever discussed some of our proudest or favorite major moments together? You know . . . like our top favorite battles or anything like that?"

At the sound of this question, all four of the changeling's team mates raised their eyebrows. "Um," said Robin. "I honestly don't really know for sure. Why do you ask?"

"Well," said Beast Boy. "Sometimes I just get the feeling that we've never really gotten that deep before in our discussions as friends you know? And I think that, now, with the current circumstances were in, I just have a feeling that now's as good a time as ever to really open up about all our experiences together as friends and team mates. I mean, surely you guys can all admit that it would really be nice for us to share our proudest moments or favorite battles right?"

The other Titans thought to themselves, and then nodded one by one as they all found themselves agreeing that what Beast Boy had suggested did actually make sense.

"I guess there's no harm in having a friendly chat while we're waiting," said Robin. "As long as we're finished before 11:00 that is. Anything in particular you think we should talk about right now?"

"How about we each state our own personal top 3 favorite battles?" Beast Boy responded almost instantaneously. The other Titans thought to themselves.

"I certainly don't see why not," said Starfire.

"I say we do it," said Cyborg. "I'm definitely game to discuss my favorite butt kicking moments."

"There are worse things we could talk about," Raven stated in agreement.

"I guess it's settled then," said Robin. "I'll go first if that's ok."

"You go on ahead," said Beast Boy.

Robin nodded, thought to himself, and then said, "Well, I'd have to say that number 3 on my list of favorite battles is when I did battle with Professor Chang alongside Red-X."

The other Titans were quite surprised to hear this information. Robin had made it very clear multiple times in the past just how much he hated fighting alongside criminals. "Why would that battle be among your favorites?" Starfire asked.

"Because I learned over the course of that experience that maybe it would be better for me if I opened my mind a little more when it came to the business," Robin responded. "Before that battle, heck before the time that I myself took on the identity of Red-X, I'd always seen the world in black and white. But over the course of both my time as Red-X and our first experiences involving the new current Red-X, I learned that, in reality, life just isn't truly all that simple. And I'll admit, if the situation ever arises, I won't hesitate to make every effort required to bring whoever's currently wearing that mask and outfit to justice; but I can at least be comforted by the fact that while he's still at large, I won't have to worry about him attempting to pull off something that's at the level that Chang was willing to go to, and certainly not the level that Savage is currently attempting." The Titans thought to themselves upon hearing this explanation, and then nodded in understanding and agreement.

"What's your second favorite battle?" Raven asked.

"The time we battled Slade together in the midst of all that nano-probe drama with me as his unwilling apprentice."

The Titans certainly weren't surprised that this battle was on his list, but they were surprised that it was only #2.

"You see," said Robin. "All the times before then, we'd never really been able to really make any headway against him in any of our battles against him. But in that battle, we managed to actually really take the fight to him, and when it was all over, I truly felt that since we'd for once managed to truly really score a true full on victory against him that one time, then maybe we had hope to at some point manage to bring him to justice. Granted, we still haven't yet managed to do so. But hey, as long as we manage to prevent apocalypse take 2 from occurring today, I'm sure there'll be other chances."

"What about your first favorite battle?" Starfire asked.

Robin took a deep breath, exhaled, and then responded, "Our final battle against Daizo in which he transformed into that giant ink monster." At the sound of this, Beast Boy and Cyborg found themselves chuckling quietly to themselves with wide Cheshire cattish grins on their faces. Even Raven smirked slightly as she thought of the very likely reasons behind Robin choosing this battle as his personal all-time favorite.

"Why that battle?" Starfire asked in confusion.

Robin smirked to himself in a mixture of pride and embarrassment. "Do I even need to answer?" he responded.

At the sound of this, Starfire briefly thought to herself in further confusion, and then a lightbulb went off in her head, and she mouthed 'oh' silently to herself as she realized just what Robin was hinting at in regard to why he viewed that particular battle as his number one favorite battle of all time. Beast Boy grinned like a wolf, and gave Robin a thumbs up. Raven shook her head side to side with a knowing look on her face. Cyborg, meanwhile, chuckled loudly, and whispered under his breath, "You got it bad Bird Boy."

"What was that Cyborg?" Robin asked pointedly.

"Nothing," Cyborg hurriedly replied, "I was just saying that I'd like to go next."

Beast Boy chuckled quietly to himself upon hearing Cyborg's hasty cover up. He knew perfectly well what Cyborg had really said thanks to his animalistic sense of hearing. However, for the sake of allowing himself and his friends to continue their moment of true companionship without any dark clouds coming over it, he wisely chose to remain silent on the matter for the current moment.

"Ok then," Robin said slowly as if not entirely certain that Cyborg was telling the truth. But he mercifully chose not to further pursue the matter, and quieted himself down to give Cyborg the proper chance to speak.

"My third favorite battle," the 19 year old half robot began, "was the one at that chemical factory where we battled Plasmus for the first time."

Robin's eyebrows rose at the sound of this. "Why that battle?" he asked. He remembered that battle, and in particular, the major fallout that had occurred between him and Cyborg not too long before it that had ended in Cyborg momentarily quitting the team.

"Because it taught me how truly strong our friendship was," Cyborg responded. "I understand where you're coming from Robin. I remember that little spat we'd had before that battle just as well as you do. But like they always say, true friends always forgive each other no matter what. And the fact that we were able to forgive each other and put our differences aside for the good of everything in time to really make a difference when all seemed lost for you and the others, well that goes to show that, despite our differences, and just how angry we'd gotten as a result of our previous bad timing costing us a battle, we were still true friends through and through in the end."

Beast Boy whistled in admiration at this explanation. "Good answer dude," he stated reverently.

"Thanks," Cyborg stated in response. "My 2nd favorite," he then continued, "was my final battle against Atlas."

The other Titans stayed quiet, eager to hear Cyborg's explanation as to why this battle was among his favorites, particularly considering how tough it had been for him and how they themselves hadn't really done all that much during that particular incident.

"Over the course of that battle, and in fact the entire experience with Atlas, I learned just how powerful I, or in particular my human spirit, could be. Before then, I'd always believed that since I was now half robot, that I would now be incapable of overcoming my natural limits the way I'd used to when I was fully human. But after my second failed battle against Atlas, I listened to my conscience and I learned that the only thing that was truly holding me back in my fights against Atlas was myself, not my robotic half. All I had to do to get the power I needed to beat him, was to just believe like I used to when encountering similar limit breaking situations as a full on human. And so, during my final battle against Atlas, I dared to finally believe in myself and my power once again the way I'd always done before becoming part robot, and it gave me the strength I needed to take him down."

Cyborg then took a deep breath, exhaled, and finished, "And my number one battle of all time . . . well that would have to be my final battle against Brother Blood." Much like when Robin had stated one of his biggest battles against Slade, it proved no surprise to the other Titans that Cyborg had chosen his final battle against his own personal nemesis, Brother Blood, to be among his favorite battles.

"In that particular battle," Cyborg began, "I was able to demonstrate once again just how powerful my human spirit could be. For such a long time before then, Brother Blood was just so obsessed with how I was able to resist his mind control that he was willing to just keep on digging and digging within my mind to try to find out the secret to my immunity. And then, he just reached the point where my human spirit allowed the power I needed to finally defeat him to just erupt from within me and give me a much needed boost in energy, and even regenerated my limbs that he'd torn off to. Needless to say, I just feel really proud of myself for that." After a brief silence, Cyborg asked, "Who's next?"

"I'll go," said Raven, shocking the other Titans. The sorceress took a deep breath, exhaled, and then began by saying, "My third favorite battle would, ironically enough, be that one time we battled Doctor Light and I flew off the handle."

At the sound of this information, Robin and Starfire looked very noticeably worried. Beast Boy and Cyborg, however, had a very good idea as to the reasons behind Raven's choosing this particular battle as one of her favorites, and that the reasons were not in any way of a malicious nature.

Sure enough, just as Beast Boy and Cyborg expected, Raven then said, "Admittedly, it wasn't so much that particular battle itself as it was what happened the day after that made it a personal favorite of mine. The very next day, was the day that I managed to for once actually really have some time of true companionship with Beast Boy and Cyborg. If it hadn't been for what happened during that battle against Doctor Light, I probably would have never managed to become such good friends with you two. And for that, I am thankful." Beast Boy and Cyborg smiled widely as they thought about that day that Raven had now referred to. They certainly knew that it would be a long time yet before they forgot the day that they had gone on a free tour of the innermost areas of Raven's mind and had even helped her fight off and suppress her anger and rage-filled side.

"My second favorite battle would have to be our very first experience with Puppet King," Raven continued. "Over the course of that incident, I managed to develop a stronger friendship with yet another one of you. Just like I'd developed my friendship with Cyborg and Beast Boy over the course of what happened after that one fateful battle against Doctor Light, I managed to further develop my friendship with you, Starfire, over the course of our first encounter with Puppet King. And in the end, the time we spent developing our friendship and getting to know each other better allowed us to finally defeat Puppet King, save the boys, and get ourselves back into our own bodies. And I can definitely admit, it's been quite a bit of fun to have you around to meditate with me every now and then." Starfire giggled after hearing this.

"My absolute favorite battle of all time," Raven then said, "would have to be my final battle against my father. Throughout my entire life before then, I'd always believed that my destiny was just set in stone for me to destroy the world and that the entire story of Earth would just end when my father came there in his demon form. And over the course of all our experiences, I at first just couldn't hope to understand how you could possibly hope so much and put in so much effort at attempting to commit a task that I was so certain would be impossible and a waste of time to even try.

"But then, long after I'd become the portal and then been reduced to a more childlike state, you four continued to fight my father and work to find me and save the world. And then, when Trigon had left all four of you lying still and barely alive, only then did I finally manage to develop the strength, courage, and willpower I needed to finally take a stand and banish him once more back to the limbo he'd been imprisoned in, and thus restore the world back to the way it had been. And since then, while I haven't necessarily shown physical sign of it, I've never felt happier since then. After that final battle, I finally felt free, both from my father's influence and shadow, and to finally really live my life and truly believe that destiny truly didn't necessarily have to be set in stone. And none of that would have happened, if it hadn't been for everything you've done for me; and for that, I thank you, my friends."

"Well said Raven," Robin stated.

"Yes, and you are most welcome," Starfire chimed in.

"Preach," said Cyborg.

"Quoted for truth," Beast Boy said solemnly.

Raven made a slight chuckle, placed her fingers up on her com-link's microphone, and said, "Well Beast Boy, would you like to go ahead and have a turn at this?"

"Gladly Rae," said Beast Boy. Raven was briefly tempted to call him out yet again on the irritating nickname, but then decided against it since she knew that Beast Boy was really enjoying this great moment of companionship he was now in the midst of with her and the others, and that it would be better if she let it continue without any pitfalls.

"Number three on my list," Beast Boy began, "is my final battle against Adonis when we were both in Beast mode." The other Titans were briefly surprised at hearing this information, but they mercifully remained silent so as to allow Beast Boy the chance to properly explain his reasons for this information.

"I'll admit, it used to be one of my absolute all-time lowest points ever. But over time, I've come to appreciate what little good that did manage to come from that experience. For one, I was able to clear my name and avoid getting sent to jail . . ." Beast Boy briefly paused rather pointedly, which did not go unnoticed to Robin, who suddenly found something of great interest in the massive wall of arctic fog before him. Beast Boy continued, "by managing to do battle with Adonis in his own Beast form in front of Robin and Cy. And not only that, but I also managed to defeat him to. And of course, in the end, I managed to have a nice moment of real companionship with you Rae, both as a result of my saving you from that jerk-face and when you talked with me out by the water that same night not too long after my battle against Adonis as Beasts had finally ended; and heck, I never mentioned before now, but it wasn't until our experiences with your father last year that I realized just how much from experience you were speaking when you were comforting me about having that thing inside me." The other Titans, particularly Raven, allowed a few seconds of silence to pass between them. Of course, Beast Boy could have sworn that he at one point managed to hear the Beast chuckle in agreement in his mind.

"My second favorite battle," said Beast Boy, "would have to be our final battle against the Brotherhood, and not the Dante one. You see, for most of my life during my Doom Patrol days, the Brotherhood of Evil was always hovering over my head, sometimes literally. And no matter what I did, it was never good enough for Mento, who wanted so badly to just do anything to eliminate the Brotherhood of Evil entirely. And to put it simply, over the course of that final battle we had against the Brotherhood in their underground Paris fortress, I'd never felt more proud of myself then I did both during and after that battle. For once, I'd managed to win a sound victory against the Brotherhood, and I thought that maybe, for once, Mento would actually have something to be proud of about me." Robin found himself nodding silently in agreement and sympathy, for what Beast Boy had just said now reminded him of a very personal struggle of his own.

"My final battle," Beast Boy then said, "would have to be our battle against Malchior." This statement caused all four of his fellow teenage heroes' eyes to widen in surprise. Even Raven herself looked noticeably shocked. Beast Boy took a deep breath, exhaled, and then explained, "Out of all the villains we've fought, I personally view Malchior to be even worse than both of my most personal nemeses. And the reason behind that is the fact that, while the Brotherhood had been one of my biggest enemies for such a long time even before I became a member of this team, and Adonis just became a really nasty enemy of mine over the course of one of my less flattering moments of my life, Malchior just really made himself unforgivable in my eyes in how he committed an action against Raven that I myself was all too familiar with and would never have wished upon anyone, least of all one of my friends."

Right after he said this, Beast Boy clenched his fists. He didn't know why, but he just always felt so angry when he thought about Malchior and what the dragon had done. The dragon's actions, particularly when compared to his own betrayal, just made his blood boil and the Beast roar incessantly with rage. "And quite honestly, when he was present at the Brotherhood of Evil's fortress, it's probably a good thing that Herald took care of him before I got the chance to battle him. If he hadn't, I probably would have torn his throat out; and I still very much hope to do exactly that if I ever encounter him a third time."

Beast Boy sighed, and then stated, "But in particular, I also view that battle as my number one favorite because of how, not too long afterward, one of my first true moments of actual companionship with Raven since the incident after her flip out against Doctor Light occurred. And I really couldn't feel happier about that; and for that matter, Cyborg . . .," He then paused pointedly. "There is a tiny, and I mean itty-bitty, part of me that still hasn't yet forgiven you for that one inopportune moment you chose to hit me with a stankball." Cyborg gulped, and found himself sheepishly staring out the window of his compartment towards some sea birds flying around nearby.

"So yeah," Beast Boy eventually said. "That's all I have to say. I guess that leaves Starfire?"

"Oh yes, right," Starfire stated as she quickly began to think about which of the battles she and her friends had fought could qualify as her own personal top three favorites. "Well, the third battle that would have to be on my 'list' of sorts, would have to be my fight against Kitten three years ago."

"Isn't that the time when Robin was forced to go to prom with her?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes," Robin groaned, clearly not all that happy about being reminded about that incident.

Starfire chuckled, and then continued, "The reason I view this battle so highly was because of how I feel like it was a true personal victory of mine over her in regard to . . . certain factors."

"I'll bet it will be real priceless to see Kitten's face when she learns about your current status," Beast Boy commented.

"Indeed," said Starfire. "My second favorite battle would have to be when I fought my sister for the throne on Tamaran the year after my battle against Kitten."

"I guess we all agree that our favorite battles have included those against our own personal nemeses," said Cyborg.

"The reason this battle is among my favorites," Starfire continued almost as if she'd completely ignored Cyborg, "is because of how I feel as if it were my very own personal victory over my sister. Throughout our childhood, I remember her always trying to oneup me because of how I'd been named heir by our parents in spite of her being the eldest. And I also remember very much how she'd always claimed to be the stronger, smarter, faster, and all around better of the two of us. And having managed to defeat her in that one particular battle, and doing it thoroughly, I truly feel as if I have finally shown my sister just how truly powerful I am."

"Well said Star," said Robin.

"Thank you," said Starfire. "And as for my final battle to mention at this time, that battle would have to be when we fought the Gordanians four years ago."

"Isn't that the time when we first joined up together and formed the team?" Beast boy asked.

"You would be most correct friend," Starfire responded. "And the reason I view this battle in even higher regard than my last battle against my sister is because of how, on that day, I met the four people who I would come to view, and still view even now, as the greatest friends I ever could have asked for. And for that, I couldn't be more thankful, for in spite of all the heinous crimes the Gordanians have committed across this galaxy, against my home, and against me, some good has still managed to come from their actions by allowing me to meet you."

"Well said Star," said Cyborg.

"I couldn't agree more," said Raven.

"I'll admit," said Robin. "A battle that bears almost sole responsibility for meeting the people who'd become the best friends you've ever had the pleasure of knowing certainly beats a major victory against a personal nemesis."

"That's coming from you?" Beast Boy asked. The other Titans all started laughing, though in Raven's case it was more of a slight chuckle. Beast Boy even grinned upon hearing all this. "Boy if only I could get them to laugh like this all the time," he thought to himself.

When the laughter had finally subsided, Raven then asked, "What time is it?"

Briefly turning white, Robin snapped his head into position to view the clock on his monitor, very audibly sighing in relief when he saw that it had just now reached 10:59. "We're good," he said. "We now have only 50 seconds before we can safely enter."

"Well the time certainly flew," Cyborg stated.

"Pardon me my friend," Starfire said, "but I do not recall seeing any flying time pieces."

"Figure of speech Star," said Beast Boy. "He means that the time seemed to pass very quickly."

"Oh," said Starfire.

"Get ready team," said Robin as he stared intently at the clock as the seconds ticked away. Getting themselves focused back on their mission, the Titans eagerly positioned themselves so that they would be ready to fly the T-Ship straight towards the area where the large wall of arctic fog was located and then land it on the surface of the island that lay beyond.

When the clock reached 17 seconds before 11:00, Robin said, "Any second now." And so, the clock continued to tick away.

When the time finally changed to exactly 11:00, a large glow seemed to seep out from within the fog, and as Robin and the other Titans watched intently, the segment directly in front of them proceeded to practically split in two and move as if it were a pair of curtains drift away to the side. At the same time that the fog wall parted, the Titans briefly saw what appeared to be a massive dome of energy shine very brightly before seemingly vanishing into thin air. And mere seconds after the energy dome vanished, the Titans saw what was very clearly a large island. There was no doubt about it now. They had made it to Dante's Isle.

"Hoowee," said Beast Boy. "That's one swell looking island."

Robin leaned forward intently at his controls. "Alright team, now's our chance! Let's move!"

The other Titans most certainly did not need to be told twice, and all five of the teenage heroes proceeded to move their controllers and send the T-Ship flying forward at a downward slant through the large gap that had now opened up in front of them and towards a large sandy beach area that they could see not too far away from the area where the now opened barrier had originally been barring their way in.

"Come on," Robin stated. "We can make it, we can make it."

And as the ship continued to hover downward towards the large beach, Robin didn't so much as dare to even consider looking away from the area that he and the other Titans were about to land their ship. The last thing he could afford was to see how much time they had left to successfully make it past the island's security and access the island and end up panicking. "We can do this, we can do this, we can do this."

Eventually after what seemed like an eternity, the T-Ship finally reached a sufficient distance from the ground as to trigger the computer monitors into stating, "Landing procedure ready to be triggered."

"Alright team, land now!"

In a flash, the Titans activated the landing gear for the T-Ship, and before long, they had successfully landed the T-Ship on the beach of the island. Upon successfully landing, all five of the teenage heroes took five seconds to catch their breath before they all found themselves smiling proudly. They had made it. They were on the island, and now had more of a fighting chance than ever at catching up to Savage and preventing him from unleashing a second apocalypse upon the world.

"What time is it?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin looked at the clock on his computer monitor just in time to see the last five seconds of their window of opportunity tick away. No sooner had the time on his clock changed to 11:01, when the silence was split with what sounded like a small hiss of gas. All five of the Titans turned their heads to look behind them just in time to see the two thick curtains of arctic fog come plowing back together right at the same time that the energy dome force-field reappeared in a blinding flash of light. For just one second, time seemed to stop afterward. The Titans could see very clearly what had just happened, and they knew all too well just how lucky they were to have successfully reached their current location.

Cyborg eventually managed to say, "Well guys, I guess it's time for us to disembark."

The other Titans simply mumbled in agreement, and all five of the teenage heroes opened up their compartments and exited the ship. For about a minute or two after exiting, the Titans looked around the area, taking in their surroundings.

"I must admit," said Starfire. "This is a most beautiful island."

"You've got that right Star," said Beast Boy. "If it weren't for all the religious elements tied to this place, the presence of those portals, and the fact that it's both mega difficult to enter and only spends four specific days above the ocean's surface, this place would probably make an excellent vacation spot."

"You and your vacations," Raven droned.

Cyborg chuckled at the sight of his green friend's reaction to this statement. Then he looked at Robin and said, "You know Rob. We sure are lucky today."

"You can say that again," Robin responded.

"I'm serious Robin," said Cyborg. "I mean think about it, what really are the odds of us successfully making it here in time without getting waylaid by alerts of trouble back in Jump City or by storms? Seriously man, why do you think we're having such good luck this time compared to yesterday?" Beast Boy and the two girls thought to themselves, and nodded as they too realized how very valid a point Cyborg had brought up. They all looked over at Robin.

"Well," said Robin as he started scratching the back of his head. "Quite honestly, I'm not sure." He then looked up towards the sky. "Though for all I know," he then continued. "Maybe, just maybe, we have help from upstairs."

The boy wonder looked back at his friends. "I mean, think about it. Not once were we called to take care of any trouble back home before we left, or even now. Also, we were able to get to the coordinates for this island without any hyper drive malfunctions that might have occurred from our using the hyper drive function on the T-Ship for the first time, much less encountering any storms. For all I know, that could very likely have been the result of some behind the scenes work from up above. My personal guess now; maybe this is God's personal way of cheering us on. Maybe this time, the angels are actually trying to actively help us prevent the apocalypse."

The other Titans thought to themselves, and then nodded as they agreed that Robin's suggestion did make sense.

"It certainly is a comforting possibility," said Starfire.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," said Raven. "But what you've just now suggested could very well be possible."

"I've never really dared to say it before," said Beast Boy. "But I quite honestly am hoping more than ever that they really are up there helping us."

Cyborg nodded, and then happened to look to his right. However, upon sight of a very tiny detail that lay in that direction, his smile faded, and he said, "Well let's hope they truly do want us to win." He then pointed directly at the detail that had caused him to say this and stated, "Because I highly doubt that those footprints I see heading further into the island belong to any of us."

The other Titans looked towards the area Cyborg had now pointed at, and their eyes widened as they realized the same implications behind the footprints that Cyborg had now thought of. It seemed that despite the fact that they were on the island, Savage was also on the island and had managed to achieve a head start. "He must have portalled his way in while we were flying through the gap," Robin thought to himself. In a flash, he pointed in the direction that the footprints appeared to be heading, and yelled, "Titans go!"

Without hesitation, the five teenage heroes bolted down the trail left by the footprints in the sand, straight towards what appeared to be the entrance of a long canyon like path. They were now truly in a race against time. They knew that if they didn't catch up to Savage and put a stop to him in the very near future, then it would spell curtains for the whole world.

. . . . .

At 12:00 sharp, the Titans were still running through the canyon path that they'd seen Savage's footprints leading into. Well technically Starfire was flying and Raven was levitating, but nonetheless the Titans were hurrying through the path. And they were moving so fast and working themselves so hard that Starfire and Raven were just barely able to stay in the air anymore. Even Cyborg appeared to be panting, and Beast Boy seemed fit to drop as he continued to laboriously dash along behind Robin in his cheetah form. Robin himself could very clearly feel the results of his current physical effort as he panted and grunted. "Good grief," he thought to himself. "How long is this path?"

After a while, Robin decided that it would be wiser for them all to have a quick rest, and they all gratefully halted in their movement.

"Whatever the end result of this mission is," said Beast Boy as he panted and gasped. "It had so better be worth all this exercising."

"Tell me about it," said Cyborg. "If I could still feel my joints, they'd probably be fit to burst by now."

"At the current rate we're going," said Raven, "it will be a miracle if we're still in any shape to fight Savage when we catch up to him."

"Don't lose hope," said Robin. "We can do this."

Seconds later, the Titans all tensed up when they heard what sounded like inhuman snarling coming from somewhere behind them.

"Friends," Starfire stated worriedly. "What is that noise?"

"Beats me," said Cyborg.

"Um," said Beast Boy, "from what I know about animal noises, and considering my sense of hearing, I'd say that sounds an awful lot like a large pack of dogs or wolves."

"I have a bad feeling I know what's behind us then," said Raven.

They then heard a particularly loud snarl from directly behind them. They turned their heads in time to see a massive group of some of the most nightmarish beasts they'd ever seen. The creatures that were now gathered around behind them, snarling and slavering furiously, looked very much like the movie portrayal of the hellhounds from the Percy Jackson series. The only difference between the ones that had been on the screen from The Lightning Thief movie and the ones that were now standing right there before them was the fact that these creatures had three heads each.

"Hell hounds," said Raven. "And these are the ethereal kind from Hell itself."

"There are other types?!" Beast Boy yelped.

"Just one," said Raven. "But unlike its literally Hellish evolutionary relatives that you see here, those ones are more like standard animals, and are also incapable of directly accessing Hell the way these ones are. I'm sure you could very well be potentially capable of turning into the offshoot species."

One particularly large hell hound at the very front of the group, which Robin guessed to very likely be the leader of the pack, crouched down menacingly as if about to pounce, snarling ominously. Not willing to stick around long enough to end up on the wrong end of the creature's teeth, Robin yelled, "Run!" The Titans all hurried away as if they'd been fired from a cannon.

Barking furiously, the alpha male hell hound pounced after the Titans in pursuit, it's equally hungry and angry pack mates following close behind it. The Titans hurried through the path as fast as they could, but the hellhounds continued to remain close behind them. "They're gaining on us!" Cyborg yelled.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Robin hollered back.

Soon after this, the alpha male hell hound snarled, and lunged straight towards Cyborg, its large front claws at the ready to swipe at the bionic teen's back. Cyborg noticed this out of the corner of his eye, turned, and blasted the infernal beast back towards its pack with a burst of sonic energy from his sonic cannon. "Stay away from me you little scoundrel!" he shouted as the creature crashed down in front of its pack mates, briefly hindering the pack's movement as a bunch of them tripped over their momentarily fallen leader's prone form.

Not wanting to allow the beasts any time to catch up, Cyborg yelled, "Come on! Keep moving!" The Titans continued to hurry away, but the hell hounds soon caught up.

Beast Boy saw the hell hounds gaining on them once more, and he hurriedly yelled, "I'll handle this," before he turned into a lion and leaped at the pack of hell hounds, letting out a savage roar of challenge.

The alpha male hell hound had just enough time to briefly try to skid to a halt and for its six eyes to open wide with what could have qualified as shock before Beast Boy sent it flying backward with a swing of his right front paw that he directed at it right as he was about to land. He landed on all four paws as the alpha male hell hound went careening through the air and crash landed hard within the very middle of the pack. Beast Boy the lion crouched down menacingly as if prepared to attack, and roared at the hellhounds as if daring for them to attack him.

The other hell hounds briefly remained at a halt before the ones directly at the front line of the pack snarled at the green lion. With a bark of bloodlust, one hell hound with scars on its middle head that was about a foot shorter than the alpha lunged at Beast Boy, who sent it flying to his right and slamming into the canyon wall with a backhanded swing of his right foreleg. He sent a second hell hound careening into the opposite canyon wall by slamming his head into the creature's side. A third hell hound went down after Beast Boy sliced off its forelegs with an x-shaped slash of his claws and then chopped off all three of its heads with a swing of his right front claws to finish it off.

The sight of their fallen comrades only served to anger the remaining members of the pack, and they all started rushing towards him with enraged barks. Roaring and growling in fury, Beast Boy continued to battle the hellish beasts as best as he could, smacking them away with swings of his front paws, slicing at them with his claws, and even sinking his fangs into those who dared to get close enough to his face.

However, the hell hound with scars on its middle face, which Robin had now guessed to be the pack's beta, managed to get back on its feet and slowly make its way behind Beast Boy. Upon reaching the area directly behind the green lion, it crouched in preparation right as Beast Boy bit yet another one of its subordinates on the base of its middle neck and sent it flying away with a swing of his head. And right as Beast Boy proceeded to pin down another attacking hell hound and start wrestling with it, the scar-faced hell hound pounced on him, tightly gripping onto his back with its claws, and maneuvering its three heads so that it could attempt to bite at his throat.

Beast Boy roared in pain and rage as the hellhound snapped at his mane in a very clear effort to bite through it all the way to his throat, only for the hound to suddenly let go after getting zapped by a black lightning bolt that suddenly struck it from above. The hellhound crumbled into ashes upon landing on the ground, letting off what sounded like a hiss of gas. Beast Boy turned his head in time to see Raven hovering nearby with her hands raised in the air and glowing with her trademark black umbrakinetic energy. The other hell hounds had just enough time to gape at the sorceress in shock before Raven gritted her teeth in an angry snarl and furiously yelled, "AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!"

Beast Boy had just enough time to leap out of the way, before Raven sent a gigantic shockwave of shadowy energy at the hellhounds. All the hellhounds at the front lines of the pack were sent flying by the impact of the massive wall of shadows plowing into them. And the impact from landing afterward was enough to cause at least half of the ones who'd fallen victim to the shockwave to crumble into ashes immediately upon contact with the ground.

However, the ones that didn't die upon landing, as well as the ones who hadn't been struck by the shockwave, were now very angry. And even worse, the alpha male had managed to get back to the front of the pack, and with an angry bark, he charged towards the titans again with his pack mates close behind.

Raven quickly swooped away in time for Starfire to fly over to take her place. Shrieking inarticulately with fury, Starfire sent rapid-fire volleys of her star bolts and eye beams at the hellhounds, killing some of them and sending others flying backwards. However, the alpha had ducked to avoid getting hit by any of them; and during a brief lull in Starfire's onslaught, he barked out a command to his subordinates. In a flash, all the remaining hell hounds lifted their heads so that they were directly facing Starfire, snarled, and sent jets of flame spouting from their jaws at the Tamaranean princess. At the same time that his subordinates shot their fire breath, the alpha hurriedly ran up the wall of the canyon, leaped over Starfire, and sent three orbs of shadow energy flying at her back from his three jaws right as he was directly above her.

Starfire shrieked as both the massive ocean of flames and the three shadow orbs crashed into her simultaneously, and she plummeted back down to the ground when the resulting explosion cleared up. When Starfire landed, the alpha hell hound landed right behind her. Starfire shrieked upon seeing the large black three headed monster standing right behind her at the ready to tear her apart, and the infernal beast roared at her in bloodlust.

However, before the creature could lunge at her, its bloodthirsty roar turned into a surprised yelp of shock and pain as the blade of a sword suddenly jabbed right through its back and clear through the base of its middle neck. A series of blinding red lightning flashes later, the hell hound crumpled to the ground and burst into ashes. Robin drew his sword away from where the hell hound had been standing, extended his hand towards Starfire, and said, "Are you ok?"

Starfire nodded hurriedly in the affirmative, and grasped onto Robin's hand before pulling herself back up to her feet and taking off. "Come on," Robin yelled at the other Titans as he turned to face them. "Get to the top of that slope behind you!"

Without even daring to ask any questions, the Titans all hurried over to the top of the slope like Robin had suggested. No sooner had all five of the teenage heroes reached the top of the slope when Robin turned to face the hellhound pack right as it reached the bottom of the slope, and then jumped before letting out an angry yell and sending a massive volley of his freeze disks towards the slope itself. Within seconds, the entire slope had become covered up by a massive rectangular mountain of ice.

The hellhounds briefly paused, and then snarled. In a flash, the ones at the front lines unleashed their fiery breath upon the icy mass.

"How is that supposed to help?" Cyborg asked.

"Trust me," Robin yelled as he drew out what looked like a small pen-like object, pointed it at the other end of the icy mountain, and pressed on the tip that was facing him. With a bang, a massive jet of flames burst from the other tip of the pen and crashed into the icy mass so hard that it almost instantly melted the ice, resulting in a massive wave of water rumbling down the slope and plowing into the large pack of hellhounds at the bottom. The demonic beasts yelped and whined in surprise as they were swept even further away from their targets by the unexpected flood. When the water finally subsided, the hell hounds were left bedraggled and lying around more than a few feet away from the bottom of the slope.

In a flash, right as the hellhounds were all starting to show signs of preparing to attempt to get back up on their feet, Robin jumped into the air again and sent a volley of his voltage disks at them. The voltage disks all landed on the soaked and soggy ground around the hellhounds without directly hitting any of them. And when the disks exploded and released their electricity, the hell hounds howled in surprise and agony as the electricity engulfed them. Before long, as all five of the teenage heroes watched, the entire remainder of the pack burst into mass clouds of ash and smoke.

Robin smiled at the results. "That should keep them out of commission for the moment," he thought to himself. He turned his head to the other Titans and yelled, "Come on! Let's get moving!" The team instantly began hurrying away from the top of the slope and further down the path. However, they'd only been continuing down the path for about fifteen minutes before they heard the sound of shrill vulture like squawking coming from above them. They all looked up in time to see what looked like a flock of vultures with silvery iron gray feathers, claws on their wings similar to pterosaurs, serrated beaks, blood red eyes, and bone like spikes arranged in mohawk fashion across the tops of their heads zooming down towards them from the sky.

"Harpies!" Raven shouted. She hurriedly positioned herself so that she was directly facing them, and sent orb after orb of her shadowy energy flying at the hideous mythological birds.

The other Titans came to a halt and looked in Raven's direction just in time to see their dark friend desperately blasting away at the massive flock of harpies.

"Titans!" Robin yelled. "Help her!"

The four remaining teenage heroes promptly proceeded to send attacks of their own at the harpies, providing Raven much needed support. Robin hurled his explosive flame disks like there was no tomorrow. Beast Boy turned into a t-rex and proceeded to snap his jaws at individual harpies and unleash ear splitting roars of fury to scare off larger groups that attempted to gang up on him and Raven. Starfire unleashed a blinding storm of star bolts. And of course, Cyborg shamelessly fired off missiles and sonic blasts. But as it later turned out, there were far more harpies in the group then the Titans could hope to vanquish entirely.

Then Cyborg noticed Beast Boy scare off yet another squadron of harpies with a roar, and he came up with an idea. Hurriedly working away at a screen on one of his arms, he yelled, "Cover your ears!"

The other four Titans turned their heads towards Cyborg in confusion just in time to see what looked like two large megaphones rise up from Cyborg's shoulders and point straight upwards at the massive flock of harpies. Eyes widening, Robin and the girls had just managed to put their hands up to their ears and Beast Boy had just managed to turn into a box turtle and curl up into his shell before Cyborg unleashed a piercing shriek of noise come booming out of the two megaphone like objects that had extended from his shoulders.

The noise waves spread across the entire area, and every single one of the harpies that hadn't been killed by the earlier attacks of the five teenage heroes shrieked in agony with their eyes closed before they all turned away and flew back up higher into the sky and out of the Titans' sight.

The other four Titans looked at Cyborg, who smiled, pointed at the now harpy empty sky, and said, "I had a feeling that they weren't big fans of loud noise when I saw how they reacted to BB's roaring. And so I thought that maybe they'd be more than happy to fly the coop if I exposed them to some mega high doses of what Beast Boy was giving them."

"Clever," said Beast Boy.

"Good job Cyborg," Robin said. "Come on team, let's move!" The Titans proceeded to once again hurry down the path. This time, they managed to travel for a full half hour before they then heard another ominous noise that caused them to halt. This time, the noise they'd heard was what appeared to be a snake-like hissing. And even worse, the noise seemed to be coming from above.

Then Beast Boy looked up, and his eyes widened at the sight of what was now leaning over to face them from the tops of the cliff walls to his left and right. "What are those things!?" he yelled as he frantically pointed upward. His friends looked in the direction he was pointing, and their eyes widened at the sight of the terrifying animals that were leaning over the edges of the two cliff walls. The creatures in question appeared to be reptilian in nature. Their bodies and heads looked very much like those of large pythons. Their entire bodies were covered with olive green scales complete with some dark blackish spots. They had forked tongues that sputtered out from their mouths filled with shark-like teeth. They also had small ridge-like spines lining down their backs, frills around their necks much like frilled lizards, and scorpion-like barbs at the tips of their serpentine tails. And to top it off, they each had six scaly leopard-like legs. However, what really made them scary was their ominous blood red eyes that seemed to have almost human-like icy glares of pure hatred and loathing blazing within them.

Second later, the creatures' eyes started glowing with ominous red light, much like the way Starfire's eyes glowed green before she fired her laser blasts. Raven's eyes widened, and she hurriedly yelled, "Basilisks!" No sooner had Raven shouted out what the creatures were when the beasts fired crimson red laser beams from their eyes straight down towards the Titans.

Raven just barely managed to put up a shadowy barrier above herself and her friends, and the beams fired by the basilisks were harmlessly deflected off the shield. About half of the lasers struck the basilisks, and the unlucky beasts roared and hissed in agony before suddenly collapsing on their bellies and convulsing violently before abruptly lying still.

It wasn't long before one particularly large basilisk, apparently the leader, noticed what was happening; and it gave off a series of growling hisses. The message it had now conveyed to its subordinates was clear; "hold your fire!" In a flash, all the basilisks that were still alive ended their rapid fire laser blasts from their eyes. With the laser onslaught from above effectively rendered useless, the basilisks proceeded to crouch down and continue to glare venomously towards their targets down below while Raven continued to maintain the barrier she'd put up, careful to make sure that she didn't allow one second to pass without it placed up above her and her friends.

Cyborg whistled as he stared up through Raven's shield towards the sinister looking reptiles. "And I thought that the kind that ran on water was unusual enough."

"I'd certainly take one of those over this kind of basilisk any day," Beast Boy agreed. "Though still, I certainly wouldn't mind having the ability to turn into both this kind _and_ the kind you just mentioned."

"Bigger things to worry about right now Beast Boy," Robin said. He then turned to Raven and said, "For that matter, what's with those laser beams? I thought all they needed to do was look us in the eye?"

"Those laser beams are the basis for that misconception," Raven growled, trying her hardest to focus on both keeping her shield in place and answering Robin's question at the same time. "Those beams they fire from their eyes are capable of causing the vast majority of animals that they hit to die in agony upon contact. Over time, enough stories were told about them to the point that people started exaggerating the story so that people began to believe that the creatures were able to kill their prey simply like looking them in the eye."

"Wouldn't be the first time a story's been over exaggerated," Beast Boy agreed.

"Are there any parts of the stories that _are_ correct?" Cyborg asked.

"The venom part yes," said Raven. "Their venom is more powerful than almost all venomous snakes and similar venomous creatures combined. And it doesn't have to be ingested in order to kill you either. In fact, according to the legends, a knight on horseback once stabbed one with his lance; and when the venom ended up draining out of the creature and riding out of the basilisk down the lance, it proved powerful enough to not only kill the knight, but also the horse."

"They aren't without their weaknesses though," said Beast Boy. "As has both been told in the legends and now been demonstrated for us, they aren't immune to the effects of their own laser beams."

"Hmm," Robin said as he glared upwards towards the basilisks. "Well it's definitely going to be pretty difficult to get rid of these things. We can't attack them with Raven's shield in the way, and having her put it down would leave us vulnerable to their return fire."

"Not to mention they seem all too aware of how susceptible they are to their own medicine," Cyborg added.

Seconds after Cyborg said this, they all heard Starfire shriek and then yell in panic, "Friends! Behind us!"

The other four Titans turned their heads to see what it was that Starfire had seen, and their eyes widened at the sight of a small group of basilisks standing right there at the entrance to the chasm segment they'd just entered, hissing at them and extending their frills to maximum length. They had just barely noticed this unexpected development when they heard more hissing coming from in front of them, and all five of the teenage heroes turned their heads in time to see yet another small group of basilisks standing at the exit on the opposite end of the chasm acting much the same way as their brethren.

Raven cursed mentally at the sight of this. She'd been so focused on the basilisks watching from above that she hadn't even thought about trying to extend her shield so that it would provide cover for herself and her friends from the sides as well as from the top. Now, with the ground-based basilisks having only just now made their presence known, she would now need a miracle to get the shield extended in time to avoid getting successfully hit by any attacks from the unexpected reinforcements.

The Titans heard hissing coming from above them that sounded very much like a serpentine form of laughter, and they looked up in time to see the basilisks that they'd earlier shielded themselves from hissing and smirking at them. It was clear that they'd been well aware of the trap they'd now placed their prey in.

Seconds later, the Titans heard what sounded like yawning growls coming from behind them, and they looked in that direction in time to see that particular ground-based group of basilisks with their mouths open and filled with what appeared to be rapidly expanding masses of noxious green gas. It was clear that these particular basilisks were about to unleash their virulent poison breath attack.

The Titans then heard the worrisomely distinctive sound of laser beam energy charging from the other end of the chasm, and they looked towards that area in time to see that the other ground-based group of basilisks had their eyes glowing red as they prepared to fire their deadly lasers at them. At that moment, the Titans were very terrified. Would this be the end of everything for them?

Seconds later, Beast Boy's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered an important detail he'd been about to bring up, and he answered that question for the Titans when he hurriedly jumped towards the basilisks that were about to fire their laser beams, did a forward somersault while in the air, and also initiated a transformation. By the time he landed directly in front of the basilisks he'd lunged towards, he'd managed to fully take on the shape of a weasel.

Robin's eyes widened at the sight of what Beast Boy had chosen to transform into. "HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO HELP US?!" Robin thought angrily and despairingly to himself.

However, right as the boy wonder was about to shout out to ask Beast Boy whether or not he'd taken leave of his senses, the basilisks directly in front of Beast Boy reared up in shock, frills extended, hissing rapidly in fear, and their faces showing that they were very clearly terrified before they hurriedly turned around and bolted off into the distance, still hissing in fright.

For a few seconds, the Titans stared agape at Beast Boy the weasel. Raven even ended up briefly losing enough focus for the shield she'd put up to dissipate into thin air. The Titans were all brought back down to Earth immediately after this when they heard hissing from above. The basilisks on the cliff edges had now taken advantage of the now absent shield to charge up their laser beams.

Fortunately for his friends, Beast Boy was ready, and he quickly turned into a rooster and unleashed a blaring "Cock a doodle doo!"

The basilisks on the cliff edges above the Titans hissed shrilly in pain with their eyes closed, and shook their heads side to side as if attempting to shake off severe pain, before eventually turning around with facial expressions that made them look as if nearly in tears and running away. The ground-based basilisks directly behind the other Titans were also affected slightly, but they stood their ground and prepared to charge up their laser beams now that both their comrades had gone and they had been interrupted in their charging of their poison breath.

Beast Boy, however, was not going to have any of it, and he hurriedly jumped over to where the remaining basilisks were before letting out another rooster-cry. The basilisks reacted much the same way their comrades had before the majority of them turned around and dashed away. One basilisk, however, was just barely able to stand its ground and open its eyes before roaring in anger and pain at Beast Boy.

Right as the basilisk was roaring at Beast Boy, the green rooster jumped up onto the creature's snout, stared it right in the eyes, and then let out a final piercing "COCK A DOODLE DOO!"

The basilisk hissed in agony, closing its eyes, and trying desperately to shake off the pain before finally finding itself unable to stand it any longer. Beast Boy had just managed to jump off of the basilisk when the creature turned around, reared up, and then dashed away in the direction opposite the one that the Titans had been heading before getting trapped, hissing and howling in agony and despair.

When the last basilisk had finally vanished from their sight-range, the other four Titans gaped at Beast Boy as the verdant green shape shifter reverted back to his human form, stood up straight on his feet, and turned around to look at his friends with a small toothy grin. "I managed to remember from something I read that there were two specific types of animals that these types of basilisks always tried to avoid. Weasels are immune to both their beams and their venom, whereas the call of a rooster is said to cause them to experience violent seizures. And as you can see, I remembered that information just in time."

For a brief moment, Beast Boy's four friends remained lost for words. "Well good thing you know your animals BB," Cyborg eventually managed to say.

Robin shook his head side to side. "Beast Boy," he said. "Remind me to set aside some funds for a moped when we get back home."

Beast Boy's eyes widened at the sound of this. "This has gotta be a dream," he thought to himself.

Robin then clasped his hands together and said, "Come on team, let's move!"

In a flash, the Titans did exactly that, and exactly 20 minutes later, they found themselves entering what appeared to be a large circular valley just in time to see Savage about to exit it from the other end. "Stop!" Robin yelled.

**And just like that, another chapter comes to an end! I hope you guys all enjoyed reading it, and that you leave a respectably healthy number of reviews! ^_^ And feel free to comment on/ask about any element within this chapter that you desire! I am perfectly happy to see any comments or questions you have (provided they are respectful and not of a flame-based nature, cuz God do we hate Flames). I especially enjoyed writing this chapter, and I can definitely tell you that I'm also enjoying writing the chapter that comes directly after this one! That being said, I again hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and leave a healthy load of reviews for it! ^_^**

**Coming up next: The Titans have managed to catch up to Savage, but the immortal caveman isn't about to surrender the Infernal Key that easily, and before long, the Titans find themselves fighting the battle of the ages against both Savage and ALL 5 of the Knights of Hell. However, the end of this battle . . . will come at a tragically high cost. But even with the aftermath to come, will Robin and the other Titans (but particularly Robin) still be able to walk out of it in time to save the world? Find out, on the next epic chapter of Night of the Cursed.**


	15. A Costly Defeat

**Hey there everybody! I am so sorry that it took so God-awfully long, but here's a brand new chapter! I really hope you enjoy reading this and leave a CONSIDERABLY large number of reviews (though I'd best warn you, this chapter will probably get extremely hard for some of you guys to read near the end). But nonetheless, have fun, and try not to worry too much (and be prepared to get a case of tissues. Some of you might very well need one). In this chapter, having finally caught up with Savage, an epic battle unfolds. However, the end of this battle will leave a painfully high cost for the Titans, particularly Robin, to handle. Will Robin (and I do mean Robin) be able to walk out of this upcoming horrifying incident in time to save the world? Find out, in this brand new chapter.**

**Once again, just to remind you all, I do not own Teen Titans or any other elements of the DC universe, and certainly not any religious elements either. And now, without further ado, onward with the fic!**

**Chapter 14:**

**A Costly Defeat**

Savage halted, and turned his head in time to see the five teenage heroes running into the valley behind him. The Titans skidded to a stop, and Robin pointed at Savage before yelling, "It's over Savage!"

Savage chuckled, shook his head from side to side, and then stated, "Over? On the contrary boy wonder, I'd say it's only just begun."

Robin snarled, and then continued, "Well you may have made it this far Savage, but your plot ends here! Now hand over the Infernal Key or we'll leave you here to find out the hard way whether or not you'll be able to escape from a sinking island!" The other Titans' eyes widened at the sound of this. Robin had never before dared to threaten to leave any criminal, let alone a real villain like Savage, to such a fate.

Savage grinned wolfishly at the irate boy wonder, pressed his hand up against his head as if straightening out a crick in his neck, and said, "Well I can definitely say that it would certainly be a good challenge to see if I can successfully escape from this island when it sinks at turn of day. After all, I've already survived this long and have managed to walk out of even worse catastrophes in one piece. A sinking island would make a good challenge."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "So you're not going to hand over the key and make it easier on yourself?" he then asked.

"Hand it over?" Savage asked. He then chuckled, drew out a wicked sickle-shaped bone blade from his coat, and said, "Since when has that ever worked for you?"

"I was kind of hoping you'd say that," Robin growled.

"Well I'm glad to have not disappointed," Savage stated without missing a beat. He then snapped his finger and said, "But you won't be directly fighting me just yet."

No sooner had Savage said this when a large serpentine plume of black smoke rocketed through the sky from directly above Savage and then crash-landed next to him before solidifying into the form of a very familiar looking demon.

Upon sight of the demon in question, Beast Boy smirked, shook his head side to side, and said, "You're just a real glutton for punishment aren't you Abby?"

Abaddon chuckled, and then said, "You may have managed to survive against me, but will you have the same luck against all five of us?"

At that moment, right before any of the Titans could wonder about the meaning behind Abaddon's statement, they were all sent stumbling around when four other massive plumes of smoke suddenly appeared out of nowhere and zoomed so close by them as to almost directly plow into them. Even in the midst of getting knocked off balance, the five teenage heroes were able to notice that each of the four newly arrived smoke plumes were of a different color than Abaddon.

Seconds later, right as the Titans managed to regain their footing, the four smoke streams came to a crash-landing right in front of them and between them and Savage. Upon landing, the smoke solidified into four other demons. When the demons in question opened their eyes and stared at the Titans, the teenage heroes' eyes widened as they found themselves realizing just what these particular demons very likely were. Their suspicions were only confirmed when the four new arrivals stood up straight, revealing themselves to be the exact same height as Abaddon. This factor combined with their physical appearance exactly matching their statue counterparts from Lucifer's Crypt was enough for the Titans to recognize them for who they really were.

Abaddon grinned wolfishly at the five very unnerved teenage heroes, spread his hands out to his sides as if to gesture for them to behold the four demons that had now arrived to help him, and said, "Say hello to my four compatriots, Samael, Azazel, Lilith, and Asmodeus, my fellow Knights of Hell."

Samael grinned, his red eyes agleam, and stated to the Titans, "So you're the little kiddies that broke Abaddon's record. I daresay I wouldn't have guessed it just from looking at you lot."

Azazel chuckled, raised up his claws, and then coated them in electricity before stating, "But nonetheless, it is quite a pleasure to meet you, not to mention to do battle with and perhaps even kill you."

"Yes indeed," Lilith stated, her icy blue eyes taking on the same cold and calculating appearance necessary to match her similar toned scales. "It would be a great honor to do battle with the likes of you considering how much his Malevolence has come to respect you five."

"Yes," hissed Asmodeus, his frill extended to the fullest and his long forked tongue sticking contemptuously from his jaws. "And you may have survived against Abaddon, but rest assured, you will stand no chance against all five of us."

"Darn right they won't," Abaddon said as he proceeded to rapidly teleport over into a position that allowed him to be standing right next to Asmodeus. "Not this time."

Robin stared intently ahead at the five formidable demons, and snarled silently as he realized just how big of a fix the Titans had now found themselves in. "This makes me almost wish that we were dealing with Trigon," he thought to himself.

Savage chuckled, waved at the Titans and said, "Farewell Titans. I do hope you enjoy your quality time with my friends here. Take care." At that, Savage turned and rushed over towards a small slope leading up towards the top of a cliff overlooking the valley.

Robin cursed mentally at the sight of Savage leaving the valley. "He's getting away again," he thought to himself angrily. Then he heard the sound of inhuman snarling coming from in front of him and his friends, and he bitterly remembered that Savage was currently the least of his problems at that particular moment.

"Attack!" Samael roared.

In a flash, all five of the powerful demons rushed towards the Titans, hissing and roaring in challenge and bloodlust.

"Titans move!" Robin yelled. The five teenage heroes hurriedly jumped in random directions to evade the charging demons.

Unfortunately, the Titans had literally just jumped off to evade the charging demons when Samael yelled, "Spread out!" The five Knights of Hell transformed into their incorporeal forms without even pausing in their running, and each one headed off towards a different Titan.

The black smoke that was easily recognizable as Abaddon landed right in front of Robin, who had been lunging towards the bottom of the slope that Savage was currently in the midst of ascending. It reverted back to its corporeal state and grinned wolfishly at the now very irate boy wonder before saying, "Nice try bird boy, but you'll need to fly faster than that if you want to reach your destination before nightfall."

Raven was the next Titan to find her path abruptly blocked by a demon, and the sorceress could tell from a single glance at the amber yellow smoke that slammed down in front of her that she had drawn the short straw in this particular situation. Sure enough, the yellow smoke reverted back to its corporeal form and revealed itself to be none other than Azazel. At the sight of Raven silently groaning and rolling her eyes to Heaven, Azazel chuckled, lifted up his left hand, and caused his fingers to become coated with crackling streaks of electricity before saying, "Lights out Raven; or should that be . . . lights on?"

"Why do I always end up battling the electrokinetic demons?" Raven asked to herself.

"Simple mathematics daughter of Trigon," Azazel replied with a cruel smirk coming on his face, "simple mathematics."

Cyborg, meanwhile, just barely managed to skid to a halt when a stream of virulent green smoke plowed down on the ground in front of him before reverting back to its corporeal form. Asmodeus hissed in delight at the sight of the irritated half robot teenager that now stood before him, and said, "Going somewhere chrome dome?"

Cyborg growled, converted his right arm into its sonic cannon form, and pointed it at Asmodeus before stating tensely, "There's only one green bean on this island whose allowed to call me that, and it sure as Hell aint you!"

"You've certainly got the Hell part correct," Asmodeus stated before hissing teasingly at Cyborg.

The next Titan to end up face to face with a Knight of Hell turned out to be Starfire, and the demon in question proved all too easy for the Tamaranean to identify upon sight of the blue smoke that landed in front of her. Lilith sneered at the alien princess upon reverting to her corporeal form. "You must be feeling quite proud to do battle with a fellow female warrior," stated the single female Knight of Hell.

Starfire glared at the icy blue demon, her eyes glowing dangerously green. "I will feel proud to stand over you in triumph!"

Lilith sniggered, and stated, "You sure seem rather hot under the collar. Maybe I should cool things down for you," before then causing her hands to become engulfed with swirling miniature vortexes of icy wind.

The final Knight of Hell to come to a landing was Samael, and his distinctive blood red smoke form rocketed down hard onto the ground right in front of Beast Boy, shocking the changeling sufficiently enough to cause him to involuntarily revert from his peregrine falcon form back to human form and then land right on his backside. The crimson demon smirked mockingly at the changeling upon sight of him in his current position, and said, "Come now, is that the proper way to be positioned when about to engage in a duel?"

Beast Boy snarled, prepared to get back up on his feet, and yelled, "I don't know! Is that the proper way to be positioned when you're about to get your butt kicked?!"

Samael chuckled, shook his head side to side, and then barked, "You sure are confident. You certain that your bark is not better than your bite?"

"I haven't even begun to bite," Beast Boy growled before then jumping up with a back flip before landing on his feet with his right hand lying palm down on the ground and his left hand raised at a slant into the air.

"Oh really?" Samael asked. "Well then, go ahead. Let me see if your claws and fangs are as fast as your wit!"

"Gladly," Beast Boy snarled before turning into a tiger and leaping straight at Samael. At the same time that Samael jumped out of the way of the pouncing green tiger, Lilith cartwheeled out of the path of a laser blast fired at her from Starfire's eyes, Asmodeus ducked down in time to avoid getting struck by Cyborg's sonic blast, and Azazel jumped right over Raven in time to avoid getting pounded by a wave of dark energy that Raven attempted to hurl at him.

Meanwhile, Robin found himself the odd man out in that he ended up dodging an attack from Abaddon instead of the other way 'round. Abaddon, noticing that Robin was still angrily gazing past him towards Savage, chose to take advantage of Robin's distracted state by lunging towards him in an attempt to bite him. Fortunately, the sound of the snarling noise Abaddon made right before he jumped knocked the boy wonder back to his senses just in time for him to jump to the side and evade getting himself on the wrong end of Abaddon's teeth.

Seconds after snapping his jaws closed on empty air, Abaddon turned his head in the direction Robin had jumped; just in time for Robin's foot to come plowing into his face. Abaddon went stumbling backwards, and right as he regained his footing, he was knocked off his feet when one of Robin's explosive fire disks landed right at his feet and went off. Robin was in the midst of preparing himself to rush towards Abaddon when he heard laughter coming from the slope where Savage was.

Robin looked straight at the slope, and saw that Savage was only a couple feet from making it to the top of the slope, and he growled bitterly. "I can't let him get away," he thought to himself. But then he heard the sound of Abaddon groaning as he slowly tried to get back up on his feet, and he cursed mentally when he also realized that he couldn't just leave his friends to deal with their attackers alone, much less with Abaddon still in the picture and capable of providing reinforcement for his fellow Knights of Hell.

Starfire noticed Robin in the midst of his current dilemma, and she hurriedly yelled, "Go Robin! Go after the savage one! We will handle things here!"

Robin turned his head quickly to face his girlfriend. "No!" He yelled "I'm not leaving you guys!"

"Do it man!" Cyborg yelled without even missing a beat in his current double arm wrestling match against Asmodeus. "Savage needs to be stopped! Take him down!"

"They're right Robin," Raven said. "We can't let Savage get away. If he succeeds in opening the Alpha Devil's Gate with that key, the entire world will be doomed, and this time for real. Go after him, we'll take care of things here." Right as she said that, she hurriedly levitated upward in time to avoid getting smacked in the chest by Azazel's stegosaur-like tail.

Robin briefly paused, unsure of what to do. "Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

"You heard them!" Beast Boy howled after having managed to briefly knock away Samael. "Go after Savage and kick his butt already! We'll handle these Godforsaken lunatics! You go save the world!"

Robin hesitated for just one more second. "What about you?"

"Don't worry," Beast Boy stated. "We'll be fine. Now go, go!"

At the sound of this, Robin reluctantly tore his gaze away from his friends, just in time to see Abaddon teleport directly in front of him. Fortunately, the boy wonder was prepared, and he hurriedly drew out a pen-like object from his belt, pressed down on the hilt end, and jabbed it onto the demon's chest. Upon contact with Abaddon, the Knight of Hell howled in agony as he learned the hard way that this particular gadget was Robin's equivalent of a Taser. Within seconds, Abaddon collapsed onto his belly, still crackling and sparking with electricity, and Robin hurriedly jumped over the now once again prone demon before rushing off towards the side of the cliff overlooking the valley from the side opposite the entrance.

Seeing how very close Savage now was to the top of the slope, Robin hurriedly drew his grappling gun from his utility belt and fired at the top of the cliff. The hook jammed onto the cliff edge, and the pulley rapidly retracted, dragging Robin up into the air towards the cliff. Robin let go right as he was seconds away from plowing into the cliff face, thus propelling himself upward sufficiently enough to land right on top of the cliff just as Savage reached the top of the slope leading up to it.

Savage skidded to a stop in surprise at the sight of the boy wonder abruptly coming to a landing right in front of him. Robin turned his head to face the immortal cave man, his eyes narrowed underneath his mask, and he pointed at Savage before yelling, "This ends now Savage! Now give me that key!"

Savage chuckled upon hearing this statement, his earlier smug confidence returning, and promptly purred, "Never."

"Have it your way then," Robin growled as he proceeded to summon his sword.

Savage raised his left eyebrow at the sight of the weapon. "You absolutely certain you're willing to engage in that kind of a battle?" he asked with an almost amused tone. "I'll have you know that I've fought centuries' worth of sword fights before now. Are you really sure that you're willing to try to go against an enemy with as much sword fighting experience as I?"

"If that's what it takes to teach Lucifer a lesson in patience, then you can bet on your life that I am!" Robin yelled.

Savage whistled. "Very well then," he stated as he drew his scythe-like bone blade back out from his coat once more. "Let us begin our duel then."

In that instant, right before either of the two combatants even made a move, a large stream of black smoke plunged down in front of Robin and solidified back into Abaddon, who stood firmly in front of the boy wonder with his arms spread out to his sides as if to say 'None shall pass'.

Right as Robin was about to growl in anger, Savage calmly stated, "There is no need for that Abaddon. Let him fight me."

Abaddon turned his head to face Savage. "You are certain of this?" the demon asked.

"I'm as certain of this as I am old," Savage responded. "The boy wonder already has his mind set on doing battle with me instead of doing a rematch with you. Therefore, I might as well give him at least that satisfaction."

Abaddon appeared to think to himself, and then nodded. "Very well," he said. "You may proceed." He then proceeded to teleport out of Robin's way and reappear a couple feet to the left of the boy wonder. "You may begin," said Abaddon.

The two combatants faced each other, and then Robin let out an angry yell before jumping towards Savage with his sword at the ready to slice at the immortal caveman. Savage calmly lifted up his bone blade and blocked Robin's sword as it was swung downward towards him. And just like that, the battle began.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, back in the valley, the other Titans allowed their battle with Abaddon's fellow Knights of Hell to unfold in full force. However, as the four teenage heroes soon discovered, Abaddon's four compatriots were just as formidable as their shadowy companion had been, if not even more so. Much like Abaddon, the four Knights of Hell that were currently doing battle with Robin's friends were incredibly strong, fast, and durable. And to make matters worse, they appeared to be very much aware of how powerful a weapon their own elemental attacks could be if used to the Titans' advantage, as they made painfully obvious care to not use any element-based attacks unless their targets were not standing within so much as a foot from any of their comrades. But even in spite of the staggeringly high odds that were very clearly against them, the Titans within the valley continued to battle their Hellish foes with everything they had.

"Eat this Sludge Head!" Cyborg yelled as he fired a sonic blast at Asmodeus. The verdant green demon lazily leaned to his right, and avoided the attack. The demon then retaliated with a swing of his wickedly sharp right hand claws. The cybernetic teenager just barely managed to duck in time to avoid getting decapitated.

Unfortunately, it soon turned out that Asmodeus had been expecting for Cyborg to duck, as he then kicked Cyborg right in the jaw seconds later. The blow sent Cyborg stumbling backwards, and by the time he managed to regain firm footing, he was too late to dodge Asmodeus' next attack. The attack in question consisted of the Knight of Hell summoning a large boulder simply by causing it to pop upwards out of the ground with a stomp of his left foot and then kicking it straight at Cyborg. The boulder plowed into Cyborg's chest, sending the bionic teenage hero flying backward.

Cyborg landed hard on his back, and seconds after he groaned, and started to position himself as if about to try to get back up, Asmodeus suddenly appeared directly to Cyborg's left as if he'd teleported and hissed smugly as he threateningly lifted up his barbed tail. In a flash, Cyborg rolled over to his right just in time to avoid the incredibly swift scorpion-like sting attack that Asmodeus attempted to strike him with, the barb jabbing forcefully right down on the area where Cyborg's face had been mere seconds earlier.

Without giving Asmodeus time to reposition himself to make a second attempt, Cyborg spun himself around in a way that allowed his legs to sweep Asmodeus' own legs out from under him, causing the Knight of Hell to collapse painfully onto the ground. Taking advantage of his newly found moment of opportunity, Cyborg hurriedly got back on his feet, jumped back a few feet, and fired a missile at Asmodeus. The missile crashed into the demon, and the resulting fiery explosion sent him rocketing through the air before crash landing painfully up against one of the walls of the valley.

Asmodeus managed to get back on his feet just in time to see Cyborg send an entire volley of missiles flying towards him. Eyes briefly widening, he quickly raised up his arms and fists as if to block the blow. A large barrier of rocks and dust rose up directly in front of him at the exact same time, and the missiles harmlessly exploded upon contact with it. Asmodeus hurriedly lowered the barrier, lifted up his right fist, and slammed it down on the ground, creating a powerful earthquake-like shockwave that send Cyborg rocketing backward.

The cybernetic teenager bounced across the ground three times in his rapid backward flight, and when he finally came to a stop, he didn't even have time to get back on his feet before Asmodeus caused a gigantic tree root-like object to rise from the ground, wrap around his ankles, and lift him up off the ground. Exactly one or two minutes later, Asmodeus had proceeded to cause the gigantic tree root to go swinging around in random directions, causing Cyborg to be swung around and painfully slammed into the ground as well as the cliff walls surrounding the valley. When Asmodeus finally finished the devastating assault by having the tree root emphatically slam Cyborg down on the ground one final time, he caused the root to sink back into the ground and then walked confidently up to the prone half robot teenage hero.

As he stared down at the just barely conscious cybernetic teenager, Asmodeus chuckled, and arrogantly hissed "I'll bet environmentalists would have gotten a real kick out of seeing you, a machine, get his butt kicked by a tree root." Cyborg groaned in response. Asmodeus smirked, licked his chops, and said, "Well nonetheless, farewell," before abruptly causing his forked tongue to rapidly extend out of his mouth and wrap tightly around Cyborg's neck. Right as Cyborg reflexively grabbed onto the part that was now coiled around his neck, gasping and wheezing for air, Asmodeus lifted his tongue upward, bringing the now very much endangered bionic teen up onto the tips of his toes, laughing smugly in triumph as he continued to tighten the makeshift noose he had around the teenage hero's neck.

However, Cyborg was not about to go down that easily, and right as he was seconds away from losing consciousness, he tightly clenched his right hand around the area of the tongue that directly branched onto the portion around his neck before then delivering a lightning fast uppercut to Asmodeus' jaw with his left fist. The blow struck Asmodeus with such a tremendous impact that it not only sent the Knight of Hell flying backward, but it also caused his tongue to snap right out of his mouth by the roots.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Asmodeus howled in agony as he suddenly felt an indescribable pain in his mouth from where his tongue had been. "AAAAAHHHHH!" he growled again as he placed his right hand up to his throat reflexively. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he roared as he leaned over with his eyes closed and his hand still up to his throat from the pain.

All of one second later, Asmodeus was knocked down onto his side when Cyborg's right fist rammed into the side of his face. He hadn't been lying down on the ground for two seconds before Cyborg grabbed him by the throat and slammed him up against one of the walls of the valley. Asmodeus had just enough time to briefly gasp from the pain before Cyborg started brutally pounding his right fist into Asmodeus' face again and again.

Barely conscious, Asmodeus couldn't have felt more relieved when he felt his tongue finally regenerate itself and the debilitating pain from its removal finally cease. Immediately taking advantage of his newly regenerated tongue, the demon curled it up into a ball like a noise maker from within his mouth, and then abruptly snapped his mouth open and caused it to spring out at Cyborg, resulting in the balled up portion at the very end of his tongue slamming into Cyborg's face. The blow caused Cyborg to let go of Asmodeus and stumble backwards as if he'd been punched, and Asmodeus promptly took advantage of Cyborg's newfound state of unbalance by swiping the bionic teen's legs out from under him with a sweep of his tail. No sooner had Cyborg landed on his back when Asmodeus jumped up into the air so that his clawed feet landed right on Cyborg's belly.

No sooner had Cyborg screamed from the pain of Asmodeus' claws digging into his stomach when Asmodeus proceeded to jump up and down again and again, causing his foot claws to dig deeper and deeper into Cyborg's abdomen as well as cause what appeared to be small crater-shaped dents to appear in the metal of that area. Right as Asmodeus was about to land down on Cyborg for the 27th time, Cyborg grabbed the demon by the right ankle and proceeded to propel it away so that it caused Asmodeus to fly headfirst right into the trunk of a nearby tree. The Knight of Hell crumpled to the ground, hissing and groaning in pain from the painful impact with the tree.

Right as Asmodeus got onto his hands and knees, he heard Cyborg yell, and looked up just in time to see the bionic teenager barreling towards him with his right fist drawn back. Quick as a viper, Asmodeus straightened himself up on both feet and slapped his palms together as if trying to cause a thunder clap. While the gesture didn't end up causing a thunder clap, it did cause two large slabs of earth-based material to rise from the ground on either side of Cyborg and slam together on him. When the earthen slabs came apart and slammed back down into the ground, the utterly smashed Cyborg groaned before crumpling flat on his face.

Cyborg managed to open his eyes just in time to see Asmodeus slam his right fist on the ground, causing a large line of stalagmites to abruptly start sprouting out from the ground and expanding rapidly straight towards Cyborg. Eyes widened, Cyborg hurriedly rolled away to his left just in time to avoid getting impaled by the stalagmites that erupted out from the ground in the area he'd earlier been lying down.

Immediately after the stalagmites retracted back into the ground, Cyborg got up on his feet, glared furiously at the now very irate looking Knight of Hell and yelled, "I am really starting to get sick of you!"

"Oh you will get sick," Asmodeus hissed, his tongue extended and vibrating crazily in the air and his verdant green eyes taking on a venomous glare. "Very, very, very sick." No sooner had Asmodeus said this when his jaws snapped open, his frill extended to full length, and he sent a tsunami of virulent green poison gas pouring from his mouth straight at Cyborg.

Swearing under his breath, Cyborg hurriedly ran off to his right to avoid getting engulfed in Asmodeus' devastating poison breath. He soon found himself continuing to run in a full circle as Abaddon proceeded to turn himself around in an effort to trap Cyborg. Unfortunately for the demon, right as Cyborg was inches away from running straight into the leftover gas from when he'd first started running away, he ducked in time for the poison gas to form a ring around Asmodeus. Right as Asmodeus was about to shut off his continuous stream of poison gas, Cyborg caused a small welding torch-like device to extend from his right middle finger, ignite it, and press it up against the gas. The resulting explosion sent Asmodeus hurtling up into the air before landing face-first back on the ground with a thud.

Cyborg smirked at Asmodeus as the demon started to get back on his feet. "So, how'd you enjoy the grill?"

Asmodeus snarled, directed a hateful glare at Cyborg, and extended his frill before venomously hissing, "I will melt you down you infernal piece of junk!"

Cyborg chuckled, waved his finger teasingly at the Knight of Hell, and stated smugly, "Sorry pal, but you need fire to melt down metal; and last time I checked, you're buddy Samael is the pyrokinetic one around here, not you."

"I don't need fire!" Asmodeus roared. "Not when I have acid that can do the job for me!"

Asmodeus promptly started hurling a rapid fire volley of sickeningly yellowish green bubble like orbs at Cyborg. Cyborg just barely managed to deploy his arm shield extensions and raise them up in the proper defensive position. However, exactly three minutes later, the brutal onslaught of corrosive acid bubbles proved powerful enough to melt the shields down to nothing.

Cyborg's eyes widened at the now blaringly obvious empty space where his shield extensions had been, and he managed to look straight towards Asmodeus in time to see the Knight of Hell resume his unyielding volley of acid bubbles. With his shields no longer available, Cyborg had no choice but to run off to the side again to avoid getting splashed by the dangerously corrosive acid. And as it turned out, this acid was very corrosive indeed, for mass torrents of acrid greenish yellow mist began to rise from the ground that the acid bubbles landed on. Cyborg whistled silently in alarm at the sight of this. "This is so not good," he thought to himself.

At the same time that Cyborg was fighting his terrifyingly sickening battle against Asmodeus, Raven managed to quite skillfully hold her own against Azazel in spite of the painfully obvious elemental type disadvantage she had. Not too long after Cyborg had found himself forced to run in order to avoid Asmodeus' corrosive volley, Raven had shouted out her mantra and caused a small jet of flame-shaped shadowy energy to spout from her hands towards Azazel, who jumped over Raven to evade the blast. Right as Azazel landed and straightened back up, the sorceress turned around swiftly to prevent the demon from attempting to strike a counter attack, her left fist glowing with obsidian energy. Azazel hurriedly blocked the blow by lifting arms up in front of his face with his fists clenched.

Seconds after Raven drew her fist back from Azazel's arm guard, the Knight of Hell abruptly jabbed his left fist at her in a lightning fast punch. The demon's fist pounded into Raven's face before she even had a chance to react, and the sorceress was sent stumbling backwards.

Snarling gleefully at his current moment of newfound advantage, Azazel dashed headlong towards Raven at a speed that briefly reminded Raven of the similar lightning speed at which the honorary Titan Kid Flash and his uncle the Flash were capable of running. Unfortunately, she'd only managed to think about this similarity for all of one second before the literal speed demon plowed into her so quickly that the impact caused her to involuntarily start spinning around like a top.

Raven didn't even have a chance to start slowing down in her spinning before Azazel proceeded to run at her randomly in all directions, slamming into her at lightning speed again and again. Over time, in spite of her continuous rapid spinning, Raven managed to summon her obsidian energy and cause it to create a swirling spherical barrier of shadows around her. "Beast Boy would so get a kick out of seeing this technique," she thought to herself right as the swirling barrier fully formed. Due to how much of a fan Beast Boy was of several different manga and anime, she knew that Beast Boy would probably be able to note how very similar her current action was to the defensive spinning technique used by Neji Hyuga and the other members of his clan in the Naruto series, which just happened to be Beast Boy's number one favorite anime/mange series of all time.

However, Raven thought about this matter for all of three seconds before she heard an almighty pounding noise coming from directly in front of her, and she instantly halted her improvised spinning defense just in time to see Azazel get sent flying straight up into the air as a very obvious result of his tremendously fast speed in combination with what must have been a very painful head on collision with her swirling shadow barrier.

Immediately after Azazel finally started plummeting downwards, Raven hurriedly extended her still energy gloved hands towards the ground in front of her and chanted, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

The large lob-shaped pillar of rocks that jutted out of the ground in front of Raven at an upwards slant pounded into Azazel's stomach right as he was about to land headfirst on the ground. The impact sent the Knight of Hell flying straight towards one of the walls of the valley, which he crashed into with such a tremendous impact that he was effectively pummeled about three feet within the interior of the rocky wall, comically leaving behind an Azazel shaped hole in the wall at the point of impact.

In spite of herself, Raven found herself smirking at the sight of the humorously shaped impression left in the wall. "First Naruto, now Looney Tunes," she thought to herself. "Beast Boy would have a field day."

Raven was promptly brought back down to Earth when she saw Azazel slowly squeeze his way out of the valley cliff wall, snarling and grunting from the effort, and also looking very appropriately dusty and dirty from the experience. Soon after Azazel had managed to get his head, arms, upper torso, and left leg out of the cliff wall, he snarled angrily at Raven, and then snapped his fingers.

Raven had just raised her eyebrow in confusion as she attempted to figure out what Azazel was doing when she suddenly found herself screaming in pain as she was unexpectedly engulfed in electricity. Strangely enough, the electrical energy appeared to have come from beneath her. In the midst of her electrocution, Raven managed to look downward, and saw what appeared to be a circular field of amber yellow energy directly beneath her feet. From this field spouted the electrical tendrils that were now zapping the living daylights out of her. Groaning in a mixture of pain and self-irritation, she closed her eyes and thought to herself, "Clever bastard."

Seconds later, Azazel dismissed the ground-based lightning field, and Raven crumpled down on her hands and knees, panting from the pain and exhaustion. Azazel then proceeded to teleport, and Raven made no hesitation in looking up when she heard the sound of him reappearing from his teleportation coming from directly above her. Her eyes widened at the sight of Azazel falling straight down towards her. However, it wasn't so much the sight of Azazel falling towards her that caused her eyes to widen as it was the sight of him positioning himself in midair so that she would be stabbed by the horrendously sharp spikes on the tip of his tail when he landed.

Hurriedly, Raven melted into the shadows to escape, and Azazel landed on empty ground, his tail spikes harmlessly plunging into the dirt right in the area where Raven's back had been seconds earlier. Azazel snarled upon the sight of his failed attack, and he got back up on his feet before then looking around to see if he could catch the sorceress when she reappeared from her current teleportation, crouching like a velociraptor as if in preparation for lunging at Raven when he actually did manage to see her. However, right as he was looking in the direction of the cliff wall that he'd been pounded into, he heard Raven's voice from straight above him yell, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Azazel snarled in anger and pain as a large bolt of midnight black lightning struck him in the back with such force that he was slammed down hard on the ground on his belly. Against any non-electrokinetic foes, this attack would have very likely been enough to knock the enemy unconscious. However, Azazel was left only slightly winded, and Raven had a feeling that this was more of a result of his impact with the ground then of actually getting hit by the shadowy lightning bolt.

Azazel pushed himself back up onto his feet, growled irately at Raven, and promptly lifted up his right hand so that he had his clawed fingers pointing straight at her. Raven, remembering what had happened when the subordinate electrokinetic demon from the home invasion three nights prior had taken on a similar position, hurriedly swooped away to her left just in time to avoid getting herself deep fried by the bursts of lightning that sprang out from Azazel's finger tips.

Raven swooped low towards the ground, gliding in front of Azazel just in time to catch a glimpse of him with electricity crackling around his jaws. Raven hurriedly glided away just in time to avoid getting struck by the blinding bolt of lightning that he fired from his mouth at her. And before long, Raven found herself continuing to dodge multiple other lightning bolt breath attacks that the demon fired at her in similar fashion.

However, Raven's luck at escaping briefly ran out when she ended up gliding directly behind Azazel and the demon caught her in the chest with a blindingly swift back kick that he directed at her with his right leg without even turning his head to face her. The sorceress was sent hurtling backwards by the force of the blow.

Raven just barely managed to get firm footing before falling flat on her back, only to then get sent pounding right into one of the valley walls when she got struck right in the chest by yet another (but this time successful in striking its mark) lightning bolt breath attack from Azazel. The sorceress crumpled to the ground, and eventually started crawling forward away from the cliff wall, panting and gasping from pain and exhaustion.

Unfortunately, Raven had only crawled forward by about a foot or two when she suddenly felt something grab onto her cloak and pull on it roughly. She screeched in shock as she found herself getting roughly dragged backwards. Azazel must have been especially pissed, as he then teleported while still clutching onto Raven's cloak, thus dragging her into the teleportation with him. And when Azazel ended the teleport, Raven had just enough time to notice that Azazel had teleported to about several feet above the ground from where he'd earlier grasped her cloak before the demon threw her down hard at the ground.

Raven hit the ground with such a tremendous impact that she bounced across the ground five times before painfully skidding to a halt on her belly. Raven groaned, and got herself on her hands and knees. However, at the sound of running feet alongside electrical crackling coming from behind her, she turned her head in time to see Azazel dashing towards her with a crackling orb of electricity in his left hand that reminded Raven very much of the chidori technique used by Sasuke in the Naruto series.

Very much eager to avoid ending up on the receiving end of Azazel's chidori-like attack, Raven hurriedly whispered out her mantra, causing a large tree to become encased in umbrakinetic energy and then uprooted. No sooner had Raven uprooted the tree when she caused it to swing around like a baseball bat and smack into Azazel, sending the Knight of Hell careening backward. By the time Azazel landed and got back on his feet, Raven had managed to levitate a good distance above the ground and send a large crescent shaped wave of dark energy barreling down towards him.

The energy blast slammed into Azazel with such force that it sent him stumbling backward, leaving him just barely able to prevent himself from losing his footing entirely. And the fact that Raven continued to send a ceaseless volley of crescent-shaped waves of dark energy certainly didn't help. The ninth blast Raven sent his way was enough to finally knock him off his feet and onto his back.

At that moment, with Azazel incapacitated, Raven hastened the speed at which she fired her volley of shadow energy waves, making sure to not give the Knight of Hell even the slightest second of reprieve. She knew that if she was to defeat him, now was the best time, and that she would need to give it everything she had.

Unfortunately, in spite of how Raven was indeed able to prevent Azazel from getting back up on his feet, the demon still had a trick or two left up his sleeve that didn't require standing up. As Raven continued to pummel him into the ground with her continuous waves of dark energy, he quickly coated himself in electricity, absorbed it, and then proceeded to unleash an ear splitting ultrasonic roar. The already powerful attack turned out to have been massively boosted in power as a result of the electricity that the demon had coated himself in beforehand. This same charging technique also caused the roar to have an additional effect of emitting a large electrical shockwave from his body at the exact same time as the noise waves emitted from his mouth.

The powerful combined attack plowed into Raven and sent her plummeting to the ground. Right as she got on her hands and knees, groaning from the effort, she heard Azazel shout behind her, "Venatio Fulmina!" She whipped her head around to look behind her, and saw Azazel slowly rise up into the air with a yellow aura around him and his hands raised up in the air. Seconds later, right as what appeared to be a plate-sized vortex of crackling yellow energy appeared directly above Azazel's hands, a single boulder-sized storm cloud suddenly appeared directly over Raven. The bottom of this cloud started crackling ominously with electricity.

Raven hurriedly took on her Spectral Raven form and glided out from under the cloud just in time to avoid getting charred by the maelstrom of lightning that dove down from the cloud. However, as Raven soon found out, this newest trick of Azazel's wouldn't be that easily evaded, for immediately after unleashing that first blast, the cloud proceeded to follow her around the valley, letting off an increasingly fast paced and rapid fire storm of lightning bolt maelstroms. It took all the strength Raven had just to stay a single inch out of reach of the deadly attack. "It's going to take a miracle to survive this," she thought to herself as she continued to try her utmost best to avoid the hellish storm that Azazel had summoned. "I can only hope that my friends aren't suffering similar dire circumstances."

Sadly, Raven's friends were indeed suffering very similarly life threatening situations. Beast Boy in particular had found himself fighting a tremendously punishing battle against Samael at the exact same time that his friends were busy dealing with Samael's Hellish compatriots. At the exact same time that Raven was in the midst of flying around to escape from Azazel's nightmarish storm, Beast Boy turned into a lion and lunged at Samael. Samael ducked, and the verdant green lion sailed harmlessly over him.

Unfortunately for the demon, Beast Boy was prepared for this possibility. Seconds after he landed directly behind Samael, the changeling directed a thundering kick at him with his hind legs. His strong hind paws pounded Samael in the back right as he straightened back up to his full height, sending the Knight of Hell hurtling forward.

Samael landed on his belly, and it seemed as if only mere seconds had passed before he heard the sound of apelike hooting and bellowing coming from behind. He turned his head in time to see Beast Boy barreling towards him in the form of a gorilla. Samael snarled, jumped back onto his feet so he could face Beast Boy, and shot out a jet of flames at Beast Boy from his mouth. Beast Boy jumped into the air to avoid the fire, and he grabbed onto a sturdy tree branch in midair before using it to propel himself into changing position before letting go, and thus sending himself flying towards Samael from the demon's left.

Samael noticed too late what Beast Boy had done, and before he even had a chance to shut off his fire breath, the green gorilla landed directly next to him right at the same that his clenched fists slammed hard onto the ground. The impact of the gorilla's fists was strong to knock Samael off his feet and send him rocketing away to his right.

Samael slammed into one of the cliff walls surrounding the valley, and slid down to the ground, hissing and groaning from the force of the impact. However, right as he managed to slide all the way down onto his backside, he heard heavy footsteps coming from the front, and he opened his eyes just in time to see that Beast Boy had taken advantage of Samael's time in the air to transform into a rhino and was now thundering straight towards him.

Hissing in consternation, Samael hurriedly jumped up on his feet and sent a second jet of flames rocketing towards Beast Boy, but this time from his hands. Beast Boy was moving too fast in his headlong charge towards Samael to stop in time to dodge, and the fiery blast plowed into him, sending him flying backward.

The charred up green rhino landed hard on its side, and had just enough time to snort and grunt in discomfort before it heard the sound of an inhuman snarl coming towards him from the side and slightly skyward. Thinking quickly, Beast Boy turned into a crocodile and snapped his jaws in the direction he'd heard the sound coming from without even bothering to take a good look at just what it was that he was attempting to bite.

As it turned out, Beast Boy had chosen very wisely in trusting his instincts; for the source of the noise turned out to be Samael in the midst of jumping towards him while in the midst of positioning himself so that the tip of his tail would slam down painfully onto Beast Boy upon landing. And even better, the jaws of Beast Boy's crocodile form snapped painfully right over the tip of the demon's tail.

Samael shrieked in agony as he felt the crocodile's strong jaws clamp down on his tail, only to then howl in surprise as he felt the creature lift its head upward, propelling him forward through the air by his tail before then slamming him down hard on the ground. Samael had just managed to pant on the ground for about a second before Beast Boy repeated the maneuver, but in the opposite direction.

Thus Beast Boy proceeded to slam Samael on the ground left and right for a good few minutes until he eventually finished the attack with a final emphatic slam straight downwards. This emphatic finish sent Samael bouncing along the ground a good few feet in front of Beast Boy. When Samael got back up, he looked back behind him in time to see Beast Boy rushing towards him as a wolf. The demon hurriedly lifted up his right fist, engulfed it in flames, and slammed it down on the ground. In a flash, a pillar of flames erupted from the ground directly in front of him.

Seconds after the first flaming geyser vanished into thin air, an entire line of them began erupting from the ground rapidly while progressing straight towards Beast Boy. With a shocked yelp, Beast Boy just barely managed to skid to a stop in time to lunge out of the path of the flaming pillars. Right as Beast Boy managed to regain his bearings and look back towards Samael, he saw the demon summon a burning ring of fire around himself that he then caused to explosively increase in diameter.

Beast Boy hurriedly turned into a pteranodon and took to the air just in time to avoid getting roasted by the blazing ring of fire. He flapped on directly over Samael before then turning into an apatosaurus. He landed on the ground within the ring of fire with such a colossal impact that Samael was sent flying right over the wall of fire directly behind him. The ring of fire faded away into smoke soon after Samael landed. Beast Boy immediately took advantage of the demon's current incapacitation by shifting into a smilodon and rushing towards him with a savage roar.

Unfortunately, right as Beast Boy lunged at Samael, the Knight of Hell got back on his feet, grabbed the green saber-toothed cat by its iconic fangs right when they were inches away from jabbing him in the face, and used them as leverage to lift Beas Boy up into the air and then slam him back down on the ground.

Fortunately, Beast Boy had landed on his belly when this attack had occurred. And so, right as Samael was about to lift him up again, he transformed into a triceratops, thus causing Samael to promptly lose his grip on Beast Boy when the fangs he'd been grasping onto abruptly vanished seemingly into thin air. In that instant, right as Samael was briefly standing still and agape at the empty air where he'd previously been grasping onto fangs, Beast Boy lowered his head slightly to the right, and then lifted it back up so swiftly that the side of his nose horn smacked Samael right in the jaw and sent him flying. The demon only came to a stop when he pounded headfirst into the trunk of a nearby tree. At the sight of Samael lying on the ground groaning after his impact with the tree, Beast Boy snorted, and then transformed into a t-rex before rushing head on towards the demon, letting off a triumphant roar of bloodlust.

Unfortunately, Samael managed to recover right as Beast Boy was about five footsteps away from snapping him up into his jaws. Reacting quickly, he unleashed a powerful ultrasonic roar so loud and strong that it sent the mighty green t-rex flying through the air. The dinosaur landed hard on its side a sizeable distance away from Samael.

Beast Boy hurriedly reverted back to his human form and looked back up towards Samael, only to curse mentally and hurriedly jump away as a tiger when Samael spewed out a second fiery breath attack. In midair, Beast Boy flipped over and transformed into an emperor penguin. He landed on his belly and proceeded to slide himself along the ground to continue his dodging of Samael's fiery breath.

Eventually, when Samael finally had no choice but to shut off his fire breath, Beast Boy swerved around so that he slid directly in front of Samael, and then turned into a python in order to stop his rapid sliding movement before proceeding to slither towards him. The demon proceeded to lob a continuous volley of fire balls at the large green serpent in an effort to roast the snake, but the shape shifter cleverly slithered around in an s-shaped path to artfully dodge the fire balls hurled towards him.

When Beast Boy had slithered up to exactly one foot away from Samael, he lunged forward, transforming into an elephant at the same time. This transformation occurred just in time for Beast Boy's newly acquired trunk to slam down on Samael's head and pound him down on the ground. With Samael thus incapacitated, Beast Boy grabbed him by the tail with his trunk, lifted him up, and proceeded to slam him down on the ground again and again.

However, Samael still had a few tricks up his sleeve, and he quickly caused his hands to glow brightly with orange energy before clenching both of them around Beast Boy's trunk. Beast Boy trumpeted in agony and shock as he felt a sudden devastatingly searing pain on his trunk, and he let go of Samael's tail. The Knight of Hell landed on his feet, and then abruptly lifted his head upwards to face the sky and spread his arms to his sides before letting out a mighty howling roar. As if in direct response to this savage battle cry, a pillar of fire erupted from directly underneath Beast Boy, sending the emerald green elephant rocketing upward, bellowing in pain and fright.

When the fiery pillar vanished, a charred up and barely alive elephant was revealed, and it started to plummet downwards. Fortunately, the elephant was still conscious, and right before Samael's watchful eyes, it transformed into a flamingo and flew away from the area that it had been blasted up from. Samael snarled at the sight, bared his teeth, and caused them to burst into flames before then lunging upwards towards the green flamingo with his flaming jaws agape.

Beast Boy hurriedly reared up in the air, stopping himself just in time for Samael to rocket upwards directly in front of him in a slight slant, the demon's fiery jaws snapping shut onto thin air seconds after the tip of his tail harmlessly passed by the hovering green flamingo. Seconds later, having failed to snap Beast Boy up in his jaws, Samael began to hurtle downwards towards the top of one of the cliff walls.

However, Samael wasn't about to give up that easily, and right as he was inches away from a face first plowing straight into the cliff, he latched his right hand onto the cliff edge and proceeded to use the cliff wall to propel himself upwards in the direction opposite the cliff. No sooner had the Knight of Hell thus propelled himself directly over Beast Boy when he flipped over so that he was facing straight downwards, engulfed his now clenched right fist in flames, and proceeded to snap himself into a full on downwards dive bomb attack towards the green flamingo with his flaming fist fully extended down towards the changeling.

At the sight of Samael hurtling straight down towards him with his fist ablaze, Beast Boy the flamingo let out a shrill squawk of surprise, and hurriedly turned into a butterfly before hurriedly flapping away to his right. Mere minutes later, Beast Boy the butterfly felt what appeared to be a tremendous wind billow downwards right behind him, and he instinctively knew that he had now just barely managed to dodge Samael in time to avoid getting pounded by the demon's flaming fist.

Samael landed fist first on the ground, the flames on his fist exploding into a miniature ring of flames before Samael crumpled onto his feet. Soon after Samael straightened back up afterward, he had just enough time to snarl irritably to himself before he heard something land behind him, the distinctive sound of a transformation also coming from behind him, and then suddenly felt a pounding impact upon the back of his head that sent him flying forwards. The sound of the landing object had come from Beast Boy landing on the ground in the form of a tortoise, the sound of the transformation had been Beast Boy morphing from his tortoise form to his giraffe form, and the impact with the back of Samael's head had come from Beast Boy kicking the demon in the back of his head with one of the giraffe form's rock hard hind hooves.

The Knight of Hell landed flat on his face, and by the time he managed to get back up on his feet and turn around, he had just noticed Beast Boy standing nearby in the form of a giraffe before the changeling swung his long neck towards Samael and the demon was sent flying backward as a result of the changeling's horned head slamming painfully into the demon's jaw.

Samael crashed headfirst into a tree, and landed hard on his belly. He got back up, snarled at the green giraffe, and lunged towards it with his claws crossed and ablaze. Beast Boy morphed into a frog and jumped away just in time to avoid getting struck by the x-shaped slashing attack that Samael unleashed upon the ground he'd been standing on with his flaming claws.

Soon after Beast Boy had hopped a good distance away, he reverted back to human form and turned his head to face Samael just in time to see the demon stand up. Samael then took one look at Beast Boy, snarled, and abruptly appeared to burst into flame. Beast Boy's eyes widened at the sight of the now entirely ablaze Knight of Hell. The now literally fiery demon growled at Beast Boy, hissed out, "Time to be roasted," and then transformed into his incorporeal form. As a result of the state he was in when he transformed, Beast Boy was very shocked to discover that Samael had now effectively turned himself into a flying stream of flames.

The floating jet of flames reared up like a snake, and then rocketed towards Beast Boy. Very much uneager to get roasted, Beast Boy morphed into a kangaroo and bounded out of the way. And for the next few minutes, Beast Boy continue to hop and jump away in a desperate effort to keep himself out of the path of the dreaded flying stream of flames that Samael had become. But of course, Beast Boy couldn't keep himself entirely out of Samael's path forever, and when Samael at one point crash landed 'head first' so to speak mere inches behind Beast Boy, the green kangaroo was sent flying through the air before he landed hard on his belly, but thankfully had enough time in between the brief flight through the air and his landing to revert back to human form.

Before Beast Boy even had a chance to get up, Samael took a hovering position directly above the changeling and then rocketed towards him in a downward slant from his right. Beast Boy hurriedly rolled to his left, and the flying flame jet harmlessly plowed down on the empty ground he'd originally been lying on. Samael rose back up in the air and attempted to dive bomb Beast Boy from the opposite direction, but Beast Boy simply rolled over to his right and Samael again crashed down on empty space. For another few minutes, Beast Boy and Samael continued this deadly game of cat and mouse, until at one point Samael prepared himself to attempt a dive bomb attack for the thirteenth time. Upon sight of how Samael appeared to have taken a position indicating a dive bomb attack coming from his left, Beast Boy hurriedly rolled to his left right before Samael even began to move.

However, as Beast Boy soon discovered the hard way, Samael had tricked him. Instead of taking the direction that he'd indicated, Samael instead dived straight towards the area where Beast Boy was rolling to right as the changeling came to a stop at that particular area. The impact sent Beast Boy flying, and he landed painfully on the ground, grunting and groaning in pain as he ended up bouncing across the ground several times before eventually skidding to a stop inches away from plowing straight into the roots of a tree. Beast Boy had just managed to get on his hands and knees and shake his head to clear the pain when he felt an intense heat coming from his right, and he turned his head in time to see Samael, still in his flying flame jet form, hurtling head on towards him.

Beast Boy hurriedly transformed into a vulture and flew off into the air just in time to avoid getting blasted by Samael, and the fiery jet crashed straight into the tree. No sooner had the resulting explosion cleared away when Samael reverted back to his corporeal form and shut off his fiery coat. Beast Boy landed behind him and reverted back to his human form. Samael looked straight at Beast Boy, snarled, and caused his hands to go ablaze. Beast Boy shrieked, morphed into a cheetah, and hurriedly ran off right as the demon began hurling a massive rapid-fire volley of fire balls straight towards him.

As Samael continued to senselessly hurl the fire balls towards the evasive green cheetah, he yelled, "You cannot escape me forever changeling! Sooner or later, you will end up on the receiving end of my wrath!"

Beast Boy panted and gasped as he desperately pushed himself to continue to remain safely out of the path of Samael's furious volley of flaming orbs. "At this rate, that assumption is going to prove very much correct," he thought to himself. "Good God, why do I always get the difficult jobs?"

Meanwhile, Starfire was fighting her own terrifying battle against Lilith. However, unlike her friends, Starfire had been terrified about her chances from the very beginning of the battle. For unlike her friends, she had no factor that would allow for her to have a natural immunity to demonic possession. As her friends had explained over the course of the previous days, they had several factors that allowed them to not have to any fear of falling victim to demonic possession. Robin was protected by the fact that he'd been baptized. Cyborg had also been baptized, and even had the added security of the computer half of his brain. Raven, being part demon herself, was naturally immune to being possessed by a demon. As for Beast Boy, his baptism combined with the willpower of the Beast made him more than capable of making all attempts of possession by demons futile.

However, she herself, having been neither baptized nor gifted with any elements to give her added security, was very much vulnerable to possession. And to make matters worse, she had a nasty feeling that Lilith knew that. That being said, the fact that Lilith still hadn't yet possessed her and defeated her from that point onward made Starfire very, very worried. In spite of her fear, she still tried her best to make herself look as brave as possible by taking on as confident a stance as she could with her fists blazing with her distinctive star bolts. But even so, her fear was as clear as the nose on her face.

Lilith smirked maliciously at the Tamaranean warrior princess, and caused her own hands to become encased with small flurries of icy wind. "Someone's certainly high strung right now," she hissed. "I think you could definitely use some time to chill out and relax. Care to allow me to help you out with that?"

Starfire responded by lunging through the air towards Lilith with an inarticulate shriek of rage. Lilith calmly cartwheeled to her left, and Starfire soared right past her. Seconds after Starfire managed to bring herself to a halt, she found herself briefly stumbling forwards on her feet when she felt an icy object crash into her back. The object in question, had been a bowling ball sized sphere of ice that Lilith had hurled at Starfire immediately after getting back on her feet following her successfully dodging Starfire's attack. She chuckled as she saw Starfire turn her head to face her. "That certainly felt refreshing, don't you think?"

Starfire snarled, summoned a new pair of star bolts, and then shouted, "The only thing that will refresh me now is melting you down!" With an inhuman howl of fury, she abruptly rocketed up into the air. This action left Lilith quite visibly shocked. Having been expecting for Starfire to launch her star bolt attack at her while still on the ground, the Knight of Hell was left quite off guard by the Tamaranean's unexpectedly taking to the air. From her newfound position in the air, Starfire snarled, her eyes glowing dangerously green, and sent both her star bolts rocketing down towards Lilith so fast that they seemed to merge together to form a single giant star bolt. The attack came so fast that the still stunned Lilith didn't even have a chance to see the attack coming, let alone attempt to dodge it. As a result, Lilith was sent flying backward when the two star bolts smashed right into her chest.

Lilith crashed straight into one of the cliff walls of the valley, and landed on her belly, grunting from the pain that came with the impact on both her back and her stomach. She only managed to wake up fully from the impact when she heard Starfire's angry shriek coming from very close in front of her. She looked up in time to see Starfire rocketing towards her with her fist drawn back to punch at her.

Lilith hurriedly jumped, positioning herself so that she delivered a powerful flying ninja kick right to Starfire's face at the same time. The kick struck Starfire in the face so hard that the Tamaranean was sent rocketing up into the air. And when she first started to hurtle down, she came to a painful landing by slamming right into one of the cliff walls, and unlike Lilith, her face half was the part that impacted with the wall. She landed on her back, and whimpered in agony.

At the sound of a draconic shriek coming from above her, Starfire's eyes snapped open, and she screamed in horror as she saw Lilith hurtling down towards her with her fist both glowing with an icy blue energy and lifted up as if about to strike. Starfire hurriedly rolled out of the way, and Lilith's fist harmlessly struck the ground where Starfire's face had been mere seconds before. Seconds after this happened, Starfire turned out to be all the more lucky to have escaped when a large line of gigantic razor sharp icicles spouted out of the ground directly in front of Lilith.

Panting in a mixture of terror and relief, Starfire immediately took to the skies once more. Lilith, however, was not about to let her prey escape from her reach again that easily, and she caused a massive pillar of water to erupt from the ground directly beneath Starfire, and the watery blast was enough to send Starfire hurtling around in the air before eventually falling right back down on the ground once more. Promptly taking advantage of Starfire once again being on the ground, Lilith caused a massive ring of what looked very much like arctic fog to heavily cloak the area around the Tamaranean.

Chuckling darkly, Lilith summoned a small shower of hail to fall down on the area surrounding the large mass of fog. The hail landed on the area with just enough force to make it sound as if Lilith herself was running in circles around the fog. "This ought to do the trick," she thought to herself as she did this. She knew that Starfire, being unable to see anything through the fog, would likely attempt to rely on other senses such as hearing to attempt to figure out from which area Lilith would attempt to strike her. Therefore, to take advantage of this possibility, Lilith had chosen to fool Starfire into thinking that Lilith was changing positions and then strike from the very same position she'd already been in when she'd summoned the fog. Hissing in triumph, Lilith snapped her fingers and lunged in the direction of the fog right as it started to fade away.

However, the instant the fog had faded away, Lilith found herself shrieking in shock in midair when she saw that Starfire had not only remained facing the exact direction she'd faced when the fog first appeared, but also now had her right fist drawn back as if ready to punch something. Seconds later, as Lilith awkwardly flapped her arms around in the air as she hurtled towards the very much well prepared Tamaranean, Starfire pounded the demon straight in the face with her fist, sending the Knight of Hell rocketing backward.

Lilith was just barely able to position herself so that she was able to very shakily land on her feet, only to then be painfully pushed backwards when she was struck in the chest point blank by a laser blast from Starfire's eyes. The laser blast proved strong enough to push Lilith right up against one of the cliff walls.

The Knight of Hell slumped down towards the ground until she ended up sitting up against the cliff wall as opposed to standing against it. She had just managed to shake her head side to side to regain her bearings when she heard Starfire's savage warrior shriek coming from in front of her, and her eyes widened so as to get a good look at the area in front of her. At the sight of Starfire gliding head on towards her with her right fist drawn back yet again, Lilith hissed in fright and teleported away just in time to avoid getting punched in the face a second time, and the furious Tamaranean's fist pounded up against the cliff wall segment where the demon's head had been positioned with a sufficiently strong enough impact as to cause a soccer ball-sized circle of cracks. She hovered backwards a couple inches so as to gain sufficient distance between the cliff wall and herself and then landed back on her feet before preparing herself to look around to see if she could successfully get herself in the right position needed to see Lilith come out of her teleportation.

Unfortunately, before Starfire even got the chance to turn around to face any direction apart from towards the cliff wall that she'd earlier pushed Lilith up against, she was suddenly tripped up from behind when Lilith abruptly reappeared directly behind her and swiped her legs out from under her with a swing of her tail. She jumped backwards right as Starfire slammed down on the ground on her back. No sooner had Starfire thus been rendered briefly out of commission when Lilith lunged into the air towards the downed Tamaranean much like a cat, even letting out a draconic snarl of bloodlust as she pounced towards her intended prey.

Fortunately, Lilith's predatory battle cry had the unintended effect of snapping Starfire out of her dazed state, and she had just enough time to quickly look in the direction she heard it coming from and prepare herself before then proceeding to do a back flip in a way that both allowed for her to get back on her feet, and for both of her feet to slam straight into Lilith's chest in a powerful kicking attack that sent the Knight of Hell flying back away from her. Lilith landed hard on the ground and bounced thrice further away before sliding to a stop just inches away from plowing into the base of a tree.

Lilith heaved herself back onto her feet, snarled at Starfire, and caused a large wave of water to rise up from the ground behind her, even going so far as to jump up on top of it as it rose higher and higher. Having thus positioned herself much like a surfer, Lilith sent the wave rolling along towards Starfire at a speed that she could tell for a fact would allow it to reach Starfire's position far more quickly than the Tamaranean would be capable of taking off into the sky again.

Unfortunately for Lilith, what she hadn't counted on was just how strong Starfire's energy attacks actually were. As a result, she was caught quite off guard when the massive jet of star bolt energy that Starfire hurled at the wave proved powerful enough to evaporate a large hole within the wave. Barely even allowing a second to pass upon ceasing her volley, Starfire rocketed up through the makeshift escape route she'd created, soared up above Lilith, who was now off balance from the now unstable wave, and did a front flip maneuver that ended with her right foot pounding down on the back of Lilith's head.

The blow left such a tremendous impact that it not only propelled Lilith straight downward, but also cut the wave completely in half, causing the two large masses of water that were created as a result to harmlessly splash down on the ground before vanishing away. Lilith didn't even get the chance to get on her hands and knees before Starfire proceeded to uproot a tree lift it up in the air and then slam it downward right on top of Lilith in a motion much like the way one would wield a hammer.

Starfire managed to pound Lilith in this manner eight more times before Lilith finally managed to hurriedly get back on her feet, summoning water at the same time. And to further shake things up, Lilith even made sure to cause herself to rapidly spin around in circles while the water was still streaming from her hands, producing a large whirlpool-like vortex around herself right as Starfire was about to swing the tree at Lilith like a baseball bat. As a result of Lilith's well timed counter attack, the tree ended up being not only impeded in its movement by the resistance that came from striking the boundary of the whirlpool, but the strength of the vortex even proved powerful enough to yank the tree directly into the water, dragging Starfire along with it.

Starfire shrieked as she was unwittingly dragged straight into Lilith's watery vortex. For what seemed like an eternity, Starfire was violently swept around through the water before Lilith then caused the entire watery mass to explode upward in a massive ring shaped geyser. And after the water descended, Starfire didn't even have a chance to regain her bearings and prevent her fall before Lilith jumped into the air and blasted her with a powerful jet of water that she spouted from her hands. The watery blast pounded into Starfire's abdomen and sent her plowing down onto the ground.

When the water subsided, Starfire managed to open her eyes in time to see Lilith diving down in the sky towards her. Reacting purely out of instinct, Starfire fired a laser blast from her eyes. The lasers struck Lilith in the face and sent her hurtling skyward. Starfire immediately took advantage of the opportunity to get back on her feet. Unfortunately, Lilith also landed on her own feet, and she reared upward with her clenched jaws now starting to seemingly overload with icy mist. Starfire hurriedly took to the air just in time to avoid getting caught in the blast of the subzero breath attack that Lilith unleashed seconds later.

Before Lilith could even straighten back up from letting out her icy breath attack, Starfire hurled a star bolt straight into the demon's mouth, causing a miniature explosion within the area. Lilith howled in pain as smoke began to billow from her mouth and she stumbled backwards, hissing in agony and flailing her arms around as if in an effort to grab hold of something. Lilith was sent even further off balance when Starfire slammed her point blank with a jet of star bolt fire. And unlike the shot to her mouth, this blast was enough to push Lilith straight up against a cliff wall with a pounding impact.

Lilith groaned in pain after the star bolt flame jet faded away, and immediately made an attempt to get back up on her feet. Unfortunately for her, she had only just started to straighten out her legs when Starfire landed a couple feet in front of her and started rapidly throwing an unyielding volley of star bolts at her. Lilith tried her hardest to hold her ground, but the furious onslaught of star bolts made it completely impossible for the demon to stop herself from being forcibly moved backwards and remaining up against the cliff wall.

Starfire growled and snarled in fury as she continued to brutally batter Lilith with her near endless storm of star bolts. As she continued her assault, Starfire menacingly snarled, "I HAVE FOUGHT YOU LONG ENOUGH!" In a flash, she began to gradually, yet quickly, increase the intensity of the star bolt volley. As the storm of star bolts began to become increasingly quick, strong, and brutal, Starfire savagely yelled, "YOU HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO LIVE IN THIS BATTLE AGAINST ME FOR TO LONG, AND NOW, X'HAL HELP ME, I WILL VANGUISH IF IT'S THE LAST RATHAHNG THING I DO! YOU HEAR ME!?"

Lilith gasped, choked, and wheezed as she continued to feel the ceaseless wave of star bolts blasting her.

"DIE!" Starfire howled as she increased the intensity of her volley. Lilith snarled in pain and discomfort as she felt her ribs fracture under the impact of the star bolts.

"DIE!" Starfire growled as she increased the intensity of the volley yet again. Lilith gasped and hissed in agony as she suddenly felt her left leg give out with an ominous crack under the force of the assault.

"DIE!" Starfire roared as she proceeded to increase her onslaught of star bolts to its maximum capable intensity. Lilith had only enough time to make a slight, near impossible to hear, whimper of fear before she ended up getting pounded so hard against the cliff wall by the incessant volley of star bolts that it crumbled behind her, and she tumbled down backwards into the large hole that was formed as a result. Seconds later, more rocks from the cliff began to break apart from the wall and collapse down on top of her, seemingly burying her alive. And even after the rock slide had settled, Starfire still continued to fire her star bolts at the area in a blind rage for about 4 to 5 minutes straight before finally calming down sufficiently enough to end her unyielding storm of star bolts.

For a brief moment, Starfire remained standing where she was, staring intently at the large mass of rocks that had collapsed upon Lilith. After about a minute, Starfire found herself wondering whether or not she'd perhaps killed Lilith. "Is she dead?" She thought to herself.

Then, she heard a rumbling sound coming from in front of her, and Starfire looked straight back at the rock pile just in time to see the rocks briefly appear to tremble before the entire top part of it came flying upwards, and a pair of clawed demonic open palms shot up from within the rocky mass. Seconds later, right after the rocks landed in front of a surprised Starfire, Lilith reared up from within the rocks that remained, a murderous snarling glare on her face, and Starfire's own eyes widened in horror as she realized that she was now in a very tense situation.

Lilith growled, "Now you die!" With a snarl, she jumped out of the rocky pile she'd been buried under, and caused her fist to slam down on the ground when she landed. In a flash, Starfire was sent hurtling skyward by a watery geyser that erupted from underneath her. When Starfire was about ten feet off the ground, Lilith caused all the water to converge together into a massive sphere before causing it to flash freeze. With Starfire now effectively sealed up inside a giant orb of ice, she lifted her hand, causing the sphere to be telekinetically lifted up further into the air at an alarmingly fast rate. Seconds later, when the icy sphere was about twice as many feet above the ground as it had been at its creation, Lilith swiped her hand downward, causing Starfire's frosty cocoon to come rocketing back down to the ground, crashing landing with such a colossal impact as to both shatter the ice and leave Starfire emphatically slammed down upon the ground.

Starfire had literally just gotten herself onto her hands and knees, groaning from the pain of the impact, when she heard Lilith shout a phrase in a language she could not understand. She turned her head just in time to see Lilith rise into the air on thin air, glowing with blue energy as a large swarm of ominously sharp looking icicles materialized in the air around her. Starfire's eyes widened, and her unease only increased when all the icicles seemed to position themselves so that they were pointing straight at her.

Acting purely on instinct, Starfire jumped up into the air and started flying. A small circle of eight icicles jabbed into the ground right where Starfire had been standing seconds earlier. As Starfire continued to hurry through the air, more and more groups of eight icicles continued to dart at her and jab menacingly into whatever target they happened to strike instead of her. At one point, when the icicle spikes started getting unnervingly close to her, Starfire grabbed onto a large boulder and positioned it directly to her right side as a shield. As a result, the icicles harmlessly pounded against the boulder and shattered upon contact.

Starfire let out what sounded half like a terrified scream and half like a despairing whimper as she felt the icicles slam again and again into the boulder she was shielding herself with. "This is the not good," she thought to herself. "This is most definitely the not good." As she continued to think this, she looked towards the direction where she'd last seen Robin making his way to pursue Savage, and saw him on the top of a cliff wall clashing his sword with a bone blade wielded by Savage. Half admiring and half in tears, Starfire sniffled, and mentally stated in her mind, "Robin, I wish you the best of luck."

Gritting her teeth, Starfire mentally prepared herself to continue her very difficult battle against Lilith, for she knew that Robin greatly depended on her and the other Titans holding off the Knights of Hell long enough for him to stop Savage and reclaim the Infernal Key from him. And so, she continued to engage in her desperate battle against Lilith. The other Titans fighting alongside her, likewise continued to engage in their own punishing battles against Azazel, Samael, and Asmodeus, for they all knew just how much Robin was counting on them in spite of his initial reluctance in leaving them to deal with the nightmarishly powerful demons. But even as they continued to fight, none of them needed to be a genius in order to tell that they were fighting a losing battle.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, Robin and Savage were fighting their very own fantastic battle. For quite some time now, the two warriors had endlessly clashed their blades. Robin, to his credit, had managed to more than capably hold his own against the immortal caveman in spite of the latter's boasted centuries of practice. Even so, Savage still had the upper hand when it came to overall body strength, and Robin wasn't entirely certain at the current moment just how much longer he would last.

However, what Robin didn't know was that Savage himself was beginning to wonder just how long he himself would last in his current duel with the boy wonder. Although he had been telling the truth about taking part in sword fights before over the course of his many years, he hadn't fought nearly enough of them to gain the centuries' worth of experience that he had bragged about to Robin for the sake of a bluff to attempt to discourage him. It had been many decades since the last time he'd ever even used a sword in combat, and considerably longer still since he had ever fought a sword fight that would even remotely qualify as an honest sword fight. Over the last few years, every time he'd used his sword, Savage had tended to use it against weak opponents who had little chance of properly defending themselves, and had often been able to defeat them with very little effort.

Now, with his current opponent having managed to survive as long as he currently had as well as block all of his strongest and most powerful attacks with almost contemptuous ease, only then did Savage realize just how lax and careless he'd become in regard to his sword fighting abilities. Granted, with how very uncommon it was to encounter anyone these days who used such a weapon, he hadn't really needed to keep his skill in that area at all that professional a level. In fact, the only people he'd ever encountered before now who could truly hold their own so well in a sword fight these days were Slade and Batman. And of those two, the only one he'd actually fought in such a manner was Slade during a practice duel. But now, in a real battle against an opponent who had very obviously taken the opportunity to not only take the training on how to wield a sword but also continuously practice with it so as to not lose his edge, Savage could tell (though he wouldn't admit it out loud right there in front of Robin) that he was in trouble. In spite of all the sword fights he'd taken part in during the previous years of his life, the fact that he'd so foolishly allowed his many years of experience to drain away and dull out his skill put him at a severe disadvantage against this considerably younger opponent who'd obviously gone to the trouble of maintaining his own razor sharp skill.

In fact, when Savage just happened to catch a glimpse of Abaddon still standing nearby watching, he mentally winced when he saw the very disapproving glare directed towards him from Abaddon's face which the demon made no effort to hide. Even the swarthy Knight of Hell could tell just by looking at the current spectacle unfolding in front of him that Savage's skill at sword fighting in its current state was beyond unacceptable. He himself had always made sure to constantly train alongside his fellow Knights of Hell day after day after day for all the countless eons that they had existed, for they knew how wise it was to always keep their skills sharpened and well honed. And Savage could tell that if it hadn't been for Abaddon's willingness to respect his own wishes, the demon would have already intervened by now.

Eventually deciding to try to get Robin to lose his edge by making him angry, Savage directed a smirk at the boy wonder and said, "I will admit, I underestimated you. I must admit, your sword fighting ability reminds me very much of the similar skill level that my old partner Slade has."

Savage found himself victoriously cheering mentally when he saw Robin's eyes briefly narrow at the mention of Slade combined with the implication the boy wonder could very clearly hear within the statement. Chuckling, Savage continued, "Now that I think about it, from what I've been told about you, not to mention now managed to see in person, you remind me of Slade in more ways than I thought possible."

At this point, even Abaddon could now see how very clearly tense Robin was getting from Savage's continuing to compare him to one of the Titans' greatest enemies. Both Abaddon and Savage could see how Robin had his masked eyes narrowed viciously, his teeth gritted in a feral snarl, his body all tensed up, his fists tightening and loosening in an alternating pattern on the hilt of his sword, and even hear him growling and grunting furiously like an animal. Robin was now very clearly fighting with all his willpower not to go flying off the handle right then and there, and Savage knew it. A wide grin now on his face, Savage then stated, "In fact, if it weren't for the fact that I've actually met the only two boys who fit that category from a biological point of view, I would think that you were his son."

At the sound of that last statement, Robin completely lost it, just as Savage had expected. With an inarticulate roar of rage, Robin lifted his sword upwards and charged towards Savage. Savage smirked smugly at the charging teenage hero like a wolf, and positioned his sword so as to unleash a forward jabbing thrust that would pierce him straight through his chest. However, much to Savage's surprise, right when Robin was three steps away from getting into the position in which he'd planned to stab him, the boy wonder jumped into the air and flew at an upwards slant in Savage's direction quite out of reach of Savage's blade.

As Savage found himself gaping open mouthed at Robin, the boy wonder did a quintuple front flip through the air, and then slowly hurtled at a downward slant straight towards him, and with his sword risen up and at the ready to unleash a downward slash that would slice him in half! Savage hurriedly lifted his sword up to the appropriate blocking position, and the blade of Robin's sword slammed down on the bone blade with an unearthly clang.

Snarling, Robin rapidly kicked his left foot against Savage's chest, using it as a means to propel himself backward. He flew off of Savage, tossing his sword in the air towards the direction he himself was heading and did a triple back flip before landing palm first on his right hand and using it to propel himself up into the air again. Thus he turned his landing into a comfortable triple somersault before skidding to a halt on his hands and knees after his fourth landing. All of two seconds passed after Robin came to a full stop before he lifted his right hand up in the air without even looking in the direction he'd lifted his hand in, and his sword landed perfectly back in its grasp.

At the sight of this famous cinematic scene reenacted directly before his eyes, Savage gaped at the Dark Knight's prodigal son in clear surprise. Even Abaddon looked visibly shocked. At the sight of the stunned look on Savage's face, the still dangerously angry boy wonder glared menacingly at Savage. "HOW DARE YOU COMPARE ME TO HIM!?"

Roaring savagely in fury, Robin rushed towards Savage yet again. This time, Savage didn't even have the chance to properly position his sword for unleashing an attack of his own before Robin drew his sword back in a position that clearly indicated an incoming sideways slashing movement from the right, and Savage was forced to hurriedly position his arm so as to be able to initiate the appropriate blocking technique.

However, Robin had tricked Savage yet again, for mere seconds after Savage had gotten himself ready for the block, Robin rapidly switched his sword from his right hand to his left in almost a blink of an eye. Savage's eyes widened at the unexpected technique, and Robin unleashed a guttural howl of rage before jabbing his sword towards the immortal caveman in a straight upwards slanted thrust. Savage only managed to survive due to a reflex action from his shock at Robin's switch-hand technique causing his head and neck to just happen to move to the left in time for Robin's sword to come to a stop a mere centimeter away from Savage's neck instead of jabbing clean through his neck the way Robin had been intending. Savage didn't even realize just where the sword even was until he saw Robin draw it back, and he briefly gaped in shock at the empty air where the sword had been before being drawn back to attention by another angry howl from Robin.

Savage was only able to block the vicious stroke that Robin sent his way through sheer luck, and before long, he found himself on a desperate game of defense as Robin unleashed a blinding assault of slashes, cuts, jabs, and thrusts, leaving Savage absolutely no time to go on the offense and forcing him to resort to a repertoire that consisted entirely of blocks and dodges. As this happened, Savage cursed mentally, for now it seemed that his last ditch effort at getting Robin to lose his edge had only given Robin a brand new edge. While Savage had managed to gain a very slight advantage in Robin's newly triggered rage, he had also given Robin a currently far more powerful advantage of his own in that his attacks were now unbelievably faster than they'd been when Robin had been calm. "Of all the rotten luck," Savage thought to himself. It would now definitely take a miracle to defeat Robin in this duel now.

As Robin continued to unleash his unbelievable barrage of blows, he proceeded to angrily shout, his intensity increasing with each word, "I! AM! NOT! ANY! THING! LIKE! HIM!" Soon after shouting that last word, he struck Savage's blade with such a strong blow that the entire bone-made weapon went flying out of Savage's hand and landed right back at the bottom of the nearby cliff. Savage briefly stared agape towards the edge of the cliff as if the action would somehow magically cause his weapon to return, then nervously turned his head back to Robin just in time for the boy wonder to send him flying backward with an almost inhumanly strong flying ninja kick to the face.

Savage flew backward at such a high speed that he was only to come to a stop when he pounded into a large tree behind him with an almost earthshaking impact. In fact, soon after Savage slumped down to the ground after contact with the tree, the tree tipped over and slammed down on the ground, its roots popping up from the soil, effectively becoming uprooted. To the dazed Savage, Robin seemed to appear directly in front of him out of thin air as if he'd teleported.

Snarling, Robin grabbed the immortal caveman by the lapel, dragged him forward, and placed the tip of his sword against the villain's throat. "DON'T YOU EVER COMPARE ME TO THAT PSYCHOPATH!" Robin roared. "I AM NOTHING LIKE HIM! ALWAYS WAS! ALWAYS WILL! I HAVE FRIENDS THAT I BOTH TRUST AND LOVE! AND ALL HE CARES ABOUT IS DEATH AND DESTRUCTION!"

Savage could only gape in surprise at Robin as he continued to stare angrily down at him with his sword to his throat. However, when he then saw Abaddon staring towards them with a smirk on his face before then gesturing with a sideways motion of his head towards the area at the bottom of the cliff, Savage smirked straight at Robin before saying, "Well everything you care about will soon be lost."

Robin glared confusedly at Savage. "What is he talking about?" he thought to himself. Then, with a shriek of shock, Robin found himself flying away to the side seemingly without any aid. He slammed up against a tree, his back pressing against the hard bark, and found himself strangely pinned to it by an invisible force. And to make matters worse, the impact against the tree was strong enough to cause him to involuntarily let go of his sword, which bounced thrice before coming to a stop a foot or two in front of Savage. As Robin struggled to try to escape from whatever was pinning him up against the tree as well as figure out just what was holding him in place, he managed to take a look in the area opposite from the direction he'd been sent flying, and cursed mentally when he saw Abaddon standing nearby with his hand extended towards him. He had completely forgotten about Abaddon. "And even worse," he thought to himself. "Apparently, he has telekinesis."

Abaddon smirked at the boy wonder as he growled and squirmed in his vice-like telekinetic grip, then gestured with his horned head towards the area at the bottom of the cliff wall that they were gathered on. "Observe little bird," he stated smugly. "I'll allow you that."

Growling, Robin turned his head to his right so he could look at the area Abaddon had indicated. At the sight of the scene that awaited him down there, though he allowed no visual sign of it to be exposed, his heart sank. His friends all appeared to be in severely bad condition. Beast Boy in particular, was on his hands and knees, panting heavily towards the ground. The four demons they'd been fighting, however, were standing not too far away from their respective opponents, smirking smugly and looking as if they hadn't even broken a sweat.

Unfortunately, as Robin would soon find out, this particular scene was not the worst of what Abaddon had planned for him to observe. Seconds later, right as it looked as if Beast Boy were about to attempt to force himself back on his feet, Samael's right hand suddenly rocketed forward and grabbed him by the throat before lifting him up high enough in the air so that they could directly look each other in the eyes.

The crimson demon chuckled and smirked at the sight of the changeling alternating between coughing from the tight grip on his throat and snarling defiantly. "My you look cold," Samael stated darkly. Beast Boy growled, his emerald eyes blazing venomously with defiance, clearly not about to admit defeat. Samael chuckled again at the sight of this, and then stated, "Why don't I go ahead and warm you back up?" At the sound of this last statement, Robin found himself staring particularly intently at Samael, for despite the words the demon had said, the tone with which he'd said them was enough to make the boy wonder feel very worried about just what the Knight of Hell was planning to do.

Seconds later, the hand Samael had around Beast Boy's throat began to glow with a fiery orange light. Beast Boy's eyes abruptly widened; but then they closed, his teeth gritted in a feral snarl, and his face tensed up. Then, much to Robin's horror, the changeling's head jerked upward and back and he unleashed a pained animalistic howling. "MOWRUHAL! MOWRUHAL! MOWRUHAL!" Beast Boy roared inarticulately in agony as the orange glow appeared to intensify.

At first, Robin was still uncertain as to just what was happening in spite of his knowing that Beast Boy was obviously in great pain. But then, when he saw smoke suddenly start to rise from Samael's hand and Beast Boy's neck, Robin's eyes widened in horror as he realized what was happening. "He's incinerating him!" Robin thought to himself in his mind. In a flash, he attempted to throw himself to his right, but Abaddon's telekinesis kept him firmly pinned up to the tree.

Seconds later, Raven turned her head to face the direction that she could hear Beast Boy's pained shrieking, and her violet eyes widened as she too realized what was happening. In that instant, in an exact opposite of her usual behavior, she ran towards him with her face clearly expression a look of terror and concern. "Beast Boy!" she yelled.

Unfortunately, right as Raven was five steps away from Beast Boy, Azazel pointed his finger tips from both hands at her, and then sent tendrils of electricity spouting out from them. The ten bursts of lightning crashed straight into Raven's chest and started to violently crackle and spark, causing Raven to tense herself up to a halt. Her own eyes closed, and her face took on an expression very similar to the one that had been Beast Boy's face before he'd begun his pained howling. But unlike the changeling, Raven stalwartly refused to let herself be reduced to the same state as her verdant green friend. She had always been stronger than that.

Cyborg caught an eyeful of what was happening to his chromatically challenged friends, and he promptly caused both of his arms to convert to sonic cannon form before pointing them straight at Azazel's head and Samael's left side, which were positioned so that he could easily strike them without running the risk of catching Raven and Beast Boy in the blast. "No way am I letting you do that!" he yelled as he started to charge his sonic lasers.

However, right as Cyborg was about halfway finished with charging up his sonic cannons, Asmodeus placed both of his hands up against the open barrels of the cannons. Cyborg's one human eyebrow rose in confusion. But then he heard a hiss, and he suddenly felt an unbelievable pain directly inside the area where the barrels of the sonic cannons were located that felt as if they were being dipped in some sort of boiling liquid. Screeching in pain, he took a closer look at the demon's hands, and found his eyes widening as he both saw that they were glowing green and heard what sounded like some sort of bubbling liquid pouring off of his hands and into the sonic cannons. "This better not be what I think it is," he thought to himself.

Sadly, his suspicions proved all too correct when he suddenly felt himself jolting uncontrollably and his mechanical parts started crackling and sparking as if they were violently experiencing a power surge. "Oh dang!" he thought to himself. It appeared that Asmodeus was causing acid to flow from his hands straight into Cyborg's internal areas and that it was now beginning to melt him down from the inside.

Starfire's eyes widened at the sight of the terrible agony her friends were being forced to undergo, and she promptly prepared herself to take off and rocket to her friends' rescue. However, right as her feet were about a foot off the ground, she suddenly felt a chilling sensation on her farms that appeared to press up against the sides of her arms almost as if there were metallic bars rising up from the ground and pressing up against her arms so as to prevent her from moving. She managed to take a good look at just what was pinning up against her arms, and saw that they had been pinioned in an outstretched sideways position by none other than large icicles sticking out of the ground.

At the sight of this, Starfire looked directly in front of her in time to see Lilith standing there with her glowing blue hands raised, and a cruel smirk on her face. Seconds later, Lilith maliciously hissed, "Time for me to get to know you on a more personal level." Starfire's eyes widened again, and she gasped in horror as she realized what Lilith was about to do.

Robin soon reached the same conclusion that the Tamaranean had come to, and he angrily shouted, "Don't you dare!"

With a hiss that sounded almost like a chuckle, Lilith collapsed into her smoke form, positioned herself in a way that made her look like a scrunched up airborne inchworm, and then rocketed straight at Starfire's face. Starfire's head jerked upward involuntarily at a slant as the icy blue smoke that Lilith had become proceeded to start tunneling into her mouth. Robin could only watch in horror as Lilith proceeded to rapidly slither her way into Starfire's mouth.

No sooner had the last of the smoke entered Starfire's mouth when the Tamaranean's head abruptly lowered back into the position it had been in before Lilith had entered, her eyes shut tight. Robin hadn't even seen her close her eyes. "Oh please no, please no," he thought to himself for the next few seconds.

Then Starfire opened her eyes, but they were no longer truly Starfire's eyes. They were now glowing a solid blue in a way very similar to the way her eyes naturally glowed green when she was angry or how the basilisks' eyes had glowed red when charging their lethal eye beams. Then the sudden uncharacteristically emotionless expression that had come upon her face the moment the last of the smoke entering her mouth changed almost instantaneously into a sadistic grin, and Robin immediately knew that there was no doubt about it now. Lilith had now taken possession of Starfire's body.

Starfire looked upward towards Robin . . . "No, not Starfire, Lilith," Robin thought to himself. "Lilith's the one actively looking towards me right now." Then Lilith directed Starfire's head to look towards the other three Titans in the area as her fellow Knights of Hell continued to have their way with them. "There," Lilith then said . . . but in Starfire's voice! "Much better now don't you think? Now why don't you be a good little girl and stay still while I make you watch my compatriots kill your friends!"

"Get out of her!" Robin yelled indignantly.

Lilith looked at Robin, her devilish grin still on her 'borrowed' face, and said, "Oh I think not. I quite like this host, and I'm certainly not going to let her intervene, let alone save you or your friends that my compatriots are taking care of right this very moment."

At the same time that Lilith said this, while still painfully enough in Starfire's voice, Cyborg could only grunt and growl as he looked towards the possessed Tamaranean, a glare on his face as he too furiously thought to himself that Lilith needed to seriously get out of her current stolen body. The big brother figure in him was very much in disapproval over Lilith's currently being inside Starfire.

Beast Boy and Raven, however, had other things to worry about. Raven, tensing herself against the pain, began to push herself against the electricity blasting at her from Azazel's fingertips and walk the last few steps towards Beast Boy, extending her right hand. Beast Boy managed to see this, and he instinctively extended his left hand towards Raven. Raven managed to take four steps before she found herself having to stop because of how intensely stronger the electricity was becoming as she got closer in proximity to Azazel. Despite how hard she and Beast Boy struggled and stretched their arms from their current position, their hands were just out of reach of each other, and they grunted and groaned from a mixture of pain and despair.

Then, all of a sudden, Azazel shut off his bursts of electricity. Raven collapsed onto her hands and knees as a result of still being tensed up for the impact with the electricity, and she gasped in pain and relief. Then she managed to look up towards Azazel with a confused look on her face. Why had he turned off his electricity?

Azazel's fellow Knights of Hell also were gaping at their comrade with incredulous looks as they saw this unexpected action. In fact, they were so surprised that Samael and Asmodeus even ended up unintentionally shutting off their own attacks, thus allowing Beast Boy and Cyborg to have a much needed break from the agonizing experience they were being put through. As they gasped and wheezed in pain and relief, they both looked towards Raven and Azazel, clearly wondering just what was going on. Robin, Abaddon, and Savage also gaped at the scene. "What in his Malevolence's name?" Abaddon asked in confusion.

About a minute later, Raven noticed Azazel direct a look towards her that she could have sworn looked almost sympathetic, then close his eyes briefly, and then open them before gesturing with his left hand towards Beast Boy. It appeared that he was silently stating 'Go ahead'. Raven's eyes widened in surprise and confusion, and she pointed towards Beast Boy herself, her own facial expression asking for confirmation of what he was letting her do. Azazel nodded, the sympathetic look still on his face, and he repeated his earlier 'go ahead' gesture. Panting in relief, Raven struggled back up onto her feet, took the final step towards Beast Boy, and extended her right hand back towards him.

Beast Boy, not even caring at this point how very out of character Raven's current behavior was, instinctively extended his own left hand towards her and eagerly clasped onto her right hand. For a few merciful seconds, they stood like that, panting and gasping in relief. Raven then looked up towards Beast Boy's face, and found herself giving off a small weak smile at the sight of the changeling directing a half cheeky and half relieved toothy grin of his own towards her.

Then, the moment ended, and Azazel pointed his fingers back at Raven. Tensing up, Raven and Beast Boy tightened their hold on each other's hands, closing their eyes as they braced themselves. Seconds later, Azazel resumed his electrifying attack, and Samael and Asmodeus resumed their own attacks. This time, both Beast Boy _and_ Raven let out a pained howl as they felt their incineration and electrocution resume, but not once did they let go of each other. Cyborg, meanwhile, grunted and groaned as he started crackling and sparking in lights again from the acid being released violently into his system. Lilith, on the other hand, merely caused her earlier look of confusion to be replaced with yet another sadistic grin on the face of her stolen body.

After what felt like an eternity to the two chromatically challenged teen heroes, they involuntarily let out a particularly agonized sounding roar of despair as the pain from their respective situations became far stronger than before. As this happened, Beast Boy found his vision from within his closed eyes become nothing but a pure blank mass of red light while Raven's own closed eye vision became clouded by what appeared to be a massive white light. Seconds later, their vision went completely dark once more, and their minds went blank. But not once did they let go of their hands.

When the two chromatically challenged Titans abruptly relaxed in position and ceased their agonized howling, Azazel shut off his electricity and Samael let go of Beast Boy's neck, shutting off his fiery hand at the same time. The two teenage heroes crumpled to the ground, still clasping each other's hands. Both looked in very horrid condition. Raven's already pale skin had turned an ominous shade of pure white, and her hair and clothes had been charred to a coal-like shade of black. Beast Boy, however, was hardly recognizable anymore, as his entire body, clothes, skin, and hair included, had become cloaked up in such a thick layer of ash that he might as well have been made out of coal. Seconds after they landed, a small plume of smoke rose up from Beast Boy's newly blackened hair and a couple weak bursts of electricity crackled up on Raven before then blinking out.

Samael and Azazel chuckled, stared each other in the eyes with quite literally devilish smirks on their faces. Then they looked straight at the two teenage heroes that now lay prone at their feet, leaned towards them with one foot forward each, and placed their left index fingers on their respective targets. No sooner had the two Knights of Hell positioned themselves in that manner when they proceeded to activate their mind reading power, their eyes turning pure black as a result of their activated mental abilities.

From his unwilling post against the tree up on the cliff, Robin continued to stare at his two prone chromatically challenged friends and the two demons they'd been battling, wondering what was in fact going. "What are they doing?" he thought to himself, not yet fully understanding what was happening. "Why did they stop attacking? And . . .," then his eyes narrowed as a particularly eerie thought came into his mind.

"Wait a minute," Robin thought to himself. "Why aren't they moving?" This time, the question he mentally asked himself was referring to Beast Boy and Raven rather than the Knights of Hell that had been so brutally attacking them not too long ago. Then his trained eyes noticed something else about the two fallen Titans that made him feel even more worried, to the point that his narrow-eyed glare became a painfully obvious look of concern and nervousness. "For that matter," he thought to himself. "Why aren't they breathing?"

Cyborg, much quicker on the uptake at that particular moment, closed his eyes, slowly nodded his head up and down in a respectful motion, and then looked towards them with a weak smile on his face as he felt his systems start to wind down as a result of the intense damage being dealt upon his interior programming by Asmodeus' acidic flood. "It was nice knowing you buddy," he thought to himself. He then chuckled weakly in his mind, and stated in an almost whisper-like tone, "I always knew you two would get together at some point or other." Then, with a resigned sigh, his human eye closed, his red eye dulled to a complete black, and his systems shut down completely.

Asmodeus shut off his acid streams, let go of Cyborg's arms, and smugly stepped to the side. Seconds later, the cybernetic teen fell face-first upon the ground, his sonic cannons reverting back to Cyborg's hands. The verdant green Knight of Hell let out a small hiss of pleasure, placed his clawed left index finger on the back of Cyborg's neck, and his eyes turned almost completely black.

Robin's eyes narrowed at the sight of the change in color of the demon's eyes. He remembered one of the demons from the demonic advance party that had invaded the tower three nights prior; or more accurately, he remembered how its naturally black eyes had seemed to turn an even darker shade than normal during the time in which it had claimed to be reading Cyborg's mind. "That must be why Asmodeus's own eyes have now turned from green to black," he thought to himself. "But why is he trying to read Cyborg's mind?" Then he looked back at Samael and Azazel and thought, "On a similar note, why are Samael and Azazel trying to read Beast Boy and Raven's minds?"

A few minutes later, the eyes of the three Knights of Hell reverted back to their normal color, they chuckled darkly in pleasure, and then they stood up. As Robin continued to watch, the three demons looked straight at Abaddon, who was looking down towards them with a facial expression that appeared to be silently asking for some sort of confirmation. Abaddon's three male compatriots smirked, and then nodded their heads up and down. "Radio silence on all three of them," Samael stated. "The job is done."

"Good," Abaddon responded. He then turned his head to Savage, who nodded his head.

"You've done well," stated the immortal caveman. "You are dismissed."

In a flash, Azazel, Samael, and Asmodeus assumed their incorporeal forms and rocketed off into the sky before slithering off towards further down the path towards the area further in the direction Savage had originally been heading before Robin's interruption. Robin's eyes narrowed as he pondered what the demons had said. "Radio silence?" he thought to himself. "What does that mean?"

Then he looked at his three prone friends for a couple more minutes, noted how they were even now still not moving, and began to wonder just what sort of reason the demons would have possibly stopped attacking them in light of how they'd appeared to be making it quite clear that they'd planned to . . .

Then it hit him, and his eyes widened in horror as he finally realized just what 'radio silence' meant in the context that the three Knights of Hell had just referred to the phrase. "No," he thought to himself. Looking closely at his three fallen friends once again, very visibly shaking, he then thought, "It can't be." His three friends still didn't move. "No, this isn't happening, it can't be!"

But it was happening. The demons who'd attacked them had attempted to read their minds, and judging by their 'radio silence' comment, they'd gotten absolutely no reading from the three teenage heroes. And as Robin very painfully now remembered, Raven herself had once explained that there was only one way that a being could ever leave absolutely zero mental readings for a being that could read minds or attempt to establish psychic contact. As much as Robin now didn't want to even consider admitting it, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg were now lost in a way that allowed little to no chance of return. His friends, were now dead.

As if in confirmation of this, Robin then heard a tragically familiar feminine voice state, "Brings back memories doesn't it?" He turned his head towards the area he'd heard Starfire's voice coming from, and growled angrily as he saw the still very much possessed Tamaranean now standing free of the icicle restraints with her feet flat on the ground. Lilith smirked, the face of her stolen body taking on a sadistic Cheshire Cat-like grin, and then hissed cruelly, "I hope you enjoyed the show Boy Wonder."

Robin snarled indignantly. "Get out of her right now, or I swear to God . . ."

"What?" Lilith retorted in an almost mocking tone. "What are you and God gonna do? Last time I checked, you're not exactly in the proper position to be carrying out any threats. And besides, it's not like you have anything to threaten me with anyway."

Robin growled at the insulting retort. He was not in the mood for any banter. Lilith chuckled, placed her 'borrowed' hands on the hips of her vessel, and stated, "But nonetheless, I'll be leaving this host real soon."

Robin knew better than to sigh in relief. He had a very bad feeling that Lilith wasn't about to let him, or Starfire for that matter, get off that easily.

However, even with Robin's current suspicions, what Lilith did next still took the boy wonder by surprise. "But first," Lilith stated, "there's one last little detail I'd best take care of before I leave." And then, much to Robin's horror, she caused Starfire's neck to jerk to its left so fast that Starfire's head and neck rapidly turn a full 360 with a sickening crack.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Robin roared in anguish. He may have not been a genius in Tamaranean anatomy, but even he could tell that there was no way a Tamaranean could possibly be any more capable of turning their head at that kind of angle, let alone at the speed with which Lilith had committed the action, and living to tell the tale than an Earthling like himself.

Lilith cackled maliciously, gave a slight mocking wave at Robin with her stolen right hand, and said, "Toodleoo," in a sickeningly sweet tone. Then Starfire's head involuntarily jerked upwards and back as a torrent of blue smoke proceeded to erupt out of her mouth and rocket into the sky before hurrying off in the same direction that three similar plumes of smoke (albeit, of different colors) had traveled. Seconds after the last of the blue smoke exited Starfire, the Tamaranean briefly seemed to glance weakly towards the area in front of her. Then, with a weak gurgling noise, her eyes rolled up towards the top of her head before closing, and then she fell straight down to the ground, landing flat on her back.

Robin stared in horror and despair at the sight. "No, this isn't happening," he growled viciously to himself in his mind. "This can't be happening! It can't!"

"Oh but it is."

Snarling in fury, Robin jerked his head away from his fallen friends to direct a murderous glare towards Abaddon. "STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"Oh yeah?" said Abaddon. "Says you and what army? Last time I checked, your army is currently not in any position to help you."

Robin snarled and tensed himself up as he began to struggle even more furiously against Abaddon's telekinetic hold. "When I get out of this," he growled, "I will summon my sword, and so help me, I will slice your bloody head off."

"Wow, I'm trembling in my boots," Abaddon responded sarcastically. Then he grinned, and stated smugly, "Oh wait, I don't have any boots."

"Very funny," Robin grumbled. "How about you let me see how funny you are after I slice you in half?"

"Sorry little bird," said Abaddon. "But that won't be necessary. Tell your friends I said hello."

At the sound of that, Robin tensed up. "Oh no," he thought to himself. "He's gonna kill me."

"There will be no need for that Abaddon."

Abaddon turned his head. Savage shook his head up and down. "Let him go Abaddon. Rejoin your fellow Knights. I'll deal with this one."

Abaddon raised his eyebrow. "You are certain?"

"Yes Abaddon," Savage stated with a more than slightly aggravated tone. "I'll be fine. Now release him and let me handle things here."

Abaddon narrowed his eyes, looked at Robin, then at Savage, and then nodded his head up and down with his eyes closed before saying, "If you say so."

With a wave of the demon's hand, the invisible force pinning Robin against the tree finally vanished, and the boy wonder fell flat on his face. Abaddon made a 'tsk, tsk' noise, looked over at the face planted teenage hero, and said, "Consider yourself lucky that my former client is so merciful. But rest assured, if you're still alive when he's done with you, I'll make sure you suffer a far worse fate when our army reaches you." After stating this ominous warning, Abaddon shifted into his incorporeal form and hurtled off after his fellow Knights of Hell.

Robin slowly got back on his feet, groaning from the effort. By the time he was fully upright, he could see that Savage was still standing exactly where he was, not having moved a single muscle. At the sight of the immortal caveman still standing in the exact same position as before and without a single emotion betrayed on his face, Robin glowered at him, clearly not in the mood for any games.

"What do you want Savage?" Robin grunted irritably. "If you're gonna gloat, then suck it up. I'm not in the mood."

"I can see that," Savage responded, and he turned his head to look at Robin clearly. "And that being said, I'm not going to gloat. And before you ask, I'm not going to kill you either."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "And why not? You already had your friends there kill of mine. What makes killing me with your hands any different? After all, you were willing to do exactly that during our little duel earlier."

"True," Savage admitted. "But now, let's just say that times have changed." He gestured towards the four corpses in the valley below. "First off, at this point, killing you would be rather redundant, not to mention far too easy for me at this point if you attempted to try to do battle with me in your current emotional state. Second, it isn't really all that necessary. Considering the current emotional and mental state that you will definitely be in at this point, not to mention just how high the odds will soon be in my favor, it really won't be all that necessary to kill you right now. And besides, let's just say that killing you right now would be much too kind."

Savage gestured towards the corpses of the other Titans once more, and proceeded to explain. "You see boy wonder, you could have stopped this from happening. If you hadn't been so focused on me, or as willing to respect your friends' wishes as you turned out to be, you could have helped them defeat their attackers. Granted, you'd certainly be in a real attempting to catch up with me in time to prevent me from opening the Alpha Devil's Gate at that point, but your friends would have nonetheless at least still been alive."

Robin growled. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Needless to say," Savage continued as if he hadn't even heard Robin's comment. "It would be much better for me to just leave you here to live with the aftermath of your decision, and for that matter the guilt of more or less being the one responsible for their loss."

The immortal caveman turned around to face the direction he needed to follow to reach the Alpha Devil's Gate, his face firm and determined, and stated, "As for me, I shall resume my little day trip. But while I'm at it, I might as well at least give you these." As he said this, he drew out what appeared to be a large tablet, a small chalice, a black staff with a ruby at the tip, and a soccer ball-sized orb that appeared to be made out of a diamond-like material from the folds of his cloak. He then tossed them over his shoulder, and they landed right at Robin's feet with a thud.

Robin took a slight glance at the objects that Savage had unceremoniously dumped at his feet, then back at Savage with his eyebrow raised. "And why would you give me these? Don't you need them?"

"Need them?" Savage asked with a hint of amusement. "Hah, don't make me laugh. I highly doubt I'll need those at this point. Considering how long it's now taken for me to get ahold of the Infernal Key, I've had all the time needed to commit all the spells and other information within that tablet, particularly the phrase I need to say in order to activate the key and open the Devil's Gate, to memory. And besides, considering how long I've now been working in Lucifer's service, I'm sure that he and the Knights of Hell will be more than willing to put in a good word or two for me so that their underlings will obey me without my even needing to have the Fallen Tools, let alone the Infernal Tablet, within my immediate possession."

He then turned his head to face Robin. "And besides, you can also consider my leaving you these items as both a consolation prize and my own personal form of mockery for you for this occasion." He turned his head to face the direction of the Alpha afterlife portals once more. "Farewell boy wonder," said Savage. "It was a true pleasure to have done battle with you. But now, let's just say that I have serious business to take care of at the moment. And as for you, feel free to linger here and grieve for your loss as long as you wish. After all, it's currently only 1:00 in the afternoon, and I have only to wait until 7:00 pm at the earliest and 11:00 pm at the latest before the Infernal Key, or any other key of Dante for that matter, becomes fully capable of doing its work."

He nodded his head as if in confirmation of his own statement. "Once again, farewell." Savage walked away, and Robin remained standing where he was, watching as the immortal caveman continued to walk further and further away from him. Around five minutes later, Savage reached a sufficient distance for Robin to be capable of neither seeing nor hearing him. For another tense few moments, Robin clenched and unclenched his fists again and again and snarled in a mixture of irritation and grief as he tried to decide whether or not to just run after Savage or stay behind to properly examine and realize the full horror of what had just happened to his friends.

For a tense moment, he was strongly considering running after Savage with his sword drawn and uttering a bloodthirsty howl of fury and grief; so strongly in fact, that he could have at one point sworn that he heard Batman's familiar stern, cold, and firm voice inside his head commanding him in a tone that brooked no argument to do exactly that. But then, with a sigh of both exasperation and despair, his body relaxed, and his head hung forward, his arms going limp at his sides.

"What would it matter?" he thought to himself. "It wouldn't do any good. Savage is right. At this point, I wouldn't stand a chance against him in my current emotional state." He then turned his head to look down towards the four corpses in the valley at the bottom of the cliff wall he was standing on. "Besides," he thought to himself with a heavy sigh. "What kind of friend would I be if I just threw myself away after how they practically sacrificed themselves for me?"

Soon after he had that thought, he felt a slight tear come out of his left eye and start to slide slowly down his cheek. He closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and began to tremble as he struggled to keep his newfound sadness contained like Batman had trained him to do. But in spite of all his efforts and his using every technique that Batman had ever taught him, he didn't need to be a genius to tell that he was now fighting a losing battle. "Yeah right," he thought to himself. "They didn't sacrifice themselves. Who am I kidding? They didn't choose to die for me. They didn't choose to die at all."

Sighing again, Robin opened his eyes, looked down towards his friend's bodies once more, and then turned to face the slope that Savage had used to reach this area. "Forget saving the world. I can afford to set aside an hour or two to show some proper respect for my friends like they deserve." And so, with his mind set, the boy wonder solemnly made his way back down to the valley, not even bothering to make a note of the pitch black nimbus clouds that were now gathering in the sky, let alone how much more time he was now allowing for Savage to properly set things up for opening the Alpha Devil's Gate at 7:00 that evening.

. . . . .

Robin sighed, his head resting smoothly on his hands as he continued to watch the bodies of his friends from his position on the log he was currently sitting on. It was now 2:00, and he had spent the entire hour or so he'd currently spent within the valley sitting right there on that log. Even now, he still could hardly believe that his friends were now dead.

"Dead," he thought to himself. He hung his head. "Of all the fates that we knew were capable of befalling us in our line of work, and we still never truly believed that that particular one would befall any of us in the way it's just happened, let alone at this particular time."

He clenched his fists as that particular thought caused him to remember just how young they'd all been. Cyborg had admittedly been 19 years old, had been 15 when the Titans had first formed, and would have turned 20 that November. In other words, he'd practically already been an adult. But even so, this time had not by any means been the right time at all for him to die. There'd been so many things that he'd still wanted to do, so many people in Jump City, particularly among the disabled children, who'd looked up to him. He'd even had the potential to possibly get a girlfriend. Robin found a brief weak smile come on his face as he remembered the young blonde woman who worked with disabled kids that they'd saved three days ago. Truth be told, while he had indeed been considering how useful an ally she would be on the day they'd met her, he'd also been making careful note of how she and Cyborg had interacted. "To think that I was able to read all the subtle hints they dropped in just that first meeting and not even have the courage to admit my own feelings for Star," he thought to himself. Then he sighed, for now Cyborg was gone, and he'd never meet her again. He'd never even gotten the chance to learn her name.

Then he looked at Raven's deathly white and frazzled corpse that even now maintained an undying grip on Beast Boy's charred up hand. Raven had only been 16 years old. She would have turned 17 that October. And to make it even more heartbreaking, after how she and the others had managed to defeat Trigon and overturn her supposed destiny the previous year, she'd quite literally had her whole life ahead of her. And now, in a very cruel irony, that very same chance that she'd never thought she could even hope for had been so heartlessly ripped away from her. He clenched his fists and snarled angrily with his eyes on the verge of tears. "Just because she was half demon didn't mean she deserved this!" he howled to himself in his mind.

Then he looked at the horribly burned up and blackened corpse that had once been his very, very, very green friend Beast Boy. He had turned 17 that March, and had just as much too look forward to as all the other Titans. And as Robin very painfully now remembered, he'd even been promised to finally get a moped just like he'd always begged and pestered the other Titans about. Robin then made a note yet again of Beast Boy and Raven's interconnected hands, and found his heart sink further as he realized that, if they'd been given the chance, they would probably have made a pretty good couple. "They probably wouldn't have admitted it to me if I told them, but they were totally made for each other," he thought to himself.

Then he looked at Starfire. At this point, he found himself quite visibly fighting to keep his emotions bottled up like he'd always been trained and told. Starfire, much like Raven, had only been 16 years old. She would have turned 17 next month. And what made the sight of her corpse all the more heartbreaking to Robin was how, unlike Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven, Starfire didn't even seem to have a single mark on her. While Cyborg had darkened in tone in his metallic parts (in fact, Robin quite frankly thought it was a miracle that the acid Asmodeus had put in him hadn't melted them all down entirely from the outside as well as the inside), Raven had been turned a deathly white, and Beast Boy was covered in such a thick layer of ash that he looked like a solidified shadow, Starfire looked almost completely untouched. Robin couldn't even see any obvious signs of her neck being broken. Robin found himself even further on the verge of giving into his desire to grieve when he thought of how very short a time they'd spent as a real couple after four and a half years of painfully obvious romantic tension, combined with everything that he'd had planned for the future with her.

He could even now remember the plans he'd made. He'd finally been ready to openly accept his feelings for her and truly allow both Starfire and himself to really let go and enjoy themselves as lovers. Hell, he'd even been very strongly considering the possibility of actually marrying her at some point after they reached adulthood. He'd even been willing to take off his mask for her and both show her and the others his face and tell them his secret identity.

Letting out what sounded like a mix between a sob and a snarl, Robin stood up, turned his head upwards to face the sky, and then pointed his right finger almost accusingly towards the large mass of nimbus clouds that now appropriately covered up the area where the sun was at that particular moment. "WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!?" Robin yelled. "WHY DID THEY DIE!?"

There was no response to Robin's shouts. Robin growled, lowered his head tensely, and then raised it up again rapidly before furiously roaring, "WHAT DID THEY DO TO DESERVE THIS!? WHAT DID I DO!?" Still no answer came. Robin started visibly shaking, both from grief and rage, and then he shouted, "I BELIEVED IN YOU! WE ALL DID IN OUR OWN WAY YOU KNOW! WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!?"

Robin gasped and panted for a couple seconds as he found small tears starting to seep out of his eyes, out from underneath his mask, and down his cheeks. Then he howled, "I THOUGHT YOU CARED ABOUT HUMANITY! I THOUGHT YOU AND YOUR ANGEL BUDDIES WANTED US TO STOP THE APOCALYPSE FROM HAPPENING! I THOUGHT YOU WERE ALL ACTUALLY HELPING US DO EXACTLY THAT THIS TIME! IF YOU WANTED US TO SAVE THE WORLD, WHY DID YOU LET THEM DIE!?"

Robin leaned forward slightly by bending his knees, his head hung low and his arms raised with his clenched fists. Then he looked back up at the sky yet again, the tears in his eyes starting to become bigger and more fast numerous, and he despairingly snarled, "WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THEY NEEDED YOU!? WHERE I TELL YOU! WHERE?!"

Thunder rumbled in the sky. Robin growled, glared at the clouds in question with equal parts grief as with rage, and then shouted, "IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER?! WELL I HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU, BUT IT'S NOT WORKING!"

A flash of lightning appeared in the sky, and Robin heard the sound of thunder accompanying it soon after it vanished. "OH, DOES THAT MEAN YOU'RE ANGRY NOW!?" Robin shouted in a challenging tone. "ARE YOU GOING TO TRY TO SMITE ME WITH LIGHTNING?! WELL GO AHEAD! FAT LOAD OF DIFFERENCE THAT WILL MAKE! THE WORLD WILL STILL END! WANT TO KNOW WHY!? I'LL TELL YOU WHY! BECAUSE YOU ALLOWED FOUR OF THE FIVE PEOPLE WHO'D BE EVEN REMOTELY CAPABLE OF STOPPING IT AT THIS POINT TO DIE! AND I CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW THAT THERE'S NO CHANCE IN HELL OF ME STOPPING YOUR PROBLEM CHILD LUCIFER BY MYSELF! SO GO AHEAD AND KILL ME! I DARE YOU! GO AHEAD!"

The only response Robin got was three subsequent bolts of lightning dropping down from the sky, but quite a few miles further inland then he currently was. Robin rapidly inhaled and exhaled heavily, his fists alternating between clenched and unclenched. Eventually, Robin looked straight back up at the sky once more and despairingly roared, "WHY!? WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!? WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE!? WHY DO I HAVE TO BE THE ONLY ONE ALIVE!? WHY!? WHY!? WHY!?"

In response to this final anguished rant, a single lightning bolt that was considerably larger than the previous ones that had appeared struck the very tree on the cliff top area that he'd been pinned against by Abaddon not too long ago. And then, seconds later, the ominous mass of storm clouds finally unleashed the rain that they'd been holding back. The rain came down in torrents. As this happened, Robin finally lost it, and with a despairing whimper, he hung his head, his fists relaxed and hung limp at his sides, and he started to weep profusely.

As he proceeded to finally let his bottled up emotions out, Robin found himself very briefly catching a subconscious glimpse of the disapproving look that Batman had always given him every time he'd made a less than satisfactory performance in his training or field work. Robin could tell that he was openly showing his emotions, and he knew that this was something that Batman had strictly trained him to avoid doing whenever possible, particularly at times like this. But Robin didn't care. He wasn't Batman, and if he wanted to openly grieve for his friends and let his feelings out instead of keep them unhealthily bottled up inside him, then he could damn well do exactly that.

Briefly pausing in his grieving, he looked up towards the corpses of his friends. He sniffled at the sight of Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg. But when his gaze landed on Starfire, he promptly broke down again, leaning his down and unleashing a heart wrenching sob. Sobbing without end, he slowly walked straight over to Starfire, came to a stop directly to her right, and then got down on his knees, placed his hands gently on the area where her arms met up with her body, and lifted her up so that it was almost as if she were sitting down and leaning slightly backwards, her long red hair dangling down far enough for the tips of it to touch the ground. Visibly shaking, and with his teeth gritted in a snarl of grief, Robin looked intently at the strangely peaceful looking yet nonetheless heartbreaking and beautiful face of the fallen Tamaranean princess, almost as if he were begging for some sort of end to this unbearable living nightmare.

"Star," he stated in a tone so low that he barely even heard himself say it. "Remember last night? Right after we got back to the tower? Immediately after the others had gone to bed but just before we did? You remember what we said?"

Starfire did not answer. Robin sniffled, hung his head, then lifted it back up and said, "I remember what we said. You asked me what if there was wrong, and I told you that I was worried about what might happen tomorrow, which in this case is today. And I also stated that it could end very badly, and that I wanted to know with absolute certainty that you were ok with the risks that would be involved with today's mission. And I remember telling you directly after you asked why I wanted to know this that I was worried that I would lose you and the others."

He took a deep breath, sobbed softly for a few seconds with his eyes closed, then opened his eyes again and stared back at Starfire's lifeless face before continuing, "I remember closing my eyes then and hanging my head. I couldn't even bare to look at you at that moment for fear of seeing you look betrayed for what I thought you would take as underestimating your own abilities. But then you hugged me, and that was enough to shock me into opening my eyes back up and looking at you again. And you then said that I wouldn't need to worry, and then I briefly cried, and told you to promise that you wouldn't leave. And I very clearly remember saying at that moment, and I quote, 'Don't leave me. Promise that you won't.' And you said that you would never leave me. Well, here we are now. I'm still holding you to that promise Star."

Starfire still didn't respond. "Come on Star," Robin sobbed. "Please Star. You have to wake up." Starfire remained silent and still. "I mean it Star," Robin moaned. "You can't do this to me. You can't. You promised me Star. Please Star. Don't leave me."

The rain intensified, and a small series of lightning bolts flashed through the sky, but Starfire still didn't move, and even now continued to stay silent without giving any response to Robin's desperate pleas. Trembling with grief, and very clearly letting tears pour from his now narrowed eyes like waterfalls, he mournfully whimpered, "Don't leave me Star. Please don't leave me. Star, I mean it. Don't . . . leave . . . me. I love you Star. I really truly do. And I know that you didn't need to hear me say it in order to know after all we've been through, but I still wish that I could have actually said it out loud at least once before now. But here I am right now Star. I love you."

At that point, Robin completely lost it yet again, and with cataracts of tears pouring ceaselessly from his now closed eyes, he wrapped his arms around Starfire's corpse as if attempting to hug her, and proceeded to let the last of his grief, sadness, and despair leave his system, howling and bawling heartbrokenly like a baby. And for the next few minutes, as the storm continued to rage on around him and the unattended corpses of the other three unlucky Titans, Robin continued to embrace Starfire's body, weeping, sobbing, and bawling like there was no tomorrow (which at this point, was far more likely than not going to be a very real possibility). In fact, the world could have ended right then and there, and he wouldn't have cared. Batman himself could have reminded him of how much danger the world was still in at that moment, and he would have shouted, "LET IT END!" right in the Dark Knight's face. At that moment, all that he cared about was properly allowing himself to grieve for his lost friends and hold on tightly to his beloved and ever so precious fallen star.

After what seemed like an eternity, Robin finally managed to stop crying. Coincidentally enough, the rain began to wind down right as he was starting to finally calm down from his grieving. Soon after the rain stopped entirely, he sniffled, wiped his face with his gloved right hand, and then gazed one more time at Starfire's face. Then, with a sigh, he gently laid her back down, and then stood up. He looked around at his friends' corpses, then towards the cliff where he'd battled Savage, and then at the sky.

The boy wonder sighed, and hung his head. "What am I going to do?" he thought to himself. "I know that they'd want me to go after Savage and stop him from opening the Devil's Gate and releasing the demons from Hell. Heck, I'm sure even Batman would be telling me to do exactly that." He looked back at his fallen friends yet again. "But how? There's no way I can stop Savage now. Not without them. I wouldn't stand a chance at this point on my own."

He sighed, looked down at his feet in a mixture of grief and shame. "But what other choice do I have but to try exactly that? They're dead, and everyone knows that you can't bring back the dead. You'd need help from an angel or demon to do that . . ."

Robin's eyes widened, and his head jerked up as he suddenly came up with an idea. "Wait a minute," he thought to himself. He turned his head to face the edge of the cliff wall where he'd battled Savage earlier. "Could I really . . . ?"

Not even daring to answer his own question, Robin hurried up the slope and back to the area where he'd originally been pinned up against the now quite charred up tree. But he wasn't paying any attention to the tree itself. He was looking nearby the ground where he'd been standing after Abaddon had released him. "They'd better still be there, they'd better still be there," he thought to himself.

Sure enough, when Robin looked straight at the area in question, he could see clear as day that the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools were indeed still lying right there where Savage had left them after tossing them over his shoulder at him in his own personal way of rubbing the loss of his friends in his face. But now, instead of the purpose that Savage had originally intended, let alone what Lucifer himself had designed them for, the sight of these objects gave Robin newfound hope. He now had a very daring idea, and he would need these very objects in order for it to work. He wanted, no needed, his friends back, and the most conveniently available means of which to do so had at one point quite literally been lying at his feet.

However, Robin knew too well how his current plan was not without risks. He'd heard enough stories, received enough lectures and warnings, and read enough files from the Brotherhood of Dante's database to understand perfectly well how dangerous it would be for him to attempt what he was currently considering. In fact, for just a few seconds, the boy wonder hesitated. At that particular moment, he could almost swear that he could hear Batman himself shouting and barking at him irately in pure unadulterated disapproval and damn near growling for him to not even dare think about what he was currently very, very willing to attempt. He wanted so badly for his friends to be back, and he knew all too well that whether or not he in the end pulled through with his current idea was all too likely going to be the difference between salvation and damnation for the entire world. But even so, there were still so many dangers attached. Could he really do this?

Then he remembered the last few minutes he'd spent wallowing away in pure heartbreak; and at the same time, the hero in him remembered just how much the world was now depending on him without even knowing what was happening. And in that instant, he made up his mind. "Like they always say," he growled determinedly to himself as he got down on his hands and knees and began to scoop the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools up into his arms, "desperate times, call for desperate measures."

**And there you have it everybody! Another chapter done! God this has to be my longest chapter yet (I apologize in advance if the length scares any of you off). On another note, I am so so sorry if I made any of you cry or similarly extremely sad with this chapter. And believe me, I hated writing that particular part of this chapter just as much as you all likely hated reading it. But just in case this is enough to serve as a threat to whether or not you continue to read this, fear not! I have a plan, and trust me, Beast Boy, Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire will not stay dead for long! Come on, did you really think I'd be THAT cruel ^_^ (and I apologize in advance if that makes me sound SUPREMELY CONCEITED :/) Well anyway, I very much hope that you enjoyed this chapter (in spite of the real tear jerker I included) and that you all leave a nice bunch of reviews (and I do mean ALL; seriously, I'll be very surprised indeed if this chapter doesn't receive more than 1 review).**

**Coming up next: Robin makes a daring move in his newly self assigned mission to bring his fallen friends back from the dead. But just how far is he willing to go to make this wish come true? And what price will he have to pay in order to make it real? Will it be something he's willing to pay to get his beloved family of friends back and save the world? Find out next time, on Night of the Cursed.**

**P.S: By the way, just so you all know, for everyone who noticed my change of cover picture for this story, just so you know, the picture in question is not owned by me. It was created by the very talented DeviantArtist, Gretlusky (whose work is PHENOMENAL!). In fact, that same image helped inspire a certain moment within this chapter (and I'm sure you can guess which one).**


	16. Raw Deal

**Hey there everybody! I'm back with a new chapter! And don't worry, this one will definitely not have any real tear jerking elements like the one in the previous chapter! In this chapter, Robin sets out in earnest on his newly self assigned mission to bring his friends back from the dead. But just how far, may you ask, will he go in his efforts? Find out, in this fantastic new chapter! Here's to hoping you read, enjoy, and review!**

**Once again, I'll just quickly remind you all that I do not own Teen Titans or any other elements of the DC universe. Now, onward with the story!**

**Chapter 15:**

**Raw Deal**

Quite some time later, in a cave located a couple feet further down the path that Savage had taken, and which the Titans had earlier been following the immortal caveman, Robin carefully etched out a complicated shape on the cave floor. He grunted and growled in exertion as he tirelessly carved out the shape as best as he could with his birdirang. If his current plan was to work, he needed the shape he was currently in the midst of carving to be absolutely perfect, and he could not afford any mistakes, especially not in this particular case. If he made even the slightest mistake or similar discrepancy this time, his efforts were capable of resulting in an embarrassing blank novice failure at the very best and a violent death at the hands of a demon at the very worst.

Yes, Robin was about to attempt to summon a demon. Under normal circumstances, he would never have done such an action. However, at this point, he was desperate, and demons were the only things that he was conveniently capable of summoning which had the power to actively help him fulfill his current plan.

He had spent fifteen minutes prior to this point looking carefully through the Infernal Tablet, working carefully to decide on just which of the demons out of the countless hellish monsters dwelling in Hell he would summon. And this choice had taken so long to make because he knew perfectly well how careful he needed to be when it came to this type of work, for he needed to summon a demon of just the right rank. If he summoned a demon too low in rank, then the odds were high that it wouldn't be powerful enough to fulfill the commands that he wished of it. On the other hand, if he summoned a demon that was too high in rank, then it would prove far more powerful than he could hope to keep under control and be far more likely to kill him on sight immediately after being summoned than to obey his orders.

Another fifteen minutes later, Robin finally managed to complete his carefully etched out work on the cave floor with a small grunt of triumph and relief. "About time," he growled. "Took me long enough to finish the stupid thing." The shape in question, which Robin found looked very oddly like a horizontal oval with scythe-like blades at the tips, was the specific sigil for the demon he wanted to summon. From what he'd managed to read, he knew that demon summoning that involved the use of the personal sigils of demons worked far more effectively than those that didn't, as the presence of the sigil was enough to establish an almost physical bond between the demon and the location of the summoning so as to make it almost impossible for the demon to ignore. All the other methods of summoning which involved use of either careful concentration or invocation of the demon's name were far more likely to go wrong since people were capable of either losing concentration, accidentally thinking of the wrong demon, or forgetting or mispronouncing the name. Thankfully, with the sigil of every Abrahamic demon in existence being among the information contained within the Infernal Tablet, Robin now could tell with confidence that his summoning would be guaranteed to work.

Placing his birdirang back into his utility belt, Robin turned his head to face the area where he'd left the tablet and the Fallen Tools. He thought to himself. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to examine these things real quick."

He walked over to the Fallen Tools and examined them carefully on his hands and knees. He had to admit, they looked surprisingly eye catching and pretty for objects that were supposed to be the tools of the Devil. "Then again," he thought to himself. "Of course that's the way Lucifer would want them to be. The more eye catching they are, the more likely people will use them and cause their souls to be easier to stake his claim on."

He picked up the Chalice of Sins. As he gazed at the beautifully carved and crafted goblet, he had to admit that it looked like the kind of drinking cup worthy of royalty. "Pity that any people who drink out of this end up becoming demons," he thought to himself with a smirk. Then he positioned the chalice so that he could look directly inside. After a few seconds, much to Robin's surprise and intrigue, the cup magically filled up with a suspicious dark reddish black liquid that looked very eerily like some sort of blood. Robin shuddered at the sight of the liquid. "Why do I have a bad feeling that this is Lucifer's blood?" he thought to himself.

Then, as he continued to stare at the liquid within the chalice, Robin suddenly felt a very strong urge to drink the liquid. In this trance-like state, Robin found himself slowly lifting the goblet up to his lips, all the time still staring at the liquid within. "It looks . . . so . . . appetizing," he thought to himself unconsciously. "Why . . . am . . . I . . . so . . . thirsty?" But even as he wondered about all this, he found himself strangely not seeming to care about what the answers were to these questions. All he could currently focus on was the painfully tempting liquid within the chalice in his hands. All he wanted right that very moment was to drink the whole entire serving without stopping until the chalice was empty.

Suddenly, right as Robin's lips were literally inches away from touching the rim of the chalice and the chalice itself only seconds away from being positioned in the correct way to allow the liquid to enter his mouth, he suddenly heard the sound of his fallen friends shouting frantically in his mind, and he abruptly snapped out of his trance. This happened right as a tiny rivulet of the liquid was just about to start flowing straight into his mouth.

Shrieking in horror and disgust at the discovery, Robin threw the chalice back down to the cave floor. The chalice landed on the ground with a clang and bounced thrice across it, the entire serving of liquid spilling out onto the floor, where it proceeded to briefly appear to boil and let off steam before then seeming to melt into the ground. Panting and gasping in a mixture of horror and relief, Robin hurriedly turned his head away from the offending chalice, closing his eyes and grumbling like a dog as he thought of how very narrowly he'd just now avoided turning himself into a demon. "Forget it," he snarled furiously to himself in his mind, "summoning one is bad enough. I do not need to turn myself into one of those damned things."

Now very much wanting to get the Chalice of Sins out of his mind, he looked intently at the Eye of Lucifer. His eyes narrowed as he considered whether or not to closely examine this particular object. He shrugged his shoulders. "It probably wouldn't be that harmful compared to that stupid chalice," he reasoned. "Besides, this thing could actually prove pretty useful for me just this once."

Robin picked up the crystal ball, lifted it up to eye level, and glared intently at it as he just tried to remember what he'd read in the Brotherhood of Dante's database on how to operate it. Then a light bulb went on in his mind as he remembered. "That's right," he said out loud. "I remember what I have to say now." He grasped tightly onto the crystal ball with both hands, looked intently into it, and said, "Show me the Knights of Hell at this very moment."

Tendrils of red lightning began to crackle up within the sphere, and a mass of red smoke appeared within. But then, seconds later, the smoke faded away and the red lightning also made a faint crackle before vanishing as well. Robin's left eyebrow rose. "What the Devil?" he thought to himself. Then he remembered something Raven had mentioned about the Eye of Lucifer the previous evening while the Titans had been on their way from the Tower to Dragon's Head Valley. "Of course," he thought to himself. "The only locations that are out of reach to the Eye of Lucifer are the actual afterlife realms themselves. In other words, I can't view anybody located within Hell, Heaven, or Purgatory."

Robin chuckled weakly to himself as he remembered this detail. "Certainly makes sense," he said to himself. "After all, Lucifer certainly wouldn't want this thing to be used to spy on him and his forces if it ended up in the wrong hands. And of course, God wouldn't want any mortals to tune themselves into Heaven's own personal business."

The Boy Wonder chuckled one last time before looking intently at the Eye of Lucifer once again. "Well I might as well use this to check on the status of an enemy that I know is definitely not located in Hell at the current moment," he thought to himself. Gazing like a hawk into the sphere yet again, he stated, "Alright, in that case, show me Vandal Savage."

This time, Robin got a result that involved actually getting live footage of his desired target for viewing. Within the small 'screen' formed by the mist within the Eye of Lucifer, Robin could see Savage standing in a small field that appeared to be not too far away from the location of the Alpha Afterlife Portals. However, what Robin found particularly interesting was that Savage was swinging his bone blade around at thin air. After a few minutes, it became clear to Robin that Savage was practicing his sword fighting skills. At one point, after Savage finished unleashing a particularly heavy and strong sword maneuver, the immortal caveman placed his hand up against a nearby tree and started panting.

After the immortal caveman got his breath back, he straightened back up, spun his blade around in his hand, and then said, "I can still afford half an hour or so to continue practicing. I may have a lot to catch back up on, but it's better I put all this backbreaking work into it now then risk getting myself into yet another obviously one-sided sword fight that's in my opponent's favor the way it was in my earlier battle with the Boy Wonder."

At the sound of this, Robin's eyebrow rose, clearly showing his intrigue at hearing this information. "Huh," he thought to himself. "So I had the advantage in my fight against him even before he caused me to lose my temper by bringing up Slade. Well that's certainly flattering to know. I guess all my hard work at maintaining a consistent schedule of practicing my sword fighting skills really paid off." He chuckled, but made sure to carefully make a note to not allow this information to let him put his guard down. After all, he didn't want to end up carelessly allowing his own sword fighting skills to dwindle the way that Savage had done.

After a couple more minutes, Robin stated, "End transmission." The sight of Savage faded away back into the red mist, which then vanished into thin air as well. Robin took a deep breath, exhaled, and then gently placed the Eye of Lucifer back on the ground before turning his gaze towards the Devil's Scepter. Robin carefully clasped his right hand around the masterfully crafted obsidian staff with the beautiful red ruby adorned at the upper tip with four claw-like structures positioned between the staff and the ruby as a sort of crosspiece. He lifted it up, straightening himself fully upright in the process. As he carefully examined it and moved it around in his hands, he found himself having no choice but to admit that it felt very good in his hands, almost exactly as if he were wielding his own Bo staff. "I guess this thing really is capable of fitting into anyone's hands," he thought to himself. Then he looked back at the sigil he'd carved on the ground behind him. He smirked at it, positioned the staff so that he had it clasped within both of his hands, and said, "Well this thing will certainly make my upcoming summoning a Hell of a lot easier."

And indeed the Devil's Scepter would make his job considerably easier. As he remembered Raven saying the previous evening before they'd left the Tower for Lucifer's Crypt, if he used the staff while performing his summoning ritual, then he'd be guaranteed full obedience from the demon he summoned regardless of whether or not it proved too powerful or just powerful enough. Letting his usual poker face come back on, he tapped his left hand with the staff, and said to himself, "Time to get down to business."

. . . . .

Twenty minutes later, at exactly 4:00, Robin had finally managed to fully prepare everything he needed for the summoning. He'd managed to draw out several smoke sticks from his utility belt and placed them on the appropriate areas of the sigil so as to serve as makeshift candles. Within the very center of the sigil, he'd placed a small bowl that he'd formed by blasting a miniature boulder within the cave in half through use of a well-placed and designed explosive device. Within this bowl, he'd placed all but one ingredient he needed for this particular summoning ritual.

Robin smiled as he thought of how lucky he'd been to have been able to conveniently find all the ingredients he needed. For this particular type of demon summoning, the ingredients required for the spell included a cup of nightshade berries, three ounces of grounded hemlock leaves, 13 milliliters of toad venom, and four crushed viper fangs. As he remembered the last two ingredients, he winced as he thought of how very unhappy Beast Boy would have been if he'd seen just what he'd had to do to obtain them. "Then again," Robin thought to himself for the sake of both rationalizing the deeds in question and figuring out a way to help Beast Boy forgive him, "at least I gave them a quick death."

And indeed Robin had made the deaths of the toads and viper he'd found within the area very quick indeed. Upon finding a trio of toads that he knew were venomous thanks to reading a book he'd once borrowed from Beast Boy, he'd swiftly picked up a small stone and smashed them to death before using a five milliliter syringe within his utility belt to extract the venom from the deceased amphibians. From the first two toads, he'd managed to obtain four milliliters each, while the last toad had luckily enough contained the full last five milliliters he needed.

As for the viper, Robin had just walked back into the valley from finding the toads when he'd seen the snake literally right next to Starfire's head hissing towards her ear. Upon sight of this, acting purely on instinct and pure rage, Robin had flung one of his birdirangs at the luckless snake. The 'beak' end of the device had plunged straight into the viper's head from the back and jabbed right through its brain, killing it instantly right as it opened its mouth to the fullest. Upon killing the snake, Robin had used his birdirang to pry four of the creature's fangs from its mouth before then grabbing onto the snake's dead body and flinging it into the bushes nearby. From that point on, Robin had carried all the supplies he needed for the summoning back to the cave. And he'd been extra careful to make sure that he waited until after he'd placed the other three ingredients within the bowl before then proceeding to crush the four viper fangs with his birdirang and then scooping the remains into his hands before pouring them into the bowl as well.

Taking a deep breath, Robin tightly gripped the Devil's Scepter in his right hand, closed his eyes, and then lifted his hands upward like a priest, lifting the staff up as well before then stating, "Attenrobendum eos, ad consiendrum." Right as he stated the second verse, Robin slipped the staff into a position that allowed him to hold it within his underarm area, drew out a birdirang, and then proceeded to carefully slice the 'beak' in a straight line across the palm of his left hand. He grimaced in a mixture of pain and disgust as he did this. The reason behind this rather masochistic action was that the final ingredient needed for the summoning spell was the blood of the summoner, and it had to be added to the mixture at that particular point of the incantation.

Still grimacing slightly, Robin placed the birdirang back into the appropriate compartment of his utility belt, slipped the staff back into the grasp of his right hand, and slowly leaned forward with his left arm extending out towards the bowl. Once he managed to get his left hand positioned properly above the bowl and directed at a slant, he kept it still and watched as drops of his blood began to drip upon the contents already within the bowl. As he did this, he continued the incantation, "Ad ligandum eos, potiter et solvendum."

The last drop of blood required for the spell landed within the bowl, and Robin immediately withdrew his left hand from its position above the bowl, pausing just long enough to draw out a roll of gauze from his utility belt and wrapping it around the wound as a makeshift bandage. Then he straightened back up on his feet, gently placed the Devil's Scepter down on the ground, and drew out a smoke stick and pen-like object very similar to the one he'd used against Abaddon as a makeshift Taser during their earlier tussle hours ago. Pressing lightly on the back end of the pen-like object, a small flame popped up from the tip, and the smoke stick promptly became ignited at the top end. Robin slipped the miniature flamethrower back into his utility bolt, lifted the newly ignited makeshift candle up so that it was positioned directly above the bowl, and then said, "Et ad, congregontum eos, coram me."

Robin let go of the makeshift candle, and it landed right atop the mixture within the bowl, flaming end first. The instant the small flame came into contact with the contents of the bowl, the whole mixture abruptly erupted into a small pillar of flame that was just tall enough to reach Robin's utility belt in regard to height. As Robin watched the small pillar of flame blazing up and burning away the mixture within the makeshift bowl, Robin quickly grabbed back onto the staff, raised both of his hands up into the air, and then stated, "Arcessio diabola Nehreezah."

That particular action was not mandatory for the summoning, but was capable of further strengthening the power of the summoning if done right. As it soon turned out, Robin managed to say the name right, for soon after he finished uttering that last phrase, the outline of the sigil began to glow, and the small flames atop the twelve candles that had been placed upon the sigil erupted into their own brilliant pillar forms. The Devil's Scepter also began to glow with an ominous red and black light. After another minute or two, the flames abruptly shut off, the sigil stopped glowing, and the staff lost its impressive yet unnerving aura.

For another three minutes, Robin remained standing as he was, watching the area in front of him intently, waiting for the demon he'd summoned to appear. After the three minutes with still no apparent sign of the spell having worked, Robin glared at the sigil, then at the wall in front of him, and yelled, "Well? What are you waiting for!?" Silence hung in the air in response to Robin's shout. Unamused, Robin looked to his left and shouted, "I'm waiting!" There was still no response. Now very clearly starting to lose his temper, Robin turned his head to his right and irately roared, "What's taking you so long!? Show yourself already!"

For a brief few seconds, the area around Robin continued to remain silent. Then, right as Robin was about to completely blow his top, he suddenly heard a feminine voice behind him say, "Pipe down Boy Wonder, you'll wake up the neighbors."

Robin's eyes widened at the sound of this voice. In a flash, he turned around to face the area behind him, the Devil's Specter at the ready for use as a weapon if the need arose, and his eyes then narrowed as he saw none other than a demon leaning casually up against one of the cave walls. Robin tensely lowered the staff, and then calmly proceeded to examine the demon without showing any outward signs of his being in the midst of making an observation. The demon seemed to be about the same height as him, and looked just like a normal Abrahamic water demon. He could also tell that this demon was clearly a female due to both how its voice had sounded when it had revealed its position behind him and the fact that its body had a rather slender and elegant build that he'd previously only seen in Lilith. In fact, quite a large number of traits about her seemed to remind him rather unhealthily of Lilith.

At the sight from the corner of her eyes of the hard-eyed glare that soon took the place of the wide-eyed look of shock that had been on the Boy Wonder's face when he'd first turned around to face her, the demoness smiled maliciously, her icy blue eyes seeming to gleam with an icy cold light that proved more than appropriate in matching her similarly sapphire colored scales. Chuckling smugly, revealing her wicked sharp teeth, she coolly stated without even turning to face Robin directly, "You really shouldn't be so surprised by my presence here, after all, the spell was practically guaranteed to work after all the work you put into setting it up plus the research you made in making sure you knew what you were doing."

Robin scowled at the demoness, clearly unamused. "And you couldn't show the decency of appearing directly in front of me upon the sigil the way I'd been lead to expect why?"

The demoness chuckled again, turned her head so that she could look directly at the Boy Wonder, and then stated, "It's not my fault that's where you were expecting me to appear. I may not be able to control whether or not I appear in the area you summon me to through use of my personal sigil, but I'm still at least granted the ability to control just where in the area I appear. Every spell has at least some form of small mercy like that."

Robin grumbled, rolled his eyes, and then glowered at the demon before sarcastically growling, "Well it's nice to meet you to."

The demoness chuckled again, much to Robin's annoyance, and then proceeded to step forward away from the wall she'd been leaning up against before proceeding to walk past Robin and towards the area across the sigil directly behind Robin. As she walked, she stated, "Come now Bird Boy, is that anyway to greet a guest? I'm a demon, and even I know the proper etiquette for a situation like this. We haven't even properly introduced ourselves to each other."

"Yeah well boohoo," Robin grumbled. "But newsflash, I don't need you to introduce yourself to me. I already know who you are."

"Oh do you?" the demoness asked smugly as she directed a wolfish smirk at the Boy Wonder.

"Darn right I do," Robin responded. "And you can thank both your sigil and my careful research from reading the Infernal Tablet for that." He then turned his head so that he could face the demoness, his eyes narrowed and his face likewise showing signs of how he was very clearly glaring at her. "You're Nehreezah. Eldest biological demon daughter of Lilith and Samael, elder sister of Belazeal and Dreezallah, top student of your mother's in the ways of demonhood, and chosen heir to the position as head deal maker among demons.

Nehreezah smiled arrogantly, positioned herself as if she were a model showing herself off and stated smugly, "Indeed I am, and what greater honor for me then to have that title." She then positioned her head to face the cave wall directly behind her in a way that made it look as if she were admiring herself in a mirror and said, "And boy if you only knew how many teenage demonesses these days just wish they could be me."

"Yeah well, I could care less," Robin responded as he turned himself around completely.

"And since you already don't need me to introduce myself," Nehreezah stated, completely ignoring what Robin had just said, "I'm quite happy to inform you that I won't need you to introduce yourself to me anymore than I need to introduce myself to you. I know who you are as well."

"Oh yeah?" Robin asked cockily. "You sure about that?"

"Oh I'm quite positive about that Boy Wonder," Nehreezah responded. "Or should I say," she directed a smug look of triumph directly at him, looking straight in his eyes, "Richard Grayson?"

The silence that came upon the area was like a physical force, and it came up so suddenly that it was almost as if a boom of thunder suddenly erupted in the air after Nehreezah said that name. At that moment, as Robin found himself gaping at Nehreezah in shock and horror, he could have sworn that both time and his heart seemed to stop for just a brief moment. Nehreezah's already triumphant expression morphed into an arrogant grin of pure euphoria. She could tell that she'd scored a major home run against the young teenage hero who'd summoned her, and boy was she happy about it.

After what seemed like an eternity to the shell-shocked caped crusader, time resumed for the Boy Wonder, and so did his heart. He closed his eyes, hung his head slightly, took a deep breath, and then lifted his head back up with his eyes open before pointing his right finger at Nehreezah and stating in a half angry and half fearful snarl, "How did you know that name?"

Lilith chuckled, but this time in a considerably more high pitched and villainous sounding tone, waved her right hand slightly in a dismissive gesture, and said, "Please Richard, do you even need to ask me that? Surely you remember how easy it was for that one particular underling of his Malevolence among that advance party in your tower three nights ago to gather the late Victor Stone's civilian name from all his encoded and program flooded graphics he has within that computer of a brain; and that careless old oaf wasn't even a tenth as powerful as me, nor even a hundredth as powerful as my mother. Honestly Grayson, digging up your civilian identity from within that caged up mess you call a mind is child's play. Heck, it's so easy that I'm actually quite certain that your late friend Raven would have been more than capable of doing that herself if she'd only had the guts to try."

Within seconds, Robin tensed himself, glaring murderously at the demoness. "Don't you dare disrespect my friend like that! She wasn't too afraid to try, she was just respecting my personal privacy!"

"And now that I think about it," Nehreezah continued, "from what my father told me about his battle earlier today, that verdant green pet of yours had a mind so scatterbrained and disorganized that it's really no wonder he's so easily hypnotized by that clumsy old oaf Mad Mod."

"You're crossing a serious line here Nehreezah," Robin snarled.

"And for that matter, you should have heard what my mother had to say about your late girlfriend's mind. Honestly, from the way she described it, you'd think it a miracle that the poor girl even had the intelligence needed to know how to breathe."

The birdirang flew towards Nehreezah so fast that she didn't even know what was going on until she heard the 'beak' of the weapon embedded itself in the wall and felt the 'underbelly' pressing up against the right side of her neck. Her eyes widened at this, and she stepped away to her right so she could get a closer look at the weapon that had very nearly jabbed right through her throat. Then she felt the sensation all demons felt whenever their nonlethal injuries were automatically healed by their natural healing factor, and it was right on the area of her neck that the birdirang had been pressing up against. Only then did she realize that the Boy Wonder's projectile had actually managed to leave a small cut on her neck.

Nehreezah placed her hand up against the area where the wound had been, eyes widened and her face clearly showing a look of such stunned shock that Robin could have sworn that her naturally blue face very nearly turned white. The demoness then looked back at Robin just in time to see that he still had the hand he'd used to throw the birdirang positioned so that he had his finger pointing threateningly at her. Robin snarled at the sight of the genuinely surprised and horrified look on Nehreezah's face, and coldly growled, "You listen to me scum, I didn't summon you to listen to you badmouth my friends. Now you'd better start taking this seriously, or so help me I will run you through with my sword and summon someone more respectful."

Nehreezah gaped at Robin in shock, clearly not having expected him to take charge like this. Then she pouted, and groaned, "Geez, grow a sense of humor." She turned around to face the birdirang still embedded in the cave wall. Drawing it out, she stated grudgingly, "And I thought we were friends."

Robin actually found himself struggling not to laugh when he heard that last bit. "Ha!" He then yelled. "Now that's a laugh! I may have willingly summoned you here, but we are far from friends, and I'm certainly not going to try to befriend you either."

"Is that so?" Nehreeza stated, crushing the birdirang in her fist. "Well you certainly could have fooled me. After all, if you were planning to trap me, you certainly planned it out pretty poorly considering the fact that you don't have any Devil's Traps in the area. And I certainly doubt you're planning to kill me either. After all, I certainly don't see any point in summoning me if you're just going to kill me."

"Well you've certainly got one thing right," Robin responded. "I'm not trying to trap you, and I'm not going to kill you either; not yet."

"Yet?" Nehreezah stated with a slight scowl directed towards the Boy Wonder. She turned her head to the side and directed her eyes towards the cave ceiling before stating sarcastically to herself, "Never heard that one before."

"And before you ask," Robin stated, "I'm not going to try to befriend you, join forces with you and your kind, or make you my servant." He then pointed his finger back at her once more, his eyes staring intently towards the demoness. "I want to make a deal."

_That_ got Nehreezah's attention, and she promptly turned her head to face the Boy Wonder, her eyebrows raised but the rest of her face otherwise showing her now very clear interest in the matter.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, at the exact same time that Robin had been the midst of summoning and having his little 'discussion' with Nehreezah, Savage had been busy taking a long overdue practice session with his sword. Now, having now finally reached the point that Savage could truly no longer find it even physically possible to continue practicing anymore without running the risk of either counterproductive or downright harmful results, Savage was leaning forward with the tip of his bone blade resting upon the ground. He panted and heaved in exhaustion as he continued to remain in that position for about ten or fifteen minutes.

"By God I'm out of practice," he thought to himself. "I can still remember the days when I could practice like this for twice as long without losing a sweat," he then thought to himself ruefully. Eventually, with a final deep breath, he managed to straighten himself back up and slip his sword back within the folds of his cloak. "On the other hand," he thought to himself, "at least now I've learned my lesson. I'd definitely better make sure to fit some extra sword fighting training and practice sessions for myself within my schedule in the near future."

"You've certainly got that right."

Savage reared back in shock at the sound of the unexpected voice he heard coming from his right. When he managed to turn around to face that area, he scowled slightly at the sight of the five Knights of Hell standing right there. "Would it kill you to give me fair warning before you show up like that?" he growled.

"A true warrior never lets his guard down," Abaddon responded coldly. "And this tip is one out of many that I highly recommend that you remember in the future."

At the sound of this, and the overly meaningful look directed towards him from Abaddon, Savage winced mentally, and thought to himself, "Yeesh, you didn't have to rub it in."

"On the contrary, since it was only through a sheer timing miracle that you're even still alive right now, I have every right to rub it in."

Savage scowled at Abaddon. "And they wonder why many people feel so uncomfortable around mind readers," he growled to himself. "How long were you five even here?"

"Long enough to see that Abaddon was quite correct when he told us about how mediocre you've allowed yourself to become in your sword fighting skills," Azazel responded. "Still, I will admit, you certainly have appeared to have learned your lesson after your recent duel with the Boy Wonder not too long ago. After all, I'd say it's been about a couple centuries or so since his Malevolence last caught sight of you training like this."

"Well it's certainly been a long time, that's for sure," Savage grumbled. He involuntarily tensed up as he felt a slight pain flare up in his back, and he rubbed at it with a grimace clearly showing on his face before he then said with his eyes closed, "At this current rate, I'll be sore for a month." He then shook off his momentary spell of pain, looked back at the five demons, and said, "But if this is what I have to do to regain my edge, then so be it."

"That's the spirit," Asmodeus hissed in approval.

"Indeed," stated Samael. "But enough of that; right now we have more important news to bring to this man's attention."

Savage raised his eyebrow in interest at the sound of those words. "I presume you are referring to his Malevolence's forces in Hell?"

"Indeed," said Samael. "You'll be quite pleased to know that we have been hard at work in getting everybody ready. As of now, every single demon in Hell, us included, are either fully prepared or hard at work in readying themselves for tonight's conquest. And indeed they are all accounted for."

"Ahem," Azazel growled, a withering 'excuse me?' glare on his face.

"I will rephrase that," Samael grumbled grudgingly. "_Almost_ all of us are accounted for."

Savage groaned upon hearing this. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and calmly asked, "How many of you are absent?"

"One greater demon and one novitiate," Lilith responded.

Savage considered the information, and then nodded. "Shouldn't be too bad," Savage stated. "Two absent demons shouldn't make that big of a difference." He looked back at the five Knights of Hell. "But nonetheless, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm for me to ask just who those absent demons would be?"

"Would you like to know the identity of the greater demon, or the novitiate?" Azazel asked.

"The greater demon," Savage responded. Due to how this particular division of Abrahamic demons were much older, stronger, and likewise more powerful than all the others, it would be especially important to know the identity of any that happened to be absent at an important time like the current moment.

"That would be Agramon," Azazel responded with a clear disdain in his tone. He rolled his eyes, directed his eyes upward towards the sky, and grumbled, "As usual, the cheeky little bugger decided that he had better things to do than stick around and help us in our efforts to allow his Malevolence to escape earlier than his high and mighty daddy would prefer."

"I see," Savage stated uncertainly, not sure whether or not he wanted to ask Azazel to further elaborate on his apparent distaste for the demon in question. "What about the novitiate?"

"That would be my daughter Nehreezah," Lilith stated. "And the last time I saw her in Hell, she was hard at work in preparing herself for tonight's invasion alongside her siblings. The only reason she isn't still in Hell doing exactly that right this very moment is that she appears to have been summoned."

Savage raised his eyebrow upon hearing this news. "Summoned?" he asked. "By who?"

Abaddon glared at him. "I do believe you already know," he growled.

Savage gaped at Abaddon in surprise at this blatant accusation, then he calmed down, and he realized just who Abaddon suspected to be responsible for summoning Nehreezah at the current moment. "Well even if is the Boy Wonder who happens to be the one who summoned her, there's no guarantee that his Malevolence's plot will end up getting derailed as a result. For all we know, he could be attempting to get himself into our good graces so that we'll let him live when he see him during our invasion. Hell, he might even be attempting to join forces with us."

When he saw the shared look on all five of the demons' faces, Savage grimaced. He knew that what he'd said was a very weak suggestion, and thanks to the sight of the 'how stupid do you think I am?' glare that he could see on the faces of all five of the Knights of Hell, he could tell that they knew this as well.

Azazel then raised his eyebrow. "You sure about that? Sounds awfully out of character for him if you ask me,"

"Yeah well, I wasn't asking you," Savage grumbled.

"Indeed," said Abaddon. "But nonetheless, we wouldn't need to worry about this if you'd just let me waste him back at that valley."

"Well it didn't seem necessary at the time!"

"It certainly seems right now that it would have been the wiser thing to do don't you think?" Abaddon growled.

"Well we don't even know for certain what whether or not he even is the one who summoned her! Let alone what his plans behind it are if he is!"

"Well knowing him, I highly doubt that it spells good news for tonight's invasion," Azazel snarled.

"Well what's he gonna do?" Savage snapped. "Gain invincibility? Turn himself into a god? Bring his friends back to life? You all know that he'd have to make a deal for such things, and I'm quite certain that he would never go that far!"

"You'd think he'd have learned by now not to underestimate that annoying little snot," Asmodeus hissed to himself grudgingly.

"I heard that," Savage growled.

"Who said you weren't supposed to?" Asmodeus retorted.

Samael raised his right hand up dismissively. "It matters not what the Boy Wonder is up to, let alone who has summoned Nehreezah. Lilith and I know her better than anyone else in Hell apart from his Malevolence, and she knows better than to risk failure of his Malevolence's plots for the sake of adding another successful deal to her list of training conquests."

"Well it's also pretty out of character for Savage to deliberately allow a credible threat to his plans to remain at large," said Abaddon. "Yet right this moment he is even now continuing to allow a very credible threat to his Malevolence's plans tonight to stay alive!"

"ENOUGH!" Lilith roared, swiping her claws across the black demon's face for good measure. "I will not tolerate you slandering my daughter! You know her better than that!"

"He has a point you know," Azazel growled.

"Don't you start it to!" Lilith howled.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the cavern this morning," Asmodeus hissed.

"Enough," Samael stated in a considerably more calm voice. "There is no need to worry so much about this trivial matter. We have nothing to fear. Do we?"

Lilith smiled smugly like a wolf in obvious agreement. The remaining three Knights of Hell, however, weren't so quick to agree. Eventually though, they grudgingly nodded their heads in agreement, grumbling under their breath.

"Just as I thought," Samael stated coolly. He looked back at Savage and said, "Farewell for now Savage. I trust you are ready for when the time comes to open the gate?"

Savage nodded his head. "Indeed I am. I have everything I need."

"Good," said Samael. He turned his head to face the direction of the Alpha Portals' location. "We shall leave you for now. With the Infernal Key, Tablet, and all three of the Fallen Tools now in your possession, it should be child's play for you to keep everyone under control long enough to overrun this island and undo the security enchantments. Once that is done, just give the signal, and we shall come ourselves to spearhead the expansion past the island's boundaries alongside you."

"Sounds like a plan," Savage stated, though he was starting to wonder in the back of his mind why Samael still appeared to be under the impression that he still had the entire collection of artifacts from Lucifer's Crypt.

"Indeed," said Samael. "Farewell."

At that, the five demons shifted into their incorporeal forms and rocketed off to the location of the Alpha Afterlife Portals. And as they continued to fly off towards toward that area, and from that point onward straight back to Hell, despite the continued lingering doubts of Azazel, Abaddon, and Asmodeus, Samael and Lilith were very confident indeed about their chances of victory that evening, and through that of their king's chances at finally achieving his lifelong dream of successfully escaping from his imprisonment and unleashing the end of the world earlier than he'd been foretold.

. . . . .

However, if Samael and Lilith had known for certain just what Robin was up to, and for that matter what their eldest daughter was up to, they would not have been so nonchalant about the matter. In fact, as it currently stood, they would receive quite an earful from their three compatriots later that evening. For at that current moment, back in the cave nearby the valley where the earlier fateful battle had occurred, Robin and Nehreezah were about to commit an action that would determine whether or not that evening would be the night of the world's salvation or its damnation.

For a few minutes after Robin had revealed his plans to make a deal with Nehreezah, the teenage hero and demoness remained positioned as they were. Robin stood on one side of Nehreezah's sigil with his back facing the path leading to the exit of the cave while Nehreezah stood on the other side of her sigil with her back facing the wall behind her. The silence was finally broken when Nehreezah stated coolly, "Surely you are aware of how unseemly it is to make deals with devils, aren't you?"

Robin's calm poker-faced face turned into a glare, and he stated, "You're the mind reader, why don't you find out yourself?"

Nehreezah chuckled, folded her arms across her chest, and stated smugly, "I don't know, you're the one willing to do business with me, so why don't you tell me yourself?"

Robin glowered, gritting his teeth in an irritated snarl, and then said, "If I'd had any other choice, I would never have summoned you, or any demon period. Does that answer your question?" Before Nehreezah even had a chance to answer, Robin pointed his finger at her and stated, "But regardless of how unseemly it is, that's past the point. I didn't summon you here to get a Sunday school lecture."

Nehreezah guffawed, rolled her eyes in amusement, and then started walking off to her right. Robin repeated the gesture, making sure to keep a close eye on Nehreezah as he carefully kept pace with her. As they began to reach the point in which they would begin to turn to continue following their current circular path around the sigil, Nehreezah stated, "Quite frankly, I'd be surprised if that were the reason you summoned me. But nonetheless, summoning me was unsavory enough, but making a deal with me? That's pretty low, even for you. Just imagine what Bruce would have to say about this if he knew."

Robin scowled at the mentioning of Batman, and he tensely grumbled, "Yeah well, I could care less right now what Bruce would think, let alone what he'd say."

Nehreezah chuckled slightly, continued her current slow pacing around the sigil, now with her right side fully facing the wall to the left of her sigil painted on the ground, and stated, "I'll admit, that was a pretty weak defense on my part. But still, think about your friends. Or better yet, think about your parents." She turned her head to directly face him, smirking smugly, and said, "What would they think?"

At the sound of this question, Robin briefly hesitated, grimacing slightly as he tried to think of an appropriate response. He hated to admit it, but the demoness had actually brought up a very valid point. "It will be difficult to face them after this," he admitted. "But for the sake of the world, I'm willing to set that matter aside just for the time being. I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

"Hmm," Nehreezah hummed, her head positioning and facial expression firmly indicating that she was now thinking to herself about Robin's response. "Certainly not a bad choice," she stated. "But what about them? Are you sure they'll be willing to wait that long as well?"

"I'll worry about that next," Robin snarled. At around the same time he said this, he managed to reach the very position that Nehreezah herself had originally been standing before they'd begun their current little game of maintaining an even pace around the sigil, and he came to a stop and turned around so that his back was facing the wall. Nehreezah turned herself around so that she now had her back to the exit path and was looking Robin straight in the eyes, or at least straight at his mask. Glaring still, Robin pointed his finger at Nehreezah and stated bluntly, "But right now, there are bigger things I need to worry about; and needless to say, I don't have time right now for any games, now do you want me to make you a deal or not?"

Nehreezah raised her eyebrow in a gesture meant to convey that she felt intrigued, appeared to think to herself, and then directed her gaze back at the Boy Wonder. "All business are we?" she then asked, a half amused and half flirtatious smile on her face. Robin showed absolutely no facial reaction whatsoever. Nehreezah chuckled, clasped her hands together so that her clawed fingers seemed to intertwine, and stated, "Very well then, let us discuss terms."

"Finally something we agree on," Robin stated, slamming his right fist down lightly upon the palm of his left hand as if to emphasize his point.

Nehreezah hissed in pleasure, leaned her head forwards, and stated, "Indeed; so, what is it you wish from me, and what shall I expect to receive from you in return?"

"Simple," Robin stated. "I'm gonna give you the Infernal Tablet." Nehreezah raised her eyebrow, her face now conveying a look that clearly showed that she was on alert for a potential trick. "And the Fallen Tools," Robin continued, having managed to guess just what sort of trick Nehreezah had now been considering the potential for him pulling.

Sure enough, Nehreezah thought to herself, smiled, and then nodded her head with her eyes closed. "I like what I'm hearing," Nehreezah stated. She then opened her eyes, smiled at the Boy Wonder, and said, "Do continue."

Robin nodded, cleared his throat, and then said, "You get the Infernal Tablet, and all three of the Fallen Tools, and as an added bonus, you'll get to personally have them placed right back into Lucifer's Crypt where they belong." He then pointed directly at the entrance to the cave and said, "In return, I want you to bring my friends back."

Nehreezah looked in the direction that Robin was pointing, thought to herself, and then stated, "Hmm, I see. Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do you want me to simply just cast a simple necromancy resurrection spell on them that would allow them to come back to life, but leave you with a quartet of mindless zombies on your hands, or would you rather I go the extra mile?"

"And what would the extra mile be?" Robin asked, shuddering mentally at the thought of his friends as mindless zombies.

"Oh you know," Nehreezah responded, "I could resurrect them, clean them up, patch up their wounds, restore all their memories and likewise allow their minds to be fully intact. In other words, I'd be resurrecting them and giving them a full physical and mental restoration as well." She then directed a smug look of triumph towards the Boy Wonder, and calmly stated, "I could even alter their memories of their time in the afterlife so that they at first think that those experiences were just a dream; thus both giving you more time as well as an easier time for you to break the news to them yourself."

Robin directed a smug smirk of his own towards Nehreezah. "You drive a hard bargain," he stated. "I accept."

"That's nice to hear," said Nehreezah. She folded her arms across her chest, appeared to think to herself, and then stated, "Now let's see; where are they now?"

"They're right outside the cave," Robin stated in half irritation and half confusion.

"Not their bodies," said Nehreezah. "Their souls."

"Why's that important?" Robin asked.

"Contrary to popular belief," Nehreezah explained, "Reviving people from the dead can be surprisingly difficult for even such beings as my kin and the kin that serve my . . . 'great grandfather' so to speak, depending on the circumstances."

She faced Robin directly yet again, and then continued, "For example, in this particular case, since I, a demon, am attempting to revive four people whose souls are destined to go to Heaven, I will only be capable of resurrecting them if their souls have not yet directly entered Heaven proper. If they have already successfully made it just far enough across the other side of the Pearly Gates, then they'll be out of reach of even my parents and uncles. And at that point, your only hope in resurrecting your friends would be in either God, the angels, or Lucifer."

Robin's eyes widened after hearing all this. He had most certainly not been aware of this information. Then he started to panic. "It's been about three and a half hours since they died," he thought to himself. "They might very well already be out of her reach at this point . . ."

"But thankfully," Nehreezah then stated right as Robin was starting to sweat profusely from his panic, "as luck would have it, your friends' souls are currently inside Heaven's antechamber."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Robin asked.

"Both actually," Nehreezah responded. "Heaven's antechamber is the absolute maximum distance a Heaven-destined soul can travel while still being within range for resurrection by a demon. However, they need only to exit the antechamber and fully enter Heaven proper and they'll be beyond even my parents and uncles' reach. But fortunately, for some odd reason, they have still not yet been let out of the antechamber and into Heaven proper; so yes, for now I'll still be able to bring them back, no problem." She then looked back at Robin. "Will that be all?"

"Just one more thing," Robin responded.

"Certainly didn't see that one coming," Nehreezah stated sarcastically.

"I want to be there to watch you do it," Robin continued. "I want to see with my own eyes that it's done right, and exactly as you've promised."

"Oh Richard, I'm offended," said Nehreezah. "Don't you trust me?"

Robin raised his eyebrow at her, a half amused and half annoyed look on his face.

Nehreezah sighed. "Fine," she stated. "I'll let you serve as a witness to my work, and see full proof of the authenticity of my results with your own eyes. Happy?"

"Perfect," Robin responded. "So we have a deal?"

"No, Richard Grayson," Nehreezah growled. "Not yet. You still need to sweeten the pot."

Robin glared at the demoness. "Sweeten the pot?" He hissed tensely. "What do you mean sweeten the pot!? I've already offered you the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools! Isn't that sweet enough!?"

"I will admit, you have put up a very much satisfactory offer so far," Nehreezah responded. "However, there is one more thing you still need to add to your end of the bargain in order to make the pot extra sugary." She directed a wolfish grin at Robin, the expression reminding him very unhealthily of the similar look he'd seen on the face of her mother while inside Starfire's body. "I'll give you a hint, it's something that every person in history to have made a deal with my kin or his Malevolence has had to give up; something that we'd want just as much as those items you have now offered ." She then chuckled darkly to herself. "Perhaps maybe even more," she then continued with a wink.

Robin growled, very clearly starting to lose his temper. "Well what do I even have that you could possibly want that ba . . ." He then stopped, his mouth snapping shut, his body tensing up, and his masked eyes widening in horror. He had just now remembered exactly what sort of thing Nehreezah was referring to that she wanted him to add to his side of the bargain.

Nehreezah chuckled, her cold sapphire colored eyes agleam with smug triumph. "I take it by both your sudden silence and the look on your face that your memory on this matter has returned."

"My soul," Robin stated slowly. Nehreezah's already wide grin grew immense at the sound of this. "I have to give you my soul."

"Ding, ding, ding," Nehreezah stated in a sing-song voice that made her sound very irritatingly like a game show hostess. "We have a winner."

Robin briefly glowered at Nehreezah, but then he quickly resumed his worried and uncertain look as he began to carefully think to himself about the newly risen issue regarding his soul.

Nehreezah smirked at the Boy Wonder. "Come on Grayson," she stated smugly. "Surely you weren't so foolish as to think that you'd be able to avoid this matter?"

Robin grimaced, briefly closed his eyes, then opened them back up with a half pained and half nervous look on his face. "Is it really necessary?"

"Well," said Nehreezah, "if you had happened to place me within a Devil's trap before now, I would have gladly allowed you to replace your soul with the right to be released from the trap; and by that, I mean actually being set free from the trap right here in this cave, not the 'exorcise-me-out' trick that you used on that oaf Carnax and his squadron of wimps."

She then sighed in content, her eyes closed and head raised up as if she were smelling the air. "But needless to say," she stated in a tone of clear contentment, "since I am free as a bird, it seems you'll have to make do with giving me your soul."

Robin gritted his teeth, his eyes shut tight, and eventually managed to grumble, "Do I really have to?"

"No soul," said Nehreezah. "No deal."

Robin sighed in defeat, opened his eyes, and then thought to himself. Truth be told, he had expected this possibility, but had nonetheless hoped that he'd be able to avoid having to deal with it. Now, it seemed that if he wanted his friends back, he would have no choice but to offer up his soul as well as the items he'd already offered. But of course, Robin knew all too well how every other person to make a deal with a demon before him had ended up selling their souls. And of course, with that territory, he knew perfectly well that every single one of those people had ended up going to Hell as a result of their sale.

And to make matters worse, the demons never allowed their deal makers to patiently wait for a natural death to come upon them before collecting the souls. No way. Instead, they would allow the deal maker to continue to stay alive for a specific amount of time in which they could enjoy the fruits of their deal. Once that time limit was up, the deal maker would need only wait a further few seconds before they ended up face to face with a hell hound; and from that point onward, the infernal beast would violently maul the deal maker, rip the soul from the luckless person's body, and then drag it kicking and screaming down to Hell.

Now, Robin himself was on the verge of very possibly condemning himself to the same fate. He grimaced as he found himself desperately struggling to decide just what to do. He knew that if he said yes to allowing Nehreezah to stake her claim on his soul, then he would not only end up going to Hell when he died, but would also have only to wait until he was 27 at the most before his time of dying. Yet at the same time, he also wanted so badly to get his friends back, and knew that if he didn't successfully make this deal with Nehreezah, then he would very likely end up dooming the entire world to an even worse fate.

Tensing himself up, his eyes clenched shut, and his teeth gritted, the Boy Wonder continued to wrestle with his current, and very severe, moral dilemma. It was either consign himself to eternal damnation in Hell, or possibly end up heartlessly sacrificing the entire world. And while the hero in him knew that he'd never be able to live with himself if he allowed such a villainous thing to occur in such a manner, his own survival instinct combined with the righteous side of his soul wanted nothing more than to stay alive and go to Heaven instead of Hell.

For a brief few minutes more, Robin continued his difficult mental wrestling match. And indeed he was now in quite a fix. His mind was shouting for him to say no, barking at him to draw the line at giving up his soul. But his heart was pleading for him to say yes, begging for his lost friends, for Star. And so, Robin found himself desperately trying to decide whether or not to obey his mind's orders to jump astride his moral high horse or give in to his heart's desperate desire to bring his friends back.

"You'd better hurry Boy Wonder," Nehreezah stated in a smug tone. "Your friends aren't going to be held up in Heaven's antechamber forever you know. And that's before you even consider how much time you're wasting when you could be hard at work in saving the world."

At that moment, Robin finally made his decision. He had always followed his mind for so many years before the fateful trip to Tokyo. But now, a week and a half after finally choosing to let his heart make the decisions for him instead, he was done with obeying his mind and allowing Batman's strict training to define his life. He had already spent about a week and a half now letting his heart guide him instead of his mind, and he sure as Hell wasn't going to let the possibility of becoming literally damned in Hell cause him to become so figuratively damned as to stop doing so now. Now was the end of smart, and the beginning of right. "Besides," he thought to himself. "I'll have ten years to wait before the time comes for my soul to be collected, and that should be more than enough time to find a way to weasel my way out of going to Hell."

A hard eyed look of determination on his face, Robin directed his head upward to face directly into Nehreezah's eyes once more. "I've made my decision Nehreezah," he stated. "And my answer . . ." he paused briefly for dramatic effect, "is yes."

Nehreezah's eyebrows rose in amusement. "So you're saying . . . ?" she eagerly asked.

"Damn right I am," Robin growled. "Personal morals or no personal morals, I'd rather burn in Hell myself than let the entire world take the punishment for me. You bring back my friends, and the Infernal Tablet, Fallen Tools, and my soul are all yours."

Robin then smiled to himself. "Besides," he then stated. "On the bright side, as long as I don't end up dying tonight when my friends and I are in the midst of saving the world tonight, I'll have ten years to look forward to. And that will be more than enough time to figure something out."

"Ah yes," Nehreezah stated. "About that . . ."

"What is it now?" Robin hissed.

"Well you might have to forgo the decade of waiting in this particular incident," stated Nehreezah.

"And. Why. Is. That?" Robin growled.

"Well," said Nehreezah. "You did call me up on rather short notice," Nehreezah explained. "And that little detail combined with the fact that you're now asking quite a lot from me means that you're going to have to be willing to make some sacrifices of your own to compensate for the ones you're asking of me. To put it simply, if you want speed, you have to be willing to sacrifice some quality."

Robin's eyebrow rose, clearly unamused. But after a few seconds, he shrugged resignedly and nodded his head. "Very well, if I have to sacrifice the usual decade, then how long will I have to wait?"

"One year," Nehreezah stated.

Robin thought to himself. "Five years," he countered. At the sight of the slightly irritated glare that came on Nehreezah's face after hearing this, Robin felt a slight spark of triumph within him. "I may be having to give in to her reduced waiting time," he thought to himself with a smirk. "But that doesn't mean I have to make it easy for her."

"One year," Nehreezah hissed. It was clear that she wasn't all that keen on backing down from her initial offer.

"Three years," Robin offered. He'd already faced considerably worse opponents in far worse types of standoffs. He was not about to give up that easily in a simple haggling match against a demoness.

"One year," Nehreezah growled. Her mind was set, and she was not going to let herself relent to the Boy Wonder's haggling.

"Two years," Robin snarled. He pointed his finger at Nehreezah and stated, "This is my last offer. Either two years, or no deal."

Nehreezah snarled lividly at Robin, clearly on the verge of losing her temper. Then she took a deep breath, exhaled heavily in a mix between a sigh and a snarl, and thought to herself. While her own personal pride combined with her firmly ingrained knowledge and code on deal making wanted nothing more than to again refuse the Boy Wonder's counter offer, her inner saleswoman knew how valuable a soul she was on the verge of potentially staking her claim on, and thus how much closer she'd find herself to achieving the top job that her mother had been training her so passionately for, and that if she truly wanted to make her mother proud and get the job, then she couldn't hope to afford letting this opportunity get away. But at the same time, she had to allow at least a tiny portion of her dignity to remain.

Eventually deciding on what she viewed to be a worthwhile gamble, she glared straight at Robin's mask, pointed her own clawed finger at him, and stated, "A year and a half."

"Come again?"

"I'll give you a year and a half," Nehreezah repeated. "Half a year less than you're willing to offer and half a year more than I was originally willing to allow, no more no less. And in return, your friends come back alive and well, and you give me your soul, the Infernal Tablet, and the Fallen Tools. Take or leave."

Robin thought to himself. An extra half a year wasn't that big of a difference between Nehreezah's original offer of a single full year. "Still, it's additional time, and any amount of additional time is better than nothing," he reasoned mentally. "Done," he then stated.

"Excellent," said Nehreezah. She straightened back up, clasped her hands together, and then stated, "All we have to do now is seal the deal, and the rest is history."

"And how would we do that?" Robin asked.

"Pardon?"

"How do we seal the deal?" Robin explained. "Do we shake hands on it?"

"That is one way we could do it," Nehreezah responded.

"There are other ways?" Robin asked.

"There's one other way that's equally effective," Nehreezah admitted. "I'll give you a hint, if your girlfriend were to make a deal with me and she chose to seal it through this particular method, then there's a slight chance that she'd end up learning Enochian."

Robin's eyebrow briefly rose in confusion. Then it hit him, and he was like 'oh,' before he then grimaced at the disturbing image that then popped up in his head. "Um sorry," he stated, "but I just washed my lips; and besides, I'd rather reserve kissing for my girlfriend thank you very much."

"Shaking hands it is then," Nehreezah stated without missing a beat. She extended her right hand towards the Boy Wonder. "Deal?"

"Deal."

The Boy Wonder and the teenage demoness clasped their right hands together and gave each other a firm handshake. And just like that, the deal was made. Seconds later, after the handshake had ended, but before Robin could let go of Nehreezah's scaly hand, he suddenly felt an intense pain flaring up within him, and he jerked his head back, howling in agony as what appeared to be some sort of Hellish runes popped up in lights all across random areas of his body and shining through his clothes much like the way similar runes had appeared on Raven's body the previous year. When the runes on Robin appeared to vanish from view entirely seconds later, Robin collapsed onto his hands and knees and started panting heavily from the pain.

"Your soul has been branded," Nehreezah stated. "The contract is set; as of now, you have the remainder of this year, the entirety of next year, and the full first day of the year after that to enjoy yourself and the fruits of your soon to be granted wish. But when the clock strikes midnight at the end of that one particular day, expect an escort to arrive to collect your soul."

"Duly noted," Robin growled. He directed a withering glare at Nehreezah. "I'm totally looking forward to that," he then grumbled sarcastically.

"Noted," said Nehreezah. She then clasped her hands together, looked up towards the cave ceiling, and said, "And as luck would have it, your friends still haven't yet left the Heavenly antechamber, so I still have time to fulfill my end of the bargain." She turned around to face the exit to the cave. "Come along Richard," she stated. "You wanted me to allow you to watch me as I worked, and now you shall do exactly that."

Robin did not need to be told twice, and he promptly got back up on his feet and obediently followed along behind Nehreezah as she slowly walked out of the cave and towards the edge of the cliff from which Robin himself had been forced to watch his friends die in the first place, but not before picking up the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools. Right as Robin was literally two footsteps away from walking right over the edge of the cliff, Nehreezah gestured for him to stop, and he obediently halted.

As Robin watched Nehreezah intently upon being silently ordered to stop where he was, the demoness looked up towards the sky, lifted up her hands, and then started chanting in a strange language that Robin knew for a fact he had never heard spoken before. As Nehreezah continued to chant, and her hands started to glow with a vivid blue light, Robin found himself both gaping intently at the spectacle and wondering furiously just what was happening. "What is she saying?" he thought to himself. Then he remembered what the demoness had stated about potential vocal side effects from Starfire using the kiss method of demon deal sealing. "So this is Enochian," he then thought to himself.

A few minutes later, he then heard what sounded like a bolt of lightning, and he looked back up towards the sky just in time to see what looked like a swirling vortex of light appear within the sky. Then, as Robin continued to watch and Nehreezah chanted out a final phrase, four lightning bolts lunged out from the vortex. Of the four, only one of them was a standard yellow. The other three were quite different colors; one of them was blue, a second one was purple, and the third was a very familiar shade of green. In fact, even the yellow one was a considerably darker and more golden toned shade of yellow then ordinary Earth lightning.

Then the bolts struck down upon the corpses of Robin's friends, and then proceeded to crackle and spark upon contact instead of fading away like normal lightning bolts would do. The blue lightning bolt struck Cyborg, the purple one landed on Raven, the green one naturally plunged down on Beast Boy, and the yellow one emphatically slammed itself upon Starfire's corpse. Seconds later, as Robin continued to watch the scene with wide eyes, the four corpses began to glow with auras that matched the colors of the lightning bolts striking them. Then the auras began to expand until the corpses disappeared entirely in what appeared to be rapidly expanding force field-like domes of energy that soon increased to the size of mountains.

Eventually, with an almighty flash and banging noise, the force field like domes vanished, and Robin briefly saw what appeared to be miniature lakes of energy in the area where each of his friends' corpses had been lying before even those vanished, and revealed his friends. But upon the sight of his friends after all the brightly colored energy had vanished, Robin could tell almost immediately that there was very big difference between the way they looked now and the way they'd looked before getting struck by the mysterious lightning that Nehreezah had summoned. The biggest differences in appearance by far were in Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy. As Robin was very joyous to see, Beast Boy was now no longer caked in ash, Raven's skin had darkened back to its usual tone, and Cyborg's mechanical parts had regained the glow that they always had whenever the bionic teen wasn't in stasis. Even Starfire, much to Robin's joy, had very noticeably brightened in complexion compared to the way she'd been when he'd been cradling her corpse in his arms and bawling his eyes out hours earlier.

"Done and done," he then heard Nehreezah state. Robin turned his head to look at the demoness, who gestured down towards the valley with the newly apparently revived Titans and said, "You want further proof? Go right ahead and test them yourself."

Eager to find out for sure whether or not his friends were now truly back, Robin bolted down the slope leading down from the cliff to the valley. He couldn't have been more eager to obey a request then he felt at that particular moment. He was just that ready to truly see whether or not his friends were truly back from the dead. He actually had to force himself to skid to a halt so as to avoid tripping himself up on his own friends. He then placed the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools gently on the ground before heading off towards his friends.

Moving very carefully as if worried that any sudden movement could ruin the moment and possibly undo what Nehreezah had just done, the Boy Wonder slowly made his way over to his friends after entering the valley. Before long, he was close enough to his friends to truly get a good look at them, and he found his heart rise up him when he saw a very clear sign of life. "They're breathing," he stated in a half relieved half euphoric tone. He then carefully walked over to Starfire and placed a finger on the side of her neck. "She has a pulse," he then stated in the same tone as before. He looked at the others. "Likely so do they," he said. And then, as if to give Robin even more proof, Beast Boy let out a low grumble in his apparent stupor while Raven moaned slightly, and Robin found a wide smile coming on his face and tears of joy starting to form up behind his mask. "They're alive," he thought joyously to himself.

Then he thought carefully to himself about another factor. "Why aren't they awake?" he asked Nehreezah.

"It's been a pretty long time between their original death and their resurrection," Nehreezah explained. "That being considered, their bodies now just need some time to reacclimatize to the presence of their souls. Should take about another fifteen to twenty minutes at most before they wake up."

Robin thought to himself, and then nodded. "That does make sense," he admitted.

"And they'll probably be hungry when they wake up," Nehreezah then stated. "And likely so will you." She then drew out from thin air what appeared to be a small device and five mysterious looking objects that looked suspiciously like dehydrated food packets.

Robin gaped at the sight of the objects. Those very same objects had been left in the kitchen at Titans Tower. "How did you get those?" Robin asked.

"I just summoned them here," Nehreezah stated nonchalantly. She then placed the objects she'd summoned gently onto the ground, extended her hand towards Robin and said, "And since I'm feeling generous, I'll go ahead and give you one last little freebie."

Robin raised his eyebrow, and Nehreezah rolled her eyes before then grabbing onto Robin's left hand. Before Robin even had a chance to protest, the demoness's hand started to glow blue, and the light crept onto Robin's hand. When the light faded away seconds later, Nehreezah let go of Robin's hand. Robin shook his hand up and down as if in reflex from its contact with Nehreezah, and then he glared at her.

Nehreezah smirked at him, gestured with her eyes towards the very hand she'd gripped onto earlier, and said, "Well, go ahead and take off the bandage."

"And why would I do that?" Robin asked.

"Why not take it off and find out?" Nehreezah asked.

Robin grumbled, and reluctantly proceeded to take off the bandage. However, at the sight of what was revealed when the last of the gauze was removed, Robin's eyes widened when he saw that the small cut in the fabric of his glove had completely sewn shut as if there had never been a cut in the first place.

Nehreezah chuckled at the sight of Robin's surprised expression, and then said, "Now take off your glove."

This time, Robin did not hesitate, and he yanked off his left glove, only for his eyes to widen even further when he saw that the wound that he'd been forced to inflict upon his left hand for the sake of the summoning ritual had completely healed. There wasn't even a scar present. Robin lifted his head upward and gaped at Nehreezah, who smirked, and stated, "Now you won't have to explain to your friends about why you had a wounded hand."

Robin thought to himself, realized that Nehreezah had indeed brought up a valid point, and then nodded. "That's certainly true," he admitted before then slipping his glove back onto his hand.

Nehreezah chuckled, shook her head side to side, and then said, "You have to admit, doing business with my kin certainly doesn't come without perks."

Robin glared. "Yeah well, don't expect me to make a daily habit of it," he growled.

"I'd be surprised if you did," Nehreezah countered. Her face then took on a serious look, and she pointed a clawed finger at the Boy Wonder. "Now listen to me right now Boy Wonder," said Nehreezah. "It's time to set down a few final ground rules regarding this matter. I've fulfilled my part of the bargain, so now it's time for you to fulfill yours."

Robin nodded, his glare not leaving his face. "Right," he stated bluntly, and then he walked over to where he'd placed the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools. After picking them back up, he walked back over to Nehreezah and handed them over to her. "Here you go."

Nehreezah nodded, gently grasped onto the items, and then caused them to vanish in a flash of light. "There," she stated. "As of now, they are back in his Malevolence's Crypt where they belong." She then glared back at Robin and stated, "And now that all that business has been taken care of, you are going to let me walk away from here alive."

Robin raised his eyebrow. "And why would I do that?" he snarled.

Nehreezah pointed a claw at the four unconscious Titans behind her. "Them," she replied bluntly.

Robin gazed at his friends. "She can't be serious," he thought to himself.

"And that same reason is why you are going to not lift a finger to attempt to escape your appointment a year and a half from now."

Robin growled, his glare hardening. But before he could say anything, Nehreezah pointed at him and said coldly, "If you try and welch or similarly weasel your way out; and yes, that includes drawing out your sword right this very minute and killing me . . ."

The Boy Wonder snarled, for he had indeed been thinking of doing exactly that.

Nehreezah jabbed her finger back towards the newly resurrected Titans once again, and then growled, "Then your friends drop back down, dead as dinosaurs once again."

Robin looked at his unconscious friends, briefly tensed up, and then reluctantly relaxed at the sight of the look in Nehreezah's eyes. He had seen that kind of look before far too many times, and thus he knew very well that she was serious. She would not hesitate to rekill his friends if he tried to kill her or welch his way out of his part of the deal. And so, he reluctantly nodded his head in understanding. "Very well," he stated solemnly. "I'll let you go this time. And I'll make no effort to personally attempt to escape the fate you've set for me. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna actively attempt to discourage my friends from attempting to save me when they find out."

Nehreezah scowled, but then shrugged resignedly. "You have a fair point," she admitted. "Fine, as long as you yourself aren't directly attempting it, or actively encouraging it, I'll let your friends live. But again, that is the only loophole I'll allow for you."

Nehreezah then turned around, faced the sky, and said, "On that note, I shall now say farewell for the current time. Since I currently would be most unwise if I returned to Hell to help with tonight's planned invasion after what I've just recently done to very likely derail it, I'd best stay here on Earth for a while and cook up some trouble; give your friends all the more reason to dispose of me after they've helped you save the world this evening from my parents, uncles, and the rest of our kin."

Robin nodded his head. "Certainly makes sense," he thought to himself. He then glared at the back of Nehreezah's head. "And hopefully, I'll be there to watch them kill her," he thought to himself.

"I quite doubt that will happen," Nehreezah chuckled. She then turned her head to face Robin, a half arrogant and half seductive grin on her face, and then stated, "Farewell Boy Wonder. It was a real pleasure doing business with you. I'll see you in Hell." She turned her head to face the area in front of her once more, shifted to her incorporeal form, and then rocketed off into the sky and far, far away from the island.

For a brief moment, Robin was tempted to at least try something to stop Nehreezah from leaving. His mind was howling at him to do so, roaring that what he was currently doing went against everything that he'd been trained and conditioned for. But his heart, thankfully enough, was able to hold him back, for he also knew that if he obeyed his mind this time, he would all too likely lose his friends all over again.

After a few minutes, Robin's instincts told him that Nehreezah was now long gone, and he finally trusted himself to move again. He took a series of deep breaths, then checked the time on his communicator. "It's been about 10 to 15 minutes," he thought to himself upon seeing the time. He then looked over at a nearby log. "Might as well sit down and relax while waiting for my friends to wake up," he thought to himself. And so, he walked right over to the log, sat down, and placed his chin on his hands, sighing as he relaxed and proceeded patiently to wait for the last few minutes to pass before his friends finally finished reacclimatizing to the presence of their souls and they woke up.

As it turned out, he didn't have to wait very long at all. After only five minutes, Robin heard a faint groggy moaning coming from Starfire. He looked right over towards her, and his heart leaped when he saw her slowly starting to move around as if slowly starting to wake up. Before long, Starfire groggily opened her eyes, yawned, and then lifted herself up into a seated position with her hands lying flat on the ground.

As Robin continued to gaze intently towards Starfire, the Tamaranean eventually turned her head and managed to face Robin. Upon sight of her boyfriend gazing at her, Starfire yawned, winced slightly at a sudden pounding in her head, and briefly rubbed at it before saying, "Robin? Are you the alright? What happened?"

Robin didn't answer, but merely walked slowly over to Starfire. Then, much to Starfire's surprise, he abruptly gave her a big hug. As Robin continued to hug the surprised Tamaranean, Robin stated quietly, "Welcome back Star."

Starfire, still confused but nonetheless pleasantly surprised by this gesture from Robin, eventually proceeded to give Robin a hug of her own. And this time, she gave a surprisingly gentle one compared to how considerably tight and python-like her usual hugs were. "Thank you Robin," she then stated quietly and still in slight confusion. "But, what happened?"

Robin sniffled slightly, moved back from the hug, but still kept his hands on her shoulders. With a relieve smile on his face, he then nodded his head up and down slightly, and then said, "I'll explain real soon."

Seconds later, the newly reunited teen couple heard two more groggy groans coming from their left. They turned their heads just in time to see Beast Boy and Raven slowly waking up as well. Soon after they'd gotten themselves on their hands and knees (but without yet realizing that they were still clutching onto each other's hands), they then winced in unison and placed the very hands that had been locked together onto their heads.

"Ow," Beast Boy growled. "God my head."

"What happened?" Raven groaned.

Robin smiled weakly, shook his head side to side, and then stated, "It's good to see you up and about guys."

Beast Boy briefly raised his eyebrow. "I'll say," he grumbled. "Nnnnggghhhh," he then groaned as his head flared up again.

"Ditto," Raven mumbled, her own head flaring up as well. "What do you mean by up and about?"

"I'll explain after Cyborg wakes up," Robin responded.

As if on cue, all four of the Titans heard a tired grumbling coming from Cyborg, and they turned their heads just in time to see the bionic teenager slowly climbing up onto his hands and knees. "Ugh," Cyborg groaned as he placed a hand upon his temples, which were now very painfully pounding. "Good grief, I feel like I'm having a hangover." He then looked at his four friends. "What happened? Is everyone alright?"

"You could say that," Robin responded. Sighing in relief, he then said, "And boy do I have a story for you guys." He then proceeded to lift up the mysterious device and food packets that Nehreezah had brought, placed each one into the device one at a time, and said, "But first, it would probably be a good idea for us to have a quick lunch. I'm feeling pretty hungry right now, and I have a feeling you guys will be starving."

**And just like that, another chapter done! Again, I hope very much that you read, review, and enjoy! And on that note, what do you guys think of how I had Robin get his friends back from the dead? I'm certainly proud of how I handled this matter ^_^. On another note, just in case you feel willing to ask, yes Lilith and Samael are what one would consider a mated couple in this story. I got this idea from reading between the lines while reading the book City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare. And from that idea, Nehreezah was born, as were her brother Belazeal and sister Dreezallah (who will be featured in another story further down the line in this series). On another note, in spite of how Robin has now sold his soul, I hope you're all happy that Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg are no longer dead ^_^. I certainly am, and I'm the author. But again, here's to hoping you enjoyed this chapter and that you leave a healthy number of reviews! ^_^**

**Coming up next: With the other four founding Titans back from the dead, and an unexpected game changer soon to come along with them, the newly reunited team of teenage heroes hurries off to resume their race to the location of the Alpha Afterlife portals in time to stop Savage from using the Infernal Key to unlock the Alpha Devil's Gate. But will they make it there in time to prevent Savage from unbarring the way for Apocalypse Take 2? Find out next time, on Night of the Cursed!**


	17. The Devil's Gate

**Hey there everybody! I hope you're all ready for yet more Teen Titanic awesomeness, because here's a new chapter! In this chapter, with the previously deceased Titans now back alive and well like they should be, Robin soon has them resume the original mission to stop Savage from opening the Alpha Devil's Gate. But will they make it to the Alpha Afterlife Portals in time to stop this from happening? And if they don't, could an unexpected game changing element allow them to yet turn the tide in their favor? Find out, in this amazing new chapter! Here's to hoping you read, enjoy, and leave plenty of feedback!**

**First, just to remind you all in case any of you have forgotten in the amount of time it's taken for me to post this, I do not own Teen Titans or anything else related to the DC universe. Now that that's out of the way, let's continue on with the story shall we?**

**Chapter 16:**

**The Devil's Gate**

As it turned out, the newly resurrected Titans had in fact been starving. And on that same note, Robin himself hadn't realized just how hungry he was until he took his first bite from the dehydrated food packet that Nehreezah had chosen for him, which just happened to be a surprisingly spicy barbecued pork sandwich. But at that moment, he didn't care how spicy it was, he was hungry enough right now to eat practically anything at that point.

At first the other Titans had been suspicious of where the food and rehydrator device had come from. But they had all managed to buy onto Robin's excuse that he'd secretly packed them along in the T-ship for if they were still out on their mission at lunchtime, and had promptly given into their own hunger and started eating their own food. Cyborg was heartily chomping up a sizable triple bacon cheeseburger, his facial expression clearly stating that he was not going to forget the taste of it in a hurry. Raven was far calmer in eating her own lunch, which consisted of a simple fruit salad. Beast Boy, on the other hand, was ravenously laying into his tacos (which Nehreezah had been considerate enough to make sure were made out of tofu and likewise vegan friendly material) like a dog, even going so far as to pull at them in his jaws much like a wolf (complete with hungry snarling and slavering as well). Starfire, meanwhile, was almost dreamily consuming what had turned out, judging by her comments on its taste, very likely to be a zorkaberry pie.

When all five of the teenage superheroes had finished their lunch, all four of the more subordinate members of the team looked straight at Robin. "Alright Robin," said Raven. "You were right, we were all hungry after that battle we just went through a while ago, but now that we've had our overdue lunch, we need answers."

"Understood," said Robin.

The other Titans nodded. "Care to explain just what happened after we all blacked out?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well how much do you remember?" Robin asked. Now was the time for a brief test in just how much of his friends' memories had been restored by Nehreezah.

Beast Boy thought to himself, and then said, "Well, how far back are you asking?"

"Around the time in which you blacked out," Robin clarified.

Beast Boy nodded, thought to himself again, and then responded, "Well, I remember Samael grabbing me by the throat and then lighting his hand up to incinerate me like he did when he grabbed my trunk while I was in elephant mode. Then I remember Samael briefly stopping long enough for me and Raven to lock hands, and then he started cooking me up again, and I remember my vision from within my closed eyes turning completely red, and then I blacked out."

"I was electrocuted by Azazel," Raven stated. "For some reason, he was merciful enough to allow me to grasp onto Beast Boy's hand," she blushed slightly and then thought confusedly to herself as to why she'd done that. Then she shook her head as if to clear her thoughts and continued, "He let us have some peace for a few minutes after we locked hands, and then he started to zap me again. I remember closing my eyes, howling along with Beast Boy, and my vision from within my closed eyes turning completely white. And that was when I blacked out."

"I could feel the acid from Asmodeus inside me melting me down," Cyborg began. "I remember seeing Starfire get possessed, and then getting a brief reprieve after that whole business with Raven and BB, and then Asmodeus resuming his acid flooding on me. After that, at one point I saw BB and Raven just slump over as if they had died. I actually could have sworn that they actually were dead. But then I shut down and I can't tell for certain what may have happened after that."

Then they all looked at Starfire. Unknown to the others, Robin was now feeling slightly more nervous than before. He already knew that it would be relatively easy enough to briefly convince Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven of the counter story he'd come up with due to their already being dead by the time Samael had made his 'radio silence' comment, and thus they wouldn't have known about that in the first place. Starfire, however, had still been alive at that particular moment. Granted, she had been possessed by Lilith at the time. But still, Robin had heard enough stories and read enough material on the matter to know that the hosts of demonic possession were sometimes said to be 'awake' at certain times, and that when they were in this state, they were able to see, hear, and remember what was happening while possessed by the demon. Needless to say, if Starfire had been 'awake' in the midst of her possession when Samael had dropped the news about the 'radio silence,' then Robin would be in a real fix.

"I remember being about to take off to rescue you," Starfire began, making sure to indicate Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg when she spoke. "Then I remember these large icy spears rising up from the ground and pinning up against my arms to keep me from flying off. Then I remember Lilith coming up before me and stating that she was about to get to know me on a more . . . 'personal level,' as she put it. Then I remember just having enough time to realize what she likely meant by that when she turned to smoke and started to slither into my mouth. I then felt a sensation very familiar to the one that I often felt whenever the Mad Mod tried to hypnotize me, but then I eventually blacked out right as the last of the smoke entered my mouth; and I do not believe I remember anything that may have happened after that."

Robin mentally let out a sigh of relief after hearing this. "This will make the job easier," he thought to himself. Then the other Titans looked directly at him, their facial expressions now clearly asking him to get on with telling them what had happened to them over the course of their 'blackouts'. Robin took a deep breath, and mentally prepared himself for the now very surprisingly difficult task ahead of him. In fact, he was now about to do something that he'd very much hoped he would be lucky enough to avoid ever having to commit again after Daizo's defeat in Tokyo; lying to his friends. And indeed he very much hated having to lie to his friends; but at that particular moment, he had no other choice.

He needed his friends to be on their game and to maintain full focus on the mission. And if he told them the full truth about what had happened, then they'd be so worried about the matter regarding his soul, surprised about the lengths he'd gone to rescue them, and likewise distracted that they would be far more vulnerable over the course of the very dangerous activities that they would need to be involved in over the remainder of the mission. Granted, he had every intention to slowly break the true story to them after they'd finished saving the world, but now, he could not afford to give them any reason for distraction. And so, he soon decided on a sufficient cover story.

"Well," Robin began. "I was doing battle with Savage. And over time, I actually had gotten the drop on him and had the upper hand. But then, at around the time that you guys were all tired and worn out just before your opponents chose to unleash their final strikes against you, Abaddon threw me away from Savage with his telekinesis, pinned me up against a tree with it, and forced me to watch as his fellow Knights of Hell proceeded to attempt to finish you off."

He looked at his friends. "As you guys remember, Samael grabbed you by the neck," he then said while pointing at Beast Boy, "and both strangled and incinerated you simultaneously."

He turned to Raven. "You were electrocuted by Azazel."

He turned to Cyborg. "You got acid secreted into your inner workings by Asmodeus grabbing onto the open ends of both your sonic cannons and causing acid to flow from his hands and directly inside you in an effort to melt you down from the inside."

Robin then turned to face Starfire. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. It would be far more difficult to talk about what had happened to her, for unlike with the others, he would have to slightly alter the details. "Well Star," he soon began, "you're certainly on the right track in describing how you were briefly feeling as if Mad Mod were attempting to hypnotize you. And as you likely were suspecting, Lilith did indeed possess you."

The Boy Wonder took another deep breath, exhaled heavily, and then continued, "After taking possession of you, she just stood there inside your body and watched as Azazel, Samael, and Asmodeus had their way with Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg. And then, after her compatriots had finished their work, she then manipulated you from within your body into clenching your hands around your own neck and squeezing it in an attempt to cause you to kill yourself through self strangulation."

Starfire's eyes widened at the sound of these words. "That . . . that sounds horrifying," the Tamaranean admitted. She then thought to herself. "I am confused, wouldn't such an action have harmed her as well?"

"Not necessarily," said Raven. The other Titans all looked at the dark sorceress. "Demons are capable of surviving a vast majority of injuries or other actions that would either cause serious injury or be fatal to humans and the majority of the other things they are capable of possessing. Self strangulation wouldn't affect the demon, but it would be capable of causing the soul of whatever being or creature they're possessing to lose its grip on life and be capable of exiting upon the departure of the demon . . . possibly even before then."

Robin nodded, pointed towards Raven and said, "What she said. And I guess she chose to do that kind of thing because she wanted both for the experience to be all the more painful for you to experience as well as all the more agonizing for me to be forced to watch." Robin took one more deep breath, exhaled, and then continued, "But anyway, after a while, she finally stopped, and then after saying goodbye, she left your body, and upon her departure, you collapsed from exhaustion and lack of air.

"After all that was over and the four Knights who'd attacked you had left, Abaddon was about to kill me, but then Savage had him stop and leave. Then Savage told me that he'd spared me only because he thought it would be better and more appropriate for him to leave me alive to suffer from how you'd apparently been killed due to my choosing to respect your wishes and leaving you to deal with the Knights of Hell on your own instead of staying to help you and worry about Savage later. And in his own way of rubbing my apparent loss in my face, combined with his believing that he would no longer need them for some reason, he discarded the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools, throwing them down right at my feet."

At the sound of this information, Raven raised her eyebrows, "Why would he think he wouldn't need them?" Raven asked. "Doesn't he know that he needs those objects as well as the Infernal Key in order to guarantee that all the demons will listen to him when they leave Hell?"

"From what he told me when I asked," Robin explained, "he thought that since A: he'd spent enough time with the tablet in his possession to reportedly commit all the spells and stuff within it to memory and B: that he'd also spent enough time working with Lucifer and the Knights of Hell for them to be willing to put in a good word for him to their underlings, he would no longer need them anymore."

At the sound of this, Beast Boy grunted, rolled his eyes at Savage's apparent stupidity, and then grumbled, "Either he's super confident, or super stupid."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Cyborg agreed. The bionic teen then looked back at Robin and said, "But now there's one more thing I still don't understand."

"Do tell," said Robin.

"Like I mentioned," said Cyborg. "I saw Beast Boy and Raven just slump over and relax in position so abruptly right before I went unconscious. Heck, I actually thought they were dead. And as far as I can tell, all five of the Knights of Hell were more than willing to kill us. Therefore, the next logical question for me to ask would have to be . . . well . . ."

"How are you four still alive?" Robin finished for him.

"Yes," Cyborg confirmed.

Beast Boy and the two girls joined Cyborg in his gazing towards Robin, the same question in their eyes. Robin took a deep breath, exhaled, and then said, "Well, at first I thought you were dead too. But when I in the end chose to come down to the valley to properly show my respects for you after Savage left, I managed to notice that you four weren't quite dead just yet."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You were on your last legs," Robin clarified. "And I do mean last legs. You were practically at death's door and just barely holding on."

Raven's own eyebrow rose. "But that still doesn't explain how we're alive," she then stated. "I mean, sure we might not have been dead yet at that point that you've mentioned, but the wounds we were inflicted with, particularly the ones inflicted upon Cyborg, Beast Boy, and myself were so serious and critical. You . . . no one can just patch up wounds like that without some sort of bizarre healing ability."

"A valid point," Robin admitted. "And to be honest, I at first didn't think it would be possible to save you either." The young caped crusader then took a deep breath, exhaled once more, and continued, "But I was desperate, and I was not about to give up on you, and so, I proceeded to try my absolute hardest. And after about a couple minutes . . . well . . . I guess I must have been better at medical work then I originally thought or even dared to consider giving myself credit for."

Beast Boy's eyes widened. "You're serious?" he then asked incredulously. "You were able to patch us up and heal us?"

"Yeah," Robin said quietly. "Apparently so." He then directed a weak smile towards his four friends. "I guess the first aid training I received from Batman must have chosen just the right time to kick in."

Starfire placed her hand on Robin's shoulder. "And thank X'hal that it did. We are eternally grateful to you Robin."

Robin blushed, hung his head briefly in embarrassment, and then responded, "Um, thanks Star, and you're welcome."

The other three Titans nodded their heads. "Well, I'm not gonna state it as eloquently and dramatically as Star, but thanks," said Cyborg.

"Yeah dude, totally," said Beast Boy. "I mean, I'm not typically the type for getting all touchy-feely, but yeah. Thanks . . . I guess." Raven simply nodded her head up and down with closed eyes, not saying a word. But of course, with Raven, no words were needed.

Then Beast Boy seemed to think of something, and a 'wait a minute' look came on his face. He then looked at Robin again and asked, "Hold on, the Knights of Hell . . . if you were able to notice that we were all just barely alive, then they almost certainly were able to tell with all their advanced mind reading and similar demon mojo. If they wanted us dead that badly, why let us remain on our absolute last legs just barely alive? Why didn't they just finish the job?"

At the sound of this surprisingly valid question, at least considering the fact that it had come from Beast Boy anyway, Raven and Cyborg proceeded to direct similar looks as the one on their verdant green friend's face towards Robin. Starfire winced at the sight of this, almost as if she were praying for her friends to just let the matter go. She quite honestly didn't care at that moment, for she was much more willing to just be relieved that she was alive and not parted from Robin and her friends.

Robin, however, was perfectly willing to give his friends a proper (relatively speaking) answer to this question. He nodded his head, returned the gaze of his three friends that were now appearing to be one guard and acting suspicious over the matter, and responded, "Well, like as we've all now made quite clear, you were on your absolute last legs. You were probably only about a couple minutes or so from death by the time I returned to the valley. And besides, I myself didn't think at first that it would be even remotely possible for me to save you; and if I didn't believe it at first, then the Knights of Hell almost certainly wouldn't have expected for my old Batman first aid training to choose that particular opportune moment to kick in."

Robin then got back up on his feet, spread his arms and hands out to the sides in a noncommittal gesture, and continued, "That being said, I guess they must have thought it was all over, that you would just die on your own anyway at that point, and decided that it would be perfectly safe for them to just depart the area and leave you guys for dead."

At the sound of all this, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg briefly looked each other in the eyes as if considering what Robin had told them. "Please buy the story, please buy the story," Robin thought to himself nervously without letting any outward signs of it show. Starfire, however, seemed to have a feeling that he was far more nervous at that particular moment then he was letting on, as she raised her eyebrow at the sight of him looking at their three friends. About a minute later, before Starfire could voice her newly arising worries, the two chromatically challenged teenagers as well as the cybernetic young adult nodded their heads in mutual agreement before looking back at Robin. "I guess that makes sense," said Beast Boy.

"What he said," Cyborg agreed.

"Ditto," Raven droned.

Robin nodded his head, silently relieved that his friends' suspicions had for the moment been allayed.

But then Starfire asked yet another question with an answer that would require serious explaining. "Friends, forgive me if I am interrupting something, but what time is it?"

Robin cursed mentally when he heard this question. "Darn it, I forgot about that," he thought to himself. "I'd really better think carefully about this."

Sure enough, Cyborg apparently must have decided to check his internal clock after Starfire asked what time it was, because he then said, "It's about 5:45 pm or so right now."

"Wasn't it around 1:00 or so when we fought the Knights of Hell?" Beast Boy.

"Yes," said Cyborg.

All four of the resurrected Titans looked at Robin. "Anything you have to say on that?" Raven asked.

Robin nodded, cleared his throat, and then replied, "Like I said, you were very close to death, and it was only through sheer luck that I was able to get you all stable and healed in time to save you. My best guess is that due to how very close to death you guys were, your body just really needed some serious time to recharge. And besides, I tried to wake you up a couple times, but you were out cold."

The other Titans looked each other in the eyes. Then Beast Boy shrugged. "I guess that makes sense," he then said.

Then Raven's eyes uncharacteristically widened. "What about the . . . ?"

"No need to worry," Robin stated before Raven could finish. "I took care of the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools while you were still unconscious."

Raven's eyebrow rose, but Beast Boy beat her to the question. "How?" he asked in a tone that almost sounded like a growl.

"I carried them all the way back to where we landed the T-ship," Robin replied, "and then I made my way over to a nearby cliff that happened to be conveniently located nearby, and threw them into the ocean. At this point, I think it will be safe to say that it will be a long time before anyone ever gets their hands on those things in the future. And for that matter, I got out the rehydrator and food packets from the T-ship while on my way back to this valley after that."

Raven and Beast Boy thought to themselves. "Well, it certainly won't be a permanent way to dispose of them, but it should work for now," said Raven.

"It will certainly be out of reach of any mundane humans who want to try to get their hands on them," Beast Boy agreed.

The two chromatically challenged teenage heroes then looked back at Robin. "So what now?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin nodded his head, pointed up at the cliff area where he'd battled Savage, and responded firmly, "You know what we need to do Beast Boy; now that you guys are all better, we're going to resume our chase after Savage. He told me that he needed to wait until 7:00 pm local time at the earliest before he'd be able to call on the power of the Infernal Key and open the Infernal Gate; and considering how long it's been since the Knights of Hell almost killed you, he's probably made it to the area where the Alpha Afterlife Portals are located by now. We've now got about an hour plus another five or ten minutes to catch up to him."

Robin then turned around to face the cliff, a determined glare on his face as he stared like a hawk in the direction that the immortal caveman had traveled. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm definitely more than willing to get our butts over there ourselves A.S.A.P. The entire world depends on it; and if we all go down in flames, then so be it." He turned back to face his friends once more. "Heck, as far as I'm concerned, I'll even be willing to accept miraculous unexpected assistance from the angels at some point or other at this point over the course of this mission."

At the sound of that last bit, Beast Boy suddenly seemed to act as if he'd had an epiphany. He hurriedly raised his hand and grunted and squeaked like a preschooler trying to get his teacher's attention. "What is it Beast Boy?" Robin asked.

Beast Boy lowered his hand, took a deep breath, and then said, "I know that this might potentially sound off topic, but what you just said about angels reminded me of something from what I think might have been a dream I had while I was 'blacked out'."

Robin raised his eyebrow. "And how would this be important?"

"Well it's still rather fuzzy right now," Beast Boy admitted. "But I remember at one point sitting in what looked some sort of antechamber for a temple or something, Rae, Cy, and Star were with me, and there was this strange dude with wings on his back, I think maybe an angel, sitting nearby us. He called himself Gabriel."

At the sound of all this, Robin found himself feeling both annoyed and slightly worried. He now had a feeling that this supposed 'dream' was actually an altered memory of his time in the afterlife before Nehreezah had resurrected him. "If there's anything important about this matter," Robin stated, "I'd highly recommend that you just say it real soon."

"Well near the end, the lights started flickering, rather odd considering the lights were all coming from stars and braziers, and then Gabriel said goodbye and also something about expecting a package to arrive at our location at some point in the near future. And then after that, before we even had a chance to ask him what he was talking about, we all suddenly just fell backwards and seemingly got sucked into some sort of endless mass of black."

At the sound of all this, Cyborg's human eye widened as well, and so did the eyes of the two girls.

"Friend Beast Boy," Starfire said, "I know that this may be rather difficult to believe, but I do believe that I had a similar dream, and I also remember that at one point in the dream we happened to walk through some sort of strange dazzling white and yellow gates."

"I had that same dream to," Cyborg stated. "And I also remember that I was all alone within this large mass of clouds at one point before I then happened to meet up with you and Raven, and then Star joined us, and we all ended up walking towards some strange light as well as an unusual noise that sounded like some sort of church hymn or something."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," said Raven. "But all that stuff happened in a similar dream that I had while I was blacked out. All those details, and also the fact that Beast Boy was the first one of you to find me and that he even . . ." she then looked at Beast Boy with a half confused and half embarrassed look on her face before saying, "hugged me."

Beast Boy blushed, rubbed the back of his head, and chuckled nervously before saying, "Uh yeah, now that you guys mention it, I do remember all that other stuff now."

At that point, Robin was very much intrigued by what his friends had just now been talking about. However, there was one element in particular that he was currently more focused on then the others. "You said something about a package?"

"Yes," Beast Boy responded.

"This package," Robin then stated. "Did Gabriel say anything about what it was, or a specific time or location to expect it to arrive?"

"Robin, you are acting very strangely right now," Starfire stated.

"I have to agree Rob," said Cyborg. "I'm not sure if I'm seeing what's so important about this."

"Just trust me," Robin stated. "Beast Boy, I want you to really think hard on this. Did Gabriel say anything about these matters?"

"I don't . . ." Beast Boy said hesitantly. "No wait . . . I think he might have said to expect it to arrive around this area sometime around 6:00 pm or so?"

Seconds later, as if on cue, all five of the teenage heroes suddenly heard what sounded very much like the noises used to convey magic spells in most children's cartoons, and they all looked in the direction they heard it coming from just in time to see a large pillar of light come down from the sky at a slant and illuminate a small portion of the ground much like a spotlight before then proceeding to brighten considerably at a surprisingly fast rate. Eventually, the light got so bright that the five teenage heroes had to raise their hands and arms in front of their faces to shield themselves from the light, even having to close their eyes when their arms and hands didn't prove effective enough at shielding their eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity to the five teenage heroes, the light finally appeared to fade, and the overall brightness of the area seemed to return to a bearable level. But even so, the Titans waited a full five seconds before daring to open their eyes and lower their hands and arms from their faces. When they looked at the area where the mysterious light had been, they were both surprised and confused to see what appeared to be a small snow white gemstone.

Beast Boy walked over to the object and picked it up without hesitation. "Huh," he then stated. "Aside from the fact that it's white, I'd say it looks almost exactly like the Infernal Key."

"You certainly got that right BB," Cyborg agreed. "Paint it red, and it would be as if we'd gotten ahold of a carbon copy of that doomsday device."

"Pity it isn't the Infernal Key though," Robin then stated before then turning his head towards Raven and Starfire and saying, "Don't you . . . ?"

The remainder of the question died unspoken when the Boy Wonder saw the wide-eyed looks that had just come on the faces of the two girls. It seemed as if they had just had a major epiphany. And in fact they indeed had realized an important detail regarding this mysterious gem's close resemblance to the Infernal Key when it came to shape.

"Guys," Raven stated, "remember how I said that there were three Keys of Dante? One for each Alpha Afterlife Portal?" The three boys nodded in the affirmative.

"How does that help us?" Robin then asked.

"Friends," said Starfire. "Do you not also remember how she said that each of the three Dante's Keys were a different color?"

Robin was just about to reiterate his earlier question as to the relevance of these details when Beast Boy's own eyes widened and he said, "Oh yeah! I do remember that!"

"Do you remember which colors each of them were?" Raven asked the changeling.

"Yeah," Beast Boy replied. "The one for Hell is red the one for Purgatory is black, and the one for Heaven is white."

"Would you just tell me what this has to do with . . ." Robin began to yell before he too finally realized just what Raven and Starfire were getting at. He immediately took a closer look at the white Dante's Key shaped gemstone in Beast Boy's hand. "You're saying . . ."

"I don't know how," said Raven. "But somehow or other, that dream that the four of us shared somehow appears to have been a premonition of some sort. And if that is true, then I have a very good feeling that this strange gem that just now appeared to us might very well be the Paradisiacal Key."

Scarcely daring to believe this apparent stroke of good luck, Robin delicately extended his hand towards the gemstone in Beast Boy's hand. "Can I take a look at that?" he quietly asked. The changeling handed the Boy Wonder the gemstone. Robin carefully grasped onto the brilliant white gem and lifted it up to his eye level. Even as he continued to examine it, he could hardly believe that the Titans had now miraculously gotten ahold of the one thing that could very possibly help them turn the tide against Savage if they failed to stop him from opening the Alpha Devil's Gate.

Lowering the apparent Key of Dante, Robin looked straight at his four friends with a half stunned and half euphoric look on his face. "Guys," he slowly stated. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but now I'm definitely certain that the angels are trying to actively help us win this time." He looked at the gemstone again. "If this is truly Dante's Key to Heaven, then I think we could very well actually stand a fighting chance if Savage manages to open that gate before we make it to the area where the portals are located."

"I wouldn't give up on attempting to prevent that from happening just yet," said Beast Boy.

"Agreed," said Starfire. "But nonetheless, this fortunate gift from the angels should prove a powerful ace to have up our sleeves . . . that is how the phrase goes correct?"

Robin smiled warmly at the Tamaranean. "Correct indeed Star," he responded happily. He then turned his head to face the direction leading towards Savage and the Alpha Afterlife Portals. "I guess we might as well start on our way then."

"Hold it," Cyborg yelled right as Robin and the other minors among the founding Titans were about to stampede off down the path. After having gotten his friends' attention, Cyborg cleared his throat, pointed at the Paradisiacal Key, and said, "You do remember how it said in that file how Dante's Keys only work in the hands of a human right?"

"Pretty hard to forget at this point," Robin responded.

"Well that being said," Cyborg continued. "Then as far as we can tell, considering how you're the most physically human out of all of us, you might very well have the best chance of successfully activating that Key if the situation demands it. Heck, you might very well be the only one among us that that Key will even work for at all."

Robin, Beast Boy, and the girls looked each other in the eyes. They had not thought about that. They then looked back at Cyborg. "What are you saying?" Robin asked.

"I'm saying that the demons might also likely be thinking the same thing if they find out about our having the Heaven key in our possession. And that being said, they might end up placing particularly high priority on eliminating you from the equation. And as unlikely as it might be, what if they succeed?"

Beast Boy gulped, and turned his head to look at Robin, his eyes now fearfully asking the silent question as to how to handle that possibility. Raven and Starfire also looked at Robin, but with their facial expressions nowhere near as fearful as Beast Boy's. Robin thought to himself for a brief few minutes. But then a light bulb went off in his head, and he quickly extended his hand with the Paradisiacal Key back to Beast Boy. "Could you hold onto this for a moment?"

"Um, sure dude," Beast Boy replied as he hesitantly reclaimed the Key. "Why?"

Robin turned his head to Raven and said, "Raven, could you quickly teleport me back to the T-Ship? I have a feeling that if the Dante's Keys work the way I think they work, then I might know just the way to allow you guys to activate this particular key without having to rely on me being around to do so."

. . . . .

As it turned out, Raven indeed was both capable and willing to do exactly that. Upon receiving this information, Robin only paused long enough to ask Raven if she knew what he needed to say in order to activate the Paradisiacal Key. Raven, somehow sensing that he didn't want her to speak them out loud if she knew, proceeded to implant the knowledge in his mind through her mental link with him. After receiving the information and carefully committing it as firmly to his memory as possible, Robin gave the signal for approval, and was promptly teleported to the T-Ship through a vortex of shadows.

After about a minute or two, Raven's communicator went off. It was Robin, and he was telling Raven that she could now go ahead and summon him back from the T-Ship. Raven proceeded to summon back the shadowy portal, and Robin jumped through it back to the valley where his friends were. Upon arrival, Robin had patiently asked for Beast Boy to return the Paradisiacal Key to him, slipped it into his utility belt, and then given the order for them to get moving. Not needing to be told twice, the other Titans promptly began to stampede down the path in the direction of the Alpha Afterlife Portals once more with their fearless reader not too far ahead of them. Now, they were once again truly on their way to save the world.

As Robin continued to dash down the path leading away from the T-Ship and towards their intended destination, Robin couldn't help but smile as he felt the wind blowing through his hair. "I may be Hell bound, but at least now I'll be able to have a higher than 0% chance of saving the world tonight."

As Robin thought about this, he also heard a distinctive metallic clanging from behind him, and he smiled. He briefly turned his head to look behind him; as expected, he saw none other than Cyborg running along right behind him, his metallic feet clanging and banging loud enough to wake the dead. Robin's smile continued to widen when he then looked upward to his right and saw Raven effortlessly levitating through the sky. Then the Boy Wonder heard a strangely familiar series of noises that sounded like some sort of reptilian mixture of barking and screeching coming from his right on the ground. He looked in that direction just in time to see Beast Boy in velociraptor mode running directly next to Robin. Seemingly sensing Robin's gaze, the feathery green dinosaur turned its head to face the Boy Wonder, letting out another reptilian barking screech. Robin chuckled, and then looked directly upward, his smile reaching its fullest length when he saw Starfire soaring through the air directly above him.

Robin couldn't help but feel a major boost in confidence as he watched the Tamaranean effortlessly fly above him with her long crimson hair billowing through the wind and her eyes and hands blazing with the distinctive venomously green energy for her star bolts and laser vision. If there was any friend of his among the Titans that was always able to make him feel good during times like this, it was Starfire. Momentarily placing that particular thought in the back of his mind, the Boy Wonder turned his head to face the area directly in front of him once more and proceeded to place his focus back on the task at hand.

"We can do this," he thought to himself as he and the other four Titans continued to make their way down the path towards the large valley that very likely was the location of the Alpha Afterlife Portals. "We're gonna make it," he thought to himself before then proceeding to let out a burst of speed that allowed him to momentarily surge forward farther ahead of his friends. And it seemed that his friends agreed with him, for they all silently nodded in the affirmative motion, Beast Boy even letting out another series of reptilian barks in accompaniment, before they surged forward as well. They were all thinking the same thing now; they were going to make it to the valley where the Alpha Afterlife Portals were located, and they were going to save the world that night, one way or another.

. . . . .

Vandal Savage smiled as he checked the positioning of the moon. He remembered quite clearly how he'd so carefully learned to tell time through positioning of the sun, moon, and stars during the lessons taught to him as a child during his time in the village of his old tribe. And now, as a result of those lessons, he now could tell from one glance at the moon that it was now 7:00 pm local time. The time had come to open the Devil's Gate.

Smirking victoriously to himself, the immortal caveman walked confidently up to the area where the archaic mechanism designed for opening the Devil's Gate was located. The device in question oddly enough looked both intriguing and intimidating. It looked as if it shaped like a clock or sundial complete with the frame resembling a sliced up pie. The only difference within the frame from a sliced up pie was that there was a tiny circle in the dead center of the metallic ring just big enough to place the Infernal Key inside.

Meanwhile, not too far away from the mysterious device, was what appeared to be a large hole. This very hole, was what the mysterious rod within the machine was pointing at. The entrance of it was blocked up by what appeared to be a strange door very similar to the kind that were very similar to the circular hatches consisting of half-crescent shaped blades that converged together at the center point often found on spaceships in several different sci-fi movies. This intimidating appearance combined with the rather hellish runes inscribed on the machinery next to it as well as the outer boundaries of the hole made it very obvious to recognize as the Devil's Gate. In fact, in the same valley, were two other similar machines to the one nearby the Devil's Gate. However, each of them had a different type of runes engraved around them and also were located nearby rather different landmarks. One of the other two machines was located nearby a massive tangled cluster of thorny vines. The other one, on the other hand, did not appear to be located all too closely to any specific landmarks, but appeared to be positioned so that it would have a glaringly obvious clear view of the sky.

Chuckling in amusement and arrogance, Savage drew out the Infernal Key, took a deep breath as if to savor the moment, and then placed the Infernal Key within the appropriate hole located within the machinery nearby the Devil's Gate. After placing the Key within its destined spot, Savage lifted his hands upwards, raised his head to face the sky, and calmly stated, "Key of Dante, hear my call. Open this gate, and unleash the world's downfall."

The blood red gemstone glowed unnaturally bright red, and then a large beam of red light sprang out from the tip of the Key and struck the very center of the hatchway like barrier blocking the large hole in the ground. As the beam crackled and sparked in its contact with the barrier, Savage grinned wolfishly at the sight. He had succeeded. "The world is now mine," he thought to himself.

Then the beam faded away, the hole and hatchway continued to glow, and then a large mass of red energy began to erupt from the top of the hole and barrier in a form that allowed it to take on the appearance of a fiery geyser. As Savage continued to watch in awe at the spectacle, the hatchway-like barrier began to slowly open up. The glow from the light bathed Savage's face in red light, making him look especially demonic in combination with his malicious grin. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, the Devil's Gate finally opened up all the way, and the geyser of flame shaped red energy faded away into nothing.

For a few minutes more, Savage continued to stare at the now completely uncovered gaping hole, counting silently in his mind as if anticipating something. Before long, there was a slight rumble in the ground; and then, with an almighty banging noise, massive plumes of multicolored smoke began to rocket up from the hole. Savage's already wide grin grew immense at the sight of this, and as the countless streams of red, blue, green, purple, yellow, and black smoke sped rapidly through the sky and in circles over the valley, Savage lifted his head up towards the sky, spread his arms out to his sides, and let out a triumphant evil laugh. "Behold!" Savage roared euphorically. "The end of the world is nigh!"

. . . . .

Meanwhile, at around the same time that the geyser of red flame-shaped energy had begun to spout up into the sky, the Titans caught sight of it from around 20 yards or so away from the valley that it was coming from. At the sight of this, their eyes widened, and they briefly skidded right to a stop. As they stared in shock at the mysterious energy pillar, Robin found himself stating in half shock and half despair, "No, no, no. . ."

Then, when the energy pillar faded away, and the large mass ocean of demonic smoke appeared, Robin stomped his right foot and swung his right fist downwards in a fit of anger. "Damn!" He yelled. "We're too late!" Beast Boy snarled and barked in apparent agreement, his now chartreuse velociraptor eyes narrowed in fury.

"Not yet we're not," said Raven. The other Titans turned their heads to face her. "We may have failed to arrive at the valley in time to stop Savage from opening the Devil's Gate, but we can still fight them off as much as we can; or at least try to keep them busy long enough for us to summon help."

"Help!? What do you mean summon help?! There's no one out there who could possibly come to help us out here now!"

"Actually Robin, there is," Beast Boy said, having immediately reverted backing to human form upon realizing that there in fact was something they could summon to help them. "We still have the Paradisiacal Key remember?"

Robin's eyes widened, for he had completely forgotten about their own Key of Dante in the midst of his panic at the sight of the massive amount of demons that were now appearing in the sky above the valley they'd been heading towards. "You're right," he yelled in half relief and half excitement. "Of course; we can still open the Alpha Stairway to Heaven and summon the angels!"

"Exactly," said Beast Boy. The changeling then pointed towards the valley of the Portals and stated, "And if we hurry, we can still make it there in time to come up with a proper plan of attack."

Robin looked at Cyborg and the girls, who all nodded in agreement. "You heard the man," said Cyborg. "If we want to get there in time to stop those Godforsaken fiends from traveling any further outside Hell than that valley, then we need to get our butts over there A.S.A.P."

"Agreed," said Starfire.

"What they said," Raven added.

"Right," Robin grunted, he turned to face the direction of the valley, pointed towards it, and shouted, "Titans move! Double time!"

As if fired from a cannon, all five of the teenage heroes resumed their breakneck running down the path towards the valley, Beast Boy even making sure to transform into a velociraptor once more right as his friends were on the verge of beginning to move again. And as the Titans once more hurried off towards the valley of the Portals, all five of them were thinking the same thing; it was now truly time to save the world.

. . . . .

Thirteen minutes later, after Savage was just starting to find the worst worries of doubt enter his mind as to why the demons still hadn't landed and assumed their corporeal form, every single one of the Hellish streams of smoke crash landed 'headfirst' on the ground in front of him. They all reverted to their corporeal forms mere seconds later, revealing themselves to now be positioned so that they would have their backs facing the Devil's Gate and would be staring him face to face.

As the immortal caveman and the massive army of demons stared each other down, Savage found himself silently counting them, only to find himself giving up when he soon realized that he would soon manage to take account of them all without losing count. In fact, there were currently only 195 demons present. His eyes narrowed at this realization. "There's supposed to be every single one of the demons in Lucifer's form of Hell aside from Nehreezah and Agramon present here," he thought to himself. "Why haven't they all come here yet?"

"We are merely the first advance party," said one demon that was at the very front of the group now standing before Savage. "We have been sent to establish connections between you, and once our positions in military hierarchy for this mission have been established, we shall make the signal for the rest of our kin to follow."

At the sound of this, Savage found a light bulb going off in his head as he remembered that he and Lucifer had indeed decided upon this not too long ago. "Right, of course," Savage stated. "Very well then," he continued. "Let us take care of this."

The demon who'd spoken nodded, his purple eyes flooded with a stern, no-nonsense, glare, and then he bowed, making sure to spread his feathered purple wings out to the sides like a bird so as to attempt to be as respectful as possible to his potential new superior. When he straightened back up, he gave a low warble of acknowledgment from his serrated beak, and then stated, "I am Regulus, captain of the Omega Squadron of the 666th Infernal Legion! At your service sir!"

"And I am Vandal Savage, associate of his Malevolence, and soon to be appointed sixth main leader for this mission."

Regulus nodded, and turned his head to face his subordinate soldiers. All of them growled, snarled, and hissed in acknowledgement of what had just occurred. Regulus turned his head to face Savage once more. "My soldiers are willing to accept you as their native leader from the realm of the living, and so am I. All you need to do now is to show us the items from the Crypt, and you shall be accepted in full as a worthy human to serve as our leader."

Savage nodded, took a deep breath, and then pointed towards the Infernal Key, which was even now still lodged within the machinery designed for opening the Alpha Devil's Gate. "I present to you, the Infernal Key."

As one, Regulus and the rest of his squadron looked intently at the Dante's Key. Then they all looked back at Savage in unison, all of them with the same eyebrow raised in half confusion and half suspicion. "Is that all?" Regulus asked.

"I have proven to you my possession of the Infernal Key," Savage replied. "I believe now we can begin our partnership in full?"

However, much to Savage's surprise, Regulus responded to this by glaring at him. The other demons, likewise, did not look very happy either. "Perhaps you aren't quite taking this seriously," Regulus stated bluntly. "I said you must show us all the required items from his Malevolence's Crypt, yet you have now only showed us one of them. Where are the others?"

"Others?" Savage asked. "What do you mean?"

"The Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools," Regulus growled. "What else?!"

"Oh those," said Savage. "You're saying I still need them?"

"Did you not hear me?" Regulus snarled. "Or course you do. What makes you think that you wouldn't?" The other demons in the irate Luciferian wind demon's squadron snarled and glared in apparent agreement.

Savage thought to himself, clasped his hands together awkwardly, and then looked back towards the entrance of the valley from out of the corner of his eyes before saying, "Well, you see . . . I . . ."

"Where are they?" Regulus growled.

"Well I do have them here on the island . . ." Savage began.

"Then present them to us right now and we shall place this bit of unpleasantness behind us," stated Regulus.

"Well right now, I am not quite able to present those items to you just yet," Savage admitted awkwardly.

"And why is that?" hissed a Luciferian earth demon that appeared to be Regulus's second in command.

Savage turned his head to face the hissing green demon, and said, "Well to answer that . . . what is your name?"

"Sicklebough," hissed the demon.

"Well Sicklebough," Savage continued, "while I do have those items here on the island, I do not have them present here in this valley at the moment."

"So you do not have them?" Sicklebough asked.

"Well sort of, but I know where they are and it won't take me very long to hurry back and bring them to this valley from where I left them . . ."

"Do you have the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools or not?" Regulus growled, clearly starting to lose patience.

Savage grimaced, clearly not enjoying the current pressure he was being placed under, and stated through gritted teeth, "I do not have them on my person at the moment but I just need a few minutes or so and I can guarantee that I will . . ."

"This is no time to play games and make things complicated," Regulus snapped. "Do you have them? Yes or no?"

"No," said Savage. "But again, they are here on the island and it shouldn't take me too long for me to bring them here . . ."

"Then where are they?!" Regulus roared, flapping his wings up and down in pure outrage while his taloned feet dangled about a foot off the ground and the feathered tip of his tail remained pressed up against the smooth grass of the valley.

Savage gulped, pointed towards the entrance to the valley of the Portals, and responded, "On a cliff overlooking that other valley about a mile or two away from this one in that direction, but again, I need only go back and get them, and I can guarantee you that I'll have them here real soon to be presented to you if you truly still need me to present them."

"Have you learned nothing from your time spent working directly with his Malevolence?!" Regulus shrieked incredulously with fury. "The rules clearly state in every source that you needed all of those very specific items from the Crypt, or else you will not be accepted as a human leader of our kin, and yet here you are with only one third of this collection on your immediate person! Have you lost your mind!?"

"Well I had them in my possession for so long that I was able to commit all the spells and the majority of the other important information within the Infernal Tablet to memory," Savage began. "And I've also been working alongside his Malevolence for such a large amount of time now that I thought that he and the Knights would be willing to put in a good word for me so that I wouldn't need those particular items anymore . . ."

"You truly thought that our king would be that careless?!" Sicklebough howled. "Why would you think his Malevolence would even make those rules in the first place if he were willing to just turn a blind eye to them and just let us take such unseemly risks at such important times as these?!"

"Well you never follow the rules," Savage began.

"Enough," Regulus growled, lifting his left wing in a motion that clearly served as a gesture for silence. "There will be no need for further discussing of this matter. It is now clear that, despite our high hopes, those of his Malevolence's inner circle, and even those of his Malevolence himself, you are unfit to serve as our leader. As of now, you are dismissed."

Savage's eyes widened, and he hurriedly extended his right hand towards Regulus and the other demons in his squadron before shouting, "Wait, you don't have to do this, I can still bring those items here . . ."

A single shadow demon among Regulus's squadron snapped his fingers, and Savage shrieked as he found himself falling straight down into a shadowy vortex that appeared under his feet without warning. No sooner had Savage's head completely entered the vortex when the demon who'd summoned it caused it to close shut with a second snap of its fingers. Then the demon looked up towards the sky, lifted its hand, and snapped its fingers a third time. In a flash, a large vortex of shadows appeared in the sky with a bang, and Savage went rocketing out of the vortex and straight through the sky in the direction of the mainland United States, howling in horror.

Before long, the flying immortal caveman had long vanished both from sight and hearing range of all the demons, and Regulus nodded. "It seems that we were not meant to have a mortal man leading us alongside the Knights of Hell for this mission after all," he then stated solemnly before turning his entire body around to face the entirety of his squadron. "Alright men, as we have now learned, it seems that Vandal Savage will not be joining us. But nonetheless, we must give the signal for the rest of the army to join us. Imbix!"

"Yes fath . . . I mean sir?" Imbix squawked.

"Return to the chamber where the rest of the army is waiting," stated Regulus. "And upon arrival, you must work to complete the following two errands; one, inform the Knights that they are now to serve as the sole overall mission control leaders for this mission, and two, sound the all clear for everyone else aside from the Knights and the two absentees to join up with us here in this valley."

"Will do," Imbix screeched before he then took off into the air, reverted to his incorporeal form, and zoomed back down through the open Devil's Gate to fulfill his newest commands. After Imbix had departed, the other demons in the squadron looked to Regulus and Sicklebough for further instruction.

Regulus took one look at his second in command, and then nodded his head up and down. Sicklebough grunted in acknowledgement, looked straight at the underling soldiers of the squadron, and stated, "For now, we shall stand at ease until Imbix comes back with the remainder of our forces."

Meanwhile, Robin and the other Titans had managed to arrive at the entrance to the Valley of the Portals at the exact same time that the squadron of demons had begun their chat with Savage and were now unobtrusively peeking through the entrance into the valley. As the teenage heroes proceeded to observe the demons currently present in the valley as well as the three portals, they soon found their eyes narrowing when they saw just how far away each of the portals, particularly the machinery designed for opening the Alpha Stairway to Heaven, was from the entrance to the valley, and thus how very little options they had for hiding places and similar ways to avoid getting spotted by the demons.

"Hmm, this could be pretty difficult," Robin whispered.

"Wow, what gave it away?"

For a moment, Robin and the other Titans gaped at Beast Boy in shock. Granted, it wasn't so much that someone had made this comment that shocked them as it was the fact that it had been Beast Boy who'd said it. Beast Boy directed a look that said, 'Why are you looking at me?' towards his friends, and then they all got themselves back on task.

Robin raised his eyebrow as he continued to watch the currently casually relaxing demons. "Considering how they're mind readers, I'm surprised they haven't already discovered our presence here by now," he whispered.

"Yet here they are, not even bothering to try to examine the area for intruders," Raven whispered back in agreement.

"I guess they must have thought that they wouldn't need to," said Cyborg. "After all, I highly doubt that either they or Savage were expecting you to come anywhere near this place after what happened back in that other valley we just left."

Robin thought to himself, and then nodded. "That does make sense. I mean, Savage certainly didn't appear to know about our presence here before his summary dismissal." He then looked back at the demons. "Heck, if I wanted to, I could probably go right ahead and give the order for us to attack, and we'd probably be able to take out a fair chunk of this little squadron before they even have the chance to fully realize that they're under attack."

"While very true that would also be most unwise," said Starfire. "And likewise, attempting to sneak our way through the valley will be near impossible with nowhere to hide if they were to look in our direction."

"Maybe we won't need to sneak our way to the Heaven Portal," suggested Beast Boy. The other Titans turned their attention to the changeling. "Maybe you could go ahead and walk right in here and announce your presence to them," he then said while pointing at Robin.

The Boy Wonder's eyes narrowed. "While I admit that would very likely not be the first thing these demons will be expecting, how is just going ahead and yelling to them that we're here going to help?"

"I didn't say we were going to announce our presence," said Beast Boy. "I said that maybe _you_ could announce _your_ presence."

Robin raised his eyebrow. "And how would going in there with them on my own be any more helpful?"

"We have the element of surprise," Beast Boy responded.

Robin glared, and was just about to state a sarcastic retort before Beast Boy then continued, "And yes, I do know that they will be expecting neither for you to be here, nor for you to have the Paradisiacal Key in your possession, but there's also one other thing that they will be find equally unexpected."

Robin thought to himself. "And what would that be?"

"Hello," Beast Boy whispered. "They think that we're dead remember?"

Robin's eyes widened as he finally realized what Beast Boy was getting at. "You're right," he stated. "Of course, they don't yet know that you guys are still alive."

"Exactly," said Beast Boy. "That being said, if we plan it just right, then I think that we might be able to seriously take these guys by surprise, take them out, and still have enough time to get the Stairway to Heaven opened before the rest of the demons arrive."

At the sound of all this, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven looked at Robin, nodding their heads in agreement.

"I hate to say this," said Raven. "But right now, I think we can safely call you a genius."

"I have my moments," said Beast Boy.

"Alright team," said Robin. "Get ready. I have an idea now, but I'll need you to listen carefully right now so that it unfolds the way we need it to."

. . . . .

About five minutes or so later, Regulus found himself grunting in anticipation when he saw a small hellish gemstone on a chain around his neck begin to brightly glow in an alternating fashion. This event could only mean one thing. "I've received the signal," he then stated. Sicklebough and the present subordinates turned their heads to face their captain, standing to attention in the process. "The rest of our forces will be on their way real soon, so get ready."

"Well too bad they're gonna miss the show."

Caught off guard, all 194 of the demons in the valley turned to face the area where they'd heard this unexpected voice coming from, only to then find themselves smirking and chuckling smugly at the sight of none other than Robin standing in the valley a couple feet in front of the entrance. With his body positioned so that he was standing fully upright and erect, his arms folded across his chest, and his usual emotionless pokerfaced expression on his face, the Boy Wonder looked as if he meant business.

Smiling with a hint of arrogance, Regulus gazed intently at the caped crusader and stated, "Well, well, well, I must admit, I was not expecting you to show your face here Boy Wonder."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Robin replied nonchalantly with a straight face.

Regulus chuckled, shook his head side to side, and then stated, "On the contrary, it would have been a real disappointment if you hadn't shown up."

"Well then I'm glad I didn't disappoint," Robin responded without missing a beat.

"Indeed," Regulus stated with a chuckle. "After all, it seems all the more fitting that a hero like you stand in our way one last time before the end of the world."

"Who said the world would end tonight, let alone that this would be the last time someone like me would stand in your way?" Robin asked cockily.

"Well I doubt it really needs to be said," Regulus responded. "After all, you're here all alone against 194 of us, plus his Malevolence knows how many others soon to arrive. Your friends are up in Heaven and all the other living heroes are unable to enter this island. Therefore, I daresay that your chances of stopping us are looking pretty bleak for you."

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't," Robin stated. "Maybe I'm alone, maybe I'm not. Maybe I'll win, maybe I'll lose. Maybe the world will end tonight, and maybe it won't. But whatever happens here tonight, I'm not going to let the world end without a fight." As he said the last part, he got into what could clearly be recognized as an attack stance. At this point, the demons all looked intently at him with clear interest. And then, right as all the demons had their attention focused on Robin, the Boy Wonder noticed a flash of dark energy briefly surround the demons before then fading away to reveal a small circle of smoke sticks around the entire group of the Hellish beings. Robin smirked at the sight of this, for due to how all the demons had been distracted by their being focused on Robin, none of them had noticed the sudden appearance of the smoke sticks or shadowy energy that had allowed them to appear.

However, it would not have been reasonable to expect the demons to never catch onto Robin's smirking towards them. Sure enough, Regulus managed to notice the smug look that was ow on Robin's face. Eyes narrowing, he stated, "Something funny you'd like to tell us about?"

"Yes," Robin stated. "As a matter of fact there is." As he said this, he heard the sound of his friends, who were currently still hiding by the entrance to the valley, preparing themselves for entry. He smiled to himself as he thought of this matter, for the time would soon be right for the plan to fully be put into action. Chuckling, Robin then said, "You know how my kin consider ourselves the dominant race in this world?"

"How could I not?" Regulus responded. The demon chuckled, his amethyst colored eyes agleam with smug arrogance, and stated, "Honestly, my kin and his Malevolence are quite aware of this matter due to how much close attention we pay to your kin when looking for sinners to stake our claims on. And to be honest, there are some among your species who act so arrogant about the matter that it surpasses even _us_." The other demons promptly nodded and grumbled in agreement.

Robin nodded his head with his eyes closed in agreement. "I will not deny it, you certainly speak the truth this time." He then stared directly back at the demons once more. "And on that same note, have you also noticed how, as a result of this, my kin, much like any apex predator among animals, rarely ever feel the need to look up?"

"You can bet on your tights we have," said Regulus. "Honestly, it seriously boggles my mind how you lot can possibly consider yourself the dominant race when the majority of you are too stupid to ever bother looking up anymore." At this, Regulus, Sicklebough, and all the subordinate demons in the squadron started laughing their heads off.

Robin grinned wolfishly at the laughing demons. When the demons finally stopped, they finally noticed the smirk, and found their eyebrows rising in suspicion. "Too true," Robin stated enigmatically. "Too true."

Regulus glared at Robin, for he was starting to get a feeling that something was up. "Is there something you're hiding from us?"

"Not above you there isn't," Robin replied. He then stepped forward, his left hand behind his back as if he were reaching for something. The demons noticed this, and they crouched as if in preparation for lunging at him to attack. Robin only continued to grin, and he stated, "However, as important as it is to look up, it's sometimes equally important to look down."

At the sound of this comment, the demons all looked confused. "Huh?" asked Regulus.

In that instant, Robin made his move. Before the demons had a chance to react, Robin drew his left hand back in front of him, drawing out one of his explosive fire disks in the process, and then threw the disk down right at the very front of the ring of smoke sticks surrounding the group of demons. Within seconds, the fiery blast caused all the sticks to burst into a massive cloud of thick black smoke that engulfed the demons and blocked their sight. Even though he could no longer see them now, Robin smiled as he heard the sound of all the demons coughing and sputtering within the thick smoky mass he'd cloaked them in.

The demons themselves, on the other hand, were quite displeased with this. In fact, they were so caught up in coughing and trying to wave away the smoke, that they paid absolutely zero attention to the metallic clanging from outside the smoke; a particularly loud clanging that sounded far too heavy to come from Robin's steel tipped boots. Over time, the demons managed to catch their breath in spite of how there was still smoke in the area around them. Regulus turned his head to face the direction where he'd originally been staring at Robin, and though he couldn't see the spiky haired boy through the veil of smoke, he still snarled in the direction from which he'd last seen the teenage caped crusader. "You have won nothing from this Boy Wonder!" Regulus squawked. "You may have managed to catch us off guard with that clumsy trick, but you will not stop us from fulfilling his Malevolence's dream tonight!"

"That's what you think!" shouted an unexpectedly familiar voice coming from the right of the assembled squadron of demons. Their eyes widened at the sound of this particular voice, one that they'd earlier been told to have been permanently silenced hours ago, and they all turned their heads to look in that direction, just in time for the smoke curtain on that side of them to be parted by a large metallic fist that came flying right towards them.

Within seconds, Cyborg's blindingly fast right hook pummeled Regulus right in the beak, and the purple demon was sent hurtling backward by the force of the blow. The smoke then vanished entirely, and all the demons managed to get a clear full view of Cyborg, standing there with his fists still clenched, the look of a battle-ready warrior in both his human and cybernetic eye, and looking very much alive and well.

The demon's' eyes widened, and they involuntarily took a step back in shock at the sight of the heavy built bionic teenager that they'd been told to have been dead. "Impossible," Sicklebough hissed. "Lord Asmodeus . . . he said you were dead . . ."

"Ya'll think this isn't enough of a wakeup call!?" Cyborg yelled. "Well how about this then?!"

No sooner had Cyborg shouted this, when he proceeded to trigger a massive shockwave of ultrasonic noise waves from his entire body. The unexpected attack sent the entire remainder of the squadron flying backward right towards their already knocked over captain. They didn't even get the chance to get back on their feet after landing before Cyborg jumped up in the air, did a single front flip, activated his right sonic cannon, and opened fire at them from the air.

The blast fired from the sonic cannon was so large and powerful, that it blasted a large number of the demons it hit to dust straight away. By the time the sonic blast faded away, and the remaining 120 demons still alive (Regulus and Sicklebough included) had managed to finally get back on their feet, Cyborg was already on the verge of landing right in front of them with his fists raised up and coated in electricity. Then the cybernetic teenage hero landed, slamming his electrified fists on the ground at the same time. In a flash, all the demons screamed in agony as they were engulfed in the massive shockwave of electricity that was sent bursting across the ground from Cyborg's fisted. Within seconds, all 20 of the remaining shadow demons among the squadron burst into dust, and the 20 wind demons were left barely alive.

When the electricity faded away, the demons still alive all glared as one at the now very smug looking bionic teenager. Growling, Regulus angrily squawked, "You may have survived Lord Asmodeus's attack you infernal piece of scrap metal! But you and your spiky haired comrade will not stop us from enshrouding your entire world in the darkness of his Malevolence!"

"You want dark?" growled another unexpectedly familiar voice, but this time coming from not too far above the demons and in the direction from which Robin had been standing. "I'll give you dark! AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!"

The demons had just enough time to look up and see Raven hovering right there with her now shadow cloaked hands pointing towards them before a tremendous maelstrom of massive shadowy lightning sprang down from the sky and plunged down on the entire squadron of them. The storm of shadow lightning struck the demons with such force that it both blasted all 20 of the water demons and 17 of the remaining wind demons to dust, and severely winded the 63 demons that survived.

Panting and growling, the demons that remained of the squadron all got up on their feet, shook their heads side to side in a mixture of pain and annoyance, and then growled angrily. "You may have managed to survive Lord Azazel's attempt to eliminate you daughter of Trigon," Regulus stated in a tone that sounded as if he were spitting out the title 'daughter of Trigon'. "But you and your two lucky friends will yet fail to . . ."

Right as he'd been saying this, Regulus, Sicklebough, and the other demons had happened to turn around to face the area where Raven had been hovering over just in time to see Raven slowly hover down to the ground and land smoothly on her feet. However, it wasn't the sight of the sorceress landing on the ground that caused Regulus to pause in his speech or for his eyes as well as those of the other demons in his squadron to widen in shock. The reason behind _that_ action, was the sight of the massive green t-rex that stomped right over to the area directly behind Raven.

As the demons continued to gape in stunned horror at the scene, the massive green dinosaur growled, leaned its head so that it could directly stare the demons straight in the eyes, and directed a predatory glare of such fury towards them that even Regulus found himself feeling as if Lucifer himself were glaring at him in disapproval. At the sight of the terrified look on the faces of the demons gathered in front of him and Raven, Beast Boy's eyes narrowed further. "You think you're so scary?" he thought to himself, an ominous rumbling growl beginning to rise out from his throat and tightly clenched jaws. "I'll give you something to be scared of." No sooner had Beast Boy had this thought when he growled, swiftly lowered his head so that his lower jaw was literally centimeters away from the back of Raven's head, and unleashed an earthshaking, "RRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!"

The awe-inspiring roar of fury that now poured from Beast Boy's gaping t-rex jaws was so loud and full of power that it seemed as if the Earth itself was roaring. In fact, the roar turned out to be so powerful that five of the twenty thunder demons among the group promptly burst into golden yellow dust. "How is this possible?" Regulus asked himself incredulously as he and the remaining demons involuntarily began to step backwards in fear. "I could certainly accept the possibility of one or two of them surviving, but three? There's no way that could possibly have happened without . . ."

Beast Boy roared at the demons again, took a step back, and then charged headlong towards the pack of demons, taking great care to step over Raven without letting any part of him touch her. The more fainthearted demons among the group screamed in fright and started to run away. Regulus, Sickelbaugh, and the other 39 demons that were braver stood their ground. "Stand together men," Regulus growled. "On my command . . . !" In a flash, with a swing of his head, Beast Boy sent one half of the group of braver demons to their right, and a second swing in the opposite direction knocked the remaining half to their left. No sooner had he effectively removed this last obstacle in his path when he roared at the 17 demons that were trying to flee and proceeded to further increase his pace in his headlong charge towards them.

Within seconds, the two subordinate wind demons had just enough time to look behind them and shriek in terror before Beast Boy's gigantic right foot slammed down on them and plowed them firmly up against the ground, causing them to burst into dust seconds after he lifted that very foot to continue his running. The 15 thunder demons that were also fleeing not too far ahead of the two luckless wind demons fared no better. Right as they were seconds away from reaching the open hole that would lead back to the safety of Hell, Beast Boy managed to take a massive leap forward, and the force of his landing caused a powerful enough shockwave to both instantly kill five of the demons and knock the remaining ten off their feet so that they went sprawling on their bellies inches away from the hole.

Beast Boy grunted, and turned his head to face Raven. The sorceress nodded, and opened a shadowy portal directly next to Beast Boy. A large spout of sand came pouring down on the ground to the verdant dinosaur's right. Beast Boy grunted in an apparent gesture of thanks, turned into a woolly mammoth, and sucked the sand up into his trunk before pointing it at the 10 prone demons and sending all the sand pouring out at them much like water from a hose.

The makeshift sand storm plowed into the demons and caused all but one of them to explode into dust. When the buffeting maelstrom of sand finally ended, the remaining thunder demon was barely alive. Groaning and wheezing in pain, he got on his hands and knees and attempted to get up. However, he suddenly shrieked in shock and terror when he felt something grab him by the tail and drag him backwards. Beast Boy had walked over to the demon and wrapped his wooly trunk around its tail before then dragging it away and lifting it skyward.

The demon could only scream in panic as Beast Boy the mammoth proceeded to spin him around in the air and then send him flying straight into the wall of one of the cliffs that formed the entrance boundary for the valley. The demon coughed and wheezed, and attempted to get back up. But Beast Boy was too fast for him, and he soon picked the demon up by the tail with his trunk once more.

Seconds after lifting the demon up in the air a second time, he reared upward, trumpeting angrily, and then proceeded to slam the demon down hard on the ground again and again in quick fashion. The demon was powerless to resist s Beast Boy repeatedly slammed him down on the ground over and over and over again. When Beast Boy pounded him on the ground for the 27th time, the luckless thunder demon burst into dust.

The large green woolly mammoth turned around to face the remaining demons, who'd all managed to get up and regroup at this point, trumpeted in triumph towards them, and then shifted back to his human form. A wolfish grin on his face, the changeling stated smugly, "Your low and puny Knights of Hell may have attempted to kill me and my friends, but as Ian Malcolm so eloquently put it, life found a way." Raven, Cyborg, and Robin promptly rolled their eyes at the sound of their friend's not entirely opportune timing for choosing to make a pop culture reference.

At this point, Regulus found himself beyond furious, and he pointed his right wing accusingly at Beast Boy before shouting, "I don't care how many of you miraculously turn out to be alive tonight, but mark my words! By the end of this night, the world will be enshrouded in the eternal darkness of villainy forevermore!"

"Then let the world remember this light!"

At the sound of this fourth unexpectedly familiar voice that was coming from directly above them, the demons all looked up just in time to see Starfire floating right above them as she slapped her green glowing hands together. With a massive flash and bang, the energy on her hands explosively expanded into an omnidirectional blast of green ultraviolet energy that promptly expanded down towards the ground, immolating the demons almost as if they'd been caught in a solar flare. In fact, 19 of the poison demons had just enough time to howl in agony before they burst into flames and exploded into dust.

When the ocean of star bolt energy was gone, the remaining demons all managed to weakly get up, and then they all glared straight towards the Titans, growling in fury. Then, right as they were about to attack, they all found themselves under attack from a mass onslaught of distinctive blue disks hurled at them by Robin. However, what the demons didn't expect was that, instead of the sub zero frosty air that usually came out of these disks, circular blasts of water were released. And within seconds, all 20 of the fire demons were reduced to soggy heaps of red dust, whereas Sicklebough and Regulus were left quite bedraggled.

Robin smirked at the sight of this, for now he could never have felt more confident in the Titans' chances of succeeding this evening. But then the two remaining demons growled and started to move as if attempting to get up. In a flash, all five of the teenage heroes got back into a battle ready position.

Sicklebough was the first of the two demons to get back on his feet, and he snarled lividly before abruptly teleporting out of sight. The Titans barely even had a chance to notice that he was gone until they heard the sound of him reappear from somewhere to their left, or in Starfire's case, right behind her. Robin turned his head, saw Sicklebough standing there with his tail positioned as if about to sting the Tamaranean in the back, and his eyes widened.

However, right as Robin was on the verge of pointing behind Starfire and shouting a warning, Sicklebough sent the barbed tip of his tail zooming towards Starfire's back. Robin was just about to lunge towards Sicklebough in a desperate attempt to save Starfire when the Tamaranean committed an action that left him even more shocking. Right as Sicklebough's tail was inches away from jabbing into her back, the Tamaranean warrior princess reached backward with her right hand, quick as a viper, and grasped tightly onto the demon's tail right at the area where the barb connected to the tail. And she did it without even turning to face the demon.

Sicklebough had just enough time to briefly grimace, and then gape in shock at what had happened, before Starfire turned her head to face him, a livid glare on her face. Seconds later, before Sicklebough could do anything, Starfire rapidly turned her entire body around to face the demon, twisting the barb on his tail in a clockwise direction at the same time. Sicklebough howled as he felt his tail get painfully twisted, only to then find himself gaping in clear horror at the sight of Starfire proceeding to grasp onto the barb with both hands and positioning herself as if about to push it downward. Robin also had a very good idea what Starfire was about to do, and he was quite surprised. The other Titans, strangely enough, didn't seem to think anything different about Starfire's current behavior.

Seconds later, Sicklebough opened his mouth, and seemed to be just on the verge of speaking when Starfire growled inarticulately and thrusted her makeshift spear downwards until it jabbed him right in the area where his heart would have been located if he were a human.

"RRRAAARRRGGGHHH!" Sicklebough roared as he felt himself get stabbed by his own tail. But the worst was yet to come for the luckless demon, as Starfire then proceeded to twist the barb around clockwise. Sicklebough stiffened in a completely upright position, snapped his jaws open, and howled in agony as he proceeded to go up in green crackling lightning. After what felt like an eternity to Sicklebough, the demon managed to unleash a final despairing roar before he then burst into a cloud of green dust.

Starfire turned around to face her friends, only to find that Robin was staring at her in clear shock at the unusual brutality she had just shown. Then they were all brought back down to Earth when they heard Regulus shout, "WHY YOU! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!" The Titans turned to face the area just in time to see Regulus swoop towards them.

Acting purely on instinct, Robin summoned his sword and thrust it straight at Regulus. The tip went right through the demon's open beak and jabbed out through the back of his head. Regulus shrieked in pain as he was engulfed in purple lightning before then exploding into a shower of purple dust.

It seemed as if only seconds had passed before the Titans heard a voice from in front of them say, "I've done what you asked father, the others are on their way . . ." The five teenage heroes looked in that direction in time to see Imbix now standing agape a couple feet away from the still open Devil's Gate, clearly surprised at the sight of the five teenage heroes standing around before the hodgepodge of dust that remained of his father and the other members of the squadron he'd been assigned to. With a squawk of fright, Imbix turned around and proceeded to fly back towards the Devil's Gate once more in an attempt to both escape and sound the alarm.

However, fate had other plans for Imbix that night. Raven extended her hand towards the fleeing wind demon, and in a flash, a ring of shadowy energy clamped itself around the tip of Imbix's tail from thin air. Imbix had just enough time to shriek in surprise before Raven then caused the energy ring to rapidly move towards her, dragging Imbix along with it. Only when Imbix was within reach of her hands did Raven finally dismiss the shadowy energy ring, and the demon didn't even get the chance to hit the ground before Beast Boy turned into a spinosaurus, grabbed the demon by the neck with his jaws as well as both of his hands, and then yanking upward in a backwards arc, snapping the demon's neck.

Robin had just enough time to find his eye widening in both shock and horror at this unexpected brutality from both Raven and Beast Boy before the giant green spinosaurus threw the corpse away. The dead demon came to a crashing land a meter or two behind Robin. No sooner had Imbix's dead body come to a complete stop on the ground and burst into dust when Beast Boy proceeded to get down on all fours, snap his jaws at the empty air, and then rear his head upward while unleashing a high pitched warbling roar that soon made Robin feel as if the earth itself were shaking beneath his feet.

This time, even Cyborg and Starfire weren't entirely unphased by the display of brutality. Whistling nervously, Cyborg directed a slight glance at Beast Boy, and then whispered to Robin, "Remind me not to piss him off." Robin could only nod slightly in complete stunned silence. He was beginning to wonder just how much they actually remembered about their earlier deaths without realizing and whether or not these same memories were now potentially causing them to subconsciously feel the need to be extra brutal towards demons in general as a sort of vengeance.

Beast Boy then reverted back to his human form, looked around the now momentarily empty area around them with a smile on his face, and said, "Huh, with those guys out of the way, we might actually just have enough time to close the gates right now without even needing to use the Angel Key."

Unfortunately, right after Beast Boy said this, the ground started shaking violently beneath the feet of the five teenage heroes. In the midst of their struggling to stay on their feet, the Titans managed to glance towards the still open Devil's Gate and realize with a jolt that the noise seemed to be particularly loud within that area. Realizing instantly what was happening, Robin looked over to Beast Boy with a glare. "You just had to say that didn't you?" Beast Boy had just enough time to direct a sheepish look towards Robin as if silently saying 'oops' before a massive geyser of multicolored smoke erupted from out of the Devil's Gate.

**And just like that, another chapter done! I hope you all enjoyed this! And do feel free to comment on whatever element you wish in your feedback. I especially hope you found this chapter exciting with all the action that's occurred. And for the sake of all, let's hope that things sail smoothly in regard to Robin's eventually letting the other Titans know the truth. Then again, you can never be entirely certain how well things will work out for situations like this. Oh well, again, here's to hoping you all enjoyed and will leave a respectable amount of feedback. ^_^**

**Coming up next: With all Hell's worth of demons now on their way out of Hell to initiate the second attempt at the apocalypse, the Titans now have to fight harder than ever to save the world. Will our favorite teenage heroes be able to fight off the demons long enough to summon some now very much needed help from the angels? Or will the forces of Lucifer win in the end? And what about Robin's deal? Just how long will the Titans have to wait before they learn the full truth about what happened in the valley where they battled the Knights of Hell? And for that matter, from who will they learn this information? Robin? Someone better? Or someone worse? Find out next time, on Night of the Cursed!**


	18. Salvation

**Hey there everybody! I hope you haven't all lost faith in me, because here, at long last, is a brand new chapter! I am SO sorry that I kept you guys waiting for so long. Let's just say that things got complicated. But now, at long last, here is a new chapter! And in this epic new chapter, the final battle begins. Will the Titans be able to stop the demons and prevent Apocalypse take 2? Or have they finally come up against the challenge that not even ****_THEY_**** can hope to overcome? Find out, in this fantastic new chapter!**

**But first, just to remind you all, I do not own Teen Titans, the DC Universe in general, or any religious elements. Got that? Good. Now, onward with the story (and please do not hesitate to leave me feedback either, regardless of whether or not you are a guest or registered user).**

**Chapter 17:**

**Salvation**

For a brief moment, the Titans could only stare wide eyed and open mouthed at the massive ocean of demonic smoke that was now rocketing out from the Devil's Gate and seething around in the air above them. After a while, Beast Boy whistled, and said, "We are in serious trouble."

"You think?!" Cyborg yelled.

"What are we gonna do?" Starfire asked Robin. "Friend Beast Boy is correct. Their numbers are far too large for us to have an easy chance at defeating if we fight them."

Robin directed a hard-eyed glare towards the writhing ocean of demonic smoke in the sky, and then positioned himself so that he once again had his sword in a battle-ready position before saying, "We do what we always do Star; we fight anyway."

"You heard the man," said Cyborg. "As bleak as this situation might seem, we're just gonna have to suck it up and fight our way out, just like usual."

"Too true," said Raven. "Still, at least we won't necessarily have to defeat all of them on our own."

"You got that right Rae," said Beast Boy. "We just need to defeat enough of them to give our fearless leader the time he needs to successfully open the Stairway to Heaven and the rest will be history."

"Exactly," said Robin. "And if we go down in flames, then so be it."

Starfire directed a nervous look upwards towards the mass of demonic smoke, then gulped, nodded her head, and said, "If you say so friends." Then she took on her own battle ready position. And before long, right as the Titans continued to stare at the storm of demons, every single one of the gigantic plumes of smoke landed on the ground one by one, solidifying into corporeal form not too long afterward.

As one, all the demons turned their heads to face the direction of the Titans, smirks on their faces as they were expecting to see their comrades from the first advance party at the very least, and potentially them wiping the floor with Robin at the very most. But at the sight of what actually _did_ end up being what they saw before them, they all developed a shared look of surprise. "What the . . . ?" one of the demons shrieked.

"Titans go!" Robin yelled. In a flash, the five teenage heroes rushed towards the massive army of demons, Beast Boy even going so far as to turn into a lion and lunging towards them. The demons didn't even get the chance to get themselves into proper position for battle before the Titans were upon them.

For the next few minutes that followed, the battle that unfolded was truly a massacre, and not in the demon's favor. Every which way, more and more demons continued to meet their demise as the five teenage heroes continued to take them out without giving them any time to get over their apparent surprise. Within ten minutes, almost half of the army of demons had been vanquished, either having been blasted to dust by Cyborg, Starfire, or Raven, cut down by Robin's sword, or savagely ripped apart by Beast Boy in his lion form. Even as all this was happening, Robin found himself very surprised that his friends seemed to be killing off demons alongside him so easily. But at that moment, he wasn't nearly so worried about how that was possible as he was about just killing as many demons as possible so as to allow himself sufficient time to summon help.

However, after those ten minutes were up, the demons that remained finally managed to get over their initial shock and properly prepare themselves to defend and counterattack. Fortunately, in spite of their now having to actually worry about attempting to block and defend themselves against counterattacks from the demons, the Titans still managed to hold their own quite well.

Robin continued to hack and slash at the demons that attacked him with his sword, effortlessly causing them to explode into dust all around him. Cyborg continued to blast his attackers with his sonic cannon and other mechanical weapons, as well as beating more than one of them aside with swings of his metallic fists. Raven shamelessly used her powers as if her life depended on it (though it could be argued that it in fact did), effortlessly blasting demons, crushing them with telekinetically hurled objects, or even flat out ripping them apart or crushing their hearts from within their chests. Beast Boy fought like a whirlwind. Even though the odds continued to rise against him, more and more demons fell to his might as he continued to unleash all the power he had against them as a lion, crocodile, gorilla, rhino, and even a wolf. Starfire, meanwhile, unleashed so much of her star bolts and laser beams that the night seemed to turn to day.

As it turned out, Starfire actually couldn't have felt more proud of herself as she continued to fight and defeat more and more demons. "If only my sister could see me now," she thought to herself as she blasted yet another small group of demons to dust with a single well-aimed star bolt blast. "I'm sure that this would be the kind of thing that, if she were to see it, would give her the kick."

At that moment, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the sound of squawking coming from behind her. She turned her head just in time to see a wind demon flying down towards her with its taloned feet at the ready so that the wicked sharp claws would jab straight into her back. Starfire rapidly kicked the demon in the beak, sending it hurtling backward, then rapidly turned around just in time to deal a swift forward jabbing punch to a second wind demon that had been in the midst of an attempt to run her through with its beak while she'd been distracted by its comrade. The two demons recovered within a few seconds, shrieked in unison at the Tamaranean, and then both soared towards her simultaneously. Starfire swooped downwards out of the way, and thus the two demons ended up painfully colliding head-on with each other.

Starfire had just enough time to direct a brief smirk at the now considerably disoriented wind demons before she heard hissing coming from behind her. She turned her head in time to see a poison demon standing right there with its frill unfurled, and its mouth open and dripping with venom. It appeared that the creature was on the verge of spitting acid at her. Starfire hurriedly fired her eye beams straight into the demon's open mouth, and the demon howled in agony as smoke started pouring from its mouth as a result of the blast, and it stumbled backward straight into a tree before slumping down on its backside, hissing in pain, before then bursting into dust.

The next few demons that attempted to attack Starfire fared no better. A fire demon that attempted to pounce on her from behind while she was still looking in the direction of the now incapacitated poison demon was sent flying backward by a kick to the stomach. A shadow demon that attempted to bite her from the side got pounded right in the jaw by her right fist. A water demon that attempted to prepare a water spout to fire at Starfire from its hands was blasted to dust by a star bolt before it was even half finished in charging up its attack. And a thunder demon and poison demon that ran at her from two opposing directions fared even worse when Starfire ducked right as the poison demon attempted to sting her with its tail. As a result of Starfire ducking at just the right moment, the poison demon's barbed tail stabbed its thunder demon partner right in the heart, and the golden yellow demon screamed in pain before bursting into dust. The poison demon had only just realized what had just happened to its partner in the attempted attack on Starfire before the Tamaranean grabbed it by the tip of its tail, tore the tail right off its body, and then thrusted the barbed stinger upwards straight through its throat. The stunned demon had just enough time to gape at the Tamaranean and gurgle weakly in pain before collapsing into dust.

Beast Boy, meanwhile, was fighting an equally intense battle of his own. Roaring in fury as a lion, the changeling bravely stood his ground as several demons surrounded him and prepared to attack. Right as the one directly in front of him had positioned its tail as if about to sting him, he pounced on it. The demon had just enough to grunt in pain before the mighty green lion slit the infernal monster's throat with its claws. Beast Boy had just enough time to let out a roar of challenge before a nearby thunder demon rushed towards him from his left, howling in rage. Beast Boy roared, turned into a crocodile, and swiped the demon's legs out from under it with a swing of his tail. No sooner had the thunder demon landed when Beast Boy snapped his jaws around the creature's tail and tossed it aside. A fire demon to Beast Boy's right then decided to try its luck at pouncing at the changeling, only to be sent flying backward when the changeling turned into a rhino and smacked it upside the head with his horned snout.

Even as the fire demon was thrown aside, the other demons were still not about to give up. Snarling angrily, a shadow demon charged towards Beast Boy, only for the changeling to turn into a gorilla, grab it by the horns, and then violently yank them in a counterclockwise direction, snapping its neck. Seconds before the now dead shadow demon collapsed into dust, the green gorilla grabbed onto one of the creature's horns, wrenched it off, and turned around in time to slit the throat of the thunder demon he'd earlier tossed aside as a crocodile. The luckless thunder demon burst into dust, and the changeling turned to face the one demon that remained of the group. The demon in question, a water demon, now looked quite terrified, and it hurriedly turned to attempt to flee. The demon never even got the chance to take a single footstep before Beast Boy turned into a wolf, snarled in bloodlust, and pounced on it. Within seconds, the sound of the demon's agonized wailing and the bloodthirsty snarling and growling of Beast Boy's wolf form filled the air as the changeling proceeded to violently rip the demon apart.

At the same time that Beast Boy was very graphically introducing the luckless water demon to a very new version of Hell, Raven was proving herself to be a far more serious threat then the Luciferian demons had ever before considered the spawn of a demon from a rival form of Hell, let alone one that was only half demon. A contingent of fire demons attempted to surround the sorceress, only to be sent flying by a sudden whirlpool of shadowy energy before they could even form half a circle around her. A group of poison demons materialized in the area that the fire demons had been attempting to reach and prepared to spit their venom at her. Raven summoned a force field right as the demons spat the venom, and the corrosive acid harmlessly splashed against the shield. Before the demons could attempt to prepare a second venom spit attack, Raven lowered her shield, chanted her mantra, and blasted them away with a storm of shadowy meteors. A group of thunder demons then appeared, their hands crackling with electricity, only to be crushed by a series of rocky slaps that arose from the sides and pinned together against them like snapping alligator jaws at a snap of Raven's fingers.

No sooner had Raven dismissed the shadowy energy holding up the rocky death traps, and the slabs of earthen material slammed back down to where they came from, when the sorceress heard the snarling of yet more demons coming. She glared at the area from which she'd heard the sound coming from just in time to see a large pack of water demons rushing towards her. Growling silently, she yelled out her mantra and lifted her hands up towards the sky. In a flash, a massive storm of shadowy lightning bolts plunged down upon the demons and blasted all but one of them to dust. The only one that wasn't instantly killed was left severely winded and gasping for breath on the ground. Raven summoned a ring of shadowy energy around its neck and lifted it up into the air, where she then tightened the ring and caused the demon to cough and hiss in pain before finally ending its misery by snapping her fingers and causing it to explode into dust.

Cyborg, meanwhile, was beating down demons left and right. Mere seconds after Raven caused her most recent demon attacker to explode, Cyborg sent an entire trio of poison demons rocketing backward with a single sweeping punch. "Yeah that's right ya'll!" Cyborg yelled as the three demons were knocked away. "Ya'll don't mess with Cyborg and get away with it!" He then converted his right arm into a sonic cannon, aimed it at a group of water demons running towards him from that side, and fired. As he unleashed the sonic laser, he started to spin himself around in circles, causing the beam to rapidly rotate counterclockwise and blast almost every single demon that was positioned around the bionic teenager. Only a small group of thunder demons managed to avoid getting blasted to dust by jumping backwards out of the way right as their comrades were finding themselves on the receiving end of Cyborg's blast. Before they even had a chance to charge at Cyborg again when the sonic laser assault ended, they were sent flying backward by a powerful shockwave of ultrasonic noise waves. "Booyah!" Cyborg shouted as the demons were sent packing.

At the same time that the group of thunder demons were cast aside, a group of shadow demons materialized in the area where they'd been standing and roared at Cyborg in challenge. Cyborg took on a battle ready position, ready to take them on. Then the shadow demon at the very front of the group proceeded to lunge towards Cyborg, its claws and fangs at the ready. Cyborg grabbed the demon by the horns and lifted it upwards. As he did this, Cyborg yelled, "He catches, he aims." He then positioned the demon as if he were about to throw it straight at the other members of its group. "He shoots," he yelled as he threw the demon straight towards its brethren. The demon crashed headlong into the rest of its group, sending them all hurtling backward. "Score, for Cyborg!" Cyborg hollered with his right fist raised up in a victory gesture.

Then Cyborg heard the sound of a demonic roaring coming from behind him. He turned his head just in time to see a fire demon standing not too far behind him about to attempt to hurl fire balls from its hands straight at Beast Boy and Raven. The two chromatically challenged Titans in question were quite distracted by their own current attackers at that particular moment, and thus wouldn't stand a chance of noticing the upcoming attack in time to evade it. Enraged at the sight of the very cheap shot that this fire demon was about to take, he barreled towards it. "Hey you!"

The demon turned its head in the direction that it had heard the voice coming from and let out an indignant snarl as it turned its body fully around to face the cybernetic teenager that had now interrupted it's attempt at blindsiding the shape shifter and half demon sorceress. Cyborg skidded to a stop in front of the angry demon, his fists clenched and his face painted with a glare that clearly stated, 'No way are you messing with my friends'. The demon growled, caused its teeth to burst into flames, and then thrusted its head and neck forward in an attempt to bite Cyborg with its fiery fangs.

Cyborg stepped aside in time to avoid ending up on the flaming end of the demon's fangs, and the two stepped around to their respective left sides in an attempt to get a clear view of each other again to initiate their next attack. Then, right as the demon had its right side facing Cyborg and turned its head, Cyborg jumped up onto its back and wrapped his arms around its neck. The demon snarled in irritation, and tried to snap its still flaming jaws around Cyborg's neck, but the bionic hero was positioned in a way that left him out of reach of the demon's teeth, and the demon ended up uselessly turning itself around in circles.

The demon then eventually managed to knock Cyborg off of him by banging him in the chin with the top segment of its mane of horns. Cyborg landed on the ground on his back, and the demon rushed towards him before lowering its jaws towards him in yet another attempt to bite him. However, the method the demon had used to get Cyborg off of it had inadvertently given Cyborg another idea on how to prevent the creature from biting him, and he grabbed onto the demon's horns and pushed upwards on them right as the demon was seconds away from sufficient biting distance, leaving the demon ineffectively snapping at the thin air just inches above Cyborg's chest and neck. At that moment, as the demon continued to snap ineffectively at him with its jaws, Cyborg managed to let go with one hand, gather up some dust with the hand in question, and then fling it upwards into the demons mouth.

This unexpected attack not only extinguished the fire around the demon's fangs, but also gave Cyborg the added bonus of the demon willingly straightening back up and slightly backing off as it coughed and sputtered from the unexpected dust that had now gotten in its mouth. This gave Cyborg just the right amount of time he needed to get back up on his feet and prepare himself to face off with the demon on equal footing once more.

Seconds later, the demon recovered sufficiently enough to turn to face Cyborg once more. It had just opened its jaws and started to roar at Cyborg before it then had to swerve downward to its right to avoid getting slugged right in the face by Cyborg's left fist. When the two combatants straightened back up on both their feet once more, Cyborg ended up having to swerve downwards to his own right to avoid getting roasted by a small fireball that the demon spat at him. He then swung his right fist at the demon at the exact same time as he was straightening back up onto his feet, only for the demon to dodge by rearing its head upwards so that the bionic teen's fist swung harmlessly just beneath the creature's chin. The demon then dodged a second punch, this one from Cyborg's left fist, by stepping backwards and to its left right as Cyborg's fist was heading towards it yet again.

At this point, the two combatants stared each other down. It seemed that their current fighting tactics weren't getting them anymore. Both of them then decided that it was time to change things up. Unfortunately, the demon beat Cyborg to the punch in the race to determine who would successfully change tactics first. It snapped its now flameless teeth at Cyborg in a feint maneuver. Cyborg, unfortunately, fell for it, and he stepped back. Cyborg cursed himself mentally after this when he saw the demon chuckle and direct a smug look towards him. Glaring, he thrusted both fists forward and back in a rapid-fire motion. The demon snapped its teeth at the area where it had been expecting Cyborg's fists to reach before they abruptly drew back. Unfortunately, Cyborg didn't even get the chance to celebrate his momentarily having appeared to have caught the demon out on his own feint maneuver before the demon then jumped towards him.

In a flash, the demon's feet latched onto the cybernetic hero's stomach, its arms wrapped around Cyborg's neck, and it leaned its head over Cyborg's shoulder and started snapping its teeth (now on fire once more) at Cyborg's back in an attempt to bite him there. For a brief few minutes, Cyborg struggled to keep himself from getting bitten by the demon and allow himself to recover from the nasty surprise that the demon had now treated him to. He eventually managed to press his right hand against the demon's throat and push it upwards before swinging his left fist towards its now exposed jaw. The demon was forced to let go and jump off of Cyborg to avoid getting punched.

The two combatants rearranged position once more, ready to yet continue their duel. The demon decided to initiate the first attack, hoping that this would give it an edge, and it charged towards Cyborg. Cyborg swung his right fist at the demon, and it was forced to jump back mid-charge to avoid ending up on the painful end of the metallic fist. The demon growled in annoyance after recovering, and it spewed out a small jet of flames at Cyborg. Cyborg hurriedly side stepped to his right to avoid the fire, and the two warriors faced each other yet again. The demon spat around another jet of flames, but this one was so much larger and faster than the previous one that Cyborg was forced to duck his head and completely bend forward in order to avoid getting blasted by it.

Cyborg was just starting to lift his head up when he saw the demon swing its right claws towards him and he was forced to duck again. However, Cyborg soon decided to take advantage of the silver lining that his current inconvenience in bodily position had provided. In other words, he grabbed the demon by the legs while he was still bent over to evade the demon's current attacks and lifted upward. This caused the demon to become uprooted from the ground, and it found itself awkwardly flailing around and shrieking and snarling in surprise and fear before Cyborg turned himself a full 180 degrees and slammed it down on the ground.

With the demon now lying down on its right side, it turned its head to face Cyborg and swung its tail towards him, Cyborg leaned backwards to avoid getting smacked in the face by the demon's tail, and he hurriedly rushed forward the instant the tail had retracted back from its attempted swing at him, leaned down on his hands and knees by the demon's head and started punching it repeatedly in the face. The demon snarled and growled in pain and exasperation as Cyborg's fists repeatedly slammed into its face. However, as its tail and feet flailed around from the impact, it managed to get its left foot positioned on Cyborg's abdomen, and after a couple tries, it managed to push sufficiently enough against the bionic teenager to effectively push him off and kick him away.

Cyborg landed on his back with a thud, and the demon straightened back up onto its feet, swinging its tail from side to side smugly in an arrogant victory gesture. After finishing its smug apparent gesture of victory, it stepped back a couple inches in preparation for lunging right on Cyborg while the bionic teenager was still down. Unfortunately for the demon, Cyborg managed to get back up on his feet before it could finish preparing itself for its pounce, and he let out an inarticulate yell of rage before running back towards the demon.

The demon snarled in irritation at its failed attempt to finish Cyborg off, but nonetheless readied itself for the yet again prolonged duel. Growling, the demon swung its right hand claws at Cyborg, only for Cyborg to step back slightly mid-rush to avoid getting slashed across his face. Cyborg had just straightened himself back after successfully avoiding this attack when he then had to swerve downward to his right to avoid getting smacked in the head by the demon's tail, which it had swung towards him right as he was in the midst of straightening himself back out from dodging its earlier claw attack. In spite of failing to hit Cyborg with the tail swipe attack, the demon had managed to allow itself to unleash the attack in a way that would allow it to spin a full 360 degrees and allow it to still be able to conveniently reposition itself if the attack missed.

No sooner had the demon found itself once again face to face with Cyborg when it roared, and lifted its right foot in preparation to unleash a powerful stomp kick. Cyborg, however, was prepared for this, and he grabbed the demon by its now uplifted right ankle. The demon howled and snarled in both surprise and irritation as Cyborg continued to lift up on its ankle and attempt to completely send it off balance. Before long, in the combined efforts to upend his opponent (in Cyborg's case) and escape from the opponents grasp (in the case of the demon), the demon eventually managed to push against Cyborg's hands sufficiently enough to cause Cyborg to lose is grip. However, Cyborg managed to recover from his losing grip on the demon's foot by wrapping his arms around the demon's neck and initiating a forward somersault, causing both himself and the demon to tumble over onto the ground. In the midst of this, both of the two combatants landed on their backs, the demon landing on the ground and Cyborg right on top of the demon.

Cyborg was the first to get up on his feet after this, and when the demon got back up as well, he hurriedly stepped back to avoid getting stabbed in the face by the demon's attempted tail sting attack. When the demon attempted to attack Cyborg again, but this time by swinging its horns towards him in a rightwards slashing attack, Cyborg repeated his earlier dodging maneuver before then wrapping his arms around the demon's neck again before it could reposition its head to face him once more.

The demon growled and snapped its jaws irritably as it proceeded to start pushing itself against Cyborg in an attempt to force him into letting go of it. Cyborg masterfully stepped backwards in time with the demon's pushing so as to avoid getting knocked off balance by the demon's efforts to get him to let go. They managed to turn a complete 360 degrees before the demon eventually changed tactics and gave him a sharp elbow strike to the chest with its left elbow. The jarring and painful impact caused Cyborg to let go and stumble backwards completely off balance. The bionic teenager's back ended up crashing right into a large solitary tree that happened to be right behind him, and the impact caused the tree to uproot and come crashing down on a small group of thunder demons that were starting to gang up on Starfire from behind.

Starfire turned her head to look behind her after hearing the crash and the pained snarling from the thunder demons who'd been about to ambush her. She just managed to see the thunder demons pinned under the tree and groaning in pain before they burst into dust. She then managed to see Cyborg not too far away from the downed tree, and she hurriedly yelled, "Thank you friend!"

"No problem!" Cyborg hollered before he was then forced to pay attention once more to his own opponent.

The demon had started rushing towards Cyborg, and it soon snapped its teeth. Cyborg instinctively moved back, only to realize too late that the demon hadn't even moved towards him when snapping its teeth, thus learning that the bite had only been a feint. The demon then breathed fire at him, and Cyborg did a belly flop dodge to evade the flames. No sooner had Cyborg gotten himself into a crouching position when he then had to jump back to evade the flaming x-shaped slash attack the demon sent his way. Fortunately, as a result of his having to dodge this latest attack from the demon, Cyborg managed to get himself fully straightened up on his two feet, and he hurriedly reached forward and grabbed the demon by the wrists, one in each hand before the demon could prepare itself to unleash another attack.

Now having gotten a full hold on the demon, he started moving around and maneuvering the demon's arms in an attempt to flip it over on its back, even pressing the top of his head up against the demon's neck for good measure. The demon however, sufficiently struggled and pushed against this, and eventually, after turning a complete 360 degree circle, Cyborg was forced to let go when the demon ignited its hands as if in preparation to toss fire from their and the resulting heat seared Cyborg's hands.

Cyborg stepped backward quite a few steps after this, and when he saw the demon start to move towards him again, he was very quick to attempt to recover from the incident by swinging his right fist. The demon stepped back mid-charge to evade the attack, only to snarl in irritation when it discovered that the move had been a feint on Cyborg's part. It didn't even get the chance to calm down from its anger and resume its charge before Cyborg initiated another punch, but this time for real. As a result, Cyborg's right fist plowed effortlessly into the demon's jaw and sent it stumbling backwards.

When the demon managed to recover and straighten up again, it roared again and again as both it and Cyborg moved in a half circle in their respective directions yet again. After positioning themselves so that Cyborg was standing nearby where the now fallen tree had once stood and the demon was standing where Cyborg had originally been, the demon roared and attempted to rush towards Cyborg once more. Unfortunately for the demon, it was forced to take a step back when Cyborg swung his right fist towards it, and then take another step back when Cyborg swung his left fist towards it.

No sooner had the demon evaded the most recent punch from Cyborg when the cybernetic teenage hero jumped towards it, wrapping his left arm around its neck and clenching his right hand around one of the horns that made up the top portion of the demon's mane of spikes. Cyborg then tugged on the demon in an attempt to force it down upon the ground, only for the demon to roll over to its left and cause Cyborg to let go so as to turn his impact into a roll of his own. After they'd both gotten back on their feet, Cyborg latched onto the demon once again, but this with his left hand clasped around the horn and his right arm wrapped around its neck. This time, as he pulled downwards on the demon he was attempting to both force it down towards the ground and break its neck.

However, the demon then cleverly decided to use Cyborg's own momentum against him by leaning downwards with it instead of fighting against it like it already had before. In doing so, it was now hoping that when it tumbled down onto the ground, it would send Cyborg tumbling down with it. Fortunately for Cyborg, he was able to catch onto the trick just in time to let go right as the demon was about to tumble.

As a result, the demon landed headfirst on the ground, and then tumbled over before coming to a crash landing on its right side. Snarling and roaring in rage from having turned itself into the sole victim of its own trick, the demon managed to position itself so that its right arm and leg were still lying down on the ground, its left arm, left leg, and tail were flailing around in the air, and its head was positioned so that it was directly facing Cyborg. The demon snapped its teeth towards Cyborg once, then unleashed a jet of flames from its mouth, then a second, and then a medium powered ultrasonic roar. While Cyborg was able to step back in time to evade the bite and the two jets of flame, he was forced to step back even further in slight disorientation as he ended up on just the edge of the roar's attack range.

While Cyborg was disoriented from his minor contact with the roar attack, the demon got back on its feet and roared in challenge. Cyborg, however, rushed right towards the demon while it was roaring and proceeded to jump upwards, wrapping his arms around its neck right at the same time as he was landing on the creature's back. Thus Cyborg effectively made it look as if the demon were now giving him a piggyback ride.

Snarling and howling with rage, the demon started rushing erratically around in all directions in an effort to buck Cyborg off. Cyborg, however, managed to hold on tightly, and he eventually managed to get a good strong grip in which he had both hands on the demon's jaws. Thus, with his right hand gripping the tip of the demon's upper jaw and his left hand gripping the tip of the demon's lower jaw, he started to pull with all his mind, forcing the demon's jaws open and causing it to start becoming perilously at risk of getting its jaws snapped.

At this point, with its roars and snarls now sounding far more terrified and fearful than angry, the demon desperately struggled against Cyborg's grip on its jaws. After a few close calls, it managed to tumble to its left, causing Cyborg to momentarily lose grip. However, the demon had only managed to get itself positioned so that it was lying down on its left side and facing the area where Cyborg had originally landed before he then found Cyborg gripping at its jaws once more. Cyborg had managed to jump over the demon and land behind it right as it was repositioning itself, and now he had it fully at his mercy.

Howling now in despair, the demon tried once again struggled as hard as it could to push its jaws back into a more safe position against Cyborg's hands. When this failed, it unleashed its fire breath. For a moment, the demon gained a brief reprieve when the unexpected burst of flame surprised Cyborg sufficiently enough into letting go. However, Cyborg then placed his right hand back into its original position on the demon's lower jaw and started pounding his left fist on the demon's nose like a hammer. For a few minutes, the demon managed to stalwartly keep its jaws shut tight in spite of the brutal pounding it was receiving. Eventually however, Cyborg managed to hit it just hard enough for it to open its jaws in reflex and unleash a pained roar.

That single opening was all Cyborg needed, and he fully reasserted his earlier grip on the demon's jaws before starting to pull at them again. The demon unleashed its fire breath, roaring in agony and despair. But this time, Cyborg was prepared for the possibility of the demon unleashing its fire breath, and he managed to avoid letting go. Before long, the demon managed to let out a final despairing roar before Cyborg finally caused its jaws to snap with an unnerving crack. In a flash, with its face frozen in wide-eyed shock, the demon started crackling with red lightning, its fire breath alternating between pure flames and fluttering puffs of smoke. Eventually, the fire breath stopped alternating and became stuck in full on smoke form, and the red lightning stopped altogether. The demon was now dead. Cyborg let go, and the demon's head plunged back down on the ground with a thud. Seconds later, the entire corpse burst into blood red dust.

No sooner had the demon burst into dust when Cyborg straightened up and caught a glimpse of a small group of demons standing nearby, gaping at him in shock and horror. Cyborg directed a smug grin towards the stunned demons, wagged his finger at them, and then said, "That's right ya'll! Ya'll mess with me, and you only mess up yo'self!"

The demons growled angrily at this. "Kill him!" yelled a thunder demon that appeared to be the de facto leader of the group, and the entire group rushed towards Cyborg as one.

"Oh it is on," said Cyborg as he intertwined his fingers and flexed his hands outward. He was definitely ready for more.

Meanwhile, Robin was calmly battling a five member group of demons with nothing but his sword. Even as he continued to slash at the demons with his sword and block and parry their attacks with it, he remained perfectly calm and collected. After all, unlike with Savage, these opponents were skilled enough for him to be very unwise to risk losing his temper.

Before long, only one demon was left among the group that Robin had just now been fighting, and it was now on its hands and knees with a slight scratch on its left wrist. The demon in question, which happened to be a female poison demon, snarled venomously at the Boy Wonder. "You may have defeated me and my comrades," it hissed coldly, "but you have won nothing tonight. You will fall yet to the power of the Knights, if not to the remainder of this army already present."

"Well too bad you won't live to see that," Robin growled before then beheading the demon. The demon burst into dust, and Robin quickly retracted his sword. Having briefly won himself a reprieve from fighting, Robin calmly thought to himself. "Still, she does have a point," he quietly stated to himself. "We may be doing ok for now, but sooner or later, we can't expect to defeat every single one of those things on our own."

The Boy Wonder then turned his head to face the direction of the machinery designed for opening and closing the Stairway to Heaven. "For that matter, I guess now's as good a time as ever to get that other gate open and summon the cavalry." His mind made up, Robin leaped in the direction of the machinery in question and rushed towards it as fast as he could, his hand digging into his utility belt for the Paradisiacal Key.

. . . . .

However, little did Robin or any of the other Titans know that one of the demons that had arrived with the rest of the Infernal Army (sans the Knights of Hell) had not at all yet joined in the fight, and was currently hiding behind some rocks nearby the still open Alpha Devil's Gate. This demon, was none other than Carnax, the demon who'd been the leader of the squadron that had been hired to assassinate the Titans after the failure of the first hired advance party, only to end up captured and interrogated by the Titans before finally being exorcized back to Hell. Now, having been given the chance yet again to go out into the world outside Hell, Carnax was eager to both make up for his earlier failure and to get revenge on Robin.

However, like all the other demons, he had been caught quite off guard when he saw the Boy Wonder's reportedly dead friends standing right there in the valley alongside their fearless leader and right nearby the dust that remained of Regulus's advance party. However, rather than initiating battle like all the other demons present, Carnax had decided that it would be far wiser to take cover and sound the alarm to the Knights of Hell. He knew all too well that the Titans were more than capable of handling themselves against the vast majority of the demons currently present, and that if anyone could help tip the scales against them, it would be the Knights. Admittedly, he'd had trouble making his way through all the hectic chaos going on, and had also briefly gotten distracted when he'd caught sight of the battle between Cyborg and the other fire demon. In fact, due to how that particular fire demon was Carnax's elder brother Sanguiroth, he'd been very tempted to join in the fray right then and there after seeing Cyborg vanquish the other demon. But in the end, Carnax had decided that attempting to get revenge would do neither himself nor the invasion any good if he only ended up getting himself killed as well. And so, with great reluctance, he'd turned away from the area where Cyborg was, left him to fight it out with the demons who had chosen to try their luck against him after the death of Sanguiroth, and finally taken cover before summoning a Hellish bowl, filling it with the blood of a snake he'd happened to catch nearby, and making attempts at setting up an Infernal chat with the Knights.

"Come on, come on," he growled as he attempted again and again at getting the conditions just right. The fact that he was currently in a hurry combined with the added distractions from the chaos going on around him was not making it easy for him to do the proper procedure for setting up the call correctly. After another few tries, just as Carnax was on the verge of losing his temper entirely, he finally managed to get it right, and the blood swirled around before taking on the slow moving vortex appearance that meant that the call had come through.

Seconds later, Carnax heard the voice of Samael state, "You called?"

"Lord Samael, the Titans, they're here!"

"Titans?" Samael stated with disinterest. "Don't you mean Titan?"

Carnax snarled in irritation. "No! I mean _Titans_! All five of them! They're here in this valley right now doing battle with the rest of the army!"

"What!?" Samael's voice boomed from within the bloody vortex. "That's impossible! We killed the other four!"

"Well it would appear that you didn't finish the job!" Carnax snapped angrily. "Because right this very moment, all five of the Titans are present in this valley doing battle with our forces."

"We did finish the job!" Samael shouted. "We tested the corpses ourselves, and there was radio silence on all four of them!"

"Well if that's true," Carnax growled. "Then how is it that they are alive and in this valley right now!?"

"What's going on?" came the voice of Lilith. Samael turned his head and saw Lilith and the other Knights of Hell standing not too far behind him.

"Excuse me," Samael said to Carnax before then replying to his mate, "Carnax has recently informed me that the Boy Wonder has in the end chosen to come to the Valley of the Portals to head our forces off."

"For some reason, I feel like I shouldn't be surprised," said Lilith.

"Yes indeed," said Samael. "However, he also is currently claiming that the other four teenagers that we killed earlier are there with him and are doing battle with the remainder of our forces as we speak!"

Lilith's eyes widened, and her jaws dropped open incredulously. Even Asmodeus, Azazel, and Abaddon seemed genuinely surprised by this news.

"That's impossible!" Lilith howled. "There was radio silence on all four of them! I even _felt_ the alien's corpse leave her body after I'd snapped her neck while still inside her! They can't possibly be alive!"

"That's what I just said," Samael roared. "Yet even now Carnax is still under the ridiculous impression that they have somehow managed to survive!"

"I'm not kidding!" howled the voice of Carnax from within the fiery vortex behind Samael. "They are alive and well, and in the valley fighting our forces alongside their fearless leader! I swear it on Lucifer's Crown!"

"Well that should put this idiocy to rest," Lilith chuckled.

"He could be telling the truth you know," Abaddon growled.

"We are _not_ having this discussion again Abaddon," Lilith snapped.

"Are you still there?"

At the sound of Carnax's voice coming from the vortex, Lilith very noticeably paused, and her eyes widened as she realized the implications that came with this information. Samael also seemed very surprised and unnerved by how Carnax was still alive after swearing on Lucifer's Crown to the truth behind his claims that he and his mate were almost certain would turn out to be lies. At the sight of this, Abaddon merely glared, and folded his arms across his chest. Asmodeus chuckled, his frill extended and tongue sticking out, and then said, "Well that certainly blows a hole in your statement doesn't it?"

Lilith chuckled nervously, pointed her finger at Asmodeus and stated, "Now, now, let's not be hasty."

"Lilith, we don't have time for this!" Abaddon growled. "Just admit that you and your mate were wrong, and let's get out there and deal with the problem!"

"Calm yourself Abaddon," said Samael. "There's still yet hope that Carnax could be lying about this matter. The magic of the vow may just be acting a little slow, and we may yet receive further proof as to whether or not his claims are true . . ."

"We've already received plenty of proof!" Asmodeus shrieked. "You're just too proud and blind to admit it!"

"Asmodeus!" Samael roared, "I will not tolerate such insolence from you!"

"Oh cry me a river Samael!" Abaddon growled. "Don't you see we now have much bigger things to worry about!?"

"There is _nothing_ to worry about!" Samael snarled. "Carnax is just overreacting! That's all!"

"I am _not_ overreacting!" Carnax howled. "I've already sworn on his Malevolence's crown that I'm telling the truth and lived to tell the tale! Isn't that enough?!"

"Silence heathen!" Lilith snapped. "Sooner or later, the magic behind the vow will do its work, and your claims will be exposed as the lies that they are . . . !"

"SWITCH THE CALL TO VISUAL!"

At the sound of this nightmarishly loud roar from Azazel, the other four Knights of Hell turned their heads and gaped at their compatriot in shock. Even Asmodeus and Abaddon were surprised at how much volume the usually calm and collected Azazel had mustered in his current unexpected temper eruption. Even Carnax appeared to be shocked as he still hadn't yet made any comment.

Azazel snarled, glared towards the fiery vortex on his end of the call, and angrily hissed, "Carnax, that's an order."

"Oh yes, right," said the voice of Carnax. After a sound of him whispering some unintelligible Latin words, the inky blackness within the fiery vortex gave way to reveal the face of the very much still alive and well Carnax staring towards them. "Now what?"

"Let us see the battle going on in the valley of the Portals," Azazel stated calmly with his arms folded across the chest. "Let myself and my four erstwhile comrades see what you have claimed with our own eyes."

"Oh yes, indeed," Carnax stated before hurriedly repositioning the blood filled bowl he'd used to make the call so that the five Knights of Hell could get a full view of the battle going on in the valley. At first, all that the five high ranking demons could see was a vast number of demons randomly battling and giving off battle cries. However, when they heard an eerily familiar voice shout, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" they managed to catch sight of Raven hovering around in the air before a large sphere of shadowy energy materialized around her and began to expand in all directions, thus flattening all the demons standing underneath and around her from on the ground. When the sphere vanished, a considerable area of ground around the spot she was hovering over was completely empty of demons. Before long, a single water demon lunged upwards towards Raven, snarling in rage, only to be stopped in midair by Raven merely extending her hand towards it. For a brief moment, the demon was left hovering and flailing uselessly around in the air. Then Raven snapped her fingers, and the demon exploded into dust.

At the sight of the very same half demon sorceress he'd killed now very much alive and well, Azazel turned his head to face Samael and Lilith, his eyebrow raised. Samael grinned sheepishly, and stated weakly, "It may yet mean nothing . . ."

Then the demons' attention was drawn back to the vortex at the sound of yet another familiar voice. They looked at the vortex just in time to see Cyborg spinning around with both of his arms converted into sonic cannons. Within seconds, Cyborg had mowed down a considerable number of demons into dust. No sooner had Cyborg stopped spinning when he converted his right arm into what looked like a chain saw with flames coating the blade and ran it through a fire demon that had just now attempted to run up to him and strike from behind. The demon had just enough time to shriek in agony as the active immolated saw jabbed straight through its abdomen before it went up in lights and exploded into dust.

At the sight of this, Asmodeus directed a glare of his own towards Lilith and Samael. Lilith chuckled nervously, waved her hands around in the air as if trying to alleviate herself of some of the stress, and said, "Hey, this doesn't mean that all four of them have turned out to be alive. I mean, the ones my mate and I killed may yet . . ."

However, at the sound of a very familiar feminine voice unleashing a feral battle cry, Lilith paused, eyes widened in horror, and turned to face the vortex once more. Her mate and fellow Knights of Hell directed their attention to the vortex as well.

Just as Lilith feared, none other than Starfire had now appeared on the 'screen,' and she promptly unleashed a massive storm of star bolts at a group of demons around her, blasting them to dust. Seconds later, she turned her head to face another area, let out an angry yell, and fired her eye beams. At the sound of an agonized howl, Carnax maneuvered the bowl just in time to let the Knights of Hell see a shadow demon who now appeared to have somehow had his right arm sliced off of him howling in pain before they then saw a pair of orange hands wearing purple gloves grab him by his horns and yank him backward. The screen then changed position again just in time for the demons to see Starfire pick up an object that was very clearly recognizable as the severed arm of the shadow demon they'd just seen and start slamming it down on the demon in question again and again.

Lilith gulped in terror at the sight of the Tamaranean warrior princess she'd earlier possessed and killed beating that single minor league shadow demon to death with its own arm. Eventually, after the demon and the arm burst into black dust and Starfire took off back to the air with a snarl of rage, Lilith hung her head, clearly ashamed. Samael placed his arm on his despondent mate's shoulder. "There, there, don't fret. This could yet prove to be . . ."

At the sound of what appeared to be a mixture between a scream of shock and an agonized howl, plus an unnerving noise that sounded like a massive creature snapping its jaws and crunching something, the Knights of Hell all directed their focus back on the 'screen' just in time to see Raven glance behind towards what turned out to be none other than a very real green t-rex snapping its jaws open and shut on a luckless thunder demon that appeared to have been right behind the sorceress and about to strike her from behind. The demon in Beast Boy's mouth howled and struggled desperately in spite of his wounds to somehow escape from the death trap, but then a final emphatic snap of the dinosaur's jaws turned him to dust. At the sound of an enraged howl, Beast Boy turned his head in time to see another thunder demon that now appeared to be very, very angry running towards him in a velociraptor-like style with his claws and fangs at the ready to slice at the dinosaur. Seconds later, the demon jumped up and latched onto the right side of the mighty t-rex's face before clawing and slashing at him relentlessly. The t-rex growled in pain and annoyance as it proceeded to snap its jaws at its attacker again and again.

At the sight of some very familiar scars on the demon's back that looked like the kind that could be left by a whip, Samael's eyes widened in a look that appeared to be of even greater shock then the one that had been on his face when he'd seen the very shape shifter he'd earlier killed alive and well. "That demon," he spluttered as he pointed at the irate demon that was currently battling Beast Boy. "I recognize him! That's Simenon!" And indeed it was, for Samael would have recognized that demon anywhere to how he himself had been the one to inflict those scars on him by lashing him with a whip as punishment for insubordination.

"That other demon must have been Xintax," Lilith stated solemnly. And indeed this theory made quite a bit of sense to both Samael and the other three male Knights of Hell. After all, the only demon that Simenon had ever shown such emotional attachment as he was currently demonstrating was his twin brother Xintax.

Seconds later, in dramatic cinematic fashion, Beast Boy the t-rex managed to snap his jaws around Simenon's tail, yank him off of his face, and then swing him around in the air a couple of times before letting go at a position that would allow the demon to go flying and crash head first into one of the cliff walls at the entrance to the valley. Simenon collapsed down onto the ground after its impact with the cliff, only to then get smashed by a large cluster of rocks that fell off the cliff and down on top of him after being dislodged from there by Simenon's impact with the cliff wall. Soon after being crushed, yellow dust spouted out from underneath the newly formed rock pile, indicating that Simenon was now dead. And then, in a near carbon copy of an iconic scene from the very first Jurassic Park movie, the mighty green t-rex turned its head to face the 'camera' and emitted a mighty "RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!" while rearing its head upwards.

Then the view of the battle was rapidly yanked into a position that allowed for the Knights of Hell to look directly into Carnax's beyond furious face. "Did you see what just happened with Simenon and Xintax?!" he roared. "I could have been just as good of a brother as Simenon just proved himself after I saw that infernal Robot vanquish Sanguiroth! But no! I chose to be a good soldier and inform you of the epic setback responsible for his death! And how have you rewarded me!?"

Carnax then pointed his finger accusingly at Lilith and Samael before irately howling, "You two insulted me, called me a liar, and disregarded even my vow on his Malevolence's crown as to the truth of my words! And it is only thanks to lord Azazel's mercy that you finally decided to be smart enough to believe me!"

At the sound of this, Azazel, Asmodeus, and Abaddon grunted, turned their heads towards their two guilty fellow Knights, and glared venomously at them. After all, they knew very well in their own way exactly how Carnax currently appeared to feel. Samael and Lilith gulped, and hung their heads, clearly ashamed.

"And I don't know how that dastardly caped crusader's friends are alive, but I will tell you right now . . ."

"Check his soul," said Abaddon.

Carnax abruptly stopped talking after hearing this unexpected order from Abaddon. "What?"

Abaddon growled. "Check. His. Soul."

Carnax gulped upon hearing this tone from Abaddon, and he hurriedly excused himself before turning his head in the direction of Robin. After catching sight of Robin fighting his way through several demons as he appeared to head off towards some strange machinery in the distance within the valley, he then proceeded to do as Abaddon had instructed. In the process, his eyes turned completely bone white as he accessed his soul vision. This ability allowed demons to literally look at peoples' souls.

When Carnax got an eyeful of Robin's soul at that current moment, his eyes would have widened if they hadn't been locked in soul vision mode. He hurriedly switched his eyes back to regular mode, turned back to his call, and said, "I've looked at the Boy Wonder's soul, and it's been branded."

At the sight of Samael rolling his eyes, Carnax hurriedly continued, "And yes Samael, I _know_ that it has the usual branding of the mark of his Malevolence's father on it. But I also have noticed that that same branding currently has some sort of Hellish runes enshrouded around it. Now I'm no expert on this kind of business since I'm just a soldier, but I think he may very well have recently made a deal with one of our kin."

"Then it is obvious how his friends are alive and well at this moment," said Azazel. Smirking as if in grudging respect for the Boy Wonder, he then explained to Carnax, "It would appear that while my comrades and I did indeed succeed in killing them, the Boy Wonder turned out to not be above making a deal with one of our kin to have them brought back to life." He then chuckled, turned his head to face Samael and Lilith, and then stated, "And I know just the demon that the Boy Wonder made a deal with, don't you agree?"

At the sound of this, Samael and Lilith groaned, and stared up towards the ceiling of the cavern. They did indeed know all too well just which demon Robin had very clearly made a deal with. "Oh Nehreezah," Lilith thought to herself. "I thought I taught you better."

Azazel grunted, turned his head back to Carnax, and said, "Fear not Carnax. We shall be arriving soon. But first we will need time to prepare. As the original plan was for us to join in considerably later this evening after you lot had overrun Dante's Isle, we have not yet made the final preparations we need to make before we take part in this battle." As he said this, he directed a meaningful look out of the corner of his eyes towards Samael and Lilith as if challenging them over yet another careless error on their part.

"How soon should I expect you to arrive?" Carnax asked.

"Within the next half hour or so," Azazel responded.

"Very well then," said Carnax. "What do you want me to do while I wait?"

"Just make sure that you and the others can keep the Titans busy long enough for us to arrive," Azazel replied.

"I can do that," Carnax stated.

"Good," Azazel snorted. "Signing off." The vortex vanished. He turned to face his four compatriots, clapped his hands together, and stated in a serious tone, "Alright Knights, you heard what I said to Carnax. Let's get a move on!"

Asmodeus and Abaddon were gone in a flash. However, right as Samael and Lilith were about to follow, Azazel grabbed them by the shoulders and held them back. The two demons turned their heads to face Azazel, who glowered at them. Just as his two compatriots had opened their mouths to ask what was going on, Azazel beat them to the punch by saying, "For the sake of this mission, you are hereby temporarily demoted."

At the sound of this, Samael glared at Azazel in a way that seemed to ask if Azazel had gone insane. "Are you crazy?!" he roared. "You don't have that authority! I outrank you!"

"On the contrary," Azazel snarled. "As a fellow Knight of Hell, I have equal rank to yours."

"Equal rank doesn't matter in this case," Lilith snapped. "You can't do this!"

"I can and I just did!" Azazel growled. Before Samael and Lilith could say anything else, Azazel pulled on them and roared, "There's no time to argue! Right now we have too much at stake to let you risk pulling anymore imbecilic mistakes!"

Azazel then let go of his two compatriots, pointed at them in an almost accusatory gesture, and yelled, "Now you listen up! This attempt at allowing his Malevolence to escape has gone long enough with both that foolish Savage carelessly screwing up and you two letting him get away with it! But all that ends now, and with two conditions! First condition; for the remainder of this mission, regardless of the outcome, I'm in charge! And if I'm not around, Abaddon is! Second condition, when we encounter the Titans, we do it my way; take them by surprise, play around with them, and _then_ kill them! Final decision on how and when is my business, not yours! Now if you don't like either of those two conditions, then I'll call Abaddon and Asmodeus back and you're on your own! So go ahead, come storming up to the valley, roar out your presence to the Titans the moment you leave the Devil's Gate, or even just walk right up to them and give them a wave and ask them to slice your necks for all I care; but right now, I've allowed you to either make careless mistakes or let Savage get away with his too many times now to hear anymore outlandishly stupid ideas. Ok?"

For a brief moment, Lilith and Samael gaped at Azazel, for they had very rarely ever seen the usually calm and laidback Azazel blow up and take charge like this before. Then they gulped and hung their heads. "Yes . . . brother," said Samael.

"Understood," Lilith stated.

"Good," Azazel growled curtly. Then he pointed his finger at them with a 'no-nonsense' glower on his face and barked out, "Now let's go! Move! Move! Move!"

At this point, Samael and Lilith most certainly did not need to be told twice, and they bolted down the tunnel after Abaddon and Asmodeus with Azazel rocketing after them yelling and barking at them to hurry up.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, back at the valley of the Portals, Carnax had chosen to both fulfill and disobey Azazel's request to keep the Titans busy. Granted, he wasn't going to just sit around and twiddle his thumbs waiting for the Knights of Hell to show up. However, he wasn't about to actively assist his friends or ask them to assist him in his current self-assigned task. The way he saw it, the rest of the demons would be perfectly fine on their own against the four resurrected Titans. "As for me," he thought to himself with a snarl as he directed his gaze towards a certain spiky haired, traffic light color uniformed, teenage caped crusader, "I'm taking care of the Boy Blunder myself."

And he truly did intend on getting his own way with battling Robin and taking him out. The way he saw it, Robin was his own personal nemesis. After all, in spite of how Raven had been the one who'd committed the exorcism, Robin had been the one who'd given the order for the exorcism to be carried out and reduced him humiliatingly from the brave soldier he usually was to a sniveling coward willing to do anything to avoid an exorcism that he'd ended up undergoing anyway. "One way or another," Carnax snarled to himself in his mind. "That teenage nightmare is mine." And so, with a final irate snarl, Carnax snapped his fingers and teleported away from his hiding place where he'd made his Infernal Chat with the Knights of Hell.

Meanwhile, Robin continued to struggle through the chaotic mess the valley had become as he made his way to the area where the machinery for opening the Alpha Stairway to Heaven was located. He even ended up having to draw out his sword more than once to hack his way through a living sea of demons. But eventually, he found himself only 20 or so footsteps away from where the arcane machinery stood. At that point, breathing heavily in both tension and relief, he drew out the Paradisiacal Key. He was now truly ready to state the phrase that would be required for unlocking the first true gateway to Heaven.

However, just as Robin had lifted up the Dante's Key to full arm's length in the air to speak the words to activate it while continuing to run, he suddenly got sent flying to the side when an unexpected weight came crashing into him. The Key flew through the air and fell straight into the hole of the machinery it was supposed to be placed within. Robin crashed face down on the ground, groaning in pain as he felt the same weight that had knocked him over both remain on him and shift onto his back.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my old jailer."

Robin's eyes widened at the sound of this voice from above him. He turned his head to get a good look in the direction of the weight above him, and his eyes narrowed as he recognized the red demon crouching upon him with a wolfish smirk on its face. "Carnax," Robin growled.

"You remembered my name," Carnax stated. "How touching."

Robin snarled, pressed his hands up against the ground, and then pushed hard on it as if attempting to force himself upward. However, he had barely even lifted his head a few inches off the ground before he felt something press up against the back of his head and slam his face back down on the ground. "Sorry," came Carnax's voice. "But I'm afraid that I can't allow you to get up. After all, after all that's happened to potentially derail this mission thanks to you, particularly the considerably powerful game changer I just saw in your hand, it would be most unwise for my kin and I to let you survive past the end of this night now wouldn't it?"

The demon then chuckled, licked his chops hungrily, and pressed his claws down on the back of Robin's head before saying, "And I can tell you right now Boy Blunder, I've been looking forward to this moment.

At that point, Carnax lifted his hands off of Robin's head so as to allow the Boy Wonder to talk. Robin lifted up his head, growled, and said, "Yeah well, you're not the first scumbag who's said that to me."

Carnax chuckled, shook his head side to side, and then retorted calmly, "True, but I can certainly assure you that I will be the last."

"I wouldn't be too confident about that," Robin stated with a hint of arrogance. "I've survived against considerably worse opponents that could reduce you to dust before you even had a chance to blink."

"You were just lucky when you fought them," Carnax stated in an equally arrogant tone of his own. "They underestimated you, and got careless. But I can assure you that I won't be taking any chances."

"Oh really?" Robin asked, not letting any signs of fear from the demon's recent comment show. "Then why am I still alive? Why did you feel the need to even let me know that you were the one whose about to kill me? Why didn't you just slice my throat or bang my head on the ground or do something similar to that the moment you first pounced on me? Or better yet, why didn't you just roast me or pin me up against something with your telekinesis before using that same power pinning me up to snap my neck?"

Carnax seemed to think to himself, then he shrugged, spread his hands out to his sides as if to say 'fair point,' and then said, "I'll admit, I could have done any number of those actions instead of what I'm currently up to." Then the demon smirked, looked back down at Robin, and continued, "But then again, what would be the fun in that? You wouldn't understand since you've never really killed anything; but there's just something about personally killing something with your own hands that just makes you feel so powerful and alive. Especially when you get to watch the fear and pain in the victims' eyes before they go out. Ah yes, the sweet sensation of it is truly remarkable. And oh how much sweeter it is when you get to play around with the victim and torture them beforehand. And that's why I'm going to personally kill you with my own two hands complete with razor sharp claws; and I'm gonna do it slowly, and painfully."

Robin shook his head side to side. "Now you are one sick puppy."

"I'm a demon," Carnax chuckled. "What did you expect? Honestly, you may think you know what demons are like thanks to your experiences with the daughter of Trigon, but I am a world away from that mongrel you sold your soul for."

Robin was so surprised at Carnax knowing _that_ bit of information that he didn't even get the chance to explode in anger at him for calling Raven a 'mongrel'. "How did he know about that?" he thought to himself.

"Please," said Carnax. "Did you really think I wouldn't know?" Robin looked up at Carnax, who grinned, and then stated, "I took a good long look at your soul I did." Right after he said this, he turned his eyes white as he activated his soul vision. The sight briefly caused Robin to turn white as well for Raven had managed to bring the matter of demon soul vision up at one point in their research over the course of the previous two days. Then the demon's eyes reverted back to their regular red color, and it continued, "And boy you have one seriously jacked up soul. Whatever deal you made must have been seriously powerful. But then again, I guess I shouldn't even need to look at your soul to tell how powerful the deal was; after all, seeing your friends here alive and well long after Lord Samael said they were dead and gone should probably have been proof enough."

Robin, however, now wasn't even listening. "He knows about my deal," he thought to himself. He then directed a look towards the demon from out of the corner of his left eye. "If he knows, then who else?"

"In fact," Carnax then stated. "If it hadn't been for Abaddon's very clever idea for me actually take a look at your soul, none of us would have ever been any the wiser as to how your dead friends managed to come back in time to help you attempt to foil our efforts to release his Malevolence tonight. And boy, I will say, the Knights themselves are quite intrigued by the little matter of what I saw when I checked out your soul."

At the sound of this, Robin cursed mentally. "Of course; I forgot, the Knights are going to come here soon as well."

"Oh they'll be coming a whole lot sooner than you think," Carnax then said. Smirking, the demon explained, "You see, while I was hiding, I managed to make a little 'long distance call' to the Knights. And needless to say, over the course of that little discussion, they may or may not have chosen to come earlier than Lord Samael and Lilith had originally planned due to both the unexpected setback of your friends coming back from the dead and the matter of your soul. At this point, they should probably be on their way within the next 5 or 10 minutes, and arrive here within the next 20 to 25 minutes, if not sooner."

Robin mentally swore. "This is starting to get even worse than I thought," he thought to himself. If what Carnax had now claimed was true, then he needed to get himself out of his current situation and summon the angels before the Knights of Hell arrived. But how?

Then Robin noticed a certain other device that he'd ended up drawing out of his utility belt alongside the Paradisiacal Key without even realizing that was now lying on the ground right next to the machinery designed to open and close the Alpha Stairway to Heaven. At the sight of the object, Robin directed a smug smirk towards the device. "It must have bounced off the machinery and landed there after it got knocked out of my hand alongside the Key," he thought to himself. Upon thinking this, he surreptitiously stuck his hand inside the utility belt compartment where he'd been keeping both the Key and the device he'd now glimpsed, and found his smile widening when he felt the one thing he still needed for his current on-the-fly plan to work.

"But enough talk," Robin then heard Carnax say. "It is time that I go ahead and kill you and send you down to Hell a year and a half early so that you can both fail to foil our plans and be prevented from summoning some most inconvenient reinforcements from his Malevolence's father through use of that very annoying counterpart of the Key to his Malevolence's realm. After all, as the only true human among your little team, I doubt that that key of Dante will work very well if you're not around to activate it yourself."

Robin smirked, turned his head to look straight at Carnax, and stated, "That's where you'd be wrong Carnax."

Carnax raised his eyebrow. "Oh really?" he then asked. "And how would that be possible?"

"I'll show you," Robin smugly stated before then pressing on a button on the unseen machine within his utility belt that he'd been touching, a trigger device.

Seconds later, a brief buzz of static was heard, and then Robin's disembodied voice was heard saying, "Key of Dante, hear my cry! Your time has come, at the world's greatest plight!"

"What the?" Carnax shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Not much really," Robin responded.

"Abandon not the world, to Lucifer's eternal night! Open your gate and release Heaven's light!"

"How are you doing this?!" Carnax growled. "You're not even talking!"

"Why don't you look right in front of you?" Robin retorted with a hint of arrogance.

"Send forth the angels in all their might, so that they may smite all evil within their sight!"

Carnax looked up from Robin towards the machinery, and his crimson eyes widened at the sight of the device lying down next to the machinery for the alpha Stairway to Heaven, an audio recording device. This very same device was now shouting out a full recording of Robin's voice uttering the Paradisiacal Key's activation phrase. At that moment, the recording then played, "Let them yet prolong Lucifer's reign of terror and fright!"

"NO!" Carnax roared before teleporting off of Robin's back. Robin wasted no time afterward in getting back up on his feet and rushing towards the machinery once more.

Seconds later, the recording proceeded to play, "And bring victory to those who stand for all that is . . . !"

In a flash, right as the final word was about to be spoken by the recording, Carnax reappeared from his teleportation; and when he landed, his clenched fists plunged right down on the device and smashed it, thus effectively silencing it permanently. For what seemed like an eternity, Carnax remained where he was, gaping intently at his clenched fists as sparks flew out from underneath them. Eventually, when the sparks finally stopped, and he lifted his fists, he found himself panting in relief and exhaustion as he gazed upon the now very heavily smashed metallic ruins that remained of Robin's backup plan.

However, seconds as he was about to place his hands down on the ground to get himself back up, he felt a searing pain enter his back. Carnax yelped in pain and shock as he felt the terrible pain in his back, and he managed to direct a look behind him out of the corner of his eyes, only for his eyes to widen as he saw none other than Robin standing at a crouch right there behind him with his sword plunged straight into the small of his back. Robin snarled silently at Carnax, and then coldly stated, "I don't need you alive anymore."

Seconds later, Carnax's jaws involuntarily snapped open, his eyes widened even further, his arms snapped at full length, and he howled in agony and despair as he proceeded to become engulfed in flashes of red lightning. Within seconds, the magic of the sword finished its work, and Carnax exploded into dust. Robin sheathed his sword, grunted wordlessly, and then picked up the Paradisiacal Key before lifting it up into the air. He was now ready once more to initiate the beginning of the end for Lucifer's plans that night.

Within seconds, with all the other demons hopelessly distracted in their efforts to take down Robin's fellow Titans, the Boy Wonder lifted his head up to face the night sky and triumphantly shouted, "Key of Dante, hear my cry! Your time has come, at the world's greatest plight! Abandon not the world, to Lucifer's eternal night! Open your gate and release Heaven's light! Send forth the angels in all their might, so that they may smite all evil within their sight! Let them yet prolong Lucifer's reign of terror and fright, and bring victory to those who stand for all that is right!"

"NO!" howled every single one of the demons remaining as they all turned their heads to face the direction that Robin was in seconds after he finished uttering the phrase that would spell doom for them all. But it was now too late for the demons. Too late did they stop what they were doing and turn their attention to Robin and the Paradisiacal Key. Too late did they turn their heads to face that area and prepare to rush off to stop the Boy Wonder. Too late did they finally realize that they'd already lost. For at the very same time that all the remaining demons, plus Robin's four fellow founding Titans, turned to face the area where Robin was, the Boy Wonder slammed the now brightly glowing Paradisiacal Key into the groove within the machinery designed to hold it.

Seconds later, a beam of white light sprang from the tip of the glowing white gemstone and rocketed upward at a slant towards the sky. When the beam reached a particularly high elevation, it seemed to strike an invisible barrier and transformed into what looked very much like a snowy white lightning bolt that began to crackle and spark violently. As this happened, and the demons and Titans watched from below, the apparent invisible barrier in the sky that the beam had come into contact with came into view in the shape of what looked like a giant circular angelic rune.

At the sight of this, the Titans all smiled. They had now truly won.

"Oh boy," Beast Boy thought to himself. "Time for these ultimate bad boys to get their butts kicked by the ultimate God Squad."

"Oh what a beautiful sight," Starfire thought to herself dreamily.

"And to think I've spent the last 5 or so years of my life thinking this stuff didn't even exist," Cyborg thought to himself in half amusement and half regret.

"I never thought I'd feel so happy to see something so obviously angelic in nature," Raven thought wistfully to herself.

"This is it," Robin thought to himself. "We have won."

The beam then vanished, and the angelic rune in the sky seemed to melt in upon itself and transform into a massive glowing portal of golden yellow energy. For what seemed like an eternity, the massive audience of demons and Titans that stood upon the ground gazed upwards at it. While the Titans gaped at it in awe and triumph, one could tell just by a single look at the faces of the demons that they were all feeling very real fear at the sight of the portal.

One especially low ranking demon turned his head to face another demon standing right next to him and fearfully asked, "Can we run now?"

As one, all the demons turned their heads towards a single demon. This demon in particular, as the general of the Alpha Squadron of the 1st Infernal Legion, was the highest ranking demon out of all the standard soldiers of Hell. He was second only to the Knights of Hell and similar greater demons, who in turn were second only to Lucifer. This demon, however, appeared to be just as fearful as all his countless underlings, and that was really saying something. Before long, the quivering well adorned black colored demon gulped, shivered involuntarily, and brokenly stated, "Yes."

No sooner had the demon said this, when in a flash of light, a massive storm of what appeared to be bolts of lightning began to burst out of the portal and rocket down towards the valley. As the lightning bolts got closer and closer towards the ground, all the beings gathered there noticed with awe (in the case of the Titans) and fear (in the case of the demons) that they were colored much the same way that the demons were when in their incorporeal forms.

"Those must be the angels in their incorporeal forms," Robin thought to himself. "But why would they be colored in the same way as the demons?"

Seconds later, the giant maelstrom of red, blue, green, purple, yellow, and black lightning bolts came to a jarring halt just above the valley. With a flash of light and an almighty bang, they explosively transformed into a large army of very human-like beings dressed in brightly colored long sleeved robes that closely resembled the kind worn by priests, acolytes, and similar church affiliated people. The robes in question were colored in the same way that the figures themselves had been in incorporeal form. However, the feature that allowed people to recognize them with zero doubt as to what they truly were, were the large feathery wings sprouting from their backs. There was now no doubt about it whatsoever; the angels had arrived.

At that moment, the angel at the very front of the entire group, a particularly tall and well-built individual with silvery white feathered wings and matching silver white blonde hair and steely gray eyes pointed downwards at the army of demons. "Our enemies stand beneath us! Do we dare let them stay?"

As one, all of the brilliant winged figures shouted "No!" with a matching glare of anger and hatred on their faces.

"Indeed not!" yelled the leader. He then lifted his hand, and a large sword appeared in his hand in a flash of light. "Attack them my brothers! Attack!"

As one, all the angels unleashed an inarticulate war cry, summoned their swords, and swooped down towards the demons. In a flash, the Titans all made sure to hurriedly get out of the way just before the angels were upon the doomed demons. Within seconds, as the Titans proceeded to watch from their position nearby the machinery in which the Paradisiacal Key had been placed, and thus safely out of reach of all the chaos, the angels and demons proceeded to take part in a truly epic battle. To attempt to describe it in overly large detail, would have been a blasphemy. That was just how the Titans felt as they watched the two armies slash and blast at each other with the angels even sometimes going so far as to cause their hands to glow and place them down on the demons' heads, thus causing them to immolate from inside (effectively smiting them).

As the Titans watched, they all couldn't have felt more relieved. In spite of the considerable odds against them, they had won. The world would be saved once more. "Heck, for all I know, maybe the angels will even know of a way for me to get out of my deal without having to risk Nehreezah killing off my friends," Robin thought to himself. Then he mentally grimaced at the thought and mentally shouted, "Idiot, don't get ahead of yourself."

Then he remembered a very important detail he'd gathered from his earlier conversation with Carnax, and his eyes widened. "Guys, we need to get to the Devil's Gate and close it now," he then stated.

"What?" Beast Boy asked. "Why now?"

"I mean it Beast Boy," Robin stated. "We need to close it right now, before the Knights of Hell arrive."

"Robin," said Cyborg, "you heard what that first squadron we took out before the rest of this mass swarm came out said. The Knights won't be arriving for hours yet."

"No really," said Robin. "Just before I activated the Paradisiacal Key, I had an encounter with Carnax."

"Wasn't he not the demon that we interrogated back at the tower?" Starfire asked.

"Yes," Robin responded. "But that's past the point. Before I dispatched him, he said that he managed to give the Knights a . . . long distance call of some sort while we were all busy fighting off all those other demons before I summoned the angels."

"Long distance call?" Beast Boy asked in disbelief. "What the fudge is that supposed to mean?"

"An Infernal Chat," said Raven. The other Titans all looked at the dark sorceress, and she clarified, "It's a special type of magic that allows you to directly communicate with a being within Hell from outside Hell."

"Thank you Raven," said Robin. "And Carnax also managed to tell me that over the course of his Infernal Chat, he was able to sound the alarm to them about our presence here, and he said that as a result of this, they are now planning on coming here earlier than they originally planned. And they could arrive at any moment now unless we close that Devil's Gate within the next few minutes."

"Well I guess we arrived just in time then," said an eerily familiar voice from right behind Robin.

. . . . .

Robin's eyes widened at the sound of this voice behind him. The other Titans' eyes also widened as they both heard the voice and actually caught a glimpse of who had just now appeared behind their fearless leader. In a flash, Robin turned his head, and his eyes widened in shock and fear at the sight of a very familiar Slade-sized golden yellow demon with a quite literally devilish smirk on its face. "Azazel."

Azazel smacked Robin right in the face with a swing of his right arm, and the Boy Wonder was sent flying to the side. Robin landed on the ground hard, and he managed to pant and gasp briefly before he then felt an invisible force push him further along the ground, lift him up, and then pin up against a nearby large rock. Robin shrieked in pain upon impact, and then found himself growling and snarling as he found himself struggling against a tight telekinetic grip for the second time that night.

The other Titans positioned themselves as if they were about to rush off to Robin's aid. However, seconds before they could lunge in their fearless leader's direction, they shrieked in shock as they to found themselves flying backward as the result of an invisible force. Before long, they were all pinned up against one of the cliff walls surrounding the valley. At that moment, they all heard another unsettlingly familiar voice say, "I believe you've been involved with our business long enough." The four Titans looked in the direction of the voice and saw none other than Azazel's four compatriots standing a couple feet in front of them with their hands outstretched towards them much like Azazel had his own hand outstretched towards Robin.

At the sight of these demons, particularly Samael, Beast Boy found himself snarling in a rage, and he even turned into a wolf and started snapping his teeth in the red demon's direction. Sadly, Lilith kept him tightly pinned against the cliff wall. Lilith's mate and other two compatriots, likewise, made sure that Cyborg and the girls were similarly kept pinned up against the wall alongside him. Samael had his hand extended towards Starfire, who had her eyes and fists glowing but was unable to move her hands or face into a proper position she needed to be in in order to successfully fire her star bolts or to aim her eye lasers at anything that wasn't the space directly above Samael's head. Abaddon was at work in holding back Raven, who had her eyes glowing black as she attempted to use her telekinesis to lift up some rocks to throw, only for Abaddon to use his own umbrakinetic abilities to cancel out Raven's efforts. Finally, Asmodeus was the one responsible for pinning up Cyborg, who had converted his right arm into his sonic cannon, but was unable to lift it up into proper firing position thanks to the strength of the demon's telekinetic grip. Robin, meanwhile, found himself bitterly feeling a sense of déjà vu as he himself found himself once again having his face be the only part of his body that he could move.

Azazel chuckled, directed a wolfish grin towards Robin, and then said, "I will say Boy Wonder. I would be lying if I said that I hadn't expected you to pull something off to stop us after what happened back in that valley earlier. But I must admit, even I'm surprised at just how far you managed to go. And of course, let's not forget that little trick you've now managed to pull by getting ahold of the Paradisiacal Key and summoning his Malevolence's estranged younger brothers. Even I have to admit that I certainly didn't see that coming." Azazel then leaned forward towards Robin with his grin now widened even further. "Well played Boy Wonder; well played."

Robin growled, glared at Azazel, and then hissed, "Yeah well, you had it coming. And newsflash, even your king's quote on quote 'brothers' wanted us to win this time. They not only actually allowed us to get here on time, but they even sent that key down here specifically with the intent for us to use it if we failed to stop Savage from opening your home's gate!"

"Oh really?" asked Azazel. He thought to himself, and then chuckled. "Well I certainly must admit that that actually doesn't surprise me. After all, everybody has their limits, and I'm sure that due to how close his Malevolence has actually gotten this time in his current plan, I guess they must have decided that this time would be an appropriate moment for them to make an exception to their 'never directly intervene' rule."

Azazel's face then took on a more serious expression. "But never mind that," the demon stated. "It's time for me and my compatriots to take care of some final business before his Malevolence's original three brothers inevitably arrive to join the fun." He then grinned maliciously. "Still, I guess it wouldn't hurt if my compatriots and I tortured you lot a bit beforehand."

Robin only glared in response to this comment. "You can threaten us as long as you want devil," he growled. "But in the end, it will amount to nothing. My friends and I will stop you. I don't care what it takes."

"You've certainly got that last bit correct," Azazel admitted with a smirk. The demon gestured towards the other four Titans and said, "After all, as much as I expected you to not just sit around and take your world's impending doom without a fight, even I wasn't expecting you to turn out as suicidally reckless as you have turned out to be in the end. And believe me, I'm not talking about summoning the angels when I say that."

"Well then what are you talking about?!" Cyborg yelled.

"Silence!" Asmodeus howled. "Unless you want to be reduced to a pile of smoldering scrap metal and bloodied guts!"

"Calm yourself Asmodeus," Azazel stated calmly without even turning to face his compatriot. "There is no need for history to repeat itself . . . at least not yet anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" Raven asked.

"Never you mind, daughter of Trigon," Azazel responded coolly before looking back at Robin once more. "And for that matter, I'd best take a little look at something good old Carnax was so kind as to bring up during his little chat with us earlier."

At the sound of this, though he showed no external sign of it, Robin felt as if his blood were turning to ice. "He's gonna look right at my soul," he thought to himself. This was bad. Not only was Azazel about to get full confirmation of what Carnax had found out about his deal, but he was about to do it right in front of the other Titans. "I am so screwed," Robin thought to himself. Not only was he potentially going to get killed and sent to Hell early, but his friends were about to catch him in yet another lie.

Chuckling nervously, he said to Azazel, "You know, whatever it is you've got planned, I have a pretty good feeling that you'll have to lower your hand in order to do it, and that would mean releasing me from your telekinesis."

"Oh really?" Azazel asked with a smirk. "Well if that's true, then go ahead and punch me right now." Right as Azazel said that last bit, he abruptly lowered his hand that he'd extended towards the Boy Wonder when he'd activated his telekinesis. At that moment, Robin wasn't sure what he found more surprising; the fact that Azazel had so abruptly dropped his hand down, or the fact that the telekinetic hold on him still remained in place afterwards.

At the sight of the visibly surprised look on Robin's face, Azazel chuckled, stretched his now intertwined hands up in the air before then saying, "The interesting thing about demonic telekinesis is how the stronger the demon, the stronger the ability. Take the lower tier demons for example. Their telekinesis is so weak that they can only move inanimate objects and have absolutely zero capability of moving any animate living objects whatsoever. Then consider the medium ranking demons; while they are capable of moving both animate as well as inanimate objects, they have to maintain both a steady physical position as well as a full mental concentration in order to keep it in place, much like you were expecting to be the case for myself. And then, with greater demons such as myself, the other Knights, and similar higher ranking demons, while they do have to extend their arm and hand towards the object at the same time they concentrate on it in order to activate their telekinesis, they need only maintain complete concentration in order for the ability to stay active, as you can see here. And finally, his Malevolence himself is so powerful that he can activate his telekinesis without so much as moving a muscle." Azazel then looked straight back at Robin, a smug grin on his face. "How's _that_ for powerful?"

Robin gulped, and hung his head in shame. "This is even worse than I thought," he thought to himself.

"But enough delays," said Azazel. "It's high time now that I got to my little bit of business I mentioned earlier." The demon then leaned forward towards Robin, a hawk-eyed glare on his face, and then his eyes turned bone white and he spent what seemed like an eternity gazing intently at Robin while the Boy Wonder could only stand tall as best as he could in his telekinetic imprisonment and put on as brave a face as he could muster. Then Azazel's eyes reverted back to normal, he nodded his head, and he said, "I must say, Carnax certainly wasn't kidding. Under other circumstances, I'm sure Samael and Lilith would be quite proud of their eldest. I haven't seen a contract of this magnitude since the day Samael collected Tom Walker's soul. Well, like father, like daughter I guess."

"Would you quit talking in riddles?!" Beast Boy snapped. "What the fudge are you talking about?!"

"All in good time changeling, all in good time," Azazel responded coolly.

"You're one to talk," Robin interjected. "You yourself have already said that you're limited on time, and here you are telling Beast Boy that all will be revealed in good time."

"Oh that's rich coming from you," said Azazel. "Last time I checked, you don't have nearly as much time as the majority of your predecessors have had. Just think, do you really believe that you have enough time to take care of all you want to have done before your time comes Boy Wonder?"

"That's not gonna work on me Azazel," said Robin. "What's done is done, ok? I've accepted what I had to do, and for the sake of the world, I've put it behind me. As for the future . . . well I'll just cross that bridge when I get there."

"Oh but what about your faithful friends?" Azazel countered. He then leaned forward with his face coming inches away from Robin's own. "Are they willing to wait that long?"

At the sound of this, all the other Titans found themselves feeling especially unnerved. "Robin," Starfire stated in a half pleading and half fearful tone. "What is he talking about?"

"Ah," Azazel said as he briefly took a glance at the four subordinate founding Titans before then looking back at Robin and stating, "So you haven't yet told them your newest little secret." Robin's only response was a withering glare.

Azazel chuckled darkly. "Well I guess now's as good a time as ever for them to become aware of don't you think?" Robin growled inarticulately, and tensed himself up as if struggling to break free from Azazel's telekinetic hold through sheer willpower.

"Well Titans," Azazel stated as he proceeded to turn his back on Robin and start walking straight towards the Boy Wonder's four fellow teenage heroes. "I'm sure you are aware of how your fearless leader has kept a considerable number of secrets from you since day one of your relationship with him. In fact, I'm sure there's quite a long list of secrets he's kept from you that you both are aware and unaware of that I could rattle off right here and now if I had the time. But now's your chance Titans. Now's your chance to find out a particularly earthshaking secret of his that he hasn't even yet kept hidden from you for a full 24 earth hours. In fact, now's your chance to actually hear it come from right out of his own self-righteous beak."

Azazel then turned his head to face Robin once more. "Why don't you tell them Boy Wonder? Tell them, how you had them brought back from death!"

No sooner had Azazel shouted those last four words, when Robin's four resurrected friends tensed up, their eyes widening in shock and disbelief. Azazel seemed to sense this, as he then turned his head towards them once more and said, "That's right, you heard correctly. Death. Those blackouts you had earlier? They weren't the result of any coma. And better yet, that 'dream' you shared about being in the outskirts and antechamber of Heaven and meeting his Malevolence's goody-goody little brother Gabriel? That wasn't a dream. It's a memory. You were really in Heaven. You were dead."

"Dead?!" Beast Boy asked incredulously.

"Oh yes Changeling," Samael responded. "You, that sorceress you fancy, your robotic best friend, and the alien princess were dead as dodos. I tested you myself with my mind reading after I'd finished roasting you up, and there was radio silence on you. Your soul was long gone."

"Indeed it was," said Azazel. "And so was yours," he then continued as he pointed at Raven. "Though how it ended up in the realm of his Malevolence's father, let alone any form of Heaven whatsoever, is certainly beyond me."

"You got that right, and you were dead to," Asmodeus hissed as he then directed his gaze back at Cyborg. "In fact, its' a miracle that the acid I put in you didn't manage to completely melt you down from the outside as well as the inside."

"Correct you are," said Lilith. She then directed a smug grin towards Starfire before stating calmly, "And before you ask, yes, they indeed were dead. I saw it through your own eyes and heard it through your own ears. And yes, I killed you as well; and no, I didn't manipulate into strangling yourself or whatever cock and bull your boyfriend told you. I snapped your neck a full 360 degrees. I _felt_ your soul leave your body. You were as good as gone."

For a moment, the other Titans were completely speechless. "Well if that's true, then how the heck are we alive right this very moment?" Cyborg managed to ask.

"Now _that_ is where things get interesting," Abaddon stated before turning his head to face Azazel and nodding as if to say 'continue'.

"Indeed," Azazel agreed. Pointing his finger at Robin, the yellow demon continued, "About an hour and a half or so of grieving, your fearless leader managed to figure out a way that that careless oaf Savage had actually ended up unintentionally giving him the most conveniently available means at the time of undoing the damage that my compatriots and I had done. You see, due to how he had both cleverly managed to commit all the information within the Infernal Tablet to memory and arrogantly believed that he'd worked for us so long as to warrant our putting in a good word for him so he would no longer require his possessing them, he had up and abandoned the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools at the valley where we killed you, even going so far as to throw them right at your fearless leader's feet. However, as a direct result of this, instead of rubbing the loss in his face the way Savage had intended, this action proved to serve a rather different purpose. For instead, using those very objects, your fearless leader summoned my niece Nehreezah, one thing led to another, and in the end, he made a deal."

For an agonizing five minutes, the other Titans were completely speechless. They all looked each other in the eyes, and then looked back towards Robin and the Knights of Hell with a mixture of disbelief and uncertainty on their faces.

"That's," said Beast Boy. "That's impossible. That can't be true!"

"Yeah," said Raven. "I know Robin, we all do, and he'd never do something like that."

"But he did," said Azazel. "He summoned Nehreezah, bargained with her, and in the end, he gave her the Infernal Tablet, Fallen Tools, and his soul. And in exchange, he got you four back from the dead, alive and well, and raring to go and resume your noble quest to stop us from finally invading Earth and allowing his Malevolence the chance to escape earlier then foretold. And of course, at this very moment, the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools are all back in his Malevolence's Crypt where they used to be, courtesy of Nehreezah." Azazel then looked back at Robin. "Needless to say Titans, even if by some miracle you all manage to escape from the current conditions we've placed you under, your fearless leader is a dead man walking."

The other Titans directed their attention towards Robin, their facial expressions silently, but nonetheless clearly, both asking him if whether or not Azazel's claims were true and begging him to deny any truth behind them. Robin grimaced, and closed his eyes, not daring to silently admit to Azazel telling the truth by turning his head, yet unable to speak and lie in objection to the Knight of Hell's claims.

"And now that we've gotten out of the way, it's high time we finished our little bit of business here."

Robin opened his eyes and looked directly at Azazel just in time to see that not only was the demon now looking directly at him once more, but also appeared to have summoned a large medieval sword from thin air that he was now grasping tightly in his right hand.

Azazel smirked, directed his gaze towards the intimidating weapon in his hand, and said, "A fantastic weapon swords. Always were one of my favorites." He looked back at Robin. "I'm sure you are aware of how I am credited with being the creator of weapons. Well I can certainly admit that I was the one who first designed all the weapons of medieval times and further back that your kin wielded, and that after I was cast down alongside his Malevolence after his failed rebellion, I proceeded to have the ideas for all my creations placed within the minds of the humans who would later reinvent them for human use.

"Of course, it is a real pity that so many of my old inventions are used so rarely anymore. Of course I won't lie this time; there are some weapons that your kin have created in the days following my exile from Heaven and subsequent demonification that are actually quite fascinating. But nonetheless, if given the choice, I will always chose one of my own inventions over one of your kin's modern day gadgets any day."

Azazel took a step towards Robin, his yellow eyes agleam with a malicious pleasure. "As unpopular as they may be nowadays, there's never any greater sensation I've felt then to wield one of my own creations." He then chuckled, spun the sword around in his hand in a trio of counter clockwise loops, and said, "And as you will soon experience, it really wouldn't matter in the end what weapon I choose; after all, whether it be by bullet or blade, the end result is still the same."

The instant Azazel said that last bit, he lifted the sword up into the air, positioned it so that the blade was pointing straight at Robin, and took a step forward as if challenging Robin to a duel. Robin's eyes widened at the sight of this, for he had a very bad feeling about what Azazel was about to do. Sure enough, Azazel then said, "And yes, as you have guessed, it is time for you to die."

"Now we're talking," Samael said as he, Lilith, Abaddon, and Asmodeus turned to face their respective captives and raised their right hands as if about to telekinetically snap their necks.

"Patience now," Azazel said without even turning to face his fellow Knights of Hell. "I didn't say it was time for all of them to die just yet, I said it was time for him to die." As he said the last bit, Azazel gestured towards Robin. "As you recall, last time we had him helplessly pinned up and forced to watch as we killed his friends. But now, in light of the circumstances, I believe a reversal of roles is in order. In other words, I believe that this time, we should have the other four Titans pinned up and forced to watch as we kill their fearless leader."

The other four Knights of Hell thought to themselves, and then nodded as one. "I guess that would be fair," said Samael.

"It would certainly be poetic," said Lilith.

"And that is why you are now in charge for this mission," said Abaddon.

"Yes," hissed Asmodeus. "Let us watch."

Azazel's four compatriots promptly turned their backs to the four subordinate Titans so as to get a good view of Azazel for when he dealt the upcoming dramatic final blow to the fearless leader of the Teen Titans. Azazel smiled at the sight, looked back at Robin, and then lowered his sword so that it was pointed straight at Robin's abdomen instead of the area directly between his eyes.

Robin's eyes widened at the sight of this. "No," he thought to himself. At the sight of Azazel licking his chops and allowing a toothy grin to come on his face, Robin instantly realized that Azazel was being dead serious. He had to find a way get out, and quick. "I'd be a little less eager about this if I were you," Robin then said.

"Oh really?" Azazel asked. "And why's that?"

"You care about your own family don't you?" Robin asked. He directed a sidelong glance at Samael and Lilith. "As you are so certain to claim, I made a deal with Nehreezah, Samael and Lilith's eldest daughter; and just like you said, her relation to them makes her your niece."

"So?" Azazel asked.

"Well like I said, that makes Nehreezah part of your family," Robin continued. "And considering how heavily and passionately she's been training and practicing under her parents' tutelage for the position of head dealmaker, I highly doubt that she'd take to kindly to her own uncle slandering her integrity by not allowing her newest customer to not live out his full allotment."

Azazel seemed to think to himself. "Hmm, I have to admit, you actually have a fair point." He then directed his eyes in another direction. "Still, the fact that she's family doesn't put her above the law, and she did commit insubordination by allowing his Malevolence's plans this evening to be derailed through her business with you." He then closed his eyes, nodded his head up and down, and stated, "But then again, I am only her uncle. And this particular kind of matter is something that would probably be far more appropriate for her parents to make the final decision on."

Azazel turned his head to face Samael and Lilith, who gulped, looked each other in the eyes, and then appeared to think to themselves, their parental mode clearly on. Then they nodded their heads, apparently in agreement on something, and turned their heads back to Azazel. "He does have a point," said Samael. "As circumstantially treacherous her actions were in making that deal, she is still my daughter."

"Indeed very true," said Lilith. "And besides, I am equally to blame. After all, I was the one who trained and taught her so well in regard to deal making that she just couldn't resist the opportunity that this boy gave her. If anyone's to blame for this entirely, it is I."

"Indeed," said Samael. "But still, like you said family is not over the law, and she did commit insubordination."

"However," Lilith continued for her mate. "Considering what the _usual_ punishment for insubordination is as demonstrated by my mate on Simenon, we can agree that she'd be getting off lightly if you were to kill her latest business partner earlier than he was promised."

Her mate nodded in agreement, as did Abaddon and Asmodeus. "I'd say that sounds fair," the green demon hissed.

"So it does," Azazel stated before turning his head to Robin and saying, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but it seems you shall die after all." He lifted his sword upwards in a backwards arc.

Starfire tensed up, her eyes glowing dangerously as she aimed her eyesight straight at Azazel. But then she screamed and snapped her eyes closed as she suddenly felt an indescribably agonizing pain in the area where her heart was located. It was almost as if her heart was shrinking right there inside her. Her fellow Titans could only gape in horror at this, both unable to do anything and uncertain as to what was even going on.

After what seemed like an eternity to Starfire, the pain abruptly vanished, and she hung her head down towards the ground, panting and gasping in agony and relief. Then she heard the angry voice of Samael state, "Consider yourself lucky that I was merciful enough to just let you off with a warning!" Starfire and the other Titans looked right in the direction Samael's voice had come from in time to see that he had turned to face them and now had his right hand up in the air in a position that hinted to him not too long ago having it clenched into a fist. The crimson demon growled, pointed at Starfire, and then coldly snarled, "If I had so desired, I would have kept on squeezing your heart down until it shriveled up to absolutely nothing! It is only through sheer luck that I stopped it when it was still at a size from which it could grow back! Do not test my patience alien, or you will go right back to the afterlife all over again!" Samael then turned his furious face to the other three subordinate founding Titans. "And that applies to you three as well!" At the sound of that last threat, Cyborg gulped, Raven visibly paled, and Beast Boy cringed, closed his eyes, and even whined fearfully like a dog. Samael grunted, directed a final glare at all four of the resurrected Titans, and then turned to face Azazel and Robin once more.

Azazel nodded his head, smirked at Robin, and then said, "Once again, I hope you're ready, because it's now very much high time I sent you downstairs a good few months early." He lifted up his sword in a backwards arc once again, the light of the moon reflecting ominously off the blade. Robin growled and tensed himself up, willing himself to break free. But alas, he remained stuck tight against the massive boulder he'd been pinned up against. Azazel grinned, changed his grip slightly to indicate that he was about to swing the sword back down so as to allow it jab right into Robin's heart, and coldly hissed, "Farewell Boy Wonder."

At that moment, right as Azazel was mere seconds away from swinging the sword downwards to deal the final blow, Robin saw what appeared to be three snow white bolts of lightning flying at a suspiciously horizontal orientation away from the open portal in the sky straight towards Azazel from behind. Seconds later, much to Robin's surprise, they appeared to develop what looked like three-fingered clawed hands at the very tips just as they were inches away from Azazel's shoulders. The other Knights of Hell also managed to notice at this point, and their eyes widened. "Brother look out!" Samael roared.

But it was too late. Azazel didn't even get the chance to turn his head or stab Robin before the lightning bolts snatched him up by the shoulders and yanked him backwards, sending him flying away from Robin and crashing right into his four fellow Knights. The incident must have caused the Knights of Hell to lose their concentration they'd been maintaining in order to keep their telekinetic hold active, because seconds after the Knights of Hell had all ended up piled up on each other, Robin and the other Titans felt the invisible force pinning them up abruptly vanish, and they slipped straight on the ground on their backsides. Panting in relief, they managed to turn their heads in the appropriate direction just in time to see the three white lightning bolts crash land on the ground and burst into bright light before then taking on the form of three tall individuals dressed in white robes and with massive brilliantly colored feathered wings sprouting from their backs.

However, when those same three figures fully straightened up from their initial one-knee crouching positions, Robin and the other Titans found their eyes widening as they managed to get a full glimpse of the three newly arrived angels. As radiant as their brethren that had arrived earlier had been, these three angels in particular seemed to radiate with grace, raw Heavenly power seeming to pulse from their bodies. And despite the fact that they wore similar colored robes, these three angels couldn't have looked more different from each other. The one standing in the middle of the trio, who appeared to be the tallest, had golden blonde hair, amber yellow feathered wings, and gleaming topaz hazel eyes; and he appeared to have the calm look of a leader. The considerably more powerfully built angel standing to the blonde angel's right had fiery red hair, crimson feathered wings, and ominously ruby colored eyes. Finally, the much smaller angel standing to the blonde angel's left had coal black hair, inky black feathered wings, and matching dark colored eyes.

Upon sight of the dark haired angel, the eyes of the four resurrected Titans widened in recognition. Beast Boy even pointed at the angel in question and yelled, "That's Gabriel!"

"Not just any Gabriel," Robin stated, only now finally realizing the significance of the name despite how long it had been since Beast Boy had mentioned that detail back in the other valley. "_The_ Gabriel. The archangel. The one who bore the good news to Mary. And if that's truly him," he then looked directly at his four friends. "Then those other two angels right by him must be . . ."

"Michael and Raphael," said Raven.

For a brief moment, Beast Boy found himself having to struggle not to snigger at the very least or burst out laughing at the very most upon being reminded of how one of the three archangels was named Raphael (and thus, served as a slight namesake for one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Fortunately, he was able to exert enough willpower to prevent himself from laughing. After all, considering how the archangel in question was right there not too far away from him, plus the extremely angry looking expression on the face of the ginger haired angel, he had a feeling that it would not end well for him if he laughed at the name right there in the presence of Raphael and his two brothers.

Then the blonde angel drew out his sword, and Robin instantly knew that this particular angel was indeed Michael himself. For inscribed on the blade of the sword was the word 'Glorious'; and that was the word he knew from all he'd read to be the name of Michael's own sword. Samael also recognized the sword, and through it the angel wielding it, and he growled angrily at the angel before directing a sidelong glare at Azazel and hissing bitterly, "Damn it Azazel, you waited too long."

Michael turned his head towards the five demons. "Greetings Samael," he then stated to the glowering red demon. "It's been a long time."

Samael growled, forced his way out from the dogpile, and stormed over towards Michael. Coming to a stop at about 12 feet away from the angel, Samael snarled, and then retorted in a low angry growl, "Not. Long. Enough. _Michael_."

Michael smiled, shook his head side to side, and then stated, "It seems you have not forgotten what happened between us that day."

"Oh you can definitely say that," Samael hissed spitefully. "Believe me, when the last thing you see before dying and coming back to life as a demon is your brother standing before you with his sword through your chest, you'll understand how hard it would be to forget about that day in a hurry."

"You brought it upon yourself Samael," Michael responded calmly. "You could have sided with our father that day. It is only because you both sided with Lucifer and openly attacked me that I was forced to kill you and send you down with the rest of my fallen brothers."

"None of us would have needed to fall if you and Father had only listened to Lucifer," Samael snapped. "If you'd allowed his idea a proper chance, then there would never have been any need for a Hell, and the entire world would have forever been the paradise that Eden used to be!"

"Paradise?" Michael asked dismissively. "Hardly. I couldn't imagine a more dystopian reality than one with not so much as even a concept of free will. And besides, don't you think it was hypocritical of Lucifer to suggest what he suggested after how he himself was responsible for allowing humanity to gain that knowledge that would allow them to be capable of making the choice that our Father chose in the end to let his creations be capable of making?"

"Don't you start on that Michael!" Samael roared. "Father could just as easily have undone the damage and allowed humanity and the rest of the world a proper chance to start over if he hadn't let Noah and his family survive!"

"If it were that easy, then what point would there have even been for Lucifer to let Adam and Eve eat the Forbidden Fruit in the first place?"

Samael snorted derisively, rolling his eyes arrogantly in dismissal. "You wouldn't understand."

"You are correct, I don't understand," said Michael. "And neither do any of my brothers that in the end remained loyal to Father. But just as we can't understand why you and Lucifer both put up such spirited resistance to Father's allowing something that your leader himself made possible in the first place and still continue to refuse to see things our way, neither can you seem to hope to understand how much better off in the end things have turned out to be as a direct result of Father allowing what Lucifer made possible to unfold within a new stronger generation that still exists to this day. And that is why, even at this very moment, we must continue to fight each other and prevent you from making things any more painful than they will already have to be by the time the 666th century ends."

Michael then lowered his sword so that it was pointing straight at Samael. "And thus, even now, my brothers and I must continue to thwart our first fallen brother's efforts at overturning the very thing he used to support so ardently and destroying all that our Father has created in the process. And since it is impossible for you to see reason, we have no choice but to again put an end to your villainy through use of our blades."

"Now you're talking," said Gabriel as he proceeded to summon his own blade, his dark eyes agleam with a spirited energy that the Titans had all seen before in Beast Boy's eyes. The ginger haired angel, who the Titans could now very easily tell was Raphael, merely grunted and summoned his own with a silent gritted toothed snarl on his face.

Samael snarled, his red eyes blazing with rage. "Indeed, and perhaps this time I shall finally reverse roles so that I'm the one stabbing _you_ through the chest!" In a flash, he summoned a wicked looking blade that looked very eerily like a small sword carved from an animal's jaw bone and colored in a way that made it look as if it had been immersed in blood that had ended up drying up on the weapon like paint, and then swung it at Michael with an inarticulate shriek of fury. Michael calmly parried the blow with Glorious; and within seconds, the highest ranking Arch Angel and eldest Knight of Hell proceeded to take part in an epic duel that only an angel and demon could be capable of fighting.

In a flash, Lilith unleashed an inarticulate shriek of her own before zooming off to fight alongside her mate. Michael calmly summoned his shield and proceeded to fight both Samael and Lilith with only his single sword and shield against the two blades wielded by the literally demonic duo. Abaddon to join in the battle against Michael as well, only to have his path blocked by Gabriel.

The dark haired Arch Angel pointed his sword at the furious Knight of Hell. "Sorry, but my eldest brother prefers to fight against two adversaries at a time thank you," said Gabriel.

"Why you little scum," Abaddon growled. "I'll show you why you should treat me with proper respect!" he then shouted as he proceeded to summon his own nightmarish blade and then teleport out of sight.

Gabriel simply turned to face the area behind him and positioned his sword appropriately right as Abaddon reappeared in that very area. "Nice try brother," said Gabriel, "but as your former teacher, did you really think I'd fall for my own trick?" Abaddon snarled incoherently, and the two dueling combatants promptly proceeded to rapidly teleport in and out of sight in random directions and places, all while continuing to clash their blades together in a flurry of clangs and rattles.

Asmodeus, meanwhile, fared no better in his efforts to gang up on Michael alongside Samael and Lilith. For right after he made it within three feet of the battle in question, he had just finished crouching in preparation for pouncing into the midst of it when Raphael materialized right in front of him as if he'd teleported. At the sight of the now livid Asmodeus, Raphael growled, lifted his sword up in a battle-ready stance, and savagely roared, "It ends tonight foul fiend!" Asmodeus snarled in rage, his frill extended and tongue vibrating rapidly in the air from his open jaws, before lunging at Raphael. Raphael knocked him to the side with a swing of his arm, and the demon went sprawling. Then Asmodeus jumped back up on his feet, summoning a long bony spear with a blade similar to the ones on the swords wielded by his three comrades at the tip. "Have it your way then," Raphael snarled before swooping towards Asmodeus with a inarticulate battle cry. Within seconds, Raphael and Asmodeus proceeded to fight furiously with each other as they clashed their blades together.

For a moment, the Titans stood together in the area where the Knights of Hell had all been standing before beginning their battles with the Arch Angels. "Boy those guys sure make one badass God squad," said Beast Boy. At the sound of this, Robin, Cyborg, and Raven rolled their eyes while Starfire raised her eyebrow in confusion.

Then Robin seemed to remember something, and he turned to the other Titans before saying, "Well regardless of that, we still have work to do. The angels may be here now and helping us, but we still need to get the alpha Devil's Gate closed before any of the fallen demons get the chance to regenerate and come right back out."

The Boy Wonder turned his head in the direction of the Devil's Gate. "Fortunately, as luck would have it, the Infernal Key is still right there by it. All I need to do now is get to that machinery, get ahold of the key, and then utter the words needed to close the gate."

"Won't that just lock out the demons still outside?" Beast Boy asked.

"Not necessarily," said Raven. "Whenever an afterlife portal closes, they unleash a gravity field that causes any natives of the realm that the portal leads to that are still within the immediate vicinity to automatically be sucked back into the portal directly before closing entirely. With all the demons released that haven't been killed yet still in this valley, closing the Devil's Gate will allow all of the ones still alive to be dragged right back to Hell."

"Well that certainly makes things easier," said Cyborg.

"Indeed," said Robin. "Now here's the plan guys. Since I'm the one present with the best chance of successfully activating the power of the Infernal Key to close the gate, I'll go over to the machinery designed to work in opening and closing it so that I can get ahold of the key and close the Devil's Gate from there."

"What about us?" Starfire asked.

"I want you guys to keep a close eye on all the demons," Robin responded as he pointed to where the still battling demons and angels were. "And if any of them manage to break off from their battling to try to head me off, I want you guys to keep them busy long enough for both the angels to finish them off, and for me to reach the Key. Got it?"

"You got it Rob," said Cyborg.

"Affirmative," Raven stated.

"Sounds like a plan to me dude," said Beast Boy.

"Understood Robin," said Starfire.

"Good, Titans go!"

In an instant, the Titans split up; Robin running off in the general direction of the Devil's Gate while the rest of the Titans rushed off to get into a position that would allow them to get a view of the demons in the valley so that they would be able to catch them in the act if they attempted to head Robin off. And when they managed to catch sight of a small group of minor demons break off from the main battle zone and attempt to scurry off in Robin's direction, it didn't take long for the other Titans to block them off and dispatch them.

However, what none of the Titans had noticed was how Azazel had not gotten involved with any of the fights between the Arch Angels and his four compatriots. Due to how much an impact he'd had with the ground and the rest of his compatriots after the Arch Angels had yanked him away from Robin and thrown him down, it had taken a good bit of time for him to get his bearings back after the considerable state of disorientation he'd found himself in came into effect. But at that very moment, right as his four compatriots were in the midst of battling the Arch Angels and the four resurrected Titans were busy with holding off all the minor demons who were lucky enough to break off from the main battle to attempt to head off Robin, Azazel himself managed to notice Robin rushing off in the general direction of the Alpha Devil's Gate and the Infernal Key. At the sight of this, he snarled, his yellow eyes gleaming with fury. "Oh no you don't," he growled. "I'm not letting you get away that easily." He then proceeded to cloak himself with active electricity and revert to his incorporeal form. As a result, much like how Samael was capable of becoming a flying stream of flames whenever he switched to incorporeal form while cloaked with flames, Azazel appeared to take on the form of a gigantic snake-shaped mass of multiple bolts of electricity. No sooner had Azazel taken on this form when he rocketed off towards Robin. The other Titans, already distracted as they were in fighting off all the minor ranking demons attempting to head off their fearless leader, were too busy to notice Azazel as he zoomed right over them towards Robin.

. . . . .

For another few minutes, Robin continued to run through the small forest between the Devil's Gate and the clearing where the Knights of Hell had been holding him and the other Titans. "Any moment now, any moment now," he thought to himself. When he later entered another open area filled with rocks located not too far away at all from the Devil's Gate, the Boy Wonder began to run even faster. "I'm almost there," he thought to himself.

But then, a gigantic serpentine mass of lightning crashed 'headfirst' onto the ground right in front of Robin, and the Boy Wonder was sent flying backward. He slammed down hard on his back, and he grunted and groaned in pain before finally managing to get up. And right as Robin was in the midst of getting back up on his feet, the mass of electricity converged together into the form of a demon.

Right as Robin was about to lift his head back up to look in front of him, he heard a familiar voice say, "Going somewhere Boy Wonder?"

Robin snapped his head up to look in front of him, and glared at the sight of Azazel standing right in the charred up area where the mass of lightning had landed in front of him with a glare of his own on his face. "Need I answer?" he growled sarcastically.

"No," Azazel growled bluntly before then abruptly rushing straight towards Robin at a lightning fast speed.

Robin's eyes widened, and he hurriedly jumped to his right just in time to avoid ending up on the receiving end of either Azazel painfully colliding into him, or getting sliced across the stomach by Azazel's wickedly sharp left hand claws. For a brief moment, as Robin soared off to his right and Azazel zoomed right through the area Robin had originally been standing, time seemed to go in slow motion with Azazel directing a hateful glare towards Robin as his claws just barely missed the Boy Wonder's stomach. Then time reverted back to normal speed, and the literal speed demon was gone in a flash.

Robin landed on his palms and turned the impact into a trio of somersaults before skidding to a halt in a position that would allow him to look in the direction that Azazel had managed to skid off to.

As it turned out, Azazel had now managed to come to a stop as well, and he directed a furious glare towards Robin before rushing towards him once more. Robin hurriedly jumped out of the way again, and he continued to do so for another five minutes before eventually getting sent flying backward as a result of the demon zooming along right in front of him and slamming its fist into his face while he was in the midst of dodging the charge that he'd dodged just seconds prior.

Robin went sprawling on his back, and he managed to sit back up in time for him to hurriedly make a back flip to dodge a leaping fist slam that Azazel attempted to pound him in the chest with. Robin didn't even get the chance to straighten back up before he was forced to back flip yet again to dodge a swing of Azazel's spiked tail. For the next few minutes, Robin was forced to continue to back flip further and further away from the Devil's Gate in his efforts to avoid ending up on the receiving end of a series of punches, kicks, claw slashes, bites, and even tail swipes. After back flipping to dodge the 26th attack in Azazel's rapid series of blows, the demon coated his right hand in electricity and karate chopped the ground in front of him. The blow caused both a shockwave and sent three ground-based lightning bolts racing across the ground towards Robin. Robin jumped through the air and soared right over both the demon and the electrified shockwave.

The Boy Wonder landed on his hands and knees with his back facing the demon, and he turned his head just in time to see Azazel, with his back still turned, engulfing himself in a gigantic crackling sphere of electricity. Seconds later, with a sideways spreading out of his arms, Azazel caused the sphere of electricity to explode into eight lightning bolts that each flew out in a different compass-based direction. With absolutely no time to dodge, Robin instinctively positioned his cape in a way that would allow it to hopefully shield himself from the blow.

As it turned out, while the cape thankfully managed to serve as an effective enough shield to prevent Robin from getting electrocuted, the lightning bolt managed to strike the cape with enough force to cause Robin to go sliding backwards. Robin gritted his teeth and maintained his cape shielding position. Unfortunately, Robin was keeping such strong focus on maintaining his shield that he forgot to check the area behind him, and he ended up getting tripped up and landing on his back when his feet slammed right into a large tree root located directly behind him.

Robin groaned, shook his head side to side with his eyes closed, and got himself up into a seated position just in time to see Azazel lunge towards him with his claws both extended and cloaked in electricity. Robin hurriedly jumped away in time to avoid getting sliced in half by the x-shaped slashing attack that Azazel unleashed with his electrified claws. And when the Boy Wonder then started to continue running in the direction he'd jumped to dodge the electrified x-shaped slash, he was just barely able to avoid getting blasted by a lightning bolt breath attack that Azazel attempted to shoot him with. Even though he was able to avoid getting directly hit by the breath attack, the blast was still able to briefly cause him to stumble as a result of how very close behind him the bolt had struck, and he slowed down in his running just enough for Azazel to successfully pounce on him from behind.

Robin slammed face down on the ground with Azazel on his back firmly pinning him down. Robin managed to turn his head to look in Azazel's direction in time to see the demon cause a chidori-like sphere of electricity to appear upon his opened right palm. Robin's eyes widened at the sight of this, for if this attack were anything like the special Naruto universe ultimate chakra attack that it resembled, he did not want it anywhere near him when Azazel slammed it down. Desperate, he drew out a smoke stick from his utility belt and threw it up in Azazel's face. Azazel hacked and coughed as the resulting thick cloud of smoke abruptly blew up in his face. And as the demon was disoriented and coughing from the smoke, Robin managed to knock him off with an elbow strike and then throw a freeze disk at him before running back off towards the Devil's Gate once more, leaving Azazel completely encased in ice.

Unfortunately, Azazel still wasn't done yet. And from within the massive block of ice encasing him, he caused a circle of lightning to drop down hard on the area directly surrounding the ice. The resulting electrical popping caused by the lightning bolts' impact with the ground proved powerful enough to cause the ice to crack, and then shatter. No sooner was Azazel freed from the ice when he roared in outrage towards Robin, coated himself in electricity, and then assumed his incorporeal form before rocketing after Robin. And as Azazel zoomed towards Robin, all the multiple tendrils of electricity that he'd become merged together to create one single massive bolt of lightning, which then reared up and rose high up into the air.

Robin was just a meter or two away from the opening and closing mechanism for the Alpha Devil's Gate when the giant lightning bolt that Azazel had become slammed down mere centimeters in front of him. The Boy Wonder was sent rocketing backward and he slammed into a large boulder. Robin got back up on his feet just in time to see the giant lightning bolt rapidly careening in all directions while bouncing off of every random surface it struck much like a beam of light being reflected off of glass. In a flash, Robin was forced to start jumping and back flipping all over again in a mad effort to avoid getting rammed by Azazel. Unfortunately, when a particularly close dodge caused him to go sprawling, Robin found himself with no time to successfully dodge when Azazel then proceeded to unleash yet another full-frontal charge. Robin hurriedly positioned his cape to shield himself, and the gigantic bolt of lightning that was Azazel plowed straight into it, sending the Boy Wonder skidding backwards across the ground before eventually pounding hard against one of the cliff walls surrounding the valley.

Robin slumped across the cliff wall, his cape falling out of its shield position, and he groaned before looking up just in time to see Azazel back in corporeal form rushing towards him with another chidori-like orb at the ready. Panting in exhaustion and terror, Robin leaped out of the way, and Azazel's electric attack slammed against the cliff wall hard enough to leave a sizeable crater. Azazel turned his head away from the newly created crater within the cliff face in time to see Robin running back towards a series of trees, growled, and pointed his left hand towards the Boy Wonder before sending a maelstrom of lightning spouting from his fingertips.

Robin jumped off behind a large group of rocks and trees just in time to avoid getting charred by the lightning blast. As the lightning continued to zoom past his current hiding place, Robin heard Azazel yell, "YOU CANNOT EVADE ME FOREVER BOY WONDER! SOONER OR LATER YOU WILL COME OUT OF HIDING! AND WHEN YOU DO, I CAN ASSURE YOU, YOU WILL DIE!"

Robin took deep breaths from his hiding spot. He knew that he couldn't stay in hiding forever. Assuming Azazel didn't eventually come walking right over, he himself would eventually have to leave anyway if he were to make it to the Devil's Gate and get ahold of the Infernal Key. But just as Azazel was correct in that Robin would have to come out of hiding at some point or other, Robin also knew that the demon hadn't been kidding when he'd said that he would kill him. Grimacing, Robin thought desperately to himself. What was we going to do?

The lightning attack ceased, and Robin found himself feeling quite confused. Why had Azazel shut off his electrical attack? Then he thought to himself. "Of course," he thought to himself. "He's probably trying to draw me out of hiding." He snorted, turned his head to face the direction that he knew Azazel would be located from the other side of his hiding place. "Well if he thinks that just shutting off his attack alone will trick me into getting back out into his attack range, he's very much mistaken."

Unfortunately, Azazel was indeed much smarter than that, and he then stated, "You know Boy Wonder, I'm surprised at how very unheroic you are acting right now. I always thought you to be braver than this; yet here you are cowering behind a bunch of rocks and not even attempting to fight back. That's certainly not the behavior I've come to expect from you after all his Malevolence has seen of you." Robin tensed up, growling silently. Azazel had been very clever just now in using these particular vocal barbs. Among the many things Robin hated was being called a coward. Even now it was taking all his will power not to fly off the handle and jump out of hiding.

Azazel sensed his target's rising anger, and he decided to stoke it up some more. "And what about your friends?" he then asked. "You've already sacrificed your soul and a free trip to Heaven in exchange for their coming back to life and a one way ticket to Hell. Just think about how worthless all that effort would be if they were to die again in the midst of doing battle with all the demons beneath me in rank that they are currently fighting. And that's assuming that my compatriots don't manage to successfully escape from the Arch Angels in time to go after them themselves you know!"

Robin snarled loudly, and he was forced to clench his fist around a tuft of grass to keep himself from exploding in anger. "Keep it together," he growled to himself in his mind.

Azazel chuckled maliciously at the sound of Robin's snarl, and he then looked up towards the sky before saying, "You've faced so many villains and criminals without any fear before now. Heck, you were able to face his Malevolence's idiotic Azarathian counterpart without as much as a shiver. Why has your bravery suddenly chosen to abandon you against me? In fact, even before you became a hero, you were brave enough to soar his Malevolence knows how many feet above the ground alongside your parents without a net beneath you to shield you from falling!"

Robin tensed up and froze in a mixture of shock and rage. If he'd had pyrokinetic touch, then the grass in his hand would have shriveled into ashes. "How dare he?!" He thought to himself in a fury.

Azazel then feigned making a realization, and he yelled, "Oh wait! Maybe that's why you're being such a coward right now! Maybe the reason you're now so afraid to go up against me like a man in the face of death and an early trip to Hell is the fact that it is only through a sheer timing miracle that you were able to avoid falling upon the same tragic fate as your dear beloved mummy and daddy! Isn't that right, Dick Grayson!?"

Robin roared, an inarticulate guttural cry of pure rage, and he climbed up on top of the rocks he'd been hiding behind before lunging at Azazel with his Bo staff at the ready. Azazel, having expected for the Boy Wonder to come back out of his hiding place from the way he'd come in as well as completely weaponless, was taken by surprise at the direction from which Robin had come back out of hiding as well as the fact that he had his Bo staff in his hand, and he hurriedly lifted up his left arm to block the blow Robin was about to strike him with. The staff clanged against the demon's left wrist, and Robin was sent hovering backward before landing on his feet.

With an angry growl, Robin retracted his Bo staff, slipped it back into his utility belt, and then took on a battle-ready position right there by Azazel before then snarling, "You can call me a coward, endanger my friends, and even compare me to Slade; but no one disrespects my parents!" With an enraged yell, Robin summoned his sword. With an acknowledging grunt, Azazel summoned from thin air the very same sword that he'd been ready to stab Robin with earlier before the Heavenly intervention. In a flash, the two warriors began clashing their blades together in an epic showdown.

Meanwhile, the other Titans had just finished taking down yet another small group of demons, and they managed to overhear the sound of the clashing blades. They looked behind them, and saw only the shadows of their fearless leader and the electrokinetic Knight of Hell fighting each other. For a brief moment, Starfire seemed about to zoom off to her boyfriend's defense, but the other Titans gestured for her to stay back. Starfire seemed scandalized at first by this reaction, but then she calmed down when the other Titans shook their heads and reaffirmed their gesture in a more calm matter. "This is his fight Star," Cyborg said. "He can take care of himself."

Starfire thought to herself. "Very well friends," she said. "I do hope you are right."

"Don't we all," said Beast Boy.

Then they heard demonic snarling from behind them. "And on that note, we have a job to do. Take this!" He shouted the last bit as he proceeded to turn to face the newest batch of enemies just before turning into a stegosaurus and sending them flying backward with a swing of his tail (but not without stabbing a few of them with the spikes on it).

Meanwhile, Robin and Azazel continued to fight their duel. Unfortunately, as Robin soon discovered, he was now in way over his head. Savage had earlier claimed to have countless years' worth of sword fighting practice; but if Azazel had made such a claim, it would have been a full truth. No matter what trick or maneuver Robin thought of and attempted, Azazel was always able to almost contemptuously block or parry it again and again. And even worse, he had even ended up proving himself capable of using moves that Robin himself had either always found too difficult to attempt or didn't even know existed. And with that in mind, Robin could already tell that against his current foe, despite all his many months and years of practicing, no amount of training could have possibly prepared him to combat against Azazel's centuries and centuries of experience.

And as if that factor weren't enough, as Robin soon bitterly noted yet again after blocking another stroke from the demon, Azazel was also inhumanly strong. Every time Robin had blocked one of Azazel's own attacks with his sword, Robin's arms had always been left feeling terrifyingly numb afterwards to the point that it had been a miracle that he'd recovered in time to dodge or block any subsequent attacks. The demon's attacks had struck with just that much force. And after another few minutes, Robin finally managed to make note of another factor regarding the demon's strength that caused his eyes to widen in horror. The sword that Azazel was wielding was a broadsword. From all he'd learned about weapons during his time under Batman's tutelage combined with his history lessons at the school he'd attended in Gotham City, he understood how broadswords were so large and heavy that they required a two-handed grip from their wielders. However, the factor that had caused Robin's eyes to widen just now was the fact that Azazel was effortlessly wielding this massive broadsword . . . with only one hand gripping the pommel.

At the sight of Robin's wide-eyed look of fright, Azazel grinned, briefly activated his mind reading on Robin, and then stated, "You are correct Boy Wonder; this is indeed the variety of sword that even the strongest of your kin are only able to wield through use of a two-handed grip. That being said, the fact that I'm able to wield one quite literally single-handedly speaks volumes of my strength, now doesn't it?" Robin growled in response, not all that keen on making small talk.

Azazel chuckled, feigned thinking to himself, and then grinned smugly. "And while I'm at it," he stated. "Another useful factor that comes with the strength to be capable of wielding a broadsword with one hand means not only that it would be easier to use a shield if I had chosen to use one, but that I can also wield _two_ broadswords at once!" And then, much to Robin's horror, he extended out his left hand and caused a second broadsword to materialize out of thin air within reach of his left palm, which he then clenched tightly around the newly summoned extra sword. Azazel smirked at Robin, swung his two swords in counterclockwise circles, and then gestured them into battle-ready positions before yelling, "Let's see how well you fare against me _now_!"

With a triumphant roar, Azazel proceeded to start swinging both of his swords at Robin. Robin found himself fighting desperately to avoid getting sliced up by Azazel as he hurriedly blocked and dodged to the best of his ability. At one point, he even ended up having to an artful side flip motion in order to slip through the empty space between both swords as they swung at him from opposite directions.

Before long, as if the battle hadn't become unfair enough for Robin, Azazel then started cheating again by causing electricity to spread from his hands to the blades of his swords! And when that happened, Robin knew that it was all over, for after the third time he parried an attack from one of the newly electrified swords of Azazel, he found his arms feeling so numb from the effect of the electrical current's spread that he couldn't even lift them up to raise his sword anymore. Azazel sensed this, smirked at the panting face of the Titans' fearless leader, and then stated coldly, "It's over Boy Wonder," before sending Robin's sword flying out of his hands with a single swing of his left hand sword. The sword hurtled through the air before landing right through the head of one of the minor demons battling the other Titans, incidentally killing it.

When the Titans saw Robin's sword lying in the dust of the unfortunate demon afterward, their eyes widened in horror, and they turned their heads in time to see Azazel standing triumphantly before the now unarmed and very defenseless Robin. Starfire's face took on a horrified look of sadness, and her hands went up to her mouth. "No," she said quietly to herself at the sight of her boyfriend in his current very obviously one-sided conditions against Azazel.

Azazel then uttered a triumphant villainous laugh, pointed his right hand sword at Robin, and caused a bolt of lightning to shoot out of the blade. The burst of electricity struck Robin right in the chest and sent him rocketing backward before then crashing painfully against yet another cliff wall. Robin slumped to the ground, groaning in agony from the combined damage from both the lightning bolt that had struck him in the chest and his impact with the cliff wall. By the time Robin finally managed to open his eyes, he saw that Azazel had managed to teleport to the area directly in front of him. Without warning, the demon positioned his two broadswords so that they crisscrossed in an x-shaped fashion with Robin's neck stuck between them and the cliff wall. In fact, all Azazel now needed to do was to move the swords in just the right way, and they would slice Robin's head right off his shoulders in a scissors-like fashion.

Robin's eyes widened as he realized just how serious a predicament he was now in. Azazel chuckled maliciously, directed a smug grin at the Boy Wonder, and then stated, "Your death has been delayed long enough Boy Wonder. Any last words?!" As he said the last phrase, he tightened his grip on the pommels of his swords as if about to enact the deadly scissors motion. Robin gulped, now panicking mentally as he thought in true terror as to what he could do to escape from this situation. Then he managed to unobtrusively look past Azazel and notice something that he had completely missed while in the midst of his one-sided combat against the Knight of Hell.

Within the valley were only a pitifully small number of demons, and the Knights of Hell were the only greater demons present. And not a single angel had fallen in the midst of their combat. And of course, Azazel's four fellow Knights of Hell were not only still desperately doing battle with the Arch Angels, but were also seeming to wind down in their energy and strength levels. It was clear that the demons would have no victory tonight. Robin smirked, his usual cocky grin coming back on his face, and then said, "Why bother killing me now? It wouldn't do you any good."

"Oh really?" Azazel asked cockily. "And how might that be possible?"

"Why don't you look behind you?" Robin asked.

"Do you really think I'll fall for that trick?"

"You're the mind reader; why don't you determine for yourself whether or not it's a trick?"

Azazel thought to himself, and then turned his head to look behind him. At the sight of the very scene that had now inspired this incredibly last ditch plan of Robin's, Azazel's amber eyes widened in genuine surprise.

Robin smirked as he caught sight of Azazel tensing up in shock, and he then stated, "You see? Even if you kill me now and send me to Hell early, it still wouldn't change a thing. You'd still end up getting defeated and sent back down to Hell anyway by the angels, who would probably even manage to somehow grant my friends the guaranteed ability to close the gate for me. Your precious leader's plot would still fail this evening. And you certainly won't be able to overrun the magical defenses of this island at this point before it sinks into the ocean at turn of day local time either. Face it Azazel, with the angels present, practically your entire army on the last few footsteps left before defeat, and Lucifer's mission now completely doomed to failure, you might as well give up now. You've already lost. As long as the angels are here in full force, all hope that you and the rest of your kin would have to fulfill your master's dream tonight is completely destroyed; and that's really saying something considering the fact that you and your master are supposed to represent the end of all hope for humanity."

At the sound of this powerful comeback from Robin, Azazel thought to himself angrily. But then his eyes widened as he realized that Robin was indeed telling the truth. "You're right," he then said. "As long as the angels are here, my compatriots and I indeed don't stand a chance of fulfilling his Malevolence's dream tonight anymore." Then he glowered towards the machinery designed to open the Alpha Stairway to Heaven, and he came up with a plan to combat the unexpected ace that Robin had now conveniently drawn out of his sleeve. "But of course, the angels need only depart unexpectedly before the remainder of my kin outside Hell can be sent back, and we may yet have hope for his Malevolence's dream coming true this evening."

Azazel looked back at Robin with a glare, pointed in the direction of the Stairway to Heaven operating machinery, and stated, "You are aware of how if an afterlife portal is closed while any of the residents from whatever realm it leads to are still out and about within the direct area that the portal is located in, then the afterlife beings in question will be sucked back into the portal directly before it closes? Well now, all that needs to happen is for someone to close the Alpha Stairway to Heaven, and all the angels will be locked back up in Heaven, and my kin and I can continue on as before!"

Azazel growled, dismissed his two swords in a flash of light, and clenched his fists before saying, "And since you've so kindly allowed me to realize this, I'll make sure that you can't pull any tricks on me by doing the deed myself!" He then turned to face the machinery where the Paradisiacal Key was still positioned and roared, "And best of all, unlike when opening the gate, the Dante's Keys don't need to be placed within their respective machinery in order to close their respective portals!"

In a flash, Azazel extended his right hand towards the machinery for the Alpha Stairway to Heaven, and the Paradisiacal Key zoomed through the air straight into Azazel's outstretched hand, which clenched around the dazzling white gemstone as if his life depended on it. He heaved in a mixture of exhaustion and euphoria. "This is my moment of glory," he hissed triumphantly to himself.

Little did Azazel know that Robin was no smirking smugly at the demon from behind. "He's fallen for my little trick; hook, line, and sinker," he thought to himself.

Azazel, completely unaware of how Robin had now tricked him straight into a trap, took a step forward towards an area where everyone in the valley would get a clear view of him, and loudly roared, "Everyone! Listen to me and feast your eyes on what I have in my hand!"

In a flash, all the angels and demons turned their heads to face Azazel. Robin's fellow Titans, meanwhile, had already been facing the area due to their fearfully watching the entire scene unfold before Azazel's dramatic call to attention. However, only Raven and Beast Boy had currently managed to realize just what Robin had managed to trick Azazel into doing. Meanwhile, Azazel's four fellow Knights were also beginning to get an unsettling feeling as to what Azazel was about to do.

"He'd better not be about to do what I think he's about to do," Samael snarled.

"Samael," Lilith stated fearfully. "Surely you don't think he's actually going to . . . ?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Abaddon growled coldly. "He's smarter than that; and he'd never be that stupid at a time like this."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Asmodeus hissed. "After all, he did seem rather angry before from what I overheard, and anger can cloud even the smartest of judgments."

"Well nonetheless, he'd better not . . ." Samael began.

However, at that very moment, Azazel grinned snidely towards the angels and stated, "Sorry to end the party boys, but it's time for you winged lot to go back home, FOREVER!" Immediately after shouting this, the golden yellow Knight of Hell raised his hand clutching the Paradisiacal Key into the air, his entire body now positioned the way Robin had positioned himself before activating the Key for the sake of opening the Stairway to Heaven.

At the sight of the way Azazel had positioned himself complete with uplifted hand clutching the Paradisiacal Key and even his head raised upwards to look up towards the sky, the eyes of the other four Knights of Hell widened in horror as they realized that Azazel was about to do exactly what they'd been hoping so desperately at that moment that he hadn't been about to do. "No, no, no!" Samael howled as he and the other three Knights of Hell proceeded to teleport away from the Arch Angels as fast as they could to stop their compatriot from uttering the words that would truly destroy all remaining hope they had of fulfilling their master's dream that evening.

But it was too late. No sooner had Samael, Lilith, and the other two A-named Knights of Hell materialized right there next to Azazel when their electrokinetic comrade finished shouting out in a misguided tone of triumph, "The world is safe! The threat is no more! Return to Heaven, where you were once before!"

A bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, and an almighty boom of thunder was heard. Azazel smirked, a wolfish grin on his face as he thought of the great triumph he believed that he'd now gained for his kin and master. But then he turned his head to again face his fellow Knights of Hell just in time to finally notice that they were now all both standing right there next to him, and had an identical look of horror on their faces. "Azazel," Samael stated fearfully. "What have you done?"

Azazel raised his right eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"The Key of Dante you fool!" Lilith shouted. "If those things were that easy for us to use, then why didn't we just use the Infernal one to open the Alpha Devil's Gate ourselves!?"

"Use it ourselves?! Are you mad?!" Azazel roared. "You know that such an attempt, or even one to use the other two Keys, would only end with us being unwillingly sent straight back to Hell at square one!"

"Exactly!" Samael shrieked.

Azazel gave another confused look for a brief few seconds. But then he looked again at the white gemstone in his hand, and his eyes widened in horror as he finally realized what he had done. "No," he stated solemnly in terror. "No this can't be happening!"

But it was. Seconds after Azazel came to his earthshaking realizing when a mighty storm of hurricane force winds burst out of the still open Devil's Gate and billow around the entire valley. And as the winds continued to bluster around the valley's interior, all the minor demons that still hadn't yet returned to Hell (whether through retreat or by death didn't matter at that point) proceeded to shriek in despair before being yanked up into the air by the winds, at which point they were unwillingly forced into their incorporeal forms, which then began to crash and coalesce together to form a massive billowing tornado-shaped column of demonic smoke.

Samael had just enough time to direct a furious snarl at Azazel and savagely roar, "You imbecile!" before he was yanked away by the winds and reverted to his blood red smoke form.

"You should have let my mate remain in charge!" Lilith howled before she was yanked away in her mate's footsteps by the wind and forcibly reverted back to her own icy blue smoke form.

"Curse you," Abaddon growled before he joined his two mated compatriots in the sky and was transformed into his inky black smoke form.

"No!" Asmodeus hissed shrilly in despair before he too was yanked up into the air by the wind and forcibly reverted to his verdant green smoke form.

Azazel briefly gaped in horror at what was happening before then turning his head to look behind him just in time to see the wide grin on the now standing Boy Wonder's face. "You," Azazel growled. "You tricked me!"

"You bet I did," Robin stated nonchalantly. "And it wasn't really all that hard either once I'd found the right elements to use to my advantage."

"Why you," Azazel snarled. "I'll kill you!"

Azazel then attempted to rush towards Robin with his claws at the ready. But at that moment, right as Azazel was four or five foot steps away from Robin, the winds picked up again, and Azazel found himself uselessly running in place as if on a treadmill as the winds pushed heavily against him. Seconds later, the wind finally grew strong enough for Azazel to lose his footing, and the demon blew backwards for a few seconds before grabbing onto a small boulder rooted into the ground.

As the demon billowed through the air like a flag as he maintained a desperately tight grip on the boulder, Azazel growled bitterly, "No fair! My compatriots and I should have been a victory celebration by now while we feasted on the entrails of all humanity!" Then he looked upwards towards Robin with a hateful glare on his face. "How did you do it!? My kin and I should have won! How is it you managed to still defeat us in the end!?"

"It's called the natural order Azazel," Robin stated coldly. "It's the freaking number one rule for the entire world! Just as your low and puny master is destined to lose in his final attempt to destroy all that God has created, you and all other forms of villainy out there are destined to fall to the power of heroes like me!"

"Why you," Azazel growled as he clenched his left fist. Unfortunately, this particular action turned out to be a big mistake, as it caused his right hand's grip on the boulder to start to loosen. "Oops," Azazel stated in shock as his right hand briefly slipped. "No!" he shouted as his grip was finally lost completely and he went flying upwards and back straight towards the giant tornado of demonic smoke. Before long, he collapsed into his golden yellow smoke and effortlessly merged with the very top of the tornado, which just happened to be where his four fellow Knights were located.

With Azazel now taken care of, the tornado began to spin around and be dragged back towards the Devil's Gate. As the tornado was slowly sucked away by the gravity of the portal, five dragon head-shaped formations that looked very much like the heads of the five Knights of Hell appeared at the top of the tornado and unleashed what sounded like a mixture between a dragon's roar and a despairing 'no!'. Then the tornado's 'tail' entered the Devil's Gate, and the tornado was sent whirling around in circles as it slowly sank deeper and deeper within the portal, the five smoky Knights of Hell unleashing their despairing roar all the way. And before long, they too were yanked beneath the ground's surface and were forced to unleash their roar of defeat one last time as they rapidly descended back down to Hell alongside the remainder of their brethren.

All of two seconds passed after the despairing roar of the Knights of Hell finally went silent before Robin rushed over to the machinery designed to open the Devil's Gate, snatched the Infernal Key up into his hand and lifted it up into the air before triumphantly shouting, "The power of nobility has won, and hope is restored! Retreat back to Hell, where you may harm the world no more!"

The crimson gemstone glowed with red light, and a gigantic flame-shaped geyser of red light erupted from the gaping hole in the ground as the eight segments of the hatchway designed to seal it off started sliding slowly out from the sides of the hole towards the center of the hole so that they could close together. The geyser became more and more slender and less impressive as the hatchway grew closer and closer to closing completely. Eventually, with a satisfying booming noise, the hatchway closed up entirely, shutting out the geyser. And then an unmistakable locking noise was heard. The Alpha Devil's Gate was locked once more. The world was safe.

. . . . .

Robin smiled as he heard the sound of the Devil's Gate locking. Never had he felt more proud of himself. "The world is truly safe now," he thought to himself. Then the Infernal Key began to glow with a blinding red light that abruptly seemed to encompass the area around him and forced him to close his eyes. When the light faded away and Robin opened his eyes, he noticed that the Infernal Key had apparently vanished into thin air. Robin's eyebrow rose at the sight of this, but before he could question it out loud, he heard a voice behind him say, "An ingenious contingency of Dante's isn't it?"

Robin turned his head and saw none other than the three Arch Angels standing behind him. At the sight of the brief surprised tensing up Robin made at the sight of them, Gabriel smirked cheekily at him, Michael simply stared calmly at Robin, and even Raphael let a slight smile come on his face. When Robin had noticeably calmed down, Michael continued, "As you have seen demonstrated, every time one of Dante's Keys are used, they are designed by a spell he cast upon them to automatically teleport back to where they came from the moment they have been used both to open and close their respective Afterlife portals." Michael smiled widely. "Though of course, I probably could have allowed your quite knowledgeable friend from Azarath to explain this to you."

Robin thought to himself, uncertain as to just how to respond to what the Arch Angel had just said. "Um, thanks," he eventually stated. "I guess."

Gabriel chuckled. "Someone's got his tongue out of sorts."

Raphael smacked the dark haired angel on the back of his head. "Come on now Gabriel," he grumbled. "Be serious now."

"Calm yourselves brothers," Michael said patiently before again directing his gaze towards Robin. "But nonetheless, there's no need to be guarded and formal. All heroes should treat each other as equals don't you think?"

"Well," Robin began. "Yes, I suppose so." He then looked directly at Michael. "But still, you have to understand, I'm talking to an angel, and a rather high ranking one at that."

"Understandable," said Michael. He then spread his arms upwards before saying, "And of course, it would probably be a bit less awkward if we didn't have your friends able to get a clear gawking view of the whole thing." At the sound of this, Robin looked past the Arch Angels at his friends, who were indeed staring intently at the scene before them before awkwardly grinning and looking away. Then a large circular wall of mist appeared around the area that Robin and the three Arch Angels were standing, and Robin could no longer get a clear view of his friends.

Robin directed his gaze back to the three Arch Angels, his eyebrow raised. Michael smiled, nodded his head up and down, and explained, "This wall of mist serves to both give us some privacy for your sake, and also serves as a temporal severing barrier. In other words, all time outside this circle of mist will be frozen, but time will function like normal within. Thus, we'll have plenty of time to have our little talk with you."

Robin thought to himself. "Huh," he said. "That actually does sound quite helpful. Ok, where do we start?"

"Always the straight forward and to the point type," Gabriel stated. He turned his head towards Raphael with a smug smirk. "Sound familiar?"

Raphael let out what Robin could have sworn to be an exasperated groan, turned his head towards his younger brother with a withering glare, and said, "Gabriel, do you _want _me to jab my sword up your . . . ?"

"Now, now Raphael," said Michael. "There is no need to be vulgar." Raphael growled wearily, and Gabriel looked as if he were about to make a snide comment at the red haired angel's expense. "And no Gabriel, you had better not speak your current mental thoughts out loud right now if you know what's good for you."

Gabriel's face fell in a mixture between a pout and a glare. "You take the fun out of everything," said the youngest Arch Angel.

Robin started chuckling to himself as he watched the antics of the three angels.

"What's so funny?" Raphael snapped.

"Nothing," Robin stated while trying to stop himself from full on laughing. "It's just that well, the dynamic I'm now seeing between you three reminds me so much of the way things are between me, Cyborg, and Beast Boy."

The three Arch Angels raised their eyebrows, then thought to themselves, and then grinned as they also realized the truth in what Robin had said. "Hmm," said Michael. "I will admit, I can certainly understand why you would think so after having now met us."

"Well you certainly wouldn't need a mind as powerful as an angel's to tell which of us you'd see as the Beast Boy of this relationship," said Raphael as he directed a meaningful look towards Gabriel from the corner of his eyes.

Gabriel chuckled, a look of pride on his face, and placed his hands on his hips as if expecting a medal. "You got that right bro," he then stated. "That's me, the prankster and happy-go-lucky comic relief who can still step up to the plate and become a serious leader when the situation demands. Yep, your green friend and I have quite a lot in common personality wise."

Robin chuckled, scratched his fingers through his hair, and then said, "Indeed, and for the record, I have to admit, I wasn't quite fully expecting you to turn out quite the way you did just now Michael."

"And what would you mean by that?"

"Well," Robin stated slowly, careful in attempting avoid accidentally insulting the eldest of the Arch Angels (or angels period). "From what I've seen of you now, you seem to kind of give off a sort of big brother vibe. In fact, that kind of gives me the feeling that you use the leadership style in which you attempt to play the role of everyone's big brother, kind of like Cyborg."

"Is that a problem?" Michael asked calmly.

"Oh no!" Robin stated rather hurriedly. "Not at all! No it isn't a problem. I'm just surprised by this, that's all."

"And what is it about my personality that makes it so surprising to you?" Michael then asked as he folded his arms across his chest and raised his eyebrow. It was clear that he was not going to let Robin drop the matter that easily.

Robin chuckled nervously, raised his hands in a placatory manner, and explained, "Well please don't take this the wrong way, but from what I knew about you from all I'd read and heard, I'd always envisioned you to be a bit more like me personality-wise; and through that, I believed that you'd take on a more militaristic leadership style like I do."

Michael appeared to think to himself, but then nodded his head after only three seconds. "I see. I will admit that your explanation does make sense, even though in the end your thoughts on what I'd be like turned out to be more than a little off target."

"You've got that right," said Raphael. "Yep, the eldest of the Arch Angels and your friend Cyborg have a surprisingly large amount in common when it comes to personality. But hey, you want an Arch Angel that's more similar to you personality-wise? Then you should take a look at me."

"Ain't that the truth?" Gabriel asked cheekily. He directed his gaze at Robin. "Just look at him. All you need to do is say the phrase 'God's will,' and he gets oh so serious and uptight. I mean come on, he's got such large chips on his shoulders that it's a miracle that there's any room left for his wings."

"Hey," Raphael snapped indignantly. "Someone has to make sure that Father's will is properly carried out!"

"That doesn't mean you have to be such a killjoy all the time!" Gabriel responded cheekily. "Seriously brother, grow a funny bone and live a little!"

"I've been alive for countless eons," Raphael stated dryly. "And I was created just a couple minutes or so before you came into existence. If that doesn't count as living, what will?"

Gabriel directed a deadpan look at his ticked off elder brother. "Must you be so literal?"

"Now, now brothers," said Michael, calm as ever. "Now is not the time to be petty. We have a hero to congratulate."

At the sound of this, both of his more noble younger brothers blushed, and chuckled nervously. "Eh, right, of course," said Gabriel as he straightened back to attention.

"Right," said Raphael. "What he said." He himself straightened back up to attention.

Michael nodded, turned his head to face Robin once more, and stated, "I am sure that you are aware of this Richard Grayson." Robin briefly winced at the sound of his civilian name, but he sucked it up and remained standing at attention before the mighty angels. "But you are considered just as much considered a hero by ourselves, the rest of our Heaven-aligned brothers, and our Father as you are by our fallen brothers and the fellow inhabitants of the realm of the living. And indeed, if all your past deeds hadn't been enough, then the great service you have done for us and your world this evening would have indeed been enough to truly prove your worth to be admitted into Heaven's borders."

At the sound of all this, Robin blushed, and hung his head in embarrassment. But even so, he couldn't help but feel more than a little pride at how well complimented he'd just been by Michael the Arch Angel himself.

"Yes, it is indeed a great honor," said Michael. He then sighed, directed a slightly sad looking face of sympathy towards the Boy Wonder, and continued, "However, it is truly a pity that over the course of the very efforts that have only reaffirmed how much you deserve to join us in Heaven at your time of death, you have ended up forced to set your soul on a course for our fallen brother's realm. And such an action, while in its own way a great sacrifice, has allowed for what is truly a great tragedy for one so valiant."

Robin gulped, hung his head once more, but this time in shame. "I guess so," he stated before lifting his head back up. "But surely there's something you can do? I mean, you are angels, and Arch Angels at that. And you are capable of healing Hell-bound souls. I read about that, and Raven herself admitted to reading about that as well."  
"We are capable of healing Hell-bound souls, that is true," Michael admitted. He then seemed to take on a sentimental look. "In fact, I still remember very well the day I healed your good friend Raven's soul the previous year in your time."

Robin's eyes widened. "You did what?"

"Oh yes, I'd forgotten that you weren't aware of this matter," Michael stated. "I'm sure you remember how, not too long after Raven banished him back to his imprisonment in the limbo between the dimensions and your world was restored, she seemed to be encased in a massive sphere of pure white light before she descended back down to the ground?"

Robin's eyes widened as he remembered this very detail. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do," he admitted. "But I'd just thought that all that was just remnants of all that power she'd released in the midst of her standing up against Trigon."

"Most of it was," Michael stated. "However, there was a little extra behind that light show."

"Indeed," said Raphael. "We had been watching the whole thing unfold from Heaven. And even after all the heroics and similar good deeds we'd seen her commit, it was only after she took her final stand against her father and undid all the damage he'd wrought upon the world that our Father finally decided that she'd truly earned the right to become a resident of His realm rather than the realm of her father or our fallen brother. And so, when your world was in the midst of its restoration, we came to Earth through Heaven's main gate; and while Raven was still encased in the white light, that was when Michael healed her soul."

Gabriel nodded in agreement, a solemn look of respect on his face. "Very true," he agreed. "And just like that, the mark on her soul left by her father that would have otherwise sent her straight to either his realm, or that of our brother upon her death, became replaced by the mark of our Father. And that, is how she ended up joining the rest of your friends in Heaven after Azazel killed her."

For what seemed like an eternity, the Boy Wonder was stunned speechless. "Wow," he thought to himself. "I never knew." Then he thought to himself again, and remembered what he'd originally asked about that had triggered this sentimental memory for the Arch Angels. "But what about my soul? Forgive me if this sounds selfish, but is there anything you can do to save my soul?"

"Well," Michael stated. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt for us to at least take a look at your soul just to be absolutely certain as to whether or not there's anything we can do." His two brothers nodded in agreement, and the three angels proceeded to place their hands on Robin's chest, their eyes and hands glowing white in the process.

After what felt like yet another eternity to the bewildered Boy Wonder, the Arch Angels removed their hands from his chest, the glow in their eyes shutting off in the process. But when Michael shook his head side to side, Robin almost instantly knew what the Arch Angel would say. "I'm saddened to have to tell you this, but there is nothing we can do."

Robin nodded his head. "I understand," he said solemnly. "But if it isn't too much to ask," he then began as he looked back up. "Why?"

Michael sighed. "It is nothing against you, and believe me, if there were any choice, my brothers and I would be very much willing to heal your soul. In fact, if it had merely been a matter of your soul having the mark of our brother branded upon it the way it was on your friend Raven's, then it would have been a simple matter of allowing your soul's branding from Lucifer to be replaced by that of our Father."

Michael then looked at Raphael, deciding that as the one that had the most in common with Robin in regard to personality, it would be easier for the red headed Arch Angel to continue the explanation. Raphael nodded, directed his own gaze towards Robin, and continued, "But this is a different matter entirely. In fact, the mark on your soul from our Father is still there, but it has been enshrouded by the binding of a demonic soul contract. And a soul contract is something that cannot be nullified by our kin under any circumstances."

"Why?" Robin asked, genuinely curious.

"It is part of the terms that were set for when our Father's game with Lucifer began," Gabriel explained, for once seeming to take things seriously over the course of the encounter. "As I'm sure you are aware, after our brother's fall from Grace that occurred following his failed rebellion, he and our father decided to turn their conflict for claiming of the world's souls into a game rather than an open war. And over the course of setting the terms, among them was that, while souls are allowed to be either healed or corrupted depending on the nature of their soul markings from beforehand, our kin are forbidden from saving Heaven-bound souls that have been marked in a contract with Lucifer or his underlings. And in that same note, our brother and his underlings are equally forbidden from stealing back any souls that have been marked by Heaven's equivalent of such a contract. Nonetheless, regardless, we cannot intervene and undo your contract while you are still alive."

"What would happen if you did?"

"The same thing that would happen if any other rules of our Father's game with Lucifer were to be violated," Michael responded. "The magic keeping Lucifer bound in Hell would cease to exist far earlier than originally designed, and he would be able to just leave Hell and bring about the apocalypse right here and now. And knowing you, I have a feeling you'd much rather go through with the deal then let the entire world suffer for you."

Robin gulped, hung his head, and responded, "You're right, I would never dare let the entire world suffer like that just to save my own hide." He then lifted his head back up. "But nonetheless, you are also correct in that it truly isn't fair for me either. I know that I can't actively work to save myself without running the risk of my friends dying all over again, but I just wish that I could somehow stop this from happening."

"I understand," Michael said sympathetically before placing his left hand on Robin's right shoulder. "And you may yet escape or yet have to follow through with the end of your deal. But regardless, never give up hope noble hero. For regardless of what happens, as long as you look in the right places, there is always hope to be found for even the bleakest of situations."

At the sound of these words, Robin began to feel slightly better, for he knew that the Arch Angel was right. Michael and the other two Arch Angels also smiled. Michael then said, "And with that out of the way, is there anything else you wish to ask of us before we return to Heaven?"

Hearing this, Robin immediately began to think carefully about whether or not there was truly anything he still wanted to talk to the Arch Angels about. Then he realized exactly what he still had left on his mind to now ask them about. "Yeah, a couple things actually." The Arch Angels nodded, indicating for him to proceed.

Robin took a deep breath, exhaled, and then asked, "I'll admit, I'd had my suspicions before and after the incident, and you've now confirmed that you were indeed very much aware of what was happening to the point of even admitting to have been watching it from Heaven, but why didn't your kin attempt to do anything to help us or the world during the time of Trigon's attempt at the apocalypse?"

Michael sighed. "I had a feeling that you would ask this. And believe me, the answer will not be entirely pleasant to hear, but it is best that I be honest with you. For starters, since the beginning of time for all religions, we have always had a strict rule that no beings from one religion are allowed to meddle in the affairs of another religion."

Raphael nodded. "Indeed, and secondly, we had to withhold ourselves from intervening at that time because, like in any other situation that doesn't allow for us to make an exception, we had to allow you and your friends, especially the daughter of Trigon, to handle it all on your own. This was especially in your friend Raven's case, for despite how she had the potential to be evil, she had been spending her entire life up to that point making the conscious choice to follow the path of good instead. And in order to uphold the balance between free will and destiny, we had to allow her to continue to make that choice on her own. If we had intervened and solved the whole problem, then we would have robbed her in that moment of the ability to choose her own path. And that would have made us no better than Lucifer."

"Too true," Gabriel agreed. "And finally, we had to keep ourselves in check because we needed to save our strength. You see, as much as we did to intervene this day, we still need to prepare for the evil far worse than Trigon that is destined to arise at the very end of the 666th century."

"You mean Lucifer," Robin stated.

"Indeed," Michael confirmed.

Robin nodded. "I see."

"You said you had a couple things you wished to ask us?" Raphael asked. "I do believe that that meant you had more than one question."

"Oh yes, right," Robin said, briefly scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Um, I was going to ask about the matter of our return to our respective homes."

"What about it?" Raphael asked.

"Well actually," Robin then corrected. "What I meant to say was my return with my friends to our home. I mean, I understand that you can go right back through the portal and that the Paradisiacal Key will automatically be teleported back to Jehovah's Temple after I use it to close the Alpha Stairway to Heaven. But what about when my friends and I depart this island to go home? Is there a specific time that we have to wait for in order to leave?"

"Oh Heavens no," said Gabriel. "The only high maintenance aspect of travel here is the timing with which you arrive. Leaving, on the other hand, isn't any trouble at all."

"And thank Father for that," said Raphael. "It would be a very terrible occurrence if someone were to be stuck on this island at the time it is set to sink back beneath the waves."

"Quite," said Michael. "However," he looked back at Robin, "you will fortunately won't have to worry about using your ship to get home."

"And how would that be?"

"Well since it is now time for us all to head home, I shall go ahead and deactivate this temporal severance so that I may show you."

Michael waved his hand, and the pillar of mist surrounding the Boy Wonder and three Arch Angels dissipated into thin air. Robin had just enough time to briefly direct a glance towards his four fellow Titans and notice their bewildered looks before looking back at the three angels in time to see them cause their right hands to glow and then summon a glowing vertical vortex of white energy directly behind them.

Robin's eyes widened at the sight of the vortex. Michael smiled, extended his hand out towards his right, and the Paradisiacal Key suddenly went flying through the air from where Azazel had dropped it and into the Arch Angel's hand. He handed it to Robin and said, "All you need to do now is to use this to close the Stairway to Heaven once my brothers and I have departed, and you and your friends may simply walk through this portal straight back to your home."

Robin looked at the portal, then at the 3 senior angels. "You are certain that it won't close the moment you depart?"

"Need you even ask? We are angels you know."

Robin grimaced slightly at the reminder of the nature of the beings he was talking to. "Right, of course. But what about . . . ?"

"Fear not," said Gabriel. "My brothers and I have already teleported it back to your home for you while in the midst of summoning the portal. And we even gave it a free washing and fixing up to."

"Well Cyborg will certainly be happy to hear that," Robin admitted.

"So he will," said Michael. He turned his head to face Gabriel. "Sound the signal to return home."

Gabriel nodded, summoned what looked like some sort of immaculate trumpet, and blew through it. At the sound of the noise that came out of it, every single one of the low ranking angels turned their heads, nodded, spread their wings, and took to the air. While airborne, they all took on their incorporeal forms and rocketed up through the still open Stairway to Heaven. Michael looked back at Robin. "Again, you have truly proven yourself as a hero this evening Boy Wonder. But now, regardless of what fate has in store for you, it is time for us to part ways. Farewell noble hero, and I wish you and your friends the best of fortunes in the future." Upon saying this, the fair haired Arch Angel and his two younger brothers of equal rank spread their wings, took off into the sky, and reverted to their pure white incorporeal forms before they followed their younger brothers' path through the Stairway to Heaven.

Robin stared upward in a mixture of awe and sentimentality as he watched the still open Stairway to Heaven. Then he sighed, briefly looked at his now very confused looking friends, and then directed his gaze at the Paradisiacal Key. The caped crusader took a deep breath, exhaled, and then lifted the Key of Dante up in the air. He calmly stated, "The world is safe. The threat is no more. Return to Heaven, where you were once before."

The Paradisiacal Key glowed, the portal in the sky glowed and crackled with what appeared to be white lightning, and then the Heavenly gate closed and vanished from view. Seconds after the Alpha Stairway to Heaven closed and vanished, the Dante's Key designed to open and close it glowed brightly with an overflowing white light. When the light vanished, Robin didn't even need to look at his hand to tell that the Key was gone, for he had felt the space within his clenched hand suddenly become empty as the Key teleported back to Jehovah's Temple. Robin smiled, for now he truly felt at peace and that the world was safe once more.

"Um dude, care to explain what just happened?"

Robin turned his head to face his friends, a wistful smile on his face, and responded to Beast Boy, "Don't worry, I will. But for now, I say we first get off this island and have a good long rest." He checked the time on his communicator. "It's 9:00 pm here, so that means it's only 5:00 pm back at home. Therefore, we should have plenty of time to rest and recuperate at home before I explain in full detail about what just happened here with the angels before bed." He looked back at the portal that the angels had summoned. "But for right now, let's just go back home through this portal and get some rest. God knows how much we've earned it." And at that, despite how the other Titans were still very much wishing for an explanation as to what had happened between Robin and the three Arch Angels, the five teenage heroes proceeded to slowly make their way through the portal, which closed the instant that the last of the five teenagers had entered. Thus Dante's Island was left completely devoid of human visitors once more.

**And just like that, this brand new chapter is complete. Wow this chapter's a doozy in regard to length huh? Oh well, I hope you guys all enjoyed it and that you leave a healthy batch of feedback! And again, sorry about the length! And do feel free to ask any questions about this chapter that you wish. Again, hope you enjoyed!**

**Coming up next: With the Titans' adventure on Dante's Isle officially over, Robin finally does some big thinking about his upcoming deadline, plans for the future are made in this regard, Savage has a final discussion with the newly defeated Lucifer, and the story comes to an end.**


	19. Epilogue

**Hey guys! I hope you're all ready for more awesomeness and haven't lost faith in me, because here is the epic finale for Night of the Cursed! In the epilogue for this chilling A-LionGleek productions' season premiere for Teen Titans season 6, Robin finally comes clean in full to the Titans about his deal, bold plans are made for the future, a final conversation is made between Savage and Lucifer, and the season premiere comes to an end. With all that being said, here's to hoping that you read, leave feedback, and enjoy!**

**But first, I'll just remind you one final time (for this 'episode' anyway) that I do not own Teen Titans, or the DC Universe as a whole, or any religious elements. Got that memorized. Good. Now onward with the story!**

**Epilogue:**

Hours later, at 9:00 pm Jump City time, Robin found himself in his room, leaning up against one of the walls with his head touching one of the newspaper pages pinned on it. In spite of having had a delicious pizza dinner with his friends, all the time he'd now had to really think about his deal had now left him feeling quite uncertain as to just how to feel or what to think about his current future.

He sighed as he thought about the living nightmare he had to look forward to at the end of the next year and a half. As selfless as one half of his reasons behind making the deal had been, he'd also been selfish in making the deal at the same time. And now, even though the world had been saved and his friends could live the full lives they deserved, he himself would now end up going to Hell exactly 18 months from now at the very _latest_. And that was assuming that he didn't end up somehow dying earlier than that over the course of the very dangerous lifestyle he led as a superhero.

As he thought about his deal even further, he shuddered as he remembered the encounter with the pack of hell hounds back on Dante's Isle, even wincing slightly as he remembered the sound of the creatures' infernal growling as well as the sight of the three snarling faces of the pack's alpha, not to mention of all the others in the pack. How he wished more than ever that he wouldn't end up having to encounter one of those very creatures a year and a half from now, let alone in his life, period.

Then Robin thought about Nehreezah. "I'll see you in Hell," she had stated so casually with a half arrogant and half seductive smile on her face and even giving him a flirtatious wink before shifting to incorporeal form and rocketing off over the horizon. He shuddered. He was not looking forward to ever seeing her again at that particular moment.

Then he thought about the Knights of Hell, and he found himself revisiting the moment where he'd been hiding behind the rocks while Azazel sent bursts of lightning zooming past the hiding place from his fingertips. Right this very moment, he could hear the voice of the enraged thunder demon echoing in his mind. "You cannot evade me forever Boy Wonder! Sooner or later you will come out of hiding! And when you do, I can assure you, you will die!"

Robin winced as he remembered those words. Although he'd managed in the end to avoid getting killed by Azazel at that time, he had only delayed the inevitable. And considering just what sort of attacks Azazel had been willing to use to kill him off with, he had a feeling that getting killed by Azazel over the course of that encounter would have probably been far quicker and relatively less painless then the agonizing and drawn out death that would be dealt upon him by whatever hell hound got appointed to be his 'escort' for when the time of his soul's collecting came.

Robin sighed, placed his forehead up against the wall once more, and stated, "What am I gonna say to my friends?" he asked himself in a lamenting tone.

"Robin?"

Robin jolted and tensed up in shock at the unexpected sound of Starfire's voice coming from just outside of his room.

"Is everything alright?"

Robin turned his head to face the direction he'd heard his girlfriend's voice, silently thanking his lucky stars when he saw that the door to his room hadn't opened and allowed her to get a full view of him at that particular moment. The last thing he wanted her to see was him acting the way he currently was. She deserved better than that. "Uh, sure Star. I'm ok. Just blowing off a little steam, that's all."

"Ok then," said Starfire from outside the closed and locked bedroom. "I just came here to inform you that our friends are now ready to hear what you have to say about what happened back on the Dante's Isle, and they were wondering what was taking you so long after you departed from the common room after dinner was over."

Robin grimaced as he remembered how about three hours or so had passed since dinner, and he then said, "I understand. Just tell them to wait just one more minute, and I promise I'll be there in a heartbeat."

For a moment, nothing but silence answered Robin's comment. About a minute later, right as Robin was beginning to fear that either something terrible had happened or that Starfire was going to question whether or not he was telling the truth, he heard her slightly uncertain but still loyal voice say, "Very well then Robin. I shall go inform them of what you have said." And then he heard her walking away, her soft shoes making an oddly alien squishing noise as her feet treaded upon the carpet.

He sighed as he thought of what he'd now promised. Like it or not, he was now going to have to stop delaying the inevitable; for he had a very good feeling that the explanation he'd promised before about his encounter with the Arch Angels wasn't the only thing they'd be asking about. He let out another sigh, and hung his head. "Well, I guess it's time for me to be a man for once," he said to himself. And so, steeling himself and mentally preparing himself for getting the entire unpleasant business over with, he lifted his head up, a poker faced expression on his face, and calmly made his way out of his room and towards the common room.

When he entered the common room through the main doors directly facing the window/TV, he saw none other than Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg standing right there in front of the back of the sofa. While Starfire seemed to be awkwardly wringing her hands with a half regretful and half uncertain look on her face, and Raven didn't seem to be positioned in any way that would recognizably convey her current emotions, Beast Boy and Cyborg had their arms folded across their chests and were directing stern looks towards their fearless leader. Robin mentally winced at the sight of this, for he had only seen his friends like this one time before this day. And that time, had been when they'd confronted him right in this very room after returning from their final battle that had occurred over the course of the infamous Red-X incident.

Robin sighed, for this time he truly understood how much he deserved whatever was likely coming. This time, he would not get angry and defensive if any of the other Titans started yelling at him. This time, he truly felt as if he deserved a good yelling or two from his friends. After all, it had been his first, and hopefully only time he'd ever betrayed them after everything he'd attempted to get himself more open around them following their adventures in Tokyo.

And so, with a deep breath, the Boy Wonder lifted his head to face his friends in the eyes. "I am sorry to have kept you waiting," he began. "And here I am, ready to give you the explanation I promised about my talk with the Arch Angels."

"So you have," said Raven. The sorceress then directed her gaze at Cyborg and Beast Boy, who grunted, and stepped forward. Despite himself, Robin winced at the sight of the two boys walking up towards him. He had a feeling about just what they had in mind.

Sure enough, immediately after the 19 year old half robot and the 17 year old verdant green shape shifter came to a stop about five footsteps in front of the 17 year old caped crusader, Cyborg said, "However, there's something else that's just as important, if not more so, that we'd like to hear from you first."

Robin hung his head, nodded slightly, and then lifted his head back up. "Name it."

Cyborg looked at Beast Boy, who nodded, directed a hawk-like glare at the Boy Wonder, and then asked, "Back at Dante's Isle, when the Knights of Hell had us all pinned up just before the arrival of the Arch Angels, there was a very interesting bit of information that Azazel mentioned before he attempted to stab you to death right in front of us."

Robin nodded, silently willing for Beast Boy to continue.

Beast Boy, his eyebrow raised as he realized that the Boy Wonder had no intention of repeating the information in question for him and making his game of information gathering easier for him, continued by stating, "According to Azazel, he and the other Knights of Hell who attacked the four of us while Abaddon had you pinned and forced to watch from the cliff overlooking that other valley actually did manage to finish the job. We actually were dead. And Raven even says that she remembers Samael claiming to back up Azazel that there was radio silence on me, Cyborg, and Rae when they checked for mental readings afterward. Lilith even said that she _felt_ Starfire's soul leave her body, not to mention that she reportedly snapped her neck a full 360 degrees as opposed to manipulating her into committing self strangulation as you claimed."

The changeling then pointed his right finger at Robin in an almost threatening gesture. "However, and here's where it really gets interesting, not only did they claim that the four of us were in fact dead, but that you summoned a demon and made a deal with it to have us brought back to life. And likewise according to Azazel, in exchange for the Infernal Tablet, Fallen Tools, and your soul, we came back to life, alive and well."

After saying all this, Beast Boy stopped talking, lowered his finger, and folded his arms across his chest once more. Robin, maintaining as stoic an outward appearance as possible, nodded his head slightly. "So Azazel did say." He folded his own arms across his chest before then saying, "And I suppose I would be correct in assuming that you want to know who was telling the truth. Me? Or Azazel?"

"Correct," said Cyborg.

Robin nodded, his face showing no sign of the regret and guilt he was feeling inside for once again having both lied to his friends and failed to let them hear the truth come out of his own mouth rather than from a secondhand source. "Well I can tell you this," he began. "Demons lie. Everyone knows that." He then directed a look towards Raven. "No offense," he added.

"None taken," Raven stated in a noncommittal tone. "I am aware of how much material and media has very clearly pointed that out. And besides, I am half demon, so I would understand why you'd feel the need to save face in this situation."

Raven then caused her hood to be telekinetically raised so that it covered her head, directed her own stern face towards him, and folded her arms across her chest before saying, "But as also said by the very same material that has so pointedly made it clear how often demons lie, demons aren't incapable of telling the truth either; especially if the truth is something that would break peoples' spirits or likewise have a negative effect on them."

"She's got a point Robin," Cyborg agreed. "And besides, humans are just as capable of lying you know. And from past experience, we know _very _well how capable you are of telling lies."

"Ain't that the truth," said Beast Boy. As one, the two boys, plus Raven, all directed an identical look towards Starfire. From what Robin could see of his friends' shared facial expression, they were clearly telling Starfire something along the lines of 'it's time'.

Starfire nodded solemnly, stepped forward so that she was at the same distance from Robin as Beast Boy and Cyborg. Nodding her head, she directed her head at the two boys who had taken on a more brotherly role to her and said, "I am ready."

"Good," said Cyborg. He placed a heavy metal hand on her shoulder. "Good luck." He then turned around and walked back over to his original position by the back of the sofa.

Beast Boy nodded, directed a sidelong glance at Robin, and then positioned his hand as if trying to obstruct what he was about to say from Robin's ears, and then stage whispered loud enough for Robin to very clearly hear, "Knowing him though, I highly doubt you'll need it," before turning away and walking back over to take a position directly next to Raven. And when Beast Boy turned around to look in Robin and Starfire's direction once again, Robin couldn't help but notice that, despite the differences in eye color as well as several other elements regarding the physical appearance of their faces, both of the two chromatically challenged Titans had a very similar hawk-like glare on their faces.

Robin then tore his gaze away from the glaring chromatically challenged duo to look straight at Starfire, who nodded, and directed a half suspicious and half hopeful look towards him. "Robin," Starfire began. "After all our friends have said just now, I want you, if possible, to fulfill this request." She took a deep breath, exhaled, and then looked intently towards her boyfriend's mask covered eyes, her green eyes agleam with an emotion that Robin felt his heart breaking at the sight of. "Look me in the eyes, and tell me . . . was the Azazel lying?"

Robin gulped silently, and briefly looked straight at Starfire's beautiful green eyes; the same impossibly mesmerizing emerald orbs that were now filled with a look that was both clearly showing suspicion and pleading for him to say that Azazel had been lying. Robin hated having to see this look, and he silently found himself begrudgingly giving his other three fellow founding Titans points for what they'd now pulled on him.

It had been a very clever move on the other Titans' part to have Starfire be the one to make such a request of Robin. He knew that he would have had an easier time in convincing the other Titans of the exact opposite of the truth in this case. "Easier being a relative term," Robin thought to himself. After all, despite how easy he'd believed in the past it was for Beast Boy to be fooled and convinced of a lie, the information he'd come to learn over the last few days about the power of Beast Boy's animal instincts now left him feeling not entirely so certain as to whether or not it was harder to fool Beast Boy then the green changeling let on. Cyborg, being Robin's unofficial second in command, plus being armed with voice stress analyzers that he was not above activating in situations like this made him considerably more difficult to fool then Robin had always believed Beast Boy to be. And of course, Raven, due to a combination of shared personality traits, their shared mental link, and a small history of Robin having in the past proved himself both willing and capable of blocking his mind off from her telepathic and similar psychic abilities made her a very difficult person to fool. But of course, no matter how difficult it already would have been naturally to lie to any of the other Titans, he knew for a fact, and so did the other Titans, that he couldn't lie to Starfire. "Especially not about something like _this_," he thought to himself. "Well here goes nothing."

For a brief minute, Robin maintained eye contact with Starfire. But then he sighed, closed his eyes, and hung his head. "I'm sorry Star. I wish I could tell you otherwise, more than I can say, but Azazel was telling the truth. You and the others were dead, and I had you brought back to life; all at the cost of the Infernal Tablet, Fallen Tools, and my soul." He looked back up with his eyes open, wincing mentally as he saw the look on Starfire's face, and continued, "And I'm sorry that I had to tell you this Star, but it's the truth. I wish that I could say different, but I've already lied enough times today."

He directed his gaze towards the other three Titans. "And before you guys start yelling at me like you did after the first Red-X incident, just let me finish. I can tell you right now, that I was wrong in lying to you about all that stuff, and that I should have told you the truth right then and there after lunch. Or better yet, maybe even should have left well enough alone and let you stay dead." He took a step forward towards Starfire and the other Titans, pointing his finger at them as he did so. "But I couldn't just let you stay dead; I really truly couldn't."

Robin took a deep breath, exhaled, and then continued, "Yes, I'll admit, the reasons I made that deal and had you brought back to life were both selfless and selfish. They were selfless in that I knew, for a fact, that I wouldn't have stood a chance at stopping Savage and saving the world from what was about to happen on my own. And yes, they were equally selfish in that I just couldn't bear the thought of living without you, but that I have now only hypocritically set things up so that you guys will very likely possibly end up having to be the ones living without me."

The Boy Wonder hung his head, sighed, and then lifted his head back up. "And I'm sorry that I had to both go the lengths I went to in order to bring you back and lie to you about it. And if I could have had any say in the matter, I would have guaranteed that you would have eventually heard the truth come from out of my own mouth like I'd planned instead of from a secondhand source. But if I could go back in time, I would still make that deal to bring you back to life anyway."

Robin straightened himself up as best as he could, pointed at his friends, and then said, "It may haunt me for months to come yet, and you guys may yet end up waiting until the time comes for my soul to be collected before you finally forgive me. But nonetheless, as much as I regret my originally lying to you guys about it and failing yet again to let the truth come to you from me rather than being revealed by someone else before I got the chance, I would still allow myself to make that deal and sell my soul for you guys.

"I haven't said this to you guys often enough, but you guys aren't just my friends. You guys are my family. In fact, you've been more like a family to me than I ever felt I had when I was under Batman's wing and living in Gotham."

Robin looked intently at his friends. "And I've spent too many years now treating you like my subordinates and putting my duty before you guys. After all we've been through, and especially after our time together in Tokyo, I've come to realize that you guys deserved better than that. And I've since then started to become more and more open around you and treat you more like the friends and family I truly view you to be then the coworkers and game assets that Batman would have wanted, and still wants, me to view you as."

Feeling determined to finish his now very powerful speech, Robin clenched his right fist, slammed it against his left palm, and continued, "For four and a half years before our time in Tokyo, I let my training from Batman and my mind rule me and make the decisions for me. But as of Daizo's defeat back in Tokyo, I've had enough of letting my mind rule my life. At the moment I kissed Star in the rain after Daizo's defeat, I silently vowed that I would let my heart guide me instead and would treat you like the friends and family that you really are instead of like the mere combat allies and underling employees that Batman would prefer me to treat you like. And I'll be damned if I break that vow now or ever again."

He then spread his arms out to his sides, and said confidently, "And if I in the end go down in flames and burn up in Hell for following that oath, then so be it."

As Robin stayed positioned as he was, staring intently at his friends, the other four Titans gaped at Robin in shock. Even Raven looked visibly stunned. None of them had expected Robin to both take responsibility for his recent sins against them or for him to express his feelings about the whole mess as clearly as he'd just now done. From what they remembered about how he'd always acted in the past, especially in the immediate aftermath of the Red-X incident in which he'd been the one wearing the mask, they'd thought that he would explode in defensive anger, shift the blame to someone else, or likewise refuse to take responsibility for his negative actions. But now, with what he'd done now, he had truly spoken volumes of just how much he'd allowed himself to change after their adventures in Tokyo.

Then the four Titans all looked each other in the eyes, and found themselves actually smiling at how very mature Robin had acted and how very genuine he'd been. Starfire even had a quite dreamy look in her eyes as she thought of how very mature her boyfriend had just now acted. The Titans then turned to face Robin, nodded their heads, and smiled at their fearless leader in a mixture of pride and relief.

"We accept your apology," said Beast Boy.

"And we understand," Raven stated in accompaniment.

Robin gaped at his four friends. He had not expected this. "You . . ." he stated in uncertainty. "You guys aren't . . . upset?"

"Well now that you put it that way," Cyborg clarified, "we are still upset that you lied to us _again_ and failed to come clean before we found out through a secondary measure _again_."

"But nonetheless," said Starfire before Cyborg could guilt trip Robin further. "We are glad that you have accepted responsibility for your actions and that you are willing to shoulder the burden for our sake."

Robin smiled in a slightly embarrassed tone, hung his head with a slight blush on his face, and said, "Um, thanks guys."

Beast Boy chuckled. "Dude, what do you think friends are for?"

Raven nodded. "Indeed," she then said before directing a serious look towards Robin. "However, before we discuss anything else, there is still one more question you need to answer."

"Name it," Robin responded.

"How long were you given?"

Robin grimaced. "Are you really sure you want to know . . . ?"

"How. Long. Were. You. Given?" Raven asked.

Robin gulped, hung his head, and then replied, "A year and a half. I have until midnight on January 1, 2019 to wait before my soul is to be collected."

Raven growled, "Cheating little fiends. You're supposed to get 10 years."

"Nehreezah said I had to make a sacrifice of years in exchange for asking a lot of her on short notice. At least that's the BS she gave me. And she was originally going to give me only one year alone, but I got her to raise it up by an extra half a year."

The other Titans all looked at each other, seemingly considering all this new information. "Well it's not a decade," said Beast Boy. "But it should hopefully be just enough for us to figure something out."

Robin raised his eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

The other Titans looked straight at their fearless leader. "Need you even ask?" Beast Boy stated. "We're going to find a way to get you out."

"Totally didn't see that coming," Robin thought to himself sarcastically. He directed a blank look at the changeling. "I highly doubt that there's anyway that you can do that Beast Boy."

"Says the guy who gave me that big speech on hope last year," Raven stated.

Robin sighed upon hearing that comeback. "You guys just aren't going to let me carry out my part of the bargain in peace are you?"

"We're not going to let you go to Hell period," said Cyborg. "Not if we can say anything about it."

"That might not be your call," Robin said. "And besides, if there were a way for people to get out of that part of a demonic soul deal that easily, wouldn't we have already seen it in some book or other by now; or that the Brotherhood of Dante would have recorded it somewhere?"

"Well we haven't looked through their entire database yet," Cyborg commented. "So who knows what we could find."

"I'm serious guys," said Robin. "You really shouldn't start getting your hopes up like this. I could still very likely end up going downstairs in a year and a half from now, regardless of how much research you guy make."

"No Robin, you are not allowed to talk and give up hope like that," said Raven. "Not after how much hope you and the others continued to hold in the midst of our experiences with my father long after I'd given up and chosen to go through with the prophecy."

"This is different," Robin stated.

"How?" the other Titans asked in unison.

Robin gritted his teeth. "Look," he stated. "I know how much you want me to avoid going down to Hell, but I mean it. You guys might truly not be able to save me here. There's got to have been like thousands of people before me who went through the same situation, and none of them have escaped. And besides, as far as I know, not even the Brotherhood of Dante has managed to figure out a way to escape."

"That does not mean that there isn't a way to escape," Starfire countered.

"Well even if there is, I can't take it. Hell, I can't even search for it!" Robin took a deep breath, exhaled. "Look guys, the only reason I'm not attempting to search for a way to weasel my way out right this very moment is because your very lives depend on it. Nehreezah herself made it very clear that if I welch or similarly attempt to escape from having to go through with my final part of the deal, you guys will drop down dead all over again. And if I even attempt to so much as _search_ for a way out, then that's welching. And I can't do that."

"You may not be able to search for a way out," Beast Boy said. "But as you have inadvertently made clear, me, Cy, and the girls are under no such inhibitions. And if you actually going through with any solution that we may potentially find means us dying, then we'll just figure out a way to get around that too."

"It's not that simple Beast Boy," Robin countered.

"Oh, but that's what makes it so much more fun," Beast Boy countered back with a sly grin.

Robin frowned, folded his arms across his chest, and then said, "You do realize that I can't openly support your attempts at this right?"

"Yes," Beast Boy admitted. "But neither do you have to do anything to discourage them." The changeling directed a smirk at the Boy Wonder.

Robin sighed. "If you say so pal."

"You got that right," said Beast Boy. "And besides, it would only be right for you to let us do this in even a slight way if at all." At the sight of Robin's raised eyebrow, the changeling continued, "Even before you started acting all open about it, you've already done so much for us. You risked becoming one with the dark side to protect us, sacrificed a chance at making a name for yourself as a solo hero in favor of having us as your friends and family, and now you've even gone so far as to sacrifice your soul and a free trip to Heaven for us. But now, after _this_ kind of ultimate sacrifice; well, let's just say that it's _our_ turn now to save you."

Beast Boy walked up towards Robin, pointed his right index finger at him, and continued, "And as much as you might not admit it, underneath your big show of saying that there's no hope in us attempting to find a way to get you out of your deal, the fact alone that you're going to neither encourage nor discourage it means that you're just as much hoping for us to succeed as you are believing that we will fail."

Beast Boy lowered his finger, directed another solemn gaze at the Boy Wonder, and finished his epic speech by stating, "To put it simply, after all the times you've fought and sacrificed and similarly metaphorically jumped under the guillotine for us, it's high time that you let us do the same for you."

Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire could only gape in shock at Beast Boy. Times in which Beast Boy made a powerful speech such as this one were very rare. But whenever the time came in which he did, it was always worth listening. Even Robin found himself staring in stunned shock at the shape shifter as he unleashed yet another surprisingly powerful and profound speech.

Eventually, Robin found himself giving a weak smile, and he bowed his head in respect. "I understand," he said softly.

Beast Boy nodded, a half proud and half relieved grin on his face. "That's good," he said. "I would have hated to have to repeat myself."

Robin actually chuckled when he heard this. "So, I guess we're done here?"

"Not so fast," Cyborg said. "You still owe us an explanation as to what happened during your talk with the Arch Angels before we go to bed tonight."

"Oh right," Robin said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "I forgot about that." And so, with the other Titans listening intently, Robin proceeded to tell them about his talk with the three eldest angels that hadn't fallen to darkness. But even as they listened to their fearless leader's story, they were all thinking of the same thing. They would try their hardest to find a way to rescue their fearless leader, even if it was the last thing they did. It would only be right.

. . . . .

"I see that you were at least smart enough to realize by now that I have _again_ failed to escape. I certainly wouldn't have expected that level of intelligence at this point after the idiocy you managed to pull _this_ time."

Savage glared silently at the fourteen blood red eyes staring pointedly at him from beyond the flaming vortex hovering in front of him. He had not initiated his newest conversation with Lucifer just for the fallen Arch Angel to rub his careless foolishness in his face. Clenching his fists in an effort to avoid blowing up at the Devil, he tensely stated through gritted teeth, "Indeed I have noticed that factor by now. And I admit that through both my discarding of the Infernal Tablet and Fallen Tools plus my letting the Boy Wonder live allowed him, by some miracle, to fight through your forces sufficiently enough to foil their efforts at dominating the world so that it would be easier for them to spring you from Hell in spite of the tragic absence of his friends."

"Absence?" Lucifer asked in an almost mocking tone. "Surely you are joking?"

Savage glared at the Devil. "No, I truly mean what I am saying. They were dead after all."

"Dead?" Lucifer asked in that derisive tone once more. "Hardly. They were right there with the Boy Wonder as usual, and they looked alive as ever."

Savage raised his eyebrow. "That's . . . that's impossible. I saw them die."

"Well it would appear that you would be blind then," Lucifer stated coldly. "But then again, I had forgotten that you had already been summarily dismissed before the grand reveal went down."

At this point, Savage's irritated look morphed into one of confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Lucifer chuckled, his fourteen red eyes glowing with amusement. "Well Savage, if it would truly please you that much, I will go ahead and explain for you."

The fourteen red eyes seemed to position themselves as if the heads of the creature they belonged to were rising up to get an even better view of Savage. "As it would turn out, earlier this evening, Azazel, Abaddon, and Asmodeus had two things more in common than just the letter with which their names begin, their status as Knights of Hell, and their formerly being angels. The two factors in question? Well that would be they're both A: having suspected the Boy Wonder's involvement in summoning Nehreezah earlier this evening as well as doubting whether or not it had been a good idea for you to have Abaddon spare him, and B: turning out to be 100% correct in these very suspicions."

Savage raised his eyebrow. "I'm not entirely sure I get what you are telling me."

"There isn't very much to _get_ Savage," Lucifer snarled spitefully. "Exactly as suspected by Azazel, Abaddon, and Asmodeus, the Boy Wonder, by taking advantage of the very items you so foolishly cast aside, summoned Samael and Lilith's eldest daughter Nehreezah and made a deal with her. And in exchange for both the items you discarded being safely returned to my crypt, plus his soul, the other four Titans that her parents and two of her uncles had worked so hard in killing, _against_ my personal orders I might add, were brought back to life. And so, with their combined strength, plus some very unexpected direct assistance from my estranged brothers further upstairs from you, the newly reunited team of teenage heroes was able to avert the apocalypse for the second time in their lives. And thus, even now every single one of my underlings, sans Nehreezah and Agramon, are sulking around down in Hell, Dante's Isle has sunk beneath the waves with the portals close behind, and the very items that you and I went through _so_ much trouble to make available are right back in my crypt."

Savage's eyes widened at the news of what Robin had done, and he found himself so surprised that he almost completely zoned out from hearing what Lucifer had to say immediately after bringing up that particular bit of news. "He did what?" he asked. "I thought he would never dare go that far!"

"Once again, you have been enough of an idiot to again underestimate the Boy Wonder and what lengths he's willing to go to for the sake of thwarting evil. _Shocker_."

At both the sound of Lucifer's tone and the sight of his red eyes narrowing in an almost accusatory fashion, Savage glared back. "Was that sarcasm I heard at the end?"

"Oh goody," Lucifer grumbled derisively. "What gave it away?"

Savage growled, pointed his finger accusingly at Lucifer, and bitterly yelled, "Well maybe I wouldn't have let the Boy Wonder stay alive and get the chance to undo my efforts at nullifying all chances of him foiling your plot if you'd just told me that he'd be willing to go that far!"

"Oh really?" Lucifer asked back in a cutting tone. "You truly think so? Well in that case, you're a bigger idiot than even _I_ thought. Because considering both how much knowledge you've gathered from how many years you've lived and what you've managed to see of the Boy Wonder yourself, I shouldn't have _had_ to tell you that!"

Savage growled, unable to come up with an appropriate comeback to this.

Lucifer snarled, rolled his eyes dismissively, and then hissed, "And while we're at it, why, oh _why_, did you DISCARD THE INFERNAL TABLET AND FALLEN TOOLS?! SURELY YOU STILL REMEMBERED HAVING FOUND IT CONFIRMED BY MY FATHER KNOWS HOW MANY SOURCES THAT YOU NEEDED THOSE PRESENT ALONGSIDE THE INFERNAL KEY!?"

"I had committed the spells and other information to memory!" Savage howled. "And besides, after having spent the last three months or more working for you, I'd thought I'd proven myself a good enough follower so that you and the Knights would put in a good word for me that would allow that particular requirement to be waived!"

"I do believe that you've now started mistaking me for a completely different being," Lucifer said coldly. "Honestly Savage, did you really think I'd be _that_ stupid?! Why do you think I would have made those particular rules in the first place if I'd planned to just up and have them dismissed in favor of my own employees at the blink of an eye?! Who do you think I am? Trigon?!"

"Well you never follow the rules!" Savage roared.

"On the contrary," Lucifer growled. "I only follow my _own_ rules! Yes Savage, I may be the Devil, but even _I_ have standards!"

Savage grumbled and cursed under his breath. "Of course," he thought to himself. "Why didn't I think of that?" He then took a deep breath, exhaled, and then stated. "Look, I understand that you are ticked off about how my actions have directly lead to your most recent failure at attempting to escape. But hope is not lost. I can still go back to Dragon's Head Valley, access your crypt, and reacquire the Infernal Tablet, Fallen Tools, and Infernal Tablet so that they'll be ready for winter solstice this year . . ."

"Oh how ingenious, why didn't I think of that?" Lucifer stated in a tone that sounded the exact opposite of what he was saying. "Oh wait," he then continued. "YOU CAN'T ACCESS MY CRYPT! AND YOU CERTAINLY CAN'T ACCESS IT AT DRAGON'S HEAD VALLEY! NOT AFTER HOW YOU BLEW THE WHOLE PLACE UP, PLUS THE OTHER TWELVE LOCATIONS I MIGHT ADD, WITH THAT STUPID HELLFIRE BOMB IN YOUR FOOLHARDY EFFORTS TO TRAP THE TITANS IN MY CRYPT! AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO REMIND YOU OF THAT CONSIDERING THAT IT HAPPENED YESTERDAY!"

Savage bristled at these remarks, and prepared to make a comeback. But Lucifer wasn't finished, and he continued his angry ranting by savagely roaring, "AND SINCE YOU MANAGED TO CAUSE THE VERY FIRST INCIDENT IN WHICH _ALL THIRTEEN_ OF THE PORTALS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED PERIOD, LET ALONE ALL AT ONCE, IT WILL TAKE ANOTHER TWO DAYS FROM NOW FOR A NEW SET OF THEM TO FORM! AND EVEN AFTER THEY FORM UP, THE FACT THAT THE CRYPT WAS ABOUT TO GO INTO TEMPORARY LOCKDOWN BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL SET MEANS THAT IT WILL TAKE ANOTHER FEW DAYS FOR THE MAGIC TO REBOOT!"

Savage winced as he was reminded of these newest details. He eventually managed to state, "Well I can just wait until . . ."

"AND YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT TRYING TO GET ME TO TELL YOU WHERE THE NEW SET OF PORTALS CAN BE FOUND ONCE THEY'VE PROPERLY FORMED AND CHARGED UP!" Lucifer interrupted. "CONSIDERING HOW YOUR CARELESSNESS IS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR BOTH THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL SET OF PORTALS AND THE FAILURE OF THIS ATTEMPT AT THAT PARTICULAR PLOT OF MINE, THEN THERE IS NO WAY IN MY DOMAIN OR MY FATHER'S THAT I WILL EVER BE SO STUPID AS TO TRUST YOU WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE!"

Savage was about to try to make a reply to this statement when Lucifer then howled in rage, "AND EVEN IF I DID LET YOU GO AHEAD AND GET AHOLD OF THOSE ITEMS THE MINUTE ACCESS TO MY CRYPT BECOMES AVAILABLE ONCE MORE, IT STILL WOULDN'T DO ME ANY GOOD ANYWAY! NEED I REMIND YOU HOW THE KEYS OF DANTE CAN ONLY BE USED ONCE EVERY SEVEN CENTURIES?!"

Savage didn't even get the chance to respond before Lucifer finished, "WELL NEEDLESS TO SAY, SINCE YOU'VE NOW USED IT TONIGHT TO OPEN THE ALPHA DEVIL'S GATE AND IT IS NOW BACK IN MY CRYPT AS A RESULT OF THE BOY WONDER USING IT TO CLOSE THE GATE BACK UP, YOU'D HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE VERY FIRST VERNAL EQUINOX OF THE 28TH CENTURY AT THE VERY EARLIEST BEFORE YOU COULD EVER EVEN _CONSIDER_ USING IT AGAIN! AND THAT WOULD LEAVE PLENTY OF TIME FOR EVERY HERO IN THE ENTIRE WORLD TO GET IT BACK FROM YOU AND HAVE IT PLACED BACK INSIDE MY CRYPT BEFOREHAND!"

After that final furious shouting storm, Lucifer _finally_ stopped talking. Savage was completely speechless, unable to form up an appropriate comeback to Lucifer's very accurate and powerful dressing down. Savage eventually gulped, and hung his head in shame. "Damn," he thought to himself. "I just can't get a break tonight can I?"

"But fortunately for you," Lucifer growled, "I will yet allow you to live. I still need you for potential other projects in the future."

Savage directed a careful glance at the fourteen red eyes of Lucifer. "And what sort of projects might you be talking about?"

Lucifer chuckled, his red eyes starting to gleam with cunning and a calculating malice once more. "Like I have before mentioned, I have many plans. And even now, from the ashes of my most recently failed, and practically only multiple-use, plan, I have decided to take the risk at a different, and more one-chance attempt, plot."

Savage, in spite of how very quickly he believed that Lucifer was considering taking on one of his other, more risky, ideas for an escape attempt, found himself feeling quite intrigued as to just what sort of plan the fallen Arch Angel had now decided upon. "And what sort of plot have you decided to make an attempt at now?"

Lucifer chuckled, his teeth now starting to show in the blackness within the vortex, and responded, "I presume you remember how, directly after you asked if the Justice League would be a worthy target for assassination, I stated that I had other plans for them?"

"Yes."

"Well let's just say," Lucifer began. "That as of tonight, I have chosen to let a different team of heroes take their place in that plan."

Savage raised his eyebrow in half suspicion and half confusion. "You're saying that you've given up on that particular plan?"

"Oh I wouldn't call it giving up," Lucifer stated. "So much as I would call it adapting and allowing my plot to evolve from a trial concept into something potentially even better."

The seven headed dragon then looked directly at Savage once more, his red eyes glowing with pride and his dazzling white fangs showing for all seven of his heads. "And the reason I have chosen to replace the Justice League in this particular plan of mine, let alone chosen the specific team I have decided to cast as their replacements, is how the team in question has proven themselves just this very day alone plus the days before then, as a far more worthy choice. And of course, with that little change I've now made, I need only five key pieces in place before that particular plan inevitably succeeds. And what's more, as of this very day, I now need only to wait until a year and a half from now at the very _latest_ before the very first of these pieces comes conveniently right into my grasp."

**The End**

**And just like that, the episode is over. Once again, I hope you all enjoyed this epic story, and I thank you for all the support you've given (whether it be through reviews or similar feedback, or even just reading the story period ^_^). And that being said, I also hope that you will be eager to read the upcoming 2nd episode for this season that I will end up posting some time soon in the future (I've even already started writing it long before today). But nonetheless, here's me hoping that you enjoyed this epilogue (and story as a whole) and that you will leave loads of reviews and feedback for me. Once again, thank you for all your support, and I hope very much that you will leave the same wonderful love and support that you did for this story for the upcoming 2nd story in this epic series. Trust me people, this series has only just begun, so get ready folks, for some epic Teen Titan-ic awesomeness to come in the future :). Once more, thank you.**

**Next up on Teen Titans Season 6: The Titans find themselves in yet another difficult situation when a not entirely welcome face from their past unexpectedly returns. And as if that matter doesn't make our favorite teen heroes' lives difficult enough, things get even crazier when Aqualad brings news of a far more literally earthshaking problem that Titans East is in the midst of dealing with and desperately needs the Titans' help in overcoming. But just how much worse could the whole situation get when a far more earthshaking connection is revealed between these two elements? Find out, in the next episode, of Teen Titans.**


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Teen Titans, Adventure, Supernatural