"If I told you this was only gonna hurt
If I warned you that the fire's gonna burn
Would you walk in? Would you let me do it first?
Do it all in the name of love"
(In the Name of Love by Martin Garrix ft. Bebe Rhexa)
Rachel
As much as having Damian here angered me, I knew we had to deal with my family before we dealt with our personal issues.
Besides, I would never admit it out loud, but if I was going to face my family, there was no one I would rather have next to me than Damian. My father was the first to get back up and he grew to his full height, towering over us like we were small ants. He waved his hand and black flames leapt inside his palm. "You've made a terrible mistake, Raven. You seem to enjoy being on the losing side."
"From where I'm standing, this isn't the losing side," I answered, as my brothers took their positions behind my father. They shifted to their more human- looking forms, choosing to shrink to our size.
"I'm going to enjoy this," Jared said, punching his hand in a show of macho-ness and making me roll my eyes.
I grinned, not totally disagreeing with him. I always disliked my brothers. They seemed to bring out the worst in me. "I almost forgot. Team, meet my half- brothers." All my brothers stood on alert, happy to be given some attention. "You've all met Jacob, although he went by the name Damon. Father likes to call him Lust." Jacob gave a seductive smile and a knowing wink.
"You do know Damian has had thoughts of sleeping with you, right?" he cajoled, as if he couldn't help himself. I simply ignored it, but I could feel Damian's embarrassment and Bruce's awkwardness towards the subject.
"Then there's Jared, the ever eager one to get in a fight," I continued, pointing to my African- American looking brother. "Father likes to call him Wrath."
"I enjoy punching things," Jared said with a salacious smile.
Supergirl raised an eyebrow. "Guess what? So do I."
While I respected the Girl of Steel's confidence, I sure hoped she had more than punching on her mind if she was going to defeat my brother. "And lastly, there's Jesse-"
"-how come I couldn't go first?" he interrupted annoyingly, crossing his arms over his chest, as his eyes glowed green.
"And if you haven't guessed it yet, he prefers to go by the name Envy," I finished, completely ignoring his question.
"I call dibs on Jesse," Constantine suddenly said with a grin.
"Count me in," Zatanna said.
Trigon raised his arms and grinned at us. "Let's get this over with, then."
Dick and Bruce joined Damian and I as my father charged. In my peripheral vision, I could see Wonder Woman, Supergirl and the dude who freed me from my manacles taking on Jared. J'onn and Wally were busy with Jacob, and Constantine and Zatanna kept to their word about facing Jesse. If Trigon's plan was to divide and conquer, it was working. Although, I hoped it would work more in our favor. Let's see how well the Machiavellian strategy would work against demons.
Just as we were about to reach him, he sent an Eldritch blast my way. The pure, mystical energy sent me reeling. Thank goodness he couldn't generate a lot of those without weakening himself. I don't think the others would've survived such a blast. I groaned and tried to get up, but everything was still swimming in my vision, and I felt my body collapse back onto the ground.
All I could do was listen to the raging battle around me. I heard multiple explosions and crashes, but of course my ears zeroed in on Damian- who had released a battle cry. I could feel his frustration, but underneath that was concern. I knew he wanted to check on me, but we both knew he needed to focus on the fight.
I was beginning to lose hope. No one had ever defeated Trigon before. He was just too powerful, and with my brothers on his side... Just then, I felt like a lightbulb clicked inside my mind. I found the energy to push myself to my feet and drag myself towards Damian. He jumped in surprise when he felt my hand on his shoulder. "We're not going to be able to take them by ourselves-"
"I agree. We need to call in reinforcements," Damian said, before pulling me aside before we got hit by flying debris.
"We could use a little help here!" Dick shouted.
Damian raised a finger to indicate he needed a minute. "We're busy! Keep distracting him!"
Dick released a grunt, and I turned to see him clutching onto my father's long hair for dear life, succeeding in at least annoying him. "Now is not the time to be flirting with your girlfriend."
"She's not my-," Damian smartly stopped talking before he could finish the sentence. "We're trying to come up with a plan here!"
"I need to separate my brothers from him and get them on our side," I told Damian once I had his attention back.
"HURRY UP WITH THAT PLAN!" Dick shouted in the background, before an explosion drowned out his voice. I wanted to check if he was okay, but Damian was already talking.
He roughly grabbed me by the shoulders, his eyes wide beneath his mask. "Are you insane?! What makes you think they'll side with us?"
I shrugged, hoping what I was about to say made more sense out loud than it did in my head. "They want power as much as Trigon does. Getting rid of Trigon will give them that power."
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!" Damian exclaimed. Oh well, it didn't have to make sense for it to work. Before, I could reply out loud, I saw Supergirl hurtling towards us at superspeed. I pushed Damian to the ground as Supergirl whooshed past where we previously were. Throwing up a shield of purple energy, I stopped her from smacking onto the walls of the cave.
Looking back down at Damian, I could see he was alright. "You're not leaving me again," he said with great determination. His hands tightened on my arms as if to prove his point.
I smiled down at him, and his features softened. Leaning down, I let our lips touch in a kiss. I closed my eyes and savored the moment, wishing we were anywhere else but here. "Trust me," I whispered, before pushing myself up. "I promise I'll be back soon."
Damian took a deep breath before nodding. "We'll buy you some time."
"Thank you," I mouthed, before muttering a spell under my breath. Shadows crept up on my brothers before swallowing them up, their screams cut short as they disappeared. Everyone paused in their struggles for a while. I gave a wink at Damian before opening a portal and stepping through it as well. Trigon, realizing that I could quite possible escape, steeped forward to try and stop me. But I saw Diana and the others getting in his way, giving me the chance to leave through the portal.
I held onto the look on Damian's face as the portal closed behind me. No matter what happened, I would find my way back to him.
Damian
It felt like déjà vu as I watched Rachel disappear through another portal.
But she told me to trust her, and I did. So to keep my mind off what she was doing, I turned to face her father. "You think taking away my sons gives you a chance?" Trigon asked, his lips curving into a smile. "I don't need them."
Unsheathing another sword from my back, I turned towards the intergalactic demon. The smile on my face mirrored his. "Why don't you shrink down to our size, big guy, and we'll see about it. Or are you too scared?"
I didn't really think the taunt would work. But apparently, demons were stupid. Trigon took the bait and shrunk down to regular size. "You're still puny little titan, even if I am in the form of an average- sized mortal," Trigon said.
Okay, so that point goes to Trigon. The guy knew which buttons to push. What I didn't expect was for a batarang to go flying towards his face. It was centimeters away before Trigon moved, and it grazed the side of his cheek, causing him to stare in shock. I looked behind me to see my father and Grayson flanking me. "Don't ever call my son puny," my father warned.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you both," Trigon growled. "And I'll make both of you watch as I torture the other."
"You need to catch us first, asshole," Grayson said from behind me, also pulling out his eskrima sticks.
Trigon released a deep breath. "Bring it on, pretty bird. I've beaten you once, I can do it again."
I didn't really understand what they were talking about, but from the frown on Dick's face, I was guessing Trigon hit a nerve with him, too. "Beginner's luck. Let's see how well you fare in round two."
"I-"
Before Trigon could speak another syllable, a huge slab of rock fell on top of him. For a moment, all of us stared in shock, our mouths hanging wide open. Then Zatanna, Supergirl and Wonder Woman appeared on top of the rock, looking like Neil Armstrong after conquering the moon. Diana raised an eyebrow in a superior manner- a clear sign that my father was rubbing off on her- and spoke. "You boys talk too much."
Rachel
I arrived to see my brother staring around in shock.
When they saw me, they immediately took a defensive stance. "Where are we? Why did you bring us here?" Jacob asked, seeming to be the voice of the trio.
I leaned against the ruins of an old building and smiled. "Look around, brothers. Don't you remember the place you helped father destroy?"
"Azarath," hissed Jesse.
"Oh so you do have a brain," I commented.
Jesse growled at me. Out of all my half- brothers, he seemed to be the most animalistic, which was surprising. I was expecting it to be Jacob. "You do realize there's only one of you, right? And there's three of us."
"And yet, I can still manage to beat all of you," I piped up confidently. I knew I could do it. For some reason, my brothers weren't as attuned to their powers as I was, perhaps because they weren't trained by Azar.
"Pride has always been your sin, Raven," Jacob said.
I simply shrugged, not able to argue. Each child of Trigon was a manifestation of one of the seven deadly sins of man. As far as sins went, I was lucky I got pride. Hopefully, it meant I would be Trigon's downfall. "I have a bargain for you, boys. So listen up."
Damian
What was taking Rachel so long?
Zatanna and Constantine were lying prone on the ground after a spell they tried to perform back fired on them. J'onn was trapped in a ring of fire, and Wally was stuck in quicksand. Dick was trying to find a way to pull him out. Diana, Kara and Mon- El were crushed under the rock that they previously threw on Trigon, leaving me and my father to fend for ourselves.
"Now," Trigon said, cracking his knuckles as he slowly approached. "Who wants to go first?"
Father sent a smoke bomb towards him, but the demon simply inhaled all of it. "Your trick won't work on me, mortal."
He waved his hand and a short blast of energy hit father. He crumpled to the ground with a groan, and I charged at the demon in anger, both of my swords raised high. Trigon met my blow with his arms crossed in front of him. The bone- like armor covering his arms shielded him from my blade, and he gave me a toothy smile. His yellowing, pointed teeth were not a pretty sight to look at.
My swords were stuck, wedged between the bones, so when Trigon forcefully uncrossed his arms, they clattered to the ground. Before I could react, he took me by the throat, choking the life out of me. "So fragile," Trigon mused as he lifted me off the ground. My feet feebly kicked beneath me as I struggled for air. "I wonder what Raven saw in you."
If he was expecting a response, he wasn't getting one. I was already feeling lightheaded as my body continued to be deprived of oxygen. Something must've distracted Trigon, because he suddenly dropped me. I fell onto the ground with a loud thud, every bone in my body seeming to reverberate with pain. Still, I struggled to open my eyes. For a moment, my heart soared as I saw the familiar purple portal open.
But it quickly dropped when I saw Jared and Jesse dragging an unconscious Raven between them. She was on her knees, her head bent and her hood covering her face. "Ah, my boys. You truly are my pride and joy," Trigon stated triumphantly.
"Rachel, no," I croaked. I didn't have the strength to get up, so I tried pulling myself towards her. I dragged my body across the roughhewn ground, not caring if the rocks scratched against my skin. I just needed to get to Rachel before Trigon did. But I was too late. He reached her, and he placed a hand under her chin. Her hood fell back, and I could see her face. Her eyes were shut tight as Trigon observed her, as if wondering how he would get her to do his bidding.
"Good job, boys," Trigon said.
"I'll say," Rachel suddenly spoke, her eyes opening.
Trigon stepped back in shock, as if burned. Before he could do anything else, his sons grabbed onto him. Jared and Jesse each took hold of one of his arms, while Jared pushed down on his shoulders and made him kneel. I stared in shock as Rachel's eyes began to glow orange, just like her brothers, before four more eyes appeared. She stood up, looking down at Trigon. "They were easy to convince, you know," she spoke, although this time her voice sounded distorted, as if there were a hundred voices speaking at once. A shudder ran down my spine. "They're helping me take your powers, so they can have it for themselves."
Trigon laughed, making Rachel cock her head to the side. "You think you're so good, but you're the evilest of all my children, Raven. I'm proud of you."
Instead of answering, Rachel said something in a language even I didn't understand. It sounded something like, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Then her energy coalesced into a form of a raven once again, only this time, it was tinged red. It swooped down and enveloped Trigon. Before my eyes, the demon king seemed to wane. Next to him, his three children seemed to be growing bigger.
"Rachel," I tried to call out again. Strength was returning to my body, and I could sit up. Around me, the others were also beginning to stir. The fire around J'onn had disappeared and Wally was free of the quicksand. We all watched as Trigon grew weaker and weaker, his sons growing stronger and stronger. When Trigon resembled nothing but a corpse, Rachel waved her hand. For a moment, everything seemed to stand still, then her brothers slowly collapsed to the ground, shards of obsidian protruding from their chests.
Trigon released one last feeble laugh before collapsing to the ground. Finally, the red energy surrounding him disappeared, and I released a sigh of relief. I was making my way to Rachel when father put an arm forward to stop me. I stared in confusion, but my attention went back to Rachel when she released a feral snarl. I drew a sharp intake of breath when I saw her skin had also turned red.
"Rachel," I whispered.
I heard Zatanna mumbling a spell, and I turned to her. "No wait!"
But I was too late. She sent a blast towards Rachel, which easily bounced off. Rachel simply waved her hand in retaliation and Zatanna flew backwards, with Constantine chasing after her. I turned back to Rachel, who wasn't reverting back to normal. "Rachel, stop this."
"My name is Raven," she hissed at me.
"Your name is Rachel. Rachel Roth," I replied placatingly. I gave my father a look, and he slowly lowered his arm. "And it's time to come home."
"This is my home," she replied.
I shook my head, slowly walking closer to her. "No, it's not. Your home is on Earth. With us. With me."
She raised her hand towards me, and it pulsed with red energy. "No."
"Yes," I replied. "Do you remember the ball? We were dancing. And I was about to tell you something-"Rachel shook her head, as if she didn't want to listen to me. But I went on anyway. "Listen to me, Rachel. I came here for you. And I'm not leaving until I know you're coming back with me. I don't care how long I have to stay in this dimension. I don't care if you look more like your father right now," Rachel growled at my words, so I amended them. "Okay, maybe I do care. Because you're scaring me a little, and I'm not used to feeling scared. But with you, I'm always scared. I'm scared of the way you make me feel. I'm scared of how powerful you are. I'm scared that I'm not going to be enough to protect you. I'm scared," I took a deep breath, "that my demons may be a lot worse than yours. But you know what?"
Rachel was beginning to lower her hand, and I took that as a good sign to continue. "None of that matters. None of this," I waved my hands around, "matters. I don't care if you're the daughter of an intergalactic demon and that your brothers are the seven deadly sins. I don't care that my grandfather was psychotic and that my mother is locked up in a floating superhero headquarters. It doesn't change the fact that I love you, witch- girl. I will always love you, even if you want to live the rest of your life with six, orange eyes and red skin." I offered a small smile at the end, but inside, I was fervently hoping it would get through to her.
A look of confusion crossed her face, and slowly her appearance went back to normal. The red slowly left her skin, and her four extra eyes disappeared. She stood shaking in front of me, her violet eyes wide with fear. "Damian," she whispered, before collapsing to the ground. I caught her before she could fall, and she began sobbing onto my shirt.
"Please don't ever let me do that again," she cried. "I thought I wasn't going to come back."
"Shhh," I crooned, softly caressing her hair. "You never have to go through that again, I promise. I love you, witch- girl."
She looked up at me, her eyes wide and still full of tears. "I love you, too, Damian Wayne. Take me home."
I smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head. "With pleasure."
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Ohmygosh! Here it is!
The team is safe! Trigon is gone! Damian and Rachel are together... but our story doesn't end here. I'm still currently working on the final chapter (well, it's more like the epilogue). So don't worry. Will post that in a while.
Trying to deal with the fact that this is the final book in the series that I started more than two years ago... its making it very difficult to write the ending. *sniffles*
See you soon, lovely humans.
Love always,
Angel
P.S. Holland Roden as Batgirl... because, why not? Pic of her up top.