A tear fell down Raven’s cheek. The Titans East were gone.

Beast Boy knew that was so when the Cardiac machine signaled the arrival of five new souls, each different from the Types. The five souls had a color and a texture all their own - a strong Red, a vibrant Gold, a quiet Blue, and two complementing shades of Silver. Since Cardiac couldn’t use those souls in his currently programmed routine, they were left in storage to float aimlessly in an electrochemical limbo.

“That must’ve been hard to watch.”

(citatS)

“Project Aevil. Proposed experimentation on the synthesis of demon and mutant DNA into a super soldier designed for anti-superhuman combat.”

(djubuU)

“Demon DNA is the most effective evolutionary medium for anti-superhuman combat, yet it is the hardest to control.”

(ekvcvU)

Wahler frowned, which was commonly a sign of her interest. “So they’ll listen to anyone with Trigon’s taint.”

“In a manner of speaking. They’ll consider Slade their pack leader,” Adeline Kane explained. “Someone to be feared, revered, and followed. Whoever he hates… they hate.”

(Uvcvke)

Nearby, Beast Boy shoved the two rock faces apart with his gorilla form, and then reshaped himself to overwrite the damage. Terra stepped back, each time throwing rock after rock, which Beast Boy shattered with fist, fire, or dodged with finesse. He was the horror villain; he was the unstoppable terror. He was a monster.

“You can’t stop me,” he hissed again. “Give up, Terra. If you’re nice, I might let you join me. I’m sure Cassie wouldn’t mind a little competition for my attentions.”

Like most psychics - like Raven, the girl whom she considered her rival - Terra's emotions made her vulnerable, but they also made her strong. Her hatred of Slade, and her love of Beast Boy, was what kept her fighting now

(Vcvkeu)

Everyone turn. Raven stood at the edge of the Pit, ropes still hanging from her form. Her violet eyes burned holes in all of them.

Beast Boy snickered menacingly. “I was wondering when you would stop pussy-footing around. You could have broken those bonds anytime. I still don’t know why you didn’t.”

The other Titans stood by. They too, wanted to know the answer to that question. Raven enlightened them.

“I wanted you to see what I look like, when I’m begging,” she said, her trademark coldness and aggression coming through. “If I wanted to… I could have left you to die here with Slade when his plans come crashing down again. But I didn’t.” She scowled slightly. “Because then, I would be admitting defeat.”

Beast Boy shook his head. “You think playing the submissive would touch my heart, and make me see the error of my ways?”

“Not you,” she growled venomously. “The man inside of you.”

(Ubujdt)

The Pit started to rise. The demons inside screeched in tune. Their keening was a macabre melody foretelling death and doom.

Raven heard them most acutely. She was an empath. Their thoughts, their cries, were shouts of fury in her mind.

“DIE.”

“Ahh,” she cringed, shaking her head of the static that overwhelmed it.

“HUNGER.”

“FLESH.”

“HEART.”

“HEART.”

“HEART!”

“The heart!” Raven yelled, falling into Terra’s arms. “They… know we want it…”

“And they’re pissed,” Beast Boy noted.

“Titans…!”

The demons’ smiles widened, ever so slightly. The feast would begin, soon.

“…GO!”

(Tatics)

“The best way to rub out a culture, like these ‘costumed heroes’ is to give the populace something to mourn when they die.”

“You expect me to believe that you’ve let them win, because you want the people to like them before you kill them?”

“I expect you to trust me,” Slade asserted.

“Do what you want. I’m taking the results of the Type I and Type II experiments to Merkabah for the Justice League implementation. Take care of the Titans, once and for all. They must be dead before Project Aevil reaches the final stage.”

(Static)

“The story of the Titans comes to an end, tonight.”

Teen Titans: Finale

It's dark. The glint of a single eye pierces the darkness. A deep intonation flows from the stage.

“A world without heroes. Oh, what a world it would be. Only in such a place does the true fear of Death, and the true value of one Life, become as beautiful as it should be.”

Slade watched his stage crawl, bit by bit, into the light, as a gasoline fire burned to life. Steel grating floor, iron fences, blood red rust, rust red blood, and other signs of age and war were the parts that made his house. Here was Cadmus City's testing grounds for the unfinished Type III units – those without bodies altogether. Here was the sight, and smell, of Man's folly. Only Man could think it was strong enough to take the soul of its dark creator, Darkness Himself, and make it a tool for his own domination. Here, Slade felt the irony was harder than the iron.

“Once the Titans are gone, the next generation will understand the price one pays for thinking that it is easy to aggress the criminals in this Life. A child should never believe he can do what a man does for the sake of his country.”

“Children should never find glory in war. They should fear it. I will put the fear back in their hearts. Just as Adeline put the fear in mine, so many years ago.”

(Nearby, in the catacomb where Raven and Cardiac were kept...)

Demons were one of the few creatures amused by Death. Humans were one of the few creatures who could learn to be equally amused. When you see enough violence in your lifetime, you learn to laugh at Death.

Robin was not one of those people. He slit the throat of his final opponent and grimly tossed the corpse aside. He caught his breath, inhaling the stench all around him. Until recently, there were several dozen women trapped here in the same pit that caged Raven. Their collective odor was worse than the fresh demon carcasses. Robin was ashamed at himself for having the strength to ignore the overpowering environment. He had spent far too long in Gotham City, where such massacres were not only common, but expected.

A red-headed vixen in a Marde Gras costume wavered and fell against a crumbling support column. Starfire's disguise was all but destroyed by now, as was the case with most of the Titans. They had suffered much this night and it still wasn't over. Not until they escaped, with Cardiac intact. So long as the villainous machine held the remnants of the Titans East, it would be the most important cargo the Titans had ever carried.

“X'hal,” Starfire cursed in her native language. She used the speech so rarely that the Titans had never bothered to learn it, but they could decipher the alien's sentiments from her tone alone. She was not pleased. The princess of a warrior race understood the ravages of war well, but she did not like to bath in violence. She had her limits. She was close to stepping over them.

Terra leaned against Cyborg for support. He was the team's rock; he would always be there to keep the stragglers from falling behind. Terra was always the wildfire; she would always push herself too hard and be exhausted by the time the fight was over. She often found herself in Cyborg's arms, looking for strength. He was always glad to share his seemingly limitless supply.

A few minutes ago, Beast Boy was Slade's puppet. It felt like years had passed since then. He was the genetic donor for several Type II metademons, all of whom suckled at their master's teat hungrily. Only now did he feel the effects of giving up that so much of himself. The green boy hadn't felt this exhausted since his days with the Doom Patrol. In those days, he fought monsters of all kinds, just like these Cadmus creations. This was actually familiar territory for him. That didn't comfort him in the slightest.

A glow swept over the Titans. One by one, their energy returned in small increments – bunny steps. Raven had always been the team's healer. She never considered herself a source of comfort. Yet, it was her primary role among the Titans. If the Titans were a family, then Raven's duty was as the mother.

“Is everyone okay?” Robin called out. The other Titans gathered once their strength had returned. Raven was slower to move since healing her friends took its toll on her body. Beast Boy tried to help her by holding her waist, but she pushed him aside. She would stand on her own.

“Better than I thought we would be.” Cyborg checked his systems for confirmation of what he already knew, thanks to all the dings in his armored hide. He was running low on juice. Pretty soon he wouldn't have the strength to fight on a superhuman level. He doubted the other Titans were much better, even with Raven's ministrations. “I think it's time we got out of here.”

“'Bout dang time, too,” Beast Boy cheered. “I've had it with this place.”

“And I am certain that your bungorf, Parvati, will be most worried if we do not return home soon with her knorfkas.”

Terra thought she knew all of Starfire's favorite words, but these were new to her. “Her what, now?”

“Her guardians,” Cyborg chipped in, looking at Raven and Beast Boy together. “Parvati will be worried if we don't bring her parents home. Both of them.”

Beast Boy could see Raven smiling beneath her cowl. For the first time in a while, he could feel himself smiling too.

“Then let's move.” Robin gave the room a once over. “Raven, can your Soul Self get us out of here?”

“I don't know.” Her fatigue was clear in her voice. She droned a little slower than usual, which was no small feat. “I think I could manage one or two of you at a time, but I don't think I could draw in Cardiac.”

“I'd hate to think what would happen to Cardiac's mechanisms if we let you carry it,” Cyborg said. “I have a tough enough time shielding my circuits from the Fire and Brimstone.”

Robin had a Plan B. He always had a Plan B. “We can't go back the way we came; the complex is still locked down. We'll have to break through to the control sector and get out the way the civilian scientists and operators do. Cyborg, Starfire. You'll have to carry Cardiac. Be careful. If it gets damaged in a firefight, we may never get the other Titans back.”

“Don' need to tell us twice!”

“Terra. Any shortcuts we could take?”

The Titan was a geokinetic – a psychic with complete mastery of earthen material. She was truly in her element, buried underground inside a stone and steel complex. If she had the energy, she could uproot the entire structure in one fell swoop. But as she was now, she couldn't manage such a feat.

“I can detect the weakpoints in the infrastructure. There's one place in particular only a few rooms away. It won't take much to break through, and with the layout of the place being what it is, it should be right smack in the center of the control sector.”

“'Should'?”

Terra adjusted her goggles haughtily. “You try sensing the geomorphic status of the surrounding square mile if you feel up to it, Junior.” She reminded him of his Joker disguise, which caused him to fidget a little.

“I'm not trying to be a jerk. There's little time and we can't afford any mistakes. If they have a backup system of some sort, they might revive those Type IIs again and send them after us.”

“We wouldn't last long,” Beast Boy realized.

“Every decision counts.” Robin looked serious, but the other Titans could see that, unlike his usual attitude, this seriousness came from his experience, and his fear. He knew the trouble they were in better than they. So he had to push them to keep them from being lulled into a false sense of security.

Terra nodded somberly and put more effort into her sensory abilities. Whereas before she merely sensed the general status of the earth around her, she now dove so deeply into her power that every speck of dust became like a road sign. The earth told her, intimately and with unerring exactitude, how it felt, and how it would behave when provoked. Terra listened for minutes until the message became clear.

“There's a wall on the floor below us. The earth there is harder and less malleable. It will take longer for us to get out, but we'll have a safer escape route. If my concentration suddenly gives out, the tunnel I create should remain stable even if I get distracted, or lose consciousness, or...”

“That's perfect,” Robin said thankfully. “We know firsthand how hard it is to make you lose your concentration, now that you've mastered your powers. But it's good to be cautious, especially with something as delicate as Cardiac.”

Terra rubbed her nose bashfully. She had come a long way since she ran through the desert chased by a scorpion Bang Baby.

“Let's move.” Four of the Titans rushed to the opposite end, their eyes squarely on the way out. Cyborg and Starfire took point around Cardiac, gave each other a quick nod, and heaved. Cyborg played the role of Atlas and held the steel octopus on his shoulders, while Starfire lightened the load from above with a firm grip on the creature's cranial access socket. Cyborg took the lead and charged ahead, making sure to bend low enough at the doorway so that Starfire wouldn't be scraped off the top.

The Titans weren't surprised by whom they met upon entering the final room. Terra's senses couldn't have perceived him, but Robin's instincts could smell him a mile away. Slade stood at attention, his one human eye trained on the Titans' leader. Cyborg and Starfire were at the tail end. Upon their entry, a giant metal door slammed shut behind them, blocking off all escape except through the weak wall behind Slade. The wall was the remnant of Cadmus City's eastern access point for aircraft, labeled “TO HELLER AIRFIELD”, in reference to a runway almost half a mile above. With the destruction caused by today's events, a good section of the wall was ripped asunder, leaving only half of the message intact.

TO HELL. A gasoline explosion completely covered the escape route. The path seemed less a question of earth and more about fire. The room was certainly in Slade's taste.

“Welcome, Titans,” Slade whispered in his darkest tone. “It's time we put the children's game of Cops and Robbers aside. Now, it's time to grow up and learn what happens to people who spend their whole lives fighting, regardless of their reasons.”

Cyborg and Starfire gently set Cardiac aside and joined the Titans in formation. Robin called Slade out. “Some reasons are worth fighting for. Only people like you end up being punished for it. You care only about power, and nobody but yourself!”

“Wrong on both counts, my boy.” Slade took a step forward. Every Titan tensed while their opponent remained completely calm. “Had we met when you were a few years older, I might have shared my vision with you. But as it stands, you're simply too young to understand. Sad, really. We might have accomplished so much if it weren't for that childish naivety that kept you from joining me all these years.”

“Naivety was what made us even think there was an ounce of Good in you,” Terra screamed. She had suffered so much in the name of Slade's “vision.” She felt nothing but hatred and contempt for the man and anything he stood for.

“It's a shame things have to end this way,” Slade sighed. “But all things must end when it's their time. Tonight is your time, Titans. For the last time.”

“Titans!” Robin swung his bo staff and propelled himself forward. “Together!”

They struck as one. Robin swept at Slade's feet from one side as Cyborg did the same from the other, forcing the villain to leap as high as he could to avoid going prone. Slade knew the Titans' tactics well. They weren't surprised by his reaction either. Taking the fight to the skies seemed to put Slade at a disadvantage because he lacked the power of flight. However, his vaunted dexterity and speed made it seem as if gravity didn't apply to him. He could twist his body in mid-air and make use of every muscle in his body to change directions and remain aloft for seemingly forever.

Starfire shot in first. Her alien strength and righteous fury brought her full power to bear. Every punch Slade blocked sent shocks through his armor. He designed it to withstand superhuman strength like hers, but he felt it nonetheless. Each hit, blocked or otherwise, lifted him further skyward with the momentum Starfire carried. Her initial string of combinations ran dry, allowing Slade the opportunity to slap her aside. She rolled with the hit, mostly to make way for a beam of sonic energy from Cyborg's right arm, followed closely by a green pterodactyl swooping in with its claws bared. Slade managed to fend the animal off with a blade hidden in his forearm, but the weapon shattered when the dinosaur changed into something with tougher skin – a massive tortoise dropping like a rock with gravity's acceleration behind him. Slade again swayed out of the way, but immediately he was beset by yet another Titan. This one attack with fury rather than finesse, yet she was no less dangerous.

Terra's body howled with energy. Rocks flew around her and Slade in a tornado as she pummeled him with her fists. Each time he avoided a punch, an earthen stalactite would stab into his shoulder or leg. Each time he shattered one of these indirect attacks, the opening he left on his flank gave Terra the change to knee him in the side or chop him in the neck. Slade recognized the techniques because it was he who had taught them to her. He hated to see that his most promising apprentice turned out to be a fast learner.

“Your struggling is useless!” Slade growled. He took a gamble and, using all the strength he could muster, crushed one of Terra's floating defenders with an attack so vicious that it carried through and grazed Terra's cheek, knocking her off balance long enough for Slade to follow-up with equally vicious combinations of his own. A knee to the stomach, an elbow to the back of the girl's head, and finally a solid boot to the chin send her flying backwards. Blood sprayed from her lips from the blows' intensity. She fell earthward far enough to fear a bone-shattering landing, but she was lucky enough to find Cyborg at the bottom of that fall. The Titan caught her with a careful leap and cradled her as he slid to a halt.

Slade caught one of the low-hanging rafters supporting the room's control tower for the hangar doors, now all but wreckage. He changed his momentum and flipped upright so that he stood on the very edge of the tower walkway, the handrail pressed squarely against the back of his legs. He perched above the Titans, noting the location of each before planning his next-

Wait. One was missing. Where had Raven gone?

Right here.

He got careless. Raven appeared from Slade's own shadow cast on the tower wall at his back. She wrapped her hands around his mask and let go of all the pent up frustration, pain, and suffering she had accumulated in the past few days. Only a small dose escaped the prison of her mind before Slade knocked her away, but it was enough to send him reeling. Only his experience kept him from falling to his doom. He swung over the railing to land securely on his feet so that he might engage Raven and force her to retreat into the shadows once more. But by then, the other two female Titans had flown to confront him again, forcing Slade to make a break for it. He leaped into the open air, intent on catching a dangling chain between the tower and a pile of wreckage where the hangar crane used to be.

Starfire made him pay for his hasty plan. She put on a burst of speed that carried her fist halfway into his stomach, up to the wrist. Slade slammed into the opposite wall, at which point the granite sprang to life under Terra's control and crushed him from both sides. An attack like that would definitely kill a man, but Slade was no ordinary man. His defenses weren't limited to muscle and metal. He survived the attack, but he still suffered for it.

He landed betwixt Beast Boy the Gorilla and Robin the Boy Wonder, who forced him to defend even as he caught his breath. He managed to knock them both back with well-placed blows, but they only used the opportunity to regroup with the other Titans a short distance away.

“Impressive,” the villain said, slowly standing erect. “I didn't think you would have this much spunk after the fun you had with Beast Boy's friends.”

“Give it up, Slade,” Robin warned. “Come along quietly, or come along with your lights knocked out. It's up to you. One way or another, we're leaving with you in custody.”

“I don't think so. You see, I've already won this fight.” The Titans didn't know what to make of his boast. He was more than willing to explain it to them. “I just wanted to have a little fun before putting you down.”

“You are seriously full of it,” Beast Boy said, instantly turning into a bull and waiting for the order to charge.

“Alright.” Slade's eye started to glow with green light. “Then you are first.”

Beast Boy moaned in pain, his bovine howl reverborating deeply. The Titans watched in horror as the shapeshifter was violently reduced in size and form to something much less terrifying – something almost fetal. A pile of green slime covered an otherwise inanimate creature. Beast Boy was no animal now. It wasn't even apparent if he was alive or not.

Raven's hood fell back, in time with her sudden, fearful gasp. She could feel his heartbeat, but Beast Boy was barely alive. He was in dire need of help, and she didn't have the first idea as to what happened to him. “No...”

Terra's emotions mirrored Raven's. She loved the green guy too.

“What did you do!?” she yelled, her powers flaring to life and ripping huge chunks of Hell's wall from their placements around the battlefield. “Slade, what the FUCK DID YOU DO!?”

The villain's eye went gold. “... You'll see.”

In a flash, all of the rocks floating amidst the room fell to the ground and shook the room with their impact. Terra had barely enough time to register what happened before an entirely new problem began. She looked at her hands and saw sediment colors creep from her skin. Like leprosy in fast-forward, a dark color spread across her body, followed by numbness and, more tellingly, petrifaction. Terra was turning to stone, right before her eyes.

“No...NO!” She focused all the anger and hate on the task at hand, but her powers didn't show any signs of life. The brown Death crept across her small frame, trapping her arms, legs, and quickly her torso in a prison of stone. “Stop! Please, STOP!”

“Terra!” Starfire and Robin rushed to her side – one because she was scared for her friend, and the other because he had the chemical components needed to possibly help her. Robin worked hastily, mixing a concoction together normally reserved for his encounters with Poison Ivy back in Gotham City. He worked as fast as he could. Terra's panicked eyes locked on Starfire's. She couldn't turn her head anymore to see anyone else.

“SLADE!” Cyborg took aim and readied a shot. In that moment, Slade's eye went red. His next target felt his dark touch.

Starfire gasped as a pair of muscles behind her eyes suddenly flexed, signifying the ignition of her eye blasts. She quickly turned from Terra as her eyes glowed to life. Before she even knew what was happening, more muscles in her neck and back flexed on their own, forcing her gaze to train on Cyborg before she let go of a full power blast, knocking the Titan off his feet and ruining his shot at Slade. Starfire's powers remained active and uncontrollable. Her eyes burned into anything the alien looked at and her hands shot bolt after bolt of star energy, regardless of what Starfire tried to do.

“Starfire!” Robin gasped. He remembered what he was doing, but by then it was too late. “TERRA!”

“AHHHHHH!” Her sky blue eyes turned to stone right as her mouth froze in a scream. It was so sudden that a teardrop survived the petrifaction and trailed down her petrified cheek in the silence that followed.

Cyborg ran past and grabbed Robin's attention. “Get him, now!” The two charged, hoping to catch him before-

“I haven't forgotten about you two,” Slade smiled, his eye turning silver. “You aren't metahumans, but I don't want you to feel left out.” His eye flashed brightly. The moment the light touched the Titan pair, they realized what it was he had prepared for them.

“My systems!” Cyborg gasped. His mechanical components, Robin's utility belt, and the explosive components inside it, reacted to the powerful pulse in Slade's attack. Robin hastily ripped his belt free and tossed it as far as he could, but not far enough. He and Cyborg were caught by the destruction of their own weapons – Robin by his Fire Discs and Freeze Discs, and Cyborg by his Sonic Cannon. The power needed to disrupt their components was beyond that of any simple EMP weapon. They died not knowing the truth of the matter, a truth that the one remaining Titan fathomed thanks to her magical senses. Witchery was at work here.

“I've been studying,” Slade hissed as he stepped closer to Raven, where she cradled what was left of Beast Boy. “It seems that magic boasts a variety of spells capable of taking command of an enemy's powers and turning them against him. I'm surprised you've never used such a technique on me. Then again.” Slade stopped with his foot squishing against the green goo pooling beside Raven's lap. “You always were too gentle for your own good. Always worried you might hurt someone.”

Raven didn't answer. What emotions she had were obscured by her violet locks. There wasn't even a telltale flare of shadowy hellfire around her. The life drained out of her.

“A pity.” Slade's eye flashed black. He usurped Raven's powers the same way he had with the other Titans and put them to good use immediately. Raven's spells were beyond his manipulation because of their nature, but he had no such trouble with her Soul Self. The astral part of this demon girl could carry people and things to dimensions beyond the human experience – Hell being the most common. Slade couldn't control where she would end up, but he would make sure the Soul Self took her someplace far away and never brought her back. By the time she broke his spell, she would need a walker to move from place to place.

“Goodbye, Raven. You and your friends are dead. Pray that you end up at the same place on the other side.”

The image of a giant, black bird swept over the battlefield. Starfire fell to the ground, her body burning itself from the inside out. Raven was gone before the glow of the alien's powers could fade for the last time.

(Light...)

Everywhere. Raven felt it more than she saw it. She couldn't bring herself to lift her head, or turn her gaze from the sand beneath her hands and knees. Sunlight was never good for her skin, but this light was even harsher than that. It felt like she was in the Sahara Desert, baking in a sea of sand and melting into a puddle of...

Beast Boy. She couldn't protect him. Slade was too fast and his incantations were too poweful. He really had studied. No doubt, some of Trigon's ability rubbed off on the Titans' recurring villain and increased his own mystical talent by several stages. No wonder his magic turned out to be so devastating. It was a perfectly executed surprise attack. If Raven hadn't been so concerned by Beast Boy's sudden demise, she might have countered his attacks. Slade knew the best way to paralyze her was to strike at what she loved first.

He was right about another thing too. Raven could have dolled out similarly vicious magical attacks long ago against all manner of villains – Mad Mod, Control Freak, Blackfire, or even Slade himself before he learned of her potential. But doing so would have killed those villains, or worse, sent them to places not meant for petty criminals. Raven had struggled to contain the murderous nature she inherited from her father. It was a far easier thing to control than her other emotions, but it was still something that had to be controlled. If she lashed out against her enemies too much, she might go too far and kill them. She almost did exactly that against Doctor Light, long ago. It was a close call and a grim reminder of what would happen if Raven ever used her full power.

Which was why she never did. And yet that was also why she was here, all alone, underneath the burning light of an unknown world, with nowhere to go now that her friends were dead. Not that she could go anywhere anyway. Her Soul Self was flying wild in the astral void somewhere thanks to Slade's spell. She might never see it again. She was completely alone.

She curled underneath her robe to block out the light. She still felt like she was going to stroke out from the heat, but at least it was marginally less , it felt like her bare legs would burn from contact with the ground before she ever dehydrated.

Raven heard footsteps pushing sand aside. She thought she could make out the sound of waves crashing. Was she still on Earth? No... her Soul Self wrenched her from her home dimension and cast her into the black abyss of the astral void. It would take an astronomical amount of luck for her to end up back on Earth. She had 3-to-1 odds of being somewhere in the Nine Hells and 5-to-1 odds of being in Hades, the Greek side of the Afterlife. This place didn't look, or sound, or smell like either of those. She smelled perfume... and some of the freshest air she'd ever felt.

“Hello?” said a woman's voice. Raven peered from the confines of her hood, barely letting the light in, and glimpsed the mid-section of an elfin lady wearing a pair of conservative khaki pants, a white blouse, and a brown belt. Raven opened her robe a bit more, her flesh suffering for it, and gazed upon a beautiful face. Gold-rimmed glasses, evergreen eyes, long black hair, and a sweet, aged, but perfectly pure smile. This middle-aged woman made Raven actually feel self-conscious about her own appearance. Had she not felt like she was dying, she might have made an effort to fix her hair or check if there were smudges on her face.

Curious. She was rarely that self-conscious normally.

“How are you feeling?” The woman gasped when she saw Raven's face. “Gosh! Are you alright?”

Raven covered herself again. How could the woman be so calm when it was 120 degrees outside? “... I think I'm going to be sick,” she replied honestly. Raven wobbled slightly before faceplanting into the sand beneath her. The heat was too much for her. Her mind was in no condition to keep her strength up magically. Her will was spent in mourning.

She awoke after what felt like hours. Her body weight a ton. Her skin was drenched in sweat and covered by nothing save the thinnest of silk sheets. It reminded her of her funeral draping – what she was buried with after Terra killed her. Raven tried to sit up but found it more difficult than she imagined. Her body was spent.

“Relax.” Raven turned and saw the same woman from before. Her blouse sleeves were rolled up and her hands were wringing water from a simple – nay, archaic – cloth rag. She knelt beside Raven and positioned her water basin beside her. Apparently her bedding was little more than a few thick blankets on the floor of this woman's abode.

The woman touched the cloth to Raven's forehead. The teen instantly yelped. That rag was burning hot! “HEY!”

“What is it?” Raven explained, but the woman's confusion remained. “This water is warm but not scathing. You shouldn't be-”

The woman looked Raven's face over for a long time. Raven's self-conscious feeling from before returned. It was enhanced by her sudden nudity. She saw her clothes in a pile nearby, just beyond arm's reach. She resisted the urge to ask for them.

“I see.” The woman put her rag aside. “So you really are that girl, aren't you.”

Raven's stare thinned. “If you mean 'that demon girl', then yeah. There can't be too many of those walking around.”

“Technically, you are no longer a demon. Your enemy took care of that, did he not? And yet, even now, some traces of your father remain... enough to cause you pain by our sun, and our water. Perhaps it is the company you have kept in recent days.”

“You know me.” Raven lied back down. It was somehow comforting being recognized by this stranger. “Who are you? What is this place?”

“You are on the Isle of Shamayim, on the southern continent.” Raven's eyes widened in a mixture of awe and terror. That name... Oh God, she knew that name. “This beach faces our southern ocean. It has many names.”

Raven understood why she was so self-conscious now. “Then, you're ... you are...”

The woman patted her hand gently. “My name is Gabriel. I am she who brings the souls of children from His care into the care of mortal men and women. I am she who told man of the coming of the Messiah five hundred years before his birth. And, it was I who came to Mary, the wife of a carpenter, and told her that it was she who would birth the Son of God. It was I who calmed her fears and gave her the strength to carry on, like many mothers before her, and many mothers after.”

Raven gulped. This woman was the equal of many of the gods working their magic back on Earth through their agents, like Wonder Woman. She was one of the few of 'His' servants that were female in the classic texts. She was second only to Him and three of the other six.

“You're an angel,” Raven gasped the obvious. She looked at the shoddy pavilion where the two of them were. “I'm in Heaven.”

“A part of it.” Gabriel sat back and curled her toes in the sand beneath them. “Shamayim is the continent I am responsible for. It's the land where the Garden of Eden resides and where hundreds of angels watch the worlds for Him. Our palm trees are so fantastic that St. Paul describes them in detail in one of his accounts.”

“The Land of Promise.”

“That's right.” Gabriel blushed a bit. “You're familiar with dogmatic text?”

“I have to be. My father's... you know.” Of course she knew. Trigon was a demon, and in particular he was a demon from Hell, which meant that he was once an angel, or born from a demon in turn. Either way, that put Raven's great-great-great-grandparents in Heaven somewhere.

Gabriel reached into a basket set in the corner and pulled out a clay pot. The most amazing scent of honey and spice came from it. “I hope you are not bashful.”

Raven frowned. “I'm not comfortable, if that's what you mean... ma'am.”

“This salve. Massaging it into your skin will wash away the last traces of Trigon from you, so that you will not burn.” She placed the pot beside Raven's bed. “It must be rubbed over your body completely to be effective.”

Raven tensed up immediately. Gabriel reassured her with a look. “I will let you take care of this task. Salve and wash yourself in here. In the meantime I will check on my matters of state. The multiverse is a busy place, even for the omniscient.”

“You know everything?”

“I know most things,” she admitted. “I can't know everything so long as I want hair and eyes, I'm afraid.”

Raven knelt as best she could without exposing herself. “Do you know where my friends are? Are they here too? They must be here. They were so good in their lives, but I'm not sure if Starfire would be here since her religious beliefs are-”

“Take care of yourself first, sweet child.” Gabriel parted the pavilion entrance enough to let her step out, but not so much that Raven would be caught in the sun's rays. “Then we will discuss your friends.”

Raven did not like feeling so out of place. She wasn't even sure if she really was in Heaven, after all. It was a simple matter for a crafty demon to pose as a beautiful angel and create an environment suited to the illusion. Raven would drop her guard and be caught unprepared, leaving her at the demon's mercy. She could not trust so easily.

Her senses told her that everything was fine though. Her instincts believed one thing, but her higher functions said another. Raven decided that, for now, she could try trusting Gabriel. The salve seemed harmless enough and she could use a bath. If her friends really were here, she wanted to be ready to meet them.

She massaged herself. A difficult task, but manageable. She bathed with the water the woman provided. It really was warm and pleasant, and pure as could be. Raven couldn't help but feel content when the water washed over her. It was a magical feeling.

Raven dressed and stepped outside tentatively. The sun shone brightly, but it was no longer painful or hot. In fact, Raven never felt more pleasant weather. She had always disliked the sun because, among her other qualms with light and darkness, she got sunburned easily and had the kind of body that suffered the summer heat more than others. She didn't like going to the beach for that reason. Now, though, she wondered if this was how people felt when they loved the beach and the summer sun. It was incredible.

Gabriel stood at the water's edge, the waves gently rolling at her feat. Raven approached and tried to think of how best to thank this semi-omnipotent being. If this really was Gabriel-

“You don't need to thank me,” the woman said, looking over her shoulder. “I'm glad you're feeling better. Come.” She held out her hand. “Stand with me.”

Raven complied. So she was a mind-reader. She knew how concerned she was that this wasn't real. That would put a dampener on their relationship.

Gabriel smiled knowingly. “Archangels actually spend very little time with humans. We occasionally approach them to bring a message of great importance, but most of our time is spent fighting enemies on par with our own existence. We spend more time among demons than people and more time in God's presence than any other. It puts us in a grim light, even for other angels. They tend to think we're... 'different'.”

Raven listened intently. Gabriel reached down to pick up a waterwashed rock from the wet sand and carried it with her. They strolled down the beach together. It seemed like the world was empty, save for the two of them. This part of Heaven seemed so lonely.

“Talking to God for us is not unlike what happened to you when you arrived here. It burns. Every word is like a wave of fire burning all who hear it. It is intense. For those too weak to bear it, it is lethal. That is one reason why we are so powerful, but it means we can't be as close to humans as we might like. The last person I truly befriended was Mary.”

“The virgin Mary?” Raven clarified. “That's such a long time ago.”

“Over 2000 years. We're still friends. She's taught me to be more... personable.” Gabriel smiled. “If you and I are alike, then the Mother of God is a lot like your redheaded friend. Mary has so much life in her heart. So much energy. She is such a good friend.”

“Starfire.” Raven remembered feeling her life slip away when Slade stole control of her powers. It was a horrible way for someone so caring to die.

“Your friends await you in New Jerusalem, our main city. Koriand'r is there as well. It seems she loves you as much as you love her. She would not want to be separated from you in Death. You are welcome to join them as soon as you are ready.”

Raven thought about her life back on Earth. Beyond the Titans, there wasn't much. But... there was her. “My daughter. She's all alone.”

“The people of Azar have their eyes on her. Even as we speak, they await confirmation of your demise in order to move in and sweep your little Parvati away, just as they swept you away from your birth mother. They would take care of her and raise her in your stead.”

Raven stopped walking. Gabriel turned to face her. The waves ebbed behind them.

“I'm not dead. Technically, shouldn't you be telling me to leave?”

Gabriel approved of the question. “You have suffered enough. With your Soul Self gone, you are as dead as the others even if your heartbeat and breath remain. You can remain, or you can return to the physical realm and die whence your body crumbles from the lack of its astral component.”

Heaven. There was no greater resting place. This really was... she really was... she was in Heaven.

But, Parvati. She was all alone. The Azar could take care of her, but no doubt they would raise her the same way Raven was raised. They might teach her to hide her emotions. They might turn her into a warrior destined to fight Trigon for eternity, just as Raven was destined. They might turn Parvati down the same path as her.

Such a thought scared Raven. She didn't want anyone to raise her daughter but her. She wanted Parvati's life to be different. She couldn't do that if she was dead.

Gabriel touched Raven's shoulder compassionately. “I admire you, child.”

“What do you mean?” Raven blinked. “You're immortal. What's there to admire?”

“A lot. It is difficult to give up Paradise for the sake of another. Yet you give up everything for others.” Gabriel smiled sweetly. “You really are one of the best of us.”

A tear said it all.

“When you leave Heaven, you'll find yourself at the Gates of Pearl. From there, you must find your Soul Self and call it back before you die, but once that is settled, you will be free to act. And act you must. You cannot hold back if you wish to save all those who have suffered because of your father's legacy.”

“I know that now. I'm not afraid anymore.” Raven floated just enough to leave the sand. “Please tell my friends... tell them I'm sorry.”

“You can tell them yourself, when you see them gain.”

Gabriel levitated to Raven and, without warning, pressed her lips against hers. They held that contact for a long time – Raven because she was paralyzed by the angel's divine presence, and Gabriel because she had much to share through the contact.

They separated. Raven's shocked look made the angel grin. “Our kind speaks in tongues, remember?”

“Was that a joke?”

“A poor translation of scripture,” she clarified. “Imagine Mary's surprise when she found herself pregnant after one of my kisses.”

That would be surprising. “And what about me?”

“I've taught you some of our magic,” she said, “reserved only for those pure of heart, and strong of will. I know now that I can trust you, Raven. Just as He trusted his only son with His power, so to have I.” Gabriel landed in the sand. “Don't be scared anymore, Raven. You've been adopted by a kinder family... sweet child.”

She had always wanted a family. The Titans were the beginning, Parvati was the next step, and now she had an extended family and the means to bring her true family together again. The Titans would be saved once she returned to Earth with these newfound powers. Not only them, but...

“Gardriel's magic is useful, you'll find. With those you can sneak in and out of Hell with souls in tow. It's handy for helping victims of circumstance, like your dear mother.”

“Thank you.” Raven's lips trembled.

Gabriel remained warm as ever. “Keep in touch, my dear. There are lots of cousins here for you to meet.”

Raven turned and floated away. She twinkled somewhere in Heaven's sunset, leaving a near-infinite being to contemplate the feeling of contentment born from finding a kindred spirit in the most unlikely of places.

(Cadmus City, Heller Airfield Launch Pad)

The remains of the Titans littered the battlefield. Slade took pride in the devastation. All those months he put up with the indignity of suffering defeat after defeat at the hands of these childrens. Now, he made them pay for those affronts in spades. He allowed himself the luxury of one final chuckle before activating his communicator and dialing up Adeline's frequency. She would want his report. This time he could bring her unconditional good news.

A chill ran down his spine. Slade turned. The fires in the room had all gone out. The sign of “To Hell” on the distant wall was scratched out by a huge gouging arc in the rock itself, like some incredible giant scratched the offending text away. All the blood stains, all the discolorations, and all the corpses were gone.

And it all happened without triggering any of Slade's senses – his personal combat radar, his mystical acuity, nor his martial prowess. Either this was a complete illusion, or something totally silent and faster than a speeding bullet had swept over the room when he wasn't looking. That last description didn't please him at all.

“Who's there?” he said sternly, his eyes travelling across the room, step by step. “Show yourself. Coward.” Like any good soldier, he was prepared for all contingencies. Any mercenary of his caliber was prepared for a Superman attack. This would be the first time Slade got to put his anti-Kryptonian tactics to use. It should be fun.

“Slade!” a voice spoke just outside of Slade's field of vision. He turned sharply and struck his combat pose. Raven stood there, dressed in surprisingly simple garb. Before she had worn her sorceror's robe; now she dressed in simple jeans and a purple sweater matching her hair. She was unarmed. She was unusually calm, considering she watched him kill her friends one by one.

“Well.” Slade took an equally relaxed pose. Raven was never his equal in martial arts, so he knew he could get away with not using a stance. “Fancy meeting you here. Shouldn't you be chasing your better half in Hell somewhere?”

“I caught her. Now it's time to take care of unfinished business.”

“I was hoping to spare you, you know,” Slade said, his fingers twitching in preparation for a Silence spell. That would cripple at least half of Raven's magical techniques, and certainly her most powerful ones. “Without you, none of this could have been possible. You made Adeline a very happy woman. I almost got an apprentice out of this. Too bad Beast Boy's too easy to manipulate. He might have resisted your rescue attempt.” The villain shrugged mockingly. “Guess it doesn't matter now. He's gone and he's not coming back.”

Raven's hand moved slightly. Slade watched her carefully. This was the classic shoot-out between two gunfighters taken to mythical extremes. The one with the fastest draw would likely win... assuming both were mortally vulnerable. Slade was confident in his super soldier prowess and immortality. There was little that could seriously wound him and lesser still that could outright kill him. Raven was outclassed.

“You'll never bother the Teen Titans ever again,” Raven promised.

Slade shot from the hip. His Silence spell manifested at the speed of thought. Raven didn't react. Either she didn't realize the spell had gone off, or she knew it was too late to respond. Slade's spell worked. He knew then that he had won.

Or so he thought.

Raven arched her back. A pair of white wings tore free from her shoulder blades and extended to almost ten feet on either side. Each wing bore thousands of feathers and glowed with the light that only came from Divinity. The wash of air from the sudden expulsion of these magnificent appendages carried a magic all its own. Slade felt the air pass him by, and with it the remains of the Silence spell he cast. Just like that, it was shattered and rendered useless.

Slade couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. Raven had wings!

The teen lifted her delicate hand, held her palm towards her hated enemy, and invoked a spell with neither words, nor gestures, nor mana. The spell, against all the logic of magic, came from nowhere, but it was there, growing with strength into something that would most definitely plow through the defenses he had in place.

“The Devil has an enemy, Slade. And that enemy has a message for you.” Raven's hand trembled from the intense concentration of energy inside it. “Repent.”

The divine light poured from Raven's hand and buried Slade in its brilliance. The villain screamed the loudest he ever had in his life as his very core was rent asunder. It wasn't just his body, but his very soul that suffered now. Raven's fire was like that spoken of in the Old Testament – all-consuming, and hotter than Hell. Literally.

There was nothing left but the husk of Slade's armor. The one-eyed mask and metal limbs clattered to the ground, completely devoid of life. Bones were reduced to ash and poured free from its container. The room went deathly silent as Divinity faded into the ether once more, where it could do no more harm until it was called again.

Raven took a deep breath. There was lots to do. She waved a hand across the room and returned to it certain articles she hid before. Most prominent of these was the statue of Terra, her visage locked in an expression of fear. Raven approached the figure and placed her hand on the statue's chest. She uttered a few words and let the Light flow from her body. It felt so warm inside her and even warmer as it danced from her fingertips into the petrified Titan.

Awareness came to Terra slowly. She could see Raven before she could speak. Seeing Raven's face calmed her incredibly. Terra regained all of her mobility at the same time and instantly hugged her friend. Never before had she been so happy to see her.

“I don't know how you did it, but good job,” Terra said.

“Don't mention it.”

Terra got a good look at the Titan. She almost asked about her new clothes before she even noticed the gargantuan wings on her back. “What happened to your-- JESUS, what are those things!?”

“Long story. Let me get to work on the others.”

“B-B-B-But-!”

Raven took turns reviving the Titans, both West and East, some with simple magicks and others by creating a whole new body for their soul to inhabit. Each revived Titan was overjoyed to see the others. Starfire and Cyborg seemed like they would never stop holding their friends. It was a glorious celebration. Every Titan was also stumped by the apparent change in the resident mystic, but none of them could get a straight answer out of her. She was too busy working.

Beast Boy was the last to be revived with Raven's magic. He opened his eyes laboriously and stared into the face of his friends... and into Raven's.

“You okay?” he asked, a little delirious.

“Yeah,” she whispered back. “I'm fine.”

“... Good. What would the newspapers say if I let my girlfriend get hurt?”

Raven rolled her eyes. “I'm not your girlfriend.” She helped him sit up. “Just because I kissed you once or twice, you get ideas.”

Beast Boy was summarily tackled by a pack of friends, namely Mas, Menos, Cyborg, and Aqualad, all of whom were ecstatic to see their wisecracking friend alive. The Titans were together again. Raven smiled as she watched them cheer and laugh. She thought back. Once, upon seeing her friends enjoying themselves like this, she mused on how distant she grew from her friends as their time together progressed. She thought she would one day break from them entirely. Now, almost a year later, she understood how much she loved this family of hers. She would never leave them.

The Titans awed at Raven's appearance. Robin managed to speak their collective thought. “Raven. What's going on?”

Raven thought about the women killed in that Pit where she was kept all this time. Her next act would be reviving them. She had the power to do it now that she knew the right spell. Everyone would go home and sleep safely tonight. That she promised.

“Let's just say I've been studying,” she smirked. She leaped into the sky, her wings keeping her aloft, and without hesitation she flew into and through the walls of the complex without shattering it or displacing it. Every Titan heard her voice inside their hearts. “Get to the surface. I'm going to wipe this evil place off the map.”

The Titans took their escape path, aided by Cyborg's sonic cannon and Terra's geokinetics. Now that they didn't have to worry about keeping Cardiac functional, they could simply blow their way out of this dreadful place. The team burrowed their way to the surface and made their way to the drop point for Titans East. Their T-Jet, a modified version of Cyborg's original design, parked outside Cadmus City and remained cloak to hide it from the local populace.

“I hope she doesn't plan on blowing this place up,” Speedy said. “That would wake up a lot of people.”

“More like kill a lot of people,” Aqualad frowned. “The city's on a fragile foundation as it is. A blast big enough to destroy the complex, or a spell large enough to suck it into another dimension, would most likely put the city at dire risk.”

“She knows not to do that,” Bumblebee chided him. She glanced at the Tin Man beside her. “Doesn't she?”

“I don't know what's going through her head. But I know we can trust her.”

“Look!!” Starfire pointed to the sky. The clouds moved of their own accord, slowly taking on the form of something startlingly humanoid from the waist up. The massive specter opened its hand, flashed five distinct claws, and slammed its hand into the earth. It clamped its hand shut and pulled back with horrendous force, carrying with it what appeared to be a massive ball of neon green mist. Horrible, demonic moans echoed through the air as the entity carried a handful of struggling spirits into the twilight sky and disappeared just as the sun rose.

“...Whoa,” Beast Boy blinked. “Did she do that?”

That was the least of her miracle. As the sun rose, the Titans witnessed several women walking through the brush and finding their way to the Titans, where they explained in fits that they were from another city and didn't remember how they got here. Some of the Titans recognized the women as the victims of the Type I demons. It seemed they didn't remember any of that at all. Not only were they alive, but they were unaware of the tortures they suffered this past week or so.

Raven was the last to walk into the clearing. Her wings were gone, meaning the Titans were able to swallow her in a group hug. Raven protested loudly, but ultimately she had to suffer the indignity of being smothered by her excited friends.

She didn't mind too much.

(Several months later...)

There was a solemn covenant at Titans Tower. Nobody woke anyone else up before noon unless they wanted to be woken up, or they had a mission to do. Rarely, Robin would spring a surprise training session on the rest of the team, but Cyborg's sonic cannon convinced him that waking the team for early training was a good way to make enemies.

Parvati was not aware of this covenant. Sunrise was 6:25 AM. She woke up at 6:26. The tiny child yawned deeply and sat up to stretch and yawn again. She rubbed her tired eyes and blinked away the sleepiness until her disposition was as bright as the sun. She rushed out of bed and pressed her face against the window pane overlooking a section of San Francisco and its bay around Titans Island.

She rushed back to bed and crawled onto it with some effort. Raven slept calmly, her face a picture of solemnity even in sleep. At the foot of the bed, a familiar green Retriever breathed soundly and swished its tail unconsciously. Parvati petted her canine father gently. The dog rolled over in his sleep to expose more of his stomach – something the human inside him wouldn't do if he were awake.

“Mommy, Daddy, wake up! It's morning, it's morning!” The so-called “little Starfire” pounced on Beast Boy and earned a yelp from the pup. “Daddy, Daddy! Wake up!”

The dog whined and tried to curl into a ball again. Parvati crawled across the bed and shook Raven by the shoulder. “Momma! Daddy won't wake up!”

“...Send him to another dimension,” Raven muttered in her sleep.

Parvati knew better than to do that! Her mother always warned her about doing things like that. She knew Mommy must not be awake yet. She had to try harder! “Mommy, it's time for the zoo. He promised we would go today.”

Raven forced her eyes open and sat up, her disheveled hair hiding the angry glint in her eye. “Who promised?”

“Uncle Cyborg!”

“...Did he say we would go at the crack of dawn?”

Parvati thought a moment. “No. He said we would go as soon as everyone was ready! We have to get everyone ready!”

Raven fell back against her pillow. “Go wake up everyone else and tell them what Uncle Cyborg said. Make sure to wake him up last so that everyone can thank him.”

“Okay!” Parvati hopped out of bed, narrowly avoided tripping on the oversized Metropolis Sharks jersey Cyborg gifted her with, and rushed into the hallways to wake up the rest of the Tower.

Raven nudged the creature at her feet. “I thought I told you not to sleep in my room.”

Another whine. Raven nudged harder, sending the dog rolling off the bed with a loud thud. Raven heard the sound of shapeshifting at the foot of the bed, followed by the groan of an aching human.

“So I take it you don't need help getting dressed?”

“I'll manage.” When Beast Boy left the room, Raven hopped out of bed and made a beeline for the shower. The Tower shook when she reached the interior. Sounded like Terra was telling “Uncle Cyborg” how she felt about his choice of words.

Things really had changed since this all began. Raven could remember a time when she dreaded every morning and wished for it to be her last. Now, as the Teen Titans started their day trip to the San Francisco Zoo, she couldn't imagine living any other life but her own. She couldn't be happier, though she went to great pains not to show it. She had a reputation to protect.

She let little hints out, occasionally. She called Beast Boy her “boyfriend” once when Starfire asked about their relationship. She held his hand when Parvati did the same to cross the street. She spent less time bottled up in her room poring over musty tomes and instead tried to participate in all the silly hobbies her friends concocted. She watched Parvati as she roughhoused with her uncles and aunts. She even called herself a “mother”, although explaining the truth to Supergirl (who at fifteen was only slightly older than her) proved to be embarrassing. She was proud; that's what made it worth telling.

Raven's mother visited her and her granddaughter when Azarath permitted. They learned more about each other than either thought they ever would. Her mother died giving birth to her at the young age of fourteen, so they were actually very close to each other in age, making it seem like they were sisters rather than mother and daughter. It gave them a unique opportunity to be friends growing up with similar troubles. Raven realized things would get better for her poor mother when they ran out of insults to sling at Trigon one Friday night. They agreed to forget about “the bum” and move on.

Raven had another one of those moments as she watched Parvati and Cyborg chasing Terra to the T-Jet. Robin and Starfire were following them. They had their hands in each others. Even without empathy, Raven could have seen how strong their love had grown. It was so sweet watching the Boy Wonder try to retain his usual cool with his arm locked with Starfire, like two people walking down the church aisle together. He was constantly teased about it.

“What're you staring at?” Beast Boy said as he walked up beside her. He saw Starfire laughing at something going on with Terra and Cyborg, who apparently were laying claims on the driver seat.

“...Nothing. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“...Life.” Raven snuck her hand around his. “How it can change so quickly.” She lifted their shared fist. “... I never thought I would be doing this, for example.”

“I always knew,” Beast Boy bragged.

“Really? I thought I was the clairovoyant one.”

“You don't need magic to tell you some things.”

“How cliché.” Raven sometimes regretted retiring her sorceror's cape and hood. She missed being able to hide her sudden smiles in the shadows of her robe.

“Besides, I think I might be a little clairovoyant.” Beast Boy guided her to the T-Jet and offered her first passage. “I have another prediction that's definitely coming true.”

“And what's that?”

The young man grinned. “I'm going to get to kiss you before this day is done. And it's not going to be just any old kiss. It'll be the most romantic kiss I'll ever make.”

Raven could survive Heaven and Hell, Death and Damnation, and worse things than those. But it was hard for her to resist smiling when he talked like that.

“Dream on,” Raven tsked.

I dreamed of that day at the zoo for over a year. There were times when I thought the dream would never come true. But I fought for it, again and again thinking the End had come. But now that the dream's come true, I'm starting to think there never will be an End.

And that's just fine with me.