Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Teen Titans: Future Storm ❯ Wake the Night ( Chapter 18 )

 

“Teen Titans: Future Storm”

Arc 4: “Blood”

Chapter 2: “Wake the Night”

Disclaimer: The concept of Teen Titans belongs to DC Comics and Warner Brothers, not me. The characters of Nightstar, Mercury, Slade, Ravager, Brother Blood, and Raven do not belong to me, either; all except Mercury are the exclusive property of DC Comics, while Mercury himself is jointly owned by DC and Marvel. Everyone else is my creation.

Author's note: There is a very specific reason Brother Blood, Kiryu, and the other demons you'll see in this and future chapters are after Samara. I'll reveal it in the course of the story, though. In the meantime, enjoy.

Dedication: To The Wolf Demon, formerly known as The Wolf God. Happy Birthday, man.

In a dimension of eternal night, a girl gazed into a fountain, red-gold eyes staring forth from a doll-like face.

The girl had long, flowing white hair with a tinge of blonde. Her pale skin was offset by a sleeveless black dress that was short in the front and flowed down almost to her ankles in the back. The shortness of the dress skirt in the front exposed thigh-high black boots. Black fabric that flowed from the elbows covered her arms.

The girl stared into the fountain, seeing the image of Samara. She reached out to touch the image.

“My consort,” she murmured before slipping into the fountain and sinking into it.

In Titans Tower, Samara was taking a bath to relax. However, she couldn't help thinking about Brother Blood and Kiryu.

“What do they want with me?” she wondered.

She sank her head beneath the surface of the water, only to see someone else in the tub with her when she rose. It was a girl, pale-skinned, white-haired, and dressed in a semi-elaborate black outfit.

“Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing in my bath?” Samara asked.

The girl smiled slowly at Samara.

“My name is Leknaat and you will be my consort. The water is how I traverse dimensions.”

“Great, another one,” Samara grumbled.

Leknaat moved closer to Samara, positioned between the partly demonic girl's legs.

“Granddaughter of Trigon, you will be mine,” the black-clad girl purred. She leaned closer to Samara until their lips met. Samara attempted to pull away, but the white-haired girl had a stronger grip than expected.

There was a wind and a voice saying, “Cool, lesbian porn.”

Leknaat pulled away from Samara. “Go away, little mortal.”

“I'm not little,” Mercury answered. “In the meantime, do you mind getting out of that bath, because I think Samara's interested in somebody else?”

Leknaat glared at Mercury and sank back into the water, vanishing.

“What are you doing here?” Samara asked.

“I sensed somebody shifting planes,” Mercury replied. “Hey, I vibrate in and out of worlds. Speaking of that, I once vibrated into a dimension where we were all girls.”

“You must have enjoyed that immensely,” Samara drawled.

“Yes,” Mercury admitted. “Bladefire makes a pretty hot girl. Although in this dimension, he already looks kind of like a girl.”

“Could you leave?” Samara asked. “I'd like to enjoy the rest of my bath by myself.”

“Sure,” Mercury replied and was gone a split second later.

The next night, Samara was on her patrol. She spotted a mugger pulling a gun out on a couple that had just exited a theater.

With barely a thought, she changed into a black astral raven and dove into the mugger's body. The mugger's eyes glowed violet and he began punching himself, the couple wondering what was going on. When the mugger was unconscious from his self-beating, Samara exited his body and flew into the night.

As she continued her patrol, she became aware of another presence. The presence weighed heavily on her, perhaps as a sign of the power held by it. It felt very ancient and very . . . sinister.

“Samara,” a deep, masculine voice rumbled.

“All right, who is it this time?” Samara asked irritably.

“Look next to you,” the voice replied.

Samara looked next to her and saw a man flying next to her on wings so black that they blended into the night sky. His hair was of a similar color, as were his clothes. The only color that could be spotted on him was his eyes, which were a sharp crimson.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Melchiah,” the winged man replied.

“You're a fallen angel, aren't you?” Samara deduced.

“Yes, I am,” Melchiah replied.

“I suppose you want me to be your consort,” Samara sighed. “Just wait until I'm done patrolling and then we'll talk.”

“No, how about I patrol with you?” Melchiah suggested. “It won't be so bad, now will it?”

“Fine, but I'm keeping an eye on you,” Samara rejoined.

Melchiah turned and pointed to S.T.A.R. Labs.

“I see several thieves trying to break in,” he said. “They're using light-refracting technology to make themselves invisible.” He smirked cruelly. “But they're not invisible to me.”

“Don't kill them,” Samara advised.

“I wouldn't dream of it,” Melchiah drawled sarcastically before flying over to one thief and tapping him on the shoulder. The thief turned, only to look upon the fallen angel's maliciously grinning face.

“Oh, I am so fragged,” the thief uttered before Melchiah struck him, disrupting the tech that kept him invisible.

The other thieves began firing wrist-mounted laser weapons at Melchiah, but he easily deflected them with his bare hands.

“Pathetic,” he sneered.

“Who is this guy?” one of the remaining thieves asked.

“You don't need to know that,” Melchiah replied.

“Just finish him!” another thief shouted, again opening fire on Melchiah, who folded his wings around himself as a kind of shield to deflect the laser blasts.

“My turn,” Melchiah said. He drew a sword, the blade of which ignited into unholy flames. He sped toward one thief and slashed him with the fiery sword. The other thieves began to run, but they were halted by a black barrier shaped like a raven.

“Where do you think you're going?” Samara asked.

The thieves nearly urinated on themselves from sheer terror.

After the thieves were subdued and properly arrested by the police, Samara and Melchiah had departed, only to encounter Kiryu.

“Samara, my consort, what are you doing with him?” Kiryu asked.

“I'm not your consort,” Samara replied. She looked at Melchiah, who was about to speak. “And I'm not yours, either.”

Melchiah just smirked at Samara before turning to Kiryu.

“So . . . you're Kiryu,” he remarked. “The legendary assassin of the demon planes. You don't look like much.”

“Really,” Kiryu answered before materializing gauntlets with retractable blades on each arm. He extended both blades. “Come on, then.”

Melchiah just continued looking at Kiryu. “It would be a waste of my time and effort to fight you.”

Kiryu scoffed. “Afraid, are you?”

“No,” Melchiah answered.

“Then face me,” Kiryu challenged.

“You'll regret it,” Melchiah answered.

The two flew at each other, Kiryu slashing at Melchiah with his arm-blade. Melchiah swerved around the swing and struck Kiryu in the throat with his fist. Kiryu gagged, trying to catch his breath, but Melchiah continued his vicious assault. Finally, Kiryu caught Melchiah's wrist in mid-strike and spun the fallen angel around, throwing him some distance away.

Melchiah righted himself in midair and shot himself forward like a missile, striking Kiryu in the stomach. Kiryu slammed a double-handed fist into Melchiah's back, right where the wings met flesh. Melchiah howled in pain and rage, striking back viciously at the leather-and-wrappings-clad assassin demon.

Samara watched, unsure of whether to stop them or let them go on.

If I let them go on, they might just kill each other off and I wouldn't have to worry about either of them coming after me, she thought. On the other hand, if I stop them, they might turn their attentions back to me, and that would suck tremendously. Then again, it's kind of flattering.

Melchiah and Kiryu continued their battle, Kiryu slicing at Melchiah with his arm-blades and Melchiah using his wings as both a shield and a weapon, the latter use coming in the form of beating Kiryu with those wings.

“Bastard,” Kiryu snarled.

Just then, Samara heard a familiar voice say, “Come now, Samara, time to get away from these foolish boys.” Before she could protest, she was pulled into a shadowy warp.

On the other side, she found a luxurious bedroom, herself lying on a four-poster bed covered in black sheets. The posts were quite high and connected by purple curtains.

“Where am I?” Samara asked.

“My home away from home,” Leknaat answered, joining Samara on the bed. Samara shied away from Leknaat, but the gothic-styled girl pulled her closer.

“Who are you?” Samara asked.

“Leknaat, Princess of the Shadow Regions of Hell,” Leknaat replied. “And you, Samara, will be my consort.”

“Join the club,” Samara quipped sarcastically. “It seems everyone wants me.”

“Yes, but only one of us shall have you,” Leknaat responded. “And that one is me. The sooner you understand this, the more content you will be.”

Samara glared at her.

“Why do you want me so badly?” she asked.

Leknaat smiled. “You have an esteemed lineage. Your grandfather was none other than Trigon, the Red Lord of Hell. His power lives on in you . . . and I want it. It's a pleasurable side benefit that you're so beautiful.”

Samara began to smirk. “So you don't love me; you just want my power. I'm somewhat relieved.”

Leknaat straddled Samara. “Oh, I don't just want your power. If that was all I wanted, I would have taken it. No, I want everything else you have to offer me - your body, your soul, everything. I want you to surrender it all to me.”

Samara's eyes glowed and Leknaat was thrown off her by telekinetic force. The shadow demoness merely landed in front of the bed in a feral crouch.

“You resist now, but what for?” she asked. “For your friends? For your family? For the fire wielder? Heed the call of your blood, Samara.”

Before the partly demonic girl could say anything, she found herself back in the main room of Titans Tower.

“You certainly took a while,” Inferno remarked. “What happened?”

“I have suitors,” Samara answered. “Of the demonic variety. I left two of them fighting over me and the third snatched me away to her place.”

“Her?” Inferno asked.

“Demon marriages work differently from human marriages,” Samara replied. “If two demons of the same gender want to be consorts, they can be.”

“Ok,” Inferno answered.

“Her?” Mercury asked. “You mean that girl dressed in black who was in your bath last night?”

“There was a girl in your bath last night?” Nightstar asked.

“Yeah, there was,” Samara replied. “Her name's Leknaat.”

“Samara,” Melchiah's voice spoke. The fallen angel materialized a second later, staring at her with smoldering eyes.

The other five Titans stood beside Samara protectively.

“Give her to me,” Melchiah ordered.

“Not a chance in hell,” Inferno answered.

“You haven't seen hell, mortal,” Melchiah sneered. “And I'll be taking her, anyway. I only asked as a courtesy.”

“Actually, you're not going to take her,” Nightstar said, her energy whip lashing out at Melchiah, who caught it between his index and middle fingers.

“Impressive,” the fallen angel sneered. “Now it's my turn.” Fiery red coloration infiltrated the energy whip, using it as a conductor to attack Nightstar. The half-alien girl cried out in pain as the hellfire surged through her body, singeing her soul as much as her flesh.

“Titans, take him down,” Bladefire ordered, extending his energy sword and attacking Melchiah along with the other Titans.

The fallen angel folded his wings around him as a shield, easily deflecting Bladefire's sword strikes, Beast Girl's panther claws, Mercury's speed-enhanced blows, and Inferno's flames. Not even Nightstar's energy whip or Samara's living darkness could penetrate the wing shield.

“Coward!” Inferno yelled. “Quit hiding behind those wings and face us!”

A sinister chuckle could be heard beneath the fallen angel's wings. Then those wings opened and a flaming sword was drawn.

Bladefire challenged Melchiah first, having a sword of his own, after all. The two parried and blocked each other's slashes, each one occasionally getting past the other's defenses but only occasionally. Of course, it hurt far more whenever Melchiah got past Bladefire's defenses.

“You're not bad,” Melchiah complimented.

“Likewise,” Bladefire answered with a feral smirk.

Their swords clashed again and Bladefire drove his knee into Melchiah's stomach, not really knocking the breath out of him but surprising him enough for the half-alien boy to slash him. He attempted to follow up with a kick, but Melchiah blocked it.

“Clever,” Melchiah said, “but unless you're aiming to kill, you'd best not bother.”

“Don't need to,” Bladefire answered before shooting Melchiah with an optic blast that knocked him into a wall.

Melchiah rose to his feet, not looking very happy, but before he could rebound into another attack, Nightstar struck him with her energy whip. Inferno and Samara shot a combined fire-and-darkness attack. Beast Girl tore a gaping wound in his side with her panther claws and Mercury pelted him with super-fast blows.

“Enough!” the fallen angel yelled, generating a wave of hellish power so strong that it blew all the Titans back. When they rose again, they saw that the wound Beast Girl had given him was gone.

“Now how the hell do we fight him?” Beast Girl asked.

“We don't have to hold back on him,” Nightstar replied. “Fallen angels don't die the same way humans do.”

Mercury charged for another attack, Speed Force energy crackling around his hand. Melchiah merely extended his sword, bracing himself for the platinum-haired speedster's attack. The speed energy gathered in Mercury's hand in the shape of a ball with lightning crackling around it. With a shout, Mercury struck Melchiah with the ball lightning, only for Melchiah to stab him with the hellfire sword.

“Got you, you bastard,” the speedster spat out, even as he coughed up blood.

Melchiah just smirked despite the lightning-like Speed Force energy impaling him.

“No. Got you.”

“Mercury!” Beast Girl cried out in horror.

“For the record, I must say I'm impressed,” the fallen angel remarked. “Turning the force that empowers you into a weapon against your enemies. Very innovative.”

Mercury's speed weapon dissipated, revealing a bloody wound in Melchiah's chest. Melchiah removed his sword, revealing a similar wound in Mercury's stomach.

Mercury collapsed, concentrating the Speed Force into healing his wound. A blast of molten gold energy struck Melchiah in the same spot Mercury had impaled him before the fallen angel could heal it.

“You're going to pay for hurting him,” Beast Girl snarled, leaping at Melchiah with feral speed and slashing him with claws glowing with molten energy. Melchiah yelled in pain and swung his sword - once again ignited - at her. She barely sidestepped the swing and went in for another attack.

“Speed as a weapon and the power to tap into the power of the Earth's core,” the fallen angel observed. “You two make an impressive couple.”

“If I'm supposed to feel flattered, it's not working,” the animal-shifting geokinetic retorted angrily as she swung at Melchiah with a golden-glowing fist. This time, Melchiah caught her fist, gritting his teeth against the pain of the Earth's power attacking him, and spun her into a throw that sent her through the wall.

“Samara, I don't have to keep hurting your friends if you just come with me,” Melchiah said.

“Screw you, you son of a bitch,” Inferno snarled. “She's not coming with you even if you kill all of us.”

Melchiah flew at Inferno, flaming sword at the ready. “Then you've sealed your fate!”

An umbrakinetic shield formed to block the fallen angel, who simply sliced through it with his sword. The psychic backlash from the breached shield elicited a cry of pain from Samara, who collapsed into the arms of a powered-down Inferno. Even as the fallen angel continued his charge, Inferno summoned a fireball and threw it at Melchiah. When the fireball failed to deter him, Inferno leaped out of Melchiah's way while still holding Samara in his arms.

Nightstar and Bladefire shot twin optic blasts at Melchiah, the concussive force of the blasts knocking him back into a kinetically charged punch from Mercury, who had managed to heal the worst of his injury. The speedster subsequently ran to Beast Girl to see if she was all right.

Inside Samara's mind, the psychic presence of Brother Blood haunted the partly demonic girl.

What are you doing in my mind? Samara asked.

Helping you, Brother Blood replied. Helping you accept your destiny. You are meant for great things, my dear.

Get out, Samara snarled.

I can't, Blood answered. I am a part of you now, Samara. Cutting me out would be like removing a limb. I can help you. You have the power to defeat Melchiah. All you have to do is use it.

And what will that entail? Samara questioned.

Nothing, Blood replied. Only a greater acceptance of the demon in you.

I already accept the demon in me, Samara retorted. I'm not so much like my mother.

Then use it, Blood goaded. Drive Melchiah away.

Samara awakened, the crimson runes burning on her skin once again. Her eyes were crimson once more and her chakra gem had once again transmogrified itself into a third eye.

“Samara?” Inferno asked.

“Yes,” Samara replied, her voice a low rasp. She rose from Inferno's arms and stalked toward Melchiah, slamming him into a wall with a wave of her hand. Another wave of her hand sent him flying into the ceiling and pinned him there. “Listen closely, fallen one. You are not welcome in my home. If you ever, ever come near me again, I will not hesitate to unleash the full extent of my powers upon you. Am I understood?”

Melchiah smirked. “You are very much understood. In fact, I am rather impressed by this display of your power. But I will be in touch, no matter what you say.”

The fallen angel teleported out of Samara's grip and the crimson runes were gone.

“Whoa,” Beast Girl uttered. “Remind me not to make you mad.”

“Like you'd ever stop,” Samara remarked.

“It looks like you have more control of yourself now than you did when those runes first appeared,” Nightstar observed. “What are those, anyway?”

“The inscriptions that mark me as a descendant of Trigon,” Samara answered. “It was Blood. His bite triggered the runes the first time and he contacted me just before they manifested this time.”

“The bite,” Inferno spoke. “It must have transferred part of him into you, connecting the two of you psychically.”

“That's what I figured,” Samara agreed. She turned to Mercury. “Mind if I heal the rest of that? Even if you heal faster than a normal human, that was still a nasty wound and I can tell you only healed yourself enough so that you could still fight.”

Without waiting for his answer, Samara planted her hand on Mercury's stomach and finished his healing.

“Thanks,” the speedster said.

“You're welcome,” Samara answered.

“We have Blood and three demons coming after you,” Bladefire said. “Why they're after you, we have no clue, but it's pretty clear that they all want you to be their consort.”

“I know why Leknaat wants me, at least,” Samara answered. “It's the power I've inherited from my lineage . . . particularly my grandfather.”

“You mean Trigon,” Bladefire said. “That makes sense now. If a demon could get his or her hands on the power of Trigon, he or she would be a force to be reckoned with.”

“That must be why the others want you,” Inferno said, turning to Samara. “And considering that Blood's bite made those runes appear on you, he probably has more of a direct connection to Trigon than the demons pursuing you.”

“You'd be very right in your supposition, Jeremiah Crockett,” a familiar, menace-laden voice spoke. “Which is why we've taken certain measures to ensure that he cannot get his hands on her.”

The Titans whirled to find Slade and Ravager standing before them.

“Hello, Samara,” Ravager purred. “Don't you have a hug for your dear auntie and grandpa?”

End Notes: Might as well end it here, as this is just too good a cliffhanger to shock you with. Slade and Ravager have finally arrived, but are they really here to help or do they have their own agenda?

Noticed the shorter chapters? One, I'm trying to make reading somewhat more bearable for those of you with short attention spans. Two, I don't have as much material as I did before and so I'm being a little more conservative than I usually am.

I got the name Leknaat from a sorceress in the RPG Suikoden and her style of dress from Dark Chi in the manga/animé Chobits. Melchiah is the name of a character in the Legacy of Kain series, specifically Soul Reaver. Note that Soul Reaver is also where I got Raziel's name, for those of you reading that are fans of the game.

Now, if you don't mind, please let me know what you thought of this chapter, good or bad.