(Davian's P.O.V)

The rays of the sun disappeared behind ominous clouds.

"Get out of my head!!!"

Raven's real voice sounded out.

"I sense something. You need to act now."

Chase immediately warned.

"And do what? I can't attack her!"

I shot back.

"Then try talking to her! Maybe she can fight this."

'I wasn't Naruto! Gah! Fine'

I sheathed Chesha Neko, raising my hands and approaching her slowly. The waves of demonic energy rippling out of her was awe-inspiring. Enough to almost overwhelm my knockoff Hiero.

"Raven? You can fight it..."

I yelled.

She let out a scream cradling her head. Her body remained afloat.

"I...I can't! Davian... I'm... I'm sorry."

"No...Raven!"

I grabbed the edge of her cloak.

Red beams of energy exploded out of her eyes, breaking through the clouds in one magnificent ray.

"You're too late."

The same voice from before said to me. My grip on her cloak slackened.

"Noooo!!"

Raven screamed. Then the scream suddenly cut off.

Her body floated to the ground, though not all the way down. The tip of her toes was level with my shins, hair floating in waves on the air behind her, head slumped down. I placed my hands under her form, just as she fell to the ground, like a puppet without strings.

"Raven..."

I called out.

Something cut through the air, headed towards her.

I knocked away the Batarrang by throwing up a barrier of strings around Raven and I. My eyes blazed with anger.

"What is wrong with you?!"

I directed at Batman.

The string wall cut them off from us before he could answer.

(General P.O.V)

The magician whirled up ok Batman.

"Why did you attack first? What is going on Batman?!"

Zatara yelled, grabbing the Dark Knight's shoulder. Even Robin was looking at his mentor in concern.

Everything had happened so fast. One minute they were de-escalating the situation, the next, something possesses the girl. Giovanni had felt the demonic energy coming out of her. It had been a malicious and evil thing. He had frozen, just like the others except for the boy.

Then Bruce had attacked and the boy had created a yarn of strings that were around the whole street and entrance to the Cathedral, blocking the road. Thankfully this area was mostly used by joggers and cyclists. Who were scarce due to the season.

"Now is not the time, Giovanni!"

Batman shouted at his face, unstrapping the wrist computer from his broken left hand.

"According to the report, that girl is a gateway to another realm."

He explained.

"Whenever she loses control, something comes out. It briefly came out in Grandale. The whole town died. She's a walking nuclear bomb."

Zatara blinked, understanding the danger the city was in. He looked at his hands and saw what Batman had handed him. The wrist computer.

"Use it to..."

"Already done."

Robin spoke up from the side, using his own wrist computer to analyze the properties of the strings.

"Whoa." The young boy said in awe.

"I can't scan the material but the tensile strength is off the charts. This small thread is stronger than a composite material made out of Tungsten, titanium and steel. Breaking through will not be easy."

"Zatara can handle that. However, We might still need to call in the rest."

Batman informed Zatara.

Then he took a knee, closely watching the yarn of strings holding in Davian and Raven. Batman reached into his utility belt and removed a vial of blue liquid. He used a syringe, sinking in the needle at his left hand bicep with a grunt.

"Allow me."

Zatara told him, bending to his knees and performing a spell. A sling formed out of magic appeared over Batman's hand, holding it close to his chest.

"Maybe you should sit this one out."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Zatara said.

"I don't have a choice. This is my mess. Had I done things differently..." The Batman shook his head with a sigh.

"The minute those strings unravel, we are fighting. I won't let Gotham get burnt to the ground."

He said, determination pouring out of him.

(Davian's P.O.V)

I turned my eyes towards Raven and froze. She was no longer in my arms. My eyes were level with her thighs. Usually I wouldn't mind enjoying such a sight. However, my skin crawled with fear.

This smoke... There was dark smoke on the ground, pouring out of her cloak. Red eyes and whispers sounded out from the darkness. I gulped, getting to my feet. Raven was unnaturally still.

I stood up fully, making eye contact with her eyes.

They were red. And there were four of them. Her face was twisted in a evil grin.

I found myself frozen in place. I couldn't move. My limbs were locked up. My hand shook, my heart sped up and terror gripped me. Within those eyes, I had felt the calls of billions of sinners. The evil of countless worlds. They say the eyes were the windows to the soul.

The only thing I saw in Trigon's eyes was pure unfiltered evil. It was filthy energy.

"You're weak boy. But my daughter chose well for a companion. There is... something in you."

He spoke, walking around me in the little space inside my dome of strings.

"You can't even tell it's strings. What is this power?"

He asked, studying the dome.

My jaw was locked up tight. I couldn't even speak.

"I see potential. And so, I give you a choice."

Raven appeared from the corner of my vision, running a finger over the purple shield.

Then she turned to me and I established eye contact with Trigon once more.

"Join me boy. You can rule under me. Become my daughter's servant. After a little reeducation of course. She needs to learn whose purpose she exists for. Mine."

He added.

Despite fighting literal bat monsters, mercenaries and snake men, this was the only time I had stood before something so alien, it defied common sense.

I could die here. I could die and go back to that place. To those gates.

"Snap out of it!"

Chase yelled.

"It's not you, the smoke is producing a fear inducing aura."

But something Trigon had said pissed me off. Re-education. There was no limits this fucker wouldn't go to have Raven do his bidding. Torture, brainwashing. I was suddenly relieved I had grown up without a father.

The anger gave me clarity. The fear wasn't real. I didn't have control of my body but I had control over Chesha Neko.

Sharp strings twined together to end in pointy ends that broke out around the handle of the weapon, in spikes. The spikes dug into my skin painfully. Easily piercing through because I had briefly deactivated reinforcement.

The pain was like an electric shock through my system. My hand rose up, about to release a Hado 4 straight at her chest, then follow it up with a wide Getsuga Tensho. But I stopped. This was Raven's body, I couldn't hurt her.

"Can't do it, can you?"

It seems Trigon knew it too as Raven's body floated there smugly, hands crossed over her chest.

Chesha Neko unravelled around my hand, forming a thick purple glove that I slammed onto Raven's chest.

The strings washed down her body, covering her completely. Her eyes widened but it was too late, the strings forming around her face as well. I clutched my palm into a fist, tightening the fabric around her, only leaving a few holes for her to breath through.

The shield of yarn around us unravelled and immediately I found myself surrounded by the entire Justice League.

To my right Captain Atom, floated in mid air, hands lighting up with energy. Then on the roof of a building overlooking the Cathedral was Green Arrow, crouching. Then Aquaman, wait... who's the old guy in the Flash costume?, Black Canary, Green Lantern Hal Jordan I think, Hawkwoman, Hawkman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Zatara and finally Batman.

Wonder Woman hovered to the ground with raised hands.

"We're not here to fight."

The demi-god addressed me in a soft tone, no doubt noticing my tensed muscles.

I was about to answer when I saw the artifact on her hips.

"Your Lasso..." I realized.

"You can help her..."

The Lasso of Hestia compelled any and everyone to speak the truth, without fail. If she used it on Raven then Trigon would lose his hold on her.

"Hurry. Use the Lasso on her. We don't have a lot of time."

I pushed forward the bound Raven. The strings around her made it seem as if she was a mummy.

Wonder Woman looked at Batman and Zatara. The latter nodded.

"We will need you both to come in after this, son."

Blue costume, red cape flapping behind him, black hair and baby blue eyes. Not to mention the impressive physique. 'Comic book pretty' set some unrealistic standards. Superman looked more like a model who had decided to hit the gym 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for a decade without fail.

"Can we talk about this later?"

The minute Raven was back to her normal self, we were fighting our way out of here. There was no way I was going to allow myself to be captured by the League. Not after the Batman fiasco.

Wonder Woman used the Lasso, looping it around Raven before tightening it on her. I undid the strings covering her head. Raven opened her four eyes and laughed.

"I see we have some uninvited guests."

Her lips moved but the voice that came out was Trigon's.

Zatara did the sign of the cross. The rest of the League were also serious as they regarded her.

"Who are you?! The Lasso of Hestia, compells the truth out of you."

Wonder Woman commanded.

The Lasso glowed brighter. Raven's mouth opened.

"I...I...am He who has swallowed the sins of billions of worlds! Gods tremble at my presence! I am Trigon! The conqueror and the earth is mine!!"

"Be careful my wielder, something is very wrong."

Chase spoke up in urgency.

"...Speak the truth! Who Are You!?"

Wonder Woman shouted once more, the Lasso's light growing brighter.

Raven's body jerked within my strings.

"It's not working..."

I covered her head with strings once more. Maybe I could suffocate her?

There was a streak of red lightning flashing across the sky.

Something fell on the back of my palm. A burning red clump that fizzled out and broke down into ash above my hardened skin. I looked up.

Snow was falling but it wasn't white. It was red.

"Is it just me, or is it raining burning snow?"

Robin asked from his mentor's side.

The clumps fell to the ground, covering the whole street, melting the snow on the ground and breaking apart the bricks.

"Aah! Ow! Be careful. This snow burns."

Black Canary informed the others.

A green umbrella construct formed above the group to block the falling snow, courtesy of Green Lantern.

"Trigon." Zatara muttered.

"If that's who we are dealing with, then we might need more than the League."

Zatara told the rest in a grim tone.

I stared at the Justice League. The World's premier superpower team.

"This is exactly what I was trying to avoid."

I glared at Batman. If only he hadn't pushed..

"For those who don't understand she's being possessed by an Inter-dimensional demon hellbent on world domination."

"Oh, that's uh...bad. I'm not feeling too whelmed right now."

Robin muttered from the other side.

"Whelmed?"

Zatara wondered.

"It's a whole thing."

Boy Wonder shrugged.

"We probably don't have time for me to explain."

Meanwhile I was deep in a conversation with Chase. I looked at Raven. Trigon still had a hold on her. She wasn't moving yet...

"The lasso clearly isn't working. Any ideas on how we can break her out of it?"

I asked Chase.

"You don't have a choice...you will have to fight."

What about the Konso? Wait...that could actually work.

Right at that moment...an ominous circle flashed above the sky and the ground under us.

"That's what the snow was for..."

I finally understood. I didn't know much about magic but Raven had showed me a couple of things. The clumps of red snow were used as a medium to cast a spell.

"He was stalling for time! Everybody get back!..."

I grabbed onto my sheath, a green shield appearing around me as the explosion blasted through the air, destroying everything in one massive fiery wave. I was pushed away by the pressure blast. My back slamming through something hard, the sound of breaking glass muted by the roaring fires.

Light bloomed under my eye lids. Luckily my shield managed to hold.

I opened my eyes after what felt like 2 minutes.

I couldn't believe the sight infront of me. The bridge was in shambles, having fallen to the frozen river. The whole city...Gotham was nothing but a dark smog rising above the broken remains of burning skyscrapers and buildings.

I could hear over millions of screaming voices. The death...

Shadowy forms flew above the skyline, tending to the injured...no, not tending, the cloaked forms were waiting for them to die.

They were DC's version of Soul Reapers.

I looked around and saw nothing but destruction.

"Chase...what the fuck just happened?"