Raven

[Follows after this.]

Fandom seemingly vanished, leaving them floating in a column of kaleidoscopic light that carried them upward, up through a hazy golden mist, into blue then purple and finally black. There was a momentary pause as light and dark merged into one. Their hearts suddenly stopped. No pulse. They were trapped in a moment of time, between worlds and dimensions and here and now and then and will be. Then the moment ended and they were elsewhere.

Most of them had seen this place before and would remember the beautiful city whose spires pierced the dark star-filled skies. They would remember Azarath in all its magnificent but sterile beauty. But what they saw now was nothing like before. Azarath had been razed and awaited death's dark scavengers to feast on its final meager pickings. The buildings were in ruins, and the skies burned red and yellow. Only one building still stood, the Temple Azarath, from which came voices raised in prayer.

Bodies littered the streets. Winged demons circled overhead, looking for more victims. ( And they'd spotted the new arrivals from Fandom. )

[Preplayed with blondecanary, brat_intraining, furious_maximus, furnaceface, glacial_witch, icecoldfrost, justwantsquiet, life_inshadow, longislandiceme, not_a_parakeet, sith_happened. NFI and NFB but OOC, as always, is welcome.]

Raven sat on the floor of her room, completely dark but for a single candle. "Azar, I beseech you," she prayed. "Hear my words, answer my prayers. I need you, Goddess. I need you. My mind is a battleground, whipped and ripped asunder, torn from the very fabric of reality. He, that demon who is Trigon, that demon who is my father...he calls for me. And his summons becomes so hard to resist."

She heard nothing from her former teacher, no words or comforting touch on her mind, but she hadn't really expected she would. Still, it hurt to have that last bit of hope crumble. "Then my course is charted," she murmured. "And my sad destiny awaits."

She'd leave in the morning. She'd run like she'd run from Azarath, a last attempt to protect those she loved before the evil churning within her consumed her. But for one last night she'd pretend Fandom was still her home.

Raven blew out the candle, crawled into her bed, and cried herself to sleep.

( Raven wasn't the only person still awake. )

[And away we go. Preplayed with glacial_witch. NFI and NFB, but OOC, as always, is welcome.]

Raven was trying to meditate. She needed to rest her body after being afraid to sleep again the night before (Bobby's birthday present was coming in very handy these days), but after an an unsettling phone call, and then snarling back an answer, she was too on edge to relax at all. (The following phone calls really didn't help, either.)

Meditation wasn't working. Boosts to her shielding only helped for a short time before they weakened against her father's power again. Being with friends helped a great deal, but she was beginning to accept she was putting them in danger with her presence. Trigon could act against them through her -- he'd proven that last night when she'd ended up at Max's house -- and she couldn't bear to think of causing them harm.

Agitated, she began to pace. She didn't want to leave Fandom, but how could she stay now?


[ooc: door is closed, post is open, but I may be slow at times due to the #@&*^% flowers.]

mrs_theterrible

After Trigon and Raven had vanished and the demons had all disappeared, Arella turned to address those from Fandom. "I will return you to your home as my daughter requested," she said. "Unless...." She hesitated and glanced toward the Temple of Azarath, damaged but still standing.

( It wasn't over yet. )

[OOC: Preplayed with the spectacular spectacular blondecanary, brat_intraining, furnaceface, glacial_witch, longislandiceme, joan_notjane, life_inshadow, oops_mbad, psychic_wonder, sith_happened, and weetuskenraider. YAY THE ENDS OF PREPLAY. NFI and NFB, but OOC always welcomed!]
 

Raven teleported with Trigon to a far away world. He'd manifested himself as almost human-sized (but taller than Anakin, because he was petty like that), standing beside her on a floating platform that overlooked the shattered world below. Stone buildings lay in ruins, and demons flew in the skies above. There were people below, looking up in fear. "God save us!" she heard one man cry. "Trigon has returned!"

( Someone chose...poorly. )

[OOC: Preplayed with...me. Warnings for really awful dialogue, ripping off lines from Star Wars, and Trigon saying "comely wench." NFI and NFB, but OOC always welcomed!

The spamming will end soon, promise.]
 

Raven wasn't strong enough to take everyone far, but Azarath was close enough to reach safely. They found themselves between dark blue-green skies where stars and planets hung impossibly close. There were buildings around them of marble and gold, and people milling about in robes of grey and blue.

Raven knew Dinah would recognize where they were, but for the rest, she said quietly, "This is Azarath. Welcome to my home."

( You will never find a more wretched hive of....peace and passivity. )

( And then Trigon reappeared. )

( And then Raven decided to be an idiot. )

[OOC: Preplayed with the awesome blondecanary, brat_intraining, furnaceface, glacial_witch, longislandiceme, joan_notjane, life_inshadow, oops_mbad, psychic_wonder, sith_happened, and weetuskenraider. Warnings for comic book dialogue and Raven being really stupid. NFI and NFB, but OOC always welcomed!]
 

Raven's Soul-Self returned to the Netherverse and reappeared near where the battle against the demon Goronn still raged, depositing those she had brought back with her from Fandom. It then returned to Raven's side, merging once again with her body as the fight continued.

( Ice, ice, baby. )

( Then a voice rolled like thunder across the skies. )

[OOC: Preplayed with the scintillating blondecanary, brat_intraining, furnaceface, glacial_witch, longislandiceme, joan_notjane, life_inshadow, oops_mbad, psychic_wonder, sith_happened, and weetuskenraider. Warnings for comic book dialogue and a demon speaking in capslock. NFI and NFB, but OOC always welcomed!]
 

Goronn

The sky turned black with smoke-like clouds, and two huge sets of burning red eyes peered down from above. Laughter roared like thunder, and lightning struck, tearing a hole in the air, through which crawled a reddish demon as large as five men. Its hands and feet ended in sharp claws, its mouth was filled with huge yellow teeth, and its tail ended in a spiked-club like some kind of demented dinosaur. It seized hold of Raven. "Ahh, little one, come and make Goronn a tasty meal," it cackled. "I hunger, dear Raven, I hunger for you!"

( Yes, he really said that. GOD, canon. )

[OOC: Preplayed with the awesome blondecanary, brat_intraining, furnaceface, glacial_witch, joan_notjane, life_inshadow, oops_mbad, sith_happened, and weetuskenraider. Warnings for comic book dialogue. It's painful, for realz. NFI and NFB, but OOC always welcomed!]
 

Raven swept up her friends into her Soul-Self, teleporting them into the netherverse, where Alligorr and his sorcererous companions awaited on a plateau amongst a rocky terrain. They stood now on a narrow bridge of stone that led to this plateau. The skies above were a strange reddish-orange and black.

( Long preplay is looooooooooooooong. )


( And then trouble showed up. In spandex. )

[OOC: Preplayed with the terribly patient blondecanary, brat_intraining, furnaceface, glacial_witch, joan_notjane, life_inshadow, oops_mbad, sith_happened, and weetuskenraider. Warnings for comic book violence, comic book dialogue, questionable rituals, and the JLA being one-dimensional dickheads. NFI and NFB, but OOC always welcomed!]
 

Alligorr had sent word to Raven that it was time to perform the ritual to stop her father from entering this world's dimension. She wasn't expecting trouble, but there was always the chance that there could be an attack by those her father had managed to influence -- not to mention her own fear that she could succumb to her father's control -- so she felt much more confident with her friends there to watch. Their love and friendship gave her strength and helped her overcome her doubt and fear, but she was still nervous.

( Cut for preplay. )

[OOC: Preplayed with the fabulous blondecanary, brat_intraining, furnaceface, glacial_witch, joan_notjane, life_inshadow, oops_mbad, sith_happened, and weetuskenraider. NFI, OOC always welcomed! Apologies for the spam that will follow later today/tomorrow. :) ]