80Asmodeus' castle looked bigger and more sinister than the image in Terra's flash drive. It was hard to explain, but it exuded utter death just looking at it would make the most hardened sinner repent. It looked unbelievably tall, and the very stones it was made of exuded pure evil. Entering it seemed like a sure fire way to commit certain suicide. Beast Boy suddenly understood why Raven wanted to leave him behind, and while he wasn't about to turn around, he was also beginning to regret coming. Their adventure in the cave seemed like child's play compared to what awaited them. He gulped nervously.
The expanse between the cave's entrance, where he instinctively hid in the shadows, and the castle suddenly felt insurmountable. He looked up in the sky and saw even more demons patrolling it. They looked grotesque, gargoyle like. Their faces were contorted messes, with huge fangs protruding and glowing eyes. Their claws looked huge and razor sharp. And they seemed to be endless, as they slowly flapped their bat like wings as they kept sharp eyes looking for intruders.
"How are we going to get past them? There are so many" Raven whispered to him.
Gar looked at the desolate landscape that separated them from the castle. There was nowhere to hide. Not a single dead tree or a boulder to provide refuge from the ever searching eyes in the sky. It seemed hopeless, a Quixotic task until he saw what looked like a green iguana scurry across the plain. He looked up at the sky, and noticed that demonic sentinels paid no heed to the lizards on the ground.
"Rave, I think I can get across."
She had also noticed the lizards. "I think we both can."
"Really? How? I can morph into one of those lizards. Can you teleport without being noticed?"
She shook her head.
"Take off you glove and hold my hand."
He complied.
"Now morph into one of those lizards."
"Huh?"
"Just do it."
He nodded and began his transformation. To his astonishment Raven also morphed into a lizard. She winced in pain, or at least winced as much as a lizard could. Still holding her hand … claw … he returned to human form and she did as well. She clenched her teeth, clearly in agony.
"That hurt, at lot."
"Rave, what just happened? You morphed!"
"Does it always hurt this much when you morph?" She asked.
"Uh, yeah it, does. I'm just kind of used to it … Rave … you also morphed … did you use magic?"
"Remember when I said we would become stronger?"
"You mean you can borrow my powers?"
"More like piggy back on them. And we have to be touching, as in skin contact."
He looked astonished. "So if you're touching me when I morph, you'll also morph?"
"Yes … Gar, how do you endure the pain? It was excruciating."
"Like I said, you get used to it."
"But I've never sensed it from you before. You really must be accustomed to it."
"Yeah, I am … so, we go lizard and sneak across?"
"I can't think of any other way. Gar, if you want to turn around, I won't hold it against you."
He stared at the grisly castle.
"If you think I'm letting you go in there alone, you're crazy … so how to do we get in?"
She pointed at the left side of the castle. "Do you see that culvert? That's our way in."
He nodded his agreement, then looked up at the sky. "What do we do if one of those flying gruesomes decides to eat us for lunch? Do we morph back into ourselves? Or something else, like maybe some T-Rexes?"
"Ourselves, either way our cover will be blown if that happens, and if it does, all hope of rescuing my mother with be lost, so I would teleport us out of here."
He gulped as he looked up at the sky. There seemed to be no end to the stream of sentinels in the sky.
"OK then, let's do it. Stay close in case we need to morph back." He said.
"I will … also, we shouldn't hurry across … that will tip them off."
"Yeah … crawl casual … or something like that."
He took her hand. "You ready? It's gonna hurt again."
"Ready." She replied as she closed her eyes and braced herself.
Much like the first time she felt her body get ripped apart and reconstruct itself. While it still hurt like Hell, it didn't seem quite as bad this time. She opened her eyes and saw a lizard looking at her. She nodded at him and turned towards the castle. They both began to scurry.
Gar kept an eye on Raven and after about 20 meters she stopped, and he did the same. He discretely looked up and saw one of the gargoyles approaching. The sinister creature looked down at them and Gar, even though he was a lizard, felt a chill down his spine. The flying demon continued flying and soon left them behind. Raven took off again and Gar followed and as before they stopped. They repeated this procedure several times and soon they were at the midpoint. There was no place to hide.
The next demon on patrol slowed down and looked at them. They looked unremarkable to the monster, the only slightly oddity was that they were a pair. It looked like it was going to continue on its patrol when with no warning it doubled back. Gar gulped, but otherwise he remained a lizard, completely motionless. The gargoyle began to descend towards them. He felt the urge to morph into something that could fight back against the horrible demon, but he remained still.
The demon swooped over them, no more than 3 meters above them. As soon as it passed it flapped its huge wings and returned to its regular patrol path, hurrying up to keep up its schedule and was soon gone.
The two green lizards continued their slow and steady approach to the castle, until finally they reached the culvert and were able to enter.
-(-)-
Robin sat down at the breakfast table. Starfire was already eating waffles with gravy and peanut butter, which made her boyfriend's stomach churn. Robin's plate was a more conventional breakfast of fried eggs, ham and hash brown potatoes.
"Good morning, Star." He greeted his sweetheart.
"Greetings." She replied with her usual grin.
As Robin began to eat he noticed that Raven's electric kettle was in exactly the same place as the night before. Raven was always diligent in picking up after herself, but it was more than obvious to Robin's sharp eye that her kettle had not been touched since yesterday, meaning she didn't make her usual morning pot of tea. He arched an eyebrow.
"Cy, have you seen Raven this morning?"
The tin man was heaping his own breakfast of scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, bacon, pancakes, hash browns and even more bacon onto a huge plate.
"Can't say that I have. She must still be in bed." He chuckled. "Sounds like B's bad habits are already rubbing off on her."
Robin slowly rose from his chair. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." He pulled out his communicator and flipped it open.
"Robin calling Raven."
There was no response. He tried a few more times, and had the same result: no reply. He frowned and started a 0location ping with his communicator, a safety measure that allowed any Titan, even if unconscious, to be located. There was no response from her communicator.
"I'm not getting a ping response from her communicator … or Beast Boy's."
Starfire stopped eating. "Maybe their communicator's are off?"
Robin snapped his communicator shut. "Not likely."
"But Robin, the ping, it works anywhere on Earth, correct?" She asked.
"Correct." He replied grimly. "This means one thing."
Cyborg left his plate in the kitchen and joined them.
"You mean, they ditched us and went to look for Raven's mom?"
"Exactly … Cy, did Terra include a quantum signature for the dimension where Raven's mother is supposed to be?"
"Yup, it's there."
"And that prototype dimensional jump engine you've been working on?"
"I can install it on the T-Ship in an hour."
Robin looked out the windows at the bay.
"I wish Raven had consulted with us before taking off like that."
"I'm sure she had her reasons."
"Maybe so, but we're still going after them."
Cyborg frowned. "Rob, maybe … maybe this is above our pay scale. You remember what happened to us with Trigon?"
Robin grimaced.
"It probably is above our pay scale, but I'm still going. You don't have to come if you're scared."
Cyborg stiffened and looked mildly indignant. "Who said anything about not going?"
"Good, we'll leave as soon as the T-Ship is ready."
-(-)-
The two lizards scampered into the castle, entering though the culvert. Once inside the castle walls they quickly scampered around until they found an entrance, a small barred window, and entered. They climbed down a tall stone wall into a large, dark and foul smelling room. There were several strange looking skeletons, clearly not human, that were shackled to the walls. The two reptiles looked around, to make sure there was no one alive in the room. Once they verified they were alone they joined claws. A moment later Beast Boy and Raven resumed their human form. Raven fell to her knees, clutching her side, clenching her teeth, doing her best to keep her composure.
"The pain will pass." He reassured her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"How long did it take before it stopped feeling like you were going to die every time?" She asked between between deep breaths.
"A few years."
"And you kept doing it?" She asked unable to conceal her dismay.
"It's really awesome to turn into animals, so I put up with the pain. Then I noticed that it hurt less and less until it was, you know, not a big deal anymore."
"But it still hurts when you morph?"
"Well, yeah, but not like before." He said as he looked around the room. "Rave, is this a dungeon?"
She stood back up, still wheezing, but the worst was over.
"It is."
"So what do we do next?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe mother is in another dungeon nearby."
He looked at a skeletons nearby. "Are these people? Some have horns."
"I don't think so … we need to hurry … someone is gonna notice us sooner or later."
The dungeon had a huge wooden door with a window with bars on it. Gar cautiously approached it, sniffing the air.
"Do you smell something?"
"I think I do … hang on." He morphed into a bloodhound and stood on his rear legs, propping himself up against the door. He stuck his snout into the opening and sniffed. He morphed back into his human form.
"Someone human is here. Whoever it is, they're alive."
Raven's eyes widened.
"Mother ..."
-(-)-
Asmodeus' castle was huge by any yardstick. It dwarfed any castle on Earth. Its great hall was so large that it could fit any Earthly stadium within its confines. There was a huge dais in its middle, and on it was a throne that was made out of nothing but skulls. The throne itself was as tall as Titans Tower, and Asmodeus sat on it, surrounded by his court, which consisted of thousands of demons of all shapes, colors and sizes.
He looked commanding sitting on his throne, surveying his realm from it. He looked pleased with himself, the master of his domain. He was red like his former master, but had feet instead of hooves, and instead of deer like antlers he had serpents growing from his head. His hands were sharp claws. Like his former master he had four glowing red eyes.
As he sat a small demon, a lesser of his servants, few up to his ear.
"Master, I have received word that we have intruders in the castle."
"I know." he replied.
"What are your orders? Shall we destroy them?"
The demon king did not immediately reply. He scratched his chin before answering.
"No, do not, allow the Lady Raven to come to me. I will deal with her … personally."
"As you wish my lord."
As the servant retreated Asmodeus raised he right fist so that it was level with his eyes, and opened it. A woman with violet hair rose and stood in his palm.
"Have you heard the good news, Arella? Your daughter has finally come to rescue you!"
Asmodeus began to chuckle. His laughter continued to grow until the great hall itself began to shake.
