"And Hell Came With Him"

Chapter 13: "Stone My Little Halo"

Disclaimer: Teen Titans and the larger universe it inhabits belong to DC Comics and Warner Brothers. The weapons featured in this story belong to Namco, which is the company behind Soul Calibur. I make no money from this story whatsoever.

Author's note: Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, life and other stories interrupted and seized my brain. But I've got inspiration for this story again, and that means we're gonna get rocking! Now that the fun times are over, the really fun times can begin . . . assuming you find fighting demon lords and archfiends fun. In the meantime, though, it's time to rock!

When Nightwing woke up, he found himself in bed with Raven, Starfire, and Blackfire draped over him . . . and all four of them were naked. "Umm, did I miss something?" he asked.

"Let's just say . . . we had ourselves a ball after you passed out," Raven answered, her dry tone belying the mischief in her eyes.

"All right, I think I get the part where you carried me out of the bathwater and dried me off, but . . ." Nightwing groaned. "Don't tell me you were molesting me while I slept and Rij'ze woke up and decided to have his fun with you."

"Fine, we won't tell you," Blackfire replied. "But he was quite fun, in his way."

Nightwing muttered, "Of course he'd be fun; he's making up for not getting any in fifteen centuries."

"It is not like he is a better lover than you," Starfire stated. "Your styles are simply different and yet equally satisfying. Although I must admit that I like having a lover with less of a grip on his passions . . ." She leaned over to whisper in Nightwing's ear. ". . . and more of a grip on me."

"When you put it like that . . ." Nightwing murmured, his voice dropping a few octaves.

Just then, Kid Flash vibrated through the door. "Hi, everyone! Sorry to interrupt the orgy, but Jason wants to talk to us!"

"Blood?" Nightwing asked.

"Of course!" Kid Flash answered. "Who else?"

Nightwing certainly wasn't going to disabuse Kid Flash of the notion that Jason Blood was the only "Jason" in the Tower; he respected X too much to let that happen. "It's all right. We'll be ready."

Kid Flash vibrated out the door again, and Blackfire pouted. "And I was looking forward to having my way with you . . ."

"You'll all get your chance," Nightwing assured as he got out of bed and began to don his costume. Once his costume was on, he picked up the Soul Swords and mounted them on his back. As he put on his mask, he heard a seductive ethereal "voice" in his mind.

Does that go for me, too?

Of course, Regina. Of course.

The girls dressed as well, Starfire wrapping a thick purple strap around her breasts in an X shape that effectively covered them while leaving tantalizing hints of what lay underneath. She also donned a Tamaranean neck collar and tight purple pants that seemed to be made out of a flexible alien metal. She then hooked those pants to the strap around her breasts with smaller straps that framed her abdomen in what could have been a five-sided diamond and donned a pair of wrist gauntlets and an armored armband.

Blackfire wore a tight black crop top with a Tamaranean neck collar and extremely skimpy black shorts that could have almost passed for panties. Armored sleeves and wrist gauntlets covered her arms, and thigh-high black boots covered her feet and legs.

Raven wore her standard black leotard, now sleeveless, only with a pair of low-rise armored-fabric pants over it and her gem-belt slung loosely on her hips. After donning a pair of black arm-covers, she threw her cloak on around her shoulders and clasped it shut as it folded over her body.

Nightwing eyed Raven with carefully hidden lasciviousness, betrayed only by his small smirk. Then he turned to Starfire and Blackfire and his smile widened. "Let's go."

The Titans Shadow assembled in the War Room, along with the Titans Mystic and the Titans West. Their allies for the moment – Violet, Videl, Kushier, Severin, Azrael, Seraph, and the Justice League's Magic Division – were there as well. Zatanna smiled sardonically at Nightwing, Red X, and Superboy.

"I trust you all enjoyed your little forays into the wonderful world of sexual excess?"

"You could have just asked to join in," Red X remarked. "I'd have let you."

"You're too young for me," Zatanna answered.

Red X chuckled. "But we're both at the zenith of our sexual energy and prowess! It could work . . . even if for just one night."

Violet and Videl both swung at Red X, only for Red X to trap Violet's wrist against his body and catch Videl's fist. Zatanna just smiled. "It seems your girlfriends aren't exactly amenable to sharing," she remarked.

"We are," Videl amended. "You've just got a long way to go to get our approval before we let you have him."

Jason Blood chuckled. "Truly, I haven't been so amused since the day . . ."

"The day what?" Nightwing prompted.

"Oh, nothing important," Jason replied. "Just the day my most trusted knight nearly killed me over a woman we both fell in love with. Ah, Lancelot . . . good man, a bit hotheaded . . . a lot like you, actually."

"Thanks for the compliment," Nightwing remarked.

Black Alice whistled as she looked at Superboy and the Wonder Girls. "You three sure Superman and Wonder Woman are gonna take you guys all sleeping together well?"

"Maybe it'll inspire them to stop denying how they feel about each other," Donna suggested.

"Wait," Cassie said. "If Superman and Wonder Woman get married, would that make us like . . . related?"

"You do know that most of the reason people get into a tizzy about incest, other than it just skeeves them, is the fucked-up babies that come out of it, right?" Blackfire piped up.

Superboy looked at Blackfire, then Starfire, then back to Blackfire. "Don't tell me you . . ."

Blackfire smirked.

"Oh, God . . . I think I might just pass out."

"Can we please stop talking about sex?" Captain Marvel asked with barely a trace of irritability. "It's distracting."

"You're a virgin, aren't you?" Red X taunted.

"Aww, it's ok . . ." Rose purred. "I like virgins."

Zatanna palmed her face. "Like Captain Marvel said, can we all please stop talking about sex? It's distracting."

"And we don't need to be reminded of what we're not getting," Black Alice added, just to needle Zatanna.

"Enough," Dr. Fate declared. "While we waste time speaking of the pleasures of the flesh, the Infernal Overlords' civil war comes closer and closer to spilling into this dimension and destroying everything and everyone we hold dear. Now, what we need to do is come up with a plan to keep that from happening."

"Can't we just go down to Hell and kick their asses?" Beast Boy asked.

"Not how it works, Beast Boy," Raven replied. "We need to find a way to shut any gateways leading out of Hell and into our world."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Cyborg asked.

"Several of us here are talented spell-casters," Raven replied. "Between us, and the other supernatural powers among us, there is a way to keep hell on Earth from happening."

"Even if we do find a way . . ." Superboy mused. "Won't we have to seal the gates in and out of Hell from both sides?"

"That's crazy talk, Superboy," Kid Flash said. "A two-way seal pretty much means somebody has to stay in Hell for good to maintain that side of the seal, let alone actually make it."

"I know," Superboy acknowledged, "but it sounds like the only way to be sure."

"Superboy has a point," Severin said. "If we are to keep the demons from again entering our domain, we would need their gateways sealed on both sides . . . and that would require someone to stay behind."

"But who's gonna do it?" Red X asked. "Who's going to agree to spend the rest of eternity in Hell fighting or being tortured by demons?"

"That's not something any of us can ask of someone else," Nightwing replied grimly. "Not if we aren't willing to do the same ourselves."

"If it comes to that, it comes to that," Doctor Fate stated succinctly. "In the meantime, we must prepare."

As Red X walked to his room after the meeting was over, he was pinned to the wall by Videl, who ripped off his mask and kissed him fiercely. Red X was surprised but eager, as he kissed Videl back, his gloved hands moving into her hair.

"What do you say, X?" she purred in his ear. "One more for the road?"

"One more for the road," X echoed decisively.

Videl unbuckled his belt and undid the catches keeping the lower half of his suit connected to the upper half. She then unzipped the lower part of her suit and straddled Red X, gripping his sides with her thighs as she lowered herself onto him.

"Fuck me like you mean it," she hissed.

Red X whirled around so that Videl was the one pinned against the wall and went to town on her while his cape wrapped around them both. Dark growls escaped his mouth as she pushed back against him with enough force to crack a lesser man's pelvis. Loud gasps and deep moans escaped Videl's mouth as she reacted to the force of Red X's thrusts.

"Jason . . ." Videl moaned.

"What's your name?" Red X whispered.

"Victoria . . ." Videl admitted.

"Victoria . . . my Victoria . . ." Red X snarled as he thrust into her even harder.

Rose happened to be walking down the hall when she saw Red X and Videl going at it against the wall. Smirking slightly, she walked up to them, getting close just as Red X let out a shuddering groan and Videl went into orgasmic spasms.

"Is this a private party . . . or can anybody join?"

Red X withdrew from Videl slowly, as Videl turned to Rose with a lazy smirk. "Just so long as you're willing to clean us up," Videl answered.

Rose licked her lips as she looked at Videl's nakedness. "Looks like you two really went at it."

"Uh-huh," Videl confirmed, smiling wickedly. "Want a taste?"

Rose smiled back just as wickedly and winked at Red X before lowering herself to her knees before Videl. "Taste good?" the demonic warrior queried as Rose went to work on her. She then shuddered as Rose let out a low, languorous moan of satisfaction, the vibrations of which she could easily feel against her sensitive flesh. Videl rolled her eyes up to look at Red X, smiling invitingly at him.

At sunset, Nightwing called everyone into the War Room. "There are seven points on this planet where we can find Hellgates," Severin explained. "One is in Death Valley. Another is in Iceland. The third is in the Amazon rainforest. The fourth is in the Sahara Desert. The fifth is in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. The sixth is in the Ryukyu Islands. The seventh is in the Russian tundra."

"And you know this how, exactly?" Beast Boy asked.

"I fought in Hell's army for several eons," Severin replied. "That's how I know."

"Who's gonna go?" Kid Flash asked.

"We all are," Nightwing replied. "But we'll have to split up to cover all seven Hellgates."

"I believe we should assemble our teams according to who'll be most likely to work well together," Doctor Fate suggested.

"Good idea," Cyborg agreed. "Who do you have in mind?"

"I was going to leave that to you," Doctor Fate answered.

"All right, then," Nightwing said. "Rose, Donna, and Jason are with me. Starfire, you, Cassie, Seraph, and Black Alice will go together. Raven, you, Superboy, Azrael, and Doctor Fate will be a team. Blackfire, you, Kid Flash, Osiris, and Captain Marvel will be a team. Red X, you, Cyborg, Kid Devil, Gemma, and Zatanna are going to work with each other. Violet, you'll be going with Beast Boy, Zatara, and Morgana. Videl, you're with Severin, Kushier, Obsidian, and Jinx."

"Who's going to lead the teams?" Superboy asked.

"I'll lead mine," Nightwing replied. "Seraph leads hers. Raven and Doctor Fate will co-lead. Captain Marvel leads. Cyborg and Zatanna co-lead. Beast Boy leads. Severin and Kushier co-lead."

"Me?" Beast Boy asked. "Seriously, Wingman?"

"Seriously, Beast Boy," Nightwing confirmed. "If it wasn't for you back with the Brotherhood of Evil, we wouldn't have survived. I've got faith in you."

Beast Boy almost blushed. At the last second, though, he regained some measure of cool and smiled. "Won't let you down, Nightwing."

"I know," Nightwing answered.

"So where do we go?" Beast Boy asked.

"My team goes to Death Valley," Nightwing explained. "Seraph's team goes to Iceland. Raven's team goes to the Amazon. Marvel's team goes to the Sahara. Cyborg's team goes to Australia. Beast Boy's team goes to Ryukyu. Kushier's team goes to the tundra."

"When do we go?" Black Alice asked.

"Now's good," Nightwing replied. "I wish we could spend a little longer here, enjoying what might be our last moments together, but the longer we delay, the more chance the demons have of bringing hell to Earth. Can't let that happen. Won't let that happen."

The sun was coming down as Nightwing's team reached Death Valley, and the demons were starting to come out, as though they'd sensed his team's approach. Jason drew his sword, the corrupted Excalibur, and began slicing through the demons, while Wonder Girl and Nightwing stuck to hand-to-hand combat with the demons. Rose drew her force blades and began carving a path through the demons, her left eye burning with a malefic light.

In Iceland, Seraph was wielding her divine saber against the demons in her path. Starfire powered through the demons with her starbolts, while Cassie opted to punch and kick her way through them. Black Alice had borrowed the Power of Shazam to become a female, gothic Black Adam and was now striking down the demons with eldritch lightning.

In the Amazon rainforest, Raven was telekinetically battering the demons, while Superboy used physical attacks boosted by his tactile telekinesis. Azrael fought the demons with his bare hands, proving himself once again to be a brutally formidable warrior. Doctor Fate cast both defensive and offensive spells against the demons, although when it became necessary, he did opt to just deck several of them.

In the Sahara desert, Blackfire was having a ball tearing through demons with her bare hands and starbolts, while Captain Marvel simply used his strength and his eldritch lightning to attack them. Osiris was fighting alongside Captain Marvel, and Captain Marvel had to admit that they made an excellent team . . . almost like fighting beside CM3. Kid Flash was vibrating through the demons, and causing them to explode simply by virtue of leftover kinetic energy from his passing.

On an Australian beach, Kid Devil was turning the sand to glass with every step he took and breathing fireballs at the demons. Cyborg's Sonic Cannons shredded various demons, while Red X had tapped into his demonic powers, warping through his demonic foes, "Force grabbing" them and slamming them to the ground, and even punching them repeatedly at high speed until their heads shattered. Zatanna was casting spells to attack the demons, while Gemma had attached a hellfire spell to her soul to amplify her fighting abilities and physical strength, allowing her to tear through the demons personally.

Zatanna watched Gemma, recognizing the nature of the magic she had employed. It was one thing to be unwittingly fused with a demon, but deliberately fusing a demon spell to one's soul for power? Misgivings aside, she had to admit that the tactic was effective, if not somewhat unsettling.

On the Ryukyu Islands, Violet was fighting the demons with the unique brand of martial arts she had learned from Kushier. The thing about heavenly combat arts was that they didn't just attack the body; they could destroy the soul if sufficient damage was inflicted. Thus, Violet was striking the demons in their chakras, right where the soul's power was most deeply concentrated and could be most heavily damaged.

Beast Boy had triggered the Werebeast transformation and was ripping through demons with a savagery one would not guess he had the potential for. Zatara and Morgana were casting offensive spells to attack the demons with and defensive spells for protection, although Morgana looked like she was actually having fun.

In the Russian tundra, Kushier had called forth her battle armor, savagely tearing through the demons. Severin was using his flaming sword to deal with the demons, and Videl just went berserk and beat every demon in her path to death. Obsidian shadow-merged and used his amplified strength and fighting abilities to thrash the demons in his path. Jinx hexed the demons into destroying themselves and each other when she wasn't using her acrobatics to dodge them.

In all seven points, all seven teams eventually succeeded in taking down their obstacles and breaking into the Hellgates, entering the Infernal Realm itself. "Well, haven't we gotten into a fine mess?" Nightwing asked.

"Yeah," Red X agreed.

"What was the title of your favorite wrestler's entrance theme?" Nightwing asked idly. "Release the Demon?"

"Yeah," Red X replied.

"Oh, I get it," Videl remarked with a laugh. "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!" She dived into the mass of demons that were coming after them and began to savagely rip them apart, laughing madly as their blood spilled on her.

Nightwing gave Red X the "are you insane?" look. Red X just shrugged and said, "The sex is awesome."

A storm of black fire formed around Nightwing, as Rij'ze's personality began to assert itself over his. A wicked smile formed on his face and he drew Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, clanging them together before speed-blitzing the deluge of demons.

"Gone, gone, the form of man! Rise the demon . . . Etrigan!"

"Well, he's one to talk," Red X remarked. "Oh, well." He ripped off his glove, revealing his Right Arm of the Damned, the veins of which were glowing blood-red. A demonic avatar surrounded Red X, and Red X chuckled. "Let's rip up some mangy dogs."

Starfire and Blackfire tag-teamed against the demon hordes, and so did the Wonder Girls. Black Alice, Gemma, and Morgana used their command of magic to attack the demons, while Severin, Kushier, Violet, and Seraph wielded their angelic powers against the demons. Cyborg and Beast Boy were tag-teaming against the demons, while Raven and Doctor Fate slung spells at the unholy creatures.

Captain Marvel and Osiris called forth the Power of Shazam to beat back the demons, while Zatanna and Zatara used their magic to fight them. Etrigan and Kid Devil were unleashing hellfire upon the demons, and Rose was tearing through the demons with her force blades. Superboy and Kid Flash tag-teamed as well, while Obsidian and Jinx backed each other up against the demons.

Of course, all this carnage drew the attention of the Infernal Overlords they'd come to stop in the first place. "Well, fuck me sideways!" Red X exclaimed.

"You are fucked," Blaze remarked. "And you're going to be fucked. In the most painful way possible. And with nothing to ease your anguish at all."

"Are you propositioning me?" Red X asked flirtatiously.

"Videl, I must congratulate you," Blaze commented. "You brought all our enemies here for me to kill!"

"For you to kill?!" Karkull yelled. "Not on your life! You can have the others! I want Superman's brat! And Fate!"

"You can have those two," Neron spat. "I'm interested in the Marvels."

The First of the Fallen emerged beside his fellows Nebiros and Eurynomos. All three resembled leather-clad, dark-haired men, but they were different in their own ways. The First had a relatively clean and distinguished appearance, while Nebiros looked like a street biker with some fashion sense and Eurynomos looked like a modernized Spartan. None of the three were happy to see the intruders, or their fellow demon lords.

"You shits," Nebiros spat. "You really think you're going to take our prizes from us?"

"Yeah, we think so," Neron retorted.

"'We'?" Blaze repeated skeptically.

"Shut up!" Rij'ze-Nightwing shouted. "We're getting bored with your squabbling! Either kill us now, or forever hold your peace!"

"And, of course, the wantonly violent dragon gets us all killed," Zatanna drawled sardonically.

Rij'ze-Nightwing laughed and clanged the Soul Swords together before lifting them over his head and twisting his wrists to create a halo over his body. Lowering his arms, the halo lowered over his body, forming a suit of black armor resembling an anthropomorphized crow. He looked up at the archfiends, his eyes blazing a virulent gold and silver highlights glowing from within his armor. "Let's do it."

"What's your allegiance, Videl?" Blaze asked. "Me, or your lover?"

"Mine!" Videl retorted, and struck Blaze with a bolt of dark lightning. Blaze recoiled in anger.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" the female archfiend asked.

"Eh, nothing," Videl replied. "But I didn't think you'd let me keep X, and so I decided, 'Screw it.' He's really good at head, you know. Can't let a guy like that slip away."

"Wow, thanks," Red X commented.

"Hmm, I suppose I have to discipline you now," Blaze said to Videl. "Oh, well. I'll attribute this rebellion to first love. You'll learn."

And so the battle was joined, with Blaze taking on Red X, Videl, Rose, Violet, Gemma, and Morgana. Rij'ze, Starfire, Blackfire, Raven, and the Wonder Girls fought the First of the Fallen. Severin, Kushier, Seraph, Azrael, Black Alice, and Osiris clashed swords with Nebiros and Eurynomos. Kid Devil, Etrigan, Obsidian, Zatanna, Cyborg, and Kid Flash took on Neron. Superboy, Doctor Fate, Jinx, Beast Boy, Captain Marvel, and Zatara took on Karkull.

Rij'ze spun both Soul Swords and threw them at the First while they were spinning, managing to cut off an arm and a leg. When he reclaimed his swords, they were coated in the First's blood. "And that's not all . . ."

"You think cutting off an arm and a leg is all it takes?" the First asked. "Stupid child!"

Rij'ze laughed at him. "Child? Child!?! You think this power belongs to a child?! Just for that, I'm gonna make your death really painful!"

As the First regenerated, Rij'ze attacked again, and again, and again, and again, accelerating and frenzying more and more until he was nothing but an almost literal whirlwind of death in every direction possible. By the time Rij'ze stopped, the First was no more than pink mist, so thoroughly Rij'ze had killed him.

Meanwhile, Red X and Videl were tag-teaming Blaze, assaulting her with extremely fast and vicious blows. When Blaze attempted to strike back, they used their speed to evade her attacks. Finally Red X ensnared her with the warping power of his Right Arm of the Damned, bringing her into a flying kick from him and a ground kick from Videl that knocked her down for the count.

Severin, Kushier, and Seraph combined their powers with Osiris's eldritch lightning to strike down the First's partners in the Infernal Triumvirate. Etrigan and Zatanna dealt with Neron via a binding spell, as did Doctor Fate and Zatara with Karkull.

"That takes care of them," Kushier said. "But there is the other part of our mission. Stopping their war from spilling out onto Earth."

"Who's going to go back to the light, and who's going to stay among Hell's blight?" Etrigan asked.

"Good point," Doctor Fate replied. "The gates have to be locked on both sides, or else it won't work."

"Then I'll stay," Videl said.

"No!" Red X exclaimed. "You can't!"

"Not your choice," Videl replied. "You're still a human. I'm not. I don't belong up there with you."

"Then I'm staying with you!" Red X declared.

"You'd do that . . . for someone you barely know?" Videl asked.

"Yes!" Red X exclaimed.

"You're insane . . . and sweet," Videl replied. "I'll miss you." She pulled off Red X's mask and kissed him on the lips, then pulled back as he passed out. She turned to Rij'ze. "He'll wake up soon enough. I just gave him the best orgasm he'd ever have. It'll keep him down for a while." She turned around. "You guys gonna go seal those portals?"

"I'd better stay, too," Kid Devil said.

"What do you mean?" Zatara asked.

"I'm hell-bound, anyway," Kid Devil replied. "Remember, Zat? At least this way, I can help you guys."

Zatara sagged. "You don't have to . . ."

"I do. Thanks, Zat. You've been great. I'll miss you."

Kushier and Severin elected to stay as well, alongside Gemma, Black Alice, and Morgana. When Etrigan gave Morgana a surprisingly tender look, Morgana just smiled and said, "Silly Uncle Jason. That's what we're supposed to. When the chips are down, we've got to be willing to give up some things to protect the people we love." She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye."

Violet gave Kushier one last parting hug, and Raven looked at Severin. "What do you expect me to tell Regan?"

"Tell her whatever you have to," Severin answered. "And tell her . . . I'm sorry I didn't recognize it sooner."

Reluctantly, the Titans and Leaguers who hadn't elected to stay behind went back to the Earth plane. On both sides of the Hellgates, they concentrated their powers to seal Hell off from Earth and Earth from Hell . . . forever, they hoped.

"What are we gonna tell X?" Blackfire asked.

"The truth," Nightwing replied. "He won't take it well, but . . ." He sighed. "I guess I was kind of wrong before, about Videl. Even if she wasn't loyal to us . . . she really did love him."

"And he her," Raven murmured. "I wonder how he'll go on now."

"He has Rose and Violet," Nightwing murmured. "And he's going to need them, just like they're gonna need him."

As the Titans and remaining Leaguers prepared to go back to their separate lives, a shadow watched them, focusing particularly hard at Nightwing. "You're mine, Nightwing. That's a promise."

End Notes: There you go. That's the end of this fic. I know I was building up to an epic finish and all, but it all kind of got jumbled and I had to rush it because I knew I didn't have enough steam to write out all those epic fights. I'm sorry, you guys. I really am. Well, this is the last from me for now in this series, but I've left enough sequel hooks in there so that I can resume with a new story in this series if enough of you ask for it. Again, I'm sorry I got so burned out with this and couldn't deliver the finish you deserved. If you still like it, thanks for reading, anyway. See you around.