"Word says you've stopped hunting Starfire. Care to explain why you went back on our deal?" Kali glared angrily at Blackfire before taking another long drink from the liquor bottle in her hand. Blackfire snarled and fired a shot from her eyes. The liquor bottle shattered in the demon's hands, sending pieces of glass into the air. Before the shards could hit the ground, Kali slammed Blackfire into the wall. "I never needed your damn deal," Kali snarled. "Being an assassin and a thief means I can cut the deal whenever I want. Raven's blood is mine now. You can kill your sister if you're not frightened of her." Blackfire choked, pulling at Kali's hand. The demon only tightened her hand around Blackfire's neck. "It was Slade's money," the alien gasped. "He's not going to be happy that you're backing out." "Do you think I care?" Kali demanded. "Slade can kill himself for all I care! My battle with Raven is in six days. If you want Starfire dead, kill her then. Now get out!" She threw Blackfire out of an already broken window and slumped against a wall. A few moments later, Kali grabbed another full liquor bottle and stared at the shimmering liquid. Her thumb and forefinger grasped the cap of the bottle and almost began to twist it off. However, Kali found herself unable to move the cap one centimeter. She sighed in weariness for the first time in three hundred years. It had been three hundred years since she had slept or stopped consuming liquor by the gallon. With an angry, feral snarl, she hurled the bottle away. The glass crashed into a bare light bulb and shattered it. The bottle, merely singed by a few errant sparks, spiraled through the air and smashed into tiny fragments on the floor across the room. Kali looked out the broken window and felt her eyes burn with her first tears of despair. Black clouds covered the moon and cast the entirety of the city into darkness. Out of anger, misery, and sheer exhaustion, Kali fell to the floor and sobbed. She weakly pounded her fist against the floor, tears falling into the dust covering the ground. Before long, the demon had fallen into an incredibly deep sleep. Kali had curled into a ball, her arms wrapped around herself as if substituting for something. Her form, frail in her slumber, shook with the emotions that had ravaged her being for the past few centuries. Only in her tormented, fragmented dreams could she let herself feel those emotions. If she let anything get to her, she would be unable to move from the pain in her terrible soul. Kali slept for the first time in a very long time, weeping as her dreams confused and destroyed her even more. ---------- Starfire's eyelids twitched and slowly opened. She stared up at the ceiling for a time, her vision eventually clearing. Though she felt drained, Starfire realized that she was remarkably uninjured. She had no idea if she had dreamt in her unconsciousness, and was suddenly terrified that Raven might have been hurt guarding her. The girl sat up as quickly as she could and rushed to the main chamber of the tower. Cyborg and Beast Boy were, as always, battling for electronic supremacy in one of their many racing games. Robin was sitting on the back of the couch, laughing every so often as Cyborg or Beast Boy threw jibs at each other. The sound of the door hissing shut drew Robin to turn about. When he laid eyes upon Starfire, he smiled and laughed with a wave. "Great to see you up again, Star," he said. Cyborg paused the game so he and Beast Boy could see their teammate. Beast Boy let out a cheer, leaping into the air and landing in Starfire's arms as an adorable kitten. Starfire smiled at the green cat, scratching behind his ears. "I am glad to be up again," she replied. "But where is Raven? Has something happened to her?" Beast Boy bounced out of Starfire's arms and turned back to his usual form. "No, she's fine," he said as he returned to the couch. "She's just been up on the roof for the last nine days." "Nine days?" Starfire asked. "Have I been sleeping for so long? But why is she there and not here with us?" "She said she needs to think about something," Robin explained, walking to his friend and teammate. "She said that Kali's target has changed. Kali's after Raven now." Starfire paled at Robin's words and turned about to hurry and find Raven. Robin watched her go without any malice in his heart. ---------- Raven heard the door open and close. She heard hurried footsteps and their sudden stop behind her. She felt a rush of air as the person fell to their knees behind her. She felt familiar arms wrap around her but didn't move. Starfire was trembling with silent tears, the small drops falling onto Raven's neck. "Why are you crying?" Raven questioned gently, lifting her hands to gently hold Starfire's. "Why must you be the demon's target?" Starfire whispered, her voice strained in distress. "I do not want you injured as I have been! Please!" "Starfire, I can't change Kali's mind," Raven murmured, turning about and pulling Starfire into a hug. "I don't know why she wants to kill me, but I won't leave you. Don't worry about tomorrow." Starfire froze at her words. "What happens tomorrow?" she asked. The way Raven did not meet her eyes told Starfire everything. Starfire's tears started anew and she clung to Raven, trembling with her sobs. Raven stroked Starfire's hair, laying soft kisses on Starfire's forehead. ---------- Blackfire snarled as she landed at the top of the mountain. Kali was sitting on a large stone, her eyes locked on Titan's Tower. The silence between them was filled with tangible hatred. "Raven and Starfire are almost here," Kali suddenly spoke up. "If you value your life at all, stay out of my battle with Raven." Blackfire let out a small scoff, crossing her arms and turning her attention to the darkening sky. A soft wind blew by as Starfire and Raven landed before Kali and Blackfire. The silence of dusk seemed at odds with the mêlée that was about to begin. The sun finally sank below the verge of the sky and cast the world into the pale moonlight. Kali lifted her sword and set it against the moon. She stared at the glistening blade, the light reflecting into her blood-toned eyes. Raven saw the sudden change in the light, how Kali's hand tensed. Not one second later, Raven had been forced backwards off the summit the group stood upon. Kali had leapt full-force at Raven, and the two were locked in a battle in a world only they could exist in. "Raven!" Starfire cried out in worry. She began to move towards the precipice but was abruptly cut off by her sister. Blackfire hurled a blast of energy into Starfire's torso, sending the girl flying backwards. "No you don't!" Blackfire shouted. "You're fighting me, little sister, and no one is going to help you this time!" Starfire pulled herself out of the rocks she had landed in, her eyes lighting with her anger. "I do not need help fighting you!" she snarled. Energy flashed from her eyes and caught Blackfire off-guard. The older of the sisters was flung into the air and Starfire laid chase. Raven barely dodged another slash, a thin line of red briefly appearing on her cheek before healing. She found herself moving with the same speed that she had dueled Chaos with, even though her emotions were astonishingly calm. She realized now how much power she had and why the archangel Gabriel had personally placed a limiter release to let her powers surge as she needed them. As she dodged and blocked each strike, Raven became aware of how futile the battle was. Kali was fighting with everything she had; every emotion and muscle was tuned to her effort to kill Raven. Raven, however, was barely using any of her magic or her strength. Both of them knew that Raven's skills were beyond anything Kali could ever attain, and still the pureblood demon kept fighting. Kali coughed hard as Raven landed a heavy blow on her ribs. Her clawed hand covered the area as her legs shook from the pain. Though her breathing was ragged and hindered by sudden coughs of blood, Kali doubled her already labored exertion and rushed at Raven once more with a cry for blood. Above them, Starfire had gained the upper hand on her sister. Blackfire was on the defensive, scarcely dodging the bursts of crushing energy that Starfire let loose. Truthfully, Blackfire was beginning to see that her battle was hopeless as well. Starfire had become the better warrior. With one more massive shot, Starfire sent Blackfire back through the air and into the mountaintop. Breathing heavily, Starfire flew down to kneel by her unmoving sister. She saw that Blackfire was still breathing and not terribly injured, and thus felt no guilt about defeating her sister so. She turned about to find if Raven was unharmed and gasped. Raven and Kali stood in identical stances, with their swords pulled back for a killing strike. Before Starfire could react, the two rushed at each other. A crash sounded as blade struck blade. Starfire tentatively opened her eyes and found Raven standing straight, her sword fading from sight and a faint smile on her face. She gasped, terrified that Raven had been injured and that Kali had vanished after her killing blow. "You have a very strange sense of timing, Chaos," Raven chuckled, turning about and smiling. Starfire cast her eyes about and found Chaos standing a few yards away from Raven. Kali was unconscious in the demon woman's arms. Rather overjoyed that Raven was unharmed, Starfire leapt from the cliff and flew to the sorceress. Chaos looked back to the cliff, her ears catching a sound that Starfire and Raven were unaware of. Blackfire had revived and crawled to the edge of the cliff. She summoned the last shreds of her energy to fire a deadly shot at both Raven and Starfire. Chaos grinned her terrible fanged grin and cast her own spell of death. Starfire turned when she heard her sister's scream. Black flames ironically consumed Blackfire and turned her into ash. The young alien froze as the flames faded into the clear, crisp night, staring at where her sister had been. She turned rather haltingly towards Chaos, who returned her gaze with a smirk. "My debt is done," Chaos hummed. "Thanks, Raven, for not beating Kali up too badly. Goodbye, you two lovely heroes." She turned and began to walk away. Kali stirred in her arms and looked up at her sleepily. A faint smile graced the demon woman's face as she snuggled against Chaos. "My tainted knight in black armor," Kali sighed happily. Chaos chuckled at the pet name. She summoned her black-feathered wings and rose up into the air. They vanished from the moon's eye.
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