| Kansas City - November 2
"How?" Raven asked, stepping back.
"Never leave unfinished what you begin," Trigon said calmly through the body he had possessed. "You fled."
"I left," Raven replied. "I had already defeated you."
"And yet," Trigon said, "here I am."
Raven narrowed her eyes.
"If you were really here, I'd smell your stench. You're still trapped. All you can do is send these pathetic hosts to temporarily possess."
"I will be there," Trigon replied. "It is our destiny to be together, Raven. Always. We are family."
His four eyes glowed brighter.
"You can make that happen. You can bring me to Earth."
"I'll fight you every step of the way," Raven said coldly. "You're an abomination."
Trigon's expression darkened.
"Watch your tone, ungrateful girl. Look at yourself. Weak. Lonely. Aligning yourself with cattle."
His voice dripped with contempt.
"It disgusts me. And I will not tolerate it. You will accept your place, child. You will know the glory of Trigon. You will—"
His speech abruptly ended.
A massive golden beam crashed down from the sky and obliterated the body he had possessed.
When the light faded, nothing remained but scorched earth.
Raven looked up.
Joseph and Kori hovered above her, Joseph's hand still extended.
"Never in a million years, four-eyes," Joseph said flatly.
"A lesser god dares interfere?" Trigon's voice roared as the host body began regenerating, the four eyes charging with malevolent orange energy.
Joseph vanished in a blur.
A split second later he reappeared beside Trigon, arm extended. In his hand was a black sword radiating a golden aura.
Trigon's head disappeared.
"As long as I exist," Joseph said coldly, "Earth is off-limits."
He tilted his head slightly.
Several Corruptors—still lurking in shadow form—were attempting to flee.
Joseph vanished again.
Raven barely registered the flashes of motion before the demons disappeared one by one.
She stood frozen.
Her father had just initiated contact with her.
And Joseph had destroyed him—easily.
Even if it had only been a weak host body.
She had known Joseph had single-handedly saved the Child Dimension during the Hour of Chaos, but she had never personally witnessed him fight before.
Now she had.
Kori descended toward the ground.
Suddenly, three Corruptors burst upward from the earth, lunging to possess her.
But Kori's necklace flared bright green.
Her casual clothes rippled and transformed into advanced purple and silver armor that formed around her body.
Her fists ignited with emerald energy.
In seconds, she shattered the three demons with a series of devastating blows.
Strangely… they didn't reform.
Normally, Trigon's emissaries couldn't be killed—only banished back to their plane. Raven herself could only accomplish that by transforming and summoning her Soul Self which was strenuous and quickly depleted her magic.
The fact that both Joseph and Kori had dealt with them so effortlessly filled her with something she hadn't felt in a long time.
Hope.
Hope that she didn't have to carry the burden of protecting Earth from Trigon alone.
Kori approached her and wrapped her in a warm embrace.
And Raven let herself cry.
**
| Azarath - November 2
On a desolate planet, a broken moon hung in the sky—split clean in two. The ruins of a once-beautiful civilization stretched across the landscape.
Shattered temples.
Split mountains.
Collapsed buildings.
There was no life left here.
Only them.
Raven had brought the Team to Azarath and finally revealed the past she had kept hidden from them.
Fourteen years ago, during a ceremony held by a Satanist cult, Trigon appeared before them in the form of a man. A woman named Arella was chosen to become his bride, and she was later impregnated.
But when Arella discovered the truth about Trigon, she fled.
Eventually, beings from another dimension rescued her and brought her to their peaceful realm—Azarath.
Raven was born there soon after.
However, because of her parentage, she never truly fit in. As she grew older, Raven began to believe that learning more about her father might help her understand herself. One day, while attempting to learn about him, she accidentally summoned Trigon.
He destroyed Azarath.
Arella and the monks who had raised Raven were killed, and Trigon brought his daughter back to his own dark realm.
For years, Raven endured horrors beyond imagining. Eventually, she learned the truth of Trigon's plan: he intended to conquer Earth, but he needed a powerful conduit to open the path.
Raven—half human, half demon—was that conduit.
But Trigon had underestimated her.
Using her magic, Raven trapped him inside a crimson-red crystal and built a towering structure around it to keep him imprisoned. Eventually, she escaped to Earth, where she was briefly captured by the Church of Blood. The cult had intended to use her in a ritual to summon her father.
Before they could succeed, the Team rescued her.
Raven lowered her gaze.
"The destruction of Azarath you're seeing here… is my fault."
"Raven…" Zatanna said softly.
"Don't worry," Raven continued. "I'm not staying with you. I have to keep moving to keep Trigon off your trail."
"Where will you go?" Miss Martian asked.
"It's better if you don't know," Raven replied. "He'll try to use you to get to me. But don't worry—I placed a protective spell on all of you. Just in case."
Kid Flash scratched the back of his head.
"And here I thought I just had a bad burrito."
"Wally!" Artemis snapped.
"I guess I should've asked your permission or something," Raven continued quietly. "But I couldn't risk him corrupting you. You're the only friends I've ever really had."
She hesitated.
"I'll… miss you."
"Raven," Starfire said gently, stepping forward. "We rescued you from Brother Blood. Let us help you again."
"If it provides any consolation," Aqualad added, "you would not be the first person here with an evil father. My father is Black Manta."
"Mine's Sportsmaster," Artemis said.
"And mine is Lex Luthor," Superboy added flatly.
"And it doesn't matter who our parents are," Match said. "We're family. And family doesn't turn their backs on each other when someone's in trouble."
He smiled reassuringly.
"You beat him once."
"I was lucky," Raven replied. "You have no idea what he's like. You've never faced a monster like Trigon."
"Trigon has never faced a monster like me."
The Team turned.
Nova stepped out of a golden Boom Tube behind them. Standing beside him was a yellow-skinned demon with red eyes.
Etrigan.
"Someone's got a bit too much dip on their chip," Roy said with a smirk.
Ignoring him, Etrigan stepped forward and spoke in his usual rhyming cadence:
"Though sorrow clouds this ruined land,
And fate deals cruel and bitter hand,
I'd rather greet my kin in cheer,
Not beneath my grandsire's shadow here."
Robin blinked.
"Does he always rhyme when he talks?"
"It's kind of his thing," Nova replied casually.
Then his expression hardened.
"Anyway, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Justice League has been possessed."
Zatanna's eyes widened.
"My dad too?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Nova said. "Trigon's Corruptors possessed everyone. They used Green Lantern to get close to Flash, and once that happened the rest of the League fell quickly. And they have a Fatherbox in their possession."
Robin rubbed his forehead.
"I am so not feeling the aster."
"Let's focus," Nova said firmly. "The entire Justice League could arrive here at any moment."
He turned to Etrigan.
"How do we remove the demons without… you know… killing them?"
Etrigan answered in rhyme:
"Strike the host with force or fright,
A blow of body, mind, or might.
The demon then will lose its hold,
Cast out from flesh it sought to mold.
Yet mark my words, the fiends won't die,
They'll slink through shadows, lurking nigh,
And hunt new vessels soon enough,
To serve my grandsire dark and rough."
Nova nodded grimly.
"Raven," he said, turning to her. "How do we stop Trigon?"
"We would have to open a portal to Hell and retrieve the crystal to imprison him again," Raven explained. "But the moment we enter his realm, he'll know."
She hesitated.
"Unless we allow him to enter Earth first… and use his absence to retrieve the crystal."
Etrigan spoke again.
"A gamble bold, a perilous game,
For if he rises, all may flame.
Yet should he leave his prison deep,
The crystal there we then might reap.
Of all foul roads that fate may set,
This path may be the safest yet."
Nova exhaled slowly.
"I think it'd be better if I go retrieve the crystal alone."
"No." Starfire refused outright. "It's too dangerous, even for you."
"Kori—"
"You've been stranded in distant worlds too many times, Joseph," she said firmly. "If something happens to you in Trigon's dimension, you won't be able to escape with a spaceship like before. And we don't even know if Trigon could hijack your Boom Tube. It's too risky—and you might not even be able to retrieve the crystal."
Nova crossed his arms.
"If Trigon has to enter Earth for us to retrieve the crystal anyway, what difference does it make if I try to sneak it out? His demons are already on Earth, and he'll keep sending more unless we do something."
"Then let me come with you," Kori said.
"The Team needs you here as their leader," Nova replied. "Just trust me. I'm strong."
He smirked slightly.
"And I'll be bringing some insurance, just in case."
Nova turned toward Raven.
"Can you give me the Helmet of Fate? It's about time Nabu made himself useful."
"Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos."
A black flash erupted in Raven's hands, and the cracked Helmet of Fate appeared.
Nova lifted it with telekinesis and held it thoughtfully for a moment.
"While I'm gone," he said, glancing at the Team, "you're going to need to keep the Justice League from getting their hands on Raven."
A small grin spread across his face.
"So… I brought some upgrades."