The knocker on the door to apartment hung ominously in the center of the dark wooden door. It's gaping maw and bared teeth threatened to eat Dick's hand as he reached towards the knocker only for the door to open just as Dick's fingers touched the aging brass.
"The Batman said to expect you." A steely voice came from the door's opening as a man stepped forward from the dimly lit interior. A streak of white parted the man's deep auburn hair indicating an age which didn't match the smooth features of his harsh face. Were Dick not familiar with Jason Blood's
ailment, he would have assumed the other man to be barely older than himself.
"We apologize for meeting you on such short notice Jason Blood, but our friend Raven is in danger and we can only assume it's due to the return of her father, Tri-." Koriand'r stopped as Jason raised a hand upon the mention of Trigon's name.
"Stating his name will only draw his attention to us here. And if I'm to help you find your friend, I can't have a demon breathing down my neck." Motioning for the pair to enter, Kori gazed around the dreary interior. Aged books decorated the walls as book shelf upon book shelf covered every corner of the room. Dark colours dominated the interior with splashes of blood red added the only evidence of life to the blacks and browns.
"Your friend, she's the demon's daughter correct?" Jason asked as he took a seat at a small round table. Laying directly in the center was a large crystal orb that seemed to glow if only briefly as both Dick and Kori took a seat.
"That's correct. After the team went our own separate ways, Raven returned to the monks of Azarath believing she would be safe from Tri-," Dick paused as he caught himself.
"The demon's reach.""Azarath should have been safe." Blood mused as a hand made its way to his chin.
"I'll try contacting the monks." He stated, reaching forward and placing both hands upon the orb in the center of the table. Like a drop of ink in a glass of water, a bead of deep indigo appeared at the center of the orb before it slowly spread through the once clear material turning it a deep opaque blue.
"I can see the monks..." Jason's voice became strained as the darkness was broken by several dots of light.
"They're all... dead." He croaked as the distinct smell of sulfur began to fill the room.
The bang echoed drowning out the crash of the crystal as it shattered against the floor. A cloud of smoke blinded the three it erupted from the center of the table before toppling it. Looking it up, Dick's eyes were met by a pair of amber ones as a strange blue imp stared back, hanging from the ceiling by it's pointed tail.
"What the..." The rest of sentence was suddenly drowned out as a another bang rang out.
From within the second cloud of smoke, another identical creature appeared, lunging towards Kori only to be swatted harmlessly away by the alien Princess. Suddenly the bangs began to erupt in sequence, the apartment filling with smoke and the overwhelming odor of sulfur.
"Neyaphem!" Jason's voice range out through the blinding thicket. All manner of appendages wrapped themselves are Dick's body as the imps dug their teeth and claws into his skin. From a couple feet away, squeals of pain followed flashes of brilliant verdant as Kori easily defended herself against the tiny attackers. Fighting against the demonic creatures, Dick managed to free an arm as he reached into his jacket. Drawing one of his escrima sticks, the '
buzz' of the tazer came to life before he stabbed it into the blue body of an attacker. The creature screeched in surprise before teleporting away as Dick managed to free himself. Drawing the other escrima stick, Dick found himself back to back with Kori as the she fired 'star bolts' from her hands as the pair fought back against the overwhelming horde of Neyaphem.
"What happened to Jason?" Dick yelled over the screeching creatures.
"Gone, gone the form of man." An omnious voice rang out as the smoke began to clear. Pulling an imp from his face, Dick turned to see the source was none other than Jason himself.
"I believe he has revealed himself." Kori replied flatly as a brilliant beam of green erupted from her eyes pushing an imp back to the oblivion it had appeared from.
"Rise the demon Etrigan!" As the words left Jason's mouth, the man seemingly vanished from the room. In his stead, a hulking monster was left. Pale yellow skin was pulled taunt over a wide maw as sharp teeth hung over the bottom lip. Two horns curled forward from atop the beast's head, their sharpness matched only by the ancient armor it wore.
"Damn you imps back to the hell whence you came!" Ripping the Neyaphems from his body, Etrigan slammed one down in front of him.
"Go with limps, go with tails hung in shame." A gout of fire spewed forth from the demon's throat as Etrigan made short work of his attackers. The flames spread across the room as the creatures ran every which way, portals opening all around Dick and Kori as the room was flooded with purple smoke. Suddenly an imp attached itself to Dick's chest, teleporting them both before letting go of Dick as he reappeared outside the building. Feeling the air rush past him, gravity took a hold of Dick's body as he realized he was several feet above Gotham's skyline.
A blur of orange suddenly caught Dick's eyes as he noticed Kori speeding towards him. Angling himself, Dick directed his body through the air only to collide with Kori as she caught him in her arms.
"Nice catch." Dick shouted over the roar of the wind as Kori turned around and headed back towards Gotham.
"You always seem to be falling for me." Kori replied as the pair flew back into Blood's apartment.
"Tell Azazel that Etrigan sent you." The roar of Etrigan's voice could be heard as he slammed another Neyaphem into the ground only for the creature to flee in a burst of smoke.
"That looks like the last of them." Dick replied as he stepped forward.
"Leave, leave, Etrigan! Fade O'demon and return the man!" As Bruce had prepared Jason for the arrival of Dick and Kori, so Bruce had prepared Dick in the event that Jason be forced to revert to Etrigan. Apparently the demonologist's transformation had been a rather unpleasant experience for Gotham's Dark Knight.
"Thank you Nightwing." The returned form of Jason Blood said as he leaned against a nearby wall. The apartment around him laid in ruin as the carpet smoldered whilst books were strewn everywhere.
"Whilst you were attempting to live up to the latter part of your name," Blood paused with a wizened smirk before continuing.
"I managed to extract some information from one of the Neyaphem, their lord, Azazel, is the one who took your friend. It seems he had managed to take her to-" A Neyaphem leapt through the air, landing on Koriand'r before disappearing in another cloud of smoke, the girl vanishing along with the imp.
"KORI!" Dick yelled as Jason placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Watch out!" The demonologist threw Dick back as his outstretched hand emitted a blast just as another portal opened. Repelling the creature back, Jason raised his arm and cast a ward around the room.
"Where did they take them Jason?" Dick asked turning to the other man.
"Latveria."A rush of emotions flowed over Dick as he walked up the steps to Wayne manor. As he climbed the front steps, his shoulders sagged as a weight hung over him. Despite having discovered where Raven had been taken, the cost of the information had been too high. There was no doubt in Dick’s mind that Kori could fend for herself but he couldn’t help but feel guilty for her current situation.
Raising a hand, Dick wrapped on the door of the manor, knowing that within mere seconds Alfred’s familiar face would open the heavy oak door.
“Master Richard,” a familiar voice called out as the door swung open,
“It’s been far too long.” Alfred smiled at Dick, looking as impeccable as ever. Age treated the butler well; despite the seemingly never-ending barrage of stress and emotional baggage that came with working for Bruce Wayne, Alfred looked almost lively – a refreshing difference from Bruce’s trademark scowl.
“Please,” said Alfred,
“Do come in. Would you like anything to drink? How have you been?”“Hey Alf,” Dick said with his trademark boyish grin.
“I have to admit I’ve been better. It’s just one of those days where demons have kidnapped my girlfriend.” Dick added as he brushed his hair back from his eye. A finger tracing the new cuts that the Neyaphem had left nearly an hour ago.
“Afraid I’ll need a rain check on that drink, would Bruce be in?”“Ah, yes. You’ll find him where he always is,” Alfred sighed,
“In that lovely cave of his. I imagine you remember the way.”“Through the grandfather clock, down the winding flight of stairs, across the drawbridge and watch your step around the guano?” Dick replied with a smug smirk.
“Oh who am I kidding?” Dick winked before continuing,
“You keep the cave far too clean for there to be any guano.”“Indeed, Master Richard. Indeed.”“Always good to see you, Alf.” Dick said with a nod as he patted Alfred on the back, bidding him goodbye for now. The smell of the manor brought back waves of memories as Dick could recall the very first time he had stood in this very lobby. Everything had seemed so much bigger then, but now it almost felt like home. Showing himself the way to Thomas Wayne's study, Dick turned the hands on the antique grandfather clock to ten forty eight as a click let him know it was open. Climbing through the hidden passage, Dick closed the door firmly behind him as he took the elevator down to the main cavern.
Screeches of bats echoed all around him as the elevator disturbed their slumber as it shuddered to a halt allowing the former ward of Bruce Wayne to exit.
"I don't seem to recall an elevator when I was Robin, looks like you're getting soft in your old age."Bruce sat in front of the array of screens that made up what Dick had smartly dubbed the “Batcomputer” – just as he had christened the cave “the Batcave” and Batman’s endless supply of cars “the Batmobiles”. Footage of the sixteenth of March, 2016 played in loops on many of the screens; Omni-Man’s sinister plans for Earth had come as a shock to everyone, and even more so when he nearly killed his son on live television. Bruce was no doubt torturing himself over it. Although it had happened nearly a year ago, thousands upon thousands of people died during Omni-Man and Invincible’s battle, and Bruce, who had worked with the former in the past, likely blamed himself for not seeing through the Viltrumite’s deception sooner. And so he was doing what Bruce did best: brood, all while trying his best to ensure that he was ready for when Omni-Man returned… and for if Invincible decided to embody the saying, “Like father, like son.”
“Dick,” said Bruce, turning away from the Batcomputer,
“I… Alfred didn’t tell me you were visiting.”“Wasn’t a planned visit.” Dick started as he neared the Batcomputer.
“Watching Invincible’s throw down with the big bad papa again?” He asked with a raised eyebrow before shaking his head. He knew that no matter how many times Bruce watched the footage, the ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ would always discover something new.
“I got bored after the thirteenth time. It’s not a very engaging movie.” The voice of Jason Todd interjected from a few feet over with wrench in hand, fiddling with the motorcycle that was in front of him.
“It was pretty engaging being there.” Dick smirked as he let out a low whistle at the sight of the new Red Bird. Turning back to Bruce, Dick addressed him directly.
“I need your help.” Dick stated flatly as he cut to the chase.
“Raven’s been taken, Kori too.”“What can I do?” asked Bruce, his face the impassive mask he’d mastered over the years. But Dick knew the man better than either of them liked to admit, so he could see, somewhere deep within his eyes, some semblance of emotion… concern.
“I need to get to Latveria.” Dick replied, as he looked over towards the Batwing.
“Was hoping you might be able to help me out.”“Of course,” said Bruce,
“Take the Batwing.” His concern became more apparent, his brows slightly furrowing.
“Be careful in Latveria, Dick. Victor von Doom is not someone you want to anger.”“Yeah, isn’t it like “illegal by death of disintegration” or something to fuck around with Latverian affairs?”“Something like that, Jason.” Dick said with a smirk as he turned back to Bruce.
“I could really use you both with me. There’s no way to know what I’ll find there, I did just come from battling demons with Jason Blood.” “Well, if the Batwing is at risk of being “disintegrated” I should probably come. To make sure it stays in one piece and isn’t dismantled by big green’s engineers. You know, just in case.” A wry smirk met Jason’s lips as he finished up the current repairs and modifications on the motorcycle.
“Got to keep some family secrets.” Dick added with a smirk as he looked towards Bruce.
“So how about it? Are you coming?”“I can’t,” said Bruce.
“There’s too many things that could go wrong while I’m gone, and I’m not going to leave it up to Bette to take care of them.” “What about the other Titans? They can’t all be too busy to rescue two founding members, right?”“Arsenal’s in Russia. You could pick him up on the way. I’ll send his coordinates to the Batwing.”“This thing hypersonic?” Dick asked as he looked up to the Batwing.
“Detour to Russia wouldn’t take too long I suppose. I wonder what kind of trouble Roy found himself in to end up there.”
