Through the many veils of the duat, penetrating the grounds of Asgard, descending the layers of all hells, the call echoed.

"I summon Ra!"

A shiver ran through the Amazon, rooted in the tarmac as if her godly blood spiralled from her feet and wound its way in to the ground. It wasn't right. Didn't feel right. Not Ra- it should have been Helios...not Ra at all.

Tezcatlipoca shrank back, striped skull inclining towards the sun, shrieking their dissent. The great star appeared to turn, extending its arms across the vast blue curtain, an inverse aurora spanning the heavens.

"Great gods." Diana breathed.

Constantine snorted, hands in his pockets, perfectly happy to sit back and count on their odds, "That's the right idea."

Squinting as she traced the golden waves shimmering overhead, the demoness noted, "Certainly is." And grinned something rather sinister at the Amazon, "But I think you're a little too far north."

Perhaps it was the fascination that Wonder Woman's discomfort brought, from an empath's perspective. Or maybe she was territorial- her boyfriend was now affiliated with the Ancient Egyptians. Quite possibly, Raven wanted to see what would happen.

Doe-eyed and brows drawn, the Amazon's whirring thoughts were clear on her face. She looked at the witch with a sobering helplessness, and Pride forced Raven's chin up when guilt sought to drag it down. The Amazon's faith was reaffirmed in a strong nod and clenched fist.

"Yes, perhaps."

Hissing alternating between the sun and the readily approaching god of Death, Tezcatlipoca sank on all fours close to the ground, a chilling imitation of their headdress: hands curling up in to paws; legs jutting and twisting unnaturally until they bent like hind legs.

Around the misshapen digits, the concrete began to upheave in little mounds, cracking apart and crumbling the top layer. Green shoots sprouted, reaching upwards to embrace the nurturing sun.

They shrivelled. Crumbled away. To dirt. To dust.

The shifted piles of concrete rubble their only remnants.

Every prowling step of Tezcatlipoca's brought forth the signs of life, grazing the god's appendages. With the next, those plants withered. The cycle repeated with every footfall as Tezcatlipoca growled their way towards the spirit of Anubis- gusts of their black fog puffing from their skinless jowls.

Damian, who would normally have basked under the sun's embrace, now wished to retreat to the shadows that the Sun-god cast. He inherited Anubis' aversion to Ra's realm, with their combined consciences, feeling his own powers- Anubis' powers- declining with the strength of Ra.

Lips remaining in an impassive line, Anubis and Damian called to Ra solely across the duat, reaching the great king upon his voyage through rivers of time.

Damian's experiences with god's exceeded the global average by quite a lot; he had never seen a god in their true, spiritual form. Not bottled in to a mortal. And not half morphed- like the Aztec stalking towards him. But a pure, unfiltered force of divinity.

Ra was blinding. Older than age, larger than size. Beautiful and dreadful and wonderful and terrifying.

Damian saw him through his soul's eye; the god spoke to him with a wordless voice.

Ra's eyes were cloudy and white, "You ask of me my help?"

A fat tear dragged its way down Damian's cheek, mirrored on the demoness's damp face. His aura shone with the sun god's light. Ra seemed to reach though, extending his influence to the mortals around Anubis.

She felt the touch of a god on her soul, opened her heart to his ceaseless knowledge, memory, pain... And Trigon was silent, contemplative. Obedient, even.

Slumber reached its soothing hand out to her and she welcomed the respite.

The demoness collapsed.

"The Aztec is an agent of chaos." Anubis and Damian appealed, spiritual eyes glued to the golden god. "They seek to destroy creation."

Raven's appeared in his mind, eyes closed, breathing lightly; then his father's, masked in a cowl, masked in indifference; and Grayson, concentrated, worrying.

"Please." He added, voice small without Anubis' infinite additions.

Robin's corporeal form fell to his knees, arms still straining towards the sun.

"Child." A ghost hand rested itself on Damian's shoulder. Not made of shadows, but of wispy light. He followed the trailing digits up their arm and rising still to old, knowing, cloudy eyes. "Anubis."

"Ra." They answered.

Tezcatlipoca howled and hurled their self towards the sun god. Tentacle-like shadow appendages spewed out of their mouth, jabbing towards Ra and Robin.

The misty arms were severed in half by streams of red light.

Conner looked up, "Superman!"

The Kryptonian floated down to the ground, ignoring the indignant screeches of an Aztec god of death who didn't know who to kill first.

Real stealth like, Hal (who had come around shortly after the trio of teens plus Jason had arrived) explained to Superman the current situation in a quick, "SobasicallyyouknowhowRobinhaslikeagodinhisheadorwhateveryeahsothatgodiscallingtheothetgodtheretheglowingonetogetrudofthisAztecdudebecausesomethingaboutlightabdshadowsanddeath..." he took in a big gulp of air."andBatmanwasall"NothatsmysonandIlovehimitstoodangerous"andRobinwaslike"ShutupdadI'llbefineandIloveyoutooandyeahthatsprettymuchit.alsoyourkidishere,andtheonewithguns- oh shit thats Robin number two. When did he get here?"

Superman slowly nodded his understand while The Red Hood waved his guns at the Green Lantern.

Meanwhile, Ra turned from Damian's shoulder and walked towards the Aztec like a pensioner out for a stroll. Tezcatlipoca seemed drawn between scurrying to the nearest volcano to cower in, and pouncing upon Ra with the fury of an undead army. As the sun god closed the distance between them, Tezcatlipoca seemed to loose their sense to fight or flee or move at all. Like the brightened sun overhead, Ra too diminished the energy of the hissing Aztec god.

"DARE APPROACH ME SUN GOD? I-"

Ra thrust his cloudy hand through the god's chest.

"Close your eyes and look away!" Damian called to the onlooking heroes.

It's was as though Ra had been like a sun covered by clouds.

Now the skies were clear.

His form in the duat had been of pure majesty, beautiful in ways that the human mind couldn't understand. Like infinity. Going on and on and on. One may understand the definition of the word, but to think of something continuing forever and ever...it starts to hurt, it's doesn't feel right- doesn't fit in to the human spectrum of understanding,

In his spirit form, his true form, in the duat, Ra had bewildered and brought to tears.

There is a fine difference between incomprehensible beauty, and palpable grace.

Now Damian was seeing Ra within the limits of the human mind: to the furthest extent to which he could understand the god, in a physical form.

Oh dear, it's only Ra. I don't know what is so special about his forms? My corporeal an non-corporeal states are just as splendid to behold!

Don't ruin the moment you jealous old thing. Damian chided somewhat affectionately. There are more important things to worry about.

Anubis was all that saved Robin from blindness- and possible total annihilation- as Ra cast his light upon the street and in to Tezcatlipoca.

The Aztec howled their curses to deaf ears.

"Can we look yet?" Captain Marvel shouted.

Receiving a decisive 'no', Billy huffed, mumbling his indignation about wanting to see 'the cool god dude whooping the skull guy's *ss'. Wisdom of Solomon my foot.

Turning once more to Damian, Ra whispered across the road and through the duat, "I may only go so far, young one. Farewell."

"Holy Hera."

Diana landed on the ground, catching a glimpse of the Egyptian god before he faded away.

"Not quite." Ra's words carried across the spiritual plane, meeting her mind softer than butter between fingertips, older than any of the tomes her mother Hippolyta had kept.

Golden grains swept away in the desert winds, Ra drifted away in to nothingness. Golden wisps unravelling like thread until his presence could no longer be felt in the physical realm.

Trigon stirred. Tezcatlipoca groaned something awful. The Amazon slumped on to a chunk of rubble and buried her forehead in her hands.

She had seen the slumbering demoness to safety, assured by Constantine that this was simply her body forcefully taking the opportunity for sleep: Trigon had been confirmed as docile under the influence of Ra.

That would not last much longer, and Raven's rest would come to an end soon enough.

Tezcatlipoca pulled themselves upright shakily, using a lamppost for support. They glared in the direction of the boy-god, eyes dimmed, skull-stripes faded. They opened their mouth, pushing their self off of the support beam. After the grinding, crackling noise of the dislodging jaw, no shadow-mist sank on to the ground.

Nothing left their mouth (perhaps a little bad breath).

"I see. That is pretty good." Hawkgirl tilted her head. "Very nice odds."

"Round two?" Superman suggested.

"Round two." Came the consensus.

Not entirely pitched out of the scene, the Mexican armed forces fired from afar at the god (whose toxic fog began to slither through the air, brushing against the ground , slinking towards them). The bullets rebounded from the god's skin; their attempts at a counterattack were useless: Tezcatlipoca extended their hand to the cluster of soldiers. Nothing happened.

"DAMNED CREATURES!" They seethed, and clawed wildly at Damian- who leaped out of the way.

He had Anubis' powers on his side, a greater physical strength and awareness too. But he could not bring down the creature on its own.

Damian was not so accomplished at pure Earth magic as to lift more than a few rocks. Or to make more than a few flowers bloom. He had not managed to properly attempt the harnessing of fire before Kon had interrupted the lesson (damned clone).

But there was something he had spent nearly all of his free time memorising until he could recite it by heart: The Channelling of Deities. Including information on types of bonds, how to form them, and how to break them.

Shooting his eyes to the side for a moment, Damian rummaged over the heroes' faces... no Raven. Where was she? What had happened? Was she okay?

He forced himself to breathe, satisfied that the severely weakened (but thoroughly pushed Tezcatlipoca would take a few more moments with the military forces. Anubis carried Damian back to the superheroes (and Jason) faster than he could have on his own.

Straight to the point.

"We need to sever that bond, get it as thin as possible so Tezca-whatever will be forced to leave the body." He ordered Constantine.

"Right-O kid." John saluted.

"They're weak. Weaker than before. The physical endurance seems to have remained, but their magical properties are-"

"Kaput." Superman finished.

"Exactly." At the sound of a particularly large explosion, Damian looked back, turning around again quickly. "We don't know how long Ra's blockades with stand, so we need to act- fast." They nodded. He turned to the Martian, "The severing of the bond will progress more efficiently if you can communicate with the host. Will that be possible."

"Certainly." J'onn said, passed a subtle eye to the Amazon sitting nearby, out of the huddle.

Saving the sentimentalities for a later time, Batman asked, "Do you require physical contact to sever the godly bond."

"No, but being within a close proximity and without distractions is preferred for dismantling a Control bond like this one."

His father nodded his understanding.

The tasks were designated. Protection for Robin, Constantine and J'onn; more distraction duty.

"Any questions?"

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Captain Marvel asked.

Superboy hid a snicker, muttering, "They say I'm bad..."

***

POW

So perhaps Superman had taken the whole scratching-his-back-off thing quite personally. The man was letting off a little too much steam for his teammates not to be a little thrown off. He only just stopped himself from punching the Aztec to the other side of the border.

Recently awoken and rejuvenated beyond measure, Raven all-but waltzed in to the battle, gliding lithely past her cross-legged, chanting boyfriend and Constantine; J'onn J'onzz sitting besides Wonder Woman- his aura extending in to Tezcatlipoca; and the others caught in the action.

Nightwing had briefly filled her in on all the little details, darting past keen claws ready to swipe at his head. Now she spotted something that might bring the whole thing down on its head.

Superman was pissed.

Cyborg and the Flash picking up the core offensive (their attacks melded together with time and practise) Superman was open to Raven's interference.

She tapped him on the shoulder.

"Wha- Oh Raven, you're up." Then he realised what situation they were in. "Get out of the way you might get hurt. This is one heck of a fighter, even without magic."

"Mr Kent I think maybe you should take a step back, you don't seem very in control of your powers and emotions. That kind of imbalance could become a problem."

Clark looked at Tezcatlipoca- the god's frenzied counterattacks- and his eyes developed a dangerous shadow that Raven would much rather suppress.

He shook his head and looked back at her, once again the friendly Uncle Clark.

"Maybe you're right. I'm shifting the team balance too much. I've got a lot of excess energy from Constantine's healing magic."

Now that wasn't terrible, just badly timed and placed.

"I think you can spare a minute or so." She said.

He raised and eyebrow, letting a chunk of rubble his his forearm with no effect on him.

With a wave of her hand the demoness opened a portal, the other side visible through it. Nothing but a grassy field the size of a basketball court, an ombré canope of burgundy and warm, creamy yellow. Kind of a lot like rhubarb and custard.

"I one this pocket realm in a game of poker. It expands when force it exerted on its boundaries- like a force field protecting it from other dimensions, but not really like that, it's more sciency than I would care to explain."

"And you want me to..?"

She smiled her mischief, "Punch the shit out of those boundaries. Blow off some steam. They'll keep on going and going. I'll leave the portal open for you."

He eyed the portal, then the purple-haired Titan, "That's a very pragmatic mindset you've got."

Raven pointed him towards the portal, "Thanks. It's the trauma."

She left Superman to his own devices, joining in the mêlée to help wherever she could here and there without intruding on the established team structure. A little fire-foot curse and enveloping one of Tezcatlipoca arms in her purple magic (to make them hit their self), then asking 'why are you hitting yourself?' were possibly her best highlights of the day.

All the while, J'onn's conscience sat in the mind-room with Tezcatlipoca's host, talking to the sniffling voice about anything and everything he could think of to talk about (pets, studies, favourite cereals, you name it); John and Damian worked to undo the magic caused by the caster of the bond.

All magic leaves a trace. If they could track down the caster (or casters) then perhaps they would be able to locate the other cult bases that their wonderful informant Ricardo hadn't managed to find out.

"Shatter ties and return sovereignty of command to the soul's kingdom. Expel the corrupter. Expel the imposer." Was the rough translation from Latin of the spell to counter Control Bonds.

Raven felt a tremor of magic shiver through the air, crawling up her spine and through her neck hairs. She almost didn't miss Tezcatlipoca's snapping jaws, shifting to the side in the last moment and spinning around to kick them in the side of the face, partnering the move with a knee to the neck. Gorgeous technique; Damian would have been proud.

"Expel the corrupter!" Damian and John could sense the rising tension of a bond about to snap straight down the middle. "Expel the imposer!"

Ohhh snap.

Tezcatlipoca faltered, falling to their bony knees, receiving a wince-inspiring mace to the face curtesy of the Thanagarian representative of the JusticeLeague.

"The bond's broken- give em what for!" Constantine cried.

In other words, punch away!

Lo and behold, eh I should arrive just then but Mr Cool Head Kent, relaxed refreshed and ready to whack something with a little more technique and less anger.

Damian looked at the Martian Manhunter, a man physically, emotionally emotionally and psychologically exhausted. He thanked him and watched the downfall of Tezcatlipoca, god of death. Not before, however, sparing the Amazon a bemused, perhaps amused, look.

A batarang to the eye and supper-powered sucker-punch to the face were enough to declare this a very solid, very long victory.

Tezcatlipoca's image wilted away, disappearing entirely so that what was left morphed back in to the image of a regular human being, out cold but sustaining no visible injuries.

"Job well done?" Raven asked.

"Job well done." Her boyfriend answered.

A.N:

I think that was the longest chapter yet. Fuck it's late.

Sooo Tezcatlipoca is gone...what do you lot feel about the way it transpired. I know I'm writing this really late and I'll probably hate this whole chapter later, but eh. That's pretty much part and parcel of writing.

Also, I've only recently clocked that I tend to write my notes/plans perhaps a little differently from the people I know. Maybe it's because this way gives me more room to just kind of write freely (I cannot stick to the conventional ways of planning and expanding and expanding again then adding higher vocabulary etc).

I don't know if you lot might find this interesting, but this was legit my fucking plan for the last few chapters:

OH NO CLARK IS DOWN

GOD OF NIGHT AND DARKNESS HIS POWERS ARE NEGATING EFFECTS OF YELLOW SUN

JONN COME HELP
TRIES TO COMMUNICATE WITH TEZCATLIPOCA

NIGHTWING HELPS CIVILIANS BECUASE HES FUCKING USELESS AGAINST A LITERAL GOD

CONSTANTINE CALLS UPON POWER OF SUN GODS BUT NOW ACTUAL SUN GODS

FUCK IT DIDNT REALLY WORK

OH WAIT TEZCATLIPOCA IS ALSO GOD OF DEATH AND SO IS ANUBIS

CALL DAMIAN AN RAVEN- CONNER CAN TAG ALONG TOO

BUST SOME ASS BCOS TEZY CANT DEAL WITH ANUBIS

ANUBIS CALLS UPON RA TO PURGE THE EARTH OF THE AZTEC SCUM

RA LISTENS

TADAA

***
I have issues.

Anyways, I love you all my darlings, see you later!

-Bats :)