39 The 3rd Stage 2/2

'This bastard...He's lying!' He growled, circulating his dragonic essence to the point that a golden aura surrounded his body and the cat familiar.

Teekl started howling loudly, squirm as if its life depended on it as terrible pain spreads throughout its body.

"S-Stop!! No! Teekl!! What are you doing?!!" Klarion shrieked as he pulled on his hair. Soon after, he started to feel a pushing sensation comes over him just as his body faded in and out like a glitched computer game.

"Ethan what about Raven?" Pamela urgently asked whilst placing a hand on his shoulder.

"He was bluffing." Ethan scowled. "He had nothing to do with Raven disappearing." He would then glare at the villain as he crawled towards him.

"P-please! Stop! What you are doing! I'll give you anything!! Power! Money! I'll even give you my collection of rare pokemon cards!!"

"I'm tired of looking at you." Ethan spat before glancing at the howling cat and having a great idea. "Hey, how about making a contract with me? And ditch this guy?" He asked

"Y-you WOULDN'T! YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"

Ethan maliciously grinned, "I always wanted a cat~," He said, pulling his right foot back while staring at Klarion's face.

*BAM!* A kick so fierce collided with the villain's face, rocketing him across the concrete parking lot with enough force to break up the solidified rock. The place they were in was quite remote, but by now people probably heard of the noise.

Not long after did Ethan feel a different form of energy trying to enter his body, and the energy was weak giving off the feeling of submission which he assumed belonged to Teekl.

Once he accepted the energy he would stop circulating his essence, revealing a cat that looked like it was just saved from an inferno as smoke came off its body.

*Cough...Meow* Teekl let out a small cough before looking at Ethan with grateful eyes as he holds the cat in his arms.

Klarion shot up from the ground and furiously pointed at Ethan, "YOU BASTARD! YOU FUCKTARD! Y-Y-YOU!!"

"By the time you find a way to come back, I'll eradicate you. I'm not strong enough to take down gods yet. " Ethan said.

"I-" Klarion who was filled with a lot of anger and regret disappeared from the area, returning from whence he came.

The people behind him will only know much later that he was gone, throwing a wrench into their plans for the future. It wouldn't keep them down for long, but it would make them curious about who was able to take him down.

Harley sighed, "Well, that turd is gone for now, but what about Rave? Where did she go?"

Ethan glanced down at the cat, "Teekl...I know you are still recovering, but could you help us out?"

Teekl reluctantly nodded as Ethan started to feel a strange poking sensation in his mind.

("S-She...is not too far from here, Master! But she's moving a bit fast. You'll need to hurry before she leaves my range.") Teekl with the voice of a young boy said in Ethan's mind.

'Just tell me where!'

("North! North!!")

"Get in the RV and try to keep up with my position!!" Ethan shouted as the ground beneath him cracked before he leaped towards the distance, following Teekl's directions

"Yes! Speeding again!" Harley cheered, running back into the RV with Pamela close behind. Myra on the other hand would follow Ethan on foot as she could somewhat keep up with him.

>>>><<<<

Ethan quickly found himself in a small forested area just a few miles away from the truck stop parking lot which was a mess with their short confrontation with Klarion. As he explored the forest, he started to see a few smashed trees along the way with some looking like they were sliced right in half, the destruction seemed to become more severe the further he progressed.

Several minutes later, Ethan caught a glimpse of Raven who was furiously trying to meditate as tentacles made out of dark energy lashed out from underneath her cloak to destroy anything they got their hands on.

"Raven!" Ethan shouted as he picked up the pace.

Tydris started to speak in his mind, ("She's losing control! You have to-")

'NO! I am not killing an innocent again!' Ethan didn't even give Tydris enough time to speak before he snapped.

Raven gritted her teeth as she continued to fight her demon half, "S-stay away!!"

She didn't know why she was having so much trouble keeping it under wraps now. 'Was it because of Ethan? Is it because I started to slack off in my meditations?'

"Raven let me help you!" He shouted as he continued to approach

"You can't even help your self! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!!" As soon as she finished her sentence, the tentacles lashed out at Ethan forcing him to jump out of the way.

"This is all your fault! I should have never let my guard around you! I SHOULD HAVE NEVER LET YOU-RAAAAGGH!!!" Her thoughts were becoming erratic as she glided towards Ethan to attack him once more.

Ethan didn't want to hurt the half-demon and so he committed his time to dodge which Raven had a hard time keeping up with because of his speed.

"Just leave me alone! I don't need your help anymore!" Raven shouted, using her mystical powers to envelope a few trees in dark energy and ripping them out the roots to rapidly toss them at Ethan like javelins

Myra would soon arrive after this and immediately went on offense, catching two of the massive trees midair to hurl them back at Raven to which she sliced apart with her tentacles.

'I'm sorry...' Ethan thought as he put Teekl down on the ground.

("Who are you apologizing to?!) Tydris shouted.

'To...myself for this idea..I'll beat myself later for doing something Disney worthy!' He replied as he quickly dashed into Raven's personal space.

"Ah!?" Raven tried to move back, but then she felt her waist being grabbed by someone. She'd look at Ethan whose face drew closer to hers with his eyes closed. 'W-wait! No!-'

Soon the only thing Raven could think about was Ethan's warm lips that were firmly pressed against hers as he passionately kissed her. Her feelings were all over the place, varying from anger and happiness as she couldn't understand which one she should feel.

Everything seemed to slow down for Raven as her demon half visibly started to subside with her body returning to its original state. She didn't know when it happened, but eventually, her arms found their way around Ethan's neck, pulling him closer as her entire body shuddered while feeling a strange electrifying feeling spread through her nerves.

'What is this...? Why am I doing this?... Please stop...it's too hot..' Her mind wished for it to end and yet her lips were greedily sucking on his as if they were the best-tasting thing she had ever tasted.

Slowly but surely her body started to relax, enjoying the tight embrace that refused to let her go which eventually led to her letting out a groan into his lips.

'I'm jealous...' Myra thought as her eyes were glued on the two.

During all of this, Ethan was feeling something akin to being out in sweltering weather as sweat started to drip down from his brow. As soon as he kissed Raven in her demon state, he could feel an energy that threatened to take him over.

He swore he could hear something screaming, "LET GO OF MY DAUGHTER!! LET GO!"

However, hearing that wanted him to continue even more despite the uncomfortable feeling, and seconds later he realized that the voice probably belonged to Trigon.

Soon after what felt like an eternity, the two would separate to breathe leaving them both starry-eyed as they looked into each other's eyes. Raven was about to initiate another kiss until she heard someone screaming in the distance.

"OH HELL NO!! YOU ARE NOT HAVING A THIRD ONE!" Harley yelled as she dashed towards their location along with Pamela.

Hearing that Raven's entire face became flushed with red, "AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!!" She exclaimed quickly as Ethan's entire body was covered in dark energy, and before he could say anything he was hurled into the distance, crashing into several trees.

>>>><<<<

The last few hours of the night were quiet as they decided to just continue their way to Washington DC while they were wide awake.

Raven was huddled in the corner of the lounge area while Harley sat next to Ethan on the couch. Normally, she would be driving, but this time it fell to Pamela. The redhed already knew about Ethan's feelings for Raven, and he even told her like he promised a few days ago. He tried to tell Harley, but she wasn't having it all.

Harley glared at Ethan, 'I'm mad at you.' She mentally said to him.

'I'm mad at myself too...' Ethan replied back with a sigh.

'You?! YOU'RE MAD?!' Harley gripped his collar. 'You PROMISED TO TELL ME!'

'And...I did. Several times actually, but immediately after you acted like I said nothing!'

'Honeybuuun!! I didn't think you'd actually go for it..' She pouted as she slid into his lap before beginning to cry which was obviously fake.

"Harley?"

"Yes?-Oww!" Harley yelped as her forehead was flicked by Ethan, causing her to put a hand over the affected area. "Uggh...I want a date first for me to overlook this! I let you slide the first time, but now I'm demanding!"

("What is this anymore?... Please someone kill me now. I made a mistake.") Tydris sighed

("So, I wasn't hearing things! Someone else is using the same link!) Teekl replied

("I was here first. So, if it's going to bother you then you can kindly leave.") Tydris said.

("If you weren't paying attention then you would know that I CAN'T anymore. I am now under contract with him unless he ends it or he is killed...I already somewhat miss my old master...at least he had treats..") Teekl complained.

'Stop using my head to have a conversation!!' Ethan shouted.

("Yes, master..") Teekl answered as he found a place to relax while it licked its paws. The cat had pretty much recovered from earlier, but his body was a bit different now as it's once red eyes were now golden in color while a small patch of fur on his head showed a dragon insignia

("Repeat what you said to me?") Tydris threatened with a growl.

'I said stop using my head to have a conversation you overgrown dragon!'

("I'm sorry....repeat that? I didn't hear you?!")

Soon after that, Ethan couldn't remember much after they found a pretty much empty parking lot in front of a large convenience store to rest until noon.

During this time someone was thinking about the hard questions...

'If I let Trigon come...he'll just erase everything right? No one will know what happened if I did that right?' Raven thought as she tightly held her hood over her blushing face.

'Right?...'

The morning quickly came and Ethan woke up early to start cultivating as he felt as if he was at the doorsteps of the 3rd stage. There was something about this place as soon as he started to cultivate he could tell the quality of energy in the air was better for some reason. Ethan had a few ideas as there was a lot of stuff hidden and going on in Washington D.C.

A few hours would go by and inside of his mind, he could feel a loud clicking noise go off inside of his head. He would then dash out of the RV at his fastest possible speed, nearly leaving after images. There was no wilderness in sight and so he took the next best thing which was the tallest building in Washington D.C

No one would even notice the small shadow leaping towards its peak.

Ethan would hold onto it with one hand whilst holding his head up towards the blue sky.

"ROAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!" He released a roar, unlike anyone has heard before waking and alarming everyone that was in the city. The noise was so loud that people were forced to cover their ears as the ground shook underneath them.

What the hell was going on?!