Sorry, this chapter is a lot shorter than the others. But not as much happens, so…
And there's BB/Rae action, here! I didn't think that this story would have any romance, but I just can't resist writing it! I'm sort of a romance sucker, actually. If it's written well. Despite my manly nature 8D
Enjoy…
When I finally came to, the fight was over. Titans East had been overrun, and had been forced to retreat. Aside from me, they hadn't scored a single hit against us. We had returned home victorious, everyone else recounting the terrified faces of their opponents and laughing. I stayed silent, though. Now, this wasn't all that strange, I would never have taken part in that conversation anyway, but I felt weird. I could remember new things. Memories that conflicted now made sense.
The most prominent one was apparently recent, a few days ago. I remembered sitting on the couch in the living room of Titans Tower, reading a book and… smiling… while the rest of the Titans played a video game, laughing and having a good time. Then suddenly, the windows had all smashed, and thick clouds of knockout gas rolled in. Slade had walked in among it all as we lay on the ground clutching our throats, struggling to breath, and he seemingly impervious to the poisoned atmosphere. All he had done was kneel in front of Robin, lift his chin, and say "You're mine now. All of you."
I lay on my bed later that day, running the memory through over and over in my head. It didn't make any sense! Slade was our master, why would he capture us?
I remembered other things, too. Nothing as detailed, but it further complicated everything I knew about my life. Scenes of us having a cookout in the city park, fighting Dr. Light, watching a scary movie. We had never done those things, but it seemed so real…
What had made me 'remember' all this? I thought back a couple hours. I had only really started noticing the new memories after…
After Speedy had hit me in the head! It must've made me remember!
I had to know more.
Overexcited, I ran over and smashed my head against the wall. I fell on my butt, and aside from a large dent in the plaster and a bleeding forehead, nothing else happened. I was none the wiser.
I need more force, I decided. I wiped up the gash on my head and practically ran to Robin's room. I knocked on the door and he opened it cautiously. I slipped inside before he could object.
"I need you to hit me, Robin," I told him.
"What?" he raised an eyebrow and just stood there, looking stupid in his mini Slade outfit.
"Hit me on the head, with your staff! As hard as you can! Don't hold back; nothing you do can kill me."
"Um…"
"DO IT!"
"Well…"
"Dammit, Robin, don't make me hurt you!"
That convinced him. Still looking confused, he pulled out his staff, extended it, and crashed it into the side of my head.
My vision cut out for a second, and when it came back I was staring at the floor at a strange angle. I twisted my snapped neck back into place and sighed comfortably as the bone reconnected.
"Thanks, Robin!" I said and walked out of his room, leaving him standing there with his jaw hanging open.
My head was buzzing with new memories as I lay back down on my bed. I remembered fighting Mad Mod, Brother Blood, all sorts of villains. Even Slade. They were so real, even more so than the ones I had always lived with before. And best of all, they made sense. These were my real memories; that was my real life, I could feel it. But that still left the question of how I got to being Slade's chore monkey.
"Slade must have done something to make us forget our old lives," I thought out loud, pacing the floor, ignoring the tiny drops of blood beginning to flow from my forehead again. "He probably brainwashed us, or whatever. So, I need to get everyone else to remember, too. We need to get away from Slade and reclaim our old lives."
Suddenly my door opened.
"Leave Slade?" Beast Boy asked, striding in.
"What are you talking about?" I bluffed. "I never said that! And why were you listening at my door, anyway?"
"Raven, I know something's up. Any other day you probably would have broken my legs for being in your room so long."
Crap, I forgot. I was practically satanic under Slade.
Well, I had remembered my old life from being hit in the head. Perhaps…
I walked up and slapped Beast Boy across the face.
"Bit better…" he said, wiping his mouth. "But I still heard you talking about taking out Slade! He's our master; I can't let you do that!"
It didn't work!
He got up to go tattle on me, but I ran over to shut the door and stood in front of it, blocking his path.
"Please don't tell!" I begged him. If Slade found out that his grip had slipped, then he would brainwash me before I could help the others!
"I have to."
"Don't you remember anything from your old life? The picnics, the tofu dogs? Playing video games with Cyborg?" I asked.
He concentrated, and I saw his grey eyes fade to green for a second. But then they were muted again.
"I've always served Slade," he said. "We all have. You must be insane."
He pushed past me, obviously convinced that I wasn't deadly anymore, which was correct.
"No!" I grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him onto the bed. He tried to get back up, but I pinned him down.
"I must tell Master Slade!" he said, slowly forcing his way back up, for he was stronger than me.
I couldn't let him tell anyone, it would ruin everything! So I did the first thing that came to mind.
I kissed him full on the lips.
He jerked in surprise, but then, to my relief, he relaxed. It was admittedly wonderful, more so than I thought it would be. Part of me wanted to continue forever, but I pulled away.
"Please don't tell," I asked again, breathing kind of hard.
He slowly nodded, eyes dreamy.
I smiled and made to get off the bed, but then all of the lights snapped off at once.
"Congratulations, Raven," Slade's voice said out of the darkness. "You actually figured it out."
The plot thickens…
DUN
DUN
DUN!
Keep watching out for more!