A/n: Nice reviews everyone, hope you continue to read and enjoy my story!

D: I do not own any Teen Titans copyrights.

There was a bright pink flash and a startled grunt as Raven flew across the room; crashing violently into an expensive looking vanity. She groaned as she picked herself out of the rubble; a hand on her forehead coming away with a lot of blood marring the pale skin. There was a sigh as she yanked a good sized piece of glass out of her head; the Titan sending a heated glare in the direction of the blast.

Raven was not stupid; she doubted that the timing of that explosion had been coincidental. Someone had attacked the moment her fist had gotten a little too friendly with Rancid's face and it hadn't been demon boy himself; red was his thing, not pink. The color was familiar though; it brought to mind a certain she-villain who had faced her team on several occasions.

Sure enough Jinx lounged in the doorway with a brutal glint in her catlike eyes; she smirked when Raven's gaze fell on her. "Nuh-uh blue girl," The pink witch taunted, "Don't get too close now."

"What are you doing here?" Raven spat, her murderous look only growing in intensity when another masked teen popped out of the shadows. His wasn't a face she had seen before but she could still place a fairly accurate guess as to where he had come from. She narrowed her eyes. "I didn't know the H.I.V.E hired out cronies."

Jinx growled and her dark friend seemed to grow more menacing; but neither of them made a move to attack, not even Jinx. Raven blinked as she followed their gazes back over to Rancid; a man who, for some reason, was still unceremoniously sprawled out across the floor. With eyes closed and breathing even Raven could almost have sworn that her captor had fallen asleep; she would have if it wasn't for the injuries she had dealt him.

Or maybe lack of injuries was a better term; the scarlet bruise that had been sprawled across his face was receding almost impossibly fast. Raven really did swear when it disappeared completely; how the hell was she supposed to escape when the prison warden had powerful healing abilities?

The minute she tried he would simply heal himself and come after her; if she landed a hit on him at all that was. Raven wasn't going to delude herself into thinking that her hit hadn't been lucky; he had simply been unprepared. There was no way an unpowered girl could have gotten the upper hand otherwise.

Suddenly Rancid smirked and rose to his full height; his smooth features now showing no signs Raven had hit him at all. "Nice one Raven." He rolled his tongue over a name in a way that made her feel sick; stepping closer to her as he did so. "I knew you'd be a fighter, wouldn't have even looked at you if you weren't." His grin didn't falter as he took more and more steps towards where she stood; still bleeding into the ruins of the broken vanity.

"But punching me?" Closer and closer; Raven suddenly realized that, between the wall behind her and Jinx at the door, there would be nowhere to go if he kept coming. Punching him again wouldn't work; he'd expect it now.

Rancid let out a dark chuckle as he stopped directly in front of her; his body so close now that his breath ruffled her hair. "That takes guts girlie."

With a sharp look towards the two H.I.V.E students; Rancid waved a dismissing hand. "Stand down, I'll handle this myself." Both teens nodded, though Jinx's was reluctant, and fell out of their offensive stances. Raven saw this and assumed that that would be it; but Rancid didn't seem to be done yet.

"Next time," He began with a tone turned evil as he directed an equally murderous gaze at Jinx; red eyes burning like fire as he glared. "Wait for my orders. Got it?"

If Jinx was daunted by the appearance of her new boss she didn't show it; if anything she seemed rather used to the lecture. Rancid's grin returned when she nodded in an almost pitiful way; it was obvious that Jinx was no stranger to acting classes.

"If you get it then leave," He waved a dismissing hand again; this time resulting in both Jinx and her silent friend leaving the room in their respective ways. Only when they were gone did he turn back to his prey; grin turning to frown when he saw the bloodied glass she still held.

Raven glared and held her glass like a sword; lip still curled at Rancid's proximity. Escape had ceased being possible the moment he had gotten within ten feet; even with Jinx gone didn't make her odds any better. Raven could barely squeeze around him, much less make a dash for the door; her best bet would be fighting, even if her only weapon was a piece of glass.

"That won't do you any good girlie." He commented dryly. "I'll just do this." His fingers snapped and all the shards of glass transformed simultaneously; Raven scowled as she threw the now black rose down to its pile of brethren.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be." His voice would have been a coo if it wasn't for the cruelty hidden within it. One of his hands nearly brushed her skin before she lunged, nearly biting the offending digits before Rancid pulled it back; only for his other arm to snake around her waist and bring her crashing into him.

"Get off of me!" She hissed; frustrated that, without the aid of her powers, she was much weaker than Rancid's transformed form. Pulled up against him like this; she couldn't even knee him in the crotch.

"No luck girlie," He laughed, leaning further into his captive as if he planned to rest his chin on her head. Raven could only stiffen as his rough lips laid a gentle kiss right in the middle of her forehead; almost directly on the vanity-induced wound from earlier.

Almost immediately a cool sensation washed throughout her; beginning from his lips and shooting straight to her toes. Only once her body had returned to normal did he let her go; that almost continuous smile gracing the very lips that had so recently touched her skin. Raven was speechless; though if it was by shock or horror she did not know.

"You will be my Queen Raven." Rancid declared with a heated look in his red eyes, "It won't be now, but you will be." The transformed biker strode over to the door with an confident gate; he tossed a wink over his shoulder.

"And trust me, you will be willing."

On his way out he grabbed the maid from earlier and shoved her back into the room; barely heard him order her to clean up the roses and splintered wood before he was gone.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Robin sat crossed legged as Starfire stoked the little fire that they had created not too long ago; neither he or the other Titans bothering to talk as the silence set in. His bike, now fixed and ready, leaned up against the cave's wall almost mournfully; like it too was sad that they hadn't found the friend they had been so determined to find.

It had seemed so simple, just fly around and find them; but it had proven to be anything but. Johnny rancid hadn't only changed the architecture after all; he had changed the whole order of things. It wasn't even 15 minutes in before all of them got horribly lost.

Eventually BeastBoy found the cave; tired as they all were, it was very quick before the decision was reached to camp there. Robin didn't like it, he felt like they should move more, look more; they should be out searching until they drop. It felt wrong to sit down to a warm fire while Raven could be suffering more by the moment.

"Robin should have some dinner," Larry had appeared behind him, startling but not quite enough to get a reaction; Robin just wasn't in the mood. The little guy handed him what looked like a fish on a stick. "Eat it," He encouraged. "It's good."

"You guys better have some tofu on one of these sticks." BeastBoy commented dully from near the entrance, a few withered apples in his arms. "There isn't much veggie in Rancid land."

"Shut it BB," Cyborg snapped half-heartedly; seemingly fumbling around with what looked like a plug complete with a generator. Robin blinked at the sight of it but said nothing; with Larry here nothing surprised him anymore.

Even Starfire looked tired, her endless energy whittled away to near nothing as she poked the flames. Seeing his state she looked up; abandoning her post as she flew over to where there leader brooded.

"Friend Robin, Don not worry." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and attempted a smile. "Friend Raven will come to no harm. The man Rancid was not. . ." She paused, as if not quite sure how to phrase the next part. "As hostile as expected."

At this Robin looked up, blinking at the group's resident alien. "Not hostile?" He questioned with slight curiosity, not quite sure how he should take this news. "Why would he take her then?"

Starfire seemed to think a moment before she responded. "Friend Raven is more like the man Rancid then we are." She supplied finally, her gaze drifting over to the crackling fire as if she could see the entirety of the universe within its simple colors. "Perhaps he wishes to change her as he changed reality."

Cyborg and BeastBoy shared a glance; even Larry looked worried. Robin could only smile, for the first time since the Tower feeling like there was actually a chance of getting Raven back. They had assumed he had taken her as a hostage or maybe even to torture her in some way; but this, this was better than they could have dreamed. Raven was strong, stronger than all of them combined. She would hold out until they got her and if Rancid wanted her alive; well, they had time he hadn't wanted to hope for.

"This is bad." BeastBoy let out in a voice quieter than any Robin had ever heard him use. He it seemed didn't quite carry the same feeling towards the news as Robin did; he sounded horrified. "Really, really bad."

"No kidding." This time it was Cyborg, his expression a near mirror image of BeastBoy's. Robin stopped smiling; the sense of foreboding these two were giving off was making him uneasy. For the first time since he met him, Larry said nothing.

"Ok," He turned to his two nervous friends with a serious expression, "What's going on?"

There was another shared glance before Cyborg sighed. He motioned for the other Titans to sit around him; putting down his plug contraption as he did so. Only were all gathered did he begin.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, neither is BB; we both promised Raven that we wouldn't." He gazed off to the distance as if he could see the lost Titan out there somewhere. Finally he let out another sigh. "I think she'll forgive us on this one though."

"Raven has a dark side, buried deep within her mind. We think being here might do something to it, unleash it." There was another deep breath as the mechanical Titan began to take on an almost foreboding air.

"If we're correct than we have to hurry. If we don't then the Raven we know, our Raven will be gone."

"And believe me." That was BeastBoy, sounding almost as foreboding as Cyborg did. "You don't want to meet the new one."