Blackfire's mind was in chaos, Slade had struck her before, but never just for speaking out of turn.
That wasn't the only problem though, as much as she hated her sister (and boy did she really hate her) the screams that resounded from her cell seemed a bit…much
But those were problems to be sorted out later, right now she had a job to do.
Finding the Titan's tower was hardly a problem, after all who else lived in a giant T? she still wondered about that… getting to it was child's play too, a body of water was no problem to a talented flyer like her, likewise for the twits the league had sent to guard the city; a fashion reject going by the name of 'Booster Gold' and tweedle dum- sorry 'Plastic man'. She had heard them bickering on her way to meet Slade, if they were the calibre of earth's so called heroes today then she might have had more fun sitting in her cell moping.
And here was where Slade's master plan hit a snag, she had no way of getting into the tower, the security had been seriously ramped up since the incident with Terra; if she broke in now it would be a toss up between the titans killing her or the security system frying her.
She touched down on a building overlooking the harbour, the various ducts and gantries on its roof would provide sufficient cover from any League patrols
The trick would be to find a plant in the tower, someone she could control, someone they would trust…
But for now she would have to wait, hidden away in her perch overlooking the harbour watching and waiting for her opening.
1 week later
"Ahhh." Sighed Raven, slowly easing down from her crane stance and into the next position of the kata, slowly relaxing and tensing her muscles in turn.
A few feet away Robin watched from her progress from the middle of his own exercise, noting how quickly Raven had taken to the slow measured movements of tai-chi.
He had taught her several of his kata's and the rudiments of Shotokan karate during their enforced stay at the tower, Raven had agreed readily, more to give them something to do then out of any real enthusiasm for the style.
"Watcha dooinggg?" And of course to prevent either one of them from becoming a convicted murderer… thought Robin as Beast boy bounced into the room grinning broadly.
It wasn't that they didn't like the Green changeling…well Robin liked him, but even he was begging to seriously regret refusing Raven's offer of killing him.
Evidently Cyborg was working on one of his 'projects' and had declared the garage a 'pest free zone so get!' kicking Beast boy out into the lonely basement of the tower.
Which of course mean that they had to put up with an extremely bored pain in the rear.
Just ignore him, focus on your movements thought Raven as she extended her leg in a mock kick.
Now at least she could see why Robin practiced these routines so religiously; the slow even movements brought her a sense of peace she hadn't achieved in her mediation for months.
"We, Beast boy, are using this time constructively, working, training. Stop me if this rings any bells"
Raven's scathing reply seemed to momentarily crush BB's spirit, but like the rubber he so often mimicked he bounced back quickly.
"Cool! Can I help"
Robin silenced Raven's undoubtedly biting comment with a raised hand.
"Actually BB I have the perfect job for you."
"You do? Cool!" It was a testament to just how bored BB was, he'd even agree to work.
"Yeah…you can be Raven's sparring partner, she could use the practice."
The grin that spread across Raven's sweat soaked face was positively demonic.
"eeep."
Interlude: Japan/Shrine of the West.
Slade stood straight and tall, before him lay the object of his search, the artefact that he had braved innumerable traps and Japanese Youkai to obtain.
He approached the small font tentatively; wary of any new traps the evidently paranoid demon had set in place and stared down at the pool's mirror clear surface laying eyes on the object of his search for the first time:
The Tjoulkin; sword of the great Daiyoukai Sesshomaru.
For a sword of such reputation it seemed remarkably plain, it's long straight blade contained in a simple shark-skin scabbard. However, for those attuned to such things the sword practically vibrated with barely contained power.
The price for wielding such power would likely be great yet…
"Needs must." Murmured Slade, plunging his hand into the pool.
Instantly the once clear and tranquil liquid began to bubble and seethe, eating away at the flesh of his arm. The pain was indescribable, but for Slade pain was merely an annoyance, nothing more. Slade felt a thrill of triumph as what remained of his fingers closed around the Tjoulkin's sheath, tearing it from the pool with an explosive jerk, showing the room with droplets of acid that pooped and hissed where they hit the stone.
Slade grunted and looked down at the Tjoulkin, tightly clutched in the now skeletal remains of his right hand.
The attack came without warning; a rush of rage and hate so powerful it brought the revenant to his knees, against his will Slade felt his left hand fight to draw the blade, revealing a slim ribbon of polished steel that glowed red in the dim light of the shrine.
Tjoukin fought with all the pent up rage of over five hundred years of imprisonment but Slade retaliated with the same force of will that had transcended death itself.
Slowly, painfully the spirit of the sword relented and he slammed the sword back into it's sheath before falling back to the cold stone floor, breathing heavily and wincing slightly at the sting of his regenerating arm.
The spirit trapped in the sword was powerful, far more powerful then he'd given it credit for and his respect for the swords former owner increased dramatically, this Sesshomaru would have made a worthy adversary.
The time for idle thought was over; great things beckoned and Slade had precious little time left, he leapt to his feet and flexed his newly regenerated arm before stalking from the room, Tjoukin at his belt.
Interlude finish.
Titans tower
"Uhh Raven?"
"Yes Robin?" answered Raven cheerfully.
"I think you killed him." Said Robin, looking down at the prone form of Beast boy.
Who Raven had in an excellent example of a figure-four arm lock, his shoulder and elbow hyper-extended in a position of extreme discomfort.
Raven paused in her enthusiastic torturing of the green Changeling, BB had indeed fallen silent, unnaturally so, he'd stopped struggling too…
"Um… Beast Boy? You okay?" asked Raven, releasing from her hold and standing up. Revealing BB's oddly smiling face and glassy eyes.
"BB!" Raven knelt down next to him and shook him fearfully.
"…Boobs…"
It took them both a moment to realise what he meant, then it hit them, well Robin at least, Raven was to busy hitting Beast boy; Raven's execution of the figure-four arm lock and subsequent ratcheting of BB's arm had resulted in her pretty much smothering him in her lycra clad cleavage.
Whilst Raven proceeded in finishing the job Robin looked on with an expression of mixed pity and envy; there were worse ways to go…
"Am I interrupting something?"
The Titans all turned to see Cyborg standing in the doorway of the gym looking quite amused at the spectacle of Raven's attempted murder of Beast boy and Robin's long suffering expression.
"Look who's here y'all." He exclaimed, moving aside to reveal Superman.
"From the looks of things I got here not a moment too soon" chuckled the man of steel as he strode into the room.
Zwip
Raven looked down at her now empty hands in surprise; Beast boy had pretty much teleported over to greet his (one of many) idol.
"I just came to deliver these," he said, holding up a small shrink-wrapped bundle that Beast-boy snatched from him with surprising speed.
"Cool! Our League ID'S!"
Bout frikkin time Raven murmured to herself, only realising her mistake in muttering when Superman's super hearing is present when he shot her a disproving look.
She retaliated with her patented 'death-glare 07' but was prevented from annoying him further by Beast boy's pressing her card into her chest with a frenzied sentence that might have been. "HARavenyoursisfunnybutminescool!"
Raven looked down at her 'membership' card, not bothering to disguise her expression of distaste; the picture was a particularly bad one. BB had snapped it just after Starfire had forced her to try some crack-pot recipe of hers which was so strong she'd gotten double vision and had to go lie down for an hour. Therefore, she looked like she was stoned out of her skull. Under "name" she' simply put 'Raven' but a quirk in the filing had listed her name as 'Raven-Raven' and whoever had listed her place of birth as 'Castle Wolfenstein' was definently going on her list. In short she wasn't impressed.
In contrast Beast boy and Cyborg couldn't get enough of their sparkly new ID cards, to them this was the big leagues, a chance to prove their 'mettle' (or in Cyborg's case metal) to the pros.
Like Raven, Robin was less then impressed, the league hadn't lifted a finger to help them contain Slade, or even seemed to give a damn about the city until now, hell if their choice of guards was any indication they didn't much care now.
"Remind me again, what exactly are these for?"
"Dude! These are our League ID's! they…they…What do they do?"
Superman chuckled slightly at BB's puzzled look. "They allow you to requisition League resources and police assistance at any time you require it… wait a second"
Superman paused as if distracted by something, turning his head slightly.
"But jo'nn can give the rest of the information, I'm needed in metropolis."
"Wow! You can hear the screams in Metropolis from here?" If BB's eyes were any larger they'd have fallen out of his head, such was his expression of awe.
"No, but my pagers vibrating."
In the corner Robin broke down completely as BB's face fell slightly
"I'm sure that you're all eager to get out there again hey? I already took the liberty of telling Booster and Plastic-man to stand down so you can start right away."
And with a sharp breeze knocked Robin and Raven over and blur of blue the Man of steel was gone.
"I hate it when he does that.
From her perch overlooking the harbour Blackfire slid her communicator back into its holster, bloody hell those League twits really need some better security…Still with big blue out of the way all she needed now was a distraction, a booby for her trap, and she knew just the boob who'd work….
Here it is, the next chapter at last, we've had more interaction with the titans and caught of glimpse of Slade's shadowy activities. Just what is Trigon planning, what is Slade's ulterior motive, will anything interesting ever happen?
Some of these questions will be answered next time…maybe.
Notes: Special thanks goes to CS Dragono, being the only one to review my story thus far. All I can say is thanks and I hope you'll stick around for the conclusion.