I did get a couple of questions this week that I wanted to address. The first being-Does Raven have Stockholm Syndrome? The answer to that is no. If you go back and look at the chapter when Nikki first appeared-you will see that Nikki is an entirely different personality from Raven. It is called Dissociative Identity Disorder brought on by everything she had been through to that point-but most because of the emotional trauma from the rape. I my mind however this works just a little differently because of all her powers blocked or not Nikki is a strong personality that can remain in control once she has it. You can kind of argue that Raven already had the disorder anyway because of all the emoticlones trapped in her mind-if it helps you can think of Nikki as a new one of those that got out and is here to stay. The second issue or question was with Robin/Nightwing/Dick and Terra. I think my editor left in the part I wrote in for what happened to Terra after she wasn't stone anymore. When I decided to extend this story with eight other parts for the other songs on the Purple Rain soundtracks-I realized that with the threat of Nikki around that Raven wasn't going to be of any help to Nightwing. I brought in Terra with her back story just for that reason. As for Nightwing/Dick recognizing the two right off...my take on that is the guy was trained by Batman and I really don't think in the same situation that it would have taken Batman that long to figure out who the two girls were. Maybe it didn't come across quite the way I intended-but Nightwing was never 100% sure the girl was Terra until he got her back to his hotel room. Him finding her was just supposed to be some sort of dumb luck. I think the other might have been that Nightwing/Dick appeared so suddenly. If you go back and check all the flashbacks that Raven had-then he has been in most of those-that was a set up to introduce him for later in the story so he wasn't just thrown in.


Darling Raven-1-Darling Nikki part 9

Several nights later the newly christened Nightwing gains access to the upper levels of the tower. Terra had offered to sneak him in-but he had decided it was best not to risk her getting caught. He uses an old escape tunnel system to make his way back inside. He finds Nikki in her den of pain after she finishes up with the last of her clients for the night. He doesn't doubt what Terra told him-but there just has to be some way to get through to Raven.
Nikki doesn't even turn around when she hears someone come in. "How much did you bribe the bar tender to get up here?" She turns around when he doesn't speak only to break out in fits of laughter. "Who do you think you are Zorro? You do realize that Halloween is nine months from now right?"
"I got a call from a friend who recognized you."
"And who was that the Easter Bunny?"
"What ever is going on with you here-I know its just Stockholm Syndrome, Raven."
"That phrase and something about his voice threatens to trigger something in her mind but she blocks it out."
"Again with this Raven stuff. That's the second time this week. Let me guess that freak sent you. I don't know how you even got in here looking like that, but you better leave now."
"I know what the caged bird means."
She looks down at the charm on her chain. "Its just a necklace, all the girls have them."
He ventures closer to her as he speaks "They took you in off the streets and put you in a cage, Raven."
"Stop calling me that." She reaches for a hidden panic button but stops picking up the whip instead as she gets very angery. She cracks it at him to try and scare him off.
Nightwing catches the end of the whip and holds onto it. "That's your name, Raven. A name as dark and foreboding as the destiny that was foretold at your birth." He can tell she is trying to fight something that threatens to surface in her mind. If he keeps it up he thinks just maybe he can trigger something of what she used to be and bring her back. "Remember Adonis, he liked it because you were feisty before...I bet he would just love to see you now. Not even Beast Boy's matching mutant form could keep him from hurting you this time. And Dr. Light...it used to scare him just to get a look at you. I bet you would send the grown man running home crying to his mommy now-no then again he would probably keel over dead from fright."
All the things he says threatens to drag up a memory that she doesn't want. "Shut up."
"Wherever he is now, your father must be so proud...yeah, just look at daddy's little girl now-"
"-I said shut up!" The last one really makes Nikki mad. She tries to strike out at the masked man.
Nightwing quickly grabs hold of her hand and jerks her into his arms.
"Let go of me!"
She wishes she had hit the panic button now as she struggles to get free. Only a muffled scream escapes her as he clamps his hand over her mouth before she can yell for security.
He wishes that he had brought some sort of tranquilizer or sedative with him. Now that he has her, he isn't about to let her go. "I'm sorry Raven." Right now all he can do is grab onto the chain and use it to choke her until she blacks out." He looks around spotting a security camera in the room. He's lucky that no one has been watching. He looks down at the girl in his arms as she finally succumbs to unconsciousness. For however brief a moment it was Raven had tried to surface. He knows he can't carry her passed the guards and get out the way he came in so that only leaves the old escape tunnels built into the vents after Slade's long ago attack on the tower. He just hopes they haven't discovered that little feature of the tower yet.

Elrich looks over all the security cameras to see what's going on around the club. He watches some of the perverts playing with the girls upstairs before he switches to Nikki's den of pain. She should have been back by now, he doesn't see her though. He picks up the phone and calls his sister. "Is Nikki down there?...I just looked on the security camera-she isn't there..." He looks back at the camera and now sees that the floor vent is open and her whip lays beside it." "...never mind, I'll check somewhere else." He knows Nikki wouldn't dare try to escape. He runs the footage back to find out what happened. He runs it back several times. The first thing she should have done was call security. He can't help but start to wonder now as he watches the costumed freak if his darling Nikki wasn't some coy way for them to breech their inner circle and move back in to take over-she has been getting quite a bit more attention than usual from the old mayor with her little games.

"Sunshine is not available tonight? Are you sure there's nothing you can do to change that?...No there's not anyone else I'm interested in." Nightwing hangs up the phone. He's got Raven...now if he could just get Terra. He would make sure that both girls were taken some where safe where these creeps can't find them.
As Nikki wakes up-memories that she knows are not her own threaten to flood her mind. She pushes them away as she tries to sit up-only to find that she's been tied down. She glares at the costumed freak as he stands looking out the window. He's not one of the sick perverts that frequent the upper rooms-no he is just trying to keep her from running away. He wants some chick named Raven-that's what she'll give him until he lets her go at least."
Nightwing turns around when Nikki moans and begins to cough. He frowns at the bruising forming around her neck. He never wanted to hurt her-but he just had to get her out of there.
She struggles against the bonds that hold her down-she freezes when he steps up beside her. "Don't hurt me please."
"I'm not going to hurt you...I just didn't want you to run away that's all."
Nikki shies away from him as he tries to touch the chain around her neck. "Don't touch me...just stay away!"
He kneels beside her and takes a good look at her as she begins to cry.
"Please don't look at me like that." She turns her head away from him. "Why did you have to come along and bring all that stuff up-I was doing just fine until you..."
"...Raven? Did you let one of your emoticlones take over all this time just so you could cope?"
What in the hell this guy is talking about she has no idea, but she plays along. "All those guys-night after night...I can't do this anymore...I can't take anymore..."
"What did they do to you?"
She pulls frantically at her bonds. "Let me go-please...I just want to get out of here-away from them."
"It's okay you're safe now, I'm not going to let them hurt you anymore Raven." He unties her only to meet with her sharp left hook.
"My name is Nikki-don't forget it!" She hits him several more times before he can get over his shock to retaliate. Nikki finally stops when the guy is out cold. She starts to take off his mask to find out who he is-but she stops...if Elrich thinks she tried to run...she looks down at this guy-she's really going to make him pay if he gets her in trouble. Nikki picks up the phone and dials Elrich's cell phone. "Elrich its me...no I'm fine-I've got the son of bitch." She looks out the window. "He brought me to some cheap ocean side motel...don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't get away." She turns back to the guy after she hangs up the phone. She struggles to fight back a memory about a fight between her and some walking traffic light. A bad fight and her dream power company guy is trying to stop them-both of them calling her Raven. She shakes it off as she speaks in a harsh voice. "My name is Nikki!" She looks around-she needs a distraction-they aren't in the den of pain, but she can improvise.

As he wakes up Nightwing finds it very hard to breathe. He realizes after a few moments that she is sitting on his chest. He's laid out at the foot of the bed with his hands bound tightly to the bed posts. He tries to talk only to discover that she has him gagged.
"You're pathetic...a few tears and you turn into some night in shinning armour. The boss is on the way now and you're going to wish the little freak friend of yours that told you about me didn't. In the meantime...I'm board and since you were so eager to get me alone-I'm going to show you just what I can do. I have to hold back on all the pansies at the club, but you look like the type who can take everything that I can dish out." She rips his shirt open and grabs hold of one of his nipples twisting violently.
It hurts but he refuses to acknowledge it. He slowly twists his hands in the bindings-trying to loosen them.
"What's the matter? Is that not enough for you? Lucky for you I know how to make it so much worse." She takes some silvers of wood she chipped from the furniture and inserts them into his nipples. "Still nothing?"
He bits his lip to keep quiet as the slivers of wood cause his nipples to swell up. He's starting to think that maybe keeping quiet isn't a very good idea.
Nikki pinches both his nipples between her fingers this time and twists violently-finally earning a reaction of him. "Now we're getting somewhere."
He still struggles to free his hands. He regrets that he didn't take the time to perfect the Nightwing costume. He really could use all those hidden tools he had in the old Robin one.
She doesn't have her whip-but his belt will do the job very nicely. Nikki lets him get an eye full of her ample breasts as gets up. She plants the sole of one spike heeled leather boot firmly against his crotch pressing hard as she leans down and unbuckles his belt.
He breathes a sigh of relief as she lets up the pressure on his crotch-only to have her haul him from the floor and prop him up against the foot board of the bed. He never knew she was that strong. His arms ache at the swift change from being splayed out above his head to now being down at his sides.
Nikki draws back with the belt and strikes him hard with the metal latch. She doesn't hold anything back like she has to on the guys at the club. She draws blood each time she strikes him. She doesn't even stop when Elrich and several guards from the club enter the room.
"Save some for the boys, Nikki." He caresses her cheek with his hand before he takes off his coat and drapes it around her.
She finds something about its length as it almost touches the floor oddly comforting as she draws it close around her.
"Go wait in the limo Nikki." He waits until she leaves the room before he leans down close to Nightwing. "I know what the two of you are trying to pull now. I should have seen this coming since she started her little games with the mayor. You costumed freaks think you're going to come back in and clean up this town. I must say it was a clever trick-kidnap her just so she could tell you what secrets she found out. And trying to cover it all up with this little show. Nikki is going to pay very dearly for it when we get back to the club." He gets up and turns to the guards. "Waste him." Elrich goes back out and gets in the limo. He just sits there quietly as she curls up beside him. He twirls the end of her pony tail between his fingers as he looks down at her dominatrix costume as the driver pulls away. Yes-he thinks that she is going to pay dearly indeed.

"Think we should find out who this freak is before we waste him?"
A second guard locks the door. "It can wait."
"We're going to waste him-what difference does it make who he is." A third guy slips on a set of brass knuckles. "Lets do this nice and slow-there's no reason that Nikki should get to have all the fun."
The first guy speaks up again. "I don't think that Nikki was acting."
Nightwing finally gets one wrist free as the guards continue to talk amongst themselves. He quickly frees the other then watches to make sure they aren't looking before he slips away.
"The little bitch is always trying to pull something." He adjusts the brass knuckles he put in earlier. "You ever notice how she always clears so much more from her tips than all the other girls?"
"She'll be running the place in no time if the boss doesn't lock her upstairs. Honestly, I hope he does-I would like to find out if she can take it as well as she can dish out."
"You just said she'd take over in no time-so why would a girl like that be helping these costumed freaks come in when they would only put a stop to the business?"
The other two guys stare at the first at a loss for words.
Finally the third shakes it off. "Who cares lets just...does anyone else feel a draft in here?"
The second guy turns around. "He's gone!"


My cousin asked what the fight between Raven and Robin was over that Kilowatt broke up in the memory Nikki tried to ignore. I don't know anymore. There was supposed to be more to it at first-but I changed the path to ending and it was no longer that relevant. It was left here because it was supposed to be a side effect of Raven trying to break through Nikki's control.

Since this was supposed to be the first time that Richard became Nightwing I was thinking that the costume wasn't yet exactly what was portrayed in the cartoon that he appeared in. I wanted the first version here to resemble something that Nikki would find funny when she first saw him. That's the second mention I've put in a story about the Easter Bunny. I don't know why I keep doing that...maybe that's a subconscious homage to the pet bunny I used to have as a kid.