Author's Notes
To JP-Rider, Claw and Zatanna have long left Jump after the were exposed in their ill-fated attack on Titans Tower. Their new whereabouts (and where next chapter's climactic battle) will be revealed during this chapter.
To Xxsnow dreamxX, I try to get stories updated as quickly as I can, but I'm not perfect at it.
To bloodshark, Terra will play a considerable role in Act 3 - like I said earlier, the mystery of her return will be explained at the start of the act. In fact, she will appear in this chapter.
Now, let's continue the story.
Bumblebee had at last finished her interrogation of Slade, managing to get him to confess to nine homicides, five arsons, two harassments, and eleven counts of theft, which ranged from a few thousand at a bank to technology thefts worth more than three hundred million dollars.
Bumblebee handed the recordings of her interrogation to Cyborg, who promptly sent it up to the Justice League for analysis.
Before she left, Slade asked, "Would you be so kind as to get me a glass of water?"
Bumblebee's reply was, "How do you drink in that mask? Will you take it off to drink?"
Slade replied, "Enough of it. I can't have you knowing my real face, can I?"
From behind the glass, Speedy quietly added, "True enough. I wonder if there is a record of his face from his army days."
Cyborg commented, "You're a goddamn genius, Speedy. We can use it to try to age Slade enough to figure out what he would look like now."
Starfire said, "Please now. Slade has committed horrible crimes. I do not wish to see his face."
The Titans were alerted to the fact that the Justice League had reached a verdict onto Raven and Slade's actions. The original remaining Titans were nervous, knowing very well that they could potentially have to take down Raven. However, Slade remained particularly calm.
Raven asked Slade, "Our fates are on the line. How could you remain so cool and collected?"
Slade said, "Trade secret. Let's just say if it is time for me to die, I am ready to accept that fate."
At last, all of the Titans came into the main ops room, ready to hear the results. Coming onto the screen was the Martian Manhunter, the current leader of the Justice League.
He said, "We have reached a consensus about the recent events involving Raven and Slade."
Argent said, when the Manhunter paused, "Go ahead with it. What did you decide?"
The Martian Manhunter said, "Regarding the fate of Miss Raven, taking into account her heritage, Zatanna's earlier actions, her relationship with you, the Teen Titans, and her own actions, we have agreed to allow Raven a pardon for her actions against the Brotherhood of Evil. Even if the way she handled it was not within our standards of decency and morality, she still did remove one of the biggest threats on the planet."
Raven said, "Thank you. And what of Slade?"
The Martian Manhunter then stated, "Ah yes, regarding Slade. The assortment of crimes he confessed to had a large standard deviation, which ranged from the small thefts to a cold-hearted mob execution. One action does not erase his criminal past and we know by now that Slade has accepted this. We have ultimately opted to give Mister Wilson a free pass. We will not pursue him until Claw and Zatanna have been taken down, largely because of the nature of the crimes that had been committed to his children."
Slade responded, "I am much obliged. And what will your involvement be for the pursuit of the two?"
The Martian Manhunter replied, "Because of Zatanna's reputation, we cannot go outright attacking her. When the conflict comes, we will be forced to abstain from it. As you may say, happy hunting."
With that statement, the television screen faded to black.
Starfire, not understanding what just happened, asked "What did the Martian Manhunter mean by that last statement?"
Slade replied, "It means that it will be up to me and Raven to take the two of them down. We are temporary League agents."
With that, the other Titans left the room, leaving Raven and Slade alone.
Raven said, "It's been a long day. We should be getting to bed. They prepared a guest room for us."
Raven began walking when she suddenly noticed that Slade was not following her.
She inquired, "Aren't you coming?"
Slade said, "Raven. Would it be alright if I slept in your bed tonight? I don't want to be alone."
Raven had to think about the statement very hard - what would the Titans think if they saw the two in bed together? They were on opposite sides of the law (or used to be as the line between Raven and Slade began to thin dramatically).
Raven ultimately consented, nodding. The two then walked towards the guest room.
In the morning, Raven and Slade got out of Raven's bed, which they found was able to fit both of them with ease. Raven put on her cloak and boots while Slade put on his jumpsuit.
The two went to the Titans kitchen, where Cyborg was making breakfast tacos with egg, sausage, and potatoes. Raven made herself and Slade a cup of tea. The other Titans began to walk into the room - Starfire, then Kid Flash, Bushido, Argent, Beast Boy, and Jinx.
Starfire went to the kitchen and grabbed her bottle of mustard and began to drink it. Slade was obviously confused at Starfire, but then again none of the Titans fit the picture of normal.
Slade asked, "Mustard?" to Raven, hoping to get some explanation as to why a condiment is being used as a beverage.
Raven shrugged her shoulders in confusion and simply replied, "Tamaranean appetites are quite different from ours."
Argent asked Raven, "So Raven, how did arrangements with Slade work out last night?"
Raven said, "I think they worked out pretty good."
Beast Boy suggestively asked, "Did you two get it on, if you know what I mean?"
With that comment, some of Raven's red-black energy proceeded to wedgie Beast Boy, causing him some pain.
Slade said, "Beast Boy, we did not have intercourse last night."
Starfire said, "We thought you did, since you two were sleeping in the same bed."
Raven was aghast. "How did you even know? You peeked, didn't know?"
Kid Flash said, "It was hard to resist, but we did have to know. I guess your relationship hasn't gotten there quite yet."
Slade just replied, "Even if it had, I doubt Raven would have wanted to."
Jinx asked, "Raven? Are you a virgin?"
Raven replied, "No. I'm not."
Cyborg finished making the breakfast tacos and began distributing them to the table, starting with Beast Boy's tofu sausage taco followed by the others.
Beast Boy asked, "When did you lose it, Rae? Sixteen? Fifteen?"
Raven, in a slightly upset flat speech, said "Twelve."
The other Titans were shocked to hear this - they could not believe Raven had been a virgin for so long.
Slade nudged to Raven, "Show them."
With that, Raven reluctantly pulled up the sleeve of her leotard to expose seven red marks on her skin.
Argent asked, "Holy shit, Raven. Did you cut them yourself on an anniversary?"
Raven said, "Each mark is burned into my skin after I am sexually assaulted. The one next to my hand was the first, coming in at age twelve. When I left Azarath, there were five marks. When I joined the Titans, the number was up to seven."
Bushido asked, "If you had been attacked that much, why did you tell nobody?"
Raven's reply was, "In Azarath, the perpetrators got away with it because my half-demon nature made me less trustworthy. On Earth, the first rapist I accidentally killed after my climax. The second one I accidentally sent them to my father's realm. I didn't want to feel like a victim. And besides, I doubt any of you even cared."
Kid Flash's next question was, "So did you ever have a child?"
Raven's cold reply was "No. My hybrid nature makes me infertile. I can never have a child because I don't have any eggs."
After breakfast, Jinx had to begin her Titans evaluation if she were to join the team. The first segment was a one hundred question multiple choice examination based on the police handbook.
Jinx surprisingly knew the handbook very well - while she was in the police station waiting for bail a few months earlier, she found a copy and read it, and apparently a lot of it stuck in.
Cyborg quickly graded the exam and Jinx scored a 74, which resulted in Jinx passing the first part of the evaluation by four points.
The next part of the exam was a run through the obstacle course, which the Titans had redesigned after Terra destroyed it during her initial run. Cyborg yelled "Go!" and Jinx went through the obstacle course.
Her nimble physique enabled her to pass through the many obstacles with ease and her hexes helped her destroy the targets. Her time came in at 102 seconds, which ranked third best amongst the Titans, only surpassed by Kid Flash's 67 second run and Raven's 80 second run.
Jinx asked, "How did I do Stone?"
Cyborg said, "Passing score was a time two minutes or less. Congratulations, you passed the second portion. Just one more test to go, the real-life scenario. I'd say around ninety percent of failures occur here. You better have your A-game."
Jinx enthusiastically added, "I always have it."
Beast Boy looked up the schedule for Murakami High School and flew over there as a hawk, now looking over at the school. The bell rang, signaling free roam time, which was when he saw Terra a few days earlier.
Beast Boy flew down to an alley and turned back into a human before walking out of the alley towards the high school. Beast Boy never actually experienced high school, since his parents were scientists constantly on the travel and he was adopted by the Doom Patrol at a young age.
Beast Boy looked for Terra amongst the crowds, trying to spot her amongst the other kids in their uniforms, seeing several girls that looked like, but weren't Terra.
He was getting hopeless until he saw a girl loitering around at the corner of the gate, who happened to look exactly like Terra. Beast Boy knew that girl was his Terra.
Beast Boy ran up to Terra, thinking she would be ecstatic to see him. However, he approached slowly, getting goosebumps over seeing her again - he loved her, but her feelings for him were always murky, and she did betray the team to Slade only to send Slade to a fiery grave.
Beast Boy finally got up to Terra and anxiously said, "Hi."
Terra, startled, looked around and saw Beast Boy behind her. Her reply was, "Who are you?"
Beast Boy was shocked. Terra didn't know him? Beast Boy said, "I'm Beast Boy, of the Teen Titans."
Terra said, "Sarah Wyatt. Why did you come to see me Beast Boy?"
Beast Boy knew that Terra's real name was Tara Markov of the Markovian Royal Family. He had no clue why Terra would call herself Sarah. Did she remember who she was?
Beast Boy, becoming less confident and more klutzy, replied, "I thought you were someone else."
Terra said, "Okay. Bye."
With that, Terra, or now Sarah was walking back into the crowd of people. Beast Boy was heartbroken. Terra didn't recognize him. And it looked like she didn't have her powers either.
Beast Boy turned into a pigeon and slowly flew away from Murakami High School.
After the failed attack, Claw and Zatanna hijacked a plane and flew far away from Jump City, that was until their fuel ran out and they were forced to land.
Claw said, "Fucking planes. They always lack enough fuel to get to the place."
Zatanna rhetorically asked, "Where were we headed, Claw? I don't recall we ever had a destination in mind."
The two trudged through the heavy snow beating down on them, trying to find shelter.
At last, Claw saw a monastery and he and Zatanna ultimately ran up to the monastery, finding it abandoned, it having been that way for close to a century.
Claw opened the door for Zatanna and the two walked into the monastery before closing the door.
Little did they realize was that somebody was watching them from afar, taking note of their identities.
Raven and Slade were looking for Claw and Zatanna, trying to find them as soon as possible. They knew the longer it took, the farther away the two would get and the more lives put at risk because of them.
Suddenly, Raven got an e-mail from one of her contacts.
Raven told Slade, "One of my contacts just found Claw and Zatanna."
Slade asked, "Where?"
Raven said, "A monastery in Siberia."
Next Chapter: Slade and Raven confront Claw and Zatanna; Jinx faces her final test to become a member of the Teen Titans, and one character has an unexpected relationship development.
