The warehouse district of Traverse City was nothing like that of Jump City. Rachel had made her way toward the waterfront through public transportation, her weapons and mask hidden in a jogger's bag. At the same time, the overcoat covered the black leggings and sweater she was wearing. The sun had begun to set, and the streetlamps illuminated the dark walls with their orange Light.
It was actually their posture and the way they moved that confirmed the location of their hideout. It was across from a brilliantly lit hotel but covered in shadow from the taller building blocking out the moon. If one was not looking for it, there would have been no reason to notice the structure.
Rachel kept to the dark wall and ducked into a recess to quickly pull out the eskrima sticks and promptly pulled the balaclava down her face. They would know who was coming, but Rachel did not want to risk any public camera catching her as it did last time. All she wanted to do was get Chet and get out of the city as fast as they could.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins, and her heart was deafening. It was one thing to be in the middle of the adrenaline, but it was another to be plotting an attack of her own. Rachel's mouth had gone dry as she moved stealthily along the wall towards the man who sat on the step smoking. To anyone else, it looked like someone on their break. Still, Rachel recognized the telltale signs; the bulge of a gun, the sitting stance to pounce, and the fact that his eyes were roaming and searching instead of on a cell phone like a normal human being.
'Just remember what you're taught. Get in, grab Chet, get out. That's all it should take.'
Her movement was swift, and the only sound was the soft crunch of the eskrima stick, making contact with his throat, followed by another dropping him wordlessly to the ground. She quickly drug him into the darkness beside the stairs. She had to hurry.
When Nightwing pushed on the door, and it lazily swung open, he fought the urge to charge in. Raquelle had fallen asleep after changing her mind and having Starfire go with them. Both Starfire and Cyborg knew precisely where to go. He was angry at the fact that everyone knew where Raven was living except for him.
The glass of the broken lamp crunched under his black shoes and his one hand on the eskrima stick slung on his back. The little apartment was torn apart, but nobody was there. Not being here meant there was a chance she was still safe. That did not soothe the pang of disappointment in his gut.
"Hello! Rachel!" Starfire called as she floated in and over the wreckage all over the floor.
Cyborg's mouth was in a firm line as he knew what the devastation meant. Someone had attacked them.
"I'll see if I can find a computer or camera or something," Cyborg said. "BB, check the other rooms. See if you can find anything to tell us where they went."
"Righto!" the green changeling said as he transformed into a parrot and flew into the kitchen.
Nightwing's eyes slowly moved across the scene, absorbing as much of it as he could. This was Raven's life. This little apartment was a sign of her life after she had left him. Of course, bookshelves were stuffed full, but there were also small antiques and curios that he had never seen before. The thing that jumped out at him was the shoe rack. He recognized the slippers that would have fit her small feet, but there were relatively large ones beside him.
Was...was she with someone?
"Star—" he started and turned to see a frame that had been knocked out. He picked it up and caught his breath. There she was. The dark hair, the brown eyes, the small nose, and expressive mouth. Her skin was pink like an ordinary human, and there was a smile that he had rarely seen. Her arms were around some man who seemed to be as happy as she was.
"His name is Chet," Starfire's voice spoke to his right. Nightwing started to disregard the photo but could not bring himself to.
"She's...married?"
"Dating from what he told me."
"Has….has he been taking care of her?"
"Raven does not need to be taken the care of, but they do coexist in harmony together."
Nightwing gently set down the frame as he felt Starfire's light touch on his shoulder.
"We need to keep searching."
Nightwing nodded roughly to shake off the swirls of depression that tugged at his psyche. They had to find her. He could sort out his feelings later.
"Yo! In here!"
Nightwing heard Beast Boy's call, and he quickly made his way into what turned out to be the bedroom. The green Titan was sitting on the made bed with a laptop. Richard saw the bed, and his gut twisted. A few thoughts of what she must have done in this bed with this Chet crossed his mind.
"Someone just left it here and open. I found what looks like surveillance video."
Beast Boy hit play, and they watched the unknown assailants break in, take away Chet, and then saw Rachel come in, calling his name in desperation. Her voice ripped straight into his heart. She was alone, and he had no clue where she was.
The Blue Wonder blinked a few times and found that everyone looked at him as if waiting for a reaction. He was not going to give them any at this time.
"Cyborg, download that video and see if the JLA has anything on that masked individual. Anyone know where this warehouse district is?"
Three more guards and three more silent takedowns. Whoever these people were, they were either not well trained or never expected their hideout to be breached. Either way, it was allowing Rachel to proceed through the building pretty quickly. It was near the center of the building when it opened up into a warehouse. It seemed to be storing housewares and laundry equipment, but she could see Chet, tied to a chair, head down and looking worse for wear in the center.
Resisting the urge to run straight to him, the impromptu superhero stuck to the shadows until she came up right behind his chair.
"Chet. Psst."
"Huh!"
Chet started. He must have passed out from the treatment. He looked around and then over his shoulder.
"Hold still, I'm going to get you out of here."
"Rachel? Oh, god. Rachel, they're expecting you!"
Her gut dropped at those words, and she caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, letting Chet's bindings go; she rolled as a pulse of some sort of energy weapon missed her by inches. She could feel the heat coming from it. She moved again towards another assailant that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, brought her weapons to bear, and had him on the floor with a broken arm and leg. The problem was, there were quite more than two.
Rachel found herself standing in the center of a circle of some sort of soldiers. They looked sickly, their eyes white and looking frail, but they were strapped with technology that resembled what she had seen Robin tear apart from Doctor Light.
When they parted, and the woman from the video strode into the middle of the circle. Her faceless mask with no aperture was unsettling, but Rachel turned to face her, ready to fight.
"I obviously detected the little camera's hiding spot. Your wifi wasn't that secure," the synthesized feminine voice said. Rachel could see Doctor Light standing with arms folded and a malicious grin on his face behind her. "Even without your powers, you still tried. I'm not sure if that's brave or plain stupid."
"What are you talking about?" Rachel growled, trying to keep the fear from causing her to throw up. "Why did you take Chet?"
"Come on, I know who you are," she said with a laugh. "You're Raven of the Teen Titans, but for some reason, completely and utterly human. I guess the tables have truly turned. It's ironic."
"What do you mean?"
"You...you really don't recognize my voice? Honestly, I'm not surprised with you spending all that time boning Richard."
It clicked. The voice, the movement, Rachel knew what it was familiar. The faceless woman reached up and placed her hands on the side of her helmet. As if on cue, components shifted, allowing her to pull it off.
It was the same sharp face, angry eyes, and almost painfully beautiful looks except her skin were sallow, one eye had gone white as if it died, and her once beautiful blond hair was darker and flecked with white and red as if permanently stained with blood. But it was her.
Rachel's words came out as a growl.
"Natalie."
"You remembered, you little slut," Natalie laughed, resting her helmet on her hip.
"I remember you dying when the lich was burned out of you."
"Oh, yeah. I was dead, but it seems whatever made the Lich undead leaked into me. I went from watching you burn away my chance for love, and then the next moment I woke up in a coffin, six feet underground."
Natalie's voice became a snarl as she stepped closer. "I had been dead for six days. They cut me open for an autopsy; they stuck me in the ground. They LEFT ME to rot."
"Should have cremated you," Rachel shot back.
"Oh, you don't get to talk, you bitch. You took EVERYTHING from me, and now I'm going to exact a bit of vengeance for that in this world. You...finding you was just the cherry for this lovely present Doctor Light helped me create. Energy powered zombies. How about that?"
Rachel brought up her eskrima sticks, but each of the undead surrounding her raised their own arms, the distinctive hum of Light's energy weapons aimed at her.
"So, you have two choices. You can surrender, which then I will torture you, violate you, kill you slowly, or kill you first, bring you back to life as a zombie, and then have my fun. Which will it be?"
"How about you go fuck yourself," Rachel hissed.
"Why, when I got you?" Natalie said with an evil grin spreading across her face. "Fire."
Rachel dropped to a knee, not sure how that would protect her from the dozens of energy beams that were about to cut her to pieces. She heard the discharge, but something rolled beside her. A silver ball that blossomed like a robotic flower and discharged some sort of energy. The incoming form from the Zombie's struck an energy field that had surrounded her.
"What the…" Natalie started when Rachel heard it loud and strong.
"Titans! Go!"