Chapter 12
Predator vs. Prey
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"Oh no, you don't. We're going to finish this, just you and me." Raven called out to Terra. She was back in the metallic pool area, where she last saw her run off. It was bad enough that she had to join with Anger, a.k.a. the demonic Trigon, a.ka. her father, but now she had to run off in an area where she can easily get lost. What a coward, Raven thought as she combed the area looking for her, if she wanted to fight me, she should have faced me a long time ago. She continued to search, going into every possible hiding area and coming up with nothing. Raven was just about to give up when she heard a noise from above. She looked up, only to roll away when she saw that Terra was trying to slice her in half with her powered sword. Of course, she missed, but Terra was all ready with her second strike. Raven jumped away but Terra came at her again…
And again…
And again…
Soon Raven was getting tired of dodging all her attacks, and Terra could tell. The grin that alighted on her face was one of a satisfied predator as she changed tactics and elbowed Raven in the mouth. This move knocked her to the ground as Raven felt the blood oozing away. As she tried to put herself back together, Terra yanked her neck back by the hair. Upside down, Raven thought that Terra's head looked like an egg, and that thought brought a painful smile to her bleeding lips. Unfortunately, that only irritated Terra more as she swung her around like a ball and chain then let her go flying in the air. There seemed to be a long lapse of time before Raven finally landed. She felt a sharp pain through her chest, and in a horrifying second she realized she landed on a stalagmite. She turned her head to look at Terra, who was walking slowly towards her, taking in every single second of her suffering. It was obvious by the insane smile still plastered on her face that she was enjoying this. Raven turned her head back skyward, her hazy gaze on the stars and moon and suddenly it felt like time slowed once more.
She was thinking…
She was wondering how in the world Terra got so strong and why. Was it because Anger empowered her? Is that how she was able to throw her so fast and so hard? Is this why she was slowly dying? Raven turned to look back at Terra. She noticed that she doesn't seem to be getting any closer, but slower. That's right, slower. It was like someone pressed the slow motion button on the VCR or DVD….
Slower…
Suddenly, it was like lightning struck her. She can control time! But how was it possible?
Lucky for her lightning caught twice in a bottle, in fact it was lucky that it was her mind after all. The only reason Terra was able to overpower her was because she let her…
Raven knew what she had to do. Time became normal again as she saw Terra took her sword and raised it above her head, ready to chop Raven's body in half.
Sorry, but not this time.
In a flash, Raven backflipped off the stalagmite, just as Terra's sword came crashing down. It split the huge rock in half, but there was no Raven. Dumbfounded, Terra stared at the rock until she felt a small tap of hot and cold. She turned, just to raise her sword in time to block Raven's…sword?
Terra's mouth dropped open in shock and surprise as she saw Raven standing there with a fierce growl on her face. She didn't look as if she was in any pain at all as Terra surveyed the bloodstained cloak and leotard. The sword she conjured up was as good, no, better than the one Terra had.
"How did you, I mean, where'd you learn…?" Terra stammered, her breath and energy all going into keeping Raven from slicing her in half. The knowing smile that formed on her face in response to Terra's questions completely threw her off…literally. Raven finally managed to push her to the side, making Terra slide all the way to the edge of the reflective pool. Terra pushed herself off the ground, then scrambled quickly to face the direction where Raven was coming from. She had disappeared, all Terra could see was a trail of blood, which on closer inspection turned out to be hers as she felt all the scrapes and small cuts that had formed on her cheek. She gave a wail of despair, what was going on?
As soon as she thought that, she was sliding across the ground again, this time on her stomach; she didn't even feel the push that time. As she struggled to get up, she felt something push her down. She felt her hair being yanked and her head going back, tears formed in her eyes from the endless barrage of pain. Through the blur she saw Raven standing on top of her, radiating a powerful dark aura. She crouched down close to Terra's head, bending close to whisper in her ear.
"You were wondering how I got so powerful in such a short time, blondie? I let you and my father play with me for too long. I had no hope of ever getting out of this alive and in one piece. You gladly encouraged that belief by helping to put horrible, disgusting images in my head, dark things that I have never even thought of on my own. I thought I was going to die here in my mind, until I realized that, yes this is my mind and therefore I am indestructible…"
In between the speech and the pain, Terra did not get a word Raven said. "What?" she asked her, meekly.
"This is my world, my playground. In my imagination, I can be anything I want to be. It's a small lesson from preschool, I believe." Raven let go of Terra's head, and with a reaction like a rubber band being held back too long, her face slammed into the ground. It was so hard it caused a minor earthquake and a small crater shaped like her head, but no damage was caused to Terra except a migraine. Raven used her power to pick up Terra by the neck and slammed her back against a rock. Raven's eyes glowed a furious red as she started to choke her.
"I understand it all now, my father taught you how to manipulate my imagination and use it against me. He manipulated everything in my world so I could believe that I was going to die. It was all trickery, an illusion to drive me insane. And as soon as I was tucked away in some dark corner of my mind held down by my own fears, you were going to take over my life…or rather my father was going to take over, so he can start a new, evil, world order."
Terra struggled to breathe, she tried with all her strength to break the hold Raven had on her, but she couldn't do it. And Raven's fury was at its peak…
"You sick, stupid bitch!" she roared as she slammed Terra into another rock. She crumpled to the ground crying.
"Aww, are you crying, little girl? I'm sorry, but I don't allow little babies to live in my world." Raven told her, her eyes now glowing a bloody red as she formed a long red sickle with her powers.
"Please, don't do this Raven, you don't want to be like your father do you?" Terra begged, and in seeing the weapon Raven made, she tucked herself into a vertical fetal position crying.
Aw, hell, what was I thinking? Raven thought as the light in her eyes flickered out and the weapon in her hand disappeared. She has done enough, she had won. She backed away from Terra and seeing she was still huddled, turned away knowing Terra wouldn't, couldn't, do anything to her…
"SUCKER!"
Raven turned around, just to see Terra's foot in her face. The kick landed, knocking Raven far back and giving her a bloody nose.
"What the…?"
"You thought I was going to give up? That I would cower before you? You've got to be kidding yourself."
Terra stepped on Raven's head, pushing it to the ground. "I will never give up, ever. I want my life back, but I need a body, your body." As she was saying this she was digging the tips of her toes into Raven's temple, and she was doing all she could to keep from screaming. Instead she turned her anger into power, enough to lift up Terra and push her near the pool again. She wouldn't be held down for long as she got up and rushed at Raven, hands up in the air, ready to claw at her face. Raven moved out of the way so fast all you can see is her shadow trailing behind her. Terra was now desperate, and it only put Raven more in control. Terra took, or rather made, her sword again and charged at her, and Raven did the same. Since they were both evenly matched, all they can do is parry the strikes each one made. However, unbeknown to Terra, Raven was pushing her back all the way to where the pool is. Terra decided to swing down on Raven's head, but she managed to block that and as a result, Terra lost her balance and fell into the pool. At first, it was like she fell into a shallow puddle, but then in one second the pool sucked her in. Raven stared at it for a moment, then slowly realized the she had won… for now.
Raven was about to turn back and levitate up to the top when she felt a strange, burning sensation. Looking down at her stomach she saw a white, glowing, hole. To her horror she watched it get bigger and bigger, until…
Kaboom!
All that was left was white particles floating to the ground…
