I'm baaaack! Did you miss me? Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've just been major busy. I can't believe I have 71 reviews for this story. I think this is going to be my first story to reach 100 reviews, hopefully.
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Richard looked at Thea. She was right. His brain was beginning to hurt from all the dramatic twists and turns that kept happening and kept making him think a lot. He shrugged. He had no idea who had done it.
Thea looked down at the dead boy laying in front of them. She opened her eyes widely. "Richard, we're the only ones left, which means that they're going to come after us next."
Richard looked at her. He then led her out of the room. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "It's going to be fine. I'm sure Bruce will be home soon. We just have to keep it cool until he does come home." She looked at him, and gave him a small smile. He then placed his arm around her, and they walked back into their room.
A little while later, Thea had fallen asleep while Richard sat at a small table thinking. "What haven't we figured out?" he thought to himself angrily. He knew there was something he was missing, but he just couldn't figure out what it was. He sighed to himself. "Maybe I'll have a clearer head in the morning," he said quietly as he got into bed and shut off the light.
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Richard awoke the next morning around 10:30. He got out of bed and stretched. He yawned and went and sat back at the table. He looked over at Thea, who was sleeping with a small smile on her face.
He poured over his notes for the next half hour but still came up with absolutely nothing. He rubbed his eyes, and walked toward the bathroom. He pulled off his shirt, but stopped after that. He looked at himself in the mirror. The young man staring back at him soon disappeared, and he saw the boy he had known 5 years ago. Three of his best friends were dead, and he was falling in love with the only one left.
He realized then that he had changed so much since he had gotten here. Before, he hadn't even thought about what had happened to Raven after she quit the Titans. Now, all he did was think about her. He really didn't care about anyone from his team except Starfire. After they had broken up after 3 years of dating, he had still wanted her back. Now, he really didn't care. He smiled, but then stopped. "Is this change for the best?" he thought to himself.
He blinked, and then the little flashback disappeared. He shook his head, and after he finished getting undressed, he stepped into the shower. After he had been in the shower for about 5 minutes, he heard a loud knock on the bathroom door. He poked his head out of the shower curtain. He turned off the water, and pulled on his clothes. He opened the door and expected to see Thea. But what he saw made him double-take. Someone stood there, wearing a Scream mask. They lifted up a hammer, and pounded him on the head. He began to felt dizzy, and as soon as he hit the floor, the person was gone.
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When he woke up, his head throbbed. He raised his hand on it, and found that he now had a small bump, but it was oozing blood. He grabbed a towel, and placed it on it. He walked out of the bathroom, and saw that the room had been destroyed. The beds had been ripped apart and overturned. The bookcase had been smashed and thrown across the room in different directions. Then, he looked at the wall.
His mouth dropped open as he stared at the red writing on the wall. In crudely written dripping letters, it said:
I told you I'd be back, and I kept my words
My last task was to catch the two love birds
This game isn't over; at least not yet
Not until Bruce arrives home with his jet
Stay in this room; don't ever leave
At least not until tonight's eve
If you do everything my way
Today won't be Nightwing's last day
As for friend, she's in good hands
Unless, of course, you mess with my plans
Richard stared at the bloody letters. It was then that he realized that whoever was doing this had kidnapped Thea, and was using her as a sort of hostage. Richard knew that her life was more important than him getting the bad guy, so he decided that he would listen to this…whoever.
As he stared at the letters, he grazed his fingers over one of them. To his surprise, it smeared easily. As he looked at it, he thought it was certainly his blood. But then, he saw the trail of blood stains that led out the door. He then began to feel truly scared, for the first time since Cyborg's death.
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Richard sat on his bed, staring out the window wringing his hands uneasily. True, he would've rushed right there if there was no threat, but Thea was in danger, and he could risk her for his own needs.
When the sun finally went down, he rushed out of the room. On the wall facing his room, more bloody letters were splattered on the wall. Richard inwardly groaned as he began to read them-
Since you listened, I'll do you a favor
I help you find her so you can save her
She may have been safe before
But now it's time to play a little more
You can bet she's in danger
Being held by a murderous stranger
So come and find me
And if she lives; we'll have to see
Richard gasped at the writing. He had to find Thea and end this once and for all. 9 people had been killed by this person, and he couldn't let any more die. He ran through the hall, slamming every door open. Nothing was there.
He then sprinted down the stairs. When he reached the floor, he looked around frantically. He then saw a small room he had never seen before. It had been hidden by the chair and a picture before, but now, it was out in the open. Then, a loud bang rang out in the room. His eyes gaped open. He ran towards the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. He then heard a soft humming noise behind it.
He smiled inside when he saw the electrical look of Thea's dark magic. He slammed the door open. Inside was what looked like a small office. A chair was turned around against a desk. A gun lay on the top of the desk. Then, he saw her.
Thea lay on her ground, breathing heavily in pain. The front of the now very dirty dress was soaked in blood. She opened her eyes and saw Richard. She gave him a weak smile. He ran over, and tried to help her against the wall. She leaned against it. She looked at him with very sad and pained eyes. He ran his cool hand down her burning face.
"Richard… you have to stop them. They- they- I couldn't stop them," she said with big breaths in-between.
He placed his finger on her mouth to stop her. He then leaned in, and their lips met. Time seemed to stop around them.
When they finally stopped, Richard looked at her. "I've been waiting to do that for such a long time, Thea."
She shook her head with a small smile on her face. "It's Raven," she said softly. "Thea…was a mistake. I should've just stayed as Raven. I wish I had, because then I could've found you. I could've seen what I missed. Rich- I love you," she said with a slight quiver in her voice.
He smiled. He felt like he was on top of the world now. But he then stopped, realizing she had been shot. "Are you going to be able to heal that?" he said worried.
She took a deep breath. "I think so, but that'll probably be it. I've been healing wounds all night." She laid her hand onto her stomach. Tendrils of blue magic went to her stomach and healed the gun shot wound, as she winced from the pain.
When she was done, she was exhausted. Richard helped her up before she collapsed onto the ground. He grabbed her hand as they walked over toward the desk.
"So, who are you?" he said to the person who sat humming in the soft leather chair.
"Oh, you'll see Robin, don't worry," they said.
"Why have you been doing this…whoever you are? Whoever did this is a cold-blooded maniac," Richard said.
"Richard, you want to talk maniac? This is coming from a boy, who 5 years ago, fought with someone who wasn't even there, and almost lost? Now that's what I call a maniac." They said in a cold manner.
Richard brought his head down with the remembrance of what had happened that horrible night. He had threatened to hurt his friends to catch his worst enemy.
He wanted to come up with something clever to say, but Raven was the one who spoke up.
"Leave him alone. It's not like Richard chose to do that, like you chose to murder all those people. Let's think…you killed Kori, T'Keyah, Mark, Kitten, Kali, Gar, Aqualad, Kyle. That's a little more serious that fighting with yourself after you breathe in a dangerous chemical. You're not a criminal; you're plain evil," Raven snorted angrily, still holding Richard's hand.
"Stay out of this, Miss Roth. You shouldn't be one to yell me for being evil. After all, that demon still lays within you, threatening to take over the entire planet. And if he does, guess who will be to blame. That little vision you had on your birthday awhile ago…it's just a fact of what's going to happen very soon," they scoffed.
Richard felt Raven stiffen behind him. "You're both going to die, so why make me even madder. I'll just make it hurt more by prolonging it. As soon as you're dead, Dick, that little bitch is going down with you."
Richard froze. How did they know his nick name? The name his mother used to call him before her and his father performed their final act?
"Shut up. You shouldn't talk asshole. You're a crazed murder. You even decapitated someone. That's absolutely disgusting," Richard said as he squeezed Raven's hand. The murderer picked the gun, and pointed it at Richard. His eyes opened widely as he saw the hand squeeze the trigger.
He closed his eyes, and waited for his impending death, but it never came. When he reopened his eyes, he found himself 3 feet from where he stood before on the ground.
He looked around, but stopped, as he just realized what had happened. "No," he thought to himself.
Raven lay on the ground next to him, her head laying on his leg. He gently pushed the stray hairs out of her face. Blood lay around her. She had pushed him out of the way, and gotten shot herself. And she had no power left, which meant Richard was trapped in Wayne Manor with a deranged serial killer, and his love, who was dying.
He stormed over to where the person sitting behind the chair. He spun it around, but froze when he saw who was sitting in it. "No…you died," he said softly.
"No, I am very much alive, like you. But that's going to end very soon." They said as they stepped out of the chair, and walked toward Richard. Richard gulped. This…was going to be hard.
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OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO! I am so bad. Two cliffhangers in one chapter. Will Thea survive? And who is the psychopathic serial killer haunting everyone? Anyway, I hoped you enjoy it. If you did, please tell me. Hearing what you guys think makes it worthwhile. It lights up my day! So, REVIEW!
