Chapter 2: Missing
Raven had gone back to her room for the rest of the day. She and Robin had agreed to tell the rest of the team everything (except the fact that Trigon was her father) later. Right now, she just needed to calm down and relax. She felt terrible. She did not know that she would come to care for the Titans so much. Now, she felt guilty for getting them involved, but there was nothing she could do about it now. It was too late. She tried reading a book, but her thoughts kept drifting off and she could not enjoy the story. So, she decided to meditate. That usually worked. She crossed her legs and outstretched her arms slightly to both sides. Then, she began to say her usual spell over and over. Raven lifted into the air and hovered above her bed. She was imagining Azarath. Even though many on Azarath feared her, she had always been safe there. And that is where her mother, Arella, lived. Raven was starting to feel calmer when she sensed something amiss.
She was not sure what it was, but she had an idea. She did not hear anything, only felt it. 'No, not today!' She was afraid of what might happen. She stopped meditating immediately and looked around. There was not anything different about her room. She opened her door and looked out into the hallway. She did not see or hear anything strange out there either and the feeling was not stronger. If anything, it was a little bit weaker. She closed the door and turned around. Suddenly, a dark figure crashed through her window, leaving only a few sharp pieces of glass attached to the wall. Raven jumped back. She flew into the air with her eyes glowing white and her hands glowing black. The figure stood up. He had been cut by the glass, but it did not matter to him. He had not even felt anything. Even though it was dark in her room, Raven could see who it was. "NO!" she yelled. Black energy encased her bed and she drew it toward her, hoping to knock Slade down, but it did not have any affect on him. It was a worthless effort. Slade had been the Titans' archenemy for the longest time. Everyone was sure that he had died when he fell into a pit of lava. He had, but Trigon brought him back to life.
"You knew that wouldn't work," he sneered. He still had the glowing symbol on his mask. It looked like with a strange '5' with dots around it. "Honestly, Raven, I don't know why you even try." He lunged and tried to grab her out of the air, but she dodged his attack. Then, she attempted to conceal him in a black dome. Slade didn't do anything for several seconds. He was building up energy. A blast of fire broke his black prison. Raven used her cloak to shield herself. 'Why didn't the alarm go off?' she asked herself.
As if he were reading her thoughts, Slade said, "I came for you. I disabled the alarm system, so that your little friends wouldn't know I was here." What could she do? With Slade's new powers and her father pulling the strings, she could not defeat him alone. If she got her friends, they might have a chance. She attempted to fly out of her room, but Slade reached out and grabbed the end of her cloak. She gasped for breath as she fell to the floor. 'Why do I wear this thing?' she asked herself. 'It's been more of a hazard lately!' She tore off her cloak and ran towards the door. She still did not succeed. Slade ran up and grabbed her arm.
"You can't take your arm off," he stated. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not." She tried to pull away, but to no avail.
"ROBIN! Somebody, help!" she screamed. Robin could not hear her. None of her friends could hear her. They were all on the Living Room floor and Cyborg and Beast Boy were listening to some CDs on their blaring stereo.
"They won't be able to save you, Raven. No one can." Slade began dragging her towards the window.
"Let go of me!" she demanded. Her eyes were glowing white. Everything in her room began to levitate. And in her fury, her hair was flailing in all directions. A sudden burst of energy emitted from her body, leaving her unconscious. Slade caught her before she fell to the ground. Everything else in her room was dropped on the floor and if it was breakable, it broke. Slade saw some darkness disappear through the carpet. He knew what she had done, but he didn't try to stop it. 'Let her,' said Trigon's deep, monstrous voice in his head. "Let her do what she wants. I know that in the end all her efforts will prove to be futile." Slade carried Raven and flew out the window. She was out cold. She didn't even stir when her arm got cut on a piece of broken glass.
It was past nine o'clock at night and Raven still had not joined the other Titans on the top floor. Beast Boy was a little worried. He had tried to check on her once earlier, but Robin had coincidently been there to stop him. Well, this time, Robin would not be able to do anything. Beast Boy finally made it down to Raven's room and knocked on the door.
"Uh, Raven? Are you okay? You've been in your room, like, all day…Raven?" He knocked on her door louder. "Hellooo! Raven! Are you in there?" He pressed his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything. There wasn't anything to hear. He morphed into a bug and crawled under the door. When he resumed his human form, he saw that no one was in the room. He also noticed that all of Raven's things were strewn across the floor. Her bed looked like it had been smashed against something hard. Then, he saw the broken window. 'What the-?' He rushed to the window. He could see blood on some of the broken pieces of glass. "Raven! No! No, no, no!" he shouted. "Raven, no! She couldn't! She wouldn't! I mean, she was upset earlier and she's, like, always depressed, but she would never…would she? NO!" He was hitting the top of his head with his fists. Then, he noticed the glass on the ground. 'Hey, wait a minute! If Raven threw herself out the window, then the glass would be outside…wouldn't it? Yeah, it would. I'm sure of it!' Still, he felt like he should look out the window. He closed his eyes and poked his head outside. He was afraid of seeing Raven's dead body at the bottom of the tower. Slowly, he opened one eye at a time and looked toward the ground. Raven was not there. "Oh, thank God!" He pulled his head back in and saw Raven's cloak lying on the floor. He picked it up and held it in his hands. "Raven, where are you?" he asked aloud. Then, with the cloak still in his hands, he rushed back upstairs to tell everyone that Raven was missing.
Everyone was upstairs except Raven and Beast Boy. Raven was (well, had been) in her room and no one had thought about where Beast Boy was. Robin and Cyborg turned off the music and had begun to play video games. Starfire was sitting with them on the couch while she cuddled Silkie. A dark figure, in the shape of a bird, appeared in front of them.
"AAAAH!" they all screamed and with quick movement, jumped behind the couch. Only the tops of their heads were showing.
"Guys, it's me!" the bird said. The voice sounded very famililar.
"Raven?" said Starfire in a high voice. And she poked her head up further. The boys did, too.
"Yeah. Look, Slade just took me away, not long ago. You can still follow him." With that, the dark bird disappeared into the floor.
When Beast Boy got to the Living Room, he saw three of his friends behind the couch and a dark figure disappear. 'What was that?'
"Um…what just happened?" asked Cyborg.
"How did Raven communicate with us like that?" Starfire inquired.
"I'll explain everything on the way," promised Robin. 'Why did she lie to me?' "We have to get Raven! Titans, GO!"
"Dudes!" Beast Boy called. "Raven's gone! Her cloak was on the floor!"
"We know, BB!" Cyborg called back. "She said that Slade's got her. C'mon!" They all rushed toward the garage.
'She said? Was that dark thing that I saw Raven?' thought Beast Boy. While they headed for the garage, Cyborg talked to him.
"So, how did you get her cloak? Did you go into her room?"
"Uh, yeah," Beast Boy replied. Cyborg gave him a funny look. Beast Boy defended himself. "I was worried! Give me a break!" Robin began telling them everything that Raven had told him that morning. He finished as they entered the garage.
As he put on his helmet, Robin asked Beast Boy, "Did you see anything odd while you were in her room?"
"Yeah! Her window was broken, her bed was turned over and everything else was a mess!"
Cyborg got into the T-car and opened the garage door, so that they could leave. "She just had to get kidnapped by Slade!" said Beast Boy a little sarcastically. "Why couldn't she have gotten lost in time like Cyborg or Star?" Robin glared at him, so Beast Boy quickly tuned into an eagle and flew off as fast as he could.
Author's Note: Yup! Slade is back...again. And he's after Raven...again! When will the madness stop? Oh, well. Maybe the Titans can save her! What do ya think?
