"What are you doing? You can't even FLY!" the voice. It mocked, teased, laughed at him.
"Shut up. SHUT UP!"
"Hahahahahaha..." The laughter faded into the darkness...
"Raven? Are you there?" Mark questioned the shadows as he landed rather clumsily on a pile of discarded garbage bags. It was still fairly early in the morning, but the irregular placement of the brick walls blocked the sun's rays and cast long and depressing shadows all around Mark. He heard a 'Clop' and his muscles tensed.
"Hahaha... Mark. Or should I say, The Crow? How touching, the Raven and The Crow, a match made in Heaven. But perhaps a more fitting term would be Hell." He recognized that voice.
"Slade? Who are you? Leave Raven alone!" Mark said as he approached what he thought to be the source of the sinister voice.
"Oh please. I would never hurt Raven. She is essential to all my plans. The same way I would never hurt you, my Apprentice. You are too important." Slade replied slowly, his sky-blue eye surveying Mark once again.
"Why am I important? Why am I here? Did you bring me here?" Mark continued with his questions, and even though he was what Mark figured to be 'The Bad Guy', he thought that perhaps Slade had the answers.
"I can't take all the credit, Mark. Raven's daddy played a large part as well. You see, when I heard about your powers, I was astonished at the similarities between you and Raven. Your powers are controlled by your emotions, much like Raven's, and your parents, even though you aren't related, your mother was from the Dimension that Raven's father is from. Such powers were going to waste, however, so I decided to step in and rescue you from your dreary dimension and transport you into mine." His eye flashed and narrowed at the word 'mine' and he leapt down and landed in front of Mark with a crash, an unconscious Raven in his arms.
"Let her GO!" Mark growled, his hair brightening. He didn't know why he was so protective of Raven. Perhaps it was because she was most like him, or perhaps she showed him the most attention. Regardless of the reason, his eyes were darkening, and flames were spouting from his fists.
"What are you doing? You can't even fly..." Slade mocked.
The voice... Then it clicked. Slade must die. Mark's eyes widened in horror, but they were no longer Mark's. The turned pitch black, and Crow took over.
Anger had evaporated from Crow's eyes, so only hate and sorrow remained. He realized that he had the power to kill Slade in an instant. "You will pay for your crimes." Crow said quietly.
"Hehe... you can not hope to defeat me." Slade mocked, and with that he charged at the glowing Crow, eyes full of anger, his biggest mistake. "Aaaarrgghh!" Slade screamed in pain as his gloved fist smoked. Crow was enveloped in blue flames, and Slade was unable to land a punch "You will pay...I will make you pay, Slade." Slade's eye widened in fear, full of realization. "He's going to kill me..."
Massive fire tendrils erupted from Slade's palms as he tried to fend off Crow. They shot towards Crow and entangled him, restricting his movement. As Mark struggled against his bonds, Slade withdrew his staff and approached him, ready to strike. With a cry of hatred, Crow broke his bonds, and raced towards Slade, his fist drawn back and ready to strike Slade. Mark swung, but Slade dodged the punch, but he was careful not to retaliate with his fist, as Crow was still engulfed in fire. Crow took this opportunity to withdraw his knee and drive it into Slade's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Slade stumbled back, trying desperately to recover. Crow approached Raven, knelt down and gently picked her up. Slade saw the scene unfold, and with a roar he charged towards the duo. He never reached them, however, as a devastating blue sonic blast caught him directly in the chest and threw him back through a brick wall. Crow approached the fallen form of Slade, Raven still in his arms, and with a grim smile, he started speaking.
"You will pay, Slade. But not today." Slade didn't reply, as he didn't see the need to. He knew what Mark and Crow were capable of, and he had learnt plenty. Within moments he had vanished into the shadows of the alley. Silence befell the Titans as they looked upon the limp form of Raven. "Raven? Is she- is she ok?" It was Beast-Boy who spoke first. "Ugh. Help." Was all Crow could say, before he collapsed onto his knees, still cradling Raven in his arms. Robin and Cyborg quickly approached and held Mark steady as Robin gently took Raven's limp body from Mark. With a sigh, Mark fell on his back, his heart beating rapidly and his chest rising and falling with each inhale and exhale of breath.