A/N: Yay! Up for the weekend! It's a small goal, but hey, I accomplished it. Ok, now this is the second to last chapter. Another action chapter with a somewhat strange ending I think. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: See previous chapter…
Chapter 4
"Reinforcements have arrived," Speedy announced as he walked off the elevator onto the observation deck. He was followed by Bumble Bee and Aqualad.
"And where are the, uh, hombres?" Starfire asked somewhat dreading the answer.
"We decided that for the sake of communication, that they should watch our Tower in Steel City while we're gone," Bumble Bee explained, smiling at Starfire's audible sigh of relief.
"So, what's our situation?" Aqualad asked, walking up behind Robin.
"We've come up with a location where we think they've got her," Robin began, indicating to a map of Jump City that was spread out over a table. "Based on where we tracked my motorcycle to, and the amount of time Red X had to drop off Raven before coming back for the book, we think she's here."
He pointed to an area of cliffs that were on the outskirts of the city.
"This area is known to have depressions in the cliffs," Robin elaborated. "Though it's pretty hard to get to them without rock climbing gear, it's not impossible. And due to the reefs that line the cliffs, it's hard for the coast guard to get close enough to detect any illegal activity."
"And the plan is?" Speedy prompted, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.
"Full on assault," Robin stated. "Titans, go!"
.o0o.
"Zelthor naknima shoen!" Slade called out, holding the Book of Azar in his hands. "Sereth mayian zoul!"
Opposite him, Raven was cringing as the machines she was shackled to whirred with life. Occasionally, a crack of electricity would jump from them and strike the cavern walls. The black, soul magic that Raven used was slowly circling her body, but not because she wanted it to.
She had passed out at some point and had been harshly woken by Slade's chanting of the incantations for an manufactured portal. The first thought that occurred to her was that he was wasting his time, since her powers had shorted out due to the device that had been stuck to her forehead by Red X. But with the dark chakra encompassing her body, she surmised that he had removed the device.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," Raven chanted quietly, trying to regain control of her own chakra. A small tentacle of dark power slowly began creeping across the ground towards Slade. As she whispered her chant, she directed the tentacle to gather around one of Slade's legs.
With the mental command to grab hold and pull, the chakra was electrocuted, sending the bolts of energy back to Raven. She cried out in pain, hearing an amused chuckle over the steady hum of the machines around her.
"Come now, Raven," Slade admonished. "You should know better than that. After all, who do you think created the device that blocked your powers in the first place?"
Raven moaned in pain and frustration, hanging her head as Slade began chanting once again. Her dark chakra finally encompassed her whole body and her free will fell away to reveal a young girl with dead looking eyes. Cracks of black lightning bolts began racing over the black sphere of energy and a strong wind picked up from nowhere.
"Good," Slade murmured, watching the forced portal begin to open. "Gozen char mek!"
With a burst of black energy, the portal stabilized and showed the path to the underworld. Slade closed the book and set it to the side, walking towards the portal. He stepped through cautiously, careful of any possible attacks that may be headed his way. It looked clear.
He began making his way down a familiar stone path; this time he could actually feel the heat that radiated from the lava river that led to the Door of Lost Souls. Ever vigilant, Slade sensed a presence following him. He turned around to see Raven's soul self following him down the path.
"What are you doing here?" he asked her. Raven did not answer. She still seemed to be in a zombie-like state, unfocused. Slade didn't particularly care for this tag-along, but surmised he could do little to change the situation.
Slade continued his journey towards the door, oblivious to how long he spent walking. Finally, the towering doors that held the lost souls came into view. Slade noted with some amusement that the guardian had yet to be replaced. He stopped in front of the doors, then turned to Raven.
"How do I revive a lost soul?" he inquired. It was different when he'd come claiming his own soul. The two halves were almost magnetically drawn to each other, but without a body wanting a soul, Slade was unsure of what to do next.
"Call the name of the soul you wish to revive," Raven told him, still zoned out. "If the soul is here, it will come to you."
"Joseph and Grant Wilson," Slade shouted at the doors, waiting for them to open and reveal the chosen souls. It didn't take long for Slade to lose his patience when the doors stayed closed. "What's going on? Why don't they appear?"
"The persons you seek are not here," Raven murmured, beginning to float back the way they came.
"What do you mean, not here?" Slade argued. "They are lost souls. They should be here."
"The persons you seek are not here," Raven repeated, moving farther away from him.
"Well, then where are they?" Slade yelled, beginning to run in order to keep up with her. There was no way he was going to get stuck in purgatory again, not if he had anything to say about it. He barely made it out before the portal sealed up. Raven's soul self returned to her body, unconscious and drained from the ordeal. Slade walked over to the girl and grabbed her chin, trying to rouse her.
"Where are they?" he demanded, shaking her a bit. "Where are Joseph and Grant?"
Raven neither woke nor answered him. Frustrated, he walked over to where he'd left the spell book, flipping through the pages and searching for the portal chant. He stopped for a moment, reflecting on what had just happened.
"So they aren't in purgatory," Slade repeated, setting the book down again. "Then that would lead me to believe that they're not dead."
Slade mused over this for a few moments, then walked over to Raven again.
"You may have given me what I wanted," he told her unconscious form as he replaced the chakra blocking device over her forehead jewel. "Whether you meant to or not."
"Good. Then you won't have a problem with us taking her back now," Slade heard spoke from the shadowed cavern entrance. Out from it stepped Robin and his teammates, as well as two others he'd never seen before, but bared the Titan emblem.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Slade shook his head. "Super villain hideouts aren't as private as in the good old days anymore."
"Maybe you should give up the profession," Robin suggested, smirking.
"But then what would I do with all of these?" Slade waved his arm in a sweeping motion behind him. On the other side of the cavern, also hidden in shadows, dozens upon dozens of red eyes opened and began marching forward. Once in the light, they were easily discernible as the robot lackeys that Slade used to do his dirty work.
"And so it begins," Speedy announced, pulling an arrow and unshouldering his bow. All of the Titans, save Robin, ran forth and began fighting off the army of robot minions. Robin and Slade continued their stare off, as pieces of robots began flying every which way as they were destroyed.
"You're mine, Slade," Robin declared, pulling out his staff and extending it.
"Honestly, Robin," Slade conversed as the boy came at him. "Doesn't this little cat and mouse game of ours ever get old to you?"
"Every time," Robin affirmed, connecting with the staff that Slade had produced. "But you always keep coming back and causing trouble."
"And you always come back for more," Slade reminded him. "If you were truly tired of it, you'd leave me alone."
"I'll never stop fighting you," Robin vowed. "Not 'til the day I die."
"That can be arranged," Slade commented, finally catching the upper hand and slamming his staff into Robin's chest. The Boy Wonder went flying into the wall and slid to the ground. Slade strolled over, intending to finish the job.
"Give Raven back to us," Robin demanded as he struggled to get back up.
"Frankly my boy, you are in no position to make demands," Slade told him, making a glance back at the girl. "And besides, I'm not quite done with—"
Raven wasn't there. The shackles to the machine had been pried open. He looked to the other Titans, all of whom had a squad of robots occupying their time, making them all accounted for. Slade looked around the cavern again, spotting movement headed for the only exit in the cave.
"That little bastard," Slade muttered under his breath as he forgot about Robin and took off after Red X, who was carrying Raven away. Robin thanked his luck at the moment and gave chase.
Slade ran into Red X with a high kick that knocked Raven from his grasp. The girl didn't move when she hit the ground, so Slade busied himself with a little revenge on the formerly employed thief. The kid had some skill though, and Slade found it hard, but not impossible to take him down.
Finally, Red X hit the wall after an assault of kicks and punches, and slid to the ground unmoving. Slade turned around to reclaim his prize and found again that someone had made off with her. His visible eye narrowed as he watched Robin make way towards the opening of the cavern.
"Titans, let's get out of here!" Robin called, carrying Raven on his back. He followed Cyborg and Speedy as they blew away the remnants of robot minions that blocked the exit. Behind them, Bubble Bee, Beast Boy and Starfire slowed their pursuers down with their own barrage of attacks.
They came to the edge of the cliff and looked down, seeing the mini-sub still anchored just beyond the reefs. The Titans who could not fly were elevated down by those who could, landing safely in the sub. Cyborg started the engines immediately, knowing that Slade's unending supply of robot minions were not far behind. Not waiting for all the occupants to buckle down, Cyborg pushed the engines full throttle, taking them as far out to sea as he could.
The robot minions were not deterred by the water at all and still came at them full force. Starfire and Speedy sent out a slew of attacks to slow them down, but could do little to stop the mob. Beast Boy also made a stab at aiding the escape by diving into the water and emerging as a whale. He swam towards a group of minions and jumped, his huge belly crushing the group that it landed on, but did not stop the minions that had steered around him.
Beast Boy did all he could to catch up with the robots that had reached the sub and were climbing on top of the sub. He also reached the sub, taking goat form as he climbed on top and began butting the robots off the boat. A huge wave seemed to come out of nowhere and knock around the minions that were nearing the sub. A swarm of sea animals took up the fight for the Titans as they sped away. A thunk on the front of the sub brought the Titans' attention there.
"What took you so long?" Beast Boy chided the young sea dweller.
"Glad I could be of some assistance," Aqualad stated, climbing into the tightly crammed sub with them. "The minions should be busy for quite awhile."
"Good," Cyborg stated. "Everyone buckle in. We're diving."
Moments later another thud was heard on the roof of the mini-sub. Claw-like hands pierced through the metal hull and pulled upwards. The hull tore away to reveal Slade, who immediately reached in and plucked Raven from Robin's hold. Bumble Bee and Starfire immediately went airborne, trying to snatch back the unconscious girl but were thwarted with concussion bombs thrown into each of their chests. Beast Boy, who had been in the midst of also going airborne made a quick aquatic switch and along with Aqualad, dove into the water to collect the two stunned girls.
"Who invited you to the party?" Speedy asked, pulling an arrow and preparing to fire.
"The same could be asked of you," Slade commented, holding Raven in one arm and extending his staff with the other. A fist arrow came at Slade and was deflected by his staff, but was also nearly knocked off the sub as it suddenly slowed. The groaning and smoking engines had reached their limit.
"I don't need this right now," Cyborg commented, ducking under the console and popping a floor hatch to the engines.
Robin and Speedy were now also on the roof of the sub on either side of Slade.
"You've got nowhere to go Slade," Robin observed. Across from him, Speedy was pulling another arrow.
"You judge yourself victorious too early in the game," Slade warned. Out of the water behind him emerged several robot minions, who tackled the two heroes into the water. "Victory is not assured until every one of your enemies is dead."
"Interesting philosophy."
Slade recognized Red X's voice instantly, whipping around with his staff extended in hopes of knocking that nuisance from the sub as well. His staff connected with nothing but air as his body became unbalanced again, this time from the sub being rocked heavily from side to side. In order to prevent himself from falling off entirely, he let go of Raven and braced himself. Red X appeared next to Raven and reached for her.
"Don't do it, kid," Slade yelled over the sounds of the water battle that caused small waves to crash against the vehicle. "Trust me, you don't want to get on my shit list."
"Nothing personal," Red X told him as he picked up Raven and walked backwards to the edge of the sub. "Just business."
Slade lunged after the thief, who had jumped off the sub and was treading water to a 'borrowed' jet ski, which was floating nearby. Slade did not make it into the water unscathed, as Cyborg had emerged from the bowels of the mini-sub and had taken an open shot at the super villain.
With Slade sinking with nothing in retort but air bubbles, Cyborg turned around and aimed for the engine of the jet ski. He took his shot, accurately laying waste to the engine of the jet ski and watched in satisfaction as it began to slow. Red X refused to give up and shot a tether line at a dock that wasn't far away and hopped off the jet ski. Using the retract action on the tether, he half body skied to the dock and got out of the water, still carrying Raven in tow.
"We gotta go after her," Beast Boy urged them, having successfully beaten off the new wave of minions and climbed back into the sub with the others. "We're so close."
"But the sub isn't going to make it very far," Cyborg reluctantly replied. "We either try and go after her and risk getting attacked by Slade's minions again, or we head back to the Tower and regroup."
"You guys go back to the Tower," Robin announced, taking a spare communicator from the sub and clipping it to his belt. "I'll go after Red X. I'll contact you if something happens."
"Let me give you a lift," Aqualad suggested, pointing to a sea turtle that was treading water next to the sub.
"Thanks," Robin said, climbing on the creature's back.
"Good luck, man," Speedy encouraged, while Cyborg took up the controls of the sub once again. "Call us if you need us."
Robin nodded in agreement as the turtle steered him away towards the shore line. Once there, he waved once again to his friends on the sub as they made their way out of the reef area, aided somewhat by more of Aqualad's oceanic friends. Once they were out of sight, he trudged up the mountainous terrain in the direction of his motorcycle.
Robin had elected to ride it there separately from his teammates under the pretense that it would be a good idea if for some reason they got divided. If he had been in a rush, he could have made it to the bike in less than ten minutes and be on Red X's trail, but Robin figured he didn't need to hurry.
He checked the chronometer on the communicator and was affirmed in his previous assumption. It was just past midnight, and with dawn still a few hours away, Robin had some time to kill.
A/N: So, if you're confused on whom Joseph and Grant Wilson are, here's a cheater. Copy this link into your address bar and remove the spaces and parenthesis. ( batman. wikia wiki/ Deathstroke )That should answer your questions. Ok, next chapter is the last chapter. It will be up whenever. Probably depends on how quickly the feedback comes in. As always, let me know of any errors and I will try to fix them as soon as possible. Thanks!