Okay, I'm back again. Sorry, I would have posted one more chapter on Sunday, but I found that I'm beginning to feel the effects of the dreaded writer's block. Don't worry though, I'm working on it. Anyway, without furthur ado, chapter 12 of Ill Intentions:

The group of men sat around a small table, playing a high-stakes game of poker. The youngest of the group, somewhere in his mid-twenties, glanced at the others out of the corners of his eyes trying to read their expressions, but to no avail. They were just as blank as his own. He decided to play it safe and call the last person's bet, ending the gambling portion of the game. Now it was the moment of truth.

Each person at the table laid down their hands in turn until finally it came down to him. He looked once again at the cards on the table; the hand to beat was a full house. He let out a sigh and slowly placed down his own hand, the others all watching with breaths held as the mystery of the game's outcome was revealed. Straight flush.

The man let his 'poker face' fall and showed a rather large smile. "Looks like my luck's finally turning around."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

The gamblers all turned to face the shadows in the corner of the dimly lit room, where they had been certain that the mysterious voice had originated. Although they now knew that someone was there, they were still surprised to see a dark figure emerge, cloaked from head to toe in dark blue and seemingly very threatening. Due to their shock and worry, they had completely overlooked the girl's companion, who was standing behind her in a purple uniform with a look of both curiosity and determination on her face.

"Scram!"

All of the players jumped up, flipping the card table in the process, and ran in different directions, even though there were only two exits in the room, one of which was being blocked by the two girls.

It wasn't long, however, before Raven used her powers to block the other door with a large hutch and pin most of the crooks to the walls with some type of furniture or other. The only one not trapped was the younger criminal who had just won the last hand, and Starfire was already making her way over to him to hold him in place personally while Raven 'did the talking'.

Starfire had grabbed the collar of his shirt and was now holding him firmly against a tall filing cabinet, which made several loud banging noises as the man struggled to break free from the alien's strong grip. Raven approached the man without saying a word and for added suspense slowly removed her hood, glaring at him the entire time. The strange actions were making him nervous and caused him to make a strange 'gulping' sound. Starfire had to give Raven credit. She could be so intimidating and powerful when she needed to be, and she was able to make even the toughest of villains flinch at one of her death glares.

"I believe that you're the one known as B.T.?"

"Y-yes… I-I am."

"And I take it you know who we are?"

"You're the Teen Titans. But honest, I've been clean for weeks, I haven't done nothin' wrong."

"Really? So then that's not stolen money that you're gambling with over there?"

The young man looked over to the flipped table where poker chips, cards, and money was currently strewn all over the floor. He fidgeted in Starfire's hold and swallowed hard.

"Well, ok the money's not exactly clean, but no one got hurt, I'm not that kind of guy…"

"I'm willing to overlook the fact that you stole all of that money if you tell me what I want to know."

"S-sure… anything you want, it's yours. I'll tell you whatever you want."

"Who do you know of in town that performs magic?"

"You mean like that Mumbo guy? Well, gee, I don't know many magicians…"

"No, not that kind. I mean real magic, with heavy-duty spells and incantations."

"Well let's see… there's you, that pink-haired chick that's in the business, … I don't really know. I'm not that familiar with other people's work."

Raven used her powers to reach out and throw one of the wooden chairs hard against the opposing wall, causing it to explode into nothing but dust. "Are you sure you can't think of anyone else?" she growled through her teeth.

His eyes were wide open in fright as he thought about what would happen if he too were thrown against the wall at that force. "NO! I'm telling the truth! I don't really deal with people of higher talents, it causes unbalance in a job!" Raven took 'people of higher talents' to mean anyone with special abilities, those who the Titans were called in for to take down on a regular basis.

Starfire tightened her grip and pushed him against the cabinet with more strength, twisting his collar tighter in her hands. Raven inwardly smiled at Starfire's catching on to this game of intimidation. Now it was her turn. One more scare ought to do it. If he still didn't give her an answer, then he probably wasn't able to give her one, and it had just been a waste of her time. She threw her arms out at her sides, causing her cloak to billow out and settle behind her.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, Raven's eyes seemed to double and were now glowing red, but that was the least of the man's concerns. She was surrounded with black energy reaching out in all directions, making things it came into contact with break or explode on impact. The blackness continued to grow until it finally consumed the entire room, filling every space with its darkness.

"Wait! I think I might know someone like who you're looking for!"

Raven turned around to face the person that had spoken. It was one of the other men who was pinned against the wall with a couch, and who had up until then remained silent. Raven slowly let her powers fade out, and the room eventually went back to normal, creating a huge sigh from everyone else in the room.

"You know someone who's into heavy magic?" It was obvious from her tone that she wasn't in any mood to beat around the bush, and that she wasn't going to put up with any nonsense from them.

"Yah… I don't know where he is, but I've heard him mentioned a few times lately."

"What's his name?"

"I think he goes by 'the Archimage'."

There was a thick silence that suddenly engulfed the room and all of its inhabitants. All eyes were now turned in the direction of the man that had just spoken.

"That's all I wanted to know."

Raven turned toward Starfire and signaled for her to let the young man go. Not wanting to second-guess her friend's decision, she released his collar and watched as he fell to the floor with a small "oomph". Without looking back at those remaining in the room the two girls turned and left the building as quietly as they had entered.

Once they were outside again Raven began walking down the street deep in thought, Starfire following close behind.

"Raven, who do you suppose this 'Archimage' is?"

"I don't know Star, but I intend to find out… and soon."

"I see…"

They continued walking on in silence, with no apparent aim or destination. Starfire didn't want to interrupt Raven's thoughts, but she soon found herself anxious and unable to keep to herself.

"How 'soon' will you begin your search for this person?"

Raven looked up at her friend and noticed the suggestive smile on her face. Raven mentally sighed, knowing that she would later regret what she was about to say.

"I guess it could wait a little longer. Why?"

Starfire's eyes lit up like a child who realized that Christmas had come early. "Oh joyous! We can spend the evening at the mall and purchase wonderful new outfits! It will be most enjoyable!" The alien clasped her hands together and looked at Raven with big watery eyes and a grin from cheek to cheek.

She should have expected this, but then again, Starfire had done her a huge favor by going with her, and she at least owed her one day of fun. Raven rolled her eyes and moaned. "All right…"

"Splendid!"

A second later the Tamaranian teen had taken flight and was heading in the direction of the mall, with her not-so-enthusiastic friend following behind.

Sidenote: Just as a point of interest, archimage is an actual word (for anyone who might not know) and is pronounced 'archi' as in architect, and 'mage' as in the word mage (kind of like magician, but with a hard "a" sound). I just thought I'd mention that for anyone out there like me, who doesn't like when they come across a word they can't pronounce. It means "A great magician or chief wizard".

So, that's chapter 12 for you, and I'll get the next one out as soon as I can, but as usual I'm really busy. (I've got three huge long-term projects assigned right now, and SATs this saturday. :shudder:) So until next time!

Review please!