Authors Note: Hey, here is what's likely to be among the last chapters of my book I hope you all have enjoyed it so far. Though I must say I'm sad at how few reviews I'm still getting. Anyway here is chapter 9, enjoy.
Chapter 9: Raven's champion
Robin stared into the eyes of Tobias's mask as he slowly backed away. Although a master of the martial arts, Robin knew Tobias could kill him in an instant. Neither Cyborg nor Starfire dared to move a step closer, and Beastboy and Blackfire stood in the empty doorway watching the scene.
"Tobias listen to me, I" Robin was cut off. Tobias moved like lightning and before anyone could blink he had Robin by the throat his feet a foot off the ground. Robin winced as Tobias's claws dug into his throat.
"Tobias…come on man" Cyborg pleaded, "wherever Ravens gone it's not Robin's fault". Tobias's cold eyes didn't leave the struggling boy in his grasp.
"Friend Tobias please let Robin go" Starfire said a tear rolling down her cheek. "You know the hurting in the chest one feels when they loose the one they love. You know it quite well I think…please…don't make me feel it as well" she was crying fully now. Robin felt Tobias loosen his grip and he was slowly let down. Tobias stepped back while Robin gasped and choked for air.
"It's the man, the one named Slade" Tobias said, this was the first time they had herd his voice in months. "I thought I killed him, but I smell him here in this room though his scent is different now".
"Slade!" Robin jumped to his feet suddenly revitalized, "Slade did this?" Tobias nodded,
"This time" he said "he'll stay dead" for a moment a bit of the animal in Tobias slipped back out and the room was filled with a primal presence.
In an abandoned building somewhere in the city, Raven lay in a windowless locked room. Around her neck she wore a collar to suppress her demonic powers, she looked up as the door opened and Slade walked in.
"You're remarkably calm for someone about to die" he said in his cold arrogant voice. "Are you expecting a rescue? Perhaps a white knight upon a fiery steed?" he laughed, Raven just smiled
"Yeah, something like that" she said.
Back at the tower Tobias worked with Cyborg who was helping him build a new motorcycle. This one was all black and armor plated, the engine was equipped with a prototype accelerator that was maxed out at 400Hp and 6000rpm's. The tires were made of a bullet proof, extra friction material. The core was powered by a thermal energy grid; this was not combustible like fuel so it wouldn't explode on him again. The armor plated frame could withstand a tank shell at pointblank range and the whole thing was completely heat resistant.
Once finished, Tobias climbed onto his new beast which he had christened "The Raven" and punched the power button. The bike hummed as its systems booted up, pulling back the throttle Tobias and the bike flew out of the garage at uncharted velocity. Cyborg watched as blew flames shot out of the twin exhaust pipes while the bike and its rider vanished into the distance. Soon Tobias came back into sight racing across the long bridge in seconds.
He pulled up next to Cyborg and shut off the engine. Looking up at the metal man he smiled,
"Daddy's got a brand new bang" he said, his good attitude was short lived for he soon remembered why he was building this bike in the first place. "I'm going to kill him Cyborg" he said "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch". It had been days since Ravens kidnapping, Tobias was under such stress that he lashed out at anyone who gave him a reason. Just the other day Beastboy had cracked a joke about Raven to try and lighten Tobias's mood, all it earned him was a punch in the face.
Tobias had been searching for days and he couldn't find anything indicating where that psycho had taken Raven. He built the new bike so that he could cover more ground but even this hadn't helped. He needed information and he knew where to get it, walking down into he recently reoccupied room he started to get ready. His battle suit lay folded out on his bed but where he was going it wouldn't be any use, digging into his dresser he pulled out a pair of black military pants, they were made of a tough fabric and had ties around the ankles. Tightening the strings around his ankles he slipped into his boots and threw on a tank top.
Exiting the tower he went to the garage and mounted his motorcycle. Its supercharged engine powering up in seconds, he shot off into the night and across the bridge headed into the city.
Back in Slade's hideout Raven sat in the dark, darkness once frightened her but after being with Tobias she felt quite safe in its embrace. The black chamber was flooded with light as the door opened and a figure far too small to be Slade crept in.
"What do you want Jinx?" Raven asked not looking up. The feline sorceress took a deep breath then looked around.
"I'm here to get you out" she whispered; now Raven looked up. "Im not sure why I'm doing this but I know what will happen if your boyfriend finds us all here." She said "Slade is different, he scares me now and I hear him talking to someone who makes him shiver…anyone who scares him has got to be bad."
Raven didn't argue with the girl she could sense the fear in her, silently she followed Jinx out of the cell. They ran down the hall Jinx always a few feet ahead, Jinx knew all the secret ways around the complex and took Raven down halls she knew to be unguarded or patrolled. Finally they came to a small door where Jinx stopped.
"Through here is the outside, from there you should be able to find your way back to your tower." She said. Raven nodded,
"Thank you" She whispered "you could come with me, my friends would protect you, and nothing gets into the tower without Tobias knowing…that is…if he's still there."
Jinx thought about it, "No if I go he will know for sure I helped you. I can lie to him if I stay." She opened the door and pushed Raven out before slamming it shut.
Raven stood outside a moment before enveloping herself in the shadows and disappearing. She reappeared in Jump city where in the distance she could see the glow of the tower. She started walking, after awhile she noticed that a ways behind her a group of kids had appeared and were following her, remembering her last encounter in the city streets she started to run.
She hadn't gone far when someone grabbed her cloak and pulled her backwards, whirling around she punched her assailant in the solar plexus a little trick Tobias had taught her. She recognized the kids as the ones from Slade's fortress and she knew they were here to bring her back. Reaching for her belt he managed to press the emergency button on her communicator before screaming for help.
"Tobias! Tobias help me!" she yelled over and over.
Tobias had supernatural hearing and Ravens screams reached his ears even over the engine of his motorcycle. Squeezing the front brake and throwing his weight he spun the bike around on its front tire before speeding off in to opposite direction. The supercharged motor carrying him in the direction of the screams. Soon he saw a group of people trying to subdue a struggling girl, just before he got there the scene exploded in a mass of dark demonic energy. Tobias was hurled backwards and sent crashing into a brick wall, masses of stone and brick came down on him; the kids were flung in all directions. Raven rose from the crater her powers had made her eyes burning with hellfire; the demon in her had taken control.
At the tower alarms were ringing signaling there was trouble downtown. Robin and the others were already on their way to the site of the disturbance.
Ebon tendrils of black energy seeped out from ravens cloak reaching for the kids scattered around her. They tried to run but didn't get far; they were soon being pulled back into her everlasting darkness. Hovering in the air Raven was the embodiment of hell's evil; unmoved by the terrified screaming of her victims she was about to absorb their souls.
"Raven don't do it!" Robin and the others had arrived on the scene. "Come on Raven don't do this" Robin knew there was nothing they could do to stop her he wished Tobias were there; if anyone could bring her back it was him.
Suddenly a large pile of bricks and rubble exploded sending debris in all directions as Tobias smashed out of his stone prison. He dashed the short distance to Raven and leapt into the air plowing into her he took her to the ground. Once unconscious Raven's demonic powers dissipated; Tobias scooped her up took her to his bike and rode home.
Robin watched them go and was about to follow when something caught his eye. Bending down he examined a dark splotch on the asphalt, it was blood…he followed the trail of it back to the wall that had come down on Tobias. Amidst the rubble Robin found a piece of re bar protruding from the mess; the stick of iron was coated in blood and had bits of black cloth stuck to it. Robin looked in the direction Tobias had gone worry written all over his face.
"Guys we'd better get home quick"
Back in the tower Tobias deposited Raven in her room and staggered out the door into the hall. Blood running down his legs from the wound in his side; he took a few steps the collapsed. Trying to crawl his way to the med wing he dug deep into his reservoir of animal strength pulling himself inch by inch down the hallway. There were suddenly shapes all around hid dark blurry shadows reaching out for him. The biggest of them stretched its hand out to take hold of him; Tobias roared and with the strength of a mad beast he lashed out and ripped the arm clean off his assailant. There was a scream and flashes of light then sounds like a power cable in water; Tobias smiled grimly before descending into darkness.
Back in Slades fortress Jinx walked through the dark hallways trying to suppress the fear growing in her. She shivered suddenly as the room became icy cold; a grey mist flooded the empty hallway and a dark figure appeared out of the fog.
"Hello Jinx" Slades voice was like frozen venom. Jinx cringed at the sound of it "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Raven being missing now would you?" he asked an expression of mock curiosity of his white smooth face. Jinx shook her head unable to speak; Slade wrapped an arm around her drawing her close to him. "Is something wrong Jinx? You seem very nervous, and you're so tense, and the blood is flowing through your veins so fast I can hear it."
Jinx was powerless in Slades grasp; she couldn't so much as twitch he was so strong. "Please" she said weakly "just let me go." He laughed,
"Tell you what Jinx, I'll set you free" Jinx's screams echoed throughout the complex then were suddenly silenced.
Slade strode into the boarding room where his acquired muscle was permitted living quarters.
"Mammoth, Gizmo! Take a troop of assassin droids and retrieve Raven from the Titans would you" he walked out without another word.
Raven awoke to the sounds of people talking outside her door from what she could hear it sounded like Robin and Cyborg.
"Lucky it was you he grabbed Cyborg; anyone else would be permanently missing an arm" Robin said eyes the newly attached right arm Cyborg had just finished with.
"Shut up Robin that doesn't mean I'm any happier about it" said Cyborg grumpily. "At least we got to him before he bled to death; though now someone's gotta clean up the fucking bloodbath in the hallway! It's probably all over in Ravens room to." The door slid open and Raven joined them,
"Actually there's not much in here; and on that note who's blood is all this?" she looked from one to the other neither of them seeming to want to meet her gaze; suddenly the truth came to her and she dashed off to the med bay. When she got there she found the room dark; there were the sounds of medical equipment and slow heavy breathing. She walked over to the bedside and looked down at her injured loved one.
"My poor tiger" she whispered "you are hurt so badly and it's all my fault" she collapsed into tears. She felt a strong hand close around her own and looked down to see Tobias staring up at her. Still crying she reached over to stroke his hair; his skin was pale from loss of blood but he was no less beautiful as ever.
"It wasn't your fault Raven" he said "if I hadn't left you alone Slade never would have taken you; please forgive me I broke my promise and let you down." All Raven could do was cry she just didn't understand how she could have been so lucky as to meet the boy before her.
By the next day Tobias was up and about his strength almost fully returned. He was in the living room standing on one hand with his eyes closed when Starfire flew in on her way to make breakfast. She stopped to watch him for a moment debating weather or not he would wish to be disturbed.
"Id like strawberries and cream on my pancakes please Star." He said without opening his eyes; Starfire's eyes grew bright with pleasure.
"It would be my pleasure friend Tobias" she said delightedly Tobias went back to his meditation; he was walking through his forest thinking about what he was to do to the man Slade. Sighing he lowered himself to the ground and made his way to the gym where he found Robin stretching on the mats. Tobias walked over and pulled off his muscle tee; gesturing for Robin to get up he adopted a ready stance. Robin hadn't sparred with Tobias in a long time he wanted to see just how far along Tobias had come; in a flash he whipped out his bio staff and leapt at Tobias. The catlike youth arched backwards almost reaching a 90 degree angle; the staff cut the air over his head missing his nose by a hairs breath. He flipped back and Robin leapt forward in a downward strike with the staff; Tobias stepped to the side and drove his knee into Robin's kidney. Robin gagged and flew a few feet; he regained his senses to find Tobias flying through the air towards him. Robin lifted the staff in an attempt to defend himself but Tobias's foot broke right through it and caught Robin in the chest; he toppled backwards and slid into the wall. The broken halves of his staff in his hands Robin; ignoring the searing pain in his surly cracked ribs, leapt up and charged Tobias using his broken staff like a pair of escrima sticks. He came at Tobias is a huge flurry yelling as his hatred of loosing took control; but even Robins pride was no match for Tobias. As Robins attacks came he blocked every one; the metal poles cracking off Tobias's steel hard forearms completely ineffective. Tobias slapped away Robin's sticks and attacked; forming his hand into a C shape he caught Robin in the throat with it. While Robin was a few inches in the air Tobias swept his legs out from under him and using his hold on Robin's throat he slammed him hard on the mat pinning him. Robin struggled and flailed but it didn't help Tobias had him by the neck and in some weird arm lock; Tobias looked down into Robin's face nothing but patience and calm running through him. Finally Robin went limp breathing heavily.
"You win Tobias... I can't…I can't beat you." He said almost in pain from the words. Tobias nodded and slowly released him; Robin stood up massaging his neck "did you even quicken your pulse?" he asked. Tobias shook his head; inside Robin was crestfallen and a great amount of confidence and pride had been lost. Tobias didn't enjoy the fact that he had dropped Robin's self esteem but he wasn't going to pretend that Robin had presented a challenge to him.
"This just means you have to train harder" he said "get Batman to come and work with you I doubt you will find a better teacher than him" he walked off leaving Robin in the room alone.
Robin was unmoved by Tobias's word because in truth he had been training harder than ever; he was stronger, faster, and much more skilled than he had been two months ago. But he had to remind himself that Tobias wasn't human; well at least he was a superhuman like The Flash or Green Lantern and it wasn't as if Robin could beat them. He wished he knew more about Tobias though; and it must be horrible for Tobias himself not to know a thing about who you are or where you came from. The interesting thing was that from a blood sample he had collected he found that some of the properties in Tobias's blood matched those in Raven's. It wasn't enough to determine whether or not Tobias had demon blood in him but it pointed in the direction that he was defiantly not of 100 human heritage. Sighing Robin put aside his thoughts of Tobias and turned to another situation that had been on his mind of late; he needed a new costume the red and green just didn't do it for him anymore. Once again his mind wondered back to the looks of Tobias and Raven and even the dark look of his mentor Batman; he ran a hand through his hair it had grown to about mid length in the months since he had last cut it. Making up his mind he made his way to the vault where he would find what he needed to be even Tobias's match.
After leaving Robin Tobias had gone to his room and that is where Raven found him. He was sitting on his bed sharpening one of his knives Raven looked at the object; it was about a foot long and made of some black metal. The blade was wickedly curved and on the backside it had a hollowed hook like space that some blades had for use as a bottle opener. Below the spot the back the blade was serrated in a viscous saw; the weapon looked quite lethal and Raven was sure Tobias was more than proficient in its use. He looked up as she entered and put the knife aside; they stared at each other in silence before Tobias spoke.
"Raven…in the time I was gone a lot of things happened and I'm far from the person I was on the day I left" he paused long enough to examine his words effect "I feel as if I am an entirely new creature; but through all the changes my feelings have remained the same. But if you no longer feel the same way I will understand and I will simply become one of your fellow Titans; or I will leave the Titans if you so desire" having finished he awaited her answer. Raven looked at him inside she was burning to leap on him and release all the primal urges that had been building in her for the last few months. Containing herself she walked over and sat down on his lap wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him; he kissed back and allowed her to remove his shirt. She ran her fingers over the sculpted muscles as she kissed his chest softly; it was at this inopportune moment that Starfire chose to knock on the door.
"Friend Tobias I am sorry to disturb you but I was wishing to know if friend Raven was with you for I need most desperately to speak with her." Tobias sighed and lifted Raven off of him before going to the door; Starfire's eyes opened wide at Tobias's appearance she had forgotten how magnificently beautiful and perfect his body was. Clearing her throat she hastily averted her eyes to his face but that didn't help either because she then got lost in the fathomless yellow depths of his catlike eyes. Raven pulled Tobias back into the room and took his place in front of Starfire;
"What is it Starfire?" she asked in a very bad mood Starfire shuffled her feet around a bit before answering.
"I would prefer it if we could discuss what I wish to say in private" she said weakly; Raven sighed and nodded on her way out she turned to Tobias and mouthed the word sorry. Tobias nodded and retrieved his shirt from the floor; he smiled to himself as he remembered Starfire's face it had always amused him his effect on people. He wagered if he actually made the attempt he could seduce Wonder Woman herself; he dismissed the thought he was Ravens now and forever. He picked up one of his blades from his dresser top and hurled it into the wall before leaving the room; downstairs he found Cyborg and Beastboy arguing about something meaningless as usual. He passed them by without a second glance; wandering the halls of the tower Tobias sought something to keep his mind off of Raven and what they were likely to do the next time they were alone.
Locked in his room Robin was gathering all his weapons and gadgets; he modified each and every one to suit his new purpose. The image of the old Robin was little by little disappearing as he let himself evolve into the new person he was becoming inside. His old outfit lay stuffed in a waste basket soon to be forgotten forever.
A.N. What did you think? It's my longest chapter yet; ive had some good ideas for the next one and I will try to get it out asap. But as I have said; if you don't start reviewing I'll stop writing.