A.N: Um... here's chapter 19. I hope you enjoy. READ!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans!
Chapter Nineteen: Hope is Wasted on the Hopeless
When Raven awoke she had no idea where she was or what time of day it was. The floor was cold and hard, she felt very uncomfortable lying on the surface. The room around her was dark and empty with a metallic floor and walls. The room was not at all inviting and an eerie silence occupied the space.
Raven's arm still hurt from earlier. Glancing down at her limb, Raven part of her sleeve had been burned off and the flesh was red, raw, and burned. The burn was shaped like a hand gripping Raven's left forearm. Lightly touching the burned skin, Raven winced at the sting the burn sent up her arm.
Suddenly, Raven saw something move out of the shadows in the one of the corners out of the side of her eye. Looking up, Raven's insides froze as she watched a shadowy form approach her, fear overcame her.
The creature didn't make a noise, it was as if it was gliding over the floor instead of walking. Propping herself up, Raven leaned back on her arms that were now behind her.
"Good morning, Sunshine," Raven recognized his voice, he was the demon that had hurt Beast Boy. Still too weak to stand, Raven watched helplessly as the creature moved closer still.
"What do you want?" Raven snarled, trying to replace her fear with anger.
"I already told you my reasons for bringing you here, Raven," he answered calmly. He stopped walking about a foot away from Raven.
Looking into the dark abyss under his hood, Raven felt her heart skip a beat. "Wh-Who are you?" Raven stuttered, beginning to give into her fear.
"I am known as many things, but you may call me Slasher," he replied. He kept his hands tucked behind his back, out of sight from Raven. "Once you are more comfortable you may even call me Father."
"You're not my father," Raven growled, glaring fiercely at him.
"And Trigon was?" Slasher questioned coolly.
"No. I don't have a father and I never will."
Slasher began to chuckle. "You are feisty, a true demon. I like you, Raven. I have a feeling one day you will be more powerful than myself."
"You wouldn't want that to happen," Raven said, somewhat threateningly.
"Quite the contrary, by the time you are that strong you will be loyal to me," he explained.
"I will never be loyal to you," hissed Raven.
"You always sound so sure of yourself, Raven. You of all people should know that anything is possible," Slasher said, chuckling. Glaring up at the demon, Raven didn't know what to say. "People change, Raven."
"What did you do to me earlier?" Raven changed the subject. Raven looked down at the burn mark on her arm that now propped her up.
"Ah, you mean your arm? Well that's a little power I have," the demon explained nonchalantly.
"What was that?" Raven questioned.
"There will be time for questions later, but first there is something I must do," Salsher stated. Drawing his arm out from behind him, in his hand was a syringe. Inside the clear tube part of the syringe was a translucent neon green liquid. The needle was about a inch or two long and was shiny, which meant it was probably clean.
"What is that?" Raven asked fearfully. Her eyes widened as she watched Slasher crouch down closer to her, still holding the needle in his blue hand.
"This is a little potion I created. Don't worry this shouldn't hurt... much," chuckled Slasher. The other hand lashed out and grabbed her burned arm out of under her. Raven sat up before she could fall onto her back on the hard floor.
Gripping her arm tightly, Raven only felt a fraction of the pain she had felt early. Maybe Slasher could control the amount of pain he caused people when he touched them. Raven struggled weakly against his grip, but was too tired to break his strong grasp.
Maneuvering the needle in his fingers he positioned it so her could roll up her sleeve without accidently poking her. Half of the sleeve had been burned off, so he only had to roll the sleeve up a couple inches. Then, getting a firm grip on the needle he pressed it into her pale flesh.
Raven watched in horror as the needle pierced her skin. A bony, blue thumb pushed down on the top of the syringe, forcing the green liquid into Raven's veins.
The veins turned black and bulged out of the skin in her arm. Raven's arm went numb as the lines spread across her entire limb. Letting go of her arm, Slasher stood back and watched the amusing display before him. Clutching her infected arm with her other hand, Raven fell to the floor onto her back. Her eyes rolled back in her head, so they looked liked white balls with red lines running across them. Raven's body shook horribly as she began to convulse severely.
Slasher's face may have been covered, but anyone could tell he had a smile on his lips as he watched this horrifying show.
Convulsing, Raven lost control of her body. The liquid was clearly being rejected by her body, but Slasher didn't raise a finger to help. Slasher knew that it wouldn't kill her, but if it did it would be for the best. If Raven could not survive the potion, then she would surely not survive her training. Death now would be a lot less painful now than if she died later.
Losing her grip to this world, Raven was embraced by a terrible blackness. Her body now lye limply on the cold floor, but she was not dead, she had only lost consciousness. The green potion swam through her veins, filling every inch of her body, overtaking her.
Finally waking, Raven felt her head pounding. She was in a different room, the only way she could tell her scenery change was the bed she woke up on. The room was identical to the other, except for the small bed with plain white sheets and the large steel door on the wall in front of her. The bed was just large enough for herself and was about a foot off the ground.
"Uh," Raven groaned as she stirred in the bed. Numbness claimed her entire left arm and it was completely limp. Using her right arm Raven sat up slowly. "Why do I keep waking up in different places?" Raven asked out loud in irritation.
Glancing down at the useless appendage, Raven noticed the burn still on her forearm. 'Why hasn't that healed yet?' Raven pondered. The veins on the arm were more visible than normal and were a blackish color, but were no longer protruding from her arm.
Standing from the bed, Raven walked to the large reinforced steel door, she tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. The door had obviously been locked from the other side. Scanning the rest of the room, Raven spotted another door on her left, this door was made out of some wood product. Strolling over to the door, her arm still hanging loosely by her side, Raven tried to open this door as well. This door was unlocked and inside was a bathroom.
There was a toilet, shower, and sink with a mirror above it inside the clean bathroom and everything was a bright white. Stepping towards the sink, Raven looked into the crystal clear mirror. The reflection was a ghostly white and she had a dark ring under her eyes. Shocked at how exhausted she looked, Raven took her eyes off of the mirror. Finding nothing of interest in the bathroom, Raven walked into the room with the bed. Approaching the large steel door, the half-demon raised her working arm, palm facing the door.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthois," Raven chanted. Nothing happened, no black energy shot the door open like Raven was expecting. Looking at her palm in confusion, Raven shrugged it off and blamed it on her exhaustion.
Walking back to the bed, Raven flopped down on the small bed. Rolling over onto her back, she stared up at the boring ceiling.
All she could think about was Beast Boy. 'I hope Beast Boy is okay,' Raven thought. 'I don't even know if I am okay. I wish Beast Boy was here right now. Where am I anyway?'
A loud creaking noise came from the large steel door. Raven lifted her head and saw a shadowy figure slink into the room.
Opening the door a small crack Slasher slipped into the room, he had to bend down, even though the door way was about 7 feet tall. He was a horrifying creature that could turn the bravest warrior into a whimpering baby. When Slasher walked into a room all were silent and the air seemed to grow colder. Raven was different though, she hid her fear well and seemed unfazed by the towering demon.
Scowling at Slasher, Raven sat up in the bed. "Hello, Raven," he greeted in his chilling voice.
"What do you want?" snarled Raven.
"I just came to see if you were awake yet," Slasher replied kindly.
"No you didn't, you would have sensed if I was awake or not from outside," Raven hissed.
"Clever girl," Slasher commented with a chuckle. "Well, if your so smart, why did I come in here then?"
"You wanted to lecture me about becoming a true demon," Raven responded smartly.
"Very clever indeed. Well if you already know what I am going to say, I guess I came here for no reason," Slasher stated.
"I won't join you," Raven growled. "I won't help you."
"I am sure we can arrange a deal of some sort."
"What? Are you going to threaten my friends, if I don't help you then you will kill them? That won't work on me. I know that you wouldn't actually kill them because if you did there would be no reason for me to work for you, then I would turn against you," Raven informed angrily.
"Maybe too clever," Slasher mumbled angrily. "Well if I can't threaten your friends, then I will just have to threaten you. If you defy me, I will end your life," he told her seriously.
"I care nothing for my life. I died along time ago."
"You are a good liar, I almost believed you myself. I know you don't want to die," Slasher chortled. "And I definitely know you don't want to die the way I would kill you. I could always go after your friends, picking them off slowly one-by-one. I would start with the green one, he would suffer a horrible death. Your little plan wouldn't work if I did that, now would it?"
Raven had nothing to say, he had cornered her. Sighing in defeat Raven said nothing, but she wouldn't fully give up just yet. Looking down at her hands, Raven felt ashamed of herself for giving up so easily.
"I knew you would see things my way. You can't always win, Raven."
Scowling up at him, Raven asked coldly, "So? Aren't you going to lecture me, that's what you came here to do."
"Fine, let's cut to the chase," Slasher announced in annoyance, Raven was really testing his patience. "You enjoyed killing that mortal, didn't you? Killing that girl made you feel superior, like you could conquer the world. Well Raven, there are a lot more humans like her out there for us to vanquish."
"You're sick," snarled Raven.
"Am I? They are only mere humans, they matter to no one. Humans are just animals, they feel nothing. Mortals are weak and only the strong deserve to live. Don't you want the humans to feel the pain that you feel every day," said Slasher.
"People don't deserve that," glowered Raven.
"We will see if you still think that way in a year or two. I know you will change your mind soon. I will leave you for now," Slasher said as he turned around to walk out of the room.
"Wait!" Raven called after him.
"Yes?" asked Slasher, swiveling around to face her again.
"What did was in that syringe? What did you inject into me?" demanded Raven.
"I almost forgot. That was a potion I created, it's quite ingenious. I couldn't trust you with your little powers, so my little invention took care of that problem. Thanks to me your powers won't work, but it is only temporary. The potion will wear off in about a week," Slasher chuckled.
Raven's eyes widened in fear as she learned how hopeless her situation was. Slasher continued, "I will continue to inject you with it until I can trust you." Glaring up at him, Raven wanted to attack him, but there was no possible way for her to win.
"If I inject you too many times you could lose your powers and then your life. So I suggest you start to be nice to me," Slasher paused. "I will give you some time to think about your options." Turning around again he hunched over and exited thru the steel door. The door shut behind him and a loud clank was heard as he locked the door from the other side.
Sighing, Raven lied back down on the bed. Staring up at the ceiling once more, Raven thought about Beast Boy again. Her eyes slowly closed and she drifted into a much needed deep sleep.
-Back at Titan's Tower
"It isn't your fault, B.B. There was nothing you could have done, that dude was stronger than all of us. You tried your best," Cyborg comforted his friend on the hospital bed.
"Yeah, but that wasn't good enough," Beast Boy said angrily, he had stopped crying. "I hope she's okay."
"Raven's strong, she can protect herself," Robin was the type to comfort people, but that seemed like the right thing to say.
"He could've taken her anywhere. This is worse than when she ran away. I am really worried about her, guys. How will we ever find her?" Beast Boy asked.
"We can't give up hope, Beast Boy. We won't stop looking for her until we do find her," Robin promised.
"I know," Beast Boy replied softly. "I just wish we could find her now."
Groaning was heard from the bed next to them. The three boys looked over at the alien in the bed. Starfire's eyes slowly opened and she looked over at the three boys. "Greetings, friends," Starfire welcomed weakly, Noticing Beast Boy's tear stained, Starfire's heart sank with worry. "Where is Raven?" asked Starfire innocently.
"We don't know, Starfire," Robin answered grimly, looking at the floor.
"No," Starfire gasped. "We must find her."
"We will," Beast Boy said with a determined look on his face.
A/N: I ended pretty much the same as last chapter, although I didn't want to end the same way, I needed to have the others in this chapter. Please tell me what you think of this chapter. You may review now, if you wish.
Lilliesofthevalley: I am glad you are into the story, LOL. That is my goal.
Moon's Darkness: I too live for pain. I hope you liked that little power of his. I kind of stole it from Rogue on X-Men, although she like sucks their power, he just hurts them.
Shade Spitfire: Thank you (bows), you are too kind. Please don't rip my vocal cords out and shove them down my throat. It would give me a reason not to have to talk to people, but I would rather just take a vow of silence. I will do whatever you ask.
Half-Gothic Chick: So, you admit my story isn't completely predictable? Hah!
-EHWIES: 50! YEAH! (Runs head on in to a wall) So, lay is for objects and lie is for humans? For the sentence fragment, it seemed like a run on sentence, but know I understand. I just said the demon and creature because the Titans hadn't met Slasher yet and it was a little mysterious. Thanks, I read my first chapter the other day, I don't know why, and it seemed pretty bad.
AirGirl Phantom: Thank you, I am trying to fix my grammatical errors. It may take me awhile to write a chapter without any errors, but it can be done! LOL, you are too kind.
Blondepunk62442: Thank you, that is a huge compliment. In my case misunderstood and crazy are the same thing.
ravenmasteroftele: I am considering burning my school down. A day without school, a magnificent idea. :)
bb-and-raven-rock: Here you go, thanks for the cookies. (:
queenOFanime535: Thank you, General. LOL. Terra doesn't deserve that good of a burial. I am thinking more of spitting on her, then throwing her copse into a wood chipper. Thanks for the cookie.
BlackoutHart: Maybe Slasher is Slade, I am not really sure myself. One day I will make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! It shall be a glorious day and every one will dance in the streets and there won't be any school! LOL. I like everything you cook!
Hide-because-it's-me: Thank you, I won't make you wait long, unless my mom takes away my lap top. I hate my parents! If you are going to kill me when the story ends, maybe I just won't finish it, EVER. A true never ending story, well I guess it would end when I die.
Monitor Supreme: LOL, I too thought about that, I was just hoping no one else would notice. I should have known you were too smart to miss that. Well, I guess it is time for me to make an excuse, so here it is: when Raven was fighting Trigon, she was protecting her home and her family and was using all of her power, but she only uses all of her power when she ABSOLUTELY has to. So she doesn't want to use all of her power to beat Slasher because if she does use that much power she might lose control. Oh and Slasher is only a bit weaker than Trigon. Okay, I just made that up this very minute, so I hope you like that excuse, if not I can come up with another reason. Thank you and good question, I hope I answered it to your liking. :)
tricksterchild: Thank you, I agree, Terra is a total bitch.
Rae Ginny Logan Potter: Thanks, I don't have anything else to say, except PEACE OUT.
randomchickwithnothingbettertodo: Sorry, I am trying my best to update. School can be so time consuming, I hate it! LOL.
DreamerGirl02: Thanks, no one has ever called me sweet, but thanks. Sorry about Raven acting a little OOC. Love does strange things to people, that's my excuse. I may not have been thinking that when I wrote the chapter, but it's as good an excuse as any. You RULE!
DancingPickle101: Thanks, sorry my life has been a little busy. I will update A.S.A.P. for my favorite dancing pickle.
Anjeli: I completely understand how busy life can be, thanks for finding the time to read my story.