a.n. Well, this is a bit later than I expected. My apologies, school is eating up my time like a hungry, evil piranha.
MGotS- Thank you so much. :D Jason + spiracle- Domo arigatou. Hope you like this one as well. Lulu Cruz- Ending as in the whole Raven/Slade dialogue or where Raven's power surge? Either way, thankies. More of both to come. :3 gothpoet- Yay, thank you. :)
Chapter 6
That evening Raven meditated on the top of the Tower. Her teammates hadn't returned yet or even contacted her. Slade's words bothered her. He definitely knew something. A grimace crossed her face as she remembered. She had to find out his plan. She needed her friends. But one thing stuck in her mind: Slade had said "friends" not in a mocking or sarcastic way. Had Slade actually slipped for once? That proved she couldn't trust him. He would say anything to get what he wanted.
"Azarath, Metrion Zinthos."
A frigid wind blew past her, stinging her skin. Raven's eyes flew open to see the sky was dark and the moon waxing. The girl sighed and set her feet on the ground. She stood there for the longest time, searching the sky. Where were her friends? She pulled her cloak tightly around her and returned to the tower.
The next morning, the first thing Raven did was try to contact the Titans again. Again, there was no reply. She wondered if they had even tried to reach her. The dark girl decided that she needed to find out what happened to her friends. Pulling the hood over her head, she flew to the garage. She flipped the light switch and two lights from the ceiling shone on the vehicles, at different ends of the room. One was the newly waxed T-car, the other was the R-cycle. Raven looked from one to the other. She walked over and picked the helmet from the seat of Robin's bike. Of course she wasn't going to fly to where she wanted to go. And the boy wonder would never knew she had taken it... The dark girl slid the helmet on and hopped onto the bike. The engine was smoother to listen to, not as annoying as Johnny's bike. Raven had never driven a motorcycle, but she had seen Robin ride it often enough.
Her cape snapped violently behind her as the bike sped down the street. With her emotions starting to intensify, the dark girl did not want to use her powers anytime soon— even to fly.
It took awhile for Raven to get used to the vehicle; she never expected it to shake so much. The dark girl thought her arms would be completely numb by the time she reached her destination. As she drove, she grew more comfortable with the bike and was soon zipping around traffic almost as recklessly as Johnny.
It wasn't long before she reached the jail. Two guards in black and white body armor led her down numerous, similarly dreary corridors until they reached a certain door. Each guard stood on either side and one swiped a security card through the lock, opening the door. Once Raven entered, it was closed behind her. She stood in silence watching with mild disgust the prisoner sitting on the cot. He either didn't notice her enter or was ignoring her. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.
"Where's Slade, Johnny?" the dark girl demanded monotonely. The inmate, hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees, slowly lifted his disheveled head.
"You again? Leave me alone," he replied.
"Tell me where Slade is," repeated the Titan. Johnny shrugged.
"How should I know? And even if I did, why should I tell you anything?" Raven's eyes burned white and the cot was covered in shadow. Suddenly it slammed against the wall, crushing the prisoner. When she put it back down, Johnny tumbled off and onto the floor.
"Where is he?" she hissed as he staggered to his feet.
"I don't know," replied the biker, holding his side. "He ain't never talked to me."
"You're not working for him?" Raven asked.
"Johnny Rancid works for nobody," he snorted. The inmate sat back on his cot and glared at the Titan. "Is that all you came here for?" Johnny questioned impatiently.
"How is it that you show up when everyone else is gone— something I know Slade had a hand in. It's too coincidental. He sent you, didn't he?" persisted Raven, walking closer to the prisoner.
"No, it's called lucky timing. But not that lucky for me. I'm just after Robin." Johnny gave a nonchalant shrug and leaned back against the cold wall. The dark girl clenched her fists. He had to know something. How else would she find Slade? And if she didn't find Slade, she wouldn't find her friends.
With a growl, Raven threw her arm forward and a large shadow hand grasped Johnny's neck, holding him in the air against the wall. His feet dangled above the cot.
"Listen here, Rancid," the Titan hissed, her voice becoming strained and sounding almost possessed, "Slade knows where my friends are, therefore I need to find him. I will find him, and I will do it anyway I can. If you hinder my search, I will hurt you." The shadow hand tightened its grip around the biker's neck.
"Really," choked Johnny, "I don't know nothin'!" He clawed at the hand in vain.
"That's unfortunate," the dark girl said as an enormous shadow raven appeared behind her, wings outstretched.
-
The guards opened the door once a knock came from inside. Raven hastened out and headed down the corridor, back the way she had come. The two men looked from her to the inside of the cell. They saw Johnny huddled in a corner, his arms wrapped around his knees, and rocking back and forth. They exchanged glances and looked back down the hall, but the Titan was gone.
-
Raven almost tripped over the R-cycle once she exited the prison. Her mind had been elsewhere as she wandered through the jail. Now she leaned on the bike, holding her head. What was she doing? The dark girl never wanted her emotions to control her like they did in the jail cell. What was going on? Why was she acting like this? Of course, she desperately wanted to find her friends, but the search was slowly making her more emotional. Raven couldn't lose control of her powers anymore. If she did, it might be disastrous.
The Titan slung herself onto the bike and started the engine. She had to find Slade. He would never tell her where he was hiding, and Johnny had no clue... so how would she find him?
It was almost lunchtime when Raven returned to the Tower, and after sipping breakfast, her stomach was loudly begging for food. The girl ignored it; her mind was again preoccupied. When she wandered into the living room, she found the tv screen on dominated by Slade's unmistakable mask. Raven slowly approached the front of the room, more out of hesitation to talk rather than fear.
"I hear you're looking for me," he said when she reached the couch. The girl arched a brow. Did he have cameras in the jail, too?
"Who told you that?" asked the Titan as she folded her arms across her chest.
"I have my sources." More secrets.
"Where are my friends? What do you know?" demanded the dark girl.
"Patience, Raven. They'll return soon. But in the meantime, why don't we discuss other things?" Slade suggested cooly.
"There is nothing else to discuss. If you don't tell me where they are, I'll hunt you down. And when I find you, you will tell me where they are," the girl sad threateningly, leaning on the couch back and staring as hatefully as she could at the screen.
"An interesting proposal," commented the man. A long pause followed as he thought about it. "Very well. If you find me, I will tell you what you want to know. If," the stressed word seemed to echo throughout the room, a warning of some evil to come, "...you pass a little challenge when you get here."
"What kind of challenge?" Raven inquired.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be so challenging. Do you accept?" The Titan straightened. He had turned her threat into some sort of a business deal. Raven scowled.
"Fine."
"I look forward to seeing you in person, my dear," said Slade before the screen went dark. Raven ran her hands through her hair and let out a desperate sigh. How was she going to find Slade? She was no closer to figuring it out than she was fifteen minutes ago. The dark girl didn't know what kind of trouble her friends were in, but she knew she couldn't waste time searching on her own. She needed help. But who did she know that was an expert tracker? That could get in and out without being detected? Her eyes suddenly widened. He wasn't exactly an ally, but Raven knew she had something he wanted. Or rather, Robin did. The dark girl just had to get a message out. She figured he'd check the web, so she ran to a computer and typed out: 'I need help finding someone. I have the belt.'
Raven opened the safe in Robin's room and took out the only item inside— the utility belt. There was barely any xenothium left in it, but if the thief wanted the element, he'd have to acquire it himself. The dark girl was about to close the safe when she hesitated. What if he couldn't find Slade? What if he didn't come at all? What if she never found her friends? What if she did find her teammates, but it was too late? Suddenly the safe door was veiled in shadow. It swung wildly to one side, snapped its thick hinges, and crashed to the floor. The loud bang that followed seemed to linger in the room.
"I need to meditate," Raven mumbled.
The dark girl floated above the tower, basking in the warmth of the noontime sun.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..." The landscape was quite soothing with the sound of the water and the wind softly whisking past her. Her emotions slowly calmed and her powers were once more tightly under control.
As Raven meditated, she lost all sense of time and was surprised when a gust of icy air smacked her face. The girl opened her eyes to see the setting sun; it almost touched the horizon. She was about to return to meditating when a voice came from behind. It sounded somewhat mechanical yet chillingly familiar.
"I hear you're lookin' for help." The Titan's head snapped around to see the thief standing there, nearly blending in with the long shadows.
"Red X, I didn't expect you to come so quickly," she remarked, turning so that her floating body faced him.
"That was the name of the previous owner. It's just X now. Where's the belt?" he asked impatiently. Raven lifted the accessory from her lap before setting her feet on the ground.
"Just out of curiosity," X began, "who do you want me to find?"
"Slade."
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Next Update: Sept. 26th or so.
P.S. Yay! Teen Titans starts this Saturday. :3