a.n. MGotS- Thank you. I'm trying to bring a few more plots into the story. :) LM22102- Yes, X becomes quite important later... mwaha. Jason- Thank you. I shall try to update once a week... unless I'm just really lazy or school kidnaps me. spiracle + VampireSelene- Thank you so much. :D More sneakiness to come! Boldprint56- Bwaha, I live to annoy. XD; j/k raex18- Hm, yeah, I thought of that too, but I don't write romance. LoL. However, you might pick up on little things here and there... humming like I know something

Chapter 7

X's eyes grew wide.

"Wait a minute. I've heard of him. I've also heard about your many clashes with him. You are not dragging me into this conflict."

"If you're as good as you think you are, Slade shouldn't even know you found him. You had to have some skills to steal that suit from Robin," replied Raven. She dangled the belt at eye-level. "Isn't it worth it?" A mechanical sigh vented from the thief's mask.

"Is there a particular reason you wanna find this guy?" he asked. The dark girl eyed him suspiciously. She couldn't trust him totally. It was still unclear whose side he was on.

"Let's just say it'll be in my friends' best interest." A chuckle came from X.

"Fine, don't tell me." His hand extended and he quickly demanded, "Belt." Raven drew the appliance closer to herself.

"First you find Slade."

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," X groaned.

"You got into Titans Tower to steal the belt without being detected, you can live without it," replied Raven quickly.

"Yeah, it'd just make my job a whole lot easier and faster," he argued.

"How do I know you just won't take the belt and leave?"

"Well, you'll just have to trust me on that, now, won'tcha?" Even with the mechanical ring in his voice, it sounded like he was smiling.

"There's no honor among thieves," Raven quoted. X's eyes narrowed.

"Do you want my help or not?" The dark girl looked from him to the belt in her hand and back again. Slowly she extended it forward, offering it to him. The thief quickly grabbed the belt and snapped it around his waist.

"No extra zinothium?" he asked chidingly. "Aw, come on..."

"You'll have to come up with that yourself," said Raven.

"No honor among thieves, huh?" he remarked before turning and disappearing into the shadows. The dark girl pulled her cloak tightly around her as she looked back to the setting sun.

Soon she returned inside and went to the Titans mainframe. When the screen turned on, it showed a map of the streets of the city and a pulsating dot moving along the roadways. Raven had attached one of Robin's tiny tracking devices to the belt. If X double-crossed her, she'd know. What's more, she could find him.

Suddenly Raven's stomach growled and she was finally aware of how hungry she really was. She hadn't eaten all day. The dark girl wandered into the kitchen area and discovered a box of pizza in the fridge.

"How long has that been in there?" Raven asked herself. There were only two slices left, and they didn't have mold growing on them, so the girl determined them safe to eat. She sat at the table with the food in her hand, however she didn't feel like eating. She was too worried about her friends to eat. Raven jumped when her Titans communicator went off, playing the familiar jingle. With a hopeful smile, the girl pulled it from her belt and opened it. Instead of her friends, Slade stared back. The Titan's smile dropped instantly. She felt like shutting the link off right then, but figured it unwise to do that to someone like Slade. Instead, she decided to be difficult.

"You're interrupting my dinner. If it's really that important, call back later."

"Humorous," Slade said sarcastically.

"Leave me alone. You've already harassed me once today," stated Raven, taking a bite out of her pizza.

"I am merely calling to up the wager," he said. The dark girl arched an eyebrow.

"I'm listening."

"If you win my challenge, I'll tell you where your friends are. However, if you lose... you're mine." Raven nearly choked on her food.

"What?"

"If you lose you will be my apprentice. You will cease to be a Titan and instead work for me; fight for me," he replied. The dark girl reeled back in her seat, plainly showing her disgust.

"Why would I ever agree to that?"

"Because," sneered the man, "if you don't the wager is off. And even if you do find me, which it seems you're in no hurry to do, I shall tell you nothing."

"I'm not just going to quit the team," Raven retorted quickly.

"What team? You're the only one left." The dark girl stared at Slade suspiciously.

"So why not attack the city now? Why are you playing these games?" asked the Titan.

"My dear, I'd rather have you on my side than in my way. It would make things much easier. So, do we have a deal?" Raven vented a troubled sigh. This was the man that not even Robin could beat. He was the craftiest and most dangerous villain the Titans had fought yet. He seemed to have even survived lava. And to find out the location of her friends, she was supposed to beat his challenge? Raven had no other choice— she was running out of options.

"Fine. It's a deal."

"Excellent," Slade said almost in a hiss. "This is to be a most exciting meeting." With that, the small communicator screen went dark. Raven hooked it back onto her belt and stared at her half-eaten slice of pizza. Her mind was elsewhere; debating her decision. Whatever Slade's challenge, she had to win. She didn't have to worry about finding him— that was X's job. The dark girl just had to be ready for some sort of fight. That meant she had to get back to training. And not just honing her powers, but checking up on Robin's fighting styles, too. By the time her mind phased back to reality, Raven realized it was near midnight. The dark girl finished her meal, pulled her hood over her head and returned to her room.

The next morning, the Titan woke up early and headed immediately to the training room. She hung her cape up and went to work. She meditated, practiced her powers and ran through Robin's training exercises.

By that night she was tired and dripping with sweat. She stumbled into the living room to find nourishment. The dark girl didn't even notice X sitting on the semicircular couch until a minute later. When she finally did see him, she started.

"How long have you been there?" Raven asked with a tone, opening the fridge.

"Awhile. Don't bother looking in there. You don't have anything good to eat," said X, getting up and jumping over the back of the couch. "Well, don't you look pretty?" he commented dryly. The dark girl wiped her forehead on her sleeve and glared at the thief.

"Are you here to tell me something useful?" snapped the Titan. After working all day she wasn't about to put up with an annoying amateur.

"All right, yeah. I found your man." Raven's eyes widened.

"Really? Already? Where is he?" she demanded. X's hands went up defensively,

"Take it easy. I'll show you. But you don't look up to a search right now."

"What do you mean?" asked the Titan, who was still panting from her all-day workout. X gave an amused snort.

"I'll come back tomorrow." As he turned away, Raven grabbed his arm and jerked him back, shouting,

"No! You'll take me to him tonight! Right now! Where is he?" Quickly the thief pulled an x out of his belt and slapped it on Raven's forehead. She balked, still trying to protest, then collapsed. Before she fell to the floor, X caught her up and carried her over to the couch. After setting her down, he silently found his way out of the tower.

Raven moaned as she came to. She wasn't as exhausted as she was last night, however her forehead stung. Bright light shone through the windows. The dark girl shot up.

"How long was I out?" she cried worriedly to herself.

"Not long kid," a mechanically-altered voice replied, "only about ten hours." Raven jumped up to see X leaning against the counter in the kitchen area. She quickly pulled the red weapon from her head and threw it onto the floor.

"Your stupid toy knocked me out for ten hours?"

"No, my stupid toy knocked you out. You slept for ten hours. I told you you weren't up to it last night," he replied, an undertone of smugness clinging to his words.

"Fine, you were right. But I'm up now. Take me to Slade," ordered Raven, stalking over to the thief.

"What, no breakfast?" X joked. When he saw the evil glare she gave him, his shoulders dropped.

"Okay, right. But are you sure you're ready? He's got his lair tricked out with some pretty high-tech gadgets. He's a smart guy."

"You're telling me," mumbled the Titan. She paused for a moment, then was suddenly enshrouded in a large shadow raven and phased through the ceiling. As he waited for her to return, X checked the small refrigerator again.

A few minutes later she sunk back into the room. Raven had put a cape on, one longer and darker than her normal one, and replaced her jewel belt with one of Robin's utility belts.

"Not gonna do your hair, too?" questioned the thief with a tilt of his head. The dark girl had half the mind to punch him out the window and let him drop to the rocky island numerous stories below. But unfortunately, she needed him. Raven growled.

"Just shut up and lead me to Slade."

"Only 'cause you asked so nicely," replied X. He walked over to a large window and stared out across the water.

"Can you fly us to the southeastern corner of the city?" he asked. The dark girl walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. Quickly the large shadow raven enveloped them both and phased through the window.

Awhile later they landed and the dark figure dissipated. Raven looked around suspiciously. This wasn't like the downtown part of Jump City. Here there were many dilapidated buildings with broken out windows boarded over. There wasn't a soul on the street, though the girl could feel the piercing gazes of people from the shadows of the buildings. The girl couldn't believe this was the same city.

"You're sure this is where he is?" questioned Raven, her nervous gaze sweeping the area once more.

"Yes. I thought you'd actually like this kind of place," X said, starting to walk up the broken sidewalk. The girl didn't comment, but silently followed him. Why would Slade be in a run-down place like this? It was so far away from downtown— where everything important was.

"You better not've double-crossed me," the Titan hissed. X looked back at her over his shoulder.

"You're not a very trusting girl, you know that?"

"I trust my friends," she said flatly.

"Look around. Your friends aren't here. So you're just gonna have to trust me," said the thief in a cold tone. Raven vented a sigh and pulled her cloak tightly around herself.

Soon they reached a river and X led her to a large drain pipe jutting out of the bank. It carried the excess water from the city sewer. The boy jumped into it and could stand straight without even touching the top of the metal pipe. The water barely covered his feet. Raven followed, floating a few inches above the water.

"Where are we going?" she asked as the thief kept walking farther and farther into the pipe. The only thing that could be heard besides the echo of her voice was the sound of flowing water and splashing footsteps.

"Not much." Suddenly he stopped and looked back at Raven.

"Hear that?" X asked, his voice strained with urgency. The girl listened carefully.

"What? It just sounds like..."

"Water!" the thief shouted. Further down the pipe came the echo of raging water, punching against the sides of the tube in its mad dash for the river. Already the water was up to X's ankles. Suddenly the two could see violent waves coming right for them. Instinctively, Raven grabbed her guide, pressed him against the metal side of the pipe and encased them both in a shadow barrier. A second later the water crashed into it, then slipped by as it continued its journey to the river.

"Well," X shouted over the raging noise, "I guess he knows we're here." A minute later it finally ran out and the water returned to the normal, shallow level. The shield vanished and the two continued on their way.

After a few more minutes of walking, an exasperated sigh from Raven echoed off the walls.

"You said it wasn't much farther. This pipe is a mile long and the light is almost gone. Slade already knows we're here, but where is he?"

"Keep your cool," X snapped back. This main line meets another one a few feet up. It branches off to the right." A little more walking and they found a circular opening in the wall, where a smaller pipe was spilling more water into the main tube. It was only large enough for someone to crawl through.

"Just follow this a little bit until you reach a dead end. Turn right, following the flow of water. It'll lead you to a pool, and across that is the entrance to your man's crib," he explained. A silence followed as the Titan just stared at X.

"How did you find all of this?" she asked with a hint of awe. The thief shrugged a shoulder.

"Secret of the trade, kid. Well, here's where I leave. Have fun." As he passed her, Raven said,

"Wait— how do I see down here? It'll be completely dark. And I don't exactly have Starfire's powers." The thief pulled from his belt another x, and upon seeing it Raven backed up defensively. Her guide chuckled.

"It's not one of those. This one was made to short-circuit Cyborg. It'll give off a little light. It'll be all you'll need." With that, he tossed it to her and continued back the way he had come. Raven quickly figured out how to turn it on and watched as sparks like lightning danced and circled round the weapon. X was right that it only gave a little light. The dark girl flew headfirst into the pipe, keeping the sparking x at arm's length in front of her. Like he said, she came to a dead end and headed right. A little later the pipe opened into a large, rectangular room. The water flowed out of the tube and collected in a pool many feet below. Slowly, Raven flew to the opposite wall, searching for some kind of entrance. Then she found it— a door on top of a small ledge, jutting from the wall. It was a metal door with a bar that had to be turned to be unlocked. Shadow covered it and the bar spun around wildly. The door opened. Inside was Slade's lair. It looked as if he had taken over one of the sewer control rooms. Three lights hung from the ceiling, dimly illuminating the area around them. Some stairs clung to most of the walls, leading up to shadowed levels. The rest of the room was cluttered with Slade's inventions. Cautiously the Titan wandered into the room.

"Welcome," the familiar ominous voice exclaimed, the haunting echo never seeming to fade. Raven spun around, trying to see into the darkness of the level above. When she turned back she started. There was Slade, standing directly underneath the middle light.

"I see you've found me. I applaud you on your technique— using others to do your work for you," he said. The girl walked over and stood underneath the first lamp's light.

"I'm not here for senseless chitchat. I want to get this challenge over with so I can find my friends," she stated.

"Ambitious, aren't we?" commented Slade. "Very well. Here is your challenge:" He paused as he reached behind his back and pulled a rod that grew into a fighting staff. "Defeat me."

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Next Update: Around Oct. 3rd