a.n. aaah! -pulls hair out- Yet again, the show has taken my ideas before I've gotten them out... ¬¬; First, it was my whole plot of Slade coming back for Raven. I started creating this story in the 3rd season, and then I find the 4th season was completely dedicated to that. x.x; Now, in the show all the villains are being rounded up to fight the Titans...and that was my idea too... just way later in the story. Oy. No fair. ...just thought I'd rant.

MGotS- Thank you. More cliffhangers to come. Like this chapter... sorta. raex18- Thankee. It's good you're cool with it. :) LM22102- I've been wondering, is that Feb. 21 of 2002 or just some random numbers? And thank you. I'm glad you like it. :D Yes, have a few chapters written up til now. Ravenalltheway- I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you like Raven... LoL j/k Thank you very much and I hope you like what's to come. ShadowDevil- I must say, I read your review late Tuesday night when I was really frusterated with this unfinished essay due Wednesday morning (I suck at essays, believe me), and that just so brightened my night. LoL. So thank you for that and for the kind review. Hope you also enjoy this chapter. :) VampireSelene- Wow. o_O;; I'm really glad you like it so much. That's great. :3 And here I thought my story was kinda dull in parts... LoL. Boldprint56- Thank you much. And I hope you like the fight scene... it's challenging for me to write a lot of action that's supposed to happen in a very short amount of time. Hopefully it doesn't sound weird or repetitive...

Chapter 8

Raven started. Defeat Slade? If she didn't, she would be his. If she did, he wouldn't be able to tell her where her friends were. The man could tell she realized it and chuckled.

"Quite the conundrum, isn't it?" The dark girl took a step backwards.

"I don't accept," she said, hands tightly clenched into fists. Slade stuck one end of his staff into the ground and leaned against it.

"You wish to forfeit? That would be the same as losing, my dear. And here I was looking forward to a good fight. I guess you really don't want to find your friends as much as you thought," replied the man smugly.

"It's an unfair challenge!" Raven snapped.

"You more than anyone else should know life is never fair. Get used to it." The Titan scowled at that.

"Now, do you wish to rethink your decision?" Raven knew it would be the only way to find out anything about her friends. The girl reached inside her cloak and drew from Robin's utility belt his metal fighting staff, which she extended with a twirl of it. Quickly she assumed a fighting stance.

Slade tilted his head. "Don't disappoint me, Raven." A short silence followed. Suddenly she lunged for the man, swinging the staff above her head. The Titan brought the weapon down as hard as she could, hoping to bash his head in, but Slade effortlessly blocked it. They parried a little: strike, block, strike, block. Quickly Slade swung his staff around and hit Raven in the back of the knees. Instantly she fell. Once she got up, she noticed Slade wasn't there. But she heard him. Her eyes flashed up as she tried to see into the shadowed level above. Cautiously she flew up, always listening for her opponent. The only things hidden in the darkness were metal walkways, both hugging the walls and stretching across the room. There were hand rails on either side, but the girl figured they wouldn't be much help if she were pushed over the edge.

Up there the shadows didn't seem as thick anymore. Even though Raven still couldn't see clearly, she could hear perfectly in the deathly silence. She heard pounding footsteps behind her and quickly spun around, putting up a block. But she wasn't fast enough. The girl felt an excruciatingly painful slap fall across her face as she heard the crack of metal on skin. She was thrown back several feet and landed in a heap on the walkway. Raven slowly rose to her feet, face stinging. The Titan heard him progressing toward her at a normal pace and saw a faint shimmer of his mask. Quickly she jumped back further, pulling two small bombs out of Robin's belt and throwing them at him. An explosion of light and smoke followed. A minute later, to the girl's horror, she saw a shape moving through the thinning smoke. Raven whipped her head around, looking for something she could use. Her eyes fell on the guard rail.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she chanted quickly. A portion of the rail was covered in black and broke away from its supports, coiling and wriggling like a snake.

Suddenly Slade bolted forward, expertly swinging his staff. Raven reached her other hand out and his weapon was consumed by shadow and wrenched out of his hands. Then the rail was wrapped around his shoulders and coiled down to his waist. The man stopped dead in his tracks as he struggled with his bindings. Raven took this opportunity to swing her rod around and nail Slade's chest. The force of the blow was so hard that it pushed him to the edge of the walkway. With the railing missing, he fell off and plummeted to the level below. The girl hurried over to the side and looked down, but it was impossible to see anything in the darkness. The three lights on the other side of the room were no help. Raven dropped off the side and floated down to the floor. There she found the metal railing on the ground, cut into a few pieces.

The Titan growled. How could he always do this? When he fought the team and they thought they had him, he mysteriously escaped. It was downright frustrating.

Raven heard something behind her and spun around, dragging her hand. When she stopped, her hand kept moving over her, leaving a shadow barrier in its wake. Slade's fist hit the shield with no effect. However, his sudden attack startled her and she jumped back, shadow dissipating. The man advanced again as he pulled his arm back for another punch. Raven twirled her staff, creating another barrier which Slade hit. When that one vanished, the man rushed forward and punched the Titan. It knocked her to the floor, but she quickly jumped to her feet. Slade punched her again. The girl used her staff to balance herself to keep from falling once more. Her opponent thrust his arm forward, but it was stopped, his fist encompassed in shadow. Raven turned the man's fist on himself and had it punch his face. She did that repeatedly as she backed up.

"A sense of humor, I see," Slade growled as he tried to restrain his shadowed hand.

"I don't have one," retorted the girl. With a wave of her arms, the man was encased in a large, dark bubble. It rose a few dozen feet into the air, then rushed down and slammed into the floor. It made a shallow crater, Slade lying in the center of it. Raven stalked over to the edge of the indentation and leaned against her staff.

"You're defeated," she said curtly.

"Think again," came the low hiss. Immediately his hand shot into his belt, withdrew something and threw it in the girl's direction just as quickly. It exploded at her feet, choking the air with smoke. Raven coughed as she stepped back. When the cloud dissipated, the man was gone once again.

"If you're such an expert fighter, why do you hide so much?" the girl called out as she scanned the shadows.

"For your benefit, mostly. To give you a break before my next attack," his voice echoed off the dark walls.

"Oh, and I suppose if I win it's because you let me?" she retorted. Slade laughed in reply.

"Stop hiding! Come out and fight!" ordered the dark girl.

"Only because you insisted," came the reply. Suddenly she heard the whistling of a flying object behind her. Raven spun, putting up a shadow barrier that completely encompassed her. One of Slade's weapons struck the shield and exploded. As more smoke clouded the air, the dark girl broke through the dissipating barrier and ran in the opposite direction. Raven's fighting staff was knocked out of her hand and skidded across the floor into the shadows. Instantly she turned to see Slade jumping through the air, foot first, right for her. A shadow raven completely engulfed her and flew back up to the walkways. She was dropped off on one of the paths that followed the perimeter of the room. After the dark shape vanished, the Titan was left leaning against the railing, catching her breath.

"And you accuse me of hiding?" Slade's words echoed off the walls. She gasped. His voice sounded incredibly close. He was up on the walkway with her. She saw the glint of the gold side of his mask accompanied by his slow footsteps. She wondered a second how he got up there so fast, but then began thinking of how to attack him.

"You have put up a good fight, Raven," Slade remarked. "You are indeed a worthy opponent. However, both my patience and interest in this fight wane." At that the Titan put up her fists defensively. She didn't like where his speech was heading.

"I'm sure with more time and training you will be able to defeat me. But not today. I look forward to having you as an apprentice." Quickly Raven sent two shadow beams racing for Slade, but he evaded them as he lunged toward her. He thrust his hand forward, catching her chin and forcing it up, while his other hand unclasped Robin's utility belt. The girl, still stunned from the blow, wobbled a few steps backwards. Slade grabbed her hood and pulled it down further over her head. Then he took the sides of her cape and wrapped them tightly around her, so her arms were pinned inside. It was like she was wearing a strait jacket. As Raven tried to wriggle out of it, the man picked her up and dropped her over the side of the walkway.

Feeling the rush, the dark girl used her powers to tear through her cape. She panicked upon seeing her situation. She tried to fly, but only succeeded in slowing down the rate of her fall. Raven hit the ground, right in the middle of the shallow crater Slade had made earlier.

The man, leaning on his arms and watching her fall, had an air of triumph about him. His eye narrowed when she reached the floor, and he said with smug curtness, "You're defeated."

.

Raven was startled when she came to. She was in her own bed, in her own room at Titans Tower. Her head was still a little groggy, and she waited awhile before getting up. The dark girl couldn't imagine how she could've gotten home, or even how long she had been unconscious. When she finally did crawl out of bed, she wandered over to the window and opened it. A cool lake breeze gushed in. It really was the tower- and not some extremely detailed replica.

Raven heard something outside her door. Were her friends back? Had they saved her from Slade? Was it X? Could he have snuck into the lair again and taken her out? Quickly she crossed the room and opened the door. There, in the hallway, was something she certainly hadn't expected- Slade's robot soldiers. The dark girl gave a shout as she jumped back. Reflexively, she attacked the two androids with bolts of shadow. Raven scanned her room for her cape, but then remembered what had happened to it. Before she could et another one, the girl heard more noise somewhere down the hall. The dark girl raced out of her room and headed for the living room. She destroyed all the robots she came across, which in her opinion was far too many intruders in her home.

When she reached the living room, she stopped short. Raven didn't even notice the numerous androids in the room. What caught her eye was Slade himself standing behind the semicircular couch. His hands were clasped behind his back and he was carefully inspecting everything.

"What are you doing here? Get out of my home!" Raven exclaimed, fists growing black. She flew forward, toward Slade, but was caught and dragged down by his robot soldiers before she even reached him. The man slowly made his way over to the girl, who could barely be seen under all the androids.

"Your home?" he repeated, stopping right in front of her. "I'm afraid you're mistaken, my dear. This tower is mine now."

..

Next Update: A week from today...ish. 10th, possibly?