"I am home mother," Raven called out, seeing Arella coming into view from the doorway of her childhood home.
"Rachel," Arella called back in her motherly tone, "you have been away for far too long."
Raven ran up to her mother and embraced her in a hug, a hug that seemed to involve all the years of separation being made up for in affection.
"There is one thing Rachel," Arella beckoned, stroking her daughter's violet hair.
"Yes, Mother?" Raven replied, wanting to hear her mother's soothing voice.
"You belong to me now," Arella said in a threatening tone, her voice becoming deeper and deeper.
"What? Raven replied, confused, looking up.
She saw Slade, Slade had a hold of her now, gripping her with his hands, painfully holding her against her will.
"You belong to me now, child," Slade said, pulling her up off of the ground and into his face, "you shall serve me and me only till your final breaths."
"No!" Raven yelled out against him, struggling to get free, thrashing to save her life.
"No one can save you know, Raven," Slade informed, "not your friends, not even your mother."
"Don't you dare talk of my mother, you monster," Raven warned, becoming angry.
"What are you going to do about it?" Slade questioned, being entertained by Raven's attempt to frighten him. "That's right, nothing, because she is already dead."
Raven looked past his shoulder, seeing her mother face down in a pool of her own blood.
"I wil-" Raven began in an enraged voice, only to feel one of Slade's cold hands grab a hold of her exposed neck, taking hold and gripping with all of his might.
"You are nothing Raven," Slade taunted, "Robin and Terra were more rebellious than you. They would have actually been able to escape, which they did, but you Raven, you will never escape me, I own you."
She struggled against his grasp, losing precious air. She felt herself beginning to go limp, Slade's grip growing tighter. Her vision blurred in out of focus, then finally going out. The darkness that consumed her was cold and unforgiving, unforgiving enough to force her awake.
"Mother!" she exclaimed, rising from her bed in a room unfamiliar to her, her cold sweat making her begin to shiver.
"Glad to see you are alive, child," a voice from within the darkness of the room called out.
"Get back!' warned Raven, hopping up on the bed, beginning to channel her powers, knowing that phrase was something Slade would say.
"Don't be alarmed, child," the voice replied, stepping into the light, the appearance of a butler was before her.
Raven, confused, let her powers subside, and then she fell to her knees on her bed, grasping her head in pain.
"Take it easy, I mean you no harm," the butler stated, "you took a nasty fall and I am only here to help, trust me."
"Wh-Who are you?" Raven questioned, holding her head in pain still.
"I am Wintergreen," he informed, taking out a damp cloth, "I am Mr. Wilson's personal butler."
"Mr. Wilson?" she questioned, releasing her head, confused by his statement.
"You know him by simply Slade," Wintergreen informed, "I don't agree with what he does most of the time, but I am the family butler, so I must stay. In the meantime, you must allow me to finish tending to your wounds, especially the one on the left side of your head, a very serious one I might add."
Raven turned and looked into the mirror across the room. The reflection was of her, but she didn't believe it. She saw a frightened, little girl. That girl was hurt, her face had been covered in little strips of white upon her cuts, her head was wrapped around the top left, blood soaking through, and her nose had been set back in place, but the wound still looked painful. She didn't see her clothes, she saw an all black jumpsuit, and nothing upon her feet, a pair of boots much like the ones Slade wore by the bed.
"What happened to me?" Raven thought, touching the wounds upon her face, Wintergreen using the damp cloth to wipe away some of the dried, hardened blood on her face.
"Those infernal machines of his are very dangerous indeed," Wintergreen commented to himself, "Your nose looks awful, my dear, I set it back in place, but it will take some time to heal."
Raven heard him, but paid no attention to him, she was in her own little world, trying to figure out exactly what was going on.
"Where am I?" she questioned, flinching as Wintergreen ran the cloth over top of her nose.
"You, my dear, are within the confines of Mr. Wilson's lair," Wintergreen informed, being a gentleman, "he has informed me to tell you nothing more, so I must obey."
"Where is Slade now?" Raven asked, surprised to not have seen him already.
"He is at his control panel, waiting for your presence at his request," Wintergreen replied, "you are to go there when we finish up here. I'll lead you."
"What does he want with me?" Raven persistently asked, wanting to know the truth behind Slade's actions.
"He will inform you upon that, I haven't the vaguest clue as to why you are here and what for," Wintergreen replied, finishing, and putting the cloth back into a bowl beside the bed that was turned crimson with blood. "Come now, my dear, I will lead you to him."
Frightened, Raven slowly arose from the bed, her head still paining her. She put the boots by her bed upon her feet, sliding in them with ease, surprised as to how comfortable and fitting they were.
"He may be a monster," Raven thought, "but he does seem to have good taste in clothing materials," pulling at the jumpsuit she wore, just as comfortable as the boots.
Wintergreen opened the door, revealing Slade's lair. It was a lot like his last, but more technologically advanced, thanks in a large part to Professor Chang's assistance.
"This place seems relatively new," Raven commented, following Wintergreen as he led her down a dimly lit corridor.
Wintergreen continued, ignoring what Raven had said.
The opposite side of the corridor played host to Raven's fear: more robots.
"Move to this side, child," Wintergreen informed, moving to the right of the corridor.
The robots came closer, 6 in total, all marching in strict fashion, there footsteps creating a rhythm. They all turned at the same time, staring at Raven with their single eyes, all seemingly smirking at her current predicament. Raven turned away from them, breaking the eerie eye contact, keeping herself from becoming more frightened than she already was. They passed, continuing on their way as if nothing happened, Raven on the other hand, had been shaken up to see them once more, knowing what they were capable of.
"Slade has given them strict orders to leave you unharmed, my dear," Wintergreen informed, continuing upon his way, Raven close in tail.
"They still look evil," Raven replied, calming herself after her recent scare.
"I believe that was purposely done," he added as they entered what appeared to be the main room of the complex, large in size with a tall ceiling, every small sound was echoed off the walls.
Raven looked around in frightened awe, an engineering marvel, but a marvel of a madman. She knew Slade had some kind of monetary income, but she had no idea on how even he could afford such a place. She looked forward, seeing the raised platform that had a perfect view of an array of screens, a figure standing in front of them, watching them with scrutiny.
"Slade," Raven thought, anger beginning to pulse throughout her body, gritting her teeth.
"I have brought her upon your request, Sir," Wintergreen informed, "I shall tend to my other duties now."
"Thank you, Wintergreen," Slade's voice replied with its usual hiss.
Wintergreen bowed and exited to what appeared to be an elevator behind her.
"Now," Slade stated, turning around to look at Raven, "do you know why I have brought you here, child?"
"I have a pretty good idea," Raven replied hastily, remembering her nightmare, "and I won't do it, you will never get me to do it."
"Don't be so quick to judge, Raven," Slade said, beginning to walk down the small set of steps from the platform to the floor below.
"I don't need a second thought when it comes to you," Raven said, anger could be detected within her voice.
"This offer I am going to make you Raven," Slade informed, now on the same level as Raven, off of the steps, "is one that you cannot refuse, no matter how much you are against it."
"There is nothing that you could do to me that would change my mind, Slade," Raven protested, knowing that he wouldn't break her spirit.
"Oh," Slade said, acting surprised, "then what about your friends or even the hapless citizens of Jump City then?"
Raven's eyes filled with horror, knowing that Slade had something planned something diabolical and ruthless in nature.
"If you are trying to intimidate me, Slade," Raven managed, "it isn't going to work."
Slade was circling Raven in his usual manner, each step resounding off of the silent, cavernous room. He stopped, leaning down to Raven's face.
"Would you like to know how I am going to kill your friends if you don't do as I say, Raven?" he said with a threatening whisper.
Raven stood there, her anger and rage continuing to grow.
"With the help of Terra of course," Slade began, starting to circle her once more, "I had her install a device linked directly to the central cooling and heating system of your beloved Tower, Raven. Upon the push of a simple button, the device will release fatal levels of toxic nerve gas into the system. It's relatively new, created by Professor Chang of course. The gas is the very same as Xenothium in nature, very volatile, but it has been boiled into a colorless, odorless gas, so they wouldn't suspect a thing. You see Raven, even if you were able to escape, you wouldn't be able to get to them in time. Even if they weren't home, it would continue to circulate throughout ever level of the Tower. No matter what way you look at it child, your friends are in the crosshairs, all I need to do is pull the trigger."
"Leave them out of this!" Raven yelled at him, beginning to lose her control over her powers.
"This," Slade commented, "is what I need from you, your abilities, Raven, your powers are far better than that of Robin and Terra, both of them are failures to me, you on the other hand Raven, will be different, you shall perform what I have planned for you."
"I'll show you how much more powerful I am than them, Slade," Raven said, beginning to levitate, channeling the ever-so familiar orbs of energy around her hands, ready to attack.
"Do you really want to do that Raven," Slade questioned, making her that much more enraged at him, "There will be dire consequences for your rebellious actions against me."
Raven said nothing more, conjuring her powers to pull pipes up out of the floor.
"I warned you child," Slade threatened, "now face my wrath."
Slade lunged for Raven, his fist poised and ready to strike.
"You are nothing compared to me Slade," Raven taunted, throwing the numerous pieces of metal at a high speed, headed straight for Slade.
"You are nothing more than a scared, little girl," Slade replied, knocking the pieces that came towards him out of his way, dodging the others that threatened him.
"And you are nothing more than a disciple of my father," Raven replied, ripping more piping up, "It pains you to know that something more powerful than you was in control of you and you could do nothing about it, on top of that, he used you, double-crossing you after he got what he wanted, and you call me foolish."
"Stow your mouth, child!" Slade yelled, enraged by Raven's taunting of him when he nearly helped Trigon fulfill the Prophecy.
Slade lunged again before Raven could attack, catching her completely off guard. He struck her with his fist, forcing her from her levitating state straight to the ground, causing her to bounce off of the marble floor of the room. The pieces of pipe Raven had controlled fell to the ground as she lost concentration.
"You see, Raven," Slade toyed, "you never were the greatest fighter, always relying on Robin, or Starfire, or even Cyborg to save you when it came to a hand-to-hand battle."
Raven attempted to climb to her feet, barely making it to her hands and knees, the taste of copper in her mouth, a tale-tell sign that she was bleeding.
"Why do you resist me so, Raven?" Slade questioned menacingly, slowly walking towards the downed Raven, "I have so much to offer you, yet you turn away this offer."
Raven made her way to her feet, wiping the trickle of blood from her mouth, preparing to attack again.
"You can take your offer and shove it up your ass," Raven said coldly, her dark energy began to accumulate at her hands once more.
"Now, Now, Raven," Slade taunted, "that's no way to talk to a superior."
"You aren't my superior, nor my equal," Raven replied, her hands glowing with energy, "you are nothing, actually you are something, you were my father's bitch, doing all of his work for him."
Slade seemed to lose the grin he had upon his face by the way his eye looked, turning into a face of hardened anger and hatred. He couldn't stand to be taunted upon the subject of him working for someone else, let alone it being Trigon. Indeed, Trigon used him, but he still was able to get his body of flesh and bone back. He couldn't stand the fact that he had did what he did, only to be stabbed in the back. Without a word, Slade went from his slow stride into a dash, charging right at Raven.
"That's it," Raven thought, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Slade continued to run towards Raven, his senses blinded by his rage. No sooner that he was within 5 feet of Raven, ready to silence her, a slab of the marble floor engulfed with black energy rose up, too fast for Slade to avoid, running right into it, crashing to a halt. Rave picked the slab up with her powers, floating it over top of Slade, who was dazed for the moment.
"You see, Slade," Raven informed, "I too can exploit one's weakness, yours just happens to be pride."
Raven threw her hands in a downward motion, causing the slab to drop from the air. Slade rolled to his right just in time to avoid being crushed by the massive piece of marble. He got to his feet, snapping his attention to Raven.
"I am yet to exploit yours, child," Slade commented, blood trickling from the small space between his mask and his eye, "your emotions are your own enemy, they are my ally, Raven, this fight was over before it even began."
Raven summoned multiple smaller pieces of marble, ready to attack with them.
"Well see about that," she added, throwing several of the rocks at Slade.
Slade dodged them with ease, getting closer and closer to attack her with each missed attack. Slade dodged the final stone, leaping into the air, faster than Raven could keep her eyes trained on him. He came down with his right foot, planting it cleanly upon Raven's face, her recently-set nose now broken again. She crashed to the ground again, wincing in pain from Slade's last attack.
"You are entriely too slow, Raven," taunted Slade, "even Robin would have saw that one coming."
Raven made her way to her hands and knees again, only to hear Slade's footsteps getting closer and closer, her vision still blurred from the last attack, her nose bleeding again, feeling the crimson water flow down her face, even hearing it spatter upon the hard, marble floor. She attempted to get herself to her feet, only to have Slade's boot swiftly lodged into her ribcage, hearing multiple pops, the unforgiving sound of the breaking of bone.
"Gahhh," Raven choked, trying to breath, holding her side where Slade kicked her, she now lay on her back.
Raven tried to roll over and crawl away, only to feel Slade's hand grasp her ankle.
"I'm not done with you yet," warned Slade, picking her up off of the ground by her ankle.
"Slade...please...stop," she managed, her side continuing to pain her, blood dripping from her wounds, splattering at Slade's feet.
"What's the matter, Raven?" he questioned menacingly, "what happened to your whole "Slade doesn't scare me" demenor?" He continued to taunt her, her body nearly limp in his hand, "and to answer your plea, no Raven, I will not stop, I never will."
Slade gripped even tighter upon her leg and swung Raven in a downward motion as if he were cracking a whip, slamming her into the floor once more. He released her when she struck the ground, her body skidded away from him a couple feet, just enough room for her to have time to rise.
"We can stop this right her, right now, child," Slade offered, "you only have to agree to my proposition, otherwise, you will be of no use to me and you won't have any friends if you even live."
Raven, now on her feet, Slade right behind her. She clenched her fist, rage building within her. Slade was within striking distance of Raven.
"So what is your answ-" Slade began, only to be interuppted by Raven's fist hitting him across the face. He slowly turned back to look at Raven, his mask dented in where she had struck him.
Slade grabbed her by her throat with both hands, slamming her against the wall up off the ground.
"You ungrateful, little-" yelled Slade, beginning to lose his cool.
"Let go of me, you bastard!" she yelled, trying to keep him from getting a hold of her windpipe.
"As I said, child," Slade replied, regaining his control, "I will not stop, I never will, unless you change your mind upon your current situation."
"And as I said," Raven managed, Slade's hands closing in upon her throat, "shove it up your ass."
Raven brought her knee up with all her might, catching Slade right in the groin. His eye that was full of amusement was now filled with suprise and pain. He released her, giving Raven just enough time to attack again. Slade had fallen to his knees, only to be at the perfect level for Raven finally attempt the kick that she had witnessed Robin do so many times. She spun around, her foot gaining speed. It was within inches of Slade's masked face, only to feel his cold hand grab her foot and force her to the ground. Slade grabbed the injured Raven by her cloak, holding her up in the air, his eye giving an all-telling sign of fury.
"I am done playing with you, Raven," he managed, attempting to keep his voice in check, "I will leave you with this ultimatum, child, join me by tomorrow, or the Titans and many citizens of Jump City will suffer the same fate."
He drew his fist back, Raven watching his large hand as it came back, she unable to do anything about it. Her body cried out in pain, she knew she had broken bones, and she knew that unless she could do something, Slade was going to kill her at the current rate they were going.
"I will see you at the same time tomorrow, child," Slade informed, thrusting his fist forward, driving it into Raven's face.
Raven saw it speed towards her, but then darkness consumed her right then and there. Her body fell limp in Slade's hand. He released her, her body dropping to the ground with a thud.
"001," Slade called out, knowing that his right hand machine was close by.
"Yes, Master?" the robot obeyed, "are you in need of assistance?"
"Please take Raven back to her room, treat her wounds, and report back to me," Slade ordered, running his hand across his mask, feeling the dent Raven had put in it.
"Yes, Master," the robot replied, scooping the unconscious Raven up in it's arms, carrying her down the dimly lit hallway.
Slade made his way back to his control panel after surveying the damage that his and Raven's little "scuffle" had caused. He pushed a button on the panel, Wintergreen's image appearing upon the screen, the same extravegant background as before visible.
"Yes, Sir?" questioned Wintergreen, who appeared to be cleaning glasses in what appeared to be a kitchen.
"Change of plans" Slade said, using a cloth to wipe the blood on his mask away, "I need you to tend to Raven again, her and I had a slight disagreement, we didn't quite see eye-to-eye."
"I'll be there in a moment, Sir," Wintergreen replied, ending the conversation.
"A minor setback," Slade commented out loud, "but no matter, I have Raven, and she isn't going anywhere. My robotic army is nearly complete, and the Titans are completely unoblivious to what is taking place. Phase 2 of my plan will begin soon enough, it is only a matter of time before my conquest will be imenint."
"Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed, throwing himself down on the couch in the central room, "is it me, or are the villains getting lamer and lamer with each passing day?"
"Even i'll admit," Cyborg added, hopping over the back of the couch, landing on it, "seems as if Jinx and her crew are losing their touch."
"Don't get too confident," Robin warned, sitting down on the couch next to Cyborg, leaving space for Starfire on his other side, "they always seem to come back, no matter how bad of a beating they take, so stay on your guard, besides, there is the possiblity of someone out there that is better than us, so don't press your luck."
"I know, man," Cyborg replied, "it just seems like this job is getting too easy, but as you said, and have always said, expect the unexpected, so until the time comes that we need to try again, I will gladly fight all of these pathetic excuses for villains."
"Right on, Cy," Beast Boy added, "ain't no one around good enough to beat the Titans."
Robin leaned forward, looking at B.B. with a disgusted look.
"Did you even listen to one word I just said, Beast Boy?" Robin questioned flatly, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I did," Beast Boy replied, "I just have my own theories about things, mine just happens to be full of optimistic confidence."
Robin ignored B.B., he knew he was just messing around, knowing that all of them knew when to be serious and when to joke around. Cyborg lifted up from the couch and headed towards the elevator.
"Hey, B.B." Cyborg called out, continuing to walk, "some of the parts for your moped came in today, wanna help me put them on?"
"Heck yeah, dude!" B.B. exclaimed, hopping over the couch, dashing towards Cyborg.
Both of them entered the elevator, the doors closed, allowing the car to make its descent into the lower level of the Tower.
Robin looked over at Starfire, her face was absent of her usual smile, it seemed as if it were full of fear and worry. Robin knew what was wrong with her, but there wasn't anything he, nor the others, could do to help. They all missed her, but Starfire was the only one that seemed to show it. Robin rested his hand upon her's, which rested on her thigh. She looked up, matching eyes with him.
"Star," Robin began, "I know its tough, but just like the rest of us, you are going to have to go through it, I know it sounds bad, but it is happening and there isn't anything we can do about it."
"I know Robin," Starfire replied, smiling a little, "it just seems as if we haven't done the hanging out since Raven left."
Robin thought for a moment, seeing how now might be a good time to do so.
"You know Star," Robin stated, "Beast Boy and Cyborg are working on B.B.'s moped project, so I don't think they would want to hang out."
"What about just us then?" Starfire asked naively, not understanding what Robin was really trying to get at.
"Only you and me?" he replied questioningly, nervousness about his voice.
"Of course, is that a problem?" Starfire stated, cocking her eyebrow.
"No, not at all," Robin answered, his voice quivering a little, "so, uh, what do you want to do?"
"Can we go the showing of the pictures on the giant screen, or eat to out, or even to the park of wonderous trees and shrubbery," Starfire informed, wanting to hear Robin's answer.
"So you want to go out for dinner, go to a movie, then a walk throught he park?" Robin said questioningly, curious to what Starfire was up to.
"Yes, Robin," she answered, "and you call me naive."
Robin blushed a little, she had managed to get him to agree to go on a date with her. Robin never had been the ladies' man type, actually, when in public, he is quite shy, tends to stay away from others, so this did come as quite a shock to him.
"I will be wearing the new clothing I purchased from the mall of shopping," Starfire announced, "meet me back in here in about 30 minutes, Robin."
"Of course," he replied, his voice trailing off as she walked towards her room.
Robin lifted up from the couch and walked to his room.
"Me? On a date? With Starfire?" he questioned himself, unbelievable to what just transpired, "or does she think we are just going to hang out like normal, or what?"
He opened his door, locking it behind him when he closed it.
"She is going to wear something nice, so should I," Robin commented to himself, heading towards his closet.
Raven found herself within her mind. Since she wasn't asleep, but unconscious, she was able to do so. She saw the damage that Slade's relentless attacks had wreaked upon her mind. Her emotions were out of balance, her subconcious lay in ruins. Raven walked up to what appeared to be her emotional counterparts, Timid and Bravery. Timid lay on the ground, battered and bruised, Bravery kneeling beside her. Bravery looked up to see Raven.
"What the hell is going on? Bravery questioned, getting straight to the point.
"I have been captured by Slade, therefor, all of you are under his control as well," Raven solemly informed.
"We are losing balance," Bravery warned, standing up, "Anger has already reared it's ugly head, so Rage isn't far behind."
"Where are the others?" Raven questioned, knowing that her other emotions weren't that far away.
"Happiness, Joy, and, Love have all gone into hiding," Bravery informed, "Timid, as you see, has grown weak with your combat. Since you feel sorry for yourself, she has been trying keep up with your need to do so. Sorrow, Grief, and Depression have been showing up as well. Soon they will be strong enough to combine with Anger and form Rage."
"I see," Raven replied, taking in all of the information that Bravery had revealed to her, "since you seem to be the only one capable of helping as of right now, what do you suggest I do?"
"This may come as quiet a shock," Bravery commented, "but you must allow yourself to do what Slade tells you for the time being until a plan or a course of action can be decided upon, either by you or by the others."
"So you want me to go along with whatever he has planned?" Raven replied to her emotion, suprised.
"Yes, it is the only way right now," Bravery continued, "we all know you can't take another beating like that, so let's not risk death here."
Raven nodded, knowing deep down inside that her emotion was right, she must listen, and take action, but she mustn't allow her emotions to totally take over.
"What of Intelligence?" Raven asked, knowing her stay within her mind was drawing to a close.
"She is formulating a plan of action, you must do as we instruct this time, Raven, our existence, and yours of course, relies on it," Bravery replied, a solemn tone about her usual gung-ho attitude.
Raven rested her hand upon Bravery's shoulder, getting her attention.
"We will get through this, one way or another," Raven stated, "and you are going to help me kick Slade's ass, got it? Don't disappear on me when I need you the most."
"You can count on me," Bravery said in her usual tone, ready to fight.
The sky of her subconscious began to warp, going from black to white, extremely bright white.
"Seems my stay is coming to an end, Bravery," Raven informed, stepping back, her body beginning to dissapate.
"We won't let you down," Bravery informed, watching Raven disappear and return to reality, the reality of the pain from her wounds was beginning to kick in.
