Raven awoke at the sound of knocking at her locked door.
"Who is it?" she questioned, awaiting an answer groggily.
"Your physical training begins today, Raven," Slade's voice was heard.
"Is that you, 001?" Raven asked, raising up in bed.
"Yes," the robot replied, "will you please open your door?"
"I suppose, not like I have a choice in the matter," Raven replied, slowly walking towards the door.
She ran her fingers across the keypad, putting in her code to unlock the door. The door slid open, revealing 001 at his usual erect posture, a small package in his hands.
"This is for you," he explained, "courtesy of Master."
She accepted the package out of bewilderment. Raven eyed the package with suspicion, taking it from his icy cold hands.
"What is it?" Raven asked, unwrapping the small box.
"Find out for yourself," 001 said cooly, "Master said that you would be pleased with it."
She opened the box, finding something that suprised her quite a bit. It was a necklace, one of silver. The pendant on it was shaped of that of a raven with small rubies on it for the eyes. She carresed the piece of jewelery in her hand, eyeing it carefully. After a moment, she put it on without a second thought.
"Well?" 001 asked, awaiting an answer from her.
"I like it," she replied flatly, "but if he thinks he can buy his way into my alligence with him, he is sadly mistaken, you can tell him I said that."
"You may tell him yourself," 001 informed, "come now, your training awaits.
She did so, not wanting to start trouble with the emotionless machine. Raven followed 001 down the ever-familiar corridor, the reddish-bronze tint of the lights overhead basking them. She continued to follow him, keeping up with his fairly fast stride. They entered the large room, nothing but the control panel in it as it had been before. Slade stood upon his platform as he always did, except he was now facing Raven instead of his monitors.
"I have brought your apprentice, Master," 001 informed with a bow.
"Very good, 001, you may go," Slade replied with the wave of his hand.
001 acknowledged, walking down a differnet corridor.
Silence was all that was heard in the room, nothing could be heard besides the faint sound of breathing from either of them.
"So," Raven began, "what are we doing today? Oh yeah, we're playing "Gym teacher from Hell" aren't we?"
Slade kept his composure, growing tired of Raven's comments, but he stopped himself from repeating what has already happened.
"We, child?" Slade replied in his amused tone, "you, Raven, are going to become far stronger than you ever expected or thought concievable from you." he pushed a button, revealing a series of exercising machines that arose from the floor, "with my help, Raven, you will be unsto-"
"Can we just get his over with?" she interrupted, "You do realize that as soon as I sieze the opportunity to do so, I will either escape or kill you, don't you?"
A chuckle was all Slade replied with.
"What's so funny?" Raven asked, frustrated with Slade, hardly able to stand his presence, but not like before. She was able to be in the same room with him without attacking him at first sight now.
"You and I both know that you will do no such thing while I have this," he informed, holding up the triggering device that would set off the toxic nerve agent in the Tower and around the city, "so why don't you be a good, little girl, and quit making shallow threats towards me, they are really becoming bothersome."
Raven gritted her teeth, knowing that he was right. She wanted to get away, but both she and him knew that she wouldn't do anything to endanger her friends or even the citizens of Jump City.
"Now," Slade coldly stated, changing the subject, "you will strengthen and condition your muscles, starting with your legs. Get on the treadmill."
Raven did so, not wanting to test Slade, knowing what would probably happen is she did so. She stood on the machine, which seemed to be fairly new, but it didn't appear to be one you could buy from a store. Slade had already walked down to the floor, right in front of Raven. He took a small, black device out of the many pouches on his belt, holding it in his hand. Raven looked at him funny, standing on the treadmill.
"What is that?" she questioned, squinting her eyes to make out what it was.
"You'll find out soon enough, child," he commented, clicking the device once with the turn of a knob.
The treadmill shuddered to life, Raven began walking, the speed was of just that, walking speed.
"You know, Slade," Raven commented in her disgusted tone, "I could have done this at home."
"Give it a moment," he informed, "I'm allowing you to warm up first."
Raven ignored him, continuing her walking pace, then she heard the device click again, only this time, this time she heard 3 clicks instead of one. The treadmill's pace picked up, slowly going from a walk to a jog. Raven began to sweat, not used to doing so much physical activity. She was it good condition, but she was weak, and it was starting to show after several minutes of this. She stared at Slade the entire time, making sure he wasn't going to pull any tricks or give him the liberty to mock her current situation.
"We have a gym in the Tower," she said between breaths, attempting to taunt Slade, "I could have done this there."
"I see," Slade said, amused again, "but you didn't, did you? Unless you were forced to, you would never set foot in that place, so I must make you do it. Oh, by the way, I suggest you pick up the pace Raven, this is far from over."
Raven didn't like the sound of that, hearing him click the device once more, forcing the treadmill to go faster and faster. Raven panted as she picked up her speed, going from her comfortable jog, to a run, then to a painful sprint. She took hold of the handles on either side of the machine, gripping them to keep herself from being forced off of the treadmill. Slade's hiss of a chuckle could be heard as she winced in pain, her legs feeling as if they wer set on fire. She tried to lift herself off of the machine by her arms in order to rest.
"No, no, no, Raven," Slade said, walking closer, "you will keep running until I say stop, if not, we will do this all day, and I don't think either of us want to do that, now do we?"
Raven muttered something under her breath as she set her feet back down, starting to run at the painful pace of the machine he had set it to. She gasped for breath to feed her body the much needed oxygen, her legs in strenuous pain. Slade saw how she gritted her teeth against it, a smile crept across his face.
"She is definitely not going to quit on me," he thought, "even Robin couldn't take much more of this."
Raven's body was drenched in sweat, her suit saturated to the brim, causing the excess to drip off of her. It started to hurt to breath, let alone run at the suicidal pace Slade had set for her. She cried out in pain as she continued to draw breath, not wanting to show weakness, but her body could only take so much punishment.
"Slade...please..." she pleaded, wanting the pain to stop.
He stood there for a moment, watching her struggle with the pace.
"I'm impressed, Raven," he stated flatly, clicking the device to shut it off, "I figured you would pass out by know, but no matter, by the time we are done, you will be able to run at that pace without breaking a sweat."
She collapsed on the machine as it slowed to a stop, unable to feel her legs, but she could in fact feel the pain in them as it coursed through her body. Raven sat there, gasping for air, her heart beating violently within her chest. Slade stood over her in a dominating stance, knowing that he had metaphorically speaking, won today.
"Not so tough now, are you?" he questioned mockingly, Raven only looked away in shame, still trying to regain control of her breathing.
Slade turned his attention back to his control panel, placing his hands behind his back as he usually did.
"Face it, Raven," he started, "you belong to me, there is no hope of you leaving unless I lead you out the door myself. Even if you were to down me, my robots would stop you, they are just like me in every way concievable, maybe even a little better. I don't see why you still resist me so, child, I have everything you could ever want, I provide you shelter, I provide you clothing, I provide you with food, but, you still throw it all in my face by showing your resentment towards me."
Raven climbed to her feet after regaining her breath, sweat still dripping from her pores.
"Think about it," she said in a hastened tone, barely able to make herself to speak to him, "you kidnapped me, your machines hurt me, you nearly killed me, and now I nearly ran myself to death, and you expect me to worship the ground you walk on? You really are crazy. Just wait, Slade, just wait, even if I can't possibly get out of here, my friends will come when they find out."
Slade turned around to face her. His eye appeared to be showing the expression of suppresed fury.
"The Titans are nothing compared to me! Your pathetic friends wouldn't stand a chance if they made an assault on my abode, even if they did find it. Raven, they are outnumbered by my robots, none of them aren't strong enough, nor skilled enough to defeat me, so it would be sucide on their part to attack."
Raven turned away in disgust, knowing that was the truth.
"Fine," she replied, not happy with her situation at all, "at least let me contact them so I can tell them that I won't be returning for quite some time."
Slade's eye refocused on her again in suprise.
"Do you really take me to be that stupid, Raven?" he questioned, knowing what she would do if she could contact the Titans.
"Listen, genius," she started, "if I let them know that I am ok, then they will quit worrying about me, and won't be expecting me for awhile. I promise I won't tell them about anything that has happened or my locations, just let me do it, please."
Slade pondered for a moment, seeing how Raven was indeed onto something. Her actions would lessen their suspicions that much more, making it easier for him and his plans in the long run.
"Ok," he finally replied, "but, if you reveal anything, you will pay dearly."
He pulled her yellow communicator out of one of his many pouches on his belt. Raven reacht out for it, anxious to speak to the others. He rested his other hand on top of hers as she placed her own upon the device. She looked up in suprise.
"I mean it, Raven," he said in a threatenting tone, his eye giving that much more effort to his words.
A chill went down her spine, knowing that Slade did mean business, and she knew what he was capable of. He stood there as she took it from him, not moving.
"Do you mind?" she retorted, testing his patience, "I don't think Robin would be happy if you were in the background."
"I understand," Slade replied, stepping back to walk up the stairs to his control panel.
"Bastard," Raven cursed under her breath as he walked away, turning her attention back to her communicator that rested in her hands.
Raven opened the yellow, circular device, seeing that Slade had turned it off. He knew how it worked, anytime it was on, it sent out a frequency signal, allowing anyone to track them. She knew he had tampered with it as well to remove that function. Raven pushed the large red button on the device, causing it to come to life, the screen lighting up.
"Raven calling Robin," she stated, pushing the button that allowed her to do so, "Raven calling Robin."
The screen fizziled from static to a image of Robin.
"Raven!" he said out of suprise, "are you coming home?"
Raven remained silent, holding back tears.
"Raven," Robin called out again, "are you ok?"
"Yes," she lied, "I just called to tell you that something has come up and I won't be able to come home for quite some time."
Robin sat idle for a moment, causing Raven's heart to sink that much lower, lying, and making her friends feel that much more grief for her.
"How long?" he finally managed, "I know you've only been gone about two weeks, but it seems like forever."
"I don't know," she managed, her voice starting to break, "I have no clue, it could be anywhere from a few more weeks to several months, I just don't know how long, but again, I will let you know when I will be returning, ok?"
"Agreed," Robin replied, respecting her information, "but we really do miss you Raven, you have no idea how much it is taking out of us with you gone. Everyone seems like a piece of them is missing, even me."
Raven sat there a moment, stunned, not able to think of anything say on her part in her deception.
"I miss you too," she managed, tears forming in her eyes, "Raven out."
She shut her communicator, tears running from her eyes upon her cheecks, falling to the floor.
"How touching," Slade sneered, "maybe I should invite them and allow you to have a reunion, how's that sound Raven?"
She said nothing, forcing the communicator back into his large hand.
"Now that we have that out of the way, we can continue with our training, what do you say, Apprentice?" Slade questioned.
"Yes...Master," Raven solemly replied, knowing that all hope was lost for her.
The days passed the same, but days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Those months saw the change of the seasons three different times, autumn changing to winter, winter to spring, and spring to summer. Over these changes, every single day, Raven trained with Slade. She had tuned her body in with her mind, allowing Slade to finally teach her his fighting techniques. To his suprise, she caught on a lot faster than he anticipated, giving him the ability to teach her some of his more advanced techniques, including techniques that had taken him years to master, especially those dealing with the katana. Now, nearly 10 months since her capture, Raven was nearly an equal of Slade, but still his apprentice. Being in his apprenticeship, Raven lost sight of what she once held dear, Slade filling her mind with ideas and notions that she had been forgotten, only enhancing her self-doubt, allowing herself to be turned against what she once cared for, shattering her former life. Now able to use her powers and engage in combat with ease, using cunning tactics and inhuman speed, she was a dangerous force to be reckoned with, Slade even began to tread lightly around her. This mid summer day however, seemed different, and Raven knew it was going to be different.
Slade approached a meditating Raven, she was hovering above the ground like she usually did.
"Apprentice," he called out in a less strict manner, Raven's eyes slowly opening.
"Yes, Master?" she questioned without a second thought, used to calling him so.
He held a package in his hands.
"Consider this a late birthday present, Raven," he stated, handing it to her as she set her boot clad feet back down on the ground.
She opened it, seeing something cold and made of steel staring her in the face. She lifted it out of the box, seeing it was a mask nearly identical to Slade's, the only differences were that it had both eye holes cut into it and the vents were of a more curved design, same with the outer edges of the eye holes. She also found clothing within the box, a suit identical to Slade's as well, belt and everything. Raven finally lifted the cape out of the box, one of a dark crimson color with a large "S" insignia on the back, the mark of Slade's property.
"Do you like it?" he questioned, "I designed them myself."
"Thank you, Master," Raven replied, picking up the box, "what makes this such a special occasion?"
"Why you have sucessfully completed my training," Slade informed, "and among other things."
"What other things?" Raven questioned, cocking an eyebrow.
"Well," he began, "you have been suprisingly obedient to me, you have shown me respect, which I have done to you as well, Your skills are quite impressive, so I figured that it is time."
"Time for what, Slade?" she pressed, confused.
"Why for your first mission, of course," he finally revealed.
"Really?" she asked in anticipation, hoping he wasn't lying.
"Of course," Slade informed, "we will be aquiring a flux capacitator from Wanye Industries tonight, Apprentice. So, as another token of my gratitude, I will allow you to do the honors of taking it, I will only be there for support in case the Titans show up."
"I think I can handle it myself, but if you say so," Raven replied, "and before you say anything, I have already told myself time and time again that they are no longer my friends because they abandonded me and didn't even attempt to come look for me anywhere."
"I wasn't going to say that, child," Slade defended, "but you do need to heed your own words, you musn't have a second thought in combat."
"Trust me," Raven defended, "It will be their mistake if I run into them."
Raven started heading towards her room with the box in her hands. Slade stopped her again, stepping in front of her.
"One more thing, Raven," he said, kneeling down.
"What?" she questioned, confused by his current action, only to feel his hand embrace her shoulder caringly.
"I understand that you didn't come here by choice," Slade said with sincerity in his voice, "but these past few months have been quite enjoyable in your presence. Raven, I don't know how you feel about it, but you are almost as a daughter to me, I care for you. Whether or not you feel the same is your choice of course, but I just thought I must tell you."
Raven noticed that there was compassion in his eye in for once, seeing that Slade was actually a human.
"To tell you the truth, Slade," Raven slowly admitted, "after I got over my rebellious stage, when things started running smootly, I started looking up to you as a father. Seeing how I never actually had one, it was something different, and I enjoyed it. Trigon only wanted to use me, but you actually saved me from that, and know you have shown your gratitude by taking me on as your apprentice, but also treating me like a person."
Slade was touched by this, he was expecting a completely differnent response, especially one along the lines of her telling him to go to hell, but he was taken over by this. Raven only smiled and leaned forward, dropping her box that contained the apprentice outfit, wrapping her arms around Slade in a hug. Slade did the same, remembering the short time that Rose had been with him, only it was Raven now, Raven was his daughter, even though it was not by blood nor adoption. They released each other at the same time awkwardly.
"Do you mind if I call you that Raven?" Slade questioned, his voice not as harsh as it usually was.
"Only if I can call you my father as well," she informed, her eyes welling up.
"Granted," Slade allowed, "now, go change, our mission awaits."
Raven did so, picking the box up off the floor and running down the hallway. She rounded the corner, running into 001, causing her package to drop.
"I'm terribly sorry, 001," she apoligized, leaning down to pick up the box.
"My fault entirely, Raven," he replied, leaning down as well, seeing the mask on the floor, "I see Master has officially allowed you to become one of us, has he not?"
"Yes," Raven informed with pride, "my first outing is tonight and he will be aacompanying me as well."
"Good luck with that," he replied, readying himself to continue with his duties.
"Thanks," Raven finished, continuing down the hallway.
She stopped only to allow her door to slide open to allow her admittance. Raven kicked off her boots and unzipped her jumpsuit all in one motion. She slid out of the jumpsuit into nothing but her bra and underwear. Raven began to don the outfit, sliding the pants on first, stopping.
"Wait a minute," she thought, "something doesn't feel right. I know that I have given up on them, but that doens't mean I should hate them. They don't know what is going on, and they aren't going to be very happy when they find out what I have really been doing this entire time."
She quickly shook the notion from her head, trying to listen to the falsifed logic that Slade had fed her, only she didn't know that it wasn't real. Raven finished putting on the uniform, looking in the mirror, seeing how she looked exactly like him, only a little shorter and female. She put the crimson colored cloak on, just like her dark blue one, except the broach that held it together was a metal one that bore Slade's usual "S" insignia. She held the mask in her hands, ready to complete the outfit.
"With this mask," she said out loud, "I will have completed the transformation. I am no longer a Titan, I am an apprentice and daughter of Slade."
She put it on, attaching it to the rest of the helmet-esque object that covered her head.
"Time to get to work," she commented, the voice amplification device warping it to where she sounded a little deeper than her demonic voice.
