Raven continued to back into the darkness, only her eyes were visible, nearly completely white because her pupils were retracted, nearly non-existent. The Titans were dumbfounded, they weren't for sure who it exactly was due to the darkness of night and she backed into a shadow as quickly as possible, but they stayed on guard, not wanting to be taken advantage of again.
"W-Who are you!" Robin yelled out, "we all know your unmasked, show yourself!"
A response wasn't heard.
"Maybe she doens't want you to know just yet, Robin," Slade's errie voice was heard behind her, a single penetrating eye appearing in the darkness.
"Slade, come out and fight!" Robin said in an angered, heightened tone, "we defeated your apprentice, you're next!"
"Defeated? You are gravely mistaken Robin, my apprentice is far from finished," Slade stated, turning his attention to Raven, "isn't that right, dear?"
"Yes, Master," was heard in the form of a softened female voice instead of the seemingly demonic one from before.
"Come now, child," Slade continued, pushing her forward as he walked, "they want to know the truth, so let's introduce it to them."
Raven reluctantly stepped forward as Slade pushed her injured shoulder from behind, her hand still in front of her exposed half of her face. The two of them stopped as the entered the light, allowing Robin and the others to see the extent of damage that his apprentice had recieved, yet she continued going as if nothing had happened.
"How about a little amusement first," Slade sneered, "take a guess as to what her identity is first before I allow her to reveal it."
"No games, Slade," Robin growled, intense hatred flowing through at the sight of the very man he had grown to despise.
"Come now, Robin, that isn't a sporting attitude, just a simple guess is all I am asking for," he continued, making Robin more and more angrier with each passing second.
"Ummm..." B.B. spoke up first, "Jinx?"
He was elbowed by Cyborg, knocking the wind out of him.
"Sorry, that is incorrect, but oh so very close," Slade calmly stated, "and now for the grand revealing, child, it is time."
Raven kept her face covered, but she took hold of the other half of the mask that was still attached and unlatched, but kept it upon her face for a few seconds.
"Do it, Apprentice, I command you," Slade ordered at her reluctancy, his hand still on her shoulder.
She casted the remaining bronze half of her mask away, dropping her hand she used for concealment at the same time, all in one fluid motion. Her dark violet hair fluttered out, not used to being contained within the mask. She reluctantly made eye contact, her amythest eyes already having tears flowing down her ashen gray skin, even mixing with the blood upon her face from her wounds, making it appear as if she were crying tears of crimson water.
Not another word was uttered for several moments, Raven only looking at her friends' faces, how they were shocked and full of horror and disbelief. Starfire fell to her knees, mouth agap, forgetting about her injuries, her power quickly subsiding to nothing, ready to cry. Cyborg lowered his cannon, returning it to his normal hand. Beast Boy emerald eyes only welled up with tears as he lessened his stance to nearly nothing, barely standing. Robin dropped his staff to the ground, but stayed in his combatitive stance. He quickly snapped out of his shock, focusing on what was at hand.
"I swear to you," Robin growled loudly, "whatever you have done to her, you will pay dearly for it."
"Why, Robin," Slade stated amused, "I haven't done anything she hasn't wanted me to do, isn't that right, daughter?"
"Yes,...father," Raven managed, attempting to keep herself from sobbing.
Robin couldn't believe his ears, his focus went from her well-being to that of wanting to end Slade's life. Starfire wailed at her last comment, feeling as if all hope was lost. Cyborg attempted to not show it, but he was still part human. Beast Boy sobbed on his knees, feeling as if he had failed Raven somehow, and Robin, Robin felt the undying need to kill Slade with his own hands at the moment.
"Friend Raven," Starfire bawled out, "it is I, your friend Starfire, please, whatever Slade has done to you cannot be greater than what we have, as friends."
"I have no friends," Raven solemly managed, still fighting back most of her tears, "my friends abandoned me."
"You cannot possibly mean tha-" Starfire said back, only to be interrupted.
"I do, Starfire," she said in an hushed angered tone as if she had been the one betrayed, "because my friends would have saved me from the hell I have endured. At first, I was hopeful that you would, but now, it is different. After spending all of these months, training every single day, nearly all day, I have grown accustomed to this. This, this is how it is now, you had your chance for redemption, but you casted it aside, even playing everything off as if it were nothing."
"What the hell are you talking about!" Robin screamed, confused, "If we actually knew what was going on, we would have saved you in a heartbeat and you damn well know that!"
"How are you to explain the fact that you, Robin, especially," Raven yelled back, "were actually enjoying my absence, why, on multiple occasions, I have checked up on you with Slade's help, and every single time, it has been that of joy, as if my existence had been forgotten!"
"How can you say such a thing?" Robin managed to come back with, "Raven, every single waking moment has been hell on earth for us in your absence. Everything about you is what seemed to keep us together in the worst of times, no matter what came our way, you were always the anchor, Raven, you never gave up. I stand corrected, you did give up, you gave up on your life!"
Raven clenched her fists tightly, knowing that her anger was building, both at Robin and especially at herself, becuase deep down inside, she knew what Robin was saying was the cold, hard truth.
"See?" Robin guestered to her current composure, "the Raven I know doens't get that angry, or even shows anger, she is steady and solid, nothing can phase her, and I know that the Raven I know, the Raven that we all know and love is still in there, deep down inside there somewhere."
"It is futile, Robin," Slade finally came into the conversation, "she has sworn alligence to me on her own free will, and she will continue to do so, to the end of our days."
Raven only smiled a sinister smile to Slade's last comment.
"Raven, please," Robin begged, his teammates still trying to regain their composure, him about to lose his.
"The Raven you know is dead!" Raven screamed at him, tears flowing from her eyes again, "She died a long time ago and nothing can bring her back!"
Slade squeezed his apprentice's shoulder gently, getting her to look up at him.
"Regain control of yourself, child," he calmly ordered, understanding her predicament, but still having a schedule to attend to and keep, "and finish what you have started here."
"I...can't," Raven quietly said in a saddened tone, nearly ashamed.
"You can, and you will," Slade stated, raising his voice a little more, slightly intertwined with the sound of anger.
Raven didn't say anything, but tried to turn away from him, only to feel his cold hand grasp her face, pulling hers up to his.
"If you don't, you know what happens, Raven," he whispered threateningly, "if they truely are your friends still, which by the way things look to me, they are, then you will do as I say and save them, by attacking, now, apprentice, strike."
He released her, taking a step back into the shadows, still watching Raven.
"Whatever he is using against you, Raven," Cyborg managed in a calm voice, "we will find a way over it, we promise you, please, just stop this."
"As he said and as I will say," Raven informed, taking a step forward, "I did this under my own free will and nothing is going to change that. You are either my enemy or my ally, and you or the others don't appear to be under Slade, so you must be the first of the two."
"You're not of sound mind, Raven!" Beast Boy finally spoke up, attempting to sway her, "you let Slade fill your head with thoughts and notions, turning you against us!"
Raven's brow narrowed into an angered furrow.
"Are you calling me insane, is that it!" she yelled, staring him down, "tell me, is that it!"
"Take it as you will, Raven," he managed through her intimidating stare, "but all I know is that you aren't ok, and you know it to be the truth as well."
Raven chuckled, all of their stares turning into those of suprise, her chuckle rising to a low laugh, then to a loud one, one that sounded demented and evil.
"That's it, Raven," Slade thought, "the time has come, you must make the choice: your friends, or me, and I do hope you choose correctly."
"We don't want to fight you Raven, we want to help," Robin called out, Raven taking a few more reluctant steps forward.
"I wouldn't want to fight me either, but it seems we have been doing that, now haven't we?" she maliciously questioned, wiping blood from the moderate gash above her eyebrow.
"This isn't the time for this, we only want to help," Cyborg added, holding his hand out as if he were wanting to help her in any way possible.
"You can keep your help to yourself, I don't need it," Raven snapped at him, coming closer and closer to them.
Robin actually took a step back from her, attempting to keep their distance from her, not wanting to provoke anything.
"Why do you back away from me? Are you afraid?" Raven taunted, eyeing all of them up.
"Raven, knock it off, we're your friends," Beast Boy tried one last time, his tears still running.
"You don't hear very well either, I guess that comes with being stupid, doesn't it, Garfield?" She hissed. "You abandoned me and simply expect me to come crawling back to the Titans, begging for forgiveness? You sound just as naive as Starfire now, honestly though, cut the crap, it is getting old and dragging on, so let's finish it, right here, right now."
B.B. swallowed the lump in his throat, as probably did everyone else, attempting to avoid a conflict with Slade's newly-revealed apprentice, Raven, but at the same time, she was their friend.
"So," Raven continued badgering them, only while they looked on with betrayal, "let's get this started, it is getting rather late," she added, popping her knuckles.
Robin finally realized that Raven wouldn't be going home with them by choice right now. Everyone suprisingly watched him lean down and retrieve his staff, twirling it, and getting set into a defensive mode. Cyborg followed suit, engaging his cannon once more, reluctantly rising it to take aim at Raven's approaching figure. Beast Boy stood up once more, as if someone forced him to do so, and Starfire stood, tears still in her eyes, grief struck upon her face.
"Remember to play nice, Raven," Slade chorttled, "I really do look forward to seeing their pained faces again. Robin, you and I will meet again, so no worries, I can't promise you that your friends will be as lucky. I will be going now, oh, and Raven, do have fun with them, I will see you back at the lair."
Raven only smiled as her slow walk broke into a run, then to a sprint, much faster than any of them anticipated from her.
"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled in his usual manner, but it seemed hollow to him.
