Quick Dedication to my beautiful reviewers, you keep me going! You know who you are! I love you guys like crazy, and to everyone who put me on their favorites. I'm truly humbled. Also, I'd like to dedicated this intense chapter to Insanely Unstable. Happy Birthday, hun! Enjoy it! I'd give you a humongous cake with a frosting picture of chibi Robin and Raven hugging if I could. And you know I'd love to.
…..
There wasn't a clear cut answer to how she got to this penitentiary warehouse but she was there. Without means of outside communication. And in the clutches of the Devil himself. The dangerous and unmistakably living maniac stood off in a corner, quietly observing her as Raven fought against the links bounding her to a crashed electric chair.
"Arrghhh… Arrrrgghhhhh!"
"No escape plan? You disappoint me. I was expecting more." Slade added after a short pause, "The ropes are more of a precaution. I can't have you running off before hearing my proposal."
"You don't know how to die," she snarled.
"Neither do you, my dear. But insults are past me at this point."
"How did you do it?"
"I am Immortal. I always was. You can never stop me. Why stop me when you can join me and fight?" Slade's shadow hung over her now, foreboding a doom to rain upon her head.
She said, disgusted, "Is this a joke? You don't actually expect me to listen to you! You can take your offers of apprenticeship, and shove it up your-" Slade propped his leg up on a conveyer belt behind, the ding of metal meeting metal drowning out the last word.
"It is not an offer. It is the truth of which you have been denied."
"The only things you talk about are lies."
"Not true. I am perhaps the honest person you will ever meet." He was smirking behind his ghoulish mask.
'Why are the villains always smirking?'
Raven's thoughts continued to stray to that evening. She gave a huge shiver, tipping her head so that violet strands fell over her face. "You sick bastard. You killer."
Slade replied, "The blood is on your hands, Raven. Don't you remember?"
Flashes, visions bombarded her, making her flinch back from the mental impact-
-flesh ripping - the sickening sweet sound of slurping - black eyes glowing - ruthless howling -
-"...What are you doing to me?"
He chuckled, enjoying her grief.
"You are doing this to yourself."
The images began to dim and Raven ignored the moist film of sweat forming on her upper lip. She needed to get the hell out but also needed answers. "No one believed me. I knew you were behind everything. It had your name written all over it: Red X, Johnny Rancid, the dreams…"
"Simple facts for a smart girl. Not only were you the cleverest of the Titans, but you are the most powerful. The prophecy will be great. The world will witness the evil you bred, an evil so diabolical."
"Wow. I thought you were a lunatic before, Slade, but this has to be the craziest thing I've heard you say. I'm not evil, the prophecy failed," she mumbled.
"Trigon was merely an issue to be rid of. The prophecy I speak of has not happened thus far. You do not realize your own potential. Pure evil lurks beneath your surface that I wish to set free."
She fought fiercely against the bindings, gnashing her teeth. "You aren't getting anywhere near-"
Suddenly, Raven stopped.
And blinked.
"… You weren't talking about my Father's prophecy that night. The entire time… it was something else."
-the past- Starfire unconscious in the darkness- alien blood leaking over orange skin- Slade's steel hands tore at her exposed skin- gunfire in the moonlit streets of Gotham- bleeding on the rocks- Robin rocked her- she cried in front of him for the first time in her life-
"It will be glorious, Raven. It starts with a death of purity and ends with your resistance and friends."
With an astonishingly violent jerk, Raven managed to rock her chair forward, sneering.
"I don't care what you say. Prophecies can be changed, Terminator."
He laughed lowly, raising her chin up with his thumb. "Prophecies might, but your destiny is a different matter entirely," he said.
"You remind me fondly of Robin as my apprentice. He enjoyed the thrill of destruction and chance. The one thing he lacked was the courage to take a human life. I can teach you that, my dear, along with the extraordinary feeling that comes with it. The way to make your humanity disappear. Why do you need guilt when good and evil do not exist? It is a weak-minded frivolous idea of a constant. You and I know there is no such thing as conviction for the wicked or justice for the innocents. Why must you tell yourself that these useless beliefs exist?"
"Because you're wrong, they do exist. Because goodness does exist in this detached society, because goodness always defeats whatever form evil takes. Because there's hope. One day, you'll be taken down. I only hope to Azar I can watch it," Raven said grimly, narrowing her hollowing eyes darkly and jerking her chin out of his reach.
Slade remained frozen a moment over her. Then he backhanded her across the face. Her head snapped hard to the right and he unhinged her chains, allowing her to crawl out of her chair. "I know you can't use your powers, Raven." She backed away, his one eye glancing at her red stained hands, the ring glittering undamaged by the blood.
He hit her again in the head, too fast to catch, but she caught him the third time only to have the other fist thump into her face. Her vision spinning, Raven fell to her knees dazed. A deadly blow to her gut. Time abruptly stalled as her body rocked forward.
Her arms crossed over herself, shielding what she could from another kick. Slade jammed his foot under her chin.
With a cry, she went sliding on the floor. Raven booted him in the mask when he advanced on her fallen, sustaining an excellent strike which made him reel. Raven rolled on the floor to hug her abdomen, the feeling in her legs completely gone. Pain branched out from her pelvis to the tight knot in her chest where her heart should have been.
She spat, tears swimming in her eyes, "Bastard!"
An iron grip closed around her throat, lifting her off her feet. Slade opened a door to another area, tossing her in harshly. "I'll let you think on it a while."
Raven banged and yanked on the lone door as it locked itself. Futile attempts to break free from the bare, cold, and gray room. For a whole hour, she screamed and pounded the walls that would not yield to her, smearing dry blood.
'This is getting you nowhere… you have to calm down…'
Going into a corner, Raven tucked her blood-soaked legs underneath her. Despite the fact her body was in immense pain, she meditated, the ability to focus finally working. Her escape route took her to Nevermore. Tension and inactivity was heavily concentrated in the murky space.
In the gathering quarter, her Emotions lingered. All heads turned to Raven as the path of asteroids disintegrated behind her. "What's going on?" she asked, so used to returning to this place that the question would seem inadequate. She gazed at every unreadable face.
Intelligence took off her glasses, clearing her throat. "We are… at a disagreement."
"No shit," Anger called out curtly. "Some of us got to thinking about what Slade said. Even though he was the one talking about it, he was right. You can stop what's Fate this time."
Happiness blurted out, sounding extremely upset, "Slade is evil! You cannot believe anything he says!"
The red-cloaked Emotion yelled in the pink's face, pointing an accusing finger at the original Raven, "What are you, stupid? She said herself that there isn't just in this world so he was right! Evil or not, he was being honest!" Happiness clapped her hands over her ears to block out the terrible screeching of her voice.
Sadness pulled her out of the wrath of Anger, touching her shoulder soothingly. "He is evil. And he hurt our friends. He wants Raven to kill them. We cannot allow this."
"Says you, Cry-baby," Courage folded her arms, stubbornly.
Intelligence looked hard at her, her stance becoming ridged. "You want to kill Robin? You want him dead? Is that your intentions, you want dead her only family she knew? Can you do that; do you have the nerve, Courage? Can you back up the talk you give?"
Green-cloaked shoulders stiffened. Courage amazingly didn't lash out, merely whispered, "If it's Fate, it can't be stopped. Your wisdom can't find a way around it."
Fear nodded behind her. "Yeah."
Happiness barked, her eyes flashing dangerously, "Oh! So now you grow a backbone, you little parasite!" When she was testy, it wouldn't be long before chaos would ensue the rest.
Raven interrupted before a fight could break out, "What's the verdict?"
Intelligence, Happiness, and Sadness glanced at each other and nodded, stepping forward.
"It's wrong to believe Slade's lies and far more foolish to trust him. If you love Robin and your friends as much as we think you do, you'll protect them."
Anger, Courage, and Fear did the same, but in a manner most steadfast and ominous.
"Stop fighting what you can't control. The sad truth will happen eventually, you'll have to embrace it."
Vulgarity shrugged, saying, "Frankly I don't care," then burped loudly, scratching her ear.
Anger's red eyes glowed menacingly at the undecided Emotion. Someone in the background warned, "Don't even think about it." A new Raven with a robin's egg blue cloak and uniform streaked with silver weaved herself through the other Emotions, staring coolly at red, "Try to restrain yourself."
"Just because she got some new colors and a new name doesn't mean she can boss me around…" Anger scorned sulkily like a child.
The multi-hued Emotion overlooked the juvenile mocking to approach Raven.
"It's good to see you again."
"Who… are you?"
She smiled kindly, "You knew me as Lust at my younger stage. Romantic Love is what I'm called now. Your inexperienced heart matured to create me."
"That's great and all, but what we need to know is what you think Raven should do," Courage interjected.
"I think," Love said, maintaining firm eye contact with the empath. "You shouldn't have to rely on us to make your decisions. We're controlled by you now, you shouldn't have to come here." She leaned forward, lowering her voice so only Raven could hear her, "At least do this. Are you listening?"
Raven nodded.
"Listen to what your heart tells you to do. It is your greatest source of judgment. Your Emotions aren't always right. Now go. Slade left you in the bay. He thinks you passed out."
Intelligence ran towards them, shouting, "No! You must tell her-!"
Love jerked Raven's face back and quickly kissed her ruby chakra, sending her back into her body in a whirl of confused shadows.
…..
Warm air stroked her gray skin, undertones that beacon her awake with affectionate invisible gestures.
Raven opened her stinging eyes to find the open midnight sky above. She lay on her back by the entrance doors outside of Titans Tower. Her hand rested upon her brow. The last thing she could remember was one of her Emotion screaming about… something. Important? She didn't know.
She started to sit up when a huge wrench of agony overcame her senses. Her hands went across her stomach and she leaned forward, her chin brushing the ground. After a couple minutes of deep breathing and total immobility, she tried again, climbing onto wobbly feet.
'Azar damn that monster.'
Another throb of pain pulsed. Raven put in the code number to get inside, the security system accepted, and she slowly walked in, taking the core elevator to Level Four. She washed off the blood on her face and hands, threw off her ruined clothes in the gloom of her concealed living space. Swapping them for a black shirt that fit nicely, a fresh pair of jeans that seemed too baggy, and a 3/4th length black jacket that made her feel like a mouse in a glove. It took her a moment to realize that the pants and jacket were Robin's. That didn't stop her from wearing them anyway.
As Raven took another elevator to go a level down, she leaned against the closed doors, burying her face into the suede collar of the over-sized coat. It smelt of him, the sweet tingle of perspiration and garlic from tomato sauce. He liked a lot of garlic on his food; it was a good thing Raven found the love mutual.
She needed to go to him. Damn seclusion. She wanted to know he was here and understood. That he could at any second take her into his arms and vanquish the unwelcome darkness bearing down on her soul. A ding signaled her descent. She left the elevator and Raven glanced over her shoulder cryptically.
Something… something wasn't quite right.
She stood about two feet away from the open doors. Before they could close, there was a loud snap and the shaft disappeared out of sight, plunging into the depths below. The single elevator crashed in the basement and Raven jumped back from watching horrified when hot air pushed up in the direction of her face from the explosion.
"What-?"
The lights in the corridor flicked off and on, finally dimming down. Raven looked up at them, murmuring to herself, "Shit." They left her in utter obscurity. The beginnings of a panic attack. Anyone, possibly an intruder, could attack her at any time. And she would be defenseless in her already damaged state.
'You are not a coward. Shake it off, Raven. No one is going to hurt you, the dark can't hurt you, you aren't helpless. Robin walks around all day like this, if he can, you can.'
…Robin…
-Even when you can't see, I'll always find a way to reach you-
Her violet eyes closed away her surroundings and she waited, one palm on the wall, the other limply at her side. It felt like years before footsteps padded along the hallway.
She croaked, "Hello?"
"It's okay. I'm right here." Fingers wrapped around her hand on the wall. Raven knew that serious voice from anywhere.
She groped for Robin's other hand, entwining her fingers through his and pressed her face into the crook of his neck. "Thank Azar."
His body language was anything but warm, but he did answer mildly, "He is the greatest, isn't he? Let's get the hell out of here."
"How did you know where to look?"
"The crash started upstairs. Did you see what happened?"
"The pulleys snapped. I was out of there before I knew what was going on. I noticed it seemed funny when I stepped out, but I thought it was just a feeling."
Robin untangled his hands from hers. "I'm starting to think you're right about this conspiracy thing. Someone is definitely trying to kill us." He took her elbow and moved forward, dragging her slightly, "Come on, we're going this way." She complied, staggering along.
"Where's everyone else?"
"Safe, hopefully. Just as long as Beast Boy doesn't run into any sharp objects."
An ear splitting shriek shook the island.
"You spoke too soon."
It might have been out of habit when she said it, but it earned her a good firm pulling through the Tower. Cyborg's light greeted Raven's relieved eyes. She stopped in the middle of the lobby where she found her other teammates. Beast Boy was off to the side, rubbing his blond head aggravated. Starfire floated beside him, not only were her hands glowing a bright green, but her face as well.
"What happened? Who screamed?" demanded Robin, going straight to business.
Cyborg said suspiciously, "I kinda bumped into BB. Sorry, man." He smacked the changeling on the back and Beast Boy yelped hurt. Starfire reacted hurriedly, taking one of his hands. Only Raven caught the motion. Frankly, as long as they were keeping their 'private time' private, she had no problem with them. Beast Boy placed a hand atop hers thoughtlessly and Starfire's eyes went back to normal.
"I don't think the storm did this."
Cyborg protested, "How can there be a storm when there are no clouds outside?"
Starfire, all of a sudden, turned towards the North hallway. "There is something there!" She said, pointing a trembling, orange finger.
The Titans formed a tight circle automatically in fight stance, backs to each other. Robin gave a command, holding out an arm, "Cyborg, don't fire until we can get-!" A whirring came above their heads and the electricity went back on, light bathing over every nook and cranny of the lobby. The giant television screen fizzed with static before an image of an anxious newscaster popped into view.
"- is special news update. Over in Jump City, local police have discovered the sight of what looks to be a horrific incident within the city limits. Law enforcement have prevented us from getting a clear picture of what damage there might be, but the citizens that have seen the site have let us quote that it was truly a terrible sight to stumble upon-"
The red alarms from the alert systems screamed blaringly and their own blinking alerts, on arms and belts, simultaneously went off frantically. Robin flipped open his communicator.
"It's coming from White Oak Park. Titans, move out!" He added hastily as they surged for the doors, "Oh, and take the staircase."
Beast Boy frowned. "Why?"
"Just trust me."
The changeling glanced at his other friends, shrugging confused. As their leader stayed behind, Raven held one hand to her head, the other on her hip, her eyes glazed with a strange emotion. This vision persistently flashing in Robin's mind made him get that stupid nagging twinge. He determinedly pushed it out his mind.
"You don't look so good."
Her paling gray face forced a very unconvincing smile. "I'm fine," she murmured.
"The fact one of my teammates looks sick when we're about to go out on an assignment isn't. You'd better stay put and keep the lines open."
"Be reasonable, Robin... I can't just-"
He cut her off mid-sentence, his face dreadfully close to hers and his voice low, "Stay here, that's an order!" His teeth clamped together in a ferocious bare. She stared after him as he left, eyes round and incredulous. He rarely talked to her like that… at least, a long time ago he would periodically lose his patience with her stubbornness.
Her legs carried her to the fifth level as Raven contemplated her own mixed feelings.
'What could you be complaining about? You'd just be a liability out there. You can't even levitate. This gives you a chance to think up of a way to tell him about this baby and Slade comin…'
"...SLADE!" An object whizzed in the corner of her eye, hitting her full force in the shoulder blade. She went flying against the opposite wall and ducked when a Bo-Staff brandished another blow.
"Didn't I tell you Robin would turn on you?"
Raven gasped, stars still spinning in front of her. "You'll never go away, will you?"
"I'll always be here. I'll always be watching."
She blocked another whack aimed at her head. Raven couldn't fight him forever. She had to call the Titans before Slade could kill her. Taking his moment as she was distracted, his hands closed around her throat and her windpipe. Raven lifted up her lower body and pushed her feet down on his shoulders, swinging her body, forcing her neck from his grasp.
With purple fingerprints on her sallow skin, Raven scrambled for the nearest staircase door and slammed it shut on the enraged maniac, holding the knob firmly against efforts to break it down. It stopped shortly, giving her a disquieted sense of chance. Mercifully, oxygen pumped through her lungs. Using that as her cue, she ran as fast as she could out of the stairwell, jumping whole cases to ram into walls that rumbled from the momentum.
'Shutupshutup!'
Her heart eradicated in her chest, sounding ever so loudly, as the empath raced into the empty main entrance, her eyes darting around for any suspicious shadows around her. Her purposely forgotten communicator sat consolingly on the cushion of the second loveseat. Raven thought she had been home free.
Four steps from the hallway, Slade triumphantly appeared at the top of the stairs on the other side of the room.
She made a break of it, grabbing the device and her leg bent oddly when she spun too fast around. Raven collapsed onto her arm, the gadget falling onto the floor beside her, ringing.
"Robin!"
A huge steel-toed boot crushed it harshly.
She quickly rolled out of the way, flinching when it swung at her. Her head flopped onto the carpet near to his feet and the criminal whispered softly, "Kiss them."
She peered through purple strands blankly, muttering with a bleeding lip, "Screw you." Slade snatched her jacket collar and yanked her face-to-face with him, her head leaning back slightly.
"It's your choice. Life or death, Raven... what do you chose?"
Absolute silence.
Then Raven met his gaze, scorching blue eyes glowing.
"I think the question is irrelevant. I'm not the one in trouble."
Nuts and bolts fell around them like rain droplets. Slade grunted baffled as the light fixture on the ceiling swayed unsteadily.
"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!"
She disappeared into her soul self, dissolving into the floorboards as the heavy fixture crashed upon Slade's flailing body. Raven reappeared somewhere on the second level, squeezing her eyes shut painfully. In one explosive whip, agony ripped throughout her body. Fastening down her jaw, she clutched her belly, bringing her right arm up support on the wall.
Only one more corridor to the medical sector… to the emergency phone…
Footsteps behind her.
Raven moaned, partially in agony and partially in apprehension, pressing the number pad.
6.…00101.….23.…
The doors locked behind her. No one banged on them or tried to get in.
It didn't matter to her because... she was sure she was dying. She couldn't think when... this... pain was unbearable.
There was blood under her feet… but... where was it coming from…? Her hands found the edge of a sterilized cot and heat seared straight up into her pelvis. Raven threw her head back and screamed. She screamed until the walls of her throat bled. No end to it… to the agony … not even that… so much worse… Robin's jeans were red…. Why were they red?… arghh, something was happening to her… unnaturally… not here… not now... something tearing from her…
…..
Busy streets were blocked off, cars jammed in major traffic, heads poked out of windows as drivers passed by slow to watch White Oak Park's entrance. Police officers mobbed the passengers and filed within the blue and green fence. Cyborg and Starfire conversed with the grim-faced authorities as the other two male members of the Teen Titans made their way onto the crime scene. The blond-haired teen asked, "Where's Raven? Wasn't she supposed to come with, too?"
Robin simply replied after nodding to the police chief, "She's not feeling well."
"What did she say?"
His eye-mask slit to a thin line. "Nothing as usual."
Beast Boy grabbed his arm, exclaiming, "Did you yell at her?"
Robin responded, dully, "I lost my patience." The teenager gave him a shocked look and the latter sighed, taking his arm back. "I'm talking to her later, Beast Boy. This doesn't concern you." Robin would have felt more anger towards him if they weren't right in the middle of a mission. Behind him, Beast Boy shook his head frustrated.
They stopped by the blood-soaked, grassy area. Beast Boy abruptly wrinkled his nose, the strong copperish smell rising from the ground made his stomach cringe. "This is awful."
"Isn't it always?" Robin said, pulling out a mini flashlight from his utility belt and handed it to his teammate, "Look at the bushes. What's on them?"
Beast Boy inspected the greenery.
"….I don't see anything. What I am supposed to be finding?" Robin pushed away the prickles with his hands. His body froze.
"Get the others. And call Raven."
"Okay." Beast Boy stepped forward routinely but then turned back, his eyebrows lowering. "Um... dude? Why?"
His entire face darkened.
"There's someone here."