Disclaimer… Why do I bother?
Warning… I warn thou of the regular. Things might get bloody in this chapter.
Other… For those of you who have reviewed, the Review Monster won't attack. Nor will he save the narwhals unless, well, his hunger is sated. With reviews?
AND. Much apologies if my villain is OOC. I needed a villain and he seemed to fit the bill as far as rogue hero went. And I do so love the sadistic nature of this chapter?
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Raven whirled around, trying to locate the noise, "Where are you?"
"I'm all around." The voice seemed to come from the walls.
"Red X, I'm not playing games with you."
"I know you're not." He peeled out of the shadows, mask as blank as always, "I'm not either."
She lunged at him, but he grabbed her wrists, pinning her to the rough stone wall.
"Hey! Watch those talons, Rae-Rae." He taunted; his employer had paid good money for his services, though he would have done this for free.
Struggling, she tried to mutter her three words, but he cut her off, jamming his mouth on hers in a bruising kiss. As air was escaping her, leaving her light headed and faint, he drew back.
"I would advise you not to try anything stupid. You can't get out without me. Oh, and don't try to phase through the walls or the door. You're buried in a whole lot of cement, sweet Raven, and the door has protection against it."
She glared at him, but stayed motionless, "You won't get away with this. Robin and the others will find me. They'll track me down."
"You mean with this?" He waved her T-Signal device in front of her face before crushing it in his fist, "Whoops. I slipped."
A growl rumbled in her throat, "You'll have to let me go eventually."
"Hmm. Maybe, but for now, I'll leave you on your own. Even the great hermit Raven must get lonely sometimes." He melded back into darkness.
She beat her hands against the wall where he had just been, frustrated. Things weren't looking bright in her future, not that they ever did anyways. Before her emotions took hold, she took a deep breath, regaining composure.
Losing control and giving into fear was counterproductive.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" She fell into her meditative state, not trying to become the reaper, but merely trying to get a hold of herself. Her position appeared problematic, but that didn't mean there wasn't a solution.
X had mentioned that she couldn't leave the room without him. Perhaps he had a key. Or perhaps he was playing with her mind. She knew she wasn't in fatal danger, though. After all, could one really kill death?
After a while, she simply lost track of time down in the dark. It could have been minutes or hours later when the torch relit. It broke her concentration, and she looked up in time to see Red X appear in front of the door.
"Rae, do you have any idea how long you've been down here? A normal person would have gone a little crazy at the idea of being trapped in a small dark space alone for an undetermined amount of time. But not you, little blackbird, you're never normal."
She remained silent, sizing him up, wondering if an attack would do anything but return her to darkness. The sound of him cracking her knuckles sent a shiver down her spine.
"Can you guess how much I was paid to do this? Or, for that matter, who paid me?"
"This is about money?"
"Oh, no. This is about fun. Something you heroes can't seem to understand." He spat out the word venomously.
"Just because we think that duty comes before pleasure –
"My dear Raven, fun should come before duty. You'll give yourself a heart attack with all the constant stress you must be under."
"My health is none of your concern. Let me go."
He waggled his finger at her, "Not just yet."
Bonding back into the shadows, he slunk around the room. Raven listened to the rustle of his clothing as he crept along the walls and finally right up behind her.
"Let's play a little game, Raven."
She resisted the urge to deck him, "If I win, will you let me free?"
"Oh, I think that could be arranged."
"What game are you talking about?" She hissed, clenching her teeth, already fed up with him. Her hiss was cut off as a smooth metal caressed her throat.
"Stay alive."
The torch went out, and the knife pressed closer, slicing her skin. She jerked back, into his body. Elbowing him in the stomach, she slid away, one hand pressed to the slight bleeding from the incision in her throat.
Being in the dark was hardly a problem for her. Her other five senses kicked in even stronger than they were, especially her spiritual sense. She'd never been so glad for her sixth sense before. Locating him was the easy part; He was behind her again. Landing a hit and getting away proved to be harder.
Quite suddenly, he grabbed her left arm, twisting it behind her back, "Looks as though you're losing."
She grunted, struggling to free her arm. The knife he was carrying plunged deep into her wrist and it was all she could muster to not scream. Removing the knife, he edged back, letting her fall to her knees.
Combined with sweat, her blood made forming fists almost impossible. She needed peace and calm to use her healing abilities, so she needed to end this fast. X slipped in front of her, dagger glinting dangerously in the dark.
This had to end now before she was too injured to function. She staggered to her feet and kicked as hard as she could at the hand that held the knife. Successful, the knife went flying somewhere else, and X was left to hand to hand brutality.
Raven felt like a cripple. Her left arm was useless as long as her wrist was bleeding profusely. If she moved too much, she might further injure her throat. A few weeks ago, Beastboy complained about being caught between a rock and a hard place because his tofu had gone bad and no stores were open. He had to choose between going hungry or eating meat.
Beastboy had no idea what that saying could really mean.
"Little bird, I was warned you weren't going to be easy to take down. This is going to be fun."
His fist flew towards her unprotected left cheek making contact and sending Raven sailing into the rocky wall of the cavern. A cut split open on her forehead, dripping into her eyes. Sputtering, she tried to clear her eyes.
This was not going well. If she couldn't defeat him as Raven, her only hope was to defeat him as Death, but to do that she needed a moment's peace to center herself. She didn't see that coming anytime soon.
A hand grabbed her ankle, dragging her away from her landing place. Nails digging into the stone floor, Raven tried to scramble in the other direction. It was useless. Red X pulled her close and pushed her down until she was flat out on her back, staring up at where she assumed his head was.
Quickly, he straddled her waist. This was worth every penny he was getting paid.
"Any last words, Rae?" He seemed to be willing to wait for a response, so she took another calming breath, and released her soul.
The Reaper had no injuries, no slit throat, no stabbed wrist, no broken skin, only a deep hatred for the man who had inflicted that on her other body. Surprised, Red X glanced up, his eyes unusually adjusted to the dark. Their eyes met, but before X could say anything, she grabbed him by the throat, lifting him into the air.
As he dangled there, she smirked, "I do, actually have some last words, though at this point, I should be asking for yours."
He coughed roughly, trying to get air to his lungs. Legs kicking hopelessly, hands braced against her arms, he thrashed about, desperate to live. The grip tightened, and slowly his motion tapered off, and he just hung, feet barely touching the ground.
She reached into his chest, and squeezed her hand into a fist, crumpling his soul. No, she wouldn't kill him, not now. It wasn't his time now.
But that didn't mean she'd make life easy on him. By tainting his soul, she had ensured he'd live the rest of his life in constant agony. No doctor would be able to diagnose him, let alone treat such a spiritual problem.
That would be revenge enough.
She fell back into her body, standing up shakily. Running her hands around his still body, she located a hidden pocket, stealing the key to it. As she approached the door, she cast a sullen glance over her shoulder.
"Don't play games with death. You'll never win."
He blearily opened his eyes, "You're… just going to leave me here?"
His question received no answer; she had already left the room.
The halls outside of her cell were a maze of dead ends, booby traps, and darkness. The loss of blood was making her head light. A few hours of wandering around lost brought her to her senses; she wasn't in danger anymore. She could easily heal herself.
Settling down, she raised her glowing blue hands and sealed off the wound on her neck. Since she hadn't taken care of it in time, a small white scar traced where the blade had been. The same thing happened with her arm; now there was a bulbous scar in the center of her lower arm. Fortunately the cut on her forehead was shallow enough to be healed completely with no outside marking.
That problem taken care of, she decided it was best to find a way out.
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Star was going crazy with worry. Raven had been absent from the Tower for almost eight hours. Robin wrote it off as Raven just acting like Raven, and Cyborg shrugged and said she'd be back in her own time. Beastboy, who hated to see her sad, tried to distract her by taking on the form of her favorite animals.
Eventually, she retired to her room, passing Raven's door as she did so. There was noise, as if someone was rifling through Raven's belongings. Star knocked cautiously.
"Friend Raven? Are you in there?"
The motions immediately stopped.
"I wish to make sure you are unharmed. You did not show up for the fighting with the Shocking Flame."
More silence.
"Ah. Perhaps I was just hearing things."
She continued onto her room, but couldn't get the noises out of her head. What if Friend Raven was hurt and needed help. Star couldn't sit by and let her friend be. Decisively she marched down the hall, and knocked roughly on the door.
It slid open, revealing a very perturbed Raven.
"Yes, Starfire?"
"I wished to make sure you were not bleeding to death. I heard noises coming from your room ten minutes ago and I was worried."
"I'm fine."
"You do not appear fine." Star wanted to come inside, but respected that Raven didn't let anybody in her room and it wasn't personal.
"Maybe. But I need time to heal myself."
Star's eyes traveled to the thin scar, "When did that happen?"
Raven's hand flew to her throat, "It… Please, Star, leave me be."
Nodding, Star ducked her head and backed away, "I wish, Friend Raven, that you might trust me."
Guiltily, Raven shut her door, receding into her lair. Star stared at her door for a few minutes, thinking, before returning to the common room. Beastboy lounged on the couch, a leg thrown over the back, his mouth open and drooling.
She couldn't help but smile.
Why could not all her friends be so happy?
Robin entered the room, face drawn in concentration. There was book in his hands, ancient and dusty. Like something Raven might read.
