Raven loved the feel of the road beneath her feet. No wonder Robin like his bikes so much. She revved the throttle and soaked in fleeting feeling as she left her stomach somewhere behind her. She roared into the city she knew so well, turning right after passing a few intersections and parking the bike just outside of a run-down hotel.
It's neon open sign flickered a few times and finally burned out as Raven entered the lobby. Its carpet had been stained dozens of times in the past million years it had been open, the light blue paint peeling off the walls. There was a receptionist desk just in front of her where a woman was standing. The woman looked forty years old, caked with make-up and puffed up red-dyed hair. She was studying her overgrown nails when Raven walked up to the desk.
"Can I help ya?" she asked drolly, not bothering to look up as she peeled some old nail polish off.
"I need a room for the week."Raven answered, pulling a black leather wallet from her back pocket. "How much a night?"
"Twenty-five, hun." The woman said, looking up. She tapped her index finger against her wrinkled ruby lips. "Just gimme $150 and we'll call it even."
Raven shot her a glance, but obeyed and pulled out a fifty and a hundred dollar bills. She slid it forward on the counter, and the woman tossed a key on the counter.
"You gotta share a bathroom with the kids on your floor, so I hope you ain't shy. Electricity comes and goes here, and the heater, lets just say it needs to be fixed." The woman said, listing the problems. Raven shrugged as she heaved her bag onto her shoulder.
"I won't be in much anyway." she muttered. She climbed two flights of complaining stairs and finally came to her room. The door was scratched, and the third number was missing. Raven checked her key again, reading the numbers. O-kay. 101 it is. she thought as she slid the key in and unlocked it.
Pushing the door open, she walked into a very small room. There was a bed on the left wall, shoved against the farthest wall. The sheets were a pale green color that matched. There was an acieant television set sitting ontop of a stained coffee table on her far right, which wasn't all that far. She sighed, and began to mover her things into the dresser that was to the right of the T.V. She picked out the form-fitting outfit she had snuck into her bag and quickly changed. After being sure noone was below her, she dove out the window and shot off to the nearest roof.
Okay Raven. Now remember, you ARE NOT to use your powers unless you find that devil! She reminded herself quickly, setting herself down gently on the roof. She glanced back at her open window and then slid the black mask over her face. She retraced her steps back to Wayne Enterprises, where her suspect was first sighted. The hole blown into the warehouse was blocked off by at least a dozen gaurds. Unfortunately, it took much more than gaurds to throw Raven off. She used her powers to sink beneath the earth's surface, and reappeared inside just beside the hole.
She studied it carefully and quietly, as not to merit the guard's attention. It looked like your a basic blast, enter, grab, exit job. High explosives, she guested. She studied some of the surrounding boxes. Wait. She squinted at the ash and soot on the floor from th blast. Foot prints. But not normal footprints, these were made after the assailants had fled. She noted the pattern was the exact same as the first prints, but they overlapped the first round and veered to the left behind a stack of crates that were labeled Fragile. She checked the guards attention before sprinting to the other side of the hole. The prints had now turned black, and were wearing with each step until a few yards later they were no more. Whoever it was had come back for something. But what? Her com-link suddenly buzzed, making a loud squaking sound. She quickly turned down the volume and peered at the guards who, thankfully, hadn't heard a thing.
"Raven, you in?" Robin's voice filtered through. Raven wanted to roll her eyes and not answer, but out of decency, she did.
"Yeah, I'm here. What do you want?" she asked, trying to keep her anger out of her voice.
"Just checkin up." He answered. Raven fought the urge to choke him through the com-link.
"I'm busy, so I'll talk later." she growled, then turned the link off. She didn't need them knowing where she was every two seconds. She put it back on her belt and once again sunk below the ground. She re-emerged in an alley beside a garbage can, surprising an old bum.
His eyes widened as a person suddenly poked up out of the ground beside the dumpster he was rooting through. The person clad in black removed something from their belt and smashed it against the wall, then chucked it into the dumpster. The person floated upward and onto a roof. Looking in the dumpster after the thing the creature had thrown into it, he saw a flash of twisted black and yellow plastic. It looked like a radio of some kind, fizzling static for a few moments then dying completely.
Raven stood on the brink of an enormous building. It felt odd not having Star or Cy flanking her, or her cape floating in the gentle breeze behind her. But all things considered, she felt... Peace. The quiet peace she longed for while in the Tower. Not having to worry about bells and whistles going off every five seconds, or Beast Boy cracking some lame joke in her face again. She inhaled and sat, crossing her legs and balancing herself on the foot wide concrete slab.
"Aserath, Metrion, Zinthos. Aserath... Metrion... Zinthos..." she continued breathing in the cool evening air. Her chanting helped her focus, calm, relax. "Aserath, metrion, synthos... Aserath, metrion, synthos..." Her chanting continued for another ten minutes, then closed her eyes and just breathed in and out. An hour or so had gone by before she was interrupted. When her back completely tensed and her muscles froze, she knew she wasn't alone. She opened her glowing, angry eyes to see a familiar figure leaning against the roof's concrete surroundings.
"You're new in town. What's your name?" Red X's familiar mechanical voice requested coyly. She turned her head and glared at him. She heard a strange grating sound, realizing it was laughter.
A/N: Yaay Reviews! I love all the reviewers I've gotten lately! Okay, so have I fixed that Raven problem? And I know that the paragraphs all seemed a bit long, but there was no way to avoid that. It's a rather descriptive chapter. So happily I await for you to continue to review. Mulitated Bliss and empressrevan, You guys are SO awesome! Thanks for you smashing reviews! Godsspiker!