Mercy led the four Titans into the vestibule outside of Luthor's office and into a nearby conference room. Much like Lex's office, it was tastefully appointed. Raven recognized most of the artwork on the walls, all of it originals and not reprints: works by Rembrandt, Goya, Monet, Wyeth and others. There was a laptop computer on the table and a remote control of the digital projector integrated into the ceiling.
"Please have a seat." She instructed them in a pleasant yet commanding voice.
Once they were seated she typed on the computer's keyboard. A picture that was obviously taken during her undergrad days showed Alexa, Tina, Janey and Beast Boy walking to one of their classes through the snow at the Fort Collins college campus.
"Dr. Pontone caught our eye several years ago, or to be more precise she and Garfield Logan did. Both were promising as future biologists and we thought that there might be a place for someone like them in LuthCorp. Of course, we knew that any attempt to recruit young Mr. Logan would be an exercise in futility for obvious reasons: he is a Spandex clad superhero for starters. And to top it off he's the sole heir to the Dayton fortune so enticing him with money was pointless. Too bad we didn't get to him earlier … he would joined us for a lousy moped."
Raven glared at Mercy. The woman didn't even flinch and she returned Raven's demonic stare with an icy one of her own. The woman couldn't be intimidated. She smiled before continuing.
"Fortunately for us, Miss Pontone was neither. She was raised by her mother, who became impregnated with her by an unfaithful boyfriend, one who ditched her and her unborn daughter when he learned the news."
Mercy pressed a clicker and the image switched to one of a rundown house in a dubious neighborhood.
"Dr. Pontone grew up in grinding poverty and she quickly understood the lesson of self sufficiency. Unfortunately for her she had mediocre grades in high school because she had to work from an early age. It also didn't help that she attended mediocre schools in Greeley, Colorado. She barely achieved admission to Colorado State. She unfortunately had a drug conviction in high school so she didn't qualify for federal grants or loans, and was forced to borrow on the private market at high interest rates to finance her education. By the time she completed her undergrad degree she was over $100,000 in debt."
Mercy flipped through several images, all of Alexa with various male undergrads.
"One thing Dr. Pontone did have going for her, besides her brains, was her natural beauty. Unfortunately she didn't know how to use it to ingratiate herself with wealthy and powerful men who could have made her undergrad years less financially challenging, and instead wasted it on casual flings with losers who had nothing more to offer other her than their prowess in the bedroom … this of course included your husband, Mrs. Logan, though for reasons that remain unknown to us she waited literally until the last minute to seduce the man you eventually married."
Raven gave Mercy another glare.
"My remarks are not meant as a putdown, Dr. Roth. We know that your husband's fidelity to you is rock solid and unlike Alexa's other lovers he certainly isn't a loser … anyway, getting back to Dr. Pontone … she was graduating broke, with no job or income and over $100,000 in student loans to pay back … she wasn't in a good place."
The image switched to a picture of Alexa strolling along the Columbia University campus.
"Some say that dreams do come true, and in Alexa's case they did. We discovered her, thanks to your husband who of course was very visible. We offered to pay off her student loans and fully fund her graduate education and provide her with a very generous stipend for her living expenses."
"What did you want from her?" Nightwing asked.
"We had a few conditions. First of all, the one night stands and friends with benefits had to stop. They were simply too distracting for her. She tried having a steady boyfriend, which we accepted as we hoped it would have a stabilizing effect on her. It did not, within weeks she was cheating on him …"
Raven crossed her arms. "Once a slut, always a slut." She murmured to herself.
"… so we demanded that she be celibate until she received her PhD."
Raven snorted. "Did she?"
"We kept a close watch on her and she understood that with one more slip we would revoke our sponsorship and use our influence to get her expelled from Columbia … her dreams would be shattered and she knew it, so she toed the company line."
"You said that there was another condition." Nightwing interrupted.
"Yes, we wanted her to specialize in immunology, and we funded he research generously. Of course any intellectual property would belong to LuthCorp."
"Of course, that goes without saying." Cyborg grumbled.
"Mr. Stone, we invested millions in her research, which was looking very promising. Unfortunately we were unable to capitalize on it. We lost over 40 million dollars."
"That couldn't have happened to a nicer group of people." Raven grinned. "I wish I could have been involved somehow."
Mercy turned off the projector. "In a way you were involved, all of you, though indirectly."
"What did we do?" Starfire asked.
"Quite simple, really. You all encouraged Beast Boy to become a biologist."
Raven became wide eyed. "The canine vaccine … Alexa was working on it … in parallel."
Mercy nodded. "Exactly … he beat us to the punch by just 8 days. And of course, CSU released the vaccine into the public domain. We estimate that he cost us almost 3 billion in profits. We did recover some of it by enhancing the vaccine and by manufacturing it, but the net profit was a fraction of what it could have been."
"So what does Alexa want with our friend?" Starfire asked.
Mercy drummed her fingers on the conference table. "We don't know … we think she's deranged. Maybe she thinks she can force him to be her mate."
"What about the boy?" Raven asked. "What do you know about him?"
"Very little. After she started grad school she took a sabbatical, she claimed that it was for personal reasons and that she would make up for the lost time when she returned. When she returned 8 months later she had the green baby."
"So … is it really hers?"
"We have no idea and she erased hers and the child's genomes from our databases. By any chance would you have a sample of her DNA?"
"No … we don't." Cyborg replied morosely. "But we do have Mark's DNA … we have confirmed that he's BB's son."
"We suspected as much." Mercy replied.
"So, do you have any tips on where to look for her?" Raven asked with a hint of anxiety in her voice.
"I'm afraid not. We already dispatched private agents to all the places we suspected she might be: with her mother, relatives, known friends, former lovers, etc. She has simply vanished off the map. That's why we want your help."
Nightwing pursed his lips while he nodded. "Thanks, I guess that will have to do."
Mercy handed him a flash drive. "Here is her full dossier and a list of where we already looked."
The bodyguard escorted the Titans to the main lobby and politely wished them good luck. The four heroes trudged back to the old T-Car and got in. Raven was the first to speak up.
"Coming here was a waste of time."
"Actually … it wasn't." Nightwing replied. "We know she stole a lot of secrets, and she can't just sell them on Craigslist, can she? She has a new protector, someone who can put those secrets to use."
"Like who? Dr. Sivana? Brother Blood? The Brotherhood of Evil?" Cyborg asked.
Nightwing shook his head. "I'm thinking of someone else."
-( scene break )-
The ride back to Cyborg's father's house was a quiet one, until the tin man finally broke the silence. "You always think it's Slade. It could have been the Brotherhood of Evil; Madam Rouge could have disguised herself as Alexa or someone."
"I don't think so; the sign out log doesn't show any duplicate departures." Nightwing replied. "Everyone has been accounted for, except for Garfield."
"Maybe he is still in the facility." Starfire suggested.
"I didn't sense him." Raven interjected. "He isn't there; somehow, they got him out."
"But why Slade?" Victor asked.
"He was out to get us during the crisis. He put a bounty on our heads and got away with it."
"Slade is always out to get us." Starfire remarked.
"Precisely. Look, Dr. Sivana won't touch Luthor's trade secrets; he'd be risking a huge lawsuit. Brother Blood is in jail. The Doom Patrol has the Brotherhood on the run … shit … I still haven't told them yet about Garfield." Grayson moaned. "Rita is gonna kill me."
"So that leaves Slade." Raven sighed. "And if Rita is going to kill anyone, it's me for not being there with him when he went back to the lab."
"Look on the bright side Raven, Slade is probably planning on using Beast Boy as bait to trap the rest of us, which means he's alive."
"So we wait for Slade to contact us." She frowned.
"There's no point in searching for him when we know he'll contact us, though I expect that he will make us wait."
"If it is Slade." She replied.
"I'm certain of it."
-( scene break )-
Back in Steele City, a few hours later.
Raven wrapped Coraline up snugly in a receiving blanket after feeding her. The infant's face looked serene and calm, she was blissfully unaware of the turmoil that ruled in her mother's mind. Raven delicately caressed the tuft of green hair that grew from her gray scalp before placing her in her crib.
No one had contacted them yet, as Dick had predicted, and probably wouldn't for some time. Raven placed her index and middle fingers on Coraline's forehead and whispered a spell. The infant's eyelids suddenly became heavy and she yawned, and she fell asleep within seconds.
"Forgive me, my daughter, but right now I need to meditate in the worst way possible …. Without interruptions" She whispered as she caressed her again.
Raven then sat on the bed and crossing her legs she adopted the Lotus position and closed her eyes. After humming her mantra for a few seconds she opened her eyes and was once again in the green meadow. This time the sky above was dark and stormy and there was a chill in the air.
She looked around, searching for her emoticlones, but found none. The only sound was that of the wind, which blew hard and cold, chilling Raven to the bone. Braving the lightning flashes overhead she took to sky and became airborne and flew over the countryside, but found no trace or sign of any of them. She continued to fly and as she went deeper into her psyche she saw something in the distance, something she had never seen before in Nevermore: The Jump City Tower.
She picked up the pace and got closer to the Tower, which was perched on an island in the middle of a small lake. As she drew near she heard someone wailing and quickly recognized the voice: it was Rage. The crimson emoticlone saw Raven approached and turned to face.
"I'll kill her! The bitch! If even just one hair is missing from his scalp I'll rip her apart and feed her to wolves!"
Raven calmly landed in front of Rage. "So much for not loving him, I thought you just wanted his body."
"You shut up! This is your fault, 100%. Now Slade has our Beastie Boo! How can you be so calm at a moment like this … and for the record: I don't love him, I just wanna have sex with him."
"Yeah, you tell yourself that. As for why I am so calm? Because anger is pointless."
"Sure, that's why you told Cyborg you'd kill her if he was hurt."
"That was you telling him that." Raven rebuked her. "Have I told you how hard it is to suppress you?"
"More than once." Rage replied in a huff. "But don't tell me that you don't want to kill her … remember the last time another blond threatened him? Do you remember what you told her?"
Raven turned away and frowned. "That if she hurt him, it would be the last thing she ever did."
"Good … you're not in denial."
"Leave me alone … I'm tired of fighting with you."
"We aren't fighting, because I'm part of you."
"You don't define who I am."
"You're half demon, Raven, no one defines you more than I do."
The sorceress bristled. "That's not true."
"It is and you know it."
"Gar, would never approve of it, we could end up losing him."
"He'll deal with it and we won't lose him."
Raven raised her right hand, which bristled with dark energy.
"Be gone."
Black lightning emerged from her fingertips, enveloping the crimson emoticlone, which slowly faded away.
"That was a close call; of course you know she'll be back." A voice surprised her from behind
Raven turned and found herself facing the emoticlone known to her as Love.
"It has always been a never ending battle with her. Gar was insane to marry me. I am a monster."
"We are not a monster, Raven, and our beloved was not insane to choose us, but if we do what Rage suggests he will be hurt and you are right, we could lose him."
Raven sighed unhappily. "I might lose him anyway … and if I do, I can't promise to be able to stop Rage."
"You won't snap." Brave interrupted. "But we won't get that far. Nothing's going to happen to our Beastie Boo." Brave cracked her knuckles. "Of course, we're still gonna kick Alexa's sad ass after we get him back ... we won't kill her … as tempting as it might be."
"So addition to being Valor, you're also Optimism?"
"You'd better believe it, Raven. We go hand in hand."
"Where is everyone else?"
"In the Tower." Love gestured at the T shaped building.
Raven turned her gaze at the familiar building. "I always felt safe there … so … I want to feel safe now."
"We are afraid of losing him." Love reminded her.
"Ain't gonna happen." Brave retorted. "I don't care what kind of trap Slade sets for us, we're gonna beat him and get our man back, safe and sound."
"Raven, wake up!" Starfire's voice came out of nowhere. "Slade is contacting us, hurry!"
Raven opened her eyes and was back in her guest room. Starfire was levitating in front of her, with her hands on her shoulders.
"So Dick was right."
"Come, Slade is waiting for you."
"Does he have …"
"Yes, he does … we have seen him. He is unharmed."
Raven scooped up her sleeping daughter and placed her in the sling.
"Let's go."
-( scene break )-
"Time to get up, sleepyhead!"
The changeling groaned as the effect of the narcotic had yet to wear off. It took a brief moment for him to remember where he was and when he did he quickly sat up. He blinked his eyes a few times until they came into focus, and he recognized the young woman standing before him. He groaned a second time as he rubbed his head, doing his best to chase the cobwebs away.
"Rose Wilson, right?" He finally spoke in a groggy voice.
The platinum blond smirked back at him. "You're still recovering from the dart?"
"You could say that."
She chuckled. "You really are unremarkable without your powers, little green man."
He ignored the insult. "What do you and your dad want with me?"
"What do we always want?"
"You tell me, you were just a kid when we fought with your dad."
"We want the same thing as always, Garfield."
"That's a big surprise … you know I won't cooperate with you."
"We can persuade you."
"I'm not afraid of you … do your worst." He replied angrily.
"You have spirit … I like that. Too bad you're too old for me."
"I'm already taken … in case you change your mind."
"Don't worry, greenie, I won't. But daddy wants to see you … so come along; we don't want to keep him waiting."
Rose grabbed Gar's wrist with a pincer like grasp that was so strong that it hurt. He instinctive reached for the power cancellation collar and tugged at it.
"No, no! That says on, puke face." She grinned. "So, do you like being manhandled by a girl without any powers?"
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"What do you think? Now hurry up, I can throw you over my shoulder if you want."
"I'll pass."
He followed Rose out of his cell into a dark, concrete hallway.
"Where are we?"
"In a place where your friends will never find us, so forget about being rescued."
"You still haven't told me what you want from me."
They reached the end of the hallway and she opened the door, gesturing him to enter first.
"Daddy will explain everything … and trust me … you won't like it."
The changeling entered the room and was immediately flanked by two Slade-bots that aimed their laser pistols at him. Slade was sitting on what looked like a throne made of stone and was being served tea by an elderly butler.
"Who's the geezer, Slade?"
The butler bristled at the changeling's taunt. "The name is Wintergreen, you green idiot. If I was you I would watch my mouth, in case you have forgotten, you are our prisoner." The older man replied with a stuffy accent.
Slade leaned forward in his chair. "Well, well, the formerly mighty Beast Boy is now my prisoner."
"Get to the point Slade, what do you want from me? Whatever it is, I won't cooperate."
Slade rose from his throne and approached the changeling.
"Bold words from a weakling."
"Take this collar off of me, and we'll see who the weakling is."
"I always loved your bravado, unlike Robin's you don't wear it on your sleeve, which makes it so much more interesting when you show it. I remember when you came for Terra … you actually talked her into resisting me … and it cost me my life."
"Yeah … too bad Trigon saved you."
"And it was a good thing he did. Had it not been for me, Robin would never have found Raven and the world would have been lost."
"Enough of the small talk, what do you want, Slade?"
"I want you to work for me."
The changeling laughed. "You're joking, why would I do that? There's no way you could talk me into that."
"You do have loved ones."
"You know better than to mess with Raven."
Slade chuckled. "Who's talking about Raven? You are quite right though, going against her would be nearly suicidal. I have someone else in mind."
A video screen on the wall came to life. Gar suppressed a gasp when he saw Alexa pacing around in a cell much like his own. Slade pressed a button on a mini console strapped to his forearm.
"Good morning, Dr. Pontone. I hope you slept well."
"I demand that you let me out of here!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. I need to keep you."
"Who are you!?" She screamed defiantly.
"You can call me Slade."
Alexa shrunk away from the camera in her cell.
"You mean the Slade?"
"Yes, Doctor, the Slade. And I have a friend of yours here with me. Go ahead, she can hear you."
A confused look appeared on the bombshell's face.
"Alexa! Are you OK?"
"Gar? Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me. Are you OK? Did he hurt you?"
"No … I'm fine … but I don't know where Mark is. They took him away. Gar … I'm scared!"
"It's gonna be OK, Alexa, I'll get us out of this."
He then turned to Slade. "Where is he!? I want to see my son!"
Slade raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. A door slid open and a Slade-bot, carrying Mark, entered the room. The boy saw his father and began to cry. Slade nodded and the robot put the child down. Mark ran to his father and picked him up.
"He's here Alexa, he looks OK, but he's scared." Gar informed her as he attempted to soothe the wailing child.
"If you wish for the boy and his mother to remain unharmed, you will obey me."
"But …"
"No buts, this is not open for negotiation, Garfield."
"But you know that the Titans will try to stop me."
"I know; which is why we will now have a heart to heart with Nightwing and his friends."
"What are you going to tell them?"
"How does your generation say it? Ah yes! I will tell them that you're my bitch now and if they interfere that you, Dr. Pontone and little Mark will meet a grisly end … so Garfield … what do you say?"
The changeling glared at Slade. "This always blows up in your face, Slade, and it won't be any different this time around."
"I will take that as a yes."
-( scene break )-
Raven and Starfire teleported into the common room, stepping out of one of Raven's black portals. Slade's masked face stared down at them from the giant TV screen.
"Raven! I'm so glad you could our little confab." He greeted her in his signature monotone.
"What have you done to him Slade! I swear, if he's suffered any harm I'll …"
Slade raised a hand in a conciliatory gesture. "I assure, dear Raven, that he's just fine."
"I want to see him!"
The camera panned back and the group could see Beast Boy holding Mark in his arms, with Rose standing next to him.
"He's telling the truth, I'm OK, except for this stupid power cancelling collar. But don't make any deals with him!"
"We won't." Nightwing agreed.
Slade chuckled. "Oh, I think you will, Nightwing. Look at you, all grown up. I miss the traffic light suit. I have to say, your replacement in Jump City, the new Robin, I like his outfit much better than your old one. Still, no one can take your place, my former apprentice."
"What do you want, Slade?"
"I want you, and the new team in the Jump City Tower, to stay out of my way."
"So, I take your TV career is officially over. Godfrey was quick to disown you once the truth came out."
"You know what they say, Nightwing, you live and you die by your ratings. But you didn't respond to my demand."
"No dice, Slade. We won't just stand by."
"What a shame. Did you know that Dr. Pontone is also my prisoner? Now I know that Raven doesn't have warm fuzzies for the doctor. But as you have already seen, the boy is also my prisoner."
Raven's eyes glowed as crimson red. "You will release my husband and his son … immediately."
Slade chuckled. "How endearing, the protective wife and stepmother. I never knew you had it in you, Raven … but I won't be releasing anyone ... not today."
"You know that we will eventually rescue them." Cyborg growled.
"Yes, you always do. So you see, my arrangement is meant to be temporary. After it is complete, I will return them to you, unharmed."
"What is this arrangement you speak of, Slade?" Starfire asked.
"It's quite simple; Beast Boy will be my new apprentice. And if he refuses or if the Titans interfere in any way … the boy and his mother will die. And you won't be able to rescue them, they will be kept in a separate and secret location. If anything happens my daughter Rose will execute them … it's that simple."
"You've gone too far this time; you're going to pay for this!" Raven shouted.
Slade crossed his arms in a smug and victorious gesture.
"Now, now, Raven, if you want your little baby to have a father when she grows up, then you'd better do exactly as I say."
Raven's jaw trembled, but she did not reply.
"So, Nightwing, do we have a deal?"
"How long will this last?"
"No longer than a year."
"A year? You gotta be joking?" Cyborg shouted.
"Cyborg, you should know by now that I never joke … this is my final offer, if you reject it, they die, all three of them."
Nightwing's shoulders slumped. "Ok, you have a deal."
-( scene break )-
A special shout out to BizkitRebellion1. Thanks for uploading all the preview clips! Speaking of which, the "date" episode is airing on Cartoon Network next week. Will it be pure BBRaeness … or will it end in disaster? My money is on disaster! This is Jelenic we're talking about, not Glen Murakami.
So, is Dick really giving into Slade, or does he have a plan?
And now it's mailbag time.
elixxxrAngel - Since Alexa is Slade's prisoner, who knows?
Bluedog197 – I was wondering where you where … just kidding!
Sweetums14 – Rage wants to kill a lot of people. Will Raven be able to keep her in check?
Kidstandout – Right now, Luthor is the least of their worries.
ToraHimeSama – Raven has a lot of butts to kick!
Xxmatriarch – Yeah, I kind of figured it was that.
GDomarina – Have you ever met a real world Alexa? I think we all have.
Adventuresstime - I wouldn't count her out, not yet.
EP – Detention! OK, what did you do?
Danii B – I have to apologize. I seem to be running slow lately.
ShadowChaser – So, did I? I do recall some people thinking that Alexa was in cahoots with Slade, but right now she's his prisoner, along with poor little Marky.
titanfan45 – I was always bummed that as douchy as Galfore was in "Betrothed" that he never apologized to Robin. I guess you can only squeeze so much into a 24 minute episode. Of course with the new show it's even worse, only 12 minutes.
JasonVUK - Who's got him? Who else? Grayson must be going bonkers, knowing that Slade has him over a barrel.
Katt In The Boxx - Now we have to wonder if it really was Alexa, and if it was her, how did they wind up in Slade's clutches?
Fl4mingTurd – Galfore isn't gonna be happy when Star says she can't go back to Tamaran.
greenhatred77 – A great theory, but not this time.
TW – What else? Slade of course.
Soulsurfer2112 – BB would make a great thief with his shapeshifting powers. Slade's gotta like that.
JOHNXgambit – Lex is pragmatic, that is for sure. I loved it when Bruce Wayne cut him out of a deal in Superman: The Animated Series, the three episode arc "World's Finest." Clark also gets bent out of shape when Lois falls for Bruce!
Hairul The Nightrage Beast – If there is one thing Grayson learned from Bruce it was to keep his cool.
Shadico – I never liked Galfore. He was a jerk in the show, except with Star.
Ravenandthefire – No one likes Alexa!
The Cretin – I guess she see's Grayson as a brother figure, so maybe that's why she wasn't so modest around him. Plus she was having fun messing with his mind!
Just a Thinker – Yeah, her half brothers were fairly recent in the comics. Together they were the seven deadly sins, with Raven being Pride if IIRC.
Anoymous136 – It has to burn Galfore that his little Kori married a circus brat.
BartWLewis - I think Raven has plenty of reasons to kick Alexa's well shaped butt.
7SheWolfShaman7 – Spoiler – Frassa'd's motive will never be discovered.
DeeThom – It's hard to bring Supes into a story. He's too darn strong. In the comics Kori gets into a fight with Supes (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies). Kal kicks her butt. Big surprise.
Chayse-man – While it was kind of downplayed on the show, they had moments in the show when the closeness of their friendship did shine through.
Skyblue271 – I'm glad you find it that way.
JasonTodd908 – The reception for the rewrite for Carved has been lukewarm, so it's on the back burner for now.