Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Except everything I have. Which the Teen Titans isn't a part of. Did you get that?
Chapter 2: All Pretentions Fall Away
Cut.
I should be dead. Yes. That's what I should be.
Slice.
Hell is waiting. Where I should be.
Tear.
I feel nothing. I have nothing. I am nothing.
"Bleed." She whispered at the jagged tears and open wounds she caused upon the pallor. The deep red oozed gracefully, sliding down the flesh, as if wanting to subdue life as slowly as possible. Fascinating. It used to be just a thought, cutting herself. But now she really did it. She was a real psycho now. Really crazy, really creepy, just like they thought. Just like they wanted her to be.
They only wanted a reason to call her creepy a reason to avoid her. They wanted her to be a freak so that they had a good excuse as to why they were so cruel.
Cut.
"Here's your reason, Starfire. To grimace at my darkness."
Slice.
"Here's your reason, Cyborg. To avoid the screams I tried to sound."
Tear.
"Here's your reason, Beast Boy. To tell me, call me creepy."
Cut. Slice. Tear.
"Here's...your...reason...Robin...To...turn...your...back...on...me...wh--" She fell foward, a gross, squelching sound as her body fell against the blood beneath her.
...when I needed you most...
"Oh dear." Wisdom bit her lip when she felt the pain soaring through her. She should've known Raven would do something like this.
"Wisdom. Raven could die. This...this..." Sarcasm's voice faded away as she too, slumped to the ground, unconscious. Wisdom could feel herself going dizzy.
"Hang on...gotta...research...think...think..." But engulfed with pain she crumpled to meet the rock below her.
The sound of the alarm wailed througout the tower. Renowned superteens ran in from this direction and that to meet with the leader of their pack. With a fierce scowl he turned to face them, naming the culprit of their next hunting scout.
"Slade."
The most subtle way possible. That was how he planned to tell them. He saw it all. Heard it all. He'd seen worse, gory moments. But this made him sick to his stomach.It was disgustingly painful.
There they were. The temperature had increased. So had the tension. Robin was here to kick his ass. With an inward sigh he ran over the simply sketched out plan and got ready to start. Tonight would not end well for the Titans.
"Well well Titans. It could not have been a worse evening to see your smiling faces...again." His voice always sly. Shrewd.
"We're going to bring you down, Slade." Robin. Of course the gritting teeth and brow furrowed scowl included. He took out his bo staff and twirled it with expertise.
"Titans go!" Slade was ready. As always. He clicked a small button on his belt.
Slade-bots to keep the others busy. Only one needs to realize how soft I'm becoming.
"What do you want, Slade!" Robin growled at him. Swift dodges had Robin working hard, and soon he was on one knee, panting for air, while Slade stood upright, hands behind his back, feet shoulder-width apart.
"Robin take a look around. Tell me, how well is your team faring?" With a grunt the boy was surprised to find his teammates struggling against the robots.
"Having a hard time, are they? I haven't changed a single thing on those bots. Something wrong with your team?" Robin snarled and glanced around again.
Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Ra...
"Raven...!" The man almost wanted to strangle the boy for not realizing sooner.
"Congratulations, Robin. You have found the most dangerous fault within your team." He paused for dramatic effect.
"Did you really underestimate all the 'bad' boys in the city, Robin? Are you really that stupid? She may act innocent but she is guilty. Guilty of saving your lives every time you fight. Heroes? She is the only one." The green gloved hand trembled with furious denialbut Slade went on.
"Really, Robin. My robots don't feel like there was a big screen tv thrown at you. Their lasers don't hurt as that of a 100 watt sting. They are heavier than 2 times as much the maximum weight Cyborg can hold. The lasers contain up to 600 watts. Plus the strength of thunder itself. Once one of my bots are thrown on you your bones would be crushed, pulverized into a fine sand. Once one shot is aimed at you your heart will be fried to a crisp. On a normal human, that is. The others wont be so weak. But they wont last longer than 30 minutes, each of them. And now it's been what, 17?" He squatted down and glared into masked eyes.
"With 1/1000 of her power she keeps their weight lighter, and absorbs most of the electricity so as to keep any of you from death. Who takes the pain? She does.Her weariness after every fight is probably worth a year worth of fights for you, no doubtedly more. And not only my attacks, Robin. The others. Mad Mod, Mumbo, HIVE, the rest of them. Did you really think you all were the heroes of this city? There is only one, Robin. And that is Raven." He stood up and pressed another button steathily.
Another minute and they would've been dead.
The thought was tempting but the robots were already shutting down. He continued.
"Where is your strongest point now, Robin? Where is the most precious of weapons you've ever had Robin? The one you didn't know of? Did you even bother, Robin, to care?" With that the man left behind a boy with guilts piled higher than he'd ever known before. The confidence built up for more than a decade came crashing down in one day, one speech, one word. Raven.
"Dude, Robin! What was that about?" Beast Boy helped his leader up, who stubbornly pulled away and rasped.
"Raven...we have to...find her..." Cyborg slapped his forehead.
"Shit! I forgot to get her! Man she's gonna be so pissed..." Robin shouted in frustration and faced his team.
"Of course she'll be pissed! She'll be pissed because we could've been killed! Because she has to save us every day, every night, for every single fight..." Sobs broke out from his throat, and Starfire, shocked at the breakout held him in her arms.
"What are you talking about?" Cyborg asked softly, concerned. He shook his head and recited a speech, one he heard not too long ago.
Alrighty then...tell me whatcha think!
A-Quest-of-Scales - Yeah. Thanks!
dark heart - Thank you! I'm so honored.
KhmerGurl113 - Good I'm glad you like. Hope you enjoy this one!
Ravenfairie - Mucho Gracias! I hope you keep reading!
Rae - Thanks! As much as I'm sorry to say, if there ever is romance, I'm a devout Rae/Rob fan. I'm not sure if there'll be too much fluff in this one, though. Mostly just about her problems and stuff.
The Last - Why thank you! I'll definitely continue it. Yeah. I tend to think Slade of more like, an evil guardian angel for the Titans. Don't ask me why. It just seems like he's testing them to further their limits. You know?
Thanks all! Please review! And do the reading, too. If you just review, it's a little pointless, you know what I'm saying?
Lost1n7heDark