Raven's World is finally back! It's been a while since the last episode, but prepare yourself for even more of Raven's adventures in Rapture, and check out what's been occupying the rest of my time: my new Kingdom Hearts Fanfic, 'After the End of the World'!

Raven's World: New Rapture

Episode Three: Raven, Rapture and Ryan

There's one thing you can be certain of down in Rapture, and that's nothing is ever certain down in Rapture. Raven realizes that as he continues his search for the oh-so-elusive Neptune's Bounty. He arrives in a large hall, forking to the left and right. One path, the left, is marked by a neon sign reading 'MEDICAL', the other marked by a second sign reading 'NEPTUNE'. Naturally, he takes the right, and trips over a heap of metal. Yes, in Rapture, even the inanimate objects cause much pain and distress. He looks back at the culprit; a small, inactive machine. The awkwardly-built contraption consists of a primitive, rusted out motor, attached to a propeller mechanism, attached to a Thompson sub-machine gun(which seems to be the only part in good condition; possibly from recent use). "Atlas, you can see all this, right?", he asks into the radio. "What is this thing?"

"That's a security bot, boyo", came Atlas' voice. "It looks like it's been deactivated. Don't go messin' around with it." It was far too late for that… Raven had already knelt beside the little machine and was trying vigorously to free the Thompson from its grip. Brute force failing him, he decides to go straight to the wiring. In seconds, the security bot whirrs to life. A thick, accumulation of black smoke bursts from the motor, the propellers twitch, then go into full-spin and green blinking lights are now working rapidly. The machine buzzes around him, making odd sounds and sparking at the mechanical joints. Atlas seems impressed. "I'll be damned.", was his initial statement. "How'd you know how to hack these things?" "Hack…?", Raven asks, still fixed on the security bot. "You're telling me I just hacked it?"

Before Atlas could answer, a loud, resounding CLANK pervades the hall, coming from the 'MEDICAL' side of the fork. Raven tries to make distance between himself and the source, and makes a sprint for the 'NEPTUNE' doorway. As he draws near enough to Neptune's Bounty to see the booths and turnstiles beyond the door, the metal gate suddenly deploys on its own and keeps him locked out of Neptune's Bounty, locked in the hall and quite generally locked between fear and annoyance. The hall is bathed in a haunting red light as a loud alarm sounds. The decibel of the alarm is enough to make Raven lean against the metal gate for stability. The sound of numerous footsteps drowns out the alarm, the sound of metal scraping across tile floors drowns out the footsteps, and the sounds of insane splicer-babble drown out all three. Based on the voices alone, Raven guessed there had to be at least a dozen splicers headed in his direction. It was at times like this (though he doubted there was ever a time precisely like this…) that he'd envision some horrified child, finding a cheap-yet-comforting sense of bravery in imagining what their heroes might do in their situation. Though he never really saw how children found wearing gaudy sweaters and singing about how wonderful a day it was in the neighborhood comforting, he figured it was worth a try…

"What would old Sherlock do…?", he asks out loud, remembering his favorite product of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. What would old Sherlock do? What the hell could old Sherlock do? He'd find a clue and make a pinpoint deduction from the writing on the wall. However, Raven had no clue, and there was no writing on the wall that wasn't some insane political paroxysm. Right then, time for plan B… Raven reaches a trembling hand to his pocketed revolver.

"So, this is the entity that has occupied so much of Atlas' attention…", came a new voice over the radio. The voice was that of a despot. That much could be told just by the arrogant tone of each word it formed. The voice was of a despotic man; one who'd had everything and lost everything; one with no regard for consequences, no regard for human life, no regard for anything but victory. Nobody could ever accuse Raven of being a bad judge of character… The voice continued: "What business have you in my city, boy?" Atlas answers for Raven almost instantly. "And what business have you locking up Neptune's Bounty, Ryan?", he retorts sharply. The second voice, now identified as "Ryan", replies in his same smooth-yet-suffering manner. "To question the creator of this city is to question the city itself; and those who question Rapture learn very quickly just how unpleasant its founder can be… Mr. McDonagh here is a testament to that…"

Splicers soon fill the hall as the service radio goes silent. Raven quickly checks the revolver's chambers and fires into a splicer's forehead, dropping him to the ground to be trampled by the rest of the attackers. With a click, the revolver switches over to the next available chamber as he fires again, and again, and again. Two rounds left before time to reload and no room to reload without getting swarmed, Raven backs away against Neptune's Bounty's metal gate in defeat. Suddenly, in a puff of black smoke, a repeating weapon can be heard firing ceaselessly. Raven looks up in relief to see the little security bot hovering by, spraying the splicers with gunfire and dropping them in large groups. He takes the time to slip through a gap in the splicer formation. one of the saner ones notices him and lunges with a pipe. Instinct takes over, and Raven spins to his rear and fires off one of the two remaining chambers. The round enters, and soon after, exits the splicer's forehead, painting the wall behind him a vivid crimson as the splicer slides down the wall with a heavy wheeze.

"You still alive in there, boyo?" Came Atlas' urgent tone over the radio. Raven turns to watch the occupied splicers chase after the wayward security bot, then answers calmly: "That depends a great deal on your opinion of 'alive'… Who was that on the radio earlier?"

"That was Andrew Ryan.", replied Atlas. Creator of the swimmin' hell we call Rapture. He built this city to 'get away from God and the government', so he claims… But since the Rapture Civil War, he's become a terrible combination of both…" Now alone in the hall, Raven takes the time to reload the revolver. "Rapture Civil War?", he inquires. "Another story for another time, boy.", said Atlas. "With the direct rout to Neptune locked off, you'll have to take the long way around through Medical."

Wanting badly to separate himself from the splicer-infested hallway, Raven makes a swift line for the door to medical, and out of the red glow of Ryan's security device. As the door to medical (the name 'SECURIS' welded across the top) closes, a lone splicer drops dead against it and slides down to its base with several punctures in its chest as a shotgun-toting figure stops in the center of the fork…

-To be continued