The full moon shone high above the eery cemetery, covering the cold tombstones in white gold. All was quiet as fog weaved itself around the ground like creepers.
And in the silence of the night, a lone grave stood perched on top of a hill near a wilted tree.
Frosty wind plucked the last few dried-up leaves and swirled them around before gently setting them on the soft ground beneath the tombstone.
Suddenly a light tremor shook the leaves.
And as another gust of wind blew the grave shivered more and more!
KARAKA-BOOM!
Lighting roared in the distance!
A hand broke from the ground, clutching for life! Grasping the ground and digging till another hand came up!
A figure pulled itself up. Hunched on its slightly bent knees, shivering at the feel of the wind that was wildly blowing, at the feel of standing again. And with all it's sudden power, in synchrony with thunder and lightning, it threw its head back and roared!
"I'M ALIIIIIVE!"
… Phew! (shoulders sag in relief) Man that was nasty! Why hello there my dear readers! (dusts herself off) I cannot begin to apologize enough for not up-dating for so long. I've been diagnosed with a terrible case of a most gruesome disease called... 'Writer's Block'! (Dun dun duuuuun) What a barbaric thing! O.O
The doctors thought I wouldn't make it! Ha-ha joke's on them! I am pretty much alive and kicking! ^-^
Besides that horrible, horrible, disease, a hundred of other things seemed to have jumped on me this few agonizing months. My pc broke down (TWICE!), my cousin came to visit and the stayed longer than she should have (simply lovely -_-) and people just kept pestering me beyond belief! The nerve of them!
So not gonna ramble on much longer, I'd like to thank all who read my story, reviewed, added me to their story alerts and faves! You all helped me get better! ^o^ Now let's answer a few reviews and get this show on the road!
First, 'thank-you's go to: Booyah, kruk, animalllover, superheat123, Witts-End, LanaLuff, Chimei-can, invaderlye and raven lynn morrigan for adding me or reviewing my story! ^-^
Booyah: Haha I'm glad you liked it! I have to admit that I loved writing that scene! It seemed to flow right from my head into my keyboard. I enjoyed writing it tremendously! ^-^
kruk: Wow, thanks for a lengthy review! Just how I like them! ;D As to answer your question: yes, Slade still has the same past as he does in the comic. I don't plan on changing anything since this takes place after the fifth season. And as for the plot, not an apprentice story and not a rape one either. In my opinion there are simply too many stories like that and I find that a bit close-minded... and gross. Like everything that includes Raven and Slade has to come down to either rape or her being his apprentice. Pft! Lame -.- Anyway thanks for the review! I promise a MUCH better plot than what you expect ;)
animalllover: Mwahahaha! I am worse than evil! I. Am. THE AUTHOR!
superheat123: Awwwwww :3 I feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Thank you so much for gracing me with such a compliment! It means a lot! ^-^ I'll try to out-do myself and prove that I am worthy of such praises! Thanks! :)
Witts-End: While I agree that I could work on my description of the settings, I do have to point out that when writing suspense, actions of a character and their feelings tend to be slightly more important than the setting. But you do have a valid point and I'll try to improve that :) Thanks for the review and the opinions!
And finally, what you all have been waiting for! I give you the forth chapter of 'The Games We Play'! Enjoy!
Chapter 4: The Chase
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
Two giant crates enclosed in dark magic slammed against the warehouse wall, squishing the robots that found themselves in between them like mere bugs. Violet orbs kept darting left and right, trying to take in the current number of her enemies.
Left- four of them, right– three more, above– two aiming at her, behind her– she wasn't sure, in front– … well those wouldn't be bothering her anymore.
Spinning around she raised one of her hands and formed a black shield to protect herself against the rain of lasers from above, while she darted out the other hand with a quick jerk. Following her hand's movement the crates were sent flying in the direction they came from and knocked down the group of robots behind her.
The firing from above persisted and she was forced a step back. Her eyebrows knitted into a frown as her shield began to crack. Another step back, and her back was against the wall.
The slade-bots on the sides began to gang up and slowly close the distance between them. Taking quick note of that, a tide-like circle formed around Raven's feet on the ground and in a swift motion…. She was gone.
The two robots hanging by chain lines from above stopped their fire and merely stared at the spot the girl had once stood on. Their heads slightly moved to the sides, their mechanical eyes taking in nothing but their own group on the ground searching for the target.
The robot on the left felt a slight jerk of the chain from which he was hanging from. He lifted up his head, his arm with the laser-gun followed suit, but before he could fire his weapon a foot slammed down on his head from above. Releasing his grip on the chain the robot plummeted to the ground, cracking its mechanical skull upon impact with the hard ground. The whole motion earned the girl who slid down the chain immediate attention.
Quickly pointing his gun to the girl beside him, the other robot was momentarily stunned when she knocked it away with her foot. Reaching out to grab her, she ducked from his grasp before using him as leverage with her feet to push herself away and steady herself in flight.
Leaving the unarmed robot to dangle uselessly, she noticed that the group of slade-bots bellow her was climbing up to her level by any leverage they could find.
"How many of them are there?" she mumbled to no one in particular before both of her hands started to glow in a dark aura. Outstretching both of her arms, a thick long beam of energy shot out towards a high stack of crates, bringing it tumbling down with the robots which tried to climb it.
Thuuuuump!
The girl jerked out of the way as something ripped a piece of her hood. Spinning around her eyes locked onto the robot hanging by the metal bridge with one arm while the other one was bailed into a fist and aimed at her.
She gridded her teeth, her eyes flashed white and she reached out, enclosing the robot in her black magic and hurling him into the still dust-clouded pile of broken parts.
Raven levitated in place a few seconds and stared at the robots bellow her when something suddenly slammed at her side. She couldn't even register what happened as she tumbled harshly against the solid ground, thus landing on her stomach and hitting her head.
The ice-cold cement pinched at her cheek, forbidding the current of darkness behind closed eyelids to take her. Bit by bit her body awoke, remembering the sting of the ripped skin, a token of the battlefield, and the section above her temple stained with crimson.
Grinding her teeth once more she resisted the alluring current and slightly opened her eyes. She wouldn't submit to such urges created by pain. She had a battle to finish, teammates to work with, friends to protect, an enemy to defeat. A very dangerous enemy to defeat.
With both hands on the ground, shaky elbows tried to steady themselves and help the girl to rise.
She wasn't weak.
She was anything but weak.
She had defeated her demons, she had overcome her nightmares. And she would be damned if after all that she'd let herself be taken down by minions of a man who had once been a minion himself, a slave to the demon she had defeated.
Half-way up, she fully awakened, dismissing the dark tides of unconsciousness. Shakily, Raven leaned on both of her hands and knees only to be slammed right back down onto the ground.
She tried to roll to the side but all attempts to even shift were proven useless when the opponent on top of her snatched her arms and twisted them behind her back. She hissed. Pain crawled along her arms and shoulders, making every attempt she made of even moving an inch more hurtful.
Turning her head to see her assailant, angry purple eyes locked onto another black mask with an orange circle in the middle.
"Azarath Metri- AH!" she arched her back as the robots grip tightened. The pressure of the movement itself proved agonizing.
No, she would not submit. She was Raven.
A flick of energy kindled within her.
Eyes opened and teeth gritted in defiance, she shifted once more. Another agonizing and fruitless attempt.
From the corner of her eyes she could see a swarm of slade-bots caging her in.
She would not submit.
The energy blazed only to be reduced to a candle fire.
"Azarath Metr-AH!" she cried out, her arms twitching in hot-white pain.
They were closing in on her.
She would not lose!
Again!
The flame grew once more.
"Azarath Metrion Zinth-AHHH!"
If felt as if someone was clawing into her arm muscles, slowly digging their way through her flesh and blood with their sharp claws.
They were closer.
Panic fluttered in her chest. A bird trashing in its cage.
The energy slowly enclosed on itself… little by little.
She would not lose!
More pain, but she refused to cry out.
Not to them.
A spark remained… patiently waiting for the climax. "Azarath…" she hissed out.
And more importantly…
"Mentrion…"
Not to him.
"ZINTHOS!"
It exploded. The energy she harvested and kindled into a small bubble, overfilling it and adding more pressure to it till it popped.
It came so fast, a tide of black that exploded in all directions, swallowing the metal soldiers before discarding them uselessly all around the battlefield like mere rag-dolls. They slammed into anything that got in their way and even beyond.
And then silence…
Her breaths echoed as aching arms finally pushed her up. Slowly standing up she caressed the still sore upper-part of her other arm with one hand.
Raven scanned her surrounding and came to the conclusion that the warehouse's owner was going to be anything but happy. She stood in the center of a small dent. The area around her was clean within three meters of radius and there…
Broken parts scattered around like pieces of a puzzle- Splinters of wood trashed upon each other in unnatural angles- Piles of metallic legs and arms- Thin bluish lines of dust-
Sharp colors -
Greasy smoke -
The smell of salt -
. . .
Silence.
She went completely still.
'…what?'
Frantic eyes kept darting around.
A beat -
'Wrong…'
Limp mechanical bodies -
'So wrong!'
Static noise mocking her -
"Cyborg…?" she called out.
Dark colors clouding her sight -
"Starfire?" she raised her voice.
It echoed -
"Robin?"
No answer -
"Beastboy?"
. . .
Nothing.
Something in the background faintly exploded, courtesy of her weakened control.
She took a shaky breath, 'Calm down, just calm down…'
She scanned her surrounding once more. The silence was freakishly deafening.
As her uncertainty grew, her trembling hands started to sloppily touch for her communicator. Finally, she frantically clenched the object in her hand when -
Her whole being froze.
Thud…
Eyes, wide in disbelief, slowly rose at the direction the sound came from. She took a step as she stared at the far away half demolished wall.
Another step. And then another. And another.
Her gut twisted.
'No…'
Vroooom~!
The communicator slipped out of her paralyzed hands.
'No!'
SCREEEECH!
She ran.
The drab bleak sky, framed with a crushed wall of the warehouse, swallowed the ravaged scenery of the battlefield.
Two meters -
One -
She darted out of the warehouse and, while her eyes drank in the somberly morning grayness, she chocked on a mouthful of exhausted gasses thrown into her face. Two bright red eyes swayed in synchrony and, with a shaky start, the truck was speeding away, discarding chunks of mortar and splinters into her bewildered eyes.
Realization slapped her out of her stupor. The shot that marked the beginning of the race went off… and she was already late.
A few rushed steps, a spark of black and she was making haste after it.
Another high-pitched 'screech' echoed throughout the street when the truck made a sharp turn.
Barring her teeth she followed it, willing herself to go faster, much faster than this. Each beat of her heart, that she could swear she felt somewhere in her throat, seemed like a second too long as she flew after the vehicle.
A second she couldn't lose.
A slade-bot appeared at the co-drivers window, climbing on it and latching its mechanical claws onto the roof, pulling itself up in a swift motion. At first it staggered a bit, but once it regained its balance the robot pulled out a laser gun and aimed at her.
Eyes widening, she avoided the hot-red beam coming at her. And as if one wasn't enough, another robot peaked out of the co-drivers window shot at her.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthose!"
A nearby mailbox was swallowed in her white-lined dark aura and hurled at the robot on top of the speeding vehicle, slamming straight into its head and making him drop the laser gun and tumble along the roof. Before it had a chance to fall off the edge it sank one of its claws deep within the material of the roof and dangled there. It's head lolled under an unnatural angle and the side of its neck sparked with electricity.
The other slade-bot was a persistent one, firing one beam after another. It made dodging them all the more frustrating because she kept falling behind just as she got closer to the truck. Taking offense didn't work: each time she fired small aura-spheres the robot would just pull back into the vehicle and wait for another opportunity to take a shot at her.
Beads of sweat gathered on her brow, the air seemed hot, suffocating.
'Don't lose them! Damn it, don't lose them!'
And as if on cue, the robot that was dangling in front of the truck lost its grip when the truck made another sharp turn. Falling to the ground, it was caught in a chaotic tango with one of the truck's tires. The rough mingling left the robot without a limb or two, to lay in a cloud of sparks and to wiggle uselessly like a fish out of water.
However, the truck was not so fortunate.
A blatant 'pop' followed when the robot's pointed mechanical claw accidentally plunged into the front tire's hot rubber. Heart-stopping screeching ringed in her ears and just like in some bad dream she watched the truck wobble left and right out of control, seconds before the inevitable crash.
An invisible hand griped her chest painfully, cutting off her air. She knew this feeling. And in an instant, like on an instinct, every thought she had melded into a single one that controlled both her mind and body.
'STOP THEM!'
Bleach white color burned her irises, consuming her eyes in heated white flames.
"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOSE!"
She outstretched her hand. Darkness enveloped the truck's surface just as it dangerously leaned to the side.
Too late -
The truck roughly connected with the mortar road, thus creating a rain of blinding sparks and letting out an ear-shattering noise akin to a scream. Her fingers twitched uncontrollably as pain crawled up her body. The truck, even though it was on its side and harshly sliding on the ground, didn't seem to slow down.
The screeching continued, never lessening its high ear-bleeding pitch. The truck flipped from its side and continued sliding upside-down towards the far end of the street. Heading straight towards a building and pulling her with it.
Clenching her hands and concentrating on the task at hand, Raven could feel her head about to explode. Her muscles tensed up to the point of snapping. Her whole body screamed at her in unison, eyes dazed, but she couldn't let go, and it hurt, God, it hurt so damn much!
Closer - !
'NO!'
Head spinning from noise and pain -
- !
Too close!
Sparks dancing -
Closer - !
'STOP!'
…
It stopped.
...
The dark aura disappeared from the truck and her arms fell limply to the side. The next thing she knew her head hit the hard ground.
…
Never in her life had her lungs demanded so much air: taking gallons of oxygen in, yet not releasing enough carbon-dioxide from how greedily she kept breathing in.
She lay there, body in a blissful state of abating. Eyes half-closed and threatening to fall down even further.
'… come on...' with a tired groan she told herself, '...get up...'
No sooner had she tried to push herself up than she realized how much of a strain had her mind and body had been through. Raven hissed in blinding pain as her whole body seemed to protest to move.
'Come on...! Move!'
Wobbly legs threatened to fall and arms sloppily reached for anything to steady themselves. Trying to reach the upside-down truck centimetres away from the building. From one light-pole to the parking-meter, to another light-pole, she staggered like a drunk person would.
Without warning her legs gave out. Flinging her arms out she clung to the light-pole for support.
As she leaned her damp cheek against the cool metal surface of one pole, she couldn't help but find it strangely comforting. It felt so good against her burning skin. Heavenly even. For a moment she actually considered passing out right then and there.
She closed her eyes. "Come on, Raven..." she whispered slowly between breaths. "Get a grip..."
'Leave it to Slade to give you a good chase at four in the morning,' she though bitterly.
Tiredly pulling herself back on her feet, she took a few shaky steps before managing to steady herself long enough to reach the truck. Legs still not functioning like they should have, she tripped over her own foot and grabbed the lift on the lock on the truck's double doors for support.
'For the love of...' annoyance itched her as she once again found herself leaning on another cool metal surface. 'Robin better give me a week off after this.'
"Hey..." she managed to voice out between heavy breaths "... everyone okay?"
She faintly heard something shift inside.
'Oh God' , she stood back up on her feet 'Please, please, don't let someone be hurt...'
A few more breaths before she raised her head and stared at the heavy lift she was holding on.
"Hold on, I'm gonna get you out... Just... give me a sec..."
Taking a quick glance behind her, she scanned the black-scraped and damaged street for any unwelcome faces or robotic minions. She found none.
A sigh of relief escaped her and she turned back to the matter at hand.
'Okay, on three...'
Small hands gripped the edge of the lift.
"One..." a deep breath.
"Two..." she closed her eyes.
"Three!" gathering all the strength she had left in her exhausted body she pushed the heavy lift up with all she had. It didn't budge.
'Come on!' she screwed shut her eyes and pushed harder, grinding her teeth.
For a second she thought she heard her teeth crack from pressure. But as soon as she felt her hands move a bit she realized that it was the lift.
'Come on! Just a little more!'
CLANG!
It jolted up and Raven took a step back to compose herself...
"Thank God... Finally..." she mumbled under her breath.
Grabbing the double doors she slowly pulled them open.
"Okay," she looked up, "Is anyone-?"
Her eyes widening-
A glimpse of silver-
A red flash-
Her head hit something hard. And the next thing she knew...
...Darkness overtook her.
Uhhhhhhhhh a cliffy! Now ain't I a stinker? XD Kukukuku!
Well that's it for this chapter! The exciting parts are finally coming closer and I can't wait for them!
I'd love to hear your opinions on this chapter and my writing, so please share them with me and I'll try to type-up the next chapter as soon as I can, deal? :) Remember: reviews are music and music inspires! ….. and cures 'Writer's Block' XD
I blow you a kiss!