A redheaded girl took long calm steps as she entered a room full of strangers adorned in either black or some other sullen and dark color. After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she took a good look at her surroundings. The room was buzzing with people from all sorts of fandoms on the , yet the center, where a dead girl was visibly lying in her casket, was avoided like a plague. Most gathered in small groups and chatted or reminisced about some show that they loved. Some people though, she noticed, were actually here playing the roles they were supposed to make this look like what it was meant to be. A funeral.

Booyah blew into a handkerchief for the third time before crying out to the heavens ("Why? Oh, why? S-She was so young! A-And she- …... Do I smell bagels?"), while Lynessence was being desperately hugged by the ever-so-emotional animalllover. ("A-And I *hic* I never got to see h-how it- *hic* how it ended!". An awkward tapping on the head followed. "Um, there, there? Listen, I'm sorry, sweety, but-". "I-Its okay," a tear was wiped away "W-Why *hic* are you apologizing anyway? It isn't y-your fault." Lynessence offered a gentle smile. "No, that's not what I meant. What I meant to say was: I'm sorry, but... who are you? Seriously." …...Awkwardness ensued.).

Superheat 123 couldn't bear watching the scene anymore for the fear of awkwardness being contagious, thus the attention was directed back to the group conversation. ("I say it was murder," a grim look crossed kruk's face. Nephertiri couldn't help but give 'the look'. "What are you talking about?" "Think about it!" All eyes were on kruk. "I mean why on Earth are all good writers suddenly disappearing? I think it's a conspiracy against the !" Gingerstorm101 gasped, "So... She was killed?" kruk gave an all-knowing nod while LaLaLand shushed all of them. "It's a funeral for God's sake people and you wanna turn this into 'Midsummer Murders'? What's wrong with you?" Superheat123 couldn't help but sigh. "LaLaLand's right, keep it down. She probably caught 'Writer's Block' and couldn't make it. It's not that uncommon nowadays." Kruk frowned and grumbled. "I still say it was murder..." Nephertiri couldn't keep quiet. "And what would be the motive, genius? It's fanfictions we're talking about! Why would someone kill over that?" Gingerstorm101 and LaLaLand nodded in agreement.)

An older man walked into the room and clapped his hand. "Excuse me, may I have everyone's attention please? Ah, thank you." A cough. "I've been asked to inform you all that the memorial service will begin shortly, so if you would all please make your way down the corridor and take your seats it would be highly appreciated. Thank you."

And thus all left the room, one by one and headed to the memorial service. All save for the redheaded girl who, unnoticed by anyone, stood by the casket and stared at the corpse inside of it. The man could only watch her in sympathy. He decided to leave her alone to pay her respects. "Don't take long, please," he smiled gently at her, and with a sympathetic 'poor girl' closed the doors behind him.

The girl only continued to stare at the corpse of her peer with a blank expression. Something was itching her insides, yet she couldn't name the emotion.

A sudden thought came. 'She looks... so peaceful.' Her fingers tightened around the paper bag she was holding. And in a second her blank expression twitched into one of annoyance. '….. the b*tch!'

"You. Are.-" she growled through her clenched teeth.

The girl in the casket popped one eye opened at the redhead. "What?-"

"-Utterly REPULSIVE!" she swung the paper bag and hit the presumably dead girl square in the face.

"Uf!" the girl fell back, before jumping back up. "Hey hey hey! What's the big idea?"

"I don't know! You tell me! Sending me messages while I am in the shower, saying 'You are cordially invited to my funeral. Someone will send you the details and remember to bring flowers. P. S. Don't buy roses, be original! P. P. S. Oh, and bring me a change of cloths, something black. It's a funeral after all'?"

The girl sitting in the casket looked genuinely confused on what was the problem. "Did you not bring the cloths?"

"NO, I BROUGHT YOU THE STINKIN' CLOTHS BUT YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT!"

"Jesus Christ, don't shout, it's a funeral."

The redhead was on the verge of snapping the girl's neck. She took deep long breaths and covered her face with her hands in an attempt to refrain herself from doing so. In and out, in and out... One last deep breath, and she finally remembered who she was talking to in the first place. She looked back the girl who was taking off the dress she was supposed to be 'buried' in. "Calmed down?"

"Hardly," she monotoned. "Alright, now, mind explaining what in the nine hells you are doing, Miss?"

"I'm dressing up for the memorial service." She threw a 'duh' look at the other girl. "I wanna hear all the sweet and legendary things people have to say about me."

An inevitable twitch of her fingers. "If that's the reason why you organized yourself a WHOLE F*CKING funeral and why you were playing possum in a casket, I swear to God, I'll make sure they bury your body with it."

"OH, please. Like I'd go through so much trouble just for a few compliments," the girl waved her hand in dismissal.

A frown. "Then why are you pretending to be dead?"

The girl in question raised two fingers upon tying up her hair and putting a pair of shades on. "Two words: Life. Insurance."

"... Are you kidding me?"

"Not in the slightest. Are you even aware of the amount of money you get? Now, how do I look?" she spread her hands.

"Peachy. (-_-)"

"Great! Let's go." the girl gave the redhead a 'thumbs up' before proceeding to the door. "I think I heard someone mention that there were bagels or something..."

Alright, alright, who sucks? *raises hand* That's right, me. No apologizes are going to make up for not updating. So here comes the next best thing! An update for not updating! *gently places a hand on her chest* Yes, yes, I know. I'm such a generous person. Joking, joking. ;P

Apologizes for using you guys in the little scene above without asking for your permissions. Those who don't like it, tell me and I'll change your name with someone else's. And those who I didn't use but would like to appear for the memorial service, send me a message and tell me what 'oh-so-kind' words would you like to share about the *cough, cough* deceased girl.

… Yes, I have a weird sense of humor.

Much needed 'thank you's to: Higurashi-Naku, Jumper, Kage Yoru, 030artastic, and that's all she wrote, Booyah, KrysOfSorrow, nephertiri, Mysterious Anonymous Reviewer, Gingerstorm101, TheEndReaper, anonymous, animalllover, lover and The Amethyst Eyes, for reviewing or adding me to their faves or alerts. Luv ya guys. :3 And a special 'thank you' to my friend for allowing me to use her in the scene above and to my beta, LovelyWeather, for her ever-lasting patience (or in some cases not) with my horrible grammar. ^^

So here it is people! Get ready to bite your nails (heaven knows I did mine, in utter frustration, while writing this) and enjoy the games. Those who don't remember what happened, my advice to you is: skim the last chapter and- get reading!

"And I know that you don't
Like the way that it goes
We're all in, so begin
But just remember: I win."

Breaking Benjamin "No Games"

Chapter 6: Reversed Tag (part 1)

His eyes hurt. The darkness was suddenly ripped right in front of him and light pounced at him, drilling its fingers into his eyes. A hiss escaped him as he turned his head to the side. His chest pulsed in a quivering, yet steady rhythm, as if begging some force in the universe to let this be just a dream, for something to shake him back to reality; pointlessly pleading him not to feast his eyes upon the nightmare he was sure to confront.

'Please don't look, please don't look, please don't look, please don't-'

He did.

Robin forced himself to look despite the throbbing pain in his head and discerned a familiar dark shade of eyes veneered over with a glossy orange. A chorus of gasps followed behind him. His eyes widened.

"-very... heartwarming."

She stared back at him, wide-eyed and lips slightly parted, like a deer in the headlights waiting for the blow.

"Raven," he murmured without even realizing it. And then he heard it.

"So what do you say, little bird?"

His eyes drank in the rest of picture. Two armored hands slid down her shoulders and gripped her upper-arms. A single leering eye leaned closer to her ear and met his gaze with an overbearing feeling of superiority.

"Won't you play with me?"

"Slade!"

Panic!

Gloved hands collided with the solid material. His whole ribcage snapped around his lungs like a bear-trap, cutting off his oxygen, shooting spikes of fear through his limbs. "Get away from her!"

"Dude!" the changeling took a step back. Cyborg and Starfire gasped. "Raven!"

And yet...

Despite all of their horrified reactions, she stood still, like a passive figure on a grotesque painting of some mad artist. Dilated eyes shimmering in bewilderment, her whole posture disturbingly stiff. She... just stood there!

"Raven!" he yelled out, fleetingly surprised at how his warning came out as a growl. "What are you doing? Get away!"

Again, nothing. She watched him wordlessly, without so much as moving a muscle.

His fist descended once more upon the glass surface, smashing against it. "Raven!"

Silence. Nothing. His muscles were clenching.

"Move dammit!"

"Fine."

. . .

A short pause in which it seemed like air and sound were sucked out of the room, and he was left to stare dumbly at her. Suddenly her shimmeringly wide and bemused eyes melted into a frighteningly forceful and firm glint. Unconsciously, he took a step back. Anxiety and anger evaporated as that one word, said so calmly and solidly, hit him like a bullet that left his brain scattered all over the floor.

"... what?"

It was a twitch.

"So what do you say, little bird?" His large hands slid down her shoulders.

The sky was red. As if it was bleeding from the fresh corpse that was the city. She had killed it. She would kill it. And he had imprinted that reminder into her skin so maliciously. He whispered so knowingly of her crime and watched, delighted, as the last drop of pressure made her erupt.

"Won't you play with me?"

It was all too familiar. The disgusting relish in his voice and the position he held her in.

Yes, it was just a twitch of her fingers. Caused by a sudden restrain of the urge to spin around and release hell on the man behind her. To grab him by the neck and hiss in his face, and then squeeze it, squeeze it, make it snap-!

No!

Stop. Calm down. Don't think about it.

The muted picture continued to play in front of her. Robin, he's yelling. They all are. Cyborg. Starfire. Beastboy. Their eyes met and mirrored her own. Their lips moved too fast for her to follow. The words were lost to her, but their meaning wasn't. But their eyes... Their eyes... They were-

...-engraved in stone. Haunting. Trapped. A sight of pure fear. A picture of vulnerable creatures crawling and scattering to their feet in a mad dash to flee. She prays. Run. Please run! But they can't move. They're not even breathing, yet in their stone eyes she still sees them running.

Screaming.

Dying.

Robin's fist mutely hit against the glass. Only then was she once again aware of their predicament. Her team was held contained. Slade. He was behind her. He asked a question. What was it?

"Won't you play with me?"

Her brain started racing to catch up with their current situation and to figure out every underline she knows there is, hidden behind his every word.

Play. He was challenging her. No. He was challenging her to refuse.

To refuse what?

"Games."

There was a cryptic meaning behind that word that almost sent a shiver up her spine.

Her team's movements became more and more intense behind the orange colored glass. They're all shouting at her. And despite the silence that was wrapped around the room she could hear their voices ringing in her head.

The strong grip tightened around her skin. He was getting impatient.

Games. What did he mean? Was the clue hidden in the tone of his voice? It was smooth, certain and so... patronizing.

There had been a lump stuck in her throat the size of a grape. And it just burst open, dripping rich droplets of bitterness down her throat.

She was wrong. Slade was not challenging her to refuse. No.

Far from it.

"Won't you play with me?"

"Fine."

He was ridiculing her because he knew she wouldn't.

There was a moment in which everyone froze and stared at them. She could imagine it. His lips smoothly yet sickeningly curving into a smirk. She could just feel it.

"Excellent." He let go of her.

Raven stumbled a bit, suddenly feeling unbalanced. Quickly regaining her footing she let out a breath she wasn't even aware of holding. Surely, but slowly, she straightened up and as she turned around the whole room was suddenly brightened in a dimmer light.

It took a moment for her eyes to adapt to the shady colors around her. Once they did she was met with a wide and spacious room with dirt colored walls and a high ceiling. A broad opening was on the wall to her right that led to what she could only guess to be the way she came in. And across the room, facing her, behind the armor-clad villain was a computer with a giant screen displaying static, framed with a dozen of other smaller ones.

A small frown appeared on her face when her eyes stopped on the man who had his back turned to her and was typing away on the computer. "So what exactly do you want?"

"A little slow today, are we my dear?" A final tap and the static on the monitors cleared up into a simple dark gray color with a white six-digit timer in the middle of each one. "To put it simply," he turned to her and their eyes met. The timers on the screens all read 00:05:00.

"I'd like to have a little contest with you."

The countdown begun.

Her frown deepened. "Contest?"

"Just a little series of challenges between you and me in which the prize is quite obvious," he gestured with his hand nonchalantly and took a few steps towards her. She held his gaze as he continued. "Allow me to put it like this: the container behind you is made out of a special material of my own design. Unfortunately, I don't plan on going into details about it, since you're already short on time, but rest assured- it is indestructible." The last part of his sentence seemed like it was meant more for the rest the Teen Titans than for her.

"The ceiling in there contains small punctures which are linked to a vent that leads to the air supply room." The distance between them gradually disappeared and much to her discomfort Slade stood towering in front of her. "However," he inclined slightly towards her as if to make sure she understood every word he said, "beside it there is another room which is filled with hydrogen cyanide.*"

Still keeping eye contact, he took a moment in which he let every syllable, slowly and clearly slip out of his mouth and sink into her brain. "And it's sealed off with a very sensitive lock to which I have the remote control to."

"Am I clear?"

. . .

Saliva gathered under her tongue and silently (or at least what she hoped was silently) she swallowed it.

"Yes."

"Good," Slade straightened up, his voice revealing a tinge of satisfaction. "Then we may let the first game begin."

"Here are the rules," the man turned away from her and linked his hands together. "For each game we play there will be an estimated amount of time set. Once it passes the game ends. Each game will have its own set of rules by which we will both abide and-" he turned his head to glance at her, "I've made sure that none of us have the upper-hand." His eye narrowed when his look stopped on the little present he left on her hand.

A scowl pulled at the edges of her lips. "And I'm just supposed to believe that you won't break any of them or find a way around them?"

"To believe me or not is completely up to you, my dear," by now he was fully facing her. "But I don't think you have a choice in the matter. Besides, the later one you mentioned works both ways, doesn't it?"

'He's right,' her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she tucked that tidbit of information in the back of her head for later.

"To win," he took a step to the side and started pacing around her, "all you have to do it hold out until the end of each game. In which case your friends will get another day of breathable air."

"But..." he stopped just behind her and once more his proximity made the hairs on her back stand up. "If you lose... Well...", a chuckle, "I think you're quite aware of what will happen then."

Pictures flashed through her head. Her team choking, twitching, clawing at anything and nothing as their lugs screeched in agony. The skin on her neck tingled with an insane urge to shudder.

"Do you understand?"

. . .

"Yes."

"I thought so." A nerve-wrecking tingle in her arms told her that he was most likely smirking. His hands once more cupped her shoulders and Raven found herself momentarily surprised at how big and heavy they were. "The first game we'll play is a simple game of..."

"Reversed Tag."

. . .

She blinked. For a second she strongly thought that she must have misheard him.

"... what?"

"It's a common children's game. I'm surprised you haven't hear of it." The tone of his voice made it hard for her to decipher if he was making fun of her or if he was actually serious. A light push of his hands on her shoulders and he was leading her toward the center of the room. "Reversed Tag, also known as Man Tag, is a game in which one person is chosen to be it and is given the simple task of not getting caught by the other players for..." with a sudden stop he turned the two of them towards the pitch-black entrance, "Let's say about 15 minutes."

'Other players?'

No sooner had her head formulated the question than did it die away when a dozen of Sladebots emerged from the darkness. Two by two, they continued to advance towards her. Uneasiness gripped her insides more and more with each step they took. Her skin itched with an undesirable urge to take a step back as they drew nearer, but the large hands kept her still. Trapped. They were still coming. Instinctively, she tensed up, ready to struggle as she was within an arm-length of them and-

-They passed her.

It took her a moment to comprehend that little fact. She sneaked glances left and right, cautiously watching the robots as one by one on each side of her they disappeared somewhere behind her.

"Relax," he gave her a light tap on her shoulders, a gesture that made the red-hooded girl inside her stir with detest. "They won't move until the round begins."

Her fingers tensed as she forbid herself from curling them into fists. Oh, he was enjoying this. Holding her on edge and watching her twitch and tense like a rabbit did from the slightest sound and movement (oh, the irony). Raven cursed in her mind for allowing herself to be so easily lead and humiliated by him. Even though the comparison for this situation would be far from being repeatedly poked with a stick in a pitch-black room, that's exactly how she felt at the moment.

Raven felt Slade's weight shift as he leaned closer to her ear once more. Her eyes narrowed as she slightly turned her head to- "You have 30 seconds."

Her eyes widened. Her head snapped to the direction of the screens. The muscles in her body stiffened.

00:00:30

00:00:29

Her eyes darted further to the side. The robots stood in two rows of six facing them, waiting to pounce.

00:00:28

"Be careful," he breathed in her ear, "You might lose more than you can imagine."

She dashed into the darkness.

He rarely had this feeling. Well, not exactly. This combination of satisfaction and delight usually came when his plans worked out exactly as he designed them to, even to the smallest of details in their carefully constructed content. He foresaw every motion and action in them, manipulated the enemy's turf, allies, foes, everything to make his plot a success and get what he wanted.

He remembered getting bored of it at some point.

Bored of the tasteless bunch who couldn't do anything to stop him when he suddenly appeared. Few of them would use their gun how they were supposed to. Even less could even hold it straight.

It went against the way he did things. A hunter stays invisible to his prey at all time. He's silent. He's unnoticeable. He's patient. He does not reveal himself until the last possible second of his prey's life. But the thrill diminished. It seemed as if Jump city would become just another victim that wasn't even putting up that much of a fight. Yes, it pushed under his grasp. Yes, it kicked under his weight, it clawed at his grip, but each movement seemed half-hearted. It wasn't giving in, but to some ounce of miserable strength it wasn't giving up either.

But soon the Teen Titans showed up. They didn't use guns. They didn't hide away. And Slade had yet to decide if he cursed their appearance in Jump city or applauded their willingness and determination to try and save it.

He was so close back then. So close. Maybe it was because he took so much time hesitating in delivering the last blow. Maybe if he hadn't taken his time to watch it wail and squirm in 'hope' of a challenge, the crime infested city would have been his.

But the truth was, whether he ceased control of it or not - didn't matter. Because in the end, the Teen Titans became his favorite playthings.

With a content smirk, Slade linked his hands behind his back. "Now then. As for all of you..."

He lazily turned his head towards the remaining 'guests' and strolled over to them.

"I apologize for the delay. As you saw I had more important business to attend to."

Robin could feel his insides being stitched together with tension as he marched up to his nemesis. "Damn it, Slade! What are you going to do to her?"

If the situation they were in had been any less dangerous than it was, Cyborg would have thrown a sympathetic glance his way and spare his leader the humiliation of talking to himself. Since that was not the case here, he opted for a serious sentence. "He can't hear you Robin. Whatever this container is made of its definitely soundproof-"

"Whatever could you mean, Robin?"

Slack-jawed, he threw a few quick peeks at both sides, before staring at the man on the other side of the glass. "... Oh, he's good. (O.O)"

"You know what I mean!" he took a few more steps till he was almost face to face with the masked villain.

The boy took notice of the sladebots who begun to move as the timer reached 00:00:00, right toward the entrance across them. Where Raven went.

His eyes narrowed. "What are you planning?"

"Oh, spare me the cliche questions, Robin. They're becoming quite tedious and repetitive."

Robin's scowl deepened. Every threat he wanted to say, as it was the only thing he could do at that damned moment, pushed and shoved its way up his throat only to come out as a growl. "I swear to God, Slade, if you hurt her I'll-"

SLAM!

-Gloved fingers spread upon impact with the glass where the boys head was. Startled, he flinched back. For a second he couldn't comprehend what had happened.

And then he saw it. They all did.

"How courageous of you, Robin. How courageous. of. you. indeed."

The dense and sharp color of Slade's eye was like an edge of a silver knife they could all feel slowly, oppressively gliding under their throats.

"You will. do. what?"

The brutal intonation of his voice was void of all mockery or superiority. It was sadism in its purest form. Leaking from his mouth like saliva of a monster hovering above a child. Dripping in their ears, circling around their bodies, and for the first time showing them the side of the villain only their leader knew of. That he'd been exposed to. That he warned them about. And yet only now did the rest of the Titans feel the gravity of those warnings as that unmerciful eye kept weighting them down. Squeezing and crushing them in their own skins.

Robin was no exception. He may have seen this side of the villain before, but each time felt like the first. And time and time again, it left a shadow of intimidation over him and left him even more paranoid about the madman than the already was.

"I'm sure that whatever you had in mind will certainly be as effective as all of your other attempts, boy."

Thick silence surrounded them as if it was Slade's faithful servant. And like a good little servant it would not let anyone speak but its master. The man lowered his hand.

"Here's a little piece of advice for you. All of you."

He slightly narrowed his eye.

"Mind your roles. Especially you, Robin."

His full attention was back on the boy, though Robin could have sworn it never left him.

"Don't try to play the hero."

Slade turned his back to them and headed towards the pathway their teammate had taken not too long ago.

"For all of your sakes."

And then he disappeared.

"Enjoy the show."

Darkness. Darkness. Darkness, all around her. And she ran head-first into it. Her heart hammered in her ears-

(Run.)

-and time and time again, she kept mistaking it with the sound of footsteps.

(Tap, tap, tap! somewhere behind you.)

So she ran, because she couldn't stop and analyze it. She didn't want to risk it. If she stops-

(You get caught.)

And if she loses...

(They die.)

The fear was there, unacknowledged, but it was there. Nudging her in the back of her head and repeating itself like a broken record. So she ran. And somewhere along her sprint she became aware of the heavy feeling in her lungs. The fear was thus shushed ('it doesn't help') and her pace gradually slowed until she stopped, one arm on the wall holding her up.

Each breath her shaky lungs drew in fed just a tad bit more oxygen to her brain. And little by little she came back to her senses. Raven threw a quick glance over her shoulder. Held her breath.

...

Nothing. (Yet.)

The girl couldn't make a connection. All of this! It... It was all just too...random!

Raven has always functioned better when she understood what the blinking hell was happening around her. If it was a robbery, criminals would steal out of greed. The questions like: what, who and why would be answered and responded to with a proper 'butt-whooping' as Cyborg put it. And the same could be said for all situations they handled: the intents and actions were normal (as normal as they could get) and fitted in a reasonable pattern (again, as reasonable as it could get). But this?

What in the Trigon's name was this?

Had someone told her that she'd be playing... 'tag' against Slade and his robots with her team's lives on the line she would have regarded them with the same bemused look she usually saved only for Beastboy's intelligence. Yet here she was, dancing to the madman's tune, and still not believing it completely herself.

Her spine tingled in paranoia, which urged her to look over her shoulder just once more and make sure no one showed up. Eyes back in front of her, she noted the faint speck of light in the distance, the way she came first from.

'No,' her eyes narrowed. This couldn't have been it. Providing her only with one path. She wasn't in-tuned with Slade's moves as Robin was, but she was no fool. He said this was a game, right? A game of tag no less. And what's a game of tag without a wide play-field?

One hand still on the wall, she took measured but hurried steps, feeling along the cold surface for an edge, or a knob, or... something! She found the first mentioned. Her thumb lost the rough concrete it was gliding against and dipped.

'A corner,' her eyes widened for a moment. 'I knew it!'

And as if on cue, she heard it-

Steps.

Raven quickly leapt into the pathway and in a single motion spun around, facing the hallway. The rustling of her cloak made her pull it closer to her body. She took a quiet step back.

-Low taps in almost perfect synchrony...

Another step back. She slowed her breathing.

-Closer. Closer. Closer.

Evenly, she continued to glide backwards.

-Hum of mechanical muscles...

Purple irises locked in front, carefully waiting.

'There!' A dozen of barely visible gleaming eyes. And she just waited, tensed, watching them like an ally cat watches a human who just met its gaze. Bit by bit, her neck tingled with anticipation for the moment when she would lose sight of them. Only then did she realize that she didn't know if she was waiting in fear or relief.

One pair of gleaming eyes gone. Two. Three. Four. Her heart beat in paradoxical impatience. Five. Six. And so on. Relief was seeping into her chest until the last pair of eyes stopped. And turned right towards her.

She froze.

. . .

They stared at each other. Neither moved, neither breathed. The surreal moment seemed to last eons. Her legs tensed. The lack of movements and sounds made her question her own visibility in the dark. Her instincts began to conflict. Stay? Move? Run? Hide? Dangerous decisions. Dangerous possibilities. Yet one was clear. She had to do something.

Hesitantly she took a step back and, as if in response, the robot took a step forward. Her eyes widened, but the shock reduced as the robot continued to advance in a balanced pace.

He couldn't see her.

Using this to her advantage she took a few more steps and as quietly as she could lifted her right hand to glide along the wall. A step forward. A step back. Two different paces, yet she tried to keep the distance between them even. And then her hand lost the surface. Raven had to stop herself from making a noise in her throat. She continued to try and keep the gap between them as it was, as she moved her hand in a slow circular motion, searching for the opposite corner of the one she had lost.

She bit her lip- she felt nothing. Little by little the gap was becoming smaller, precious millimeters and centimeters that gave her some confidence were squeezing past her and tension in her chest rose. Her nails suddenly scratched the rough surface and without thinking she slipped right against it, keeping her back pressed flush against the wall.

Raven no longer kept the robot's white gaze and she thanked Azar it didn't follow her but kept its gleaming mechanic eyes forward. Steadily, her eyes followed the robot; from in front of her to her side, and finally out of her sight.

. . .

A silent sigh. Pulling her hood up she glanced around the corner. She saw nothing. But by the slight dimming in the sound of its footsteps she knew it hadn't discovered her.

Her relief was short lived as she raised her head and caught sight of an identical pair of eyes some distance away in the same pathway she was concealing herself in. And beyond that another one. And another. Each dimmer in the darkness. And another. Disappearing and reappearing. None seemed to stare at her, yet coldness seeped into her chest all the same.

'This place...' a hollow breath, 'is bigger than I thought.'

There wasn't a lot he didn't like about himself. He had learned to accept many things in his life, being bit by an ill monkey, being saved by his parents and a serum that granted him the abilities he had now. Having his senses heightened always came in handy in one way or another. Except in these sort of situations.

"Dude..." he breathed out.

Fear. He hated it. It lingered in the air and for a second he wondered if only he felt its chilly hands gliding over him. His insides twitched, wanting him to react in some way. Any way! Yet he stayed still. "W-What was that?" His bones were rattling. "It was like... j-just..."

"...Yeah." The older teen beside him whispered, still not quite being able to register what had played out just a minute ago.

The silence still lingered, as if nonchalantly waiting to see which one would break its hold on them.

Starfire wrapped her arms around herself. The skin on her arms tingled. Her eyes were wide and still glued to the empty space where the villain stood not too long ago. Her lips were pried open with a whisper. "Nish'blorg."

A nightmare. Yes, just like a nightmare. Baring its teeth and licking its lips hungrily. Opening its mouth to swallow you, only to suddenly stop and slither back into the darkness. Leaving you to question yourself on what had just taken place as the probability and the improbability of the event clashed and swirled in your mind.

Her eyes suddenly fell onto the still boy in front of them, who was staring well beyond the gamboge glass at the dark entrance. He had his back turned to them, his cape hiding his clenched fists and his unruly hair shielding the scowl and the self-detest on his face.

"Robin?"

Nothing. Only a moment later did he slightly turn his head to glance at her out of the corner of his eyes. But when she said nothing and continued to patiently wait for him with pleading eyes, he had no choice but to turn and face her completely. His full attention was back on her and the team. No.

'Not the whole team.'

Ridding himself of any expression he met the gazes of the present Titans. Their full attentions were directed only at him as if asking 'Now what?' and waiting patiently for his orders.

He honestly didn't know. His masked eyes narrowed. One thing was obvious to all of them though. They wouldn't just sit still and do nothing.

Beastboy's eyes suddenly widened. "Hey! Look!" the changeling pointed. All eyes followed in the direction the green boy was pointing at.

Robin's eyes widened and, slack-jawed, he took a step closer.

The giant monitor read 00:12:38. And the smaller ones surrounding it-

Eyes wide in disbelief, Starfire followed suit. Her fingers touched the glass. "... I-Is that-?"

The smaller ones surrounding it all showed dim hallways with white circles of light that fell from the above to the floor in different angles.

Save for one.

Their gazes met.

Only this time her reaction was a calm and calculating one. She smoothly moved to the side and pressed her back against the wall. The robot kept advancing her way.

She had to wait.

Agitation clawed at her back.

Seconds seemed to melt into minutes upon noticing the robots. And the way she had to move to the side as silently as possible just to wait! for them to pass her and repeat the cycle over again was nothing less than abuse to her patience and nerves. Because they were always so. Damn. Close.

'Come on...' she encouraged herself and kept her breathing tormentingly slow as the robot passed beside her. 'Just a little longer.'

Soon the angle of her position didn't allow her to see the robot's eyes, but Raven knew that it wasn't far from her. So she continued to wait. The steps were getting quieter. A breath her lungs needed, and she quickly rounded the corner.

She took a moment to consult her mini made-up map as she recited how many turns she had taken. From what Raven could conclude the hallways were all connected, making a dozen crossroads. How far did they go? She had no idea and probably wasn't going to find out anytime soon in this dark. Right now had she taken two turns left. Thus if she was to avoid going in circles, she should take two right ones now. She followed the wall until she reached another crossroad and peaked her head sideways for precaution.

A gleaming pair of eyes had just turned right into that hallway. She quickly pulled back and repeated her earlier actions. She pressed herself against the wall, slowed down her breathing and waited. Again. Steps gradually grew louder. Wait. Don't breathe too fast. Wait. Would it hear her heart? It was beating so hard. Be still. The gleaming eyes passing. Slowly. Slowly. Much too slowly. They disappeared, but the steps didn't. They began to fade, yet she still found herself holding her breath.

And they were gone.

She pushed herself off of the wall and walked silently after it. How much longer was this game going to last? How much time had passed anyway? Against her better judgment she found stopping when a new problem dawned on her. She had no idea how, and no way to measure the time of the games. And even though it wasn't voiced or made obvious, it was clear that time was the most important factor here. Slade wouldn't hesitate to exploit the hell out of that little fact, she was sure of it.

'This isn't good.' She bit her lip. 'This isn't good at all.'

Raven shook her head... and then froze.

Steps.

She raised her eyes and saw the familiar gleaming eyes further up ahead, staring back at her. The alarming thing was... It wasn't moving. The distance between them remained the same. Yet the steps continued from its direction.

Click-clack!

Sudden pain in her eyes.

"Now then..."

She cracked her eyes open and noted that all the lights in the hallways were turned on. A single sladebot stood right under the light in the crossway ahead of her. And beside him, a two toned masked emerged from the darkness.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

*Hydrogen cyanide – is a colorless and extremely poisonous chemical compound which was used for the Holocaust *shudders*, nasty thing, by Nazi's in World War II. The speed of death depends on how close the person is to the source of the gas, otherwise its effect is immediate. Symptoms before/during/after death are: the victims are found half-squatting, their skin is colored pink with red and green spots, there's foam in their mouths or they're bleeding from their ears.

I hate running scenes... Mostly because the character in question... well... just runs! So there we go! The first crazy little game has begun. Why didn't I complete it in one chapter? Cuz it would take too damn long! Besides, I have this little habit of having more and more words spill out of my brain than necessary while writing... Is that a bad thing? You know where to click to tell me! :D

Fave sentences, parts, characters, or just some random little opinion or criticism. They're all welcomed. Happy New Year and I wish you all happy holidays!

P.S. All anonymous reviews will be answered on my profile from this point on. Can't have my author's notes longer than the chapter, can I? ;P