Authors note: Since I'm uploading this chapter at the same time as chapter 7, I'll keep this short. I do not own Teen Titans. If you thought I did, you're on the wrong site :/
I Pull my knife out of the cop's chest, causing blood to flow freely, decorating my newest work of art. I can still read the nameplate on his chest, apparently the guys I just stabbed was called Jack. It reminds me of a certain pirate. I grin, god I love those movies, they're one of the few impressive things humanity had managed to produce lately. The other things were mostly weapons of mass destruction. I look around, where first the street had been covered in a layer of blood, it was now more of a sea, with corpses forming funny little islands here and there. I look down at jack again, he had been the last of the them. I have to admit, these cops had proven to be funny opponents, and there had been lots of them. Still, slaughtering normal people like sheep doesn't fill my thirst for blood, the hunger for carnage. The middle ages, now that was a time you could have fun in. Pretty much everyone had carried some sort of weapon, and they all shared the same blood lust. Hanging a man upside down and sawing him in two from his private parts all the way to his head? Not even I could come up with that. There had been... special people as well. People who had mastered the ways of magic like me, or who possessed great strength, and killing them had given me great , there were even dragons! Even though I still followed the rules back then, more or less anyway, it had been the best time of his life. Nowadays he wasn't allowed to do anything, the order had decided there was no place for them anymore. All agents were ordered to keep a low profile and let the "Heroes of today" keep order. That's why he had finally snapped, the boredom had proven to be too much. Of course there will be consequences, but I'm planning on that, it's the sole reason I'm doing this. Good luck to the poor soul that would be send to stop me. I keep spinning the knife in my hand, causing drips of blood to fall off and join the sea of blood already on the street, causing small ripples in the surface. I smile, I feel like a little kid who just heard he was going to the circus. I should've done this way sooner. Playtime's over, the real game finally begins. I feel the familiar sensation of magic behind me, and I hear someone land on the ground. Okay, that was fast, I'll give them that. They must've seen it coming, how fortunate . "You know, I think your 'art' is lacking inspiration lately." A voice behind me says. My smile grows even bigger, almost causing my face to burst. Off all the people, they just had to send him. Sick bastards. I slowly get up and turn around, replacing my smile with my most polite look. You've got to have some style after all. "The critics these days are unrelenting, it's impossible for humble artists like myself to appease them all." I say, feigning disappointment. The guy in front me was clad in a bright, leather outfit with extra armor plates that looked like they were made of pure light. He has the exact same face as I have, except his isn't covered in blood, of course. "Well, brother, maybe you should stop using blood and start using paint like the rest of them? I'm sure that'll please the critics greatly." He said sarcastically. I wipe an imaginary tear from my eye. "Your words hurt me, brother. And people always say I'm the evil one." I say. He raises an eyebrow. "I wonder why?" He said, looking at the bloodbath around me. "Like you care about them, they're weak, good for nothing." I say dryly, I hate it when my brother acts like some holy guy. "You are mistaken brother, some of them can be quite... entertaining." He says with a wicked grin. Seriously, I'm not the only one who's facked up here. "But hey, you know the rules, I don't have to tell you what happens now." he continues. "I'm so touched my own brother finds it so hard to follow this particular order. You must really care about me." I say, pretending to be moved. He just laughs. "Yeah, like you haven't been waiting for this for hundreds of years." he said. "I'm surprised you took so long to finally snap." I laugh. "You know me so well, brother." I say with a smile. I spread my arms, forming dark armor around me, perfect to melt into the shadows, his armor just makes him an easier target. I conjure my two guns again, and I see my brother forming throwing knifes in his hands. Throwing knifes, for heaven's sake! What kind of good guys uses that!? The knifes glister threateningly, like a promise of a particular painful death. I aim my pistol at his head, and I see him pull back his hands, ready to throw his knifes in my face. I pull back the hammer, classic movie action. My brother smiles, I know he's enjoying this just as much as I am. I pull the trigger and the bullet starts racing to his face.
Will woke up, eyes wide open and his forehead bathed in sweat. He noticed he was alone on the roof. It was late, the sun was already starting to come up, and Will suspected Raven had gone to bed without waking him from his trance. Will slowly got up, processing what he had seen in his dream. The dream was bad enough on its own, but the worst part was that he recognized the face of the brother. He had stared at his own face, and the whole equipment made out of light stuff had confirmed that. Could these dreams be remnants of his memory? Will shivered, he certainly hoped not. He quietly sneaked back to his room, he didn't want any of the other Titans to know about his 'dreams'. He lay down in his bed, thinking about what he had seen. One part of him wanted to see more, to remember. But another part of him just wanted to ignore it, to leave the past behind. After all, it didn't look very pleasant. He formed three light balls in his hand and made them chase each other in a circle, while they morphed shapes. He smiled, with only a little bit of practice his control over his magic had increased greatly.
The next day started slowly, Will didn't get up till lunch. He trained a bit during combat practice, and went to the roof with Raven afterwards, to continue his magic lessons. "Okay Will, I trust you've been practicing?" Raven asked. Will nodded. "Okay, show me what you've got." Raven continued. Will closed his eyes and cleared his mind, focusing only on the magic. The magic swirled out of his hands, forming an elegant, intricate and beautifully decorated rose. The light it was made out gave it an enchanting aura. Slowly he let it levitate towards Raven, who carefully caught it. She stared at the rose. "It's... beautiful" she whispered. Will smiled. "Well, I had some beautiful inspiration." Will said, smiling at her. Raven blushed and quickly grabbed one of the magic books next to her, opening it to hide her face. "Okay next step." She quickly said. "Levitating your conjurings is handy, but levitating yourself is even better." Raven continued. "Look closely." She said as she got up and levitated herself in the air. "Okay, now you try it. It's just like levitating objects, but then with yourself." Raven said, gesturing Will to get up. Will stood up and focused his magic. Nothing. He opened one eye, to see if he was flying, but he still stood on the ground. He jumped, hoping that'd work, but it didn't. After trying for ten minutes Will got an idea. He used his magic to form a flat oval on the ground next to him. He stepped on it and used his magic to levitate it, using it as a surfing board. "Oh hell yeah, this is awesome!" He shouted out. Then he lost his balance. He tried to hold on to the oval, but it disappeared and Will fell back on the roof. "Okay, awesome and painful." He said dryly as he got back again. Raven laughed. Will realized that this was the first time he had really seen her laugh, and he liked it. "It's not exactly the assignment, but it will do." Raven said, still smiling a bit. After a couple more attempts Will finally had the technique under control and he surfed around through the air, cheering and doing stunts. "Hey Raven, first one to the mainland and back wins! What do you say?" He shouted as he made a looping in the air, almost falling off his board again. Raven hesitated. "I... I don't know." She said. Will landed next to her. "Come on, it will be fun!" he said with a smile. "And if you fall I'll come and catch you." He added with a wink. Raven smiled slyly. "Oh I won't be the damsel in distress here." She said as she formed her own oval and jumped on it, racing towards their goal. "Hey, wait for me!" Will shouted as he quickly got on his own oval and speeded after her. He looked at Raven as she flew in front of him, her cape and hairs were flapping in the wind. Will made himself as small as possible, to make some extra speed. Raven looked to her side, seeing Will flying next to her. She had to admit, he was fast. They flew a few centimeters above the water, Will even stuck his hands in it, causing them both to get soaked. "Oh, I'll get you for that!" Raven shouted as she used her magic to raise the water in front of Will. Will flew straight through it, falling from his oval and into the water. He came up with a fish in his mouth. He quickly spit it out and washed his mouth with seawater, while getting laughed at by Raven. "There I was thinking that only happened in movies." Will said dryly. Raven floated next to him and held out her hand to him. He grabbed it with a laugh and got on Raven's platform, which she made a bit bigger so they both fit on it. "So, who's the damsel in distress now?" Raven said with a smile. "I am forever in your debt, brave knight!" Will said with a high voice and he bowed, giving him another splash of water in the face by Raven. They slowly floated back to the tower, talking about fairytales. "That's why I like Shreck so much, it approaches knight tales from a whole different angle, and the princess isn't some helpless snob." Raven said. Will laughed. "You sure it's not just the talking donkey?" he joked. "You mean the one that resembles you?" Raven countered and they both laughed again. They arrived back at the tower. Will jumped off the oval and offered his hand to help Raven off as well. "Ah real gentleman, it seems." Raven said as she took Will's hand and graciously stepped off the oval. Will looked at Raven, she had a big smile on her face and she looked back at them with those enchanting, amethyst eyes. Her hair was still wet and partially covered her face. Will gently brushed it aside. "We should do this more often, it's fun." Will said. "Yeah... fun." Raven said, quickly walking over to her books and picking them up with her powers. She couldn't remember the last time she had fun like this, but it also made her afraid. What if history repeated itself? She couldn't handle another malchior. She thought about the way Will had looked at her, and a tear started forming in her eye. She just couldn't. "Well, let's go eat some dinner, it's getting late already." Will said, not noticing the sudden change in Raven's mood.
The rest of the day was pretty ordinary. The villains seemed to have a day off, so the Titans were just relaxing. Will was playing some games on the gamestation with Beastboy and Cyborg, but he obviously had to practice a lot more to be a match for them. Robin and Starfire were nowhere to be found, but Will could guess what they were doing. Raven was sitting on the corner of the couch, reading a book. After a couple of games Will gave up for the evening and sat down next to Raven. "So, what are you reading?" He asked her, trying to see the title of the book. "This story about a handsome young boy that got a painting made of him by his friend." Raven explained. "But the painting has something magic, it ages while the boy stays the same." she continued. "Sounds perfect, young and handsome forever." Will said. "It would be, except for the fact the boy's soul gets corrupted." Raven replied. "Okay, maybe not that perfect." Will said dryly. They spent the rest of the evening talking about books until they all started yawning and went to bed. That night Will didn't have any nightmares, but something inside him was shouting something dangerous was coming. Will didn't know what, but he had the feeling he didn't want to find out. He sighed, he really had to do something about this. He promised himself that if he couldn't fix it during meditation tomorrow, he'd tell Raven about it.
The next morning Will went up to the roof, before sunrise. He wanted to see the stars again and he knew Raven'd be up here to meditate in a bit as well. He lay down on the ground and stared at the stars, wondering what to do once he was in trance. He lay there for a while when he heard the door open. Raven sat down next to him, staring at the sun that was starting to peak over the horizon. Neither of them really said anything, it was still to early. They both got into meditation position and started chanting. Will felt the world around him fade away and he found himself in the grassy plain again. He now knew where to go, and what to expect. He started walking with big, confident steps. When he arrived at the rocks he formed his arm blades and a throwing knife in each hand. He jumped from rock to rock, until he saw the figure standing in the distance again. No warnings this time, Will threw his knifes towards the figure, but he dodged it and disappeared in black and red flames. Will cursed, he had an idea about who he was fighting, but he really hoped he was wrong. He heard a gunshot and quickly ducked, dodging the bullet that was aimed for his head. From the corner of his eye he saw the figure standing on a boulder. Will quickly flashed behind him and lashed out with his arm blade, but the figure blocked it with his hand, that had transformed in a big, black claw. Will looked at his opponent, and his own face smiled back at him. "Oh how I love our little fights brother." The figure said with a grin. Then his face got a serious look again. "But maybe now isn't the time." He said. Will raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?" He asked. Will's brother stared at him with an amused look on his face. "Well, because there are ten military attack choppers coming for the tower as we speak, no doubt led by this Slade guy." He said, smiling wickedly. Will grasped, his eyes widened in shock. This was bad. "How do you know?" He managed to ask. "The guy launches a full scale assault on the city to lure and take out Raven, and you think he'd just give up after one try? I must've damaged your mind even more than I thought." Will's brother said sarcastically. "Damaged? What are you talk..." Will said but his brother quickly interrupted him. "TEN ATTACK CHOPPERS! Go. Now!" he shouted in Will's face.
Will's eyes shot open and he quickly stood up. Raven opened her eyes as well, she too heard the sound of helicopters in the distance. "Trouble." Will said and he looked to Raven. "And a lot of it." She replied." The moment she finished that sentence the helicopters fired missiles towards the tower. "Quick, destroy them!" Raven shouted as she started chanting, shooting black lightning at the missiles. Will threw his knifes as well, using his magic to give them enough power to reach the missiles. They destroyed them before they could reach the tower, but the helicopters had already fired a second wave. They tried to destroy them all in time, but three of them got past them and hit the tower. The impacts threw both Will and Raven on the ground and left three big, gaping holes in the tower. The helicopters arrived at the tower and dozens of Slade bots came pouring out, jumping through the holes created by the missiles. More bots arrived at the island by speedboats and they joined the assault on the tower as well. Two dozen robots landed on the roof and assaulted Will and Raven, but they quickly disposed of them, slicing them apart with magic. Will just beheaded a robot with his arm blade while Raven ripped another one apart with black claws, when Slade appeared out of one of the helicopters. He was carrying a sniper rifle and he was aiming it at Raven. Before they knew what was going on there was a loud 'bang' and Raven fell down on the ground, covered in electricity. "Raven!" Will shouted as he quickly destroyed the last robot. Slade jumped on the roof, throwing his rifle on the ground. "I just love modern weaponry." He said, chuckling. "Then you'll absolutely hate this." Will said as he threw his throwing knifes at Slade. Slade quickly ducked and before he knew what was happening Will was lying on the ground, Slade's foot resting on his throat. Will looked at Slade, he was tall, looked very deadly and he had a mask that only showed one eye. Not someone you want to piss off. He could hear the fighting beneath them, the other Titans were still fighting the robots inside the tower, so he didn't have to expect any help from them. Will let his arm blades disappear and relaxed his body. "Okay, you won." He said dryly. Slade looked at him, his mask obscuring every facial expression. "I've got to say, I'm a bit disappointed. I expected a lot more resistance." Slade said contemptuously. Will shrugged his shoulders "Why, it's not like I'm willing to sacrifice my life for some guys I've known for less than a month." Will said. Slade's eye narrowed a bit. He removed his foot and quickly hit Will against the head, knocking him out.
"Oh god, my head hurts like hell." Will mumbled. He tried to rub his head, but he noticed he couldn't move his arms. "Where am I?" he thought. it couldn't be anywhere good. Will slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was being held by two Slade bots, who were keeping him in the middle of the room. He saw big computer screens in front of him, about ten meters away. In front of them stood Slade, who was staring at him, his hands held behind his back. He looked like one of those James Bond villains that Beastboy had shown him, but then less funny and more threatening. Will continued looking around, trying to orientate himself. Left of him stood a tall, circular cage. He saw Raven was held inside there, chains on her ankles and wrists keeping her up. A strange collar was attached around her neck, probably to block her powers Will guessed. It seemed she was still unconscious. "You know, I'd simply kill most people if they oppose me." Slade said, he sounded intrigued. "But you're not most people are you?" He continued. Will looked at him. "I guess not." He replied with a smile. "There are not a lot of people who can hide their identity from me." Slade said. "But I have absolutely no Idea who you are." He continued. "Well, that's a shame." Will said dryly. "I hate not knowing something." Slade replied, narrowing his eye threateningly. "You can call me Will." Will said, smiling. Slade laughed. "Fair enough, we all have our little secrets." he replied. "I've seen you fight, Will. You have talent, but you need training, real training." He continued. Will nodded. "You can never train to much." He replied. "I've been monitoring you, the hero life doesn't fit you." Slade continued. "Go on." Will said. "Deep down you're a killer, and you know it. I can give you the possibility to do whatever you want." Will nodded. "Sounds promising, I give you that. What's the catch?" he replied. "You will become my apprentice, and I will give you everything you need." Slade answered. "Wait, does that mean I get all those cool gadgets?" Will asked, eyes wide open and sounding like a little boy who has just been told there were presents waiting for him under the tree. "Yes, anything you can imagine will be yours." Slade replied. Will looked at Raven, she'd regained consciousness and was staring at him in shock, disbelief in her eyes. Well, quite the situation you've got yourself into, I'm proud of you, brother. "Are you gonna rub it in or are you going to help me?" Will thought, he hoped the voice could hear him like that. Well, I've got a solution, but you're not gonna like it. His offer does sound rather good.
Slade looked at Will, he was so close! Slade could tell Will was nowhere near like Robin, he didn't have this exaggerated sense of justice, and he could see his promises were having the desired effects. Slade saw Will looking at Raven, the girl looked at Will in utter disbelief. "Sorry Raven, but this deal's way to perfect to just decline." Will said as he shrugged his shoulders. Slade could barely constrain himself, after all this time, he would finally have an apprentice. He looked at Raven, but kept Will in the corner of his eyes, just to be sure. He didn't want to miss the next part. Raven's eyes started glowing in a dangerous way. "How could you! I trusted you! After all we've been through you just abandon me!?" Raven screamed. Black lightning started shooting from her eyes and charred the inside of the cage, even though the collar was supposed to suppress her powers. "You're nothing but a worthless criminal, I hate you!" Raven continued screaming, tears streaming over her face. Even Slade was surprised at the extreme reaction. So much, even, that he forgot to keep his guard up. A bright flash blinded him and he put up his arms to protect his head. He felt something sharp pierce his left arm. Still halve blinded Slade looked at where Will had been held, but he only saw scrap from his robots lying on the ground. "What..." He said but he got interrupted by a blade piercing through his back. Slade looked down, seeing the tip of Will's blade coming out of his chest, covered in blood. The blade had pierced one of his lungs, he couldn't fight without risking further injury. Fatal injury. Slade slowly fell on his knees, taking very short and controlled breaths. Will Flashed in front of him, looking at the dagger that came out of his chest. "Looks painful." He said dryly. He placed his foot against Slade's chest and slowly pushed, causing Slade to fall on his back and Wills blade to pierce his body even further. Will kneeled down besides Slade, his expression cold and deathly. "The deal was tempting, I give you that." Will said. "I actually wanted to take it, but there was one little problem. I will never let you hurt Raven, ever. You hear me?" He examined the wound in Slade's chest. "The wound isn't fatal, not if you get help real soon." He stated. "Just leave the titans be, you can take whatever city you want, murder whoever you like, I don't really care. But, the next time you try to harm her, I will kill you. Do you understand this?" Will asked. Slade Stared at him, a look of hate in his eye. Will formed another knife in his hand and held it against Slade's throat, pressing just hard enough to draw a single drop of blood. "I asked you something." He said. Slade swallowed and narrowed his eye. "Yes, you are crystal clear." He replied, a trace of sarcasm still in his voice. Will smiled, but it just made him look even more dangerous. "Good" he said as he hit Slade against the side of his head, knocking him out. Will stood up, no doubt Slade's robots would be here soon, they could fix him up. "Thanks for the help there." Will thought. Any time, brother dear. Will shivered, he wasn't sure how to deal with the fact someone else appeared to live in his head. But Right now, he didn't really care. He flashed over to Raven's cage and quickly destroyed the locks and chains. He looked at Raven, her eyes were red and her face was still wet from her tears. She had a look of both intense hurt and relief on her face. She stepped towards him and hit him really hard in the face. "What the-" Will said but then Raven hugged him so tight he could swear he could hear something break. But there was no way in hell he'd let go. They stood there for a couple of seconds when they could hear the robots approaching. "Quick, let's go." Will said and he formed an oval with his magic. Raven tried to do the same, but she still wore the collar that was suppressing her powers. "There's no time, step on mine." Will said and he made his oval big enough for both of them to stand on. They quickly stepped on it and starting flying to where Will guessed the exit would be. It wasn't really hard to find, and they managed to avoid running into any robots while flying towards it. The gate was locked, of course, but it wasn't particularly strong so they blasted straight through it, flying towards their freedom.
Once outside they could see Titan's Tower in the distance. "Good, saves me the trouble of asking directions." Will thought to himself. Raven held on to Will to prevent herself from falling off. She was still unsure what exactly happened back there. She'd woken up to see Will being held by two of Slade's robots. The collar prevented her from using her powers, so all she could do was to observe. Slade had offered Will anything he wanted, and Will had instantly accepted! It was like Malchior all over again. Finally someone came around just like her, who liked, or at least pretended to, for who she was. But when he got what he wanted, he'd just abandon her. He even looked her in the eyes and shrugged his shoulders as he did it. Did she really mean so little to him? That was the moment Raven snapped, the hurt had simply become to much. She had started screaming at him, but suddenly he was gone and Slade fell down on the ground, a dagger piercing his chest. Was it all just a trick? They had arrived at the tower and they landed on the roof. Will jumped of the oval and helped Raven down as well. He looked at Raven, who was still wearing that collar. "Here, I'll help you with that." He said and he gestured to the collar around her neck. He formed a knife and used it to carefully remove the collar. "Thanks." She said, looking at the ground, teardrops falling down on the stone floor. Will took Raven's hands, forcing her to look at him. He could see the hurt on her face, the confusion. "First of all, I promise I will never do this to you again, ever!" Will said reassuringly. Raven looked at him and slowly nodded. He looked in those big, amethyst eyes of her. "I'll admit his offer was tempting, but he made one big mistake." Will said. Raven stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "I will never, and I really mean never, let anyone hurt you." Will continued. "You are the reason I'm here, you are the one who saved me, who gave me a life." He said. "I don't care what people might think of you, to me you'll always be the kind, beautiful girl that saved me." Will said, and before Raven knew what was going on Will quickly leaned forward and kissed her. Will saw Raven's face turn red and he smiled. He turned around and was about to walk to the door when Raven grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her. "Wha-" Will said but Raven shut him up by kissing him again, more passionately this time. They stood like that for god knows how long, neither one of them feeling the urge to let go.
And that's another chapter done. Reading this again is kinda weird since I already wrote the next few chapters. It's like I'm reading a completely different story.