DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Teen Titans. I never will. Unfortunately, but that's beside the point. The original characters and the plot are mine, but nothing else is.
The alarm inside Titans Tower blared while Raven was meditating, yanking her from her state of calm and back into reality. The locator showed the criminal's position exactly, and although she had vowed never to fight, she realized that without her friends there, she wouldn't have to worry about losing control and hurting them. The only one getting hurt would be whoever it was foolish enough to interrupt her meditation.
She flew through the night, finally landing outside the building the thief was burgling. A museum?she wondered. Then again, museums were full of valuable items and artifacts, though a typical thief would care very little for such things.
As she entered the dark building, she saw nothing. She searched the main floors of the building, but found no damage to anything, and nothing stolen. She finally checked the offices, and what she saw made her blood run cold.
The familiar sight of an orange-and-black mask with one eye greeted her, though it was not looking in her direction. Instead, it was focused on a computer screen, and the man who wore it was typing furiously, occasionally cackling evilly. Slade.
Deciding to not give the fiend any warning, she levitated a chair in the office and hurled it at him. Only the rattling of the wheels gave Slade warning, and even then he barely had time to smash his fist through it before Raven was on him, slashing at his head and chest with dark magic.
He knocked aside her blows, then retrieved his bo staff from his belt, whirling it at her head. She dodged in enough time to catch his legs in darkness and pull them out from under him. As he climbed to his feet, Raven saw a chillingly recognizable mark on his forehead. She screamed in anger and fright, unleashing a torrent of dark energy at the servant of Skath.
Slade's staff came alive with fire, and he swept it around in a wide arc, leaving behind a wall of flames which easily blocked Raven's attack. He stepped through the curtain of fire and approached Raven in his inimitably calm and frightening manner.
"So, Raven. I'd heard after your little… incident the other night, that you had left the Teen Titans. I suppose I heard incorrectly, but that would be a surprise for me. I love surprises, but only when I'm the one planning t hem, and so I'm a little angry." His one eye narrowed. "I don't suppose you've figured out why I'm here?"
"No, but whatever the reason, it's evil." Raven glared at the former servant of her father, now utilizing stolen powers. Raven held no love for her father, but Slade's use of magic that wasn't his was… wrong. "But answer me one question, Slade. Why a museum?"
Slade chuckled, a laugh that had no humor in it. "Oh, you know. I love history. They say that those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it. After too many encounters with you Titans, I'm inclined to agree. So I've come to… study… a little bit of history."
"And by study, you obviously mean steal. But that's too easy, Slade. Too easy for you. You would never concoct such a simple plan as stealing some statues or paintings. That's beneath you, isn't it? There has to be some overarching plan. And I bet you're just dying to tell me so you can watch me agonize over figuring it out." Raven threw her words out with boldness, knowing they would strike close to home on the black-clad villain.
"You're a smart little girl, Raven. But unfortunately, that's all you'll ever be. A little girl." He looked down at her. "Even as smart as you are, you fail to see that the only way to increase your influence is to learn to utilize your power to its fullest. If I were you, that's exactly what I would do." He held up a disk. "But, time is short. I must be going, now that I have all that I need." With those words, he blasted an enormous hole in the window of the office, and leaped to the ground six stories below. Raven rushed to the window, but Slade was gone from sight.
Raven dashed to the computer, her fingers furiously flying over the keys. She had to figure out what Slade had stolen. If she had any luck, it would be backed up on several disks.
As it turned out, she didn't need to look far at all. The files that Slade had stolen he hadn't even bothered to delete, as if to taunt her, saying "It doesn't matter if you know, because you can't stop me." But when she opened them, she was immediately puzzled. Slade had logged into the inter-museum network, looking not for gold or jewels or other expensive items, but for… "Pottery?" she muttered. She shook her head. "Slade, I always knew you were crazy, but this is over the top."
She left the room after shutting off the computer, and returned to the tower, weary and confused.
Why did Raven decide to track down the criminal? Why is Slade looking for pottery? Why does the author keep asking these rhetorical questions? Find out next time, on….
DRAGONBALL Z!
Justkidding.
A/N: Again, I cranked this chapter out. The creativity fairy seems to have been visiting a lot lately. Just hope it continues.
Read and Review, please.