Hi guys! So, I actually have to re-read Thorne to be able to write these and... wow. Twelve year old admin was an awful writer. As in painful, I-want-to-stab-my-eyeballs-out horrible. But I'm quite a bit older now, and I intend to do this the write way (yes, I am aware of the incorrect spelling. It's a pun, grammar nazis.). Please enjoy the much better version of a three year old story.
Also, the "*" in the previous chapter was supposed to be a note, but I completely forgot, so here it is:
*The sound proof walls idea was given to me by Xaphrin, an absolutely amazing author. This particular person makes me want to be better.
Anywhosen, ON WITH THE STORY. (there are somethings that are just tradition, guys. get over it.)
Raven had no idea where, or when, her vanishing had taken her. Every time she landed in a new place, she disappeared again. She needed to get further away. Every time she materialized in the real world, the pain hit her full-force again. The shadows was where she found her comfort, and the more she traveled, the more they began to seep into her bones, becoming part of her, darkening the very core of who she was. The demon and darkness she held was moving outward, taking over. Her indigo hair grew a few inches and slipped into the same black as the shadows, the red light of her eyes becoming a soul-swallowing black. Her normal leotard lengthened into a skintight black catsuit, and her cape shook into a color darker than midnight on a moonless night.
She wailed in agony as everything in her body shifted and changed to accommodate for the new person she was becoming. She could barely feel herself anymore. She couldn't feel the usual emotions she suppressed, could only feel a boiling rage and festering pain. She felt jealousy, and hatred. She had a sharp need for revenge, and she wanted to see Terra's blood run out of her eyes and mouth. She wanted her dead.
She knew she wasn't who she had been, wasn't the girl who took disappointment and pain in stride. She was someone whose heart was being stabbed at from a hundred different directions with thorns as sharp as glass shards. It was in her pain that she found a new name, and she swore that no one, least of all the Titans, would ever forget it.
Beastboy and Terra were cuddled close on the couch, engaged in a very intense video game when Starfire walked in. Neither teen noticed the Tamaranian girl's presence until she gently cleared her throat for their attention. There was a soft grunt of acknowledgement from both of them.
Starfire asked, "Friends Terra and Beastboy, have either of you done the seeing of friend Raven?" She didnt wait for a response before adding, "She has missed our mall of shopping trip for the past three weeks." The normally chipper girl's voice was soft, worried, even. No matter what, ever since the body-switching encounter, Raven had made an effort to go to the mall with her at least once a week. She had missed three.
"Haven't seen her," the pair on the couch said in unison, still not turning around to glance on the red-haired girl.
"That is the 'fine'. I shall simply have to look harder," Starfire replied, her shoulders drooping in disappointment. Before she could leave the room, the alarm went off, and both Cyborg and Robin appeared in the common area.
"Titans, we need to get a move on. We don't have much time, there's a new villain terrorizing the city," their leader informed them, gesturing for them to follow him to the garage. Once there, they piled in the car, Robin on his R-cycle beside them as they headed out. Cyborg patched his voice over on the intercom so they could still hear him as they drove.
"Be prepared for anything, Titans. This girl doesn't seem like the type to mess with. Her powers are strong, pretty much unequivocal. She appears to just be wreaking havoc at random," he explained. From where they were, they could see bright flashes of blood red light, and were almost able to make out a thin figure hovering in the air amidst the destruction.
The team made it to where the villainess waited, lounging on a chair of her red magic hanging in the air. Her hair and cloak were a deep, midnight black, her eyes a terrible, soul-eating darkness. Her skin was lighter than the white of the moon, and her plump lips were pulled into a terrible grin.
"This probably won't be easy," Terra mumbled to herself, sighing softly. She had plans, things she needed to do and soon. She didn't have much time for fighting crime. It was supposed to be slowing down.
"Oh, Robin, you used to be so much better. I thought that you used to pride yourself on getting to a crime fast. You're getting slow," the woman told him lazily, yawning with boredom. "I mean seriously, I've already painted my nails. Twice," she said, holding out both hands to show them off. "What do you think? Dark hue-mor?" She wiggled the fingers of her left hand. "Or black heart?" She wiggled the fingers on her left.
"Are they not the same shade of black?" Starfire wondered, temporarily distracted as she began peering closely at the girl's hands.
Robin glanced at his girlfriend. "Starfire, focus," he said. "Who are you?" he questioned, turning his attention to the woman lounging before them.
"Oh, Robin, you don't recognize me? I'm hurt," she told him, placing her hand over her heart in mock offense. "No worries. When I'm done here, I'm sure you won't be able to forget me," assured the raven-haired girl, punctuating the statement with a giggle.
"Are you going to toy with us all day, or were you actually interested in getting your butt handed to you?" Cyborg asked her.
"Oh, are you finally warmed up and ready?"
The throne disappeared in a flash, leaving her standing, or floating, really, there in her skintight suit and billowing black cape, her hand on her hip as if this was a casual conversation. Grinning, she held her hand out palm up and curled her fingers inward twice. An invitation.
Enough of this, Robin thought. "Titans, GO!" he commanded. They raced forward, Starfire and Terra taking to the skies. With a calm flick of her wrist, swift red tendrils of magic wrapped around the Titans and stopped them in their tracks.
"Oh, come on. Don't tell me that's all you have. I expected this to be more... well, fun," she said, frowning in disappointment.
"I'll show you fun," Beastboy growled lowly. He morphed himself into a fly a dashed behind her, switching into a pterodactyl to attack. A red sphere of magic closed around him, and the girl didn't even bat an eye. During the distraction, Terra had managed to swing a few rocks in the direction of the woman, who dispatched them easily. The tendril attached to the girl swung, slamming her into a wall with enough force to crack the stones.
"You need to learn how to keep yourself out of the way," the woman snarled, her teeth clenching in the first sense of actual anger they had witnessed. The darkness around her seemed to grow, and her hand reached out, miming strangling someone. Her magic mimicked the action, closing tightly around the girl's throat. "You are nothing but a nuisance, and I will have your head mounted on a stick." Her hand was tightening further, the blond girl clawing at the magic that was choking the life from her, when a green starbolt flew towards the villainess. She dodged it easily, but her hold on Terra slackened enough that the girl was released and hit the ground with a thud.
"Please refrain from harming my friends," Starfire demanded politely, hands and eyes glowing as the other woman looked at her.
"But of course not," the woman replied, slipping immediately back into her pleasant persona. She crushed her hand into a fist and a swarm of tendrils encased the Tamaranian like a mummy, leaving only her ears and nose uncovered. "I was expecting so much more from you guys. You took down the brotherhood, after all," she murmured softly. Her voice was like velvet, warm and smooth like honey. It seeped into their brains and clouded their thoughts, making everything hazy. "Next time, be more prepared. Now, sleep," she lulled, and each of the five titans fell into slumber.
She flew herself higher in the sky, gaining a better view of the city. She held her arm straight, palm out, a blazing red beam of magic shooting out. She used it to carve something into the ground, subconsciously avoiding the roaming pedestrians. When she had completed her work, the name Thorne was spelled in neat, sloping cursive across the city.
"You won't forget me, Jump City," she murmured. With that, she vanished in a smoky haze of red magic.
All over the world she went, seeking a challenge. Someone up to her standards, but none of the Titans seemed to match up. Not Bumblebee, who was taken down by a swift, roundhouse kick to the face, or Kid Flash, who she cursed to keep running continuously around the world until her nail polish dried. Hotspot had no chance once she found a way to cool him down, and even the Titans West had gone home with some bruises. She was bored out of her mind, honestly, and bored was never a very good thing for a villainess, least of all her.
She wanted fun. It seemed that the only place she could even find a little enjoyment was the Titans West, but only if she decided on toying with them instead of actually fighting. With a heavy sigh, she flicked her wrist, sending herself up in a dense cloud of smoke.
"Cyborg, get me whatever headlines and background information on this girl that you can. Who is she? What does she want? Find out. Now," the Boy Wonder snapped, clenching and unclenching his fists as he supported his girlfriend on the way into the common area.
"Dude, did she even give a name?" Beastboy whined. "How are we supposed to find her?"
Cyborg clicked a few buttons, and a bird's-eye view of the city came up on the large screen. "A name won't be a problem," he said slowly, pointing at it. There, scrawled in a looping, deep crevice across the ground was the name Thorne.
"Thorne?" Robin asked, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration.
"And that's not all I'm getting," Cyborg added. Another few buttons were hit, and a new screen appeared, this one a hit of requests for help from every other Titan, all describing a woman in black.
"Damnit," growled Robin, slamming his fist against the table. "Where the hell is Raven? Why isn't she helping?"
He slid over to the computer by Cyborg, typing furiously until a signal came up. Her communicator. The screen pinged, and a location came up.
"Her room? But that doesn't make any sense," he grumbled, heading off to her room with the rest of the Titans trailing worriedly behind him. Once there, he knocked at least five times, waiting for her to answer. Finally, he punched in the security override code for her bedroom door and it slid open, revealing the place in shambles. Nothing had been left intact. Her bed was split in half, her curtains shredded. Priceless artifacts and precious books littered the floor in broken pieces, along with ripped clothes.
Starfire stepped uncertainly into the room, her wide green eyes glancing around in worry. "Friend Raven..?" she called, distress etched in her every movement. Without speaking, she walked to where a pile of broken glass lay, mournfully sinking into a sitting position beside it. She took the shards into her hands, tears slipping down her orange skin. "What has happened to our friend?" she asked, turning to look at her boyfriend as if he had the answers.
He simply shook his head, backing away from the door slowly. He couldn't concentrate. When had this happened? How? He didn't understand.
And, as it seemed, he wouldn't have the time to figure out, for the lights chose that moment to flicker on and off, and the intercom crackled to life.
"Oh, Boy Blunder, didn't anyone tell you that it's impolite to snoop into other people's lives?" a sickly sweet voice asked.
Robin hissed in frustration. "Thorne."
"Give the boy a prize! He knows my name!" she crowed, cackling madly. "But can any of you find me?" There was a flash and all the lights came back on, revealing Thorne lounging on the broken bits of Raven's bed. "Ugh, purple is so last season," she commented, poking at Raven's bedspread disdainfully. "And honestly, who still wears leotards? Childish, honestly," she added, this time from behind them, picking in Raven's closet. There were at least three apparitions of Thorne in the room, with no way to know the real one.
"You are not welcome here," Starfire said firmly, eyes glowing in anger as she glanced between the three.
"Tch, you don't even know which one is me. How sad," the three said in unison. "I'm sure Raven would have been able to tell you, but she's not here, is she?" They mocked, all grinning wickedly.
"What do you know about Raven?" Robin growled, hurling a bird-a-rang at all three. Only one ducked. The other two disappeared.
"Oops. Found me. Catch me and I might just tell you where she is," Thorne said with a shrug. She took a step back, straight through the wall and into the hallway. When the Titans got out there, she was already zipping around the corner, only the swish of her cape visible.
"Catch her," Robin ordered, and they took off after her. She seemed to be dancing around them in circles, her bell-like laughter echoing off the walls of the tower. She seemed to be everywhere at once, confusing them with shadows and tricks of the light. She was attacking them and leaving bruises and scars without them ever seeming to catch sight of her, and they were growing frustrated.
Finally, Beastboy cornered her in a dead-end hallway, crouched in lion form. He growled at her as she leaned casually against the wall, watching him with curious eyes. He lunged, and she was suddenly on the opposite side of the hall. She arched an eyebrow and he changed, shifting back into a human. Something about the action tickled at the back of his brain, but he was moving before he could think to hard about it, drifting towards her because of an invisible force. She hooked a finger under his chin and pulled him close, grinning. "You're cute. I wouldn't want to mess up your face," she murmured. She dipped her face in close, as if to kiss him, and blew a soft breath, the aroma immediately sending him off to sleep.
She tapped her throat and her voice amplified, spreading throughout the tower with ease.
"See you later, Titans," she told them.
She eased the green-colored boy to the floor and flicked her wrist, vanishing from the tower.
So what did you guys think? Good? Not good? I really love your input, whether you sing me your praises or curse me with hatred, I don't care. I love it all because it makes me a stronger writer. It makes me know what you guys want to see, what you like and don't like.
So, if you can, shoot me some reviews! I love you even if you don't, and I'd love if you kept up with my story!
I love you guys, you're all super wonderful. Keep being great and I hope you have a wonderful week.
~LBB