AN: You want good chapter? Too Bad, here writers block. Seriously, this took forever and it still feels short, but oh well. What can ya do? That's bout all there is to say. Please review. Also do any of you bother to read these things?
Alienvspredator5- Ok, but only because you asked so nicely. I think Raven will be fine on her own, it's Jake I'm worried about. You can't leave that guy alone for ten seconds before he does something stupid.
DonCossak- Glad you liked. And don't worry, there'll be plenty of ass to kick this time around.
AH FUCK, NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN!
"Aw Shit" Jake mumbled under his breath when he saw the signature golden hexagon painted on the side of a black armored vehicle. It was parked some two lots over, backed up to a loading bay for a storage warehouse. Behind it figures could be seen loading unmarked black cases by the dozen.
"Don't they ever fucking take a break?" He pleaded. He swore if he saw another Hive vehicle or personnel he was going to go fucking ballistic. As it stood the alarm hadn't been tripped at that warehouse witch meant that he had the Hive AND another unknown threat to contend with. His life was fucking wonderful.
Wasting no time he took his favourite gadget from Robin's armory. The grappling hook, and associated launcher for said device. Jake however didn't like swinging from building to building, no his use was much more practical. Well practical in the manner of jumping off the roof and then firing the device at said roof to arrest his fall.
Yes much more practical indeed, and badass looking if done correctly.
But feet back in terra-firma he had more pressing matters than marveling in his badassery, no there was time for that later. Like death itself he crept through the shadows using another new ability he had found. The darkness encircled him, wrapping him in its cool embrace completely concealing him within.
Cloaked in shadow away from prying eyes he stalked the men at the warehouse, looking for any sign of his lost Raven. She wasn't in the truck, nor was she near the shipping containers they were currently cleaning out. Now he was worried, they had Raven. He knew it, could feel it in his being.
Then like whispers in his ears a voice cut through his thoughts, allowing a clarity that hasn't been there before, "They have taken your mistress, with intentions most foul. There is but one course of action. End. Them." The voice was almost inaudible and the tone colder than ice, but Jake couldn't deny that for whatever reason it made sense. Everything was so simple now, all was just as cut and dry as it had ever been. "End them!"
Without so much as a second thought on the subject he lurched forward. From the darkness he flew, straight and true for the first victim. His hand latched into the unsuspecting guard's neck and easily parted his feet from the ground. Not a sound was made as Jake crushed his windpipe and deprived his body of that all too necessary oxygen. Brown eyes pleaded through holes in a black mask, begging to be freed.
When the faceless man's body finally went limp in his grasp he dropped him like a soiled cloth. Life was still present in the form, but it was in no condition to do anything about it. Jake looked down at the man and felt nothing, nothing other than a burning itch to snuff out his life once and for all. This person who would dare challenge him, hurt his mistress, was still alive, drawing breath better spent on any of a thousand of beings greater than him! HE DIDN'T DESERVE TO LIVE!
Jake reached down and took the body, not even sparing a second glance at the razor sharp talons that had replaced his hands. His claws dug deep into flesh, cutting it like a knife through butter, eventually they hooked around the ribs of the man and lifted him from the ground. With strength that no mortal man had the right to posses he hurled him into another unfortunate soul, killing them both with the impacthis alone.
It felt wonderful, pure, burning ecstasy flooded his being. Nothing up to that point in his life could be compared to that singular act, and he wanted more. Jake looked at another guard and felt the life in him, heard his blood calling to be spilled. Like a wraith of legend he charged forward, his fist shot forward like a missile, but instead of an impact his hand drove forward like a blade. Sinking deep into the persons chest, gripping that writhing, quivering mass and crushing it without mercy.
The mans eyes wind wide as he tried to scream, cry out in pain, at his heart being destroyed. Instead all that happened was blood dribbling from his gaping maw. The life quickly drained from his eyes, leaving cold grey orbs behind. Jake felt that warm rush of ecstasy, carrying him to the next victim.
The man, looking to put the hulk to shame in bulk, backed up into the truck firing shot after shot into a body that was never there. The shadows enveloped the lead shot, protecting their master. With the gun ran empty it to was thrown at the mass of shadows, and it to was taken. The fear was rolling off him in droves, and Jake was feasting off it. Like pouring fuel on a fire.
Jake was almost upon him, almost ready for another dose of that wondrous rush. But then as he drew back his arm he was thrown sideways. Knocked across the room by an unknown force. He loosened a primal growl as he stood to face his new opponent. But what he saw, that just threw him for a loop.
Raven stood beside the whimpering guard, wreathed in darkness, and glaring at… him? He stalked forward approaching his mistress, for some reason the fury he felt suddenly turned to compliance. Like it was his place, at her right hand. Her gaze softened when he dropped to one knee before her, bowing his head in submission. He couldn't tell you why he did it, it was like an instinct, a natural reaction.
"Jake…" she whispered to the wind. Her hand brushed his jaw, her touch cooling the rage burning under his skin. She guided his gaze to meet hers, sympathy plainly evident in her face. "Come now Jake. This isn't you, find your peace Jake. Lay this demon to rest and be at peace."
Her words found their mark, quickly as it had flared up the fires died and he finally felt at peace. And tired. Exhausted was more like it. But the calm was well worth the fatigue, and then there was this newfound clarity, quieter than that, that came before. Like his mind had just been reset. Raven, she was here, alive and unharmed. He had been mistaken, he had been wrong. He looked around at the carnage that he caused. 'So very very wrong.'
The feeling of the blood drying on his hands brought his gaze downward. Gone were the talons, replaced by his standard five digits, coated in more than their fair share of blood and flesh. In a word it was sickening.
After an eternity spent staring at the bloodied digits he felt a hand take his, pale but warm, the gesture went farther than she'd ever know to calm his mind. He stood once more to come face to face with Raven, silent as the dead he managed a whisper, "I'm sorry Raven, I… I don't know what came over me."
Raven didn't look at him with hate nor fear, not conviction or pity, but understanding. She knew what he was going through, the battle he unknowingly fought within. "We'll talk about it later. But before that there's something you need to see."
Jake just looked at her stupidity, not having a clue as to what it was she was taking about. This time it was Raven that sighed, she looked like she really didn't like what she was about to show him. Like a doctor letting a patient know he had a week to live. "I… I'll show you when we get back, right now we need to clean this mess up."
Jake looked around at the war torn warehouse. And the bodies haphazardly strewn about. While the Titan's were granted use of deadly force if necessary, Jake thought he was the first to have exercised it. It just felt wrong, hell it wasn't even the first time he'd killed someone, but it was the only time he knew there wasn't a damn good reason behind it. "I screwed up didn't I?"
"Royalty" Raven deadpanned.
Hours later, after several threatening statements from the Boy Wonder, Jake found himself being forcibly shoved into Raven's room by the dark bird herself. To say he was nervous was the understatement of the century. Raven had been more quiet and secluded than before, all afternoon it was averted eyes and hushed whispers from everyone, save Cyborg. Jake understood the skeptism of everyone else, but Raven. Hell she was there when the shit hit the fan and still she wasn't as bad as she was up to now.
As the door slid shut behind him he was left standing in total darkness, not a single ray of light managing to penetrate the thick veils hung before the windows. A strike of a match later and the room was cast in low candlelight. The scent of the smoke permeating the air was soft, and relaxing. More candles were lit, driving back the darkness, leaving just him and Raven. A nervous Raven. A very nervous Raven.
The normally stoic Titan was more of a nervous wreck than he was before his first date. Her fist clenched at her side as her powers reached out and plucked one of the ancient tomes from the shelves lining the walls of her room. She snatched the book from the air and quickly closed the distance between the two.
Hesitantly her voice broke the heavy silence that had engulfed them, "Jake… what happened today… it wasn't your fault. It was mine." She held up a finger to silence him, she just had worked up the nerve to explain this and she wasn't sure how long it'd be around. "When I… when I bonded you to the demon, the ritual wasn't completed. So far you to are still different entities, the rite demands that the two become one. Sharing body and mind, that was the only way to save your life. I didn't tell you right away because I thought The measures in place would isolate you. Keep you from hearing it. I was wrong."
"It can tap into you just as easily as you can it. What became of you today was caused by its reaching out, testing its boundaries. And now that it knows how far it can go, it won't back down." The book flipped through its pages like it had a mind of its own finally resting on a page clearly depicting the very same ritual that had been performed on him. The script was unfamiliar, but the picture in the center said all that was needed. A man and a beast stood outside a circle, lined with text. Inside the ring was a creature, the spawn of angels and demons. Part man, part beast, and part of something else, something wrong.
Jake tore his eyes from the book and looked deep into Raven's, "Is there anything that can be done?"
"Meditation, temporary rituals diving the two halves. Nothing would be permanent, in the end it will always be there. And for every life it takes it will grow stronger, it will consume you Jake." Tears pooled in her eyes, as he searched them for answers.
Pushing the book out of the way he drew her in close, holding her tight so that he may protect her. "Raven… Raven listen to me. We will find a way through this. This darkness, It will not be the end of this old horse, I can tell you that. But right now I need your help, Raven. I need you."
She drew back, just enough to see his face, "Okay, we'll start with meditation. That should hold is for a while."
"But first," her voice took on a seductive tone. "I do believe I promised to help you destroy the rest of the tower this morning." She leaned forward, taking his lips in hers once more, "And I always keep my word."
AN: There you have it folks, the good to the bad, and the well and truly fucked up. Drop me a review, its the number one way to get better chapters faster.