I'm really shocking myself this week. I hadn't updated this story in over a year and now three new chapters in less than 48 hours? Crazy… Anyways, I apologize for the last chapter. The majority of it was taken up by the dream she had. Yet, I thought it was kind of fun being able to show you snippets of what's in store for our lovely and lonely little demon…
Big thanks and shout outs to the following:
Gingerstorm101, who has been reading this since day one and was one of the first people to review. Thank you for your dedicated reading and reviewing! I hope you continue to enjoy!
SladeRavenFan, whose detailed reviews make me smile every time I read them. You really do know how to motivate someone to keep going! Thank you for that!
And a new-comer, Lord-of-Change, whose first review gave me quite a sense of accomplishment and really let me know that continuing this story was the right thing to do!
P.S. If your name is not mentioned, please understand that I mean nothing personal by it. I wish I could take up as many pages as I could and fill it with thank-you's and the like. However, I have the feeling that wouldn't go over so well. So just know if I didn't mention any recent reviewers in this chapter, I will get to you eventually!
ENJOY! And remember, read and review!
Chapter Seven –
It had been a week. A restless, worry-filled week. Raven was in the common room reading a book and trying desperately to block out the argument Cyborg and Beast Boy were having over the remote.
"DUDE! I swear I put it back on the table! Don't blame me because you can't see."
"Can't see? I can see perfectly fine. And what I see right now is no freaking remote!"
Beast Boy scratched his head and continued his search, tossing the pillows from the couch every which way as he looked.
She was getting more and more irked with every pillow that collided into her face. But before she could say anything, the tower alarms started going off. Starfire and Robin immediately ceased making lunch, Beast Boy and Cyborg's pointless argument was forgotten, and Raven threw her book to the ground. Within seconds, the common room was abandoned.
The five Titans were outside the library in just moments. They looked at their leader expectantly.
"Raven, get all the civilians out of the library and to safety. Beast Boy and Starfire, guard the exits until every civilian is out and then join me and Cyborg inside! We'll have to work together as a team to corner Red X and capture him. We need to find out what he's doing in there and stop him!" Robin motioned for Cyborg to join him and the rest of the team split up, following his directions.
Raven phased into her soul self and found herself in the library just a moment later. She could see Red X terrorizing the civilians in his usual careless, roguish way. But his attention was also on something else. She could see that he was going down every aisle, books flying everywhere as he searched for something.
"Everyone, get out!" She quickly and efficiently rounded up the civilians and got them out of the library. All except for one. There was an older man with white hair that kept making his way through the shelves and perusing the books as if he was hard of hearing or just didn't care. Rolling her eyes, she rushed over to him and got in front of him, hands on her hips. "Sir, you're going to have to leave with everyone else. A criminal is in the library and will hurt you if you get in his way."
He was tall and muscular. And even though he had white hair, she was surprised to see that he wasn't ancient – at least, not as ancient as she had assumed. He towered over her and when he finally turned his head to look at her, she saw he was wearing an eye patch over one eye. His penetrating blue eye looked her over.
The slight girl felt uneasy under the tall man's gaze. Her skin prickled with fear and she suddenly got the feeling that there was nothing she could do to protect this man. He could easily take care of himself. Raven felt herself backing up as the man continued towards her. There was something sinister about him and she was beginning to feel very nervous. Her eyes blazed and she raised her hands a bit, allowing her black orbs of energy to pulse.
"Well, aren't you going to take me to safety?" His words took her aback and she immediately dropped her defenses.
She frowned at him and motioned for him to follow. She could hear Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Robin as they fought Red X above them on the second floor. Raven hurried the man out of the library and into the back alley. As she went to leave and join her friends in the battle, she felt a strong grip grasp around her upper arm.
She made a point of looking down at his large hand that was holding her back and looking back up at him, "Just what do you think you're doing? I led you to safety, now let go of me. I have to help my friends."
"Friends? What friends?" His manipulative and menacing voice gave her chills. This was wrong… all wrong. She knew that voice.
"Oh, Raven. I think we all know better than to believe you actually have friends." Her eyes widened as she realized her fears had been justified.
Her eyes lit up again, blazing white with both fear and anger. She would fight him this time. She wouldn't allow him to mock her teammates and she certainly wouldn't allow him to harm them like he'd threatened just days earlier.
Slade's grip turned into a metal-like hold and he swung her from the exit door into the alley. Raven got up from the littered ground and turned to face him. She raised her hands and chanted, "Azerath Metrion Zinthos!"
He dodged the dumpster she had thrown at him and used a flurry of kicks and punches to break her concentration. She now had to fully focus on escaping each sequence of attacks and couldn't be on the offensive. Raven threw shield after shield up, finding herself getting more and more tired. If only she could have a moment to summon her powers. But that was exactly what Slade was trying to prevent by making her always have to be on her toes.
"I told you to work more on your hand to hand combat. With some opponents, you'll find you don't have the time to focus your powers and use them." She was getting sloppy. She no longer had the energy to keep her shield up the entire time he was attacking and she was horrible at timing when she should have her shield up and when to bring it down.
She lingered a second too long in bringing up her defense and he saw his opening. He flung a downward punch and it connected with her jaw. Crying in pain, she fell.
"Better get up. Your enemies won't wait until you're fully rested and recovered." He demonstrated for her as if to prove his point and kicked her in the gut. She was pitched into the wall of the alley. Raven coughed up blood and looked up at his looming figure.
"Say good-night my little bird," She saw Slade drawing back his arm for a punch aimed directly above her eye and that's when everything went dark.
"Raven! Raven, come in!" Silence.
Robin frowned down at the communicator, "Cyborg, enable her tracker." The Titans had lost Red X and Robin was already in a foul mood. Coming back to the tower to find that their fifth teammate had never made it home didn't help.
Cyborg sat at the computer and a map filled the expanse of their common room television screen. He raised his eyebrow when the only dots that showed up on the map showed the four remaining Titans in the tower. "Nothing. She must have disabled her tracker."
"No, Friend Raven would not do that!" Starfire worriedly exclaimed as she looked up at the screen above her.
"Starfire's right. Raven knows better. If she's not showing up on the map, it's because someone has disabled her tracker - someone who doesn't want us to find her." Robin paced back and forth for a moment. He looked up at the map again and stared at it determinedly, "So we're just going to have to find her the old fashioned way."