Surprise! A new chapter is here. Enjoy!
Again: Please note, I do not own anything Teen Titans.
Please read and review! It's usually when I go back through and read my reviews that I can kick start the writing process.
It had only been five days since Slade had captured the half-demon superhero. In that small amount of time, he'd learned a few things. He could not use food as a means to get Raven to do what he wanted; the girl would happily starve herself as a "Fuck you" to him. He'd also learned that keeping her in a small, dark room would not make her want his company. She was quite content with being by herself and the lack of light didn't bother her. If Slade wanted to get anywhere with her, he'd have to change his methods drastically. The mental and physiological torture had worked wonders with Terra and Robin. However, Raven was different.
Slade sat at his desk and massaged his temple, contemplating what his next strategy would be. His personal computer was set to stream the live-video feed from Raven's room. So far she had shown no weaknesses he could exploit. He leant back in his chair and let his mind go blank, as he observed the video feed.
Raven was leaning against a wall in her small, closet-sized room, disregarding the loud hunger pains from her stomach. Exhausted, she hadn't eaten in five days. Yet she was resolved to continue starving for however long it took. However, each dish that was brought to her seemed to be getting increasingly sweeter and more tempting. The last one being a whole chocolate mousse pie – all for her. Not eating that had been among one of the most torturous moments of her life.
Raven's thoughts drifted to her lack of powers. She was sure that Slade was going to withhold them from her until he trusted her. But just how he expected to convert her to the dark side, she was unsure. In the meantime, she would just have to fight her way out physically. Her stomach growled again and she tried to ignore the fact that she'd have to eat to be able to gain strength enough to fight Slade. It honestly seemed easier to continue starving and hope that Slade would let her out, than to eat and have to fight Slade hand-to-hand to gain her freedom.
Troubled, and desperate to be distracted from the pie set in front of her, she began to meditate. "Azerath Metrion Zinthos. Azerath Metrion Zinthos."
She abruptly stopped when she heard the key turning in the door. She peeped open an eye to see Slade standing in the doorway of her tiny room. His arms crossed, he glanced down disapprovingly at her untouched pie. "Get up."
The teenaged girl acknowledged his command with a simple nod. Raven moved to get up, but her bones protested noisily and she was forced to first get on her hands and knees before gingerly pushing herself up. Noting her growing weakness, Slade held open the door for her in an unexpected act of kindness. The girl shot him a glare betraying her distrust, but followed.
"We're going to train. I expect you to put forth your best effort." He guided her through a maze of halls before reaching a large metal door. Slade keyed in a code, before opening the door. He pushed Raven into the large training room and went in after her.
"As you can see, the training room is very large and has every kind of equipment you will ever have use for. You will be spending many hours down here each day, so get used to it."
Raven hardly glanced at the room, instead glaring at Slade. "I don't know why you even brought me here. I'm only going to be training every day so I can kill your ass and get the hell out of here."
In a move too quick for her to register, she found herself knocked to the floor. Her stomach clenched together in pain, she doubled over, cradling her torso.
"Never curse. It just shows a lack of intelligence and respect. And don't tell me your plans to kill me, unless I'm already dead. I will most definitely hurt you and might just kill you first for your insolence. Now, are we understood?" He knelt beside her and roughly grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look up at him. Pain was clearly written on her face, as well as intense hatred, but she managed a nod. "Good." He released her and stood, "Now, stand and face me."
Raven forced herself to get up, biting back a comment that would likely end with her on the floor and badly bruised. She adjusted her stance to mimic his. If he was starting training right now, she was screwed. With nothing in her stomach and her arms feeling like two hundred pound weights each, she had no energy to defend herself, let alone fight.
Slade took in Raven's lousy fighting stance. She looked ready to keel over, not attack. However, he'd decided the only way to prevent her from starving was to create a situation that required her body to be fueled with food. Hopefully she would learn after this training session, that in order to prevent herself from being hurt, she had to eat to fight well. If not, he'd have to work on her another way.
Slade then began a ruthless series of hits and kicks that all made connection with Raven. She tried to defend herself, but each countermove was so sloppy that she was practically an unmoving target. Raven made one last effort to block a particularly solid kick to the upper body and failed miserably. She laid sprawled on the floor and clutching her ribcage. Moaning, she pulled herself to a sitting position.
Slade stopped his relentless torture and sighed, "That was by far the most pathetic round I've ever had the displeasure of engaging in. You lasted less than thirty seconds." He approached her and pushed aside her arms with his foot, feeling a sharp piece of rib bone protruding from her thoracic wall. Raven inhaled sharply and glared, pulling away from him.
"Wintergreen will see you to your room. I suggest you eat tonight so that you aren't as boring a competition tomorrow." Slade fixed her with a cold eye and left.
Wintergreen appeared quickly and helped the girl up, allowing her to lean on him as necessary. He escorted her to her room, examined her injury and patched her up as best he could, and left, promising to arrive shortly with a plate.
Slade had just ate and gotten cleaned up. He approached his personal computer and prepared to go over some business propositions, when the video of Raven caught his attention. She had just been given a hot plate of food by Wintergreen and was actually eating it. She picked around at the lemon herb roasted chicken, childishly examining it for any sign of poison, before eating it. Raven devoured the mashed potatoes and broccoli soon after. Once her dinner was gone, she set out to eat the entire apple pie that had a plate of its own.
Slade felt a hint of a smirk on his lips, as he watched the girl finally break and enjoy the food in front of her. It was the first step of many that would bring her to fully trusting him and following him. He could nearly taste the victory. "Wintergreen, bring me a slice of pie." It had suddenly dawned on him that he had missed his dessert today.