Restart Chapter 5, a teen titans fanfic

Chapter 5

The room was cold, that was the first thing springing to Raven's mind as she came to. She didn't even know whether this was a room or not, the material she sprawled on somewhat gave solid proof to that since it appeared to be smooth and flat – just like what's made of any common floor, but for all she knew, she could be on the top of a board or a rock in the middle of nowhere. Still, she didn't dare to open her eyes and found out which assumption was correct.

The cold licked at her face and her skin, slipping through her clothes and flooded into her blood and vein, pushing heat out of her system and took over their places. Thankfully, the condition wasn't too severe, and despite the fact that the warmth in her flesh was gradually being swallowed by the biting cold, her body could still reproduce enough heat to balance her temperature.

The headache had long vanished from her mind and her conscious had eventually managed to get rid of all the sluggish or hazy feeling. The blast did a number to her, leading the dark girl unable to function normally for a while. Raven was well aware of that. So, she did her best to keep a rein on the panic urging her eyes to open and her feet to move away. She knew full well that she was captured. But she also understood that in her current state, she had no way to escape or to defeat whoever keeping her here.

So she did the only thing reasonable at the moment, doing her best to refrain herself from freaking out and let the exhaustion washed her back to sleep once more.

When she woke up for the second time, her head had become somewhat better, at least the head-splitting ache didn't linger anymore. A bit of her energy had returned, and she didn't feel like an invalid anymore. Raven knew she could take off running, but she held that need down. As much as she hated to admit it, she was in no condition to fight anyone, let alone find an escape from a place that she was clueless about. And now she had to take on both? Had it not been for her dire situation, Raven would have let out a bitter laugh. Fat chance!

So, she just did the only thing she could at the moment, she lay there. Just kept her eyes closed, and lay there, acting like she was in a trance. It might not be able to get her out of this place, but at least it could keep her safe. Who knew? Maybe at a certain corner of the place, a maniac was watching her with an insane glint in their eyes, waiting for her to wake up so that they could finish her off while she struggled?

Her power was disabled at the moment, she had to way to fight back if such thing actually took place. If nobody lay a finger on her while she was asleep the whole time, they had no reason to do that now. Raven knew they were waiting for her to open her eyes. That was what sick psycho always did, so that they could enjoy their prey's fear and despair as they moved in for the kill.

Raven didn't want to act like a stupid, incapable damsel in distress, but she was no fool either. If moving and running right now might lead to her head being severed from her neck, her preference would still be taking the role of that damsel, mind you.

One second.

One minute.

Perhaps one hour had gone passed since she made that decision. She still lay there, in the same position that shaped her body and limbs ever since she woke up. Nobody came, not even a single sound reached her ears. Fighting back the urge to frown, Raven began wondering if anybody was actually here with her, and considered whether she should sit up and examine her surroundings.

As her eyes slowly opened, footsteps suddenly echoed from a distance not so far from where she was, followed by the creaking noise of an opening door.

Immediately, her eyelids clenched shut. Raven steadied her breaths, trying not to show anyone entering the room that she was fully awoke.

"Man, the idiots back there didn't bang her up so bad, right? She should be up by now."

Loud voices cutting through the silence she had got used to like a knife gliding through a piece of butter, completely shattered the isolated feature of the place. Raven didn't move even a muscle, but trains after trains of thoughts were running all over her mind, making it almost impossible for her to put on the blank facial expression of an unconscious person.

So she was in a room after all. And by the look of the chilling atmosphere haunting the whole area like a persistent ghost, she could tell that it had remained unused for quite a long time.

Resisting the urge to frown due to being loaded with so many questions at a time, Raven tried to locate the source of sounds. From her spot, she noticed that all of them, though seemingly dispersed in the air due to the distance between her and them, were all emitting from her right.

So that was where the entrance lay

Quietly noted to herself, the powerless sorceress remained still, picking on the sounds of footsteps as they approached her closer and closer every second passed by. Her mind was running with lightning speed, trains after trains of thoughts racing across her head. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. The gap between her and the sound of footsteps was now narrowed enough and she could somewhat pinpoint the number of people in the room right now. But this was just her speculation. There could be more, or less.

Still, no matter what, they had her outnumbered.

How could she rush to the exit without getting caught?

Raven knew she had heard the creaking noise of door opening, though faintly. Yet, she didn't hear any closing or locking sound. This meant she still had a chance. All she had to do is to use it well. She had no idea why she was here, and she was just as clueless about her captors' identities. But she would have to figure that out later. Right now, her priority was to get out.

"How the Hell should I know? Let's just come and take a look."

"She'd better not be dead. I have no intention of toying with a corpse tonight."

"Her chest's moving, you dickhead!"

Voice. Low. High. All kinds. But masculine. And young, too.

Men.

She was alone, in a cold, seemingly abandoned room in a place only God knew where, and a group of men was closing up on her. Only the thought was enough to make her stomach churn with knots and her skin crawl uncomfortably. A wave of chill crept down her spine as some disturbing, unspeakable thought popped up in her head. As she recollected her memory about the final thing fell into her eyes and ears within the cell, she had a very vivid idea of what was about to happen. And she knew that it wouldn't be anywhere near pretty.

The footsteps were getting too close to her liking now. Raven pursed her lips, at this rate, they would reach her soon, and then there went her only chance to escape.

So she did the only thing she could think of at the moment, she shot up right from her spot and threw her body backward until she hit the wall behind, forming a considerable gap between her and the newcomers.

As she tried pressing herself as close as she could to the concrete, she saw the men stiffened in shock, obviously didn't expect her sudden outburst. Still, that made them halt their track, and the dark girl inwardly let out a sigh of relief. She gave her body a brief glance, and silently thanked God that her orange prisoner uniform, though stained with dirt and dust, had not been changed or removed. Nobody had actually touched her.

In front of her were, just like her prediction, 5 men forming a half circle around her, cutting all the paths that she could flee to. They all had on a simple black triangle masks resembling blocks of metal shielding their eyes, so Raven had no idea who they could possibly be. Raven quietly bit her lips, panic began settling in the depth of her heart, but she held it down and kept it there, stopping it from spreading all over her body. This was no time to let her fear get the best of her.

Her soon-to-be attackers soon snapped out of their daze, and slowly, a lecherous smirks tugged their lips upward as they leered at her as if she was just a piece of meat. Raven swallowed hard. She knew she couldn't win if they jump at her, she stood no chance. The disadvantage in number aside, two of those lechers were as least two times larger than her in size!

"Don't be afraid, we just want to play."

"Yeah, with that tight little ass of yours…"

They all cracked in to laughter at the lewd sentence, obviously amused by it. Raven's expression contorted in pure disgust. Some of them licked their lips, depravity dripping from those nonstop as they again drew nearer to her. Even with her power gone and their eyes hidden by the masks, she could still grasp that their rotten minds were loaded with ill intention and the desire to perform unspeakable things to her, and their eyes were filled with nothing but hunger. The thought made her want to vomit. A flash of fear crossed her eyes as waves after waves of chills crawled up on her spine. But she quickly hid them behind a façade of calm and composure.

She couldn't let them know that they had got to her, that would only notify them that they had got the upper hand, and shortening her possibilities of escape.

Her violet orbs urgently darted around the room, locating the exit which was just a few meters from her spot, and she could easily make a run to it if she could somehow shake these bastards off her. But how? The violet-haired girl bit her lips, her clenched hands drenched with sweats. They were getting too close now…

And then she noticed a light bulb dangling above her, emitting dim light. It was the only source of Illumination in the small room, and it was completely within reach. As her eyes landed upon the group of lustfully grinning men, she spotted a smart phone sticking out from one's pocket.

A plan suddenly popped up within her mind, too sketchy and risky that if this was in another situation, she would have already scolded herself for coming up with something so, so stupid.

But she had no other option now.

She had to try her luck!

Raven leaned against the wall in her most casual manner, crossing her arms across her chest and let a victorious smirk dance upon her lips, ignoring the fact that her heart was beating so hard that it would soon break her ribcage and jumped out onto the ground. Her back was damped with sweats, and she had to muster all her strength to keep her legs from shaking and her fear from flooding into her expressions.

"You idiots." She chuckled, pushing a lock of violet hair behind her back: "Five brains combined and you couldn't realize this had been a trap all along?"

Despite the straight face she put on, her mind was drowned in a sea of apprehension and fear right now. Not fear for the situation she was in, but fear for her plan's possibility of success. If they didn't bite the bait, she was done for. She knew she was done for.

And a sense of relief, though faint, rushed through her like a soothing stream of warm water as her soon-to-be assailants' expression melted from cocky and depraved to shocked and confused. Raven tightened her fists, suppressing her arising anxiety and fear before straightening her back and squared her shoulders. Her words had got to them, she had to take well use of this opportunity.

"You… You're lying." One of the men exclaimed, turning to his companions as his voice somewhat turned frantic: "There's no way they saw this coming. She's just pulling our legs."

"Nice try, little girl, but that won't work on us." The one next to him chuckled, but Raven could notice that skepticism and apprehension had already begun flooding his voice. She bit her lips and narrowed her eyes. Somewhere deep inside them, they were still wary of her, her ability, and the fact that she was a hero who had put countless criminals behind the bars. She could tell this. Her power might not be here anymore, but that didn't mean she was no longer Raven. And cowering before Raven was simply just an instinctual act of those low-life scum.

She had better hurry up before they regained themselves and remembered that she was no longer that undefeatable sorceress.

"And why would I have to do that?" She took one step forward and put one hand on her hips, doing her best to keep her gesture as natural and casual as possible. The pressure and worry the current situation snowed her under had drained all the liquid from her throat and lips, leaving them as dry as the desert, but she didn't dare to moist them with her tongue as that might raise suspicion.

"You really think that I would be taken down this easily?" She let out a cold and harsh snarl, her monotone voice dripping with conviction and sarcasm – Just like what she always did when facing a certain enemy. "Defeated by a mere group of insignificant guards with pathetic ammunitions? After all the times you have seen me out in the field, you really expected that such stupid objects were enough to beat me?"

Their bodies went rigid, and their fingers nervously clenched into fists, or around whatever items they were holding, which didn't go unnoticed by Raven. She might have not been able to summon her magic right now, but that didn't change the fact that she was an empath. Years of living with that exceptional ability had trained her mind and eyes to pick on people's gestures and behaviors as they were immersed in certain emotions. Even when she could no longer sense anything, she could almost precisely see through their emotions by observing the way they acted.

The patterns were always similar no matter what.

Sparkling eyes and an excited expression manifested joy and happiness

Inner corners of the eyebrows jerked upward, leaving wrinkles all over the forehead and lips shaped into a downward curve indicated despondency.

Clear voice and a straight posture expressed utter confidence.

And… stiffened muscles, uncomfortable exchanging of glances, sudden halts in movements were evidence of skepticism and growing anxiety.

What's more, anxiety led to temporary declining in logical thinking and thought aligning, rendering a person unable to concentrate on anything but the cause of their fretfulness. They would try to pull it together and regain their composure. Still, the apprehension had already rooted deep into their mind, and would remain there even when they did everything in their power to shake it off as long as they couldn't come up with a proper explanation for their worry.

Tension began arising in the air, and the men circling Raven could no longer put on a straight face as the information she just informed them sank into the depth of their head and wrap around their mind like a stubborn snake, menacing and dangerous, awaiting for the perfect opportunity to bury its sharp fangs into their vein, ending them completely. From her spot, the violet-haired girl could see that sweats had already rolled down their foreheads and cheeks as if it was raining inside the room, and their teeth repeatedly chewed on their lower lips. Her heart was racing, fast and loud as thunder, to the point that she started to fear that her assaulters would be able to hear it and realize that she was lying. A drop of sweat fell from her fingers and touched the ground, only then did Raven noticed that her hand had become so drenched that everything she grasped would slip from her grip instantly.

The air had grown as brittle as though it could snap any second, and the stressful atmosphere was weighing down on her body, infiltrating her system, running through her blood, making it hard for her to maintain the calm-and-collect mask.

But she ignored the fear and anxiety screaming inside her, and did everything in her power to ensure that her composure didn't break. She said nothing, just stood there, letting her emotionless and stoic gaze bore into their mind, and a sardonic smirk danced on her pale lips. There was no need for any word right now, the best way to deal with them is to let the anxiety grew and grew…

Until it became panic, and until the atmosphere became so suffocating that hardly anyone can breathe here.

"You… you are bluffing!" In the end, one seemed to be unable to handle the situation anymore, and hollered out. He tried to act tough, try to show that her trick couldn't do anything to him, but his ragged breath and trembling voice had indicated otherwise. "She's bluffing! If this has been their plan all along, her stupid friends would have got here by now."

Again, all eyes were on her now. Suspicion, anger, skepticism, disquiet, all kinds of emotions in their gaze pierce through her, as if trying to punch a hole through her soul. Raven's heart almost leapt to her throat for one second, and her stomach was churning with knots, but her face still remained as calm as a lake's surface.

"Yeah, about that." She spoke. Her voice was as monotone and cold and distant as ever, no trait of fear could be detected. "Why don't you just turn back and see for yourself who is standing there?" She averted her gaze, focusing on somewhere behind the group of men, and decided to finally play her trump card:

"Perfect timing, guys. What took you so long?"

She could see the blood drained from the men's face in a split second as their bodies tensed up in alarm. Even when their eyes were carefully shielded behind the glasses-like masks, it didn't take her long to realize that their orbs had probably stretched up as wide as the size of tennis balls as sheer astonishment laced with terror knocked into them.

In a flash, they all wiped their head backward, expecting to see a group of young heroes barging into the room and mercilessly knocked them onto the cold, hard floor before slapping them in handcuffs.

But against their anticipation, only silence and a dark, empty room greeted them.

Nobody was here but them…

And the girl they cornered.

"Shit!" Realization of what was truly occurring hit them like a ton of bricks. Some of them tore their attention away from the vacant space ahead and back to their main concern - the dark heroine who was supposed to be powerless, rendered into all but a damsel in distress.

Still, as they turned back, out of nowhere, a thick sheet of dust came at them and smashed into their face, infiltrating their nose and stung their vision. And they had no choice but to hunched over and sneezed with all they got to remove the itchy dust from their respiratory system.

Raven wasted no time as she leaped into the air and smashed her knee into the man with the tablet-like object sticking out of his belt with all her strength, earning her a satisfactory crack and a croak of pain in return, and the dark girl knew that she had managed to break his nose. A small smirk lit up her normally emotionless expression, but now wasn't the moment for celebration.

Silently thanked all the forces in the world for letting her wake up in a nearly abandoned room with nothing but dust and dust everywhere, or else she wouldn't have been able to carry out her plan this smoothly, Raven gripped the tablet and with a sharp tug, yanked it out of its previous spot. She eyed the man holding his face in utter agony before swung her leg up and hit him square in the groin with no hesitation!

A shrill shriek reverberated around the 4 walls of the room. The unfortunate man collapsed onto the floor with a heavy thud, clutching his wounded part and doubled over, sobbing his heart out.

Raven didn't even feel even just a slight sense of guilt for the casualty she had brought upon him. She might be a hero, but this didn't mean she was a pure-hearted goddess who always believed that things could be solved with kindness and compassion. No. She admitted that killing and destroying life were unacceptable, and her ethical standard as well as duty of a hero would never allow her to sink to that level.

Still, she wouldn't forgive anyone that dared to mess with her.

Indeed, all life mattered no matter what.

But some people just wouldn't realize that, and they start going around and toying with the others' life. In this case, some lessons just simply need to be delivered.

And if mere words couldn't do much in knocking any sense to them, perhaps action would!

Especially if that very person was a potential insane rapist on the loose.

After all, stopping and destroying the bad guys' plans was also an important mission of a hero.

"You little whore…"

Hasty footsteps emitted from her right, and Raven tilted her head to that direction, only to see a well-built man stumbling toward her, obviously was still affected by the dust she tossed at them earlier. He growled, then coughed loudly, and proceeded to jump at her.

Raven only responded with one long step forward, and, with all the strength she could muster, swung the metallic object she had in hands straight at the man's forehead! He let out a roar of pain and staggered a good feet backward before tripping and fell ass over teakettle, groaning as he tried to pick himself up.

Raven bit her lips, she couldn't afford to let any second fly by anymore. Soon, all of them would recover, and she would stand no chance if they all struck at once. She needed to act fast!

Jumping aside to avoid a sneezing tall figure dashing toward her as an attempt to knock her onto the ground, Raven stole one last look at the entrance, pinpointing its precise location. Then, she darted her eyes to the spot where the light bulb was innocently hanging, illuminating the dark room with its soft golden light.

Fire seemed to have lit up her violet eyes as the sorceress pursed her lips, and threw the tablet she had extracted from the man's belt there with all her might.

The sounds of shattering glass echoed all over the room as the light bulb was violently smashed into shards and plummeting onto the floor. Within a flash, the light vanished, swallowed by the shadows lurking in every corner of the room, and a pitch-black curtain casted over the entire place.

Ignoring the gasps and shouts of surprise from her assaulters, Raven was about to dash out of the place, but then something caught her attention, and she stopped right in her track.

The thing that she had used to destroy the only source of light in the room turned out to be a real tablet after all. And now, it was lying on the floor with a faintly glowing screen. It seemed that the brutal landing had somehow applied force on the item's power button, turning it on. And Raven's eyes grew wide when she caught sight of whatever it was showing. The impact had done a number on the tablet as cracks and black dots were running all over its screen like a spider web at the moment, but she could vaguely see lines of different applications displayed there.

They didn't set any password for it.

Maybe she would be able to extract some useful information from that very item.

With that, didn't even bother to reconsider the idea as she always did before deciding on anything, Raven immediately reached out for the tablet and gripped it tightly in her slender fingers. There was no time to spare right now. She needed to get out of this room first. Every other thing could wait.

Raven pursed her lips, and, with the greatest speed she could force upon her legs, bolting out of the place through the exit she had got a fix on earlier. She could hear grunts of anger as the men stumbling in the dark became aware of her true intention, and started chasing after her.

But the girl had already got out of the room that would soon turn into her worst nightmare if her wit had not come to her rescue in time. Didn't even dare to slow down and took a breath, Raven hastily slammed the door shut tight. It was as heavy as Hell, and she winced as her muscles were almost torn in the process. Still, this still evoked a sense of relief inside her, as this could buy her a couple of minutes before her assaulters burst out and started going after her.

But what should she do now? Where should she run off to?

Raven wiped her head from back to forth, from left to right, biting her lips so hard that the metallic taste of blood faintly intruded her mouth when her teeth punched a hole through her pale skin. Fighting back the urge to let panic take over her body, she shot her gaze to the further end of the hallway ahead of her. The illuminating here was awful, she didn't know where the light came from, but it was only enough for her to not completely grope in the dark.

Raven squinted her eyes, trying to get a good look at her surroundings.

At the end of the corridor, she could vaguely make out a turning point in the path, and there was another route just behind the corner.

The dark girl didn't know where it would lead to nor what was awaiting her there, but she had no other choice but go for it now. Besides, no matter what lurking out there might turn out to be, it couldn't be worse than the frightening fate awaiting her if those men got their hands on her.

Pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, with determination dancing in her violet eyes like blazing flame, the dark girl took off running, slender fingers clutching the tablet she had just confiscated so tightly that her knuckle almost turned white.

oOo

Clifton Moore was a man of power in Jump.

Aside from the fact that his family has been running one of the most prosperous enterprises here for generations, and its branches has been spreading all over the city, even settling in some nearby metropolitans, he was a potential entrepreneur held in high regards by not only people around his age but also the seniors themselves. He was still in his early 20s, yet, in this city, nobody could claim to be from the upper class and had not heard of his name once. Even the heads of some illustrious families around here had to show him some respect.

Indeed, as someone born with a silver spoon in mouth, with high social position as well as the prosperity that few could possess even in their dream, he could have everything he desire without even trying. As long as he wanted, swimming in money, taking home all the luxurious and most exorbitant vehicles, or have all kinds of beautiful women lining up in front of him and ready to die for him would be within just a flick of fingers.

Yes, with his wealth, his status, his family reputation, his talents and good-looking features, even climbing to the moon wouldn't be impossible.

He was the man with great power here, and nobody had the nerves to cross him under any circumstance.

And yet, now, he was sprawling on the floor pathetically on four limbs, his crotch ached as if somebody had directly shoved a bee hive into it and let the aggressive bees roamed free, emptying their rage on it however they pleased. His proud, handsome face contorted in utter humiliation and a sea of wrath, as his once impeccable blonde hair was a mess on the ground. As he writhed in pain, each and every single strand had all fallen out of shape, getting dragged on the dust and grime coating the floor, ending up as filthy as a mopping rag itself.

Damn that whore! Damn that fucking, stupid, arrogant whore!

Clifton grunted and panted, trying to sit up again, only to give up and fell back onto the floor in defeat. The indescribable pain she caught to his precious male symbol still lingered, and only one little movement could send a sharp pang of agony through his lower part.

"I told you that we should leave that bitch in chain. But noooo! Spice thing up, you said. Let her struggle, you said. It would be fun taming her, you said. And now what? Is this enough spicing up for you? That little bitch got the better of us, and now she's freaking gone!"

"What? You're blaming this on us? You fucking agreed with that plan in the first place, Cal! And so what if she ran off? She was supposed to run! That's how we do things, remember?"

"Idiot! She's a fucking Titan! You think she will be the same as all the sluts we brought here earlier?"

"Enough!"

Clifton spat, struggling to get into a proper sitting position. He leaned his back against the wall, angrily wiping the locks of hairs shielding his vision off his face. The stinging pain had somewhat gone from his crotch now, and he could move around without the feeling of his sensitive place being ripped apart. Never, never in his life had he gone through this kind of humiliation. He was the one who stood above the rest, and now, he was forced to crawl on the filthy ground like some sort of animal, with his pretty face destroyed and his perfect image ruined.

All thanked to a certain little violet-haired bitch!

He swore, if he ever got his hands on her again, he would make her pay for all of this. He would make her beg for mercy, and he would make her cry until her voice completely died out!

The young billionaire eyed his companies, whose faces were flooded with apprehension and uncertainty, none had a slightest idea about what they needed to do next. Couldn't blame them though, they had got a hero on the loose to deal with here. Powerless or not, she was still somebody that could send the notorious villain down their bed shaking with one single glare. So, naturally, they would be nervous.

He was nervous too though. But the thought that she had left his pride in shards on this very filthy floor set him on a fire of pure fury, and it was burning all of his other feelings into nothing but ashes.

"For fuck's sake, stop getting your panties in a twist!" Clifton growled: "So what if she outsmarted us once? She has no power anymore, and she knows nothing about this place. Besides, she's in our domain now, she can't get out. Did you idiots forget that we're the only ones with the override codes?"

This seemed to remind his friends, and they regained a little bit composure as their features relaxed. This wasn't the first time they had had a woman trapped her and became their mean of recreation anyway, so after just a minute or two of letting Clifton's words sink in, they had already kicked all the fears and worries off their systems. He's right. Hero or not, she's just a helpless girl at their mercy now. Her quick thinking might be able to save her once, but again? Fat chance! After all, they had had her outnumbered 5 to 1.

"We built this hunting ground, we set up every path and every corner of it!" Clifton spat out, his face split into a twisted grin as his eyes darkened with all sorts of filthy emotions swimming in the depth of them: "She wouldn't be able to escape."

He slowly stood up, and motioning the others to head out of the room and searched for the escaped girl.

"None could get away before, and this time will be just the same."

oOo

Stop. Don't breathe so hard. Don't make a sound.

That was what Raven had been muttering to herself, over and over until it seemed to have replaced her usual mantra. She was curling up in the hiding spot she came across along the way at the moment, with her knees close to her chest and her hands clutching the tablet right before her heart, resembling the posture of a fetus. Even through layers of clothes, she could still feel that her heart was pounding in her ribcage like thunder, as though it had fallen out of its holder and was now jumping frantically from place to place in her chest.

She bit her lips, the taste of salt entered her mouth. She was literally bathed in sweats from head to toes now, and the feeling of the prison uniform sticking to her skin while droplets after droplets of liquid running down her entire length was all but unpleasant. And just to make things worse, the orange material from which the clothes was made seemed to be water-proof, so the hot, sticky sweats had no way to infiltrate it, and was now forming a pool between her body and the clothes itself.

But she did her best to ignore her current state and remained in the same position. Only in here, they wouldn't be able to spot her.

Pushing a strand of violet hair behind her ears so that it would stop poking into her eyes and stung them with the salty sweats damping it, Raven kept her ears opened, trying to pick up any unusual sound. And her breath nearly frozen as her heart skipped a beat as the sound of footsteps as well as frustrating voice infiltrated her eardrums.

Calm down. Just calm down. They won't be able to get you as long as you're here.

She kept telling herself that, still, it wasn't enough to stop her muscles from tensing up and her breath from stop shaking. Her heart was practically screaming in her chest now, to the point that she was beginning to fear that it would give her location away and marked her doom.

The footsteps got closer, and closer. The voice was getting louder, and louder, and Raven could pick up traces of irritation and impatience lacing in each grunts and growls. They weren't happy upon her departure, not in the slightest. Her fingers dug into the metal frame of the tablet so hard that her nails started to ache.

Then, out of sudden, they stopped.

Right in front of where she lay hidden.

Raven swallow, hard. Butterflies began flapping their wings in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes grew to the size of tennis balls as her teeth sank into her lower lip.

She knew so well that it was impossible for them to figure out that she was here, but she couldn't stop the fear and worry from invading her mind.

Then, out of the blue, she heard voice. Loud and clear as daylight.

"Clifton, you're sure she's here, man. There just isn't any sign of her."

"She's a Titan, dumbass. You think she'd be so stupid and left her traces all over the place?"

Clifton?

Raven's brows knitted into a straight line. She knew this name, she had heard it somewhere before. A lot of times, actually. And… And that voice… It rang a bell too. The one that had just spoken, she knew him. He must be the one that she stole the tablet from, the only thug remained silent as they cornered her back there. This was why she didn't realize he was a familiar face in that very room.

But who could he be?

A villain holding a grudge against her?

Some sort of psychopath who had an unhealthy obsession with her?

Wait… Clifton?

Suddenly it all clicked into place, and Raven had to refrain herself from releasing a gasp out of shock as the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. That voice… Clifton… Clifton Moore… A young and respectful billionaire from a salient family in Jump. She had met him in person a few times before, back when she was forced to join some parties held by the mayor along with her team as they were the role models of the citizens and couldn't be absent from vital occasions.

How… how could it be him? Impossible, merely impossible…

The instinct of someone who always had to deal with mysteries kicked in, and all of the anxiety and fear rooting in her mind suddenly be flooded away by a strong wave of questions bursting into Raven's mind. It was like someone had just opened a door into her head and dumped them there. The dark girl took a deep breath, gathering her thought and did her best to rearrange them as an attempt to find the answers for the newfound information as well as this whole insane situation.

A seemingly elegant and polite gentleman turned out to be her crazy kidnapper who wanted to do unspeakable things to her? How could it be?

As the sorceress still busying digesting what she had just discovered, voices suddenly emitted again, right outside of her hiding place, disrupting her train of thought. Raven bit her tongue and hold her breath. The conversation outside, she needed to hear it. Everything was a mess right now, and she couldn't figure out anything at all. Perhaps whatever they said could give her a clue, letting her in on what the Hell was going on, and why she was locked here with a bunch of ill-minded maniacs.

Her expectations didn't fail her, and Raven's eyes nearly popped out of the sockets as the next words crawled into her ears.

"That little bitch, I bet she must be in a panic attack right now. Serve her right, always acts so high and mighty and looks down on all of us. Fuck, I wanna see her face when she finds out that we're behind everything so bad…"

It was like the sound of thunder striking down from above, piercing through her ears mercilessly.

So they were the cause behind her arrest? They were the ones that put her through all these miseries and pains right in the first place?

Fire of fury began burning in her vein, drowning her in unbearable wrath. At that moment, Raven yearned for nothing more than to springing up from her spot and strangle them one by one, satisfying her inner demons. But she knew that she couldn't, so she did her best to urge all of her muscles to stay still and avoid all the rash decision. She wasn't a fool. She was well aware that her power was gone now, and she didn't stand a single chance against a group of well-built men.

Raven took a deep breath, then repeated her mantra over and over in her head. She couldn't lose her self-control, this was the time that she needed it more than ever.

Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos

As her eyes reopened, the two violet orbs residing there again reflected nothing but utter calm and tranquility, just like her normal self, completely unfazed by any sort of chaos that might take place.

There was still a chance. She could take well use of this situation…

Raven's emotionless gaze fell on the tablet in her clutch.

There had to be one installed on it. Every modern device these day was paired with one right in the manufacture phrase

Her slender, pale fingers glided on the screen, until she reached the record application.

With determination dancing in her violet eyes, the girl licked her dry lips and pressed it.

oOo

Clifton took each step with caution, his eyes never stop darting around his surroundings as he tried his best to stay sharp. Despite talking big and being so full of himself, he was actually quite anxious about confronting a Titan head on, especially when he didn't know where she had run off to.

Fuck, only now did he start regretting the idea of making this whole place like a real hunting ground, lack of illumination and full with spots to hide. Even though that this kind of setting could double the fun and the thrill of chasing after the prey, it would only work if their target were normal, adequate, weak girls who was capable of nothing but sob their eyes out upon being taken to such a place. But a Titan? Not so likely.

Still, as he recalled the sight of her getting pushed into a corner, as she tried to stood her ground with her teeth gritted and her eyes shone like blazing flame, refusing to give up and subdue no matter what, excitement and eagerness began streaming within his vein, somewhat flooded away his apprehension. She was, indeed, a feisty one, a downright stubborn target that wouldn't go down without putting up a fight.

And… obviously, she was a delicious one too.

The prison uniform she had on was almost shapeless, but that didn't mean it managed to cover all her provocative curves. And as she walked, as she shifted around, as she made each movement, he could vaguely make out the enticing curves lay hidden underneath that annoying layer of clothes. Fuck! Those sweet curves, they were sending him on fire. Yeah… The body of someone who had just stepped through her teenage phrase, yet not mature enough to be called a woman… Like a fresh, juicy fruit just plucked from the branch… And the taste of that body, the taste of her, it would be heavenly. He was sure of that.

The hunger was getting harder to control, and Clifton couldn't help but fantasize the intimate moment going on between them as he finally caught her and ripped apart that hideous uniform, to finally feast his eyes on her innocent skin. He could already heard her scream for him… as he pushed her down… and slowly devoured her entirely…

His lips curved into a devious grin dripping with depravity, and a dark glint flashed across his eyes.

"Clifton, you're sure she's here, man. There just isn't any sign of her."

The voice of one of his companion emanated right from his left side, cutting his thought and ruining his sweet fantasy. Irritated, he turned to the young guy with a nervous expression spread on his decent-looking face, and coldly spat:

"She's a Titan, dumbass. You think she'd be so stupid and left her traces all over the place?"

For as long as they held this… annual cat-and-mouse game, these guys had been participating with him all along. A group of young billionaires from wealthy families hanging out with each other, all had a life immersed in so much fortune that they could practically have everything they wanted.

But then, you got the idea, gradually, their days began getting tedious. They never had to even try to achieve anything because all they needed were at their fingertips all along. So, they started seeking out new mean of entertainment as an attempt to stir up their seemingly monotonous life.

That was how this hunting trip came into existence.

At first, they just wanted to experience some thrill. Chasing some women around a place, cornering them, pushing them down onto the ground and fucking their brains out. That was just a game initially, and the ladies joined the game voluntarily as well.

Still, as days went by, such an orchestrating thing wasn't enough to satisfy them anymore. They wanted something more tempting, more dangerous, more engrossing, something that can send adrenaline running along their vein and filled their mind with utter intoxication.

So they lured a random girl here, with their reputation and appearance, it wasn't hard to find one, and forced her to join their sick game.

Then they realized that they had grown addicted to the sensations it brought.

So, in order not to provoke any suspicion, they had come to an agreement that only one hunt would be held each year. Just one girl each year, nothing more. It was quite easy to cover thing up, after all, they were all from Jump's most powerful and wealthiest families.

Still, as time flew by, they had lost interest in adequate women that could do nothing more than begging and crying and would end up getting found after 20 minutes at most. As a result, when an acquaintance of them called and asked them whether they wanted to have a Titan as their plaything or not, without hesitation, they agreed in a split second.

As a measure of caution, they had made up their mind that they wouldn't let her run off. But eventually, she did, and now, they were back where they were every time they joined a hunt: making their way through the dimly illuminated hallways, keeping an eye out for any sudden movement in the dark.

Needless to say, unlike the previous times, none of them could be at ease right now. Powerless or not, that girl was still a hero capable of kicking their ass in a fight. They couldn't be careless.

Another young man who was just a few inches behind Clifton chuckled, voice dripping with amusement. His eyes were shielded behind the glasses-like mask, but his hair, which was gelled into a strange shaped and dyed in a vibrant shade of green, the swaggering tone lingered in his voice as well as the way he kept prancing around were enough to tell a thing or two about his personality.

"Keep your voice down, Chaz! What if she hears us?"

Another man, with not-so-dazzling appearance elbowed him right in the forearm, signaling him to stay quiet. But Chaz wasn't one to follow order, he just let out a tsk sound, before picking up where he left:

"What? You really think she can put us behind bars now, Cole? Are you dumb or what? She's just a helpless chick running around blindly in the dark now. She can't get out! None could get out before, remember?"

"I know, I just think that…"

"Bla, bla, bla, I don't wanna hear it, OK?" Chaz intervened, chiding the other man as though he's all but a young child: "Jeez, Cole, will you just knock it off? Always "But we can get caught this" and "What if they find us" that. Look, we've been doing this like, I don't know, 6 years! That meant 6 whores went missing out there. And did anyone notice anything? No! So stop being a pussy, for Fuck's sake!"

"He's right." Clifton suddenly intervened, as though having grown sick and tired of his friends bickering around: "Besides, everybody believes that Titan bitch is guilty, even her stupid teammates. He wants us to take her out, so as long as we keep her here, nobody will suspect a single thing."

He paused for a while, before letting a twisted grin lit his face as his eyes were immersed in pure darkness:

"Just in time he needed to take care of some trash anyway. You think where did those corpses come from, huh? If this ever gets out, even he'll fall along with us. So don't worry, if we don't mess up, he'll make sure that all of this stay in the dark forever."

He went on and on with his reasons, as if trying to reassure his group that nothing dangerous would befall them, and they should all just cast aside all their worries and enjoy the fun like always.

Unbeknown to him, not far from where they were, a petite girl was curling up like a ball in her hiding spot, shaky fingers clutching the metallic tablet as her face turned birch white and her violet eyes reflected nothing but pure horror…

"Hey… Clifton. I remember that door was locked the last time we came here, right?"

Author's note: Yayyy, another chapter is done! Sorry for the long wait, guys, I have been pretty busy lately. You know, university life, not easy at all. But rest assured that I will not abandon the story if there're still people reading it.

Still, the next update might be a bit long as I haven't even thought about what to do with the next chapter yet :P. Do you want to read some more about Raven, or you want evil Robin to be on the stage?