Fan Fiction ❯ Nightwing: A Dark Beginning ❯ Confrontations Abound ( Chapter 13 )

I HAVE UPDATED!!! I know it's been a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time since I last updated, not much I could do about it. I'll try to get another one out before too long, but no promises. Hope everyone likes the newest installment. I'm still looking for artists to help out with some drawings of the characters. E-mail me if you want to help out.

 

Now onto thanking my reviewers. From Media Miner: Shirtlessguy; No shirt, no service man. I'll let it slide this time. I'm sorry for my grammar, I hated that subject in school and still do. I'm glad you like my twist. Randomravenfan; sorry for taking so long. Classes kinda got a little rough, okay they got a lot rough. Something does happen in this chapter, hope you like it. Lyncea; here is the update you've been waiting for girl. Some serious shit will go down in this chapter. Confrontation will abound, questions may be answered, and questions may be asked. Read to find out what the latest from my fucked up brain plays out as. Now for my Fan Fiction reviewers: HeWhoWalksTheEarth; sorry if it seems rushed, it's just how it plays out in my mind. I'm glad you like it though. Ssgohan79; you can review each chapter, including this one. The reason I snapped at you before was that you sent me 12 review in the same day that all said “great story update soon”. That's just kind of annoying is all. I like hearing from my loyal followers each time I have a new edition out there. So go ahead and review this one too. Lady of Faerie; yeah, I can only imagine the headlines the next day in the papers. I hope this chapter pleases you as much as the previous one. Cimple; I also hope to continue to kick the ass that I have so far. My writing has improved partly because I'm not using notepad and am now using Word I think. Dlsky; I know about having no time, believe me. I'm glad you like how the characters interact with each other. You'll see some interesting interactions in this chapter as well. Jax and Rich are both based on different aspects of my life, I can be both the fun-loving and laid back guy or the brooding and dark one. Remember, please drink responsibly. Kami-elf; dark+drama+action=good. I'll remember that. Nuttin2dowidit; I realize that Jax probably should have had his ass handed to him by his girlfriend, but I think it's funnier if he's forced to be a slave instead. Mainly because I've been there. “Sphincter-tightening adventure” is from the John Boy & Billy radio show, their “Married-Man” superhero segment. Thanks for the book idea though, might need to check into it. Luhism; here's the next chapter. Bloodendkiss; hate me all you want, but cliffhangers are essential to keep you coming back. Don't worry, I will finish the story eventually. It's nowhere near the end yet though. LM22102; if that was a compliment thanks, if not than screw you. I know it took a while, but here's the update. I'm glad you like my style, thanks. Tecna; I'm glad you were rendered unable to form complete and coherent sentences by reading my fic. Here's the last update which hopefully will have the same result.

 

Well, that's all my reviews. It's a little upsetting that I didn't get as many this time. Come one people, show me the love and get me motivated to write more. Now, enough of this crap and onto the story.

 

Disclaimer: I'm back in school so all money went towards the text books. This unfortunately included my funding that was to be used to buy the rights to the Teen Titans. However, if you would like to donate to the cause, then please feel free to send me money.

 

Chapter 13

 

The early morning rays of the sun began to warm the large T-shaped structure in the bay. The inhabitants of the building would soon be stirring. One-by-one they staggered into the main room and headed towards the kitchen. After each having their respective breakfasts, it was decided to check out the data disk supplied by Night.

Jax walked over to the computer and put the disk in. The computer began to spin and read it. The screen suddenly went blank and a blue firebird appeared. Next, a small window popped up and demanded the correct password or the data would be corrupted.

“Damn, he's way too paranoid,” remarked Cyborg.

“How are we supposed to know what the right password would be?” questioned Terra.

Jax just glanced over his shoulder at his teammates and smirked, “Oh ye of little faith.” He then turned back around and hit five keys on the keyboard. To the astonishment of everyone in the room, he'd just spelled out `RAVEN' and then hit the enter key.

“I'm his password?” Raven asked with astonishment.

“Yup, and Terra was mine.”

“What do you mean `was'?” demanded Terra.

“Well, all the passwords in the Tower are numeric, so I can't very well use your name. I use the date I first got a kiss from you.”

“Aww, that's so sweet.” Terra cooed as she hugged her boyfriend. “You're still not getting out of your enslavement.”

“Damn!” Jax muttered under his breath.

“Okay, back to the point here people,” admonished Cyborg.

“Right away, oh Metallic One,” Jax mocked with a fake salute. The action earned him a dual smack from both Cyborg and Terra. “Ow. What is this; beat on the new guy day?”

“Yes, you just missed the memo,” Raven said with a glare. “Now access the damn disk.”

“Yes ma'am.”

The Teen Titans poured over the information on the data disk. Their faces showed varying degrees of shock and amazement as they delved deeper and deeper into it. They were amazed at the vast amount of intelligence Night had gathered. Beast Boy and Starfire had even joined the others in looking at the computer screen. They finally made it to the last section of the disk, only to discover it was the HIVE students.

“Dude, that's like, so wrong.”

“I agree, boyfriend Beast Boy. Are they not supposed to have had their lives terminated by Nightwing?” questioned Starfire.

Raven just glared at the red-head.

“Okay, so what are we gonna do about this?” Jax asked as he spun around in the chair to face his teammates.

“What we always do with the bad guys; take them down,” replied Cyborg.

“Yeah, I might be the new guy but even I know that fact,” growled Jax. “I meant what exactly is the plan of attack?”

“We sneak in and take them down,” Cyborg said. “The diagrams Night supplied give us detailed routes into and out of the building.”

“Do you think we have enough power with the four of us to take them down?” questioned Terra.

“You mean the six of us,” objected Beast Boy. “I know we aren't on the best of terms, but you're gonna need some help for this one.”

All turned their eyes to Raven waiting for her reply. She narrowed her eyes at the green teen before responding with a venomous growl, “I don't like it, but you're right.” Raven then turned around and headed out of the room. “I'm going to my room to meditate.”

Once securely in her room, Raven ran over to her night table and picked up the mirror that was bonded to Rich's mind. She concentrated her energy and closed her eyes. Raven suddenly felt weightless and opened her eyes to find herself shrouded in darkness.

 

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Raven floated towards an object off in the distance. She realized that it was an ornate wooden door. It appeared to be a dark mahogany with intricate gothic designs carved into it. Raven studied the door, wondering if she should just try the handle or knock first. `Well, there isn't any kind of knocker so it looks like I check the handle.'

Raven stretched a pale and shaking hand outwards. Just as she was about to touch it, the door was jerked open with an incredible speed. Startled, Raven jumped back and into a fighting position.

“Relax, Raven. I'm not gonna hurt you,” came a smooth voice from inside.

Raven peered into the darkness and saw only the silhouette of a man. He stepped forward and revealed himself to be Nightwing, or at least the manifestation of the Nightwing persona. He stepped to the side and gestured for her to enter with his hand.

Raven stepped through the door and Nightwing closed it behind her. As she looked around, she realized she was in a large space. There were no walls or a ceiling. While it appeared that a floor did exist, there were no discernable lights present. This proved to be a puzzle to the young empath due to the fact that the area was brightly illuminated, but no shadows were cast from the figures in the room.

Raven couldn't help but smirk as she turned to face Nightwing. “I knew your head was empty but this is a little overboard isn't it?”

Nightwing crossed his arms over his chest and gave a scowl. “If I recall correctly from what Cyborg and BB told me about your mind; don't you have a realm where everything is pink and fuzzy?”

Raven growled at him. “Touche.”

Nightwing smirked and uncrossed his arms as he took a few steps towards Raven. “I'm glad you came alone. It gives me the chance to beg forgiveness without humiliating myself in front of the others.”

Nightwing then began to get down on his knees to start the begging process when Raven jumped forward and stopped him. “You're forgiven. I should have realized the inner turmoil you face is the same that I once had to deal with. I am curious to know how many personalities you have.”

Nightwing nodded. “Two exist; myself and Rich.” At the mention of Rich's name Nightwing bowed his head. “I haven't seen Rich since the incident in the Tower. It was the last step in our redemption, and he was crushed. I don't blame you, Rae. You had every right to react the way you did.”

While the guilt of having caused the rift between the personalities was weighing on her conscience, Raven felt lighter after he said he did not blame her.

“Well, I know you didn't come here to insult me so ask the questions already,” Nightwing gruffly stated.

Raven narrowed her eyes. “For someone who isn't mad at me you sure are mean.”

“Can't be helped, it's who I am. The Nightwing persona, yours truly, was created to be mean and ruthless. You've seen and experienced firsthand what I'm truly capable of. I just started to have a few of Rich's quirks rub off on me lately.”

Raven managed to hide the flinch from his harsh wording of what he was, but the hurt in her eyes didn't escape him. She glared at him as she began her interrogation. “So what is it you want from me? Was Rich just trying to get into my pants and you didn't want to wait anymore?”

Nightwing scoffed before turning away slightly. “First; you wear a leotard so there were no pants involved.” This earned him a growl. “Rich wanted the relationship, however he just wanted the emotional part of it. I'm the part of the mind that wants the physical interaction. He truly didn't want to get into your pants, as you put it, but I sure as Hell wasn't gonna pass up the chance I was offered.”

“You're a bastard.”

“Thanks for noticing. Don't get me wrong, I went about it the wrong way and it was very stupid of me. It's just hard to fight it when you don't have the emotional connection and only the lust part of love. Surely you can relate to one emotion not knowing how another works.”

Raven's face suddenly changed to one of shock and understanding. “So you're the dark side.”

Nightwing chuckled darkly. “Is this the point where I quote the movie and tell you `I'm your father' when we both know I finished him off?” He couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face. “To answer the question though; yes I am the darker side of his emotions and mind. I'm supposed to be the really violent side of him.”

“What do you mean `supposed to be'?”

“We're not a perfect split of good versus evil. There is some good in me, which can be brought out when needed; but there is also evil within him. I guess it just feels like if it came down to it, instead of joining together like we're supposed to be, we'll fight to the death and the end result won't be pretty.” He shook his head while he sighed after having admitted that.

Raven just stood there letting it all settle in. She had to get him out of this self-loathing funk he was in. “So to get back to what you said earlier; while Rich wants to marry me for the long-term commitment, you're the one who wants to marry me for the wedding night?”

Nightwing couldn't even hope to hide the startled look that flashed his face as he flushed red and took a jerking step backwards. “Wh-what?”

Raven covered her mouth with a hand as she smiled and giggled. “Sorry, couldn't help myself.”

Nightwing recovered and narrowed his masked eyes as he snarled at her. “I'd be careful what you do in here, Raven.”

“Why is that?” she asked; not being one to back down from a challenge.

“In here, I control everything. You may be able to use your powers, but in my mind I control the entire world around you.” To prove his point he shifted the blank scene around him to his room back at “The Pit.” “Recognize this place? It's where I attacked you. Maybe I should finish the job.”

Terror crossed the dark beauty's face as she backed up against a wall. The scene then reverted back to the void space as Nightwing grabbed his head and screamed at the top of his lungs. When he finished he fell to his knees and turned a tortured looking face upon her.

“I'm sorry, Raven. I let my temper get away from me again.”

She approached him carefully and knelt before him. “It's okay,” she said in a whisper. “I see it now. Without his influence you're too violent and uncontrollable. Without your influence . . . . . .” she trailed off.

Nightwing just nodded and spoke in a voice louder than she had. “Without me he's too weak.”

Raven could only nod in agreement. “So, do you promise not to molest me if I was to give you the hug that it looks like you need?”

Nightwing looked to be contemplating the act for a bit longer than Raven wanted to admit. He finally sighed and slumped down a bit. “I guess I can keep that promise.”

Raven was readying her fist to ram into his nose when she caught the slight smile; not a smirk but an actual smile. She smiled in return and embraced the personification of “evil” before her.

Nightwing tightened the embrace around the lithe figure in his arms. “I know it only sounds like I'm just physically attracted to you, but it's because I do share the love for you that makes me so infatuated with you,” he whispered in her ear.

Raven had to fight the shiver from going down her spine at hearing his words and feeling his warm breath on her ear. She pulled back from the hug a bit but didn't remove her arms from around his neck. She then surprised them both by closing in towards his face and kissing him.

Nightwing was shocked to say the least, but quickly overcame that and kissed Raven back.

The sweet and innocent kiss rapidly grew in intensity and heat. Their arms crushed their bodies together as their tongues wrestled for dominance, neither willing to submit to the other. The kiss lasted what seemed an eternity before Raven broke it in a desperate gasp for oxygen.

“Yeah, you're definitely more physical,” she breathlessly said.

Nightwing smirked as he brought them to their feet and broke the embrace. “Glad I could help. So now that we're on good terms again I'll try to find Rich and then next time hopefully everything will work out alright.”

“I hope so, I miss you.”

“Did you look at the data disk yet?”

Raven nodded. “We've developed a plan of attack for later tonight.” Raven then scowled. “The bastard and the whore are gonna be going with us tonight.”

Nightwing put his hands on Raven's shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Let it go, Raven. I've forgiven them, you shouldn't hold anything against them anyways.”

Raven glared back at him. “Of course I can hold it against them; they hurt you.”

“And thanks to them we're now together and I've grown more powerful than before. Where's the downside?”

Raven paused a minute to think about that. “You're right. What should we do with them? We were planning on sending them off to Tamaran.”

Nightwing shook his head. “Let them back on the team. You'll need them. I wouldn't go so far as to thank them for us being together, but you don't need to hate them anymore.”

Raven nodded and started to look at the ground.

Nightwing noticed her behavior immediately. “What else is wrong?”

Raven looked up with sad and worried eyes. “What if you come back and she tries to steal you away from me?”

Nightwing couldn't help it, he laughed harder than ever before. He wiped a tear from under his mask from the action. “For starters, I'm fiercely loyal so you don't need to worry about that at all. I also need my woman to be slightly deeper than a kiddy-pool.” This comment earned him a smirk and a chuckle as she put her arms around his neck again. “Well, that's what Rich needs. I need my woman to have some hellacious curves,” he said with a promising leer.

Raven narrowed her eyes. “Did you just call me fat?”

She wasn't fooling him though; he saw the amusement in eyes. “Absolutely,” he said with absolute seriousness with earned him a wide-eyed look from the purple-haired beauty. “So long as you're spelling that as `P.H.A.T.' that is.”

Raven chuckled again and gave him a brief kiss. “I should be going. I need to rest up for tonight's operation. I'd really like knowing you had our backs on this too.”

“You can count on it. Just have Jax, I mean Red X, send a signal and I'll get it.”

Raven nodded and headed towards the door. Nightwing opened it for her. Raven went up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I love you,” she said and then ran through the door and disappeared.

Nightwing closed the door and sighed. “I love you t-,” but he never finished. Out of the darkness, a metallic boot had smashed into the back of Nightwing's head and knocked him out cold. The dark figure then tied up and gagged the unconscious man. Once done, the dark figure stood and smiled evilly as he cracked his knuckles.

 

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The Teen Titans were doing their best to sneak into the base of Brother Blood's operation. They followed the blueprints and the map that Night had supplied to them. Red X had already sent the signal to Night, which meant the dark avenger should have been there to meet them. The fact that they were short one man for this plan didn't faze the Teen Titans as they continued on their way into the steel mill. They remained in the shadows as they surveyed the area in preparations for battle. They were able to determine that while Brother Blood did have a massive army of robots at his disposal, they were not all up and running yet from the last battle. He had only around a hundred of the Cyborg clones. There were also his three prized HIVE students and Brother Blood himself to contend with. Overall it wasn't the best situation in the world. They then prepared themselves for battle. Red X charged up his palm blasters. Terra's eyes and hands began to glow yellow. Cyborg transformed his arm into the sonic cannon. Beast Boy tensed and pictured the animals he'd form shortly, a gorilla at the top of that list. Starfire's eyes and hands began to glow green. Last was Raven whose eyes and hands took on their black aura as she began to chant under her breath. The teens all collectively drew in a deep breath and held it as they waited the signal.

“Titans, GO!” commanded Cyborg.

The charge was made. Terra ripped a boulder from the ground and flew into the air with Red X flying along side. Beast Boy morphed into the gorilla and roared as he rushed forward while Starfire flew above him yelling her own battle cry. Cyborg ran forward at full speed towards the drones with Raven flying just over his left shoulder.

The element of surprise had been with them and used perfectly. Before the drones had time to react or assume any formations they were struck down in great numbers. Several found themselves crushed under large boulders that were surrounded by a yellow glow. Near those were more drones that found a large `X' blasted through their torsos. In another area robots found themselves being ripped apart and their own limbs used as clubs by a large green gorilla. Surrounding the primate were robots blown apart by balls of pure green energy. Nearby to these two fight scenes was the third in which robots found themselves blown back and into pieces by a powerful blast of sonic energy. Next to these drones were others that were destroyed internally from a powerful black aura.

Brother Blood stood off away from the fight with his three students. “It would appear that the Titans have the upper hand. I don't know how they knew how to get in here or the fact that we weren't prepared for an attack, but see to it that they pay for it,” he said with a stern voice as he glared at the three figures before him.

“Yes sir,” chimed Jinx. “Consider them as good as beaten.”

“Those snot-lickers are toast,” sneered Gizmo.

Mammoth just smirked while cracking his knuckles.

The trio then dove for their targets. Jinx took Beast Boy and Starfire, Gizmo got Red X and Terra, and that left Cyborg and Raven for Mammoth. Jinx began hexing all the surrounding robot debris. This caused it to explode with incredible force. Starfire easily dodged the destruction by flying higher. Beast Boy was doing everything he could to avoid being hit. Because Jinx was moving too fast for him, Beast Boy didn't have time to think of something to transform into. The direct result of his indecision was a blast rocketing him into the air. Seeing her boyfriend blasted by the explosion sent Starfire into a quick descent to pick him up, which was Jinx's plan the whole time. As Starfire came close to the ground, she had just enough time to see the hex that Jinx had thrown hit a downed drone and explode it right into their faces. The couple were sent spiraling through the air and collided into an unused cauldron.

Gizmo was proving to be a true annoyance to Red X and Terra. His last blaster kept destroying the boulders that Terra threw at him. His jet pack kept him just ahead of all of Red X and his multiple attacks. Red X started with his palm blasters. These proved to be too readable as they shot straight out from his hands. He then switched to the X-blades, throwing them in wide arcs and formations as he tried to confuse the half-pint genius into making an error. Finally, Red X started to use the X-gels hoping he could hit some portion of Gizmo and slow him down just a little bit. The only thing all this did however was to make Red X grow tired. Terra was trying every trick she had. She would throw large boulders and then split them at the last minute into smaller rocks, this was countered by multiple lasers coming out of Gizmo's pack and blasting them away. Gizmo then pulled out a strange gun and managed to blast Red X with it; this in turn fried all of his systems and essentially turned him into a statue. Gizmo then swooped in and hit the armored hero into the blonde earth-mover and thus knocking them both unconscious.

Raven and Cyborg had their hands full with Mammoth. He used brute strength to smash anything that Raven was able to get her powers on and throw at him. This same method proved quite effective anytime Cyborg made a charge towards the hairy man. Every time Raven would just about have Mammoth completely distracted, Cyborg would go in swinging. This proved ineffective as Mammoth would spin around and deliver a crushing blow to the metal man. Raven picked up a few of the drones and began to hurl them towards Mammoth. Mammoth simply caught them and slung them around his body. His action sent the drones on a collision course with Raven too fast for her to respond. The end result was being launched towards a recovering Cyborg causing a head-on collision.

The HIVE students dragged the limp forms for the Teen Titans to the center of the room. The remaining drones, numbering only ten, circled around the heroes while the three students joined their master on the platform over them. The Teen Titans began to come out of their varying states of unconsciousness.

“Well, well, well. I'm quite surprised to see you here,” remarked Brother Blood. “I'm not sure how you got here, but I can assure you that you won't be leaving.” The drones all formed their sonic cannons and charged them to maximum power.

The Teen Titans didn't cower in fear. They stared down the barrels of their impending demise with faces of pure determination. It would be said this day that the Teen Titans went out fighting the good fight till the very end.

 

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A lone black figure sat upon the roof of the steel mill watching the battle before him. He'd been there since before the heroes made their entrance, but he remained in the shadows and kept the vigil over the scene. It wasn't until the Teen Titans were surrounded that he decided to make his move. The figure stood up and then leapt into the air. As he descended he kicked the glass window panes and shattered them, sending a shower of glass shards towards the unsuspecting crowd below him. While free-falling he reached over his shoulders to grip the stocks of twin Winchester Model 9410 Traditional shotguns (A/N: Chosen for the ability to hold 10 rounds each and have the cocking mechanism at the trigger like in Terminator 2). The dark figure landed and pulled the triggers on the shotguns, blasting away the heads of two of the drones.

It was after this impressive entrance that the figure was finally in enough light for the rest of the people in the room could see the new attacker. To the relief of the Teen Titans, it looked like Night had finally made it to the scene. It was puzzling though why his hair was pulled back into a low pony-tail and his signature trench coat wasn't around him, but it could easily be argued that the holsters on his back and the ammo belts around his chest prevented its use. This of course brought up the question of why did he have shotguns in the first place? In a move that showed his supreme skill with the deadly weapons, Night spun them on his fingers and cocked them for the next volley of shots. He turned to the right to blast a pair of drones who'd come too close to the heroes in the center of the circle for his liking and blasted their chests open. This sudden movement forced a collective gasp from the six Teen Titans. It was then that they realized that Night wasn't wearing his shades; Rich was the one in control tonight and he wasn't pulling any punches.

Two more bots began to fire at the disturbed young man, thus bringing his wrath down upon them. Rich flipped out of the way of the incoming blasts and launched himself into the air. From his vantage point above the scene he unloaded two more shots at the drones and spun the shotguns in his hands again. He landed on the shoulders of another two of the drones, forcing them to hit the ground hard face down. Rich placed the barrels of the guns to the back of their heads and pulled the triggers. The resulting explosion of metal and sparks gave an eerie glow to the powerful fighter's face. This left only two more of the robots left to deal with. As Rich had his back towards the offending drones, they charged him. The robots were almost upon the young man when he suddenly did a back flip over their heads. While in the air he yet again cocked his shotguns; he unloaded the blast into the backs of the drones when he came to a landing behind them.

`That's ten shots out of twenty. All the drones are gone. Just have to contend with those HIVE retards and their egomaniacal leader,' thought Rich. He spun the guns and chambered the next shell in each.

“What are you waiting for?” hollered Brother Blood. “Kill the bastard!”

The terrible trio charged the stranger before them. Gizmo flew forward using his jet pack. He readied several lasers in preparations of turning his opponent into Swiss cheese. As he rocketed towards the target Rich raised his firearms with blinding speed. Showing off his precision marksmanship skills, he blasted the front chest plate containing the controls to all of Gizmo's gear. The force of the shot spun the diminutive genius around giving the perfect opportunity for the second shotgun to take out the jet pack. The shots knocked the wind out of Gizmo before his face met a large cauldron rendering him unconscious.

Jinx was the next to try and take on the new-comer. As she ran forward and charged her hands in preparations for throwing her hex spells, Rich had already prepped his weapons for firing and was getting a lock on his next target. Jinx caught the sight of the raised guns just in time to see them both fire. She jumped and held her breath in anticipation of the searing pain that was to come. When it never came, Jinx glanced around and saw that the shotguns were aimed well over her head.

“What was that? A warning shot?” she sneered.

Rich smirked and spun the guns as he lowered them to his sides. He then glanced up and Jinx followed his eyes. Jinx went wide-eyed as she saw that he'd shot the drain valve on a large vat of water. The damaged unit suddenly ruptured and poured hundreds of gallons all at once upon the unsuspecting witch. The deluge of water hit with such strength it forced her to the ground and knocked her out cold.

Rich then turned his iced-blue eyes towards the towering behemoth whose name fit him well; Mammoth. “Come and get me, big fella.”

Mammoth charged Rich, whom simply jumped out of the way and onto a set of crates. Mammoth began to jump after the gun-toting maniac. Rich kept jumping higher and higher, with Mammoth following closely behind. Rich finally made it to a landing high above the floor of the mill. Mammoth soon landed a short distance away from Rich and began to crack his knuckles. Rich just smiled a sinister grin that made Mammoth stop in his tracks. He then raised the shotguns and pointed them off to the side and pulled the triggers. The spray of pellets destroyed the supports holding up the section of the landing Mammoth was standing on making it fall away. Mammoth fell to the ground, only having his fall broken by several wooden crates. The resulting concussion made him black out immediately.

Rich cocked the weapons and then leapt from the platform down to the crates. He had one more villain to take down.

Brother Blood saw the lone gunman leaping from crate to crate. He charged up his hands with his energy and began to blast away at the dark-clad figure. Rich kept leaping and dodging the attacks Brother Blood threw at him. In one final somersaulting leap he took a bead on Brother Blood and fired. Rich managed to successfully destroy Brother Blood's arms, thus ending his attack. As Rich came down into a landing he cocked the guns and stayed low to the ground, his next goal was in sight and he again fired his weapons only this time taking out the legs of his enemy.

Brother Blood screamed in tormented pain as he was rendered limb-from-limb. As his torso began to fall towards the ground, Rich did a spinning tornado kick to the robotic chest. The blow sent what was left of Brother Blood flying across the room into a computer consul and smashing it in the process. Brother Blood struggled to remain conscious. Rich stalked towards his prey slowly. He flipped the guns in his hands one last time. Rich stepped right in front of the prone form of Brother Blood and raised one of the guns. Instead of pulling the trigger, he swung it like his staff and pistol-whipped Brother Blood. The impact knocked him out completely.

Rich took a step back and surveyed the work he'd done tonight. `Not bad. I took out the major crime boss and his three main lackeys in one night. Of course he'll break out like always, and I'll be there to beat the ever-loving shit out of him.'

The Teen Titans were still stunned by the development of the night. Raven was the first to snap out of the stupor and she began to fly towards her boyfriend. She was not far from him when she finally called out to him. “Rich!”

Rich gritted his teeth and held onto his weapons with a vise-like grip. He could feel Raven as she came closer. At the last minute, he spun around and leveled one of the shotguns at her face.

Raven stopped dead in her tracks. She was staring down the barrel of a shotgun into the very cold and hate-filled eyes of Richard Grayson. Terror enveloped her very heart and soul at the look in his eyes.

“So do you still think I'm weak?” interrogated Rich.

Raven was puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

Rich sneered at her. “Don't fucking play with me! I saw you come into my mind. I watched you chat with him. I heard you agree with him that I'm weak. I watched you hug him. Then you kissed him and told him you loved him. I saved you from him and you fell in love with him. You're just a whore like Starfire.”

Raven shook her head adamantly. “No, you misunderstood. It's not like tha-.”

“Shut the Hell up, bitch! I'm gonna take care of you and the rest of those damn Teen Titans and then I'll rid myself of that annoying Nightwing. I'll rebuild Slade's empire and take over the world.” Rich smirked now. “Well, at least you can die knowing that you helped create a very powerful fighter and future world ruler.”

Rich glanced out of the corners of his eyes to see the shocked and horrified faces of the rest of the Teen Titans. He then glanced back to Raven. “I'll see you in Hell, Raven.” Rich then did the one thing no one thought he'd ever do, he pulled the trigger on his girlfriend . . . . . . . . .

 

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Jacketslacker: Oh my GOD!!! That has to be the world's most evil cliffhanger ever. However, if you pay close attention to the chapter, you'll be able to tell what is gonna happen in the next one. I don't want any flames because of that last part. It's essential to the story and will play a HUGE part. I don't know when the next time I update will be. Maybe if I'm lucky it will be before Thanksgiving. Don't hold your breath kids. I wish I could have more time for writing, but school is majorly kicking my ass. It's what happens when you make it to your final year in Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. Well, until next time. Please review, it lets me know people still want to read this thing. If you've reviewed before, please review again. I like repeat customers.