The sun continued to rise over the horizon. What should have been the perfect start to a new day and a new beginning took a quick turn for the worse. It was shaping up to be a new nightmare instead.
Terra and Raven stared at Slade and their expressions grew intense. Resentment and rage radiated from both of them. Slade stood with his hands folded behind his back and stared right back at them with no signs of remorse or sympathy.
"What? Am I not allowed to say 'hello' to my former allies?" Slade sneered sarcastically.
"I was never your ally," Raven spat back with force.
"Raven... How could you say such a thing?" Slade tilted his head forward making his glare feel more direct, "I was practically your uncle for a time..."
"Shut up!" Raven shouted as she stood to her feet. Her anger grew more intense and her eyes began to glow as her aura fumed with dark energy. She moved in between Terra and Slade as if defending her from him.
Terra watched their engagement with confusion. She still didn't know the details of what happened between them. Let alone the story of Trigon being Raven's father.
Slade didn't flinch. He stood his ground like a mountain. The confidence coming from his demeanor was unsettling.
Raven watched him closely. She didn't know what he had planned or how he was going to fight but she knew he was someone she couldn't underestimate.
"What are you planning? What do you want?" Raven demanded answers.
"She didn't tell you?" Slade said turning his gaze to Terra. He then looked back at Raven and squint his one eye with an evil essence, "I want revenge. I want to make all of you suffer the way I suffered."
Raven had heard enough. She raised her hand at Slade. Her hand then surrounded itself in dark energy.
"Please..." He mocked as if she was no threat, "I know better than to fight a girl more powerful than evil itself..."
"Then this should be over quickly," Raven said with anger, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
Silence surrounded them.
The air stood still. It was a cold and ominous. The glow in her eyes faded and the dark energy around her vanished. Nothing happened. Not a single thing happened to Slade. As if her words meant nothing and fell on deaf ears.
Raven gasped in shock. Her expression turned to worry as she slowly began to panic.
"A little lesson I learned from your father," Slade said confidently, "if you're going to take on an interdimensional demon... you're going to need some protection." He raised his right hand from behind his back to reveal a ring that had a white glow emitting from strange letters engraved on it. The glow faded, revealing the ancient text clearly and he continued to boast in his confidence, "or rather... the daughter of one."
Terra gasped when she heard this. She looked up at Raven as if staring at the most famous person in the world. She now understood why Raven could sympathize with her. She was the product of evil itself... but Raven herself wasn't evil at all. Terra could only imagine the things that Raven was capable of and the things she had done even if she didn't want to do them. Just like her.
"A ring of Azar?" Raven asked even more confused now, "that only works for him. It shouldn't have any affect on-" Raven was interrupted as if Slade knew what she was going to ask.
"Oh come now... Do you think I was on vacation the whole time you were fighting the Brotherhood of Evil? I spent months studying the ancient texts left behind by the Order of Scath. They created the ring of Azar to protect themselves from Trigon's wrath," he shifted his gaze to his raised hand where the ring shined in the morning sun, "with some alterations to their spells and enchantments I created a ring to protect me from something even more powerful."
Raven changed her stance getting ready to run as Terra stood up behind her. They were not in a good position and she knew it. Sweat began to roll down her temple from under her hood.
"I'm curious though..." Slade continued, "what would happen if the person this ring was made for... wore it herself?"
Immediately following his words red eyes lit up on the ground below the girls and a hand made of very the dirt that they stood on shot up from underneath them holding a steel collar.
Raven gasped in horror as the collar approached her neck too fast for her to react. But the hand made of dirt stopped in its tracks just before it reached her. It was shaking with the collar in its grasp as if fighting an unseen force holding it back.
Raven's jaw dropped and she spun around to see Terra with her one good hand glowing yellow. It was raised towards the creature made of dirt as if she were commanding it to stop in its tracks. She was groaning as she strained to use her power with only one hand but it was just enough to stop the omnidroid from competing its task.
Raven wasted no time in seeing her efforts and began to surround the two of them in dark energy to teleport back to the Tower. As the dark energy surrounded them it seemed like they were going to make it out safely. It seemed like everything was going to be ok...
But as if reaching into the void, Slade's hand shot through the darkness. His ring left him unaffected by her power. He grabbed Raven's hood, pulling her out of her dark energy just before they were teleported.
"RAVEN!" Terra screamed as the dark enery continued to surround her. With a hand outstretched to her as if trying to catch Raven before she disappeared forever, Terra watched as her new friend that she made a very close bond with vanish from the small orb of darkness that was surrounding them.
When the dark energy faded around her she found herself standing in the living area of the Tower. The sun shined through the windows lighting up the room. The tv remained on from earlier that night. But now it was playing early morning programs for people getting ready for their early start to the day.
Terra's eyes darted around the room in confusion. When she finally realized where she was her face went pale with panic.
"Raven?" Terra asked the empty room. She was wondering if she made it back with her, "Raven?!" No answer came. Her eyes began to water. She was left all alone once again.
Terra fell to her knees and began to cry. Even when she had control of her powers people close to her still ended up in danger. They still ended up suffering. She couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to live in this world. A world filled with cruelty. Cruel enough to torture a kind and gentle soul for loving her. Curel enough to force young girls to do unspeakable things against thier will. A world filled with endless struggle.
"We have to use that struggle to give our new lives purpose."
Ravens words came back to Terra. She lifted her head up as her tears continued to pour out of her. Her blood began to boil with rage. She found a new purpose. Terra would put a stop to the cruelty. She would ensure no one has to suffer the she and her two closest friends have.
Terra stood and began running to the door to the hallway but before she got to the door it slid open as Robin was walking into the living area. He wore his sweat pants and hoodie with, of course, his mask. He was just about to head out for his morning run.
"Robin!" Terra shouted sliding to a stop in front of him, "we need to go! We have to save her!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Robin said with his hands raised. His eyes went wide after seeing Terra in such an dramatic state, "slow down. Who do we have to save?"
Terra went silent and stared deep into Robin's eyes as if telling him telepathically. Robin looked back into Terra's eyes and his concern began to grow. He looked around the room as if hoping beyond hope he was wrong in his assumption. The room was still and silent except for the tv continuing its morning program. When he didn't find what he was looking for his jaw dropped and he spun from Terra running back into the hallway. He pulled his communicator out and hit the distress alarm, alerting the other Titans.
Terra's anxiety grew more intense. Her thoughts were running wild and they just wouldn't stop flooding her mind. It bothered her so much she began pacing in the living area not knowing what else to do.
Starfire and Cybrog came rushing into the living area where they found Terra pacing back and forth. Terra's head shot over towards them and her face said it all for the two Titans. When they didn't see Raven they got worried and Robin was nowhere to be seen. They started to wonder what this was all about. All they knew was something serious had just happened.
"Where's Robin?" Cyborg asked sharply.
"Right here!" Robin shouted behind him as he came running into the living area behind them. He had his usual uniform on now, "Cyborg look up Raven's communicator location!"
"On it," Cyborg rushed over to the computer and started tracking down Raven's location.
"Robin?" Starfire said shyly, "why must Cyborg locate Raven? Should she not be here, with us?"
Robin looked at Terra with a serious expression, "tell us what happened. Where is Raven?"
Terra looked back at Robin with her tongue tied. She was so stressed words just couldn't form sentences for her.
"I... uh... I..." Terra stammered.
"We don't have time for this! What happened?!" Robin's voice was growing fierce.
Terra's fear of Robin jolted her mind and kick-started her story.
"Slade!" She finally got the words out, "he-he came out of no where! He had this... this thing!" She tripped over her words from speaking quickly, "it stopped Raven from using her powers on him! He even reached right through her power when she was teleporting us and pulled her out of it! Next thing I know I was here and she was... she was gone!" Terra was trembling. She had no idea what was going on or what Slade wanted with her.
Starfire gasped. This was terrible news. How could Raven... The same Raven who over powered the embodiment of evil... Have her powers halted. What could possibly do that to her?
"Oh..." Starfire trembled, "I fear our friend needs our assistance."
"Don't worry as soon as we know where she-" Robin stopped short when Cyborg spoke up.
"Uh... Are you sure?" He pointed to the giant screen in front of them, "this says she's right outside the Tower."
A puzzled look came over all the Titans and they started looking to each other wondering what on Earth was going on. The door bell rang through the Tower and they all stared at the door.
"Someone must have stolen her communicator," Robin said angrily. He turned his head slightly towards the team and uttered an order under his breath in a grim tone, "let's give 'em a warm welcome."
Robin drew his staff as Starfire began floating with starbolts in her hands and Cryborg readied his sonic cannon. Terra stood behind them ready to help however she could.
They rushed to the door and opened it quickly with a loud intimidating shout. However, they all stopped in their tracks when they instead found Raven standing on the other side of the door. All their eyes went wide and their faces were blank with a massive look of confusion.
Raven's robe was tattered and torn in a few places and dirt splotches covered her face and body. She obviously looked like she'd been through a lot. But one thing they noticed wasn't normal was the collar around her neck. It was like a steel collar the police put around crazed villains to restrain them in prison but it had strange letters around it. Written in a language none of the Titans could read.
Raven had a painful look of frustration on her face and she looked to all the others as her eyebrow twitched.
"Will someone please... GET. THIS. THING. OFF ME."