Dwyr Budr (Teen Titans) (Feedback positively encouraged!)

[Matt A]

Hi, this is my first attempt at writing a Teen Titans story. It could be quite interesting, seeing as I've only ever seen one episode of the show ("Date With Destiny", to be exact), but I happened to have fallen in love with it enough to want to write something about it. I've tried to read pretty much everything Teen Titans related on this form and the World's Finest site in general, so I hope I know enough to be getting on with, but if I happen to get any facts wrong, mixed-up or just plain contradicted then please let me know. Either way, have a read of the prologue and tell me what you think.

(Note: I offer my humble apologies to whoever wrote the story about Raven & Luke, as it may seem like I've nicked their idea, but it's genuinely pure coincidence!)

(Other Note: There's a small game being played here with the name of the story and the chapters. Whoever figures it out first may have to get some sort of prize...)

Anyway, without further ado, I offer you the start of my (hopefully) epic work, Dwyr Budr...



Prologue: Forever

It’s a wonderful day. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the cooling breeze is just cooling enough to be effective without being annoying. The mountains might be in summer rather than in snow, but the view over the Mediterranean plains is still jaw dropping, and the church on top of the highest mountain is the kind of small white brick building that is pretty enough to complement the view rather than compete with it. The church and the grounds surrounding it are a little on the run-down side, but in the strange way that is unique to this region this only adds to the prettiness. Anyway, the current visitor to this little-known monument wouldn’t have it any other way.

Watch her drive up the narrow, rocky mountain track in her open-top rented Porsche, sending stones flying in the kind of devil-may-care manner that suggests that she’s actually got a lot on her mind. Watch her pull up the church, careful not to let any dust get kicked up onto its pretty façade. Watch her get out of the car, sporting the straw hat, silk scarf and satin summer dress typical of any wannabe Continental touriste. Watch her ditch the hat and scarf on the back seat and put on a purple cloak that she’s taken out of the boot with an almost disturbing reverence. Watch her walk round the side of the church into the overgrown cemetery, stopping at a modest gravestone overlooking the valley. Watch her clean the gravestone and the area around it with a lover’s caress. Watch her sit down on the grass, facing the gravestone, and take a pack of cards out her pocket. Watch her play a card game so utterly incomprehensible that she had to have been taught it at some point long ago.

Pilgrimage isn’t quite the right word, but it’s the first one that springs to mind.

This middle-aged woman finishes playing her card game, and places the pack on a spot of grass in front of the gravestone, a spot of grass that has a few bits of soggy cardboard lying on it, one piece looking remarkably like a red diamond. This woman then does something that she doesn’t tend to do often: in fact, she only ever seems to do it when she comes here each year. It may seem like a strange thing to do, but, when considering the circumstances, it’s actually quite fitting.

She cries her poor little heart out.

[rrarbecy]

Wow.

[Crowgirl]

Cool!!!

[oneeyemonkeypie]

hey, this is confusing!
and thats my story.
so seeing as how this is like what i writed, lemee guess whats going on

DONT READ THIS IT MIGHT SPOIL THE SURPRISE!!!


ok, so the girl isn't raven, right? it is the future and she is at raven's grave. Raven was her mother, and you will go into the past and tell us of how raven met some guy and had a kid.


Did I get it? even if thats it, it is a good story. and well written.

[Adrastea]

Y'know, even if SOMEONE ruined the story, i'd still like to read the rest of it, sounds good.

plus, every time i read your signature, I will smile. I liked that movie a lot.

[oneeyemonkeypie]

ya, funny. Plus i loved these lyrics. I remember half the first chorus, do you know it?

its like
queen and country safe and sound
with villains 6 feet underground
and no-one knows cause no-one's found
(forget this line)
so watch out for a
man of all seasons...and then it's like the other one.
WHATS THAT LINE?!?! ARGGGH!

anyways, I like this. For some reason, I have no objetion to any TT relationships, except that I dislike the R/S one. Hmm.
WRTIE MORE!

[Matt A]

Thankyou, your reactions were much better than I expected!

Sorry to dissapoint you, onemonkeypie, but the girl visiting the grave IS actually supposed to be Raven (albeit more grown-up and "moderate", if you see what I mean). The story that I'm going to tell you the relationship between her and the man in the grave, and exactly how things got to the stage that you just saw. Anyway, the symbolic wearing of the purple cloak was to show that, even though Raven has long since left the Titans, she's prepared to go back to it for the sake of the man she loved. I'm also amazed to see that no one commented on the cards, but in case you were wondering what that was all about then you'll find out in due course...

I only realised this morning that I'm much further behind on my college work than I thought, so I probably won't be able to post anything new today. Even so, I'll try and get the next chapter to you as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I'll see if I can get Welshie to write anything more!

[moro loci]

Dude, your story so far is kool. write more, i'm enjoyin this. :D

[Matt A]

Dudes, you're in luck! It turns out that the work I needed to do today can't actually be done today since I don't the information that I need. So I decided to write the next chapter instead.

It proably isn't the greatest thing that I've ever written, as the mechanics of the plot meant that there was quite a lot that needed to be explained and described very quickly. As a result, my usual carefully cultivated descriptions have fallen by the wayside a little bit, but hopefully what I have written is good enough to please you all. If not, then feel free to berate me endlessly until I comed out with something more to your tastes.

Either way, have a butchers and tell me if it passes muster.



Chapter One: Shadows

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, one eye opened. One it had taken stock of its surroundings and sent the necessary messages to the brain that owned it, the other eye instantly snapped open. With both eyes working fully, the brain could tell exactly what was going on, and thankfully the world was as normal. Raven got out of bed with her usual lack of flourish, showered, dressed and then went to the lounge to get some breakfast.

It was about an hour or so before the others would even consider getting up, so everything in the Tower was nice and quiet, with no one to disturb the comforting silence. Raven poured herself a cup of coffee and sat by the window, watching the sun rise over Jump City. The view was as wonderful as it always was, but she couldn’t help wondering yet again why Jump City was so called: it was a pretty strange name to use, but, then again, at least it wasn’t called Nether Wallop or anything like that. Anyway, no one else seemed to know either, so there wasn’t much point in wondering.

Suddenly, the crime detection alarm went off, filling the lounge with bright red light. Raven swore, angry that her plans for a relaxing day off had just been ruined, but before she could compose herself the other Titans burst in. Considering that the alarm had woken them up, they all looked remarkably awake. Once they were all sat down, details of the current criminal incident appeared on the TV screen: it was an armed robbery at one of the major banks in Downtown.

Robin laughed. “A bank robbery?”

Cyborg laughed too. “Yep.”

You mean that someone’s stupid enough to try that? I thought we’d made sure that petty crooks were too scared to operate here?"

Cyborg’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Unless it’s Slade…”

“No, that’s not his style. Even Slade wouldn’t try something so basic as this. I think we are actually dealing with a proper bunch of idiots here.”

Starfire suddenly piped up. “Are we not forgetting something here?"

Robin looked at her. “Forgetting what?”

“This robbery should be stopped, whoever is behind it.”

“Um, good point. Lets go.”

Ten minutes later, the Titans arrived at the scene. The bank in question, the First International, faced a large square, and that square was currently swarming with cops and cop cars, all looking rather unsure of what to do. Robin strode up to the commander.

“Right, what’s going on and how can we help?”

However, before the commander could answer a body flew through the front door of the bank and rolled down the steps, only coming to a stop when it one of the cop cars. The body was clearly a deceased one.

The commander’s face darkened. “That was one of the hostages.”

“Hostages?”

“Yes. There’s about ten men in the bank, holding fifteen staff and customers at gunpoint. We were in the process of trying to open negotiations, but I don’t think that a robber who kills a hostage within the first half hour of a siege can be negotiated with. But, seeing as you’re now here, I think that you can try sort this mess out.”

Robin thought quickly. “Okay, order your men out of the area.”

“What?!"

“Yeah, I know that sounds strange, but I know what I’m doing.”

The commander bristled, but he knew better than to tell the Teen Titans where to shove it. “Alright. I’ll do it, but I want it to go on record that I don’t like it.”


It was about twelve hours later. Night had only just descended over Jump City, and the square was now only occupied by the five Titans. Nothing had been seen or heard from the robbers since the cops had left, but it still took them nearly half a day to pluck up the courage to leave the bank.

A truck drove into the square at high speed, stopping quickly right at the bottom of the steps. The ten masked, armed men came out of the front door in single file, each one of them holding a hostage, and they walked down the steps towards the truck. The robbers climbed into the back, making sure that the hostages came with them and that the Titans were aware of this.

However, they weren’t worried. As the truck drove off, Raven conjured up ten small balls of black energy, flinging them at high speed into the engine and the wheels. The truck stopped forever just at the edge of the square, only to be swarmed over by the many cops who had been hiding out of sight. The hostages were taken to hospital for checkups, and the robbers were taken to the station for booking.

All except one, though. One masked man was still standing in the entrance to the bank, with the crossed arms and tapping foot that are indicative of someone’s impatience. The Titans pulled closer together, ready for the fight that was inevitably to come. However, something unexpected happened.

Five blinding flashes of light and five deafening bangs came from the direction of the man. Thankfully, however surprised the Titans were, they were still alert enough to dodge the five bullets that smacked into the ground, spraying flakes of stone all over the shop. Seeing that he had missed, the man ran round the side of the bank and down a side street, the Titans in hot pursuit.

However, the chase didn’t last long. The street ended after five hundred metres in a small square, the kind of space that it is simply an empty area between various buildings. As a result, the only exit was the side street that they had just run down, and so there was no choice for the man to but fight his way past the Titans. The five of them slowly surrounded him, ready to give him a quick and easy pummelling.

Years later, when asked about the ensuing fight, the only thing that any of the Titans could remember was the man’s speed. Whenever any of them made a move, he would instantly be there to counter it and fling them into a wall. If two or more of them attacked at once, he would somehow be able to turn the tables on all of them in an instant. Any projectiles that were sent his way, be they Starfire’s green bolts, Cyborg’s sonic cannon or whatever else they could shoot/throw, would be dodged so effortlessly that might as well have been shot in the opposite direction. Even when Beast Boy did his turning-into-a-fifty-foot-tall-dinosaur trick, the man simply dodged his huge blows and returned the favour with a punch that put him through a building.

Finally, after spending what felt like a lifetime being hammered by a masked man who wasn’t even breaking into a sweat, Robin managed to get a hit in. The man fell disturbingly easily, but by that point Robin was too angry to care: he simply forced the man onto his back and knelt on his chest. However, before Robin could start interrogating him, the man headbutted him and left him sprawling on the ground. The other Titans ran over from wherever they had been thrown to earlier and helped Robin onto his feet.

It was at that point that they noticed something strange: even though the square had been blocked off by fallen rubble, and so making sure that there was no possible way of leaving it, the man had still managed to vanish into thin air.

[rrarbecy]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmoooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[moro loci]

oooo oooo ooooo ooooo, keep goin :anime:

[oneeyemonkeypie]

hmm, I never though Raven would need to rent a car.

[Rae]

Cool!

[starburn1116]

that was really really good

[Adrastea]

HM, i definatly like it.
One question though (and this isn't something just in this fic, it's everywhere), when the Titans are chasing a villain, if raven can enclose people in her dark energy forcefields, why doesn't she immomilize them from running in one?
I've always wondered that....

[oneeyemonkeypie]

see, now I'm upset, for 2 reasons.
!. you broke up the titans. Why? Why does author do that when they want to get someone's attention?
2. No matter what happens, we know this story has a depressing ending, cause Raven will be interested in someone and he will die.

I like it so far, but I have to ask. Are we guaranteed a sad ending (breakup of titans and death of guy) or might you twist it around into a happy tale? Raven gets enough sad stuff as it is.

[Matt A]

Again, that reaction was much better than I had been expecting, so thankyou all very, very much! I'll try and get the next chapter to you as soon as I can, maybe within the next day or two.


I'd also like to take the time to reassure onemonkeypie on a few points:

1. I'm not trying to "break up" the Titans, and nor is it my intention to ever do so. The primary unwritten rule of all cartoon series is that each episode ends with the heroes and villains in exactly the same state as they were at the beginning, and to mess with that rule would be morally unacceptable. So, don't worry about that, the Teen Titans are perfectly safe in my hands...I hope.
2. Yes, I can pretty much guarantee that this story will have a sad ending, but it will be sad in a very cathartic, uplifting kind of way (watch Kill Bill vol. 2 if you aren't sure exactly what I'm talking about). Besides, the whole tragic nature of Raven's character (i.e. being happy will result in people possibly getting killed) means that misery tends to stick to her like feathers and tar to a drunk man.


If those two points particularly spoilt the plot for you, then I apologise, but I felt that it was important to resolve those two problems before they actually become problems (if you see what I mean).


Oh, and one more thing. I've been reading various other threads on here, and, well, don't take this personally rrarbecy, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't put your political views across here, thank you very much. I don't particularly want to see a man as obviously corrupt, incompetent and dangerous as Bush being championed by anyone, let alone one of us.


In the meantime, feel free to talk amongst yourselves until I get the next chapter written and posted. See y'all later!

[oneeyemonkeypie]

OOoo. *distant chanting*
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT...

j/k.

OK, the titans are together. good. I'm still bummed that this story is gonna have a sad ending. I mean, I know they can be well done and all (like cowboy bebop), but the titans just dont seem like a sad ending kinda show.
And you're right, misery tends to stick to Raven, which is why I try to put her in happy situations whenever I can.
Oh well, your fic. Keep going!

[rrarbecy]

Thems fightin' words buddy. You have no idea what I'm capable of. :evil:
(I am of course talking about Welshi's Mate)

[rrarbecy]

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
Come on people. Give me a break. Please!
I thought we agreed not to talk about this.

[raven54]

OK. I may not agree/like bush, but he's not THAT BAD... is he? well... yeah. but i will only smile at this, no commentary.
I don't particularly want to see a man as obviously corrupt, incompetent and dangerous as Bush being championed by anyone, let alone one of us.
:D
tho rrarbecy can express what he wants. so you can't tell him not to. rrarbecy, could you tell me me why you support him, though? i'm curious.

[oneeyemonkeypie]

Rrarbecy is right, politics generate too many arguments. We all need to settle down and chill out.

Don't make me make you all eat my special brownies, then you'll be super chill.:D

[rrarbecy]

I'm shaking in my little spaceboots.

[Sproxie]

ummm.......
ANYWAY keep writing!

[oneeyemonkeypie]

ya, you probably wouldn't get that until you've gone to a few highschool parties.
;)

[Sproxie]

Me???
if so, i was questioning your evil-sounding brownies...

[Adrastea]

Ah, i love my system of dealing with politics. I have my oppinions. They are my business. You have your opinions. They are your business. I will not try to convert you, please do not do the same to me. That way, I avoid almost all arguments, and lead a peacful, death-threat free life.

[oneeyemonkeypie]

Yeah. Hmm, lets see...what do people put in brownies that makes you really chilled out?

(COME ON!!! If I made it any more obvious they'd arrest me!)

[Sproxie]

:eek:
u know, i USED to think you were normal.....

:D

[Matt A]

Oops! I hadn't meant my warning to be that offensive, so sorry. I only wanted to head off any political debates before they sprung up, as that kind of thing would both keep me distracted forever and make me VERY unpopular. Evidently, I've just managed to fail in both points spectacularly, so, once again, I apologise profusely and with my tail cemented firmly between my legs. Could we please have no more political debates, or else I might say something that'll get me kicked off the site, and that's the last thing I want.

I haven't had time to write any more of the story just yet, but with a little bit of luck you may have something by tommorrow night. I'm not promising anything, though, so don't get your hopes up.

So, sorry for being so rude earlier on, and I'll do my best to keep my posts neutral. See y'all later!


(Note to onemonkeypie: your special brownies actually sound quite nice. Could you send me some?

(Note to DEA: please don't bust my ass for saying that! Please?)

[oneeyemonkeypie]

ugh.

OK, heres the secret ingredient to my soecial brownies.

D...R...U...G...S!


I wont say which ones, but its definately illegal. Hippies used to make them.

Honestly, I thought one of you was cultured enough to get that one:sweat:

[rrarbecy]

What does Dwyr Budr mean anyway.

Oh, and I knew it was drugs in the brownies.;)

[Matt A]

Finally, someone asked the question that I've been waiting three days for! "Dwyr budr" is Welsh for "dirty water", which I thought would be quite appropriate for the very moody and morally unpleasant direction this story is going to take.

It's also part of the game that I said I was playing right at the start. The title of the story and the chapter names are all linked, and it'd be cool if somebody could figure it out. It's not that cryptic, but some specialist knowledge may be required.

I'll get to work on the next chapter and post it to you as soon as I can.

[Sproxie]

ugh.

OK, heres the secret ingredient to my soecial brownies.

D...R...U...G...S!


I wont say which ones, but its definately illegal. Hippies used to make them.

Honestly, I thought one of you was cultured enough to get that one:sweat:
i got it, but i didnt know i was supposed to say what i thought was in the brownies. :shrug:

[Adrastea]

YAY!!!
I so knew that the name was welsh in some way, I just didn't say so, cause then I'd look like a know it all, and I have enough trouble with that at school...
Cool!!

[Lord Welshi]

I'm liking this story. Tis good, intriguing, and the plot looks like it could go far....

By the way, like the welsh:D

[Crowgirl]

This has great potential, please write more soon!

Am I the only New Englander here? Seems like it to me.

[Matt A]

I'm liking this story. Tis good, intriguing, and the plot looks like it could go far....

By the way, like the welsh:D
Cheers Welshie, I knew you'd appreciate it!:D

Progress Report: I'm currently two-thirds of the way through the next chapter, and unless anything drastic happens it'll be on here by tommorrow morning at the very latest.

By the way, never ever be afraid to criticise anything I've done. Praise is more pleasing, but criticism is more useful, as they say. But don't just pan my work out of hand: if something needs improving, then say so, as long as you can give me some idea of how to go about it.

(Yay, Lord Welshie likes my story!)

[Matt A]

The new chapter is finally here!

Sorry it took so long, but I didn't have time to finish it last night, and couldn't do it this morning because I wasn't actually awake this morning!

Anyway, here's the next part of the story: read, (hopefully) enjoy and comment...



Chapter Two: Midnight

Quite simply, the Titans were in a state of shock. They were sitting in the lounge, not daring to speak or even look at each other. None of them even wanted to turn on the lights or cook some food, but if they noticed that they were hungry and sat in the dark then they obviously wouldn’t want to mention that either. They were all filled with a monumental sense of self-loathing: they had never been defeated so easily before. Even on the few past occasions where an opponent had got the better of them, it was always after a protracted and even-sided fight. The way the man acted, they might as well have been snails, not world-famous crime busters. Either they had found a new, immeasurably deadly opponent, or they had suddenly become useless without even realising it: neither possibility gave much comfort.

After two hours, Beast Boy finally had the courage to break the silence. “Oh man, this is bollocks. What the hell is going on?!”

Raven sighed. “I don’t know. Do any of us know, really?”

The team shook their heads dumbly, except for Robin, who still looked like he was in a waking coma. Strangely, no one seemed to notice.

Cyborg held his head in his hands. “Whoever that man is, he’s someone we haven’t met before. No one we know could run rings round us that easily.”

Finally, the Unspeakable had been Spoken. The team were silent for a few seconds whilst they thought about this.

“But surely a man that talented would have come to our attention before?” Starfire asked.

“Not if he only recently acquired those powers. Or he could simply be very good at hiding them.” Raven replied.

“But if he was, why would he expose himself by committing something as simple as a bank robbery?” Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg glared at him. “Maybe he just needed some cash."

Beast Boy bridled. “I was being serious.”

“So was I.”

“Oh.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Alright, why don’t we just accept that we know nothing about this guy and go from there?”

It was at this point that Starfire noticed that Robin had yet to show any sign of serious thought. “Are you alright?” she asked him.

Robin screamed in pure rage, and punched the small table by his feet. It may have been made of solid steel, but it still damn near broke.

The other Titans looked at each other nervously. “Okaaaaay. I’ll take that as a No, then.”

Robin leaned back, closed his eyes and screamed again. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH US?!” he bellowed.

A new voice entered the conversation, one so gravelly that it could have been used to make the driveway for a Victorian manor house. “Absolutely nothing, from what I can see,” it said.

The Titans all whirled round to where the voice had come from. A figure emerged from the deep shadows of the kitchen into the half-light around the sofas. He was a man in his mid to late 20s, about 6”1’ with jeans, a plain blue hoodie and short, spiky black hair. For some obscure reason, he was also wearing a black eye patch over his right eye.

Raven was the first to regain use of her tongue. “Who the hell are you?!” she asked, not bothering to hide her anger.

The man held up his hands in mock salute. “Easy, missy. I come in peace.” He thought for a second. “Well, mostly peace.”

Robin started sporting the look of a man who had just put two and two together to make what he prayed was four. “Are you the man who attacked us?”

The man stared him straight in the eye. “Yes.”

Cyborg stood up. “In that case, get ready to eat laser, *****!” he shouted as he pointed his sonic cannon right at the man’s face. The man looked disappointed.

“Honestly, I would have thought that you’d have learnt by now that shooting at me will have absolutely no effect on me whatsoever. Anyway, I’m not about to try and hurt you again.”

Robin looked confused. “Why are you here, then?”

“Aren’t you going to let me at least introduce myself first?”

“What? Oh yeah…yeah, go ahead.”

“Well, my name is Michael Spicer, and the only thing that you particularly need to know about me is that I’m a contract assassin.”

Cyborg looked even more confused than Robin. “If that’s true, then why aren’t you here to kill us?”

Michael sighed. “That, I’m afraid, is where things get a little bizarre. I was hired a few weeks back, by who I don’t know, to be your…well, I suppose that bodyguard would be the best word for it.”

“You what?!” Raven asked, totally stunned. “Why should we need a bodyguard?”

“I don’t know. They didn’t tell me that. Needless to say, I was as confused as you are, so I decided to carry out a little test. I spent the time between then and this morning organisation putting together what I believed to be the perfect bank robbery, as a means of seeing exactly how you’d cope with it. Quite frankly, you exceeded even my own very high expectations, so I thought that I’d give you a much tougher test: in a word, myself. Even that test you passed with flying colours.”

Robin looked more confused than ever. “Huh? But you…humiliated us.”

“I know. But you lasted a damn sight longer than I ever expected you to. I don’t mean to blow my own trumpet here, but if there were ever a face-off between myself and every other life form on this planet, then you’d probably be looking at the single largest mass extinction in history. For the five of you to last for as long as twenty minutes against me is very impressive indeed.”

No one dared dispute that claim. It may have been a little big-headed, but, from what they’d already seen, it was also pretty accurate.

“Why are you so good, then?” Beast Boy asked, not bothering to hide his contempt at Michael's self-publicity..

“Well, let’s put it like this: I started learning martial arts and assassin-craft before any of you lot were even as much as a glint in your parents’ eyes, so if there’s anything that I don’t know about the many ways that you can kill people then it probably ain’t worth knowing. Besides, I also have a very, erm…particular talent that lets me get away being a little bolder than most people.”

This got the Titans’ attention. Someone with a talent would be very useful to have on their side. “And what talent is that?” Robin asked.

Michael smiled, and, without saying a word, took one step backwards. Now, this might not seem particularly significant, but it’s worth bearing in mind that, up until this point, Michael had been leaning on one of the kitchen worktops. In other words, he was now standing inside a waist-high block of metal.

Cyborg whistled appreciatively. “Now that’s impressive.”

Raven looked at him a little more shrewdly. “Is that how you escaped from the square? By walking through walls?

“Yes. Whilst you guys were busy taking care of Robin here – and I apologise for headbutting you, that was a bit out of order – I dropped into the ground and moved out of the area. It was also how I got in here unnoticed: even the greatest security system in the world can’t detect someone who might as well be a ghost.”

Robin yawned. As if he’d only just realised that time was even going by, he looked at his watch. It said 00:36. “It’s getting early.” he said. “We should be getting some sleep. I suppose you’ll be wanting a room, Michael?”

He nodded once.

“In that case, I’ll show you where it is. We’ll talk some more in the morning.”

[Kregor8]

Derrned fine story, I say. Love the Welsh. I should have know what it was - I make a hobby of studying multi-language dictionaries, but I never really looked at Welsh stuff. Ah, me. Anyway, I like the story so far - pretty impressive for not being a Teen Titans watcher.

Ok, here's my gripe (and it is minor, trust me). Walking through stuff is my guy's power! I can assume that you haven't read my fic (Perfect Vision), and I'm hardly going to hold it against you because it's the oldest power in the book, practically. I mean, everbody walks through stuff nowadays (even Raven, to some extent). So ok, now that I've expressed my frustration with not being unique anymore, I'll go back to decoding the trick in the titles.

Ps. Please don't anyone take me harshly - I'm just kidding around.
Double ps. The best way to avoid politics talks is to NOT BRING IT UP! Oh, yeah, Crowgirl. I'm from Massachussetts! Yeah Red Sox!

[Matt A]

Derrned fine story, I say. Love the Welsh. I should have know what it was - I make a hobby of studying multi-language dictionaries, but I never really looked at Welsh stuff. Ah, me. Anyway, I like the story so far - pretty impressive for not being a Teen Titans watcher.

Ok, here's my gripe (and it is minor, trust me). Walking through stuff is my guy's power! I can assume that you haven't read my fic (Perfect Vision), and I'm hardly going to hold it against you because it's the oldest power in the book, practically. I mean, everbody walks through stuff nowadays (even Raven, to some extent). So ok, now that I've expressed my frustration with not being unique anymore, I'll go back to decoding the trick in the titles.

Ps. Please don't anyone take me harshly - I'm just kidding around.
Double ps. The best way to avoid politics talks is to NOT BRING IT UP! Oh, yeah, Crowgirl. I'm from Massachussetts! Yeah Red Sox!Finally, someone else posts! Glad you like it!

About your comment about walking through walls: it is a pretty basic power, I know, but you'll see later on that I've added a little extra to it that will probably surprise you. And yeah, I hadn't read your fic when I wrote that, but now I have, and it's pretty f-ing cool! Don't worry about being considered harsh, because you won't be.

Also good to see that you're having a look at the titles. Because you're the first person to mention it, I'm going to give you a small hint: Loopz.

PS: Good point about politics. I'll try to not mention it again (unless it comes up in a story...).

[Sproxie]

great story! :)
POST SOON! :evil:

[Adrastea]

I'm loving it!!!

I have one and only one small teensy weensy promblem.
Bollocks an english swearword, I don't think you'll ever hear a born and bred American use it. Other that that though, it's wonderful!!!!

[rrarbecy]

Ha Ha. this is good.

[Crowgirl]

What Adrastea said. I'm not sure I know what that word actually means. Other than That, this rules!

[Adrastea]

CrowgirlWhat Adrastea said. I'm not sure I know what that word actually means. Other than That, this rules! It's naughty. leave it at that. Not to be used in polite society.

[raven54]

well i'm definetely not polite society;)

[Matt A]

I'm loving it!!!

I have one and only one small teensy weensy promblem.
Bollocks an english swearword, I don't think you'll ever hear a born and bred American use it. Other that that though, it's wonderful!!!!Glad to see you're all liking it! I'll try and post the next chapter sometime within the next week or so, but I'm going to have a lot of other work to do so I'm not about to promise anything.

Oh, and I know that bollocks is an English swearword, but I wanted to use something ruder and I wasn't sure if I'd get away with it, so I used that instead. Howver, seeing as another swearword that I did use later on was automatically beeped out when I posted it, I don't think that it will be too much of an issue.:evil:

By the way, what to the moderators have to say on this? It'd be good to know, or else I may wind up posting something regrettable!

See y'all later!

[Crowgirl]

Please do post soon!!! (As Reid said, I'm very impatient... You won't like me when I'm impatient...:evil: )

[Matt A]

Please do post soon!!! (As Reid said, I'm very impatient... You won't like me when I'm impatient...:evil: )Hmm, that could be quite interesting to see...

Sadly, I probably won't have time to write the next chapter for another couple of days, but if through some miracle I do have time then you may just get a little something. I'm not promising anything, though.

Oh, one more thing: if you guys want me to keep writing then you'll have to keep posting, 'cause if no one posts then I'll presume that no one's interested, and so I'll have no real choice than to let this story just die an early death. Funnily enough, that's something that I doubt that any of us wants to saee happen, least of all me.:crying:

So, in other words, if you demand it, I may just have to write it...

[rrarbecy]

Hey, take your time.

[Lord Welshi]

I'm quite enjoying this story. New chapter soon?

[Matt A]

If anyone wants to pitch in with my college work, then yeah.

You know, I'm supposed to be on half term at the moment, but I've got more homework now than I have at any point since I started two years ago! With a little bit of luck, and a decent following wind, the world at large may just about hear from me in about another week or so...

Glad you like it, Welshie!

[Matt A]

Sadly, nothing new to report.

I just changed my Avatar and signiture, though. What do you think?
I suggest that you pay CLOSE ATTENTION to what they both say...

See y'all later!

[Adrastea]

Aw, but paying close attention means i have to *gasp* think!!!
NO!! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!
well, instead i will simply wiat patiantly for the next chapter.

[Matt A]

Aw, but paying close attention means i have to *gasp* think!!!
NO!! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!
well, instead i will simply wiat patiantly for the next chapter.
Funnily enough, Adrastea, I was actually being SERIOUS. The last part of the signiture in partcular is something that you need to read urgently. Perhaps I'm labouring the point a little here, but it happens to mention something that I, along with nearly all of Britain, happen to feel is quite important. You of all people should have some idea as to what I'm talking about.

As for the next chapter...well, I have some good news and some bad news: the good news is that it's very nearly finished; the bad news is that I'm going to need some help from my brother in order to do the rest of it, and the next time I'll be able to see him is on Saturday. In other words, you can have the chapter, but not until Sunday at the earliest.

See you then!

[Matt A]

Result!

I finally got the new chapter finished! There's next to no action taking place here, but what happens is still very important for reasons that I'm sure you'll figure out. Oh, and when reading the stuff about the card game it may help to have a pack of cards in front of you: I'm reasonably sure I explained the rules well enough, but it always helps to make sure that there's no misunderstandings.

Anyway, have a read, and tell me what you think (AND POST THIS TIME!!!!!).



Chapter Three: Style

It was three days later. Nothing much had happened since Michael arrived, so the Titans went back to their usual routine of training, playing on the Gamestation, eating bad food and waiting for the next wannabe criminal mastermind to do their evil thing. Sensing that he had already provoked the Titans enough, Michael had spent the intervening time being as ignorable as possible. They had only ever seen or heard anything from him at mealtimes, as well as two or three occasions when he had taken a break from whatever he was doing and got caned by all comers on Futureracer VII. Whether he was genuinely crap at, or simply wanted to try and make up for their first encounter, they didn’t know, and to be honest they didn’t much care. Until such point as either Michael or the Titans found out exactly what he had been hired to guard them from, there wasn’t really much point in him even trying to be sociable.

However, he was still managing to pique Raven’s curiosity. As was customary with any new person that she encountered, she had tried on several occasions to read his mind, to see why he was here and what he was planning, on the off chance that he actually had the answers to either of those questions. She had tried to do this at least a dozen times, but each time she had failed spectacularly to gain entry into his head. She had encountered psychic blocks and things like that often enough before, but Michael…Michael was something else altogether. It was almost as if there wasn’t a mind there to read: he was a fully walking, talking human being, so there blatantly was once, but she just couldn’t find it. The only rational explanation that she could think of was that his ghosting powers applied to his mind as well as his body. Obviously, this was hardly a comforting thought.

Raven had been meaning to talk to him about this since the night he arrived, but it was only on the third day that she was able to see him away from the other Titans. It was the first time that he had been in his room to do something other than sleep, and the Titans’ rules of etiquette made sure that no one was likely to disturb the two of them. Michael hadn’t brought any luggage with him whatsoever – he usually bought clothes and suchlike as and when he needed them – so his room was as bare and forbidding as it could have really got. Raven quite liked it that way.

She knocked on the door, and before Michael could answer she opened it slightly and poked her head into the room. He was sitting on his bed, playing with a deck of cards that he had procured from someone, probably Cyborg. Anything even remotely competitive…Raven thought.

“Pull up a chair, if you want.” Michael said, without looking up. Raven did just that, grabbing the chair by the desk and spinning it round so that it faced the bed. She sat down and watched him play his game for a while. Eventually, she had to concede that she didn’t understand any of it.

“What are you playing?” she asked.

Michael picked up all the cards that he had used during the game, and started to reshuffle the pack. “It’s a game an old friend of mine taught me once. God knows what it’s called. The idea is to turn over each card one at a time, and if it’s either the same suit or the same number as the one before it then you put it on top: if it’s not, then you start a new pile. With a fair bit of luck, you’ll wind up with all the cards in one pile.” Michael smiled. “Sounds fun, doesn’t it?” he said sarcastically.

Raven looked at him shrewdly. “You know, you may well be right.” she said.

“Can I have a go?”

“Yeah, sure.” Michael passed her the pack.

She turned over the first card, the 2 of Clubs, and placed it on the bed. The next card was the 9 of hearts, which she placed next to it. The next card, the 9 of Diamonds, went on top of it. The next card was the 2 of Spades.

“Here’s where things get interesting.” Michael said. “What I forgot to mention was the same-number-or-suit rule applies to the last two piles, so the 2 of Spades can be put on the 2 of Clubs.” The next card was the 3 of Clubs. “That one, obviously, can’t be put on either pile, so start a third one next to the two 9s.” Raven next turned over the 3 of Diamonds. “Now, because you can put that card on both of the last two piles, you can put it on top of the 3 ad put the whole pile on top of the 9s.”

Raven smiled. “So that’s how you wind up with one pile.”

“Yes. Now keep going.”

She turned over the Queen of Clubs, the 6 of Diamonds and the Queen of Clubs.

“Now, because there is only one pile separating the two piles of Spades, you can “leapfrog” the third pile onto the first one.” Michael said. “The ability to leapfrog is a vital part of the game, as it lets you reduce the amount of piles you have very quickly. That, I think, is all the rules I need to explain to you. See if you can finish it.”

About two minutes later, thanks to several very handy pieces of multiple leapfrogging, Raven wound up with only four piles once she had put down all the cards. Still, she looked disappointed.

“Is it always that hard?” she asked.

“Yes. As you saw, how well you do or don’t do in this game is entirely down to luck,” Michael said, “and one thing that life’s taken great pains to teach me over the years is that luck is always against us. Personally, I’ve usually played this game at least once or twice a day since I was taught it about ten years ago, and I’ve only managed to get all the cards in one pile seven times. To get them into just four piles on your first go is still pretty impressive.”

Raven thought for a while. “Hmm. I see what you mean. I suppose that’s why you keep playing it, to see if you can beat the odds just one more time.”

Michael laughed, the first time that any of the Titans had ever made him do so. It was a quiet sort of chuckle, but it was still quite startling in its own way.

“Something like that, yeah.” He said, still chuckling. Suddenly, his face turned serious. “I presume that you came here to ask why you can’t read my mind.”

Raven stared at him, eyes agog. “How did you know about that?”

“Because one thing that I’m very good at is figuring out how people work. I already know about your mind-reading powers, and the first thing that I noticed about you guys when I got here was that you’re all very…direct. I’d have been amazed if you hadn’t tried to read my mind – and I guess that you’ve already figured out why you can’t do that.” Raven nodded. So her guess had been right, after all. “Someone of your immense talents probably hasn’t ever come across something like that before, so it makes a vague degree of sense that you’d want to ask me about it.”

That last sentence left Raven at her most confused. Ever since she had met him, Michael had spent pretty much all his time sidestepping and embarrassing her and her friends, yet he also never seemed to stop complementing them. Exactly what was going on? And what was with that card game? She shook herself mentally. Ah, he was probably just trying to be a nice guy.

The alarms started blaring once again, filling the room with their usual red light and white noise.

Raven swore under her breath. “Duty calls again,” she said, “I suppose the others would let you help out.”

As the two of them left Michael’s room and headed for the lounge, a small, not entirely unwelcome thought popped into Raven’s head: he may be a strange guy even by her standards, but she couldn’t help but like him.

[rrarbecy]

Do I like this?
Maybe...
Let me think...
OH COME ON! OF COURSE I DO! GREAT!

[Sproxie]

you had to THINK about liking it???
this is GREAT!!!

[rrarbecy]

you had to THINK about liking it???
this is GREAT!!!
Its a little thing called sarcasm Sproxy.

[Sproxie]

Im a little spaced out latley
i repeat :sweat:

[Lord Welshi]

Matt, you sly genius! Introducing our old college card game like that into your story! Nice touch.

I liked this chapter, very interesting. Doesn't exactly advance the plot immensely, but it doesn't need to, it's a lovely bit of storytelling and provides some nice interactrion between Raven and Michael.

Yay the card game!

[Crowgirl]

I love this soooooo much.

Are you sure you don't have a name for the game? It sounds cool. I'll have to try to play it sometime...

[Matt A]

Matt, you sly genius! Introducing our old college card game like that into your story! Nice touch.

I liked this chapter, very interesting. Doesn't exactly advance the plot immensely, but it doesn't need to, it's a lovely bit of storytelling and provides some nice interactrion between Raven and Michael.

Yay the card game!Yeah, I knew that you'd appreciate the card game. I wanted to try and give an image of who Michael is and how he acts when he's not at work, and it seemed that playing that particular game (ie, the only single player card game that I know how to play...) would be the natural thing to do. It's also something that I thought that Raven would understand and appreciate, which would be quite important in trying to get a relationship between the two of them developed.

That relationship will be forming more or less the backbone of the story, but as for why all this is going on...well, that's something that I don't intend to tell you until damn near the end of the story.

Oh, and by the way Crowgirl - no, the card game doesn't have a name. Maybe someone would like to invent one...

[Crowgirl]

How about the No-Name Game?

Yes... I have no good ideas....

[oneeyemonkeypie]

I dunno, "shuffle"? It could be an inside thing, and no-one else would know what you're talking about.

Regardless, I liked this story a lot. It wasn't so much what was happening (because little actually happened), it was how you wrote it. I particularly liked one line.

The alarms started blaring once again, filling the room with their usual red light and white noise.

I know it's odd, but this seemed like the best single line of literature I have read in a long time. It's just so...good. Red light, white noise. It has different meanings on different levels. Sorry for being weird, but that really made the chapter for me. :anime:

Well, when you're done being swamped with work, post some more.

[Kregor8]

I like the way Michael explains the game to Raven. It actually is how people explain games to eachother, and most people don't understand this when they write. They just write an instruction manual, which you've managed not to do, but I could still play the game from your description.
For a name, wouldn't "Churnenna" be a better title than just "stack?" To me, it would seem so, since I really only speak English.
Other than that, there isn't much to the chapter, but it seems like there's a whole lot more. This is an interesting skill, and quite useful in a story like this. I'll be interested in reading chapter four.

Ps. Oh, I guess Reid suggested "Shuffle." Oh well.

[Matt A]

Other than that, there isn't much to the chapter, but it seems like there's a whole lot more.???

That's about the most ambiguous thing that I've ever heard! I presume that it's a compliment, so that's cool, but I'm not quite sure what you mean...

"Churnenna" is quite a cool name, but I'd say that "stack" and "shuffle" do seem to fit better with the no-nonsense world that is card-game-naming. And as for "No-Name Game"...well, I might use that once I've got the image of the Wheel Of Fortune out of my head!

Oh, and don't insult Reid. Reid is a genius.

[Matt A]

Sorry I haven't posted for a while! I got about a third of the next chapter written when I caught a nasty case of writer's block. I've tried desperately to shift it for the last couple of days, but so far I haven't had any luck.

Anyway, in my final attempt to cure myself I've decided to write my very own song fic thingy. I don't have the foggiest as to whether or not this will work, but, right now, anything's worth a go...

Either way, you probably won't hear from me for a little while, as I'm going to buy Ratchet & Clank 3 (for PS2) tomorrow, and seeing as I've been counting the days till it comes out since about six months ago I'm going to pretty much glued to it for quite some time. So, I'll see you in a few months!

'Till then, here's my song to keep you busy. It's "Setting Sun" by The Chemical Brothers, and with a very minor tweak it describes the upcoming Raven/Michael relationship pretty much perfectly. Imagine Raven singing it to Michael, and you're about there. Have a read, and tell me what you think...



You're the devil in me I brought in from the cold
You said your body was young but your mind was very old
You're coming on strong
And I like the way
The visions we had are fading away
You're part of the nightlife I've never head
I tell you that it's just too late
I tell you that it's just too late
I tell you that it's just too late
I tell you that it's just too late
I tell you that it's just too late



(Oh, and it is supposed to be that short. The tune itself it quite long, but most of it is insrumental suff.)

[Kregor8]

Allow me to explain myself. I obviously forgot which words were in my head and which were being typed, so that's why it all came out so ambigously.

What I meant to say is that even though the chaptah is small and basically is only a card game, after you read it, you feel as though a whole lot more has happened. Meaning, after the last chaptah, you know very little, and aftah this one, you don't know much more, but you feel as though you know a ton. So yah, it's a complement. Something I find hard to manange myself - I'm the king of overwriting, it seems.

7<regor

Ps. There's no way I was insulting Reid. I highly respect his work and was just adding a multi-lingual flare to things. If he has issues with me, I've nevah noticed. Hopefully we'll get chaptah ten out soon (Black and White) and then you'll see what a genius he really is.
Double-p s. Boston! Accent! So, I'm going to go get a soder and get in my cah and leave. So there!

[Lord Welshi]

There is no way you can name the card game! That would go against everything we stood for at college!We didn't stand for anything, we always sat, so no naming that game! besides, i'm pretty sure it already has a name.

As i said before, a nice chapter. hope to see the next one soon

[Matt A]

There's no way I was insulting Reid. I highly respect his work and was just adding a multi-lingual flare to things. If he has issues with me, I've nevah noticed. Hopefully we'll get chaptah ten out soon (Black and White) and then you'll see what a genius he really is.
There is no way you can name the card game! That would go against everything we stood for at college!We didn't stand for anything, we always sat, so no naming that game! besides, i'm pretty sure it already has a name.Sorry guys. I didn't mean to offend either of you.

As a gesture of peace and goodwill, I'll give you the next chapter. It's not one of the best things that I've ever written, but hopefully you'll still like it all the same. There's more action this time, which is cool...'cept for one bit towards the end, which might make the more squeamish amongst you want to throw up. But still, it's always good to stir things up a little bit every now and again.

Feel free to ignore the song thingy that I put on. It was a stupid idea that didn't work. Wait, you already are ignoring it...cool!

Oh, and by the way Welshie: what are you drivelling on about? And iff the card game does have a name, then what is it?

Anyway, on with the chapter...


Chapter Four: Lost

About twenty miles along the coast from Jump City there is a large hill, providing excellent views of the ocean and the glistening skyscraper sanctuary that is the city itself. This hill happens to be one of the most beautiful parts of North America, which explains why, many years ago, the local authorities decided to build a nuclear power plant right on its summit. Churning out untold megawatts of electricity every day, this power plant is the sole generator of Jump City’s massive lighting grid.

The five Titans stood at the entrance to the plant. The occasional flash of light and muffled boom could be detected from deep within, giving the impression that a war was going on somewhere in the bowels of the place: of course, that was entirely the case. According to the police radio traffic, a light beam-wielding nutter had broken into the plant and was attempting to destroy the reactors. When two whole police units failed to return when sent in to arrest him, the local army division was called upon to assist: it was only at the point when they also didn’t seem to be coming back that the Titans felt that they should step in. Needless to say, none of them quite trusted Michael enough yet to want him to tag along.

The Titans walked through the maze of corridors and colossal machinery until they found the reactors, right over at the back of the plant. And there, standing between these two almighty cylinders of purest destructive power, was Dr. Light: as the police had already said, he was currently having lots of fun trying to rip through the reactors’ steel and concrete casings with his energy bolts. Based on the amount of uniform-wearing dead bodies surrounding him, it was clear that both the police and the army had failed to put a stop to his latest attempt to rob Jump City of light.

After a few seconds, the doctor noticed the presence of his old adversaries. He stopped firing his energy bolts and smiled inanely at them.

“Hello there!” he said. “Come to join my little party, have you?”

Had this been any other week, Robin would have quite gladly given his usual wannabe witty retort. However, his first encounter with Michael was still leaving him a little on edge, and, right now, he simply couldn’t be bothered.

“Teen Titans…” he said, his voice so soft as to be almost inaudible, “…go.”

The fight began quickly. Robin and Beast Boy ran at Dr. Light as he and Starfire traded bolts, both of them missing narrowly. Dr. Light shot at Robin, who back-flipped over the bolt with his typical grace, landed and kept on running. This event had given Beast Boy time to get to the doctor uninterrupted, and he jumped at him in raptor form, claws ready to provide the killing blow.

However, Dr. Light was more alert than he seemed. He grabbed Beast Boy by his leg and flung him into one of the reactors, which dented alarmingly. Whilst his back was turned, Robin gave him a spin kick to his head, but as he was thrown through the air he shot off a bolt in return. It hit Robin square in the chest, and he flew backwards into Cyborg, who had been running to help him.

“Easy mate. I don’t love ya that much.” Cyborg said.

Robin didn’t bother to reply. Instead, the two of them helped each other up and looked at what was going on. Beast Boy was still sitting against a reactor, clearly dazed, and Raven and Starfire were taking cover behind the other one. They leaned out occasionally to take pot-shots at Dr. Light, but he was letting off too many energy bolts for their aim to be all that accurate.

Robin and Cyborg ran over to Beast Boy. After giving him a quick shake to get his senses in order, they pulled him onto his feet and the three of them ran at the doctor. Because he was so busy shooting at Raven and Starfire, he didn’t notice their presence until they had all simultaneously flying kicked him. He flew across the room and hit the floor so hard that he bounced.

The five Titans grouped together in the centre of the huge room, and, as one, prepared to shoot/throw whatever they could at the now motionless Dr. Light. However, he suddenly jumped up in the air, which allowed him to easily dodge the Bird-A-Rang, sonic cannon shot, black energy ball, starbolt and poison globule (one of Beast Boy’s lesser-used tricks) that would have otherwise finished him off.

Taking the time to flash the stunned Titans a quick grin, Dr. Light shook his right arm, causing what looked remarkably like a six-foot energy whip to extend out of his hand. He flicked it at them once, and luckily for him it connected: the Titans were all thrown backwards into an all too solid metal wall. They weren’t knocked out, but they still probably wouldn’t be in any condition to do anything much for about the next ten minutes or so.

Dr. Light brushed some imaginary dirt off his shoulder. Chuckling quietly to himself, he turned back to the semi-destroyed reactors. However, there was something blocking his view.

A gun.

It was being pointed straight at his face, and it was held by a young man sporting jeans, a plain blue hoodie, short, spiky black hair and a black eye patch over his right eye.

Michael smiled at him, not looking entirely friendly. “Turn around and get down on your knees, motherf***er.” he said. As if to reinforce the point, he waved the gun downwards a few times.

Dr. Light was too stunned to do anything else.

“Now, put your hands on your head.”

He did so. “And now what?” he asked, the fear perfectly evident in his voice.

Michael rested the gun against the back of the doctor’s head in a typically theatrical gesture.

“Beg for mercy.” he said.

Fear was preventing the doctor’s mind from acting sensibly. “Who are you?” he asked.

Michael smiled. “Some might say that I’m the Titans’ guardian angel. Actually, I’m just a simple man trying to earn a quick buck, and at the moment keeping those guys alive is my only way of doing that. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, I get very angry when people disrupt my cash flow.”

Once again, Dr. Light decided to speak before he thought.

“You wouldn’t kill me. There are soldiers and police officers swarming all over this building, and they’d just love to kill you to.”

Michael didn’t respond. He pulled the trigger instead.

The bullet ripped through the doctor’s skull, causing blood, bone and brain matter to fountain out of the exit wound at the top of his nose. The lifeless body slumped forwards and hit the ground with a squelch.

Wiping the blood of his face with his sleeve as he went, Michael walked over to the Titans and helped them get up. They weren’t yet aware that Dr. Light was dead.

“Thanks for stepping in.” Robin said, grateful for Michael’s presence for the first time.

Michael smiled. “No problem.”

Robin caught sight of the blood-spattered, nearly headless corpse of his former adversary. He instantly went very pale.

“You killed him.” he said, his sudden dull tone poorly masking the fact that he wanted to be sick.

Michael shrugged blankly. “So what? Knowing the amount of strange s**t that’s happened in this city, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone found a way to bring him back.”

Robin shot him the most evil look that he could have possibly managed. “I don’t think you understand.” he said. “You. Killed. Him.”

If Robin’s look was evil, then the one that Michael returned was like looking into the seventh circle of hell itself. “I don’t think you understand. Killing people is what I do for a living. It’s how I make my money. It’s how I live. If you don’t like that, then I’m afraid that you’re just going to have to lump it for the next few weeks.”

[Sproxie]

:eek: <- Thats all I can think of now.

[Matt A]

:eek: <- Thats all I can think of now.Is that a good :eek: or a bad :eek:?

[Sproxie]

i guess you can say it was a good :eek: , but an astonished good.

[raven54]

ooo, yes! me likes... a little disturbing in the GOOD way. can't really think of much to say, but post more.

[oneeyemonkeypie]

Nutter...mate...I LOVE IT! British words in an american cartoon really put things in an international perspective.

Anyways, I liked how Robin was unable to deal with the death thing. I always thought he was soft. And I like Michael's badass-edness (new word.)

Very cool!

[oneeyemonkeypie]

OK, i know its s double post, but come on people. Read this! It's good, I promise.

[Lord Welshi]

That was very good. The battle with doctor light was weel written, and Michael's killing him was an interesting development. As reid said, i doubt robin would like someone (especially someone who is staying in their tower) killing anyone.

Lord Welshi

[Crowgirl]

That was very good. The battle with doctor light was weel written
Very weel written indeed (sorry, couldn't resist):sweat: ....

I liked how Michael killed Light, and how Robin reacted. It had always seemed in the show like a never-ending game for the Titans, but Michael ended this round. I wonder what he'll do next.

Buh, Buh Buhhhhhhhhh

P.S. Boston accents rule! Yes, I do live in that area....

[Matt A]

Finally, other people post! I've been wanting to say some stuff on here for ages, but I was waiting for all you guys to say some more things first. However, that did seem to have back-fired, but I've just been saved at the eleventh hour. For that, I am eternally grateful - to all of you...

Anyway, all your questions regarding Robin and Michael will about to be (mostly) answered, because chapter five is here! It's a bit longer than than others and a lot more dialogue-based. However, unlike chapter three, the stuff that's said here will have a significant bearing on the plot and the various "themes" that this story will have. More importantly, it will also explain a lot about Michael's personality and why he does the things that he does, not to mention why all the Titans reacted badly to the events of the last chapter.

So, as I'm often wont to say, have a read and tell me what you think...



Chapter Five: Choice

All in all, Raven thought, today had not been an especially good day. She knew that she should be grateful that Michael had saved her life, but, somehow, she wasn’t. The manner in which he had done it was probably involved somewhere. Being a wanted killer and all that, there was no way that he was going to let himself be seen by the police, which, of course, meant that he had to do a runner and her and her friends had to explain things on his behalf. Thankfully, the police captain in charge of the clean-up crew had been reasonably understanding about their “killing” Dr. Light, but the experience had still been an embarrassing one all the same.

There was the…other matter as well. The Titans had seen a fair few corpses during their working lives, but they had all usually died before they’d had to see them. It sounded quite strange, when you thought about it, but none of them had ever had someone die right in front of them before. Sure, there had been one or two occasions where they thought they’d seen someone die – and even this time they hadn’t actually seen him die, not as such – but the fact that Dr. Light was so irreversibly dead, and had died in their presence as well, was still quite a disturbing one.

What made it all the worse was that the killer was someone they knew, someone who was an ally. Michael may have done it to save their lives – as opposed to doing it just for the fun of it – but it still did not change the fact that the Titans would have to spend the next God knows how long living with a cold-blooded killer. It wasn’t even as if they knew what he was supposed to be protecting them from, and, more importantly, whether or not one of the things on that list was going to turn out to be himself. But, as Robin had said on the way back to the Tower, “there’s no point in trying to make any guesses until something else happens.”

Someone knocked on the door to Raven’s room. She sighed, and put down the book that she’d been half-reading.

“Who is it?” she said, not bothering to hide her irritation at being interrupted.

“It’s me.” Michael’s gruff tones were as distinctive as ever. “Can I come in, please?”

Well, at least he’d said please, she thought. “Yeah, sure, why not.”

Michael walked in just enough to close the door behind him.

Raven looked at him blankly. “I presume that you’ve come here to apologise.”

“Er, yeah. I’ve been talking to everyone separately, trying to explain myself. I can’t say that they agree with me, but they’re willing to put up with me at the very least. You’re the last person that I need to speak to.”

“So, go ahead – explain yourself.”

“Okay. I’ll say the same thing to you that I said to everyone else. You’re all intelligent people, so I’m guessing that an explanation of why I chose to do what I did today isn’t quite what you want. What you’re going to be looking for is an explanation of why I would choose to kill someone full stop – in other words, why I live the life that I do. Don’t worry, I’m not about to launch into my full back-story here – it’s simply that I evidently didn’t explain my job description well enough during our first meeting.”

Raven frowned. “You said that you were a contract assassin. That’s all that we need to know.”

“No. No it’s not. If you’re going to be spending any particular length of time with me, then you need to understand exactly what the phrase ‘contract assassin’ actually means. Aside from the whole killing-people-for-a-living thing, it denotes a very particular mindset. A contract assassin is a person who has three key characteristics: there must always be some kind of solid incentive for them to do something, so they will never follow orders for the sake of following orders; they will always do whatever it takes in order to get the job done, no matter how unpleasant things have to get; and, most importantly of all, they will never, ever believe in anything, even something as universally revered as the sanctity of human life. As you can no doubt guess, those three characteristics are things that I have in abundance.”

“So, in other words, you’re saying that you’re an arrogant bastard with no regard for the order of the world, not to mention all the moral fibre of a King Cobra.”

For once, Michael actually had the good grace to look sheepish. “Something like that, yeah.”

Raven smiled evilly. “I never said I had a problem with that, did I?”

Michael smiled too. “So I’m forgiven, then?”

“I was never angry with you in the first place.”

“Huh?”

“Lets put it like this: putting a bullet through someone’s skull whilst less than fifty feet away from me isn’t exactly one of the best ways to become my friend, but I have no real problem with you feeling that you needed to do it. I’m not a particularly cute and cuddly person myself, so your affection for the dark side, so to speak, is something that I happen to share. Living with the other guys has given me a little less of a desire to gun down anyone I see, but, apart from that, us two seem to have quite a lot in common.”

Michael sat down on the first spare chair that he could see. “That’s what I also wanted to talk to you about.”

“What? About us two?”

“No, no. About what living with your friends has done to you.”

Raven looked at him shrewdly for a few seconds. Suddenly, her expression darkened. “Are you saying that living with them has hurt me? ‘Cause if you are…” There was no real need to spell out what she would do, especially when the average imagination can do a much better job of it all by itself.

“Hey, hey, clam down. That wasn’t quite what I meant.”

“What do you mean, ‘quite’?”

“I mean that your time here hasn’t changed you entirely for the better. From what I’ve figured, you’re certainly less dangerous now than you were before the Titans came together – and, let’s face it, you’re also a lot more sociable – but how you’ve gone about protecting others from yourself hasn’t exactly been what I’d call a good idea. I’m talking specifically about emotional repression.”

“What the hell do you mean?”

“I’m a great believer in freedom, Raven. There are all kinds of freedoms: choice, life, association and the like. However, it’s freedom of expression that’s by far and away the most important. If you cannot express your thoughts and your feelings, then having a life that is in any way your own is impossible; if you are not living your own life, then you are not free. By denying yourself the opportunity to be, er, yourself, you are not living the life that you should be. You are not free.”

“Except that me being ‘free’, by your own strange definition, results in other people being killed. My emotions are dangerous! That’s why I have to keep them locked up!”

“But are you happy to do it?”

“Well, yes, of course. I’m not hurting anyone this way.”

“That’s not the question that I was asking. Do you actually enjoy your life?”

Raven thought about it for a few minutes. “You know, I’m really not sure. I have good friends here, and I enjoy their company and visa versa, plus all the crime-fighting stuff is enjoyable in its own way. But, it’s just…oh, I don’t know. It’s just a feeling that I’ve had, on and off…”

“The feeling that something’s missing?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“That, I think, is quite easy to explain. You’re bored, that’s what it is. You do what you do because it’s easier than the absolute mayhem and destruction that your powers would bring about if left unchecked. Your life is interesting enough to let you get by, but because you’re not letting yourself get emotionally involved in anything nothing is grabbing your attention. You’re not having any fun.”

“What are you trying to say? That I should just do my own thing and nuts to everyone else, no matter how stupid that will turn out to be?”

Michael sighed. This was the part that he wasn’t looking forward to. “Essentially…yes.”



It was about two months later. For once, the Titans had been kept reasonably busy. There had been a few robberies and suchlike here and there – nothing particularly new or troublesome, but at least they always had something to do. To spice things up a little bit, Plasmus had reared his gelatinous head yet again, but Michael’s assistance had ensured that he was only a brief problem. Thankfully, he’d started to show a bit of self-restraint, and, seeing as he hadn’t managed to start shooting people since the Dr. Light incident, the Titans finally felt that they could trust him. They still weren’t entirely sure what deadly threat he was supposed to protect them from, but at least that wasn’t quite so much of an issue as it once was. Just to show their changing attitude towards him, they’d even given him a communicator.

Raven was still puzzled by him, though. She couldn’t stop thinking about what he had said, that no matter how good your life was – and she did have a pretty good life, all told – if you weren’t having any fun whilst you were living it then it was still pretty pointless. The more she thought about it, the more true this seemed to be: the part that was especially disturbing was that, whilst she did consider her friends to be the best of company, her times with them that could be described as fun were notable only because of their rarity. In other words, her life was boring, and it needed changing. She’d asked Michael about this at one point, and he’d simply said “try to get more involved in everything”. As far as Raven was concerned, this was like telling someone to learn Chinese entirely by themselves: it was possible, sure, but where the hell would you start? So, for lack of any ideas, she’d done nothing.

It was early evening, about six pm, and the Titans were just about to eat. As usual, it was pizza. However, before they could start munching, a huge explosion rocked the tower. The five of them ran to the living room windows to see a sixty-foot fireball erupt somewhere in the Downtown region of the city. Robin punched some buttons on the central computer, and, sure enough, the details of the incident appeared on screen.

“Hmm,” he said, “it looks like Thunder and Lightning have reappeared. Based on the police radio chatter, they seem to have been tearing their way through Downtown for about the last half hour.”

Cyborg looked incredulous. “No way, our scanners would have picked them up ages ago.”

“In that case, something’s wrong with the scanners.”

“No, they’re working perfectly. I checked them this morning.”

“Then there’s only one other logical explanation: someone armed with a communicator is already dealing with them.”

Beast Boy looked even more incredulous than his half-robot friend. “But we’re all here! How could that be possible?”

The five Titans looked around, and it suddenly occurred to them what the obvious answer was. They spoke in unison.

“Michael.”

[Sproxie]

oooo! intriguing (sp?) and the conversation Micheal had with Raven was interesting. great chapter, please post soon!

[oneeyemonkeypie]

I love this so much that I nominate myself protector and guardian of this thread (cause I was the first one to bump it).


As you can tell, I love this! The whole chapter was aweome. Something about the emotional tone of this chapter seemed just kinda strange, the way michael acted and everyone responded, but that's OK because the story is so emotionally charged it was sorta overshadowed anyways.

Excellent

[Matt A]

Hmm, I have a guardian...

You seem to be a bit of a legend around these parts, so I'm going to take that as the honour to end all honours. And you can start protecting my story by making sure that as many people know about it as physically possible...if that's alright with you, that is. Spread the word in whatever way you consider best.



Two quick questions for you:

One: what do you mean by "strange"?

Two: in what way is this story "emotionally charged"?


I'm not trying to have a go at you or anything. I'm just curious as to exactly what you think.

[Kregor8]

<setting: a small stage, a podium. back lights, but no spot on podium>
*mysterious character slinks to podium*
*produces paper from pocket and starts reading*

"Ladies and gentlemen,
I have come here tonight to formally admit my guilt. I have been acused of three things:
1) Failing to read as many stories as possible
2) Failing to keep up on the stories I have started
3) Always being overly arrogant in the few posts I manage to place
On all three charges, I am undeniably guilty. My punishment shall be as follows
1) I will be constrained by a higher force to read all stories as much as possible
2) I will be...
Ah, what the hell!"
*tosses paper over shoulder and pounds off stage, laughing maniacly.*

Ooh, did I mention that I have a very warped sense of humor?
Ok, why did I put all that? (See above line)... Also, I realized that you posted two chapters in the time that it has taken me to get around to reading them. No excuse is good enough anymore. This pair simply blew my expecations out of the water (and trust me, they were pretty high expectations). Dr. Light - bang! Woo! Violence! Sorry, I lost it for a second. The Titan's reaction to Michael's shooting of Dr. Light was very believable. Even Raven's, though I didn't quite expect chapter 5. That's the beauty of it all.
Here's the summary. You've created a very badass character and placed him in a cartoon originally written for kids (9-12 maybe?). You've taken British words and thrown them into an American creation. What a recipe.
Dang! If that's the recipe, I must have more! Damn the torpedoes, hang the carbs, and lets get cracking on chapter six! I'm definetly going to have to remember to monitor this thread for updates!

7<regor

[Lord Welshi]

No criticisms.

Lord Welshi

[Adrastea]

You know what i think?
Do you even really care?
Well, too bad if you don't. Badass characters rock. Slade is cool (In a badie kind of way) Michael is cool, just badassness in general. please continue, and never give up.

[oneeyemonkeypie]

What I meant:
strange as in rather odd: a cold blooded killer acting like a perfectly normal person and getting treated as such, i had figured on more tension. but that's not even a problem. And emotionally charged as in a lot of plot elements evoked strong feelings. The characters grew in themselves and came to personal realizations, friendships were strengthened etc. Emotionally charged means it was "charged with emotion" (duh, i know, but it was), and had a lot of personal issues, not just filled with random fight scenes.
It was good.

[Matt A]

Some fair comments, mate.

I had Michael act like a normal person because, in a way, he is a normal person - he's not insane or anything, he's just both fiercely intelligent and has none of the emotional attachements that restrain us from acts of shocking brutality. The fact that the Titans can understand this shows that the life that they have chosen to lead is hardly full of sweetness and light either. As for why Michael has none of those emotional attachments...well, I'll tell you the reason for that in a few chapters' time.

The whole emotional content thing is perhaps the most important part of the entire story, but until now I wasn't sure that I'd actually put across the points that I'd intended to put across. So, thanks for that one.

Putting my story in your sig is quite an honour, too. On this site, as in life, publicity is everything, so any extra attention will always be well recieved. Anyway, speaking of sigs, exactly who or what is "Mecha Adonnis"? And what's the "show me what you got!" quote and "Oasis Rules!" thang all about?

For a final point, I've come up with a new rule for how I post chapters: when a chapter is posted, I won't even consider writing the next one until at least five seperate people have commented on it. The reason for this is...well, the whole point of writing this story is to have feedback on it, and if there's no feedback then the whole reason for me writing it goes away. I will wait as long as necessary for the feedback to arrive, but wait I will...

Anyway, now that I have my five seperate commenters (sp?) for this chapter - and what flattering comments they are (no, really, I mean that) - I will start to write the next one as soon as I have time. I'll try to get it done in the next week or so, but I'm not promising anything, so don't get angry with me if I'm late.


See y'all later!

[Kregor8]

As far as I know it, Mecha Adonnis is the minor villian in "The Beast Within" or whatever that TT episode is called. Cy says "Come on, big man, show me what you got." Adonnis grabs his fist and Cy gulps and goes "Ok then" and Adonnis flings him through the wall. Or something like that. I haven't seen the whole thing. Oasis is a band, I believe. I guess I'm not the best to answer that, it's not my signature!

7<regor

[oneeyemonkeypie]

sig explanation (yeah it's spam, but the author requested it.):

Oasis is one of the best bands ever to walk the earth. I don't know why I have such a strong attachment to them (I listen to everything from jazz to rap), but they frickin' rule!

Download Wonderwall, Champagne Supernova, Don't Go Away, or Magic Pie and you'll see what I mean. That is a quote from magic pie, which is an amazing song. I used to sing along to their songs in my car every day, and because of that I actually trained my voice, and am now a good singer. This band is so good that they even made me good by association!

I know, funny story, but totally true!

And mecha adonnis: in the new episode where beast boy "geeks out" and becomes a super beast thing, there was the main villain, adonnis. He had a badass red mecha suit and was kicking some serious booty before he was taken out by a cheap shot. Go find some pics of him, the mecha version of him was sick.

[Matt A]

I'm English, so I can't help but know who Oasis are. I was just being dense when I asked that question. Yeah, and they do rule, but I'm more of a dance music boy than a guitar band boy, so I'm not all that familiar with their stuff. Except from their big hits, obviously - you kinda have to know those.

The Mecha Adonnis thing sounds pretty cool. That's still one of the many episodes I've yet to see, so I wasn't aware of what you were talking about.

Oh, and don't worry about spam. I fact, I actively encourage it: if you post on here, whatever that post is, then it means that you've read my stuff. So, my message to all those who can't help but get random on other people's threads is...well, come here and do it, you'll be more than welcome.

[Raven13]

Hey that is soooo COOL the grammer is exelcelent and also the storyline is really good. Also i was soo surprised when Mike killed Dr. Light :eek: (but i did not like him anyway so it was good that he died:evil: ) o and i like the bad words:D is like Teen Titans gone bad that is AWESOME!!!!!

;) Anyway it was really good please post more!!!!!;)

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Matt A]

Glad you like it. It isn't exactly Teen Titans gone bad, it's just that I happen to like using morally ambivalent characters like Michael. Besides, if you think that it's dark and sinister now, you should see what's going to happen in the rest of the story...

Anyway, I have a bit of a surprise for you all...the next chapter has arrived! It's another action sequence thingy this time, and like the last one it gets a bit strange towards the end. Personally, I'm not all that happy with it, but everyone says that, don't they?

So, have a read and all the rest of it. And I'm sticking to my "five commenters" rule, so if you want Chapter Seven then you know what to do!

On with the chapter...



Chapter Six: Know Where To Run

Taking a deep breath, Michael stepped out of the alleyway and onto the street. There wasn’t that much street left to step onto, as most of it was covered in rubble and burning cars, the result of Thunder and Lightning’s wanton destruction. Or, at least, the destruction so far. He walked the five hundred yards or so to where the twins were standing. They were taking a quick breather from their causing of excess carnage, and, thankfully, they were currently facing away from him. He coughed politely, which in some perverse way always gets someone’s attention.

The twins looked at him in the manner that a cat looks a new breed of bird.

“Who are you?” Lightning asked threateningly.

Michael smiled. “The one who’s come to stop you.”

“Ha! What makes you think that you can stop us?”

As if to reinforce his brother’s point, Thunder let off a soundwave. The concrete road lifted up like a wave and hurtled down the street, throwing rubble and all sorts up into the air like Satan’s own confetti. However, the wave calmly passed through Michael like he wasn’t even there – which, in a way, was true. The twins stared at him.

Michael looked almost disappointed. “Man, if you think that’s deep sound, you should check out Romford on a Saturday night…”

Lightning looked both scared and confused – always a bad combo in a supernaturally gifted lunatic. “W-where?” he said.

“Oh, never mind. I think I made my point either way.”

“W-what are you?”

Michael smiled again. “Jump City’s latest urban legend.”

Whilst his involvement in the death of Dr. Light was still a secret, the criminal fraternity of Jump City had still managed to become aware – in the way that rumours are often wont to spread – that the Titans had acquired a new and very deadly ally. An ally that didn’t share their merciful attitude towards their enemies.

Lightning started to back away, eyes wide in terror, whilst Michael started to pray silently. The prospect of a major-league fight didn’t really faze him that much, but he didn’t particularly want to have to fight the twins all the same. However, he knew that Lightning’s fear of him wouldn’t last forever – if only it could last long enough to get him to go away…

Sadly, tonight was not turning out to be his lucky night. Lightning kept on backing away until he walked into his brother, a solid reminder that he didn’t have to take on this new legend alone. His characteristically quick brain came to life one again.

A grin spread across his face, making him look even more nightmarish than Michael. “You know,” he said, “the one thing that everyone knows about you is that, somehow, you aren’t entirely part of the physical world. And you know what? Electricity isn’t either.”

Lightning shot off a blast of electricity. Michael quickly changed into ghost form so that it would pass harmlessly through him – but, as Lightning had said, this wasn’t going to make any difference. The blast flicked him high up into the air, and he came crashing down onto the street about a hundred yards away.

Michael stood up slowly, covered from head to toe in horrific burn marks. Suddenly, his ghost powers kicked in. The twins stared at him in horror as, slowly but surely, the burns miraculously disappeared. He went back to solid form again, looking no different than he did before the blast. Even so, he still looked angry.

“That f**king hurt, you bastards.” He said. For all his rage, there was no disguising the fear in his voice. This was the first time in his life that someone had figured out a way to really hurt him.

Thunder sent another shockwave down the street, and panic ensured that Michael tried to jump to avoid it. This left him a sitting duck for another electric blast, and another, and another, and another…Michael finally hit the ground about a mile further back. He screamed in agony, and even after healing himself he was still in too much pain to pull himself up.

However, he did take the hand that was offered to him. He was quickly pulled up onto his feet, and came face-to-face with Raven. Even with her mask on she still managed to look worried.

“Thanks.” Michael said with absolute sincerity.

“Don’t mention it.”

He looked around at the Titans. Without realising it, they had come to view him as almost immortal – they weren’t quite sure how to react to the ass-kicking that they had just seen him receive. Robin resorted to the state of confusion that seemed to be his characteristic attitude towards Michael.

“What the hell just happened?”

“Isn’t it obvious? They’ve figured out a way to beat me!”

“Ah.”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“Electricity seems to be the one thing that I’m vulnerable too.”

Raven thought for a second. “So, if you’re vulnerable to electricity, why the f**k did you try and take on a being made of the stuff?”

“Because I didn’t know I was vulnerable to it, alright! Anyway, I wanted to take these two down myself!”

“Why?”

“So I could prove to you that I could do it! I didn’t know how much faith you had in me!”

Cyborg smiled. “So, now that you’ve made a complete hash of it, d’you mind if we help you rescue things?”

Michael sighed. “Sure. Go ahead.”

The Titans turned to face Thunder and Lightning. Seeing that victory was near, they had started to close in, but now that they had five new opponents they were starting to feel a little less sure of themselves.

The fight began again. Robin let off a Bird-a-rang that was blankly swatted out of the air by Lightning, but left him open to a Starbolt that flung him into a burnt-out truck cab. Whilst he struggled to get back on his feet, Thunder let off another shockwave. Starfire flew up, Raven levitated and Beat Boy changed into an eagle, but Robin and Cyborg weren’t able to dodge the wave of concrete. They were flung about twenty feet into the air and smacked back down onto the road like lead weights.

Michael had ghosted to avoid the wave, and now, fully enraged, he ran at Thunder as fast as he possible could. Lightning went to fire off a shot at him, but Starfire put him down with a bolt before he could do it. A black ball from of Raven floored him for long enough for Michael to smack straight into Thunder. The two of them hit the ground with enough force to send up another shockwave, this one even bigger than all the others.

Robin and Cyborg had just managed to stand back up again at this point. Showing a remarkable display of initiative, Robin managed to step onto the wave and fling himself over the top. Cyborg, however, wasn’t so lucky – he once again became a rag doll. Starfire flew over and helped him up, but he seemed to have remarkably little damage. Grunting loudly, he ran at Lightning, letting off continuous Sonic Cannon shots to provide cover.

This time, Lightning was ready. After artfully dodged the shots, he jumped up just as Cyborg approached and gave him a stunning kick to the head. The half-robot was thrown backwards about ten feet. He stood up, swore loudly and let off another shot. Lightning was too buoyed-up by his kick to miss it, and was too thrown backwards. However, this brought him near to Robin, who smacked him with a Bird-a-rang before he even hit the ground.

Meanwhile, Thunder flipped backwards onto his feet, giving Michael a kick to the head that span him head over feet. He hit the ground hard, but got up again quickly. Growling with rage, he pulled a gun on his opponent as Beast Boy and Raven dived in to cause some extra pain. However, both of them received massive punches from Thunder and were sent flying. Beast Boy hit a car, and Raven hit a lamppost – she wrapped herself in a shield before she hit, so she was unharmed, but the post was ripped clean out of the ground. It hit the road with a loud clang, leaving twisted and broken pieces of metal pointing at all sorts of dangerous angles.

Michael went to shoot at Thunder, but something got in his way. Lightning had managed to kick Robin in the head, which left the Boy Wonder dazed for long enough for him to let off some electricity at Michael. He was thrown backwards literally split seconds before pulling the trigger, and landed about a hundred metres away.

Unfortunately, what he landed on happened to be the lamppost. Or, more specifically, one of the pieces of metal sticking out from it. It went straight through his heart, leaving him hung six feet in the air like some sick modern interpretation of the crucifixion.

Raven stood up and saw what had just happened. She reached up to check his pulse, or rather the lack of it. She turned to the twins, eyes blazing red like the colour of blood.

“You’re going to pay for that.” She said, her voice suddenly taking on the hollow tone that usually meant that something bad was about to happen.

She rose up into the air, black energy crackling across her hands. The energy spread up her arms and across her torso – soon, all you could see was a vaguely person shaped mass of energy. This mass moved slowly towards the twins, its pure power causing the road to crack around it and all nearby objects to be tossed around like they were made of paper. Even the buildings shook with earthquake force.

The mass stopped just before it got to the twins. They stared at it in absolute terror as it began to grow once again. As it grew it started to pulse. The pulses became quicker and louder as time went on, and after about thirty seconds they stopped.

Suddenly, the mass exploded. Blocks of black energy were sent hurtling in all directions, ripping apart whatever they were hit. Sadly for the twins, they took the brunt of the blast – what was left of them could have been scooped into a bucket.

Raven hit the ground on her hands and knees. None of the other Titans dared to approach her as she fought to get her breath back. They had seen her have “episodes” before, but none of those even compared to what they had just witnessed. After a minute or so, she stood up and half-staggered, half-ran to where Michael’s body was hanging.

Except it wasn’t. He was clearly still alive and was capable of using his ghost powers, as he had fallen off the spike and was lying curled up underneath it. Raven dropped down beside him and shook him gently.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

Michael opened his one eye. Despite evidently being in a lot of pain, he smiled.

“Never better.” He said weakly.

Raven laughed through sheer force of stress relief. “Do you think that you can stand up?”

“I think so.” She had to help him do it, but he was still able to get onto his feet. He wrapped his arm around her to get extra support.

“Come on, let’s get you back to the Tower.”

The two of them limped off into the night, leaving the other Titans lost for words.

[Sproxie]

:eek: woah......
You seem to have a thing for "gory" battles.... :sweat: Micheal getting stabbed through the heart, thunder and lightning in the end having been able to be "scooped up in a bucket" but otherwise, it was a very good chapter, not that i don't like gory battles.... :sweat:


“That f**king hurt, you bastards.”
I found that line hilarius! :anime:

[rrarbecy]

You are awesome. That was awesome.

[Rae]

One word

WOW!!!

[Adrastea]

heart rate...still....out of control....
whew. that was amazing, way to get the emotions running! Raven's freakout, michael's dying, but then not, DUDE!!!!!!!
wow.

[Raven13]

that is sooo freaking COOL!!!!! i love the supense and the action please i want to now what happens. Most likely i think it will turn into a love story between Raven and Mike just a guess though! That was really good i loved it!!:)

AWESOME!!!!!!!!

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[oneeyemonkeypie]

very very nice. Cool to see the kids thrust into some adult situations.

Of course, with this comes the inevitable: a chapter where you delve into the philosophical realm and probe the thin line between good and evil. I look foward to it, can we expect it soon?

[Matt A]

Well, I have my five commenters (six, actually), so I'll get on and write the next chapter as soon as I can. Expect it this side of Christmas.

The Raven/Michael relationship is pretty much the whole point of the story. I thought that I'd left enough clues for you to figure it out by about chapter two, but obviously not. The next chapter will tell you more, so watch this space.

Oh, and sorry to dissapoint you Reid, but a chapter on the nature of good and evil probably won't be happenning. Anyway, good and evil are subjective labels at best, so any kind of debate on them is a little pointless. If you absolutely desperate for philosophy stuff, then I can probably worm it in there somewhere.

See y'all later!

[Matt A]

Yay! I got over 100 posts!

Sorry. I thought that was worth celebrating.

[Raven13]

[QUOTE=Welshie's Mate]

The Raven/Michael relationship is pretty much the whole point of the story. I thought that I'd left enough clues for you to figure it out by about chapter two, but obviously not. The next chapter will tell you more, so watch this space.

Yea i kinda firgured that out by chapter 2 also but i just decied to say it now !!!!:D

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Matt A]

Yea i kinda firgured that out by chapter 2 also but i just decied to say it now !!!!:D

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~[cheeky grin]

Yeah, whatever...

[Lord Welshi]

I'm loving this story, as reid said nice to see the titans thrust into a more adult, more violent world. now we can expect real villains: not ones that will show any self restraint or control: they will be out to kill the titans! *ahem* so yes, this is mondo-cool (ha, you haven't heard that in a while, matt!)

I'm quite proud of myself. I spotted something in this story which i had noticed before, but only now has it really struck me just how intricate this story is. Prologue: woman at a gravestone, playing a card game she was taught years ago. Chapter 3: Raven learns a new card game.:D Links-r-us!!!

Lord Welshi

[Crowgirl]

I'm loving this story
Sorry, but who isn't?

This is awesome, I can't wait for more!

[Raven13]

[cheeky grin]

Yeah, whatever...
No Really im not lying when u told me bout the story i just started to read it (not to make a cnflict or anything)

:D ~Yea I love ur story though~ :D

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Matt A]

I'm loving this story, as reid said nice to see the titans thrust into a more adult, more violent world. now we can expect real villains: not ones that will show any self restraint or control: they will be out to kill the titans! *ahem* so yes, this is mondo-cool (ha, you haven't heard that in a while, matt!)

I'm quite proud of myself. I spotted something in this story which i had noticed before, but only now has it really struck me just how intricate this story is. Prologue: woman at a gravestone, playing a card game she was taught years ago. Chapter 3: Raven learns a new card game.:D Links-r-us!!!

Lord WelshiYou can expect some proper bastard villains to turn up, but not for a little while, and whilst having this story described as "intricate" is pretty cool, I bet that you can't find another example...

Oh, and I haven't heard "mondo-cool" for a little while. It's always nice to hear some your old catchphraes again!


This is awesome, I can't wait for more!Well, your wait is finally over! I'm very excitied about this new chapter, as it contains pretty much everything that the story so far has been building up to. This is where most of your questions are going to be answered, and a few new ones will no doubt be asked afterwards.

Oh, and there are a few bits towards the end that are a bit unpleasant. For safety's sake, a PG-13 rating has been given.

Anyway, on with the chapter...


Chapter Seven: The Saint

The doors to the Titans’ med-room slid open with a “woosh” that would have impressed any Trekkie. Raven and Michael walked in, her new-found friend still in severe pain. She sat him on one of the examination tables and went over to the medicine cupboard. Under normal circumstances, she would have simply used her powers to heal him, but her “episode” had taken too much out of her for summoning that much energy to be a realistic possibility. After rooting around in the cupboard, she found what she was looking for: a small syringe filled with glowing blue liquid.

Michael stared at it. “What the hell is that?” he asked, clearly alarmed.

“It’s a new type of anaesthetic that we got from the Tamararians last time we were there. It numbs the pain all over your body without knocking you out.”

“Cool.”

“Just a little bit.”

Raven walked back to the table. She rolled up his right sleeve to uncover a tattoo on his upper arm. For whatever reason, it was burning 8 ball.

Michael looked down at it. “Don’t even ask.” He said.

Raven stuck the syringe about halfway between the tattoo and his elbow. The blue liquid slowly entered his veins, soothing his hurts almost immediately. He didn’t wince when she pulled it back out.

It was at that point that she noticed the stain on his hoodie. It was a large, dark circle about the area where his heart was. She stared at it.

“Hmm. I think we’d better get that looked at.”

Between the two of them they managed to pull off his hoodie and T-shirt. What greeted them was one of the most horrible things that Raven had ever seen.

The injury caused by the metal spike hadn’t fully healed. The topmost layer of skin was missing, meaning that the 2”-wide circle was covered in blood and bruises – not to mention bits of fluff from the back of the T-shirt.

“No wonder you were still in pain.” Raven said.

“Yeah. My healing powers aren’t quite perfect. A terminal injury will always be present to some extent. Hence this.” He pointed to a round mark above his right eye, a mark that everyone had wanted to ask about but had never dared to. “This was caused by a bullet from a Walther PPK back in ’97. A bank job that turned sour.”

“Ouch.”

“Quite.”

Raven was quiet for a second. “Well, you could have told me about the healing stuff earlier.”

“There was no need. I wasn’t having any problems with kicking ass until tonight.”

“I think we’d better get that wound bandaged up, don’t you?”

One tube of antiseptic cream and several cleaning wipes later, Raven was starting to wrap bandages around Michael’s chest. Suddenly, she noticed something. His entire chest and back were covered in hundreds of little brown marks. They were all about 3-4” long, but no wider than a pencil – not to mention being so faint that she hadn’t even noticed them until this point. Nevertheless, her curiosity was piqued.

“What are all these?” she asked.

Michael sighed. “I think that you’d better sit down. This will take a while to explain.”

She did so, looking distinctly worried.

“Well, I think that I’d better start at the beginning. My name is not Michael Spicer. My real name is Miguel De La Especia Cultivador – the Spanish version of what I go by today. I was called that because I was the son of a spice grower, an honest Christian who ran a spice farm just north of Barcelona. My childhood wasn’t exactly luxurious, but my parents brought me up to be able to enjoy myself nonetheless. However, when I was seventeen, I suddenly decided that I wanted some adventure – so I ran away from home to join a private army, one that was being raised by a man known as Hernan Cortez.”

Raven vaguely recognised the name, and tried to remember where from for a few seconds. Suddenly, her eyes widened in amazement.

“But that would make you-”

“Five hundred and two years old.”

“What? How?”

“When I have to heal myself – and in extreme cases, such as earlier tonight, it works by instinct, so I don’t always have any choice in the matter – any cellular breakdowns caused by ageing are removed. In other words, it is physically impossible for me to get any older than twenty-nine. I am immortal.”

“Christ…”

“Mind if I continue my story?”

“What? Sure. Go ahead.”

“In 1519, I joined Cortez on an expedition to the land that is now called Mexico. At the time, it was ruled by the Aztec Empire, a group of nutters so unpleasant that we felt that it was entirely in God’s wishes for us to destroy them. Thanks to our superior arms, we did so in less than two years. I presume that you know all that.”

“Yes. Go on.”

“That war was my first real experience of death and suffering. Until then, I firmly believed that there was a God who loved us and would try to stop our worst excesses. Of course, witnessing two armies who already had nothing but contempt for their fellow men pound each other senseless for two years kinda removes that belief.

When I returned to Spain in 1525, I came across a group known as the Eternal Brethren. They preached that God was evil, and that we could only be free and happy if we broke free from his rule: naturally, I joined them without a moment’s hesitation. For four years I helped them fight against the Catholic Church, until they decided to set the Inquisition on us. I was the only once who evaded their first attack, but after a year of hiding in the Pyrenees they finally caught up with me. I guess that you’ve already heard of the Inquisition.”

“Only briefly. Didn’t they torture people?”

Michael laughed dryly, the anaesthetic making sure that he didn’t regret it.
“That’s putting it mildly. They were an order of Catholic monks who spent their lives hunting down and reforming heretics – in other words, anyone who disagreed with the views of the Church, such as the Eternal Brethren. They were allowed to do anything and everything to those that they caught, and, naturally, they were especially fond of torture. The rules of the order forbid them from spilling their victims’ blood, but that still left them with some unpleasant ways of hurting people – burning and limb-breaking were their favourites.”

“Was that what they did to you?”

The sorrowful look that Michael had been sporting suddenly grew more intense. It was clear that the next set of memories still troubled him.

“Yes. For nine months they tortured me ceaselessly, trying to get me to renounce my views. They broke my fingers and toes with thumbscrews,” Michael held up his hands, and Raven noticed for the first time that none of his fingers were entirely straight, “but most of all they burned me. They did it by touching white-hot pokers against my skin, and they did it all day, every day, for nine months. Only my absolute hatred of them stopped me from saying a single word.”

Raven thought for a second. “Hence the brown marks.”

“Yes.”

Raven shuddered. She could only guess at to what that felt like.

“Anyway, after nine months the Inquisitors finally lost their patience. In a last ditch effort to get me to reform, they used a poker to burn out my eye.” Michael lifted up his eye patch to reveal an empty hole behind it. Raven barely avoided throwing up. “The pain was greater than anything that I had ever felt before, and ever will again. I told them that I was willing to conform, just so that I could get the pain to stop. They didn’t believe me, of course.

That was when something incredible happened. My only guess was that I must have been born with the potential to have ghost powers, but the trauma of that one event was able to make them real. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know, but suddenly I found myself flying away from it all, none of those bastards being able to touch me. That was the single greatest feeling that I have ever felt in my entire life, but it didn’t last for long. I’ve spent the last four hundred and seventy-three years trying to run from what happened to me, but, no matter hard I try, those memories will always be with me. Even now, I’m not sure if I’ve managed to get over it.”

Feeling a sudden rush of empathy, Raven walked over to Michael and hugged him. She wasn’t expecting him to reciprocate, but he did. Somehow, against all the odds, it felt right.

The two of them looked at each other. Raven smiled; Michael didn’t.

“If you’re going to do what I think you’re going to do,” he said, “then don’t. All the people who have gotten close to me for too long have wound up either dead or wishing that they were.”

Raven smiled again. “You know what? Right now, I don’t care.”

They kissed. Quite a long kiss, all told.

Now, at this point, you’d expect one of the other Titans, probably Cyborg, to wander in and spoil this perfect moment. But, thankfully, this didn’t happen: instead, ten small black balls of energy formed out of nowhere, orbiting round Raven like electrons. Those that went near Michael passed through him like he wasn’t even there.

[Kregor8]

Ok, two importaint things.
1) I hate moral relativism. I believe in absolutes - absolutely. This won't affect me reading your story or enjoying it, but I can't agree with your philosophy. If you want the good/evil disertation - that's coming in my story. Not there yet, but in my head. And has been from day 1, too. I'm not trying to 1up you.
2) These past two chapters ROCK! Strange that I can say both 1) and 2), but indeed, I can. I like gory battle scenes. You keep things realistic (as far as superhero stories go), and I like that. Michael is a vurnerable character. It's interesting that we both latched onto the fact that electricity can hurt or interfere with "ghosting" powers. Also, I like the history/background. Not at all what I would expect, and it makes Michael's character so much deeper. The language isn't really necessary, but go ahead. Characters like Michael are expected to swear. BB and Star are not. If they did (especially with the ferocity that Michael does) it would not be either believable or excusable. That's about all...

Sorry I couldn't read these sooner. You can count me as number 7 on 6 (oh, I wish I could have been). Anyway. Here's for chapter 8.

7<regor

Ps. Were we supposed to say that this was a Michael/Raven story? That's like sticking your head in the freezer and saying "Man, it's cold in here." It was so obvious...whatever. I'm still not sure about the chapter titles...have you explained that yet?

[rrarbecy]

*comes out of stupor caused by chapter*
Woah...502...NOBODY RUINED THE MOMENT!!!!!!
This last chapter ROCKS!
I never really liked Michael until this last chapter, and I still don't like him being with Raven, but...IT'S GREAT ANYWAY!!!

[Rae]

I think everyone already said what i thought so i'll just add AWSOME!!!

[Raven13]

*comes out of stupor caused by chapter*
Woah...502...NOBODY RUINED THE MOMENT!!!!!!
This last chapter ROCKS!
I never really liked Michael until this last chapter, and I still don't like him being with Raven, but...IT'S GREAT ANYWAY!!!
Dude i sooo agree this was an intense chapter i never saw it coming!! Very creative with the whole Hernad cortes thing (i did a reaport bout him) o and i loved mike from the start also i think that him and raven r great for each other (but that is my opinion) anyway i love ur story don't make it ever end!!!!!:anime:

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Matt A]

Ok, two importaint things.
1) I hate moral relativism. I believe in absolutes - absolutely. This won't affect me reading your story or enjoying it, but I can't agree with your philosophy. If you want the good/evil disertation - that's coming in my story. Not there yet, but in my head. And has been from day 1, too. I'm not trying to 1up you.
2) These past two chapters ROCK! Strange that I can say both 1) and 2), but indeed, I can. I like gory battle scenes. You keep things realistic (as far as superhero stories go), and I like that. Michael is a vurnerable character. It's interesting that we both latched onto the fact that electricity can hurt or interfere with "ghosting" powers. Also, I like the history/background. Not at all what I would expect, and it makes Michael's character so much deeper. The language isn't really necessary, but go ahead. Characters like Michael are expected to swear. BB and Star are not. If they did (especially with the ferocity that Michael does) it would not be either believable or excusable. That's about all...

Sorry I couldn't read these sooner. You can count me as number 7 on 6 (oh, I wish I could have been). Anyway. Here's for chapter 8.

7<regor

Ps. Were we supposed to say that this was a Michael/Raven story? That's like sticking your head in the freezer and saying "Man, it's cold in here." It was so obvious...whatever. I'm still not sure about the chapter titles...have you explained that yet?1. Being a moral relativist means that I'm not about to comment on your own philosophy.
2. I look forward to your good/evil chapter.
3. The electricity thing was a bit spur-of-the-moment - the point of the fight was to have Raven show her depth of feeling for Michael by saving his life, and that was the easiest way to get his ass kicked. I'm glad that you like it, though: and his background as well.
4. Where does Star swear? Anyway, they'll all start getting nasty as the story goes on, due to the influence that Michael always winds up having over people.
5. The Michael/Raven relationship was supposed to be obvious. I wasn't looking for anyone to say it; I just wanted you to be aware that it was coming.
6. I'm waiting for one of you guys to figure out the chapter titles...


I never really liked Michael until this last chapter, and I still don't like him being with Raven, but...IT'S GREAT ANYWAY!!!Funnily enough, I don't want you to like him...

Anyway, I just need two more people to comment, and I'll start writing Chapter Eight.

[Matt A]

Sorry, make that one person.


Dude i sooo agree this was an intense chapter i never saw it coming!! Very creative with the whole Hernad cortes thing (i did a reaport bout him) o and i loved mike from the start also i think that him and raven r great for each other (but that is my opinion) anyway i love ur story don't make it ever end!!!!!:anime:

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~I happen to like Aztec history, so I thought that it was a good thing to throw in. Besides, the Spanish Inquisition are something that I think it's important for everyone to know about...if only to make sure that they never happen again.

Oh, and why do you like Michael? There's nothing about him to like!

[Raven13]

Sorry, make that one person.

I happen to like Aztec history, so I thought that it was a good thing to throw in. Besides, the Spanish Inquisition are something that I think it's important for everyone to know about...if only to make sure that they never happen again.

Oh, and why do you like Michael? There's nothing about him to like!
o well see i just like mike!!! I like that he is bad:evil: and also that he is a very interseting charater o and also The spanish were very interesting to learn about if anyone gets the time read bout the aztecs and Hrenado Cortezs:D

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Adrastea]

Ah, I love the South American Cultures!! Aztec, Inca, and the countless others, I wish that we could learn more about them, all they teach us in school is about the European cultures. Makes me so mad. Michael rocks! how could you not like him? Aw man, living through the Inquision? Oh dear, that brings back memories. (Anyone seen "The History of the World Part 1"? (The inquision, here we go, the inquision, what a show, we know you're wishin, we would go, but the inquision's here to stay!!! Nothings working..bring out the nuns!!! (Nuns in swminsuits come out, do the whols synchronized swimming thing.....))ah, good times, good times)

Anyway, write on!

[Sproxie]

*comes out of stupor caused by chapter*
Woah...502...NOBODY RUINED THE MOMENT!!!!!!
This last chapter ROCKS!
I never really liked Michael until this last chapter, and I still don't like him being with Raven, but...IT'S GREAT ANYWAY!!!I agree ^
well with half of it anyway.



Oh, and why do you like Michael? There's nothing about him to like!
I like Micheal, but frankly i'm not sure why i like him.
I think this was you best chapter! and while i type i'm still recovering from the impact this chapter made. (good impact) though the poking his eye out with burning sticks was sorta disgusting...
just PLEASE post the next chapter soon!

[Kregor8]

1. Being a moral relativist means that I'm not about to comment on your own philosophy.
Man, saw that coming a mile away.


4. Where does Star swear? Anyway, they'll all start getting nasty as the story goes on, due to the influence that Michael always winds up having over people.
Star doesn't swear. I don't think I said she did, I just said she shouldn't. And yes, I understand the bad influence.


Funnily enough, I don't want you to like him...Ha! I hate Michael. He's an interesting character, and I like anti-heroes sometimes, but he's not even an anti-hero. I don't like the effect he has on Raven - she's supposed to be exactly so. Or at least, that's how I think. The whole Spanish thing makes him interesting, but that's not saying much. I think Slade is a totally awesome character, but certainly don't like him. I'd never make him win in a story (or would I?). Ok, I must go. But now, you definetly have enough to bring on chapter 8. Let's go!

7<regor

[oneeyemonkeypie]

you know how much I like this chapter, so you already know what I am gonna say.


Instead, I just wanted to point something out-you said the two armies (aztec and spanish) beat each other senseless. In reality, it was the spaniards who did the beating; the aztecs really did very very badly. It just wasn't as two sided as you said. :p


Still, all in all it was an awesome chapter.

[Matt A]

Instead, I just wanted to point something out-you said the two armies (aztec and spanish) beat each other senseless. In reality, it was the spaniards who did the beating; the aztecs really did very very badly. It just wasn't as two sided as you said. :p Okay, maybe that was a bad phrase for me to use. The point that I was trying to make was that the two sides were both as equally vile and vicious as each other: it wasn't simply a case of good guy natives being wiped out by bad guy imperialist Europeans or whatever.


Ha! I hate Michael. He's an interesting character, and I like anti-heroes sometimes, but he's not even an anti-hero. I don't like the effect he has on Raven - she's supposed to be exactly so. Or at least, that's how I think. The whole Spanish thing makes him interesting, but that's not saying much. I think Slade is a totally awesome character, but certainly don't like him. I'd never make him win in a story (or would I?). Ok, I must go. But now, you definetly have enough to bring on chapter 8. Let's go!I like that you don't like him. He is just human scum - and that's coming from someone who doesn't even believe in such a concept! Sure, he's seen some absolutely terrible things in his time, but they way that he dealt with them - by surrendering all trace of his soul - makes him even less human than you'd expect a five-hundred year-old man to be. Anyway, you'll also need to bear in mind that he serves no one but himself...

I started writing Chapter Eight this morning, so you might get something by the end of next week.

[rrarbecy]

I hate to dissapoint you, but I DO like Michael. Imagine what it's like to live for 500 years. Everything changes so quickly. I feel for the guy.(kind of)

[Matt A]

Yeah, but felling sorry for someone isn't the same thing as liking them.

The new chapter won't be with you until at least the end of next week, maybe even later. I've got Film Studies coursework due in on Thursday that I need to start writing, and I also intend to enter the Christmas/New Year short story compo. Only once I've got both projects out of the way will I start writing more of the chapter: I've got half of it done already, so there shouldn't be all that much left to do once I get round to it.

Anyway, I've just decided on something. I'm not going to answer any more questions or post any more comments on what's going to happen in the rest of the story. I've already said too much as it is.

[Matt A]

I hate to do a double post, but I've got some urgent news for you. I've done my college work, and I've decided against entering the short story comp...so I've gone and finished chapter eight instead.

Oh, and when I said that I wasn't going to comment on any future chapters, that wasn't encouragement for you guys to stop posting. It's just that all the hints that I've been dropping about what's going to happen have put me in severe danger of giving away the entire plot: a very bad thing indeed.

Anyway, bad-tempered spat aside, here's the chapter. As a small bit of fun on my part, the first half contains four references to dance music. Whoever is the first to PM me what those references are - correctly - will get some sort of prize.



Chapter Eight: One Perfect Sunrise

As much as she’d had misgivings over it, it felt surprisingly good to wear something other than her usual cloak and leotard. Michael had said that it would be best if she went incognito for what they were about to do, as neither of them thought that the other Titans would be all that impressed if they found out – hence the faded blue jeans and the Orbital T-Shirt. She didn’t have any “normal” clothes like that, so she’d borrowed them off of Michael – but hey, at least they fit.


When Raven had started walking, she’d never felt so paranoid in her entire life. Making herself look so completely different, she felt like everyone should be staring at her life she was part of a freak show. “Is that Raven? How dare that…FREAK try and act normal!” they’d think. However, as she walked along, entirely unnoticed, it suddenly occurred to her that maybe no one ever looked past the powers and the costume. She’d spent her entire being different to everyone else – and never in a good way – so the thought that is was possible to escape from all that was quite an appealing one.

Finally, after about twenty minutes of walking, Raven arrived at where she was supposed to be going: the Asylum, one of Jump City’s most overground underground nightclubs. She already knew where they were going for their first date – and this wasn’t it – so why Michael had asked her to meet him here was a bit of a mystery. Raven smiled to herself. The promise of mystery was why they’d started going out in the first place.

Michael had been gracious enough to buy her a ticket, so thankfully getting in wasn’t a problem. The second she was inside the noise it her like a wall – the music was so loud that she barely even hear herself think. How was she going to find one man in a room packed like a can of sardines? Suddenly, she had an idea. She pushed her way through the pilled-up revellers to the bar at the far end of the club.

“Hi. I’m looking for a guy called Michael Spicer. He said that he’d meet me here, but I can’t find him anywhere. Do you know where he is?” Raven yelled at the barman. He only just heard her.

“No. Who are you?” he yelled back.

She considered giving him an alias, but thought better of it. “Raven.”

He looked sceptical, but he evidently wasn’t in the mood to cause hassle.
“Okay. I’ll go and check with the manager.”

“You do that.”

As the barman ran up the stairs to the office overlooking the club, Raven took the opportunity to have a quick look around. The place was done up like the inside of a spaceship, all sheet metal and bizarre-looking ornaments. It was actually quite cool, in an ‘80’s kitsch sort of way. As for the two DJs, they had been clever enough to put the main lights behind them, making them look like silhouettes – a look that, when combined with the work lights that they were sporting, almost made you think that the mothership had landed.

To pass the time, she nodded along to the tune that they were playing. It was one of Michael’s favourites, one of the bigger – and better – trance anthems of the mid-‘90’s. She actually quite liked it, so she’d made the effort to listen to it a few times over the last couple of months – after all that, the only line that she could still actually make out was “squatting pissed in a tube hole at Tottenham Court Road”, and she’d probably die before she found out what it was referring to.

The barman came back over, looking more than a little flustered. “He’s in the office.” he said. “Feel free to go up and talk to him.”

Raven walked up the stairs and into the office. The manager was sitting behind a large oak desk at the back of the room, and Michael was sitting opposite him. They looked like they were having a calm, reasoned conversation…until you noticed the two unconscious heavies behind the door.

“Hiya, kiddo.” Michael said, without turning round.

“Um…am I interrupting something?” she asked.

“No, not at all. I’m just getting the money for our meal tonight. I wanted you to meet me here because I didn’t know how long it would take.”

Raven thought hard for a few seconds. “Wait…are you robbing this place?”

“Hell, no! The manager here owes me some money, that’s all.”

“How much?”

“Well, if you must know…five hundred and seventy-two thousand, six hundred and eighty-three dollars and fifty-five cents.”

“What? How?”

“I was working for one of the big Columbian cartels in the mid-‘80’s, just before they collapsed. I managed to escape the mess with both my life and a vast amount of crack cocaine, which I sold to this guy here. Funnily enough, he “forgot” to pay me. I was willing to let it slide at the time, but now I kinda need the cash.”

“You were selling coke?” Raven said, totally stunned. “I don’t believe you!”

“Hey, it’s not as if I made a habit of it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Raven sighed. She’d give him a kicking for it later.

The manager grinned at Michael. “Hmm, it seems that you’re in the dog house.” he said, chuckling slightly.

“Shut up. You’re in no position to make sarky comments.”

Michael made some kind of movement with his right arm, causing the manager to cringe painfully. Raven slowly walked round to see what had happened: Michael had a gun pointed under the table, and he’d just shoved it that little bit further into the poor guy’s crotch. No wonder he’d been sweating.

Michael sighed. “Listen. I’m in enough trouble as it is. Just give me the money, and I won’t have to blow your nuts off.”

“But he’ll do it if he has too…” Raven added.

The manager turned to look at her. “Oh, I know that. I just don’t have five hundred thousand on me at the moment.”

Michael sighed again. “Man, what a surprise. How much do you have on you?”

“There’s seventy thousand in the safe behind me. Take that, if you must.”

The manager took a key out of his pocket and put it on the table. Michael threw it to Raven, who walked over to the safe, opened it and emptied it into a sports bag that had been kept under Michael’s chair.

Michael stood up and holstered his gun. The manager visibly relaxed.

“Remember,” Michael said, “I’ll be back for the rest later.”

“You’ll have it, don’t worry.”

Michael walked over to Raven and gave her a quick hug. “Sorry about that.”

Raven smiled. “Never mind. You’ll still be in for it later, though.”

“Yay. Can’t wait.”

As they walked out of the club, Raven couldn’t help but smile at the tune that was being played. “How does it feel like to spend a little lifetime sitting in the gutter, screaming symphony?” the singer said. Well, it was quite liberating actually: she could testify to that.



“Don Saleri’s” was the kind of restaurant that had a waiting list stretching back several years. It had two hard-as-nails bouncers at the door just to check for dress code – and even black tie wasn’t posh enough for these guys – and there weren’t any armed guards inside because those lucky few who could actually get inside would consider mere robbery to be beneath them. This wasn’t a pop- or movie-star hangout; this was where politicians, corporate executives and major-league gangsters went to share tables and do business over dinner. Saleri’s was the kind of restaurant where both the quality and the price of the meal was irrelevant, because what you really went there for was just to say that you had been.

Therefore, Raven wasn’t even the slightest bit surprised when her and Michael got in both entirely unannounced and spectacularly under-dressed – and all this on only their first date. As she was beginning to discover, Michael had a way of making things happen: spending five centuries deep inside the criminal underworld gave you a lot of contacts, not to mention making sure that you were owed a fair few favours along the way. Whether or not he’d had to get violent to get this favour done she didn’t know, but she’d undoubtedly find out later. By force, if necessary…

As is the way of things, Raven and Michael had only just sat down when the screams started. They ran outside to see a blue-skinned ma in a magician’s outfit standing about five hundred yards further down the street. He was juggling with three burnt-out cars, massive wrecks spinning through the air like they were made of paper. Suddenly, he threw them at Raven and Michael, each one missing them so narrowly that it just had to be deliberate. The man cackled madly.

Michael sighed theatrically. “Well, there goes our evening.” he said, not to anyone in particular.

“Oh well.” Raven replied, evidently not at all bothered.

“Who is this guy, anyway?”

“Mumbo.”

“Who?”

“The world’s premiere psycho magician. He can do virtually anything he wants with his wand, but if you can break it then he’s pretty harmless.”

“Right.”

Without warning, Michael pulled out his gun and fired off five shots. Each one headed directly for Mumbo’s wand.

But they never got there. A six foot-high brick wall appeared out of nowhere, each bullet smacking harmlessly into it. The wall vanished as quickly as it had arrived.

Mumbo cackled again. “If you want to beat me, you’re going to have to try a lot harder than that!” he yelled.

Michael bent down to whisper in Raven’s ear. “I’m going to try and distract him. You sneak up from behind and get his wand.” he said. Raven nodded in agreement.

Michael started walking towards Mumbo, only to stop halfway. He grinned at the psycho magician as he pulled a small black cylinder out of his coat pocket. Mumbo stared at him, not quite sure of how he should be reacting.

“Man, I love these babies.” Michael said as he threw the cylinder to the ground. The entire street was filled with a blinding white light and a deafening bang. Everyone’s eyes and ears were pretty much screwed for the next ten seconds or so.

Except for Raven. She had seen Michael use flashbangs before – they were the reason why Plasmus was now respectful of the Titans – so she knew what was coming the moment he’d taken it out of his pocket. Shutting her eyes and holding her ears had protected her from the worst of its effects, and under its cover she had been able to run for the nearest alleyway without being spotted. She’d try and use the alleys to get behind Mumbo.

Trying to ignore the pain in his eyes and ears, Michael ran at Mumbo. He was less than five paces from him when a tentacle-type thing shot out of the wand and flicked him backwards. His ghost powers kicked in mid-flight, and he was able to gently drift back to ground level about two hundred yards away. Mumbo waved his wand in a random pattern that briefly made him look like an orchestra conductor, and then grinned inanely.

Suddenly, the ground underneath Michael’s feet started to shake. Based on what that tentacle was, what was going to happen next would be remarkably bad news. Michael looked afraid for the second time in as many weeks.

Ten massive plant stalks shot out of the ground, spreading bits of mud and tarmac everywhere. The stalks rose to what must have been at least thirty feet, and hundreds of tendrils started to grow off each one. The stalks – and the tendrils – started to shake in a way that suggested that they were more alive than your average plant. Which was true.

A person confronted with their worst nightmare is rarely capable of making intelligent decisions: in this case, Michael was powerless to stop one of the tendrils picking him up and chucking him into the air. Another tendril grabbed him mid-flight, and in this manner he was thrown from tendril to tendril to tendril, getting viciously smacked each time.

After a few minutes, one tendril threw him about fifty feet into the air, giving him enough airtime to come to his senses. He was able to arm himself with two guns before the tendrils got him again. They kept passing him around in their violent manner, but this time they were also having to cope with a vast amount of bullets directed their way.

Finally, a bullet smacked into the base of one of the stalks. Seeing as Michael was being held by said stalk at the time, it instinctively threw him to the ground. The plants dropped back into the ground as he picked himself up. By this point, he was too scared and angry to even swear. He simply growled instead.

He ran towards Mumbo, angrily swatting aside the stream of multi-coloured silk hankies that the magician shot his way. The hankies doubled-back mid-flight, wrapping themselves around Michael as he started to perform a butterfly kick. However, they were powerless to stop his left foot connecting with Mumbo’s face, and the hankies disappeared now that he was temporarily stunned.

Michael followed the kick through with a punch, his right fist smacking into Mumbo’s nose with bone-cracking force. The magician screamed and angrily shot a spiked-ball-and-chain at him from his wand. Michael leaned dangerously to avoid the ball, and whilst still leant over he grabbed the chain and flicked it in the direction of Mumbo. The ball flew back and smacked the magician in the head, not hard enough to kill him but more than hard enough to knock him to the ground. Mumbo almost lunged with his wand at Michael.

Countless circles of crackling electricity formed around him, making for an impromptu but very effective prison. Mumbo stood up and wandered over to him, cackling as he did so.

“You though I hadn’t heard about that trick, hmm?” he said. Michael was still too angry to respond.

Suddenly, Mumbo dropped to the floor, the black ball hitting the ground next to his head making it clear what had done it. Raven walked over to his unconscious body and picked up his wand.

“You villains never learn, do you?” she said, and then, with no ceremony whatsoever, snapped the wand in half.

Mumbo slowly transformed into his normal wrinkly old self, the electricity disappearing at the same time. Michael had seen too much weird stuff in his time to be surprised by this transformation. He and Raven hugged, both of them grinning with relief.

“Sorry for spoiling your evening.” Michael said.

They both turned to look at the damage that had been caused during the fight, countless cracks and gaping holes in the tarmac that would cause the Jump City Council to throw a small fit. Lights from hundreds of approaching police cars started to appear over the horizon, backlight by the kind of romantic orange sunrise that you only ever seem to get in movies.

Raven looked at Michael and smiled. “I quite enjoyed it, actually.”

[rrarbecy]

I never expected to see the angry side of Mumbo.
Raven's insecurities were captured perfectly, as was Michael's viciousness.
I wonder if the guy really owed Michael that much dough? And crack cocaine? I still like Michael, but this is pushing it a little. You still haven't reached your goal.
Sadly, I am NOT a dancer, so, therefore, I have no idea about what your musical references meant.

[Sproxie]

WOW. that was an AWESOME chapter! I love this story!
I thought that fighting scene was awesome.
But I can't seem to imagine Raven going out with a guy like Micheal...

[Matt A]

WOW. that was an AWESOME chapter! I love this story!
I thought that fighting scene was awesome.
But I can't seem to imagine Raven going out with a guy like Micheal...Funnily enough, I thought that chapter was my worst one yet.

As for the whole Raven/Michael thing, from what I've figured - and my knowledge of Teen Titans is limited at best, so I'm probably wrong - they both seem to be very similar people at heart. That was what chapter five (Choice) tried to explain.


I never expected to see the angry side of Mumbo.
Raven's insecurities were captured perfectly, as was Michael's viciousness.
I wonder if the guy really owed Michael that much dough? And crack cocaine? I still like Michael, but this is pushing it a little. You still haven't reached your goal.
Sadly, I am NOT a dancer, so, therefore, I have no idea about what your musical references meant.Hey, everyone has their angry side...

I don't consider myself to be all that hot at characterisation, so that was quite a compliment. Thankyou!

With the whole coke thing, I must admit that my attitude to drugs is pretty liberal, so it wasn't really designed to shock. I put it in simply because your average contract assassin would do something like that if they had the chance. And yes, coke is more valuable than you think...

Oh, and when I said "dance music", I meant the electronic variety: personally, I hate dancing. You still probably won't get the references, but never mind.


I'll start writing the next chapter when I get three more people commenting.

[oneeyemonkeypie]

I don't need to say how good this is.

But I will.

I LOVED THIS!
Very well written-you've taken the Titans out of their perfect little cartoon world and thrust them into the seedy, grimy real world quite effectively.

[Raven13]

that was an AWESOME chapter!!!! very well written and the fight scene with Mumbo was very detailed! O and I love ur story it has alot of action and excitment in it! Please continue writting!!!!!!!!!!!:D

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Unfortunatly, the only Techno I'm familiar enough with to recognize are Scooter and Eiffel 65. And I'm sure youv'e heard it enough already, but this story kicks ass. big time. orrigionally I was irritated b having to stop and think every ten seconds about the brittish lingo, but I have since adapted to the point where it is nowhere near as noticeable as it seemed to be. I like the fact that Michal is a hard core Bad Ass, its precisely what the Titans needed to spice up there lives. I'm just waiting for Michal to start strutting a leather Motorcycle Jacket and a Riding a Harley around. That would be awsome. 'nuff said.

(not 'nuff said)
you've helped introduce me into understanding the way the Brittish speak, so in response: Greet'ns from Bal'mer hon! (I only pray that someone knows what I'm talking about ***Glances over at Reid***):sweat:

[Matt A]

Very well written-you've taken the Titans out of their perfect little cartoon world and thrust them into the seedy, grimy real world quite effectively.That's what I'm here for...;)


Unfortunatly, the only Techno I'm familiar enough with to recognize are Scooter and Eiffel 65. And I'm sure youv'e heard it enough already, but this story kicks ass. big time. orrigionally I was irritated b having to stop and think every ten seconds about the brittish lingo, but I have since adapted to the point where it is nowhere near as noticeable as it seemed to be. I like the fact that Michal is a hard core Bad Ass, its precisely what the Titans needed to spice up there lives. I'm just waiting for Michal to start strutting a leather Motorcycle Jacket and a Riding a Harley around. That would be awsome. 'nuff said.

(not 'nuff said)
you've helped introduce me into understanding the way the Brittish speak, so in response: Greet'ns from Bal'mer hon! (I only pray that someone knows what I'm talking about ***Glances over at Reid***):sweat:1. Scooter are not Techno!
2. No, Michael won't be turning into a Hell's Angel or anything like that. The kind of look that I was going for was an evil James Bond, if you see what I mean...
3. The whole British lingo thing still kinda confuses me. The only words that I remember using that I know are British-only are "bollocks" (I'm just quoting, TNC...) and "mate", but I only know that because you guys told me so. What other words have I been using that are British-only?
4. Speaking of lingo, exactly what does "greet'ns from Bal'mer hon" mean?

Anyway, now that I've got my five commenters, I'll get to work on Chapter Nine. This one's going to be pretty hard to write, so don't expect to see it anytime before Christmas.

Sorry.:sweat:

[ShadowOfAGhost]

1. Scooter are not Techno!
2. No, Michael won't be turning into a Hell's Angel or anything like that. The kind of look that I was going for was an evil James Bond, if you see what I mean...
3. The whole British lingo thing still kinda confuses me. The only words that I remember using that I know are British-only are "bollocks" (I'm just quoting, TNC...) and "mate", but I only know that because you guys told me so. What other words have I been using that are British-only?
4. Speaking of lingo, exactly what does "greet'ns from Bal'mer hon" mean?
1. Then what are they then? I've always thought of them as techno/rave music?
2. I wasn't suggesting that he was, I was only saying that to me he sounds like he could be if he wanted to.
3. I don't know, it's just the differnt writing style I guess.
4. "greet'ns from Bal'mer hon" means hello from Baltimore friend. I don't really speak like that, I'ts just a bit of the steriotypical accent of the area, kind of like in boston they have a sterotypical (though highly more used, from my understanding) accent. Hon (pronounced Hun) is used like mate is used in Australia. Though you're more likely to hear the accents in Essex or Dundaulk (The two primary white trash town in Maryland)

[Adrastea]

Anyway, now that I've got my five commenters, I'll get to work on Chapter Nine. This one's going to be pretty hard to write, so don't expect to see it anytime before Christmas.

Sorry.:sweat:You're almost as bad as I am!! "Right, now I've won five games of Solitaire in a row, i should probably do the next problem of math"

Anyway, it's worth waiting for, so i'll try to be patient.....wait, that's physically impossible, nevermind then. WRITE!!

[Crowgirl]

I don't need to say how good this is.

But I will.

I LOVED THIS!
Very well written-you've taken the Titans out of their perfect little cartoon world and thrust them into the seedy, grimy real world quite effectively.


What Reid said. except I'm gonna say it louder.:anime:

[Matt A]

1. Then what are they then? I've always thought of them as techno/rave music?
2. I wasn't suggesting that he was, I was only saying that to me he sounds like he could be if he wanted to.
3. I don't know, it's just the differnt writing style I guess.
4. "greet'ns from Bal'mer hon" means hello from Baltimore friend. I don't really speak like that, I'ts just a bit of the steriotypical accent of the area, kind of like in boston they have a sterotypical (though highly more used, from my understanding) accent. Hon (pronounced Hun) is used like mate is used in Australia. Though you're more likely to hear the accents in Essex or Dundaulk (The two primary white trash town in Maryland)1. Personally, I'd call them rubbish, but according to my brother (pretty much the authority on dance music round these parts) they'd be best described as rave. If you want to see what I define as "dance music", then check out Byte Marks (see my sig if you don't know what I'm talking about).
2. Fair enough...
3. Different writing styles is what this place is all about. Oh, and having an online community that transcends gender, race, nationality and lifestyle. Obviously.
4. Well, that clears that up, then...


Don't expect to see it anytime before Christmas.:sweat:

Chapter Nine: Out There Somewhere?

A small housefly flew into the air vents at the base of Titans Tower. It flew up the pipes, up into the highest reaches of the building. It flew through the miles of complex air purification and conditioning machinery that was up there, narrowly avoiding countless spikes, cogs and the like. It flew through the maze of air-con ducts until it found a grille at the top of one specific room. It flew into this room, a collection of random evil-looking paraphernalia, and landed on the floor. Soundlessly, the fly morphed into a boy with green skin and geekish hair.

“Well, you were right.” Beast Boy said.

Robin turned round from the desk where he was sat. He didn’t look happy.

“Oh good.” he said. “I’m going to go to the living room to talk to the others. You can tell me what you saw on the way.”

As they left the evidence room and started to walk through the maze of corridors, Beast Boy reported on his findings.

“Like I said, you were right about Rae and Michael: they’re definitely going out. They met up at the Asylum about two hours ago.”

“I’m guessing that’s the nightclub.”

“Yeah. They didn’t stay there long. Michael was there simply to try and force money out of the owner: he succeeded, but I couldn’t get inside the office so I don’t know how. Rae looked quite cheerful when they left, so he must have been reasonably honest about it. Anyway, they were going to go to Saleri’s.”

“How? Even we can’t get tables in there!”

“Your guess is as good as mine, mate.”

Robin smiled darkly. They’d all started calling each other “mate” over the last few months: hopefully, Michael’s influence wouldn’t stretch much further than that.

“You said ‘going to go’. Why didn’t they?”

“Mumbo turned up just as they were sitting down to eat.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah. They managed to take him out pretty quickly, though.”

“Is he still alive?”

“Yes.”

“I’m amazed!”

“Same.”

“Did you get involved?”

“No. I actually decided to follow your orders for once.”

“Good. Rae would go mental if she found out that we’d been spying on her. As for Michael…well, who knows what else he’s capable of?” They both thought about that for a few seconds, much to their regret. “Anyway, do you know where they are now?”

“The last I checked, they were still at the scene, talking to the police. I guess that they’ll probably still be there by mid-morning.”

“Well, it’s daylight now, so we’ve only got a few hours at the most to sort things out.”

Robin and Beast Boy finally reached the living room. They walked in to find Cyborg and Starfire waiting for them. They both looked anxious.

“What did you find out?” Starfire asked.

Robin and Beast Boy sat down on the sofa opposite the other two.

“Right, BB.” Robin said. “Tell them what you just told me.”

He did so. Neither of them was surprised to hear that Raven and Michael were now very much an item: they’d managed to literally avoid being in the same room together for about the last fortnight. Even Beast Boy, normally entirely oblivious to the actions of others, had started to get suspicious. It was no surprise that he’d been told to investigate when they both dropped off the map on the same night.

“What are we to do now?” Starfire asked. “Are we to investigate further?”

“Yeah. We need to know more about Michael.” Cyborg added. “Rae’s going out with a guy that we know only one thing about: that he’s a complete and total psychopath.” They all shuddered at this realisation.

Robin looked round at his friends, making sure that he got their full attention.
“That’s what we’re all here for now.” he said.

He turned to the computer and started tapping the keys. “As I already told you, the CCTV footage of the medical room on the night of Thunder and Lightning’s defeat has been wiped. Seeing as none of here would have any reason to do that, my only guess is that either Rae or Michael is responsible. If I’m right, then it means that they want to hide the fact that they’re now going out, and if they’re being secretive about it then it means that they now know a few things about each other that they’d much rather not tell us about: I’m thinking that it’s some of the many things that we don’t know about Michael. To this end, over the last two weeks I’ve been sending e-mails to pretty much every single police department in the world, to see if they have any information on Michael in their files. Your average contract assassin is bound to have got someone’s attention ”

“And do they have anything?” Cyborg asked.

“Well…yes and no.”

“Huh?” Beast Boy asked.

“No one has any information on Michael Spicer himself, but there are various departments that are still on the hunt for possible aliases of his. There’s one in particular that I want to show you.”

He tapped a few more keys, and a police document written in spanish appeared on the computer screen. Despite their lack of experience with this language, it was obvious what the document was: a file on a wanted crook, a young man with black metal guitarist hair and brown porn star glasses. The crook was clearly Michael in disguise.

“This comes courtesy of the Montevideo police. They’re on the lookout for a man they know as 'El Fantasma', a contract assassin known to be responsible for at least twenty-three killings in their city.”

“What does El Fantasma mean?” Starfire asked.

“I was just coming to that. It’s spanish for 'The Ghost': they call him that because he has a knack of disappearing the moment a crime has been committed, even when in broad daylight.”

Cyborg smiled dryly. “That sounds familiar.” he said.

“Quite.”

Starfire looked puzzled. “But why show us this? It does not tell us anything that we do not already know. We already know that he is a murderer.”

Robin also smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.” he said. “Take a look at the date on the file.”

Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy all leaned forward to get a better view of the screen. They all found the date at the same time, and only on their third reading did it sink in. The file was written on the third of July…1947.

They were all silent for a few seconds. Finally, Beast Boy was the first to speak. “How?”

Robin looked at him with a dog-like expression of curiosity. “I have an idea, but I’m not sure that even I believe it.”

“Well, tell us. Your ideas are always sensible.” Robin blushed slightly at Starfire’s compliment. Thankfully, no one noticed.

“No. You guys tell me what you think.”

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked puzzled; Starfire didn’t.

“It is quite obvious, really.” she said. “Michael has not aged a day since 1947, and as we saw two weeks ago he evidently has healing powers. Those two facts must be linked: the only sensible answer is that he is immortal.”

Cyborg and Beast Boy stared at her, amazed at their friend’s suddenly display of insight. Robin, however, wasn’t at all surprised: beneath the shaky grasp of human languages – and even shakier grasp of human cultures – there lurked one of the most fiercely intelligent minds that he had ever encountered. Her apparent stupidity was simply the result of having to constantly deal with an unfamiliar world, a task that would sap even the mind of Bruce Wayne himself.

Robin looked round at his friends once again. “That was what I was thinking too. At least I’m not barking up the wrong tree here.”

“Right. Where do we go from here?” Beast Boy asked.

“As of now, nowhere. Until we find out more about Michael’s past, there’s nothing that we can do with this knowledge. Remember, we still don’t know what he was sent here to do…and whether it’s good or evil.”

[Kregor8]

Here's reviews for chapter 8 and chapter 9
Chapter 8) Everyone's saying it, and I have to agree with them. You've taken the Titans out of their little-kiddie anime (anime is not inherently that way, but Cartoon Network stuff is) world and brought them into reality. There are no Silkies here - only the rough grit of the darker side of life. Not very original, was that? Oh well - the poor quality of my expression is no reflexion on the supurb piece that this story is. Mumbo is one of my favorite minor villians, and you did a good job with him. Is Michael scared of plants? Huh? I'm working on the techno thing...I know very little about electronic music, though I write it.
Chapter 9) This is one of my favorite little bits. Just a single scene here, but, m-m-mm, it's good. The single fly, coming up, then the shadowy conversation. The whole team in on the idea - trying to save Raven from "a complete and total psychopath." It's nice how you've shown the rest of the team, still suspicious.

I like this story because it's well writen and interesting. I don't like what you're doing to Raven, so just keep that in mind.

Hmm, I think that pretty much covers it. Chalk up one vote for chapter ten!

7<regor

[ShadowOfAGhost]

you're in too deep to stop writing now! Though the last chapter was rather short, it was excelent for advancing the plot. I don't know how the government is in England, but right now the Titans are acting more like the CIA than a group of super heroes...and I like it! Covert ops, here we come!

[Raven37]

Well, um... hi. I decided to read this yesterday because I knew it would probably be worth reading if it was by Welshie's Mate... and it totally was! I really like this story a lot. It has a very interesting plot and keeps me hooked. I liked chapter 8 a lot. Like Kregor8 said, you brought the titans (or at least Raven and Michael) into reality, and did a nice job doing so. All the other chapters were very good too. Please post more soon!!!:D

-Raven37http://fs5.deviantart.com/i/2004/331/c/4/_raven__by_FreeLancerFox.gif

[Matt A]

Here's reviews for chapter 8 and chapter 9
Chapter 8) Everyone's saying it, and I have to agree with them. You've taken the Titans out of their little-kiddie anime (anime is not inherently that way, but Cartoon Network stuff is) world and brought them into reality. There are no Silkies here - only the rough grit of the darker side of life. Not very original, was that? Oh well - the poor quality of my expression is no reflexion on the supurb piece that this story is. Mumbo is one of my favorite minor villians, and you did a good job with him. Is Michael scared of plants? Huh? I'm working on the techno thing...I know very little about electronic music, though I write it.
Chapter 9) This is one of my favorite little bits. Just a single scene here, but, m-m-mm, it's good. The single fly, coming up, then the shadowy conversation. The whole team in on the idea - trying to save Raven from "a complete and total psychopath." It's nice how you've shown the rest of the team, still suspicious.

I like this story because it's well writen and interesting. I don't like what you're doing to Raven, so just keep that in mind.1. Like I said earlier, dark and unpleasant is what I do. Expect more of the same from both the rest of this story and all my future stories.
2. Thankyou for complementing my writing skills. Any compliments are welcome (I'm not begging, by the way...).
3. I happen to quite like Mumbo. I haven't seen any of his episodes, but reading Vanishing Act gave me enough of an idea of how he operates to make me want to use him. The silk hankies bit was my small nod to that gob-smacking story, in case you noticed.
4. Only Welshie probably noticed, but Michael is essentially a composition of all my more...unpleasant character traits. It does scare me quite a lot to finally say this, but I do genuinely believe that I have the capacity to take a human life. Oh, and Welshie won't know this - 'cause I've never told anyone this - but one of the traits that Michael and I share is a fear of plants. Strange, but true...
5. Don't worry about the dance music references. I just put them in to show the true extent of my muso geekiness.
6.Thankyou about the whole fly thing: that was pretty much entirely spur-of-the-moment. In terms of motivation for it, I suppose you could say it was a brief return to the more poetic type of writing that I used in the prologue.
7. The rest of the team are suspicious of Michael for the one simple reason that I want you to be suspicious of him. That's why I took such great pains earlier on to point out exactly how unpleasant I think he is.
8. You aren't supposed to like what's happenning to Raven...


I don't know how the government is in England, but right now the Titans are acting more like the CIA than a group of super heroes...and I like it!The British government doesn't act like that, but MI5 and MI6 (our national and international intelligence agencies) certaintly do. Kidnapping, torture and murder are just everyday things for those guys...and they do it all in the name of freedom. Scary, huh?


I decided to read this yesterday because I knew it would probably be worth reading if it was by Welshie's Mate... and it totally was!:D Thankyou!:D :D :D :D :D
[ego swells to near bursting point]


Please post more soon!!!I'll start the next chapter once I get two other people commenting. Even then, it'll take me quite a while to write. I'm going to attempt a montage in story form (no, really!), but I don't have the first clue how to do it! Anyway, I shall try my best.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

1. Personally, I'd call them rubbish, but according to my brother (pretty much the authority on dance music round these parts) they'd be best described as rave. If you want to see what I define as "dance music", then check out Byte Marks (see my sig if you don't know what I'm talking about).
And with that, you gave away what your avatar. hmm... to post or not to post:evil:
1. Underworld – Born Slippy

[Lord Welshi]

I can't really say anything that hasn't been said before. Great writing, keep it up.

Lord Welshi

P.S.
1. Thanks for the nod to my story....nice to get a little more advertising now and again:D, though it has been surpassed in quality time and time again.
2. PLANTS? In all the years I've known you, all the times we've gone and done whatever the hell it was that we did, you were scared of PLANTS? Hell, half the college campus is filled with them!
3. Yes, I kinda saw parts of you in Michael. All the bad parts. Actually, aside from your lack of super powers and not being around at the time of the inquisiton, you ARE michael!

[Raven13]

Very well written!!!!! I love this chapter!!!! The Titans are really starting to figure out who he really is now. This story has made the Titans seem so real! (Exept for the super powers and things) I love the plot and you are a very creative writter! Keep up the good work!!:)

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Sproxie]

The Titans spying on Raven and Micheal? tsk tsk tsk. No privacy.
But this chapter was great. I loved how you described how Starfire is definitely smarter than she seems.

[Rae]

I wish i had read this chapter earlier as everyone else has stolen what i was going to say!

Oh well, keep up the good work and i can't wait for the next chapter

Rae

[Matt A]

And with that, you gave away what your avatar. hmm... to post or not to post:evil:
This is fair, since you inadvertantly told me where to find the answer, or if you want me to get rid of it say so
1. Underworld – Born SlippyI'm guessing that you're referring to one of the things in chapter eight: if it is, how did you figure it out? The line "squatting pissed in a tube hole at Tottenham Court Road" is taken from that song, and yes, it is officially the greatest tune ever made! At least, according to me, anyway...

Oh, and you didn't need to put all that in a spoiler. I had originally intended for everyone to know about those references.

Now, can anyone tell me what the other three references are? One of them will lead to what's with the chapter titles, if that provides any incentive to keep looking.


1. Thanks for the nod to my story....nice to get a little more advertising now and again:D, though it has been surpassed in quality time and time again.
2. PLANTS? In all the years I've known you, all the times we've gone and done whatever the hell it was that we did, you were scared of PLANTS? Hell, half the college campus is filled with them!
3. Yes, I kinda saw parts of you in Michael. All the bad parts. Actually, aside from your lack of super powers and not being around at the time of the inquisiton, you ARE michael!1. Not a problem, matey-boy. Vanishing Act is still brilliant, though.
2. Not were...are. Anyway, did you ever notice that I always managed to avoid contact with said plants? Except for grass: grass I can handle, but it depends on my mood.
3. Thankyou. I have a habit of putting a little bit of myself, so to speak, in every story that I write. And seeing as my view of myself is not all that positive, that's how I consisently wind up creating characters like Michael.


This story has made the Titans seem so real!Real is what I do...


I loved how you described how Starfire is definitely smarter than she seems.I've been having great difficulty writing lines for Starfire so far, as I want to keep her saying the kind of things that she says without making her look stupid. I don't like making people look stupid: anyway, there is clearly a very capable mind in her young head...


Oh well, keep up the good work and i can't wait for the next chapterWell, I afriad that you're going to have to wait. As I said before, the next chapter is going to be ridiculously hard to write, and I've a small mountain of college work to take care of before I can even start! And all during Christmas too...


See y'all later!

[ShadowOfAGhost]

I wasn't refering to the chapter... I was refering to when you told me to look at Byte marks. under the 20 greatest dance music catagory, I saw your avatar next to the number 1 listing and made the conection. I didn't know that that lyric came from the song in the chapter. I was refering to your avatar and the "Can you tell what it is yet?"

[Kregor8]

Since you're always looking for some CC (that's constructive criticism, not compasionate conservatism), I re-read chapter 8, and here's what I noticed.
When describing the beanstalk, you used the word "tendril" or its plural nine times. You mentioned the plant stalks (not counting pronoun references) only twelve times. That's 75% of the time that you used "tendril." The other 25% of the time, you used "stalk." It seems that you could have been a bit more descriptive in this - you normally are. Maybe it's just your fearful refusal to confront the plant and see what it really is...huh. I'd recommend using "vine" at least twice, "stem" once, and consider both "wisp" and "strand." Depending on how large these things are, you could even consider a reference such as "arm" or "rope," depending of course on flexibility. So, that's to help you improve.


I've been having great difficulty writing lines for Starfire so far, as I want to keep her saying the kind of things that she says without making her look stupid.
Just let me say - you've done a good job at not making Star look like an idiot. Like you said, she just hasn't quite grasped English and its idioms.


With the whole coke thing, I must admit that my attitude to drugs is pretty liberal, so it wasn't really designed to shock.
What do you mean by "liberal?" Do you mean that drugs (pot, crack, sterioids, etc) should be legal and anyone who takes them is an ass? Or do you mean drugs are cool and all us loosers should wise up? I personally am in favor of legalizing drugs. It would dramatically decrease the kind of activity you described. I know guys who used to run and/or deal drugs. They all agree with me - a lot of the original appeal is because somebody said "No." Also, basic economic principles show that when the supply is increased, demand will decrease and prices will drop. So, that's my little tyrade.


I do genuinely believe that I have the capacity to take a human life
Don't we all? I know I do, but you'd have to push me pretty hard. Or did you mean like a psycotic kill-'em-all metality? On second thought, I don't really want to know.

7<regor

[Matt A]

I wasn't refering to the chapter... I was refering to when you told me to look at Byte marks. under the 20 greatest dance music catagory, I saw your avatar next to the number 1 listing and made the conection. I didn't know that that lyric came from the song in the chapter. I was refering to your avatar and the "Can you tell what it is yet?"Yeah, that had kinda occured to me once I'd logged out. The balloon thingy is on the front cover of Underworld's 2002 "A Hundred Days Off" album, and I think that it just looks really cool.

By the way, did you like the mag?


When describing the beanstalk, you used the word "tendril" or its plural nine times. You mentioned the plant stalks (not counting pronoun references) only twelve times. That's 75% of the time that you used "tendril." The other 25% of the time, you used "stalk." It seems that you could have been a bit more descriptive in this - you normally are. Maybe it's just your fearful refusal to confront the plant and see what it really is...huh. I'd recommend using "vine" at least twice, "stem" once, and consider both "wisp" and "strand." Depending on how large these things are, you could even consider a reference such as "arm" or "rope," depending of course on flexibility. So, that's to help you improve.I must admit that all that stuff hadn't occured to me. The whole fight-with-Mumbo thing took me about four hours to write, so I was more concerned with getting the damn thing written than how descriptive I'd been. Anyway, the other words that you'd suggested just don't seem to have the same connotations.


Maybe it's just your fearful refusal to confront the plant and see what it really is...Don't get all Freudian on me, young man...


Just let me say - you've done a good job at not making Star look like an idiot. Like you said, she just hasn't quite grasped English and its idioms.Thankyou!


What do you mean by "liberal?" Do you mean that drugs (pot, crack, sterioids, etc) should be legal and anyone who takes them is an ass? Or do you mean drugs are cool and all us loosers should wise up? I personally am in favor of legalizing drugs. It would dramatically decrease the kind of activity you described. I know guys who used to run and/or deal drugs. They all agree with me - a lot of the original appeal is because somebody said "No." Also, basic economic principles show that when the supply is increased, demand will decrease and prices will drop. So, that's my little tyrade.Those are some good points, but what I meant was that what a person chooses to eat/snort/inject-themselves-with is entirely their own business, and the state and society at large should only step in when their addiction leads them to commit (sp?) crimes, such as stealing things in order to pay for their next hit. Of course, if you wish to stop a friend/family member from killing themselves with whatever, then be my guest: just don't pretend for even one second that you have a God-given right to do so. Anyway, that's my tirade over and done with.


Don't we all? I know I do, but you'd have to push me pretty hard. Or did you mean like a psycotic kill-'em-all metality? On second thought, I don't really want to know.On thinking about it, I'm sure that I'd have to be pushed all that hard. Which is what scares me.


By the way Welshie, my family don't know about the whole plant phobia thing yet, so if you'd keep schtum about it the next time you see them I'd be most grateful.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Plant phobia? Does this mean you are an anti-vegitarian (can't think of the proper word for it)? Are you afraid of salad? allright, I'll just drop the subject now.

[Matt A]

No, you can keep the subject going for as long as you like. I've 'fessed up now, so I might as well live with it.

I can understand why you made the assumption, but I'm not afraid of fruits, vegetables, salads or anything like that: it's a bit like how a beef steak isn't the same thing as a cow, really. By logical extension, this means that I'm not anti-vegetarian, so there's no reason for any of the vegetarians amongst you (there's gonna be at least one...) to be offended. Just in case you were worried - which you probably weren't, but hey ho.

The best way I can describe my botanophobia (yes, that's a real word) without making myself look like an idiot is that I don't like close contact with any tendril-like part of a plant: roots, branches, those kinds of things. I suppose it's a bit like how when you're a kid trees and suchlike look like they've got faces, 'cept in my case it's taken several steps further. If that sounds strange, then that's 'cause it is.

Oh, and the reason why I gave that comment to Welshie is because I don't like having to talk about myself and my problems, so if I have any I usually like to keep them under wraps. However, I don'tactually know any of you guys, so talking to you is alright.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

We're here for you when you need us! And don't worry, I bet everyone's got some form of skeleton (or videotape or pictures as is aparently the case with the two welshies). either way, good luck with whatever it is you're doing...or somthin'.

[Crowgirl]

Umm... Can we just get back to reading the story? My head is starting to hurt...

[Matt A]

Hey, I'm here to serve...

By the way Shadow, thanks for the offer. That means a lot to me.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Hey, I'm here to serve...

By the way Shadow, thanks for the offer. That means a lot to me.
Anytime, man, anytime:)

[Matt A]

Merry Christmas everybody!

Unless you don't celebrate Christmas, of course: then just have a merry whatever it is you have instead.

I still haven't got round to writing the next chapter yet, but I will do once all the festivities are out of the way.

It's Christmas! Yay!!!!!:D :D :D :D :D

[Crowgirl]

Happy, uh... Wait!


Happy [Insert your holiday here]!!!! May you not be plauged with fruitcake!!

[Rae]

Okay three things

1) Happy Christmas/Hanakah/(insert)

2)That last chapter was great

3) Welshies Mate, why on Earth were you up at 20 to one this morning?????

Rae

[Matt A]

Welshies Mate, why on Earth were you up at 20 to one this morning?????'Cause that's usually about the time that I go to bed. Yeah, I'm such a rebel, aren't I?

Anyway, I'm now feeling kinda guilty, 'cause nearly everyone's posted chapters for their fics today and I ain't. However, I do have the plan for chapter ten taped to my computer monitor, so there's no excuses for not typing it now. I'll have a crack at it the moment I get offline (which should be in another two or three minutes) and I'll get it written as soon as I can. Expect it sometime early next week. Sorry. :sweat:

[ShadowOfAGhost]

'Cause that's usually about the time that I go to bed. Yeah, I'm such a rebel, aren't I?

Anyway, I'm now feeling kinda guilty, 'cause nearly everyone's posted chapters for their fics today and I ain't. However, I do have the plan for chapter ten taped to my computer monitor, so there's no excuses for not typing it now. I'll have a crack at it the moment I get offline (which should be in another two or three minutes) and I'll get it written as soon as I can. Expect it sometime early next week. Sorry. :sweat:your not the only one who hasn't posted their next chapter yet:sweat:. eh hehehehe:sweat: .
I posted mine, now it's your turn.:)

[Matt A]

Consider it done.:)

Like I said before, this chapter is simply a montage of small events. There's no real point or purpose here: this is simply to link the first and second halves of the story. The last section of this chapter contains a very deliberate nod to Andy McNab's book "Deep Black", but hopefully it won't come under copyright infringement.:sweat:

Oh, and there's also a small-ish nod to my own life. Only Welshie stands any chance of spotting it, but hey ho.

Anyway, on with the chapter...



Chapter Ten: Attached

Michael and Raven had now been going out for a month and a half. They’d still been doing their best to keep their relationship a secret – and their combined inexperience in this field meant that this was more counter-productive than they realised – but the strain that this secrecy was causing was starting to become more than they were willing to put up with. As a result, on this warm July morning they called Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire into the living room. The two lovers sat on the sofa opposite their friends, with all six of them looking particularly uncomfortable.

“We have something that be both feel that we need to tell you.” Michael said. “You may nor may not like it, we don’t know, but here goes…”

Even if the other Titans hadn’t already known about Michael and Raven’s relationship, they wouldn’t have been surprised. But at least the confession took away some of the stress.


Officially speaking, Michael and Raven were now about to celebrate their second week together. Of course, with Michael being Michael, he’d decided to mark this anniversary in his own…unique fashion.
Despite Cyborg’s reluctance, he’d taken the T-Car into Jump City for a few hours, coming back in early evening sporting one of the biggest grins in the history of mankind. Raven was waiting outside the Tower for him, and even with her depth of affection for her boyfriend she was still surprised by his near bone-crushing hug.

“Okaaaaay…what have you done?” She said in mock disapproval.

Michael laughed. “I’ve got you a present, honey!” he said. Raven glowered at his use of ‘honey’, but he was still too happy to notice. He led her round the T-Car to the boot, and then pressed a button on the key-fob to open the boot. Raven stared in amazement at the bundles of cash that completely filled it.

“What’s…what’s all this?” she asked.

Michael laughed again. “The manager of the Asylum paid off the rest of his debts today. What with me not having picked up a paycheque in nearly a year, this is going to come in handy.”

“I’ll say.”

“You happy with it?” Michael sounded genuinely worried.

Now it was Raven’s turn to laugh. “As if I wouldn’t be!”


The Titans hadn’t had much of a chance to spend any of their new-found fortune over the next month or so, what with the constant stream of robbers, street fights and old “friends” turning up to cause mayhem. Out of all these crooks, the last – and most dangerous – was Cinderblock: he had sprung out of nowhere down at the old docks to start tearing apart the disused warehouses and decommissioned tankers.

The six of them had been fighting this stone behemoth for several hours, gradually wearing him down into unconsciousness. Between the endless rounds of bullets, Starbolts, Bird-A-Rangs and all the other things sent his way, Cinderblock had never really been able to get a hit in: nevertheless, a twenty foot-tall stone…thing is capable of taking immense damage even at the best of times.

Finally, the Titans had an inspired idea. Raven conjured up two large balls of black energy in her hands, waiting for Michael to jump onto them before throwing them over her shoulder. The massive amount of energy in the balls meant that he was catapulted high into the air, twisting and turning as he flew so that he landed on Cinderblock’s head. The energy balls followed him, and more through luck than judgement he was able to grab them the moment he landed. Before Cinderblock could react, he swung forward and smacked the balls into the stone giant’s eyes.

The force of this blow was enough to finally knock Cinderblock out cold. He pitched forward and hit the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and who knows what else as he did so. Michael’s ghost powers meant that he continued to hang in the air roughly where the giant’s head was: he slowly drifted down to ground level, turning back to solid form right in front of Raven. The two of them walked away, hand-in-hand, without saying a word.


Michael and Raven had now been together for four months, if you included the six weeks where they didn’t tell anybody. To celebrate, they’d gone to the opera: it wasn’t the kind of thing that either of them was really into, but they both happened to be in the mood for something ridiculous. It had been a nice enough evening in its own way.

The following morning, Raven was sat in her room watching the rain, thinking about life, the universe and everything as she did so. Suddenly, Michael walked in unannounced: the only person who would ever get away with that. He wrapped his arms round her neck and kissed her cheek.

“Good morning.” he said, sounding disturbingly chirpy.

“What have you done?”

“I just got a call from a guy I know in England. He wants me to pay him a visit and sort out some stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“He didn’t say.”

“Oh. Are you going to go?”

“Yeah. I owe him a few favours”

Raven didn’t bother to try and talk him out of it: Michael was one of those rare people who was never plagued by indecision. “When are you leaving?” was what she said instead.

“As soon as I can get a flight. I’ll only be gone for two weeks, so you should be able to cope without me.”

“Okay. Have fun.” Her tone of voice was too flat to be an accident.

Michael turned and left the room, taking a quick look back as he walked through the door. Raven looked even more lost in though than when he came in.


It hadn’t stopped raining since Michael left: this time, Raven was watching it from the living room. Purest depression and sadness radiated off of her like it was some novelty brand of French perfume. So looked so unhappy that even Starfire didn’t feel able to cheer her up.

The Tamararian walked into the kitchen, making herself a bowl of cereal for her breakfast. She would have normally put together some kind of random alien recipe, but Raven’s gloom had slowly spread its way throughout the entire Tower, and right now she wasn’t in the mood for anything so complicated. She looked over at Beast Boy, who was nonchalantly cooking some Tofu burgers. He turned to smile at her, and in due process saw Raven.

He sighed, clearly looking irritated with her. “Man, he’s only been away for three days and she already looks a puppy without its master.”

Suddenly, Beast Boy was smacked full in the chest by a flying milk carton. He flew backwards into the wall, hitting it so hard that it cracked in about a dozen places. The black energy field surrounding the carton disappeared, and it dropped to the floor.


Even though it had stopped raining days ago, Raven was still sat by the living room windows. She also looked as depressed as ever, but the other Titans had started ignoring her after about the first week. Whether or not she was their friend, there’s only so much gloom that anyone can be willing to put up with.

But today she was feeling a little more cheerful: today was the day that Michael was coming back. Right on cue, the buzzer on the drawbridge sounded, and of course it was lowered for him. Raven sprinted down the stairs, shouting with joy all the way, and got outside at the same time as Michael’s car pulled up. Getting out of the car, he literally swept her off her feet, neither of them having a clue how long they were hugging for. To be honest, they didn’t much care.

It was only once they’d separated that she noticed the car. It wasn’t one that she’d ever seen before.

“What’s this?” she asked.

Michael grinned like the village idiot. “This is an Aston Martin DB9, quite possible the most beautiful car ever made.” As far as Raven was concerned, that much was true. “I was driving back down here from the airport and I thought…well, I’d thought that I’d treat myself. I’ve got something for you as well.”

“Cool!”

Michael put his hand on one of the rear door handles. “Well, they’re for all of you, really, but you’ll love them all the same.”

He opened the door, and two Black Labradors shot out of the car like greased lightning. They charged into Raven, knocking her flat on her back. She didn’t care though: with two dogs to make a fuss of, she was giggling like a little girl.


The dogs fit right into life at Titans Tower. They were two girls, Katie and Marla, and for the two-and-a-half years that they’d been alive they’d been living in a house that Michael kept in England. It was always being rented out to someone, so they were never short of company, but whilst away Michael had been away he’d decided that he wanted to be around them on a more permanent basis.

Being sisters and still pretty much puppies (in spirit if not in body) wherever Katie and Marla went…chaos invariably followed. Despite their constant attention-seeking and stupidity-inspired moments of destruction, they made the Tower seem alive in a way that it hadn’t until now. Their natural playfulness brought out everyone’s inner child, an understanding that you could have fun that wasn’t at someone else’s expense: they made sure that the Titans would always be able to enjoy themselves after a hard day’s crime-fighting. Finally, the Tower was beginning to seem like a real home.

However, Katie and Marla were very much outdoors type dogs. As much as they loved chasing each other round the Tower – especially when Beast Boy joined in, in the way that only Beast Boy could – they couldn’t wait until it was time for their weekly walk in the woods. Each Sunday, one of the Titans would drive them to the forests that surrounded Jump City, and for two or three hours they would just run. Even for someone as athletic as Robin, keeping up with them was hard work, but because they enjoyed it so much you kinda couldn’t help but enjoy it too.


Michael had been back at the Tower for nearly a month. Much to Raven’s annoyance, when he hadn’t been playing with the dogs he’d been shut away in the garage with Cyborg. Neither of them was willing to say what they’d been up to, even when Raven’s temper had got the better of her on several occasions. Not that Michael would have minded: in fact, he seemed pretty pleased whenever she tried the more direct ways of expressing her feelings.

However, one afternoon in mid-November Michael and Cyborg finally invited the rest of the Titans down to the garage. The Aston Martin and the T-Car stood side-by-side, fronts facing the outside door, and the two guys were leaning on the backs of their respective cars. They were sporting grins bigger than the entire Cheshire cat.

Michael held up a teardrop-shaped key fob with a few buttons on it. “This,” he said, “contains the answer to what us two have been doing for the last four weeks. As you’ll see soon, we’ve both been very busy. Anyway, welcome to the new Titans’ fleet.” He started pressing various buttons on the key fob, and, to the amazement of the others, various massive guns came folding out of the two cars.

Cyborg explained the technical details. “Both cars have been fitted with the same kit: two rear-number-plate-mounted rocket boosters, boot-mounted cluster bombs and “tyre spikes” – perfect for removing tails – lower-front-and-rear-headlight-mounted machine guns, side-panel-mounted homing missiles, front-number-plate-mounted rockets, ejector seats all round, not to mention our personal favourite – two bonnet-mounted Miniguns, which can use 160º firing-arcs to track and wipe out pretty much anything in front of you. Impressive, no?”


Michael and Cyborg were desperate to show off their new toys, and less than twenty-four hours later they got their wish. A small group of ex-US Army blockheads attempted to use some of their old equipment – stolen, naturally – to rob one of Jump City’s larger banks: they had managed to empty most of the money before the Titans arrived, but when their excess amounts of M-16s failed to cause any damage they were forced to take to the roads.

The robbers’ two Humvees flew along the southbound freeway, spraying enough rifle fire out the backs to make sure that the Aston and the T-Car weren’t able to get too close. Of course, the Titans gave as good as they got, with the machine guns and Miniguns ripping plenty of holes in the pursued. With the Army boys being a bunch of blockheads, their shooting was highly inaccurate but still remarkably deadly: all sorts of civilian cars were flicked about the freeway like they were toys, giving Michael and Cyborg enough of a job just trying to avoid the pile-ups and flying cars.

Finally, after about half-an-hour of this chase, the robbers’ Apache gunship decided to show up: it dropped down behind the Titans, trying to tear them apart with its dual Gattling Guns. Michael span the Aston round 180º, so now driving backwards down the freeway at 120mph whilst returning fire with his Miniguns. When it became obvious that they weren’t going to cause much damage to such a hi-tech piece of kit, he finally lost his patience and let loose one of the homing missiles. It tore through the windscreen of the chopper and detonated just inches from the pilot’s face: the whole craft was torn to shreds, sending bits of red-hot glass, metal and rotor-blade spinning through the air and making a mess out of pretty much everything in range. The Aston was knackered, but this didn’t stop Cyborg from following his lead and sending his two homing missiles up the tailpipes of the Humvees.


It was now only a week until Christmas. Jump City was already very much in the festive spirit, with lights and all sorts spread above the streets and small hordes of pretend Santas plying their trade in the many shopping malls. Of course, one of the local art galleries had decided to use such a jolly occasion to display a series of photographs recording the Balkan conflicts of the early-‘90’s. Just to be that little bit extra tasteful, the exhibition was called “Bang Bang Bosnia”.

There was one special photo that Michael wanted Raven to see. It showed a group of women walking down a wide muddy track on the outskirts of Sarajevo, a world of grey and dull brown where one small patch of colour stood out: a pretty teenage girl in a bright red ski jacket, grinning like an idiot over her new item of clothing and trying for all the world to look like Kate Moss. The caption underneath the photo simply said “The Poppy.”

“The girl’s name was Zina,” Michael said, “and I’d met her two days before this photo was taken. She was lying in a ditch out in the countryside, using an old bedsheet to try and protect herself from the mud and the cold. I felt sorry for her and gave her my coat: it wasn’t much of a gift as far as I was concerned, but evidently she was pretty chuffed with it. Anyway, I was in Bosnia to help destroy an old factory that was being used to entertain one of the Serbian generals, and a week after I met Zina I saw her being taken into this factory as part of the “entertainment”. Of course, later that night it was blown apart by a missile that I had helped target: all inside were killed instantly, including Zina.

At the time I wasn’t too upset, as I thought that anyone growing up in Bosnia at that time wasn’t liable to have much of a life anyway. But it hit me later on that maybe, just maybe, if she was given the chance to get out she could have made a name for herself, but all I did to her to show kindness was to give her an old jacket that was falling apart by the day. If I hadn’t been so obsessed over the job that was in front of me, she could be alive and happy right now. I know that you probably didn’t want to see all this on the week before Christmas, but right now I want you to understand one thing: that we should only do something if we feel that it’s right, that robotic professionalism will only get you hurt. I’ve told you all this before, I know, but this is the first time that I’ve been able to show you what I mean.”

For the first time since Raven had met him, Michael looked close to tears. However, his little monologue had also attracted the attention of the gallery staff: they didn’t look happy.

“Could you please be quiet? Images like these deserve respect, you know.” The jobsworth that said this was a prim-looking young woman, barely into her early-‘20’s. Michael glared at her, but for once resisted the temptation to say anything.

[Crowgirl]

FANTASTICO!!!!!

'Nuff said. No critisms.

Crowgirl

[Raven37]

FANTASTICO!!!!!

'Nuff said. No critisms.

Crowgirl
Yep, that was totally awesome!!! I liked it a lot. Can't wait for the next chapter!!!:D

-Raven37

[Sproxie]

This was an awesome chapter, My only complaint though is that Raven seems way too out of character. Come to think of it, Micheal is sorta too. otherwise, I lived it.
Even though she seemed out of character, I LOVED this part.


Raven sprinted down the stairs, shouting with joy all the way, and got outside at the same time as Michael’s car pulled up. Getting out of the car, he literally swept her off her feet, neither of them having a clue how long they were hugging for. To be honest, they didn’t much care.
I don't know why, I just do. :anime:

[Raven13]

I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing I saw that you should fix. I have alot of chapters like this. Connecting what happened in the first part to what was going to happen in the future. Very detail, and I loved all the sences!!!!:D Very well written, I loved it!! There is no more to say but WONDERFUL!!!!:D :anime: :) ;) :p

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Kregor8]

I've got a complaint. Ehehehe...


Cyborg explained the technical details. “Both cars have been fitted with the same kit: two rear-number-plate-mounted rocket boosters, boot-mounted cluster bombs and “tyre spikes” – perfect for removing tails – lower-front-and-rear-headlight-mounted machine guns, side-panel-mounted homing missiles, front-number-plate-mounted rockets, ejector seats all round, not to mention our personal favourite – two bonnet-mounted Miniguns, which can use 160º firing-arcs to track and wipe out pretty much anything in front of you. Impressive, no?”

This is just too British for the Titans. Here are the corrections. It would be:
...a license plate, not a number plate
...a trunk, not a boot
...tires, not tyres
...the hood, not the bonnet.
It is, to answer Cy's question, still impressive. And I don't mind the Britishification - I just figured I'd point it out since everyone else was heaping on the praises and I don't like to follow the crowd. :evil:

Other than that, it's all goodness.
Raven seems way too out of character.Well, her nutty boyfriend has really messed her up. So, to me, she seems normal enough.

My favorite part was undoubtably the whole picture thing. I like war photos because they capture moments like what you described and they can be used to send practically any message you want. It's fine to get "the big picture," but it's far more interesting and personnal to get "the small picture," even if it ends up being wrong.
It's almost hard, with a little snippet like that, to remember how awful Michael is. But that would be "the small picture," now, wouldn't it? Eheheheheheh.

7<regor
Ps. I love miniguns too (in addition to napalm, if anyone remembers). They (miniguns) are my favorite weapon in Unreal Tournament 04 (or 03, or the original).

[ShadowOfAGhost]

I remember you said something in my thread recently about napalm, but I don't remember anything in here about napalm, oh well. This guy seems to flip flop more often than...well I won't start anything political here, but he started as a villan, then a mysterious drifter, then a gangster, then a badass, and now a sort of family man (emphasis on sort of) and kind of James Bond like. To me he seems to be calming down a bit. sure he's having an impact on Raven, but would it be safe to say that Raven Seems to have an effect on him?

also, you mentioned there would be a nod too yourself. I don't know you, but I think I could take a pretty good guess. Does it have something to do with the dogs? perhaps you (have\had) a (dog\other pet) of the same (type\breed\color\personality)?

[Matt A]

Man, you guys posted fast!


eemed out of character, I LOVED this part.

Quote:

Raven sprinted down the stairs, shouting with joy all the way, and got outside at the same time as Michael’s car pulled up. Getting out of the car, he literally swept her off her feet, neither of them having a clue how long they were hugging for. To be honest, they didn’t much care.

I don't know why, I just do. :anime:Yeah, I'm quite fond of that bit as well.


This is just too British for the Titans. Here are the corrections. It would be:
...a license plate, not a number plate
...a trunk, not a boot
...tires, not tyres
...the hood, not the bonnet.
It is, to answer Cy's question, still impressive. And I don't mind the Britishification - I just figured I'd point it out since everyone else was heaping on the praises and I don't like to follow the crowd. :evil: You guys seemed to be liking the Britishisms (?) so far, so I thought that I could get away with it. It seems that I went too far this time, but hey ho.

Don't worry, I don't follow the crowd either.:evil: :evil:


Well, her nutty boyfriend has really messed her up. So, to me, she seems normal enough.Exactly!


It's almost hard, with a little snippet like that, to remember how awful Michael is. But that would be "the small picture," now, wouldn't it? Eheheheheheh.Hmm, how deep...


I love miniguns too (in addition to napalm, if anyone remembers). They (miniguns) are my favorite weapon in Unreal Tournament 04 (or 03, or the original).:(


This guy seems to flip flop more often than...well I won't start anything political here, but he started as a villan, then a mysterious drifter, then a gangster, then a badass, and now a sort of family man (emphasis on sort of) and kind of James Bond like. To me he seems to be calming down a bit. sure he's having an impact on Raven, but would it be safe to say that Raven Seems to have an effect on him?Well, this whole chapter was designed to illustrate the deepening of Michael and Raven's relationship, and how they've both changed as a result of it: in fact, the story as a whole is about how love changes people, whether for better or worse. Anyway, like my good self, Michael is a man of immense contradictions, so it's wise to expect his personality to go all over the shop.

As for that last sentence, I'd say that a girl as weird as Raven would be the last one to bring a 500-year-old mercenary down to earth!


Also, you mentioned there would be a nod too yourself. I don't know you, but I think I could take a pretty good guess. Does it have something to do with the dogs? perhaps you (have\had) a (dog\other pet) of the same (type\breed\color\personality)?You're closer than you think, matey-boy. The two dogs are actually the exact same as the ones that I currently own: even the names are the same! Anyway, I put them in the story because I absolutely love Katie and Marla to bits, and this seemed like a nice way to honour that. Especially since my family are starting to take an interest in my story...


Ta,
Matt

[Lord Welshi]

Excellent work, Matt. I like the Bond-like cars. I always thought the T-car could be just that little bit harder, and know she is! excellent.

Noticed the dog reference, but someone beat me too it. However, where's the reference to the, um, 'walnut whip?' I thought ud include that, too!

Lord Welshi

[Matt A]

I didn't include the walnut whip thing 'cause it's SICK AND WRONG! Trust me on this.

[Matt A]

Sorry to do a double-post, but I've got the next chapter written, and I think that it'd be a bit sadistic to keep it from you.
Anyway, this is where the main villain of the piece is going to be introduced (and about time, too!) and you can also say hi to the last action sequence in the entire story. Funnily enough, I also consider it to be the worst one of the lot, so if it seems like a bit of an anti-climax then I apologise.:sweat:

So, get reading...


Chapter Eleven: Monday

It was New Year’s Day, and most of the Titans were feeling a little worse for wear. Cyborg and Beast Boy had gone to a hip-hop/drum ‘n’ bass night at the Veranda nightclub, and Robin and Starfire had been invited to a thrash metal party at the house of the rich teenage suburbanite Karl Smith: despite their best intentions, all four of them had each consumed a vast amount of alcohol and who knows what else. They’d somehow all got back to the Tower just before sunrise, and were now sleeping off some monster hangovers.

This explained why, when the emergency alarm sounded at about half-four in the afternoon, they were all still in bed. They grumpily staggered down to the living room, where a fully awake, dressed and healthy Raven and Michael were waiting for them: they’d been intelligent enough to have a quiet night in. Rather than going out and getting wrecked, they’d simply curled up in Michael’s room and watched the Jump City fireworks. Others may have thought them to be boring, but all that either of them ever wanted was just to relax.

Raven couldn’t help but laugh at the state that her friends were in. “Had a good night, did we?” she said, laying on the sarcasm by the truckload.

Robin and co just glared at her, none of them having the energy to crack off a smart retort.

Michael turned to the computer and started punching buttons. After a few seconds, the details of Jump City’s latest major criminal incident came up on the screen.

“Right.” he said aloud. “It seems that the Stamford Arts Centre has been blown up. At the moment, no one knows who was responsible, or what possible motive they could have had. The police are requesting are help with finding more information, not to mention any survivors. Seeing as only me and Raven seem to be in good enough condition to do anything, I think that it’s best if just us two take care of this one for the time being.”

For once, the others looked happy to be left out of crime-fighting duties. However, they weren’t so happy with Raven’s sudden evil grin.

“If we go in Michael’s Aston,” she said, “then we should get there in about ten minutes. That’ll be enough time for you guys to sober up, don’t you think?”

And indeed it was. Exactly twelve minutes and fifty-seven seconds later, the Aston pulled up outside the ruins of the Arts Centre, and the now reasonably clear-headed Titans all got out to inspect the damage. Whoever had blown up the building was obviously a professional: the explosion had been set off in such a way that it had collapsed in on itself, rather than throwing steel and concrete across the landscape. There wasn’t any real increase in the level of damage by doing it like that, but the end result looked neater, which in certain circles was the most important thing. Because of all this, the large park opposite the Centre was remarkably rubble-free.

As for who was responsible…well, the Titans got to find that one out pretty quickly. They had just stared to approach the attendant police units when a voice called out to them from behind, and they turned round to see a man standing in the middle of the park. It had gotten dark by now, so they couldn’t see all that much of him, but out of what they could see the only thing that stood out was that he was wearing a white lab coat.

The man walked a few steps closer, so that he came under the glow of a streetlamp. The light revealed someone in his mid-‘20’s with average height and build and totally unexceptional facial features, and even his black oval-shaped glasses and cropped black hair contrived to make him completely unmemorable. However, Michael clearly remembered him, and the fear in his face made it all too clear.

“Now I know who I’m supposed to be protecting you from.” he said.

Raven leaned a little closer to him. “Who is he, then?”

“His name is Dr. Benjamin Jefferson, and he is quite possible the most dangerous man alive.”

“What, even more dangerous than you?” Cyborg said, not being entirely sarcastic.

“Yes. Unlike me, this man does not know where to draw the line, and he has all the facilities to make sure that he does not need to care.”

“Hey, if you guys are talking about me, the least you can do is let me join in.” Dr. Jefferson’s voice was surprisingly perky, but not quite mad-scientist perky. Even though he was still about five hundred yards away from the Titans, they could hear him perfectly.

Michael nervously smiled at the doctor. “Hey Ben, how’s it going?”

“Well, I’d be a lot better if you didn’t call me Ben, Mike.”

“Hey, easy. You may not be coming in peace, but for once I am.”

“Really? You disappoint me.”

Suddenly, Raven put two and two together. “Wait, do you two know each other?” she asked.

Michael was about to answer, but Dr. Jefferson cut in. “Oh, we go way back. But, sadly, neither of us have time to explain why right now.”

Robin knew the reason for this, but he asked the question anyway. “Why?”

“Really, I’d have thought that it was obvious. I have better things to do than stand here talking to you lot, one of them being watching you die.”

Too late, the Titans realised that the empty shadows in the buildings all around the park weren’t empty after all. Hundreds upon hundreds of man-sized, spider-shaped robots started to march into the park, quickly surrounding the Titans. None of the robots carried guns, but the fact that they had chainsaws instead of arms made this somewhat irrelevant.

Dr. Jefferson activated the rocket boosters on the soles of his shoes, and flew away into the distance whilst cackling madly to himself. The Titans were ready for the fight.

They charged at the robots, launching into all kinds of mad flying kicks once they reached them. They tried at first to stick together as a group, but there were just so many bad guys that it quickly became obvious that this wasn’t going to be possible. Before long, they had split up, each Titan simply trying to survive against the small ring of robots that surrounded them.

They were all quick enough to dodge the chainsaws and still let fly with whatever punches and kicks that they could, but because these attacks could only stun they also shot off whatever projectiles they had to hand whenever they wouldn’t risk hitting a friend: which was less often than you might think. Beast Boy was the most inventive, as his octopus form allowed him to throw the robots around with impunity, and with enough time at any given point he was even able to smack a few together. Coupled with Raven’s black energy – both in bullet-like solid lumps and the odd spot of robot chucking – and all the various things that the others were able to shoot/throw, and taking care of Dr. Jefferson’s army was lengthy but simple work.

However, even when the seven hundred and twenty-six chainsaw-wielding spider-bots were destroyed, the Titans’ work still wasn’t done. One extra special ‘bot had been hanging around the back of the fight, its ten-foot height and flamethrower attachment making it better suited to solo work. It waved around a jet of flame menacingly, and then started to slowly advance on the Titans.

When it had gotten halfway towards them, countless bullets came out of nowhere. The knowledge that he was now fighting against someone he knew had worked wonders on Michael’s naturally even temperament, and he had been taking down the ‘bots with even more ferocity than all of the others put together. However, his state of psychosis had left him oblivious to everything once the fight was over, and he hadn’t noticed the new ‘bot until it was almost on him. He tried his best to make up for lost time by unloading clip after clip after clip at it, but this one had armour too thick to be troubled by mere bullets. Now really losing his patience, he ran at the ‘bot – with the constant jet of flame merely passing through him – and jumped on its head. He pulled out two Uzis and fired the entire magazines of both into its eyes, the near point-black range ensuring that such a small weak spot was both easy to hit and at the receiving end of colossal damage.

Having had most of its core circuitry fried to a crisp, the ‘bot collapsed. Michael stood up from where the impact had thrown him, brushed himself off and walked past the stunned Titans to the Aston.

He half-opened the driver’s door before looking back at them. “You coming or what?” he shouted.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

The Titans (2/3 anyway) decided to get smashed? What's the drinking age in britton anyway!?

[Matt A]

Technically it's 18, but in actuality it might as well be 0...

[Crowgirl]

Technically it's 18, but in actuality it might as well be 0...
Here it's 21. Why might it be zero?

That. Was. Awesome!!!!

Dr. Jefferson, interesting villian, probably could kill Michael (Not to be cruel to Michael or degrade him, but it seems that way) if he tried hard enough.

can't wait for more!!!

Crowgirl

[Sproxie]

Here it's 21. Why might it be zero?

That. Was. Awesome!!!!

Dr. Jefferson, interesting villian, probably could kill Michael (Not to be cruel to Michael or degrade him, but it seems that way) if he tried hard enough.

can't wait for more!!!

Crowgirlsame here.

[Rae]

None of the robots carried guns, but the fact that they had chainsaws instead of arms made this somewhat irrelevant.

This made me laugh!! I don't really know why, it just did!

The drinking age in Uk might as well be 0 because no one really pays to much attention to it! (Not that i'm encouraging underage drinking!!!)

Rae

[Matt A]

Dr. Jefferson, interesting villian, probably could kill Michael if he tried hard enough.
Yeah, he probably is capable of that. Sadly, he won't actually be putting in that many personal appearances throughout the rest of the story: the Michael/Raven relationship is still my main focus.


The drinking age in Uk might as well be 0 because no one really pays to much attention to it!
Exactly! I'm teetotal, so it don't make that much of a difference to me anyway, but under-age drinking is a big part of British youth culture. Yes, you should be afraid. Very afraid...


Anyway, now I just need one more person to post before I start writing chapter twelve.:D

[Raven13]

This is a wonderful chapter. Dr. Jefferson seems like a very interesting villan. I love the fight secne though. GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!:) :anime: :D :p ;)

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Matt A]

I love the fight secne though.Really? I thought it was rubbish.:crying:

Oh, and now I have my five posters, I'll get to work on the next chapter as soon as I can. It probably won't be written anytime before the end of next week, but I'll do what I can.:sweat:

[Raven13]

Really? I thought it was rubbish.:crying:

Oh, and now I have my five posters, I'll get to work on the next chapter as soon as I can. It probably won't be written anytime before the end of next week, but I'll do what I can.:sweat:
HAHA, we all have our different perspectives. Though you are a wonderful writter and im not the best soo well..... i can't tell what is rubbish or not. Though I have a idea what it is.

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Matt A]

You are a wonderful writter.Thankyou!:D :D :D


Im not the best.You're better than you think...


Though I have a idea what it is.And what is it, exactly?

[Raven13]

Thankyou!:D :D :D

You're better than you think...

And what is it, exactly?
Thanks, and I have know idea how to explain this. Well if the story sucks, the grammer is horrible, the plot is bad, and the storyline and events does not mix in with the story.... Well than it is horrilbe. Also is you us really big words..but know one here does that. (Well some people do but, i know what they all mean.) Though still i have not read a story that bad yet. (O yea.....write more soon):D

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[ShadowOfAGhost]

The drinking age in Uk might as well be 0 because no one really pays to much attention to it! (Not that i'm encouraging underage drinking!!!)

sounds like the speed limit in America...:shrug:

[Matt A]

Thanks, and I have know idea how to explain this. Well if the story sucks, the grammer is horrible, the plot is bad, and the storyline and events does not mix in with the story.... Well than it is horrilbe. Also is you us really big words..but know one here does that. (Well some people do but, i know what they all mean.) Though still i have not read a story that bad yet. (O yea.....write more soon):D Yeah...I just about understood all that.:sweat:


Sounds like the speed limit in America...:shrug:That's the one thing that the British police do get a hump over...

Strange, that.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

That's the one thing that the British police do get a hump over...

Strange, that.So do American cops, that doesn't nescesarily mean anyone cares though...:sweat:
As long as you don't drive a car that just screams "PULL ME OVER" most cops will ignore you going about 10 MPH (~16.1 KMH) over the limit.
Though it's often funny to see whenever you're on a highspeed road the cops always seem to take on the roll of the pace car. No one will ever dare to pass a cop.

[Matt A]

Though it's often funny to see whenever you're on a highspeed road the cops always seem to take on the roll of the pace car. No one will ever dare to pass a cop.Yeah, that's always funny, except when you realise that one of those cowards is you...:)

[Matt A]

I've just become a member of the Teen Titans RPG, so go check it out if you want a few surprises...:evil:

Oh, and Happy New Year everybody!:D :D :D :D :D
(Yes, I am sober. Worrying, isn't it...)

[Matt A]

Chapter Twelve is now written and ready for reading. It's a bit on the short side, but it's still important all the same: as the chapter title indicates, this is where things will start going wrong.

On with the chapter...


Chapter Twelve: Meltdown

Robin hadn’t exactly had a pleasant twenty-four hours. It was about nine in the evening by the time that the Titans had got back to the Tower, and all bar him had gone straight to sleep within about twenty minutes. However, despite being equally exhausted, he wasn’t prepared to join them: no, he had much more important things to do.

He’d requested information on this Dr. Jefferson from pretty much every single police force, hospital and school in the world, just about anyone who would know something about him. It was twenty-four hours before all these people started to reply, and in all that time he hadn’t dared to sleep. Until such point as he was sure that the connection between Michael and Jefferson wasn’t a friendly one, he couldn’t risk either him or Raven stumbling across whatever he was sent.

The information that he had found hadn’t made him feel much better.

He pulled a piece of paper out of the central computer’s fax machine and waved it in the direction of Cyborg, the only other person who was in the living room at the time. “Hey, take a look at this.” he said.

Cyborg wandered over from where he was sat and took the piece of paper. He read it in silence for a few seconds.

“You’re sure about this?” he asked, not sure whether he should be surprised or not.

“As sure as I can be.”

“Well, you’d better be sure, ‘cause if you are then-“

“-then both Michael and Jefferson are officially neo-Nazis.”

“Yeah…”

Right on cue, Michael walked in.

Cyborg just couldn’t help himself. “Well, speak of the devil.” he said.

Michael paused and grinned slightly. “What have I done now?”

As quick as Michael’s reactions were, they were still fundamentally based on him being aware of what was going on. Because of this, when the punch that he wasn’t expecting arrived, it threw him across the room.

Cyborg slowly lowered his fist as he advanced on Michael. “Well, let’s try you selling us out for starters!”

Michael looked up at him. “You what?”

“You’re both neo-Nazis, aren’t you?”

“What?” Michael thought for second. “Me and who, anyway?”

“Dr. Jefferson, or whatever the hell is name is. That’s how you both know each other.”

Michael laughed. “Oh, that.”

“Yes, that.”

“Okay. I’ll just say right now that what you believe to be the truth isn’t.”

Both Cyborg and Robin looked incredulous, which, under the circumstances, was understandable. “What’s your excuse, then?” Robin asked.

Michael stood up, determination written across his face. “I don’t have an excuse. I have the truth.”

“Okay. What’s ‘the truth’?”

“Simple: I was on an undercover assignment to kill the head of the neo-Nazi group known as Freedom First. Ben was just a random foot soldier who I’d gotten to know along the way, and despite the fact that I was an anarchist and he was a Hitler worshipper we came to be good friends. Of course, when I carried out my contract, my cover was blown and he swore to kill me.”

“But that was twenty years ago. Why wait so long?”

“Ben ain’t much of a fighter, but he’s a genius at robotics. I’m guessing that he was waiting to build up the robot army that we saw last night.”
Starfire and Beast Boy had joined in the conversation by this point, and from the looks of it they believed Michael even less than Robin and Cyborg did.

“You know what?” Beast boy said. “That sounds like complete and total bs.”

“Well, it ain’t.”

“Prove it.” Starfire said.

Michael sighed dejectedly. “I can’t.” he said softly. “There’s no way that I can prove that I’m right. That’s the whole point of an undercover op: no one’s supposed to know that it’s happened. Even when my cover was blown, the assignment never went on record. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

Cyborg laughed. “Trust you? Why should we do that?”

“Let’s put it like this: have I ever let you down?”

“Well, there was the time where you put a bullet through Dr. Light’s skull.” Robin said. Even though it had been nearly a year since that incident had happened, he still wasn’t able to get it out of his head.

“That’s simply the way I work. Like I said at the time, killing people is my job. Anyway, it’s not as if I ever turned a gun on you at any point.”

“But how do we know that you will not do that in the future?” Starfire asked.

“Good point. Like I said, you’re just going to have to trust me. I wasn’t paid to kill you, so there’s no reason for me to do so. Besides, I like you guys.”

Robin thought for a few seconds. The answer to the question that had been bugging him for nearly a year was finally within reach.

“What are you being paid to do, then?” he asked.

“From what I figure, to protect you from Dr. Jefferson.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense. Why start working with us for a year before he showed up?”

“I’ve been thinking about that one myself. My best guess was so that you would already trust me before he arrived: so that we could prevent a scene like this.”

It was Beast Boy, of all people, who figured out the logical conclusion of that statement.

“If whoever hired you knew that Dr. Jefferson was going to come here a year before he actually did, then he must be involved in some way. And if your employer is crooked, then how do we know that you’re here to do what you say you’re here to do?”

“If my assignment is to carry out something unpleasant, then I’m the last one to know about it. That good enough for you?”

“Not really, no. There are some who are clever enough to hide those sorts of motives.”

It took the other Titans a few seconds to figure out what Beast Boy was getting at. Once they did, their expressions indicated that a whole new level of anger had been reached.

Michael looked every bit as incredulous as the Titans had earlier on. “Slade?” he said. “No. I find that a little far-fetched.”

“How, exactly?” That was Cyborg’s question: it would have been Robin’s, except he was too angry to speak.

“’Cause he’s dead, ain’t he?”

“Says who?”
The Titans slowly moved into combat poses. If they had been any calmer, they would have realised that fighting Michael was a one-way ticket to an early death, but thankfully he was in no mood to kill this evening.

Instead, he held up his hands and started to back away. “Listen, I’m on your side!” he said, begging a little too much for it to be fake. “You have to trust me! What do I have to do to make you realise that?”

[Raven13]

That was an excelent chapter. I liked the conversation between the Titans and Mike, very detail:) Also it seems as if the Titans are really starting to question Mike about what he is really here for. Nothing really seemed to be a problem. The only problem that I see is that you must write more soon!!!!!!:D

O and Happy New Year......2005 (yea):anime:

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Sproxie]

Wow, The Titans are finally starting to question Micheal.... I figured it would come soon, I mean, he is sorta troublesome. Now where is Raven to protect him from the other Titans...? I wonder what she'll do.

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Well if undercover assighnments are supposed to be off record, then how is it that this information was readily available within 24 hours?!

Perhaps whoever sent Michael intended for him to believe that he was protecting them but really was manipulating the situation so that this was what would happen? Wedge him in tightly and then plant the seed of mistrust, causing the Titans to fall apart at the seams and weaken, so then whoever sent him can strike while the Titans are at eachothers throats.:evil: Scandal!:evil: Conspiracy!:evil: Excelent Chapter!:cool:

Also, if Michael is driven away from the titans, who's side would Raven Take?

[Kregor8]

Ok. Once again, I have two chapters to review at once. How do I always manage to fall so far behind?
First off, I'll say that there has been no quality drop. None. This pair is as good as any to come before. Oh, there was the one fight scene - a little sub-par - but as far as mega-mega-mega battles go, it was fine. It's just the nature of the beast that you can't easilly write an interesting devestation of 700 odd enimies. The beauty of a fight scene is in the one-on-one, as I've said before and will say again. The mega-battles work fine in movies and TV. And if you're an excellent writer, you can squeek by. I hear some squeeking, Matt.

All right. Drinking and the Titans. Hmm. Not something I would have written - as I never drink nor do I know anyone who does. Still, I'm seeing some badness rubbing of on the Titans, once again. Thrash metal! Yeah!

The second chapter (numbah 12) is another of those dialogue thingydoos. Titans vs. Michael. But Raven's not involved. Not surprising. You kind of feel bad for Michael sometimes - like he's being oppressed and can't defend himself. Then you remember, "Oh yeah. He's not a good guy. Maybe he did do something..." You've done a good job on maintaining this ballance throughout the story.

So, this is the end of action? Pity. Yet, action isn't your strongest point. No. There's still plenty of goodness to come.

Happy New Year, all.
7<regor
Ps. I don't think this is one of those posts that can be quoted to death...

[Matt A]

Thankyou all for your positive comments! I thought that last chapter was rubbish, so it's nice to see you all proving me wrong yet again!


Well if undercover assighnments are supposed to be off record, then how is it that this information was readily available within 24 hours?!I suppose that I hadn't explained it well enough. The information that Robin found had shown that Dr. Jefferson and a man exactly fitting Michael's description were both former members of a neo-Nazi terrorist group: they hadn't known about the undercover op, which was why Michael had to explain it. It's a bit of a leap from that to the accusations that the Titans levelled, but that just goes to show just how much they don't trust him.


Also, if Michael is driven away from the titans, who's side would Raven Take?Hmm. Interesting question, that...


I don't think this is one of those posts that can be quoted to death.Once again, you're spot on. So I'll just say thankyou for all your positive comments. Oh, and...


There's still plenty of goodness to come.Trust me, you have no idea...:D


The only problem that I see is that you must write more soon!!!!!!Once I gen one more person commenting, I'll start writing the next chapter. Except that what I've got planned is going to be stupidly tough to write, so even when I do get started on it there's no point expecting it to be done quickly.

:sweat:

[Crowgirl]

This is the last comment.

Woah, woah, woah, woah, and woah. I could go on forever with the 'woahs' but I won't. So... the we finally learn that the other Titans don't completely trust our dear old pal Michael. Interesting indeed. I like how Robin brought up Dr. Light's death again, nice to see he's still worried about that. But throughout the interrogation(sp), I was intruiged by the fact Raven said barely anything. Yes, it does make sense for her not to, but it seemed, awkward...

Ghost brings up a good point. Whose side would Raven take, that is, if she took one at all? I'm personaly not sure if Raven could handle it, maybe happy Raven should take over for awhile....

Okay, about the Neo-Nazi thing. I'm learning about the Holocaust in Language Arts and I haven't really heard of the Neo-Nazis. I am guessing that this group was attempting to fightr against the Nazis, but I hae no clue. And otherwise, wouldn't that mean that Michael was a Nazi?

Rice and chopsticks await me, post more as soon as you can!

Crowgirl

P.S. Do the Titans know Mike's immortal? Hmm...

[Rae]

This was great and i hope the next chapters are just as great!!

The only praise i can think of is what everyone else said......*tries to think of something new.....fails*

Basically it's all amazing!!

Rae

[Matt A]

This is the last comment.

Woah, woah, woah, woah, and woah. I could go on forever with the 'woahs' but I won't. So... the we finally learn that the other Titans don't completely trust our dear old pal Michael. Interesting indeed. I like how Robin brought up Dr. Light's death again, nice to see he's still worried about that. But throughout the interrogation(sp), I was intruiged by the fact Raven said barely anything. Yes, it does make sense for her not to, but it seemed, awkward...

Ghost brings up a good point. Whose side would Raven take, that is, if she took one at all? I'm personaly not sure if Raven could handle it, maybe happy Raven should take over for awhile....

Okay, about the Neo-Nazi thing. I'm learning about the Holocaust in Language Arts and I haven't really heard of the Neo-Nazis. I am guessing that this group was attempting to fightr against the Nazis, but I hae no clue. And otherwise, wouldn't that mean that Michael was a Nazi?

Rice and chopsticks await me, post more as soon as you can!

Crowgirl

P.S. Do the Titans know Mike's immortal? Hmm...Okay, you raised some good points here, so I'll try and answer them as best I can:

1. Raven didn't say anything during that chapter because she wasn't there. She doesn't know about what's happened. And as for how she's going to deal with it...well, to be honest, that little issue had never really crossed my mind until you guys mentioned it, so I'm going to have a little think about that one.

2. Neo-Nazis are modern-day groups who follow Nazi beliefs and policies, and often use violent means to see them acted out. And no, Michael isn't a Nazi, as he only joined one of these groups as a means of getting close enough to its leader to be able to kill him: of course, the Titans didn't know this, so when they found out that he had been a member they immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. I'm sorry if I didn't explain that well enough.:sweat:

3. No, The Titans don't know about Michael's immortality. Yet...

4. I'll get to work on the next chapter some time tomorrow. Just don't expect me to finish it anytime soon...

[Rae]

Take your time, such masterpieces should not be rushed!

Rae

[Matt A]

She called my story a masterpiece....:D !

[ShadowOfAGhost]

She called my story a masterpiece....:D !You're surprised by this? It is!

[Crowgirl]

Come on, you seriously didn't know that you've created a Van Gough? :rolleyes:

[Raven13]

Come on, you seriously didn't know that you've created a Van Gough? :rolleyes:
DUHHHHH you have!!!! This is a masterpeice and should be a book. Since you want to be an writer or author, you are on a wonderful start!!!!!!!!!!!! (Heck you could have your first book out if you started to work on it. I would buy it!!):D

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Matt A]

Thankyou!:D :D :D :D :D ! To be honest, I don't think I'm that good, but it's always nice to be contradicted...

Progress Report: I'm about a third of the way through the next chapter, but what with college re-starting and all it's going to take a lot longer to finish than I thought. It's also going to rubbish no matter how much much effort I put in (and I mean that) so don't bother getting your hopes up. Sorry.:sweat:

Strangely enough, I've applied to study courses in creative writing at uni, and the prologue and first four chapters of this is what I've been sending round as an example of what I can do. I don't have all that much faith in this story, but seeing as the general consensus amongst the world at large is that this is my best work to date I've decided to just run with it and see what happens. You never know, something good may come of it...

[ShadowOfAGhost]

It's also going to rubbish no matter how much much effort I put in (and I mean that) so don't bother getting your hopes up. Sorry.:sweat:

Strange, I could swear that I've heard that one somewhere before...could it be? Nah, not on this thread.;)

[Matt A]

Ha ha.

But it is true...

[Matt A]

Right, this is the new chapter that I've been so worried about. I've done the best that I can with it, but personally I think that it's as boring as hell. Still, you guys might like it, so have a read anyways. I promise that subsequent chapters will be better than this.

Anyway, here's the chapter...


Chapter Thirteen: Remind

It had gotten dark now, finally. The bright neon lights stretched across the outside of the Asylum had just been kicked into life, ready for when the doors would open in a few hours’ time. With the club being situated in one of the more derelict parts of town, the neon was the only light in the entire street, giving the many muddy puddles on the road a eerie glow that make them look more like oil slicks than anything else.

There was a row of abandoned shops right opposite the club, with countless empty shelves and counters sat in inky darkness even at midday. One of these shops, formerly a video rental place, was currently home to its first occupant in years. This occupant was a young man dressed in his usual jeans and dark blue hoodie, but for once had ditched his eye patch in favour of one of the most realistic glass eyeballs ever made: it still looked strange, but he didn’t intend on getting close enough to anyone for that to matter. As he sat behind the counter, watching the door to the Asylum, the man smiled briefly as he reflected on the events that had led to this point.

It was at about the point where Michael had made his desperate plea for trust that Raven had walked into the living room. As was to be expected, she’d gone ever so slightly ballistic at the sight of her friends threatening her boyfriend, and it had taken several hours for all of them to bring the psycho demon-thing under control. Getting Raven back to normal had been a deeply upsetting experience for all concerned, but it hadn’t really endeared Michael to the rest of the Titans as much as he would have liked. However, they weren’t in a mood to pummel him anymore, but Robin still felt compelled to put his loyalty to the test.

“Find Dr. Jefferson, and find out what he’s up to.” Robin had said. Michael knew from experience that Jefferson wasn’t an easy man to find, but he’d had a sneaking suspicion that he’d turn up at the Asylum before long: it was the kind of place that most wannabe and actual low-lifes would make a habit of going to. He’d left the tower straight away and set up camp at the video shop at about three in the morning, but by six in the evening he still hadn’t had any success.

However, all that was about to change. At exactly 6:30pm a man sporting black oval-shaped glasses, black cropped hair and a white lab coat walked out of the main door of the club, and headed off down the street. Michael raised a proverbial eyebrow: he hadn’t seen Ben go in, so he must have been hiding in there since yesterday evening at the latest. He may have even gone straight there after his “introduction”. Of course, now that the Asylum was protecting a known criminal it would have to be searched by the police, but given the western world’s current attitude to law and order that shouldn’t be all that hard. He was almost instinctively against sharing the results of his detective work, but seeing as he was currently under Robin’s orders he didn’t have much choice.

Michael walked out of the video shop – the door had forced open by someone else years before, so he didn’t need to worry about locking up behind him – and started to follow Dr. Jefferson. If the doctor had any sense, which Michael knew that he did, then he’d be carrying out as many anti-surveillance drills as possible on the way to wherever he was going. That was why it wasn’t the best idea for Michael to be wearing his usual clothes, but the time constraints in this assignment meant that he’d just have to make do: besides, wearing a glass eye rather than an eye patch would go a decent way towards making him unrecognisable. Luckily, Jefferson wasn’t making a habit of looking over is shoulder, so even on a deserted street like this he wouldn’t be spotted if he stayed a sensible distance behind him.

After about four or five hundred yards, Jefferson reached a crossroads and turned left: Michael crossed the street before turning left himself, so that he was still on the opposite side of the road. This new street was one of the main boulevards in the industrial district, and as a result even at this time of the evening there were people and cars heading up and down it. Despite this, a man in a white lab coat was easy to spot – like Michael, he evidently hadn’t had any time to get changed – and because Jefferson knew this he didn’t even bother trying to lose any potential tails by ducking into alleyways or whatever.

Ben and Michael had been walking down this boulevard for at least twenty minutes or so, and were now just coming to the outskirts of the main commercial district. The shops, houses and whatever were still looking rundown, but at least they were occupied now. There were also more people and cars about, enough to give Jefferson an opportunity to hide in the crowds. To this end, he turned right onto the start of a pedestrianised series of roads – the shopping district for those who couldn’t affords the upmarket places – and tried to loose himself amongst the last of the day’s shoppers. However, Michael was expecting this, so by making sure that he walked along the edges of all the various streets he was able to keep himself out of the crowds and still see where Jefferson was going.

Jefferson eventually headed out of the pedestrianised area and ran across another main boulevard. Michael followed him down this street for another hundred yards or so, and then to his surprise Jefferson suddenly headed into a tube station. Michael swore under his breath: following Ben onto a tube train was going to hard work. They both headed through the turnstile/ticket machine-combo thingys and walked onto platform four, which to Michael’s knowledge was the line that went to the giant shopping mall just outside of the city.

A train arrived after about ten minutes, and Ben got on board along with the small crowd that had now turned up. Michael hung back for a few seconds to make sure that he didn’t suddenly get off again – a classic anti-surveillance drill – and then got on a via a different door of the same carriage. He took his seat at the opposite end of the carriage to where Ben was sitting, and thankfully he had a view of the back of the doctor’s head rather than the front of it – sitting down in the same spot for a length period of time was the best way to get spotted, so the fact that Jefferson wasn’t in a position to see him was only a good thing.

Tube trains, when working, are usually quite fast, so it was only about fifteen minutes or so before they arrived at the shopping mall. Both Ben and Michael got out of the train, and after worming their way through the station they stepped into this Mecca of twenty-four-hour consumerist mayhem. There was always at least one shop open in this vast place, and so there were always crowds. Nevertheless, Michael was able to follow the doctor through the seemingly endless marble halls. He took what seemed to be a stupidly complex route, taking a turning whenever a turn could be made and always heading for the largest crowds. Such an amount of tail-losing meant that Jefferson had to be near his destination. And indeed he was: Ben went through a set of fire doors between two random clothes shops, and after a few seconds Michael ghosted through after him. He was confronted by a lift, and because he couldn’t check each floor without at least some chance of getting seen this was as far as he could go.

Dr. Benjamin Jefferson may have finally shaken his tail, but Michael wasn’t all that disappointed: this was the entrance to the lair of his enemy.

[Crowgirl]

Not boring at all, you described Michael's 'hunt' really well, so one word:

Awesome!

[Kregor8]

Ah-ha! Not boring. It's rather a humorous picture, this crazy doctor wandering around the city. And he's wearing a bright white lab coat. How conspicuous is that? The glass eyeball part was a nice touch. Now let me remember...the Asylum is the trance club, right? With the guy who bought the crack?
Not so much time now (surprise!), but nice job.

7<regor

[Raven13]

O and you said it was going to be boring!!!!! That was excelent!!!! I loved the chase sence and like Kregor8 said it was humerous seeing this guy running around in a whit lab coat. Anyway I loved it!!!!!!!!:D The only thing i'm wondering is that why did you call this one boring!!!! Anything you write is never boring, you are a wonderful writter and you can never say that anything you write is not good!!!!!!! Again I love your story!!!!!:)

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Matt A]

I said that it was boring because nothing happens. This was simply supposed to be a way of keeping the story going for a little longer: nothing will really result from what happened in that chapter, so it's actually not all that important. Hence why I found it boring.

As for the lab coat, I'd written that in because it's Jefferson's signiature "look", and so if I use the phrase "a man wearing a white lab coat" then you'll instantly know who I'm talking about. Anyway, if you're good enough then it's perfectly possible to loose a tail whilst looking so conspicuous: hence the stuff with the tube train and the lift.

For Kregor's information, the Asylum is just a general dance music club, and is the same one that was in chapter eight ("One Perfect Sunrise"). I would have used a different club, but I couldn't think of a decent name.

Only two more commenters to go before I start writing chapter fourteen...

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Make that one.

I said it once, I'll say it again...


Strange, I could swear that I've heard that one somewhere before...could it be? Nah, not on this thread.;)Shadow

PS: Try re-reading the chapter while listening to the theme to For A Few Dollars More
go to www.clinteastwood.net (http://www.clinteastwood.net) and then scroll down to the link on the page marked A Fistfull of Film Music click the link, scroll down to For A Few Dollars More and click on the first link beneath it marked as, oddly enough, For A Few Dollars More
I'ts a Real Player file, so you'll need Real Player.

(I tried to put the actual file in the link, but it refused to work right.):)

[Vivace]

Very dark story! A lot darker than I've been doing so congrats. I am finally catching up with my list of fics to read and am done with what all is done. All I have to say is that I'm impressed. Very ineresting character you have running. At first apartently moraless but you dig deeper and he has some very intesting beliefs (the picture).


Hmmm you would kill someone....okay...*Crosses Welshie's Mate of the list of people to stalk when the realization hit him*

Noooo!!! Now if I want my life that means I can't stalk Lord Welshi either! Why is life so cruel!

[Lord Welshi]

Why you would think this was a boring chapter is beynd anyone's reasoning to understand. The act of michael's following of jeffersen was excellently described. Despite there not being much action, and certainly no dialogue, this was a fantastic piece of fiction. the act of setting up future chapters by describing this event is clever: if u hadn't done this, the titans locating jefferson wouldn't have ben so dramatic: they're not omniscient, they need their sources of information as much as the police or anyone else does.

Excellent

Lord Welshi

[Sproxie]

Why you would think this was a boring chapter is beynd anyone's reasoning to understand. The act of michael's following of jeffersen was excellently described. Despite there not being much action, and certainly no dialogue, this was a fantastic piece of fiction. the act of setting up future chapters by describing this event is clever: if u hadn't done this, the titans locating jefferson wouldn't have ben so dramatic: they're not omniscient, they need their sources of information as much as the police or anyone else does.

Excellent

Lord WelshiMy thoughts exactly. ^

[Matt A]

Try re-reading the chapter while listening to the theme to For A Few Dollars More Right. I'll do that the next time I have any spare time.:)


Hmmm you would kill someone....okay...Yes, I am a psycho...:evil: :D :p


Why you would think this was a boring chapter is beynd anyone's reasoning to understand.I thought that I had explained my reasoning, but evidently not. Even so, it's nice to be contradicted every once in a while.:D


Anyway, unlike most of the chapters beforehand, I already know what I'm supposed to be doing with number fourteen, so provided I knuckle down and write it now you should have it by this evening. I'm not promising anything, though...:sweat:

[Matt A]

Right, I have some good news, and I have some bad news.

The good news: I've managed to get the chapter finished on schedule. It's a bit shorter than I'd like, but it covers all the bases that I need it to cover. I'm also actually happy with it for once...

The bad news: This chapter represents the beginning of the end for this story. Yes, the finale is coming. I'm guessing that you'll be a wee bit sad about that, but seeing as I'm planning on going out with an almighty bang I think that you can cope.

Anyway, on with the chapter...


Chapter Fourteen: The Box

Today was the seventh of May, Michael and Raven’s first anniversary. In order to celebrate this momentous occasion, they’d finally gone back to “Don Saleri’s”, the scene of their abortive first date all those months ago. The restaurant hadn’t changed much during the time: they’d gone from a navy blue colour scheme to a forest green one, but this hadn’t really removed the feel of a rich skin covering a rotten core. The rottenness was still the morally dubious nature of the clientele rather than the bad food, mainly because the food was still actually pretty good. It was ridiculously over-priced, sure, but it’s very hard to muck up Italian cuisine: anyway, Saleri’s was more about the atmosphere than anything else.

Michael and Raven had been sat at their table for less than a minute when a waiter came over.

“May I take your order, sir and madam?” he asked, using the kind of real Italian accent that money just can’t buy.

“Right.” Michael looked at the menu for a few seconds. “I’ll have the Lasagne Al Forno, and my lovely young lady will have…”

Raven wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cringe at his compliment. “I’ll have the same.” Wee, it seemed like the easiest choice.

Michael politely tugged on the waiter’s elbow as he started to walk away. “Do you mind if I settle the bill now? It’ll be another weight off my mind that way.

The waiter looked at him strangely. “Sir, anything you order here is free of charge.” He winked.

Michael smiled. “In that case, tell the head chef that I want our food clean, or else it’s going straight back.”

“You didn’t need to ask, sir.”

Raven waited until the waiter was out of earshot before asking the obvious question.

“What the hell was that about?” she said.

Michael smiled again. “Me and the head chef were both in an anarchist organization about ten years ago. He has a habit of helping out those that he likes, not to mention hacking off those that he doesn’t.”

Raven pulled a face: she knew what he was referring to.

Their meals arrived fairly quickly, and thankfully were only what they asked for. For the most part, they ate in silence.

Raven couldn’t help but smile at their situation. Over the last four months Dr. Jefferson had been launching nearly continuous attacks of Jump city, sending out an army of spider bots every two or three days to obliterate whatever it was that he felt needed to be obliterated. The Titans had been able to beat these armies each time, but as they became more and more worn out it was becoming harder and harder to win. They were all painfully aware that they would be killed if they didn’t find Jefferson soon, but seeing as he was now no longer anywhere near the Asylum and they had yet to find a way into his shopping mall hideout this wasn’t liable to happen for quite some time.

What was so typically Michael was that, even in the middle of the single biggest ever threat to his and his friends’ survival, he’d still managed to arrange a date for them both in one of the most exclusive – and most expensive – restaurants in town. And they’d even gotten al dressed up this time, too. Michael was wearing beige suit jacket and trousers with purple shirt and tie – it was a strange combo, but it worked – and Raven had on a stunning jade green sleeveless dress. It perhaps showed off a little more than she would have liked, but, as Michael had said, “someone whose main outfit is a swimsuit has gotta be trying to flaunt something.”

They finished their meals after about ten minutes, but, as is the way of things, they didn’t leave right away. Besides, Raven had some unfinished business to take care of.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you this for quite a while,” she said, “but to be honest I’ve never really had the guts. Why me?”

Michael looked confused. “Why me what?”

“I know what I see in you, and there’s quite a lot to see, but what exactly do you see in me?”

Michael frowned. “Hmm. I must admit that I’ve never really thought about it like that before. I like you, and that’s that.” Like most men, he was pretty much allergic to the word “love”, so she knew what he meant.

“That’s not answering my question. What I meant was that I don't understand exactly why you like me: I’m not particularly special, personality-wise, and there are plenty of girls that are much better-looking than I am.”

“Okay, give me an example.”

“Starfire, for one.”

Michael laughed. “Star? She’s nice, sure, and definitely a good-looking gal, but…she’s too much like the kinda girl that all the guys want. That’s not what I go for: besides, I think that I’ve hacked Robin off enough for the time being.”

Raven laughed as well. “You noticed that, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“You know, I’ve always wondered when something’s going to happen between those two…”

“Quite. Anyway, back to you. I suppose that I like you because you’re different. Now, before you say anything, I know that you said that you weren’t special, but you’re wrong. You are special: there is no one else on this earth that is even remotely like you, including me. And I like that, I really do. I’ve been around for a long time, and the only thing that I truly crave is uniqueness. Something that you have in spades. Besides, I’m much more widely envied than you think.”

Raven stared at him. “Really?”

“Yeah. I know that you aren’t going to believe me, but I’ll say it anyway. You are a beautiful, fascinating, wonderful woman, and I want us to be together until the day we die. Is that understood?”

Raven smiled. “Absolutely.”

“Anyway, all this handily leads us onto the real purpose of this evening. I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer me with absolute honesty.”

Michael took a small wooden box, no more than 2” across, out of his pocket, and handed it to Raven. She opened it to find a gold ring, a ring that looked a million dollars despite having no inscriptions, patterns or adornments of any kind. She looked back up at him, eyes agog.

Michael gently held her hands in both of his. “Raven, will you marry me?”

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Holy damn.

Wow.

I'm asuming that's what your ideal proposal would be like? (often an author {and you have admited that you do this often} will include a bit of themselves in their stories). On that note, does May 7 have some significance to you as well? Your aniversery with your girlfriend or your birthday or something of that nature?

Shadow

[Kregor8]

Holy...stuff. Don't do it, Raven! Don't do it, for God's sake!
Ok, got that out. I can't think of any more good things to say about this story. I'm torn. I love the story, hate the character, and then find myself rooting for him. Congradulations.
I won't be that sorry to see it end.
*smack*
Yes, you will 7<regor, you idiot. Yes, you will.

7<regor

[Matt A]

I'm asuming that's what your ideal proposal would be like? (often an author {and you have admited that you do this often} will include a bit of themselves in their stories). On that note, does May 7 have some significance to you as well? Your aniversery with your girlfriend or your birthday or something of that nature?Man, that's deep! I'm not that much of an expert on proposals, but that's how I've always thought that they should go. As for the seventh of May, it doesn't have any real significance: I put in as a random detail in chapter ten ("Attached") that Michael and Raven had been going out for six weeks by mid-July, so in order to get the date of their first anniversary I simply back-dated a little bit, with the seventh just being a random number. Wait a second...I've just realised that their anniversary should be early June rather than early May. Whoops!:sweat: :sweat: :sweat:


I'm torn. I love the story, hate the character, and then find myself rooting for him. Congradulations.Thankyou!:D ! You should check out what I'm doing with him next...:evil: !

[Raven13]

I liked this chapter alot. Very well written and I was not expecting that ending!!!! (How old are Mike and Raven by the way) I was llike o my Gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did like thid chapter lot, wait I LOVED thsi chapter. I thought it was very cute! (Only at the end, but hey dont mind the comment i'm a girl) O and I loved how you explain why Mike did not like Starfire. I mean everyone that the Titnas run into they think Starfrie is cute. I mean Raven is really pretty also! Wonderful chapter!!!!!!!!:D :anime: ;)

O and what do you have next!!! (Please tell me, I will read it!!)

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Sproxie]

Holy...stuff. :eek: O my god.... Whn I read that last line, something, I'm not gonna say what, happened. Congradulations, You are the first person to ever make me do that, with nothing more than words. Wow. Why it happened, I will never know...

[Matt A]

How old are Mike and Raven by the wayThis story is set around about the end of the Titans' superhero carrears (for reasons that probably won't be apparent in this story, but will in others) so Raven and the other Titans are all about 18/19-ish. And, as you already know, Michael is 29/502.


I loved how you explain why Mike did not like Starfire.I hate to contradict you here, but Michael does like Starfire: in fact, he likes all the Titans. He was merely explaing why he wouldn't fancy her, that's all.


:eek: O my god.... Whn I read that last line, something, I'm not gonna say what, happened. Congradulations, You are the first person to ever make me do that, with nothing more than words. Wow. Why it happened, I will never know...I know that I'm going against what you just said, but what on earth are you talking about? Whatever it is, I get the felling that I should be impressed. Which I am. Besides, if you thought that last chapter was surprising, you should check out the punchline of the next one! It's gonna be amazing!


I only need one more person to post before I start writing the next chapter, and seeing as I'm absolutely desperate to start writing it you'd better let your feelings known quickly!

[Raven13]

This story is set around about the end of the Titans' superhero carrears (for reasons that probably won't be apparent in this story, but will in others) so Raven and the other Titans are all about 18/19-ish. And, as you already know, Michael is 29/502.

I hate to contradict you here, but Michael does like Starfire: in fact, he likes all the Titans. He was merely explaing why he wouldn't fancy her, that's all.
O ok I was just wondering!!! O and I did know that he liked all the Titans, but what I ment was love her!! Maybe I should have put the word love in it.
Anyway wonderful job again!:D

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[ShadowOfAGhost]

I only need one more person to post before I start writing the next chapter, and seeing as I'm absolutely desperate to start writing it you'd better let your feelings known quickly!
If your that desperate then do what I did when I wrote the last chapter to my first fic, and count yourself!:)

[rrarbecy]

You know, I'm glad this is the first fic I read. Know why? Because, at this point and though it will not last long, Raven is happy. Life is good. NOW you can post the next chapter.

[Matt A]

Consider it done, DJ.

As you guys know well, I don't go in for self-promotion all that often. However, I just want to take the time to say that I have written stuff before that I consider worthy of being called "amazing", and that this next chapter just about tops the lot. Yes, chapter fifteen of Dwyr Budr is officially the best thing I have ever written!

Enjoy...


Chapter Fifteen: Transient

“Raven, will you marry me?

Michael may have only whispered those words, but there’s just…something about a marriage proposal that kinda grabs everyone’s attention. No matter how quietly he may have said that infamous phrase, he may as well have screamed it from the nearest rooftop for all the secrecy he would have. And, as Raven was about to find out, the most important person in a marriage proposal is the one on the receiving end. Everyone in the restaurant, customers and staff alike, turned and stared, and they stared at her. Thirty-seven people, Michael included, were waiting on her decision.

From what you’ve read so far, you might think that a decision wouldn’t be required. But, with Raven, nothing is ever so straightforward. She would have happily given anything to be Michael’s wife, but, then again, perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea. Would her powers be able to handle her own wedding day? As far as she could figure, happiest day of her life = emotional overload = going on a super-charged murderous rampage against her will = very bad news for all concerned. She loved Michael dearly, perhaps more than she loved the world itself, but she just couldn’t risk it. Sorry dear, but you’re just going to have to look like an idiot for a little while…

But then something occurred to her. A memory of a brief, almost insignificant event, an event that took place some fourteen months ago. In a gesture so atypically Michael, he had personally apologised to each of the Titans for his brutal and entirely unexpected execution of Dr. Light. He’d done a reasonably good job of explaining his motivations and thought processes, but there was something else as well…he’d given her a piece of advice, but because she hadn’t know how to act upon it shed’ promptly forgotten all about it. Until now, that is.

“A life without fun isn’t a life at all.” he’d said, or words to that effect at least. From what she could recall, this statement was a direct appeal to her emotions, the things that she was so careful to hide. The only thing that mattered was that she was enjoying herself and if anyone got hurt along the way then so be it. That was how Michael had been living for the last half a millennia, and, whilst he had made a fair few enemies along the way, he did seem to be having a good time. When he’d tried to encourage her to lead the same kind of life, she hadn’t done so simply because she hadn’t known how: she didn’t have much more of an idea now, but it’s never too late to start learning…

It suddenly occurred to her that it had been nearly a minute since Michael had popped his question, so to speak. An answer was in order.

“Yes, of course I will.” she said.

The customers and staff started cheering and clapping (tastefully, of course: this was Don Saleri’s, after all). Michael leaned back in his chair, a relieved grin the size of the Cheshire Cat rapidly growing on his face. The grin turned even more rapidly into a giggle.

The head chef, a surprisingly thin clean-shaven, middle-aged man, wandered over.

“I think that the happy couple deserve a free drink! You agree, no?” Raven couldn’t quite place his accent: it was kinda Russian crossed with South African crossed with a whole number of other places.

Michael was still giggling like the village idiot, so Raven answered for him as well. “We’d love one, thankyou.”

The chef grinned. “My friend Michael here is even luckier than he thinks, I feel.”

Raven looked over at her new fiancée, her face suddenly full of concern. “We’ll have to wait and see on that one.”

“Nonsense! Michael doesn’t know how to have poor taste in anything!”

He wandered back to the kitchens, and returned armed with a corkscrew, two crystal glasses and a bottle of white wine that must have cost somewhere in the thousands.

“This was made on my brother’s vineyard in Frontignan. The finest wines in the South of France!” he said as he poured out two glasses. The sibling pride in his voice was real.

The chef headed back to the kitchen. Raven and a now composed Michael both took a sip of the wine: it was indeed delicious.

Michael’s face finally turned serious. “You know, you really had me worried back there.”

Raven laughed. “Nah, I was just toying with you. As if I was I going to say no!”

Well, it was as good a lie as any other.


It was about 11pm by the time Raven and Michael left the restaurant. Raven had forgotten to bring a coat with er, so naturally Michael played the gentleman and lent her his jacket. He also took the opportunity to tell her something.

“Before we go back to the Tower,” he said, “there’s something that I want to show you. I don’t know if you’ll like it or not, but I’d like you to see it all the same.”

Raven turned round and kissed him. “Right now, I think that it’s going to be impossible for you to annoy me.”

As they started on the ten-minute walk to the nearest car park, Raven had an interesting thought. Even though she hadn’t noticed it at the time, her powers hadn’t caused any mayhem at the restaurant. She had been pretty surprised by Michael’s proposal, but no windows had smashed and no objects had gone flying in a cloud of black energy. She hadn’t been putting in any extra meditation time lately, so from what she could figure there was only one logical explanation: she couldn’t have been all that surprised. Somehow, she must have been expecting everything that Michael had said. But was she really that sure of how much he loved her? She knew for a fact that she loved him with that much force, so maybe she was sure. Either way, she had a funny feeling that she’d soon know more.

They arrived at the car park and got into Michael’s Aston. It slowly drifted through Jump City’s more upmarket commercial district, and then headed into Downtown. Raven stared up at the glistening skyscrapers, monuments to human skill that never stopped looking awe-inspiring no matter how many times she saw them each day. For a brief moment, she completely forgot about the real world around her, the happiness that she had been feeling for the last several hours transforming her into a child-like state of wonder. She pressed her hands and nose against the window, trying to get closer to the source of this split-second epiphany. For the first time in years, her inner child was happy.

But Michael wasn’t stopping in Downtown. The Aston carried on through the suburbs and out to the mall, parking right by the front door now that the place was deserted. It was a twenty-four hour shoppers’ Mecca, mind you, so it was still open. As they walked into its air-conditioned cocoon, Raven felt a brief pang of fear. But, thankfully, they weren’t going that way: instead, Michael led her up the escalators to the top level, where there was a giant eating area surrounded by more fast-food joints than you could name. They went into one of the smaller ones, a pizza vendor now closed for the night, and wound their way through the kitchens and storage vendors until they came to a lift.

Raven’s sense of unease returned as the lift descended to the very bottom level. Sure enough, the doors opened to reveal a large, strange-looking room, where all four walls were covered with the kind of computer equipment and displays that wouldn’t have felt out of place in a fifties sci-fi B-movie. There were two special things about this room that particularly attracted her attention: a sphere covered in crackling white energy that hovered in the middle, and the man standing directly behind it. The man was important because he was sporting black oval-shaped glasses, black cropped hair and a white lab coat.

Raven turned to Michael, not sure whether she should be disappointed, upset or angry, or even anything quite so negative. “I suppose you’re going to say that you’re sorry.”

“No. I’m going to give you a different cliché: this isn’t what you think it is.”

“Well, what is it then?”

“Have you ever heard of something called a particle accelerator?”

“No. I suppose that you’re going to explain it to me.”

“Correct. I’m not too sure of the physics, but basically you get particles of matter and anti-matter – I’m guessing that you’ve at least heard of that – and shoot them round and round a giant tube until they smack into each other and produce massive amounts of energy. The tube bit is the actual particle accelerator, and seeing as they’re difficult to get built by the government Ben here has had to build one himself under Jump City: it literally travels right around the edge of the city. Where we’re at now is merely the control centre outside of it.”

“Right, so where do we fit into all this? I’m not feeling that a major humanitarian project is going on here.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Anti-matter is one of the cheapest and most plentiful energy sources available, or at least it would be if we could find enough particles. That’s why no one’s tried to use it to provide power, but if you could…well, I’m guess that you’ve already figured how much that would help the world at large. Anyway, Ben contacted me about two weeks ago – the hordes-of-killer-robots thing just being his own special way of getting my attention – to ask for my help. It seems that you have the ability to naturally produce large quantities of anti-matter particles, ones that can last for lengthy periods in this matter-based world. If you can feed these particles into the accelerator, then we can produce enough energy for enough time to make it workable. I’m giving you a chance to save the world here: what do you say?”

Raven thought for a few seconds. The animal part of her mind was dubious to say the least, but she loved Michael enough to be willing to put her instincts to one side.

“Alright. Just show me what to do.” she said.

Dr. Jefferson smiled warmly. “Right,” he said, “just place your hands on the sphere and pour in as many particles as you can.”

Raven did so. Much to her surprise, she couldn’t feel the white energy in the slightest. After about five minutes, the white energy had turned to black. She smiled to herself: her powers were finally about to be useful…

“If there’s one thing that I noticed about life,” Michael said, “it’s that nothing is permanent. Sooner or later, everything will wear down or fade way. People die, objects break, even the words that we write – the most permanent things of all – will become lost. The only thing that will outlast us is memories, what everyone else thinks of us and remembers about us. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be remembered as someone who at least tried to do the right thing, and personally I consider myself highly fortunate indeed to be able to make that happen. Come to think of it, all three of us are that lucky. Make it so, Ben…man, I’ve been wanting to say for years!”

Jefferson hit a few buttons on one of the computers, and the sphere slowly glided through an exact-sized hole in the wall. She watched a monitor as the CCTV footage showed it floating through a vast black space and latching onto part of the tube. The black energy started to pulse as particles of anti-matter were slowly fed into the accelerator.

“You know, I think that now’s the time to say that I’m sorry.” Michael said from behind her.

Raven turned round to find herself face-to-face with the mouth of a handgun, one that Michael was pointing right at her forehead. So, her initial fears were indeed true: the love of her life had betrayed her.

[Adrastea]

DUDE!?!?!

That's so not cool!!!

urg!

Other than that, I don't have much to say, but that you have outdone yourself yet again. The wonderful thing is that we know Raven survives because we saw her in the prolougue, and this is a flashback thingie......isn't it?

[Sproxie]

Oh hell no you did NOT! :eek: :eek: :eek:
*Grabs a shotgun in one hand and pistol in the other*
"Where is he?!?" :evil:

[Lord Welshi]

wow. this is damned good. Oh, the tension! The humanity! This is great work, matt, definitely one of your best pieces. Absolutely great, spot on with the characters, nice descriptions, everything's good.

Lord Welshi

[raven54]

oh HELL no! wow, didn't see that coming. well, i thought he might betray her somehow, but not like this. never like this... so, nicely executed; i doubt i could be more shocked if you slapped me in the face with a haddock. nice description (as usual) and all that jazz.
Oh hell no you did NOT! :eek: :eek: :eek:
*Grabs a shotgun in one hand and pistol in the other*
"Where is he?!?" :evil: erm... I'd run for it if i were you. like, NOW.

[Kregor8]

As you guys know well, I don't go in for self-promotion all that often. However, I just want to take the time to say that I have written stuff before that I consider worthy of being called "amazing", and that this next chapter just about tops the lot. Yes, chapter fifteen of Dwyr Budr is officially the best thing I have ever written! Damn. You were right. This is something you can brag about for a long time to come. Damn.
There. You made me swear twice. Wow. This chapter hits you like a ton of (anything you like - it's a ton, remember). I'm still plastered against the wall behind me. That's going to be hard to clean up...
I could list all the things about this that rock, but instead I'll just reference you to them. Go to Chapter 15, start reading where it says, "Raven, will you marry me?" and stop when you get to "the love of her life had betrayed her." Yep. The whole thing.
Now, I must know what comes next. Even if it can't be as good as this chapter. I must know.

7<regor
Ps. I hate Michael. I'd take him down in the RPG, if I had the chance. Watch your back.

[rrarbecy]

If I wasn't in school right now, I'd...I don't know...be screaming or something. Why can there never be a happy ending? Somebody tell me. You wanted me to hate Michael, and now I do. Remember when I said this...?

You know, I'm glad this is the first fic I read. Know why? Because, at this point and though it will not last long, Raven is happy. Life is good. NOW you can post the next chapter.
I said it wouldn't last long...but never, NEVER, did I expect it to end that quickly. I feel like crying, or something.

[Rae]

What!

THat is the worst cliff hanger in the history of cliff hangers!

To look on the reasuring side we know that Raven survives because she was the woman in the prologue, I think....

Rae

[Crowgirl]

Oh hell no you did NOT! :eek: :eek: :eek:
*Grabs a shotgun in one hand and pistol in the other*
"Where is he?!?" :evil:
Okay, Sprox, I have said this a couple of times already. Why use a shotgun when you have- *Draws out long and lethal looking sword*-one of these!!! *Sword's blade catches on the end of the cape, and it rips* Stupid capes!

Okay. You did not just do that. YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT!!!!!!! YOU... YOU.... Actually, I don't know what you are exactly, but you are definitely worse than Ghost. First I have to kill nevermore, now it's looks like I have to get you. *Sighes deeply* This is not a good week...

Other than the fact that... (Actuallly, if I mention it I'll probably start rambling again, so nevermind) That was a great chapter. It was sweet when Micheal proposed to Raven, of course then.... *Shoots evil glare*

But now, I, like others, despise Micheal's guts (And I only hate six other people's guts, so that is a bad thing...). If he dies....

CG

P.S. WHY DID YOU LEAVE US WITH A CLIFFHANGER!!?!?!?!?!?! WHY?!?!?!?!

P.P.S.
ps. I hate Michael. I'd take him down in the RPG, if I had the chance. Watch your back.
Can I help? I won't wear a cape.... I swear...

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Hey Sprox! Look up! See the person on the rooftop with the long range rifle and the box of .50 cal hollow (sp?) tip bullets? I got you covered!

Psych! just kidding. I know he would never let Raven die, in fact, I bet Michael is just going undercover again, trying to kill the "Good" doctor.

Crowgirl: Why am I evil? I would say something now about how my fic ended but that would give it away to anyone who hasn't read it and you know what happens!

[Crowgirl]

Crowgirl: Why am I evil? I would say something now about how my fic ended but that would give it away to anyone who hasn't read it and you know what happens!
You left us with that be cliffhanger, and the 'problem that occured' wasn't resolved until the epilogue. And I never said you're 'evil', I just said Welshie's Mate was worse than you, no?

[Kregor8]

P.P.S. Quote:
Originally Posted by Kregor8
ps. I hate Michael. I'd take him down in the RPG, if I had the chance. Watch your back.


Can I help? I won't wear a cape.... I swear... Not unless you can somehow manage to bring Michael in contact with Red X in a hostile situation. And what's wrong with capes? Red X has one. You just need to be careful where you toss it or when you're slashing...:D

On the non-spammy side, science. Yep. Matt, I like the whole "atom smasher" and "anti-matter" idea. The problem with creating anti-matter is as soon as it comes in contact with matter, the two cancel each other out. So, anti-matter has the tendency to destroy the machinery that could create (or does create) it. Nice how you found a way around that. All in all, it's a cool idea. I'm still waiting for the next chapter...and if Red X knew who you were, I can be pretty certain that he wouldn't be favorably disposed. Just because. Anyway...
7<regor

[Matt A]

Okay, now I'm cuffed to nuts. That praise was way more than I was even hoping for! Thanks! Being so well appreciated by a bunch of masters such as your good selves - Welshi especially - really does mean a lot to me.:D :D :D :D :D !

I'm going to try and write the next chapter during college tomorrow. All things going well, then you'll have it by either tomorrow night or the night after. I can promise you right now that there wont' be as much tension or whatever as there was in the last chapter, but it'll help explain what's been going on so far and set up the finale. Yes, the end is coming...:evil: :D :sweat:

It seems that everyone now hates Michael's guts: successs!!!!!:D :D :D !

On a related note, one thing that CG said kinda confused me, namely the sentence "other than the fact that...": what were you going to say? It'd be quite nice to know, however much of a ramble it may cause.:)

And as for Ghost's comment earlier...well, I hate to dissapoint you, but Michael is evil. Well, evil-ish anyway: this is being written by a moral relativist, after all. Either way, don't go expecting a happy ending, as even though Raven is going to live I never said what state she'd be in...:evil: :evil: :evil: :sweat:


Matt

PS: I finally got death threats! Yay!:D !
Yes, I am weird.

PPS: I'd like to try and keep Michael's involvement in the RPG going for as long as I can, but I'd be more than happy to engineer a confrontation between him and Red X. It might be a fatal one, but then again it might not...we'll just have to wait and see.;)

PPPS: I'm not about to do another double post, so if no one else has said anything by the time I finish the next chapter then I won't put it up. You have been warned...:evil: :sweat:

[Crowgirl]

On a related note, one thing that CG said kinda confused me, namely the sentence "other than the fact that...": what were you going to say?
Well, now that I am a little calmer, I was going to mention Michael's treachery (sp?) again.

You're going to type it tomorrow? Great! During college? Um... is that even possible?


And what's wrong with capes? Red X has one. You just need to be careful where you toss it or when you're slashing...:D

:D :sweat: :anime:

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Sorry about earlier, I was so focused on posting my hodgepodge of crap to other authors earlier that I forgot to agree with you on the fact that this is in fact the best chapter yet.:sweat: Good Job!:)

[Matt A]

You're going to type it tomorrow? Great! During college? Um... is that even possible? Indeed it is, CG! Thank God for free periods!

Anyway, here's the chapter. Like I said before, there's no real action here, merely a bit of plot explanation and the setting up of the finale: all important stuff, but hardly exciting. However, there's one bit that I think will get me executed, and not just because it features the narrative error of the year...:sweat:

So, get reading...


Chapter Sixteen: Illuminate

“Before you start making an appeal to my conscience,” Michael said, “I just want to say that you can’t stop what’s going to happen next. Whether you try to fight or not, you are going to die tonight. If you quietly accept your fate, the accelerator will kill you; if you try to destroy it or just run away, either me, Ben or the security turrets in the roof will drill you with so much lead that you could be used as a pencil.”

Raven didn’t say anything. She was too shocked to do anything other than just stand there. The man who had proposed to her less than three hours ago had betrayed her…she had helped to create a device of evil, whatever it was supposed to do…she was going to die…there was nothing that she could do about it. Even her powers, always ready to cause chaos in times of crisis, had shut down in distress. Unless her conscious mind was willing to take control, which it wasn’t, then she might as well have been just a normal human being.

Michael looked over at Ben. “How long do we have?”

“The accelerator will be ready to fire in thirty-one minutes and seventeen seconds.”

“So that’s half an hour, then.”

“Yes.”

Michael turned back to Raven. “Right. In that case, I think we’ve got some time to kill. D’you want a seat?”

She nodded dumbly: her unconscious mind wasn’t going to let her get uncomfortable.

The two of them walked over to two swivel chairs by a computer desk and sat down. Michael span round so that he was facing his fiancée, and in a gesture nearly signalling peace he put his gun on the desk.

“Okay, here’s where I’m going to have to relent a little bit. You’ve come quite a long way in the fourteen months that we’ve known each other. You’ve seen a lot of bad stuff, and been through about that much: most of it being my fault, no doubt. Anyway, seeing as you have come so far, I think that you deserve an explanation of why our little romance has to end tonight.

My tale began about eighteen months ago. As I said when we got here, Ben created this particle accelerator, only to find that he couldn’t find a way to make it work. However, he isn’t doing this out of humanitarian spirit: what’s been made here is weapon, the ultimate device of mass destruction. When the accelerator is set off, all of the anti-matter particles in the sphere will be used at once. The resulting bang won’t just destroy what’s within the blast radius: it will all be disintegrated. Seeing as the accelerator ring is about fifty miles across, I think it’s fair to say that the entire of Jump City and most of the surrounding forests will be wiped off the Earth. It’ll be like someone’s got a massive pencil rubber and just scrubbed.

You already know where you come in. Your powers of anti-matter creation are vital to the success of this weapon. But Ben and I have been working together for a lot longer than two weeks. He hired me eighteen months ago to find someone who could get the accelerator to work, and it took me four months to work out that the perfect candidate was you. That means that I’ve had fourteen months to get your trust, to make sure that you’d be willing to aid a project so obviously dodgy. To your credit, you have plenty more morals than I was expecting, hence the little charade of being at least vaguely like the good guy, and Ben’s over-exaggeration of being the bad guy: compared to what he was pulling off, even I would look like an angel. So…yeah, our relationship has pretty much been one big con.”

There’s only so much shock that someone’s mind can take in one go before it suddenly goes all sane again. Hence Raven’s regaining of her voice and her reasoning.

“But what’s the point of all this? What’s all the lies and the death and destruction going to achieve?” she said.

Michael grinned. “In a word, cash. Lots and lots of cash. Once we’ve demonstrated the power of the particle accelerator by erasing Jump City, we’ll sell the blueprints for it to whichever governments, businesses and criminal and terrorist organisations wish to pay us the most obscene amount of green-backs. Obviously, we won’t be telling them that the accelerator won’t work without you, so that’s why you’re going to have to stay here die: we can’t have you blabbing all our secrets, eh?”

It was at this point that Raven remembered something. It was a story, a true story, that she’d stumbled across on the net about two years ago. She’d filed it away in her head as “vaguely interesting”, and then hadn’t thought about it since. Of course, it now took on a chilling relevance.

There was a guy called Bert Rodriguez, a legend in martial arts circles, who ran a gym on the Florida coast. He taught all his students how to fight with the mind as well as the body, and as such all those who studied under him were the best. In April 2001, he took on a young businessman from Lebanon called Ziad Jarrah. He was concerned that thugs would try to attack him on his travels, and wanted to learn self-defence. For six months, Bert taught Ziad the many arts that he knew, and the two steadily became good friends. Bert even leant him some of his knife-fighting manuals, and he in turn leant them to his friend Marwan al-Shehhi. This was known only because the manuals were found, along with the flight manual for a Boeing 757, when the Florida police raided his motel room.

Marwan al-Shehhi was twenty-three years old when he hijacked Flight 175 and crashed it into the south tower of the World Trade Center. Ziad Jarrah was twenty-six when he hijacked Flight 93, the plane that came down in a field in Pennsylvania on its way to Washington DC.

All this was interesting enough in itself, but it was what Bert Rodriguez said afterwards that made this story suddenly stick out in Raven’s mind. “If you love a son and he becomes a mass-murderer, you don’t stop loving your son, do you?”

Michael looked up at her. “We’ve still got another twenty minutes,” he said, “so I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I like to read Winnie the Pooh. Strange, I know, but there you go. Anyway, there’s one story in it that I’ve always liked. It’s Eeyore’s birthday, but none of his friends remember until that morning. Pooh’s feeling a little guilty, so he goes over to apologise. “Nonsense,” Eeyore says, “just look at all the presents, and the great big cake sat right in front of me ready for eating.” Pooh looks around at the empty space in front of Eeyore’s stick hut, and is feeling a little confused. “But I can’t see any of it.” he says. Eeyore drops his head dejectedly. “No, I can’t either.” he says.” Michael paused for a few seconds of stony silence. “Well, I thought it was funny.”

Raven stared at him. “Was there a point to that?”

Michael laughed. “No. I just wanted to lighten the mood.” He laughed again.

The next quarter of an hour or so was passed with Michael and Ben firing the odd joke and anecdote at each other. This was the first time that they’d had more than five minutes to spend together, so they were making the most of it.

Finally, Raven asked the most important question of the evening. It was a bizarre question, to be sure, but it needed asking. “Was any of what you said at the restaurant true? Did you ever actually love me?”

Michael sighed. “Damn. The one question that I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know the answer.”

Before he could elaborate on this strange statement, the lift doors exploded. Bits of red-hot metal and concrete were sent scything across the room, drawing sparks out of whatever piece of computer equipment they hit. Luckily, or perhaps not, none one was hurt and no vital machinery was damaged.

The dust eventually settled to reveal four figures: a boy with a red, green and yellow outfit with an “R” badge on it, a seven-foot half-man half-robot, a green-skinned boy with spiky hair and a girl with bright red hair and a purple two-piece costume. The Teen Titans – well, four-fifths of them – had come to save the day.

Robin was the first one to speak. “Your evil scheme is over…Miguel.”

[Rae]

The titans came tosave the day! YYYAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!

I loved the Winie the Pooh bit, didn't totally understand it, but loved it!!

Liked the bit where Micheal didn't know the answer to Raven's question, quite romantic really!

Another cliff hanger?!

Oh well

Rae

[Raven13]

Alright since I have to do a 2 chapter review here it goes!!!

Chapter 15
WOW that was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! but Mike why NOOOOOOOOO (I know Raven cant die she won't she is well Raven) Wonderful!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 16
wow for money wht a dork!!!! I mean for Money!!!!! Im still shocked bout the laast chapter also:eek: Anyway wonderful!! Yea the Titans come to save the day!!!!!

~ ~ Raven13 ~ ~

[Sproxie]

ok.... so you say

Michael is essentially a composition of all my more...unpleasant character traits.So, does this mean you like Winnie the Pooh??? :p
That part made me laugh. And when Micheal didn't know how to answer Raven, I thought that was, sorta sweet...
Miguel?? Couldn't you have picked ANOTHER name??? :crying: That name sends a shiver up my spine.... Why? because I know I guy named Miguel that I absolutely HATE.

[raven54]

for money, eh? Makes sense, being how he's mostly evil that he'd disintegrate an entire city for some cash. It fits his character *glares, pulls out some shiny knives*

Anyways, good stuff. Robin's last line is a little cliched, but that's Robin being Robin so it's all good. (edit: as Kregor put it, "Robinesque")


Michael is essentially a composition of all my more...unpleasant character traits. Remind me never to piss you off, ok?


Can't wait for more!

[Crowgirl]

MONEY?!?!?!?! HE DID IT ALL FOR FRICKIN MONEY?!?!?!?!

HE'S A... HE'S A....

Okay, I'm too lazy to play around with the Caps Key that much, so I'm not going to use it. Anyway, that was one of the greatest chapters I've ever read. This is most definitely a Hall of Famer and a Van Gough. The Winnie the Pooh part was funny, I enjoyed it a lot. Poor Raven, Michael's such a dork (I can't think of any other um.. 'appropriate' names right now).

But at least the Titans are there. TEEN TITANS!! However, Miguel? Not Michael? I don't exactly get the significance, but that's just me.

Anyways, can't wait for more!!!!!!

[ShadowOfAGhost]

I'm too lazy to go back and check it, but did the terrorists blowing up the towers story...therre was a miguel in there right? is that what you're refrencing?
(I'm too lazy to go back and check)

I must admit, it took a while, but now I finally want to kill michael\miguel also.

Lock 'n Load:evil:

[Matt A]

So, does this mean you like Winnie the Pooh??? :pNo, I'm not like Winnie the Pooh. Pooh is cute, fluffy and adorably stupid. I am none of those. :p


MONEY?!?!?!?! HE DID IT ALL FOR FRICKIN MONEY?!?!?!?!Yep.:D

He's an assassin, and killing people for money is what assassins do. Okay, so maybe decimating an entire city is a little extreme, but for a killer of Michael's skills it forms an...interesting challenge.


However, Miguel? Not Michael? I don't exactly get the significance, but that's just me.If you remember, way back in chapter seven ("The Saint") Michael revealed that he was actually a 500-year-old Spaniard named Miguel: strange, I know, but you guys found it interesting. Anyway, he'd only told this to Raven, so that last line means that the other Titans now know who he really is. You'll find out how in the next chapter...


I'm too lazy to go back and check it, but did the terrorists blowing up the towers story...therre was a miguel in there right? is that what you're refrencing?No. The guy's name was Marwan: both him, Jiad and Bert Rodriguez are (or at least were) real people, along with that story. If anyone's interested, I borrowed it from the book "The Men Who Stare At Goats" by Jon Ronson, which is about the single funniest and most disturbing work of non-fiction ever written. I heartily reccomend that you go read it.

Anyway, the important part of the story was the last line ("If you love a son and he becomes a mass murderer, you don't stop loving your son, do you?") as it provides a clear but not-too-obvious early explanation for some of the events in the next chapter.

Just out of curiosity, is New York even in the DCAU universe?


I loved the Winie the Pooh bit, didn't totally understand it, but loved it!!

Liked the bit where Micheal didn't know the answer to Raven's question, quite romantic really!To be honest, there wasn't really a point to the Winnie the Pooh thing: it was just comparing Michael's excessive flippantness (sp?) to Raven's more meaningful philosophising, and therefore why Raven is (mostly) good and Michael is (mostly) evil. Okay, so maybe there was a point to it, but only in terms of characterisation rather than plot.

The more...romantic bit was probably the most important line in the chapter, as it has direct bearings on how the next chapter (ie, the finale) is going to shape up.


Speaking of which, I think that you're going to have to wait a while for the next chapter. It's pretty much the climax of the story - it isn't the end, mind, even though that's not too far away now - and is the sum total of everything that this story has been about, in terms of both plot and themes. In other words, the only way that what I want to write will work is if it's perfect: if there's even so much as a comma out of place, then it'll be a disaster. That's not mere exaggeration, so I'm going to spend as long as possible crafting what is going to have to be my best work to date. Expect it in maybe a week or two.:sweat: :sweat: :sweat: :sweat: :sweat:

Matt

[Sproxie]

No, I'm not like Winnie the Pooh. Pooh is cute, fluffy and adorably stupid. I am none of those. :p No.... :rolleyes: I meant, If you said you were like Micheal, and Micheal likes Winnie the Pooh, Do you like him?

[ShadowOfAGhost]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a second. If michal and the "good" doc plan on destroying the city and then selling the plans, how are they going to do that unless they are way out of the blast range? I thout you said that they were just outside the city or something like that. And if they are outside of the blast range, then how would the machine kill Raven? The sphere is gone, so it's not like it will sap every last bit of energy from her killing her...

something is either wrong or I missed something.:sad:


I just realized something else...

You mentioned earlier that Raven wanted to throw caution to the wind and go ahead with the wedding...

I read this on a different forum, but it seems to hold completely true, \Think about every time in the episodes that Raven loses control of her powers. Each time it was for a negative emotion like fear or anger! Never once did she loose control when she was happy! you would think that at least one lightbulb or something like that would happen when she hugged BB in that one episode, I think it was Nevermore.:shrug:

[Kregor8]

No, it was Spellbound.
He did it for the bloody money. What a dork and change a letter...Still, it's what I would expect from a contract assassian.
Robin's line is perfect. It's what we expect Robin to do - the lines aren't cliched (sp?), they're Robinesque. Cool. Another new word.
I love that part in Winnie the Pooh. Guess I had to say that...
Boom! More explosions. Makes me happy.
Miguel is a fine name. My "football" teacher is named Miguel. That's European football - soccer. NEways...
I can wait a while for the end. It needs to last.
7<regor
Ps. You people have to help me on this. I've been working on the stupid chapter titles for a while now...
16: illuminate
15: transient
14: the box
13: remind
12: meltdown
11: monday
10: attached
09: out there somewhere?
08: one perfect sunrise
07: the saint
06: know where to run
05: choice
04: lost
03: style
02: midnight
01: shadows
prologue: forever
title: Dirty Water
There. If you find any interrealtion, you're deeper than me. I think I need chapter summaries. Anyone want to take a shot?

[ShadowOfAGhost]

spellbound, that was it.

The only pattern that I can see in the titles is that there seems to be the faintest of paterns going from darkness to light, but it doesn't seem to fit with all the chapters. it starts with things that seem to describe darkness and nighttime and then progresses on to things that seem to describe morning and finally mid day. My guess is that maybe the last chapters will have titles relating to an evening.

as I write this, I get new ideas. as of now I think maybe that the dark to light and possibly fade to dark again is refering to Michael and Raven's relationship. They start out distrustfull, move to friends, move to lovers, move to potential spouses, move to enemies, and soon one of them will be dead leaving the other torn.

But like I said, the pattern doesn't appear to apply to all of the chapters, just many of them, and this connection is loose at best. oh well, just posting my thoughts, even if it's probably wrong.

[Matt A]

No.... :rolleyes: I meant, If you said you were like Micheal, and Micheal likes Winnie the Pooh, Do you like him?Sorry, I was just being a bit dim.:sweat:

Yes, I am a bit of a Winnie the Pooh fan. It's just the thing for bringing out your inner child. Besides, my mum's an Eeyore fanatic, so it's kinda hard not to get carried along with it...


If michal and the "good" doc plan on destroying the city and then selling the plans, how are they going to do that unless they are way out of the blast range? I thout you said that they were just outside the city or something like that. And if they are outside of the blast range, then how would the machine kill Raven? The sphere is gone, so it's not like it will sap every last bit of energy from her killing her...

something is either wrong or I missed something.:sad:I thought that this would be easy enough to figure out, but obviously not. The accelerator would be remote-operated, and once it was loaded they would retreat to a safe distance (about a hundred miles away, then). Rave, of course, would be left behind in the control room...to die. That answer your question?


The only pattern that I can see in the titles is that there seems to be the faintest of paterns going from darkness to light, but it doesn't seem to fit with all the chapters. it starts with things that seem to describe darkness and nighttime and then progresses on to things that seem to describe morning and finally mid day. My guess is that maybe the last chapters will have titles relating to an evening.

as I write this, I get new ideas. as of now I think maybe that the dark to light and possibly fade to dark again is refering to Michael and Raven's relationship. They start out distrustfull, move to friends, move to lovers, move to potential spouses, move to enemies, and soon one of them will be dead leaving the other torn.

But like I said, the pattern doesn't appear to apply to all of the chapters, just many of them, and this connection is loose at best. oh well, just posting my thoughts, even if it's probably wrong.I thought that you guys had given up on this. Still, it's nice to be surprised...:D

Your guess is pretty clever - and a bit deep - but also completely and utterly wrong. This is probably too much of a hint, but take a look at my signiature for this week: part of that matches up with what you're looking for.

To be honest, my little game isn't all that exciting. There's no real revelance to the plot or the characters in any of it: it's just a chance for me to show just how much of a geek I really am.


As for the next chapter, I've got about a third done so far. I'll try and write the rest tomorrow, but even if I do don't expect it out that night: I'm going to need a few people to see if it's good enough first. That's how seriously I'm taking this...