Birds of a Feather

10

I met Beast Boy and Starfire back in the common room where Slade's face was displayed on the large TV. I walked forward and shut the alarm off looking at the details of the report.

"Looks like he's at his favorite spot again." I said as I saw the Pier 11 sign pop up on the map. I looked at the witness reports as Star was reviewing the map of the piers.

"It seems that there is a room of lockers here. We could wear our rings and change into pier uniforms in order to be closer to friend Raven" She said. I looked at the map and agreed.

"Alright everybody get 'em while they're hot!" Cyborg shouted as he entered the common room. He had four rings on a tray all looking like various types of wedding bands. "Star this one's yours. This is yours BB and if Nightwing would ever show up I'd give him his." He said looking at me expectantly. I shrugged and walked to the counter where I kept my keys. I threw the keys to my jeep at Cyborg. "Look, I talked to him. I tried. If he ruins this, it'll be on him. My Jeep is in the garage it'll be less obvious than a jet." I said raising an eyebrow at him.

I watched as Starfire slipped on the ring and changed from the vibrant redhead she once was to a middle-aged woman with dark hair. Beast Boy and Cyborg followed suit and changed themselves to make it look like they had worked on the pier for a few years. I tried to search through the bond and found that Nightwing was still in the gym and was still conflicted. I grabbed his holo ring off of the tray and decided to try one last time and phased through the wall ending up back in the gym.

"Nightwing this is your last chance." I said as he jumped, not realizing I had appeared. I threw the ring at his feet and he looked at it like it was the worst thing on the planet. "Raven. I'm really not okay with this." He shook his head but picked the ring up and put it on anyway. He had transformed from Nightwing to an older man with a full white beard, slightly resembling Santa. I bit back a laugh as I watched the drastic change happen and watched as he caught his reflection in the mirror.

"Do the rest look this old?" He asked. I smiled and grabbed his arm slowly walking him to the door. "Please sir, let me just help you cross the street." I laughed as he glared at me and took his arm back. "Batgirl wouldn't make fun of me like this." He smirked, which was odd seeing it on an elderly mans face and not his own. I stood in place not sure how to respond. What did he mean by that?

When he realized I had stopped he turned and smiled. "Come on Rae. It was just a joke." He waved me over and I could feel my face start to turn red. He had taken his holo ring off and I could see his cocky smile on his face. I caught up with his pace and joined him in the elevator to get down to the garage. I was lost in thought over what he could possibly have meant by his so-called joke when he leaned over very close to my ear.

"You're better than Kori or Babs anyway." He whispered as the elevator rang and he exited the doors while putting his holo ring back on. I stood in shock again, only moving when the elevator doors began to close. I walked to my bike and placed the helmet on my head quickly so no one could see my blush.

"Alright Rae, we'll meet you there. Please don't get yourself killed." Cyborg smirked as he backed out of the garage. When they were out of view and heading towards the bridge that led from the tower to the city, I let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding. I had to get rid of this flustered feeling, I couldn't afford to be distracted.

I rode into town and made my way to pier 11. I knew it would be a trap and that he was clearly luring me into a fight, but I had seen my jeep parked a few streets back, so I knew my backup was nearby. As I walked down the pier, I came up to the empty warehouse that Slade loves to hide in. It all seemed too quiet, and I couldn't see why our alarm would have gone off if there were no loud explosions or obvious threats.

I leaned against the door and could hear a low hum coming from the other side. I couldn't see anything through the cracks in the door, so I took a deep breath and opened them confidently. When I walked through, I couldn't help but freeze in shock.

In front of me were three large screens broken up into different smaller sections all showing footage of what had happened in the past few hours. All of the screens were in my perspective as if there was a camera in my eyes. One screen showed Starfire hugging me when I walked out of the infirmary. Another showed Cyborg talking to me this morning about Nightwing. Another showed all of us at our planning session. But the screen that scared me the most was the one where I had taken Nightwing's mask off in the gym. I looked at the screens and with a swift flick of my wrist all of them were shattered in black magic.

My eyes were white with rage as I watched the screens shatter into tiny pieces. I could hear laughter from somewhere in the rafters and could sense movement as well. I heard the audio on the last screen say "You're better than Kori or Babs anyway" before I ripped it to pieces. I looked up to the ceiling and could see the faint shadow of a man sitting on one of the beams.

"It's nice to see you again Raven. It's been too long really if you ask me." Slade said as he jumped down the multiple floors and landed in front of me. I could feel the anger levels rising in my mind and posed myself in a way that I was ready to fight.

"Now Raven. I'm not here to fight. No need to get feisty." He smiled and stood calmly with his arms behind his back.

"How are you here Slade? You were killed once I destroyed my father." I said back not leaving my battle stance. He nodded and began to walk towards me. "You may not remember that day well but I did indeed gain back my life. I may have been cast to hell when Terra killed us. But much like Terra, here I am, alive and well." He said as he stood very close in front of me. I could hear growling in my earpiece, presumably Beast Boy getting angry over the mention of Terra.

"So what do you want now?" I asked. He placed a finger under my chin and tilted my face upward, like he was admiring me.

"Well Raven I'm so glad you asked. You see I went to Gotham after noticing the lack of Titans in Jump. I got in touch with the Joker who you've already met. We developed a plan that would suit us both. By getting rid of Nightwing I would be getting a new apprentice and the Joker would be getting rid of Batman."

"You've been trying to kill Nightwing for years. What makes you think this will be any different?" I asked backing away from his touch. I saw him reach in a pocket on his belt as he pulled out a controller. Behind him one final screen came to life but instead of being something that had happened to me it was the recording of Nightwing's nightmares.

"You see Raven, I've clearly just been going about it the wrong way for all of these years. I've always used Nightwing's anger against him, which you so cleverly pointed out. However, it seems I was tapping into the wrong emotion." He said motioning to the screen. It was a repeating loop of Slade stabbing me and Nightwing trying to save me. "What are you talking about?" I asked. I slowly stood up straight in hopes that my cape would smooth out and cover the fact that I was signaling the team to approach. Luckily for me it didn't seem like he noticed.

"Raven don't you understand? Nightwing's weakness is not his team at least, not anymore. It's you." He said as he raised his hand to hold it over the remote again. I could sense a presence behind him and to each side of me which made me a bit less anxious.

"When you were there with the Joker, he placed a syringe in your neck which placed a tracker in your system. It gave me access to your vision, your thoughts, and it also planted this into your bloodstream." He said as he clicked the button on the remote. I fell to the ground instantly. My hand went up to my neck where there was a searing pain starting to form. Slade approached me as I tried my best to control my breathing through the pain.

"I know your potential Raven. You were always my first choice for apprentice and I've finally found a way to hone your powers. I spent a lot of time with your father, learning about your powers and about that nasty temper of yours." He said in a whisper as he clicked another button and I screamed. "I'm also very well aware that your friends are ready to ambush me at any moment now." He said with another click of the button. I fell to the floor completely as every muscle in my body seemed to be on fire. I screamed in pain and barely heard the faint "Titans Go!" in the distance.