Red Raven

Summary: When Slade forces Robin to be his apprentice, Robin feels so agonized, lost, and full of hatred that something very peculiar happens. What will his three teammates say when he comes back to their side… with a strange, blue-cloaked butler at his side?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or the Black Butler (the inspiration for Red Raven).

Chapter One: Prologue

-START OF PROLOGUE-

Robin moaned in pain as he lay on the metal cot that was supposed to serve as his bed. He sighed, and twisted his aching body to try and get more comfortable. He failed, but it was worth a try, considering how uncomfortable how many bruises he had. Normally sleeping on a hard surface wouldn't have bothered him (it had been a part of his vigorous training by Batman to sleep little, lightly, and on any available surface), but tonight just wasn't his night. Well, it was more like early morning, now, but that wasn't the point. The point was Robin had had a terrible past twelve hours, consisting of being forced to fight his three best friends and teammates, become the apprentice to the one man he loathed without reservation, and had undergone "training" by said man that was so intense he had passed out from exhaustion long before his new master had planned. Now, Robin was just trying to get a semi-good night's sleep before he had to face his friends and the very man who made him betray those friends. Robin sighed, carefully trying to turn on his other side; however, a sharp pain shot up his side and stilled him. Lying on his back and closing his eyes, he decided to forgo sleep and instead began lamenting his luck. There was no way he could get out of this alive, if he got out of his at all. And if he lived, his friends would die. The thought made Robin's fists clench. Oh, how he hated Slade…

"You certainly look comfortable."

Robin's eyes snapped open beneath his black and white mask, and he jolted up. Hissing at the stabs of pain, he forced his fluttering hand to stay still and not give away any more indication of the agony he was in. His observant eyes scanned the small, dark room, trying to see the owner to that dry, sarcastic voice. He could see nothing but a flimsy, plastic chair in the corner, the faint outline of the door to his left, and the very bed he was on. Other than that and the weak light bulb flickering above his head, there was nothing. He couldn't have been hallucination, could he? No, of course not. The very idea that he, Robin, the Boy Wonder and prodigy to the great Batman himself, could possibly hallucinate a raspy, low, dark, sardonic, feminine, sexy (Robin quickly shook himself from that line of thought) voice was ridiculous.

"Are you always this narrow-minded?"

Swallowing, Robin fought to find his voice and demand who and what this strange, unseen person was. "What?" Well, that certainly didn't work. Mentally cursing himself, he opened his mouth to try again when he realized the disembodied voice was speaking again.

"I said, 'Are you always this narrow minded?', although now I might change that to, 'Are you always this deaf?'"

Offense quickly rained down on his spikey hair, and he made sure to let the strange figment of his imagination know. "Hey! Don't be getting onto me just because you didn't ask specific questions! What do you mean, 'Am I always this narrow-minded?'" he questioned in a low, indignant tone. He quickly took a deep breath to try to calm his anger. What was wrong with him? No one but Slade had ever gotten under his skin so quickly before, and he was pretty positive Slade wasn't a female ghost.

"I was referring to your refusal to accept that you could be hearing things or that I could be real."

"Oh," Robin stated, before peering closer at the shadows around the white, plastic chair. He could vaguely see a movement in the shadows there… no, not in the shadows… It looked as though the shadows themselves were breathing! "Who are you?" he demanded, narrowing his masked-eyes at the black offenders.

"Don't you mean to ask what I am?"

Robin faltered for only a moment before stating in an even fiercer tone than before. "Why would I ask that?"

"And I thought you were smarter than this. If you had never heard of me before, that question would be wasted just learning the name of someone—or something—you know nothing about. However, if I answered to what I was you would most likely garden a lot more information about me."

Robin ground his teeth together audibly. He hated being corrected, and here was this strange, (possible) shadow showing him up. "Fine, then. What are you, oh High and Mighty?"

"You don't want to know."

Robin's mouth fell open, but then closed shut with a snap. "I thought you said I would get more information out of you if I asked what you were!" he almost yelled, but then forced his temper back.

"You only think I told you that? What a pity. I had thought you had a better short-term memory than that. Oh, well, you were wrong anyway. I said you would most likely get more information by asking that question. I never said you would for certain."

Robin, needless to say, was completely flabbergasted… and completely ticked off. His eyes glared deeply behind his mask and he growled out, "Look, either help me out or leave me alone. I have to think of a way to save my friends and escape—not that you'd know anything about friends." Okay, maybe that last comment was a little uncalled for, but this invisible chick was asking for it.

"I can help you out, but it will come with a terrible price."

"Are you always this straightforward?"

The strange voice gave a long-suffering sigh. "Look, do you want the help or not?"

Robin raised any eyebrow and asked, "What's the price?"

"Your soul."

"You're kidding me, right?" Robin asked, his eyes full of barely contained fury. This had to be some sort of stupid training method Slade had come up with to gloat some more. Seriously, selling his soul?

"I'm here because I sensed a soul that would soon give up—a soul that had lost almost all hope and was desperate. Either you sign a contract with me, making me your unswervingly loyal servant until a specified task is complete—in which case I will then consume your soul—or you stay here and be forced to fight against your comrades and eventually become as evil as the soul that put you here, killing all of your loved ones by doing so."

Robin froze, his blood turning to ice. It couldn't be true. I wasn't true! There was no way that could happen! This woman was psychotic and demented. Yes, that was the answer. It had to be!

"It will happen, believe me, and the only way to stop it is to sign a contract with me."

With a slightly trembling voice, Robin asked, "What would be the terms of this… contract?"

"Simple. You assign me to a single task—escape from a specific place or person, riches beyond belief, the permanent safety of a lover—and I will be your faithful servant until I have assisted you in completing this task. In return, I will then get to eat your soul. Otherwise, you and everyone you love will die in the near future, and out of the ashes will be the apprentice of Slade, Robin, reborn and ready to carry out the evils of his master. You be sunk so deeply into the fires of evil, and the darkness of cruelty will be so embedded into your skin that nothing will ever cleanse you. You will be doomed, and not know it; cursed, and miserably happy; poisoned, and wonderfully delirious; dead, and—"

"STOP!" Robin shouted, trying desperately to get up and silence whatever was talking. The pain and dizziness, however, quickly forced him down onto his back. "Stop," he muttered, trying vainly to keep his voice strong.

"Well?"

Robin thought for a moment, trying to see if this was worth it. No matter how much he didn't trust this voice, something in his gut told him what she said was true. He would die, and be reborn as an evil apprentice, and he would destroy his family and friends if he didn't do this. But if he did… Suddenly, Robin knew exactly what he wanted to do. If he did this, he could escape, save his family, and eventually get his revenge on Slade. Sure, it would cost him his soul, but at least no one else would ever have to suffer because of Slade again. "I want you to help me get revenge on Slade. I want him humiliated, suffering… I want him dead."

"We have an agreement. Now, command me to do something, and the contract will be made."

"This is a command—save me!" Robin shouted confidently, hearing the pounding footsteps of Slade running towards the room. He must have heard him when he had yelled earlier.

"Yes, master."

And then… pain.

-END OF PROLOGUE-

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This is a Robin/Raven fanfiction. I'm not going to tell you that if you don't like this pairing, you shouldn't read it because A) that's a childish protest to things you don't like and B) I'm sure you have the capability decide if you want to read something or not on your own.