Before you begin reading this, let me first point out that this story is not connected to my other two in any way. This is a stand-alone story, centered around the plot from the cartoon series. With a little twist of course.

Chapter 1: A new beginning

Free, she was free. After fifteen years, she was finally free from that wretched hellhole. Just thinking about the place she had been forced to call home for all those years made her want to gag. They said it was a place of peace, of tranquility. Inbred, arrogant pigs. The lot of them. Sure, it was a peaceful place, but what was the point? She had never been allowed to do what she had wanted, always locking away her emotions, always being told what to do and what not to do.

It had been suffocating to her, a prison worse than anything she had ever imagined. What was worse, she had been the only one with such harsh restrictions. Everyone else had a much easier life. Heck, even the damn birds had more freedom than her. And why was it so? Why did she get such an unfair life?

Daddy dearest.

He was so feared among those peace-loving hippies that just because she happened to be his daughter, they felt this overwhelming urge to lock her way from the world. 'It's for your own good' they always said. Those words always made her blood boil with rage. What did they know what was for her own good? They had no right to tell her that.

Well, that was a thing of the past now. She had escaped, in the last way they would have ever suspected. With fists and feet. It had been immensely satisfying seeing their shocked looks as what they thought was a frail teenage girl took down full-grown men with her bare hands.

It may come as a surprise, but she had always detested having to rely on her powers alone. As she saw it, anyone who relied on just one asset was a dead fool. So when those idiotic monks did not teach her how to control her powers, she would spend hours training in secret to build up her strength and agility.

She was no martial arts exert by a long shot, but she had not needed to be anyway. Those idiots did not even know how to fight. In the end, escaping had been child's play to her. And now here she was, a long way from her prison, on the same world her mother was born on; Earth.

She was currently standing in a rundown and outright disgusting alley that her portal had dropped her in. Above her, the starry night sky gazed down upon the sleeping city beneath it. Not the best place she might add, but it beat her old home by a long shot.

But as she looked upon the dirty alley, a euphoric feeling washed up from deep inside her. She saw not dirt and garbage, she saw possibilities. She was finally free, free to go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. No more monks telling her joy was not something she could experience. This was new world to her, a world she could experience at her leisure.

Not being able to contain herself, she laughed. For the first time in her life, she laughed. This was truly a new beginning for her.

"Well, well, well. You must be having a really good evening. Shame I have to rain on your parade here" a mocking voice suddenly said from behind her. The laughter that had earlier flown freely from her lips came to an abrupt halt as she turned around in surprise. She found someone standing deep in the shadows of the alley, hidden from sight.

At least from a human's sight.

Her sharp eyes easily penetrated the shadows, to land upon the most disgusting man she had ever had the displeasure of landing her eyes on. A pale and lanky man, dressed in torn and oversized clothes, was leering at her with his yellow teeth and sunken eyes. His whole face was gaunt and a very untrimmed beard was growing like a bush on his chin. However, what mystified her most was the strange metal object clutched in his left hand and being currently pointed right at her.

"Now, if you will just hand over all your valuables I don't have to ruff you up, girly" he said mockingly. She was unsure what the contraption in his hand was supposed to do, but by judging how in control he felt and the way he kept brandishing it, she guessed it was some form of weapon. No problem to her. She flashed him a seductive smirk in response.

"Why don't you come here and help yourself?" she purred as she held her arms up. This was so wrong on many levels, but she could not help it. Never before had she been allowed to be this daring and provocative, and she would be damned if she was going to squander this chance.

The man seemed to find the idea to his linking as he approached her with eager steps, that same perverted grin still plastered on his face. But as he reached her and was about to begin his "search", her right hand shot forward like a striking viper and grabbed hold of his left hand. Before he even knew what was happening, she gave it a hard twist that snapped the bone while delivering a fist straight into his gut.

If there was one thing that her father's genes had been good for, it had been giving her strength and reflexes far beyond that of a normal human. As the man doubled over in pain, she finished up with a really hard kick in the male anatomy's most precious and vulnerable part.

The poor man went down with a girlish squeak. But as he lay on the ground writhing in pain, she lost all interest in him, instead being captivated by the strange weapon the man had used. She held it in her hands, observing it from every angle with a critical eye. She could not figure out how it was operated, but for some reason she liked the form of it.

Well, she was not about to risk breaking her new toy while trying to learn how it worked, so that left only one other way to learn its mysteries. Thankfully it was something she had no trouble doing. She bent down next to man she had recently beaten up, smiling sweetly at him.

"Sorry for the beating, but you kind of scared me" she said, sounding about as convincing as a wolf telling a sheep she has become a vegetarian and would like to eat dinner with him "But there is something else I need from you, so if you don't mind…"

With that, she grabbed his head between her hands and stared deeply into his fearful eyes 'Never liked relying on daddy dearest's powers, but oh well. Desperate times call for desperate measures' she thought nonchalantly as her mind invaded that of her victim. Normally she could have used more finesse and delicacy when she entered his mind, but she was kind of in a hurry and just slammed into his mind like a battering ram.

The effects were anything but pleasant, if the painful screams tearing their way out of the man's throat was any indication. She showed no concern over the mental pain she was inflicting upon him, instead kept rooting around in his mind for all the information she would need.

When she was finally done, she stood up and dusted off her clothes. She then retrieved the weapon from earlier, looking at it with newfound intrigue.

"A gun. A small-arms weapon that fire a bullet by just pulling the trigger. Bullet travels far too fast for the eye to see it, and the magazine can carry several at once. Meaning it can fire several bullets in rapid succession…" she mumbled to herself before her lips split into a sadistic grin "I think I just fell in love"

With that, she spun around and happily strolled out of the alley, though not before turning around and offering a grateful bow to the now catatonic mugger lying half-dead in the alley. As her feet led her out on the empty sidewalks, that earlier felling of euphoria returned to her. The way she saw it, her life had just become like this road; wide open to her with no obstacles in her way. It felt truly liberating.

She knew then and there that this was her new life. She would have no ties, no obligations, and no expectations. She would live her life the way she saw fit, not how others saw. Now she only needed money to live in this exotic new world. The most obvious way to acquire it would be by getting a job, but that was no fun at all. No, she would do it the easiest but at the same time most exciting way. She would steal it.

And in way, that would be the ultimate form of revenge at her former captors. They had always taught her to follow the rules, to never disobey them no matter what. What better way to spit in their faces than by going against everything they believed in. Yes, it was perfect in her eyes.

But first, she needed to find a gun store. She needed more ammo to her gun, and she was practically shaking in excitement over what other kinds of toys she could pick up. She did not know why, but she had just fallen in love with these fascinating weapons being used on Earth. Once she had satisfied her new urges, she would take time to scout out this new and interesting city; this Jump City as the locals called it.

"I'm beginning to love this place more with every second" she said to herself as she stood perched on top of a building, overlooking a bank. Finding a gun store had been easy as hell, breaking into the place had been even easier. What had been harder however was picking which weapons she would bring along. There were such a variety of them that she was practically drooling over the thought of using them all.

Finally she had chosen a good arsenal for herself, though she planned on expanding it in the future. Slung over her right shoulder was a shotgun while a P90 was slung over her left. A weapon belt had been added to her attire from which an Uzi was strapped behind her back. However, what she was most proud of were the twin pair of Mark XIX Desert Eagles, both loaded with .50 Action Express bullets.

Now she had the armaments, all she needed was the money and she was good to go. But one question kept nagging at her, what was she supposed to do later? What options existed for her in this world?

She just shrugged her shoulders. She would figure it out at a later time. Right now, she had a bank to rob.

It was supposed to be an easy assignment; get in, get the money and get out. In theory it was so easy that Jinx and her two teammates Gizmo and Mammoth were close to ignoring the orders of their Headmistress. Seriously, the trio was the best students at H.I.V.E. Academy. Was not this assignment more up the rookie squads' sleeves? But no, instead the job gets handed to the star pupils.

Nevertheless, it was an order from the Headmistress, and such an order was not ignored without severe consequences. So the trio had no choice but to pack their combat gear an head out in the field.

"This stinks. Why did we get stuck with this lame assignment?" the annoying voice of Gizmo asked out loud for the umpteenth time that evening. Mammoth grunted in agreement while Jinx just sighed.

"Right now that doesn't matter. The Headmistress gave us this assignment and unless you want to get on her bad side, I suggest we get a move on here" Jinx stated tiredly. That was enough to shut the midget up and the trio quickly made their way towards the main entrance. Maybe not the best way to break in from if you wanted to remain undetected, but they were kind of in a hurry and had no time subtlety. Though they would not have needed to bother with it either way as they were about to find out.

"Hey, someone has already picked the lock here" Gizmo exclaimed in surprise as he pushed the door open. The other two cautiously stepped inside.

"Another robber?" Mammoth asked gruffly as his small eyes scanned back and forth across the lobby.

"Maybe. Kind of sloppy though. The way that lock was picked, I'd say a novice" Gizmo said from behind him. Jinx said nothing, instead keeping her eyes peeled for any signs of the mysterious robber. The trio slowly made their way across the lobby until they reached the corridor that led to the vaults. It was pitch black down the corridor, not a speck of light to illuminate it.

But Jinx got the feeling that there was something hiding in the shadows watching them. Suddenly, those same feelings were screaming at her to dodge. Why they did that, Jinx did not know, but there was no way she was stupid enough to ignore them.

"DODGE!" She screamed at her teammates, who immediately reacted and did as told. Not a second too soon before a hail of bullets flew through the area they used to occupy. The trio hugged the walls on either side of the corridor tightly as bullets chewed at the edges.

It suddenly came to an abrupt stop, but before anyone had time to react, a dark shape darted out of the corridor and past the stunned team, heading straight for the exit. Jinx was the first to recover and sent a hex straight at the floor in front of the figure. The marble crumbled under the hex and caused the figure to stumble in surprise.

Though he still managed to the ground on his shoulder and roll along it until he was kneeling, P90 held at the ready and aimed at the trio. No warning was needed this time as they all dived behind pillars as a second barrage of bullets flew at them

The figure was trying to back out of the bank, but the unmistakable click of the magazine running dry halted her progress.

"Mammoth! Take him down" Jinx shouted to her teammate, who charged the figure like an angry bull. The figure barely jumped aside to avoid the charging brute, but had to drop his P90. Jinx took her chance and leaped at him. He must have seen her, because he slung a shotgun from his shoulder into his arm and began pumping out shotgun blasts at her.

Jinx nimbly dodged each blast with cat-like grace before throwing a hex at the shotgun, turning it to splinters.

"I just stole that one, dammit" a highly angered, and distinctively female, voice snarled out just before Jinx drove a boot straight into her gut. She was sent crashing to the ground painfully while Jinx backed off to regroup with her teammates. Now that their opponent stood still, they could get a better look at him, though it was not much eels to look at.

A blue cloak covered her whole body, and a hood kept her face shrouded in shadows. All in all, she looked like a damn phantom.

"Alright, who the hell are you?" Jinx asked.

And this evening had started so well to her, now all had taken a turn for the worst as she found herself cornered by three strangely looking individuals. 'Who are they?' she asked herself suspiciously. They certainly did not look like normal law enforcements. Then again, she had not been here that long to get a grip on exactly how a law enforcement unit was supposed to look like.

"Alright, who the hell are you?" the only girl in the group asked. Okay, maybe they were not law enforcement after all. But who were they?

"That is none of your business" she spat back, her mind already working overtime to devise a plan out of this mess. They seemed to have guessed what she planned to do since they spread out more, limiting her chances of escape. Great.

Well, if she wanted to get out of this mess she would need to move soon. Those three were not going to stand around forever. She suddenly had an idea, a very daring one she might add. A smirk split her lips as she grabbed hold of the needed weapon underneath her cloak. Not giving herself a chance to think this plan through, she rushed at them.

Her move obviously caught them by surprise since they did not react until she was almost upon them. The pink haired girl tried to step in front of her, but she just smiled and threw her weapon at her. A grenade; and she had already pulled the pin.

The pink haired girl's eyes widened in fright before she scurried out of the way, but she just charged headlong into the explosion that soon occurred. What none of her opponents saw however was that she formed a barrier with her dark energy to shield herself from the blast. She soon passed through the smoke and there, just ahead of her, was her way to freedom.

Jinx was not certain whether the girl was desperate or suicidal. You had to be either one of them if you had the guts to pull a stunt like that. She watched in horror as the girl was engulfed by the flames. Had she really been that desperate to escape?

But the horror soon turned to shock as she saw the girl leap out from the smoke completely unharmed and made a dash towards the exit. 'What the hell, is she indestructible?' Jinx thought to herself in shock. It looked like the girl was about to make a getaway from them, but Gizmo apparently had other thoughts in mind as he managed to fire off some of his strange gum-like substance. What exactly it was, Jinx had no idea. It looked like gum, it was as sticky as glue and was hell to get out of your hair.

The substance tangled the girl's legs up and with a surprised yelp she fell face first to the floor. Jinx could not help but smile triumphantly. He midge had his uses from time to time. The trio congregated around the downed girl, who had rolled over to her back and pulled out a pair of guns. Though one of them was worried about them, in this position they could easily disarm her. And she knew it as well.

Though as Jinx looked down on the girl, a thought suddenly struck her. The girl had some skills and she was obviously not one of those stupid superheroes that ran around the country. And now for the first time, Jinx managed to get a look at her eyes. Those eyes, filled with a fire she knew all too well. She was someone who had been pushed around all her life and was now trying to break free from the confinements of society. Someone who was looking to make their own way in life, no matter the costs.

Yup, she was definitely H.I.V.E. material. And Jinx would be damned if she was going to squander the chance to get a female team member to balance out the testosterone driven guys. Jinx slowly bent down next to the girl until they were almost eye level.

"Hey, you're new in town, right?" she asked. The girl scoffed.

"Really, what gave it away? Was it my attire?" she asked sarcastically. Once again Jinx could not help but smile. She had spunk too; Jinx liked this girl more and more.

"Let me guess, you came here to get a fresh start, to get away from whatever shit you had at home" Jinx pressed on. The girl said nothing, but the slight twitch in her arm was all the answer Jinx needed. 'Jackpot'

"Hate to break it to you, but on your own you won't make it very far in this lifestyle" she stated. Once again the girl said nothing, but she averted her gaze from that of Jinx. She was thinking. Hard. She knew the pink haired girl was right. Her first night alone and she gets busted by this group. She was obviously unprepared for the world. Jinx meanwhile gave a predatory smirk at the girl.

"Fortunately for you, I happen to know just the right solution to your predicament" she said happily. The girl looked back at her suspiciously, wondering what the pink haired girl was after.

"And what would that be?" she asked dryly, causing Jinx's smile to grow even wider.

"That you're coming with us" she simply said. The girl's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in suspicion.

"Explain" was all she said.

"We're students at the H.I.V.E. Academy, a place for people like us who prefer to live outside the law to train and learn to survive. And from what've seen of you so far, you'll fit right in there" Jinx explained enthusiastically. The girl still looked skeptic, but she was considering the offer. If she accepted she would get training in how to survive in this world, get a roof over her head and possibly free meal. The downside of course was that it was a bloody school. She did not have very fond memories from her old home.

But as they say, beggars cannot be choosers. Besides, the benefits seemed to outweigh the risks. She looked back at the pink haired girl and found that she was looking at her expectantly.

"Alright, you got me convinced" she finally relented, causing the pink haired to girl to grin even wider than before. If such a thing was even possible.

"Nice! I'm Jinx by the way!" she introduced herself before pointing at the midget "That's Gizmo" then she pointed at the last one "And that's Mammoth"

Gizmo meanwhile had managed to remove his gum-like substance from the girl's legs, allowing her to stand back up again. She reached up with a pale hand and drew back her hood, exposing her pale face and violet hair that reached her shoulder.

"Name's Raven" she introduced herself. 'This might not be such a bad idea after all' she thought to herself.

and there you have it, the first chapter. What I'm looking for in this story is to create a different version of Raven then what many have usually read about on this sight.

First off, I look to give her a more mercenary style attitude to her role in the story, meaning she'll be more interested in getting paid and having fun than trying to be good or bad.

Furthermore, I seek to give her a new set of skills she'll use. Instead of relying on her powers, she'll instead prefer to use firearms and explosives. I'm not going to remove her usual powers, she'll just prefer to first try to shoot her opponent in the head with a gun before resorting to her powers.

Give me a comment on what you think of these goals.