The day started off quiet and smooth, no disturbances.
Robin awoke to the pleasant feel of sunlight warming his cheek. He raised his head and glanced up slightly at the thin shaft of light leaking through the space between the curtains. With a sleepy sigh, he cast his eyes over the glowing clock, a full five minutes before it was set to go off. His sheets were wrapped around his legs, but he was too comfortable and lead-bodied to try and disentangle them.
Too good to be true, he thought hazily.
He turned onto his back, the warm patch of light warming the top off his head now, and thought for a moment. He'd finished repairing his bike the other day, after he'd crashed it into the head of a mutated sewer slug about a week ago. That weapon's upgrade he'd installed into his belt was finished. Cyborg had been going to take care of the rest of the updates to the security system on the tower the other day. By the sunny cast of the sky, it didn't seem as if the world was in danger of ending just yet, and so today had nothing very pressing to attend to.
Stretching his arms above his head, he rolled languidly out of bed as his alarm went off. The sheets slid of his bare, muscled back and fell in a waterfall from his bed to the floor as he headed to the restroom.
With all the slow, consistency of a thousand times performing the same routine, Robin took a quick steaming shower, running a blade over the bristling lines of his chiseled jaw, and stepping out of the shower, naked, into the bracingly cold air of the bathroom. He wrapped a towel around his hips and picked out one of many neatly hanging outfits.
After dressing, and pushing his damp hair back from his eyes, he walked down the echoing hallways of the tower to the kitchen. He went to the refrigerator and peered inside before taking out three sealed packages of bacon, and starting up the oven top.
It was looking like a calm day today. It had all the beginnings of a morning spent lounging either reading a book or watching television. Maybe the afternoon would bring a little havoc, or maybe not. There was always the option of going for a walk. The sun was out and didn't look like it would be giving up any of its territory to a rainstorm, or other such natural disaster. No, everything was looking pretty up.
Robin made eggs, sunny-side up. Nothing burned.
He sat at the little island in the kitchen, bringing his eggs and the heap of bacon forward. He took a bite.
The door hissed open and Robin perked. Beast Boy stepped through, looking groggy.
"'Sup, dude?" Beast Boy said, and shuffled up, grabbing a muffin from a bowl on the island and rummaging in a cupboard for a jar of grape jelly before settling into a seat across from Robin.
He sat there for a moment, before blinking and saying, "Oh."
"What?" asked Robin, still not having taken a single bite of his food.
Beast Boy put a hand on his tired face and turned on his stool to regard a drawer not five feet from where he sat. "I forgot to get a spoon."
The door opened again and Cyborg strode in, gazing intently at something flashing across a small screen on his arm. "Guys…"
Robin turned away from Beast Boy, grim-faced. "What is it?"
"This is really weird…" he scrunched up his eyebrows. "But… have either of you seen Raven and Starfire around?"
Robin raised his eyebrows, and turned in his seat, eggs forgotten. "Why?"
"We got a call early this morning. And I mean late-last-night, early-this-morning kind of early. You gotta listen to this…" Cyborg pressed a button on his arm.
All at once there was a harsh sound of static, and screaming.
"Ow, ow! What are you, crazy? What are you doing?"
"I have to! I have to!"
"No! Star – ack! Put it down!"
"Wait, wait – ow! Eek! Look!"
"Oh, fuck!"
There were sounds of scuffling and more screams. Something shattered. There was a gasp.
A thunk sounded across the line, like a body hitting the floor.
Silence.
Frantic whispers. The line went dead.
Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy looked at each other, wide-eyed.
"Dude!" Said Beast Boy. The sleep had disappeared from his face.
Cyborg strode forward to lay his hands on the counter. "There's something else." He took a breath. "The reason why I asked if you'd seen them – I checked my system. They haven't been in the Tower for three days."
"You mean they've been gone and none of us even noticed?" said Beast Boy, startled.
"How is this possible!" said Robin, running a hand through his hair. "What happened? Were they kidnapped?"
Cyborg shook his head. "I don't think so. Look." He pushed another button on his arm, and a hologram image was thrown up. It was security camera footage, gray with no audio, like a silent film. The girls were seen moving stealthily through the halls, shushing each other every now and then. They stopped at a corner, peering around, and then Starfire pointed down the hall, and then pointed at Raven. Raven didn't seem to agree with whatever Star was saying, and shook her head, pointing a finger in Star's face. An argument ensued, and their eyes looked wide and desperate and angry. There were lots of hand-waving, lots of pointing, and a lot of shaking heads. At one point Raven was pushing Starfire aggressively. Then Star seemed to have gone lead-bodied, and leaned all over Raven until she dropped her on the floor.
Raven shook her fists, a look of pure agonizing defeat on her face, and moved down the hall. She stopped in front of a door, glaring daggers back down the hall to where Starfire was.
"Hey!" went Robin, standing abruptly. It was his door.
Raven phased through the door and Robin stood stock still, concentrating fiercely on the spot she'd disappeared through. Starfire was seen to move and stand next to the door, looking anxious. Then, Raven popped out, out of breath, and nodded her head once to Starfire. Starfire seemed pleased, and gave Raven a brief hug before pulling her down the hall. They tiptoed quickly, moving to the roof, and the last thing the cameras captured was them taking off into the sky toward the city.
"Whaaat?" Beast Boy hopped off his stool, coming around to watch the footage again. "They left?"
The boys looked at each other, and then Beast Boy bolted for the door. He ran down the hallway, straight to Raven's room. Inside, it was cool, dark, and empty. He raced into Star's room. There were clothes strewn in a semi-circle around her dresser drawers and her closet. All of them the same, purple outfit she always wore. He went back to the kitchen, and sat next to Cyborg, who was poking at Robin's bacon.
"Why would they leave without telling us? What do you think is going on?"
Cyborg shook his head. "I've got no idea. That telephone recording was crazy. But, I don't know. They sounded okay, but just freaked out."
"You can't track them or something?"
"You don't think I've tried? They didn't take their communicators with them." Cyborg slammed a fist into the counter. "I knew I should have installed location chips in all of you! Why don't I listen to any of my good ideas?"
Beast Boy eyed Cyborg warily. "I really hope you didn't mean that."
Shaking his head, Cyborg said, "I don't know what's going on here, but it's definitely bad."
"Bad might not cover it," said Robin, looking grim as he walked into the kitchen. "I think I know why they went into my room."
Beast Boy and Cyborg raised their eyebrows.
Robin took his wallet out of his belt, and hit his palm with it before throwing it on the counter between them. "They took my money, and the Titan card."
"Damn." Beast Boy picked up the wallet and checked inside. Nothing. "Hey, you've got pictures of us in here! And… Oh, I'll just put that back in there…"
Cyborg looked excited, while Robin went red. "This may be a good thing. If they've been using the card, we can track them through their purchases."
"That's not mine," Robin said, snatching back the wallet. "I mean – it is mine but…"
"How much cash did you have in there?"
Still red, Robin replied, "Hundred and fifty."
Cyborg cursed. "Let's hope we get lucky, here. I'll check for purchases online."
Recovering slightly, Robin nodded. "Right. We'll check their rooms and see if there's anything in there to give us a clue where they went."
They made their way out of the kitchen, worried about Starfire and Raven, wondering where in the hell they were, and what they were doing.
What the hell would make them leave the Tower late at night, without telling anyone, without leaving a note? Why would they take Robin's money? What were they doing? Why hadn't they come home for three days? What was the story behind that strange recording?
Stay tuned for next time on DRAGON BALL…. Oh, that's not the right story… heee!
I know that the Titans are somehow trackable, as demonstrated in some of the episodes, but for the sake of the story, pretend they're not. 'Kay? Thanks then.