"Trails"
The sky was stone gray, the city overcome with citizens going about their busy days. Robin sat atop a building's ledge, overlooking the city. His communicator alit.
"Robin?" Cyborg's voice spoke through the static. "What are you seeing out there?"
Robin spotted a teenager in an obvious garb to seemed to want to cover himself up.
"Something's nothing right," he said.
He jumped down, using a specially made throwing gadget that became a hook shot, shooting it to the lower store where the teenager passed by, swinging down to its' ground. He looked past the wall, slowly. The teenager was no longer there. Robin ran ahead, turning in a corner. A suspicious sewer lid laid, but why in a hidden place?
"There's something up for a while now, and I'm going to find out,"
Robin headed back to the tower, walking over to Cyborg who was on the main computer.
"That's the fifth case in the past four weeks," Robin began.
"Wherever these guys are headed, it's obvious they don't want anyone normal knowing," Cyborg responded.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
Cyborg zoomed in on one of the teens, then a second one from the surveillance database collection. "Look," he said, zooming in further on one of them. It was a brown-skinned man in an indigo outfit, and black cloak.
"…Isn't that-"
"Herald. And over here? Argent. And the recent guy you saw?" Cyborg zoomed in.
"…Bushido…" Robin uttered.
"All honorary titans. This is what I meant by no one normal,"
Robin looked up. "Could it be, Brother Blood?"
Cyborg turned to Robin. "Couldn't be. They looked pretty aware in making sure no one caught onto their movements. Looks pretty free-willed to me,"
"What could b-"
"Glorious day, friends!" Starfire came into the room. "I have gathered traditional informational catalogues on the latest in interior room decoration!"
"Please, PLEASE make her STOP," Beast Boy cried out, crawling out with a rug staple-gunned to his belt.
"It seems as if though I need a bit of practice," Starfire said with a hand to her chin, in worry for Beast Boy.
Beast Boy looked over at the approaching Raven, with tears in his eyes. She was approaching the couch while brandishing a knife.
"Raven, what's that for?" Beast Boy said.
"Starfire went in my room, and now she has to die. It's as simple as that,"
"I give many thanks that all I have done was enter," Starfire said, frightened.
"Yeah, or you'd be dead ten times over by now," Beast Boy added.
"…She's still going to die regardless," Raven said, baffled.
Robin and Cyborg looked back over at the screen as the three argued and ran from Raven. "There seems to be a pattern," Cyborg said. He typed in a search for the hours. "Look here. It looks like a new one enters-"
"Every second Thursday," Robin continued, observing it.
"Only problem is, the hours are all over the place. And whose to say how many of them are leaving every other Thursday?" Cyborg said.
Robin approached the screen and typed in a search for the calendar. "Then, we'll trail the earliest one on this date,"
"What are you guys talking about?" Raven approached, knife at Starfire's feet as an eighth of her hair was chopped off, Starfire in tears.
Robin turned to Raven. "It seems that a group of superheroes are independently entering a hidden sewer passage every second Thursday to some unknown location. To know the exact path, we have to trail them to the last step,"
"It's suspected to be a labyrinth. No way a secret passage would be so easy, seeing as how they don't want anyone to know where they're headed," Cyborg said.
"I could just trail their paths," Raven said.
"That can't be done. We don't know how long their path is, and if you were to project into them during their journey, they'd know something was up," Robin responded. "Our best bet is to stand down for now,"
"Hidden journeys?" Starfire approached the three, stroking her hair. "Could this be an ambush in disguise?"
"Whatever it is, it's nothing we can't handle," Robin said, as Beast Boy tried to softly lift up his staple-gunned belt, yelping as it was pierced into his rear.
Beast Boy headed outside, rubbing his lower back continuously. "Maybe it'll go away…in a month," he sighed, looking ahead.
He saw girls handing out fliers in front of a new furniture store, the same one where Starfire bought the interior materials. He shuddered, walking ahead, past it to his favorite pizzeria.
Terra, or, Tara, walked further down with her friends, waving goodbye to them as they waved to her. She was holding her books, looking down the street and noticing Beast Boy.
"…" She looked the other way, walking across the street to head home.
She walked past an alleyway, peering down it. Tara looked both ways, heading down it. Coming to a dead end, she picked up a piece of ripped cloth, as it shone, even in the shadowed alleyway. "I see you still haven't taken up on our offer," a mysterious voice said in front of the alleyway.
Tara stood up immediately, facing the person.
Rose Wilson.
"I told you before. You've got the wrong girl," Tara said, angered.
"Oh, stop with it. We both know who you really are, and what you can do," Rose picked up a small rock, throwing it at her with excessive force.
Tara allowed herself to get hit, wincing as she fell back.
"I've got to hand it to ya, you're dedicated. I wonder how far we can go with your acting. I've got all day," she smirked, placing her hands on the ground, grabbing it, pulling up a large chunk of the sidewalk. "Why don't we both test our limits?"
Rose Wilson threw the concrete block at her, Tara just barely dodging to the side with a yell. She was stuck underneath half of the concrete block. Rose Wilson approached.
"So? I wonder how you're going to get out," she smirked, standing in front of her.
Tara looked at a ripped part of her skirt, glaring up at Rose. "Are you really just going to sit there? Then let me give you a choice,"
Rose Wilson withdrew her sword, pointing it at her. "Fight, or die. Or…" Tara looked up at Rose Wilson, not expecting a third option. "Come with us,"
"Where…" Tara responded.
"Recruit"
Nighttime.
The surveillance was still on the main computer screen.
The Titans were sitting in the living room, leaning over the table.
A board game guessing game laid in the middle of it, called 'Representatives'.
"It is your turn, Beast Boy!" Starfire said, ecstatically.
"Alright, does your representative have a top hat?" he asked.
"It does! It does!" she cheered. "Raven, you are next!"
Raven looked over at Beast Boy. "Does your representative have a brain,"
Beast Boy got puffy, as Cyborg laughed and Robin smiled. "Not a bad question," Cyborg said.
Beast Boy looked over at the surveillance as the game continued. The day wasn't over yet, meaning more Honorary Titans or superheroes could still be going through hidden passages. The team wouldn't pursue them though, being too dark to follow. They just wanted confirmation. Just then, he noticed a new person approaching an alleyway. It was Tara.
Beast Boy looked back at the group. "I uh, gotta go buy a new video game! It releases at midnight!" he said as he ran out of the Tower, Raven looking after him. "…"
Jump City's streetlights alit. Not as much traction as there was in the afternoon, the streets beginning to slow down as nightlife came alive. Tara walked across the street with a heavy knapsack she held over her shoulder, pushing it up her back as she continued to walk ahead.
A green bird flew over her from all the way in the sky, zooming in for a landing. It reshaped as Beast Boy, who hid behind a wall, looking over at her walking down the alleyway.
She looked both ways, continuing towards the hidden sewer lid. Beast Boy landed in front of her, having flown from above as the same bird. "…Beast Boy?" she said.
"Terra, why are you heading for this place?"
"For the final time, my name is not Terra. I would appreciate if for once you could leave me alone," she said, walking forward.
"But where you're heading is dangerous! And if what you said is true, about not having po-"
"How do you know where I'm going?"
"I-"
"Okay. Let's draw the line here. Don't follow me, don't stalk me, stop calling me Terra, and from here until the end of time, don't even talk to me!" she yelled, Beast Boy taken aback in a huge way, Tara storming off in rage.
Beast Boy stared after her, not knowing what to do.
Tara stopped. "And I'm not stupid. Wherever I'm going, I'm coming right back," she said, removing the lid and going in.
"I can take care of myself, so stop worrying about me," she said finalized, going all the way in, closing the lid.
"Not if you don't have powers," Beast Boy said to himself, turning into a bird and flying back to the Titans Tower.
Heading back into the Tower, Beast Boy looked up to see Robin and Cyborg still looking over the surveillance. He could hear construction noises of Starfire fixing up her own room. Everyone was doing something, even at 10:00 pm.
That left Raven.
Beast Boy went over to her door, hesitating to knock. He did so after a moment's pause. Raven opened the door, halfway.
"What."
"Rae? Um…I know you think I'm obsessed, and that I won't let this go, but, I just saw Terra head for the same passages as those other superheroes!"
"…You're obsessed," she closed the door, but Beast Boy held it open.
"Raven, please! We have to see if she's okay! And I know it's too dark to see where she's headed, but what if she really doesn't have powers?"
"You're only seeing what you want to see. If you want to chase after your imagination, don't drag other people into it," she tried closing the door again, causing Beast Boy to lay on the floor in pain, holding it open with one finger.
"Please, please!" he drained out.
"Beast Boy, let go!" Raven used her powers to lift him up and throw him back, the door closing.
Beast Boy stood up. "That's too bad. Guess I'll have to tell Starfire that you changed your mind, and that you crave her renovation. If I convince her that you'd never, ever kill her in a million years, your room might get the full treatment,"
Raven went into shock.
Beast Boy and Raven flew outside in the direction of the alleyway.
"It's over here!" Beast Boy said, staring down at the sewer lid they landed in front of.
Raven withdrew her communicator. "Ro-"
"No! Don't!" Beast Boy said, putting his hand over and shutting off her communicator. "I don't want them to know about this. They'll talk us out of it and make us wait two weeks to go in the daytime,"
"…You'd better know what you're doing," Raven said, putting the communicator away. She spread out her arms, lifting the sewer lid off and to the side.
Beast Boy morphed into a weasel, jumping in head first, Raven floating in.
The two walked in the passage, the passage of time passing by slowly.
About fifteen minutes went by, where they came to an annoyance. Several tunnels in every which direction.
"…What now," Raven said, looking around, Beast Boy looking down the tunnel furthest to right. Beast Boy became a bear, closing his eyes after. He used his sense of smell to locate the correct tunnel. Finding it, he morphed back into himself.
"It's this one!" he said, pointing to the one on the second left. "But we should hurry before they get way too far,"
Beast Boy and Raven jetted as fast as they could, not wanting to lose the trail.
Up further, further ahead, Rose Wilson was leading Tara to the competition's location. She stopped, sensing upcoming strangers further back. Tara stopped, looking up at Rose Wilson, having been staring at the ground the entire time. "…Looks like we've got some guests," she snarled, yanking Tara by the arm and pushing her forward.
"H-Hey!" Tara said.
"Go hide. Looks like you've had someone trail your steps," Rose Wilson said, pulling out her sword and waiting for them.
"…Beast Boy?" Tara said lowly, as Rose Wilson snarled aloud, deciding to run towards the strangers instead.
After about ten more minutes of fast traveling, Raven looked up, sensing Rose's approach.
"Stay on guard," Raven warned Beast Boy, who became a tiger at her warning. "Are you sure that Terra is the only one traveling here right now?"
"Of course, why wouldn't she b-AAAAH!" Beast Boy saw Rose sprinting at them, swinging her sword down at Beast Boy, who became a deer to avoid it, Rose moving onto Raven who put up shields.
Rose jumped over and slashed at Raven from behind, Raven just barely protecting herself, taking control of Rose's sword and pushing her back with it. Rose fell back, gripping her sword and charging at Raven again.
Raven took large chunks from both sides of the tunnel, pinning Rose down with them, knowing it was temporary. She turned to Beast Boy. "GO! NOW! This is going to take a while…"
Beast Boy stared at them, nodding and turning into a hummingbird, flying towards Tara.
After flying for about five minutes, Beast Boy spotted Tara in the distance. She was trying to hide behind one of the passage's walls.
She came forward, noticing the hummingbird's green color. "Beast Boy?"
Beast Boy reformed a few feet from her. "Ter-uh, yeah!" he said, putting a hand behind his back. "We're here to get you out of here,"
"We?" Tara repeated.
"Yeah, one of my teammates is currently at war with your friend," he said.
"She's not my friend," Tara retorted.
"Okay, okay. Sorry!" Beast Boy said, having his hands out.
"I can't get out of here sooner," Tara said, staring ahead as she walked towards the exit. She turned to Beast Boy. "You really came all this way for me. Why?"
"Because, we're friends," Beast Boy smiled. He became a mole, digging a tunnel out of the top, several rocks falling down, making a staircase for Tara to climb. She followed him out.
Rose Wilson heard the ceiling being pierced up ahead, sucking her teeth and kicking the rocks off of her. She flipped on top of the rocks.
"This isn't over. Get in my way again, and you're history," she threatened Raven, using a smoke bomb to escape into the passage as Raven covered her mouth with her cape, coughing.
Raven looked up after the smoke cleared. It were as if Rose Wilson was never there.
The moon hung overhead, a surprising saturated blue sky at midnight.
"Thanks, again, for everything," Tara said to Beast Boy, who was smiling at her words.
"Well, I'm this way," she said, walking off.
"Te-wait!" Beast Boy said, continuing to forget that he shouldn't call her that.
"After everything, I, I'm not sure how we can't be friends," he had to say.
Tara sighed. "Beast Boy, I just…I just can't. Everything is fine with the way things are! We both are where we belong, and things should stay that way. I couldn't watch you suffe-!" Tara stopped, realizing what she had said.
Beast Boy stared at her, caught off guard.
The two stared at each other.
"I have to head home. It's a school night!" she said, running off with her knapsack.
Beast Boy watched her running off, staring a bit agape. "Terra…"
Rose Wilson was knocked to her feet.
"You had a task to fulfill, and you have showed your incompetence," Harvest, the maker of the battle royale said.
Rose Wilson rubbed her cheek. "Two distractions came up, and they were unexpect-"
"Unexpected, unprecedented, I have taught you how to avoid all of those complications, Yet you disappointed me,"
Harvest walked over to a window, monitoring the practicing superheroes who thought it was just a tournament.
"I want the best of the best, and only the best of those," he said, overlooking them.
"My collection is almost complete. Now," Harvest approached Rose Wilson, who was still on her palms. "No more slip-ups, or you'll regret having crossed my intentions."