This story is infamous in my house. I've been having so many scenes pop in my head that if I don't actually sit down and type will end up exploding from my head in a horrible disgusting mess, so yeah….
Fandom: Teen Titians
Ship: Slight robrae/speedyrae, actually speedyeveryone (but not enough to effect the story)
Genre: Adventure
Rating: T (for swearing and situations)
Summary: When a psychotic other dimensional sorceress brings her hunt to Jump, things swirl steadily out of control. With mysterious super powered female enigma, Slade, strange powers and a seemingly average teenage girl with a lot of baggage, have the Titans finally met their match?
Not beta'd
Disclaimer: "Do I look rich?" She says while eating cornflakes from a chipped bowl.
Memoirs of a Hero
Prologue: Trigger
by Muviri
"Next in importance to having a good aim is to recognize when to pull the trigger."
- Unknown
Jump City, San Francisco
America
When Cyborg gave Robin the coordinates to the Earl Francis' (a small-time technology thief) whereabouts, he'd been shocked to say the least.
The Bouchard was picturesque restaurant situated near the harbour and even out looked the gondolas on the bay. The j'ai ne sais quoi it had was not usually associated with criminals.
"Okay, Cy, I'm nearing the restaurant."
The restaurant was owned by the Caffarelli's, a married couple of clean-cut chefs, and the restaurant itself was only well-known amongst the more affluent citizens of Jump City.
Reservations were usually placed months in advance and getting one at short notice was highly unlikely. Luckily for the son of Bruce Wayne, entrepreneurs like these often owned his guardian a favour or two.
But, as he pulled up to the entrance of the restaurant that evening, one thing was bothering him, "Why would a wanted felon choose to come here after hitting his target?"
"Maybe he has some unfinished business in Jump?" Cyborg suggested through Robin's helmet. Swinging a leg over the seat of his motorcycle Robin took off his helmet, switching Cy to the communicator built-in to his watch, and switched on stealth mode."The Bouchards a fancy place, maybe he brought his partner?"
Robin attached his helmet to the now chrome black motorcycle and considered it, but shook his head upon further thought, "The Bouchard isn't the kind of restaurant criminals would come to to count their loot." Straightening his suit and readjusting his hair, Robin made his way towards the restaurant, "Maybe this isn't a one-way deal. He stole some computer chips, right? So maybe he's selling them on? Did you check for any likely buyers?"
"I ran a police check on the guy...and other than a couple of small stints in Gotham, this is his first big job. " Cyborg displayed the police records, and admittedly other than some recent accounts of petty thief, Francis was pretty much clean. Knowing the kind of criminals in Jump this guy wouldn't cut it with anyone," He wasn't even very good, he left fingerprints."
"Amateur. But he stll got past us, Cy." Robin concluded, but he was still wary. Any new villain could spell trouble for Jump and with Slade still lurking underground, even the most negligible of villain's could not be underestimated, "Just keep an eye on the city tonight and I'll be back after I've made sure everything checks out here."
Robin entered the revolving doors and was greeted with a room filled with tasteful art and some of Jump City's self-proclaimed finest. Everyone from diligent to politicians to businessmen accompanied by everyone from models to royalty to pedigree pets. The entire room was filled with the omnipotent stench of self-importance and vanity which only proved to remind Richard why he never agreed to accompany Bruce to any more parties than was absolutely necessary.
Luckily, Robin wasn't obliged to mingle tonight.
"Richard."
Cyborg's voice shocked him slightly, before quickly being replaced by confusion."Cy," he slipped, unnoticed, into a dark corner, "I can't talk I'm inside."
"I'm getting bad vibes about this case, man." Cyborg's concern softened Richard's features slightly. He gave the metal man a small smile, hoping to reassure him that he would be fine.
Before Robin could speak Cyborg interupted,"I know you can handle whatever this guy throws at you, but I'm starting to think this is much bigger than just a sales pitch."
Robin sighed, he'd been thinking the same thing since the break in but placing faith in a hunch, even a really strong one, was not something he was known for. Cyborg on the other hand relied very much on his gut reaction, something Robin had never quite mastered. Besides, he had no reason to worry his friends over some simple feeling.
He put his faith in facts and evidence, two things that had yet to let him down.
Robin scratched the back of his head."I've been thinking the same thing."
"So you can't tell me you don't think what he stole was a bit odd?"The screen changed displaying images of three computer chips. The screen zoomed in on a small red chip, "This chip contains a virus strong enough to infect all the computers within a thirty-seven mile radius," a blue chip became centre-stage," this one can be integrated into any simple sonic cannon to create a device that can send out an impenetrable shield," then a yellow one," and this one can be hooked up to a average computer to turn it into a bomb with almost the same power as anything the military has."
Robin straightened up at the sound of an approaching giggle, and flashed the women a well-practiced smile that received a light blush, and then resumed his position once she was out of sight, "It all seems fairly average villain supplies to me."
"It would be, wouldn't it?"
Cyborg's entire body seemed to be vibrating with what Robin could only identify as nervous energy, "To be perfectly honest, I have no idea where you're going with this Cy."
"He managed to sneak into Delta without us getting wind of it till he was long gone, but on his way out he left fingerprints? C'mon man you know there's something that's not adding up here."
The direct address at the Titians' failure caused Robin's shoulders to stiffen, and the all-too-familiar emotion of frustration took precedence over his features. To think that some amateur could just waltz up and steal some of the cities most powerful computer chips made Robin feel sick, but Cyborg was right. Something about this guy wasn't adding up. It would take a highly talented theif to break into Delta without them knowing, but to leave fingerprints? That was a purely amateur move. But exactly what was this guy? A talented thief who made a mistake or a amateur with a bit of beginners luck?
"Your right Cy. There's too many inconsistencies here, something's off."
"And the report we got back from Delta arrived. All that was missing was some fancy motherboards."
"Then that means..."
Cyborg excited to see the Boy Wonder finally catching on interrupted, "He didn't take the three chips that would have had the entire city eating out of his hands."
Robin failed to hide his initial shock, he'd realized that the perpetrator had taken a few chips but he hadn't realized the options that had been available to him, and the fact that he chose not to take the most powerful chips in the city raised plenty of questions. Questions Robin didn't even know how to begin to answer.
He ran a hand over his face. This case seemed to getting thicker by the minute but the only way for him to get answers would be to track Fransis down. Fast.
" Is there anything else I should know, Cy?"
"One last thing."
Robin's screen changed again, this time displaying a photo of the crime scene. Everything looked mostly back to normal, all shattered glass had been cleaned up and a broken wall filled in, apart from three empty cases. The screen paned to the right and zoomed in on the side of the one his eyes, Robin could see the faintest outline of an shape.
"What is that?"
"Take a closer look," the already magnified picture, became clearer and the muddled shape sharpened into a heart, with the words'cordis veritatem revelare' along the outside," what do you see?"
"It's a heart," a jumble of different possible connotations came into Robin head, "with something written around it...". He squinted. The words definitely looked foreign," What language is that?"
"Apparently its some ancient form of Latin, which unfortunately none of us speak. So I've got the computer working on a accurate translation now, but it'll take a few hours."
The whole idea that a small-time criminal like this would have a signature baffled Robin.
Sure, he'd seen dozens of villains use the exact same method hundreds of time. But those times it had all been mind game, really. Used to attach the fear people held to something as insignificant as cats, coins...clowns. But usually the message was simple and clear, something everyone could relate to, not as precise as this. This meant absolutely nothing to him, unless..."He wanted us to find this, it must be a message of some sort...but who would a burglar be leaving a message for?"
"Unless", Cyborg swallowed thickly, the panic clear on his face," our little burglar isn't a burglar at all. He didn't care about what he stole because he wasn't really interested in stealing and he left a fingerprint for a reason. He was trying to get our attention."
Robin brought a hand up to cover his face, mumbling a curse under his breath. What had they gotten themselves into?
If Cyborg was right, and the criminal wanted to be found, he sure as hell wasn't making it easy.
The Bouchard looked like an average restaurant from the outside, but upon being led to his table he realized finding Francis would be a lot harder than he'd thought. The entire restaurant had three floors, one above the lobby and one below, and each dinning areas sat around sixty customers. The main dining room, which Alfred had booked for Richard, was on the third floor and by the looks of it the entire restaurant was packed.
He was seated in the middle of the restaurant which would have been a perfect vantage point for observing his floor had the lighting not been so dim. A low buzz of conversation filled the room, punctuated by occasional sounds of laughter, a toast here and there, and the footsteps of waitresses, waiters, and busboys walking across the room. Over the hum of conversation was the velvet-smoke voice of a singer as she crooned some lovingly soft song into the microphone, to the accompaniment of a grand piano.
Robin had to admit, Francis had chosen the perfect location to lure him into. Any sort of confrontation in a restaurant like this would taint Richard Grayson's name, as well as Wayne Enterprise, for years and the low lighting combined with the subtle noises provided an environment difficult to think in.
"Mr. Grayson," A red-headed obstructed Robin's view and offered him a large menu," can I get you any wine today?"
"Not tonight." Robin said, noting the appearance of her uniform encase the need for a quick change of attire arose, "some water would be great though."
She responded with a polite nod and walked away. Robin redirected his attention to his watch, moving the dial to sync it with his home computer and commanding a search for Francis. A red light appeared on his watch screen showing that Francis was, indeed, here but on the lower level of the restaurant. Damn.
Robin quickly flagged down a passing waiter, "Is there any way I can possibly get a table on the lower floor?"
"Sorry, sir. But our entire lower floor has been bought out by a foreign royal tonight."
Robin couldn't help the clenching of his fist. Why would Francis lead him all the way here only to stop him from getting anywhere? He was starting to think Francis was toying with him, a move he'd only seen Slade dare to do.
"Which country are they from?"
The young waiter seemed shocked at his question. As if he hadn't been expecting Robin to question him and rubbed his forearm nervously, "You know what. I haven't a clue."
Robin nodded, "Thank you, anyway."
He waited a minute and checked the surrounding area before rising from his seat.
He made his way through the sea of tables, nearly bumping into a passing waitress, and made his way into an unfamiliar hall. He cursed himself for not paying attention earlier and looked for some indication as to where he was. the stairs and listened for any sounds in the hallway. His eyes moved in silent, practiced patterns to best examine the contents of the hall. Along its dim, carpeted length were two open doors which led into the kitchens. At the hall's end was a closed door. He walked down the hall, smiling at those who passed him, till he reached a staircase and quickly travelled down.
When he arrived at the closed door he listened at it for a long time cataloguing the sounds of movement within: there was a slow singing in the background and the light tap of shoes on the floor.
His hand curled around the knob and slowly turned it as he applied his weight. The door eased open to reveal a room similar to the one above. It may have been nerves, but Robin swore the entire room was slightly darker and much quieter. The same slow singing could still be heard in the background but it sounded drowned and distant.
Something was very wrong.
Robin reached for in his suit pocket for his contractible bo-staff, placing the soft metal into his closed palm, and pushed open the doors. He stopped. An emotion akin to fear settling in his chest.
The entire floor seemed to have been frozen.
Politicians and business men sat with wine glasses tilted and lips parted, and women were in the midst of laughter and waiters stood motionless.
Dark memories of travelling through an unmoving world with Raven resurfaced, before swiftly being pushed back to the corners of his mind. Robin swallowed thickly, praying this wasn't a repeat of last time, "Hello?"
If possible the entire room grew even more silent.
Robin ran another scan over a nearby female to confirm his suspicions. The people seemed to be cryogenically frozen. After laying a hand on the forehead of the model he dismissed that idea entirely: she was too warm to have been frozen. No other person in the room was breathing, yet the communicator still recognized them all as living.
It was like they'd been put on paused.
Robin pocketed the communicator and sighed.
Exactly who was he dealing with here? The only people Robin knew with the power to do something like this were Control Freak and Mumbo. But it couldn't possibly be them. They were still locked up tight in the Jump City prison.
If Francis wasn't working with either of those two, then where could he possibly gain this kind of power from? Was there something he was overlooking? And if Francis was so adamant to meet him why did he keep stalling?
A warm chuckle floated on a sudden breeze and entered Robin's ear. Then a voice, female Robin concluded, followed, "Do you always ask such obvious questions?"
The response snapped him out of his thoughts and his scanner alerted him
of the sudden presence of another moving person, before going blank."You won't need that in here, Robin."
After attempting to send a distress signal to his team, Robin concluded whatever was in the room with him was blocking all transitions. Pressing a button to extend his bo-staff, he readied himself for a possible attack.
He was met instead by the slow footsteps of a tall man in a plain black suit. His brown eyes were set in a cloudy gaze directly at Robin and blond curls were matted to a pale forehead as sweat trickled down his face. He moved in silence and a sinister smile spread across his face as he stopped in front of the leader of the Teen Titians.
What he did next shocked even Batman's former assistant. Francis opened his mouth, displaying perfectly white teeth, and screamed.
And then Earl Francis began to melt.
"Don't you see, Robin? He was never in charge."