I'm posting this a little earlier than previously planned, but I'm a little ahead of schedule with the next chapter so I figured I'd let this one out now.
As before, I do not own the Teen Titans.
If I did, then there would be more seasons- and they just might turn out something like this story. XP
The chaos following the police's arrival on scene lasts about an hour, not helped by Starfire's refusal to turn the emerald pendant over to the evidence collector, claiming that it was hers since Red-X had given it to her as a 'gift.'
"Robin, did you not explain to me before that a 'gift' is that which you present to a person, hoping that they would keep it? Why must I give this pretty necklace to this person when the Red-X gifted it to me?" Starfire asks with a painfully innocent look on her face. Raven groans in sympathy for the evidence collector as she hands over the onyx brooch.
"Star, it wasn't his to give to you. He probably stole it from the display here, and gave it to you as a fake 'gift' to distract us when the police came," the masked teen rubs the bridge of his nose as he gives his explanation to the green-eyed alien, swearing under his breath that he would make the thief feel three times the frustration that he was feeling now.
"It was actually a pretty slick move, and I'm kinda surprised that he pulled it off," Cyborg says as he approaches the small gathering. "What really interests me is that there doesn't seem to be anything missing here. I know that we can't be certain that's the case, but if he wasn't here to steal something, then why did he come?"
"I've asked the chief of police to forward me an inventory of anything that was disturbed here, it might help me track down the thief," Robin's business face is back, and he walks over to the team of investigators and starts talking to them.
"I believe that we are done here, so I am leaving. I'll see you all back at the tower." Raven enshrouds herself in darkness and teleports away, trusting that the rest of the team would be able to finish up the issues at the crime scene.
***
A man wearing dark jeans and a black shirt steps into a dusty shop in a shadowy corner of town. He approaches the desk and begins asking the shopkeeper questions when the door opens to reveal a young woman in tight-fitting blue jeans and a Flyleaf t-shirt. The shopkeeper stops talking to the stranger and waves to the girl.
"Welcome back, Miss Raven. I was wondering if you were going to return after your previous purchase."
"I was wondering the same thing myself, Mister Smith. The last thing you sold me was a little more than what you told me it was," Raven replies with a raised eyebrow.
"Now, miss, I tried to warn you that book was more than just a story. It's not my fault that you didn't believe me at the time." Raven smiles at the shady storeowner and looks at a pile of books near the door. "Do you have anything specific that you are looking for today?"
"Not particularly, I wanted to restock on some incense, and figured that I would look for some more books while I was in the neighborhood." She picks up a particularly dusty tome and coughs as the brown cloud engulfs her face. Her senses pick up the stranger's startled recognition of her; she disregards it, as his aura is not aggressive. "Do you have anything else that might catch my attention?" She raises her eyebrow at the merchant's predatory smile.
"That all depends on what you are interested in at the moment. However, I do believe that this person is also looking for something, and it would be quite rude of me to deprive him of service in favor of you, regardless of your reputation." The merchant turns to the man and tilts his head slightly to the left. "What exactly are you looking for, sir?"
The man's attention seems to be captured by the heroine rummaging through piles of dusty tomes, and he shakes his head as if a stray thought caught him suddenly.
"Nothing, actually. I believe that I might have been able to answer my question myself. Thank you, I apologize for disturbing your shop." His accent is rather odd, as if he is forcibly concentrating on speaking. He turns with one last look at the lavender-haired young woman, and walks out the door. The shopkeeper looks over to Raven and shrugs.
"He was kinda weird, don't you think?" Raven snorts at the question.
"Like I have any room to talk." She places two ancient tomes in front of the clerk and dusts off the titles. "I'd like these, please."
"Excellent choices, they are wonderful tales of places long since-"
"Can I pay for them, or are you going to read them to me?" Raven asks dryly as she pulls a plastic card from her jeans pocket.
"Yes, yes, impatient as always. I guess you can find out yourself, then." The man takes her card and rings up the purchase. "I hope you enjoy your reading, young lady."
"Not likely, but I will try," Raven replies, thinking of the noisy tower she is returning to.
***
Raven steps out of an oriental tea shop carrying a bag in each hand, wondering what kind of tirade Robin would go through when he found out that she had been out of the tower without his knowledge again. She really wanted to get back to read the books she had just purchased, but she wanted to avoid the noise of the tower equally. As she walks towards the waterfront area of the city, she almost misses the shift in the atmosphere. She turns around just in time to see Cinderblock emerge from a nearby bank, dragging the vault behind him.
"Do you ever learn?" She asks him pointlessly as she tosses her bags into a nearby corner. Cinderblock sees her run past him, and launches the vault at her, which is immediately enshrouded in dark energy, and levitated away. "What was the point of stealing the money if you were just going to give it to me?" Cinderblock replies with his typical roar, and rushes the lavender-eyed young woman. She rockets upward, levitating just out of the rocky vandal's reach, and rolls her eyes as her communicator goes off. "Yes, how can I help you Robin?" she asks mildly as she dodges a flying car.
"Cinderblock's attacking a downtown bank, where are you?" Robin's voice is muffled by his helmet and the sound of rushing wind; he must be on his R-cycle.
"Dealing with it," Raven replies as she returns a bus that Cinderblock threw at her. She ducks as he swings a light post at her. "Gotta go, see you soon, I guess." She closes the communicator and focuses on the fight before her. The stony criminal rushes at her, and she erects a barrier around herself. "Why do you keep showing up?" She asks him as she tries to think of a way to defeat the giant without damaging the surrounding area. She flinches as the behemoth slams two cars into her barrier, and glares at him. "Would you stop that?" She spots the light post that he had swung at her earlier, and magically launches it at him. It smashes against the back of his head, and he turns around, looking for what hit him. She takes the opportunity to escape his reach again, and looks for something to bind him with.
"Zettar, Notath, Azarai!" A blue burst of energy smashes into the blundering behemoth from behind, leaving him stunned and disoriented. Raven tries to follow the path of the energy back to its source, but finds only shadows. Not one to pass up on an opportunity, she focuses on the battered bus that lies a few yards from her position.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she chants her mantra, enshrouds the vehicle with dark energy, and wraps it around the stunned criminal. "That should hold you for now," she comments as she settles back to the ground. She dusts herself off and finds her bags of incense and tea just as the R-cycle and T-car pull into the fight scene.
"You took him down already?" Beast Boy asks as he steps out of the blue car.
"Great job, Raven," Robin remarks as he assesses the scene. "I didn't expect the fight to be over this soon."
"Wondrous, friend Raven! Your strength has increased greatly, do you not agree?" Starfire cries as she envelops the dark girl in a bone-crushing hug.
"Right, now let me go before you break my ribs," Raven replies in her usual monotone, her thoughts on the burst of energy that helped her earlier.
"You okay Rae?" Cyborg asks her, concern evident on his face.
"I'm fine, just a little tired." Robin looks at her and nods.
"You can get your rest after giving your report to the police. Cyborg and Starfire can help put the vault back in place afterward." Raven nods her thanks, and waits for the sirens to announce the arrival of the police.
And enter the mysterious one. I wonder if anyone can guess as to who it is?
As before, please read and review. I would love to know what you think about the story.