Okay. I've been gone for too long...I'm so sorry I didn't mean to disappear.
I claim 'Unexpected circumstance'...hehe (Too early to joke? Okay.)
ON WITH THE SHOW!
"I don't get it," Beastboy said, as if it meant anything. Which it didn't.
Raven marvelled at how the usually easily disturbed Titan could muster up such a calm voice when flaming truck-sized boulders were being aimed at him. It was possible, given that this was Beastboy, that he did not understand the severity of the situation. But on the other hand, he did seem to have a point. Nothing, at the present moment, seemed to be making any sense.
The Titans, minus a masked hero, were in downtown Jump trying to apprehend a creature made entirely up of white fire.
Raven found the whole thing really strange. The monster reminded her of the elemental creature Slade had managed to trick Thunder and Lightning into help him create a long time ago, and at first glance she had thought it had been. But upon further inspection she'd realised this creature was different. Raven couldn't explain it.
Slade's beast had seemed mindless, destroying everything in its path, but this one seemed more focused. Focused on what? Raven did not know.
"Beastboy," Raven warned whilst throwing up a shield to block a blast of white fire from hitting the green teen, "that sentence better be helpful."
Beastboy ran into elephant form and released a spray of water from a nearby hydrant and proceeded to pelt the monster causing its flames die out. His victory was short lived as the monster regenerated its flames and shot him into a wall leaving him to slip out of a elephant shaper crater.
"Ah, man." He stretched an arm to rub at a sore spot on his back, leaving himself open to an oncoming fire blast. Only to find himself encased in black energy and levitating above the burning ground below. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he exhaled, "Thanks Raven."
The sorceress levitated him to a patch of trees further away from the fight, and landed in front of him whilst Starfire and Cyborg continued to fend off the monster, "Beastboy, you've got to be more careful."
"What is going on?" Beastboy asked as he took a few steps towards him. Raven glared, she didn't have the time or the patience to explain something she only had minimal understanding of to Beastboy. She glanced behind him and saw Starfire and Cyborg dodging oncoming fireballs then looking at each other cautiously, waiting for something to explode.
She turned to move but Beastboy reached out and grasped her hand. "Raven…if anyone knows anything about magic, it's you. Even I can tell this isn't some normal monster. So what is it? " He sighed when she didn't respond. "Look, I know nothing about magic. But last time all it took to stop the fire creature was a bit of rain, but that's obviously not enough this time. So what will stop it?"
Raven sighed as she let her feet touch the ground. How could she explain the complications of magic to Beastboy? And even if she managed that, was there anything any of them could do stop the beast if her suspicions turned out to be true? The thought that something that powerful could exist in this dimension was too terrifying to even consider. Besides, there was no way she'd be able to confirm what she thought was true at all if she couldn't even get close to the creature.
"Raven..."
"This monster didn't just appear. Someone summoned it."
"Who would do that?"
"No one. Someone. I'm not sure. Anyone with enough magix could have done it."
"Okay," Beastboy nodded glad to be finally getting somewhere with the dark girl, "so what kind of magic are we dealing with here?"
"Different magic, more powerful than anything we've faced before...", her words trailed as she thought about what "different magic" could imply. There were only a handful people who could be capable of this sort of summoning something like this. Even mages as powerful as Malichor didn't possess the power needed to summon that. The only one person that sprang to mind was him."Magic much more powerful than mine."
"Is there anything you can do?"
"If I could get closer to it then maybe I could read the magical signature. Then I would know for sure what we're dealing with." It was a long shot. There was a chance that even if she did get close to the monster the signature could be encrypted. But she had to be sure that he wasn't back.
"You've got it." Raven didn't know whether to be flattered that Beastboy would risk his own safety to allow her to try something she wasn't even sure would work or amazed at how stupid he was. Both feelings seemed to find harmony as Beastboy flew off in hawk form to the nearby fighting and changed back.
"Hey!," Beastboy said, attracting the attention of the beast," Come and get me!"
The creature roared it agreement and raced after Beastboy in cheetah form as he ran down a nearby street.
Raven teleported next to Cyborg and Starfire.
"Raven, what is friend Beastboy doing?"
"Is he trying to get burnt to a crisp?"
Raven turned her head in the direction Beastboy had ran and fought back a smirk. Maybe the little changeling did have some functioning brain cells after all. "Actually, I think I know where he's going."
"Are you frightened, little bird?"
Robin watched in amazement as the puddle that was once Earl Francis congealed into a ball and disappearer to the opposite end of the dining hall. Quickly recollecting himself he followed the path of the ball, ignoring the frozen stares and reached a blank wall.
He needed a new plan. Now. Control was quickly slipping as the entire mission completely evolved from a simple robbery to something much more sinister.
Exactly what? He wasn't sure.
"You needn't be afraid, Robin."
Robin spun around on his heel, only to be met with the same empty tables. He rose his staff to strike a nearby chair hoping to get some kind of reaction out of whoever was taunting him. His attack, however, never landed. Puzzled, he gazed down only to see a small pale hand grasping his staff.
"You have no reason to be afraid, Robin.". The small hand moved back into the shadows, leaving behind inhumane imprints of nails on the titanium,"But if you give me reason, I will not hesitate to kill you."
If it wasn't for the silence, Robin may have missed the soft pitter-patter of shoes on the ground.
Out of the shadows came the silhouette of a woman.
Under the dim lighting of the room, Robin could make out long black hair framing a delicate looking face. She wore a simple blue jewel engraved into the thin silver band around her forehead. Her attire decidingly stood out against the finery of the Bouchard. Plain brown boots and a long golden embroidered coat that split at the front revealing tight brown trousers, made her seem worlds away from the models and politicians around them.
The clothing themselves did not strike him as extraordinary but they seemed fit to a purpose: she want to be silent. Even though the power he could feel coming from the woman told him she didn't have to be unseen to be dangerous.
Robin couldn't stop the shiver as she stood before him.
"I have been waiting to meet you in this world."
She walked past Robin, and her body language told him she expected him to follow him.
Robin threw a smoke bomb towards her back and watched in startled amazement as the explosion stopped in midair and was tossed at a nearby wall.
The woman walked, undisturbed, towards a nearby table, and sat down. Even from the distance, he noticed her face darken and the slight movement of her jaw."Come here." Robin opened his mouth to ask exactly what she was planning, but before the words escaped his mouth he found himself seated opposite woman.
He was stopped, before he could protest, by a hand,"You have become more difient in this world, birdie. I must say it is not becoming of you." Her accent, Robin concluded now that her voice was much clearer, was thick and ancient.
Robin moved to stand only to find himself grounded in his seat. The mysterious woman watched in silent amusement as Robin continued to struggle against the invisible hold.
Failing that, Robin turned his masked gaze to the smirk before him,"Who are you?"
A cold chuckle filled the room,"Now is not the proper time for introductions."
"It seems you already know me." Masked eyes narrowed."How?"
She smirked."You could say we have an interesting history that at the present moment you are to remain unaware of." The look on her face dared him to ask her for more information, he decided on a different approach.
"Where are the chips?"
The chuckle turned into a brief laugh. "Their right here." A idle wave of a hand over the table caused the three missing chips to appear. "Do not worry, they are your's to take."A smile spread across her face,"After you...help me with a minor problem."
Robin frowned,"I don't help criminals."
"Oh Robin." His name sounded drawn out, as if she had no taste for it,"I am no criminal."
Robin raised a brow and his hand quickly followed,"Then what do you call all of this?"
"Unexpected circumstances." Robin's frown turned into a full blown scowl. Dealing with someone who sees freezing people as "unexpected circumstance" was going to be tricky. When he did not question her, she continued,"You see, I am simply trying to recover what belongs to me."
"I'm sure whatever your after doesn't belong with you."
Her mood visibly darkened,"Does anything really belong to anyone?"
She moved a hand, making a cutting movement in the air. Something happened that Robin couldn't explain if he tried.
The air around him crackled and suddenly his throat dried 's hand immediately clenched on his windpipe, the air was being pulled out of his lungs, and dizziness was setting in."Does the oxygen you breath belong to you Robin?" Her movements in the air settled to a halt and the oxygen made its way back. Breathing in heavily, all he could do was lift his head to look into emotionless green eyes.
"Trust me when I say this does belong to me." Still catching his breath all the masked hero could do was stare."Whether it suits you or not, you are now a part of a much bigger goal. You will help me get what I want. It is the way history has unfolded once and how it will once more. I promise you."
"Why are you doing this? What are you planning?" Robin's mouth slanted in a frown and he tilted his chin defiantly although his words sounded painfully weak to his own ears. This being hadn't even landed a blow and already he felt down-and-out.
She laughed and pushed a little closer, allowing Robin to see the blackness of her iris. "You think I would tell you everything so early on in the game, Robin? Do you think I'm simply another one of those mediocre villians you and your team take such pride in defeating? You are in over your head, Robin, I hope you don't make this too easy."
Robin frowned."What do you want from me?" His breathing began to return to normal pace, but his voice was still unconvincing.
She smiled."I have gotten almost everything I needed from you worlds ago." She wrapped thin fingers around her wine glass as the simple outfit she had on, gave way to a much grander golden gown and stylish up do. " All I want now is for you to enjoy your wine." She clapped her hands twice, and the room became animated again. Smile plastered on her face, she dropped her voice to a whisper,"Don't underestimate me, little bird. I will kill every single one of these people if you try to escape."
Robin swallowed. What was he dealing with? Obviously this person wasn't human, the control she had over him wasn't any technology, no, it was definitely supernatural. And what had she meant 'worlds ago'? He was certain he had never met her in his life. So why did she speak as if they knew each other?
Robin's masked gaze wandered around the room taking in the bustling people around. The situation was swirling too out of control for the naturally focused Titan, he needed to act. But all the people in the room could be endangered if he made one wrong move.
For the first time in a while, Robin had no idea what to do.
He wrapped his hands around his own wine glass, and lifted it to his lips. Not daring to let a drop of the red liquid slip into his mouth, he looked across at the woman in front of him and waited for hell to break loose.