Okay. So this is Chapter Three, ja? Ja.
The Piper proved his patience over the course of three and a half weeks, during which he never once showed his shadowed face. After the second week, he began to drift toward the back of their minds. But they all knew it was too much to hope that he wasn't coming back. It was just a matter of time.
The sun was far too hot for the seventeenth of April. Beast Boy had melted onto the U-shaped couch, evading the piercing hot rays in vain. "It's supposed to be spring, not the middle of hell," he muttered. "Even all the bad dudes aren't out. They'd burn." He paused. "Save us some time, though." The clouds shifted, shielding him from sunlight. He relaxed.
"What are you doing, BB?" Robin walked through the soor, running a hand through loose dark hair.
"Trying to survive," the changeling answered. Robin grinned halfheartedly. "Not working too well."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Beast Boy cast him a sideways glance.
"How much you wanna bet Raven's sitting on a giant block of ice and not telling us right now?" Laughter broke the boy wonder's somber-ish expression.
"I don't." The boys turned around to find their female friend leaning in the doorway.
"Aw Raven, I was just kidding." She smirked.
"I know, zoo-boy." Her eyes trained briefly on the window. The heatwave had thrown Jump City into a smoggy golden haze that shifted and changed with the wind. "This weather has turned Jump City into a ghost town." It was meant as an exaggeration, but the statement was soon to come true. Admittedly, though, she had gotten the cause wrong. The weather was not to be at fault.
The clock struck seven-fifteen as a shadow passed across one of the massive front windows, falling directly across the pages of Raven's novel. She glanced up quickly, just in time to see the Piper disappear around the corner of the island. Two arms of black energy darted out and seized the male Titans, pulling them unceremoniously into the common room and dumping them onto the couch beside her. "I saw him," she stated in her usual monotonous way.
"Where?" BB asked, still upside down where she'd released him on her left. Raven pointed.
"He went around the end of the island." Even at dusk, the heat still fell heavy on the land, making it seem difficult to see, or even move. Now, however they had no choice. At least one of them would have to go out into the boiling fog. The trio looked at each other.
"I'll go," the changeling said. "Maybe animal senses work better in the heat." In a flash, he was gone, and the two saw him move carefully down by the rocks and disappear. Robin glanced at the dark girl.
"Nice way to get us in here," he remarked, smiling slightly. She dismissed it carelessly.
"It was quick and easy." A devilish glint appeared unseen in his eye.
"Maybe I should learn to do that, hey?" She glared.
"Robin, you are so not grabbing me anywhere." All he did was laugh. Faintly stern, she placed a pale hand on the back of his neck, pressing lightly. He glanced at her.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help it.
"Sure you couldn't." She kissed the base of his jaw lightly. "You never can." He grinned at her.
"Nope." He brushed a lock of purple hair out of her eyes. "Never." The pin on her cloak beeped, blinking bright red, just as his communicator went off. He flipped it open.
"Robin!" Beast Boy appeared on the screen. "I'm coming back to the tower."
"Okay," Robin replied. "What's up?" The shapshifter shook his head. He looked worried.
"Tell you when I get there." He made a move as if to turn off their connection, but checked himself. "Oh yeah, one more thing. As soon as I get in there, we've gotta lock down." Then the screen went blank. The boy wonder shot a glance out of the window and stood up quickly. "What the hell went on out there?" Neither he nor his dark friend could answer.
Cyborg lay recharging and immobile in his makeshift guest room off the main hall of the tower's fifth floor. It had been a busy day, and he was resting while Star and Bee went out. The sound effects of Aqualad and Speedy's game reverberated up through the ceilings, barely audible by the time they reached the fifth story. As his tech revitalized, the round yellow mechanism on the table beside the platform began to sound with a series of small beeps. Down the hall, Starfire's communicator was doing the same thing. The noise not being enough to rouse him, both went unnoiticed, as the clocks in either room displayed the time: Seven twenty-three.
Beast Boy was back inside by seven twenty-eight; the tower secured by four minutes past the half hour. He drew the compact little circle inscribed with the Titans' symbol on it out of his pocket. "I wonder if I reached Cy and Star. I don't remember whether I only connected with you or not." There was no other way to contact them, seeing as the computer in the eastern tower had been shut down because Cyborg had deemed it an operating disaster. It was awaiting reconfiguration. The backup system couldn't make connections this far. "Whatever. Here's why we're locked down."
Heh. I'm so evil. No wonder you all are mad at me. Heh heh. Please review. If there is anyone reviewing who doesn't get it, I can explain before the next chapter. Thanks.
Padfoot
