Raven had remained by Starfire and meditated through the night. Her meditation was, in a way, more refreshing than actual rest. Starfire remained sleeping peacefully with no complications. Cyborg came in the next morning around 8:00 to relieve Raven of her duties.
"How is she?"
"Nothing happened last night."
Cyborg glanced over at Starfire, "Alright, why don't you go and get some food, I don't think Beast Boy or Robin are up yet."
Raven nodded her head in appreciation. First, she went to her room to retrieve one of the many books lining her shelves. Then, she made her way back to the living area of the Titan's Tower. She arrived at the kitchen and prepared some of her herbal tea. When this was completed, Raven sat down at the table and looked out at the city, shining in the autumn sun. She basked in the rare moment in which the city could be seen without the crime ridden streets being prevalent, when it could almost be viewed as a peaceful place.
The door swished open and Beast Boy jumped through, "GOOD MORNING JUMP CITY!"
Almost.
Raven rubbed her forehead trying not to beat the green boy for interrupting the moment. She did her best to ignore Beast Boy, but of course he would have none of that.
"Hey Rae, whatchya doing?" he asked the girl as he grabbed a package of tofu bacon.
"First of all, my name is Raven not Rae. Second of all, I was enjoying the piece and quiet of a morning sunrise. Although, I can see why someone of your… mental capacity, wouldn't be able to understand that."
Beast Boy scowled at the insult, but then shook his head, he wasn't about to let Raven's sarcasm ruin his day! He dropped the tofu bacon into the pan and turned up the heat on the oven.
"You want some?" Beast Boy called over to the empath."
"Beast Boy, think for a moment will you? Out of all the times you have asked me if I want tofu, have I ever once said yes?"
Beast Boy shrugged and turned back to his artificial meat, "Your loss."
AAA
Robin rubbed his eyes. Unlike the other Titans, he didn't rest the previous night. Instead he opted to figure out what the connection was between Red X, the chemicals, and the known villains in Jump City. All he had come up with so far was dead ends. He leaned back in his chair and tried to think of other leads to follow. After a few minutes, he leaned forward again and looked through the files on the three chemicals: kinophosate, arophosamine, and xenthopium. The three, when mixed together, created a deadly poison that could kill you within hours of exposure. Additionally, it was virtually undetectable once it reaches the bloodstream.
That could have been the reason why it was stolen, but the young detective highly doubted it. Robin suspected that something more than just a toxin was being made, for much more inexpensive and convenient routes could be taken to make a chemical bond with the same effect.
Robin looked up at the clock and decided to call it in. He exited his room and went first to the medical bay. Starfire was sitting up in her bed and eating a small meal prepared by Cyborg. The cybernetic hero looked up from the computer monitor that he was looking at and waved to Robin.
"Hey man, I was just about to get something to eat, call if you need anything."
"Sure," Robin said as he walked over to Starfire.
"Hey Star, how are you feeling?"
"I am doing much better boyfriend Robin; did friend Raven and Cyborg defeat the block of cinder?"
Robin then proceeded to fill her in on how the fight went after she was unconscious as well as what happened when he and Beast Boy chased after Red X.
At the end of the explanation, Starfire looked up at Robin with worried expression, "Please, you are not going to do the 'isolating of yourself' again are you?" The memory of when Robin had been tracking Slade still in her mind.
Robin smiled reassuringly, "Of course not, I was heading down to eat breakfast anyways. Don't worry, I promised not to get like that ever again, and I intend on keeping that promise."
AAA
Cyborg walked up to the doorway to the kitchen of the Titans Tower and immediate cringed at the horrid smell emitting from the kitchen, his eyes narrowed. Only one thing emitted a smell that made Cyborg disgusted with life, "Tofu."
He walked opened the door and greeted Beast Boy with the same words, "GET THAT GOD FORSAKEN GARBAGE YOU CALL FOOD AWAY FROM MY STOVE!"
Beast Boy gave one of the usual responses, " WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT? MEAT? THAT'S BASICALLY ASKING ME TO EAT MYSELF! AND IT ISN'T YOUR STOVE, IT'S THE TITAN TOWER STOVE."
Raven nearly killed both of them with the stove being argued over. Instead, she inhaled deeply and drank the last of her herbal tea. She toned out the arguing, which is no small feat, and sat down on the couch of the Titan's Tower. She pulled out the book that she had brought along with her.
The door opened and the leader of the team entered. Robin looked over at the two squabbling teens. He shook his head, already knowing what they were fighting about. He moved around the two and grabbed a bowl of cereal. Robin then poured milk into the bowl and walked over to the couch where the empath was sitting. He grabbed the T.V. remote and flipped to the news channel.
"-In other news, Paul Wes was found today outside of City Hall. The former lawyer was laying outside of the building. Reports state that his only words spoken so far was, 'fear itself'. With no documented case of mental illness, and because of the toxicology report coming back clean, the police are unsure of the cause for Mr. Wes' sudden mental state. He is being taken to McGregor's Hospital for a full medical analysis. Back to you Mark."
Robin continued to flip through the channels, finding nothing worth watching. He kept thinking back to that case about Paul Wes; something about it seemed familiar.
AAA
An unmarked semi-truck slowed to a stop at the loading area of an equally obscure warehouse. Two men exited the truck and opened the back. One went to the warehouse's side and hopped into a forklift. He came back around and unloaded four large crates. The forklift took each of the crates into the building. The driver found it odd that the only thing there was a make-shift laboratory in the middle of the room. He shook his head, remembering that he was getting paid to unload this stuff not to ask questions.
"Hey Max," the forklift driver called out to his friend.
"Yeah?" Max responded as he entered the building.
"Have you seen the guy who hired us?"
"No, not since he called me. Don't worry about it Jim, he'll show."
Jim didn't like this. Ever since Max had talked him into making a little off the book money, the small-time criminal had grown more nervous. They had delivered to a lot of unsavory employers and he knew that one day all of this was going to catch up to him. Either by the Teen Titans or one of the many criminals that they worked for.
Apparently the fear was visible on the young man's face when Max walked over, "Relax, everything is going to be fine. It is just a simple delivery. We get paid, we leave. In and out."
"I don't know man… Somethin' about this place doesn't seem right. You look to see what was in those crates?"
"Of course not; remember? We were paid five thousand in advance to not look at whatever is in there." Max looked around and scowled, "Where is the guy anyways, I figured he would have met up with us by now."
Suddenly, the lights all shut off. Jim nearly jumped out of his skin but Max rolled his eyes. He had been in the business of under-the-table delivery for seven years now; and five years of that in Gotham. He wasn't about to let some wannabe crook scare him.
"I believe that we agreed on payment of fifteen thousand each for me and my associate?" he called out into the darkness.
Jim gulped, he wasn't as seasoned as Max was and never enjoyed talking to those who hired them.
"Hello Max, it's been a long time. I almost didn't recognize you." The same icy voice that had hired Red X and tormented Paul Wes seemed to come from everywhere.
Max's eyes widened as the realization of who he was speaking to hit him, "But you're- you're"
"What?" the voice interrupted, "Dead? Locked away?" Two yellow eyes appeared in the darkness. "Far from it. I am alive and well, and Jump City is my new laboratory. And here, the only problems I have are the Teen Titans, which shall be dealt with easily.
Unfortunately, in order to keep from attracting any- unwanted attention, no one can know that I am here….. Well, I suppose it would be wasteful to kill two perfectly good specimens."
The two smugglers who were already backing away, turned to run at the implications of the words. This proved futile when the figure leapt forward and grabbed them. Jim screamed in horror at the creature before he lost all grip on sanity.
AAA
Beast Boy turned off the Gamebox and looked at the clock, 11:45. He had been playing Mega Monkeys Seven for three hours now. Robin had left to go train in the gym, Cyborg was working on the repairs of his "baby", and Raven was in her room. He flopped on the couch and sighed. He was hungry- breakfast already forgotten- and looked at the kitchen. It was just so far away! He held out his hand and willed the fridge door to open.
Nothing happened.
Giving a sigh, he pushed himself off the couch and walked over to the refrigerator. He quickly made himself a sandwich and started for the Titans Tower garage. Maybe Cyborg was done or at least would want to take a break, and they could go do something in the city. When he reached the garage he saw Cyborg working under the hood of a stripped out T-car.
"Hey Cy!" Beast Boy called, not really thinking about the fact that his friend didn't know he was there.
"WHOSZAA!" Cyborg cried out and jumped up, banging his head on the hood of the car. He pulled his head back down quickly, which made the hood fall and hit him again. "YEOOOWWW!"
Beast Boy at that point decided that Cyborg could use some time alone and managed to sneak out of the garage. Maybe Robin wants to do something, he thought. He walked over to the gym and found Robin preforming several attacks on a dummy. Robin stopped and looked over at his green friend.
"Hey Beast Boy. Decided to do some training?"
The green teen scratched his head, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. "I guess."
"Great," Robin, "How about some hand to hand combat?"
The changeling shrugged, "Alright."
The two moved to one of the sparring mats on the floor and got into their combat stances. Robin charged first and faked a right hook, instead kicking Beast Boy's chest. The other saw what was about to happen and blocked Robin's attack. Beast Boy parried by pulling Robin toward him by the leg and wrapping his arm around the boy wonder's throat in a simple but effective headlock. Robin flipped Beast Boy over his back and onto the floor. He attempted to pin his opponent down, but was stopped when Beast Boy kicked upward with both feet and landed a lucky shot to Robin's stomach. The green teenager rolled away and jumped back up as Robin caught his breath.
The boy wonder was impressed. Beast Boy had improved in both physical strength and agility. Indeed, having Robin as trainer had caused the teen to get stronger and faster. Either that, or Robin seriously needed to brush up on his skills.
The two continued to spar for several minutes until both were drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Beast Boy attacked again with a leg sweep that knocked Robin to the ground he went to pin him but quickly found himself laying on his stomach. Robin had him in a classic police hold that hindered the person in the hold from being able to use his arms to get up. Robin counted to five, marking him the victor.
"Impressive," Robin commented, "You almost had me." He held out his hand to Beast Boy, who took it, and pulled him up to his feet.
"Thanks dude. I'll win next time." Beast Boy left the training room to grab something to eat- he sniffed the air, and then his shirt- and to take a shower.
AAA
Alrighty then! Little bit longer of a chapter. Nothing really big happening here. I suppose not every one of them can be a fight scene or a cliffhanger right?
Thanks for the reviews! It's really encouraging to hear the feedback. As a side note, if there are any grammatical errors that you see, please tell me. I do read over it, but I occasionally miss a few things.