This chapter is dedicated to Pointer enthusiasts everywhere.

Disclaimer: We got nuthin'.

.

ANOTHER MAN'S TREASURE

.

CHAPTER 2

.

INTERLUDE:

Emmy Sue was so excited she could hardly stay in her bus seat. She and the other members of Mrs. Deslaurier's Lil' Divas Dance Class for Tots were on their way to their very first ballet recital. The teacher had just led the girls in a rousing chorus about a dog named Bingo when she clapped her hands. "OK, who wants to play 'I Spy'?"

"Me!" "Me!" "I do!"

"All right, everyone look around and see if you can see something interesting…"

Emmy Sue held her dolly up to the window and looked around. "What is it, Mrs. Snuggypants?"

Something gleaming was barreling up the highway towards them, kicking up a cloud of dust. It pulled even with the bus, flying at eye level.

It looked like a missile. A missile with a beard.

"Hello!" smiled Emmy Sue. "Who are you?"

"Meep."

"Mrs. Deslaurier! Mrs. Deslaurier!" Emmy Sue waved her arm excitedly.

"What is it. Dear?"

"I spy a great big…"

TtTtTtTtTt

BELLE REVE PENITENTIARY

"Dick! Another eyewitness report." Raven looked at the computer screen then marked off the coordinates on the map spread out on the table. "Wherever it's going, it's going there fast."

An incessant buzzing sound came from another room. "Hang on. I'm turning off the Batphone," Robin called through the open door. Something smashed against a wall. A toilet flushed.

The buzzing stopped.

Robin shut the door, drying his hands with a towel. "That's better." He peered over Raven's shoulder to study the map and shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't?"

"It's not stopping anywhere. Look what it's passing up." He pointed. "A nudist colony here. Cheerleading camps. Sorority houses." Raven looked at him quizzically. "Look, whenever Cyborg's, uh, thing escaped to go on…"

"'Shore leave…'" Raven added helpfully.

"Right. Well, it would pretty much make a beeline towards female… thingies. And stuff."

"Indeed! You are correct, Robin! How insightful! Ow!" Starfire chimed in as Raven kicked her under the table.

"So where is it going? And why now?"

The door to the security office opened. Cyborg entered the room lugging what looked like pet carrier, except that most pet carriers weren't made of solid titanium and sported four enormous locks. Whatever was in there, wasn't getting out.

At least, that was the theory...

Cyborg placed the box on the table. The table creaked. Something skittered inside.

Robin eyed the carrier suspiciously. "I'm still not sure this is a good idea. You really think it can track this thing?"

"Look, all I know is that he went berserk right about the time Blood's knock-off went AWOL," Cyborg said. "I was able to hack into Blood's software at Steel City; maybe he can do the same. It's like they say: set a thief to catch a thief, so why not set a di..."

"Okay, I get it," Robin groaned. He sighed heavily. "All right. Set it loose."

One by one, Cyborg released the locks on the carrier. After the last lock was released, the door flew open with a bang. Something sproinged from inside the carrier and landed on the table, dancing around happily.

"Meep, meep, meep!"

"Grayson!" Starfire clapped her hands together.

Robin winced. "Aw, gee, Starfire…"

"Too late, dude. Just go with it," Beast Boy snickered. "Trust me, there's worse body parts to have named after you." He glared at Raven, who smiled back evilly.

"Man, that thing creeps me out… for the love of God, Starfire, don't pet it!... Cyborg, do what you have to do," Robin groaned.

"Ok. Grayson, c'mere. Come here, boy!" Grayson waddled over, wagging its cable. Cyborg pointed to the security monitor where an image was frozen. "See that? Bad! Bad!"

He shook his finger at the screen. Grayson hunched down and growled at the image.

"That's it! Bad! Bad!"

"Oh, Jesus H. Christ," Robin said under his breath.

"He gets it! Now, where is it, boy. Point! Point!" Grayson straightened himself out on the table. "Look, Robin! He's pointing. Told ya!" Cyborg exclaimed.

Robin covered his face with his hand. "Cyborg…"

"Booyah!" Cyborg high-fived Beast Boy. "Good boy, Grayson…"

"Cyborg!" Robin barked.

Cyborg looked confused. "What?"

Robin pointed across the room. "He's pointing at the girls, Cyborg."

"Huh?"

Robin sighed. "Raven, Starfire. Would you move this way?" The girls obediently scooted to the left. As they did, Grayson wiggled to reorient itself. Starfire grinned sheepishy and waggled her fingers. "See?"

"Oh." Cyborg's shoulders slumped. "So, we're back to square one?"

"Maybe not," Raven spoke up. The other Titans looked at her. "Look, we know Cyborg likes girls, so his… little buddy points at girls, right?"

"Right," said Robin, not getting it.

"So… what turns on Brother Blood? What's he attracted to?" She gestured to the map. "Apparently, it's not girls."

The Titans thought for a second. "I so don't want to go there…" Cyborg said slowly.

"Power."

Everyone stopped and looked at Beast Boy. "What was that, BB?" asked Robin.

"Power. Blood's into power," Beast Boy said, a little taken aback by all the attention focused on him. "I mean, he's always trying to take over the world and stuff. So he loves… power?" He shrugged.

"That's it." Robin smacked a fist into his palm. "It all makes sense! Beast Boy, you're a genius!"

"I am?"

"He is?" asked Raven incredulously.

"Look, Blood's been here at Belle Reve for months. So why did his, uh…"

"Kenorfdenstocker," Starfire helped.

"Yeah. That... what she said." Robin paced, gesticulating. "Why'd it decide to take off now? What changed?" The other Titans looked at him blankly. Robin sighed exasperatedly. "Blood was asking to be put in the general population."

"Still not following you," Cyborg said.

"Come on, think! What happens when you get put in the general population?"

Raven's head shot up, her eyes wide. "They shut down your powers!"

Robin grinned. "Exactly! They shut down your powers."

A light bulb (literally) went off over Cyborg's head. "And if Blood wasn't going to have any powers, then that little bastard wanted nothing more to do with him." He snapped his fingers. "So it took off."

"Wait a minute," Beast Boy held up his hands. "You're saying that Blood's winky decided he wasn't worthy anymore without powers, so it left?"

"Pretty much." Robin shrugged.

Beast Boy shuddered. "Dude, that's cold."

Cyborg leaned over and whispered to Grayson. "Don't get any ideas."

"Meep-meeeeep?"

"So, you think it's looking for a new… friend?" Beast Boy asked.

"Host," Raven said.

"Ewwww."

"Exactly," Robin said. "And it wants power. Lots of it."

"Hold on. There's lots of powerful guys in here in the prison. Why'd it take off?"

Robin studied the map and stroked his chin. "Clearly, they're not powerful enough. Hell, if it has Blood's ego, the only thing good enough would be the most powerful being on the planet…"

His voice trailed off. Slowly, Robin ran his finger through all the sightings Raven had marked on the map, drawing a straight line to stop at a certain point on the Eastern Seaboard. "Aw, crap," Robin breathed.

"What is it?" Raven asked. She leaned over and saw where his finger was resting. She paled. "Aw, crap."

The other Titans crowded around. "Aw, crap," chorused Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"Meep?"

Starfire just looked confused. "I do not understand. Why do you say 'the crap' as you point on the map? And what is so special about Metropolis?"

TtTtTtTtTt

Up next: MANILOW OF STEEL?

TtTtTtTtTt

Thank you for reading and please review!