(A/N)-Still around readers? Good, because I have a brand new shiny chapter for you, with more action, more of the mystery revealed, and our heroes and villains one step closer to colliding. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Ha ha, like I'd ever own the Teen Titans, or anything DC-related for that matter. I might be able to have some input and effect on the September reboot that way. And maybe ask the higher-ups what the fudge they're doing with all my favorite characters.
Chapter 4: Traces
"So, your robotic eye can see through solid metals huh?
"Correct."
Arsenal grinned and leaned forward a bit. "Can it see through clothing too?" he asked, a lecherous glint in his eyes. "That might come in handy."
A growl came from a mangy green hound peeking over the edge of the dumpster.
"Oh, take a chill pill!" Arsenal snapped in annoyance. "We're not even anywhere near you."
Tempest sighed and grabbed up a small pouch by his feet, something he'd rescued before evacuating the Tower. He slid the zipper open and pulled out a substantial chunk of red steak.
The hound's head perked up, nostrils twitching excitedly at the smell.
"Here." Tempest tossed the piece down with a smile.
The hound bounced down off the dumpster happily and descended upon the treat. The dog slid it towards himself between his paws, and his form shifted into that of Changeling's. The boy's teeth sunk eagerly into the meat.
"Thanks dude." he muttered around a mouthful.
"Not a problem." Tempest told him. "I always have extra after feeding Pete."
"Inquiry: Who is 'Pete'?" Cyber-Vile piped up, genuinely confused.
Changeling answered for both of them. "The kraken that lives in the Jump City Bay." Through his chewing he explained, "I know him. He doesn't like to talk much."
"Not to you anyway." Tempest corrected.
The door to the Tower behind them suddenly banged opened to reveal Red Raven. Both Tempest and Arsenal flinched and took a step back. Cyber-Vile had no reaction, his sensors having noticed her coming. Only Changeling seemed happy to see her, letting out a gleeful mewl as he shifted into a cat, bounded to her side, and began rubbing himself against her legs, purring.
Fortunately for all of them, Red Raven's demonic rage had calmed down long ago and she was back to normal, albeit still scowling and very, very angry. Her cold glower softened slightly at Changeling's affection, and she bent down and spared the cat a brief stroke before straightening and marching up to Cyber-Vile resolutely, her eyes narrow and determined.
"Care to take another commission, Cy?"
She jabbed a finger into his chest.
"I need a power booster."
-TT-
"Twenty-seven, twenty-eight…" Red Robin counted, sorting their rapidly-growing pile of stolen jewelry.
Blackfire sat languidly on the floor across from him, giggling and watching him.
They had commandeered a motel room for themselves in one of Jump City's older districts. After blowing open the doors and scaring the owner half to death, Red Robin had tossed down a diamond necklace on the front desk and casually demanded a room. The owner had asked no questions after that, just pointed them in the direction of his least grubby room and tossed them the keys. The two of them had already made themselves quite at home in their temporary hideout and base of operations, which they had decided to stash their plunder in when it became too much to carry. (It also made for a safe place to stick the portal ripper and Red Raven's mirror, now that they weren't using them.)
"Thirty-two emerald necklaces." Red Robin concluded, sitting up. "Twenty-three ruby, ten sapphire, an even dozen diamond rings, fifteen gold bracelets, and nineteen pairs of earrings of various precious gemstones…" He picked up one of the necklaces-a delicate twisted gold chain laden with huge deep green emeralds that almost looked too heavy for it-and dangled it in his fingers. "Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself." he said, flashing her a grin.
"Indeed." Blackfire said, only paying half-attention, her eyes fixated greedily on the emerald necklace in Red Robin's hand. Her expression burned with a hungry look.
Noticing, Red Robin closed his hand around the necklace and held it away. "Ah." he chided, wagging a finger at her. "This one's for Raven."
Blackfire deflated immediately with a sour pout, and crossed her arms resentfully. "But she has so many gems already!" she protested.
"One more can't hurt." Red Robin said, shrugging. "Besides, I have to give her something for her birthday."
"Then pick one of the other pieces!" Blackfire snapped. A little softer, attempting to actually control herself, she added sweetly, "Perhaps this bracelet with the rubies? Red Raven likes the rubies yes?"
"Arsenal already got her rubies." Red Robin pointed out. "Besides, red and green go pretty well together don't they?"
Blackfire abandoned any pretense of decorum. "But I want that one!" she said in a pronounced nasal whine, smacking her fist against her thigh pointedly.
"All right, fine!" Red Robin relented in exasperation, passing over the emerald necklace at once. "Jeez, you are so pushy."
Blackfire snatched it out of his hand in delight and immediately set about trying it on. She giggled at Red Robin's disgruntled look. "Oh do not be like that. You know that I have a fondness for these green Earth gems of yours. Besides," she added, looking at her fingernails impassively, "Emeralds clash horribly with pink hair. I thought your sense of the color balance was much better than that."
Red Robin ignored the obvious dig at him. "So much drama over a freaking necklace…" he muttered under his breath.
"How is it?" Blackfire asked, finishing with the clasp and twisting her body to better face him.
"Fine."
"You did not even look!"
He glanced up for about two seconds. "Looks great on you." He tugged agitatedly at his hair as he sat up and rested his elbows on his knees. "Can we focus on the fact that now I don't have anything to give Red Raven?" he complained.
His female companion fiddled idly with her necklace. "Truthfully, I would be more concerned with being alive to see her day of birth." she drawled. "Given that you and I have stolen her mirror and done the 'taking off' without the others."
Red Robin waved a hand nonchalantly. "Aw, stop worrying. We'll be back before she even notices it's gone." he assured her. "Still doesn't solve my first problem though."
Blackfire sighed, rolling her eyes, and without hesitation picked out a ring and a bracelet from the pile and held them out to him. "You could give her these perhaps? They match well enough to complete a nice set with Arsenal's gift."
"That's actually not a bad idea." he admitted. Grinning, he leaned over for a quick kiss, which turned into a slightly longer one as Blackfire gleefully pressed her lips into his. They were breathless when they finally pulled back. "What would I do without you babe?" he asked.
She only laughed and shifted herself over to his side, so she could lean her head on his shoulder. Red Robin snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her close.
"So Princess…" he murmured into her ear huskily. "We've robbed and vandalized a dozen jewelry shops. Now what d'you want to do?"
"Mmm…" she considered, looking up at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I can think of a few things…" She reached to wrap her arms around his neck and swiveled about, clearly leaning in for another kiss.
Red Robin put his hands on her shoulders to restrain her though, and gently but forcefully pushed her away.
"Maybe later Blackfire." he said, brushing her off. He reached past her into the pile of jewelry and started playing idly with some of the pieces. "We haven't hit any museums or tech labs yet, you want to do that?"
Blackfire's expression stung with the hurt of rejection. "You do not desire me?" she whimpered.
"What?" Red Robin looked up in surprise to find his female teammate on the verge of tears, and he panicked. "N-no, it's not like that, of course I do, just not right now." he jumped to reassure her, taking her hands.
"But you told me once I could 'take you to bed any time' and you would not mind it! You were lying to me?"
"What? No!" Red Robin denied adamantly. "It was just-that-I mean-" he stuttered. Of all possible times to get tongue-tied. Feeling his face rapidly flushing he stumbled out, "It was just an expression! You weren't supposed-I didn't know you'd take it literally!"
"So it is not true?"
"It's-" Flustered, Red Robin let go of her hands and gestured agitatedly. "Look, it's not important. It wasn't serious. It was just Earth slang okay? Playful banter. The kind you have trouble grasping."
Blackfire scowled at that, and turned from him with a loud, "Hmph!" She crossed her arms and refused to look at him. "You are just making excuses now."
Desperately trying to reign in control of the conversation, Red Robin changed the subject. "Whatever." he said. "So, museum or tech lab, which one?"
"I would prefer to rob a bank. That is always enjoyable."
"Too easy." he dismissed immediately.
That just offended Blackfire more. "Oh, so now you neither wish to sleep with me or accept my suggestions!" she spat angrily. She rose to her feet in a huff, clenching her fists at her sides as she yelled at him. "Why did you even invite me upon this venture if you were going to spend all the time doing the ignoring of me?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcastic bitterness.
"I'm not-!" Red Robin tried to protest, but she had already turned on her heel and was now stalking towards the door. Red Robin gaped incredulously as she heavily shoved aside one of the ratty cushioned chairs in her path and stormed out, slamming the door open against the hallway wall with a loud bang on her way.
For a moment all he could do was blink in shock. Then his eyes narrowed and he sprang to his feet.
"Come back here!" he snarled, leaping after her.
He caught up with her in the hallway and grabbed for her, seizing her wrist harshly. Without hesitation she whirled around and struck him squarely in the temple with her arm. Stars exploded in his vision and he blundered into the wall as he was knocked back. Blackfire didn't bother to turn around, just continued on her stiff, determined course down the hall.
Red Robin squeezed his eyes closed, grimacing, as slow stabbing pain from the blow pulsed through his head.
Ow ow ow, that hurt like hell… forgot she could hit that hard, he thought, holding the side of his head.
Clearly, he needed a more genteel approach to the situation.
When he had recovered enough to see straight again, he took off after Blackfire, following her down the stairs, calling her name, though she pretended not to hear. They emerged into the lobby. The owner, who had been dangling his diamond necklace payment in the light of the nearby desk lamp (making it sparkle and throw reflections off his face), meeped and threw himself underneath his desk at once. Neither Tyrant paid him any heed, Blackfire proceeding immediately out the back door into the alley and Red Robin running after her.
"Blackfire!" he pleaded. "Come on. Blackfire!"
She finally halted and abruptly turned to face him. "What?" she demanded, a scowl dominating her face.
The sight of the fresh, rapidly purpling bruise next to his eye sapped all her anger in an instant and she gasped and rushed forward in a display of startling worry that could have put one of Red Raven's mood swings to shame.
"Robin!" she cried, with her hands covering her mouth. "Oh X'hal! I did not mean to… I am so sorry!" she said, reaching to grab his chin and turn his face towards her. She poked at the bruise.
"Ah-tch-tch-!" he chided, swatting her fingers away. "Don't touch me! You'll make it worse!" he complained.
She stepped back, her eyes welling up with frustrated tears, her fists clenched at her sides again. "You-" she sputtered. "-you-"
Before she could finish with what was obviously going to be something very rude in Tamaranian, Red Robin reached out for her hands and grasped them tightly in his own.
"I'm sorry. Okay?" he said quickly. "You're right, and I do want to sleep with you. It's just-I mean-Sometimes you want these things to be special y'know? That's all I meant by it-brushing you off earlier." he stammered out. He looked up into her eyes. "I just thought it would be better after we're finished making epic hell out of this version of Jump City. More exciting."
Blackfire made a sound that was halfway between a giggle and a sob. "I see." she said in relief. "Yes. Yes, you are right." she told him. "That is a fitting… 'climax' to our exploits."
Red Robin raised an eyebrow. "Now who exactly has been teaching you innuendo like that, Princess?" he teased, nuzzling his nose into her ear.
"You would be surprised what I pick up from the late-night cable specials." she replied coyly. Dropping her eyes in shame she added, "Forgive me for hitting you. I apologize."
"Yeah, I'm sorry for our fight too. It was stupid." he agreed, mumbling it into her hair. He pulled back suddenly. "But let me make it up to you."
She cocked her head to the side in interest.
He grinned. "Let's pay a visit to the local jail."
Blackfire bounced gleefully on her toes, clapping her hands excitedly.
-TT-
The door split apart for Beast Boy and Raven as they walked into OPS together. Beast Boy let go of the empath's hand and made a beeline for the kitchen, where he set about getting the tea kettle and filling it with water.
Raven, meanwhile, wandered over to look over Cyborg's shoulder. The computer screen he was bent over was filled with diagrams and charts, and he was studying them intently.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
Not looking up as he peered at the readings, he replied, "The Tower's long-range sensors have been picking up some weird energy readings."
"Huh." Raven took a look at the screens herself, crossing her arms and leaning over to better see. "Do you know what's causing it?"
"No. All I know is it's coming from inside the city." Cyborg rolled his chair out a bit from the desk. "Whatever it is, it's also causing some interference in our communications network. Nothing too serious, just really annoying."
From the kitchen, Beast Boy called, "Hey Raven, which flavor d'you want?" as he was getting down a cup.
"Mint." she told him. "And get me another aspirin while you're at it."
"Uh…" he said hesitantly. "I think you're over the recommended dosage already."
Raven groaned miserably, putting her face in her hands.
Cyborg turned in his seat. "You sick Rae?"
"I don't know. I've had a headache all morning." she explained through her fingers.
Her half-human friend stood up, raising his arm to perform an analysis on her. "What kind of headache?" he asked her.
Raven raised her face from her hands and attempted to describe her symptoms. "The usual kind?" she finally offered helplessly. As Cyborg started analyzing, Raven began to feel self-conscious, and looked off to the side uncomfortably. "It's nothing too serious, really. Don't worry about it, Cyborg." she said, trying to brush it off.
"Nonsense," Cyborg said as he circled her. "If you're coming down with something I think we should know, before your birthday turns into a complete fever fest." A few moments more and his arm beeped with the results. "My scan says you're normal." he said, lowering his arm. "When did you first start having symptoms?"
Raven pursed her lips, trying to remember. "About… 9:20-ish I think."
Cyborg jolted slightly at that. "You sure?" he pressed.
"Pretty sure."
The half-robot swiveled back to his computer chair and began tapping rapidly at the keyboard.
Beast Boy glanced over as he poured a stream of hot water into the teacup. "You think that weird energy has something to do with Raven's headache?" he asked, setting the kettle down.
Cyborg looked up briefly. "You beat me to it."
The changeling frowned as he picked up the cup and brought it around the counter with him. "So then how come we're both okay?" he questioned, handing the cup to Raven.
The half-robot's brows crunched in thought. "Dunno." he admitted. "Maybe Raven's just more sensitive to it." Cyborg turned back to the computer and resumed typing.
Unlikely, Raven thought, pressing her lips together as she cradled her tea. Her powers didn't work that way. They were sensitive to emotions, minds, and presences. Not energy. Unless their mysterious energy readings were somehow magical in nature, Raven shouldn't be able to feel them at all, much less get a headache from them. And if they were magical in nature she doubted the Tower's sensors were equipped to pick them up. She didn't speak any of this aloud however, sipping her tea calmly. The mint relaxant loosened up her senses, eased the tension a little bit. Raven relished the cool feeling it gave her, and drained the cup quickly.
Cyborg stopped typing, and straightened up. He'd found what he'd been looking for. "I was right," he announced, pulling up a graph on the main window screen. "Timeline shows the initial spike of unidentified energy occurring at 9:23 this morning."
Right when she'd been up on the roof. Despite how things usually operated with her powers, Raven had to concede that that was too big a coincidence to be normal. "And my powers have been reacting to it ever since." she concluded. She sent a wry smile in Beast Boy's direction. "Guess now we know why all those painkillers haven't been working." she quipped.
Beast Boy's eyes were fixed on the screen worriedly. "We'd better check it out." he said. "I don't like the idea of weird mysterious energy floating around, especially if it's hurting Raven."
"Agreed." Raven nodded. "Can you pinpoint the origin?"
Cyborg bent over the keyboard a moment. A map flickered up onto the window screen, with tiny yellow lines scanning over it. The lines intersected and formed a smaller box that promptly enlarged. The computer chimed.
Beep! Beep!
"Got it." Cyborg said, rolling away from the desk. "Two blocks south of Fifth Street."
Raven held her empty cup out to Beast Boy, who morphed into a bird, took the handle in his claws, and swiftly deposited it in the kitchen sink.
"Let's go." she said.
-TT-
Moments later, the three of them were approaching the intersection. Cyborg walked at the front, scanning ahead with his arm. Beast Boy and Raven trailed close behind him.
Raven felt a pressure mounting in her head the closer they got. She could practically feel the charge in the air. She couldn't be sure, but something about the traces of energy felt oddly… familiar.
"Ow!" she exclaimed suddenly, clapping a hand to her head as sharp sting pierced through her temple.
Beast Boy stepped towards her in concern. "Raven?"
She looked towards him grimly. "We're definitely getting closer." she said.
As they neared the source, Cyborg glanced up from his readings to look forward, and his steps slowed.
"Woah."
Beast Boy peered around him to see what was up, and his eyes widened.
The air was… shimmering. It looked like a mirage or a trick of the light at first glance, but the longer you stared, the more you noticed the odd distortions, the funny way the buildings seemed to waver.
A single uniformed cop stood in front of the bizarre sight, directing what little traffic there was off to side streets to avoid the strange phenomenon. And a small cluster of emergency workers were milling about, cleaning up the lingering traces of what looked like some sort of car accident.
The trio glanced at each other in befuddlement. Then they approached the officer, picking their way, careful not get to get underfoot of the clean-up crew.
"What happened here?" Cyborg asked once they were close enough.
"Explosion o' some kind. Car went up in flames and several more crashed inna each other." the man explained. He nodded towards the shimmering air. "And we have no idea what that is so we're steerin' people clear o' it. Better safe than sorry yanno?"
"Good thinking." Beast Boy agreed.
Cyborg pointed back up the street. "You might want to close off this whole street, Officer, at least from there down to Sixth." he told the man, sweeping his arm forward. "I don't like the readings I'm getting off that thing."
"Will do, Titans."
The Titans walked up towards the disturbance while behind them, the cop radioed in to the station.
Raven couldn't help but be fascinated by the wavering distortion. It was so subtle, just a flicker of a ripple across the space between the buildings on either side, but so unmistakably there. It looked almost like a pool of water, or a soft carpet she could just fall into. Mesmerized, she raised her hand and reached out to touch it.
"I wouldn't do that, Raven." Cyborg cautioned, eyes fixed on his arm readouts. "You might not get that hand back."
The empath dropped her arm at once, and then crossed both of them together under her cloak to resist the temptation. Reluctantly, she pulled her eyes away from the distortion. This close to the energy source, her headache had worsened tenfold, though the pain was oddly much duller, and came in slow pulses and throbs instead of the sharp stings she had been used to. She shuffled behind Cyborg, and pleasantly found that his bulk shielded her somewhat and her headache diminished. Breathing in and out calmly, she recited her mantra in her head.
Cyborg looked up from his arm and stared at the shimmering air with a frown. The interference was wrecking havoc on his instruments. His electronic eye seemed to be seeing two things at once; the feed flickered and he couldn't make sense of it. He could see the pattern of the distortion clearly, and the city street beyond it, but he could also see faint white radiating forms that looked like furniture-a bed and a vanity and chairs. His human eye saw no such apparition.
"I'm picking up some weird things with my electronic eye, y'all." he told them.
Beast Boy, meanwhile, was busy sniffing around the area in green bloodhound form. His nostrils had perked up when they'd first approached the distortion. He'd morphed immediately, following an interesting scent. Sunflowers. Exotic spice. And just the barest hint of hair gel. A strangely recognizable mixture. It led off into an alleyway, but Beast Boy didn't track it very far that way. Instead he turned around and began trailing it the other direction, to see where it'd come from.
The hound snuffled up all the way to Cyborg's feet, and the edge of the disruption. Beast Boy lifted his head and blinked in confusion. He bounded over to the sidewalk, edging around to avoid the rippling space, and tried to pick up the trail on the other side. After a moment of circling he stopped, and bounded back around and resumed human form, scratching his head and staring at the ground, right where the line of distorted air met it.
"Find something?" asked Raven.
"Two trails come right up to… whatever this is." he said. "And then they just… disappear."
Cyborg did a double-take at that. "You mean somebody went in that?" he exclaimed.
"Somebody came out." Beast Boy corrected. "The scent is faintest here."
"So…" Raven drawled. "Think we should tell Robin that beings from another dimension are wandering around Jump City?"
Cyborg raised a hand to reply, but was interrupted by a sudden insistent beeping from his communicator. Raven and Beast Boy's rang at the same moment, and all three of them pulled out their comms and flipped them open to see the red alert flashing across their screens.
The accompanying text read:
Urgent. Break-in at Jump City State Penitentiary. Prisoners loose.
"Looks like we've got bigger things to worry about." Cyborg said grimly.
-TT-
Robin swept a pile of broken glass to the side with his foot, and sighed in aggravation. Sixth shop they'd found hit, still no sign of their jewelry thieves. His frustration was mounting. And what Starfire had told him about someone else having his voice troubled him all the more.
Rubbing the back of his head, he looked over at Starfire, and managed a faint smile.
"I'm sorry our date ended like this." he told her.
"Oh," she said, shaking her head and beaming at him. "It is all right. We are Titans. This sort of thing is to be expected."
"I just-" Robin kicked a piece of rubble away. "I can't figure out what our jewel thieves are up to. It's like they're on some kind of Bonnie and Clyde spree. Six places in the same day? That's overkill even for our villains."
"Excepting perhaps the Billy Numerous." Starfire reminded him.
"Right." he agreed. "And I don't-"
His communicator beeped, ending their conversation. Starfire felt hers buzzing in the pocket of her skirt as well, but didn't get it out. Robin flipped up the screen to reveal the alert, replaced a moment later by Cyborg's face.
"Star! Robin! Jailbreak!" he conveyed to them urgently. "A big one! Crooks running all over the place!"
Robin straightened, snapping into business mode. "We're on our way!" he told Cyborg, snapping his communicator closed.
He reached for Starfire's hand and without hesitation she took it, and lifted him into the air.
-TT-
Boom!
Blackfire aimed a glowing fist at another part of the hallway between cells. The doors reflected her starbolts off their metal surfaces but, she'd quickly learned, the stone partitions between the jail cells crumbled magnificently with a well-aimed bolt.
She let loose.
Boom!
A hole was blown open at once. Orange jump-suited prisoners started in alarm as the wall was turned into rubble before their eyes. As Blackfire passed on, they started edging towards the hole, eventually scrabbling over the debris pile and scattering to the four winds down both directions of the hall.
The Tamaranian paid them no need, reveling in the destruction and chaos she was causing. She giggled maniacally, shooting her starbolts every which way. Alarms were blaring, and people were shouting, and flashes of green popped all around her.
She loved every minute.
Boom!
A cloud of smoke went up as another wall was blown to chunky bits. Blackfire laughed in delight and floated through the hall, passing into another corridor. It looked like she was coming to a high-security area. There were more cameras in the hall (which she of course took out promptly with her starbolts), and fewer cells. Right before she came to a joining, where the hall opened up into a larger room, her path was blocked by three prison guards, who immediately pointed their weapons at her.
"Freeze!" one of them yelled.
Blackfire sniffed, unruffled. "Impertinent fools." she huffed.
Her eyes and hands glowed green and she launched herself at the guards in a red and black blur. Her eyebeams felled the first man easily before she'd even reached the group. Whirling about she planted a starbolt in the gut of the second guard, blowing him back several feet. With a feral grin she twisted around again, grabbing the gun of the last guard and shoving it in a violent uppercut to his chin. He went down with a pained grunt and she wrest the weapon from his hands and, with a swift green burst, melted it into useless scrap metal.
The fight now over, she tossed aside the ruined gun, set down on her feet and casually stepped over the prone bodies of the prison guards.
The larger room beyond the hall was spacious, bathed in pale white light, and utterly uninteresting to her. Her eyes made only a quick scan of it before she entered, already heading for another doorway on the left.
"Well." a female voice said suddenly. "I must be hallucinating because there is no way you're who I think you are."
Blackfire whipped her head about and started a little. In a little cell, behind a thick glass panel, was another Tamaranian. Dark-haired like her, same violet-gray eyes and heavy lashes. It was almost like looking at mirror-image of herself, except older.
The other Tamaranian was inspecting her nails nonchalantly, as if the Teen Tyrant merited very little attention from her.
"My little sister is too much of a goody-two-shoes to orchestrate a jailbreak." she was saying.
Blackfire disliked this girl immediately. With a scowl, she stepped up to the glass and crossed her arms.
"And just who are you?" she demanded.
The other girl gave a coy, innocent look. "You mean you don't know me?" she asked, lightly mocking and amused.
The Teen Tyrant passed an unimpressed look over her mirror self. "You bear a… vague, passing resemblance to someone I know." she said indifferently, giving a little dismissive wave. "But she is a weak coward unfit to share the name as I. And you are clearly too vulgar and rude to be her." she added snootily.
"I could say the same for you, starshine." the other girl shot back. Her eyes dropped to the emerald necklace Blackfire was still wearing. "Nice ice. It wouldn't happen to be from the Centauri moons would it?" she queried in a sickeningly sweet tone.
"Do not speak to me as if you know me!" Blackfire snapped, her hands fisting at her sides. The younger Tamaranian's eyes burned with anger and a deep-seated hatred. "You are nothing like my sister." she whispered in a low growl.
"And you're nothing like mine." The Not Sister straightened up a little from where she leaned on her cell wall. "So, are you going to bust me out of here or what?"
Blackfire didn't dignify that with a reply. "Humph!" she huffed, turning swiftly around and storming off.
"I'll take it that's a no then." The Not Sister put her hand on the glass and called lazily after the Tyrant's back. "Oh and by the way, sis? Black is so not your color."
-TT-
The prison courtyard was already in chaos when Cyborg and Beast Boy emerged from the shadows of Raven's soul self. The black raven dissolved into Raven's form and all three of them had a split second to take stock of the situation.
A large group of orange-clad prisoners were rushing the gate. The prison guards were putting up a good fight to try and prevent them, but they were outnumbered. The wall of the prison across from them bore a resemblance to Swiss cheese, with several large prominent holes, out of which poured smoke and escapees. Shouts rang across the plaza and alarms were blaring inside and out.
Beast Boy was the first to react, leaning over and morphing until he towered over the crowd in T-Rex form. Giving an impressive roar he charged the men going for the gate.
The sight of a giant green razor-toothed dinosaur running towards them was excellent incentive for the prisoners to turn tail and run screaming the other direction.
Cyborg had his sonic cannon out a moment later and pointed it towards a group nervously trying to edge around Beast Boy's flank. The beam swept the ground by their feet, upending them all in a neat line. Prison guards rushed forward to take over and restrain them.
Then Raven raised a hand and black energy swirled up from the ground and wrapped around several prisoners stumbling over the rubble of one of the holes. With a shove, she sent them back inside. Her dark matter next enveloped the chunks and pieces of rubble and reconstructed a semblance of the former wall, plugging the hole up with a solid barrier.
She felt movement behind her, and ducked just in time to avoid a clumsy strike by a bald prisoner with a broken nose. While he was still off-balance, the thick green tail of Beast Boy lashed out and caught him squarely across the back, making him fly forward and face-plant into the rubble.
The changeling gave a look of grim satisfaction, roared again, and charged forward at another group trying to sneak past him to the front gate.
"Move in!" Cyborg ordered, shooting his sonic cannon off in a long burst.
Raven moved towards another breach, already using her powers to shift the rubble and block the openings on either side of her. The dim corridor of the prison hallway enveloped her, and she blinked, her eyes adjusting to the low light. She sealed up the exit behind her before turning to float down the hall.
There didn't seem to be very many escapees down this corridor, though there were plenty of faint yells and footsteps and running sounds that indicated the action was somewhere nearby. Raven hurried towards the commotion, making cursory temporary repairs to the cells as she passed. She soon found herself in one of the high-security sectors, where a few of Jump City's more notorious supervillains were normally imprisoned. Raven fervently hoped whoever was pulling the jailbreak hadn't busted anyone from here out.
The empath found herself in one of the hubs that connected passageways. Across from her she spotted the cell holding Starfire's older sister-still imprisoned, thank Azar. The elder Tamaranian princess looked bored in spite of the blaring alarms and general excitement of the jailbreak. Raven's gaze passed over her briefly, as she spotted a trio of unconscious guards and floated over to tend to them. She bent over one, her hand checking his neck and finding the strong pulse there.
"Oh hey, Raven. You just missed my little sister's evil twin." Blackfire piped up casually, as if just noticing the empath.
Raven turned to look at the other girl, blinking.
"Beg your pardon?" she asked.
"You heard me." Blackfire said, shrugging, offering no further elaboration.
Raven frowned and stepped forward as if to ask something, but she was interrupted as a rumble sounded throughout the prison and the very ground beneath her feet buckled. She staggered, wobbled off-balance, flailing her arms. As the ground settled, a new klaxon started blaring, adding to the din, and the lights in the room flashed red.
"That can't be good." Raven groaned.
A panicky voice came over the PA system.
"Red alert! Priority Cells One and Two compromised! Cinderblock and Plasmus are loose! I repeat: Cinderblock and Plasmus are loose!"
The empath put up her hood and phased through the wall, vanishing from the room a moment later.
This was going to be a long day.
(A/N)- Holy cats this chapter was a pain to write. That little lover's spat between Red Robin and Blackfire? For the life of me I could NOT get those two to fight with each other. I'd get them starting to bicker a little and then all of a sudden the conflict would go nowhere and fizzle out and it led to them making up and I'd be left yelling, "FIGHT DANGIT, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HAVING A QUARREL!" at the screen.
And then I made the argument about sex and strangely, it all fell into place. Lulz.
Chapter wound up longer than I thought too. I realized about three-quarters of the way through that I'd never be able to fit all the conflict and plot points I wanted into it. So I found a good dramatic stopping point and polished it off. You can probably expect the next chapter soon. Anyway, reviews are nice.