Hey guys,
it's me again, with another chapter of Wykkyd Shadows! Woot!
We are at 10 chapters so far. Can't actually believe it myself, and thank you all for the support! Now, for those of you who wondered what happened at the cliffhanger? Well, let's find out what happened!
BTW: Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen Titans franchise, just this story.
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7 Days Later...
It rained that day, outside Titans Tower. The clouds overhead rumbled and roared as flickering throws of energy danced through the darkened shadows. It was the middle of the night, but under the shades of the storm, it felt like utter darkness and despair. The rain pelted down, plippity plop, plippity plop, on the two figures standing in the rain.
One was tall, heavy set, and despite the biting chill of the winds, did not shiver. He looked down at the carved stone slab before him and the other, the rain pattering off the metallic parts of his body. His inhuman red eye stared deep at the stone, the other beginning to well with tears.
The other figure had already given into the tears, weeping softly to himself, an arm raised to his eyes to wipe the tears away. His green hair dripped with the cold rain, plastering itself to his face , and his black and purple jumpsuit was drenched. A sniffle came from the skinny green teen, drawing a look of empathy from his robotic friend.
"It's okay, BB. It's okay." Cyborg said. But inside, the man-machine knew that nothing about this was right. He wanted to cry, to break down and let the tears flow, possible chance of getting into his circuitry be damned. But he had to be strong. Of those left, he had to be strong.
"I... I just miss her. I know we looked but... This? This is what we have to do?" Beast Boy looked up at his friend incredulously. He just couldn't believe what they were doing out here in the rain before the rocks, looking out over the waters raging against the cliff face.
"Yeah. Not what she might have wanted, but what we are gonna do."
"But... But what if she's... You know..." Beast Boy sniffled.
"Then we'll find her. But now... We just need to remember." Cyborg answered. He just hoped that they would, so they could destroy this thing, and never have to put up another like it.
"Yeah... Remember..." Beast Boy said softly, turning back to the stone and the waters in the distance.
Lightning struck the bridge in the distance, surging from the bridge and skies both. A pale blue streak roaring in electrical surges of grandeur, raw plasma blazing through the sky, arching down in the crooked path, a strike from the heavens. The sky lit up with light in the strike, and in that moment, when the light of the strike blazed through, the carved stone face of the monument shone brightly. And upon the stone was but a single word.
STARFIRE
Robin wasn't at Titans Tower. He couldn't stand to be anywhere near it. He had to leave. Go away for a while. Jump City was too much for him now, too many things about it hurt. Too many memories, too many phantasms of the past.
Of her.
Robin raced down the empty road, his R-Cycle blaring through the stormy night. He took no heed of the rain nor the peals of thunder nor the flashing lightning surging across the sky. He cared little for precaution in charging down the empty road in the middle of the night.
The turnoff came into sight, and a glimpse of a fleeting shadow, the roar of a black bike, flashed through his sigh. Robin blinked.
A memory, of that day. He could still feel the cold yet mischievous gleam of those two eyes still leering at him now.
A strangled cry of anger escaping him, Robin tore down the exit onto the ramp, and onto the mountain path road. The same road from so long ago. A barricade had been erected, a sign indicating construction work ahead. He paid it no heed, wrenching the R Cycle into a ramp-less leap, over the boundary. He roared down the mountain path, memories beginning to claim him. From the day they met, to the day he lost her, he began to see her. Flashing images in his mind. Memories coming through.
Robin gritted his teeth, eyes beginning to sting. Up ahead, he could see it, the place where the villain had taken her. The bike slowed, its dull roar subsiding to a purr as Robin drew up to the spot. He looked up, and in his mind's eye, saw it happening again. The look of shock, and the mischievous glint in the rogue's eyes, and the swirling shadows. How the shadows haunted his thoughts.
For years, the shadows had been his ally, his weapon against the villains of the world. How his mentor had taught him to use the darkness, treat it as a friend, and the shadows would make him a force to be reckoned with. For so long, he had used the shadows to fight crime, and help the good people.
Now, the shadows had claimed her. Another who had used the shadows and the darkness to take her away. It was agony, feeling anger and rage whenever he saw the encroaching darkness, the glint of glowing red. He loathed the boy of shadows now, and let out a primal yell of pain and anger into the night. He screamed her name as he fell to his knees, the rain pouring all about him. He screamed her name to the heavens as he gazed at the point in space where she had been taken, seeing the scene play over and over again.
Robin wept.
"Where is he anyways?" the short genius snarled at the hulking behemoth. The HIVE FIVE were in their lair, sulking about. Gizmo would have preferred to work on the device they had stolen in the solitude of his room and lab, but the others had smashed the door. Gizmo hadn't been eating well ever since Jinx had left them all that time ago. He had begun to look thin, and despite his stepping up to take responsibility, the diminutive genius had neglected his own health. Just to make sure he wasn't slaving away at the device and at least getting some food, Mammoth and See-More had made sure he worked at the eating table, and was getting some manner of dinner.
Of course, when you're a bunch of young adult villains lounging about in a secret lair, there wasn't much in the way of proper food. What with Billy being the only normal looking one of the group without his costume, the Texan Duplicator was out getting more groceries and supplies for the others, a list in hand from See-More on what to get. He had taken much of it from Jinx' old lists, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it. Of course Billy hated having to do those chores, especially since he was forbidden from stealing or duplicating himself while out, and had to do the job in civvies. He actually had to pay for what he got, and couldn't have any fun while he was at it.
The HIVE FIVE had had to lay low for awhile, at least until the heat wore off. Unfortunately for them, it never seem to. Not only had Kyd Wykkyd's face been plastered throughout various Most Wanted lists - side by side notorious villains like Brother Blood, The Brain, Madame Rouge, Warp, Mad Mod, Mumbo Jumbo, Slade, and many others - the HIVE's recent theft of the device hidden under the library had made them a target for any superhuman hero out there. Of course, it was no coincidence as to the witness reports of Mammoth trashing the scene, or the tampering with the surveillance footage, nor the chance of a large eyeball thought to be seen floating over the woods the very night the library mysteriously exploded when a cut power line somehow fell into the gas main for the building's heater. Not to mention the disappearance of a Teen Titans member who had been placed to guard the library and device until the Justice League could move it again, the very night the device was stolen and it's hiding place destroyed.
Now, Gizmo was tinkering with the device, prying open it's back to expose the circuitry within. A few arms from his harness held the spot torch and other tools as the genius worked on the elaborate electronics, tongue poking out between his lips as he worked on the hardware of the device, the sparks bouncing off the goggles he wore. He worked swore under his breath when the circuitry sparked when it wasn't supposed to, sending a cascade of dancing sparks all over the circuitry.
"Who, Billy? Out gettin' food." Mammoth replied, lazily, flipping channels with the remote. He was already hungry, and wondering when Billy would return from the fast food joint with dinner once he had gotten the groceries for the week.
"Naw, snot-brains. Where's Kyd?" Gizmo snarled, sucking on a finger after the device had jolted him. He hadn't worn gloves, for he couldn't eschew the precision he would have lost wearing them. The device was delicate and devious, and he didn't want to mess up. Of course, if he'd been in his lab, he could have done all of this remotely via the assistant-robots he had installed there. But now, he was made to sit at the eating table with Mammoth and See-More.
See-More looked up from his book. Well, not really looking up, so much as turning his head. He wasn't wearing his visor, allowing the top half of his face to show. He had bright green eyes, shielding by dark black sun glasses that were slightly reflective, his curly black hair had been cut short for once, rather than it's usual length and braided style. But still, See-More didn't look straight at Gizmo, but rather in his direction. His hand continued to move over the surface of the page of the book. A book which had no printed words. There were indentations in the page, risings which his fingers felt and understood. A slender stick rested against his chair.
"In his room." See-More replied. "He's been sort a mope-y for a while, e'er since last week."
"Why?" Mammoth grunted, a little amused. "He's taken care of two Titans! He's one of the most wanted guys out there! Ain't that a good thing? Wha's he so sad about?"
"I dunno, but that crudmuncher had better get over it soon. Hate whiners…" Gizmo grumbled. "This chiz is going to take longer than I thought, so 'till then, we haven't' got much to do."
"Hmn." See-More responded, turning his head in the direction of Kyd Wykkyd's room. The teen wondered what his friend was thinking about, shutting himself away in his room. It was uncharacteristic of Kyd to mope or feel sad, and not steal all the pillows and cushions from every room on the lair.
Something was up. He just couldn't figure out what.
Awww, you thought I would actually pick up with where we left off last time...
Well, doing that would just ruin the suspense, wouldn't it?
So, find out what happens to Kyd and Raven next time on Wykkyd Shadows!
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Also, yes, that was a memorial for Starfire, if it wasn't obvious. BB and Cy were holding a vigil.