Walking the dog is lovely for inspiration, and letting your imagination come up with stuff. Cleaning out and washing down the fridge? Not so much.
Concolor44: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! It's the dreaded 'girl talk'. That's a really great 'out'
for what Raven needs to do. It's every bit as effective as using 'female plumbing' issues to change the subject or get some privacy from the guys.
Starfire is a right gem, isn't she? Always so ready to see the best in people and hope for the best outcomes. I hope she's right. but I'm very much afraid that Raven's assessment of Robin's reaction is spot-on.
This story kicks **. Apodictically.
'Girl talk' = run for the hills. And star is; so optimistic you can't help feeling just a little bit better. But everyone knows how Robin gets around the bad guys. Just... one thing. Where the hell do you get these words from! I had to Google apodictically xD But hey, increased vocabulary = win.
LilithRyoka: Your reviews are just getting longer xD Yeah I have a serious memory problems, but it runs in the family haha. Hmm, I'm glad the run in with our killer worked for you. I spend ages trying to write it right! Same with the whole demonic Raven being able to kick ass. Haha it's nice to hear your thoughts on the topic! After all, it lets me know what the story is saying to you. As for my lemon... well, I'm glad you enjoyed. It's nice to know my first scene on the topic worked – well. Heh, the female body is one thing I do know *cough* but yes, I tend to dislike lemon scenes if they 1) obviously don't know what they are writing. 2) include vulgar language about the anatomy that makes it sound like a cheap porno, so to speak. With BB, I was kinda thinking it might speed up the plot a little faster than what I had in mind. Truly, usually I include all of his heightened senses. Yes I am British xD Pretty countryside, and I love my home city, but on the whole, the country isn't that nice lol. I'm going for underground facility, but I'm sure that'll be mentioned later on. After all, in the episode lightspeed, it did look pretty big, and somewhat resemble the titans tower. Zombies are good for every situation :P But yes, I mean I'm female and hate the idea of girl talk – any girl talk really, so in my imagination, guys are either totally confused about it, or fear it. Haha technically it is – after all, he does say in the cartoon that it's hooked up to his own systems ;) Oooh the things you can do toRobin! Obviously I'm not gonna tell you which I'm going for but! (can't hold in my excitement!) Glad to know my character are still working for you. It is sort of difficult to get the right balance. And I await that jar of cookies. And those deathly written letters. I like a good threat ;)
Darkshadow-lord:Nice chapter! Looking forward to reading the next! Mm I wonder what Starfire would do when she finds out that it's Jinx that Raven is seeing?
To be honest, I don't think it's Star's reaction she needs to worry about xD
Spikesagitta: I think I spotted a mistake
=Oh, I don't know. That I'm Jinx's lover? Damn that sounds weird. "Maybe he
wouldn't." Jinx nodded.=
I think you meant to say "Raven" nodded. Or maybe "Starfire" instead of Jinx.
Anyway, you love zombie games? Awesome! Please tell me you have a PS3 and plan
to get dead island! Cos I heard you can co-op that with other players for story mod.
Said mistake is now corrected, it should have said Raven, but I had Jinx on the brain xD
As for Zombies...*fangirl squeal* Yes, I have PS3, yes I was looking at dead island. It's gonna have to be a birthday or Christmas buy though cause 1) I'm a poor teenager 2)when we do buy games randomly, the deal is my Dad's gotta want to play on them too. So mostly we have war games. Or Tomb Raider *grin* but he actually agreed on getting Dead Nation. And he's enjoying it as much as me, so maybe, it might be a possibility :)
Umbra8191: great chapter i can't wait for the next update.
Why, thank you :)
It wasn't unusual for Robin to be the first one to be found in the common room, especially when there was something that needed his attention, so Raven, usually the first awake in order to fit in meditation, wasn't surprised to find him sat at the tower's main computer. He had a city map open, and seemed to be marking co-ordinates on it. Raven recognised it as being the first step into finding a pattern. She didn't understand why he was bothering – their killer was after Raven. They all knew that now. Shrugging, she made her way to the kitchen, switching the kettle on.
"So. Where were you yesterday?"
Raven jumped slightly, almost chocking on her breath. "What?"
"Yesterday. I know the answer you gave us wasn't the truth. Where were you?"
"Does it matter?" She turned back to the kettle, grabbing a cup and pouring the boiling water.
"Yes. I need to know where you were attacked."
"I told you-"
"Raven, you aren't Beast Boy, so can you stop playing games?" He spun round on his chair to face her, and Raven could feel his eyes digging into her back. "On a personal note, I don't really care what you were doing, but you of all people should be above lying when it involves a case."
She got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she tried to ignore it as best as she could. "We know our killer is after me. Why are you mapping out the locations we've seen him at? It won't tell us anything."
"We don't have enough information not to take this at every angle we have. We don't care if you're dating someone - or who you're dating; and you don't need to tell us, just tell me where you were when you were attacked."
She frowned. "How... who told you?"
"What? No one. We guessed."
She sighed, happy Robin apparently wasn't going to dig any further into her business, and picked up her cup of tea before walking over to the computer and typing in co-ordinates. A red dot appeared over the alleyway next to Jump City's small theme park, and Robin raised his brow. "You were at the theme park?"
"I thought you said you weren't going to ask." Raven pointed out.
Robin reluctantly nodded, and Raven stepped back. "Any other attacks you've failed to mention?"
"No."
"Good. Just... one more thing. You do realise that whoever you are dating is going to possibly be in danger, right?"
"I'm not stupid Robin. I've already sorted that. When you said 'we know'?
"I meant me, Cyborg and Beast Boy." Robin nodded.
"Oh... right."
"I think I've got an idea on how to lure this thing out... only it endangers you. So I wanted to pass it through you first."
Raven sat on the sofa, taking a sip of her drink. "Yes?"
"As you pointed out, it seems very interested in you. We can't start the interviews until tomorrow – the police have found a member of the church you mentioned, a few members in fact, just not in this state. As for the plan... If we put you somewhere secluded – empty – and we took stationary points under cover, he's bound to show up, right?"
Raven shrugged. "Regardless, that still leaves only me who can attack, and I don't exactly want to call upon my demon again so soon."
"Wait, if you were attack then... they saw your demonic side?" Robin's eyes widened dramatically. "You didn't attack them did you?"
"I thought you said you weren't going to ask." She muttered dryly. "But yes, they did. And no, they didn't run screaming. Now, about this plan of yours..?"
"Raven, if the media heard about this-"
"Please, you think I haven't already thought about that. I know exactly what would happen. I'd probably be hunted down. However, that is not about to happen. I didn't exactly have a choice – I didn't choose to lose control. And they are above selling me out like that."
"Raven-"
"Robin I do not need the lecture. Especially not about myself. Just be happy it happened out of sight from other people, and that I regained control."
He forced a smile. "Sorry Raven. I know, I just worry."
"A little too much. So, you want to stick me in some random alley and wait for me to come under attack?"
"Only if that's okay with you. Cyborg thinks he's found something that could hurt the creature."
"Really? And what would that be?"
"Cyborg's theory is that the killer's body may be made up of electromagnetic fields. If we added more electricity to him, he should solidify, letting us attack him."
Raven let out a deep breath as she ran the idea through in her head. "You did more research on ghosts and shadow men, didn't you? It's a plausible explanation. If that is what we're dealing with. I guess... it's worth a shot. And if it doesn't work?"
"We make a run for it." Robin grinned. "Actually, I don't know what we'd do. I suppose it depended on what the killer did."
"Are you sure you don't want to contact Batman. It is possible the Justice League may have come across something like this before."
"I'm sure I don't." Robin nodded. "Anyway, Batman's not totally pleased you're on the team. And he'd definitely have something to say about your boyfriend."
"Girlfriend."
"What?"
Raven arched her brow. "I never, at any point, said I was seeing a guy."
"Urm... right. I guess not." He cleared his throat, turning back round to look at his map. Raven was amused at how awkward the silence had suddenly become on his part.
The doors opened behind them and the empath glanced behind her to see Cyborg. "Morin' Rae, Robin." He headed straight for the fridge, stomach growling. "Rob told you about my idea?"
"The electromagnetic field? Yes, he has."
"Think it'll work?"
"I have no idea Cyborg."
"What's those tentacle thingys made of that come off you when you're in demon mode?" He pulled waffle ingredients out from the fridge, pausing to glance at her.
"Urm.. dark energy. That is... well..." She sighed, frowning. "I'm not too sure how to explain it. It's still the same thing I use in this form. It does have an electromagnetic field though – as all portals do."
"It's not a portal all the time."
"But it has the potential to be."
"So it could work?" Cyborg clarified.
"It could. I hope it does."
The alarm sounded, and those up all cringed. Luckily Robin was close enough to quickly turn it off, before looking for the disturbance. Raven and Cyborg walked over to read over their leader's shoulder, after Cyborg put away the start of his breakfast.
"Dudes – not cool." Beast Boy grumbled as he walked into the room, followed by Starfire, who flew over the changeling's head, obviously not disgruntled by the loud wake-up call.
"Drop it Beast Boy." Robin wasn't looking at the map of Jump, or at any security cameras. He was trying to read a message from the police – one that had come through on urgent.
Raven sighed heavily, having finished reading first. "Why is he still doing this? He's already got his point across."
"What?" Beast Boy asked, not bothering to read the email himself.
"The police need us; down by the docks again."
"Dude, you mean there's another body?"
"Yeah. Apparently a fisherman stumbled across this one pretty early. The small bit they have told us is that the body's still warm." Robin told them unhappily.
"Then we should make with the haste, no? He could still be there."
"Raven?" Robin turned to look at the empath. That one word was enough, and she stretched out her soul self to cover all of her team mates before teleporting to the docks.
It was easy to see where the body was. One of the docs was taped off, and a number of police cars sat round the premises. The titans started to head in that direction, but Robin called them back. "We can look at the body in a minute. It's our job to catch this guy; Beast Boy, see if he's still here."
The changeling saluted his leader, before morphing into a blood hound again. He went through the same process as before, pushing aside the scents he was already familiar with, when something different hit him. It was a scent he recognised, and it wasn't exactly feint but it was definitely out of place. He followed it, slightly surprised when a hand landed on his forehead and pushed him away.
"Beast Boy, what the hell are you doing?"
He looked up, realising how close he was to Raven and backed up a bit, before walking round her. She must be standing in the way. But seriously, what would she be doing down here? It couldn't have been more than a few days ago.
He paused, confused when the scent didn't continue past Raven. He morphed back into his human form, his confusion now evident. "When did you get into a fight with Jinx?"
She tensed, her eyes widening slightly as she became a shade paler. "Urm..." She bit her lower lip, not being able to think past her panic. "That is..."
Robin's face slowly started to resemble a beetroot. "We'll talk about this when we get back to the tower." If looks could kill...
Nearby, the cover flew off a manhole as Raven struggled to keep in control of her emotions.
"What? Wait, you don't mean..? Girl, tell me you didn't." Cyborg asked, shocked.
"I said, we'll talk about this later. Beast Boy, find our killer."
The changeling quickly morphed, wincing. Why hadn't I just kept my damn mouth shut for once? He sent Raven an apologetic look, before moving away from her and trying to see if he could pick up the scent of their killer.
After about ten minutes of searching and awkward silences, Beast Boy morphed back and shook his head. "Nothing." Damn. Wish I'd found something. Maybe then Robin wouldn't shoot daggers at me.
"Maybe the body will tell us something more." Starfire suggested.
Robin started walking – or marching - in the direction of the police tape, and Starfire offered Raven a small smile, while Beast Boy moved up to her. "Sorry dude. If I'd have known..."
She gave him an odd look. He's not mad? "He was bound to find out at some point. Come on. If we keep him waiting he's only going to get angrier.
"Nothing." He grumbled, and Raven moved past him. She could feel the anger radiating off him, and knew if anything it would make him blind. Not that she was doing so well herself, but she was able to keep her head on the job when needed.
"There's an arrow." She pointed to the flesh of the woman's chest.
Unlike the others, this one had been stripped bare. There was something awfully humiliating about it, and the empath was itching to cover her up. The arrow was made from a number of scratches on the woman's skin, and roughly done. Raven knew why Robin had missed them, because at a glance it didn't look like an arrow, more like she'd been trying to claw something off her.
"Right. Do you want to see what we found over there?"
Raven looked up to find Officer Carlton. "Sure."
He led her and Robin over to the other side of the building and behind a stack of crates. Someone had written into the wall with scratches. It was hard to read, and Robin was the first one to pull back, confusion covering his anger for the time being. "That's not even English."
"No." Raven agreed. "It's an incantation. I recognise it, but I can't tell you exactly what it is without checking my books. Officer, do you have something I could write on?"
He passed Raven his note book and a pen, and she quickly took down the writing on the wall, before ripping off the sheet of paper. "Don't think you could write us a copy? I don't even know what half of those letters are meant to be." The empath smiled slightly as she wrote down the incantation again.
"Be careful who sees this, at least until I've figured out what it does." She passed him his notebook back. "Well, he obviously wants us to know what he's up to.
"Unless he's using a red herring." Robin muttered. "Lying to us."
"It's a possibility." Raven nodded, resisting the urge to scream at her leader to keep focused on the task in front of him.
"Have you got anything more on the killer?" Carlton asked Robin, but it was Raven who answered.
"We have, actually. Well, we know one was of stopping him at least."
"Good. It's about time we had something. The media aren't being kind to us. Are you available tomorrow for those interviews?"
"Unless we find ourselves fighting someone – or something – yes."
"My men are rounding up a few more as we speak. We can't seem to find Brother Blood though. He's meant to be their leader or something."
"That he is." Raven nodded. "No matter. Hopefully we can get the information from the people you've found."
"We'll get back and start figuring out what this... incantation is for. Unless there's anything else?" Robin glanced at Carlton.
"No; we'll send you the forensic report when it's written."
"Good." Throwing a hard glance at Raven, he walked back towards where they'd left the other titans.
Raven offered the police officer a shaky smile before following her leader, dreading what she knew was to come when they got back to the tower.
A storm started while I was writing the second half. I thought it was oddly appropriate.
I'm actually not too happy with this chapter, but I thought it was what needed to come next, naturally. I don't even know what was wrong with it... just was something was. It's the most irritating feeling ever.
R&R as always :)
