Teen Titans – Presents; Haunted; An Analysis in Red and Orange – Chapter 1: The X Files
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So, I decided to keep two things for this new fic take – it will take place BEFORE AND DURING "Haunted and episode "X." That much to say, this will not be rated M. It will be a mystery fic and we know that T might cut it, though not for some good ole' fashioned noir can we find out in the end. So, you be the judge!
This take will be dark and the only magic here? Trigon's share, but won't say when since this was in season three!
And…. here we go!
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A light breeze hit Gordon's desk, the reason being crystal. The ceiling fan and his stuffy environment.
Or so he thought.
Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon had been busy in previous months; dealing with the Batman's fair share of trouble makers, the death of a second Robin, and his only kid, Barbara Gordon going into college next spring for criminal law.
Jim sighed and stooped down on his one good knee to recover a pitiful pile of files on the kid who'd lost his life to the Joker; he was blown sky high and no one had recovered the body since Batman's fateful mourning period.
That breeze could tell a lot more as Jim frowned at a cowled face by the fire escape. His exit, blocked off.
Though, it wasn't his usual buddy coming to call.
" Yo." The figure was barely visible in the dark, and waved to the commissioner. Jim Gordon shrugged off this happy – hour clown and managed to pick up the pile of papers. He forced himself to stand and plopped more of them onto his desk's edge, to only fall a second time.
Groaning with a hand to his temples, the rapping on the window came, of the visitor who was a shadow like the bat.
But, not him.
There was a rule or two in Gotham City that most citizens had abided by for decades.
Shut your windows up tight at night, keep your security systems and alarms active at all times, and…
Never open a door or window for a stranger in a mask.
The latter was that this kook DID wear something to shield his presence. We all wear masks on occasion, but not to jump across rooftops and throw bombs into open car windows….
Gordon however, was still stuck in his office. Most of the staff were getting ready to head home. He'd made himself a target, so the man decided to see how long –
The tapping grew somewhat more frantic as the kid in the mask; he was shorter and his voice wasn't as deep as an adult male's, could be a mask thing, was over being a polite alley cat as he put an entire palm up to the glass with the vibrations of his whack too soon. Far, too abrupt. A red "X" on the mask's right side shone back, red as a bloody scar. For crying out loud – when did the looney bin let loose another axe – murderer at his doorstep?? And, a kid??
As soon as Gordon had turned his head, he saw it. The Batman was heading after the skull -faced male. The mask and kid's get up looked to be a Halloween - themed, complete with skull mask, a black cape, black boots, and skin tight suit that had simply –
Vanished…
Batman's presence had not scared this one off, Gordon shook his head in disbelief. That, was what you'd see with escape artists all the time in this city. But, a molecular transference?
Batman looked on over his perch at where the kid and transfered his atoms into the open air. At only a few feet from the fire escape to Gordon's office floor, Batman had started to pull out a tracer from his belt compartment. Shaking his cowled head, Bats was a bit baffled by this case. Gordon watched from the window, just as Batman nodded to the comish that the window was now secure to the older male if he needed to breathe easier tonight. Regardless of the good news, he'd be at his case in his office that he'd taken up, all night. So would the Bat if he dug too deeply into this mystery...
Gordon, who was mesmerized by the sight, nodded back and breathlessly worded; "Good to know…" It was read well emough, as the Batman finally felt right to let Jim grt back to his case files. He respected the man. He was a dedicated cop and a family man who cared for the people of Gotham City.
Just, not the crazies. Not the Batman as much.
Then, in the midst of a single low cloud cover, the Batman dropped from his perch to swing off across the sky line via cord cable.
The night was still young, and that goofy other character would be on Jim's favorite Vigilante's list to document away by tomorrow afternoon.
Gordon saw that the clock on the wall as his midnught visitor was right about that too.
Late.
He'd be staying in the office tonight, as he did most nights. Jim groaned and so, he pulled out his extra rolled - up sleeping bag and set off to do just that. Sleep, for that's what he wanted to do in silence for once, most of all.
Tonight, to the Bat it was safe to walk the streets of Gotham, but to Jim? He wasn't going to take any chances.
The Batman was just a single man in a mask, still a juggernaut threat when provoked.
Here in Gotham, not even the sun could push away such a threatening scene. It was Jim who had to stick to his guns. The citizens who were the true heroes of this forgotten paradise.
As if he could ever trust a man in a bat costume, anyway….
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Opening; Case Number 10 – 04 – 03 - Subject: Slade.
A strange name for a case file. Oh well, let's dive right into this…
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An hour when the clock had rung down to zero.
And what it was, had been a blessing.
A blessing, luck, or a fine pick of the litter?
No.
It was what was to be, and what had since passed.
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That was the hour when the perfect metronome of his reality had come into play. All of the gears, well – oiled, well aligned.
Set and match.
Still, there was that bittersweet reminder of what had been…
He'd lost a lot, but not the scars that had earned the "shadow of doubt" this title as a monster in the darkness.
He'd only come to claim his time, his legacy….
Ah. But it had not been fated.
It was not impossible. To return what the shadow had lost –
"Sir? Sir? You'll have to leave soon. The internet café is closing in fifteen minutes."
The stir of drama. Dear god, well…he had a new god to pester to death.
"So, sorry…" The bearded, elderly male tipped his hat and grabbed his coat in a rush from his seat, not before having signed off and having erased any past histories. He was just, passing through.
"Are you ok? You don't need to find –
"I have a way back, no worries…That's alright."
A man without a backbone. What a role that he'd once played before…
Back, when he was stronger.
Back when his name had purpose.
"Have a safe evening, thank you…" He tipped his hat and left the café.
Turning a corner, the shadow's demeanor had changed face.
Returning back to his last base would be the worst mistake he could make.
Right now, this man was supposed to be dead. Dead and underground with the rest of those he had put there.
A breath of cold escaped his lips. If life was so sacred, why had it cursed him? The answer was unclear, as the sad shadow of a mortal carried on by wandering out into the twilight…
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A car was parked right outside of Cook's Electronics. On the farther side southward – A pizza shop with two floors that overlooked the Jump City night time scene, was fiercely populated by those California teens and so many night owls of all sorts.
California. He'd gotten this vibe. Not likely, but before.
With grey clouds, and two brothers.
Well, it was time to rest as most owls weren't a fan of bright city lights.
The moon as its cover, the shadow passed through the busy streets on foot, its hands in its pockets the entire way.
As the pier side soon came into view, right out in the distance a sense of satisfaction filled the shadow of doubt's senses as it inhaled the cool night air and the scent of sea and shore.
Letting out a tired breath, there could be no better picture.
"Home." The figure smiled, then slunk away into the daybreak.
Night had ended, and it knew where it had landed. Where it was expected to stay.
This would be a very interesting experiment. A very, unfortunate loss…should it become fated as it were.
Yet, the shadow had little to doubt in its abilities, as it would become a shadow of rediscovery.
Of rebirth. And, of unanswered truths.
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Open Case File Number: 07 – 31 – 04: Subject – Terra.
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One unfortunate betrayal. The bitter taste of a poison you couldn't wash out from your mouth.
It still permeated the home they'd shared. The days that had been a dream to him…and to her, maybe…
Beastboy wasn't glad to say goodbye to anyone. Not to a hero, not to a Titan, and not to a best friend who had needed him to believe in her more than anyone ever had.
Slade; an enigmatic master criminal who'd taken so many things, but Terra?
She wasn't a what. She was a who. A person, and that "Stockholm" case had been the one ill that had shaken the heroes of this tale, who continued to learn from to this day of whattrust was and wasn't. Only months ago, as October was ready to roll around and take them all by surprise, they'd faced a greater evil. But, for now it was quiet in Titans Tower.
Not all super heroes came with a warning label, as Raven had put it nicely enough. Or, was that their leader who had said it?
Beastboy was a meta – human. A mutant, a kid who could turn into the entire animal kingdom with the flick of his pinky. His friend Raven was a gothic witch from another dimension. She had parents once, but her mom was gone and her dad…Well, they didn't talk for a lot of reasons.
Who was the leader of this team, you may ask yourself?
Well, he's got to introduce himself for our sake. After all, the Teen Titans were a force of good, a lot of trouble in one bunch that took down the bad guys of Jump City's growing metropolis. They had their time to mourn a loss, and to celebrate a victory.
Right now, Beast boy; the youngest member of this heroic group, was digging up the past on a special case. He couldn't place it, but the scent of another was still stinging his nostrils out of habit. He could be a bloodhound at times, yet preferred to stick his jokes in other people's faces for some added comic relief. He was an awkward kid with powers, and that team he was on was the home of many that he'd clung to for as long as he had.
Terra. She was able to come back. Somehow. Trapped in stone, her heart had to still be beating under all of that clammy concrete.
A chill, and then a loud siren sounded up from above the teen's head. His tall green ears perked up to hear it. The screens with the data on the crime he'd been analyzing were shut off as a new habit had taken form.
They were calling him, the heroes. Into battle.
It was time to fight for their city once more as young Beastboy morphed into the quickest animal in his collective consciousness to make up for lost time.
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On the rooftops off by the warehouse district in Jump, there was word of a device that could make the life of one cowled criminal much easier to live by.
He'd come up with the idea that a suit was a harder thing to come by, so a theft was in order.
Of one; Robin, of the Teen Titans.
The thief was a familiar sky – dancing, toe tapping to his own beat kind of guy.
Red was the X on his mask, so he realized the hype about two years ago. The name had stuck this year when his plan had gone public.
Red's nemesis, Robin had a secret he wanted locked away, but X wanted to come out and play. So, he'd decided to take (as thieves certainly had zero trouble with this logic to do as they wished with the finest tech on the market.)
And so, the thief now walked among them, with a desire to take and take as he was able. Until, that one fateful night?...
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A warehouse district and a place to nab the only thing X wanted. He'd done some of his homework on how the Red X suit that Robin had designed, functioned.
It was powered by an unstable chemical called "Xenothium." This was from the root word he read which meant in Greek, Different. Xeno, as in the shapes that the chemical armed with gloves and a belt, could craft to make a thief like X live on easy street for a long time.
IF he stayed out of the spotlight.
However, X had a good look at the use of the suit and a stray informant had helped him on how to use it properly.
Some lucky duck he was, having a guardian angel on his back, but the bird who'd lost his golden goose?
Robin was hot on X's trail. Still seeing no connection, sloppy. No clues. Poor kid.
He was currently rushing into a brawl and X just had one thing to say to that –
"And personally, I think it looks much cooler on me."
And so they fought, they were beaten. End of story –
Eh, but that wasn't it. No, no. We have to skip on ahead to open the door to this case…
As in, after X's flip into the air upon his near capture.
Up until the heroes had to drag themselves to their beds, and when the nightmares finally seeped in.
All of it began, with a dream.
A dream of someone whispering…
~ I am the thing that keeps you up at night. The evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind…. I will never rest, and neither will you! !~
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