Without any hesitation, the Teen Titans walked back to Gizmo. He
kept on playing with his computer and seemed not to take any notice of
them. Cyborg grabbed his computer and put it under his arm.
"Hey! I was using that!," A small high pitched squeal escaped. It was obvious the boy had skipped many grades. His voiced hadn't even cracked yet. "What's going on?" He demanded.
"Did you wreck our files?" Cyborg asked.
The boy looked up for the first time. He had the palest blue eyes Star had ever seemed. (The name is the only similar thing, everything else I changed and added to). It was clear he spent most if not all of his time indoors in front of the computer. 'What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Did you or did you not hack into our files?" Cyborg repeated.
"I didn't, lame-o," Gizmo said. His age was made even clearer at his lack of maturity. "Now gimme!"
"I don't believe you," Cyborg said. He seemed to know the boy better than any of the other Titans. 'I guess it's from using the computer a lot,' Star thought. 'They must be a part of a small community'.
The boy sighed. "How can I get you to believe me?" he asked.
"I'm sure you can think of a way."
"Fine. I didn't hack into your computers though. You gotta believe me."
Cyborg sighed and passed the computer back. "Come on guys, I have no idea who else could have done it."
"I didn't..." the boy continued. "But I know who did.
Cyborg turned around, "What?"
"You know how it is..." The boy continued. "Not many people interested in computers. With the exception of you, I don't know anyone else in the area."
Cyborg nodded. Star smiled, she had guessed right.
"So I noticed when I started encountering a lot of search queries coming from this area. I couldn't pin-point the location but they asked about hacking and deleting files."
"When did it start?"
"About 3 days ago."
"That would fit. Any more info?"
"It's going to cost you," The boy took on a sharper face and narrowed his eyes. "You need to help me set up a G3 multiplex combination of altarie combustion."
(I have no idea what to say...that's gibberish...or is it?)
"Done." Cyborg nodded.
"OK the user name was: the mad ratter (I know its lame...but its all I could think of)."
"What?!?" All of the Titans exclaimed.
"Guess they're into rodents and like Alice in Wonderland. There are worse things." The boy turned back to his computer and resumed typing. He didn't even look up as they trailed away.
---------------------------------
"The mad ratter? Is this some kind of sick joke?" Robin asked.
"Don't look at me," Raven said. "I'm into Poe, not Carrol."
"Look on the bright side. At least now we have something to go on." Star said trying to be cheerful.
"Exactly, what do we have?" Terra demanded.
"Well...nothing really...I was just reading the poster," Star pointed to one of the many inspirational posters that all the teachers were required to put in their rooms.
Everyone laughed. It seemed the simple joke had lightened the tension. The bell rang. Since the schedule changed weekly, (I had to come up with an excuse) the next subject was PE for everyone but Star who took Dance. Star went of to the separate locker room for Dance students while Raven, Terra, BB, Cyborg, and Robin went to the general PE locker room. Form there they split into the two different sides: male and female. While Raven changed, Terra finished early and went to get a drink of water. She left her pants dangling from her locker since she had forgotten to lock up.
Raven curiosity got the better of her. She reached into the pocket and pulled out the shiny contraption she had seen earlier. She was right; it was a tape recorder. She pressed the rewind button and it whirled as the tape inside went backwards. When it clicked, showing it was finished, Raven steeled her nerves and pressed play; as much as she hating violating the other girls privacy (she hated it when anyone did it to her) she had to find out what was on the tape.
The tape began whirling again and Terra's soft voice was heard:
"cyguy128." Then a pause. "birdarang2" then a pause.
A door slammed as Terra re-entered the locker room. Raven hurriedly pressed the fast-forward button the stuffed the machine back into Terra's pants. She threw the pants into the other girl's locker and turned around pretending to struggle with her shirt just in time. Terra barely glanced at Raven, she just twirled the lock and walked into the main gym. Raven sighed, she hadn't been caught. Then a thought came into her head: Caught doing what?
Raven needed to find out what the words meant.
Locking her own locker, Raven followed Terra into the gym. Terra was busy chatting to Cyborg, BB, and Robin; she didn't even notice Raven enter. Catching Cyborg's eye, Raven gestured for him to come over. He looked at her a second, then made and excuse and walked over to her.
"Raven, what's wrong?" He asked, noticing Raven agitated manner.
"Do you know what cyguy128 means?" Raven said, avoiding his question.
"That's my password, how did you find that out?" He hissed.
Glancing over at Terra laughing at something Bb had said, Raven turned back.
"Cyborg I think we have a problem."
Raven told him everything. She was so relieved to get it all off her chest, the words couldn't come fast enough. When she finished, she looked at Cyborg for a response.
"I hate to admit, but you sound like you're right. Let's see what Robin thinks." Cyborg answered.
He called Robin over and asked him about the second word that Raven heard: birdarang2.
All of Raven's fears were confirmed. It was Robin's password. When everything was explained to him, Robin looked back at the other two Titans.
"How are we going to explain it to the others?" he asked.
After school the three Titans met again. They had decided that Star and BB were too close to Terra to take them seriously. They had to act alone.
"The only way is to get that tape," Raven said for the third time.
"I don't like it but it does seem to be the only way," Robin grudgingly agreed.
"Tomorrow then. You get the tape," Cyborg said pointing to Raven. "And bring it to me as soon as you get it. We have to at least make a copy before we confront her and she does anything to it."
-----------------------------
After school
Raven decided to stay after and go to the library. She wanted to know how Terra had hacked into their systems. The library still used the old fashioned card catalogue t tell who had done what damage to each book. Looking at the cards for the computer section, Raven saw all of the books had been checked out last by Terra. Xeroxing the cards in case they needed further proof Raven had returned to the main desk and was just about to leave when she saw Terra.
Raven was able to sneak up behind Terra and see exactly what she was doing. It looked like a long essay...
"Hey isn't that your essay? I thought it was gone!" Raven burst out before she could stop herself.
Terra whirled around. She tried to deny it at first. "I had another backup version."
"You said all your versions were destroyed."
"I found another."
"All of everyone else's were."
Terra saw it was pointless to argue. Mockingly she clapped her hands together three times. "Well, well, well, we are brilliant, aren't we?"
Raven gasped. The happy little blonde was gone, in its place was a mean calculating girl. "You won't get away with this!" Raven said, wincing at her own futility.
"I already have," Terra said calmly. "No one's going to believe little, jealous, Raven!"
"Witch," Raven said turning away. There was nothing she could do right now, but tomorrow... "You will pay."
------------------
The next day in gym, Terra had to go to the bathroom. Raven quickly excused herself. This was the only time she would have. She ran down to the locker room and slammed the door open. Time was of the essence.
She reached Terra's locker. It was locked but it didn't stop Raven. Raven had seen Terra open it a million times. She kept replaying the images until...
"got it!" she whispered to herself as the locker popped open.
She reached in and found Terra's pants. Terra wasn't too clever to think that Raven knew about the recording device and the tape. She listened to the entire tape and locked the locker. "I told her she would pay." Raven said as she went back to the gym. She passed the tape to Cyborg and prepared to face off against Terra after school.
----------------
After school, Raven arrived early. She saw Robin already standing there and gave him the Xerox she made yesterday. Scanning it, Robin gave her a single nod of approval. He was as eager to bust Terra for what she had done to him as Raven was. As everyone entered, Robin stepped forward.
"Hey everyone, I think we should listen to this," he said sliding the tape into a tape player that Cyborg had brought.
Terra's eyes widened at the sight of the tape. She recognized it instantly. She tried to delay the inevitable. "How about we fight then listen? We can hear it while we pant for breath."
"So you can kick it 'accidentally' during practice?" Raven asked smiling. "I don't think so."
"Dude! What's going on?" BB asked. He fell silent as the tape played.
"cyguy128" silence "birdarang2" silence "telekinesis24" silence "starbolt51" silence "shapechager253"
Star and BB gasped when they realized what they heard.
"Why is Terra saying my password?" Star asked.
"Dude," BB said weakly. "What's going on?"
Robin held up the Xerox. All of the computer books were checked out of the library this past week by the same person. Terra."
All eyes turned to Terra as she just glanced back. "I've been framed..." She tried weakly, but saw it wasn't going down. She burst out laughing as everyone stared at her.
"All right, I'll come clean. I was the one who trashed all of your files. But I wouldn't do that..." she warned as Raven was about to kick her.
"Why not?" Raven asked coldly.
"Because I still have them. And if any of you so much as touch a hair on my head, its bye-bye files. And once they're gone, they can't come back. So you'd better do as I say." Terra laughed again.
"You're crazy!" Robin gasped.
"Dude! You're nuts!" BB said, genuinely stunned.
"Not crazy. I'm mad....I'm the madratter remember? I always liked anagrams. That was the closest think my name would work for. But I always like Alice in Wonderland."
The Teen Titans looked at each other. There seemed like there was nothing they could do.
"Hey! I was using that!," A small high pitched squeal escaped. It was obvious the boy had skipped many grades. His voiced hadn't even cracked yet. "What's going on?" He demanded.
"Did you wreck our files?" Cyborg asked.
The boy looked up for the first time. He had the palest blue eyes Star had ever seemed. (The name is the only similar thing, everything else I changed and added to). It was clear he spent most if not all of his time indoors in front of the computer. 'What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Did you or did you not hack into our files?" Cyborg repeated.
"I didn't, lame-o," Gizmo said. His age was made even clearer at his lack of maturity. "Now gimme!"
"I don't believe you," Cyborg said. He seemed to know the boy better than any of the other Titans. 'I guess it's from using the computer a lot,' Star thought. 'They must be a part of a small community'.
The boy sighed. "How can I get you to believe me?" he asked.
"I'm sure you can think of a way."
"Fine. I didn't hack into your computers though. You gotta believe me."
Cyborg sighed and passed the computer back. "Come on guys, I have no idea who else could have done it."
"I didn't..." the boy continued. "But I know who did.
Cyborg turned around, "What?"
"You know how it is..." The boy continued. "Not many people interested in computers. With the exception of you, I don't know anyone else in the area."
Cyborg nodded. Star smiled, she had guessed right.
"So I noticed when I started encountering a lot of search queries coming from this area. I couldn't pin-point the location but they asked about hacking and deleting files."
"When did it start?"
"About 3 days ago."
"That would fit. Any more info?"
"It's going to cost you," The boy took on a sharper face and narrowed his eyes. "You need to help me set up a G3 multiplex combination of altarie combustion."
(I have no idea what to say...that's gibberish...or is it?)
"Done." Cyborg nodded.
"OK the user name was: the mad ratter (I know its lame...but its all I could think of)."
"What?!?" All of the Titans exclaimed.
"Guess they're into rodents and like Alice in Wonderland. There are worse things." The boy turned back to his computer and resumed typing. He didn't even look up as they trailed away.
---------------------------------
"The mad ratter? Is this some kind of sick joke?" Robin asked.
"Don't look at me," Raven said. "I'm into Poe, not Carrol."
"Look on the bright side. At least now we have something to go on." Star said trying to be cheerful.
"Exactly, what do we have?" Terra demanded.
"Well...nothing really...I was just reading the poster," Star pointed to one of the many inspirational posters that all the teachers were required to put in their rooms.
Everyone laughed. It seemed the simple joke had lightened the tension. The bell rang. Since the schedule changed weekly, (I had to come up with an excuse) the next subject was PE for everyone but Star who took Dance. Star went of to the separate locker room for Dance students while Raven, Terra, BB, Cyborg, and Robin went to the general PE locker room. Form there they split into the two different sides: male and female. While Raven changed, Terra finished early and went to get a drink of water. She left her pants dangling from her locker since she had forgotten to lock up.
Raven curiosity got the better of her. She reached into the pocket and pulled out the shiny contraption she had seen earlier. She was right; it was a tape recorder. She pressed the rewind button and it whirled as the tape inside went backwards. When it clicked, showing it was finished, Raven steeled her nerves and pressed play; as much as she hating violating the other girls privacy (she hated it when anyone did it to her) she had to find out what was on the tape.
The tape began whirling again and Terra's soft voice was heard:
"cyguy128." Then a pause. "birdarang2" then a pause.
A door slammed as Terra re-entered the locker room. Raven hurriedly pressed the fast-forward button the stuffed the machine back into Terra's pants. She threw the pants into the other girl's locker and turned around pretending to struggle with her shirt just in time. Terra barely glanced at Raven, she just twirled the lock and walked into the main gym. Raven sighed, she hadn't been caught. Then a thought came into her head: Caught doing what?
Raven needed to find out what the words meant.
Locking her own locker, Raven followed Terra into the gym. Terra was busy chatting to Cyborg, BB, and Robin; she didn't even notice Raven enter. Catching Cyborg's eye, Raven gestured for him to come over. He looked at her a second, then made and excuse and walked over to her.
"Raven, what's wrong?" He asked, noticing Raven agitated manner.
"Do you know what cyguy128 means?" Raven said, avoiding his question.
"That's my password, how did you find that out?" He hissed.
Glancing over at Terra laughing at something Bb had said, Raven turned back.
"Cyborg I think we have a problem."
Raven told him everything. She was so relieved to get it all off her chest, the words couldn't come fast enough. When she finished, she looked at Cyborg for a response.
"I hate to admit, but you sound like you're right. Let's see what Robin thinks." Cyborg answered.
He called Robin over and asked him about the second word that Raven heard: birdarang2.
All of Raven's fears were confirmed. It was Robin's password. When everything was explained to him, Robin looked back at the other two Titans.
"How are we going to explain it to the others?" he asked.
After school the three Titans met again. They had decided that Star and BB were too close to Terra to take them seriously. They had to act alone.
"The only way is to get that tape," Raven said for the third time.
"I don't like it but it does seem to be the only way," Robin grudgingly agreed.
"Tomorrow then. You get the tape," Cyborg said pointing to Raven. "And bring it to me as soon as you get it. We have to at least make a copy before we confront her and she does anything to it."
-----------------------------
After school
Raven decided to stay after and go to the library. She wanted to know how Terra had hacked into their systems. The library still used the old fashioned card catalogue t tell who had done what damage to each book. Looking at the cards for the computer section, Raven saw all of the books had been checked out last by Terra. Xeroxing the cards in case they needed further proof Raven had returned to the main desk and was just about to leave when she saw Terra.
Raven was able to sneak up behind Terra and see exactly what she was doing. It looked like a long essay...
"Hey isn't that your essay? I thought it was gone!" Raven burst out before she could stop herself.
Terra whirled around. She tried to deny it at first. "I had another backup version."
"You said all your versions were destroyed."
"I found another."
"All of everyone else's were."
Terra saw it was pointless to argue. Mockingly she clapped her hands together three times. "Well, well, well, we are brilliant, aren't we?"
Raven gasped. The happy little blonde was gone, in its place was a mean calculating girl. "You won't get away with this!" Raven said, wincing at her own futility.
"I already have," Terra said calmly. "No one's going to believe little, jealous, Raven!"
"Witch," Raven said turning away. There was nothing she could do right now, but tomorrow... "You will pay."
------------------
The next day in gym, Terra had to go to the bathroom. Raven quickly excused herself. This was the only time she would have. She ran down to the locker room and slammed the door open. Time was of the essence.
She reached Terra's locker. It was locked but it didn't stop Raven. Raven had seen Terra open it a million times. She kept replaying the images until...
"got it!" she whispered to herself as the locker popped open.
She reached in and found Terra's pants. Terra wasn't too clever to think that Raven knew about the recording device and the tape. She listened to the entire tape and locked the locker. "I told her she would pay." Raven said as she went back to the gym. She passed the tape to Cyborg and prepared to face off against Terra after school.
----------------
After school, Raven arrived early. She saw Robin already standing there and gave him the Xerox she made yesterday. Scanning it, Robin gave her a single nod of approval. He was as eager to bust Terra for what she had done to him as Raven was. As everyone entered, Robin stepped forward.
"Hey everyone, I think we should listen to this," he said sliding the tape into a tape player that Cyborg had brought.
Terra's eyes widened at the sight of the tape. She recognized it instantly. She tried to delay the inevitable. "How about we fight then listen? We can hear it while we pant for breath."
"So you can kick it 'accidentally' during practice?" Raven asked smiling. "I don't think so."
"Dude! What's going on?" BB asked. He fell silent as the tape played.
"cyguy128" silence "birdarang2" silence "telekinesis24" silence "starbolt51" silence "shapechager253"
Star and BB gasped when they realized what they heard.
"Why is Terra saying my password?" Star asked.
"Dude," BB said weakly. "What's going on?"
Robin held up the Xerox. All of the computer books were checked out of the library this past week by the same person. Terra."
All eyes turned to Terra as she just glanced back. "I've been framed..." She tried weakly, but saw it wasn't going down. She burst out laughing as everyone stared at her.
"All right, I'll come clean. I was the one who trashed all of your files. But I wouldn't do that..." she warned as Raven was about to kick her.
"Why not?" Raven asked coldly.
"Because I still have them. And if any of you so much as touch a hair on my head, its bye-bye files. And once they're gone, they can't come back. So you'd better do as I say." Terra laughed again.
"You're crazy!" Robin gasped.
"Dude! You're nuts!" BB said, genuinely stunned.
"Not crazy. I'm mad....I'm the madratter remember? I always liked anagrams. That was the closest think my name would work for. But I always like Alice in Wonderland."
The Teen Titans looked at each other. There seemed like there was nothing they could do.