Hello to the Night Chapter Five, a teen titans fanfic

Hello to the Night

Chapter Five

October 19, 6:42 AM

Robin stared at the new kind of toothpaste sitting on his sink.

Colgate Junior? He wondered, an eyebrow raised to the top of his forehead. Bubble Fruit flavor? Since when did I like bubblegum flavored stuff?

Sighing, he decided to try it. If he didn't like it, then he could rush out of his bathroom wearing only a towel and his mask and complain to whoever had done the shopping and putting-away of groceries about messing up his morning routine.

Not that he wasn't tempted to do it now.

He spread some of the toothpaste on his toothbrush, and proceeded to brush his teeth.

Ugh, this crap is AWFUL! I don't think I've ever HAD worse toothpaste… not counting the time Alfred accidentally bought a denture paste and put it in my bathroom. Man, my teeth were numb for days…

Starfire stared at the strange-shaped toothpaste dispenser sitting on her bathroom sink. Next to it sat a large bottle of a strange green liquid.

Mentadent? Original Listerine? What happened to my Colgate Junior of Bubble Fruit? What happened to my Listerine of mild, orange flavor?

Beast Boy KNOWS that I do not like Listerine of strong flavor!

Robin finished brushing his teeth roughly three minutes later, and then bent down to grab his mouthwash from the cabinet under the sink.

Mild Orange Flavored? What the? But I LIKE it strong!

He made a sound very, very similar to a growl. He was not going to use mouthwash until he had his strong, awful, BITTER Listerine in his hands.

Starfire's eyes began to glow green. I will not use this! I refuse to use Listerine of strong taste! I will not use this Listerine until I have my Listerine of mild, orange flavor back on my sink!

She sighed and slipped on a fuzzy pink bathrobe and fuzzy pink slippers.

Sighing, he recalled a phrase from Alfred's youth: "Let he who shall seek vengeance not seek it bare-assed!"

So he dressed in his uniform.

"BEAST BOY!"

7:00 AM

Raven blinked at the pamphlet taped to their door. She'd gone out to get the paper, but hadn't found it.

It was very odd— the paperboy was the only civilian allowed on the premises between the hours of two AM and nine PM. So how was it that they had an illegal pamphlet but no paper?

"The Masquerade," she read. The Masquerade? What is this, an invitation to some sort of dance?

And then her eyes fell on the bottom part of the pamphlet's front page.

She didn't bother taking the elevator up. Instead, she simply floated up through the ceiling.

She shoved the pamphlet into Robin's hands, told him that there wasn't a newspaper, and asked him to look into it.

"Why don't you do it yourself?"

"You know my following disturbs me. In order to control my power, I don't dare read further."

She watched his eyes zip down the pamphlet's pages.

"It's… a curse," he said at last. "Apparently, it's based on an old Jump City urban legend. Supposedly, they only managed to banish the curse fifty years ago, and it started in 1619."

"What's the curse?" Raven asked. Of course. This was her life.

Robin's fans painted themselves red like the bird and begged him to sign their shirts. Her fans wore all black, read H.P. Lovecraft, made animal sacrifices to her, and revived a four hundred year old curse in her honor.

"Supposedly, the preacher in Jump City found a bunch of teenagers dancing on the Island… our Island… and cursed them to dance forever. Or at least until they could get people to substitute. So at the stroke of midnight each night, they had to wander around the city, dancing and singing outside each door." He paused, sickened, and read aloud. "One who slept through their singing and dancing died. One who laughed with the Masquerade outside their door took the place of one of the Masquerade's number. The members of the Masquerade rent any who challenged it to pieces. One who looked a member of the Masquerade in the eye took the place of that member… in death."

"You mean it's a bunch of singing, dancing zombies?" Beast Boy asked. Trust Beast Boy to cut to the chase.

"Essentially, yes."

"We're going to have a bunch of zombies singing and dancing outside our door?"

"At midnight tonight," Robin agreed.

"Oh my god!" Beast Boy cried. "Tonight's a haunted house night! What if people get caught by this Masquerade thing as they're coming in or out?"

"We'll just have to close down at eleven thirty."

"What about kids? Kids will fall asleep before midnight."

Robin shook his head. "I don't know." He growled with frustration. "I don't have all the answers, you know."

"I think Slade's behind it." Raven said quietly. "Even my fans wouldn't know the first thing about reviving a curse powerful enough to last four hundred years."

Robin paused, considered. "You know, I think you're right."

12:00 PM

"What is it?" Tim asked. "Some kind of ball?"

"A curse." The masked figure Tim knew only as Slade corrected him. "In order to take effect, the curse requires at least the blood of a gypsy from which to draw its power. Effectiveness would be guaranteed if we had an actual gypsy, but I doubt we'll be so lucky."

"Let me guess. You want me to get into a fight with Robin." Tim crossed him arms over his chest. "Well, I won't do it."

Slade turned to face him. "Whatever gave you that idea? Ah, so you do know Robin's secret identity." The masked man shrugged. "I was going to have you locate a gypsy among Raven's followers, but your idea is much, much simpler." The wicked mouth curved into a smile. "I like it."

"I already told you," Tim insisted. "I won't do it! I don't belong to you, Slade! And resurrecting some curse does not sound like something the JLA would approve of! Give me proof of your membership! Right now! Do it or I leave!"

Tim couldn't see the stranger's face, but in his voice, Tim heard pity.

"Goodbye, Tim."

And with that, Tim blacked out.

Time Unknown

When he woke, he saw only darkness. He blinked, trying to decide if night had fallen or if Slade had stashed him somewhere with no light.

He had good vision, but wherever he'd woken, it was pitch black. He'd need night vision goggles to see anything at all.

With a hand, he felt out around himself. Well, wherever he was, he could stand. So he stood, and, leaning against a wall, patted himself down to make sure he didn't have any bombs or anything on his person. His search yielded only a blindfold.

Gee, why didn't I think of that earlier? He wondered as he slipped the blindfold off.

He stood in an alley. Night had not yet fallen, but the sky had gone purple.

8:00 PM

The team gathered around the large screen in the living room. Raven leaned against the wall, Beast Boy sprawled on the sofa with Cyborg standing directly behind him, and Starfire hovered close to the entrance to the kitchen.

Robin stood a little to Cyborg's right, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Robin," the Mayor admitted. "We have a problem."

"Yes?"

"The thugs that tried to rob my house are, in fact, robots."

Well. That was new. Looking around, Robin noticed the shock of the others.

Only Raven didn't appear shocked, but she'd drawn her hood up, so he couldn't see her face.

"We're sending a 'blueprint' of the robots to your computer now. We've never seen anything like them."

Robin watched as the 'blueprint' appeared beside the Mayor's face.

"That's one of Slade's!" Cyborg cried. "Slade really did set it up."

Starfire had her doubts. "But what about that boy? Tim Drake? He told us that he saw Slade make a deal with the gang."

"What if he saw it because he was working with Slade?"

"No way! Those thugs couldn't be robots!" Beast Boy shouted, waving his arms. "Hello? I tracked one when I turned into a dog?"

"Leaving a human scent could easily be accomplished by wearing a human's clothes and shoes," Robin mused.

"But what about the human faces under the ski masks?"

"They have special masks for movies; maybe Slade got his hands on some of that material?"

8:11 PM

Huh, funny how close to Titan Tower he was. Sighing, he walked over to the nearest corner and called a cab.

Robin didn't want to see him on Titan Island, as the locals had come to call it, ever again. Well, Robin probably wouldn't want it to be his blood that revived this "Masquerade" curse thingy.

He had to warn him.

The main screen flashed, and the lower left corner suddenly showed the view from the entrance-hall security cameras.

A young man wearing dark pants and a Gotham Knights pullover stood outside their front door, head bowed.

The cameras were at the wrong angle to view his face, but Robin felt his stomach clench into a knot.

"I'll deal with our visitor," Robin said. "Cyborg, see if you can pinpoint Slade's location."

"I thought I told you not to come here again," Robin snarled.

"I know, and I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been so stupid when I first got to this city," Drake replied. "Look, Slade's after you."

"I know that."

"No, I mean he's setting a trap for you. He wants to engage you in combat, so he can get your blood."

"What would he want with my blood? Cloning?"

Drake shook his head. "Worse."

"Yeah? What?"

"The Masquerade… Slade's behind it. But in order to revive the curse, he needs the blood of a Gypsy so that the curse can draw power."

Robin snarled at the teen. "You're working with Slade?"

Drake shook his head again. "No, not anymore. Not after I figured out that Slade wasn't who he said he was."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Tell me more."

"So, I arrived in Jump City. And I met up with this guy in a mask. He said his name was Slade, and that he was with the JLA. When I told him that I didn't know of any such member, he replied that he was something like a secret weapon." The boy released a cross between a sigh and a snort. "He told me to come and tell you what I told you, about the deal. When I asked why, he told me it was JLA business, and there was good money in it. I needed the money, and I wanted to see you again. I never thought that he intended to restore the curse! So I did it. And then about eight hours ago, he told me of his intent to resurrect the Masquerade. I tried to split. He knocked me out, and I woke up in an alley."

Robin ran his hands through his hair. "This… isn't good."

"Tell me about it!"

"Do you have any idea what he intends to do next?"

"That's all I know. I swear." The boy raised his hands in a classic 'I surrender' gesture.

Slade smiled. It was not a pretty smile. It was not an ugly smile. It was a genuine smile. Not, of course, that its genuine status made it trustworthy.

He glanced down at the leather-bound book and the smile widened.

The Masquerade, he decided, was indeed a good plan. People thought it was a hoax, an urban myth.

When the hoax became real, the city would take too long in realizing it. By the time they could take action, it would be too late.

After all, there was only one way to stop this curse.

"Power for power," Slade whispered. "Blood for blood. Sins of the father, passed to the son. The Dance of Death, the Relic Requiem…"

…

I never thought it'd be more than this

But you promised me and unfortunately

I bought it completely although

After I wake up I'm sure that I'll know

That today was just the rest of my life

I'm not gonna die sitting there hoping that I

Can someday come and claim the ring

It's not anything I know or want to become

-- Dance Hall Crashers, Will Tomorrow Ever Come?