(Disclaimer: Teen Titans, not mine. These disclaimers, boring as all blue blazes.)
-CHAPTER SIX-
It had been several days now since Raven's duplication. The Titans were beginning to get used to having nine Ravens around, not counting Angry Raven, who was still locked up in her cell in the basement. As for the Ravens themselves, they were beginning to get used to having their own bodies, with all the inherent advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, they all had much more autonomy than they were used to, allowing them the freedom to do what they wanted, when they wanted. However, they now had to worry about things like feeding themselves, an issue that had never come up while they were all locked up in Raven's head. Also, while they were of course used to being in one another's company in a certain metaphorical sense, actually physically sharing a room with one another was a new experience. As between any roommates, there was a certain amount of conflict, but no major incidents had occurred so far. Currently, they were all spread throughout the living room, drinking their tea. Needless to say, the rate of tea consumption in Titans Tower had risen dramatically.
Starfire walked into the room, looked around at the Ravens, and cleared her throat.
"Excuse me, Friend Raven and doppelgangers of Friend Raven, but I was wondering if perhaps there was some of your tea left over that I might bring to the Angry doppelganger," she said. Her insistence upon referring to the duplicates as doppelgangers irritated them a little; they couldn't even begin to know where she had even learned the word.
"Oh!" cried Happy Raven. "Yes, there is still some in the pot on the kitchen table! Please help yourself!"
"Thank you very much," said Starfire, and she made her way into the kitchen. After filling a mug with the steaming, fragrant liquid, she then floated back towards the door, being careful to hold the mug level.
"Why are you being so nice to her?" asked Brave Raven. "She attacked you! Just let her rot in her cell."
Starfire sighed, but said nothing, and floated out of the room. She did not feel like attempting to explain herself to Brave Raven, or any of the others, for that matter. She knew Raven well enough to know how stubborn she could be. She also knew that Raven would not understand that, deep down, Starfire believed that there was some good in every person, even Angry Raven. And if what Smart Raven had said was true, and all the duplicates were not simply embodiments of Raven's personalities, but rather independent individuals who merely tended heavily towards those personalities due to some fundamental instability in their makeup, then there must be some part of Angry Raven that was not…well, angry. Starfire hoped to reach this part of her. Besides, even if Smart Raven's theory was wrong, keeping someone who was so similar to her friend locked away in that uncomfortable cell was disturbing to Starfire.
Lost in thought, Starfire made her way down to the basement, somehow managing not to spill any of the tea. Once she reached the door of the cell, she slid open the small hatch that would allow her to see and speak to the prisoner. She was surprised to find that she was not immediately confronted with a stream of curses from the occupant of the cell.
Perhaps she has finally calmed down? thought Starfire.
"Um…Angry doppelganger of Friend Raven?" she said hesitantly. "I have brought you some tea."
There was no response. Starfire peered into the cell, but could not see Angry Raven. A worried look crossed her face.
"Angry doppelganger? Are you there? You really should be in your cell," Starfire said, and craned her neck so that she could see more of the room through the hatch. She saw the corner of a red robe.
"Oh, there you are! You gave me cause to worry for a moment, for I thought…"
Starfire stopped. The robe wasn't the only thing in the cell that was red…
The mug dropped to the floor and smashed, sending tea and pieces of pottery everywhere, but Starfire had already flown out of the room before the last piece slid to a stop.
ooo
The Titans were waiting nervously in the living room. It had taken some time before Starfire was able to calm down enough to make herself understood, but when she had finally overcome her hysterics and told them what she had seen Robin had rushed out of the room, followed by Smart Raven. The others had followed as well, but found the door to the basement blocked—Robin had cordoned off the area so that the crime scene would not be disturbed. That had been nearly an hour ago, and the other Titans had been waiting in the living room ever since.
The door to the living room opened, and Robin and Smart Raven stepped inside. The others turned to look at them, some expectantly, others hesitantly. Robin and Smart Raven silently made their way into the kitchen and sat down at the table there—the others followed them. Only once everyone had gathered around did Robin speak.
"Okay, as most of you probably know already, the Raven duplicate representing her angry side is dead," he said. "She was found about an hour ago by Starfire, murdered in her holding cell. There are no signs of a struggle—Angry Raven had had her powers sealed by the other Ravens to keep her from escaping, and apparently she was vastly overpowered by her attacker."
Robin steepled his hands together, resting his forehead on his index fingers, as though he was in deep thought.
"There are also no signs that the cell had been entered," he continued. "The door is undamaged, and the security log says that the last time the door was opened was when we put her in there."
"So someone got into her cell, killed Angry Raven, and then just disappeared, all without even opening the door?" asked Beast Boy. Robin only sighed and nodded.
"Uhh…I hate to be the morbid one and all, but what are we going to do with the body?" asked Cyborg.
"That will not be a problem, for the duplicate's body disappeared soon after we arrived," replied Smart Raven. "Even the stains from her blood vanished. I believe that this is because of the fundamental instability of the duplicates—when they die, whatever forces hold them together dissipate, so they disappear."
"Weird," said Beast Boy, summing up what everyone else in the room was thinking.
"Quite so. Even stranger, I believe, is that her cloak did not disappear," said Smart Raven, pushing her glasses further up her nose. "While I cannot be certain, it seems likely that this discrepancy is due to the way in which Angry Raven used her powers to alter her cloak, that is, to change its colour."
"That's it—I'm turning myself green, not just my cloak," said Brave Raven.
"I'm already kind of grey…" said Sad Raven.
"I believe that that only works on inanimate objects, unfortunately," said Smart Raven. "Also, that would not in any way prevent you from dying in the first place."
"Damn," said Brave. Sad just looked down at her own feet.
"The lack of a body is a bit of a problem," said Robin, "but based on what Smart Raven and I saw before Angry completely disappeared, there wasn't too much left of her anyways. Whoever killed her must be very powerful, because even if Angry couldn't use her powers, it takes an awful lot to do that kind of serious damage to the human body. Especially if it was done as quickly as the splatter pattern indicated before it also disappeared."
"Ewww," said Happy Raven. Sad Raven pulled her hood down over her face and hid behind Cyborg.
"Also, based on what Smart Raven has told me about the whole instability issue, the fact that her body was there at all when we arrived indicates that she had been killed only recently," Robin continued, apparently unconcerned that his detailed explanations had grossed his audience out. "The murder might have taken place only a few minutes before you got there, Starfire."
"But I did not see anyone!" she cried. Robin sighed again, and looked up at the other Titans who surrounded him.
"All this, plus some of the footage from the security camera in the cell, seems to suggest that the killer is someone powerful, stealthy, able to either attack from a distance without actually touching the victim or get into a room without opening the door, and who at least knows about the security systems present in the Tower," Robin said. "And, while I can't be totally sure, that sounds a lot like you, Raven."
Raven's eyes widened in shock, as did those of everyone else in the room.
"What?" she protested. "But I…I mean…"
"I'm sorry, Raven, but to be honest, the circumstances all seem to point to either you or one of your other duplicates," said Robin. "The way in which Angry was killed just doesn't seem to match up with the abilities of any of the other Titans: Starfire would have left burn marks, Cyborg's sonic cannon doesn't shred people like Angry had been, nor does anything that I could do in such a short time, and I doubt Beast Boy could have even gotten in through the door."
"Hey!" said Beast Boy, but Robin ignored him.
"Like I said, Raven, I'm sorry, but you and your duplicates are the prime suspects right now," Robin said, crossing his arms in front of him. The Ravens all looked at each other.
"D'ya hear that, sad sack?" said Brave Raven, nudging Sad with her elbow. "You're a prime suspect!" Sad Raven whimpered and tried to disappear further behind Cyborg.
"But why would any of us want to kill Angry?" asked Happy Raven.
"Oh, gee whiz, let me see: she was evil, she tried to take over Raven's mind, all she ever did was yell and swear at us…" said Cynical Raven.
"She was a cowardly, sneak-attacking bitch, too!" said Brave. "Don't forget that!"
"How could I?" asked Cynical Raven, positively radiating disdain. Sad Raven whimpered again and pulled her hood down further over her face.
"But I don't want to hurt any one…" she whispered.
"Don't worry," Robin said. "If you're innocent, you don't have anything to worry about. I'll be working to try to figure out who did it, and hopefully nobody else will die, but all of you keep your eyes open anyways. Stick together in groups, don't go anywhere on your own, even inside the Tower."
This last suggestion that the Tower might not be safe was too much for Sad. She wailed and ran to hide behind the sofa, the protection offered by Cyborg apparently no longer enough for her. Brave laughed as Sad curled up in a ball, wrapping her grey cloak around herself as if she could hide from the world, and began poking her. Sad bawled from inside her cloak. Happy and Love both went over to break them up before Brave scarred Sad for the rest of her life, while Cynical, Lazy, and the real Raven all went back to their rooms. Smart Raven pulled out her pad of paper and began furiously scribbling something, most likely to try to figure out who the murderer was. Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy seated themselves around the living room, all of them still in shock over having a murder take place in their home. Spiritual Raven approached Robin.
"Robin, I think I might be able to help with the investigation," she said. Robin looked up at her in surprise.
"Really?" he asked. "Well, any information you have would be very much appreciated, since I don't have much to go on right now…"
"Oh, I don't have any information myself, but I know that the spirit world will hold answers," Spiritual said.
"What? Oh, um…I don't really think a séance or something is what this situation calls for…" Robin said, but Spiritual Raven was determined.
"Oh, séances are always useful," she said. "We could speak with the shade of Angry Raven to ask her who killed her! Or maybe we could enlist the aid of Sherlock Holmes's ghost to help solve the mystery!"
"I don't think that…" Robin paused, and mentally replayed what he had just heard. "Wait, Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character! He doesn't even have a…"
"Oh, no! Perhaps it was a ghost or some other vengeful spirit who killed Angry in the first place!" cried Spiritual Raven, who was now far too excited to listen to Robin. "I shall have to erect some spirit barriers to keep evil phantoms from harming the rest of us! Fear not, for I have read about such things on the Internet!"
Robin tried to tell Spiritual Raven that that would not be necessary, but she had already run off to perform her dubious mystical ceremonies. Robin had seen magic often enough as a Teen Titan, and he accepted Raven's study of it, but she usually at least did some real research on it. This duplicate of hers seemed to just believe every little bit of mysticism that came her way without even thinking about it.
I mean, the Internet thought Robin. Is she crazy
Shaking his head to clear his mind of such useless thoughts, Robin turned and went to his room to contemplate the mystery that had been placed before him.
ooo
Several days passed, and there were more murders. Lazy Raven's orange cloak was lying empty on the sofa the next morning, and Spiritual Raven's poncho and sandals were found two days later in the hallway leading to the basement, with what looked like Buddhist sutras that had been inexpertly copied from a Japanese cartoon strewn all around. Love's dress, shoes, and necklace were found a few days after that in the hall outside the bathroom. It seemed as though the murderer was focusing on the duplicate Ravens, a fact which caused no end of worry to Sad Raven. Out of all the Titans, only Happy and Brave Raven were in anything like good spirits; Happy because she was, well, happy, and Brave because she didn't really fear anything. Besides, she found a constant source of amusement in Sad's discomfort, taking the opportunity to play little tricks on her in order to send her into paroxysms of terror and paranoia.
Beast Boy was going to the kitchen to get himself a late night snack. Robin had said not to wander the halls at night alone, but Beast Boy's stomach had been growling for hours, and it was keeping him awake.
I'll just go get some crackers or something, then go right back to my room, he thought. Robin can't yell at me for that, can he?
As he made his way quietly through the halls of Titans Tower, Beast Boy found his thoughts turning to Raven's Love duplicate, the most recent victim. He wasn't sure what to think about her death, or about any of the others' for that matter.
Even though they looked exactly like Raven in most ways, they were only duplicates, right? Beast Boy thought. And why am I thinking of the Love clone in particular?
He knew the answer to the second question well enough, but he wasn't sure he liked it. Love had been avoiding him ever since she and the real Raven had their little "talk", but he still caught her staring at him every now and then. He figured that Raven had told her to stay away from him. He had still been curious about why Love seemed to like him so much, and had tried to work up the courage to ask, but now that she had been killed he would never know. Beast Boy sighed.
And good luck getting any straight answers out of real Raven, he thought. She's clammed up even tighter ever since these duplicates showed up.
Beast Boy was almost at his destination when he heard hurried footsteps coming from down the hall. He turned, squinting into the darkness, just in time to see Cynical Raven skid around the corner and crash into the wall. She tried to pull herself to her feet, but before she could she was enveloped in a field of glowing black energy, like neon darkness. Beast Boy ran towards her, but it was over before he could do anything to help. Cynical screamed soundlessly, her voice cut off by the energy field. The field of darkness seemed to become sharp somehow, and then she was virtually shredded right before Beast Boy's eyes. He slid to a stop as the energy field released her body and withdrew back into the shadows down the hall. Beast Boy didn't even bother checking Cynical for a pulse—he wasn't a medical expert by any means, but he knew enough to know that nobody could have survived what had happened to her. He stared into the darkness, looking for any sign as to the killer's identity.
"Oh, dear," came a disembodied voice from the shadows. "I can't have a witness around making things difficult for me, now can I?"
The murderer stepped out of the darkness, and Beast Boy gasped.
"You? But…"
Beast Boy never finished his sentence.
-END CHAPTER SIX-
Author's Note: And I thought I sucked at writing action sequences. Hoo, boy, remind me not to do a mystery-type thing again. It's long, drawn-out exposition time, people! Also, I hope I haven't made who the killer is super obvious. That would kind of ruin the point of the mystery. I know who the killer is already, so I might just be making connections that wouldn't be obvious to someone who doesn't know who did it, or something like that. Oh, well. It'll only last until the end of next chapter. I doubt I would be able to keep the mystery up much longer without completely giving it away.
A quick note about why the last few updates have been a bit late: do you remember that buffer I said I had a few chapters ago? Yeah, that's gone now. I've been trying to spread out my posts a little more because between some writer's block on this chapter and a bunch of school work I had to do (I still have some left, even) I just didn't do any work on Duplomatic in the last few days. So say bye-bye to Mr. Buffer. BUT! The main reason I didn't do too much work on this chapter even in what spare time I did have between my assignments was that I wasn't so sure how to write a mystery bit. Now that this chapter is over with, I'm feeling a lot better about the next ones, so hopefully that will spur me on to write lots more in the next few days. Huzzah! I make no promises, though. Now that I think of it, I didn't make any real promises to begin with, so what am I worried about?
Oh, and another quick note about Starfire's train of thought at the beginning of the chapter: you read correctly, folks, she remembered that the duplicates aren't just physical manifestations of Raven's emotions, but totally separate entities that merely tend heavily towards one particular emotion or another (I mentioned that earlier—I think it was in one of Smart's little plot-saving explanations). I've seen quite a few stories where Starfire is treated as a bit of an airhead, but I don't think of her that way. She's perpetually cheerful, and her grasp of the finer points of colloquial English is a bit lacking, but I don't think she's stupid. If any of you do, that's up to you, but I'm just saying what I think.
To My Reviewers:
The Mad shoe1: Thanks! More is definitely on the way!
Nevermore Forevermore: -eats cookie- Yeah, that outburst of Love's was…interesting to write. I might include some of my thoughts on where that came from with respect to me, the author, in the Director's Cut chapter. Tap the angst, baby! Oh, yeah!
Regrem Erutaerc: Sorry, but it looks like the other emotions aren't going to get the chance to profess their undying love for Beast Boy. Curse you, cruel, cruel fate! Curse you and your neon black death! Seriously, though, neon black would be the coolest colour ever. As for the whole romance issue, I have some very definite ideas about that, and what will be happening in terms of this story, but I don't want to give too much away. Plus, if I put too much of it in, CloudsHalo might kick my ass. Speaking of…
CloudsHalo: I have to say, what with the tastefully cut off swearing of Angry Raven and the somewhat suggestive stuff with Love in Beast Boy's room, I was suffering from serious PG-13 paranoia when I posted Chapter 5. I'm not a prude or anything, but I'm not too familiar with the American rating system, and the guidelines quoted by are pretty vague. Thanks for the vote of confidence with the Robin vs. Multiple Gary fight scene. I will try to work on them more, although I'll avoid the "Evil Raven Stick Everybody" type scenarios like the plague. No worries about the short chapter thing. I actually thought my chapters were getting really long, but now I've seen quite a few other stories with some seriously long chapters.
Wave Maker: Yeah, I think that "The Face" could easily have headed off the unfortunate events of Betrayal and Aftershock. (Terra: "I am now Slade's apprentice!" Beast Boy: does The Face Terra: "Awww!" her control suit magically shorts out or something Slade: "Damn! How did he know that the suit's only weakness was its sub-standard kawaii-shielding? Why didn't I take out kitten insurance?")