An unusually low amount of reviews on the second chapter of this story has left me with an odd feeling of loss. The first chapter got so much response, it made me expect the same for the next chapter. Perhaps the fact that it took nearly twenty four hours for the chapter to actually show up caused this. I don't know. What I do know is that I am really enjoying writing this story, even without a lot of reviews on the previous chapter. Perhaps some of you figured out the killer somehow, perhaps not. I didn't leave any clues as to who it was, so I don't know how you could've done that. Unless you're a mind reader... But that's unlikely. Enough of my incompetent babble on theories on psychics. On with the story! If you can't see a chapter again, just type the number of the chapter in between the last two slashes on the web site address.
I do not own Teen Titans.
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Chapter 3: Fire And Water
All Titans View's
Everyone stared at Robin at shock. The bird-a-rang gleaming slightly under the weak lights in the room. HotSpot stared up at Robin in shock, his hands returning to normal as he backed away. "Woah man, I didn't do anything!" He said, raising his hands in defense. Robin took a step forward and raised his arm. HotSpot turned away in fear as he did. Nothing happened. He looked back up to find the bird-a-rang gone, and Robin looking much more calm. The entire team exhaled.
"Damn. I thought you were gonna kill me," HotSpot said breathlessly. Robin smiled and offered his hand, which the fire hero took. "Never even crossed my mind," The Boy Wonder said. The two walked over to join the rest of the group, which was now staring down at the body of Wildebeest. "What do we do with him?" Beast Boy asked. Robin paced back and forth on the spot. "Leave him," He answered. The team stared at him.
"Leave the corpse on the floor?" Thunder questioned. "I do not like that at all," Lightning added, shaking his head. "Fine then. Raven, move him aside," Robin ordered. Raven raised her hands, muttered the words, and levitated Wildebeest's body into the corner. It was well out of the way. "We need to find whoever did this and take them down," Speedy said, punching his fist into his palm. There was a general murmur of agreement at this. "Quiet down!" Robin yelled. Everyone stopped speaking.
"Whoever is in this tower couldn't have just been after Wildebeest. I think-" Robin stopped at a cough from Aqualad. "What if one of us did it? What if what HotSpot thought was right?" He asked. The team began to talk quickly, saying names and pointing out that it couldn't have been them. Then a yelling started. "Please. Stop arguing friends!" Starfire said. They all looked at her, surprised to have hear her raise her voice, which she so rarely did to anybody that she was friends with.
"Are we really all so quick to judge one another?" She said quietly. No one answered. Several of the group were staring at the ground, an ashamed look on their faces. Robin smiled at Starfire. "We should split up and search," Bumblebee said. "Sounds like a plan," Cyborg said, grinning at her. "Anyone object?" Robin asked. He knew that some of them didn't like it, but no one raised a hand, so he carried on without mentioning that there were an uneven number of them.
"Alright. I'll go with Starfire. Cyborg, you and Bumblebee stick together. I want Beast Boy and Aqualad together. Raven, you can stick with Speedy. Obviously, you two can partner up," Robin said, nodding in Thunder and Lightning's direction. HotSpot stood alone from everyone else. "You can go with anybody that you want to," Robin said to him. The teen shook his head quickly. "No way! No offense meant, but I don't trust a single one of you," He said. The others stared at him blankly. "Suit yourself," Robin muttered. He turned back to the entire group, but stopped as he saw Raven.
"Couldn't Cyborg just do a check for fingerprints on the handle of the axe?" She asked in a monotone. The group was again began to ramble as she said this. It seemed like such an obvious idea, and a good one as well. Robin turned to Cyborg. "Well?" He asked. The half human looked mildly embarrassed. "In normal circumstances, I could but... this party has kind of worn me out. My power cell is a little too low to be doing scans. If you give me some time to build a makeshift battery pack, I could do it later," He said. Robin slowly nodded his head in understanding before saying, "We'll look forward to it. Move out!"
000
Robin and Starfire had gone down the hall right away. Robin was heading straight for his room to get some weapons. Starfire kept her starbolts out for light. They reached it quickly, as it was the first one. "Star, stay here and keep guard. Holler if you need help," Robin told her. The alien girl nodded. He debated giving her a hug. After all, if they didn't make it, that meant that he would never get a chance. But he kept up his professional reputation and turned around, heading into his room quickly.
Inside, Robin looked around. It was dark. He had closed his blinds, so no light was getting in. The occasional flash of lightning blinding him even through the blinds. He didn't sense anybody in the room. Robin thought of where everything was positioned, then bent down and grabbed his bo staff on the floor. He grabbed some flash disc's. "Good for light," He thought. Then Robin reached for some smoke bombs, when he heard someone running outside of his room. Quickly, he ran to the door.
The light that Starfire had created was gone. The faint hallway lights gave him some sight, but not enough. He grabbed a flash disk and tossed it down the hall. It lit up the area briefly. He saw no one there. "Starfire?" Robin called out questioningly. He let out a sigh. Now he had to go and find her. Robin ran out of the room, gripping his weapons tightly. Then he took off on a search for Starfire.
000
Cyborg and Bumblebee were still on the main floor. They had decided to head to the mainframe room, where they could perhaps attempt to access the main computer, which ran on a different power system than the rest of the tower. The generator was offline for some reason, and they could activate it from there. The dim lights left them with little visibility, and Bumblebee was sticking close to Cyborg. He couldn't keep up motion sensors or heat scans, his power was just too damn low. He stopped at the long computer room hallway and looked back at Bumblebee.
"It's gonna be alright," He said to her. She stared back at him. True, she was worried, but she rarely showed that. She smiled. "I hope so," Bumblebee muttered. Cyborg was about to go down the hallway when he heard something, in front or below them. A crash. Someone was stumbling about around the area. "The killer strikes again?" Bumblebee asked Cyborg. He nervously debated whether they should go down stairs and check it out. It sounded more like it came from below them, and he wanted to stay away. "Naw," He answered. Cyborg looked down the hall, and saw that the door was open. Then he walked down the hall and into the open computer room, and stared at the screen in shock.
"What the-? How the-? Who the fuck did this!?" Cyborg yelled. He stared at the main computer on the back wall. It had been trashed. The screen was broken in several shards of glass, the keyboard lying on the ground near the door, buttons missing. Bumblebee walked over to it and picked up a wrench on the desk. "Looks like somebody had a field day," She said to Cyborg, holding the weapon up. Cyborg didn't say anything. He was wondering when it had happened. Had somebody trashed it before the party? During it? Had someone possibly gone along another route and beat them to it? He shrugged off all three. None of it made sense.
"That crash could have been someone trying to escape the vicinity," Bumblebee said. Cyborg nodded his head. "You'd think we'd have heard someone destroy this though," He said. He looked around the room, in the dark corners of it. A flash of lightning went off outside. He grimaced. What if they were still in there? He shook his head. That was a possibility that he didn't want to believe. Bumblebee took a step towards Cyborg when it happened. Something flew out of the shadows near the door behind Cyborg. "Cy!" She yelled. He had no time to move. The figure smashed into him and knocked him over, then the disappeared through the open door.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Cyborg said as he got up wearily. Bumblebee rushed to his side and helped him balance. They looked at the door, Cyborg flipping up his light from his shoulder. They saw a figure crouched on the floor. They raised their arm and threw something metal. Cyborg pushed Bumblebee aside and covered his face. He heard glass shatter, and then the light went out. Quick footsteps followed it. Cyborg moved his arm away from his face. His flashlight had been taken out.
"Whoever we're dealing with, they are seriously a bastard. Destroying my computers? Taking out my light? Why don't they just destroy my car next?" He said. His eyes widened. "My baby!" Bumblebee laughed. "Boy, you best not be thinking about your stupid car at a time like this," She said. Cyborg turned to her and smiled. "I always think about my car," He said. Then his faced turned stony. "We need to go into a storage room and get me some batteries, then we're heading into the basement. I might be able to manually reactivate our generator," He said. Then Cyborg rushed out of the room, Bumblebee following slowly.
000
They both stuck together as usual. There was no doubt about it. As much as the two of them knew each other so well, neither was sure if the other was the killer. Anyone could have killed Wildebeest. Anyone could have concealed a weapon somewhere, and then taken it out. The two of them had been talking to each other just before the attack. There was a lot of movement, too many voices. Everyone seemed to be in a different spot by the time the power went back on. This definitely mean that anyone could have gotten to Wildebeest.
Thunder and Lightning still stuck close to each other, but they both kept an eye on one another as well. Even though they were brothers, neither felt comfortable being alone with the other as of now. They had heard a crash somewhere on the floor above them earlier, and that relaxed them a bit. Surely the killer would be making the crash? And if they were together, then it couldn't have been one of them at the moment. But perhaps the killer didn't make the noise. This unsettled them both.
"Tell me truthfully brother. Did you do this? I will not tell," Thunder said to his brother. Lightning stared at him in shock. "You think that I killed the beast? I surely did not!" He yelled at him. Lightning's fists ignited with electrical energy, and he smashed Thunder in the chest, sending the large blue teen flying. He smashed into a wall and landed with a thud. Lightning rushed over to him quickly, regret filling him.
"I am so sorry," He said truthfully. Thunder got up slowly, brushing himself. "You are forgiven. And I am sorry for accusing you. I should have known that you would never do such a thing," Thunder said. They shared a brief smile when someone walked in, their fire giving the room a dim color of orange. HotSpot stared at them. "Hello friend. Do you wish to join us?" Lightning asked. HotSpot stared at them with narrowed eyes. "Fuck you! You two are probably in on it!" He yelled as he turned around. The two attempted to follow, but had to throw themselves to the ground as a blast of fire was shot back. They both stared ahead with widened eyes, wondering why exactly HotSpot was so paranoid.
000
Normally Raven wouldn't have liked traveling with someone. She would generally prefer to be alone in a situation like this. In fact, she debated teleporting away from Speedy as soon as they got away from the others. But the archer was a good fighter, skilled both with a bow and with his hands. She knew that he could be a dangerous enemy. 'Or a powerful ally' She thought. Raven looked over at him and saw that Speedy was watching her.
"Something bothering you?" He asked. She shook her head. Speedy stood up from the chair he was on. They had gone to the bottom floor. Well close to it, as the basement was even lower. Speedy had suggested starting on the first floor, to see if someone had possibly broken in. They found nothing down there. It looked normal enough. No shattered windows, no gigantic door pried open. Just the usual set up for the room. Now they had decided to take a break.
"So... you have any idea who's doing all this shit to us?" Speedy asked her in another attempt to start conversation. Raven looked up at him and pulled her hood down. "I have no clue. Maybe they were just after Wildebeest, and they're already gone," She said hopefully. She didn't actually believe that. Mainly because her and Speedy, as probably the entire tower had, heard a very loud noise. They were separated at the time, and both brought it up when they found each other. Something was being thrown around above them earlier, but they both elected to keep searching.
"Couldn't you have just read our minds or something?" Speedy asked slowly. He had heard something about her and mind reading. Raven shifted uncomfortably in her spot. True, when she touched someone she could get brief flashed of what was going on in their head, and she had been developing that power. But it seemed random at times. She was unsure of when it came and went. Raven shook her head. "Listen, I'm gonna go back to the main room. Meet me up there," She suggested. Speedy nodded as she rushed to the stairs. He waited a few minutes, trying to think. Then he followed, silently wondering if Raven was the killer
000
HotSpot was wandering around the area on the main floor. He needed a place to hide, a place to escape. He was fairly sure that he had heard someone ahead of him. It made him nervous. What if it was the killer? He had run into Thunder and Lightning earlier. Then he panicked. They seemed to be in a fight when he arrived. HotSpot did the first thing that came to mind. He turn, ran, and then blasted. Maybe he had gotten one of them. Maybe not. It didn't occur to him until after he saw the two of them together that there could be two people doing the killing. "Not again," He said nervously.
Long ago something like this had happened. Far away from Jump city, far away from the country. It was when he had first become a hero, five years earlier. No one thought that he could do it. But the city he was protecting needed someone, and he was the only one powerful enough to do it. He never expected it to happen though. Trapped in a mansion of a very powerful mobster with some hostages. Everyone would die. Everyone but him... He had failed. The killer was right in front of his eyes and he failed to notice it. 'Until it was too late' He remembered. But this was different. He wasn't going to be blamed for the deaths of everyone. Not this time. Slam!
He was sure of it this time. The noise that he broken his concentration came from ahead. Then he heard more noises. Footsteps from behind. He began to panic again. HotSpot turned and ran, looking or an exit. He saw one. A door marked with a name. Beast Boy. He opened it and ran inside quickly. His dim orange glow lighting up the room. He backed away from the door, then whipped around when he heard a noise in the bathroom. He walked in slowly. HotSpot looked down into a tub full of water. "Strange..." He muttered. He turned around.
"Boo." A voice said. He didn't notice them when he walked in. The person standing in the room with him. They were dressed in all black, and wearing a mask. He backed up. "Stay away!" He yelled as he turned his hands into blades of fire. The figure stepped forward as HotSpot stumbled back. He raised a hand to strike and the person punched, the blow hitting him in the chest hard and sending him back. HotSpot tried to gain his balance, he tried to stay straight up. "Poof," The person said. HotSpot fell back into the tub of water, letting out a scream as he hit it, thrashing around as pain consumed him. The killer smiled as they stared down at HotSpot, who's flame body was quickly put out. They stared down for a moment at the costume in the water. Then they left quickly. They could hear somebody coming.
Beast Boy's View
Beast Boy was lost. In his own tower he was lost. He had lost Aqualad shortly after footsteps that had disturbed him. Aqualad went running off to find who they belonged to. Beast Boy was now wandering around trying to find the main room. He had knocked over a chair near the stairs, which fell down loudly. Then a loud scream had drawn him to a room. He slowly walked around the area. He could hear voices near him, near his room. Footsteps ahead. He rounded the corner and found the entire group gathered around his door. Well, almost everyone was there. Aqualad and HotSpot were missing.
"Beast Boy?" Robin said. The changeling stared at the Boy Wonder, studying him. He gave a small nod. "Where were you?" Robin asked. Beast Boy tried to calm himself. 'Keep it cool' He told himself. He hadn't done anything and, even if he had, they couldn't prove it. "I was lost! Stupid Aqualad ran off!" Beast Boy said with a smile. They all turned away from him and stared at the door.
"This could be it. Someone got to the computer, attacked me and Bumblebee, and obviously went for someone else. Whoever did it could be in there," Cyborg said. Beast Boy swallowed. He highly doubted that the killer was in there. In fact... he was almost positive as to who the killer as. He stood back as Raven opened the door. But the door opened in front of her first. Everyone stared at the door way in shock. "No," Speedy whispered.
Aqualad stepped out of the room, carrying something in his arms. It looked like a dark spare uniform. Beast Boy tried to figure out what it was. "No fuckin' way!" He yelled as realization hit him. No one even bothered to look at him. Aqualad dropped the uniform onto the floor, a wet sound coming from the suit. He didn't say a word as he fell to his knees and said one name... "HotSpot." The group backed away in horror. Another one of them had fallen...
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That felt like it took a while to write. I finally killed off that punk HotSpot. Made up a little story about his past. I showed a little bit of something from everyone's point of view. A couple more chapters and you may find out whether the killer is a Titan or someone from the outside. I will say this, even if I do make it a Titan, I'm never gonna show that it's them went I focus my view on them. Except Beast Boy, you may have noticed that not one person seemed to mention anything about killing. And Beast Boy didn't even mention it. He just said he knew who the killer might be. Any guesses as to who it is? Terra? Red-X? Slade? Raven? Robin? Cyborg? Starfire? Beast Boy? Aqualad? Take a guess if you want. Review if you wish. Oh, and the rating will be R for chapter four and beyond, just to warn you. Don't forget.
Next Chapter: Aqualad causes a commotion, which breaks trust within the team. With everyone alone, the stalking begins. Will the killer strike again?
"Stupid curtains!"
-SinFire