Chapter 3: Adventures of Two Parties...
Robin growled in hatred when Beast Boy gave the short message. Slade. Why did he want Raven? For the past few weeks the slade-bots had attacked quite often, and only just then Robin realized that over half the robot army went after Raven. She had dismantled them easily and quickly of course, so it never really had occurred to him. He mentally slapped himself. How stupid could he have been??? He should of either taken Raven with them to stop the robbery, or just have sent Starfire and Flame to stop Dr. Light. Now she was gone, and it was all his fault.
"Robin, do not despair. We will find Raven and stop Slade once and for all!" Starfire said, attempting to cheer him up. However, his scowl did not disappear, and he didn't even move, his thoughts whirling in his head. Starfire sighed sadly, looking for Cyborg for support. Cyborg knew Robin was blaming himself, and shook Robin gently, disrupting the silence.
"It's okay man, her communicator is still with her, I've checked. She really was smart to put a secret micro-chip in her raven emblem." Cyborg murmured. Robin instantly reacted to that last comment.
"She did?" He asked in surprise. Cyborg nodded, and Robin took out his communicator. He flipped up the yellow top and looked at the radar. He didn't spot her location, and his shoulders drooped.
"Jeez man, haven't you upgraded your scanner yet? Mine goes to a range of 50 miles, and she's only 10 miles away from here!" Cyborg retorted, pushing Robin playfully. His arm revealed a hidden scanner, and sure enough, Raven's signal was directly west from their current location. They waited another minute and the distance doubled.
"What? Nothing can travel that fast!" Cyborg exclaimed. Robin knew that standing there any longer could prove fatal.
"Flame, what are the... err... Kids Next Door status?" Robin asked. Flame grinned.
"Well enough for travel Rob," he replied. Sure enough, he had healed the group as soon as he arrived, and now they were in top condition. They did have burns, but no pain came through them, and were otherwise fine.
"And Beast Boy?" Robin asked no one in particular.
"One step ahead of you dude." A familiar voice said. It was Beast Boy! He was limping, but he wouldn't miss this for the world. He wouldn't abandon Raven, no matter what. Starfire, unseen by the others, had been talking to Numbah 5, in hushed voices.
"What happened to the girl with black hair and a green sweatshirt?" Starfire asked quietly. Numbah 5 shrugged.
"Don't know. She wouldn't just leave to help someone she doesn't even know, that's for sure. Maybe that Slade guy took her too?" Five replied. Starfire just shook her head in agreement, and floated over to Robin.
"I am ready, Robin. We must not delay further." Robin nodded silently and leaded the team of nine out of the room.
Meanwhile, outside of Yorktown Train Station...
A small shadow slipped past the oblivious guard, who was reading the newspaper. He grunted and took a bite of his doughnut, his day was almost over. Thank goodness was all he could think, as today was a nightmare. Having an old lady with a handbag beat you up is one thing, but having to escort seven young girls who scream their lungs off at you for not giving them ice cream is another matter entirely. A pair of eyes gleamed in the darkness, the lamp light reflecting off the entranced orbs. A nearby clock chimed nine times, signaling the departure of the last train of the day. The eyes gave a look of worry, but it quickly regained confidence as it rushed towards the slow moving train. Seeing only one entrance, it leaped at the door, opened it, and rushed in.
She had jumped into a sleeping car. Only a few dim lights were available, so her lean baggy frame was hard to see. Kuki tread carefully around the car, looking for her suspect. She checked all compartments, but none carried the man in which she hated. He had nearly killed her, and her friends! Deciding that he'd probably want to travel in style, she headed towards the rich car, the sliding door open slightly. She pressed her ear next to it to insure there were no guards, or anyone else that would block her way. Not a sound could be heard, and Numbah 3 opened the door.
Lights flooded the narrow hallways. She could spot a small common room further along the way, but the compartments were her main goal. She crawled on the floor stealthily when several windows were on the door, and listened for any source of sound. The three she had checked were empty, nothing was in there. She checked a few more, but to no avail. The last thing in the car was the living/common room at the end. She nudged up against the wall, and listened intently for any sound, almost gasping in surprise when she actually heard voices.
"So she's in the baggage car? You think that's wise, Mr. Wilson?" An unmistakably cold voice asked, drinking a glass of something, as the glass clinked.
"Indeed. The titans will never expect us to go to Yellowstone, and the case she's in won't be suspected in containing something that didn't belong there." A hauntingly familiar voice answered. A click sounded in Kuki's brain. Slade... (lol, I do that a lot..)
"I'm more worried about the girl herself. Are you sure she will not suddenly awaken and blow her container to bits?" the cold voice asked again. Slade laughed.
"Of course, I'm positive. While unconscious I gave her some of the liquid from the vial, so she won't cause any trouble. Besides, if she does awaken, she's still blinded." he replied, with a soft chuckle ending his sentence. Kuki nearly fainted at his sick words. How could someone do something like that? Apparently, Slade could, and probably will continue to do so until she did something about it. Without breathing she slipped out of the fancy car and made her way to the back, always careful. After a few minutes (this train is big, it's going a long distance. lol, also this is an unusually fast train) Numbah 3 arrived to the last railcar before the caboose. She took a deep breath, and opened the door. The light from her corridor shined in on the baggage compartments inhabitants. Kuki slowly walked in, and took a look at all the carriers. The bags, briefcases, instrument cases, and any other random carrier were jammed in there, making it impossible to depict one thing from another.
"Oh no..." Numbah 3 despaired. This was going to be awhile.
Back to the Titans and other KND...
The team had each gone their own Transportative ways, Starfire and Beast Boy flying, Robin on his R-Cycle, and the rest of the group had cramped into the T-Car. Of course, with Cyborg as the driver, boasting all about it's gadgets. Raven's signal had stopped moving, it rested on the same spot, blinking with all it's glory. The titans had driven and flown in record speed, making it to their destination within 10 minutes, instead of the usual 30. They jumped out of their vehicles (Starfire and Beast Boy landing next to them) and looked at the building that loomed before them. Looking at the sign's darkened features, they found it was the Yorktown's Finest Rail Road Station. It was considered the best in the state, with all it's glamour. Inside the buildings hung chandeliers and royal paintings, and clean benches for people to relax when they got tired from standing. Robin knew that Slade had gone on the last train, but still ordered a search of the place. A few minutes later Numbah 4 rushed back to Robin, carrying a fabric of some kind in one hand. Robin called the rest back to examine Numbah 4's discovery. When Robin asked for the item, Numbah 4 hesitated. If the KND operation center were to know of this, he was going to be kicked from the organization for sure. But if it meant for his life, he'd risk it.
"The color has been blackened from something, but I can see green radiating from it." Cyborg said, scanning the fabric. "It came from Kuki's sweatshirt."
"I found it torn on a fence rail. Guess she didn't want to go through the front door." Numbah 4 randomly suggested. The whole group shook their heads in agreement. Numbah 2 looked at the rest of the KND. They had been awfully quiet. A weird thought then entered his head, 'It wouldn't be that bad, if we joined the Teen Titans...' Numbah 2 gave a look of horror, which drew attention from the others to him.
"Uhh... I was just thinking, why don't we check the tracks to see if there's any more clues? From what I can tell, err... R... Rachelle... I mean Raven, sorry, her communicator is in that direction." He made up, and the titans again shook their heads, and followed Robin into the station.
After looking under every board, Starfire gave a gasp of surprise, which drew the others to her and what she was staring at. Beast Boy saw what reflected the floodlights, and his face dropped from eagerness to sadness. For there was Raven's emblem. Slade had figured out somehow that Raven had put the microchip in it, so he had discarded it from her possession. Beast Boy picked it up and gently touched the raven's face, knowing that everyone was watching him. He was about to yell out in anguish when a voice recorder started to play from no where.
"So where are we going, Mr. Blood?" Slade's distinguishable voice asked. The cold voice which Kuki had heard replied,
"To the vastness of Ye..." It suddenly stopped, for that was when Slade had thrown the emblem. Everyone looked at the object in surprise.
"Cyborg, did you know about that?" Beast Boy asked.
"I had no clue." Was the hybrid's answer. Silence reigned upon the group, who stared at the emblem with fascination. Beast Boy touched another part of the raven carefully, and sure enough, another recording began to play itself.
"Hatred shall rule!" A booming voice shouted. BB and Cyborg looked at each other with disdain. Trigon. They continued to listen.
"But I thought you didn't like me..." Raven's voice spoke A younger version of Beast Boy answered. "I thought you didn't like me." They listened to Cyborg's comments on how he could use a hand with Trigon looming over him, and things went silent for a while.
"Is that it?" Starfire questioned the obvious. Beast Boy was about to press something else when Beast Boy's voice came up again.
"So... Friends?" He asked.
"Friends." Raven's younger voice answered.
"And you really think I'm funny?" The young BB asked. The Beast Boy listening to the conversation suddenly felt stupid and embarrassed in front of the others.
"Don't push it." Came the swift reply. The titans couldn't help put give a smile at the last comment. Just like Raven to say something like that. The KND just watched as the titans eyes linked, giving each other messages just by looking at them. 'This Raven person must really be important to them... We'll help them get her and our Numbah 3 back!'
Author's Note:
Another chapter done! Yay! I kind of didn't like writing part of this chapter, maybe that's just because I don't like trains (lol, I'm so different from my dad, who's a train fanatic) But I hope you enjoyed it anyways. Haha, just out of curiosity, who knows where Yellowstone is? I know some people that don't even know it exists. I'll update probably after Christmas sometime, my family usually goes out for dinners and bakes cakes and things before Christmas, and of course you know what everyone does on Christmas day :P Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
