Iris
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Chapter One
Azeal
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Robin sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose before returning his gaze back to the computer screen. He was attempting to figure out the importance of the amulet that had gone missing the night before but had thus far come up with a lot of…nothing.
Not surprising, since he didn't know what it was called or what the damn thing looked like and the owner of the museum was beyond reluctant to tell him about it. Apparently he thought Robin could get it back without knowing anything about it.
Robin was good but he knew when he was in over his head and this was one of those times. Of course knowing he was in over his head didn't mean he wouldn't still try and figure it out.
It took him all of half a second to realize that Cyborg and Beast Boy were hovering over his shoulders trying to see the screen. He continued to skim the museum's site for a moment longer, eye twitching just slightly, before the closeness finally got to him.
He valued his personal space, what could he say?
"MOVE BACK!"
They both shrieked and leapt away from him. He growled at them and, satisfied when they cowered and whimpered, turned back to his computer. Only to find Starfire hovering, upside down no less, and reading what was on the screen.
He let out an annoyed breath. He was surrounded. Friends or not he was an inherently private person and he craved a little personal space now and then. That was why he understood Raven and why sometimes she just needed to be alone.
He was the same way.
"Starfire could you please move?"
"Of course Friend Robin." She was out of the way in a matter of seconds. He smiled at her then shut down the screen. His little check into the museum and the man that owned it would have to wait until later. Not that he was suspicious of the man or anything.
He liked to think of it as properly paranoid and wary of anything that looked slightly out of the ordinary or weird.
Speaking of weird…
The alarm went off loudly and everyone winced before glaring at Cyborg. He rolled his eyes.
"Sorry. I'll fix it as soon as I get a chance."
Cyborg had gone on an overhauling frenzy after Beast Boy had accidentally hacked his system and given him a virus. After reinforcing all of the passwords and codes on his own room he'd rewired the entire tower, citing Gizmo's (albeit brief) presence inside as a reason.
'Who knows what that little monster could have planted!'
'Whatever makes you feel more comfortable man. Just stay out of my room.'
'If you say so Rob.'
Now of course the occasional appliance and alarm and door liked to stop working, go on the blink, or just in general tried to kill you. But not necessarily in that particular order. It had been quite a while, yet things till weren't back in the order they had been before.
It kind of worked at Robin's nerves. Just a little bit.
Or…you know. A lot.
"Someone is breaking into a lab outside of town." Robin let his eyes take in the location of the lab before standing up and flexing his fingers. Beast Boy scowled.
"How much are you willing to bet it's got something to do with Slade?"
Robin had noticed that, since Terra had been trapped in stone, the youngest Titan had taken on a certain…edge. On the outside he still seemed as happy and carefree (or careless according to some) but other times his eyes were hard and angry. It was…sad to Robin, in a distant sort of way. He had used to look at Beast Boy and wonder if he'd ever been that childish and now… Now he wondered if Batman had watched the anger flood his eyes all those years ago like he was doing with BB now.
He didn't want Beast Boy to be like him. Hell, sometimes he didn't want to be like him.
"Let's not go making assumptions just yet." Even if this did fit Slade's usual MO. Well…Robin was loath to admit he didn't know what Slade's actual Motive or Logic was. Most of the crimes Slade had (hired others to) committed were for the sole purpose of drawing him out and taunting him. What the man was truly up to did sort of…escape him.
And now there was this thing with Raven…
It was all rather nonsensical. Kind of like Brother Blood. Sure, the guy wanted to destroy cities and take over the world and all that, but what happened after you accomplished all of that? Do you just sit back and sip a Pina Colada by the pool and pat yourself on the back or what?
He just didn't see the point in all of it.
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Robin surveyed the scenes around him carefully. Starfire and Beast Boy were giving Mammoth a serious run for his money outside of the lab. They had of course begun their little fight inside of the lab but when Beast Boy, in T-Rex form, had gone hurtling through a wall the other two had followed.
Raven and Jinx hurled magic at each other on the roof, rocking the entire building with the sheer force of their power. The fact they were on the roof and could very well bring the whole damn thing down with one misplaced spell did kind of register on his 'things to worry about' scale but there wasn't much he could do about it now.
Gizmo, hurling his usual fifth-grade level insults went flying past him and Robin could feel his hair rustle. He blinked then turned in time to see Gizmo going through a wall, his screams echoing after him. Cyborg went running after him looking disturbingly gleeful. Any minute now the insane cackling was going to begin.
His teammates were all being kept busy. And he'd been left alone.
Slade must have been craving a meeting with him.
"Hello Robin." A slightly husky voice purred.
Or not.
Robin turned slowly and regarded the figure leaning against the Cyborg shaped hole in the wall. Pale strawberry colored hair fell just so, managing to obscure one eye. The other, a mischievous gold, stared back at him and a lazy smirk quirked the other's lips. He was tall and lithe, built like a runner, and his costume was completely black save a burgundy mask, gloves, boots, and 'S' patch.
"Slade wants me to say hi." He swept into a low bow then straightened up. "Also said don't worry about the discs in the back vault. We're going to take very good care of them."
As he spoke he held up his hand and allowed four multi-colored disks to fan out. Then he moved them back together and tucked them into his waistband. He smirked then turned and ran for the stairs at the end of the hallway.
Robin smiled slightly. He knew an invitation when he saw it. He also knew this guy was in for a nasty surprise if he thought for a second he was going to get away. Robin followed him down the hallway and into the stairwell. He was slightly surprised to see the new player heading upwards, towards where Raven and Jinx were fighting. It didn't really make any sense…
But when did anything really make sense anymore? He knew, logically, that the world had gone insane around him the moment his parents died and that looking for things that made sense were just going to drive him nuts.
Not that he wasn't already a little on the…iffy side.
He ran after him, careful to keep the new player in sight but not going to fast that he became breathless. He knew better by now. If Slade was letting this guy wear his symbol he was going to be good and Robin couldn't afford to be winded when he got to the top of the stairs.
But at the same time he didn't want to leave Raven fighting two people, one of whom they knew nothing about.
The door was open and he ran threw before coming to a skidding halt, just barely managing to miss running headfirst into Raven. She turned, cloak billowing, then blinked in surprise.
"Robin?" Her eyes hardened abruptly. "I have this under control, I don't need any-"
The shadow of a figure in her eyes was the only warning Robin had before one of Jinx's hexes caught him in the back. He stumbled, a flush of heat rushing up his back and Raven made an alarmed noise before reaching out, hands glowing blue.
He felt the heat fading and was about to tell Raven to concentrate on Jinx when the girl in question went flying across the roof and hit the ground with a soft thud. She looked up, fire in her eyes and a small trail of blood oozing from her lip.
Raven looked as confused as he was. Who had hit Jinx? And where was that boy?
"You will not defy me again Jinx." Robin twisted, already expecting to see the boy. He was sitting on the edge of the roof, frowning. "Be a good girl and gather up your goofy little friends."
Jinx glared but stood up, dusting herself off. She smiled almost ironically at Raven and Robin before running from the roof and down the stairwell. Their eyes went back to the boy. He shrugged at them then sighed loudly.
"Good help is very hard to find, you know? I give the girl a task so simple a two year old could do it and what does she do? She throws hex bombs at you." He pulled his hair back from his face to reveal twinkling amber eyes. "My apologies."
Robin glared at him darkly. "You're Slade's new apprentice? Another brainwashed Hive student or did Slade trick you into joining him like his other apprentices?" He knew even as he said it that things couldn't be further from that. His eyes were too intelligent and aware for that, but more than that they lacked the struggle he'd seen within Terra.
"Nope. Unlike you and the statue-" Robin bristled and he heard Raven's growl. "I know what I'm getting into and I'm looking forward to it; I know a good deal when I see it."
"You think being Slade's puppet is a good deal?" Raven spat.
"Absolutely." His smile was just a little more twisted. "Do you think being the Big Black Bats puppet was a good deal bird-boy? Oh…I must have struck a nerve."
Robin's hand had twitched minutely, going for one of his birdarangs, before he'd been able to calm himself. It was too late now; he'd already been seen. He'd shown weakness. His opponent smirked then rose to his feet, balancing on the edge easily. He pulled the disks from his belt, fanning them out.
"Raven I have a message for you. Soon little sister, soon."
He threw the disks at them then stepped off of the ledge. Raven had gone still, almost frozen. Robin grabbed her and pulled her down, shielding them both with his cape but careful to mostly cover her. He didn't mind a little pain, but in Raven's case it could cause anything from the collapse of the building to an earthquake. She was unpredictable like that.
The explosions the discs caused were small but fierce. He could fill the blistering heat on his back and knew it was going to leave marks. It was over quickly and he threw the cape aside and stood up just in time to see something take to the sky. For a moment he thought it was Beast Boy but then the moonlight hit it, illuminating raven black wings and he knew it wasn't.
It was almost like the angels his mother had told him stories of and showed him pictures of back when he was in the circus, but darker. More sinister. In the light of the moon the other teen's skin was an even paler white, almost ethereal, and his eyes gleamed madly.
The wings gave a mighty flap and then rose higher in the sky, making a loop around the building then going into the distance. It was gone before Robin even considered trying to stop it. It wasn't that he'd never seen a person with wings.
Why had he been so startled?
"He's not human." Raven muttered, watching. Robin arched an eyebrow.
"Well, not a normal human, no. A mutant of some-"
"No!" She snarled and shook his hands off. "He's not human! He's a demon. I can feel the magic coming from him, I can feel… he isn't right." She wrapped her cape tighter around her and Robin saw her shiver just a little bit. "Not right."
Robin sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. Fantastic. Just what they needed. "C'mon, we have to get the others."
She nodded then reached out and touched him. He swallowed down a noise of panic as the shadows reached up and enveloped him. He would never get used to that…
Total darkness.
It wasn't the most comforting thing in the world, so he was glad when it receded and he was in front of the building. Beast Boy and Starfire where waiting and Cyborg seemed to be amusing himself with taunting Gizmo a few yards away.
Robin smiled slightly. "Don't torment the bad guys Cy, it's not PC."
Cyborg flashed him a large smile then nodded. He hauled Gizmo up, accidentally smacking him the back of the head, and started towards his car. "Sorry 'bout that Rob. I'll just run Sparky here by the prison."
Robin nodded then turned back to his other teammates, focusing on Raven who had her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes were turned upwards, focused on the sky. Robin reached out and touched her arm lightly. He half-expected her to jump but she just stared at him then sighed.
"We should go. Bad things come out in the dark."
Beast Boy snorted. "Right Ray. 'Bad Things' can't be any worse than anything else we've seen."
"You'd be surprised." Raven's voice took on a strangely hollow note. She spared Beast Boy a glance then pulled her hood up and walked away from them. Robin watched after her for a moment then shook his head.
He wanted to go after her but knew enough to know it wasn't going to do any good right now. Beast Boy seemed to always be able to set her even more on edge than she normally was.
"Was it something I said?"
"It's always something you said BB." Robin clapped the younger teen on the back. "You'd think you'd know that by now."
"So not funny dude."
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"You've preformed well Azeal."
He smiled and flicked a strand of hair from his eyes almost absently. "Of course I did. I'm the best, that's why I'm here. I can't say the same for your other…helpers, I'm afraid."
"Yes. The students from the Hive Academy have proven to be a disappointment over and over again. Then again the academy is also a bit of a disappointment."
"Not to worry Sir, my father has plans for Hive." He smiled again but this time it seemed almost…hungry. "I'm sure you'll love the changes. Until then however I have an idea, if you don't mind. I think you'll approve of it."
"Oh?"
"Yes. The amulet I…liberated last week will open a rip to my home. Perhaps, with me as your second in command, we could lead some of the natives against the Titans."
"Hmm. Yes, I think I like that idea. Is there anything else you'll need?"
"Just a few things, here and there. You've heard of Green Lantern haven't you?"
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Next Chapter: Two heroes go missing, Slade and his new helper cause hell…literally, and a body in the bay makes Aqualad very unhappy but Cyborg wants to throw a parade…
Song: "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. I promise it has meaning beyond being a kick ass song. Promise. Not that being a kick ass song isn't enough of a reason…
Lupine: Soon is a relative term with me. I promise to update, but god only knows when.
Mechante: Hey, if you wanna pet the demons that's all on you, but I'm not taking you to the hospital if you lose something important so…there. That aside, Raven/BB is my…guilty pleasure, if you will. It makes me absurdly happy for some strange reason. Almost as happy as episodes that have Cyborg getting a lot of time. That guy gets no respect… And it lives! I told you it'd be back eventually, and now its bigger, badder, and…other stuff.