Here we are for part seven of Raven's game! With five of the twelve symbols recovered from where Beast Boy had hid them, Raven's read through parts of his diary… and finds that he was falling in love with her. Meanwhile, in the real world, the Titans search futilely for Raven all through the tower. In the basement, Cyborg's sonic ear picks up whispers in the timed vents… And after the recap I say I don't own Teen Titans and on with the show!
Raven was searching the common room again. She just freaking knew there had to be a symbol there somewhere. She'd already searched the gamestation, all their movies and CDs. So, this time she started searching the kitchen area.
Carefully emptying every cabinet of dusty, cracked plates and other things, she set them out on the counter as she went. Warily eyeing the nearby phone, Raven emptied the silverware drawer as well. Most of them were rusted or even broken in half with age… but they were of little concern. Pulling out another drawer, she emptied it as well. Slow, careful motions of her hands displayed everything the kitchen had to offer with careful order. All the plates were stacked, the silverware in a pile, mixing bowls over there… moldy old paper towels over there. Grunting with frustration, Raven even yanked the clock off the wall. "It's not even working…" she said, very annoyed she hadn't found anything yet. Using a screwdriver she'd found for replacing batteries in things that needed to be unscrewed, she opened the panel in the back of the little round clock.
A little green slip of paper fell out, and Raven's heart leapt.
She snatched it before it even hit the ground, setting the clock on the dead stove. It was folded twice, construction paper, and it had bled-throughink on it. Licking her dry lips she unfolded it. Was it another symbol, left behind by Beast Boy? Hoping for the best, she looked at the paper when it was all the way unfolded… and frowned.
There are no batteries in this clock, so what does it lack besides 'atock?'
What the hell was that supposed to mean? The panel that was supposed to house the clock's batteries were, in fact, empty. That's where the note had been stored, but… what was this? Some kind of riddle? Raven went, taking the clock with her, sat on the love seat in the living room area again. Pushing her hood back, she looked at the clock. It was round and white, regular block numbers. Stictly functional, it was the same clock they'd had forever. There nothing special about it, maybe a twelve dollar purchase. She suddenly noticed the words 'a tock' were mashed together, and frowned again. If this clock was off, it was lacking ticks as well as tocks. But, what did that tell her? "A tick? Okay Beast Boy… what're trying to tell me…?" she whispered, looking from the riddle to the clock itself. Using the screwdriver, she dismantled the rest of the clock, but found no more clues. The little note was all she had to go by. There was some kind of trick to the words… she could tell… what was it? 'atock?' Raven thought for a long time. "Where are you pointing me to, elf boy…?" Raven whispered. She sat there, staring at the carefully written note. "The a tick?" she mumbled. She suddenly gave a start. "The a tick!" she stood straight up, surprised at how simple the answer was. "There's a symbol in the attic!" Feeling rather proud of herself and her book-fed intelligence, she swept her torn cloak dramatically as she ran to the stairwell. 'Clever… Beast Boy…' she thought silently, still not used to having those three words together.
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"They should open in three… two… one…" Cyborg counted down, and the vent they were standing in front of swung open. "There, see? No sweat!" It was the next day, but you couldn't tell because it was still raining. He and Beast Boy were already in the vent shaft, and the hidden vent had popped open like a hidden door. Right before their very eyes, a new path was shown to them. "It'll stay open for about ten minutes, so we gotta look quick or we'll be trapped in here, okay?"
"Check." Beast Boy said. He'd gotten very little sleep, and his spirits were as low as ever. Whatever voices they were hearing in the vent, he somehow doubted it was Raven's. It was too… reptilian. Like a whispering snake, heard through the walls… "I'm goin' bat!" Beast Boy announced his transformation and took off into the darkness in front of him. The metallic walls didn't go very far, and then began a system of caves and catacombs. God knew where they let out, but Cyborg used them as ventilation for the Tower, in case they should need it or ever be under such great attack as to need it to flee.
Cyborg's shoulder-light popped up, flicking on and casting a beam of brightness into shadow. Quickly walking since they were on a time-limit, he searched this way… then that… there didn't seem to be any wildlife. "Mmm…" he didn't like dark, untamed areas. Being a man of technology, it often meant unseen threats for him. He walked among stalagmites, carefully checking his footing. But… why did it seem like he was walking along a path? Had someone been there earlier…? Nah, that was stupid. It was a dark old cave, and the smooth ground was probably where water used to flow. "BB?" he asked into the darkness.
A little green bat landed, turning back into the humanoid version or Beast Boy. "You gotta come see this, Dude! Its huge!" He danced back and forth, then started tugging Cyborg along by his arm. Giving in to the tugging they ran onward. "I couldn't see it real well since bat's got echolocation, but this isn't any cave spike I've ever seen!"
"They're called stalagmites, dude. Those are what the ones on the floor ar–" he came to a stuttering halt. They'd reached what Beast Boy had found at the far end of the cavern. It was huge and circular, a real skull in the middle. It looked like a giant, round, stone coin. "What the…" Cyborg whispered, casting his light slowly across it. There was even writing on it, under all the spider webs.
"See? Told ya!" Beast Boy proclaimed.
"Heeeeenooooooosaaaaakiaaaaa…." It was soft, but it vibrated the air around them. Both boys froze in shock and fear. Was someone down there with them?
"Hello?" Cyborg asked into shadow. He got no response, and they went closer to the enormous stone. It looked kind of like a giant coin or maybe a disk, stood up on its side and blocking that which was behind it. "Hello?" Cyborg tried again.
"Dude… I'm getting' a really bad vibe here…" Beast Boy was slowly backing away. He looked up at the giant stone Cyborg was beginning to examine. There were twelve symbols all around the edges, and they seemed to… did that first one seem to glitter? He looked closer, but it had either stopped or it had been his imagination. The skull in the middle was giving him the creeps, and he wasn't about to stick around for this kind of stuff. "Cyborg… let's get outta here, dude." He whispered. "Isn't that vent thing gonna close soon?"
Cyborg didn't answer, and was pressing his ear against. There was something just past the stone slab… moving around… "I think I'm gonna take a sample for later." He said, his hand becoming a corkscrew-drill. "We can leave after this." He pressed it gently to the ancient stone, and it chewed into it about five inches.
All twelve symbols glowed, directly above him. Beast Boy chewed his fingernails, dancing around like he had to pee. "Uhm… Cyborg?" he squeaked. "You probably shouldn't do that…"
"What's the harm in it?" he asked, not really paying attention. "I wannd analyze this later and see how old it is. Who knows, it might be really valuable!" The symbols, just beyond his sight, were pulsing almost angrily at him.
"Dude…" BB's voice was even higher and squeakier. "You really shouldn't be doing that…"
"Aw, c'mon Beast Boy." Cyborg said, squinting as he gently withdrew the sample. It was a little cylinder of stone, perfectly shaped thanks to his special drill.
All twelve symbols on the stone slabcaught fire.
Beast Boy screamed in horror, running for his life. Cyborg looked up, a massive sweat-drop going down the back of his head. "Aw maaaaaan!" he started running as the stone began to come apart above him! "Gangwaaaaaay!" the metal man took off as pieces started falling from the ceiling as well. He ran back, finding the metal parts of the outer vent. Beast Boy had run through right before him, and it was closing. Cursing loudly he threw himself through! The closing vent shot sparks as he passed, scraping his metallic body. He landed, sample still in hand, on top of Beast Boy. The vent hissed shut behind him, and they heard the distant rumbling of the stone slab coming apart. "Musta been unstable…"
"Gerrof me, dude!" Beast Boy gagged, crushed by the larger Titan.
"Oh, sorry…" he quickly stood, showing Beast Boy the little cylinder of stone. "Well we got this at least."
"Raven wasn't down there either, though." Beast Boy hotly reminded him of their mission. "That's what we gotta focus on, dude. Not some old rock." He snatched the stone from Cyborg, stomping away.
"Hey! That's mine!" he gave chase.
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Raven emerged into the attic via the pull-down stairs. She'd been on the roof plenty times to meditate, but… she couldn't recall this room at all. She'd been right above it the whole time. The very air she breathed was dusty, and a little cloud of disturbed dust followed her feet wherever they went. The room itself was huge, but there was so much random stuff to go through… "Okay… where would I hide it if I were Beast Boy…?" she murmured, slowly surveying the whole place.
There were old wooden chairs, Cyborg's outdated tech, alien artifacts that Starfire decided she didn't want in her room, Robin's supposedly secret box of dirty magazines… Beast Boy had left her quite a mess to sort out. Things even hung from the ceiling on strings. Was that a lightbulb…? Oh yeah, no power… Raven took out the flashlight and flicked it on. Shining the beam of light all around, she looked for any sign of a recent disturbance. A place with less dust than the rest of the room… Raven knew the titans rarely came up here for anything at all, but even if Beast Boy had been there a month ago, she'd be able to tell from the lack of dust… somewhere… Raven spotted a suite case, and saw hand prints in the dust around it. Nodding once, she made her way over to it and pulled it into a more open area.
She made to pull it open, but to no avial. It was locked. Who the hell needed locks on a bag to keep clothes in! Raven cursed softly under her breath, looking at the twin key locks. "I bet the key is long gone…" she murmured, rooting around in Starfire's purse for help. A magnifying glass, Beast Boy's diary, a pen, some paper… and the screwdriver she'd decided to keep. Arching an eyebrow she took out the screwdriver and knelt down so she could see better. Setting the purse and flashlight to one side so she could work with both hands, she inserted the tip of the screwdriver into the first lock. "Gently… gently…" she struck the butt of the screwdriver hard, breaking the old lock apart. Nodding in satisfaction, she did the same to the second lock. Pulling the screwdriver away and storing it in the purse, she picked up the flashlight again. Pulling it open, she found something she'd never expected.
It was full of children's books.
Frowning, she looked the whole thing over. Why would you lock a set of children's books in a suite case? She saw 'Hanzel and Gretel,' 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' 'Cinderella,' 'Sleeping Beauty,' and a few others… "Huh?" Raven saw a book that didn't seem to belong with the others. She wiped the dust away to reveal the title, 'The War of the Worlds.' Raven snorted at the irony, knowing that was the one she wanted. It was quite a bit older, and the pages were yellowed. H.G. Wells, the author was. She flipped it open to a part that had pages stuck in.
Dear Raven,
If you're reading this, it means I messed up and it got us all. I'm sorry. I tried to call you in time, but I must've been too late. It's super-powerful now, Raven. If it got all four of us, that means you're the only one left who can win against it. Since you're here, you've probably found some other symbols by now, right? Keep going, Rae. After you read this letter, you'll have the sixth symbol in the string. I thought for a long time to make sure you'd find them in order, but I couldn't think of anything.
So, I hid a piece of vellum… its animal skin, in the evidence room. Go find it, and you'll find the right order to put the symbols in. You'll find its exact location with the last symbol you find. I broke it into pieces so the shadow-thing wouldn't find it and… I dunno… eat it or something. I'm so sorry I failed, Raven. Really. Cyborg and me set it free… and now you have to finish what we started. I'm counting on you.
Love,
Beast Boy
Raven eyed the closing remark, love. Dark dots were all over the page, though. Tears? Had he truly hidden this note specifically for her to find…? She flipped to the second page that had been stuck into the book.
The lyric that goes with this symbol is Tyma, Raven. Knock 'em dead.
Raven found the lyric in the last line of Beast Boy's hand writing, and the rest of the page was taken up with yet another scratching in black crayon. It looked like a lowercase 'th.' But, the end of the "H" curled a little, and the cross of the "T" invaded the h's vertical line. It glittered blightly, making Raven squint. When it faded back to normal, Raven's back arched hard! She cried out as a dulling pain made itself known in the small of her back. Staggering into a standing position, she doubled over and felt her back.
She felt the rise in her skin through her outfit, the symbol of Tyma. It had boldened itself on her back, not too far above where Morcana was. "Gotcha…" Raven whispered, straightening at last. Slamming the suite case shut and leaving the letter inside, she gently pushed it back into the corner where it belonged. She heard the books shift, and finally stood all the way up. Raven turned to leave and jolted to a stop.
There was a person hanging from the rafters by a rope, swaying slowly back and forth.
That hadn't been there before, she was sure of it. Raven forced down the shudder that she felt rising in her. Pursing her lips for a moment and ready to rapid-fire two symbols at once, she spoke up. "Who is it this time? Robin?" she fast approached it, a defiant look on her face. "I'm halfway there and you've only got two more people to taunt me with!" she shouted, turning the person around so she could see who it was. The flesh was rotten and smelled horrible, but she'd be able to tell who it was. Raven saw the face and cried out in terror!
She was looking at herself, an overturned chair directly below where she hung.
Eeeek! That's the end of part seven! I hope you're having fun with this, because I sure am! Any suggestions for the locations of the next symbols would be appreciated, because I'm kinda making this up as I go along! Join me next time for part eight, Malus!