Ten Little Titans

by Riles

One Titan dead, two Titans dead, three Titans dead... How many more must die before the villain is caught? Inspired by Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians”, aka “And Then There Were None”.

7. Trick

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the Teen Titans, but by the time I'm through with them, they're going to be dead, so I don't see how much good this does….

()TLT()

Ten little Titans went out to dine;

One choked himself and then there were nine.

Nine little Titans stayed up very late;

One overslept and then there were eight.

Eight little Titans traveling in Devon;

One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Titans were chopping up sticks;

One chopped himself in half and then there were six.

Six little Titans playing with a hive;

A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Titans going in for law;

One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Titans going out to sea;

A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Titans walking in the Zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two little Titans sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Titan left all alone;

He went and hanged himself and then there were none.

()TLT()

Robin awoke with a start. At first he didn't understand why he had woken up. One glance at his clock told him it was much too early for any sane person to be conscious. Then he heard it again: a grinding sound. Robin sat up in his bed and listened. It was continuous now, something incessantly brushing against something else. Robin closed his eyes and listened hard, then moved his body to his left and put his ear against the wall. There! The sound got louder. What was going on?

Robin got out of his bed and slowly crept to the door, trying not to disturb whatever was going on. Could it have been the murderer? No, that couldn't be. Terra had been the murderer, and she was dead. Yes, they'd just decided that some six hours ago. Was it a prank?

As Robin was about to open his door, he heard familiar footsteps. He stopped just before the exit and stealthily moved to the side, listening. Yes, he knew those footsteps, but what was Starfire doing up? At first the idea crossed his mind that she was coming to see him, but then he heard her pass his door and continue onward. Rather confused, Robin waited until he was sure she'd turned the corner next to his room before silently opening the door and taking a few steps to the edge of the hallway. He peered around to see Starfire enter the elevator. The doors shut, and Robin walked next to the walls, staring questioningly at the entrance. What was she doing, getting a midnight snack? She had gone down… maybe she really believed the threat was over and was comfortable walking around at night.

That grinding sound was still going. It seemed to be coming some ways above him. Being on the sixth floor, however, that sound could have been coming from many things. On a sudden impulse, Robin took out an electrodisk and put it on the elevator doors. He stepped back slightly and watched as the electricity completely crashed the door's system, removing its will to remain shut. He opened the doors with ease and looked up in search of the noise.

What first caught his eye was not, surprisingly, the reason for the sound. With a rather large commotion, the doors to the floor above him were forced open, and suddenly the heads of Beast Boy and Bumblebee appeared, also looking up for the source of the noise. It was then that Robin's gaze extended further than the two heads of his fellow teammates and to the reason for the noise above them. Several floors up he could just make out two small objects furiously going back and forth, rubbing against a cord. The cord right next to it seemed to be much thicker than the one the two small objects were chafing against…. There was suddenly a small spark, and likewise was Robin suddenly aware of what was going on. A sense of pure horror sped through him, exactly like one he had felt so few hours ago.

"STARFIRE, NO!" Robin jumped down the shaft after her, everything within him urging him to find a way to get inside the elevator and save her before—

Snap!

The cord flew past him, and the elevator suddenly went farther down at an alarming rate. There was a loud crunching noise, bright colors, and Robin was flying up the elevator shaft instead of falling down. He screamed Starfire's name one last time before there was pain, and darkness took over him.

()TLT()

Beast Boy and Bumblebee, who had conveniently had their heads sticking out the elevator doors, had been hit hard in the face with the explosion. They were knocked upwards by the blast just as Robin was, but they hit the seventh floor ceiling with a hard smack and fell down again, unconscious. It was only after Beast Boy had woken from his dreamy wonder and roused Bumblebee that they noticed the noises coming from below.

The two peered down the shaft, half expecting another explosion to blow them into oblivion once more, but were surprised to see a light at the bottom. They mutually flew down the shaft as far as they could, landing on a mountain of concrete four floors down. Neither said a word as they analyzed what they saw. The floor's gateway to the elevator was open, but a shortened amount of light was peering through because there was a pile of debris just outside. From the little light given, they could see Robin picking up the rubble and tossing it unceremoniously aside. The sweat was dripping down his face, and the look of concentration spread over his appearance made Beast Boy and Bumblebee unwilling to say anything.

They watched him in silence for a couple minutes before Bumblebee picked up a fragment of the disaster and flew it up to the fourth floor where she began making a pile. Beast Boy, catching on, also grabbed a piece and moved it to the fourth floor. Robin made no movement to indicate he was even aware of their existence, much less their assistance. He toiled on, and continued piling it up outside the elevator doors. When he started to run out of room, he froze the waste with a freezing disk. Then he would back away and dash forward, kicking it harder than Beast Boy and Bumblebee had ever seen him do, revealing just how furious he was. Then he began piling again.

It was severely worrisome to them that he didn't acknowledge their presence. They helped, but seemed to be looking over at him quite often. He worked tirelessly for hours in silence. The two helped him as much as they could, though they couldn't help but feel they weren't helping at all. He was lost in another world, likely consoling himself with impossible realities. Both of them watched him with pity, and couldn't help but wish he would mumble, speak, or even scream. They just wanted to know that there was some emotion going on behind those masked eyes, and that he hadn't become a moving corpse. They wanted to believe that he was all right, but he wouldn't even speak to lie about that.

There were no clocks nearby, but Beast Boy would have guessed it was nine o'clock when he tired out. He cleared his throat slightly and muttered, "I'm going to bed."

Bumblebee gave him the most scathing look she could muster, and Beast Boy didn't understand it. She, however, refused to look at him afterwards, and so Beast Boy left to find the comfort of his bed. The only place safe at the moment, as it seemed, was in his dreams.

She had been moving things for ten minutes afterwards before the silence got to her. It was just she and Robin, and she desperately wanted to say something to him.

"Robin?" Bumblebee asked quietly.

Still he didn't acknowledge he'd heard her, but Bumblebee got the feeling he was waiting for her to continue.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Bumblebee prodded gently.

"No," was the short response. He didn't even look at her, just kept moving things.

"Oh," Bumblebee said. She continued piling the fragments of their sorrow, and two minutes later she said, "If you don't mind me asking, why are we doing this? It should be a good place to keep the debris rather than littering the hallways right?"

Robin's glare was so sharp and piercing, and it surprised Bumblebee so much to be recognized, that she dropped the rock she was holding. Robin's tone was cold and antagonizing. "Because Starfire is under here."

Bumblebee didn't pick up her rock just yet, but rather watched him as he turned back to moving the remains. Again he refused to admit she existed, but rather had focused his entire being into moving each and every piece of rubble. "You… you think she could still be alive, don't you?"

Robin paused here, though still didn't look at her. For the first time, as he stared determinedly at the rocks, Bumblebee saw the pain he was hiding. She saw that he was screaming inside, and that, without a doubt, he wanted to trade places with Starfire. As he spoke, the hard tone that had once been was lost to a hoarse voice. "Of course."

Bumblebee didn't say anything to him when she left a minute later. She had watched him work, but then realized it was hopeless. Somewhere deep inside him, Robin knew there was no way Starfire could still be alive, but his stubbornness refused to accept it. Both sides were driving him on to prove they were right, and he planned on working until his death to move every inch of the debris in order to find Starfire, dead or alive. Despite the fact that she herself believed it impossible, for Robin's sake, Bumblebee hoped he found her alive.

()TLT()

Beast Boy felt himself return to consciousness, but he refused to open his eyes, much less move around. His room was dark, as it had always been with lack of sunlight. The single sources of light in his room were his neon green lava lamp and a similarly colored clock. Still not quite grasping the fact that he was awake when he still felt so exhausted, Beast Boy peeked one eye open. His clock told him three had just passed. This was not particularly uncommon for Beast Boy, but whenever he woke up late in the afternoon, he always felt immensely relaxed. Why not so today?

As though the explosion had just happened again, with a twinge of pain Beast Boy recalled the events of early that morning. He groggily forced himself to sit and soon afterwards to stand. He didn't do anything for a moment, but then one step at a time made his way to the door, only his will pushing him forward. This was so until he reached the elevator shaft, not all that far from his room, where he saw the doors still pushed open. Had he forgotten to close them earlier on, or not done it on purpose? He could not quite recall.

There was movement from below. Beast Boy suddenly felt a little more awake as surprise engulfed his features.

"No way…"

Beast Boy leaned against the wall next to the elevator doors and peered down, his fears confirmed. There stood Robin moving the debris, slower than ever; but even from here Beast Boy could see that his look of determination had not ceased in the slightest. The rubble was now an entire floor less than what it had been, and Beast Boy had a quenching feeling of guilt as he wondered how long Bumblebee had remained to help Robin. Beast Boy transformed into a bird and fell to the ground, looking up at Robin curiously. Robin stopped what he was doing and stared at Beast Boy for several moments, a sort of lost sense about him before carrying on as though he had seen a shadow of something that wasn't there.

Returning to his human form, Beast Boy watched his friend for a moment before quietly pressing, "Robin?"

"Don't even think it," Robin hissed vehemently. He still looked dreary, but his tone was ice. "I swear to God if you utter a single word about it, I'll save the murderer a kill."

Beast Boy stared at his friend in confusion. "Robin, dude, you're not making any sense."

Robin turned on him so swiftly Beast Boy thought the Boy Wonder was going to kill him then and there. "IF YOU SAY SHE'S DEAD, I'LL MURDER YOU!"

Beast Boy backed away in silence. Robin was mad, in any sense of the word: insane, livid, and incredibly reckless. He was running on six hours sleep and was probably pounding himself about her death—or rather, in his mind, her injury—all night. He was out of his mind, and Dr. Beast Boy was prescribing sleep and time as the best medicine. It was, however, unlikely Robin would listen to him.

"So… you've been up all night?" Beast Boy asked just to make sure.

"Yeah," Robin said after a moment, as though deciding whether or not the question was detrimental or not.

"Dude… maybe you should get some sleep." He had to at least try to talk Robin out of this.

"No," Robin said immediately. "I have to get to Starfire."

He tried. He failed. Beast Boy turned around, fully ready to return to his room and try to get some more sleep, but he ran smack into another person.

"Robin, you're being ridiculous," Bumblebee said. "You and I both know what is waiting for you once you find that elevator underneath all of this crap."

"Starfire!" Robin said defensively. "And every moment I waste could be her last breath!"

"Robin, she's already taken her last breath!" Bumblebee's tone was rising.

"SHE'S ALIVE!"

"STARFIRE IS DEAD!"

It was the first time anyone had told him this to his face, and though Robin had clearly been combating that thought all night, he wasn't prepared to hear it voiced aloud. He stared at Bumblebee with a sort of surprised horror on his face before quickly returning to moving rocks. Even his mask wouldn't hide his face now. "She's alive."

"Robin, stop being dense!" Bumblebee said. "It's hard to swallow. Believe me, I know, but you have to give in to the truth! You're wasting your time here, and we need you right now!"

"To do what?"

"To help us discover which of the three of us is the murderer!"

Robin stopped, as though in all his time to think to himself, he had never considered this concept. "The murderer?"

"Yes, the murderer!" Bumblebee snapped. "With Terra and Starfire dead, Starfire's story, whether you believed it or not, is void. The murderer has to be one of the three of us. We need you to help us discover who it is."

Robin seemed to seriously consider this statement. He stood, unmoving for a good half a minute before lack of sleep clouded his mind and he blindly continued moving things. Bumblebee looked at Beast Boy, and the two exchanged a short nod, a silent agreement, before at once tackling Robin to the ground.

"Wha—?" Robin hit the ground filled with confusion. "Both of you? No, get off!"

"Robin, you're going to sleep whether you like it or not!" Bumblebee said. "One way or another, you're going to go unconscious. Do it voluntarily or we'll do it by force."

Robin gave her a hard stare. "You wouldn't dare."

Bumblebee looked at her companion. "Beast Boy?"

The last thing Robin saw was a green gorilla's fist coming dangerously close to his head. As the Boy Wonder's body fell limp into Bumblebee's arms, however, she suddenly had second thoughts.

"Did you just kill him?" Bumblebee asked. It would be the perfect accident.

Beast Boy transformed back into his human form and quickly knelt next to his fallen friend. He leaned down so his ear was on Robin's chest. After a moment he raised it and shook his head. "No, he's still alive. His chest is moving. I doubt he'll be out long, though. I really didn't hit him that hard."

"Then let's get him to his room."

Between the two of them, it was not a difficult journey. The fact that both of them were gifted with flight was a wonderful advantage, though it took some work at first to get Robin in Beast Boy's claws without getting hurt. Once they had that, they flew through the hallways with ease, the only mildly tricky thing being ensuring Beast Boy's wings didn't hit the walls.

The two stepped onto the ground like a shadow before Robin's door. Bumblebee turned and walked backwards, and, as the door opened, helped carry Robin inside. She looked over her shoulder to discover the whereabouts of his bed and quickly moved him over to it. Together, she and Beast Boy carefully placed Robin on the bed. She looked over him once before shaking her head.

"This won't do."

"What won't?"

"Pick him up again."

"But we just put him down!"

"NOW!"

Beast Boy turned into his favored gorilla and picked Robin up bridal-style. Bumblebee quickly took the sheets off the bed and ordered for Robin to be replaced on the bed. Beast Boy, still not understanding the purpose of all of this, complied. Bumblebee flipped out of the sheets and gently placed them on top of Robin. Beast Boy snorted.

"Typical woman."

"What's that?" Bumblebee asked sharply.

"Nothing…"

The two walked towards the door, fought for a moment over who would get out first, and then left, Bumblebee in the lead. She turned at the door and punched in a code. In bright, capital red letters the screen read: Room Locked. Beast Boy looked at her with mounted surprise, but she shrugged and murmured, "Sparky showed me."

Bumblebee walked away without a word. Beast Boy wasn't exactly sure where she was going as he followed her, but he soon recognized the familiar route to the elevator shaft. As they walked towards the opening on Robin's floor, she walked down without a moment's hesitation. Beast Boy stopped at the edge. Was she leading him into some kind of trap? With him out of the way and Robin unconscious, it would be an easy job.

A jolt of inspiration swept through Beast Boy as he suddenly understood. That was it! And she had even used him to knock Robin out! Once he was out of the way, she could easily murder Robin and then be through with them all! Bumblebee really was the murderer! He'd known it all along!

"Well?"

Beast Boy jumped several feet in the air to discover that she was suddenly flying in front of him with an impatient look on her face.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Coming… where?"

"Down here, of course."

"Down… the shaft?"

"Yeah."

"Where it's dark?"

"Yeah."

"And creepy?"

"Yeah."

"And I could easily be killed?"

"Oh, is that where you're going with this?"

"I know what you're planning!" Beast Boy said, taking several steps backward. "I've got your plan all figured out!"

"What plan?" Bumblebee said, landing on the floor at the edge of the elevator doors.

"You're going to kill me and then Robin, because he's unconscious! He'd be easy to murder!"

Bumblebee stared at him. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I know it's you! I've always been so sure of it, and you've kept me around so you don't look suspicious! If I died, everyone would know it was you! But now I know your secret, and I've got the proof!"

"What proof?"

Beast Boy opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He was saying whatever came to him, but now that he thought about it, he had no real evidence. "You… you hid your stingers under my bed to make everyone think it was me."

"You're crazy. I was freaking out when I lost those things. I was defenseless against a killer."

"But it wouldn't have been that worrisome if you were the killer, now would it?"

Bumblebee shook her head. "You've got nothing but suspicion on me."

"But I know your strategy!"

"For all we know, Robin could be pretending to be unconscious and really waiting to kill us both. Who's to say?"

"I am," Beast Boy said defiantly. Bumblebee raised her eyebrows at him and titled her head slightly, clearly waiting for an explanation. "It isn't Robin. Starfire was just murdered. Maybe he's gone completely insane and wanted to kill the rest of us so he and Starfire could live together alone, but there's no way he'd kill her. No matter how insane Robin got, he wouldn't kill Starfire."

Bumblebee leaned against the wall and smiled. "Insane as that is, and impossible as it is, I can see some truth in it. That's why I don't think it's Robin."

"Yeah, I know," Beast Boy said grumpily. "You think it's me. But I think it's you, so we're even!"

"Nope," Bumblebee said, and her smile drained from her face. A look of sadness and yet confusion replaced it as her gaze dropped to the floor. "You're wrong."

"You… don't think it's me?" Beast Boy asked, surprised.

"No," Bumblebee said slowly, and then left it at that.

"So, what, you think it's a ghost?" Beast Boy laughed slightly, trying to understand the girl.

"No," Bumblebee said in the same way. She lifted her gaze to meet Beast Boy, and he was surprised to find nothing short of guilt in her eyes. "I think it's me."

"What?"

"I don't know how," Bumblebee said as her eyes resumed examining the floor, "and I don't know why, but somehow I think I'm to blame. When Speedy died it was with my stingers. I don't let those things out of my sight, and I'm a light sleeper. For someone to have taken them off me in the night is highly unlikely. Therefore that leaves me with one simple conclusion: I'm the murderer. I've no idea how it was possible, or how I could have done it. I only just started working on this theory and getting it into my head. All I know is that is has to be me."

"It could be me…" Beast Boy said suddenly. Bumblebee looked up at him in surprise. He sighed and tried to explain. "There's this… thing inside of me. It's a monster. I almost hurt Raven when I was in this form. I… I can't remember anything I do. There are flashes of things sometimes, but I can never really understand them because they're moments in my memory that have been blocked out. I haven't had any flashes, but then again, Cyborg gave me something that was supposed to control this beast. Maybe it expired and I'm doing it, just the medicine still has some effect over me so I don't get those flashes of things I've done."

Bumblebee seemed almost relieved to hear this. Beast Boy didn't fail to notice. "You're happy."

"Well… honestly? Kind of." Bumblebee avoided looking directly at him. "I… I don't want to believe it's me. And quite honestly, you have something that's much more logical than me. It's really making me feel a lot better, to think that I'm not behind it."

"And it makes you feel better that you're in the presence of a murderer who can't control himself?"

"Well, no," Bumblebee said, and had she been able to back up without falling, she would have. "But you don't know it's you, right?"

Beast Boy paused before saying, "Right…"

"Is there any way Robin could've done it?" Bumblebee asked. Beast Boy looked at her sharply. "I mean, maybe it was accidental. With Starfire, I mean. But maybe he killed the others on purpose. You're a part of his team. You tell me if that's possible."

"Robin wouldn't kill off his team," Beast Boy said flatly, "and that's all there is to it."

"Yes, but couldn't you say that about everyone before this?"

"But Robin is different."

"How?"

"He's the leader."

"I'm the leader."

"Then I guess I really am doing it."

Beast Boy suddenly had a light bulb go off in his head. He started shaking quite suddenly, and Bumblebee stared at him fearfully for several moments. Beast Boy leaned against the wall, still shaking, and Bumblebee cautiously made her way over to him.

"Beast Boy? Beast Boy, what's wrong?"

Beast Boy could barely manage to shake his head. No, it wasn't possible! There was no way! If, even in any maddened condition Robin wouldn't kill Starfire, there was no way, even in his other form, that Beast Boy would kill Terra! He wouldn't do it! No matter what form or condition he was in, Beast Boy would not kill Terra!

"Talk to me, Beast Boy," Bumblebee ordered, concerned at his paling face. She suddenly become even more concerned as color returned, but he turned an alarming shade of red.

"I didn't do it."

Bumblebee stepped back slightly, surprised at how hard and uncompromising his tone sounded. "Just a minute ago you seemed sure that—"

"I know what I said," Beast Boy snapped coldly, "and now I'm telling you I didn't do it."

Bumblebee stared at him. "What's up with you?"

"I didn't kill Terra."

The realization suddenly dawned on Bumblebee. "Oh. I see."

"It was you." Beast Boy raised a shaky finger at her. "You did it!"

"Don't point that finger at me! Last time you pointed it at Starfire and now look where she is!"

That not only silenced Beast Boy, but it lowered his hand as well. After a moment he rediscovered his voice. "You did it. You're the only one who didn't have someone to lose from this."

"Are you blind?" Bumblebee asked, but her eyes had suddenly frozen over, as though she were purposefully blocking all emotion from radiating from them. "You think I teased Sparky for nothing?"

"Cyborg?" Beast Boy asked. "You liked Cyborg?"

Bumblebee's hand found its way to her forehead in exasperation. "How dense can you get?"

"No you didn't," Beast Boy said. "I would've noticed. You're just saying that so you have a cover-up."

"You were too busy plotting against Robin and Starfire to notice," Bumblebee said, waving off his excuse. "Sparky and I spent a lot of time together arguing over turbonic detonators and the like."

"Aha!" Beast Boy said, backing away. He had stopped shaking now, and was only unsteady in his thoughts. "You always argued! That means you hated each other!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Bumblebee snapped. "You and Raven argued all the time!"

Beast Boy froze. She knew he liked Raven? "How did you know about that?"

"Anyone with half a brain knew about that," Bumblebee said, knowing exactly to what he referred. "Even Terra knew about that!"

Beast Boy couldn't move. His entire body had frozen over. In a rather weak voice he asked, "Terra knew?"

"Of course she did," Bumblebee said. "Everyone knew. The only thing people didn't know was whether you were going to go with Raven or Terra. They had bets going on, you know."

"They were betting…?" Beast Boy asked, and he suddenly found his strength as his face burned red. "They were betting about my love life?"

"What? You guys were betting about whether Robin or Starfire would tell the other they liked them first."

"That's different!"

"How?"

"It wasn't me!"

"And that changes everything."

"OF COURSE IT DOES! DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!"

Bumblebee shook her head. "You're an idiot."

"At least I'm not some fantasizing, dreamy girl who couldn't tell the guy she liked she liked him!" Ha! He had her there. He'd told Terra he liked her.

Bumblebee turned away from him and was a half a step into the shaft when she said, "At least I'm not some playboy who lost both the girls he loved."

She was gone. She walked down the shaft right after that, and it infuriated Beast Boy. He wanted to say something to her and teach her a lesson about back mouthing Beast Boy—only he didn't know what to say.

Fuming, Beast Boy turned around stomped down the hallway, now convinced she was the killer. Anyone who was going to talk that way about anyone had to be a killer!

Beast Boy found himself suddenly standing in front of Robin's door. He sat down next to the door, underneath the control pad that showed the room as unlocked, and buried his head into his knees.

And suddenly, he was back on his feet again. Unlocked? Bumblebee had locked it! Robin was running around the tower! He really was the murderer! Beast Boy turned around, fully expecting the Boy Wonder to come crashing down and brutally murder him—

To his relief, he survived. Beast Boy transformed into a cheetah and immediately raced down the hallway to the elevator shaft and stopped just in front of it. He peered down it, still in his cat-like form, and searched for Robin moving boulders. He tried to peer through the darkness to find Robin's form, but it wasn't there. Bumblebee, however, was sitting silently in the dark, and Beast Boy growled fiercely at her to get her attention. He then proceeded to run away, sporadically deciding it wasn't worth his time to tell her. At least now she knew something was wrong so she could be semi-prepared if Robin dared to strike. Beast Boy flew down the stairs flights at a time to get to the lower floor, bursting into the training room in a blur of green. Robin wasn't beating the crap out of anything in there either…. Where was he?

Bumblebee ran in the room just as Beast Boy was trying to leave it, and they collided. Both of them, Beast Boy now a human, sat up and rubbed their heads.

"What's going on?" Bumblebee asked irritably. "I leave you for five minutes and you're already in trouble! Typical male. Always needing a woman to save you."

"Shut up for a minute, would ya? Robin's not in his room! It was unlocked, and I don't know where he is!"

This hit Bumblebee very hard. She looked around them, as though ensuring he wasn't nearby, ready to spring a surprise attack. "Do you think he's trying to surprise us and kill us?"

"I don't know," Beast Boy said, "but we have to find him!"

"Don't split up," Bumblebee said. "We'll be easier targets alone."

"But together we're impossible to miss!"

"But we fight better together," Bumblebee pointed out. Beast Boy finally conceded to her point, muttering something about the stubbornness of women. "Now, we'll start off just by going through each floor. We'll search every room and every hiding place. We can't miss him."

By the time they were done with the bottom floor, Beast Boy was already quite aggravated with her plan. He'd done enough tear-ups of this tower, and he was not excited to begin another. He, however, began the first floor with her without any complaints. They needed to find Robin. Was he really going to try and kill them? Was he really responsible? The thought still hadn't sunk in yet because Beast Boy realized it would be a tough pill to swallow. His trusted friend and leader, a murderer? It was almost impossible to think about.

"Fourth floor," Bumblebee said as they climbed the staircase. "What rooms?"

"Evidence room, secret-storage-that-isn't-all-that-secret, two unused guest bedrooms, Starfire's room—"

Both of them stopped instantaneously and looked at each other. "Starfire's room."

Again, as one, the two were up the final step and racing through the hallways, colors a blur and their footsteps dull to their ears. They turned several corners and toppled over the pile of rubble, hope filling through them as Starfire's door came into view. They had the misfortune of running into the door, however, and both of them hit the floor with a rather obnoxious noise.

"What?" Bumblebee asked. "Why didn't it open?"

Beast Boy stood and looked at the control panel next to Starfire's door. He pushed a few buttons with a slight air of uncertainty before sighing. "It's been locked from the inside."

"ROBIN!" Bumblebee banged mercilessly on the door. "OPEN UP THE DOOR NOW!"

There was movement inside, but no verbal response.

"If he's set apart like this, how will we know if he's dead or not?" Beast Boy asked.

"Are you going to kill him?" Bumblebee asked.

"No," Beast Boy said, uncertain of what she was getting at.

"And I know I'm not going to kill him, so I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"What if he committed suicide?"

Bumblebee glanced at him. "Is he the type to kill himself?"

Beast Boy stared hard in concentration at nothing as he thought. "Oh, crap. ROBIN, OPEN UP! ROBIN! WE NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"

"I'm not talking to you two," Robin said shortly. "I've got nothing to say."

"WHAT D'YOU MEAN YOU'VE GOT NOTHING TO SAY?" Bumblebee asked in irritation.

"Exactly what I said."

"YELL AT ME! PUMMEL ME INTO NOTHING! JUST OPEN THE DOOR!" Beast Boy yelled.

"No," Robin said snidely, and they could hear him so clearly it was obvious he was next to the door. "You might knock me out again. After all, what're friends for?"

"What about Starfire?" Bumblebee said in normal tones, preying upon Robin's sole weakness. "Are you just going to leave her down there?"

Robin didn't answer for a moment. "I thought you thought she was dead."

"That doesn't affect what you believe, does it?"

Again Robin didn't immediately respond, but after several moments the door opened to reveal the Boy Wonder holding a book closely to him. It was a very uncharacteristic sight. It reminded Bumblebee of a schoolboy who was often picked upon because he had glasses—or in this case, cheap hair gel—and held everything he had close to him. After a moment's hesitation, Robin held out his arms to show them a book they recalled seeing once before on the floor of Starfire's room. She had been deathly afraid of it.

"I bought this for her," Robin said, "before all of this. We went shopping and she saw it in a children's store. She loved it, so I bought it for her. Now she's died by it."

Both Beast Boy and Bumblebee understood the assertion Robin was making to Starfire's death. Beast Boy took the book from Robin's hands as Bumblebee enclosed him in a hug, not knowing how to comfort a guy. She patted him uncertainly on the back, and though she knew she probably wasn't doing anything, Robin still hugged her tightly anyway.

There was the flipping of pages, a cleared throat, and suddenly words read aloud.

"Ten little Indians went out to dine;

One choked himself and then there were nine.

Nine little Indians stayed up very late;

One overslept and then there were eight.

Eight little Indians traveling in Devon;

One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Indians were chopping up sticks;

One chopped himself in half and then there were six.

Six little Indians playing with a hive;

A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Indians going in for law;

One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Indians going out to sea;

A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Indians walking in the Zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two little Indians sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Indian left all alone;

He went and hanged himself and then there were none."

Robin had released Bumblebee by now as the poem suddenly meant so much more to him. It saddened him, but it also infuriated him. "They're killing us. Someone is killing us all off by this stupid, stupid poem! And you know what? I bet they think it's funny."

There was silence.

"I bet they think it's absolutely hilarious. Here we are, sitting ducks to their scheme, not able to do a single thing about it. And I bet they're enjoying every minute of it. They've got this whole thing very well planned out; it's obvious. Somehow, it's like they're controlling our every move to make it fit into the poem. Raven choked, Hot Spot 'overslept', Aqualad said he wanted to stay in Devon, Cyborg was… sliced up."

This brought a very sickened look upon Bumblebee's face more than anyone else's.

"Speedy was stung with Bumblebee's stingers, Terra played judge, and Starfire… was innocent. I don't know how she played into all this, but a red herring? She was tricked into something… and whatever it was caused her death. Now there're three of us and three lines left in the poem. The murderer still has three deaths to carry out." He looked at the two of them. "But that also means they're willing to sacrifice themselves, and for a children's poem? This is all insane."

"What were the last three lines?" Bumblebee asked. Beast Boy repeated them. "A big bear hugged one… that sounds an awful like Beast Boy."

Beast Boy could only shake his head. "I didn't kill Terra."

While Robin didn't quite understand this, Bumblebee slowly nodded. "And then frizzled up in the sun? Could that mean we'll get outside?"

"One can only hope," Robin murmured.

"And then the last will hang himself," Bumblebee said. "I guess the murderer will commit suicide when all this is over."

"Must be," Beast Boy said. He looked at the two across from him and sighed. "It would be a lot easier if one of you just came out and admitted to being the murderer."

"We could all say that," Robin said, eyeing Bumblebee and Beast Boy, "but we have no proof."

"We could hold another trial." There was the glimmer of a smile on Bumblebee's lips.

"Oh no…" Beast Boy said, holding each syllable long and hard. "I'm not going through that again!"

"Only joking," Bumblebee said.

Joking? Beast Boy almost laughed. He hadn't joked around in a long time. "Heh, and to think I'd almost forgotten those existed."

"You?" Robin asked, surprised. "Not a chance."

"Yeah, I was the best joke-teller, wasn't I?" Beast Boy asked, puffing out his chest a little.

"Yeah, as long as you were only trying to make yourself laugh," Robin said, trying to hide a smirk.

"Dude!" Beast Boy said, suddenly looking at Robin petulantly. "That was so not funny!"

"Better than you normally do," Bumblebee murmured, and she and Robin exchanged grins.

"How would you know? You never listened to my jokes!"

"Did I have to? Sparky was always—" She suddenly stopped speaking, and the once care-free conversation came to an abrupt halt. She searched nervously for something to say, but words failed her.

"Listen…" Robin said uncertainly, "there're only three of us left now. There has to be something we can do to try and stop this madness."

"Sleep in the same room?" Beast Boy suggested.

"And make us easier targets?" Bumblebee asked.

"Maybe we just won't sleep then," Robin said. "We'll all stay in the same room, but no one sleeps."

"I vote the training room," Beast Boy said, raising his hand in the air. "Food."

"I second that," Bumblebee said, though refrained from raising her hand.

Robin hesitated before his remark. "Do you think we could just bring the food up to another room?"

"What room did you have in mind?" Bumblebee asked tentatively.

"This one," Robin said. "I wouldn't have minded some more time browsing through Starfire's room before you two started yelling at the door."

"What exactly were you going to be browsing through…?" Beast Boy asked suspiciously before getting smacked upside the head.

"Keep your mind clean," Robin said disgustedly.

"All right, it's settled," Bumblebee said. "We'll grab all the food we can carry and bring it up here. Sound good?"

With both boys' approval, the three headed downstairs and raided their pathetic "kitchen" clean of food in one trip. Robin avidly reminded them that this meant they had to rationalize, but he wasn't sure Beast Boy was listening as the changeling unceremoniously stuffed his green face.

Stepping into Starfire's room felt like stepping into a tombstone. It was a memory of that which was forever lost, and it gave Robin the largest urge to start moving debris again. He dumped his food and drinks in a pile next to the bed and immediately resumed his discovery of the room. When they had been searching before he had discovered so many things about her, and yet it still seemed there was much more. With slightly disgruntled looks from Beast Boy and Bumblebee, Robin took out Starfire's Tamaranian transmissions and tried to bargain with Galfore into letting him watch the transmissions. When he told Galfore Starfire was dead, Robin felt like he was dealing with it all over again. To hear the words so bluntly said, and from his own mouth…

He had to tell a small white lie so Galfore would let him see what lay in the transmissions. It didn't hurt too much to tell them that he was Starfire's fiancé, and it wasn't that big a lie anyway, was it? In time he probably would have been… probably….

Some horrible things awaited Robin as he watched each and every one of the many transmissions from Tamaran. Starfire's home planet had been at war with some group of people called the Forgusklans. Tamaran had been losing—badly—until Galfore had begun listening to a small boy with immense intelligence. Ryand'r, he was called, and by the way Galfore spoke, he was apparently someone Starfire had been close to. Three-quarters of the way through the tapes, and three in the morning, showed the end of the war—a victory for Tamaran thanks to the advice of Ryand'r to the Grand Ruler Galfore—and Beast Boy asleep. Bumblebee watched both boys closely, neither more than the other, as though she were quite certain Beast Boy was faking it, and wasn't going to let him spring up on her and kill her.

The rest of the transmissions were minor things—at least, minor to Robin. Tamaran had a hard time getting back after the war, which had apparently killed many Tamaranians. Galfore mentioned one in particular that Robin didn't know, a Toriand'r, which, by the sound of it, had been a dear friend of Starfire's. Later transmissions showed that Tamaran was finding its feet again and Starfire was not to worry, that things were already getting back to normal. "Tamaranians are very capable of handling change." In one of the last ones, however, Robin was surprised to recognize a foreign word. In a transmission back to Tamaran, Starfire must have described her encounter with Val-Yor, because Galfore was enraged that anyone dared call the Princess of Tamaran a "troq". Many death threats were enclosed with this transmission, and a promise of bodyguards if Starfire so desired. By the last transmission, however, Starfire seemed to have successfully convinced Galfore that she was fine and did not need anyone guard her, for she was quite capable of it herself.

By the time Robin was finished going through every single transmission, it was five-thirty and Bumblebee had failed in her battle against the seductive sleep. Robin took out one of Starfire's photo albums, too immersed, or so he believed, to sleep. He lay down on the floor and opened to the first page. A picture of the five of them, taken by a kind passerby, showed them all smiling happily at the camera. Robin gently traced Starfire's face with his finger. He had been strong today. The others thought he was accepting things, that he was getting over it, but he wasn't. Inside, he was screaming. Every mention of Starfire's name made his insides burn, and every moment in this room was eating him away, yet he couldn't leave. It devoured his flesh and yet enticed it at the same time. Something was here that Robin wanted, and though it pained him more than anything in the world to be in this room, it also gave him the happiest feeling he could get under the circumstances. It was a blessing and curse to be reminded of Starfire and her bubbly innocence. To think of the days they had shared together gave him such joy and such sorrow he could never put it into words. It made him think of the days when they walked in the park together, hand-in-hand if no one was looking; when they went shopping, and Starfire's face glowed with every new thing her eyes discovered; when they sat before the TV long after the others had gone to bed (or so he thought) and fell asleep with her head resting peacefully on his shoulder. Such memories were the best he had, and yet at the same time the worst in the world.

Robin buried his head into his arms after one page of the album, after one picture of her, after one reminder that his beautiful Starfire was gone. He was asleep ten minutes later, Starfire's face stained forever with Robin's heartbroken tears.

A/N:

Aw, I'm so sad! I love Starfire! She's my favorite character, and it's always such fun to write her. And now I can't anymore… I'm gonna cry. -sniffle- It's so sad to lose her. I must say, though, I have a feeling many of you are ready to maul me. I got several reviews mad about the lack of fluff between Robin and Starfire, and how they had better confess their love to each other before either of them died. o.o Should I be running?

But really, you all should be… well, somewhat happy. I stayed up until four in the morning two nights ago just so I could finish this chapter. I just couldn't stop writing. : ) And then I just got finished editing it, so later today (being technical, as it's 12:17 and I'm waiting for Inuyasha and FMA to come on) I'll reply to reviews and post! Isn't that exciting?

Oh, and guys, really, thank you for reviewing. You have no idea how much that means to me. Jeez, I'm going to get sappy on you… but really, it does. It makes me feel so happy the day after I post a chapter and I open my mailbox with ten reviews. It's so exciting, just to hear what you all are going to say! And some of you are too smart for your own good. : ) You all should be writing this fic. I'm so simple-minded. When you all figure out how it was done, you're going to think that your theories were much cleverer (and let me tell you: they are) than what actually happened and you're going to be disappointed. I warn you here and now. I just hope you'll forgive me.

But you guys have no idea how HILARIOUS it is to see all these elaborate theories and they're totally wrong. And then people review and they're positive it's so-and-so and they give me the greatest reasons why. And then I just laugh because they're giving me all the fake clues I purposefully put in there to throw you off. Then there are some of you who are just the smartest people on this planet and give me clues I didn't even realize I put in there, directing you towards certain people as the murderer. Some of you are really quite ingenious.

My reviewers!

scathac's warrior- THANK YOU! I tried to do some research to find out everyone's names, but if I couldn't find them, I obviously made their names up. I couldn't find Bumblebee's, so I assumed no one had given her a name. It's corrected. : ) And I'm not really a BB/Ter fan, I'm BB/Rae, but I'm sure my readers don't believe me by now.

Digital-Dragon-Master- : ) Truly you are an intelligent one.

SocialButterfli- Well, if it isn't my favorite TT author! Hello: ) In the epilogue, yes, I will be explaining everything. But I'm going to wait an incredibly long time after I've finished it to post it, just to keep you all in suspense and to give you more time to put together your impossible theories. : ) Isn't that fun?

TAS14- 1) No, 1 it does not have any letters. How, then, do you think my little phone hint works? 2) I very much aware I made those last names up. Were there any real last names of the people given? If so, I am not aware of them. 3) It does indeed suggest they get out. Hmm… I wonder how I'm going to work that out…. -shrug- I'll cross that bridge when I come to it! 4) Can Raven leave her body if she's dead? Oh, you're suggesting she isn't dead! See? You people need to write this fic. You're all so much smarter than me. -pouts at her stupidity-

xKazuko- Yes, that Utada! I like her. : ) And you should keep making theories. Then you should tell them to me! I enjoy getting worked up about how close some people are getting to the truth, and then laughing at those who are way off track. : )

Next chappie, what's going on…? Hm. I actually don't know anything yet, so this update won't be nearly so quickly. I know how I'm going to end it, though. You know how I always end with everyone sleeping, or going to his or her room, or something along those lines? Well because when the next person dies you only have two people left, no one will be sleeping. In the final official chapter (meaning excluding the epilogue) the hunt begins. But that's not the chapter I'm supposed to be telling you about, is it…? Hm. Well, since I don't really know anything about what I'm going to do yet, you're out of luck. Sorry!

Guess who dies next, and tell me who you think the murderer is! (That means review!) Thanks for reading!

Riles