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()
A pair of hands on his shoulders gently shook him awake. "Robin. Robin! Please awake! Can you not hear the bird singing? It is the one you spoke of earlier!"
"Starfire?" Robin mumbled, blearily opening his eyes.
"Look, Robin! It is the jay of blues!"
Robin sat up, the sun blinding him for several moments as he waited for his vision to adjust. There she was. His red-haired beauty was sitting on her knees, looking up at the tree whose shade the two Titans were borrowing. Robin followed her gaze to see a blue jay chirping on one of the lower branches.
"It is as you said! It sings such a pretty song!"
"Starfire?" Robin looked around some more. They were in the middle of the park, the two of them sitting on a blanket placed overtop of the grass. In between them was a picnic basket. "What are you doing here?"
Starfire looked at him, and the sparkle in her eyes dimmed slightly. "You suggested we go on a picnic. You thought it would be relaxing."
It was his dream. He had always wanted to take Starfire on a picnic, but with the dangerous streets of Jump City only getting more lethal, he had refrained from asking her. He had finally done it? Why couldn't he remember?
Of course. This was a dream. Starfire wasn't alive anymore.
Robin nodded, playing along with his conscious. "Yeah, I suppose it's a nice change from the stench of death." He took in a deep whiff of the air. It smelled real enough.
"Robin, what do you mean?" Starfire asked, and he noted the alarm coming into her eyes.
Robin lifted his hand to her cheek and held her face for a moment. She gasped in surprise, staring uncertainly at his hand. "Robin?"
And she felt real enough. Was it possible that the nightmare he was sure was reality had all been a dream?
"Let's eat some of this food, okay?" Robin said, changing his attention over to the picnic basket.
"But we have already," Starfire said tentatively, pushing some strands of hair behind her ear. "You said that you were no longer feeling the hunger."
"I think I am again after that nap," Robin said. He took out all that was still in the basket—some strange Tamaranian food. He stared at it, trying to hide his lack of enthusiasm. Forcing himself, however, Robin grabbed a fork from inside the basket and stabbed it into the Tamaranian dish. He stuck a bite into his mouth and tried not to throw up. It certainly tasted real enough.
"Robin, are you all right? You like as though you are about to do the vomiting."
Choking slightly, Robin forced it down his throat. "No, no, I'm fine."
Starfire didn't say anything for a moment. "Are you sure you are all right? You spoke of something not alive."
"I'm fine, Star. Just still half-asleep."
She paused again. "Are you quite certain? You… you have never touched me like that before."
Robin looked at her, staring for several moments before speaking. "I'm so lucky to see you again. You've no idea how happy I am to hear your voice. I'm just dreading waking up."
()TLT()
Robin opened his eyes, and the first thing he did was look to his right. Yes, there were the corpses. He knew he was right. He knew he was dreaming.
He knew Starfire was really dead.
Robin forced the topic off of his head. When he thought about Starfire, or anyone, really, it brought up emotion. Robin was insisting that he couldn't feel. He had put up a barrier that he refused to take down, because doing that would be releasing the pain in his soul, allowing it to terrorize him for the rest of his life. Such pain was too much for him handle, especially right now. And he was supposed to tell the police what had happened? Maybe he shouldn't even tell the police at all. Maybe he should just lay here until he died. Even if he went to the police, wouldn't they accuse him of murder? He was the last one alive, after all, and they could easily say his story was crap, and he'd gone nuts and killed everyone. He certainly had been expecting himself to crack first, especially before carefree Beast Boy. When you were a teenage superhero, though, strange things were bound to happen.
Ah, "were". What a wonderful word. It seemed Robin had decided an awful lot in his sleep. He was quite through being a superhero altogether. Eventually he would get out of bed, calmly tell the police what happened while still somehow managing to retain his emotional barrier, and then go live a normal teenage life. He'd go to school, though he wouldn't make friends. No, the only friends there would ever be in his life were dead. He'd go to work, but he'd always be a "coworker", never a member of a "team". No, the only team there would ever be in his life was dead. He'd go to clubs, perhaps, meet girls, but he'd never fall in love. No, the only love there would ever be in his life was dead. Robin would live, because that's what Starfire would've wanted, but he would a corpse, just like her. He'd be an empty shell with no emotions, no nothing.
"Starfire would want you to survive and be happy." Hadn't those been Beast Boy's words? Well, Robin might have taken them into account if Beast Boy hadn't been the one to murder Starfire. That did sort of make Robin question everything the changeling had ever told him. Maybe Starfire wouldn't want him to live. Maybe she'd want him to die so they could be together in "heaven, hell, whatever is after this".
Robin knew Starfire better than that, though, however much he detested the idea of life. He couldn't dare lie to himself, not about her. He knew Beast Boy was right. She would want him to survive and be happy. And if he was going to do the surviving part, he might as well do the happy part too, right?
From here, however, it felt like happiness would never come, like he'd never be able to smile again. But wasn't that how all tragedies were? They were so unbearable at first, and then things always got better, right? Things worked out all right in the end? Maybe if Robin loosened up on what he was going to do, things would end up better. Like maybe he could make a few friends, and maybe he could work in some kind of team later on in life. That would make things easier.
The one thing he knew he would never ever do was fall in love. His heart was stolen forever, and there wasn't a woman alive who could ever match up to Starfire. They would always be competing for his heart, even though there was no competition. Starfire had already won, and any girl who couldn't see that was going to get their heart broken. Besides, when the dead have already won a competition, there's no chance for a rematch.
It was strange to think that everyone was dead. It was strange to think that Beast Boy killed them. This whole ordeal began ten days ago, and yet sometimes it didn't feel like it had sunk in. He was half-expecting them to get up and scream, "April fools!" though it was long past April. He just had to face facts. They were really dead. Beast Boy really killed them.
How?
Raven would have been easy. Anyone could have done it. And besides, the changeling had tried to kill the demon before, though he was not quite himself. Who was to say he couldn't do it in insanity as well?
Hot Spot's death required a bit more thought process. Such a huge amount of water definitely seemed the work of Aqualad. Maybe Aqualad had killed Hot Spot for his own selfish purposes. Then the answer hit him—Beast Boy was a changeling! He could've transformed into an elephant or a seagull and carried a large amount of water to dump on the human torch!
Robin thought about Aqualad's death for only a moment before coming up with a solution. There had been a huge fight between Speedy and Terra. He effortlessly could have escaped then with Aqualad and murdered him. Then he could have come downstairs with the rest of the Titans when the alarm went off.
How Beast Boy—stupid beast Boy—killed Cyborg was a mystery to Robin. In addition, he had an alibi alongside Terra, Speedy, and Bumblebee. Unless they were all in it together and turned on each other, Robin didn't see how Beast Boy could've done it.
Speedy's death would've been simple. Beast Boy could've effortlessly turned into some sneaky animal and stolen Bumblebee's stingers. From there it would've been an easy job of killing Speedy in his sleep.
Terra's death all made sense now. The changeling hadn't had to do it. Starfire, being on edge, had likely over exaggerated the situation in her mind, and then convinced herself it was true. Somehow this was all part of Beast Boy's plan. Perhaps he'd asked Terra to try and frighten Starfire for whatever reason. Or maybe they'd been in it together. He had counted on Terra to kill Starfire, but she failed and was killed instead. Though this theory made more sense, he couldn't see Terra as an accomplice. What could they have to gain by killing everyone? Solitude? They could quit their roles as Titans to get that. If Beast Boy and Terra were working together, Robin's mind failed to find a plausible explanation.
He didn't even want to think about Starfire. That time Beast Boy had unlocked the tower he'd probably summoned some bird friends and they were pecking at the cord. It was a good enough explanation for him. He didn't want to think of Starfire anymore.
Killing Bumblebee would have been easy. All he'd have to do was turn into the bear described in the poem and crush her. Then, to get away, he could've turned into a fly and escaped from the room unnoticed.
It was all so perfect. No one had suspected a thing. Not even Bumblebee understood, for she only accused Beast Boy because he thought it was her. To think that one of Robin's best friends was capable of not just murder, but the murders of his own friends. Insanity was frightening.
Robin rolled over, tired of his long thought process. At least he knew how most of it was done.
Something strange caught Robin's eye the moment he switched sides. In the center of the room—a bit behind the bed and farther to the left—was a rather tall wooden chair. Directly above it, a hook had been screwed into the ceiling, and hanging from this hook was a noose.
How strange for that to be there. Why was a noose in Starfire's room? It wasn't like anyone was going to hang themselves. Had this been there the day before?
The day before. What time was it?
Robin got out of bed and made his way over to Starfire's dresser. Over time she had taught him bits and pieces of her Tamaranian language, and Robin was proud to say he could tell time on the girl's alien clock. The Boy Wonder was highly surprised that it was nearly midnight. He knew he'd been asleep for a while—after his previous experiences that day, who could blame him?—but he'd been asleep for well over twelve hours.
Well, a voice remarked snidely in his mind, perhaps that's what happens after no sleep and the title of "murderer" placed on your head.
Robin glared into the mirror in front of him. Something inside him felt like being blunt. The Boy Wonder's gaze could not remain on himself for long, however, as in the mirror he once again spotted the noose and chair. He should probably take those out of there….
Robin turned around, but stopped immediately, eyes glued to the chair. "Starfire?"
She was sitting there in that bright pink chair of hers, smiling at him.
"Starfire!" Robin said, though not moving. Could this be a dream too? "How are you here?"
She didn't say anything. The silence lasted so long Robin was about to speak again, but the Tamaranian suddenly stood. Robin stared as she moved on top of the chair, the noose nearly touching her. Robin watched, the horror rising in his eyes. She slipped the rope around her neck and tightened it, still smiling.
"Starfire, no," Robin pleaded, taking a step forward.
"Come to me," came her echo of a voice. "I love you."
Robin was shocked into immobility at her statement. The words he had so longed to hear from her…
Before he could even begin to comprehend what was happening, Starfire had kicked away the chair. Her neck broke, and she hung there limply.
For another moment Robin couldn't move, a delayed reaction quickly building up.
"STARFIRE!" Robin ran over to her, reaching out to grab her. As soon as he made contact, however, she disappeared. "Starfire?" Robin looked around uncertainly. "Star…?"
Robin dropped to his knees, banging his fists on the floor. No! What if that had really been her? He'd lost her again! And what was she doing anyway? Hanging herself, but for what?
To show you the way… There was that forbidden voice again. All too suddenly, however, it didn't seem all that forbidden.
Show me the way to what?
Showing you what to do.
I was going to live for Starfire, not die for her. That's not what she'd have wanted.
What if she wanted different?
She didn't.
That was her spirit, showing you the way.
The way to what
To see Starfire again.
Robin didn't know how to respond to that. I want to see Starfire again.
She's given you the way.
Robin raised his head, staring up at the noose that looked as untouched as it had since he'd woken. He could see Starfire again…? She wanted him to be with her. She had shown him the way. It had been her voice, her words of beckoning. She was waiting for him to join her.
Robin was in a dream-like state, his body moving, his mind neither agreeing nor protesting to the actions. He stepped onto the chair, his gaze falling upon the nine before him. He slipped the rope around his neck and tightened it.
I'm coming Starfire. He kicked away the chair as the clock struck twelve.
()TLT()
"We're about to land on planet Earth. Approaching Princess Koriand'r's coordinates."
The ship had just gotten through the atmosphere, flying through the misty clouds, and was preparing to land in Jump City. They were looking for a particular building, a particular giant T. They were seeking out the home of the Teen Titans.
When Robin had been given access to Koriand'r's transmissions, he had told them two very important things that caused quite a commotion on Tamaran. First they were informed that their beloved princess was dead. Before they had left, they had refrained from telling the people of Tamaran, for they did not want to institute such mourning unless they had seen it with their own eyes. Then they had discovered that before her rumored death, Koriand'r had gotten engaged. They were not certain how to react to this, seeing as how the princess was supposed to be dead. Their decision was to leave immediately to reach Earth, dearly hoping Koriand'r's fiancé was wrong.
As soon as the ship landed on the roof of Titan's Tower, the few Tamaranians on board were already sweeping out. Galfore led the way, a truly frightened look on his face. He smashed the roof door open despite the fact that it was unlocked. He didn't care. He was looking Koriand'r.
"Koriand'r? Koriand'r!" Galfore called. "Find her!"
The tower seemed filled with thousands of Tamaranians, credit to the speed at which the few that were there were scurrying about. The sound of doors slamming and the racing of feet invaded the tower until someone called out, "GRAND RULER GALFORE!"
The head of Tamaran quickly made his way throughout the tower, eager to pinpoint the location of the voice. "Moonstar!" Galfore spotted his friend and follower in the middle of the fourth floor hallway. "What news?"
"I… I am afraid reports from the fiancé were true. Only things have become worse," Moonstar said.
"Worse?" Galfore asked as the rest of the Tamaranians found the hallway. The Grand Ruler entered his princess's room. "How could things be—?"
Nine dead bodies lay on either side of him, and a tenth was hanged in the middle of the room.
"W-what happened?" Galfore asked in shock. His eyes fell upon the charred body that was his princess. He flinched and turned away. "I want to know everything that has happened. Find out how they died and who killed them. Get to work!"
He stormed out of the room, pushing his way past all of the Tamaranians hurrying to obey his command. His every footstep down the hallway could be heard from every corner of the tower, his every word audible throughout Jump City. His arm gruffly swiped near his eyes as he continued down the hallway, his overriding urge to get away from there controlling him.
The stairs nearly crumbled under his weight, but he seemed not to care. He tumbled down the last few, which allowed him entry to the third floor, but he didn't stop there. He continued his way downstairs until he was on the bottom floor, staggering throughout the hallways. Finally his feet led him to a rather large room that looked rather like a courtroom. He quickly stumbled over to the main chair, which looked the most comfortable. He collapsed onto it, though it barely held his mass, and stared at the floor.
Koriand'r, his beautiful Koriand'r, was dead. As soon as his vision began blurring through water, his hand moved towards his eyes again. He would not cry. The Grand Ruler of Tamaran did not cry. The Grand Ruler of Tamaran was a strong and independent leader who cared only for what was best for the planet. If the Grand Ruler of Tamaran cared for anything else, it could put the planet in danger.
Then again, he already had. Leaving with such short notice, and putting Bluefire of all people in charge was risky. He was counting on the neighboring planets' contract of protection for Tamaran's safety. Their best fighters were here, in case there had been some kind of struggle. Tamaran was virtually defenseless on its own right now….
But it had been worth it. Galfore would have never forgiven himself if he had heard rumor of Koriand'r's death and not gone to find out for sure. And had he left a moment later and found her dead, he would have always wondered if, in that second, he could have arrived sooner and saved her. It was his Koriand'r, after all. She was as good as his daughter, and had given the responsibilities of Tamaran to him. She had believed in him.
And now she was dead.
Galfore looked around the room, refusing to accept that fact until the results came in. Deep down, he knew there was no way she could have survived the wounds he saw, but he had to have hope. He would always hold on to hope.
A sudden thought struck him. Why did the Teen Titans have a courtroom? Surely it had not always been here? Such matters as freedom and imprisonment, life and death, were not decided here? Did not the Titans save the world, and it was others who decided what happened beyond that?
And why had the Earth's forces of control—please, were they called?—not intervened in so much death? Surely, even if the deaths had occurred in the same night, they would have heard the screaming or fighting? Surely something that had gone on in the tower would alert them to foul play. It just went to show how incompetent the Earth's please were! They were the reason Princess Koriand'r was dead! If they had only intervened in whatever had gone on here, she might still be alive!
"Grand Ruler!" Moonstar had found his hiding place. "We have completed our analysis. Because we did not count on such a wide range of death, we brought limited supplies. We have determined the cause of death of several of the people, however."
"Continue, Moonstar."
"Subject one, the pile of ashes, was clearly killed by fire."
"What about a disintegration ray?"
"The subject was not disintegrated."
"Continue."
"Subject two is unknown. He is soaking wet, but we think he has been dead for quite some time. In such time, however, the subject should have become dry. This we do not understand."
"A mystery."
"Subject three was killed by a wound to the head."
"Simple enough."
"Subject four was in pieces, apparently sliced."
"A lovely picture."
"Subject five and six are unknown. Physically they look perfectly healthy, but they are definitely dead."
"Further testing should show more."
"Subject seven, Princess Koriand'r, has wounds caused by fire, though she was not consumed by it for a long period of time. Her body is still partially intact."
"If you call the Princess a 'subject' again, I will sentence you to death for insulting the crown!" Galfore was an immensely frightening person when angered. Though he could not seem to find the energy to yell, Moonstar could see that fire ablaze in his eyes that would normally accompany a furious rant.
"I'm sorry, Grand Ruler, it will not happen again. Permission to continue?"
"Granted."
"Subject eight has been compressed. Her abdomen area is crushed."
"Between what?"
"Unknown. Subject nine was drowned."
"Presumably in the sea outside."
"Yes, sir, that is our assumption. Subject ten was, quite clearly, hanged."
"And subject ten was the fiancé?"
"Yes, sir."
Galfore's temper sparked again. "The audacity to murder the princess! I only wish he had not killed himself that I could do the job myself!"
"No, sir."
Galfore glared at him with terrifying eyes. "No?"
Moonstar was glad to have worked alongside the Grand Ruler for so long. He was just barely beginning to get accustomed to the furious stare. "The fiancé did not kill himself."
"How is that possible?"
"When one is hanged, one must stand upon a chair or some high place and either kick away the chair or jump off the high place. In this case, the fiancé used a chair and kicked it away. It was the only possible object in the room."
"Then why could he not have killed himself?"
"I was not finished, Grand Ruler. The said chair was not found kicked over. It was discovered right side up in the far corner of the room. If he had killed everyone else and then committed suicide, the chair would have been kicked over somewhere near the body."
"Then one of the others was still alive?"
"There are several questionable deaths. But there's also the possibility of a complete outsider killing everyone. Or if they didn't kill them, it's quite possible they came inside and cleaned up a bit."
"The rest of the tower is still a mess."
"Which is why that theory is debatable."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, sir."
"Let me know immediately of any developments."
"Will do, sir." Moonstar walked away.
Galfore remained in the chair, not moving, confusion racing through his eyes. If the fiancé was not responsible for Koriand'r's death, then who was?
A/N:
Bum Bum Bum… Confused? Me too. I found a problem with my murderer. There's a death I'm having trouble explaining…. I know I'd thought of something, but I forgot. x.x So I must keep thinking!
And because I love you all so much, I'm going to wait forever to update. I shall make you wait a very long time! So don't review and say you have no clue who it is. Guess if you have no earthly clue! I want to laugh at all you who're wrong! xD My lack of updating should give you more time to formulate your theories.
And half to annoy Tas14, half because it's true, THIS WAS A SHORT CHAPTER! Again, the shortest yet. They just keep getting shorter. Hopefully next chapter will be longer. After all, it explains everything.
Whooooooo… I'm writing this during camp. The pastor's speaking… but as I have an attention span of zero, I'm writing! Yay! I did not really want to get this into the story of Noah. The good news is as soon as I get back to my cabin, I can grab the paper that has all my epilogue notes and begin writing that! Yay! ((Future A/N: I am halfway through it, I imagine. Maybe. But I haven't even reread the fic yet! Or looked at Agatha Cristie's TLI! I haven't actually picked up that book since… the third chapter? O.o But I really need to reread the fic. I'd hate to write the epilogue with all the answers and then have left something out! O.o))
Next chapter is quite obvious. The murderer is going to give us a play-by-play of what really happened. Just don't get your hopes up for something ingenious. Smartness is not my specialty. No, really, it's not. Ask anyone.
My dearest reviewers!
TheSamurai- I have a very long "to read" list, and a few of your stories are on it, don't worry. It's just a matter of getting through that "to read" list which is the problem. One day you'll see a review from me again, no worries!
Nightlark- Oh, it's a bay outside the tower? I thought it was the ocean… isn't it? Because in "Sisters" Starfire was sitting on the roof at the end and you could see her and Robin sitting there, and it was just water beyond the tower. Isn't that an ocean? Or a really big bay?
Tas14- He didn't go into that form in "The End Part 1". I don't think so anyway… but if he did, then this is all centered before "The End"! Oh, and the murderer killed Starfire. BB was elsewhere when Terra was murdered, not Starfire.
Raven-fieryblack- -.- I apologized for my fiery wrath of doom!
Thankx for reading! Now you'd better review nice and long this chappy! I simply must know what you think! Press the pretty button… you know you want to…. Love you all!
Riles