After over an hour on the phone, Raven silently approached her fellow Titans, all of who were looking at the large television screen, but not watching it.
"I have an way in for us," she said in her usual monotonous voice. They all jumped as they were brought suddenly out of whatever thoughts they had been lost in, and turned to face her.
"Please explain, friend Raven," Starfire requested.
"Who'd you call?" Beast Boy inquired.
"I first called the NFPA—National Fire Protection Association," she explained when they looked confused, "to get more information on fire codes for buildings. Then I called the local fire department. I thought the building those ninjas are using had been abandoned for a long time, and I was right. Since it is now being occupied, it is a priority that it be inspected. The fire department usually does it, but I gave them a reputable reference, and so they are going to allow us to do it this once."
"Rae… I'm speechless!" Cyborg declared.
"Yeah, good work, Raven," Robin added with a smile. He paused. "Who was the reference?"
Raven gave an offhand shrug. "Lamont."
"Isn't that the guy you worked for when you were a lawyer?" Beast Boy questioned.
Raven nodded. "And his son," she said as an afterthought.
"When can we go?" Robin asked.
"Whenever you're ready. But we do need to stop at the fire station for ID badges, and they're going to let us borrow one of the department's cars."
"Wait. We're not forgettable. They know what we look like. We can't just walk in there and have them not be skeptical of who we are," Terra declared.
Raven nodded. "I thought of that, too. I have changed my appearance quite often, recently. So I believe I have some experience in it."
"Oh, right." Terra gave a small laugh.
Raven continued, "I'm going to use a spell anyway. I just found one. It'll be quicker and easier to both put on and take off."
"Why can't we take my car?" Cyborg nearly whined.
Raven raised an eyebrow. "We're not going as the Teen Titans, remember?"
Cyborg sighed. "Yeah, yeah."
"All right, Titans. Are we ready?" Everyone nodded in affirmation. "Let's go. Cy, why don't you drive us to the station?" Robin said with a grin.
Once they arrived, Raven spoke briefly with the on-duty chief before telling her friends, "The car's ready for us. And I'll put the spell on now so they can take our pictures and make up the IDs."
"Who's driving?" Cyborg asked hopefully.
Raven smiled and tossed him the keys, which he caught deftly midair. "Now," she instructed, "hold still."
Raven closed her eyes, and lilac-colored magic seeped from her hands and surrounded all six Titans. Her friends stood immobile, as directed, and felt a tingling sensation overcome them. But they knew Raven would never harm them, so they were not worried in the least. After a few short moments, the feeling turned almost soothing, and they felt a tension they were unaware of having leave them.
Suddenly the magic was gone, and Rave opened her eyes to reveal plain brown irises. Her hair had also been turned brown and her skin had tanned to look more like Starfire's.
Robin lost is black hair for shorter blonde locks. His mask was gone to show brown eyes. His skin had darkened as well.
Cyborg looked like a human version of himself, but his skin was lighter and his eyes were a light blue.
Terra's blonde hair had turned ginger, and her eyes had altered to green.
Starfire's skin had also paled. Her long red hair was now black and hand shortened in length. Green irises changed to blue surrounded by normal white sclera.
Beast Boy's skin became as dark as Cyborg's usually was. His hair darkened to black, and his eyes became hazel as well.
They all wore the customary uniform of fire inspectors, which consisted of a white dress shirt and navy pants or skirt.
"Whoa," Beast Boy said as he surveyed his friends.
"If any of us use our powers, the spell will be broken for everyone," Raven warned. The others nodded in understanding.
They had their pictures taken in their new disguises and the identification cards were made and authorized as a top priority job. Each was handed a clipboard with the information they would need and forms that were to be filled out.
Cyborg drove them to the building where they were permitted to enter once they displayed their identification and stated their purpose.
"Why so many of you?" a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man asked suspiciously.
"A large building that has not been checked in years," Raven retorted in her tenebrous voice, "requires several assessors. And if you aren't cooperative, we will be certain to fine you the maximum for not informing us that the building is now in use."
The lack of emotion in her threat seemed to cause the man's behavior to sober noticeably. "What do you want us to do?"
"Continue as you normally would," Raven instructed. "I need you to fill out these forms, too," she added, handing him the documents.
"Of course, we'll do as you ask," the man replied.
Raven nodded and turned to her friends as the man left to inform his workers.
"Wow. Was that from hanging around those actors?" Terra asked.
"Partially. If you don't act confident at what you're doing, you won't fool them," Raven explained. "Anyway, according to the blueprint, there are four stories plus a basement. We need to split up to inspect each floor, the roof, the loading docks and the warehouse." She looked to Robin expectantly.
He nodded in understanding that, as leader, he should be the one to assign placements. Robin decided to take the top floor and the roof. Terra was ordered to the third floor, Beast Boy the second, and Starfire the first. Cyborg volunteered for the loading docks and storehouse. Raven stated that she did not mind searching the basement.
"Good luck, guys," Robin said before they all parted. "Be careful."
As they scrutinized the building, they could at times feel the eyes of hidden employees watching them carefully.
Raven was the first to find something strange.
The basement was filled with stacks of boxes and hidden items beneath dusty sheets. Either the cellar was not utilized very often, or, far more likely, it was made to appear that it went unused. She made notes as she moved throughout the large maze-like underground room. She followed the walls and came across a barely visible crack in the wall. Too straight to be the result of an earthquake, she followed it with her eyes and noticed it formed the outline of a large doorway. She had bent down and begun to run her fingers along the rift when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see one of the workers.
"Can I help you?" Raven asked.
"Did you find something interesting?" the woman asked, her voice as monotonous as Raven's.
Raven did not hesitate. "This junction box is not covered, as required. And there are exposed wires." Raven indicated the wires in the box next to her on the wall. The woman looked slightly uncertain of herself. "Was there something else?" Raven inquired innocently. The lady hesitated only a moment before shaking her head. "Then if you don't mind, I'm almost finished down here, and we'll give a full report of what needs to be fixed."
Finally, the woman nodded and left without another word.
Cyborg was nearly caught stealing a look at a newly arrived shipment in the warehouse. He barely had time to realize he was looking at the bombs they had been attacked with previously before a thick voice behind him demanded, "What are you doing?"
Cyborg's mind raced. Remembering Raven's words, he said assertively, "Not that it's any of your business right now, but I was checking this pile of crates. It's blocking the fire exit." He pointed at the door.
The large man grunted and left. Cyborg silently released a breath he had not realized he was holding.
Robin became mistrustful of a framed painting that appeared to be out of place on the wall. He had not seen another piece of artwork anywhere else. He glanced around, and, seeing no one, he carefully removed it. Behind the painting, he encountered a combination lock and handle on the thick metal door of a safe set into the wall.
As he was replacing the picture, Robin heard footsteps nearing his location. While he was trying to straighten it, the person rounded the corner and called out, "You! What do you think you're doing?"
Robin scanned the wall to either side of him before turning to see a man eyeing him warily. Keeping Raven's remark about confidence in mind, Robin stated, "There should be a fire extinguisher here. Those two," he pointed to two farther some distance away to either side of them, "are too far away to meet the standards."
After a moment, and with barely-contained reluctance, the man nodded and turned away.
Robin wiped his brow in relief and glanced thankfully at the marks on the wall that suggested a fire extinguisher had once been mounted there.
Terra was not as lucky as his friends. She was too tempted by the computer in one of the currently unoccupied offices she found. Someone had left it logged in, which probably meant that the person would be returning soon. But thinking about all the information the machine could be hoarding made the opportunity too great to pass up. She began to explore the numerous files but was disappointed to find them coded. Others required additional passwords to access.
Searching the desk, she found a blank disk and began copying as much of the data as she could.
Only a few moments later, however, the blonde man Raven had spoken with earlier entered the room. "I knew you were fakes!" As Terra grabbed for the disk, he reached for the switches next to him and flipped one up. No sound or lights followed, but suddenly the room was occupied by several black-clad, masked ninjas.
One jumped towards her, and with a spinning kick, sent her through the window.
Having no other choice, Terra used her powers, to call up a rock from the ground to catch her before she could fall and be injured.
Robin, who was on the roof, heard the glass splinter and recognized Terra as she landed safely on a large piece of earth.
"Terra, are you all right?" the leader called to her.
She rose higher into the air. "Yeah, but you know what this means…"
"Raven's spell is broken." As soon as the words left his mouth, another window was broken and Beast Boy appeared, flying in his pterodactyl form.
Soaring upwards to meet Robin and Terra, he said, "A little warning would have been nice."
Suddenly the door to the roof burst open and countless ninjas flooded onto the roof. "Everyone meet outside!" Robin shouted into his communicator as he jumped onto Terra's rock.
Raven was walking up the stairs to the third floor when she felt her enchantment shatter. Someone behind her yelled, "You! You're that witch!"
Turning, Raven could not count the number of foes who were approaching her because of the poor lighting. Her eyes glowed white and she transformed into a glowing black bird-like form and escaped through the ceiling and used her powers to hold the door to the basement closed.
On the ground floor, she found even more assailants, all of whom were focused on Starfire. She was valiantly holding them off by throwing her starbolts and hovering in the air, but she would not last long confined inside the building.
Robin's instructions sounding from their communicators simultaneously broke Starfire's concentration and made Raven's presence known. Raven hurriedly created a shield for herself, but Starfire was instantly overwhelmed, and Raven was unable to create a shield around the alien as well.
Starfire cried out as she was attacked, and Raven thrust a glowing scarlet palm towards the girl. An unseen force threw the ninjas backwards against the walls, their bodies breaking through desks, shelves and anything else in the process.
"Azerath Metrion Zinthos Trappordé!" Raven and Starfire were surrounded by a pale, glittering red luminosity. They vanished from within the building to reappear outside on the barren ground.
Beast Boy started when the two girls suddenly materialized next to him. "Dude," he said when he recognized them. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"What did you do?" Robin inquired.
"Followed orders," Raven replied.
"Thank you for rescuing me, friend Raven!" Starfire said, squeezing Raven in a tight hug.
Raven disengaged Starfire and reached a glowing green hand towards the wounds of the alien girl, Terra and Beast Boy.
"Where's Cyborg?" Robin asked, concerned.
A small explosion answered him. Out of a still smoking hole in the wall, Cyborg was backing towards them while firing his sonic cannon.
Raven and Terra exchanged a glance before they combined their powers and used stones to block the opening Cyborg had made.
Cyborg rejoined his teammates, unharmed. "Thanks," he told the two girls. Before another word could be spoken, doors and windows were flung open and the Titans were encircled and greatly outnumbered.
"Raven!" Robin called out, but she already had a semitransparent black shield in place.
Several bombs were thrown, but rather then penetrate the shield, they rebounded, sending the ninjas running for cover. Raven braced for the force of the blasts, which knocked Terra and Starfire to the ground and had the males blocking their faces with their arms. Raven turned her head to avoid the dirt and the harsh wind that tugged at her hair and cloak, but held her arms outstretched to maintain the shield.
"Now what?" Beast Boy asked, as the ninjas regrouped around Raven's shield, seeming more guarded.
Robin looked slightly perplexed at the situation.
Terra looked at Raven. "How did you and Starfire get here?"
"Transportation spell," Raven replied, her voice sounding thoughtful. She knew what question would come next. "I think I can do it," she said.
She repeated the phrase, pouring her power and will into the spell in order to transfer all six of them. As the shield dissolved and the ninjas moved to attack, the Teen Titans disappeared.
The Titans suddenly found themselves in the main room of the Tower.
Raven sat abruptly on the floor, bracing her hands behind her to keep her sitting upright. Her friends rushed to her side voicing their concern.
She waved them away. "I'm fine. That just took a lot of energy. I'm just tired." Her stomach grumbled, and a faint blush colored her cheeks. "And hungry."
Her friends smiled and Cyborg helped her to stand. "I'll cook," he said, and Beast Boy insisted on tofu.
A/N: I thought you might get bored with just the building inspection, so I made this chapter longer with some action. I hope you liked it!
Broken Outcast: I am happy you think so. Thanks for reviewing!
Raven of the Night676: I had not noticed that, but you are right. I suppose it is keeping with the library theme. They are in alphabetical order, after all. Thank you for reviewing!
cd lover: Thank you very much! You do not need to thank me for continuing. I know how frustrating a story can be when the ending is left too open. I hope you continue to enjoy!
hafewolfdemon: No, there is more to come. I shall inform you when the story is complete. Thanks for the review!
Blood of the Wolf: I hope this chapter was worth the wait. And it answered your questions for me. Thank you for reviewing!
DelofDani: I will be sure to note when the story is finished. I am glad you like it. Unfortunately, I have not had the time to read your updates. I hope to soon.
GoRaven: I hope this chapter was worth waiting for. Thank you so much for reviewing!
papersak: Yes, there is a surprise coming up that is related to the ninjas. At least I hope it is a surprise… Anyway, thank you for the review!
The Last: I hope this was soon enough for you. School is out, but I am taking summer classes now, so I am not sure if these more frequent updates will continue. Thanks for the review!
YoshiVixen: I am glad you like my story so much. Thank you for reviewing!
animegoddess12345: You sounded rushed. I appreciate you taking the time to review. Thank you! And yes, I am continuing. I will be sure to note when the story is complete.
Khaleda: You are very correct. Thanks for reviewing! I am glad you are pleased with the story so far.
moo: I am happy you think so highly of my story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
GS Dragono: I cannot make any promises, I am sorry to say. If an idea comes to me, I would be happy to write a sequel, but then and only then.
lovex3spell: I am truly touched that you like my story so much. Thank you very much for reviewing! I hope my story continues to meet with your approval.
Umbra Puella: (a.k.a. true blue fan) Thanks so much! I am just glad you like the story so much. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
dancingirl3: Thank you very much! I hope the update waiting period has been more bearable recently.
NevermoretheRaven: Thank you for the review! And you have nothing to apologize for. I am just glad you approve of my story and methods. I am sure that you could have figured out how Raven chose her jobs, but most stories here are meant to be read for leisure, correct?