Good to see you again! Thanks for sticking around for part eight, No More Riddles! I don't wanna hold you back any more than usual, so get reading! I don't own Teen Titans!
Part 8: No More Riddles?
Raven arrived in the common room, and found everyone sitting around the table. "Hello, Raven." Robin said, his fingers interlocked as he rested his chin on his hands.
"Got somethin' you wanna tell us?" Beast Boy wanted to know.
"What's shakin' down, girl?" Cyborg looked genuinely confused, because no one had told him anything yet.
"Yes, please come and share!" Starfire said, looking chipper and completely missing the seriousness of the situation. "Tell us of your travels with the dark masked man!"
"Say what!" Cyborg exploded, looking around. "Why was I left outta the loop here!"
"Beast Boy told us that you went out the other day," Robin said. "To the Jump City graveyard. He pretended to be asleep and followed you." Raven stood frozen in the doorway, wanting to run for her life. They knew. They knew and they'd all assembled to confront her.
"I turned into a hummingbird and flew behind ya!" Beast Boy said, grinning. "So, you got a boyfriend now, and you didn't wanna tell us? I couldn't see his face since hummingbird vision is so bad, but it had to be a dude the way he was hittin' on you!"
"…So?" was all Raven could think to say, pulling her hood up. "It's my business if I want to find someone for myself."
"This guy isn't normal though, Raven. He could be trouble." Robin said, gesturing that she sit down. "He doesn't look much different than Red X."
"…So? What does anyone in this tower know about normal?" Raven said defensively. "Don't people like you say looks aren't everything?" Her hair was starting to charge with static electricity. Her powers were on the brink. The situation was not getting any better, and Robin really wasn't going about it the right way.
"People like me try to protect their friends when they need protecting." Robin said, trying keep his tone neutral. "I'm glad you found somebody… but why keep him a secret?"
Raven looked resigned at last, and Robin knew he would get at least a few answers if he kept going. "I've never even seen his face. I wouldn't know what to tell you."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Cyborg spoke up. "Raven's got a boyfriend, and nobody told me?" He looked infuriated, sitting down hard and grumbling to himself. He considered himself to be like Raven's big brother, and had wanted to check out the guys that Raven was around… if she ever decided to hangaround them...He didn't have a romantic interest in Raven himself, but he just wanted to know so he knew she was safe. How was he supposed to do that with her sneaking around all the time?
"Yeah, big shocker, dude." Beast Boy patted his friend's shoulder. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing either, and Robin told me to keep quiet about it… like I was lying or something."
"I just wanted visual confirmation for myself, that's all." Robin said in a business-like tone, looking embarrassed. "Jumping to conclusions isn't something we can afford to do with something like that. Especially when you're the one giving the report, Beast Boy."
"Then, what do you want?" Raven said, looking at them in turn. "I can't exactly invite him over to meet everybody. I don't even know when he'll show up next."
"You always know when and where to meet him, though." Robin said. "How?"
"Yes. You have been disappearing during the night time many times lately." Starfire added in.
Raven was growing more and more uncomfortable with every second. Finally, she reached into her cloak and drew out the rose. Purple, and covered with dew as though freshly picked, she showed it to them. "He leaves me roses, with riddles attached to them. The answer to the riddle always points to where he'll show up next."
"And what did this riddle say?" Robin asked.
"I… don't know." Raven said, turning the rose several times. "There's no slip of paper attached to this one. I just got home, so I never got the chance to read it…" Everyone looked a little frustrated, especially Robin. Raven suddenly stood angrily. "I don't need your permission to go out with someone!" her powers flared angrily, and the lightbulb above the table blasted apart. Beast Boy squealed, hiding under the table with Silkie, who was trembling. "Thanks to you, Robin, spotting us at the lake… we had to panic and leave. The riddle probably got dropped into subspace." Raven hissed angrily. "I don't even know where to find him now." The rose burst into flames because of her powers, and all four Titans jumped.
"Raven… I…" Robin looked ashamed as Beast Boy went and flicked a lamp on. "I didn't mean to–" She glared him down, and he shut up.
"Maybe from now on you can respect the privacy of others a little better." She said, rising from her seat. "You're a detective, and you're the leader… but you need to butt out." A cabinet in the kitchen area flew open, and a few dishes tumbled out. They broke on the floor, and Raven made her way to the double doors of the common room. Raven tossed the burnt rose onto the table, right in front of the boy wonder.
"Raven… I'm sorry… I just wanted…" Robin tried.
"To look after me? Well, I've got someone else looking after me now." Raven whispered. "His name is Shade." She opened the double doors and stepped into the elevator. "Good night." The doors hissed shut, and the four remaining Titans were left in silence.
"Well, that… could've gone worse." Beast Boy was the first to speak, peeking from under the table.
"Oh shut up." Robin mumbled, pulling a soda out of the fridge. "I don't see you with any quarters left. You must've failed in your 'mission', huh?" Beast Boy fumed silently at the boy wonder, but didn't say anything. It was true, he hadn't gotten his highly esteemed high score at the arcade… but Robin didn't have to rub it in his face…
Starfire looked around helplessly. There were mean words flying in every direction and there was nothing she could think of to do. Raven had found a potential mate, Robin was being the 'mothering hen', Cyborg had no idea what was going on, and Beast Boy was… Beast Boy. The red head didn't know what to think, and sat alone at the table as one by one the other Titans disappeared to their own rooms.
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Raven reached into her leotard, between her breasts. Making sure the door to her room was shut and locked, and no one was nearby… she produced a tiny slip of paper. She'd fooled them all, and now she and a moment to herself. After Shade had vanished, she'd remembered that Robin and Starfire had seen them. So, she'd taken the riddle off of the rose without reading it, and put it in the one place Robin would never dare to look. She'd burned the rose for dramatic effect during the session of 'twenty questions', but she had the important part right there. Shade's riddle. She held her breath, leaving her leotard unzipped part-way… and opened it.
There are no more riddles in this case, the face you seek… is in The Fireplace. High Noon, 7 days.
Raven's breath caught in her throat, and she clutched at her chest for a moment. Three of her meditation candles snapped in half, and a decorative lamp flew across the room. She stopped it just before it hit the wall, and gently set it down. "He's going to…" she didn't dare say it, for fear of being wrong. He was going to meet her in her own depressing café, The Fireplace, and… unmask! She'd finally be able to see his face! She stood, her heart beating hard. Seven days, though… that would be an eternity all its own. As she lay down to sleep, Raven smiled to herself. Even if Beast Boy tried to follow her, he never dared to come into The Fireplace, so they'd be safe from prying eyes there. High noon… maybe to throw the others off? Wait… how had he known where her favorite café was? She'd only told him moments before he'd given her the rose. Raven decided not to dwell on the thought, and to find some sleep. She could meditate tomorrow, and pass some of the time that was bound to stretch forever… waiting for the priceless moment when the question she'd been pondering for the last eighteen days would be answered. Who is Shade?
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"Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…" Raven murmured. She was on the roof, letting the breeze freshen her spirits like her meditation. Robin had been strangely nice to her the past few days… still sorry about lecturing her like an overprotective parent. Cyborg had to ask Beast Boy all kinds of questions to arrive at the same page as everyone else, but was finally caught up. Starfire had been keeping a cheery, but careful, distance from her as well. She understood that Raven was separated from a loved one… and respected her space. Beast Boy, on the other hand… "Azarinth… Metrion… Z–"
Hey Raaaaaaveeeeen!" Beat Boy exploded onto the roof, and Raven crashed to the floor. Her hair got her eyes, and she poofed some air out her mouth to move it. She made to glare at him and make him fly off the roof, but he had other plans. "Lookie!" He had a newspaper in his hands, and stuffed it up to her face.
Raven took it and read the headline. Mysterious 'Shade' Throws Cotume Party – Gotham Orchestra's Final Night in Jump City The teenage girl stood with a gasp, staring at the picture. It was, indeed, a picture Shade. He was standing there, arms folded, looking at the camera like it was no threat at all. "How… what's all this…?" Raven whispered, shocked.
"Your boyfriend's throwing a party for the whole town! That's awesome! I gotta go get ready!" He jetted away, and Raven read the fine print under the picture.
"The mysterious masked man, Shade (above), asks that all of Jump City come and see the Gotham City orchestra on the last day of the month at the Jump City Grand Hall…" Raven read. "He spoke with the mayor, requesting that he even invite the Teen Titans." Her eyes widened. "This is……" Raven couldn't even find words for it. He was going to unmask himself for her, and then throw a town-sized party and invite her and all her friends only five days later! "This is… interesting…" She read the remainder of the article. "You have to wear a mask to the party, and wear it at all times… music provided by the Gotham City Orchestra and a local rock band…" The last bit caught her interest the most. "Unmasking at midnight, at the stroke of twelve?" Her friends would see him too, and know who he was. Raven thought hard, licking her dry lips. "…Perfect." She left the rooftop, straight for Robin's room.
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She phased through the wall, not bothering to knock. Robin was leaned over a Slade artifact on his desk. One of Slade's 'S-bombs' was being carefully dismantled. A bright light on the desk and not much else, he had a magnifying glass and a tiny screwdriver. When he was drawn away from the machine itself, Raven spoke his name. "Huh? Oh… hey, Raven." He looked nervous at her presence, and she shoved the paper into his hands. He scanned the cover page and stood bolt up.
"So," Raven smiled sadistically. "Are you taking Starfire to the party?" Robin looked at her in disbelief when she said that, but knew that everything was already in motion.
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Raven was out on the roof again, but she'd accidentally left the door to her room open a crack. Robin, looking both ways down the hall, slipped inside. He looked around for anything unusual. Well, anything unusual for Raven… he found something right on her pillow. Shade's latest riddle. He scanned it over, then frowned. "She lied." He murmured. "No more jobs for Beast Boy." He placed it right back where he'd found it, in the exact same position. Robin slipped out into the hallway, and back to his own room. "I'm on the case now." He whispered, closing his door.
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Shade muttered to himself, sitting at his desk. He was drawing up plans for a new mask. His regular one would be fine for The Fireplace, but the mask party required something a little better. "Hmm…" he looked over at Raven's glass brooch, which he'd kept hidden until right then. He turned it over and over in his hands, thinking.
The mayor had been pretty easy to convince to throw the mask party. A new super hero shows up, invites everyone in town to a party, including the Teen Titans… The orchestra would sell out and then some. Donations could be enormous if the right people showed up. The Grand Ballroom was almost as big as a football field, so it was rarely used. Why not use it for something spectacular? But, he warned the mayor, save the last dance for him. The mayor had laughed nervously at the dark figure, but agreed whole-heartedly. It would be great to help city moral, and having six super heroes there would be a big plus as well. They agreed on a date, and it was on the front page of the newspaper the next day, much to Shade's amusement.
Suddenly, Shade was struck with inspiration. "Well… I guess it's worth a shot." Once the rough draft was done, he set to work on the real thing. This was gonna be great.
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Why is Shade throwing a costume party for the whole freaking town? What's Robin gonna do now that he's 'on the case?' What is Raven's outfit gonna look like, all dressed up at a party like that? All that and more next time on Dragonball Z! …wait a second, that's not right…… Hmm… while I put my thoughts in order, why don't you guys ponder the answers to the questions... I'll see you in part nine, Making a Mask! Thank you and review if you have time!