The Teen Titans were all huddled in the common room of the tower, each one wrapped up in layers of blankets, and a mug of hot chocolate in their hands. Another snowstorm had started up, and gusts of white snow blew past the large front window, a sea of white.
"Look, I just think that the series of storms we've been having could be more than just a coincidence." Robin said, agitated. "I mean, don't you think it's odd that we've never had storms of this caliber ever in the history of Jump City?"
The other Titans looked at Robin, cold and tired. But it was Raven who spoke up. "Robin, we'd all like to believe you, but there just haven't been any reports coming in. There haven't been any robberies, murders, kidnappings…anything. I hate to say it, but it seems like this weather's keeping all of the criminals at bay." She took a sip of her hot chocolate then wrapped the blanket more tightly around her.
Robin hopped off of his spot on the couch, and started pacing around the floor. "I know, but that could be part of the villain's plan, right? Get rid of all the small-time criminals so he doesn't have to compete with them when he pulls….well, when he pulls whatever he's planning."
"Dude, calm down." Beast Boy piped up from the couch. "Nobody's going to try and pull something during this storm, even if they were the ones who created it. Nobody could get anything accomplished in a storm like this." He shivered involuntarily, the went on to say, "Anyway, we should be worrying about our own problems in the tower. Which reminds me…shouldn't Cyborg be back already?"
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While the rest of the Titans were chatting in the tower, Cyborg had trudged down into the basement to see what was wrong with the tower. The storm had knocked out the electricity, and although the heating unit that the Tower used ran on gas, electricity was needed to spark the ignition. A generator was facilitating the electricity in the common room upstairs, but with all of the systems they had to run, heating was way down on the list, and was barely being run, if at all. Cyborg's main priority was to turn the power back on.
He silently made his way through the large basement, the flashlight on his shoulder leading the way. He cursed himself for not taking Starfire up on her offer to accompany him down here. Coming down here while the power on was one thing, but without electricity, nor windows to aid him in his search for the fuse box, it was pitch black. And not only that, but it was bitter cold as well. Cyborg had thrown on a heavy jacket and pair of pants, but it was doing little to keep his temperature up.
"Dammit…where's that fuse box?" He mumbled to himself, walking through the basement. "Everything looks so different in the dark…."
After about ten minutes of wandering aimlessly, he finally stumbled upon the fuse box. He inspected it, making sure one of the wires hadn't snapped, and that the connection to the wall was still in place. All in all, the fuse box looked fine, and it seemed like one of the wires had just tripped. He opened the panel, and started to make some adjustments, hoping his predictions were right. If not, well…they'd have to be cold a little bit longer than expected.
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"I offered to go down and help him, but he refused." Starfire said, shrugging her shoulders. "He said he was capable of fixing the box of fuses himself."
"Yeah, well he's been gone a pretty long time. It's dark and scary down there." Beast Boy said, nodding his head. "In fact….the Face Stealer could be down there right now, stalking Cyborg!" He yelled, jumping up on the couch dramatically. "He follows you, carefully observing, making sure your face is worth stealing. Then he'll approach you, ever so quietly, until he's right behind you." He said in a menacing tone, approaching Starfire slowly.
Starfire shrunk back against Robin, looking at Beast Boy, completely enthralled. Behind her, Robin rolled his eyes.
"Then he'll tap you on the shoulder, his freezing breath blowing against the back of your neck." He expelled a short breath, then continued. "And as you turn around, your heart beating fiercely against your chest, he puts on the face of the most horrid thing you can imagine." Beast Boy bared his fangs, and curled his fingers in the shapes of claws. "And when you finally turn all the way around and set eyes on his face, as you let out blood curdling screams, he rips off your face, adding it to his collection! Bwaah!" He let out a yell, causing Starfire to let out a small "eep!" before she hid behind the couch.
"Been watching more Saturday Night Horror Marathons, I see…" Raven said, unenthusiastically.
"Hey, I'm just saying it could be a possibility." Beast Boy said, grinning. "Anyway, I'll go check up on him if nobody else wants to." He wrapped another blanket around himself and headed down the stairs to the basement.
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Meanwhile, Cyborg was hunched over the fuse box, re-adjusting some wires. It had been as simple as a wire trip, but fixing it wasn't quite as easy as he'd first thought. The red and blue wires had to be stripped and re-wired, then there was the adjusting panel that had to be reset, and…
CLANK!
Cyborg spun around, his heart racing, at the sound of rattling bottles. "Is there someone down here?" He gulped, remembering the movie he'd just watched with Beast Boy the night before, Attack of the Face Stealer. He shone his flashlight around, but the basement of practically empty, excluding all of the spare junk piled in the corners. "Must've been a rat…" He said to himself, turning back to the fuse box.
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Beast Boy had to cover his mouth with his hands to keep himself from laughing. He could see the small halo of light that surrounded Cyborg over by the fuse box. "This is going to be the best prank ever…" He snickered to himself as he changed rat, and scurried silently over to where Cyborg sat.
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Still a little bit frightened by the noise that had come from somewhere in the basement, Cyborg decided to keep himself company by whistling. At first it came out cracked and tuneless, but he finally straightened it out until he had a nice little tune going. He began to forget about the noise and focus back on his work, except…
He felt a cold breeze on the back on his neck, and he could feel a shiver going down his spine. He wasn't going to wait for the tap on his shoulder, he was going to face this monster head on. He jumped up and spun around, whipping out his blaster cannon. "Alright Face Stealer, you're goin' down!" He was so concerned about blasting the monster away that he missed the small piece of parchment fall out of his pocket.
"Wait! Wait don't shoot, dude!" Beast Boy said, the cannon aimed directly at his face. "It was only a joke…really." His ears drooped, and he looked pleadingly up at Cyborg.
"B, man, what the hell's wrong with you? You almost gave a heart attack!" He said, sighing, then turned back toward the fuse box. "Anyway, I should have the electricity on in no time. Then we'll be able to get the heat back on and…"
But Beast Boy had stopped listening as soon as Cyborg had turned around. Instead, a bright white piece of paper had caught his attention on the floor. "Oooh, what's this?" He said quietly, crouching down to the ground. He gently unfolded the piece of paper, and started to read the contents of the letter. The entire page was blank, except for a signature at the bottom that read, 'Love Cyborg.'
A small buzz started up in the room, and Cyborg looked up, watching the neon lights flicker on. "Booya! We have power! Give me five, little man!" He said, grinning and holding out his hand.
Beast Boy ignored Cyborg, still fascinated by the letter. "Hey Cy, you know, if you're writing this for some girl you like, shouldn't it have some words to go along with the signature?" He looked up at Cyborg, pointing to the letter.
Cyborg dropped his arm and stared in disbelief at Beast Boy. "Where…where did you….get that letter?"
"No problem dude, I understand how it is with girls. Anyway, I just-" Beast Boy began.
"No, it is a problem, man!" Cyborg said, snatching the letter from Beast Boy. "You don't even know who I'm writing this for, how cold you understand?" He shoved past Beast Boy, and made his way upstairs without another word.
"Jeeze…what's wrong with him?" Beast Boy said, rubbing the back of his head.
Alrighty! The first chapter's up, and I'm pretty happy with it. Ah, Beast Boy…so cute, so innocent, so unsuspecting….
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