1Chapter Two: The Fateful Trip For the 'Girl Time'
"Alright Cy, what do you have for me?"
Robin stood arms crossed, watching his large robotic friend hunched over a computer. Cyborg turned, the smirk on his face revealing that whatever he had found was interesting, helpful or not. And either way, sometimes the most insignificant detail provided the most insight into a criminal's mind. So said Robin, the boy wonder of crime fighting.
"I have the tests back on the note, glue, and the remains of the device you guys found. What do you want first?"
"Let's go in that order."
"Alrighty then."
He walked over to a plastic examination case that they had placed the note in. It was slightly rumpled and frayed, but overall it was in good condition, "The paper can be bought at any store that sells paper. The ink is also standard, nothing interesting there either."
"However?" Robin guessed, and Cyborg nodded.
"The scent that Beast Boy picked up was too faint for my sensors to detect because I wasn't actually looking for it and there wasn't much of it. Anyway, it turns out to be a type of perfume."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive, and I even got a match to what it is. Expensive stuff, only one place in Jump even has it. This is the kind of stuff... Well, Bill Gates might be able to afford, but I doubt it. It cost that much. And you'll love the name of it."
"Go on."
"Stolen Hearts."
Robin chuckled. Didn't that just figure, "Cliche'. Very cliche'. Get me the name of the place that sells it, I'll go down and see if I can't find anything. Let's move on."
"Alright. The glue..." Cyborg began, motioning to a vial of boiling mass, "Is incredibly strong at room temperature. But you get it at say, a hundred and twenty degrees, it flows like water. It's a new item being worked by the military to replace bulkier wielding equipment for field repairs. However, they need it to remain sticky at higher temperatures, but for whoever these guys are the role is filled perfectly."
"So they're connected to the military..."
"Maybe, the black market may go deeper than we think, but it is most likely the work of an inside military official."
"Good work. Now, how about that thing?"
Cyborg's grin faltered, and he walked over to the broken remains of the device that whoever that was had placed on Adonis, "Whoever made this was, well beyond his or her time."
"Meaning?"
"I'll give it to you straight, the technology used in just the material itself is on my level of tech. I've been working on it for hours, but I still have no idea why it does what it does. That, the hologram that you said was projected, I'm clueless at this point."
"Could it possibly have been Gizmo, or someone connected to him?"
"Well, It could be, but I doubt it. I'm going to run some more test on this. Did you see the guy at all?"
"No, both Raven and I were too focused on Adonis to notice anyone else. I did get a pretty good look at his car. Silver, sleek, streamlined. It looked like something straight from the year 2100. And of course, it was probably heavily customized."
"So we can assume whoever it is would be about eighteen. Any younger and people would start asking questions when they saw him getting in and out. He parked in broad daylight right?"
"Ya, he did."
"I wish I would've been there, just to meet whoever this is. Heck, just see whoever this is. And the car. I so want to see his car!"
"Don't worry, it's kind of hard to miss. This is great, just great... First we get two enigmatic thieves that can get into a vault without opening it in any way, then a new guy who we have no idea what his intentions are... And of course..."
"You think this has something to do with Slade right?"
"Well, ya."
"Look man, I'm not going to try and argue against you. Most of the time it is Slade, I admit. But if you keep jumping to that same conclusion over and over again, someone is going to take advantage of it."
"...Thanks Cy, I'll remember that. Keep it up, find out whatever you can."
As his leader walked away, Cyborg asked him, "So where are you going?"
"I'm going out for a while, get some fresh air. You know how to reach me."
"Alright, be careful man. And be sure to tell Starfire your leaving! Remember last time?"
Robin blushed, glad that his face was turned away from his half-robot teammate. He gave a half-wave of acknowledgment and started off for the Tameranian's room.
See, a few weeks earlier Robin had gone out on a patrol, and had not informed Starfire. Who in response had become so worked up about it that she had nearly leveled the tower and went on a warpath against every petty villain in Jump City. Quite terrifying when you think about it.
Meanwhile, as he went to do this, Beast Boy was lazily flipping through the channels on their insanely big TV. He was slouched back so far that it was more like he was laying down with his feet on the floor and head propped against the back of the couch. His eyes were half-lidded with boredom, and a huge yawn was his only sign of life.
"Dang it, Cyborg hasn't played me at Ultimate Super Metal Omega Racing XYZ 4 since he caught this stupid 'Robin-flu'!"
"He's working. You know, work-ing, that thing that you never do even though Robin tells you to."
"But I'm bored!"
"You need a hobby besides video games..."
"Other than video games? How can you even say that! There is nothing but video games!"
"Alright." Raven said, going back to reading.
"...Like what?" Beast Boy asked, extremely shyly and more than a little grudgingly.
The sorceress considered. She really hadn't thought about it when she had said it...
"Um... some people build model airplanes..."
A vision of Beast Boy trying to glue two pieces of wood together and resulting in the bottle of glue on her head entered the deep reaches of her mind.
"...Or not. You could try and get Cyborg to teach you how to work on cars..."
The idea of their life and safety at 140+ mph depending on Beast Boy's handiwork was not appealing, as it brought images of burning wreckage and total destruction.
"...No... Maybe, no... No... Definitely no..."
Beast Boy sunk lower with each suggestion she threw out. Storm clouds gathered over his head, adding to his already bored state to turn his normally cheery attitude into one of semi-depression. He was bored!
Then a lightbulb lit up above his head. Well, it sort of flickered, then shut off... Anyway, "Hey, why don't I teach you how to play video games."
Silence.
"...No."
"Why not?"
"I'm not playing games with you Beast Boy, it's just not something that I happen to do."
"Come on! I'm bored! Please?"
"No."
"I won't bother you for the whole rest of the day!"
"No."
"I won't bother you for the whole rest of the week!"
"No."
"I won't bother you and do your chores for a month!"
"No."
"Raven! Come on, I'll, uh, not bother you for a month, and, uh, PLEASE!"
"No!"
"PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE-"
"ALRIGHT!" Raven yelled, and you could hear an explosion several floors below. She rounded on the changeling, eyes glowing white, "I'll play your insignificant game! One! And if you so much as think about talking to me again I'll slam your face into the ground until your body stops twitching."
Beast Boy was cowering in a corner, "So, is that a yes?"
Flames shot up around raven as her eye split into four and turned red, her voice becoming deep, demonic, and foreboding, "You try my patience Beast Boy."
"...So, is that a yes?"
"YES!"
"...Alright!"
Raven sighed, and took a deep breath. Just let all of the negative energy flow out. Ya... Just play this game then go and meditate. Perfect plan. Ya...
"So do you want to play Fighter Fight 4000 or maybe Space Blasters Special edition or maybe Zombie: Attack of the Walking Zombies-"
"Just, pick, one."
"Alright." Beast Boy squeaked, quickly putting a game into the Gamestation and turning it on without even looking at it. Then as the opening screen loaded, a smirk crossed his face. Raven was so going down now...
Cyborg groaned, checking his systems to see what time it was. What in the? One already? Hmmm... Did Robin ever get back? Aw, he can handle himself. He was the boy wonder after all, they didn't just wake up one day and start calling him that.
He walked groggily from his lab, towards the common room for a snack before bed. He opened the door, and then the strangest sound met his ears/audio sensors.
"...NO! HOW IS THIS HAPPENING!"
"Can I go now?"
"No! I'm going to beat you!"
"Beast Boy, so far I've beaten you when we've played every character combination on this game. The score stands at 247 to zero. I doubt you'll be able to-"
"No! I will beat you! Begin!"
There was a roar of sound, several flashes of light, then an echoing death cry emanated from a burly man on screen as a small oriental woman took a bow and giggled.
"...NO!"
Cyborg rubbed his eyes. Then snapped a few pictures and several minutes of video with his robot eye. Photographic memory rocked... Especially when it was literal! He was never doing his chores again, not with this to hold over Beast Boy's head. Wait, who was he...
RAVEN!
Alright, that was strange. He thought he heard the twilight zone theme song playing the hallway...
"NO!"
"Beast Boy, I want to go to bed-"
"I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"
Raven sighed, rubbing her temples, eyes half lidded in boredom as she hit several buttons and achieved another five second victory.
"Well, that's something you don't see every day." Cyborg muttered, going to the fridge, "Ooh pie!"
TEEN TITANS!
Robin yawned heavily, stretching his arms high above his head as he tried to work the sleep out of his body. What, even he was tired at 6 am, which was about when he always woke up. Coffee, black, lots...
He was the venerable definition of zombie. Two o'clock chasing after dead end leads and non-existent clues really took it out of the boy wonder. He was just waiting for his body to kick back into awake mode, he'd be fine once that happened. Something like a prolonged adrenaline rush... And useful for the all night/day investigations.
Hitting the button on the elevator to the floor the common area was on absent-mindedly, he went over all the things that he had learned last night.
Wow that was quick. If you are wondering, that meant that all his toil had given him a grand total of nothing, no help whatsoever on their super-theives, or their mystery rouge. Oh, sightings of the car here and there, but that was of no real help to him. Maybe he should get the cops to put out an reward for information. That had helped before...
Then he was there. Ah, the common room in the early morning. Sunrise slowly lighting the room, the mess from the previous night still not cleaned up, the TV on, Raven and Beast Boy asleep on the couch...
Robin stopped dead in his tracks. Then sighed. He must've gotten home later than he thought, because he could've sworn that he just saw Raven and Beast Boy asleep on the couch... Nah, couldn't have been. He was just seeing things.
He hummed a low tune as he fixed his coffee, determined not to turn around and confirm what his brain was telling him. He refused to believe it, it was impossible, he was going crazy, ya, that was it... Or maybe that wasn't an aspirin he took this morning...
Finally, his coffee was done. He could avoid it no longer. He closed his eyes, turning oh so slowly, trying with all his might to resist looking. But one of his eyes crept open, and then all brain and body functions ceased.
There they were. He couldn't believe it. What the heck was going on? What alternate dimension was this? How? When? Why?
Then slowly it pieced itself together in his detective mind. The screen still featured fighters, one on the ground and the other in a fighting stance with the words PLAYER 2 WINS on the screen, the stage music going in the background. Raven had the controller held loosely in one hand, the other clutching her cloak around herself against the cold. Her head was leaning against Beast Boy's shoulder, curled up slightly for warmth. The changeling had his head bent forward, both hands still holding the controller in a death grip.
So, Beast Boy somehow managed to annoy/tempt Raven into playing a game with him, and they lost track of time until they finally fell asleep on the couch from exhaustion. But a sly smile crossed Robin's lips. That may be what actually happened, but for blackmailing purposes the truth could be twisted a little bit right?
As he exited to get a camera, and extremely groggy Cyborg walked in, then froze. They both looked at each other, the sleeping pair on the couch, then back to each other. Cheshire grins firmly planted on their faces, the crept over and started taking pictures.
Unfortunately for them, it seemed that everyone was waking up early that day. Because as Robin was gently putting Beast Boy's arm around Raven's shoulders, Starfire entered. She stared at the scene horror struck for several seconds, then burst out in a cry of accusation that would've made a demon feel condemned, "FRIENDS WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Beast Boy was awake instantly, but froze. Robin was still holding onto his arm, Cyborg had a camera ready to take another picture. They all looked at each other, faces locked in mutual horror. There was s tremble deep in the Earth, and Raven's eyes opened.
High above the planet, on the Justice League watchtower, the Flash was having his morning coffee. Cream with 37 sugars. Even the hyperactive speed demon was moving slow this early, and he walked over to the window where Batman stood, looking down at the Earth.
"Hey Bats."
"Good morning Flash."
"What's so good about it?" He asked testily, glaring sideways at the dark knight.
"There aren't any aliens, mutated monsters, super-villains, or giant meteors so far."
"Oh, I guess it is pretty good then."
They both stared down at the celestial blue, white, and green orb that was their charge. Their home...
Suddenly a light many times brighter than the sun erupted from the coast of California, blinding the superheroes for a moment. But when their vision faded back in, they hadn't moved. In fact, the really didn't show any signs of caring for two reasons. One, it was too early for quick responses. And two...
"Raven?"
The shockwave from the explosion rattled the station for a few seconds, and the lights flickered on and off. And if you listened you could almost hear five distinct cries over the groaning strain of the metal.
"Yep."
There was silence, broken only by the beeping and humming of computers and machinery.
"...Today's going to be a good day..."
Back on Earth, Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were all inside of a crater twenty feet deep and twenty feet wide, which was slowly filling with water from the bay. Raven stood where the window of the common room used to be, eyes glowing bright red, "If you ever decide in your infinite wisdom to ever try a stunt like this again, I will open a portal straight to a black hole and THROW YOU IN IT!"
She sighed, satisfied and was about to walk away when she added, "Oh yes, and you should probably get to work fixing this and if you even think of keeping so much as a single negative of that film..."
Starfire was huddled in the door way, but relaxed a little as the mysterious titan approached, "Friend Raven, I understand whatever they were doing was probably wrong and mean, but was that truly necessary?"
"No." Raven stated flatly, before giving her a sideways glance and half-smile, "But it was fun."
The Tameranian almost burst into tears of jubilation, "You have smiled and partaken in a painful and sadistic but fun activity! Do you wish to join me for the 'girl time' at the 'mall of shopping'?"
"Do I have to go into Pink World?"
"This is a celebration, we will do whatever it is you want!"
"Alright, sure."
As they walked off, Beast Boy groaned, and twitched. He looked around, scratching his head, "What did I do again?"
TEEN TITANS!
"Friend, remember that night the Mael Kirheinse arrived, you and I made an agreement that you would allow me to wear one of your cloaks?"
"Uh, ya..."
"May we go back and get one please?" Starfire asked, cringing behind Raven as they walked through the nearly deserted store. Those that were there looked at the Tameranian Princess as if she was a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, and they were just mentally deciding when, where, and who got to hold the knife.
"Alright, I'll be quick. I just want to see if they have something that I asked for last time."
Raven walked off, leaving Starfire surrounded, alone, and afraid. There seemed to be shadows creeping in from every side, threatening to drag the young alien in, the very atmosphere of the dark store frightening her. She was convinced there were dark creatures about to grab her, when she saw something that tossed aside all thoughts and fears.
With childlike interest, she floated over to a display, looking at the items behind the glass with much curiosity. Why? Because, Starfire had managed to find the gem and jewelry for sale in the store. And some of it was simply breathtaking.
When Raven returned, looking a bit disappointed, she almost had to drag her friend away. And as they walked to another part of the 'mall of shopping', Starfire told her in wonder, "I did not know you could find such things of beauty in such a dark and hostile place."
"Not everything is as it seems."
"Indeed. If there is one thing I have learned from you it is that."
This discussion had to be put on hold though, because of a chorus of screams from down the way. The two female titans glanced at each other, then sped off to see what the disturbance was.
It turned out that a man had a drawn a pistol, and was holding it threateningly. However, there seemed to be nothing in particular he was being threatening to, as he kept whirling around and looking in all directions.
The entire top part of his face was covered by an advanced looking pair of goggles, more like a helmet that covered his eyes. Only his mouth was visible, and it could be seen that he was muttering.
He wore a white lab-style coat that hung down to his ankles, and dragged the floor while he was crouched down, as well as olive green, baggy cargo pants. His shirt was a plain black one, with no distinguishing marks.
Raven and Starfire approached cautiously, the former beginning to talk, "Take it easy, just put down the gun."
However, the man made no signs of listening, or even caring. He just glanced around again, a frown on his face. As Raven tried to reason with him, Starfire went around behind to quickly take him down if he proved hostile. It was very surprising when the man acted.
"Gotcha!"
Whirling, coat fluttering behind him, he aimed the gun right at Starfire, and fired. The Tameranian froze, and watched in horror as an comet of silver energy streaked towards her. But instead of hitting, it flew right past a few feet to the side. Hitting the wall, it made a small crater and a lot of noise.
But what was really puzzling, was the fact that a group of people who were standing pretty far away were all knocked down, as if someone had dived into them. And who was quickly revealed. His holographic shielding knocked out for a moment, a black clad villain was seen, with only one distinguishing feature, several marks, especially one on the mask.
A Red X.
The villain soon faded back into invisibility, and ran, the new gunman cursing and giving pursuit. And behind him flew Raven and Starfire, who were still trying to figure out what was going on, and who they should be trying to take down.
The man in the white coat was shooting as he ran, sometimes coming dangerously close to hitting civilians, so he was singled out as the primary target over what appeared to be Red X. Plus, they could see him. Red X could wait until they had the others there to search for him, as he was more of a thief.
And possibly connected to the recent robberies...
"Robin, this is Raven, we have a disturbance at the mall. A man using extremely high tech equipment and weapons is giving chase to what appears to be Red X. He may be our mysterious new rouge."
Robin nodded, then replied over the communicator, "Alright, try to keep them both in the building, we'll be there in 4 minutes."
"Alright, hurry, this guy doesn't appear to be a very good shot and he's not shy about shooting either! Should we concentrate on him or X?"
"Who's more imminently dangerous?"
Another shot is fired, just missing a man's head by inches.
"The new guy definitely! It looks like X is just trying to get away!"
"Grrr... Alright, let X go take down the rouge!"
"Roger that! Starfire!"
"Yes?"
"Take the gunman down!"
"Right."
Starfire began to hurl starbolts at the man, which exploded around him while Raven used her powers to try and trip him. As it turned out he wasn't expecting either to happen, and fell flat on his face, skidding to a halt after a few feet.
"You will now surrender your weapons and accompany us to a proper holding facility to be tried with your crimes of-"
"Lay off!" he yelled, throwing a small silver sphere at them. Starfire and Raven watched it's approach, going right in between them. It beeped twice, turned red for a moment, then exploded with such force that both heroines were knocked from the sky just from sheer concussion, and many were knocked completely off their feet.
Yet the man never missed a beat as he took off after his prey again, cursing that he was falling so far behind. Whatever X had done, it had seriously ticked this guy off. And he was intent on settling whatever score was between them.
"That was unexpected..." Muttered Starfire as she got to her feet, Raven soon joining her.
"Obviously if this is our rouge he isn't all smoke, mirrors, and tricks."
And after dusting themselves off, they resumed chase of their new enemy. He was down near the other end of the mall now, and as they watched a pair of shoppers get knocked out of the way by the unseen Red X.
Just as the man in the white coat was about to enter this store after him, Starfire shot a starbolt at his feet, causing him to slide to a halt. He turned, and using his left arm to rest and stabilize the pistol flipped a switch on it and aimed.
A beam of continuos platinum colored energy slammed into the alien girl, crackles of electricity running up and down her body as the laser kept her in the air. Finally, the attack ended, and she fell to the ground. Raven was at her side in a second, hand under her friend's head.
"I am fine..."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes... do not let him get away."
Once again the new rouge tried to enter the store but this time a wall of black energy stopped him. Raven flew towards him, anger burning in her eyes now. He cursed, and after kicking the black barrier ran towards a door that said 'keep out'.
The dark sorceress entered right after he did, the door shutting on it's own behind her. It was a long, dark, deserted hallway. It probably would lead to bathrooms and other service areas, but was currently without power.
It was too late when she noticed the circular plates attached to the walls all up and down where she was.
Suddenly, the hallway was ablaze with shifting colors and flashing lights. But they were so random and changed so quick that you could've seen better while it was dark, and watching it made her ill. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the music, which was deafeningly loud. Heavy metal poured into the hallway, the guitar, drums, and vocals slamming into her head like so much brick.
"Azerath Metreone Zinthos!" She yelled, but couldn't be heard. Her senses overwhelmed, she couldn't concentrate enough to use her powers. Finally, Raven fell to her knees, holding her head in a futile attempt to block out the infernal noise and light that assaulted her.
When she unclenched her eyes for a moment, all she saw was a booted foot heading straight for her face...
Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire arrived a minute later, following her communicator signal. They found her unconscious and sprawled out on the ground. After some coaxing from her teammates though, she came around and moaned in pain from a splitting headache.
"What happened?"
"Some kind of illusion, light and music... I couldn't concentrate, it was too much... I think he knocked me out while I was down..."
"Did you get a good look at him?" Robin asked seriously.
She shook her head, "No, I'm sorry."
"You chased him for three minutes and you didn't get a good look at him!"
"Friend, he wore a strange helmet, and he was running most of the time."
"The only thing I can describe are his clothes. Black shirt, dark green cargo pants, white lab coat," Raven grimaced, hand going to her head, "And combat boots."
"Alright, he can't of gone far. Cyborg, come with me. Starfire, you and Raven go back to the tower and make sure there aren't any worse injuries. Beast Boy, you tell the cops to start a city wide search based on that description, then go with them in case he comes back. Titans, go!"
TEEN TITANS!
The man stopped running, bent over with his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. As he walked down a darkened alley, he cursed and slammed his foot into a nearby trash can. Taking off the helmet, he ran a hand through his hair.
"Stupid... I'm never going to find that guy again. Of all the idiot things..."
He walked up to the streamlined car and unlocked the door, tossing the helmet into the back as he entered. Then reaching into his coat, he made some adjustments causing the material to go from white to black. Finally, he punched a few buttons on his car's consol, and it was surrounded by a hologram that made it look like your 'just about in the junkyard' rust bucket. Cursing again, he managed to calmly exit the alley onto the road, and passed three cop cars who went right past him without being the wiser.
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