Disclaimer: Bleh.
A/N: Pretty short. Nothing else to say. Read the damn thing.
Chapter Eight
"Wait, I remember you now..." Robin said, following the red haired girl up the stairs. "You're Star, right? Raven's friend."
"That is me," Star said in her foreign grammar. "Please follow me, I can show you the way out."
"Where are we?" Robin asked kindly.
"Below the Opera house, in one of the many catacombs underneath the house itself," Star said, her accent rolling off perfectly. "I'm afraid Beast is rather fond of this place."
"Star, what's going on?" Robin asked, still following her. The two were climbing up a stone hallway, deeper into the catacombs. "How do you know all this?"
"I will tell you momentarily," Star informed him. "Just follow me, and keep your hand at the level of you eyes."
"Keep what?"
"Keep your hand a the level of your eyes!" Star commanded, raising it for him. She did the same. "This place is not safe, as Beast haunts it as well. Always remember that rule, and keep your hand up!"
"Whatever you say..." Robin said, puzzled. He kept his hand raised up to this eyes like she commanded. Eventually the two reached a dead end. Or so Robin thought. Reaching out, Star pulled a lever on the wall. Immediately, the wall opened up, and lead into a hallway in the Opera House.
Star grabbed Robin's hand and pulled him through the opening. The door clammed shut behind him. Robin looked back and couldn't even see where the door was. It fit into the wall perfectly. Star, still holding his hand, lead him into an empty dressing room, hers.
"Sit down," Star told him, her emerald eyes filled with worry. Robin looked around and grabbed a chair.
"Star, I really don't mean to worry you, but what's going on?" Robin asked. "I just fell down into a mysterious tunnel chasing a morphing ghost boy. Tell me that isn't weird."
"He is no ghost, first of all," Star said, still looking very worried. "If I tell you the story, will you repeat it to no other? Not even Raven?"
"Promise," Robin said, more concerned than worried about being dishonest.
"Very well," Star said, looking away. "It all started two years ago. I was coming to the Opera house to sing in my school chorus, when I witnessed a child being hurt. He was a year younger than me, but he was being beaten up by a group of delinquents. After the bullies left him to bleed, I ran into the alley to help him."
Star paused and took a deep breath. She had never told this story to anyone before. "When I reached out to help the boy, he shoved me away. I called out to him, but he merely ran away. I ran after him as well. When he saw I was persuing him...the boy...transformed. I know it sounds crazy, but I saw the boy change into a snake. He slithered into a manhole, and I never saw him after that."
"Until a few months had passed, that is." Star took another breath. "I was in the Opera house late, singing, when I heard it. I went to the stage, and heard...music. I saw the boy I had rescued, the very same one, singing and playing the grand organ. When yelled out to him, he turned and transformed again. The Beast, as I call him, changed into a cat and ran past me before I could do anything. Since then, I have witnessed him many times, but never quite as close."
At this, Star could feel tears come to her eyes. "And what is happening...is just sick! The Beast is no murderer, and I know this. He is a composer, a musician, and actor...a genius! He is a genius, Robin! I have seen his works, heard them...and they are amazing! Never before, not even in my homeland, had heard such beautiful works!"
Star looked into Robin's now wide eyes. "Do you undertand? We do not deal with a mere child here anymore. We are dealing with a genius, and one who has suffered much, thus making him dangerous." She put her head in her hands and cried softly. "A genius..."
"Star, please don't cry..." Robin said, moving over to comfort her. "No matter what, I will bring this boy to justice. He can't do these things without being punished. It isn't right."
"But how?" Star cried, looking up at him with her large emerald eyes. "Have you heard nothing I have said! He is a genius!"
"Well, clearly, Star," Robin said, his face hard as stone, "genius has turned to madness."
With that, Robin stood up. Placing his hand on her shoulder one last time, he turned and left the room. His cape flowed behind him, and small tears could be found forming underneath his mask. He would have to kill Raven's ex-lover.
Back in her dressing room, Star began to cry.
Outside, people were screaming and herding out of the theater in packs. The Beast had ruined the party, and caused widespread panic a second time in as many months. As everyone ran out of the building, Raven felt herself fall to her knees and cry softly as well.
Above the rafters, looking down a the panic beneath him, a green boy smiled. A fang poked out of his mask as his green eyes scanned the building. Jumping off of the rafter, he transformed, feeling his cape flow behind him. As he jumped, his shape shifted, and a green bird flew down. The bird glided slowly past Raven, cawing at her as it flew past. Raven looked up to see it was her namesake. It was a raven.
A green Raven.
The green raven flew out of the Opera hose as Raven stared at it with tears in her eyes. The raven floated out into the night sky, surrounded by fireworks. The people cried out as the raven transformed into a pterodactyl, crying out in its dinosaur-like caw. As the pterodactyl screamed down, pecking at random people, Raven could only feel herself grow worse.
And Garfield?
He couldn't remember ever having so much fun in his life. And yet he still felt empty. . .
A/N: Short and lame, I know. Next chapter will come up exactly whenever I feel like it.
Just review and leave me alone.
