Last Act

Chapter 2 – Setting the Stage

The duo left the research room and went looking for Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"Any clue where they are?" Robin asked.

"Probably where they always are."

"You're probably right," Robin replied thoughtfully.

They hurried to the common room. Sure enough, they found Cyborg and Beast Boy engaged in an energetic match of Mutant Plant Destroyer Extreme, seated on the huge, red, U-shaped couch. Raven sauntered up to the television screen and shut it off, much to the playing Titans' immense dismay.

"Dude! Raven, what's your deal? I was just about to crush Cy!" BB yelled, throwing down his controller. Obviously he had already completely forgotten how close he had come to being killed by the empath only moments ago.

"Oh right. You actually think you would have won?" Cyborg shot back, "I was going to annihilate you!"

"As much as I deeply care about your pathetic game, Robin and I need to talk to you."

There was something in the authoritative way that Raven said those words that shut up the bickering Titans.

"Is… everything ok?" the changeling asked, realizing for the first time the sincerity and worry that lay deep in the demoness' eyes.

"We're not sure," Robin replied truthfully. "You may have noticed that Starfire has been gone since last night."

"Oh, so that's why there was nothing nasty for breakfast, huh?" BB cut in, receiving a look from Robin that suppressed any further comments. "Uh, sorry. Go on."

"As I was saying," Raven began again, "Starfire went out yesterday to investigate something that had to do with the string of abductions. We haven't seen her or heard from her since, and we're beginning to get worried that she got herself into some sort of trouble."

Cyborg appeared thoughtful. "Do we know where she went?"

"We think so. The last group of abductions took place about 35 miles from here, in Delta City. That's where Starfire was headed yesterday," Robin replied.

"My sensors aren't picking up the signal from her communicator, and they track everything within a 50 mile radius," Cyborg spoke up, looking down at a small screen on his left forearm. "Someone must have deactivated it."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go track her down!" the changeling said impatiently.

"Not so fast, Beast Boy. We don't know for a fact that she was kidnapped, or that anything bad happened to her at all. And it makes no sense for all of us to go investigate. I think that two of us should go look for Star, and the other two should stay here and dig up anything they can that might be helpful. I'll go with Beast Boy to Delta City. Cyborg, Raven, you two stay here. Try to track her down somehow."

Ten minutes later, the R-cycle was speeding away from the Tower, Beast Boy following after him in the form of a falcon. Raven and Cyborg returned to the Operations Room, immediately setting about the task of digging up anything that might lead them to Starfire.

TT

An hour passed. Then another. Nothing. Raven could scream. Nearly 100 people total had disappeared without a trace, and for all they knew, Starfire might have been the latest victim. Raven had tried everything, hoping to find some sort of connection between all the victims. Age, ethnicity, blood type, jobs, interests, anything and everything she could think of. But nothing was adding up. The only thing she noticed was that most of the abductions had been reported in the evening, after sunset. But so what? That was hardly abnormal, since most kidnappings would obviously occur when the attacker had a better chance of getting away unseen.

"Cyborg, you find anything?" Raven asked absently, praying he was having better luck than she was.

"Not yet. Sorry Rae." He replied from the console next to her, just as the communicator in his arm chirped. Cyborg answered it. It was Robin. "Hey Robin, how's it going? Any luck?" he asked.

"I have a lead."

"Really? That's great! Is it credible?"

"It's someone who says they narrowly escaped being abducted them self a few days back. I'm talking to her now. I just wanted to check in. How's the research going?"

"Horribly."

"Oh. Well, Beast Boy and I should be home around ten. See you then." And with that, Robin ended the transmission.

TT

"Sorry about that," Robin apologized to the pale, petite woman sitting across from him in the Delta City Coffee Shop.

The pretty blonde smiled thinly. "It's fine."

"Where were we?" He asked, glancing down to reread what he had printed into his small, black notebook. He scanned his notes, which read:

Lise McGunner, age 22, Delta City resident

June 23 – worked from 7 to 11 a.m., had lunch, visited Public Library, traveled to mall, went to dinner, saw a magic show, was attacked on way back to apartment around 11 p.m., near theater.

"Ms. McGunner, can you tell me anything about this magic show you attended?" Robin requested.

"Yeah, it was amazing! Such a skilled magician! MuJu the Magnificent. I remembered the name because it was a little strange. Anyway, he was great. He started off with a few card tricks and then-"

"Ms. McGunner, Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt again. How do you spell 'MuJu?'" Robin cut in.

"M-u-J-u," She replied.

"Thanks. And do you remember what the magician looked like?"

Ms. McGunner cast her eyes to the ceiling, apparently attempting to remember. "No, I don't really remember. He was old and thin, but that's about it. Look, it's late. I have to work tomorrow. I better go."

Robin was a bit surprised about her eagerness to leave. They had only been talking for about fifteen minutes.

"Well, thank you very much for your help," he replied.

"No problem, hun. I hope you figure out your case," she grinned, picked up her purse, and was off.

Robin looked over his notes again before closing the little notebook and setting his pen down on the table. He put his head in his arms and sighed, deep in thought.

BB casually stepped up to him, sporting a coffee stain on his uniform. "Get anything good?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you. Where were you?" Robin asked the changeling, sitting up again and adjusting his mask.

"I never knew there were so many hot babes in Delta City!" He jovially replied, ignoring his leader's question. He plopped down beside his friend on the opposite side of the table, where Ms. McGunner had been sitting moments earlier.

Robin groaned audibly and rolled his eyes heavenward, pleading silently for patience. "Anyway, she says she was attacked right after some sort of magic show on the 23rd of June," he said, ignoring the changeling and flipping open his notes again. "She never saw the attacker since it was dark, only heard him or her running towards her. She ran, but the attacker caught up to her anyway, grabbed her left arm, and tried to clamp a hand over her mouth. She claims it was an easy hold to break, thanks to five years of Karate training. She then swung her purse at this person and sprinted to her apartment complex. When she got there, the assailant was gone."

"Cool story," the shape shifter said with a smile, peering over his notes. "Work, lunch, blah blah blah…. magician, hm? That's strange, if you ask me."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Who was it?"

"Some guy who calls himself MuJu the Magnificent."

"MuJu?" Beast Boy said dubiously with a smirk. "I wonder if it's Dutch or something."

Robin sighed. "No, Beast Boy, I don't think it's Dutch. But you might have something there. Maybe it stands for something."

Beast Boy smacked his forehead with his palm. "Well duh! Why didn't I see that before?"

"What? Did you figure something out?" Robin asked curiously.

"Yeah! MuJu must be short for Mumbo Jumbo" He exclaimed, his face lighting up. "I can not believe this finally happened. I figured something out before the amazing Boy Wonder did! This is a monumental occasion! It shall go down in history!" Beast Boy cried, as he stood up on the bench, thrusting a fist in the air in triumph.

Robin's face turned the color of a ripe tomato, and he cursed himself for being so blind to the obvious. Why on earth had it not occurred to him earlier? Mumbo was the only villain magician he was aware of, so why didn't he even think of him? So much for being a stellar detective.

"We better be getting back to the Tower," Robin announced, pulling Beast Boy from the coffee shop by the collar as the green teen continued his elaborate victory dance.

TT

The next day there was still no sign of Starfire. Robin was much more worried than he had been the day before, and had spent another almost sleepless night looking for answers. Luckily, he had found what he hoped was a major breakthrough.

It had occurred to him soon after he and Beast Boy returned to the Tower that Mumbo Jumbo must have been behind all the kidnappings. The clusters of abductions were probably stops on his tour.

The grass stain hadn't shut up for hours about how he 'out-detectived' the Boy Wonder. Robin began to regret restraining Raven from murdering the changeling earlier that day. After he had briefed Cyborg and Raven on his discovery, they were a trifle embarrassed to admit that they had found nothing even remotely helpful for them.

In the middle of the night, Robin had returned to Delta City to pick up a local newspaper. He knew that there would probably be something that mentioned it if a magician was in town.

He skimmed through it, and was delighted to not only find a small article about MuJu the Magnificent's show, but a picture of the villain and a list of show times. It was definitely Mumbo Jumbo; there was no doubt about that. He had the same half-crazy look on his face, and in the picture he was pulling a white rabbit from a large, black top hat.

Robin remembered the last encounter with the evil man, and was certainly not looking forward to another, but who knew what the dire consequences would be if Mumbo wasn't apprehended soon? This was no ordinary magician, who won over crowds with illusions and special props. Who knew what the half-mad magician was capable of?

Robin began to scheme. He had to get into one of those shows! Mumbo was obviously behind the disappearances, but there were still many questions that needed to be answered before Robin could even think about getting the magician arrested.

He had waited until ten in the morning, when the article said the ticket telephone line would open. He punched in the number, and held it to his ear.

One ring. Two rings. Three. Four. Five. And just when it seemed like no one would pick up, a bored sounding woman with a nasally voice answered, "Hello. You've reached MuJu the Magnificent's ticket purchasing line, how may I help you?"

Robin thought fast, and decided to disguise his voice a bit. "Um, I was wondering if I could buy four tickets for the next show in Delta City, tomorrow afternoon," he replied in a voice that was a bit deeper than normal.

"I'm sorry sir, but we don't have four tickets left. This is a very popular show, you know. All Delta shows are sold out. Lucky for you we've just recently had a cancellation, so I could find you… two tickets."

"Are you sure? That's it?"

"I'm positive. Would you like to reserve them? I'll need your name, sir."

"Uh, sure I'd like to make a reservation. Oh, and my name is… McGunner. Mr. McGunner," Robin replied carefully.

There was a pause on the other line, and a few keystrokes on a keyboard were just barely audible. "Alright, the show begins at eight pm, tomorrow in Delta City's Performing Theater. Do you need directions?"

"Erm, no. Thank you." And with that, Robin hung up, taking in a huge breath.

But now he had a dilemma. He had to convince Raven to play his date for the evening. Worse, he had to convince her to play his wife for the evening, and if he was trying to make her look like the beautiful, blonde Mrs. McGunner he had talked to the day before, Raven would have to, eh, modify her appearance a bit.

Robin nervously rang her communicator. After a brief moment, the empath's board face appeared on the small circular screen.

"What is it Robin?" she asked.

"Hi, Raven. Listen, I have a favor to ask. Could you meet me in the common room in a minute please?"

There was a brief pause. "I guess. See you then." And the transmission was ended.

When Robin walked into the front room, he found Raven already there, reading. He tried hard to appear casual.

"Hi, Raven," he greeted her.

"Hi," she replied, giving him a slightly confused look and shutting her novel. "So, why am I here?"

He told her about his findings, and about the phone call.

"So, Raven, I kinda need someone to impersonate Mrs. McGunner, and I don't know any other girls who would be willing to do this so-"

"And who exactly told you I was willing, Boy Blunder?" Raven asked, a hint of anger rising into her voice.

"Aw, come on Raven? It'll be fun. Just think of it as a… fun magic thing," he said lamely.

"A fun magic thing?" Raven asked, cocking one eyebrow and eyeing him quizzically.

"Yeah. Come on, don't you want to do your part to get Mumbo behind bars again?"

Raven nodded but said, "There are other ways to figure out what Mumbo is doing than by pretending to be your wife.

Robin gulped. "Think of Starfire, Raven. Think about how we might never see her again if we can't figure this whole thing out quickly." Robin felt guilty the moment the words left his lips. He knew he shouldn't have played that card.

Raven bit her lip. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, she said, "Fine. I'll do it for Starfire."

Robin sighed in relief. "Great! It's a date then." The boy grinned sheepishly and strode out of the room, leaving Raven more than a little bit confused and wondering just what she had gotten herself into.

A.N. Well, that's chapter two, folks. I hope you liked it! Remember to review!