Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, I wouldn't let those b cancel the show.
Chapter 1:
"Ember Rayley! My class is not that boring!"
SMACK!
Ember felt a surge of pain flow over her head as she fell out of her desk, knocking down her chair along with her. Her classmates began to point and laugh her; only one of them got out of her desk and helped her get up. Ember thanked her, picked up her chair, and looked at Mrs. Picket, her teacher, straight into her eyes. Mrs. Picket was one of the grouchiest teachers in Jump Elementary, and to find her student asleep in class did not amuse her.
"Miss Rayley," Mrs. Picket spat, "this is the second time today that you nap in my class. If I catch you one more time dozing off, I will make you stay after school and clean out all the desks by yourself! Do I make myself clear?"
Ember grumbled and yanked her pony tail. "Yes, Mrs. Picket," Ember mumbled, "It won't happen again."
"Good, now take your seat so I can continue the lesson."
Ember did as she was told to do, but she paid no attention to the lesson. Why? Because she knew this already, that's why. She hated being in summer school, especially when she did so well last semester. But, according to her mother, she had to get all the education she could get. Ember knew her mom meant well, but to her, this was ridiculous. She didn't need this at all. Why can't she just stay home and relax for once in her life?
"Ember, would you like to answer the problem?'
Ember snapped back to reality. The whole class stared at her again with some people snickering. I'll show them, she thought, I'll show them that their dumbasses alright. She sat up straight and squinted at the chalkboard.
"The answer is negative three, Mrs. Picket," she said.
"Correct. Perhaps you're not hopeless after all," said Mrs. Picket nastily.
As Mrs. Picket turned her back, Ember stook her tongue out at her in fury. Once again, she paid no attention to the lesson about negative and positive numbers. Sure, you might think it's too advanced for a class going into fifth grade, but Mrs. Picket always taught challenging things to minorities. For Ember, though, this was easier that adding one plus one.
Ember sighed with relief as the bell rang to go home. Everybody began to grab their backpacks and their belongings, but they were all silenced by Mrs. Picket.
"Don't forget to do those hundred math problems and to write those three pages about Virginia Hamilton. Remember, they're due tomorrow! No exceptions!"
The whole class, groaning, scrambled out of the classroom. Ember quickly made her way out the school and looked for Carlos, her chauffer. She smacked her forehead.
"Carlos," she muttered, "where the hell are you?
Don't get her wrong, she liked Carlos. She liked the fact that he was born in Mexico and he has a strange accent when he talks in English. She loved the stories that he told her about his family and his humorous wise sayings. But, he always had the nerve to come late.
"Might as well wait," she told herself as she sat on the ground.
She began to fumble her fingers in boredom, wishing she had at least one friend to talk to. To tell the truth, she had no friends in school. People always thought of her as a mean, wealthy person that didn't care anything except money. This was a lie, of course. She didn't care about money or anything valuable. All she cared about was at least making a friend.
Lost in her thoughts, Ember did not notice that a boy had sat down next to her. He took a deep breath and began searching for something in his backpack. Ember shook herself back into the real world and stared at him. There was actually somebody sitting next to her; nobody has done this before in her life. He paid no attention to her presence and continued looking in his backpack. He glanced at her briefly after a few seconds, making her immediately look at the ground.
"Hey, do you happen to have paper I can use?"
It took Ember a few seconds to realize that he was talking to her. "Um, sure," she squeaked.
She opened her backpack and pulled out line paper. Shaking, she placed the paper in his stretched out hand. He smiled at her broadly.
"Thanks," he said, "I don't think I've seen you around here. What grade are you in?"
"Well, I'm going to fifth," she answered.
"Really? I'm going to seventh," he told her, "You don't look like you're in fourth."
"Um, is that a compliment?" she asked.
For some reason, it made him laugh. "Roy Harper," he stated and stretched his hand to shake hers.
She nervously shook his hand and muttered, "Ember Rayley."
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Ulrick didn't even bother to grab his suitcase when he swiftly left his office. He somehow knew that Chang wasn't kidding about what he had told him a little while ago. Ulrick had to tell Molly about this, call the police, and send Ember to Roy's caretakers. He only had today and tomorrow to do this, and he had to act fast, no matter what the cost.
He pressed the elevator button rapidly and waited impatiently for it to arrive. When it did, his assistant bumped into him.
"Mr. Rayley!" she cried, "You have another call on line two."
"Not now Barbara, I have to leave early today."
"It's from Chang," she added, "Says it's urgent."
"Ulrick froze at name of Chang, but he did not show his fear. Trying to act calm, he nearly jogged back to his office. He closed the door with lock and looked at the phone. He picked up the phone and pressed the blinking red button.
"H-h-hello?" he stuttered.
"Mr. Rayley," Chang answered, "I believe you were thought about what my little plan. I have one and final offer for you. If you fulfill it, I will spare young Ember, do I make myself clear?"
Ulrick's voice began shaking. How on earth did Chang know her name? "Look, I don't want any problems."
"Of course you don't," Chang spat, "it would not be pretty if you did. Now, enough of that, I have a proposition for you."
"I'm listening," Ulrick said, trying to sound brave, but really only sounded as if he had a large lemon in his throat.
"You will give me the money in twenty minutes at the docks," whispered Chang, "You will not be followed by anyone. I see any police and I will not only experiment with your daughter, I will also kill her."
Ulrick thought his heart was about to burst for pounding so much in his chest. How could he possibly get all that money in twenty minutes without anybody noticing? It was utterly impossible. The banker would probably want to know why he needed all that money for. People will wonder what will happen to Rayley Inc. if it had to go into a smaller business and hire fewer agents. Profits will go down and business will be less successful.
"I can't possibly give all that money in such little time! My business will drop and-,"
"That is not my problem," spat Chang, "If you are declining, then I shall-,"
Ulrick finally found himself shouting. "THEN YOU SHALL DO NOTHING ABOUT IT!" he roared, "UNDERSTAND THAT I CAN'T GIVE YOU THE MONEY IN SUCH MINIMAL TIME AND THAT MY BUSINESS WILL SUFFER!" Ulrick took deep breaths, not sure if he was going to regret this or not.
There was silence. It wasn't about ten seconds before Chang muttered, "You were warned, Ulrick. Say your goodbyes to Ember."
There was a click and more silence. Ulrick threw the phone back into the receiver, pulling out few amounts of his hair. He looked at his watch. It was 3:14 PM, meaning that Ember had finally got out of school and that Carlos was already taking her back home. He grabbed his briefcase and left his office quickly. He stopped at his assistant's desk, making her jump slightly.
"Is there anything I can help you with-?"
"Call the police," he said, "and make an appointment with Mr. Kent at five."
"May I ask why-?"
"No," he snapped and took the elevator.
His assistant watched him step inside it, waited for a few moments, got out of her desk, and pressed the elevator button, waiting for another to arrive. Once it did, she made sure that nobody else got in it, and stepped inside. She smirked to herself as it took her down every floor.
"Oh," she snarled, "I'll make you the appointment alright."
Her face began to form into another, still smirking. Her body followed, turning from the elegant blue suit into a bright red top and skirt. She now had black hair and dark red lips.
"Madame Rouge vill make sur if itz," she said.