RR76: Well, hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowdy! Dammit, I talk like Billy Numerous! NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Well, on a more serious note, life in sunny San Diego sucks. There is nowhere to go, nothing to do (in my part of town anyway) and the pools are overrun by saggy old people. There is nobody--NOBODY--my age to talk to. All my friends live in another part of town, and I can't visit them because I have no money, and besides, I have no idea where they live. And the malls...ugh, don't get me started on the malls. All THREE of them. That's right, THREE. Just how many Nordstrums and JC Pennyses and AMC Theaterses and shoe shops does one city need?

I hate SoCal. I want to go back to NoCal. I can't, because that'd spark an ugly custody battle between my mom and my dad, and my dad's 50 year old girlfriend would bitch about it, and if there's one thing I don't need, it's more bitching.

So shut up and read my crappy story.

Responses:

EMBER91: Um...yes. Yes it is.

Rory: Yeah...sorry if the sex life of Carson is too much to handle. Do not insult my latin! I gots skillz byznatch! Hoos yo daddy foo? There. I have disturbed everybody. Yeay. How's school?

Queenie: 1) After a lifetime of people telling me how much I don't matter, my self-confidence is so shot that I have no choice but to say that. 2) It'll grow back, just you wait, muahaha... 3) I just did. Yeay. 4) If Carson talks like Leor, then Leor talks like me. Gasp. HE STOLE MY VOICE AND TOOK IT TO FLORIDA! I got a bloodtest once. It was fun. :dumb grin:

im in a kill people mood: I'm clean, thank you. And, well, part of his life involves...um...yeah. Quit trying to kill Carson--he'll get what's coming to him eventually, I promise.

SaintH: Hey, caps are important. For example...

With caps: I gotta go help Uncle Jack of a horse.

Without caps: I gotta go help uncle jack off a horse.

See? Caps are fun!

Don't own nuttun' except Carson, his girlfriend, his best friend, and that's about it.

"This is the place," the landlord said, pulling out a keyring. "The rent was pain for the next year and a half, so I guess he expected to be gone a while. Hasn't showed up lately though." He unlocked the door and turned back to Robin. "You know what's happened to him?"

Robin cleared his throat. "Um...well, he's--"

"Don't say dead--that kid don't do death. I tell ya, he could probably teach you a thing or two. Uh, no offense," the landlord said, backing off after Robin gave him an icy glare. The portly man turned turned the knob and slowly opened the door. Robin stepped inside, marveling at what he saw. He was expecting a dusty warehouse downtown--but this? "Where did Carson get the money for all of this?" he asked the landlord.

The man cracked a smile. "The kid was a paid assassin. Best in the biz, and for good reason." He sighed slowly. "And here I am talking about him in the past tense. He is dead, ain't he?" Robin nodded slowly. "You know how he died?" His eyes narrowed. "Did you kill him?"

Robin turned away. "I tried once."

The landlord laughed. "So he DID teach you a thing or two. Ah, that Carson..." he turned and walked out the door. "I should write something in the bulletin. Something tasteful. Kid never did care for obituaries though..." he muttered to himself as he headed back downstairs, leaving Robin alone in the home of his dead adversary.

He took a deep breath and walked in. Raven had given him the whole story--Pavayne, the Ascension, whatever it was, and she had told him that Carson was somehow involved. She didn't say how, just that she knew he was. Carson's past was a mystery--his contacts were either missing or dead. And as we all know, dead men tell no tales. It was up to the Boy Wonder to crack the case.

Robin took in the scene. He had been told Carson lived in the attic of an apartment downtown, and he came prepared for just that--the attic of a downtown apartment. But what greeted him was entirely different. A large, spacious, comfy penthouse, well furnished and clean. Robin stepped over to the windows--how many attics had windows, anyway? They offered a magnificent view of downtown. Robin stepped into one of the two bedrooms and flicked on the lightswitch, illuminating the room in a white glow.

Carson's bed rested against the far wall--still unmade. A photo rested on the nightstand, and Robin picked it up to get a better view. A shorter, slightly younger version of Carson was sitting on a bench, and a young girl with short brown hair next to him, her head rested on his shoulder and his arm around her waist. Carson had a girlfriend? Robin thought, suppressing a laugh. He took the photo out of the frame and turned it around to see slightly faded writing. He squinted to get a better view of it. It read

Carson--

November 18th, 2003

Happy Birthday

November 18th 2003. One month before Carson's arrival in Jump City. One month before he took up the contract on the Titans' lives. Robin frowned and tucked the photo away in his belt absentmindedly. He was about to leave the room when something else caught his eye--a closet door (insert gay joke here). Just a harmless, innocent closet door. Robin walked right up to it and kicked it down and walked inside.

It was one of those walk-in closets that preppy girls use to store their 100 pairs of shoes. Carson had converted it into a trophey room--swords, skulls, brooches, amulets and etc adorned the walls. At the end were five seperate, empty shelves, each with a nametag--ROBIN, STARFIRE, CYBORG, BEAST BOY, RAVEN. Above them was another shelf with the word "TERRA" carved into the wood. Robin frowned and began to walk out of the closet (and here) when he tripped on something. Curious, he bent over to pick it up.

It was a journal. Score, he thought with a grim smile, and opened it to the first page. He raised an eyebrow. It said simply: 6/11/2001 Target(s): Sable, Jessica/Sable, Warren. Client: Vincent DiCarlo, attorney at law. Payment: $200 for each head. Notes: Decapitation. Excellent!

Riiiight... thought Robin, closing the journal. So he was bloodthirsty even when he was just a kid. That's just plain creepy. At that moment, Robin heard the squeak of a rubber boot, and became aware that he wasn't alone. Expecting the landlord, Robin turned around, only to see a fist fly straight at him and connect with his cheek. Robin's head snapped back, and he stared his attacker in the eye. He was a tall man in his early-to-mid 20s, wearing a long leather coat. "Who the hell are you?" Robin shouted. His response came in the form of a kick to the chest. Robin fell back and hit the wall, and ducked just in time to avoid a blow to the face. He drew back his arm and slammed his fist into his attacker's stomach, and gave a cry as pain shot through his hand. The attacker grabbed him from under the arms and threw him through the window.

Thinking quickly, Robin pulled his bo-staff from his utility belt, extended it, and slammed it into the ground, vaulting forward and smacking facefirst into a brick wall. He moaned and rubbed his head. Okay, that wasn't so smart, he thought numbly. He looked up to the window and saw no trace of his attacker--just shattered glass.

The door to the apartment opened and the landlord ran outside. "My God, you all right kid?" he said, helping Robin to his feet. "What happened?"

"That guy," Robin snapped. "Where'd he go? Did you see?"

The landlord gave Robin a perplexed look. "What? What guy? Kid, you were up there alone the whole time!"

Raven sat glued to the computor, pouring over occult sites and police reports. She figured Robin'd be back with more info on Pavayne, and she could always beat the information out of Carson (hard as it'd be), so for now, she decided to concentrate on finding info on the Ascension. So far, she had learned that it had nothing to do with ritual flayings, or vampire feasts. In short: She didn't know what was going to happen. This might be going faster if I had some help with the research she thought bitterly, and glanced over her shoulder at Beast Boy, dressed in Robin's uniform, plopped on the couch and absently opening and closing a Birdarang. Then again, if Beast Boy's my only backup...aw, what the hell.

"This might go a bit faster if you were helping instead of fooling around with that Birdarang," Raven said with a sigh.

"Last time I tried to help you with something, you threw me across the hallway, so how about no?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Beast Boy, you were not helping, you were distracting me from my work. What was I supposed to do?"

"...You're right. I'm sorry for bothering you last night Raven," said Beast Boy, surprising Raven. She hadn't expected him to back down so easily without so much as an effort to force her to apologize for her actions.

A grin crossed Beast Boy's face. "Hey, why don't I go make you some of that herbal tea, and we can look for clues on whatever it is you're doing together?"

"Why don't you go back to playing with that Birdarang so that you, hopefully, accidentally slash your wrists open and bleed to death in that hellhole you call a room so that I can achieve my lifetime dream of smashing your headstone and dancing on your coffin? How's that sound?" Raven snarled angrily. She turned back to the computor and continued working when she heard a slight whimpering. She turned around, prepared to verbally abuse Beast Boy some more, when she saw something she wasn't expecting: Beast Boy's shoulders were slumped and lower lip was quivering. He had taken off his mask and Raven could see the tears forming. Her angry face softened and she reached for him. "Beast Boy, I'm so sorry,"

Beast Boy turned away. "Whatever," he said roughly, and walked out the door. Raven just sat there despondent. I made him cry she thought sadly. I made him cry. I never thought that I-- A thought struck her. I've said some pretty lousy things to Beast Boy, but I would never wish for his death. I would never even think that. Which means someone else said it. That narrows the list of suspects to exactly one person...

"Why Raven, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. How are things--" Carson began, but was suddenly encased in black magic and hurled against one of the floating rocks in Raven's mind. He struggled to free himself, but Raven's powers had him trapped.

"You fucking son of a bitch," Raven snapped, levitating up to threaten him face-to-face. "Why did you do that? Do you just get pleasure out of seeing Beast Boy in pain? Or do you just like using me to hone your ventriliquist skills?"

"What the hell are you babbling about woman?" Carson growled angrily.

"Cut the crap or I bash your balls in again!" Raven roared. "You know damn well what I'm talking about! You spoke through MY mouth and told Beast Boy to kill himself!"

"That? I didn't do that! I don't have that kind of power!" Carson shouted.

Raven socked him in the groin, relishing his groans of pain. Carson said nothing, and Raven began to punch him in the face and stomach over and over again. "YOU LITTLE BASTARD! YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! WHY DO YOU KEEP RUINING MY LIFE? WHY MUST YOU CONSTANTLY HURT BEAST BOY; IS IT NOT ENOUGH THAT YOU TOOK AWAY THE GIRL THAT HE--" She stopped suddenly and looked at Carson in shock. His face was covered in blood, pouring out of his nose, dripping from the corners of his mouth, black eyes. He was a mess. Raven slowly levitated back to the main stone path, releasing Carson from her hold. He fell to the ground and lay there, groaning in pain.

Raven stared down at her hands. The black fabric covering her palms had a slight red tint to it, and her knuckles were purple from her repeated blows to Carson. The assassin slowly rose to his feet, gasping from the exertion of that one simple act. "I swear, by the honor of everyone I've killed...the honorable ones anyway...I didn't say that to Beast Boy. Hell, read my mind. You'll know I didn't," he said slowly. "As much as I enjoy torturing him--"

"Shut up," Raven said dismissively. A sudden thought hit her. "Wait--if you didn't say that to Beast Boy...then who did?"

"That would be me," a voice, thick with malice yet smooth as fine wine said. Raven and Carson looked out at the newcomer and gasped.

It was none other than Cassius Pavayne.

RR76: I am the KING OF THE EVER THICKENING PLOT (as fourthelement puts it)! Review now.

With this chapter, Ascension has passed Carson to be the second most wordy fic I have, behind Things that go Bump in the Night. Yeay for this!

KEEP WATCHING THE MEDICINE CABINET! KEEP WATCHING THE MEDICINE CABINET!