A familiar face, and the start of the mystery. Enjoy chapter 2! - Darthkvzn

It all started with a tabby cat.

Granted, it was a red tabby cat, but still, not exactly the most glamorous start to an odyssey.

I'd just closed the shop for the day, shooing some of my more loyal customers away. It'd been a tiring day, not unlike most others. My pre-sleep ritual consisted of a shower, half an hour of meditation, and another half spent reading whatever book I'd chosen for the night. I liked keeping up with the newer books that came to the shop, if for nothing else than having something to recommend to my customers.

Then came the constant meows. Cats were not an uncommon sight around my store, so I paid it no mind, for a while. Sometimes I'd leave milk outside, but that night was one of the exceptions.

Still, the cat was determined. Aside from refusing to stop his calls, it started knocking some loose tiles around, until one of them fell to the ground with a resounding crack.

I didn't exactly have the patience to just let it be for the rest of the night, so I went outside, grabbing a broom on the way. The cat looked at me with inquisitive eyes, which I expected. I did not, however, expect the unique coloring it had.

The cat was larger than most. It was various shades of crimson, from a light auburn to a deep maroon. It held my eyes with a disturbingly intelligent gaze for two seconds...then bolted inside my house. I followed after a brief moment of shock, my eyes glowing white before remembering I was a civilian, and thus not supposed to glow unnaturally. It might've upset the neighbors.

I did not expect to find Garfield Logan there, turning from red to green before my eyes. He looked at me expectantly, though he looked much more tired and haggard than I remembered him. He was clutching his side, grimacing at some hidden pain, as he did not appear outwardly injured. He gave me a small smile, probably amused that I'd been damn near gawking at his unexpected visit.

I decided to kick him down a notch.

-"You must be the bane of the color-blind." -I said, drily.

Garfield barked a gasping laugh, though it quickly stopped, eliciting a wince. "Damn, Rae. Your mom never told you to avoid making a wounded man laugh?" -he said, plopping down on one of my sofas.

-"She did not. Too busy being horribly murdered by an interdimensional demon." -I answered. "Also, it's Rachel, now. Not Raven. Or Rae, for that matter." -I added, somewhat curtly. The man was getting dirt all over the lounge, after all.

-"Sorry. Kind of been out of it for a while. So, you're a civvie now, huh?" -he asked, apologetically.

I nodded, daintily sitting down, in stark and intentional contrast to him.

-"Welcome to the White Raven, I suppose." -I said.

He nodded, looking around. "The books and tea thing suits you. I gotta say, though, I'm kinda surprised there's nothing gothic or even remotely depressing here. Y'know, scowling crows, or cursed mirrors for your patrons to stumble through." -he snickered.

I glared at him. "First of all, my mirror is not cursed, it is enchanted. And second of all, unlike some people, I had to grow up. Darkness suits me, but it is not who I am." -I said.

Garfield put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, I get it. Sorry for implying otherwise. I haven't had anyone to banter with in a long time, y'know? And with all that's been happening lately...well, I'm sort of on edge." -he admitted.

I raised my eyebrow, curious. "I assume that's the reason of your visit?"

-"Well, it was also an excuse to actually see you. I've missed you, Rav- I mean, Rachel." -he said.

I pursed my lips, but said nothing. I wasn't having that conversation yet.

-"Hey, it's alright. I was a jerk, and you needed to find yourself. I can understand that. But I need your help." -he said, almost pleadingly.

-"What's been happening?" -I asked, afraid to know the answer.

-"Heroes have been disappearing, Rachel. Not the big ones; the small timers, and the sidekicks. The younger ones. It started with Terra, actually."

I blinked. "Terra? As in the friend-turned-enemy-turned-friend-turned-statue?" -I asked.

-"Turned friend again, you missed. Or at least, I like to think she would, if she hadn't been taken." -he nodded grimly.

-"How did she break free? I tried everything, and I couldn't turn her back…" -I said, sad to admit my failure.

I'd given it my all, even though I wasn't exactly fond of the girl. She had, after all, sacrificed herself to make things right, and taken Slade down with her, albeit temporarily. If not my friendship, she had my respect.

-"I couldn't tell you, Rae. All I know, is I was on my way to present my respects, when I found her weird mummy outfit in tatters all around her pedestal, and this." -he said, pawing at his pockets to grab a medallion which I recognized as Slade's insignia, the one she'd had on her chest. It was cracked, and bloody.

My face must've looked slightly disturbed, because he nodded, like he shared my opinion.

-"I had it scanned by Cyborg. Had a hell of a time finding the guy, now that he's on the big leagues, but he owed me for getting him back in touch with Jinx, so he took a couple of days off. It's her blood, alright; it even has some deactivated nanites mixed in, so we know it came from her. There wasn't a lot, so I'm holding out hope for her survival, but that's not the most disturbing news." -he explained.

He took out a disc, reminiscent of the Titan Communicator, only much sleeker, and probably more high tech. I wouldn't know. Technology wasn't exactly my forté. He pressed its surface, and light burst from it: a hologram.

The familiar faces of Robin, a red-headed teenager she recognized as an atlantean due to her gills, Kid Flash, Speedy and Nightwing appeared out of thin air.

-"Jason Todd, Tula of Poseidonis, Wally West, the original Roy Harper, and Dick Grayson, all reported KIA or missing in action, in chronological order. Add in Tara Markov, a.k.a. Terra, at the end of that list, and you've got six missing young heroes." -he stated.

I was...confused. "I thought you said some of them were confirmed as dead?" -I asked. He nodded.

-"Yeah. Robin, Aquagirl, and Terra. Kid Flash disappeared in the arctic a few months ago, Roy Harper went missing two months back, and nobody, and I mean nobody has seen Dick in three weeks. Add to that the death of Jason, two years ago, and Tula, some 11 months back, and you've got a pattern. At least, that's what the Team and I've figured out. And it all reeks of Cadmus." -he added grimly.

I scowled. The Titans had some experience with the shadowy group; HIVE Academy and Brother Blood had apparently been on their payroll.

-"Are you suggesting those deaths and disappearances were staged? And what's this about a team?" -I asked.

He was about to answer, when suddenly, an arrow whizzed by me and pierced his chest.

What's with Beast Boy's changing colors? Why is he injured? Could the dead heroes be truly alive? And will Garfield join them in that uncertainty? Stick around and find out! - Darthkvzn