Chapter Five: A Visit from an Old Friend

Robin came back from his meeting the next day at around six, looking frustrated and discouraged. He called us all to the main room to share his information.

"The Supernova," he said, "is a weapon that could be used to wipe out several Jump Cities within a couple of hours." He inserted a disc into the main computer. Piles of pictures flooded onto the screen, showing a round and metal orb with an intricate controlling system surrounding it. "The Supernova spreads an airborne toxin that paralyzes the human body. After half an hour of paralysis, the victim undergoes a great spasm of agonizing pain and dies within minutes. A few hours following the release of the toxin, any remaining evidence of it vanishes without a trace."

The four of us sitting on the couch had our mouths agape and our knuckles white, clutching our seats.

"This weapon was originally to be used by the military," Robin continued, "to better America's chances in the war. But it proved to be so deadly that it was removed from all defenses' stocks. They wouldn't tell me where they're being kept, just in case the information they gave us slipped. The bottom line is that we have to find Slade and make sure he's put in jail before he can find the weapons."

"But how are we gonna find him?" Cyborg asked. "We have zero leads now that we've talked to the Supernova's creators, and he hasn't appeared anywhere else since."

"Tonight we're going to search the city," Robin replied, though he spoke as if Cyborg hadn't said anything. "We can't just sit back and wait."

I squirmed a little in my seat. "Someone should stay behind and watch the Tower," I said.

Robin looked at me, his face in a query. "Why is that?"

"Someone could break in while we're gone," I said. "I know the security system's tight, but you never know what may happen."

He said nothing, his arms folded in consideration.

"Slade of all people should be able to do it," I pointed out after he showed no sign of giving in.

To this he nodded. "Okay, then. Starfire, do you think you could stay here while we're gone?"

She agreed, and watched us off as we left. Before we got settled, I took her aside and lowered my voice so the others couldn't hear.

"Star, could you pay extra attention to my bedroom for me?"

"Why do you request it, Raven?" Starfire asked.

"A few misarranged books. Maybe I'm just being paranoid . . ." My voice trailed off.

"I will do my best," she said with a smile.

I thanked her and watched as Robin climbed onto the R-cycle and gave us instructions.

"Since there's going to be four of us searching the city, we'll split up into groups of two and break up the divisions of the town. Beast Boy, Cyborg, take west and south. Raven and I will take east and north. Starfire, make sure to watch from the roof just in case."

And soon we were off and making our way into the city. Robin and I were heading north when I began to open my mind to our surroundings.

My powers are like a room full of doors. Depending on which door I open, I can reach out and take control of whatever is behind it. It takes a lot of practice to know which ones are which, and it takes a lot of meditating to keep some of them sealed safely. The door I was currently unlocking lets me access the world around me and feel for anything out of the ordinary.

Ten minutes passed by without any luck, but I eventually began to sense a presence that was skulking in the shadows ahead of us, as if waiting for us to notice.

"Robin," I said, levitating downwards to his side, "there's something at the junkyard."

He slowed as the junkyard closed in at our right and made a sharp turn followed by a screeching halt. He dismounted and I grounded myself as we began to walk past the mountains of trash and scraps. Now that we were near the target, it would have been too dangerous to open my mind again. I wouldn't be able to take hold of the world around me and would have been more vulnerable to an attack. Whether it killed us or not, we now had no choice but to wander about and wait.

Moments went by, slow and taut like the air, before Robin said something.

"What were you talking to Starfire about before we left?" he asked.

I frowned. "Why does it matter?"

"Raven, is there another reason why you wanted someone to stay behind to guard the tower?"

"I have my suspicions."

As we walked forward, scanning the scene about us, Robin now turned to look at me. "It might help if you tell me about them."

"It doesn't have anything to do with Slade, if that's what you're implying."

Ouch! Bad Raven! Very bad Raven!

"The only thing that I was implying," Robin said, his steps becoming slower, "was that I wanted to help you with whatever's bothering you."

"With Slade on your plate again, it's very hard to believe that you would have time for my problems."

Shut up, shut up!

"Why do you keep mentioning him?" Robin asked, now standing in front of me and blocking my path.

I shouldn't have kept talking about it, but something inside wanted me to stop bottling up my thoughts like I was. I wanted to be honest with him just this once and show him what he was doing.

"No matter how many times, he shows up," I said, my voice strong and stern, "you will always get caught up in him. Nothing else is more important to you than putting him behind bars. If the world blew up, surely it must be Slade's fault!"

"Raven, calm down," he said, though his voice was growing louder as well. "I don't want to argue with you."

But now that I was talking, I could not control the words that were coming out of my mouth. I had wanted to say them for a long time and nothing was holding me back now.

"In fact," I continued despite my common sense, "I bet the only reason you were helping me when Trigon was a threat is because you wanted to get your hands on Slade!"

Robin was taken aback at first, but then looked positively furious with me.

"Don't you dare say that ever again!" he shouted. "You know that's not true! I helped you because you're my friend! No one in this world comes between me and my friends!"

I raised a brow. "You're kidding right? Might I remind you of the time you threatened to hurt us if we stood in your way of finding him?"

His teeth gritted and his eyes narrowed, he turned around and took his rage out on a car door that lied in a pile of trash. After giving it a good kick, it groaned as it was bended down the middle, and he turned back to face me.

"I don't know what your problem is, Raven," he yelled, "but if after all this time you think a villain is more important to me than you are, then be that way!"

He stomped forward, leaving me to stand alone in the middle of the junkyard.

You may very well be the biggest moron to ever set foot on this planet.

I couldn't help myself. Those words that I so freely said to him had been secured in my mind for a long time. What beat me up the most is that I could have picked a better time, I could have used a gentler argument, and I could have actually made him understand how I felt. But now, in a time in which I might have really needed him, I lost my temper. I didn't even believe in half of what I said. I just wanted to back up my point, and by doing such I hurt a friend. I kicked a can in front of me and looked up to see where he was. Shortly after realizing he was gone, I heard another voice behind me.

"Never knew you had it in you, Raven."

I turned and faced a white mask in the shape of a skull, with a red "x" marked at the top. I backed up, and almost tripped over on my own feet. My hands began to glow with energy.

"Red X," I snarled. "What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd pop in on my favourite do-gooders," he said, stepping forward and forcing me to back up. "That was a real nasty quarrel you put up, by the way."

I shot a short beam of energy towards him, but he jumped up and landed on a heap of garbage.

"Come on, Raven," he teased. "Can't we just talk this out?"

"Not likely!"

Robin struck him from behind with his staff and knocked him over. Chains of black magic sprouted from the ground at my command and circled his wrists and ankles, pinning him down. He struggled and resisted for some time until Robin finally approached him.

"Start talking, X," he said. "What are you up to?"

"I was just on my way out to pick up some supplies," Red X said, "when I noticed some old friends passing by."

"What do you want?" I asked impatiently.

"You're going to tell me where I can find more Xenothium," the prisoner stated.

"You're in the wrong position to be making commands," Robin answered.

"Am I?"

He lifted the palm closest to me and released a large red "x" that expanded before binding me completely with my arms at my sides. I tripped over and lost focus of my powers, freeing the masked bandit. Before Robin's staff could hit him again, he had his arm around my shoulders and a sharp red knife at my neck.

"I'm not going to repeat myself again," his mechanical voice said. "Tell me where I can find more Xenothium."

Robin stopped in his tracks, looking hopelessly frustrated. My eyes began to glow as I tried to tune in on my powers again, but the knife moved closer.

"No funny stuff," he whispered in my ear.

"Let her go, X!" Robin shouted.

"You know what can save her, Robin."

"Who ever said that I need saving?" I yelled.

Ignoring the feeling of cold steel as it was pressed against my throat, I focused in on the blade and it shattered into pieces. Robin acted quick and hurled a small bomb at X that caught onto his cape and exploded within half a second. I was close enough to be thrown back, but Robin came to my side and cut the bonds that were keeping me from moving. After being helped up, I tried to keep my ground and prepare myself for another attack. Red X was now standing at the gates of the junkyard.

"I didn't really think I'd accomplish anything to tell you the truth," he said. "But I don't think this is the best time to ask you guys questions. I'll come back when you're not too heated up from your arguments."

Before the disc that Robin had thrown could touch Red X, our little friend was gone in a flash. We both ran to the gate to see if we could stop him, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Great," Robin muttered. He took out his communicator. "Cyborg, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," I heard Cyborg say. "What's the problem?"

"Red X is up to something," Robin said. "He escaped and we're not sure where he's going."

"Got it," Cyborg said. "We'll keep an eye out and meet you soon."

"Call us in if you do see him." With that, he closed the communicator and began to mount the R-cycle again.

"Shouldn't we try talking to Professor Chang?" I suggested.

He didn't look at me as he spoke. "He's still in jail. Even if we did go talk to him, he wouldn't be able to tell us much. We'll have to keep a close eye on the prison though to make sure there aren't any break-outs."

"And the Xenothium he used to have?"

"All used up by Red X I suppose. He always knew where Chang kept it all, so he must have run out."

He put on his helmet and revved up the engine. I opened my mouth to say something, but he was already driving off.

We turned the city upside-down at least three times that night, but still found no sign of Slade or Red X.

In most romance novels in which the heroine is independent or strong-willed, the person in whom she is infatuated with becomes her weakness and renders her helpless in his presence. It at first seemed like a really stupid idea, but now it seemed like a very useful trait in my predicament. Maybe if I was head over heels for Robin and melted into a puddle of goo every time I talked to him, maybe he wouldn't be giving me the cold shoulder.

It wasn't like Robin to be angry enough to not to talk to his friends, but then again it wasn't like me to yell at him and put salt on his wounds. I would be mad at me too, if I didn't already feel like hammering my head against the wall of my bedroom. Not only was I mad with myself, but I was also annoyed, frustrated, confused, and embarrassed. I couldn't even meditate with all my emotions so out of line.

At four o'clock in the morning on the day after our search, I sat on my bed with my pillow clutched in my arms and bags under my eyes. I couldn't get the tiniest bit of sleep no matter how hard I tried. There was only one thing that could put my mind at rest, but now I'd have to wait at least another hour until it could be accomplished.

As the sun began to rise over the ocean, I sat on the roof of Titans Tower, waiting for Robin. I didn't know how often he watched the sun rise, but as luck would have it, he joined me that morning.