The Titans expected many things when they heard the word "murder" on the television. They expected bodies, police, forensics teams scouring the crime scene, and police asking questions. What they did not expect was to see several police being physically sick in nearby trashcans, or to see splatters of blood dripping from the ceiling. Robin had seen violence and dead bodies before, having grown up in Gotham City, but he had never seen a murder that had resulted in this kind of mess. Beast Boy couldn't go within ten feet of the restaurant entrance, the overpowering reek of death making his extra sensitive nose go haywire.
Chalk outlines of the bodies had been drawn side by side on the restaurant floor, and police examined large blood stains splattered on the walls. As Starfire floated in, she cringed at the sight before swallowing hard and summoning her Tamaranien resolve to keep from becoming as sick as the officers outside. Raven began to mutter her mantra under her breath as she hovered in close behind Starfire, doing her absolute best to retain her composure. Despite her best efforts, however, the streetlamps outside were quickly enveloped in a black aura before their lights shattered. Cyborg's human half of his face showed a grimace as he began to press a series of buttons on one arm. His red, cybernetic eye began to dully glow as he started to do a series of scans on the restaurant. Robin had waved over an investigator who had just finished taking pictures of the scene, and had led the man outside so that he and Beast Boy could figure out what police had gathered.
"How bad is it in there Robin? Also what's making that nasty smell?"
Beast Boy punctuated the latter question by plugging his nose with one hand and shaking his other hand towards the direction of the restaurant. Robin finished telling the policeman what he felt he needed to see before turning to Beast Boy.
"I don't think it could be much worse in there Beast Boy, and quite frankly I have no idea what that smell is."
Robin sighed as the officer continued to file through the many pictures he had taken on the digital camera, until finally coming to the pictures Robin had requested. Looking up from his camera and tapping Robin on the shoulder to regain his attention, the policemen looked uneasy.
"Are you really sure you want to see this Robin? I mean, it's far from pretty and..."
The officer was silenced by one of Robins' oh so famous glares before he quietly relinquished the camera. Robin looked at the picture viewer on the camera and grimaced. The officer was right, the pictures were far from pretty. Fighting down the urge to be sick or to look away, Robin began to analyze the pictures for clues, anything that could help the Titans and police find the killer. Beast Boy looked over to Robins shoulder and immediately regretted his curiosity. Robin was cycling through pictures of the victims bodies before they had been removed from the scene for their respective autopsies.
Even a passing glance at the bodies would show that there were a totally unnecessary amount of knife wounds. Vicious slashes and torn flesh hung about the victims in a ragged mess, and one of the victims was completely unrecognizable due to a caved in skull a mouth that had been torn asunder. As Robin cycled through through the pictures he raised his eyebrows suddenly.
"Beast Boy, look at this!" Robin shouted, having evidently found something amongst the pictures of carnage and gore.
"No way dude! I don't wanna see that!" Beast Boy jumped back a few feet from Robin, holding his hands up in front of his face and shaking his head.
"See what?" Raven's monotone interrupted as she floated up to Robin. Looking down at the picture Robin was so excited about, her eyebrow started to twitch violently before she muttered "gross". The policeman, wondering exactly what Robin had found, looked over the Boy Wonder's shoulder. Robin pointed to a specific spot on each victims' body.
"What do you see there?" Robin asked the officer, obviously seeing something that had been looked over.
"Something I'll be seeing tonight when I try to sleep. What's your point?" The policeman quipped before realization struck him. Staring at the picture he noticed a wound that was made very deliberately and carefully, a patch of skin that had been expertly cut and removed in a near perfect square on each of the victims bodies.
"Friends! Have we found anything pertaining to the capture of this most evil person?" Starfire floated up to crowd around Robin, Cyborg following close behind the alien girl.
"Robin! I think I found something." Cyborg said as he joined the group around Robin, who had just passed the camera back to the police officer.
"Same here Cy. You first, what'd you find?" Robin walked up to the large metal man, passing the camera back to the officer before crossing his arms and patiently waiting for Cyborg to say his piece.
"Bio-scans picked up a lot of dead skin, as in way more than there should be. There's practically a trail of the stuff leading out of the restaurant and into a nearby manhole. Also picked up traces of human waste, which means that whoever did this used the sewer to get here as well as away. What about you Rob?"
"Whoever did this stayed for a while after he killed them, long enough to take the time to cut himself a patch of skin. I'm not sure for what yet, but we'll find out soon enough. Titans, we're searching the sewers!" Robin announced, letting Cyborg lead everyone to the aforementioned manhole.
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With a grunt and a splash, the three male Titans hopped down into the sewers while the two women gently floated in, keeping out of the rancid smelling, waste filled water.
"Ewww...as if my nose hasn't been abused enough already." Beast Boy muttered, fighting down his gag reflex as he fell in behind the group. It didn't matter how often the Titans had been made to go gallivanting through the sewers, the reek of human waste and a hyper sensitive nose didn't mix well.
While Beast Boy continued to mutter about how his extra sensitive senses seemed to be a curse more often than a blessing, Starfire slowly flew next to the Boy Wonder, who trudged grimly through the green, sludgy waters.
"Robin, what troubles you? We are surely on the right path to capturing this heinous villain, and yet you seem to be...what is the expression...with your head in the clouds." Starfire gingerly laid a hand on Robins shoulder, trying to coax him out of his thoughts.
"Back at the restaurant, that smell kept bothering me. Even rotting food doesn't smell that bad, and even then the smell wouldn't fill the restaurant like it did. My next guess would be the bodies, but those people couldn't have been dead for more than a few hours before they were carted off. It doesn't add up." Robin rounded a corner into another, nearly identical sewage filled corridor and kept walking, the other Titans close behind. Before Starfire could offer her insight to Robins concern, the Titans were halted by a loud shushing sound from Raven.
"Do you hear that?" Raven whispered while every one stood stock still, listening intently for what Raven had heard. Beast Boy's ears twitched before he nodded, pointing his finger down the corridor the Titans were currently sloshing through. With unanimous nods, the Titans began to slowly continue their way through the sewers, slowly following the sound of happy, high pitched giggling. Cyborg's shoulder light flicked up and on as they continued down the path, the darkness of the tunnel overpowering the grate and manhole filtered light from street level. The giggling wasn't getting much louder as they went, and the smooth walls of the sewer caused the sound to echo and distort.
Eventually, the Titans came to a point where the tunnel split off into three separate tunnels. The giggling was closer now, but the echo in the sewers made it impossible to tell which tunnel was the source. After a swivel of the head and a brief look at each of the tunnels, Robin turned to his team and gave each of them a quick look, the expression on his face showing one of concentration. After another brief look at the available routes, Robin nodded as he came to a decision.
"Alright, if we're going to find whoever killed thos people, we need to split up. Cyborg and Starfire, you take the right tunnel. Beast Boy, you take the left. Raven and I will go down the middle. Whoever finds whoever's making that noise, call for backup." Robin whispered, pointing to each respective tunnel as he spoke. Beast Boy went slightly pale at the announcement of him going alone, but kept his mouth shut none the less. With a whispered "Titans go", the team split up into their assigned tunnels, and into the growing darkness of the sewers.
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Well, that's chapter two down. I'm getting a bit of traffic, but barely any reviews. I'm here to improve folks! If I'm buggering this up then let me know!