(A/N: HELLO! This chapter is more than twice as long as the others, but it's a song of many words and this story has a lot of secrets to be revealed, and many of them are revealed here! You can say this is the peak, but I hope what I did here will clear any fogs that you wonderful readers may have from the past chapters. Enjoy reading, everyone!)
R-r-r-r-r-ing!
"Five more minutes, Robin..."
R-r-r-r-r-ing! R-r-r-r-r-ing! R-r-r-r-r-ing!
Beast Boy's ears twitched. That didn't sound right, he thought. Normally, after he told Robin that he would be up soon, Robin would be shaking him rigorously to get up. Beast Boy was missing the second part of that morning phase.
Then he remembered that he wasn't in Titans Tower. He was in Markovia, staying in an inn in Tarbal Avenue.
"I gotta get up," Beast Boy moaned to himself, transforming into a dog to stretch and scratch. He was to meet with Slade that morning. Slade had asked him to meet at the Serenity Pid Park to have further discussion on the 'matter'. Beast Boy still had no clue what the matter was.
He then heard knocking on the door followed by the call, "Housekeeping!"
"They have room service in an inn?" Beast Boy asked himself, scratching his head. "Dude, the rest of Markovia should follow this type of hospitality! It's the perfect example!"
Beast Boy opened the door for the maid to enter and clean up.
"Where are you going, son?" the maid asked politely, with the signature service smile.
"Oh, I have a meeting with someone. Good day, and thanks for the service!"
Beast Boy was about to leave his room, but the maid put him to an abrupt halt.
"You should know about the 'No Pets Allowed' policy!" she scolded him. Beast Boy was at first confused, then noticed that there was dog odor around the room. He blushed and let out a laugh.
"Um, sorry," he apologized lamely. "I - uh - kicked the dog out."
The maid looked at Beast Boy suspiciously, then released him, and adding, "Don't worry, son. It will get better."
Beast Boy was even more confused, giving the maid an unsure look. She pointed at his green skin, and Beast Boy wanted to tear his hair apart. Instead, he just thanked the maid and left before any other comments were to be said.
Beast Boy was anticipating what Slade was going to tell him, and as he exited the inn and made his way to the park, he had one thing in mind.
Secrets will be revealed today.
I need another story
Something to get off my chest
My life gets kinda boring
Need something that I can confess
Terra opened her eyes. Above her was a small but still grand chandelier. Sunlight shone from the window and through the mint green curtains. She had the best sleep in such a long time. The last great sleep she had was in the Titans Tower.
Terra immediately dismissed the thought of the Teen Titans with a very relaxing stretch and a comfortable yawn to match. Satisfied with her sleep, she hopped out of bed to get changed, wondering what would await her today.
She checked her closet, filled with the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen. Today, she were to go with purple. It felt so alien to her, reverting her lifestyle to royalty. She wasn't sure what was in store for her.
Once she was prepped up, she was ready to leave her room. She opened the door, and saw none other than Slade.
"Have you been creeping?" she asked, feeling irritated and disgusted that Slade had probably been stalking outside her door all morning.
"You know me, Terra," Slade replied. "I just came to check up on you. And..." Slade closed the door behind him, "talk for a bit."
"I want to know what you and my dad were talking about the other day," she demanded, but Slade didn't acknowledge her requisition.
"We have a deal, remember?" Slade reminded Terra. "I tell you how you got your life back, and you tell me more about the experimenting occurring in Markovia."
In the back of her head, Terra was wondering what Slade was talking about. Then, she remembered. Slade had mentioned that her parents were on an experimenting spree. Only, that wasn't the truth.
"I remember," she said. "You go first."
"Excellent."
Terra sat on the edge of her bed, listening very intently. One of her biggest questions was about to be answered. She was about to finally know the truth.
"When we were... let's say dead... many things had probably happened. I don't know how life went on during those missing hours. But I wasn't completely dead. Somehow, I could still think, move, just not on Earth. Have you ever head of Trigon the Terrible?"
Terra nodded. "He's real?"
"Indeed," Slade continued. Terra had to admit, his voice made him a good storyteller, and when he wasn't including Terra in his talking, she would think she were listening to a bedtime story. "He's more real than you think. He is the father of Raven."
Terra was wide-eyed. She always knew Raven had many secrets, including her crush for Beast Boy, but she didn't know she had that dark secret as well. It was as dark as outer space.
"Go on," she urged.
"He... semi-reincarnated me, to his... own dimension, to do his bidding.
"Then, one time, he sent me back to Earth to spread a very vital message. 'The time has come.' That was what he told me. He wanted to destroy the Earth, using Raven as the portal."
"Whoa," Terra was feeling kind of guilty at her own situation when she realized that Raven must have gone through a tougher one, being a hero when deep inside she knew she was going to unleash something much more than evil.
"In return, he would completely reincarnate me. But he, like any other devil, turned back on the deal. The Earth was under his rule, everyone was turned to stone, except for the Titans.
"When the Teen Titans saved the world and defeated Trigon, everyone returned to life."
Terra was starting to understand the story.
"Everyone that was turned to stone got their lives back," she said. "Myself included."
"Exactly," Slade confirmed. "It was good for you that you turned to stone, because that's what enabled you to be brought back."
Terra was speechless. Everything she was hearing was just overwhelming her.
"Wow." Her voice was breathy.
"Your turn," Slade said, directing the focus to Terra and her own little secret.
"There's nothing to say," she muttered.
"Excuse me, Terra, but a deal is a deal," Slade clenched his fists. "You better not renege on it."
"I'm not reneging on it, that was all the truth I knew," Terra said, lying about it being the truth. "Whatever you told me was all I knew before I ran away."
Terra could tell Slade was a bit frustrated.
"Fine," he said, and he left.
When Terra was sure Slade was gone, she was thinking of what to do next.
Could that be what he and dad were talking about? she thought. I don't believe so, maybe that's what Slade thought they were talking about. I have to get to the bottom of this, because if Slade is desperate to find out more about this... experimenting stuff, then it's for a no good cause.
With that in mind, Terra left the room and headed for breakfast.
'Til all my sleeves are stained red
From all the truth that I've said
Come by it honestly I swear
Thought you saw me wink, no
I've been on the brink, so
"Good morning, Raven."
"Morning..."
Cyborg and Starfire carefully watched Raven as she sleepily hovered to the kitchen. She was making her breakfast with the enthusiasm of a lifeless robot.
Starfire glanced worriedly at Cyborg. The two of them, as well as Robin, had known that Raven would be crestfallen ever since Beast Boy left for Markovia. With three straight days of seeing Raven practically doing her automatic routine, it was taking its emotional toll on them.
"May we please talk to her?" Starfire softly asked Cyborg. "I fear good friend Raven has not been feeling the fine since the departure of Beast Boy."
"I know, Star," he replied, quickly glancing at their lonely teammate again. Raven was staring blankly at her teacup. " You wanna talk to her?"
Starfire nodded. "I feel we must support her."
With an affirmed nod, the two slowly made their way towards Raven. Raven noticed them.
"Raven, we need to talk," Cyborg began. "Have you been sleeping?"
"Yes," Raven lied, sipping her warm tea. Her eyes were puffy and red, and it was getting worse day by day. Raven had not only been lacking sleep, but had also been weeping. She really missed her boyfriend.
"Raven, your eyes!" Starfire shrieked. She flew to the sink, returned and gently applied a soggy towel absorbing warm water around Raven's meekly looking eyes.
"I'm fine," Raven muttered, distancing herself from Starfire and her motherly ways.
Cyborg didn't buy it, it was too obvious a lie. This time, he stepped forward towards Raven and placed his hands firmly on her shoulders in a calming manner.
"Look, Raven," he said with seriousness. "You're not the only one who misses Beast Boy -"
"You're not in a relationship with him," Raven choked a bit, half snapping and half suppressive.
"He's our best friend," Cyborg continued, with a hint of encouragement in his tone. "Secondly, we are your best friends too. We will go do this together and we will support you when you're down, even without Beast Boy's physical presence."
Raven sniffed, pulling back the emotions from being touched by Cyborg.
"Thanks," she said softly.
Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered red. It was a signal for incoming trouble. And, routinely, Robin rushed into the room with his signature sense of urgency.
"There's trouble at the laboratory," the leader told the team.
"What kind of lab?" Cyborg asked, and Robin looked at him sharply, as if he dreaded to say the words that he uttered out next.
"Xenothium."
"Titans, go!"
The team split up to difference sections of the factory laboratory to look for Red X.
"Okay, team," Robin spoke through the communicator. "Remember to inform us when you spot Red X."
"Gotcha!" Cyborg responded. Robin inspected the vault, Starfire the storage rooms, Raven the tanks, and Cyborg the computer labs.
Raven hovered around the tanks, using her superhuman sense of empathy to check for any signs of Red X.
"Why would Red X go here anyway?" she sighed, feeling stupid for checking the tanks instead of another station. Red X couldn't be going diving.
She felt vibration from her communicator. She pulled it out and saw Starfire on the screen.
"Friends, I require assistance!" she yelled.
"What is it, Star?" Robin was the first to reply, almost immediately after finding out it was Starfire.
"The shape-shifting White Monster is here and I am fighting it. It is most strong!"
"We're on it, Star!" Raven answered, flying up in order to phase through the ceiling.
"Not so fast, lady."
Raven gasped and spun around.
"Red X!" Hanging on one of his espionage tools, Red X had just appeared in front of Raven.
Raven quickly whipped up her communicator to call for help.
"Robin!" No immediate response. "Cyborg!" No immediate response. "Starfire!"
"Yes, R-"
Red X hit Raven's communicator with one of his lasers, and it fell into the tank.
"So," he hissed. "How are you?"
"Back off."
Red X laughed. "I'm so scared."
"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" Raven chanted, and tried to slam Red X with something, but he dodged. Instead, Red X threw one of his body-sized red x's, and it hit Raven squarely at her stomach, sticking her to the wall.
"We meet again," he whispered into Raven's ears once he was right in front of the struggling and frustrated Azarathian. "Looks like your friend won't be able to aid you this time. What about the green one? Why didn't you call him? Too useless for you?"
"Don't you dare say that about him," Raven growled.
"Oh, there's a soft spot, I see. Where is he? Escaped from the battle? You don't have a thing for cowardly man, do you?"
Raven eyes were reddening, she was getting more furious.
"He's bravely left on a mission that only he could embark on," she said through gritted teeth. "To save Terra."
Red X looked taken aback.
"Terra?" he asked. This time, Raven was taken aback. Why does he sound seriously interested?
"Yes."
"Tara Markov?"
"Uh... yes."
Red X quickly peeled off the red x with his xenothium-powered gloves, releasing Raven.
"What are you doing?" Raven asked. What is going on?
When Red X replied, Raven heard vulnerability and hope in his voice, something out of the usual.
"Please tell me where Terra is. Please."
Tell me what you want to hear
Something that will light those ears
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away
"Mmm... Don't you love venison, m'dear?"
Terra took a taste of the well-cooked game and its texture lit up her insides.
"It's delicious!" she exclaimed to her mother. The three Markovs were eating a feast for brunch.
"Princess," Mr. Markov then said while Terra continued munching on her food. "Tonight, would you like to go see the Prominent Guards in their training? I would want you to learn how they operate so that when you rule the country one day, you'd know what to do."
Terra smiled at her father. "Of course, dad."
"By the way, where is Slade?"
Terra looked down at her food, thinking about her talk with Slade that morning.
"I don't know," she said hastily. "But since we're at the topic of him, I want to ask something, and also tell you something."
Her parents silenced and eagerly waited for what their daughter was going to say.
"Whatever Slade might have told you or will maybe tell you, do not fully trust him on it."
"You really dislike him, Tara," Mrs. Markov pointed out.
"Yes, but something more as well. I gave him the story that both of you are responsible for the Tarbal Avenue curse, and that you've been kidnapping people for an obsession with experiments."
There was dead silence in the dining room, followed by laughter from all three of them.
"You were lying to him, right?" Mrs. Markov asked while holding back laughter.
"Of course!" Terra said. "But he thinks it's the truth and so I don't want you guys to freak out if he ever mentions that to you. He hasn't?"
"No, m'dear," Mr. Markov said, drinking from his goblet. "But what can I do if he does?"
"He'll have to tell Slade the truth and Mr. Wilson will know that you've been lying to him," Mrs. Markov added. "It's not good to lie, darling. You should tell him the truth."
"But why should I?" Terra challenged. "His reputation is bad and beyond. We shouldn't trust him."
"He told me he's turned over a new leaf on his life," Mr. Markov told her, which Terra didn't believe at all. "Tara, it is the right thing to do. Just because he has lied, doesn't mean you can."
Terra heaved a sigh. She emptied her cup of milk.
"How did you come up with that story, anyway?" her mother asked very curiously.
"It was a story brother told me," she replied flatly, almost regretfully. "Maximus Brian Markov." Standing up, she then said, "I'm going to get changed in my room. I want to visit the Marketplace and familiarize myself there again."
Terra had thoughts as she was walking out the room and towards her bedroom.
If dad and Slade weren't talking about the lie, then what were they talking about?
This time don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away
"Tell me where she is," Red X begged. He had taken Raven to safe ground, where he was practically on his knees for the information.
The thing that troubled Raven was not that Red X was on his knees and almost breaking down, but that she felt he was being genuine.
"She's in a country called Markovia," she answered, and Red X immediately stood up.
"She's returned?" he said within an inhalation.
"Okay, what is going on?" Raven was more clueless than ever. "Do you know Terra?"
"Yes!" he said, then paused in thought. "Let's go find your friends and Brian."
"Wh-who on Earth is Brian?!"
"It's escaping!" Robin yelled, running after the White Monster in the texture of a test tube glass.
"Not on my watch," a furious Cyborg said, jumping to an extraordinary height and landing hard right on the mute creature. "Booyah! You're not getting away this time! Argh!"
Cyborg was blasted off by a red x.
"Cyborg!" Starfire called out, flying to his aid.
"Red X!" Robin scowled at the man in black behind the White Monster. He charged, but was blocked by a telekinetic field. "…and Raven?!"
"Robin, cease combat. He's not going to harm us anymore," Raven said.
"Please, friend Raven, tell us," Starfire said. "Why have you sided with the X of Red?"
"I just want to know Terra's whereabouts," Red X pleaded.
"What?" What puzzled Robin was that, like Raven, he felt a strong sense of sincerity from Red X as he spoke.
"If it'll make you trust me," Red X muttered before removing his mask. The Titans were wide-eyed when they saw the face of the man in the Red X costume.
"Wow..."
He had the purest skin the Titans had ever seen. His hair was silky blond, he had pearly and piercing blue eyes, and he had a small brown goatee. Raven was the last one to stop staring in wonder, watching him help the White Monster up.
"Are you okay, Brian?" the man asked, receiving an okay grunt as response.
"You call that Brian?" Raven asked.
"I don't know his name," he replied. "We came from the same place and met in the same hiding. I decided to call him by my middle name."
"Okay, then what's your first name?" Cyborg asked.
"My name is Maximus," Maximus answered. "Maximus Brian Markov."
"You're Terra's brother?!" Robin exclaimed in surprise. All this time, the person that stole his costume and took the legacy of Red X to a whole new level was related to one of their former Titans. It was a lot of new released information even for the Boy Wonder.
Cyborg was about to inspect Brian, but Maximus slapped his metallic arm before he could. "He doesn't want to be treated like a lab rat."
Cyborg let out an embarrassed laugh and apologized.
Maximus continued, "You guys can run a DNA scan on me, lie detectors, advanced security checks, whatever, but I really need to get to Terra as soon as I can before something bad happens to her. Raven -"
Maximus pointed at Raven, who looked at him inquisitively.
"Beast Boy may be in trouble too, and your powers will be able to get us there in half the time."
"Wh-what, you're asking me to come with you to Markovia?" She couldn't. She would break the deal that Slade had made and risk Beast Boy's life even more. "I can't. Slade said-"
"Slade Wilson?! He's in on this too?!" Maximus asked loudly. "He can't be trusted, you know!"
"We know," Robin mumbled. "We've been on his tail for years. We don't know what we're thinking, letting Beast Boy go alone. We need to get to Markovia."
Maximus then faced Raven again, and Raven took a closer look at his face. It was flawless and dazzlingly handsome. He said, "Raven, what I need is for us to go somewhere first. To pick up someone... significant to Slade and Markovia."
"Finally, a connection."
Starfire was looking eagerly at Raven and Maximus, "So are we going to the country of Markovia and rescue our friend? Spledid!"
"Not yet," Maximus told her. Robin was about to protest, but Maximus interrupted him. "If we can get this person to join us, we can enter Markovia altogether. Things will definitely be stirred up badly if you guys just barge into there. The Mayor..." Maximus cringed as he said the word. "...will not allow it. Trust me, I'm a former Markovian. Raven and I will go pick up this person in the European mountains, and then we will go to Markovia."
"And who is this person you are referring to?" Cyborg questioned.
"Slade's son. Have you guys heard of Jericho?"
My God, amazing how we got this far
It's like we're chasing all those stars
Who's driving shiny big black cars
And everyday I see the news
All the problems that we could solve
Beast Boy was strolling around Serenity Pid Park. There was almost no one there, and the handful of people that were momentarily stared at him and his green skin before moving on to their own activities.
Judging by the fact that there were no children playing in the park, he figured it must have been a weekday morning to afternoon. Beast Boy had no idea what day it actually was since he left his teammates he was starting to miss, especially Raven.
He saw Slade sitting at a patio with regal-style plain white pillars and rock cylinders for sitting on. Beast Boy took the seat directly opposite Slade and eyed him.
"Greetings, fellow nemesis," Slade said. "Ready to learn more about Markovia? It's a wonderful town-sized country from the exterior, but this place has more to it than just a nation with people in their provincial lives."
"You better make this honest and quick, Slade," Beast Boy said with boldness in his voice.
"First of all," Slade began, stretching his arms wide. "Welcome to Serenity Pid Park. Does the name have some meaning to you?"
"Peaceful, which I agree," Beast Boy muttered. "Where are you going with this?"
"Serenity Pid," Slade continued. He then spelt out the name. "What happens if you place each letters of P-I-D into a certain spot in the word 'Serenity'?"
Beast Boy thought of what he said, but with his limited vocabulary he came up short. "Any hints?"
"Put D-I-P after 'n'," Slade instructed and Beast Boy imagined so.
"S-E-R-E-N-D-I-P-I-T-Y... Serendipity... What does that mean?"
Slade sighed. "This may take longer than I thought."
Beast Boy growled. "Hey dude, I didn't come over here to be taught English!"
"It means 'pleasant surprise', something nice stumbled upon unintentionally," Slade defined. Beast Boy was still not getting the big picture, so Slade moved on. "Now, think of Tarbal."
Beast Boy worked harder for that word, still coming up with no results.
"Two words," Slade hinted, still no answer, making Slade do a facepalm. "Spell it backwards."
"L-A-B-R-A-T," Beast Boy spelled out. "OH! Lab rat!"
Slade nodded. "Now, I can tell you the whole story, or more likely history of a phenomenon, a legend, circulating and haunting Markovians for the past decade.
"Long story short, Tarbal Avenue is said to be cursed."
Beast Boy gulped. He was staying at an inn in Tarbal Avenue. He listened intently.
"Why, just yesterday there was another case of a disappearance. Every now and then, someone from this little row of residence would just never be seen ever again. Those who lived here and just suddenly disappeared never returned. Men, women, kids, a whole family one-by-one even, vanished with no trace of where to. It's scary and true, but these people couldn't do anything. They didn't know where to go, how to go wherever, or even get to the richer places where the curse is not in play."
"Then? Then?"
"No one knows how, why, where to, they disappeared. No signs. No evidence. No ideas. Nothing. But someone knew, and has told me. These victims were kidnapped for inhumane superhuman experiments. Tested on with chemicals and formulas to give them powers. Failed or succeeded, they were then locked in a Level 5 containment vessel for the rest of eternity."
"Who would do such a thing? Sounds like something Professor Chang would do." Beast Boy recalled Red Star telling a similar story when he was in the military and tested on in search for the perfect hero of the country.
"Precisely," Slade answered, making Beast Boy gasp. It didn't make sense to the shape-shifter since the sinister Professor Chang had been frozen in the Brotherhood of Evil's lair. He waited for Slade's explanation. "Actually, the source didn't exactly specify who the lead scientist was, but the descriptions sounded like Professor Chang's doing. He and Terra's parents -"
"Her parents?!" Beast Boy was shocked.
"That's the big shock," Slade continued. "Anyway, yes, they worked together on this big project for many years, even before their reign, with Terra's grandparents. This is how Terra got her powers."
Beast Boy clenched his fist. How dare they do that to her! She's totally not safe with them!
"Now, your task," Slade said, finishing the story, "is to snoop around Markovia for clues as to this Tarbal Avenue 'curse'. I've been looking around the Castle, no such luck. Maybe your foolishness will lead you to look in places everyone would least expect."
"So... investigate?"
Slade nodded in response. He then stood up and walked away, leaving Beast Boy to think of whether he should snoop around or not.
After thinking about it, he knew he had to find the truth. That's what he wanted all along. If Terra's truth wasn't actually true, then he had to find the real truth. He stood up and began his investigation.
And when a situation rises
Just write it into an album
Send it straight to gold
But I don't really like my flow, no, so
Terra planned on spending most of the afternoon to explore the Marketplace.
The Marketplace is much like any large village market. People were selling things that people would use every day. From food to housing items to electronic goods, the Marketplace consisted of an overwhelmingly long street with stalls separated by a few inches on both sides, leaving a quite narrow passage for people in the middle of the street. Despite the many amenities and stalls to choose from, Terra knew exactly where she wanted to go first.
"May I purchase a strawberry cheesecake? Frosted."
"Coming right up, fine lady," the baker of St. Pierre's Bakery said, taking out a dish of the dessert and placing it under a frosting machine. The baker was young, in his young adult years, with straight ruffled hair and a slight but well-established build. "I haven't seen you around. May I know your name, beautiful one?"
"Tara," Terra answered, and she got the bewildered reaction she expected.
"The Mayor's daughter," he stammered with a quick head bow. "Pleasure to meet you. Here's your cake."
"Grateful decency. Hey, uh…" Terra was hopelessly searching for a name tag.
"Gerard," the baker Gerard introduced himself with a half-smile. "Gerard St. Pierre."
"Where's the older man who used to run this bakery?" Terra asked. "Merry Man Morse."
Gerard's voice dropped as he replied, "My dad. Tarbal Avenue curse."
"Oh… Sorry about that." Terra wished she could help, simce she was soon to be in control of Markovia and all. "Do you have any clues about this curse?"
"Well…" Gerard hesitantly began. "There are some rumors. I mean, we all thought Maximus Markov was the culprit, and for awhile after he and you disappeared, the curse halted. But it returned soon enough. It's either your brother has someone else continuing the operations, or he secretly returned."
Terra stared furiously at her food as she recalled her final moments in Markovia in Serenity Pid Park.
The baker then chuckled and continued, "There was also a rumor that your parents kidnapped the people to become fighting creatures."
Terra looked suspiciously at Gerard. He was saying what her brother had told her.
"Who told you that?"
Gerard shrugged. "It's been talked about sometime after you ran away. But no one believes it. Why, you plan on getting me in trouble for speaking against your parents? I don't believe in that crap."
So big brother had told the people here about this lie of his... Terra said in her mind. "No, I won't. Well, thanks for the cake."
Terra turned around and walked away, scooping up a part of the cream and into her mouth.
"Wait."
Terra turned back around to face Gerard.
"What does 'thanks' mean?" he asked. Terra let out a soft giggle at his cuteness.
"Sorry," she said. "I meant to say 'grateful decency'." She was about to turn back around, but he asked another question.
"Will you visit here often?"
"Likely," she replied cheerily. "Bye now."
Gerard laughed. "Hope to see you soon."
Terra walked away, expecting to hear his sultry voice ask her another question. She was also maddened that her brother had made everyone in Markovia lose a bit of trust in her parents by spreading such rumors.
They wouldn't believe it, Terra thought. Gerard wasn't that irritated about it, maybe he let it go.
She decided to make her way to a stall selling spices.
"Is this coriander?" she asked curiously.
"Ow!"
She heard a familiar voice expressing in a whisper from behind. She looked back to see whether it was who she thought, but didn't saw that person.
"Hmm..."
Tell me what you want to hear
Something that will light those ears
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away
"Mr. Wilson."
Slade was in the closed balcony that was overlooking the entire country. Malcolm Markov had seen him reenter the Castle, and decided to make everything clear with him.
"Hello, Mal," Slade recognized without having to look back. "I'm sorry if I just curtly stepped into your grandiose abode.
"No worries, my man," the Mayor reassured as he took the standing spot next to the masked man. "Actually, I did notice your entrance ten minutes ago and have decided to take this time of ours without a third party to talk about somewhat pressing matters. Or, at least, pressing specially to me."
"Might it have something to do with something Terra told you?" Slade asked.
"This noon," Malcolm confirmed. "Laughable, really."
"So you're denying it," Slade uttered. He was betrayed, but he expected it from Terra.
Malcolm gave Slade a raised eyebrow.
"No matter," Slade went on. "I know about the Tarbal Avenue curse prior to visiting Markovia, you know…"
"Of course, Mr. Wilson! Everyone who's lived in Markovia would know about the dreaded curse!"
"I will find who did it," Slade said, with an unwavering promise in his tone. "And I won't count past anyone here to find them."
"Even the Mayor?" This time, it was Slade's turn to give a 'what-do-you-think' facial expression. "You won't find it here, I regret! Now, if you would excuse me, I have a meeting with the Department of Health to attend to."
Mr. Markov grinned at Slade and loftily left Slade.
Slade continued staring at the scenery, quietly speaking to himself.
"I will find you one day, Jericho."
This time, don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away
Raven and Maximus - back in his Red X costume in case he needed to be undercover - had left the remaining three Titans plus Brian the White Monster, as the two left to retrieve Jericho.
"Welcome to the Titans H.Q., Brian!" Cyborg exclaimed as he brought Brian into the tower.
Starfire flew into their home as cheerful as ever and ecstatically shouted, "Yes, it is extremely exciting to have a new member of the Honorary Titans! The list is longing!"
"Um... 'getting longer', Star. 'Longing' isn't the right word to use," Robin corrected Starfire as he walked into the tower and sat on the couch to watch television.
"Ooh, is The Thing About The Senses documentary on?" Starfire asked excitedly, hopping to the seating spot beside Robin as the leader flicked to the channel with Starfire's favorite documentary series airing.
"Guys," Cyborg called out to the watching couple, "I'll be hanging out with Brian in my room and running some tests on him. I'm sure he doesn't mind, right, Brian?"
Brian made a disgruntled sound that Cyborg just took as giving the green-light to him, and he led Brian to his room.
Robin and Starfire noticed that they were alone, on the sofa, watching TV. Starfire subtly inched herself closer to him, while Robin let out a yawn and stretched his arms, his right arm landing on the top part of the sofa behind Starfire.
"Is this how a date between a pair in a romantic relationship commences?" Starfire asked from out of the blue during their watching.
Robin tensed up. He glanced at Starfire, her emerald eyes gleaming as it reflected light from the TV screen.
"It's..." he drifted in his sentence as he tried to find the best words possible. "yes, except with a more sensitive movie."
"What is sensitive-er than a documentary about the human senses?" a naive Starfire asked.
Robin smiled at how adorable Starfire could be. "Never mind."
"How is love between two people with sufficient biological dissimilarity on Earth? What does the term mean to them?"
Robin gulped at Starfire's sensitive question. It was just as cognizant as the topic of girlfriends, if not more.
"I don't know," Starfire added, with a hint of desire to know and vulnerability in her voice.
"I-it's complicated," Robin said. He recalled Starfire admitting to him that she was still adapting to Earth's social norms and customs. "Love between romantic couples come in different forms."
"What form is this?"
Robin and Starfire looked at each other as Starfire asked that question. Both their pairs of eyes were rich in desire and plentiful with curiosity.
"I-I gotta check on Cyborg and Brian," Robin then said, standing up and walking away. Starfire just stared at the open space in front of her, shaking from that moment. She wanted so much to feel something. Special.
She felt slime creeping up on her arm, and turned to see Silkie.
"Oh, bumgorf," she sighed, cradling the larva in her caring arms as she continued watching.
Oh, got no reason, got no shame
Got no family I can blame
Just don't let me disappear
I'ma tell you everything
Beast Boy didn't know where to begin, so he was randomly snooping around the Marketplace, not knowing where to go or who to talk to.
He stopped by a carpet stall when he spotted Terra a few stalls away on the opposite side of the street. He hid behind one of the rolled-up fur carpets as Terra was walking away from St. Pierre's Bakery. He thought she was about to look at his general direction, so he took a quick step back, knocking down one of the other carpets. That carpet tumbled and tumbled and fell with the top bumping Beast Boy's head.
"Ow!" he said softly and dropped to the ground.
"Hm..."
Beast Boy turned into the first green little animal he could think of in order to hide better. He hopped and croaked on the cemented ground as he jumped from stall to stall.
Terra was on his tail, walking casually.
"Beast Boy..." she snorted. Beast Boy had been caught. He transformed back to his true self and laughed nervously.
"I... uh... what 'cha doin' there, Tara?" he said.
Terra heaved an exasperated sigh. "Use 'Terra', I like that more, I just don't tell my parents to call me that. And why are you still here?! Have you been spying?!"
"I... uh..." Beast Boy's ears drooped and his arms slumped to his sides in defeat. "Yeah. I figured I haven't found the real truth yet, and so I'm a snoopin'."
Terra folded her arms. Beast Boy had to admit, Terra in a dress looked much more beautiful and prudent, but he thought her rock star attire was more fun and youthful. Either way, her personality had not changed much since her wardrobe transformation.
"What do you mean?" she asked, and Beast Boy's ears perked back up as his nerves started tensing. If he mentioned what Slade had told him, she definitely would not approve and would even want him to leave Markovia.
"You didn't trust my words?" she asked skeptically.
"N-n-no!" Beast Boy stammered, waving his hands sideways. "It's just that... I want to know more."
Terra was getting suspicious, and the more Beast Boy spoke with voice shaking slightly, the more she knew what was going on with him.
"So you don't trust me!" she shouted. "Why do I have a feeling Slade has something to do with this?"
Beast Boy covered his eyes with his hands, and let the right one peek at Terra by flexing up one of his fingers. "... Yes."
Terra sighed again. "We need to talk..."
Terra led the way, Beast Boy followed.
"Where are we going?"
"Tarbal Avenue."
So tell me what you want to hear
Something that will light those ears
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away
Terra and Beast Boy were strolling calmly, passing by small cottages and wooden houses. They had spent the time having a storytelling session, where Beast Boy was retelling Terra what Slade had told him according to what Terra had told Slade.
Everything was as Terra had remembered telling Slade, until Beast Boy got to the anagrams.
"Serenity Pid? As in the park?" she inquired.
"Yeah," Beast Boy answered. "If you put the letters together, you can get the word 'serendipity'. Pretty cool, huh?"
"I'm listening."
"And if you reverse 'Tarbal', you'll get 'lab rat', as in the poor people will be used for unethical experiments!"
"What an interesting conspiracy theory you got there, Beast Boy."
"Dude! Why would your ancestors name a place that way? Think about it!"
"It's just a coincidence, Beast Boy."
Beast Boy looked incredulously at Terra. How could she still not believe me?
"You know what?" Terra then said, stopping at her tracks. "Do what you want to do here. I don't care. When you have enough proof, come back to talk to me. But if you don't, please Beast Boy, for your own good and for mine, just don't show yourself to me again."
Beast Boy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Before Terra could do anything else, he grabbed her left hand and tightened the grip, which took her by surprise.
"I have tried so hard," he began. "Very hard, I've tried to know what is truly happening around you. Remember, Terra, we just stumbled onto each other, you and me and the rest of the Titans. No formal introductions, just you battling a giant spider. We don't know your past, and I'm starting to feel you don't know either."
Terra forced her hand back, releasing the grip.
"You don't know me!" she countered angrily. "Bug off, Beast Boy! This is my life!"
Beast Boy squinted at her. There was disbelief on both sides.
"Leave me alone!" Terra said with finality. And she ran away. Beast Boy clenched his fists as he watched her distancing rapidly away from him.
"I will find out," he muttered.
This time, don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away
"Tell me more about Jericho, Raven. You and your friends seem to know him."
Red X and Raven were sitting cross-legged on Raven's telekinetic hovering disk, en route to get Jericho.
"He is an Honorary Titan," Raven told Red X, real name Maximus Brian Markov. "I have never really talked to him, and after matching Terra and Jericho's outer features I'd say they do come from the same country, but Beast Boy was the one who gave him the communicator in order to prepare ourselves against the Brotherhood of Evil."
"Ahh, I've heard of them, and their defeat," Red X said.
Raven gave a smile. "Unfortunately, it didn't go that smoothly. But what do you know about him? Is he really Slade's son?!"
Red X nodded. Raven felt like spacing out and falling off from her disk. She couldn't really believe it.
"Let's just say Jericho, and may I add Brian, is a part of the group called the Arbritraries. Yes, I know, story time."
Raven chortled at Red X's sense of humor, realizing it was very similar to her own.
Red X continued, "The Arbitraries are the victims of the Tarbal Avenue curse. After being cruelly experimented on, they were locked up in high-security jail. What the experiments were for are to give people powers to enhance the Markovian guard troops. But the way they are conducted is inhumane, and with each non-success leaves a person's life ruined and confined.
"Terra's powers to control earth comes from these chemicals from my parents' experiments, actually. She didn't have any traumatizing accident or something that I know of, this is the only explanation I can think of. My parents must have found a way to get something in her to give her such powers.
"Jericho was also one of them. He lived in Tarbal Avenue with his father, Slade Wilson, who loved Jericho with all his heart. When Jericho was kidnapped, experimented on, and imprisoned, Slade went on a crippling state of depression. He became not mentally stable. He took away his wife's life out of paranoia, thinking she had something to do with it.
"The night I found out that my parents were the criminals and that my family line had a history of being brainwashed to conduct these experiments, I found where they've been confining the Arbitraries. I managed to let some of them escape, but then the alarms signaled and I had to leave the others behind. Jericho was one of them that escaped.
"No one knew I was the one that helped them escape. But Slade saw the escaped Arbitraries running quietly away from Markovia, but convinced himself he was hallucinating. That is, until he saw Jericho. He chased after him, but Jericho didn't want to go back to his father for fear of being rejected, being called a freak for having weird powers, and so continued running until Slade lost sight of him. Sad for him, really. I saw it happen when I was in hiding. It broke my heart to see little Jericho.
"Slade didn't give up. He knew that was Jericho. And so he continued his search outside Markovia. And it went on, and on, and on, until his mind really just forgot why he was out in the first place, and so beginning his criminal streak I bet.
"And so, there, there's my story."
Red X looked down as if not completely proud of what he had just told Raven, while Raven just stared at him, astonished.
"Dude..." Raven said, failing to realize she had caught Beast Boy's catchphrase. "That's one history you got there."
"It is," Red X sighed, and Raven thought she said the wrong thing.
"W-what I mean to say was that I'm sorry for what has happened to you and the Arbitraries," Raven blushed out of embarrassment. She looked out at the aerial view they got, and noticed that the sun was about to set. She had another question in mind that was vying to be asked, and so she did.
"What about your escape from Markovia?"
Red X looked up at her, as if telling her 'why are you putting me on the spot?'.
"Months went on and... It happened one night. I was taking Terra to the park to play, when I found out that a woman was being kidnapped. I tried to set her free, but she mistook me as one of the kidnappers, since there was no one there - visible, at least - other than me, and Terra was sitting quietly and clueless behind the trees. So that woman punched me when I set her free and ran home shrieking that I was the one that had been kidnapping people. Boy, that helped my parents dodged a big bullet. And so I escaped as well.
"Before that, though, I told Terra to run and never look back, but I think she thought I told her to run away from Markovia, when I really just wanted her to run home. I didn't know she had got out of the country, and was disheartened when I took my frequent covert trips to Markovia and heard news that she was gone, and that the whole country was basically mad at me. I decided to look for Terra myself. I never had luck until I reached Jump City."
Raven was so into Red X's story. She found his deep, fruity and modulated voice pleasant to her ears, and also flowed well as a story-teller. "We met Terra in the canyons."
"That's nice," Red X continued. "Grateful decency for taking care of her."
Raven looked bashful as Red X thanked her, because she didn't really get along that well with Terra. She recalled their petty arguments, it was not only due to trust issues, but partly also because Raven was feeling slight jealousy.
Red X interrupted her thoughts as he went on speaking.
"I knew Slade was there in Jump City when I arrived, because his name was mentioned on many issues of the local newspaper. That made me think that some other people of the Arbitrary must be in Jump City too. Continuing my furtive ways, I managed to steal this Red X costume. Do you remember the time Sladebots attacked your tower?"
Raven nodded, "You sneaked in and stole the costume?"
Red X nodded this time. "It wasn't that hard, since the Sladebots were after you only and therefore overlooked me many times. It was the same for you guys."
Raven rolled her eyes, hated recalling the Sladebots wrecking the Titans Tower. "Go on."
"I was just there to loot whatever I could, but when I saw the costume, I thought it was the perfect espionage attire. I was just in a black ski mask, so it was nice to get out of that lame piece of clothing. There."
"You've been through a lot, Maximus," Raven said. She grabbed Maximus's hands and held them reassuringly.
"Grateful decency," Red X said. "Or thank you."
With nothing else to say, Red X and Raven remained quiet as the disk transported them towards a mountain range.
So tell me what you want to hear
Something that will light those ears
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away
"Tanna, sweetie..."
"Yes, Malcolm?"
"Mr. Wilson is on to us."
"He is?!"
Mrs. Markov sat up on her canopy-like bed as she stared shocked at her husband.
"We will need to tighten the security, ensure no one ever finds out," Mr. Markov told her, sitting next to her.
"Yes, we shall... Since you will be with Terra at the courtyard later showing her the Prominent Guards, could you be so nice as to make for her a glass of warm milk?"
Mr. Markov gave Mrs. Markov a look.
"We shall do that too. Sweet Terra will be next in line soon enough. She has already attained the ability to control."
This time, don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away
All my secrets away, all my secrets away