I have a new chapter for you my dear readers, this one lacks action and focuses on story progression.
I will be introducing two characters to the story this chapter, they are Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm) and Wonder Girl (Cassandra Sandsmark). Aqualad will have his Young Justice appearance and Wonder Girl will have her New 52 appearance.
Please enjoy the new installment in Eyes of Crimson and Amethyst.
Chapter Four
Raven is pacing around her room, stand and sitting; occasionally stopping to fiddle with something. She can't seem to relax even a bit. After lying to her team about the meaning of Vlad's words, assuring them he was referring to their conversation at the marina, she locked herself in her room for the rest of the day. That was three days ago and she hasn't seen Vlad at the bookshop nor has there been any of his normal activity. He just seems to have disappeared. Though she has only known him less than a week, Raven finds that the thought of him possibly being dead drives her to a near panic attack; and she can't figure out why. Letting out a frustrated growl she walks over to her dresser and picks up her mirror; within moments she is transported into her mindscape.
Upon arriving she finds that all of her emotions are gathered in one spot already. Good because she won't need to track them down, bad because them being gather on their own has only happened once before; a week before her sixteenth birthday. She looks at all of her emotions before addressing Wisdom.
"Why am I so worried about him? He is our enemy and I barely know him." She pleads with the ever logical side of herself. Before she can receive an answer however, Happy hops in front of her and smiles brightly.
"He makes us happy, he accepts you for who you are. Why wouldn't you worry about him silly?" Happy says in her usual energetic voice.
"She's right, Vlad knows of our heritage and yet he still treats you like a normal girl. He has complimented you multiple times and is sincere when he does." Wisdom finishes for the spaced out Happy. Raven then turns to Love to get her view on this.
"We don't love him, not yet at least. The seed of love is there, but you need to get to know him better before it blossoms. Never the less, you care about him. He sees you as a normal girl despite all the evidence to the contrary. If he is alive and well, I strongly suggest you try to get to know him better and see where it leads." At this all the emotions nod in agreement and Raven decides to follow their advice. Closing her eyes she feels herself leave Nevermore, once back in her room she sets the mirror down and heads to her closet to put on some normal clothes.
Her outfit consists of a purple and black lace bra under a black leather half-jacket, ripped up grey skinny jeans tucked into black gothic style combat boots, a black choker, and a silver ankh earring in her right ear. Looking at her reflection in the full body mirror in her closet, Raven actually thinks she looks good. The jacket shows a nice amount of cleavage without being slutty and the pants show off her shapely legs and plump yet firm ass. She smiles, as she can practically hear Vlad's praise and flattery; this also causes a stab of pain in her heart, but she ignores it and continues to believe in him. Grabbing her communicator, which is basically an advanced smart phone, she calls Starfire. After a few moments Star's face shows up on the display.
"Friend Raven, what can I do for you on the most glorious day?" She asks in her typical friendly tone, a sweet smile on her beautiful face. Raven can't help but smile at the sight of her eternally happy friend.
"Hey Star, I'm about to head to the bookshop until we are supposed to meet up." She tells her friend. The team is meeting in the common room at noon for some unknown reason; all Robin said this morning was it is a mandatory team meeting. "I'm just letting someone know where I'll be."
"Would it be acceptable for me to join you? I just bought a book and would like to start reading it. Plus we haven't spent any of the girl time together lately." She asks with hope in her voice. Raven had hoped to see Vlad at the bookshop but doubts she will, so why not have company today?
"Of course it's acceptable Star, come to my room and I'll teleport us to the alley next to the shop." Starfire nods her head happily and ends the call. She arrives moments later. She is wearing a dark purple long sleeve shirt, black skinny jeans, and purple hi-top Chuck Taylors. Smiling at her friend, Raven grabs Starfire's hand and teleports them away.
With Vlad
Placing a few pairs of clothes in a duffle bag Vlad sighs and shakes his head. It looks like that powerful new ability is not one he'll frequently use. The amount of chakra it consumed and the speed it consumed it were ridiculous. He nearly died after managing to make it back to his apartment. If he is to use it again he needs to make sure he isn't nearly as injured as he was last time, as a large chunk of the chakra expended went into healing his injuries. Picking up his broken mask, he sighs again. Lucky for him when he contacted David this morning he was pointed to a man in Gotham that deals in high end equipment for people with less than legal occupations. David even managed to secure him transport to and from Gotham. Sparing his life is turning out to be a massive boon for Vlad. With the bag packed for his trip, Vlad gets dressed in basically the same thing he was wearing three days ago, only the shirt is crimson in color. He heads towards the bookshop, deciding to see of Raven is there as he has another hour before he needs to meet with the person transporting him.
Entering the shop and heading to the back he sees Raven isn't alone today, Starfire is with her. They are both engrossed in their books and don't notice him approach their table. Smiling, he silently sets his duffle bag into one of the chairs and takes a seat in the other. He stares at Raven's face, basking in her beauty, until she takes notice of someone looking at her. She looks up and her eyes light up upon seeing him.
"Vlad!" She exclaims, causing Starfire to look up from her book as well. Starfire looks confused as the two stare at each other.
"How are you?" He asks, a smile forming on his face. Once again his smile causes her to blush, something Starfire picks up on.
"I-I'm fine, how are you." She asks, attempting to keep her voice a neutral as possible, so Starfire doesn't start to suspect anything.
"A bit sad actually. I haven't seen your beautiful face or talked to you in a few days and I'm about to leave the city for a couple of days. Whatever shall I do?" He asks the last part in an overly dramatic fashion.
At this point while she doesn't know what is going on, Starfire knows for sure that her friend has a crush on this Vlad person. So she decides to interject into their conversation.
"You could give him your number friend Raven." This causes Vlad's smile to increase in size.
"That's a marvelous idea, that way I can get in touch with you whenever I miss you." He pronounces as he pulls out his phone; another thing he found in the apartment. After a moment of hesitation, Raven takes the phone and puts her number in it. After she hands it back, Vlad turns to Starfire. "Hello there, it's nice to meet you. My name is Vlad Alexander, I hope we get along."
"I am Starfire; it is nice to meet you also. How do you know friend Raven?" Starfire asks with a pleasant smile on her face, both Vlad and Raven can tell the question isn't holding veiled meaning.
"Well, I came here one day and recognized her from being a Titan, so I decide to introduce myself and we've talked some since then. I just can't get enough of her company, she is a delightful person." None of what he said was a lie; the first part was at best a bending of the truth. Raven looks at the time on her phone and grabs her book.
"Sorry Vlad we have to cut this short, we have a Titan meeting to get to." She says glad to be able to pull Starfire away form him before something slips.
"It's fine my dear, I have to get going soon myself. I'll text you later, maybe give you a call tonight so I can hear your voice before I fall asleep." She smiles and nods in answer before teleporting Starfire and herself away. Standing up, Vlad chuckles while stretching; leaving the shop he heads to the rendezvous spot to wait.
With the Titans
"Alright guys, while I did call this team meeting I won't be the one leading it." Robin announces to the confusion of the rest to the Titans. Their confusion is answered soon enough however as the door to the common room slides open to reveal three people. The first is Nightwing, the other male is tall and dark-skinned with buzz cut blonde hair, the girl is only an inch taller than Raven with long blonde hair and blue eyes; she also has surprising muscle definition for a female.
"How's it going Tim?" Nightwing asks as the trio walks into the room.
"I'm good Dick, you?"
"Can't complain." He replies while shrugging his shoulders slightly.
"And Father?"
"The same as always, broody and closed off; he's driving Babs nuts with his latest obsession. Apparently someone is orchestrating a massive gang war between Black Mask, Bane, Cobblepot, and Joker. The whole family's been on two hours of sleep a night for a month. Hell, after this I'm heading to Gotham until whatever is happening blows over. Anyway; this is Kaldur'ahm AKA Aqualad and Cassandra Sandsmark AKA Wonder Girl." Nightwing walks over to Robin and embraces him in a tight hug. "It's good to see you little brother, but I gotta go. I'll stop by when I'm done in Gotham."
With that Nightwing takes his leave and everyone present looks at Robin with questions in their eyes. He lets out a sigh.
"Looks like I will be leading this meeting after all. So, as I mentioned before I want to expand the team. Kaldur and Cassie here jumped at the opportunity the moment I made the announcement. So they'll be joining us as Titans, let's all get along."
The seven young heroes look around at each other unsure of what to do. Beast Boy is the one to break the silence.
"So what do you guys do?" Aqualad answers first.
"I'm an Atlantean and as such my physical attributes are much higher than a normal human's. I was also top of my class in Atlantean sorcery and can freely manipulate water and my own bio-electricity." He demonstrates his abilities using is water bearers to create water swords and channels electricity through them. Once he's finished Cassie starts talking.
"I am actually a demigod so I possess superhuman physical attributes and can fly. I also have a lasso like Wonder Woman, though mine has the power of lightning instead of truth." She removes the lasso from around her waist and shows off its powers a bit.
Raven is less interested in the lasso and more in the fact that she is lying about the origin of her powers. When she said being a demigod gives her the superhuman attributes deceit rolled off of her and when she talked about the powers them self there was a feeling of shame and sadness radiating from her. She knows those feelings well and decides to pull Cassie to the side later and offer to listen to whatever is hurting her.
The rest of the day and night are spent getting to know the new members and by the time they finish it's too late to talk to Cassie. Once inside her room Raven pulls her clothes off and stretches, before heading to her bed she checks her phone and sees a text from Vlad.
I hope you like the memento. -Vlad
With a raised eyebrow wonders what he is talking about as she walks to her bed. Looking up from her phone she sees what he means, on her bed is a black box with a dark purple ribbon tied in a bow around it. Setting her phone on her pillow she sits down and lifts up the box. It doesn't have much weight to it and there are no markings anywhere. How was he able to get it into her room, the tower has top notch security. Dismissing the question, as she probably doesn't actually want to know the answer, she gently slides the ribbon off the box and removes the lid; her lips part in a full smile. Lying at the top of the box is Vlad's broken mask. Picking it up she admires the craftsmanship, it is beautifully made. Placing it next to her she picks up the shirt Vlad wore the first day he showed up at the bookshop. Pulling it to her nose she inhales deeply and is hit by the scent cinnamon, jasmine, and fresh rain; it is the most interesting thing she has ever smelled before. Slipping the shirt over her head, she picks up her phone to respond.
I do. Why give me your mask?-Raven
She wonders how long it will take for him to reply and is surprised to get his response seconds after hers.
I no longer need it. I'm getting a new one.-Vlad
Where?-Raven
Gotham. Don't worry I'll only be gone a couple of days.-Vlad
Why would I be worried?-Raven
Because you're such a sweet and caring girl. Good night Karasu-Hime.-Vlad
Goodnight Vlad.-Raven
With that raven curls up and falls asleep with Vlad's scent filling her with comfort.
With Vlad
Looking at his phone Vlad smile under the cover of his hood; sliding his phone into his pocket he knocks on the door in front of him. At the sound of the lock disengaging he pulls the door open and steps inside. Walking down the long dark corridor he starts to imagine what this 'Ryzer' will look like. He has never dealt with a high tech arms dealer before and has no idea what to expect. Soon enough a dull electric glow begin to illuminate the far end of the corridor, a few moments later he enter a large room filled with a multitude of workbenches and computer screens.
"Ah, so you are the infamous Crimson Eyed Demon? Nice to meet you, I'm called Ryzer. Whatcha need?" Ryzer is tall and thinly built with shaggy black hair. His eyes are hidden behind golden lenses that appear to be built into his face. He is wearing a leather jacket, black jeans, and motorcycle boots. His left hand is black, gold, and mechanical.
"I need a few things. Firstly a mask that won't break and some armor." Vlad informs Ryzer, who hums and motions for Vlad to take a seat at an empty workbench. At the push of a button a holographic display pops up.
"So what kind of specifics do you have in mind?" Ryzer asks. "There are few limits other than time that I have. Vlad smiles and begins to list of what he needs.
"The mask needs to be unbreakable and a filtration system would be a plus, though I want the mask to be as slim and form fitting as possible." Ryzer nods his head as he jots down notes. "The armor needs to be light weight, easily able to be concealed. Blunt force, piercing, and energy protection are more important than cutting and explosive resistance. Though I need it to not interfere with the energy I use for my abilities, which is unique to me if that helps. Other than that you know this stuff better than me, so you may add anything you think will help so long as it isn't something that will be a detriment if it is missing or not working."
"You said you have a unique source of energy, is it possible for you to like summon some or whatever so I can scan it?" Vlad raises his right hand and forms a ball of chakra. Ryzer spends about three minutes taking various scanners to it. "Alright, I got what I need. If you want you can use the room through the door behind me to sleep or whatever, I'll have everything done tomorrow night"
"What of payment?" Vlad asks as he stands up. Ryzer waves a hand.
"I have a job for you to do, but it isn't until tomorrow night. This gang war was good for business in the beginning, but money is seemingly running short and some people thought they could steal from me. Once I give you your mask and armor you'll send a message for me."
"The targets?"
"Tomorrow Black Mask, Bane, and Cobblepot will be sending their forces to secure a shipping container, the Bat will show up to stop them. I want you to make sure that neither Black Mask's or Bane's men succeed. Outside of that I don't care what the outcome is." Vlad nods and goes to turn but stops.
"You have any information I can go over regarding the targets and their forces?" Ryzer gets up and heads over to a computer and types for a moment.
"I sent what I have to the computer in the room." Vlad nods and enters said room. Walking over to the computer he begins to familiarize himself with his new enemies.
Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think.
With laughs,
SonoftheJester