AN: Alright. Chapter twelve. Let's do this.
Disclaimer: I still don't own the teen titans.
STORYTIME!
Annabel looked at everyone in the meeting room before sighing and nodding.
"I hope this works."
(One week later)
Annabel sat in the Sherwood City Cemetery, staring down at a new gravestone. She'd been there for over two hours, staring at the name engraved on the stone.
She heard footsteps behind her.
"What do you want?" She asked icily. "I thought you were leaving."
The titans stood awkwardly behind her. "We were just saying goodbye to everyone."
"Goodbye. Now leave."
They stood there for a few more moments, before Robin turned and walked away. Raven followed, then Cyborg, then Starfire, then Beast Boy.
Beast Boy suddenly stopped and turned around, glancing back at the new grave. He looked back at his friends before turning around and sitting in the grass beside her. The others glanced at one another before joining him.
She kept staring downwards, refusing to acknowledge them yet, as she thought to herself, 'How did we screw this up so much?'
(Five days earlier)
'Well,' Annabel thought, 'this is certainly going to be fun.'
She eyed the other three in her group and wondered where Rita had gotten formal clothing for them to wear to the party, before realizing that she probably didn't want to know. She still didn't like wearing a dress, though, especially one so…showy.
At least it was red and black. (AN: Okay, if you saw my profile, you must've known that I was gonna put a Les Mis reference somewhere)
She glanced around the large ballroom, locking eyes with the other heroes several times. They had gotten in without difficulty since the guards outside didn't have a guest list. Once inside, they had split up and spread out across the room, looking for the Captain. Robin and Starfire were dancing, Melody was standing up by the stage, and she had stationed herself near the back door.
Glancing towards the dance floor, she reached up and pretended to fix her hair as she spoke into the small microphone hidden in her glove.
"Look alive, titans. The Prince just walked onto the dance floor."
She noticed the two of them subtly turn so they could see the newcomer. She tensed when she noticed the Prince, the King's teenage son, walking towards the pair.
He spoke to them for five minutes, which felt like five hours to Annabel. Finally he walked away from them, towards another group of teenagers that she presumed were his friends. She spotted their inside source among them.
"He almost recognized me. I handled it." Robin said through the comm. link.
Melody spoke through the link. "How the hell does someone recognize you, you're wearing a mask." She whispered.
Starfire spoke next. "The Prince said that Robin's hair looks familiar."
Annabel hid a smirk. Adjusting her mask, she said, "Well, having a porcupine on your head is quite memorable."
He glared at her from across the room.
She felt someone walking up behind her and turned halfway around. The inside source stood behind her, not saying anything as he quietly slipped a communicator into her hand. She nodded to him before quickly exiting out the back door.
"Melody, I have the device. Come out back."
Melody spoke, "On my way. Jim already sent me the recording."
"It seems that we may have a problem." Starfire said anxiously.
"Define problem." Annabel said tensely.
Before she could get answer, Annabel heard a huge explosion in the distance. The ballroom was on the outskirts of the city, and she could still see the smoke rising from a few miles away.
"Forget the ball, we need to check that out. I heard it from in here." Robin said.
Suddenly all three were out the door and standing beside her. They took off towards the heart of the city, Starfire flying overhead.
Annabel called to Starfire, "Can you look for the building that explosion came from, see which street it was?"
Starfire flew up, flying up and down the streets until she saw what she was looking for.
She flew back down to the group.
"The signs beside the building appear to say 'Nottingham' and 'West'. And I believe I see our friends standing outside the building!"
"West and Nottingham?" Annabel hissed. "That son of a bitch!" she turned sharply down an alley, taking a shortcut.
They reached the building. The sight of the apartments on fire seemed to infuriate Annabel even more. She turned to the heroes gathered outside, all of whom were staring blankly at the fire.
She turned to her team first. "What happened?" she spat. None of them answered. They bowed their heads or looked away or simply pretended not to hear her.
She glared at them. The murderous look in her eyes caused some of her friends to back up a few steps. "What. Happened!"
They still didn't answer.
She turned to the titans. "What happened?!" she growled. No answer. She was about to repeat herself when Cyborg quietly said,
"Man down."
AN: …I really don't know what to say.
This story is actually only the first of a two-part story. There are only one or two chapters left in this part.
I forgot to put that in the story summary. That's all for now.