8. Alien Network News part 4

It was nighttime by the time we retreated to the Tower. Naturally, the media and authorities were curious as to our sudden anxiety. Cyborg concocted some sort of heroic statement of 'no time to waste' or something in order to get them off our backs. We got home and paced around the main room, sweating bullets. True, the Titans weren't foreign to the concept of kidnapping and team member abduction….but it was never a pleasant experience. Cyborg was the most clearly agitated, pounding a fist into his palm every now and then and spouting out random, faulty plans of action with an auctioneer's fervor. Raven was silent, of course. Like always she confessed that she was in no way affected because unfortunate events like these are 'natural'. Each time she said so, however, a random glass of water or a lightbulb would smash itself apart from long distance…so the dark girl restrained herself into silence while Cyborg eagerly stomped on. Beast Boy seemed preoccupied with an attack on the natural senses. On the ride home in the T-Car, he winced the whole time and rubbed his forehead. By the time we rode the elevator to the main room, his eyes had lowered to sickening slits and he moaned every now and then. Perhaps the action was too much for him. He went to the kitchen unit for some aspirin while the proceedings went on. And Starfire? Well…she was quiet the whole time. She still had Robin's cape…our last memory of him.

Whatever Control Freak had in mind, it had all of us on edge. Even me. I tried to keep up with Cyborg's pacing. But it didn't help that I couldn't naturally respond to everything he had to spout out:

"What if we scour the criminal underground?! Ask every crook in the city if they know what Control Freak's up to?! Try and lasso some of his buddies through threats of jail and stuff?! But wait, Control Freak hardly gets out so how could he have any friends?! Or perhaps they're just accomplices and not friends and they can still know something about each other?! Or maybe we can just do something to distract Control Freak, like put up an auction on Ebay for a Aliens DVD compilation and then lace it with a tracking device and----is anybody listening to me?!?!"

"Unfortunately……yes." Raven said, her eyes firm.

"Well, you got some grand spanking plan then?!?!" Cyborg can really get unruly when his temper is aroused.

"It's all a matter of logical progression," Raven said slowly. "Let's look at the facts at hand. Control Freak's got two items of importance at the moment. For one—as we all know—he has our leader, Robin. He threatens to reveal his identity before the whole world. But such an act is not possible without the second item of importance: an item crafted by Kobayashi's team of technological experts that supposedly can pick up secret transmissions conducted by our ever-protective government and broadcast whatever he wants to half the world. It's safe to assume that Control Freak has enough motive to use both stolen elements towards his own twisted will. But the importance lies in the connection between the two. Control Freak can't possibly reveal Robin's identity without the transistor, and the transistor won't remain his unless he exploits Robin's identity to keep us at bay. What we all right now desire—of course—is Robin's rescue. At the same time, we're obligated to acquire the transistor and return it to the securities of Kobayashi and the Government. Both things are linked, and one or the other can't be found without traces of evidence left by its counterpart. Since all we have of Robin's whereabouts is his cape, and that won't get us anywhere, we must take action to find out where the transistor could be functioning to accomplish Control Freak's ugly means."

"And in short you mean….," Cyborg trailed.

"The transistor First. Robin Second."

Starfire glanced up…then back to the floor.

"And how do we know that Control Freak won't notice us trailing his new toy and ruin Robin's life?!" Cyborg cackled.

"Ugggggh," Beast Boy rubbed his head. "Don't talk so loud…"

Cyborg glared at him, then looked back to Raven. "Besides…we have no idea where to start. Control Freak didn't give us any hint as to how he plans on using that transistor.

"But…..," Raven started.

"……," Cyborg was silent.

I looked at him.

He suddenly smirked. "He's got to have some really bigass receiver to pick up whatever the government tosses around."

"That's a way of putting it," Raven rolled her eyes.

"Or better yet…," Cyborg scratched his chin and stared at the ground. "…he could use a bunch of miniature receivers spread throughout a large area."

Beast Boy moaned. "Ugh……but what's so special about—urp—picking up secret stuff on aliens---erg—Big Foot and all that other stuff?" He rubbed his aching head and took a sip of water before continuing. "I mean….I know aliens exists. Starfire does my laundry every Friday."

"For obsessive morons like Control Freak, the Truth can't be that easy," Raven said.

"Yeah…that guy's gotta have evidence of Roswell, New Mexico sightings and the Jersey Devil and advanced UN aircraft or what have you," Cyborg added.

Beast Boy groaned and cradled his head in two hands. "What's the freakin' point?? It's not like all of that stuff is real, is it?"

"We don't know, Beast Boy. But quite frankly, I'm not about to let Control Freak have access to any information that could sacrifice national security. And I'm not talking about little green men, but more like the missile defense shield and international investigations…." Cyborg blinked, then squinted at BB. "Hey man, you allright?"

"Can you make the room stop spinning?!" Beast Boy groaned.

Starfire, ever the concerned type, finally spoke up on BB's behalf. "When did your ailment start?"

"On the ride home……ugh….don't want to talk about it…just…." And he gulped more water and rubbed his head.

Cyborg shrugged, turned around, and marched over to the computer console. He began typing forth some sort of city-wide, frequency analysis (all Greek to me) and a 3D picture of the city popped up on the monitor. A few typing storms, and red lights popped up all over the city. "Here's where scanners pick up all the television, radio, and satellite feeds throughout the City. Nothing unusual. Nothing out of the ordinary." He spun around. "How're we gonna find a transistor in all that mess?"

Starfire had made it to Beast Boy's side and was giving his shoulder a gentle massage of sorts to distract him from his headache. He didn't seem to mind. In the meantime, Raven replied to Cyborg:

"We'll just have to make it a smaller mess."

"How do we intend to do that?" Cyborg retorted.

"You're letting your emotions get in the way of your thinking," Raven said, an artery throbbing on her forehead as she tried to remain cool. "Just *think* about it. Control Freak isn't using typical transmission frequencies, now is he?"

"No but…..," Cyborg paused to think, and stuttered. "….they…..it…..that's impossible to search! There're so many frequencies available."

"Control Freak is devilish, no?" Starfire said, by Beast Boy's side. "Would he not leave a clue for us to find so that he'd lead us into putting Robin in danger?"

"Tracking him, you mean?"

She nodded. Beast Boy groaned.

"What kind of a clue?" Raven remarked.

I looked at both groups. I thought for a moment. Then I stepped up to the computer console without warning. After typing in a few things with my own blurred fingers, a duplicate 3D rendering of the city appeared, this time with three distinct spots of glowing frequency.

Cyborg sweatdropped. "Uh…..Noir? How'd you find that?"

I hand-signed to him.

He blinked. Then his mouth dropped wide into a gaping laugh. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!!"

I smirked.

"What'd he say?" Raven inquired.

Cyborg stepped up and pointed at the screen. "He narrowed the search down to three distinct streets in the City."

"Hmm?" Raven walked to his side. She narrowed her eyes. "Darth Street, Maul Street, and Obese Boulevard????"

"What kind of street names are those??" Beast Boy moaned.

"They come from the city we protect," Cyborg grinned and gave me a thumb's up. "Delightfully stupid of you, Noir. It got us where we wanted to be."

I smirked, blushing a little.

"How do we know it's where we 'want to be'?" Starfire remarked.

"Because their frequencies are not only stronger than anything else local, they're in the most conspicuous of places."

"Like….?"

"A trainyard in the Northeast, an abandoned warehouse in the West, and an island to the south of the Tower's bluffs."

"They're forming a triad throughout the city," Raven said, looking at the blinking lights on the map. "Control Freak must be using multiple locations to pick up transmissions."

"And somewhere in the center is his base of operations," Cyborg added. "If we find and examine the receivers, we should be able to track the source of the frequencies and find where Control Freak is."

"And where he's keeping Robin?" Starfire remarked.

Cyborg nodded.

A slight wavering twitch of anticipation and hope alighted the alien's green eyes.

The other green organism in the room moaned and said: "Can we just go and look for him already?"

Cyborg stared at the monitor. I watched as the possibilities of action whirred and sloshed about in his cross-platform brain. Circuits and neurons firing together. Forming cohesion. Forming life. Whenever Robin was absent, Cyborg took the role as leader. We all understood it, and didn't challenge his position as number one. A long time ago, I was briefed on a ranking system that the Titans had. Robin was master and chief. Cyborg was number two. Raven followed in third place, most likely. The rest of the slots were filled by Beast Boy, Starfire, and myself as a support team. I couldn't imagine what fate would have for us if more Titans were to join the team. But then again, maybe such was anticipated ahead of time. I always knew the Tower was too big for the five of us.

Er….six of us. I meant 'six of us'.

Cyborg thought for another half minute, then swiveled to face the rest of us. "Let's get to it. No rest for the weary. Raven…Beast Boy."

"Make it quick," the changeling sickly gurgled.

"Take flight to the island south of here and see what you can find."

"Urp….aye, captain."

"Starfire, Noir?"

We both looked up.

"Go investigate the trainyard. It shouldn't be so hard to locate the receiver there."

"Yes, Cyborg," said the Tamaranian. I nodded.

"I'll go West and take a look at the warehouse. It's a shady part of town, but I should be able to handle it on my own." He then popped open a drawer and passed out special devices to all of us. "Use these Detectors to find the frequencies of Control Freak's devices. We'll contact each other via communicator when we've found our separate targets, then figure out what to do from there. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy said, hobbling towards the door. "Can Raven carry me."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Deal with it. You're a man."

"I'm a boy," he smirked. "Beast Bo—WHOAH!"

He nearly threw up as Raven yanked his arm and pulled him towards the exit.

Cyborg looked at us. "Well….good luck. And Starfire?"

"Y-Yes, Cyborg?"

He looked solemnly at her. "Hang in tight…we'll get 'em back."

With that, the android walked off.

Perplexed, Starfire looked directly at me. "What did he mean by that?"

I scratched my neck and shrugged.

She walked over and opened the window, paused, then turned and looked at me. "This will be slightly awkward with my ability to fly and your grounded sprinting. If you prefer, I can walk and that way we can easily keep in contact."

I so wanted to tell her that such wasn't necessary. It hurts me when—during situations as depressing as that one—Starfire so easily is willing to give herself up for others.

I emphatically shook my head and gestured for Starfire to fly towards our destination of investigation.

Starfire nodded. "Very well then. I'll stop every now and then so that you can catch up. Good luck, Noir."

And she was gone.

For a split moment in time, I was dead alone in the room. The darkness of night caught up with us, filling the Main Room with ugly shadows and disorienting shades of loneliness.

For the first time in darkness, I felt uneasy.

I blurred away in pursuit of Starfire's path.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The moon was half full….or half empty. I wasn't keeping track of the month.

The air was warm with the approach of the city's stifling Summer. It made the skin sweat. It grew upon the already tense muscles.

I would have chosen gladly to blur the whole way over water and hopefully fan myself with some relieving spray. But our path was towards the Northeast of the City, where the industrial complex roared and boiled into the night. There we'd find a trainyard. And hopefully we'd find a clue as to Control Freak's whereabouts.

I sprinted and bounded over streets and rooftops, running along building sides and jumping from lamppost to lamppost. I saw a bright green beacon of light on top of a skyscraper and realized where Starfire was waiting for me. The first checkpoint.

I ran up the side of the skyscraper, reached the top, flipped, and landed gracefully on the gravel footing.

Starfire lowered her hand and cut off her illumination. "You're remarkably quick, Noir. I never got the chance to tell you this morning, but your spar with Robin was most impressive. Perhaps I was a bit too preoccupied with the untangling of my hair and the pain of my bruises from falling on top of Raven to remember about it at the time." She innocently said and smiled.

I sweatdropped and returned a hopeful smirk back.

"Shall we continue to further along our journey?" she said, still smiling. I felt she was hiding truer emotions. She was both expert and poor at that. Somewhere on her person, I could still spot the yellow cape of Robin's.

I nodded, the moonlight reflecting off my shades.

"Very well then. Follow me to the next checkpoint, Noir." She said. She flew off.

I cracked my neck, got into a ready pose, and blurred forward. I launched myself off the skyscraper, over the top of another, and straight down it's structural face. Before I could reach street-level, I kicked with my feet, flipped over moving traffic, and planted a landing on the building face across the way, then ran along the side, hopped to another building, and leveled off to an even set of rooftops in my pursuit of Starfire's position.

My mind amidst speeding dwelled on Robin. He seemed so happy that morning. So teasing. Full of energy and wanting to fight the day on and see whose boss over immortality. Now he was in the hands of some synthetically minded cheapscape of life who could care less about the repercussions his actions have on souls in this ever-real world. I've often heard the stories of Robin getting into all sorts of straits and somehow emerging victorious—and safe. But those were all stories told to the 'noobie' of the group. I've not been with the others at those times. I've not see Robin come back to life and perform other self-preserving miracles. All I had to believe in was a legend. It was the very legend I obeyed. The very legend I sparred with that morning. Robin had more than my allegiance, he had my faith. But I suppose it was a different faith than what the others shared in him. Mine was formed of ambiguity and intrigue. But then again, was I foolish to think I was thusly so different from the veteran comrades I fought with?

My sprint took me over a freeway and into the City's Park. At night, it was illuminated by a spare throng of lamps and fountain lights. It looked fairly pretty…though a stone's throw from the vitality of a sunny day. I saw a green orb by a park bench and stone fountain and made my there. I slid to a stop, hopped onto the stone side of the fountain, and perched still.

Starfire lowered her arm and folded her hands together, cocking her head up at me. "Just a few more stops there," she smiled.

I nodded down at her.

A pause.

Her green eyes trailed.

I was curious.

"Actually….Noir….do you have a moment?"

I looked around. The park was empty. The night was black. The lanters were dim. It was nighttime.

I glanced back at her and stoically nodded.

"I must ask…," she said, but trailed off. She hugged herself and wandered over towards the bench and paused. Then, suddenly, she spun around and asked "Why do you wear those shades all the time?"

My eyes blinked under their protective shielding. I glanced downward—not like she would notice. I didn't answer.

"They are so dark and obtrusive," she said. "And you are always wearing them, even when you are in the dark, just as it is nighttime now and you are wearing them. Even your room is in the darkest, hidden spot in the tower. And I never see you go down there without them. Why is that, Noir?"

I couldn't answer.

She looked down, forlorn. "I….I-I know you cannot answer. We all know you cannot talk." A pause. She glanced back up, smiling sympathetically, "It must be quite the challenge for you."

I shrugged and attempted a smile. It came out broken.

She leaned her head to the side and played with a lock of red hair. Her eyes looked sad. "Never you mind me…," she said in a low sort of voice. "I…I was just thinking while flying here. People may not think of it much, but flying makes me think more than normally. Tamaranians must apply all aspects of thought and concentration to lift their feet off the ground. And sometimes if we fly too long, we start thinking desperate things. And those desperate things in our head do the unthinkable. They chase away joy and all things warm and happy and leave us as empty shells without anything or anyone to lean on." She blinked slowly, then looked at me. "That is why friends are so important, Noir."

I nodded.

"Without friends, people on my planet grow distant. They grow cold. They lose sight of the Eternal Happiness, and turn into the same cold monsters that we all were before the Great Reformation."

I rose an eyebrow.

Starfire was in her little world. "Sometimes…..sometimes when a Tamaranian keeps her life focused on only a select few friends….she….she….she chooses one….ch-chooses one to hold more than just friendship in her heart. She chooses one to be everything that she seeks in a person. A form of stability….trust….and….and….a-and…"

Starfire was stumbling. My eyes wandered down. Her fingers were absent-mindedly caressing the material of Robin's severed cape.

I looked up at her.

Silence.

I hopped down from the fountain side.

Starfire looked at me.

I walked over to a lamppost and eyed a patch of grass beneath the dim yellow glow. I paused. I unsheathed Myrkblade, charged it with dark energy, and slashed the edge of the blade a bit amidst the soil.

Starfire flinched, but looked at my handiwork with one open eye.

Once done, I stepped back and put away my weapon.

Starfire stepped over and glanced down.

I had carved a circle with a 'T' in the center deep into the earth.

"The Teen Titans…," Starfire smiled. "Our symbol."

A pause.

She grinned up at me. "I am not so short of friends after all, am I, Noir?"

I smiled.

"It is not the quantity that matters, it is the quality," Starfire sighed. A pause. She fingered the cape some more. "The quality…."

I looked off towards the night sky.

She swallowed and said rather too joyfully. "Come, companion! We must make haste to the trainyard! Meet me at the next checkpoint, okay?"

I nodded.

Starfire flew off with a slightly hopeful streak of green.

I stood still for a while. Adjusted my shades. And blurred after her.

I dashed through and around a throng of trees, then came across a small cluster of forest at the edge of the park. I leapt up, and jumped off a branch, another branch, a tree top, another branch, and a thin tree which slingshotted me more or less a few dozen meters forward where the ground cleared into a river. I dashed over the water, my feet murking, and leapt onto the dry sand on the other side. Next came a low-income neighborhood which I gracefully winded through, then a freeway which I squeezed under, and a line of warehouses marking the beginning of the industrial complex. I saw the next glowing spot of green atop a water tower. I ran up its side and landed on the rusted, metal balcony besides Starfire. She was sitting gracefully on the edge, the wind kicking at her hair and Robin's cape…which was fully out in the open and in her grasp.

"The reason I asked about your shades, Noir…," she spoke without looking. She seemed melancholy again. "…is that there is this dream I keep having lately." She hesitated for a moment, then looked up at me with crystal eyes. "It is about Robin," she said. "I am on some planet. It is not Tamaran. Neither is it Earth. It almost feels like some land lost in the chaos between our two worlds…." She seemed hurt by her own choice of the word 'our', but kept going. I listened.

"There is nothing but wasteland around me. It speaks of sorrow and anger and loneliness mixed into one. I can feel the pain as clear as an open wound. It is most unsettling. And it makes me want to wake up. But I cannot wake up, because I am looking for someone. I do not know who, but I only know at first that it is someone important to me.

"I go walking aimlessly about this land, because the sorrow is so great that I can no longer feel the unbridled joy of flight. I start calling out for anyone. My voice echoes into the emptiness, and the lack of a reply fills me with loneliness. Again, my mind begs of me to wake up, but I keep on looking.

"Then, in the middle of this emptiness, there is a little boy huddled all by himself inside a lake that is suddenly there. The waters are icy, and yet at the top the liquid boils with an unknown heat and fury. I know upon first look that it is Robin that I see. But I cannot reach him due to the icy pain and the boiling anger. And yet he is crying, his face in his hands. I call out to him, and……and he looks up. And his face is covered in green."

She looks up at me. "I cannot see his face, Noir. I cannot see his eyes. I can see his pain and his anger, but I cannot see who he truly is." She looked back down at the cape again. "When my people cry…with the greatest sorrow that can be associated with sobbing…tears come out opaque and green. Just like our eyes," she smiled momentarily and then sank back into the melancholy subject matter. "Humans are lucky to have such transparent tears. From a long way's off, you would not know if your friend was mourning or not. It would be just enough for the truth to be hidden from you. But on my planet, we cannot hide our sorrow. So, culture has forced itself to chase sorrow off, for it leaves us greatly vulnerable and in danger of falling apart. I never ever want to see green smear the face of a friend or loved one. It is inherent of my very upbringing…of who I am."

She stood up and hid Robin's cape away.

"In my dreams," Starfire said into the wind, "…Robin has the tears of a Tamaran. But in reality, he is human. But….I like to think…he is just as vulnerable as any Tamaranian I grew up with, if not more so. Because instead of admitting to his tears, he hides it all behind a white mask……"

The way she said the word 'mask' felt like she had come to hate its connotation a long time before I joined the team. I decided to not say a thing about it. Like I could to begin with…

"I would like to know what makes him hide who he really is…," Starfire said. It was not a statement of hurt or distrust. It was full of sympathy. It was full of Starfire. "Could it be that he has a pain he won't share with anyone, Noir? Could it be that he doesn't trust me? What is it about me that he wouldn't see reasonable to share his secrets with?"

I bit my lip and sighed for a way to respond. I like Starfire but….it's enough trouble as it is trying to console a woman. It's even worse trying to talk to a woman and being mute.

But the Tamaranian girl had ways of resolving things herself. In fact, I doubt she truly talked to me to get any response out of me. In fact, the Titans in their own ways were starting to say all sorts of things to me, as if knowing the only role I could play was that of listener. Nothing else.

It cleared their consciousness….or eased their fears.

Whatever.

"Anyways, thank you for listening, Noir," Starfire said and walked off towards the edge of the rusted water tower. "Let's make way to the trainyard."

I nodded and readied myself to blur.

But she stopped, turned her head and said, "Do not take what I said too close to heart, Noir. But do remember this. If you are drowning in your own pain of ice and fire….there is no time like the present to let us know about it. No time like the present…before you lose a chance to—…."

She cut herself off and flew into the night.

I loosely hung my arms at my side and took a deep breath.

This was going to be a long night.

I dashed off towards the trainyard, which wasn't too far away.

Starfire was onto something. Robin had an identity. A secret identity. It was ironically what we five Titans were working so hard to protect that very evening. True, historians will look back on this night and say we were trying to protect the interests of national security and top secret information. But one thing I've noticed while working for the Titans and that's that our missions are always personal. True, we may be saving the City. We may be protecting the public peace. But it was always for our own interests. It was always to keep each other safe. To keep each other happy. To keep life going. Maybe that's what gave us such a poor review compared to the ever-booming-reputation of the Justice League. But none of us cared. We made people happy. We made people safe. Whether those people be ourselves or perfect strangers. We were all about life. Even Raven.

Robin had an identity…

So did Beast Boy. So did Cyborg. So did Starfire and Raven and of course yours truly. Entering into the Tower, we all signed a contract of sorts at separate times. We called it the Confidentiality of Justice Accord, or something. The purpose of the CJA was to assure us perfect secrecy in our own lives for exchange of residency in and service to the Tower. In Layman's terms, Beast Boy was Beast Boy. Cyborg was Cyborg. Starfire was Starfire and Raven was Raven and I was myself.

Now Robin….

Though he may not admit it—or none of us for that matter—he was the sole reason for the existence of the CJA. None of the rest of us would give a darn about who we were and if that information was revealed to the Tower. In fact, we'd all probably would get along better if we started calling each other by names other than our repetitious pseudonyms and signatures. But that wasn't kosher with Robin. Beast Boy had dark eyes. Cyborg had multicolored. Raven had blue. Starfire was green.

But Robin…nobody knew what his eyes were like. Nobody had seen him. They'd seen almost every other part of him. But his eyes held the final key. They held the key to who he was. Where he was from. What his life was, his soul was, his very existence was.

Robin kept his eyemask on at all time. Thus, he kept the legend living in his persona at all times. He was more Wonder than Boy. More super than hero. More caped than crusader.

Starfire was from a world where anonymity meant pain and a cry for help. But the very one that—we all knew—she wanted to help the most couldn't possibly be helped. It seemed cruel and tragic all the same. Yet it was a beautiful thing to see Robin and Starfire—both two opposites on the sphere—get along so well. It was like the invisible glue that held the Titans together. We were so close and so trusting of each other that paradoxes could happen. And paradoxes could happen with perfect tranquility.

That is….until Robin ends up missing. And Starfire looks at her blooming friendship and suddenly sees a great ball of conglomerated pain and mystery. It was so unfair. So real.

Robin was Robin. Starfire was Starfire. Their relationship was a painful one…that is…when they were separated.

I dashed along through the industrial complex in contemplation of all this. For a second there, I wanted to stop and let the sun come up. Because I almost wanted for the worst to happen. I wanted Control Freak to unmask Robin and bring justice to this pent up world of fear and lies.

But as sweet as Starfire was, even she herself knew that a single Tamaranian's wish only went so far.

I had to honor our leader. We all did. No matter how much it hurt. And as the wind shifted against my ever-dark shades, I thought about Starfire's words, and I couldn't help it. I felt like a victim and a hypocrite all the same. It was perfect confusion. I winked it off.

After a blink or two of blurring, I realized I had reached the trainyard. I skid to a stop and looked around. There Starfire was atop a metal crane, waving down at me. She scanned the area as I blurred up the height of the crane and perched behind her.

"I am giving the place a thorough looking," she quoted the obvious.

I looked as well. The trainyard consisted of nearly a dozen criss-crossing tracks sandwiched between a row of dirty, smudgy warehouses brimming with steam and smoke. Three tracks rain closely parallel to each other. During the span of time we observed the scene, the two outer tracks were racked with almost-speeding engines going in the same direction. Moving oppositely in the center was an extremely slow moving, extra-long train carrying huge mounds of coal and water tanks. They were heading south, where a power plant was located that would utilize the fuel and feed half the City with power.

Somewhere in this industrial, black-soot mess was a receiver.

We could only guess…

A Star Trek sound effect went off beside me. "Cyborg, we are at the trainyard, are you able to respond?" the alien spoke into the communicator.

"Can you see Control Freak's device somewhere?" the android's voice said beneath a curtain of odd noises in his background.

"Negative to that inquiry," Starfire responded. "We were hoping you would inform us as to the procedure necessary to accomplish that." A blink. "What are those animalistic noises in the background?"

"Craziest thing I've ever seen. All the dogs in the city are barking their heads off. I'm at the Warehouse right now and there's a few of them off beyond a metal fence and they're all howling together at the sky. It's downright creepy."

Starfire and I pricked our ears and—indeed—we could hear a faint chatter of canines in the emptiness of the urban night.

Starfire shivered. "Um…that is all nice, Cyborg, but we still require instruction if that is okay at the moment."

"Just use those detectors I gave you! You and Noir should be able to find it no problem if you work together. Now I gotta cut you off. This warehouse needs inspecting. Call me back if it's an emergency."

There was interference, then Raven's voice sounded over the communicator's signal.

"Raven here. Beast Boy and I are almost at the island. I am being bitten to death by mosquitoes. Can anyone read me? Over.""Raven, how is Beast Boy doing?" Starfire cheerfully asked.

"…..He is fine." Raven said darkly.

"I am not fine!" Beast Boy moaned over the frequency. "I feel like my head's gonna implode on me! I need to sleep or something……or maybe die!"

Starfire winced. "Well….um…do the 'hanging of the in there' then. You'll be in 'the good shape no time'." And she closed the communicator. "I fear that Beast Boy is experiencing a migratory reign."

I lifted a finger and opened my mouth….

"Hmm?" she looked at me.

….I closed my mouth and lowered my finger.

"Well then," the alien simpered. "Shall we get going?"

I nodded and whipped out the detector. Starfire floated to the ground as I slid off the crane and joined her in a slow walk alongside the tracks and through the trainyard. Our eyes and ears were attuned to the detector as it started to beep slowly…slowly….slowly….slowly….slowly….faster…

"Over here," Starfire tugged me along Eastward. "It seems to be getting stronger in this direction."

We headed towards the increased tempo of the beeping. I held the device in my hand and looked straight down at its pulsing light while Starfire looked over my shoulder.

Faster….faster….faster….faster…faster…slower…

"Wait…too far," Starfire said. She looked around, then pointed down along the tracks where the coal train chugged slowly along. "There!"

I nodded and paced myself in its direction.

Slower…slow….faster…faster…faster….faster….faster…

The beeping's intensity rose. We stood a few feet away from the slow moving beast of a train. Suddenly, the beeping chirped like mad. We both looked over and spotted a silver object on the tracks just under the train. It was almost hidden in the gravel.

"Do you see it too?"

What's a receiver doing under moving cargo trains?

I turned around and looked up. There were numerous cranes and metal spires all around us for shipping purposes. Perhaps they were acting as antennae and were secretly wired to the device thanks to Control Freak.

Starfire looked distastefully at the moving cars full of coal and water tanks.

"Hmmm…how are we going to get to it with this in the way?"

I handed her the detector suddenly. I then got down to one knee and extended a hand deep into the gravel besides the shaking tracks. Murk flowed out from my fingertips and spread forth a carpet that slithered under the tracks and churning wheels of the train to where the device was. I timed myself just right and—Starfire gasping behind me—blurred over, under, and teleported squarely beneath the moving train where the object was.

"Oh Noir, do be careful! That is most unorthodox!"

Finally, after all those hours that night, something Starfire said made me want to laugh. I merely smiled, swiftly rolled over, and dug away at the gravel to get close to the device. The heavy train cars thundered over me. The wheels shrieked and scraped and screamed against the groaning tracks. One wrong move of my leg and I would have no leg at all.

The last few pieces of gravel clattered away from the surface of the device. I brushed it off and lifted it to my vision…..and froze.

"Suckers!!" screamed a spray-painted image up at me, alongside an amateur sketch of Control Freak in some sort of Star Trek outfit and a phaser pointed 'right at me'.

The implications of this development bounced around in my brain a few mere seconds before a shriek emanated from beyond the screeching wheels on both sides of me.

I desperately looked out from my moving, metal prison and saw Starfire's floating shadow.

"Noir! Get out from under there! It is all a trap! A most horrid and evil trap!!"

"?????" I squinted. Just then, a familiar, hovering remote control zoomed into view between the wheels, stopped, and swiveled around to 'look' at me.

I gasped.

There was another shriek, and the remote quickly decided to turn around and zoom after the unseen Starfire.

I grit my teeth, realizing the difficulty I had in getting out of my position. Meanwhile, Starfire's cries and the sounds of blaring starbolts thundered just beyond in the world I could not see. I heard an unearthly creaking sound and looked down beyond my spread legs. Upside down, I saw a loose pipe of metal sticking out of an oncoming car's belly. It scraped and dug up gravel as it bounce its sharp, rusted way at my body. If I was to get out—for Starfire's or my sake—it had to be immediately.

I dug my fingers into the gravel and strained my entire collection of muscles. Murk blurred all over me and draped into the ground.

The pipe dragged along a cutting path, just meters from my toes.

Smoke flickered up from my chest and legs at the bellies of the cars overhead.

Starfire shrieked and an explosion went off, followed by a creak of metal.

The pipe cut its way between my legs.

Gravel bounced off my thighs and rode up to my middle.

I shot smoke desperately up into the belly directly over me then. I found cracks. I found fissures. I found a fracture that ate its way up into the basin where a sea of coal began.

That was enough for me.

I exhaled, blurred into smoke, and shot straight up into the air.

SMASH!!!!!

My body swam up through the transported pile of coal. I emerged high above the tracks. In slow motion, a full spread-splash of coal leapt into the air and descended. I fell and landed firmly on the ground, unsheathed Myrkstaff. Amidst a rain of coal, I spun about and looked for Starfire's location.

Rather, I heard it.

"Noir! Assistance would be of great help at this present moment of necessity!" She chanted, firing starbolts at what appeared to be a….floating train-crossing sign.

I shouldn't ask…

I was about to blur over and assist her when suddenly a hovering remote lowered in front of me, taking me by surprise. It studied me over with a blinking light until it realized I was a 'Titan', and then it opened a panel beneath; revealing a speaker of sorts.

"Nuts to you, stupid jawas!" Cackled the Control Freak's unmistakable, fat voice. "Ever learned that it's dangerous to play on the tracks?! Well party on round the roundhouse, cuz tomorrow you die. And it's almost midnight, you glob flies!!"

The remote retracted the speaker with a –SCHLUNK!— and immediately turned to face a huge metal crane.

I watched through dark shades as the crane glowed brightly, shook out of its earthy holding, and walked towards me on creaking, rusted legs.

I bit my lip and thanked myself again for not drinking something prior to this excursion.

"Noir! Look out!" Starfire exclaimed, tackling the animated sign.

I charged up murk and switched Myrkstaff to Myrkblade.

She needn't tell me twice…

The metal crane creaked in some sort of 'monstrous roar' and dove its pointed nose straight down at me. I blurred to the side in time to escape a huge chunk of the earth being ripped out with dirt flying. I ran at one of the crane's 'legs', preparing Mrykblade to swing…when a hovering remote suddenly flew down and smacked me aside the head.

I tumbled to the ground with a gasp and winced. I sat up and rubbed my head, realizing I no longer had possession of Myrkblade. I looked to my left and a saw it besides the tracks. I made a mad scamper for it, but a leg of the living crane came smashing down in front of me, blocking my path.

I looked up in uncertainty as the hulking beast of metal leered at me and slammed its head down again.

I jumped back.

It smashed down again.

I jumped again…and again…each time dodging by a less fraction of an inch.

Starfire finally smashed her animated opponent with a starbolt and looked down at me. She flew to assist, when one of the two remotes hovered in front of her, aimed, and zapped a utility shed. The doors to the shed flew open, and metal tools and splinters flew out dangerously at Starfire's body. She shrieked, deflected a few off, and zoomed up into the air with living buzz saws soaring after her, cutting the air with razor-sharp fury.

In the meantime, I dashed away from and around the stomping legs and 'face' of the crane. I kept eyeing my blade by the side of the train and looked for an opportunity to go after it. I looked for one too many seconds—for suddenly the head of the crane swooped low and struck me upside the torso. I flipped in mid air and landed hard on my bad. I would have groaned if I had the voice to muster it, but instead I sat up and frowned—angrily—at the huge metallic beast before me.

Starfire zoomed overhead, two buzz saws and a hovering remote in pursuit.

The crane stomped towards me and lifted its head for a final strike through my body. If the huge rusted golem had eyes, though, it would have seen the carpet of smoke I secretly formed underneath it. As it struck, I teleported on the other side of it, blurred circles around its rear legs, and forced it to trip over by its own weight and slam into the earth.

WHAM!!!!

Soil and gravel flew everywhere. I dashed over, grabbed Mrykblade, flipped, planted my feet into the side of a passing train car, and leapt over and down into a ready position to fight.

The crane righted itself, turned around, and roared with creaking metallic parts as it faced me.

I gritted my teeth, summoned up Destruction, and blurred directly at it. Time slowed down. I flew a few feet off the ground over a cloud of murk. A trail of shattered earth trailed behind me. When I met the base of the crane, I ran up its metal body, scurried up its medal supports, dashed up its elongated 'neck', and jumped right off the tip of its head. I swiftly flipped in mid air and came soaring down with Myrkblade stretched out ahead of me. Smoke flared out from under my shades as I forced all my dark energy into the blade, cutting effortlessly down the center of the huge crane on my return trip to earth.

SLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE!!!!!!!!

I landed on the ground, rolled backwards, and watched my handiwork with Myrkblade at rest beside me.

The crane creaked for one last time before snapping into two with a CRACK! And falling into two separate directions with a THUD!

I let out a breath and looked after Starfire.

The alien was orbiting my location, the deadly buzz saws swishing every other way to slice off a limb or two of the girl's. She spiraled about and performed other movements of airborne finesse to shake off their pursuit, every now and then firing startbolts at the evil objects to stop them. But to no avail. She needed help.

I thought quickly…desperately…then formed a plan.

I ran to a leg of the 'deceased' crane and sliced off a huge chunk of metal. I then charged up Destruction and—murk warbling through my limbs—swung upwards with Myrkstaff, knocking the metal chunk high into the air. Not a moment later, I blurred over to the slowly-chugging train, leapt off a car, and soared upwards to meet the chunk, upon which I played batter and knocked the spiraling piece of debris past Starfire and into the pursuing blades. The blow deflected them every which way, slicing through a lamp, a warehouse wall, and one of the two hovering remotes.

SLIIINK!!

The robotic accomplice to Control Freak fell down dead to the earth, sparking into remission. Its 'companion' hovered over the scene, looked at me, flashed red as if to 'frown', and swiftly aimed over….at the train cars.

-click-

The remote control zapped one, two, three successive piles of coal in the chugging train cars. The coal glowed, shook, warbled, and took grossly human form. The 'coal bodies' regarded Starfire and me, determined us as enemies, and leapt out of the train cars and onto the ground. Their conglomerated, coal bodies clunked together and rumbled like a herd of tiny boulders screaming at us before the march began.

Starfire gulped and wrung her hands together in mid air.

I looked up at her and frantically gestured for her to take out the final hovering remote.

"Will do!" she saluted and soared off after the elusive device.

I turned and faced the three hulking giants of coal. They stared down at me, craggy fists clinching.

I tightened my grip to Myrkblade, watching their every mood.

This face off continued amidst the night of scraping train cars before one of us moved.

They moved.

The first giant of black took three stomps toward me before smashing a coal-laden fist into the ground where I once stood; I had leapt up swiftly. I landed on its 'arm' and ran up the limb, digging my blade deep into the gritty golem all the way. I sliced a deep wound into the neck and flipped off, landing with a reverse slide so as to admire my handiwork.

But the creature just as easily shapeshifted the carvings into nothingness. It's rear turned into its front as the head reformed and scowled down at me.

I blinked. Just then, its two giant companions charged me from the left. I blurred between them and jumped straight upwards, spiraling with my blade outstretched. I chopped and shredded coal into dust, but the monsters still retained their shapes. I landed and dashed through a leg, slicing it clean off only for it to slink back into the dark form and give it back its mobility.

The gloves are off.

I concentrated…meditated…and charged up Destruction as much as I could. I gripped Myrkblade above me, awaiting the approach of all three golems. They circled around me, coal-fitted arms outstretched. I grit my teeth as murk splashed out from my extremities. I charged forth an unseen wind which rushed up the length of my body and then sunk down to form a cylinder of intensity about my blade, which I swiftly swung around in a 360 and angled down in a monstrous vertical strike at the three opponents. A wave of dark Destruction blew the three back—along with a utility shed or two—and forced the entire mess of coal across the trainyard…..and straight into a propane tank.

I flinched.

BOOOM!!!!!!!

Fire engulfed the coal beast. And when I say 'engulfed', I do mean *engulfed*. Soon, out from the flames stood a dark figure—formed together by the burning mixture of the first three monsters I battled. It stood three times as tall and infinitely times as furious. It shook its arms and the fire swept down into its center, forming a giant torch of heat as it stomped towards me.

I sweatdropped and looked up to find Starfire. She was busy chasing the remote in mid-air, but frequently running into random summonings by the elusive device of CF's.

I turned back, out of options, to face the fiery beast. It roared at me with shaking pieces of flaming coal and launched a ball of heat at me. I jumped back and raised my blade, deflecting the next two projectiles. Smoke trailed back and forth between us as the 'ballgame' ensued. I charged at the beast, deflecting flameballs, and tried to get in a strike—but the body was too hot. I was deep in it now, and anything I tried to do made it worse.

Starfire glanced down, considered my predicament, and pointed in the middle of her own persuit. "Noir! The water tanks! They may be able to aid you!"

I looked to my left. As the coal cars of the passing train churned by, a line of water tankers appeared. I looked at them…at the beast…at them…and at the beast again.

Just in time too, a fiery arm was flying at me. I rolled to the side, barely escaping with a singed sleeve. I slid under the intense heat of the leaning beast's torso and made a bee line for the train. When I reached it, I ran up the side of the tanker cars and dragged my blade down behind me. I cut a huge slit, through which a steady stream of highly pressurized water surged out horizontally and slammed into the body of the flaming coal golem.

The monster churned backwards, trying in vain to block off the attack with a raised forearm. The 'forearm' lost its flame. Smoke billowed high up into the night air, slowly swallowing the flame outside in. Suddenly, holes formed in it as starbolts flew in from behind and blasted it into swiss cheese.

I looked up and at Starfire, who finished one last starbolt and smiled down at me with a salute.

I smiled back up.

Then…WHACK!! The remote caught Starfire off guard by whacking the back of her head. She gasped and fell forward.

"!!!!" I sprung into full sprint, leapt, grabbed Starfire's body in mid air, and rolled to a kneeling position upon which I set her down.

She shook her head and murmured: "Owie…"

I looked up and caught sight of the remote. It must have caught sight of me and saw how pissed off I was, for it 'looked around' for avenues of escape but instead decided to fly into one of the cavities formed by the holey coal golem and hid itself in the debris as the smoking beast regained its strength.

I spun around and gestured to Starfire to 'give me cover'. She nodded at the simple command and I was off on a mad dash.

The monster groaned and tossed hulking bits of coal at me.

Starbolts flew ahead of me, demolishing each attack in mid air. But the last hunk of coal Starfire missed, but she meant to. For I used it as a spring board by jumping, leaping off it in mid air, and sailing straight into the center of the coal creature's body. Once inside, the charged up energy of my destructive Myrblade erupted and I jabbed it upward into the niche I had formed in the monster's torso of debris.

FLASH!!!!!

Coal exploded everywhere in hundreds of trails of smoke and sparks. The blast sent the remote flailing in a descending arc from the missing body of the golem it had summoned from the coal. The remote landed in a cute pair of Tamaranian hands…which promptly cradled the device, glowed bright green, and exploded it without mercy.

The chaos ended. The night cooled to a standstill with smoke billowing up in random spots from the defeated golem. I descended softly to the earth on a pillar of murk—a bit smudged—but no worse for wear.

Starfire sighed and slumped to the ground. She mournfully whipped out the communicator with a Star Trek sound and whimpered into it: "This is Starfire. Control Freak set us up with the receiver. It is…how you say…a 'wild chase of the gaggle'."

"You and me both, sister!" Beast Boy's voice sounded over the communicator. Though sickly, there was a vital urgency in his voice that seemed more alive than ever. "No sooner was Raven and I on the island when two remotes flew in and zapped palm trees into kung fu fighters or something……blargh…"

There was a moment of static noise, then Cyborg's voice took over. "Damn! Me too! There was a receiver at the warehouse, allright…but so was a bunch of crazy nut-job monsters thanks to Control Freak! Rrrghh!! And I thought we almost had this guy *nailed*!!"

Some more disturbance. Raven's voice took over. "Well obviously we *hadn't*. I suggest we go back to the tower and review what went wrong before we anger Control Freak so much that he makes good on his threat…"

Starfire winced at that. It made my empty throat sore.

"Agreed," Cyborg's defeated voice said. "Starfire…Noir…you guys okay?"

"Yes…we are quite fine," Starfire said, depressingly.

Cyborg pasued before issuing: "Kay…meet us back at the tower, pdq. Man, I sure wish these damn dogs would stop barking their heads off!"

"Stop cussing…my head's gonna split open," Beast Boy's voice nauseatingly moaned.

The communicator clicked off. Starfire sighed and simply dropped it down into the gravel. Her green eyes lowered as her whole body looked like a wilted flower.

I sauntered over towards her quietly. Our bodies became silhouettes against a backdrop of coal smoke and sparse orange flames. I knelt before her and gave her a concerned look through my shades.

"It is not so bad, Noir," Starfire said more to herself than anyone. "I was only hoping this investigation would take us somewhere closer to Robin. But obviously it was a deception on the part of Control Freak to ensnare you, me, and the rest of us into his evil plan. Of all I know, he might not have spared Robin by this time. Our beloved friend could be dead. He could be dead, and I never got the chance to find out what his eyes look like…or who he is on the inside…or what it is that makes him painful and angry…," her voice started to shake. Robin's cape fell out of nowhere and littered the ground before her. Starfire trembled. "I might never….n-never get the chance to tell him….to tell him that I…"

There was a hand on her shoulder. Surprised, she opened her wet eyes and looked up. A sharp gasp escaped her throat.

Before her, Starfire found a face with two enormous black eyes. There were no pupils to them. No irises. No cornea. No color at all. Just solid, enormous black. The two eyes filled as much space of the sockets that the face could contain. And yet, in the folds of the flesh's expression about their curves, the eyes were just about as human as anybody else's.

These black eyes.

I had taken my shades off for the Tamaranian to see for the first time. The act in and of itself was very painful, for every tiny flicker or dance of the sparse, flaming coals in the background stabbed deep within my retinae with knives of pure light. I couldn't maintain it for long, yet I summoned the strength to keep staring at her while I picked the severed cape of Robin's off the ground and planted it firmly in the alien girl's soft hands. I gently but forcibly closed her fingers around them and pushed the cape into her heart.

Slowly, Starfire bit her lip. A streak or two of opaque green slithered down her cheeks. But I knew she wasn't sad, for it soon was followed by a sweet smile. The sweetest I've ever seen on an already infinitely sweet being.

"Th-Thank you, Noir…," she said softly. "You're right….I….I-I will see Robin someday. He will live for me to see him again. And if fate permits…his eyes—his true self, in turn."

I nodded. Without blinking my black orbs, I lifted the thick shades back onto my face and felt the blindingly bright night go dark again. I sighed…then managed a smile.

The two of us stood up at the same time. Starfire was hugging the cape to herself and watching as I turned around and slowly made my way to a clearing in the messed up trainyard where I could adequately start my blurred run home. In the meantime, Starfire relaxed herself, took to the air, and flew along with me back to the Tower.

In between leaps from rooftop to rooftop, I lowered my lids and breathed.

I'd had people in the past call me 'freak' for pulling such a stunt before. And just then and now, I gave Starfire a new hope for the future.

I glanced up at her streaking, green form a few hundred meters beyond my speeding position and shrugged it off in my mind.

So what if a select few in this universe are considerate?

I don't know.

Eyes are overrated.