40. Silence is Crimson part 2
"Decker!" exclaimed the lieutenant, his head ducking through the commissioner's office door.
Decker looked up from his desk. He saw the look of urgency on the man's face and stood up immediately.
"There's been another!"
"Another what?" Decker asked.
"What do you think?"
"Damn….," Decker marched over and followed his subordinate through the busied interior of the City's Police Department. Workers and officers alike were busy answering phone calls and running reports. They were all in a flurry on that day of days.
"Where at?"
"The prison."
"Aren't they in the middle of construction?"
"Yes. In fact, there's been an incident in the West Wing of the facility…where the prisoners had been removed due to relocation."
"Any other details?"
"No, sir. Not even casualties. There's a list of missing individuals at present. All we know is that there's been a few screams…and the person who called in—"
"Yes?"
The two reached a communications station. The lieutenant turned around and looked at the Commissioner. "Well…he was interrupted on his end in mid call. Violently."
Decker took a deep breath. "Anyone of major importance on that list?"
"Well….the Chief Warden for one."
"Georgeton?"
"Yup."
"Crud…."
The lieutenant spoke to the person at the station. "How many units do we have near the West End of Town?"
"Only one or two in the near vicinity."
"Should we do normal procedures, sir?"
Commissioner Decker looked far out the window on the other side of the seven story floor. He took a breath. "Yes….but something tells me they won't get there fast enough."
"Sir??"
"Put a signal through to the Titans."
"Yes, sir!"
"The rawer the suspect…the better!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The T-Car cruised towards the Bayside Shopping Center as a leisurely speed.
"Hey….got any CDs to play?" Beast Boy said from the backseat.
Cyborg slowly shook his head. "Nah….not now, man."
"Sheesh….just try to liven things up a little!"
"Yeah….how about we drop you off at Chuck. E. Cheese's?"
"Hardy har har."
"I knew you'd laugh…"
In the front passenger's seat, Robin popped open his communicator with a Star Trek sound and radioed in Speedy. "Hey there, sailor. How's it going?"
"Don't call me that."
"Why not?"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Inside Speedy's speedboat, the red-haired archer gripped hard to his controls and zoomed along the waters of the Bay towards the Southeast coast.
"It just sounds wyrd, is all."
"Like how wyrd?"
"What difference does it make, now—"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"---are we gonna inspect a murder scene or not?"
Robin smirked. "You sound like me on a bad day."
"Isn't this a bad day, though?"
"Only if we make it one."
Beast Boy crossed his arms in the back seat. "At least he's allowed to be in good spirits."
"In spite of the circumstances, I don't see why not," Robin said as he glanced to the back of the T-Car. "Raven's done us all a good job. I'm confident she and Noir will come up with something significant in the weapons arsenal case."
"And what about us?" Beast Boy muttered.
Robin sighed. "Let's put that in the hands of whatever god spins the globe."
Cyborg grunted.
There was suddenly a beeping signal on the dashboard.
Robin spun and looked. He raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward and popped open a computer console. He read the information being displayed on the tiny monitor and clenched his fists.
"Turn around. Take us to the prison. Now!"
"What?!" Cyborg exclaimed. "Why?!"
"Just do it!!"
"Hang on!!!"
SCREEEEEEECH!!!!
Beast Boy let out a cry as the T-Car swerved violently into opposing traffic, spun around, and then zoomed off towards the West part of Town at blinding speed.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Speedy glanced at a lit-up map on a monitor inside his boat. A blinking light on the street layout showed the T-Car turning around and going in the opposite direction.
"Say…what's up with you guys?"
"Head for the prison!"
"On water?! How'm I supposed to get there?!"
"Take the aqueducts or something. Whatever it takes! We're going there…now!"
"Why? What'll we find?"
"Quite possibly…the assassin. If anything, fresh blood."
Speedy grit his teeth. "One Hell of a party….," he mumbled. He pulled hard at the controls.
Water sprayed high into the air as the boat angled around, picked up speed, and hopped waves Westward.
Both vehicles made like giant bullets towards the bloody destination.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Raven and I stepped up to the entrance of the Crystal Palace. The bright lights and neon signs of the nightclub's front welcomed wealthily dressed patrons as they laughed and marched their ways out of limousines and in through the revolving doors.
"And to think….every one of those diamond studded aristocrats are tongue-and-cheek allies to the worst crooks in town…," Raven muttered as she glanced at me under the neon glow. "Just by coming here, they show their true, slimy selves. While we walk in, Noir, remember that you and I are not of this crowd."
I nodded.
Raven's eyes narrowed. "I'm talking to the wrong person, aren't I?"
I smirked and shrugged.
"Whatever," she droned. "Let's go in….nice and quiet."
I nodded.
We walked forward.
"And then I sniffed the stuff and liked it!!" a woman with a mink coat chuckled gaily in her date's arms as she conversed with the bouncer. "I tell you what, I've never felt so high in my lif—oh…..erm…," she glanced at us two heroes and hurriedly ushered her partner in through the revolving doors.
The bouncer stepped up and folded his arms. "I'm sorry. But you two are too young to enter this plac---"
Raven encased his torso in a black sphere, shoved him twenty feet through telekinesis, and slammed him cold against a neon light.
SMASH!!!
"Ughhhh," the man went unconscious.
I gulped.
"Thanks for not making any noise," she smirked at me.
I smiled as we walked in.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The Crystal Palace was a glittering establishment of sin and sinners. There wasn't a square foot of the place's lavish interior that didn't have a gambling table, a drug cartel, a scantily clad waitress, a homicidal flank of bodyguards, a mobster, or highly paid courtesans haloing one lucky, snazzily dressed criminal or another.
At the far end was a stage where showgirls made their raunchy appearances, and down the center stretched a highly popular string of roulette tables and slot machines.
A band near the entrance played a classic symphony of jazz music that gave the place a retro feel—and separated it in the eyes of the affluently evil from that of the common, underground scum club.
Raven glared at the entire scene through firm, blue eyes.
I readjusted my shades, took a deep breath, and looked towards her for the next course of action.
"This place…..," she blinked, "…..smells bad."
I raised an eyebrow.
She snapped out of it and looked at me. "Believe me…I want to get this over with as much as you do. We go in. We find out who owns the place. We question them."
I cocked my head to the side curiously.
"Allright, I question them," Raven said. "You just….be badass with that sword of yours and things will be taken care of….as usual."
I smirked.
She sighed and stepped slowly forward. She leaned against the railing of the atrium's platform and looked over the crowd. "Now….somebody here owns the Crystal Palace. And that somebody should be buddy-buddy with another somebody who visited the warehouse we ambushed. That very somebody bought questionable technology from the green-eyed junkies who ran the place. We get to the bottom of this hunt….we get to learn more about the distributed arsenal of Anderson's weaponry. We learn more about the arsenal, then Robin gets happy. When Robin gets happy, we go on less missions. When we go on less missions, I have more time to sit in perfect quiet and read. Do you understand?"
I nodded furiously.
"Kay….," Raven droned and looked off at the crowd. "Now who…..who is it…..who….is…..it….."
Her eyes scanned the faces of mobsters in suits, women in glittering dresses, women barely wearing dresses, and the occasional thug or two….or three….
"Is it the one with the most money?"
She glanced at a gambling table where a huddle of rich cartels were playing cards.
"The most drugs?"
An exchange seemed to be going on at a table to the far left.
"Or the most things at stake….?"
At a roulette table, a bunch of people cheered and a bunch of people pulled at their hair simultaneously.
I tapped Raven's shoulder.
She looked at me. "What?"
I gestured.
"……," she stared.
I simulated 'curves' with my hands.
She raised an eyebrow.
I rolled my black eyes under my shades. I did a wolf whistle.
Raven frowned. "What….are you babbling about?"
I smacked my forehead. I clutched her cranium, turned it, and pointed towards a booth on the far left of the establishment.
A red-haired, silkily dressed man in his twenties sat pompously in the middle of a seat at a table. He was surrounded by a dozen—count 'em—women of all various shapes, sizes, ethnic groups….and ages. He said something with a sly look on his face and all the prettily attired women laughed in artificial cadence.
"Or….it's the person with the most women hanging off him…," Raven said and started to march over in that direction. "Thanks, Noir."
I shrugged.
Don't mention it.
I followed her.
We cut a slow path through the villainy. Some thugs scowled murderously at us. Others saw us, gasped, and ran-panicked-towards the door. As we drew closer to the man in question, we all heard his voice….and regretted it.
"And so I said…'Momma! You better not be catching me with my pants off again or else someone's bacon will be frying and it won't be mine'!"
The girls all around him laughed and giggled and cooed 'he's so funny!' and other stereotypical suck-up things of that nature. By the time the two of us stepped up, the women had gasped into silence and only he was the one left laughing.
Even he didn't like the sound of his voice.
He snapped out of it, looked at everyone, and found us. He blinked.
"Well now….this is a change. Are you both girls too? Or is the one with the sword taking testosterone pills?"
I frowned and took a step forward.
Raven held me back with a hand.
"Do you know the owner of this place?"
The man smirked. He rested his silkily sleeved hands behind his head and leaned back. "You're talking to him."
"…..," Raven stared. "That was quick. You don't seem scared to admit the truth…considering you know who you're talking to."
"I know very well who I'm talking to," he leaned forward, smirking cockily. "And I frankly don't care what you do about it. The rich earnings of this place is so extreme, no matter what you'd slam against me—that which you could prove—the fortune alone is enough to bail me out each and every time. The only alternative you and your stupid Titan friends have is to beat up every single living body that walks through this place to have some fun."
Raven gritted her teeth and maintained her composure. "Don't….tempt….me…."
"I don't think the issue here is what I'm willing to say…," he said. "….but what you're willing to know."
"Where were you three nights ago?" Raven asked.
"Right here," the owner said. He smiled brightly, his teeth showing, as he snaked an arm or two around two lady friends. "…I was having fun…with birds of a feather."
The girls giggled and cooed for him.
I tried to hold my lunch.
"Between humping poultry…," Raven said, "…who did you talk to?"
The man frowned. He shook off the girls and leaned forward again. "Even if I was talking to anyone you'd like to know about….what makes me think I'd tell you?"
During the conversation, something stabbed my sensitive black eyes from under the shades. Something red. I looked around curiously at the surroundings directly near us.
"How does having your stomach turned to black coal sound?" Raven said.
"Ooooh…harsh….I like a girl with a rough mouth."
"You have no idea what you're dealing with, fool," Raven said, fists clenching. "When a Titan makes a demand from a cheep crook-hugger like yourself…your only option is to comply."
"Is that a threat?" the man smiled.
Again. A red stab. I jumped and looked around frantically. Something was glinting off the metal rims of the booth and table between us.
"It is what you make out of it."
The man leaned forward. "Tell me…Miss Gothika….how can you say threatening things without a head?"
I gasped. I saw it. A red dot on the back of Raven's hood.
I jumped and literally plowed into her from behind.
PIFFT!!!
A silencer half-muted a gun from the far side of the room.
A bullet sailed hotly through the air. It burned a path downwards where Raven's head would have been. Instead of making contact, it soared down and exploded in the seat cushion of the booth barely an inch between the owner's legs.
"EEEK!!" the man jumped.
The girls screamed and ran away.
PIFFT!! PIFFT!! PIFFT!!
I held Raven down. Her eyes glowed and she snaked out a meditative set of fingers.
The chair broke off its hinges, bathed itself in obsidian energy, and floated between us and the rest of the Crystal Palace. It acted as a shield and shattered each incoming bullet like it was glass.
SMASH!! CLINK!! POW!!
Someone cursed loudly from the distant side of the nightclub, followed by another—PIFFT!! PIFFT!! PIFFT!!
Raven gritted her teeth and struggled to hold the table up against the hail of bullets.
By now, everyone was clearing madly out from the nightclub. Panicked cries lit the air as every gambler, thug, and stripper thought of nothing but the essence of life itself and made for the exit.
Pretty soon, just the two of us were stuck with the club's owner and even he tried to escape.
Raven extended a second hand out and stopped the man by his feet with black energy. "No, you don't!! This gunman….he's a friend of yours, is he?!"
"I don't care! Let me go!!"
PIFFT!!
PING!
The man flinched.
"Stop hiding, you cowards!!" a voice said. There was a reloading sound. Then another PIFFT!! PING!! "Some heroes you are! How'd you like it if we duked it out like this in your place, huh?! Believe me! We thought of it plenty of times!"
"And why haven't you paid us a visit yourselves?" Raven mused. "Cowards?!"
"Rrrrrgh!!" -reload- PIFFT!!
POW!!
Raven deflected with the table.
I looked emphatically at her.
"Can you see him?" she whispered under her telekinetic strain.
I raised a finger, then proceeded to covertly peer around the black, floating table in order to spot the sniper.
My black eyes scanned the empty nightclub through my shades.
Nothing….nothing….nothing….flash of red.
"!!!!"
I ducked.
PIFFT!!!
PING!!
A bullet ricocheted off the booth where my head had been.
Raven flinched. "See anything?"
I took a deep breath. I raised a finger. I tried again.
I clenched the floor with my fingers.
Smoke warbled out of my limbs.
I flinched.
I teleported. Glanced. Teleported. Glanced. Teleported. Glanced. Teleported. Glanced. And returned.
PIFFT!!! PIFFT!!! PIFFT!! PIFFT!! PIFFT!!
The sniper tried in vain to shoot my porting figure.
I slumped down besides Raven, panting.
She looked at me curiously with her glowing eyes.
I gestured a palm down my face.
She raised an eyebrow.
I mouthed 'invisible'.
She read it. "Really?" she whispered. She glanced through the table. "I wonder how----" She paused. Her face turned firm…as if she figured something out.
I was immensely curious.
"I think I have things….partially in perspective," she said. "Noir….," she looked at me. "Can you see his laser sight?"
PIFFT!!
The owner flinched.
I nodded to her.
"Will you people DIE already?!" the voice echoed out, reloaded, and fired again.
PIFFT!!
PING!!
"He may be 'invisible'…," Raven said, "…but he won't shut up. And as much as I hate it, that works in our favor. Use your stealth. Find his laser guide…then find him. I will….distract him for you."
I nodded. I took a deep breath. I summoned up a wave of smoke energy and blended in with the lights and colors of the room. I cautiously snaked out—invisible—and sought cover in another part of the nightclub.
In the meantime, Raven made the table dance in mid air.
"What's wrong, big boy?? Can't shoot your way through my powers?!"
PIFFFT!!
"Show yourself!!" the voice cackled.
"I'd much rather show someone else…," Raven said.
The owner suddenly gasped as black energy lifted him up and into open view.
Insanely, the sniper fired at him….red laser streaking and shaking.
PIFFT!! PIFFT!! PIFFT!!
Raven expertly dangled the man up, down, and side-to-side in the air just swiftly enough to avoid the hot, streaking bullets.
"AACK!! EEEK!! AIEEE!" the man winced and wetted himself.
"Son of a---," the sniper's laser sight paused for a moment. "Sorry, John!"
"You moron!!" the floating owner grumbled. "Shoot them!! Not me!!"
I stared at the laser sight and crept—cloaked—to the far side of the room from where it emanated.
"And be careful!" the owner gasped. "One of them is in some sort of stealth mod—"
WHUMP!!!
Raven threw him hard against a pillar, knocking him out as he dangled in mid-air.
"Your friends are nerds…," Raven said.
"Shut up! Dang it…shut up!!" the sniper took aim. PIFFTT!! The table shattered from the next bullet. "Y-Y-You punks are too…too….."
"Take your time…," Raven droned, "…search your extensive memory banks of third grade education."
"…too smart!!" the red light shook. "I'm gonna waste your brains good! Then we'll see who's so smug!!"
"You seem to have many issues," Raven said from behind the table. "Let's talk about your father. Lord knows mine did wonders to me."
"I don't need you giving me a psyscho….psychi….psyc…..I don't need you messing with my head!!"
"What's there to mess with, exactly?"
"SHUT UP!!!"
I planted my back against a nearby wall, taking a deep breath. The voice was right above me. I sensed the balcony above me…on the second floor. I looked flatly to my left. I saw a flight of stairs. I dashed towards it.
PIFFT!!!
PANG!!
The tabled shattered some more. Raven had very little of a shield left.
Nevertheless, she gritted her teeth and uttered: "Tell me….did you get that sniper rifle from the same place that helped you do what you're doing now??"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!!"
PIFFT!! PIFFT!!
"Sure you do, Mister Ghost," Raven said. "I might say….you're looking rather transparent today."
I didn't know what made me grimace more, the closer and closer sounds of the sniper's silencer or Raven attempting to make a pun. I snaked my way around the second floor's layout of seats and stared at the balcony. I saw nothing. And yet, I saw a something in the nothing. It was like a translucent cloud was perched before me. Making the air murk separately from the rest. What caught my eye more was the sniper rifle resting and pivoting magically by itself on the edge of the railing and aiming down towards Raven's end.
"That's it…when I kill you…I'm cutting your tongue out and feeding it to my dogs!!" the 'cloud' shook with the voice.
That's him…
I reached back to the hilt of Myrkblade.
PIFFFT!!!
The table started to fall apart in mid-air.
Raven's face stressed as she held the last splinters together. "You…talk….too….much…."
"The feeling's mutual…," the invisible sniper said, reloading….and taking aim.
I threw off the cloak of murk. I ran forward, unsheathed myrkblade, spun it, took a breath, and slashed downward.
CRACK!!!
The barrel of the sniper rifle was severed.
"WHOAH!!!" the cloud shook.
I immediately kicked the translucent blob.
WHUMP!!!
"AAAAAH!!" a voice invisibly teetered over and sailed to the ground below. I glanced down over the balcony and watched as a roulette table directly beneath me shattered on its own. Then a human-shape cloud blinked in and out of existence, moaning, as sparks danced out like a short-circuiting machine.
I raised an eyebrow.
Raven suddenly floated in and extended her fingers.
Two ends of the cloud turned dark. Suddenly, the figure of a scrawny man appeared—splain all over the smashed roulette table. Two thick, black gloves were floating in mid air. Supposedly the source of his invisibility.
"My…what nice mittens…," Raven droaned.
I jumped off the balcony and landed on a cushioning fountain of murk. I grabbed the man by the shirt, hoisted him up, and slammed him hard up against a pillar.
"OOF!" he grunted.
Raven stepped forward, holding the two sparking gloves. "Where did you get these?"
"….," the man struggled.
"The warehouse?" Raven asked.
I pressed him harder against the pillar and glared in his face.
"Ughhhhh," the man winced. "YES!"
Raven glared. "Let me guess….three nights ago?"
"What's it to you?!"
"You know very well it means a lot to us," Raven said. "What moron would have put you in charge of the retrieval of sniper rifles and two sets of special Cloaking gloves?"
"How do you know all this?!" the man struggled in my grasp. "You shouldn't know anything!!"
"Anderson may have been an ambitious crook…," Raven said, "…but he was never a cleanly one. As soon as he was 'gone', all information that he ever held secret leaked out like an open wound. You're one such scratch he failed to stitch. And judging by your eyes…" She stepped forward and pulled one his eyelids open between us, revealing an unnaturally bright-green pupil. "…you have many afflicting obsessions in your life."
"Okay…one or two doses of the Dragon stuff…so what?!" the man flinched.
"I bet your partners are no different," Raven spoke. "Psychotic…junkies. It was one of them who tried to off Speedy and Robin at the charity in the City's Recreational Fields, wasn't it?"
I glanced at Raven, interested.
Man…she's good…
"Old Ted was always a bit nuts."
"Old Ted isn't here now," Raven said. "So we need you to give us the answers…the sane answers we're looking for." She leaned forward and glared with glowing-gray eyes. "Where're the other gloves?!"
"You know I won't tell you!"
"Allright then…let's try this," she folded her arms. "Who is 'Dagger'?"
The man gasped.
"Struck a cord?"
"You're not allowed to say the 'D' word!" he grunted. "Nobody's allowed to say the 'D' word!!"
"Why not?"
"He's powerful….way too powerful!!"
"Even moreso than Slade?"
"…..," the man was silent.
"TALK!" Raven commanded.
I gripped tighter to him.
He gasped. "Not….for…a….million…Dragonflares!"
Raven took a deep breath.
A pause.
She turned around. "Noir. We're going to the roof. Now."
"????" I glanced at him.
"It's way too hot in here," she droned. "I need cool air. Just call it a girl thing."
I shrugged.
"Bring him along."
I smirked. I swung the man—gasping—around and dragged him behind us as we headed towards a stairwell.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
WHANG!!!
Raven blew the locked door to the roof off its hinges with T.K. We stepped out onto the eighteenth-story roof of the building that housed the Crystal Palace far below. The cool night wind kicked at her hair as she took her hood down and stepped up to the edge, looking peacefully out at the city.
I walked towards the edge, dragging the struggling crook with me.
"…..," Raven stared out. Her blue eyes failed to blink. "Mister, people are dying. Dying because creeps like you exchange weapons like currency and overlook the consequences of such action."
"I know very well what happens with guns and flesh…," the man grunted.
Raven looked over. "Am I supposed to pity you now?"
"You're supposed to let me go!" he wheezed. "I have nothing to tell you!!"
"Dagger would 'kill you' otherwise or something, right? Sounds like something a typical mob boss would do."
"Something….like that…," he gasped.
"Tell us the name of who has the other set of gloves, and we'll let you go."
"No can do!" he gasped. "Even if I did tell you…he's nowhere near here! I have no clue where he went!"
"You do and you know it," Raven said firmly. "Tell us. Now."
"Go screw yourself…," he grunted.
"…….," Raven stared. Then. "Very well," she turned away and folded her arms. "We have no use for him then. Noir…throw him over."
I did a double-take. I glanced with wide-eyes at Raven.
"Wh-What?!" the man shrieked.
"You heard me, Noir," she casually looked at me and said plainly, "Toss him over!"
I stared at her.
She stared back.
Her blue eyes twinkled once, and in them I read 'trust me'.
I shrugged.
I threw the man over the buildingside with one arm.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!"
Raven leered over the edge. She watched the plummeting man.
So did I.
Two stories down.
"AAAAAAAAH!!!"
Four stories down.
I swallowed.
Six stories down.
Raven stared…her hair waving.
Ten stories down.
The man's body flailed.
Fourteen stories down.
I sweated bullets.
I looked at Raven.
And then---
"SCHAUER!!!!!!!!!!"
Raven lifted two fingers up the center of her face. "Azarath…Metrion…ZINTHOS!!!!"
I watched as black energy encased the man and performed air-breaks. His fall was stopped and he flinched as his face came within two feet of the hard concrete below.
I took a deep breath.
Raven flexed her wrist.
SWOOOOSH!!!
The man was yanked back up the eighteen stories and back at face level.
Raven walked up to the floating, upside-down crook and glared. "Schauer…huh? Where is he?"
The man whimpered. "Th-Th-The Howard Building…Southern District….Tenth Floor…Room 1014-A!"
"Thanks," Raven winked. She tossed the man towards a metal antenna that she forcibly wrapped around him as a restraint. Then she turned to me. "Funny the things I can do when Robin's not here to watch."
And she smiled.
She actually smiled!
I scratched my head and followed her as she walked back to the stairwell.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The T-Car zoomed into the air from a ramp, landed on the bridge leading towards the prison, and speedily screeched its way on towards its destination.
Inside, a very concentrated Cyborg gripped the wheel, a very sickly Beast Boy gripped his stomach, and a very determined Robin gripped his communicator.
"Decker! Come in!"
"Tkkkkkttkk—Blip—This is the Commissioner."
"Decker. We're at the prisoner. Got any details on what happened?"
"All I know is that something's happening in the West Wing. Where they're making repairs from the time you guys took on Slug and Reload."
"Ah….I remember this place," Beast Boy mused depressingly from the back as he stared out the window. He gulped. "Still got bruises as souvenirs."
"Any casualties?" Robin asked.
"Over twenty people missing. That's all we know. Robin, Warden Georgeton is among them."
"Sounds bad….," Cyborg muttered.
"We're investigating immediately!" Robin said. "Send your men for backup. We'll keep in touch."
"Be careful, Titans. I don't like this situation one bit."
"Point taken," Robin nodded and flipped the controller close. "How close are we?" he asked.
Cyborg glared. "Take a wild guess!" He swung hard on the steering wheel.
SCREEEEEEEEEECH!!!
The T-Car swerved sideways to a stop right at the edge of the prison's west wall.
The Titans hopped out, with Beast Boy dizzily teetering for one second or two. Robin spun around, eyed the construction equipment and pylons stretched against the building's structure, and pointed.
"There's the West Wing! Let's enter in through there!"
"First stop?" Cyborg asked.
"Warden's offices. Let's make sure everyone's accounted for. Keep together!"
"Allright!" Cyborg took point, his hand converted into a laser rifle.
"I'll…um….be a tiger," Beast Boy mumbled, turning into a huge, green cat and following Cyborg.
Robin followed swiftly behind. He whipped out his communicator with a Star Trek sound and spoke: "Speedy! We're at the prison! Where are you?!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Speedy glared out the windshield of his speedboat.
"Give me a second…"
He kicked in the acceleration.
VROOOOOOOM!!!!!
A group of men guiding a boat trailer in reverse into a loading bay gasped and ran every which way as Speedy sailed in. He initiated the rear rockets of his craft and his boat literally used the trailer as a ramp. Water trailed and the propeller spun in the naked air as Speedy's boat was launched high into the air and literally flew over two blocks before landing barely in the current of an man-made canal on the other side.
Water sprayed.
Speedy steadied the craft.
He angled it towards a set of tunnels that led into the sewers of the city and—eventually—took him under the structure of the prison itself.
"I'm gonna be a few minutes, man," he said into the communicator while steering with one hand. "It hasn't been so easy for me to navigate as it has been for you guys."
"Understood. Radio me in as soon as you're here."
"Will do."
Speedy cut off the communicator and sighed.
"I'd rather be sailing…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
CLANG!!!
Cyborg kicked a locked metal door down and pointed inside with his laser rifle. Robin and a green tiger knelt beside him and checked down both sides of the hallway.
Nothing.
It was dreadfully dark inside the prison's interior. Someone hadn't switched on the lights for the nightshift.
"Cozy….," Beast Boy mumbled, back in elf form.
"This way," Robin pointed left.
The three crept slowly down the passageway. Cyborg switched on his flashlight, but Robin held his hand out and said:
"No….it might give us away…."
"To who exactly?" Cyborg said.
"I'm almost afraid to find out."
"……y-yeah, me too."
The light flipped out.
Beast Boy moaned. "Something tells me this was a bad day to wake up to," he whispered.
"Shhhhh!"
"Must keep quiet!"
The three snuck around a corner and swiftly stared down the new hallway.
Nothing.
Darkness.
Silence.
Robin pointed at a set of doors up ahead to the left.
Cyborg nodded.
Beast Boy dashed head as a dog and stood up again in elf form by the door. He held his hand to the doorknob.
Cyborg and Robin stood next to him.
Robin lifted three fingers…..two….one….
Beast Boy swung open the door.
Cyborg dashed in, laser rifle aimed.
Robin flipped in and held out a fan of birdarangs.
And…..
"Nothing….," Beast Boy muttered.
"The whole place has been cleared out!" Cyborg muttered. His eyes scanned the office and its cubicles and computer stations. One monitor was on. The screen saver danced about innocently. "Unless they got a skeleton crew working overnight…I'd say someone's been here. And the people didn't like him…."
Robin paced around, scratched his head, and turned towards the others. "I suggest we seek out the other places."
"Wait….," Beast Boy raised a hand.
"What is it?" Cyborg asked.
The changeling turned into an aardvark. It sniffed along the ground.
"Smell something?" Robin folded his arms.
The animal grunted. It traced a path—following some sort of scent. It led around a few cubicles and to a white door marked 'Gentleman'.
Beast Boy turned back into elf form and motioned at the door. "I think something's in this room, guys."
Cyborg and Robin stared, wide eyed.
"What??" Beast Boy remarked with a face.
"I think you're right, B.B."
Slowly, Beast Boy looked towards the door. The frame was completely splashed with crimson blood.
"Eep….," Beast Boy gulped and stepped back. "I hope I'm wrong…."
"You're not…," Robin stepped forward. He held his door to the knob. He paused. A bead of sweat came down. He composed himself, turned the knob, and pushed at the door.
Suddenly, a streak of blood trickled down the door frame.
"Huh??" Cyborg did a double-take.
Robin squinted. He pushed the door open all the way.
THUMP!!!
Georgeton's head fell down from where it had been balanced atop the closed door.
"Ack!!" Beast Boy hopped onto Cyborg's shoulders and stared bug-eyed. "Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack!!"
"Beast…..Boy!!" Cyborg struggled.
"Calm down!!" Robin snapped. He reached into his utility belt, pulled out a flare, and lit it.
FWISSSH!!
The interior of the bathroom strobed into the visual wavelength. The flare's light showed blood all over the toilet, the urinal, and the sink. Situated in the center of the bathroom—in a pool of his own deceased blood---was a headless Georgeton. An handless Georgeton too. A bloody, right-armed stub dangled at the end of the toilet's rim.
"Wonderful….," Robin muttered. He knelt by the head and whipped out his communicator.
"This is sooooooooo bad," Beast Boy gulped. "Hold me, Cy. Tighter!"
"Dude! You're already holding me!"
"Quiet!" Robin commanded. He spoke into the communicator, "Decker….bad news. It's Georgeton…well….pieces of him."
"Damn. You think it's the same guy?"
"What's there to think?" Robin said. "He wasn't mutilated half as bad as Judge Carson…but the sadistic style of the murder remains the same. We better go inspect the rest of the West Wing before we can do anything with the remains. I fear what happened to Georgeton may have also happened to the other---"
A shoeprint appeared in the pool of blood in front of Robin.
"…..," the Boy Wonder stopped in mid sentence.
The shoeprint sparked. A boot partially appeared.
Robin glanced up.
SHIIIIING!!!
A sheet of silver came flying down.
"LOOK OUT!!"
Robin rolled backwards. The carpet beneath him ripped to shreds. The silver disappeared.
Robin jumped to his feet, teeth gritting.
The shoeprint sparked and disappeared. A set of bloody spots padded across the ground straight at him.
Robin whipped out his rod in a grunt and held it at defense.
SLASH!!!!
It snapped in two.
The boy's eyes widened under his eyemask.
"RAAAAUGH!!!" Cyborg dove in with a blind fist. The android struck something. That something lifted off the ground for a second and then---
SMASH!!
A cubicle across the way fell over.
"Nuts!!!" Cyborg shouted. "He's invisible!!"
"He's here!!" Beast Boy shrieked. "Run!!"
The cubicle shook.
Faded red stains charged at Cyborg.
The android ducked instinctively and rolled to the side.
A plant was shredded in half…then a cubicle wall shattered behind.
Cyborg pumped his laser rifle and took aim. "YAAAAAAAH!!!!"
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!!!!!!!!
Chaos ensued. Cyborg's blue energy shot forth through the office like a wall of destruction. Chairs flew apart. Computers exploded. Papers caught on fire.
There was a flipping sound and rush of air. A spinning ceiling fan above Cyborg suddenly stopped and bent down slightly. A perched shadow sparked into translucence there momentarily and disappeared just as it streaked down towards the Titan.
"Cyborg! Head's up!"
SHIIIIIING!!!
The edge of a broadsword appeared.
Cyborg spun to the side.
CLANK!!!
The blade grazed his titanium arm, showering sparks.
The android reeled—off balance.
Sparks.
A sword was raised in the air out of nowhere.
A green triceratops charged in—smashing through a few desks. It struck the air beneath the sparkling half-sword. A ghostly body momentarily appeared upon impact. Beast Boy continued charging, shoving an invisible weight across the length of the office and towards a utility closet door.
SMASH!!
The door cracked and flew open by itself. Maintenance equipment and papers inside fell down and got knocked around in a streak towards the dark corner inside the closet.
"Everyone out! Now!" Robin commanded. He lifted a fan of birdarang detonators overhead and flung them with a grunt.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-CL-CL-CLANK!!!!
All three birdarangs flew and embedded themselves like darts around the wall at the mouth of the utility closet. They started beeping.
"Fire in the hole!!!" Robin shouted.
Cyborg and Beast Boy were already out the door.
Robin followed far behind. He whipped out a grappling hook launcher, fired it, and retracted.
The Boy Wonder soared out the office door just as the explosives beeped for the last time and went off.
BOOOOM!!!
Fire erupted, consuming the utility closet and the desk area and the whole office.
Robin sailed out, struck the wall, and fell down. He was swiftly scooped up by his cape when Cyborg reached a hand out and yanked him towards the wall adjacent to the open office. As the explosion continued to erupt, a fireball ate out into the hallway like a vomit of flame from the doorway. When it died down, the hallway returned to quiet—save for the crackling sound of a burning office beyond the door.
"I-I hope Georgeton's family were kosher with cremation," Beast Boy sweatdropped.
"Shhh!" Cyborg insisted. He let go of Robin and peered into the burning ruins of the office. He placed a pair of fingers to his temple and scanned the area through infrared.
"See any signs of the creep?" Robin asked, dusting himself off.
"Hard to tell," Cyborg squinted his human eye. "The room's so hot, I can't tell if his body's lying around in there and generating heat—"
Just then, a white blob in Cyborg's infrared vision exploded towards him.
He sweatdropped, "Then again---"
WHACK!!!!
The cold taste of silver smacked the android across the face.
He fell back as a ghostly body—sparking and trailing fire—vaulted off the titanium titan's body and went streaking down the hallway.
Beast Boy turned into a green wolf in pursuit.
"Beast Boy! Wait up!!" Robin ran after him.
Cyborg sputtered and wheezed on the ground. "I'm fine…..thanks…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
On the tenth floor of the Howard Building, Raven and I stepped down a grimey hallway and faced the apartment room 1014-A.
"This Schauer fellow better have the gloves," Raven said. "Or I'm having you toss more people off the roof."
I shook my head.
"Have it your way….pacifist."
Raven walked up to the door and knocked on it. "Schauer? This is the Teen Titans. Open up, please."
We waited.
Silence….save for the usual sounds of domestic poverty. Shouting…baby cries…
Raven looked at me.
I looked at her.
She nodded towards the door.
I whipped out Myrkblade, spun it, and slashed forward with a wave of smoking Destruction.
SMASH!!!!
The door shattered. I kicked the rest of the frame away and stomped inside. I stopped suddenly when a terrible smell hit my nostrils.
Raven was not immune to it herself. "Lovely….," she muttered. She coughed. "Schauer?!?!"
No response.
I took point. I crept ahead past a bathroom…a kitchen…and into the tiny living room. I looked. There was a body slumped down with its back to us in the chair facing the t.v.. I squinted my eyes from under my shades.
The way the body's positioned……shouldn't there be a head above the seat?
The t.v. showed nothing but snow as Raven walked ahead of me, looked at the chair's front, and grimaced. She motioned for me.
I walked up, faced the chair, and swallowed.
Schauer sat with dried red fountaining out from his stub of a neck. His head was resting neatly in his lap.
"This isn't good…," Raven said.
I nodded, staring at the decapitation.
Raven shook her head. "Not that….this."
She pointed.
My eyes followed.
Schauer's right hand was gone.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Robin joined up with Beast Boy as the two now crept slowly across the metal catwalk over the abandoned prison cells below.
"I lost him…," Beast Boy muttered. "It was only a mater of time before….well….stopped flaming."
"I wished you wouldn't just go off running like that," the Titan leader muttered.
"Where's Cy?"
"……I wish I wouldn't just go off running either."
"Bingo…," Beast Boy said. He looked around. "This is nuts. He's invisible?!"
Robin's communicator made a chime.
He popped it open with a Star Trek sound. "Yeah?"
"Robin, this is Raven."
"Kinda busy right now…."
"Robin…it's the assassin," Raven spoke through the instrument. "He's caught up in our investigation. He stole something from Anderson's arsenal. Two technologically advanced gloves. Robin…they can turn a person invisible."
Beast Boy and Robin glanced at each other.
Beast Boy glared at the communicator, "Way ahead of you, Ray!"
"…….oh."
"There's been a murder at the prison," Robin said. "We nearly got our heads lopped off too. This fellow means business."
"Need assistance?"
"We'll get back to you on that," Robin said. "Robin out."
He flipped the communicator closed.
Beast Boy shook his head. "Why does everything have to do with everything?!?!"
"……," Robin stood.
"A guy with a sword, I can take. But now what…is he working for Anderson?! No wait, Anderson's dead. Maybe he's working for Slade! Or this 'Dagger' creep! I hate conspiracies. If anyone asked me, I'd say Area 51 was just a huge intergalactic harem or something but nothing else—"
"Shhh!" Robin emphasized. He held out a hand and whispered, "Listen!"
Beast Boy was silent.
The Boy Wonder was silent.
"……"
"……"
"…..what is it?"
"Tell me what you hear….?" Robin inquired.
Beast Boy's green eyes darted around. "Silence."
Robin swallowed. "Me too."
CHIIING!!!
Both heroes spun around.
A silver sword flew down at them.
The two hopped out of the way.
A railing of the catwalk shattered apart. Sparks flew.
Robin flipped and landed in a squat from which he tossed a bolo.
The three weights spun around an invisible leg and pinned a shadow in place. With a flash of metal, the invisible assassin sliced himself free.
Beast Boy perched on an adjacent railing, turned into an octopus, and let forth a spray of dark black ink.
A wet silhouette formed, which swiftly hobbled sideways then dashed at the two. Beast Boy leapt up into a bird and flew out of sword range.
Robin—in the meantime—swung around on the railing and came flying back, boots first.
SMACK!!!
The ink shadow stumbled back.
Robin landed on the ground and charged at him.
The shadow's body pivoted.
"!!!" Robin made a good judgment and canceled his charge into a dive.
CLANG!!!
Sparks showered as the sword struck the railing where Robin's body would have been.
The Boy Wonder slid past the killer on the catwalk, jumped up, and swept his leg out.
THWUMP!!
The shadow tripped.
Robin picked up a broken piece of the severed railing, spun it like his staff, and faced the shadow.
The silhouette stood up.
Robin's eyemask narrowed.
A silver blade appeared, disappeared, and reappeared among electrical sparks as the invisible assassin stood up and poised to fight Robin.
A beat.
He charged.
Robin sidestepped.
Air swished as the blade invisibly came down.
Robin spun and side-kicked the suspect in the ribs.
The assassin stumbled.
"HYA!!" Robin struck the piece of railing downward in a swipe.
CRACK!!
It struck hard with the assassin's elbow.
He didn't like it.
SWOOSH!!
Robin tilted his head up. The uppercutting blade barely missed his nose and instead sliced off the end of a few of the boy's hairs.
Robin backflipped and readied himself for another charge.
CLANG!!!
The assassin's invisible sword and Robin's bludgeon locked. The two struggled for a few seconds, with Robin gritting his teeth in the struggle. In that he couldn't exactly see his opponent, Robin had no way of telling the weight of the enemy in question. Thus, he was totally overwhelmed when the assassin revealed a monumental amount of strength and shoved the young Titan away and free of his weapon.
"Ooof!" Robin cried out and rubbed his scalp.
SL-SLINK!!!
Robin glared as the severed piece of his railing was severed even more and tossed at his feet. He looked up at the shadow.
The assassin wiped the last of the octopus ink off his torso, flexed a sparking neck, and turned absolutely clear again. There was a heavy set of pounding on the catwalk as Robin sensed the opponent charging straight at him.
SWOOOOSH!!
"SKREEEEEE!!!!" A green pterodactyl soared down and bit down onto something.
Robin jumped up to his feet and gasped.
Beast Boy had managed to bite down on the width of the silver sword. His dinosaur beak struggled to break the object free of an invisible thug. Clawed feet gripped hard to the catwalk floor and emerald wings flapped.
Robin wanted to help. He whipped out a birdarang and was about to let fly when--
YANK!!
Beast Boy managed easily to take control of the sword. A little too easily…
WHUMP!!
Having given up the sword, the assassin unleashed invisible kick after invisible kick into the changeling's chest. One final kick struck Beast Boy hard in the snout. He dropped the sword and flew back against Robin in Elf form, moaning.
Robin dropped his birdarang and caught Beast Boy.
CLANK!
He looked over the changeling's shoulders.
Sparking boots planted into the catwalk, then disappeared in a flurry of sparks. The silver blade floated up in the air and then disappeared into a sparking shadow of an arm before fading away completely.
Robin gulped and held tighter to Beast Boy.
SHIIING!! CHIIING!! SLIIIINK!!!
A circle of sparks ate into the left railing, the floor, and then the right railing of the catwalk.
Robin gasped as the metal beneath him lurched, then fell down.
The assassin had severed the catwalk apart.
Robin hooked one strong arm around Beast Boy's chest and used the other to reached into his utility belt. He grabbed a grappling hook, aimed towards the ceiling, and fired just as he and the changeling fell down into the open air.
POW!!—CLANG!!
Robin fell until the cord was taunt. He and Beast Boy swung over the corridor of abandoned prison cells and out towards the tall windows where moonlight poured in.
SMASH!!!!!
The two sailed through the glass, snapped free of the cord, and went sailing through a metal platform/wrack of the construction site. They landed on a walkway of wood. The whole wrack started to teeter. Robin hoisted Beast Boy over his shoulders and nimbly hopped, skipped, and jumped his way down the teetering wireframe of the collapsing platform.
CRASH!!!!
The whole structure smashed to bits as Robin carried Beast Boy safely to the ground and looked up above the rising dust of destruction.
The fresh, gaping hole in the window yawned silently down at them.
Robin gulped.
Then….
SMASH!!!!
The adjacent window shattered as a brand new hole suddenly formed. Some of the falling glass trailed outward as if carried by an invisible body, then fell limply to the concrete below.
"Still not alone….," Robin mumbled.
"Nnngh….," Beast Boy shook.
"Can you stand?"
"I-I think so…"
"Good…then shut up."
Beast Boy snapped out of it and stood still next to Robin.
Robin fingered his utility belt, ready to pull out any item or weapon necessary to deal with the shady threat.
Silence……
Beast Boy bit his lip.
SWOOSH-SWOOSH-SWOOSH-SWOOSH-CLANK!!!!
The birdarang that Robin dropped sailed down and struck the ground between his feet.
"YIP!!!" Beast Boy jumped.
Robin grunted and flung forth two handfuls of smoke pellets. They exploded with huge puffs of mist. As a result, a shadowed figure—tall and well built—was revealed a few feet off.
Beast Boy frowned, jumped, and landed by the figure as a huge gorilla. He growled and swung a muscular fist into the mist at the shadow. But the shadow dodged, trailing smoke and mist as he hopped back, leapt forward, landed on the green primate's shoulders, and vaulted himself straight up and out of the smoke.
"Dang it!!" Robin clenched his fist and looked in the direction of the acrobat.
Another platform shook. Then a column of sparks danced—soon morphing into a black figure that spun into view. No longer invisible.
"L-Look," Beast Boy pointed.
The figure stopped spinning, froze, and glared down at the two heroes.
The assassin was a tall man. Well into his thirties. Muscular—of what could be seen of his skin. An ivory-white head stuck out from a black turtlenecklike jumpsuit. In fact, his entire outfit was solid black. Down to his padded boots and thick, sparking gloves. As he held a sword twice his height over his shoulders, he smirked with a glare fit for a demon. His face was pale white, mature, and balding. Folds of muscles criss-crossed over his eyebrows. Around his neck—where the flesh met the 'turtleneck' was a metal band of sorts. At first, it looked like a collar to the two Titans. But it was too close to the actual diameter of the neck to seem anything but a simple prosthetic. There were transparent columns built into the metal part…as if windows into a tin man.
It's safe to say that there was a fair share of red stains and burn marks all over this otherwise immaculate portrait.
"Why're you doing this?!?!" Robin called up. "Why all the murder?! Revenge?! Amusement?!"
The villain smirked. He never stopped staring down. Never stopped posing with his sword.
"I give one vote on the 'amusing' part," Beast Boy said to Robin.
"Let me make one thing straight….," Robin shouted up at the man. "Muder is not tolerated in this city! The Titans will make any effort necessary to make sure of that. Any effort."
Beast Boy sweatdropped.
The man smiled more. Not once did he open his lips.
"Why won't he say anything?!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Aren't villains usually cocky and chatty?"
Robin's face fell. He thought aloud, "He….he can't talk, Beast Boy…"
"Say what?"
The assassin saluted. He planted two feet firmly down onto the platform, spun his sword, and prepared to jump down.
"Noir's long lost cousin?" Beast Boy gulped.
Robin readied some birdarangs and frowned. "Hardly."
The man's legs flexed to jump--
WHAM!!!!
Cyborg flew in with a fist from the broken window. "I'll give you something to talk about!!"
The assassin fell into a pickup truck.
WHAM!!!
Cyborg leapt down with his laser rifle. "AAAAAAAH!!!" he fired straight down in mid-flight.
ZAAAAAAAP!!!!!!
The villain raised his feet, vaulted himself up, and dove out of the laser blast.
The energy beam caught the truck, which exploded in a furious fireball.
Cyborg landed besides the blast, spun around, and took aim at the backflipping assassin.
ZAAAP! ZAAAAAAAAAAP!!! ZAAP!!!
The man in black sidestepped, flipped, and ducked every blast before dashing towards Cyborg, leaping, and dropping down behind the android's side.
"Cyborg!!" Robin shouted. "Look out!!"
Before the titanium titan could turn around, the assassin spun his blade, smiled, and jabbed the tip of it deep into Cyborg's back.
"Cy!!!!' Beast Boy cried out.
The android shouted as sparks emanated out from his back. The assassin hadn't come anywhere near close to skewering him. What he did do—however—was stab deep into the android's power cells.
Beast Boy dove forward, turned into a huge green bull, and rammed the villain hard across the construction site.
But the damage had been done. Cyborg moaned, slumped to his knees, and collapsed onto the ground.
"Cyborg!" Robin ran over and knelt beside him. "Say something!"
"Can….hardly…..move…..," Cyborg winced. "Gonna….bail….out….on…..you…soon…."
"Stick with us!" Robin exclaimed.
In the meantime, Beast Boy blitzed the assassin. The bull turned into a jaguar that howled at the assassin while swinging serrated claws.
The man in black sidestepped, jumped back against a pile of bricks, and lifted both boots.
WHAM!!
Beast Boy was thrown back on his furred behind.
CHIIING!!
The villain whipped out his sword again and flew at Beast Boy.
The changeling shook his head, glowed bright white eyes, and roared into a T-Rex: "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHH!!!!!!"
SWOOOOOOSH!!!
The dinosaur swung a mighty tail into the chest of the silent killer.
SMACK!!!!!!!
The villain's body flew back like a rocket and straight into the construction site's office trailer.
SMASH!!!
The T-Rex wasted no time. It marched over to a propane tank besides the prison, snapped it up in drooling jaws, spun, and flung it straight into the trailer.
It smashed into the structure, cracked open, scraped against debris, and----
BOOOOOOM!!!!!
Robin looked up from Cyborg's body and shaded his eyemask as a plume of fire rose high into the sky beside the prison.
The T-Rex hissed before morphing down into a panting, glaring elf form.
Beast Boy took a deep breath, wiped the sweat from his brow, and swallowed. "I. Didn't. Like. Him."
Robin stood up. He squinted into the fire.
Beast Boy was about to walk away, but he stopped when he noticed something.
A part of the flames were parting. A trail of smoke was floating…running towards him.
CHIIIING!!
A flash of silver.
The assassin was invisible again and making a kill.
His kill.
Beast Boy cried out and flinched.
TWIFFFT!!! CLANK!!
An arrow sailed down and knocked the sword away before Beast Boy's skull could be cleaved in two.
The shadow sparked and looked up.
Speedy perched on a platform overhead and drew another arrow with his bow. "Time for a showstopper…"
He let loose another arrow…an explosive one.
TWIFFFT!!!
"Eek!" Beast Boy flew up into a falcon and was gone lightning quick.
The assassin wasn't so quick. A shadow could barely be seen leaping aside as the explosive landed.
POW!!!!
After a flash of light, a sparking figure rolled onto the ground away from the sword. The assassin momentarily reappeared in his black garb as he stood up, heaved, and flexed his muscles back into invisibility.
"Oh no you don't," Speedy gritted his teeth. He stood up on the platform and drew five arrows at once. "Try dodging this, you bloodlusting turd!!"
TW-TW-TW-TW-TWIFFFFT!!!
Five arrows flew at once.
A sparking shadow streaked across the construction site towards the sword.
Speedy squinted his eyemask, calibrated, and let loose a sixth arrow.
TWIFT!!!
SWOOSH—SLINK!!!
The TWHUMP of the assassin's body hitting and sliding across the concrete sounded throughout the area. Blood poured out from an invisible wound as the sixth arrow had made its mark by skewering the villain's ankle.
Speedy smiled.
"Now's the chance!" Robin exclaimed. "We gotta get out of here!"
Speedy frowned. "Excuse me?! I just got he—" he then noticed Cyborg. "Oh. Damn."
"Beast Boy, help me!" Robin said, hoisting one of Cyborg's shoulders up.
The changeling rushed over and helped Robin carry the drained android towards the distant T-Car.
Speedy looked over from his high place and saw the arrow being removed from the writhing shadow's leg. Blood spurted…then sparks danced…and the figure disappeared. Soon after, the sword that was a few feet away disappeared up into the air as well.
"No!" Speedy called down to the three. "Take the manhole beside you! The T-Car is too far away! Go into the sewers!"
"What for?!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
"My boat's closer!"
"Let's go!" Robin said. He pulled at the manhole cover.
"I'll provide cover!" Speedy shouted. He whipped out an arrow, squinted at the scene, and….
Sparks.
A trail of blood.
Speedy let it fly.
TWIFFT!!
It clanked off the ground just inches in front of a recoiling shadow.
Speedy drew another arrow and shot again, close by.
TWIFFT!!!!
In the meantime, a green elephant assisted in flinging the manhole cover up and away. He switched back into elf form and jumped down to accept Cyborg, whom Robin dropped down into the manhole.
Speedy kept launching arrow after arrow down at the scene, creating a ring of projectile protection around the three escapees.
Soon, Cyborg was down the hole with Beast Boy. Robin began to drop down.
It was then that the shadow of sparks dashed through Speedy's shield.
The redhaired hero gasped. "Robin!! Get down! Now!"
Robin instinctively ducked.
SHIIIING!!
A silver blade came down.
SLIIIINK!!!
It grazed Robin's shoulder. Blood flew.
"AAAUGH!!" Robin slumped down the hole, collapsing awkwardly on Beast Boy and an unconscious Cyborg.
Speedy grit his teeth. He leapt over and planted his feet firmly on a diagonal set of metal railings, aimed earthward. He slid down on two steady feet, and while sliding he unleashed arrow after arrow at the villain's invisible location.
TWIFFT!! TWIFFT!! TWIFFT!!!
A flash of silver erupted upon each arrow impact, slicing the projectiles in half.
Speedy leapt off the railing, and now he was sailing down at the swordsman.
The silverblade rose up out of the curtain of shadow. Glistening. Ready.
In midfall, Speedy whipped out a flame arrow and let loose.
TWIFFFT!!!
FWOOOM!!!!
Fire erupted over the manhole.
The assassin flipped away.
Speedy braced himself.
He sailed swiftly through the wall of fame.
Through the manhole.
And down deep into a puddle of sewer water in the underground pipe below.
No soon had he landed, he whipped out an ice arrow, spun it, drew it, aimed directly upward, and fired.
TWIFFFT!!
CKKKKKKK!!!
Ice literally ate at the flames and took the form of torch that clogged the manhole shut with translucent crystal.
Speedy panted and looked down at his companions.
"You okay, Robin?"
Robin winced and clutched a bloody shoulder. "Gonna be a while before I can take up spinning plates," he muttered.
"Oh please," Speedy smirked. "You use that shoulder for much, much more and we both know it."
"Excuse me…," Beast Boy emphasized. "Cyborg here…."
"Right," Speedy nodded. "Let's get him back to the Tower."
"Where's your boat?" Robin asked.
"This way…"
Speedy joined Beast Boy in carrying Cyborg by his shoulders. Robin limped behind.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Noir…look at this…"
I stood up from inspecting Schauer's dead body in his chair. I walked across the apartment living room to a wall.
Raven pointed at a tiny hole. "This……it's important for some reason…."
I blinked. I leaned forward, took my shades off, and squinted through the hole.
"See anything?"
I put the shades back on over my black eyes and nodded at her.
"Let's have a look-see."
I whipped out Myrkblade, jabbed deep into the wall, and pulled out.
CRACK!!!
Over a minute, I managed to discreetly peel a piece of the wall back. There was a black camera positioned within the wall's frame. It was aimed directly at the living room. Even at Schauer's dead body himself.
"Well, this is……….convenient," Raven said. She looked at me.
I looked at the camera. There was a wire. I followed it along the wall. I stabbed into the sides of the room every now and then with Myrkblade to be sure of where the wire was going. Inevitably, it led me into the nearby bedroom.
Raven and I stepped inside…and we saw a cabinet where the wire led to. Raven opened it…revealing an entertainment system. Complete with a vcr. A tape had rewound after recording.
We glanced at each other.
"Curiosity killed the Titan…."
She turned the t.v. on and pressed play.
I hope not…
I swallowed, stood back, and watched.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Speedy was the last to jump into his speedboat—moored in the waters of the deepest sewer pipes of the city. He sealed the door behind him, climbed past the other three Titans, and hopped into his seat. "I swear…I should start charging fares…."
"Thanks for coming to our aid in the nick of time," Robin said. He winced as he wrapped a bandage around his own shoulder. "That guy is too much for just three of us…four of us even!"
"Yeah…we'd be better off with Raven's telekinesis and Noir's counteractive stealth and Starfire's-----oh wait."
"Let's make haste."
"Gotcha," Speedy accelerated the boat. It went cruising down the tunnel at a generous speed. "How's Cyborg?"
"Cy? How're you doing, buddy?" Beast Boy asked, shaking the android's shoulder.
"I'll….be…..fine….j-just…..need….power….reserves….," Cyborg muttered.
Beast Boy sweatdropped. "You don't look fine to me."
"Don't….be….a….pessimist….."
Beast Boy smiled.
Silence.
Speedy looked in mirror.
All three Titans were absolutely quiet. They could just have been weary from their skirmish….but….
"I don't like this," Speedy said.
"Don't like what?" Robin said.
The redhead's eyemask narrowed. "The silence.
CLANK!
Everyone jumped.
"Wh-What was that?" Beast Boy panicked.
CLANK!!
Robin looked around. "I dunno! Sounds like it's coming from the outside!
CLANK!!
The whole boat shook that time.
Speedy clung to the controls, gritting his teeth. "What the hell?"
Cyborg moaned. "He…folllllllowed….ussssss."
SLIIINK!!
A silver sword stabbed down through the ceiling of the boat.
Beast Boy shrieked.
Speedy jumped.
Robin whipped out a grappling hook and fired. POW!! The cord wrapped around the blade.
Robin yanked on it.
The sword retracted.
Robin was pulled over towards the center of the boat for a split second before the serration of the blade snapped the cord apart.
"Ooof!" Robin exclaimed.
"Look out!!"
The sword came back down over Robin.
The Boy Wonder gasped. He rolled to the side.
Stab!!
It came down again.
He rolled the other side.
Stab!!
Speedy swerved the controls to the side.
The blade yanked out and a body slumped to the left hull of the boat.
Beast Boy stared out, wide-eyed.
The assassin materialized. He dangled momentarily against the hull of the craft and looked in through the window, saw Beast Boy, and smiled. He pulled his blade back.
Beast Boy gasped and ducked.
CHIIIINK!!
The blade sunk into the cabin just over Beast Boy's head.
Speedy swerved again towards the wall.
The assassin swung to the top before Speedy could grind his body against the side of the pipe speeding by.
SCRAAAAAAAPE!!!
"Not my boat!" Speedy growled. "NOT MY BOAT!!"
"We gotta shake him off somehow!" Robin exclaimed, clutching his bad shoulder. "I'll go out and try to take care of him! Speedy, keep the boat steady—"
"No!" Beast Boy jumped back up as the assassin clanked against the outer hull. "I'll go out there!"
"But Beast Boy---!!"
"Look at you! You wouldn't last a second!! I'll go out there and take care of him! Trust me!!"
Speedy glanced back.
Robin panted. He nodded.
"Okay….," Beast Boy took a deep breath. "One….two….three…."
"Good luck…," Cyborg mumbled.
Beast Boy let out a war cry, flung open the door, hopped out onto the hull, and shut it.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Outside the boat, Beast Boy almost immediately lost his grip on the speeding craft. "Whoah!!" He slid against the slipper surface and reached out blindly. He found himself grabbing ahold of an ankle. A bleeding ankle. He looked up with round, green eyes.
The assassin waved, produced the sword, and swung down.
Beast Boy gulped and rolled out of the way.
CLANK!!
Showers sparked and flew off down the pipe and sewer water speeding behind them.
Beast Boy got awkwardly to his feet.
The assassin hopped up. He spun his sword and stabbed at Beast Boy.
The changeling ducked and rolled forward. He switched into a porcupine as he grazed by the villain's leg.
"!!!!' The villain hobbled painfully to the front of the craft. His feet planted down on the windshield.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Rrrrrgh!!" Speedy grunted and struggled to see through the man's legs. "Move it, will ya?!"
"Cyborg!" Robin crawled over. "Can I borrow your arm?"
"Don't see….why not…," the drained Titan replied. "Not….using it…."
Robin snapped Cyborg's arm off and opened the panel. He typed away at an interface while it still had some scant energy left.
"What're you…..doing?" the android asked.
"Calling your favorite girl…."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
At the prison…
Just as squad cars started to arrive…
The T-Car remotely came to life, lit up, and revved its engines.
Its tires squealed and it sped down the route Robin commanded while distant cops watched with curiosity.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The assassin let out a silent scream and sung the blade down.
CLANK!!
The green porcupine rolled to the side and leapt up in the form of a lion. The lion roared and pounced the villain, slamming him down so that his bed barely fell over the bobbing bow of the speeding boat.
The villain's sword slid out of his grasp and leaned precariously over the edge of the boat.
The man struggled to keep Beast Boy's jaws back. He grit his teeth, flared his nostrils, and then butted his huge, bald head forward.
WHACK!!
The lion saw stars as it stumbled back and landed in elf form.
The villain scooped up his broad sword, vaulted up to his feet, and swung mightily down ward at the changeling.
Beast Boy held his breath. He leapt back—dodging the swing. In mid-flight, he flipped, turned into an upside down albatross, soared around, and glided towards the assassin. At the end of his glide, he turned into a velociraptor that shrieked and plowed its mighty legs into the bad guy's chest.
WHAM!!!
The villain flew back, rolled, and fell off over the boat's bow. Before he could be sucked under in the water, he jabbed his sword upward, grinded the metal into the hull, and used its skewering grip to swing himself around, sideways, and back up onto the boat with a leap and a spinning kick.
SMACK!!
Beast Boy flew back, bounced off the rear motor of the boat, and fell hard into the sewer water with a SPLASH!!!!
The assassin panted…then smirked. He swung his blade around and focused his attention back on carving his way into the interior of the speeding boat.
He was oblivious to the green shark fin rising up out of the water behind him with the same momentum of the speeding boat. The shark fin turned into a green sail. With a huge splash, a huge sailfish launched itself out of the water and flew past the assassin, scraping hard against his back with its long, serrated snout.
SLIIIINK!!
The man let out a silent cry and swung his sword at the fish.
The fish had already turned into a alligator, which ran up the blazing walls of the pipe for a second and a half before leaping off in the form of an anaconda that spiraled itself down the assassin's torso and started to squeeeeeeeeeze.
The swordsman struggled for breath, gritted his teeth, and used whatever mobility left in his hands to fight off the snake. But to no avail.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"How's he doing?!" Robin asked, working wildly at the controls in Cyborg's detached arms.
"Heck if I know!!" Speedy looked back. He looked forward. His eyes widened under the mask. "Oh shoot!!"
He swerved just as the boat nearly struck a wall between a fork in the pipe.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SPLASSSSH!!
Water sprayed as the boat suddenly veered to the side.
"HISSS!!" the green anaconda exclaimed.
It and the villain fell down hard against the hull.
"Ooof!!"
The snake turned back into an elf and the villain was sent tumbling across the boat's side. He stopped himself by stabbing hard into the interior with his sword.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
SLIIINK!!
The sword came to a rest just a few inches besides Robin's head.
The Boy Wonder eyed it, sweated, and worked hard at the controls.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In a part of Town overhead, the T-Car sped by itself through traffic.
It skirted through an intersection, screeched its tires, and nearly spiraled out of control as it made a hard turn and headed towards the South.
Bayside.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The assassin removed his sword, stood up, and fought for his breath to return.
Beast Boy rubbed his head, looked up, and gasped.
The villain frowned and charged. He brought his sword down heavily.
Beast Boy swiftly turned into a triceratops and blocked with his horns.
CLANK!!!
Consequently, the boat started to sink deeper and plow through the water with huge spray.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"What?!?!" Speedy exclaimed.
He pounded his hand against the ceiling. "Hey!! Less weight, ya moron!! LESS WEIGHT!!"
The engine sputtered as it got deeper and deeper into the water.
The boat shook and shuddered.
Cyborg moaned and Robin grit his teeth as he worked on the remote controls.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
The villain forced his weapon down firmer and firmer.
The triceratops sweatdropped and turned into a squirrel monkey, dodging the blade.
CLANK!!
The weapon sunk straight down against the hull. The villain then gasped as the boat—no longer weighted down so heavily—vaulted back upwards and ruined his balance.
The green primate jumped and performed a monkey kung fu kick into the enemy's tummy.
THWAP!!
The villain doubled back.
The monkey landed, turned into a komodo dragon, and tripped the man with its scaly tail.
WHUMP!!
The man fell down hard, dropping his sword.
The silver blade slid across the hull.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"I think he's still on us!!" Speedy exclaimed. He looked ahead. "Two paths ahead! Which should I take?!"
"I was wondering when you'd ask me that," Robin said. "Go left!"
Speedy did a double take as he manned the controls. "But….but….that's a dead end of the aqueduct!"
"I know!"
"It doesn't end at the Bay!!"
"It's close enough," Robin said.
"Yeah?! How close?!"
Robin smiled up from his controls. "Only a block."
"……," Speedy stared…then looked back ahead through the windshield. "I hope you have a good plan."
"I do….now pick up speed."
"Aye, sir…," Speedy reached for the controls.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Beast Boy turned back into elf form and dove for the silver blade.
VROOOOOM!!!
The engines kicked into a higher intensity.
"Yikes!!" the changelng fell, tumbled back, and gripped hard to the wind tail of the boat.
The villain got slowly up to his feet, the air kicking at his body.
Moonlight suddenly glared down at them as they emerged from the pipes and into a man-made canal.
"Ugnnnnh…..nnghhh…," Beast Boy struggled to hold his grip. He looked up fearfully as the villain crawled over, grabbed his sword, and leered down at the changeling.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Speedy and Robin watched as they quickly approached the sloped end of the aqueduct.
Speedy ducked. "It was a good boat…."
Robin watched silently. His hands firm to the controls of Cyborg's arm.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Beast Boy swallowed.
The villain smiled…winked…and raised his sword over his head.
Then….
The water ran out. The speedboat hit the end of the aqueduct.
CLANK!!!!
"AAAACKIES!!" Beast Boy clung onto the tail of the boat for dear life.
The villain was knocked off and he flew.
But then again, they all flew.
The boat flew off the slope like a ramp, sailed into the air, and came down in the very street of the city.
SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAPEEEE!!!!!
Sparks showered as the boat slid across the asphalt and through two lanes of traffic towards the other end of the man-made land ridge where the Bay itself lay.
Cars screeched to a stop. Others honked and swerved out of the way. A truck or two was actually clipped by the sliding, careening speedboat.
WHUMP!!!
The villain fell hard and tumbled to a stop on the concrete.
Beast Boy dangled form the sliding boat as it came to a stop……just a few meters away from the edge that would safely tip them over into the Bay.
High and Dry.
Beast Boy panted.
The villain got up. He clutched his side. He glared at the vehicle with one mean eye.
"Uh oh….," Beast Boy squeaked.
The assassin smirked. He held his sword out. He ran. He charged. He leapt at the changeling on the boat at full force.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Speedy swallowed. He looked at Robin.
Robin smirked and jammed his finger over one last button on Cyborg's controls.
"Honk. Honk."
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
In mid-flight, the assassin's lunging body was illuminated by a glaring set of headlights.
Simultaneously, the T-Car had driven upon the scene, vaulted itself over the back of a pickup truck, and rocketed itself straight at the airborne killer.
The man's eyes twitched.
WHAM!!!!!
His body was knocked like a rag doll into a third story office window.
SMASH!!!!
The T-Car landed in the building after him, smashed through chairs, office equipment, walls, and emerged through the glass window on the other side.
CRASH!!!!
Glass and debris flew all over the street.
Cars swerved to a stop as the T-Car spiraled, squealed its tires, and headed back promptly and rammed into the side of the speedboat.
RAM!!!
Beast Boy held on as the boat was shoved—sparking—the rest of the length over the edge and into the Bay's water.
SPLASH!!!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Speedy smirked and gestured.
"Peace!!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
VROOOOM!!!
Water sprayed as the speedboat hopped waves safely back towards the Tower…and home.
The T-Car was switched to autopilot and did the same.
The assassin was nowhere to be seen.
Beast Boy let out a little cheer, got into a diving pose, and tossed himself into the waves.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Well…I needed a new paint job anyways…," Speedy said. He looked out the window.
A green dolphin pranced out of the water, turned into an elf in mid-air, and gave a smiling thumb's up before once again splashing into the Bay and escorting the speedboat home.
"Looks like the little jade rascal made it," Speedy said. "Do you need a license to ram titanium cars into swordsmen, Robin?"
"What's it matter…we're safe now," Robin said. "So's Cyborg if we get him back in time."
"Can't say much about those at the prison," Speedy exclaimed. "Who was butchered this time? The Warden?"
"Georgeton…yes…," Robin sighed. "Quite the tragedy."
"He wasn't…the….only one…," Cyborg muttered.
Robin leaned down. "What? Did you see more?"
Cyborg nodded weakly. "At least….a dozen. Most of….the West Wing's….crew…."
Silence filled the boat.
Speedy took a deep breath and aimed for the Tower's outer docks.
"We'll assemble with the others…," Robin said. "Hopefully what Noir and Raven found will help us. But I think I've got a lot of evidence myself that'll clue us in on who this maniac is, exactly."
"How….did you…do that?" Cyborg blinked.
"I'll brief you later," Robin said. "Right now….you could use some more juice."
"Make that the three of us," Speedy said. He glanced out the window at a frolicking, green seal. "Three and a half, that is."
Robin sighed and reattached Cyborg's arm with a SNAP!!
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
After a good twenty minutes of snow, the video finally showed something.
A living room.
The living room.
Slowly, a nervous-looking man shuffled over and sat in the chair. A man with his head attached.
He took a shuddering sigh and looked at the hidden camera.
"I am…….George Schauer…I work for a man whose name is never uttered…for fear of losing one's life. But…I am convinced………my life has served its length. My end is coming. So……I am now giving this message……using the same devices I've used infamously in the past…to set up people double-crossing my former boss. Now it's time for my own incrimination. My own confession."
He took a deep breath, rubbed his eyes, and continued.
"Dagger has been my employer for the past seven years. During that time…the only luxury I've earned is that of a somber ambiguity that only distances every human around me due to fear of the unknown. Dagger is a very frightening 'unkown', but he is only a man. And all men—l-like myself—must someday die."
He leaned forward and looked forlornly into the camera.
"Fate is……changing. The world is becoming the playing grounds for a whole new slew of rules. Good and evil are threatening to shift. It is a conflict that extends upon the comprehendible elements of flesh and bone and metal. But rather…everything around us…the air…the spirits…they are all at stake here."
His eyes grew firm as he went on.
"There is a deadly experiment taking place. An experiment to see if the Balance of Morals is a real thing or not, and furthermore if it can be manipulated. Not many people know what this is, save for a few destructive souls who seek to master it. Dagger is one such soul. But he is not alone. I am sure of that."
He looked over his shoulder momentarily, then faced the camera again.
"Anderson…a former accomplice……a master of provisions for Dagger and many others in the Family of Blood…he is now dead. He is lost in the devices of his own hands. And those devices have now passed down to us. Dagger himself employed me in the distribution of these materials. I agreed at first, but now am deciding to turn back on my choices. It is not that I regret a destructive wave of crime in the Underworld of this City. Such can be expected—no doubt—as a result of this destructive technology. But that is merely the surface of the issue."
He shuddered for a moment, then continued.
"It's all part of the Experiment. The weaponry…Anderon's death…Simon Stone's ended career. It's all a bunch of lures set to make the Experiment culminate. I do not know how, but fate is being manipulated and forced to let the players slide down into the core of the Experiment and set things in motion for the Balance of Morals to fade into awkwardness. I had to do something to sabotage this. For though I wanted to make a living under Dagger's protection of ambiguity…I did not want the utter ruination of my fellow man. I sold Anderson's materials to incompetent clientele. Drug users. Young mobs. My own associates within the criminal circle of the Crystal Palace. I figured that at least one of them—or one of us—would show a trace of this mess of complexity and give way to the Experiment's abortion. Be it the police…the FBI…the JLA…Teen Titans…whoever. Someone must know. Someone must discover. I am sorry for how far this has gone. I am sorry that I was carried along with it……"
Schauer suddenly stopped. He looked up at something off the edge of the camera's view. Wind kicked into the apartment as he stood up in front of his chair. His head was out of view. He rested back with his right hand against the sofa's armrest.
"You………………who do you belong with? Luthor? Slade?"
A dark pantleg with a thick boot appeared. An ivory sword draped to the side.
An eerie, electronic voice emanated over the video feed. Almost robotic. Inhuman.
"I am yours………only yours…."
SLINK!!!
The sword came down over Schauer's right hand.
His headless body danced in pain.
"Au-ugh!!"
The silver flew again.
THWAP!!
Schauer's lower body jerked, dangled, and slumped down in the chair. His head rolled bloodily down into his lap.
He was still.
The body in black stood there for a minute and a half before wandering off camera.
A beat.
The body wandered back. A pair of thick, black gloves sparked in his grasp.
The body faded away—disappeared into invisibility.
The camera continued filming Schauer's headless body for the next three hours.
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
Raven and I looked at each other.
Raven took a breath. "We better take this video with us back to the Tower."
I motioned towards the living room.
Raven nodded. "I'll contact the police." A pause. She looked at me. "You and your sword….you should probably head back to the Tower before they come. Just in case…."
I nodded. I took the video and blurred away.