3. The Invisible Wall
Twenty minutes later, the remaining six heroes had gathered outside the Tower, where they were presently greeted by a strange sight.
A large, grayish-green, dome-shaped vehicle of some sort came roaring around the island from behind the Tower, kicking up waves as it turned toward them. It was ringed at the base by what looked like a very large, fully inflated rubber inner tube, its front and sides were lined with sloping viewports, and it was propelled by four large, powerful turbine fans mounted on the rear. But the biggest surprise was to follow as it aimed straight at the shore, but instead of running aground in the shallows, it continued to travel up onto, and then over, the land as easily as it had over the water! The vehicle finally came to a halt just in front of its amazed audience.
A large hatch swung open on the side of the vehicle, and Cyborg's head popped into view. "Well, what do y'all think?"
"What is it?" Beast Boy asked, still mystified.
"It's a hovercraft," Cyborg replied. "I threw it together with parts I salvaged from that mobile weapons platform thing we confiscated from Dr. Chang, last month. Like I said, it may not be pretty, but I think she'll get the job done." He pressed something inside the hatch, and an extendable boarding ramp obediently slid down toward them.
"You threw this together in twenty minutes?" Robin asked, in disbelief.
"Well, it's an idea I've been working on for a while, now, and I already had a lot of the separate components ready to go…was just a matter of putting it all together, but that didn't take long." Cyborg rubbed his chin. "Give me a few more days, and I'd have her all properly decked-out, but I figured you'd all want to get underway…so, that can wait 'till we get back."
"It resembles a giant, amphibious glorg!" Starfire announced happily.
"So, is this…the T-Craft, then?" Wonder Girl guessed.
Cyborg shook his head. "Not yet. She's cruisin', but unproven. Needs a proper breakdown run, and a few more personal touches before I'll be ready to officially slap a 'T' on her, in good conscience."
"Sounds really safe," Raven commented.
"No, it ain't like that, I just want to add some more features before I'll consider her a proper T-vehicle, is all. But as it is, she's practically unsinkable," he assured her, patting the hull affectionately.
"So was the Titanic."
Before Cyborg could respond, Beast Boy started jumping up and down, waving his arms.
"Ooh! Me! I've got a temporary name! Let's call it…the Hover-Turtle!"
Cyborg glared at him. "Hey now, that's…" Suddenly he stopped, blinking in amazement. "…Actually, not all that bad."
"Yessss!" Beast Boy promptly launched into a victory dance.
Robin cleared his throat impatiently. "Well then, if that's all settled, can we leave already?"
"Thought you'd never ask! All aboard!" Cyborg waved a huge arm at them, before ducking back inside the vehicle.
Jericho positioned himself next to the boarding ramp and held out his hand, inviting the others to board ahead of him. Which they all did, one by one, until only Raven was left.
She stepped up to the ramp, then suddenly stopped, and turned to look at him.
"You're…his son, aren't you?" she asked, her expression hidden within the shadows of her hood.
For a moment, Jericho blinked in surprise, caught off guard by her question. Then he smiled, and shrugged apologetically.
"That's what I thought," she said, and swept past him up the ramp.
"The interior of this vehicle is most expansive," Starfire observed, once everyone was aboard.
"Who cares, as long as Cyborg's payin'?" Beast Boy quipped.
"Well, this is a rescue mission, after all," Cyborg pointed out, ignoring him. "I figured we'd need some extra room. In fact, we could even load the T-Car on board, if we took out some of the seats."
The Turtle's cabin did have room to spare. There was easily enough space to comfortably seat the seven Titans in attendance, and then some. Once they'd all settled in for the ride, Cyborg engaged the turbines and sent them skimming over the water at an impressive speed, heading due south.
Once they'd gotten underway, Beast Boy insisted on hanging his head out a porthole as a dog, much to Cyborg's and Raven's annoyance. Meanwhile, Robin and Starfire made a concerted effort to inconspicuously sit in close proximity with each other, while chatting with Cyborg and Wonder Girl, respectively. And despite the cabin's roughly circular shape, Raven managed to find a far corner toward the back, below a porthole, where she resumed her reading.
As for Jericho, he found a seat across from her, though still a comfortable distance away. After they'd been at sea for about half an hour, he pulled out his acoustic guitar and began casually playing a soft, mellow tune. The other Titans took turns glancing back at him, initially surprised at the sound, but made no comment. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg eventually began absently nodding their heads (or clapping, in Starfire's case) to the music, however.
After a while, when it appeared no one else was paying attention, Raven peered over the cover of her book at the blond musician. "That's…nice," she told him, hesitantly.
Jericho immediately looked up and smiled warmly at her.
In response, Raven turned an interesting color and retreated back behind her book.
Meanwhile, Robin was studying the cockpit instrumentation and GPS displays. "I have to admit, we're making pretty good time," he remarked. "But even at this rate, it'll be close to nightfall by the time we reach the rendezvous point."
Cyborg nodded. "Yeah, I might try adding a retractable hydrofoil when we get back. But I'm glad I at least had time to add the extra turbines, and boost their collective output strength."
"I wonder if this island we're headed to is populated?" Wonder Girl mused aloud. "Even if it's not, the jungle can have its own charms."
"Oh, I wish that I could show you the vast, untamed wilds of Tamaran!" Starfire sighed wistfully. "To see the moons rise over the tallest mountain peaks, in the glow of twilight…but sadly, it is so very far away…"
Wonder Girl smiled at her sympathetically. "Do you miss it?"
"Sometimes," Starfire admitted. "But, the last time I was there…I realized that the Earth has now become my home. And it is here, among my friends, that I feel most at ease." She brightened. "Perhaps, someday, you might permit us to visit your island home, Wonder Girl? I have heard many tales of its beauty!"
The other girl fidgeted. "Well, um…I can't make any promises, but maybe, they might be persuaded to allow you to visit someday, Starfire. To be honest, I think you'd fit in pretty well there!" The alien girl clapped her hands excitedly at this.
"But…" Wonder Girl continued, looking uncomfortable, "I'm afraid they probably wouldn't allow the other Titans to visit there."
Starfire's face fell. "No? But why not? They are our friends!"
Wonder Girl nodded apologetically. "I know, but it's one of the most important Amazon rules…no men are allowed to set foot on Paradise Island, ever. They're really strict about it."
Beast Boy suddenly returned to human form, and pulled his head back inside. "Dude! A whole island full of nothing but Amazon chicks?" he exclaimed, sounding far too interested for his own good. "That's awesome—!"
He broke off as he realized the others were glowering at him with various degrees of disapproval.
He frowned. "What? I'm just sayin'…"
Raven remained absorbed in her book for the next several hours, until the vehicle stopped moving, which led her to assume they'd arrived at their destination.
She'd read this particular novel before; several times, in fact. But it gave her something to focus on, helped her to block out the torrent of emotions all around her…it wasn't quite meditation, but it was the next best thing, as far as she was concerned.
She supposed the others might have found it odd for her to take such comfort in a book like this one, as it dealt primarily with suicide, loss and disintegrating family bonds. Yet, to her, it felt…fitting, somehow, to be reading this book on this mission. She didn't fully understand exactly why, but anyway, it gave her something to focus on that wasn't tied to her friends' emotional states.
Speaking of whom, as the others were preparing to disembark, Robin paused just inside the hatch and turned to address the team. "Okay, everyone, listen up. Even though the person we're here to meet is supposed to be Wintergreen's informant, I want us all to be on our guard. Remember what this mission is about: we're going to be going up against Brother Blood. Anything could happen. Expect the unexpected – and that goes double for you, Cyborg."
Cyborg grunted his agreement. "You don't have to tell me twice – or even once, for that matter. I wouldn't put it past that creep to try and attack me with my own baby pictures, next. Or maybe he'll send my sixth grade math teacher after us…" he shuddered.
Wonder Girl raised her eyebrows. "I take it there's some…history, between you?"
Cyborg grimaced. "You could say that. I'll fill you in later, after we've got this meeting over and done with."
They began to file out of the hovercraft, and Raven reluctantly lowered her book to find Jericho smiling at her again.
She blinked. "…What?"
He pointed at her book, then made an 'OK' sign with his fingers.
She looked down at the book, then back at him, slightly incredulous. "You've read this?"
He nodded eagerly and clapped his hand over his heart, then drew a finger down his cheek, as if wiping away a tear.
She blinked again, somewhat amazed at this turn of events. "Uh…yeah, I like it a lot, too."
Jericho beamed, then jumped up and practically danced out the hatch, clearly overjoyed at their successful 'conversation'. Still a bit baffled, Raven followed him out.
The sun was setting as, one by one, the Titans stepped off the Turtle's boarding ramp and into the sand and surf. It cast a brilliant orange glow across both the ocean and the gathering clouds overhead.
"How beautiful!" Starfire breathed. "It is as though the sea and the sky have both been set aflame!"
"Wish I'd brought my camera," Wonder Girl added, smiling in agreement.
The island itself was tiny, only a couple of miles across, but teeming with dense tropical vegetation. An ideal place for a clandestine meeting…or an ambush, Robin observed privately.
As the team gathered along the beach, he flipped open his communicator to check the GPS display.
"It's about…five hundred yards that way," he said, pointing toward the tree line.
Beast Boy groaned in dismay, then his eyes widened and he straightened up. "Hey, wait a second, what am I complaining about?" He shifted into a monkey and immediately disappeared into the foliage.
"Beast Boy, don't get too far ahead!" Robin called after him, already annoyed. "We need to stay together." Gritting his teeth, he brandished a Birdarang as a makeshift machete and waded into the growth.
The others followed suit, fighting their way through the dense vegetation. It was even darker in there than it had been on the beach, and they had to rely on Cyborg's shoulder lamps and Starfire's low-intensity starbolt charges for light. Although there was no conversation, they were still making a lot more noise than Robin would have liked. After what seemed like an eternity of nearly-blind fumbling, they finally emerged into an empty, moonlit clearing.
While the others were relieved to simply be out of the brush, Robin checked and then double-checked his GPS. "According to this," he announced, "this should be the place. We're standing at the exact coordinates Wintergreen sent us."
A green monkey swung down from a nearby tree, and then Beast Boy was standing next to them. "Wasn't somebody supposed to meet us here? There's nobody here but us."
Frowning, Robin visually scanned the clearing, looking for any possible clue. His trained eyes quickly picked out a single tree branch that was hanging at an angle it shouldn't have been, and he immediately rushed over to investigate. The rest of the team followed close behind, curious to see what had caught his attention.
"Well," Robin muttered, as he pulled the branch aside. "There's our answer."
Hidden beneath the branch were four words carved into the trunk of the tree.
See you at dawn.
Somewhere in the distance, a low rumble of approaching thunder could be heard.
"Nice," Raven commented.
"So…we must wait here until the rising of the sun, then?" Starfire asked, looking to the others for confirmation.
"Sweet!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Who knew this would turn into a camping trip? Let's build a tree house! I saw the perfect spot, right over here—!"
Robin frowned. "Remember, everyone, we're on a mission, here. And besides, if we have to wait, we don't want to be that conspicuous. Cyborg, is there any way we can camouflage the Hover Turtle?"
The cybernetic teen scoffed, as if the answer was obvious. "You better believe it! Wouldn't leave home without a holographic generator, or ten."
"Okay, then." Robin nodded, satisfied. "Beast Boy, Starfire? The three of us will scout the rest of the island, just to be on the safe side. The rest of you, head back to the Turtle, and get everything set up for the night. All agreed?"
Everyone nodded, and the team dispersed to carry out their orders.
"Now then," Robin heard Cyborg say to Wonder Girl, as they made their way back through the jungle, "About me an' Brother Blood…"
After a fitful night's rest, Raven opened her eyes to find a green cat curled up on the seat next to her, mere inches from her face.
She sneezed, startling Beast Boy awake and causing him to jump down to the floor, leaving a small flurry of green hairs behind him. He looked back at her apprehensively, still in cat form, as she glared at him. Then he spent several seconds stretching, before shifting into a rooster and strutting toward the hatch.
Rubbing her eyes and nose in annoyance, Raven glanced around the cabin, and found it empty. She and Beast Boy were evidently the last ones to wake up. Somehow, that figured…
Cyborg had volunteered to keep watch through the night, since he didn't physically need sleep to the same extent that the rest of them did. Raven was also fairly sure Robin had hardly slept at all, judging by the way his tension and paranoia had been tugging at the edges of her consciousness all night. Stifling a yawn and wishing she'd thought to bring a tea thermos, she rose stiffly, then pulled on her cloak and headed for the hatch.
As Raven emerged from the vehicle (which had been camouflaged to look like a large rock formation), Wonder Girl nodded to her from where she stood a short distance away, stretching her long limbs through a series of martial arts forms and exercises. "Good morning!" she called.
"Close enough," Raven muttered. The sun had not quite risen yet, but was threatening to peek over the horizon in the next few minutes. It had rained off and on throughout the night, and was still raining, if very lightly…just enough to add a definite chill to the early morning air.
The other Titans were scattered around the immediate area, with the notable exception of Beast Boy, who was nowhere to be seen. Raven could still feel his presence nearby, however, so she wasn't worried about him. Cyborg stood between the beach and the tree line, checking something on one of the display panels on his forearm, while Jericho perched on a fallen log to Cyborg's left, plucking idly at his guitar.
Raven eyed the blond youth for a moment. She wasn't precisely sure what to make of this boy. Despite his heritage, she hadn't sensed any guile or deception from him…and the fact that he hadn't attempted to dodge her question, back at the Tower, also seemed to suggest that he was trustworthy.
Of course, they'd been fooled before…she'd allowed herself to be fooled, before.
As for Robin and Starfire, they were seated together on a rock further down the beach. They were holding hands and talking quietly, with their backs to the others.
On the other side of that invisible, intangible wall which now existed between them, and the rest of the team.
Raven shivered involuntarily, and pulled her cloak more tightly around herself.
Having finished her morning workout routine, Wonder Girl straightened up and looked around at the others. "Um, I don't suppose anyone brought any food along…?" she asked, clearly feeling awkward for it.
Beast Boy chose that moment to reappear, sliding down a nearby tree as a chimpanzee, then returning to human form and approaching them with a large bunch of bananas in hand.
"Hold on to your appetites, fellow Titans! Breakfast is served!" he called, and proceeded to toss a banana to each of them.
After catching his, Cyborg pointedly cast a suspicious glance from the bananas to Beast Boy, and back again.
"What?" the green changeling asked, predictably taking the bait.
The older Titan made a show of running one of his sensors over the fruit. "If this turns out to be some kinda tofu-substitute fake banana or something, you'll be changing your name to Bacon Boy, got it?"
"Oh, come on!" Beast Boy protested. "They're real bananas, I picked 'em off that tree, right over there! Right, Jericho?"
The green-eyed musician gave them the thumbs-up, already chewing his banana.
Beast Boy turned back to Cyborg, his arms spread wide, pretending to be more offended by his friend's lack of trust than he really was. "See? See? What'd I say…?"
Robin cleared his throat, interrupting the playful bickering as he and Starfire returned to the center of the group.
"It's almost dawn," he pointed out, jerking a thumb toward the horizon. "We should return to the meeting place."
Without further discussion, the team moved out.
Raven eyed her banana for a moment before finally deciding to save it for later. With a sigh, she fell into step behind her friends.
The first rays of sunlight were just beginning to filter through the treetops as they returned to the clearing. However, there was still no sign of the mysterious informant.
"Man, what gives?" Cyborg griped, preparing to run a sensor sweep of the area.
Robin's brows knitted. "Beast Boy, what do you hear?"
"Nothin' but the rain," the green shape-shifter replied, after pausing to listen for a moment. "Dude, I'm starting to think that Doublemint guy is pranking us. This is like a lame rerun of last night."
Robin sighed in annoyance. "Well…let's wait a while, and see if anyone shows up. I don't like it, but I don't see any alternative."
Even Starfire was beginning to look worried. "Perhaps—"
Raven abruptly sucked in her breath. "No-!"
"Well, if it isn't the Teen Titans," a chillingly familiar voice observed from above them. "It really has been far too long."
At the mere sound of the voice, weapons were drawn, powers were readied and the team collectively spun around to face its source, the name of its owner already on Robin's lips.
"Slade."
The Titans' most hated enemy stood on an overhanging tree branch a few meters above them, dressed for business in his usual armored uniform. His single eye stared calmly down at them.
Cyborg and Robin attacked at virtually the same moment; a shot from Cyborg's sonic cannon blew Slade's branch out from under him, while Robin hurled a barrage of Birdarangs toward him.
Their target, however, was ready for this. He leapt clear of the branch a split second before it was blasted off the tree, and a deft slice of his arm through the air deflected the other projectiles. He rebounded off a lower branch on his way to the ground, narrowly dodging the enraged green gorilla which leapt after him, before landing just behind the group. He then sidestepped Starfire's fist, which actually toppled the tree behind him, and knocked her back with a side kick.
By this time Robin had his staff out, and he lunged toward Slade with a fierce yell and a vicious swing. The older man parried the blow with his own staff, which he'd produced with such speed that it seemed almost magical, and forced Robin back a step with a counter-strike of his own. Then he jumped away again, an acrobatic back flip carrying him out of reach.
Or, rather, it would have, had Wonder Girl's glowing lasso not snared him and brought him crashing back to the ground with a pained grunt.
Robin was on him in an instant, kicking his staff away and holding his own weapon poised above his fallen opponent's chest, ready to deliver a finishing blow. Over the sound of his own heart pounding in his ears, he heard Cyborg and what he assumed was Beast Boy (unless there was another angry grizzly bear in the area) take up supporting positions just behind him.
"Talk, Slade!" Robin demanded. "What are you doing here?! Are you working with Brother Blood? What have you done with the informant we were supposed to meet?!"
In spite of his current situation, Slade actually chuckled. "It's nice to see you, too, Robin. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, there's something you should know."
Through a supreme feat of willpower, Robin managed to restrain himself from splitting the man's head in half, right then and there. "What?" he hissed through clenched teeth.
Slade's eye narrowed shrewdly, and Robin could practically hear him smiling, under that mask of his.
"I happen to be here on behalf of…Sweet Lilli."
Author's Notes:
-The Phiend deserves particular credit for plotting and proofreading assistance on this, as well as suggesting several lines I've ended up using.