Chapter 4
After all of her years fighting crime, Raven was a quick thinker in an emergency. Fear didn't paralyze her like it did others who didn't have to deal with it on a regular basis. So as she hung limp in Mumbo's giant glove, a million thoughts ran through her head.
Oh, shit! was the first, rather ineloquent thought to float through her consciousness, though once she got a better hold on her initial rush of adrenaline, her thoughts moved to a more rational state. She realized she was staring eye-to-eye with Mumbo and quickly adverted her gaze downwards. Purple irises are a dead giveaway, she thought.
Then, as it seemed as if her cover would be blown, her mind ran through the outcomes and consequences that would follow. As if I'm not strange enough, when word gets out that I've been going incognito as an ordinary civilian, I'll be the laughing stock of Jump City, she thought. And if he realizes who I am here, with all of these people around, word will definitely get out.
Other than being thoroughly embarrassed, Raven would never be able to go out like this again. She did not want to jeopardize her opportunity to escape the superhero lifestyle for a moment. Which left her with only one option: to wait for the Titans like any other civilian.
She worked through all of this in about three seconds, during which Mumbo studied her with squinted eyes. Should I say something? she thought with uncertainty. Luckily for her, his attention was diverted elsewhere.
"Freeze! Don't move, I mean it!" A security guard approached Mumbo apprehensively, gun in hand. Raven looked at the object closer. Scratch that, she thought, taser in hand. Really? Raven tried not to roll her eyes. Mumbo grinned at the poorly equipped man.
"Don't even try to shock me," he sneered, "I've been in the biz too long! I hold all the cards!" With that he let loose a deck of cards that, like his gloves, grew to life-size proportions. The began to run through the crowd, causing a frenzy among the terrified onlookers. Three or four of the cards occupied the guards attention.
Raven bit the inside of her cheek out of frustration, still conflicted about what action to take. If someone gets hurt, it will be my fault, she thought. For the moment, the cards didn't seem to be doing much harm, merely frightening the poor people instead of attacking them. Raven struggled unsuccessfully against the glove once more before she gave up.
Where the hell are the Titans? she thought angrily. They should be here by now! If they're not here in the next thirty seconds...
Mercifully, Robin's loud voice echoed through the hall, halting the action.
"The show's over Mumbo," he called menacingly, "and you're not going anywhere."
"Oh the Titans, what a treat! Wait a minute," he paused in confusion, "where's my little friend? You know, the one who hopped away!" He cackled at his reference to the time Raven spent as a rabbit.
"That's who we're here for," Robin replied, exuding malice.
"Where is she Mumbo?" Cyborg called out angrily.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Mumbo said defensively. "I thought you were here to see the show."
"Our locator says she's here, so you can drop the act, Mumbo," Cyborg said, gesturing to the screen on his arm. "Where are you hiding her?"
Raven could feel the color drain from her face. Her communicator. They knew without a doubt that she was somewhere in this bank.
Think! She commanded herself. How can I work my way out of this? Nothing came to mind. Too distracted by her internal panic, Raven had missed the rest of the conversation between Mumbo and the Titans. All she heard now was Robin's battle cry:
"Titans, GO!"
The fight began. Starfire launched herself at Mumbo, eyes blazing green and hands alight with starbolts. As she closed the distance between them, Mumbo shouted his magic words.
"Mumbo, Jumbo!" Out of his sleeves shot ropes of scarves that encircled Starfire and held her captive, disrupting her attack. Raven looked to the rest of the Titans, who were now surrounded by Mumbo's army of cards. They stood back-to-back in a triangle, fending of their attackers. Mumbo snickered and made a hasty exit towards the back of the bank, undoubtedly after the money in the vault. Raven's attention returned to her teammates.
Watching them move, she realized she could predict exactly how they would handle the situation: their response was like clockwork. Now Robin will tell Beast Boy to help get everyone outside safely, she thought. A few seconds later, a green bird soared over the card army, landing on the opposite side of the room. Then he'll tell Cyborg to finish off the cards as he goes after Mumbo. Cyborg gave Robin a boost as he vaulted over the circling cards. Robin sprinted towards the vault.
Raven caught sight of Beast Boy darting through the crowd, shouting and pointing towards the exit. The crowd all too eagerly obliged, everyone quickly funneling towards the exit as they tried to avoid the Titan's battle with the cards. Beast Boy then began directing the traffic on her side of the room. Some people pointed at her, suspended ten feet off the ground in Mumbo's glove. Beast Boy nodded at them and started in her direction.
Once again, Raven paled. Just keep your head down. Look inconspicuous! she commanded herself, though the situation looked futile. Suddenly another thought struck her. My communicator! She realized, remembering that she hadn't resolved that issue yet. In a moment of logic, she realized that they did not, in fact, know that she was in the bank. They knew her communicator was.
Arms bound in the gloves, she couldn't separate the device from herself physically. That left her telekinetic powers to do the job for her. She visualized Mumbo and sent her empathy out after him, finding him sparring with Robin in the back room. It used a lot of energy, but the adrenaline helped fuel her.
Taking a deep breath, she used her remaining energy to teleport her communicator from her pocket to a spot on the floor near the vault entrance. Robin could speculate and draw some incorrect conclusion about what it was doing there. Satisfied that that was taken care of, she opened her eyes and fought back the dizziness and fatigue that came from using too much power at once without proper concentration. She looked around, finding that most of the crowd had cleared out. Beast Boy stood directly below her and was shouting something.
"...you doing ok? I promise, we'll find a way to get you down!"
There was no need. All of the cards went still, then vanished into thin air. Suddenly, Raven was falling, too tired to do much about it. She landed with a thud into something sturdy and warm. She looked up into Beast Boy's face, realizing he had caught her in his arms. He smiled at her, then set her on her feet.
"Yeah!" she heard Cyborg holler. "Robin must have taken Mumbo down!"
"Glorious!"
Beast Boy returned his attention to Raven and opened his mouth to say something, but his smile turned into a look of confusion. He looked at her quizzically for a moment as Raven's heart hammered in her chest. His eyes widened in recognition.
"Ra—" he began, and Raven did the only thing she could think to do. She threw her arms around him, knocking the wind out of him in a bone-crushing hug.
"Thank you so much for saving me!" she choked out with such poorly feigned enthusiasm and high pitch that Beast Boy had to bite back his laughter. She brought her lips to his ear.
"Don't tell them anything," she hissed. "I'll explain later." Without another word, she turned and darted through the destroyed entrance, eager to find the nearest alleyway and teleport herself home.
It took the team about twenty minutes to make it back to the tower. After handing over a hatless, powerless Mumbo to the authorities, they all made a bee line for the T-car.
"Alright team, we still have one Titan missing with no explanation," Robin began after sliding into the passenger seat. "We traced Raven's signal into the Bank after she didn't answer her communicator, and I think I've figured out why." Beast Boy's eyes grew wide. Did Robin see her? he wondered. He watched as Robin pulled a communicator from his belt.
"Is that Raven's?" Cyborg asked, to which Robin gave a nod.
"Well we searched Mumbo and the Bank and Raven was nowhere to be found. I think it's safe to say she wasn't there," Cyborg speculated, his face hinting of frustration and confusion.
Humph, that's what you think. Beast Boy knew it was kind of cruel, letting his friends worry like this, but Raven was safe and sound, probably back at the Tower by now. The situation was kind of comical, at least in his mind.
As instructed, he wouldn't divulge Raven's secret. He was too curious about her explanation. Plus, a pro like himself could just smell the blackmail in this.
"I found her communicator near Mumbo when we were fighting. He must have dropped it," Robin continued.
"But why would the Mumbo have Raven's communicator and not Raven?" Starfire asked with concern.
"Uh, guys?" Beast Boy interrupted. "I know I'm not the best with theories, but aren't we just kinda assuming that Raven's in some kind of trouble just because she didn't have her communicator with her? I mean, what if she just lost it or it was stolen and she's perfectly fine? If she didn't have it, no wonder she wasn't answering our call. She probably doesn't even know it's gone."
The air in the car relaxed considerably. No, they hadn't considered that because as superheroes, they usually expected the worst.
"Oh, I do hope we are concerned without cause!" Starfire said.
"Yeah, I hope so too, Star," Cyborg added.
"Still, our first priority when we get back home is to find Raven," Robin said with his usual determination.
Questions lingered on Beast Boy's mind. What was she doing there in the first place? What did this have to do with Mumbo? How did he get a hold of her communicator? Where did she get those clothes?
One thing was for sure. She is so busted, Beast Boy thought with a grin.
Raven laid motionless on her back, supported by the familiar firmness of her mattress as she sorted through what had just happened. She didn't have time to meditate, though she certainly would have liked to. The rest of the Titans would return any moment now, and she had to concoct an airtight explanation as to her disappearance.
Of course, that was probably unnecessary, as Beast Boy had probably already told them all everything he had seen. Did it have to be him? Raven wondered with a sigh. Robin would have been curious, but would have respected her privacy, as would Cyborg. Starfire even would be thrilled to have secret between "bff's," especially one that involved non-uniform clothing. But Beast Boy? He couldn't keep a secret to save his life. The day was still young. There was still a chance that he would somehow get this on the evening news.
Always one to be prepared, Raven ran through plausible explanations in case, by some miracle, Beast Boy hadn't told the team. I was at the bookstore. I got back about fifteen minutes before you did. What happened? She determined that for once, playing dumb might just work for her.
At the edge of her psychic mind, she felt their presence entering the tower. She quickly fastened the clasp on her cloak and floated down towards the common room, taking a book with her to attempt to back up her lie.
The large metal doors slid open. Upon entering, she looked around quickly at her teammates. Cyborg was in the kitchen, grabbing a bite to eat (he couldn't work on an empty stomach, could he?) and Robin was at the main computer, typing rapidly as Starfire paced behind him. Beast Boy lounged on the couch. They all looked up at the sound of the door opening.
Look casual, she commanded herself, levitating down the stairs and towards the fridge.
"Raven," they all said at once, some with relief, some with confusion, other green ones with a smug, expectant tone. Then the interrogation began.
"Where have you been?" Robin asked, a slight note of accusation in his voice. Which meant...
Beast Boy kept his mouth shut, Raven thought with surprise.
"I was at the bookstore," she began as planned. "I got back about five minutes ago. Why? What happened?" She even added a note of concern on the end. She was pleased with her falsehood.
"Oh, Raven!" Starfire exclaimed. "The Mumbo escaped from prison and went to steal from the bank of money and we called you to assist in our pursuit and you did not answer so we went to the bank and fought the Mumbo and found your communicator and we were fearful he had kidnapped you but he did not and you are here and safe with your friends!" she explained on one breath. She finished her monologue with one of her signature, bone crushing hugs.
"That's enough," Raven drawled, head swimming as she tried to process Starfire's account. She turned towards Robin after she was released. "You found my communicator?"
Robin pulled it from his belt. "Here. I found it on the Bank floor when I was fighting Mumbo. Have any idea how it got there?"
Raven pursed her lips and shook her head no. "I thought it was with me all day. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you."
"Oh, it was a most easy battle. Please, let me share with you all of the details!" Starfire began, drawing in a deep breath in preparation for her litany.
"Don't worry Star," Beast Boy said, getting up from the couch and heading towards the door, "she didn't miss a thing." He gave Raven a pointed look before walking out the door.
After excusing herself from Starfire's recollection of the battle (which she insisted was important for Raven to hear), Raven made her way directly to Beast Boy's room, where she presumed he was waiting for her. He may have saved her from the scrutiny of the rest of the team, but she was sure he would want answers for himself. And he'll want a good laugh at my expense, she thought sourly.
She approached his door cautiously, lightly tapping her knuckles against the metal three times. Beast Boy was at the door in seconds, a goofy grin spread across his face.
"Come in," he said teasingly, gesturing widely as he moved aside.
Raven marched through the door with all of the calm and confidence she could muster. She was not looking forward to this.
She would have liked to have sat down, but there really wasn't any surface that was free from the clutter of Beast Boy's room. She turned back to face him, arms crossed and her typical deadpan expression carefully arranged on her face.
Beast Boy, on the other hand, was clearly fighting to keep the grin off of his. He was mostly unsuccessful in that endeavor. He had the upper hand in this arena, and he knew it.
Raven made the bold decision to start the conversation. "I really have better things to do than rehash this with you, so I'll be brief. Yes, that was me at the bank." She sighed, unhappy to admit what was coming next but resigned to the fact that she would have to tell him the truth. "Occasionally, I will leave the tower and dress as an ordinary citizen. I do normal things like go to the bookstore, a restaurant, or run errands. I enjoy the space that being unrecognizable gives me when I'm in public," she elaborated, catching his curious expression. "I was stopping by the bank for cash to buy groceries when Mumbo attacked."
"So you being there was entirely coincidental?" he asked dubiously.
"It was poor timing," she conceded.
"So how did you end up in the glove?"
"Also coincidental. Mumbo caught me by chance. He didn't know it was me."
Beast Boy considered this. "Remind me not to let you pick my lottery numbers this week," he said lightly. "You seem to have some pretty crappy luck right now."
She scowled at him, but he continued his inquisition. "So how did Mumbo end up with your communicator?"
This part was easier for Raven to talk about. Her plan with the communicator had worked itself out nicely. She was pleased with her quick thinking.
"He didn't. I planted it in the middle of the battle. Robin assumed what I thought he would, that Mumbo had taken it." Raven stared at Beast Boy, gauging his reaction carefully .
"Are you satisfied with that explanation?" she questioned.
"Mostly," he replied, face breaking into a grin once more. "I'm just curious about that getup with the wig. How long have you been doing that?"
"For a few months," she replied tersely. She sighed, sensing he wouldn't cease without more details. "I know that it seems strange, but sometimes I just need time away from all of this," she said, gesturing around her at the tower. "I like my team and I like being a hero, but sometimes I just need to feel... normal. Normality is not something I've experienced much of." She was quieter and softer when she spoke so candidly.
Beast Boy wore a thoughtful expression. "I don't think it's strange," he said after a moment. "Actually, I feel the same way sometimes. I love being a Titan, but I like to be a teen too," he replied. "Well, now we're actually more like 'young adults' or whatever you want to call us—"
"I get your point," Raven said gently with a corner of her lips upturned.
"Sometimes I just need to play video games or go to the park or hang out with my friends," he said, giving a cautious smile. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that... I understand."
Raven was a little surprised. She hadn't expected him to be so serious and thoughtful and... supportive, she thought. She felt her face and her body relax and allowed her lips to turn up in a soft smile. "Thank you," she said genuinely. "It means a lot to me that you'll keep this a secret."
At that, Beast Boy's lips turned up in a mischievous way that made Raven's stomach clench. "Wait just a minute there," he said, face alight. "Who said anything about keeping this from the rest of the Titans?" He asked.
Raven's smile was gone, replaced with a look of disbelief.
"I thought... you said..." she stuttered, narrowing her eyes at him.
"I said I understood why you did it. But if you want me to keep your little secret, it's going to cost you," he taunted devilishly.
Raven sighed, her appreciation of his earlier maturity gone. This was more like what she had expected.
"What do you want?" she ground out impatiently.
"Let me think," he said, tapping his chin theatrically. "First, you can take my dish duty this week."
Raven glared at him, but stayed silent. When Beast Boy determined it was safe for him to continue, he pursed his lips in concentration and wondered aloud.
"Let's see... oh!" His face lit up with an idea. "I just want to say that this idea of you not helping with this party and letting us do all of the work is total bullshit." Raven rolled her eyes, seeing where this was going. "Soooo, you have to help me with my job for the next two weeks!" He wore a smug look that Raven wanted to smack off of his face.
Raven sighed. What choice to I have? Besides, it could have been much worse. If the roles were reversed it would be.
"Fine," Raven conceded, keeping her voice level and calm. "I assume you know better than to tell Robin about this agreement. He won't be happy if he finds out."
"My lips are sealed!" Beast Boy eagerly assured her.
"They better be," she said menacingly. She turned to leave, stalking past Beast Boy towards the door.
"Oh, Raven!" he called out after her as she moved through the doorway and down the hall. "Don't forget that preparation for your gala starts tomorrow!" Raven rolled her eyes as she retreated back to her room, though a slight smile played at her lips.