[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. So yeah, have some big brother Herald.]
Joseph Wilson looked out into the night sky one last time at eleven at night, debating on how to spend the rest of his night. He'd gotten into a fight with his best friend the Herald, and he couldn't take this pressure anymore. He needed an escape, even if temporary. He'd heard a reliable tip on where Slade Wilson's latest hideout was, that would surely prove pretty fun to vandalize. You'd think after Crowe vandalizing eighteen previous hideouts of his he'd learn to lock the place up more, but no. Joseph finally made his decision.
Joseph walked over to his dresser before pulling open a drawer and detaching the bottom, revealing a set of three different masks. Two were white domino masks, one his crow-ish plague doctor one. He quickly picked up the crow mask. He decided that while Slade seemed to almost never catch him in the act of spray painting his base's walls with insulting names, if he ever did Joseph needed to make sure he looked nothing like Joseph. Showing his face, even behind a domino mask, would be a dead giveaway.
Vandalizing Wilson property seemed to be his favorite pass time as of late, it was pretty hilarious to see Slade's face when he walked into his evil lair to find 'guess who old man' and 'white hair really isn't your colour' written in spray paint all over the walls. It always seemed to cheer Joey up, no matter what terrible mood he was in.
Joey set the eerie looking mask down on his vanity drawer before rifling through his drawers again and finally coming out with his normal diamond-white outfit. He quickly changed before sitting down in front of his vanity and applying his normal white paler and black lipstick. Joseph quickly slipped on the white gloves before cracking his knuckles confidently and finally slipping on the crow mask. He stood up and smiled to himself as he looked in the mirror, though it was invisible due to the mask's blocking of his face. Confidently he strided over to his bed where he finally pulled out his normal utility belt and bo-staff before opening his window and standing on the sill.
He smirked excitedly as he looked out onto the lights of the unsuspecting city of Star, tonight was going to be fun.
That is, until he heard the enraged yelling he was oh so familiar with.
"You!" Yelled the Herald angrily. Crowe quickly crouched down, getting ready to jump and hopefully land somewhere safe. He'd learned a long time ago that an angry Herald was much worse than a few injuries.
"Not on my watch!" The older boy yelled as Crowe jumped. Herald blew from his trumpet loudly, causing a portal to sprout right in front of Crowe before he landed on the ground. Crowe was dropped back into the room by another portal, landing with a more than offended 'oomph!'.
Herald quickly pinned him down by his shoulders, barking out demands almost as obnoxiously as Robin.
"What were you doing here? And where's Jericho? Tell me or I swear I'll-" Came the trumpeter with his horn raised threateningly. That's right, he had put on the crow mask which meant Mal didn't know it was Joey yet. Joey looked into the eyes of his terrified friend who was putting on a mask of his own, a mask of intimidation to hide his horrifying worry for Jericho.
Crowe sighed finally and decided if anyone deserved to know, it was him. Crowe slowly reached up and grabbed his mask, pulling it off nervously. Watching his friend's facial expression's carefully, not wanting him to jump to conclusions just yet.
"I...I am Jericho." He said quietly, bracing for the impact of the Herald's yelling. Just as quick as Malcolm's eyes widened in surprise, they narrowed into challenging slits.
"Prove it. Tell me something only Joe would know." Herald said, still roughly pinning Joey down. Joseph simply raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.
"Your name is Malcolm Duncan, you have the ugliest cornrows I've ever seen in my life, you have terrible music taste, I mean really Bob Marley? You could at least listen to Caravan Palace, they're jazzy. You're convinced that blueberries are poisonous to you, you have an obnoxious crush on Raven that you seriously need to get over, oh and you still sleep with the teddy bear you had when you were six, Mr. Bubbles." Joseph listed off with a smirk as Mal's eyes slowly got wider and wider before they glared at him again.
"You leave Mr. Bubbles out of this. And keep your sacrilege away from Bob Marley." the Herald said, finally letting Joey up.
"Alrighty then," Herald said once Joey was on his two feet. "I believe you have some explaining to do, Crowe."
"Okay, okay. I've been caught I get the idea." Joey said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms like a pouty child. Joey grabbed Mal by the shoulders before sitting them both down on his bed, cross legged and facing each other like they normally did when serious matters were being discussed. Crowe sighed sadly as he looked down at his bedding, Mal might never speak to him again after this but he had to tell someone. The secret was killing him.
"Listen, I know you and the Titans all think I'm some cute little bunny from the hills of Tibet, but that's just not me. I play the hero, I do what I'm told. Just let me have this, please. This is how I let out how I really feel without going off on Robin. I'm not doing anything really illegal, I always return what I steal! Well I mean except for that all-seeing-eye thing but that's irrelevant. My point is, if you really are my friend Mal, you won't tell Robin. Please. I understand if you hate me just..." Joey said somberly, pleading with his friend for his secrecy.
Mal's angry face soon softened into one of understanding. He kind of understood what Joey was doing with all of this. It's the same reason Mal spent hours blowing his trumpet or that Argent woke up at ungodly hours of the day to play on her piano.
"I don't hate you Joe, I don't think I ever could." Mal said, placing a hand on Joey's shoulder to get his attention.
"You're my best friend, and best friend's look out for each other. I'll let this whole 'Crowe' situation slide, on one condition. You don't have to tell the world, but at least tell your friends about this. A lot of them are out to get you, y'know? How would you feel if Red Star or Argent stuffed you in a jail cell and you couldn't do anything about it because you never told them?" Mal explained to Joey softly. Joseph was like a little brother to Mal, and he only wanted what was best for him. Mainly his safety.
Joseph nodded, and that was the night that Argent, Red Star, and Kid Flash all also found out about the true origins of Crowe. Everyone accepted him, though some were grudging to. Argent was shocked but also ecstatic, and without missing a beat immediately asked him about helping her with her own wardrobe. Red Star didn't completely understand why Jericho felt the need to become Crowe, and was extremely cautious about the whole matter. In the end, Red Star did accept him as well. Kid Flash's reaction was by far the most amusing. He immediately starting chanting shouts like 'I knew it' and 'in your face inner conscious!'.
After the whole fiasco was over, Joseph didn't really feel the need to go vandalize anything tonight. No doubt he would tomorrow, he felt content to simply spend the night conversing with his friends. That is, until the Herald found out about the 'relationship with Kyd Wykkyd' situation.
But that's another story.
[I like to think that Kid Flash also started asking Jericho for Kyd Wykkyd's address so he could start leaving bells all over his apartment. Reviews are beyond appreciated! Thank you all for like this story so much!]