Chapter 4

"Haa… Ahhh… Haa…"

The room was almost deluged in a thick layer of darkness. Long curtains flowed down from frames of what seemed to be window with designs that had been made as simple as possible: solid color and no pattern or lace. They stood between the blackness wandering in the chamber and everything outside, forming an uninviting barrier. Still, through the small open spaces between them, rays of sunlight managed to pour through and somewhat illuminated the pitch-black area, vaguely gave out the high ceiling, polished floors and white walls as well as some bookcases and cabinets filled with papers.

But frankly speaking, the most suitable word to describe the entire space was empty. And that would have turned into vacant had it not been for a desk at the center. It was a wooden one, standing out with a deluxe intricate structure and well-polished parts - only one look could tell that lots of money had been paid to put it there.

"Ahh… Hahhh…"

Chains after chains of female's cries deprived from just behind the desk, where a man in his middle age rested on a luxurious office chair. His eyes closed, his hands behind his head as he leaned back on the chair, apparently in a relaxed posture.

But what drew most attention wasn't this man himself, or the all but desolate scene surrounding him, but the female crouching on his lap with her legs spread wide and her feet grounded into the cushion of his chair. Luscious moans fell from her provocative lips as the cherry lipstick coated all over them got thinner and thinner every time she bit lips or ran her tongue across them. Waves of blonde hair glided down her back, became unruly with every up-and-down movements of her lithe body.

Still, as whatever went on between them got more intense, the man whom she was on never showed any change in his feature, or let any emotion flash across his face even once. He just sat there, chiseled face drowned in a strange state of calm, even the rising and falling of his chest remained even as if there wasn't a naked girl riding him in the middle of his office!

"Mr. Mayor, why're you so silent today?" The girl knitted her brows, her lips curved down in a pouting manner as her moans melt into a whiny mutter: "Is there something bothering you? Annie can help you chase that away, you know?"

For once after minutes of silence, the man's eyelids flew opened, and the girl froze as she came face to face with a pair of brown orbs. At first look, nothing unusual could be detected from them. But as the blonde gazed longer into his eyes, she only found herself staring into an endless pit of darkness. Icy, freezing, frigid darkness. She swallowed, the blazing fire inside her degenerated and moped into bone-chilling cold itself as she found her skin crawl uncomfortably. Too petrified to move, she lost her balance and fell flat on the floor, a cry of pain flying from her cherry-red lips.

"Get out."

The blonde didn't hesitate as she complied with the request. Her shaky fingers gathered the wrinkled clothes scattered on the ground and she wrapped them around her bare body with an unbelievable speed. Her face turned birch white as her breaths became erratic when she realized that the pair of eyes resembling that of a predator hadn't left her back yet. As the last button was in place, she staggeringly lunged toward the door, almost stumbled and fell halfway.

Ruth quietly watched as his secretary slammed the door shut and scuttled as far as she could from his office. His lips slightly twitched upward as he remembered her petrified, almost teary face as she tried her best to pick her jelly legs from the floor. Almost everyone he revealed this side to tend to break out in cold sweats and had all their strength wiped out from their body like that. It occurred so often that he had grown used to it and observed it as a mundane, unsurprised thing.

Never had he expected that someone who always sent the others on the floor almost wet their pants would someday be startled by someone who was barely half his age.

His eyes narrowed as he set his lips in a thin line, what took place just hours ago started coming back to him. What the Titan leader had said resounded in his mind loud and clear, not a single word missed.

In a way, there was nothing wrong with his replies. He just expressed what he thought about the whole incident and pointed out that they would be by their friend's side no matter what. Nothing more, nothing less. It was normal of him to do so, if not completely understandable. His friend was in a very bad situation here, but they were close, they were very close, so him taking her side wasn't anything out of the usual.

But somehow, that made him uncomfortable. The way he spoke seemed normal, but Ruth had a feeling that boy was countering him using his very words. That boy waited for the chance, and struck where he needed to, gathering what he had received into a bullet and sent it right back at Ruth himself.

But that wasn't the end. Something in that boy's words was indicating the fact that he, the Mayor, didn't care for his friend at all and arrived at their home just to let them know that she was the real culprit and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Even if he intended to do so, he didn't like when someone saw through him, not one bit.

Ruth's eyes turned darker as the memories became vivid in his mind, as clear as crystal, as if he was going through everything all over again. Still, how could it be? That boy was just a stupid kid, a goody-two-shoe to the bone! He cared about nothing but carrying out justice and protected the city. Verbally attacking wasn't his style. He didn't even see through this trick just a few days ago. Then why now?

Could it be that this was just a coincidence?

Those words could only be spoken by a purest mind, or a truly malevolent one. If it wasn't a coincidence, then he should be alerted from now on.

Ruth pondered for a moment, but then decided to go with the first one. Maybe he was thinking too much. That was just a foolish hero who only saw things in black and white, how could there be anything of ill intention behind his words? Besides, that goody-two-shoe only got justice and law in his head and held a stupid belief that rectitude stood for good, while the opposite stood for evil. Even if he somehow came up with malicious intention, those ideas would kill them instantly.

There was nothing he needed to worry about.

Speaking of hero…

The "respectful" Mayor pulled out a drawer in his desk and picked up a cell phone – an old-style one, almost back in the 90s, an object that nobody could have thought that he kept by his side. He looked through the unbelievably short contact list, and dialed the number on top.

"Yes?" Whoever on the other line picked up in a split second. There was no greeting, or questions addressed the other's identity, just a straight-to-the-point manner.

"Did you have the girl?" Ruth spoke in a calm voice, having already regained his composure.

"Right here with us." A somewhat cheeky voice replied him, but it then turned low with apprehension lingered on the edge: "You sure we can do that? She's a freaking Titan, Ruth. If this gets out…"

"I'm the Mayor, what do you have to worry about?" Ruth cut him off coldly: "Just make sure you all treat her well. I'll take care of the rest."

"You've got that. How about the escort? Still according to the plan?"

"Tomorrow night, 10:00 p.m" Ruth replied: "Then, the Titan Raven will vanish from this little world. Nobody will remember her." His tone was as gentle and calm as ever, but the radically low tone it suddenly wore indicated that he got nothing good up his sleeve.

"And when the bitch isn't around, those stupid Titans will fall apart for sure."

The other line replied with a chuckle, which Ruth pleasantly returned with a more wicked version.

"Yeah, falling apart, broken, dust on the ground waiting to be blown away." His voice dropped temperature out of a sudden as a malicious glint flashed across his eyes: "So make sure you don't fail."

"Chill. We've got everything under control. Besides, she's just a frail little girl, what havoc can she possible wreck?"

"Don't underestimate her. And keep it in mind that I can only help you cover it up. If you fail, that's your problem to deal with, not mine anymore."

"Okay, okay. Oh, shit, gotta scram. I'll call you when it's over."

"No need. I'll contact you when it's the right time. Just try not to screw this up." Ruth narrowed his eyes, his voice never wavered – still that smooth, almost velvet tone like that of a gentlemen from centuries ago. But underneath it lurked a silent warning, creeping around his tone like a predator making its move toward the prey.

"Got it." The man on the other line responded with uneasiness, obviously sensing something wrong with the way Ruth's voice crawled into his ear. The sound of somebody clearing their throat and inhaling deeply could be detected from the phone as that man uttered a curt farewell and cut the connection, leaving behind nothing but a monotonous, droning tune.

Alone by himself in the silent, dimly lit office, Ruth again pulled out his drawer before throwing the heavy, old-style phone inside. As his secrets was secured in the darkness the moment the wooden cabinet slid back into its spot, the Mayor sat straight on his chair and took out a small pen from his pocket. He then proceeded to deal with the paperwork which was lying forgotten on the furthest corner of his luxurious desk the whole tome, his expression remained as calm as a dove.

Had anyone walked upon this scene only, they would have never expected that he and the frightening man from earlier was actually the same person.

oOo

"Star, can you show me the witness list again?"

Cyborg's brows furrowed into a perfect straight line as his eyes scanned the piece of document he had in hand. The half-robot inched closer to it until his eyes were just millimeters away from the paper as though he was trying to pierce a hole through it with his gaze. Then, with a sigh of frustration, he casted it aside with a wave, and moved his attention to the enormous screen.

The alien princess had already switched the regular TV programs into what looked like a news board but only hung a couple of images – somebody's portraits to be exact. Their names, ages, and gender varied, and they had no connection of all kind. The more Cyborg stared at it, the more the pain in his head grew.

"I've checked it tons of time already, we all did." He let out a long sigh before hung his head: "They have no crime record, their files are all clean, nothing unusual happened to their closed ones before so it couldn't be a blackmail. They all have well-paid job, some even have living conditions better than us, so bribing is already off the list."

His words trailed off, and he sat there in silence, unable to look at the screen and whatever displayed on it anymore. Hovering just a few inches away from her half-robot friend, Starfire gave the screen an intense look, her green orbs flickered frantically from one image to another, desperately trying to spot something in common between them.

Still, her spirit didn't last long. The red-headed beauty soon closed her eyes as a melancholy sigh fell from her lips. She shook her head in utter defeat, posture so gloomy that even her gorgeous hair seemed to have lost its luster.

"I cannot spot anything that is not the okay about those people." Uttered the alien as she lowered herself down and sat crossed-legged next to Cyborg: "I have looked at their information, their life, their likes and dislikes, but I still cannot find anything at all."

That line seemed to have already sealed the thread of fate once more. The two Titans looked at each other, the light that had been flickered at the depth of their eyes slowly faded. They didn't say anything, they didn't need to.

Robin's words had brought hope back to them, making them forget how cruel the reality was for a split second. For a while, they truly believed that miracle had happened, and if they tried hard enough, they could drag their friend out of this mud, and things would eventually return to normal.

But now, the truth had caught up to them once more.

There was simply nothing to recheck. The evidence was there, as clear as daylight. No matter how hard they try, they couldn't change it.

"Friend Raven, she…"

Starfire bit her lips, a lone tear fell from her beautiful emerald eyes. Her fingers tightened into fists as she hung her pretty head.

They had done all they could to deny this for weeks. They tried to believe that Raven was innocent, that Raven was framed, that Raven would be out of jail any minute, and the real culprit would pay the price.

Still, nothing happened. Day by day, things still remained the way they were, their friend still behind bars, evidence against her kept on popping up, while more and more people were screaming on the top of their lungs about delivering her the punishment she deserved.

Their hope cracked, then broken, then slowly vanished.

There was no running away from the truth now.

"I know." Cyborg bowed his head, a long sigh slipped from his lips and his only human eyes clenched: "I know."

He didn't want things to end up like this. Raven was his little sister, someone he had always kept an eye on, someone he had always looked after. But it had already come down to this, no matter how he wished for it not to.

They still had their duty, their obligation. They couldn't neglect it. All criminals must pay the price. They have made that pledge the moment they became the Titans.

They couldn't chase after this case anymore. They still had a city to protect.

"We must accept it. We're the heroes of the city. We have to place it on top."

A whisper dropped from his lips, and then, only silence left. None of them bothered to say anything to each other.

Behind the couch, a teenager crouched with his head in his knees. He understood this, he understood this truth better than anyone of them. He knew that there was no hope, there had never been in the first place. But he still tried to hold onto a slim chance.

So, the moment his leader spoke those words, he was beyond happy. Finally, they could reopen the case and save her. He still had his doubts, but he hoped that this investigation would be able to chase them away and get her back to them.

Maybe he just shouldn't be so optimistic and just accepted the truth in the first place.

Their justice had pointed out that she was wrong, the laws had proved that she was guilty. They had no other choice!

Beast Boy dug his fingernails into his scalp as a bitter sob escaped his throat.

oOo

In another place of the Tower, everything was drown in silence, but not the kind of desperate, dreary silence that haunted every corner of the Common room. This one was just simply… quiet, absolutely quiet, but also sent chill down your spine for some reason you didn't even know. Kind of like the kind of silence you experienced before an aggressive storm struck.

A lone figure strolled casually alongside an enormous book case, running his fingers across the spines of countless books varying in both side and age. Some of them wrapped up in ancient leather with several strange symbols carving on to their back, obviously not from this time or place. Some were newer, with recognizable letters indicating that they were famous creations of renowned authors. Some were freshly bought, and nobody could tell whether they had been opened or not.

"Do you miss her?"

A soft murmur fell from his thin lips, as he pulled out one of the just-added books and let his masked eyes skim their length. To his surprise, it was a love story, nothing too excessive or tear-jerking, but definitely not something he expected to find on her reading list.

"You're into this too?"

A slight chuckle made its way out of his amusing smirk, receiving no respond, but he didn't mind. Robin ran his eyes up and down a few more pages before sliding the book back to its place, making sure he didn't mess anything up.

These books were her favorite things, after all.

Behind his masks, the vibrant blue eyes softened as a yearning glint glided across them when the image of her sitting on the couch with one creamy leg crossed on top of another, so indulging in her book that the surrounding world seemed to have already faded away to her. Sometimes, a strand of violet hair would fell into her gaze and she had to halt her reading to push it back behind her ear. He could still remember the irritated look she put on as she did so. She had never been fond of having anything interrupting the precious time between her and her book.

She must have got those books for a relaxing weekend, not knowing about the devious plan she would fall victim to.

His poor Raven. She must be really scared right now…

The gaze hidden underneath his masks shifted from longing and wistful to thunderous and sinister in less than a split second. Turning his back against her beloved books and leaning on the massive shelf, the Boy Wonder went into concentration mode as he dwell deeper into his mind, picking up memories here and there. The faces of the ones he loathed the most, the ones torturing her floated up to him one by one and lined up before his eyes like shooting targets.

Now, all they needed were just holes in certain places.

An inhuman, twisted grin slithered onto his face as several kinds of punishments started roaming over his mind. Oh, he could even hear their screams of pain right now! He couldn't wait to tear them apart, and put them back, and then tear them apart once more, repeated the process over and over again until he was satisfied.

Nobody could hurt his Raven and got away with it!

Robin took a deep breath, trying to calm the burning flame of wrath within him down. This was no time for his inner fury. He couldn't lose his temper. He has to stay sharp and focused if he still wanted to save her. He only got this chance. He couldn't let it go down the drain.

He was the only one who could help her now.

As for his friends…

His expression grew grim as he recalled the conversation he shared with them not so long ago. It wasn't to encourage them to have faith in Raven's innocence – well, a part of it was, but not his entire purpose. He just wanted to see whether he could trust them to stand on his side and trust what he would let them in on, whether they would believe the ones they fought against this time would be the ones that always seem to support them no matter what.

And when he observed their expression, he knew that he had to go solo this time.

For a while, hope sparkled from the depth of their eyes, but soon mixed with suspicion, doubt, and skepticism. They were desperate for something to ease their troubled hearts, so they just went with his words since they were like bright light shone through their darkest fears. But soon, that brief happiness would fade quickly when the truth began sinking in, when they buried themselves in countless searches and realized nothing could be changed.

By now, they had probably given up on fighting, and perhaps already immersed themselves in grief once more.

The hesitation and doubt lingered in their postures and orbs while they were with him in the Common Room had given this away. That's why he had left. There was no point in staying anymore. They wouldn't believe in what he said. To them, justice was still everything, and they would give their life to make sure it wouldn't crumble.

He and they belonged to different worlds now.

His face became unreadable as his cobalt blue eyes ran cold and hollow. He didn't know how to describe what he felt now, but he knew for sure it wasn't pain, or sadness, or sorrow.

He had been away from them for so long, many things about them had already faded from his memories. When he saw them breathing and living safe and sound, relief and happiness filled his heart. For a while, he had even thought that they could restart everything and lead a happy life again.

But when the joy came off his system and reality caught up to him once more, he realized that it was impossible, that things would never return to the way they were anymore.

It was like coming across something valuable to you as a kid, a strong sense of yearning and love arose inside you, but then soon subsided after a minute because you simply had moved on from that phrase.

All of them were still important to him. But he knew walls had concreted between them.

All except…

With long steps, he crossed the room and made his way to a nightstand right beside her bed. A small smile brightened his serious expression as his masked eyes caught her raven-shaped headboard. She sure loved her cloak with a passion. Even in sleep, she still wanted to rest under its shadow.

His fingers stretched and he picked up a picture encompassed in a simple black frame standing on top of the nightstand. It was one of the rare ones she agreed to take with her hood off. Only her in the photo, nobody else was there. She was crossing her legs in her favorite locus pose, her slender fingers gripped her knees tightly as she sent an impatient look at the camera, obviously irritated and reluctant to have her picture taken.

Robin found a soft chuckle escape his thin lips as he outlined her rounded face. She looked so innocent sitting there, and her violet eyes were so bright that they resembled stars sparkling on the black sky when night fell. How long was it since he last saw her like this? He didn't know. All the time they were together, she always seemed so forlorn and sullen. Even when he tried to cheer her up, when he got her to smile, nothing changed. Her eyes, her lips, her face, her expression – they all gave out traits of utter sorrow.

Never did he think he would get to see the proud, unbreakable Raven that always stood by his side in battles again.

But now that he did…

"Stay strong, Raven. I'm gonna get you out soon." Robin whispered to the photo, trailing his fingers on the girl's cheeks and lips. "Just wait for me, okay? Stay strong and wait for me."

No matter what, she would still be his Raven, the only one that stood by his side in his most depressed moment, the only one that cared about him when the world crumbled down, the only one that remained even when he didn't have anything left. Nothing would change that.

Even when she was clueless about all they had been through together, even when he had to rebuild everything all over again, it was totally fine by him.

He didn't want her to remember, anyway. Chains after chains of tragedies had brought them together, but forever took away the light in her eyes.

It would be better if she knew nothing about the Hell she had been put through.

The Boy Wonder set his lips in a firm line before carefully placing the picture frame back to its spot and pushed his thoughts back to their chambers. The yearning gaze was instantly washed out from his eyes, replacing by something cold as steel. The light that lit up his orbs seconds ago vanished from sight, and utter darkness soon came and took over its place.

Giving the quiet room that had long remained unoccupied one last look, Robin then turned around and silently made his way toward the door. It slid opened with a slight mechanic sound, and he walked out into the hall. His expression unreadable, void of any emotion, and the domino masks kept his cold, dark eyes hidden underneath a perfect unreadable shield.

It was time to rescue Raven…

And swept away some filthy trash along the way!

A dark, twisted glee danced on his lips, stretching them into a heartless and sinister grin. Yeah, that's it, this satisfactory feeling whenever getting a prey onto his sight, he could never have enough of it! This heartless joy he had come to love with a passion, the indescribable excitement flooded through all his vein as he cornered his enemies, and the thirst for blood that quake his entire body as his own fingers torn them apart – one by one, they swamped his system, overloaded him with a sick delight.

A sick delight that he had come to love, and to long for.

When he had got his Raven out of danger, he would make all of them pay, and he would ensure that it cost them more than just an arm and a leg.

Maybe a heart, an eye, a piece of viscera?

Or perhaps every part of their body?

A chilling chuckle spilled from his ear-to-ear grin, resounding between the closed space of the corridor, bouncing off one wall and hitting another before repeating the whole process again, filling the entire passage with a chain of blood-curling sound. Robin's footsteps became fainter and fainter before vanishing without a trace, and only then did the haunting chuckle grew fainted and eventually died off.

Once again, the hallway was left with utter silence.

oOo

Beast Boy nervously fidgeted in his spot, shifting his weight from one leg to another before clenching his fingers into fists and released them in a split second. Like a robot with a glitch in its system, his gestures went on and on just like that, first his feet, then his hand, one after another, molding his motions into an almost mechanical loop.

Minutes after minutes passed by, then, with a long sigh, the boy raised his hand. He was about to bring it to the smooth surface of the metal door, giving a loud and clear knock, but then halted halfway.

Biting his lips, the shape shifter closed his eyes as he tried to face the turmoil of thoughts inside his head, doing his best to resolve it and got himself back to his right state of mind, but he just simply couldn't. His head seemed to have already split into two separate parts and they were currently at each other's throat, doing whatever possible to prove their point, sending waves after waves of headaches down his system.

He knew what he must do, but he just couldn't bring himself to.

After the first re-investigation failed, they tried to look things on the bright side and conduct another, then another, and another. They even phoned the police station so many times that the officer on the other line could no longer maintain his calm when the last call reached. But the result still remained the same, and they knew there was nothing they could do to alter it.

Robin's words might have shone a single ray of light upon them, and they desperately clung onto it for an escape from this dreadful darkness. They worked ten times harder, offered ten times the efforts of their last attempt, and yet, they couldn't even dig out just a single clue.

They had been trying to hold onto one slim thread of hope in order to keep things intact, to keep their life from cracking and shattering. Still, it seemed that it was the time they came to face with the truth now…

Beast Boy's head hung low as his fingers tightened into a fist, digging into his palm painfully even though he had on gloves. A part of him was quarreling with that idea, putting up a real fight, yelling that he shouldn't give up yet, yelling that there was probably still something he didn't see through, yelling that he should have faith in her no matter what.

As much as he wanted nothing more than to go with that, he couldn't.

He was a hero. And a hero's duty required him to stay by the side of the laws and take down everything that went against them.

That's why he's here, to tell Robin to just stop the vain attempt and refocus their attention on the sake of the city and thousands of citizens living safe and sound within it. They had their obligation, they must always consider it their first priority.

No matter how hurt it was…

Starfire had been driven to the edge of crumbling down. She had had a hard time keeping it together, and eventually yielded to the sadness and anguish eating her from inside out. Cyborg had taken her back to her room, while he head off to Robin's. It might be strenuous, it might be painful, it might even be impossible, but they must find a way to move on and put the team back together. They couldn't fail the city, and they couldn't fail justice.

Beast Boy's fang sank into his lips, his clenched fist began trembling as the options he could take weighed him down. Robin might be working on her case inside this room, doing all in his power to clear her name. The chance might be slim, but it didn't mean it had dropped to zero. Perhaps, together, if they tried hard enough, they could…

But they would turn their back on the laws, the city, justice, his principle of life, and all he had worked so hard to achieve…

A long sigh escaped Beast Boy's forlorn lips. His shoulder slumped with defeat as he bowed his head in a sullen manner. His clenched fist made its way toward the door and knocked onto it.

Only silence greeted him.

The shape shifter shook his head. He had anticipated that this would happen. Even Cyborg did, so he had given him the emergency code to enter Robin's office. They knew that invading their friend's room without permission like this wasn't really a pretty act, but they had run out of choice. And knowing Robin, when he had started believing that he had made the right decision, there was almost no way to convince him otherwise.

Beast Boy took a deep breath before punching in the code. The automatic door slid opened instantly, revealing a room dimly lit with one single light source at the center of the room. Bracing himself for the infuriated words that would be flying his way soon, the boy gingerly stepped into his leader office. He glanced around for a while, giving his eyes time to get accustomed to the thick layer of darkness here.

And then, he suddenly realized that there was simply no need to worry about dealing with his leader's rage anymore.

"Robin?"

Beast Boy asked out loud, turning his face from one direction to another, trying to catch a glimpse of the familiar traffic light colored uniform somewhere in the faintly illuminated room.

"Robin?"

He called out to his leader once more, but still received no response, or at least a single motion to show that the boy in question was actually here somewhere.

Robin was gone!

oOo

"Achoo!"

Robin's body suddenly hunched over as a big, if not ginormous sneeze exploded its way out of his mouth. With a puzzled look, the Boy Wonder swiped his thumb across his nose before placing the back of his palm on his forehead. No fever or cold detected. His temperature remained as usual as ever. And if his memory served him right, there was no record of him falling sick for the time being.

Or could it be…

His gaze shifted to somewhere behind him, and locked on the T-shaped high-rise that stood tall in the distance. Now, wasn't there a saying that whenever somebody missed or mentioned you so much, a sneeze would rack up your body?

This wasn't something he didn't see coming, though.

Naturally, after finding themselves lost so many times, they would learn that aside from accepting the truth, there was no other way, no matter how painful that truth could be. Their loyalty to justice ran so deep that they couldn't see anything but the pretty things on the surface of that façade. Perhaps it even blinded them too, leading them to believe that there was just one way to corner a problem, and anything besides it was considered a real sin.

They must have sought out for him, trying to convince him to just give up and see things the right way, to move on from the pain and try to uphold the laws as usual.

He didn't even know what to feel now. The ones he cherished more than anything on the world were now defending what he loathed more than anything on the world. And he couldn't blame them either. They were just like him back there, fooled and misled by their heroic nature.

That's why he had to take care of this case by himself. He couldn't confide in them anymore, not when he had seen how they reinvestigated Raven's case. They held no suspicion about whether any 'good guy' was behind the whole thing, and only set their eyes on the villains.

They might not be happy about him going solo this time, but if they knew the reason behind his decision, he's sure that they would understand.

Robin pondered to himself and then pushing the thoughts about his friends away. He had more important things to deal with now. His gaze lingered at the T-shaped tower for a mere second before shifting to a new spot. A cold glint flashed across his masked eyes as his lips twitched into a sly smirk. Finally, he had arrived at where he needed to be right in the first place.

The police station.

As the sight of the place entered his view, rage rushed through him instantly, boiling his blood and set his entire being afire as old, unwanted memories started unfolding themselves in front of his eyes once by once. But this time, he accepted the burning sensation with a glee. There was no point detesting the fury anymore, he had returned, and he would ensure that the bloody fate awaiting him was rewritten.

So let this scorching wrath gush through his vein, reminding him of every pain and sorrow he had been put through.

He wanted to imprint them all into his mind, memorizing even the tiniest part, not missing out a single thing.

His enemies were inside of this so-called symbol of justice, a lot of them, many than he could remember.

He wanted them all to pay for what they did. He wanted to deliver them the cruelest punishment he could think of. Whatever they did to him, to her, to his friends, he would pay them back at least ten times more.

And this rage derived from pure hatred would serve as an ideal feast for his inner demons, keeping them awake and roaring in the back of his mind - ready to break free and tear his enemies apart at his command.

The Boy Wonder thought with a smirk as he began advancing toward the building, passing past its gate and strode to its precinct. He stood tall and proud, taking confident steps, didn't bother to be on guard or anything like that. It wasn't that he believed he could take down anyone coming at him, he just found those actions… unnecessary.

He could remember it pretty well. About two days ago, the chief of police had informed the Titans that the entire force was in terrible shape, too many stresses and strains after a hectic working schedule had completely weighed everyone down. It appeared that the mayor also noticed this, so he had allowed most of them to take a few days off and go on a vacation. That 'thoughtful' man even booked a tour and made all the essential preparation. The chief gave them a sincere apology, saying that he knew it would be quite irresponsible to leave his job behind, but it would be blunt of them to turn down the mayor's offer, especially when everything had all been arranged.

Robin wasn't really pleased with that. Still, the chief promised that a few of his men would still stay behind to keep an eye on the city. Plus, crime rate had dropped considerably, so it's not likely that anything out of hand would take place while they're away.

Despite his suspicion for the abrupt department of almost every police in the city, Robin had agreed to cover their duty during their trip. It was his obligation to take care of the city, so it wasn't like he had many choices left. What's more, with the depression eating the team from inside out back there and him being down in the dumps, he didn't feel like arguing with the chief or the mayor about leaving them in charge of all the law upholding for days.

Now that he thought of it, that keeping-stress-at-bay vacation was obviously just an excuse. Ruth just wanted to get rid of all the people that could disrupt his plan, and threw more work onto his team so that none of them had enough time on hand to be aware of anything amiss. Even an idiot could tell that those "willingly" to not take part in the trip and remained in the station to maintain society order were just that old fox's underlings.

But this could be a good thing.

If the worst was to come, he could go all out without hesitation!

A dark, twisted glee filled his heart and Robin's lips slightly tugged upward, but it soon fell back into a straight line as he passed through the threshold of the main office. Keeping his expression as cool and neutral as possible, the Boy Wonder advanced toward the only table occupied by someone in the broad room. Upon hearing his footsteps, that very man lowered the newspapers he was holding. His bald head, along with a thick bear, was the first thing entering Robin's sight.

As expected, an old acquaintance.

"Robin." Exclaimed the man as his voice somewhat went up a notch in surprise. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah. My teammate, Raven, would be transferred to another facility tomorrow, right?" He scratched his head and casted his sight elsewhere but the policeman's face, keeping his voice hoarse and tired, mimicking the act of someone burdened under stress, despair and sorrow for a long time. Still, his cold orbs silently darted to the corners of his masked eyes to lock on the bald man himself, never broke the contact even just for a split second, like a predator eyeing its prey before moving in for the kill.

"Yeah, sorry man, this must be very hard for you. I can't even imagine what you have to go through these days."

The older man's voice was filled with sympathy and sincerity, no hint of malice or sick joy could be detected. However, as he finished, Robin could see that in a flash, the corner of his lips lifted up as something atrocious and vile crept into his eyes. He discarded them and returned to the kind, solicitous man with a sympathetic smile spread across his lower face almost instantly. If he was still that foolish Boy Wonder, maybe this would have already moved him, but right now, Robin just wanted to throw himself into that sick bastard and tore that insufferable hypocritical mask off his face. Rage was building up inside him once more, pouring every corner of his body with a seething desire, making it impossible for him to keep a cool temper.

Still, Robin silently ground his teeth together and dug his fingers to his palm, and with all his mental strength, he pushed the burning fury back to its chamber before locking the door tightly to make sure they stay in place. He would have use of them soon, but not now.

"Thank, we're trying our best to get back to our tip-top shape. The city needs us, and Raven…" Robin bowed his head, pretending to be someone eaten alive by pain and sorrow. Once he knew his face and expression was completely obscured from the view, he instantly let out a long breath, trying to emptying out a part of his anger. He had to play it cool. He couldn't raise any suspicion now.

"Well, it's just that…" He stammered before trailing off: "Can… can I see her at least one last time? I want to talk to her."

Come on. Come on. Bite it. Bite the bait.

"Sure, why not?" The bald man shrugged, offering him another seemingly generous smile: "Right this way, follow me."

Waiting until the police completely had his back to him, Robin finally lifted his head. That went as smoothly as he predicted. The bastard suspected nothing. Well, as far as he remembered, this one wasn't really that intelligent, just a mere inferior lackey that played no important role and could be replaced at any time, so he wasn't all that surprised.

Letting him meet her wasn't an act out of kindness either. They just wanted to earn his trust, leading him to believe that they were by his side and would always offer him their support every time he needed. And this wasn't for nothing. Once he showed no caution around them, eventually, his team would do the same.

Right from the start, they were aiming for this all along.

Robin could never forget how close the Titans and some personnel of the police force got closer and closer after Raven's unfortunate case. They could be considered friends at some points. The smiling, sympathetic, amiable masks all sealed up these bastards' true color pretty well. He didn't doubt anything. His friends didn't doubt anything. Even when he started noticing something wrong, those sincere, cordial smiles would instantly kick the idea off his mind.

Still, this time, he's afraid he had to let them down.

Robin could be deceived and led astray by those fake gestures. But he wasn't Robin anymore.

"Thank you, mister. I really appreciate that."

Letting a coy smile curved up the corner of his lips, his cold eyes shielded by the domino masks, the Boy Wonder replied the bald officer. The older man completely suspected nothing, and just simply returned him with a smaller smile before reaching into his belt to grasp something there.

"Oh, and you can just call me Morrow. We're all friends here, right?"

Robin just nodded, acknowledging the information. Unbeknown to the man, his brain had started kicking into high gear. Morrow, huh? Back there, when he was on the hunt to satisfy his thirst for vengeance, in his hiding spot, sometimes, this name did flash across his mind. It seemed that despite the gap between the gap of their status, this little lackey could somehow befriend one of those big guys.

His eyes narrowed for a split second. He could put this into good use later.

"Ah, found it!" Morrow exclaimed, pulling a black access card. He then gestured toward the door nearby: "Let me show you the way."

Robin silently followed the man and was led into a long corridor with no window or whatsoever. He wasn't surprised though. As the leader of the Titan, having access to area like this was no longer something out of the blue. This is merely a connection path between the office and the main prison of the place. Due to this, the entrance had been designed with top security. There is only one single door, and aside from access card, anyone wanting to enter must display their fingerprint. One single mismatch, or any sign of intrusion, and the alarm would blare throughout the entire building.

This was why he decided not to break in. He didn't like taking the hard way when there was an easy path around.

And why did he entered the prisoner's chamber when he had decided to track down Raven's transportation?

Something just didn't sit right with that.

It started with just a slight feeling, but then it got stronger and stronger, until his stomach began churning with knots and his mind kept yelling at him to stand up and do something. That's when he knew his plan had gone deadly wrong. After all, his hunch had never failed him before.

Something bad had befallen his girl. He could tell.

Robin kept his face straight and his expression blank as he strolled next to a completely oblivious Morrow who was still spouting nonsense words about justice and what right and wrong. He never replied, only gave a curt nod at some points in order not to raise any suspicion. His younger self might be touched by these kinds of act, but he only felt an urge to empty out his breakfast onto the floor.

They crossed a series of hallways, walking past sectors with high-tech equipment located everywhere, then a block of cells which were used to hold regular prisoners capture, followed by the specially designed areas whose purposes were to keep the notorious villains from breaking free.

"They're unusually quiet today." Robin commented nonchalantly, stealing a glance at one of the shut gate. His eyes slightly narrowed as he realized there was nobody occupying the space behind it.

"Oh, our security needs some improvement, so the prisoners are temporarily relocated to a different sector." Morrow replied him with a shrug, failed to notice the dark expression lingered on the Boy Wonder's feature. "The others are out to do some supervising there. You know those criminals, always up for troubles."

"Is that so?" The younger boy muttered, casting his gaze sideway as though observing the view of the area. His teeth sank into his lower lip as the bad feeling overwhelming his other senses began to grow with no sign of stopping.

They passed another maze of hallways, and eventually reach a distinguished sector where everything was constructed using abnormal material, some kind of metal that dimly reflected the images of everybody walking by. No furniture or equipment of all sorts could be spotted here. Windows and air vents were also out of sight. The entire area resembled that of the inside of a ginormous, metallic square box, and would have already turned into that had it not been for a heavy door at its furthest corner.

Robin knew this place. Only the most dangerous criminal with the ability to wipe out the entire city would be kept here.

"Is she in there?"

He licked his lips, surprised at how hoarse his voice had already turned into. Half of his mind was howling for him to strangle the bald bastard in an instance and forced the truth out from his throat, saving him all kinds of troubles that might come next. But the other half was pleading for him to control his temper and keep his anger at bay for she could be in there for real and him going berserk out there would only land her in more risks.

And Robin was caught between the fight.

"Yeah. You're sure you can do this, man? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine." The Boy Wonder replied, trying to pull himself free from the grasps of all kinds of emotions screaming and kicking inside his mind: "I need to see her. Just open the gate."

His voice was cold, deadly cold, and Morrow seemed to be taken aback by that. The bastard still complied with his request nonetheless, taking out another key card and inserted it into a seemingly complex equipment right next to the enormous shut gate. A second passed by, and then the metallic door eventually glided opened, giving Robin a clear look of the room hidden behind it.

"Raven?"

A startled, shaky breath made its way out of his lips as his eyes took in for the first time the image of a small girl lying prone on the small bed within the chamber. Her hair, like a strange species of dandelion, mesmerizing and enticing with that unique shade of violet, scattered around her head, drop onto the pillow and fell down onto her face. Just like blooming flower. Each exotic violet lock resembled a beautiful petal itself.

He always loved her short hair, but after the tragedy, she no longer kept it shoulder length anymore.

Robin took a deep breath, couldn't stop his hands from trembling anymore. She was here. She was real.

His innocent Raven

The girl turned to face him. A pair of vivid, exquisite violet jewels bored into his masked eyes, and his breath was caught in his breath. For a while, time seemed to have stopped, and there were only two of them left in the world. Her eyes had pulled him into a trance, immersing him in a deep yet soothing river where he just wanted to rest within forever, never to get up again.

And then, her little, pretty plump lips spoke as a sardonic smirk twitched them up.

"Oh, isn't this the walking traffic light?"

What?

The words directly sent a blow to Robin's face, shattering all of his fantasy and roughly kicked him back to the real world. He stood there, shocked and dumbfounded, unable to digest what she had just spoken. Raven still lay there in a lazy pose, glancing up at him with that taunting smirk and a somewhat vexatious gaze as though the sight of him put her off.

The thought froze him right in his spot. He didn't get it. Could it be that she was mad at him for abandoning her?

"Raven…"

"Oh, don't give me that." She rolled her eyes, shifting her pose and probed her head up in one hand. Her squinted eyes pierced right through him as a spiteful snorted made its way out of her lips: "Why are you here anyway? Just when I thought I have finally had some time alone."

What?

The rest of his line died on his tongue before it could reach out to her, perished and vanished into thin air. He stood there, completely dumbfounded, couldn't believe in his own ears.

"What're you waiting for, just get out of my sight?" She went on, sending him an annoyed glance as her monotone voice turned spiteful: "I'm so sick and tired of you. Why did you come here for, anyway? To blabber those nonsense about justice and all? Seriously, I have had enough of that!" A scorned chuckle escaped her pretty plump lips, the plump lips that used to whisper gentle, soothing words to him in his most desperate nights.

It was just a piece of sound, nothing more, nothing less, but somehow, it was like a sharp dagger to him, mercilessly stabbing through his heart.

It couldn't be… His Raven… How…

His mind almost collapsed as shock overtook his system right in the spot. Had it not been for his entire body being sent into a stupor, unable to move a muscle, he was sure he would have fallen hard onto the floor in an instance. He could no longer think straight anymore, everything within his brain had already been reduced into total pitch black, a black hole that swallowed everything within him.

"Raven… You…"

"I told you to stop calling my name, God Damnit!" Out of sudden, the said girl slammed a fist down onto the mattress as anger and impatience began lingering on the edge of her voice: "I'm tired of your shit! Fucking get lost and leave me alone."

No

"Are you fucking deaf or something? Can't you understand a single word I just said?"

It couldn't be

"I never really like you to begin with. Just the image of you make me wanna puke."

Stop, just stop

"I hate it all, you know. Your stupid hair style, your stupid endless training, I detest you!"

No, just stop, just stop. It couldn't be real

A shaky breath left his thin lips, leaving a stinging ache behind. Somehow his throat had already run dry as though he had been wandering on a desert without water for days. His legs couldn't support his weight anymore, and he staggered, nearly collapsed had his reflexes not kicked in in time.

His Raven… The girl he cared about more than anything on the world… was going on and on about how she loathed him…

How could it be…

"…And your morning ritual, fuck, how can you pour that disgusting coffee down your throat all the time. What was I even thinking back there? How could I enjoy that shitty liquid with you?"

Robin's eyes went wide as his breath was caught in his throat. For a while, he even thought that his heart was about to come to a halt. His startled eyes fell on the girl for a while, perplexed and full of wonder, as if trying to figure out her for the first time. Then, out of sudden, his lips were pulled together into a thin, emotionless line, and the nonstop trembling of his limbs ceased. He straightened his back, and bored his gaze into the girl on the bed, as though wanting to tear through her soul and stole a look at whatever inside.

"Wha… What the Hell are you staring at?" The violet-haired young woman howled out with blazing eyes, but couldn't hide the fear lurking in the depth of her orbs. She instinctively shrunk and scooted a few inches back from her place, obviously unnerved by his sudden change.

"Nothing. I'll take my leave as you wish." The response she received almost froze her to the bone. There was nothing in his voice, no alteration in pitch, no emotion, nothing. It was cold as the ice pulling from the depth sea of the Arctic itself. A wave of chill ran down her spine, and before she even knew it, her back had already hit the wall while she had her legs pulled as closely to her body as possible. When… when did she even sit up?

"But first… You will have to tell me something first." He closed the distance between her and him with one single long step, and she flinched without acknowledging it. Somehow, she had a feeling that she was being wrapped in the length of a long and ravenous python. The clutch got tighter and tighter second by second, it was becoming hard for her to breathe…

"Not bad." A grasp of steel suddenly encased her chin, earning a gasp from the petrified, cornered girl. Her entire body broke out in cold sweat, and fear began flooding her eyes with no end in sight. She couldn't move even when she urged her body, the fear had already paralyzed her system.

His gaze pierced right through her as he shortened the distance between her terrified face and his unbelievably calm one. Tension started rising between them, getting thick enough that it could be torn from the air if anyone reached out their hand.

"Robin. You're sure things are all right? You seem like you need help!"

Morrow. Good timing. He almost forgot about that bald bastard.

A chilling chuckle suddenly spilled from his lips, cracking a devious smirk upon his good-looking feature. The girl watched him in total silence, didn't have the bravery to utter a single word. She had a feeling that the moment anything coming out of her trembling lips, it would truly be the end of her.

"AH!"

A shocked, painful yelp poured from her agape mouth as Robin forcefully wiped her head to the right with an inhuman strength enough to break her jaw into half. He repeated, pulling her to the left this time, squeezing her cheeks so hard that bruises started settling in. She terrifyingly stole a glance at him, pleading for mercy, but only met a cold set of masks staring back at her, the eyes hidden underneath it filled with so menace and malice that it could burn her alive.

"Robin! That's enough!"

Footsteps echoing behind him, indicating that Morrow was approaching. Didn't even bother turning back and acknowledging that fact, the Boy Wonder swung his free hand up. In a split second, the bald officer howled out in sheer agony, his entire body hit the ground with a heavy thud. It appeared that the man had his head banged pretty hard because he was out cold in an instance.

The immobile girl had her view obscure by the well-built frame of the Titan leader, but this didn't mean she saw nothing. With her eyes wide opened in pure terror and air coming out of her lungs in shaky, ragged breaths, she had her eyes locked on the motionless body of the big guy in the background.

Something was buried deep inside his thigh, and blood was gushing from it freely, slowly damped the floor beneath with a deep red liquid.

She couldn't stop her body from shaking right now. She didn't want to look at the disturbing scene of somebody bleeding all over the place, but she didn't want to avert her gaze either. She couldn't.

Because if she just glance away just for a second, she would have to meet his eyes.

"Not bad." He repeated the words as he inched even closer to her, his wicked smirk was so wide that for a while, she believed that he was about to clamp his mouth over her head and swallow her whole. Underneath his cold, sinister masked eyes, she felt that there was nothing she could hide, and that he was seeing through her deepest, darkest secrets.

This was really the leader of the Titans?

Impossible! This was clearly a malign monster!

"Look just like the real deal." Another chuckle made its way out of his thin lips as he shook his head: "I have to admit, you almost got me back there."

His grip was dangerously tightening around her jaw now, to the point that she believe it could crack at any moment. Her heart thumped loudly in her ribcage and her entire being slowly got swallowed by fear, but she still tried to stand her ground:

"Are you fucking crazy? Let go, you're hurting me!"

"Crazy?" A bone-chilling snicker crawled into her ears, making all her hair stood up. She didn't dare to look into his eyes right now, no, just one glance and she knew she would never be able to sleep at night.

"You think this is crazy?" His voice suddenly turned dangerously low as venom dripping from it relentlessly: "I'll show you what is crazy."

She never got the chance to see what happened next. It all took place in a flash. Her head being forcefully moved backward at inhuman speed, agony spread through her system, stars clouded her vision as some sort of foul-smelling, sticking liquid trickled down her face. And then reality finally caught up to her, and she screamed…

Only to have her panicked sound muffled by the mattress as he slammed her down onto it and wrapped the sheet bundled at the end of the bed around her body. Before she knew it, she had already been tightly encased in the white layer of fabric from head to toes! It wasn't thick, but she found herself unable to tear through it, or to thrash her way out of it. She shrieked, attempting to call for help, but something hard suddenly jammed into her cheek, and she was forced to cough out a mouthful of blood.

Robin stood, watching the girl thrashed around in vain. Mercilessly, he grabbed the pillow and stuffed it within her widely opened mouth, pressing both the object and a large part of the sheet deep inside her throat. Hadn't truly satisfied yet, he located her neck through the white fabric and lifted her up before throwing her body onto the ground with all his might. A choke sob emitted from her movement restricted form as she doubled over and writhed painfully.

Not even a trait of sympathy could be detected from Robin's expression as he narrowed his masked eyes and again kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying and crashed onto the opposite wall.

He wanted to see her crying face as she crawled pathetically on four while taking on all the punishments. But he couldn't.

Not when she looked so much like his Raven.

He was such a fool. He fell right into their trap.

Raven wasn't in the room right in the first place. Instead, they left this impostor here to fake him out, to fool him, to make him believe that she truly hated him with all she got, to kill all his hopes in rescuing her.

He had to admit, that little bitch did a fairly good job. For a while, he almost fell for her words. He almost sank into depression as they wanted him to. But then she mentioned their "coffee time" together, and that instantly pushed him back to the right state of mind.

Raven never drank coffee, not even once, especially not with him. She hated coffee even more than she hated going out without her cloak. There was no way she could enjoy it. Everybody in the Tower knew this.

Those bastards… They knew that she wouldn't say no to any question from the police force, they must have taken advantage of that to extract her personal information, and then let the impostor took her place. Nobody would be able to tell them apart. This one resembled her almost 99%, had it not been for that coffee detail, he would have been fooled too.

But why would they need an impostor? They couldn't possibly know that he…

His face suddenly went pale and his heart plummeted to the depth of his stomach as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

How long had the impostor been here?

Raven… No… No… It couldn't be… He couldn't be too late, he couldn't…

His gaze suddenly lifted and bored right to the two figure lying unconscious not too far from his spot, one with a knife embed in his left thigh and the other had her body wrapped in a red-stained sheet. He could see his chest heaved up and down, but faintly, which made him let out a sigh of relief.

He didn't feel sorry for them, not even a bit, but if they died, his hopes to save his precious girl would perish alongside.

A growl squeezed its way out of his tightly clenched teeth as he stormed toward them, fire of fury dancing in his dark, menacing eyes.

He had planned to play in the dark for a while and only showed his true colors if the time arrived.

But they really pissed him off this time.