Chapter One Part 3: Peppermint Wizard

Dick sighed, he did feel conflicted. He should give himself some time to grieve over Starfire's departure. He should be focused on his schoolwork and not drawing attention to himself, and he was, but his mind kept going back to Nagi Kirima.

He missed Starfire a lot, but Nagi was very much her opposite. Starfire was emotional and open, wore her heart on her sleeve. Nagi was closed and while not unemotional, very controlled.

Nagi was very similar to himself, and he wished to steer her clear of becoming a carbon copy of what he and Batman were, at least, the obsessive side that would rear its ugly head every so often.

He admired her determination and drive to help others. Not many civilians could afford the equipment to become a superhero. She also refused to hide her face and go up against low-level criminals.

She didn't chase fame or glory for her actions, she was known in the area but not many people outside of Shinyo Academy knew her name and face unless you were a gossipy high school student.

The rumors of Boogiepop among the girls were more prevalent, although it seemed to be a secret kept away from the boys.

Dick Grayson's investigation of the school had concluded. But there was still a string to pull, where the Manticore came from. It had piqued his interest, along with Nagi Kirima, after all, her father was a prominent writer and she had disappeared sometime five years ago.

Despite all this, he hoped to make friends in his civilian life. Even if Nagi Kirima disliked Robin, he hoped that she would be friends with Dick Grayson. Nagi cut herself off from people, and he knew it was a defense mechanism to keep people away from your superhero activities but he knew that she was playing up her "Fire Witch" reputation.

Dick was happy to admit that he was interested in her. Not only was she beautiful but she was strong-willed, intelligent, and a good person, despite her delinquent reputation.

However, Nagi Kirima had no interest in guys, physically or emotionally. She was completely focused on her mission to help people.

One thing Dick wished to do was change Shinyo Academy's culture when it came to the students. Everyone must be pristine, have perfect attendance, have perfect scores. Everyone had to look squeaky clean. To keep this appearance, they refused to look into when students went missing and shunned those they deemed troublesome.

He hoped that people would become more compassionate and give her a "second chance" even if he knew she didn't really "need" one.

Dick sighed and put Nagi out of his mind for a bit. He was going to meet the other Titans at Peppermint Wizard for some ice cream. Changing into his Robin uniform, he headed to the ice cream shop.

Dick Grayson left school and changed into his Robin uniform to meet up with the other Titans at a popular ice cream shop in the city. Peppermint Wizard was all the rage as a popular dessert. It was addicting for some people.

"I can't wait to try this stuff, dude, I heard it's great," Beast Boy said. They were waiting for some time, but they finally got their ice cream.

"Raven, here you go," Beast Boy handed her the ice cream cone.

Raven licked it, it didn't taste too bad, she took a bigger bite.

There was pain, it was like fire burned through her entire body. As an empath she could sense so much pain, it wasn't just from one person, it was from the entire population of the city. She dropped it and collapsed, Beast Boy, astonished, managed to catch her.

"Raven? What's going on?!" Beast Boy shouted.

Raven's whole body felt nothing but pain. One bite of Peppermint Wizard and she was convulsing.

"Robin…help me!" she managed to gasp out as the Titans leader rushed to her side.

"Raven, what do you need?" Robin asked.

"Water, need some water!" Raven gasped.

Robin was about to go get her some when someone placed a water bottle into Raven's hands.

Nagi Kirima knelt next to Raven and handed her a water bottle.

Raven took it and drank some small sips. She then took a few more gulps.

"Thank you," she managed to gasp.

"You're welcome, my name is Nagi Kirima. I was driving by and saw her collapse, is she all right?"

"I'm feeling better," Raven said.

"Americans shake hands, right?" Nagi said in English.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you, Kirima-san," Beast Boy said in English, but he did remember the honorific.

Nagi was amused, "He's not an Otaku is he?"

"I don't honestly know what that means," Beast Boy admitted.

"Means you spend too much on anime and manga and you're broke because of it. Means you're a shut-in too."

"I…I'm not that bad," Beast Boy laughed.

Nagi checked on Raven, "Is she all right?"

"I think she'll be fine, she seems to be calming down," Robin replied.

"All this from the Peppermint Wizard ice cream?"

"It seems so, I'm not sure if we should take her to the prefecture hospital or not."

"Not the hospital, we'll take her to my house, I do have connections, I can find someone willing to examine her."

"We'll rest at your house but Raven should be able to heal herself."

"I see."

"Wait, Robin, you know her?" Cyborg asked.

"I've met her, I was investigating something at her school," Robin explained.

They made their way to the Tanigouchi house and went inside. Nagi let them in.

"My mother's new husband, he lives here, when they're not traveling overseas. I kept my father's name," Nagi explained, "My step-brother lives in a dorm but he's in the hospital."

"He's in the hospital? What happened?" Robin asked.

"He was protecting one of his friends, whoever his attacker shredded him. He's finally recovering."

"I'll get you all some tea," Nagi headed to her kitchen to brew them some.

"Herbal tea," Raven called to her.

Nagi brewed the herbal tea and brought it to Raven. She gave the others the same tea.

"Raven, how are you feeling?" Robin asked.

"Better, Peppermint Wizard targets a person's pain. I'm not sure what it does to humans, but it amplified my pain."

"Was it just yours?" Cyborg asked, "You were convulsing a lot."

"It wasn't just mine, it was the pain of the general population."

"Dude, I'm never gonna forgive myself!" Beast Boy growled, slamming his fist into the wall.

"It's not your fault, Beast Boy, you didn't know. I don't think anyone does," Robin glanced at his teammate.

"I think it's supposed to numb a person's pain, but it did the opposite with me," Raven looked out the window. "Still don't know who did this or what it's for."

"Raven, you said the ice cream is catered to a person's pain, and if they eat it, they get addicted to it," Robin looked back at her.

"Yes, humans will become numb to pain by eating it," Raven breathed deeply. "And then you want to do nothing but eat it."

"I've heard of that, people just assumed it was being addicted to ice cream."

"At least you're feeling better, that's what counts," Robin gave her a reassuring look and squeezed her shoulder.

"But why would someone manufacture an entire line of ice cream and feed it to the population of Tokyo?" Cyborg asked, "I'm running a biometrics scan and there's nothing unusual about it, molecularly speaking."

Raven was breathing deeply, finally feeling normal again.

"Cyborg, who owns Peppermint Wizard?" Robin asked.

"Moon Communications Enterprises."

"I remember them, Wayne Enterprises tried to buy them but they wouldn't accept any offers."

Moon Communications Enterprises, the famous Japanese conglomerate MCE. It seemed he was going to have to do some detective work.

Beast Boy noticed her combat suit by the bedroom door.

"Whoa, dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed, staring at her combat suit. "Is this custom?"

"Yes, I had it made for me," Nagi glanced at him. "I don't care if people know who I am, it's not like I'm breaking any laws in it."

Cyborg examined the suit. "It's bulletproof, you're serious about this."

"Kirima-san, we'd prefer if you'd work with us, I told you this already," Robin smiled.

"Sorry, Teen Wonder, I prefer to work alone, but I'm flattered by the offer," Nagi let a grin creep across her face.

"Raven, are you feeling better?" Robin asked.

"Yes, thank you, Kirima-san," Raven nodded.

The Titans got up to leave, "Thank you for your help." Robin bowed to Nagi.

The others turned and left.

They began walking towards the rental car Cyborg was using.

"Admit it, man, you like her," Cyborg teased.

"Maybe a little, but I'm not quite ready for a date," Robin got on his motorcycle and the other Titans got in the car and drove away. They decided to meet at the hotel they were staying in and plan their investigation of MCE.

Unbeknown to them, a man in purple watched them make their way to Nagi Kirima's house. Fortissimo scowled, reporting in, communicating with another agent.

"It seems that Raven is affected by Peppermint Wizard, should we move to capture her?"

"Let the Wonder-Bearer be for now, she is the hero of Tokyo," Kaleidoscope answered. The synthetic human had to report to his superior about the heroes of Tokyo returning to Japan.

Wonder-Bearers, MPLS, they were often classified by the general public as "meta-humans".

There were all sorts of MPLS, their powers were usually subtle things, being able to awaken other people's MPLS powers, being able to sense the fears of others, being able to sense a creatures' energy the moment they died, the ability to live beyond death. These were just some of the extraordinary powers granted to people that were able to evolve.

Wonder-Bearers had similar powers, but their powers could change the world itself. Wonder-Bearers could wield magic. The ability to summon demonic beasts to attack your enemies, the ability to control water or magma. These were the astonishing powers of Wonder-Bearers and the Towa Organization kept an eye on them.

Metahumans were becoming more frequent, the Justice League was full of them. Supervillains were cropping up more often and the Towa Organization could do very little about it because so many military institutions were trying to come up with ways to fight beings on par with Superman.

Hiragi, the Axis of the Towa Organization, epithet Oxygen had seen the footage of Raven battling Brushogun, Uehara Daizo in in Tokyo. The System's leader pissed himself in fear.

People like Raven were trouble, but she was the hero of Tokyo, and meddling with her would bring down the ire of the general public that loved her and had made her the official mascot for Super Twinkle Donkey Gum.

Metahumans were a threat to humanity, but people loved them and called them "heroes", there was nothing he could do to change this perception.

But he knew that the Towa Organization would be exposed to the public if he meddled with the Teen Titans and the far-reaching consequences of killing any of them.

They would have to watch and wait.

He sighed as he ended the communication with Fortissimo. He had other things on his mind and he wasn't sure how he'd deal with the meddling Nagi Kirima but he'd have to take into consideration that the Teen Titans were in Tokyo. He'd have to hope they'd play the role of tourists and stay out of the Towa Organization's way.

Nagi Kirima sighed, her thoughts kept wandering back to Robin. She didn't usually take an interest in male students or boys her age. They were all too "normal". Normal people needed to stay away from her.

He hadn't mentioned that she'd threatened to put him out of commission for six months. Did he like her or something?

Nagi shook her head, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her red shirt with a brown stripe on the upper arms and gray pants made her seem painfully normal. She'd just been driving through Tokyo when she spotted Raven collapsing on the ground.

She was popular among the guys at school despite her delinquent reputation. Guys always attempted to ask her out on a date. The only one that hadn't been a stammering mess was Masami Saotome and he was a psychopath that allied himself with the Manticore, preying on other female students in his insane attempt to rule the world with "her".

Guys were only interested in her because she was "hot". Even her vigilante partner Kentarou Habara called her hot to her face.

But Kentarou Habara only worked with her on small things, nothing that could put him in serious danger. After what happened to Naoko Kamikshiro she didn't want her friends involved in her vigilante work.

But Robin was different, he'd been doing vigilante work since he was eight years old, according to mask fans .com he'd been seen 10 years ago, since he looked to be her age, she could deduce when he started by how old he looked compared to old pictures of Robin from early in his career during his partnership with Batman.

Nagi sighed, she could have accepted his offer to work with the Teen Titans, but she'd heard rumors about a sixth member, Terra. These weren't stories in the newspapers, but there were rumors that Terra, a girl who had joined the team for a short time was a mole working for Slade, their arch-nemesis.

She didn't need the drama of dealing with a large team, and it's not like she was going to move to America to join them. She was right at home in Tokyo and the Towa Organization had enough going on around here to keep her busy.

Nagi was curious about why their most outgoing member wasn't with them. She knew about Starfire because Japanese boys loved her, for the obvious reasons of course, but because she also spoke Japanese, albeit very formally.

Guys were searching high and low for the random teen she'd kissed in Tokyo, that boy however, didn't say much online, but that kissing her was one of the best experiences with a foreigner he'd ever had.

She did wonder what brought the Teen Titans back to Tokyo, they hadn't mentioned a thing about vacation.

Knowing her luck, she'd run into them again sooner or later.

Still, Robin, a man that hot, was every girl's dream and had been the talk of Shinyo Academy ever since the Uehara Daizo incident where Robin exposed his fake heroism.

She had to admit, he was appealing, he was like her in many ways, but she knew it'd be better for him if he stayed out of her way.

He was still intriguing, if not frustrating.

"Humans do not possess a single, focused will. In their hearts, they have countless bugs, buzzing in all directions.

Nagi sighed, her father's words always come back to her, despite her issues with him, mainly having to do with his unceasing love for her mother, which made no sense to her after she'd cheated on him and divorced him.

Still, she rarely saw her stepfather since her mother and stepfather were constantly traveling. She got along well enough with her younger stepbrother, Masaki Taniguchi. She planned on going back to the hospital to visit him.

When it came to Robin, Nagi wasn't sure how she felt about him. Not that she flirted with guys or anything. She certainly wouldn't be tongue-tied if she wanted to ask him out but she wondered if it'd even be worth it, there was the mystery of his girlfriend that she hadn't seen with them.

Nagi wanted to put it out of her mind and tell herself it was ridiculous, but she couldn't bring herself to do that.

She sighed and looked at her combat suit, maybe it was time she headed out on patrol and took her mind off Tokyo's Hero for a while.