Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine.
Casa Del Sangre—Part Four
"Are you OK, Sugar-Dumplin'? You ain't hurt nowhere else, are you?" Smoke asked concernedly, placing an ice pack—improvised from a plastic bag of water, thanks to Zero—on a lightly bleeding scrape across her bare forearm.
She winced a little at being called, 'Sugar-Dumplin' in public, but didn't comment. "I'm fine… really…" She tried to convince Smoke. "I'm not hurt; I'm just, a little…. Well… very. Very scared…" She said with a sudden shudder.
"I don't blame you." Smoke snorted.
"But you weren't scared…" She protested softly.
"… Well… no… but… I'm never scared…" He said sheepishly. "I just wasn't made that way."
She winced again, this time at the word 'made', though Smoke wasn't sure why. His slight grin faded and, in a more serious tone, he stated: "Uh… how's Terra holdin' up?"
Blackfire was hesitant to answer. She was well aware Terra had come off a lot worse than she from the monster encounter.
"I think… she's all right." Blackfire sighed. "Just, she must have turned her ankle while we were running or something… she was having a hard time walking earlier…"
"She was runnin' fine when that thing was chasing us." Smoke said, cocking his head confusedly.
"You'd be amazed what you don't notice when a fifty foot creature is chasing you." Blackfire said listlessly. "But… she changed to her clothes after a shower, and she's got some ice and bandages on it now… she should be all right."
"Good, Good…" Smoke said, nodding. "…… Hmph. Shoulda never came here…" He grunted. "Seems like it's always somethin'. Hell, I woulda rather taken my chances with the thugs in Jump City."
Blackfire stroked his shoulder through the straps of his overalls, his jacket having been taken off earlier, in an effort to soothe him. "Don't worry about it… we'll be leaving soon, and this'll all be over with." She said with a smile.
He grinned slightly, and started to reply…
… The door slammed open abruptly, cutting them both off mid-conversation.
Both of them looked over, towards the direction it had come from. The door stood open… a dim corridor behind it, and nothing more. It bumped softly against the wall and creaked on its hinges; either the wind had blown it open through a window—unlikely, as there were no windows in that hall—or someone had pushed it open and ran.
… Or… something…
Blackfire's nails dug into Smoke's arm subconsciously as she cringed, tensely staring at the open door.
There was a pause.
"…" Smoke abruptly yanked his revolvers from his belt and cocked them with a click. "Stay here……" He said, getting up.
She immediately panicked, though she tried to hide it. "Where are you going?" She asked, her voice considerable higher pitched than it had been just a few moments ago…
"I'm going to check it out…" He said with a scowl. "And if somethin's gonna happen… I want it to happen to me, not you…" He said grimly.
Her mouth went dry. She tried to tell him to stop, but no sound came; all she could manage was to jump to her feet and grab his shoulders, shaking her head violently.
He gently sat her back down on the bed and despite a soft whimper and more head shaking, he began to slowly approach the open door, revolvers raised and ready to fire away. "I'll be fine." He assured her with a whisper, then turned back around and continued forward…
He reached the door. … With only a split second's hesitation, he leaned out… and craned his neck in both directions, taking a close look at the surroundings and dim, candlelit hallway…
He jumped slightly when something latched onto his back, but sighed when he realized it was just Blackfire.
"There's nothing here." She urged him. "Please… please, come back…"
He turned to look at her, his face a picture of confusion. "… What's the matter?" He clearly heard the tension and, possibly, fear in her voice. "Are you all right?"
"Look, I… I don't like being by myself right now…" She said shakily. "Please, It was probably just the wind. Come back in here; sit down, talk to me…" She urged, pulling his arm.
There was a moment of silence, and nothing stirred in the dark halls.
Satisfied nothing was amiss, he hugged her and started to agree. "Right… come on, let's go to the kitchen, and I'll get you some—"
CLANG!
They both wheeled around.
"What was that?" Smoke demanded almost instantly. "Someone's in here, and I know it!"
Before she could stop him, he dashed down the hallway, though he promised to "be right back", before he ran off…
… Blackfire found herself standing alone in a dark corridor, an open door tapping the wall lightly behind her and a row of wall-mounted candelabras flickering in front of her. Everything, after the tapping of Smoke's cowboy boots had faded, was silent…
She began to follow Smoke down the hallway for a moment, but… something within must have faltered, because she began to shiver and stumbled back to the lit room they'd been in, shutting the door behind her.
Some Time Later...
"… Where are you…?" Smoke grunted.
… The young gun walked slowly between double rows of armor-suits, lined up on either side of a long, dark hallway lined with abstract portraits and dim candles… he could almost sense the presence of another… he knew someone was in here, beyond all doubt.
… A metallic rattle, an echoing thump…
Smoke raised his revolver, aiming with almost surgical precision in the angle from which the noise had come. "Who's there?"
… No response.
He began stomping in the general direction, slowly scowling at the suits of armor and pointing his revolver at the helmet area of each in turn. "Let's see… eenie… meenie… miney… moe…" A click, the cocking of the revolver… "… Which of these.. is first… to go…?"
BLAM!
With a smug smirk, he fired a revolver with a spray of sparks and a lightning fast bullet, and blew the head area—and half the chest—of the armor into a smoldering lump of coal-like ashes.
"You might as well come out with your hands up!" He barked roughly.
Behind him, one of the suits started shaking wildly, rattling with metallic crashes and bangs.
…….
… Instantly, Smoke was upon it, ripping it apart in seconds with brute force, and grappling the neck of an unlucky form within it. Smoke grinned in triumph—but then blanched, utterly stupefied…
"ACK! P-please don't kill me! I didn't mean any ha—huh…? Smoke…?"
… Smoke stared dumbly for a moment, before dropping the monocled shape he'd grabbed. "… Wha…? Ghost! The Hell are you doing?" Smoke demanded, grabbing his chest. "You know you almost gave Blackfire a heart attack! Why are you beatin' and bangin' around in here?"
Ghost gulped and adjusted his monocle. "I… I was merely searching for Raven. She… she went… to see T-T-Terra… and B-Beast Boy… and hasn't r-r-returned, y-yet!" He stammered. "She's been gone almost an hour, and, I… I hate staying in that room by myself!"
… The reference to staying in a room alone, made him groan with realization. He'd left Blackfire back there by herself after she'd all but begged him not to. He could have slapped himself, even though it'd been in her interest he'd wanted to make sure no one… unwanted… was here…
He jogged himself from the thought. "Ok… Calm down, just… chill. I'm sure she's around here somewhere. Come on, let's go back where Blackfire is; maybe she's seen Raven…"
"I assure you, he is alive and unharmed, Sister." Star tried to calm Blackfire. "If he had met with any trouble along his way, I feel certain this house would echo with the reports of small and large arms fire by now." She said with a cheerfulness that rendered the subject matter superfluous.
This well-intentioned comment, however, didn't do much to alleviate the shakiness of Blackfire's hands as she took a long sip of the tea that Raven had brought her.
"You said there was a noise?" Said the sorceress, also with Blackfire—along with Terra and B.B., the former of whom was sitting down with a bandage around one ankle and the latter, who was a bit bruised up but otherwise unharmed.
"Y-yes… the door slammed open while we were talking… nobody was there… and then, there was a big noise in the Hall. He ran to see what it was, and never came back…."
"You mean, he hasn't come back yet." Terra corrected gently, trying to ease her friend's worry somewhat.
"…… I'm worried about you, rather than Smoke." Raven said lowly, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes shone slightly, reflective in the dim room. "You've been… kinda freaked out, ever since that thing attacked…" A pause.
Blackfire sighed and shook her head. "I'm ok… It's just…" She suddenly brought her fist up and then, slammed it back down onto the floor, causing the room itself to tremble, and shaking several crumblings of loose plaster off of the ceiling.
"X'hal!" She swore abruptly. "I wish that… that stupid…" She seemed to struggle for a term low enough. "… BOY, would listen to me!" She spat, eyes crackling. "This is the second time tonight he could be off somewhere risking his neck needlessly! I mean, at this rate, I'll never get a moment's pea—"
Raven, the only one who wasn't cowering at the moment, decided to nip Black's angry tirade in the bud before she could REALLY get started…
"Hey Beast Boy…" The sorceress started uncertainly, cutting of the fuming Tamaranean. "Um… has Cyborg said how long it is before we can get out of this place…?"
"… Mammoth and Zero are helping him load our stuff, Robin is making sure we're not forgetting anything, and Jinx is… well… I dunno… I guess she's just following Zero's around, making sure he's OK." The green shapeshifter explained with a sheepish grin, exposing a single small fang. "My guess is we'll be able to leave before much longer; least, I really… REALLY… hope so…"
Terra's head rose and she cocked it curiously. "Huh? Did something happen to Zero?"
Beast Boy suddenly found all eyes on him, and sweatdropped. "Uh… well… see, I'm not really—"
Star interrupted him suddenly, breaking in with a near-hysterical voice. "Is he all right? Is he unharmed? Oh, I think I should die if anything else horrible happens tonight!" She moaned. "Please, tell me friend Zero is safe!"
"He's fine, he's fine; Chill!" Beast Boy insisted, patting Star's hand. There was already one overwrought alien in the room; another was not needed… "But… see……" An awkward pause. "… Something… freaked him out…"
… No one was quite sure how to respond to this odd statement.
"… Like…?" Raven persisted softly, her voice deep and slightly irritated. "Elaborate, please."
"That's it; I don't know! I don't even think Zero has told HER yet, but…… at some point during the night—before that giant… Thing… attacked… he went outside to get some stuff out of Smoke's truck, y'know? And… he came back in…." A beat. "He was shaking, and pale—well, more so than normal—and he wouldn't talk, just seemed to want to curl up and go to sleep… it was weird, Dudes…" He shook his head. "So I think Jinx is really, really worried about him."
Blackfire, her focus shifted slightly from Smoke's absence, shook her head with a slight shudder. "…. What… would be bad enough to freak Zero out like that? I mean, he's been swallowed by a 200-foot skeletal dragon. After that, it's all kinda downhill, don'tcha think…?"
"I dunno." B.B. sighed. "All I know is this: I want out of this place, A.S.A.P.!"
"Amen to that." A voice suddenly broke in from behind them… deep, slightly hoarse, and rumbling good-naturedly. They turned with a start, a collective gasp issuing forth from the group.
… There stood Mammoth in the doorway, looking a little bad-off for lack-of-sleep, but still much like his usual self.
"The Bossman—Robin, that is—told me to tell y'all we're ready. We can go whenever you're set." He turned and looked at a dusty old grandfather clock on the wall. "… Personally, I'm ready to leave now. So hurry it up, will ya?"
"Awww, come ON! You can build a fraggin' supercomputer control network for the Tower, but you can't get a stupid CAR to start?" Gizmo screeched frustratedly at Cy, who was muttering darkly under his breath.
"I'm Tellin' you…! I don't get what the problem is! They were workin' fine earlier tonight; they're in good shape; full tanks of gas on both, no oil change needed, and… headlights, speedometer, the works: It's all in proper operatin' order." Cy snapped. "I Just don't see the damn problem!"
Regardless, the two vehicles had been fully loaded with everyone's luggage and things; it was done… but even the combined ingenuity of Cyborg and Gizmo—with the assistance of Jinx, Robin and Zero (Mammoth had gone to see the others)—still had not been enough to get the things to work.
… And they were, as though not in a hurry enough, in a race against nature; the already dimmed night sky was beginning to grow milky and obscured with foggy storm clouds and flickering moonbeams… a rainstorm was on the way. It was going to get here very, very, very soon….
Robin's masked gaze squinted through the dark at his friends. "Guys… I know you're… under a lot of pressure and all right now, but……" Thunder crashed softly in the distance, though there was no flash of lightning or deluge of cold rain to accompany it… "… We kinda need to hurry… bad weather's getting closer all the time, and I… No, We… REALLY… don't need to spend any more time out here, at all…"
Cyborg started to reply grimly, but was cut off when the front doors of the huge house opened and Mammoth stuck his shaggy head outside of them. "Hey, guys!" He bellowed loud enough to get their attention. "We're gonna be a sec…! Smoke's dumb ass went off chasin' rats, and Ghost is hidin' someplace… we gotta find them before we can go…"
"Take your time." Robin groaned, fed up with the situation. "Looks like we won't be going anywhere for a short while anyway…"
Mammoth nodded and left to go help search for the previously mentioned pair of bunglers; with the sound of shutting doors, he was gone.
Robin… after a moment of tense silence… scratched the side of his head thoughtfully. "… What did he mean, 'chasing rats'…?"
"So they're both missin'?" Cy asked, grinning despite his foul mood. "Well… in that case, I'd say… more like chasin' bats!"
"……." Smoke froze in place, willing himself to take another step, but held to the spot by a paralyzing numbness.
Ghost blinked. "I say…. What's Wrong with you?"
… There in the middle of the floor that stood between them and the next room, sat a fat, slimy brown cockroach; wriggling its antennae and jerking erratically as it scuttled along the tile floors, clicking and hissing.
"Uh… y-you… first…" Smoke said, suddenly sidestepping and placing himself behind Ghost, who stared perplexed behind his monocle.
"Uh… Um… thanks… I guess…" Ghost stuttered. "… Wait… Is something the matter…?"
He seemed oblivious of the huge bug's presence.
"N-no… f-fine, just…" Smoke gulped. "Just go!" He shoved Ghost roughly into the room.
Ghost shrugged and strode across the floor to the next doorway… and paused when the bug wriggled and hissed by his foot. Although he gasped and flinched back at first, he sighed with relief seeing it was only a little roach.
"Just a bug…" He murmured to himself. "Shoo!" He said, brushing it out of the room with his sandals. "Shoo…!"
In his rush, he accidentally knocked it slightly over towards Smoke…
Within seconds, the gunman had uttered an incredulously feminine squeak and had leapt onto a large wooden chair on one leg, brandishing a revolver wildly.
"What the—" Ghost froze, staring. "… What on Earth are you doing?"
"Are you crazy?" Smoke yelped. "Get that thing away from me!"
Ghost blinked… looked at the bug on the floor… looked at Smoke on the chair… at the bug… at Smoke… at the bug… at Smoke…
And covered his mouth as he attempted to stifle a fit of chuckles.
Smoke looked as though he couldn't decide to shoot at the bug or shoot at Ghost, as he fumed wildly; Sparks of yellow-green electricity flew in clouds from his eyes and fingertips as static crackled in his spiky hair. "The Hell are you laughin' at?" He demanded, balling a sparking fist in a threatening manner.
"N-nothing." Ghost said with a wry smile. "Just… didn't know you loathed insects that much." With that, he picked up the writhing bug and tossed it out a nearby window; it scuttled off into the night, and it disappeared.
"…" Smoke looked as though he'd like to respond, but apparently, he couldn't think of anything whatsoever—or was simply too flustered to do so. He just humphed and gritted his teeth, walking roughly beside Ghost and through to the next room.
Ghost stood there for a moment, feeling deeply guilty for that chortling he'd let slip a moment ago. … After all, someone who was scared of the dark at age sixteen—for that's how old Ghost was—certainly had little room to laugh at someone for being freaked out by bugs…
After a few seconds of hesitation and careful consideration of his wording, he jogged forward and quickly caught up with Smoke. He opened his mouth once, but blanched and no sound came out. He took a deep breath… and opened it a second time; he then managed to find his voice, shaky though it was.
"Erm… Smoke…"
"Yeah?" Said pyromaniac grunted, giving the ninja a withering glare.
"I should probably—um, that is, I'd like to… er… apologize… so…" He paused with a gulp. "… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed."
Smoke stopped and turned, looking at him oddly. "…. Why?"
Ghost shifted uncomfortably, and realized for the first time his short stature compared to Smoke. "Uh-um… well… I mean, it's really not a terribly important matter, that you're frightened of bugs, and—"
"I ain't scared." Smoke growled gruffly. "Just… d-don't… like 'em…"
Considering Smoke's track-record for honesty—such as it was—and the uncharacteristic quivering of his voice, it quickly became perfectly clear that the young gunman was lying through his teeth. He was terrified of bugs, and he knew it as well as Ghost did. The ninja decided not to comment…
"Well…. I'm just… sorry I laughed, is all." He finished up sheepishly.
"…… Grrr…" Smoke proceeded promptly to mutter something incoherent, gnashing his teeth grouchily has he did so.
"……" Ghost flinched slightly. "Erm… d-d-didn't… quite get that…" he said with a strained smile, actually fearing for his safety at this point.
Smoke wheeled around and glowered at him, prompting a cower, but his glare softened somewhat after a moment and he shrugged his wiry shoulders. "… S'no big deal." Smoke murmured. "… C'mon… the others ought to be right up this way… and if I know Blackfire, she's gonna kill me…"
A Little Bit Later.
Sure enough, when Smoke opened up the door to the room he figured they were in, there they were: Everyone—save for Robin, Jinx, Zero, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Cyborg, who were all outside—was gathered in the room, waiting tensely for the vehicles to start… an endeavor that Cyborg and Gizmo had not, I'm sorry to say, had much luck in.
… And also par for his predictions, he also found himself tackled to the floor very quickly.
"Where have you been?" Blackfire screeched. "Do you have any idea how worried we've bee—"
Before she could finish her rant, and before Smoke could think up a good excuse, he was saved, so to speak, by Ghost, who immediately warped over to Raven with a poof of dark smoke, reappearing in front of her with a relieved smile on his face. "Raven! You're all right."
She blinked and raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Of course. I've been here the whole time… where did you think I was?"
"I don't know!" he said. "… You went to see Beast Boy and Terra…" He gulped audibly. "But, you were gone so long, I… was starting to worry…"
"I thought you were still up in the room…" Raven said, suddenly appearing cross. "… You haven't been wandering around, have you?"
Ghost shifted uncomfortably in his sandals and avoided her gaze somewhat. "Well… I mean…" He trailed off hesitantly. "You'd been gone so long, and… it was eerie up there by myself… so… I… I, um…"
"Came looking for me." Raven finished, exasperatedly; it was not a question.
Ghost nodded with an embarrassed smile.
… The tense, awkward silence of the moment was broken by Smoke's labored grunt. "Uh… Listen… Blackfire... could ya get off? I'm havin' a hard time breathin'…"
She flinched, remembering that she was on top of Smoke, hand poised half-raised in the air with palm facing down in slapping position. But by this time, her anger had alleviated somewhat, and so, she sighed heavily and hugged his neck instead, grateful to see him unharmed.
"Where have you been?" She asked for the second time. "…. What… what were those noises?"
"Just Ghost." Smoke said absent-mindedly… "… Uh… you ain't mad, are you?" He asked hopefully.
She shook her head, and raised her hand with her index finger and thumb a tiny space a part to signify a 'little bit.' "… Well… I was, a little… but… I'm glad you're all right. Just, Please don't run off alone like that. If another… monster or something… had come out…"
"I woulda shot it." Smoke said simply. Blackfire moaned and slapped her forehead. It was exactly that sort of trigger-happy, nonchalant, I'm-invincible attitude that worried her so. But she didn't say anything more…
Beast Boy cleared his throat, as though to get everybody's attention. When all gazes turned to him, he jerked his gloved thumb towards the front doors and stated: "Uh… Since everyone's here, now… Shouldn't we like… leave…?"
"If they've managed to get the vehicles to work." Terra added. "Geeze… what a rotten place to have them start screwing up."
"All the same, I think we ought to go check…"
Cyborg knew something was amiss… as he wiped the sweat from his half-metal brow, and sighed with exhaustion, he felt a presence…. Something that shouldn't have been there. A cold chill ran down his back, despite its mechanical composition…
He looked over… there stood Gizmo, still peering under the hood of Smoke's truck and murmuring grouchily… Robin and Jinx were talking while Mammoth lifted up the back end of the T-Car so that Zero could peer underneath and make sure nothing was busted or broken, which it didn't seem to be at all….
Cyborg shook his head and sighed. Everything seemed to be fine—well… all things considered, pretty good, at least—but… he had a feeling of foreboding welling up within him and couldn't quite put his robotic finger on why he had it.
"If nothing else…" Robin said softly, nodding. "We can call Titans East, via communicator. They can pick us up and get us back to the Tower…"
"But I still don't get it… they were working when we got here and on the way!" Jinx said, motioning to the vehicles parked out front. "I mean… how on Earth did they break down in a couple hours' time?"
A crash of thunder, and a flash; lightning lit the sky as nature's bellicose rumble filled the air…
"I don't know." Robin said miserably. "… I just… don't… know…"
… There was suddenly a tapping sound, followed almost immediately by a few more. As each present felt a tiny splash on his or her head, they all looked up, realizing the rain was starting…
"Come on… everybody back in the house…" Robin said grimly. "We don't need anyone catching pneumonia."
As he turned, the others began to follow him…
The pitter-pattering of raindrops grew into multitudes, forming one collective hiss as the dripping became a deluge, pouring down rain onto the unlucky Teens, all of whom went running towards the front door of the house, or, at least, to the roofed façade above, which would keep them out of the rain.
Cyborg was the last to start moving, and as he turned to look, he noticed… a change, though he couldn't say what…
The lightning flashed, and he saw it clearly. The T-Car, as well as Desperado, were both just a bit farther up… weren't they…? They had been parked a bit back… farther back than this…
… Cyborg shook his head with a grumble, dismissing it as imagination and started walking to catch up to the others…
… Vrrooom… vrum, vrum… Vroooooum!
Cyborg froze. He turned slowly.
… And realized he was suddenly looking into a pair of headlights that was growing rapidly closer. He yelled aloud hoarsely, and acted on instinct; with a single leap, he flew through the air and rolled on the muddy swampland ground, clearing the space where he'd nearly been run down. He gasped, and scrambled to his feet, wild-eyed.
… The T-Car was moving. He could vaguely hear Robin's alarmed shout and a scream from Jinx as it raced towards them; Robin turned and ran, as Mammoth—in seconds—lifted Zero, Gizmo, and Jinx onto his shoulders like sacks, and began dashing at startling speed towards the door…
"…!" Starfire's head snapped up. "Does… anyone else… hear a strange sound…?" She asked hesitantly.
… No one replied, but rather, they simply gazed upon her with surpise.
After a moment, Smoke and B.B.—the two with the sharpest hearing of the group—perked their ears, and listened.
"I hear… something…" Smoke grunted. "… What about you, B.B.?"
"…" The shape shifter paused. "Yeah… yeah… same here… but… can't tell what it is." Suddenly… his eyes widened… "Wait a minute, sounds… like… an engine…?"
"A car…" Smoke clarified.
"You think they finally got them cranked?" Terra asked hopefully, ready to leave as soon as humanly possible.
Before anyone could answer, the optimism of the moment was shattered.
The door was yanked open with a deafening crash, as Robin ran in panickedly, beckoning in Mammoth, who stooped quickly under the doorframe and dropped Zero, Gizmo, and Jinx roughly on the ground; Robin slammed the door behind them.
"Go! GO! EVERYBODY GET BACK!" Robin yelled, running towards the rear of the room, and diving behind a couch. "Get down!"
… The room exploded in a blinding light and the walls crumbled, the roar of shattering plaster and rough cast mingling with the tinkle of crackling glass and the moan of bending metals; sparks and a few jets of flame lit the room; Starfire and Terra could be heard to scream vaguely over the sound of chaos. Chairs went flying to the rear of the room as the T-Car's front hood, as though in slow motion, penetrated the front wall of the house, grinding with a hideous screech and rushing with lethal speed at the unprepared Titans…
… As quickly as it had come, it was over…
There was only the sound of smoke and sizzling, the room slowly coming apart at the front, where the car had crashed violently.
……. Robin and Beast Boy were the first to crawl upwards from the ground… slowly, shakily, and staring at the T-Car—virtually unscathed due to its armor—sitting there with headlights on, halfway through the wall of the house with sparks and shattered glass and mortar falling slowly through the air like raindrops…
"……" Blackfire rose next, breathing heavily with rapid gasps, and looking as though on the verge of a panic attack. Smoke pulled himself up, yanking a leg from under a wooden beam that had been sent flying in the blast… he stumbled over to her, and leaned onto her shoulder, both of them staring silently at the wreckage…
A chunk of the wall gave out and Cyborg stumbled in, panting. "Is everybody OK?" He hollered.
Starfire was just helping Terra up, her already sore ankle probably having been made that much more so by the fact she'd been sent flying into the back wall… thankfully, she seemed fairly unharmed save that ankle and a small bleeding scrape along the forehead, covered mostly by her hair…
Jinx and Zero clung to each other, but both of them were little more than freaked out, not actually injured. They nodded silently their assent that they were unharmed.
"Ghost…? Ghost!" An alarmed voice pierced the silence; it was Raven. She was digging through a small pile of dust and debris in the far corner of the room behind an overturned armchair… she desperately shoved handfuls of junk away, finally gasping from relief when she found Ghost lying still underneath.
Almost instantly, Zero and Robin had rushed over, to help her lift him up…
As Gizmo tottered upright a few feet away with a groan, and Mammoth helped up some of the others, Robin pulled away Ghost's sleeve and put a finger to his dark skin whilst Zero lifted him and placed him on the armchair, which he had righted.
… A distinct beating was felt in his flesh, and he was warm; thus, he had a pulse. Soft, shaking breaths wafted from his open mouth.
Raven, relieved he was all right but still worried, immediately tried to wake him as Robin went over to try to soothe Starfire—who was now in hysteric tears, as opposed to her sister who was simply stunned into silence—and Zero went to go inspect the T-Car with Cyborg. After a moment, it became apparent to Raven that, because there was no injury or mark of harm on Ghost… he must have, thankfully, simply passed out from fright at the sudden catastrophe.
"… Giz! You all right?" Mammoth said, picking up his runty friend in one hand and staring at him concernedly.
Said genius spat a few pieces of gravel and stone from his mouth and glared. "I'd be better, if you.. oh say… PUT ME DOWN!"
"Whatever you say." Mammoth grunted, plopping him back down on the ground.
"Hey!" Robin yelled, getting the group's attention. "… Look… is anyone hurt? I mean, is everybody Ok?"
There was a general murmur to the affirmative.
"Good. Then we—"
He was cut off by a shrill creak. The boy wonder, falling silent suddenly, turned towards the source of the soft noise.
… The door to the driver's side of the T-Car had swung open.
There was a moment of stunned silence. Eventually, Robin began walking forward…
There on the seat, inexplicably placed, was an envelope of heavy parchment sealed formally, much similar—if not identical—to the first note Robin had received from… Thorne…
Thorne… that name… who was he, and what did he want…?
As though by reflex, he grabbed the note of the seat and drew his hand back abruptly, as though afraid the car door might slam on his arm or something… he slowly paced backwards… and began opening it up…
He read the enclosed letter softly to himself; it was written in the same scrawled, but loopy and fancy handwriting… in red ink…
'No use trying, I'm afraid. Kitchen is in rear of first floor; take the left-most hallway from the grand foyer and proceed towards the end. Bedrooms, as you know, are upstairs. You cannot leave the house. Do not attempt to escape; you will regret it. Give my regards to young ladies that had a fright with my pet; do hope they'll be all right. Enjoy your stay...
Cheers, --E. Thorne'
… The letter and envelope both fell to the dusty carpet with a barely audible tap… lightning crashed in the background, lighting up Robin's grim face as he lifted his visage towards his friends.
"… Everybody get to the foyer. We need to talk." He stated calmly, but with suppressed urgency. "… I don't think we're leaving just yet."
TO BE CONTINUED...