A fallen Knight? (Titans)

All is dark, all is quiet. The resident Titans are either asleep, hard at training, or out fighting crime, because evil never rests. And what a better time for evil that 0100 in the morning? But evil is such a relative term. True, there are those who mean only to destroy, but not every tale is black and white. Sometimes the forces we believe to be good, those we trust with our lives are those we should fear the most. Sometimes those we cast out are those who fight and lay down their lives for us. Who is sane? Who is mad? Who among men can judge either of these? Is there a line between sanity and madness? Or are we all trapped in our own asylums? Who can really say for sure? How does anyone properly judge another? One man was judged by all: Zack Wylder. To some, he was a monster, a killer who reveled in sowing terror among his victims, laughing maniacally through his eternal grin. To others, Wylder was a hero. A man beset by terror and pain and hatred on all sides, yet a man who never gave up. A man who fought with everything he had against those who would do harm to the innocent, fighting with his life to protect his friends from every threat - from without and within. A monster, a hero, one and the same man. Both sides of the same coin, and both had been missing for ages. Wylder had become a ghost, even more so than he was while he had been present. Zack had been growing increasingly antisocial and unstable before his disappearance. In a final act of desperation, he reached out to his fellow Titans, but he went unanswered. Soon after, he vanished without a trace.
The alarms in the Titans tower blared, sirens burning into the eardrums of its inhabitants. A jacket was draped over a chair in the main community room of the tower. A brown leather jacket with creme stripes down the outsides of the arms. It was stiff, as if lined with something. It was a jacket everyone who knew Zack recognized immediately. Awake, asleep, training, fighting, or relaxing, he was never seen without it. He had even been seen once walking back to his room from the shower wearing nothing but a towel and that jacket. And now it across a chair in the main ops room of the Titans tower. Covered in blood. Four gashes, like the claw of some terrible monster stretched in a diagonal pattern across the back, between where the shoulder blades of it's wearer would have been. This is where the blood was thickest. It was still wet, dripping onto the floor, vibrant and crimson. Upon closer inspection, a grey dust is found on the sleeves of the jacket, and there is dirt on the front of it, as well as stuck in the zipper. Behind the chair, on the wall, was something even more disturbing: a chess piece, specifically a bishop, carved in the wall in crisp, clean, deep cuts. Beneath it, the words "Your Knight is waiting, oh dear children. Dead, or alive? That, you must find. But where, oh where dear children?"

Ray was sound asleep, she couldn't sleep lately because of the nightmares she has been having but of course, the alarms go off. Ray jumped out of bed and screamed, but quickly quieted herself. She threw on pajama pants and a cami, then ran out her bedroom door where she would run through the halls. She didn't feel like waking anyone up, most of them would be up anyways either from this alarm or other Titan deeds.
Ray got tired of running so she flew the rest of the way where she would safely land in the main ops room. She scratched her head and looked around, something caught her eye, a jacket. Ray walked towards it, rubbing her eyes, and looked at the torn up thing.
It was bloodied, dirty, ripped, and just abused! She didn't want to pick it up but another thing caught her eye, a chess piece.
Now Ray wasn't one for geeky games like chess, but she knew it had to be a clue for something. Ray placed her hands on her hips and observed the writing on the wall. She was one for a prank, but if this was a prank, it was cruel. Ray shoved that thought out of her head and studied the text once more. She didn't get any of this, a ripped bloodied jacket and a chest piece. Who was doing this and why?
Ray traced her fingers along the wall which the writing was on and waiting for another Titan to come down to observe the mess Ray had come across.

Kunoichi, fast asleep during this time was startled awake as the alarms blared and filled the titans tower. Scurrying out of bed she opened her room door and looked up and down the hall. She then ran down and made it to the elevator and made her way to the main ops room where she saw a fellow titan. "What is it?" She asked Ray as she stepped into the room. She examined the room further and saw a very familiar jacket, one she knew she's seen before. Her eyes widened slightly in concern as she noticed the gazes and blood stains. She picked up the Jacket by the color and continued to examine it. "Zack?" she whispered as if only asking herself?
She then turned her attention to the writing that Ray had been looking at. She then read it and the worried look she was carrying grew.

As Kunoichi lifted the heavy jacket, it became apparent that something was inside. As the fabric moved, the rustling of paper could be heard. Upon closer inspection, a small map was found. It detailed most of Jump City and the surrounding countryside. Zack (or someone else) had scribbled all over it: notes and drawings and completely illegible scratches. What little that was legible was nonsense. All over, L.A.W. was mentioned, and several areas had been crossed off the map. There were letters scrawled on the back in someone else's handwriting:

"Look and seek or run and hide, that is your choice Tonight.
Tread with care, oh children beware, for the L.A.W. wants you to Obey.
The place you seek, is not for the meek, and is perpetually Morbid.
You have all you need, now make with speed, lest there occur the spilling of Blood."

It was obviously a riddle, but what did it mean? Who had left it? And what was the endgame?
Perhaps only Zack knew for sure.

"Riddles... my forte." A voice said.

Hotwire walked in.

"Let me see that, and I'll tell you what it means. Sounds like we're talking about an old titan. And if we have hero blood spilled, then I'll put all my high-powered brain cells into it."

Terry walked in, suited up and everything. He had come back from patrol as fast as possible, and had found this scene. Hotwire, Ray, and another Titan he hadn't had the pleasure of meeting yet.

Got here as fast as I could. What's going on here?

Terry noticed the blood, and pressed a button on his wrist.

Aeon. I'd like all security footage of this room and all paths to it linked up to my suit from the past two hours.

Terry began looking through it for any signs of entry.

"Of course, mister McGinnis" Aeon chirped, and pulled up security footage as well as a list of the people who had entered and the corresponding times. "This one in particular seemed odd," Aeon added helpfully, highliting an entry. "Zack Wylder's communicator and DNA were present at 0100, but something was off. The DNA scan passed, and since his communicator was present, the door opened, but mister Wylder himself never appeared on camera. Normally this isn't a problem, mister Wylder was always a little unorthodox: he'd slip past cameras unseen all the time, and his file says he's a stealth expert. But I was always able to catch him on the thermal imaging systems. This time, not even that was present. I made a scan of the tower, and found mister Wylder's jacket in here. When I checked the motion sensors, they indeed had been tripped, which is why I set off the alarm, but whoever entered was never caught on tape or on thermal scans. However, if I may, mister Wyder was quite eccentric, and was obsessed with several images, one of which matches with the chess piece carved on the wall. I do not know what it means, but mister Wylder was also obsessed with an organization called L.A.W. as well as an agent of theirs known as the Nighthawk. Evidently this Nighthawk has another code name - the Bishop. He has attacked the tower before in an attempt to capture or kill mister Wylder, but decided to retreat when several titans came to mister Wylder's aid. Will that be all, sir?" As Aeon had suggested, there were no signs of forced entry.

OOC: Sorry guys.. But I'm back!

IC:

Ray stood up and looked at Kunochi "I don't know, I've never met the guy." Ray said as she examined the chess piece more closely, trying to put pieces together. Ray kind of ignored Hotwire, not wanting to be rude, but there was something that was missing that she couldn't put her finger on. Terry came in and asked Aeon about it and she explained more stuff that wouldn't help them. "Maybe this person was invisible or could become invisible, but that still doesn't explain the heat sensor thing." Ray explained aloud, not caring who was listening. "This could also be a warning from L.A.W or the Bishop, what ever you call him." Ray examined turning towards the other Titans. "I think this calls for a mission, what do you think Aeon?" Ray asked for the others with a smile on her face.

Terry looked over the footage through the lenses inside the Batsuit, while also listening to Aeon as she explained exactly what had happened to everyone else. She said that Zack Wylder's communicator and DNA had been present at the time, but that he had avoided the cameras. While this was normal for him, this time, she couldn't sense him on thermal imaging.

Fortunately, Aeon detailed something useful: That Wylder was always obsessed with chess pieces, and that an agent of L.A.W., codename Bishop (The piece inscribed on the wall), was always after Wylder and making attempts to capture and or kill him. Terry frowned. He took one look at the wall, before looking back to the jacket. Ray asked if they should go on a mission.

Yeah, Rainbow Dash. But first...

Terry got closer to the jacket, kneeling down and inspecting the blood and powder on it. With his left hand, he put his index finger into the blood, and the other index finger on the powder. The Batsuit had substance analysis capabilities in the fingertips. He started analyzing as Aeon asked if he needed anything else.

Sorry Aeon, there's more things I need from you. First, my suit's analyzing the blood on this jacket. I need you to verify if it's Zack Wylder's or not.

Second, after my suit finishes analyzing this dust, if there's anything unusual about it, or if it's related to previous incidents with the Teen Titans or Bishop and Zack Wylder, let me know.

Third and final, I'd like all information you have on Bishop sent to my suit for me to look at. We can't go out if we don't know what we're looking for.

"Of course, mister McGinnis," Aeon chirped once more. There was a moment's pause before she continued. "I'm afraid results on your first request are inconclusive. It's difficult to say for sure, but it seems the sample you have provided has several donors. However, it would seem that enough of it matches mister Wylder's to say that a substantial portion is indeed his. The powder is mostly made up of concrete, though there are trace amounts of various types of pollen in the mix as well. However analyses of the pollen is odd - the plants they come from are mostly flowers not commonly found together in nature. Perhaps mister Wylder stumbled into a floral arrangement?" Aeon paused again before adding "Uploading all known data on the Bishop to your suit." Moments later, the Bishop's file scrolled past Terry's visor, along with video surveilance of his attack on the tower as well a detailed report from (former? it's been a while and I don't know who's still a titan. 0.o) Titan known as Jak Sage. The Bishop had stalked and attacked him while he was on a date in the city. "Will that be all, mister McGinnis?"

Bishop's profile: Here

Bishop's attack on the tower(only the first page, the rp continues after Nighthawk leaves): Here

Bishop's attack on Jak: Here

Hotwire sat down.

"Alright beyond, where does this leave us. I may be a master detective, but you're a better one, so I yield to your authority on this one."

Emily's room was pretty far from the main ops area. Unlike most of the Titans, she'd made her room next to the danger room. Like literally right next to it. Therefore, unlike the others she had to fly up a floor to get there, and by that point everyone was already there. Having been in a rush, she was really only dressed in some underwear and a tank top, the way she was used to sleeping from the heat of the military facility she was made in.

But anyway, by the time she got there Beyond, Ray, Kunoichi and Hotwire were already there. Fashionably late. And instead she walked in to Aeon talking away at Beyond and most people looking...confused as hell. "Oh, great. I almost don't wanna ask but...what did I miss...?" She asked, sitting in her favorite chair across from Hotwire.

OOC: Silent, the link you provided for Bishop's attack on Sage is the same link as his attack on Zack in the Tower. JaK's not in that thread.

BIC: Terry analyzed the information given to him by Aeon, frowning. The blood on the coat could have been Zack's, but they didn't know for sure. All they knew was that there was more than one person's blood on the coat. The powder turned out to be concrete with traces of pollen, so that didn't help, either. The only certain information he got was information on Bishop, and from what he could see, the situation developing at that moment was only going to get more troublesome.

Hotwire asked Terry what they were going to do. He turned to Hotwire, standing up straight, and raising an eyebrow. Did they want him to lead the mission?

You said it, not me.

Terry kept running over the information in his head. What they had simply wasn't enough. Kunoichi, silent until now, seemed to be looking at a note. Since she didn't have it in her hands, he picked it up to take a look at it himself. It was a map, along with a riddle. Terry matched it up to the writing on the wall; it was the same person.

Look and seek or run and hide, that is your choice Tonight.
Tread with care, oh children beware, for the L.A.W. wants you to Obey.
The place you seek, is not for the meek, and is perpetually Morbid.
You have all you need, now make with speed, lest there occur the spilling of Blood.

Terry paced a bit with his arms crossed, looking at the note.

I'm not getting anything except for the morbid part. And that means the cemetery, to me.

Terry looked back to them.

Alright, let's go check the cem-

There was something peculiar about the note. He looked back to it.

Why did he capitalize every beginning letter on every last word of each line?

Terry looked, before grinning.

I thought it was weird that he didn't use his usual rhymes at the end of the lines.

Look and seek or run and hide, that is your choice Tonight.
Tread with care, oh children beware, for the L.A.W. wants you to Obey.
The place you seek, is not for the meek, and is perpetually Morbid.
You have all you need, now make with speed, lest there occur the spilling of Blood.

That is your choice Tonight, For the L.A.W. wants you to Obey, And is perpetually Morbid, Lest there occur the spilling of Blood.

Tonight, Obey, Morbid, Blood. T-O-M-B. Tomb. He's in the cemetery, like I expected.

Titans, gear up, and move out!

Terry went to the hangar bay, getting in the Batmobile.

Emily groaned, admittedly a little miffed that she had to get up. She just got comfy in that chair too...

Rather than taking long this time, she transformed and shot down to her room in a blast of golden light to throw on some clothes. Mkay, camo pilot pants...which she fell over putting on? Check! As for a shirt...eh, her friends were in trouble and she had her tank top, so who HONESTLY cares?

Opening the window, she jumped out and landed by the garage where Terry was probably at the Batmobile already. Pulling up the massive door with her super strength, she walked in and sat down to wait for the others.

Ray chuckled as she listened to the poem. "Poems are for chumps." Ray commented quietly, ignoring the new comers. She stood up and listened in on Terry and how he was decoding the poem. She took little tabs on each phrase, then once Terry made his decision, he ran out telling the Titans to gear up. Ray shrugged, they really had no say, but at least he figured it out. She ran over to the note, picked it up, then zoomed into her bedroom then zoomed back out in all gear. "5 seconds flat!" Ray announced as she flew after Terry.

She saw him pull out and flew next to his window. She had to slow down to match his pace, but at least he knew where they were going.