Chapter 4: A Disasterous Ceremony
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"Raven..." Matthew repeated.

"Yeah." Nightengale returned her mask to her face. "Don't get used to the name, Pretty Boy. You call me that only when I don't have this costume on. Do not blow my cover."

He was intimidated by her. That was obvious. He wanted to contradict her, especially considering how strict she was being. But he knew at this point it wouldn't be the wisest idea. He'd get her to soften up by the end of this. At least he hoped so.

"It's not worth getting killed for."

Nightengale nodded.

"Glad we're on the same page. Follow me. And try to keep up." She started climbing up the fire escape to the roof of the Wilson Corp. building. Matthew scrambled to follow her before she got too far away.

Should I say something? No. I'm screwed if she finds out. Then again...I'm screwed anyway. He sighed. You're fine man. I'll just have to think of something. Not now though. Later.

When he got to the top she was swiftly rolling, jumping, and sliding around the miscellaneous bits of machinery that poke out from the roof of the building as she made her way to the edge just to do it all again on the next rooftop.

Don't do it.

He resisted his urges and instincts and followed her. He actually kept up with her rather well. Even though he was rather skinny, he'd kept in pretty good shape.

Suddenly, she stopped and peered over the edge of the roof.

"What are you doing?" Matthew asked confusedly.

"We need to get down there." She pointed to a parking garage. "Can you get down there?"

"What do I look like? A bird?" He replied. Nightengale glared at him.

"No, not really. But you're going to fly like one." She grabbed his wrist and jumped off the roof. He had to resist the urge to scream in fear of Nightengale just making it that much worse for him. 

WHYYYYY.

She quietly rolled as she landed, then caught him in the air with a black saucer that slowly lowerey him down.

He didn't even question it.

"Thanks."

She scoffs, "Don't mention it." She answered in a low voice. "Seriously." After turning on her heels, she began to walk away. Sensing that he was beginning to follow her, she stopped. "Wait here."

He obeyed.

Within 5 minutes, a black maglev car with blue headlights pulled out of the garage. In the driver's seat was a woman with purple hair and black, floppy brimed hat.

"Get in." The door opened upwards and he got in.

"Nightengale?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose: "I told you, it's Raven." She pulled out slowly made her accelerated the car.

"Lemme guess, you were going to the Grayson Inc. offices for the ceremony?"

"It's a good start, Matthew." She said, defending her decision: "I had planned to go anyway. As long as you stay in the car and don't interfere everything will go smoothly. Just stay on the outside of everything and watch. I might need to leave quickly."

"Raven, I'm not here to car sit."

"No, but you are my partner, pretty boy. And we're working together. This is all part of the plan." She claims patronizingly. "Don't worry. You'll be very useful." She handed him a black bluetooth. "To keep in touch."

"Would you quit calling me that?!"

She immediately answered "no." Not even batting an eyelash.

The ride to the office building was long. Not in the sense of time, but in the sense that it was a bit awkward. It really only took them ten minutes. Raven was content, but Matthew was not enjoying how he was being treated by her. She was acting as if she was the leader of this operation. And even if she was, the condescending tone she'd gotten with him was not appreciated in the slightest.

Raven parked the car as close to the action as she could and prepared to exit the car.

"Where are you going to be?" Matthew asked.

"In the middle of the crowd probably. I'm just trying to scope the area. This isn't a normal job so I have to change up my strategies a little." She steps out of the car and pulls herself together: "Be careful over here. Don't get me caught." She got out of the car and disappeared into the crowd.

He spoke as soon as the door shut and she was a ways away from the car: "'Don't get me caught.'" He mocked. "If anything I can't get caught. Especially with her." He mumbled. He looked at his hand, then at his watch. "Ok."

Raven awaited in the crowd for someone, most likely Beast Boy or Robin, to come out onto the stage.

"Good evening everyone." Speak of the devil. Robin was on stage and greeted the people as the whole crowd gave an obstreperous reply. He had on a white dress shirt with a red work tie. He had black work pants and loafers as well. Quite casual for him actually. Most of the time he's clad in a suave black or navy suit: "The ceremony will begin shortly. We're just waiting for Beast Boy." The crowd went wild just hearing his name. Raven crossed her arms and shook her head in absolute disappointment of and disgust in the human race as a whole, passing judgement on everyone as had become a habit of hers.

"Ugh..."

Just then, a green hawk started circling overhead Robin. It screeched and the crowd roared again.

"Get down here Beast Boy." Robin ordered. The green bird of prey took a nose dive and morphed back into the familiar green human before he slammed his head on the stage. Good thing too. Or else he would have been out of commission for the rest of the night. Well, to Raven that would've been a blessing.

"Hello!" He greeted the audience. "Sorry I'm late, Rob. I was doing something." He cupped the mic of his headset with his hand and leaned over to Robin. He took a long, disapproving sigh and probably rolled his eyes behind his dark shades.

Beast Boy had on basically the same thing as Robin did except with a different color scheme. He had a dark green dress shirt with a purple tie and his pants were maroon instead of black.

"Just do this Gar. These are mostly your fangirls anyways." Robin replied obviously ticked off about something.

I wonder what they're saying. Dick doesn't look to be in a good mood.

"You do your job Dick, and I do mine."

"Fine. Do it then." Robin directs his attention to the audience, making sure to get Beast Boy out of his sight entirely.

"Nice evening isn't it Jump City?!" He uncovered the microphone and turned on entertainer mode. His mannerisms and voice all reflected the energy he wanted the crowd to have plus some. The audience readily replied with applause and cheers.

"We've got a nice little suprise for you all tonight that I'm sure you all have been waiting for!"

A mixture of excited yes's and squeals rang out.

"But before we reveal the suprise, let's reveal the new line of Maglev products!" Beast Boy said enthusiastically.

"Vic? Star?" Robin motioned to the side of the stage.

The Tin Man and the Tangerine as Raven liked to call them, stepped out onto the stage. The Tangerine in a formal purple dress at her knees, gold star-shaped earrings, and simple heels to match the dress.

On the other hand, Tin Man literally just had a blazer on over his metal body. That's the most he wears anyway. A coat. Usually a lab coat or a jean jacket for when he's working with mechanical products.

"Hello wonderful citizens of Jump City! We would be overjoyed to introduce,"

"The new Rec Maglev collection!" Beast Boy finished her sentence. Cyborg pressed a few buttons on his arm and the floor of the stage lowered, only to rise back up with a skateboard, rollerblades, skates, and a bike. All without the wheels with magnets in their place.

Ooh's and Aah's came from the crowd. Even Raven was intrigued. She tried to look back at the car but due to her poor positioning, she couldn't see a thing over this behemoth of a man standing a few people behind her.

"You may have noticed all the construction on the sidewalks lately." Cyborg started. "We have been installing maglev tracks in the sidewalks so all of you can skate or bike without the threat of running somebody over!"

"That sentence sounded way too positive for what he said." She said to herself.

"This is part of our initiative to make the city safer while expanding development as a city. Personally I think we've achieved that goal so far." He looked to his comrades and they all nodded with smiles.

Except for Beast Boy.

She could sense that his wasn't genuine. He wasn't in a good mood either. At least not with Robin beside him who she felt was faking it just as much as he was. "But now we are leaving it up to you all to choose what comes next. This is your city after all. Every store in the city has a terminal in which you can submit your ideas." Robin explained further.

"There are a few rules and restrictions to the voting process, but instead of talking your ears off now, it would be more beneficial for you to go online to view them. That way you can make an educated decision to aid our educated society!" Starfire smiled warmly as they listened intently. Everyone loved this woman for the exact reasons why Raven was annoyed by her.

"Now for the suprise!" Beast Boy continues. "We'll choose someone from the audience to come and try out our prototypes! Don't worry if you don't get picked though! The final products will be in stores in a month." They all had their hands raised. Every last one of them. Even Raven did. Only for the mission though. Otherwise she wouldn't even be there in the first place.

Beast Boy scanned the sea of people until his eyes stopped on one particular, unenthusiastic, stolid, unwilling female in the crowd, who was hardly even paying attention at that point. Absentmindedly volunteering for something she wanted nothing to do with.

"You, in the black hat!" He pointed to her. This snapped her back into the real world.

"Me?" She pointed to herself.

"Yes you! C'mon! Don't be shy." She was about to refuse because she realized her idea was a very stupid idea. But the people around her forcibly pushed her up to the stage.

I hate people.

"What's your name?" He asked her as she got her bearings. Everyone listed intently waiting for her to answer.

"Nonya." She replied sharply.

"Huh?"

"Nonya Business." She crossed her arms. The crowd laughed including the other three of the businessmen and woman on stage with them. Beast Boy on the other hand was a little embarrassed.

"Looks like not everyone likes you BB." Cyborg said, which only increased his embarrassment.

"Uh...yeah...well... what's your actual name? There's no harm in telling us."

If he only knew.

"Rachel." She answers into a handheld mic.

"Well Ms. Rachel, which one would you like to try first?" He gestured to the pile of products on the side of the stage. Robin then noticed her footwear.

"Maybe you'll want a different pair of footwear for this Miss?" Raven shot a glare back.

"Thank you, but I am perfectly capable of doing this without your cheap, off-brand, and out of class sneakers." A collection of ooh's came from everyone not on the stage. The ones on the stage other than Raven were a little stunned. They had never seen anyone who had this much obvious sass towards them. Everyone loved them and that's all they've ever experienced.

Raven knew that doing this in her heels was unsafe, but she had done it before. Multiple times actually, and she was all but afraid to try again. She grabbed the one thing she knew she wouldn't fail at. The skateboard.

The crowd cheered as she preformed a myriad of tricks including 180s, ollies and nollies, and plenty of kick-flips. It was like she had practiced them for years.

In reality, she had to practice for an assignment she was given some 3 years ago and she retained a lot of the knowledge.

"Decent board. You might want to decrease the strength of the magnets. At the velocity someone will be going, at this'll very difficult to maneuver. Definitely consider the vector quantities as well unless you want someone to go flying of the thing and break their ankle." She explained this on instinct. It was her job after all to check other people's work.

Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg were taken aback, and Robin, intrigued.

"Hm." Robin's hand went to his chin.

"Uh oh." Said Beast Boy apprehensively.

"What?" Raven asked.

"That's his, 'I've got an idea face.'" Cyborg explained.

"And that's bad?"

"It definitely can be." Starfire replied.

"Would you just happen to be looking for a job? We could use some of that thinking at the company." Robin walked up to her. He didn't tower over her, but he was about a head taller.

I already have a job, but this would get me closer to them. Much closer.

She grinned as she answered.

"Maybe." She sid this sounding very coy and placed her arms behind her back, standing a tad mischievously.

The crowd pushed for her to take the job immediately, but she wanted to toy with them. Show them she wasn't a suck-up. Eventually she'd fall into the sycophantic ways akin to a femme fatale in order to gain their trust, but now was not the time nor place to engage in that.

Now was the time and place to engage in something completely different.

She fiddled with her hands out of view of anyone, and then all lights cut out.

"What is happening??" Starfire asked in fear. She clung onto her husband, who returned the reassuring grasp. Raven stood next to Beast Boy. He wasn't paying attention to her, so she examined his face quickly.

Hmm...interesting...

"I don't know Kori."

A devious and sultry laugh rang out, seemingly coming from every direction possible. The people in stage frantically looked around, Raven playing a pretty good act.

Something black soared swiftly over the crowd, then in the same manner over the stage. The black figure landed on one knee on the stage, scaring the ever-living crap out of everyone on it.

It was Nightengale.

Everyone screamed bloody murder and ran every which way. They looked like a swarm of bees. It was chaos.

"Aww, leaving so soon?" She caught all of them in a black stasis beam and every single person in the audience froze.

"Hello Richard, Victor, Koriand'r," She turned, "Garfield." Nightengale finished, scowling. "What a pleasure to meet you in person, face to face." No one could move. No one could speak. They had never been this close to the assassin before and nor did they want to be. Raven still kept up her act.

"I've been waiting to meet you for quite a long time. I figured tonight was the perfect way to introduce myself."

"We know who you are." Robin spat back at her. She cocked her head to the side and walked towards him.

"Do you? But I haven't even told you my name."

"Nightengale..." Starfire stated in fear.

"Oh, so you do know me. Let's skip the introductions then shall we?" She pushed him off the stage and he landed on his back, giving the trained killer enough time to pin him down with her foot, her heel digging into his chest and point a knife to his throat. The others jumped off the stage to help, Raven following, but they all froze when she raised a hand gun their way.

"You four have put yourself in a pretty tight spot. Especially recruiting people as you see fit. They, for some reason, cannot help but be infatuated with you just because of your mere presence in the same general vicinity. They follow you like servants. Pathetic."

The others wanted to step in but nothing came from their lips.

"Wow. This may be the first time I've left a room speechless." She withdrew the knife and her foot, but the gun remained in place. "You think I'm going to kill him now?" She responds to their confused faces. "As much as I would like to, my assignment entails...something a bit different. But trust me when I say you will be dead before the summer begins." She released the people and they continue their interrupted fleeing.

"Later, Graysons." She left in a black shroud and the lights turned back on.

"Robin! Are you alright?" Starfire and Cyborg helped him up.

"Looks like we'll need to add some heavy security to the Tower." He answered.

"Are you ok Ms. Rachel?" Beast Boy asked.

"I–I'm fine." She said pretending to look a little shaken up.

"More security cameras will be installed by the morning, Dick." Cyborg assured.

"Great. I'm going to get more guards and police to be outside the building at all times. New security protocols, issue everyone a new keycard please Cy."

"On it. I'll reprogram the locks right now."

"What about her?" Beast Boy asked pointing to 'Rachel'. The three of them looked at eachother.

"Well, it's not like my offer doesn't still stand." He replies.

"Really Dick?!" Starfire exclaimed.

"As much as I want to agree with you, he's right, Star. We need that brain of hers."

"I agree, but now is not the best time! What would she be? She cannot be the body guard!"

"She can be our personal assistant. That'd work right? We need one." Beast Boy inquired.

"Hmm. Whaddya say, Ms. Rachel?" She pretended to think a while. She checked her phone for the time.

"Alright. But I need to get home. Here is my email." She handed Beast Boy a slip of paper she had wrote on and bolted, acting very scared and shook from what just happened.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Dick?" Cyborg asked.

"Personally, I think we need all the help we can get." Beast Boy looked at the slip on his hand and sighed.