"I still say Darkfire sounds good."
"It's way too close to Star's sister."
"Agreed! If she was to find out you gave a name so similar to hers to someone she would be quite displeased."
"Yeah, but isn't she a villain anyway?"
Robin rubbed his head as he walked into the living room where the team was talking about what he suspected was the very person he'd been looking into far too last night. "What are you all talking about?" He asked as he went to the counter and grabbed himself some waffles. Just because he hadn't slept yet didn't mean he couldn't have breakfast.
"A name for that masked villain!" Beast Boy was, of course, the most enthusiastic. How he'd roped everyone else in was - well not really a mystery. He probably just asked as they were all eating.
Robin sat down "What if it turns out that using fire is only a small part of their kit and they were just hiding the rest?"
"Or-" Cyborg began "they drop the fire thing and change their look?"
Raven hummed as she ate but apparently BB had needled her enough to the point she was invested. "As long as they still used fire you could claim it was metaphorical."
"By why must their name relate to fire? Friend Raven mentioned their possible use of other magics. So, the name need not be so limited, yes?" Starfire offered, causing BB to wilt a little
Cyborg smirked at that, "She's got a good point."
Robin spoke up next "Honestly, naming them with so little knowledge is pretty pointless since anything we learn can change everything."
Beast Boy threw his hands up and groaned "Well-! I dunno man! Usually the bad guys name themselves. It's super awkward to have a criminal who just goes around doing crimes without one."
"Speaking of." Robin grabbed a small remote from his belt that he really hoped he remembered to take off before he finally went to sleep later. A large screen lowered in front of the large window that overlooked the ocean. It displayed what little information he managed to get last night. "They appeared again and completely changed the modus operandi."
"The what now?" Beast Boy and Cyborg both asked together.
Starfire beamed "Oh! I know this one! Modus operandi! Mode of the operation or the operation method. It is how one usually does the things, yes?"
"Thank you Star." Robin said with a nod before pressing another button. It brought up what little information they had about them before "investigating what we know now against past robberies, we know that they tended to hit little places with no cameras. Small smash and grabs basically."
He pressed the button again "but last night they suddenly got much more careful. They hit a middle class convenience store. They were quiet and careful. Outside of this image they destroyed only the cameras they needed to. They seem to have gotten the employee to put in the code and police found them unharmed and unconscious."
"So they got smart. Or at least stopped being lazy." Cyborg muttered as he ate another full waffle. "But it's still small time. I mean, it sucks for the place but we usually deal with more dangerous stuff, you know?"
"But we must not let this scoundrel continue their crimes! What if they get worse?" Starfire countered
Cyborg put his hands up "Look, I'm not saying we shouldn't try to help the police with supers and stuff whenever we can. I'm just saying. Compared to hypnotizing the city or blowing up a building or whatever, this is small potatoes."
"Did the police get anything from questioning the clerk?" Raven spoke up, cutting past the argument.
Robin put it on screen. "It's pretty basic stuff. Just telling them to open the safe, saying that their employer has insurance, the normal kind of script."
"It does say that they felt threatened. But seeing how gently they treated the clerk,I have doubts about the criminal's penchant for violence." Raven noted before she stood up. "Send this to my room. I'll look it over since you put me in charge of this."
Robin blinked for a moment. He had become a little too fixed on the resemblance to Slade that he forgot that he'd basically given this case to Raven when they found out the criminal might have magic. "Right. Will do."
"You gonna finish that?" Cyborg asked as he pointed at her blackberry waffles.
"No."
"Score!"
Raven's renewed interest in this case was three-fold. The first of course was the fact that it was her case. Robin had put her in charge of it.
Second was her personal interest in the villain's powers. She couldn't be sure until she investigated more but if the clerk was put to sleep or unconscious with magic then maybe their abilities are far more versatile than anyone expected.
Third was that she wanted to take the case out of Robin's hands. She could see how tired he was. Everyone probably could. He'd found this link to them with a second of recording and spent time finding possible links to past unsolved robberies.
She hoped that it was just him being over eager but the similarities in the masks and the way he brought up Slade had her worried.
Robin was a good leader and a good friend but when Slade started getting involved he could turn into an idiot. Granted it wasn't without reason. Slade was a terrible enemy. Smart, strong and merciless. But that was all the more reason to get this out of his hands.
She looked over the files Robin sent over. Outside of a similar mask there were no other similarities. They went after money. Small time stuff compared to a lot of the criminals they dealt with. No tech thefts, no chemicals. Just money.
She shook her head. She'd need to look at the store herself.
After changing into something normal, just some jeans and a top (because who wears their costume 24/7?) She left the building and flew to the location.
She landed and after a quick back and forth with the police- (she had pale skin, purple hair and a red gem on her forehead. Did she really need to wear the cloak just for them to recognize her?) -she gained access to the building with an escort and looked around.
"The place looks like it got looted." She observed as she noted the mess all around.
"It was. After the robbery some kids did a smash and grab. They ran past some of the working cameras and we're working on catching them. Until they came, everything looked fine. Employee said the perp didn't even pretend to look around." Her police escort explained.
"So they came in and went straight for the clerk?"
"Blasted a camera, came in, jumped the counter while blasting another one. Shows they did their research."
Raven nodded as she looked at the cameras. "We were thinking the same thing. We're thinking they may have had a hand in some robberies that involved fire before. But they were a lot rougher. I think getting involved in that mob shootout spooked them." She explained. Sure enough, outside of the cameras that were on the immediate path they would have traveled, the others were completely untouched. They completely knew their field of view.
The officer groaned "why couldn't they have been spooked into stopping instead?"
Raven shrugged. "Couldn't tell you." She put her hand out and felt the air around the camera. There was…something there. She didn't try sensing anything before in the alley but now that they were relatively sure it was magic they used…
"Step back please." She said before closing her eyes.
The officer wasn't foolish enough to argue with a hero who said to "step back". Escort or not. "Long as you don't disturb the scene."
"It won't affect anything you can see." She muttered before taking a calming breath “Azarath Metrion Zinthos.”
When she opened her eyes they were bathed in black. Looking at the world through a lens of her own power. So, when she looked at the camera there would be… “Nothing?” She muttered to herself as she looked closer. It was true. There was nothing there. Something like magic fire to melt a camera should leave traces behind. It interrupts the natural flow of the world. Or at least it should. She wasn’t sure why there were no traces left behind but the idea that the criminal’s magic was somehow that harmonious seemed ridiculous.
She moved her head around and looked at the other areas where they would have used magic and sure enough there were no traces there either. That was ridiculous!
“Azarath Metrion Zinthos.” She mumbled as she increased the intensity. Sure enough, there was finally a reaction! But… not from where she expected.
The first one was a spot and small trail leading from the door? Then another a few steps in. Though that one was more just a trail.
The last one was what told her exactly what it was. The spot where they'd found the clerk. An almost perfect white blur of the mask. Maybe the mask was what was giving them power? That was disappointing but made things more urgent. If someone had masks that could give someone magic then they could very well end up with even more of these villains in the future… if they weren't already different people.
Now she was starting to get worried about that masks resemblance.