Title: Like Toy Soldiers
Chapter 1: The Event
Bit by bit, torn apart, we never win; But the battle wages on, for toy soldiers.
It wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be a simple call, just a couple street thugs robbing a bank. We weren't even supposed to be there, but the stupid fuckers somehow got their hands on some armor piercing rounds. So the call came to us. I wasn't really concerned about it, even if the bullets coulda shredded through my metallic parts, and could do some serious damage to my organic sections. But no, I went in my normal, happy, cocky-ass self. My best friend was the same way, even giving one of his terrible jokes when we got the call. What I wouldn't give to hear one right now. See, it all happened like this…
*SCENE TRANSITION AKA FLASHBACK*
The Titans arrived on the scene together, as they always did. Cyborg was in his T-Car with Changeling, formerly Beast Boy, Nightwing (AKA Robin) came on his R-Cycle, and Starfire and Raven flew. Police had the bank surrounded, but hadn't made a move due to the multiple hostages inside, being held at gunpoint. The lieutenant on the scene began briefing the Titans upon their arrival. "We're looking at at least 10 gunmen. Automatic rifles, armor-piercing rounds, the works. They were fully prepared for us. We've made several attempts to make contact, but they refuse to answer the phones."
"That's fine with us," Nightwing replied. "We can handle it from here. We just need the blueprints of the bank, and the location of the fuse box inside, and we should be all set."
Inside the bank, the thugs were getting restless. What was supposed to be a simple grab-and-go job turned into a serious hostage situation, which none of them had planned on. They tried to keep a stone face, only because their boss, Frank, was. Their cool demeanor vanished, however, when the lights went out. "Fuck," Frank exclaimed. "Mark, take Matt and Derek and look for a fuse box. And be careful! This is no normal power outage." The three underlings left in a hurry, while the remaining crooks surrounded the leader, all facing different directions. After what seemed like an eternity standing there, staring into darkness, there was a loud crash, and the sound of grinding. An automatic rifle slid into the feet of the leader Frank. There was a small pause, and then two more rifles slid to his feet. "… The fuck?" Frank said.
The other robbers were on edge, especially once one of them shouted, "Show yourselves, you cowards!"
"Right," A rather care-free voice replied. "You guys are the ones with guns to innocent people's heads, and WE'RE the cowards." 2 other voices laughed. One a more muscular, deeper voice. The other, a light-hearted female voice.
"Well if you aren't cowards, then come out and fight!" Frank challenged the unseen voices.
"You know what they say, sir," A different female voice deadpanned. "You need to be careful what you wish for…"
"You just might get it," Another male voice finished for her, equally monotone. With that, there was a low growl, and with a couple flashes of muzzle fire, Frank could have sworn he saw a green Bengal Tiger. The man was screaming as he was dragged away deeper into the darkness. The 6 remaining men were too stunned to react, and the heroes took advantage. A blue flash whizzed passed the leader, and immediately took out 2 of them. A green flash followed, taking out another 2. Frank looked around, and realized he was alone. He instantly became paranoid, turning around swiftly, chasing shadows, trying to run away from footsteps he may, or may not, have heard. A clang was heard on the ground, and he realized that half of his custom M16 was on the ground. His primal instincts kicked in, and he did exactly what they told him. He ran for the nearest exit.
He didn't, or couldn't, however, see the black tendrils rising from the tile floor. They wrapped around his leg, and tripped him. Wrapping the rest of the way around his legs, covering them to his waist, they began pulling him away from the door, and slowly into the floor. He screamed the whole way down, but no one came to his rescue, and was silenced when he was engulfed by the black nothingness.
When Raven brought him up, he was unconscious. Cyborg got the lights back on, and the Titans surveyed the scene. The gunmen were piled up in the middle of the floor, in front of the tellers windows. The hostages were bound along the walls, almost like a human wall against sniper rounds. "Raven, Changeling, release the hostages," Nightwing ordered. "Cy, Star, bind the gunmen. I'll unlock the doors for the police to come in." Nightwing strolled over to the door as the others got to work on their respective jobs. He got there and unlocked the door, when Cyborg tapped him on the shoulder. "Yo, Rob?" Cy asked.
"Yeah, Cy?"
"There were supposed to be 10 gunmen right?"
"Yeah."
"Then why are there only 9 in the pile?"
A shocked look graced Nightwing's face. But that would mean… As if on queue, 3 loud bangs echoed through the bank. Time seemed to slow down at that point. They all turned toward the source of the noise, just in time to see a green silhouette crumple to the floor. The four standing Titans immediately rushed to the aid of their fallen teammate. They had one thing on their mind, so they completely missed the last gunman exiting the bank with the rest of the rescued hostages. The police were so in shock they didn't notice him either. Cyborg had begun a full diagnostic with his cybernetic eye. Things weren't looking good. All three bullets had shredded through his abdomen. He was bleeding out of his stomach and his liver, and it looked like one went through the spinal cord, but he needed an x-ray to be sure.
None of them needed a cybernetic eye, however, to see that Garfield Logan needed a hospital, and now. Luckily, Nightwing snapped out of the shock long enough to call out orders. "Cyborg, call the nearest hospital and let them know a Titan is on the way in critical condition. Raven, as soon as Cyborg is done with the call, teleport him to that hospital and help the doctors out any way you can. Cyborg can go with you if he wants. Starfire, get the security camera footage and see if we can't find out where the last one snuck off to. I'm going to see if I can't squeeze some info out of their leader." The commands helped snap the Titans out of it, and they immediately set to their duties.
*SCENE TRANSITION: AKA END FLASHBACK*
That's how this whole fiasco started. I can't believe it's been a whole week since I last heard that voice. Things have been pretty quiet around here. Raven and I swap shifts at the hospital watching over him, though most of the time I have to drag her out of the room. Nightwing is doing what he always does with shit like this. He's locked in his office pouring over the security footage, even though the screen is pretty much pitch black. Starfire basically just mopes around. You can usually find her either in the kitchen making more puddings of sadness or in her room. This last week has got me thinking though. It got me thinking about how this city takes us for granted. It's got me thinking about how ungodly lazy "Jump City's finest" can be. They can simply pass off any old robbery to us, and it's automatically our problem. They treat us like saviors, but without the worship. Like leaders without the respect. They treat us like toy soldiers.
A/N: Well ladies and gentlemen, there it is. Yeah I know people have done the whole "oh no Beast Boy gets shot," thing before, but what makes this different is, it doesn't focus on the recovery, or how the team's relationship grows from it. It focuses on how the team, and more specifically on Cyborg, deals with the traumatic event. So hopefully everyone loves it, and I should be back soon to update, unless life wants to bitch slap me… again. So review if you have time, if not, you can always come back and review later. :D So with that, Shamis is out of here.