The strum of the guitar music pouring from the store's speakers flowed over him like the sound of waves crashing on rocks, and he slid his hands further into his pockets. The city was alive tonight. The buildings hummed with golden lights in their windows and laughing faces with shadowy profiles. Pounding music could be heard from clubs up and down the street, as well as out of cars and the headphones of delinquents. The stars hung like glitter in the sky, the neon lights failing to block them out. High beams slid over him as he used long strides to navigate the flood of people. The sound of honking and the tread of tires crackling over asphalt prickled his ears. Even the air was full of life. It throbbed with music, and gusted a cold breeze to cool sweaty foreheads perspiring from dance.

A smile worked its way onto his lips. Yeah, this was Jump City, all right. Jump City on a Saturday night. Masked but dressed down, Robin wandered, his eyes sliding over the people and places lit up and glowing. He was half undercover to find unsuspecting crime, and half trying to honor a deal with Starfire to take a night off and relax. They'd been fighting together for two solid years without barely a breath of fresh air from the grip of crime. His eighteenth birthday was tomorrow - not that anyone would know, he kept it on the down-low - so he had grudgingly let Starfire talk him off another case. The others had sighed in relief; most had melted all over the couch, and Raven had gone to meditate on the ceiling. Maybe they were right, he thought. Maybe I did work them too hard.

A store he spotted across the street was closed, but full of ninja equipment. Easily excited, he grinned and crossed through the throng of cars to the dark window. No one minded him sliding in. He smiled and sat back on his heels, rushing bodies swarming around him. It was mostly cheap swords and nun chucks, but it was still fun to look. Spotting his reflection, he peered at himself curiously. Dark skinny jeans on his narrow hips and boots on his feet, replacing his steel-toes. A blue t-shirt much lighter than his spandex under a gray leather jacket. He felt so civilian. So normal. Even his mask didn't make him look that out of place. Peering about, he saw kids going into the clubs dressed four times are strangely as him.

Now that he noticed it, they were pouring inside in thick lines, laughing and shouting. Curious, he went after them, checking out the door to the club as he strode inside. The walls vibrated with bass. The lights flashed. A bar sat in the corner, up on a platform, and was flanked by columns. He went to it and slid onto a stool and leaned both arms on the counter, but he wasn't interested in booze. From there he had a clear view of the dance floor. Turning to see, he watched in amusement as people bucked and swayed to crazy beats.

A kid slid in beside him with a loud greeting, and a bright green Mohawk. He was blabbering about some band, and Robin humored him, giving the best answers he could without seeming like he knew nothing about this band, although he did know nothing. But after a few glasses of water for Robin and beer for the kid he began to mention the bands he knew. The kid was Martius – he had just graduated from the local high school. He was even into martial arts. Ecstatic, Robin dove into a conversation with him, shouting over the pounding music.

A few more people piled up to them wearing lopsided grins and the strangest clothing Robin had ever seen. They dragged both of them onto the dance floor, and they crowded around, dancing madly for most of the night. A girl with a purple dress complete with hanging chains danced with Robin, her pretty face sharply seductive. He just went along with the music and let it loosen him up. Martius teased him a lot over his mask but it didn't budge the young hero; after all, he wasn't the one with green hair.

The heavy heat of the club began to get to them after a few long hours, so Martius invited Robin to join him and his friends at the skate park. All of them left together, laughing and telling jokes. The night air had turned frigid. Robin lent his jacket to the girl in the purple dress with a charming look and she thanked him in giggles and flirtatious winks.

Before crossing the emptying streets, Robin turned back to see if they had everyone in the group together, and saw a head of ginger hair attached to a kid. He blinked and they vanished, making him jump, but he just raised an eyebrow and followed after his new friends. Who had they been, he wondered? Strange. No one could teleport like that, not that he knew of. Had he just imagined someone there? Maybe.

Hands shoved into his pockets, he walked with them seven blocks to the park. The darkness seemed brighter now than it had before he went into the club. As if it had changed from sleepy to electrified. As they piled through the gates to the park, he saw why. All the kids were awake. Whether they were eleven or twenty one, the skate park was filled to the brim with skaters and rollerbladers and bikers and scooterists. It was amazing to see all of them sharing the same space so easily. All of his friends produced one of the stated local modes of transport; someone even pushed a board into his hands.
His breath misted from the cold as he rubbed the back of his neck, protesting against being good at skateboarding humbly. But they egged him on and cheered and promised him he'd warm up if he did. That last part convinced him.

Eyebrow quirked and a grin on his face, he slapped the board down and followed them into the fray. The grind of the wheels against the concrete and the wind in his face made him hoot along with them as they plunged into the empty swimming pool swarming with boarders. Colors of people and their clothes and boards flashed by him. Someone did a backflip right over his head. The chaos of the rhythm of jumps synchronized all at once, all of them angling up the same way into the jumps.
Adrenaline coursed through Robin's veins as he felt the cold air fly up his flapping shirt and push against his neck and chest, but he didn't care. The power in his legs as he maneuvered the board was intensifying. He couldn't feel his fingers or his feet either, but he couldn't bring himself to think about it – the rush of the night had filled his head.