Dark side

With a whistle a shadow moved towards the nearest window, placing a gloved hand on it gently as a set of dark eyes glanced inside.

"They're making this way to easy" smiled the dark figure as they removed their hand carefully from the window and took something from the belt that was strapped to their waist. A red beam stabbed out from the small device suddenly illuminating the figures face as the laser effortlessly cut through the reinforced glass of the window. The mask was metallic and plain, there was mouth or nose only a pair of eye holes, eye holes that were occupied by a pair of dark glass like eyes. Thunder crashed high above him in the sky as the laser finished cutting the glass, allowing the thief to safely remove the entire window with ease and absolute silence.

"Show time" smiled the thief as he pressed a button on his face mask, making each the trip wires in the room become visible to his dark eyes. With a final deep relaxing breath and smile the figure dove silently into the room.

"I am soooooooo bored" sighed Beast Boy as he stared at the TV screen, flicking through each of the channels methodically as he tried to find something that looked vaguely interesting. Outside the rain was beginning to fall, a storm was slowly making its way towards the city, the crashing of the thunder could be heard. The oncoming storm only made the changeling grow more depressed, he hated the rain. To him the rain meant only one thing…training and lots of it. With another dejected sigh he reluctantly pushed himself to his feet, shuffling towards the kitchen with bored legs.

"Yo BB fancy some high speed action?" asked Cyborg as he entered the room, waving a copy of Hyper Speed Racing in his cybernetic hand. Beast Boy just shrugged in reply and once again made his way towards the couch, plopping down his friend as he inserted the game disc into the disc reader carefully. Before Cyborg could even think of starting his usual trash talking the screen cut off and went to a large map of the city.

"What's happening?" demanded Robin as he ran into the room, the sweat from his training was still dripping from his forehead. Starfire floated into the room in her usual joyous mood, making her way towards Robin with a huge smile on her innocent face.

"Looks like the city museum just got broken into" replied Cyborg as a red target flashed above the outline of a large building.

"Who's responsible?" asked Raven in her dry voice, making Beast Boy yelp as the sudden sound of her voice made his heart skip a beat.

"Doesn't say" replied Cyborg grimly as he looked at the screen, "Must be a new player in town" he said as he looked over his shoulder at his friend and leader.

"So I'm guessing we go say hello to this new guy?" said Beast Boy as a goofy smile appeared on his already goofy face. Robin just gave the green shape shifter a look and a smile before he turned and ran towards the garage of the Tower.

Lightening illuminated the room as the figure moved towards the rear of the room they were in, looking at each of the cabinets carefully, almost as if they were searching for something.

"Useless babbles" spat the figure as they looked at the glittering gems encased in the display cabinets, the priceless gems made light dance around the walls and ceiling each time lightening streaked across the sky. The figure suddenly stopped and looked around itself as something in the room seemed to call out to their mind. With inhuman speed the figure bounded towards an altar located at the rear of the exhibit and smiled as they placed their hands on its stone surface.

"Now your a different story altogether" smiled the figure as he moved his hands around the surface of the altar, smiling beneath his mask as he felt the prize he sought was within his grasp. The figure prepared to smash trough the surface of the altar until something flashed through the air and stabbed into the stone of the altar, making the figure smile even more as he saw the mysterious item was nothing more than a birdarang.

"The Teen Titan's I presume?" asked the figure as they turned and looked at the five teenagers who were standing a few feet behind him, "It is indeed an honour to finally meet you" said the figure with a bow, taking out a small globe from a compartment in its belt.

"And who might you be?" asked Robin as he pulled out another birdarang and held it close to his face.

"The name is Dread" replied the figure as he finished his bow, "Catch me if you can" he said with a smile as he dropped the globe to the ground, sending the Titan's smashing into thewall behind themas the concussion grenade exploded upon contact with the ground.

Robin was the first to his feet and shook his throbbing head as he tried to rid his vision of the blur of colours that swarmed it.

"Is everyone ok?" he coughed as his vision slowly returned. Looking around him he saw he was the only one awake. He was about to move towards the nearest Titan, who happened to be Raven until he heard laughter coming from an open window, a laughter that made his anger slowly begin to surface.

"Come on Robin fancy a chase?" asked Dread as he looked back at Robin before he stepped out into the stormy night. Robin took a quick look at Raven and his friends and did his best to ignore the voice that was telling him to give chase to the thief.

"I'm sorry" whispered Robin as he took a final look at Raven before running off towards the open window, leaping out of it without a care for what lay ahead.

The rain lashed down from the heavens as Robin leapt from one roof top to the next, his face was in a constant frown of anger as he wiped the water from his face. He reached for another of his grapples as he leapt from the building, shooting a line from it as he flew gracefully through the sky, his body was illuminated as lightning streaked across the sky. He didn't have time to look behind him to see if his team mates were following yet, quickly firing off another grapple line as his feet floated into the air once more.

Just ahead of him Dread moved through the rain, keeping close to the shadows as he leapt from the roof of the building. Behind him he knew Robin was following, he didn't have to look over his shoulder to know that. He landed on the roof he was aiming for smoothly and rolled through, keeping his momentum as he ran towards the edge.

"Come on Bird Boy I know you can move faster than that!" he yelled back to Robin as he dropped a small device into the shadows of the building, a single red light blinked as it rested on the wet surface of the rooftop.

Robin grunted in pain as he landed on the rooftop, rolling badly as pain lanced through his leg. He ignored the pain and ran towards the edge, reaching for his trusty grapple as he approached the lip. With a single motion he leapt forward, gripping the grapple tightly in his hand as his legs kicked about in the air. His brain kept telling him to fire his grapple but he didn't, he was enjoying the feeling of nothingness beneath his feet as he soared through the sky towards the next rooftop. The device left on the rooftop ahead of him exploded, making Robin scream as the shock wave pushed his body away from his desired target. Robin acted quickly and fired his grapple line at the building, saving himself in the nick of time as he swung and slammed into the wall of the building he was aiming for.

"Won't stop me that easily" he coughed as he began to climb up the yellow grapple line, an uneasy smile had appeared on his face as he pulled himself onto the rooftop, not taking the time to rest as he took off running towards the lip of the building.

Robin landed on the next rooftop with an awkward thump but rolled through it, ripping his cape as he took of running towards the next perilous leap across the busy streets. His shoulder burned with pain, making him turn it as he approached the lip of the rooftop, wincing as each turn intensified the pain he felt. Once again he leapt, not taking the time to see how far the next rooftop was from his current location. The wind whipped through his hair making him smile, even as the pain seared through his body. He was beginning to enjoy the feeling of just leaping through the air without the reassurance of a grapple line…it reminded him of the time he had spent in the circus with his now dead family .

"I have to admit kid your better than I thought" said a voice as Robin rolled onto the rooftop, discarding the remnants of his tattered cape. A figure stepped out before Robin, lightning once again flashed revealing his black cloak and plain metal mask. Dread applauded Robin's pursuit making Robin enter his fighting stance as he peered back at the mask looking back at him with glass like eyes.

"Pity our little game has to come to an end" said Dread with an almost depressed tone as he rushed forward, making Robin think fast as Dread's leg stabbed out towards him.

Raven groaned as she opened her eyes, holding her throbbing head as she slowly sat up on the cold ground of the museum. Beast Boy was the nest to stir followed by Cyborg and finally Starfire, each of them holding and rubbingtheirpounding heads.

"What hit us?" asked Cyborg as he helped Starfire to her feet. Starfire thanked him with a simple smile before she floated a few feet above the ground as usual. Nobody knew what to say, the attack came swiftly and without warning leaving them with bruises and a mass of unanswerable questions., one of which was about to be asked by the curious alien.

"Where is Robin?"

Robin barely managed to block Dread's lightning fast thrust kick, but there was still enough power behind the kick to make the masked hero wince out in pain as he felt his arms begin to burn. Dread smiled beneath his mask and threw his fist forward, making Robin act fast as he ducked and reversed the punch into a throw that nearly sent Dread flying over the edge of the rooftop. The thief barely managed to stop himself from going over the edge by grabbing hold of a TV antenna and using it to swing round to drive his feet into Robin's chest. Robin growled as he staggered back a few steps. Dread landed smoothly on the ground and threw himself at Robin once again, making Robin duck and weave through the blur of kicks and punches being thrown at him.

"You are good" remarked Dread as he tried to drive his fist into robin's face, only to watch as Robin parried the blow with expertise and skill, "You must have to practise a lot to maintain these skills" he added before he thrust his leg forward, making Robin cough as he felt the powerful kick drive out all the air in his lungs. Robin ignored the pain and burning lungs and launched himself into a series of furious kicks doing his best to break through Dread's defences.

"Pity they're not good enough to beat me" snarled Dread as he grabbed hold of Robin's leg and lifted him over his head. Robin coughed as he felt himself being slammed into the rooftop hard. Robin didn't have time to recapture the air he had lost as he rolled away from a punch that seemed to have been aimed for his head. Dread ignored the pain that tingled in his hand and tried to stomp on Robin, cursing as Robin continued to roll away from his feet at the last second.

"Wanna bet?!" yelled Robin as he spun onto his feet, making Dread swear as one of Robin's spinning legs caught him in the chest and knocked him back a few steps.

Robin took quick advantage of Dread's lack of defence and shot forward, connecting with his chin with a spectacular uppercut. Dread stumbled back before he was caught off guard again by a powerful kick from Robin, making him cough as he felt his black body armour begin crack thanks to the power behind the kick. Before Dread could blink Robin punched him as hard as he could in the face, making his head snap back as flesh smashed against metal. Robin continued to punch Dread as hard as he could, ignoring the sounds of the mask cracking beneath the fury and power of his punches. Dread suddenly reached up and caught Robin's fist, tightening his grip around the green gloved hand that was pummelling his mask and face. Robin cried out in pain as Dread forced him down to his knees, tightening his grip around his hand as he began to slowly twist Robin's arm.

"Did you think you could have beaten me" asked Dread as he watched Robin try to break his iron like grip. With a sadistic smile Dread thrust his freearm down onto Robin's twisted one, makingthe boy wonderscream out in pain as the bone in the arm shattered under the force of the blow. Dread merely laughed at the sounds of Robin's pain, taking perverse glee in the sounds of his screams.

"You can't beat me Robin" he said before he pulled Robinto his feet and slammed his back against the wall behind them, making Robin cry out as his broken arm bounced off the unforgiving concrete of the wall.

"YOU could never have beaten me" he said as he took a knife out from his cloak and held it into the air. Robin closed his eyes and screamed louder than he had ever screamed before in his lifeas he felt the blade of the knife cut through his flesh, making the pain of his arm seem like nothing compared to the agony he was feeling now.

…later days…