Now on to chapter 3
-(scene break)-
Artemis's expletive was bleeped out by the Tower's alarms. Raven put her mug down on the counter and said a single word.
"Trouble."
TT-Robin was already at the operations' console, typing away furiously. A map of the city appeared on the giant TV screen, and a single marker flashed repeatedly on the map, highlighting the location of the crime scene.
"Figures! It's the day after the big gold shipment arrived at Jump City National Bank." Cyborg grumbled. "100 million dollars worth of the precious. So who are we up against? Mumbo? Johnny Rancid? Control Freak? Cinderblock?"
"Yes" The Boy Wonder replied. "Plus Plasmus and Overload!"
"Dude! That's a lot bad guys!"
"Ya think?" Raven growled at the changeling.
"Beast Boy's right, we're gonna need some help." Robin replied before turning to the YJ's. "We really could use a hand. Are you guys up to it?"
The 5 five stranded heroes huddled together.
"What do you guys think?" YJ-Robin asked.
"I suppose they could use our help." Miss Martian replied first.
"I kinda like the idea." Kid Flash added. "We would be flying solo for the first time."
"Not really, this is the Titans' town, we'd be their sidekicks." Artemis added.
"It's none of our business." Superboy interjected. "We should be focusing on getting home, not getting involved with the locals."
Megan gave Connor a look that was mixture of disappointment and persuasion before answering him.
"But they're our new friends."
"I wouldn't go that far." Artemis added.
"Do we really want to sit on our butts and do nothing? Aren't we always complaining about being on a leash? And besides, don't we want to show the Titans what we're made of?" Robin cajoled his team.
The others nodded their heads in agreement, except for Superboy, who found that it was uncomfortable being the odd man out.
"OK, fine, I'm in." Connor grumbled.
Robin broke away from the huddle and addressed his older twin.
"We're in!"
The elder Boy Wonder acknowledged his twin with a nod.
"Great! I know with your help we can take these guys down. Are you familiar with any of these villains?"
"Can't say I've ever heard of any of them." Artemis commented and her teammates agreed.
"Let's pair up one member from each team. Each pair will be assigned a villain. Your Titan partner will brief you on your target while we go there … let's see…"
"Raven, you and Miss Martian can take Plasmus. Beast Boy, you pair up with their Robin, Control Freak's your target."
The changeling gave his leader a mock salute.
"Cyborg, you and Superboy tackle Johnny Rancid and whatever mechanical monsters he has today. Jinx, you and Artemis have Overload, and the two Kid Flashes, Mumbo's your villain. Starfire and I will go after Cinderblock. Speedy, you're the odd man out, so pick a team."
"I'll join Jinx and Artemis."
"Those who need transportation follow me." Cyborg added. "I can take four in the T-Car."
"They have a car. Why don't we have a car back home?" Kid Flash moaned.
"Because none of us has a driver's license, and why do you need a car? You can run faster than any car." Connor replied as he, Artemis and Jinx followed Cyborg to the garage.
"Cars come in handy on dates." YJ-Wally replied.
"Don't you need a date first?" YJ-Robin teased him as he followed Beast Boy to the roof, along with Raven , Megan, Starfire and the older Robin.
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The flying contingent was the first to arrive at the large plaza which was flanked by the huge granite clad building that housed the bank. It windows were shattered and a large hole, large enough to fit a bus, adorned its façade. The police were entrenched as they battled the villains in front of the bank, all of which were present except for Cinderblock.
Plasmus was picking up police cars and throwing them like tennis balls while Overload was drawing energy from nearby power lines and conjuring an electrical storm in the process. Johnny Rancid was guarding the entrance that Cinderblock had punched into the wall and the sounds of mechanical legs could be heard echoing. Control Freak used his super powered clicker to bring several bronze statues which lined the building to life and Mumbo used his stage magic to sow confusion on the battle scene.
The two Kid Flashes were the first to engage their opponent. Mumbo was somewhat unfamiliar with the hypersonic Titan and found himself doubly perplexed as he engaged the two yellow blurs that spun around him.
"This guy's a lightweight, I can tell." The visiting Wally snickered.
"Don't underestimate him; he always has a new trick up his sleeve." TT-Wally replied.
As if on cue Mumbo chanted his signature magic words "Mumbo Jumbo" and a huge streamer shot out of his wand and tangled up both of the yellow clad speedsters, who tripped and fell to the ground as the ribbons tightened their grip on them. Mumbo stepped up to their prone forms with a smug look on his blue face.
"That was too easy." He crowed. "But I will admit that's a good trick, replicating yourself. If you tell me how you did it I might even set you free."
The blue trickster ducked as a bird-a-rang buzzed past him.
"You'll have to do better than that … Robin?" He stopped mid sentence as he stared at the two Robins, who unlike the boys he had just captured were not identical. It was then that he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around in time to see the two Kid Flashes, who had vibrated their way out of the traps they were caught in. In a mirror like motion they both punched Mumbo in the face, knocking him out cold.
"Well done Wally." One of the boys congratulated his twin, feigning a bad English accent.
"Why thank you Wally, old chap. We make a smashing good team, wouldn't you agree?"
Meanwhile Raven and Megan were circling Plasmus, flying around the purple ooze villain.
"He smells like a sewer!" Megan complained.
"That he does." Raven replied in her monotone. "Remember, if he becomes unconscious he'll revert to his human form. Also, whatever you do, don't let him…"
Plasmus fired a torrent of his vile fluids at Megan and hit her square in the chest, engulfing her as she fell back.
"… slime you." Raven completed her sentence.
The Martian's eyes glowed with anger.
"Eww! Gross! You're going to take a nap!" The alien howled as she gestured with her arms.
Raven watched Plasmus totter as Megan's mental powers began to assault him. The slimy giant then began to stagger like a drunkard before losing his balance and falling to the ground. His slimy exterior melted away, leaving the exposed form of the sleeping human host.
"Well done. I'll make sure you get dibs on the shower when we get home. Just don't let Cyborg rinse you off with the fire hose."
Using her telekinesis powers Megan peeled the ooze off her body, but much to her chagrin she found that she still smelled like a latrine. Raven could sense her distress.
"Don't worry Megan; I have a special body wash that I had made just for this situation, it'll get rid of the stench. By the way, good job knocking him out, I couldn't have done it better myself."
"You mean this has happened to you before?"
"Oh yes, more than once." Raven droned. "To all of us in fact."
At the opposite end of the street Beast Boy and YJ-Robin were busy fighting four living bronze statues. Fortunately they weren't big but they were still solid metal. Robin threw 2 exploding bird-a-rangs at the nearest of the bronze golems and they exploded on contact, leaving the living statue twisted and deformed. Robin began to celebrate but to his surprise the golem quickly resumed its original humanoid form and resumed its attack, lunging at the younger Boy Wonder. Before Robin could get out if the way a large tail swatted the golem away and that tail belonged to a green stegosaurus, which quickly morphed back into its human form.
"Thanks! Your powers are cool."
Beast Boy did a double take on the lad.
"Really? My Robin's never said that. All he ever does is pick on me, pointing out every mistake I make. He even tried to arrest me once for a crime I didn't commit."
"He sounds like Batman. What's with him? Did someone stick a broom up his butt?"
The changeling grinned. He was beginning to like this junior version of the Boy Wonder.
"Some of us think he was born with one already there. But never mind that, we gotta get Control Freak's clicker from him."
"How? We can't get to him with all those golems protecting him."
Robin saw a gleam in the changeling's eyes.
"Leave it to me!"
Beast Boy then turned to Control Freak and shouted above the battlefield din.
"Hey Control Freak! The Clash of the Planets prequel trilogy was way better than the original trilogy."
The nerdy villain, who was dancing as he controlled his golems, stopped dead in his tracks and glared at the changeling.
"You're out of your mind. The prequel trilogy sucked."
"But it had better special effects."
"Big deal."
"And the Space Samurai were way cooler in the prequel."
By this point Control Freak had completely forgotten about the battle.
"You're nuts Beast Boy! I can give you 10 reasons why the original trilogy was better. First of all …"
Control Freak never finished his diatribe as a well placed bird-a-rang knocked his remote control out of his hand. The boomerang, embedded into the controller returned to Robin, who used the clicker to stop the golems, returning them to their original inanimate form.
"Oh crap!" The pudgy villain groaned. "I always forget to bring a spare."
The T-Car finally arrived at the scene and Cyborg, Superboy, Artemis, Jinx and Speedy emerged from the car.
"Hey Superboy, why didn't you fly here?" Speedy asked.
"He hasn't learned to fly yet." Artemis answered. "He's still kind of rough around the edges."
"The only thing that's gonna end up rough around here is all the bad guy butt we're gonna kick." Cyborg crowed. "Titans Go!"
Jinx and Speedy led Artemis into the fray. By this point the battle was in full swing and they saw several large robotic gorillas emerge from the bank; each one weighed down with at least a ton of gold ingots. Cyborg and Superboy rushed at the synthetic simians, but their attention was soon diverted to their quarry: Overload.
Jinx went on the offensive, opening a crack in the pavement into which the electrical villain fell. The tactic wasn't effective as Overload quickly emerged and fired several lightning bolts at the pink haired Titan, who somersaulted out of the way. Artemis turned to Speedy.
"So she and your Wally are a couple?"
"Hard to believe, isn't it? Next thing you know we're gonna find out that Raven actually likes Beast Boy." He laughed. "And that pigs fly."
Artemis eyed the young archer. It was true she surmised, men were clueless. Meanwhile Jinx counterattacked with a spell that caused a wall to collapse onto Overload, but the villain remained undeterred as he emerged from the pile of rubble.
"We should help her." Artemis reminded the Green Arrow's former sidekick.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He replied.
Artemis nodded as they each pulled an arrow with a fat tip from their quivers, firing them in unison. As the arrows approached their target the tips exploded, two nets emerged and enveloped the Earl of Electrons, wrapping themselves around the villain, grounding themselves into the floor at the same time. The nets were highly conductive and drained Overload's power safely into the ground. The two archers high fived each other to celebrate their victory.
Cyborg and Superboy charged at the robotic apes, and there were 8 of them. The chrome colored apes dropped their precious cargo and engaged the charging heroes.
"If they're anything like Rancid's robots from the past, they'll be tough." Cyborg warned the Kryptonian clone.
Superboy ignored the tin man's warning and charged at his opponents. He connected his first punch with a robot's head, knocking it clear off its body. Much to his surprise the robot continued fighting, and connected a solid punch to his solar plexus, sending him flying into a wall. As he shook his head he saw Cyborg finish off the damaged robot with his sonic cannon. Frustrated with his lack of success he charged at another robot and began swinging at it, missing as the robot was able to dodge his predicable strikes.
"Yo, Superboy, relax! Let big and stupid take the first swing, then let him have it. Johnny's robots are strong, but they ain't the sharpest knives in the drawer!"
Superboy followed the tin man's advice and was easily able to take down his opponent. After that it wasn't long before all the robots were vanquished. Rancid turned and fled back into the bank.
"C'mon Superboy, let's get him!"
Connor grinned and followed Cyborg into the bank.
-(scene break)-
A large metal door creaked open and revealed the silhouette of a large figure, which silently entered. The sound of gears turning echoed throughout the enormous chamber, part of an automated assembly line that was fully self-contained. Sheet metal was stamped, electronic circuit boards were populated with components and wave soldered, gears were machined and subcomponents were assembled, all in secrecy and out of sight of eyes that shouldn't see them or the end result: robots.
Slade stopped at the end of the assembly line to inspect the final product and was pleased with what he saw. The fit and finish of his latest generation of automatons was without flaw, a perfect match for the enhanced Artificial Intelligence the droids now possessed. These were a far cry from the crude machines he had once used to conquer Jump City after his apprentice had temporarily vanquished the Titans.
Satisfied with what he saw the villain known as Deathstroke carried on, leaving the factory section of his lair behind. If there was one issue that still gave him trouble though, it was procuring raw materials, but that was now his current apprentice's job, and the supply chain had so far remained unbroken.
Slade walked past a bank of giant screens which monitored key sections of the city and noticed the commotion at the downtown bank.
"I see that the Titans have new friends." He announced in his signature monotone.
"They appeared out of nowhere." Another voice announced.
"No doubt they arrived on that alien spaceship that crash landed yesterday." Slade replied.
"There's more, Slade."
"Report."
"It's better if you see it with your own eyes."
Slade growled internally, he didn't care for the sassy attitude his apprentice seemed to enjoy giving him, but he tolerated it as he judged it was a small price to pay. He refocused his attention on the screens. He first noticed the green girl who with Raven stood over Plasmus' unconscious human host. Speedy, Jinx and a girl dressed in green huddled together as Jinx held Overload's deactivated red circuit board in her hand. Another screen showed Robin and Beast Boy apprehending the idiot Control Freak. He then saw that Mumbo had been apprehended by …
"Two copies of Kid Flash, that is intriguing, and what's this, a new Kryptonian?"
"You haven't seen anything yet." She interjected as she pointed to another screen, where Starfire and … Robin rushed into the bank.
Slade said nothing at first, but finally addressed his apprentice.
"That explains why the first Robin's attire was different."
"He's also a little smaller; I think he's younger than the Titan's Robin."
Slade crossed his arms before complimenting his apprentice.
"Well done apprentice, your training has not gone to waste. Do you have any theories on where the Titans' guests are from?"
"A parallel universe?"
"A near certainty. I have retrieved a piece of wreckage from the ship that crashed. Come; let's examine it in the lab."
Slade and his apprentice left the monitor room and walked into a brightly lit lab. The room was clean and immaculate and was as well equipped as the Batcave. Slade had learned long ago that what made Batman a formidable foe wasn't his collection of battlefield toys. Ra's al Ghul called the Dark Knight 'The Detective' and for good reason: Batman beat his opponents with his brains as well as his brawn.
Slade stepped up to a workstation and removed the sample he collected from the bag using a pair of large tweezers. He placed it onto what looked like an oversize Petri dish. After taping a few keystrokes the sample was irradiated by an orange light and shimmered an otherworldly glow. Slade waited patiently until a printer whirred itself to life and printed a single page report, which he took and read quickly before handing it his apprentice, who tried, and failed, to interpret the results.
"What does this mean Slade?"
"Your formal education is poor my apprentice, I will need to further your training in the sciences. What the report says, it is as I suspected. The ship is alien in origin and organic in its composition."
"Organic? You mean it's alive?"
"That is correct."
"Why would anyone do that?" She asked.
Slade tapped on more keys and the orange field was replaced by a series of other colors, which shifted quickly. Suddenly the shard changed shape and became disc shaped. Slade continued tapping on his keyboard and the alien artifact continued to change shapes.
"That is why. Imagine having a ship that can adapt to the circumstances."
"It still crashed." She replied dryly.
"Nothing is infallible, Terra. But think about it. Just as you bend the earth to your will, the visitors can bend life to their will. The possibilities and applications are … intriguing."
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The scene inside the bank building was one of devastation. Smashed desks, overturned chairs and broken glass littered the lobby and it was obvious that the bank had been evacuated in a hurry. The main vault had been ripped off its hinges, but it only contained safe deposit boxes and a small amount of cash, which wasn't surprising being the age of electronic money. A rumbling sound echoed from the basement below, which is where the gold bars were kept.
"Cyborg, can you pick anything up with your sensors?"
The cybernetic Titan checked the instrument panel built into his arm.
"They're down there alright, and it's more than Cinderblock and Rancid. I can't tell how many though."
Beast Boy and YJ-Robin entered the lobby.
"We can help!" YJ-Robin crowed. "Which way to the basement?"
"Not so fast, we need to plan this out first." TT-Robin admonished his younger twin.
"You sound like him."
TT-Robin glared at his doppelganger.
"I am nothing like him." He growled as he made a horizontal motion with his arm.
"Yeah, right. Let me guess, even though she's your girlfriend you haven't made a real commitment to her, have you? Does that sound familiar? Selina Kyle?"
"Don't you dare compare Starfire to that wretch!"
"But I'm right. You haven't made a commitment to her, even though she's incredibly nice and … totally hot. And just like our mentor you've become a joyless, crime fighting obsessed recluse who has no time for a life."
"At least I have a girlfriend; I'll bet the only girl you ever kissed was Babs!"
The Tamaranian stepped between the two arguing boys.
"STOOOP! Or have you forgotten that we are on a mission?"
TT-Robin stepped back, suddenly aware that he was making an ass of himself. Starfire turned to the younger boy, her eyes glowing menacingly.
"You will apologize for your rude remarks."
The younger Robin was caught off guard by Starfire's reaction. Since their arrival the only side he had seen of her was her saccharine sweet personality. That and the ample flesh that her skimpy outfit exposed. He had also noticed that Raven's leotard exposed her shapely legs and hugged her figure, advertising her feminine curves. He wondered why his female teammates didn't wear such enticing costumes. But now he was seeing the Tamaranian's fierce side, and he quickly realized that she was also scarier than any of his teammates.
"I'm sorry Starfire." He apologized. "But I stand by what I said; Robin has no excuse for being such a killjoy, not when he has such a hot girlfriend like you."
Starfire smiled.
"We shall discuss this later, for now we have a mission at hand and Robin is our leader."
TT-Robin nodded at his girlfriend.
"Thanks, Star. Beast Boy, I want you to go scout the basement and see who's there."
"I'm on it!" The changeling replied as he morphed into a fly and disappeared down the stairs that led to the basement.
"He's so cool!" YJ-Robin gushed, while his older twin cringed.
What was wrong with him? TT-Robin wondered. How could he be so different? He actually likes Beast Boy, instead of finding him completely annoying.
Beast Boy returned within a moment and after resuming his human form gave his report.
"Cinderblock and Rancid are down there and I saw two more of his gorilla bots. I also saw Mammoth, Gizmo and Billy Numerous. See-more wasn't there, so they can't see us. Cinderblock was trying to punch an escape route for them, and I think they're gonna leave the gold behind."
"But they know we're coming, which is why they're trying to escape. We need to move fast. Cyborg, you take down Billy Numerous, Superboy, you take Mammoth. Beast Boy and Robin, you take Rancid and his droids, Starfire you take Cinderblock and I'll tackle Gizmo. Are we ready?"
The five heroes nodded.
"Titans Go!"
-(scene break)-
Some action and a little cliffhanger.
I just love to pair Slade and Terra up. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Kaldur.