The Titans launched into action, those who were able to fly took off into the sky. Those like Dani, who relied on alternate means to get by, had to get places the old fashioned way. So, while the other four took flight, Dani vaulted over the lip of the roof and planted his feet firmly upon the brick siding. Building a kinetic blast beneath them, he vaulted off like a swimmer off the starting line. Soaring across open air, he landed atop a corresponding roof. Lifting cyan eyes to the sky where his teammates were making progress over him, his mouth tightened into a stubborn line.
Sprinting forward again, he repeated the process of roof jumping, sometimes vaulting off the edge before dropping to it, bounding over the vast spaces between buildings. Lance, far ahead of him, seemed to halt in midair, apparently spying their target. So the threat was close, whatever it was. That was good for him, at least. Panting, Dani landed on the edge of the the roof his brother hovered over. He lifted his eyes to follow the other Titans's gaze.
A skinny girl with dark hair waving down her back knelt before a security panel and raised her fist to the sky and another bolt like the one they had just seen crashed down into her hand and she placed her hand over the panel. Electricity sparked through the air as she delivered another shock to the panel. Next to her, the door the panel apparently controlled seemed to unlock and it swung open a few inches.
"Hold it right there, lady!" Lance shouted as he floated down to the roof, where he stood between the girl and the Titans.
The girl spun, her eyes, equally as dark as her hair, locking onto Dragon. She clutched the satchel slung over her shoulder to her side and without saying anything, she bolted through the door into the dark building below them.
The Titans sprang into action after her, Dragon's fists blazing to light in orange flames as the fireballs surrounded his fists but didn't touch them. He stopped at the door, casting the meek light offered by his flames into the darkness beneath them.
"Oi, wha' is this place?" Dust asked.
"Museum," Dragon answered quickly. "This will be tricky, my fire will only shine so far for us to maneuver."
"Dragon," Pharis meekly inquired. "I can still see her aura. If that helps."
Raising an eyebrow over his emerald eyes, he looked over his shoulder at her. "Can you keep us pointed in the right direction?"
"I can try," she said, the pressure of his request making her voice shake unsteadily. She swept her gaze over the building beneath them. "She's moving fast and getting farther away, maybe down some stairs."
Dragon nodded, and turned back to the empty doorway. "Then we've got to move faster. Titans, on me!" he commanded.
Forging down the dark stairwell, their eyes adapted to the darkness quickly. Turning a corner at the landing, more steps down waited for them. Dragon, holding his lit hands up, carefully stepped down them.
"She must be down on the show-floor now," Pharis reported in a whisper.
"Good, it's wide open space; we'll have plenty of room to surround her," Dragon replied, also whispering.
The floor met his feet a second later, the cramped stairwell giving way to a wide open show room. Moonlight beamed in the high windows, bathing the grand tile floor in it's blue-white light. Looking over his shoulder at the Titans again, Dragon said, "Alright, Titans, when we get to her, surround her. Give her nowhere to run. Pharis, which direction do we go?"
Pharis, still on her track, pointed off to the right. "There. She's moving up again."
Dragon grinned. "Excellent. Let's move!" Dragon lifted off and darted towards the great archway where Pharis had pointed. As he soared towards her, Dragon scanned below him for sight of her. Just inside the arch way, two staircases rose in a circular pattern on either side of the room and led up to a balcony doorway into another exhibit. Behind them were the larger pieces of art, in here, the cases were smaller and the artifacts inside them were ancient. With the Titans at his back, Dragon charged along the ground after where the girl had been sighted.
"Dragon!" Pharis' small voice lashed out. "Behind you!"
Dragon turned, but wasn't fast enough. The dark-haired girl's fist hit his jaw fast enough to send him back a couple of steps. The left side of his jaw began to throb quietly. The punch had been strong, moderately speaking, but she had hit him on the flat of his face rather than at an angle.
Kit the Wild Child appeared out of shadows, her white gi shining in the little moonlight that had made it this far back in the museum. She had drawn a kunai knife out of one of the sleeves, but it seemed her visibility gave her the disadvantage. The girl saw her coming and lashed out at her this time.
Only now, the girl hit with some of the lightning she had harnessed. Blue electricity cracked through the air and hit her in the shoulder, sending her kunai twirling away as her arms flailed about. "No!" Dragon cried out. Wild Child limply dropped to the floor and rage for his teammate blazed into his chest. He wound his arm back, as if he were holding a baseball and let rip with a fastball, only this ball was made of the fire that had been surrounding his right hand. The fireball hurtled through the air and the dark-eyed girl hadn't expected that. The fire caught onto her peasant blouse and the force of it hit her shoulder and she stumbled forward.
In a flash of wheat-colored hair, Psyche appeared from between two of the display cases and took advantage of the time Dragon's attack had bought. He timed his steps and just as he came within fist range of the girl, he jumped up into the air. Landing on her back, he unleashed kinetic energy underneath him, forcing her to the ground.
Dust charged in from the opposite side Psyche had entered from and as he ran, he shouted a word into the display hall. "Bind!" he cried, his hands out before him as sandy-colored mist surrounded his hands, the way Dragon's had with the fire. Suddenly, around the girl's ankles and wrists formed bonds of the same brown mist that cinched tight, forcing her limbs to constrict in the uncomfortable way that handcuffs do. Dani, having slid off of her, stood examining her for injuries.
"You're not hurt, are you?" he asked, his tone cool and distant.
"Let me go!" the girl snarled, lifting her head to defy him.
He raised an eyebrow. "Fat chance."
Dragon crossed between the three of them and knelt beside Wild Child, across from Pharis, who had gotten there first. "Is she ok?" he asked.
"I can't see, Dragon," she reminded him. His green eyes darted up to meet her white ones and he felt himself blushing deep red. She continued, unaware of his facial expression. "Her aura is still strong. She's not seriously harmed."
"I'm ok," Wild's voice reached up to them. "Her lightning hit me like a tazer."
"I swear, as soon as I get free, I'll wound you all!" the intruder said defiantly, looking around at each of them.
"Just what were you intending to do here?" Dragon asked, rising from beside his fallen comrade. "You have to know all of these artifacts have more security than just their glass cases. Why risk it?"
"You would never be able to understand!" she growled. Her face rose to his, from her prostrate position on the floor. He knelt in front of her, lifting her swiftly by her blouse, the scorched shoulder of which tore further.
He met her haunting eyes with his and matched her fury. "You tried to harm my teammates. That does not sit well with me," he said with a unmerciful tone.
At those words, something under her tough exterior faltered for just a moment and Dragon swore he saw not fear, but a kind of recognition go across her eyes. The sudden intimacy shocked Dragon and he lowered her to the ground. She laughed eerily up at him.
"What?" Psyche inquired. Turning with concern to his brother, he uncrossed and lowered his arms. "What is it, Dragon?"
"Uh.." he stuttered. The wail of sirens approached from the main doors of the museum.
"Perhaps we shouldn't be here when the police arrive," Psyche suggested.
Dragon shook his head. "No. We're not vigilantes. We aren't going to run," he stated clearly. "We're going to work with them and give them time to realize we're the good guys."
An hour later, the Titans sat impatiently in handcuffs while the museum building was flooded with forensic analysts, police officers and museum staff.
"My wrists are starting to hurt," Dust growled.
Dragon forced his expression and tone to be serene. Well, as serene as possible under the circumstances. "Be patient. I've already explained to the officers that we're the good guys. The evidence will support that." At least, I hope it does, he thought.
An older officer in a nice suit with salt-and-pepper hair, with a badge at his waist instead of on his chest strode up to the cops guarding the Titans. "Forensics say all the prints they found match the girl these kids were guarding when we arrived. The security tape the museum curator handed over supports their story," he said, motioning to the Titans seated on the concrete in a line.
"So, do I need to let them go, Lieutenant Mulcagey?" the young, skinny officer asked.
"Nothing to charge them with. The breaking was committed by the girl and they only entered after she did. It seems these kids are the hero type," Mulcagey said, looking down at the Titans. His voice was smooth and deep, and a low rumble emitted from his chest when he spoke.
"Thank you, Liutenant Mulcagey," Lance said, rising as the officers on duty began to unlock their handcuffs.
"Don't go thanking me. I haven't done you any favors," Mulcagey warned. "The police chief does not like vigilante-types. He might still have you all arrested after he finds out about this in the morning."
"Say what?" Dani exclaimed. "We're the good guys!"
"Relax," he said, motiong downward with his palm. "My daughter is in school with the commissioner's kid. I'll inform him in the morning that you actually prevented any crimes from being committed and without causing any damage," he said, his tone clearly impressed. "With luck, he'll be able to keep the chief from blowing any gaskets in your direction."
Lance nodded. "I would appreciate that, Lieutenant. Anything else before we leave?"
The old cop twisted his mouth to one side in though, making his mustache bunch oddly. "Yeah. Thank you. This could have turned out a lot worse, but it didn't, because of you," he said, almost accusingly.
The Titans shared a smile. "It's what we're here to do."
Mulcagey nodded. "Your little group have a name?" he asked bemusedly.
"Call us the Titans."