I do NOT own Teen Titans
Notes and replied to reviews:
Tried to read a few websites on Batgirl, and ended up deciding I would need a Master's Degree in something or other to follow all of that. So no Batgirl. The same goes with most of the DC universe characters. I don't know them well enough to write them.
Yikes! Gotham City is supposed to hold thirty million people! That's huge! I'm assuming an area of 400 square miles, which would make it pretty densely populated, but too high a figure throws the story off.
I do reread what I write, though I know I miss a lot of mistakes. Sorry about that.
I probably should show Beast Boy using his Beast form more in this story. If I remember to, I will try to add scenes with it. In the Shapes story I did focus a bit excessively on the Dragon form.
He will have one short fling. Thought it won't be serous, nor will it last long. And it will be someone who doesn't appear in the DC universe.
The emoticlones have only met two people in person, Beast Boy and Cyborg. I'm thinking Beast Boy is the one most of them would relate too. Knowledge's whole world had just changed, Timid and Happy would've been her friends, so she would be truly beyond mad.
Okay, I'm convinced. Beast Boy will probably end up getting a humanoid form or two in this story.
At the moment the Titans have no way to get word to him; he doesn't want to be found. He will be on his own, depending how you define his own, until around chapter nine or ten, if the story goes as planned.
Time: Two weeks later.
Gotham City,... Media Reports and the Result of the Trial,... Another Silver Minion,... A Rescue or Two,...
Beast Boy dropped the two suitcases he was carrying and looked around, wondering just why he was in Gotham City. Flexing his shoulders, he took a short stroll around the bus he'd just arrived on to get the kinks out of his muscles. Next time I'm flying. He told himself, watching as a man walked up to his suitcases, looked around, and then tried to walk off with them. He didn't get far. Each was filled with forty gold ingots with a total weight of two hundred pounds per suitcase.
"I believe those are mine." He said, walking up to the man who was still trying to drag one of them off.
The skinny, would be thief, was short, with greasy black hair. He'd also neglected to take a bath for at least a week. Rather than leave the matter be, a glint of silver appeared in his hand and flashed out. It was brutally stopped, and a counterattack left him lying unconscious on the ground.
The shape shifter looked around, thinking it strange that no one was paying any attention to the activity. But this is Gotham City. He mused, recalling some of the things he'd heard about it. Despite being patrolled by Batman it wasn't a good place to raise children; it wasn't a good place period. Flexing his shoulders once more, he took a deep breath, and grabbed his luggage. Definitely going to be hiring a taxi. He decided. He still wore a black robe to hide his green skin, and carried a backpack with a few changes of clothes along with a laptop.
The cab he eventually found was a piece of junk that should've been recycled twenty years ago. The driver gave him a strange look when he asked to be taken to the nearest place that could handle a large amount of gold. Beast Boy guessed it was an unusual request, and that the man couldn't be blamed for his reaction. That and the robe would make anyone suspicious. Fifteen minutes later he was outside of a large shop with a sign that read 'Slimy Slim Jim's Pawn Shop - If It's Legal We'll Take it. If It's Illegal We'll Still Take It.'
"Be careful in there." The cab driver warned. It was the first words he'd spoken since Beast Boy had entered the cab.
"I will. Thanks." The shape shifter replied, and told the man to keep the change.
As the rundown vehicle pulled away, he turned to stare at the building. Like everything in Gotham it looked dirty, being covered in soot and other products of a major industrial city. The windows were grey with the foul substance, and the color of the shop itself was indeterminable. Guess they must clean the sign once in a while. He mused. It looked brand new.
Gathering his courage, he walked inside. It looked as dirty as the outside. Little merchandise could be seen, and he assumed most of it was the sort of thing one wouldn't want out in the open.
"What do you want?" A hostile voice asked from behind a counter. The man it belonged to was huge, nearing seven feet, and from the muscles appeared to immensely strong. His eyes were like cold blue ice, while he had a head of blonde hair. His skin was pale, as it would be in this city where the sun was blocked by the eternal clouds of smog.
"I have a few items for sell." Beast Boy replied.
"Let's see it." The man ordered. "But we don't deal in small stuff, so unless it's worth something just bug off.
The shape shifter dragged the suitcases to the counter and lifted them up. The sturdy counter groaned under the weight, while the man's eyes twitched slightly as he saw what was inside.
"How much?" The pawn shop owner asked.
"Eighty ingots, five pounds each." Beast Boy replied. "All salvaged, so it's legal. But I don't want anyone tracing it back to me.
"Twenty cents on the dollar." Came the first offer.
The shape shifter sighed. He hated bargaining. It was a price he would've accepted before he'd gotten fifty percent of the market value back in Spark City, but now he knew it was way too low. In the end he got it up to forty percent, with the cash to be placed in an account under a fake name. Several pieces of identification would be added in at no extra cost.
"Hold it right there Slimy Slim Jim and whoever you are."
They both turned to look at the girl standing in the doorway. From his reaction Beast Boy guessed the man knew her.
"What now Jen ... Ah, whatever name you're going by this time?" The shop owner asked.
"That gold is stolen. No one walks in with eight million dollars worth and sells it in a pawn shop. You're both under arrest."
"Prove it." The man replied, obviously bored.
Beast Boy studied the girl. She wore a dark blue outfit that reminded him of Raven, but her hair was fiery red, and blue eyes showed behind the mask she wore. The hero, that's what he assumed she was, wore little in the way of gear or weapons. He guessed that meant she either had other abilities, or fought hand-to-hand.
"Hands out." She ordered, and he complied. She slapped a pair of cuffs on him. Then she turned to lecture Slimy Slim Jim on the evils of crime. The man looked amused, yet worried.
The shape shifter sighed and wondered at the quality of heroes who would turn their back on a supposed villain. The man's eyes were on the girl. Unobserved, he made a flash transformation to an amoeba and back. The cuffs were now off, hanging loosely in his hand. Some of the tricks he'd learned over the last year required him to make a series of changes quickly. He could now focus on two, and at times three, and do them in quick succession. Neither of the two had noticed him disappear for a fraction of a second.
While the girl was giving her lecture he looked at the cuffs and opened them. Then he tapped the girl on the shoulder.
"Wait a second, I'm busy." She replied, returning to lecturing the man behind the counter who wore an expression of someone whose patience was near its limit.
He tapped her on the shoulder again.
"What is it?" She demanded, turning to face him.
He slapped one cuff on her right wrist, and then the other on the handle of the closest suitcase. She blinked and looked down, surprised.
"How?" She asked, getting a worried expression on her face. She glanced at the man behind the counter who was starting to look worried too.
"You know, cuffed to the so-called stolen goods like that I bet the police would think you're the criminal." Beast Boy told her, amused.
"No they wouldn't. I'm a hero." She exclaimed, pulling at the suitcase, trying to free herself. Then she reached into a pocket with her left hand and pulled out a key. It disappeared as it was snatched out of her hand, leaving her looking surprised again.
Beast Boy studied the key. Overly large it looked like a prop from a movie. "Are those cuffs even real?" He asked.
"Of course they are." The girl muttered, twisting her wrist and trying to pull her hand free.
"They're supposedly a realistic replica of ones used a by crime fighter on some movie." The man replied, still looking worried, though less so. "She's my daughter." He explained. "She didn't mean any harm, but she has this dangerous fantasy that she's a real life crime fighter." He swallowed. "In this city that's a dangerous obsession."
Beast Boy nodded, and tossed the man the key. "I can imagine." He replied.
"You're not going to let a thief walk away? Are you?" The girl cried.
"It's not stolen goods, honey." The man explained. "The ingots got a mark I recognize. They were forged more than two hundred and fifty years ago. I don't know why he's selling them here, probably to escape some tax laws, but they're not stolen."
"Oh." She replied. "You sure?"
Her father nodded, and handed her the key. "I wish you would give this up." He sighed.
"I can't." She muttered, frowning.
"I'll be back this evening." Beast Boy told them, deciding the family matter was none of his business. Before he left he turned to the girl. "Being a hero is dangerous, and you don't have the skills. Give it up."
"I do too." She replied defiantly.
Letting the door closed, he turned towards her. "Fine. Prove it. Pretend I'm a villain and apprehend me." He hated doing this but it was sort of like hero work, dissuading someone not to do something dangerous. He folded his arms and waited.
She crouched down in a fighting stance, while the man looked on worriedly.
Beast Boy didn't move. When she attacked, he just reverted to an amoeba for a split second, and let the breeze her fist generated move him slightly to one side where he returned to his human form. Too any observers it was like he was moving too fast for the eye to follow. Fifteen minutes later, he was still standing, arms folded, waiting for a single punch to land. She on the other hand was panting for breath.
"You can't even touch me." He told her. "Yet only last month I came absurdly close to death. If I were fully human I wouldn't have had a chance. Imagine how little of a chance you would've had." Hating how brutal his tone sounded, he left. At least he had what he'd come to the city for. Identification, and a bank account no one would be able to trace back to a certain shape shifting hero. He wouldn't have had a clue where to get those in any other city, but Gotham had lived up to its reputation.
A knock on her door caused the violet-eyed girl to stir. "Come in." She muttered.
Starfire walked in, and took a look around the room. "How're you doing?" She asked, sitting down on the side on the bed, gazing at the girl with a worried expression.
"Okay." Raven replied.
"That's a lie." The orange-skinned Titan replied. "We're all guilty over what happened, friend Raven, but killing yourself like this won't help."
"I'm not." The girl countered. "So what if I'm a little bit tired from still looking. It's better than doing nothing."
"I look too." Starfire told her. "But you nearly died last week when you lost consciousness and fell on the rocks. He wouldn't wish for you to die."
"How do you know? We tried to kill him. For all we know he might be praying for our deaths right now, assuming he's alive."
"I doubt it. It's not the way he is." The orange-skinned alien replied. She looked thoughtful. "Tell me, friend Raven, did you have feelings for Beast Boy?"
The half demon froze. "Does it matter?" She finally responded. "If I did then it's too late."
The orange-skinned Titan remained quiet, waiting.
"I've seen the way Robin looks at you." Raven added. "He loves you and I wanted him to look at me the same way for so long. To finally fully belong somewhere. But thinking back on Beast Boy I realized something. His every glance at me was like that." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Joining you and Robin wasn't a mistake. I learned I was accepted and cared for. It felt right, and it was good. But at some point I should've realized it wasn't what I was looking for. That he would never look at me the way he looks at you; the way Beast Boy looked at me." She sighed. "Inside I knew he was the one I should be dating. My emoticlone's obsession with him should've told me that. But I just saw him as immature and focused on Robin."
"Oh." Starfire replied. "I should've seen that. I didn't know such arrangements weren't common in your culture and just saw how you looked at friend Robin." She looked down at her hands.
"No worries now." Raven attempted a small smile. "He's all yours. Even if what I truly wanted is gone forever, I still know he isn't it."
The orange skinned alien nodded. "The judge had the results of the trial emailed to us." She informed the girl. "He thought it best not to disturb us from our duty by calling us to the room of court again."
"What is it?" The violet-haired girl asked, showing more signs of life.
"Probation." The alien replied, frowning. "There was no body and they decided not to carry through with the murder charge. They found us guilty of assault with extenuating circumstances. It seems they've decided we're needed where we're at."
"That's not fair." Raven cried, sitting up. "We killed him. We should be in jail now. Not allowed to remain in the tower."
"I agree that the punishment is too light." Starfire replied. "In my culture it would've been swift, and much more brutal. But that he's dead is not true." She handed several small papers to the violet-haired girl.
The half blind girl peered at them, squinting. They were media reporting of rescues by various animals, all of which had been green." She looked up.
"It could only be him." Starfire told her, smiling for the first time since the event had happened. "He's alive."
Raven sank back down in her bed, eyes closed, sobbing. After a few minutes she resumed looking at the media clippings. They showed something that few people could've accomplished. Of the Teen Titans he was the only one. She and Starfire could fly, but none of them possessed his sense of sight. He could soar more than a mile above an area and observe it in detail, reacting as soon as he saw trouble. In any year twenty people died by drowning in a place like Jump City. Around twenty more died in fires with over a hundred more being injured. That was just fires and drowning. It didn't include things like muggings and other crime. The clippings showed he was still active, still saving lives. They also showed he didn't remain in one place for long. A green octopus saving a young girl from drowning; a falcon swooping down to snatch a baby from a burning building; a mugger who liked to slash his victims rendered unconscious; a ...
The sound of an alarm drew their attention away from the media reports.
"It's as we predicted." Starfire tiredly said.
"Yeah." Raven replied. Over the last two weeks there'd been six more silver minions, as they'd started to call the new robots. One every second day. There'd been minor changes, but they were basically the same. A swiftly moving sound emitter that shattered glass along a ten mile section of the city before the Titans could stop them. The price tag for the damage was now in the hundreds of millions. It was no wonder the city was willing to let them off the hook given they were the only ones who could stop the robots. As Cyborg had pointed out, if left alone a single silver minion could walk a hundred and twenty miles in a day, doing two-hundred and forty million in damage. A week and the price tag would be over one and half billion dollars. As prosperous as Jump City was, it couldn't afford many of those machines of destruction walking around.
They approached the android with caution. While none of them had directly attacked the Titans yet, the results could be deadly if they did. The sound waves would be instantly fatal to Cyborg and Robin as their human bones were shattered. Raven, if she was fast enough, might be able to erect a barrier, while Starfire was very resistant to damage.
"Hold him." Robin ordered.
Raven reached out with her dark magic and attempted to hold their marching foe still. To her surprise the energy felt strange as it reached the cybernetic creation. Slippery was the only way she could describe it; her dark energy couldn't seem to grip it. It kept walking. "I can't. Something is preventing me from touching it." She exclaimed.
They all cringed at the comment. The half demon's powers had been their main advantage. It kept their opponent still so they could strike at it. But now ...
"Starfire." Robin ordered. "Hit it with a slow stream of starbolts while we think. Don't wear yourself out."
The orange-skinned alien stood on the ground and started throwing them. Normally she would fly when fighting a villain, but they'd all learned to conserve power against the silver minions. "I feel strange." She finally said.
Robin glanced at her with a worried look. "How?" He asked.
"The sound waves are affecting me more." She explained, backing off a bit to continue her attack from a safer distance.
"I see." Cyborg said, staring at the readout from his scanner. "The sound it's emitting has dropped in power by about ten percent, but its frequency has changed to better affect her Tamaranian physiology. She's still more resistant, but too close for too long and her bones will shatter too."
"And Raven's power?" Boy Wonder asked.
"I'm not sure. But I think the composition of the machine has changed. It's emitting some sort of energy, which is where that extra energy is going."
Raven reached out again, forcing her power to oppose that of the machine. If Timid and Happy ... She pushed the thought aside. "Hit it now." She ordered.
Immediately the team swung into action. Starfire hit it with every starbolt she could in the short time period they would have. Cyborg, with his cannon modified to allow rapid fire, blasted at it. Robin tossed every disc he could manage. They stopped when it started moving again.
"Time to try the new net." Robin muttered.
Raven reached out once more, straining to hold the slippery foe still. Cyborg hit a button on the T-car and a heavy net made of titanium shot out to wrap itself around the android. Connected to the vehicle's power supply, thousands of volts coursed through the wire. When it finally broke free of the violet-haired girl's restraints, the silver minion simply started snipping the net's meshing in two. Soon it was marching forward again.
"Damn." Robin muttered, sighing. "I've hoped the changes in the android would make the net more effective."
"No such luck it seems." The cybernetic teen shook his head. "Whoever built that has access to some really good technology."
They watched together as their foe continued its relentless march, glass shattering all around it. In previous attempts they'd already tried freezing it with liquid nitrogen, and had tried hitting it with larger explosives. Scanning the results of that Cyborg had simply stated that a single explosion capable of taking it out in one shot would also level several city blocks. Everything had proved futile as a quick method of stopping it.
"Hold it." Robin ordered.
Raven wearily obeyed as the team then pumped everything they had at their foe. In the end it took four hours to bring the silver minion down, during which it left a fifteen mile long trail of debris. This time it'd crossed several major intersections, and traffic within the city would be drastically affected by the loss of traffic lights for days.
"We're losing." Cyborg commented.
Robin nodded. "The city is already raising taxes to cover the damages." He said, looking back at the trail of glass. "Eventually whoever is behind this is just going to release a dozen or so of those things, and demand the city surrender. As things stand, they will have no choice."
Dead tired, they returned to the tower to find a mess of communications from Titans East. Another silver minion had attacked them as well, making it the fifth that team had had to deal with. Jinx was still remaining with them as her powers had proven necessary for them to handle the nearly indestructible foes. Her hexes might not make them explode, but it did cause them bad luck. That meant they evaded fewer attacks, and took more damage; without her they wouldn't be able to stop the assaults. According to the communications, while her powers still had some affect, it'd dropped drastically for the last one.
What was even more disturbing were messages saying that fighting had broke out amongst them after their last success. Kid Flash had been targeted by the other members of Titans East, and ordered to leave the team. Few details were given.
Beast Boy headed back to Slimy Slim Jim's pawn shop to pick up his new identification, along with the account number where his money would be safely stashed. So far today he'd encountered sixteen muggers, and had interrupted two robbers hitting a small store. If it's like this every day no wonder Robin left. He mused. For that matter, I'm getting out of here as soon as I can too.
In the store the tall man silently handed him the identification, along a piece of paper with a number. Watching him, the shape shifter realized he was extremely nervous, and often peered at the door.
"She decided to give up on being a hero?" He asked.
The man shook his head. "She just got angry and left right after you did. She's been gone ever since." He sighed tiredly, looking a lot different from the abrasive man Beast Boy had first encountered. "She obsesses over it, but she's always back by this time. She'd going to college and she's just as focused on maintaining her grades." He sighed again, looking at the door once more. "I even closed for a while and searched around the block. I'm pretty sure she'd not totally crazy, and would run from something like the Joker but ..." He shrugged.
Beast Boy sighed too. "So where would she go to patrol, or whatever she does? Close to here?"
"This is her neighbourhood, the area she wants to protect so yeah. Unless she heard something about Amy."
"Amy?" The shape shifter asked.
"Her best friend. She disappeared around a month ago. That's when she became obsessed with being a crime fighter."
"What's her name?" Beast Boy asked, realizing he didn't even know that.
"Jenny."
"Red hair and a dark blue costume." He said, half to himself. "If I see her I'll drag her back here." He gave the man a small smile, before realizing his hood would hide it. He took a quick look at the id before he left. Of course none of them included a photo. The name was Vagus Caelorum, meaning wanderer of the skies. He would go by the name Cael when people asked what his name was.
Outside the shape shifter sighed again, and looked around. It was starting to get dark, and that probably meant it wasn't safe for the girl to be out. In Jump City sure, but here he thought it would be a quick way for anyone to die. Walking in an alley the world around him changed as he shifted into a bear, and his sense of smell was suddenly two thousand times better than the average human's. Recalling the girl's scent, he sniffed the air for several seconds, trying to see if she was close by. She wasn't.
Deciding a dog would draw less attention, he switched to a blood hound, and swiftly traced her trail. It was clear and easy to follow despite being several hours old and the hundreds of people who'd walked by since then. Every once in a while he would find a safe place and use his bear form to sniff the air. It sense of smell was seven times better than that of a blood hound.
Her trail continued, but was soon overlapped with the scent of around twenty other people, all heading in the same direction. He pondered that, and decided the would be hero must've run afoul of a gang. She was obviously running, with a group of youths not far behind. Abandoning caution, he resumed the form of a bear and gave chase. Two miles later he came to an abandoned industrial park filled the shouts of a group of people having not so wholesome fun.
He found her clinging to the side of a ladder leading up to a tank of some sort. She was bloodied and obviously hurt, as below her the gang threw rock after rock at her, sometimes including a bottle in the mix.
So much for keeping the fact I'm a shape shifter hidden. He sighed, preparing to charge into battle. Then he paused. No need to be reckless. I can handle them without giving away how I manage it.
Beast Boy shifted into a humming bird and headed towards one of the youths. In the dark the bird would be nearly invisible. Hovering over the boy's left shoulder, he made two quick transitions. First to an electric eel, and then back to the humming bird which darted away, leaving behind the shocked teen who was now on the ground unconscious. He repeated it a half-dozen more times before the dull-witted gang members realized something was wrong. Another six fell before the others fled. He managed to get three more before giving up. The girl was hurt and should be his main focus now.
"You can come down now." Beast Boy called out, looking at the girl who was around thirty feet up. If she fell it could be bad, and from the way she moved he knew she was hurt. The scent of her blood lingered in the air.
For a while she looked down, obviously wondering if she should trust him. Then, she slowly started to climb down. With her feet still ten feet from the ground, she slipped and fell. He made another quick transition to a great ape, and then back to his human form with her in his arms.
He looked her over. Pretty tired out with more slashes from the thrown rocks than he could count, but alive and lacking any serious wounds. Obviously she wouldn't be walking back, so he let her climb on his back and then started walking. He figured if she wasn't so worn out, and hurting so much, she would be embarrassed. There was nothing he could do about that.
Her father took her and held her, weeping. It was strange to see someone that size, who looked that scary, crying. But Beast Boy much preferred it to someone who didn't care. The man was human.
"You're never doing that again." The man said emphatically.
"I've got to. Amy." The girl replied defiantly.
She's willing to die for her friend. The shape shifter realized, touched. I was wrong; she's got the makings of a hero after all. "How large is Gotham City?" He asked, interrupting her father's response.
Tears still in his eyes, the man turned towards him. "Around four hundred square miles." He replied. "Why?"
The shape shifter slipped from the stool he'd been sitting on. "That's huge." He commented, thinking. "Too huge."
"I'll find her." Jenny insisted. She was sitting back as her father wiped the blood from her face.
"Hrm. Wonder what the weather forecast is." Beast Boy mused. "Have a radio?"
Looking confused, but obviously willing to humor him given he'd brought his daughter back, the man reached behind the counter and pulled out a radio.
"And a map of the city?" The shape shifter asked. Given one, he studied it as he listened to the forecast. The winds would be southeast, blowing at ten miles per hours. He pulled out a pen and plotted a route.
"You have a truck that's open in the back?" He asked the puzzled man who nodded.
He turned to the girl. "Is there anything that would carry her scent?"
"Not recent." She replied, staring at him, eyes bright. "It's been four weeks."
"That's a problem then." He mused with a sigh.
"It would help find her?" She demanded, still staring at him, his head still hidden by the black hood.
"It might. No guarantees. If she's dead and been buried there's not much of a chance. Or if she's been moved out of the city. But if she's still here then I might be able to find her. Scent is how I tracked you." He explained.
"Oh." She looked thoughtful. "Her gym clothes at school?" She asked.
"If they haven't been washed, then maybe."
The three of them dropped by the school which was locked. The girl paid no heed to that and broke in, bringing the clothes back to them.
Insisting the girl remain at the shop, he handed the map to the man. "Follow that route." He ordered, climbing into the back of the truck. Once they were moving he shifted into a bear, smelled the clothes, and then lifted his nose to the wind.
The man obeyed without question, and thankfully no one paid much heed to a truck with a bear in the back. It was twenty hours later with both of them bone weary, that he scented something, and ordered the man to stop. His eyes were wide, staring at the shape shifter, as they sat together outside drinking coffee. It was something Beast Boy hated, but sleep was calling and he needed to resist it just a bit longer.
"She's close by, within two miles that way." He explained, pointing into the wind. "Move slow." They resumed the search and twenty minutes later had narrowed it down to a single building. With one last sniff, the shape shifter resumed his human form.
"Might want to phone your daughter and at least let her know Amy is alive." He wearily told the man who eagerly complied.
"What now?" The man asked.
"It's your city." Beast Boy answered. "Would you phone the cops? Ask Batman?" He shrugged. "Think on it. I'll be back in a few minutes." He shifted into a humming bird again and flew around the building, looking for signs of the girl. He saw her through a window on the twentieth floor. He dropped back down beside the man.
"Is your name really Jim?" He asked, tired of thinking of him as the man. Slimy Slim Jim seemed a weird name for a shop, let alone a person.
"It is. Though I'm neither slimy nor slim." Came the amused reply.
"She's on the twentieth floor." Beast Boy informed him.
"Can you get her out without hurting her?"
"Depends who has her." He replied
In the end he flew up, broke in, and brought her down using the form of a Pterosaurs. To say she was scared of the giant flying dinosaur was an understatement. From her story they learned she was blackmailed to gain control over her father who worked at a major bank. The outfit that controlled the building weren't super powered like most villains the shape shifter fought, but they did have ties to the police, and were totally ruthless. They weren't above using guns and other weapons.
Beast Boy found a phone booth and made a call to the Wayne mansion. No one had ever told him who Batman was, but it was hard to keep secrets from someone with his hearing and sense of smell. Jim meanwhile phoned the police. Beast Boy backed off, and watched from afar as the building was raided. The authorities might be corrupt, but the figure peering over their shoulder made sure they did their job.
From his position he saw several of the criminals try to make a run for it from a back door. He dropped down, and using the same trick he'd used against the gang members shocked them into unconsciousness.
When the excitement was over with, he blinked the sleep from his eyes, and headed back to his motel room to slept.
End of Chapter.
Many thanks to those who read and review.