When it happened, it happened fast. At about three in the afternoon the day after Raven had interrupted Beast Boy's training, the alarm sounded. Seldom had all five of them assembled so quickly. Robin had already opened the huge picture window in the common area. "Police surveillance has him. He's on the beach across the bay. Remember the plan." Beast Boy changed into his massive flying quetzalcoatlus form and grabbed Cyborg by the shoulders. Star took Robins hand and they leapt out the open window. Beast Boy hadn't actually known that window could be opened. It wouldn't have surprised him that if it weren't designed to open Robin would have had someone break it.
The four of them took only seconds to cross the water between the tower and the beach. With the sharp eyes of a flying predator, Beast Boy could clearly see Mike standing on the beach, watching them approach with every indication of indifferent calm. He was wearing the same durable Kevlar outfit but this time he also had a large satchel of some kind hanging across his shoulders and on his hip. The few people enjoying the beach saw the Titans approaching and Mike standing and calmly watching. They began clearing out fast as Police set up a cordon.
Beast Boy dropped Cyborg as soon possible over dry land and instantly transformed, disappearing completely from sight. Starfire was skimming the water at top speed and released Robin without slowing; he rolled several times and came to his feet. It was Starfire who led the charge. With a grating scream, she flew dead straight at Mike, flinging deadly energy as she barreled in, ending by slamming into him shoulder first. The impact produced a shock wave that rattled nearby windows. He recoiled with a surprised grunt and his hand shot out, as shockingly fast as they remembered, and was a hair's breadth from closing on her ankle as she flew up and away but he was knocked off balance by a sonic blast from Cyborg, who had been waiting for exactly this. Starfire flew away with a mocking laugh and began to turn for another pass. This time she led with a massive blow from her right hand. She bellowed as she struck.
Mike spun with the impact as he had before but this time he didn't reach for Starfire. Instead, as he had in the first encounter, he leapt with tremendous power at Cyborg, his fist drawing back. The Titans were ready for precisely this. A blast from Starfire drove Mike into the ground in an epic, hundred yard long face plant. He started to get up but was struck again by Cyborg's cannon, which slammed him sideways and into the water. He disappeared under the surface. The team was fighting with grim silence and fierce determination, following Robins plan exactly and the young leader had never been prouder. Cyborg paced the beach carefully, his cannon trained on the point where Mike had disappeared. The water roiled for an instant and then exploded outward in a ten foot high wave. Mike had done something to create a shockwave, leaving him briefly standing on exposed seafloor. The wave rolled over Cyborg, surprising him and distracting him for a crucial second. Mike charged up the sand, having learned that leaving his feet was a bad idea. Robin judged that Mike was sufficiently distracted and thumbed a button on his communicator.
Robin cast several of his projectiles at Mike's feet, hoping the explosions would knock him down. They did but he rolled fast and was up and running again in an instant. Starfire screamed her rage and defiance, roaring full speed at him. She failed to count on his ever surprising speed. He spun, making her miss, and took a partial strike from Cyborg's cannon. It was very nearly enough… very nearly. He lurched up the scoured shore and struck Cyborg. To any real fighter, like Robin or Slade, it was at best the effort of a marginally competent amateur but it was just so terribly strong. Metal flew in wicked sharp shards and blue coruscations of energy danced up and down the metallic form as his chest piece simply exploded under the force of the blow, internal parts and wiring scattering. It looked as if fully a quarter of his body just flew into pieces and his left leg hung only by a few sparking cables which quickly petered out. Cyborg fell, the light of his artificial eye going out. This was not according to plan.
Beast Boy's communicator vibrated as Robin activated his, it having been put in silent mode. He instantly pushed a button that was preset to send his exact location to Raven where she waited in the tower. A portal quickly opened and she stepped through to his side. They were hidden from view behind a concrete seawall. "Cy's already down," he said.
She nodded tightly. "Ready?"
Back near the water, Mike had to shake his arm to free it from Cyborg's mechanics. He was already looking for Starfire. In keeping with the plan, she spoke as she hovered near him. Her voice was loud and grating. "For this, you will pay," she said, pointing at Cyborg's inert form. "For this, you will be defeated."
"Not by you, little girl," he said, his voice carrying his usual calm, wry tone. "Like we say back home," he said, his slight drawl thickening, "you ain't got enough ass." She replied only by throwing her green energy at him as fast as she could move her arms. Mike weathered it stoically, his eyes scanning the area. Other than Starfire, he could only see Robin. He ignored her, taking her attacks as he reached into the heavy pouch on his hips.
"What do you want, little man?" Starfire said scornfully. "Some stupid secret weapon?"
"Nah," he said, his eyes on her, "handful of ball bearings." He threw them side-arm at Robin. It was smart. Then spread like the pellets from a massive shotgun, each one with the force of a bullet. Robin leapt into a nearly impossible twisting dodge but it was not enough. Three of the projectiles struck him and passed through, blood spattering the white sand. Robin fell without a sound and did not move. Starfire screamed again, this time in fear and dove to Robin's side. Unfortunately, this was very easily predictable. He was on her almost the second she skidded to a stop next to the fallen leader. Starfire was, as everyone knows, stronger then she looked. Much stronger. She was just able to turn in time to face the brutally charging man and turned his own tactic back on him, spinning to avoid the force of his attack and grabbing his arm to hurl him through the air several hundred yards down the beach. He slammed down, creating a surprisingly large crater. Mike stood. His costume was shredded and he had picked up several scrapes and bruises but he did not look anything like close to stopping. He again reached for the pouch on his waist, his hand simply slapping on of the outer pockets.
Raven levitated into the air, low but high enough to have a vantage point. She saw what had been done to Cyborg and was angry. Then she saw what had happened to Robin, the way he lay so utterly still in a widening pool of blood, and she went somewhere else entirely. A middle aged, overweight cop was running across the sand towards him when no other normal humans were anywhere in sight. She was touched by the woman's act of selfless courage and prayed the kind, brave woman would not pay for it.
Right then, Raven had her own business to see to. Her soul form billowed out around her as it seldom had, wrapping and protecting her, its wings spreading to blot out the very sun. Her shadow from lengthened and her eyes split into four, turned red, and lengthened into slits. She raised a hand and a black field in the vague shape of a leg and talon stretched out to grab him. He screamed and for the first time they heard the deep sound of real fear and rage in his voice as he writhed in her grasp and was lifted off the ground. "This ends now," Raven's voice boomed out, echoing ominously. "Surrender or suffer."
Then, she heard a voice. Instantly she realized it was only she that heard it because it was coming straight into her mind. For an instant she smelled harsh incense and had a glimpse of a room with people standing in a circle; thirteen people exactly. The voice said "Raven! Scion of Trigon! Daughter of filth! I speak thrice and done! I bind thee! I bind thee! I bind thee!" Her power was suddenly constrained and her soul-self flickered and vanished. She fell to the ground and sank to her knees.
Mike rose from where he had fallen when the claw had disappeared. "Well now," he said conversationally, "Ain't that about a bitch?"