AN: And I'm back! I found a way to update it takes a little longer so updates won't be fast but at least now they are doable. I lost my laptop and got an ipad but it left me w/o the ability to update since I'm not sure how to do it. Some people reviewed and asked me how I was able to update and inform you guys what happened. I used a friend's computer to quickly update, she didn't mind but I wasn't going to go over to her house and spend hours typing up my stories instead of hanging out with her. So now I'm writing them up on my laptop and e-mailing them to myself so when I'm at someone's house I can easily and quickly update. Hope you enjoy! I missed writing a ton! END AN:
Cyborg has the Tower practically on lock-down as we waited for Batman to arrive. I knew from the look in Starfire's eyes that even she knew it wouldn't keep The Batman out. He would be hacked into this place in a matter of seconds after all the Tower was designed off of Wayne Enterprise systems. But in Cyborg's defense he didn't know what that entailed; he was just excited to have The Batman knock on his tower to gain entrance.
I was sad to see Starfire had put on her new costume that was completely black leather. She had her own belt and everything but I doubted they convinced her to use much of the gadgets inside since she was her own weapon. We all sat in the living room as the sunset waiting for them to arrive. Beastboy playing on the game console, Cyborg thoroughly going over his security systems for the eighth time, and Raven meditating with a mug of tea off in a corner. I turned to see Starfire walking over towards the big bay windows as the sun set.
"Starfire," I asked interrupting her thoughts as she turned away from the windows overlooking the lake. "I need to know, what did you overhear Slade say?" I asked wanting to know why everyone was so "hush-hush" about it.
"Batman would not approve of my discussing it…" her voice sadly trailed off as she turned to face the window again but I grabbed her shoulder and turned her back around to face me not realizing how close it brought us face to face.
"There was a time, before all this happened; that you would discuss anything with me. I don't care what he says and I don't care how crazy the idea seems. We are a team and together we can do anything." I explained, hating how much Bruce had sunken his claws into her. "At least let me try to help." I earnestly tried again. I let her hesitate for a minute or two as she contemplated whatever was running through her head but during this I didn't let go of her shoulder that kept her facing me.
"What did Slade say? What did you overhear?" I asked one last time. Starfire finally looked up at me.
"The first time was with The Riddler and Slade, as I had stated before. I recognized his voice and knew it was him…it is not a voice easily forgotten." She looked at me knowing I understood.
"Yet she was confused, her powers were shot, she didn't know who captured her or where she was and after much deliberation the conversations were ruled out as unimportant. Drop it." Batman's sharp condescending voice interrupted everyone's activities in the living room as he, Batgirl, and Red-X dropped down from a move ceiling tile above. I had to control the urge to turn this into one of our usual arguments as that would get us nowhere. I wanted the answers everyone was keeping from me and I needed Starfire to trust me in order to get them from her so I would wait.
"How did you get in!?" Cyborg's disappointed voice exclaimed.
"You're systems are in place well but the backdoor path was too easy to find for your vents." The father like voice spoke to me now. Bruce and I always tested each other's systems to aid in constantly keeping out danger.
"Thanks," I grumbled.
"Easy? Talk about three seconds in and the key was right in front of us. Look how far the little birdie has fallen after leaving the cave…" Batgirl brooded as she sat herself down on the couch and crossed her legs. Mask or not it was easy to see she was far too glad to nitpick and prove I wasn't doing well on my own.
"My security system is the state of the art, top line, highest class one available and with my own added features it does a good job." Cyborg defended his work angrily.
"Dude…we got in… vents are the first thing criminals go for. That's all we're saying." Red-X shook his head as he came over to Starfire and me. "Bats wants you on patrol, just making appearances to get the city talking about you and I'm your guard." Red-X changed the subject as he threw his arm around Starfire's shoulders.
"I am to show Kori as a protector of the city?" Starfire asked confused.
"No babe, appearances that's it. You don't help but you don't cause mischief. Even ask questions about the Titans but you just get to be a bad ass, a punk, living on the edge of the law without crossing it." Red-X beamed excitedly as I watched Starfire's face grow more and more confused.
"Do we have any leads on Slade?" I asked them as Starfire was still trying to figure out what her next step was. The silence from the room and the pure sense of being ignored by Bruce told me all I needed to know. They didn't have any new leads.
"So she is supposed to be walking around and you just hope Slade finds her?" I asked in shock. "That's the best you've got?" I" couldn't believe he was after Slade and he thought that plan would work.
"Yes that's our plan if you don't like it use what's left of your team," Batgirl huffed at me as she took Starfire by the arm and pulled her away from me. "and come up with something better."
"Enough," Raven and Batman's monotone voices demanded at the same time.
"This bickering is getting us nowhere," Raven stated to everyone in the room as Batman used his glare for being one upped by the even tempered girl on my team. If anyone could stand toe to toe against Batman's mood it was Raven.
"For now all we can do is make sure Kory is making appearances and hope it will lure out Slade." Batman snapped shifting his attention from Raven back to Starfire.
"And the e-mail I sent you?" I asked as Bruce and I began to stare each other down now.
"I can't change all my plans based off a hunch of familiarity," Batman's cold voice snapped. "Get ready to head out Kory."
"Off a hunch? I not only have an empath on my team but Starfire and I both felt it. Something is here," I warned him. "What are you going to do if one Arkham's crazies followed you here?" I demanded. "How are we going to worry about 'Kory' going undercover for Slade and deal with whatever followed you?" I demanded.
"What would you suggest we do instead?" Batman asked me half in annoyance and half in all seriousness. He was still upset at me for leaving and still found me to be inadequate compared to him but when it came to brain storming ideas we worked well together despite our differences.
"I suggest we find what followed you away from home with The Titans taking lead so no one suspects Batman and team are in town and on occasions Kory will intercept as long as everything is kept safe. But we need Starfire to maintain her regular rounds with us and we need to intercept whatever this is."
"Who do you think followed us?" Red-X asked as he placed a hand on Starfire's shoulder from where Batgirl had pulled her next to herself, aka: away from me.
"Did Starfire make any other friends?" I asked curiously.
"You mean aside from Freeze?" Batgirl rolled her eyes as Starfire stepped away from her and back towards my side.
"Yeah Catwoman," Red-X answered for me.
"In front or behind the mask as well?" I askek curiously.
"Both," Batgirl rolled her eyes again now crossing her arms across her chest.
"Did anyone take a liking to her?" Cyborg asked a good question and it spiked not only my interest but I could see Batman's mind start to tick as well.
"Whose?" I demanded as I reached for Starfire's arm just to keep her near me.
"Whose attention didn't she get? She's hot, mysterious, strong, sexy…flexible." Jason practically purred before the whole room, minus Starfire, sent him death glares.
"Two-Face," Batgirl wondered aloud to interrupt the silence.
"No, it can't be." I reasoned aloud shifting my attention back towards Bruce as we volleyed the solution back and forth.
"You said familiar and it was after the fight?" Batman questioned me.
"I would have noticed something, there would have been a clue." I replied.
"If he saw anything he could relate as personal to you," Batman warned me with that look reminding me that as heroes we had to keep our feelings in check and I might have just handed mine over and put the girl, I couldn't get enough of, off to him.
"Who?" Batgirl and Red-X demanded at the same time.
"The Joker," Starfire answered for us. "He often mentioned Robin when we fought him." She calmly stated trying hard not to look at me now.
"If he saw you and Starfire yesterday," Batgirl for once sounded nervous and not angry with me, "and made any assumptions at all…"
"The Joker is a messed up villain, simply put, he is insane. If he has decided that to get to me he wants to use Starfire then we are going to need to be careful until we figure out his plan." I started eying my team carefully in hopes they would acknowledge the danger until I could better explain it to them myself.
"I thought you said that the Joker and Slade had become pretty good friends in Gotham," Beastboy remembered aloud catching all our attention.
"Then we are fighting two deranged criminals. I don't like Starfire being used as bait." I decided before any other suggestions were made or argued with.
"Starfire being used as bait is far too risky at this point," Batman agreed much to my and apparently everyone else's surprise. "However, Kory…" he began.
"Out of the question!" I snapped. "This is the Joker and Slade we are talking about here. We both know the Joker has no true intentions but to mess with you and I in as many deranged ways as he can conjure up, but Slade he is out for personal gain and is deranged." I argued. "You don't know him like I do."
"Perhaps instead of arguing," Starfire attempted to interrupt but neither of us even acknowledged her. We were too heated now and this argument, like all the others before I left, was about to get worse. Batgirl was use to them and tried to coax Starfire to remain silent as she pulled her back and away from my old mentor and I while Jason, being Jason, just seemed to get a kick out of any fight, verbal or physical, he could be in or around.
"Give her a little more credit, you underestimate her." Batman's firm voice demanded of me.
"I don't underestimate anyone on my team," I emphasized. "Team meaning we work together. We don't throw each other into situations where we can't help each other. We tried," I started but paused when I received amused looks from the Titans. "I tried," I corrected quickly, "to work solo and to infiltrate Slade's team so I could take him down from the inside. It didn't work, so how do you propose sending Starfire in under the ruse of Kory is going to be any different. They are going to want something in return I'm not willing to give them and that's IF they don't realize who she is and use her to get to us." I swore I was seeing red now as the anger seemed to radiate out from me. I wasn't about to let Batman call the shots for a team I began. I left him for his controlling and cold mentality.
"We need someone on the inside and Kory is the only name not affiliated with The Titans or anywhere near the Justice League. Unless of course Slade isn't aware that we caught the man who had stolen the Red-X suit from you in the first place," he snapped back.
"It's not happening, Jason is too young to be her only back up and Kory is not going in there without Slade using her for something. You weren't here for Terra and you weren't here when I was forced as his apprentice so don't pretend to know what's going on now," I warned him as we continued bickering back and forth our same points, we noticed when everyone seemed to disperse from the room at once but I had just assumed it was to avoid us but a blinking light on the console got my attention as I bypassed him walking straight to it. Batman seemed to understand my urgency as we both paused and opened the file.
"How did I not know of an alert?" I asked aloud now more frustrated than I had been. I pulled open the camera views in the area to discover The Titans, including Starfire, and Batgirl with Red-X attending to it; although Batgirl and Red-X were staying to the side of the action unseen. "That's Jump City Park," I informed him as I quickly gathered data on the alert to see what was going on.
"Who are they fighting?" Bruce asked setting the argument aside as city alerts always came first.
"The Hive Five," Robin answered before turning on a dime to go join his team.
"I'll inform Batgirl and Red-X to stay out of the fight; we don't want anyone knowing we're in town." Batman warned as the doors shut behind me.
I rode the elevator down to my bike and hoped on displaying the fight on my visor while I drove. It was a see-thru fight that still allowed me drive safely but basically informed me of the whereabouts of my team and who was fighting who. I zipped off pushing my speeds to the max as I watched Jinx and Raven go hand to hand with their dark powers leaving them evenly matched, Mammoth and Cyborg facing off with their size and strength but as Robin's monitor checked them Mammoth seemed to have the upper hand, Gizmo was having a hard time locking his electronics onto an ever changing Beastboy leaving him open for attacks, while See-More, the one eyed helmeted boy had teamed up with Kyd Wykkyd, whose teleporting abilities and razor edged cape were forcing Starfire to resort to defensive maneuvers and not allowing her an offensive chance.
I pushed my bike through the winding streets of jump and watched as Cyborg attempted to gain an upper hand and assist Starfire but it only resorted in both of them being smacked around and injured as the fight continued on. Raven and Jinx continued their duel of unfortunate events which left them both useless to anyone outside of themselves but Beastboy looked like he was close to wrapping his up with Gizmo seeing how his machinery was beginning to overheat trying to lock onto the ever changing green boy.
"Rob man things aren't looking good, you'd better be close," Cyborg grunted out before being tossed head over heels by an upper cut to the jaw which only resulted in him crashing into Starfire who had almost pulled away from her attackers. I winced as I watched the two tangle themselves up in a painful looking heap on the ground.
"60seconds," I breathed pushing my bike a little harder as I watched Mammoth, Kyd Wykkyd and See-More close in on them watching the two struggle to wearily get up.
"You should just give up, then you wouldn't have to deal with the butt kicking, not that I mind seeing you," His eye changed on Starfire so his see-thru abilities were active. A strangled epp from Starfire filled my headphones as my bike roared into the scene and I flipped off my bike to stand in the middle.
"Ahh, not what I was hoping to see," See-More jumped back quickly changing his vision.
"You two okay?" I asked keeping my ground between the three villains now in front of me and my two weary team mates climbing to their feet behind me.
"I am undamaged," Starfire answered first.
"Better now that we're even," Cyborg nodded.
"Starfire Mammoth, Cyborg Kyd Wykkyd," I ordered seeing as how Starfire's strength wouldn't falter based on being thrown around and banged up where Cyborg's seemed a little tired today. As for me, I was going after the eye balled boy who was trying to catch sneak peeks at the girl I just got back. "Titans Go!" I shouted as I felt Starfire zip past me taking Mammoth with her and Cyborg launched a sonic blast towards Kyd Wykkyd who barely teleported in time to avoid being hit.
"Hey no, now hard feelings," See-More chuckled at me before changing his eye and launching bubbles at me. I quickly avoided them and instead used one of my explosion discs to easily blind and render his only weapon useless. I launched my birdarang quickly surrounding him in it and effectively tying him up before I checked the status of my team.
Starfire only needed a few punches and an eye bolt to knock Mammoth out and from the looks of Gizmo's equipment Gizmo was out of commission as well. Starfire turned to aid the evenly matched battle of Jinx and Raven while Beastboy and I helped corner the teleported as Cyborg's sonic cannon knocked him out upon arrival. By the time we had everyone rounded up in a clustered groaning pile Raven's powers effectively brought over a dizzy and horror stricken looking Jinx.
"Good Work Team, let's head home." I stated as the police showed up. We turned to head towards my bike and Cyborg's car when I caught a glimpse of Red-X teleporting away with Batgirl I shook my head as we neared our transportation when my blood froze and that feeling returned as I looked closer at my bike.
"Raven, use a portal and get yourself and Starfire back to the Tower now." My voice was cold but to the point. "Cyborg, take Beastboy and I'll be on your tail," I ordered. I watched as Starfire's eyes widen seeing the mystery looking box sitting on the seat of my bike. "Now," I hissed and felt Raven vanish.
"Dude what is that?" Beastboy asked slinking forward in an attempt to see more clearly. I grabbed him by the collar and held him back knowing full well the many wonders he could have hidden in that box: from his laughing gas to a bomb, from an acid spitting fake flower to a harmless pie in the face. Either way we weren't taking our chances until it was analyzed.
"A message, Joker's in town."
AN: And that's it. Review if anyone is still reading but if no one is I just use this story as a fun for all. I don't even have a purpose for it and I don't even know what is going to happen next. It's kind of just an easy write free for all that I go with. So review if you're reading so I know I should keep going. Missed ya!