Author: Cyclone
Feedback: Please be gentle.
Distribution: Gimme credit and a link.
Rating: Maybe a little harsh language, certainly some violence, but nothing worse than on BtVS.
Spoilers: Up to Chosen for BtVS and Date With Destiny for Teen Titans.
Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to other people. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: With Killer Moth holding the city hostage, there's only one way to buy the Titans enough time to stop him.
Author's Note: Heheh. Xander finally gets some payback.
"So, what do you think?" Abbey asked, stepping out in her Raptor costume and sturning a few times to offer the Titans a look from all angles.
"Can you even breath in that thing?" Xander asked, disapproval in his voice.
The outfit consisted of a black leather bodysuit, with matching gloves, that left nothing to the imagination; the zipper between her breasts only made it more alluring. A dark red vest -- kevlar-lined -- hung open around her shoulders, and on the back was a highly-stylized and abstract silhouette of a bird with its wings partially spread, curling forward as if to grasp something immediately in front of it. A much-abbreviated utility belt hung at her waist, with a grappler at her left hip and an collapsed pistol crossbow at her right, and Xander could barely make out the additional pockets on the inside of the vest. A mask that swept upwards on either side, evocative of wings, completed the costume.
"Don't worry about that, Boss," she said, flicking her wrists and causing short but razor-sharp claws to extend from the fingertips of her gloves.
Raptor sauntered past them and tapped first Beast Boy, then Cyborg, on the nose. "Jaws off the floor, boys."
"Great," Robin muttered, "she's taking fashion tips from Catwoman."
"Aww, is that so bad, Boy Wonder?" she pouted, sidling up next to him and tracing his jawline.
Starfire twitched. Raven raised an eyebrow. Xander shook his head and sighed.
"Knew I never should've let her meet Faith..."
Much to Robin's relief, communicators began flashing, and he quickly detached himself from Raptor and took off at a run.
"Titans!"
Robin was donning his helmet when he felt the R-Cycle shift beneath him. He turned, "Huh?"
"Hey."
"Why don't you ride in the T-Car?"
"Well," Raptor replied innocently, "this is the R-Cycle, right?" She winked, "Don't worry. I'll hold on tight."
"That's what I'm afraid of..." he muttered.
"Range to target?" Robin asked, trying his best to ignore what was pressing against his back.
"Five hundred and closing," Cyborg replied from within the T-Car. "Should have a visual in..."
"There he is!" Starfire called. She was and and an eagle-form Beast Boy were flying above.
"Correction," Raven said from the T-Car's shotgun seat. "There it is."
The jewel thief appeared to have giant, four-legged spider for a head.
"Hey, doesn't he know he's breaking copyright laws?" Xander quipped.
Raptor snorted, "He sure doesn't have Peter Parker's looks."
Robin shot a look over his shoulder at Raptor, then over to Nighthawk, "What are you two talking about?"
"Nevermind, Rob," Xander shook his head as the three vehicles pulled to a stop. "Nevermind."
The jewel thief stood on his spider legs and fired at them with the energy pistol in his hand. The three Titan vehicles scattered, then turned in pursuit.
Starbolts, the R-Cycle's blasters, and even the T-Car's new roof missile -- Xander made a mental note: He wanted one of those -- were all easily dodged by the spider-thief.
A silk wad knocked Beast Boy out of the air, adhering him to the landscape, but even as he complained about the super-loogie, Starfire darted through the air, avoiding the same fate. The ground-bound Titans found themselves faced by a silk wall that stretched across the street.
Raven's soulself tore the roadway, lifting it up like a ramp, which the three vehicles jumped. More silk projectiles shot down, and both bikes swerved to avoid.
The less agile T-Car wasn't so lucky.
"I can't see!" Cyborg cried as he swerved the T-Car to a halt.
Another silk wad pinned Starfire, sending her to the ground as Nighthawk, Raptor, and Robin sped past. In a moment, Starfire freed herself and followed.
Robin watched as he and Nighthawk raced neck and neck after the thief... straight toward a car and the wall beyond.
"Get ready to jump!" he yelled.
"What?" Raptor shrieked, then fumbled at her hip for her grappler.
Xander swerved the N-Cycle to a halt. With all the weapons he'd had installed, the N-Cycle couldn't afford thrusters, and he wasn't particularly eager to lose his bike so soon after losing his powersuit.
Even as the N-Cycle slowed, he reached for his grappler, jumping and firing it as soon as the bike stopped moving.
Two grappling hooks caught on the building.
A third... failed to find purchase.
"Shiiiiit!" Raptor screamed as she fell.
"A- Raptor!" Xander called, terror gripping his heart for a moment. He turned and continued to retract his grapple-line in pursuit.
The fall wasn't too far. She should be fine.
As the two remaining Titans continued their pursuit, the thief turned... and spat twice.
"Can't... move!" Robin said.
Suddenly paralyzed, they fell.
"This... is gonna... hurt," Xander prophesied as they fell.
He would've been right, were it not for Starfire and Raptor. When the expected pain failed to come, Xander creaked his eyes open and found himself looking in Starfire's smiling face.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Raptor cradling Robin protectively.
Boy Wonder, Xander thought, good luck. You'll need it.
Cyborg checked the two caped Titans with his scanners as the other looked on anxiously.
"Will they be all right?" Raptor asked.
"They will be," Cyborg replied. "The venom's effect is only temporary."
"Getting away..." Robin said, "we have to... go after him! Whoa..." Raptor caught him before he fell.
"You mean, we have to go after him," Raven corrected.
"You two need to chill 'til that stuff wears off," Cyborg said.
"But..." Robin protested.
"Dude, we can handle it," Beast Boy assured him. "The guy's got a spider for a head. Not like he's gonna be hard to find."
Cyborg looked at Raptor, "And you need to stay off your feet and get some rest too. That's a nasty bump you've got. You might have a concussion."
"Hey!" she snapped. "Slayer healing. I'll be fine."
"Stand... down," Xander said, forcing the words past the paralysis.
She sighed. "Yes, Boss."
"Unless you want your city reduced to a moth-eaten wasteland," Killer Moth said, "you'll do exactly as I say."
Xander sat back and waited. This was going to be fun, and with the way Ab was eyeing the Boy Wonder... well, at least Cy had been wrong about the concussion.
"What do you want?" Robin asked.
"My demands are simple: The city will declare me ruler, the Teen Titans will surrender, and Robin..." Killer Moth hesitated, "...will... take this lovely young lady to her junior prom."
"Hi, Robbie-poo!" Kitten waved.
"Um... what was that last part again?" Robin sputtered.
"Robin, who is this girl?" Starfire asked curiously. "And why does she call you 'poo'?"
"Her name is Kitten," Killer Moth said, "and you will take her to prom!"
"You gotta be shittin' me!" Raptor snarled as she stalked up, slamming her hands into the console.
Literally.
"Raptor, easy on the equipment," Xander warned.
She blinked, "Err, sorry, Boss."
Robin swallowed nervously.
"We're gonna need a minute," he told Killer Moth, then headed out of the ops center, the other three Titans following.
In the hallway, Robin activated his communicator, "Cyborg, report. How bad is it?"
"Bad!" Cyborg replied. "Can't hold 'em off much longer! If you're gonna do something, do it quick!"
"Sounds pretty bad, Rob," Xander said, keeping his amusement from his face. "Doesn't look like you've got much choice."
Raptor whirled, "What? But Boss...!"
"He's right," Robin said, closing the communicator. "I have to do it."
"At least she isn't a demon," Xander pointed out.
"Thanks," Robin said unenthusiastically as he led the others back into the ops center.
"You sure about that?" Raptor growled as she eyed Kitten's image on the screen.
"Do we have a deal?" Killer Moth asked.
"I'll take the girl to prom," Robin said.
"Don't tell me," Killer Moth said. "Ask her."
Robin rolled his eyes, "You've gotta be..."
"DO IT!"
Robin clenched his fists and found his center, then looked up, "Kitten, was it?"
"Me-ow!" she replied, waving cutely.
"Right," Robin said. "Will you... go with me to the prom?"
Kitten gasped happily, "Oh, Robbie-poo! I thought you'd never ask!"
Author's Postscript:
--snerk-- Which is scarier? A jealous Tamaranian or a jealous slayer?