The five Titans raced through Jump City, towards the small bank which had reported the robbery. All five keenly felt Beastboy's absence- even Cassie, the newest member of the team, could feel that something was not right. When they reached the bank, they found Commissioner Whyte waiting for them near the police barricades. As Robin leapt from the T-Car, the older man moved to greet him.

"It's Johnny Rancid and Doctor Light" he stated. "We have them contained, but Rancid's made some serious upgrades to his bike- including anti-armor rockets and a heavy machinegun."

Raven snorted, clearly unimpressed. "Rancid and Light? Robin, let me handle this while the rest of you go back home."

Robin hesitated. Normally, he would agree that one Titan would be enough to handle both Light and Rancid. Neither were especially formidable, and both were fairly predictable. However, today he felt a little extra caution was warranted.

"I don't know Raven" he said slowly "This just doesn't feel right. For one thing, neither Doctor Light nor Johnny Rancid have ever worked with other villains before, so why are they doing it now? For another, our last few encounters have all proven to be more than they seemed to be. I think I'd feel better if we handled this as a team."

Raven closed her eyes- a sure sign she was losing her patience. "Robin, they're losers. They've always been losers, they will always be losers. Johnny Rancid is an over-blown adolescent with a thing for bikes, and the last time 'Doctor' Light fought me he wound up wetting himself. Without bragging, I can safely say that I'm the most powerful members of this team. The odds that they'll give me even a bit of trouble are low. Besides which, I have a bit of aggression I need to work through, so just let me handle this "

Robin frowned. Those were all good points, and ordinarily he would have agreed without hesitation. But still, something didn't feel right. "I'll agree on one condition: You keep your communicator open the whole time. Most likely you're right and it won't take you long, but if something DOES happen, we'll be ready to join you. Deal?"

"Deal" the empath replied, and made her way into the bank.

Inside the bank, all the lights were out. Raven had expected that- cutting power to lights was standard procedure for the JCPD in case of siege. Mere darkness, however, was no problem for demonic vision and Raven easily made her way through the empty halls. She could hear the sound of drawers being opened and of small items being scattered across the floor. It seemed to be coming from the large vault that lay at the back of the building. She made her way there, making no attempt to mask her approach.

Suddenly, Doctor Light materialized in front of her. She started, briefly, but remembered that the costumed clown used light-based technology and had been known to use a kind of cloaking device to make himself invisible. "Now, we both know how this is going to end" she said, her voice calm "You're going to finish the day in jail, so why not come along quietly?"

To her surprise, Light showed no signs of apprehension at seeing her. Instead, he simply smirked. "I don't believe I will, little girl."

Raven sighed, but inwardly she was glad. Today had been a bad day so far, full of emotional twists and turns, and she was looking forward to making someone else pay for it. "If that's how you want it. Azerath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

Using her telekinesis, she took hold of a small filing cabinet and sent it hurtling towards the smirking villain. She was careful not to use too much force- enough to knock him out and maybe bruise a rib or two, no more. She was surprised, then, when it passed right through him and crashed into the wall, the force of the impact sending one of the drawers out onto the floor. Raven recovered quickly.

"A hologram" she droned "Cute. Do you really think a simple hologram can defeat me, Light?"

"There are two problems with that statement, little girl. One, its not just A hologram" a second copy of Doctor Light said, as it appeared out of nowhere. Another quickly followed it, and another, until six copies of the mad scientist formed a semi-circle around Raven. Raven took a step back, but remained confident.

"Second" the holograms said in unison "They are far from simple." At that, the central Doctor raised his hand, which emitted a blast of dazzling energy. The beam struck Raven squarely in the chest and sent her to the ground before she was able to erect a psionic shield.

The empath rose to her feet, and forced a small smile onto her face. "Is that all you've got?" she said.

"Actually, no." This time all six copies fired on her, and Raven was forced to her knees. Her shield was holding but just barely. She couldn't even spare the mental energy to call for help. All she could do was scream.

Outside, Robin cursed softly. He'd KNOWN there was something wrong about this whole thing! Why hadn't he been firmer? He should have insisted that Raven not go in alone, that the whole team fight together. "Too late now" he said to himself, before raising his voice. "Guys, Raven's in trouble! Titans GO!"

The team proceeded inside quickly but cautiously- no one wanted to step into another trap, but Raven's scream lent their feet speed. Unfortunately, while they were careful to remain observant, the Titans were not as careful about silence as they normally would have been. The pounding of three pairs of feet along the tiled floor echoed throughout the bank.

In the depths of the bank vault, Johnny Rancid paused in his search. He had been contacted a few nights ago and offered a LOT of money for a pretty simple heist. He'd been totally psyched, until he found out he was gonna have to work with that total loser Doctor Light. He'd decided to put up with it because, hey, a guy's gotta eat and a bike needs gas. He'd been kinda surprised when Light behaved really differently than ever before- less flaky, and a lot more scary. The first stages of the job had gone off perfectly- they'd broken into the bank, smashed into the vault using his bikes new weapons system, and started to search for the goods. He'd actually had a pretty good feeling about the job, until he heard the Titans heading his way.

"Dude!" he exclaimed, turning to his temporary partner, who was searching through the other side of the vault "Its the Titans! What're we gonna do?"

Doctor Light slowly stood up and looked at his 'partner', and for perhaps the thousandth time cursed the Justice League. It was because of them that he'd been driven to this, to taking orders from secretive employers and working alongside brain-dead delinquents. He was Doctor Light, the most brilliant genius of his generation! But because of that damned witch Zantanna, he'd spent years as a bumbling incompetent, and was now forced to regain his good name the hard way. Speaking of which....

"Do not concern yourself with the Titans" he said, turning to leave the vault. "I will have my holographic duplicates deal with them while I attend to the little witch. In the meanwhile, continue the search- we will not leave here without those diamonds"

Johnny nodded, and resumed ransacking the vault, turning out drawers and turning their valuable contents out onto the floor.

Raven was in trouble. Her psychic energy stores were nearly exhausted- it had been a long day, and she had not had a chance to meditate properly. Moreover, the exertion of maintaining a psionic shield in the face of the powerful laser barrage had rapidly drained what power she had. Very soon now she would run out of power, and shortly afterwards she would run out of life. Fortunately, she could hear her friends racing towards her, and knew that if she could just hold out a bit longer, she would be all right.

Suddenly, the laser blasts stopped, as another Light- presumably the real one- walked into the room.

"I will attend to the girl" he said, nodding to his duplicates. "Go and ensure that her friends do not disturb us."

Without a word, the holograms vanished, leaving Raven alone with Doctor Light. However, before she could take advantage of this, he raised a hand and blasted her with a massive energy beam. The beam struck her in the face, and while she was just able to erect a shield, doing so drained the last of her power. Worse, the phenomenal glare caused by the concentrated light dazzled her, leaving her blinded.

"Well, now" Light said, and she could hear the smirk in his voice "It appears it's just the two of us"

Back in the hallway, the Titans found their path to Raven blocked. A large, makeshift barricade had been set up in the middle of the wide hallway and although it was composed of desks, chairs, and filing cabinets it appeared quite strong. Just as Starfire flew closer, to see if perhaps she could dismantle it, the head of Doctor Light popped up. He emerged from the barricade, apparently phasing through one of the desks, and smiled at his foes.

"I'm afraid this is as far as you go" he said "Leave now, or I will be forced to expel you"

Robin sneered, despite his increasingly bad feelings about all this. "Yeah? You and what army?"

Light smiled a little wider, as five more 'Doctor Lights' emerged from within the jumble of furniture. "This one" they said in unison, raising their arms to point at the young heroes.

A large bead of sweat formed on Robin's forehead. "When will I learn to stop saying that sort of thing?" he muttered, before backflipping away from the incoming laser fire. He joined Cyborg and Batgirl behind a hastily-flipped desk and began tossing birdarangs at his enemies. However, due to incoming fire neither he nor the other two heroes was able to aim, and their efforts were less than productive. Starfire, as the most maneuverable of the Titans, was easily able to avoid the incoming fire. She couldn't dodge laser blasts, of course, but she knew well how difficult it was to hit an erratically moving target. The Tamaranian warrior went into an incredible set of aerobatic motion- she dipped, she soared, she zigged and zagged, rendering her nearly impossible to hit. All the while, she carefully fired off starbolts and eyeblasts, aiming precisely so as not to damage the building. As a result, she was the first to notice the reason none of the Lights bothered taking cover.

"Robin!" she cried "My attacks have no effect! They simply pass through these villains!"

Cyborg slapped a palm to his forehead. "Holograms! Of COURSE! Quit attackin', guys, we're not gonna do any good- they've got no bodies to hit"

"Not leaving Raven" Batgirl growled, and despite her full-face mask the metal man knew she was glaring at him.

"Whoa, easy! Nobody's leaving anyone, but we have to think" Cyborg said "Let me see..." He popped his head a little above the desk and scanned the room, his robotic eye glowing. When he finished, he ducked back down and sighed. "No holographic projectors that I can see, which means that either they're really well hidden, or Light's found someway to remote-project holograms. Which shouldn't be possible."

Robin grimaced. Here was another adversary who was acting outside the norm- first the Sladebots, then Adonis' team up with Mumbo, and now this. Something was definitely off, but it would have to wait. "So what do we do?"

Cyborg growled. "I don't know."

Back near the vault, Raven was fighting down panic. She was trapped, blind and helpless, against a madman whom she had previously humiliated. Batgirl or Starfire would have been able to beat Light dizzy, she knew, but her training had never included physical combat- no one had ever seen the point. Now, with Doctor Light bearing down on her, she suddenly saw the point.

She could hear the click of his boots on the stone as he approached, then felt his hot breath on her face as he leaned in close.

"Hmm..." he said, stroking one gloved hand down her face. It was all Raven could do not to scream at his touch. "You're prettier than I remember, witch-girl" he said in a considering tone of voice. To her shock and horror, his hand slid down to squeeze her breast. "More filled out too..."

Raven shuddered in revulsion. 'Please don't let him rape me' she prayed, to a god she wasn't sure cared about her, 'anything but that'. She lacked even the psychic energy to vent her raging emotions, let alone defend herself, and Light was far larger and stronger than she was.

Ironically, Johnny Rancid, of all people saved her. "Yo, Doc! I found the diamonds! Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

The crazed scientist released Raven and strode back into the vault. "Excellent" he said as he watch Rancid stuff the diamonds into the saddlebag of his bike. He pressed a button, deactivating the tiny floating holoprojectors that powered his doubles. Out in the hall, the Titans watched as their adversaries vanished into thin air, before immediately moving to break up the barricade and reach their team mate.

"Tell me, your motorcycle... it is driven in the same manner as a normal one?" Light asked as he quietly approached his partner.

Rancid snorted but nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Good. Then I have no further need of you." Light raised his hand and extended one finger. The Titans reached the vault just in time to see a flare of energy strike Johnny Rancid in the forehead, leaving a tiny smoking hole. The biker slowly toppled over onto the floor where he lay unmoving. Light calmly stepped over the body, and mounted the motorcycle. Without a word to the Titans, he gunned the motor and raced past them, before he and the bike vanished. The only sign of their existence was the roar of the engine fading into the distance.

"Invisibility" Robin muttered, making the word a curse.

Afterward, Robin went to talk to the commissioner while Cyborg consulted with the forensics team. Raven drew the girls aside and quietly told them the WHOLE story. When she was finished Starfires eyes literally blazed with anger, and Cassie had a white-knuckled grip on a batarang.

"I shall destroy him." Starfire said, her voice filled with quiet menace. It was plain that this was not a threat, not a boast, nor even a promise but a simple statement of fact- no different than if she had remarked on what she was making for lunch. "I shall find him and I shall slowly destroy him. That is what I shall do."

"No, Star" Batgirl said, her voice angry but controlled. "That not what we do. We obey law, even when wish not to. What makes us different from them."

"Listen to Batgirl, Star" Raven said, her voice revealing none of the emotional turmoil she felt. "If you two really want to help me..." Here Raven took a deep breath "...then train me"

Starfire's eyes slowly regained their normal state, and she looked at Raven curiously. "Train you? In what do you wish training, Friend Raven?"

"I realized today that I'm far too dependent on my powers- when I ran out of psychic energy, I was completely helpless. Batgirl, you're a world class martial artist, and Star you're a trained warrior- either of you would have been able to at least fend off Light's...advances." Raven sighed, suddenly feeling emotionally drained. "I want to be able to do that. Will you help me?"

"Of course" Batgirl responded, seemingly surprised that Raven even felt the need to ask. "I teach you basic katas. In few months, you be good enough to fight ordinary criminals. In few years, you be able to fight anyone."

"And I shall train your body!" Starfire exclaimed, warming to the idea. She had felt helpless in the face of Beastboy's problems, but here was something she could do! "I know many exercises that will make you stronger and faster than ever! I shall inflate you!"

Raven stared blankly for a moment, then asked hesitantly "Star, do you mean you'll 'pump me up'?"

"Affirmative! Is that not what I was saying?" Starfire asked, innocently. Raven sighed, while Batgirl looked on puzzled.

"Never mind. Thanks, the both of you."

Meanwhile Robin and the commissioner looked over the damage report. It was still early on in the investigation, but it was already clear that Light and Rancid hadn't been looking for loot. Millions of dollars in cash, jewelry and bonds had been left on the floor. In fact the only thing missing was a small container of industrial-grade diamonds.

"Industrial Grade?" Robin repeated numbly. "But, those aren't worth a fraction of the value of the stones they left on the floor! It makes no sense!"

"Unless" Whyte said, his tone weary "Unless, they were only acting on someone elses orders. In which case, the question is: What do they need industrial diamonds for? Your teammate didn't overhear anything?"

"No. She says that after the holo-clones left, Light blasted her and then starting taunting her- all about how this was good payback for what she'd done to him. No more. Then we got there just in time to see... what happened to Johnny Rancid." Robin said, his voice distasteful. He hated the biker, and wouldn't ordinarily waste pity on him. Still... "How is Rancid, anyway?"

Whyte grimaced. "Brain damaged. Apparently, Light's laser fried a good part of his brain. He's got no idea who he is, where he is, or how to count past five. Docs say that there's little to no chance of recovery, too, so that's one more source of info out the window. What the hell happened here, Robin? What happened to Light?"

"I don't know" Robin said bitterly "But I intend to find out"

A/N

Doctor Light gets treated badly, both in fiction and in the cartoon. There is a good, canonical explanation for all this, and it'll come in the next chapter.
Sorry about the wait, but exams have been killer and one of my profs handed out a 20 page term paper. Updates should be more frequent now.