Chapter 21

Robin shot over to the computer as the alarm started blearing. He pulled up the alert. "STAR labs are reporting break ins, but it's not just jump. It's across the country. Metropolis, Steel City, Gotham, Jump was reported ten minutes ago. They're not the only ones, there's been a total of 11 reports across the country. I'm going to send reports to the Network, and Justice League. Batman will have my head if I don't tell him about Gotham."

Cyborg was looking at the information on his arm console. "That's 11 break ins all within two hours. So it's definitely a team of people. Have STAR labs sent over anything about what was stolen?"

"No, but they're requesting assistance. Cyborg, you and Raven go to STAR labs, and speak to people there, find out what happened and what was stolen. Flash, Beast Boy, us three are going to do a wider sweep of the area. Flash, you're on ground duty, I'll take the rooftops, Beast Boy you take to the sky. If we hurry, we might be able to find clues of whoever it was, and which direction they fled in. We'll meet up when Raven and Cyborg have finished. Move out."

Raven and Cyborg promptly appeared at STAR labs, and were welcomed in by the CEO of the Jump City branch. Dr Taylor. He looked like a doctor. His pristine white coat, and his round glasses, very polite. "We had no idea it had happened until they were on their way out. Whoever it was had tripped the alarm as they snuck out of the vents, which we assume was how they got in. The CCTV hasn't really got any information for us, but we will let you have a look. You might be able to spot something that was missed."

Cyborg went to the computer with a security guard to check over the camera feeds. Raven allowed herself to be led away by Dr Taylor. "Do you know what was stolen, Dr?"

"We do. We were unsure at first as nothing looked out of place. We took an in depth inventory of the things we have here, and only one item is missing." He handed her a piece of paper from his pocket, it had a picture on of a microchip. "That is the S13 microchip. It was built as a control chip for a prototype project that's not yet finished. We were hoping in our research to find a way of creating a portable teleport device. We have done such projects in the past, but the most successful was using xenothium, which as you know is highly unstable. The project is not complete, so we're unsure what use the microchip would be on its own."

He showed Raven the locked cabinet where the microchip had been held. She ran her fingers over the lock, it had been burnt off, but somehow hadn't tripped the alarm it was connected to. "Was anything else from this project stolen at all?"

"No, we don't hold all of the parts here. As the project is revolutionary we took extra precautions in trying to keep it out of the wrong hands. We had minimal records of the microchip on site, and the rest of the device is being worked on at other facilities across the country. We weren't planning on putting the device together for another four months."

"Would that be eleven facilities overall, by any chance?"

"Oh, yes. How did you know?"

"There's been eleven break ins across STAR labs in the last few hours. I think they're probably connected. Don't worry Dr Taylor, we'll do our best to find out what's going on. Can you show me where the alarm was tripped from, and a detailed plan of the vent system please?"

"Of course, right this way."

Cyborg and the security guard met Raven and Dr Taylor at the roof. "I've got a copy of the camera feeds, I'll look over it in more detail when we get back to the Tower." Setting his console to do a scan of the area, Cyborg wandered around the roof. Raven went and had a look at the vent. The cover was perfectly intact. Carefully she removed the screws and took the cover off.

"What system do you have in the vents to prevent break ins?"

The security guard handed her a small tablet. "Infrared heat sensors." The tablet shows a grid of red lines throughout a diagram of the vent. A few lines, near the opening, were blue. "Those blue lines are the ones that tripped the system. But we don't know how someone could get in and almost out before tripping it. Those sensors are too close together for anyone to get past."

"Can you send us over a copy of this," she handed him back the tablet. "and possibly send us a complete detailing of your security system. If we can figure out what path they took to get to the microchip, we'll be able to see what other systems they managed to get past."

"Raven." Cyborg was knelt down by the edge of the roof. His scanner was doing a laser scan of something in the floor. Raven moved over to him. "Look." He moved out of her way, and there was a footprint in the dust. "Scan says it's a size 7, but it can't trace the print to anything. Meaning it's off brand. Whoever this was, knows their stuff. It's an untraceable clue."

"Looks like they came straight out of the vent and ran to the edge of the building." Raven pulled out her communicator. "I'll contact those three and get them to come closer and check this area."

"Right, I'm gonna go collect all the bits we need and then we best head home."

"Cy, just ask them if there's any information they can give us in the break ins at the other sites, I think they're connected. If not, we'll have to find out ourselves." Cyborg nodded as he walked away. Raven opened her communicator, creating a four way link between her and the other three boys. "Anything?" Robin shook his head, Beast Boy sighed, and Flash came to a halt.

"Nothing."

"Nope."

"Zilch."

"Alright well we have some clues here. Come to STAR labs, I've got a search area for you." Flash was the first to appear, Raven's cape blew behind her as he stopped next to her. Beast Boy squawked as he dove out of the air landed next to her, and Robin was last, pulling himself up over the side of the building.

"What have you found?" Robin moved over to her.

"Cyborg found a foot print." She showed Robin the print, he knelt down to have a closer look. "It's untraceable, but it's headed off this way. It looks like whoever this was came straight from the vent, and over to this edge. Question is, where did they go next?"

"Get Cyborg to do a trace on the dust here, it might not lead to anything but if they've been anywhere else we might be able to find traces of something. Mud, or whatever. Okay, Flash, do a sweep around the bottom of this entire block. I want every inch of every street searched. With it still being light out though, best chances are alleys. So start there." Flash zipped off. "Beast Boy, can you go and check the surrounding rooftops in depth please? Start with that one." Robin pointed to the next building over, in the direction the footprint was pointing. "Check for landing spots. If they've jumped the gaps, the landing footprints will be deeper in any dirt or dust than take off ones." Beast Boy turned, and flew over the next building. "Anything else?"

"It was a planned job. I'm waiting for confirmation, but it seems that the facilities hit were all holding pieces of a portable teleportation device. It's untested, and they're months away from finishing the prototype. I've asked them to send us everything they have on the project, but they only have the information on the microchip they were working on. The other 10 facilities were working on different parts of it, so they'll have the information on the other bits. They really tried hard to keep it out of the wrong hands."

"So Cy was right then, it's a team of people. I'll contact the other..." Robin's communicator went off, and he yanked it from his pocket. He flipped it open to see Batman's face looking back at him.

"I trust you're at STAR labs?"

"Yeah, just wrapping up now. We've got a few clues, nothing conclusive."

"I took a look at the Gotham Police Department's report on the break in there, I'm going to send you all of the details they have from it. From what they've written, the thief stole a Prototype GPS microchip. Which could connect to any satellite to determine the localised area, as well as detailed geography of that area, even down to the specific hight above sea level."

"Well that confirms Raven's theory. The parts that were stolen are for a portable teleportation device."

"Which means it was a specific attack. Okay, I'm going to hand control of this case over to you and your team. We're having trouble with this containment unit, and I think you need to be doing something. If you have any trouble getting information from any of the Labs, let me know and I'll get it for you."

"Thank you." Robin, wide eyed, looked up at Raven who shrugged. Before Robin could say anything more, Batman disappeared. "Why would he hand the case over to us?"

"Because we've spent the last two weeks moping, dealing with muggers and small time break ins. I think he thinks it will be good for us. And probably a distraction." Robin just snorted in response. Yeah, just like Batman to try and keep him away from the bigger picture. He should be out looking for Starfire, not working this stupid case. Still, portable teleportation in the wrong hands was scary.

Cyborg padded up next to them. "Well, I've got all the info I can get from these guys. Need to upload it to the Titan computer before I can do the proper scans."

Robin brought his communicator back up and called for Flash and Beast Boy. "Have you guys found anything?"

Flash appeared beside Robin, making him jump. "Not a thing." Robin glared at him.

"Beast Boy?"

"Not sure. Can someone come give me a second opinion?"

Robin looked up to see Beast Boy waving at him from a few buildings over. "On our way." Raven wasted no time in depositing them on the roof of the building Beast Boy was stood on. Robin moved over to him. "What you got?"

"Well," Beast Boy pointed to the floor. "There's two sets of foot prints here. I think. The smaller one is just there, there's no trail, no other foot prints on any of the buildings between here and Star Labs. But the bigger one, comes from that step ladder, "he pointed over to the edge of the building, "and stops here. But they don't go anywhere. It's like they just never left."

Robin followed the footprints to the ladder, as Cyborg took scans of the sets. He looked over the edge and down into the alley below. "Flash, did you search down there?"

"Yeah, the whole alleyway, there's nothing there." Flash moved over to him. "Want me to look again?"

"No, that's fine. There's cameras that point in this direction. We'll have a look through them when we get back to the Tower. Alright team," Robin stood to face them all, "let's head back to the Tower. Beast Boy, go pick up some food for us, it's going to be a long evening."

Flash zipped in front of Robin. "Why can't I go get food? I'm faster."

"Because Beast Boy won't eat it all before he gets back to the Tower."

When they got back to the Tower, minus Beast Boy who was picking up pizzas, Cyborg set to uploading all of the information they had collected to the main computer. Robin was busy putting together all of the information from the other break ins across the country. Raven was checking the CCTV in the area of STAR Labs to see if she could find it who the footprints belonged to. Flash was bored, Robin has told him to go shower after he had been through the alleyways. He was sat with his hair wet, just lounging on the sofa. When Beast Boy arrived, they sat around the table, digging in to their food. Robin took a bite before picking up a piece of paper and sitting back to read it.

"So what do we know so far? Cy?"

"Well," Cyborg took a slice of pizza from a box. "We know what they were after. Of the eleven break ins we have confirmed that eight of those were related to the prototype project. We're still waiting on confirmation from the other three, but we do know that those three facilities are the ones where the remaining parts were being worked on. They were all similar break ins from what I can gather. All the alarms were tripped on the way out. No CCTV of the perps. Unfortunately due to the nature of the project, the cameras don't cover where the parts of the project were held, in case their systems were hacked." He took a bite of his pizza, spotting the the toppings were starting to slip off. "We also know that all of the cabinets that were holding the parts, that we have confirmation of, were burnt open. The locks were melted, but no one can figure out what was used to burn them. I've set the computer to do a test, see if it can't match the scorch marks with something in our system."

"Good work Cy. Raven?"

"The cameras around STAR Labs didn't show anything, they don't span high enough to see the top of the building, and they don't show that alley way. What I have found though, is really interesting. I compared all of the security systems of the facilities that have been broken into, and of the ones we've confirmed, they were all breached in the ventilation system. The alarms were all tripped at the exits, as the thieves were leaving."

"Which tells me it was done on purpose." Robin sat forward. "But why?"

"Someone wanted to alert us to the break ins. I did some digging, it turns out the security systems were temporarily shut down. Whoever it was knew what they were doing. The system didn't show the shut down until after the alarm was tripped. Each system was shut down for seven minutes. The system goes down, there's no cameras in the vents or where the project was hidden, the thief is in and out before the systems comes back online." Raven took a drink of her soda, noticing that Robin was deep in thought. "The most interesting thing though, is that the infrared system can show which lines were tripped individually. Of all the vents I've been able to check, every single one was tripped from the outside in. Meaning that whoever was there, got out of the vent, and then when the system came back online, went back and tripped it."

Beast Boy gave Raven an incredulous look. "What so they got what they went for, and could have gotten away without anyone noticing but went back and tripped the alarm on purpose? What kind of idiot does that?"

"The real question here," Robin dropped his piece of pizza into the box. "Is who's attention were they trying to get? If they tripped it on purpose, they wanted to make it known that they'd stolen the prototype pieces. But by the looks of it, they tripped it on purpose at every scene. It could have been a message to anyone. Batman, Superman, anyone. "

Cyborg lifted up his arm console and typed in. "Maybe we can figure out something from the order they were hit in? Do we have the times of all the break ins?" Raven floated over a piece of paper from the printer and let Cyborg pluck it out of the air. "Oh nice! Do we have a map?" Robin promptly got up and fished a paper map out of the kitchen drawer. Well, where else do you keep maps? "Okay, y'all. Flash clear the table." Flash took less than five seconds to clear the table, and Cyborg spread the map out, circling the cities as he went "Okay so, first alarm was tripped in Star City, then Keystone, Central, Detroit, Gotham, Bludhaven, Metropolis, Washington, Phoenix, Coast, and finally Jump."

Cyborg took the pen and connected all of the cities he had circled. They looked at each other, Robin checked the paper with the times on against the route Cyborg had set out. Robin shook his head and he placed the paper down. "That's full circle around the United States. The first place hit was the next city over from Jump? It's too much of a coincidence. The message is for us."

Flash picked up the paper, his eyes darting from the paper to the map. "Yeah looks like, question is, who wants our attention?"

The computer started to beep, and Cyborg moved over to it to see what it wanted to tell them. "It's finished the scan in the scorch marks we got sent." He brought up the images on the big screen. "There were no triggers it could find, and no match of anything in the system of any known firearms. No flame throwers, no lighters, no lasers, it's not recognising it to anything. But it's matched all the scorch marks to each other. Meaning that all of the burns were made the same way."

"Cy," Raven cast a weary glance at Robin before she moved closer to the computer. "Run a scan against meta human or alien abilities we know of." She glanced at Robin again, he caught her eye and swallowed. "There's plenty of people we know who have the ability to burn things."

Robin stayed stood at the table as Flash and Beast Boy moved over to the computer. His heart was beating heavily against his chest, it felt like it would burst through his chest. His breathing became heavier. "Raven, don't go there."

"Robin, we have to! Cy, run the scan." She hadn't even looked at Robin that time.

"No Cy, don't do it. Raven, this isn't..."

"Look," Flash interrupted Raven by slurping at his drink. Beast Boy nudged him and he sheepishly apologised. Raven rounded on Robin. "Who else would be trying to send us such an elaborate message than Slade?! We're all thinking the same thing. This wasn't a team of people, this was one person. Someone who has the ability to get across to eleven different cities within two hours. She can fly faster than sound. Cyborg, do the scan. Now."

"I've already done the scan." He turned to face the rest of the team, his face grim. "One match."

Beast Boy stepped towards the computer, taking a look over Cyborgs shoulder. "Dude... no way..." He turned to Robin, his ears drooping.

Robin had his arms crossed, his gaze in the table in front of him, not really looking at anything. "Don't say it. I don't want to know." His voice was quiet.

Raven stepped towards the computer. "Tough." She pressed a button and the scan result appeared on the big screen. "One match. Starbolt. It's Starfire." Flash dropped his drink.

Robin glanced up at the screen before tearing his eyes from it. Cyborg turned back to the console, typing away. "I'm going to set the computer to do a scan of the skies. It will hopefully be able to track any abnormal energies, if she goes airborne, we'll know."

Raven turned away from Robin. "Send a message to the Justice League, they'll want to know. But this also means that the chances are, Slade is playing with teleportation technology. We need to keep an eye out, in case he gets it working."

Beast Boy pulled on his ears, "so what, Slade might be able to just teleport anywhere? Dudes, he already gets about without being tracked, this is going to be like a hundred times worse!"

"Beast Boy is right," Cyborg stood, "we need to prepare for that. STAR labs said they were months away from completing it, but Slade's not an idiot. Come on Flash." He moved over to the door. "You can help me place some sensors. Teleportation still leaves traces, hopefully, if it comes to it, we'd know if he teleported into the Tower. I'll contact the League on the way." Flash nodded before finishing his drink and following Cyborg out of the door.

Raven turned to Beast Boy. "Can you send a message out to the Network? Tell them that Starfire is active, and remind them what they're supposed to do if they encounter her." Beast Boy gave a solemn nod and moved to the other computer. Raven turned her back to Robin and set to on the console. Robin glanced at her, more than aware that she hadn't announced what she was doing.

"Raven..." Robin's tone was weary. "What are you doing?"

She sighed, but she didn't look at him. "I'm locking Starfire out of the system." She expected Robin to scream at her. To tell her not to do it and what on earth was she thinking. When he didn't react, she turned to look at him. But Robin had already left the room.