CHAPTER ONE

Data Retrieval

"Awright, Titans! Move it! I got waffles! Hot 'n' syrupy!" Cyborg's voice echoed throughout the Tower. In a matter of minutes, all six Titans had taken their seats at the table.

"Thanks, Cy!" Robin said before shovelling a bite into his mouth. "These're great!"

"Yes, these dimpled pastries are..." Starfire gasped in delight. "Are these zorka berries in mine?! Oh, friend Cyborg!" She ate one whole. "Thank you!"

Raven, eating with her eyes closed, mumbled, "These taste a little different, Cyborg. What'd you do?"

Cyborg, who had just put away his chef's hat, grinned. "Used that egg substitute B.B.'s always bugging me for. So no one can complain."

Beast Boy's face lit up, and grabbed a massive portion. "For me? Aw, Cyborg, you're the best!" And he devoured his stack.

The sixth Titan, Terra, was eyeing the stack of uneaten waffles. Her mind was obviously not on breakfast. It had been months since she had joined the Teen Titans, but she had never eaten with them. She had always begged off, preferring to cook for herself. That she had come down at all today was a surprise.

"Whut's wrong, Terra? You're always out there. Anythin' you feel like sharin' with the rest of the class?" Cyborg said around a mouthful of waffles.

"Huh? Oh. No, sorry. Still not used to having friends, I guess." She grinned nervously, and brushed her long blonde hair out of her face.

"I know you like cooking for yourself, Terra, but today's groceries day; there is literally no other food." Robin pushed a plate towards her. "So eat up."

"H'ok, boss. Whatever you say."

She cut a piece of waffle, and brought it to her mouth. Just before she bit into it, the emergency signal went off. Terra dropped her fork in surprise.

"Trouble!" Robin shouted, and the Teen Titans bolted as one to the garage.

It was so innocuous, Robin almost missed it; the signs of breaking-and-entering.

"There! That tech store!" He pulled his bike up short.

The T-Car squealed to a halt as Raven, Starfire, and Terra all dropped to the ground. Terra, of course, landed with a little more force than the others; flying via levitating stone is heavy work. From the T-Car, Beast Boy and Cyborg emerged. Cyborg's sonic blaster crackled as he moved, showing it was fully charged.

"What are you talkin' about, man?" Cyborg eyed the building. "There's nuthin' wrong..."

At that, six of Slade's ARC robots smashed through the storefront window and advanced on the group.

Robin grinned as he popped his staff to full extension. "Titans! GO!"

The robots charged; the Titans charged back. The battle was joined.

The robots seemed intent on taking the Titans one-on-one. Robin was fine with that; they'd been wrecking Slade's toys for a little under two years now. The 'bot rushing him would expect the Boy Wonder to vault over it, kicking it from behind. So he did the opposite, and crouched low. The robot clasped its manipulators together, and raised them high over its head, obviously thinking to crush Robin beneath it. It was six feet away... four... two...

"ROBIN!" Starfire screamed. One... NOW!

Robin raised his staff, jamming it in the middle of the 'bot's forehead; right through the yellow circle. The robot twitched twice, and fell to the ground, smoking.

However, Starfire's momentary attention lapse cost her; her target had drawn a bead on her, and blasted her with a bolt of energy. Singed and angry, Starfire decended on the robot like a falcon. Her green eyes brimmed with her own energies, and she threw starbolt after starbolt down at the offending robot. Its tracking program traced each as they arced at it, and it nimbly avoided the ensuing explosion. More the fool it; Starfire's eyebeams lanced out, scoring a deep hit on its jump jets. As they fused shut, the robot blew itself up. The shrapnel rained upon Raven, who was keeping her's occupied by telekinetically binding to the ground.

"Star, watch your residuals. Don't want to... oof!" From behind her, Beast Boy smashed into her. Her concentration disrupted, her robot fired off several shots at the prone pair. Raven raised an ebony shield around them, and nudged Beast Boy.

"What's wrong with you, Beast... Boy?"

Beast Boy was staring straight above them. Hoping she wouldn't regret it, she followed his gaze. Terra floated above them, leaping from rock to rock. She had dismantled her target, and was on her way to aid the two.

"Beast Boy, snap out of it!" Raven's voice echoed strangely in the telekinetic shell. "Ogle teammates later, OK?!" Beast Boy shifted into a velociraptor, and nodded. "Good, now get rid of your target!" Raven dropped the shield, and flew into the air. Focusing on the robot itself, she closed her eyes. "Azarath. Metrion. ZINTHOS!" The robot was enveloped in black energy and was crushed to the size of an aluminum can.

"GrrrAAAAARRRRGggh!!" The green velociraptor ripped deep into the chest cavity of his robot. Its collapse onto the blacktop was rather anticlimactic.

Robin, collapsing his staff, looked around at the battlefield. Clean, and no major injuries sustained. "Titans, let's go. We have to see what they were after."

The technology store was in pristine order. Not a single circut was out of place. The overall air of perfection began to get under Robin's skin.

"Damn it! Cyborg, hack the database; I want a total inventory manifest. Raven, scan this whole place; if anything Cyborg lists is missing, tell me at once. The rest of you, we're going back to the Tower."

The four Titans left by their various methods, leaving Raven and Cyborg to track down exactly what was going on.