Ghost snapped his cell phone to his ear as the others ran inside. "Sparky," he said quickly as the door closed… twice. "What's going on?"
"Ha ha ha… jeez, where'd you get this guy? Anyways, looks like the feeds frozen. I'll get you a hard line… now."
Sparks pressed a button in the Real World, sending a signal directly to a phone inside the Megacortex building.
The Operator stared at the screen, checking for glitches. Control leaned over his shoulder and his eyes widened. "Sparks, they need to get out. Agents and the Titans!"
Sparks turned and saw the screen. "Oh no…"
"Ghost, there's some SERIOUS activity around there. Get to the hard line as fast as you can." The First Mate snapped his phone back down and ran after his crewmates.
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A vicious roundhouse punch sent Deathstroke back towards the door. Both programs were exhausted, but neither was close to losing.
"Damn… you're…good…" the assassin panted. Seraph had already caught his breath and slowly approached the program.
"We'll finish this some other time," he whispered to the Guardian, before running from the broken door and into the faint dawn. Seraph sighed and walked back up to the Oracle's apartment, relaxing his fists.
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Niobe dashed to the ringing phone and picked it up. Bane and Raven reached it next, but before Bane could answer, they heard a muffled thump. Followed by a cry of pain from Ghost.
"GHOST!" Raven yelled as she ran back up. Bane hesitated, but drew his sword and followed.
Ghost flew down the staircase, both Sig Sauers firing crazily at the Agents. Johnson leapt into the air, preparing to crush him, but Raven tackled him into the wall, and then drove his head further in with a reverse kick.
Bane wallran up the stairs, gutting Thompson with his sword, and kicked Jackson through the wall. Thompson backhanded him back down the stairs, where he narrowly avoided falling on Ghost. Putting away his sword, he picked the dazed man up and began dragging him to the hard line…
A dark shape swirled around him. He gasped and unsheathed the sword as Dark Raven swooped in. He leapt over sonic cannon fire and elbowed Speedy in the head. Bane bounced off of Beast Boy, adding another crack to the changeling's head, and slashed at Bumblebee. The female program dodged and kicked him in the chest.
Bane backflipped, kicking Starfire into Cyborg, who was pushed out of the enormous window. Kory gasped and dove after her friend.
The Rebel spun, accidentally smacking both Speedsters in the head with the blunt edge of his broadsword.
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"GO BANE!" Control shouted, spraying the Operator's hair with spit. Sparks wiped the saliva off and continued watching the feed…
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Kory grabbed Cyborg's arm and lifted him… just as Bane tripped a charging Aqualad and threw him out of the shattered window. All three plummeted to the ground in a tangled mass.
Bane jumped at Dark Raven, who had already formed a twin-bladed sword. He slashed at her several times, but she quickly made dark energy shields to protect herself. He dove to the ground as she fired a large blast of Azar energy, which continued on and pushed Bumblebee into a cubicle. The black girl was knocked out.
A large hole appeared in a wall near the two combatants. Jackson flew backwards and smashed through another window, his host instantly killed.
Bane was blown forwards by another bolt of dark energy. Dark Raven's eyes lit up, a dark gray, but they were soon replaced by a dull blue when Ghost cracked her over the head with a Sig Sauer.
"Bane, let's go!" he ordered, and he dashed to the hard line. Bane fired a few rounds at the bleeding Thompson, who dodged and returned fire just as Ghost jacked out. Bane hid behind a support pillar as Thompson fired, riddling the front of the pillar with holes.
His trenchcoat fluttered as he spun out from behind the pillar and fired again. This time, a lucky shot dropped Thompson onto one knee. Bane walked up and bashed his head in with the blunt edge of the broadsword.
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Raven kicked off of Johnson's chest and ran through the hole that she had carved in the cubicles while blowing Jackson away. She ducked to avoid a Desert Eagle shot, and leapt into the air. She was now on top of the cubicles.
Johnson fired at her twice. She delicately ran from wall to wall, still balancing herself on top. She saw Bane jack out and quickly jumped down, not seeing that Johnson was closing in on her easily.
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Outside, a short dark-haired person was dashing through the door, and down to where Raven was about to jack out. As he heard two gunshots, he gritted his teeth.
If his theory was correct, then it was imperative that Raven got out.
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Raven placed the phone back on the receiver. It rang just as Johnson fired.
Her mouth opened to scream, but she never got it out. The dark figure dove in front of the bullet, trenchcoat fluttering. The bullet went through, narrowly flying through Raven's legs.
Angrily, she charged up a vast amount of energy and launched it at the Agent. The host was completely incinerated as her eyes flared red for a moment.
Robin turned and saluted, before his eyes closed and his body relaxed. Raven picked up the phone and jacked out, only one thing on her mind.
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Cris watched silently in the Underground. Robin dove in front of the bullet and was pierced instantly. She frowned.
"Commander, come take a look at this."
The Commander and the rest of the crew walked over. "Is that… him?" The Commander frowned as well. "I wouldn't worry about it. The machines will have an upgrade by tomorrow."
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Raven slowly exhaled as she sat up in her chair. Niobe was already looking at the monitors with Control and Sparks, reloading the mainframe after the lockup.
"What happened?" asked Ghost, who was still in his chair. She noticed that he was cradling one arm.
"Robin… he stopped the Agents by… sacrificing himself…" she whispered hoarsely. Ghost hung his head.
Niobe decided to tell her something else. "Robin wasn't in the Matrix."
"Yeah," Control agreed, "it looks like someone else blocked that guy's shot." Raven glared at him. "You can't even READ the code. How would you know?"
Control grinned. "You really have no confidence in me, do you, Rae?"
Ghost walked to the cockpit. "I'll start up the ship." Niobe followed him up the stairs. Raven looked around, just noticing something.
"Where's Bane?"
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In the darkest part of the ship, Bane sat huddled. He was carving something… on his arm.
Crimson shimmered in the faint light as it slowly dripped down onto the ground, forming black pools. He groaned as a voice that was not his own slowly began to speak.
"He's not gone yet… you were wrong."
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Inside the Matrix, Brown shook his head. He was getting what the humans called a 'headache.' The program shuddered and walked into the kitchen for some cookies, in the hopes that they would end these recurring migraines.
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Neo tapped at the keyboard as quick as he could. A spiky-haired boy suddenly appeared in the Matrix, resting on the couch of Titans Tower.
The Matrix flickered… and all was still. Neo slowly walked to the hardline and jacked out, as a terrible roaring noise filled his ears. Purgatory was coming, and he was the ultimate aggressor.