"What does 'going out' mean?" Starfire asked Robin innocently.
"Huh?"
"Going out. That it was Nightwing said, is it not?" Starfire asked.
Robin's eyes went wide through the mask. "You heard that?" he croaked, almost choking on his coffee.
"Was I not supposed to?"
"Well, I, um." Robin could feel his face going warm. "How much did you hear?" he asked.
"Of your conversation with Nightwing? The whole thing. I do not remember much though because I was in the process of going to sleep."
"You don't remember much," Robin repeated, trying to keep relief out his voice. It had been embarrassing enough the way Nightwing had kidded him about Starfire, but for Starfire to have heard . . .
"No, but I do seem to remember him saying something about you 'going out' with me. Tell me, does this going out process involve mustard?"
"Not exactly."
"Well tell me, what is it."
Robin sighed. "Going out is when two people, you know, like each other and decide to go to a movie or a restaurant together."
Starfire thought about this for a moment. The she blushed. "Oh."
"It was a misunderstanding of course," Robin quickly said. "He was just joking around."
"Oh." A brief look of hurt flashed across her face, but it was there and gone so fast that Robin didn't catch it. "So you and will not be going out, shall we."
Robin was spared having to answer by a loud yell, undoubtedly Beast Boy's. Robin arched a brow in confusion "Poor guy must've turned the shower water on too hot," he remarked.
Then the kitchen wall exploded, or rather, imploded from their point of view. Starfire threw up an energy shield to cover her and Robin right before a deadly hail of debris hit them.
These military types, impatient to the last. Couldn't even wait for the two Titans to get a good look at 'em before opening fire. Bullets and energy bolts sizzled against Starfire's energy shield. They didn't care, they had bigger ammo anyway.
The two KomBATS were Hans and Mikey. Of the two, Mikey was the first to bring out his shoulder-mounted bazooka. It was a Monstrosity to the last, seven feet of pure chaos and destruction. It didn't even fire projectiles, but rather ion blasts that had the concussive power of three or four hand grenades.
BOOOM. The ion bolt instantly hit Starfire's makeshift energy shield. No way, Hans thought, could they defend themselves against that.
The time that had elapsed from the wall exploding to now was precisely three seconds.
***
Stacey heard the various reports from firearms all throughout the place. Good, he thought. A surprise attack is always the best way to catch the enemy off guard. Even better is a sustained surprise attack, to keep them from regaining that guard.
He felt a cold chill creep through his suit, it was almost supernatural. He looked down at his suit. A black energy wave seemed to be enveloping him.
"Hello," said a voice from behind him. He turned around to see the telekinetic Titan, Raven, he thought it was. She was floating menacingly in the air above his head, and if she'd ever possessed pupils, he sure couldn't see this now.
Oh crap.
"Azarath."
Stacey reached for his gun. His hands felt sluggish, it was hard to move.
"Metrion."
Oh crap oh crap oh crap
"Zinthos." Raven's hand flew out to the side in a flash of motion. So did Stacey. He smashed right into a wall, or rather, right through it to come crashing right back into the room he'd entered through. Being a KomBAT, he rarely got the experience of feeling pain. Here it was though, shooting up through his shoulder. Hurt like the devil too.
Stupid girl. He managed to draw out his Pyron 20000 and turned, instinctively firing, even when she was only in her peripheral vision.
Raven tried to stop all off the bullets before they got anywhere near her, but these were hard to get a good mental grip on and were moving much faster than your everyday bullet. Two even managed to slip by her telekinetic shield, and she'd barely slowed them down enough for them not to penetrate instead of bouncing rather painfully off. She immediately went for the gun, viciously yanking it out of his hand with her telekinesis. She slammed her hands together and twisted them as if she was crumpling a piece of paper. The gun folded, and then finally crumpled.
Energy sacs are the ammunition that energy-projecting firearms use. They are stored in a near-indestructible chamber to protect them, as the raw energy they contain is quite volatile. Unfortunately for Stacey, his gun not only fired bullets, but had back-up energy blast barrels that of course required these energy sacs. When Raven telekinetically crumpled the gun, fifteen energy sacs exploded simultaneously, creating a blast so potent it literally picked Stacey up off his feet and slammed him into a wall.
***
Hans and Mikey waited for the smoke to clear. Unfortunately for them, Robin and Starfire didn't wait that long. Hans was hit square in the chest by an explosive birdarang while Mikey received two simultaneous starbolts to his abdomen. They didn't get through his armor of course, but they sure stunned him, and Hans was thrown to the ground in a flash by the force of the birdarang's blast.
Mikey had dropped the bazooka, but he scrambled to pick it up now. He got it in his hands and flipped it back onto his shoulder in one swift move that he integrated with a somersault. He flipped the switch to the highest setting, powerful enough to destroy entire aircraft, and aimed the barrel at Starfire. His finger had just begun tightening on the trigger when a birdarang came from seemingly nowhere and slammed into the barrel. It wasn't enough force to knock the bulky weapon out of Mikey's hands but it was enough to knock his aim off. The resulting blast knocked a hole straight through the wall.
They had paired off now. Robin was battling Mikey and Starfire was battling Hans. She didn't give the startled KomBat enough time to react from the explosive birdarang before she hit him with her most powerful starbolts, each blast driving him back. Her hands were a blur of motion, hurling powerful beams of energy left and right and concentrating the blasts on one particular spot on Hans' chest. "You . . .have . . .attacked . . .my . . .friends," she gritted out through clenched teeth as she continued the assault.
Hans was being forced backwards as each blast came closer and closer to pounding his defenses, his arms were crossed in front of his head in a vain attempt to ward off the starbolts. "That's what happens when you and you're buddies rob stores and attack government officials and agents, you get attacked right back. Deal with it." He managed to jump to the side and draw his .50 Desert Eagle. He fired twice. The first shot whizzed by Starfire's ear. The second hit her in the arm, the force of the powerful round violently spinning her around in midair. Her concentration on floating faltered and she dropped to the ground like a stone.
Meanwhile, Robin was having slightly better luck with Mikey thanks to his own rather impressive arsenal which included freeze disks, explosive birdarangs, regular birdarangs, a handheld taser, his collapsible bo staff, and his flash pellets among other things. He may not have been as well armored or as strong as the KomBat, but he certainly had more maneuverability. Mikey tried to punch him, but he easily hopped high and over Mikey's head with an impressive airborne flip, landing behind Mikey. He retreated a few steps and then launched at him with an equally impressive airborne kick that actually caused the armored trooper to stumble back. Robin followed up with a side kick which Mikey managed to block and then opted for a close-fisted punch that shattered the faceplate of Mikey's helmet. Then Mikey got lucky and was able to knee the Boy Wonder in the stomach which caused Robin to temporarily stop the attack.
Robin looked at Mikey, who's face through the broken faceplate was sweaty with blood pouring freely from the right nostril. His armor was burnt and singed from Starfire's earlier onslaught.
Mikey looked at Robin, whose mask was slightly torn and who no doubt had a couple bruised, if not broken ribs.
Unless something very significant happened, it was going to be a long fight.
***
Beast Boy yelled. And yelled. And yelled some more until he finally had to stop to catch his breath. He did so and would have started yelling again were it not for the large gun that came out of nowhere and managed to end up under his chin in the blink of an eye. He wisely shut up.
"Beast Boy, right," said the one on the left, the one holding the gun under his chin.
Beast Boy nodded.
"Hi kid, my name's Crystal, Crystal Sharpe. You can call me Ms. Sharpe if you wish."
Beast Boy didn't respond. He was confused. His eyes strayed down to the gun. It looked like more of a cannon than a gun, he observed.
It's a Desert Eagle, standard issue for us KomBats. Don't worry, I won't shoot you with it as long as you cooperate."
"this is about last night, isn't it."
"Fraid so kid. You and you're buddies caused quite a ruckus from what I hear, which is why they sent us AAAAAAGHH!" She broke off in mid-sentence with a bloodcurdling scream. Electric sparks danced over her body armor and she shuddered violently, the gun falling out of her shaking hands. Then she went limp, falling down and revealing Cyborg standing behind her with an electronic taser in his out stretched hand. The other KomBat instinctively went for her gun, but then a green, scaly tail slammed into her from the side, knocking her down in an instant.
Beast Boy reverted back to normal shape. "Who are these guys?" he asked incredulously of Cyborg.
The boy robot shrugged. "How should I know? I was just recharging when I heard you screamin' your head off and came in here to find you chilling with these two ladies here."
Beast boy frowned. "Lets go find Robin. I have a bad feeling about this."
"Maybe it would help if you put your pants on."
ZAPP
BANG
Two different discharges from two different types of guns. What types of guns they were is irrelevant. All that's important is that they were fired by Crystal Sharpe and Maria-Pilar from behind in what was the age-old strategy of playing possum. Cyborg was hit with an energy pulse, knocking him out and causing his electrical systems to go completely haywire. Beast Boy was hit by a tranquilizing dart. Normally it would have taken at least twenty seconds to knock him out, but Maria Pilar had put in three times the normal amount of knockout fluid. Beast Boy was out cold before he hit the floor.
***
He had it. He finally had it. The tape was in his hands now and the restaurant owners probably didn't even know it was missing. Nightwing looked down at the tape and fervently hoped that whatever was on it would clear Robin's name.
He took a left turn on his motorcycle and sped down the highway and towards the tower.
"Huh?"
"Going out. That it was Nightwing said, is it not?" Starfire asked.
Robin's eyes went wide through the mask. "You heard that?" he croaked, almost choking on his coffee.
"Was I not supposed to?"
"Well, I, um." Robin could feel his face going warm. "How much did you hear?" he asked.
"Of your conversation with Nightwing? The whole thing. I do not remember much though because I was in the process of going to sleep."
"You don't remember much," Robin repeated, trying to keep relief out his voice. It had been embarrassing enough the way Nightwing had kidded him about Starfire, but for Starfire to have heard . . .
"No, but I do seem to remember him saying something about you 'going out' with me. Tell me, does this going out process involve mustard?"
"Not exactly."
"Well tell me, what is it."
Robin sighed. "Going out is when two people, you know, like each other and decide to go to a movie or a restaurant together."
Starfire thought about this for a moment. The she blushed. "Oh."
"It was a misunderstanding of course," Robin quickly said. "He was just joking around."
"Oh." A brief look of hurt flashed across her face, but it was there and gone so fast that Robin didn't catch it. "So you and will not be going out, shall we."
Robin was spared having to answer by a loud yell, undoubtedly Beast Boy's. Robin arched a brow in confusion "Poor guy must've turned the shower water on too hot," he remarked.
Then the kitchen wall exploded, or rather, imploded from their point of view. Starfire threw up an energy shield to cover her and Robin right before a deadly hail of debris hit them.
These military types, impatient to the last. Couldn't even wait for the two Titans to get a good look at 'em before opening fire. Bullets and energy bolts sizzled against Starfire's energy shield. They didn't care, they had bigger ammo anyway.
The two KomBATS were Hans and Mikey. Of the two, Mikey was the first to bring out his shoulder-mounted bazooka. It was a Monstrosity to the last, seven feet of pure chaos and destruction. It didn't even fire projectiles, but rather ion blasts that had the concussive power of three or four hand grenades.
BOOOM. The ion bolt instantly hit Starfire's makeshift energy shield. No way, Hans thought, could they defend themselves against that.
The time that had elapsed from the wall exploding to now was precisely three seconds.
***
Stacey heard the various reports from firearms all throughout the place. Good, he thought. A surprise attack is always the best way to catch the enemy off guard. Even better is a sustained surprise attack, to keep them from regaining that guard.
He felt a cold chill creep through his suit, it was almost supernatural. He looked down at his suit. A black energy wave seemed to be enveloping him.
"Hello," said a voice from behind him. He turned around to see the telekinetic Titan, Raven, he thought it was. She was floating menacingly in the air above his head, and if she'd ever possessed pupils, he sure couldn't see this now.
Oh crap.
"Azarath."
Stacey reached for his gun. His hands felt sluggish, it was hard to move.
"Metrion."
Oh crap oh crap oh crap
"Zinthos." Raven's hand flew out to the side in a flash of motion. So did Stacey. He smashed right into a wall, or rather, right through it to come crashing right back into the room he'd entered through. Being a KomBAT, he rarely got the experience of feeling pain. Here it was though, shooting up through his shoulder. Hurt like the devil too.
Stupid girl. He managed to draw out his Pyron 20000 and turned, instinctively firing, even when she was only in her peripheral vision.
Raven tried to stop all off the bullets before they got anywhere near her, but these were hard to get a good mental grip on and were moving much faster than your everyday bullet. Two even managed to slip by her telekinetic shield, and she'd barely slowed them down enough for them not to penetrate instead of bouncing rather painfully off. She immediately went for the gun, viciously yanking it out of his hand with her telekinesis. She slammed her hands together and twisted them as if she was crumpling a piece of paper. The gun folded, and then finally crumpled.
Energy sacs are the ammunition that energy-projecting firearms use. They are stored in a near-indestructible chamber to protect them, as the raw energy they contain is quite volatile. Unfortunately for Stacey, his gun not only fired bullets, but had back-up energy blast barrels that of course required these energy sacs. When Raven telekinetically crumpled the gun, fifteen energy sacs exploded simultaneously, creating a blast so potent it literally picked Stacey up off his feet and slammed him into a wall.
***
Hans and Mikey waited for the smoke to clear. Unfortunately for them, Robin and Starfire didn't wait that long. Hans was hit square in the chest by an explosive birdarang while Mikey received two simultaneous starbolts to his abdomen. They didn't get through his armor of course, but they sure stunned him, and Hans was thrown to the ground in a flash by the force of the birdarang's blast.
Mikey had dropped the bazooka, but he scrambled to pick it up now. He got it in his hands and flipped it back onto his shoulder in one swift move that he integrated with a somersault. He flipped the switch to the highest setting, powerful enough to destroy entire aircraft, and aimed the barrel at Starfire. His finger had just begun tightening on the trigger when a birdarang came from seemingly nowhere and slammed into the barrel. It wasn't enough force to knock the bulky weapon out of Mikey's hands but it was enough to knock his aim off. The resulting blast knocked a hole straight through the wall.
They had paired off now. Robin was battling Mikey and Starfire was battling Hans. She didn't give the startled KomBat enough time to react from the explosive birdarang before she hit him with her most powerful starbolts, each blast driving him back. Her hands were a blur of motion, hurling powerful beams of energy left and right and concentrating the blasts on one particular spot on Hans' chest. "You . . .have . . .attacked . . .my . . .friends," she gritted out through clenched teeth as she continued the assault.
Hans was being forced backwards as each blast came closer and closer to pounding his defenses, his arms were crossed in front of his head in a vain attempt to ward off the starbolts. "That's what happens when you and you're buddies rob stores and attack government officials and agents, you get attacked right back. Deal with it." He managed to jump to the side and draw his .50 Desert Eagle. He fired twice. The first shot whizzed by Starfire's ear. The second hit her in the arm, the force of the powerful round violently spinning her around in midair. Her concentration on floating faltered and she dropped to the ground like a stone.
Meanwhile, Robin was having slightly better luck with Mikey thanks to his own rather impressive arsenal which included freeze disks, explosive birdarangs, regular birdarangs, a handheld taser, his collapsible bo staff, and his flash pellets among other things. He may not have been as well armored or as strong as the KomBat, but he certainly had more maneuverability. Mikey tried to punch him, but he easily hopped high and over Mikey's head with an impressive airborne flip, landing behind Mikey. He retreated a few steps and then launched at him with an equally impressive airborne kick that actually caused the armored trooper to stumble back. Robin followed up with a side kick which Mikey managed to block and then opted for a close-fisted punch that shattered the faceplate of Mikey's helmet. Then Mikey got lucky and was able to knee the Boy Wonder in the stomach which caused Robin to temporarily stop the attack.
Robin looked at Mikey, who's face through the broken faceplate was sweaty with blood pouring freely from the right nostril. His armor was burnt and singed from Starfire's earlier onslaught.
Mikey looked at Robin, whose mask was slightly torn and who no doubt had a couple bruised, if not broken ribs.
Unless something very significant happened, it was going to be a long fight.
***
Beast Boy yelled. And yelled. And yelled some more until he finally had to stop to catch his breath. He did so and would have started yelling again were it not for the large gun that came out of nowhere and managed to end up under his chin in the blink of an eye. He wisely shut up.
"Beast Boy, right," said the one on the left, the one holding the gun under his chin.
Beast Boy nodded.
"Hi kid, my name's Crystal, Crystal Sharpe. You can call me Ms. Sharpe if you wish."
Beast Boy didn't respond. He was confused. His eyes strayed down to the gun. It looked like more of a cannon than a gun, he observed.
It's a Desert Eagle, standard issue for us KomBats. Don't worry, I won't shoot you with it as long as you cooperate."
"this is about last night, isn't it."
"Fraid so kid. You and you're buddies caused quite a ruckus from what I hear, which is why they sent us AAAAAAGHH!" She broke off in mid-sentence with a bloodcurdling scream. Electric sparks danced over her body armor and she shuddered violently, the gun falling out of her shaking hands. Then she went limp, falling down and revealing Cyborg standing behind her with an electronic taser in his out stretched hand. The other KomBat instinctively went for her gun, but then a green, scaly tail slammed into her from the side, knocking her down in an instant.
Beast Boy reverted back to normal shape. "Who are these guys?" he asked incredulously of Cyborg.
The boy robot shrugged. "How should I know? I was just recharging when I heard you screamin' your head off and came in here to find you chilling with these two ladies here."
Beast boy frowned. "Lets go find Robin. I have a bad feeling about this."
"Maybe it would help if you put your pants on."
ZAPP
BANG
Two different discharges from two different types of guns. What types of guns they were is irrelevant. All that's important is that they were fired by Crystal Sharpe and Maria-Pilar from behind in what was the age-old strategy of playing possum. Cyborg was hit with an energy pulse, knocking him out and causing his electrical systems to go completely haywire. Beast Boy was hit by a tranquilizing dart. Normally it would have taken at least twenty seconds to knock him out, but Maria Pilar had put in three times the normal amount of knockout fluid. Beast Boy was out cold before he hit the floor.
***
He had it. He finally had it. The tape was in his hands now and the restaurant owners probably didn't even know it was missing. Nightwing looked down at the tape and fervently hoped that whatever was on it would clear Robin's name.
He took a left turn on his motorcycle and sped down the highway and towards the tower.