Mikey fell, after what had been a long, hard fight. Robin twirled his bo
staff and returned it to its sheath, breathing heavily. He was pretty sure
he had a cracked rib from when the Kombat had violently elbowed him in the
side.
His vision went in and out of focus, and he steadied himself, turning around ever so slightly. That was enough though. Shock went through his mind like an iron fist when he saw Starfire lying on the ground, eyes closed, with blood streaming out of her arm. "Star," he croaked, snapping to attention.
He came face to face with a barrel. A large barrel belonging to a large gun that looked like a cross between a handgun and a cannon. He froze.
"Game's over kid," said Hans. It sounded kind of funny since the man's mouth and jaw had obviously taken their fair share of starbolts.
"Look down," Robin said. Hans did, his eyes narrowing when he saw the circular disk that Robin held an inch from his armor. "It won't kill you," Robin said, but at this range, and set at high intensity . . .flash frostbite, even through the armor. You'll be remembering the time when you used to have fingers and toes." Robin wasn't kidding. The guy had shot Starfire, and now she was bleeding away on the floor. Screw the consequences, he wasn't going to let this arrogant punk in a pumped up battle suit get in his way.
"Kid, you've already got a rap sheet longer than your arm, don't make it worse by threatening a police officer."
"You're no policeman," Robin said. "Or you wouldn't have shot Starfire.
"I'm a government agent, boy, and I'm here to protect the world from little punks like you. Do you have any idea how many deaths YOU'VE caused?"
"Enlighten me."
"An elderly lady in the bank."
"Wasn't me."
"Do I look like I have the word stupid stamped on my forehead?"
"May as well." Robin's posture shifted just a little. He raised his glove to his mouth. "Sentinel, sustained fire on foreign body!" He yelled.
A section of the ceiling suddenly disappeared and a double barreled plasma cannon descended. It acquired Hans in a matter of seconds and with a flash of light, Each barrel released enough raw, destructive energy to total a tank.
And Hans was no tank, he yelled as the blasts slammed him into the wall. His gun flew out of his hand and when the barrage finally stopped, he collapsed to the ground, smoke, along with the smell of burned rubber and plastic rose in the air. He was hurt, but he would live.
The Sentinel system had just occurred to Robin. It was an elaborate network of auto-targeting computerized plasma cannons that had been installed in order to prevent another takeover like they'd faced when the H.I.V.E. had taken over the Tower. It sure had come in handy.
The creak of a footstep behind the door to the room put his senses on edge. He held on to the freeze disk and carefully walked over to the wall on the right side of the door, which would keep him out of sight of whoever that was behind the door, for a few seconds at least.
The door opened, and two KomBats walked through, both female. Robin wasted no time. He kicked at the door with all his might, causing it to slam into the second KomBat and knock her to the ground. The first one whipped out a gun and fired at where Robin's head had been, but hit nothing. He ducked ad pivoted, his right leg connecting behind her left knee, and causing her to lose her balance. In the blink of an eye, Robin knocked her gun away with his bo staff. She flipped backwards, avoiding another swipe. Meanwhile, the other KomBat got to her feet and reached to her gun belt.
So little time, so much to do. Robin leaped at the first KomBat, his feet impacting against her chest with a solid thud. Using that to propel himself, he did a nearly impossible backflip, landing on the other ones shoulders. Before she could react, he slammed a tightly curled fist through the faceplate, impacting solidly with, and probably breaking her nose. She staggered against the wall and he braced his back against it, using the stability to kick outward with all his might and depositing her right on top of her teammate.
He had to give them credit, they sure reacted fast. They were on their feet again in a flash, quickly moving into an attack position, one on either side. He didn't think their martial arts stances were fake either. They definitely had had some training sometime in the past. How much? That was yet to be determined.
He relaxed into his jujitsu stance, remembering everything that his own teacher, Batman, had taught him.
"There's two of us, and only one of you said the first one. She had a distinctly Hispanic accent.
Robin shrugged. "Oh well, I never did like numbers anyway."
"What'd you do to Hans?"
"What'd you do to Beast Boy and Cyborg?"
"They'll live."
"So will your friend Hans."
The one with the Hispanic accent stepped cautiously forward, close enough so that a well executed kick could actually make contact. And vice versa.
They would never find out. A blue bolt of sonic energy caught the Hispanic one right in the face. If her nose hadn't been broken before, it sure as heck was now. In the meantime, a levitated chair covered in a strange black energy flew at the other Kombat with amazing speed, clipping the underside of her chin. The momentum lifted her off the ground and knocked her helmet clean off her face. Her body twisted and a trail of blood left her mouth, arcing through the air in a sickening spiral. She hit the ground, and was quite clearly not going to be getting up anytime soon.
Cyborg and Raven: Robin could have recognized their signatures anywhere. Beast Boy in kangaroo morph was trailing behind them. "Hey guys, glad to see you're OK."
"Beast Boy and I were knocked out for a while," said Cyborg.
"You look terrible Robin," Raven commented. Robin touched a gloved hand to the corner of his mouth, only a little surprised when it came away with blood.
Starfire! He'd almost forgotten about her.
"What is it Robin?" asked Raven.
"Starfire. She's-"
"A little hurt, that is all," finished Starfire for him. She was sitting up and holding her arm, blood seeping through her fingers. Robin rushed over to her, dropping to his knees.
"You're bleeding," he observed.
"It is . . .nothing," she insisted. "The bullet just skimmed my skin, that is all."
Robin already had the gauze in his utility belt out. "Still, we need to stop the bleeding," he said firmly.
Starfire nodded.
***
"Sir the KomBats are down."
"What?!"Garvy Winter roared from his office. He pounded his desk. It was impossible. How the KomBats have been defeated.
"We don't know how it happened," the officer on the line continued, as if reading Winter's mind," But they have been put out of commission. None of them are conscious."
"Any dead?"
"No sir."
Winters frowned. It didn't make any sense. According to the Madam Director, they had slaughtered half the government forces. It seemed odd that they would spare the lives of the KomBats.
That was of course completely ignoring the question: How had they been defeated? How seriously must they have underestimated the Titans in order for them to defeat the best fighting force the government had to offer.
"Is there any good news?"
"Yes sir. Fifty fresh attack helicopters as well as a platoon of boats and several hundred of our armed forces are currently approaching the island. They're no KomBats, but they are highly trained, and should be quite formidable in bulk."
"Good."
"Also, we got an official response from the Justice League."
"Oh really."
"Yes. It reads, and I quote, 'We are doing what we can.'. Nothing further is specified."
"Figures. Gimme an ETA on our reinforcements."
"We're talking seconds, sir."
"Excellent." For the first time that day, Garvey relaxed in his chair. "Excellent."
And then he received the most important phone call he'd received in a long, long, time.
***
"What do we do with these guys?" Beast Boy asked, nodding his head towards the two fallen KomBats.
"I don't know," Robin said. "If they wake up, we'll just have to but them back out or something."
At that moment, a bright light invaded the room through the window. Many of them, actually, but they seemed to merge together to form one singular wave of brightness that froze Robin and the Titans in their tracks like deer in headlights.
Helicopters, was Robin's first thought. They had sent in helicopters, and the Titans were in no shape to be doing any more fighting. Starfire was wounded, Beast Boy was still woozy from the tranquilizers, and Cyborg wasn't doing to well either, since most of his systems power was diverted to fixing his sensitive electronics that had been damaged. Robin didn't want to think about the multiple injuries he'd procured in the intense battle with the KomBats, and they were all exhausted.
Squinting, he raised his hands in a sign of surrender. He was tired of fighting, they all were.
***
"Looks like they're surrendering," said one helicopter pilot over the comm.
"Doesn't matter," said the leader. "Orders are to shoot on sight." His hand tensed on the trigger. When the on screen computer read 'target acquired', he pulled the trigger, activating the deadly machine gun turrets on the copter's belly.
***
"Run!' Robin yelled at the top of his lungs when he saw the machine guns swivel right in their direction. In a rush of adrenaline, he picked made a wild dash, yanking Starfire and Cyborg right off the ground where they were sitting.
Starfire, who was facing towards the window as Robin whisked her off, opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. A torrent of bullets tore through the class, producing the loudest noise she'd ever heard. The light hanging down from the kitchen ceiling exploded, sending millions of little shard flying through the air. One or two sliced through her cheek, but she was too shocked to notice. The ceiling was ripped to shreds, almost as if in slow motion.
Then she was out of the kitchen and in the TV room. Robin was holding on to her so tight that even Cyborg's strength couldn't have freed her. With a terrifying BOOM, the kitchen exploded, debris flying every which way. Still more bullets, chewing up the floor.
And then, a dark object whizzed past her head, and the wall in front of Robin exploded, knocking him and all the other Titans back in a concussive flash of heat and smoke. Robin sprawled to the ground, and everyone collapsed right after.
***
The helicopter pilot had them now. They were dead, or were going to be in another couple of seconds anyway. The stream of bullets would reach the fallen Titans in a matter of seconds, and thanks to his missile, they were immobile.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FREAKIN' FIRE!" a voice blared over the radio. Had it been his commander, he doubted he would have listened. He'd have at least nailed the Titans before stopping, he was pretty trigger happy now.
But it was not his commander. It was Garvey Winters, the director of HACTA, one of the most powerful government organizations on the face of the earth. Winters was very powerful indeed , and he had a reputation for directing that power against defiant subordinates in very creative, very career- flushing ways.
He let go of the trigger.
A/N: Very sorry, I sorta promised that there would be a showdown with the shapeshifter in this chapter, which, due to a number of things, there is not.
That said, I hope you will review anyway, and I will try to update sooner this time.
His vision went in and out of focus, and he steadied himself, turning around ever so slightly. That was enough though. Shock went through his mind like an iron fist when he saw Starfire lying on the ground, eyes closed, with blood streaming out of her arm. "Star," he croaked, snapping to attention.
He came face to face with a barrel. A large barrel belonging to a large gun that looked like a cross between a handgun and a cannon. He froze.
"Game's over kid," said Hans. It sounded kind of funny since the man's mouth and jaw had obviously taken their fair share of starbolts.
"Look down," Robin said. Hans did, his eyes narrowing when he saw the circular disk that Robin held an inch from his armor. "It won't kill you," Robin said, but at this range, and set at high intensity . . .flash frostbite, even through the armor. You'll be remembering the time when you used to have fingers and toes." Robin wasn't kidding. The guy had shot Starfire, and now she was bleeding away on the floor. Screw the consequences, he wasn't going to let this arrogant punk in a pumped up battle suit get in his way.
"Kid, you've already got a rap sheet longer than your arm, don't make it worse by threatening a police officer."
"You're no policeman," Robin said. "Or you wouldn't have shot Starfire.
"I'm a government agent, boy, and I'm here to protect the world from little punks like you. Do you have any idea how many deaths YOU'VE caused?"
"Enlighten me."
"An elderly lady in the bank."
"Wasn't me."
"Do I look like I have the word stupid stamped on my forehead?"
"May as well." Robin's posture shifted just a little. He raised his glove to his mouth. "Sentinel, sustained fire on foreign body!" He yelled.
A section of the ceiling suddenly disappeared and a double barreled plasma cannon descended. It acquired Hans in a matter of seconds and with a flash of light, Each barrel released enough raw, destructive energy to total a tank.
And Hans was no tank, he yelled as the blasts slammed him into the wall. His gun flew out of his hand and when the barrage finally stopped, he collapsed to the ground, smoke, along with the smell of burned rubber and plastic rose in the air. He was hurt, but he would live.
The Sentinel system had just occurred to Robin. It was an elaborate network of auto-targeting computerized plasma cannons that had been installed in order to prevent another takeover like they'd faced when the H.I.V.E. had taken over the Tower. It sure had come in handy.
The creak of a footstep behind the door to the room put his senses on edge. He held on to the freeze disk and carefully walked over to the wall on the right side of the door, which would keep him out of sight of whoever that was behind the door, for a few seconds at least.
The door opened, and two KomBats walked through, both female. Robin wasted no time. He kicked at the door with all his might, causing it to slam into the second KomBat and knock her to the ground. The first one whipped out a gun and fired at where Robin's head had been, but hit nothing. He ducked ad pivoted, his right leg connecting behind her left knee, and causing her to lose her balance. In the blink of an eye, Robin knocked her gun away with his bo staff. She flipped backwards, avoiding another swipe. Meanwhile, the other KomBat got to her feet and reached to her gun belt.
So little time, so much to do. Robin leaped at the first KomBat, his feet impacting against her chest with a solid thud. Using that to propel himself, he did a nearly impossible backflip, landing on the other ones shoulders. Before she could react, he slammed a tightly curled fist through the faceplate, impacting solidly with, and probably breaking her nose. She staggered against the wall and he braced his back against it, using the stability to kick outward with all his might and depositing her right on top of her teammate.
He had to give them credit, they sure reacted fast. They were on their feet again in a flash, quickly moving into an attack position, one on either side. He didn't think their martial arts stances were fake either. They definitely had had some training sometime in the past. How much? That was yet to be determined.
He relaxed into his jujitsu stance, remembering everything that his own teacher, Batman, had taught him.
"There's two of us, and only one of you said the first one. She had a distinctly Hispanic accent.
Robin shrugged. "Oh well, I never did like numbers anyway."
"What'd you do to Hans?"
"What'd you do to Beast Boy and Cyborg?"
"They'll live."
"So will your friend Hans."
The one with the Hispanic accent stepped cautiously forward, close enough so that a well executed kick could actually make contact. And vice versa.
They would never find out. A blue bolt of sonic energy caught the Hispanic one right in the face. If her nose hadn't been broken before, it sure as heck was now. In the meantime, a levitated chair covered in a strange black energy flew at the other Kombat with amazing speed, clipping the underside of her chin. The momentum lifted her off the ground and knocked her helmet clean off her face. Her body twisted and a trail of blood left her mouth, arcing through the air in a sickening spiral. She hit the ground, and was quite clearly not going to be getting up anytime soon.
Cyborg and Raven: Robin could have recognized their signatures anywhere. Beast Boy in kangaroo morph was trailing behind them. "Hey guys, glad to see you're OK."
"Beast Boy and I were knocked out for a while," said Cyborg.
"You look terrible Robin," Raven commented. Robin touched a gloved hand to the corner of his mouth, only a little surprised when it came away with blood.
Starfire! He'd almost forgotten about her.
"What is it Robin?" asked Raven.
"Starfire. She's-"
"A little hurt, that is all," finished Starfire for him. She was sitting up and holding her arm, blood seeping through her fingers. Robin rushed over to her, dropping to his knees.
"You're bleeding," he observed.
"It is . . .nothing," she insisted. "The bullet just skimmed my skin, that is all."
Robin already had the gauze in his utility belt out. "Still, we need to stop the bleeding," he said firmly.
Starfire nodded.
***
"Sir the KomBats are down."
"What?!"Garvy Winter roared from his office. He pounded his desk. It was impossible. How the KomBats have been defeated.
"We don't know how it happened," the officer on the line continued, as if reading Winter's mind," But they have been put out of commission. None of them are conscious."
"Any dead?"
"No sir."
Winters frowned. It didn't make any sense. According to the Madam Director, they had slaughtered half the government forces. It seemed odd that they would spare the lives of the KomBats.
That was of course completely ignoring the question: How had they been defeated? How seriously must they have underestimated the Titans in order for them to defeat the best fighting force the government had to offer.
"Is there any good news?"
"Yes sir. Fifty fresh attack helicopters as well as a platoon of boats and several hundred of our armed forces are currently approaching the island. They're no KomBats, but they are highly trained, and should be quite formidable in bulk."
"Good."
"Also, we got an official response from the Justice League."
"Oh really."
"Yes. It reads, and I quote, 'We are doing what we can.'. Nothing further is specified."
"Figures. Gimme an ETA on our reinforcements."
"We're talking seconds, sir."
"Excellent." For the first time that day, Garvey relaxed in his chair. "Excellent."
And then he received the most important phone call he'd received in a long, long, time.
***
"What do we do with these guys?" Beast Boy asked, nodding his head towards the two fallen KomBats.
"I don't know," Robin said. "If they wake up, we'll just have to but them back out or something."
At that moment, a bright light invaded the room through the window. Many of them, actually, but they seemed to merge together to form one singular wave of brightness that froze Robin and the Titans in their tracks like deer in headlights.
Helicopters, was Robin's first thought. They had sent in helicopters, and the Titans were in no shape to be doing any more fighting. Starfire was wounded, Beast Boy was still woozy from the tranquilizers, and Cyborg wasn't doing to well either, since most of his systems power was diverted to fixing his sensitive electronics that had been damaged. Robin didn't want to think about the multiple injuries he'd procured in the intense battle with the KomBats, and they were all exhausted.
Squinting, he raised his hands in a sign of surrender. He was tired of fighting, they all were.
***
"Looks like they're surrendering," said one helicopter pilot over the comm.
"Doesn't matter," said the leader. "Orders are to shoot on sight." His hand tensed on the trigger. When the on screen computer read 'target acquired', he pulled the trigger, activating the deadly machine gun turrets on the copter's belly.
***
"Run!' Robin yelled at the top of his lungs when he saw the machine guns swivel right in their direction. In a rush of adrenaline, he picked made a wild dash, yanking Starfire and Cyborg right off the ground where they were sitting.
Starfire, who was facing towards the window as Robin whisked her off, opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. A torrent of bullets tore through the class, producing the loudest noise she'd ever heard. The light hanging down from the kitchen ceiling exploded, sending millions of little shard flying through the air. One or two sliced through her cheek, but she was too shocked to notice. The ceiling was ripped to shreds, almost as if in slow motion.
Then she was out of the kitchen and in the TV room. Robin was holding on to her so tight that even Cyborg's strength couldn't have freed her. With a terrifying BOOM, the kitchen exploded, debris flying every which way. Still more bullets, chewing up the floor.
And then, a dark object whizzed past her head, and the wall in front of Robin exploded, knocking him and all the other Titans back in a concussive flash of heat and smoke. Robin sprawled to the ground, and everyone collapsed right after.
***
The helicopter pilot had them now. They were dead, or were going to be in another couple of seconds anyway. The stream of bullets would reach the fallen Titans in a matter of seconds, and thanks to his missile, they were immobile.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FREAKIN' FIRE!" a voice blared over the radio. Had it been his commander, he doubted he would have listened. He'd have at least nailed the Titans before stopping, he was pretty trigger happy now.
But it was not his commander. It was Garvey Winters, the director of HACTA, one of the most powerful government organizations on the face of the earth. Winters was very powerful indeed , and he had a reputation for directing that power against defiant subordinates in very creative, very career- flushing ways.
He let go of the trigger.
A/N: Very sorry, I sorta promised that there would be a showdown with the shapeshifter in this chapter, which, due to a number of things, there is not.
That said, I hope you will review anyway, and I will try to update sooner this time.