Titans: Space
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, nor do I own any of the DC characters mentioned in this story.
Chapter 2:
-T-
Robin sat at his deck typing, what seemed to be, the longest criminal report he had ever done. The crime was a bank robbery, and things became very complicated very quickly. The bank robbery seemed to be very cliché. Bad guys brandishing AK-47's at innocent bystanders who were just unlucky to pick that day to visit. There were a total of three assailants, and fourteen hostages. Two of which, were security guards.
Robin recollected on the crime very clearly…
-T-
"C'mon Mack, get the friggin dough so we can get the hell outta here!" The armed man yelled.
Three armed men stood in the middle of Jump City Bank, huddled around in an uneven triangle of wickedness. They were surrounded by a barrier of innocents, praying to go home to their families, dogs, husbands, and wives.
The bank was beautiful. It was furnished with the most pricy art and beautiful sculptures any of the thugs had ever seen. The floor of the bank was endowed with the most sparkly tiles bought outside a museum. The walls of the bank stretched up two floors, which were drawing attention with all the gorgeous paintings scattered across them.
"Yes sir!" cried a goon in a brown trench coat. Actually, they were all in brown trench coats. Inside the Leader's coat were huge amounts of explosives strapped to his body for protection, if protection meant not leaving the bank in handcuffs. The leader was the only one in a ski mask. He wanted to keep his identity a secret for unknown reasons. The other two however, were not concealed. They both wore black beanies that covered long locks of brown hair.
Mack saluted. Mack was obviously an ex-marine. He moved toward the vault cautiously, looking both left and right, watching for an unknown force that could bring him down.
"Mack, just open the bloody safe!" The leader had a distinct British accent. He carried his AK-47 slackly, not caring if he wasn't ready. This wasn't a problem however. He had duel Berettas strapped across his chest.
"Hey dude chill! It's not like we're in a rush man!" The second thug mumbled. He noticeably wasn't very smart. His eyes were half open, and he had two cigarettes hanging from his lip.
"Are you a moron Dan?" The leader cried out at the man. "Who do you think watches over this city? The freakin' Teen Titans, that's who, if we don't vamoose out of here in…" He looked at his watch. "One and a half minute, we'll be taking a beating from freakin' kids!"
Dan looked perplexed. "One and a half? How come so little?"
The leader looked at the safe, and watched as Mack placed the explosives on the safe. "Jump PD has and average of a 4 minute response time, but the Titans are different. I'm surprised they aren't here now…"
Suddenly, Mack looked down to find that the sparkly tiled floor was turning black, and that the black void was encasing him.
"Uh… Boss? What's that?" Dan pointed at Mack as he was grabbed by a giant black hand.
"Argg!" Mack struggled without success in the grip of the Black Hand that was crushing his ribs. "Sir! I need so-some help here!"
"Damnit! See? What did I tell you?" The leader raised his AK and pointed it at the huge ominous hand.
Rata-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The leader fired of his AK-47 at the Black Hand, but with no luck. The giant hand took in the bullets, but no damage was done.
"Ack! Lemme go!" Mack screamed. He seemed to be panicking. Sweat dripped down his forehead, striking his nose and mouth, and then finally making its way to his neck.
"You're not going anywhere…" A dark and disturbing voice said. Suddenly, the tip of a blue hood was appearing from the ground. The head of the threatening individual finally emerged, showing a pale face cocealed by her hood.
It was Raven…
The Leader and Dan looked on in horror as Mack's mouth was covered by a giant finger, then dragged into the abyss.
"AHHHHH-
Mack was screaming but nothing he could do would save him. Nor was there anything Dan and the leader could do to stop the tremendous hand from swallowing their comrade in the dark abyss. He finally disappeared, his hand the last thing to be shown. As soon as he was gone, the black vortex vanished, leaving no trace of Mack.
"Oh, bullocks..." The leader mumbled too himself. "I told you to hurry the hell up Mack, but did you listen to me? NO! You got yourself eaten by a black hole…"
Dan was still confused over the events that had just happened. "Wait… Mack is dead now?"
The leader dropped his AK, and raised his hands to his face, shaking his head at Dan's stupidity.
"No you moron the Titans are-
An explosion rocked the bank, bringing down glass and paintings all around. The front doors of the bank flew forward, almost hitting Dan in the face before he ducked out of the way just in time.
"Awww! Mother Fu-
The Boy wonder flew in from his grappling hook. He sailed across the bank with his legs sticking out front, ready to knock anyone who was dumb enough to be in his way. And that's just what he did. He struck the Leader hard in the gut, and he went sailing across the bank, and landing hard against a banker's desk, which cracked along with the sound of his bones breaking.
"ARGG!" The leader cried out, feeling his ribcage for the fracture. After he finished his inspection, he looked to the doorway from where the attack came. There stood Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven in their combat poses, ready to impede any threat about to unfold. Robin was ahead of the pack. Actually he was right in front of the leader, starring him down with that eye mask that enclosed so much secrecy. His arms were crossed in a manner that he looked like a disappointed parent.
"This little raid is coming to an end chum…" Robin said sternly.
"Yeah! And your friend has come to an end too dude!" Beast Boy cried out, attracting the attention of the hostages.
"Oi… Dan waste em'!" The leader commanded.
Dan didn't hesitate to follow orders. He raised his AK and pointed it at the three at the entrance of the bank. The Titans took one moment to look at Dan, and then jumped out of the way as rifle rounds flew all around them.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Beast Boy did a front flip onto a desk and started to run towards the attacker. He leapt from desk to desk, avoiding gunshots as they sounded. He then morphed into a Cheetah, to avoid the barrage of bullets with speed. He jumped from desk to desk, until finally leaping into mid-air to hit his opponent.
But Dan wouldn't be stopped that easy…
Dan may have been stupid, but he knew when danger was coming. As the Cheetah leapt at him, he swung his rifle around, and bashed the green changeling across the snout. Beast Boy took the hit pretty hard. He flipped a few times then landed on his back, still in cheetah form. Stars formed around his forehead as he drooled a bit.
"Nice…" Raven said with melancholy. She used her magic to form a hammer in mid-air. She then brought the hammer in position to hit Dan, who was now reloading his rifle. She swung the giant hammer directly at Dan, unknown to him.
Smack!
The tremendous hand sent Dan flying. He sailed into the wall, where he made a small crater from where the power of his flight made the impact.
Beast Boy began to come out of it. He morphed back to his elf form, and rose from where he was laying. He looked towards Raven, who had her arms crossed, and was looking else where.
"What did I miss?" Beast Boy asked, still a bit dazed by Dan's rifle butt.
Raven glanced at Beast Boy then turned her attention to the unconscious Dan, lying against the wall. "Not much… Just your humiliation of being beaten by an ape with a rifle."
Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at her, and then rose from his spot on the floor. He looked toward the leader.
Robin and Starfire were circling the leader, determination in their eyes. The leader looked directly at Robin. He was sweating and squinting, trying to avoid the Boy Wonder for what ever time he had left.
"Back off Bird Boy. You come any closer and I might have to nuke this little bank…" The leader pulled open his coat to reveal nearly two dozens sticks of dynamite. There was wiring where the detonation could be triggered by a button. Starfire gasped…
"You're insane…" Robin murmured under his breath. "Are you really willing to kill yourself and your teammates just to keep out of jail?"
"As a matter-a-fact I AM!" The leader screamed. Robin took a step forward, but the leader stopped him from charging.
"Ah-ah-ah… You don't want all these innocent people to become incinerated, do you?"
Robin growled. He hated it when the enemy had the upper hand. This was a big decision for him to make. He could go for it, a bird-a-rang would cut the wiring, and stop the bomb, but there was a chance he would press the button before the bird-a-rang reached the bomb in time. Plus, if he cut the wrong wire, the bomb could go off anyway. No, no… There had to be another way. He looked at his teammates.
Starfire floated in mid-air staring at the perpetrator, trembling at the thought of the innocents dying. She could possibly knock the Leader out with a starbolt, but…
No, that wouldn't work either…
Beast Boy stood ready to do whatever his leader asked. There was a hint of worry in his expression, but he looked determined. He could possibly shrink to a fly and get a hold of the bomb by…
No. If Beast Boy morphed, the perp would suspect something and become trigger happy.
Robin lastly turned to Raven. There wasn't a word to depict her at the moment. She was just expressionlessly standing there looking at Robin, then at the criminal. Robin thought of what Raven could do…
She could possibly encase the bomb and black magic and then rip it from his body. Robin turned back to the Leader distinctly. He was gritting his teeth and staring directly at the Boy Wonder, watching his every move. No… He was ready for anything, Raven couldn't help…
"Well Bird Boy, what are ya gonna do?" The Leader uttered evilly.
It took Robin a great deal of disinclination to utter the following: "What are your demands?"
The Leader grinned with satisfaction. "Good. I knew you would warm up to me. I need a helicopter to pick me up and deliver me to Jump City airport, where a crew of no more then two blokes flies me to Cuba."
Robin…
Robin blinked in confusion. Someone had just called out his name. He looked about the bank to find the source.
Robin, look back at the Leader. It's me, Raven. What's the plan?
Robin nodded and looked back at the Leader. 'We need to have him distracted long enough for me to get the bomb. Know of anything distractive?'
I'm blank. I'll ask the others.
'Ok'
…
…
Star can't think of anything, and Beast Boy has some crazy plan about getting a small squadron of chickens to-
'I won't ask…'
Thought so... So now what?
Robin thought for a good long time. He looked at the hostages, The Leader, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven. The Leader looked directly at Robin, and no one else…
Suddenly it came to him.
'Raven, I have an idea…'
What?
'Tell Beast Boy to turn into a fly and land on the bomb, then morph into a rat. He seems to be fixated at me, so tell BB to get out of his range of vision first.'
Ok, then what?
'He needs to start chewing wires…'
…
Robin, if he chews the wrong one he-
'Could blow up, I know… So I need you to be ready to enclose the Leader, the bomb, and Beast Boy if anything goes wrong.
You're asking me to tell Beast Boy to kill himself?
'No, but I need him to take the risk for the people in this bank.'
How… How am I supposed to tell him this?
'Just do it Raven. It's for the better. These people's lives are more important than Beast Boy's and he know that. Plus we might have a chance of no casualties.'
We could just let him blow up. He's scum, let him die! I am not going to tell Beast Boy to risk himself-
'JUST DO IT!' Robin screamed in Raven's mind. Raven looked at Robin, his back turned from her. He couldn't be serious? Raven looked over to Beast Boy. He seemed to be aware of the conversation they were having. He looked from Robin to Raven wondering what was going on…
I'll tell him...
'Good…'
Raven looked to Beast Boy, who looked directly back at her.
Beast Boy, I need you to get out of the Leader's view, and turn into a fly. From there, you should fly onto the bomb.
'Then what?' Beast Boy looked perplexed.
S-Start chewing the… wires.
…
…
'Ok…'
Raven was surprised at his answer. No argument or insults at all. He was following orders, even if it meant dying in the process. Beast Boy started to move slowly behind the perpetrator, taking each step slowly, waiting for the right instant to morph into a fly…
"Well? Am I getting my chopper?" The Leader shouted at Robin. Robin did not flinch however, he was the Boy wonder, and this meant he had to be prepared at all times.
"It's on its way…" Robin murmured.
"Good…"
Beast Boy was already enough behind the Leader to transform without him noticing. Usually, Beast Boy's morphing took about a second, but now, he took his time, making sure not to give himself away.
Raven saw the morphing from where she stood, but now she could not see the fly-like Beast Boy. Only seconds later, a small green creature appeared on the perp's bomb. Raven bit her lip and crossed her fingers. Robin and Starfire looked on, hopeful that Beast Boy would succeed.
The Bomb had three wires protruding from it, and it was making a soft beeping noise. Beast Boy looked at the three wires in mouse-form. For the longest time, he did nothing but stare.
Raven looked on as Beast Boy took his time in making his decision.
'Raven?' Beast Boy's voice echoed in her mind.
Y-yes B-Beast Boy?
'I-I don't know which w-wire to choose…' There was worry in his voice.
Just Chew Beast Boy…
'O-o-ok…'
Beast Boy looked at the wires. One was green, one was blue, and one was red. Beast Boy went with his gut, and picked the green one first. As he began to nibble, he closed his small beady eyes so that he didn't see the possible explosion.
…
Nothing happened.
Beast Boy sighed in relief, but the beeping was still constant. He gazed at the red and blue wires terrified, and did a random selection in his head.
Red it was…
Beast Boy began to nibble. Again, Beast Boy squinted his tiny eyes in fear of death.
But none came…
The beeping stopped…
Beast Boy made a great sigh in relief. He had stopped the bomb. He jumped off the bomb and landed on the tiled floor, morphing back into elf-form.
"Dude… That was tense."
The Leader looked at Beast Boy in shock, and pressed the button. No explosion came, so he continued to press the button thinking there was a short in the fuse.
"What the f-
Robin brought his staff across the Leader's face. The leader spun out of control and struck a bank teller's desk at full force. Robin ran over and slapped cuff on him.
"Looks like your little escapade is over." Robin pointed his staff at the Leader, who was bleeding from the nose profusely.
Everyone in the bank sighed with relief. Raven walked over to Beast Boy, who was sitting on the floor with his legs strewn out. He was pressured into the fact that he might have just died, that he couldn't take it all in. She knelt beside him…
"Wow… I don't think I've ever been that close to death before. It's scary…" He muttered.
"You did great Beast Boy. I'm proud of you." Raven smiled at him. Beast Boy looked at her and smiled back.
"Heh, to think the only way I got you to smile was to go through a life-threatening situation and live through it."
I smile secretly to your jokes in my head.
Beast Boy looked at her. Raven winked at him and smiled once more.
"Thank Rae…"
"Beast Boy! Raven! Let's go!" Robin called from the entrance of the bank. He had the Leader in custody. Raven and Beast Boy rose and joined their friends at the entrance.
-T-
Now Robin looked at the report. It had taken him most of the night to finish. Damn that could have been bad…
Robin didn't want to think about having Beast Boy's death on his shoulders, so he shook it off and went off to bed.
End Chapter 2
Don't worry, I'll get to the science fiction…