Teen Titans
Chapter 5: Money for Nothing
Golden energy crackled and snapped as it held hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of money, in bills and coins, encasing Money Magnet in a large spherical shield o' money. Shortly after the battle had begun in front of the RayTech building, Money had made haste to the nearest Jump City bank and had proceeded to summon all of the money right out of the vault. Robin believed that only early-morning-Beast-Boy-breath could cut through a bank vault so easily. Seems Beast Boy now took second place cause not much remained of the bank or the solid metal vault, both of which had been reduced to a pile of finely chopped wood and metal toothpicks. On the bright side it had been one of the smaller banks.
On the other hand, it was apparent that Money was heading towards the Jump city central bank for his next withdrawal. If he managed to get there he would be able to add millions worth of legal tender to his already deadly arsenal. It was so painfully obvious not even Starfire could deny it. Coins chewed pavement, broke windows, and generally possessed the same hurtful properties as machine gun fire with the added advantage of being able to re-summon the spent bullets back into his ever-increasing arsenal.
Already several dozen innocents had been severely wounded and even though Robin hadn't had time to confirm it, he estimated there had been a few casualties as well. As terrible as that was, it had all turned ever more sour when Beast Boy, as an eagle, had dive bombed Money, all of the bills that surrounded him, had shot skyward and like sharp knives carving a thanksgiving turkey, had shredded poor Beast Boy in midair. Beast Boy's jump suit was a tattered shred of cloth. Starfire, who's own uniform was now stained red with blood had caught Beast Boy as he fell and without a word, carried him back to Titans Tower and the emergency medical station. So now it was down to Robin, Cyborg, and Raven against Money.
"Azarath Metrion Zynthos." Raven chanted through clenched teeth, the wound in her side ached and throbbed with her racing heartbeat, and lifted a nearby car into the air and hurled it towards Money who effortlessly Swiss cheesed it and then carved the rest into bite-sized strips. At the same moment Robin followed up by tossed a birdarang, which bounced harmlessly off the green bubble shield but not after shredding a few bills. Cyborg, in tandem, let go with his sonic cannon. The blue power wave dissipated when it smashed into the green screen, but not before it burned off a few more dollar bills and even added a few melted coins. All of the molten coinage and frayed bills fell to the ground, having lost the unique properties, which had allowed them to be used by Money in the first place. But for every bill and coin destroyed 50 more replaced it as Money continuously drew an ever steady flow of money towards himself from people's pockets, store registers, ATM machines, armored cars, even tip jars were pillaged.
"Titans," Robin threw another birdarang, "we need to stop him before he gets to the bank." The birarang was destroyed in a hail of bullet fire as Robin rolled out of the way, except he was not fast enough. He grunted in pain as a quarter bullet caught him in the left shoulder blade and half- embedded itself there. The agony guaranteed his left arm was useless until the coin could be dislodged. Which he attempted to pull off but his right arm couldn't reach it.
As Robin attempted to remove the object of his torture, Raven felt the rage awaken in her mind. Ok, there had been times they had been defeated, but they always came back with a vengeance. Ok, there were times when they'd wake up sore the next morning after a particularly tough mission, and Ok, maybe they were not the most team oriented crime fighting group in the world. But never before had they suffered such extensive bodily harm or loss of blood. The wound on her side still flowed even after she had removed the metal coin. A trail of crimson traveled down her leg and saturated her boot. The pain and loss of blood clouded up her mind, made it harder to think straight, fueling the fire that was her rage.
Yet this would was small compared to what the unfortunate Beast Boy had suffered. Her thoughts went back to him, covered in hundreds of lengthy, deep, paper cuts, literally covering his whole body, as Starfire bore him away. Starfire's voice was both scared and burning when she had called out to the Earth-bound and critically wounded Beast Boy. Two emotions Raven had never imagined would ever come from the ever-cheerful Starfire, at least not at the same time. True, most of the time Starfire's "gerbil faced" optimism was a source of endless aggravation to Raven, but what Starfire had cried out at that moment was so unlike her that she had seemed far more alien at that moemtn then she had ever been before, even when Raven first met her.
Raven descended to the street next to Robin, she couldn't even remember the last time he had gotten wounded. Robin tried to raise to his feet, but Raven held him down.
"He's getting away!" Robin protested as Money disappeared down a side street. Without warning Raven drew out the embedded object in Robin's shoulder. Robin, so focused on the retreating criminal didn't even feel the pain.
"We need a plan, Robin." Raven reasoned, "Simply charging at him will not yield results, especially when we've all been injured." She still held Robin down, who continued to struggle.
"If your not going to help that get out of my way." Robin shouted. The adrenaline flowed through his veins and his anger made him lash out. Normally Raven didn't get upset, but the rage was taking over and right now she just wanted to shake Robin until his neck snapped.
"Stop thinking it's all about you! We're all in this together and we need to start working as a team or we'll all end up like Beast boy!" She shouted at Robin. The dark energy surrounded her body like an aura and her voice was becoming distorted. Robin who had been encased in hard determinism was now scared stiff. He remembered what happened last time Raven succumbed to rage. Dr. Light would probably spend the rest of his life in a mental ward, curled into a fetal position chanting, 'It's dark, so dark, so cold. Make it stop, make it stop.'
"Yo Raven, take it easy." Cyborg held up his hands, as if that would calm Raven down, but actually it was more to defend him self should Raven snap. "She's right Robin, we need a plan to take this guy down." Cyborg lifted Robin to his feet, "We should wait for Starfire to return."
"We don't have time. Money Magnet might already be ready to break into the Central Bank.' Robin reasoned. He flexed his arm to check for damage. Apart from the pain in his shoulder he could still use it.
A handful of seconds went by in silence as the 3 Titans mulled over the problem at hand. Their thoughts were interrupted as a familiar face emerged from slightly down the road and running at a frantic pace, chasing a wad of cash.
......................................................................................................
Knives halted from his sprint and his palms fell to rest on his knees. He panted heavily, worn down from the prolonged exertion of furious monetary pursuit. His rest period ensured his money was lost to him as it pulled away, turned a corner, and disappeared. It was shortly afterward that he noticed three pairs of footsteps were approaching him. He looked up into the faces of Robin, Raven, and Cyborg. Much to his surprise he wanted to laugh, but muster the breath. He took a few steps back as the 3 Titan bore down on his location.
......................................................................................................
This was a tough situation. This bank, unlike the other one, had far better defenses, guards and security gun emplacements, and a thicker vault wall. It had taken him some considerable time to neutralize the out ring of defensive guns and work his way into the heart of the complex. 3 human guards charged down the hallway, firing. Money stood almost contemptuous of the guard's barrage. He met their greeting with his own, small explosions of red burst from the chests of the 3 guards, killing two and earning the third a permanent desk job. He laughed, a high-pitched squeal that most normal people reserved for moment of high humor. His eyes were different too. Instead of the gleam for power, nothing was in them. He had gone completely, and not to mince words, barmy, one penny short of a dollar.
He was ignorant of the transformation. The truth was he hadn't been exactly stable to begin with. But it was the poison that pulsed from the unshielded energy cell on his back, while it had magnified his dormant powers massively, had utterly disillusioned his mind and sped along his developing insanity.
He now stood before the elaborate vault locking mechanism fastened solidly to the 2 foot thick industrial-grade, artificial diamond door. As he began the grueling effort of cutting open access, a thin trail of drool escaped the corner of his mouth. He no longer held the intelligence of a human man, but of an animal lusting for the treasures contained within.
Golden energy crackled and snapped as it held hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of money, in bills and coins, encasing Money Magnet in a large spherical shield o' money. Shortly after the battle had begun in front of the RayTech building, Money had made haste to the nearest Jump City bank and had proceeded to summon all of the money right out of the vault. Robin believed that only early-morning-Beast-Boy-breath could cut through a bank vault so easily. Seems Beast Boy now took second place cause not much remained of the bank or the solid metal vault, both of which had been reduced to a pile of finely chopped wood and metal toothpicks. On the bright side it had been one of the smaller banks.
On the other hand, it was apparent that Money was heading towards the Jump city central bank for his next withdrawal. If he managed to get there he would be able to add millions worth of legal tender to his already deadly arsenal. It was so painfully obvious not even Starfire could deny it. Coins chewed pavement, broke windows, and generally possessed the same hurtful properties as machine gun fire with the added advantage of being able to re-summon the spent bullets back into his ever-increasing arsenal.
Already several dozen innocents had been severely wounded and even though Robin hadn't had time to confirm it, he estimated there had been a few casualties as well. As terrible as that was, it had all turned ever more sour when Beast Boy, as an eagle, had dive bombed Money, all of the bills that surrounded him, had shot skyward and like sharp knives carving a thanksgiving turkey, had shredded poor Beast Boy in midair. Beast Boy's jump suit was a tattered shred of cloth. Starfire, who's own uniform was now stained red with blood had caught Beast Boy as he fell and without a word, carried him back to Titans Tower and the emergency medical station. So now it was down to Robin, Cyborg, and Raven against Money.
"Azarath Metrion Zynthos." Raven chanted through clenched teeth, the wound in her side ached and throbbed with her racing heartbeat, and lifted a nearby car into the air and hurled it towards Money who effortlessly Swiss cheesed it and then carved the rest into bite-sized strips. At the same moment Robin followed up by tossed a birdarang, which bounced harmlessly off the green bubble shield but not after shredding a few bills. Cyborg, in tandem, let go with his sonic cannon. The blue power wave dissipated when it smashed into the green screen, but not before it burned off a few more dollar bills and even added a few melted coins. All of the molten coinage and frayed bills fell to the ground, having lost the unique properties, which had allowed them to be used by Money in the first place. But for every bill and coin destroyed 50 more replaced it as Money continuously drew an ever steady flow of money towards himself from people's pockets, store registers, ATM machines, armored cars, even tip jars were pillaged.
"Titans," Robin threw another birdarang, "we need to stop him before he gets to the bank." The birarang was destroyed in a hail of bullet fire as Robin rolled out of the way, except he was not fast enough. He grunted in pain as a quarter bullet caught him in the left shoulder blade and half- embedded itself there. The agony guaranteed his left arm was useless until the coin could be dislodged. Which he attempted to pull off but his right arm couldn't reach it.
As Robin attempted to remove the object of his torture, Raven felt the rage awaken in her mind. Ok, there had been times they had been defeated, but they always came back with a vengeance. Ok, there were times when they'd wake up sore the next morning after a particularly tough mission, and Ok, maybe they were not the most team oriented crime fighting group in the world. But never before had they suffered such extensive bodily harm or loss of blood. The wound on her side still flowed even after she had removed the metal coin. A trail of crimson traveled down her leg and saturated her boot. The pain and loss of blood clouded up her mind, made it harder to think straight, fueling the fire that was her rage.
Yet this would was small compared to what the unfortunate Beast Boy had suffered. Her thoughts went back to him, covered in hundreds of lengthy, deep, paper cuts, literally covering his whole body, as Starfire bore him away. Starfire's voice was both scared and burning when she had called out to the Earth-bound and critically wounded Beast Boy. Two emotions Raven had never imagined would ever come from the ever-cheerful Starfire, at least not at the same time. True, most of the time Starfire's "gerbil faced" optimism was a source of endless aggravation to Raven, but what Starfire had cried out at that moment was so unlike her that she had seemed far more alien at that moemtn then she had ever been before, even when Raven first met her.
Raven descended to the street next to Robin, she couldn't even remember the last time he had gotten wounded. Robin tried to raise to his feet, but Raven held him down.
"He's getting away!" Robin protested as Money disappeared down a side street. Without warning Raven drew out the embedded object in Robin's shoulder. Robin, so focused on the retreating criminal didn't even feel the pain.
"We need a plan, Robin." Raven reasoned, "Simply charging at him will not yield results, especially when we've all been injured." She still held Robin down, who continued to struggle.
"If your not going to help that get out of my way." Robin shouted. The adrenaline flowed through his veins and his anger made him lash out. Normally Raven didn't get upset, but the rage was taking over and right now she just wanted to shake Robin until his neck snapped.
"Stop thinking it's all about you! We're all in this together and we need to start working as a team or we'll all end up like Beast boy!" She shouted at Robin. The dark energy surrounded her body like an aura and her voice was becoming distorted. Robin who had been encased in hard determinism was now scared stiff. He remembered what happened last time Raven succumbed to rage. Dr. Light would probably spend the rest of his life in a mental ward, curled into a fetal position chanting, 'It's dark, so dark, so cold. Make it stop, make it stop.'
"Yo Raven, take it easy." Cyborg held up his hands, as if that would calm Raven down, but actually it was more to defend him self should Raven snap. "She's right Robin, we need a plan to take this guy down." Cyborg lifted Robin to his feet, "We should wait for Starfire to return."
"We don't have time. Money Magnet might already be ready to break into the Central Bank.' Robin reasoned. He flexed his arm to check for damage. Apart from the pain in his shoulder he could still use it.
A handful of seconds went by in silence as the 3 Titans mulled over the problem at hand. Their thoughts were interrupted as a familiar face emerged from slightly down the road and running at a frantic pace, chasing a wad of cash.
......................................................................................................
Knives halted from his sprint and his palms fell to rest on his knees. He panted heavily, worn down from the prolonged exertion of furious monetary pursuit. His rest period ensured his money was lost to him as it pulled away, turned a corner, and disappeared. It was shortly afterward that he noticed three pairs of footsteps were approaching him. He looked up into the faces of Robin, Raven, and Cyborg. Much to his surprise he wanted to laugh, but muster the breath. He took a few steps back as the 3 Titan bore down on his location.
......................................................................................................
This was a tough situation. This bank, unlike the other one, had far better defenses, guards and security gun emplacements, and a thicker vault wall. It had taken him some considerable time to neutralize the out ring of defensive guns and work his way into the heart of the complex. 3 human guards charged down the hallway, firing. Money stood almost contemptuous of the guard's barrage. He met their greeting with his own, small explosions of red burst from the chests of the 3 guards, killing two and earning the third a permanent desk job. He laughed, a high-pitched squeal that most normal people reserved for moment of high humor. His eyes were different too. Instead of the gleam for power, nothing was in them. He had gone completely, and not to mince words, barmy, one penny short of a dollar.
He was ignorant of the transformation. The truth was he hadn't been exactly stable to begin with. But it was the poison that pulsed from the unshielded energy cell on his back, while it had magnified his dormant powers massively, had utterly disillusioned his mind and sped along his developing insanity.
He now stood before the elaborate vault locking mechanism fastened solidly to the 2 foot thick industrial-grade, artificial diamond door. As he began the grueling effort of cutting open access, a thin trail of drool escaped the corner of his mouth. He no longer held the intelligence of a human man, but of an animal lusting for the treasures contained within.