Hey, y'all I'm back. This last chapter is a good bit longer than the last one, and I hope you like it because I spent lots of time tinkering with it. (even rewriting the whole fight after I didn't like it the first time) Anyway, I would've liked to have more chapters posted by now, but I've been super busy, and haven't had time to write them out. So, I'll try to get the next up by monday evening, but if it's not up until then you'll probably have to wait 'till next weekend. Also, I want to repost some of the previous chapters with corrections. I you review and point out things like grasmmar, or pour word usage, or anything just plain confusing, it would be a great help. (remember, constructive criticisms are the best)
-- Mekkie

(/)

Although night had set, the city was never truly dark. Light spilled out onto the street, and across

the entrances of restaurants. People walked to and fro, laughing and chatting with their friends.

No one ever looked up because no one had a reason to. Some one, however, was looking

down. A shadow ran quickly over the rooftops, clearing the gaps between buildings with ease.

The figure finally stopped, and looked down at the museum which stood alone near the city

center. The street's here were wide, and the gap between his perch and the museum was nearly a

hundred feet. In his hand he held a staff, which served as a combination utility belt and weapon.

He held it to one shoulder like a rifle, and sited down its length. He pressed the trigger and a

grappling hook shot from the tip. It wrapped around one of the ornate statues that decorated the

roof. He lifted the other end off his shoulder, and opened up the back end, from which he pulled

a clip. He secured one end around a protrusion on the roof, and then leaped off the roof, sliding

along cable, which ran through the center off the staff. He landed on the museum roof with grace,

and made his way to one of the skylights. It was the work of a moment to splice and cut the

wires, so as not to set off the alarm, and then opened up the large glass window. With hi staff in

hand, he jumped in, dropping nearly 60 feet to the floor below. After looking around he made his

way to one of the stand-alone display cases, which held a jewel-encrusted crown. He ran his

hands along the edge of the case, until a small panel popped open. He pulled a wire from his staff

and plugged it into the outlet under the panel. On his staff a small piece of metal slid back to

reveal a screen and keypad. He typed in a few commands and a second later the case let out a

little hiss as it unlocked. He stood up to collect his prize, but suddenly a voice blared out.

"Unauthorized access, alarm will activate in 10 seconds." He glanced around, nearly

panicking, until he spotted a small dial and keypad on the wall, nearly hidden by the legs of a tall

statue. The voiced continued to count down the time "5...4...3...2..." The end of the staff

smashed into the control panel and the voice died. The thief had thrown his staff like a javelin, so

it rested on the pedestal between the legs of the statue, and had crushed the alarm.

He let out a sigh of relief, and returned to the case in front of him. He carefully lifted the glass

top off, before flinging it away. It shattered on the stone floor. He lifted the crown out, studying

the jewels embedded in it. "What a marvelous piece of craftsmanship, a crown fit for a king."

He jumped, and nearly dropped the crown when a voice rang out from the darkness. "I think it's

a bit gaudy myself." He turned to face the darkened archway, from which the voice had come.

Out of the darkness stepped Robin. "Nevertheless, it's staying in the museum." Robin looked at

the figure before him. He was dressed all in black and, in the near darkness, hard to see clearly.

Robin could tell however, that he was young and tall. Rather than the form fitting suits that most

heroes and villains preferred, his clothes hung slightly loosely on his thin frame. The most starling

thing about him, however, were his hair and his eyes. His hair was bluish-gray, and sparkled even

in the dark. His eyes, or rather, his mask, was silver. It looked almost like a pair of mirrored

sunglasses, even having arms that wrapped around the side of his head. Robin asked "Are you

the one whose been breaking into those electronics companies?"

"Yup, that was me alright, and not one of them was even that hard to get into. Rather

disappointing, in a way."

"There's kind of a difference between stealing computer chips and ancient artifacts, is there?"

The figure chuckled, "Robin, you've got me pegged all wrong; I do it for the challenge...and the

thrill."

"Well, whoever you are, you're going-"

"Oh no, I haven't even introduced myself, I'm such a bad host." The figure gave an elegant,

sweeping bow. "My name is Volt."

"So, are going to return the crown, or do I have to take it from you?"

Volt held out the crown in one hand. "Here, you can have the old thing, I don't really like it

anyway."

Robin was rather surprised, but he reached for the crown anyway. As his fingers closed on the

edge, Volt suddenly jerked the crown back, throwing Robin off balance. Faster than Robin could

see, Volt punched him in the face. Robin crashed backwards onto the floor. "Ha! Not!" Volt

laughed in victory.

"That was a bad idea." Cyborg stepped out of the hallway on the left.

"And a cheap shot, too." BeastBoy slipped out of the hallway on the right.

"It is unwise to hurt my friend." "Yeah...what they said." Starfire and Raven drifted in from the

upper level balcony.

"You had the chance to come peaceably, but you just lost it." Robin was already back on his feet.

Volt looked at the superheroes surrounding him. "What's the fun in going quietly? You want the

crown...then catch!" He tossed the artifact straight up. Instinctively, all eyes flowed its upward

arc. Robin jerked his head down as soon as he caught a flicker a movement from the corner of

his eye, but it was already too late. Volt leaped across the floor at Cyborg, both feet slamming

into Cyborg's chest, driving him backwards as Volt rebounded towards a wall covered in a

sculpted frieze. He landed several feet above the floor, and actually started running straight up the

wall; he was moving so fast he didn't even use his hands. In less than a second he was at the

balcony level, and he back flipped away from the wall. Volt somersaullted through the air, and his

hands were only inches from catching the crown when Starfire got to it first; she flew in and

snatched the crown away from his grasp. Volt landed cat-like on a windowsill. As Raven

swooped in front of him, he launched himself out like a human missile. Raven was caught off

guard, and only had time to fling up a shield in front of her. Volt's hands, crashed into the shield,

but instead of falling, he used his momentum to twist over the shield and drop behind Raven. She

hardly knew what had happened when he grabbed her ankles, jerking her out of the sky. Volt

landed graceful on the ground, but Raven crashed into a display case; glass and plastic flying

everywhere as she slumped to the ground. BeastBoy charged in his gorilla form, swinging massive

fists at Volt. Volt dodged the first several effortlessly, before grabbing a fist and using it to slide

along the ground between BeastBoy's legs. As he slid he foot lashed out, catching Cyborg in the

ankles. Cyborg, who had been rushing to help, now flew headfirst into BeastBoy, and the two

collapsed in a tangle of flailing arms and limbs. Volt popped to his feet, and bareley managed to

block Robin's punch. After he got his balance, however, he had no trouble defending himself. He

even yawned, his incredible speed allowing him to block Robin's kicks and punches one handed.

Robin hopped back two steps, and drew his bo staff. He swung a mighty overhead stroke at

Volt, who simply caught it with his hands. Robin twisted and pulled, trying to free his staff, but

Volt's grip was surprisingly strong.

Volt grinned broadly, saying, "You see this as a weapon, but I see this as a portable lightning

rod." Blue sparks crackled around his fingers, and a second later Robin felt the electricity surge

through his body. Robin was knocked backwards by the force of the jolt, leaving his staff in

Volt's hands. Volt began to advance on Robin's prone form, but a starbolt flashed towards his

head, and only a last minute flinch to one side saved him.

Having deposited the crown away from the fight, Starfire now returned, flying in to attack. Volt

spun around, swinging the staff at Starfire's head. She saw she couldn't avoid it, so she jerked to

a halt, throwing up her arms and shutting her eyes in preparation for the hit. It never came. She

opened her eyes to see Volt standing in front of her, holding the staff an inch from her head.

He smiled maliciously. "Gotcha!" He touched the staff lightly to her shoulder, but the surge of

electricity knocked her to the floor. He spun back the other way, but not in time to escape

Cyborg. Cyborg's fist smashed through the staff, and caught Volt in the chest, knocking him

backwards. Cyborg then swung his other fist, but a second before it would have connected, Volt

seemingly vanished and Cyborg's fist smashed into the wall instead. As the dust and stone fell

away, Cyborg saw Volt, standing on his arm; he had dodged the punch entirely. Volt's foot

kicked out, catching Cyborg under the chin and catapulting him backwards. As Cyborg crashed

to the floor, Volt turned to meet BeastBoy, who was charging as a bull. Just as BeastBoy would

have plowed into him, Volt grabbed onto BeastBoy's horns with his hands, using them to leap

over his back. As Volt sailed trough the air, he reached down and a small spark jumped from his

hand to BeastBoy, who slumped to the floor as his hind legs went numb.

Cyborg was also back on his feet, and was aiming his sonic blaster at Volt from less then 20 feet

away. His shot, however, missed. Volt was zipping along, jumping, twisting, and spinning, neatly

avoiding every blast. Although the blasts were all near misses, Cyborg could see that Volt was

toying with him, only pretending to be in danger. Volt had worked his way around to Cyborg's

side and leaping off a pillar, he arrowed in, hands sparkling with energy. His excitement, however,

turned to surprise when he saw Starfire, she was standing shoulder to shoulder with Cyborg.

They were almost back-to-back and, from the front, nearly hidden from view. Now, however,

she had a clear shot, and Volt couldn't change direction in midair. He arched his back, but could

not entirely avoid the starbolts, and one caught him in the side. His momentum kept him flying

through the air, but then he slammed into the ground, and skidded across the floor to crash into a

suit of armor. Starfire and Cyborg advanced cautiously, as Volt disentangled himself from the pile

of armor pieces. He was kneeling on the floor, with one arm supporting him and the other

clutched around his side; he groaned a little in pain. Starfire's hands and eyes glowed green, and

Cyborg had his blaster fully charged, both ready to fire in an instant.

Cyborg grinned down at their opponent. "Hey speedy, not so hot now, are ya?"

Volt looked up at them, and his grimace turned into a grin. "You should'a shot me when you had

the chance, Tin Man."

His legs shot out, throwing him clear as starbolts and sonic blasts turned the stone into rubble

right behind him. In a flash he was up and moving, completely unharmed. Cyborg and Starfire,

however kept up a heavy stream of fire, forcing Volt to keep moving. Although BeastBoy was

still flopping around like a fish out of water, Robin and Raven had gotten to their feet. As Raven

was moving to join Starfire and Cyborg, Robin drew several freeze disks from his belt and zinged

them at Volt. As a blast shattered the wall in front of him, Volt leapt up, and kicked a piece of the

debris back at Robin. It collided with the freeze disks in midair, and continued towards Robin,

who threw up his hands to block it. The frozen chunk of concrete shattered when it hit, vaporizing

into a miniature blizzard which temporarily blinded Robin, so he didn't see the kick that followed

it. Volt knocked Robin off his feet, and his head hit the base of a statue with a resounding crack.

Volt was now directly between Cyborg and Starfire, and Robin. The two didn't dare shoot,

knowing that if they missed, they'd hit their teammate. Volt seized the opportunity and charged.

Starfire held her shots until he was nearly upon them, then let fly. Volt, however, was ready and

leapt up and over the blasts, and right over Cyborg's head. Cyborg's reflexes kicked in, and he

took the first clear shot: straight up. Volt twisted himself so that the shot missed and blasted the

ceiling, large chunks of which prceeded to rain down towards the heroes. Raven darted in,

throwing up a barrier around the three of them. Concrete, plaster, and steel slammed into the

dome of black energy, scattering rubble around. When the dust started to settle, Raven lowered

her shield and the three peered into the surrounding gloom. Cyborg pointed his blaster cannon out

at some suspicious looking shadows and stared to say "Where did he-" when Volt dropped in

out of nowhere. His heel caught Starfire in the middle of her back, and his hands landed on

Cyborg's shoulders. Cyborg felt his circuits freeze as uncontained electricity poured through him.

As he crashed to the floor, Volt had already turned his attention to Raven. Using her powers, she

flung pieces of rubble at Volt, who easily avoided them, working his way closer all the time.

When she finally tossed a huge chunk of the ceiling at Volt, he jumped up on it, using it to launch

himself through the air. Raven gathered her energy to form shields on her hands, and blocked

Volts attack. Sparks and energy flew as each sought to overcome the other. Then Volt saw

Raven's eyes twitch to look over his shoulder. Even though it was only for a second, he knew no

one would look away from a fight like that, unless they were looking at something else.

BeastBoy had finally found something that didn't need legs. He had morphed into a giant snake,

and struck with lightning speed at Volt's back. Volt flung himself sideways, missing being

skewered by BeastBoy's fangs by inches. His loose shirt, however, caught the long fangs, and

jerked him around is it tore away. BeastBoy rolled about on the ground, the shredded shirt stuck

in his mouth, but Raven didn't even glance at him. She stared at Volt. His chest and arms were

covered in glowing blue lines that seemed to connect and separate in a confusing, yet familiar

pattern. The lines were densest along his arms and chest, thinning out over the joints. The lines

also vanished down the top of his black pants, and into the edges of his black gloves. Those

members of the Teen Titans who were still conscious (not including BeastBoy) gaped in silence.

When a voice finally rang out, it was Volt's. "Damn...now I need a new shirt." Hi hands shot out,

grabbing Raven by the shoulders. She shrieked as electricity blasted through her, then collapsed

on the floor. Volt dashed across the floor to where he had slung his staff earlier. It was the same

statue that Robin laid at the foot of, slowly coming to his senses. Volt grabbed one end of the

staff, and jerked it around. The other end slammed into the leg of the statue, which shattered into

dozens of pieces. Robbed of its support, the huge stone statue teetered to on side, and then fell,

straight towards Robin. An orange and purple streak zipped across the floor, screaming, "Robin!

Noooooo!" Starfire scooped Robin up, diving into a niche in the wall, only inches ahead of the

statue, which thundered down, covering the opening with rubble.

Volt dashed along the floor, scooping up a silver and emerald tiara. Leaping onto the windowsill

of a shattered window. He called back to the Titans, "We'll have to do that again some time.

Until then, I'll just keep this as a souvenir." He jumped down outside the window and was gone

into the night.