As if the sky had been waiting for a lull in the action to be able to be the center of attention, it chose this moment to let lose with a drum roll of thunder, and a downpour of cold, soaking rain.

The Titans approached the newest pile of rubble that represented what had been the last of the once-majestic building's upper stories. Broken concrete, twisted steel, and shattered office supplies lay everywhere. Robin rubbed his shoulder, which remained nearly numb from the force of Volt's attacks.

"Do you think he's still alive?" BeastBoy asked, shivering in the rain.

"Yeah, do ya think I might've…killed him?" Cyborg asked, a little uncertainly. He kept glancing cautiously at the heap, as if expecting Volt to burst from the wreckage.

"I don't know." Robin stared up into the rain for a moment, as if hoping for it to stop. Mother Nature seemed to have a poor sense of irony, for it started to rain even harder. "Normally I'd say yes, but with Volt-I mean Aaron, I just don't know. I suppose we should at least take a short look around, his body may near the edge of the rubble."

None of the other Titans really felt like spending more time out in the horrible weather, but hearing the weariness in Robin's voice, they didn't protest. Instead they spread out along the near side of the large pile, and started to pick resolutely through the huge mess. As he moved the chunks of building material, being careful not to overexert himself, Robin let his thoughts wander. He certainly wasn't up for any more lengthy battles that night, and he doubted that the other Titans were much better off. He wasn't sure if finding Aaron alive or dead would be the greater comfort. Maybe unconscious would be a nice compromise. Given Cyborg's slow progress in digging through the pile, Robin rightly guessed that similar thoughts were spinning about in Cyborg's head.

They had been searching for less than five minutes, but already the Titans could see that some serious work would be required to even dent the massive task of cleaning off the roof. Robin had decided to give it no more than a quarter of an hour before calling off the search, but it didn't take that long for something to turn up. Being relatively lightly injured, Starfire had drifted father than the other Titans, using the glowing energy in her hands and eyes to search under the overhanging slabs of concrete and the nooks and niches formed by the random assortment of debris. Under one large slab was a particularly deep cavity, with red marks streaking the concrete. Starfire's heartbeat quickened, as she leaned farther into the inky darkness. The green glow made the red streaks look black, and several widened until they became puddles. Back in the farthest corner of the small enclave Starfire spotted a single, bloody hand reaching out from the depths of the rubble. She was about to scramble out and call for the other Titans, when the hand twitched. Abandoning any reluctance, Starfire tore at the debris surrounding the body; as much as she hated Volt, she hated the thought of one even one unnecessary death even more. She pulled out pieces of concrete and metal, flinging them away to clear the area. Blasting apart one last sheet of steel, Starfire looked down to see Aaron's battered body lying on a pile of broken rubble. His legs were still buried under the heap, but it was mostly small pieces there, and they seemed fairly loose. Starfire grabbed one arm and started to pull Aaron from the wreckage, shouting to the other Titans, hoping they would hear her over the pounding rain. "Friends come quickly! I have found-Aaaaaaaaaa!" Starfire's call became a shriek of terror and surprise as the previously limp arm came alive in her grip.

Robin and Cyborg had stayed near the center of the pile, helping each other to shift large pieces and dig through the smaller stuff, while Beastboy and Raven had started working their way around the far side, towards the edge of the building. Robin had perked up when he heard an indistinct shout, but then his blood ran cold when he heard a shrill scream that was definitely Starfire. Adrenaline surged through his veins as he sprinted towards the sound with energy he hadn't even known he had. He catapulted himself over the rubble, ignoring Cyborg's shouts and the calls from BeastBoy and Raven, who had heard even less than he had. He rounded the last corner between him and Starfire, and the sight that met his eyes knocked the wind out of him more effectively than any physical attack. The young alien was lying stretched out on the ground, with steam rising off of her clothes, parts of which were charred black, and her forearms were covered in angry red welts that Robin recognized as electric burns.

All plans for attack and defense fled from his mind, and ignoring any thought for his own safety, Robin dashed to Starfire's side and lifted her out of the puddles forming on the roof. Cradling her in his arms, Robin knew he was wide open to any assault, but he didn't care. He fought to keep the red haze that had appeared at the edges of his vision from clouding his sight entirely, as angry thoughts ran rampant through his mind. Surprisingly, no attack was forthcoming, and moments later the rest of Titans had pulled up behind them. When none of them knelt down to help him check on Starfire, he finally looked up to see what the distraction was.

Volt was clear of the rubble pile, and stood less than ten feet away, staring at the Titans with hateful venom streaming from his eyes. Had Robin not been encumbered with Starfire's limp form, he would have leapt to attack, but it took him only a few seconds to see why none of the other Titans were flying into action, and why he had been allowed to tend to Starfire unmolested. Volt was a mess. His once fine clothes hung about him in tattered shreds. There was barely more than a few square inches of skin that was not covered in bruises, scrapes, or cuts; his blond hair was matted with blood. Volt's left arm hung limply at his side, obviously broken in at least two places, and he was heavily favoring his right leg. One lens of his silver sunglasses was covered in a spiderweb of cracks; the other was gone entirely, except for a single sliver that stuck inward from the rim. Underneath, one indigo colored eye was abnormally large, giving his face a creepy, unbalanced appearance.

Robin felt his rage begin to slip away from him; he let it go. Volt was finished, defeated for certain.

"Gee, I guess having a building fall on you really is bad for your health," said BeastBoy, without a hint of humor in his voice.

Cyborg had his sonic cannon out, and was pointing it right Volt's head. "Alright you oversized Mexican jumping bean, lets see you dodge this."

Volt's muscles tensed up, only to be followed by a gasp of breath as he gritted his teeth against the pain.

Cyborg was about to fire, when a strangled cough cut through the tension and distracted everyone. Starfire had awakened, and although Robin tried to prevent it, she pushed herself unsteadily to her feet and turned slowly towards Cyborg. "Stop, you musn't," she drawled; her speaking obviously painful.

Cyborg looked back and forth between Volt and Starfire, then lowered his arm, ashamed that he had to be reminded what made the Titans different from the villains they fought.

Volt cleared his mouth by spitting blood out onto the ground, and growled, "Shoulda shot me when you had the chance, tin-man."

Before anyone else could respond to the obvious taunt, Raven stepped forward and started walking towards Volt. "Oh stop it already," she hissed. "You can barely stand let alone fight." The other Titans took her lead, and began to move forward in a half-circle, surrounding Volt, who had to shuffle back to keep out of arms reach. As Raven continued to advance, she also continued to speak, driving home her point in that no-nonsense voice of hers that didn't allow for disagreement. "I can see your knees trembling from here, and without medical help you'll probably die of blood loss in less than an hour. Not to mention that the more you injure those broken bones, the harder they'll be to fix. You're beaten; finished. The only one who can't see it is you."

By now the Titans had backed Volt over to the edge of the roof, and the only way left to go was down. Volt looked around at each of the Titans, their faces hard and unyielding. Robin took another half-step forward and extended one hand towards Volt, in a gesture of either peace or an offer of help. "Give up, there's no way out."

Volt considered Robin for a moment. Then, the grimace on his face slowly turned into a smile that stretched nearly from ear to ear. A deep, hollow laugh rose up from his throat, and spilled out into the cold night air. He straightened up a little, so he stood nearly vertical, shook his head as if to clear it, and said, "Robin, you of all people should know there is always a way out." He slowly raised both hands straight upfrom his sides, until they were even with his shoulders.

Robin saw what was about to happen a fraction of a second too late and, even being marginally closer than the other Titans, was unable to reach Volt in time to catch him as he hurled himself from the edge of the building. For a second, Volt seemed to hang lazily in space, then he plummeted silently into the clouds and fog that had rolled in to hide all but the tallest buildings in the city.

Even as Robin scrambled to maintain his balance on the crumbling edge, he felt the rubble beneath him shift. He backpedaled frantically, but it wasn't just a small section of the roof that was sliding down. It seemed as if the entire side of the building had decided to finally heed the inevitable call of gravity. Raven was able to yank Cyborg and BeastBoy back and out of the way, but Robin was swept over the edge amongst the chaos and debris Even as he drew his grappling gun, Robin knew the situation looked hopeless. The entire side of the building was covered in a giant waterfall-like wave of shifting rubble, with nothing solid to hook on to.

Suddenly, Starfire swept out of the dust and rain, and snagged Robin neatly by the wrist. She struggled upward, her injuries upsetting her concentration, and the burns on her hands and wrists making it hard to get a good grip. She barely made it back up to the lip of the building, when they were both snagged by a giant, dark hand. It pulled them right to the center of the partially collapsed building, were Raven was waiting with BeastBoy and Cyborg. The floor seemed stable enough, for the moment, but it now sloped dangerously to one side. "I think," Raven said, "It would be a good idea to get off this rooftop."

Robin just nodded wearily.