Chapter Eighteen: The Plot Thickens

Shadow chucked a rock angrily at the wall the slumped against a boulder. Black tears hit the dust

"I thought you'd be here." a voice said.

Shadow looked up and saw Gar approaching

"Go away."

"I will but I brought some one and she really wants to talk to you."

Holly approached looking at her hands. Gar turned into a bird and flew away.

Shadow dried his eyes too frustrated to be embarrassed. Holly sat next to him

"You visited last night."

"I know."

"Your… other side said that something you felt kept him from hurting me."

"I know."

Holly turned to him angrily "Are you going to talk to me or are you just going to sit there feeling sorry for yourself?"

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself." Shadow corrected.

"Then why won't you talk to me." Holly pleaded.

Shadow looked down at his hands. They were trembling "I'm scared. For the Outsiders, the Titans, myself… but mostly..." he paused for a moment.

Holly started to encourage him to go on but a violent explosion rocked the ground. Shadow leapt to his feet and a black energy shield appeared over their heads as rocks fell from the top of the canyon. After they stopped falling Shadow's shield ebbed away and Holly rose to her feet

"What was that?"

"I don't know." Shadow replied moving to stand next to her. He turned so they were facing each other. His eyes glowed and Holly sank into a pool of shadows with a slight scream.

Shadow waited for a moment then satisfied the girl was safe ran towards the sound of reoccurring explosions.

Gar's tiger claws slashed through several metal robots and he roared his fury. Behind him yellow, electrical energy was coursing through about twenty of the machines.

Robyn was yelling in pain as the power coursed through her.

Robin tackled several of the attackers and tore them apart with a birdarang. His bo staff was out and swinging.

Raven's astral form soared through the battle healing various wounds her friends acquired before speeding back to protect the half demon's mortal body.

Jessica and Jason were fighting back to back. Earth rose and collapsed swallowing robots while fire melted through their metal bodies.

Starfire and Jinx threw attack after attack shielding Cyborg who was trying to trace the attack signal.

Suddenly a huge black portal appeared and consumed at least half of the robots. Shadow rose out of the vortex and spread his arms wide.

"Everyone! Get in the air!" he yelled as the whirlpool of shadows started to pull various robots into its endless abyss.

The Titans and Outsiders obeyed the command not wanting to fall into wherever Shadow was sending the attacking androids.

Cyborg rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he watched Red-X work. "Are you sure this information is good?"

"Positive, I traced it through a bunch of different… sources. They all said Shari Simon had dealings in the black market for automaton pieces."

"And these… sources are trustworthy?" Robin asked.

"Very."

Behind them Gar was dozing on the sofa, his chin tucked into his chest. The other Outsiders and various Titans lounged on the sofa

"So we know Shari has been buying stuff from the black market." Gar said not moving from his position "What do we do about it?"

Robin glanced up for a moment "You said Shari had a daughter? Is there any chance she would remember you?"

Nicosia Simon raised her head up and stared at the ruffling curtains. Her mother had shut the window hadn't she?

Grasping the hard plastic water bottle that sat by her bedside the girl got up and stepped onto the balcony "Who's out here?" she demanded

""Hey Niki," a voice said. On her right a man in a green cloak with the hood pulled over his face was leaning on the railing "Betcha don't remember me."

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Niki asked flicking the top off her bottle

"Garfield Logan; you always called me Beastie though."

Niki hesitated "Let me see your face."

The man shrugged and lowered the hood revealing green features and a pure white smile "Hiya squirt."

"Gar, what are you doing here? If my mom sees you…"

"Let me worry about your mom." Gar replied.

Niki looked behind her into the dark room then back at the changeling "What happened?" she whispered

"Long story," Gar was peering into the darkness that surrounded the rooftop. A small sigh escaped his lips "I know you're there Raven."

Niki watched in amazement as a second cloaked figure emerged from the floor of the marble balcony and took the shape of a woman "I already checked the house. Shari is out. I called the others and told them to be ready in case she decided to take revenge for her missing robots."

"Where's Shadow?"

"Holly's house; she seems to be the only one he can't hurt." Raven answered glancing over at the small girl who was clutching her water bottle again.

Gar noticed as well and smiled "Niki this is Raven. She's my girlfriend." This brought a blush from the empath and a giggle from Niki who then looked at Raven carefully

"You're very pretty."

Raven slipped her hood down from her head and considered the girl for a moment "Thank you."

"Anyway back to business, Niki…"

"I know about my mom. She's Shahari; it wasn't that hard to figure out either."

Gar raised a brow "Okay…"

"And to answer your next question I'll come with you. I don't like living here anymore." Niki rubbed her arm and Raven noted a collection of bruises on the spot.

An aurora suddenly played on the edge of her mind. The next instant a booted foot swung down from the rooftop and knocked Gar over the railing. He grabbed the iron bar with one hand then swung himself back up with the other.

Shahari was standing with Raven's head under one of her feet. Gar froze momentarily then morphing his hand into a bear paw knocked the woman aside. A stream of water flew out and surrounded her, but it was batted away without much thought

"Raven, take Niki back to the Tower." Gar ordered.

The half demon obeyed wrapping herself and the small girl in a cloud of black magic. Gar flipped up onto the rooftop and started slipping and skidding. Changing into a mountain goat he leapt nimbly from eave to eave with Shahari following close behind.

Just as she was about to grab the goat and blast of black energy sent her sprawling. Shadow stood on a roof eave his eyes glowing dangerously. Holly stood beside him

"No one tells me what to do!" the demon roared throwing another attack across the roof. This one went wild missing by a good two feet.

Gar dodged away from Shahari as she tried to seize him again. He turned into a leopard and parched precariously on a protruding wooden beam.

Another attack flew at the woman; this one hit her in the leg. She went down with a yelp. But she continued to chase after Gar.

Suddenly the changeling found himself on the edge of the house's extensive roof. Shahari was advancing despite multiple attacks from Shadow. Her punch hit Gar squarely in the chest. He teetered for a moment before falling off the edge of the roof.

But a hand caught his. He looked up and saw Robin of all people holding onto his wrist. The masked man hauled him up and gave him a glare

"Don't do that, Raven would kill me if you even got hurt." he panted

"Didn't know you cared so much Rob." Gar replied.

The two former enemies grinned and turned to find a furious looking Shadow and an out of breath Holly.

"She got away again." the demon reported his eyes glowing silver with malice "It's personal now."

Robin touched his belt but Gar shook his head "Holly, any chance of explaining what's going on here?"

"To tell you the truth I don't know myself." the girl replied brushing her dark hair out of her eyes "Shadow just got real mad all of the sudden and started to leave. I told him I had to come with him and he… changed. But he didn't hurt me or anything. Just agreed to let me go as long as I made sure to stay safe."

Robin relaxed if only slightly but he did remove his hand from the belt "Let's go home. Maybe Raven will have an idea of what is going on.