Disclaimer: I own jackcrud! That means a whole bunch of nothing!
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Arsenic ran down the hallway passing several doors. He glances at every one and doesn't find what he's looking for. He hears a swishing sound from the air and ducks his head as a birdarang flies by his cheek. He takes a glance behind him. Robin and Cyborg are about a few dozen feet away and catching-up. Arsenic grunts in annoyance. These teens are insanely persistent. But he knew that this was only the beginning of the chase.
Arsenic rounds a corner. He looks straight ahead and sees the door he was looking for. At the end of the hallway was a door labeled 'Office Area C'. he speeds up his pace while at the same time draws his custom .45 from its holster.
Aside from being a Colt semi-auto .45 caliber handgun, the weapon's customizations consisted of an extended bullet clip, a compensator attached to the nozzle, and a combination laser dot-sight and scope planted above the barrel.
Arsenic aims the gun forward and shoots. The bullet hits its desired mark which was the lock on the office door, breaking it completely. He charges straight through with an elbow to the door which opens with no resistance at all. As he enters the office space, he turns to check behind him. Robin and Cyborg are just then taking the corner in the hallway. Arsenic also takes note of a fire extinguisher beside the door.
He grins and turns back. He makes for his intended destination which was the large window facing the park. He takes a couple more shots hitting and cracking the thick glass window. He bolts towards it, and breaks out into thin air.
Robin and Cyborg's eyes grow wide in shock. They speed up their pace to try and catch him. They thought he was committing suicide by the look of it, but Arsenic knew exactly what he was doing.
Arsenic swings around in midair, grinning and aiming his .45 at the direction of the Titans just as the enter the room. He fires a few rounds which was not intended to hit the two Titans but instead hits the fire extinguisher by the door. It explodes covering the two teens in a suffocating cloud of cold carbon dioxide, halting them in their charge.
Arsenic, in the meantime, is falling five stories. In midair he turns his boy upright, He lands in a crouch, completely unaffected by the impact to the ground which leaves a few cracks in the concrete. People from the auto show gasp and shriek at strange teen's entrance and begin to back away.
Arsenic looks back at the fifth floor window of the GTC building. The two teens emerge from the white cloud looking down back at him. More like glaring actually.
Robin takes out his grappling hook and stabs the sharp end to the floor of the of the room and extends the grappling cable. Cyborg clutches the edge of the floor and detaches it from his body wile at the same time extends his own grappling cable from his forearm, attached to his clutching hand. The two heroes proceed to repel down the building face.
Arsenic turns away and takes a moment to look for possible options. He finds one. Particularly, a brand new, yellow Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster (convertible) on exhibit. He grins in satisfaction.
He holsters his weapon and bolts for the car. Civilians and employees wisely get out of his way. Arsenic hops into the roofless car. He takes out his combat knife and uses it to pick the ignition slot. The car roars to life with over five-hundred horsepower.
Robin and Cyborg have now reached the ground in their decent from the building. Robin retracts his hook and Cyborg retracts his hand. They look for Arsenic and spot him just as the Murcielago breaks from its exhibit stand. Crowds scatter every which way to avoid being run over by the wild sports car.
The two heroes quickly make for their own vehicles inside the same exhibit. Robin hops on his R-cycle and puts on his helmet while Cyborg gets in the T-car's driver seat. Both vehicles start at the same time and break away from their respective exhibit stands in hot pursuit of the fleeing Murcielago.
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Back inside the GTC building, on the fifth floor hallway.
"…uuuugghh…"
Raven groggily wakes up from her impromptu nap from just a few minutes ago.
"Is your condition any better friend Raven?" a concerned Starfire inquires.
"Yeah, you were out for like five minutes," said Beast Boy, right beside the tamaranian. "Ya feelin' alright now, Rae?"
"…Moderately speaking," said Raven. She tries to get up but finds that she cannot do so without support.
"Whoa, watch it Rae," said Beast Boy as he supports her on his shoulders.
"Thanks…" she drones. "What happened anyway?"
"Well… that Arsenic dude kinda threw your attack back at 'ya, Rae."
Raven tries to recall the past events from memory.
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Raven makes her attack. She chants her famous word with her arms outstretched.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!"
Black energy blasts out of Raven's arms towards Arsenic. He simply holds out his palm and 'catches' the bolt of dark matter. Raven's eyes grow wide with shock.
Arsenic, seemingly with some degree of difficulty, throws the bolt of black energy back at Raven, amplified. Raven tries to block but is hopelessly struck down hard to the floor by her own power.
"Aaaaggghhh!"
Raven goes unconscious.
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"Oh yeah…" she said. "Where is he now?"
"The dude bailed and Robin and Cy are after him. Robin told us to keep an eye on ya."
"We'd better get after them before they--- "
"I can not condone, friend Raven!" Starfire contradicts. "You are hardly in any position or condition to give chase much less do battle."
"Yeah, listen to her Rae!" Beast Boy agrees "You ain't goin' anywhere, not after what that guy did to 'ya."
Raven couldn't argue with the two. Physics dictate that identical energy frequencies cancel each other out. Arsenic's counter attack, of literally returning her same attack, drained her completely. She's gonna have to take some time to recharge otherwise she would be completely useless.
"Say, how did he do that to 'ya anyways?" asked Beast Boy
"His aura must give him the ability to counteract magic…"answered Raven.
"Tell me friend Raven is this person who calls himself 'Arsenic' the same person you have been sensing during recent times?" inquires Starfire curiously.
"It was the exact same presence I sensed, yes. Can't be anyone else but those two."
"This is most puzzling. I do not see any logic in their actions or if there is an existing plot to begin with."
"Their emotions are hard to identify. I cannot speculate on exactly why they are doing these things either."
"Don't worry you two!" Beast Boy interjects. "When Robin and Cy catch that dude we'll know what's goin' down!"
"I doubt it's that easy Beast Boy."
"…say what, Rae?"
"In this line of business, it never is…"
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On the city streets.
The Murcielago barrels down the street, wheezing through traffic like it was standing still. A couple of blocks behind were the T-car and the R-cycle in very hot pursuit.
Arsenic looks in his rearview mirror and sees his pursuers gaining at him. He shifts up and floors the gas pedal. The Murcielago accelerates to over a hundred and fifty. The two Titans in pursuit follow Arsenic's lead and keep-up.
Arsenic sees an intersection up ahead with a red to his road. He takes out his pistol, aims over the windshield, and fires on the overhead traffic lights, destroying them completely. He flies through the intersection while a bunch of civilian cars crash into one another due to the lack of coordination from the traffic lights. A pile-up results in the middle of the intersection, clogging the street.
The Titans see this and react in their respective ways. Cyborg is forced to stop the T-car to prevent further addition to the pile-up, while Robin on the other hand rears up his front wheel and uses one of the crashed cars that was at an angle as a ramp and vaults into the air and over the pile-up. Robin then proceeds to continue his pursuit.
Arsenic takes a glance at his mirrors and spots the Boy wonder. He decides he needs a new strategy. He shifts down, applies the brakes, and turns the wheel right, effectively putting the car into a drift to the right.
The Murcielago screeches along the road and takes a right turn on the next intersection…which happened to be a one way street going to the left.
Arsenic steers expertly around the oncoming traffic. Drivers, taken by surprise by the incoming sports car, swerve at the last second, some plowing into other cars and others straight into nearby buildings. Arsenic remains unaffected by all this while Robin, in the meantime is having a little more trouble in navigating through all the chaos, narrowly avoiding car after car.
The Murcielago eventually takes a left at a junction returning to the right side of the road. Robin in his R-cycle follow suit. Inside Robin's helmet, the built in radio kicks in with Cyborg's voice on the line.
"Yo, Rob, were you guys at?"
"We're traveling down Campos St. heading north. Can you catch up?"
"I'll see what can do!"
"Just activate your GPS and track my bike, Over and out!"
Arsenic and Robin continue their game of cat and mouse with Robin coming ever closer. Arsenic sees this fact. He looks up ahead and sees a multi level parking lot, an office building with a glass outer window, and the elevated freeway just on the other side of the office building, all to his right. A little plan formulates in his head. He grins.
He turns into the parking lot, the very low profile sports car easily traveling under the security gate with millimeters to spare, completely startling the guard on duty. He climbs the spiral all the way to the top level. Robin, meanwhile, hops over the gate and follows the Murcielago.
They reach the top level. The Murcielago speeds down the concrete floor towards the office building on the opposite side of the exit. There was a simple metal barrier at the edge of the parking lot. Arsenic takes out his .45 and starts firing at the metal barrier. It turns to Swiss cheese. The Murcielago easily breaks through the newly weakened barrier, flies into the air, and breaks through the glass window of the office building.
The Murcielago crashes into several cubicles on its way in, causing many startled office workers to flee in a mad panic, as well as random office junk to fly up in the air. Arsenic the turns the car to the right traveling down a narrow aisle leading to the east window, also made entirely out of glass. He crashes outward onto the elevated freeway and turns southward, a few cars screeching to a halt in surprise.
Robin in the meantime was doing his best to catch-up. He jumps off the parking lot and into the office building. Upon reaching the floor he stops in the middle of the room to talk to an office worker cowering in the side.
"Which way did he go?"
The nerve wrecked employee simply points a shaking finger to the hole in the east side window.
"Thanks."
Robin accelerates the R-cycle in the pointed direction, random papers flying into the air in his slipstream. He jumps off the edge and onto the freeway. He then turns southward in hot pursuit yet again.
Arsenic observes that Robin is still on his tail. He shifts up some and accelerates the car to about a hundred and sixty. He swerves in and out of traffic expertly. Robin follows close behind.
Robin presses the side of his helmet activating the built in radio communicator in it. He contacts his comrade.
"Cyborg, report your location."
"I'm goin' west on McKone St."
"Take the main road south and get up on exit 13. Head him off there, got it."
"Got it!"
"Over and out."
Robin resumes his chase. He accelerates to match the speed of the Murcielago while swerving to avoid traffic. Up ahead, Arsenic reloads hi .45 with a fresh clip and looks at his rearview mirrors and sees Robin still there. He was anything but aggravated.
Arsenic looks up ahead to search for possible options. He sees one in the form of a large truck with a trailer carrying a very much larger and longer metal shipping container.
The Murcielago accelerates to catch the truck. Once it reaches the truck, Arsenic turns the wheel, swerving the car to his left and underneath the truck's trailer, the Murcielago's low profile coming in real handy affording him inches of clearance. Arsenic takes something out of his vest pockets. It looked like a hockey puck of sorts. He throws it to the plate which connects the trailer to the cab. The device latches on, seemingly by magnetism. Arsenic aims his pistol and shoots one round at the device. The bullet makes it mark, and the puck like device explodes like a grenade.
The following results were that the trailer vaults up into the air on one end, tilts sideways, and lands on its side perpendicular to the roadway, covering the entire width of it. This effectively creates an impromptu roadblock which renders the road impassable by any and all incoming traffic. Which included a very specific teen on a bike.
Robin skids to a stop just beside the trailer lying on its side. He gets off of his bike to assess his remaining options. He finds nothing helpful. He has lost the chase.
Robin rears his gloved fist and angrily slams it at the still trailer.
"Damn it!"
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Arsenic scans his mirrors. He spots no sign of the Boy Wonder or any other traffic for that matter. Confident he lost one heroic pursuer he accelerates the car even more down the freeway. Still, somewhere in the back of his mind he can't help but feel he's forgetting about something.
Just as the Murcielago passes an exit, the T-car appears from it to tail the sports car closely. An angry Cyborg behind the wheel of the blue and white vehicle. Arsenic looks behind him.
Oh yeah, now he remembers.
Arsenic turns his sights back on the road ahead. He shifts up and accelerates even more. The T-car follows suit as Cyborg activates the jet booster, located in the rear to match speeds with the Murcielago. The two cars speed down the curving highway reaching two hundred miles per hour.
Arsenic tries something to lose his new pursuer. He applies the brakes and slows the car enough to take the next exit. Cyborg is taken aback by this and tries his best to imitate. The Murcielago clears the exit easily while the T-car show some trouble by slamming into the yellow plastic barrels, supposedly to cushion high-speed impacts, knocking a few over but nevertheless keeping his speed.
Both vehicles were now back on surface streets. The T-car slowly but surely closes ground on the Murcielago. Arsenic looks over his shoulder and behind him. As he thought earlier, his chasers were insanely persistent.
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In the meantime, about half a mile ahead of the chase.
One of the many park areas around the city. A little girl that would look about six or seven years old is merrily kicking a miniaturized soccer ball. A few kids are playing behind her in the grass area while the mothers were busy chatting a storm while seated on the benches. Not a care in the world.
The girl with the soccer ball unknowingly moves to the sidewalk. She accidentally kicks the ball a little too hard. And the ball bounces a good few feet away resting right in the middle of the street.
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Inside the T-car, Cyborg is all but keeping his patience. The chase has gone for longer than he expected and far more complicated. Arsenic had turned out to be an excellent driver with skills he'd never seen anywhere else. Again the Titans had underestimated their foe, and the metallic hero is pretty ticked off at that fact. He floors his accelerator and gains speed.
Arsenic is still looking over his shoulder. He observes the T-car slowly gaining on him. He tries to come up with any immediate plan of action but cannot fathom any at the moment. He turns his head back on the road. What he saw up ahead made his eyes grow wide and his heart skip a beat.
A little girl bending over to pick up a small soccer ball in the middle of the street. Completely oblivious.
Arsenic reacts instantly. He slams the brakes, throws the transmission into neutral, and turns the wheel hard to the left. The Murcielago grinds to a halt a few feet in front of the girl who falls on her behind in surprise. Cyborg is similarly taken by surprise and grinds the T-car to a halt in the same fashion.
A short moment of silence and stillness passes by.
Arsenic opens his door and exits the car. He looks over it and at the girl on the other side. Cyborg opens his door and also exits and moves to the side. He transforms his right arm into a sonic cannon and aims it over the hood of the T-car threateningly at Arsenic.
"Freeze!" the metallic teen commands.
Arsenic looks at Cyborg and back at the girl. Slowly he walks around the still roadster to where the little girl is sitting on the street.
"I said don't move!" exclaims Cyborg.
Arsenic ignores him completely. He stands over the girl who had a nervous look on her face, her eyes bordering on tears. Arsenic simply looks down on her with soft features. Slowly, gently, he picks her up with one arm hugging her close to his chest. He grabs her soccer ball with his other hand. He walks calmly to the sidewalk with the girl safely in his arms. Many people gasp and retreat at Arsenic's approach while others just stare. Cyborg keeps his cannon aimed.
Arsenic reaches the sidewalk and gently puts the girl down on her feet. He hands her the soccer ball which she takes with some hesitation. Arsenic gently places a hand on her head.
"Never play in the middle of the road ever again, all right?" he says reassuringly.
She slowly nods, her fear and anxiety disappearing from her expression.
"Go to your parents and stay with 'em. Go on now…"
The girl nods a last time and runs off into the park. Arsenic watches her off. He then turns and makes his way back to the Murcielago.
"I won't say again, Don't move!"
Arsenic stops to fully acknowledge the Titan who was threatening him. He glares at Cyborg who is similarly glaring back. More silence and stillness pass.
Suddenly, in lightning quick movements, Arsenic draws his pistol, turns at Cyborg's direction, aims and unloads. Cyborg, taken by complete surprise, yelps and ducks low behind his T-car to avoid the gunfire. Arsenic rapidly empties his gun on the T-car, covering its side in bullet holes, though not aiming at anything in particular.
The .45 clicks in emptiness. Cyborg cranes his head. He sees Arsenic quickly reloading another extended bullet clip and resuming his aim. He ducks back down just as Arsenic resumes firing. This time around he aims for something specific. He shoots a barrage of ammo at the two tires visible from his perspective. Though the T-car had reinforced treads, even those burst under such heavy punishment from the high powered bullets.
This renders the T-car immobile. Satisfied, Arsenic returns to his car seat, reactivates the engine, and drives of sparring the blank faced Cyborg a parting glance as he disappears down the road.
Cyborg stands up fully and dashes to the other side of his T-car. He assesses the damage and finds he is in no condition to pursue. Not to mention the fact that the T-car is gonna need a major overhaul. Needless to say, Cyborg was pissed. Very, very pissed.
"Dang it! Arsenic, I'm gonna get you for this!"
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Back in the dark lair of Dr. Volkov.
Sakura has returned with the device stolen from the GTC building earlier that day. Dr. Volkov was standing besides her taking a good look at the thing.
"Good…" he says "very good indeed."
He turns to Sakura who was standing patiently waiting for the doctor's word to her.
"You two have done very well."
"And Riya, what's happened to him?" inquired Sakura
"Relax, dear girl, your brother is fine…"
"And how do you know for sure?"
"He just called before you came in. It seems he has managed to escape capture today. He says he is already on his way back here."
Sakura seems to lighten her mood somewhat at this news. She moves her attention to the device she stole some time ago. Now, without the urgency of the Titans on her and her brother's back, she can completely feel curious about the device.
"Say doctor…"
The Doctor turns his attention to her.
"…what is this thing, anyway?"
"This…?" he points to the device in question, "…it's merely a high-powered core emitter designed to emit streams of extreme frequency electron beams."
"…oh…huh?"
"It's highly complicated. Even your brother has a hard time understanding the process."
"What process, doctor?"
"You of all people should know, Sakura. Your mother, she isn't exactly the kind of woman you could just shake out of bed. Even if we have all the pieces we need to complete her genome, we simply can't…'glue' it all together."
"So exactly what do we need to do?"
"The equipment I'm having you and your brother take are merely the requirements we need for the induction process."
"…induction process?"
"Using a special procedure, we will induce the genome to your mother's incomplete carcass. When the process works the way it should, your mother will regain her body. But until then we have a wish list to fulfill."
"I see…" she sighs exasperatingly. A wish list to fulfill. That would take time as always. A very long time.
"Don't be discouraged, child," Dr. Volkov said reassuringly as if sensing her plight. "Even God himself had to use seven days to create man…"
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Titan's Tower, much later that after noon.
The sun had already begun to travel down the horizon. The city starts to slow its pace as people pack it in and head for home after a hard days work. However, inside the domain of the five heroes, things are not nearly as calm.
"I can't believe we lost her! Again!"
Robin angrily paces back and forth at the center of the main room. The others are placed in the same spots as they were the last time the had this sort of debriefing: Cyborg on the couch and computer, Raven in the lounge area, and Starfire and Beast Boy by the bar.
"Dude, chill out already," said Beast Boy. "And can you please stand still. Your making me dizzy."
"Yes, please Robin, calm yourself…" concurs Starfire.
"Besides, we had unexpected company!"
"Yes indeed, surely you could not have predicted the arrival of the one who calls himself Arsenic!"
"Actually if you recall properly, I did warn you that there was somebody else…" said Raven.
Starfire and Beast Boy look nervously at her.
"…What are you saying, Raven?" inquires Robin.
"I'm saying you should have taken my warning. There were two of them out there but all you could think of was getting the girl. You completely overlooked the boy. You forgot that he was also dangerous."
Robin looked at her. He couldn't argue. Raven had a point, as always. This new player, Arsenic, was tough, very tough, if not more than the girl called Lithium. Raven said earlier that she sensed the possibility of more than one presence. Robin knew he should have accounted for it but he was too fixated on going after Lithium that he was taken by surprise by something that should have been obvious. Lithium beat them once, he didn't want it to happen again. But instead, Lithium got away and this new Arsenic guy beat the crap out of them.
"Rae, you don't have to be that hard on him!" exclaimed Beast Boy.
"Truly friend Raven, that was much too harsh," said Starfire, "could you have not found more subtle ways of delivering your--- "
"Starfire." Robin interrupts her.
The two by the bar looked at him
"…She's right. I should've seen it, but I was too---"
"Fixated," blurted Raven
"…Yeah, that's it."
The mood of the room went even lower than before as a long moment of silence passes.
"Well I promise you. We won't underestimate either of those two from now on. The next time we see them, they go down…hard." Robin exclaims with renewed vigor. Everyone in the room lightens up a bit.
"Now we just need something that will crack this case."
"I got one dawg!"
Everyone turns to Cyborg to see what he had.
"Chief of police just gave us a holla'. Cops have managed to capture that gang that robbed the Roscher Bank."
"Alright," said Robin, "Finally, something we can work with."
"Damn right dawg, He also says we can see 'em anytime."
"Oh, I say we contact him to address this situation." suggested Starfire
"Star's right, I think I'll give a call right now and see if we can already go."
Robin makes for the telephone which was part of the console of the giant computer occupying the main room. He is about to reach his hand out for it when suddenly.
rrrrring
Robin is taken aback. The rest of the team curiously turns their heads to see. The phone keeps ringing.
"…m-m-maybe that's the chief right now," nervously said Beast Boy.
With some hesitation, Robin picks up the phone and holds it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"…"
"Who is this?"
"…"
"How did you ge---"
"…"
"…I'm listening."
"…"
"…Alright"
Robin hangs up. He stands creepily still for about a minute, with his back to the team, until Beast Boy decides to break the silence on behalf of the team.
"So, what's up already?"
"…we have a new lead."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean, man?" asked Cyborg.
"I'll explain later. Mean while here's what we do."
He turns to face his friends.
"Cyborg, you, Starfire and Beast Boy meet up with the chief and interrogate the robbers. Raven your with me."
"…um…exactly what are we doing now?" inquired the dark girl.
"We have to pay someone a visit"
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The Skyline Tower Apartments, some time later.
By now the sun had completely set and the sky turned a dark blue hint. The first of the stars begin to twinkle to existence as most of the city settle to rest.
Robin and Raven walk down the hallway at a slow pace. Robin is scanning the passing doors for a specific number while Raven is curiously staring at him while keeping pace with her feet.
"Need I ask why we're here?" she asked.
"Like I said, we got ourselves a new lead." Robin responds but does not look at her. He still hasn't found the door he is looking for.
"I'm assuming it was that phone call we suddenly received. What's so interesting about it?"
"The guy said he has something on those two."
"Those two...you mean---?"
"Yup. And now we're here to get some answers."
"You were never trusted anonymous tips before, why start now?"
"Who says I'm starting?"
"Then how can you be sure he's telling the truth?"
"That's why I asked you to come with."
"…Ok…"
They continue down the hall until Robin stops in front of a particular door.
"Here we are."
He doesn't even bother knocking and just waltzes in through the unlocked door. Raven follows closely behind. The apartment was decked out with all the old furniture one would expect to see in a royal's house. It was also barren of life.
"Hello!" Robin suddenly exclaims into the empty space.
"I'm here." A voice emanates from a separate section of the room. An old man walks out carrying a tray with what looked like a tea set.
"I didn't expect you to be here so quickly…" he walks to the couch and sets the tray down on the coffee table. "…nor did I expect you to be so rude as to just barging in my home without so much as knocking." He sits himself calmly on the couch.
"So, you're the guy who called us?"
"Indeed I am Mr. Robin."
"How do you know those two? What is your connection to them?" he practically interrogates the old man. Raven plants a hand on his shoulder as if telling him to calm down.
"Now, now, Mr. Robin, no need for hostilities," the old man continues "I can assure you that I am the farthest thing from being your enemy."
Robin calms down some and regains his posture.
"Ok… so, exactly who are you anyway, sir?" the Boy wonder asked.
The old man stands up to introduce himself.
"Cannes, Dr. Allen Cannes. Head supervisor of Project: Maria"
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Author's note: Yay, more reviews came in. I'm so freakin glad right now. Well here's my fifth installment. Wait around for the next, though don't expect it too quickly. School is murdering me. Well anyways, pls. R&R!