AN: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!
Raven tried not to scowl as she had a sip from the disposable cup. Coffee. It was not a drink she enjoyed in any of it's various forms, though she should have known the moment Gizmo was chosen for drink duty it wouldn't be anything else. He liked coffee, which meant it was good enough for everyone else too. If you didn't want it, you didn't get anything. It was a ploy to get people to stop asking him – a ploy the rest of the team were very stubbornly trying to ignore.
She shifted, moving her legs out from underneath her as they started to get numb and set her eyes back onto the street. The team had set up into different vantage points as they waited to see if the Teen Titans would fall for their fake pizza voucher. Raven had been given a rooftop opposite the pizza place. Her instructions were to wait and see where she was needed. As the 'heavy hitter' Jinx had been very insistent that she focus her attention appropriately. Raven wondered if it had something to do with all the protesting she had done but didn't mind.
Gizmo – also stationed on a rooftop – was further down the hill, near the junction. He was in charge of signals, timings and his decoy creation; a remote-control pram currently tucked out of sight in an alleyway, the bundle tucked inside not an infant but an explosives-rigged teddy bear. Despite his distance from the rest of the team no one doubted his ability to do the job, his googles able to magnify and pick out targets.
Mammoth, positioned between Raven and Gizmo, was also tucked into an alleyway. The giant was hardly inconspicuous and while the superheroes were yet to meet them, the team didn't want the Titans to become too suspicious. Jinx was the only one in the open, casually leaning against the bus stop, pretending to read a newspaper. It was her job t make sure the bus had no driver and that it made it's decent down the hill.
"Any movement yet?"
Gizmo's voice came from her communicator, sat open next to her, and she looked across the buildings to where he was sat before searching the crowd once more. Nothing stood out. She picked up the device.
"Nothing."
"Speak for yourselves. Apparently, the mall's got a discount on-"
"It's always got a discount. A five-finger discount," Gizmo cut his leader short, chuckling at his own joke before telling Jinx, "Will you stop reading that damn thing and pay attention?"
"Can't we just go get some pizza? Then we can eat and keep an eye out for them." Mammoth's voice came over the communicator.
Raven put it back down next to her, taking another sip of the bitter liquid. Gizmo had promised her it would make her feel more awake and that was something she needed after the late night they'd had. It hadn't taken Gizmo more than half an hour to create the fake voucher, but he'd spent most of the night working on his booby-trapped pram and had been determined that if he wasn't sleeping, no one else was either. They had only managed three hours of rest before Jinx was pushing them out the door to set everything up.
"And how we supposed to get everything moving from the restaurant?" Gizmo asked in distain.
"Just remember the plan. We're equal in numbers but we don't want to separate ourselves if we don't have to. We get Cyborg out of the fight first, then the alien if we can. Beast Boy and the Boy Blunder shouldn't pose too much of a threat so they're last port of call. Mammoth, whoever stops the bus, flatten them – if it don't take them out it's going to delay them from joining their teammates at least. We clear?"
"Crystal." Everyone could hear the smile in Gizmo's voice.
There was only a short pause before Raven noticed their targets moving through the street – their bright colours easy to pick out in the crowd. The shortest teammate was only seconds behind her.
"Already their heading in now! The snot-munchers fell for it!"
Raven finished her coffee as she watched them go in, setting the cup down beside her before grabbing hold of her communicator. They would be moving as soon as Gizmo gave the word, and she didn't want to leave that on the roof.
"If the bus is on time, it'll be here any minute now. Remember we gotta wait for the bus. Gizmo you still got visual?" Jinx's voice was serious, all her usual playfulness gone. The only time Raven saw it happen was during practice against other HIVE members. She would focus on leading, leaving her quips for unsettling their opponents.
"They're too far in the building. If we can't see them when the bus comes, you're going to have to make a bit of a commotion – get their attention." Gizmo responded.
Raven searched the windows of the building, waiting to see a flash of colour. She smiled when she saw them walk out onto the rooftop seating. "Back in sight. And they're going to have a lovely view too."
"Make sure they don't spot you – you're right opposite them," Gizmo warned, but Raven had no concerns as the team picked up menus and immediately started arguing over what they were going to order. Gizmo seemed to have the same thought as he laughed into the communicator. "Hey Jinx, we finally found a team who argue more than we do."
Either the hex caster didn't find it amusing, or wasn't paying attention, her voice all business. "Bus is at the top of the street now. If we're lucky he's a smoker and he's going to get off. If not, I'll be closing communication for five minutes. Gizmo, keep and eye out."
Raven glanced at where Jinx was stationed before moving her eyes back to the group of heroes. Gizmo would be watching Jinx in case something went wrong, that meant it was her job to alert them if anything changed with the Titans.
There were a few minutes of radio silence as they waited for Jinx to confirm what was happening. Raven watched as the Titans seemed to settle down and begin ordering.
When Jinx spoke, she almost jumped. "It's our lucky day. Driver is off the bus. We've got three minutes top."
"Alright. Jinx, go for it."
Raven took her eyes off the Titans to watch as the girl moved away from the bus stop, motioning towards the vehicle, a wave of pink leaving her fingertips. The bus started rolling, so slowly at first Raven wondered if it was going to work, but as it moved down the incline it began to pick up speed. There were a few shouts from civilians closest who could clearly make out the lack of a driver inside, but not enough to gain any real attention.
She didn't see Gizmo activate his pram, too busy watching the bus, but heard the loud baby noises from the speaker he'd installed. There were screams then, and she knew Gizmo had rolled it out into the junction. She looked back at the pizza parlour in time to see the Titans get to their feet. Starfire was the first off the roof, flying straight for the pram. It didn't take long for Robin to join her, using one of his gadgets to grapple down the side of the building while Cyborg and Beast Boy made for the bus.
She tried to keep track of both sides, knowing it was only a matter of time before she would need to choose where to go. The alien quickly removed the pram from the road while Cyborg planted himself in front of the bus, holding his hands out as though he could catch it. He continued to slide down the hill until the changeling joined him in the shape of a green gorilla. They got it to a stop, Beast Boy quickly morphing back and running to the doors of the bus, no doubt going for the hand break.
"Mammoth, get behind the bus, now. On Gizmo's signal."
She watched her teammate rush out into the street. The bus had passed her and Mammoth's positions making it an easy task to watch both sides as Robin pulled the teddy out of the pram. Even from her position, she could feel their confusion. Raven waited for Gizmo to call it and set Mammoth in motion, but nothing happened, Beast Boy leaving the bus and joining his teammate in front of it.
"Mammoth, now!"
The giant gripped the back of the bus. Raven watched him strain and for a second wondered if he could actually do it, before the tires left the concrete. Metal groaned as he inadvertently crushed the back end of the vehicle, raising it as high as he could before slamming the front end down on the two titans who were too busy staring in shock to move.
Gizmo timed his attack to match, and the pram and toy exploded in a cloud of smoke. She could hear Gizmo laughing as they watched both Titans skid across the floor, blown back by the detonation.
They waited, and when there was no movement Gizmo used the jetpack built into his backpack to hit the street. "That was too easy!"
Mammoth joined him, wiping his hands together. "Now can we go eat?"
Raven shut her communicator and looked at her leader, waiting for her signal before relaxing. Gizmo was right. It had been too easy. She'd seen them fight and while she didn't think it was anything too impressive, they had proven to be able to take a beating. Jinx had started to walk towards Mammoth and Gizmo when Robin pulled himself to his feet, moving in front of the boys, poised to fight. There was a loud groan of metal and Raven watched as the bus moved, Cyborg lifting it above his head while a small green rat scuttled out from underneath, the animal quickly shifting into Beast Boy. Cyborg dropped the bus away from him.
"That the best you got?!" the robotic boy asked loudly, making his way down the street to where the rest of the HIVE stood.
Raven watched nervously as it appeared as though her team could get boxed in. The Titans still hadn't noticed her – or at least they hadn't appeared to – but she held off, waiting for the right moment.
She watched her leader turn and smile. "Oh, we're just getting started."
She sent a hex towards Robin while Mammoth and Gizmo quickly turned their sights on Cyborg, trying to stick to the plan. Raven watched as Starfire flew in and pulled her fist back, it starting to glow with a green light.
"I can do this. I can do this." She muttered it like a mantra as she set her focus on the alien. She needed to stop her attack.
She flung her arms forward, imagining a black wall sweeping into the girl and almost smiled as it worked, pushing the alien off her path and taking her by surprise. Mammoth had charged at Cyborg, getting his attention and giving Gizmo time to run behind him. Beast Boy, shaped as a tiger, jumped at the giant but Mammoth swatted him aside without a glance, his other arm on Cyborg's shoulder, pushing him back. Jinx was keeping Robin busy, dancing around his bo-staff and destroying anything he threw at her with small waves of hex energy. Happy they had everything under control, Raven want back to looking out for the tamaranian girl, seeing too late that she was flying straight for her.
She put up a quick shield, blocking the punch that was aimed for her.
"That was not very nice! Why do you attack us?"
Raven didn't even consider answering her as she tried to focus on her energy. Spotting a car parked out the corner of her eye she willed her black energy to cover it, muttering her mantra to centre herself before throwing it threw the air at Starfire. The girl turned and quickly shot it with one of her starbolts, the car exploding before it reached her, sending shrapnel in both their directions. Raven didn't waste time in trying to get some distance between them, moving closer to the street and the rest of her team.
A hex bolt flew past her and hit its target, throwing the alien back.
"I got your back, Rae!" Jinx called out.
Gizmo managed to jump on Cyborg's back and Mammoth quickly turned his full attention onto Beast Boy. Gizmo let out a triumphant laugh as he fixed a device on the titan's back, quickly jumping off and hitting a button on his remote. Cyborg was launched into the air, the hero shouting out in shock. With a worried gasp, Starfire quickly flew after him. With two of the heroes down – or at least out of the way – taking care of the remaining two would be easy. Raven moved to help Mammoth, the changeling having shifted into a large bear, while Gizmo wasted no time at aiming his pulse lasers at Robin.
He dodged them easily but was caught out by Jinx's hex, hitting him as he landed a perfectly executed back flip. Raven sent her own blast of dark energy at Beast Boy as he grappled with the H.I.V.E's giant. It through him back up the street, the changeling shifting back before sitting up and rubbing his head, stunned from the attack. Robin through past them not long after, one of Gizmo's rockets having hit their target.
"They're not even putting up a fight," Jinx grinned as she walked over to Mammoth and Raven, Gizmo joining them. Together they watched Beast Boy get to his feet and change into a Elephant, before charging.
Mammoth stepped forward, rubbing his hands together. "I got it."
He spread his feet shoulder-width apart and bend forward slightly, keeping his position as Beast Boy got closer. Mammoth ducked at the last minute, under the green elephant, before lifting him up into the air. With a grunt he threw him back up the street, on a collision course with Robin.
Jinx, Gizmo and Mammoth all laughed as the changeling collided with his leader, putting them both down on the ground again.
Robin was the first back on his feet, looking back at his teammate. "Listen up, I have a plan-"
Gizmo aimed his burst laser at Beast Boy, the blast throwing him further down the street, cutting Robin short.
"Sure hope you plan includes getting fried!"
Despite his lack of teammates, the hero faced them with a smile, egging on the four thieves with a wave of his hand. "You'll just have to find out the hard way."
Gizmo smirked, aiming his laser down at the road by Robin's feet. The blast caused the road to shake. Jinx wasn't far behind and sent a large hex to the same spot before Mammoth leapt forward, slamming his fists down. The concrete crumbled, the group taking several steps back as they watched a large sinkhole open, Robin falling down into the murky waters.
They watched Beast Boy run forward, ignoring the team on the other side of the hole, shouting out for his leader. He jumped down, morphing into a small bird.
"Now we can go for Pizza," Jinx told them happily, nudging Raven, ignoring the scowl she got. "See, all that worrying and for what – you hardly had to do anything."
"You think that's it?" Mammoth asked. "Job done?"
"Probably not. The alien went after Cyborg, which means they'll be coming back sooner or later." Gizmo told his friend.
"Come on – a quick break, then we'll keep an eye on that Tower of theirs. Now we know how easy it is, we'll just kick them out of their home. They'll move on pretty quickly after that."
(…)
"Donut?"
Mammoth waved the bag in front of Raven's face, getting the girl's attention. She frowned at the giant and pushed his hand away. He didn't take offence, shrugging before taking one from the bag. The team had set up a watch station on Jump City's docks. Having found a quiet area away from the working warehouses, they had settled in to wait and see which – if any – of the Teen Titans made their way back to their tower.
"You did not just fail to offer me one," Jinx leaned around Raven, the empath almost losing her balance as she tried to sit back at the sudden invasion of her personal space.
"You're going to fight on a full stomach?" She asked them sceptically.
Jinx scowled at her. "It's one donut."
"Mammoth has eaten about five, plus two bags of crisps, a sharing bar of chocolate and a bagel." Raven pointed out, the boy in question grinning at his teammates.
"That better not have been my bagel," Gizmo glared at him while Jinx shrugged.
"Mammoth runs on different rules to us. He'll be fine."
Gizmo went back to watching the tower across the bay. "I saw we give it another hour – if no one's back by then, they're not coming back."
"Where did you set that rocket to, anyway?" Jinx asked.
"Gotham," the short boy grinned. "Dunno if it had enough fuel to carry him that far, but it was worth a go."
"There!" Raven, who hadn't been distracted by their conversation, pointed to a small shape that dived down to the Island from the sky.
"Where?" Mammoth asked, while Jinx leaned forward, squinting.
"Beast Boy," Gizmo confirmed, using the zoom on his goggles. Both he and Raven watched the boy transform before walking into the tower. "And no Robin! One down!" He laughed.
"How good is your eyesight?" Jinx asked.
"I could only just make him out," Raven shrugged.
"How long do we wait for the others?" Mammoth asked impatiently.
Jinx settled back down, the picture of relaxed. "A bit longer. Be a shame if we went in and they arrived unexpectedly."
"Rae would sense them," Gizmo muttered, though he was more focused elsewhere. "Something flying in now. It's not close. Should be able to tell if it's a titan in the next few minutes though."
"We don't have a plan," Raven told them nervously. "What are we doing?"
"Break in, kick butt." Mammoth said round a mouthful of food.
She frowned at him before looking at Jinx, hoping she would have a better answer. The girl just shrugged. "Pretty much what Mammoth said. If four of them couldn't beat us, three of them don't stand a chance."
"It's two titans." Gizmo said, cutting in. "Cyborg and Starfire. Still no Robin."
"Let's give it a few more minutes, then we'll set into motion – before they get too comfortable."
When they were ready, Jinx got Raven to take them all over to the Island. It was the furthest she'd teleported with so many people and Gizmo and Mammoth quickly bailed as they realised they were back on solid ground, Gizmo rubbing at his arms, muttering under his breath. Raven did her best to ignore him as Jinx led them up to the front door of Titans Tower.
"Mammoth, would you do the honours?"
Mammoth stepped up before banging loudly on the door twice, waiting a few seconds before repeating. He looked at Jinx. "We waiting for them to answer, or you want me to knock the doors down?"
"Can you knock them down?" Jinx asked and he grinned.
"Of course I can."
"One of them is near the door," Raven quickly told them, able to pick out the energy signature.
"Bonus points if you hit them with it," Gizmo laughed.
Mammoth didn't need any more encouraging. He took several steps back before running forward, brining his fists down over his head onto the door. The metal warped under his hands but stayed in place.
"Step aside," Raven said, moving forward.
She motioned for Mammoth to move before putting her focus on the doors. She called upon her dark energy, throwing it forward as hard as she could. The force knocked the doors off their hinges, into the building. Raven called the energy back to her the moment it had done it's job before looking inside with the rest of her team.
Starfire was closest to the door. The alien had ducked – no doubt to avoid the doors – and looked cautiously from behind her arm. Beast Boy and Cyborg were further in the room, Beast Boy scrambling to get up from a chair.
"Oh no," Beast Boy said. His face was already one of defeat.
"Oh yes," Jinx retorted as she stepped into the building, walking over the bent and twisted doors.
Gizmo wasn't far behind her. He used the jetpack in his backpack to hover above the floor, putting himself at shoulder height of his leader. "Nice place. Think we'll take it."
Cyborg stepped forward to face them as Starfire got to her feet. "You're on our turf now! Titans go!"
No sooner than the words had left his mouth, Starfire was throwing star bolts at them. Raven quickly put up a shield to cover her teammates, holding it in place Starfire stopped the attack. As she let it drop, Jinx sent a hex bolt at the girl, the pink energy hitting Starfire and throwing her back. The H.I.V.E agents moved further into the room, Mammoth and Raven moving to either side of their leader. Cyborg quickly transformed his hand onto his sonic cannon before aiming for Raven. At the same time Beast Boy transformed into a ram, charging at Jinx. Raven quickly blocked Cyborg's attack, Gizmo aiming a small rocket at Cyborg while his attention was diverted while Mammoth stepped in front of Jinx, grabbing the changeling by a horn and swinging him round before throwing him to the other end of the hallway. Starfire flew back towards them, unleashing another flurry of star bolts. The team quickly moved to get out of the way, Starfire diving at the last minute towards Mammoth.
Raven picked up one of the many chairs lining the hallway with her dark energy and threw it at Starfire.
"We could end this a lot quicker."
Raven tried to ignore the dark voice in her head. When it tried to show her images of the heroes broken and bleeding in their own hallway she took a step back, letting her teammates go first. She was going to stay in defence – make sure there were no accidents, not comfortable with getting too close to the fighting.
Gizmo flew higher into the air, taking advantage of the vaulted ceilings and sent several short blasts from his heat laser at Starfire, driving her back up the room, away from them.
"Titans, split!"
The H.I.V.E watched as at the command from Cyborg, they all turned and left the hallway through the door at the back.
"Apparently they want to drag this out," Jinx said with a smile. "Mammoth, Raven, go after Starfire. Gizmo, you get Cyborg. I'll take out Beast Boy."
The group took the stairs, not bothering to wait for the lift to come back down. Raven did her best to direct her teammates on where their targets had gone, splitting off with Mammoth to track down Starfire after telling Jinx and Mammoth to continue heading upwards.
They made their way down the corridor, Mammoth being as quiet as he could as they paused at each new room, Raven shaking her head to let him know they were empty. She could feel Starfire was close, the girl having an almost overbearing feel to her empathy. Raven stopped him outside a door hallway down the corridor, offering him a small nod, certain Starfire was behind it. Mammoth grinned. Instead of using the doors – as Raven would have expected anyone to do – he moved to the wall next to them, breaking his head through the brick and plaster with ease.
"Hello, lady."
His voice was muffled from Raven's side, but it was enough to confirm that they'd found their target. His yell was clearer, and Raven didn't need to see in order to guess Starfire had thrown star bolts in his direction. She rolled her eyes at his back before trying the doors, only to find them stuck. She quickly opened a portal as Mammoth pushed himself against the wall, widening the hole he'd made. On the other side of the door was the Teen Titans' gym. Starfire had retreated to the far corner of the room. Raven raised a shield of dark energy in front of Mammoth to protect him from any more star bolts.
The attacks came her way instead. Raven blocked a few before waving her arm at a stack of free-weights. Her dark energy surrounding them, lifting them from the ground before they flew towards the titan. Starfire caught three of them, the rest hitting the wall behind her. It was distraction enough to let Mammoth finish making his way through the wall and Raven let her shield drop so he could move forward.
"I do not wish to hurt you, though I will with necessary," Starfire said, and Mammoth laughed at her.
"You couldn't hurt us if you tried."
He charged at Starfire. Raven watched as she flew up towards the ceiling, Mammoth crashing into the wall below her. Starfire pulled back her foot to kick Mammoth, but he grabbed it at the last second, the girl letting out a startled 'eep' as he threw her across the gym into a stack of equipment.
"Open a portal," Mammoth told Raven.
"What? Why?"
"One that leads out into the bay. Away from the tower." He grinned at her, amused at his own idea, before moving towards the teen titan.
Raven did as she was instructed, holding it open as she waited for Mammoth to finish grappling with the alien. It took some manoeuvring but Mammoth managed to get Starfire in front of the swirling dark energy. He kicked her hard, sending him tumbling backwards and out of the gym.
He dusted his hands off before smiling at his teammate as she closed the portal. "We should probably go see if the others need help."
"I'll find Jinx," Raven told him with a quick nod.
She left the giant standing on his own as she opened another portal, able to feel Jinx a floor above her. Focusing on Jinx's energy signature, she was able to teleport to several feet away. The large window at the end of the corridor was smashed, Jinx staring out of it. She couldn't see the green hero anywhere.
Raven approached her. "Need help?"
"No, just making sure he doesn't try to come back in." Jinx glanced back at Raven before going back to the window, motioning to something Raven couldn't see. "Turns out he's noticed one of his other teammates out there. Your work?"
"Mine and Mammoth's."
"Good. Go check on Gizmo, though I wouldn't bother offering him any help – he'll only take it is an insult."