1Chapter Three: Party Time
Robin mused over the evidence, all the information they had. It was strewn across a large desk, and he flipped through the files, racking his brain to the braking point. But he was used to this, and would continue to do it day in and day out until he figured this problem out. Unfortunately, they happened to be several problems, and none of them had a real clear solution at this point.
First order of business, Red X. Two things bothered the boy wonder about him. One, how had he acquired another of those suits? They didn't just roll off an assembly line, and the original was safely hidden somewhere in the tower. But that was the lesser of two problems. The other was the fact that none of the sensors that they had located all across the city had detected the villain. Robin had designed the suit himself, and he knew that the power source used Xinothium for the suit to work. And that stuff left a radiation signature half a mile wide! Why had no one detected it?
Second, this new rouge that no one could seem to place. No description, no motive, all they had was what clothes he wore, and surely he would've changed out of those. Oh, and they had a description of the car, which had conveniently dissapeared. Plus, they knew that the technology he used was very advanced, even Cyborg couldn't figure it out. And when the guy who is half robot can't figure out something technological, there is absolutely no telling what kind of mayhem could ensue. And somewhere along the way, he had ran into Red X, and something had happened to prompt him to hunt the sly super-villain down.
Thirdly, these two new theives on the block, which may or may not have had relation to the appearance of Red X and this new guy. Of their problems, these two were the most enigmatic. Nothing was definitely known, beyond the note, glue, and the obvious skills they possessed. And this shed absolutely no light on who they were or could be. If anything, it just made them more mysterious.
And finally, that ever present wraith in Robin's mind, Slade. They knew he was out there, knew that he was in the shadows, waiting and plotting his next move. They also knew that it was likely he was involved in one or all of the other problems that had decided to show themselves over the last few days. Their greatest enemy, the ever present nemesis that haunted them wherever they went...
Each of these replayed itself again and again in his head, making a maddening slide show that served only to frustrate him further and offered no light on any of the criminals that had appeared, their plans, their motives, nothing. He was sitting the proverbial dark, and there was little he could do but wait for them to make the next move. And he was never good with being patient about such things...
Meanwhile, Beast Boy and Cyborg were gamestationing away, the latter of the two jeering him about his incredible losing streak to Raven as well as the obvious fact that the changeling and sorceress had fallen asleep on the couch together.
"So, do I get details or you like to keep it a mystery?" the half-robot asked, casting a sly sideways glance to his friend.
Beast Boy almost exploded, "For the hundred thousandth time, NOTHING HAPPENED!"
"Aw ya! Back in the lead!"
"Grrr..."
'CYBORG WINS- BOYAA!'
The changeling sighed and tossed the controller onto the table, and this caught Cyborg by surprise. It was a very un-Beast Boy like move. In fact, his entire persona seemed unlike him, like he was worried about something. And he was a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of guy...
"Hey man, what's up? No demand for a rematch?"
"No... Not really in the mood."
Cyborg blinked, his brow furrowing. Alright, Beast Boy didn't want to play video games... Now he knew something was wrong, "Ok, I know that was a cheap trick, but it couldn't have made you that upset."
"It's not that... I dunno, it just seems like no matter what I do..."
Cyborg knew instantly what his friend was talking about. However, it appeared that the changeling didn't, and he wanted his friend to figure it out, "What?"
"My pranks backfire, my jokes fall flat on their face, it just seems that no matter what I do it never works."
"Hmmm... I think you're taking one case and generalizing it."
"What?"
"I'm just saying, most of the things you just listed only happen with one person."
"Uh..."
"You sort of feel like you've done something wrong but you don't know what?" Cyborg pressed, confident that Beast Boy would be able to get it on his own. Well, surely, come on...
"Ya... Hey, how did you know?"
"Think about it BB."
"...Think?"
Cyborg's face dawned a mask of annoyance, eyes half lidded and he stated in an obvious tone, "You feel like Raven is mad at you and now you want to go apologize and make sure she's not."
Beast Boy was silent for a few seconds. Then, as if he had just come up with it on his own said, "I think Raven is mad at me, I better go apologize and make sure she's not."
As his green-colored friend walked away, Cyborg just watched in shock. Then he looked at his robotic hands, and exclaimed, "Hey, I'VE GONE JEDI! BOYAA!"
Raven glanced up from her book, which she was reading while sitting on her bed. She sensed a disturbance in the force, er, someone was knocking on her door, "Who is it?"
"It's me..."
"Beast Boy?"
"Ya."
She floated over to the door, and opened it to show half of her face, an eyebrow arched, "Yes?"
"Hey... um..."
"Yes...?" She repeated, trying to get whatever he wanted to say out of him so she could go back to reading.
"I just, wanted to say, sorry."
Even Raven's emotionless face couldn't hide the shock that statement caused in her being, "Sorry? For what?"
Beast Boy looked at the ground, "You know, I shouldn't have annoyed you into playing games with me like that, or made you stay, and I know it made you mad, so... Sorry."
"Who ever said I was mad?"
It was the changeling's turn to look surprised, "I dunno... The whole blowing me out of the tower into a crater the size of a house didn't seem like a good sign..."
"Oh... I wasn't mad at you."
"You, you weren't?"
"No..." She blushed a little bit, and looked away, quickly calming down, "You just happened to be in the way. Collateral damage. If anyone I should be apologizing to you."
"Oh..."
"Besides, I thought you knew me well enough to know that I would've left if I wanted to. There was nothing holding me there. I have to admit, it was fun-"
"Playing video games?"
She was puzzled for a moment, "No, watching you lose over and over again, while making desperate attempts to save some shred of your ego."
"Um... That didn't sound so good..."
"I'm not mad, you would know if I was."
"Good... Hey, can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Since when are you so good at video games? I mean, I've been playing them my whole life, and I could barely hit you..."
The smile she gave him was sly, cunning, and devious, "Well, let's say I don't always play by the rules."
"...And that means?"
"I'm psychic remember?"
"...YOU WERE READING MY MIND?"
"Well, what little there was to read, yes..."
"That is so not fair!"
"Your point?"
"...Heh, I'm rubbing off on you Rae."
"...I hope not."
They stood there, Raven unsure if the conversation was over and Beast Boy searching for something else to say. But let's face it, he wasn't in any way articulate. It took him a full twenty seconds to remember, "Oh ya, did anyone tell you about the new movie?"
"No..."
"It's supposed to be awesome with guns and slow motion fighting and bullets and explosions and it's awesome and even more guns-"
"Does any of this sound like something I would like?" Raven asked, annoyed.
Beast Boy faltered, before adding, "It has vampires in it."
"...So when is it again?"
TEEN TITANS!
"Well, I can honestly say that was better than I expected."
"Ya."
"The beginning seemed a bit rushed, and you didn't know exactly what was going on until part of the way through it."
"True. Still, that part when the dude fell out of the sky and shooting all the way, that was pretty awesome."
"Ya, then the dude went all darkness and started kicking the crap out of those imitation vampires."
"Hey Cy, remember that part when they went to the vampire council, and that one lady went all berserk on the other one over that guy?"
"Ya."
"Who did that remind you of?" Beast Boy asked, casting a sideways glance at Starfire, who noticed and blushed.
"Friend, I believe you are referring to the, uh, 'incident' between myself and the 'Kitten'?"
"Ya... I can't wait for the next segment of it to come out."
"You're telling me! That's just like the Lord of the Rings! They wait until interesting stuff happens, then cut it short!" The changeling said, fuming.
"Hey Raven, you're awfully quiet. What did you think of 'Hunting Grounds'?"
"...I'm going to side with Robin. Better than I expected."
The Titans were satisfied. The movie was good, and now the just wanted to go home to their tower. The ride was uneventful so far, no crimes and little traffic made the trip uninteresting. The discussion was good though, as the movie raised some valid points, and the special effects on some parts were pretty good.
"Remember that ghost butler dude? With the wires and the floating and stuff?"
"Aw ya, that dude kicked butt!"
They eased to a stop at a traffic light, Raven leaning her head against the window, watching the city go by. She was up front by Cyborg, who was of course driving. Starfire had the window seat behind Raven, with Robin in the middle beside her. Beast Boy was clearly not happy being by the semi-couple, and was making conversation so the trip would go faster.
Her head shot up suddenly, and she looked back. Huh, she could've sworn she saw a shadow move. And this was her, she normally didn't imagine things like that. Hmmm... It was pretty late, and she hadn't had much sleep lately. Fatigue must be taking it's toll as it always does, even on her half-demon body.
A rather junky looking care pulled up beside them. The windows were clear, but you still couldn't really see the driver... Wait, that was odd. Why couldn't you see the driver? Raven furrowed her brow, she couldn't have been five feet from the other car, where was the one steering the car?
However, it all made sense soon enough. The car shimmered, then rippled, finally fading away to reveal a blue-silver streamlined vehicle, with windows tinted almost completely black. A very familiar looking car actually.
"Robin, it's-"
"Hey there. Word on the street says you got the best car around. Pfft, if that piece of crap is the best this place has to offer I might as well let that X guy wreak all kinds of havoc on this poor city. So come on tin man, let's see if that soap box can run."
Cyborg's mouth dropped as the car calmly pulled away. His eyes focused on the radio, where the message had come from. His human eye narrowed. His robotic one glowed brighter, and turned a deeper red. His circuitry began to hum, and his muscles tightened uncontrollably. Everyone else in the car froze.
"No one, INSULTS MY BABY!"
Raven flew out of her door, getting away very quickly. Robin tried to crawl out, but was pushed back by Beast Boy and Starfire as they to struggled to get out. Yet just as he was about to find salvation, the door slammed shut of it's own accord, and locked. Robin looked to the front, eye's dilated.
"Cyborg, don't even think about it."
"Too late for that man."
"I am giving you an order, do not do what I think you're about to do."
Cyborg grinned evilly, and he pulled his seatbelt tighter, hitting buttons to engage the T-Cars boosters and turbo, "Sorry man, it's too late for that to."
Robin fumbled with his seatbelt, trying to reattach it, "Cyborg, don't-"
"BOYAA!"
"That's right tin-man, come to daddy.", mumbled the man to himself, smirking. His smirk only widened when he heard the song that came over his radio, which he turned up to absolutely blasting, "Welcome to the jungle rookie, it's time for me to teach you a thing or two."
(Begin, Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns N' Roses)
Cyborg smiled, the rouge smiled, and Robin screamed some unheeded order. Then the chase was officially on. If only they had sold tickets.
The half-robot titan immediately kicked it into high gear, closing the gap between the two cars insanely fast. Some would call it reckless, but he knew exactly what he was doing. He kept a close watch at his gauges, careful not cause too much heat to build up. Luckily the streets were almost deserted at this time, as most people knew that it was then most of the criminals came out.
Weaving through the little traffic there was, the blue-silver car waited until the T-Car was barely ten feet behind, before speeding up again. Cyborg's jaw dropped, then his glaring smile returned, "Alright whoever you are, you wanna ride, let's ride. I just hope you're skills are as good as that car."
"CYBORG STOP RIGHT NOW!"
"Shut up Rob!"
Back about a mile or two, Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy contemplated their options.
"I am most glad we escaped, but I am worried for Robin's well being."
"He's tough, he can take it."
"Besides, I don't think you could catch Cy right now, much less get Robin out. Remember last time this happened? I say we just go back to the tower. I mean, we can all fly here."
"But..."
"How about if I told you we have a special new kind of mustard at the tower?" Raven asked, eager to get home, and not wanting the alien getting herself as well as their teammates hurt trying to rescue Robin. It worked. Rather well actually, Starfire was already gone, leaving the sorceress and changeling to follow in her wake.
Cyborg meanwhile was following in his new opponent's wake. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, that car just would not stop speeding up. The T-Car was maxed out at normal power, and it was still pulling away. But the half-robot had a few special tricks up his sleeve, that he doubted anyone could copy. He hit a little red button.
"Cyborg, did you just hit the little red button?" Robin asked, curling up, his voice rising in pitch as he voiced the question.
"Robin, I just hit the little red button."
The boy wonder started crying, praying, and holding on for dear life as not two but four massive boosters deployed from the trunk, and powered up with blue energy. Power gauges filled on Cyborg's HUD, reaching critical mass. Then with a sonic boom and jerk of G-forces they hurtled forward.
Meanwhile, in the silver-blue car, the driver arched an eyebrow, "Whoa, this guy is better than I thought. Time to step it up a notch."
He reached over to a touch-screen computer, and hit a few commands. Two large circular energy jets came out from the back of the high-tech car, and he chuckled, "Blast off."
Cyborg was slowly pulling up beside the other car, which had deployed it's own boosters. They got almost side by side, when whoever he was racing hit another shot of turbo, beginning to speed away. The T-Car followed suit, closing the gap before it could grow to any large amount.
Neither driver was looking at their speedometer. Of course, if they had they would've known now both vehicles were traveling in excess in three hundred miles an hour, and still picking up speed. In fact, people they passed were knocked off their feet by the wind off the two cars as they rocketed by.
The rouge driver thought a moment, before saying over the radio, "Follow the leader tin-man, try not to scratch that matchbox of yours."
"Bring it on! It'll take more than that hot-wheel to outrun me!"
Heh. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad. Hmmm, let's see, where, when, and how. Alright, let's see... Aw screw planning, impulse works just fine. Here we go, that looks like a promising turn. Ok, one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready...
Suddenly, the driver of the silver-blue futuristic sports car veered sharply to the left. So sharply in fact, the vehicle turned almost completely sideways, and slid into the turn smoothly. A full 90 degrees without losing speed hardly at all.
That was impressive. Cyborg hadn't seen drifting like that... in a very long time. He was hard pressed to copy the maneuver, and still lost momentum in the attempt, but he wasn't far behind. If the unknown driver was surprised at first, he was genuinely impressed now.
Robin's head meanwhile had just been slammed into the window very hard during that turn. He was getting ill, and the jerky driving was not helping at all. His face was starting to dangerously resemble his gloves in color. And this was not a good thing.
Cyborg watched as his mystery opponent veered around another corner. Speeding up, he kept up as best he could. Yet, as he cleared the turn, he saw nothing. His competition had seemingly just dissapeared.
Then the mystery car revealed itself. It flew out of the third story of a multi-level parking garage, using the up ramp as a, well, ramp to propel itself over the concrete barrier. Both titans watched in awe is it went straight over them, heading the exact opposite way, almost losing control on landing. The half-robot swung his own vehicle around, going after the prize once again.
"What does this guy think this is, the Dukes of Hazard?" Cyborg asked in shock.
"Bo Duke eat your heart out!" The mystery driver laughed as the chase continued.
The next minute and a half was just a blur of lights, buildings, narrowly avoided collisions, and finally the two cars were once again pulling up along side one another. Cyborg watched as his car inched forward, but it seemed that the two were almost evenly matched. Almost. But who's would turn out to be the better?
The two were so intent on determining this fact, that neither of them was really looking ahead. Then, they noticed a very disturbing development. The street they were shooting down like bullets at about four hundred miles and hour plus, well...
It was a dead end.
"OH CRAP!"
"AW MAN!"
The tires squealed, the brakes whined, the entirety of both vehicles moaned against the intense forces being exerted on the frames. They both turned sideways, pointing at each other. Both parties prepared their bodies for the inevitable impact, the resounding explosions that would announce their death's...
Then with a final groan of protest, both vehicles stopped. Slowly, all of the boosters and turbo systems shut down and returned to their compartments. Both Cyborg and the mystery driver had death grips on their steering wheels, eyes wide. Robin jumped out of the T-Car, extremely sick, nauseous, and scared out of his mind.
WARNING, IF BREATHING FUNCTIONS DO NOT RESUME UNIT MAY SUFFER PERMANENT DAMAGE
Cyborg let out the collective breath he had been holding, and let his body go limp. That had been, close. Way too close. And for all of that, he lost. Or at most tied, he doubted seriously that he had won. But...
"Alright, let's not do that again."
"DARN RIGHT LET'S NOT DO THAT AGAIN! YOU JUST DISOBEYED FIFTY NINE DIRECT ORDERS YOU COMPUTER BRAINED IDIOT!" Robin screamed at him, still on the ground, his legs unable to support his weight.
Then the mystery hit his radio, and asked in a shaky voice, "Hehehe, you ok tin man?"
"Ya, for the most part."
"How about you're buddy there. He looks a bit upset."
"He'll get over it."
"That'll work... You'll be hearing from me soon." There was some silence, then he added, "And that was some good driving."
The two titans could only watch as their racing mystery rouge peeled out, disappearing from sight once again. Robin took a deep breath, calming his nerves, then looked over to Cyborg. However, instead of anger or frustration as the boy wonder had expected, the half-robot was smiling.
"That was fun!"
It was only then that Cyborg noticed Robin. Or more precisely, Robin's glare, which seemed like it could cut through his titanium plating easily. He laughed uncertainly, rubbing the back of his head, trying to think of an excuse. What could he say, he didn't bode well to people insulting his car.
"When we get back to the tower, we will work on your definition of 'fun'. And we will go the speed limit the ENTIRE way there. Is that perfectly clear?"
"Hehe... Crystal..."
Robin slowly made his way over to the passenger side, got in, and made sure to buckle his seatbelt tightly. Very tightly. And the whole way to the tower, he was fixed on Cyborg with a look that would've made Slade back away in fear...