"She must have very poor taste." Muttered Raven as she glided past Beast Boy causing the young changeling's proud smile to quickly turn into a frown. The rest of the group ignored the two as Robin stepped forward to address the thieves.
"Haven't seen you guys around here before. Are you the new thugs in town?" Robin asked as he pulled out three disk shaped objects. Slayder stepped forward to answer, his hand glowing a bright white color once more.
"We're just visiting. Give us about fifteen more minutes and you won't ever see us again." Slayder responded coolly as Athos and Emi quickly appeared at his side. Earl remained motionless while Sheex slowly paced across the catwalk pondering the situation.
"I'm afraid we just can't do that. Do you guys have a name, or shall we just assume you're a bunch of street thugs?" Robin said as Cyborg's hand quickly morphed into his sonic cannon. The hostility level was escalating at a rapid pace, to say the least.
"Well, since you asked so nicely, it would be rude of me to not answer. My name is…" Before Slayder could finish his sentence, Sheex leapt down from the catwalk, landing right next to his friend. Holding up his hand, Sheex signaled for Slayder to stop talking.
"Wait a sec. If we answer that question, you have to answer mine." Sheex said with a sly grin on his face. Slayder wasn't sure what his friend was up to (neither was anyone else in the group), but he had known Sheex long enough to trust him. Slayder remained silent as Robin eyed Sheex coolly.
"Seems like this bad guy likes to talk before a fight." Cyborg observed from the side. Emi glanced over towards Cyborg with a sly smile on her face that could easily match Sheex's current smile.
"But the question is does anything intelligent ever come out of his mouth?" She joked as Slayder chuckled while Sheex kept his attention on the Titans.
"Oh, I assure you Emi, my question is not only intelligent but extremely interesting. I guarantee you'll find it amusing. So, do we have a deal Titans?" Sheex said as he held out his hand even though his foes were still a good ten feet away or so. It was the gesture that really mattered to him.
Robin crossed his arms and carefully weighed his options. He had no idea what the man before him was going to ask, but the identity of the criminals was just too important to pass up on. After all, if they managed to escape (an unlikely event in Robin's mind), knowing their names would help narrow down the search quite a lot. Plus Robin was also curious as to what the man would ask.
"It's a deal, but don't expect me to tell you our weaknesses." Robin said at last as Sheex smiled at him. Nodding at his friend, Sheex motioned for Slayder to continue his speech. Slayder paused for a moment as he eyed his friend, and then once again began to answer Robin's question.
"My name's Slayder. The good-looking girl is named Emi. The old guy is Athos, and the robot's name is AX-64, but we just call him Earl. The funny guy's named Sheex."
"He's not that funny." Raven said from behind Robin, causing Sheex to shake his head.
"Is she always this friendly?" Sheex asked as he took several steps forward, closing the distance between himself and the Titans. Beast Boy quickly did the same, walking right up to the approaching foe.
"Yeah, pretty much. I've been trying to get her to smile for I don't even know how long, and let me tell you it has not been an easy battle. Why just the other day I pulled this great prank on Cyborg and…" Beast Boy was quickly interrupted by the now screaming Cyborg behind him.
"Spray painting me purple while I'm asleep in not a great prank you little grass stain!" Shouted Cyborg as Beast Boy let out a chuckle and Sheex raised an eyebrow.
"Friend Cyborg, is there a problem with the color purple?" Asked Starfire as she looked at her own outfit, which was her usual purple one. Cyborg quickly stopped shouting and turned to face his friend.
"Er, no, not really. It just doesn't bring out the color of my eyes."
"There are clothes that remove the color from your eyes? I did not know Earth had such dangers! Robin, we should investigate this matter immediately!" Starfire yelled as several people (mostly from Slayder's group) stared at the young Tamaranian.
"Is she, actually serious?" Asked Emi as Cyborg gave her a quick nod. Robin thought about explaining what Cyborg had actually meant, but he figured one of his other team members would deal with it. Instead, Robin focused his attention on Sheex.
"If you're going to ask a question, do it now." Robin ordered Sheex, who nodded in agreement.
"Right, the question I have for you is this." Sheex paused for dramatic effect. As soon as he was sure all eyes were on him, he cracked his usual sly smile and pointed at the Titans.
"Who do you guys think is the best looking girl in the room?"
Raven and Athos shook their heads, Cyborg and Slayder let out a laugh, Emi gave Sheex a harsh glare, and Beast Boy fell to the floor in a hysterical fit. Sheex figured he and Beast Boy would get along well if the green changeling was always this easy going.
"You're joking, right?" Robin said as he raised his eyebrows.
"Trust me, Sheex is not joking. I assure you, he's always completely serious when it comes to matters as delicate as these." Slayder said as he crossed his arms with a wide smile on his face. Emi quickly elbowed him in the ribs.
"Delicate he says! I thought you said you had an interesting question Sheex." Emi said as Slayder rubbed his side. Not only was the girl sarcastic, she was slightly violent.
"It's very interesting! Come on, don't you wanna know how you rank against the babe in the mini-skirt?" Sheex said as he jerked his thumb in the direction of Starfire, who gave Sheex a quizzical look. Emi hesitated for a moment, and then let a small smile of her own cross her face. She was a little interested.
"Pardon me, but why are you calling me a babe? I am old enough to speak and walk, does this not qualify me as an adult?" Asked Starfire as she flew over to Sheex, who scratched his head when he realized the Tamaranian was not quite fluent in earth slang.
"Under that context babe means good-looking my dear Titan."
"I see. And you wish to know who is the best looking among the three of us?"
"Pretty much. Well, I wanted the guys' opinion. You really shouldn't vote when you're on the ballot, right?"
Starfire nodded in agreement (Sheex was pretty sure sh ehad no idea what he meant) as Robin stared blankly at Sheex. Cyborg and Beast Boy quickly broke the silence by running over towards Robin and hassling him.
"Yeah, come on Robin. Who do you think is the best looking girl?" Cyborg said with a laugh as Beast Boy quickly moved Starfire into Robin's line of sight.
"You gave your word Robin. Choose carefully." Beast Boy said as he pointed towards Starfire, who was intently staring at Robin. Robin swallowed deeply when he realized he was quite trapped. He had in fact given his word, which was something he did not enjoy breaking.
"Starfire." Robin finally answered, causing Starfire to jump for joy with his vote of confidence, as well as give Robin one of her famous hugs. Robin's face was a mixture of both joy and pain as he felt Starfire against him (a good thing) crushing him in a death grip (not such a good thing).
"Figures you'd say that. Guess all that talk of you two having a thing for each other wasn't so far off at all." Sheex said with a chuckle as he walked back to where Slayder and the rest of his friends waited. Robin would have responded to that remark, but he was too busy recovering from the Tamaranian's death grip.
"Hold up Sheex. They asked for all our names, so I think it's fair to ask for all of their opinions." Slayder said with a wicked grin of his own. Not only was this little spectacle buying them time, but it was also extremely entertaining.
"Villains sure are immature these days." Raven said softly, but Sheex heard it anyway.
"Hey now, this is a very mature topic if you ask me! And no fair hiding behind the cloak of yours, I think it would be more fair if the contestants got to see your face." Sheex responded, only to have Raven glare at him. If it wasn't for Beast Boy's quick thinking, Raven would have kept her face hidden.
"See, there ya go!" Beast Boy yelled as he yanked off the hood that cloaked Raven's face. He earned a nice magical blast for his efforts, as well as an applause from Sheex.
"Not bad at all. Don't see why you had to blast your friend though." Sheex said as Beast Boy stood back up, stumbling slightly as he did so. Nevertheless, he gave Sheex a thumb up sign after several seconds.
"She does it all the time. He should be use to it by now. Anyways, I vote for that Emi girl." Cyborg said, causing a few raised eyebrows.
"Dude. Talk about going over to the enemy." Beast Boy said as Emi walked forward and gave Cyborg a smile.
"Finally, a Titan with some class. I like you." Emi said in a slightly seductive tone, causing the human side of Cyborg to blush slightly. Sheex contained his amusement and looked at Beast Boy. It was his turn next. The green human glanced about the room for several minutes, carefully considering his options, before he responded with a triumphant smile.
"I vote for Raven." Beast Boy said proudly, causing an approving look from Cyborg and Robin, as well as a very stunned look from Raven.
"Really?" She said softly, allowing the slightest bit of interest to creep into her voice. Sheex just through his arms up in the air and paced back and force.
"Well that doesn't solve anything at all! Every girl got a vote! Hey, Slayder! Who do you think…" Before Sheex could even finish his statement, Slayder grabbed Emi and pulled her close.
"Emi." Said Slayder, receiving a smile and a small hug for his reward. Sheex just shook his head.
"Your as predictable as the Boy Wonder. Earl, er, I guess no one bothered to install a hotness chip into you so you won't be much help. I promise to remedy that particular problem when we get back though. Hey, Athos…" Once again, Sheex was interrupted.
"Don't you think I'm a little old to participate in such a teenage game?" Athos asked, causing Sheex to think for a moment. Eventually, he found an answer to Athos question.
"Well, under normal circumstances I'd say yes. But this is, you know, a philosophical discussion. Sort of. Kinda. In a way. Not really. Just give me an answer old man." Athos stared at Sheex for a few more seconds, and then turned his attention towards the Titans.
"The Tamaranian." Sheex sighed and shook his head. This wasn't solving anything.
"Aren't you going to vote Sheex?" Slayder asked with a smile on his face. Cyborg and Beast Boy also began to taunt Sheex as well.
"Yeah. You gotta play too." Cyborg said.
"Come on. Solve the greatest question of them all for us Sheex." Beast Boy chimed in.
"I'm afraid I can't. I vote for Raven. It's a three-way tie." Sheex said as Emi quickly ran over and gave him a shove. She had expected him to vote for her.
"RAVEN? I mean, I could understand the old guy not voting for me, he's way behind in the times! But I always thought you were a man of taste! Of class! What's the deal Sheex?" Emi said as Sheex quickly regained his balance. He simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Sorry Emi. She's just got this whole mysterious factor. It's just…hot I guess would be the best term." Disappointed, Emi slumped her shoulders and walked back over towards Slayder, mumbling all the while.
"Well, thank you for that interesting topic of conversation Sheex. Now then, shall we?" Slayder said as Sheex walked over towards the rest of his group. As one, the entire group of thieves turned their attention towards the Titans, who at this time were already lined up and ready to fight.
"Titans, go!" Robin shouted as the group spilt up.
"Mercs, let's take em!" Slayder shouted as his group did the same.