Cyborg is like the groups cheer, without him we become more… I suppose the word is miserable. But as soon as he returns, Beast Boy becomes his usual hyper-happy self, even Robin lightens up some when Cyborg comes back to us. If only for a little while. In the battles soon after this the team has a boundless confidence of being able to do anything. In the end I think each member brings something to the team, Cyborg brings confidence, Robin: leadership, Raven: maturity, Starfire: joy and Beast Boy brings a youthfulness to the group. Me? I wonder if I bring anything, or ever will…
: T : T : T : T :
Cyborg's red eye lit up, his circuitry changed from grey to a healthy blue. "Boo-Yah! Cyborg is fully charged and ready to whoop some butt!" He jumped to his feet and detached the cable that connected him to his recharge unit. "So, we got Mad Mod, right?"
The Titans stood smiling around him. Beast Boy jumped in front of him. "Sure did Cy! And it was me who took him down! Star was all like "RAAARGH!" and she threw me at him and I was all like PIIIOOOW! And then I morphed into a pterodactyl and Mod was all like "No!" and I was all like "Oh yeah!" And then we pulled off his armor and he was all like "Damn you kids!" and we were all like-" Beast Boy continued to monologue in the background, acting out bits of battle as he went forwards and backwards through the previous day.
"How did the nooby do, Robin?"
"He did pretty well."
"Awesome!" I exclaimed. They both looked round at me. "Well, "he did pretty well." Coming from you I'd say is like a full blown compliment!"
"Don't get cocky, rookie, it was only Mod." Robin tried to dampen my enthusiasm.
"Didn't he once kidnap you and take over the entire city… It took you ages to beat him that time didn't it?" I smirked.
Cyborg couldn't help it, he smiled and said, "He raises a fair point."
Robin sighed and walked off to write a report on the battle. "Good job, Void." Cyborg punched my arm, lightly, before going off to do a system check. Beast Boy kept monologue-ing right behind him.
Starfire drifted over. "Congratulations on a job well done, friend!" She smiled, enveloped me in a hug then flew over to Robin with her hands clasped in front of her and an offer of "A Tamaranian head-rub to increase clarity of short term memory." Or something.
Raven walked over to me. "Come to give me some praise?" I said, grinning.
In her trademark deadpan style she replied. "No. You're just standing in front of the only exit."
"Oh."
"Excuse me."
I moved out of the way.
"Thanks."
"No prob-" The elevator door shut in my face. "-lem. Heh."
"Dude! You saw me, right? 'Cause Cy doesn't believe that I was the key element to catch Mod!"
"Yeah, you were awesome. How Starfire threw you, and you turned into a flying dinosaur thing! Pretty cool."
"I know! Tell Cyborg! Please?"
: T : T : T : T :
Darkness. A pale skinned, tattooed, teen stood in a circle of light.
"The time has come. Crawl out of the woodwork, and burn that which used to keep you captive."
"Are you givin' me da word?"
"Yes, Johnny. Consider the word given."
"It's just, sometimes you use words that you don't mean, I know you boss."
Johnny Rancid grinned. The voice from the darkness turned icy.
"You do not know me, Rancid. Just gather your gang and go."
"Sure thing. I always love chaos."
Johnny Rancid turned and walked out. When he was out of earshot the voice spoke from the darkness again.
"Imbecile."
: T : T : T : T :
WRIIIII!
The Titan alarm went off, and a the main screen came to life. It projected a map with one location circled.
"Titans! Trouble!" Robin leapt into action.
"Really?" Said Raven, sarcastically.
Ignoring her, he continued, "Johnny Rancid is making trouble downtown!" He was already running for the garage and the R-Cycle.
Robin really doesn't like Johnny Rancid.
: T : T : T : T :
We went out in a formation, Robin and his bike out front, followed by the T-Car with the flying Titans in a diamond shape above it.
As we reached the main street we found Rancid, standing next to his bike, swinging a chain above his head, shouting orders to about a dozen goons. Robin sped up, aiming directly towards Johnny Rancid. "Bring 'em down, Titans!"
Rancid jumped on his hog, span it towards the speeding Boy Wonder, and revved the engine. VRRM! VRRM!
"Lets start a party boys!" he shouted, and gunned it towards Robin.
The thugs started running towards us.
At the last second Robin and Rancid swerved away from each other. SSSKKKRRRCCCHH! They came to a swerving stop, now on opposite sides.
The thugs ran past Robin and the T-Car practically flew past Rancid. One of the thugs came to a stop as he saw the car hurtling towards him. SKKRRCH! The T-car turned sideways and stopped inches away from the villain. He sighed with relief when-
SMACK!
The T-Car door opened with a great force sending the thug twenty metres backwards, and into a lamppost. THUNG! He slid down it and landed in a crumpled pile, still except for unconscious breathing.
Starfire flung starbolts at the still Johnny Rancid. FLASH! FLASH!
SW-SWFFT! He span his chain around, somehow deflecting the extraterrestrial weapons.
Robin drove his bike back towards Rancid, readying his birdarangs. Rancid turned round to see the Boy Wonder bearing towards him at high speed. Robin threw a birdarang, which slashed Rancid's arm before returning to Robin's hand. Rancid jumped off his bike, clutching his wound.
"SHIT! I'll learn you, ya little pipsqueak! RRAAGH!" He hurled the end of his chain towards Robin, wrapping around the caped crusaders arm. He then flung his arm out, which sent a pull down the chain, throwing Robin from his bike.
He then pulled on the chain again, ducking as Robin was sent flying over him, into the side of a building. THUMP! He repeated this, sending Robin into a bench and then finally the chain slackened as Robin was sent flying into a dumpster. THUNG!
"HAHAHAHA! I am the top dog!"
"Negative! You a far from being the canine of the crest!"
"…Say what?"
"RRRGH!" Starfire flung another volley of starbolts at him. FL-FLASH!
One plowed right into Rancid's chest, sending him stumbling backwards. A red burn appeared on his chest.
"You bitch!" He turned and whistled over his shoulder. "Wanna see my pack? Rex!"
"Is that a 'come of the on' that Beast Boy talks about?"
A mechanical dog ran round the corner of a building down the main street.
"Sic 'em!"
"EEP!" She fired off a round of starbolts that only managed to impact on the surface.
"RRAAAWWR!" It leapt for her, but in mid-air Robin connected a boot to the side of it's face, knocking it sideways with a CLANG!
"Where does Rancid get the money for these things?"
: T : T : T : T :
Meanwhile, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven and I were trying to bring down the thugs. When Cyborg had knocked one of them flying, they had all scattered.
POW! He fired a short sonic blast at one of the thugs, who had just tried to raise his head. Cyborg looked at us. "Void, help out Robin and Star, we can handle these goons."
I nodded and flew off in the direction of the giant mechanical dog.
Cyborg looked back in the direction of the thugs, hiding behind various cars, bins and street lamps. "Okay. On the count of three we rush them. One, Two…"
: T : T : T : T :
The giant dog had Starfire gripped around the middle, but using her immense alien strength she somehow managed to stop it clamping all the way down.
Robin was busy exchanging blows with Johnny Rancid. Of course, exchanging is a loose term, it was more Robin beating Rancid with a staff and who would then swear, try to punch the Boy Wonder and miss. Rinse and repeat.
I created a black hole on my wrist, and used it to slice all along the side of the robotic hound. PHIII-IIII-III-ISH!
It snarled, dropped Starfire and turned to face me.
"Err… good doggy?"
"Negative! Dreadful canine!"
SMACK! She connected with a fist. It was sent up into the air. CRUNCH! Another punch and the dog flew backwards into a building side.
She charged up a couple of starbolts and looked at me. I smiled and create another void blade on my wrist. Together we flew at the robotic dog, and it was helpless against our combined onslaught.
PHIISH! I sliced a pipe running to its jaw. CRRCH! Starfire caved in a section of armour. Within seconds we had brought it to it's knees, before the machine chose to shut down.
Crunch. It fell on it's side, crushing a waste can.
"To quote Cyborg: "Boo to the Yaah of victory! You son of a female earth canine! Give me a hive of the fie!" She slapped my hand, sending me into a spin. "Appropriate, yes?"
"… sure, why not." I replied not wanting to disappoint Starfire. But when her back was turned I whispered. "ow."
Robin, however, was now struggling to fight off Johnny Rancid. Having retrieved his chain he was holing off the Boy Wonder, while also getting in the odd blow.
"Give it up, Rancid! Your dogs toast, and your gang is a complete waste of our time. We could just leave them for the police, bag you and be on our way. Don't make us beat you any more than is necessary."
Rancid looked down the street, where his dozen gang members were being handcuffed by the remaining Titans and various members of the police force.
"They haven't even sent anyone from the omega wing. That just shows what you really are, an annoyance! Now give up!"
"RRRGH! I'm better than that! I'll show you all!" He reached under his shirt, to a suspicious looking bulge, and pulled out a handgun. "I'll be remembered all around this city for killing the Titans. Even if I end up with a life sentence… It'll be worth to see the look on your face as you lie dying, you piece of shit!"
BANG! He fired his pistol at Robin, who dived out of the way, behind a bin.
"Fine! I'll just kill your girlfriend then!" He turned and pointed his gun upwards, towards Starfire.
BANG! I flew in front of Starfire, using a void on my arm as a shield, which swallowed the bullet. But still, I was knocked back by the unexpected strength of the impact.
Robin gritted his teeth and ran towards the insane teen. Swinging his bo-staff around, he connected with Rancid's gun hand, knocking the weapon away. Then Robin was close enough to use his fists. SM-SMACK! Rancid span away dizzy.
Robin kept coming. CRACK! He kicked one of Rancid's knees out, while bringing his own knee up so that CRUNCH! Rancid's face impacted off Robin's knee.
Rancid rolled away, got up but stumbled and Robin leapt at him again, this time gripping the villain's arms behind his back.
He pushed forward as he kicked the legs from under Rancid, bringing him to floor.
Robin grabbed Rancid's head. SMACK! Rancid's face rebounded off the floor and Robin rolled him over, unconscious. He raised his fist again, ready to punch his foe's face in but me and Starfire rushed in and held him back.
He snarled, but strained only for a second. I could now tell he was hyperventilating. He stopped struggling and looked up.
The Commissioner of the police force stood a little way away. "We helped your team round up the remains of his gang." He was quite an old man, spoke gruffly, walked with a stick and wore an old, long, cream overcoat. He looked pointedly at the battered and bruised Johnny Rancid lying on the floor. "Looks like Mr. Rollins here took quite a beating during your fight. All in the name of justice I suppose. We'll take it from here. As always, thanks for bringing in the crook."
He walked away, and two of the police force cuffed the villain, inspected him for injuries and finding nothing serious put him in the back of a police van.
We stood like that, me and Starfire still holding Robin for a second longer. The Starfire let go and Robin pulled himself from my grip.
"…Robin?"
He walked to his bike. "I'm going to go and write this up."
VRRM! He sped off, towards the Tower, leaving Starfire and I standing watching after him, both confused.
Cyborg put his arms around us both. "Don't y'all worry 'bout him. He'll be fine. But we finished these punks real quick, huh? I wonder what they were doing here though…"
: T : T : T : T :
A pitch black room with only a circle of light in the middle. However, a TV screen had been showing the Titans battle. "Goddammit!" The voice from the darkness screamed. A knife flew out of the shadows and smashed through the glass of the screen. The image on the TV blinked out.
: T : T : T : T :
In the darkness of a government bunker, the half-mangled head of Johnny Rancid's Rex lay on the ground. The main body of it almost completely intact. The setting sun cast a shaft of light over the still robot, making it seem almost red.
: T : T : T : T :
Robin sat in the main room, at a computer desk, typing away at a report. He paused. And deleted all of what he had just written. A second passed. He started typing again.
Starfire sat watching him from the sofas in the centre of the room, a look of concern on her face.
By the elevator, Raven watched them both for a second. Then with a swish of her cloak she was behind Robin. He didn't look up, but continued to type his report. "I'm busy, Raven."
"Okay. But I'm going to say my piece and you are going to listen." He stopped typing. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"I nearly-"
"But you didn't. That is all that matters at this stage. It won't happen again."
Robin turned around, "Raven, I-" But she was already in the elevator, pressing the button to go down.
Robin sighed and turned back to his report.
Starfire continued to watch, but now with a hint of a smile on her lips.
Eventually, Robin finished his report, read it through one last time and saved the document.
: T : T : T : T :
I stood in the training area, out in the grass. Behind me the sun was setting. I created my wrist-voids. Dark circles sprang to life on my arms. I waved them through the air a few times. PH-PHVIISH!
Cyborg stood behind a desk, with various controls on it. "You ready for this, dawg?"
I nodded.
Two disc cannons popped out of the ground, firing their payloads at me. PF-PFFT! Four discs flew towards me. Slicing my wrists in an X, shattering the first two.
PH-PHVIISH! I 'caught' the other two using the two voids, absorbing them into the black holes. Then I flew at full speed at the cannons.
PHVIISH! I flew straight past them, and landed in a croush with my arms outstretched behind me.
A second passed.
BOOM! The two launchers exploded.
A floating launcher rose in front of me, and another behind. Catching their first shots in my wrist-voids, I flew straight up, and predictably the two launchers fired at each other below. BOOM!
"Okay, dawg, last one for today!"
A laser turret rose from its concealed position on the floor. In mid-air I turned, creating a pre- emptive void in front of me.
BLAM! BLAM!
My black hole swallowed the two shots up. I flew directly at the turret, closing the hole, just as I reached it.
BL-BL-BLAM! The turret went into auto-fire, spraying dozens of shots at me.
I raised my wrists in front of me, and went into a spin, dodging as many shots as possible and using my voids to absorb those I couldn't dodge.
I reached the turret, brought both arms back over my head, arching my legs and back. Then I unleashed the coiled energy of my body, bringing my arms and legs down and up respectively.
PHVIIISH!
BZZT-BZZT!
The turret sparked for a second before-
BOOM!
"Nice work Void! You did some good work today, in training and in the field."
"Thanks Cy."
The mechanical man had offered to give me some training, and I had immediately said yes. Cyborg is a good teacher.
"Let's get back for dinner! Last one there's as simple as a 555 chip!"
"A wha-? Hey, get back here!"
And as we raced back to the Tower the sun finally finished setting.