"Uh… Raven, are you sure we shouldn't be training?"
Bet you can't guess what happens next. Maybe you're thinking, she drags me into a dark corner of the Tower, declares her demon inside gone and kisses me passionately. Yeah, right. Maybe she declares her demon inside is now outside and only I have the power to hunt it down. Again, why would she ask me, right? So, maybe she declares she is her demon inside and she proceeds to make my inside my outside. Maybe that would be preferable. Preferable to getting schooled at chess.
Why me?
: T : T : T : T :
Everybody else was training. I wished I was. But no.
Raven picked me to slaughter at her chosen game. She didn't talk as she took her side of the board.
The others told me this day was coming. I hoped. I feared. I prayed.
But Raven has to prove her supremacy over each of the Titans. Now, it was my turn.
So far, she was undefeated. Robin gave her a run for her money, apparently, a close run game that she managed to win. Cyborg almost came close, but the pressure was too much for him, and he made a silly mistake late in the game. Starfire… Starfire did her best, but having only played a few times, she was still very much an amateur. Beast Boy, well, Beast Boy lost on the fourth move.
Having played a few matches against a simulator, I realised I hadn't a snowballs chance in hell.
So, I decided to cheat. I was going to talk. All the way through her turn. And hopefully, I was going to get on her nerves enough to make her lose her focus.
And I might avoid an embarrassing defeat.
It was a plan worthy of an evil genius.
: T : T : T : T :
"And Tonight's Meta-Brawl Maaaaaaaain Event!" The crowd went wild, baying for blood. Ironic, because the competitor about to be introduced had none. "Introducing first, hailing from MRDR Laboratories! AAAAAAAAAATLAS!" The crowd cheered more insanely as the shining robot strode forward, taking centre stage, arms raised high, basking in the shouts. He was almost entirely gold, except for a few crimson parts, a "helmet", gauntlets, collar and boots. He also had an attached belt, with an A emblazoned on it.
"And his opponent! Hailing from the Pacific! Mistaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar…" The announcer took a gulp of air. "Turtllllllllle!"
A short man shuffled forward. He was hunched over, had short claws on his fingers and toes, a helmet, goggles and, unsurprisingly had a metal shell on his back. His costume was a mixture of greens and silver where the paint had been scratched off. The shell itself had a couple of vents exhaling gases, making the man seem like a cross between a turtle and a factory.
The arena was hexagonal shaped, with vertical shields around the edges to protect the spectators.
DING-DING!
With the bell, both of the competitors moved forward. Atlas was confident, but careful as he seemed to size his diminutive opponent up. Mr. Turtle was tentative and seemed ready to waddle away as fast as his little legs could carry him at the first sign of trouble.
Noticing this, Atlas' old cockiness resurfaced as he spoke. "I must warn you, human. My weapon choice was made solely for facing you." He held up his lift wrist. "The radium-plasma cannon." Without lowering his left wrist, he raised his right one. "The thermal-energy axe, coupled with a steel-capped projectile blaster." He lowered both with an arrogant smirk. "More than enough to deal with you."
"You wish ya "I, Robot" reject!"
"REJECT!" Fumed Atlas, "I'll show you reject!" He levelled his left arm at Mr. Turtle and shot off a plasma blast, with enough recoil to throw his arm up.
FFTCHOOOM!
The villainous turtle flung himself forward, catching the blast on his metal shell, which absorbed the energy into it. "A little energy boost would be appreciated, thank you!" He scurried forward, leapt into the air, and, with an assist in the form of flames spewing out of his backpack, span into a somersault, his shell caught Atlas in his metal chest.
"Oof!" the robot's air was knocked out of him, and he stumbled away. "You will be defeated, little one! I take my fuel from the atmosphere around us! I will never run low!"
"You don't need ta run low for me ta beat ya!"
Out of the sides of his shell, two blasters whirred out. Trying to press his advantage he rapid-fired at the android before him. BL-BL-BL-BLAM!
Atlas caught the shots on his left gauntlet, completely unfazed by the volume of shots pouring out of Mr. Turtles shell. As soon as he realized this, the shelled bad guy stopped firing, frowning.
Atlas ran at him, an energy axe suddenly in his hand. "RAAAAARGH!" he swung it down, Mr Turtle having to dive completely out of the way to avoid having his head cleaved form his shoulders.
The Turtle scurried to the far side of the arena. He pressed a button and a panel opened from his shell. A large gun appeared out of it, glowing brightly. "Hey chump! Remember this?"
FFTCHOOOM!
The same plasma blast that Atlas had fired earlier soared back at him. He raised his massive hands and caught the blast. "Indeed I do." He rotated one arm full circle, still holding the blast, and bowled the blast back at Mr Turtle.
FFTCHOOOM!
The blast caught the villain square in the chest and knocked him against the arena wall, unconscious.
The crowd cheered again, as Atlas raised his arms in triumph. "I am victorious!" He paused, and said, to himself, "And ready to face the Titans once more…"
: T : T : T : T :
Very carefully, I picked up the white pawn, moved it forward two squares and placed it down. I kept my hand on it, carefully thinking about the risks. I sucked air through my teeth as I considered. Just as carefully, I moved the piece back. I picked up the equivalent pawn on the other side of the board and placed it down, with equal care.
Cl-Clink.
I took my hand off it.
There. My first move done.
And now for the second part of my plan. I was gonna talk my ass off.
Just as Raven reached out to pick up a piece, I spoke. "So, chose the black side, huh? Isn't that a bit cliché, you know, you being all dark and mysterious, choosing the black side. You know it's only a colour. Just 'cause people see you as dark doesn't mean you have to play into their stereotypes of you. I mean, it's like the reading, you always read the scary novels, that are like, 3 volumes long. Would it kill you to, I dunno, read a magazine for once. Like one of those ones Starfire has… "Just Girls" is it? I dunno. But then again, I couldn't see you reading one of those. Is that me being a hypocrite? 'Cause I can't see you reading a girls magazine? Is that me forcing a stereotype on you? Maybe what you really want to do is read "Just Girls" but society says you're dark, so you feel you can't." I took a deep breath. During the silence she placed her piece down.
Cl-Clink.
I was quiet as I considered my next move. So far, my plan was going well. If I looked up to Raven's face, I could just about see that vein on her temple beginning to throb.
If I was really annoying, maybe I could win this…
: T : T : T : T :
"So, how do you think friend Void is getting on?"
"I'd give the dawg another 10 minutes."
"The game of chest is extremely harrowing, is it not?"
"Star, it's called chess."
"Apologies. But the pressure is intense in the game. I believe, Cyborg, that the reason you lost was because of such pressure."
"Hahaha! Dude! You totally bombed, look at the video of it. Look, you can see you breaking … just… about … here!"
"It is a pity, that your match was not recorded, Beast Boy. I believe the trouble was that Cyborg couldn't turn the camera on quick enough."
"Dawg, you just got burned by Starfire!"
"Shut up!"
"What is this "burning" you speak of? Is Beast Boy okay? Would you like me to turn the conditioner of hair on?"
"The air con?"
"Indeed."
"Don't worry about it Star, B.B. is fine."
"Glorious!"
"Titans, trouble!"
"What is it Robin?"
"I'm not sure, the police reports are still coming in. Sounds like a group tearing apart the city. Titans, Go!"
: T : T : T : T :
I picked up a white pawn moved it two spaces forward, I didn't let go. I placed it back in it's original position. I reached across to another pawn and pushed it forward. Almost immediately, I pulled it back. My hand travelled back to the original pawn and put it two spaces forward.
"There."
Raven's hand reached out. I started talking again.
"You know, I saw a musical just like this…"
: T : T : T : T :
"Instigator?"
"Yo." The big armour-covered student rumbled.
Brother Blood stopped mid-register. He looked up from his clipboard, into the yellow dome, his training arena. The walls were made up of yellow hexagons, as per H.I.V.E. regulations, and his students were standing around him in a semi-circle. Agent Murphy stood, leaning against the wall behind him, as usual he was wearing his sleeveless yellow body armour.
"Pardon!"
"I mean… Yes, sir."
Brother Blood snarled at the lack of respect shown, and the big teen took an involuntary half-step backwards.
"Good." He continued the register, when he had finished he tossed aside the clipboard and addressed his students. "This is combat class. From what I've seen, you are in dire need of it. Your downfall probably comes from poor preparation. Yes, Mammoth, preparation is needed for fighting. For example, has any of you ever read any books on the topic? Anyone? I thought not. This is why you fail. I have read many books on this. As I'm sure has Mr. Murphy." He acknowledged the H.I.V.E. agent with a nod in his direction.
"Actually, I haven't." The Englishman spoke up.
There was silence.
Brother Blood turned to face the Agent. "Perhaps a demonstration should be in order? A debate, of sorts, on preparation."
"I didn't say I don't prepare. I said I haven't read books on the subject. I have, for example, analysed the way you fight."
Brother Blood raised an eyebrow. "I haven't had the chance to do that with you. Perhaps you would give me the chance now?"
"The purpose being?"
"To show the students how two well-trained but more importantly well-prepared warriors fight."
Murphy smiled. "Very well."
The students murmured around them, as they formed a circle, Blood and Murphy in the middle. Brother Blood tore off the robe he used, hiding his mechanical enhancements. With the robe removed his usual black and red body and clothes were revealed. He raised his fists into a combat pose.
Without hesitation, Murphy leapt forward, bringing his foot down where Brother Blood's head was a second before. Now, there was only a hand. Before his other foot tpuched the ground Murphy was thrown backwards, all the force on his foot, which sent him into a backwards somersault.
He planted his hands on the ground, still close to Brother Blood, somehow stopping his momentum. He stayed like that for a second, his legs split in the air, before pushing and crossing his arms. This pushed him into the air and sent him into a spin, his legs aimed at Blood's head. The cyborg took a step backwards to avoid the kicks.
When his hands reached the ground again, Murphy performed the rest of his backflip, righting himself, to face Blood properly.
"Not good enough Murphy, you'll have to do better than this."
Murphy ran forward, and in a flurry of fists tried to beat Blood down. But, almost effortlessly, Blood blocked each and every blow. As Murphy started to sweat from the exertion, Blood gripped a wrist, twisted and tossed the Agent over his hip.
He pulled Murphy into a bear-hug, and whispered into his ear, from behind."Did you know I've never been bested in combat?" He paused. "Even the incident with Cyborg, doesn't really count. That wasn't combat, he hacked my system or something. Even my weeks of being in prison haven't made me weak."
Murphy struggled, straining against the mechanical muscles which held him, to no avail. Finally, he went limp. His head lolled forward and his hair hung in front of his face.
Suddenly, his head flew back, and cracked into Brother Blood's face. His grip loosened and Murphy slid free. He took a step forward, lifted his leg and kicked Blood square in the chest. The cyborg stumbled back from the blow, but managed to keep his balance.
His eyes began to glow red. Murphy's eyes flickered for a second, but the mind control didn't take effect.
"Know your opponent, Headmaster."
Blood fumed and ran forward, his leg scything out to catch Murphy in the skull. The Agent dived out of the way just in time, and rolled to avoid a second kick Blood threw in his direction.
Out of nowhere, a hand flew at Murphy's neck.
And stopped.
Scarce millimetres away from a decapitating blow.
"That will be enough, don't you agree Mr. Murphy." The agent on the floor merely nodded. "So, students. As we have learned, any preparation is enough to give you an advantage in a match. That will be all, dismissed."
The headmaster strode out of the hall, leaving the shocked students staring at the still prone agent on the floor.
: T : T : T : T :
"… and in the end Harry Potter decides not to go back to school next year but to pursue these Horcruxes so he can defeat the evil Lord Voldemort." Raven looked at me, temple vein pulsing. "I thought you might appreciate the Harry Potter books. You know, 'cause they're about witchcraft and stuff."
"Just. Make. Your. Move."
"Coolio."
I reach forward, grasp a knight and move it forward two and then sideways one.
Cl-Clink!
"Your go…" I had to think of something to say… Your go. Your go. Yo-yo! "Hey did you ever play with those yo-yos? I was never much good with them. I mean, I could manage 'Walk the dog' but who couldn't? I could just never…"
: T : T : T : T :
"And so I said to him, 'that's not my wife that's-' HOLY CRAP!"
"Say what? Oh my…"
A robot landed between two men. It was a skeletal construction, wires clearly visible, it was small, about the size of a monkey. It looked like it wouldn't hold up to too much punishment. But it also looked like it could dish it out. It had clawed hands and feet, three talons per limb, and teeth that looked like they would tear through flesh with no problem. Finally, it had a small blaster on top of it's head, like a third eye.
"SSKKKKRRRRRCCCKKK!" it mechanically screeched at the two men.
The two men flew as it chased on all fours after them. All around the mall there were dozens of them, tearing up the place. One of them burst through a window, collided with a CLOSING DOWN SALE sign and entangled itself in the cardboard.
This was a less well known mall of Jump city, but still had its fair share of shoppers. It had two tiers, the higher one was basically just walkways to get to other shops, but the lower one had fountains and cafes as well.
Just as one of the imp-bots was about to connect with a shrieking shoppers head, it was caught mid-air in a blue sonic blast. It was sent fling into a fountain, where it short circuited.
Robin, Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy stood in the entrance of the mall, shoppers running towards them in an attempt to get to the exit.
"Hasn't anyone told y- Sorry Ma'am. Hasn't any- Excuse me, sir, but I'm trying to- Oh never mind… Titans Go!"
The Titans leapt forward, but were swamped by the citizens, all heading for the only exit. Right through the Titans.
"Dudes, this building was designed really badly!" Beast Boy called as he morphed into a bird to escape the melee. Next to him, Starfire took to the air too and Robin fired a grappling hook, taking him to the upper tier. Cyborg, however had to wade through the panicked shoppers.
"Yes sir, I know there's some scary robots. If you'll just make your way to the exit with all the others. Yes, you too ma'am. No I don't think we'll be needing any help." He paused, thinking. "Ah, screw this." He pointed an arm in the direction of a balcony.
His hand flew off, it was attached by a long metal rope, and it gripped the edge of the balcony. Cyborg pulled himself up.
Somewhere, someone was watching him. Closely. Scrutinizing his every move.
Analyzing.
Comparing.
Contrasting.
Evaluating.
: T : T : T : T :
Raven was getting close to beating me. Despite my best efforts to annoy her into losing, she was beating me. I could taste it. I could also tell from the girl sat before me. The vein on her forehead still throbbed, but it had lessened. Like she had something to look forward to. She moved her pieces with less certainty now. Analyzing the consequences of where she was going to put the pieces, even as she moved them.
But the biggest reason I could tell?
She had taken quite a few more pieces than me. Too early I had made a silly move and lost my Queen. This gave hers the chance of rampaging across the board. Until I finally managed to stop it with a Knight. Which was then taken by a Bishop.
I was still jabbering in her turn, but she had managed to block it out now. I continued doing it, on the off-chance it might still force her into making a silly mistake.
: T : T : T : T :
WHAM!
Robin kicked a monkey-bot into the roof. As it fell he leapt, kicking it into the ground. Before he could deliver the hat-trick, three of them leapt on him, bringing him crashing to the cold fake marble floor.
FLASH!
Starfire melted the face off of one of the small robots with a starbolt. FL-FLASH! Mid-air, she tried to hit another but it dodged, strafing left and right.
BL-BLAM!
It fired two shots at her, distracting her and before she knew it she had been dragged to the floor.
CRASH!
Beast Boy, in rhino-form, impaled a robot on his horn. He morphed briefly into a swordfish and sliced the robot apart. He morphed into a monkey and leapt to a nearby tree. Unfortunately for him, two of the small robots leapt from the balconies and collided with him in mid-air.
SHOOOM!
Cyborg blasted apart another of the skeletal creations before turning and blasted another that was trying to creep up on him. A third leapt onto his back but he reached behing, gripping it in a titanium fist and crushed its 'ribcage'. "Y'all better watch out! 'Cause you are inferior models!"
"Indeed they are, Cyborg." Cyborg turned to see Atlas standing at the door to the mall. "But they were sufficient to get your attention. And quell your team-mates." Cyborg turned back to see his team-mates swamped by the small robots. He began to power up a shot to hit Atlas with, but during the seconds in which he had been distracted by Atlas a swarm of the skeletal robots had snuck up on him.
Just as he raised his arm to fire…
CL-CL-CL-Cl-CL-CLANG!
The swarm leapt on him, bringing him to the ground.
"Now who is inferior?"
: T : T : T : T :
Behind the chess-game the main-screen showed the battle between the rest of the Titans and Atlas and his robots.
"Check."
Dammit. Not checkmate though. I could still get out of this. If only-
WRIIIIII – WRIIIII – WRIIIIII!
That would do.
Three letters appeared on the main screen. Every titan knew what they meant, it was one of the worst possible notifications. It meant that we had to immediately stop the chess game.
The initials of Titan in Trouble flashed on the screen. It had been implemented for when one of us had been kidnapped.
Only then did we realise the complete absurdity of the automatic initialling of emergency messages.
T.I.T. flashed on the mainscreen.
I smirked. Raven sighed.
But I knew this wasn't over. This was just a delay. The battle would go on…
: T : T : T : T :
Energy rope held Cyborg's limbs together. He was hanging in darkness. There was no way to tell where he was. Darkness all around. Suddenly the energy rope went out, and Cyborg tumbled down.
After a couple of seconds he hit the ground.
He turned on a thermal scanner.
Nothing.
He switched on a flashlight in his arm, but he couldn't make out anything.
Ch-Tunk!
A light shone right in his face. He brought an arm up to protect his human eye.
Ch-Tunk! Ch-Tunk!
Suddenly, the whole place was lit up. It looked like an arena of some sort.
An empty arena.
"You know, only yesterday I was fighting here with two-bit villains, perfecting my combat skills. None of them was a match for me." Atlas walked into view. "I fought for the crowds amusement. But truthfully? I cared nothing for them, nor the money I earned for doing it. I lived for fighting. Knowing that one day soon, I would have my rematch with you. One on one, your friends aren't here to support you. Perfect for my revenge!"
He ran forward, with one fist raised.
Cyborg ducked under the punch, but left a foot behind to trip Atlas.
CRASH!
Atlas tumbled to the ground. He clambered to his feet, but Cyborg was already on him.
CLANG!
Right hook.
CLANG!
Left hook
CL-CLANG!
Two quick-fire punches.
Cyborg walked back, waiting for Atlas to rise to his feet.
"Bravo, Cyborg. Caught me off-guard there, it won't happen again, I assure you!" He raised an arm, which morphed into a gun, remarkably similar to Cyborg's. "Sonic cannon… Like it?"
"Yeah, just so happens, after the whole Brother Blood thing, I upgraded myself. Wanna see my sonic shield?"
A small circle whirred out of Cyborg's arm. It lit up with a blue light before seeming to expand to about two feet in diameter.
"… A shield?"
"Oh yeah!"
"Okay, let's see if it's strong enough!"
"More than strong enough, dawg."
SHHFFF!
Instead of the expected blue sonic discharge, a missile flew from the cannon.
"Would you look at that, I lied." Said Atlas, smugly.
Cyborg ducked underneath the missile and it flew over him. It gradually managed to turn 180 degrees, so it could face Cyborg again.
SHHFFF!
Cyborg sighed. "Thought so." It flew at him again.
He raised his sonic shield to head height and tilted it. The missile half-connected with shield, sending it into a spin toward Atlas. The robot's eyes widened as the rocket flew towards his face. At the last second he ducked and the missile flew over him…
…and turned round to face Cyborg again.
"Ah, to hell with it!"
He crouched low, placed his arm so that the shield was between him and the rocket and braced himself. The rocket flew towards him as Atlas laughed.
BOOM!
: T : T : T : T :
Raven and I landed in the mall. Debris was scattered around, Birdarangs were sticking out of walls and floors and there were circles of melted marble. There was no sign of any of the Titans, nor were there any of the robots that had been reported.
Raven walked forward to a particular crack on the floor near the door. "Hmm…"
I flew forward. "What?"
"Nothing, why?"
"You said 'hmm'!"
"So?"
"Is that a good hmm or a bad one?"
"Neither. It was just a hmm."
"Hmm…"
Raven sighed.
"I'll activate the tracking system, but I doubt Atlas would be so stupid as to leave them on." As Raven spoke she took out a tracking device from somewhere in her cloak.
Bleep.
"I guess that he is that stupid."
: T : T : T : T :
Robin, Starfire and Beast Boy sat in orange spheres in a filthy locker room.
"I despise the orbs of orange. There is no escape."
"Dude, we all hate them."
"The way in which they have been made means that while it is practically impregnable from the inside, they are vulnerable from the outside."
"Yeah, but Robin, none of us are outside." Beast Boy sagged visibly.
"But I am."
I landed next to the orange spheres.
"Void! Where's Raven?"
"She's gone for the other signal." I looked at the three Titans before me. "Which presumably is Cyborg."
"Okay we need to get out of these as fast as possible!"
"Way ahead of you."
PHVIISH!
: T : T : T : T :
"I pity you, Cyborg. That you are a half-breed, and you have all of the weaknesses of both, without either's strengths. The vulnerability of a computer to hacking, but without the ability to fully upgrade. And the disgusting human heart, with it's feelings without… oh yes, of course, you meat bags have no strengths!"
SMACK!
He kicked Cyborg in the stomach, rolling him onto his back. He placed a giant red foot onto Cyborg's stomach. He began to press down, crushing Cyborg's abdomen.
"What do you have to say now, Bigshot? You only beat me last time through luck. You think defeating me once out of three times makes you win! You are Nothing! HEAR ME! NOTHING!"
Through his rage, Atlas rained down blows on the prone Cyborg, without really seeing what he was hitting.
SHOOOM!
Atlas was sent flying into the air by a sonic blast and landed a few metres away, his chest smoking. Cyborg stood, holding his sonic shield between him and Atlas.
"Dawg, you gotta pay attention when you're fighting. Remember what I said about the strength of this baby?"
"Hah! You are the one who needs to pay attention 'dog'!" A plasma blast from behind knocked Cyborg forward, to the ground once more.
Another Atlas strode from the direction of the blast.
"Time to die, homo-sapien."
"So you have to gang up on me? Is that the only way the great Atlas can beat me?"
"SILENCE!" Both Atlas' shouted at once. Snarling they both raised their weapons aimed at Cyborg. "Think you can block both shots at the same time?"
SHHFFF! FFTCHOOM!
The plasma blast and missile were fired at the same time towards the prone Cyborg.
Suddenly, a black raven appeared in the middle of the room, before Raven's soul-self withdrew into her body and Raven herself was left levitating in the centre of the room, eyes glowing grey.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
A semi-globe of darkness erected itself around Cyborg.
BOOOOOM!
The two shots exploded, sending up enough smoke to fill the entire arena, making it practically impossible to see. Raven sank directly down, to where she knew Cyborg was. She made the telekinetic shield disappear and landed lightly next to the half-robot.
"Thanks Rae."
SSSHHH.
The ventilation had been turned on, and the smoke was pouring out. As the smoke cleared Cyborg and Raven could see there was no fewer than four more Atlas' copies now standing around them.
"Now you will feel the full wrath of the great Atlas!"
"Nothing can defeat one, let alone six!"
"You face undefeatable odds!"
"You are nothing compared to Atlas!"
"Atlas is invincible!"
"Prepare for extermination!"
The Atlas' stood, heckling the two Titans, as if shouting alone would defeat them.
Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Wait a sec, isn't that a line from 'Transformers the movie'?"
"NO!"
"Geez, okay." He turned to Raven. "We need a plan."
"Remember Trident?"
Cyborg chuckled. "Worth a shot, for sure." He turned to face as many of the Atlas' at once. "Hey! If you are the ultimate warrior, then one of you must be the best!"
"Wrong, half-breed. We are all equal!"
"But someone must be more equal! Like you, you're the most talkative Atlas, do you consider yourself the leader?"
"Well, I am the original."
One of the other Atlas' piped up, in anger. "No you're not!"
"Of course I am."
"We demand proof!"
The 'first' Atlas procured a document out of nowhere. "Here it says: 'Built in MRDR labs.' Followed by the date '13/01/04', which I think you'll find is a year and ¾ before any of you were built!"
The other Atlas' checked. The original Atlas was right. The other five Atlas' looked at each other.
THUNK.
A claw attached to a wire, fired from one of the Atlas' was connected with the original's chest. "Huh?"
BZZZT!
Electricity arced along the wire, short-circuiting the original Atlas.
"Traitors… Betr…" Halfway through a word he fell backwards, stiff as a plank.
THUD!
Cyborg and Raven looked at each other. "Well, it sorta worked." Said Cyborg.
The remaining Atlas' tossed the original away from them and began to confer. Behind them one of the force-shield 'walls' began to flicker and then died. From the darkness beyond where the 'wall' had been a spinning object flew and landed directly in the middle of the discussing Atlas'.
"What is that?" One of them pointed.
Another bent low to look at it. "Well, it appears to be-"
BOOM!
Three of the Atlas' were sent flying in different directions, scratched but relatively unscathed. The remaining two were also sent flying, but one was minus a head and the other minus most of one arm.
The four Atlas' who were 'alive', climbed to their feet. The three intact ones spotted the one without an arm and their eyes widened.
"Imperfect!"
BL-BL-BLAM!
FFFTCHOOOM!
RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT!
The Atlas was engulfed by the three different weapons, and when the shots stopped and the smoke cleared, he was little more than a pile of melted and dented parts.
The three left, panted from their exertions and failed to notice three Titans creep up behind them.
CRUNCH!
One was pierced where his heart would be by Beast boy's rhino horn.
FLASH! PHVIISH!
The other two tried to warn each other of the Titans behind them, but acted too late and found Starfire and me starbolt and void-blade them respectively. Both fell headless to the floor, Starfire's Atlas due to having his head melted, and mine because it's head fell next to it.
Robin strode into the centre of the arena, checking each of the Atlas' in turn. "Mission accomplished, Titans. We have one who is intact but pit of commission." He pointed at the original Atlas, who could be rebooted for information.
Raven turned to me, I tried to escape her gaze, but failed miserably. "You have a chess game to lose."
Dammit!
: T : T : T : T :
Atlas was rebooted, chained and put in a cell with the remains of his monkey-robot gang. He had refused to give any information, as expected, and now he sat in his room.
SSKRRRCHHH!
"Of course we won't be in here long! We are one of MRDR's finest creations!"
SKRCCCHHH!
"No, I can't do anything about the light. If the red bothers you then alter you settings."
SKRCH?
"Oh, shut up!"
: T : T : T : T :
Raven and I continued our chess game, and sure enough in a few moves I did lose it. But looking on the bright side, I did better than Beast Boy and Starfire.