Fear of Scary Things and Broken Relationships

Chapter 6.

Robin and Raven were on top of a 15 story building on the corner of a city block, having a clear view over the intersection down below. There were several potential targets for a criminal, two banks and three jewelers while one more and a bookmaker were only a few blocks away. Robin stood right on the corner, having one foot on the roof ledge, resting his arms on his knee while watching the streets down below.

Raven sat on the roof ledge and analyzed him with some interest. She thought that she knew him well enough, like that he used to be Batman's protégé, and when she went into his mind she saw some secrets and formed a bond. But ever since they were in Gotham City, Robin was acting different, more like the Dark Knight himself. Now she watched him looking over the streets of Gotham, like he did before while kneeling down on top of a gargoyle She could say that he looks more mysterious than he already was, he even looks a bit intimidated. For some reasons, she wondered how he would look like in a black suit like Starfire had told her after her travel into the future. Sure, he watched over the streets in Jump City more than once and he liked to be on rooftop of the Titans Tower, but the environment was totally different.

Maybe it was the environment. Gotham looks nowhere near like Jump City. Jump was bright, modern, clean and criminals didn't rule the streets at night. Yes there were criminals, some with powers of their own but they really didn't put a match on the Titans, with the exception of Slade. Gotham on the other hand was much bigger and darker, with older architectures. It was here where the most notorious criminals were leading gangs their and ruling the underworld while others works alone to archive its own goals. Most of these rogues didn't had specific powers, but they all carrying guns, lots of it. Not a nice thing to encounter with.

Raven suddenly realized that the criminals the Titans fought didn't had any guns, let along using it against them. None of them had experienced a real gunfight, so Raven didn't know what would happened when they faced a trigger happy criminal. Robin would avoid the flying bullets, there was no doubt that he had done it more than once during his time with Batman, but Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy would get hit, the latter even get killed. She shivered by that thoughts and started to get more respect towards her leader who had nothing more than his body, mind and tools. Apparently being trained by Batman was a superpower.

Her gaze shifted down the streets, following a car driving underneath them, which only passed by the potential targets. She kept watching the streets for a few moments before turning her attention back to Robin. Somehow she couldn't keep her gaze of him and she suspected that he could feel her eyes burning on him. She was about to think to say something, anything.

"There, a grey truck," Robin suddenly said, getting her attention.

Raven got on her feet and went to the side of the roof where she could see a small grey truck approaching in the near distance. "Are you sure?"

"Not really, but it's already late for a truck like that to be in this part of the city. Let's wait and see what happen next."

The both of them followed the truck as it getting closer. It come to a halt right between a bank on one side of the street and a jeweler on the other side. Three man in security uniform got out the truck and went to the rear as they keeping their eyes on their surroundings before opening the cargo doors.

Nine armed and masked man jumped out the truck, six of them went to the bank while the other three crossed the street, heading for the jeweler. All of them burst inside these buildings with lots of noise and the alarms went off.

Raven turned to Robin who was already calling Batman for support. After the call he made a nod. "Go."

Raven levitated from the roof and went to the three man in security uniform. She used her powers to rip the front bumper off the truck and used it to catch the three of them, causing them to yelp in surprise. Once they were together Raven folded the black bumper around the three of them who still didn't had any idea of what the heck was going on.

Two men who were inside the bank came outside to see what made the noise on the street. They moved to the middle of the street and spotted their three partners who were tied up with the metal bumper of their own truck. One was more surprised that the other. "What the..." None of them realized that there was a person heading for them in midair, they didn't had time to react when a couple of boots collided with their faces. One of them lies unconscious of the street while the other struggled to get up. Robin leaped forward, kicking the Tommy Gun out of his hands and punched him in the face.

Raven levitated to the ground right next to Robin who was getting up and jerked around as he thrown a bird-a-rang at an approaching goon who stepped out the jeweler who's weapon got knocked out his hands by its impact. "Ah... what..." The goon then spotted Robin and a strange cloaked person and went back into the jeweler while grabbing his pistol. "Watch it! Robin's back!"

His two companions exchanged looks before joining him with a determined expressions as they raised their guns. "Time to take the bird down," one of them said. Robin slide an exploding disc at the gang which exploded just on front of them as they tried to leap away, knocking them against the wall behind them. Raven user her powers to collect all guns and deformed it while Robin jumped to the nearest criminal.

One of the goons who were inside the bank heard a lot of noise so he went to the window to see what was going on and saw one of his companions fighting Robin. "Hey Jimmy, it's Robin! He's back!" he shouted to the other three who were collecting the money.

"What?" The gang leader and the others dropped the money and left the bank and all four of them saw Robin and a cloaked girl taking down the other two. "Kill them!"

Robin and Raven turned to the last four gang members who raised their weapons and took their aim. Robin dived behind the truck while Raven had no other choice but raising a shield in just time before flying .45 ACP's filled the street.

Robin went to the front side of the truck while grabbing a bird-a-rang. He peeked through the windows of the truck to calculate his next move. Then an idea popped in his mind when he saw Raven's position. He dashed to her, making a flip in the process before taking shelter behind the black shield.

Raven turned a bit to Robin. "Any ideas?" she asked with a hint of irritation. She could easily throw a car at the goons but it could killed them.

"I might. Can you take their weapons out their grasps?"

Raven concentrated on the four of them on the other side of the black shield. Before she could located their weapons two of them moved alongside the buildings, in an effort to outflank the heroes. "Two of them are coming from the left."

Robin nodded while holding a bird-a-rang. Once he got visual contact he throw it at their weapons, knocking it out their grasp. "Move past them with your shield op, I'll handle them."

Raven didn't missed a beat and levitated to the two criminals who overcome their shock. They were about to grab their weapons from the pavement when Robin leaped at them with a kick in the guts of the taller one who bend over in agony.

The smaller goon had already picked up his Tommy Gun and was about to aim at Robin when an unknown force took it from his grasp before it was deformed right in front of his eyes. In uttermost surprise he turned to his right to see a dark hooded girl with white glowing eyes who extended her right hand which was somehow creating a large energy shield to protect all of them from incoming .45 rounds while her left hand ingulfed with black energy was extended towards what was left of his submachine gun. He was that distracted that he didn't noticed that Robin had approached him who took his right hand, placing a handcuff on his wrist and brutally twisted him around while placing the handcuff on his left wrist before he was forced to sit down on his knees.

Once Raven saw that Robin had taken the both of them out she concentrated on the remaining two criminals who had already replaced their drum magazines and continued to fire at her shield with short bursts, probably to save their ammo. It didn't took long when she had the feeling on both weapons. Raven pulled it out of their grasp and deformed fight before their eyes as she dropped her shield.

Now that the threat of being shot was gone both Robin and Raven run towards the remaining two goons while they grabbed to their secondary weapons. The gang leader took a pistol while his henchman grabbed his crowbar from a hook of his belt. Robin threw a bird-a-rang at the gang leader, knocking his gun of his grasp while Raven user her powers to levitated the henchman's crowbar from his hands who became motionless, having lost all motivation to continue the fight.

Jimmy watched as the dark girl used her powers by sending a crowbar at his henchmen's head, knocking him unconscious. He had lost his weapons but he still had one card up his sleeve. He grabbed a small vial from his pocked and throw it at Raven. "Let's see if you can handle this, witch."

"Look out!" Robin ran into Raven and pushed both of them away from the incoming threat. The vial broke when it hit the street, releasing an orange cloud of gas. They moved further away from the gas and thankfully the wind blow the gas slightly away from them. Now their eyes were fixed on the one who used the gas without success.

"Oh hell." Jimmy watched the young crime fighters closing in, having a little idea what's going to happened next. He was unarmed and had wasted their only vial of feargas. He knew that there was no way to keep up the fight by himself so he made a run for it.

Robin launched a bolas at the villain, hitting him in his back as it wrap around him, losing his movements and fall on his face. Both Robin and Raven went to the villain who was struggling with the roped weapon. Robin removed the bolas from the villain and pushed him against the wall. "Where's Scarecrow," he demanded.

"You think I'll tell? Not a chance."

Raven shot the goon a death glare. "I'm asking you only once, where is Scarecrow."

"You're not scaring me witch, same as bird boy."

"You want to test me? Fine."

Raven used her powers to levitated the goon against the wall, hard. Jimmy grunted by the impact and was surprised by her powers. Soon he got over with and glared at the strange hooded girl who hold him against the wall with her powers. "That's all you've got? You've to do better that that!"

Raven was about to do something when a dark gravel sounded from behind her and Robin. "Leave him to me."

Raven shot a glare at the Dark Knight for a moment before turning her attention back at the gang leader, who became very nervous for some reason. "Fine." She dropped him on the ground and stepped aside. "He's all yours."

Batman didn't miss a beat as he stepped to Jimmy, grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up, smashed him against the wall and glared directly at the goon's eyes. "James Peake, long time no see. I've only one question, where is Scarecrow."

Sweat started to form on Jimmy's head but he remained silent. Batman knew that he was fighting to hold his tong but time was essential. "We don't have time for games Jimmy, now talk!"

Sweat ran all over the gang leader's head but he still refused to talk. Batman right hand went from Jimmy's collar to his utility belt. After that he raised his arm and fired a grappling gun. Before everyone knew what happening, Batman vertically took off, taking Jimmy with him who yelped in shock and fear. Batman stopped rising at the twelfth store. He extended his left arm, letting the goon hang on the collar in midair, allowing him to take a good look at his surroundings as he cried out in fear. "No! Please no! Don't drop me!"

"Where's Scarecrow. Hurry up, my arm is getting tired."

"Lower East Side! He's in the left warehouse behind the Laffco factory!"

Batman lowered himself and the goon back to the street below them. Once they were on the ground Jimmy dropped on his knees and nearly fainted. Batman tied him up and dropped him with the others who were already tied up by Robin and Batgirl. He left a card and the four heroes formed a group.

Batgirl has her usual thrilled expression while Raven's eyes were slightly wider than usual as lots of questions ran through her mind. Robin on the other hand has his arms folded across his chest. "You've never changed, don't you."

Batman ignored Robin's statement as he remained his trademark glare. "Scarecrow is in the Lower East Side, he is in the left warehouse behind the Laffco toy factory." He and Batgirl went to the Batmobile down the street.

Raven and Robin were left behind and she turned to him. "What was that all about?"

"His way of interrogation. Not exactly mine style."

"I've noticed, it doesn't suit you. Besides, it will influence the rest of the team if you do so."

"It's one of the reasons why I left him and moved to Jump."

Raven remained silent, thinking about the strong possibilities that Batman and Robin did not separated under friendly terms.