The Terrible Child
By cdc100
Summary: The Teen Titans are having a peaceful Saturday when they run across someone new; someone who is lost, alone, and holds a deep, dark secret. Robin X Starfire, Possible Beast Boy X Raven and OC X Blackfire.
Disclaimer: This is a work of pure, non-profit fanfiction. I don't own anything related to DC comics. If I did, Teen Titans Go! would have been based on the comics rather than a series of chibi fiascoes.
3
Chapter Three
"Inner Strength"
"Don't you die on me, damn it!"
"You enjoy all the killing, that's why!"
"What was she fighting for? What am I fighting for? What are you fighting for?!"
"If we make it through this, I'll tell you."
"Now go! Let the legend come back to life!"
"Goodbye, Father! I don't need you anymore!"
"Fighting was the only thing…the only thing I was good at…but at least I always fought for what I believed in…"
"You're pretty good!"
"This war…is peace."
"I was made to fight. I am a gun."
"She's dead…"
"Good news is, you're still in the land of the living. Bad news? The whole world wants you dead."
"This is your fault! They're dead because of you!"
"Come on, start talking, bitch! Come on, get up and start talking!"
"I'm no hero…never was. Never will be.
"If you move, we're dead! Blend in with the bodies!"
"What took you so long?"
"She was a real hero. She was a true patriot."
J woke up. He stared at the ceiling through half-lidded eyes, then clenched his eyes shut and slowly shook his head. He twisted his neck to both sides, and heard a dull crunch as he adjusted it.
J lay in bed for a few minutes before looking at the clock on the wall. According to it, it was 3:40 in the morning; long before anybody would be up. He yawned loudly before getting out of bed and padding to the living room from his newly-claimed "room."
J looked out the large living room window to see that it was indeed still dark outside. He could just barely see the lights of the city reflecting off the water in the distance. Suddenly, he felt his stomach start to growl and went to the refrigerator to retrieve some food. Inside, he found two large sticks of salami, which he immediately pulled out and started to eat.
J held the two logs of meat in his hands and alternated eating the one in his left hand and the one in his right. As he ate, he pulled off chunks of the substance with his teeth like an animal. As he ate, he heard something echo from nearby.
"Azarath, metrion, zinthos…Azarath, metrion, zinthos…Azarath, metrion, zinthos…"
J took the two sticks away from his mouth, then took out his knife. He crouched down and walked in the direction of the noise.
"Azarath, metrion, zinthos…Azarath, metrion, zinthos…Azarath, metrion, zinthos…"
J kept approaching the sound, but held his stance, slowly creeping up to the noise. He turned his head slightly to hear better. The voice sounded low and slightly raspy.
Eventually, he came to the source of the noise. Closer to the window was Raven, floating it mid-air and holding a lotus position. J confirmed that the chanting was indeed coming from her. He turned around to go back to the kitchen.
"You're up early," the voice of Raven said.
J stopped walking in response to Raven's statement.
"Bad dream," he said. "Well, not really bad."
"What do you mean?" asked Raven.
"It was just a bunch of…noise," said J. "I couldn't really derive anything from it."
"What kind of noise?" asked Raven, turning to fully face J.
"People," said J. "Talking. It was just a…stream of words."
"That's it?" asked Raven. "Nothing specific?"
"A bunch of different people," said J. "Each of them said something that seemed familiar somehow. I couldn't get anything else."
"I see," said Raven.
"I wondered if maybe they were memories," said J.
"And you have no way of knowing whether you're right or they were just fantasies caused by the blackout," said Raven.
"Sounds about right," said J.
Raven nodded.
"Well, there's not really much you can do about it now," she said. "We can talk to Robin about it when everyone's up."
J shrugged.
"I don't see any problem with that," he said. "So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to keep at my meditation," said Raven. "You should probably go and try to get more sleep if you can."
J nodded and turned to leave.
"Oh, and I won't tell Cyborg about the salami," said Raven.
J shook his head and went back to his room. He sat up in bed and munched on the salami logs. As he ate, he looked at a mirror on the far wall. In the reflection, he saw a boy with pale skin, piercing blue eyes and dark brown hair that reached past his shoulders. He also had stubble that was starting to come in all over his face.
As he finished with one stick of the salami, J picked his knife back up and brought it up to his head. He grabbed hold of the back of his hair and pulled up, creating space between his hair and his back. He then brought the blade up, severing his hair just above his hand. He let the severed hair fall to the floor before bringing his knife back to his bed. His hair was now short in the front and long in the back. It wasn't ridiculously long, but long enough to cover the back of his neck.
After finishing his other salami stick, he started to look around the room. He had been too tired to look at it the previous night, having been too tired. On one of the few pieces of furniture in the room, he found a small, blue object. Upon closer examination, he discovered it was a barrette. It was in the shape of a blue butterfly.
J reached forward to touch the object, but before he got close enough to touch it, he saw a flash of light and in place of the barrette was a small, shiny blue butterfly. It flew up to J and flitted around a couple of times before doing a lap around his room. As the butterfly flew, J heard a loud noise that sounded like blades cutting air. He recognized it as the sound of a helicopter flying overhead.
The noise ceased as the butterfly finished its lap around his room, then returned to the table in front of him. In another flash of light, the butterfly disappeared, and was replaced with the barrette, in the same spot it had been.
J reached out and took the barrette. He went back to the bed and looked down at the object pensively.
J ran his thumb along the teeth of the barrette, then over the butterfly shape on the top. J lay back in bed and kept examining the barrette. He eventually made it back to sleep, the barrette dropping from his hand as he drifted off.
"Don't you die on me, damn it!"
"She's dead…"
"What was she fighting for? What am I fighting for? What are you fighting for?!"
"I was made to fight. I am a gun."
J got up from his bed again and rubbed his head. He found the barrette he had been examining on top of the comforter and put it in the pocket of his pants with the knife he had been using. He went down to the door that led to the living room and entered. Surprisingly, he found the sun up and a few of the Titans moving about the area, getting ready for the day.
When he entered, J caught the attention of Starfire.
"Good morning, friend J," she said. "How are you feeling today?"
"Alright, I guess," said J.
The others looked toward J in response to Starfire's announcement.
"Dude," said Beast Boy. "You…did something with your hair."
"What of it?" asked J.
"It…looks good," said Cyborg.
"Yeah," said Beast Boy. "I don't usually care that much for mullets, but that's a pretty sweet 'do, dude."
"Thanks, I guess," said J.
"Would you like to partake in the breaking of the fast?" asked Starfire. "Cyborg has made a delicious ham with unfertilized earthen poultry."
"Ham and eggs, huh?" asked J. "I don't see why not."
Cyborg laughed.
"Got another carnivore in the house," he said. "You better call for backup, BB!"
Beast Boy rolled his eyes and returned to his food.
"Tofu?" asked J.
"Yeah," said Beast Boy. "I've been most of the animals that get eaten, so…"
"Not a meat eater, huh?" asked J.
"Nope," said Beast Boy.
J sat at the table with Cyborg, Starfire and Raven before taking the plate in front of him and piling on a few slices of ham and a few eggs.
"Over medium," said J. "Just the way I like them."
"Hey," said Cyborg. "Look at that. You're making progress."
"What?" asked J.
"You know how you like your eggs," said Cyborg.
J shrugged.
"I guess so," said J. "Doesn't say a whole lot about me, though, does it?"
"Baby steps, little man," said Cyborg. "Can't expect everything to make sense at once."
"Guess not," said J.
J started eating the food on his plate and cleared it in no time. After he was done, he had a couple more eggs and another slice of ham.
"Where are you putting all of that?" asked Raven.
"My stomach, I would assume," said J.
Raven rolled her eyes.
"Never mind," she said.
"What?" asked J.
"I said never mind," said Raven.
J shrugged and went back to his food. After he finished it all, he took his plate to the sink and rinsed it off.
"So what are we doing?" asked J, coming back into the living room.
"Waiting for Robin to come," said Beast Boy. "When he gets here, he'll eat something and then probably make us practice."
"Practice what?" asked J.
"We have a place we can spar," said Cyborg. "We have all the equipment you need to get a good workout."
"A full gym, huh?" asked J. "I suppose I could enjoy that."
"Robin probably wants a chance to pay you back for the beatin' you gave him yesterday," said Cyborg.
"He can try," said J.
Cyborg chuckled.
"I like you, kid," he said. "Do you want some kind of outfit to spar in?"
"What's wrong with what I've got on?" asked J.
"Nothing, if you want to walk around sweaty and smelly all day," said Cyborg.
"Guess I'd better change, then," said J. "Stench and survival don't mix."
Cyborg nodded.
"That's what I thought," he said. "Our gym has a locker room. There should be something in there in your size."
"Great," said J. "When do we go?"
"Now," said the voice of Robin as he came through the door. "Let's go, team."
The Titans cleared their plates and went through the door to the training room.
J followed the Titans to the gym, where each of them got on their own equipment. Robin picked one of the punching bags while Starfire and Cyborg each got on one of the weight machines. Beast Boy turned into a cheetah and got on one of the treadmills. Raven went over to join Cyborg and Starfire on one of the weight machines. Having observed the Titans each doing their own thing, he elected to use one of the practice dummies.
As the Titans all worked out, J looked around the room. He nodded in acknowledgment to the incredible feats the Titans were pulling off. He pretended to be attacked by the dummy and dealt blows in "return." He moved around the dummies as though he were dodging them or getting behind them. He moved his hands in twisting motions and thrust his palm toward the target, then punched the target where its head would be.
After a while, Robin came over to him and cleared his throat.
"Hey," said J, continuing on the dummy.
"I happened to see some of your moves," said Robin. "You fight like you've been doing it for years."
"Maybe I have," said J. "I don't know."
"I would guess so," said Robin. "Your moves are…pretty polished. But they're different from most of the martial arts styles I've seen."
"Different how?" asked J.
"Well, it looks like that style is meant for quick finishes," said Robin. "In our line of work, that typically doesn't happen. We need to be prepared for long battles."
"Long battles," said J. "I see."
"Maybe sometime or other I can give you some lessons in other styles," said Robin. "What would you think about that?"
"You're the boss," said J.
J and Robin went back to their respective equipment. After an hour or so, the group broke up and got showered and changed.
"Good job, everyone," said Robin. "One hour later tomorrow."
As the group made their way back to the living room, J quickened his pace to catch up with Robin and Raven floated toward them in order to join them as well. Robin took notice of J and Raven's presence, and turned to look at them both.
"What's up?" he asked.
"J and I need to talk to you," said Raven.
"What about?" Robin asked, stopping in his tracks.
"J woke up early this morning with some…interesting news," said Raven. "We thought you might have some input."
"What happened?" Robin asked, turning to J.
"I had a dream," said J. "I heard people talking. I couldn't really tell who was saying it, or who or what they were talking about. It was just noise. I couldn't really get anything from it."
"What were they saying?" asked Robin.
"A bunch of different things," said J. "War…death…legends…nothing's really clear. It was clear they were talking about something, or…someone."
"Did anything seem familiar to you at all?" asked Robin.
"Somehow, but…I can't figure out how," said J. "It's still fuzzy."
"I suppose that's to be expected," said Raven. "Unfortunately, remembering your dreams is one of those things that gets harder the older you get."
"Unfortunately, killing is one of those things that gets easier the more you do it."
"What'd you say?" asked J.
"I said, remembering your dreams-" began Raven.
"No, after that," said J.
Raven and Robin looked at each other.
"Neither of us said anything after that," said Robin. "Are you…feeling okay?"
J shook his head and scratched the back of it. He nodded his head at the two teens.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm fine. Just confused is all."
"We'll figure out a way to help," said Robin. "Don't worry."
"I'm not," said J. "I'm more concerned with staying alive."
Robin nodded.
"Well, as long as you stick with us, you won't have to worry about that," he said.
"Isn't it a risk to your life every time you 'save the city?'" asked J.
"Well, yeah," said Robin. "But we have done that hundreds of times."
"If not thousands," said Raven.
J nodded back to the two teens.
"I see your point," he said.
As the three began to walk back, J spoke up again.
"So, what's next on the agenda?" he asked.
Suddenly, they were interrupted by a loud blaring over the intercom, accompanied by flashing red lights.
"Trouble," said Robin.
Robin, Raven and J scrambled to the living room, where they found Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy at the terminal by the TV/window.
"Report," said Robin. "What's happening?"
"Bank robbery," said Cyborg. "It's in the plaza."
"Who is it?" asked Beast Boy. "Dr. Light? Killer Moth? Mumbo?"
"What are all those?" asked J. "Nom de guerres?"
"You're close," said Cyborg. "They're monikers that a bunch of our rogues gallery members have taken for themselves. Those are just a few."
"They sound like a colorful bunch of folks," said J.
"Anyway, BB, no," said Cyborg. "It doesn't look like anybody major. Not even Andre Le Blanc."
"Small time crooks," said Beast Boy. "This should be a cakewalk."
"Yes!" exclaimed Starfire. "I believe friend J might even be able to help us with this."
"How do you figure?" asked J.
"Well, most of us have powers," said Cyborg. "Half of me is mechanical, Raven has psychic powers, Beast Boy can turn into any animal he wants, and Starfire is super strong and can project energy at will. The only one of us who doesn't really need to hold back is Robin. If you want to help, that makes two."
"Why would you need to hold back?" asked J. "They're criminals, right?"
"Because more often than not, these smaller ones don't have any powers," said Cyborg.
"Still not understanding why you'd need to hold back," said J. "They need to pay, right?"
"Right," said Robin. "But in order for them to pay, they have to be in good condition. Meaning, no fatalities."
"Well, if there are fatalities, that's just the price they pay, right?" asked J. "And they'd have no problem killing us, would they?"
The Titans looked at J with wide eyes.
"What?" he asked.
"Well, the thing is, J…" Robin said, approaching him, "if we were willing to do everything that criminals were willing to do, we would be no better than them. They need to pay for their crimes, but they need to do it under the judgment of the courts, not our own. Besides, it might be illegal to rob a bank, but it's also illegal to kill someone. You understand?"
J shrugged.
"I guess that's true," said J. "Just seems kind of disproportionate, I guess."
"Believe me," said Robin, placing a hand on J's shoulder, "we say the same thing at least once a week."
"Well, not in those exact words," said Raven.
"What Robin means is, there are criminals who would stoop to that level, and a lot of the time, we wonder why we let them go on with what they're doing," said Cyborg. "The only reason we don't is because we're heroes. That means saving people who need saved. It's not our place to pass judgment on people who break the law."
J nodded.
"I see," he said. "Well, if you guys want to save the people who need saved at the bank, we'd better get moving. How do we get there?"
In no time at all, the Titans drove up to the bank in the T-Car and R-Cycle.
"So, why isn't this thing called the C-Car?" asked J as the group dismounted and landed.
"We can talk about that later," said Cyborg. "For now, let's kick some butt."
J nodded and the group approached the bank, which was surrounded by patrol cars. In front of the cars was a group of police officers. Robin approached the officers and spoke to them.
"Robin," said one officer. "It's good that you're all here."
"What's the situation?" asked Robin.
"We've got a bunch of robbers holed up in there with at least thirty hostages," said the officer. "They're threatening to kill them if the police intervene."
J scowled.
"Have they given any demands yet?" asked Robin.
"No," said the officer. "I think they just want to buy some time before they make off with everybody's money."
"If that's the case, they probably don't plan on letting the hostages go," said Raven.
"So this isn't a hostage negotiation," said J. "It's a rescue mission."
The officer looked toward J.
"Who is this?" the officer asked.
"He's a friend of ours," said Robin. "He came to help."
"Any friend of the Titans is a friend of mine," said the officer.
Robin and rallied the Titans and addressed them.
"We need a plan," said Robin. "This isn't how I pictured it. We're playing a whole different ball game here."
J nodded.
"The way I see it, stealth is the best approach," he said. "We go in without any of them noticing, neutralize the crooks and free the hostages."
Before Robin could say anything else, J broke away from the group and called out.
"Does anyone here have some binoculars I can borrow?"
An officer came up to J and handed him a pair of binoculars, which he then took and used to scope the building. Inside, he could see several goons with guns, walking amongst a group of hostages with bags over their heads.
"AK-74us," said J. "What the hell are these guys doing with Russian assault rifles?"
The Titans looked at each other, then back at J.
"They'll probably have a guy watching the security cameras," said J. "And if they haven't presented any demands yet, they might have already killed a hostage."
Starfire put a hand over her mouth.
"There are three sentries watching the hostages," said J. "Cameras. Two outside the door...and a few on the sides of the building."
J put the binoculars down for a moment and looked back at Raven.
"Raven, can you lift me?"
"Yeah," said Raven. "How far?"
"As far as you can," said J.
"O…kay…" she said. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"
A cloud of black energy placed itself under J and levitated him into the air. J lay flat on the cloud and used the binoculars to peer down on the roof. After a minute or two, Raven sat him back down on the ground.
"I'm not seeing any security cameras on the roof," said J. "That's our best bet for a point of entry."
Robin crossed his arms.
"You seem like you're already planning something," he said. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking you, me, Cyborg and Beast Boy go while Starfire and Raven sit this one out," said J. "A small group will be harder to spot, especially if one of them stays on the roof and the other one can turn into the smallest animals of all."
J turned to Starfire and Raven.
"Starfire will throw us on the roof and Raven will slow our descent," he said. "Cyborg will stay on the roof and break into the bank's systems while you, Beast Boy and I will go in and work on taking back the bank."
Robin nodded.
"Okay," he said. "This isn't normally our style, but you seem to have thought this through. I give you credit for that. Alright, J. We'll do it your way."
J nodded.
"So, who's going first?" asked Beast Boy.
J walked over to Starfire.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Starfire.
"Yeah," said J. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope you don't throw like a girl."
"But…I am a girl," said Starfire.
"It's an expression, Starfire," said J. "Okay, go for it."
Starfire grabbed J and threw him up high. After reaching the top of the arc, J started to descend on the roof of the building. Raven took hold of J just in time and slowly lowered him the rest of the way to the roof.
J slowly tiptoed over the roof as he waited for Beast Boy and Robin. Robin was next to come, followed shortly by a screaming Beast Boy, who only stopped screaming when he felt Raven's powers engulf him and lower him to the building.
"Okay," he said. "Why did I not just fly over?"
"Couldn't tell you," said J. "You're the shapeshifter."
Cyborg appeared on the roof soon after Beast Boy, also screaming. He followed Beast Boy's example and stopped screaming when he felt Raven slow his descent.
"Alright," said Cyborg. "Now that I'm officially freaked out, what now?"
"We'll need you to stay on the roof and break into the bank's system," said J. "Can you do that without being noticed?"
"Never met a system I couldn't hack," said Cyborg.
"I've never met a system I couldn't break into," said a voice in J's head.
J shook his head and cleared his throat.
"Good," he said. "Alright. While you take care of that, Robin, Beast Boy and I will go in and take care of the crooks."
"Hold up," said Cyborg.
"What is it?" asked J.
Cyborg opened one of his secret compartments and took out a small device.
"Here," said Cyborg, holding it out. "You'll need one of these."
J took it from Cyborg.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's an earwig," said Cyborg. "It's a listening device that stimulates the small bones of your ears, so only you-"
"Will be able to hear it," said J. "Right. I got it. Thanks."
Cyborg quirked his organic eyebrow.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright, J?" he asked.
"About as okay as an amnesiac can be," J said, putting the earwig in. "I'll be fine. Let's move."
J went over to the door on the roof and tried it.
"Anybody have any lock picks?" he asked. "A bobby pin and paper clip? Anything?"
Robin snapped his fingers and a couple of skeleton keys popped out of the index fingers of his gloves. He used the two keys to work the lock and open the door.
"Alright," said J. "Beast Boy, turn into something small and quiet. We'll need you to scout ahead and gather intel."
Beast Boy got on the floor and turned into a mouse. He skittered along the floor and made his way down the stairs. Robin and J slowly followed. J crouched down and kept close to any walls. He peeked around corners as he went. Eventually, he heard Beast Boy's voice come through on his earwig.
"There are two guards up ahead," he said. "You won't be able to get further unless you take them out."
"Right," said J. "How far ahead?"
"Go down the hall, take a left, go down and they'll be on your first right," said Beast Boy. "You'll need to figure out a way past them."
J gestured for Robin to follow and kept close to the wall. Soon, the duo came upon the location of the two guards.
The guards were both wearing black balaclavas and black fatigues with bulletproof vests, and carrying assault rifles. J gestured for Robin to stand back, he then lunged at one guard and slammed his head into the nearby wall before doing the same to the other guard. The two guards fell to the floor in a heap, their weapons clattering to the floor next to them.
"You know, you'd almost swear this is a military operation of some kind," said J.
Robin merely stared at J.
"What?" asked J.
"Nothing," said Robin.
"Alright," said J. "Well, let's see what we can figure out about these guys."
J got to work dismantling one of the AK's. Robin started to dismantle the other one when J held out his hand.
"Wait," he said.
Robin stopped what he was doing and J dismantled the AK he was holding before moving on to the man's sidearm. He pocketed several of the pieces to both weapons, including the magazines. He then turned to Robin and took the AK that he was holding and slung it over his shoulder.
He then reached down into the other guard's vest and pulled out several items, including his radio, his sidearm, spare magazines, suppressors, and spare rounds. He took out a couple of suppressors and attached them to the weapons.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" asked Robin.
"Denying the enemy ammunition," said J.
He then took the man's radio and placed it on his belt. Then, he took the other man's radio out and shot it with the silenced sidearm.
"And communication," said J.
"Are you out of your mind?" asked Robin. "I told you, we can't kill these people."
"I know that," said J.
"Then why?" asked Robin.
"You know you can fire a weapon at someone without killing them, right?" asked J.
Robin scowled.
"I don't like this," said Robin.
"Well, I don't like that armed gunmen have a bunch of hostages with bags over their heads in the lobby," said J, cocking the AK and the sidearm. "So, we're all making sacrifices today."
"You know what I mean," said Robin. "I know you're fully capable of taking these people down without using firearms."
"Using a firearm can sometimes be more useful than your bare hands," said J. "Look, every second we argue is a second one of those hostages could get one of these through their heads."
As he said this, J held up a 5.56 round.
"Now, do you want to argue about the ethics of gun use, or do you want to save some civilians?" asked J.
Robin sighed.
"Fine," he said. "But don't think we're not going to discuss this later."
"Duly noted," said J. "Now, let's go."
As they walked, J examined the sidearm he picked up.
"A 1911A1," he said. "Nice."
"Pardon?" asked Robin.
"This is a 1911A1 chambered for .45 ACP," said J. "Looks like a seven-round mag, plus one in the chamber, for a total of eight. One of the best guns to avoid accidentally hurting anyone."
Robin grumbled.
"What about intentionally hurting anyone?" asked Robin.
J kept walking and leveled the sidearm in front of him.
"Robin, I will admit, I don't know why I know anything about these firearms or even how to use them," said J. "But neither do you, and you're already assuming the worst."
"That's because a situation with a firearm never turns out well for anyone," said Robin.
"Okay, you know what?" asked J. "I'm going to point out everything wrong with your logic later. Right now, those hostages need us."
"Fine," said Robin.
"This is Beast Boy," said Beast Boy's voice. "Can you hear me?"
"What's up, Beast Boy?" asked Robin.
"I'm wondering where you guys are," said Beast Boy.
"Me and J took care of the guards," said Robin. "We're on our way to the main area."
"Okay," said Beast Boy. "I'll keep looking and keep you posted. But you'd better hurry. I have no idea how much longer it'll be before these guys make a demonstration."
"Any security cameras ahead?" asked J.
"Yeah," said Beast Boy. "You'll come up to a hallway that goes left and right. There's one on the left end and one on the right."
"Right," said J. "Cyborg, you there?"
"What's up, little man?" asked Cyborg's voice.
"We're coming up on two surveillance cameras," said J. "Can you freeze all the camera frames?"
"Give me a minute," said Cyborg.
J and Robin waited.
"Okay," said Cyborg. "You're invisible."
"Thanks, Cyborg," said J. "Let's get a move on."
"We'll want to keep low like we've been doing," said Robin.
"I know," said J.
"I figured you knew," said Robin. "For all the stuff you're doing right now, you seem to know what you're doing. I still have reservations on the firearms, but I at least give you credit for that."
"Gee, thanks," said J.
J looked around a corner for guards, and gestured for Robin to follow when he found none.
"The guys I knocked out haven't reported back in a while," said J. "Their buddies will probably go looking for them any minute. We need to be ready when they do."
"We'll hang back and take care of them as they come out the door," said Robin.
"Right," said J.
Sure enough, immediately after that, J and Robin heard one of the guards cry out.
"You!" said the guard. "Go look for those two dumbasses. See what's taking them so long."
Two of the guards broke away from the lobby and started toward Robin and J. The duo hid behind the walls near the door surprised each of the guards as they came in, each of them slamming their own target's head into a nearby wall.
J wasted no time in scavenging the fallen men for their equipment.
J gestured for Robin to follow him out of the hall and into the main lobby. J stayed crouched, looking around corners for the robbers.
"I count three," he whispered to Robin. "When they notice those two gone, they'll probably do something drastic."
"So, what's your brilliant plan?" asked Robin.
J took out one of the spare magazines in his pocket and emptied it.
"I'll run interference," he said.
J then took the magazine and threw it overhand toward a wall on the other end of the room, where it impacted with a clatter.
This caught all three robbers' attention. One of them, presumably the leader, yelled to the other two.
"Check out that noise!" he yelled.
The two other robbers ran in the direction of the clatter.
"Okay," said J. "Now's our chance. Come on."
J and Robin went into the main room of the bank and saw the man by himself, his gun trained on one of the hostages. J and Robin snuck around the counter in the center of the room and came up behind the robber. J holstered his sidearm and took off his AK, which he immediately jammed into the back of the robber.
"Don't move," said J, retreating the barrel away from the robber.
"What the-" began the robber.
"Shut up," said J. "Drop your weapon."
The man slowly lowered his rifle to the floor.
"Now, talk," said J.
"What the hell's going on here?" asked the robber.
"I said talk, not ask questions," said J. "What are you doing here?"
"We're robbing the place," said the man. "You blind?"
"I can see you're robbing the place," said J. "Why?"
"We need it," said the man. "We're desperate. We need the money."
"No grand scheme, huh?" asked J. "Alright, then."
J shouldered his AK again, then brought one arm around the robber's neck while clamping the other one to the back of his neck. After a few seconds, the robber passed out, and J set him gently on the floor.
J turned to Robin.
"Can you handle those two if they come back?" he asked.
"I should be able to," said Robin.
"Good," said J. "We need to take care of anybody else who might be in here. There'll probably still be someone by the vaults and in the monitor room. I'll take care of them. Beast Boy, where are you?"
As he spoke, J started in the direction of the vaults.
"I'm in the air ducts," said Beast Boy. "There I can smell three people. One in the monitor room, and two by the vaults."
"Alright," said J, continuing to the vaults. "Handle the guys in the monitor room. I'm going for the guys in the vaults."
"If you say so," said Beast Boy.
With that, J proceeded to the vault. He looked around a nearby corner and saw the vault door opened. As he approached, he was surprised as two masked men came out, carrying bundles of cash.
"Crap!" yelled one of the robbers.
Before either of them had the chance to react, J pulled his AK off and fired two shots at the robbers – one at each of their shoulders – and then rushed forward to bash them both in the head with the stock of his rifle.
"Dude!" said the voice of Beast Boy over the radio. "I heard suppressed gunfire. You okay?"
"I'm fine, Beast Boy," said J. "I've taken care of the goons in the vault. What's your status?"
"Let's just say the human skull wasn't built to withstand the backhand of a gorilla," said Beast Boy.
"Good," said J. "I'll get these goons and bring them back to the lobby."
Starfire and Raven stood outside with the police, watching the front door of the bank. Raven leaned against a patrol car with her arms crossed, and Starfire clasped her hands over your chest.
"Do you believe that our friends are alright?" asked Starfire.
"It's just a bunch of normal bank robbers," said Raven. "I'm sure they're just fine. If they weren't, they'd have called for our help by now."
Soon, the front doors of the bank opened, and all the hostages came clamoring out into the streets and toward the police vehicles, which, by now, had civilians and news crews around them. Many of the people in the bank came out and embraced the gathered civilians, who were presumably family members and loved ones. Amid all the hostages, J, Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg all walked out, each of them carrying some of the robbers over their backs.
When the teens came out, they roughly tossed their robbers on the ground and waited for the Jump City Police to retrieve them.
Starfire and Raven hastily flew up to the group.
"Friends!" exclaimed Starfire. "You are well!"
Starfire floated up to Robin and hugged him. Everyone saw a huge blush spread over Robin's cheeks.
While the Titans all congratulated each other on a mission accomplished, J fished something out of his chest pocket, which he had scavenged from one of the robbers: a pack of cigarettes. He placed one between his lips and pulled out a cigarette lighter. He lit the cigarette and took a long drag from it, which he let out in a long wisp over his head.
The Titans looked over at J with narrowed eyes.
"What…are you doing?" asked Cyborg.
"Smoking," said J.
"Those things are bad for you, you know," said Raven.
"Well, so are gunfights," said J, taking another drag.
After the robbers were taken care of, several officers of Jump City's police approached the Titans, led by a woman with long, feathery blonde hair, wearing large, dark aviator sunglasses. She smiled at the group.
"You guys must be the infamous Teen Titans," she said. "I was wondering when I'd get to see you in action. I didn't think it'd be this soon."
The Titans turned to look at the woman, including J, who regarded her with a furrowed brow. The woman came up to J and indicated the weapons he salvaged from the robbers.
"A couple of the robbers suffered gun shot wounds," said the woman. "Were they your doing?"
"Yeah," said J.
"Well, you shot them in hopes of saving the bank, so I don't think you'll get in trouble for it, but…I'd appreciate if you send those in with me," she said.
J took out the sidearm he found and handed it and the AK over to the woman.
"Thank you," said the woman. "That was some pretty fancy shooting."
"Well, it seems the Titans have a pretty strict 'no fatalities' policy, so…" J trailed off.
The other Titans came closer to J and the woman.
"You know this lady?" asked Beast Boy.
"Nope," said J. "Never seen her before in my life."
"Who are you, anyway?" asked Cyborg.
"Oh, my manners," said the woman. "I seem to have misplaced them."
The woman extended her hand to the Titans.
"My name is Catherine Miller," she said. "I'm the Jump City Police Department's new senior drill instructor."
(A/N: Catherine Miller – Michelle Ruff)
"Nice to meet you, Officer Miller," said Robin, shaking the woman's hand.
"Please," she said. "Call me Cat."
"Well, Cat, as you've guessed, these are the Teen Titans," said Robin. "This is Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and our new friend J."
"It's a pleasure to meet each of you," said Cat. "Well, not completely."
"What do you mean by that?" Cyborg asked with a slight scowl.
"Don't take it the wrong way," Cat said, smiling. "I was hired by the police recently to help their men improve their skills. Because you five have been mopping the floor with all of Jump City's criminals, our men have gotten a little soft. For that reason, they asked me to put them through rigorous training. So, in a way, you could say that you guys are making my job harder."
Cat finished off her statement with a laugh.
"Um…sorry about that," said Robin.
"No!" Cat cried. "Don't be! I prefer it that way. These guys need fires lit under their asses and I brought plenty of matches and kerosene. However, if you guys are up to it, I wouldn't say no to some help with that."
"Um…sure," said Robin. "What did you have in mind?"
Cat chuckled again.
"We can work out the finer details later," she said. "For now, I'll just say it was a real treat to run into you. I hope we run into each other again."
"If you show up after each of our fights, that's a virtual certainty," said Raven.
"So, where'd you meet the kid with the fancy trigger finger?" asked Cat.
"We just met him yesterday," said Cyborg. "Poor fella didn't have a clue where or even who he was."
"Still don't," said J. "Kind of still working on that."
"Oh," said Cat. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"We were actually kind of hoping that somebody with Jump's police might be able to help with that," said Robin. "We've been letting him stay with us so he's safe, but…"
"You need an official to help," said Cat. "How about a little tit-for-tat, then? I help you guys with your new friend, you help me whip these ladies into shape?"
Robin smiled.
"Sounds good to me," he said. "How about you guys?"
Starfire approached.
"I would be most eager to assist our local law enforcement any way I can," she said.
"Yeah," said Beast Boy. "It could be fun."
"Whatever," said Raven.
"I'm sure I could get your officers hooked up with some high-end equipment," said Cyborg.
"Great," said Cat. "Well, why don't you guys leave the rest of this to me and my men, and we'll make a plan later. Have a way I can contact you?"
"There should be a communicator at the police station that you can use to contact us," said Robin.
"Alright, then," said Cat. "It was nice meeting you."
As Cat and her men walked away, the Titans all looked at each other.
"Well, that was interesting," said Raven.
"Indeed," said Starfire. "I cannot remember being approached by our police department before."
"Cat seemed pretty interesting," said J, taking another drag. "That's for sure."
"Yeah," said Robin. "It looked like you were more than just interested in her. Are you sure you've never seen her before?"
"Positive," said J, dropping what remained of the cigarette and stomping it out. "But I can't shake the feeling that she's…familiar, somehow."
"Well, why don't we figure it out later?" asked Cyborg. "I don't know about you, but all the excitement this morning has worked up my appetite. Who wants pizza?"
"Sounds good to me," said Robin.
Cyborg patted J's shoulder.
"Wanna split a meat lover's?" he asked.
"If that's anything like what it sounds like, then you bet," said J.
To be continued…