Chapter 3 : Call Me Rage
After trying to put togheter the puzzle and find out more about their so called 'unknown allie' the titans went of to relax. Cyborg, Beast Boy and Robin played the game console, Raven was meditating in her room and Starfire was watching the boys play.
After a while they got bored of playing video games and Robin sugested to play some football outside. Cyborg teamed up with Beast Boy and Robin with Starfire. Raven came outside to enjoy the sun light and to be close to her friends, but she still said she wanted to be the "referee".
After about a half an hour the match was tight, the score equal, the ball was in Robin and Starfires posesion, ten seconds on the clock.
Announcer: "Robin pases to Starfire, Starfire dribles both Beast Boy and Cyborg she's heading for the end zone ... she scores!."
"We are victorious!" Starfire exclaimed.
"Good work Star, you played great" said Robin congratulateing her.
Starfire blushed and turned crimson feeling their bond getting tighter.
"You're wrong! You both played well. Good game you two" said Cyborg "Anyway, we could have kicked your butt if it wasn't for 'tofu legs' over there pointing at Beast Boy".
Beast Boy was anoyed by Cyborg's joke. "Oh yeah! blame it all on the vegetarian. Well if you would have payed more atention on defense maybe we would have had a chance to win" and turned around with his hands crosed.
"Yeah! Yeah! Don't worry 'grass stain', maybe next time I'll play with Raven and you'll be the referee" said Cyborg trying to tease his team mate "... OK! I know I'm up for a movie, who wants to join me?".
Just then Robin's comunicator rang .
"That movie will have to wait, something's going on at the museum, move out".
It was already geting dark when out of the museum came a tall looking figure wearing a blue metal outfit with several guns attached. He was holding a red triangular gem in his right hand and looked at it with never ending greed and a sadistic please.
"Finaly, the Cruxmeiser gem is in my posesion. Oh how I have been waiting for this moment! The time for a new dawn has come!".
Sudenly a voice came up from a building and a bird-a-rang came flying and knocked the red gem out of the villains hand.
"Seems to me like you're blind. There is no new dawn here, only your sun set!".
It was Robin who stood up on the edge of a five stories building. He was surrounded by his team mates who all ready took a battle stance.
"FOOLS, others have tryed to stop me and did not succeed. You pose no threat and you can not stop Doom ... DIE!".
The next moment Robin sounded the atack:
"Titans GO!".
The titans engadged in battle with the villain who called himself Doom. Beast Boy morphed into a lion and went strait for him, aiming for his neck, but unfortunetly, Doom shot a hunters net that traped him. Beast Boy changed into several other big animals trying to break free but to no avail, the net was to strong.
"Guys, I can't get out" shouted Beast Boy.
"It's reinforced elastic titanium, 20 times more resistant than usual titanium, good luck trying to get out of that".
Cyborg shot a sonic beam at Doom who dodged it teleporting him self next to the half-teen half-machine hero. Cyborg was punching back and forth, left and right trying to hit him but Doom kept teleporting him self from place to place. Finally, he was behind Cyborg, opened a hatch in his back and deactivated him (kind of like how Robin did when he was trying to get to Slade as Red X).
"Yo! Stop that! If I get my hands on you you're a dead man".
Sudenly Cyborg's battery was reduced to minimum power and he fell to the ground unable to move. Doom stood up and looked around to evaluate the situation and to quikly form a new strategy, when he was struck by a light pole and sent straight into one of the museum's greek type columns. Raven chanted "Azerath Metrion Zinthos" and a car engulfed in a black aura went straight for Doom who jumped to his right and escaped.
"You should learn to control the speed of your reactions little witch" said the villain who pointed a gun and blasted her with a blue laser beam that drained her of all her power makeing her drop to the ground like a rock.
Starfire then flew of and hit Doom in the back with a round of starbolts.
"You will put down the gem right now and surrender" cryed Starfire who's eyes turned green and starbolts started forming in her hands.
Doom was back on his feet and pointed another gun, this time at Starfire who was coming in for the atack.
"Sorry, but I don't listen to my enemies sugestions" he replied and shot her with a field of energy that wraped around her like a rope, disabeling her to move or form starbolts.
He teleported next to her and had a psychotic smirk on his face.
"You hurt me cuttie, literaly, now it's my turn to hurt you" and pointed a gun to her head, but was hit by one of Robin's disks.
"Leave her alone, you'll have to kill me before you hurt her" cryed Robin in a desperate atempt to make Doom face him and fight.
"Well, well, well ... it looks like I touched a soft spot in the little boys heart. Give me one good reason I should fight you and not finish her off instead" said Doom with a demented and criminal pleasure in his voice.
"You say nobody defeated you, I'm ready to kick your butt and be the first one to do it, but do you have the guts to fight like a man?".
"Hard words coming from a not so powerful child" replied Doom "... All right, I accept your chalange. Let's do this mano-a-mano, man to man" and retracted his gadgets back in his metal suit caseing takeing a battle stance.
Robin somer saulted into the air and hit him with a kick to the chest sending Doom to the ground, the villain responsed with a similar move but much more harder after which he started to pound Robin with everything he had. The swift punches and kicks made Robin dizy and forced him to retreat a few steps back. When he saw the chance, Doom tryed to finish him of with a blow to the head but Robin reacted with a sharp punch to the chin and several kicks in the head that made Doom weary.
Robin again somer saulted high into the air aiming a kick straight for Doom's head but the next thing he knew Doom takes out a gun and blasts Robin with a laser beam that makes him drop to the ground out-consciense.
The others watched in shock, helplesly, how their leader was being defeated. Something wasn't right, nothing like this ever happened before.
"Robin, get up man! Fight! Don't let him win! Don't give up!" yelled Cyborg who was lyeing on the ground powerless.
"What ever happened to 'man to man' Doom? What's wrong? Afraid he could beat you?" asked Beast Boy who was still strugeling under the net.
"It doesn't matter how you play the game, but how you win it ! " replied Doom "... Learn that lesson and you could defeat me one day if you escape".
He then went next to Robin who was lyeing on the ground unable to react, grabed him by the collar of his neck and pointed a gun to his forehead.
"Time to say 'goodbye' to your friends little boy. After I'm done with you I'll finish off the rest of your team. And by the way, if you can still hear me, which I doubt, I'll have a real good time with your little red headed girlfriend. I'll especially finish her slowly and painfully".
He then stood up and prepared to fire.
"ROBIN ... NOOO!" cryed Starfire who's eyes were full of tears, afraid that Robin could die.
"Good night boy wonder" said Doom stresing the word 'boy'.
Everything seemed lost, no chance for the titans. Doom was prepareing to pull the trigger and kill Robin when an unexpected blow to the side sent him skiding of on the pavement straight into the museums stairs droping the gun in the proces.
And then, a voice acompanied by a misterious figure came out of the dark. It was the 'unknown allie' that saved the bank earlyer. He looked just as he had been described. He walked towards Doom and took him by the neck.
"Next time you want to take something make sure you pay for it" said the 'unknown allie' who started to kick the living day lights out of Doom, his eyes turning blood red as he was beating the villain.
After a good couple of minutes during which Doom was beaten up good, the villain retreats a few yards away, draws the same gun he used to blast Robin and tryes to hit his adversary.
"I had enough of this, this ends here and now, prepare to have you neurons scrambled".
The 'unknown allie' picked up a pice of broken glass that reflected Dooms laser beam into the side mirror of a car, which reflected the beam and hit the villain back.
Doom fell to the ground out-cold.
"Next time you fight, be a man and fight like one you miserable scum!" said the 'unknown allie' with so much anger in his voice that it would probably have made Osama Ben Laden sht his pants.
He jumped to Cyborg and tryed to help him.
"How do I get you back on-line?" he asked.
"You'll see a red knob on my back, turn it up from min. to max. and I'll be back on my feet".
The 'unknown allie' does as he is told and and along Cyborg help the others.
Starfire saw Robin and rushed to him. He was still out cold.
"Robin wake up, please wake up, please, don't leave us Robin" cryed the beautifull teen-alien who had tear drops running down her cheeks.
Cyborg came next to Robin and took his pulse.
"Is he ... decesed?" Starfire asked with tears in her eyes.
"No, he's just out cold but he could go into a coma if we don't do something fast".
"Let me help you" said the one that saved them "I know how to get him back".
"I could just try to enter his mind and bring him back to conscience you know" said Raven.
"No, Don't do that! He was hit by an electro-magnetic shock wave that scrambled up his neurons. If you try to enter his mind you'll probably make it worst, trust me".
The 'allie' then turned to BB.
"Beast Boy, can you change into an electric eel ?".
Beast Boy was surprised. "Huh? Yeah sure, but why ?" asked the changeling.
"Just do it!".
Beast Boy morphed into an eel and the 'unknown allie' took off Robin's right boot and told Beast Boy to bite down on Robin's big toe and shock him for 15 seconds with electricity. Beast Boy did as he was told.
"Good, now change into a porcupine".
"What ever you say" replied BB.
BB turned into a porcupine like he was told and the 'unknown allie" took a couple of spikes of his back. He used the spikes to insert them into Robin's skin.
"Wait, will this not hurt him?" Starfire asked worried.
"Don't worry, it's acupuncture, inserting these spikes will make him wake up".
He inserted one of the spikes in Robin's ankle, two in his uper arm, another two in his neck and one on the tip of his nose. Robin woke up almost instantly but a little dizzy. The titans were happy to see him alright and Starfire embraced him as he awakened.
"Oh Robin, you are alive! We thought we have lost you, I'm so glad that you are alive and well".
Robin blushed and noticed that he was on the ground.
"Wh ... Whaa ... What happened?" he asked " ... the last thing I remember is fighting Doom. He shot me and now I am here".
"The 'unknown allie', as you call him, saved us" Starfire answered.
"Yup! If it wasn't for him you could've probably been dead or in a coma right now" said Raven.
"He's here? Where? Show me!". Robin was eager to thank the one that helped him.
"He is right there" said Cyborg " ... in front of the ... hey! Where did he go?".
The 'unknown allie' was walking away towards the town. Robin saw him, got up and ran after him.
"Hey wait up! Wait! Hang on a minute". Robin catched up to him. "I want to thank you for helping my team an me, we really apreciate your help, misterrrrr(?)".
The 'unknown allie" turned around and looked Robin. His ski-mask covered his face and didn't show any facial reactions.
"Call me Rage, and don't wory Robin, I just did what any other good intended individual would do. Really, you don't need to thank me for anything".
"How do you know my name?" he asked surprised that he knew his name.
Rage looked at him and seemed to smile under his mask
"Heck, every one in this city knows you. You protect them, remember? People also like to talk ... ".
"Yeah, you got me there" Robin replied a little embaresed "... Anyway, pleased to meet you Rage" said Robin as he extended his hand.
Rage shook Robin's hand in a friendly but some how military way.
"Like wise I'm sure" responded Rage " ... You should head back to your base, get a good night's sleep, I'm sure that tommorow other criminals will be active. I best be going back to my rounds" and took off.
"Hey wait! Do you need a place to crash?". Robin insisted.
Rage stoped and turned around. "No thanks. I think I shouldn't, I have my old aticks, basements and abandoned buildings. I'm fine the way I am".
"You mean to say that you do not have a home? You are homeles?" asked Starfire surprised.
"Well, I wouldn't say that, but if you like it you could say that I'm not living the uptown life, but it's better this way, trust me" answerd Rage.
"This is unacceptable, one who has done good deserves to be treated good as well. Please, will you not come and stay at our tower?" asked Starfire.
"Yeah! That's a good idea" said Beast Boy "... we have video games, pizza, movies, a big screen TV, a spare comfy bed, and all the tofu you can eat".
"We also have a good training ground you can exercise" intervined Cyborg.
"And a view over the city you could die for" said Raven, who tryed to talk him into staying at them.
Robin went next to him. "So what do you say? We would be glad to have you as our guest".
Rage then turned around. "I thank you very much for your proposal and I'm grateful for your concern but belive me, I am beter off alone" and left saying nothing more.
"Won't you at least reconsider ?" shouted Robin.
"I've already made up my mind. Go home, rest, I wish you good luck" and continued to leave.
Robin wanted to go after Rage but Raven stoped him.
"Let him go! He probably has problems he must get over, he'll come to his sences eventualy".
Robin kept looking at him and felt a little down. "Your probably right, come on guys, let's head home".
"But what about Doom?" asked Beast Boy.
"What about him?" replied Raven "His mind is all scrambled like your tofu eggs, the police will take care of him".