Chapter 1
Battles and Bruises
Everything was normal. That's the best way to start. The sky was a deep shade of blue with few clouds here and there; the birds sang their little songs, an early morning robbery in progress. Everything was…okay, so not perfect. Robin led the way over the building tops chasing the infamous Mumbo Jumbo, who had just completed evicting a bank of its money. Starfire and Raven flew overhead, attempting to stall Mumbo anyway they could. Beastboy and Cyborg drove in the T-car down below. Robin lunged for Mumbo's cap.
Mumbo turned around, waved his wand and shouted, "Mumbo Jumbo!" causing numerous cards to fly out of his wand right into Robin, forcing him back. Starfire saw the trouble and caught him easily.
"Thanks, Star," Robin said.
"Perhaps there is another way to stop the Mumbo before he gets away," said the red haired alien girl from Tameran.
"When you think of another way, please feel free to share," Raven said, in her usual monotone voice as she joined them.
"Anybody know how to lasso a magician?" Beastboy asked cheekily over the communicator.
"Not cool, man," Cyborg said.
"It was only a suggestion," BB said.
"Forget that, Cyborg, see if you can throw him off his rhythm," Robin ordered.
"Right," Cyborg said.
"Raven, slow him down at any cost."
"I'm on it," Raven said.
"Beastboy, we'll need you up here."
"On my way," said the green changeling.
"Starfire, let's get in front of him. See if we can cut him off," Robin finished.
"Hold on," Star said. Robin did as he was told, though it was hard at the angle he was at. Despite this, he managed and Starfire flew as fast as she could ahead of the unnaturally flexible magician. Beastboy had turned into a hawk and was flying just above Raven's head. Cyborg was firing his sonic canon – built into his arm – at the fleeing villain while Raven blocked him with whatever she could find and sometimes just her own dark powers. None of these fazed the villain however. Mumbo just jumped, dodged and ducked anything and everything that came his way.
"Beastboy, now!" Robin shouted. Without warning, Beastboy changed into a triceratops and dropped down on the unsuspecting villain. Despite this, Mumbo managed to get out of the way, but still fell down to towards the street far below. "Starfire, let go!" Robin ordered. Starfire hesitated for a millisecond before she let go of her friend. Robin plummeted after the flailing villain, grabbed onto him and in the same instant, fired his grappling hook onto the building to stop their fall. Cyborg stopped right underneath them and smiled up. Starfire, Raven and Beastboy landed beside him and Robin let go of the magician. He fell the last five feet down and landed hard, dropping his wand in the process. Raven used her dark energy to pick it up and hand it to Star who broke it with a small flex of her hands.
Back at the tower, Starfire flew close to the roof of their main room as they re-entered their home. She was laughing in delight.
"That was marvellous!" she said. Robin laughed gently at her enthusiasm.
"I must agree. Good job team, hopefully now we can get some–" before Robin had finished his sentence, the alarm sounded and the team half froze.
"You were saying," Raven droned.
"Let's move," Cyborg said. Off again to save the day. The team headed farther downtown – or more central, it was hard to tell. They stopped in the park and looked around.
"So, what was the trouble here?" Beastboy asked, after a moment of looking around.
"The computer only said that some curious people had been spotted here. They might not be violent, so be careful and wait for them to make the first move," Robin said. The team split up easily. Starfire took to the sky, scanning the far extended area; Raven hovered slightly above the ground and searched through the more forested area; Cyborg looked along the edges; Beastboy sniffed around the lake; and Robin took the more eastern side.
"Find anything?" Cyborg asked over the communicator.
"I'm clear here," Raven called in.
"Nothing along the lake," BB reported.
"Nothing, could it have been a malfunction?" Robin asked.
"Not unless someone hacked our system, then we'd still have a problem on our hands," Cy said.
"I would not be too sure about that!" Starfire said, in her urgent tone. She was presently watching nine odd creatures – or maybe machines – chase a girl out of the park and into the town.
"Where are they?" Raven asked.
"Heading to the town square, they're chasing a girl," Star said, flying over.
"Star, help the girl out. We'll be there momentarily. Titans go!" Robin shouted. Starfire didn't need any more encouraging. Flying faster and faster, she drove into the first few creatures. The girl stopped and turned around. Starfire flew towards her, grabbed her hands and flew up again. They landed on the nearest roof top and the girl collapsed. Her black and blue costume was torn in places and she honestly looked broken and undernourished. Star didn't have time to think about that though because the creatures had caught on and leapt up to where she had landed. Starfire picked the girl up again and flew away.
"Titans, I could use your assistance now!" she said.
"Azurath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven shouted. A bus flew into the creatures and Raven joined Starfire.
"Thank you," Star said.
"Don't mention it, how is she?" Raven asked. They both looked at the girl.
"Gone…find help…no, no…" she muttered.
"Not well, she needs medical attention," Star said.
"Get her back to the tower, we'll finish up here," Robin called up. Star and Raven flew off, leaving the boys to take on the…whatever-they-weres. Cyborg blasted, Beastboy crushed and Robin fought all out until they figured out that they were robots. Then it was just a simple matter of destroying them and joining the girls at the tower.
Back at the tower, the boys found the girls in the medical bay – Cyborg decided to bring some pieces of the robots to study. Starfire was looking on patiently while Raven checked their new friend over. Starfire greeted them as they came in.
"My friends are you well?" she asked.
"Well as can be. We took out those robots so they shouldn't cause us anymore problems," Beastboy said.
"How is she?" Robin asked, walking over to Raven. Raven shook her head and pulled down her hood.
"She's more than injured and undernourished," she said.
"You can't heal her?" Cyborg asked.
"I can heal injuries like broken bones and sore muscles. Undernourishment is easy to overcome, but I can't heal sickness," Raven said.
"How sick is she?" Robin asked. Just then the girl stirred.
"Need…help…counting on me…failed…dark, oh the dark," she muttered.
"I think she's delusional," Raven said. Robin looked very closely at the girl's mask. Something stirred inside him; an image that he had long since pushed away. The girl woke up and looked up at him.
"R…Robin," she said weakly. "I f…found…you." With the last word out, she passed out again.
"Robin, do you know her?" Starfire asked. Robin didn't answer, but instead left the room for his own. Once there he pulled out a small box from under his bed and blew off the dust. Inside he found what he was looking for; a picture of him and Batgirl.
