Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or any of its characters. Hellfire/Marrin'r is mine.
The alarm came at 2:13 in the morning, making Starfire groan. Sunshine personified and the deliverer of bone-crushing bear hugs, she would normally be the first one up and out the door before even the mission brief. But for once all the Tamaranian princess just wanted a good night's sleep. It had been…an eventful day and while not everything had turned out well, she was sure that some much needed rest might help her to face Marrin'r and find out why her friend had changed.
But perhaps she was hoping for too much.
"Titans, Johnny Rancid is currently being chased by police. He's broken into and looted several jewelry stores. It also appears that Wrexzilla has been rebuilt and is attacking both the police and civilians. We need to bring both of them down before they do too much damage. Police reports have them on Main Street," Robin announced over the intercom.
Star was still wiping the sleep from her eyes when Hellfire caught up to her. "Oh, Marrin'r. You do not need to come and help us. We, and by that I mean the Titans, would not want to impose on our guest," she told the girl. But the truth was Robin had made it clear that he did not want their Tamaranian guest any where near the crime fighting and well…she didn't want to see Robin's head, "Pop clear off his shoulders!" as Cyborg had put it.
"I am finding it hard to sleep, so perhaps a little exercise might help. Besides, I would be it would be unwise of me not to repay some of the kindness offered to me by my hosts. So whether Robin likes it or not I shall help you with this Johnny Rancid," Hellfire replied.
Star was shocked. Marrin'r had always been a rather forward person but to disregard a leader's opinions bordered on suicidal. She opened her mouth to contest her friend's decision but Hellfire gave her a look that had the words dying on her tongue.
Raven joined them as they sailed through the Tower's aeroport, a faux-balcony designed for Star and Raven to use for missions. The princess looked down to see both the Titan car and Robin's motorcycle skimming the water. Cyborg had designed the car to have aquatic features that would enable it to travel short distances over water. The success of that had prompted Robin to have his cycle outfitted similarly, since it made no sense to have a strictly land bike on an island.
As they made landfall in downtown, a tremor through the ground and screaming alerted the team as to where Rancid's position was. They were about to move out when Robin finally caught sight of the extra "team member."
"What are you doing here?" he growled.
"I would think that would be obvious. I am here to help take down this Rancid character," she replied.
"No you're not. This is a mission for the Teen Titans and you are not a member." Hellfire raised an eyebrow at his tone.
"I do not recall any time that you forbade me to join you on missions. I would also think your personal opinion should not sway your logic. You have seen some of my fighting and it is obvious I would be helpful in a fight. I can assure you that I have no intention of taking down any of the Titans, but I doubt that my word alone will persuade you otherwise. So I will simply follow you into the fight and do my best to help you bring the criminal to justice," she told him. They stared each other down, equal in their positions.
Robin walked over, until he was very much in her personal space. "This one time. And if I glimpse even a hint of betrayal, I will have you taken down with Rancid. Clear?"
"Crystal." He nodded and hopped back on his bike, speeding towards the crash. The rest of the team followed, though they kept glancing back at Hellfire. Star was happy that Robin was at least giving her a chance but she was concerned that he might take any action as antagonistic.
Rancid sped around the corner, bags thrown haphazardly all over his bike. He was as much a thug as ever, gunning his bike as he tore down the street. It was the big nasty beast that came around the corner after him that was the real threat. How anything that big could stand let alone run without falling over was an engineering feat. Wrexzilla had to be at least fifty feet tall with jaws that would give a Great White a complex. But the Teen Titans had faced off against Rancid before and were undaunted by the steroidal robot dog.
"Well look what we have here," Johnny hollered when he caught sight of the team. "If it isn't the big bad Birdie and his flock of underlings? Come to save the day? Well I hate to disappoint you, but me and Wrex here are going to make sure you get squashed and stay squashed!" he roared over the bike's engine. Robin headed straight for Rancid while the others focused their attacks on Robo-Fido.
"Yo! Wrexy!" Cyborg yelled, blasting him with his cannon. Which did little more than dent the surface and cause Wrex to scratch it. Beast Boy was flying overhead before transforming into an elephant and dropping down on top of it. That irritated the dog, who grabbed the shape shifter by the scruff of the next and tossed him into a building.
"Azarath Metreon Zinthos," Raven muttered. Her energy surrounded a light pole, pulling it from the ground and swung it at the beast, where it was caught it in the massive jaws. But rather than crush it, he wagged his tail before dropping it at Cyborg's feet. Apparently, he saw this as an offer to play fetch.
"For an upgraded killer robot dog, he sure is kind of…playful," Beast Boy said as he rubbed his head. Raven only nodded as Cyborg waved the light pole back and forth, keeping the dog's attention. Star took the opportunity to shoot some of her star bolts at the animal, which again only scratched at them like they were fleas. Irritated, she moved in and punched it right in the head.
THAT pissed him off.
He turned, growling and took off after the Tamaranian. She shot star bolts at him, but all the great dog did was eat them. For all the normality this robot displayed it was rather indestructible.
That was until a red light struck one of the legs, knocking out a knee and sending the monstrosity skidding.
Robin, who'd just gotten a knee in Johnny's chin when he saw the light looked up to see Hellfire hovering over them. She acted indifferent, but commented in a rather loud voice, "I would think that the joints would be the weakest points of impact."
Cyborg smacked his forehead. "You would think I would know something like that," he said, aiming his cannon at one of the back legs. Raven and Star worked on the other remaining limbs while Beast Boy as a gorilla climbed up the dog's side and worked at the screws holding the jaw. Wrex turned this way and that, trying to either shake off or bite one of the offending pests, but it was kind of hard to do when in a matter of minutes, he was now a legless dog with half of his jaw hanging off.
Johnny was circling around Robin when the jaw clattered to the ground. "MY DOG!" he cried, distracting him long enough for Robin put a fist in his face.
The team tied Johnny up and made sure that there wasn't any way Fido would be getting back up anytime soon. Of course, without any legs the only thing he might be able to do was roll over. But just to be on the safe side, they tied him down to the flat bed that was transporting him to evidence. When the police had toted the last of the scraps away, Starfire rushed over and hugged her friend.
"Oh thank you so much! You were of great assistance today!" she shouted.
"Yeah, thanks for the backup," Cyborg added as he and Beast Boy gave the Tamaranian two thumbs up. Even Raven seemed impressed, though her way of showing her gratititude was a simple nod.
But everyone stiffened when Robin cleared his throat. He was frowning as if it was reserved just for her, but it didn't seem to bother Hellfire in the least.
"Seems you did okay. But that doesn't mean I'm going to just let you on the team. We'll test your powers and strengths back at the Tower and then make a final decision," he said. Star was shocked which was quickly followed by elation. She hugged Robin so hard they were pretty sure a couple of bones pop in and out of place. He bent over to catch his breath when she let him go, but not without giving Hellfire a dirty look. "That doesn't mean that I trust you."
She smirked. "I expect no less."
AN: Catching up but damn another plot chapter! There has to be a point where she goes on some mission with the Titans. And to me Johnny Rancid isn't bad enough of a character to warrant an entire arc on his own. He is a one-episode wonder. But I still can't write fight scenes!
Thanks for reading! And please review!