The four Titans approached the silhouetted figure with stealth and care. Inside Syntech Industries' lab, a silent siren had gone off an hour before, alerting the Titans to the presence of the intruder. The Titans understood the need for surprise; the figure standing at the computer consoles had any number of escape routes, and should the Titans come charging in, he could easily escape.
Robin, crouched behind a preservation tank, whispered to Cyborg, "What's the reading on your sensors?"
Cyborg turned to Robin, his artificial eye glowing red. "He's wearing some sort of suit. It looks like armor; not just the ordinary villain costume. This could get interesting."
The silhouette was handling a number of large vials. The liquid inside glowed a fluorescent blue. The figure seemed to consider whether these vials were the ones he sought before placing them inside a shatter-preventing case. As he turned to the door, the Titans emerged from their hiding places.
"Stop!" Robin commanded. He whipped his staff out from his utility belt, and it snapped to full length. The other Titans likewise readied themselves for battle.
At this, the armored figure laughed, a laugh almost genuine in its tone, though distorted by the helmet he wore.
"Why?"
"You have no right to be here, especially since you're stealing. I am hereby placing you under arrest. Surrender or we'll be forced to take you down!" Robin pivoted his feet to a combat stance and readied his bo staff.
"Take me down? I'd like to see that." The helmeted figure advanced toward the team. "So, if you don't mind, I'll just be going now."
"Not a chance. Titans, go!" Robin leaped into action that suited his words, whirling the long metal staff around his head before swinging it at the intruder.
The expected collision between staff and enemy never occurred, for as the metal pole sliced through the air, the intruder suddenly vanished, only to reappear at Robin's left, already aiming a punch at his midsection. It connected with astounding force, hurling Robin to the opposite side of the room, where he smashed several lab benches' worth of equipment.
Starfire aimed several starbolts at the mysterious man, only to have every single one dodged in rapid succession. The burglar then leapt high into the air, spinning into a kick that missed her by less than an inch. He came down lightly, intercepted the lion-form Beast Boy's attack with a roundhouse kick, then blocked Cyborg's incoming barrage of punches. He grabbed the last one, then spun quickly, throwing Cyborg into the recoverd and charging Robin. Both Titans crumpled to the floor.
Starfire unleashed green energy from her eyes, but to no avail; the intruder was far too fast. In fact, as she watched, his movements seemed a blur; he moved too fast for the eye to follow. Beast Boy, after quickly morphing into a gorilla, swung at the enemy from behind, only to have his punch go over the thief's head. The thief then aimed a powerful reverse elbow strike at the green simian, smashing into Beast Boy's abdomen and causing him to assume human form. A quick flick of the intruder's wrist, and Beast Boy was flying toward the other Titans, hitting Robin.
The intruder then dashed to the exit. "Smell you later," he sneered, then quickly vanished into the shadows.
Robin, now standing, pounded his fist into his palm in frustration. "What was that?" he asked, of no one in particular.
"I don't know, dude, but he sure kicked our butts." Beast Boy was rubbing his head, and from the expression on his face, he wasn't just doing it for his own amusement.
"Man, I don't even know how he did it! Nobody's that fast! He was faster than Robin, stronger than me, and seemed to know every single one of our weaknesses. How did he do it?" Cyborg demanded.
Starfire floated up next to Robin. "Perhaps we should return to the Tower and commence the review?"
Robin sighed. "Let's go, team. We failed on this one. Time to see how we can turn it around next time."
The intruder returned to his own laboratory that night, gleeful at his theft of the blue vials. "With these," he muttered, "I can upgrade my armor even further. Those pitiful Titans wouldn't have stood a chance if I hadn't gone easy on them." He extracted the entirety of the blue substance from one of the vials, then placed it into a distiller. The blue liquid began to bubble and boil, until nothing but a silvery-black metallic liquid was left. This, the figure began to painstakingly mold and mix with other chemicals, working feverishly through the night….