A/N: You guys! There's only seven chapters left of this story :0 wow, I can't believe I'm actually going to FINISH a story. That's just wow. Wow because I have so many um *ahem* unfinished stories on here…heh oops. BUT I'M EXCITED FOR MY OWN TEEN TITAN SERIES TO START! YAY! AND I'M ALSO EXCITED BECAUSE I'M GOING TO SEE TOMORROWLAND TODAY! YAYAYA! THANKS TO LIFE28041FOR FOLLOWING AND FAVORING THE STORY! THANKS TO MY DAYDREAM WORLD FOR FAVORING THE STORY! AND THANKS TO KILLERBREAD FOR FAVORING THE STORY! AND THANKS TO VANESSA ISAACS FOR REVIEWING! HOPE I DIDN'T FORGET ANYONE! IF I DID, LET ME KNOW!
Chapter 9: The Abandoned House
The Titans coughed as the smoke continued to spread through the warehouse until it died down after a few minutes. When the smoke was cleared, it revealed a expressionless Raven, an angry looking Cyborg and a curious Beast Boy.
"Well…that went swell." Raven replied in her usual monotone.
Cyborg growled in anger and he smashed a nearby pillar. "I can't believe I let him trick me like that!"
Raven glared at him. "There is no point in kicking yourself. It happens to every team. If we truly want to capture this thief, we need to stop losing control over our emotions and try something new."
"Well that's easier said than done! How about you try and come up with a trap that will actually capture the criminal!?" Cy shouted, his blood boiling with anger.
Raven twitched. "I'm not saying that your plans are failures. In fact, your traps should've got that criminal by now—"
"Obviously we didn't."
Raven glared at him. "However, this robber is obviously way smarter than any of the criminals we had ever faced. It's like he knows our every move and he has an intelligent mind. He can whip up a plan in a heartbeat. What we need to do is—"
"Uh guys…where's Starfire?"
The sudden voice from Beast Boy made Raven to stop talking and she tore her gaze away from the angered Cyborg and she just now realized that Star wasn't here.
Cyborg looked left and right as though he was searching and then widened his eyes.
"No…"
:(/\):
Starfire struggled as she tried to get loose. This only made Robin to sigh as he stared at her.
"Give it up, will you?" Robin replied, shaking his head.
"NO! I will not give it up until I am free!" Star snapped at him.
Robin raised one of his eyebrows before returning back to his normal expression.
"And trust me when I do get out, your evil ways will be put to an end and my friends will put you in jail!" she exclaimed, trying to bend the bars.
Robin studied her as she still tried to escape even though it was futile and she knew it too…whether she wants to admit or not. The thief shook his head at the complication Starfire is making it on herself.
After a few more silence, Robin finally decided to ask. It had been bugging him this whole time.
"Why do you care so much?" he suddenly asked.
Star continued to struggle only to stop at the sudden question. This caught her interest and stopped what she was doing so she can look at him.
"I do not understand."
"What I mean is…why do you care so much about your friends? Is it worth putting your life on the line for them?"
Star widened her green eyes then realized that Robin had never truly had friends…
"I care about them very much. They are my friends. They mean everything to me. I would die for them. One day when you choose the right path and have friends, you will know as well." she answered.
That left Robin to be deep in thought.
:(/\):
"Man, I can't sense her trail." Beast Boy replied, changing back to his human form. "It's like she disappeared without a trace."
They were still in the old warehouse, trying to find any clues on where their missing Titan could be.
"Well I will say one thing. Robin sure knows how to hide the trail." Cyborg replied after clicking buttons on his scanner.
Raven stopped walking and raised an eyebrow. "Robin?"
Cy stopped what he was doing and smiled sheepishly as he sweat dropped. After that, Raven and Cyborg resumed working until Beast Boy pricked his ears up and started to follow…whatever it was that caught his ears attention. He then morphed back into a blood hound to get a better sense.
"Hey guys! I think I found something!" the changeling replied after a while.
Upon hearing his voice, the other two Titans looked at each other then ran to their fellow teammate.
"What is it, B?" Cyborg asked.
Beast Boy, who was currently in a crouching position, moved his hand to what it looked like a piece of clue.
"I don't know but this either a part of Star's hair or a part of Robin's cloak." he answered, picking up the evidence.
The animal shifter handed to Cyborg so he can have a good look at it. After a few minutes of silence—minus the sound from Cy's scanner—the two Titans waited for his reply.
"Well?" Raven asked after a while.
He tore his gaze away from the scanner and placed on a smile. "I think I know where our little thief captured Star."
:(/\):
After many minutes of staring at Starfire who was still trying to escape (this greatly amused Robin), Robin gave up and walked towards her. While she was still here, he might as well have fun.
Star continued to struggle with the bars until she gasped when she felt Robin's fingers grab her chin and he pulled her forward.
"You know…" Robin started, placing on a sly smile. "I think its only fair that you and I should go out on a—"
Angered, Starfire charged up her eyes and shot her lasers at Robin. Robin gave out a grunt as he flew back until finally reached the ground only to skid on his shoulder. It was then that he finally came to a halt.
"I will not." Star responded.
Raising an eyebrow, Robin got up and brushed the dust off his suit.
"And why not?"
"Because you are a horrible man that steals things. You are a mean man and it's also your fault that my friend, Cyborg had gone mad."
Robin quirked an eyebrow. "Mad?"
"He has been losing his temper lately and it's all because of you."
"Temper…?" he blinked then widened his eyes in realization. "Well I mean…I didn't know he loved me that much."
Frowning, Starfire charged up. "When I get out of this, I will make sure that you set things right before Cyborg truly loses his sanity."
Robin narrowed his eyes. "I can't make things right. It's him and him alone. I didn't ask for him to be obsessed in catching me. He did this to himself and if you guys are lucky, you can try and talk him out of it before it comes a real problem. Trust me, I know."
Star was still having a hard to believe him until she realized that he was right so she let her powers to fade away, making Robin to be relieved.
"Perhaps you are right. But every time we do, he keeps on being angry." Star sighed.
For a moment, Robin's face had softened until he went back to his normal emotionless face. He stared at the saddened Titan and just by looking at her, many thoughts started to come into his mind. With that, Robin began to walk to her.
"Star—"
He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence at all because out of nowhere, a familiar blue streak shot Robin from the side which made to be blasted off his feet. This made Starfire to be alert as she charged herself up just in case.
"You might wanna get away from her." the voice replied.
Upon hearing the voice, Star lowered her guard and squealed with delight.
"Friends! You have come!" she squealed.
Out of the shadows, four figures emerged and it indeed showed the Titans.
"So you did." came the blunt response. Robin got up and brushed off the dust from one of his sleeves.
Cyborg narrowed his eyes. "Now I'm going to tell you this again. Either you come quietly or we're going to do this the hard way."
Robin plastered a crooked smile on his face. He studied Cy's face and there was a mixture of determine and anger in his eyes.
"Aww, are you still mad about the fact that I made you a fool?" taunted Robin.
And because of that simple taunt, it pushed Cyborg's buttons. "TITANS GO!" he yelled, irritated.
He then blasted out his sonic cannon which Robin dodged. Robin again dodged when Cyborg brought his two fists down in attempt to crush the thief underneath them but that failed. While the two boys were fighting, Raven looked to the side to where Star was being held captive.
"I think we should help out Star." Raven responded, gaining Beast Boy's attention.
"Agreed."
Grinning, Beast Boy transformed into a mighty animal—a T-Rex to be exact and charged at the prison in which Star was being held in. Seeing this, Star leaped backwards for just in case. When the time came, Beast Boy rammed his head against the bars only to be proven that it was futile.
:(/\):
Robin struggled, giving out grunts as he tried to escape the tight grasp from Cyborg as he had once again wrapped his arms underneath Robin's arms.
"Seriously? How many times do we have to go through this? Give it up, little man." Cyborg replied, obviously enjoying at the sight of Robin struggling underneath his grip.
"No way, tin man." Robin replied through gritted teeth.
Cy sighed. "So…have you thought about our offer to you?"
Robin winced. "I already told you. I don't do teams. I work alone."
Cy frowned. "What's so bad about working with teams?"
"What's so bad about not working with teams?"
Cyborg growled at the retort.
"Well I mean. Take a look at it this way. You will have friends. Friends who will be there for you. Friends who will support you no matter what the situations are. And friends will be there for your funeral."
"Well that's totally looking at the bright side." Robin muttered, grunting as he felt one of his arms being twisted in an awkward angle.
"I'm just saying. Why go the lonely path?"
"It's a lot complicated than it looks, wise guy."
Robin gave out a yell when Cyborg brought him up which made his arms to be pulled backwards.
"I'm being serious here. Either take our offer or suffer the consequences." Cyborg then paused as he placed a mischievous grin. "Or you know…if you join our team, you can have…you know some quality time alone with Starfire."
Robin felt his face being heated up at hundred degrees and he felt his heart pounding against his ribcage. Cyborg chuckled, noticing his reaction.
"Come on. You didn't think we wouldn't know? You have a thing for her."
"How about you mind your own business before I destroy you?!" Robin exclaimed.
Cyborg looked down. "I don't know how to tell you this but…you're kind of at a low disadvantage here…"
Robin gave a crooked smile. "Wanna bet?"
With that, Robin performed a one powerful punch at Cyborg's back with the use of his heel. This caused Cyborg to lose his grip, making Robin to use this chance to quickly perform a forward somersault then immediately got up to his feet. He skidded a bit before coming to a halt. He then went to his fighting stance.
"Looks like you lost your grip." he replied with narrowed eyes.
The half robot gave an unimpressed look as he got up. He then raised one of his eyebrows, slowly moving his eyes to another side before he returned to Robin who was ready to fight.
"Yeah but at least I would be the last man standing." Cyborg stated, earning a confused look from Robin.
"Huh?" Robin replied, confused.
Without a warning, a familiar green starbolt struck at Robin's side which sent him to fly off his feet.
Robin swiftly did a back flip then landed on his own two feet. Cyborg's remark made sense now. Ahead of him were Raven and Beast Boy but behind the two Titans was Starfire who was charged up and was ready to strike.
"Your security for the prison was hopelessly out dated." Raven replied.
Eyes narrowed, Robin looked at the side and saw that the control stand was broken which meant that the bars of the prison was gone.
"Doesn't matter anyway." came the response from Robin.
Robin gave a look at the three Titans then at Cyborg who had an expressionless face. With a one last look at Cyborg, Robin went a few steps backwards before he did several back flips then went through a window, vanishing out of sight…
A/N: Huh…I wouldn't say that was a bad ending…but I wonder, I wonder *insert grin* why does Cyborg keep on trying to have Robin on their team? Heh…all answers will be answered =D see you!