AN: Here you all go. The newest installment of Jake's epic saga. Hope you enjoy and sorry for the delay. My phone, witch is where I write this stuph, decided to delete half this chapter last night so I had to rewrite the last half again.
Aliensvspredator5- Yes I too am happy he's back but I wonder if he will after this. As for the relationship, all I can say is. All in due time. Thanks for reviewing and enjoy the show.
DonCossak- I had the same problem with the site. I think it was down for maintenance. Anyway glad you got to wake up with Jake, not literally, that would be weird and scary. Rambling aside, thanks for the review and hope you enjoy.
AGAIN? ALREADY? NOW? FUCK.
Robin squeezed his eyes shut and put his fingers to his temples in a vain attempt to relive the pressure building behind his eyes. The migraine had been building up to its crescendo for the past hour, and now that it had reached critical mass every beat of his heart added to the pulsing pain racking his brain.
Slowly he cracked a weary eye to glare at the cause of the headache. The twenty inch, LCD computer monitor shining at him with the force of a supernova. On it was a document he'd been fighting tooth and nail for over the past four hours. As it turned out the FAA was nothing more than a cocoon of red tape, legal documents, and a whole cluster fuck of regulations.
But the fruit of his labor was sweet indeed. The helicopter that had ferried Jake made a twenty second, unscheduled landing atop a building on the northern fringes of Jump. Thanks to the ever alert radar system he now knew exactly where Jake was picked up from. Now it was just a matter of tracing him back to the Hive BOA.
THAT task however was left to Cyborg and the Department of Transportation's traffic cameras. Something witch he was sure would probably take a few days, and more than a few aspirin. He dreaded what he'd have to do to bribe the half metal teen into doing it, something simple like food maybe? God forbid he'll bring up the whole 'Rocket Ship' idea again. The car was cool but that didn't go into fucking space, the last thing he needed was another run in with the FAA.
His attention was called back to reality by the hiss of air of the door sliding open on the far side of the room. From it floated a sleepy eyed Starfire. "Friend Robin, you really must get some sleep, you cannot live solely on your coffee alone."
He stood from his chair, noting how many time his back cracked in doing so. Seven. The his internal clock was accurate enough to tell him exactly what the actual clock told him. It was fucking late, or rather early. Like two in the morning early. "I know Star. What are you doing up so early?"
"Cyborg awoke me walking down the halls. Quiet as he tries to be, metal feet do not make for stealth." She came to stand beside him looking at the files displayed on the computer. "Do you really think it wise, going after the Hive so soon?"
Robin looked up and away, "I don't know Star. We're so close now and with everything that's been happening lately it's obvious their stepping up their game for something big. Something we haven't seen yet."
Star brought his attention back to her and spoke. "That is concerning yes, but for all we've been through I think we can afford to wait, prepare as best we are able. Plus we've also Jake to worry about. With all Brother has taken from him I believe even letting him near the Hive would be unwise. For both his safety and anyone in his way."
Robin had to give it to the girl, she was sharper than most gave her credit for. "I hear you, but It's a chance we'll have to take. As for waiting, we'll see where our latest lead tales us."
"All I ask is that you keep it in mind, and ensure we are indeed ready before we dive in."
Robin nodded at that, but then his sleep deprived brain realized something, "What was Cy doing, sneaking past your room?" He asked quite intrigued. The only other thing down that hall was a storage closest and… "Damn it. He's in medical observation isn't he?"
Starfire nodded with a ghost of a smile adorning her face. "Yes, he was carrying a camera and when I asked he said he and Beastboy had a welcome home present for Jake. I asked to tag along but he said something about 'guys only' and ran off."
Robin pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, 'then again she's still a little naive'. "We should probably stop them befo…"
A surprised yelp originating from the med-lab shattered the peace around the tower and was followed shortly by, "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU GREEN SHIT!" Beastboys maniac laughter echoed down the halls until a loud thud shook the tower and silenced the green titan.
Robin shook his head and st Starfire's concerned look he had only this to say. "Come on Star, best get some sleep." With that said he shambled off to the waiting comfort of his bed.
The next day as Robin approached the doors to the common room he noticed something. Or rather something that wasn't there to be noticed. It was quiet. The usual pre-breakfast argument was not present nor was the sound of a TV blaring in the background. Something was wrong.
Slowly he reached behind him and unclipped the collapsed staff from his belt. His feet never made a sound as he walked to the entrance, all the while his mind was running over all possible situations. Attack by Hive or god forbid Slade, maybe another alien invasion, or even the slightly less likely but still possible, invasion of geneticly enhanced super hamsters.
But for all the possible reasons for the silence he went over, nothing could come close to what he saw after opening that damn door. An apron wearing Beastboy stood in tears over a plate of bacon, whimpering quietly about the poor little piggies.
Cyborg was up in front of the kitchen dancing what could only be described as 'the funky chicken.' His eyes glaring daggers at none other than one Jake Arius sitting atop a throne of all things. Where he got it was a mystery in itself, why BB was serving him bacon was yet another.
Robin eventually picked his jaw up off the floor and stowed the staff. His mind was still working overtime to process what was happening so his body was content to stay rooted to that very spot in the doorway. It was not until Raven appeared beside him that he once again returned to reality.
In a surprisingly even voice she asked the question he'd been trying to form for the past fifteen minutes. "What in hell's name is going on?"
Jake didn't respond right away, instead taking the time to enjoy the remaining coffee in his mug. After the finally sip he snapped his fingers and Cyborg stopped the 'dancing' and BB threw off the apron he had been wearing. "My humble servants here…" he said motioning to the pair, "Thought it funny to welcome me back late last night. I found the only reasonable reaction was indentured servitude for the day. BB was easy enough, fear is a remarkably powerful tool. And Cy, well lets just say I called in a few favors last night to some people with computers."
"Well quit it, we'll need them both if…" he was cut of by a blaring klaxon and flashed red lights illuminating the computer monitors up in the living area. "If that happens." He finished.
Jake nodded, "Alright, Terminate violent panda protocol, authorization code 37 violet." Cyborg twitched a couple of times before he brought hands to his metallic temples.
"The hell happened? Feels like I was hit by a semi driven by the Hulk." Cyborg looked at the TV up front, noting how the emergency system was activated. He didn't have the slightest clue as to how he got there or why he was hungover. Now add to that a blaring alarm and Beastboy's stupid grin and you had one seriously confused robot. "Seriously What'd I miss?"
Robin meanwhile ghosted his way to the front of the room to the computer flashing various reports at him. Jake couldn't remember ever seeing him move but there he stood, barking orders to the team. "Rouge Meta, outside Studio 79. Titans Go!"
In a flash of black and a seconds exposure to the sub-zero shadows later the entire team jumped into existence outside Jump City's only digital recording studio. But that mattered not to the titans, no what they were here for was currently hurtling a car at them at mach three.
Cyborg, slightly quicker to respond than his teammates thanks to his computers for brains, jumped forward, throwing himself into the half-ton projectile. The impact was gut wrenching for the owner of the car to watch, as he ripped through the vehicle like it was nothing more than tissue paper. The aftermath consisted of two easily distinguished halves of the car skidded past the recovering group of teens.
The domino masked leader stood from the dust to take in the situation. There was but one threat, a single man looking about in his mid-twentys. His head was shaven, and he was wore a jumpsuit colored drab grey with a golden hexagon printed on the left breast and eight digit number on the right. Immediately his brain responded to the recognizable portion of the outfit. The Hive was present. "Titans Engage!" He cried as he charged.
The team jumped into action without a second thought, with Starfire and Raven flying high while a green Rino and Cyborg charged down the center of the street. Jake and Robin lagged slightly behind the heavy hitters, flanking them in the advance.
The criminal didn't react in the usual manner however, instead of prepping himself for battle his hands flew to the sides of his head. Cradling it, like he was in pain, and with a ear shattering scream he fell to his knees.
Cyborg and Beastboy weren't stopping though and were almost upon him when his eyes shot open and he shouted at the air. "STOP!" From that erupted a wave of energy that flew down the street with speed not known to exist in this reality. BB, and Cy had no hope to dodge it, it was as wide as the street and two stories tall. Jake and Robin barely had time to jump to the safety of the sidewalks before their teammates were sent rocketing past them.
Starfire wasted no time, swooping down to dive bomb the man, all the while raining bolts of neon green energy at him. But as they neared the criminal they were stopped dead by a wall of shimmering energy. He directed an empty stare up at her and cried out again, "JUST STOP IT!" He sounded almost on the verge of tears, but that was lost on the orange alien as a shockwave shot forth and knocked both her and Raven from the sky.
Robin and Jake saw their friends falling from the sky and both bolted like bats-out-of-hell to catch their falling teammates. Jake jumped onto the hood of a semi and leapt off to catch Starfire while Robin ricocheted off a wall to meet Raven mid fall. Jake looked up and nodded his thanks at Robin who in turn, returned it. Meanwhile up the street the man gripped his head all the tighter. After one final blood curdling scream the collapsed to the ground, but instead of passing out his body started to convulse.
"Damn it, he's seizing." Jake called to Robin who was already making his way over to apprehend the unnamed man. He got all of four steps before all hell broke loose. Random bursts of energy exploded all down the street, ripping trees and lampposts from the ground and throwing them in every direction. Asphalt erupted upward as the street exploded, sending cars and Titans flying alike. Jake saw a flash of red hair, followed by a surge of black. The last thing he saw before consciousness left him was a red Nissan sailing toward him.
For Robin even reality seemed to warp as even the air seemed to implode around him. Behind him glass from the surrounding buildings exploded outward to join the variable tornado of debris flying around the street. He could barely make out the sound of a groaning metal as even the buildings contorted in ways they were never meant to.
Then as quickly as it all started it was over. Dirt and debris fell like rain all around the warzone. He brushed some dust off his shoulder and stood to examine the damage done. Surprisingly he was relatively unhurt. Only a small cut on his forehead trickling a tiny stream of blood was what he could feel.
Then his eyes gazed over the original threat, the man lay motionless on an undamaged island of asphalt in the center of the street. Slowly he felt his belt and retrieved his comm unit. "Check in, all Titans check in."
The first voice that broke through the static was that of Cyborg. "Cy here, BB's out but alive, no serious injury detected. We're on our way back now"
Raven's trademark monotone was the next to sound off. "Raven reporting in. Nothing worth mentioning to report."
"Friend Robin, I am unharmed, but I lost Jake in the explosion." Came Starfire's tired voice.
Finally Jake decided to rejoin the land of the living and add his voice to the team radio. "Jake here…" the dust in the air sent him into a coughing fit that burned his lungs. "… got a great view of a red Nissan shitbox. I might be a little late getting back."
Robin looked around for the red car, but found nothing in the wreckage that once was a street. "Raven, see if you can find Jake. He seems to have gotten lost again."
"Acknowledged." The monotone responded.
With his team accounted for he moved to secure the unconscious crook. But as he neared the unmoving body he sensed something amiss. His eyes were wide open and held no life in them, also missing was the rise and fall of his chest indicative of breathing. He keyed a command into his comm, automatically sending the request for EMS personnel at his locale.
He knelt by his side to take a pulse but as he examined the mans neck something immediately stood out. Where as the rest of his skin was a pale grey one patch was a bright red. On the left side behind the jaw was a circular patch of red, and the cause was clearly displayed. Twenty five needle track marks poked into his skin, some still bleeding from a recent injection.
Finding no pulse he stood and looked back at his team, limping up to his side. Cyborg with a still unconscious BB over his shoulder and Raven helping to support an injured Jake. Starfire floated down to his side and looked back st the body. "Is… is he…"
"Yeah Star, he's gone." He sighed.
Jake's eyes narrowed as he saw the corpse. "He wasn't a Hive operative." He observed. "You catch the injection site." He stated more than questioned already knowing Robin found it.
"Yeah, almost looks like an experiment. We'll look into it after the autopsy." He responded.
The sound of an approaching siren cut off whatever would have been said. Instead they sat in silence, all pondering what this meant. What was the Hive up to, and why was one of their experiments out roaming the street?
They each delivered their reports to the police and left. Still no one said a word. No one knew what to say.
AN: So worth the wait? Little bit of plot, little bit of action, and a little funny. All in all, what more could you ask for?