Mia and Karen had to confront the stubborn Detective Lawrence Lance, who got into the case the first hand the moment they saw this particular artifact stolen. Lance got a good look at them as they approached the Star City Museum. However, instead of a mass police surrounding the museum, it was only Detective Lance and his partner.
"Oh, you." Lance said. "Well, we're afraid that our work is done here."
"Detective Lance." Karen said.
"And who is this?" Lance asked.
"Karen Beecher." Karen shook the detective's hands. "I'm the one providing most of the necessary resources for Speedy to operate."
"Oh, so that's where you get your fancy gadgets." Lance said. "Tell me, how about you hand some of them to the police?"
"They're not exactly fond with bows and arrows." Mia said. "Wait, why would you let the peoples come in? There's a crime scene inside."
"Yeah, that's the weird part." Lance said. "Our police officers who got into your call about the stolen artifact managed to come here and confirm about the theft. Some detectives come in to investigate and it's confirmed thievery. Right now, this Red Stone it's completely intact."
"What?" both Karen and Mia shouted.
##
Mia and Karen approached the display where the Red Stone stood for and found the thing completely intact. Red Stone was still inside the display, just as when it was not stolen by the sorceress supreme. The stone was black with an overall glowing red on it. The history said that it was ancient Indian relic, but not relic could come into this magnificent.
"This is insane." Karen said. "Why would the thief returns the stone back?"
"One: she finds out that the stone doesn't worth a dime." Mia said. "Two, she was a hired thief hell bent on finding this stone to give it into an interested party, but the deal went awry and she couldn't find someone who would sell this stone. So she returned it out."
"The whole place was populated with police officers at midnight until the morning." Karen said. "There's no way she's going to get in and out easily, unless if she's using some magic mumbo jumbo."
"And nobody had to notice." Mia said. "The problem is the security systems are probably still active."
"So this is the stone?"
Victor as he approached the two from the back, using clothing that covered up every single part of his body except for his new head.
"Yeah." Mia said.
"You said that it was stolen." Victor said. "How can it be back here with the glass still intact?"
"A deal gone bad, and the thief had to return it." Mia said. "That's just my theory, though. Hey, you're being put together with cybernetic parts. Don't you think WiFi is one of them?"
"WiFi? I'm way beyond than that, girl." Victor said. "I can get to the security system by literally thinking about it. I just hope that some of the... well I'm in."
The Cyborg didn't even have to move something on his hands. He was able to just telepathically communicate with the technology that were around him.
"You're in?" Mia said.
"Yeah. Sorry, I forgot to tell you I'm a technopath." Victor said. "What do you want to find?"
"Can you project what you see into a screen or something?" Karen asked.
"Check your phones."
Both Mia and Karen picked their smartphones up to get a good look on what Victor had on his eyes. The security OS were in there and the interface was about as complex as a 70s government housing project.
"Any ideas on where to look?" Victor asked.
"How about starting off with yesterday?" Mia said. "There should be some footage of the stone returning back to its form."
"Yeah, I got it." Victor said. "Right here at around 5:22 AM. There was a bit of a hiccup for at least 30 seconds before the camera runs back again. Between the two hiccups, things on the display went to normal including the stone."
"Wow." Karen said. "Coming in here alone from the elevator takes a minute and a half. How can she do all of that in 30 seconds?"
"How about reviewing some of her known abilities?" Mia said. "If she did hack in through the computers, she's quite the excellent hacker. But she didn't hack through because the security systems are perfectly intact. While one camera is going to trigger the alarm when disconnected, it won't trigger anything when it was simply being covered by something dark. She can make things dark."
"Okay," Karen said. "And then what?"
"Force field." Mia said. "She is able to generate a force field that protects her from any kinds of attack. Not only that, but she was also a very competent fighter. She took out all of the mercs that came with her in just a few punches and kicks. Probably Wing Chun."
"So this 'magic' is just her backup plan just in case things go wrong?" Victor asked.
"Yup." Mia said.
"Okay, the glass was broke the moment the police came in." Karen said. "How can she get through the glass without triggering the alarm?"
"Simple. She cuts off the wiring." Mia said. "She was making some random cuts with a pocket knife that pulled a guy's trouser down. Judging from the cuts, it only reached his trousers once. How can she drop his pants by cutting off his entire shirt? One conclusion: Telekinesis and a little bit of a cruel sense of humor."
"So she used telekinesis to find the wiring of the glass and cuts it off just like that?" Victor said.
"Yup." Mia said. "If you're going to cut the wire, you need to break through the walls, which unfortunately is going to cause a lot of noise and it's going to take a lot more than just punching to get through it."
"So x-ray telekinesis?" Karen said. "This girl's good."
"Not necessarily." Mia said. "Finding her is actually a lot easier. She's probably going to leave fingerprints inside the stone, which would require us to take in the stone and examine it in the labs, right?"
"Yeah, but I think nobody's going to give us permission." Karen said. "Unless..."
"I got the fingerprints."
Victor interrupted the two girls.
"How?" Mia asked.
"He has ultraviolet vision." Karen said. "It's for quick fingerprinting examination. Now we're just going to need to find out who it belongs to."
"Actually wait." Victor said. "There are two fingerprints: One belongs to a registered person, and one is completely unknown."
"Unregistered?" Mia said. "I bet that's Raven."
"Actually, this 'Raven' is registered as a girl from Keystone named Rachel Roth." Victor said. "You might want to check if this is the person."
"Yup. This is her." Mia said as she glanced at the ID picture of this Raven person. "No freaking doubt about that."
"So we're just going to the address?" Karen said.
"I got the SCPD cameras roaming around the city to check in her last known location." Victor said. "At 7:25 AM, she can be found in the Jackson Street just south of here heading East into the intersection. And then at 7:27, she turned into the said intersection into the north."
"She's heading to the museum." Mia said. "And it's... 7:40. She's already here, but why is she here?"
"Maybe she wants to find out who has been investigating the thing." Karen said. "Whoever is close to the display, she's going to find it out soon enough."
"You're right." Victor said. "So what are we going to do now?"
"We're going to have a visit on her address." Mia said. "Let's do this by night time. After that, I want all of your powers to be ready."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"I haven't been idle, Karen." Mia said. "I know what you and Dr. Palmer do every night."
"What... exactly is she doing?" Victor asked.
"Oh nothing uncomfortable." Mia said. "Going out using two high-tech shrinking suits to fight crime. I believe that he called you by codename."
"Really?" Karen crossed her arms. "What is my codename, then?"
##
"We do have that kind of technology, Mr. Wayne." Silas said. "We're definitely going to send you one. I think it is capable of fighting against these types of aliens."
"Care to inquire me the details of these materials?" Robin asked.
"The materials were made out of a brand new metal that is a thousand times stronger than Titanium and a thousand times more durable." Silas said. "It's called Dilustel, and it's one of the strongest metals on Earth."
"How much power can it take?"
"We have demonstrated it against several C4 explosives with a huge firepower in a contained room." Silas said. "It did not bend a single bit. It would require an atom bomb to explode it into pieces. Therefore, we call it the-"
"The ATOM suit?" Robin said. "I'm afraid that name was already taken."
"Yes, courtesy of Dr. Palmer." Silas said. "I think we should come up into a different name."
"Let's talk about the names later and talk about functionality." Robin said. "How many can you make these armors?"
"At this moment, I can only make one armor. The Dilustel alloys are hard to synthesize and require at least two or three weeks." Silas said. "So if you're going to use this armor, you need to pick the right person."
"It's functional?"
"It's very functional."
"Okay, I'll take that." Robin said. "Send it to me here in Wayne Enterprises."
"That's... we unfortunately have a problem on that sector." Silas said. "This project is under a constant watch of your friend from ARGUS Amanda Waller. You're not going to get it unless if you have her permission."
"Let me do the talking with Waller." Robin said. "You don't have to worry about her. Just put me in contact if she asks about anything."
"Okay, Mr. Wayne." Silas said. "Be careful with her. She's very strict on her operations."
"I couldn't imagine."
Robin closed off his nightly chat with Dr. Silas Stone, one of the most brilliant minds that he knew of. He switched the contact to Penny-2, Julia's codename, and asked her about the progress of the team.
"Penny-2," Robin said. "Any reports on the other group's progress?"
"I bought Stephanie a specialized tranquilizer gun just in case she encounters with the alien again. It's enough to penetrate anything. Let's just hope that it works on him." Penny-2 said. "Tim is still working with Dr. Palmer about other technologies that might help him in this instance other than the big huge armor. I'm still searching for this Conner guy through Stephanie's photograph of him. And guess what, Kory had the chance to use Stephanie's Batgirl outfit."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, she looks gorgeous." Penny-2 said. "You should see her up close."
"Where is she now?"
"She's actually heading your way." Penny-2 said. "Said that she wanted to join in the crime-fighting business. And no, she didn't use the suit. She used that battle armor she came in here with."
"I... well, I don't mind if she can fight." Robin said. "Just tell her to meet up in the Gotham Gargoyles. Try not to fly this time."
"Oh, she's flying whether you like it or not." Penny-2 said. "That's like asking a dog not to bark."
"Okay, fine. She flies." Robin said. "Now do you have any cases?"
"I'll warn you off when I get one." Penny-2 said. "Good luck finding anything interesting tonight."
"Yeah, Gotham's been quiet." Robin said. "Call me when there's trouble."
"You got it, Boss."
Robin closed off the call. In just a short notice, he found the warrior princess himself just right near him, hanging with the Gotham City's most ancient creatures known as the Gargoyles.
"I didn't notice you." Robin said. "I'm impressed."
"I've been through too many espionage missions." Starfire said. "I know how to sneak my way out if I wanted to."
"Well, you're doing a spectacular job." Robin said.
"So this is what you do every night?" Starfire asked. "Watching the city every time some trouble comes in?"
"Yes." Robin said. "That's what I do every single night."
"It's almost like you don't have your own authorities."
"Oh we do have them here." Robin said. "It's just that they were a bit incompetent."
"I honestly couldn't blame you." Starfire said. "In my place, Tamaran had quite the crime for the past couple of years. We had to banish some of the most notorious criminals into the Citadel so that they could give proper judgment to these peoples."
"I thought you said the Citadels were a race?"
"That's the name of the place of the peoples who inhabited it: The Citadelians." Starfire said. "It was outside of the borders of our city. It was called the Citadels because it's nothing but a wasteland where the most savage of peoples consume the flesh of the other peoples that were walking on their empty desert."
"Cannibals?" Robin said. "Christ."
"Outside is a horrifying place filled with horrifying peoples." Starfire said. "The Citadelians were savage beasts than cannot be reasoned or negotiated with. They're evil men praying on the destruction of Tamaran."
"So that's why they're so ill bent on invading you."
"They have a grudge against us." Starfire said. "I don't know why. We have never disrupted them. We have never caused any damage to them. We have tried our best to help them as we could, but they responded with violence."
"Not exactly an appropriate response."
"You have no idea."
Robin sighed. He was just so glad that Starfire was there. At least he had someone to chat to.
"How about the Kryptonians?" Robin asked. "Why were they trying to invade you?"
"I honestly don't know why."
"What, you've been in war about them for like years and you don't know why they're after you?"
"I really don't know. I swear." Starfire said. "If I have to theorize, maybe the Kryptonians are an interested party, or a few men hired by the Citadelians to invade the planet. In return, they will give every piece of technology that we have. Either that, or complete domination of the planet. I don't really know."
"So you're implying that the Citadelians are smarter than that."
"They were savages, not fools." Starfire said. "Their brave hearts and determination are the ones that make them the most dangerous of enemies."
"I see."
"Robin, we got a problem."
"Oh, finally." Robin said.
"Wolvman's Jewelries up at Fashion District." Penny-2 said. "The cameras are offline. Sounds like professionals. You better get there."
"Professionals who couldn't turn the alarm off. Sounds legit." Robin said. " Starfire, are you coming?"
"Of course."
"Then follow me from the back." Robin stood up at the top of the Gargoyle. "Make sure you're able to catch up."
"Robin!"
Starfire shouted as Robin dropped down off of the gargoyle statue head first. Once he got the momentum, Robin opened his glider, growing wings on his back and allowed him to fly in through the wind without any problems. To say that she was astonished by the display was a complete understatement. She had never seen anything like that in the capital, let alone in Palamar.
"Astonishing."
"If you want to follow your boyfriend, now's the right time."
Starfire sighed. "At least I agree on the second part."