Chapter 05: visiting hours
Titan's tower garage, early morning
After a reckless but remarkably executed parking maneuver by cyborg, all titans jumped out of the car and into the elevator directly in route to the main living room and kitchen area, except for one titan, robin, who through the most part was walking leisurely towards the elevator.
Cyborg, being the cool guy ready to prove he's even cooler, was now cocking his weapon ready to confront whatever or whoever invaded their home and base of operations.
"well, nice of you to join us ms. Daisy" came cyborg's trademark wit laced with small amounts of sarcasm.
"Cyborg, you can retract your weapon, I have a pretty good idea on who it is"
While pressing on the elevator button, beast boy threw his two scents in, "oh great care to elaborate to those who don't run on the speed of thought?", the next thing that happens before robin starts explaining, really boasting and expostulating, beast boy feels raven's heavy foot crushing his.
Well, first of all did anybody witness signs of forced entry?….. taking the silence to go on he does exactly that, further more our usual rouges gallery cannot break in because they'll need to know our security systems, our unusual rouges gallery do not linger in one spot if their objective was sabotage or espionage…. robin pauses to make sure everyone listens while he catches a small exchange from raven and beast boy now nursing an injured foot.
"what's the big deal?" raven only replies with
"first, your whines starts to annoy, second, take your pick, a swollen foot or a concussion?
"A swollen foot doesn't sound bad given the options"
Robin audibly clears his throat, "lastly a 'what' no matter what size will still do damage no matter where it roams, so by elimination it leaves us with a 'who' at this moment the elevator doors open up for robin to see Mr. Wayne preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
Robin now visibly perplexed notes this to himself.
' figures the only guy who can bypass our security systems, is the one guy who provided a good chunk of them'
Without much of a second moment to lose robin steps forward towards the visitor currently making full use of the kitchen. "Mr Wayne, as much of an honor it is for us to make a visit, what exactly are you doing here?"
Mr Wayne absentmindedly answers the opposed question, "making waffles for breakfast" while still focusing on the task at hand. Robin now mentally wishing to face palm himself after hearing that recomposes himself and continues.
"Of course besides the obvious", Mr Wayne now visibly giving a genuine smile towards robin answers the following, "I came bearing Intel and knowledge that could prove useful, should you choose to accept it?" robin now in a state of silence gives him a grateful nod and approaches him until he can talk to him within earshot.
"Any chance you could relay this Intel to me in private?, I never shared our secret with them". Mr Wayne now assessing the situation follows up on the line of conversation
"Why I never taught you to distrust the people closest to you, have I?". robin a bit apprehensive about how to answer it just right says, well believe it or not it wasn't just my secret to share so I did it out of respect towards you" Bruce now pleasantly surprised and touched by his former's student and crime fighting partner's devotion and loyalty decided to pose the ultimate question.
"What about your girlfriend?, Starfire I believe her name was, what have you told her about your other identity?" remarkably robin wasn't caught off guard, actually it looked like he was hoping Bruce will ask that.
"She did ask about that, and I told her what was reasonable to say", Mr Wayne now giving him a look that said 'go on'
"I told her that if I she wants to call me by a different name, she can simply call me Richard"
Pleased with the answer Bruce continued, very well you have my permission to share our secret with your current family, and so Mr Wayne went to join the other titans near the kitchen table while the others now visibly relaxed continued as per usual, but not before dispensing some free advice.
By the way, guests aren't supposed to make and serve their own food, uninvited or otherwise, robin genuinely relaxes and relents while signaling Mr Wayne to continue,
"Oh and that goes without saying you should do grocery shopping more often, some of the food around here is spoiled"
Robin now internally grinning, 'some things will never change'
A.R.G.U.S prison air transport, undesignated u.s air space. 12:00 hours
'some things will never change, it's a tired old line yet non the less it holds true, people naturally assume that due to the nature of my work, I'm dealing with an eclectic bunch of character, I know better they are all just one type… assholes'
From inside the cargo haul three very familiar enemies of the teen titans now awake from heavy sedation giving them migraines, nausea and various degrees of motion sickness. They are by order from shortest to tallest, Gizmo the techno nutcase, the ever so elusive Red X and Adonis, the brute simple as that, all currently unrestrained and unharmed. Gizmo the ever so lovable socialite of any bunch never missed an opportunity to break the ice.
"I don't know about you idiots, but whoever decided to leave us unchecked has got to be the biggest fucking moron in the known universe", stressing a forced laugh to pat himself on the back while trying to access a useful gadget to escape from wherever the hell he is, unfortunately his suit was limited with in it's own responses, this made Gizmo visibly angrier than before.
"You were saying?" Came a very confident smug and indifferent voice, Gizmo like a little maniac hyped up on caffeine, tried to locate the source of the voice only to realize it belongs to Red X now facing him face to face, well face to face plate anyway.
"anyway, what would you have done with your toys little man?, try to blow a hole and escape?…. maybe you didn't noticed pewee but we're currently on a very loud cargo plane and only god knows where."
Gizmo now riled up and ready for a fight replies, "well since you're a smart guy, figure it out already….. I'm claustrophobic", that last bit was said in a muttering whimper"
"He would have figured it out, if you just shut the fuck up for a sec", now came a third voice from the far side of the cargo bay, now identified as of now the barely moving Adonis, "in fact why don't you both shut up, you're both a pain in the neck". meanwhile a fourth member has just walked by them, as though he was checking into the Ritz with three sets of parachute and an unnerving grin
That fourth member of the group was none other than the monarch of mayhem, the homicidal artist and the clown prince of crime, the joker, however he got no reaction from his audience, only a group of faces trying to rival his non existing complexion.
However that didn't discouraged him one bit, on the contrary he relished this new found silence to begin, "is there something on my face?" came an eerily quiet and calm voice out of the epitome of loud, flamboyant and kitsch. Gizmo now visibly a nervous wreck began talking like a neurotic, it's your face…. but I thought you never leave Gotham, so what in the name of holly hell are you doing here.
The joker having just met the pint sized midget, wanted to punch his face in, but instead chose to troll him. "enjoying the view"….. now any other questions?, preferably sensible ones, emphasizing the last part just to see Gizmo pop another blood vessel.
Red x now losing his patience of pointless and tedious banter tried to redirect the conversation back on course, "not that I don't enjoy watching pricks lunging at each others jugulars, but can we concentrate on the who's and why's", joker now shifting his eyes on Red x has started to clap, "I admire your direct approach so allow me to return the favor" by now everyone was paying attention. " we were 'recruited' by one ms amanda waller, a top level bureaucrat on the behalf of the u.s government…. as for the why, well it's to kill a few people who crossed our paths in some capacity or the other… the group known as the teen titans". at this point in the conversation Gizmo and Red x were now showing great interest in the spiel however Adonis decided to grow a brain to go along with his balls.
Pass, no offense to you freak, but why the fuck would I kill the titans for some bitch who doesn't have the manners to talk to us in person?, any one other than the joker would be taken a back at such backlash, but not him, he actually started laughing his head off which made Red x tense up while Gizmo started pouring cold sweat.
"Way to go numb-nuts you just pissed off a psycho", as quickly as a whiplash effect the joker stopped laughing, his grin never leaving his face, no he didn't piss me off, he just gave me a good excuse to use Waller's trump card, the joker very slowly, almost to a dragging effect produced a dual com link out of his sleeve almost like a clown in a magic act, he positioned it in his ear and gave the following order, "fry the bastard wearing the tin cans for a suit". before any of the other two could figure out what was about to happen, Adonis felt a painful jolt of electricity running through his skull into his entire body, not to mention that he was wearing a skeletal version of his mechanic suit, acting as lightning rods leaving his body char coaled like an over cooked steak in a matter of minutes.
The joker now the only one who hasn't lost the color from his face, stepped uncomfortably close to Gizmo, " oh and by the way 'little gadget', I take offense to the derogatory term psycho, honestly do you imagine me to be a cross-dresser?, now unless anyone wants to add cannibalism into their rep sheet, let's behave like good little savages and throw this lump of meat into a free fall".