Ambush

Alright, so there was a sudden change in plans. Wonder Girl had been feeling that things had been going well, too well. Whenever things were going your way, the world had to see that as wrong and do something about it.

Well, screw you world, that wasn't going to happen on her watch.

Her lasso was back in hand and twirling in the air. Her eyes were wide, trying to take in everything happening and making sure she wasn't missing anything. She wasn't one for calculations, but she was doing some as the guy with the shield was heading straight for where Red and the girl with pink hair—Jinx—were.

Her wrist flicked, the loop of the lasso flew out and snagged shield guy. Her arm was already pulling back, the loop shrinking until it tightened around her target, and then superstrength did the rest as he was jerked away and towards her. The guy passed by her and only then did she call the magical rope back. Don't ask her how it works or how she does it, it just…it just did. The lasso released the sap and slithered back through the air to her hands, leaving its released captive to land and slide against the floor.

To his credit, he flipped back onto his feet, and quickly found where she was, foot still on top of Gizmo. To face him, she did a heel turn, and accidentally dug her heel into the midget, who gave her a piece of his mind until she pressed down a little. Hmm, she was going to have to do something about him because she did not trust Gizmo to not try to pull something.

Shield guy was standing tall, glaring her down. "You just made a powerful enemy, girl."

"I did that last Tuesday," Wonder Girl quipped back. "What makes you so special?"

Shield guy snorted. "You think you're clever. Cleverness won't help you against Private Hive."

The name…was that the best he could come up with. Gizmo was a bad enough name, but it was miles above…Private Hive. Whatever.

"So not a major? A lieutenant? I gotta face the bottom of the barrel? At least try to fight better, because that name sucks." Her foot lifted off of Gizmo, but moved back and down, her toes hooking under the small body and lifting, throwing Gizmo up into the air. Pinned metal legs were torn out of the pack as the small guy flew upwards, giving out a cry, and then the next thing he knew, he was tangled up in the gold and red glowing lasso.

With one last flick of her wrist, the armored blonde tossed little Gizmo away without a second thought then braced herself as Hive here came charging. Good luck getting out of that lasso. Private Hive led off his attack with a war cry, pulling back then throwing his shield-holding arm at her.

She blocked with a gauntlet then held her ground while the private here pushed against her. Armored feet dug into the tiled floor, and Wonder Girl applied her strength and pushed back. Hive skidded back, booted feet screeching. With a snarl, he raised his shield arm up then threw it forward, the shield flying like one of Red's birdarangs.

Her arm came up, armor rammed into the shield and sent it off course where it impaled itself into a wall. Hmm, there had either been some strength put into that throw, or her ricochet was what was responsible.

Hive wasn't about to let her savor the moment, though. A yellow-gloved fist tried to deck her, but she had seen faster from Starfire. She took a couple steps back, dodging each punch whether they came from a side or as an attempted uppercut. His body language was so loud, she realized, and all his attacks were clearly telegraphed.

It was simple enough to parry one such blow and offer a jab of her own right back, getting Hive in the stomach and forcing him back while she went on the attack. Armored fists went flying, and now the private was using his arms to block or parry, which was not a shabby job there.

This guy had some training, would be better than most people on the street, but he had nothing on the training Starfire was putting them through, and it was really showing itself right now. Like, take this, he was trying to deck her from the right, but it was a feint, a hit that was suppose to miss, while he readied to kick out at her side. She was already reacting and blocking, keeping the leg from fully lashing out.

With a push, Hive was knocked off balance, and he stumbled ungracefully, trying to keep from falling. Wonder Girl surged forth, a fist clenched, and throwing a punch that decked him—successfully—for a change. His head snapped to a side, and then the rest of his body followed. Landing on the floor, he slid against it until coming to a stop.

Yes, in case you were wondering, she held back some of her strength. The last person she had hit without holding back had ended with a lesson of sorts, including a line that must never be crossed. To prove it, Hive lifted a hand and rubbed it against the side of his head without getting up off the floor. So, he was still conscious, just thrown for a loop.

His slow recovery time gave her the small chance to think about how easy this was going. The unexpected arrival was a surprise, but then no real challenge had followed. You'd think the guys who showed up with those thieves turned hostage takers would be tough. Speaking of, she glanced over her shoulder and spotted Gizmo still tangled up, but squirming and trying to get out. He wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

Back to Hive, that guy was starting to push himself up, so round two was about to start. Now she had a few options here: take him down hard and fast or let him tire himself out. You know, she didn't have the patience for the second, so let's go with the first. That way she could bring this fight to a quicker end.

Hive was back on his feet, and now grace was over. The armored blonde pushed with her feet and went into a headlong charge.

This was not going to take long.


Wonder Girl taking on the man with the shield meant that someone else was going to take his place, and for Red Robin it involved the one who glowed like lava. Was it a surprise when that one leapt off the second story flooring and blasted a stream of fire at him? A little, but hey, at least it wasn't actually lava.

Activating the electric current, his cape hardened and he brought it in front of him to take on the brunt of the flames. Heat scorched around him, and the temperature was going up. The teen vigilante backed away, not only to find a cooler area but to put some space between himself and Jinx.

Jinx was in no condition to take care of herself, not when Beast Boy was keeping her under wraps by throwing off all balance and orientation. She'd get burned too, and while he was not on the best of terms with her, putting it lightly, this wasn't the kind of harm he wanted to visit on her.

Lava man was now between the masked teen and the leader of the tech thieves, so at least friendly fire was possibly out of the question here. A red and orange glowing hand raised and a ball of fire ignited in the palm. Red Robin braced himself and was not disappointed when the first fireball was shot.

His feet dug down and skidded back from the force of the attack. Peeking over his cape, his eyes widened as he saw lava man running at him, both of his fists aflame. Alright, keep in mind everything Starfire taught you—and go.

The masked teen's stance shifted, arms lowering along with his still hardened cape, and he waited until the first fiery punch was thrown. His left arm went up first, the flaming fist striking the cape. The second punch came, and Red Robin ducked under it. The third strike was an uppercut, so pull back. Lava man spun on his heel, swinging his leg out, and up went the teen vigilante's right arm, foot hitting the shielding cape.

Red Robin pushed with his right, lava man went into a jump and as soon as he landed, turned and charged back, returning to punches. Flames tried to lick at any exposed part of the costumed teen, and he blocked with his cape as much as he could to limit as much of that as he could.

Acting before lava man could resume his attack, the vigilante threw out multiple birdarangs. He wanted to keep this guy off kilter and also see how effective long distance would be. Smaller, more concentrated balls of flame were fired out, but the birdarangs were much too fast for all to be stopped.

Two were blasted to piece, but three hit their marks. One hit the shoulder, another the arm, specifically where molten heat emerged as arms, and the last struck the forehead. Lava man gave out a cry, his head snapped back. Hmm, the guy was hot, but not like molten lava as his skin seemed to hint.

Throwing his arms out, Red Robin rushed the guy. Jumping, he kicked out and caught lava man in the chest, knocking him off his feet and onto the floor. That had gone much smoother than it did against Starfire.

Lava guy rolled onto his shoulders, pulled his legs in, then kicked up with them, jumping back onto his feet. Once again, Red Robin rushed him, throwing jabs and punches this time. Lava man jerked left and right, parrying when he could, but one punch landed true against the jaw, and once more lava man's head was snapped to a side.

While not molten like lava, the masked teen felt the heat through his gloved hands. So his costume offered some protection, but it also meant that grappling might be out of the question.

Instead of pursuing further, the teen vigilante leapt back but threw out a bola, one that wrapped around lava man's torso and pinned his arms down. The guy squirmed for a second, as if testing how strong the bola's cable was, then his body ignited in flames. Heat blasted outwards, and even from where he stood, Red Robin could feel the air sweltering.

Once, he might have panicked. Pulled away and try to come up with some last ditch effort to score a near impossible win. But this was after the formation of the Titans. This was after Blackfire, the return of the Kalanorians, and the lies of Thanagar. This was after many painful training sessions with Kori.

He slipped out one more birdarang and threw it out.

The throw had been timed to use lava man's own flames against him, in this case blocking his sight. To his credit, lava man caught the birdarang as his flames died down, the remains of the bola falling to the floor, and a molten-looking hand caught the throwing projectile in its flight. It wasn't that bad at all.

Then the electricity poured out of the captured birdarang and a yell quickly became a scream from lava man which was then followed by the collapse. To Red Robin, there was a sense of satisfaction as seeing his new design succeed, and in a big way.

Now to make sure this guy was down and out before heading to the others.


Totally did not mean to do that, and create all that noise, you know, the kind of thing they were trying to avoid so as to not alert the bad guys they were trying to pull a fast one. The others were keeping all the attention on them, though, so Terra hoped they could salvage this.

"Found them!" Kid Flash chirped from beside her, almost causing her to jump. Even after all this time when this guy could pop up right next to you at any second, she still hadn't gotten use to it, but hey, at least there wasn't a minor quake like the first time.

Before the thin blonde could say anything, Kid Flash was already doing his thing, and bringing her straight to the hostage. There was a fraction of a second to move around Starfire who was facing off with some wrestler girl, and then they were in front of the store were all the innocent civilians were being held.

There was that roll down grating stuff that most stores seemed to have nowadays pulled down to block off the major entrances. A lot of eyes were watching them, her, some frightened, some scared, some angry, and a few that had this far off look that was hard to describe. Some began to talk, demanding to be let out, others begging for help, and some who just kept quiet.

It was hard to look at, but these people were why they were here, right?

"Don't worry folks, it's okay!" Kid Flash exclaimed.

A lot of booms and explosions rang out throughout the mall.

"No need to panic!" the speedster continued as he walked—yes, walked—closer to the grating sealing the hostages in, his arms raised as if trying to placate them. He seemed to walk through, something he could do because he could vibrate all the molecules in his body or something like that. She didn't quite understand it. All she needed to know was that he was now inside the locked-off store. "Just taking a look around, be right back in a sec!"

A yellow blur darted about, only vanishing behind hostages and only for less than a second at a time. Terra was barely exhaling when he returned to the front.

"Okay, so the back is really smashed up, roof caving in and all, so we can't sneak them out that way. Got any ideas?" Kid Flash reported, his voice just on the verge of going fast enough to sound like he was combining words again.

There was another loud crash from where the fighting was taking place.

"We get them out but not…um, this way?" she suggested.

"Great idea! How do we do that?" the speedster praised then asked.

He had been at this longer than her, why was he asking for her opinion? Well…they had tunneled in, right? So…

"I could…make a tunnel that gets them out of the building?" the blonde geokinetic suggested.

Kid Flash perked up even more, somehow. "Great minds think alike! So let's get to it so we can start kicking some bad guy ass!"

Okay, they had a plan. So… She looked around, grimaced in the direction of the violence, then came to the first idea of hers that hadn't been asked for yet.

It took a lot of focus, but it was rewarded when an oblong rock broke out under the sliding grate's lock, breaking it easily and crumpling the roll down security measure. It took another thought for the rock to lower back and under the floor, and then she was slipping in through the opening.

"This way!" she called out, slipping around and through the group of hostages and towards the back of the store.

Kid Flash was by her side in no time. "That way's blocked. We're not gonna be able to go out that way. Say, maybe I can starting running some of them—"

"Watch," she commanded confidently, then really started focusing. A much, large, flattop rock broke through the floor, some thinner ones following along its sides. Much like earlier, she let these rocks sink back in but then had them go deeper into the earth, leaving behind a hole. "I'm going to tunnel them back out. Can you make sure everyone follows? I'm aiming for the parking lot."

The yellow and red speedster gave a salute. "I'll hang back and make sure no one bothers ya. Then I'm gonna check on the others and see how they're doing." And like that, he was gone.

Backup. Right. She gave a nod, then cupped her hands around her mouth, turning to the hostages. "Everyone! Follow me! We're getting you out of here! We're going down this hole, so keep your heads down and keep close!"

There were lots of looks being sent her way. While she had been making their escape route and conferring with Kid Flash, the hostages themselves had been gathering behind them. Now that it was just here, she was the sole focus of their attention, if they could ignore Kid Flash's voice joyfully urging others to assemble.

A troubled-looking woman asked, "Is that safe?"

Beating a fist to her chest, Terra did her best to give off confidence. "With me leading? You have nothing to worry about! I got an understanding about rocks and dirt. Unless you want to stay here."

The responses she got to that suggestion were predictable.


Booms tended to get attention, you know? Now, while he had Jinx on the ropes, he couldn't just not find out what was going on. But Jinx was also really nasty business, you know. What to do?

Beast Boy decided to leave, because it was nasty being in an ear. Nastier than he thought, anyways. This was going to be a great lesson for him to clean his out more often. Out he came, returning to his naturally handsome self, and taking stock of the situation.

There were a lot more new baddies around. They were each going their own way, and one of them landed nearby. Looked like a big…guy? An odd color skin that was between orange and brown somehow, and man that was a thick neck there. And the head looked like it was sprouting out of it. Oh, and there was a tail and—those were some funky looking legs there.

The big guy turned to him, and not gonna lie, the guy was ugly. Were those sideburns? They looked like sideburns but they were not doing anything to make him look anything less like puke.

Putting his hands on his hips, the shapeshifter boldly said, "Looking for trouble, pal? I got a thousand different kinds waiting to kick your ass if you are."

The big guy eyed him, his tail giving a flick. Then, he said, "The only trouble you're giving me is with that voice. Stop using it."

Beast Boy blinked. Of all the voices to come out of…whatever the hell this guy was, a British accent was not one of them. Then the insult struck him and he narrowed his green eyes. So what if his voice hadn't lowered that one octave just yet? It was called late blooming, you know! And you know what, why was he letting it go without a snappy quip?

A snappy quip…

Why wasn't he thinking of one?

Oh screw it. He punched a fist into a hand and got ready to make a lunge. Big and ugly didn't take his eyes off of him though he could see some tensing of that big body. Good.

The shift was always quick. He could never quite find the words to describe it. How could you describe putting on and taking off incredible amounts of weight, your skeleton changing, and muscles growing and shrinking, and all of it happening within less than a second? All it took was picturing an animal, any animal, inside of his head, adding some focus and concentration, and then maintaining it while his body did the rest.

A green lion leapt at the big guy, claws extended, fangs bared, and a roar coming out of his mighty jaw. He was one of the great predators on the planet, so this guy, whoever he was, ended up catching and going back and the next thing the shapeshifter knew he was flipping over and landing on his back.

Dude. This totally went against cats landing on their feet.

Rolling back onto his paws, he gave out a snarl. The big guy was already on his feet, still watching him. However, now he was between the shapeshifter and Jinx. Jinx looked like she was getting her second wind. Damn.

Gotta fix this, gotta fix this. He went for a rush, relying on feline reflexes and skills this time. Big and ugly was ready, arms held out in defense. With his building speed, he made a last second decision and shifted once more, a kangaroo that pushed down on the floor and gave a great leap over the ugly dude.

The guy just watched him, not taking his eyes away. As the floor was coming closer, Beast Boy glanced back over his shoulder, and that was why he saw the guy turning around. The guy's tail seemed like it was—oh crap, he was going to use that tail as a whip! Trust him, he understood the posture of tailed animals—and people as well it seemed—and he knew it was going to happen. Trust his animal instincts if you didn't trust him.

His sleek marsupial body merely leaned forward, and his tail stretched up and pressed against his back. Barely scraped by that whip-like tail, and now…

His paws touched down and he made another leap, but this time he angled a shoulder and what do you know, guess who was right in the way. Jinx saw him at the last second, and she wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. The muscles of his body cushioned the impact for him; the same couldn't be said for Jinx who was knocked back like a ragdoll, bouncing against the floor. There, that should buy some time—

An instinctual shift had him go small, and so he missed the sledgehammer of a fist that tried to land against the back of his skull. From a frog, he grew once more and this time he went elephant, his sudden increase in size pushing big and ugly back.

Turning to fully face the dude, Beast Boy pawed at the floor with a pachyderm foot, warning of a charge. Yeah, sure, that was more horses and bulls, but hey, why not give this guy a warning?

Well, not so big and ugly anymore understood the warning and instead of waiting, he comes charging! At an elephant! His legs looked funny, like he was running on grasshopper legs, but you shouldn't underestimate grasshoppers because those guys could jump, just as big and ugly did.

Up he went, and Beast Boy tried to snag him with his trunk. Damn! Barely missed him and oh great, now he was on his back! What was he doing up—oh, ow! OW! He got hit in the back of the head! Right where his skull ended and his neck began! Oh, that was so not cool! There was a second hit, and the shapeshifter decided to mix it up some.

He went small, but had some nice wings to go with the size change. Falcon all the way, and down went ugly dude who landed on his feet with ease. This was getting frustrating here and he was starting to look bad too!

Flapping his wings, he gained some altitude, trying to think of something, anything really. Was this just a bad match for him? No, he would have to make the best of it and find a way to win. He had to. This meant he needed to come up with some awesome plan, then go down there, lay a Falcon Punch or something—oh! Oh! That might be something!

He gave a flap of his wings and angled downward, picking up some speed. Everything below was coming closer and closer and there was big and ugly, waiting to see what he would do next. Let's not keep him waiting!

One more shift, and from a falcon came a rhino, one that had flipped over and was coming down ass first.

How was this for a Falcon Punch?


Starfire regarded the masked female who stood in front of her. Mammoth was no threat now, but here was a recent one. Is the appropriate adjective new?

It was a matter of little meaning. What did hold meaning was the human female's stance. The Tamaranean understood the language of the body, and that language spoke of readiness for battle. The human wanted a fight.

"You. You are the alien." the masked female stated, her voice…different. Oh, was this not another accent? One of the many that differentiated humans?

"I am Starfire," she introduced herself. It was considered polite to give your name, though since this was the thickness of battle, the name of code was more preferable for this situation.

The human regarded her. "I am Pantha."

Was this perhaps another name of code? Very well. "Greetings, Pantha. It is my understanding that you desire to engage in battle. Is there any way that I may dissuade you?"

"Victory over you is why I am here." Pantha's stance became more aggressive, indicating violence would soon follow. "Face me, Starfire. Fight, and I shall grant you an honorable death."

"I wish only for you to stand down lest I visit upon you grievous bodily harm," the Tamaranean attempted to avert the pending battle. She knew that the likelihood of that succeeding was not large, but the attempt needed to be made.

Pantha's lips moved; it took a few…seconds…for the Tamaranean to come to the conclusion that she was being given a smirk. "You may try, but it is more likely I will be the one doing the grievous bodily harm. Show me your power."

Violence would not be averted here, and so Starfire took up a reciprocal stance. The two of them began moving to their respective rights, circling one another without losing sight of the other. Her eyes did not remove themselves from the masked human female, studying the language of the other's body and watching for any opening to seize.

It arrived when the masked Pantha lunged at her. However, fists were not the primary method of attack. No, it was as if this female was trying to grab her. Her orange-skinned hands rose to intercept, and surprisingly, her opponent latched onto them.

The show of force that occurred next pushed her back. This human female possessed strength and was using it to try and grapple…

Oh, yes. It had been a long time since she had engaged in a proper grapple. Blackfire had always been the superior fighter, so she was usually consuming soil. An application of her own strength was enough to stop the pushing, but now the two of them were interlocked by the hands.

There was a strange fabric that covered Pantha's eyes, much like the kind that covered Red Robin's. However, she detected the eyes behind that fabric and she knew they were piercing into her. The scrutiny could be endured—

Without her language of the body betraying her, Pantha's head pulled back then threw itself forward, striking the Tamaranean. A daze fell over her, and then her arms were twisted downward. The masked female's arms were grasping onto her torso, and then she was lifted up and turned over.

There was a sudden sensation of falling and then her skull impacted with the floor. There was much pain and her mind almost became the solid color of black. Strain in her shoulder gave her a sensation to anchor her consciousness to, and now she found herself being placed into a hold, an armlock.

This fighting style was unfamiliar, but she would triumph over it. What would her training amount to if she was defeated here? She had options, ones she did not know if her opponent possessed, but she would be learning soon would she not?

Not all humans could achieve flight, but Tamaraneans could, and so she propelled her body up into the air, taking Pantha with her. Without the restrictions of a surface, Starfire began moving her body in random direction, attempting to throw her masked enemy off of her. Pantha held on, though her hold was not as sure as it was before. The dizzying amount of spins, twirls, and random flexings of her body had not accomplished their goals yet.

A new tactic then. Up she went, increasing speed as she took the pair of them up and to the ceiling. She felt one of Pantha's arms moving around her front, above her chest and close to her neck. The Tamaranean bent forward and continued the ascent, slamming Pantha into the ceiling with as much force as she could obtain.

She heard a grunt in her ear, but more importantly, there was a slacking in the arm that wrapped around in front of her. From behind, she managed to tear loose one of her arms and grabbed a hold of Pantha's. Pulling the limb away, Starfire let the two of them fall, then she overextended the masked female's arm and gave powerful jerk down. Over her did Pantha go, and the Tamaranean felt her own captured arm get pulled along.

There was so much strain in the joints and upper portion of that arm, but with the lower portion, she began to roll and twist until breaking free. Then she completed the throw of Pantha off of her, the masked female plummeting down to the mall floor below.

Without a thought, Starfire flew after her falling foe. Stretching her arm out, she reached and grabbed onto an ankle. Pulling, she changed the masked female's trajectory from down to parallel with the floor below, releasing her grip as her opponent now flew away. She watched as the human female flipped her body about and landed on her feet, sliding back some distance before coming to a stop.

Gliding her way over, Starfire said, "I trust you are not too injured? I did not want to risk too much grievous bodily harm."

There was a second—she believed that was the correct name of the human measurement unit for time—where the body language changed. From one on her guard, this Pantha appeared…was it…surprise? It was gone as soon as it had occurred, and so she wondered if perhaps her eyes were pulling a humorous story on her.

"You know I wish to cause you harm," Pantha said after more time had passed. "Why take action to prevent my harm? You could have ended this fight by doing nothing."

"Perhaps." It took an effort of her will to not close her eyes. Vision was too precious to be removed right now. "But what is the point in victory when defeat comes not from exhausting your every skill and all your strength but from a disadvantage of which you have no control. If you could levitate your body as I do, you would have done so by now. You are flightless as most humans are and you should not be penalized as such."

Her feet touched down onto the floor. They were now on a footing of the same standing. Regard was now being expressed towards her.

"I have too many enemies who wish my death as it is. Why not an opponent who fights not to kill but for the improvement of it?" she continued wistfully. "Why fight to kill when survival is not the prize? In whose name do you wish for me to die for, Pantha? Is it one who you would voluntarily lay down your life for?"

Silence was the initial answer, but Starfire waited patiently.

"You are strange for an alien," Pantha finally said. "But what you say, fighting to improve one's self? That is something I do understand." The masked female's body took up a stance, one that hid its intention of either offense or defense. "Let us do this properly then. Show me the depths of your strength, alien, and I shall honor you with the same."

The Tamaranean answered with a nod of her head, a gesture of affirmation and agreement as she had come to learn. Her body adapted its own stance.

The fighting would resume soon.


The first thing he thought was "party crashers." When he saw his teammates were being attack, that changed to "reinforcements."

These assholes had been lying in wait, and when things hadn't been going well for Gizmo and the rest, now they came out in an ambush.

Like hell Cyborg was going to let any of them hurt his friends. Time to shove a titanium foot up somebody's ass. Before he could go and do just that, he had a volunteer get in his way.

"There's no hiding! I see you!" the moron in a white jumpsuit with the dumbest helmet the cyborg had ever seen declared.

Oh wait, there was some eye symbol on his chest, and the front of that helmet failed at looking like an eyeball. Someone was trying to go with an eye gimmick here.

His right arm transformed into a cannon. "Too bad for you, I can too," he quipped back and fired off a sonic blast. The O-shaped attack barreled down on the helmeted ambusher and this was going to be over so quick.

Hold that thought for a second, because a round, yellow shield flashed into existence and bore the brunt of the sonic blast easily. It was all over in a second and there stood the jackass who was trying to give an evil chuckle but it came out as some kind of irritated giggle. And of course, this shield looked like an eyeball, pupil and everything.

"I can see everything, even what you can do," the asshole taunted, the eye on his helmet lit up with the same color as his shield..

"That so?" Cyborg narrowed his human eye as he made a few adjustments to his arm cannon. While the plan was to incapacitate, that shield was going to be a problem. Enough force needed to be used to break that shield apart, but it couldn't so much it could seriously hurt or kill him. "Did you see this coming?"

His cannon was back up, but it wasn't a sonic blast but one made of energy. The powerful beam did exactly what he expected, which was hit that shield. The explosion was loud and it pushed air all around him. While he shut his human eye, his robotic one kept watch and waited for all the light and smoke to dissipate. He needed to know if the eye guy here was down for the count.

He wasn't. That spherical shield was still up and looking no less for wear. This was a tougher cookie than he thought it would be.

"Is this all you got?" eye-themed asshole taunted. "I should have seen that coming. Oh wait, I did!"

Okay, that was enough. "Dude, knock off the sight puns. They're bad, they make you sound stupid, and everyone hates puns as a general rule. It doesn't make you sound as big and bad as you think they do."

"Bullshit they do!" the now offended asshole yelled. The shielding eyeball now rushed forward, heading directly for him. Cyborg responded with another blast from his arm cannon, slowing it down. Energy was flaring all over that shield, and it kept pushing forward.

If he kept this up, he was going to be hit. New tactics then. He kept up his beam attack while bending his legs at the knees. With a push, he leapt up into the air, shutting off his arm cannon as he did so and the eyeball-themed barrier passed safely beneath him.

Down below, eye guy called out, "You can run all you want, but you can't escape my eyes!" The eye that was prominent on his helmet began to glow red. What came next was a barrage of red-colored orbs the size of his fist and Cyborg brought his arms up to cover his head while the rest of his body took the brunt of it.

He could hear multiple thumps of the energy-based attack hitting him, but so far he was weathering it. All systems were reporting no damage detected so far, but the floor coming closer and closer to him hinted that something more devastating was rapidly approaching. The shock of his feet impacting the floor had him going into a roll to spread it all out.

As he lifted his head, his human eye widened as he saw what looked like that shield this asshole had been using, except right now it was trying to do its best Pacman impression and trying to gobble him up. His arm cannon came up and he fired blast right into it, the Pacman orb filling up until it began wobbling all over, becoming unstable.

The explosion that followed sent him back, titanium feet digging trenches through the floor. There was a strong urge to rub at the only ear he still had, a ringing making it hard to hear anything. But forget about that, where was that pun-slinging asshole? This whole fight was starting to make him look bad.

There was another boom, one that had him finding a rhino sitting on its ass while some lizard was in mid leap getting away from it. Maybe BB over there was having some issues too. Still…wait, where the hell did that asshole with his stupid helmet get to? Little bastard had used that explosion to hide himself. Time to bring up some infrared and see where he had gotten to.

The vision in his robotic eye quickly shifted and he was seeing primarily colors now. With infrared, body heat appeared as red and orange, sometimes yellow, and the colder it got, the more greens and blues you saw. He could see multiple fights playing out, though there was a large area of red and orange where Red was.

Oh, over there. They were fading to greens and blues, but it seemed like eyeball man had a lot of heat. He could follow this trail as it led around…him…

Should have seen it coming, but it was too late as the eyeball-themed shield captured him. Giving a snarl, Cyborg punched at the shield but found the force field was holding up. He threw several more punches, and even kicked in frustration, but nothing.

"I got you now! You can't escape my sight—"

"You finish that sentence and I'm gonna mess your face up so bad it's going to take Batman to figure out who you are," the cybernetic teen snapped, spinning around and throwing yet another useless punch.

"Heh. You're just mad I got you. Aren't you Titans suppose to be tough?" the little asshole sneered.

"Let me out, and I'll show you," he growled back.

The helmet-wearing bastard gave a snort. "Fat chance. I'd have to be real stupid to—"

"Yo! Mind if I cut in?" Kid Flash interrupted, an arm slung around the eye guy's shoulders. Cyborg knew he should be used to this by now, the speedster always showing up out of nowhere, but sometimes he could still be surprised. "It'll just take a sec, I promise!"

Slowly and stiffly, helmet guy turned to look at Kid Flash. "Where—"

And continuing the act of interrupting him, Kid Flash unleashed a flurry of punches that had the bastard's head snapping form side to side, his body jerking left to right, and then coming to an end with a red-booted foot kicking the guy's legs out from underneath him. There on the floor was a quivering body that was still trying to figure out what had hit it.

"Bet you didn't see that one coming!" quipped the speedster.

You know what? He was going to let Kid Flash have that one.

Of course, that didn't change the fact he was still trapped. He gave an experimental punch to see if he could break out on account that the guy who made it was in the middle of recovering from some bodily trauma. No dice, the shield held true. This was just getting better and better, wasn't it?

"You look like you're having some trouble there," Kid Flash remarked.

"That guy knows how to make some force fields. I'll give him that much," he begrudgingly said. "When he comes to, we're gonna have to make him shut it down."

"Why wait?" Before Cyborg could say anything, the speedster was doing that vibrating trick of his. Last time, though, trying to vibrate through a force field hadn't worked out well for the speedster, so how he was going to try and make it work this time was anyone's guess.

Hands that were blurring to the eye touched the shield, and predictably didn't go through. Kid Flash held a hand to his chin, propping an elbow with his other arm and giving the impression he was thinking. He ran around the energy sphere, stopping at random points until he ended up where he started. Giving a nod, he lifted his hands up once more, vibrating them.

He pressed the vibrating limbs against the force field and held them there, keeping them in place until the first wobbling in the barrier could be seen. Next, the speedster was on the other side of the force field, repeating the same action, and once there was wobbling there, he went to a new spot and rinse and repeat. Cyborg watched as in a matter of seconds, the whole shield was wobbling all around him, and it was getting more and more disruptive the longer it went.

Clenching a fist, Cyborg let Kid Flash work his magic and then threw one more punch into the force field, not holding back at all. It did the trick as titanium smashed through and soon the rest was disintegrating.

"Now that was total crash!" the speedster cheered, pumping a fist up into the air.

"Totally," the cyborg agreed. Looking out to the rest of the mall, "But we're not done yet. Let's finish this."