The trip to Central City had been relatively quiet. For most part of it, Robin had flown the aircraft while the rest were either reading or playing video games. There were a few moments when he could hear shouting in the back by either Cyborg or Beast Boy. It was a four hour trip from Jump City but it was one they had to make. At least he did.
The cockpit door opened and Raven came in with a huff. The boy wonder could make out that Starfire's cheers had joined the others.
"Too noisy?"
"As usual," Raven said plopping in the empty copilots chair and dumping the book in her lap with a huff.
"Well, you're free to stay here as long as you want."
Silence reigned in the cockpit again, both friends for long enough that neither felt the need to fill the void. It was actually the violet haired mystic titan that spoke first.
"Why are we doing this again?"
"The Justice League has asked us to investigate a vigilante in Central City that appeared about two months ago. The individual has had enough high profile incidents with criminals that they need to register with the Department of Meta Affairs and get their certificate, just like we had to with the Hero Accords. If they don't, it's going to be really hard to make any charges stick."
"And?"
"They are refusing to so we're going to talk to them and find out why."
Unsurprisingly, just capturing a criminal and claiming they had done something illegal was not well accepted among judges and just beating them up as a warning drew unwanted attention from law enforcement.
The compromise the Justice League had worked out was that all heroes registered and received basic police procedural training so that their evidence and actions would stand up in court. It also made the provision that metas took care of metas. That was why most stayed out of the way when something alien showed up or a super villain attacked. Cops honestly would rather handle the ordinary badguy.
"You didn't answer my question. Why are we doing this?"
Robin sighed. She knew the answer. Raven just wanted him to say it outloud and confirm what his team had already guessed.
"Because Batman asked me to."
"I thought you two were not on speaking terms."
"We aren't...to a certain degree. As much as I'd like to ignore him and tell him where to shove his requests, he was speaking on behalf of the JLA and even though we have our differences, we should at least help where we can."
Raven's eyes darkened. She also had an issue with the JLA and the fact they did nothing to stop her father from coming back and by the time they realized the threat, it was way too late.
"Plus, we all need to stretch our legs. Consider it a mini-vacation. We find this Velvet Razor and talk them into joining before ARGUS decides its time to bring them in forcefully."
***
The last half of the flight was quiet with Raven reading her book, Robin planning his next moves and the rest finishing up their game. When the titan jet finally made it to Central City International Airport, they were sent towards a private hanger where a few uniformed officers were standing.
One tall man with a long fair and white moustache stepped up to Robin as he walked down the gangplank followed by his Titans. He wore a police officer's uniform and the rank told the hero exactly who he was.
"Chief Peters,"
"Robin," The Chief of Police said extending his hand which Robin took. "It is great to meet you. I knew your old partner back in Gotham when I was a new patrol officer. I've heard wonderful things about you and your team."
Robin smiled hiding the irritation at the mention of Batman. With a quick introduction of the team, the Chief held out a usb stick for Robin to take.
"This is all the footage we have of this Velvet Razor character. I'm really hoping you can do something about it. I have the governor breathing down my neck about reigning this vigilante in."
"How much damage have they caused so far?"
"Nothing really major," Peters said motioning towards the waiting vehicles. "Most of the crimes that the vigilante stopped were in the moment and had camera or witnesses to confirm it. Velvet Razor screwed us up on a drug bust which is what got the attention of my superiors. There's a chance our entire case is going to get thrown out by the judge."
Robin nodded.
"Justice League has asked me to speak to Velvet Razor and either get them to come with us for proper training or if possible, to get them to stand down and surrender. Any leads?"
"Southern District. We believe he's based in that area. Our patrols haven't really been able to find or corner him."
"We'll take it from here. I don't want to risk this vigilante hurting your people or any citizen trying to get out of the way."
***
Though the police offered a place for them to stay, Robin just had the jet kept on standby. The team knew they were not going to be staying long. The Boy Wonder had spent some time studying the footage on his portable computer while Raven worked on some strategies. Lately, he had been letting her do some of the planning since she seemed to have a knack for it.
"Thoughts?" She asked holding up her own Titan-pad.
De-activating the holo-screen, Robin took it and looked through it.
"This is really good. You've predicted their movement really well."
"I saw the footage to, Velvet Razor likes to use her tweaked out bike. Looks like others picked up your bad habit."
Robin grinned at her knowing how much she hated his motorcycle and how loud it was.
"It is evening! Shall we make haste and begin to search?" Starfire asked excitedly. "I want to see this beautiful city as much as I can before we return to our home."
"I'm all good to go here," Cyborg called from his spot where he held up a device he had added to his own cybernetics. "This sonic net will take them down in case they get uncooperative."
To some, this might have seen like overkill to say "Come peacefully or we will drag you in" but the relationship between metas and the rest of the public was fragile. Robin had to do whatever it took to protect that balance.
Honestly, it did not take as long as he thought it would. Deciding to follow his gut, he moved towards the center of the southen district, a place Central City Police had reported the most crime. With Raven and Starfire providing Air Support, Beast Boy as a bat to use his ecolocation, and Cyborg ready with the heavy guns, most of the populace was avoiding them.
It was when he heard gun fire that Robin's adrenalin kicked in.
"Two blocks down!" Beast Boy said changing from Bat to Wolf. "Something's going down!"
Two streaks overhead charged forward while the rest of the Titans followed. What Robin stumbled on was what could only be called a gang war. Two groups had squared off down the road and had opened up with automatic fire. Robin grabbed a smoke grenade and threw it. He had to separate them so they could take them on in smaller batches.
The first group did not know what was happening with the acrobat threw himself in the middle of them, telescoping staff at the ready. They found up thrown about as his expert martial arts landed each blow perfectly. It only took one hit per from all his experience which meant this group was handled.
The problem was that the other group had realized what was happening, had more people, and had begun to target him. The rounds from their machine guns sung off the car that Robin had ducked behind while Starfire churned the ground with her green starbolts trying to get their attention.
As the Boy Wonder was about to call in a new plan, he hard it. There was a distinct sound of a motorcyle revving its engine and a sleek, dark bike flew in with a masked person on it. Robin was awestuck at the gracefully way this new comer catapulted themselves off the bike and landed in the middle of the fight. His martial arts was fluid and perfect, fearless in the face of the guns turned on them.
Starfire landed beside Robin.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It seems Velvet Razor showed up."
"Yes, they have. It is good timing."
Starfire took two steps to assist and then stopped. Confusion set in her face as she watched the person cart wheel, catch one by the neeck and hurl them. The Boy Wonder did not recognize the martial art but this person was good.
"Damn, they're good," Robin whistled turning to Raven who had just landed.
"Still gonna get themselves hurt if we don't help," the mystic titan reminded him.
Robin was about to order them in when he stopped. Seeing Starfire's face. It had gone from confusion to a fury he had rarely seen. A face that scared him when she got this angry.
"Star?"
Starfire did not respond. She shot forward and Robin instinctively followed her as fast as he could. The last villain had fallen and the Velvet Razor turned to them. Robin was about to slow down and call them to stop when Starfire plowed right in to her with a shriek of rage. Her eyes glowed hot emerald as her hands sparked with tamaranian power. The blows fells hard, the first two made contact but instinctively, the Velvet Razor fell back and deftly dodged the blows raining down. All this did was make his red headed friend more enraged.
""Zorkmorking Clorbag! Krodak meeglan omikaff kiff!" Starfire screamed reigning her fists down.
Oh, it was never good when she switched completely into Tamaranian.
"Starfire!" Robin shouted trying to summon his commanding presence. The girl was fighting with such blind fury and she did not even stop.
It was Raven who threw up a barrier between the two that finally broke Starfire out of her assault. Velvet Razor had fallen on her back and the Tamaranian grabbed her by the collar yanking her up.
"Starfire! What the hell has gotten into you?" Robin demanded running up as the rest of the team converged on the position. Probably ready to subdue the Tamaranian if they had to.
Starfire gasped for breath through the fury, still so mad she could not speak. She grabbed at the form fitted helmet that covered Velvet Razor's face and ripped it off. It was the cascade of black hair that made Robin realize that Velvet Razor was actually a she. It was a she that he knew.
With a big grin but fear in her eyes, the woman spoke. "Hey, sister. Long time no see."
Robin narrowed his eyes.
"Blackfire."