Home Invader
"That's weird," Cyborg muttered.
Maybe it was because of the stress from the day, but Red Robin found already frayed nerves were sounding the alarm. Right, calm down, cool it. Find out what it was first. For all anyone knew, it was some random update to…a gaming account or…patches from Daddy Stone in Detroit or…something else cyber related.
Cyborg was their expert on everything cyber. He had embraced it. Yes, the teen vigilante had been developing his own skills, Cyborg was leagues ahead if only because he had more free time to do so. Nevertheless, weird could mean anything here.
"What is it?" he asked, wary.
Cyborg's human eye focused on him. "Someone just put in an emergency access code. Like this second."
"Emergency access," Steel parroted. That was a tone that Red Robin didn't like. It was hard to describe it, but he had a feeling that it was similar to someone realizing that they had missed something.
Cyborg nodded his head. "This is in all the Towers. When they planned this place out, they thought about different scenarios, you know. For example, a bunch of bad guys trying to get in and we have a guy outside needing safety. If the Tower's in lockdown, and there's still time, they have five seconds to get in before the angry mob gets them. Tower defenses can hold off anyone for at least that time. That way, our guy is safe, and the danger is still outside."
"But we don't have anyone outside," Wonder Girl pointed out. Pausing, she added, "Unless…we have a zombie on our hands…"
Macabre, but it served to add a little humor. Still, with how the world was, a zombie apocalypse would be around the corner. Hell of a time to pick.
"Are these zombies…dangerous?" Starfire asked.
"Later, Star, and no, it's not her," Cyborg said.
"So who is it?" Steel asked.
"Let me check." The cybernetic young man's brow furrowed as he concentrated. "Alright, says Molecule. Anyone remember who that is?"
"Chemistry? Atoms? That's all I know about molecules," Wonder Girl admitted.
"Probably one of the recruits from H.I.V.E.," Red Robin cut in, thinking. "Would have been at one of the other Towers."
"Missing or dead," Steel stated, his voice more discernible due to the hardness in it. Without missing a beat, the armored man made his way to the hologram projector and began making some inputs. The file on Molecule came up along with his current living status of deceased.
"If his life has been terminated prematurely…then why are his access details entered into our system," the Tamaranean voiced many a thought, but even she was grasping the truth as quickly as the rest of them.
There was only one reason why.
Without waiting, Red Robin took a position at the projector opposite Steel. A holographic keyboard was brought up, and he used to begin accessing the security feeds. Above the terminal itself, images of the ground floor appeared in two dimensions, see-through, and while the lobby was empty, one view in a hallway had a figure that was definitely not one that a teenager had.
"You've got to be shitting me!" Cyborg exclaimed.
It was him. The man that had attacked and brutalized them earlier today. He was in the Tower!
The masked teen's mouth was dry to the point it almost hurt. Eyes were wide behind his domino mask and his face, it felt cold like blood was draining from it. There was a good chance that the rest had a similar look.
Shock was overcome, and Red Robin reauthorized all security measures, lockdown severity. Enemy had breached the building and needed to be neutralized. Nonlethally was a given.
Meanwhile, Steel had pressed a finger to the side of his head. "Steel to Justice League. We have a situation at Titans Tower in Jump City. Respond immediately."
There was a feeling that he had then. Two possibilities entered his mind at the time. The first was that somehow this attacker had slipped through the League's net and gotten here while the League was still searching for him. That seemed to be the more likely scenario here. The other possibility…this man had encountered the League and won.
He was tough, but how would that stack against people like Flash, or Superman, or Wonder Woman? Those were some of the most powerful people on Earth! But if this man, whoever he was, could…then what did that mean for the rest of them?
Please let him have slipped through the net…
"This is Steel, I need a response," Steel spoke up. Radio silence? Hell of a time to…no. No, don't think that way.
The tension was spreading. The wariness that Red Robin felt seemed to infect Wonder Girl as she regarded the local Justice Leaguer with a look that implied she was watching a venomous snake. Starfire was an open book with the expression of worry she had. Cyborg had opened up a panel on his left arm, trying to find something, anything he could do.
The seconds ticked painfully forward. A glance back to the holographic monitor and…he was wincing. Seemed like the upgraded security wasn't impregnable. The damage, sheesh.
"Superman, Lantern, J'onn, anyone, respond now. There is a situation in Titans' Tower—Wonder Woman. There's trouble—what? All of you?"
With each passing, ticking second, his heart plummeted in his chest. Those weren't the words he was hoping to hear. Those weren't the words anyone wanted to hear in a situation like this. And yet…it only got worse. Confirmation came when Steel finally lowered his hand and he looked like he wanted to hit something.
"We're on our own," the steel Leaguer said. "The League's not coming."
"What happened?" Sharp, that came from Vixen who looked alarmed.
"Whoever we're dealing with is smart. He lured the League into a trap. Superman's got a damn kryptonite bullet in his chest." A steel-clad hand trembled as it balled into a fist. "We're the last line of defense. Everyone else…missions, personal cases, they're too in depth to stop them now. It'll be us three between whoever that is and the kids."
"We can fight too. This is our home and we're not—" Cyborg began to argue.
"We have three massacres and a throwdown with you lot that says differently," Vixen interrupted. "There have been too many deaths as is. Do we know the status of those who fought this guy?" That question was directed to Steel and who she was talking about was pretty clear.
"All down." Steel wasn't looking anyone in the eye.
"So it's do or die," Vixen concluded. "I guess the fire's lit under our asses now. Everyone stay here while we deal with this."
Without waiting, Vixen spun on her heel strode to the only entrance into the rec room. After a second, Steel made his way around the couch and projector to follow. Starfire intercepted him, placing an orange-skinned hand on the larger man's steel-clad shoulder.
"Are you not afraid? This enemy, he may be able to be defeated as well. Will you not need our help?" the Tamaranean asked.
"Petrified," Steel answered. "But I'm not going down without a fight. Maybe I fall too. Maybe I get lucky and it takes one hit from my hammer. I have no idea how this is going to go, and I'm not alone. Vixen knows this too. We're going to do what we can to make sure you stay safe and more importantly alive." His shoulder shrugged off Starfire's hand and he continued to march his way to the door. "Stay here. No heroics. It's been said once, but I'll say it again. Too many people are dead. If we fall, then however you do it, find a way out. The lockdown's suppose to keep you safe, it can also keep you trapped."
The door was open, Vixen was not in sight, and now Steel was stepping through it. Without another word, the door slid closed behind him, and then alarmingly there was a locking sound.
"Wait, did he just lock us in here?" Wonder Girl exclaimed.
Cyborg swore. "How the hell he do that? He…he locked me out of the system!"
Red Robin frowned, then looked back to where Steel had been standing. Right in front of the hologram projector, the terminal was a manual hub in which you could theoretically access everything in the Tower. When Vixen started speaking up, all attention was on her which would have given Steel the chance to make a few last second additions, like cutting off Cyborg from the system for example.
When the keyboard was holographic, it made no noise if you typed on it.
"See if you can't back in. I'm going to try and see where the others are," he issued out his order. There were four of them in this room, but Kid Flash should still be in the med bay, and vulnerable. Raven might be there too but that needed double checking. Last but not least, where was Beast Boy?
All of them needed to be found before they found themselves in the middle of a war path.
As he got to work on that, he reached for his belt for his communicator.
The ringing of her communicator brought her up short. Raven glanced down to her waist then to Beast Boy where a similar alert was coming. The shapeshifter had a similar expression on his face that she bet would match hers if she looked in a mirror.
Reaching down, she withdrew the device and opened it. Belatedly, she added, "Raven."
"Where are you?" demanded a forceful Red Robin. The tone there was one she was not used to hearing and so she was already on the alert.
Glancing to either side of her, noting the wreckage littering Beast Boy's room, she answered, "I'm with Beast Boy. Is there a problem?"
"Lock yourselves in. Bar the door. Do not open it for anyone." That came out like an order. This was different from putting together a battle plan. She knew something was up.
Also, bar herself in Beast Boy's room? In this mess? With that…she did not want to know what that smell was. She was being told to do a lot, and by the fact she had not outright refused to do so meant she was willing to hear out what the important reason was for doing such a thing.
It had better be a good reason.
"What's happening?" she demanded, her eyes fully on the communicator.
Red Robin did not mince words. "He's here. The man that attacked us earlier today. He's in the Tower."
A chill went up her spine. Her grip on the communication device slackened, then tightened when it almost felt like she was about to drop it. Her first thought was how? She knew the Tower was one of the most secure places in Jump City, and that all of the security systems had been updated and improved as of today.
Yet somehow that murderer had gotten through.
"Where?" she found herself asking, heedless of what she in that instance unknowingly put into play.
"Ground level but that will be changing. Keep yourselves safe no matter what."
The call ended and Raven closed the communicator. There was a need to take in a deep breath, center herself, because already anxiety was hoping to slip its insidious power through her defenses. Timid did not need to be amplified right now. She could use more Wisdom and Bravery.
Alright, she was centered. Now to set about barring herself in the one part of the Tower she—and where did he think he was going?
No sooner had the empath opened closed eyes that she found the retreating back of a certain green shapeshifter heading for the door, hands balled into fists. Raven sank into the floor, rising up where she now placed herself between the changeling and the door.
"I hope you are looking for something to block access, not that you left anything suitable for that," Raven said. Memory served better than surveying the room. That way she could keep her eyes on Beast Boy and make sure he didn't try anything funny.
Beast Boy glared at her, green eyes smoldering. "Get out of my way, Raven."
See, this was why he was a poor comedian. "That had better be a joke."
Shoulders straightened, showing just how broad they had become. "Does it look like I'm joking?"
He was going to be fighting her the whole way, wasn't he? The aggressive stance the shapeshifter was taking gave away his intentions, but it was what the empath felt that was more alarming to her. That emotion that was wafting off of Beast Boy was one that she tended to feel from their enemies. Bloodlust and Beast Boy did not belong in the same sentence unless someone else was directing it to him.
But she understood. She understood more than anyone could know. That was the thing about being an empath; it was more than just sensing and detecting emotions, you understood them.
Beast Boy had lost Terra today. He was looking for a fight. The man responsible had been generous enough to give one.
This was different. This wasn't the enemies they had faced in the past. She hadn't been able to read this masked man no matter how hard she tried. He had mastery over his own emotions and that only added to his fighting style. He became hard to read both from the physical and the sixth sense.
They had no idea why he was trying to kill them. What his goal was. If he represented someone else. Too many unknowns, and so charging in headfirst was frankly a suicidal idea.
Maybe that was the point.
"I'm not going to let you go and get yourself killed," Raven stated, her head tilted back slightly to make eye contact with the green shapeshifter. "Don't be a fool."
Green lips pulled back, baring teeth along with a deep growl. "This coming from the girl who's thrown me into the ocean before. Insults me every chance she gets. Thinks I'm the dumbest person on Earth. What do you care?"
True all of that. Amends may be in order but they could only be done if both of them were still alive.
"Is that the way of it?" she asked, her question a warning more than an inquiry.
The glare became more animalistic, but no true shapeshift occurred. Very well.
"Maybe you don't have it in you to forgive me for my previous transgressions, but I have a feeling you are definitely not about to forgive me for this," she said cryptically as her eyes took on a black sheen.
Beast Boy fell back into a defensive stance, already anticipating an attack from her. It amounted to naught as her shadows stretched forth from her and washed over the shapeshifter. As it receded, a slumbering Beast Boy remained, small snorts coming from his mouth.
Better he live and hate her than act like a moron and get himself killed. That would not honor Terra in the slightest.
A deep sigh escaped the hood and cloak wearing girl, and that would remain the only moment of weakness she would express. Turning away from her unconscious teammate, she took stock of what she had available to barricade the door and grimaced. Locking it would only do so much, and their home invader was plenty equipped if memory served.
This was going to be the beginning of a long night, wasn't it?
It had been close, but using some of those "defenses" to break in the door to the stairwell had been a stroke of genius. A veritable lifeline up and down the Tower and to where his prey cowered. It was still a ways up but nothing that a grapple couldn't speed up.
Floor after floor was passed up, and he kept count of each and every one. The upper floors would be the most likely location for his targets. He had verified this with the Towers in Steel City and Cancun and knew each one had a near identical layout. The living areas, gathering places, and medical care were up there and had the greatest chances of finding any Titan in them.
Reaching the first floor that he would begin his search, Deathstroke pulled himself over the railing and went for the door. Grabbing the door handle, he pulled and pushed, finding out that it was locked. Not even a budge. Taking a step back, he reared a leg up and kicked at it. Nothing; the door took it like a champ. Eye narrowing, he examined this barrier, tapping it rapidly with a knuckle and listening to the sounds made.
The door was thicker than he had anticipated. Locking mechanism had to be good. This wasn't going to stop him, but a different approach was needed. A stairwell could only have so many ways to defend it, and the first defense was the entries and exits.
Unslinging the automatic rifle he carried, he took a step back from the door, held up the weapon though he did not aim at the metal barrier. Instead, his sights were on the wall next to it and he fired a few controlled bursts of gunfire into it. Reslinging the weapon over a shoulder, he went to work on the deepest of the bulletholes.
C4 putty was wedged in and wired. Going down a few steps, Deathstroke crouched down and detonated the explosive. The boom echoed throughout the echo chamber that was the stairwell, and smoke obscured his handiwork. The assassin, however, was unslinging his assault weapon once more and returning to the sight of destruction. Where once was a solid wall, there now stood a gaping hole.
The doors were secured but few people thought about walls.
He slipped through his entry, continuing to use the residual smoke to cover his entrance. The rifle was held up, straight and steady, and his finger was on the trigger. The explosion would definitely attract attention and draw anyone over to investigate.
Already he was making out a dark figure in the smoke. Without waiting, he unleashed a barrage of bullets at this target. Immediately he heard the sound of bullets striking and bouncing off metal. Of all the luck, the cyborg. Adjust the aim for the right side of the head—
The head of a sledgehammer swung through the smoke and struck his rifle. It was torn out of his hands from the incredible force, and quickly he backed up. By now, enough of the smoke had dissipated to reveal that the person he had fired out was not the resident Titan cyborg, but a man in metal armor. A Justice Leaguer by the name of Steel.
A miscalculation.
What wasn't miscalculated was the dodge of the follow up swing, Steel's hammer nearly clipping him and slamming into the hallway wall. A large divot was left behind, cracks forming a jumble of patterns. A booted foot planted itself against the hammer's head and Deathstroke used it to gain some height on his new opponent. An elbow was jabbed at Steel's face and it was only because of the support from his armor that he didn't trigger a response from the nerve that wound in that joint.
Steel took the hit and retaliated with shoving a hand forth. Back went the dual-colored killer but he nimbly landed on his feet. The sledgehammer was yanked out of the wall and held high. The trajectory was obvious and easily dodged as the strike came from overhead. The floor trembled and groaned from the force.
Removing not one but two handguns, the assassin unleashed another barrage, for all the good that did. It was mainly to stall, buy some time as he thought about how to deal with this one. He had planned for the heavy hitters of the League. It was an oversight to not plan for the smaller fish.
But Steel was much slower to compensate for his strength and durability. Jabs were made with the head of the hammer, forcing Deathstroke to retreat further. Small steps brought the armored man closer, but…why not press the advantage and take larger…?
Movement in the peripheral. He twisted about to evade the strike from Vixen. Her speed was much greater than her teammate's. She also possessed both agility and flexibility as a knee almost struck the side of his head had he not blocked.
Fast, agile, and quick, but so was he.
Deathstroke rammed the palm of his hand into Vixen's chest and kept the momentum going to slam her into the wall. Strong legs kicked back at him, shoving him into the opposing wall. That had been quite some strength there.
The killer's knees bent and he slid downwards, just as the Steel's hammer nearly got him. Whereas Steel missed, Vixen was then on him, nearly pinning him. Nearly was not going to be enough.
He pushed back and they rolled. Vixen came up on top and she brought down both of her fists on to his chest, the growls of a gorilla slipping out of her mouth. His single eye widened from the pressure exerted on his lungs. Air wheezed out of his mouth, leaving him vulnerable for precious seconds.
Vixen pulled back an arm, muscles tensing as she began to throw the obvious punch. Reflexively, he jerked his head out of the way, Vixen's fist slamming into the floor. His right arm whipped up and latched onto the back of the woman's head, fingers digging into the skull. His elbow bent and he threw his head up, headbutting her. His mask protected him, her not so much.
His legs bent, thrusting up and back. While his knees did not meet any flesh, he did successfully roll them over themselves and now he was on top. Down came his fist and into her face did he land his blow, stunning her. A shadow loomed over the two of them, Deathstroke looked up, and then found himself being lifted up into the air by Steel.
He swung both of his legs, pressed together, up and rammed his heels into that metal helmet. Grabbing at the armored man's lower arm, he gave a harsh enough yank that a piece of the plating over the left side of his chest was torn off. It also meant he was free.
Landing on his feet, he kept low to the floor and rushed around the heavy-duty Leaguer. With a foot, he lashed back into the back of a knee and that surprisingly got a wobble from the armored man. Could it be…?
A single eye zeroed in on the sledgehammer still gripped in Steel's hand. Grabbing onto the end of the hammer's long shaft, Deathstroke gave a wide rotation with it, a right turn to be exact. Out from tightened fingers did the blunt instrument slip out.
Joints, that was where this armored suit was weakest. The wobbling with the knee was the hint. Fingers also happened to have joints and if you know how to manipulate them, breaking a grip on a weapon was child's play.
The hammer…was heavy. Much heavier than he had expected. But he was a determined man with a brain. As Steel was turning around, the assassin lifted the hammer by the smallest of fractions off the floor and began to spin on his heel. Pick up some speed, let momentum take off some of the weight, and as the armor-clad Justice League fully faced him, he gave enough personal effort to get the head of the sledgehammer up and over himself.
Then he brought it down on Steel's head. The man cried out as he bent over, spreading his legs out to prevent himself from completely falling. Knowing he couldn't do that again, Deathstroke released the hammer and pulled out a gadget. It was another little rocket booster, just like the one he had attached to the back of the cyborg earlier in the day.
Onto Steel's back was this one attached, and when the rockets went off, down into the floor did Steel go, breaking through and heading down to the floor below. Then to the floor below that one. And the one after. Crash after crash after crash until there was no more point in watching.
Back up, down the hallway was a recovering Vixen. A hand was pressed to the side of her head, but one eye was squinting at him. Not quite one foot in the grave, but it wouldn't take much to knock her out.
Much like those Titans from earlier in the day, salvation came running in. Black Lighting, another recruit of the League. Electricity crackled around both hands right before he fired a bolt. Throwing himself back into the stairwell was the only way to avoid that.
Back where he started. Alright, needed to change the game plan. His sword was unsheathed and he waited out of sight; the door that he had tried to open earlier was now shielding him.
The first sign of approach were some static bolts that flared into the stairwell. The assassin kept his cool, watching, waiting. Patience, wait them out and let them screw themselves over. Sure enough, a booted foot carefully stepped through the hole. Yet he did not strike. Wait for it. That was just a test.
Abruptly, Black Lightning ran through and into the stairwell, electricity crackling around him like a shield. Deathstroke jerked himself back from striking. That would have been a bad mistake. His sword had fascinating properties to it, but he didn't want to find out the hard way what it would do with a little electricity.
What was insulated, though, was the armor he himself wore and so he did not hesitate to raise up a leg and kick it out. Spotting him from the corner of his eye, Black Lightning managed to turn himself enough to catch the booted foot. Instantly, Deathstroke kicked up his other leg, his body going parallel with the flooring below him and landed the heel of his free foot into the side of Black Lightning's head.
Continuing to spin while in midair, the dual-colored killer landed on both the toes of his boots and his hands, one hand still curled around the handle of his sword. As for Black Lightning, he was sent stumbling into the railing where electricity ran up and down it, streaking up and down to the rooftop and ground floors below. Sparks burst out from where the hands gripped the railing, and the Leaguer pushed himself off the railing just as the assassin tackled him.
They landed on Black Lightning's back, and with the hand that still held the sword handle, the assassin landed a punch into electricity wielder's face. The sword handle reinforced the blow and Black Lightning's eyes crossed.
Smoothly, Deathstroke twisted his torso and held his sword in front of him, flat side facing down to the floor. Vixen's hands, which were reaching out for him, ended up gripping the sword with blade's edge pressing into the palm of her hands. His arm pulled out and the sword's edge cut into the animalistic Leaguer's hands and blood sprayed from the wounds.
Vixen cried out, backing off. Instead of going after her, the assassin dealt with the other threat first by quickly rapping the butt end of his sword in the spot right between the eyes. Pushing off of the prone man beneath him, the killer angled his shoulder down and lunged forth, ramming into the last Leaguer standing.
The back of Vixen's head collided with the top edge of the hold in the wall, and his attack carried the both of them back into the hallway where it ended with a collision with the wall. To bring this to an end, Deathstroke brought the undersides of his fists crash on either side of her head. Naturally, one of his fists still held the sword, so its butt end was adding to the hits.
Vixen's eyes bulged and then closed as her body slumped to the floor. Standing over her, he observed the new prone body, made considerations, then began down the hallway. A nice little warm up for the main event there.
Now, wherever were those teenagers hiding?
Every minute that passed felt like an eternity.
Trapped in a room that held so many nice memories was now a prison of sorts. Yes, it was for their own good, but this was home to many of them. Red Robin, though, held his tongue. Yelling and arguing about it would not change anything.
As difficult as it was, waiting was the only thing to do. Waiting to hear good news, that it was over. That they could relax again. The tension, it was suffocating.
At least he had been able to make contact with the others…but that they weren't as secure as they were, it really made him worried. Hell, that was too weak a word. Hopefully the med bay was locked down, not that he or Cyborg could do it now. Wherever Raven and Beast Boy were, they better be hunkered down.
Of the ones in here with him, everyone was on edge. Wonder Girl was the most obvious, pacing around like a lion in a zoo enclosure. No duh that she was the type that didn't like waiting. Cyborg was less obvious, but he was trying to get his way back into the system. His grumbles gave away how he felt about that and that it had ever happened in the first place. Calmest was Starfire, but worry more than made up for any unspent energy.
"I hope our friends will not find their way into danger," had been the words she had used after he had finished contacting the others. He couldn't agree more with that statement when she said it and it still held true.
First, one of their own is killed. Now their home was invaded. What came next?
In this case, it was the door to the rec room opening by itself. Surprised, Red Robin stood up to see who was on the other side. Hopefully it was Steel or one of the other Leaguers with good news.
The man with the black and orange mask is who ended up being on the other side.
"I'd ask if you could come out to play, but I figured close up and personal was better." The man stepped into the room, his gait relaxed and aggressive all at the same time.
Cyborg's arm transformed and the cannon aimed right at the man. "Not another step," the cybernetic young man snarled.
Surprisingly, Terra's killer did so. "You've nowhere to run. The only exit is behind me. There's only one way this ends." Steel slid out of a scabbard, the light in the room gleaming off of it. "The only choice you get is the how. So, fast and quick or do you want to fight to your last breath. I'm fine with either."
Stepping up, Red Robin drew attention to himself. "Why? Why are you doing this? We don't even know who you are. Why do you want us dead?"
"My reasons are my own. You knowing them changes nothing," the man replied simply. "I want you dead, that's all you should be concerned about. So what will it be? Fight me like a man? I'll guarantee you will die like one."
Not an answer he would have liked to hear, but it was plain that words weren't going to amount to anything. But if this asshole thought it was going to be easy, they would have to show him how wrong he was. Four on one, odds in their favor, and if they all attacked at once instead of one at a time, they might be able to stop this tonight.
His inaction seemed to be taken as an answer, because this man of seemingly few words became more chatty. "I took a tour on my way here. Found the armory." With one hand still holding the handle of the unsheathed sword, the free hand held up a birdarang. "You have a lot of toys in there. I figure I could give them a test drive."
The switch from holding the throwing projectile to actually throwing it happened so quickly that Red Robin was nearly hit with his own weapon. Reflex had him twisting out of the way, the edges of the birdarang almost cutting into his face. It was past him now, continuing on a trajectory which led to it hitting the hologram projector.
Electricity surged from the birdarang, and the various holograms emitted from the projector winked out one or several at a time. Sparks spewed out of the machine while the lights in the rec room began flashing on and off, unable to fully activate the alarm.
It was distracting, Red Robin realized too late, and the intruder took ruthless advantage of it.
He would have been the best one to target first, but that was not what this man did. To Wonder Girl first, lashing out with a running high kick that the armor-wearing blonde was able to block by crossing her arms in front of her head. Armored boots dug into the carpeting as she slid back.
The sword was slashing, but it was aimed at a charging Starfire who caught the blade between both of her hands. The Tamaranean held tightly, refusing to let the sword-wielding killer pull it back. Cyborg saw this and fired off a blast of energy. It raced towards him, but still missed as the man dropped to the floor, letting go of the sword handle to do so.
Legs pushed against the floor, and the killer shot up and at an angle. A fist flew and struck Starfire in her stomach, causing her to gasp while her body jackknifed from the force hitting her. Red Robin activated the boosters in his boots and tackled the bastard in his side, knocking him away from his teammate.
Wonder Girl charged in, throwing a punch that the black and orange man deftly dodged. He proceeded to block and parry the next few punches thrown at him, following that by suddenly grabbing onto an outstretched arm. He swung the armor-wearing blonde and that placed her right in the path of Cyborg's second energy blast.
Mystical armor responded and covered her up. It also inadvertently shielded the bastard. Raising a leg, he kicked out with it and struck Wonder Girl in the torso. This sent her backwards once more, but the force used carried her far enough that she ran into Cyborg who immediately aimed the barrel of his arm cannon upwards.
Pulling out two of his birdarangs, Red Robin threw both. Shockingly, the killer remained where he was, acting at the last second to catch both one after the other. Not even pausing, he was throwing them right back at him. Midway between them, the birdarangs detonated, giving away their true nature, but the resulting smoke blocked the man from sight.
Not for long. The killer burst through the smoke and Red Robin brought up his guard. He managed to catch the first punch, but the second jabbed so quickly into his side that he gasped from the shock. The first punch yanked back from him only to swing, striking him in the left side of his face. His head whipped to the right then jerked forward from the blow to his gut, and then the following backhand whipped him to the right again.
The assault ended with the swinging of the sword, but it was Starfire doing the attacking while the masked man was ducking under it. With surprisingly maneuvering, Starfire pressed her attack, using the man's weapon against him with follow-up slices and slashes. The killer swung an arm, striking the blade with lower arm gauntlet he wore. No sooner had that happened that a red-glowing lasso closed onto the arm.
From above, Wonder Girl pulled up, throwing the man upwards and towards her. The man, however, remained in control, throwing his legs up and in front of him and forcing the hovering Titan to block. Momentum allowed the murderer to keep his upper body rising and his hands stretched out to latch onto either side of the armored blonde's helmeted head. He continued into a flip and using his grip on Wonder Girl's head as a fulcrum, he swung his legs up, over, and around until his booted feet slammed into her back.
He leapt off of her as a Starbolt shot at him. In the air he was vulnerable and Cyborg tried to take advantage with another blast. They had forgotten about Wonder Girl's lasso, and the bastard pulled on it harshly. Without anything to ground her, the armored Titan was once again used as a shield.
This time she cried out and Cyborg stopped firing as quickly as he had begun, his human eye wide. This allowed the masked killer to drop back down to the floor unimpeded.
Not for long, Red Robin decided. Since this was their home, he was pulling out all the stops. Running the electric current through his cape, he set off the second of three boosts that were in his boots, racing with his arms outstretched and the tips of his hardened cape extended in front of him.
The man turned his head, the orange side of his mask more prominent than the black. Barely back on his feet, and the murderer took off in a run, but not away. To Red Robin's surprise, the guy ran at him and jump high, easily evading the hardened cape. A hand pressed onto the top of the masked teen's head and then feet touched his back. A bizarre game of leapfrog occurred where the man used him as a stepping stone, leapfrogging off of his horizontal-aligned body while the Titan's leader continued gliding ahead and right into the kitchenette's bar.
His cape sliced into the bar. His body impacted the stools and the bar. Over it he rolled until he landed on his back in a heap in the kitchenette.
Meanwhile, Starfire was in the line of fire. A punch to the side of her head had her stunned long enough for the masked home invader to retrieve his sword from her, wrenching it out of the powerful Tamareanean grip. As he did this, he spun on a heel, leg extended, and a high kick swept the orange-skinned alien away. Without a pause, the masked man did not press his advantage and instead lunged to Cyborg.
The arm cannon was raised, its barrel glowing. Adjusting his grip on the sword handle, the masked man threw the sword like a spear and the blade surprisingly tore right into the cyborg's arm. Cyborg cried out, electricity spazzing out from the circuitry within. Then he had another problem as the Tower intruder leapt onto him and dished out punch after punch into the right side of the cybernetic young man's head.
Dropping off, the masked killer crouched on the floor and swept a leg around. Balance was destabilized from the assault, and Cyborg was unable to resist the fall after. Now, there was only one man standing, and he wasn't a Titan.
He surveyed the damages he had wrought, and Red Robin only knew this was because he pulled himself up onto his knees, using the kitchenette's bar to aid with that. Arms rested on the top of the bar and only his head peered above them, eyes narrowed from the soreness and aching he felt. From where he stood, their attacker and soon-to-be killer spotted him.
"You asked me who I am?" The tone was calm and without any hint of any exhaustion. "Many know me as the Terminator. You can guess as to why." Air hissed as it moved against the blade of his sword, the weapon held in an offensive position. "Ready when you are,"
Wincing, the teen vigilante forced himself onto unsteady feet. This was going badly, really badly. It didn't look like they were going to be getting out of this anytime soon. Still, giving up was not an option. This truly was life and death at its purest.
No escape. No time to pull something out of his ass. This was it.
"Hey!"
The shout came from the rec room's opened entrance. Much to Red Robin's surprise, leaning against the door frame stood the one person who shouldn't be there.
Leg still in a brace, shoulders rising up and down from exertion, and golden eyes that were free from the mask that usually covered them and glaring angrily was none other than Kid Flash. The left side of his lithe body faced the Terminator, defiant still.
"You don't think it's going to be that easy, do you?" Kid Flash snarled, drops of sweat dripping from his face. Getting here from a locked down med bay, how? What did he do…?
"From the way things are going, yes," the Terminator retorted.
The killer turned from Red Robin to face easier prey. He didn't know if that was deliberate, if acting now would only expose if this was some sort of fake out to put him in a bad position. The man had the talent of doing that. Did he take this chance or just put himself right where Terminator wanted him?
"Then you haven't seen anything yet!" Kid Flash snarled as he shoved himself away from the door frame. The crippled speedster raised up his right arm, one that had been blocked off from sight due to only showing his left profile to the homicidal home invader, revealing that it was vibrating violently with crackling orange bolts dancing up and down it.
With a yell, Kid Flash punched at the Terminator despite the distance between them. What happened next was all the potential energy he had been storing in the limb was released into kinetic energy. This took the form of rapidly moving air that was shaped like a fist which rocketed its way right into Terminator.
The killer cried out as he was picked up off his feet and sent flying back. His flight carried him over the couch, over the damaged hologram projector, through the large plasma television which was the Tower's pride and joy, and stopped with the man's body embedding itself in the large ceiling to floor windows.
It was incredible to see this. Amazing. No other words…
"Whew!" Kid Flash exclaimed as he slumped back against the door frame. His right arm hung limply at his side, twitching and spasming. "So crash. Think I might have pulled something."
From the window, Terminator fell onto the floor with a grunt. His sword continued to remain clenched in an orange-gloved hand.
The rest of the beaten team were pulling themselves together with many a wide eye at the spectacle.
"Dude," Cyborg gasped out.
That broke the stunned daze that fell over Red Robin. They had a stay of execution. They needed to take advantage of it. No one was in any shape to seize the day here so there was only one other course of action.
Opening up his communicator and contacting Raven, he didn't wait for an answer as he barked into the device, "Raven! Evacuate to the garage. Transport everyone! We're leaving. Evacuate everyone!" A second after that, "Leave me for last."
Once more not waiting for a reply, he slipped the communicator back onto his belt and hurried over to the opened doorway that Kid Flash continued to inhabit. On the wall just to the left of it was a panel and he slammed a gloved hand onto it, letting the scan recognize him. To his right, blackness rose up and devoured Kid Flash.
As soon as there was recognition, he began to quickly input commands. Cyborg was next to be swallowed up, Starfire soon after. Far behind, Terminator was starting to push himself onto his knees and hands. A few more button presses and he was almost done. Wonder Girl was swallowed next.
There. Command was inputted. Rearing back an arm, he punched the panel once and then twice, then tore out several wires. From there, he moved into the doorway even as the lighting took on a red hue.
Terminator had lifted his head and was glaring at him.
From where he stood, Red Robin glared back and stated, "Omega Level Lockdown. Let's see you get out of this."
Metal panels began sliding down over the windows. In front of him, an emergency blast door began sliding into the doorway. At that moment, black began to rise up and around him, Raven finally coming for him.
Terminator pushed himself onto his feet and began a sprint after him, but it was too late. The blast door was sealing him in and Raven was transporting him to another part of the Tower.
Skin of their teeth this time. Best to make sure they didn't cut it this close again.