Teen Titans; Renegade's Last Resort- Finding Pandora = Hope

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Chapter 7: To the Shoreline

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The docking ship cut through fog as fine as thread. The night was not ending yet. Finding himself in a bodyguard position had Dick wondering if he'd be in charge – that, or he would be teaming up with others.

Others with or without powers, it still felt wrong if he was going to have to use the blaster again. Slade had installed something if a shockwave in case someone tried to remove it.

"Why not chop off my arm if it works, right?" Snorting under his breath, Richard went below deck to see about the cargo. Slade bots were stationed from every doorway to each side of the port bow. ( look up.)

He was below the wary waves as a key pad emerged from the wall long enough to get his moment moving.

He used what Slade had permitted and was in as the doorway slipped back. The room was full of wires and electrical currents running across the entire space. He avoided stepping on any was down the way into the room, the shocking growl from their first caught product was aware of Richard's presence.

"You wanna tell me why the fuck he's got me in a test tube, newbie?? Hah??"

Her buzz cut blue hair and lightening lit white and blue eyes didn't faze the former boy wonder. "For one last job before he let's you go –

"Ahuh. I heard that I fucked up the operation. Do you know what your fucking "master" does to the ones that fail em?" Dick pulled back as she snorted. "I knew I shouldn't a' stuck to Lex's proposal! That shit headed cue ball was so clear that I could do more damage if I stayed outta the way. Well? What?" She sneered as Richard looked over the glass that was keeping her , somehow…together.

She wasn't all there. Her body went in and out of shifting faze to "virtually" remain stable.

"He can fix you, if you…do this."

"He's noble, more than Lex or even Two face. I guess, I mean…He's after all got a code – stealing you from under the bat's nose was a way to break it. Did he really give up on you?"

"Not your concern –

"You wanna know my backstory, Birdie?" She floated up as her pixelated form regenerated to pose rather curiously. Eyes caught and glued while Dick never shook his head for her not to speak. "Well, my past was pretty great! I had a big news casting job I'd applied for on a cast – they said it was dirt drabble, but who cared about them. So, I got caught up in this electrocution of the studio. No fucking clue. Before I knew it, people were afraid I'd fry um. Some kid name Kara got in my way, cause now I'm living on solid gold. So?"

"So." Dick mimicked.

"So….You tell me why he picked you. Or, the other thing –

"You're not going to have that much, sorry."

"Then." She saw as he paused, not ready yet to lock up.

"Punish me, like he would or I won't get out of this cage to do a damned thing for you two monsters."

/

Beast boy unfurled himself from the sofa as he watched Cy scramble to locate whatever he was trying to. "Raven is on the way with Star and Roy ta' wherever Slade has his shipment in. We know it'll have something to disable security so he can steal the Pandora element. Now, we just…"

A dozen logos of Slade's popped up as Cy grunted into the keys. "Damn it! At this rate, we have to ask em."

"The B – man?" Groaned BB. "But….but, that means –

"He gets to disband the Titans, but only if we don't find Robin first."

"You mean, we can go too?"

"We kinda have ta at this point. Bring some snacks, BB. Don't get too excited. The drug he gave us is still a preview of the real cure."

"I know, and it stinks soo hard." Sighed Bb with a whimper. "How is Star feeling, did she stop having those eps?"

"So far, no spasms or coughing. Her labs all looked good, but Slade could prove us wrong."

"Always. I bet Robin will go berserker again and attack him if he hurts anyone. Kind of like a guard dog –

~ Cyborg, come in. ~

"Rae's back online." Cy put her on his arm as the two men geared up to join the others a few hundred miles off.

~ The mini - T - Jet is build for a smooth landing. Thanks, tin man. If you two got this –

~ We ran into a warning and Roy needs to talk to you about –

~ Right, don't involve Batman. ~

Speedy's sudden request was a blunt one as Cy scratched his skull. "Why not? He literally is on your side. You even said –

~ I wasn't saying that he needed to come "here." But I know where he can go so we have a chance to head off the cargo ship as it docks. ~

"He's gonna meet em at the port? Why didn't you think of that!" Bb squawked to his eldest teammate. "I don't think we'll be enough. I can get us halfway through by Zeta – beam. My dad has an old one still under lock. I just had him know that I'm coming to use it."

~ How far. ~

"Few miles east." Cy answered. "Star labs set up a division that houses old prototypes. This one was already legit, but we had a dispute on who was gonna have it patented so Silas, my dad, he hid it. So don't tell –

~ Lips are secured. ~

"Only thing is getting home, but we'll manage. Howe far are y'all from the distress call."

~ Less than an hour. I'm riding by speed boat so far since we found the right body of water. Nothing but fog, it's a real cover up. See you two dweebs in a few then.~

/

The link shut as Cy had them flying to the next location as quick as they could.

The base was an inactive military looking unit. The dust around it was cleared and it looked more a storage lot out of place than a facility that housed defunct weapons and gadgets of the future. "Your dad worked at Star labs?"

"He still does. That was how he saved me after my accident, but…" Cy pointed to the one his dad had said to check. The lock info and the password was right in it, as well as a duplicated signature of eye and thumb prints. "So, you and he…."

"We had a wrong time apart. That's why I get why you guys need as much support as I did from the JLA."

"Wh –

"Another story, B." Quietly, they made it to the lock pad and watched magic unfurl with the click and pop of a gear to this safe house of treasures. "Bad – a –

"Zeta -zoom!" Gasped Bb as he saw the tall device at the back of the warehouse. "Come on. I'll turn it on. We can both just jump into it."

"Ah, how come you know how it even works? Did you grow up making clones in jars as a kid or –

"I saw it being made, as a teenager. Not that long." Cy smiled and egged Bb to ready himslef for a zip across the states. "Is this thing sa –

They zoomed as particles of full on light; across the tubes above, they made their way into a world of nothing as no sooner had the magic died…Bb opened his eyes. "We did make it in record time. I preset the coordinates." Cy got out of the tube as Gar looked around with his ears wagging nervously. "Did….why am I not super sick or anything?"

"I was trying to tell you, B. This thing is only available for the JLA and to my dad's team. It can't be accessed by another living soul because of how well it works in the first place."

"Lex, Slade?"

"Yeah, that crazy."

"your dad would be set for life! I'd never have to literally drive a car or take a plane to anywhere!"

"But there was one thing they didn't wanna go into." Cy stopped as he checked his wrist. "West, nine hundred more paces. If you were to maximize the output and use of the device in excessive numbers; one, the infrastructure is mad expensive to just set up. You saw those clear pipes? That material is close to a few hundred grand per model to craft and you have to have the maintenance and time to inspect them all. The second thing about why we don't have Jetsson or Futurdama lives is because of pollution and the fact that factories to house parts can lead to excess waste, or even competition for pieces that would malfunction instantly. Then you have the privacy case. Crimes , if these things became a household or available item would be good for thieves and for jerks that wanna spy on others. It's a risk too much, and think about the law suits –

"Ok, Doc "Seriously – boring- us – to - tears . I think we all got the picture. Thanks."

"Good too, cause I can see the girls." Cy waved as Bb flapped as a crow to see Raven by the shore. "The boat out there, Speedy?" Cy asked as he noticed Kori had not come down yet. "In the fog. I lost sight, so we are linked via telepathy with Roy for now." Raven told her temporary leader.

"What about the cargo ship?" B looked outwards as the shore lapped up, meaning the waves were occupied by something large. "Let's go out there! I can go full on –

"No. Beastboy. I think the boat is guarded by weaponized robots."

"Huh?"

"Slade. His robots," Cy grunted. "We had better get in there or around it, cause Batman is supposed ta' find a way ta' the port when it goes off. I won't let em dive into this without us, team."

"Heck yeah! Raven? Can you pretty please part the seas or –

"Empath, not a witch, or a fictional, biblical saint…" She rubbed her chin. "No, but I can…create the illusion of danger to stop the boat."

/

Dick checked the radar as he saw through his binoculars that they were close enough in the harbor to not draw too much of a fuss. It was late, yet he had the suspicion –

The radar had a blinking dot, where the kid acted anxiously to go and check while being unsupervised by anything but robots. He was just a lackey right now, and Slade wanted his guilt to grow a bit deeper. He could hear everything because of the new suit. Dick fidgeted with his weapon as her face filled his vision.

Just then, the lasers sounded out on the lain floor. He ran to check from the control room just who was firing back.

It was the other way around, Roy was making waves as he sent an arrow to climb aboard.

"No, not yet –

Dick heard the bots swarm as they attempted to cut the line, yet failed. Roy kicked out out into the water as its grave was all but deserving of its nature. At the banister of a step to the top, Roy saw Dick while water had not yet flattened his hair. A lack of gel however, was starting to show how easy it would be to pin the kid down and take over the ship.

"Your little trip just got canceled." Roy called up to Renegade as he pulled out his blaster, then hesitated and ran.

"Oh, no. I'm gonna talk to you this time, Dick head!"

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Dick ran for the lower decks and locked himself inside. ~DIcK! Come on!! This is crazy!! ~

He ran and saw that as he threw a key to the scanner, Livewire had a big smile on her face. "Want me to help the plan along? You look like you can't handle being run outta town."

"Fine, but I can always lock your abilities. No killing and, be careful with my –

"If he hears that, we are both gone. Belly up." Reminded the meta gal. Dick nodded and with a few presses, steam and electrical currents fazed around the room to make the lights flicker. "Upstairs? Wanna reintroduce me to the jerk who stopped my last job, Dickie?"

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