Thanks to all the reviews and love! Here it is, Fight between both of Robin's team! Just remember team vs team is def not end game material lol We still got a little bit to go, some loose ends to tie up, this story ain't over yet, but we are nearing the end! Now...
ON WITH THE STORY!
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That day they set up their headquarters in one of Slade's spacious and high end apartment like safe-houses. The former hero noted that the man had a thing for penthouses. His reasoning would be that they offered more space. And he would take it, because frankly for a while Robin thought Slade would surely set him up in one of his haunts in the city. The mastermind had explained to him then that he only had such facilities when he was running solo in Jump, specifically when he was looking for an apprentice. But with that objection complete, he no longer had use for the dark, damp spaces underground. Which, in Robin's mind, was a bit sad. The haunt, after all, had so much character with all the gears, smoke and the singular throne with the multiple screens. He always thought of Slade as this man who schemed in the dark, when in fact, while he still schemed, he schemed in offices, meeting rooms and sometimes even in lighted areas.
The rest of the day, the mission was getting his team acquainted with the city itself, all while keeping a low profile, of course. The Titans couldn't catch on that he was in town. That was one error he could not afford. Once they were done taking in the scenery, the team began to focus on what store to break into. At first, they didn't believe him, that they would come for a simple robbery, but the Titans would report for duty for anything in the city. And while the younger superheroes had their own roster of villains, in between the bigger foes, the team had the basic duty of loss prevention, also known as stopping petty thieves.
"Any place will do," he reassured them as he laid out a map of the city before grabbing a tablet. Tank tapped his chin with a finger before he pointed out various areas in the city where one could commit a robbery, they all knew it would have to be pretty local, a place where people went every day, a place filled with shops that would also be filled with alarms. "What about here?" he had pointed out an open air style of mall. Half of it was inside, the other half was outside. "Lakeview Mall." Robin remembered the place as he brought it up on his tablet. It was one of the better shopping areas in the city. "Whatever works for you guys."
"But I want you all to do me a favor. After you've gotten their attention, drop some hints I'm around. Hints of who you are, who you work for, and not necessarily just me. Overall, we all work for Deathstroke, although back then we just called him Slade. But I'm sure by now they have that figured out." Kate sat up from the sofa she was nestled into to take a gander at the map that was laid out on the dining room table. "So you want us to screw around with their minds a bit." Robin smiled in return. "A little. Just to stir the pot, make it much more of an interesting play date when they come to meet me on that rooftop." Discord only gave him a shrug before she noticed the mall Tank was pointing out. "Snazzy," was all she said before she headed towards the fridge.
"So cause some ruckus, drag them out of the tower, only to direct them back home. Where you will be waiting for them." Robin could only nod at Ksenia's description of future events. If everything went according to plan, that would be exactly how it would unfold. "This is going to be a long night." Asif rolled his eyes as he sat back down, "Yea, we better order some food first." Ksenia frowned, "No more pizza!" Robin swore he heard a whine come from the burly man. He folded at the sight of her, as if Ksenia was a mother who had just scorned her child. His reaction was allowing his shoulders to go limp, and he gave her the most saddest, most miserable frown he could probably muster.
"I can break the glass all at once." the team looked in Discords direction. "Just get me to the mall, and I will break it all. It's easy enough to shatter the particles in the glass, causing them to combust." Tank frowned. "Ok, But I'm still hungry." Her eyes found his and then Robins, "If he's going to be grumpy tonight-" Robin put his hands up to help calm the situation. "I'll order us food. That won't be pizza." He smiled and for a moment he was a tad bit worried she would take everything down with her and Tank. But the promise of food seemed to quell her desire for violence, for the time being.
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"Remember, sit tight, cause a little destruction around the place, make it look like you're trying to rob the mall clean. And when they come, they will think they have the upper hand. Show them otherwise, and remember to give them the message." The unit was on standby in Lakeview Mall, ready to obliterate the area. All of them in position as they listened to Renegades last directions via communicator. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they follow through." Asif could nearly hear the grin on Robin's face as his eyes found Tank's form. The able-bodied man scowled at him while the ladies simply looked at him for direction.
He laughed, "I'm sure you can handle anything thrown at you, my friend." Robin sat on his bed, in full uniform, the metal 'S' over his heart, the metal braces and shoulder plates, the orange on the left side of suit, even the mask he wore had the sharp pointed edges. So very different from his Robin uniform, but it was also something he had grown to like after finding his place in the world. He pulled on his boots as he continued, "Just remember, the Titans are some of the very best in the hero community. They took on a demon lord and won, saved the world countless times, and we even beat Slade a few of times. They are unpredictable for someone that has never fought them. A bit beyond what the team has seen so far, I'm sure." He laced up his boots as Asif carried on the conversation. "I'm not too worried. We're ready whenever you are."
A smile graced the boy's lips, "Let's get this over and done with, then. Begin Operation."
Asif looked at the team and shrugged as the call ended. "Well, you heard him." Kate nodded and lifted herself off the ground. She hovered a couple of feet from the floor as she closed her eyes. She breathed deeply before she let out a small groan. At first the team thought perhaps something was wrong, that was until they began to hear the cracks. And the more they listened, the more they heard that the noise was coming from all around them. "Shit." Tank had pointed to one window that looked as if it was about to shatter at any moment, and they all silently agreed that seeing the windows break themselves apart was something out of a movie. Their eyes came back to Discord as she let out another groan. And then suddenly, it all fractured. The sound of the glass shattered from every store window was intense, and soon after the alarms sounded. Instinct nearly kicked in for all them when Asif looked to them all. "Remember the plan." The team nodded. The Titans would be here soon enough.
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Raven looked up from her book as the alarm began blaring out. She let out a sigh as she watched Cyborg approach the main computer. "Damn, someone's hitting up a mall on the westside of town." She looked at her co-leader and crossed her arms. "How many?" the mechanical man shrugged before he overlooked the feed coming from the mall's security cameras. "Looks like a bunch of them." He narrowed his eyes, "This is weird, every single store has been broken into, and every alarm in the mall is going off." Raven eyed the feed suspiciously. Who exactly were these guys? "Did they break in a bunch of them at a time?" Cyborg shook his head. "Looks like every alarm, and I mean every alarm in the whole mall, went off at the exact same time."
"That's not possible. How would they do that?" Cyborg shrugged at his friend's question. "No idea, but I guess we gotta go check it out." Starfire and Beast Boy appeared behind the Titan leaders. Beast looked as if he was working out before the alarm set off. He was out of breath when he asked, "What's going on? Baddies?" Cyborg nodded. "Yea, Lakeview mall." "Then, we shall punish them, yes?" Cyborg smiled at his friend. "Looks like we gotta take down some no good robbers."
"Ugghhhh, can't get a free night." was Garfield's only response as he followed the others out to stop the criminals.
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"I don't think they're coming." Kate looked somewhat disappointed. "Give them time." was Asif's retort as he look out to the entrance, fully knowing that they probably wouldn't be coming around the corner, making themselves so vulnerable. He frowned and for a moment, the silence seemed a little too silent. He realized then and shouted out to the team. "ABOVE!" Suddenly, a green plasma beam shattered the surrounding area. He looked up and saw the alien princess known as Starfire. And he wasn't the only one that saw her. Before he could give out orders for anything, Tank ripped out an entire lamp post from the ground and used it as a spear, tossing it in her direction. It was halted in midair, however, as the pole itself was basked in a dark shadowy power that simply tossed the object back at him, which Tank expertly dodged. "TITANS GO!" was the only thing Cyborg had bellowed before the skirmish erupted.
Kate smiled as she herself flew upwards, locking eyes with Raven. And upon analyzing one another, Discord knew exactly what she was while Raven's eyes went a little wide under her hood. "Oh, this will be fun." Discord wondered then if Raven had ever met another person with telekinetic abilities as strong as her own.
On the ground Beast Boy had turned into a tiger and charged as Ksenia, the woman, pulled out her handguns and began firing in his direction; unfortunately the tiger was able to dodge all the bullets, before he was able to leap out at the woman, who leaped out of the way in time before she pulled out her knife. Beast Boy turned around and saw the weapon. He staggered a bit. Guns, weapons, military training was obviously something this woman had, and he wondered if she had ever hunted a tiger or lion before. He growled then, it all stunk of Slade. Quickly, he changed into a small bug and floated over to her while she waved around her blade, hoping to whisk him away in the air. It was unfortunate for her it didn't work, and once he was over top of her, he quickly turned himself into a large anaconda and ensnared her in his coils.
Starfire flew down to combat Tank, finding it useless to fire starbolts at him, especially since he easily dodged each one. She herself was always intrigued when someone with super strength appeared, but now wasn't exactly the time to be impressed. A punch, a dodge. It seemed the two would keep exchanged blows until she had enough and with a roar she pushed him into the wall behind them, shattered the brick structure. And for a brief moment, she thought she had killed him, until he chuckled and picked himself up from the rubble. He walked back to stand in front of her as he cracked his neck and took another stance, his fists curled up. He looked at her then. "Looks like I may have to take you more seriously."
"You know he's here, don't you?" Cyborg locked on the young man before him, his cannon ready to blast him away. He didn't seem like any kind of threat, didn't seem to have any superpowers, but something told him that within seconds, this guy could pull his gun on him and put a bullet between his eyes. "Who's here?" Asif looked him right in the eye. "You know who. You don't even need to ask. You have, after all, been looking for him for how long now? It's nearly been a year. Still haven't been able to win him back, have you?" Cyborg eyed the criminal and slowly but surely he began to recognize the person in front of him. "You're from that night, in Metropolis. You came to his aid." Asif slowly nodded. "Remembering? Yes, I came to Renegade's aid when he called for it."
"Renegade?"
"That's what he goes by now."
She mentally flung another car at Raven, only for her to put up a shield which had the vehicles simply bouncing off her magical bulwark. She frowned a little. Maybe it was truly time to get under her skin. "You can't feel him?" Raven narrowed at her eyes. "You know who I'm talking about. He blocked you out, didn't he? I don't blame him. Who would want a demon child wandering around in their brain?" Raven sneered at the girl. She continued nonetheless. "But I suppose you haven't bothered to look recently. I'm sure if you simply skimmed the surface of the city, you'll find him." For a moment the girl's hooded eyes went a little wide, as if she tugged at a string she hadn't touched in years, as if it tugged back. It took mere seconds before the girl's eyes were back on her. "What are you-" Discord smirked and then threw another truck in her direction, her shields faltered and instead of blocking, she had to evade the vehicle. "Oh, did I strike a nerve?"
Ksenia would admit she wasn't fairing well. She was disappointed in her own mistakes, mistakes she would have to fix. She sighed. "Beast Boy was it." the snake let out a hiss as his tongue peaked out. She still clutched her knife. It was obvious he wasn't trying to kill her, typical hero mentality, but he was trying to squeeze her enough so she would drop her weapon. "You know, he always said you were one of the strongest on the team." She wiggled down to the try to escape, getting her arm more and more free from the strength that was currently binding her. "But if anyone can transform into animals, I suppose that would give them an upper hand. He's a good leader, you know, really come into his own." She wiggled down again until her arm was free and with everything she had in her, she went to stab the body of the snake, only to be stopped by his tail. It was a struggle then. Beast Boy wasn't expecting the strength she was exercising against him. Luckily for her, the snake changed back into the strange green boy. "What the HELL do you know about our Team Leader?" she smiled, "That he's our leader now." "WHAT!?" was all the boy said before he took another form. She sighed and look up at the grizzly bear that now stood on its hind legs. Quickly she slid under the bear and turned around and threw the bear onto his bell with a well-placed kick.
"He changed names, did he?" Asif simply shrugged at the hero's observation. "What of it?" Cyborg placed his steps carefully as he circled the young man. "Not gonna try to fight, gonna let your friends do that?" Another shrug came from the young man. "I don't need to fight you. In fact, you should be probably be retreating. Riiight about now." Cyborg was about to ask him what he had meant by that when his systems began to show him that there was an intruder in the tower. He didn't lower his cannon as he brought up the alert. "Shit!" he muttered, and Asif gave him a smirk. "If you want to see your old friend, this is your time. He's waiting for you." Cyborg began to back away, his arms still raised to fire at the ready. He couldn't ignore the alert. The tower was in danger, they had been infiltrated. "Titans! To me! NOW!" It took moments for them to join Cyborg and within the same time frame, the unit formed up behind Asif, who simply stood there with his arms crossed as he looked on at the Titans. "Leaving?"
Cyborg let out a growl before he told his team to retreat. He knew as soon as he recognized the guy, that Robin had to have a hand in this, that all of these people out here, destroying the shops, causing the arms to go off, it was just a distraction. He turned from the enemy and left. And astonishingly, their foe did not follow.
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The Titans raced to the tower. "He's here! The link, he rebuilt it, just so he could tell me he's back." Cyborg drove them as fast as he could back to the tower. "You think it's him? That broke into the tower?" Beast Boy poked his head out from the back seat. "The girl I was fighting said he was their team lead." Cyborg frowned and gripped the wheel. "Fuck."
"What are we going to do?" Raven looked to her co-leader. "Are we going to confront him?" Cyborg shook his head. "I dunno. I mean, if he broke into the tower, he's looking for a fight. I had his codes removed months ago." A sigh came from the back seat as Raven and Beast Boy looked in the Princesses direction. "We shall do what we must." a look of determination crossed her face. If Starfire was ready to face Robin, then they all could do the same.
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The tower hadn't changed. It was still the same as the day he left it. Ironic, really. How he once longed to be here, how back in the desert, his thoughts of home were of a crutch in place of the cruelty he was witnessing each day. He could imagine himself being here, home, and happy. Free of the horrors the fires brought him each night. And for brief moments, even out there, with his feet in those sands, he was content.
But now... while the place was comforting, it would probably be the last time he would see it, and he was simply ok with that. He knew he had moved on, especially when different people began feeling like home.
Hacking into the tower really hadn't been that challenging, and while he could've headed straight up to the roof, he figured he'd take one last look around. Perhaps for old times' sake, he didn't quite know why. But as he looked around, he found himself taking less and less interest in the mess that the tower was always left in. Cyborgs and Beast Boy's game systems littered the shelf under the television, games were left open and the couch was, as always, left in disarray. He didn't even want to look in the kitchen. He took a seat for a moment, though, and reminisced about the time he spent here. They had many adventures, the Titans and himself, and he came to the conclusion that they were indeed good times, memorable times. He wouldn't forget them anytime soon. It just wasn't him anymore.
A buzz came to his right ear, and he answered it as he placed a finger over it. "They're on their way." he could almost laugh as Asif had delivered him the message, but asked instead, "Did they give you any trouble?" "It was nothing we couldn't handle." Robin nodded, knowing full well that his team had successfully completely stage one of the plan. "I suppose we'll head to the meeting point close to the tower. If you need anything, just give us a call."
"I'm sure I can handle them."
"You were right. They are a little unpredictable." A soft smile unfolded onto Robin's lips. Even though he was no longer the Titan leader, to hear anyone compliment them still made him a little proud. They may be enemies now, but he trained them to get them this far. "Seems I'll have to make my way to the roof now." Asif knew that no matter what, a trip down memory lane was difficult for anyone. But he had faith that the former hero wouldn't just up and leave them all stranded. "Poking around at old memories?" he signed, "A little."
Robin stood up from the couch and slowly made his way towards the elevator. "Richard."
"Yeah?" he pressed the bottom to head up. "Stay safe my friend." he chuckled as his friend's worrisome nature. "I'll be fine."
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Thanks to everyone out there dropping me so love! Thank you all so much. Pls stay safe out there!
-Fangy