Chapter Text
"We have multiple hostiles in the warehouse," Red Robin spoke into his comm while perched atop a high crane overlooking an abandoned industrial area. More specifically, he focused on one abandoned warehouse. His cape fluttered in the chilly night breeze as he scanned the surroundings with his binoculars. "Anything on the outside?" he whispered into the team comms.
"Perimeter clear," Kid Flash responded from his position below.
"Nothing by me," Wonder Girl replied as she crouched behind a rusted piece of machinery.
"I see nothing," Beast Boy said from his vantage point on top of a shipping container. He turned his owl head in the opposite direction. "Yep, nothing." He shifted into a moth. "I hear voices coming from the warehouse. Something big must be going down."
"I sense less than 50 people inside, but…" Raven paused, stepping deeper into the shadow she was standing in. "The shadows are moving—searching," she whispered.
"Shade," Red Robin, Kid Flash, and Beast Boy murmured simultaneously.
"The shadows are receding," Raven said a minute later. "If this device is so important, why does the Light have fewer than 50 guards in there?"
"I don't know," Red Robin answered, his voice tight with tension. There was a palpable silence. "You don't know?" Beast Boy questioned, echoing everyone's unease. "What does that mean?"
"Far be it from me to question you, Team Leader," Wonder Girl said, checking her lasso, "but how reliable was this intel?"
"What do you mean?" Red Robin asked defensively, his frustration evident.
"She doesn't mean it negatively," Raven immediately explained as she monitored the shifting shadows.
"Of course, you'd defend him," Beast Boy mumbled.
"What is that supposed to mean, Beast Boy?" Raven glared at the green moth, her eyes glowing white.
"Nothing, nothing, nothing," Beast Boy quickly backtracked. "I was just…I just like hearing myself talk." He backed away from her slowly.
"All we're saying is—you've been off this week," Kid Flash interjected to Red Robin. "Even Raven noticed. She said your emotions have been all over the place."
"You're using your powers on me?" Red Robin's voice rose in anger.
"Are we really doing this right now?" Raven asked. "And my ability to sense others' emotions is a sixth sense. I just do it. It takes effort to not do it. And why are we discussing this right now?"
"Because Red Robin is—" Beast Boy's response was cut off as Red Robin abruptly commanded, "Move in!"
"Rude," Beast Boy muttered as he and Raven disappeared into the shadows as Red Robin glided his way down while the others found access points into the warehouse.
Red Robin hurled a small explosive device through a hole in the ceiling. A blinding flash and deafening bang followed. He screamed into his comm, "Now! Remember—the crate is our mission!"
As Red Robin descended through the ceiling, Wonder Girl burst through a wall. Raven and Beast Boy phased up from the ground, while Kid Flash appeared in a blur. Red Robin quickly scanned the warehouse with sharp, calculating eyes as he slowed his descent. In mere seconds, he memorized the layout: 45 ninjas in dark armor surrounded a glowing crate, flanked by two metahumans—Shade and Bane. Fantastic.
Wonder Girl was already in action, her lasso whipping out to seize the crate. But Bane intercepted, grabbing the lasso's middle and yanking her toward him. He reached out to clutch her throat, but Wonder Girl shifted and slammed an uppercut into his jaw, knocking him off his feet. Bane hit the ground but rolled back up, wiping blood from his mouth with a sneer. "Is that all you've got, little girl?"
"You wish," Wonder Girl retorted, charging at him with renewed fury.
"She needs help!" Beast Boy exclaimed. But from the smoke, a gaunt man with red eyes and a top hat emerged, dressed in genteel English attire. Beast Boy recoiled, startled. "Go, Beast Boy!" Raven urged, pushing him aside.
"Ah, the half-breed," Shade intoned. Raven tensed but masked her reaction. How does he know? Her heritage was not common knowledge. Raven opted to stay silent, fists raised. "Silence? I like that," Shade taunted. "It's more fun this way." Shadows coalesced into weapons, launching at Raven. She countered with dark energy, forming shields and spectral projectiles that deflected Shade's attacks. As Raven anticipated his moves, she swiftly gained the upper hand. "Raven!" she heard Kid Flash shout. Raven glanced around, still fending off Shade's pathetic onslaught. She spotted Kid Flash on the mezzanine, surrounded by a couple of unconscious ninjas. "I need a teleportation tunnel!" he announced.
"On it!" Raven responded. Using her powers, she conjured a series of portals.
Kid Flash grinned, adjusted his goggles, and darted through the portals in a specific sequence, taking down ninjas as he went. He streaked past Red Robin, who was battling 8 ninjas. Cornered, Red Robin threw a smoke pellet, filling the area with thick, choking smoke. Using his agility, he moved fluidly through the haze, dodging attacks. He used batarangs and flashbangs to disorient the ninjas. When the smoke cleared, the ninjas surrounding him were unconscious, but a fresh group was closing in. Red Robin extended his bo-staff and smirked. "Let's do this."
Beast Boy, now in rhino form, charged into a cluster of ninjas before reaching Bane and Wonder Girl. "Wonder Girl!" he shouted as Bane threw her into a wall. Gaining speed, Beast Boy transformed into an eagle flying as high as he could. Reaching the top of the warehouse, he transformed into an elephant and aimed to crush Bane, who stood beneath him. Bane barely rolled away in time, avoiding the impact. Reacting quickly, Beast Boy shifted into a gorilla as Bane threw a powerful body shot. Before Bane could react, Beast Boy morphed into a black mamba, slipping through Bane's grasp and repeatedly biting him while slithering onto his back. Returning to human form, Beast Boy tried to wrench one hose from Bane's back.
""¡Suéltame!"" Bane roared, reaching for Beast Boy. "Get off!" Thankfully, Wonder Girl intervened with a powerful blow. "Beast Boy, move!" she yelled. Beast Boy sprang away as Wonder Girl lassoed Bane, mounting his shoulders, and delivering a barrage of punches. She ripped a hose from Bane's vertebrae with ease.
"Ah!" Bane screamed in agony. He grabbed a briefly distracted Wonder Girl and hurled her to the ground. A giant black claw then seized him, slamming him into the floor. He turned to see Raven—the girl The Light had been so focused on recently—using her powers to hold him down. Desperate, he tried to stand, only to be pummeled by a relentless barrage of blows at shocking speed. Someone removed the last two hoses from his back during the relentless barrage. As he felt his body deflating, he screamed in horror, "No! No! No!" Looking up, he saw Red Robin staring down at him with icy determination. "¡Que te den!" Bane howled. Red Robin lifted his foot and smashed it into his face.
Red Robin, Raven, Beast Boy, and Wonder Girl stared at the now much smaller and unconscious Bane, their breaths heavy from the fight. "You know," Wonder Girl said, catching her breath, "the dossier really undersells Bane. Those tubes on his back are a lot tougher than they look."
"Yeah," Red Robin agreed, "seems like he's had a few expensive upgrades."
"Red Robin!" Kid Flash's voice cut through the tension from across the room. "You need to see this!" The team hurried over to where Kid Flash stood by the device they had come for.
"You said this was supposed to be a Dimensional Rift Generator, right?" Kid Flash asked.
"Yeah," Red Robin confirmed, stooping to examine the device. He pulled out a micro-scanner and began scanning.
"Does that look like a Dimensional Rift Generator to you?" Kid Flash inquired as he stepped aside to give Red Robin a clearer view.
"Do we know what a Dimensional Rift Generator looks like or what it actually is?" Wonder Girl asked.
"Good question," Beast Boy agreed, glancing at Red Robin. Red Robin's eyes widened behind his mask as he read off the chemicals detected. His voice was filled with disbelief. "Hydrogen peroxide, phenyl oxalate ester, ethyl acetate, and fluorescein," Red Robin said, standing up.
"Huh?" Beast Boy replied, confused.
"Wait," Kid Flash said, piecing it together, "aren't those the chemicals—"
"—found in glow sticks? Yes," Red Robin finished. "This is nothing more than an oversized glow stick."
"Why were they guarding a…glow stick?" Wonder Girl asked, puzzled. The team looked to Red Robin for answers as he scanned the warehouse with growing concern. His eyes darted to the top corners of the building, then down the sides, before he turned to study the crates. "Damn it!" Red Robin swore, sprinting to one of the crates and pulling a small camera from its top. "Damn it!" He continued to curse as he paced, frustration and anxiety etched into his features.
The team exchanged worried glances as Red Robin's agitation grew. Three of the heroes turned to Raven, who rolled her eyes and approached him. As she came closer, Red Robin's turbulent emotions hit her like a tidal wave, overwhelming her senses. "Red Robin," Raven's voice was strained as she struggled to shield herself from the emotional onslaught. "What's wrong?"
"It's a camera," Red Robin said through clenched teeth. "A camera. This entire operation was a setup. Someone was watching us."
"What?" Raven's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yeah," Red Robin wiped sweat from his brow, his face set in grim determination. "This was a test or something."
"Who? Why?" Raven asked urgently.
"I don't know," Red Robin's gaze locked with hers, his frustration palpable. "But I'm going to find out."