~RavensMind~

For the Excluded

Chapter 21: The Rescue

"The emotions of our lovebirds battle together, should either bird come under attack. Robin's Bravery stood as the stalwart commander, Raven's Bravery worked as the master assassin, coordinating their mental energies into a chorus of war. We get to see the results, in all their glory. Not all victories come without injury and such glory comes with a price. We fear what damage may be wrought."

Rubble decorated the floor, the walls had cracks along the ceiling, and the hall smelled of smoke. Joker's bomb had all but decimated the mall above, but even here there were signs of destruction. Robin and Raven stepped out of the elevator shaft, looking for the stair access to link up with Starfire and Cyborg. A door to their right past a series of dark green pipes seemed to lead to a stairwell of sorts. Robin opened it cautiously and looked up the stairs. There were a few flights, judging by the depth of the elevator shaft, but it seemed as though the top sections were blocked off, the bottom flights were clear.

Almost as soon as his eyes adjusted to the dark stairwell, light tore through the rubble as a green beam of Starfire's power blazed through large chunks of rubble obstructing the stairs, followed by a blue blast from Cyborg's cannon that detonated several concrete slabs. The pair blasted their way down the steps and met Robin at the door. With the stairs and elevator cleared, the team started down the dim hallway.

Light reached to the far end of the corridor, barely allowing the eye to catch much detail. Wide enough to allow three people to walk side by side, Robin, Raven, and Starfire led with Cyborg behind them. Thankfully, Cyborg had a flashlight built in that he activated, illuminating the full corridor. The hall seemed to turn to the right up ahead and the team slowly advanced. Caution kept them from rushing to find Beast Boy. Part of it was due to the destroyed mall above, the other part due to the nature of Beast Boy's captor. No one could really tell what Joker would do next. They got to the bend in the corridor and glanced around the corner. A massive, shiny, steel blast door that looked entirely out of place with the rusty, old pipes and panels they saw in the hall stood before them.

They approached and looked the obstacle over for a way to open it before they tried to blast through it. A keypad was present on the wall beside it, though it appeared busted, the wires dangled out from the base of its housing.

"Could you still hack that?" Robin asked Cyborg.

"Pfft. Man, I know we were gone a while, but I didn't think you'd forget my skills," Cyborg said with a chuckle as he walked over to the keypad and started messing with the wires.

"Good. Raven, can you tell where Beast Boy is from here?" Robin asked.

"We're getting closer. I wish I could be more specific, but this place doesn't exactly have a map...or a cleaning crew," Raven replied.

"Should we not alert the Batman and get his assistance?" Starfire asked.

"We don't need it," Robin said gruffly.

"I do not understand why you are so angry with him," Starfire said.

"It's complicated," Robin deflected.

"Not the time to discuss this," Raven said.

"Certainly it is not such an issue to inform him of our progress at least?" Starfire asked.

"We don't have anything to report, so there's no reason to," Robin replied.

"I disagree," she said.

"Look, Star, I'm not going to-," he started.

"I got it!" Cyborg exclaimed.

WIth a whir, the blast door slid open, disappearing into the right wall. Another corridor lay ahead, but this one was hardly bare. Mounted sentry guns were visible in the shadows and they couldn't tell if anything else awaited them. Dealing with sentry guns wouldn't be a problem, but if there was a trick somewhere, it wasn't apparent.

Raven cautiously stepped forward, projecting a dark shield with her powers. Starfire and Robin followed, close at her back, and Cyborg behind them. Slowly, they advanced and waited for the first gun to lock on to them. A soft click was the only warning. Bullets pelted the shield, falling to the ground upon contact. They took another step. A second click was heard and another hail of bullets fell on the shield. Raven held it effortlessly. A third gun awaited their approach, this one warned with the cocking slide of a shotgun. This blast hit the shield with enough force to make them halt. They waited as the guns continued to spend their ammo uselessly on the shield.

"Raven, now!" Robin called out.

Raven dropped the shield and the others launched their attacks. Cyborg blasted the shotgun sentry, Robin destroyed one of the machine guns with an explosive disk, and Starfire took out the third. Satisfied, they moved forward past the guns. They turned another corner and froze.

Lasers emitted every which way along the walls, mines lined the floor, and a bigger pair of sentry guns awaited them.

"Uh, Cyborg?" Robin asked.

"Yeah?" Cyborg asked.

"You seeing what I'm seeing?" Robin asked.

"Uhh, did Joker even look at this? We got this easy, can't really believe it," Cyborg replied.

"I am not sure I see what you are seeing," Starfire said.

"I think I do. All we need to do is set one of the mines off," Raven said.

"Chain reaction takes out the rest. We blast the sentries, Raven gets us past the laser field. Man, that's easy. We missing something?" Cyborg asked.

"Not sure, one way to find out," Robin replied.

With that, Robin tossed an explosive bird a rang at one of the mines, Cyborg and Starfire sent blue and green energy beams at the sentry guns, and Raven shielded them all as the mines detonated in sequence. Each small explosion sent rock and stone flying and sent small tremors through the floor. When the smoke cleared, the team was surprised to see that the laser grid was gone, a likely result of the mines going off and destroying what had powered them. Cautiously, they advanced through the room, minding where they stepped, and keeping their heads on a swivel, ready to take out any secondary trap. They reached the end of the hall in disbelief, there was no way that was it. After everything they'd seen and heard of the Joker, that could not have been the full extent of the trap for them.

Without any other real option, they opened a door to their left, and entered a new hallway with three doors. One had a restroom sign on it, another was marked with a radiation sign, and the third was secured with a heavy duty electronic lock.

"He's behind the locked door, or at least that's about where I sense him," Raven said.

"That's all I needed to hear," Cyborg said, as he advanced to the locked door and checked out the lock for a moment, then took out some tools from a compartment in his arm and went to work.

As he worked on the lock, Raven, Starfire, and Robin checked the other two doors. Neither were locked. The door with the restroom sign did in fact lead to a small restroom. The other door led to a bricked tunnel, lit by flashing red emergency lights. An escape route, Robin surmised, or the way they brought Beast Boy in undetected. Though he didn't want to do it, Robin called his mentor on his comm to let him know what they had found and their location. Batman would be joining them soon.

Little made sense to him at the moment. Why did Joker bring Beast Boy here - to a mall he would destroy, and then leave him behind without a trace? Then again, the Joker didn't have to make sense, just chaos. He hoped Beast Boy was at least unharmed, though the chances of that were very slim. Few made it from his clutches unscathed. Well he knew how many times Batman was too late, or not fast enough. Not all of those died, but many were maimed or scarred as a result. It hadn't been the reason he left, but it wasn't far off the mark.

"Batman is on his way," Robin told the others.

"Good, 'cause I just cracked this safe of a lock. It wasn't easy, but I thought it'd be harder," Cyborg said.

"I have heard that this Joker makes things impossible to escape, yes? Surely this is not all he has to stop us? I am worried," Starfire said.

"I know. There's more to it than this," Robin said.

"Beast Boy might know," Raven said.

"Let's hope so. Open the door, be ready," Robin instructed.

The metal door clanged open and hit the wall to their right, hanging on its hinges. A distressed, haggard Beast Boy sat on a chair in the middle of the room, waiting for them. As soon as he saw who it was, his eyes lit up, then panic flushed his features.

"Guys, help! Joker put some kinda motion sensor bomb on my seat, if I move, it blows up!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Aww, why'd we have to be right?" Cyborg asked, "you okay, man?"

"Dude, do I look okay to you? Like, I'm not hurt, but I'm not okay!" Beast Boy replied.

"Calm down. We'll figure out how to free you," Raven said.

"Wh-Raven? Robin? I thought you guys were in Jump! This'll be awesome, now we can kick Joker's ass as a team!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Where is he? What's his plan?" Robin asked.

"Guess he went to join up with Scarecrow, but it's a trick, Joker wants us to stop Scarecrow, but I don't really know why, like he kinda said, but I don't buy it. He gave me the code to the bomb," Beast Boy said.

"Why would he give-," Robin started.

"How about we save him first? Then you can ask your questions," Raven suggested.

"Yes! Beast Boy, how shall we assist? I do not think touching you or the bomb is possible, but oh, we must figure it out!" Starfire said.

"Let's see what we're dealing with, first," Cyborg said.

Cyborg carefully approached Beast Boy and bent down to examine the device attached to the seat. Multi-colored wires protruded from the housing of the bomb, going from the base all the way up to a metal plate along the underside of the seat. Screws held most of it in place, but Cyborg wasn't sure if he should even touch it. Bombs weren't his specialty and he wanted to be able to take it apart, of course the motion sensor concerned him. Beast Boy watched as Cyborg examined the bomb from every angle, hoping for some good news.

"Should be able to disarm it, just need to be careful. Think you can sit tight for a bit longer, BB?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah, whatever you need, just turn it off!" Beast Boy replied.

"Alright, just gotta get it out of the case first," Cyborg said.

"Batman might be interested in certain aspects of the bomb," Raven said.

"What'd you mean?" Robin asked.

Raven subtly pointed out the logo for Wayne Tech on the side of the bomb's housing. So, they had found at least one thing used from the stolen equipment. This was a fraction of what was missing, but its significance suggested that Joker or Scarecrow may have the remainder still in their possession or had used it in some other way. Unless it was used to destroy the mall, there were several tons of explosives and other devices still unaccounted for, which meant they would be dealing with further catastrophes until they stopped Joker or Scarecrow. Potentially even Two Face could have gotten his hands on some of it. They were looking down the barrel of a long stay in Gotham's trenches and Robin was determined to get them out of it as quickly as he could while still stopping the criminals.

Cyborg managed to take the case off the bomb and began tinkering with the wires. Several red and green lights were lit and blinking. The rest of the team was on standby, observing with trepidation. No sounds were heard beyond Cyborg's interactions with the bomb. One wrong move would be the end. It wasn't long before they heard footsteps down the hall. As they put up their guards, Batman appeared in the doorway, assessing the situation in a flash. He silently walked over to where Cyborg was working and examined the device attached to Beast Boy's chair.

"Stop working on it," Batman instructed, as he pulled something from his belt.

"What? You serious? We need to disarm it," Cyborg said, "I've almost got it."

"It's a dud," Batman said simply, bending down and taking a picture of the WayneTech logo.

"What? How do ya know?" Cyborg asked.

"Several of these were manufactured as prototypes, this is one of the faulty models. It wouldn't activate the explosive upon detonation," Batman explained.

"What?! I sat here for nothing?! I could've left at any point?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes," Batman replied.

"Dude, that's so low. Joker's an asshole," Beast Boy said.

"Accurate," Batman said, "just get the collar inhibiting your abilities off and we can leave. What's that?"

Batman indicated the clown mask in Beast Boy's lap.

"Oh, Joker said the mask has the code to turn off Scarecrow's bomb on it, he wants us to stop it," Beast Boy said.

Batman took a moment to consider it and took the mask from Beast Boy. The Titans helped Beast Boy get his collar off with some difficulty, as there was a trick to removing it. While Beast Boy trusted Batman, it still took a minute before he slowly got off the chair. Nothing happened. Beast Boy sighed in relief and then took off out of the room.

"Where're you going?" Robin called after him.

"Gotta pee, dude!" Beast Boy yelled back as he rushed to the bathroom.

"Can't say I blame 'em. What's the plan now?" Cyborg asked Robin.

Robin opened his mouth to speak, but Batman answered immediately. Robin frowned and groaned inwardly.

"We find Scarecrow and Joker. Neither get ignored," Batman said.

"Wouldn't they expect that?" Robin asked.

"They will, but their trap can turn into ours. If Joker is planning to cross Scarecrow, we can use that," Batman replied.

"Pardon me, but I believe we should tend to Beast Boy, yes? He has been kept here for some time and surely he must be exhausted," Starfire suggested.

"He can recover and you can look after him, but only as long as necessary. Joker and Scarecrow are the priority now," Batman said.

"My team isn't yours to order around, if one of them needs to recover, they should take the time to do it," Robin countered.

"You agreed to my terms, we do this my way while you're here," Batman said.

"I want both of them as much as you do, but not at the expense of my friends health," Robin said, "I'll do more if that's what you need."

"Don't overstress yourself again. Obsessing over this won't do you or us any good," Raven said.

"I'll do what I have to if it stops Joker and Scarecrow," Robin said.

"C'mon, a little breather is okay," Cyborg said.

"I said 'no'," Robin said.

"We're wasting time, just head back to the safehouse for now. I need to look into a few things on my end. I'll contact you when I have something," Batman instructed.

"I'm coming with you," Robin said.

"No. Your team needs you. Isn't that what you always tell me?" Batman asked as he started walking out of the room.

"More than you ever did," Robin said angrily.

Batman stopped at the door and look over his shoulder at Robin. Everyone else held their tongues, well aware of the rift that still remained between Batman and Robin. Batman turned his head to look at Robin over his shoulder, his stoic attitude ever present.

"That has never been true. I work with the best," Batman stated.

Robin was taken aback, his mouth slightly open in disbelief at the genuine compliment. He was far too used to his mentor's scrutiny and criticisms. A mix of frustration and pride rang in his words, but Batman said nothing further. The dark knight left them in silence, disappearing into the shadows down the hall. They stared after him for a moment, then Robin addressed them.

"Let's go. We should head back and check out Beast Boy for any injuries or surprises Joker could've left," Robin said softly.

Starfire approached Robin from behind, setting her hand on his shoulder.

"Your troubles with the Batman should not affect you so, if you wish to discuss it-," Starfire began.

"It's nothing, I'm used to it. Let's go," Robin said.

"Uh, BB's still in the bathroom," Cyborg pointed out.

They waited in awkward silence until their haggard changeling rejoined them. Once ready, they made their way out. Back in the ruins of the mall, they noted the absence of the Batwing and relative quiet. Nothing moved aside from them and they only heard distant sounds from the city while they all piled into the osprey. Robin stared out of the window for most of the flight back to the safehouse, saying little as his teammates discussed what had happened before Robin and Raven had shown up to help. Beast Boy shared what details he remembered of his capture and time with the Joker.

While Raven was focusing on the information Beast Boy was giving them, she divided some of her attention to Robin, their emotions congressed with each other privately. His mind was anything but silent as it dealt with conflicting impressions and feelings about his old friend and relationship between the two was a mess and Robin wasn't sure he wanted to fix it, thinking his mentor wouldn't care one way or another. He had gotten sick of the lack of response he got from Batman and rarely got to see him drop the identity of Batman. At first, he had only considered Batman as a side of Bruce Wayne, enjoying his time with the man who had taken him in after his parents had died. He had learned quickly that Bruce seemed more a side of Batman than the other way around. Alfred mitigated that somewhat, but he wanted more connection with the man who had taught and fought alongside him every day. Eventually he got tired of it and had a huge fight after Batman tried to intimidate and interrogate a kid out of frustration while pursuing a major criminal. He didn't want to learn that. He didn't want to become that. He had his moments where his obsession was going too far, but that was a line he never wanted to cross to fight crime.

Raven had been trying to coax him into actually engaging with her thoughts and feelings on the matter when Beast Boy mentioned something that stole their complete attention.

"What'd you say?" Robin asked, turning from the window.

"I said that Joker's probably gonna steal the bomb from Scarecrow, I heard the guards talking about it, but dude, I doubt it's true, like, why would he want us to find it then?" Beast Boy asked.

"You said he wants us to disarm it and stop Scarecrow and that doesn't mean he won't do anything with it after we disarm it. He only wants to stop Scarecrow's plan for it in favor of his own," Robin replied.

"Should we take the bomb, then?" Raven asked.

"We might have to," Robin replied.

"I don't like the sound of that," Cyborg said.