The Next Generation

"Who are you working for!" Rose shouted. She was through wasting time, through playing game. They'd been at this for almost twenty minutes now, and that was too long for her to wait! The police interrogator hadn't been able to get anything out of him, nor any of the other Titans. If only Neal were here, he'd be able to get any information he wanted... but thanks to this little piece of scum, Neal was in the hospital, and now it was all on her. Well, it was all on her because she'd barged into the interrogation room without authorization. After all, they'd never approve her beating the crap out of their prisoner, as she was already starting to do. If Deadshot would talk, she'd make him hut until he did!

Of course, the other Titans, as well as about five police officers were in the room with her by the time she'd thrown two punches, to pull her off of him. She was upset, they understood that, but this wasn't a foreign country where she and Neal were interrogating slum lords in abandoned warehouses. This was a San Francisco police station, and there was a little thing called protocol here.

"Ravager, that's enough!" Cyborg said harshly, holding her arms behind her back. She was struggling with everything she had, but they had more than enough people there to hold her back.

"Let me go!" she growled, kicking her feet forward, trying to strike Deadshot again. But she was out of range. "He knows where they have Jordan! I'll kill him, I swear!"

"But that's not how we do things!" he reminded her, watching as the others dragged her out of the room. When the door slammed shut again, Cyborg let out a sigh and sat at the table across from Deadshot. "I'll have to apologize for my teammate. She's a little... upset. Now, let's try this a little differently. The DA is prepared to offer you a reduced sentence in exchange for your cooperation. You just have to tell us who hired you, and where they are."

"Oh no," Deadshot muttered to himself as Ravager came flying into the room with a look of what could only be described as carnal rage. Yeah, he had a feeling that something like this would be coming. He had to admit though, the law was for once in his favor as the police and some of the other Titans began to pull Ravager off of him. He rubbed his face, feeling a bit of blood forming in his mouth. Bitch must have made him bite his cheek or something. He'd have to save something special for her.

As she was taken away Deadshot just gave Ravager the tiniest of waves and a smile. He had played this game many times before. And he always knew how to make himself win. The assassin turned and looked over to Cyborg as he came forward and offered a deal. Deadshot smiled at him, knowing exactly what to say. "I can provide you with that information easily, but only when I hear the specifics of my deal. I'm not going to turn away my boss based on just a reduction of one or two years. And believe me, you'll want to know this information sooner rather than later," Deadshot said as he crossed his arms. "So, what are we talking here?"

"Ninety days in county, plus three years house arrest," Cyborg answered, narrowing his eyes. "Trust me, that's the best you're going to get. It's either that, or you rot in a state penitentiary for twenty-five years, for attempted murder. All you have to do is give us the information. Just keep in mind that, either way, you aren't going to be getting the money from your contract. So, what's it going to be? Door number one, or door number two?"

Rose watched from behind the two way mirror, seething. Ninety days in a county jail, and then a few years of house arrest? That was bullshit, and way too lenient a sentence for someone like that asshole. And yet, she knew that if it helped them find Jordan, then she had to suck it up, no mater how badly she wanted to rip Deadshot's head off his shoulders.

Deadshot was quiet as the deal was delivered. "Ninety days is definitely a fair deal, and the house arrest will be easy enough," he said before throwing a simple wink in Cyborg's direction. "Very well, we have a deal," Deadshot said as he leaned back in his chair. "Although good luck stopping them, and you'll have to be quick about it," Deadshot remarked as he glanced up at the clock in the corner. "They're robbing the Wells Fargo bank, where there's an estimated eight hundred and eighty nine billion dollars there," Deadshot said with a grin.

"In regards to WHO you're dealing with, that's going to be your biggest problem," Deadshot said as he leaned forward slightly. "He's an old friend of mine, used to work for him all the time. Was rather surprised when he called me actually, guess he's looking into spreading his influence. I'm afraid you're dealing with the King of Gotham himself. You're dealing with Black Mask and all that he has at his disposal," Deadshot said as he resumed his sitting position. "He wants to gain a foothold in San Francisco, and the money in that bank would be way more than enough to get him started"

Cyborg raised an eyebrow in surprise. Black Mask? In San Francisco? Well that definitely wasn't good. If that guy had decided to move here from Gotham, then the entire city's criminal structure was about to be flipped upside down. Unless, of course, the Titans stopped him first. "Bastard," he muttered, looking over at the mirror. "Raven, did you get that?"

"Already on it," she said, teleporting the group in the other room to the designated bank. When they were there, she projected her soul-self into the building again, to see just what they were up against. They had to be prepared.

Meanwhile, back in the interrogation room, Cyborg stood up from his seat. "One more thing before you get your deal. Where are they keeping the girl?

As Raven projected her soul-self into the building, she would be greeted with a strange sight. At first, everything seemed to be normal. There were people in there, making deposits and withdrawals as if nothing had ever happened. However, if she continued to look deeper into the bank, she'd notice that things weren't as they should be. There were unconscious guards, bound and gagged while strange men were taking the bank of what money they had. Others were at the computers, memorizing codes and processes in order to steal the money later.

It was clear that the bank had been taken over. Whoever was working up top must have been working for Black Mask.

"Keep at it gentlemen! We're almost done here," a voice called out that was down in the lower levels of the bank. He appeared to be giving the orders and instructing the men in what they needed to do in order to transfer the money. "Just a bit longer and we'll load it into the trucks. Our time is almost at hand, don't be afraid," he said with a wicked grin. Once Raven got a look on the man's face she'd recognize him instantly.

Black Mask had hired Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow, to help him rob the bank.

"Okay, we might have a bit of a problem," Raven said, pulling herself back out of the building. "Black Mask is nowhere in sight, but his goons are definitely inside. They're almost done taking everything the bank has stored. And the one fronting the operation is Scarecrow."

"What, seriously?" Beast Boy said, scratching his head. "What are all of Batman's reject villains doing in San Francisco? Who's going to show up next, Penguin? Mad Hatter?"

Rose narrowed her eyes. "I don't get it, why are we so worried about one guy who wears a burlap sac on his head?"

"Clearly you haven't studied up on Batman's rogue gallery, have you?" Hot Spot said, glancing at her.

"Not exactly something I do in my spare time, no," she responded, glaring a him.

"Well, he developed a special toxin called fear gas," Hot Spot explained. "One breath of it and your darkest fears come to life. You basically start slipping into psychotic delusions, until you either get a cure or the toxin runs its course, which can be days."

"That means we're going to have to be extra careful," Raven said, holding her arms up. "Keep your distance when taking him down, he still needs to be in range to gas you. And whatever you do, don't breathe in if you see a cloud of green mist."

Moments later, Raven had teleported them deep within the bank, in a supply room that none of the thugs were paying any attention. They'd make their entrance from there and work on taking out the criminals before they got away.

The thugs continued to go about their work, readying to empty up the last of the money before they were to take off in the bank trucks. No one would be suspicious to see a bunch of Wells Fargo trucks leaving. By the time anyone reported what happened, it'd be far too late to stop them. As the Titans moved around, they'd also notice that the far majority of the men were armed with guns.

"Hurry up and join us when the last of it is ready," Scarecrow said as he moved down the hallway. If the Titans saw him, they'd see that Jordan was right at his side, hands tied and mouth gagged as he dragged her. He had a noose wrapped around her neck, as if he suspected a need to strangle the very life out of her. "Do not be afraid my dear, it'll all be over soon," Scarecrow said with a small laugh as he walked down the hallway and through several sets of doors to the location of the trucks.

There were several thugs between the Titans and those doors, they weren't going to be able to sneak in this time.

"What's it look like out there?" Hot Spot asked.

Raven, who was projecting herself into the hallway, waited a moment and then returned her consciousness to her body. "Half a dozen armed men outside in the hallway. Scarecrow just went through the doors at the end of the corridor, along with more of his men. He has Jordan with him, but he has a noose around her neck.

"That bastard," Rose growled, sprinting for the door on the supply closet.

"Woah, hold up there," Beast Boy said, grabbing her shoulder. "I know you want to get her back, but running out there and getting mowed down by machine guns isn't the way to do it."

"Allow me to disarm them first," Raven said, opening the door and walking out into the hallway. By the time the criminals noticed her and started trying to shoot, Raven was already casting out her sou-self, specifically focusing on their weapons. She levitated the guns away from their owners and systematically pulled them all apart. They'd just be a pile of useless metal pieces now. "There, now you can... beat on them."

Rose was out of the storage room in a heartbeat, energy swords already drawn. Nothing was going to slow her down now, as she charged to group of criminals with every intent of demolishing them without mercy.

As Raven emerged from the storage closet, no one had been expecting her to pop out. Everyone just sort of stared in disbelief before trying to pull out their weapons, by the time they did Raven had already removed them and begun disarming them. She didn't just disarm them, she was wrecking all of their equipment! Without any more guns, many turned to their fists, some pulled out knives or brass knuckles to try and help them fight. Their shouting was loud, as they tried to get everyone's attention to fight. "Titans! The Titans are here!" one of them shouted in particular.

Scarecrow suddenly glanced up, looking towards the door that he had come from. "Titans," he said in an annoyed tone. Why did THEY have to be here, and they were so close to finishing up! "Deadshot must have gotten sloppy, bastard," Scarecrow muttered before pushing Jordan into the arms of a particularly large thug that was still in the room. "I'd get ready if I were you," Scarecrow said in a menacing voice before pulling out two metal cylinders. He placed them on each side of the door and pulled off their lids, each one beginning to emit a large green smoke pile. "We'll have to stop them here, or the entire operation is blown. We don't need to beat them, once they're exposed fighting them off will be easy," Scarecrow said with a smile as he backed up. The large thug began to place a gas mask on himself, however Jordan was left to be exposed to the gas that was quickly filling up the room.

The Titans would all hear it once the sounds of battle around them faded. Jordan was screaming as if she was being murdered. Scarecrow just watched the door from afar. There weren't any windows on it, so he was waiting for all the Titans to come running and fight him in his world.

As hard as these guys tried to fight, without their guns they were nothing. They weren't trained, they weren't enhanced metas, they were just normal guys swinging wildly at a target in hopes to hit it. The poor saps never had a chance against Rose, who moved through them with a combination of kicks, body checks, and electrical surges from her energy blades. She never even slowed down as she sprinted towards the door.

"Rose wait!" Raven called out, grabbing onto the charging woman with her soul-self.

"What are you doing, Jordan's in there!" Rose screamed, not enjoying being held back like this.

"Look," Raven said, pointing to the bottom of the door, where wisps of green gas were leaking out. "Scarecrow has released his toxin. You hear those screams?"

Rose swallowed. "Jordan... she's been infected, those bastards!"

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Hot Spot asked, folding his arms. "If we run in there, we'll just end up breathing it in and falling into a world of fear."

"Let me go," Rose growled, already having a plan. "Can't become infected by the gas if you don't breathe it in, right?"

"Uh... well, yeah, but-" Beast Boy started.

Rose narrowed her eyes at the doors, cutting him off. "Well I can hold my breath for over five minutes; once did that underneath a frozen lake once to avoid some armed thugs. That's more than enough time for me to get in there and take care of things."

Hot Spot blinked at her. "That... might work, but what if they have more weapons in there?"

"Just a risk I'm going to have to take, isn't it?" Rose replied, already standing in front of the doors.

"I'll give you some help," Raven said, forming a shield of her soul-self in front of Rose. That would hopefully deflect against most incoming gunfire as she moved through the hallway, allowing her to take out any armed thugs.

"Alright..." Rose said, flinging the doors open. "Come on, you bastards!" With that, she held her breath and sprinted inside.

As Rose charged inside, she would be met with a few more thugs. These ones were different from the last ones though, body armor, muscles, these weren't just a bunch of goons like that last group was. Apparently Scarecrow had saved his best ones for his own personal protection. "Get them all!," Rose would hear Scarecrow shouting. The large ones began to move forward, preparing themselves for whatever kind of attack Rose might want to unleash. They knew that it was only a matter of time before she had to breathe again, so any blows that they threw were normally aimed for the chest.

One good hit there and Rose's lungs would be forced to need air again, especially from guys of this size.

It didn't matter what kind of armor these clowns were wearing, Rose's energy swords could cut straight through them to the soft flesh beneath. And then, it was thousands of volts of electricity pumping through their bodies to incapacitate them. Not to mention, the more armor they wore, and the bigger their muscles were, the slower they were. It made it all to easy for someone like Rose, who was quick and agile, to weave in and around their attacks, and counter with her own. Of course, she was also driven by her desire to get Jordan back. Neal was counting on her to rescue his sister, and she was not going to let either of them down.

The men continued to try and hit Sarah, but her speed truly was too much for them. If they could get their hands on her they might have been able to do something, but as they were it didn't seem like they were going to be able to stop her. This of course only made Scarecrow more and more annoyed. "Enough games," he said to himself as he glanced down at Jordan who was basically catatonic. He didn't even need to hold her anymore, she wasn't going anywhere.

Scarecrow turned his attention back towards Rose who continued to fight the large thugs. She was so busy with all of them, Scarecrow knew that he had to make his move. He drew out his own pistol, taking aim for when Rose was attacking one particular thug, once he had a decent enough shot he fired the gun right towards Rose. He didn't care what he did, even skimming her or surprising her would be enough. Once she breathed in this toxin, she was as good as dead.

Rose really hated guns. With a fiery passion. It wasn't just that she had never been very good with them, they were just too... easy. Only cowards used a gun, that's what she'd come to believe over the years. Well, those who used guns that didn't need to use guns, anyway. People like police officers were a different story... But anyone calling themselves a 'super villain' who had to use a gun in order to accomplish anything, they were the cowards. Nothing but unskilled slime who needed well placed bullet in order to beat a hero.

That was the thought that went through her mind as the bullet skimmed her neck, after she'd taken out the last thug. The sudden shock from the hot piece of metal slicing across her throat forced her to let out the breath she'd been holding, a breath she could have kept in for another three minutes at least. She quickly tried to recover, taking in another breath and holding it, but it was too late. The toxin was already in her system, she could feel it. Her mind was going fuzzy. And then... she heard the one voice she never, ever wanted to hear again.

"You didn't think you get rid of me forever, did you?" Deathstroke asked, appearing in front of her. "You've been a very bad girl, Rose. I think it's time you learned your place."

Scarecrow just smiled as he saw that the bullet he had fired had skimmed Rose's neck. "Scared you, didn't I?" he asked with a small laugh as he saw Rose taking in a breath. She didn't have much choice after all, a blow like that would force anyone to take a breath after being hit there. The beauty of the toxin was that it affected everything about someone, everything that Rose saw would change in order to fit her nightmares. Fear was a part of everyone's lives, even Batman feared things.

"Go now my friend, show your daughter what kind of a mistake she made by crossing us," Scarecrow said. He didn't say this in reality, but Rose would hear this in order to enforce the idea that her nightmare was truly real. "Kill her"

"Oh no, I won't kill her," Deathstroke said, reaching down and grabbing his daughter by the hair. "At least... not yet. This is going to be slow... and I'm going to enjoy it."

"No... no you're not real," Rose said, staring back up at him. She knew that this was just the toxin playing games with her mind, it had to be. Deathstroke couldn't really be here, he was in jail, where he couldn't hurt her. But then why did it seem so real? Why did she feel his knuckles crash into her jaw as plainly as if he were really there?

"Because I am real," he said, as if reading her mind. He shoved her backwards and kicked her in the stomach. The blow went straight through her armor, knocking the wind from her. "No matter how hard you try to escape me, how hard you try to get rid of my influence, I'll always be there. I'll always have a hold in you. It doesn't matter what you do; you can make friends, have a home, get married, you can even start a family of your own, but in the end, deep down... You're just. Like. Me."

Rose let out another pained cry as her father's palm snapped her shin backwards, knocking her to the ground. "No... no... I'm not... like you," she whimpered. "I can't be!"

Scarecrow just watched with a cruel smile as his illusions were taking a serious effect upon Ravager. She must have truly been afraid of something dark, and that only made the toxin all the stronger. Affecting someone for the first time was what always brought Scarecrow the greatest joy. Superheroes, always thought they were so powerful and untouchable, and yet he could always bring them down. Fear was in the mind, and that was something that could very rarely be protected.

Scarecrow grabbed the noose around Jordan's neck, pulling her to her feet. "Don't worry my dear, I won't make you watch this," Scarecrow said as he began making his way to the door. He glanced back once though, wanting to see if his toxin would outright kill the girl or not. Some people let their minds get to them too much, some killed themselves because they allowed fear to get to them too much.

Perhaps he'd get a bonus for killing this girl.

"Oh but you are," Deathstroke assured her. He reached down and lifted her up by the front of her armor, staring into her eye. "It doesn't matter how much you bury it in the back of your mind. Go ahead and change your costume, deny it however much you want, but you're still a killer, Rose. You always have been, and you always will be. Nothing can change that."

Rose shook her head frantically, trying to break away from the invisible grip that held her. "No no no, I'm not, I'm not a killer," she said, trying to maintain a grip on her sanity. She couldn't let his words affect her! "I'm not like, I'm not like you I'm not like you, I'm not-"

"Yes," Deathstroke said sharply, cutting her off. He then reached up with one hand; he was holding a syringe filled with an orange liquid. "But perhaps I'll need to give you a little push to help you realize it. You remember my serum, don't you?"

"NO!" Rose screamed, thrashing about wildly now. She couldn't let him inject her with that! Not again! NOT AGAIN! "Stop it! Let me go! Don't you touch me with that!"

Deathstroke merely smirked behind his mask."It's a little too late to plead with me, Rose. You never should have tried to deny who you are... now, it's time to embrace it."

Rose screamed out again, tears running down her face as the needle pierced her neck, injecting the serum into her bloodstream yet again. She could already feel it taking hold over her, messing with her mind. When Deathstroke finally released her, she hit the floor, clutching her neck and sobbing to herself.

"Now, doesn't that feel better?" he asked, taking a step back. "Look over there. You see that girl? I want you to show me just exactly who you really are... kill her."

Scarecrow kept his gaze upon the girl, already loading another bullet into his pistol. She was already defeated, it was just a matter of putting her out of her misery now. Enough money was loaded by this point, Scarecrow could leave before anything else even happened. Killing this girl would be the perfect way to draw the other Titans in, but by the time they dealt with the fear toxin Scarecrow would be half way to Gotham. He raised up his pistol, aiming it straight at Rose's head.

Out of nowhere though, something happened. "ROSE! HELP ME!" Jordan screamed through tears of pain and sadness. Apparently she had broken out of her fear for just a moment, seeing Rose right in front of her when she did.

Scarecrow glanced over at her for a second. "Silence!" he shouted before smacking Jordan right in the face, sending her crashing to the ground. As she hit the ground blood began to spew out of her nose, showing just how hard Scarecrow had hit her. "You little wench, if Black Mask didn't want you alive I'd kill you where you stand!" Scarecrow screamed as he pointed his gun right down at Jordan's face.

"Kill... her?" Rose uttered, glancing up at Jordan. It... suddenly didn't seem like such a terrible thing to do, killing that girl. If... if her father was telling her to do it, then it had to be okay, right? Yes... yes it would all be okay. "Okay, Daddy... I'll do it... I'll do it for you." She managed to get back to her feet, and started towards Jordan, knowing now what she had to do.

But before that could happen, something snapped her out of it. Jordan's screams for help cut through the haze and abruptly pulled Rose's mind back to reality. She blinked, her head clearing up just in time to see Scarecrow striking Jordan across the face and pointing a gun at her head. In that instant, the fear was suddenly gone from her mind, replaced only by one other emotion: pure, unbridled rage.

She was off and sprinting long before Scarecrow would realize she had recovered. "Let her go!" she yelled, throwing herself at him with as vicious a punch as she could possibly muster. She'd knock his head clean off!

"Stay quiet you witch, I enjoy watching my show in silence," Scarecrow said before turning back. Of course what he thought he was going to see was definitely not what was happening. "What!?" he shouted as Rose made his way right towards him before delivering a powerful punch right to his face. Scarecrow wasn't a physical fighter, never was. He got knocked right off of his feet and was sent flying, crashing into the closest wall. "Impossible! No one can resist my fear toxin on their first take! Your body can't build an immunity that easily!" Scarecrow said as if he could barely believe what he saw himself.

"This isn't over yet! It never will be!" Scarecrow shouted before lifting up his gun and trying to fire at Rose again. Black Mask wouldn't accept failure! He had to get out of here with the money!

This guy just didn't know when to quit. When he lifted the gun up at Rose again, she merely kicked it out of his hands. As if someone like him was going to be able to take out someone like her. "Not so easy to shoot me when I'm paying attention to you, is it?" she said, glaring at him and adding another kick to the face for good measure. When she was satisfied that Scarecrow wouldn't be much more trouble, she knelt down next to Jordan and removed the noose from her, as well as any other bonds that happened to be tying her up. "It's okay, I got you."

After helping Jordan back up to her feet, she turned again to Scarecrow and grabbed him by the shirt collar, proceeding to drag him down the hallway and back out through the doors where the other Titans were waiting. She of course also helped Jordan along too if she needed it. Once outside, she threw Scarecrow to the ground and stood over him. "Now, you're going to tell me everything you know about Black Mask, or I'm going to break each one of your fingers, slowly." Actually, she'd probably do that anyway, but he didn't need to know that.

Scarecrow tried to get up and run after the pistol was kicked out of his hand, but Ravager was too fast. How had she broken through her own mind? Was it the girl? But how? Was she so dedicated to being a hero that this one girl's cries were enough to break her out of the concentration. He didn't understand how it was possible, and Rose didn't give him much of a chance to question it either.

As Jordan was picked up she just latched on to Rose, crying severely as she was still under the effect of the fear toxin. The only thing she could see clearly was Rose, and she was holding on to her as tightly as she could. Everything else was dark and terrifying, and Jordan needed to latch on to the one good thing she saw.

As Scarecrow was dragged out, he looked up as Rose demanded to know everything that he knew about Black Mask. "Break my fingers? Seriously? I'm the guy who came up with fear toxin, you really think that physical pain that will heal eventually scares me anymore?" Scarecrow asked with a smile. "Sorry Ravager, but you're no Batman. Besides, I'm not dumb enough to tell you anything about Black Mask. I'll take the full jail time, if I say anything he'll make sure that I die slowly"

"And if you don't say anything, I'll make sure you die slowly," Rose growled, taking his fingers and forming them into a fist. She then reached her own hand around them and squeezed. Hard. it would only take a few seconds before they started cracking and snapping. "You think you can hurt people that I care about and get away with it?! Tell me what I want to know or I'll make you wish you'd never been born!"

"Woah, Rose, calm down!" Beast Boy said, trying to pull her off of Scarecrow. "That's not how we do things!"

Rose shoved him away and went back to working on Scarecrow's other hand, breaking all the fingers one by one. "Stay out of this! He's mine!"

"That's it, Rose..." Deathstroke's voice uttered, somewhere in the back of her mind. "Show me what you're really made of."