The Next Generation

All the robots were taken out within the next minute. It was amazing, to think that they had actually been concerned by these things. If a car had accidentally hit them they might have been destroyed by the mere power of the collision. It was strange, this all just seemed so strange. And now Terra was here and Beast Boy was talking to her again. Neal could only begin to see where this was going. Back when they fought Abra Kadabra they had enough problems between Raven and Terra. Neal only imagined that it would get worse.

Beast Boy didn't notice the shattering glass, but Neal sure as hell did. Despite the fact that they hadn't been together in far over a year, Neal could tell when Raven was upset. Plus if Beast Boy ever used that brain of his he should have known how uncomfortable Raven would be in this situation. It only got worse as Terra insisted that they stay in order to help her figure out what exactly had happened.

"It won't end well unless we do something about it," Neal whispered to Rose before stepping forward. "Well this does seem like a minor issue and I don't really think there's a need for all five of us to be here," Neal remarked. "Perhaps Raven and Beast Boy should join up with the others while Rose and I help you figure out who made these robots. If that's the best they have to throw at us than I am not concerned in the slightest"

"Ah, yeah, definitely," Rose agreed. "I'm sure Neal and I can handle things with her, you two should totally... get going back, yeah."

Terra glanced back at Neal when he suggested that Raven and Beast Boy should leave. In spite of the fact that Beast Boy was the one out of the group she wished to actually catch up with, being one of her closest friends from the past, they sought to send him away so that they could so much as talk, and the reason was quite clear. They were close with Raven, and because Raven didn't like her, they didn't care about whatever friendship she might still have with Beast Boy. Same old story.

"Right, yeah, of course, I get it... really probably isn't anything important," Terra muttered, turning around and casting up a rock to float up on. "I'll just... handle things myself. No need to keep any of you where you don't want to be, right?"

Beast Boy just blinked. "Huh, wait, what? Terra, don't-" He looked back at the others. "Is there some kind of problem?"

"Don't worry about it, Gar," Terra said, with a small shrug of the shoulders. "Your girlfriend over there doesn't want anything to do with me, so she'd rather you didn't either. It's no big deal, really... Nice seeing you again."

"Wha... Raven, is that true?" he asked, looking back at her. He thought that they'd put this behind them the last time they talked about it. Did she really still have a problem with Terra?

Raven's eye twitched at the sudden position she'd been put into. She couldn't outright admit that it was true, or she'd seem like a selfish, hateful, distrustful bitch who didn't want her boyfriend to have another female friend... of course there was a lot more to it than that, but that's probably what it would come across as. If she had time to talk to him about it, she would, but it wasn't like she could stop time. So, it was either say 'yup, I don't like her so neither should you, now let's leave already', or just... suck it up.

"No... of course not," Raven said, bowing her head. "Let's... work on the mystery. Together."

Well, this didn't go anywhere near as smoothly as Neal had planned. Despite how much he didn't want to take sides, he couldn't help but side with Raven on this matter. It wasn't that he had anything personal against Terra, it was just that there was a lot of history that made things uncomfortable. Beast Boy and Terra didn't break up, Terra had died and that was what had made things end. Now that she was alive again, things were different. Why would Raven want Beast Boy to hang out with his ex that he was once in love with?

Neal could also see where Terra was coming from, and he couldn't help but feel torn about it. Would Rose like it if Sophia suddenly rose from the dead and wanted to be with Neal all the time? How would she be comfortable, especially after Neal openly revealed that he believed that he was in love with her once. The entire situation was just too fragile, and Neal believed that Beast Boy's first duty was to Raven. This was the woman that he claimed to love and would die for. If that was true, why couldn't he see the clear pain that she was in?

As the conversation continued, Neal couldn't believe that Beast Boy openly asked Raven if that was true. Was he serious? Neal just shook his head for a moment, something that only Rose would see as Terra and Beast Boy were focused on Raven. It was pretty clear that Neal didn't have much patience in this situation. It wasn't fair to Raven.

"Sounds like we're all hanging around," Neal said before glancing over at the discarded robots. "No chance you have some sort of lead on these robots that we don't? Because I doubt they came with a return address", Neal asked as he glanced over at Terra.

Neal was glad that he wore a helmet that covered his face, as now only Raven and Rose would be able to tell his annoyance of the situation. At least Raven would know that he and Rose were on her side in this whole thing.

Terra slowly glanced back at them as Raven stated they could all stay and work on the case. She suspected that Raven probably still had a huge issue with her and that she was only agreeing to this to keep that issue from being brought to light, but she wasn't complaining. She just wanted to spend a little time with Beast Boy, working together just like old times. It wasn't like she wanted to punt Raven out of the way and steal him all for herself.

"Really?" she said, with a small smile, turning back around to face them. "Thanks, guys, that means a lot."

"Alright, so the first thing we should do is check the remains of the robots," Beast Boy said with an affirmative nod. He started marching over to the mechanical wreckage and inspecting it. "We might find a serial number or maybe even a company name or something that we can use to determine where they were built, or at least where the parts came from. That'll give us a starting point."

Terra floated over to assist him. "Wow, that makes a lot of sense. I never would have thought of that," she said, laughing. "Good thinking."

Raven continued glaring, doing nothing to go over and interrupt them, but clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. She began floating over various pieces of the robots and inspecting them herself at a distance, away from the others. The windows of the car next to her suddenly shattered.

Rose rubbed her eyes, while walking with Neal towards the nearest pile of robot parts. "Why do I get the feeling that Raven and Terra are going to come to blows before this is over?"

Despite Terra's thanks, Neal believed that she had a suspicion on what was really going on. Unlike Beast Boy who was unable to see every clear sign in front of him, Terra could probably tell that they only all suddenly changed their opinion about the situation in a moment's notice. They were all doing it in order to avoid conflict, which most likely was going to occur anyway. It wasn't a good situation to be in.

As Beast Boy and Terra began to check the robots, Neal couldn't help but frown at the scene. Could Beast Boy really not see or understand why Raven was upset about this? This wasn't just about him having a female friend, there was so much more involved than what Beast Boy seemed to see and observe. Much like Rose, Neal had a bad feeling about this.

"Because unlike Beast Boy you can actually use your head and put two and two together," Neal muttered under his breath as he walked over to various robot parts and began to inspect them slowly. "I think you're right, this isn't going to end well...........I can just feel it," Neal remarked before hearing the sound of shattering glass again. Neal glanced up and looked in Raven's direction as she investigated the pieces of her own.

"Do you think I should go talk to her?"

Rose glanced back at Raven as the glass broke again. That woman was in a world of misery right now. "Well, I guess you could try," she muttered, with a small sigh. "If you really think it'll help." She had no idea what, if anything, could put Raven's mind at ease right now, but it couldn't hurt to try right?

"Let's see..." Beast Boy said, giving the robot parts a careful inspection. "Not going to get anything off this one. Or this one... or that. Kinda wishing I didn't chomp the thing to pieces now."

"Or crush it flatter than a pancake," Terra added, chuckling. " Looks like a car that went through a compactor."

Raven glanced up again, as Beast Boy and Terra laughed at the joke. She let out a small breath of annoyance and turned her attention back to examining the robot parts. Every time Terra laughed, it was like a jackhammer was drilling into her brain. God why couldn't she just shut up?

"I don't know, in all honesty Raven has always been a person that's hard to talk to about this kind of thing. But I don't know, she'd try to help me if something was going on between us," Neal said as he glanced over at Rose. "I have to at least try you know?" he asked before looking back over at Raven.

Neal had no idea what he was going to say, but he knew that Raven had to know that there were some people on her side right now. She at least needed to know that she wasn't alone. Neal put his robot piece down and walked over next to Raven, picking up one of the pieces and examining it. "For what it's worth Raven, Rose and I are on your side in this matter," he said as he glanced over at her. He spoke low, as he didn't want to be heard by anyone.

"Are you alright? Rose and I are concerned about how you're..........feeling," Neal said as he took a moment to glance at all of the shattered glass that was surrounding them.

Raven glanced up at Neal and let out a long breath. She couldn't really say that she was in a mood to talk about it, but he wasn't someone to let it go. Of course be would want to know how she was feeling. It was obvious to anyone who paid attention that she was in a bad mood. "I am... fine," she muttered, levitating another robot part over to her. She was silent for another moment before saying anything else. "No... That is a lie. I'm not alright." She looked back up at Beast Boy and Terra, still talking and laughing while they worked. "Why does he have to get along so well with her? Why, in spite of all she's done to him, can't he see her for what she really is? Why does is still..." Her voice trailed off as she inspected another robot part. "But is it really right of me to expect him to hate her just because I do?"

Neal just stared at Raven for several moments as she said that she was fine. Neal couldn't read emotions like Raven could, but he knew a lie when he heard it. Besides, it was obvious as she was using her power on accident it seemed. Raven always kept stuff like this locked up, and it usually hurt her worse in the end. Neal had to admit that he was a part of that pain as well last time though, just as Beast Boy was a part of it now. He listened calmly to her as she spoke about Terra and Beast Boy, about how she felt in this situation.

As she finished, Neal thought for a moment about how best it was to respond. "I was not in the Titans the last time that this whole Terra situation took place, so I can't really say why he cares about her. I don't know why he gave her a second chance, or however many it was," Neal added. "In regards to how he's acting now, my personal opinion is that he's being insensitive," he admitted. "He should understand why this would make you uncomfortable, but Beast Boy can be kinda thick-headed sometimes," Neal said with a small laugh.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, but if I were you I'd try to find a minute to talk to him. Tell him how you feel and why, maybe he just can't see where you're coming from," Neal suggested as he glanced over at Beast Boy and Terra once again. "He cares about you deeply, that's what he told us when you were in the hospital. He was so worried and agonizing over you that he didn't even want to leave your side...........you can't doubt his feelings towards you Raven." Neal said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just talk to him, he'll listen and understand. You have to give him a chance though"

Raven glanced off to the side, as Neal spoke to her. She had to admit that it was nice to have someone truly understanding how she felt right now. She didn't feel quite so alone in it. "I know I should talk to him about it... but what would I say?" Holding a hand to her head, she let out a long sigh. "How do I explain how I feel without trying to seem like I'm forcing him to not be friends with her. I wish they weren't friends, yes, and I wish they weren't so... close. But I can't just disallow it, can I? That would be... mean, controlling. But then I know that she will always have a small part of his heart, no matter how much he loves me... and that hurts. I wish it didn't, but it does."

"Tell him exactly what you told me. Just explain yourself clearly and make sure that you send the correct message. He can't tell you that you're feeling wrong after all, only you know how you're feeling Raven," Neal said as he looked over towards her. "I don't know if you can stop them from being friends.....but THIS," Neal said as he glanced over at Beast Boy and Terra who were still together, "that needs to stop," Neal said as he watched them. "Believe me when I say that I understand. If my........if the woman that I loved before you and Rose came back to the grave I wouldn't spend time with her," Neal said in a very low voice. The story of Sophia was one that he never revealed to Raven either, but he hoped that the previous sentence alone would help her to understand that he knew how she felt.

"Rose is the most important thing in my world now and I wouldn't let anything get in the way of that. If Beast Boy cares about you as much as he claims, he should realize the same thing"

"I know, and I will... I have to," Raven said, sighing. "I just... don't want to say the wrong thing and ruin it between us. If that happens, he can just fall back on her; I have no doubt she'd swoop in at the first opportunity. But... I only have him. And I don't want to lose him to her. I will not lose him to her." She swallowed and took in another deep breath. "Thank you for the talk, Neal."

"Hey, guys!" Beast Boy called, running over to them. "We have a lead. Terra found a piece with a serial number and the company where the part came from."

"Yeah, you'll never believe where it came from," Terra said, holding up the scrap metal. "It's from S.T.A.R. Labs, the national science and technology research company. Dunno if they're the ones who built it, but at least some of the pieces came from there."

Beast Boy nodded. "Yeah, we should head there and see if someone's on their records for purchasing them. Hopefully, that'll take us to our perpetrator. Fortunately, they have a lab right here in the city. Raven, can you give us all a lift there?"

Raven narrowed her eyes. "Sure... no problem."

"That's why you need to take some time to yourself and think about what you're going to say Raven," Neal explained. "If you just burst out what you're feeling in the moment, odds are it'll come out the wrong way. Just take some deep breaths and really think about how you want to talk to him about this. When you feel you're ready, then you can go and say something to him," Neal said as he gained a small smile. "And no need to thank me Raven, if something happened between Rose and I you would come talk to me just as fast," he pointed out happily.

Neal was about to say something else but cut himself off as Beast Boy ran over towards them. Apparently they found something useful in the metal. "Wow.....it really did have a returning address on it," Neal remarked to himself as it was revealed that S.T.A.R labs were responsible for the metal that was being used to create the robots. It didn't mean that they were directly responsible though.

"Well, sounds like we have our lead," Neal said as he glanced over to Raven. He could tell that she was still annoyed, but he hoped that she took his advice to heart. Still, he wouldn't be surprised if something happened to push her over the edge. "Guess we should get going," Neal said as he walked over next to Rose.

The group arrived at the S.T.A.R. Labs building a short few seconds later. It was certainly a high tech place, with a lot of scientists walking through the lobby to various side hallways, and plenty if various inventions on display. A holographic interface in the center of the lobby had information regarding all sorts things that the company researched, as well as its future goals.

Beast Boy led them up to the front desk and placed the scrap piece of metal right on the counter. He explained to the secretary that they needed to know who bought it, for official hero business. The secretary seemed compliant enough, going through the records to match the serial number to a rather large order placed by one 'John Smith', obviously a fake name. However, they did manage to get an address, where the delivery had been made.

"Why am I not surprised?" Rose said, with a long sigh. "Another old warehouse. At least this one isn't abandoned."

Raven transported them to the warehouse a few moments later. While the warehouse might not be abandoned, it didn't appear as though anyone was working here today. The place was completely silent and inactive.

"Alright, let's all split up and see if we can find any clues," Beast Boy said, opening the doors.

Neal just stayed silent as they arrived at the S.T.A.R labs and continued to search for who might have purchased the machines. The place seemed friendly enough, but for all they knew someone within S.T.A.R had planned this. Still, there was no point in accusing anyone until they had some official clues to back up a claim. Right now they needed to find this John Smith guy and figure out just what it was that he was doing with these parts.

What was the end game? Why release robots that just destroyed things? If you gave robots powers, wouldn't you do it in order to give them a specific task? Neal wasn't certain, and he only hoped they caught the guy before they found out.

Eventually they went to the address that Smith lead, taking them to a warehouse that appeared to be empty for the time being. "Everyone just call out if you find something," Neal said before looking over and giving a small nod towards Rose. "I'll head left," Neal said after they had all entered the doors. He continued to move forward, trying to find anything that stood out in this place. If the robots were built here there had to be some sort of trace evidence behind.

And so everyone went off in their own directions. It was a large building with a lot of areas to search, so the more they spread out, the more ground they would be able to cover in a shorter period of time. So far, though, it pretty much looked like an ordinary warehouse. The place was made up of a series of hallways, large storage rooms, offices, and loading docks. In the storage rooms, a wide variety of goods were stacked on pallets, with the ceiling and rafters high over head. Apparently, everyone had the day off today, though, as no one was moving anything.

As Neal made his way through the building and past the loading docks, a shadow moved behind him, silently. The shadow watched, carefully observing everything that he did. He looked like one of the ones that were supposed to be coming, and the shadow had orders about what to do for when they arrived. If that was the case, then it was time to make itself known! When Neal neared the end of the loading docks, the shadow jumped down and announced its presence.

"Greetings, hero!" the new robot exclaimed. This one, however, was dressed up like a superhero, rather than a civilian, dressed in bright colors, a mask, cape, the whole shebang. "I was programmed to make myself known to you! I am one of the Robots of Tomorrow, and I am here to destroy you!"

Nothing, nothing, nothing. Those were the only words that were going through Neal's minds. Sure the place was full of stuff, but none of it was actually anything that would lead them to find who was behind the whole evil robot thing. It was only as Neal ended up at the end of his area that a presence made itself known. Neal turned around sharply as a strange voice came to be heard.

Neal turned around and was surprised at what he was. That was another robot? At least it was polite. Apparently it was here to kill Neal, and it was honest too. "Guys I found something!" he shouted as he grabbed his sword. If this wasn't a clue Neal had no idea what was. Still, the last robots were easy but that didn't guarantee that these would be.

Without waiting any longer, Neal shot forward a blast of his soul self in order to attack the robot. Neal hoped that the machine would suspect an attack so quickly.

"Aha!" the robot yelled, as Neal began his attack. It merely raised its arm up and shot out an energy blast that dispersed the soul-self. "Thought you could try to get the jump on me, ae? Not a chance! You know, that isn't very sportsman like. Very unbecoming of a superhero such as yourself. Now then, if you're that eager to begin things, then let's get it started. On even terms! Oh, and by the way, you may call me Red Fire Mark III."

Red Fire Mark III gave a salute to Neal and then took a fighting stance before flying in with surprising speed. Neal would figure out very quickly that this particular robot was much more powerful and dangerous than the fodder they fought in the streets. "See if you can stop this one!" he declared, coming in with a two fist over head smash attack aimed to crush Neal's shoulders down into the floor.

"Sportsmanlike? You're the one that just declared that you wanted to kill me!" Neal shouted back. Why on Earth was Neal debating with this robot anyway? It obviously wasn't going to listen to Neal or with reason. Despite Neal's annoyance with the thing, he couldn't help but get a little nervous as the machine shot out a blast of energy in order to disrupt Neal's own attack. This wasn't starting out well.

Red Fire Mark III shot forward and attempted to attack Neal in close range combat. Neal only smiled as t he robot began to send out his attack. "Sorry, your mistake," Neal said as he suddenly withdrew his blade and turned the heat on to a high level. He slashed up with the intent to disarm the robot, or at the very least block the attack before it pounded Neal right into the ground.

Well, unfortunately for Neal, when swinging something that goes right through the other something coming at you, the other something coming at you is still going to continue coming forward, regardless of damage done to it. And while the hot blade sliced through one side of the robot and ended up lopping off not only one arm, but also a shoulder and half the torso, the other arm... well, it kept going. Fate would leave it up to what actually resulted from the super strength blow to the shoulder, but regardless, Red Fire Mark III seemed utterly shocked that it had been damaged so severely.

"Remarkable!" it proclaimed, looking down at the sparks zapping out of its cleaved open torso. "And to think I've been built with the most advanced robotics technology that the scientific world has to offer! This is most impressive. When this is over, I must have your autograph."

Yeah, science and physics wasn't something that Neal very much enjoyed in school. It looked like he had another few things that he needed to add to his study session. He had planned it as if he was fighting a human, but he should have known that a robot would continue in his attack despite what was lost. It didn't feel pain after all, and for all Neal knew it didn't have much sense of self-preservation.

As the attack came down Neal's eyes widened. "Shit," he muttered before trying to cast a block of his soul-self in order to block the attack. It softened the incoming blow, but it didn't protect him as fully as he would have liked. The attack broke through and still struck Neal's shoulder. It hurt like hell, but Neal was certain that no permanent damage had been done.

He looked up to Red Fire Mark III as the robot seemed to marvel at the damage that had been done to it. The robot might have thought that he was hot stuff, but this sword had been designed by Batman and nothing topped that man's work. "Yeah I'll make sure to give it to you when it's all over," Neal said before causing a wall of his soul-self to appear behind Mark III before Neal slashes outwards in order to cut the robot in half. He hoped the robot would NOT be able to leap back to dodge the attack and allow Neal his winning blow against the machine.

"Very impressive work, good sir," Red Fire Mark III stated, as Neal pressed the attack. This really was quite the exciting battle! When the soul-self attack came int combination with the heat sword again, however, the robot formed a powerful force field around its body, deflecting anything trying to get through. "But I'm afraid that I'm not without my tricks, as well! The best that Tomorrow has to offer!"

A second later, the force field expanded and exploded in a powerful burst of energy that blasted everything backwards and tore up the floor and the surrounding walls. Red Fire Mark III glanced around for a few moments, surveying the damage. "Simply marvelous, I do never tire of doing that."

Neal continued with his attack, but as his attack nearly hit Neal found that he was suddenly stopped and shot back. It was an impressive attack and one that Neal clearly didn't see coming. He landed roughly, only barely avoiding cutting his own leg off with the heat sword. Neal pressed his head up as Red Fire Mark III bragged about how powerful his ability was. It was energy manipulation, it was like what Sarah had been capable of before becoming a Green Lantern.

This wasn't going to be as easy as Neal had hoped for.

Neal needed to come up with a plan or he might actually die in this fight. He should have finished the battle when he had the chance, that thing wasn't going to let Neal hit him the same way twice. It wouldn't be smart. Along with that Neal couldn't use his illusions on it because it was just a machine.

Neal used his soul-self to grab on to several pallets from the storing area before throwing them at the robot.

"Well now, you are persistent," Red Fire Mark III claimed, as the pallets flew wildly towards it. The robot merely swatted the incoming squares of wood, splintering them apart with is super strength. "But persistence will not get you anywhere, I'm afraid. You cannot beat the Robots of Tomorrow!"

Red Fire Mark II then pointed at where Neal was standing and fired off another beam of energy, one that obliterated anything caught in its path. At least it wasn't as fast as some of his other beams. "Now, now, hold still! My programming dictates that I must destroy you, but I cannot do that if you keep moving around."

"Hey, ugly!" a new voice shouted, as a projectile object came whipping across the room at it. The energy blade sliced right through the robot, cutting off one of its legs as well as a portion of its hip. Rose grinned. "Suck on that one!"

"Another one comes to join the battle!" Red Fire Mark III proclaimed, turning around to fire another beam at the rafter Rose was standing on. The beam exploded the rafter, causing Rose to tumble back down to the floor.

"Shit!" Neal shouted as the blast of energy came right for him. It must have been powerful as it didn't travel as fast. Neal barely got out of the way in time, just in time to look back and see what would have become of him had he not moved. There was no doubt in Neal's mind that it would have killed him if it made full contact. These robots were really tough, Neal had no idea who had created them or what for.

If there was an army of these things, it'd be a serious problem.

As Rose finally showed up, Neal had to admit that he had never been so relieved. "Some back up a few minutes ago would have been appreciated Rose," Neal said as he pushed himself to his feet. As she was shot at though, Neal felt nothing but anger.

"Stay away from her!" Neal shouted before firing a concentrated blast of his soul self towards the machine. That thing had just nearly killed Neal, and he was not going to let it attack his wife again.