Author's Notes

Okay, this story is one I am working on while on a temporary hiatus from Betrayed, Cast Off, Angry. There will be a number of similarities in characters and tone. Raven will be the protagonist once again while this time, Slade will be the antagonist. Unlike the earlier story's three act structure, this will end up as one act.

This story is ultimately inspired by stories such as "Smoke and Shadows", "Dreams and Memories", and "Breaking Her".

Hope you enjoy.

It was another seemingly average day in Jump City. It had been nine months since the Brotherhood of Evil was defeated, but someone had released them around five weeks ago, resulting in a sudden surge in crime.

The Titans were there to stop the criminals. Today, it was Cinderblock terrorizing the city, causing massive chaos downtown. The police had tried to put an end to the issue, but Cinderblock quickly overwhelmed them.

So now they had to call the Titans. Coming onto the scene was Robin, the Bat protegé and remarkably talented fighter. Robin jumped off the R-Cycle and pulled out his bo-staff, which extended in his hands.

Second on the scene was Robin's girlfriend, Starfire, a princess of the Vega system planet Tamaran. Starfire was an expert warrior with her fury-fueled star-bolts, her confident alien strength, and happiness-driven flight.

Coming out from the T-Car that just arrived was the half-man, half-robot Cyborg, who had the answer to any technical problem and was something all his own. Cyborg promptly turned his right arm into his trademark sonic cannon and aimed it right at Cinderblock.

Fourth out onto the scene was a green falcon, which promptly turned into a green boy, the changeling himself, Beast Boy. He turned into a rhino and got ready to charge on Cinderblock.

Last one on the scene, phasing in through the streets, was the most powerful Titan, the emotionally restrained half-demon Raven, who appeared about as bored and apathetic as they come.

Robin opened things up with, "Alright Cinderblock. You can come in quietly or we will take you down."

Cinderblock roared in fury before picking up a Mini-Cooper and throwing it right at the Titans. Cyborg quickly blasted the car apart and Raven's black energy surrounded the pieces, rendering the Titans unharmed.

Robin then yelled out to his team, "Titans go!"

With that, Starfire began to throw star-bolts right at Cinderblock, hammering him with them but failing to score a knock-out, the intention of it all. Starfire swooped around and made another pass at the stone villain. She fired some more star-bolts at him but Cinderblock grabbed her before throwing her right back at the Titans.

Beast Boy then charged right at Cinderblock as a rhino, quickly hitting him in the gut. While that did push Cinderblock back a few meters, it did little to take down the giant. Cinderblock picked up an abandoned iron girder and swung it at Beast Boy.

Beast Boy turned into a rat to dodge the swing before turning into a large gorilla, which grabbed the girder and used it to hit Cinderblock.

Cinderblock then ran on the girder and kicked the changeling right in the head, causing him to turn back into a human and fall unconscious.

Cyborg was the next Titan to take a swing at Cinderblock, firing his sonic cannon at the giant, causing some damage but not enough to put the fight to a close. Suddenly, four missile pods emerged from Cyborg's shoulders and fired right at Cinderblock, scoring four impacts.

Cinderblock fell down onto one knee but he quickly got back up and punched Cyborg away next to the T-Car. It was all down to Robin and Raven right about now.

Robin charged at Cinderblock, scoring a number of damaging blows onto the terror, forcing him to fall back. Robin threw a couple of bird-a-rangs at him, most of which impacted and exploded. However, while it did wear Cinderblock down, he was not down for the count.

Cinderblock then stomped onto the ground, causing vibrations that shook up Robin. Cinderblock jumped up into the air before going down and sending Robin flying right through the air.

Before he could meet a painful finish, Raven grabbed him with her black energy and calmly set him onto the ground.

Raven then said, "My turn", before enveloping Cinderblock with a fist of black energy which she then sent tossing right into an abandoned truck. Cinderblock tried to get up but ultimately found he was then crushed beneath the truck, having been exhausted fighting the Titans.

With that, the police were able to take Cinderblock back into custody, saving the day once again. With that, the Titans returned home.

Little did they realize, someone was watching them from afar. The watcher said to himself, "The Titans haven't lost any of their touch. Predictable as ever, but no less dangerous. Tonight is the night, the day I begin the showcase of how to take them down."

With that, they vanished off the rooftop without a trace.

After the fight with Cinderblock, the Titans went back to their normal routines. Robin was in the gym doing some damage to a punching bag that was designed to withstand more damage than before. Before, the Titans were burning through punching bags, having to buy another one every week or so after it completely broke apart.

Starfire was in the kitchen preparing food for her pet mutant moth larvae Silkie, consisting of assorted veggies and other ingredients not always seen in the city, or on the planet even. Silkie was one of only two things on the planet - the other being Starfire - that actually ate Star's cooking.

Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing video games in the main ops room. It was the brand new racing game, Hawk of Fury, and the two were racing helicopters to see who could drive the fastest (in the game). After a long race of exploding cliffs, flaming ice, and low gates, Beast Boy beat Cyborg by just a couple of seconds, earning him the title of Fury Hawk.

Raven, predictably, was in her room meditating. She had to meditate for several hours every day to prevent her emotions from getting out of control and causing the apocalypse, again. She really needed the privacy, and her room was designed so she could suppress all outside noise, or all inside noise. As a result, Raven was the most isolated Titan, and the one that people knew the least about.

Raven was reading one of her books, The Art of Calligraphy when she heard knocking on her door. Raven reluctantly put down her book to see who wanted her. She saw it was the Boy Wonder himself - Robin.

"Hey, Raven. We were going to go out for pizza. Do you want to come?", Robin asked.

Raven's reply was, "No. I'm busy."

Before Raven could close the door, Robin pushed his foot in the way, enabling him to keep the door open.

"You don't have anything else to do. And we rarely see you outside of missions."

"I just...I just don't have a good feeling about this."

"It'll be fine, Raven. Come on, let's go."

With that, Robin grabbed Raven and dragged her right out of her room. He would make sure she would be with other people, even if it killed her. Too bad he didn't think about that last part, for things were going to happen that night. Things he would unquestionably regret.

The Titans drove in the T-Car to their typical pizza place, Mario's, and it was surprisingly quiet at night. Normally, it was one of the most crowded restaurants in the city. The Titans sat down at their usual table and their predictable pizza debate began.

Cyborg said, "Triple Meat Treat."

Beast Boy said, "Tofu Veggie."

Starfire said, "Cucumber, pastrami, and relish pizza."

Robin and Raven, as usual, sat the argument out, knowing they would predictably get a cheese pizza in the end. It satisfied all parties, but why they would not come to consensus sooner always puzzled them.

After several minutes of arguing, the Titans finally reached the decision to get a cheese pizza - none of Cyborg's meat, none of Beast Boy's tofu, and none of Star's bizarre ingredients.

Just before they could place their order, Raven began to sense a lot of footsteps were headed their way. It sounded like they were about to be visited by an army.

As the footsteps drew closer, the Titans knew it was a familiar army. An army of robots. And only one guy in the city had access to such an army.

The Titans prepped for battle as they saw scores of Slade-bots coming out in front of the pizza place. And seconds later came out their commander, the dangerous criminal mastermind Slade.

Slade opened up with a greeting. "Hello, Titans. It's been a while, hasn't it? Not since Trigon I presume?"

Beast Boy said, "What about the amusement park? Remember that? Oh wait, you sent a robot decoy."

Slade's reply was, "I didn't want you making a major mistake. Terra never really did care for you. Now, if you would surrender yourselves."

Robin interrupted, saying, "No way. We don't give up that easy."

Slade said, "If you don't, my robots will take you all down. Would you rather go quietly or go down fighting?"

The first line of Slade-bots aimed arm guns right at the Titans.

Robin and the other Titans jumped down as Robin said, "Titans go!"

Starfire and Cyborg quickly began working on the Slade-bots, blasting them apart with their star-bolts and cannon blasts. It appears Slade did little to upgrade his robotic army.

Beast Boy and Raven soon joined Starfire and Cyborg while Robin began fighting Slade. Beast Boy's animal forms enabled him to break up the Slade-bots while Raven's black energy enabled her to tear and smash them apart.

In the fight against Slade, Robin was about as matched with Slade as he ever could be. Slade commented, "I am correct when I say we are so much alike."

Robin yelled out as he struck towards Slade with the bo-staff, "I am nothing like you! Why did you come back after so long?"

Slade kicked the bo-staff out of Robin's hands and delivered a devestating kick to Robin's abdomen.

Robin pulled out two bird-a-rangs to strike Slade with, but Slade pulled out a customized taser, which he aimed at Robin's neck.

Slade fired the taser, which instantly impacted Robin. The electrocuted Robin then fell right back down onto the ground.

Slade said, "One down. Four to go." He then turned his attention to the other four Titans making work of his Slade-bot army.

While Starfire was blasting away at the Slade-bots, increasing her total number of robot kills up to sixty-two within several minutes, Slade charged right at Starfire.

Before Starfire could react to the mastermind's attack, Slade punched Starfire in the face before pulling the taser on Starfire. Starfire was durable, but she could not stand up against a taser. She fell unconscious, leaving three Titans remaining in the fight against Slade.

Cyborg blasted the taser out of Slade's hands before Beast Boy stepped on it, crushing it to bits. Slade, infuriated, pulled out an energy blaster and took aim at Cyborg.

Raven used her black energy to create a shield for Cyborg, preventing Slade from hitting him. Slade, realizing that he couldn't hit Cyborg, took aim at Beast Boy.

Slade fired and struck Beast Boy, now a raptor, in the chest. Beast Boy turned back into human form before falling unconscious. Slade didn't kill Beast Boy - the blaster was not designed to kill - but it did knock him out. Two Titans remaining. The odds were in Slade's ever-increasing favor.

Slade discarded the energy blaster before putting his sights on Raven. In shock, Raven's shield protecting Cyborg went down. In Slade's moment of distraction, Cyborg tackled the criminal onto the ground before throwing him aside. Cyborg fired his sonic cannon at Slade, but he expertly dodged the attacks like they were nothing.

Cyborg yelled, "Come on! What are you?"

Slade's cold reply was, "A very enhanced human being, Cyborg."

With that, Slade punched Cyborg down before pulling out a mini-EMP grenade. Slade put the grenade on Cyborg, causing him to shut down.

Raven's black energy surrounded a trash can and Raven threw it at Slade. However, Slade turned around and kicked it out of the sky.

Raven said, "You're going down, Slade. You shouldn't have killed him."

Slade replied, "I didn't kill him. He's asleep. But my dear Raven, I believe it is you that will go down. I guarantee it."

Raven's black energy surrounded every object in the area - benches, mailboxes, umbrellas. They went right at Slade but none could strike him as he approached the team demonling. Raven was forced to fall back, soon noticing the increasing number of Slade-bots headed in her direction.

Raven's black energy attacked the Slade-bots while trying to stay one step ahead of Slade. However, the number of Slade-bots ultimately became too overwhelming for Raven and soon they had grabbed both of her arms and one slapped a gag over her face, rendering her unable to use her powers.

Raven muttered, or tried to say, "Slade, what are you doing?"

Slade told Raven, "It has begun. I assure you, you will never be the same."

With that, Slade inserted a needle into Raven's neck and injected the entire needle's contents into Raven, causing her to fall unconscious.

Slade said, "Take them to the base. Put the other four in the observation chambers. I want them to have front-row seating to what I am going to do to their prized bird."