CH. 1
The side door in the common room in Titan's Tower opened with a pneumatic hiss, revealing five very exhausted teenagers. The titan's looked very worse for the wear with holes, burned holes, blood trails, and dried blood trails, bruises of many different colors, dents, cuts, scrapes, scratches, and many a manner of other marks that showed proof that their job was anything but easy. Robin plopped on the couch heavily as if his feet had been cut from underneath him. He stared at the overlarge TV/computer monitor/window and sighed. Starfire sat next to him, equally pooped.
"Slade escaped again," she groaned. The others plopped down as well in the same manner.
"We have to get help," Robin said wearily.
"How?" demanded Cyborg moodily, "Slade could go against our entire force and come out smiling. He's the only one who's bested the famous Teen Titans." He finished mockingly. Raven rolled her eyes while Beast Boy remained quiet and staring ahead. He was thinking heavily on the matter.
"I may have an idea," he stated quietly. If music had been playing, the sound of a record stopping suddenly would have sounded through the air. Every titan looked at him in astounded shock.
"Hey!" Beast Boy frowned offended, "The hamster in my head can think sometimes you know."
"Well what's your idea?" Robin asked, making a mental note to put this breakthrough in scientific history on paper for future generations to know that Beast Boy had an idea.
"There is someone I know. He was an acquaintance of my family's. He has what we need to get the job done." Robin raised an eyebrow.
"What job?" he asked suspiciously.
"End Slade's life," Beast Boy said in a hushed voice. The titans were once again silent. Robin was the only one who had tried to kill Slade. Terra was the only one to actually succeed. But through Raven's father, he had become alive once more. Now there was someone to destroy him. Robin hated hiring a hitman, but they weren't getting any closer killing Slade than Beast Boy seeing the Wizard of Oz for a real brain. And if the press got wind of it, they'd be ruined, no longer allowed to protect the city.
"Where does this person live?" Robin asked with a scowl.
Beast Boy took them to an abandoned apartment complex and knocked three times. The door swung open slowly on well oiled hinges. They entered and the door slammed shut behind them. Beast Boy sniffed and walked down the hallway to the room with firelight flickering from inside. They all walked in one at a time until they stopped behind Beast Boy facing the back of a moldy chair that faced a roaring fire.
"Beast Boy," a cold voice sounded, "It's been quite some time. How have you been?" Beast Boy gulped.
"You know very well J.C.," Beast Boy replied bravely. A cold chuckle that sounded very close to Slade's, only worse, echoed throughout the room, sending chills down their spines.
"As always, so forward," J.C. joked. The chair turned, scrapping across the floor on its own accord so that J.C. faced them. His skin was pale as a ghost, hair silver and cut low to his head, and eyes a cold icy sapphire. And a smile portraying even pearly white teeth that spoke of evil; he looked no older than nineteen. His eyes swept over the Titans.
"I'm going to be the courteous host and not read your minds. Why have you come here?" he asked with genuine curiosity.
"Beast Boy says you can kill… and very well," Robin said with a look that said he loathed himself for doing what he was about to do. J.C. inclined his head.
"That I can Robin, that I can," he said with another small smile.
"We need Slade dead," Beast Boy stated bluntly. J.C. was quiet for a long time. Then he replied.
"The Titans hiring a hitman… not a good thing for the public to find out. I will be paid well I hope?" he said with another evil smile, "Strictly business but this is very big. We wouldn't want to press finding out now would we?" The Titans glared at him.
"No," Beast Boy finally said, "We wouldn't." J.C. nodded.
"This won't be cheap," he said resting his elbows on the arm of the chair and touching the tips of his fingers together.
"How much?" Robin asked angrily.
"Raven," he replied.
"I'm sorry," Robin stated, "I think I heard you incorrect-"
"You heard me fine," J.C. said raising his voice, "I want Raven. Or rather, I want her powers."
"Never," Robin snarled. J.C. laughed softly under his breath.
"You misunderstand Robin. One touch of my finger and I replicate her powers and sustain them forever. And since I've lived for millennia, I have quite a collection at my disposal. My psychic powers limit me to mind reading and moving small lightweight objects like a door or a chair from a certain amount of feet away. With Raven's powers I can do so much more," he said finishing on a whisper, "Those are my terms. Take it or leave." The Titans looked to Raven. She glared at J.C. who merely smiled his dark smile at her. After a long period of time J.C.'s smile waned.
"I grow impatient Raven," he said coldly, "You have five more minutes before I throw you all out and believe me, you don't want me to do that." Raven thought about it. This cretin could easily dispatch Slade. All she had to do was share her powers. Something no other being in the universe or any other dimension had, save for her father. She did not want someone having her powers.
"Ten seconds," Growled J.C.
"Fine," Raven seethed. J.C. was all smiles again.
"Thank you Raven," he said as he gleefully stood and grabbed her wrist. She felt a probe deep in her very soul and felt as if it were rent in two. She would have screamed if she had the control to. But J.C. was busy copying and it put her in a sort of trance-like state. He probed deep into her and rent her to pieces. Finally he extracted and Raven fell back into Robin who caught her. She groaned and soon lost consciousness.
"J.C.!" Robin roared angrily. J.C. looked at his hands and smiled.
"She will be fine my friend," he stated quietly while still looking at his hands, "a rest and good nights sleep and she will be right as rain. Thank you for the payment; now to dispatch Slade. If you will excuse me." He disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Titans looked at one another and then left, Raven being carried by Cyborg. The deed of what they did heavy on their minds and conscience. When they arrived at the Tower and Raven was put in her bed, attached to certain wires that would allow Cyborg to monitor her at his leisure, they sat down and turned on the news. There on the headline news was a reporter filming a battle live from a helicopter.
"I've not seen anything like this folks, Slade is battling an unknown hero and appears to be matching him easily," the reporter yelled over the rotors of the chopper. The Titans watched as J.C. and Slade fought it out in the middle of a street. Slade was just getting up from a recent attack when J.C. strutted over to him and kneed him in the face. Slade flew into the solid concrete wall of a building and fell to his knees once again. He stood up and appeared to show no signs of pain or giving up. J.C. laughed loudly.
"Your time is up Slade! My time is now!" J.C. pointed his palm at Slade and a small sphere of yellow energy formed. Slade didn't even flinch as J.C. smiled evilly. Then just as J.C. was about to fire, Slade flipped out his gun and shot his shoulder, causing him to jerk back and fire his beam to the far right. Slade rushed him and tackled him to the ground where he pinned him and started to land punch after punch into J.C.'s face. J.C. kicked up and smashed his knee into the middle of Slade's back and his foot into the back of his head. Slade rolled forward allowing J.C. to do a Chinese get up and then a quick round house kick, sending Slade flying back.
"No more toying around!" J.C. yelled in frustration and flexed his arms, wrists, hands, and fingers, like he was straining to pick up a very heavy load. The ground trembled violently and Slade's and the Titans' eyes widened at the familiar ability.
"What?" Slade yelled in shock as a pair of arms complete with fingers and hands made of earth rose layered with the concrete and tar covered road rose from the ground.
"Impossible!" Slade yelled, his voice layered with fear.
"You're as annoying as an insect. Time to die like one!" J.C. yelled with glee and brought his arms up and then threw them down. The earthen arms followed suit. Slade wasn't fast enough. Starfire hid her face in Robin's shoulder with a gasp. Beast Boy looked a bright green and Cyborg a pale ashy color. Robin however only narrowed his eyes.
"Folks, it appears the evil villain Slade is now dead. And our vigilante hero has retreated to whence he came. Tune in for more information later." Robin cut off the T.V. and walked out of the room, not sure if they had made the correct move in assassinating Slade. Over the next few days, the crime rate began to lower exponentially. The Titans were finally able to take more breaks and enjoy life as teenagers. Till one day, an unexpected change, but also a familiar change. Crime rate skyrocketed with the appearance of a new head villain. The Titans didn't know who to expect robbing the bank but it certainly wasn't J.C. They ran through the shattered double doors of the bank to see gore, shattered bones, lumps of flesh, and mashed brains decorating the entire lobby. J.C. was slowly walking out with five sacks the six feet tall floating behind him. He stopped and sighed when he saw them.
"I had a feeling it would come to this," he said in mock sadness.
"J.C.?" Beast Boy sounded like he'd been punched in the chest, "What… what are you doing?" J.C. gave his usual evil smile.
"Finally doing what I do best: causing mayhem, destruction, and death," he chuckled darkly. The Titans looked at the repulsive surroundings. J.C. spread his arms out wide.
"The real question my green friend, is what will you all do now? Except that I, and I alone am the most powerful being in the universe and back away or fight me and die right here and right now." The Titans had faced many enemies and always came out on top cheating death multiple times. But there was something in the way he said it. Like he knew what would happen and there was no arguing. He sounded so confident.
"We are going to stop you!" Robin yelled, pointing at him. Beast Boy flinched and turned to Robin, dread hitting his stomach like a five pound weight. He had to save them. Robin had just signed all their death sentences. This super being was unbeatable. Time didn't even affect him for goodness sake! J.C.'s smile grew larger.
"If that is your choice, then so be it," He said softly. He raised a hand with his fingers pointed dead at Robin. Beast Boy did not think he only reacted. He knew instantly what J.C. was going to do. He was going to electrify Robin until he was cremated. And it would only take three seconds. Beast Boy shoved Robin just as J.C. fired his bolt of lightning. As soon as Robin was free he changed to an electric eel and absorbed the energy. Of course being a small electric eel getting hit by enough electricity to fry you in three seconds didn't mean you escaped unscathed. He was thrown through a marble pillar, changing back mid-flight. He landed on the gore covered marble floor and slid to a sticky halt in front of the doors.
"Beast Boy!" Robin cried his eyes wide in shock.
"Whoops," J.C. said in mock surprise, "Wrong nuisance." Beast Boy did not move as Robin scrambled to his feet. He whirled to face J.C., his glare matching the other titans' own glares.
"I am going to be gracious and offer you the chance to run once more. If you do not take it I will not offer again and you will all surely die," J.C. said insistently. Robin growled as he glared at the man he now hated just as much as he had Slade. The others would fight; all he had to do was say the word. He looked at his teammates and then glanced over his shoulder at BB.
"Stand down," he growled, hating the words that poured over his lips. The others looked at him in surprise.
"We can take him!" Cyborg exclaimed, "He's a pushover!"
"Cyborg… stand… down," Robin seethed. He turned around and walked over to pick up Beast Boy. He nodded to Raven who teleported them home. Once again the familiar feeling of if he had made the right decision haunted him. Yes he had. They didn't know what he was capable of; Beast Boy did. He could tell them and better arm them. He only hoped they could match up to his intense powers.