It's evening in Jump City and a rock monster is busting into jail. The guards shoot at him, but the bullets bounce off his back. Not this city's average Tuesday. He is just about to break a wall when there is a voice behind him.
"Usually, Cinderblock, villains break out of jail," a female voice said. "Yeah," said another, "and I can think of five good reasons why you don't wanna break in." One by one, a group of teens come out of the shadows.
"One." A girl who had long black hair drawn back in a ponytail, cream colored skin, masked eyes, and was dressed in traffic light clothing jumped from the shadows. She is Robyn, the Girl Wonder and the leader of the Teen Titans.
"Two." A boy with red hair that reaches just above his shoulders, orange skin and green eyes swoops from the sky and lands gracefully next to Robyn. His name is Starblaze, and he is from the planet of Tamaran.
"Three." Another girl with green eyes, green hair, and green skin emerged from the shadows and walked on the other side of Robyn. She changes from a tiger humanoid to a regular human. She is Beast Girl, former member of the Doom Patrol and a survivor of Sakutia.
"Four." Another boy who was wearing a cloak over his black body suit and pale skin, and a hood over his violet hair floated out of the shadows and stood by Beast Girl. He looked like the shadows himself. His name is Revan, he is a demon spawn and the son of Trigon.
"Five." A third girl with dark chocolate skin, no hair, and robotics covering half her body walked from the shadows and stood next to Starblaze. She is muscular for a girl her age. Her name is Cyber, and she was in a life-changing accident that cost her half her human side.
The Titans stand ready for battle. "No matter how you do the math," Robyn said, "it all adds up to you going down. So, are you going to go quietly..."
"Or is this going to get loud?" Cyber finished. Cinderblock responds with a roar and throws barrels at them, which the Titans dodged. "Titans, GO!" Robyn yells the battle cry. The Titans charge at the rock monster. Beast Girl changes into a hawk to fly behind Revan and Starblaze.
Robyn jumps behind Cinderblock and lands a solid kick to his back. Cinderblock staggers a bit before regaining his posture. He turns around to see Starblaze shooting a barrage of star-bolts at his back. Cyber then delivers a right hook, but Cinderblock doesn't care.
Beast Girl then dives in and rakes her talons in the rock monster's back, making him stagger back to the corner. Revan takes this opportunity to levitate a section of the floor up, causing Cinderblock to crash into it. He flies away to make room for Robyn, Starblaze, and Cyber.
Before they could land an attack, however, the rock monster delivers a giant backhand, sending Robyn and Cyber flying backwards. This action didn't affect Starblaze, though. He throws star-bolt after star-bolt at Cinderblock, who grabs the Tameranean in his rocky clutches and pulls him towards his head so they now are face-to-face with each other. A smile crosses over Starblaze's face.
"I am sorry to disappoint you," he said, "but I am stronger than I look." He proves this fact by breaking Cinderblock's hold on him and high kicks the rock monster, sending him flying into the wall. A cry from the Beast Girl-hawk is heard as she swoops in once again; in an instant, she has hit the ground and transformed herself into a tyrannosaurs rex.
Cinderblock stands pat before her thundering charge and knocks her back with a single left hook. Revan then appears from the shadows. "Azarath, Metrion,-" Revan starts but is then cut off with a sharp, shocked gasp as he discovers Beast Girl's shadow falling over him. He looks up and sees Beast Girl falling from the sky. Beast Girl screams as she changes back to a human and lands on Revan. She gets up from the floor. She shakes her head to clear it.
Revan gets up after her, some hair falling into his face. "Heh, um, watch out for falling dinosaurs?" Beast Girl says sheepishly. Revan gave her a hard glance and blew the hair out of his face. "I'm gonna leave you alone now." She bugs out.
Cinderblock chuckles to himself. He starts to cross the area, but Robyn jumps on his neck and tries to put him in a headlock. Stumbling about at random, the stone behemoth tears a girder loose from the wall. As a result, a chunk of concrete from the floor goes with it.
"Thrashing only makes me hold tighter," the Girl Wonder shouted. Cinderblock raises the girder and swings at Robyn, but misses when the girl jumps away just in time; he clocks himself in the head instead. "Now there's an idea," Cyber says, looking at another girder. The cybernetic teen then rips it free and charges at the rock monster. Cinderblock and Cyber then engage in a makeshift sword fight, hitting their girders together. Cyber steadily gains ground on the enemy.
They struggle at close quarters. Cinderblock pushes Cyber back in preparation for a mighty swing. It connects, sending the cybernetic Titan and her girder skidding across the floor. Starblaze floats down from above; Cinderblock gets ready to let him have it, but the quick flash of a star-bolt causes the steel to heat and soften in the stone behemoth's hands. He grunts in surprise, and Starblaze laughs as Revan looks on.
Cinderblock grunts again and runs off down the corridor, heading deeper into the prison. Cyber is still flat on her back, but gets back up with a helping hand from Robyn and dusts herself off. "Want to give this guy the Sonic Boom?" Robyn asks. Cyber smiles and converts her arm into a sonic cannon. "I got the Sonic if you got the Boom." Robyn smirks.
Their three teammates regroup and look down the corridor. Meanwhile, Robyn and Cyber catch up to Cinderblock. "Yo, Rockhead!" Cyber yells, catching the rock monster's attention. Robyn and Cyber run at him. They peel off to opposite sides to run up the wall, then jump toward each other as the cannon warms up. Whatever they had planned to do goes badly wrong, however, as their feet get tangled up and they are left spinning out of control in midair.
Finally, they fly apart and Cyber crashes into the wall. Her cannon goes off, producing a blast of sound that engulfs Starlaze and Beast Girl. Robyn slams against the opposite wall; a disc in her hand slides away and detonates at Revan's feet.
Cinderblock is completely unscathed by the fireworks and clumps away, smashing straight through one wall after another in his path. Prisoners step out to look after the lumbering rock colossus, then start to sprint out the same way he came in, all the while shouting out their freedom.
"Hey, hey, look at this! Freedom." "Let's do it!" "Let's get out of here!" "Yeah!"
Robyn is the first one on her feet, rubbing her aching head. The commotion reaches her from around the corner, and soon a throng of escaping prisoners is coming straight at her. She whips out her fighting staff and extends it to its full length, and her, Revan, Beast Girl, and Starblaze get ready to battle. As the latter are caught by surprise, the former let them have it. Beast Girl resumes her T-Rex form to scare the living bejesus out of them.
Somewhere in the prison, there's a cell door. On the door is a sign that reads 'Prisoner 385901- Absolute Silence'. Cinderblock's shadow falls over the sign. Inside the cell is a large, cylinder glass tank of liquid that is suspended from the ceiling. Inside the tank is a man with a bald hair and only underwear on. He is asleep and snoring. Cinderblock tears the tank from its cord. Gases and liquid spew from hoses in the ceiling. He punches a hole in the wall and escapes.
Meanwhile, just outside the prison walls, two prisoners run out in a bid for freedom. "Let's go, let's go," the first prisoner says. "I think we're gonna make it," his friend replies. "Yeah," the first prisoner says again. They run for the open exit, but their escape route is blocked when the pieces fly back into the frame, closing it shut.
"Huh?" They both say in confusion. Suddenly, Revan appears through the newly repaired gate. "Think again," he said.
Soon, all the prisoners are returned to their cells under the guards' watch. The Titans watch in silence. Beast Girl, who is now a gorilla, changes back to a human. "Jailbreak?" She asked, breaking the silence. "I don't see any jailbreak." Robyn angrily turns to Cyber. "None of us would've seen one if Cyber hadn't messed up!" She yelled, turning her head.
"Me?" Cyber yelled, blowing back Robyn's cape. "I messed up nothing! You got in my way!" She, too, turned her head. Robyn turned back. "You were too far forward," she argued, "and Cinderblock got away because of it!" An angry little spark appeared on her head at the end of this, and then blinks away. The girls continued to argue. Starblaze pushed them apart.
"Stop," he said sternly. "No more mean talking." The girls turn their backs on him and each other. "Yeah," Beast Girl said. "If you two are gonna fight, we need time to sell tickets." She backs off as Revan steps up. "Cinderblock escaped," he said flatly, "no amount of yelling will change that. Now, stop acting like idiots, and let's go home."
Both girls gave each other a disdainful glance from over their shoulders. "Hmph." They stride away from each other, leaving the others nonplussed. "Loser," Robyn said softly. "Jerk," Cyber said with equal softness. They whirled on each other. "What did you say?!"
"Do you have a problem, Tin Girl?" Robyn asked snarkily. "Yes, I do," Cyber said. "It's four feet tall and smells like cheap shampoo!" The others are scared by their outbursts. "Well, you're an oversized klutz and your feet smell like motor oil!" Robyn counters; the sound of an infant crying is heard from the other Titans.
"Well," Cyber said, listing things off her fingers, "you're bossy, you're rude, you have no taste in music." Robyn was basically steaming. "I don't even know why you're on this team!" She yelled. "Well, that makes two of us," Cyber said. "I QUIT!" This shocked the other four Titans, especially Robyn. She hadn't meant for that to happen.
Cyber walked off; the Titans looked at Robyn, and Robyn looked at her boots.
Somewhere else in Jump City, there is a building made entirely of machine. There is a big, black chair atop a raised platform. In the chair sits a shadowed figure. No features are shown because the body is fully covered by armor. In the harsh glare, the right side of the head and shoulder show a gray tint, while the other side appeared red-orange.
Cinderblock stepped into the light. He was carrying the tank containing 385901. "Cinderblock," the figure said, "I see your mission was a success. Good. We will proceed with Phase Two. Wake him." The stone behemoth strains at the metal cap on the top of the container and manages to unscrew it. The occupant begins to stir.
"I'm...awake?" The man said, startled. "I shouldn't be awake! I'm only human when I'm sleeping!" The dark figure spoke again. "But for what I have in mind, your human form is useless. I need...Plasmus." As the figure said this, the man's form began to swell and distort within the tank, causing the glass to bulge and finally shatter. He then turns into Plasmus, a purple slime creature with a wide mouth and two tiny yellowish eyes. He lets out a huge roar.
The next day, the Titans were still affected by the loss of their teammate. Beast Girl tries calling Cyber, but it went to answering machine. "This is Cyber. I'm either in the gym, playing Gamestation, or kicking bad guy butt. Leave a message." The answering machine beeps.
Starblaze is at the kitchen counter mixing something in a bowl, Revan is looking at a bank of monitors, and Beast Girl paces with a cell phone in her hand. Robyn stands at the window. "Hello? Cy? Pick up! Come on, pick up! I know you're there. The phone's built into your arm!"
Revan reaches up to press a key on the monitors. Beast Girl hangs up disgustedly. Starblaze floats over to Beast Girl, holding a spoon and a bowl with some unknown goop in it. The spoon also has the goop on it. He holds the spoon out to Beast Girl. "Taste," he commands. He shoves it in her mouth without warning, sending Beast Girl into convulsions, ending up with her on all fours and trying not to throw up. Finally, she spits out the mess and scrubs frantically at her tongue, trying to get rid of the taste.
"What is that?" Beast Girl asked. "Cream of toenails?" Starblaze shakes his head. "Pudding of Sadness," he says, taking a spoonful. "The people on my planet eat it when bad things happen." He tries the spoonful, then shudders.
He floats over to Revan, who continues to check the monitors. "Try," he said to Revan, "the displeasing taste will ease your troubled mind." Revan turned to him. "My mind is never troubled," he said. "People come, people go. It's pointless to be upset about Cyber." His hair flies up and the monitor screens crack, indicating that he is, indeed, upset over Cyber's absence. He doesn't notice this, however, as he was looking at Starblaze's wide eyes. "What?"
Robyn stares morosely out over Jump City as Starblaze flies over to her with his horrid concoction. He holds the bowl out to her. "Here, Robyn," Starblaze says. "You must need this most of all since...well..." He trails off, but Robyn gets what he is trying to say. "I'm fine," Robyn said. She turns and walks away. "Who knows, maybe we're better off without her."
Robyn was in the gym punching a punching bag with great vigor. She delivers a final roundhouse kick and slumps over, winded. She looks up to see her and Cyber's weight benches-the latter equipped with the sorts of giant barbells only that Titan could lift.
In the kitchen, Beast Girl hoists a stack of dirty dishes onto the counter. Other dishes are piled up in the sink. "Ugh," she groaned. "Whose turn is it to do dishes?"
"Cyber." Beast Girl cried out in surprise. Robyn begins washing dishes. Later, she was on the couch playing Gamestation. "Come on, come on... I'm not scared to take...no! Yeah! Got it! Just one more and...yes!" She has beaten Cyber's high score. However, the Titan is no longer around to be elated by her achievement.
Robyn walks to the door of Cyber's room. Bookcases with pictures and a baseball on top, computer desk with a football by the monitor, and trophy case in the corner. Robyn then pulls a picture from the bookcase. It is of the pair, laughing and having a good time. "I'm sorry."
Suddenly, the alarm went off. Beast Girl, Starblaze, and Revan were in the operations center, looking at the screen map with surprise. Robyn sprinted in and turned to Beast Girl. "Cinderblock strikes again?" She asked. Beast Girl looked at her solemnly. "You wish."
Plasmus was in a factory, drinking barrels of toxic waste and growing a few feet taller. The third barrel was hit by a star-bolt. All the toxic waste poured out the back. Plasmus looked through the barrel at the Titans standing in the broken wall. "That stuff can't be good for you," Robyn said. Plasmus throws the barrel aside and belches. "Nice one!" Beast Girl exclaimed.
Plasmus roared and shot gobs of sludge from his body at the four heroes, who dodged them. Robyn jumps and flips like crazy, just barely staying ahead of the barrage, and lands on a crate near a mixing tank. "Star," she yelled, "let him have it!" The aforementioned Titan then shoots a star-bolt at the ooze monster's stomach, blasting a hole through it.
Starblaze gasped. "Maybe," he said sheepishly, "I let him have too much?" Plasmus sucked in some air and the hole filled. "I'm thinking 'not enough'," Beast Girl said. Plasmus balled his hand into a fist and extends his arm towards Starblaze, who shrieked as Revan pushed him out of the way.
Robyn pulled a disk from her belt. "Maybe he just needs to chill!" She threw the disk at Plasmus' arm; it froze his arm on impact. The owner of said arm looks at it in surprise, then shatters it against an overhead pipe. Robyn jumped for cover, while Beast Girl turns into a pterodactyl and lifts off. Starblaze fires more star-bolts from above, driving Plasmus back a bit, and Beast Girl executes several punching strikes with her talons.
The foe blocks these and retaliates by lashing out with many thick tentacles from the stump of his missing arm. Both Titans cut and run to stay out of the mess. Starblaze throws shots every which way to fend off the attack as Beast Girl does a few evasive maneuvers. Revan rose into the air.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Revan levitates several barrels and launches them at Plasmus; they strike him in the chest, end first, and stick there. His arm now regrown, he gathers his strength, and sends them right back, forcing Revan to dive for cover. Robyn leaps in for a flying kick only to get that leg stuck in the mire, followed by her other leg and one hand when she tries more blows. She struggles to get loose.
"Come on," Robyn yelled, "let me go, you giant zit!" Plasmus only snarls and roars down at her before sending forth a huge jet of slime that carries her screaming along with it. The purple tide washes over Beast Girl, who is back to human form, as well. Dripping with it, Robyn groans and gets up as Starblaze rushes over.
"Robyn!" Starblaze cried. "I'm okay," Robyn said. "Sort of." She spits out some wads of slime. Beast Girl, meanwhile, has made if partway to her feet; her eyes were watering profusely. "And I thought Star's pudding tasted bad!" Beast Girl exclaimed.
A fresh howl from Plasmus' direction refocuses the attention of all four Titans in a hurry. Cut to a fuzzy image of him that flickers as the camera pulls back a bit to show this as a giant monitor, with two silhouettes standing before it. One of them is the muscular armored figure; the other is a shorter individual who is bald wearing a white suit and tie, and a black shirt.
"Disappointing," the figure said. Cinderblock steps into the light. "With one Titan missing, this is almost too easy. I was expecting a bit more of a challenge. Cinderblock. Prepare Phase Three." Cinderblock grunted and stomped away.
A gush of Plasmus' muck splatters down from above, and Starblaze stands up within it and groans. "I feel like the underside of a Zornian muck beetle," he said. Revan get up next to him. "Tell me about it." Meanwhile, Beast Girl was running from Plasmus. "Dude," she exclaimed, "I am not on the menu!" Robyn's birdarang sails into view trailing a long line behind it. The grappling hook flies around Plasmus' legs to wrap them up; Robyn is quick to arrive as well. She grabs the free end of the line and takes a few more turns around the giant.
"Maybe the best way to take you down," Robyn said, pulling hard on the cord, "is to tie you up!" Beast Girl, now a rhinoceros, charges and scores a direct hit that sends Plasmus toppling backward to fall among a group of support columns. Starblaze bends one over to pin him down, and Revan does likewise with others. He struggles against these bonds as the four inspect the handiwork; Beast Girl is back in human form.
"We did it!" Starblaze exclaimed. "Nice work, team," Robyn said proudly. "Yeah," Beast Girl said. "Didn't think we'd pull it off without-" Revan cuts her off with a sock to the shoulder. Beast Girl lets out a surprised little sheep-like bleat, then laughs and sweats nervously. Robyn checks a locator device briefly before tucking it away in her belt.
"We finished just in time," she said, turning to her team. "Cinderblock has been spotted downtown. Come on!" The four Titans turn to leave, but a loud gurgling sound from Plasmus' direction stops Beast Girl. She turns back. "Huh?"
Plasmus starts to ooze out of his trap. His entire body flows together and free of the restraints, then shapes itself into a gigantic crab-like thing with one claw, an octopus-like appendage, and a snaky rear limb. "Uh," Beast Girl said, "heads up."
Now having formed a second crab claw, Plasmus rushes at the foursome; they burst out through a set of double doors. As they make it through and slam the doors shut just in time, leaning against them with all their weight, they heard Plasmus' snarling and pounding from the other side. "Five against four," Beast Girl said. "Not good odds."
"Forget the odds," Robyn said. "We need a plan." The doors tremble even more violently under Plasmus' assault, and he finally forces them partway open and pushes a tendril, then another. Starblaze screams as the opening grows wider and the head appears.
"Titans! Separate!" Robyn yelled. The doors are finally smashed open. Robyn, Starblaze, and Beast Girl go in three different directions among the machinery; the latter turning into a cheetah as she runs. Plasmus' snake, separated from the rest of the body, chases Starblaze; he turns in midair and bombards it with star-bolts, but it lunges and catches him to drag him from the air. Beast Girl sprints along the floor, with one of the crab claws in hot pursuit. It opens wide and lashes out a long tongue that snares her. She breaks loose by turning into a gorilla, but is knocked off her feet by a flying tackle.
Revan, meanwhile, flies along as the octopus chases on the ground. He exerts his powers over all the machinery here, causing the bolts and screws to fall out, and the loosened vessels topple into the aisle one after another. The octopus swerves and slides to miss several of them, but is finally hit broadside. He looks back smugly only to find that it has recovered and placed itself directly in front of him; there is only time for one shocked gasp before it rears up to strike.
The only Titan left is Robyn, who keeps going full steam among the other process equipment; the other crab claw is after her and not letting up. She reaches a set of double doors, and she hurls herself through a darkened area and into space. Lurid green light rises from the direction of the floor. Something breaks her fall, and she finds herself carried along on a moving conveyor belt above several large vats of glowing chemicals.
The crab claw lands behind her and pulls back to strike. Robyn has her staff out in a snap and delivers several blows that merely splatter through the purple goo. The end of her staff is caught and broken off, but she simply extends the other end to make up for the lost length and swings again. This time, her weapon is not only blocked but dashed from her hands to go spiraling over the vats. Going into classic kung fu mode, Robyn backs up a few steps and lunges for a high kick.
Meanwhile, Starblaze is still held fast by Plasmus' snake portion. As he struggles, it wraps a coil around his head and squeezes itself together into a large ball. He bursts out of it after a moment and sees the main body perched on top of an equipment cabinet, lying in wait. Beast Girl, who is back in human form and Revan are still in the grasp of their respective captor body parts, and the snake reforms at the feet of one very frightened Tamaranean teenager. He recoils at its strike.
Robyn steadily backs up before the opponent's advance, and it soon throws itself on top of her to pin her to the belt's surface. The Girl Wonder struggles mightily as both are swept toward the free end, which hangs over a bubbling vat. She goes partway over, then smiles wickedly(1) and flips the claw backward off the precipice; however, she miscalculates and has to grab the corner of the belt to keep from going down with it. The housing starts to pull loose; the claw has seized one boot and is pulling with all its strength. Robyn strains with all the power she can put into her one-handed grip, but the conveyor has had all it can take. Her fingers slide away from the ripping material to leave her plummeting toward the last bath she will ever take.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a familiar bionic arm reaches out and grabs Robyn's wrist. The sludgy apparition is dissolving harmlessly in the vat. On the conveyor, Robyn has been hoisted up by Cyber, who stands behind her, and tries desperately to catch her breath. "I still got the Sonic if you still got the Boom," Cyber said smiling. Robyn returns the smile-their feud has ended.
In the factory, Plasmus' other four body parts have reassembled themselves and the other three are nowhere to be seen. He laughs nastily, but stops short when Robyn and Cyber square off against him. "Teen Titans! Go!" Both girls yelled in unison.
They go into the same sequence of moves they used while trying to stop Cinderblock. This time, however, they do not get tangled up in midair, and Robyn hurls an explosive disc while Cyber fires her cannon(2). The combined effect of the two weapons is enough to blow Plasmus apart into small puddles of gunk; 385901 is dozing among the slop and snoring fitfully.
Beast Girl and Revan, sitting up in of the remains of their captors, and Starblaze, who has already done likewise, are engulfed by the slime. Robyn and Cyber look down at the frail man who has just inflicted so much damage on the factory.
Outside, they watch as he is loaded onto a truck for the return trip to prison in a new tank. "Look, uh," Robyn said, "sorry about..." She trails off. "Yeah," Cyber replied. "So...are we cool?" Robyn asks. Cyber holds out her fist and smiles. "Frosty." Robyn smiles back as they tap fists.
"You made up!" Starblaze exclaims. "Glorious! I wish to initiate a group hug." He holds out his arms. "Pass," Revan says. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, warm fuzzies all around," Beast Girl said. "But we still gotta stop Cinderblock."
"No, we don't," Cyber says from behind them. They turn to her and Robyn. "Thought I'd bring a present, 'case you were still mad." She gestures behind herself, and in response Cinderblock is hoisted up on a winch-with the equipment he had been carrying in the armored figure's lair wrapped around his body to bind him. The stone villain grumbles angrily.
"Thanks," Robyn said. "But there is one thing that's still bothering me." Revan, Beast Girl, and Starblaze first react with surprise, then go wide-eyed in disbelief that anything could be bothering their leader at this point, given the events of the past few hours.
"Breaking into jail? Using Plasmus to distract us? The whole plan seems to be a little too smart for Cinderblock," Robyn continued. "I've been thinking the same thing," Cyber said. The others are relieved; Beast Girl and Starblaze sigh visibly.
"Someone must have been pulling the strings," Robyn went on. "But who?" She asked. "Well, whoever they are," Cyber says, "they're no match for the Teen Titans." She and Robyn trade a high five. "I heard that!" Robyn agrees.
Back to the figure. He has a teacup and a saucer on a table. He slammed his fist down, breaking the cup and plate. A pair of white-gloved hands reach down with a small broom and dustpan to sweep up the pieces. It is the mysterious figure's butler. He has a fresh cup, which he sets before the figure.
"Next time my plans will succeed," the figure says to no one in particular. "And the Titans will pay."
A/N: That was a good chapter, don't you think? 100 points to whoever can figure out who the mysterious figure is first.
(1): That smile makes me uncomfortable. 0_0
(2): This scene reminds me of the Teen Titans Go episode, Power Moves.