Most teenagers would be out partying on a Saturday night in the dead of summer, but not the Titans. No, these teens were very different from your average 16 year olds. Tonight they were battling a new villain just like they were doing nearly every night in the small, but popular, Jump City.
Time-Warp was a menacing villain that the Titans had never faced before. He had the power of to send others into the future or into the past. He was also a fearless fighter that had the martial arts training only comparable to that of Robin. The rest of his abilities were unknown to the team. Even with all of this, the Titans were not deterred. The team marched into battle just like they would for any other enemy.
"Titans go!" Rang out and echoed in the nearly empty warehouse as the teenaged team descended on Time-Warp. Beast boy immediately transformed into a sparrow and flew up into the steel rafters to hopefully get the drop on the mysterious time wielding man. Robin attacked him head on as he always did, being the brave leader that he was. Cyborg was right behind him the whole way, his blasters ready and aimed at the criminal. Starfire and Raven flanked them, black and green energy radiating from their fingertips.
Just then a huge green gorilla dropped from up above in hopes of smashing the evil master-mind into the concrete. Unfortunately when Beast Boy's fist impacted with the cold ground, Tim-Warp had vanished. "Watch out! He could be anywhere" Cyborg shouted in realization that Time-Warp had teleported. The team looked around the warehouse frantically hoping to find him when a yellow energy blast came from behind a pile of crates aimed directly at Robin.
There was a flash of green light as Starfire shot her own beam of pure power at the offending blast. The two streams of energy clashed in the center of the building and battled until both beams shattered into fragments of what they once were. Starfire was sent flying and hit a steel support beam, badly injured. Time-Warp laughed menacingly as he stepped out from behind the crates shooting another ray of yellow energy at the team.
This time Cyborg stepped up to take the blow. He shot his laser canon directly at Time-warp hoping to dodge the attack and manage to blast him into oblivion at the same time. To his dismay the crafty villain had vanished again to yet another secretly hidden spot in the warehouse. The team was stuck looking around, waiting for the onslaught of attacks that would soon come. The blast came from above this time causing the Titans to scatter giving Time-Warp just the opportunity he was looking for.
"I've got you know Titans!" his shrill voice yelled just as he pressed the button located conveniently on his wrist. Suddenly the world stopped moving. Everything slowed down until it was at a complete halt. Another one of Time-Warps abilities had been revealed and it spelled disaster for the teen heroes. Time stood still in that moment as he swooped down from the rafters to come face to face with Robin.
"Oh Robin, you and your team were foolish to underestimate me. Now look at you, frozen in time with no way to protect yourself against certain doom" Time-Warp taunted as he swayed in and out of the staggered Titans. He tapped the clock situated in the center of his chest, "see this device right here? It looks like an ordinary clock, but it is in fact my greatest weapon." Time-Warp chirped as he walked back to Robin. "You see Robin, with this clock; I can send anything I want to any point in time, even you and your friends." At this, Robin's face visibly tightened in anger. Time-warp was somehow able to freeze time yet have his enemies still able to see and hear what was going on around them. If he had frozen all of Jump city, they would surely be in mass panic by now.
"I thought about sending you back to pre-historic times, but then I realized how much more fun it would be to send your friends back first and make you watch!" the mastermind chimed, tapping his index finger to the side of his chin. Raven knew she had stopped time before when facing Trigon but she wasn't exactly sure how, she was even more unsure if she could manage to put time back in motion, but she had to try. "Hmm who should I start with? You're best friend maybe?" He said aiming his weapon at Cyborg. Raven started to panic, realizing she didn't have much time, which was ironic considering time was frozen at the moment. She gathered all of her energy into her center, trying with all of her might to force it out to free her from the time prison she was locked in. "Or maybe…the comic relief guy hm?" Time-Warp offered, coming closer to Beast Boy. Raven's heart pounded knowing that if she didn't act soon, she might lose her friends forever. She closed her eyes and started meditating as best she could, which was quite difficult considering the unfavorable position she was in. She chanted the three familiar words in her head until she almost had complete control over her powers; all the while Time-Warp continued to taunt the team.
"No…it needs to be someone closer to your heart. Someone you really care for, that you swore you would always protect." Everyone knew what he was getting at, and watched to see Robin's eyes fill with fear. Raven stopped mediating and began again trying to use her power to restart time. "Starfire…I think you're just the girl I'm looking for" Time-Warp hummed as a ghastly smile graced his pale lips. He aimed the high tech clock right at Starfire's head, wanting the blow to hurt before she was sent off through the timeline. If Starfire could scream, she definitely would have, in fact they all would have. Tim-Warp took his time powering up his blast so that he could send her as far away as possible. The clock lit up in his chest as it filled with the energy of his attack. "Say hi to the dinosaurs for me sweetheart!" he uttered throatily before firing the yellow beam directly at her.
THWACK!
Just then a tsunami of dark energy crashed into the side of Time-Warp sending him flying at the wall of the warehouse at an amazing speed. He hit the metal wall with a sickening crack before crumbling to the floor in a pile of limbs. Raven noted that they may have been a bit too much power, but at least she managed to get free. Her friends looked on amazed, still frozen in Time-Warp's spell.
"Grrrugh…" the brute grumbled from the floor, attempting to get up. "Right, I almost forgot about you, your magic is almost as powerful as mine." He muttered as he wiped some blood from his lip. Time-Warp winced as he stood but seemed ultimately unaffected by Raven's attack. "I ought to teach you a lesson don't you think? And your friends can watch too, isn't it great?" her offender voiced.
Raven backed herself away slowly trying to formulate a plan. She hadn't anticipated only un-freezing herself and now she didn't have the rest of the Titans to back her up. Before she could think of an approach, a flare of yellow light came barreling towards her. Raven's quick reflexes came in handy in that moment and she was thankful her body automatically jumped to avoid the attack. She knew if she didn't retaliate, she wasn't going to get anywhere, so she did just that and sent a crate hurdling at Time-Warp's head.
He dodged the object easily and managed to teleport to and undisclosed location as well. Raven gritted her teeth and flew to the center of the warehouse. As she hovered in the air, Raven attempted to sense the outlaw's presence as a way to seek him out before he got to her. Her pursuit was proven futile however, because the dark man's magic concealed him perfectly.
"Show yourself!" Raven demanded as she hung in the air just above her team. "You coward!" she added for good measure hoping to lure him out with insults, something she was an expert at.
"Silly girl, I'm right here!" Time-warp's grating voice rasped in Raven's ear and she felt his arms grab her tightly from behind. She let out a surprised gasp and reached up to try and pry herself free of him. Time-Warp moved his calloused hands to wrap around the empath's neck, choking her with all his might. She struggled against his grip as she felt her oxygen running out. She was running out of options, her legs stirred underneath her and black spots clouded her vision.
Suddenly and idea came to her, and just in time too. Raven swung her head back with as much force as she could muster, landing a solid blow to her attackers nose. Time-Warp let out a painful cry and released his grip on the cloak clad girl. He fell back but still hung in the air, unlike Raven who had fallen to the ground as soon as he released her.
Raven lay on in the floor coughing and trying her best to regain her original composure. As she struggled to get her strength back Time-Warp had recovered from Raven's escape managing to get away with only a bloody nose. "Oh you're gonna pay for that one sweetheart" he said venomously a crooked smile leaching onto his face just as he approached the violet haired girl.
Raven twitched at his words and managed to scoot further away from him by kicked her feet at the ground. He saw the fear in her eyes knowing that she had used too much energy to free herself from the time freeze. Time-Warp walked closer and closer to the squirming girl as she tried desperately to form an energy beam. A black orb started to form between her hands but Time-Warp was already powering up the clock in the center of his chest.
Raven looked around at her friends, sharing in their frightened faces. If she didn't destroy the clock, they could be stuck like that forever, or worse, sent to a different time. Raven tried to speculate any other way to damage the clock but she knew her energy blast wasn't strong enough yet. The longer it took her to power up, the fewer options she had.
Time-Warp shot her another sickening grin thinking he'd won, but Raven knew better. She still had one more chance to get her friends out of Time-Warp's hold, she may not be able to save herself, but it was the only way to take him down.
In a flash, the criminal shot a yellow beam at Raven. With nowhere else to flee, Raven dove head on into the assault, firing her own attack at the last possible second. The dark girl collided with the beam and let out an agonized cry just as her own incursion slammed into Time-Warp's clock.
She had done it! The clock was damaged and her team mates were free! Her happiness quickly wore off though, as her friends shouted her name urgently trying to save her when they knew it was too late. Raven looked down at her hands and saw small fragments disappearing. She was disintegrating into time and space with no known way to return. Her vision started to blur as more and more of her body vanished. The last thing she remembered seeing what robin grabbing hold of Time-Warp and Beast Boy running towards her and calling out her name.