Silent Night

by Legend Maker

The holidays are over. How did you spend your Christmas Eve? Now...you can finally see how the Titans spent theirs. Because it might be the last one any of them ever have. The Lost Christmas Eve.

1. The Lions In Winter

Silent Night

Part 1: The Lions In Winter

Silently, the ship glided towards the shore, bringing its cargo to America. It would have greater impact than anyone realized…

"DADDY'S BACK YOU BITCHES!"

What the…

"DADDY'S BACK YOU BITCHES!"

Wait a second what the…

"Hey, come on." A Eastern European man said, as he banged on a door, where inside a rather underdressed man was getting a, how shall we say, rough treatment from a crop-wielding leather-dressed dominatrix.

The brown-jacketed man banged on the door again.

"Come on…!"

"Niko, what are you doing?" Another man said down the hallway,

"Dave, he's not coming." Niko replied.

"Oh ignore him, come on, we've got to get this thing ready before we dock…!" The man said, waving Niko away from the door, as the ship began entering the harbor of Libert

HOLD IT! HOLD IT! WRONG SHIP! WRONG SERIES! WRONG TONE! JUST WRONG!

Sorry, small error. That ship has its own destiny. Now, down the coast…

---

Silently, the ship glided towards the shore, bringing its cargo to America. It would have greater impact than anyone realized…

---

December 1st.

For most people, it was the start, or the opening stretch, of a very stressful period in their lives.

For Duncan "Package" Wright, it was Thursday.

Mainly because Duncan Wright was a head sergeant in the business of "professional transportation." Except in Duncan's case, said transportation didn't involve driving or moving. It usually meant standing around.

And making sure whatever he was guarding stuck around. Some people would call him a glorified security guard: Duncan always fed those idiots their teeth. His job was bigger than that. Any schmo could squeeze their gut into a too-tight uniform and glance at monitors between looking at porn on the internet. Duncan's job was considerably more dangerous: he was part of the growing field of PT, which again, hid its true colors behind a benign name.

Professional transportation was used when the transporting of goods was likely to involve EA's. Aka, Empowered Antagonists. Aka, "super villains", as the quaint term went, nutcases who thought they could take whatever they wanted because they could lift buildings or crack stone with their burps, or whatever crazy nonsense was showing up this week. And not everything could be guarded by the police, or be taken care of by capes. So that was why firms like InterC.E.P.T had come to exist.

It was a stressful job. Partly because anything that was involved with EA's always had great risk, and partly because Duncan swore he was the only one who always took the job as seriously as it had to be taken.

Like now. He was the only one watching the transport ship come in. His subordinates were talking amongst themselves, or playing with their cell phones, or whatnot. It grated on his nerves. Despite what some would say, Duncan didn't LIKE to yell at people. But too often, he had to. And this was one of those times.

And so he did.

"ATTENTION!" Duncan bellowed as he whirled around, as everyone violently started from the sudden noise. "DO NOT THINK THAT BECAUSE THE SHIP HAS NOT DOCKED YET THAT YOU CAN SLACK OFF!"

"Uh…sir yes sir!" Some of them said halfheartedly. Duncan ground his teeth. He really wondered why so many people got into rigid, structured organizations like military service or high-risk security facilities like this without comprehending that they would be forced to give up their indulgences, and how long this took to sink in once they realized it. It was rather odd. They wouldn't fight for larger causes, or a earned living wage, but they'd fight like animals for their right to be lazy. Wasting so much effort in order to use less effort. Duncan didn't know if society was just getting dumber or this was part of some larger genetic pollution that started when all the freaks who casually broke the laws of physics began popping up.

"Sir! Permission to speak sir!" One of the men said. Duncan glared at him: had he been there before? The numbers didn't gell: had some of his idiot troops wandered off again? Or had the company once again sent an erroneous number that didn't match his handout? Duncan ground his teeth again: whichever it was meant more hassle, more paperwork, more stress.

"What is it." Duncan said tersely.

"Sir, are we not just guarding vehicles sir? Are we not operating in a cape town, sir? Should we not be so high-strung we risk snapping, sir?" The InterC.E.P.T officer said. Duncan glared anew at the young man, broad in shoulders and stock. And lacking just enough brain, so that instead of not asking any questions or casually dumb questions, he asked irritatingly dumb questions in the "know-better-than-you" manner.

"DO YOU THINK THIS OFFERS AN EXCUSE TO SLACK OFF THEN, SOLDIER?" Duncan roared. "Let me tell you how cape towns operate! The legend that they are safer because of the presence of capes is a lie! Capes bring nothing but trouble! Look what happened to Metropolis since Superman showed up! Look how deep Gotham City has plunged into hell since that "Bat-Man" started screwing around! And this town, this town's been burned down at least twice! I don't have a clue why people still live here, the trouble capes have brought it!"

"Still sir…!"

"STILL NOTHING!" Duncan yelled, as he turned around and pointed at the ship. "WE HAVE BEEN HIRED TO DO A JOB! IT DOES NOT MATTER IF WE ARE GUARDING THE FOOTBALL, OR A BUNCH OF FANCY FOREIGN CARS! IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW E.A'S OPERATE, LET ME REFRESH YOUR MEMORY! THEY STEAL! IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT IT IS, THEY WANT TO TAKE IT! AND THEN CAPES SHOW UP, AND THEY BRAWL, AND EVERYTHING GETS BROKEN, INCLUDING ANY POOR BASTARD WHO'S CAUGHT IN THE WAY! WE ARE HIRED TO PREVENT THIS, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY! NO JOB SHOULD BE DISMISSED! NO ODDS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED TOO LOW! SO YOU WILL…!"

And Duncan turned around.

And found himself staring at his men piled in a heap, shadowy figures around them…save the InterC.E.P.T member who had talked, who was standing in front of the pile.

"Should never take your eyes off the prize, SIR!" The member said, removing his faceplate to reveal a yellow masked face.

And Duncan Wright realized why he'd felt the numbers didn't match up. Because someone had snuck a mole in.

"LOUSY…!" He yelled, aiming his heavy-powered concussion rifle.

As a laser blast burned through his weapon, and he yelled and dropped it…even as a red-haired male teenager dressed in black and red camouflage dropped down in turn beside him.

"SEMPER FI ASSWIPE!"

And then Duncan Wright was knocked into oblivion.

---

"He picked the wrong week to quit drinking!" A man in bee-themed battle armor cackled as he also dropped down, having been the laser-firer, as the man who had once been called Private Hive, and was now Lieutenant Hive, finished shucking off his stolen costume.

"I do believe they also picked the wrong week to have a recovering alcoholic as a commander!" Lieutenant Hive cackled, as Mammoth and his sister Shimmer joined him: moments later Gizmo and Seemore also joined the pack. Seemore's "Optimax" helmet and Gizmo's technology had kept Wright from hearing or seeing his men getting pummeled. Not like it mattered: the ship and its cargo of cars had been compromised by the other HIVE members assigned to this job long before it had sailed into harbor. The only problem the pier group had had been being stuck with the asshole known as Sabotage, but he'd been good so far. Well, good on his terms.

"Don't see why we had to do all the work." Gizmo grumbled.

"Oh you know Blood. He gets goggle-eyed every time a new angle gets presented." Mammoth commented, eyeing the pile of InterC.E.P.T officers, wanting to make sure none of them were trying to sneak away. Oh, he wasn't concerned…but he was always extra-cautious when he took Shimmer on a mission.

"You'd think we'd get a better first bleeping assignment then to steal some bleeping cars." The teenager in camo, aka Sabotage said. Some might suspect that he did not actually say bleep, and that for some reason there was some sort of censor in place, perhaps because of the nature of a story or something. Some might suspect they've seen it before. Everyone should just stop asking questions.

"Oh quit complaining! You got the easy part!" The bee-man snapped.

"Excuse me?"

"I had to aim a precision shot at a small target! You just whacked him with your foot!"

"Perhaps you'd like to see if I could cross the signals enough in your mind to make you eat one of those explosives you're so fond of." Sabotage said as he lifted his hand.

"Stop it Cord. We're gonna need all the help we can get depending on how accurate that intel on the Titans was. Even Buzz Bomb's." Gizmo groused, as the ship began to dock.

"Though I wonder." Mammoth added. Bee-man, aka Buzz Bomb, didn't seem to reply, and since none of the current Hive members had superhuman hearing, no one heard his faint mutterings, nor detected how angry and paranoid they were.

"That intel better be good. I don't like how much rope is around our necks to start with: knowing just how many Titans are around is important." Seemore commented.

"I still say we should have thrown Buzzer here at the Tower and watched what came out." Sabotage added.

"Oh very funny guys." Buzz Bomb growled. "I still say we should have blown the Williams Jump Bridge to get their attention."

"Right, let's destroy a vital piece of infrastructure and cause potentially hundreds of deaths. That won't motivate the Titans to hunt us down and send us all to the Slab, you spithead!" Gizmo retorted.

"You've hit that head of yours too many times Gizmo. You seem to have forgotten we're the bad guys. Like, remember when Blood was going to destroy the whole city with a tidal wave?"

"Sure Buzz Bomb! We're bad! Why don't you go molest some kids and see if anyone considers that different from stealing some…!"

And then the boat crashed up against the docks, spraying water onto several of the Hive members.

"…just had to mention a tidal wave, didn't he." Mammoth said, as he wiped water from his dripping face.

"Oh BLEEPING BLEEP!" Sabotage cursed. "Why did we let those idiots drive?"

"Because we're basically trusting?" Buzz Bomb replied.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're the most paranoid guy I know!" Mammoth countered.

"Exactly. I trust in my fellow man to plot against me. See? We're basically trusting."

"That doesn't explain why Dominique, Billy, and LeTonya just pulled an Arsenal Gear with the boat." Seemore said. "Doesn't exactly make us look good with the new head cheese."

"Oh it doesn't matter. He'll be gone soon. Every week there's a new guy whose origin doesn't make sense." Buzz Bomb said.

"What?"

"What?"

"What?" Mammoth said, confused now himself.

"Never mind."

"…what?" Lieutenant Hive said.

"Sometimes, Mr. Bomb…" Came a new voice…

As the current Hive team leader literally appeared out of nowhere. Unlike the practical battle outfits and/or colorful costumes his companions wore, he wore a brown suit and jacket, with white gloves and white and brown loafers. The only thing that stood out about his outfit was his tie, which had clocks running down it…and his glasses, which hid his eyes and had clock hands etched on them as well.

"I question if you are on this team due to hidden brilliance or merely to make sure there is always someone to throw at the police." Clock King said.

"Whatever. You're only in charge because you're new. I was new once. That was a great week…"

Buzz Bomb did not notice the other Hive members visibly shudder.

"…And I WOULD have discovered the lost Greek fire formula if Blood hadn't gotten sick of my novelty!"

"…quite." Clock King said with mild irritation, as another costumed female stepped from behind him, wearing a purple bodysuit, thigh high boots, and eye mask, along with cybernetic gloves that were attached to a power pack on her back.

"Why do you keep him around, King?" The female asked.

"Simple, Angelica: there are always places for fools on the field of battle. Especially ones loaded with high explosive." Clock King replied, as he turned the ball-grip of the staff he held around in his hand, as he pulled out a classical-type pocket watch and investigated it. "Though putting fools behind the wheel is less productive."

"Don't blame US." Said a cloud of black dust, as it swirled down onto the dock and reformed into a black-suited teenager with blonde hair in a high, swept-back and piled cut over his slanted mean-looking eyes. "Billy didn't do jack bleep."

"Pardon?" Clock King said…as another figure plummeted from the boat and crashed down onto the stone dockside, standing up to reveal herself as a black teenager wearing a silver outfit…and with a familiar looking mechanical construct replacing her right hand and left side of her face, though hers only covered her eye and cheek.

"He just stood around! Said he was on strike!" The copycat teenage girl, aka Cyborgirl, said.

"You're darn tootin'!" Came Billy Numerous' voice up on the ship. "I'm on strike until Blood ups my salary!"

"…we don't get PAID, you dipstick!" Shimmer yelled back up.

"Exactly!" Billy yelled back down. Clock King grimaced.

"William, you will make up for what you've already snarled by beginning to unload all the storage units on that ship, immediately!" Clock King yelled.

"Didn't you just hear me! I said…"

"AND I…!" Clock King bellowed as he abruptly appeared in front of Billy Numerous's several forms, floating on a platform that, unsurprisingly, looked like a giant clock piece as well. "Am about to lose patience and have Disrupter force you all back into one body before I see how well you handle surviving in 3 Billion BC!"

"I don't know who you think you are, but I'm Billy Numerous! I beat the Titans so bad single handed that I gave Cyborg a drug problem, and if you think a'hm gonna put up with this abuse, you got another thing comin'!"

Clock King looked at Billy for a moment, and then smiled, a wide, wicked grin.

"How true."

---

4 Minutes later.

"Now do your job." Clock King said, as Billy crawled off whimpering. A moment later Clock King was back down around the rest of the Hive members, some of whom were looking quite green.

"…was it really necessary to make him watch his own birth in reverse?" Buzz Bomb asked.

"I find it adds a certain urgency. Now you, begin unloading the storage chambers." Clock King said, pointing to several HIVE members. "And the rest of you unload the ones on this pier."

"No need: I'll just send out a nanoprobe cluster and they'll drive all the cars off." Gizmo said.

"We are not stealing the cars."

"WHAT?" Was the general answer.

"Now unload the cars."

"Just what are we looking for?" Sabotage asked.

"The answer is, DO WHAT I SAY." Clock King snapped. "You've wasted enough time as it is."

"Is it bigger than a breadbox?" Buzz Bomb asked.

"I don't have time for your infantile game of Twenty Questions. UNLOAD THE CRATES."

"He has a point Tick-Tock. Just what ARE we stealing?" Seemore asked.

"You'll know when you see it."

"Oh just tell us Mr. Importantpants. What's the worst that could happen?" Buzz Bomb asked.

"It involves primordial ooze, Aztec human sacrifice rituals, the Roman practice known as scouring, and the gruesome fate Edward II suffered, with barbs included. Oh yes, and YOU." Clock King replied.

"I'll just get back to looking." Buzz Bomb said, as the Hive members scattered.

"No wonder we're already at the top of the heap." Disrupter said: noticeably, she was the only Hive member who didn't start working, instead staying by Clock King's side.

"It's how the process works. Some evolve through difficulty, some devolve. They all have their uses."

"Hey! How come the lil' Missy doesn't have to do any work!" Lieutenant Hive yelled down from the ship.

"Did I mention that the Persians had a tradition of MAKING ALL SERVANTS EUNICHS?" Clock King replied.

"…I don't know what that word means!"

"All right then. I'll just settle for detonating the explosive unit I secreted away in all your costumes!"

"Buncha cars, comin' right up sir!"

"We're in big trouble if the Titans show up, aren't we." Disrupter said.

"Not necessarily. They will have to catch wind of this deed first, and considering I have jammed all communication systems in the surrounding square miles…" Clock King said, as he consulted another pocket watch. "But they're clever children. No, what I'm relying on is the fact that most of the team from my observation earlier seems to be absent, which suggests a mission has called them elsewhere, hence leaving their strength reduced enough so that even this less than optimal band can handle them. And if that isn't the case, or has changed…well, I do have other plans." Clock King said. "Do not concern yourself Angelica. Everything is going like clockwork."

"Why am I not surprised he said that…"

The binoculars scanned out, taking in the pier as the various Hive members unloaded the metal storage containers on the boat and the cars within them, very quickly turning the area they were in into a makeshift parking lot, albeit one lacking any real order.

---

And as they worked, the binoculars scanned each one.

A few of the usual suspects. Gizmo. Seemore. Numerous. The Private…Mammoth brought Shimmer again, don't see how her transmutation talent would help here…and there's Buzz Bomb, that crazy demolitions expert…Sabotage, better set a blaster type to get around his probability altering and martial arts…Abrasion, haven't seen him for a while, he and his shredding dust form could also be trouble…but of course the real trouble are those three…

The binoculars scanned in on the mechanized woman, who looked so very familiar.

Newcomers. Never a good thing for our side. Don't recall Vic mentioning someone like her, might be new…and I don't recognize the other girl as well…as for the apparent new leader, he does look familiar…

Best to be cautious. Despite things.

---

"So are you going to give me the mystery box treatment as well?" Disrupter asked, as Gizmo irritatingly used a magnetic ray to hurl one of the empty shipping crates the European cars had come in into the water, something a few of the Hive members had taken to doing, if they could, to express their frustration at the needle-hunting.

"Just that it's important enough that it was hidden amongst a supposed automobile shipment. Blood will…"

"Got it!"

Clock King glanced over to Mammoth, as he lifted up a sealed metal crate from one of the cars, the crate hidden where the engine of the machine normally would be. Clock King grinned again and sauntered over.

"Is it delicate, this gadget, Giz has some…" Mammoth began.

"No need for concern." Clock King said, as he removed another timepiece from his coat and pressed it against the sealed container. It locked itself against the metal box, a ring of energy springing from it…as Clock King took hold of the crate and removed it from Mammoth's arms like it was made of foam.

"Guh! What the…!" Mammoth gaped.

"Chrono-displacement. I am shifting the weight of the container across its points in time. Ever pick something up and think it's heavier then you thought it was? It will be attributed to that." Clock King said, as he smiled his wicked smile and adjusted his glasses. "We are done. Let us be off."

"Great! You can pass the time by telling us what's actually IN the box." Seemore commented.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand." Clock King said. "This device is known as the MWS, and…"

"It really doesn't much matter…" Came a voice that grated across most of the Hive member's nerves. They knew it far too well.

As their eyes followed it…as Robin knelt down on the nearby packing crate, looking down at the Hive members, his staff held over his shoulders with one hand.

…the only problem with the picture was that Robin was completely alone, not a sign of any of his teammates or even a guest.

"As it doesn't belong to you, and you won't be keeping it. Rules of the game, and all that." Robin said as he hopped down.

"Damn it Clock King, you said the Titans wouldn't find out about this!" Gizmo cursed, as Mammoth got in front of Shimmer and cracked his knuckles.

"I said it was a possibility. You should understand possibility better then you do, O'Jeanus." Clock King said. Gizmo spat an unintelligible curse as his real name being used, but kept his focus on Robin.

"So, the Boy Wonder makes his presence felt. Allow me to introduce myself, Robin. I am the Clock King, and this, as you well know, is the Hive…"

"The Hive Five!" Gizmo added.

"Times Two!" Seemore said afterward.

"PLUS Two!" Buzz Bomb added in turn.

"Shut up. Is it possible you could just shut up." Clock King sighed in deep irritation.

"You're one to talk about possibility, Temple. You certainly look different from the last time." Robin said. "Been toying with forces beyond your ken? You should know the possibility of that backfiring."

"You mistake me Titan. I am not Temple Fugate. Let us say his title has been…worthily usurped." The Clock King said. "Your title, on the other hand, may weigh too heavily on you. You may be a boy wonder, but you are…rather considerably outnumbered and outgunned."

"So Robin! You will at last meet your doom!" Buzz Bomb piped up. Robin glanced at the insect-themed villain.

"…do I know you?" Robin asked.

"…It's me. Buzz Bomb."

"…Oh! I know you! You're that chick from Titans East, right? A shame you've gone back to villainy…" Robin said in mock confusion.

"THAT'S BUMBLEBEE!"

"Oh right, right, of course…"

Buzz Bomb looked on expectantly.

"Nope, sorry, I just haven't ever heard of you."

"WHAT! MY LIVEJOURNAL WILL HEAR OF THIS!" Buzz Bomb shrieked, as he turned and began flying off. Robin looked back down at Clock King, whose irritation was obvious even with his glasses obscuring his eyes.

"If that's the type that fills your ranks, well…would it help if I closed my eyes?" Robin inquired.

"Buzz Bomb, get back down here you idiot." Clock King said.

"Idiot? MY LIVEJOURNAL WILL HEAR OF THIS!"

"GET DOWN HERE BEFORE I BLOW THE EXPLOSIVE BOLT IN YOUR SUIT YOU BLABBERING TWIT!"

"…you have merely delayed your Livejournal flaying." Buzz Bomb said as he flew back down.

"You're still on that? Haven't you heard of Facebook?" Seemore said.

"I have a page on every social network. I simply reserve Livejournal for whining. It fits the culture."

"I can make do without you two, just so you know." Clock King said, as he raised his staff and lifted his thumb above its head menacingly.

"…don't let this fool you birdbutt! We've got a full house here and you're about to go to pot!" Gizmo yelled. Robin chuckled to himself, either at the concept or Gizmo's mangled cards metaphor, rubbing a finger under his nose as if he were taking in a play rather then confronting a dozen empowered individuals who would all kill him without much in the way of regrets.

"This isn't right. He's too calm about this." Cyborgirl muttered. "Is this a Robin/Teen Titans thing or a Robin/BATMAN thing?"

"We're in Jump boogerbrain." Gizmo retorted.

"Oh yes, because Batman CLEARLY doesn't have some sort of themed vehicle that would let him fly here." Cyborgirl replied in turn.

"He doesn't like leaving Gotham. He's a bit…obsessed that way." Mammoth said.

"I still have bruises." Shimmer added.

"Perhaps instead of debating the minutiae of his appearance, one of you cretins could do something like, and this is a shot in the dark, ATTACK HIM!" Clock King snapped.

"He's mine. I want another notch on my belt." Sabotage said, as he cracked his neck.

"Screw you Cord. He's mine. He'll kick your ass. I'll shred him." Abrasion said, as his arms began to dissolve into the ripping, scouring dust that he could become and wreck havoc on things solid and pliable alike.

"Both you maggots forget you are technically under my command!" Lieutenant Hive snapped, as he twirled his shield. "You will leave him to me!"

"You can have 'im." Billy Numerous said.

"No, I'll crush him into…wait what?" Mammoth said as he looked incredulously at Billy. "You can't say 'not it!'"
"A'hm back on strike. Means I do what I want."

"And this is why I thought we should have gone with the other legacy villains, King." Disrupter said, as Clock King tried to conceal his irritation by adjusting his glasses.

"Enough of this. Buzz Bomb, kill him."

"Why me?"

"He insulted you, didn't he?"

"This seems too easy. I don't trust it."

"He's still your enemy though, correct?"

"Not really, and I don't want Batman knocking at my door."

"You might actually be REWARDED if you succeed where so many have failed, MIGHT YOU NOT?" Clock King hissed.

"…rewarded?"

"YES."

"…If I kill Robin…I'll be rewarded!"

"YES." Clock King growled, as Buzz Bomb flew back. "A revelation worthy of Archimedes, that one."

"CHARGE!" Buzz Bomb yelled, as he flew towards Robin.

Disrupter expected it to be quick and brutal…and noticed her leader/significant other's brows narrow before what happened happened.

Robin…ran away. He quite literally turned on a dime, darted around the container he'd been standing on, and sprinted off into the fog that had blown in on the pier while the Hive had been bickering.

"KILL! KILL! BLOOD-BOT WILL REWARD WASPINAT-I MEAN BUZZ BOMB!" Buzz Bomb trumpeted as he flew into the fog after Robin.

"So, will he stumble back out, or be thrown?" Cyborgirl snapped. "Does this group usually have such a high concentration of idiots? I heard better things when I signed up."

"Don't underestimate the guy." Mammoth said grudgingly. "He's weird but…DAMN, he holds a grudge."

"So he actually has a chance?"

"Well, he never shows the slightest hint of rationality, sometimes that can…"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Cyborgirl was wrong: Buzz Bomb FLEW back out of the fog. Not by a throw: by his own power. He was retreating at full-bore engine up to eleven speed.

"You were saying?" Cyborgirl said.

"…maybe those meds Blood has him on are really working."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU ADDLED PITSNIFFER?!?" Gizmo yelled as Buzz Bomb zapped past him.

"HE BROUGHT EVERYONE!" Buzz Bomb screamed over his shoulder.

"What do you mean, everyone?"

"EVVVVVVVVVVERRRRRYYYONNNNNNNNNNEEEE!!!!!!!!!!"

And then Buzz Bomb was gone, fleeing around the ship and across the water. Disrupter glanced at Clock King, expecting him to blow up the idiotic fool any second now…

And found he hadn't even lifted his thumb. He was still looking ahead…and if she hadn't been around long enough to notice the subtleties in his expressions, she never would have seen how his tension, evident in his forehead's skin, had abruptly gone up considerably.

The package crate Robin had been standing on was now gone. It had been moved when everyone had been distracted by Buzz Bomb.
Robin was standing there. No longer alone. The Titans stood with him.

"You know, I was trying to think of some speech to give here…" Robin said.

As Titans East joined the group.

And Titans North. And Titans South. And Titans West. And Titans Mobile. None of these teams actually existed, but considering the fact that over 20 additional teenage heroes had also emerged from the fog to look at the Hive Five (Times Two) (Plus Two), it was credible they could.

Robin was certain a few of them took pictures of the utterly flabbergasted Hive members. He didn't blame them. It was worth more then a thousand words.

"But really, doesn't this speak for itself?"

"…or maybe he knows something we don't." Cyborgirl said bitterly.

"…huh…buh…wuh…" Gizmo replied: he couldn't say much else, his mouth was now as dry as a desert.

"You look unhappy. Though I don't blame you. Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories." Robin said. "Which is why I thought all the people we know could use some warm memories. So we decided to organize an extended Christmas vacation. And since it's December now, we went out of town to meet up. But just because we weren't around doesn't mean we weren't paying attention. And when we got the call, well, we didn't know how much trouble was coming, so…why take chances?"

"…quite." Clock King murmured.

"From one poker player to another, Mikron." Savior said. "You may have a full house, but we…we're a straight flush."

"Because we're about to flush YOU. Straight down the toilet." Terra said. Savior glanced at the blonde, and wondered if he could locate a snowball for cutting off his line.

"I believe the expression is…you are the skeletal structure." Starfire said.

Silence.

"Close again Star. Allow me." Beast Boy said. "You're boned."

And abruptly…Clock King smiled, as he adjusted his glasses.

"Not…QUITE."

Robin wasn't quite sure where Clock King produced the enlarged briefcase-like carrier from: he later suspected Disrupter had handed it to him, as Clock King slipped the metal container that held the MWS into it.

"For the past three days, I kept this specialized capsule of mine in a locked, sealed room. No one saw it or moved it. Just in case the possibility arose that I would have to do this."

And Clock King removed another timepiece from his coat and attached it to the briefcase, activating it with a button press.

And suddenly ALL the Hive members were holding an identical briefcase, though most of them clearly hadn't been expecting to be doing so.

"Schrödinger's Suitcase, I call it. One of these holds what I've taken. The rest are the empty one plucked from various moments of the time was sealed in the room. Which one has the prize? Which ones do not? And perhaps most importantly, do you want to risk charging in in blitzkrieg-esque fashion and risk breaking the one that actually has it? Who knows what damaging the device could do, after all."

Robin's eyes narrowed a bit.

"A nice counter-move, Not-Temple. You thought ahead. Now, let's see if you considered this during that process. How long have you been looking for that device?"

Clock King's brow abruptly narrowed in aggravation again, though at the moment, Robin didn't process that the expression seemed a touch too…strong…

"And more precisely, how long might have we been concealed in the distance, watching, and making our own plans."

"…King?" Disrupter said.

"Kill them." Clock King ordered. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Hive did not spring to the attack.

"King, this might not…"

"They've thrown together a massive slapdash group! They'll take half their own numbers out in trying to stop you! And since you prefer to stand there and gawk, I'll put it in these terms: ATTACK OR DIE!" Clock King yelled, as he pointed at the Titans.

In a curious paradox, fear could motivate as much as bravery could at times, as the Hive members realized that going towards the Titans might be painful, going away from the Titans would be worse.

And so they charged.

---

Robin tried not to let his amusement show. In a way, he was rather ashamed of the degree of schadenfreude he was getting out of the whole situation. He had to stay focused, as he'd been taught. He couldn't let his huge advantage fill his vision: he had to keep to the plan, on the lookout for cracks that could be turned against him.

But the biggest one had already been taken care of. He didn't bother to correct Clock King on his assessment of the number of Titans and the problems that could result. That was why he hadn't made his move until the Hive had found what they were looking for, after all. He'd been drawing up an assessment and assigning roles.

And as for the fact many of the honorary Titans didn't have experience being given such orders…Robin had that covered as well.

As he lifted his staff and cleared his throat.

"T-"

And Gauntlet jumped in front of him.

"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"

Unfortunately, the group didn't have experience in Robert Candide's exuberance as well, and most of them just stared.

"What? One motto's as good as…"

And then Lieutenant Hive rammed into Gauntlet from behind, and the two went tumbling down.

"…ahem." Robin said. "TITANS GO!"

And they did.

---

Chaos.

The Hive Five (Times Two yadda yadda) might have been outnumbered three to one, but they weren't going to just roll over and give up, as their forces slammed together and the pier erupted into a gigantic fracas.

But not all of the Titans leapt to the attack: indeed, when the call to arms came, a group of them had actually moved backwards, quickly moving out of the carnage and destruction of the battlefield.

"Organization guard is in place." Savior said, as he glanced at his fellow Titans. He really didn't want the child heroes there, but they were attached to Raven, and when it came to discouraging Melvin Jones, Timothy Walton, and Whitaker Keen (or as most of the Titans knew them, Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether), most of the Titans would probably prefer to go a few more rounds with Superboy-Prime. Besides, they didn't get out much from the S.T.A.R base that was their home for now, with their villainous relations still hunting them: some field work was probably good. And since Raven had to be protected, Savior couldn't ask for any better candidates for the job, in a sense.

Because Raven was the ace in the hole for the massive Titans team. She would not enter combat: instead she would stay back and, via her mental and magical powers, keep the Titans organized and directed. Clock King might have hoped that the Titans would be tripping over themselves more than battling the Hive…but not while Raven was around.

And if he clued in on that and tried to send someone her way…well, that was why Savior was here, with the kids (and assumingly Bobby, somewhere). On top of that, Robin had assigned Thunder and Lightning (they'd protested, wanting a piece of the action, but Robin had gotten them to agree by the fact that with so many Titans there would hardly be any action to go around, and they'd probably end up fighting with their fellows instead of the villains), as well as Jericho (the irony of that, the son of Slade working with two people the real deal had no love lost for). In fact, now that that group had broken off and established itself, Savior felt a touch redundant…

"Understood. Rear guard report in." Robin said, as he began walking forward.

"Rear guard is in place." Morgue said with a touch of sourness: she didn't like being mollycoddled, but orders were orders, and she and her three fellows had a purpose: make sure none of the Hive members slipped away in the confusion. A role that was doubly important now, considering Clock King's little trick with the divided briefcases.

"Stand fast." Robin said, as he glanced around, as the Hive members frantically tried to fend off the small groups of Titans that were attacking each one and keep the briefcase out of their hands. Robin watched Seemore frantically firing eye blast after eye blast at Miss Martian, and finding nothing he threw at her could deal with her intangibility powers. And considering how strong the Martian species was, Seemore's pain was likely just beginning: Miss Martian hadn't attacked because it was clear she wasn't certain on just how to handle the vise-grip the Titans had on the situation…so Aqualad solved the problem for her by riding a water stream into Seemore and sending him flying.

Yeah, things were in hand.

---

Albeit maybe not as surefire as Robin thought.

No one was attacking Cyborgirl, for instance…because she and the original were having a rather intense staredown. Cyborg did not look pleased that his designs had been so closely copied, AGAIN. Blood had been bad enough.

"Guess originality doesn't come easy to you." Cyborg said.

"Much like sense to you." Cyborgirl retorted. "Why the bleep are you wasting your life doing this bleep, you idiot? Don't you realize how much better we are than the rest of the rabble?"

"The fact you're saying something like that means you don't have a hope in hell in understanding any answer I could give."

"Oh whatever." Cyborgirl snapped, and thrust up her cannon. "Bring it on, you obsolete piece of bleep!"

And Cyborgirl fired her sonic cannon, and Cyborg snapped up his arm and counter-fired.

---

As Gauntlet leapt up to his feet, taking a moment to brush some hair out of his eyes.

"I see you've been reading more Sun Tzu than Queensbury Rules of Fighting Fair!"

"I had to do something to justify my promotion!" Lieutenant Hive retorted.

"Promotion?"

"Lieutenant Hive, maggot! Prepare to get your head ripped off and…"

"Wait wait wait, what did you do to get a promotion? All I've ever seen you do is pose and get your ass kicked!"

"It's some seniority bullbleep. You hang around long enough, you get a promotion."

"…by that logic, shouldn't Captain Tick or whatever glasses' name is be working for you?"

"No, because command is made up of jerk." Lieutenant Hive groused.

"Oh you have NO idea how much I agree with you there. You know, Robin's turned my suggestion for a second plasma TV down like THREE times?"

"What?"

"I keep telling him, we have too many people to share all the time, but noooo, he says it builds character and teamwork to have to agree on a channel. And let's not forget him turning down Casual Friday!"

"Casual…?"

"Though at least he accepted my suggestion to let us have St. Patrick's Day off as long as there were no crimes…hey…wait, we pretty much have every day off unless there are crimes anyway! ROBIN! WE SHALL HAVE WORDS!"

"You-GACK!"

"And then there's Savior!" Gauntlet continued on. "He is SUCH a control freak. Not like the villain, the regular sort. 'Don't touch that, Rob!' 'Don't leave the milk out Rob!' 'Don't prank call Vladimir Putin, Rob!' 'Don't gene splice the cat, Rob!' And on top of that, there's the author! BOOGEYMEN IV. NUFF SAID…"
"What Gauntlet?"

And Gauntlet snapped out of it to see Speedy, Bumblebee, and Herald standing over Lieutenant's Hive beaten-to-oblivion form, as Speedy looked inside Hive's briefcase and found it empty.

"…oh, just ranting. Carry on."

---

It wasn't all fun and games.

"Él es más irritante que tacos sin carne!" Mas Y Menos yelled as they fled away from the twirling tornado of black dust, Menos nearly tripping as he paused to cough. The dust surged after them, and they yelled and resumed running. While Raven was keeping the battlefield organized, she couldn't be on top of every little thing.

Which had led to the mismatch, as Abrasion swirled back into form, grinning at a crooked angle as he chuckled. Stupid spics. He wished he could have shown them what a real language was: the language of pain…

"Next!" He declared. He didn't have to wait long.

"…Gnarrrk." The growling voice said, as Abrasion glanced towards the caveman.

"No Gnarrk. Not this time." Kole said. "You'll get hurt. Stay back."

"Gnarrrrkkk…!"

"I know. Trust me. Please." Kole said, and ran towards Abrasion.

"Henh. Oh you think you have it figured out?" Abrasion smirked.

And then his body broke down, transforming into the flesh-destroying dust cloud, his carriage case floating in its grip as he surged at Kole.

As she focused and transformed, holding her arms above her head in a Y shape as her body shifted from soft flesh to her nigh-invulnerable crystalline state…which unfortunately, left her immobile.

Abrasion's mass slammed against the metamorphosed girl, his dust form slashing across her body. It didn't even scratch her…but neither could she counter attack, or even defend herself.

She couldn't gasp either, as Abrasion's voice abruptly echoed in her mind.

"Hello meat. Oh, you feel shocked. Mild telepathy. Helps me keep control in my special state. I bet you thought I'd just attack you fruitlessly until I got frustrated or angry, right? Well, you're pissing me off girl, but I know how to think. So tell me this: how long can you stay in that state? Don't you need to breathe? I don't: my unique altered state can absorb air directly. And even if yours can as well…I can stay in MY state quite a while. Can you? How long will your precious crystal hold up? And you can't exactly turn back now, can you? Or call for help? And if someone comes to help you, well…they're gonna suffer a lot for it. So what can you do? In truth, you can't do much of anything. That's how the world works, little meat. There's the takers and the bleeders. And you are going to bleed."

"…thanks. I wondered how I was going to keep your attention." Kole thought in return.

"Wait wha…"

"Surprise you bleep." Argent said as she flew down.

And the Goth girl fired her silver energy into Kole, the girl's body acting as a refracting prism and sending the energy blasts piercing through Abrasion's dust form. Raven could think too, and remember. And while Abrasion ignored physical impacts, unique energy signatures were another story. Abrasion could shrug off singular or double shots of those…but not a mass of shots fired from inside him, as he retreated with a howl, the dust collapsing back into his body.

"YOU BI-!"

As Gnarrk moved in, scooping up Kole.

"GNARRRRRRRRRRRKKKK!"

Abrasion's second encounter with the crystal teen was considerably more painful.

---

As Mammoth bellowed and hurled the car at Scalpel. To try and drive the point home, Scalpel stopped it with one arm.

"We know how this ends Baran! We've done it before!" Scalpel yelled.

"NOT NEAR THE DRINK!" Mammoth bellowed as he charged at Scalpel, trying to drive the alien into the water.

At least before Bumblebee's miniaturized form swooped in and zapped Mammoth in the ear.

"RAARRGGHHH! YOU LOUSY…!"

Which gave Nigel time to introduce his foot to Mammoth's chest, sending him flying and crashing into the side of another car, the lovely framework of the expensive vehicle caving in like tin foil from the impact.

As Terra floated down, eyes aglow.

"Between a rock and a hard place." She said, as she gestured backwards, the stones at her command swooping back…

And falling to the ground with a crash, Terra's perch right behind them, as she hit the pier with a gasp of surprise, the golden light dying in her eyes as she tried to figure out what had just hit her…

Before it hit her again, literally this time, as Disrupter charged in and smashed her glowing battle gauntlet across Terra's face, sending her flying and falling to the ground.

"How true, carpenter's dream." Disrupter smirked.

"Hey! You think you can just…!" Bumblebee yelled as she charged in in turn. Disrupter fired a one-handed purplish blast at the tiny Titan, but her shrunken form dodged it easily…

And then abruptly re-sized back up to her normal size, something Bumblebee clearly hadn't been expecting judging from her widened eyes, as Disrupter smirked and followed up with another blast, catching Bumblebee in the chest and sending her falling to the ground as well.

"Sorry negroid or whatever the hell you're calling each other these days, but like the name says, I disrupt things. Powers, natural forces, jaws…"

"Really then." Scalpel said, as he pulled out his glaive from his coat, as Disrupter turned to look at where he was standing, nearby. "How effective are you at disrupting kinetics?"

And the alien cocked back his arm…

As Shimmer reared up from where she'd snuck up on Nigel and seized his weapon, transforming it from its alien metal into glass. Taken aback, Scalpel instinctively shifted his stance…which involved adjusting his weapon. Which was now made of glass. And did what glass did, breaking apart even as Shimmer fled.

"…aggravating." Scalpel commented.

As Mammoth slammed into Scalpel with a roar, both of the superstrong enemies tumbling to the ground as Mammoth rained down fists on Scalpel's head.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS ENDING? HUH? HUH!" Mammoth snarled, as he hammered the alien…

Before he found Scalpel's foot on his chest: Mammoth had been too focused on attacking to notice Scalpel's shifting.

"Not much!"

And with a mighty thrust, Mammoth went flying up into the air.

---

That fact was rather surprising to Starfire, but she'd been in enough Titan craziness to go with the flow, as she flew around Mammoth's form and opened fire along with Red Star, as Gizmo yelled incomprehensible curses and fired a spray of missiles at the pair, even as he whipped out a plasma cannon and began firing piercing rays back at the two as well. The two flying blaster-Titans dodged and countered with their own shots, even as Speedy and Aqualad came to Bumblebee's aid against Disrupter.

Unfortunately, Speedy's act was fueled by a certain nepotism, as he'd been sent to provide backup to Pantha. Who was attacking Sabotage with an out of control fury…and playing right into his hands, as her foot slipped on a wet patch of the dock and twisted her knee…even as the probability-altering martial artist introduced Pantha to his own knee.

Cyborg grappled with his female other…as she proved she had nastier tricks up her sleeves, as her seemingly organic arm abruptly shifted, the flesh shifting into liquid silver metal as the arm reformed into a spike that Cyborgirl drove into Cyborg's gut, electricity crackling down the length and into Cyborg, as he thrashed and screamed.

And Robin paused for a moment, scanning it all…and then moved on. He was human. He could only do so much.

And with Raven organizing everything, that left him to handle something she couldn't.

Cut the head off the snake.

"So, you finally decided to take some form of direct action then." Clock King said. "Do you believe that I would attempt false misdirection? Or do you simply feel the compulsion to target the superior in an enemy force to justify your own position?"

"I justify nothing. I just act." Robin said, as he spun his staff behind himself.

"And if your actions cannot serve?"

Robin did not reply…at first.

As Batgirl, Flamebird, and Spoiler dropped down around him.

"Then others compensate." Robin replied.

And despite the odds against him, Clock King once again grinned.

"We shall see."

And as the four scions of the Bat, official and non, leapt to the attack, Clock King raised his staff, even as he pulled out a curved knife from within his coat.

And never once did his vicious grin fade.

---

Clock King might have appeared to be happy, but none of his supposed teammates were, as Seemore staggered into the warehouse, soaked, coughing, and his body wracked with pain. This was too much. It was bad enough constantly getting beat down by the Titans when it was just their normal team. Sending an army after them was overkill, especially considering some of the heavy hitters in said army. He'd thrown everything at that Martian chick, and it had just gone through her. And his equipment had been designed to compensate for such traits as intangibility: it took one hell of a refined talent for his blasts to have no effect. Then again, if she was a Martian, as she seemed to be, Seemore should not only have expected that, but been thankful she hadn't broken him in half, or yanked his worst nightmare out of his head and transformed into it. He'd heard the horror stories, of J'onn J'onzz and the White Martians, what they could do…it was a miracle he'd escaped…well, escaped in the sense that Aqualad had flattened him and then been distracted by Gizmo, allowing Seemore to run for his life.

Blood might scream at him, but this was just too much. On top of the Titans, the new team leader seemed to be playing his own damn game, what with the mystery theft and the time-split that left everyone with a package that may or may not be empty, and Seemore had to try and guard it while defending HIMSELF against a damn Titan army, it was all too much…

He had to get away…

As pink energy blasted his hands and they abruptly proved slippery, as the case he was holding flew out of his hands and thunk'd down onto the ground, as Seemore recoiled with a gasp. He knew that power, as he swirled his head in the direction of the attack and tried to fire a return shot…

More pink energy hit his helmet, and he screamed as it shorted out. Seemore reached up as quick as he could, yanking it off before it exploded or electrocuted his head, throwing the now-useless weapon away as he clutched his singed cranium. She'd gotten the drop on him. Bad luck.

But he shouldn't have expected anything else, as Jinx emerged from the shadows, her hands glowing with the pink hex energy.

"…sorry squinty." She said quietly. For a moment, Seemore glared at Jinx with a hatred that could match any Titan enemy…but he couldn't keep it up, as his features softened to regret.

"…so that's how it goes down, huh?" He asked. "You're on the side of the angels now. Gotta make sure the devils all end up in hell."

Jinx said nothing.

"But hey, they can't have you showing sympathy for the enemy! They might doubt their choice then. And then where would YOU be?" Seemore half-growled and half-lamented. "So go ahead Llarenes. What's everything in the past, when you have a future to look after?"

Jinx's expression betrayed her, as sadness traced across her features.

"…the box. Kick it over."

"Careful girl. The way you change things, might blow this state off the map." Seemore said, as he kicked the container he'd been given over. Jinx glanced down at it.

Her eyes flared. The top of the case popped open.

Revealing an empty case. Seemore didn't have the MWS.

"…you're wrong, you know." Jinx said quietly.

"Isn't that why you're supposed to stop me now? Isn't that your job, so you can claw your way out of Coldsinius!?"

"…Cocytus, Seymore." Jinx said. "And…it's not like that. I regret leaving you behind…but I couldn't keep going down that path. I made a choice. If that's betrayal, then Blood served us all a greater one first…"

Jinx lowered her hands.

"And I will not stoop to his level."

The two former comrades stared at each other.

"…go on. Move!"

Seemore stared a bit more.

"They stuck me on rear guard, no one past me! Go on! Shoo! Quickly! Before someone else comes along!"

"…henh." Seemore said, as he picked up his broken helmet (he hated to leave equipment behind). "Maybe you've haven't changed much at all Jinx."

"You're right, and you're wrong." Jinx said, as she turned her head away. Seemore blinked, and then ran past her, disappearing into the shadows she'd come from.

Jinx sighed deeply. They may have been a criminal organization, but once, the Hive had been the only friends and family she'd had. And try and she might, she couldn't just throw that away…

"Llarenes!"

And Jinx's heart abruptly filled with ice. No, not…

Jinx turned around.

As Savior leapt across the warehouse floor and landed in front of her. He did not look pleased.

"This won't do."

---

A brief moment earlier…

"Hey Raven. I demand a refund." Gauntlet said as he strolled up to the organizational guard.

"A refund of what?" Savior asked.

"I'm asking her."

"She's busy Gauntlet. You can talk to me."

"Weird, normally you'd want me to be someone else's problem."

"Well, I can't precisely avoid that now, can I? I think I've used up my year's supply of hypocrisy." Savior replied. "What's this about a refund?"

"I want my 30 seconds back. With over 40 Titans, there's nothing to DO."

"Nothing? Half the Hive's still operative! Go reinforce one of the other groups."

"…actually, that makes me realize something. If we're all here, who's guarding the REST of the city?"

"We've covered that." Savior said.

"How?"

---

"Ha ha! I, the Amazing Mumbo, shall rob your bank!"

"We were told to give you this note if you gave us trouble."

"What's this…'Dear Mumbo, congratulations on robbing the bank. Bet it makes you feel like a big man, huh? So big and strong, picking on people who can't defend themselves. You make me sick, you pathetic hack. Signed…' did... every last Titan sign this? Really?"

"I stopped counting after 30."

"…I think I'll go home now."

---

"We have our ways." Savior replied. "Like I said, go back up one of the attacking groups."

"Look, it's not that I'm one to complain, but I think that the attack is over, judging by the pitch of Mammoth's screams. I think we're having a little fun here at the expense of real efficiency and purple monkey dishwasher."

"…what?" Savior said, focusing back on Gauntlet, his attention having drifted while Rob was talking. And for good reason: he'd noticed something.

"And here I thought you were drifting off."

"…okay Rob, you're promoted. You're head of the Organizational Guard now. Keep Raven safe." Savior said as he slipped around Gauntlet and began running off.

"Wait what!" Lightning protested. "What is this? How come he can run off when the rest of us were told not to do so!"

"Seniority!" Gauntlet said.

"That is unfair! We were acquainted with the Titans before he was around! We should be allowed leave as well!"

"It is somewhat pointless brother. This is a unique battle, as in we are one step away from fighting over not the scraps of victory but the scraps of battle itself." Thunder said. "Besides, argument is useless, considering when it comes to Raven, the jacketed one shares a-MMMPPHHH!" Thunder mumbled through his now-covered mouth, as Jericho pointed to the three child heroes still with them and then put a finger over his lips.

"Shares what?" Melvin asked.

"Uh, dessert!" Gauntlet offered.

"Oh, right. Sure, that'll get you places." Melvin replied.

Gauntlet really hoped that sentence meant what it said on its face.

"Well, guess you're stuck with me Raven. Your boyfriend ran off. Hope I serve." Gauntlet said as he turned around. "Don't worry, I can do this keep teammates alive thing."

It was a good thing Gauntlet had his back to Raven.

It kept him from seeing the brief spike of pain that had crossed her features.

Pain she had all too-dark reasons for.

---

Savior had his own reasons. He always did.

As both Hotspot and Killowatt went off the end of the pier and into the water. Their muscle, Wildebeast, had been drawn off fighting Disrupter, and Billy had used their reluctance to really cut loose to his advantage, piling on the clones until he'd shoved the pair into the drink, forcing Killowatt to power down to avoid harming himself and forcing Hotspot to do likewise to prevent boiling the immediate water and doing harm to Killowatt. The time needed for them to get out and dry off would be more then enough for Billy to run away or sneak attack one of his fellows.

If Savior hadn't spotted the bum rush.

"Approaching. Draw down on my mark." Savior said into his communicator as he approached Billy, who was yucking it up amongst his many clones at tossing the two heroes into the drink.

With that many eyes, it wasn't long before they saw him.

"Well well, if it isn't the white haired ratfink!" Billy Numerous chortled, as he began dividing himself anew, again and again.

"WELL WELL WELL WELL!" Savior retorted. "IF IT ISN'T FAT, STINKING BILLYGOAT BILLY-BOY IN POISON! HOW ART THOU, THY GLOBBY BOTTLE OF CHEAP STINKING CHIP-OIL? COME AND GET ONE IN THE YARBLES, IF YOU HAVE ANY YARBLES, YOU EUNICH JELLY THOU!"

Billy was done dividing. He was too busy staring.

"…did y'all just have a stroke?"

"No, actually. One, that's from a book called Clockwork Orange. Two, I've noted you stop dividing when you're confused. Oh yeah, three." Savior said, and pointed behind Billy.

Billy Numerous turned around…as Wonder Girl and Supergirl floated down.

"Well, of us anyway." Savior commented.

"I bet I knock more of them out then you do!" Wonder Girl said.

"Bet taken!" Supergirl replied.

"OH JINGLE BELLS!" Billy cried.

And as the pair of girls slammed into his masses, Savior could swear he heard the sound of bowling pins.

"Hear angel trumpets and devil trombones. You are invited." Savior said, and left. He'd planned to walk right back to Raven.

If Pantha hadn't been thrown into him.

Luckily for Savior, the impact just knocked him flat. Pantha had more forward momentum despite crashing into the white-haired hero, and as a result ended up in the water alongside Hotspot and Killowatt.

"…what the devil…ow." Savior said, getting back up as he shook his head, trying to get past the bell-ringing he'd just been given. "Did anyone get the number of that…"

And then he spotted the reason he'd just been flattened, as Sabotage continued his flight. He'd had enough of the chaos, and after getting rid of Pantha, he'd decided he was getting out while the getting was good.

However, some of the Titans had something to say about that, as Bushido came leaping down, slashing with his sword.

And Sabotage held up his briefcase. Normally, Bushido would have just cut right through it…but, not knowing the possible result, the young samurai was instead forced to abort his move at the last second.

Something Sabotage took full advantage of, as he lashed out with a kick, knocking Bushido off his feet. The samurai rolled to break his fall, springing nimbly upright…and twisting his ankle, causing him to sprawl on the ground…as Sabotage lashed out and buried the toe of his boot in the side of Bushido's head, sending stars exploding in the warrior's vision.

"Cord Radfory." Savior growled: no wonder Pantha and Bushido had been tossed around like playthings. Organizing so many Titans must have proven harder than Raven had expected or let on: surely she would have sent blaster-types after the Hive member otherwise. Where was Blue Beetle, he had all sorts of distance wea-

He was gone. Specifically he'd been drawn off to also help with Disrupter, who was proving to be a gigantic headache. With Bushido down, that left…

Morgue.

And Sabotage was on a collision course with her.

"Damn!" Savior yelled, as he took off towards the pair, even as a Shimmer strand pulled out his communicator. "Morgue! Incoming!"

"What? Oh, I see him!" Morgue replied, as she began yanking out her tranquilizer gun.

"What-wait Sophie no he's got you…!"

As Sophie aimed her weapon…and her arm abruptly spasmed with a sudden muscle cramp, causing her to fire just to Sabotage's left. She gasped, trying to get her other gun up…

Too late, as Sabotage reached her and slashed out his fist, slamming it into Morgue's masked face and knocking her right off her feet.

"Damnit." Savior growled, as he paused to check on Bushido (who was stunned but relatively unharmed) and then sprinted to Sophie's side. "You all right?"

"I just froze when…I…" Morgue said, unsure of what had just gone down…and feeling ashamed for it. They'd been right to stick her in the rear, and she couldn't even do that…

"He's slippery like that. BUT NOT SLIPPERY ENOUGH…!" Savior snapped as he slipped around Morgue, dug his Shimmer strands into the ground, leaned back, and lanced towards the fleeing Sabotage.

He never caught Sabotage's response, as the red-haired Hive member turned and roundhoused Savior right out of the attack, sending him crashing to the ground.

In case you were wondering, it was "I have ears you know."

"Jackass." Sabotage said to himself as he turned and continued running. He didn't have very far to go.

As he arrived at one of the vehicles that had been unpacked by his associates while hunting for the MWS: A Hummer H1. Apparently someone in Europe felt they weren't manly enough, and their insecurity was Sabotage's gain, as he kicked out with his armored boot and smashed the driver side window open, throwing in his case before reaching inside…

And leaping aside as a Shimmer strand buried itself in the door.

"YOU BAST-ARGH!" Savior yelled as he pulled himself in via the strand, trying to punch Sabotage. All he managed to do was punch the side of the Hummer as Sabotage dodged aside, and even as Savior recoiled Sabotage lashed out with his own fist, knocking Savior backwards.

What the devil is going on? I shouldn't be doing this poor-! Was all Savior managed to think as he tried to recover…as Sabotage pulled the door open and slammed it right into Savior, knocking him down again, as Sabotage jumped into the giant car and shoved the skeleton-key like tool he'd produced from his jacket into the ignition and cranked the engine.

Savior pushed himself up…as the headlights ignited and bathed him in their high beams.

"Oh bleep bleep."

Only a last second jump prevented Savior from being run over, again: instead he was merely knocked over the hood of the car, where he crashed against the windshield and exploded a spider web of cracks over it before he rolled over it, over the roof, and off the end as he crashed back down on the dock.

"…I think that crossed the line from poor performance to karmic retribution…though I'll be damned if I know what for." Savior coughed as he got back up, checking his face for cuts…as a few darts flew past him. To his credit, he didn't get startled.

"Savior? Are you all right?" Morgue asked as she re-joined him, aiming her gun and firing after Sabotage as he fled in the giant All-Terrain vehicle.

"I'll live."

Morgue was about to say something else when Bushido also joined them, his blank face not concealing his annoyance. To her surprise, he briefly spoke, albeit in Japanese. She'd thought he was mute.

"No point. You've already seen what his probability altering powers do…in fact I think they're getting stronger." Savior griped. "Attacking as is won't do…what we need…is your fellow…"

Savior turned, pulling out his communicator.

"I got this guys. Go back to guarding the line. I suspect anyone else who tries to slip through will have a considerably HARDER time of it." Savior said as he took off, his communicator having locked onto the person he was searching for. "As for Radfory, let me handle the bad luck!"

Morgue and Bushido stared after Savior for a bit, before Bushido turned and said something else in Japanese to Morgue. Though she didn't understand the language, she could tell the tone.

"I can never tell what he's thinking either." Morgue said.

She understood Bushido's one word reply: she did happen to know what a baka was.

---

If Savior had felt the need to explain, it was simple: fight fire with fire. Deal with a probability alterer with another probability alterer. And the Titans had just one: the Hive turncoat Jinx, whose bad luck hex blasts were based on the same concept. So Savior had tracked her down.

He didn't know what she was doing in a warehouse. Maybe she felt ashamed fighting her old team. But he had bigger fish to fry then lingering issues.

And hence, instead of being utterly ravaged by Savior's neurosis and/or bias, Jinx found him grabbing her wrist.

"Can't just stand here Jinx, have to earn your keep. But lucky you, I have just the job!" Savior said, as he tucked a Shimmer strand behind Jinx's back to help her along without risking pulling her arm out of her socket.

"Huh? Wah?" Jinx said, completely confused. Damn it, he'd probably freaked the girl out with his injuries and the bile he felt bubbling inside him in regards to Sabotage.

"I need you!"

"…but…but…!"

"Yes I know what you were assigned to do, I'm pulling rank! Come on!" Savior said as he escorted/dragged Jinx out of the warehouse. Jinx stared for another second before her eyes flicked to the still raging battle in the distance: the Hive probably knew they had lost by now but they were fighting on solely due to their aggravation at the fact.

"What?"

"Remember Radfory? Sabotage? He just lucked out and drove off in one of these cars. I need your help to give pursuit, deal with his damn probability altering."

"…but why…"

"I don't have time to pull someone else out of the fight, you're free and needed!" Savior said. Jinx stared: so he HADN'T see her let Seemore go? According to what she heard of Savior, good AND bad, he didn't miss much…

"…uh…"

"Please try and collect your thoughts swiftly!" Savior said, as he continued dragging Jinx along.

"…wait we're chasing Cord?"

"Yes."

"On foot?"

"No. Too slow."

"Wait wait, I don't want to get dragged through the air…!"

"Not swinging either. He can screw with actions. Too dangerous." Savior said. "Option 3."

And Savior finally pulled Jinx around one of the crates, as she stared at what was concealed behind there.

"…Vic's car? You're stealing VIC'S CAR?" Jinx said incredulously as she stared at the T-Car.

"Steal is such a dirty word. I prefer 'circumstantially acquired'." Savior said, as he aimed his communicator at the door and pressed a quick series of buttons. Pass code accepted, the door sprung open. "Besides, he let me have the access codes for a reason."

"…he hasn't told ME the codes…" Jinx grumbled.

"WILL YOU GET IN!" Savior yelled as he literally grabbed Jinx and threw her into the passenger seat, following her as he got into the driver's seat. "And put on a seatbelt."

"…did you do that just to take a look up my skirt!?" Jinx yelled as she adjusted herself, feeling angry and embarrassed.

"Oh please, like I need that sort of drama…keys, keys, keys…" Savior said as he hunted around the car. "Damn it, Vic has the keys!"

"Don't look at me, he didn't even bother giving me the codes." Jinx groused. "Hotwire it."

"You think this is some car just off the lot? Nothing that crude will work." Savior said, as he held out two fingers.

And the Shimmer flowed forth and formed into a key-esque shape.

"However I happen to be quite sophisticated." Savior said.

"The ability to stick your organ into something is hardly considered sophisticated." Jinx smirked.

"…quiet rookie." Savior replied lamely as he jammed the Shimmer into the ignition and started the car up. Jinx just smiled quietly.

"You know, it doesn't exactly say much…" Savior said as he hunted around for the stick.

"Preparing default mode: Dukes of Hazard. Enable or Disable?"

"What?" Savior said at the sudden speaking voice.

"Dukes of Hazard mode engaged."

And the gas of the T-Car slammed down and the vehicle rocketed towards the end of the pier, the roar of the engine drowning out the surprised screams within.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…!"

---

The carnage continued. More explosions and blasts erupted from the dockside battle.

And Robin leapt at Clock King, swinging his staff.

And Clock King dodged effortlessly, his body jerking backwards at a precise speed and angle, a perfect boxer's feint…as Spoiler promptly attacked the feint area, swinging a nunchuck at the current Hive Leader.

He turned his feint into a duck, and her blow in turn missed.

Flamebird attacked immediately afterward, hurling crimson-colored batarang-esque projectiles at Clock King: he shifted up at an angle to dodge one and knocked the other one out of the air with his staff…

As Batgirl leapt in, swinging out with a kick.

It slammed into Clock King's open hand…which anyone watching could have sworn was exactly what Batgirl had intended, as she shifted her momentum towards the ground, landed on her hands, and lanced out another kick at Clock King's knee…before his staff knocked it away. And even as he did that, Batgirl was on her feet in a blurr, as she slashed out with several hand strikes…that Clock King knocked away in a series of precise, expert blocks.

As Robin leapt from behind, swinging his staff again.

And Clock King turned around, both dodging Batgirl's kick and knocking Robin's staff aside so that it slammed into the also-attacking Spoiler's head, even as he whirled and slashed out, Flamebird barely avoiding his gutting strike via her costume's armor, drawing a surprised gasp from her as the four vigilantes briefly backed off.

"Spoiler?" Robin asked.

"I'm all right. Just a glance." The purple-costumed girl replied, though the way she gripped her head suggested otherwise. Robin glared at Clock King, eternally sporting that damn grin.

And then Robin hurled several Birdarangs. Clock King dodged them effortlessly, the projectiles not even damaging his long brown coat, as Flamebird leapt back in with her own kick…and Clock King grabbed her ankle and pulled up, flipping her face first onto the ground.

Another feint…and it was again, pointless, as Clock King whirled back around and blocked Batgirl's fist with his cane, and then interrupted her attempted throat grab with a slash of his knife, before bringing up his knee to block her own knee strike and bashing her with his cane to knock her away, before ducking down and letting Flamebird's electrified bolo fall over his head, and then jerking away from Spoiler's sneak attack punch and rapping her in the ribs with his cane to drive her back…

And then abruptly dropping his knife, reaching behind himself, letting Robin's staff fall into his hand as he grabbed it, whirling around and roundhouse kicking Robin backwards.

As Robin sprang back to his feet, Clock King quickly retrieved his blade, adjusting his glasses as his four attackers backed up again.

"Robin, what's going on?" Flamebird asked, a tinge of despair in her voice.

"…not normal." Batgirl said. "…sees different."

"You're right Batgirl. From my analysis…low level precognition." Robin said.

"So your title isn't just ceremony. You are correct Robin. While your consciousness' are chained to the immediate here and now, mine allows me to see approximately 4.6692 seconds into the future. At all times. Every move, every attempt at teamwork, misdirection, trickery, is quite pointless. I know your plans almost as soon as you do." Clock King said. "So tell me, scion of the Bat. What do you do when your renowned skills, the fighting genius of the Batgirl, and potential surprises from the other two, are worthless?"

"…I was thinking…keep trying to hit you until you fall down." Robin replied.

"Oh come now, surely you're not THAT one-note when confronted with your superior." Clock King replied, again adjusting his glasses. Spoiler glanced at Robin, but his grim face showed nothing except a focused, if somewhat resigned, intent to continue on. Surely he had a plan though. He was Robin.

But he was also human, and as he ran to attack Clock King, it appeared that that would be the dominating factor this time.

---

"…HHHHHHHHHHH DISENGAGE DISENGAGE STOP YOU STUPID THING!" Savior yelled.

"Now that's just hurtful."

And the T-Car came to an instant halt. Half a second later Savior's face slammed into the steering wheel, the horn blaring loudly.

"Oh great now I'm upside down!" Jinx lamented: Savior was too busy holding his face to confirm if that was true."

"…Kitt?" Savior said incredulously.

"Whom did you expect?"

"Not YOU! I thought you were on standby for now! Cyborg can usually drive by himself!…But good! You can compensate for my weaknesses!"

"I am not programmed to satisfy women emotionally and sexually. You're on your own."

"Oh ha ha ha! I meant my driving weaknesses! I never did take as many combat driving courses as I wanted! What my Shimmer can't do, do for me!" Savior said, as Jinx struggled to right herself.

"What are your orders?"

"Radar!"

"Please select type and intensity."

"There's a Humvee that just drove away! Find it!" Savior snapped as he threw the stick into reverse and began backing up as he swung the T-Car around.

"Vehicle located. Now let me contact Master Cyborg and we…"

"Sorry Kitt you're stuck with me. Cyborg's got a job to do and so do we!" Savior snapped as he slammed on the gas and the T-Car peeled off towards some warehouses.

"…his car talks?" Jinx asked.

"Oh Vic made some AI for some reason, loaned it to Terra in a fancy car once, decided that because of that he'd name it KITT as a joke, who knew they were remaking anything?" Savior said, as he twisted the wheel to make a somewhat tight turn.

"May I remind you the master specifically requests any non-him drivers to use a subtle hand."

"I am not programmed to be subtle. You're on your own." Savior retorted, as he turned another corner, and saw the hole in the warehouse in front of him. "Well at least he's leaving a trail!"

"Please, your driving skill is notable, you do not have to-"

Savior drove through the same hole in the warehouse, as he crashed through several boxes Sabotage hadn't broken on his initial trip through.

"OW! Why do all my drivers come without reading my warranty!"

"Oh cut it out, you can't feel pain." Savior replied.

"Okay wait! Hold up! What do you want me to do-GEEP!" Jinx gasped as Savior made another hard turn and threw her around the car again.

"Damn it Llarenes, put on a seatbelt already!" Savior said, as he glanced at the radar for a moment and then resumed driving. "I want you to jam Sabotage's probability powers with your own so I can get close and take him out!"

"…and you think I can just snap my fingers and do this?"

"You seemed to fly by the seat of your pants back when you were on the other side well enough!"

"Oh there you go again, bringing up my pants! Tell me, how long have you been banished to the couch?"

"I could very easily break you in half, woman."

"Promises, promises!"

"Look Llarenes, he might have something dangerous with him! I need to try and stop him before he gets away, and to do that with the least amount of pain, I need you! So…do whatever you can! Surely you have SOMETHING up your sleeve!"

"I…" Jinx said, as she briefly felt overwhelmed. "…only me?"

"Well, I'll see what I can-THERE'S THE BASTARD." Savior growled as he skidded around another corner and finally caught up to the fleeing Humvee. "Go to work!"

"It's just…I'll do what I can but…!"

"Do that! I'll handle the rest. Kitt, arm weapon systems!" Savior ordered, as he poised his fingers on his free hand to start entering commands.

"Sorry. Master Cyborg diverted all weapons power for his new speaker system."

"…WHAT?" Savior said incredulously.

"Never a dull moment." Jinx sighed.

"You know I cannot lie now, Mr. Savior."

"Then RE-DIVERT IT!"

"I can't do that Dave."

"WHY NOT?"

"Only Master Cyborg can authorize that. And he is occupied. By myself, I don't have the authorization."

"…why me?" Savior lamented.

"I suspect that Master Cyborg felt like 'messing with you'."

"…fine then. We do things the old fashioned way. Jinx you ready?"

"I'm trying to…!"

"TOO BAD!" Savior yelled as he yanked the stick and slammed down on the gas pedal again, as the T-Car's wheels smoked even as the distance between the car and the truck shrank, as Savior waited for sudden muscle spasms, abrupt twitches, possible blindness…

"MOTHERBLEEP!" Sabotage cursed: he thought he'd dealt with this! Fine, he'd…

"URGH!" Savior grunted as his stomach abruptly cramped with nausea…but it faded down after a second to merely uncomfortable levels. "…I think it's working. Keep it up!"

Jinx had no reply: she merely focused harder, as her eyes glowed an intense pink, as Savior gave the T-Car more gas and closed the distance even more…

"Bleep! He must have that bleeping bleep in there! Bleep bleep bleep…!" Sabotage cursed, as he yanked the wheel to the side, trying to cut Savior's passage off, the Humvee crashing off the warehouse wall as Sabotage's less then perfect driving skills came to bear.

"Master Savior I must remind you that that vehicle weighs over twice as much as myself…"

"And if you had weapons, that wouldn't be a problem!" Savior snapped back, as he adjusted the clutch and slammed on the gas again…as Sabotage jerked the wheel again and barely cut Savior off once more, as Savior swerved to avoid being rammed and rapped his head against his side window, even as Jinx was thrown into his lap.

"Okay now this is just ridiculous." Savior said as Shimmer strands grabbed Jinx and tossed her back in her chair.

"Are you sure you didn't plan all of this?"

"Unless the powers that be want a radical relationship shift and god knows how much drama, NO!"

"Oh please. I've heard what a selfish lover you are."

"SHADDUP!" Savior said, as he once more adjusted the stick, even as the Humvee took a tight turn and Savior followed, barely managing to avoid crashing up against the wall. "Going in again Jinx! Make with the voodoo!" Savior said, as he did the usual adjusting and applied the gas.

"Why you…!" Sabotage cursed as Savior began closing in on his left. He jerked the wheel again…

As Savior laid off the gas, and as Sabotage overshot himself, he put the pedal to the floor again, as he zoomed in on Sabotage's right and drew even with the Hive member.

"PULL OVER!" Savior yelled, as he thrust out his left hand and fired off several Shimmer lines, shattering the T-Car's driver's window…

"THAT WAS UNNECESSARY…!"

And ramming them through the Humvee's chassis…

While completely missing Sabotage. Savior goggled: how in the hell…!

"Okay how about THIS!" Sabotage replied, and yanked the wheel to the right.

"Bleep me." Savior said.

The Hummer slammed into the T-Car, Savior barely able to recall the Shimmer before he completely lost control, as the T-Car jerked to the right and crashed through the warehouse wall, as Jinx cried out and Savior's sense was lost in a blur of motion and debris.

---

Clock King was also a blur of motion, as he easily dodged Robin's repeated staff stabs, taking a small leap to the side and covering his eyes as Flamebird threw up her hands to her mask and activated a powerful flare within, the blinding light wasted before it had even come out. Clock King didn't miss a step, as he turned around, caught Spoiler's nunchucks on his staff, and yanked backwards, throwing Spoiler into his forceful front kick and knocking her back, her hand losing her grip on the weapon in the process.

"I didn't think you were this one note." Clock King said, tossing Spoiler's weapon away as he turned around and began rapidly blocking, as Robin and Batgirl attacked Clock King with a furious set of synchronized blows, hoping to overwhelm his precognitive talent. It didn't work, and a few quick knife slashes forced the pair to retreat.

"So you obviously must be planning something else. Interesting." Clock King said, as he adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps you wish to stall me until more of your own can come to your aid. Henh. And I thought four against one was the limit of your dishonorable behavior."

"Oh shut up. Someone like YOU has no right to lecture me on honorable acts." Robin retorted.

"I know enough to see its idiocy." Clock King said. "It's remarkably likes yours."

Robin yelled and charged in again.

"Ah yes, that famous rage." Clock King said, as he blocked once more with his cane. "It's about time that brought you low."

---

Round and round the T-Car went, when it stopped…

Was about 2 ½ seconds after it had been knocked into the spin, as with an inaudible curse Shimmer strands lashed out, pressing multiple buttons in a pattern as Savior activated extreme-friction shields over the wheels to increase the drag and slow them down, even as he adjusted the stick and the wheels with Kitt's help. The end resulting was two more seconds of spinning before the car stopped and peeled out through the inside of the warehouse the pair had been knocked into.

"Wheeeeeeeeeeee." Savior said in a voice so laconic he would have impressed any Spartan, as he stomped on the gas.

"Ow! I can't even feel pain, and that hurt!"

"More's coming." Savior said, as the T-Car crashed through more stacked wood and metal boxes, pieces of debris bouncing off the windshield.

"Man, when Vic gets ahold of you, he's going to kick your ass harder than I ever could!" Jinx commented.

"You always hurt the ones you love." Savior replied, as he yanked hard on the wheel, smashing through more crates as the T-Car went into a sideways drift and crashed through the door out of the warehouse.

"OW! NOW YOU'RE JUST DOING IT ON PURPOSE!"

"Sorry." Savior said, as he tore down the alleyway road he'd come out of, as he glanced at the radar. Sabotage wasn't far: just another corner and some more gas…

…and a big pile of barrels right in front of the T-Car.

"Who designed this pier, Acclaim?" Jinx cursed.

"…Kitt seal the chassis." Savior said, as he did more stick adjustment.

"Why do…please reconsider! I apologize for my earlier snarkiness!"

"Sorry Kitt, but between you and humans at risk…they can turn you back on. Humans can't." Savior said. "Seal the chassis."

"Sealed but according…!"

Too late: the T-Car smashed through the barrels, the containers flying apart and rupturing as they sprayed a strange green liquid all over the place, including the T-Car, as Savior yanked the wheel to turn…

And found the T-Car going into another uncontrollable spin.

"…to my instruments the barrels contain a potent lubricant…!"

"Oh not THIS again!" Savior cursed, as he began re-using the friction stabilizers…

"Wait the liquid is also potentially…!"

Savior locked up the wheels, as sparks flew…

"..Combustive!"

And the liquid ignited, and Savior's world became consumed again, this time in flames.

---

Cyborg's car might have been the least of his worries, as he was down on one knee, his mechanics scrambled and his systems screaming at the virus that had been inserted into them, as he looked up at his female copy, and she smirked back.

"I guess your warranty has expired." Cyborgirl said, as she armed up her own sonic cannon. "Well, out with the old, in with the new."

Cyborg stared for a moment…and then started chuckling.

"…you're not bad kid. But there's one big difference between you and me. Maybe you have the advantage of being an unknown factor, but that only works once. I have something that never fails."

"Oh really. What's that?"

"I can swallow my pride."

"I should well think so! Considering I didn't leave you any!"

"…you're not very bright, are you?" Cyborg said, and pointed. It took Cyborgirl a few seconds to realize he was pointing past her.

And so she turned around.

If she'd looked past them, she might have seen Mammoth, Gizmo, and Shimmer all lying in a heap. But you couldn't blame the girl for seizing on the primary sight before her: Starfire, Hotspot, Red Star, Argent, Killowatt, and Blue Beetle, all standing and aiming at her.

With Beast Boy in front of them, as behind Cyborgirl Scalpel slipped in and carried Cyborg away.

"Always wanted to do this." Beast Boy said, and pointed. "FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!"

"…beh?" Was all Cyborgirl could muster.

What the storm of firepower didn't do, a stomping T-Rex foot did.

"So much for us good guys giving the villain a sporting chance." Blue Beetle commented.

"There's a time for sporting chances and there's a time for the stomping of the curbs, friend Beetle." Starfire said.

To that, Blue Beetle had no reply.

---

Sabotage heard the blast, and checked the rear window behind him, but saw nothing. Not sure what had happened, but not having a bad feeling about it either, he chuckled nastily and continued driving.

And in the distance behind him, a fire burned in the alleyway, black smoke pluming from the blast…

As the burning T-Car drove out of it, as Savior yanked the stick down and put the pedal to the metal, the abrupt speed snuffing out the surface fires, even as Kitt groaned loudly.

"Are we having fun yet?" Savior growled, as he tore around another corner and finally caught sight of Sabotage again. "This has gone on long enough! Llarnes, fire at him!"

"This has to fall under some sort of cruelty laws…"

"Oh you haven't SEEN cruel." Savior growled, by now getting thoroughly mad he hadn't chased Sabotage down. "LLARNES SHOOT! WHY ARE YOU NOT SHOOT…ing…!"

The reason was, she was upside down again, her face buried in the floormat and her legs kicking almost comically. Savior stared for a moment: had the motion been THAT bad? When the explosion had happened he'd just wiped his hand with the emergency safeguard switches and focused on getting the T-Car back into the chase. Apparently that had really drawn his attention.

"Oh." Savior said, as Shimmer strands shot out and once again righted an embarrassed and furious Jinx. "I once again bring up the seatbelt."

Jinx backhanded Savior across the face, causing his neck to whiplash: if he hadn't already broken it, he would have banged his head against the driver's side window again.

"…ow." Savior said. "Okay, probably deserved that."

"If you snuck a peek…" Jinx growled.

"Really, why does this keep coming up? Why would I have even the most remote sexual interest in you? Are you not wearing underwear or a thong or…what am I saying! NEVER MIND!" Savior yelled as the T-Car began to catch up to Sabotage again, the probability manipulator cursing as he found out he hadn't lost his targets after all. "Fire on him! And put on a damn seatbelt!"

"Those things kill more people than they save."

"NEVER MIND! FIRE!"

"How? Lean out the window?" Jinx replied.

"If you're not going to put on a seatbelt, that's a start!"

"Are you NUTS?"

"Then fire through the windshield!"

"I can't fire through solid objects!"

"Then BREAK the windshield and…oh crap." Savior said, as he realized he was no longer surrounded by warehouses. He'd driven out onto an open work area. The bad news was, Sabotage was ahead of him. The worse news was, people were actually working in it at the time.

As Sabotage drove past a dock worker even as the worker found terrible cramps seizing up his legs and causing him to fall, as Savior frantically yanked the wheel to the side to swerve around him…as Sabotage drove past another worker driving a forklift, as said worker had a mild seizure and put said forklift into a direct path of the T-Car. Savior panicked for a second, before the worker recovered from Sabotage's brief attack and leapt out of the vehicle. With that done, Savior just drove through it, smashing it aside.

"Sorry." Savior preempted Kitt.

"I hope it wasn't made with Chevy parts. I hate to hurt family."

"…right. New plan Jinx. Back to blocking. Keep these people out of harm's way. Kitt, please tell me you still have the turbo boost."

"You have to burn one mushroom."

"WHAT?"

"Sorry, Master Cyborg programmed me to make video game references."

"YES OR NO?" Savior said through clenched teeth, as he paused to swerve around a large crane that thankfully didn't have anyone behind the wheel to use against them. Sabotage's powers might have been increasing, but he couldn't affect inanimate objects like Jinx could.

"Understood. Turbo boost activated in…"

"All right Jinx I…"

And abruptly the boost activated.

"Now seconds."

"NOT NOW AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH…!"

The T-Car met more barrels, fortunately empty this time, before it surged past Sabotage and crashed through another warehouse wall.

"…bleeping morons." Sabotage smirked, and drove on.

---

His face mirrored Clock King's, as he adjusted his glasses and looked at his four tired and injured opponents.

"I really must claim victory here Robin. Perhaps my team fell apart like wet cardboard, but I still fought you and your three friends to a standstill." Clock King said. "I'd say that counts for something."

"Yeah well, even the Spartans lost in the end." Gauntlet said as he strolled up. "You want help Robin? Maybe Mr. Gray here will find that I can hit a guy with glasses."

"…no Gauntlet. This is enough of a fustercluck already." Robin said, as he lowered his staff. "All right, so you gave us the runaround. Bravo, bravo. You've still lost. And not just in the overall sense. You, yourself, as well. Because there is a crucial difference between being able to see what we do, and being able to tell what we think."

"And what thought…" Clock King trailed off, as his grin abruptly froze.

"That one." Robin said. He'd quickly figured out that going one on one (or four on one) with Clock King was proving to be a losing proposition, so he'd relayed an alternate plan to Raven. And while he and his allies had kept fighting to stall, she'd passed it on in turn.

As Clock King felt someone tap him on the shoulder, and he turned around.

How do you beat someone who sees everything you do?

Find a hand quicker than his eye.

As Kid Flash waved at the Hive's new leader. He'd been absent from the battle, attending other things. But he'd said for them to call if he was needed. And in the end he was.

And Clock King found out that knowing that a master of the Speed Force was a tenth of a nanosecond away from, as it was said, clocking you, didn't help anyone.

A few moments after the villain hit the pier, knocked senseless, Gauntlet strolled over and stomped on his glasses.

"Bet ya didn't see THAT one coming!" Gauntlet said.

"He did. His reflexes just could not react." Batgirl replied in a straight correction.

"…thanks, Batgirl." Gauntlet said. Batgirl nodded, as Gauntlet tried to think of something else that wouldn't be shot down by someone who had had the humor forced out of her. Maybe he could go fight that Disrupter-no, she was down too. She'd proven troublesome, but eventually the Titans had poured enough manpower on her (including all of Titans East) to finish her off. She'd been the last to fall, around the same time as Clock King.

"Well, I've been about as necessary as Stevie Wonder's monocle." Gauntlet commented to Robin.

"Be thankful for that." Robin replied, as he finished checking Flamebird and Spoiler for serious injuries. "With Clock King down, I think that just about wraps it up…"

"Good because I have to go, was right in the middle of something, later!" Kid Flash said as he was abruptly by Robin's side. He was just as abruptly gone.

"…nice to have Bart getting back to normal." Robin said.

"Yeah, that mess with the Rogues could have gone a lot worse if Cassie and I hadn't been in town. They say after that failed hit, those guys have gone so deep underground even the Calculator can't find them." Gauntlet said.

"…yes…why were you two there again?"

"The Uberton Isotopes were playing a game there. I'm not sure why Cassie was there, something about a bad oracle from Delphi or something…"

"If that's what you say." Raven said as she walked up, her "bodyguards" with her.

"Very nice work with the organizing Raven. Not perfect, but you're not." Robin said, cutting Raven off before she could criticize herself.

"Thank you. I've informed everyone…Kara said she heard something in New Mexico and had to fly. The curse of being Kryptonian I guess. Red Star wanted immediate transport back to his home, so Cyborg did that for him…oh yes, and the twins ran off, saying they either wanted a victory tamale or they had to stop their uncle from eating pencils on their cousin's table, my Spanish is a bit rusty. Orders?"

"Secure the Hive. Maybe send someone after Buzz Bomb…oh, and make sure no one talks to the press when they arrive." Robin said.

"And what should I do Robin?" Gauntlet asked.

"…I'll think of something." Robin said as he walked off. Gauntlet blinked, and then he glanced over at Flamebird and Spoiler, who were still standing nearby.

"So ladies, how YOU doin'?" He said. The two seemed torn whether to be amused or mildly bothered.

"Dream on love glove." Flamebird replied, though her tone indicated she'd gone with amused.

"Story of my life…" Gauntlet sighed.

And then he heard it.

---

A short while ago…

Savior crashed out the other end of the warehouse, the last of his patience exhausted. Not that that was hard to do…

"Maybe I should just drive you into the ocean and be DONE WITH IT!" Savior yelled, as he slapped the wheel hard.

"I am simply calibrated for Cyborg's superhuman reflexes and his built in preferences. You took the car without his permission, there are going to be problems."

"Can I just go home?" Jinx asked, looking a touch green as Savior took another turn, once again locating Sabotage in the maze of the pier thanks to Kitt's radar and giving chase anew.

"NO!"

"Can I drive?"

"NO!"

"Are you a NON-selfish lover?" Jinx said quickly.

"NO!…YES! NO…I…what are you, 10? Go back to jamming! Kitt get the turbo boost ready again, and this time do it WHEN I SAY!"

"Jam, jam, jam, I feel like I'm part of this complete breakfast." Jinx complained. "I wish this thing had weapons…!"

"Well, I actually do have one. But you won't like it."

"What?" Savior and Jinx said at the same time.

As Sabotage crashed into a dumpster, causing it to spin into the alleyway road from the impact, just in time for the T-Car to crash into it, sending it spinning back out as the impact rocked the car and sprayed garbage on the windows.

"ARRGGGGGGGGGGGH! USE IT!" Savior yelled.

"Really."

"I DON'T CARE, JUST SHOOT IT!"

"Steam powered frog cannon activated."

And a moment later, an unfortunate amphibian splattered on the rear window of Sabotage's Humvee.

"…dah PHUCK?" Sabotage said. In his car, Savior had no reply.

"…why did we always LOSE to you?" Jinx almost whined.

"I suspect it was because you were the 'bad guys.'"

"But I just robbed banks and bleep! This guy's wrecking the whole pier district!"

"He is a 'bad guy' too."

"Not him, HIM!" Jinx yelled, pointing at Savior.

"Yes, but HE does so for great justice."

"I'll grate something, that's for sure." Savior groused, as the T-Car began closing in. "All right Jinx, are you jamming?"

"I'm doing what I've been doing since you dragged me into this!"

"Better than nothing. Best hope that better doesn't make us drive into the nearest toxic waste tank." Savior said. "Kitt, get the turbo boost ready. JUST READY, NO TURNING IT ON YET."

"Affirmative."

"You bleeps just don't know when to give up." Sabotage cursed as the T-Car began closing in again. Sabotage lashed out with his talent, even as he began swerving the Hummer back and forth, ready to pancake Savior and Jinx if they tried to drive up on either side of him.

"Hey Jinx, you ever watch any of those Wildest Police Chase shows?" Savior asked, as he took his left hand off the wheel.

"What?"

"The police have this stopping technique. It's called a P.I.T Maneuver." Savior said, as Sabotage jerked across the alleyway they were driving through and Savior slid back to dodge, even as Sabotage immediately swerved back to prevent them from sliding up the open space.

"You're doing that?"

"Not exactly."

Savior turned to roll down the window…and then realized he'd broken it already. So much to focus on. Time to end it before it surpassed his abilities.

"If this works, I think I'll call it the PIT-BTTW variant."

"BTwhat?"

"Yeah." Savior said.

As he swerved to the right, and Sabotage moved to block him.

"Balls To The Wall." Savior finished, and undid his seatbelt.

And let go of the wheel , leaning up and out the window as he fired off a Shimmer strand. This time, he didn't aim for Sabotage.

The Hive member's left front tire exploded as Savior tore into it with a Shimmer hook, and Sabotage yelled in surprise as the abrupt change to the mechanics of the front axel made his car swerve violently to the left, as Savior yanked himself back into the T-Car and grabbed the stick.

"Now I see why you were so insistent on seatbelts…"

"BOOST NOW!" Savior yelled, as he hammered down on the gas.

The additional blast from the high-octane propellant buried the speedometer, as the T-Car exploded up the alleyway road, as Savior fired out Shimmer strands, several grabbing onto the chair behind him and the rest grabbing Jinx a second before the T-Car slammed into the side of the Humvee, interrupting its spin with a shrieking crunch of metal.

"OFFFFF!" Jinx wheezed as the sudden change in inertia caused her to be winded, but it would have been a lot worse if Savior hadn't grabbed her and himself, as the T-Car roared down the alleyway road, pushing the Humvee along with it.

"BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPP!" Sabotage screamed inside his own car.

"Oh this is the last straw! Tell Master Cyborg you are not allowed to drive anymore!"

"Sure! ROLL OVER YOU BASTARD!" Savior yelled.

"Are you crazy?" Jinx yelled.

"Crazy like a fox! Let's see him give us bad luck after he gets rattled around like a can of peas!"

"What if we hit a wall?"

"I checked the radar, we're entering another open space!"

"I know. We just passed by some Titans!"

"Good finally some…!"

And then a sudden terrible possibility came to Savior…as more Titans passed by his own window.

---

"Robin did either one of us recruit Turbo Teen?" Gauntlet said.

"What?" Robin said, having caught the noise himself.

"Didn't think so. In that case, INCOMING!"

---

"…Kitt please don't tell me we went in a circle." Savior said.

"Affirmative."

"…oh." Savior said. It appeared Sabotage had had one last burst of bad luck in him. By ramming him in the way he had, Savior had cut off his line of vision. And hence he couldn't see where he was doing when he'd driven/pushed Sabotage into the open space he'd read on the radar…which turned out to have been the same space where the Titans and the Hive had been fighting.

That by itself wasn't so bad.

The many cars that the Hive had left scattered all over the dock while hunting for the MWS, a good number of which had not been moved by the battle, notsomuch.

"Oops." Savior whispered.

---

The two cars slammed into a parked Lotus, and Sabotage's Humvee went airborne, flying up and crashing over on its roof as it slid and crashed into a nearby Ferrari, as the T-Car spun violently off the impact before it's tail end hit another Lamborghini, the car ricocheting off the expensive foreign vehicle like an out of control pinball as it's front end impacted with a MINI, the T-Car pushing the small vehicle along before they crashed into another Ferrari, the T-Car once again violently bouncing off the impact as they rear-ended a jeep before doing another lazy spin and coming to a complete stop.

For a moment, silence.

"…Titans quick, get over there and…no wait not ALL of…!" Robin yelled, as he found out that without Raven organizing things, giving orders to over thirty people could cause sudden confusion…

And that was all that was needed, as Clock King abruptly sprang to his feet, knocked Speedy away with a quick, precise kick, and grabbed onto Disrupter, who'd been laid down next to him to be restrained. Except the T-Car's abrupt entrance had caused the Titans around his, Disrupter, and Abrasion's forms to briefly forget about the restraining part.

"TITANS DISTANCE, QUICK SHO-!" Robin yelled.

"I think not!" Clock King said, as he pulled out another watch. "Another time, Titans!"

And in a quick twisting flash of light, the pair were gone, as they teleported away.

"DAMN IT!" Robin yelled. "Titans, restrain the rest! No you go over there! No there! No you…!" Robin yelled.

---

The pair inside the T-Car were unaware of the chaos their arrival had touched off, as Savior's eyes blinked open, and he coughed briefly, before looking at the lattice of Shimmer wires that he'd shot through the entire T-Car, protecting and restraining both himself and Jinx from injury.

"…you all right?"

"…yeah…yeah I think so…" Jinx gasped, though her tone and eyes still showed traces of the shock. "…god…I though we were going to go airborne and get ripped apart…"

"Unlikely. Sportscars have a low center of gravity. They're nearly impossible to flip. Movies lie." Savior said. "I was more concerned for you and I. This is why I told you to put on a seatbelt."

"…but you weren't wearing one."

"…semantics." Savior said. "Hang on, let me check your neck for injury…okay, you're good."

"…thanks."

"Hmmmm?"

"I could have been hurt."

"Ah yes. Well you are on the team." Savior said quietly. "That's what we do."

Kitt's loud groan abruptly deflated Noel's claim.

"…more or less." Savior said, as he retracted the Shimmer strands. "You did good work too Kitt. Stand down."

"Thank you for flying Kitt Air, please exit the vehicle so I can have a nervous breakdown."

"…right. Sabotage." Savior said, as he grabbed the T-Car's door and pushed as hard as he could.

Which resulted in the door breaking off and clattering to the ground.

"…oops."

"At least I still have my dignity."

---

Sabotage's exit was considerably more pained, as he crawled out through the broken window, snarling as glass cut into his arm and blinking more blood out of his eyes, his bandanna having been lost in the crash. That bastard was going to pay. First the driver, then Clock King for this bull bleep plan, and then maybe he'd find someone else to feed their own genitals to…

And as it turned out, it didn't look like he'd have to go far for candidates, as twin shadows fell over him, and Sabotage glared up at the twin forms of Pantha and Bushido.

"…oh…you think you've won? You think I can't take your candyasses?" Sabotage snarled through bloody teeth as he forced himself up: his body hurt all over but not bad enough to prevent him from fighting. "Come on! You think I'm scared of you! You're gonna be scared, when I'm done with…!"

And then another shadow fell over him, this one a lot more scattershot, and Sabotage looked up for the source…

As a swarm of bats surged down on him.

Cord Radfory could affect organic creature's actions…but only one at a time. Even if they were as small as bats.

And the swarm numbered in the hundreds. And they were bloodsuckers.

In the end, Sabotage was wrong. He would not prove exempt from fear.

---

"Cyborg please tell me I didn't hit any-" Savior started to say.

"No! Baby! What did he do to you!" Cyborg cried, pushing past Savior as he ran towards the T-Car, as Jinx carefully made her way out of the driver's side door, her own door having proven to be stuck.

"It's…I-I think I'll be…" Jinx said, as she started walking, her pace unsteady…

As Cyborg ran past Jinx as well, throwing himself to the ground and cradling the T-Car's destroyed door, as Jinx stared in stupefied shock.

"…I'll take that as a no." Savior said.

"…what? WHAT?" Jinx said.

"Yeah he gets like that at times." Savior said, having briefly paused. "Hey! Cyborg! I owe you some man-hours!"

"What did he do!" Cyborg said, apparently not even noticing Savior's promise.

"Will I dream, Cyborg? Daisy…daisy…give me…your answer…dooooooooooo…"

Savior wasn't close enough to hear the shutdown noise, but he could hazard a fair guess that was what happened, as Cyborg proceeded to yell "WHYYYYYYYYYYYY!" and bang his hand on the ground.

"…Savior, you've known Victor longer then me. Did I miss the part where he's totally insane?" Jinx asked.

"Believe me Llarnes, I was going to ask you the same question back in…" Savior replied.

"OH MY GOD! HE KILLED KITT!" Beast Boy interrupted, having followed Cyborg over, as Savior started and looked in the direction of the yell…as Terra pointed a finger in his face.

"YOU BASTARD!" She finished.

"Ha ha. One, he's not alive, and two, he gave no error or distorted messages. He's being a drama queen."

"I will rebuild him!" Cyborg declared. "Better! Faster! Stronger!"

"Yes yes you do that I'm just going to go over here and you know arrest the criminal who forced this whole situation to happen…" Savior said as he turned and began walking back towards Sabotage's crashed SUV. "Oh no no problem I was just in a car crash but hey I'll do it no rush…"

And Savior went around the Hummer…and found an unconscious and restrained Sabotage being dragged off by the leg by Pantha, his face pitted with strange wounds…as a giant swarms of bats began converging near a surprised Savior, reforming into Morgue.

"It's taken care of." Morgue said.

"…oh." Savior said, blinking…before he realized something. "Well, maybe I didn't have to take care of him, but I still have to take care of you…"

Shimmer strands flowed out, reaching into Sabotage's crashed vehicle and pulling out his forgotten briefcase.

"Lest things like this get forgotten." Savior said, and opened the case.

There was a few seconds of silence.

"…somehow I'm not surprised." Savior said, looking at the emptiness within. Sabotage hadn't had the MWS.

"It was in Disrupter's case, as it turned out." Robin said as he walked over. "It's been secured."

"Really? You mean, someone's keeping track of things besides me? IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!" Savior declared, raising his arms. "Well that or the odds got better with forty people around…"

Scalpel announced his presence by abruptly stomping on Savior's foot.

"OWWWWW!" Savior yelled, hopping around. "What was THAT for?"

"Not this year, Savior." Scalpel replied.

"Ow, no no Nigel, that was sarcasm, I'm not in a bad mood, you don't have to…YEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOW!" Savior yelled again as Miss Martian floated down and stomped on his other foot. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"That's not how you celebrate after victories?" The martian asked innocently.

"NO!"

"…Star, did someone make an unauthorized clone of you?" Gauntlet asked the alien.

"You humans can be very confusing." Starfire replied.

"But Nigel's Blacktrinian."

"That just makes it worse."

"…wait, who's confused again? Because I think it's me." Gauntlet said, holding his head.

"Actually Megan, you shouldn't…" Robin said, and then his communicator rang, as he paused to answer it. "Yeah?"

"Robin, problem! It wasn't just Clock Boy who ran off during that demolition derby. Mammoth and Shimmer have disappeared too!" Bumblebee reported.

"What? How could…damn." Robin said, as he switched to the main band. "Everyone not involved in a task, spread out and search! Mammoth and Shimmer managed to slip away during the distraction: they can't have gotten far! Find them!"

"…is anyone else going to hit me? Those escapes were technically my fault." Savior said, glancing around warily.

"Technically correct is not always the best kind of correct." Robin replied.

"…perhaps. Besides even if-OW!" Savior yelled as Morgue slapped him on the back of the head. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"

"For you to stop there."

"Why does-OW!" Savior yelled as Morgue smacked him on the back of the head again. "WHAT?"

"That one was to grow on."

"I swear you people…!"

Gauntlet bopped Savior with a Gauntlet hammer.

"OW GODDAMN IT ROB! WHAT THE HELL!"

"What, we're not giving hit on the head lessons?"

"NO YOU-OW!" Savior yelled as Gauntlet bopped him again.

"Sorry, my finger slipped."

Savior growled, but held his tongue, as he tried to calm down. No need to get angry. And he didn't want to get hit again.

"…you know, I love you guys…but really. Knock it off!"

And with one quick blow, Miss Martian whacked Savior with her hand and sent him flying with a scream, as he flew off the pier and into the ocean.

"…did I confuse his words again?" Miss Martian said, looking at the stunned faces of the Titans' surrounding her.

"…I wonder." Robin said, as he pulled out his communicator again. "Aqualad, did you see…yeah, could you get him back? And check to make sure he's still in one-"

"I DON'T KNOW WHO'S GOING TO DIE, BUT I HAVE OPTIONS!" Savior bellowed in the distance.

"Scratch that last one."

---

"…Sophie? Are you all right?" Scalpel asked: he'd been doing a few quick stretches before he'd joined the search for the missing Hive members, and he'd noticed that instead of joining in, his human girlfriend had decided to sit down instead.

"What? Oh…uh, guess so. Not sure." Sophie said, her pale skin unusually flush. "I might have overdone it attacking Sabotage. The primal animal side takes over…I think the blood of his I drank is disagreeing with me. Give me a minute…or I can walk it off…"

"No no no. Mammoth doesn't mean that much." Scalpel says. "…and maybe you shouldn't drink blood."

"Normally I don't…but sometimes instinct just…happens. Plus he was a complete bleep bleep bleep."

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Keep it up and I know someone else who won't be kissed." Morgue said. Scalpel decided then would be a good time to go quiet.

He kept an eye on Sophie though. It wasn't like Mammoth had any good odds.

---

Baran Flinders had done some crazy things during his life, but this had to be a first: trying to outrun a 40-person band of superhumans. It was stupid, and considering the muscle the team had been packing, seemingly impossible. He'd done it anyway. For Selinda.

"Baran…?" His sister said, as he sprinted as quietly as he could through the back alleyways of the warehouses that surrounded the pier, carrying her in one arm.

"Quiet. They might hear you." Mammoth replied. And he wasn't kidding. Or maybe he was, in the sense he was kidding himself. There was no way he was going to escape. Maybe if it was just the core team, he'd have a chance, but with so many honoraries around? It was like trying to navigate a mindfield. By hopping on one foot. With a broken ankle.

But logic had never entered much into Mammoth's thinking process. His motivation was simpler: he was damned if he and Shimmer were going to spend Christmas in jail. Blood might leave them there to punish them for their "failure", though in all sense there was no way this mission COULD have ended once the numbers game became apparent…

"Then maybe the best option was not to commit the crime?" Raven said, as she appeared from the shadows before Mammoth, the giant coming to a dead stop both at the sight of her and at the realization she'd found him by mind-reading. He growled, clenching his free fist, wondering how many seconds he could buy Selinda to keep running.

"Wait…" Raven said, holding up an arm. "No need for violence…necessarily."

"Course there is. You're my enemy, I'm yours. That's how it goes." Mammoth growled.

"Enemies, yes…but we have considerably worse problems than you. Them I would destroy. You…tell me Flinders. Are you interested in a deal?"

"Deal?" Mammoth said, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"Yes. It's simple…you saw what happened. The reason it did, is because the Titans are having a special gathering this year. For all the people we know. Which means that for this whole month, there's going to be far more of us than normal." Raven said. "Including some very powerful beings. We did this to relax, and have fun. Spending time with…loved ones. And we really don't want the usual messes that your side causes. So I suggest…you pass the word on…about what you saw here. And recommend that anyone else who wants to cause trouble, is going to call down a rain of ruin on their heads unlike anything THEY…albeit not you, have seen before. Leaving town is best. Or keeping your head down. Because if we get our relaxing time interrupted, despite efforts to avoid it, well…we'll be upset. VERY, VERY upset."

Mammoth had no reply.

"…but what about…you know, the crazies?" Shimmer said.

"We don't expect them to listen. We also haven't seen much of them on the radar. As for the rest…well, it would be hard for you to pass this information on if you were in jail, wouldn't it?"

Mammoth continued to stare, as Raven's communicator rang. She answered it handlessly.

"Yes………………..no. No sign. They seemed to have gone another way…understood. Raven out." Raven said, as she flipped the communication shut. "Well, Flinders?"

Mammoth could just stare.

"I guess that's the yes. Just…don't make me regret this, Baran. Because my regret won't even begin to cover yours." Raven said. "Happy holidays."

And then in a swirl of darkness, Raven was gone.

"…what just happened, brother?" Shimmer asked, as Mammoth growled softly and resumed his escape.

"A reminder why those Titans are so bleeping annoying." Mammoth replied.

"Are you going to…?"

"I need stories to tell at the bar. One's as good as another."

---

It was strange, seeking out Mammoth and Shimmer instead of going to help Noel. Once upon a time, Raven wouldn't have conceived of it.

But times had changed. After the incident. After the terrible things she'd seen. The things she alone remembered.

Savior had begun to notice her distance, and she didn't know what to do. She couldn't tell him what happened. Not now…maybe not ever. And yet she couldn't truly blame him for what had happened either.

In between those cruel factors, she felt her old feelings being squeezed. Logic acting before emotion. The irony is Noel would have preferred it on some level.

That was so much like him. Always concerned with the soil.

Perhaps to the point of never noticing the bloom risking to leave the rose.

---

Some time later, the police had properly arrived, as well as another unit from InterC.E.P.T that had taken possession of the MWS (whatever it was, Robin had never bothered to ask). With the busywork currently being handled by the "mere mortals", Robin was kneeling on another package crate, looking down at the many Titans surrounding him.

"All right, good work overall guys. Wasn't perfect, mistakes were made, but considering how thrown together this was it could have been a lot worse. Yes, regrettably we lost nearly half of the Hive…but they know to get out when the getting is good. Well, Mammoth and Shimmer anyway. I don't know about this Clock King and Disrupter…but I'll make plans for them, just in case. As for Buzz Bomb…uh, how did you put it Gauntlet?"

"He left trails of fear, jet exhaust, and urine in his wake." Gauntlet said.

"Right. Any chance he could be a further problem?"

---

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm pretty sure that all Red Bull has the same caffeine content." The bored looking grocery clerk said.

"CURSES! Then I'll just have to buy out your whole stock! I need to be awake, to prepare for all the Teen Titans coming at me at once!" Buzz Bomb rambled. Exactly why the clerk seemed so dead-eyed that even a raving man in bee-themed armor wasn't worth getting excited over is a question I'll leave to the horrors of retail work.

"Uh huh. Please select credit or debit before you swipe your card please."

"Oh, right." Buzz Bomb replied, doing so.

---

"Knowing him, he's probably turned to the bottle. Or the aluminum can. Depends on what he's in the mood for." Gauntlet said.

"…right." Robin said. "Anyway, I figure we'll head back to the Tower, sort out rooms, send anyone home who feels more comfortable there, and do the boring organizational stuff first."

There were numerous boos.

"To get it out of the way!"

More boos.

"Don't make me start handing out demerits!"

"What is a demerit?" Lightning asked.

"I don't know either, but you don't want to get one! MOVING ON!" Robin said. "Does anyone want to ask anything else?"

"Yes. What did I miss?" Savior asked.

"What?"

"I want to know what I missed! How the rest of the fights went!:

"Why?"

"You know me. I like my details. I EXPECT full details." Savior said.

"I got this one Robin!" Gauntlet said as he strolled over. "I thought you'd be anal like that Mon Capitan, so I hired a guy to watch and report all the stuff anyone missed or wanted to know."

"What? Who?"

---

AND NOW IT'S TIME FOR BUM REVIEWS

With Your Host, Chester A. Bum

Today's Review: Lions In Winter

"OH MY GOD THIS WAS THE GREATEST FIGHT SCENE I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE! There's this guy, with a clock fetish-I had a clock fetish once. Then I learned that clocks are made of metal, so I decided to stick to women-not that women usually like me-And he was like 'Find the thing in the car!' But all his minions were like 'No, we're just going to make jokes!' And I was like, "Isn't this supposed to be a fight?". But then Robin showed up! And I was like, 'Where's Batman? Did he fire Robin or something?'-Or did they just revoke his NAMBLA membership?-But then this giant bee attacked Robin! And the bee was all 'Grr' and Robin was all 'Run!'. And then the bee ran, and then Robin came back with all his sidekick friends! It was like that scene in Pluto Nash, only it didn't suck and people wanted to see it! The sidekicks were all 'Bam! Pow!' and the bad guys were all 'Ack!'. And I think one of them, was a green skinned woman, but there wasn't a Captain Kirk Lad to seduce her, so I assumed it was the heroin! And then the badguys, had their own Cyborg, only it was a woman! I guess they found the Titans' spare 'build a teammate' kit! And then Robin and Charlie's Angels attacked! Hey, do you think Batman has angels? He certainly has his demons! HAH HAH HAH HAH-I don't get it either. And then the pink one, who I think was a bad guy, decided to let the other bad guy go! There wasn't a lot of fighting there-The fight scenes were short! I'd been told to expect twenty pages for one fight, so I took extra Ritalin! Now I'm super focused with no fight! Fights aren't supposed to be short and sweet! Then Michael Bay started directing it, because all we saw was this car chase and explosions! And then, that guy with the glasses-why does that sound familiar-was all "I know what you're going to do!" Which sounds a lot like my guidance counselor, except instead of telling Robin that he wasn't going anywhere in his life, he mostly punched Robin in the face! Boy, was that guy wrong! Not the bad guy, my guidance counselor! I got plenty of places! And then I'm not sure what happened. Robin was all "I know what can beat you!" And then Glasses Man fell down. I think the hand of God hit him or something. I don't think it really happened, it was probably just the junk talking. And then we found out cars don't kill people, seatbelts do! This is why I stay away from cars! Also, I can't afford gas! Or a car! And then the bats turned into a woman! That makes me feel bad about my breakfast…I hope that family of bats I ate wasn't a hot woman too. And then I realized that it wasn't even a Christmas fight! There were no demon santas or devil reindeer! I met a devil reindeer once. They scream and have glowing hats, not noses! They act a lot like police cars!-They even have police inside.-And then this blonde guy said, 'Hey, I've seen you on the internet!' And I was all 'Interwhat?' And he said, 'Yes, that's what I want! I'll buy you a sandwich!' And I said, 'Sure, let me get my things!'

---

"And that's why I have my banjo! Aaaaaaaaaaaaand…my banjo. My banjo is all I have. Hooray?" The Bum said, as a group of incredibly confused young adults looked at him.

"…Bum, we KNOW all that. You were supposed to recap what we DIDN'T see." Gauntlet said.

"But I didn't see that."

"….well it was…"

"I only know what I read on the website."

"Wait…read…see…but it…you…how…in…where…I….METAL GEAR?!" Gauntlet babbled, clutching his forehead as he confused himself right into a brain cramp.

"Ah Rob. Don't ever change." Beast Boy said.

"CHANGE? YOU GOT SOME CHANGE? COME ON HELP A GUY OUT…!" The Bum said as he began waving a plastic cup in Beast Boy's face.

"It's going to be a very strange holiday isn't it." Argent commented to Raven, as the Bum pestered various Titans for change.

---

"I'll take strange over bad." Raven said on the orb.

"Yeah, well…there's so many of us. Who'd be stupid enough to try and pick a fight?" Argent replied, as a black-clothed hand traced itself over the orb used to watch the Titans.

"Hmmmmmm." The Lord said. "Interesting."