NEW CHAP! WOOHOO!

Disclaimer: I do not own. I will never own. DARN.


It was a normal morning in Titans Tower. Robin and Raven were always awake first and were in the kitchen eating their breakfast. Robin's favorite music blared from his earbuds. Raven ignored the excess heavy metal sound from Robin's iPod and began to meditate peacefully as soon as she had finished her bland cereal. About 10 minutes later, Starfire woke up and brightened the room with good morning hugs, yanking Robin's earphones out and irritating Raven by interrupting the meditation session. BeastBoy was next to get up. He trudged to the kitchen, green hair sticking up in various different ways, mumbled some tired 'hellos' and opened the fridge for some soymilk and tofu bacon. Cyborg was usually up last, which was a good thing. He could eat the entire breakfast (including BB's gross tofu bacon) before any of the others could take a bite. As expected, he emptied the fridge of most of its contents and scarfed it all down. All of a sudden, an alarm sounded and the vibrant red lights flashed.

"Trouble!" Robin shouted. When they got to the scene, there was an huge mechanical monster terrorizing the town. It had already reduced several office buildings to rubble. Thankfully, the Titans found, there were no injuries or casualties.

"I AM TECHNUS! MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY (AND ALL THINGS ELECTRONIC AND BEEPING)!" He yelled in an irritating nasal voice. Eyeing Cyborg, the robotic colossus smiled deviously. He was at least thirty feet tall and looked like he had built himself just by raiding the local electronics store, with a plasma screen television for a face, and various stacked DVD, Blu-Ray, and even out-of-date VHS players as well as various game consoles, light fixtures, telephones and other miscellaneous objects making up the rest of his body and forming a tough metal shell.

"Be careful Cyborg." Robin warned.

"No worries, Rob. My tech can't be hacked by such an ancient model." Cyborg reassured him.

"YOU DARE CALL ME OUT OF DATE? I JUST UPGRADED!" While he was screaming this, Star noticed a silver haired man, unconscious, in the robot ghost's clutches.

"TITANS, GO!" Robin shouted over the chaos. Starfire flew under the mechanical arm and shot starbolts at it, successfully severing it. She caught the man, released by the severed robotic arm as he fell, and set him down on the ground, resolving to check on him later, when he awoke.

Star continued to fire starbolts and landed some solid punches on the robot, making large dents in its metal shell. Robin assaulted Technus with a barrage of birdarangs and explosive disks. Cyborg did his best to multitask, simultaneously attempting to hack Technus's mainframe and blast the robot with his sonic cannon. BeastBoy and Raven did their part by weakening Technus with physical attacks: Raven manipulated a streetlight to slam the technology ghost around, BB by transforming into a gorilla and pounding on the ghost's mechanical body.

Finally, Technus surrendered, though it seemed like he didn't put up much of a fight. The Titans were not able to capture him as his ghostly form disappeared from sight. Robin had noted how simple the battle seemed and was a tad perplexed. He had fought plenty of monsters about the same size as Technus, but none gave up that easily

The Titans regrouped and rushed to check on the man Star had saved, who was beginning to stir.

"Sir? Are you unharmed?" Star said gently. The man's eyes fluttered then opened completely.

"What happened? Where am I?" The man asked weakly, looking up at the heroes who had saved him.

"You were attacked by a robot thingy. Called itself Technus." BB said. "You're in Jump City."

The man's eyes widened. "Technus? Technus is no robot. He's a ghost! He serves- oh dear, I can't believe he's found me!" He began to hack and cough after his astonished exclamation.

"Who's found you?" Raven asked.

"Another ghost." the man winced in pain. "He may be a boy, but his power is great. He is out to destroy me!" The Titans looked at each other in alarm.

"I think you should come back to Titans Tower with us. There are some things we should discuss." Robin told him.


Back at the tower, Robin was questioning the victim of the ghost attack after his injuries had been treated.

"What is your name?" Robin asked the first standard question.

"Vladmir Masters." The man replied.

"The Vlad Masters? Current Wisconsin Dairy King? The billionaire mayor of Amity Park?" Robin raised an eyebrow then nodded in recognition, surprised he hadn't realized the famous and influential man sooner.

"Yes, that Vlad Masters." The silver-haired man chuckled.

"Why are you in Jump City?"

"I'm on the run from a ghost who is out for my head."

"Why is he after you?"

"Most likely because I know his secret." The man replied vaguely.

"And what would that be?" Robin pressed, beginning to become irritated by the man's unclear responses.

"He persuades villains to attack for him just to defeat them and get the glory from the innocent bystanders who watch in terror. I was one of his biggest supporters... until I took a shortcut home through an alley and saw him making a deal with one of his minions." Vlad explained further. "He's been after me ever since. He can't have the most influential man in town knowing his secret. Now he knows that Technus failed him… and will probably come here himself to find me…" he ran violently shaking fingers through his long, silver hair.

"Don't worry, Mr. Masters. We won't let him hurt you." Robin assured him. "You just need to tell me his name and I'll warn the Titans. For now you can stay with us. Titans Tower is the most secure place in the entire city." Vlad looked Robin in the eye. Robin could see a thick layer fear and anxiety, but deeper there was more. It seemed like the man's eyes also held malice, greed, and triumph over some unknown enemy; a look he'd seen so many times before- in Slade's eyes. This small revelation made Robin the slightest bit uneasy about trusting the man. Vlad uttered two words.

"Danny Phantom."

"Danny Phantom is attacking him?" Cy asked. "Who is he?"

"I did some research. Apparently he's the protector of Amity Park; the town superhero. He's about our age. He has ghostly powers. According to Mr. Masters, he was endangering the town and pretending to save it in order to receive glory and admiration from the citizens. Masters told me that Phantom and his goons are after him because Masters discovered his secret." Robin explained.

"That is terrible! How can he do that? He is only of the teen age, not unlike us." Starfire exclaimed. Robin shook his head while the other Titans pondered the question.

"Masters said that he's been persuading villains to attack Amity Park so he can save the day and get praised for it. Apparently he must have a lot of connections because a kid our age can't possibly have enough money to pay for it all. That part of the story seems just a bit fishy. Anyways, Vlad witnessed him making a deal with a ghost he hired; that's how he discovered Phantom's secret. I'll look into this." Robin repeated the information he had just gained, analyzing the story a bit more than the first time. The Titans looked convinced. After seeing all of the teen villains and what they were capable of, it seemed like a plausible story. Robin still wasn't sure, but he didn't let his team know that.

"Star, Raven, and BeastBoy, you do sky patrols. Cyborg, take the T-Car and watch from the streets. I'll do more research. He may be working for someone higher up. It might be Brother Blood or maybe even Slade." Robin scowled. "You all know how badly he wants an apprentice." The memory angered Robin to a point where he stalked out of the room fuming. In the hall on the way to his bedroom, he felt like he was being watched and turned around to see no one there.

Vlad phased his head back through the wall, frowning. He had his invisible eye on the previous conversation, satisfied with most of the results. But Slade was right. Robin was smarter than the rest. He was the only one Vlad sensed was unsure. And there was something about that Raven girl… She began to fidget when he first phased his head into the room, as if she were sensing his presence. He could only hope she wouldn't catch on. Then Vlad smiled to himself. He would simply have to kick his game up a notch.


So there you have it folks! The Titans are introduced, and they meet Vlad! AND Vlad's trying to frame Danny? *Le gasp*

I want to answer some reviews now, too. I think it's time I started doing that, because I am so grateful to all of my readers and reviewers! :)

seantriana: I know, right? But DEFINITELY not as bad as the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady... ew.

ClockworksApperentice: I took a look at your challenge and it seems like my story does fit! What an awesome coincidence considering I started it so long ago. Count me in! Although it does contain some elements of Slade wanting Danny as an apprentice. But it's pretty original, I promise. I'm not sure how I would do with the time limit though... My life... gets WAY too busy sometimes.

nico dragonrider: Haha, nice to find someone similar :) And I hate those kinds of typos. I make them all the time!

ChopSuzi: Thanks so much for the awesome review! I'm really glad you like the story.

jeannette9a: Thanks! You definitely will see more!

DizzlyPuzzled: Interesting. I never read any of those stories. I probably would have like to though. I'll check it out! :)

CSIalchemist: Hmm... she seems like someone who would figure that out. But hey, there's someone for everyone! Haha

emmagination: Thank you! And yeah, you'll see what happens! :) P.S. Next time, I want a cookie! :P

dreamwritergoddess: Thanks so much! I'm happy you like it! :)

(I feel like I overloaded on the smileys and exclamation points just a bit... Oh well.)

Thank you all SO MUCH for your reviews. Please continue with them, because I LOVE reviews!

TTFN

~TheNumberFour