Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or Overlord, Soul Calibur IV, Fable, Legacy of Kain, The Legend of Dragoon, Prototype, Infamous, plus more to come. They are the rightful property of Cartoon Network/DC Comics, Namco, Triumph Studios, Lionhead Studios, Silicon Knight/Crystal Dynamics, and Sony Computer Entertainment, etc. Any claim I have is merely the plot and making nothing from this…sadly.

A/N: Once more thank you all for your time in reading and casting in your votes, and taking the time to explain your reason for your choice, it has helped add some wonderful ideas to make this story better.

(Gnarl: Heh...hehehe....Ooo, hehehe!

Lord Darkmoon: *sighs* GNARL!

Gnarl: *startled* AH! Y-Yes, master?

Lord Darkmoon: ...stop oogling Tira...if you value your life.

Gnarl: Forgive me, Master...my weakness has always been a fine lady when she's wafting about!

Tira: NO ONE BUT MASTER ADMIRES MY ASS!

Grubby: Wow, she's loud! I think ears are bleeding!

Moldy: Must be that time of month.

Lord Darkmoon: Oh, for the love of all that is darkness, now you pissed her off...

Grubby/Moldy: Huh?

Tira glares at them with shining red eyes, pulling out her ring-blade: Time to skin some piggys....

All the minions: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lord Darkmoon: Let's just continue with the story...Shall we?)

********

"Normal Speaking"

'Normal Thinking'

"Soul Calibur Speaking"

"Demonic/Soul Edge Speaking"

*******

Servants to the Master

Flying high over Jump City, Raven flew aimlessly about, trying to pull her chaotic thoughts together. She still could not believe that things had gotten this out of hand, and so quickly as they did! The moment Robin fled from the tower at a remarkable speed, Cyborg took command and ordered her, Starfire, and Beast Boy to go track him down while he contacted the other Titans to come help out. She knew Cyborg was just worried over Robin...but why did he not trust Robin when he seemed to be agreeable? They've all always trusted one another since they first formed the Teen Titans, but that trust was just shattered over a complete misunderstanding. She planned to confront Cyborg later about it, but first she needed to decide what she should do about Robin. She could feel him, as he could feel her now, in the city and sensed him heading back toward the museum, but why?

Knowing him, he was looking for answers and wanted to return to where he was transformed for clues. She came close a few times to calling her teammates and telling them she knew where he was, but then she'd have to explain how she knew...especially as she was a good distance away from Robin's location. A simple lie of deduction would have worked, but Cyborg somehow learned to tell when she lied, like a sibling could tell when his younger sibling wasn't telling the truth. It irked her greatly that he could, as she prided herself on having complete control of her body and her mind...but he could still tell.

With that option out, the best she could do was make it look as if she was searching desperately for the Boy Wonder, at least until she knew the right course to take. Right now, she felt that it was best to let everyone calm down, as too much was happening and no one it seemed was thinking rationally, save for herself. Also, she trusted Robin to find an answer to this bizarre situation and return to them safe and sound. If not, then she would find a way herself!

She owed him that much, after all...

He saved her from her own doubts and fears of her father, Trigon the Terrible. He believed in her when she could not, and even after she kept such a dark secret from everyone, he was her light in that darkness she lost herself in when she allowed herself to become Trigon's portal to earth. He found her in the ruined remains of the earth where what remained of her took shelter from the nightmare. And now, darkness has fallen over Robin and he was forced to flee from his very teammates...from her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her T-Com buzzed. "Raven, here..."

"Any luck?" came Cyborg's tired voice.

"Nothing...When Robin wants to hide, no one can find him until he wants to be found," stated Raven coldly.

"Whoa, Raven! Don't sound like that toward me...I freaked, okay? I mean, I've never seen such hostility from Robin when he woke up," said Cyborg defensively. "His eyes were glowing, Raven! He looks like some kind of a demon now! What else was I supposed to do?"

Raven narrowed her eyes at her T-Com, already suppressing her emotion, Hate, back into the farthest part of her mind. "Maybe just kept talking to him would have been enough. He was confused, Cyborg. Anyone would be after he was exposed to such a enormous amount of negative energy..." Her voice then died down to near a whisper as her eyes widened in realization. "Too much energy, in fact..."

"Wait, what?" wondered Cyborg, barely hearing her last words.

"...Nothing," snapped Raven, quickly cutting off her T-Com and floated in the night sky in deep thought. "...There was so much energy that moment that surge blew through the museum and into Robin...It should have killed him. He's just human...but he took it all in and only passed out...how could he have handled it all?"

Something in the back of her mind was telling her there was more going on than they all believed when Robin absorbed that energy. There was something she was missing and she needed to find the answer, like she should have as soon she realized what Robin was doing.

"You always were the clear thinker in the group, Robin," murmured Raven to herself. "Even with all this, you still are looking out for us..." She made up her mind what she needed to do and darted toward the museum, hoping to find Robin in time with answers before the others figured out where he might go. "...I won't leave you alone in the darkness, Robin! This I promise!"

********

Just before Robin and his new 'servant' got too close to the museum, he stopped Tira and started removing his make-shift scarf and hood. "Here, wear this over yourself. If anyone sees your torn shirt, it'll raise suspension and we can't afford dealing with the police right now."

Tira squealed and took the offered scarf and expanded it to wrap around her neck and shoulders, effectively hiding the torn areas of her shirt. "Master is so generous!" She hugged herself and took a long sniff of the scarf. "Mmm, master smells good!"

His left eyebrow started twitching wildly. "...R-Right, anyways." His expression returned to seriousness as he continued. "Tira, you need to remember to act as you used to around people. It won't be good if you keep acting like...uh, like you are now around me. Especially, if my plan is going to work."

"Umm, okay, master," replied Tira, instantly reverted to acting like a calm, rational woman.

'Definitely, Bi-polar...but I guess she can control it, so that makes things easier,' thought Robin, thankfully his mask still hid his nervous smile. "Alright, now the plan is that you'll go inside, report in and find your boss. I'll make my way up onto to roof and wait for you there. I'll keep an eye on you from there, once you've found her, just look up, and I'll make my way inside. From there, I'll find you and we'll go to Mrs. Valentine and get some answers."

"Uh, master?" murmured Tira, holding up and waving a hand like a school-girl.

"....Er, yes?" replied Robin, already feeling this plan going down the drain.

"Why all this secretive crap, master? Why can't we just bust in there, take lives, and demand my ex-boss to spill everything she knows before we spill her guts on the floor?" asked Tira with a matter-of-fact tone.

Robin stood there for a moment and blinked at her. When rational thinking returned to his brain, he blinked once more at her and cleared his throat. "...We'll talk about that line of thought later, Tira. Anyways, we need to do this as quietly as we can, because if we cause a ruckus...my 'teammates' the Titans will come here and try capturing me." He felt his entire being shiver as he thought of being locked up in the Sealing room. That brought along a long pause from him as he tried to fight off feelings of fear he was growing for that room.

"M-Master?" said Tira worriedly. "Are you...scared?"

"Yes, Tira...I'm very scared of what they'll do to me if they take me back to the tower. They have a room that we used to seal a teammate once...to protect her from her own demonic father, but at the cost of that protection is the price of total isolation." replied Robin honestly, feeling she needed to understand his worry. "That means any and all connections with the world outside...it's a true prison cell when you think about it. I...I cannot imagine being locked away with no contact from the outside...just a singular room where I'll be powerless...utterly helpless..."

His body began to shake once more and he nearly fell to this knees, but he managed to keep his legs from bending and hold himself until the shakes stopped. In place of the fear he had, a dark anger spread throughout him and his eyes burned furiously.

"I will find my answers..." vowed Robin, turning to address Tira. "Go, Tira...We need to find Shirley Valentine and we must do it now!"

"Yes...my master," whispered Tira in admiration, feeling thrilled as she sensed his power grow around him, radiating like a dark warrior...no lord; a dark lord from the very Abyss itself.

She quickly hurried away from him, heading to the main entrance. As she neared the building, she pulled out her ID badge she used when working to the policeman that was guarding the entrance. It was very easy to get by him, as she was originally called in by Arthur to help fix the ruined display of Siegfried's Tomb. Once he confirmed she was who she was, he let her inside, and then never gave her a second look. She giggled manically once she was away from the policeman and began her search for her ex-boss.

Outside, Robin had quietly made his way to the museum and climbed its concrete walls, then with great care made his way silently to one of the roof windows. There, he looked around for Tira, who he quickly spotted heading to the back of the museum. He followed her to the next window and peered down to continue watching her. He hoped beyond hope that everything went quietly and swiftly. The sooner he could find Shirley, the sooner he could piece together some of the puzzle that was now him. He tried to mentally talk to Soul Edge while he watched Tira, but the ancient sword closed itself off to him for whatever reason it deemed for, making any chance of figuring out this problem all the more difficult. He did however receive bits and pieces of memory about Tira, though, informing him that she was once an assassin that was trained from birth to be the ultimate killer for a lost organization calling themselves, "Birds of Passage". But she ended up killing the organization's leader after he had gone insane.

He also learned that at one time, she did try to live a normal life, a quiet one...but her upbringing and nature overpowered her and soon she returned to the killings, and that was when she met Soul Edge, the sword now residing inside him, and pledged her absolute loyalty to him...because she felt he was so much like her. Now, here he was witnessing the reincarnation of that girl firmly keeping to her vow and following the one she called master...

That lead him to wondering what he was going to do with her once he fixed whatever Soul Edge did to him. Would she just continue being a servant to the sword, or would she maybe see sense and return to her normal life. As soon as he thought that last part, he already could feel she would pick the former. She was a true servant; loyal, obedient, and faithful. He had no doubt that she would do anything he told her to do...and that brought on an odd sense of fulfillment to him. She was completely loyal to him, even if it was really the sword she called master, she was his servant now...and if he kept the sword and let it continue changing him...what power would be granted to him?

"No...I...I cannot let this control me!" growled Robin, shaking his head fiercely, dropping to his knees and clutching at his chest as a sudden pulse throbbed in it. "What...what is this?"

'Don't fight it, Richard...this is what you were meant to have,' spoke Soul Edge, opening itself up to him. 'This power is the dormant potential of your heritage, young Overlord. You have past one of many tests to come...and now your blood is awakening more of the power you truly have...'

'W-What are you talking about...this is you! This isn't mine! I'm just a human...a normal human!' panicked Robin.

'Human? Normal? Maybe human, but you were never normal, Richard...' retorted the evil sword. 'Had you stayed in your home realm, you would have had this power already awoken by the age of six, such is the potency of your bloodline. This world, or something that happened when you first came here, somehow locked away your power. We will find the reason and punish those that hampered your heritage, but for now, know this...all I have done, all I am doing...is unlocking what you already have deep inside your soul! Now embrace your calling!'

The throbbing increased and Robin cringed in pain as more energy flowed through him, his eyes blazed wildly as his hands were surrounded by bluish-lightning. When the energy stopped, Robin collapsed and gasped for air, but soon the pain vanished, leaving behind a feeling of strength and vigor. Robin stared down at his hands, which were still sparking with bluish-lightning. "This power...it...it feels wonderful!"

He clinched his fists and soon broke out in a dark chuckle. "This is...my power...only mine!"

"Mmm, and what attractive power it is," a semi-familiar, alluring voice said from above.

Robin immediately snapped back to reality and jerked his head up, and nearly cursed. Floating above him was none other than Starfire's sister...Blackfire.

"You, what are you doing here on earth, Blackfire!" demanded Robin.

The alien brunette stared at him with confusion, before her fists glowed as she smirked evilly. "Ah, so my guess was right. That spiky hair...cocky attitude..." She floated down and stopped channeling energy into her fists. "Wow...you look so much hotter now. How'd you come about this change of appearance? Not that I'm complaining, but you look way better now than in that tacky colored costume."

"Answer my question, Blackfire...wait, tacky colored costume!" growled Robin, his eyes blazing angrily.

Blackfire burst out laughing arrogantly. "It's too easy to get you upset. Anyway, as to why I'm here..." Her fists charged once more with purple energy. "...to take away the one person Starfire holds so preciously to her heart...you!"

She expected him to immediately challenge her and ready himself, she expected him to declare she wouldn't take him away from Starfire...What she didn't expect was for him to grunt and look away from her and stare back down inside the museum.

"Wha...Hey! Don't ignore me like that!" yelled Blackfire, stomping her foot somewhat childishly in the air. "I'm here to flatten you into space dust, and all you do is grunt!? Oh, am I not a threat to you like those other villains, is that it?"

Robin sighed and looked at her lazily. "No, it's just that your plan is gonna be a waste of time."

Blackfire stared at him in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean? What, she dumped you?" She waited for him to deny it, but once more was met with a grunt. "Wait...you dumped her? Oh X'Hal! Starfire got dumped by the boy of her dreams!" She started to laugh once more but that too soon died when the dark Boy Wonder didn't respond to her jab. "You really changed, Robin. You're acting nothing like a shining fool you always act like."

Ever so slowly, he locked his eyes on hers and they burned with anger. "Lots of things have changed, Blackfire..."

She did not expect the force of power from those strange eyes, nor did she expect to see such familiar pain swimming in them. Not that she cared for his pain, he was just a lowly earthling...but that power! It made her insides shake with fear and she could almost feel his anger against her skin, making it break out in goose-bumps. Yet her pride would not allow her to back away from him and she stood firm and proud.

"Oh yeah? From the looks of you, I imagine it wasn't anything fun, hehehe," teased Blackfire. "So what is the deal, huh? Before I kill you, I'd like to understand what the Qas'nward is going on with you."

Robin narrowed his eyes at the villainous sister of his ex-girlfriend, pondering if he should humor her, or deal with her...He quickly reprimanded himself for even considering doing that to Blackfire. She may be a galactic criminal, a tyrannical Empress that almost had Starfire to marry a disgusting alien...but she was still a person, and he had no right to kill her. Whatever overtook him in the alley with those thugs that made him kill them would not rule him, he vowed he'd control that impulse and not let it control his actions to kill again. So he chose to humor Blackfire...but if she attacked him as she planned, well, that would be poor choice on her part...

"They betrayed me..." admitted Robin. "My teammates....save for one...betrayed me and planned to lock me away because of this." He looked down at himself, then clinched his fists in anger. "They were scared of me, of this power I was exposed to...and now they wish to seal me up and throw away the keys!" His body began to glow with a dark aura as his anger slowly rose more. "My heart was torn asunder when my own girl, the one I cared for chased me into the sea, shooting her Starbolts at me! And now, my friends are chasing me down as I speak, rather than doing the smart thing and figure out why this happened..." He returned to looking down the window, quickly finding Tira making her way past the ruined exhibit, fighting his urge to do something violent. "...All because I became something different."

Any amusement the alien brunette had about this awkward situation had quickly vanished. In its place was disbelief. Her own sister, the goodie-too-shoe, bubble-headed, loved by all Starfire, turned on her own boyfriend. "I don't believe that...how could my sister...act, well, act like a bitch?"

"Simple!" replied Robin heatedly, jumping high up into the air, higher than she knew a human should be able to over her, and without a single sound, grabbed her by the back of the neck, pulling her down to the roof, but didn't apply any pressure...yet. "Because I'm not the knight in shining armor to her anymore. I doubt even if I fix this that she'll see me the same way, because I doubt very much I'd come near her ever again."

Blackfire, shocked that he could move so fast and had gotten behind her. What's more, the anger she could feel radiating off him as he talked about her sister...slowly she smirked. "So...you hate her now, right?"

"I'd say I don't, but presently, I'm not feeling any positive emotions toward most of my teammates," replied Robin, letting go of her and returning to the window, smiling as he saw Tira look up at him and point at a door. "Good girl..."

He started making his way over to another window and started to open it when a hand stopped his progress.

"Whoa, there, Dark Wonder...So what do you plan on doing if you run into my sister?" asked Blackfire, with an almost girlish excitement in her voice, as if was about to hear what she was getting for her birthday.

"If she helps Cyborg lock me away..." he trailed off as his anger burned hotly inside his heart. "...I'll deal with her."

Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "This is too good to be true!" squealed Blackfire in his ear. "Finally! Someone else who hates that dumb sister of mine like I do!"

Robin pulled her off him and glared at her. "Look, I don't care right now! I need to get some answers from someone in here, and if you keep holding me up...you'll find out how much of a different person I am from who you knew."

Now he was left bewildered because the alien brunette smiled at him and invaded his personal space once more, leaning her body against his. "Oh, I won't hold you up, Robin...but I wanna stick around and see what you'll do to my sister!" She drew circles on his chest and gazed at him in a way that left him uncomfortable for a villainous to give him.

Robin narrowed his eyes at her cautiously. "Whatever, just don't get in my way.

Blackfire smiled too sweetly. "I'm too curious now about this new you...hmm, and this power you've got! I wanna know how you got it...it be a shame for you to just get rid of it, too..."

Robin remained quiet for a moment, looking down to see Tira slipping behind one of the exhibits. She stayed there and remained alert for him and others, smiling happily as she did. He found himself smiling under his mask, and then it struck him. If he did get rid of the sword...what would it do then? Would it use Tira as it once did to meet its own ends, using her as a tool of needless death and destruction? She was scarred from the harshness of life already, could he allow the sword, even if it felt for her, use her like that? No! He could not allow it...even if it meant keeping the sword to protect her and everyone from its evil influence, and why not? It was unlocking something inside him that even he wasn't aware of. Everything it was doing to him was what he had hidden from him in his soul...or was it a lie? No, somehow he just knew it wasn't a lie and that the sword was indeed unlocking parts of his soul that were taken from him. The cold, rational part of his mind cooled the rest of his thinking and let him see things clearer than he once did. This power was given to him and it was his alone...why should he give it all up for people that wanted to put him away like a dangerous criminal, especially after all he's done for them and this city?

He shook his head, not fully aware that his old self, the Boy Wonder of Gotham was slowly fading away. In his place was growing a cold, dark being and one filled with rage at the injustice done to him by those closest to him...save for her.

"I'm not going to get rid of this power," stated Robin darkly. "I don't believe I should, not after seeing how my friends reacted." He pushed Blackfire off him and carefully opened the window without setting off the alarm. "...I just want to know what's really going on." He then crawled into the window and silently ran on the ceiling upside down and down the wall, and then made his way to Tira.

Blackfire, once more amazed by this new version of Robin, couldn't help the feeling of excitement that fill her about him. "This is getting really interesting...Oh, I can't wait to see more!" Making up her mind, she zoomed through the window and floated down to join the two. "Hey, don't forget about me so soon!"

"Who is she, master? Is she a threat, can I kill her?" asked Tira, looking insanely eager at Robin.

"Master?" uttered Blackfire before smirking more at Robin. "Oh, you bad boy...I didn't know you liked to play that way."

Robin glared at her. "I didn't plan on making her a servant, it just happened, okay? And why are you following me?"

"Remember? I thought I'd tag along and see what happens. This is way more interesting than getting back at my sister," admitted Blackfire, smiling at him with amusement.

Robin rolled his eyes. "Whatever...Tira."

"Yes, my master!" cheered Tira, before clamping her hands over her mouth. "Oops, sorry, master. I got excited!"

Robin groaned and covered his eyes for a moment as he shook his head. "Just...tell me you found Shirley."

"I did!" replied Tira, forgetting once more about being silent. "She's in the staff lounge with Arthur, the two seemed to be having an excited discussion when I peeked in on them. I think I overheard something, too...something about a security recording. I'm not sure as I wanted to let you know to come down here!" She immediately glomped him. "Did Tira do good, master?"

Robin sighed and pushed her off him. "Yes, Tira...you did well. Now, lead me..."

"Ahem?" coughed Blackfire, giving him a look of annoyance.

"...I mean, us to her," reprimanded Robin, wondering how things could get any weirder on him tonight.

********

In the lounge, Arthur was setting up his laptop. "I was able to slip this disc out of the security room before that rude lieutenant forced me outta there, duckie!"

"Good work, Arthur, but please hurry! I want to see what that recording contains!" said Shirley eagerly. She wanted badly to see the footage as the police wouldn't let her near her own exhibit until their forensic team was done.

"Just another sec," assured Arthur, having finished and pulled out the disc and inserted it into his laptop. "Here we go..." He moved out of the way to give her a clear view of the screen. "Watch closely, Shirley, this stuff will blow your mind away!"

She gazed intently at the screen as he clicked play, and soon her eyes widen as she witnessed who it was that had blown up her tomb. "That's Slade!"

"Slade? Wait, ain't he that wacked out yank who tried to take over this city at some point?" said Arthur, staring at the one-eyed villain.

"Yes, but that's just a tip of the things this man has committed," replied Shirley, watching as he studied the tomb before he placed the device on it. She almost jumped when she saw the field of energy zap around the tomb, then placed the explosives, finally, she got to see what she wanted for so long to see...

"The swords! I was right! They buried the swords in the tomb!" exclaimed Shirley, leaning in closer to the screen.

"I'm afraid it gets weird from this point, love," warned Arthur as the footage revealed Robin appearing and confronting the villain.

He fell silent to let her watch on as the Titan and the villain seemed to be in a heated discussion, then they battled. Shirley was too amazed that even after all the years that had gone by, the two swords still held up like they were brand new, even more by the faint glowing the crystal-like sword was emitting whenever it struck the Titan. "Amazing...those swords really do have powers like in the legend!"

"Oh, you have no idea, love," murmured Arthur, then pointed at the screen. "That other sword the Cyclops is wielding is about to do something rather nasty to that poor kid."

"What?" uttered Shirley, but Arthur just placed a finger on his lips and pointed at the screen again.

She watched as the other sword began to glow in the center, and then Slade seemed to go berserk and start attacking the Titan madly, and soon had him pinned after unleashing some odd power with the crystal-like sword. Just when she thought he was actually going to kill the Titan, the sword changed and soon the footage began to shake, and then she barely saw the footage showing the sword enter into the Titan, and finally, the footage cut off.

"I'm afraid that's it, Shirley," apologized Arthur. "They said some kinda strange energy surge blew out most of the electrical equipment...but did you see what happened to that Titan?!"

"It...It looked like it was merging into him!" gasped Shirley, still staring at the now blank footage screen. "This proves so many theories I had! But...but where's the Titan that the sword disappeared into?"

"That's where things get crazier!" replied Arthur. "The police don't know, but one of them Titans just called them and told them to be on the lookout for the one they called Robin, I imagine that' s the kid we just witnessed get stabbed by the sword. I'm guessing something happened and he's loose right now in the city, meaning that whatever happened...that sword that went into him was in fact..."

"...Soul Edge," a highly intellectual voice said from the door.

Shirley jerked around to the door. Standing there before her was a tall, handsome, dark-skinned man. He was completely bald and wore dark glasses and a black business suit, a tanned vest underneath it and cream colored dress-shirt, and polished black shoes. He was massive in size, but not an inch of him looked flabby, in complete opposite, this man seemed to appear to be all thick with muscles, yet he held himself with a grace unusual for a man his size.

He bowed his head slightly to them. "Evening, Mrs. Valentine, Mr. Drake...I did not mean to alarm you."

"Do I know you?" asked Shirley staring at the massive man.

"Never in person, but I do know you professionally," replied the large man, entering the lounge. "Permit me to introduce myself, my name is...Zesalamel."

Arthur nearly snorted. "Just Zesalamel? No last name?"

The huge man merely tipped his dark glasses down to reveal stern, intelligent, mismatched eyes. Instead of the mixture of green, or blue , or sometimes brown that people would have. This man's eye color was bizarre and somewhat unnerving. His left eye looked as if it was pure gold for an iris and pupil. The other eye had an iris of cold-grey with a normal pupil. Those odd eyes almost seemed to push against Arthur with power and made him very wary of this man.

"Yes, Just Zesalamel..." replied the massive man. "That is sufficient enough, but that is an unimportant matter. What matters now are the swords from that tomb."

"I'm sorry, but what business is it of yours and why should you care?" grumbled Arthur.

The man smiled. "The swords are everyone's business....and they are of great importance to me."

"Wait, are you the guy that called me earlier?" proclaimed Shirley, now glaring at him.

Zesalamel simply nodded. "I am indeed, and what I said to you was indeed the truth, we are all in grave danger."

"That is the second time you've mentioned we're all in danger. Exactly, from what are we in danger of?" demanded Shirley with a cold tone.

Zesalamel walked over to the laptop on the table, brushing Arthur aside with ease but gently, and tapped on the footage rewind and paused it right on the scene before the footage blew out, showing the sword going inside the Titan. He pointed a finger right at the Titan. "That is what we are in danger of, Mrs. Valentine. That union between Soul Edge and the boy."

"Explain to us, how is this 'union' as you put it, gonna screw us over?" said Arthur bluntly.

Zesalamel readjusted his sunglasses and tapped the screen. "Soul Edge is a weapon of pure destruction and calamity, and has the ability to possess people and use them to fulfill its evil desire to consume souls to make itself stronger. Once it has done so, it will bring about the entire annihilation of every living being on this planet."

"...Wait, you cannot be serious?" said Shirley with disbelief in her voice. "This is some kind of flight into the fantasy."

"If only," replied Zesalamel sharply. "But reality is a cruel and unforgiving thing, and you Mrs. Valentine had reawakened a long sleeping...nightmare."

"What a load of crock!" shouted Arthur. "This sounds like some kind of hoax to me. Right, Shirley...Shirley?"

The archeologist did not hear her coworker, her mind was too focused on the screen, the sword, and now the Titan. "What will the sword do to the Titan?"

"Simple, as it has done to everyone its ever come into contact with, corrupt him and use him as a tool to accomplish its mission," replied Zesalamel bluntly. "As it did to Siegfried once upon a time ago."

"...My god, so it really is true," whispered Shirley, her mind buzzing from all the theories she had of the legend...and the dangers they held.

"Wait? How could you know about Siegfried...unless!" Arthur yanked Zesalamel's arm away from his laptop. "You're either one of our competitors or your working for them! Either way, you need to leave, now! This was our discovery, and I won't let you take any credit of it!"

Zesalamel readjusted his coat sleeve and brushed it. "I am not after any claim on your discovery, what I'm after is to halt Soul Edge before it can reign untold havoc once more on the world. Now we need...!" He suddenly turned around to face the door. "...It seems my search was made easy for me."

"What the hell are you going on now about?" grunted Arthur in irritation.

"This is no time, Mr. Drake, Mrs. Valentine...You need to get out of here, now!" stated Zesalamel.

"What's the problem? We're safe here, the police are watching this entire place," said Shirley.

"No offense to the police force of Jump City...but they rarely look up or guard the roofs of any building they're watching," came a raspy, youngish voice from the door.

Stepping inside, the Archeologists gasped in fright when Robin, followed by Blackfire and Tira came inside. Tira quickly shut the door and locked it, then turned to grin like a school-girl that just got away with something at her ex-boss.

"Tira? What on earth are you doing here...and with them?" demanded Shirley.

"What my soul was meant for, boss-lady. To serve my master, so consider this my resignation," stated Tira, leaning back against the door.

Shirley frowned at the girl. She had heard her assistant had spent time in a mental institution, having made it a point to always have some background history of anyone that worked for her, and some of the things she read from her report had almost made her fire the girl as soon as she had hired her, but she had shown so much promise and seemed to have regain her sanity; what a shame that it was proven wrong. Not to mention she was intrigued by the girl's delusions, having read she once believed to be the slave of a demonic knight that wielded a powerful sword, a knight that reminded her all too much of the one Siegfried fought...

"Tira, whatever this person has told you is a lie. He's a Titan, a possessed one, he'll use you for his own gains!" warned Shirley, hoping the poor girl would come to reason.

"You know nothing, boss-lady," replied Tira, her expression switching to a fierce and angry one. "Soul Edge has returned and I will serve him as I did ages ago."

"...You know about the sword?" gasped Shirley.

"She's following me of her own free-will, Mrs. Valentine," stated Robin, who had been glaring at Zesalamel the whole time. "You...somehow I know you."

Zesalamel remained silent as he too observed him with a stern look.

"Go ahead and play silent, I've already overheard enough from you about Soul Edge," said Robin impassively, turning his intimating gaze onto Shirley. "Sorry about this intrusion, but I needed answers about the sword, and for once something went right for me tonight."

Shirley could feel the power in his eyes and it made her throat run dry and literally push her back slowly against the table, nearly turning it over. "W-What are you planning on doing?"

Robin shrugged. "I haven't decided yet...The information I overheard in here matched what Soul Edge has been telling me."

Said sword was still filling him with information about itself and its old habit of plotting total world damnation, and a bit about the strange man staring at him coldly. He now knew this was no normal man and was in truth a kind of immortal, how Soul Edge did not know exactly as it did not deem it fit to gain anymore knowledge on the man, only that he had tried using it and its power for his own use. What struck him funny, though, was the nagging feeling he met this man before...from some time long ago. When he had followed Tira to this room, he had just planned on questioning Shirley to fill in the blanks, but this unexpected man had generously did it for him, and now he knew more than he had when he first came here, but he felt there was more he needed to hear. He had hoped to overhear more, but his excitement to get closer had alerted the man to his presence, now he had to rely on this man giving it freely...and if he didn't, well, Soul Edge had provided him a means of extracting information in a new kind of way.

"Since we're on the topic of Soul Edge...what can you tell me about its counterpart. The other sword that Slade was using when I fought him," asked Robin, but his tone sounded more as if he had given a command.

"...The spirit sword, Soul Calibur was meant for only one thing...Soul Edge's destruction, but this proved to be false," replied Zesalamel. "The two swords cannot truly destroy the other. They are intertwined by fate to always battle each other until the end of time..."

"So, basically neither can win or lose to each other...hmm, interesting," murmured Robin, rubbing his chin in thought.

Zesalamel had looked as if he was about to make some kind of move, but a purple-glowing hand near his face stopped him.

"Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn't try anything if I were you," stated Blackfire, who had been watching him as he seemed the largest threat to her. "You seem to know a lot about these swords, so you will tell us everything you know or I will make you wish you regret living."

The massive man let out a dry chuckle. "My dear, you have no idea."

Arthur had reached his breaking point at that moment. "Okay, what the fuck is going on here?! Why are you here and why aren't you sucking souls as this guy has pointed out."

"Because that's what Soul Edge does, not me," stated Robin darkly, narrowing his glare at the man. "Soul Edge is doing something different inside me...and that's all I will say."

"Boy, you must not allow the sword to control you. It is pure evil and it will drive you to the edge of madness," warned Zesalamel.

Robin shrugged uncaringly. "Whatever, I need to find more answers and you will provide them to me...or I will show you how I can 'pull' information out of someone."

"This is insane! You're a Titan, a hero! Can't you see that the sword is already corrupting your mind!" shouted Shirley.

"There is more going on here than I can tell you, Mrs. Valentine...besides, the moment I saw this man." Robin pointed at Zesalamel. "I started wanting to hurt things, why I don't know. But I do know...I really don't like this man and if he wants to keep his health, he will tell me what I want to know."

"Heh, why not just cut to the chase and make him, Robin? Or are you still too much of a hero to do something that dirty?" teased Blackfire, smirking that him in challenge.

The room was suddenly filled with a malevolent power emitting from Robin. "Don't test me right now, Blackfire! I have stated that I'm in a foul mood and I'm willing to hurt someone, even you! So keep your mouth shut!"

Blackfire was too taken by fright that moment and her focus on her starbolt faded. Immediately as it faded out, Zesalamel quickly jerked a wide hand up and snatched the brunette's wrist, and with a grace unbefitting a man of his size, he spun on his heel and tossed her into the far wall, nearly sending her crashing through it. Robin was upon him in a flash, rearing back a fist to punch the man out, but Zesalamel had extended a hand out behind him without looking back and caught the his fist.

"You'll need to be quicker than that, Robin," stated Zesalamel calmly, then squeezed his hand around Robin's fist.

Robin grunted in pain as the hand crushed around his, but he wouldn't allow that to stop him. Reacting quickly, he swung his trapped arm in a clock-wise pattern, and then used his free hand to palm- strike Zesalamel in the shoulder, forcing the muscles to contract and release his grip. Once his hand was free, he ducked down and shot out his foot, slamming his heel into the massive man's knee. The blow knocked Zesalamel down onto one knee and grunting in slight pain. Robin pushed off the ground and was about to strike him with his other foot when his newfound senses alerted him to something wrong. Feeling he needed to heed the inner warning, he quickly pushed away from Zesalamel when the air around his hand seem to distort and a white-golden scythe suddenly appeared in that hand, closing around the pole of the weapon and brought its curved blade at the Dark Wonder. Had Robin not moved back when he did, he was sure that scythe would have sliced him neatly in half at the waist.

"Whatever power Soul Edge has given you will not be enough, Robin," cautioned Zesalamel, taking hold of the scythe in both hands. "For I have lived many life-times and I have gained more experience and knowledge in the art of combat than you can dream of..."

Robin recomposed himself and rolled his right shoulder, then his neck. "You might be better than me, but I've had my fair share of people like you who have underestimated me, and they always lost. You will be no different."

Zesalamel stared at him impassively. "We shall see..." He then lowered the curved blade while rising the blunt end up, as he posed his body to attack.

Robin reached for his Bo Staff but his hand grabbed nothing. He growled lowly, guessing his teammates disarmed him when he was unconscious and helpless, if that was the case, he would have to rely on his own close-combat skills and sharp wit to deal with this immortal, but then again, he wasn't normal anymore. His speed had increased tremendously and his strength had also been boosted up. When he had earlier attacked Zesalamel, he had held back to keep from injuring him too much, but he was quite strong and skilled as he reacted and sensed his attacks. Now he planned to hold back to allow his opponent to believe he was just boasting and lead him under a false sense of superiority, then he would take him down...

As he was figuring out the quickest method to take the immortal down, Zesalamel took the offensive and swung his scythe up at him with ease with just one arm. Robin ducked under the bow but only to find it was a feint and was kicked in the face by a large heel. He crashed to the ground and was stunned for a moment, but instinctive reaction made him roll to the side to avoid being impaled by the curved blade, which sliced cleanly through the floor. He continued to roll back onto his feet and crutched low to keep himself as small a target as he could. Zesalamel eyed him curiously as he easily pulled his weapon out of the ground and held it by his side like a staff.

"You are holding back, young one," stated Zesalamel with mild distaste.

Robin shrugged and stared at him silently.

Grimacing at him, the immortal spun on his left heel as he extended out that leg to swiftly bring his blade down on Robin, aiming low and angled to cleave his head off. Robin kicked himself off from the ground and dug his talons into the ceiling, which thankfully was strong enough to hold his weight and allow him to hang there as he swung his legs up to miss the scythe's edge from taking them off. As he swung, he planted the talons on his boots into the ceiling and let go with his hands, swinging backwards and grabbed the immortal's head with both hands. Continuing with his momentum, he unlatched his feet from the ceiling and allowed his weight to let him fall as he slammed Zesalamel's head into the floor, then dove for his exposed back and landed a few quick punches on his lower spine. He turned around and readied a fist to slam into the back of the immortal's head when his heighten hearing caught the sound of a gun pistol being cocked back before the door was kicked open.

"Stop! Police!" shouted a firm voice upon entering the room.

Robin cursed and froze where he was. He did not have to stay frozen for long as a purple starbolt struck the owner of the gun and voice down.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome, Robin!" stated Blackfire, charging more starbolts around her fists.

"Fine, I've got what I needed for now," agreed Robin, already hearing more policemen rushing toward them. "Can you make us an escape route?" he pointed at the ceiling.

"Too easy," smirked Blackfire as her eyes glowed brightly as she looked up and shot her eyebeams, rotating her eyes to make a big circle.

The section fell crashing down and Robin quickly grabbed Tira. "We're leaving!"

She swung her long legs around his waist and snuggled herself against him. "Yes, master!"

Robin groaned and jumped up through the hole, followed by Blackfire. He stopped and gazed back down at Zesalamel, who was just recovering. "...This isn't over between you and I."

Zesalamel glared back at the dark Titan. "No, it indeed is not over between us."

They shared a heated glare at each other for a moment, and then Robin disappeared from the hole.

"What in God's good name was that all about....and what you did for that matter!" exploded Arthur when logical thinking returned to him after witnessing that fight.

"...That my dear boy was the beginning of the nightmare this world is about to endure once more," replied Zesalamel solemnly as he picked himself up from the ground and dusted himself off. He let go of his weapon and it vanished from sight. "I must stop him before he can become stronger."

"That boy...will he become like Siegfried had?" mourned Shirley, who that entire time had been holding onto Arthur.

"No, nothing like Siegfried had...this boy will be far worse than anything this world has ever seen," Zesalamel said with a grim face. The Immortal pulled out a hand-held device and hit a serious of buttons. "...But I had made a few precautionary fail-safes for just this."

********

Cyborg suddenly slammed his foot on the brakes, turning the steering wheel to make the T-Car swerve to a halt.

"Dude! what the heck was that all about?!" shrieked a panicked Beast Boy, clutching his pounding heart to keep it from doing into his throat.

"Robin's at the museum!" replied Cyborg, glaring coldly at the road. "Dammit! I should have known he'd head back there!"

"How do you know he's back at the museum?" asked Beast Boy curiously.

"Just clicked in my head," said Cyborg, rubbing his bald head some, then shook it slightly. "It makes senses for him to go back there. He'll be looking for answers, and being the detective he claims to be, will be looking for any clues to help him understand what happened to him."

"Then put the paddle on the metal! We gotta get to Robin before anything bad happens!" said Beast Boy.

"Right!" agreed Cyborg, shifting gears and slamming his foot on the gas paddle. "Call the others! Tell them to head to the museum."

"Gotcha!" said Beast Boy as he pulled out his T-Com.

********

Robin ran down the hallway, with Tira piggyback on him, looking for an exit of any kind. Blackfire floated idly beside him, looking bored. "Why don't we just take out the human's guarding this building and make a run for it?"

"Because!" hissed Robin, sliding to a halt at the corner of the hallway, peeking to make sure it was clear. "we start attacking the police, the Titan's will show up for sure! I want to avoid them until I can figure out how to explain all this!"

Blackfire laughed at that. "Oh! I can just imagine that conversation!" She clasped her hands to her side of her face and smiled at him with fake cheeriness. "Everything is fine, guys! I've just got a demonic sword that wants to end all life on this world."

Robin glared at her while Tira was crackling hysterically , then wiped the tears from her eyes. "Me, too!"

Robin grumbled and was very tempted to drop her right then. If he wasn't in a hurry to escape and keep her safe, he would have. He secured his hold on the girl and darted off down the hall and saw a window at the end of the hall.

"Finally!" breathed Robin in relief as he made his way to the window. But just as he neared it, a spotlight blazed by it and he halted, cursing under his breath. He waited until the spotlight moved on and took a quick glance out the window before retreating back, cursing louder now. "They've got the place surrounded too tightly! Looks like we'll have to make our way to roof. Blackfire, think you can carry the two of us to the closest rooftop?"

"And why should I waste my strength doing that? I can just blast my way out of here and leave you two to deal with the authorities," smirked Blackfire with a superior smile.

Robin glanced out the window once more and narrowed his glowing eyes caught the sight of a familiar white car. "Because if you did...then you'll be taken out before you can get too far."

"What?" uttered Blackfire, looking confused now.

"Trust me, Blackfire, if you just humor me on this, we'll out get out of here with ease," said Robin.

"I only trust myself," growled Blackfire.

"Then you'll never go any further than you already have," stated Robin darkly. "But for this one time, just do it and don't make things difficult."

Blackfire was beside herself. The nerve of him to order her like he was her better, a lowly earthling! She should put him in his place for ordering her to do as he said. She could easily blast him, or use the servant as leverage against him. All it would take once one good concentrated blast...

"If you're thinking of turning on me, now wouldn't be a good time," snapped Robin suddenly, glaring at her as the room seemed to filled with a dreaded feeling. "I may not be acting like my old self, but I still know how to read people and anticipate their actions." He moved himself so his body was blocking Tira from her. "And you really don't want to get on my bad side right now..."

She semi-gulped to herself as she recalled the bizarre incident in the alley. Her mind vividly played the scene when he literally absorbed that scum...what if he decided to do that to her? The very thought made a chill run down her spine.

"F-Fine," acknowledged Blackfire, nodding nervously.

"Good, now let's head up to the roof and get outta here," said Robin, then ran past the shaken ex-princess.

Tira shuck her tongue out at the brunette they past her and laughed madly.

"Ooo, when we get out of here, I'm gonna fry that face of yours!" threatened Blackfire as she zoomed after them.

Robin chuckled loudly as he ran down the hallway. Very soon, he spotted the stairs and the three dashed up them as fast as they could. Coming to the door leading to the roof, Robin kicked it open and darted out into the night air. Blackfire was about to grab the two of them and haul them away, but then they all froze when they spotted a robed figure waiting for them.

"Raven?" gasped Robin, staring in alarm.

"Robin...what's going on...why is Blackfire here? And, uh, who is that on your back?" asked Raven, staring questionably at the villain and loony girl.

"It's a long story...but I can't tell you right now," replied Robin slowly backing away from her.

Seeing him retreat, she reached out a hand to him as she stepped forward. "Wait! Don't run! I'm not here to capture you."

"I can't, Raven. I saw Cyborg driving here," said Robin, looking around to make sure the other Titans weren't sneaking up on them.

"Damn, I thought we'd have some time to talk about what's going on," groaned Raven.

"Look, Goth girl. We're in a hurry, and as much as I'd love to pummel my little sister, I don't wanna have to deal with all of you Titans and this planet's police force," said Blackfire, charging up her starbolts.

"Don't fight her!" ordered Robin evilly.

Blackfire twitched nervously but conceded and stopped charging her starbolts. Raven was both scared and in awe that Robin had just told Blackfire, a universal tyrant to stand down. It all brought on more questions that she needed him to answer, but she knew if the others found Robin, he would make his escape and she would have a hard time explaining why she didn't stop him. But they had to talk and figure all this out.

Raven lowered her head, hiding her face completely in the darkness of her hood and stood aside. "Go...before they find you up here."

Robin was too shocked to do anything but nod. He signaled with a nod to Blackfire to move and as they passed Raven, she leaned in and looked as if to punch him. Tira, seeing the move whipped out with a leg and kicked the empath across the face with her heel.

"Sneaky!" snarled Tira.

"Raven!" cried Robin, dropping Tira and leaned down to where Raven fell.

Tira landed painfully, cursing loudly. "Hey!"

He ignored her and gently touched Raven. "...Why?"

Raven groaned and rubbed her face. "Am I bruised?"

Robin pulled her hood back, not seeing the instant blush that emitted from her face as he was too focused on the bluish-purple mark appearing across the right sight of her face. "...Yeah, a really nasty one."

"Good," moaned Raven. "That'll make it believable for the others when they find me. Sorry, I startled you but I had to make the wound be real, or else the others won't believe me that you got away from me..."

"Raven, you didn't..." he was stopped when she pushed him away.

"We...we gotta talk, get all this straightened out. But you need to go before the others get here," cautioned Raven. "...Meet me in Terra's Cave. Since Terra returned to normal, nobody goes back there anymore. You'll be safe there."

"Don't trust her, Robin!" snapped Blackfire. "She's just leading you into a trap!"

Robin slowly stood up and walked over to Tira and picked her back up, who let him, and placed her on his back once more. "Two days, Raven. Two days and I'll meet you in Terra's Cave...I need time to let things cool down."

Raven nodded silently and laid back down, too pretend she was unconscious when the others found her. "Just be careful..." then closed her eyes.

Had she kept them opened, she would have seem him glance over his shoulder and stared at her lying body with a mixture of feelings. He had to literally force his body to move away from the lying empath and move to the edge of the roof. "Blackfire...take us away."

Blackfire scoffed at him, but obliged, and grabbed him and Tira and started to carry them off the museum roof. She hadn't gotten two feet away when she came face to face with a familiar face with green glowing eyes.

"What are you doing with Robin?" demanded Starfire, rising her glowing fists threateningly.

Not one to miss a chance to taunt her redheaded sister, Blackfire hugged Robin and Tira closely to her. "Oh, I'm just here to collect what you threw away. Unlike you, dear sister, I'm not one to let a good thing leave me."

Starfire snarled and looked ready to attack. "Release him!"

"Bad idea," replied Robin, looking away from her as it hurt too much to bear seeing her face. "If she let go now, we'd fall to our deaths."

"I've seen you fall from high places, Robin. And always you have made it down safely," stated Starfire.

"That was before your guys took all my gear...At the moment, Blackfire has completely control of my fate and this girl," lied Robin. He knew he could survive the fall, thanks to his new body, and was pretty confident that he could land safely for Tira...but he wanted Starfire to believe otherwise.

Blackfire easily understood his intent and shook them both tauntingly. "Yeah, Star...you don't want me to accidentally drop them, do you?"

"I can catch him before he hits the ground," said Starfire confidentially.

"Maybe just him, but what about the girl?" cooed Blackfire. "I can just toss them both in opposite directions and then fight you before you can catch them...do you really want that on your conscious?"

Starfire gritted her teeth in frustration. If Raven was here, they both could safely get the two away from her sister and deal with her, but on her own, it was too much of a gamble to put their lives on the line. But she could not allow Blackfire to get away with Robin or the hostage they somehow acquired. Her choice was decided for her when a beam of sonic energy struck Blackfire from below. The unexpected attack caught Blackfire along her left hip, knocking her for a loop and loosening her grip on Robin and Tira and letting them fall to the ground. Starfire nearly forgot to react and dove down to save the two, but to her further shock, just as she was about to grip Robin, he glared at her and kicked her hand away from him. She watched in utter astonishment as he rolled in the air to get close enough to Tira to grab her and then flip so his feet were aimed at the fast approaching ground. Now to the amazement of everyone, Robin landed gracefully on the concrete pavement, but when he touched down, his impact left a small crevice and a miniature shockwave to ripple around him, kicking up the now loosened concrete to fly up and smash into a few police vehicles and nearly hitting a few of the police force themselves.

He up-righted himself from within the small crater he made and landed his burning glare on the one responsible for the attack. "That was a really cheap shot...even from you, Cy."

Cyborg stalked over from behind the policemen, charging his Sonic Cannon for another attack. "No choice, and it seemed that it wasn't really a problem for you to deal with, anyway."

Robin grunted. "Whatever, I don't have time to deal with you, Cyborg."

Cyborg aimed his weapon at him. "Too bad. You're coming back with me, Robin. Now drop your hostage and come quietly."

"Hostage?" uttered Tira. "I'm no hostage! I'm master's loyal servant!"

This caught the metallic Titan off guard. "Huh?"

Robin was about to use that moment to make his move, but then his sharpened sight caught the flicker of lights crossing over Cyborg's cybernetic eye. The next moment, Cyborg fired a warning shot right next to Robin.

"Don't even think of moving," stated Cyborg warningly, almost sounding more machine than human. "She won't stop me from getting you back to the tower."

'What the heck just happened just then?' thought Robin. 'That wasn't Cyborg just now...'

"Master...?" murmured Tira worriedly.

"Don't worry, Tira...I'll get us out of here somehow," assured Robin, trying to believe in his own words.

"You, get the girl away from Robin and detain her. She's in leagued with him," ordered Cyborg, pointing at one of the police officers closest to him.

"Uh, okay..." uttered the officer, not looking at all sure that was a wise idea.

"I said move!" growled Cyborg.

The officer nearly yelped and started moving toward Robin and Tira. He then came to a halt when a bullet caught him in the leg and he fell in annoy.

"What the?" uttered Cyborg before he was littered by a spray of bullets.

"For the master!" an impish, high sounding voice squealed from somewhere.

The next thing that happened was a small group of brownish-creatures come swarming out from under a police vehicle. Most of them were swinging wooden clubs around wildly at whoever got close to them, but two were staying back. One that looked like a freaky jester while the other looked basically like the others, but this one had a sub-machine gun and was firing it wildly at Cyborg and the police.

Cyborg took aim at the freaky little creature and fired a blast at it. The creature yelped and leapt from where it stood, letting it hit and explode the police vehicle they had appeared from under. The explosion knocked the jester-like one off its feet, hearing it curse colorfully before picking itself up and wobbling off to find a new safe spot. The one with the gun just waved its gun at Cyborg and the other creatures swarmed at him and began batting at him with their wooden clubs.

"Get off me you little gremlins!" shouted Cyborg, punching one of them off him.

"We minions!" squealed one of the brown creatures, who took careful aim and slammed its club right over Cyborg's nose as he had bent down to punch one of its few companions.

The blow was surprisingly strong and blood exploded from his nose and he reared back, clutching his broken nose.

"Uoo Lihhe!" muffled Cyborg before aiming his Sonic Cannon.

A volley of bullets hit him again, forcing him to shield his face to protect what flesh he had left. The brown creatures cheered and moved to surround Robin and his two companions.

The jester-like one wobbled up to him and bowed. "Greetings to the Master!"

"Ur..." uttered Robin unintelligently. too shocked at the sight of the thing.

"We have no time to explain, we need to leave this place now," said the jester creature.

"...Y-You're from my dreams," uttered Robin in disbelief.

"Dreams? Pity, I was hoping I was enough to be the stuff of nightmares," joked the little jester. "But in all seriousness, Master, we must depart, your golem enemy is getting mad, and though we minions are a tough lot...that one is tougher more!"

"Got that right," agreed Robin. He looked up and saw Blackfire was in the middle of combat with her sister and hollered up at her. "Blackfire, come on. We're getting the hell outta here!"

"Not till I beat her to a plump!" yelled back Blackfire.

"Forgot her and retreat, now!" ordered Robin.

The rogue princess glared at him heatedly in anger. She would have liked to blast him right then, but her redheaded sister forced her attention away with a flurry of starbolts. Using some quick aerial maneuvers, she easily dodged then and growled in frustration as her side ached from the injury her teammate inflicted. It would seriously hamper her maneuverability and as much as she hated to admit it, her sister was the faster flyer. But there would be other ways to get back at Starfire and she knew that she needed to stick by Robin for that...win him over to her side and convert his power to her plans to use against her, then she could reclaim her rightful place as Queen of Tamaran. So she'd follow him...for now.

She quickly dove down and started firing starbolts at the earthling vehicles, setting them ablaze to cut off some of the police forces.

Robin grimaced at the mayhem, but there wasn't any time to reprimand Blackfire for putting innocent officers in danger. He looked down at the jester creature. "Lead the way..."

"Follow me then!" replied the jester, then hobbled quickly around the burning vehicles, soon followed by the other brown creatures.

"Blackfire, we're going with them! Follow the...uh, ugly jester thing!" said Robin.

"This is starting to become more troublesome than I thought!" groaned Blackfire.

"You're telling me," nodded Robin, making sure his hold on Tira was good, and then proceeded after the brown creatures.

A metallic hand shot out of the flames, nearly grabbing his head, but he managed to move at the last second and leap away.

"You're not going anywhere, Robin," growled Cyborg, stepping through the flames, then charging forward and threw a punch at him.

Robin growled in annoyance as he dodged the punch and easily spun around him. "Nice try, Cy...but I have no time for you." He then dashed quickly away, soon catching sight of the brown creatures. One of them was waving at him and ushering him to follow, then wobbled into an alley.

He glanced once up to see Blackfire was floating above him. Nodding to her, he darted toward alley, soon catching up with the creatures. They led them all the way to the park and soon to a bizarre hole.

"Quickly, quickly! Into Minion Gate!" squealed the brown creature with the gun, then it flipped into the air and curled into a ball before falling into the tunnel.

"...Can things just stop getting weird on me tonight?" sighed Robin tiredly.

"You actually wanna follow these freaky things down that thing?" questioned Blackfire.

Robin was about to answer when a sonic beam nearly got him in the head. He looked back to see Cyborg charging after them, firing off more sonic beams at them.

"No time! GO!" warned Robin, then jumped into the tunnel, praying he didn't just make a big mistake.

Tira just laughed and hollered excitedly as they pummeled down the glowing tunnel, not caring in the least where it led, so long as it would keep her with her master.

"Ugh, earthlings," groaned Blackfire in irritation before diving into the tunnel.

The other creatures soon jumped in; the last was the jester.

Quaver glared at the charging Titan mockingly and bowed at him. "Too late to be the hero, metal one. The ruler of darkness has returned to his rightful place...and we his loyal minions will see that his birthright will come forth...Toodles!"

He waved once more and performed a back flip right into the tunnel, which quickly closed up behind him. Cyborg came right at the spot the tunnel entrance once was and slammed a fist at it, hoping to break it open, but all he found was dirt. He kept pounding his fists and roaring in frustration as nothing but dirt appeared in his path.

"It won't end here! I'll see that you're stopped before you can get out of hand Robin. I swear it!" shouted Cyborg angrily, still beating wildly on the dirt.

********

In the dark tower, the center of the throne room suddenly came to life as the portal opened up and blue lightning danced down into an opening pit below. The metallic spikes flexed down from the ceiling and spun wildly as Robin and his companions slowed down to a halt from their descent and landed on a platform that quickly closed, sealing the pit, and providing safe footing. Once the energy faded, the spikes returned to whence they came from the ceiling, leaving them in a dark room surrounded by more of the bizarre brown creatures.

"Where are we?" wondered Blackfire aloud, gazing warily at the creatures.

"Wherever it is...I feel...I feel..." awed Robin as he let his gaze absorb his surroundings.

"At home?" an aged, maniacal voice finished.

Gnarl wobbled toward them and stroked his grey goatee as he stared at Robin. "Hmm, this is the last hope for evil? He's a bit short..."

"What are you talking about...and what you mean I'm short!" roared Robin.

Gnarl chuckled and strolled around him to get a better look at who they all believed would be their new master.

"Nothing that time won't cure, Sire. Hmm, you do look evil enough. The eyes, the skin, even the hair is styled in a wicked manner. Oh, very good!" said Gnarl in satisfaction. "But you will need a proper evil education before you can take the full reins as our new Overlord!"

Robin looked at Tira, who was smiling at him uncaringly, then at Blackfire that looked as worried as he felt.

"...Man, things just won't stop getting weirder on me," groaned Robin.

********

A/N: Hmmm, thing are getting out of hand for Robin, wouldn't you say? I wonder what Zesalamel has planned for our new dark Overlord...and what is going on with Cyborg? He's acting way really strange...Hehehe, well, you'll have just have to wait and see what the future has in store. So please review and let me know how much you've enjoyed this chapter, so that the dark corners of my mind will keep being inspired.

I'm removing Raven from the list as she has the most votes and will definitely be one of Robin's soon-to-be mistresses. And as for the matter of the number of mistresses that Robin will have, it all depends on how useful you've all made each one out to be, so there will be no set number, because as someone who reviewed this story; true evil Overlord doesn't limited himself to just one mistress...Also, the voting time will end after three more chapters, and whoever has the most votes will become Robin's mistresses, so cast your votes now and wisely.

List of possible candidate: (If there are no votes for a candidate with the next four chapters, they will be removed.)

Blackfire (7) *******

Argent (2) **

Kitten (3) ***

Jinx (7) *******

Terra (5)*****

Wonder Woman (2)**

Harley Quinn (3)***

Poison Ivy (3)***

Tira (7)*******

Shirley Valentine (3)***