9. Ravage

The hexagonal corridors were eerily silent as the two Titans made their way toward the control room. It almost felt to Cyborg as though the very walls themselves were holding their breath, waiting for something to happen.

"Hold up," he whispered, waving for Raven to get behind him as they reached an intersection. Flattening himself against the wall, he reached out with his free hand to grasp the corner for a moment, inching his finger around the edge, before nodding to himself in satisfaction. "Okay, it's clear."

He glanced back to see Raven looking up at him, one eyebrow quizzically arched. "Finger cams," he told her with a grin, holding out his hand to show her the retractable lens on the end of his digit. "'Green Fox' ain't got nothin' on Cyborg Snake."

She continued to stare at him blankly until he realized he should probably attempt some sort of explanation. "It's, um…a video game thing."

She kept staring just long enough to make him feel stupid for it. "…Right. So, how much further to the control room?"

"Two more right turns should get us there," he replied, pulling up the blueprint on his forearm display and holding it out for her to see.

"Then let's go," she said as she swept past him, her cloak billowing slightly behind her. "The sooner we're out of here, the better."

"I hear that," he agreed, following.

They proceeded in cautious silence, passing through two more laser grids and dodging another security camera, before finally arriving at their destination. It turned out to be another generator room almost exactly like the one where they'd left the others, but on the opposite side of the floor, and unfortunately just as noisy and poorly lit. They crept through the forest of cooling pylons, keeping a wary eye on every shadow, and finally found a small control room nestled along one wall.

The door slid open obediently at their approach. The room inside was practically empty and featureless, save for a series of display panels which all but covered one wall.

"There's no keyboard or controls," Raven observed.

"Yeah, but I'll bet…aha!" A quick search of the wall's surface revealed a subtly camouflaged access panel which popped open at Cyborg's touch. Inside was a single high-bandwidth data jack, of a configuration he was intimately familiar with. "Here we go, perfect! Blood must jack into the system directly from here, figures he'd design it so that no one else could physically use it. No one else but me, that is…!"

He pulled a retractable interface cable out of his forearm and was about to plug it into the port, but…then, he stopped.

Raven noticed immediately. "What's wrong?"

Moving slowly, Cyborg lowered his arm. "This…is exactly what I was hoping to find," he explained, his mouth suddenly dry.

"And that's a problem, because…?"

He looked over his shoulder at her. "Because Blood knows it's the first thing I'd look for, too. The man's got my schematics memorized. Granted, we're 'built' with the same tech, but still…yeah, that's what I thought." He took a closer look at the jack with image enhancement, and swallowed hard. "It's wired to trip an alarm and shoot about a million volts into the first thing that plugs into it. That was a close one."

Her eyebrows went up again. "Good thinking…so, now what?"

"Well, let's hope there's a backup system someplace close by," he hedged as he switched over to electromagnetic field imaging with his cybernetic eye, allowing him to visually see the path of the electrical currents flowing through the wiring beneath the floor and inside the walls. "And hopefully not too…wait a sec. This jack isn't tied into the lines that lead back to the stasis pod – it's a fake! But the monitors, on the other hand…alright, I can follow this straight to the jackpot!"

Returning to the larger room, they were quickly able to find the real controls, situated just out of view behind one of the cooling pylons in a corner of the room near the door they'd originally come in through. Ironically, they'd walked right past it on their way in.

"Okay, here we go," Cyborg announced, nodding to himself as he examined the control panel. "Doesn't look like it's booby-trapped, from what I can see…but still, I'm sure somebody's gonna notice when I start it up."

Raven nodded. "Well, if there's no way around – wait." Her head snapped up, and she looked toward the door. "Somebody's coming."

"Knew this was too easy," Cyborg grunted as he charged his sonic cannon, preparing to blast whoever entered the room as soon as they came into view. "Quick, get behind me-!"

"Better idea," she interrupted, stepping in front of him instead, positioning herself between him and the door, just as three armored H.I.V.E. troopers rounded the corner. They spotted the Titans immediately but before they could raise their weapons, Raven unleashed a massive burst of black energy that swept over them, knocking them all to the ground. They didn't get back up, and Raven fell back against the pylon as the dark energy came flowing back into her body.

Cyborg made no effort to hide his amazement. "Um…wow?"

"They'll be out for a few hours," she reported, slightly out of breath.

"Uh, great, but what about you?" he asked, noting the way she was still leaning on the pillar to support herself.

"I'll be fine in a minute or so," she assured him.

"Okay, cool." He turned to access the controls, but paused to shoot her a grin. "If anybody else comes before then, I got your back…so don't be scared, huh?"

It had been sort of a private joke between them ever since the night her powers had run out of control and terrorized the team, after they'd all watched Wicked Scary following their first battle with Control Freak. However, she didn't respond to his jab with her usual sarcasm.

"Maybe I should be telling you that."

"Huh?" He blinked. "What do you mean?"

She sighed in annoyance. "All right, look. Go ahead and lie to the others, I can understand that. And you can even lie to yourself if you really want to. But don't lie to me, okay? I know how you've been feeling all day, and it's only gotten worse since we came down here." Wincing, she pushed away from the thermal pylon to lean on the control housing, instead. "Ow, these things are hot."

But Cyborg was still absorbing her observation about his emotional state. It was a feeling he'd been trying to ignore for most of the day, telling himself it was just nerves, and not worth worrying about. But, now that she was forcing him to face it directly…

"I guess, the thing is…the last time we went up against Blood, it took everything I had – and then some – to beat him." He looked down at her, plaintively. "And I really don't know if I can do that again. I'm not sure I have it in me."

"You're not alone," she reminded him. "We're all in this, together."

"Yeah, well…" He looked down, but was suddenly struck by the irony of her statement and couldn't help smiling at it. "Hey, don't forget, that goes for both of us, y'know? I don't need your senses to tell something's been eating you, too."

She looked surprised for a second, then bit her lip and looked away while he got busy initializing the revival program.

"It's…complicated," she murmured after a few seconds.

"Yeah, I'll bet…" he grunted, keeping his eyes on the task in front of him. "Well if you're gonna make me guess, then I'll put my money on Slade, Robin, or maybe both of 'em combined."

She remained silent, which told him he was on the right track.

"Personally," he continued when she showed no sign of speaking up, "I'm starting to have trouble deciding which one's a bigger pain in the rear. It's hard enough for everybody just being around Slade, after everything he's done…especially for you and Beast Boy, I'm sure. But on the other hand, Robin sure ain't making things any easier with his my-way-or-the-highway attitude about the whole thing."

A long moment passed before she spoke again, during which he finished configuring the system to begin the revival program. "We…shouldn't be doing this," she said, finally.

He froze, his finger poised over the 'execute' button, and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Uh, this is why we came over here…"

She waved a dismissive hand at him. "No, not that. Robin. We shouldn't be…talking about him, like this."

"Hey, hold on, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I don't trust or respect the guy; he's more than earned it. We both know that. But we also both know how he gets, whenever Slade's involved…in fact, I'll bet you know even better than I do." He favored her with a conspiratorial grin. "But aside from all that...yeah, we're still sneaking around in Brother Blood's basement, but admit it: it's been nice to get away from both of 'em, even for just a few minutes."

She frowned, but her expression quickly turned thoughtful. "Actually…I do feel better, being away from him."

"See?" He nodded, then looked back to the controls. "Well, this is it, everything's set. Time to ring the bell. You ready?"

Shaking out of her reverie, she straightened up and gave a quick nod. "Do it."

He pressed the button, and the program started up. He watched the data feed for a few seconds, then nodded in satisfaction. "Alright…it'll take a few minutes for her to rise and shine, but the good news is, it looks like the process can't be interrupted once it gets going. Let's just give it a few more seconds to make sure it doesn't need any more input from this end, then we can get back to the others."

She nodded in agreement. "Just say the wor—ow! Beast Boy, quit it-!" she hissed, swatting at something small and green at her neck.

Cyborg had to stifle a laugh, despite their situation. "What, is he doing the mosquito bit? Well, he did warn y—"

He broke off abruptly, seeing Raven's eyes widen as she pulled a small, jade-colored dart out of her neck.

"Cy—borg…!" She took one step forward, hastily trying to summon a protective barrier with her powers, but the black energy dissipated almost immediately as she fell.

"Raven!" he exclaimed, barely managing to catch her; she was already limp, and barely conscious. Before he could react, he felt a tiny pinch and looked down to see an identical dart protruding from the exposed flesh on his upper arm. He quickly pulled it out with his free hand, but his vision was already going fuzzy and a powerful wave of dizziness staggered him. He managed to stay on his feet through sheer willpower, peripherally aware of his cybernetics' blood-scrubbers kicking into overdrive to counteract the toxin that had just been introduced into his system.

Blinking rapidly in an effort to clear his head, he charged up his sonic cannon and frantically peered around the room in hopes of locating their attacker, but saw no one. As his mind shook off the effects of the drug, he thought to switch over to thermal imaging with his cybernetic eye – there. He spotted a heat source where there shouldn't have been one, between two of the cooling pylons about fifteen feet away, and immediately fired on it.

With a startled yelp, the hidden assailant dove out of the sonic blast's path, becoming visible in the process: a lithe, dark-haired girl clad in an emerald green mini-kimono, her face hidden behind an eerily grinning cat mask. The infamous villainess Cheshire, if Cyborg's memory served.

"Wanna try and stick me again, Miss Kitty?" he growled, leveling his sonic cannon at her while still supporting Raven's limp body with his other arm. Cheshire tensed as they squared off, her movements slow and silent, like a predatory feline stalking its prey. Her mask added an even more unnerving element to her mannerisms, and the claw-like blades protruding from her sleeves made it clear that this was far more than mere theatrics.

But before either of them could launch another attack, they were interrupted by the sound of someone clapping.

Keeping his cannon leveled at his opponent, Cyborg spared a glance behind him, and swore inwardly as his blood – what there was of it – ran cold.

Standing in the doorway, smiling, applauding and flanked by at least a dozen Cyclone combat androids, was none other than Brother Blood, himself.

"Bravo, Cyborg, bravo!" he called out. "I had hoped it would take more than Cheshire's poisons to dispatch you. And you certainly don't disappoint, do you? I can't begin to tell you how very pleased I am to see you again, after all this time…oh, and welcome to my new home. What do you think of it?"

"Same song, different dance," Cyborg grunted through clenched teeth, his mind racing as he tried to keep an eye on both opponents.

Noticing this, Blood waved a dismissive hand. "That will be all, my dear; I'll finish this."

At his words, the masked girl executed a quick bow, then leapt away and disappeared again. Cyborg immediately spun around to target Blood, instead.

Blood's smile didn't fade; if anything, it broadened slightly. "Ahh…now that's more like it. Just you and me, Cyborg, the way it should be. Don't you agree? Pity your companion has nodded off, she'll be missing quite the show." He shrugged off his ceremonial robe, revealing his armored, cybernetically-modified torso. His visible circuitry cast a faint, ominous red glow over his immediate surroundings and the androids directly behind him.

"Yeah, well…sorry to rain on your parade, but I'm in kind of a hurry," Cyborg retorted, trying to ignore the bead of cold sweat slowly making its way from his temple down to his neck. "So could we can the rest of the speech, and just skip to the part where I stomp your face into the ground?"

Blood chuckled as he eased into a combat stance. "If you insist on getting right down to business…nothing would make me happier. But why don't you set the girl aside, first. I don't want you distracted, and we both know how important she is."

Cyborg gritted his teeth and kept his eyes on his enemy. "What are you talking about?"

"You know very well, but it isn't relevant right now." Stifling a yawn, Blood straightened up and crossed his arms. "Go on; I'll wait."

Cyborg hesitated, but had to admit that trying to fight with Raven tucked under his arm wasn't going to work very well for either of them. So, keeping his sonic cannon trained on Blood and his entourage, he gingerly laid her down next to the control panel, pausing briefly to assess her condition before he stood back up. Her pulse and breathing were shallow, but steady. She was completely sedated.

So…he was alone, after all.

"All right, let's do this thing."

Without further delay, he snapped around and fired off a rapid series of sonic blasts at Brother Blood. Who parried or deflected all of them, of course, his eyes and hands flaring red as they sliced through the air, effortlessly redirecting the focused bursts of sound and energy as if by magic. He sent the last one straight back at Cyborg, forcing him to dive behind the nearest cooling pylon for cover. He tucked himself into an evasive roll just before he hit the ground, ready to keep up the pressure as he came out of it on the other side.

Blood, meanwhile, was already rushing forward, aiming for the spot where he expected Cyborg to land, grinning maniacally as his glowing hands swept toward him like talons. But Cyborg was ready and met him with a volley of missiles from his shoulder-mounted launchers as he came out of the roll, forcing his enemy back as he hastily batted the projectiles aside. Seeing an opening, Cyborg wound up and flung out a hand on a retractable grappling line, catching hold of Blood's arm as he was parrying the last of the missiles. He immediately retracted his detached appendage at full speed, yanking his opponent through the air toward him and savoring the brief instant of surprise on his enemy's face as he met him in mid-air with the other fist.

Metal struck metal with the force of a head-on automobile collision, sending a brief but jarring vibration through Cyborg's entire body as Brother Blood was flung backward by the force of the blow. He smashed through several of the cooling pylons before finally slamming into the opposite wall and falling to the floor.

For a moment Blood didn't move, just laid there in a heap. Cyborg held his breath, almost daring to hope…

Then his cybernetic arms jerked into motion, his feet found the floor and he pushed himself upright again. But he swayed unsteadily, his upper torso bent backward at a horrific angle by the force of Cyborg's punch, until his mechanical spine realigned and straightened itself, abruptly snapping his upper body back into place.

Cyborg clenched his teeth, mentally readying another set of offensive programs as he cursed himself for thinking he might get off so easily.

"Ahhh…still as full of surprises as ever, I see," Blood taunted, flexing his neck and shoulders to make sure everything was now aligned properly. "I really have missed that."

"Can't say I feel the same," Cyborg growled, charging up his sonic cannon and bracing himself for the next round of combat.

"More's the pity," Blood sneered as he flexed his mechanical hands, which had begun to crackle with scarlet energy. "You know, the other H.I.V.E. Headmasters think I should give up on you, Cyborg. They think you're a lost cause. But me…I just had to make one last, final effort to…salvage you."

"Yeah? Well then bring it on, old man," Cyborg retorted, mentally rerouting additional power to his weapons. "Gimme your best shot."

Blood grinned, energy arcing from his eyes and hands. "Oh, believe me, I intend to."

The room practically exploded in a cacophony of light and sound as they clashed.


On the opposite side of the floor, Robin watched intently as the displays on Rose's capsule lit up, and the entire machine began to hum softly.

"Looks like Cyborg and Raven have done it," Wonder Girl observed. "They should be back any minute, then."

Without taking his eyes from the capsule, Robin gave a short nod. "Beast Boy should have been back by now, too."

"Want us to go find him?" Wonder Girl offered, anxiously shifting her weight back and forth from one foot to the other.

Robin spared her a glance as he shook his head. "Right now, Brother Blood is probably sending most of his goons up here to find out what's going on…we need to be ready." Frowning, he glanced about. "And, what's taking Cyborg and Raven so long? They were supposed to teleport back as soon as they got the revival program started."

"Maybe they're taking an extra minute to make sure it can't be interrupted?" Wonder Girl suggested.

"Um…friends?" Starfire said suddenly. "Where is Slade?"

Were it not for his mask holding them in place, Robin's eyes might have popped out of their sockets as he whirled around to face her. "What?!"

Already clearly alarmed, Starfire physically flinched away from the force of his exclamation. "I, he – he was standing next to me, but now, I – I do not see him…!" she stammered.

"I asked you to watch him!" Robin exploded, frantically looking around the room. She was right; Slade had disappeared without a trace.

"Robin, don't blame her…!" Wonder Girl began, taking a step toward him. "Calm down, we'll find—"

"You dweebs've got waaaaay bigger problems than that to worry about," jeered a grating, high-pitched and nauseatingly familiar voice.

Cursing silently, Robin snapped out his staff as he and the two girls spun around, ready for battle.

Moving into a threatening formation a few meters away were the Titans' rivals and frequent opponents, the team of teenage criminals collectively known as the H.I.V.E. Five: Gizmo, Mammoth, Kyd Wykkyd, See-More and Billy Numerous. Robin quickly positioned himself between them and the capsule, and his two teammates followed his lead.

Gizmo didn't seem to care, if he'd noticed. "So, ya little worms thought you could sneak in and outta here without us knowing, huh?" the diminutive inventor sneered, perched above his comrades' heads on the four-legged mechanical chassis he often used in battle. "What, were ya afraid of gettin' yer butts handed to ya for the hundredth time?"

"Did he just call us 'little'?" Wonder Girl asked.

Gizmo lapsed into incoherent sputtering at her remark while See-More giggled, his oversized eyepiece flashing as he cycled through vision modes, preparing an attack. "Nice one…but, c'mon, seriously. You guys are in our house. You might as well give it up…if you surrender without a fight, maybe we won't pound you too bad."

"Speak for yourself," Mammoth grunted as he cracked his massive knuckles.

"I believe it is we who will be doing the pounding!" Starfire declared, her emerald eyes flashing with defiance as her hands began to glow brightly.

"Guess again, darlin' – we gotcha all outnumbered, but good!" Billy Numerous cackled, instantly creating a dozen identical duplicates of himself to reinforce his point.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Robin shot back confidently. While the cocky grin he was showing them was mostly theatrical, it was prompted by the approaching sound of heavy metallic footfalls from behind them, which could only have meant Cyborg's return.

…Or, someone else wearing an oversized suit of powered armor, he noted with dismay moments later.

"Adonis has arrived!" bellowed the newcomer, flexing his suit's mechanical musculature. "Let the smackdown begin!"

"Adonis?" Robin blinked, briefly taken aback, then cast a deliberately skeptical eye at the H.I.V.E. Five. "Wow, you guys must really be hard up for new members."

"That's it!" Gizmo shrieked. "Flatten 'em!"

As they charged forward, Robin spared a quick glance over his shoulder at the stasis pod. The revival program was running, but it looked like it would still be a bit longer before it was finished. "Protect the capsule!" he barked to his teammates. "Go!"

With that, he swung his staff and swept the front legs of Gizmo's walker chassis out from under him, but the pint-sized mechanic leapt clear as it pitched forward and launched into the air via his rocket pack, immediately followed by Starfire and a hail of starbolts.

Before he'd even finished following through on his swing Robin threw down a flash-bang, which left the other H.I.V.E. kids stumbling and disoriented as they waited for their sight and hearing to recover. He took the opportunity to send See-More and Kyd Wykkyd sprawling with a series of kicks and precision strikes, then turned his attention to Mammoth. But before he could attack, he was swarmed by Billy Numerous and suddenly found himself trying to fight off dozens of identical red-clad assailants.


While Robin disappeared into the crimson crowd, Wonder Girl vaulted over the stasis capsule as Adonis charged forward and narrowly managed to intercept one of his suit's huge mechanical fists as it swung toward them. In his charge to attack the Titans, he'd been about to knock the capsule out of his way! Wasn't he aware of its importance?

She'd been able to stop his swing before it connected, but not without some effort – his suit had a lot of power behind it. But now that she'd caught his attention he changed direction, driving her away toward the wall. For a few seconds she let him, just so they could get a safe distance away from the capsule while the revival program continued to run. After they'd gone about fifteen feet she dug in her heels and started to push back, quickly grinding him to a halt.

"Oooh, who's the new girl?" he leered, leaning over her as his suit's mechanical muscles strained against her Amazon might. "You're even feistier than—"

She cut him off with a quick body blow, then took a measure of grim satisfaction in watching the lust on his face turn to disbelief as she tore his suit's arm right out of the shoulder socket. Ripping it completely away from the body, she wound up and brought it around in a backhanded swing that sent him hurtling across the room.

Hefting the severed arm like an oversized cudgel, she rose into the air to take stock of the battle's progress. Robin was still trying to fight his way out from under the rapidly swelling crowd of Billy's, but it was Starfire's situation that attracted her attention. She'd been chasing Gizmo around the room in an aerial dogfight, but as Wonder Girl watched, the tiny inventor made a low swoop past Mammoth, who was now shaking off the effects of Robin's flash grenade. Starfire followed Gizmo's flight path and Mammoth grabbed her ankle as she flew past him, swinging her around and smashing her through two of the cooling pylons before flinging her against the wall with enough force to make Wonder Girl wince sympathetically.

The Amazon hoisted Adonis's arm and launched it at Mammoth javelin-style, catching him blindsided and driving him into the other wall before he could follow up his attack on Starfire. Seeing this, Gizmo banked toward her, firing a barrage of energy bolts she parried with her indestructible bracelets. Undeterred, Gizmo continued to rocket toward her, now brandishing what looked like an overpowered cattle prod. Like a matador, she waited for him to close the distance and spun out of the way at the last second, snagging him with her lasso on his way past. He flew behind a pillar and tried to come around it for another pass, only to have the golden tether catch on the beam as he turned. With a high-pitched squeal Gizmo spun around and around the column in a tightening spiral, finally slamming into it and knocking himself senseless with his own momentum.

"Idiot…" Wonder Girl muttered under her breath, pulling the mystical rope back to her with a flick of her wrist before turning her attention back to helping Starfire. Who was once again airborne and pelting Mammoth with a steady torrent of starbolts, but it didn't appear to be doing much more than slowing his advance. Worse, now he was wielding the mechanical arm Wonder Girl had thrown at him, using it like a flail to take wide swipes at the Tamaranean.

Seeing an opening, Wonder Girl launched herself into the air and dove toward Mammoth with an Amazon battle cry, catching him across the face with a right hook that could have dropped an elephant…but, to her surprise, it hardly staggered him. He responded with a vicious backhand that knocked her into the wall behind him.

Shaking off her disorientation from the impact, she realized Mammoth was still focused on Starfire, who was rapidly running out of room to maneuver. Gritting her teeth, Wonder Girl called on whatever strength the gods might see fit to grant her, and pushed herself back to her feet.

"Hey, you!" she shouted at the brutish giant. "Let's try that again."


Much to Robin's chagrin, his ongoing fight against Billy Numerous was starting to wear on him. It wasn't that Billy was a good fighter – he really wasn't, at all – but there were just so many of him that for each one Robin dispatched, two or three more would literally pop up to take his place.

Adding insult to injury, one of them began jeering at him in that obnoxious hillbilly drawl of his. "Aww, what's wrong birdie-man? Billy's got you down!"

Robin answered him with an uppercut to the chin, but as that particular Billy stumbled back, five more rushed in. This was getting him nowhere, fast…it was time to go for broke.

Swinging his staff in a wide arc to buy himself some momentary breathing space, Robin grabbed a concussion disk with his free hand – and then, leaping into the air at the last moment, he threw it down right at his own feet. As he'd expected, the force of the blast catapulted him high into the air, but his instincts and reflexes took over and allowed him to turn his flight into a controlled backflip. He landed in a combat-ready crouch a few meters from his original position, and although his ears were still ringing, he was pleased to see that the blast had scattered all of the Billys like bowling pins.

As the ringing faded an electronic beep from his right drew his attention, and he turned to see a bright green light flashing on the side of the stasis pod as its transparent hatch slid open.

Finally! Robin rushed over to the pod, quickly glancing about as he did so to get a sense of the remaining opposition. Adonis and Gizmo were out of the fight, Billy and See-More were still laid out where he'd left them, and Starfire and Wonder Girl were presently double-teaming Mammoth, who was struggling to hold them at bay with what looked like a severed arm from Adonis's mechanical suit. For the first time in hours, he felt a flash of optimism. Their goal was finally in sight!

But as for the girl, even though the pod's cover was now open, she remained motionless. "Rose, can you hear me…?" he asked, reaching out to gently shake her.

Just before his hand reached her, her eyes snapped open – twin pools of the deepest blue he'd ever seen, standing out in startling contrast against her white hair and light complexion, and staring straight into his. Robin was vaguely aware of someone shouting behind him but for an instant, he froze, caught off guard by the intensity of this girl's stare.

Then her foot came up, met his chest, pushed down and shoved him backwards, while simultaneously propelling her into a backflip that carried her up, over, and out of the stasis pod – just as Adonis's severed arm came flying through the air and smashed the pod beyond recognition.

"Whoa…" Upon regaining his balance, Robin stared for a moment in amazement at how close he'd just come to being squashed like a grape. But he quickly shook it off, refocusing his attention and jogging toward the white-haired girl who'd landed in a crouch a short distance away. "Are you okay? I'm Robin, we're the Teen Ti—"

She took his extended hand but then yanked it forward unexpectedly, pulling him off balance and catching him in the solar plexus with a well-placed elbow as he stumbled past her before tumbling to the floor.

"What th—?!" he wheezed, staring up at Rose in confusion as she stood over him.

"You should've let me sleep," she snapped, her voice tinged with bitterness. "I didn't want to be awake for what's going to happen next."

"Wha – what are you talking about?!" he demanded, completely baffled. "We're the Teen Titans, we're here to help you!"

She shook her head. "You shouldn't have come. None of us are leaving here. You should have—"

Suddenly she broke off and glanced over her shoulder, then, inexplicably, she spun around and launched a full-force roundhouse kick at the empty air behind her.

Which caught Kyd Wykkyd square in the face as he teleported directly into the kick's path, spinning him around twice on his way to the floor.

Robin, meanwhile, took the opportunity to vault to his feet and assume a wary combat stance. "Rose, listen! I don't know what Brother Blood's been filling your head with, but we're on your side! We're here to rescue you!"

"You probably even believe that right now, too," she said as she turned back to face him. "But eventually, you'll just want to use me, the same way they do…even if it's for different reasons."

"That's not true!" he argued. "We've come to help you, we want to set you free! Blood is evil, he's using you to – to…"

She snorted. "You have no idea what they're even planning, do you? Of course you don't; you never would have come here if you did. And now it's too late."

"No, it isn't!" he insisted. "We can still stop them. Come with us, we can protect you from them!"

Still, she shook her head. "No. You can't. You're going to do exactly what he tells you to, just like everyone else."

Robin was losing patience with this. "I didn't come here to fight you, but my friends and I have put our lives on the line to bring you home…and that's what we're going to do, no matter what it takes!"

He made a fast lunge, hoping to subdue her in the quickest and most painless way possible. But she was already twisting out of the way and seemed to flow underneath his reach, turning his own momentum against him, and the next thing Robin knew, he was lying on his back at her feet, again. His hand instinctively flew to his utility belt – only to grasp at nothing because his belt was in Rose's hand, she was holding it up for him to see as she regarded him coolly.

Impossible! his mind screamed. How could she be so fast? It was as if she knew exactly what he was going to do, before he—

Robin suddenly felt very stupid. Wintergreen had told them that Rose was precognitive. She did know what he was going to do, before he did!

"This is just a waste of energy," she was saying. "It's all pointless. You've played right into their hands. You and your friends should have stayed away, now everything will be worse."

Before he could respond, a huge crash from the other side of the room drew his gaze. He wasn't sure what Starfire and Wonder Girl had just done, but it had left Mammoth sticking out of the wall. It looked like their fight was officially over.

As for Rose, she dropped Robin's utility belt on the floor next to him, then took a few steps away and sat down on the floor, as Starfire and Wonder Girl came flying over to them.

"What are you doing?!" Robin exclaimed, hastily putting his belt back on. "Come on, this is our chance!"

"I wish for us to be escaping now, please!" Starfire added.

"Yeah? Well, too bad," Rose retorted, her demeanor sullen. "He's not going to allow that."

"What are you talking about? There's nobody left to—"

As Robin spoke, a swirling vortex of energy suddenly coalesced in the center of the room, expanding into a flat, circular portal hanging in the air. A figure stepped through it, and the portal immediately closed and dissipated behind him.

A very thin, middle-aged man now stood before them, dressed in a black and purple robe. His baleful glare was made all the more severe by the way his skin stretched tightly over his gaunt features, and the top of his skull had been shorn off about an inch above his prickly eyebrows and replaced with a glass dome, through which the man's exposed brain could be seen clearly. The brain itself had been seared black and its surface was lined by what looked like glowing electrical circuits, coursing from front to back.

But the single most disturbing aspect of the man's appearance was his eyes. They were solid black in color, save for the pupils, which glowed a smoldering red.

Even though the Titans had only seen him once before, there was no mistaking the man's identity: it was Psimon.

"Titans! Together!" Robin shouted as he rushed forward. "Take him down, whatever it takes!"

Starfire and Wonder Girl followed on his heels with their own battle cries as Robin leapt into the air, aiming to plant his boot right between Psimon's eyes.

As they hurtled toward their target, the glowing circuits on Psimon's visible brain flared to life. He opened his mouth, and spoke a single word.

"Sleep."

Robin never felt himself hit the ground.