"Well, I think that went pretty well," Steven gloated after the night's mission.
"You kidding me, dude?" Beast Boy was practically hopping up and down in excitement. "All of that loot we saved was worth like five-thousand bucks! That's the biggest heist in this town's history!"
"You all did great," commended Robin. "We've definitely done our job."
"Yeah, we did!" cheered Cyborg. "This calls for celebration!" Without further delay, he sprinted down towards the basement of Titans Tower. Curious, everyone followed after him. When they reached the large room, full of various tools and spare parts that Cyborg worked with, Cyborg was waiting. He stood before a large structure covered in a cloth.
"Cyborg?" Starfire gestured to the cloth. "What is under that?"
"Something I've been wanting to show you guys all day!" Cyborg placed his hand upon the cloth, preparing to pull it off. "I just finished it this afternoon." His eyes darted to Beast Boy. "Drumroll, please!"
On cue, Beast Boy turned into an armadillo. Sora quickly grabbed two wrenches from somewhere inside the workshop and started tapping the shell, quickly and lightly. The metal tools against the hollow structure created an effective suspense-building noise.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Cyborg began. "And whatever Beast Boy is:"
Beast Boy reverted to human form, scowling. "Dude, do you want your drumroll or not?" Grudgingly, Beast Boy shifted back to an armadillo and Sora resumed tapping the shell with the wrenches.
Cyborg, despite the interruption, continued with as much energy as ever. "It's my pleasure to present for the first time anywhere, the thing you've all been waiting for, the coolest, hottest, most amazing thing I've ever created-!"
"Can you just get on with it?" Raven groaned.
Cyborg's hand trembled in excitement as he gripped the cloth. "I give you the future of Titan's transportation! The one, the only-" After suspense, he finally tore off the cloth, revealing his hi-tech miracle. "T-Car!"
The magnificent vehicle glistened under the light of the workshop. The car measured about ten feet and was interlaced with a lot of circuitry that was very reminiscent of the technology that kept Cyborg himself running.
Cyborg patted the car proudly. "The T-Car has so many custom features that are only made possible by yours truly." He opened every possible area of the car to display. "One-hundred thousand horsepower plasma turbine engine, all-terrain hoverjets, leather seats and booming stereo -all standard- and an onboard computer that links to my systems, so I can literally feel the road."
"Whoa!" Robin shouted, fascinated.
"Cool!" marveled Beast Boy.
"That's amazing, Cyborg," Sora commended. "You built this yourself?"
"Yep!" beamed Cyborg. "She's my baby."
Steven's eyes were widened in excitement. "Can I touch it?"
Cyborg shrugged. "Sure."
Steven stepped forward and held out his hand. Trembling, it slowly moved towards the shiny, tech-plated surface of the car. "It's so beautiful," he breathed. It was too much. Steven collasped backward before he had even laid a finger upon the car.
Cyborg looked down upon him. "Guess he couldn't handle it," he muttered to himself. He held out a hand to his fallen friend. "You okay?"
Steven clasped the hand and Cyborg helped him stand up. Steven just kept looking at the car with wide eyes, dazed and amazed. "That car is awesome, dude."
"You bet it is, man," Cyborg agreed. "It'll take you anywhere you wanna go." He turned to the others and smiled. "So where do y'all wanna go?"
"The beach!" shouted Sora.
"The movies!" declared Robin.
"The arcade!" exclaimed Beast Boy.
"The swamp moons of Drenthax Four!" Starfire cheered. She looked over to see her companions fainting out of shock. Starfire blushed in embarassment. "He said anywhere."
Robin recovered first. "It's getting late. We should probably get some sleep. We can try out the car tomorrow."
Robin walked out of the room as Cyborg's excited face was molded into an expression of longing. "Aw, man!"
"It's okay, Cyborg." Steven patted his robotic friend on the shoulder. "It'll give you something to look forward to in the morning."
Cyborg nodded. "Thanks, man."
"And who knows?" Beast Boy interjected. "I know how to drive. Maybe you could teach me how to work this baby."
"No way!" Cyborg defended. "Nobody's driving the T-Car but me!"
Beast Boy flinched, then chuckled nervously as he walked out of the room. Steven ran out to catch up with him. When they were out of earshot, Beast Boy spoke. "Geez, what's his problem?"
"It's a new car," Steven said. "People are always protective of their new stuff. And two....well, we're talking about you, Beast Boy."
Beast Boy glared at Steven. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, I think you know," Steven teased.
"No I don't!" insisted Beast Boy. "Tell me!"
Steven chuckled and began walking ahead. Beast Boy looked on as his roommate ignored the question. "Dude?"
Night set upon Titans Tower. No clouds covered the starlit sky, leaving a full view of the glows in the sky that represented so many worlds in in the universe. The streets were quiet and the lights were dim. It was a peaceful night for the people in the city and it was a peaceful night for the Teen Titans.
Except for a certain two. Robin and Steven both had dreams that night.
Steven walked the dirt roads of the small town he lived in. Everywhere he went, dirty looks were sent his way. Phrases that had become a part of his daily life included, but weren't limited to, "You'll be the death of us, boy," "Stay away from me, you monster!", and "Demon-child!"
Steven had been hurt by these comments in the early years of his life, but had begun not to care. Sure, he was still sick of it, but he just learned to ignore all the unwanted attention. He had once wanted justification for why these insults were being thrown at him left and right, but there was no more time. Today was the day.
For many weeks, he'd been finding strange blocks made out of stranger material, completely a mystery to him. From an elder man in the village, he found that they were called Gummi blocks. They were used to build flying vehicles. The instant he heard that was all he needed. He had assembled a ship in a discreet area and was very close to completing it. He only needed one more block and he would have a working ship.
So he did what he always did. He strolled on the outskirts of town, just thinking to himself. Before long, his effort had no part to play. The block was just sitting there, as if waiting to be picked up. So Steven obliged.
He took it back to the discreet area, a deep part in the woods, and placed the block in its appropriate place upon his small, one-man structure. Completed, it looked just like a small, bulgy seat with guns at the front and propulsion systems on the back.
Kinda looks like a speeder bike from Star Wars, thought Steven. He stepped inside and pressed a few buttons. Well, I'm out of here.
Steven pressed a button and barely managed to grab onto the vehicle before it shot into reverse. It slammed into a tree and Steven was thrown off, slamming into aformentioned tree. Soon, the force of gravity took hold and he started to slide down. Before he could fall all the way, he hooked his legs around a thick branch, keeping him secure.
"Whoa," he marveled. He breathed hard for a few moments before carefully climbing. "Can't believe I didn't hit my head....." he mumbled. He looked down to see if his ship was damaged. He sighed in relief when he saw it wasn't. "Well, that went alright."
He felt the tree shudder and he heard a cracking noise. "Oh crap." The tree toppled over directly on top of him. It wasn't a thick tree and didn't do much damage. But.......one branch did hit him in the head.
Steven moved the giant plant away from him and shook his head clear. "This could take some practice."
A few hours and four more fallen trees later, Steven finally had the hang of flying the ship. And so, he took it for its first real drive. Seeing how he was leaving forever, he figured he should say some kind of good-bye. So he took the ship over the town and landed it on the very edge.
He made sure to descend slowly, as to attract the attention of everyone. It did not fail and nearly every person he knew, had stopped by to look at this obstruction. He stepped off and he eyed the crowed. No looks of disgust were aimed at him. Only looks of shock were painted onto the faces of the crowd.
Perfect thought Steven. He cleared his throat. "People of.....whatever this village is called, I am hereby announcing my permanent departure of this place. I have grown tired and irritated of living here with you people and I don't want to deal with it anymore."
"The feeling's mutual, you disgusting creature!" cried an cranky, old woman in the crowd. Soon, many other members of the crowd encouraged her. They began jeering at Steven, who just rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I hate you all too," he muttered to himself. "See, this is why I'm leaving!" The crowd's insults died down. "I am getting damn sick of you guys insulting me like this. I have done absolutely nothing to you! My manners are fair, I haven't destroyed any of your property, I've shown no intent of causing you any harm, but yet you treat me like I'm an apocalypse waiting to happen!" He took a step closer to the crowd. He stomped while he walked, causing many of them to jump in fright.
"If anybody wants to step forward and tell me why I'm being called 'demon-child' or 'that monster' or as Bridget just added to the ever-growing list of remarks, 'disgusting creature', just tell me why it's happening and I'll be on my way. Tell me why you hate me and I'll be happy."
The crowd remained silent. Steven blinked several times before realizing that they were keeping their mouths shut. He cursed under his breath. "Fine! Then I'm leaving!" he shouted angrily. He slid his body onto the seat and gripped the controls. He pushed a button and an encasing of glass formed a dome over him. Pressing another button, the engines of his ship ignited and it took to the sky.
As he ascended to the clear blue sky, he breathed heavily. After years of longing, he'd finally done it. He had escaped that place. No more would he have to put up with them insulting him for reasons he didn't know. No more would he be left in confusion as to why he was hated. He could go far away, somewhere where he was unknown to everybody, and start over.
But most of all, he had become independent. In his mind, he had become a man. But he had also fulfilled a dream he had as a child, a dream that many children had; he was flying in his very own ship that he had built himself. "I'm not just a man," Steven muttered to himself. "I'm....a rocket man."
And for the first time in a while.....Steven laughed. And he laughed hard. It had been ages since he felt this happy. He showed his excitement with his eratic driving. He did twists, spirals, flips, and just plain drove fast. "I'm free, baby!"
Suddenly, Steven's vision left that of the ship. It was altered to a part where he wasn't consciously even in the area. He was just an invisible spectator, unable to do anything but watch something horrible. He expected that if a moment like this had ever happened, he would've been happy. But as he watched, he could find no joy in the pointless destruction he saw.
The town he'd hated so much was now up in flames. But these weren't like the flames Steven was used to. They were not the flaring yellow and orange fire that lit torches of angry mobs that had previously attempted to run Steven out of town on multiple occasions.
The fire that burned the town was green.
In the center of all the commotion was a solitary being. From behind, it was impossible to tell who it was. What could be seen was a beeing holding up a long, wooden staff that carried an emerald gem at its end. The being's head was abnormally shaped. Horns formed a curved V to round out the head.
The being turned one-hundred eighty degrees to face where Steven would have been if he was physically present. This mysterious person, creature, or whatever it was, couldn't see him. He could see it, though. He could see the maniacal joy in the eyes of the being as a crow went to land on its shoulder.
Then he heard a few chuckles escape, revealing this being to be female. The chuckles grew louder as the woman smiled wider and wider. Then she threw back her head and laughed. She laughed like an excited serpent with a face to match, pale green and bright purple lips from which the inhuman cackling escaped.
Steven abruptly sat up in his bed, very frightened at what he had just seen. Unfortunately for him, he was on the top bunk of the bed in Beast Boy's room. "Ow!" And when he sat up, his head had slammed into the ceiling. He promptly fell back into the matress, holding his head in pain. After a few moments, his dream became hazy in his mind and he could only remember certain bits of it. "I'm a rocket man," he laughed quietly, before going out cold.
He had been sane enough, though, to realize that what he had just dreamed was not a dream, but a vision of what had already happened. The village where he once resided really was destroyed and the pale, evil woman was behind it. But as his body fell into unconsciousness, he could no longer make his mind process a question he wanted answered.
Who was that woman? he thought half-consciously.
Meanwhile, Robin was stuck not in a vision, but a nightmare.
Robin saw himself in a valley of stone. He didn't know where this was or how he got there. All that mattered is what lay ahead of him.....and who stood before him.
Slade.
Robin rushed towards his foe, throwing punch after punch, but unable to score any hit. He struck quickly, cracking stone pillars that surrounded the ground they fought upon. He tossed his patented birdarangs at Slade, who simply used both hands to knock them aside. They dug into the pillars that Robin hadn't scratched yet. The impact shattered their foundation and the stone gstructures collasped around them, lifting a cloud of dust.
Robin scanned the wreckage with his eyes, trying to find Slade. Until Slade spoke to him.
"Excellent work, Robin," his enemy congratulated. "It seems we're evenly matched and equally ruthless. To be honest it doesn't surprise me." Robin gritted his teeth as he detected Slade coming closer, almost breathing down his neck. "Whether you don't realize it or you simply don't want to admit it, believe this, Robin." It was that moment that Robin felt Slade right behind him. "You and I are very much alike."
Robin's eyes flared in anger. "I'm nothing like you!" He spun around and his fist shot towards Slade. It finally connected with its target, knocking him to the stone surface that they stood on. Robin clutched Slade's tunic, coming face to face with his personal demon. "You're a criminal and a psychopath. All you care about is destruction!"
"Yes," Slade agreed. "And all that you care about, you destroy."
He gestured to the ruins around him. Robin's eyes moved throughout the wreckage. He gasped when he saw that these were no ordinary rocks. Carved perfectly into six of the rocks were the likenesses of his teammates, as if their very essence was inside the stone.
Even Sora and Steven, whose broken stone arms reached for smashed rock fragments that formed their destroyed Keyblades.
"No...." Robin seethed. He turned angrily to Slade. "Who are you?!?" Not waiting any longer, Robin reached for the mask, tore it off, and tossed it behind him.
His mouth dropped open, for he saw the unmasked Slade. He realized the horror of Slade's statement that they were alike. There might as well have been a mirror underneath the mask because that's what Robin saw.
He saw his own face under Slade's mask, cackling madly to the sky.
Robin lurched forward, his face sweating. He breathed heavily, relieved that what he had witnessed was only a dream. The door to his room opened and he saw Cyborg.
"It's him," said Cyborg, gravely. "It's Slade."
Robin was up and quickly rushed into the living room. Slowly, the others found their way to the area as well. When he reached the computer panel, the screen that interfaced with the window was activated. Robin's frown deepened when he saw Slade's masked face staring down at them.
"Morning, Teen Titans," he said. "I hope I didn't wake you."
Beast Boy yawned in response. "What are you, an insomniac? Who calls at 5:00 in the morn-?" Raven elbowed Beast Boy to keep him quiet.
"What do you want?" Robin demanded.
"Well now, that's exactly what you've been trying to figure out," reminded Slade. "But despite your best efforts, you're still in the dark about my intentions. Disappointing, Robin. I expected better from you."
Robin pounded his fist on the table. "Like I care what you-!"
"But since you still don't know what I'm planning," Slade interrupted. "I guess I'll just have to show you." On the screen, his minions uncovered a cylyindrical device as tall as them. The device spread apart and opened up, revealing itself to be lined with glowing red strips of energy. "I am sure you're familiar with the concept of a cronoton detonator, correct?"
Robin gasped. "No!"
"Dude!" cried Cyborg.
"Uh-oh," murmured Raven.
"No way!" shouted Beast Boy. After a moment, he scratched his head in confusion. "What's a cruton detonator?"
"Not cruton, BB," Steven explained. "I think he said 'Clinton'." Steven was struck with realization. "He's going to kill the president!"
"What he said was 'cronoton'," Starfire said, clearing their confusion. "This detonator destroys all cronotons within a localized area, permanently eradicating a necessary component of the space-time continuum."
"Um....can I get that in English, please?" Sora asked.
"It stops time," Raven said. "Permanently."
"What?" Sora stumbled in his haste. "We have to find that thing!"
"Where are you hiding it?" demanded Robin.
"You're a clever boy, Robin," Slade snidely replied. "I'm sure you can figure it out."
Then he held up his arm. Nothing was in his hand, but what appeared behind him was very uncomforting. Small black monsters that were once human beings slithered out of the ground, yellow eyes glowing. They stared into the screen, as if knowing that the Keybearers were on the receiving end.
"Heartless!" Steven shouted.
"What're you doing with those Heartless, Slade?!" Sora shouted at the screen.
"Well, I thought you of all people would know that, Sora." Slade began pacing. "See, I know all about the hearts of worlds, aside from one important fact." He looked to the Titans. "The location of the heart of this world. That's why I'll be sending these Heartless out to search for it. Once it is found, this entire world is my hostage. If anyone dares to stand against me, I leave this world to the Heartless." He cackled maniacally. "And I think you know what happens to a world under the mercy of an unsealed Keyhole."
Sora's eyes widened. "No," he murmered. "I won't let that happen!"
"Won't you, now? Well, then I encourage you to try and stop me." Slade held up a small controller that resembled a walkie-talkie. "But seeing how I control the detonator and the Heartless, time is not on your side." His face disappeared from the screen.
Robin's fist shot down at the computer, bashing the keyboard. "Fan out. Find it. Shut it down," he seethed angrily. He began marching for the door, but found his path blocked by Cyborg and Beast Boy.
"Uh," Beast Boy said nervously. "Maybe you should stay here and coordinate the mission?"
Robin squinted angrily at him. "What?"
"Look man, when it comes to Slade, you got issues," Cyborg quickly pointed out. "Maybe it'd be better for the team if you sat this one out."
"No. I can't!" Robin argued. "There's too much at stake here! This entire world could go down if we don't stop him!"
"Robin," Starfire pleaded. "We have not forgotten the last time you faced Slade."
"I made a mistake, Starfire," Robin insisted.
"We made a mistake," reminded Steven, glancing guiltfully at the floor. "You and I were both involved with that Red X business, Robin."
"All that's over," Robin replied. "It won't happen again. I'll be okay. I promise."
"Then would you at least like to know where to look?" Raven offered, already typing at the computer. "Slade gave us very helpful information without realizing it." She pressed a key and zoomed in on the upper half of the detonator. Two forms were made visible, almost looking like a cryptic message.
"Squiggly lines," Beast Boy scoffed. "Yeah, that's real helpful."
Raven hit a few more keys, mirroring the images and clearing the unfocused nature of the reflection.
"Pier 41," Starfire read.
"The docks!" exclaimed Robin.
"Huh...." Beast Boy looked at the image in quiet amazement.
A warehouse just beside the docks. The location of the detonator was just behind closed, metal blinds.
No problem. Cyborg charged his sonic cannon and bashed twelve-foot door structure right off its supports. The Titans stepped through the smoke and spotted the detonator.....where?
They looked all over the warehouse. It was completely abandonded. No detonator, no Slade, nobody.
"Aw, man!" Cyborg held his head in annoyance. "I don't believe this!"
"Well, it's the not the worst that could happen," Sora reasoned Suddenly, several of Slade's robot minions jumped out of their hiding places, taking a perch on several of the metal banisters that supported the building. The Titans looked behind them and saw another wave standing guard at the door. Sora gulped. "It could still be worse."
As if fate was taunting him, black portals appeared in the ground and Heartless swarms stepped out of it. Steven and Sora summoned their Keyblades. "Okay. This is the worst that could happen."
"What do we do now?" Beast Boy asked.
Robin pulled out his metal rod. "We fight. Titans, go!" He made the first move, rushing to a group of robots. He threw his rod at the first one, then punched out three more. One leaped to the top ledge, but Robin's rod came back around, knocking it off.
Cyborg yelled as he charged at two robots, only to see Robin rush in from nowhere and kick them to pieces. "Hey! I was gonna do that!" Cyborg complained.
Starfire found herself surrounded by three robots. Her eyes glowed green and she almost fired, only for Robin to continue his frenzy by beating down all three by using each as a springboard to get to the next.
Beast Boy turned into a ram and prepared to charge at a swarm of Heartless. This time, Steven came along to steal the glory. He swung his Keyblade horizontally, defeating two Heartless. Then he swung upward, cutting another out of existence. The last Heartless was still wide-eyed in shock as Steven jumped over Beast Boy, making it nothing more than a vanishing whisp of black smoke. Steven flashed Beast Boy a thumbs-up. "Nice assist!"
Raven stood before a group of Heartless. "They say 'fight fire with fire'. Now we can test that with the power of darkness." She held up her hands and her eyes glowed white. "Azerath Metrion-" she began, but halted when Steven leaped in front of her. He jumped into the air and pointed his Keyblade at the Heartless. "Thunder!" He shouted this repeatedly, electrifying the very spot where the Heartless stood. "Thunder! Thunder!" Any that evaded the bolts were soon shocked by the continuing sparks. Still in midair, he gave Raven a thumbs-up as well. "Good distraction!" Raven shrugged in confusion.
Sora, meanwhile, stood before a huge group of both Heartless and machine. He decided that this would be an appropriate time to try Robin's boomerang trick, so he tossed his Keyblade. It spun in a circle, moving first through the left flank of fighters. It sliced through both manner of enemies as it made its way through the center and right flanks. "It worked!" Sora cheered as his weapon made its way back into his hand.
Then he pointed it at the ground beneath them. "Freeze!" Ice spat out of his Keyblade and frosted the ground, covering it in ice. Instantly, the group began slipping. Taking this opportunity, Sora used the ice to slide forward and sliced through the rest of his enemies, one by one. "Alright!" He cheered, spinning around on the ice.
To face another swarm. "Crap!" Sora didn't have much time before the swarm began to charge. Sora prepared his Keyblade, but soon joined everyone else as someone whose moment had been stolen.
Both Robin and Steven jumped down in front of Sora and began striking down the enemies. As Sora watched the relentless beating that followed, he and the others slowly shrank back to the wall, watching their friend and their leader taking down the small armies that opposed them.
Their two approaching attitudes were total opposites. Robin beat down the enemies with a ferocity that said "You're not getting away", angrily determined to stop Slade.
Steven, however, was completely chill. His attitude, fighting, and expression gave off an aura of "Sure, you can run....if you can get away".
Pretty soon, all Heartless were gone from the room and the soldiers lay in deformed heaps that the two fighters continued to beat up, unsatisfied that they were already scrapped.
"Uh, guys?" called Cyborg. "I think you got them." Robin and Steven did not even register that he had spoken, continuing to pound their weapons into the crumpled metal.
"Yes, please desist!" Starfire said calmly. She walked over and grabbed Robin's arm, halting his ruthless assault on the fallen robot.
Steven, in the middle of beating another robot, suddenly felt a weight leave his hand. He looked up to see his Keyblade floating in the air, surrounded by black energy. Before he could register what was happening, the weapon swung downward, bonking his head quite hard. He fell to the ground and his focus wavered.
He blinked a few times and shook his head. That was enough to clear his vision. He looked to the group to see Raven's hand glowing with black energy, shooting an annoyed glare in his direction. "Sorry," he chuckled. "I was on a roll." He held up his arm and Raven released her telepathic hold on the Keyblade, allowing Steven to grasp it.
Robin, breathing hard, yanked his hand out of Starfire's grip. "We don't have time for this!"
The others winced. Their leader stomped angrily towards the door. Steven jumped forward to land in front of him. "What is your deal?" he yelled. "We won here, didn't we?"
Robin roughly grabbed Steven by the shirt and brought his face closer. Steven's eyes were now merely an inch from Robin's mask. "Slade's controlling the detonation and the fate of this entire world and we've got nothing!" Robin shot back. "Does that sound like a victory to you?"
Steven smacked Robin's arm away and showed the same grip upon Robin's uniform. "What is wrong with you?" he shouted. "Everyone here is trying to catch Slade, Robin! So stop acting like him!"
A moment of silence ensued. Robin was trembling angrily and Steven's muscles were tightened as they stared each other down. "No," began Robin. "NEVER!"
He marked this word by throwing his arm forward to connect with Steven's face. The force of the blow caused Steven to release his grip. He flew through the air, not very high, but very fast. His body struck the ground and he skidded to the other side of the warehouse. The other Titans looked on in shock. An angry Steven lay on the ground, breathing heavily.
"Never compare me to him," Robin seethed. He stormed over angrily. "He's trying to destroy the city. I'm trying to save it!" He stood over Steven. "I'm nothing like that psycho!"
His cries of anger echoed off of the walls. Steven stood up to meet his gaze. They hardly even noticed that their teammates were standing only a few feet away. There might as well have been a wall there, for Steven and Robin could no longer comprehend anything but their anger for each other.
"ACHOO!" Starfire's voice squealed as she sneezed. But the sneeze was accompanied by a BOOM that had erupted from a starbolt that had been let loose by her sneeze. The other Titans were fried from the blast.
"Well," said Beast Boy. "That's one way to kill a tense moment."
"Forgive me," apologized Starfire. "I am allergic to metallica chromium. There must be a source near-" She was cut off as she began to tremble again. "ACHOO!" The others ducked their heads as she sneezed yet again. "Forgive me," she repeated.
"Interesting," said Cyborg, looking at a scanner on his wrist.
"Not really," corrected Starfire. "Where I come from, chromium allergies are quite common."
"Not that," Cyborg replied. "A cronoton detonator can only be powered by a metallica chromium core which means-"
"Starfire can track it!" Sora finished. "So once we disable it, we can go after Slade! Defeat their commander and the Heartless will become disorganized and easier to defeat."
"Good idea," Beast Boy piped up. "So here's the plan: the five of us disable the detonator and the Buddy Rich brothers can go after Slade."
The "Buddy Rich brothers", Steven and Robin, glared at Beast Boy, who shrank back a bit, chuckling nervously. "Hey....just trying to lighten the mood a bit."
They walked through the sewer. Surprisingly, it was not as bad as most would suspect. The water was murky, sure, but nobody noticed it. They were too focused on staying away from Starfire, whose sneezes consistently erupted more violent disturbances every time.
Steven and Robin trailed behind the group. The overall walk had been pretty tense between them, but they both reflected on the things they had said and done in the past few hours.
Steven broke the silence. "I'm sorry." He gasped when he heard the same expression come from another source. He and Robin glanced at each other, as both had uttered the same thing simultaneously. Steven nodded as he made his way forward, walking alongside the team's leader. "I didn't mean what I said. You're nothing like Slade. You're a good person."
Robin nodded slightly. "I was wrong. What you say, what the others say, is a bit true. I will get carried away with a criminal sometimes." He looked up from his guilty thoughts. "Sorry for punching you in the face."
"It's nothing man," Steven assured. "When I was fourteen, a tree fell on me."
They both chuckled, glad that they had made amends. The rest of the team, walking a decent distance ahead, was not ignorant of this.
"Well, what do you know?" Cyborg smiled. "They patched things up."
"Really fast, too," added Beast Boy. "That was only like ten minutes."
"Wonderful!" Starfire cheered. "Now we can-" She was cut off as her allergies kicked in. "ACHOO!" She rubbed his nose and pointed down the tunnel. "I believe it is this way."
Sure enough, turning the next curve unveiled a boat. One of Slade's henchman was seen performing maintenance on a device completely identical to the one Slade had displayed to them, currently dormant.
"Get him!" Robin rushed forward. "We can't let them get- AH!" Robin cried as two giant stones hands broke through the wall and pulled him in. The Titans held back as they watched Robin taking on Cinderblock, a six meter man of stone. "Get the detonator!" he called. "Go!" He turned to jump upon and smash his foot across Cinderblock's face, pushing the stone giant backward a few steps. "Only fair to warn you," he growled. "You caught me on a bad day."
Steven broke away, getting ahead of the group, but was quickly halted. He looked up to see his arm caught in a black tendril. Soon another grasped his leg. And then one more grasped his torso. Then a portal appeared behind Steven and the appendages began to pull him in.
"Steven!" Sora yelled. He turned to the others. "Go! I'll catch up!" The Titans nodded and rushed forward. Starfire took a final look back, as Steven was threatened to be swallowed by that black mass on the wall.
"Star! You heard them!" called Cyborg. Regretfully, Starfire followed the other Titans. Sora sliced away a tendril and he grabbed one of Steven's arms. He beat back the black slivers that held his friend, groaning as he struggled to maintain his grip. Soon, a few more tendrils extended and struck Sora, who involuntarily released his grip.
Steven watched as the dark substance drifted over his face. But no sooner had his vision become completely obscured, he could see again. Tipping his head backwards, he saw a huge swarm of Shadow Heartless. "That's it? Geez, bad guys today are so lazy." Then he felt himself being tugged back through the portal.
Sora pulled as hard as he could on Steven's lingered foot, using more strength than he thought he had to bring Steven back to the other side of the portal. When Steven's became visible, even more black tendrils spawned and gripped their prisoner yet again. Sora felt them tug Steven, practically yanking his arms out of their sockets from the force. Steven looked up to see his friend struggling and quickly shouted to him. "Sora, let go!"
"What?" Sora yelled, barely keeping his grip. "No way!"
"It's not endless darkness back there, dude!" Steven confirmed. "It's just a bunch of Heartless! And they're just Shadows! I can handle this!"
"You sure?" Sora replied uncertainly.
"Yes!" Steven nodded. "Now go! Help the others!"
Despite his better judgement, Sora decided to comply. He relinquished his grip and Steven practically shot through the portal, which instantly vanished once he was through. Hoping he had made a good choice, Sora ran down the hallway to catch up with his teammates.
Steven came out the other side of the wall and slid across the room. He got up and called his shiny, black Keyblade to his hand. "Alright, suckers!" He turned to face the Heartless swarm that stood in the way. "Bring it-" Only to find the swarm was gone. "-on?" He scratched his head in confusion. "Where'd they go?"
The ground shook behind him as something landed. Something big. Then something else added to the tremors and began to distort Steven's sense of reason. Before he could become further disoriented, Steven jumped high into the air, his jump powered by the ground's trembling. As it slowly calmed, he landed cleanly and looked behind to find the tremor. "Well, this is just freaking great!" he cursed.
What stood before him now were two Shadow Heartless, only now they towered above him by at least ten feet. Not even pausing to make a witty remark, Steven jumped forward and brandished his Keyblade. With hardly any effort, the Giga-Shadow swung its large arm at him.
Steven saw the arm coming. He blinked. When his eyes opened, he was shooting through the air and his two foes were becoming shorter to his sight by the second. "Fire!" Steven shouted. A ball of fire blasted fire at the wall that he was approaching, blasting it open to avoid impact.
He looked up to see his towering foes stepping slowly towards him. He toss his Keyblade at them. It struck the head of one, halting it momentarily. As soon as the Keyblade returned to him, he chucked it again and again. It continued to slowly weaken the Heartless, but it was taking too long. I don't have time for this, Steven thought to himself. So he decided his magic would be very effective here.
He first charged his Keyblade with an icy blast. "Freeze!" he yelled. Fueled by his unusually intense fighting spirit today, a giant block of ice formed above the two Giga-Shadow Heartless and crashed down on top of them. They struggled for a moment and the ice cube began to shift, not able to hold them for long.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Steven taunted. "Did that hurt? Let me get rid of it for you." He raised his weapon once more. "Fire!" A column of flame erupted from the obsidian Keyblade and flared through both the ice and the Heartless. Now the ice was gone and the Heartless were left soaking wet. "Now think, man," Steven said. "What reaction is strengthened by water?"
He smiled. "Oh yes. Electricity." He strolled over casually to face the Heartless, his entire body that same height as their heads. "Bye-bye!" he laughed, waving at them. He reversed his grip on his Keyblade and plunged it into the ground. He gripped the handle tightly and yelled. "Thunder!"
The effective was immediate. As soon as the energy had electrified one puddle, it released a charge that struck the Heartless. With their entire bodies drenched, they almost became a giant form twitching and glowing with the electric charge. Steven pulled his Keyblade out of the ground and stared as the Giga-Heartless collapsed to the ground.
He heard a small clattering noise nearby and stepped forward. He lifted up one of the arms of his fallen and saw a phone-sized electronic tracker. A few yellow arrows were pointing a location out and the location displayed a familiar logo.
A cryptic-shaped S.
Steven smiled. "This day just keeps getting better and better." He walked away, not looking back as the Heartless slowly faded out of existence, releasing two giant hearts as they passed on.
Robin was unstoppable. Cinderblock was the one unlucky enough to have been facing him today and the rock-man recoiled in pain as Robin brought his foot into his rocky chest. He roared in pain as Robin's fists pounded across his face again and again. Then Robin ended the humiliation by gripping his head and flipping Cinderblock over with his fury-enhanced strength.
"Now where is he?" Robin shouted. "Where's- huh?" He could see that he had been a little rough. Cinderblock was out cold. Robin slammed his fist on his beaten enemie's chest. "Great. Now I don't even have a way to find him."
Then he heard a small beeping noise. His eyes darted to Cinderblocks hand. A small device rested in his spread out palm. Robin picked it up and saw it to be a navigation assistant, a mini-GPS. Three arrows marked a trail on the map and at the end of the trail marked the symbol of his enemy, a unique looking logo of the letter S.
Robin smiled and began following the trail that would finally lead him to the psycho known as Slade. His smile remained as he picked up his buzzing communicator. "Yeah?"
"Robin!" Steven's voice sounded through the communicator, his face showing on the screen. "I beat two giant Heartless and found some kind of tracking device. It can-"
"-lead us directly to Slade?" Robin finished. "Yeah, I found one too."
"Oh......well, I guess I'll see you there, man." Steven gave Robin a thumbs-up before his face vanished from the screen. Robin nodded to himself and began to follow the directions that the device was giving him.
Sora rushed back to the group as fast as he could. No sooner had he gotten there that the minion in the boat finally started the vehicle and sped down the sewer's tunnel. Starfire gripped Cyborg's shoulders and began flying after the boat. Beast Boy transformed into a hawk and followed suit. Sora began running swiftly after them, but they were slowly becoming distant.
Raven practically sped past Sora and floated a few feet from him. She held out one hand and a small platform of black energy formed near Sora, speeding alongside him. "Get on!" Sora gratefully leaped onto the floating power that Raven controlled. With Sora in tow, Raven continued to glide swiftly down the tunnel.
The minion spotted the Titans gaining ground upon it and pressed a button on the boat's panel. "DEFENSE MODE ACTIVATED," the boat monotonously sounded. Two curved structures popped out from the deck and began firing disk-shaped bolts of yellow energy at the Titans. Starfire swerved to avoid them and to keep Cyborg from getting hit. Cyborg's arm altered itself to form his trademark sonic cannon. "I will not be having attitude from a boat!" he yelled.
He fired at the two guns that were rapidly firing at him and took them out with two swift shots. The Titans manuevered closer to the boat now that its purpose for defense was disabled. Starfire released Cyborg and the velocity of her flight allowed him to drop forward, right onto the deck.
Sora turned to Raven. "Toss away some weight to make yourself go faster."
Raven eyed Sora skeptically before figuring out what he was trying to do. Nodding in acknowledgement, the platform beneath Sora disappeared and he was envoloped in Raven's energy. Raven flung her arm forward, propelling Sora to land alongside Cyborg on the deck.
The minion's eyes practically bugged out of its mechanic head. It frantically entered a code on the keypad. Letters appeared on the boats dashboard. "AUTOPILOT ENGAGED." The robot was able to type this before being brutally scrapped and dumped overboard by Sora's Keyblade.
Cyborg gripped the wheel, trying to stop the autopilot. However, his strength was too much for it to take and when it tried to turn against his grip, it snapped off. With no steering mechanism left, the boat began to swerve widly, narrowly avoiding crashing into the cement walls that surrounded them.
Sora clutched the edge of the boat, the momentum practically throwing him off. "Stop!" he yelled. Though he did not intend it to happen, his Keyblade glowed with energy and the boat suddenly came to a halt. Cyborg wobbled a little bit before regaining his balance. Sora climbed back onto the surface. "That won't last long," he informed. "Dismantle something that'll stop the boat for good."
Cyborg immediately jumped to the front of the boat and popped up the hood. He formed his sonic cannon and fired into the engine. "Boo-yah!" he shouted, only to find out that the engine remained completely unscratched. "Uh, what's going on?"
"That's part of the spell!" Sora shouted. "Get away!" Both of them jumped into the water and swam back a bit. The others began to catch up. "Stay back!" Sora warned. "It'll be any moment now."
Then it happened. A small twitch signaled the end of the Stop spell. The boat began whirring up again and moved a few feet, only for the engine to blow up instantly, melting everything under the hood of the boat. The Titans returned to the surface of the boat and admired the work of Sora and Cyborg. "Tell me you're not going to disable the detonator like that," Raven said.
"Don't be such a downer, Raven," Beast Boy said, waving her off. "Cyborg knows his stuff. Right Cyborg?" He smiled at Cyborg.
Cyborg turned around and noticed everybody staring at him. "Uh......what?" he asked.
Sora looked questionably at Cyborg. "You do know how to disable the detonator, right?"
Cyborg shrugged. "How hard could it be?"
He walked over to the giant mechanism. He barely even touched the thing when it suddenly opened up, becoming ten feet tall and revealing the strips of red energy that lined the dangerous weapon. "Huh," he mumbled. "It glows."
"Whatever we're gonna do," Raven warned. "We better do it soon before Slade decides to trigger this thing."
Before long, Cyborg had managed to locate the chromium core of the cronoton detonator. Raven carefully removed the screws that held it in place and Cyborg removed the that shielded it even more carefully. The core floated inside, a ball of red energy with lines of blue electricty moving over its surface. "This core is very unstable," Cyborg warned as he carefully set aside the panel. "No sudden moves."
Fate taunted Cyborg as Starfire began to moan involuntarily. It grew more and they realized she was about to sneeze. Raven surrounded Starfire's head with an orb of dark energy. "ACHOO!" It was raised just in time to contain the sneeze and avoid anything happening. Starfire's hair was uneven and messy, but she was okay. "Please continue," she whispered.
The others sighed in relief. Cyborg held up his finger, making use of a small blowtorch that his finger could transform into. He moved it forward and began to cut through one of the cords. "Alright, I just have to decupple the-" He stopped as his torch sliced through one wire. The core's reaction was to begin making a beeping noise.
"That doesn't sound good," Beast Boy said nervously.
Slade watched on the screen as the five Titans stood on the deck of the boat that held his detonator. His finger lingered on the button of the trigger that was needed to set it off. "Hurry, Titans. Your time is running out."
Slade didn't even react when he heard a wall behind him get a huge hole blown into it. The figure stepped through. "Not just yet, it isn't." Robin stepped through the ruins of the explosion he'd just made. He leaped down to ground level while Slade continued to watch the opposite wall in the room.
And as he'd expected, another hole was created by another explosion and the figure he expected to step through it did not disappoint. "In fact," Steven muttered, twirling his Keyblade. "You could say that we just went into overtime."
"Robin, Steven," Slade voiced. "Welcome. I have been expecting you for quite some time. It took a bit longer than I thought. Tell me, were Cinderblock and the Heartless too big of a challenge for you?"
Steven laughed quietly. "Heartless are my forte."
"And as for Cinderblock," Robin continued. "Let's just say he wishes he called in sick today." Robin held his hand out, waiting. "Enough games, Slade. Where is it?"
"You mean this?" Slade waved the trigger he held in his hand, taunting them. "Well, it's right here." He placed it down in the center of a solitary light that provided illumination to the room. "If you want it, come and take it."
Both boys stood where they were, eying Slade curiously. After all this, Slade was really going to give it up that easily? They both moved forward, getting a little closer to the trigger. When they were about halfway to it, Slade made a move closer to it, standing in the light as well. Robin and Steven halted. Steven chuckled. "Hey Robin," he called. "Do you want to get the trigger?"
Robin looked forward. He and Slade were looking directly at each other, neither one wavering. "Nah," Robin answered. "I've got other plans."
Steven nodded. "I thought so." With a yell, both boys sprinted forward. Steven leaped over Slade to nab the trigger. Robin, however, shot himself forward, aiming his foot at Slade himself.
Slade seemed to be on top of everything. He leapt into Steven's path and and punched him in the gut, bringing him to his knees. Not wasting any time, he turned around and gripped Robin's foot and began spinning him in a circle. Using the momentum, Slade sent Robin flying like a bullet to collide with Steven. Both Titans, sprawled over each other, quickly rose. They ran for the trigger again, anticipating Slade as they moved.
They attacked simultaneously. Steven swung his Keyblade downward and Robin aimed a punch at Slade's stomach. Their target easily sidestepped both attacks. Steven took charge, swiping several times at Slade and not scoring a single hit. Becoming frustrated, Steven struck downward fiercly. Slade stepped back, allowing it to smash into the ground. Then he gripped the blade and used it as leverage to fling Steven upward, to a higher ground where he would temporarily avoid being a nuisance.
Robin rushed forward to try his hand at attacking. He punched and continuously connected with space where Slade had been standing less than a second before. Then when Slade was positioned in front of him, he threw another punch. But Slade effortlessly stopped the punch by gripping the fist that aimed at him. "Good-" he commended. Then he twisted Robin's arm around. Robin yelled in pain.
"-but not perfect," Slade finished. He brought his feet lower, kicking Robin's legs out from under him. The leader of the Teen Titans dropped to the ground, unable to resist. "Come now, you can do better than that," Slade taunted. "I haven't even broken a sweat!"
Robin panted as he kneeled on the ground. He was determined, but that wasn't enough. Slade was just too good a fighter. He hardly even registered it when Slade began marching towards him. "I guess I'll have to finish you off after all," his enemy spoke.
Slade brought back his fist and it shot towards Robin. He gasped when a sudden thud on his back caused him to miss his target.
Steven smiled as he saw Slade stumble, having successfully made a springboard out of him. "Robin, now!" he shouted eagerly.
Robin jerked his head up. Seeing Slade incapacitated for the mere moment was all he needed. He flung his fist forward, slamming it across Slade's chest. Slade stumbled back and was met with Steven's Keyblade striking him in the back and sending him into the air. And Robin had leaped up to meet him there, bring his foot into Slade's chest again and propelling him back into the shadows.
Steven smiled as he stepped into the spotlight and picked up the trigger. "Looks like we win."
Robin clenched his fists, cracking all of his knuckles at once. "It's all over for you, Slade," he said firmly.
Then Slade's voice sounded out from the shadows. "On the contrary, boys-"
As he spoke, Steven felt the trigger sparking with electricty. He and Robin stared in shock as the once-important device simply fell apart in Steven's hand. They looked to the shadows that Slade had flown into to see him walking out, unphased by the fight that was brought to him.
"This is only the beginning." Robin and Steven gritted their teeth, having heard this phrase before, from the same person that stood before them now.
"Tell us where the real trigger is!" Robin demanded.
"Trigger?" Slade repeated. He shook his head and stepped forward to face them.
"There is no trigger," he revealed. "Because there is no detonator either."
Both of their eyes eyes widened in shock.
After several moments of intense concentration, Cyborg prepared his torch one more time. "It should be this wire here," he said, pointing to a wire that would shut down the detonator if he was correct. "Moment of truth, ya'll. I'm going in."
Beast Boy's teeth chattered down upon his nails as Cyborg's torch moved towards the cord. "I can't watch." He covered his eyes with his hand, but removed one so that he could watch anyway. Cyborg's finger edged slowly towards the cord until the flame sliced cleanly through it. A second later, the core turned blue and stopped humming.
The Titans sighed in relief. At least, until the core began to buzz even louder. Then the machine's strips of energy began to flash and the top layer of the detonator clamped down, beginning the process. The cronoton detonator had started.
"No!" yelled Sora. "We blew it!"
"We're gonna be frozen in time forever!" screamed Beast Boy. He and Sora clutched each other tightly in fear. The other Titans panicked where they were. But their frightened state vanished when the detonator began cracking with electricty and started to collapse upon itself.
Beast Boy and Sora opened their eyes to see that they were safe and blinked several times. "Uh, why aren't we frozen in time forever?" they wondered out loud.
"Because this wasn't a cronoton detonator," Cyborg realized. "It was a fake!"
Deep in shock, the five teenagers were oblivious to the floor behind them opening up. A small laser gun rose from the deck of the boat and fired five beams, each precisely hitting one passenger and vaulting them into the water.
One by one, they surfaced. Sora's shook his hair free of water, even though it had maintained its spiky trademark while wet. "Well, besides the taste of sewer water in my mouth, I'm alright." He turned to his teammates. "You guys okay?"
Cyborg nodded, signaling the scanner on his wrist. "Diagnostic sensors say I'm fine."
"We're lucky," Raven pointed out. "Whatever that beam was supposed to do, it failed to do it for some reason."
"Then we are victorious?" Starfire asked hopefully.
It wouldn't be until it was almost too late that they would find out the truth: They weren't victorious at all.
Five display screens on the wall displayed the internal structure of each individual Teen Titan. Steven and Robin watched as several devices with an S-shaped marking that had grown to sicken them completely by now attached themselves to the cells that flowed through the body of their friends.
"Nanoscopic probes," Slade explained. "The promise of a cronoton detonator was merely the bait for a much larger trap." A hidden compartment in his sleeve opened up and moved a small, cylindrical device with a red button from its hiding place to rest in its master's hand. "You see, with a simple push of a button, these probes can destroy your friends from the inside out."
"Your plan won't work!" Robin snapped angrily.
"Yeah!" Steven agreed. "They won't ever obey a psycho like you!"
"You boys still don't get the picture, do you?" Slade replied. "This isn't about them. It's about you two. It has always been about you two. All of my previous endeavors, those cryptic clues I left for you to find, it was a test for you two."
He paced around them in a circle as he spoke. "For quite some time, I've been searching for.....an apprentice. I need someone to leave behind who will follow in my footsteps." He held out his hands, as if weighing something. "At first I was going to do a process of elimination and see who would come out on top, but I'm glad that the process was unsuccessful. Both of you have extraordinary qualities that would be of great use to me."
Slade clasped his hands greedily. "So since both of you have passed my trials, both of you will be my apprentices." Under Slade's mask, the two boys could just tell he was smiling. "Robin, Steven: congratulations."
Steven's breathing increased and Robin glared angrily at Slade. "If you think this'll work, you've got another thing coming!"
"I think you forget one thing, Steven," Slade reminded. "I also control the Heartless. They won't take long to find the Keyhole. And when they do, the world is at my mercy." He squinted at Steven. "The fate of your friends is one thing, but would you really risk the fate of the entire world?"
"You're bluffing!" Steven shot back. "You don't know where the Keyhole is! Sora will find it before you do!"
"He's right," Robin agreed defiantly. "You're even crazier than we thought if you think we're going to become the apprentices of someone like-" Robin's last word was choked back in his throat when he saw Slade's finger inch closer, rubbing against the button with a certainty. Both boys' eyes were widened in fear for the safety of their friends. They were cornered.
Slade knew this. So he began to lay out his conditions. "If you join me, if you swear to serve me, if you never speak to your friends again, I will allow them to live." He released the device and allowed it to slide back into its hidden location. "But," he warned, "If you disobey me, even the slightest command, if either one of you attempts to double-cross me-"
Slade laughed a quiet, sinister laugh. "I will annhilate them. And you will watch." He crossed his arms, waiting patiently. "So, do we have a deal?"
Steven and Robin looked silently at each other, neither saying a word.
"Robin? Robin, please respond!"
"Steven? Come on! Steven, answer me!"
Sora and Starfire were practically shouting into their communicators. Steven and Robin had not been seen since they were separated from the main group and had drifted out of contact since.
"Their locators have been deactivated, guys," Cyborg revealed. "We can't find them."
"This is bad," Beast Boy said nervously. "This is really bad."
"They're okay!" Sora assured. "Steven promised me that he only had weak Heartless to deal with!"
"And Robin's pretty unbeatable when he's having a bad day," Raven added.
"Please, friends, respond!" Starfire shouted futiley into the device.
"Robin, Steven, where are you?"
The pleading calls for response echoed through the empty, pitch-black chamber. A uniform with a logo of the letter R displayed on the chest hung over a piece of metal. A small red light on the former owner's utility belt flashed repeatedly. But the former owner was relieved of it.
Instead, the former owner and his companion stood under a lone spotlight, putting on their new uniforms. Black suits with steel plating and a sickly-shaped S etched into the fabric.
Robin and Steven regrettably placed all this upon themselves. Then, they got to their knees and lowered their heads. The reluctant apprentices giving reluctant respect to their master: Slade.
Slade nodded his head in approval. "I know it seems bad now," he reasoned. "But you will learn to like it." Speaking those words, Slade stepped back into the darkness and moments later, the spotlight shut off.
Robin and Steven sat on the cold, metal ground and stared into the shadows that surrounded them.
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