Disclaimer: The usual drabble: Teen Titans aren't mine.

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Titans Tower. A long time ago.

Five of the would-be six Titans were gathered in the main room simply lounging around, laid back, relaxed and calm. Or in the case of Beast Boy, tense, paranoid, and just about ready to loose it. He paced the room constantly, much to the slight annoyance of his teammates. The way he saw it however, he had good reason to be in an all-crazy-and-paranoid mood that was usually reserved for Robin on certain occasions. Terra had gone to get herself cleaned up after the Titans just had a messy spar session. She said she would be back in thirty minutes. Beast Boy started getting paranoid at thirty minutes and two seconds.

"So, where's Terra," Beast Boy asked to no one in particular.

"Relax, Beast Boy," said Robin, "she said to meet in thirty minutes and it's only been--"

"Thirty-one minutes and forty-five seconds!" interrupted Beast Boy. "Forty-six…Forty-seven…Forty-eight…Forty-nine…"

To the side Raven was mediating quietly trying her best to ignore the changeling while Cyborg and Starfire watched with slight amusement and worry at Beast Boy's insistent counting of the time. "Man, oh man!" said Cyborg. "He's got it bad!"

Starfire raised a finger to Cyborg so to raise a question. "Is this the "bad" meaning "good" variety of bad?"

"Uh, no, It's actually "bad" meaning "bad," but…it's really a good thing in this case.

Just then The Titan's giant monitor came to life with a familiar image and a chilling voice. "Did someone say they were looking for Terra?"

Robin was halfway turning his head to the monitor when he already knew who the voice and the image was. He announced it out loud as if the world needed more reminding of who that person was "Slade!"

Next to Robin, the rest of the Titans turned their full attention to the screen I front of them. Starfire gasped as she saw that Slade's image has taken over the whole screen. She could feel the piercing glare of his one single eye as he stared sown at them, as if declaring his superiority.

"What have you done to Terra?" Beast Boy practically screamed the question.

Slade's demeanor remained calm and cool. "Look for the ticking time bomb at the football stadium."

Beast Boy turned to his teammates. He's got Terra! You heard him…Teen Titans…GO!"

It took the team less than five minutes to get from the tower to the stadium though they were sure that if it was only Beast Boy, he would've gotten there in less than two. They didn't bother knocking at the door. The decided to just fly over the wall and land right in the middle of the field. Knowing Slade, they knew that no one else would be there. Slade was the personal type, isolating his prey from the rest of the world before revealing himself. He would strike at them when he had them all to himself. That was part of what made Slade a genius, as well as the sadistic monster he was known for being.

The Titans in a small concentrated circle in the middle of the field, right at the fifty-yard line, with their backs to each other. They already looked to be ready for a fight, which they knew was all too inevitable.

"We got here fast enough," said Robin, "but now what?"

""I'm scanning the area for explosive devices…" said Cyborg.

"Where's Terra?" exclaimed Beast Boy, "We have to find Terra!"

Just then, the big screens standing over the seats came to life with the image of Slade. Even with a single-eyes mask, he had the look of a man who had absolute control of the situation. It was admirable and scary at the same time.

"What now Robin?" he asked rhetorically. "Why, now it's time to welcome the visiting team."

As Slade said this, a whored of his familiar slade-bots charged out into the field, limbs raised and ready for battle. The Titans turned in their direction and readied themselves with Raven and Starfire gathering black and green energy in their hands, Cyborg readying his sonic cannon, Beast Boy transforming into a tiger, and Robn getting ready to issue orders.

"Oh it's gonna be like that, huh?" said Cyborg.

"No problem!" exclaimed Robin confidently.

"I admire your confidence," said Slade, calm as usual, "but wait…Did you think you would be playing the role of home team?"

At that point, a large group of hive-bots, big mechanical ogres with armored hides and pincers, came rushing out the opposite end of the stadium. They all looked like they wanted a piece of the Titans who in turn looked a bit baffled by the sudden increase in foes.

"Oh, my dear children," continued Slade, "that's not whyI have brought you here. You're here to…how shall I put this…be the ball! So prepare to be kicked around!"

Both the slade-bots and hive-bots charged in on the small group of super teenagers. After that, the usual chaos ensued.

Up in a secrete room somewhere nearby, Slade was comfortable watching the "game" on a set of monitors that fed video coming from the his robot commandos. He watched with an observing eye as each Titan managed to hold their own with and without their fellow Titans. Only when they were more or less isolated in a fight of their own would slade grant them full attention. He wanted to see how they fought, what was they're style, and more importantly, what was their weakness. Soon separate monitors focused on separate Titans as the battle ensued.

"Slade looked at the monitor showing Robin. "I'm familiar with this one's hyper-competitiveness and obsessive drive to win…very familiar."

Slade looked at the monitor showing Starfire. "And what did you call her again? "sweet and innocent?" I'd call it naïve and gullible, but nonetheless it's something that can be exploited."

Slade looked at the monitor showing Raven and Cyborg. "I need to learn more about those two--"

Slade looked at the monitor showing Beast Boy. "--but this one's weakness is as plain as the mask on his face."

On the monitor, Beast Boy was screaming: "Titans! We have to find Terra!"

Under the mask, Slade couldn't help but smile.

From behind him: "Shouldn't I be out there helping them?"

Slade looked behind him and looked towards his apprentice, Terra. She was looking down solemnly on the floor not meeting his one-eyed gaze. Slade moved slowly towards his ward and gently placed two fingers underneath her chin and lightly lifted her face so that Terra and he were looking at each other straight. Her big china-blue eyes had no emotion in them as she stared up at her master.

"You're right," he said to her. "We wouldn't want them to become suspicious."

Terra didn't reply and turned around with almost no hesitation. Slade would later evaluate this as too little hesitation on her part. Terra donned her trademark goggles and rushed right out of the room to save her teammates. To save her "friends."

The moment Terra was gone, Slade turned back to the screen and watched the screens showing the Titans in action. He thought back to what he told to the Teen titans in order to entice them into coming to the station. Find the bomb, he remembered saying. Of course there was no bomb, not at the stadium. But the bomb he planted was closer to the Titans that they ever knew and it was counting down.

Underneath the mask, Slade smiled. "Tick. Tick. Tick."

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Jump City. Present day.

His PDA rang again so he answered it.

"Hello?" greeted Watcher.

"Oh, good, your not dead yet," greeted back the same familiar voice.

"I'll be angry at that later.

"Yo, hotshot. Got some interesting info you might be interested in."

"Oh, really?" asked Watcher.

"I'm gonna get you, you little turd!" exclaimed a voice neither of the two knew.

"Who's that?" asked the girl on the PDA.

"Uh, I'll call you back okay, Sil?"

Watcher pocketed away his PDA into his jacket and turned towards a very bulky man who was wearing a lot of leather and a ski mask on his head and charging at Watcher while armed with a long metal pipe. The bulky man swung at Watcher who expertly ducked. Watcher easily tripped the man by extending is foot towards the man's path. The man tripped on Watcher's foot and tumbled awkwardly before falling flat on his face. The bulky man fell among several other unconscious or semi-conscious men that riddled the floor.

Watcher took a quick glance around to remind himself o where he is and his situation which was interrupted by his friend's phone call. He was inside some warehouse near the harbors where a malicious gang was known to be hiding out in. The gang was known to use several high-tech weaponry that they supposedly bought from Professor Chang on a regular basis. He got there, started taking names, and the next thing he knew all hell broke loose. Typical really.

Looking around, he could see the last four men still standing. They surrounded him. Each of them was armed with a make-shift blunt weapon like a bat or a pipe. They all looked primed to charge in. Watcher stood calm and raised both his hands to about chest height for the four men to see. He motioned with his fingers for them to come at him while he wore a confident grin on his face.

"Alright," he said to them, "which one of you fruitcakes wants to ask me out first."

One of the men charge at Watcher with all the grace of a runaway locomotive. The young teen was every bit prepared however. As the first once came at him with a tire iron, Watcher easily sidestepped to the right as the man swung down. The man missed completely and was left vulnerable after the swing. Watcher saw an opportunity and spun around to the man's back.

While behind the man, the young teen used his hand to grab at the man's shoulder blade and gripped hard, earning a pained yelp from the thug. Watcher yanked his shoulder forcing the man's upper body to bend back awkwardly. At the same time Watcher swung his leg forward and kicked the both of the thug's feet from behind sending the man's lower body to jump forward awkwardly. At one point the combination of the low kick and the high yank left the thug hanging horizontally in mid-air. Still moving the leg he used to kick the man's feet Watcher brought it up over the thug's stomach and slammed the unfortunate thug to the floor, knocking the wind out of him.

Watcher calmly walked away from the body of the now unconscious gang member and continued motioning for the others to come at him if they dared. They did dare and they soon found it to be a stupid decision. Two of the men charged at him at the same time, baring their arms high. Not that it helped them in any way. The first to reach Watcher swung high. Watcher ducked. The second to reach him swung low. Watcher easily leapt into the air to not only avoid the strike but deliver his own strike using his foot the gang member's face. The second thug fell to the floor for a moment. In that moment, the fist thug turned around and charged back at Watcher.

The young teen smirked confidently. These guys were so predictable the fight was barely enjoyable anymore. As the man swung down with his blunt weapon, which was an ordinary baseball bat, Watcher expertly reached up to grab the man's hand holding the bat. All it took was a slight twist to one side while holding the proper nerves on the wrist to cause the man to yelp in pain and his hand go limp and drop the bat. Watcher finished off with a hard elbow to th face, knocking the man unconscious instantly. The thug fell on his back.

Meanwhile, the second thug that fell first from the kick to the face was just getting back up. As soon as the man was on his feet, Watcher was already at him with a knee to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He fell back the floor, fully knocked out by the loss of air in his lungs and the shock to his organs.

Watcher turned to the last man still standing. He was still standing at the same spot holding his weapon, an old golf club, with now trembling hands. Watcher grinned at the man and tilted his head to the side as if to say to him 'now what're you gonna do?' in a non-verbal way. The man told himself that he wouldn't be as dumb as his fellow gang members by just charging at the guy. It was quite obvious at that point that the strange teen was very much capable of standing his ground when they went up close and personal. As a matter of fact, Watcher barely moved from the spot where he was standing in since the fight started.

The thug decided to go with a different approach. He dropped his golf club and ran to the side but he wasn't escaping. He reached a pile of old crates and yanked the lid of one and reached in. He pulled out what looked to be a very futuristic looking gun. Without even looking he pointed the gun to where he remembered where Watcher was standing and fired. The gun shot out a bright plasma beam that cut through the air and completely decimated the pile of old wooden crates in the far side of the room. Never did the beam hit Watcher. The thug was baffled to learn why. The teen had disappeared.

He stood still for a moment simply blinking in confusion. What the thug wasn't noticing at that particular point was that Watcher was slowly phasing out of the floor in his intangible state right behind the thug with all the noise of a feather falling on cotton. After solidifying himself again, Watcher delivered a quick and efficient chop to the back of the thugs head. The thug was knocked-out and face flat on the floor before he even felt the blow.

Watcher walked around the unconscious thug and picked up the futuristic weapon. He recognized it from one of his research files. It was a common item that the infamous Professor Chang sold regularly to his more small-time clients when he worked at Jump City. The energy based weapon was supposed to be a prototype for military special fores but R&D budgets went through the roof and the project was scrapped. Chang picked up where they left off since he knew that those crazy take-over-the-world types were more than willing to pay tat extra buck to ensure their men had superior firepower.

This must've been surplus, Watcher figured, seeing that even a lowly street gang was able to get a hold of them now. Maybe this gang had some major sponsors. Lately he'd been learning about big businessmen who hired gangs to do dirty work. That or Chang must've had one heck of a clearance sale just before he left the city.

Watcher held the gun tightly in his hand and concentrated. While he did this rarely, the skill of being able to control what's tangible and what's not came in handy sometimes. He concentrated and turned the outer casing completely intangible. He was able to see the inside of the gun easily. He reached with his other hand and grabbed the inner parts of the gun and simply pulled them out from the now intangible casing. He threw the empty casing away and proceeded to the inner parts. Step by step he dismantled the gun completely. A regular guy would've needed special tools and schematics to do what Watcher just did so effortlessly.

With that taken care of, Watcher returned to another urgent business. He reached into his jacket pocket and brought out his PDA and dialed.

"So, have enough fun?" was the first thing the girl on the other said as soon as she answered.

Watcher shook his head as if the girl could see him do so. "I was doing my job."

"How so?"

"I got info that there was a local gang who bought weapons from Chang. I checked it out and it turned out to be a dead end."

"Oh and speaking of info, I go some for you."

"What?"

" Toronto ."

Watcher looked slightly confused. " Toronto ? That's it? If your gonna mention some random city name the least you could do is make sure it's an interesting one. Why not London , or Athens , or Manila , or Moscow , heck I'll even take Hallow City--"

"Will you knock it off! You want something interesting about Toronto ? How about the fact that Chang's men were recently spotted there?"

Watcher's face turned serious. "Really? Well that's interesting. Why would they be there?"

"Not sure but they just broke in to the STAR Labs branch in Toronto ."

"STAR labs?" Watcher was familiar with the name. The famous STAR Labs where the greatest of what science has to offer are produced. He also knew from a faint memory that the Toronto branch specialized in mechanical engineering. What could Chang have stolen from that place? A machine of some kind or part of?

"Do you know what they took?" Watcher asked.

"You know STAR. Everything is being kept under wraps. Especially since there was more than one party who broke in."

"What? Who else was there?"

"Take a guess. Who else wants Chang?"

Watcher took less than a second to find an answer. "The HIVE Five…"

"Bingo."

Watcher was silent for a long moment. So the HIVE Five are closer to Chang now than he could've predicted. Things were getting out of hand. He was supposed to be one step ahead of everyone fro the beginning. At the start, that was true. But now, things were getting out of his control. He knew this wasn't the first time. Things have gone a bit misguided in the past and he always managed to rectify those little mistakes. He regained control eventually, making the situation stable.

But this was different.

The people he was dealing with were nothing like his previous assignments. The HIVE Five and their new addition were hardly what anybody would call normal. Chang was no walk in the park either. Terrorist groups and overzealous cults he could handle and have handled in the past. There was also the thing that was at stake.

With what was at stake, he was surprised that only his team was called into this assignment. There should've been more on this. But he knew why only his team was called in. His team, particularly himself, specialized in observing and that was what was really needed at the time. They didn't want to stir a panic among the people inside and outside their ranks. They would check and see if there really is anything to panic about before charging in head-on. They had to confirm the threat. They always did. And they always sent his team first to see if there was a threat. Sometimes he and his team would take care of it themselves. They were more than capable of doing so most of the time. But now he wasn't so sure anymore if he could handle this alone.

"Hey, you still there," called back the girl on the PDA.

This snapped Watcher out of his train of thought. "Yeah."

"What do we do?"

"The situation is no longer in containment. I'm gonna have to do something drastic. I'm gonna go after Chang and the HIVE Five. Right now, they should be our top priority. We have to confirm the threat as soon as possible."

"Agree, but…you're going in alone?"

"It's certainly an option."

"Don't. You'll only get yourself killed. You're tough, Watcher, but not invincible. You have more experience than me and I would think you would know this very well by now. You're suppose to be smarter than this, you know? Plus, remember that you and I are not the only ones in November. I can call in one of the others and send help. Even they're busy with something else I'm sure they'll understand the severity of the situation."

"Yes I know that. And I only said going in alone was just an option. That wasn't the first thing I considered."

"Then what was the first thing you considered?"

"Isn't it obvious? We have next to nil when it comes to information regarding Chang and the HIVE Five. Going at them alone is a bad idea, I know. Calling on other November team members won't do us much good. But there is at least one more entity in this situation that I can call to our side who knows a whole lot more on Chang and those HIVE guys."

There was a short silence from the other line. "…The Teen Titans…You're thinking of approaching them."

"It's not the first time we've done some outsourcing."

"But…you're a new face to them. They won't trust you outright. Are you sure you don't have any other options? Maybe you can find somebody else who knows both Chang and the HIVE to help you."

"Are you volunteering then?"

Nothing but silence from the other line. Watcher partially scolded himself for that comment. He should've known better given who he was talking to. But time was something he didn't have. They needed help and he they needed it fast. More importantly, they needed help from those who were willing to give it. But he was not heartless and inconsiderate. Watcher knew better than to force his teammate to help him, knowing what she's going through. In he's own way, he could relate to what she was going through.

"Look," he continued. "I told you that I know what you're going through. I even promised to help you out. But the past is the past. It's over and done with. We cannot change it. We have to focus on the present and do what is necessary to keep safe what is most important. I know you're not particularly cool with my decisions but my choices…our choices…are running slim. You understand that, don't you…Silicis?"

He waited the long while before she finally replied. "Yeah."

"Then can I count on your support for this descision?"

"Well, whatever's best for the world, right."

He didn't bother to press whether that was a real yes or no. "Alright. Thanks for the info again. I'll update you when I can."

"One last thing…Just remember what I said. Don't give them a reason to hate you."

"I'll remember that."

"Oh, and good luck."

"I'll need it…we all will…"

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Four years ago.

She ran. Confused and scared she had little else to think about doing but running. She continued running away from the car she stole and left it right there in the middle of London bridge along with him. She passed the now empty patrol car of the officer that was still treading water somewhere below. She went down the street pass the man she nearly ran over no less than a fifteen minutes ago. Her heart was pounding, Her muscles felt like they were being stretched. Her joints felt like they were tightening up.

She had never been this genuinely scared in her life.

She ran for who knows how long before she took refuge in a dark alley. She walked through the dark alley. With complete absence of light, she could barely see where she was going and managed to knock over a trash can. A cat that was foraging inside the trash can jumped out with a high-pitched shriek startling the girl and causing her to fall on her butt. She quickly got up and steadied her nerves. She didn't need them any more tenser than they already were, that's for sure. She momentarily considered giving the stupid feline a nightmare but decided to just leave the ally finding it too dark a place to be going into.

She turned around and made for the entrance of the alley. Only after a few steps towards the entrance was when here heart froze.

"Hello my dear," said Brother Blood as he stood at the entrance of the alley.

The girl was completely still for what she thought was forever and so did the man who called himself Brother Blood. Eventually she took a step back. Brother Blood didn't move. She took two more steps back and yet he remained still. The girl kept stepping backwards faster now. She continued to watch the unmoving Brother Blood as he grew farther and farther away from when her but because of this she forgot about the trash can she tipped earlier. Her legs met the fallen trash can and she fell over it and on her butt once again.

The sting of the fall caused her to clamp her eyes shut for but a split second as she gave out a mild yelp of pain. The moment she opened her eyes again and looked up, Brother Blood was standing no less than five feet from where she lay. She went wide-eyed and her heart skipped a bit. She was now practically crawling backwards scraping her butt on the dirty ground. She finally got back up and got back her nerve.

She looked at the man directly in the eye and, out of pure desperation, tried to project her illusions on the man one more time. Brother Blood saw this and sighed exasperatingly. "Haven't you tried that already?"

The girl ignored him as her eyes glowed bright. But then, the exact same thing that happened on the bridge happened again. The mental recoil caused the girl to throw her head back and scream in pain.

"Aaaaarrrrgh!!"

She fell to her knees. She clasped her head with both hands. It felt like it was going to explode. Her breathing was heavy and rushed. Sweat poured from her brow tears streamed from her wide-as-dinner-plates eyes. Brother Blood stood still observing the young girl. He shook his head in genuine disappointment.

"And here I thoought you'd be smarter than this," he said to her.

She looked up at him with fearful eyes. "Who are you?"

"I already told you. I'm Brother Blood."

"Why are you after me? What have I ever done to you?"

"My dear, it's not what you think. I come here without any hostilities."

"Whatever it is you want, I've got nothing to do with it. Leave me alone!"

"I can't do that..."

"Just Leave me alone!"

With that she ran down the dark alley, something she reconsidered doing just a while ago but now so little other choice but to do so. Behind her, Brother Blood didn't move an inch and instead sighed exasperatingly again. The girl had spirit at least, he thought to himself.

Down the dark alley, the girl moved with considerably high speed. The darkness was still hard to navigate and she found herself tripping and knock over thing a lot. She didn't care. All that mattered was that she could get away from that man. That scary man who could nullify her powers and throw them back at her. Her fear was the only thing pushing her now. She couldn't fight him. She couldn't ope to win. She had to run.

She eventually found an exit out of the alley and got back onto the street. As she got into the middle of the road a car horn honked to her side. She looked in that direction and saw an incoming car turn away from her at the last second and crash into a nearby storefront triggering an alarm. The frightened girl stared with a racing heart at the scene of the crash. The car had completely wedged its front half into the storefront and the shattered widow pieces littered the street. The alarm was blaring noisily echoing down the empty street which didn't stay empty for long.

Soon people started waking up to the sound of the alarm and peering their heads out of the darkness of the night to investigate the commotion. The girl was getting more nervous now. This was the last thing she needed. She was surprised when a kind bystander walked up to her from behind.

"Are you alright girly?" asked the kind man.

She didn't answer but instead got back up to her feet and shoved him away as she dashed past him. She eventually got away from the scene, the crowds of curious people. And, she hoped, that man with the name of Brother Blood. Simply running away was tiring her out. She wasn't used to running like this. Heck, she wasn't used to running period. It should have been her that was in control of the situation. It has always been that way throughout the years. What was different now? What had gone wrong?

She didn't care to get an answer. She was too busy feeling scared.

Eventually she manged to reach the park. In the middle of the night, the park was the last place anybody wanted to be. No problem for her. She's been through here before at hours like this. She could take whatever lowlife that decided she was too beautiful to ignore. They all got horrible nightmares that most likely left them traumitized for life. She found it unusual that the park was actually empty.

"Tired yet?"

The voice that came from no less than three feet behind her sent a freezing chill down her spine. She couldn't move. Her legs refused to follow her orders to run. And even if she could run, a part of her mind was already convinced that it was only a waste of effort. She didn't even bother turning around to see who it was.

"What are you gonna do to me?" she asked, on the verge of tears.

Brother Blood gently placed his hands or her shoulder. "To make you stronger than you could ever imagine..."

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STAR Labs, Torornto

Walking into the labs was relatively easy for the white-suited henchman. Everything had already been prepared several hours prior to the actual break-in. They picked this day because it was a day-off. They picked this hour because of the minimal security. They picked this facility because only it contained what they really required. The white-suited henchman, along with a couple of black-suits as escorts, moved with confidence across the metallic halls of the LABS. The security system was disabled long ago so it wasn't a problem.

The white-suited captain of the bunch pulled out what looked like a miniature laptop computer. He flipped it open and looked through the digitally displayed map on the screen. He scanned it once to check on where his party was and their intended destination. Two more turns to the right and they would be there. He pocketed away the device and continued onwards, his escorts in tow.

Eventually, they reached their destination in the form of really big double doors elading to a room which. From the plaque above the doors, was named "experimental components rm 3". It was naturally locked. The captain was naturally indifferent. No problem. He saw the lock access panel to the side. He hack it in less than twenty seconds. This was his specialty.

The doors were soon open and access was given to the small party of three. They walked into the room and turned on the lights.

It was an incredibly large space, enough for a bus to drive around in. All over were nothing but machines, or at least their components. Tools were strewn across the dozens of tables used to work on by the many brilliant minds that worked for STAR Labs. Most prominent of the room's features however were the already aforementioned machines and mechanical wonders that only the most imaginative sci-fi buff could come-up with. Anyone who walked into that room at that moment would probably think they just walked in to Dr. Frankenstein's playroom.

Again, the captain of the henchmen was indifferent. He took out his mini PC once again and opened a new file in it. Now it was down to business. He had a shopping list to complete.

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Author's note: More to come as soon as I get some free time and fix this stupid bug in my PC. In the meantime, ples. R&R!