The heads of every single person on the rooftop whipped around as the cavalry came to the rescue.

"What the..?" Robin said as Aqualad, Argent, Bumblebee and the other members of the Titan family came over the side of the building. "We beat you!"

"Not hard enough, it seems," Lad said, grinning. "We picked up some friends along the way. I think we might have the odds in our favor now." Looking across the rooftop, the aquatic hero smiled at Logan. "Nice to see you, Dead Man. How you holding up?"

"Like Glenn Quagmire in a lezbo club," the Titan said. "How the fuck you think I'm holding up?!"

'Typical,' Lad thought as he smirked. Logan was still ready with a snappy comeback for anything.

Slade's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the scene. His Titans were sorely outnumbered. Still, there was one way to make the heroes crumble. All he needed was the right timing…

"Titans, show our guests the door," he ordered, his voice as cold as ice.

The final battle for Jump City was about to begin…

Slade's one crazy motherfucker. Robin and the others are down at least two to one and that masked menace is still ordering them to throw down. Not surprised. The Titans are just another expendable resource for that SOB. Still, they charge in without hesitation. I still got my blade against Star's neck. Now, it's just me and the madman…

The mercenary let out a small chuckle as he watched Logan. Despite the relative annoyance the Titan had caused him, he still had to admire his courage – foolish as it may be.

"I have to take my hat off to you, Mr. Logan," he said, slowly. "You know how to spin a good yarn." He gestured towards the immobilized Tamaranean. "Little Starfire is no longer aware of whether or not you're capable of using that blade. You and I, however, know the truth."

"No, Fox Mulder knows the truth," Logan said, a slight grin on his face. "You and I don't know jack about shit."

"Speak for yourself, boy," Slade said, his eyes narrowing. "That little cunt is the only thing standing between you and your grave. Nice of the Titans to throw you that little going away party – there's a good casket sitting in the ground going to waste. Might be about time we fill it with something."

"Nice thought," the green man said, grinning. "Problem is you're about a foot and a half too tall. Ah, hell – that's what they make chainsaws for right?"

Slade's taking his sweet time with this. Starting to get on my nerves. Keeps fuckin' circling around me like a damn vulture. I turn to keep pace, the knife never leaving the vicinity of Star's neck. Know it's just a matter of time before he decides to just cut her down to get to me. Back's near the stairwell now. Thing's all twisting up like a corkscrew. Got a bad feeling it and I are gonna get a little more acquainted in a moment…

Shit. Slade's still watching me. He's waiting for the right moment. Hmm, maybe I can offset him by doing the unexpected.

By acting first…

"Okay, asshole," Logan said, the steel blade slowly falling away from Starfire's neck, "you said you want to kill me. Sounds like fun. Knowing you however, I'm betting you don't want this to end with a bang. You wanna find out who the best really is. Tell you the truth, I'm kinda itching to know myself. With that being said…"

The mercenary watched calmly as the Titan released Starfire's hair and dropped the knife to his side. This was it.

"Let's dance," Logan finished, stoically.

Slade let out a chuckle. "Good move, Mr. Logan," he said, nodding his head ever so slightly. "But, I seem to have lost interest…"

It's so fast I can't even get a bead on it. Before my mind can even begin to register what's going on, I hear the shot. Then I feel the impact. Fucker cleared holster in a fraction of a second and put one in me. So much for wanting to know who the bigger man was. Slade's playing by the rules of the street – and that's to win, any way possible.

I'm pissed now. Fucker wants to play games, I just show him what I'm made of. I grin as I take a step towards him…

What the…

I stagger as my right leg damn near buckles at the knee. I can feel blood seeping out of the gutshot as I struggle to remain on my feet. FUCK! Somebody's hacked my Game Genie! The nanobots are finished. Oh shit…

I think I'm finished…

I can feel myself tumbling backwards, tumbling towards that corkscrew of a staircase. I don't' even feel the impact of the first step on the back of my head. I do, however, get one last glimpse of that fuck Slade before the whole world goes black. Dammit…I got this far, got all the way to the final boss, and I'm all out of continues.

Life…is such…a…bitch…

"BEAST BOY!" Aqualad screamed as he saw his friend disappear into the darkness of the tower. That stupid motherfucker. Why did he have to do all this alone? Why did he have to be so goddamn stubborn? Why…

Why did he have to be a hero?

The image burned into the aquatic hero's mind. It filled him with something that he'd never felt before…rage. Pure, unadulterated rage. It was time for a little payback…

Jericho let out a grunt as Lad slammed him upside his skull with a massive fist. He didn't even get to the ground before Lad's foot found a nice spot to lodge in his ribcage. This grunt was even louder.

"How's that feel, fucker?" Aqualad said, gritting his teeth. "How jolly fucking well you like that, huh?"

Lad reached down and grabbed a handful of Jericho's collar. His right hand balled into a fist. Time to drop the hammer on this mo-fucky…

The hero let out a gasp as his hand stopped dead in mid-swing. Glancing around with his eyes, he realized his wasn't the only one affected. Every single Titan, including their brainwashed brethren, was locked in position. Try as he might, the only things Lad was able to move were his eyes and his mouth. What the hell was going on…

"Well, I see none of you are capable of resisting my Zero-Energy Field," Slade said calmly as he walked among the trapped Titans. "Amazing little device, if I say so myself. It locks any organic being within its' radius in a field of neutrally charged particles. In layman's terms, it's the pause feature on the reality TiVo."

"Let us go!" Bumblebee said, angrily.

"Oh, I don't think that will be happening any time soon," the merc said, coldly. "Not until I put a bullet in each one of your heads…well, with the exception of my own team."

Slade turned to his right, glaring at Robin as he sat frozen in mid-battle with Argent. "Robin, my boy," he began, "you and your team have proven…quite useful in my quest to rule Jump City. However, I think it's time you got let go."

The Boy Wonder's eyes grew wide with uncertainty. "Master, I…I don't understand," he said, shocked.

"I didn't think you would," Slade said, sternly. Slowly, he held up a small device for all the Titans to see. "Allow me to explain what's going to happen: First, I'm going to press this button. This remote will set off a powerful signal similar to the one that I used to…'enlighten' you. This one, however, is designed to destroy your minds from the inside out. I'm told your skulls will pop like overfilled balloons…but I will be the judge of that. Afterwards, I will personally put a bullet in the head of each remaining Titan, since this device will only work on your team."

Robin's heart leapt into his throat as his hear the words. His master, the one whom he had pledged his life to, was going to kill him! "Master, why?" he asked, his breathing becoming labored. "Why would you kill us? We did all you asked!"

"Precisely," the merc said, calmly. "You did your jobs magnificently…well, with the exception of Logan. Either way, your job is complete…and I have no more use for you."

All eyes were on Slade as he hovered his thumb over the button. The endgame was at hand.

"So sorry to ruin your day, my boy," he said, quietly. "But you know that in any good war, there must be sacrifice…"

Game over.