Author's Notes

To JP-Rider, I never have thought about which Zatanna is the one in my story. I personally would believe she is more like the one in the older comics, as her personality is so anti-Raven. I haven't read "Return of a Titan", so that wouldn't be how I portrayed Robin (Update: I have now read "Return of a Titan" and I do notice many similarities between that Robin (who would become Dusk) and my Robin (Claw).) My portrayal of Robin (or Claw now) is more based upon "Faith", "Deal With It", and "Coincidences & Misunderstandings", with elements borrowed from the TV series, such as "Apprentice" and "Haunted".

To RedZenin, that cliffhanger certainly kept you in suspense and the result will come this chapter - the fight between Jinx and Kid Flash versus Claw and Zatanna.

To guest reviewer, I'm still working on Slade and Raven's relationship, which will ultimately comprise a significant portion of Act 3. Slade's children are dead as a doornail at the moment. I don't know whether or not to portray Slade and Raven's relationship like as lovers or as a surrogate father-daughter relationship.

To bloodshark, the confrontation between Raven and the League was necessary. The League is still trying to achieve consensus on Zatanna, but they probably won't be involved in the final confronation between Raven and Claw.

Now, let's continue the story.

At Titans Tower, Cyborg was trying to get a lock onto Starfire's vital signs - he needed to know if she was still alive. That seemed to be nerve-wracking for the other Titans, who were all gathered in the main ops room, awaiting news.

At long last, Cyborg found Starfire's vitals - her heart and lungs were functioning normally (well normal for a Tamaranean) and she was starting to regain consciousness.

Cyborg heard through the communicator, "What happened?". It was Starfire's voice. She was alive.

Cyborg responded, "Star, get back to the Tower. We'll figure it out here. We can tell someone beat you to Jericho."

Starfire replied, "Okay Cyborg, I will return to the Tower immediately."

Suddenly, an alert was coming in from the Justice League Watchtower. Cyborg accepted the chat and appearing on the screen was Superman.

Superman asked, "Where's Jinx?"

Cyborg said, "She's out downtown with Kid Flash. Why?"

Superman's response was "Tell her to return to the Tower now. Zatanna's in Jump City and we believe Jinx's life is in danger."

Cyborg quickly got his communicator and began to dial in Kid Flash.

Kid Flash and Jinx were at the McKinnon Creamery in downtown Jump City, currently sitting at one of the few metal tables in the place. They were splitting a five-scoop strawberry and banana fudge waffle sundae.

For around an hour, the two were talking about their experiences in life - Kid Flash about serving with the Flash and his desire to go solo while Jinx discussed her duration as head of the HIVE Five.

Suddenly, Kid Flash's communicator was going off. Kid Flash answered it and found a very panicked Cyborg on it.

Kid Flash asked, "What's up, Cy?"

Cyborg said, "Get Jinx back to the Tower now."

Jinx popped in and asked, "What's gonna make me, Stone?"

Cyborg replied, "Zatanna's here to kill you. Justice League just informed us."

Kid Flash closed the communicator and quickly grabbed Jinx's hand.

The two raced away from the creamery as an M72 LAW quickly impacted the store, causing a complete explosion.

Suddenly, the two were stopped by an invisible barrier which they were quickly bounced off of.

They turned around to see Claw holding the spent M72 rocket launcher and Zatanna, both very angry.

Zatanna said, "You're not going anywhere Jinx. I've got business to settle with you and I won't have you running from it."

Claw dropped the M72 and grabbed a Remington 11-87 shotgun. He quickly dispensed two shells of buckshot towards the pinkette and speedster.

Jinx and Kid Flash zipped into opposite alleyways as the shells came, missing them.

Kid Flash got up and noticed Claw was headed his way with the shotgun. He quickly backed himself up into a wall, hoping to score an ambush on his assailant.

Zatanna meanwhile was headed right for Jinx and was readying her magic for a fatal blow.

As Claw walked into the alleyway, Kid Flash quickly stole the shotgun from Claw before vibrating it to collapse on itself.

Kid Flash punched Claw twice in the head and ran towards Zatanna, trying to keep her from finishing off his date.

Kid Flash reached Zatanna and tripped her, causing her to fall. With the time, Kid Flash grabbed Jinx and quickly sped off, trying to avoid their attackers and get back to Titans Tower.

Claw revealed a detonator in his hand and pressed it, which caused the road where Jinx and the speedster were near to collapse into rubble.

Zatanna got up and cast a spell towards the two. "Etarapes."

The spell caused the two to be split up, away from each other. Jinx was knocked down on the ground and her leg was stuck in some rubble.

Zatanna cast another spell at Kid Flash. "Esir." Kid Flash rose from the ground and was now hovering in front of Zatanna, unable to use his powers to escape.

Then, Claw grabbed his Mark 23 handgun and shot Kid Flash in the kneecap, causing him extensive pain.

Claw said, "That's gonna hurt, ain't it?"

Zatanna said, "Forget him, Claw. The girl is our target. We'll kill her then finish off her boyfriend."

Kid Flash said, "I'm not her fucking boyfriend! Not yet at least."

Claw said, "And she'll never be."

Claw raised his Mark 23 towards Jinx, preparing to finish her off like an animal, trapped and unable to defend herself.

However, Slade jumped up towards Claw and punched the gun right out of his hands before kicking him backwards away from the pinkette.

Zatanna said, "Slade. Interfering as always." Zatanna began to summon her magic to kill the mercenary that was messing up her plan.

However, Zatanna was surrounded by red-black magic and thrown aside. Raven came into the scene and put down Kid Flash, who she freed from Zatanna's binding.

Kid Flash said, "Thanks, Rae. I owe you big time."

Raven walked over to Jinx and used her powers to free Jinx's leg.

Jinx said, "Thanks Raven. You saved my life."

Raven then grabbed the power suppressor that was still on Jinx's wrist and removed it. Jinx quickly felt around her wrist and noticed it was free again.

Raven said, "You'll need your hexes now. Let's kick some ass."

Jinx got up, standing next to Raven in readying to fight Zatanna and Claw. Slade was also beside them as was Kid Flash, who was wounded from Claw's bullet.

Zatanna said, "It's kind of cute thinking the four of you could beat us. The Four Musketeers, relics, and destined to fall."

Zatanna prepared to launch her magic towards Jinx to finish her off. However, Jinx fired off a hex that hit the fire hydrant Zatanna was next to.

The hydrant exploded out of place and hit Zatanna in the head, causing a massive headache as water poured down on Claw and Zatanna.

Claw said, "Neat trick. But it won't be good enough."

Claw pulled out the Sword of the Crucible and charged at Raven with the intent of killing her. However, his sword was blocked by Slade's scythe.

Slade said, "I hope you weren't expecting to win. Raven restoring me to life nulled the effects of the sword on me. My ability isn't going away."

Slade then swung back at Claw who was forced to defend himself as Slade pushed the fight away from the others.

Zatanna recovered from the fire hydrant attack and cast out another spell towards the three teenagers. "Espalloc."

The spell was about to hit the three when Raven's soul-self caused it to bounce right off and hit a lamp post, causing it to fall down onto the ground.

Raven sarcastically asked, "Really? Another lamp post?"

Raven then discharged some of her red-black energy towards Zatanna, attempting to knock her out. Zatanna expertly dodged Raven's magic with precision and grace.

Jinx fired another hex towards Zatanna, which caused the pavement beneath Zatanna to crack yet Zatanna remained one step ahead and unharmed.

Kid Flash zoomed towards Zatanna, intent on giving her a flurry of hand-to-hand combat. However, Zatanna used his crippled leg to her advantage, enabling her to trip him and force him on his back.

Slade and Claw continued their scythe versus sword duel. The two proved to be well-matched - Claw's sword making up for Slade's experience.

Claw was able to get his sword beneath the blade of the scythe, enabling him to break the scythe in Slade's hands.

Slade responded by putting his foot behind Claw's knee and pushing, forcing Claw onto his back and causing him to drop the sword.

Slade pushed the sword away from Claw, trying to keep it out of his reach. Claw responded by grabbing a shuriken and throwing it at Slade.

Slade's reflexes enabled him to catch the shuriken and he threw it aside, out of Claw's reach.

Claw pulled out a Smith & Wesson Model 500 and fired five quick shots at Slade, hitting him once in the shoulder.

Slade ran up to Claw but Claw then got up and backed away from Slade.

Claw kicked Slade in the head, forcing him down onto the ground. Claw ran away from Slade to pick up his sword.

Zatanna prepared to cast a spell to kill Kid Flash, intent on getting rid of the hellion that screwed up her plans.

Before she could cast the spell, she found her hand was encased by red-black energy that then threw her into a nearby building, away from Kid Flash.

Jinx ran up to Kid Flash and dragged him back towards Raven.

Zatanna got up and walked towards Claw while Slade approached the three teenagers.

Zatanna said, "This was fun, but I'm afraid we have to go. Hsinav."

With that, Claw and Zatanna vanished from view. Raven encased herself, Jinx, Kid Flash, and Slade into her soul-self and flew off towards Titans Tower.

Starfire arrived back at Titans Tower, landing on the roof where the other Titans were waiting, and they quickly noticed the .338 bullet lodged in Starfire's chest. However, because of Starfire's skin, it wasn't going to penetrate deep enough to do any damage.

Cyborg said, "Welcome back, Star."

Starfire inquired, "What in the name of X'Hal happened to me?"

Suddenly, Raven's soul-self landed on the roof before reforming into herself, Jinx, Kid Flash, and Slade.

Raven simply said, "I can explain."

Beast Boy said, "Go on, Rae."

Raven said, "After Robin was voted out of the Titans, he became angry, furious about the supposed betrayal. Soon, his Nega side took over him."

Bushido asked, "Nega?"

Raven replied, "His negative side. Every person has one. My father had the ability to bring it to life. Anyway, the Nega consisted of his anger, his doubts, his insecurities, his negative attributes. They manifested themselves into him and Robin became a new person - Claw. He wasn't after justice. He was after blood."

Slade said, "I would advise we continue our conversation in the Tower itself. I believe we are much too vulnerable out here, with Claw and Zatanna on the loose."

Raven said, "Yeah, and you guys need healing."

The Titans plus Jinx, Raven, and Slade walked into the main ops room, which was now secured to finish the story. Raven first removed the bullet from Starfire's chest before using her healing abilities to heal up the damage to her chest. Starfire was now feeling much better.

Starfire hugged Raven tightly and said, "Oh thank you very much so Raven."

Raven, pressed for air, squelched "You are hugging me." Starfire, remembering when Raven last said that, during the Puppet King incident, let go, giving Raven room to breathe.

Raven walked over to Kid Flash and removed the bullet from his leg before repairing the damage with her healing ability.

Kid Flash said, "Thanks, Raven."

Raven walked over to Slade, but Slade was already removing the bullet from his shoulder. Slade removed the bullet and let it drop on the ground. The others then watched as Slade healed himself.

Slade said, "How do you think I am always in this shape? After a battle with you guys?"

Raven snorted slightly in amusement, knowing that this was one of the few jokes Slade would tell.

Argent asked, "Could we please continue with the story, Raven?"

Raven then continued telling what happened. "Robin, now Claw, stole the Sword of the Crucible, a sword designed against demons with other magical properties, from the Church of Blood in Ukraine. He then went to Professor Chang to make a tracker so Claw could find me. Chang made the tracker and then Claw blew him up. Claw went to London, murdered Doctor Thom Delgrado, a local expert on demons, and unleashed Malchior against me."

Beast Boy said, "Did you imprison him like the last time?"

Raven said, "No. I was forced to kill him. Then, Claw tracked down someone I had recently been with - Rose Wilson, aka Ravager and Slade's daughter. Claw ambushed her with the sword, which made it harder for Rose to fight before decapitating her."

Cyborg asked, "So what about Zatanna?"

Raven said, "Zatanna hired Jinx to kill me, knowing that Jinx would fail and we would both die - Jinx from my hand and me at Zatanna's. I helped her escape and brought her here for safety. Zatanna then hired Grant Wilson, one of Slade's sons and also the owner of the Red-X suit to kill me. When he was unable to in Vienna, Zatanna blew up the xenothium inside the suit, killing Grant."

Slade then added, in slight anguish, "Zatanna met up with Claw where she gave Claw the location of Joseph Wilson aka Jericho, and my youngest son. Claw went there and executed him in cold blood."

Starfire, in realization said, "Former leader Robin was the one who shot me then. Dear X'Hal. He must be stopped. Wait a minute, Raven did you know about Jericho's relationship with Slade?"

Raven replied, "Yes. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you rejecting him because of who he was. I encouraged Jericho to become a Titan, and Slade wanted him to be one too."

Everyone looked at Slade strangely. He just said, "I wanted to have at least one person from my family not going down as a villain or a criminal."

The Titans looked at Raven and Slade, realizing what they were up against - an ex-Titan with a mystical sword and a thirst for blood and a rogue Leaguer with impressive magic skills. This would be a very tough fight.