"Twenty-three?" Cyborg asked the next morning. "Level twenty-three? You're joking."

"I saw it, Cyborg," Robin said. "It was a huge black hole and the gravity kept changing."

"And I thought I was good," Beast Boy said.

Robin nodded, eating his breakfast and stretching out the soreness in his muscles from the previous night.

"Report to the training room."

Robin's body gave a spasm as he remembered that he and the Titans still wore Slade's communicators. He got up and followed his team into the training room, wondering what simulation Slade would have them do today.

"Computer, access file zero, two, seven, four, eight, nine, six, three," Slade said. "Voice key recognition: Slade."

Voice key correct.

Robin blinked as images and video of Malchus surrounded the team. Robin looked and saw himself attacking Malchus, being thrown before Starfire took the lead.

"Is this all of our fights with Malchus?" Cyborg asked.

Slade nodded. "Tonight, we attack."

"We're finally ready?" Beast Boy asked, already sounding excited.

Slade faced the screens again. "We will use this day to plan, and at twenty-two hundred hours, we will enter the battlefield."

Robin grinned, not even caring that he and his team hadn't practiced the training simulator's fifteenth level. Now, the time was here. He looked at the rest of the Titans and saw their anticipation. Soon Malchus would be defeated.

"Do we get any more new gadgets?" Beast Boy asked.

Slade reached into his utility belt and withdrew a single bomb, holding it up so that the Titans

could see it. "If our battle proves unsuccessful, this will take Malchus down permanently."

"A bomb?" Robin asked, blinking.

Slade shook his head. "For every organism, there is a frequency at which all molecules self-destruct. This device finds that frequency and utilizes it to annihilate."

"So that's what happened at the warehouse," Raven said.

Robin blinked, thinking back to when the warehouse's floor and walls had abruptly disintegrated. "That's how you got out of Malchus's prison!"

Slade nodded.

"And I'm the only one who heard it because I've got great hearing," Beast Boy said, eyeing Slade's weapon cautiously.

Robin looked at the frequency bomb then back to Slade, swallowing. "We won't have to use that," he said. "We'll win without it."

Slade's eye glowed. "If we fail, this will not."

"Wait, if that destroys all living organisms, how did you survive breaking out of the prison?" Raven asked. "We were protected by that energy bubble that held us prisoners, but you were inside it with the frequency right next to you. It should've torn you apart."

"Your power enhancers all double as negative-energy force fields. Buttons that activate the force fields are located in various positions on your enhancers," Slade said. "This force field is what protected me."

Robin blinked. Negative energy, it made sense.

"And what else have you found about Malchus?" Cyborg asked.

"Malchus has one last, important weakness," Slade said. "Your shape-shifting friend helped me test out a theory which proved to be fact."

"Sweet!" Beast Boy shouted. Then he blinked. "What'd I do?"

"In our last battle, the shape-shifter changed his form into a rabbit and successfully stalled Jinx's powers. Why do you think that is?"

Robin and the Titans didn't know whether or not this question was rhetorical. At any rate, he had no idea why Jinx's powers had stalled.

"Does Jinx not like rabbits?" Beast Boy asked.

"Jinx's powers are energized by the absence of luck," Slade said. "A rabbit, or more specifically, its foot, is considered—"

Robin gasped, and he couldn't help clapping once and leaping into the air in excitement when it suddenly hit him. "A rabbit is lucky!" he shouted.

Slade glanced over at Robin and nodded.

"So all we need to do is figure out what the different sides of Malchus are weak against," Raven said.

"We already know that Jinx is weak against anything lucky," Cyborg said.

Beast Boy grinned. "This is going to be fun."

"We're gonna win, team," Robin said.

The Titans glanced at each other and smiled. Slade stayed silent, but Robin thought he could see a smile underneath the man's mask as well.

TT TT TT TT

Robin held to the shadows, going over Slade's plan in his head five more times as he sat there and waited. Though he hated to admit it, Slade was brilliant. The plan was brilliant. To be able to use a person's own weaknesses against him was hard enough when the weakness itself was unknown, but Slade seemed to know every single one automatically and without a second thought. Planning on how to strike fast was crucial to their success, as the Titans only got a moment's notice of whose powers were going to strike before the attack would already be happening. "Slade, are we going to attack soon?"

"Patience, Robin."

Robin glanced over his shoulder, not seeing anything but certain that Slade had been there moments before, waiting to attack. Instantly, Slade materialized out of thin air, and Robin jumped.

"You seem unfamiliar with cloaking technology," Slade said before disappearing again.

Robin blinked, then tapped on his communicator to make sure it was working properly. He heard, rather than saw, Slade move away from him, and he saw a small bomb get tossed at Malchus's feet. After a moment, the bomb detonated and signified the start of their battle. It was time.

Robin saw a flash of Jinx's eyes on Malchus's face the moment before the plane Slade had cloaked above the city also appeared. Jinx looked upward, and at the same time the belly of the plane opened and released several hundred horseshoes. Beast Boy descended as well, his rabbit form warping from horseshoe to horseshoe all the way down to the city before jumping on Malchus's head.

The reaction was instantaneous. Jinx's eyes flashed fiercely on Malchus's face, and Malchus fell to his knees as Jinx's scream cut through the air. Suddenly, Malchus's body became engulfed in a pink light, and Jinx's body separated from Malchus, the force of the separation throwing her into the side of the building.

"Jinx!" Cyborg yelled.

"She's unconscious," came Slade's response through the communicator. "Metal one."

"You're gonna pay for that!" Cyborg said, running toward Malchus as Overload's eyes flashed on his face. Leaping into the air, Cyborg delivered a punch to the street that caused the entire street to heave upward and fissure, sending rocks and boulders hurdling toward Malchus and pinning him under the earth. The electricity from Overload shot through the city like wildfire. The shock seemed to consume Malchus for a moment before Overload separated from Malchus as well, his single eye closing as he fell to the concrete.

"It is working!" Starfire cheered.

"Tamaranian," Slade said.

Starfire nodded, flying several meters back and returning with a large crate just as Mallah's eyes flashed. "Have some bananas, Mallah!"

She threw down the box and it exploded open. Malchus screeched, and just as before, Mallah separated from Malchus, passing out the instant his feet touched the street.

Though Robin had no time to think, he still gave a shout of joy as Malchus's form decreased. They were actually winning; it was working!

Malchus gave a roar of anger and redoubled his efforts, his eyes flashing Rouge's as his arms stretched out and he made a grab for Starfire.

"Azarathian," Slade said.

Raven appeared in front of Starfire, using her powers to grab Rouge's arm and pull her to her limit until she was literally torn from Malchus's body.

"Looks like it's time to multiply," Malchus said with a grin.

"On the contrary," Slade said, suddenly appearing above Malchus and tossing a bomb that detonated, covering Malchus in a fine, clear mist.

"That won't do anything," Malchus laughed, his eyes flashing to Billy Numerous's. He attempted to duplicate himself, but when he tried to separate all he did was create two heads for

himself before snapping back into one.

"W-what?" Malchus asked.

"The bond on your molecules has become too great," Slade said. "You are unable to separate."

With another scream and a brief flash of red, Billy Numerous flew into the side of a building. Robin laughed. They were winning, and it was so easy!

"Robin."

With a blink as he remembered they were still fighting, Robin leapt onto the battlefield, seeing Seemore's eyes flash on Malchus before several lasers fired. Robin allowed the lasers to hit him, feeling nothing more than slight pressure because of his suit, then threw one of Slade's night bombs at Malchus. Upon detonation, Malchus began screaming.

"I can't see!" he shouted. "I can't see!"

Robin saw Seemore's body hit the concrete several feet away, and now Robin knew that only the Brain, Gizmo, and Mammoth remained fused together.

"I know how you're communicating," Malchus said, his eyes half-crazed, "and I can stop it!"

Hardly had Gizmo's eyes flashed on Malchus's face before Slade called out another Titan.

"Shape-shifter."

Beast Boy leapt forward, shrinking to a size that no one could see. Robin grinned as he knew what was coming, and within a second, it happened. Gizmo's controller suddenly shorted out as Beast Boy the virus infected it, and moments later Gizmo was thrown from Malchus's body as Beast Boy changed into a crow and flew away.

"Y-you can't defeat me!" Malchus screamed, his eyes flashing the Brain's as he realized he only had two powers left.

"The only thing that causes you to fall," Slade said, uncloaking himself and walking forward, "is intelligence beyond your own."

With a roar that might've pierced the sound barrier, the Brain and Mammoth split apart, both falling unconscious instantly.