Chapter 28: Let the Battle Begin

Author's Note:

SUPER MEGA EXTRA LONG CHAPTER! (Budget your time accordingly)

So, took me a lot longer than expected to write this chapter… cuz... it's a fight sequence… and a really intense, confusing one at that… with so much going on all at once… trying to figure out who hits who and where to break between locations… all that jazz… urgh… and I was debating forever about what parts should go in the next chapter or stay in this one, or whether or not the swordsman should, or… well, nevermind that… you'll understand when you get there… which you wont in this chapter ;)

Luv you guys for reading! Hope you keep on loving it!

I'll shut up now.

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2009 will be AMAZING! I resolve I WILL FINISH THIS STORY!! :D


This is happening… this is really happening…

The straps were cutting into his wrists so tight that his fingers had gone numb, but he hadn't noticed. His eyes were glued completely to the TV, his heart stalling in his chest as Raven's mind suddenly connected with his, just like it had so many times during the past few days…. But her presence was not reassuring as it had been before… He could feel her terror, her confusion, and knew she could sense his as he watched her on the TV, the camera closing in tight on her face, her deep violet eyes glancing around in disbelief as she realized Robin was not where he should be. …The connection was so strong….

As he watched her, something happened inside him… a cold, deep-seated darkness flickering into existence in the center of his being, a terrible feeling in his chest that something truly terrible was going to happen. He cried out for her, his voice muffled by the many layers of duct tape Harley had reattached to his face. He had never felt more frightened in his whole life…

And then, the connection vanished. She was gone. On the television, Brother Blood's eyes had gone red, throwing out a hand. He watched breathlessly, eyes widening to their fullest circumference as Starfire dropped from the sky, as Aqualad's water powers failed, as Raven cried out and fell to her knees, clutching her head.

Brother Blood had the ability to manipulate their powers…

Robin cried out once again, dread filling him even more completely. He tugged hard on his restraints, wishing with all his might he could do something – anything! Their powers had been taken away! They didn't stand a chance against that army!

"Hey! Quiet you!" snapped Harley, smacking him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "SOME of us are trying to pay attention! Gah! Turn it up, sweetie-pie!"

"You turn it up," the Joker muttered apathetically, even though the remote was in his hand.

"Ugh. Men." Harley crawled to the tv, twisting a dial with some short, loud clicks, the volume increasing.

"Aha, di'nt see that one comin, didja Billy?" drawled out the annoying Southern voice of Billy Numerous from the television, his voice becoming louder as Harley continued raising the volume. "Brother Blood has actually taken the Titan's powers away!"

"Saw it a mile away, Billy!"

"You lyin' sack of cowpie! There ain't no WAY you saw that when I din't—"

"Anyways," spat the second Billy. "Them Titans is definitely at an extreme disadvantage now, Billy! No powers, up against an army of almost 300!"

"Basically, they're going to get their butts slaughtered today!"

"Slaughtered, indeed!"

"Yes, they all are…" said the Joker suddenly from where he sat atop the old television set, his voice low and quiet. Robin's eyes flickered up towards him, his heart faltering in its beats as he watched the villain. The Joker was facing away from him, pallid face in profile, lit very eerily from beneath by the television. He was staring down at the remote in his hands through half-lidded eyes, almost dreamily, tossing the device over in small flips before him with a very strange smile. A shiver passed down Robin's spine as he watched the Joker… it was almost as if the clown knew something Robin didn't… or even that Brother Blood and the HIVE didn't. The Joker's blazing red glare flicked over to Robin's, their gazes meeting with a rush of cold electricity through Robin's nerves. Again, he got that same horrible sense of unease, a slamming stint of premonition as they stared at one another.

He looked away first, back towards the screen, unable to tolerate looking into those eyes anymore… but he still felt them upon him as he watched the television, his body beginning to tremble as he heard Brother Blood's cry to the HIVE to attack, Billy Numerous' gleeful hoots and hollers accompanying the shouts of the villainous teens as their army charged forward.

Robin felt afraid… so afraid for his friends… he had never felt such fear before…

Somewhere he knew… he just knew…

Someone wasn't going to make it…

…and there was nothing he could do to stop it…


"Titans, GO!"

Cyborg's and Bumblebee's simultaneous cries were drowned out by the barbaric yells of the charging HIVE members and the piercing screams of sonic cannons from the robot army as they marched forth in unison. The Teen Titans charged forward without hesitation, despite their powers being gone, despite all the odds against them.

They were superheroes, powers or not. And they were willing to fight, all of them.

They were going to fight for their lives.

And they were determined to win.

Bumblebee shot forward immediately, wings flapping so fast one could barely see them. She was the first to reach the line of charging villains, her zappers straight out in front of her, crashing right into the line with a fury of crackling lightning, taking down three HIVE members and five robots all at once with a loud, angry warcry. On the other side of the room, robots and HIVE members were tumbling to the ground right and left. Though not the speeding bullets they usually were, the short twins Mas Y Menos were sprinting around, clasping hands and crashing them below the villain's knees, causing them to lose balance and fall. As the villains began to catch on to their ploy, the twins leapt onto the back of a Cyborg double, latching hands over his glowing mechanical eyes, causing him to shoot wildly in all directions, thus taking down a number of other robots.

Raven had recovered from the crippling sensation of her powers being blocked, her head feeling muddled and dim. She dodged a charging robot, darting around behind him and slamming hard into his back with her shoulder, causing him to stumble forward, but not quite to the ground. She heaved a breath, already a little winded. She winced a little, grabbing her head as dizziness swept over her, before having to duck to the side again, nearly getting hit with a bomb from Gizmo, who hovered above her with the aid of a helicopter backpack. He blew a raspberry down at her.

"Whazzamatter, crow-face?" he spat. "Having problems without your poooowers??"

Raven growled up at him, and then had to dive out of the way again as another crackling firecracker bomb landed beside her, its explosion just barely out of range.

Speedy suddenly rushed forward, his bow swinging upwards, and he quickly hit Gizmo's backpack, causing it to flash with lightning. The young villain screamed and hit a button, ejecting himself away from the backpack seconds before it exploded into shrapnel.

"Whazzamatter, Rugrat?" asked Speedy with a mocking smile as Gizmo crashed to the ground nearby. "Have problems without your tooooys?"

Gizmo began screaming a torrent of swears at the Titan, but quickly squealed and darted behind the ranks of robots as Speedy pointed an arrow at him.

"You okay?" he shouted over at Raven as she got to her feet. He spun his bow around, quickly firing a barrage of arrows and disabling four approaching Cyborg clones that were closing in on her. She nodded at him, looking frantically around, her muddled mind trying to figure out what to do. She glanced back at Speedy, who had turned his back to swing his bow at a cloaked HIVE member. An idea popped into her head as she stared at his back. She ran forward with vigor, snatching a few arrows from Speedy's arsenal and swinging them around as she sprinted forward. Their tips slammed against a robot, sending heavy volts of electricity hurtling through its circuits, frying it from within. Speedy cheered after her as she sped into the crowd, taking down more opponents as she went.

Aqualad and Beast Boy kept close together on the other side of the room, being the two Titans most affected by Brother Blood's control. They stood back to back as a group of robots closed in around them, sonic cannons pointed at them. They glanced back at one another as the cannons hummed to life, preparing to fire. With a quick shared smile, they ducked as one. Many powerful streaks of blue energy raced just above their heads, the force of their trajectory causing wind to whip around them, snapping at their hair. A number of the firing robots collapsed to the ground, taken out by friendly fire, and Beast Boy and Aqualad leapt at the feet of the few which remained, bringing them down as well.

Suddenly, Kid Wykkid appeared at Aqualad's side, sending him careening across the floor with a swing of his hand. Beast Boy didn't even have a chance to react as See-More dropped in from above, swinging around in a wide kick. Beast Boy cried out and threw out a hand, and gasped in disbelief as he managed to grab the boy's foot in midair. See-More shouted out in alarm, spinning his arms around in circles in attempt to keep balance as he tried to pull his foot from Beast Boy's hands. Beast Boy cackled in triumph as he let go, causing See-More to fall backwards onto the ground. The other boy reacted quickly, slapping a hand to his helmet and shooting a laser beam at Beast Boy, who narrowly avoided by ducking.

---

"Robots, HIVE members, everywhere!" whooped one of the Billy announcers, his voice dubbing over the action on the screen.

"Yeah, but not a drop to drink!" finished the second.

"Yeah—wait, what?? Are you confusin' metaphers again, Billy?"

"I barely know what a metapher is, Billy! But five minutes into the match, and no real points have been scored yet. It's still anybody's game!"

"No it's not!"

"Heh, you're right. Let's take a look at some of the other action goin' on down there on the field!"

---

Not far from Beast Boy, Starfire was struggling with Mammoth, their hands gripped tightly in a battle of strength. The Tamaranian princess growled loudly, her arms shaking from the strain of pressing against the bigger teen's grip. Mammoth grimaced, and to his alarm, found himself being forced backwards a little by the alien girl.

"There… ain't… no… way… I'm… gonna… let some GIRL… beat me!" he snarled, voice coming out in spurts of air as he struggled desperately to push forward. He managed to get the upper hand over her again, forcing her back a few steps. It was like a tug-of-war, but in the opposite direction.

"I… am… no… ordinary… girl!" Starfire roared, pushing even harder and making the boy take a few steps backwards again. Mammoth shouted angrily, his arms trembling violently.

Suddenly, he cried out in surprise, and Starfire found herself being pulled suddenly downwards, their hands still tightly locked together. Mammoth slammed to the ground with a loud thud, and she landed right on top of him. They looked down at one another, faces in very close contact and both of them blushing a deep crimson color as result. Starfire reacted reflexively, immediately throwing herself over to the side, pulling her knees to her chest as she spun around on the floor, and then hurled her feet out, connecting with Mammoth's side. The huge teenager found himself launched across the floor, hurtling into the feet of a large group of robots, sending all them crashing to the ground like bowling pins.

"Yeah!" shouted Beast Boy, getting to his feet beside Starfire. The orange alien looked over at her green companion, suddenly realizing how Mammoth had fallen in the first place – Beast Boy had squatted down behind him, breaking his footing.

"Who would have guessed all those prankings on Cyborg would have come in such handiness?" she said to him with a giggle. Beast Boy smiled proudly, but the feeling of triumph was short lived as a blast of blue light flashed dangerously close to his head, causing him to scream and dive to the side. Starfire got to her feet and ran after the guilty droid, immediately taking him down.

---

"That was some dirty trick done there by Beast Boy!" snapped one of the Billys.

"THE HIVE SHOULD GET A PENALTY KICK FOR THAT!" shouted the second, completely lost in anger. "WHAT A DIRTY SNEAKY FOUL!"

"I don't see no birds…"

"Not that kind of foul, Billy…"

---

Back across the room, Speedy was firing arrows as fast as he could, in every direction he could, firing as many as five arrows all at once. He ran around, helping out any of his companions who appeared to be having difficulty. Raven kept sweeping by him, grabbing arrows to fight with – soon Aqualad and Beast Boy had picked up the idea, racing by and stealing arrows as well. Any other time, Speedy would have grown annoyed – his arsenal was specially organized and they were wrecking it! – but they were all so desperate, so powerless, and against terrible odds.

Yet, he realized as he looked at all the fallen robots scattered through the room, along with an unconscious HIVE member here and there, he couldn't believe what they had accomplished. They were practically winning! He swung around and fired more arrows into the chest of a Cyborg wannabe, causing the copper-colored droid to burst into parts, his heart singing with pride.

The Titans were truly unbeatable…

---

"Darnit, Billy! How come that that Speedy kid never runs outta arrows! Doesn't that break some kinda law of physics er somethin? There ain't no way that little tubey thing can hold that many arrows."

"Well, it's quite simple, Billy. They're photoshopped."

The first Billy looked to the second through narrow eyes, looking quite irritated. The second Billy simply leaned back, slurping on a slushie and seeming unperturbed.

"Smart-ass…" the first one grumbled

"You thought I was crazy," said the Joker suddenly, leaning over so he could see the TV, then up at Robin and Harley with a thrust of his thumb toward the screen. "That kid has multiple personalities!"

"He should really have that looked at," chirruped Harley, crunching loudly on her popcorn. She looked over at Robin. "Got any salt?"

---

Speedy prepared to fire some more arrows, but then stumbled suddenly, gasping and jumping back as the ground fractured beneath him. He felt gravity pulling him down, and he quickly turned and ran, sprinting as hard as he could away from the cracking ground. He dove, just barely avoiding falling down to the floor below, doing a somersault and coming to a halt, panting hard from the exertion. He lifted his head, and his eyes widened in shock as a pink-haired girl stepped before him, standing with her weight shifted onto one black heeled boot, a hand on her hip with a sardonic grin.

---

The screen flicked back to the two redneck villains.

"Who's that, Billy?"

"That there would be Jinx," replied the second, and a profile display leapt onto the screen, with her picture and list of facts, including favorite book. "She was the only well-known girl of the HIVE Academy and HIVE Five, but then went over to the good side during the fall of the Brotherhood of Evil, when she fell in love with that creep Kid Flash."

"That no-good ((BEEP!))"

"Language, Billy! Language! Besides, it looks like she may be back on the winnin' team now! Let's see how it all plays out."

---

"Jinx!" Speedy gasped in alarm at the witch, her pixie face spreading wide in a demonic grin. "What are you—? I thought you were with—"

"We broke up," she said simply, a flash of crimson darting to her eyes as the edge of her mouth twitched with her smile. Speedy gasped and leapt aside as her arms swung around again, causing more of the floor to crack and explode in a burst of pink magic.

"Stop it, Jinx! You're one of us now! A Titan!" he gasped, leaping once more to avoid the streams of power. "Don't let him control you!"

"Save your breath, bow boy!" Her hands zipped around again, beautifully, almost like a dance. Pink waves of energy zoomed towards him, and he jumped aside again. But the edge of one energy blast grazed the tip of his bow, and the string on it snapped with a loud reverberating twang.

"Great…" he muttered darkly, looking down at it. "Of all the rotten luck."

"Thank you," Jinx said with a slight curtsy, before swinging her arms around again.

Suddenly, something searing hot slammed into his back. He cried out in agony, the shot from a robot's sonic cannon launching him forward off his feet. He skipped and flipped a few times before sliding across the ground by his shoulder, ending just short of Jinx. He rolled onto his back with a loud groan, and gasped as he found himself staring right up her skirt.

"YOU PERVERT!" she squealed, slamming her foot hard against his face, cracking his nose. He cried out and rolled away, then snapped his arms around, swinging his broken bow under her feet, causing her to fall with a loud cry.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Speedy began rumbling as he began to lift himself off the ground, wiping blood from his nose. He turned and saw the huge form of Mammoth coming towards him, answering Jinx's cry. The orange-haired Titan tried to move, but it was too late – Mammoth swung his foot hard, sending Speedy flying over the brawling crowd like a football through a goal post. Cheers rang out from the HIVE members below.

---

"THERE'S that penalty kick!! Whaddya say bout that Billy? Three points?"

"Over that distance? I say we throw in an extra two points for hangtime!"

"Tee hee! I like the way you think, Billy!"

---

In the center of the large arena, Cyborg leapt with a loud, billowing cry of fury, slamming down with one foot on each chest of two robots, the strength of his legs causing their armor to cave in. He threw his arms down, knuckles plowing into the faces of the droids which looked so much like himself. With a surge of energy, the two robots' systems crashed completely.

The half-mechanical teen straightened, looking around him at all the fighting. It was chaotic, robots firing everywhere, Titans and HIVE members brawling with one another. On the ground lay many destroyed bots, but many more remained…. He watched Beast Boy and Raven as they fought near one another. They were both working so hard, without powers – Beast Boy struggling against See-More, fighting like two kids in a school-yard scuffle, while Raven spun around a sword-weilding villain, using one of Speedy's arrows like a bo staff to parry his attacks.

Suddenly, his eyes glanced upwards, and he found himself staring straight into the crimson gaze of the terrible villain who was running the show… the one causing all his friends to be so powerless… the one who put them in this terrible trap…

Hatred, unlike anything he had ever felt before, coursed through his veins like lava.

He charged forward, his eyes fixed solely on his destination - the balcony where Brother Blood stood, watching over the madness. Cyborg took a running leap, landing on top of the army of robots, foot crashing down from head to head, jumping across the crowd like a frog skipping from one lillypad to the next. Brother Blood simply watched as the livid teen approached. His hands were clasped stoically behind his back, waiting. Cyborg leapt with a cry to the balcony, arms out ready to strangle the cult leader as he flew through the air. Blood simply sidestepped, causing the cybernetic teen to sail forward into the far wall, crashing painfully into it.

"My, Cyborg. How reckless you are in your anger!"

Cyborg growled as he got to his feet. His shoulders were shuddering in his rage, and he immediately snapped out his sonic cannon, pointing it straight at Brother Blood's face. The villain didn't seem at all threatened.

"How the hell is it that you're here!?" Cyborg spat. "You're in JAIL!"

"Oh, Cyborg," sighed Blood coolly. "Did you honestly think that cell would hold me forever?" Cyborg shouted and charged forward. Blood grabbed him easily by the arm, hooking a foot around his ankle, tripping him swiftly to the ground, pinning him down with one glowing red hand to his wrist, the other on his neck. He bent down, eyes flashing with an evil glint. "All it took was one guard. One silly guard, who absentmindedly lifted his telepathy-blocking helmet an inch in order to scratch his head. That was all it took for me to get out, and get a robot Brother Blood to replace me."

Cyborg growled, then cried out in terrible pain as Blood swung his other hand around, crimson energy flashing around his fingers as he sailed them clear through Cyborg's arm, shearing it off.

---

"NMF! SSSI-BRGH!" Robin's scream was hindered to the back of his throat, the tape unrelenting, not even letting any air escape.

"Boy, someone should lend that kid a hand," said Harley with a giggle.

"Boooo," the Joker catcalled with a grin, pointing his thumb downwards.

---

"I've dismantled you once before, Cyborg!" spat Blood, kicking Cyborg's arm off the balcony and into the brawling crowd below. "And trust me, I don't think magic will help you this ti—AH!"

A wave of yellow energy bolts flashed just past Blood's head, causing him to jerk his head around.

"Don't need magic to kick YOUR butt!" shouted Bumblebee, racing through the air towards them, her zappers firing more bolts of energy at them.

That distraction was enough. Cyborg managed to swing his feet upwards, causing Blood to somersault awkwardly over Cyborg's head. Bee landed and grabbed Cyborg by the other arm, helping him to his feet. Blood quickly got to his own, facing the two dark heroes with a strange grin.

"Please," he said smugly. "You two are no threat…"

"You wanna bet?" said Bee defiantly, shoulders back, stingers at the ready. Cyborg stood tall at her side, glowering at the villain, sparks flying out of his severed shoulder.

"Yes… I do." His eyes suddenly flickered out into the battlefield. "And I feel you two should know – you're about to experience your first casualty."

"What do you m—" Cyborg began, eyes widening a little, but Blood was gone in a flash of crimson. Bumblebee turned around suddenly, looking out at the crowd, her heart suddenly running cold as her eyes darted around, trying to make sense of the chaos below her. She tried to count the Titans, trying to make sure all were accounted for… everyone was still alive, right…?

…first casualty…?

It was like a moving Where's Waldo… there was Mas Y Menos, riding on top of a Cyborg clone, having gotten a hold of one of Gizmo's gadgets and using it against him and the other robots… Raven and Beast Boy were in a far corner, easily fighting off some HIVE students… there was Speedy, using his broken bow like a staff to keep the bad guys at bay… Aqualad and Starfire were watching each other's backs, taking down more robots…

Everyone accounted for…

Then, suddenly, a cry rose over the deafening din of battle, causing all the air to rush from her lungs in horror…

"RAVEN!"


Author's Note:

Initially wasn't going to stop it there… but I think it's more painful this way… :D

This has to have been THE most difficult chapter I've written to date... just all the decisions I had to write... flipping between storylines... ARGH! Plus, I kept getting worried that I would post this, and then decide later I would want to change it, and I HATE doing that! (Hence why this story ended up getting abandoned for 4 years, after three rehauls of the first two chapters...) I'm feeling pretty confident about it now...

Btw: google the words "Evil, Inc." and enjoy one of the best damn webcomics EVER!! It'll keep you occupied until I get the next chapter up…. And you also might need something to cheer you up a bit after that awful cliffhanger…

Again, don't kill me (why am I always so afraid for my life when I'm writing this story? ;))

Actually, next chapter will be up very soon, I promise. It's actually already mostly written (as it's a compilation of part of this chapter (initially), and another section I wrote YEARS ago...)

But read and review to get me going on it, mkay? I really, really, REALLY want to know how you guys feel about this chapter - it was such a bitch to write...