Teen Titans: Dangerous Waters

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

A/N: Continued immediately from Chapter 7.

Chapter 8: Cruelties

Their opponents were outnumbered over eleven to one and facing a hailstorm of bullets. The sounds of gunfire reverberated throughout the grand atrium and spent shell casings were starting to litter the marble floors. Under normal circumstances, the enemies of the Libertatia Consortium would've been dead in a matter of seconds.

But the troopers and their more numerous battlebot cohorts weren't facing normal opponents.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Chanting her familiar mantra, Raven reached out with her dark magic. Using one hand, she conjured barriers of glowing black energy in front of herself and her friends, and with her other hand she tore through several of the bots with a shockwave of telekinetic energy, causing them to burst into piles of their own loose and broken parts.

Simultaneously, Cyborg brought out the concealed multipurpose grenade launcher built into his left arm and fired a series of flashbangs at the upper two levels of the atrium. A couple were destroyed by gunfire, but most landed without trouble, and promptly went off, stunning and disorientating almost all of the troopers who had taken up elevated positions along the railings.

Once that was done, Starfire seized the opening and took flight, soaring above the large number of battlebots below and unleashing a barrage of starbolts at them from her hands, the volatile green energy causing them to explode on impact. Several were able to dodge in time, but not enough to keep up their previous rate of fire. Soon their numbers were thinned enough for the rest of the team to press forward as well.

Zunzen was unfazed by this development. In fact, his unsettling grin widened even further as he quickly assessed the team of young heroes. He looked over to the aforementioned uniquely-designed and outfitted robot on his right, which had until now been standing silent and still, and relayed orders to it, "Oh, Dennis? Remove the princess."

"Dennis 15 is online," the mechanized killer replied, and then immediately followed up with an acknowledgement, "Instructions received. Target acquired, identified, and locked." His eerie red photoreceptors focused squarely on Starfire.

Almost instantly, the high-speed repulsor engines built into the robot's feet flared to life and he launched into the air, surging forward and then around several yards, flanking the five teenagers in the blink of an eye.

"Starfire! On your right!" the Titans team leader called out in warning, but it was too late.

Starfire, who had been focused on destroying the remaining battlebots below her, cried out in surprise when she looked to her right just as her assailant grabbed onto her lithe frame with his cold metal hands while rocketing through the air, latching onto her and pushing her forward at such a high speed that before she knew what was happening, the both of them broke through one of the large windows off to the port side, shredding the closed curtains that had been draped over it and shattering the glass in the process.

"No!" Robin called out again, his eyes widened in panic, and he took a futile step forward reflexively. He caught sight of something in his peripheral and just barely managed to dodge a lone bullet fired at his head. It nicked the right side of his eye mask and caused a small tear in the material. The shooter was none other than Zunzen himself, who, with the smoking barrel of his revolver still raised, gave a demented chuckle once Robin turned to face him.

"Keep your eyes front, Boy Blunder," he informed the young man sardonically. Robin merely regarded him with a set of narrowed eyes and sharply clenched teeth.

At this point the flashbangs were beginning to wear off, and now Grimmourn, who had taken cover behind a lounge table to avoid Starfire's starbolts, rejoined the battle. In addition, the double security doors that had been sealed the way the Titans had come reopened to reveal an incoming surge of reinforcements in the form of more battlebots, who were already taking aim with their wrist guns as they marched forward.

"Raven, finish off the robots!" Robin relayed further orders as he dodged another bullet, charging at Zunzen, "Cyborg, neutralize the hired gun!" he swerved to his left to avoid yet another shot, "Beast Boy, incapacitate their men on the upper levels!" using his staff, he knocked the revolver out of his opponent's hand. Zunzen successfully ducked to avoid the other end of the staff as Robin swung it around at him, and pulled out a concealed dagger to engage the Titans team leader up close in melee.

Beast Boy transformed into a falcon to fly to the upper decks in the atrium just as Cyborg unveiled the laser cannon built into his right hand and took aim at Grimmourn, who had just reloaded his heavily-modified M4A1 rifle with a fresh clip. The armored mercenary successfully dodged every laser bolt fired at him. He was of course returning fire all the while, but he saw that his standard ammunition was having no impact on the bulletproof body of his bionic foe. So, he used his free hand to toss a smoke grenade between them, obscuring both their lines of fire momentarily.

At the same time, Raven reached out and repeated her attack from before, telekinetically tearing each battlebot apart. A few managed to get off shots at her before being dismantled, which she either dodged herself or blocked with another smaller magical barrier. She made the barrier slightly larger in order to dissipate the blasts from wrist rockets the bots started firing from their left arms once the guns built into their right arms proved ineffective.

She was holding them back, but more and more were coming. A bead of sweat formed on the side of her face; she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. Their broken metal bodies were piling up on the floor of the corridor leading into the atrium from the lower promenade, and wave after wave just stepped over them and kept marching forward to the same fate.

"Mindless machines," she growled internally, frustrated with their seemingly unlimited numbers.

So caught up in her present task, and understandably so, the dark sorceress missed being caught in the rifle sights of one of the troopers two decks up. He took aim at her head, but promptly let out a startled yelp when a flash of green blocked his line of fire through the scope and he felt a set of talons dig into his shoulders just long enough to knock him off his feet. Beast Boy had swooped in for his own attack, and transformed into a ram and headbutted the stunned trooper, sending him flying into a set of lounge furniture behind him. His comrades had recovered at this point as well, so the green shapeshifter charged at them next as they each took aim at him. He was fast, and though he felt a couple bullets graze his sides and cut through the edges of his fur as he swerved and jumped from side-to-side, he plowed through his enemies and catapulted them off the floor one by one. Once that level was secure, he transformed into a chimp to stealthily climb down to the one below it and ambush more troopers.

Meanwhile, outside the ship and in the air above the deep ocean below, Starfire was able to break free from her attacker with a strong, forceful kick from both of her legs at once. She caught her breath once she wrenched her way out of his grip, but was soon set upon again.

The more advanced variation of combat automaton, Dennis 15 as he was designated, unveiled two laser blasters, one built into each forearm, and starting shooting bolts of red volatile energy at the alien princess, who countered by throwing starbolts of her own. She growled in fury as her eyes familiarly shifted to the same color of green as her own energy blasts.

The two opposing laser barrages collided halfway, exploding in the process.

In order to break this stalemate, Starfire unleashed one of her powerful eyebeams, which hit Dennis square in his torso, propelling him back several yards. Aside from a scorch mark there was no visible damage, however, causing the Tamaranean's eyes to widen in visible surprise. This unit had definitely been built more durably than its mass-production counterparts back inside the ship.

"Threat level assessment complete," his emotionless mechanical voice broke the silence between them, "Optimal accuracy ratio achieved."

Next, he opened up two concealed miniature missile launchers built into his shoulderplates, and fired a single small but high-yield warhead from one of them. Starfire countered with a single starbolt from one of her hands, detonating the missile when it was about equidistant between them. The rather dense layer of smoke from the explosion blocked her line of vision, so she never saw Dennis coming as he emerged through the cloud at high speed and slammed a clenched metal fist into the side of her face. The impact would have knocked the teeth out of anyone less durable than a Tamaranean.

Momentarily stunned, Starfire was unable to react in time when Dennis rocketed around her as she tumbled back through the air and fired a second missile from the other launcher, striking her in the back. The blast sent her plummeting down towards the ocean, but she was able to catch and right herself just in time. The soles of her boots scraped the cresting waves for a split second. She was bruised and sore where she had been hit, but otherwise wasn't yet injured.

Still, it was the fact that she had been hurt at all by this machine that unnerved her. She glared up at him as she propelled herself back up to his altitude. He resumed shooting at her along the way, so she had to fly around his laser bolts.

It was clear to her that her foe was a learning robot, so the longer they fought, the more adapt he would become at defense and offense against her. She had to end this, soon.

At the same time, back inside on the lower level of the grand atrium, Cyborg had switched over to his infrared scanner on his mechanical eye, but a quick survey of the area in front of him showed no sign of Grimmourn. That's why he was surprised when the armored mercenary emerged through the smokescreen his specialty grenade had created just off to the right, firing his rifle point-blank at the hinged joint of the bionic man's right arm. The latter countered immediately with another blast from the laser cannon on that arm, which Grimmourn dodged again, tucking and rolling while keeping up his rate of fire, until the clip of ammo was spent.

"I'm actually kind of impressed you were able to get the drop on me with both our lines of sight obscured," Cyborg acknowledged as his remaining human eye narrowed.

"You're not the only one with high-tech tricks," Grimmourn responded, tapping the side of his helmet with the index finger of his free left hand. He then reloaded his rifle again while the young hero reactivated the sonic cannon built into his left arm.

Cyborg then took aim and fired a sonic blast at his opponent, only for Grimmourn to duck under it and sweep the leg, knocking the bionic off his feet and onto his back, hitting the floor with a loud thud.

"Gah! Okay, that's it, no more fooling around!" Cyborg exclaimed as he swapped out his laser cannon for a retractable blade. He slashed at his opponent just as they jumped back and resumed firing directly at the same location on his metallic body from before; the joint socket where his right arm connected to his torso.

Before he had time to think about it, Cyborg lost sight of Grimmourn again, just as the latter tossed another grenade. The bionic recognized it as a frag grenade as his remaining organic eye widened. He didn't dare kick it away, lest it land in the crowd of captive passengers obscured from his view through the smoke. Instead, he turned away and jumped, literally hitting the deck just as the grenade detonated, sending small pieces of the marble flooring every which way.

Cyborg soon felt the rattling of bullets hitting his body again, once more directly at the same joint. Growling, he reached over and fired another sonic blast, this time hitting his foe and knocking them back. Grimmourn found his balance and didn't lose his footing, but had to stop shooting in the interim.

"You know, madness has been defined as doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results each time," the bionic chided during the momentary pause.

"Who says I'm expecting different results?" the armored mercenary retorted. He then moved to his left and went to tuck and roll again.

Cyborg once again aimed to fire another sonic blast, but this time Grimmourn pulled out his M95 sidearm and fired directly into the cannon as he moved, disabling it. He then holstered the handgun and went to retrieve something else from his utility belt. Cyborg overcame his split second of surprise and swapped back to the laser cannon on his right arm. He tried to aim with it again, but there was just one problem: he couldn't lift it.

He stifled a gasp as he looked at his largely-nonresponsive limb, and then realized this was his enemy's strategy all along. The joints are the weakest points in any armor, and by repeatedly shooting at the same joint at point-blank range, Grimmourn successfully knocked the ball and pivot mechanism in his shoulder loose, rendering it inoperable.

Cyborg tried to counter by switching to another weapon on his still-functioning left arm, but it was too late. Grimmourn threw a small magnetized explosive charge that latched onto his metal body, and the bionic quickly deduced what it was: an EMP charge. He swapped out the sonic cannon and tried to pry it off with his left hand, but he needed both for the task. The EMP detonated a moment later.

"Brzzzzzzz!" Cyborg was rendered helpless as his mechanical and computer systems short-circuited as a result of the shockwave of electrical energy surging through him. He slowly fell forward and collapsed onto the floor with another loud thud, disabled, unconscious, and helpless, but still alive.

Rather than finish off his downed opponent, Grimmourn opted to show mercy and instead shifted his focus to Raven, next.

Through the smoke clouds and considerably closer to the captive passengers, Robin was locked in his own one-on-one duel with Zunzen, whose crazed and unsettling demeanor reminded him too much of another similarly-disturbing madman he recalled from his days with his former mentor.

"I'll ask you only once," he stated forcefully as his staff clanged against the blade of his opponent's dagger, "call off your men and robots and surrender."

Zunzen just reached up with his free hand and tugged on the rim of his fedora slightly, and widened his rather off-putting grin yet again. Robin, to his credit, was able to stop himself from cringing reflexively.

"Nein, I cannot do that," the second-in-command of the Libertatia Consortium answered calmly, and almost whimsically as well. "The boss was specific in his instructions," he added, and noted how that caused his young foe to quirk a brow.

"Your boss, eh? Where is he?!" Robin inquired further demandingly, very clearly losing his patience. This only seemed to amuse his opponent, much to his consternation.

"Patience, Boy Blunder. He will be here, soon," was all the latter said in reply.

He broke the deadlock abruptly and stabbed directly at Robin's face, missing by mere centimeters and slicing off some strands of hair as the latter dodged. The leader of the Titans countered by swinging the opposite end of his staff around while taking a couple more steps forward, not wanting his opponent to create any distance between them. Robin was mindful that Zunzen still had a second revolver holstered on his left hip. Any opening would be incentive for the latter to draw and fire it. Zunzen was able to block the staff with his blade once again, and used his free hand to land an undercut punch to Robin's stomach. Despite his body wanting him to stumble backwards from the blow, the acrobat caught himself and held his ground. He let out a shaky breath as he glared at his opponent, who merely laughed in his face.

"I see the Dark Knight of Gotham taught you well. But fair warning, kid..." Zunzen took the opportunity to press a button on his wrist device, and it remotely activated a concealed blade hidden in the sole of one of his formal shoes. He swung his foot out in an upwards kick while simultaneously breaking the deadlock with his dagger once more. Robin had no choice but to leap backwards and did so just as the blade now sticking out of the shoe nicked his face, causing a miniscule cut and allowing a drop of blood to form. "I fight dirty," the older of the two combatants finished with his same unsettling grin, completely unfazed as Robin charged and leapt at him again.

Raven wasn't always fond of her abilities, especially considering their volatile and often unpredictable nature, but she had to concede they did often come in handy, and that included her empathic powers. She could sense malicious and killing intentions in proximity around her, and indeed while both were being broadcasted loudly from Robin's opponent, she picked up a smaller trace of the second one closer to her. This is how she was able to dodge the incoming round of gunfire aimed at the back of her head. She used one hand to keep up her telekinetic barrage against the incoming battlebots while shifting her visual focus to the black-clad mercenary who now had her in his sights. She was a bit concerned Cyborg had been unable to defeat him. Splitting her tasks in the middle of a battle was risky.

"Heh, they said you were the toughest on this team. Based on your handiwork thus far, it seems they may have been right," Grimmourn commented, adjusting his aim but not resuming firing just yet.

"Who's 'they?'" Raven immediately inquired in her familiar deadpan, unamused tone.

"My employers, of course," he told her. "This is just a job, kid. Nothing personal."

Raven then reached out with her free hand, intending to seize and destroy her new foe's rifle with her dark magic, just as she had against the defeated troopers in the corridor earlier, but it seemed that he was prepared for such a move. He tossed yet another explosive device in her direction and the pinging of its timer went off once it landed below her feet. Now she had to shift focus to that instead and went to seize it instead, intending to throw it over at the next wave of bots. Her eyes that were still glowing white widened in surprise when it wouldn't lift from the deck; miniature automatic drills had screwed it in place the second it landed. Now the dark sorceress had no choice but to envelop herself in bubble shield of her glowing black energy, which allowed her to escape the ensuing blast unscathed as Grimmourn leapt out of sight to take cover.

It was with an uncomfortable grunt that Raven landed on the deck on her back following the blast. Her shield had absorbed its effects, but it was too close to remain manifested afterwards. The force of the detonation had been enough to knock her down, and caused her ongoing assault against the battlebots to cease at the same time, allowing the next wave to climb over the broken metal bodies of those that preceded them and advance unhindered at last.

"NO!" she shouted, allowing her fear to show for just a moment, but that was all it took for a tremendous burst of her dark magic to shoot out from where she lay in all directions, throwing the robots and Grimmourn back just as the latter took aim at her once again. This shockwave continued, sending both Robin and Zunzen off their own feet as well. Debris from the fighting such as broken and overturned lounge furniture flooring from the deck were thrown about and the smoke clouds were pushed away and dissipated as well. It was immediately after that when the dark sorceress regained her senses and broke the powerful spell, just before the energy reached the captive and visibly frightened passengers. Fortunately, none of them had been struck by the flying debris.

Robin gave a weak groan as he pulled himself back to his feet and rubbed the back of his head. It was at that moment when a gunshot sounded off and a bullet shot straight through his abdomen, spilling his blood out the exit wound and onto the floor. He gasped painfully as he fell back and hit the deck again. Zunzen had already recovered, and drawn and fired a single round from his second revolver.

It was with a grimace that the second-in-command of the Libertatia Consortium reached down and retrieved his fedora, placing it back atop his head while keeping his gun raised with his other hand. "Well, that was unpleasant," he remarked, then, after retracting the blade in his shoe, he set about collecting his other revolver as well as his knife, paying the youth he just gravely wounded no heed.

"Robin!" Raven called out to the leader of the Titans, and it was at that moment when Cyborg reactivated, the reserves in his back-up power supply, though the latter was damaged, finally kicking in. Meanwhile, Beast Boy jumped down from the level above in the form of a gorilla, having just knocked out the last of the troopers up there. Zunzen took notice of an incoming call on his communicator, and promptly activated it. The voice of another trooper, the leader of the squad that had accompanies him to the bridge came in on the other end of the line.

"Premiere Executor, sir, the tech team and their escort arrived and they've hacked into the security system as planned."

"Excellent, then our work down here is done. Tell them to activate the lockdown immediately. I'll be returning to your location shortly," Zunzen instructed, ready to move on to the next phase of his boss' plan.

"Yes, sir!"

Simultaneously, back outside the Skyward, Starfire landed a hard punch on Dennis, sending the mechanized killer flying into one of the the ship's lifeboats, smashing through its top half and into the interior, the impact nearly breaking the medium-sized lifesaving motorboat in half. The alien princess bit her lip and went wide eyed, staring nervously at the sight. She hadn't intended to cause damage to anything other than her opponent. No doubt the team would be paying to replace that boat, as it was clearly broken beyond repair.

Which is why she was surprised to see Dennis emerge from the wreckage just seconds later, appearing none the worse for wear other than probably a few scratches to his metal body and limbs. Starfire was about to fire another eyebeam, but relented. If she missed, she would cause severe damage to the ship itself, possibly enough to cause flooding if it shot straight through the hull.

Her moment of indecision was to the benefit of her opponent, who didn't hesitate to seize the opening and tear what remained of the lifeboat from its secured moorings and winches. He then proceeded to throw it directly at the Tamaranean, who, rather than blast it apart and leave herself open to being rushed as she had earlier, chose to ascend further up into the air at high speed and dodge it altogether.

Once at this new elevation, now above the highest accessible location on the ship, Starfire had a superior vantage point and caught sight of two high-tech helicopter gunships with enclosed rotors, as well as the large and equally advanced submarine from earlier, now surfaced and idle, facing the starboard side of the Skyward. In front of the conning tower on the sub was a large, open hangar built inside the hull, revealed by its retracted ceiling. Evidently that was where the gunships had come from. The latter were offloading more troopers and battlebots onto the exterior of Deck 16, the highest outside location on the ship accessible for passengers, and it became clear to the alien princess that this is how the majority of the Titans' new enemies got on board.

Starfire was about to attempt to shoot down the gunships, the air crews of which didn't seem to yet notice her presence, when she heard the sound of her assailant's rocket repulsors and knew he was coming up from below. She looked down in time to avoid another laser blast fired from him at point-plank range and he then soared past her at a speed comparable to her own. She then took off after him in pursuit, lobbing more starbolts in his direction. He dodged all of them while maintaining his flight speed, and then shifted around mid-flight and unleashed a jet of flame in her direction from a flamethrower built into his right arm. Starfire was not concerned as her Tamaranean physiology allowed her to shrug off impacts from most incendiary weapons, but still elected to fly around the cone of fire rather than allow it to obscure her vision. It seemed Dennis had anticipated that, however, because the moment she did he ensnared her with a whipcord fired from a launcher built into the side of his left arm, opposite of the flame thrower. Dennis projected a series of strong pulses of electrical energy through the whipcord, which was made of metal fibers, and Starfire cried out in pain as she was shocked again and again. She tried to pry the cord off of her with one hand while using the other to fire more energy blasts at her opponent, who took a couple direct hits that again only seemed to knock him back slightly.

In response to her attempts to break free, the robot unleashed one long, stronger electrical charge through the whipcord and then swung his left arm around and abruptly released the Tamaranean once she was struck with the more intense pulse, simultaneously wounding and stunning her while throwing her back down towards the ocean below. Starfire was unable to recollect herself in time and hit the water with a loud splash, momentarily disappearing below the waves.

It was less than a minute later when Dennis, scanning the area of her impact zone, picked up on a green glow that had formed and was steadily building under the waves. With her eyes glowing intensely and her body radiating her energy, the alien princess blasted up and out out of the unforgiving sea with her teeth clenched and her entire form practically pulsing with fury. She fired a massive eyebeam straight up at her opponent, who rocketed off to the side to dodge it. But she was upon him in seconds, and sent him flying down towards the water with a powerful kick, one that would have killed a living adversary. He was able to break his descent with his repulsors and came to a stop before hitting the waves, and then resumed firing laser bolts at her. She surged forth and flew down towards him at high-speed, intending to hit him again with another eyebeam from above at point-blank range and send him underwater. But just before she finished closing the distance between them, he abruptly stopped shooting at her and lowered both of his arms.

The glow from her eyes dissipated and she became visibly surprised at this. She came to stop right in front of him, but kept her fists raised and glowing with starbolts ready to fire. She wouldn't drop her guard again.

"New instructions received, objectives updated. Moving out."

And with that, Dennis departed, flying past Starfire before she could stop him and back to the ship, but not the way he'd brought them both out from it. Instead, he rocketed over to the exterior of Deck 5, the lifeboat deck, to re-enter the Skyward through a set of doors there, further aft and well away from the location of the grand atrium. Starfire's first inclination was to follow him, but she realized if he was told to break off their fight and move on to another objective, that would mean the battle with her friends was either coming to a close, or was already over. So the alien princess sped off back to the ship and re-entered the atrium through the broken window. She immediately looked around and let out a horrified gasp at what she saw.

"Robin!"

She fell to her knees beside him in an instant, grabbing his hand in both of her own as he lay on his side, Raven using both of her hands to project her familiar blue healing energy to close up the entry and exit wounds in his abdomen and lower back, respectively. He was still conscious and fully alert, and regarded her with a sad smile.

"Hey, Star. Don't worry," he told her, knowing it was a futile request, "This isn't the first time I've been shot, and it definitely won't be the last," he added, chuckling slightly.

She wiped away her tears that had been forming and looked over to Raven, "Will he be okay?" She was visibly relieved when the empath nodded.

"He didn't lose that much blood, which is good. Now that I've closed up where he was hit, he just needs to recuperate."

Beast Boy and Cyborg were both standing guard in front of them, the latter having just completed a quick field repair to his right shoulder. They watched Zunzen through narrowed eyes with clenched fists, but he wasn't moving to attack. In fact, he was calmly walking around the captive passengers, still bound and gagged in the stage area just in front of the gilded staircase, and was soon joined by Grimmourn, who at this point had slung his rifle over his shoulder. It was clear they were both intending to depart the area.

"Auf wiedersehen, Titans! I bid you a most sincere farewell," Zunzen bowed to the teenagers mockingly before shifting his focus to Grimmourn. "Come along, mercenary, our business here is concluded," he said to the latter, motioning for him to follow as he turned to leave, walking up the gilded staircase.

"As you say," the soldier-for-hire acknowledged and did as instructed, all while keeping a watchful eye over his shoulder at the young heroes.

"You actually believe we're just going to let you two walk away?! Just like that?!" Cyborg clamored after the two of them as he and the other Titans, sans Robin, returned to fighting stances. But the telltale sounds of metal feet clanging against the floor caught their attention and forced them to turn around. The next wave of battlebots had returned.

"Yes, I do actually believe that," Zunzen knowingly retorted over his shoulder, not stopping his ascent up the stairs as Grimmourn followed.

Raven, having finished her work with Robin, stood up and used her powers to reach out and remove the bonds on each of the couple dozen or so captive passengers near the foot of the stairs, and did the same with their cloth gags simultaneously. "Get out of here and find somewhere safe!" she told them urgently, and they quickly made their way out around the sides of the staircase, not needing to be told twice.

"Bless you, Teen Titans!" a woman told them on the way out.

"Kick their asses!" a man chimed in while doing the same.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy and Cyborg moved to attack the incoming battlebots, but the alien princess beat them to the punch, and instead they simply watched the spectacle play out. Angered at the state her boyfriend had been left in during her absence, Starfire screamed in fury and took out her rage on the machines before her, shooting and blasting through them with her starbolts in rapid succession as they fired back at her futilely. Charred and smoldering pieces of robot parts scattered across the floor and hit the walls every which way in front of her.

"Dude, Robin better never forget their anniversary," the green shapeshifter remarked to his bionic best friend, who merely nodded silently in agreement, neither of them taking their eyes off the metal carnage.

Several minutes later, as the Titans continued to fight their way through the rank and file of the Libertatia Consortium, back on the bridge of the MS Skyward, Zunzen was pacing back and forth in front of the captive captain and officers, who were now seated on their knees with their hands bound behind their backs. The squad of troopers that had accompanied the Premiere Executor to the bridge stood behind the prisoners, rifles drawn, locked, and loaded. The team of technicians that had arrived with the second squad during the battle in the atrium were still hard at work on the computer consoles in the room. Outside the large viewports, another gunship was landing on the helipad on the bow to deploy yet another company of the masked enforcers as well as off-load crates of more ammunition for the troopers and bots. The first officer, Murtaugh, seemed to pick up on this as he glanced over his shoulder for a second.

"You are making this more difficult than it needs to be," Zunzen broke the silence as he addressed VanRoojen, all while continuing his stride. "I'll ask one last time: give us the codes to the vault," his darkly humorous persona from earlier had vanished, and now his tone and crimson eyes conveyed rising irritation, and the intent to kill. Still, the rather gruff and middle-aged captain was unmoved.

"I told you before, do what you want to me, but leave my passengers and my crew unharmed."

In response, the second-in-command of the Libertatia Consortium sighed exasperatedly and and once more activated the communicator built into the device on his wrist. When he spoke into it, his voice conveyed seriousness and finality, cold and without concern.

"Sergeant?"

"Premiere Executor, sir!" a disciplined reply came immediately.

"It would seem we need a more convincing method of persuasion."

"At once, sir. Standby."

Captain VanRoojen and his officers looked at one another nervously, and just as the former moved to speak up again, the telltale sound of a lone gunshot rang out through the communicator, along with the horrified cries of many passengers. I didn't take a genius to know what just happened.

"No!" the captain lost his composure for the first time as outrage and despair crossed his features at once.

"Such a shame," Zunzen mocked all while giving a fake pout, feigning remorse.

"You bastards! I'll- argh!" VanRoojen attempted to rise to his feet, only to feel the butt of a rifle belonging to one of the troopers behind him slam into his back and knock him back down to the floor. It wasn't hard enough to cause any spinal damage, but it was enough to get the point across.

"You'll do nothing," Zunzen enunciated, stating as-a-matter-of-factly, "You'll do nothing but give me the codes to the vault, before we repaint the interior of your ship with the blood of every last innocent to be found on board."

Simultaneously, down on Deck 1, the Titans had at last managed to fight their way out of the atrium and escape through the hole the initial fifty caliber shell blast from Grimmourn had made in the floor, and then descended another two decks lower in the process of evading their pursuers. It seemed the team had found a momentary respite as they arrived at another set of emergency doors, sealed just like the first two they'd encountered.

"Think there's another whole bunch of bad guys on the other side?" Beast Boy arched a brow as he inquired with Cyborg, who when in doubt turned once more to the scanner in his artificial eye.

"We'll know in a few seconds," he replied cautiously.

Raven was still feeling a bit drained from the battle in the atrium, but could still pick up on feelings of fear and dread seeping through the doors, and at once had her own inkling of what awaited them beyond.

"I think it's more passengers," she stated in her familiar monotone, catching the attention of the green shapeshifter as he looked over his shoulder at her in concern.

"I think she's right," their bionic teammate agreed, zeroing in on a large number of heat signatures gathered and seated on the floor on the other side of the doors.

Just behind them, their team leader felt at the spot on his abdomen where his bullet wound had been and the alien princess at his side took immediate notice.

"Robin?" she asked tentatively. Worry was visible in her green eyes.

"It's okay, Star," he told her while meeting her gaze, "I promise I'll take it easy once we make it through this," he tried reassuring her with a faint smile. It seemed to work at least somewhat, because she nodded while returning the gesture. But she would always worry about him.

It was at that moment when a wall phone fixed in place to the right of the team started ringing, startling the five teenagers. Robin looked over each of his teammates, and after they nodded, he warily went to pick it up. The voice on the other end of the line was familiar, but still unexpected.

"Hello? I know you're there, Titans. Please, there isn't much time!"

"Who is-," it suddenly came to Robin, "Wait, is this the third officer?"

"Yes! I can see you through one of the cameras. I'm at the security substation on Deck 6. I've sealed the door in but they're outside and it won't hold them for long," Nielsen explained in a hurried tone. It was clear whatever he had to say was urgent.

"What's going on?" the leader of the Titans inquired, pressing a button he found on the wall unit to put the phone on speaker so his teammates could listen as well.

"Listen to me, the hijackers have activated the emergency lockdown on the lower decks. It was intended to stop the spread of flooding or fire, but they're using it to keep the passengers and crew they've abducted locked behind every set of doors," the third officer elaborated further.

"It'll be too easy for us to break them down," Beast Boy replied with a grin, ready to do just that. It faded immediately after when Nielsen objected.

"No! Look, I can't see past every set of doors, but what I can see on the live feed from here indicates they've set up some kind of explosive charges in every sealed compartment, and it looks like those have been wired into the hinges on each set of doors."

Cyborg promptly switched the settings on his scanner to verify that for his teammates, and did so a moment later.

"He's right, I'm picking up two incendiary charges fixed to the walls on both sides of the hallway just beyond those doors, and they're linked to the doors. We break them down or pry them open and they detonate, incinerating everyone trapped on the other side before we can save them," he informed the others grimly.

Each of the Titans became visibly shaken at the news.

"What can be done, then?" Raven asked, looking back over to the phone Robin held aloft.

"I've run a diagnostic from here using the software we use to operate the doors. The hijackers hacked into the security system, so by doing that I let them know I'm in here. The charges won't detonate if the lockdown is ended from the override controls on the bridge. I'm guessing that's how the hijackers plan to release the captives once they have what they came for." At this point Nielsen heard one of the battlebots outside activate a cutting torch to slice through the metal door to the room he was in, and he knew he was out of time, "Listen, I saw on the cameras the hijackers have broken into the vault in order to loot it. That was their objective, but the safety of the passengers and my crewmates must be your first priority! Get to the bridge, and free the captain and the other officers! They'll know how to end the lockdown from there!"

"Wait, what about you?" Robin asked the trapped officer urgently, his brows furrowed in worry. It was clear from Nielsen's tone that he was in immediate danger.

"Don't worry about me! Just go!" the third officer clamored into the phone. At this point the flare from the cutting torch had shown the device sliced clean through the triple locking mechanism on the door to his location.

"Understood. Titans, go!" Robin instructed to his teammates while hanging up the phone, and then he and they were off.

Back inside the security substation, Nielsen allowed himself to sigh in audible relief as he put the phone down, and then stood to face the door. He met the fear at his predicament with solace in knowing he'd gotten his warning out in time. Whatever happened next, he'd done his duty to the end. He drew the handgun he had brought with him and took aim.

The door was pried open a second later and the battlebots that had been waiting outside starting shooting into the room with their wrist guns. Nielsen returned fire and was able to disable the first two bots that stepped through the door, using the chair at the computer console he'd been using as a makeshift cover. The console and the monitors for the security cameras were soon riddled with spent rounds of ammunition and destroyed. At this point the battlebots were inside the room and made their way around the chair, surrounding Nielsen. He was able to disable one more bot before running out of ammo in his handgun, and tried to use it to club one of his attackers uo close instead. The bot he had tried to strike caught his wrist and shot through his chest, and he gasped in pain. Another bot then shot him in the back, and he felt yet another fire through his stomach. He collapsed into a building puddle of his blood, coughing up more of the substance, but the pain stopped a moment later when another round was fired into his skull, killing him instantly.

The third officer of the MS Skyward, proud, professional and loyal to the last, was now dead. It was up to the Titans to ensure his sacrifice was not in vain.

It was about several more minutes later when Zunzen, flanked by a pair of troopers, arrived at a pre-designated insertion zone out on Deck 16, forward and starboard. A smaller but still fairly large transport submarine had surfaced alongside the Skyward, and was now linked to the ship via a boarding ramp attached to a pair of exterior cargo doors on the lower decks. The doors had been opened and troopers were carrying metal crates loaded with loot from the vault over to the transport. Back on Deck 16, another gunship pulled in and turned to its right, hovering in place just over the railings, and it was then that the leader of the Libertatia Consortium disembarked from its cabin, followed by yet another company of troopers. He clutched at his black, tech-rimmed tricorne hat with one hand and held onto his silver ball-tipped cane with the other as he touched down on the deck with his matching pair of black boots, and his long white overcoat billowed in the heavy gusts kicked up by the gunship's rotors. He looked straight ahead at Zunzen through the white mask that covered the entirety of his face, the indentations for the eyes and nose still not enough to convey anything of what lay beneath.

"Boss-friend!" the second-in-command greeted his superior enthusiastically. "It is good to see you again! Welcome aboard this lovely liner."

"It is good to see you again as well, my friend," the masked leader acknowledged with a nod, speaking sincerely but his voice eerily devoid of a discernable emotion. "What's our status? I see the transport is in position. I take it that means we're in phase three?"

"Oh yes, indeed! The primary objective is being secured and transferred as we speak," Zunzen explained as they walked together, the cane of his superior tapping against the deck all the while. "The bulk of our forces are guarding the area around the vault, and the emergency lockdown with the necessary collateral is in place."

"What of the Titans?"

"One of the ship's officers managed to evade us long enough to inform them of the lockdown, and apparently that the override controls are on the bridge," his first lieutenant explained further. "He's dead now, but they're presently on their way according to an update from a squad in Strike Group B I received about five minutes ago."

"As expected," the leader stated in the same empty voice.

"Shall I take another company along with Dennis and the mercenary and head them off?"

"No," he stated outright as he stopped his stride and brought them both to a halt, "You have performed well thus far, and now your part in this is just about done, my friend. Return to the bridge and keep watch there while our subordinates below finish up. It is time I will deal with these so-called 'heroes' personally," as he finished relaying his plan of action, the leader looked down at his sword-cane, eyeing it in thought momentarily.

"By your will, Lord Creed," Zunzen acknowledged and bowed in respect.

Not long after that, the Titans emerged on the exterior of Deck 15, midship between the two large funnels, where the main outdoor pool and event pavilion was located, the latter being the location for the high-attendance sail-away parties. The large rectangular pool had been closed for cleaning prior to the takeover, and was drained and covered over with netting, as were the four hot tubs that were built at its corners. The pavilion had a retractable awning that was currently set that way, leaving the stage on it open to the sky above. There were also sets of speakers and show lights fitted on metal archways that spanned the pavilion, the latter being for evening and night time performances.

The area appeared to be deserted at first, which made sense, given that most of the activity related to the ship's capture was going on below decks. But then the five young heroes discovered they weren't entirely alone.

"Look ahead, friends," Starfire pointed across the way to a lone figure that stepped into view atop the stage. The team came to a halt once they crossed around the pool, most of them eyeing the unfamiliar presence carefully.

"Okay, so who's this guy?" Cyborg asked softly, not to anyone in particular.

"Not sure, but judging by his attire, I think we can safely assume he's with the enemy," Robin deduced.

They couldn't see his eyes beneath his mask, but Creed was watching them in complete silence, his gaze shifting between them. He had been anticipating their arrival at this location on the ship.

"Uh, Rae?" Beast Boy inquired with the empath who stood stock still beside him, unmoving. He tried waving his hand in front of her face, but got no response.

Raven didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything, not at that moment. She broke out into a cold sweat and her wide, deep violet eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. She did her best to halt her jittering nerves, but there was no mistaking who this man was, and as if on cue, he gave a confirmation when he finally spoke up. His was the exact same voice she remembered from inside Nevermore.

"I told you we would meet again soon, Miss Roth."

A/N: And so we arrive at the climax of our story. Those of you wondering who Raven's unwelcome visitor to Nevermore is now have more answers. But then more questions remain, which will be answered in time. And to whom it may concern, this planned trilogy will get a bit darker as it progresses. The death of a character, even one of my own creation, is not something I do lightly, but suffice to say I won't be writing these stories with the same restraint on violence present in the animated series. After all, the Titans are approaching adulthood at this point in the timeline. They won't be children forever. There will be blood.

Only two more chapters remain, and the next one is already in progress. I expect it will be ready in the coming weeks. Thanks once again to all of you as well as my beta reader, Wikked Grin. Also, a most sincere Happy Holidays to each and every one of you!