The journey back to Titan Tower was fairly quiet. The radio was off, for once, and no one really wanted to speak: while the fight had been brief and in their favour, they knew that Slade had made advances, and that was a definite cause for concern. Cyborg stared at the road ahead, not making a sound; Starfire looked out of the window half-heartedly; even Beast Boy, usually the one who was always talking, simply sat there, quieter than he had ever been. Raven, sitting in the back with Starfire, found herself troubled more by her "rescuer" (if he could be described as that) than the resurrected Slade. This Fury guy had stopped her being killed, yes, but he had to be the most bad-tempered guy she'd ever come across in her life. He was even less of a social-animal than...well, her. And from her point of view, that was no mean feat.
Cyborg drove into the garage without a murmur, and parked alongside the R-Cycle. Robin had just climbed off the bike, and walked up to the door without even looking back. Cyborg undid his seatbelt.
"Well, everybody out," Cyborg announced, his voice near soulless. The Titans clambered out, but Raven still found herself troubled by the alley incident. Who the hell are you, Fury? And why did you save me?
Robin was angry. That was the first thing Starfire noticed as the Titans entered the Rec Room. She found this slightly frightening: even during their toughest battles with Slade, she had never seen so much anger in his face. To use an Earth expression, he looked like a volcano ready to erupt. She noticed that her friends all seemed deeply angry about the return of Slade's robots...all except Raven, who seemed distant.
"Man, I can't believe he's back!" Cyborg shouted at no one in particular. "And why the hell didn't my Sonic Cannon work on those droids?"
"It is difficult to understand," Starfire replied, "but we must not become angered by it."
"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" Beast Boy rebuked her. "The most insane person ever to walk on two legs and a freaky mask rises from the dead, and you're saying we SHOULDN'T be ANGRY?"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Raven interrupted, her voice loud but calm. "Shouting and screaming will not defeat Slade. We need to work out how he survived, and what to do next."
"First things first," Robin replied. "Why were our weapons so ineffective against those robots? We barely got through that battle, and if our luck had changed even slightly we would have lost."
"Perhaps Slade has acquired new technologies," Starfire commented. "He has a certain ability with high-tech equipment."
"That doesn't really help us, though, does it?" Cyborg replied. "If he keeps finding ways to beat us, then we have NO chance of stopping him. Especially if he's gone in for shielding."
"We need a plan," Robin agreed. "But first, we need to know what we're dealing with. I put one of the deactivated robots in the back of the T-Car. Cy, take a close look at it. Pull it apart wire by wire if you have to. The rest of you, try and find out why they attacked the shops. Maybe there's a pattern...or maybe he needs parts. If nothing comes up, I want you to help Cy find a weakness to these damn droids." His face twisted with anger. "The next time we meet Slade, I wanna show him just how much of a fight we can give him. I don't want his stupid droids getting in the way!"
He stormed away from the table, leaving the Titans slightly shaken. Starfire immediately went after him, while Cy shook his head and headed for the garage. Beast Boy and Raven soon followed.
"Robin?" Starfire knocked on the door for the third time. "Robin, are you in there?"
No answer. Again.
"Robin, I wish to talk to you."
"This isn't a good time, Star," came Robin's muffled reply.
"I was merely concerned about your anger at Slade's return, my friend."
"Concerned? CONCERNED? The guy's insane, Starfire. He treats death as if it's a joke, and thinks that life is just one big game! He's almost as dangerous as the Joker!"
"I am unfamiliar with this "Joker". Is he some form of entertainer?"
"Oh, for the love of...No, Starfire, he is NOT an entertainer. He's a psychotic killer." He sighed. "I don't want to lose my temper with you, Star. Just go for a while."
"If that is what you want, Robin, I will go," Starfire replied. She stepped away from the door, and walked away sadly. On the other side of the door, Robin punched the wall with frustration. Why was the apparent return of Slade bugging him so much? He'd never been like this with any other villain – well, maybe Tony Zucco, but that was different. That was personal. And while Slade may have put his friends in jeopardy, none of them had been killed, so it wasn't a vendetta. Or was it? He remembered Terra, the young girl who had sacrificed herself to stop a catastrophic eruption which would have destroyed the city. If it wasn't for Slade, she probably would still be alive – after all, her current statue-like form could hardly be described as alive anymore. One day, Terra. One day we will get you out, and make Slade PAY for what he did to you. When that day would come, he couldn't tell.
He then realised just how rude he'd been to Starfire. This was the girl he was in love with, and he'd mouthed off at her just because she didn't understand who the Joker was. She'd never been to Gotham before, so she would never have encountered him. Oh boy, he thought. I really went and did it this time. Robin, I think you need counselling. He looked at his wall, and glimpsed the picture of the "Flying Graysons" – his family, with their famous acrobatic displays. Now he was the last one left, and whatever he told himself, he hadn't really got over it. But it wasn't a reason to yell at Starfire. Well, I'd better go apologise. He took the picture off the wall, and set off to find the young alien girl.
Since Beast Boy and Raven had found nothing in their search for a pattern, they were down in the garage, watching as Cyborg disassembled one of the disabled robots. It had taken him a good twenty minutes just to slice through the outer armour – no doubt the reason why the new droids had been so much stronger. It wasn't a good sign for the Titans.
"Look at this," Cyborg said, pointing at a section on the droid's arm. "These things have servos twice the size of the old Slade-bots, and their power cells have doubled in wattage..."
"In ENGLISH?" Beast Boy replied, completely lost.
"They're twice as strong, and can fight for twice as long as before," Raven replied with a hint of agitation in her voice.
"Oh, right. That's definitely bad news."
"It gets worse," Cyborg continued. "The components for the robots are all mass-produced, and easily obtainable. If Slade gets hold of an assembly line..."
"...he could build an entire army," Beast Boy finished. See, I DO have a brain.
"That means there'd be no stopping him," Raven concluded. "The city would fall easily...and maybe the world."
"He couldn't build enough to take the world," Cyborg replied. "But it's still bad odds. And we don't know where he is."
"Or where he'll strike next," Raven added.
There was a brief pause.
"Dude, we're in serious trouble," Beast Boy finished. "How much time do you reckon it'll take him to get what he needs?"
"Not enough time for us to be ready."
The three Titans looked down at the robot, all showing expressions of desperation. Slade had done his homework since they last met...and at this rate, there was no way of stopping him or his robots.
"So what do we do now?" Beast Boy asked, hoping that they could come up with a plan."
"Start praying," Cyborg's reply came.
Starfire was sitting by the shoreline again. It was almost like the time before they had faced the robots – but it seemed like the waves themselves were responding to her anxiety. They crashed onto the shore with increasing ferocity, threatening to knock her off the rocks and drag her into the waters below. The wind was whipping up into a storm, and she knew she would probably have to go back in soon. Still, she was more concerned about her friends than the weather.
She could understand why they were distraught about the battle. Her own starbolts had been ineffective at times, and her eye lasers had nearly roasted her instead of her enemy. The only way they had defeated the robots was by using a barrage of their abilities on each droid. Starfire smiled slightly at the memory of Beast Boy transforming into a dinosaur before stomping a series of droids, before Robin smashed them even more with his bowstaff.
Robin. She had never seen him as angry as he had been when they entered the Rec Room. It was...frightening for her to see him like this. Even in the most desperate times, whenever she had seen him he had maintained a level of calmness. Today, he had lost that. Her friend was obviously badly affected by Slade's return.
She did not notice Robin walking up behind her, trying to work out how to word his apology. With all the thoughts going through his head right now – his parents, Starfire, Slade, the robots – he had a nasty feeling he would say something he didn't mean to. Eventually, he just sat down beside her, and decided just to talk normally.
"Hey, Star," he began. "Why are you sitting out here? The weather doesn't look too good."
"I was trying to make sure I did not disturb you, Robin," Starfire explained. "At least, not until you were ready to talk."
"I..." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Starfire. I didn't mean to
yell at you like that. It was just..."
"Slade?"
"In a way, yeah," Robin replied. "To be honest, I was just thinking about what he did to Terra...it just made me lose it." He sighed again, and looked at the picture he had brought from his room.
"I understand, my friend," Starfire replied. She glanced at the picture. "Who are they?"
"My mom and dad," Robin explained. "That's me in the centre. We were an acrobatic team called the 'Flying Graysons'. Trapeze work, basically."
"Their costumes are beautiful," Starfire commented, gazing at the picture in wonderment.
Robin smiled. "We were part of a circus at the time. I grew up there, and we toured all over the place. We'd just come into Gotham for a charity event when..."
Starfire realised what had happened. "I am sorry, Robin. I did not know..."
"It's okay, Star," he replied. "It was a long time ago." He paused. "I still miss them, though. It's a pain that doesn't really go away." He closed his eyes, and lowered his head sadly.
Starfire, filled with pity for her friend, took Robin's hand and held it in her own. Robin looked up at her, and for a moment they simply looked at each other. Starfire blushed slightly, and let go of Robin's hand. She then looked out at the sea again, deep in thought. Robin waited to see what he had to say.
"You have taught me many things about Earth, Robin," Starfire began. "Thanks to you, I now know about fireworks and pizza..." She blushed again. "...and when people are not talking about shovels. You have been a true friend to me, and I thank you for that. There is one thing I am still not sure about, however."
"What's that, Star?"
"On Earth, it seems...difficult for people to express their feelings. About many subjects, I mean, such as art, poetry...love. I have never understood this. Why is this the case?"
Well, THAT was unexpected.
"I honestly don't know, Star," Robin replied. "I guess it's because they don't want to offend anyone by saying or doing something. Some people can take offence pretty easily."
"But why would someone take offence from you telling them good things?"
"Well...not everyone expects people to say good things about them. In other cases, such as love, I guess it may be that they don't think the other person will feel the same way."
Starfire nodded in understanding. Robin just felt plain awkward talking about this to the girl he loved – so he was slightly relieved when his communicator went off. It was Cyborg on the other end.
"Found anything yet?" Robin asked.
"Not yet," Cyborg replied, "but we're outta time. Slade's bots are on the move again. They're heading for the Wayne Enterprises building"
"Great. Well, we'll just have to give it our best shot. Tell the others to move out, Star and I will join you there.
"Got it," Cyborg replied before cutting the link. Robin closed the communicator, and then looked at Starfire.
"Ready to go?" he asked her.
Starfire smiled, and nodded. She lifted off the ground, took hold of Robin's arms, and carried him through the air into the city.