Robin switched off the ignition, and climbed off the bike. The other Titans hadn't arrived yet – they had a lot more ground to cover – but Robin wasn't worried about that. He was more worried about the place he had arrived at.
It may have been a disused factory once, but at the moment it was anything from empty. The place was swarming with Slade's new robots, and from the look of things Slade was planning a large-scale mission sometime soon. Well, I hope you like disappointment Slade, he thought, because it's not gonna happen.
He heard the T-Car pull up behind him, and waited for the other Titans to arrive.
"Any sign of Star?" Beast Boy asked when he got there.
"Not yet," Robin answered, "but we have another problem."
He pointed at the army of droids, and Beast Boy's face fell. Cyborg and Raven arrived soon afterwards; they were pretty bemused by the site before them as well.
"Well, so much for a quick mission," Raven commented dryly.
"Any ideas how we're supposed to get through there?" Beast Boy asked.
"Well, we can't blast our way through, that's for sure," Cyborg replied. "It'd just be a repeat of what happened back in the city."
"We'll have to try a more stealthy approach, then," Robin decided. "Cyborg, Raven, can you create a diversion?"
Cyborg activated his Sonic Cannon. "We'll do what we can."
"Good. Beast Boy and I will find Starfire as quickly as we can, and then we'll get the hell outta here."
"Sounds simple enough," Beast Boy commented. "Just one thing."
"What?"
"HOW ARE THEY GONNA DISTRACT THREE HUNDRED DROIDS?!"
"Beast Boy's right," Raven added. "We won't be able to stop all of them from coming after you. Once you're inside, you're on your own."
"We'll deal with whatever comes our way," Robin replied. "You just try and stop the bulk of them."
"Got it," Cyborg answered. "Let's go."
"It's just round the next corner," Fury told Starfire as they walked down what must have been the tenth hallway by now. Starfire was starting to get a little agitated: she would have thought that he would put the failsafe somewhere easy to access. Then again, she thought, this may not be a failsafe at all. It may just be some form of decoy. Then again, Fury wasn't in much of a state to fight, so Starfire doubted he would try and trick her.
They reached the next corner, and sure enough, the transmitter was there. It was an immense tower, covered with antennae and with various cables leading out of it. Starfire paused to look at the massive structure, while Fury walked over to a control console.
"Right, here goes," Fury said, opening the panel. He entered the code, and waited.
Nothing happened.
"Bastard!" Fury exclaimed suddenly.
"Fury? What is wrong?"
"Slade's changed the code!" Fury replied angrily. A few moments later, the base' alarms went off.
"Great," Fury added. "Now the droids are coming after us."
"What shall we do?" Starfire asked.
"I'm gonna try and bypass the code system," Fury answered. "But it's going to take a while. Do you think you can keep the droids out of the way?"
"I shall try," Starfire replied, starbolts forming in her hands.
Fury took a screwdriver off his belt, and removed one of the panels at the base of the machine. A few seconds later, blasts could be heard from down the corridor.
"Fury, they are getting closer!" Starfire commented.
"Yeah," Fury replied, "but what the hell are they shooting at?"
He got his answer a few seconds later. After more shots, Beast Boy and Robin came flying through the doorway. Robin threw two gas grenades into the corridor, while Beast Boy transformed from a lion into his normal form.
"Dude, what are YOU doing here?" Beast Boy asked the alien girl. "We thought you were Slade's prisoner."
"I was assisted in my escape," Starfire replied.
"Who by?" Robin asked, before seeing Fury. However, before his brain made a rational judgement he caught sight of the "S" insignia attached to Fury's uniform.
"He's Slade's apprentice," Robin said quietly, his face starting to contort with anger.
"Robin? What is..."
"You BASTARD!" Robin shouted, lunging at Fury and striking him to the ground. He was about to punch him again when he felt Starfire's hand pulling him back.
"Starfire, let go! He's a traitor!"
"Robin, do not attack him! He released me from my cell after dealing with Slade! He is on our side!"
"Then why did he lead you here?" Robin retorted.
"Because I didn't think you'd be too impressed if your friend was shredded by robots," Fury replied. Robin grabbed him by the front of his uniform and pulled him up.
"Yeah, robots YOU built no doubt?"
"I don't deny that," Fury replied, "but at the moment I'm trying to rectify my mistake, and you're not helping matters by trying to crush me to a pulp!"
Robin held the man at arm's length, his anger still showing on his face. Then, he dropped the man to the ground.
"All right," he finally said, "do what you have to. But I'm watching you."
"Uh, Robin, you may want to watch the door instead," Beast Boy remarked. Robin turned around, and saw the Sladebots charging through the door. He grabbed the bowstaff off his belt, and charged towards them. Starfire followed soon afterwards, using her alien strength to literally punch a hole through the nearest robot, while Beast Boy charged at a group of droids in his rhino form. Fury, meanwhile, was rearranging wires and tapping codes in – but each code he tried failed.
"Hey, you might wanna pick the pace up!" Beast Boy shouted after kicking a robot into the wall.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Fury shouted back.
Robin knocked one of the robots to the ground, stuck his bowstaff into it, and used it to swing round and kick another droid away. The robot smashed into the transmitter a few feet from Fury. The young man glanced at the broken droid, a little alarmed, before trying another code. Again, it didn't work.
"Right, you piece of..." he seethed, throwing a number of charges into the machine. He stood up quickly, and ran towards the Titans.
"RUN!" he shouted, before he did a flying kick on one of the droids to clear his path. Robin started to ask what was wrong, then heard the "beep-beep" noise he knew as an explosive timer.
"Titans, MOVE!" Robin shouted, running for the door. Starfire picked Beast Boy up and carried him over the droids and out of the door...just before the transmitter erupted in a fireball, destroying all the droids in the room. The shockwave threw the four youngsters into the corridor wall, while the rest of the droids went offline. Beast Boy, his shoulder severely bruised, climbed on to his feet and glowered at Fury.
"If you could do that all along, why did we have to fight those things?" he demanded.
"I was trying to be tactful," Fury replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Or perhaps you enjoy flying into walls at speed?"
Beast Boy did not reply. He picked up one of the disabled droids, and looked at the exposed circuitry. "Dude, you really made these things to last, didn't you?"
"I pride myself in my work." He clambered to his feet, and helped Robin and Starfire up. Robin gave Fury a suspicious glance, and then said, "Come on. We'd better go find Raven and Cyborg."
After dusting themselves off, the four teenagers left the corridor to see how Raven and Cyborg had fared in their battle.
As it turned out, Raven and Cyborg had made a pretty good job of holding off the majority of the droids.
The outside of Slade's base was almost enveloped in a sea of droid parts, many of which had been burned or yanked out of their hosts. In the centre, Cyborg and Raven still stood in defensive poses, ready to strike if any of the droids were not quite finished off yet.
"You two okay?" Robin asked as he approached them.
"We had an...interesting time," Raven replied, as Cyborg deactivated his blaster.
"Yeah, you could say that," he added. "Man, I've never seen so many robots in my life. Where did Slade GET all these things?"
"You can ask him that later," Robin replied, pointing at Fury.
"You mean...?"
"Yeah," Fury interrupted. "I built the robots. I'm not proud of it at all, but there we are." He then turned to Robin. "Is that all you have to say, or are you gonna start reading me my rights."
Robin gritted his teeth. "We'll deal with you back at the Tower. In the meantime..."
"I'm afraid you will not be returning home, my young friends," Slade's voice suddenly echoed around the base. The ground opened up in front of them, and a lift carrying a squad of droids rose up in its place. Slade stepped out from a nearby building, and the droids surrounded the six teenagers.
"What the hell?" Cyborg exclaimed.
"I thought you said you disabled the droids!" Robin said menacingly to Fury.
"I did. The transmitter's scrap."
"He is telling the truth, Robin," Slade commented. "I suspected that my apprentice's loyalty was...fragile, so I planned ahead. These droids, my young friends, are tougher than Fury's efforts, so do not think that he can help you against them."
"Why did you lure us here, Slade?" Robin demanded.
"I thought you of all people would have guessed by now, Robin. When Terra turned against me, I was forced to find a new apprentice. Now, I am finally in a position to acquire one."
"Me."
"Exactly, Robin. I sense this is becoming all too predictable for you now, so here's a new variable for you."
Slade pressed a button, and all of the robots pointed blasters at the Titans.
"You have two simple choices here, my young friend," Slade continued. "Either you join me, and forget about your so-called friends, or else you and them will be annihilated. Whatever you choose, I will have control of Jump City – it is only a question of whether you will live to see it."
Out of the corner of his eye, Robin noticed Fury removing a handful of explosives from his belt. So he's on our side after all, he thought. Still, I'm not sure how much good he can do with those.
"I'm not abandoning my friends, Slade," Robin finally replied. "I'd rather die than betray them."
"Very well. It is fortunate, then, that this will be the case," Slade replied. The robots took aim.
"It's been fun, y'all," Cyborg said quietly to the others.
"Well, at least we never split up," Beast Boy commented.
"Don't make your last requests just yet," Fury added.
"I've waited a long time for this moment, Titans," Slade continued. "You have caused me unnecessary trouble far too many times. But since I am not without some respect for you...any last words before your demise?"
"Yeah," Cyborg shouted, "you can kiss my metal-plated..."
"How predictable. Humour will not save you, however. Goodbye, Teen Titans."
Just as the droids started to charge up their blasters, Fury shouted, "GET DOWN!" The others did so, and Fury threw the explosives he was holding into the surrounding droids. Raven, realising Fury's plan, projected a shield around the Titans just before a series of huge explosions ripped through the droids, decimating a fair proportion of the buildings nearby.
After the smoke eventually cleared, Raven dropped the shield. The droids were almost completely obliterated by the explosions – but Slade was not anywhere in sight.
"He's gone," Robin muttered angrily.
"Do not worry, Robin," Starfire replied. "We are victorious; Slade no longer has his armies."
"Dude, you REALLY need to cut down on the explosions," Beast Boy said to Fury.
"Hey, it gets the job done," Fury replied.
Come, friends," Starfire interrupted. "Let us celebrate our victory with a nauseating feast!"
"Let's just get pizza," Raven replied.
"I'm afraid celebrations will have to wait, guys," Robin added. "We have something else to deal with right now." He looked straight at Fury.
"Yeah, I was wondering when this would come up," Fury replied. "Do I get a chance to explain, or are you just gonna handcuff me and hand me over to the cops?"
"We'll hear it from Starfire when we get back," Robin replied. "However, until we know what's going on, I'm afraid you'll have to come with us back to the Tower." He paused. "I'm sorry.
Fury looked at Robin. "I'm sorry too."
Cyborg led Fury to the T-Car, while Starfire and Beast Boy followed. Raven waited, and then turned to face Robin.
"Do you think we can trust him?" she asked.
"I don't know," Robin answered. "I really want to say yes, but considering all he's done, I'm not sure what we can do for him."
"We'll have to discuss it back at the Tower," Raven concluded.
Robin nodded. "I'll meet you and the others there."
Raven nodded, and walked towards the T-Car. Robin walked back towards his cycle, and pulled the helmet on. As he started it up, and watched the T-Car pull away and return home, he couldn't help wondering whether the young man really cared about what had happened to him. Not just the Slade bit; he wondered whether he really wanted to go to prison anyway.