Robin walked towards the warehouse that Ace had specified after he had signaled Beast Boy to tell him that he was coming. He was to meet Ace near the warehouse, who would try to get him to Sweetooth and barter for the two trapped Titans and maybe get some information about Slade in the process. He had not forgotten Starfire's words. He remembered his promise, but circumstances had gone horribly awry, and now he had to get involved one way or the other. He passed by buildings as he walked at a brisk pace to the scheduled meeting place. The other Titans lagged back, not wanting to be near their leader should something happen. Only Starfire dared to venture near the focused teen, and even then she was hesitant to approach him. Finding the courage to do so, she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Robin, is everything alright?"

He looked at her, and for a second she saw cold fury blazing in his eyes. But it quickly passed and he was the Robin she knew.

"Yeah, what makes you ask that?"

"Well, judging by... recent events, you have become more... determined to pursue Slade."

"I have to. It's my job. But I can handle this. I did when Terra first joined, I can do it now. It'll be fine."

Looking back at where he was going, he saw Ace in front of the warehouse where Terra and Beast Boy were. He waved to him and whispered back to Star, his voice apologetic as he talked to her gently.

"Star, I apologize in advance for whatever I have to do."

"What?"

He didn't answer her, but instead turned around and walked up to the morbid gangster, who was carrying nothing except the revolver in his pocket. Robin started the talk with a question.

"Are they alright?"

"They're fine, but we better go inside. From the looks of it, your guys have never dealt with crimelords, have they?"

"At least not those in control of humans. They'll get along alright. The one with the cloak can take care of herself and the rest alone. We just need to get to see Sweetooth."

Right. Come on, your guys are waitin' for you."

He turned to walk to the depot, and Robin followed him, and the Titans followed Robin, and together they entered the world of gangs.

Upon entering Robin noted that their was a party going on, not unlike the one that Beast Boy and Terra had been brought into. He saw the staircase, and Ace headed towards it, with Robin walking by his side as the others stayed together, surrounding the naïve Starfire who for her lack of knowledge of human culture was most vulnerable. One group noticed her, and whistled crudely at her, commenting loudly to his buddy that was sitting next to him.

"Wonder if those legs go all the way up."

Cyborg decided to set a reputation and grabbed the man by the collar, arming his sonic cannon with the other. Pointing it at the frightened thugs head, he talked dangerously soft, his eyes as hard as stone as he gave the man a scare in an attempt to make the comments stop.

"You want your head to go all the way off?"

"Uh, no, we're cool brutha."

"I don't remember you on the family tree."

With that, he threw the man back into the chair he had been sitting in and walked coolly back to the others, who were still on the lookout for any more disturbances, but Cyborg's assault had sapped all the rest's courage, and there were no more incidents.

Robin had been ignoring what had happened and was heading to the staircase and stopped halfway up, leaning against the wall facing the turn so that he could watch anyone coming up or going down. Ace had gone up in search of Beast Boy and Terra, and soon the three came down the stairs with Terra acting as though this was daily routine and Beast Boy looking nervous being out in the open, where he could be waylaid by more thugs. Upon seeing Robin, the two brightened up and ran the rest of the way, stopping short of their leader who grinned widely, embracing the two who he had been sure were dead. The others saw them, and rushed over to the three, patting each other on the back and generally finding out all the details of what had happened to the two Titans.

"Alright, you guys ain't dead!"

"What's with the get up?"

"Long story."

"Tell me, how has our friend been doing?"

"Could be better."

Robin waited for the flow of questions to slow down, and began his interrogation of Beast Boy and Terra.

"Alright, now that we're all caught up, tell me what you found out about Slade."

Robin noted the look on Starfire's face and put it aside as Terra started to tell him all that had been going on.

"Let's get out of here, too noticeable here."

They followed her to the second floor, where they talked in hushed tones so as not to draw any attention to themselves.

"The guy who runs this place is called Sweetooth. He's the big prep around. Has a humongous crime ring that rivals the Mafia. Anyway, he and Slade did some dealing according to Ace, who was in the room while they struck a deal. Apparently Slade needed a supporter, and Sweetooth was the best one. So Sweetooth gives him quite a lot of money, and that's all I know. Ask Ace, he might know more."

"You buzzed?"

Ace walked from the upstairs, having been talking with his friends about a recent gang fight that had given them more territory, which expanded Sweetooth's empire to nearly all of the docks. He had overheard their talk, and had been waiting to see what they would decide. He spoke now to Robin, not giving a chance to start talking as he answered the question that was on his mind.

"She told you basically everything, except that the money went to developing some sort of weapon. But it could be anything from a nuke to an auto fire shotgun, as far as I know. Maybe Sweetooth will tell you more when you go in to see him. Which, as luck would have it, he's ready to talk to you. Follow me."

He headed towards the door that led to Sweetooth with the Titans following him in silence, Terra lagging behind so that the ganglord wouldn't be suspicious of their intentions. Before they entered the room, Robin halted his team, telling them their orders in a tone that would not allow any argument.

"You guys wait out here. I need to talk to him one on one."

With that, he entered the lair of the crimelord, and immediately noticed that he had the feeling that he was about to be ambushed from behinds as he approached the man with a swagger that hid his suspicions expertly, heading for the man as though he were merely someone from the street. Sweetooth noticed this, and began to question the boy that stood before him.

"You quite young to be commin' to see meh. What you want with Sweetooth, eh?"

"I want to bargain for the green kid and the new girl, what's her name, Terra or something. What's your price?"

"Mah price? The green one, you can have 'im. He ain't no use to me. But the gurl, she ain't for sale."

"I need the girl."

"Fo what? You know her or somethin'?"

"You could say that."

"Well, she stayin' here."

"How about fifty grand?"

"Ho, you pay that much? Fifty grand? For that one girl? What, she your girlfriend or somethin'?"

"Not quite."

"Well, fifty grand is a lot of money. But she a runaway, and sellin' her would put me in a bad position with my gangs. Can't have that, now can we?"

"No, we can't. But she must leave here with me."

"Look, she found in my territory. Instead of havin' her killed, I make her a worker fo meh. But she run away. Now she back, and she back wid meh. I give her old job back, but she still unruly. I gonna make her pay for arrogance when I let her back with no punishment whatsoever. She gonna die, and she gonna die slow...so that all?"

Robin was horrified at this, but kept it covered up, acting indifferent to his statement as he moved on so as not to anger the man and send him out before he found out what he needed.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could give me information. Tell me all you know about Slade."

"Him? He come wantin' some money. I say no, 'til he tell me what it for. Can't tell you what it is, though. Ain't no one but me and him supposed to know. That's all you getting out of me. Now, is you done here?"

"Nothing except for the girl."

Sweetooth was starting to get irritated with the strange boy in front of him.

"I tell you she ain't for sale. That's it. Now go, I have business to attend to."

With that, he waved away the boy, who was already starting to think of a Plan B. He went back to the Titans who looked at him eagerly to see what exactly had happened in the meeting with Sweetooth. Robin was grim as he told Terra what the crazed man intended to do.

"Terra, you have to leave today."

"Well, that's the plan, right?"

"It's not that simple. Sweetooth's going to... have you executed. And didn't sound as though it was going to be painless."

Terra looked shocked and horrified as she remembered how the man carried out his "executions". They were more like slaughters than anything. And he had said it would be worse... she shivered at the thought of what the insane crimelord had in store for her.

"Terra, you're leaving tonight. We need a plan... Raven, could you take all their weapons?"

"No, there would be too many to concentrate on, plus I'm sure they have more than one. I'd be gunned down before any of you could blink."

"There has to be something we can do..."

"You need me again, don't you?"

Ace came from the shadows and joined the Titans, telling them all about Sweetooth's methods.

"He'll take her out back to kill her. He always makes a spectacle of it. Speeches, rotten vegetables, a few cuts, the whole nine yards. You guys have a ten-minute window before he gets down to business. Go back to him. He likes to flaunt off that sort of information. Wants everyone to see it. Thinks it puts him in high regard with the rest of us."

"Thanks for the info. All right, here's the plan. I'll be in the crowd watching. Beast Boy and Cyborg will be waiting for my signal. When I shout "Traitor!" you two dash by and grab her and high tail it out of there. Starfire and Raven will run interference. I'll send the thugs in the wrong direction to throw them off. Cyborg, you give Terra her uniform to change into. That thing is too disgraceful to wear. Ace, you will be with me. Have a weapon with you should things get rough. Everyone understand?"

They all nodded, and Robin nodded his head in reply, dismissing the group to go about preparing for their respective missions.

"Alright, that's all for now. Ace, go find out when the execution is scheduled. The rest of you, go to the party but keep within sight of each other. All right, meet back here in thirty minutes. Good luck."

The group went their separate ways to get ready for their assigned tasks. Cyborg, Terra and Raven left for the party, Robin went with Ace back to Sweetooth, and Starfire went to get Terra's uniform. Upon arriving, she saw that the room was filled with young women that had also been captured by the insane ganglord. They looked at her as she picked up the clothes, and Starfire was filled with sympathy for the girls who had had their lives taken away from them to serve murderers booze. She became determined to save them too, and left the room to go inform Robin of the womens' plight.

Terra had left to go to her post, acting as though nothing was wrong since she wasn't supposed to know that she was to be killed. Cyborg and Raven split up, finding spots where the crowd was thin, each staying within sight of Terra and each other, as Robin had instructed. Raven saw some drunken thugs stumbling around, and pulled her hood over her face, hoping not to be seen by the half-crazed men. Despite her hopes, they eventually noticed her, and staggered towards her, their breath reeking of booze as they attempted to charm the disgusted sorceress.

"Hey, baby, want a beer?"

"I'm not your baby."

The one who had spoken laughed in his drunken state, blasting hot air into her face and she wrinkled her nose in distaste of the smell.

"Aw, what's the problem, babe? We just want to have a good time. So how about it?"

"Not if you held a gun to my head."

"Well, we'll see about that."

He reached into his pocket to pull out what she assumed was a gun, but he was yanked off his feet by Cyborg, who had decided to step in on the telekinetic's behalf.

"This man bothering you, Milady?"

Raven smirked at the drunken man's struggles to get loose, answering him in a superior voice as she watched the mechanical teen hold him like he weighed nothing, staring into his eyes with a fire that struck fear into his heart, sobering him up in an instant.

"Actually, yes. Kindly dispose of this... pestilence."

Cyborg didn't acknowledge that he had heard, but simply tossed the man over his shoulder like he was a paper ball, and the man flew back to land on top of some other gangsters and made them all collapse. He looked at Raven as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, talking to her like they were back at Titans Tower.

"Will they ever learn?"

Cyborg sighed in defeat and shook her head. "I doubt it. All they know is death and violence. I would bust 'em all right now, but I'd get full of lead before I could finish saying 'Freeze!'.

Ace had been listening to their conversation and now approached the mechanical teen, anger in his eyes as he told off the Titan, keeping his temper in check as he gave a sound beating to the teen, who took a step away from him like he was a bomb about to explode in his face.

"We aren't all like that. Look at me. I'm helping you get your friend out of this, which could cost my life if Sweetooth finds out. You see that man over there?"

Ace pointed to a man that was standing alone in a corner, his arms folded as he declined a drink from one of his buddies.

"That's Tigger. He works for Sweetooth, but gives almost all his share of the haul to charity and uses the rest to support Brainiac, who is slow in the head and looks up to him like he was his big brother. He regularly goes to visit orphanages to play with the kids and always brings them candy and other things that he either buys with loose change he finds or steals from convenience stores. He always shoots at the one's aiming for his crew before the one's aiming at him, and keeps one eye on Brainiac at all times. You think he wants to be a gangster? His momma and daddy's favorite hobby was beating the living Hell out of him, and he grew up on the streets, having to be a hit man to survive. He knows no other life. Can you really call him evil? You know nothing of us."

Ace stormed off to check on Terra, leaving a stunned Cyborg and Raven in his wake. Cyborg looked at the man Ace had indicated, and saw him playing a game of cards with the one called Brainiac, patiently waiting for him to make his move as the two played a simple game of Go Fish. Some other thugs kept an eye on the two, making sure that no newbies messed with the two. Raven spoke first, saying what was going through her friends mind.

"He's right. They aren't the mindless killers we've made them out to be. They know compassion and kindness, but can't openly display it because of stereotypes. "

"Yeah. Guess you have to live the life to really understand why they do what they do."

The two looked up as Robin charged towards them, his eyes sending out fear and urgency as he ran towards the other Titans as though the Devil himself was chasing him. Cyborg noted how he looked at them, and became business as the Boy Wonder skidded to a halt in front of them.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

"It's about Terra. He's going to kill her tonight!"

"What? We gotta tell the others!"

The Titans dashed towards Terra, who was talking with Terra and Beast Boy amiably. Ace and Cyborg locked eyes, and the mechanical teen said a silent apology to the kind-hearted gangster and turned back to the others. Robin spoke urgently to them, informing the heroes to Terra's new predicament.

"Terra, the execution's scheduled for tonight."

"What?"

"You're joking!"

"Look, now's not the time to debate it. We're leaving tonight, with everyone, no exceptions. Okay, follow through, but with a change. I'm going to the front row and taking on Sweetooth. I'll leave once Terra is out of harm's way. Ace, you keep my back."

Starfire asked the question that had flashed through her mind at the alteration.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. He shouldn't be too hard. Looks like he hasn't stood up in years."

"But..."

"Look, I can take care of myself. Terra's the most vulnerable next to me, since she's the one to be killed in the first place. I'm going to scout out the area around the execution site. Beast Boy, come with me. Everyone else, be ready."

Robin headed towards the back of the warehouse which Sweetooth had told him it would take place after returning to confirm the transaction of Beast Boy. The changeling followed his leader with grim determination, swearing to himself that the insane crimelord would pay dearly for every scrape he found on Terra when this was over.

Once the two reached the point Sweetooth had said, Robin surveyed the area. He saw all kinds of sharp objects like hunting knives that were crusted with blood, which also covered the ground around the area like a forbidding story of what happened here. There were untold amounts of bullet holes in the wall, and Robin was reminded of a military firing squad. He turned to Beast Boy, who was concentrating on everything but the gruesome spectacle that lay before them.

"You wait at this corner until I give the signal. Then you dash over there and let Cyborg snatch up Terra. I'll try and keep the thugs distracted from you, but keep an eye out for anything heading your way. Starfire will clear the way, all you have to do is head towards the T-Sub at dock eight."

"Right, but what if something delays us?"

"Then go through it. Just get to the docks, and don't stop for anything."

Beast Boy nodded, and turned to go back inside. Robin was about to follow when he heard a noise. He looked around and saw nothing. But the sound started again. It sounded like heavy breathing, almost a snarl of some monstrous beast. He dismissed it as the wind and walked the same path that Beast Boy had, hands in the outside pockets that contained his smoke capsules, rolling them between his fingers with nervous energy.

Arriving back inside, he saw that the others had gathered around Terra, and he waved them off, knowing that Sweetooth would suspect something if they were all crowded around her. He headed towards Raven, who looked a little subdued for someone of her reputation.

"Everything ready?"

"We're waiting for your signal."

"Alright. Gather everyone and be ready to go to work in five minutes."

Raven looked up and her eyes widened slightly.

"Looks like we don't have five minutes."

Robin looked up to see Terra being dragged to the back by two thugs while the entire room was whooping with excitement as they followed the three to the back. Sweetooth was in front, walking with the gait of a tyrant among his men, reminding Robin of a modern-day Hitler. He signaled for the others to get ready, and they all took their positions, ready to free their friend from the fate that awaited her at the hands of the insane ganglord.

Slade watched the procession with amusement. So his supporter had brought the Titans to his new location. This was an unexpected bonus, since it presented the perfect opportunity to introduce the Titans to his new weapon.

"Set him loose."

Two androids opened the cage, and the creature walked towards the masked man, its steps large and making it bounce up and down as it took each step. Slade held out the one thing that he had taken from the Titans, the one thing that he had that the creature could use to track them.

He allowed the monster to sniff at Terra's hairclip, the butterfly seeming to recoil away from the beast that inhaled its scent like a bloodhound about to track down a fox for the first time. The abomination registered the smell in its memory, and threw its head back in a bellow of anticipation to track down the source of this most wondrous smell.

Slade gave the creature orders, stroking its head as though it were a pet.

Find the source of the smell. Destroy all in your way. Go."

The creature growled in understanding, which soon grew in intensity into a roar of eagerness as it turned on its heel elegantly and charged towards the exit, using its superior senses to find the surface with ease. It stopped and sniffed the air. It picked up the scent, and also a smell that irritated the creature like a fly, a scent of nastiness and decay, like trash that had begun to rot.

Little did the monstrosity realize he was smelling Sweetooth, who at that moment was hyping up his goons for image before he executed the calm girl Terra, who did not suspect the being that now ran toward her, its ragged breaths coming evenly, never tiring because of the healing factor that allowed it to live on nearly no oxygen whatsoever.

The creature that had no name took off towards its prey, licking its lips in anticipation of the taste of blood running down its throat once more.

As the monster sped towards them, the Titans were setting up for the rescue attempt of Terra. Ace stood next to Robin, who was shouting all manner of insults at the geomancer while he looked around for his teammates. Beast Boy and Cyborg were set, the green changeling assuming the form of an ox, ready to barrel into the middle of them in his mad dash to Terra. Starfire and Raven were watching the scene in disgust, watching as Terra silently took the insults that the thugs threw at her. Raven noted that the one called Tigger stood apart from the crowd while Brainiac wandered here and there, making sure to stay within sight of his mentor. Sweetooth stood in front of the crowd, sitting in a seat that was on a riser so that he had a perfect view of the execution. Terra was thrown onto the bloodied ground, the gangsters yanking her to her feet to stand against the wall. Sweetooth grinned maniacally at her, showing off his teeth that were nearly spotless for reasons that escaped comprehension.

"Now you pay for runnin' away and disrespectin' meh when I let you back in wid meh Scott free. Any last words?"

Terra spat on the ground.

"Only that you burn in Hell."

Sweetooth laughed at her statement.

"Save meh a place, would yeh? Now face death by my hand."

"Then come down here and fight me one on one. Come on you coward, fight me. Show your goons what you really are."

"Ah, but my men would rather do the honors themselves. Goodie-bye, runaway."

Several thugs raised AK-47's, aiming at the blonde's heart. Robin sprung into action, jumping towards Terra as he kicked the gun out of one thug's hands.

"Traitor, die traitor!!!"

Beast Boy went through them as though they weren't there, steering straight for Terra as he threw gangsters to and fro in his rush to save the girl. Cyborg fired from his back at the rest of the firing squad, knocking them down and sending their weapons sailing in random directions as they were hit with the hero's cannon fire. The crowd quickly recovered from their initial shock and drew out their weapons to fire upon the green bull and the metallic Titan on his back when green and black bolts pelted them like rain as Starfire and Raven strafed over them, trying to keep their attention focused on them as they dodged around the return-fire. Robin saw Sweetooth stand up and grab a shotgun, waddling at an extraordinary pace towards his escapee. He aimed at them and fired, peppering them with BBs as they ducked their heads to present a smaller target.

"Youse ain't getting' away this time. Shoot 'em down, kill 'em, hurry!"

A mob responded, opening fire at the fleeing teens with whatever they had, but Robin laid into them swinging his staff every which way, striking them in various places but aiming mostly for their hands so as to make them drop their weapons. Starfire saw that one in particular had managed to keep a grip on his and was about to fire into the boy's unprotected back, and with a sudden rush of adrenaline zoomed towards him like a missile, knocking him to his knees and allowing Robin a second's respite as the gangsters turned to see what had happened to the man. Robin sent them flying with various attack patterns, changing rapidly so as to keep his opponents guessing. He shouted to Starfire, who was firing at some thugs who were about to open fire at them.

"Starfire, get out of here now!"

"But what about..."

"Now!!!"

He shoved her out of the group that threatened to surround them, and she was about to return to his side when a thug went flying towards her. She sidestepped the man and turned to look at Robin, who was being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the gangsters, who had decided on mêlée combat, bringing out pipes and bats and some using their bare hands to beat the Boy Wonder into submission.

"I said go!"

"I'm not leaving you here to die!" She shouted at him, and he threw away the gangsters to charge her, snatching her up to run with the speed of desperation, ducking and weaving to avoid the projectiles that flew all around them as he headed towards the docks. Turning a corner, he saw the others waiting for them, and he threw her at the Titans, who caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Leave!"

"But what about..."

They all saw the glint in the boy's eye, and they stepped back from him, fear for their leader grasping their hearts like a vise. He yelled at them with rage, turning to face the many foes who were pursuing them.

"Leave!!!"

He threw himself at the approaching mob with a battle cry that froze them in their tracks. Never before had they seen such passion in a victim, and they were forced onto the defensive as he maddened boy struck them like a thunderbolt, cracking bones and leaving wounded hoodlums everywhere he went as he reigned havoc upon the hapless crooks. The others watched in shocked silence at his relentlessness, his assault surpassing the fight with Slade's robots by far. Starfire clenched her fists as she saw the same malicious twinkle in his eye that had been present only one other time.

When he had been fighting Slade.

The boy tore through the thugs who began a full-blown retreat. Robin showed them no quarter as he relentlessly pursued them, striking down one only to move onto another, not caring how badly he was hurt or how much he hurt them. All that mattered in his mind was to make them pay. He was going to make them pay for every death, every robbery, every family they slew in the name of Sweetooth, who had lagged behind to let his men handle the teens. The man saw his legions dash past him in fear, and he grabbed one by the front of his shirt. He brought him in close and snarled into his face.

"Where's you all goin', eh?"

"There's a kid back there beatin' us all. We're outta here!"

He wrenched himself from the ganglord's grasp, resuming his run towards the safety of the docks. Sweetooth saw the boy in hot pursuit, and he aimed his shotgun at him. He fired at his legs, but the boy jumped up and threw a freeze disk at the man, he made to dodge the incoming projectile, but it detonated in his face, completely encasing the man in ice. Robin landed expertly in front of him, standing up to stare into the others glazed eyes with a fiery wrath that would have melted the ice quicker than an icicle in the Sahara if it had been a real fire. Robin spoke to the man who he knew couldn't hear him, but it felt right to do it.

"Now you will pay for everyone you have ever hurt. Save me a spot, would ya?"

Robin raised the staff to jab it into the man's face, aiming to kill him, when a hand grabbed his wrist. He looked behind him to see Starfire staring at him with disbelief and sadness at what he was about to do.

"Robin, you said you could handle it."

"He tried to kill us! He's murdered countless people for pleasure and nearly slew Terra for so-called impudence! What makes you think he deserves life?"

"No one deserves death, not even him."

"He needs to die."

"Robin, he can't even fight back. You would kill a defenseless person?"

"If it was scum like him, I would every opportunity."

Starfire let him go, stepping back from him in defeat as tears welled up in her eyes but were not able to fall down her face.

"You are not the Robin I know. The Robin I know never killed anyone, no matter what the situation. What has Slade done to you? You have let him corrupt you. You act like him, talk like him, feel like him."

"You dare say I'm like him?"

"But you are, Robin. You are. You want to kill without mercy. You tried to destroy a retreating foe. You are like Slade, Robin. It has felt as though he's standing near me every time weare in the same room together lately."

"I am not like him."

"Robin, You are Slade. You cannot be the Robin we know. You might as well destroy me as well."

Starbolts formed in her hands as grim determination formed in her eyes through the tears.

"Because I am not going to let you kill that man, you monster."

"Starfire, no..."

He never got to finish his sentence when something slammed into Starfire, knocking her to the ground as the figure continued to skid past her, crouched into a ball for balance. Robin instantly forgot the man behind him, rushing over to stand between Starfire and the being protectively, holding his staff at the ready to strike out at the form should it attack again.

"Who are you?"

The thing paused for a moment, then reared up to its full height as it turned and swung at him, slicing through his staff as though it were cheese rather than the alloy that could withstand having a building fall on it. Robin looked in shock as Slade's bioweapon roared at him, taking a swipe at him with its bladed hand. He jumped back, dodging the blade that nearly severed him in half as he sailed backwards. Starfire saw the beast and shot starbolts at it from her prone position, trying to force it into retreat away from them. It simply took the bolts, the charred skin healing right before their eyes. It seemed to smile evilly at them, and it lunged at the two Titans with its clawed hand upraised, ready to slice through their bodies and drink the flavorsome liquid that flowed through their veins.

Starfire didn't react to the creature's sudden attack, and nearly had her head severed had Robin not pulled her back. Instead of letting her go, he turned and ran away from the beast, which howled with glee at the hunt and took off after the frightened Titans, slobber dripping from its lips as it tracked them better than if it had eyes, the vibrations they produced being more than enough to tell it where the two were. Robin ran like the wind, not looking back at the creature that was quickly gaining on them. It would overtake the two within seconds, and he urgently tried to think of a way to escape the monster that now pursued them, seeming to smack its lips as it neared its prey, ready to tear through flesh and bone to carry out its master's orders.

It pounced at them, nearly shoving its blade through the two when Starfire lifted up into the air, taking the Boy Wonder with her as she sought safety in the air. She looked at the creature, and it seemed to be staring into her soul, regardless of the fact it couldn't see, much less stare. But the feeling was there all the same, and she stared back at it, her eyes wide as she looked at the monstrosity that had nearly killed them. It continued its gaze for a moment longer, then propelled itself upward with a powerful jump, rising far above the flying Titans and coming down to bring its clawed hand in a karate chop on her back, sending her and her cargo hurtling to earth as he managed to brace himself for the fall, landing so that he rolled along the ground, holding Starfire to his chest so that they weren't impeded by her body. Looking back at the creature, he saw it land and it put out its clawed hand to stop it from falling forward. It stayed still for only a moment, looking up to roar at them before charging into another assault, ready to tear apart the two with sword and claw as it approached them with speed and grace, rearing back its blade to slice them in half. Robin jumped over its head and kicked it in the neck. It stumbled forward, and he took this time to run towards the others, releasing Starfire so that she could fly. She was about to lift him up again when he waved her back.

"Star, go get the others."

"But that creature will kill you."

"It'll kill you too if you don't do as I say! Go, I'll hold it off!"

That said, he whirled around to meet his foe head on, attacking with his fists, hitting it in every single vital area he could think of in his panicked state. Starfire didn't leave, instead trying to fire off more starbolts, aiming with one hand, accuracy being the key than quantity, since she couldn't hit the boy who was doing his best to keep the abomination's attention on him.

"Starfire, run!!!"

The beast lunged at him, and he jumped up to spin kick it into a wall. He turned to stare into her eyes, the look in his own making her obey as though she were in a trance.

"Leave. Now."

Robin turned and prepared for the fiend's next move, and the alien girl turned and flew faster than she had ever flown before. As she blurred past buildings, she prayed silently to herself that he would be all right.

Seeing the others, she let gravity pull her to land as she hastily told them the predicament Robin was in.

"Hurry, Robin requires our assistance. Follow me!"

They sensed the urgency in her voice, and as the silence reigned they heard the boy's cries of anger and pain, as the unseen battle raged on, putting gladiators to shame with its intensity.

The Titans responded to the noise immediately. Raven and Terra took to the air, while Beast Boy became a horse and allowed Cyborg to ride on his back as they all charged towards their leader, baying like wolves to the hunt as they approached the epitome of savagery that smelled the approach of the scent that its master had allowed it to sample. It seemed to grin eagerly as it continued to combat the unseen Robin, who was fighting without pause, adrenaline making him feel as though he had just started to fight, regardless of the many wounds that the creature had made with tooth and claw and blade.

The Titans neared the scene of battle, ready to give their lives for the others to stop the monstrosity that Slade had created, their only comfort being that it was toying with them.

At least for the moment.

Slade watched with slight amusement, seeing his creation perform flawlessly as he sat back in his chair as though it were a throne, reveling in the thought that soon he would once again have control of Jump City. He smiled under the mask. Everything was perfect.

Everything was oh so perfect.

Slade relaxed in the chair, unaware of what was going on in his weapon's mind as it fought on, seeming to dance with joy as it sensed the approach of more meals in the cold, moonlit night, ready to feast on human flesh like candy as the Titans got closer, not knowing exactly what was happening in the background underneath the streets of Warren City.

So ends chapter three. The continuing fight will take place in chapter four. For some reason, the middle of this chapter felt wrong in writing. Ah well... Probably nerves. Hope you liked it.