"Swipe" by Ed Alger a.k.a. "SecondLevelWriter"

Author's Notes: Guess what still applies here! Yep, those same naughty little disclaimers! For our timeline, we are now looking at "Aftershock, Part 2". This one might run a little long, but hopefully it's worth it.

Chapter 16
All In

It was early in the evening when Swipe awoke yet again. This time, however, there was no Raven to greet him.

"Raven?" he called out as he sat up and looked around. "What, are you getting me room service now or somethin'?" He waited for a retort, but got only silence. Scratching his head in moderate confusion, the rogue carefully climbed off the bed and poked his head out the door.

"Raven?"

There was nary a soul walking down the hallway, or even in the main control/living room. Swipe stepped into the large room and called out a few more names.

"Big Bot? Yo, Animal! You guys around? ... Starfire? ... Robin? ... Anybody?"

The dead quiet unsettled him greatly. He didn't know exactly how long he'd slept, but he was certain the Titans would've been back by now. Just to make sure, the thief searched every room in the tower for his new friends and turned up empty in each one.

"This is too weird," he said to himself. "Where could they be?"

He made his way down to the ground floor to have a look outside. Just as he entered the edge of the city, what he saw almost made his heart stop; the entire city was devoid of any human activity. Platoons of heavy-assault drones marched through Jump City's streets now, led by a familiar face.

"Terra..." he growled under his breath. "The light hath been shed."

The thief raced back into the tower and returned to the main room. Every surveillance monitor showed him the same pictures: droid squads and Terra. Something needed to be done to stop Slade's reign, but Swipe knew from his last tangle with the criminal mastermind that he couldn't win by himself. And without the Titans to assist him, he'll need all the extra weaponry and protection he can get a hold of just to even the odds again.

He went over the options in his head, "Lessee... Raven doesn't need weapons 'cuz she's all 'Azarath Metrion Zinthos!' an' stuff... Beast Boy don't need weapons 'cuz he can turn into a rabid wombat if he wanted to... Starfire don't need weapons 'cuz of those energy bolt thingies... Cyborg... well, his weapons are already built into him. That leaves..."

The door to Robin's room couldn't be opened fast enough. As Swipe looked around at all of the gadgets and weapons, the klepto in him started feeling like a little kid in a candy store. Birdarangs, grappling hooks, exploding disci, body armor; the list just went on and on.

"Where does he get these wonderful toys?" the thief gleefully pondered. "Hope he doesn't mind if I borrow a few of 'em!"

He "borrowed" several of the disci and a grapple gun, stuffed them all into his own utility belt, and also grabbed one of Robin's suits. A quick moment to model the outfit revealed that the color scheme had to be changed along with the need to remove the cape, although cutting through polymerized titanium seemed to be near-impossible... until Swipe remembered his adamantine daggers. A short cut-and-spray-paint job later, the outfit was ready to wear.

The collar where a cape was normally attached remained untouched; Black with yellow trim encircling it. The torso was darkened to more of a burgundy color, which covered the "R" symbol on the chest along with the green sleeves, and the pants were painted black with a stripe of burgundy going down the outside of each leg. He even used the gloves, although he made them more like his own by painting them black, trimming them at mid-forearm, and clipping off the fingers. He used his own belt, now loaded with more ammunition than it was intended for. The mask, however, was never even considered.

Swipe admired himself in the mirror once more, "Heh, I guess Jinxie wasn't the only one who needed a makeover..."

The thought suddenly struck him. Even if he brought Slade down and started his search for Jinx, he had no idea where to begin looking. Jump City is a big place to have to comb through, even for someone with extraordinary speed. Regardless, he had to do something or else he'd lose her for good. While dwelling on this, the rogue walked back into the main living quarters and onward to the kitchen for something to eat. No sense fighting the bad guys on an empty stomach.

With his third sandwich in his hands, Swipe noticed the Titans' supercomputer terminal and got an idea. He plopped down in front of the keyboard and stared at the monitor. After a little perusing, he found a file labeled "Poss. Hive Locs." and clicked on it. The screen then displayed the western portion of Jump City's map, with three large "H" symbols marking potential sites for the Hive Academy. Swipe had the image file printed out and stored the paper in his belt pouch.

He finished off his sandwich when the computer started emitting a series of high-pitched beeps. Confused, the thief looked around the control panel for its source and noticed a red button emblazoned with the Teen Titans' insignia flashing on the keyboard. Upon pressing it, the screen showed another map, and near its middle were five of the same red insignias. A grin slowly spread across Swipe's face when he realized what they meant.

"Echo Base, this is Rogue Two. I've found them. Repeat: I've found them!" he declared triumphantly to himself before also printing that map out.

Once he made sure that he was absolutely ready, Swipe set out to find his comrades-in-arms. He tracked their signals to a now ruined factory, only there was no sign of them at all. Unless, of course, they were buried underground. The rogue located a spot in the earth that had been recently moved and aimed a few of Robin's exploding discs where he figured they would be most effective.

"I dunno if you guys can hear me or not, but, uh... FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

He flung the discs with perfect accuracy, and the crevice was re-opened in the ensuing blast. The slightly-battered Titans emerged soon after, with Starfire lifting Robin out while Raven carried Cyborg. Beast Boy switched out of his crow form to thank the thief for his rescue when he noticed something familiar in his new outfit.

"Dude, don't tell me you and Robin shop at the same stores now."

Swipe chuckled nervously, "Eh-heh, dunno whatcher talking about, Animal! I just, uh, happened to find this stuff lyin' around... at my hideout... where I live..."

"That bump right there looks like an 'R' to me..." the shapechanger went on to observe, pointing to the painted-over symbol on Swipe's uniform. Cyborg and Starfire were about to see for themselves before Swipe quickly turned to one side and bent towards the green Titan.

"Ix-nay on the olen-stay uit-say, East-bay Oy-bay!" the rogue hissed before he straightened himself back up to address the Titans. "Anyways! Listen, I know where Slade's got himself holed up. He's at the north end of town, where you guys found me at -9 hit points a few nights ago. The only problem is: He's taken over the city, an' Terra's patrolling the streets along with a gajillion of those combat mechs."

The mention of his former crush got Beast Boy to drop the subject, "You've seen Terra? Where is she? Take us to her!"

"Calm down, Animal, lemme go find her first. I've got a little score to settle with her, myself. Once I've shaken her up a bit, I'll signal you guys to follow," Swipe replied, sporting an evil grin. "I can't wait to see the look on her face when she comes face-to-face a ghost..."

With everyone in agreement, Swipe raced off into the heart of the city in search of the fallen Titan. It wouldn't take him long, even if he wasn't running at full speed. He ducked into an alley and assessed his situation: Terra was followed by 20 combat robots, and all of them had their backs to him. The rogue carefully drew his daggers, took a deep breath, and dashed from his hiding place. Before anybody was aware of his presence, Swipe sliced apart over half of the squadron. When Terra turned around, however, the entire group was reduced to so much scrap metal and sparking wires.

"Knock-knock, Blondie..." a chillingly familiar voice called behind her. She looked back over her shoulder with wide, frightened eyes at the speaker and nearly fell over backwards when she saw Swipe leaning against a lamppost with his arms crossed over his chest and a confident smirk on his lips.

"It can't be... I thought you were -"

"Dead? Yeah, I thought I was, too. You an' Sladey-Boy sure pack a punch when you're pissed off. Nice outfit, by the way."

"You may as well give up," Terra informed him grimly. "Your friends are gone now. There's nobody to save you or this city."

"Really? I guess I'll just hafta save myself, then..."

Without another word, Swipe flung one of Robin's exploding discs at the rock that Terra was perched upon. The geomancer's platform shattered on impact, sending her to the asphalt and subject to the rogue's follow-up tackle. He slammed hard into her shoulders, causing them both to tumble end-over-end for several yards while they attempted to get in extra blows upon the other.

"Better hope nobody takes a picture of us, Swipe. Someone might get jealous!" Terra taunted, throwing a hard right hook into the side of Swipe's head.

"Nghh! Yeah? Well, at least I have someone who'll get jealous!" Swipe shot back, managing to smack his forearm against Terra's own head. "But I think she knows me enough to not believe I'd be makin' out with a traitor!"

"I did what I had to do!" the former Titan roared as she planted her right foot into her opponent's stomach, using leverage to flip him off of her. She added as she rose to her feet, "Besides, they all abandoned me..."

"Slade probably told you that, an' you certainly fell for it. I seriously doubt that the Titans were gonna leave you for any reason, even if you might've had a bad past. I know Beast Boy sure as hell wouldn't leave ya."

Terra visibly winced at the mention of the changeling, "You're wrong. He turned his back on me..."

Swipe snorted, "Can't say I blame him for doin' it, either. But you should remember that you've been workin' for Slade all this time, so I'd say it was you who abandoned him first."

The geomancer's eyes flashed with anger, "No, I didn't...!"

"Face the facts, Blondie. Ya broke his heart when he found out the truth about you, an' then you went an' buried him with his friends under a ton of rock... all for whatever Slade promised ya," he continued while slowly circling the girl. "All I can say is, I hope it was worth the sacrifice."

Her eyes and hands flared up with a yellow aura, and she answered her enemy with a volley of rocks. Swipe tched, recalling how he saw this same attack a few nights ago, and implemented the same tactic he had used before. The rogue easily ducked and weaved through the barrage, occasionally slicing a larger projectile in half as he pulled his arm back for another swing...

CRACK! A giant boulder somehow got past his line of sight and nailed him squarely in the face, sending him into a backwards tumble until he hit a mailbox and slumped over in a daze. Terra stalked towards her prey and raised her hand, bringing that same boulder to bear upon Swipe's head.

"You got lucky last time, Swipe. This time, your luck's run out."

A sudden cluster of green energy bolts interrupted her coup de grace, giving Swipe a chance to regain his senses and roll out of the way. Shortly after, several smoke bombs detonated and enshrouded the entire area. The rogue grinned to himself as he got clear.

"Looks like my backup arrived a little ahead of schedule," he commented. "We're one to one right now, Terra. The tiebreaker'll have to wait. Play nice, you guys!"

Terra squinted and searched through the haze for her opponent until she instead saw five haunting silhouettes coming slowly towards her. Her sky blue eyes widened with disbelief while her jaw dropped open. The Teen Titans were alive and well.

A brief battle ensued while Swipe watched from the sidelines. He wasn't surprised to see that nobody was holding back, not even Beast Boy. Nor was he surprised to see how the ex-Titan was struggling against her former friends, her strength likely a bit sapped from her previous fight, until she forced herself to retreat down into a side alley.

"Where's she going?" Beast Boy demanded. "We can't let her or Slade get away this time!"

Swipe looked over his shoulder and saw a platoon of droids advancing straight for them, "I hate to dampen your spirits, Animal, but we've got more company. Listen to me, you guys... If she's headed back to Slade, then she's goin' straight north from here. There's a cave among some thick shrubs, keep following straight through until you... well, I doubt you could miss that."

A spray of blaster bolts narrowly missed the rogue and the Titans, causing them all to assume combat stances. Robin readied his staff and issued a well-known command.

"Titans, GO! ... And, uh, you too, Swipe."

"Thank you."

All six teens leapt into the fray, trying to hew their way through the mechanical army in order to pursue Slade's new apprentice. Raven hurled a nearby automobile into a group of the robots, sending them flying past Cyborg as he flattened several more with blasts from his sonic cannon. Starfire and Robin were back-to-back, alternately blasting and swatting away the oncoming droids while Beast Boy quickly tore past the blockade as a deinonychus and followed Terra's trail on his own. Swipe, in the meantime, sped through the throng and hacked through the heads of more than twenty robots along with any other appendages he could target. Cyborg spotted an ambush attempt around the corner nearest to the rogue and shouted a warning before blasting the group, crumbling part of the building and narrowly missing Swipe.

"Domo arigato, Mister Roboto!" the thief saluted his ally as he went on to stab a survivor through the chest.

Just when the armies showed signs of thinning, a new threat lumbered towards the team. It appeared to be an amalgam of electricity, ooze, and stone. Worse, it looked mighty tough to bring down.

"Not good," Swipe muttered, swallowing hard. "Anyone got an idea of what that is?"

"It looks like Plasmus, Cinderblock, and Overload... all mashed together," Cyborg replied while his internal computers tried to get some kind of reading on the creature.

Swipe groaned a bit, "Great. Three times the strength and four times the ugly." Nevertheless, he tightened the grip on his twin daggers and said to his comrades, "You guys go after Beast Boy. I'll hold this thing off."

"Are you crazy?" Robin shouted. "Any one of those three are a handful as it is!"

"Animal's gonna need your help dealing with Terra an' Slade! There anything I should know about this guy?"

"Overload's weak against water..." the cybernetic Titan began.

"Plasmus is only dangerous when he is awake," Starfire added.

"And Cinderblock is just slow. You'd better not bite off more than you can chew again, Swipe," the cloaked Titan finished as she started to float off with her friends.

Swipe flashed a confident smirk, "Don't worry about me, Sunshine. Just get going!"

The remaining Titans made their way north, tracking Beast Boy's signal into the caves as Swipe had indicated. The rogue stood his ground and prepared to tangle with the biggest thing he'd ever faced in his life.

"Okay, Plasmerblockerload... or whatever you're called now... Let's see what you've got!"

The hulking creature bellowed as it charged towards its opponent, with Swipe readying his daggers and doing the same...

While the Titans quickly headed towards their destination, Starfire stopped abruptly and turned to go back. Noticing his friend's actions, Robin similarly hit the brakes and ran back to catch her.

"Star, where're you---?"

"I cannot allow him to face that monster by himself," the Tamaranean insisted. "I must assist Swipe!"

"But Slade might hurt Beast Boy if we don't get over there to help him!"

Uncertainty showed Starfire's emerald eyes, as she glanced back over her shoulder and back to her friends. "But..."

"He'll be okay, Star. Trust me," the Titan leader smiled a bit. "He's fighting for a worthy cause, after all."

The girl slowly nodded, "I know. If you say he will be victorious, then I believe you." She brightened up a bit, "Now, let us go and defeat Slade, once and for all!"

Robin smiled and nodded once before they both re-joined their friends. Starfire still looked over her shoulder one last time, back where Swipe was certainly fighting for his life against the aberration.

Meanwhile, the rogue barely dodged another of the beast's lashing attacks. No matter how far he could get from this thing, it could stretch just far enough to reach him. Worse, the gestalt creature was pushing towards the Titans... and gaining a lot of ground with every step.

"You're not getting past me, Quadruple-Ugly!" he shouted, parrying another swing with his daggers. "Slade an' Terra didn't kill me, so what makes you think you can?"

The conglomerate only roared its response and spewed several geysers of slime from the bulging "eyes" that belonged to Plasmus. Swipe leapt backwards, handspringing away from the attack just as two more electrified tentacles swung his way. The first attack missed on its own, but the second swing connected and threw the thief into a car's windshield.

"Let's hear it for poly-something-or-other titanium," he muttered to himself while carefully standing back up. He then drew out a few of Robin's freezing discs and made a dash across the creature's left flank, flinging the charges with amazing accuracy. The discs encased the tripartite's legs in thick blocks of ice, but the effect hardly lasted as long as Swipe would've liked. The abomination easily broke free of the ice and continued its attack, forcing a hasty retreat from the rogue.

Cursing under his breath, Swipe plucked the last few exploding projectiles from his belt and pulled a quick U-turn towards his enemy. He threw all of them into the monster's face just as he ducked down and tumbled between its legs to emerge behind it. The multiple explosions finally toppled the thing, which hopefully rendered the Plasmus part of it inert.

No such luck; The creature quickly got back to its feet before the rogue had a chance to celebrate. Swipe sidestepped another heavy blow and tried cutting into the oozy flesh with his daggers. The blades sliced clean through, but the wounds closed as quickly as they were made thanks to the combined healing factors of Plasmus and Overload. It was difficult to tell if the thing was actually smirking at him before another hard swing sent him flying once again.

Swipe slumped onto the pavement, gasping for breath and searching for another option. It was becoming apparent that he couldn't damage the monster whatsoever, and he could only dodge so much. His only other hope laid with the Titans overthrowing Slade, provided he could last long enough for them to pull it off. Making matters even worse were two more squads of Slade's heavy combat mechas trundling towards him from the foothills.

The rogue broke off from fighting the aberration and charged towards the robots. They may have him outnumbered, but they were more vulnerable to his daggers. Swipe carved into the first mecha he ran into, yanking out its power core and hurling it at the pursuing creature. The immense explosion finally blasted it backward for several yards, giving the thief some much-needed breathing room. He then focused on taking out as many of the robots as he could before Plasmerblockerload could get up again.

This time, however, the task proved too great even for him. More robots took the places of the fallen, and the conglomerated monster was soon bearing down on him again. With no other ways out, Swipe clamped his eyes shut and awaited the inevitable.

"I'm sorry, Jinxie... I tried..."

Just before either the droids or the mutant could strike, a massive explosion rocked the entire city. To the north, a plume of magma and ash tore through the very hills that Slade was residing in. The robots went still shortly afterward, and the aberration shrieked in pain as its body slowly tore itself into its three base pieces: Plasmus, Cinderblock, and Overload. All three remained unconscious after the split was completed, giving Swipe a chance to make a break for it.

The rogue headed north, just in time to watch the eruption cease as quickly as it had started. He ran into the Titans shortly afterwards and guessed from Beast Boy's expression that Terra didn't go peacefully. Wounded both physically and emotionally, both Swipe and the Teen Titans returned to the tower to recover. The thief inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that now he could begin his search for Jinx unopposed.

That night, Swipe gathered up his belongings and started for the exit, only to be stopped by his newfound friends.

"What? I gave you guys back yer communicator. That's the only thing I stole, honest!"

Robin stepped forward and placed that very device into the rogue's hands, "Keep it. You've definitely earned it."

"Huh?"

Cyborg nodded an agreement, "That took a lot of guts to do what you did. If it weren't for you, we might've been held up fighting that thing and not gotten to BB in time."

"I agree as well! Your bravery in battle was most impressive!" Starfire chimed in.

"And whatever you said to Terra really turned her around. At least... that's what she told me before..." Beast Boy tried to shake off his emotions and instead managed another smile. "Anyways, thanks for all your help. Like Cy said, we couldn't have done it without you."

Raven tried to appear aloof to the whole thing, but Swipe could see the "I knew you could do it" look she secretly gave him. The rogue came back with an "I told you I could do it" grin.

"As far as we're concerned, you are an honorary Teen Titan!" Robin finally declared, punctuated by the applause of his friends.

Swipe wiped away a tear from his eye, "Shucks, folks, I'm speechless! Ya know... I... I wish I could stay an' celebrate, but..."

Starfire finished his sentence for him, "There is someone you wish to rescue, correct?"

"Yeah... an' I also need to get back to the club. I'm sure the boss is gettin' worried about me. You all should drop by tonight an' watch me perform. It, uh, might end up bein' the last show I do for a while."

The Titans agreed to be there and bade their new ally farewell. On his way back to the motel, Swipe pulled out the map of Hive Academy locations from his belt and studied it. If it took him having to register with The Hive and basically go against the Titans to get Jinx back, that was a risk he was willing to take.

End of Chapter 16

In Chapter 17 -Loose ends are tied up as Swipe begins his search for the girl that literally fell into his life and has now become a part of it. How will the Titans take another possible betrayal, if they even find out about it at all?