From the ashes

Chapter 1: The last Titan part 1

It was supposed to be just another take down, pure and simple, we'd arrive say our lines and beat the bad guy. We'd done enough of them over the years to do one with our eyes closed, ok maybe not with our eyes actually closed but you get the idea. It was supposed to be just another take down even if it did feel different from all the others.

It was almost as if he was expecting us, normally the bad guys jump out of their skin at the sound of one of Robin's cheesy one liners but Slade isn't like your typical criminal. Slade is in a league of his own.

It was meant to be just another take down…


"Slade" hissed Robin as the Titans entered the huge warehouse and walked slowly towards the masked crime lord, "Taking part in your own crimes, what's the matter no more flunkies to do the work for you?" he asked as they stopped roughly 20 or so feet away from Slade.

"The Teen Titans" mused Slade as he turned to face the teenage superheroes, letting the security guard he was holding fall to the ground with a thud and gasp for breath as the terrified man scuttled away to safety, "I was wondering when you'd show up and attempt to stop me" he said with a smirk, even through his mask the Titans could tell he was smiling, as he folded his arms across his broad chest.

"We won't attempt to stop you Slade!" growled Robin as he reached for his bo staff and extended it to its full length, "Titans g…." but he was cut off by the sound of Starfire taking to the air and flying straight at Slade, her usually carefree and innocent eyes glowed bright green as her anger propelled her towards her target.

With a smirk Slade put his plan into action and with a single action detonated the c4 charges he had planted on the ground in front and beside him, giving him a curtain of fire and smoke to hide behind as Starfire closed the distance. Starfire had the choice of fly over the explosions and attack Slade from the sky or fly around them and take him out from behind, she picked the latter and with amazing skill and speed she zipped around the explosions in a hope of taking Slade by surprise from behind.

Of course this is what Slade has wanted all along and with cold calculated movements he simply turned on his heels and thrust his right hand forward, stabbing the beautiful Tamaranian in the stomach with what looked like a katana. The sudden sting of the sword piercing her orange flesh made Starfire stop dead in her tracks with a look of terror as she stared into Slade's only visible eye.

"Wrong choice my dear" he laughed coldly as he removed he twisted the blade in her gut, making her cry out in absolute agony as she fell to the ground, her life blood began to pool around her as her eyes stopped glowing. It had taken Slade a matter of seconds to take down the strongest member of the Titans. It had taken him a matter of seconds to end the life of princess Koriand'r of Tameran.

"STARFIRE!" screamed Robin as he bolted towards Slade, the tears could be seen creeping out from the side of his mask as he closed the distance between him and the man responsible for taking away his Starfire. But Slade was ready for his impetuous charge and with a casual flick of his wrist he made Robin fall to the ground in agony, the masked boy wonder screamed and clawed at his eyes as the acid bomb Slade has thrown at him began to eat away at the material of his mask.

The acid he used for his bomb wasn't strong enough to melt Robin's skin but it was keeping the boy wonder busy and that's what Slade wanted more than anything, without their leader he knew the remaining Titans would be no match for him.

Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg where about to leap into action and save their fallen comrades but Slade was already standing in front of them, they could tell he was still smiling by the look in his cold grey eye. Starfire's blood still dripped from the blade of his sword. Without wasting a single moment he took out Beast Boy with a swift kick to the face and sent Cyborg crashing through some crates with an expertly placed push to the chest, leaving Raven alone as Slade regained his composure and looked at her. Raven's eyes glowed white but before she could even open her mouth Slade shot forward with his free hand and grabbed her by the throat, crushing her larynx before she could even think of reacting. Raven had the power to slam Slade off every single building in the city, but only if she could say her chant.

Raven struggled against Slade's grip but her kicks, slaps and punches did nothing but make him tighten his grip around her throat. Her eyes began to change and glow red but Slade seemed unfazed and simply tightened his grip that little bit more.

"Daddy can't help you this time" he whispered to her as he tightened his grip even more, so much so that he began to hear the bones of her neck begin to break under the pressure of his grip. He finally ended her misery and let her fall to the ground but only once he had heard her neck bones snap, her four demonic eyes merged back into their beautiful violet form she hit the ground, her chest had stopped moving as Slade turned away from her lifeless corpse and turned his attention to the other Titans still breathing, he could now relax and take his time with the other Titans seeing as how he had now eliminated the two strongest and incapacitated their leader.

"RAVEN!" roared Beast Boy as he watched Raven be stolen away from him, reminding him of the time when Slade had robbed him of a future with Terra. With an inhuman roar his inner beast took control of his mind, clouding his mind with animalistic rage as his body instantly transformed into the Beast. But Slade had expected this to happen and had already devised a way of bringing the best to it's knees with minimal effort.

Beast Boy snarled and lunged at Slade, unsheathing his vicious claws as he raised one of his huge arms into the air. Slade moved even faster and darted forward and before The Beast could bring his claws down Slade had plunged his katana into Beast Boy's huge muscular chest, using both of his muscular arms to push the blade past the thick layer of muscle into the Beast's oversized heart.

Beast Boy instantly reverted back to his human form and looked down, blinking in disbelief at the sword that was now lodged in his chest.

"No way" he coughed out as he looked back up at Slade, tears crept out of his terrified eyes as he stared into the cold void of Slade's pupil. Slade said nothing and like he had done with Starfire twisted the blade, making Beast Boy gasp sharply one last time before he slumped forward onto Slade's chest. Slade smiled and pulled his blade free and allowed Beast Boy's body to fall to the ground, but not before he had wiped his weapon clean on the shape shifters uniform.

As Cyborg stood back up Slade was already running towards him, Cyborg could see the lights of the warehouse reflecting off the blade of Slade's weapon as the masked killer closed the distance between them. Slade had already figured out a way of neutralising Cyborg's sonic cannon but he needed to be closer, he just hoped the shock of seeing his friends bodies would effect his aim long enough for him to put his plan into action.

Cyborg quickly transfigured his right arm into it's sonic cannon configuration and aimed it directly at the incoming Slade but before he could fire he noticed someone lying behind Slade, someone he instantly recognised.

"BB?" whispered Cyborg as he saw his best friend lying face first on the ground, his arm began to tremble as his cybernetic eye zoomed in closer to his friends motionless body. Cyborg had done exactly what Slade had wanted him to do and before he could re-aim his cannon at the man who had killed his friend it was too late. It took Cyborg's internal sensors a single second to realise what had happened. With horror in his human eye Cyborg watched as his sonic cannon detached itself from his body in a shower of sparks and parts. But before that ram had even hit the ground Slade had already severed the other arm from his body as well, for lack of a better word disarming Cyborg completely.

Cyborg's entire body trembled as Slade pushed him against the wall, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the blade that Slade was now holding at his throat. Once again Slade smirked at the thought of ending another Titans life but he had no intention of killing Cyborg just yet, like everything else in this fight he knew exactly what would happen next. Slade suddenly pushed himself away from Cyborg, narrowing avoiding the bright red birdarang that flew past his mask and mashed the crate he was standing beside to pieces. But as he moved away from Cyborg Slade threw something at the metal teenager, something he knew would keep Cyborg out of the way for the time being.

The small device attached itself to Cyborg's neck and preceded to shut down his systems, Cyborg was powerless as the small device drained him of his power supply. He fell to the ground with a clang and thud, the usually blue parts of his cybernetic body turned grey as he went into sleep mode, the last thing he saw was Robin throwing himself at Slade like a madman.

"Robin…." he managed to whisper before everything went black.

The now unmasked Robin growled, snarled and roared as he swung his bo staff at Slade, each attack was fuelled with hate and rage. Slade anticipated each of the wild attacks in advance and easily reversed them. With each failed attack Robin's anger grew and grew, his swings became wilder and faster but they didn't bother Slade, he knew exactly what Robin would do before Robin even knew himself.

"Come now Robin is that the best you can offer?" questioned Slade as he twirled around Robin and used the boy wonders cape to pull him to the ground violently, "Don't you want to avenge your fallen comrades?" he asked as he grabbed hold of Robin's bo staff and used it to push him away. Robin stumbled backwards a few steps but quickly regained his footing and threw himself at Slade once again, this time forcing Slade to grab the bo staff and throw it across the room. Robin growled and went back on the attack but Slade was already 2 steps ahead and stopped each of Robin's attacks with simple movements.

The fight looked almost like a dance, each of the fighters weaved their way round the others attempted attacks and launched one of their own. Unfortunately for Robin Slade had begun to use his height and superior strength to dictate the pace of the fight, even if it had cost him his sword he was slowly beginning to wear the brave teenager down with swift strikes to his stomach and upper chest. Robin coughed and did his best to stay standing but eventually he fell onto his knees panting for breath.

"Finished already Robin?" asked Slade as he relaxed his stance and looked at the exhausted teenager who was panting for breath in front of him, "Pity I was just getting warmed up" he snarled as he punched Robin in the face, knocking the boy wonder onto the ground as blood trickled out from his mouth. As Robin lay on the ground he glanced over at Starfire's motionless body, the sight of her lying on the cold concrete floor with her blood pooling around her made something deep down inside Robin snap.

It was the one thing Slade hadn't planned on and before he knew it Robin was back on his feet and back on the attack. This time it was Slade who struggled to keep up with Robin as the boy wonder moved with amazing speed.

Each punch struck Slade perfectly.

Each kick found it's mark with no resistance.

Slade staggered backwards and clutched at his crumbling mask giving Robin the opening he had desperately been searching for. With a scream that sounded more like a roar Robin leapt at Slade with every fibre in his being and drove his boot as hard as he could into his face. Slade was sent flying onto his back and groaned as his mask began to crack and crumble to pieces.

Robin wanted to unmask Slade more than anything, he wanted to drive a stake through his cold black heart for ever harming his friends but he ignored him and ran straight towards Starfire, hoping she was still alive as he dropped onto his knees and gently cradled her in his arms.

"Starfire?" he asked in a quiet whisper as he pushed her hair out of her face, his unmasked eyes were clouded over with tears as he looked at her beautiful face. To his delight Starfire opened her eyes and looked at him, managing a weak smile as he smiled down at her.

"I thought I'd lost you" he smiled as he wiped away his tears, gently using his cape to wipe away any blood or dirt that was on her face.

"Robin" she whispered weakly as she looked at him with her emerald eyes, smiling as she realised he wasn't wearing his mask, "There is something I wish to tell you".

Robin simply looked at the girl in his arms, fighting against his own tears as her beautiful emerald eyes began to fill with tears of her own.

"I wanted to tell you that I…I…"

"You what Star?"

"I……….." she never finished her sentence. Robin broke down into tears as he closed her eyes over for the last time. His entire body trembled as he held Starfire's body against him, he refused to let go of her even as Slade stood back up and stalked towards him from behind.

"It's over Slade" hissed Robin quietly as he hugged Starfire's body, crying into her silky red hair as Slade stood over him, "It's over".

"No Robin this isn't over" smirked Slade as he pulled a single shot pistol out from behind his back and aimed it directly at Robin's head, "This is just the beginning of something new" he said as he pulled the trigger.

"Mission accomplished" smirked Slade as he walked away from Robin and Starfire's lifeless bodies, ignoring Cyborg completely as the metal teenager as he lay motionless amidst the bodies of his fellow Titans and friends.


The sky was grey but the sun managed to break through the clouds at points, its golden rays wavered down, illuminating the tops of the heads both bowed and held up straight.

The masses of people formed two fields of sadness and comfort, people of all colour and nationalities offered and gave each other comfort and a shoulder to cry on.

A simple white gravel path separated each field but no one noticed it, they were too busy staring ahead of them at the beautiful marble monument before them.

Almost everyone there had come to pay their respects to people who had never asked for thanks, but not everyone came to remember. The flash bulbs of the numerous cameras where a constant reminder that members of the press where standing amongst the mourners.

In front of the mourners stood the superheroes, their brilliant costumes stood out against the sae of black suits and dresses of the crowd. They were all there Superman, the Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Hawk Girl, The Flash, J'onn J'onnz, Aqua Man and his wife, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Captain Atom, Speedy, Aqua Lad, Bumble Bee, Mas y Menos, Fixit, Thunder and his brother Lightning, Super Girl, Wildebeast, The Question, Huntress, Amazo, Dr Fate and his wife, Static the list went on and on. Each of them wore their costumes with pride, each of them wore their costumes a sign of respect for the fallen heroes.

The only absent face was Batman. None could blame him for not being there, none could even guess the pain he was going through at the thought of losing his Robin.

As Cyborg approached the podium he looked out over the crowd, countless faces looked back at him, each one a stranger to him but at the same time they were friends, each one had tears in their eyes. Even the mass of superheroes had tears in their eyes, even the ones with masks found it hard to conceal them.

He cleared his throat and with a loud clear voice he began to speak. His voice trembled when he mentioned his friends names but it remained strong, his tears fell from his human eye as he spoke of his life with his friends. Not a soul spoke or moved as Cyborg spoke, the only noise that was heard was the sound of people sniffing and wiping away their tears, even the press remained quiet as the photographers they put their cameras down and listened to the metal teenager speak.

"Goodbye guys" wept Cyborg as he placed a hand on the monument and closed his eye and allowed his tears to pour down his face.


The sound of thunder crashing in the sky made Cyborg reopen his human eye and look out of the window he was standing in front of. Ahead of him, just beyond the quiet waters of the bay lay Jump City, well what was left of it anyway. The approaching storm had plucked him back from his memories just in time

It had been 20 years since he had buried his friends and the city was still suffering. The streets no longer belonged to the citizens of the city, the streets belonged to the lowlifes of the city now. The police did their best to try and keep their city safe but most of the force had become corrupt, thinking of themselves instead of others. Cyborg couldn't and didn't blame them it was safer being corrupt, being a hero was now hazardous to your health.

For 20 years Cyborg had watched his city, his home, die. He had tried numerous times to save it from itself but each time he had failed and paid the price.

He looked down at his battered body chassis, each bullet hole, each scrape, each dent was a fight he had lost trying to save the city. But he wore each wound with a sense of pride, besides the girls love a scar or two. He was old now and had gotten to the point where he wanted to just stop and disappear but heknew hecouldn't let himself do that, something would always stop him from taking that road. Maybe it was his destiny to be alone, who knows?

He would like every other night go out on a patrol around the dark streets ofhis city, attempting to make even the smallest of differences to the world.

He owed it to them. Besides it got him out of the Tower for a few hours.

With a deep relaxing breath he pushed himself away from the dirty glass of the window shuffled off into the darkness, muttering to himself that tonight would be different from all the others.

"Looks like it's going to be one of those nights" he muttered to himself as he left the Tower and looked up at the sky city, feeling the gentle splatter of the rain as it dripped onto his face , "Titan go" he sighed to himself mournfully as he made his way towards the city, ignoring the rain as it fell that little bit harder.

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Not a very good first chapter but I hope people enjoyed it none the less.

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Later days