Chapter Two: The Teams:

Robin sat in the back of Cyborg's car with Speedy. Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire were flying to the east and Slade had his own means of transportation that were still a mystery to Robin. It was driving him insane knowing he had Slade right in front of him and he couldn't touch him—yet, anyway. The moment the Ice King was arrested he was going to be on Slade's heels like a cat after a mouse. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that the chance of him being the mouse and Slade being the cat were greater. Slade had him on the spot once before when he made him his apprentice—and the only reason he escaped that fate was because his friends showed up.

Speedy elbowed him gently in the ribs. "Lighten up, bud." He grinned. "You look like you just died but haven't quite started to rot yet."

"Cough-cough-cough! I'm not dead—but I'll get to that stage soon enough." He shivered and rubbed his shoulders. He had put a light jacket on so that his cape still flowed out freely, and around his neck was a tight red scarf Starfire gave him a long time ago around the time when they first met. He wasn't exactly at the right temperature, but at least he was warmer than he had been all of yesterday. The thought of working with Slade again had kept him up all night—and that wasn't a good thing when you were sick.

Speedy patted him on the shoulder. "Cheer up, mate. Winter's only here for a quarter of the year. You'll get over that flu of yours soon enough and then you'll love the snow again."

Snow… The word alone made him shiver. Snow was cold, and he hated being cold.

"When was the last time you had a vacation?" Speedy asked, watching as Robin fell into another fit of dry coughs with his hand in a fist over his mouth.

Robin tried to think about that one… That would have been—No…that wasn't a vacation… Well…

Had he ever taken one before?

"Is being hospitalized included?" He asked.

Speedy blinked.

---

Starfire froze in the air, Raven pausing beside her. Beast Boy found a perch on a nearby tree and they all stared in amazement at the city of Titans East. It was…a winter wonderland.

"How beautiful…" Starfire breathed in awe. Almost every building was encased in a thick layer of ice, and those that were spared were still turned white with a thin layer of frost. Just about everything was covered in snow—all things sparkling like diamonds beneath a glass case in a jewelry shop. Everything glistened and slightly burned the eyes of the three heroes, a magnificent and deadly beauty they couldn't help but admire. Yes, it was cold—and yes, people were trapped and possibly dying, but it was a sight to behold.

"How long did it take him to do this?" Raven asked aloud. "It's…it's…"

"Spooky!" Beast Boy exclaimed, transforming into his normal self and landing in a huge pile of snow beneath his perch. Shivering, he changed into a polar bear and sat in the snow, continuing to stare at the frozen city in wonder.

"Beast Boy is right." Starfire sighed. "It is pretty, but pretty things are usually poisonous or hurt you when you least expect it (like that spider she picked up during the summer at the park). We must check the place out and find anyone who is injured or in danger."

"Didn't Speedy say that the city was evacuated?" Raven asked, trying hard not to shiver in the cold.

"But his companions are still in there and others may be trapped."

Beast Boy growled in his polar bear form, a groan of exhaustion. They had been traveling all morning and there was still no sight of the others—Slade, especially. They were just waiting for him to pop out from somewhere and stab them in the back, but that seemed more or less Robin's job to be paranoid about the guy. Beast Boy had enough reason to be T-ed off at the man for Terra, but Robin most of all.

"We should wait for the others." Raven suggested, glancing over her shoulder at the snow covered highway leading into the seemly deserted city.

"But we might be needed." Starfire complained, and started toward the city at full speed through the air. She would never forgive herself if someone was hurt or killed just because she was late.

Raven started to protest, but swallowed her words and followed after Starfire, Beast Boy right behind her. If they were going to do something about the situation, they had might as well start now.

---

An abandoned warehouse downtown was his lair, made into something wonderful by his power over ice. No one could get in or out without his permission and even if someone managed to break in, the security cameras he put up around the place would inform him of any intrusions. He had already frozen four of the five bratty super heroes in blocks of ice that had sought to defeat him, forced into a deep slumber until melted, but the leader—Speedy—had somehow managed to escape. Last he heard from his minions, the young leader headed toward Jump City for the aid of the original Teen Titans. When he returned, all of hell would freeze over.

How exciting.

Nothing could be recognized in his fortress of ice, and he himself would not be spotted as long as he stayed out of the direct light. A sudden burst of his powers had turned his very body to ice, a figure translucent in some places, transparent in others. If he stood still someone might mistake him as an ice sculpture, and that was exactly what gave him the advantaged in his fortress when the Titans East came. No one could spot him in the glory of his brilliant lair.

They had had enough trouble trying to keep their balance on his ice.

He chuckled to himself from the memory of their futile battle, but the icy smile on his face somehow flowed into one of a frown. He spun around and glared at the large piece of machinery in the center of the room, a control panel that was attached to the ceiling and rooted to the floor by hundreds of thick black cables. All he needed was that one piece, but he had to be patient. He would get it in due time, and then the world would be at the mercy of his hurricanes and blizzards, subject to the destruction he could create. He could make countries go through the worst of droughts and pay for a single day of rain. He could simply murder thousands in the blink of an eye if he wanted to—why not? He had been rejected all his life because of his strange powers. Now was his chance for revenge.

Revenge…what a sweet word. But alliances were required, even if he did somehow manage to gain control over the world's weather. People would still oppose him—the JLA and the Titans of course—and even when they perished someone new would step up to continue the battle. That was the second reason he had a partner—who he desperately needed to speak to. Time was wasting and he was growing quite impatient.

---

Starfire shot her starbolt with correct accuracy and hit the iceman dead on. He was much like the stone creations of her perished friend Terra, but these monsters were pure ice. They made no sound from their mouths, just stomped around mindlessly as they tried to catch the three Titans. At first Starfire had fought on foot, but the icy streets proved it too difficult to walk. Taking flight, all three Titans were able to fight back without much trouble at all. Not many icemen came after that, and they did not regenerate after destruction—a battle well won.

After the last iceman was taken out by the swoop of the green pterodactyl Beast Boy, all three landed on the ground and tried to stand properly. However, they quickly took flight again after the T-car came skidding dangerously around the corner and slid past them with the brakes screeching as Cyborg tried to gain control. It only managed to stop before it hit a building when Raven halted it with her powers. Even then they all held their breaths.

The front door swung open and Cyborg stepped out, one hand on the back of his head as he tried to focus. All three boys who had ridden inside were dizzy from the ride, and it didn't help much when they started to slid around unwillingly on the ice.

Beast Boy swooped down to grab Cyborg, Raven lifted Speedy with her powers. And Starfire caught Robin around the waist just before he fell. They both blushed a deep red as they lifted up into the air to converse with their companions.

"The Ice King has the machine in an abandoned warehouse in the center of the city." Speedy explained. "I tried to get in before, but that place is a maze. The Ice King had my friends frozen before we were in there for five minutes."

"That brings upon the question of where the heck Slade is." Cyborg muttered, glancing around at the icy city. "We can't do squat without him."

"And we can't land anywhere without slipping." Raven pointed out.

"Not to mention the men of ice." Starfire added. "They were most unpleasant."

"Wait until you see what other frozen monsters the Ice King has up his sleeves." Speedy chuckled. "This guy has a wild imagination—but that's beside the point. When the others and I entered his lair, there were two possible ways to get to the main room where he kept the machine. There's a third, but you have to access it from underground and that's up to Slade's team to handle, which reminds me…"

Speedy looked at Raven and then Starfire. "Do you two think you can enter his lair through one of the two main entrances?"

Raven nodded and Starfire smiled.

"Good. Cyborg—Beast Boy, do you guys think you can take the second entrance?"

"Boo-yah, dude!" Cyborg laughed from his seat atop Beast Boy's back and Beast Boy screeched in agreement.

"Fine—" Then Speedy looked to Robin. "You and I are going to take the underground route with Slade. You don't have to fight—just keep an eye on Slade. I take it you two go a long way's back?"

"Too long…" Robin muttered, but he nodded. He wanted to be near Slade anyway. Like he promised himself before—the moment they were insured victory, he wanted to take Slade down, and nothing was going to stop him this time.

He wasn't going to lose.

"Do you hear that?" Starfire asked.

They paused to listen and finally picked up the sound. It was a hum—of a jet or something.

Sure enough, a large aircraft landed easily on a nearby roof without slipping around on the thick ice. It was painted black, but the spiked orange 'S' on either wing stood out to Robin's eyes. Slade was here.

He was late.

The three flying heroes took their land bound companions to the roof and stood them steadily in the slippery ice. Somehow the boys found their balance and managed to stay standing as one of the side doors slid open and fifteen Slade-bots stormed out, each one as dark and menacing as the last. But the androids did not attack. They stood mindlessly, perfectly still as they waited for their creator to step onto the roof.

Hands behind his back, Slade stood with perfect balance on the ice and took a good look at it before staring at the six heroes.

"Slippery, isn't it?" He commented.

"Thought you'd never come." Robin muttered. "Surprise, surprise."

Ten of Slade's robots marched forward and the heroes began to wonder. Starfire couldn't help but allow her hands and eyes to glow a brilliant green and Robin couldn't help but frown.

"You have every reason not to trust me." Slade sighed. "But I mean business. They will accompany the two teams who are to storm the Ice King's lair from the front while I, and whoever tags along, sneak in the back door. I trust you've decided who's doing what?"

Speedy nodded.

"Then let's get this over and done with. I'm late enough as it is for something else."

Raven and Starfire took flight, five of the robots jumping off the side of the building to follow them with surprising agility on the ice. Cyborg hoped back onto Beast Boy's back and they too took off with five robots taking off after them by foot. That left Speedy and Robin alone with Slade on the roof.

An eerie silence hung in the air for a long time. Speedy held his tongue and allowed the two enemies to stare daggers at one another. Well, Robin was really the only one frowning. You could never really tell what expression Slade had on his face with his one-eyed mask.

"Shall we then?" Slade asked and stepped back onto his aircraft, disappearing into the darkness.

Speedy took a slippery step forward but made it to the aircraft okay. Robin, on the other hand, had suddenly found perfect balance and strode toward the plane with the same frown still upon his face. Both stepped onboard cautiously, but nothing jumped out to grab them. However, the door did slam shut behind them and they were suddenly plunged into a frightening darkness, causing both boys to jump.

Slade laughed.

Okay, I haven't been working on this because I've been too busy with "Blast to the Supposed Past" and the sequel attached to the same web-page "Allow Me to Live like You" I absolutely forgot about this one and I'll have to jog my memory to remember the whole plot. And thank you to those of you that read this boring little story anyway.

-Bows

-Alexnandru Van Gordon