Pieces of the Puzzle

Alexnandru Van Gordon

I agree with most of you—my ending was a little…morbid—but I was told by some that it was a good thing I didn't describe the whole "chopping up Slade" part of the story. That would have been a little grosser.

Victor: Damn straight that would. That's why you should have done it!

Alex: Oh, good Lord… (Rolls eyes, irritated) Not you again.

Victor: Yes me again—and because you are co-writing with that woman instead of me, I'm going to help you with this story for a short while.

Alex: (Annoyed beyond belief.) Don't you mean dictate it?

Victor: Very funny.

How rude of me—ladies and gentlemen, this is my rival Victor Van Heiring. He is real, mark my word, and is staying at my house for a while. He takes interest in writing and is upset at me because I am co-writing three other "real" books—two with Kacey J. Mackowetzky (whose work I put in my stories) and one with another friend of mine. He's also bugging me because we've been neck-to-neck at everything word wise and I always do better than he does.

Victor: Untrue! And don't be so cold, cousin. I thought you'd be happy to see me again. (Grinning wickedly).

Alex: (Narrow eyes.) Don't make me hurt you…(To readers.) You know how Robin's counterpart is Slade—Victor is mine. Actually, I think I would much rather have Slade after me than this guy. I swear to God, my cousin's out to make me evil!

Victor: (Smiles)Now that's true.

Alex: ENOUGH! They didn't come here to listen to us babble. I have writing to do, now go.

Victor: Give me a break, boy! You rate your stories PG-13 or R because of a little violence? Oh wow! And you don't even swear properly!

Alex: O.o…Holy Crayola Markers?

Victor: (Grinning) I know how to make you swear. It'll be good for you too. (Sitting next to Alex at desk, lifts foot and plants heel hard atop of Alex's right foot.)

Alex: O.O! Oh sh—

DISCLAIMER: (Ribbing sore foot as Victor leaves the room, laughing, for bed) Don't…own…them……Pain…

CHAPTER ONE: Crime

There had been times where his choices were bad and his decisions even worse, but this…was good. All he had to do was put his skill to work and the world would be lost to a maniac with a mind as crazy as his own. Not only that, but the reward would be something great this time. He could do this. No problem.

"A bunch of kids?" He asked again for about the fifth time. The Titans? Yeah, he knew them, and he had heard on more than one occasion they were really good at what they did, especially their Gung-ho leader Robin.

"That's right." The man replied, hidden deep within the shadows of the dark alleyway. "The folder you hold in your hand contains all the information you will need to know about them and how to take them down. There a couple of items you will need to complete your mission, including exactly what you have to do and when you have to do them."

Opening the folder, he skimmed through the pages and stopped at one that caught his attention.

"Looks like Slade has a Christmas List. I see he has something special planned for the world."

The man shifted his weight, obviously touchy on the subject. "That is no concern of yours unless you complete the entire mission and gather the guts to hang around afterwards. We don't take it easy on deserters…"

"And who's this kid?" He asked, pulling out a picture which came right after the paper. He held it up and showed it to the man. "Someone important?"

"Ah yes. The youth will be assisting you in the beginning part of this plan, though I know they'll get caught in the act."

He chuckled. This was going to be a piece of cake, and all he had to do was follow a few simple instructions and it wouldn't matter how good the Titans were. They were going down, and this time they'd stay down.

-HW (yes—she's in this one too!)-

Warmth at long last! This was the first and most certainly the last time she was going to Antarctica to check up on X—even if Speedy was her leader. He could go and freeze his limbs off the next time he wanted a check-up. It had been murder down there and she was sure she was going to be sick for a long time.

Someone bumped into her and she nearly fell over. Instead, she was slammed into the chest of a taller man and dropped her bag, falling back in the process. The man she hit picked up her bag, stuffing the contents back inside, and helped her to her feet before rushing off to catch his plane—right when someone knocked her over again! Her hand was crushed under a kid's foot and, at the same time, a young woman tripped over her feet.

One thing she didn't miss about Antarctica was the peace, quiet, and isolation from the rest of the annoying human race.

People were moving around like crazy, leaving Gotham momentarily while things were patched up in that poor city. People were still a little hectic, but somehow the gas in the air was wearing off. The JL had yet to discover the source of the strange gas, but at least the major damage was finished. Some were fleeing in fear of Slade's return—which was still a heavy secret of "how" he disappeared. The JL and all Titans vowed never to speak word of what Robin had done and the whereabouts of his body parts were known only too few—all of who were heroes and in good acquaintance to the JL. Other than that, people were moving to where the superheroes were—many moving near the location of Jump City and their famous Teen Titan or somewhere nearby Titans East Tower.

Sighing, she collected herself and her bag and stood up, heading toward the doors. It was two am and she wanted to get home as soon as possible. Who knew when she would be sent off again and there was something she still had to do before she went to sleep that night.

-R-

Red…it seemed to be everywhere, consuming him like the darkness did to a frightened young child in the dead of night. But it wasn't opaque—he could see in that colour for a long way until it faded into black. It was thick…and warm…and a trail of bubbles floated upward from his lips. It was such a familiar substance and the taste of it in his mouth said it all.

Blood.

Now he was scared, struggling to find the surface. He could barely breathe and he wanted to escape, to find sanctuary with his friends. He didn't want to be here, wherever here was. But someone thought otherwise. Heart racing and muscles straining, he panicked as two strong arms slipped around his waist and pulled him back.

Staring down at the hands that locked together, pressed back against the chest of his captor, he knew at once who it must be. That one person could only be Slade.

Though submerged, he could hear the maniacal laughter as clear as crystal in his ears, echoing in every dark recess of his haunted mind. Slade was still there inside his head, still winning. And he would always win because of his guilt.

Robin killed.

Then he was choking as he parted his lips to release his scream for help. Blood filled his mouth and he had no choice but to swallow as he fought to take in a decent amount of air. The taste was so vivid, that coppery flavour a fighter could identify immediately. It was driving him insane and he wanted to spit it out.

—And suddenly he was awake, choking as he fought against the tangle of blankets holding him down. He somehow slipped a hand free and propped himself into a sitting position to spit out the mouthful of blood. The dark material of his quilts couldn't hide the large wet spots of that vicious liquid and he knew he would have to change them before anyone came to visit his room.

It was his stomach again, acting up from stress. If any of the others found out he'd find himself in the hospital so fast he wouldn't have time to say, as always, "I'm fine." But the terrible truth was…he was far from it.

Cold sweat coating his body, he slowly untangled himself from his captor of blankets and reached for the cold glass of water on his nightstand. Swallowing half of it before taking a breath, he ran a shaky hand through his messy hair and sighed. He needed help, but how could he ever bring himself to admit it? And who could provide it? Returning to Gotham was proven a bad idea only a few weeks ago and his friends weren't exactly physicians. He couldn't talk to a doctor because the first thing they would say is, "Can you please take off the mask?" and the Titans East was just starting up. Speedy and HW—A.K.A. the leaders of the still running CR—would be busy for a while until they settled in as a team of young heroes. No one could help him.

Well, someone could, but he was in seven different places at one time. And besides, he was offering the type of help Robin didn't want.

Nightmares had been keeping him up ever since he sent "Slade" around the world. He was practically dying, partially from the fear of the dreaded man somehow coming back to life, and partially from the stress of his guilt. He—of all people—took a knife to an unconscious man and cut him up into seven pieces: Head, arms, legs, and torso…well, really only six. The heart was taken out later by professionals—a suggestion made by Red-X. There was so much blood, but what scared Robin the most was the fact that he thought he saw Slade open his eye just as he brought the blade down hard to his neck. Maybe he imagined it, but he swore he saw Slade's eye grow wide before the fatal blow. Out of respect, Robin never removed the mask, but he knew that little honourable deed was never going to make up for the fact that he just murdered a man.

Dressed in a white t-shirt and a pair of plain black pajama pants, he went through his drawer to collect his uniform and put on his mask before stepping out into the hall. He stepped quietly to the washroom where he had a cold shower to wake up and dressed for the day before slipping back into his room to drop off his clothes. Then he made his way to the main room. It was 4 am and he was in the mood for a quick visit to the gym, but fate had other plans.

On the large screen, printed in big, bold, green letters, was a quick message from Red-X, saying

ROBIN, IT'S GONE.

-Sp-

The alarms went off and he was startled out of bed. It wasn't often that they did ring and it was a surprise that they were actually the "Intruder Alert" sirens. That didn't happen often…okay, so it never happened before. This was new to them.

Opening the door in a hurry, he dashed out into the hallway and—

—came slamming into HW, heads banging together before they stumbled back away from each other.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" She yelled, stamping a foot in pain as she rubbed her forehead.

He was rubbing his own, wincing when he felt where a nasty, throbbing bump would grow. "HW? Since when did you get back?"

"Just now…" She muttered. Obviously. She was in her costume—but hadn't she just arrived from the airport. He thought she said she would be traveling in civilian clothes while she left. But then again, with a long coat and no mask, she could probably make her way through the stuffed airports without drawing attention. A villain could walk through there in full suit and nobody would notice. "I think I tripped the alarm…"

Well, at least it wasn't anything serious. Ever since they brought a piece of Slade to the tower, everyone had been jumpy—especially the twins. Mas Y Menos kept cursing in Spanish each time they walked past the evidence room door.

Which reminded him…

"How's Red-X and his place down south?"

Mentioning the mission seemed to make her turn red in the face. He should have been smart enough to realize she would still be angry at him for sending her to the coldest place on the face of the earth. But somehow she kept her cool and refrained from electrocuting him.

"Just fine." She murmured, hands now her hips. "But his communication system is acting up. He can't talk face to face with anyone—as you already know since you sent me there—and his "e-mail" type letters have to be kept to the minimum. They can only contain approximately five words. You'll have to send someone down there to fix it for him."

Cyborg could do it, and he was mostly machine. The cold shouldn't bother him as much as a normal person and besides, they couldn't trust any normal fixit. Slade and the reason for his disappearance were top-secret. No one but those who were involved with the actual ordeal, or were trusted acquaintances of the JL or TT, were allowed to know. Not a news channel in North America could tell the world what exactly happened the day Gotham went haywire.

Well, as long as no one tried to resurrect Slade, he would be happy.

"I've got to go." HW yawned after the long silence between them. "I still have to unpack."

"WAIT!"

The two froze and stared down the hallway at the other Titans. Aqualad headed them with a serious face, Hot Spot, Bumblebee, and Mas Y Menos following shortly behind. The last four Titans appeared weary and sad, especially upon glancing at HW, but Aqualad appeared almost determined. He looked almost the exact same way he did when he was about to arrest a criminal.

"It's gone!" He shouted, cutting to the chase. "Outr piece of Slade has been taken!"

"Who—" Speedy began, but he was interrupted by the seaman's raised hand for silence. The hand then curled into a fist with only the index finger extended, pointing at the accused.

"She did it."

"Excuse me!" HW exclaimed, outraged at the sudden allegation. It was not everyday something like this happened. "I just got back here tonight! What proof makes you think I had anything to do with it!"

"I saw you!" He shouted, sounding just as angry as she did, more from the betrayal than anything else. "It's on the cameras! And!...I've got this…"

What Speedy hadn't noticed before was that Aqualad held something tightly in each hand. He raised his right hand to reveal his communicator and turned it on. Everyone beeped automatically in response…except for HW. The reason why was soon explained when Aqualad showed her communicator in his other hand and tossed it to her gruffly.

"You dropped this in the evidence room when you fled."

Everyone was quiet, shocked, and dismayed. No one wanted to believe it was true—save for Aqualad. He was red in the face and refused to make eye-contact with her now.

HW opened her mouth to speak but she seemed to be at a loss of words. Finally her shoulders slouched at she stared at her communicator in disbelief. Whether she had really done it or not, they would have to find out later when they went over the security cameras. But for now…

Speedy stepped closer to HW and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"HW…you're under arrest."

-BB-

Having his room right closest to the main room, it wasn't hard for him to hear Robin's enraged shout muffled by his wall. It wasn't often that he heard it, but when he did he knew who to blame for it. There was only one person who could get Robin that ticked off.

Slade.

But wasn't he dead?

Curious, and a little frightened, he crept from his room quietly after dressing and pooped his head in through the entrance to the main room. On the big screen was printed: ROBIN, IT'S GONE—not the nicest thing to wake up to when you knew what IT was.

"I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means."

Robin spun around, tense, but relaxed once he saw it was only the green changeling. Sadly, his attitude remained.

"It means exactly that…Slade's left arm has gone missing, and that's not the only part…"

He pressed a couple of buttons on the motherboard and waited until the screen changed, now a mess of opened files and computer messages.

Beast Boy's mouth dropped opened as he entered the room and ran to his leader's side. "That's just about everything…All that's missing now is his heart and his head. Even the JL's piece is missing!"

"Titans East have his heart, and I wanted to check the evidence lab to see if his head is still there, but…I just don't know anymore. Whoever is doing this, they…they did it all in less than two days. And there is barely any clues left to say who did it. It has to be someone with inside information, someone who was there during the whole ordeal."

"Like…?"

He was answered suddenly when a small section of the screen changed to show Speedy.

Robin sighed. "Good, Speedy. I needed to talk to you about—"

"It's gone!"

"WHAT!" The two boys cried out in unison. This couldn't be happening.

"There's more than one person doing this, but we caught one. However, I'm sad to say the rest got away with Slade's heart. We have no idea where it could be."

"Who did you catch?" Robin asked impatiently. "Is it someone connected?"

"Yeah…" There was a long, melancholy pause from Speedy before he mustered the strength to say it. "We arrested HW."

Beast Boy shook his head. That couldn't be right—he knew the girl! She wouldn't do something like that. Heaven knows, she only risked her life to save Starfire! Then again, she did electrocute that Wintergreen guy to death—and they still had yet to find his rotting body in that accursed building. But no…but she did provide the knife—NO! There had to be some mistake! Everything was going crazy and she was just caught in it downstream.

"Are you sure you're right?" Robin asked, not quite convinced himself. "I'm mean…she just joined you."

"And she just came back from Red-X. Have you heard anything from him yet?"

Beast Boy gaped. "Yeah…he just said his piece was missing."

-

Perfect. Now that they were running around crazy. He was going to sneak in and snatch up Slade's head and something else a little special. And with all the mayhem going on, no one would know until it was too late. While they ran around and tried to make their arrests, Slade would rise again and they would be doomed. It was only a matter of time until he reassembled once his body parts were placed close enough together in the right positions, and that would be something to see.

Standing on the edge of Titan Island (or whatever they call it in the show), he gazed up at the top window. He was exhausted from using his powers to zip from the HQ of Titans East and then to Jump City, but with an hour's break he would be back in shape in no time soon. Then he could use his powers again fro something else and be out of Jump City in five minutes flat.

"Count your time wisely Titans" He whispered to the unknowing heroes. "It's slipping away like grains of sand."

And it really was.

-A-

Sorry for taking so long. Victor is here so it may take me longer to update. That, plus Victor killed the hard-drive on my laptop and messed it up. I need my dad to fix it. Meanwhile, I'm writing all my chapters downstairs in the creepy basement and that means I'll have less time to do it. Don't be upset though. I promise I'm never going to quit.

I can't remember which of you who asked, but I'm a green belt. That's more than halfway through the ranks at my gym, and I don't know what rank brown is. We don't have that colour at my dojang (and no—if you read my profile, I am not Asian in any way).

Victor: (Pulling Alex back from computer.) This chapter was a little…abrupt, don't you think? I mean, you have a new criminal, a major crime, and a possible suspect all in the first chapter. Isn't that a little too much?

Alex: I have my reasons…O.o? And let go of me. Why are you dragging me up the basement stairs? I want to start on chapter two tonight.

Victor: Not tonight, preacher boy. We're playing soccer outside with your sisters.

Alex: (Struggling.) Preacher boy? Where'd you get that name? And soccer! One—it's the dead of night, and Two—I just walked the dog and we had to come back in because of the snow. One step and you'll be in it up to your thighs.

Victor: (Grinning.) Then we'll grab the winter boots on our way out.

-O.O Help!

-Alexnandru Van Gordon