Chapter 6: We are Honored
So it had come to pass that the five Titans faced five villains on equal terms. For once, Robin's group did not outnumber Slade's. Of course Slade had robots, but those were not really people, and they weren't at this battle.
Robin and Slade continued to trade blows with their retractable staffs. Raven's powers had finally been activated, so she started to pick up a nearby rock to throw at Gizmo. Coincidentally, Terra also tried to throw the very same rock at Cyborg, who was in a shootout with Gizmo. Terra and Raven simultaneously picked up the rock and telekinetically hurled it in two directions. Under equal and opposite forces, the rock did not move. A black halo punctuated by yellow flashes surrounded the rock as it floated idly in the air. Terra and Raven noticed each other, then both pushed harder. The rock started to crack open, then shattered. Terra pointed at the ground and a column of dirt shot up under Raven, catching her off-guard. Terra took a few seconds to open her communicator and quietly announce: "We've sighted all the Titans. The tower is deserted, repeat the tower is deserted. Attack now." Mammoth's voice came back through the communicator. "We are in position, commencing attack now." Cinderblock's grunting was heard in the distance as the heavily fortified Titans Tower started to shoot at him.
The "-fire" sisters circled each other in the sky, each dodging the other's starbolts (or "black"bolts). They circled around and around, firing constantly and neither hitting the other. At the exact same time they both gave up on starbolts and decided to use their eye-lasers instead. A moment later four different beams shot from their eyes, two green ones hitting Blackfire and two purple ones hitting Starfire. Both sisters were knocked to the ground.
Beast Boy appeared behind Gizmo as a charging green rhinoceros. Gizmo was concentrating on Cyborg and was thrown into the wall of a house on the other side of the street. Cyborg was concentrating on Gizmo and not prepared when a sludge crab scuttled along the ground and swallowed him.
Meanwhile, Overload sent electric bolts flying towards an explosive-disc launcher on the Titans Tower's roof, while Jinx jinxed a water gun concealed behind a glass panel. Cinderblock stood in front of Overload, protecting him from any water cannons, while Overload peeked out to hit any sonic cannons or disc launchers that could hurt Cinderblock. The remaining weapons continued to fire, while Jinx dodged every shot and disabled the turrets with pink energy waves.
Cyborg struggled to free himself from the sludge crab. Suddenly all the Titans' communicators beeped. The tower was being attacked! "We have to get back to the tower!" yelled Robin over the din of the battle. At some point, all the Titans were back together in a semicircle formation. "Raven, get us back to the tower," ordered Robin. A black bird shape enveloped the Titans and flew off towards the tower. All the five villains fired at once. A glob of sludge passed right under the black raven. A pair of purple starbolts passed through it to no effect. Missiles failed to lock on to their target. Slade's explosive disc and Terra's piece of asphalt both passed through the black raven. Nothing happened. The raven simply kept flying towards the tower, unfazed.
After some fighting, Jinx, Mammoth, Overload, and Cinderblock had disabled the weapons on the outside of the Titans Tower. They walked up to the door and found it locked. No matter; Mammoth banged down the door with a few punches.
Suddenly, from behind them came a spread of four arrows. These arrows launched a net, trapping Cinderblock and Overload under it. Everyone turned to see Speedy, aiming another arrow at them. Jinx and Mammoth leaped in different directions and avoided the arrow. Cinderblock, after some struggling, punched through the net. Speedy fired another arrow at Mammoth, who dodged again. This time, it was a heat-seeking arrow, which turned around and sought out Overload. The arrow, unfortunately, had no effect on Overload.
Jinx launched a pink wave, which Speedy jumped over. Overload, Cinderblock, and Mammoth charged at him...
...when Cinderblock was suddenly thrown to the ground, landing right on Mammoth and Overload. Everyone got a look at the new arrival—it was Wilderbeest!
Jinx launched another energy wave at Wilderbeest, but it only glanced off his armored chestplate. Cinderblock started to get up and saw Wilderbeest charging. Cinderblock wound up for a big punch but got hit by two explosive arrows. He was knocked flat on his back this time. Mammoth got up and delivered the punch in Cinderblock's place. Wilderbeest was thrown on his back but Mammoth was immediately shaking his hand in pain, all his fingers broken. Wilderbeest got up slowly, his chestplate undamaged.
At that moment, a black raven appeared, and the Titans stepped out. Overload was the first to notice and aimed an electric attack—
--when suddenly a huge geyser of water shot up from the nearby ocean, landing directly on Overload. He cried out in pain as the water shrank him. Cinderblock hurried to shield Overload from the stream of water. Meanwhile, Jinx noticed the figure of Aqualad standing knee-deep in the water. She sent him a wave of pink energy, and as he was hit by the energy the water stopped coming.
Robin recognized Speedy and Wilderbeest from their battle with the Master of Games. Speedy loaded his bow with three heat-seeking arrows and pointed them at Mammoth, still holding his right hand in pain.
"Speedy! What a pleasant surprise!" called Robin. "How did you know to come here and help us?" Speedy replied, "You made me an honorary Titan, remember? The tournament?" "Well, thanks for the help," said Robin. The four villains were now outnumbered. The eight heroes stood in a semicircle, advancing on the villains backed against the wall of the Tower.
Suddenly Jinx remembered that the door was open. "Get inside!" she shouted, and all the villains realized the same and quickly ran into the tower. The Titans, including the honorary ones, hurried in and chased them.
The villains split up, each trying to find somewhere to hide. Cinderblock was too big to hide and ended up being punched through the window back out of the tower. Overload slipped into the nearest room—Cyborg's room—while Jinx and Mammoth ran into the next room, which was Raven's. The pursuing Titans got to the main room just in time to see Mammoth heading into Raven's room.
Jinx used her magic to partially melt the edges of the door, sealing it shut. Now they had to wait until the Titans left. Mammoth used his strength to bolster the door against the Titans' pounding, while Jinx decided to take a look around Raven's room. On the desk was the black portal mirror. Jinx looked at it and was suddenly grabbed by the mirror and sucked in. Mammoth rushed over to help and was also sucked in.
The Titans pounded on the sealed doors into Cyborg's and Raven's rooms and the doors began to give way. Suddenly, the glass panel window shattered. Slade rappelled into the tower, while Terra floated in on a rock. From downstairs, through the neglected front door, Plasmus flowed up to the living quarters. A window at the other end of the hall shattered, and Gizmo jumped into the hallway, followed by Blackfire. The Titans were now sandwiched into the hall.
"Titans, go!" ordered Robin, and all of the Titans dived for the floor, neatly ducking Gizmo's machine-gun fire. This caught the villains by surprise. Gizmo's machine-gun fire lodged in Slade's stomach. Blue-white sparks and glowing wires popped from the bullet holes. Once again, Slade was a robot.
As the fight continued, the four villains slowly backed out of the tower, cleverly luring the Titans away from the tower. The Titans fought confidently, since they outnumbered the villains...
...but not for long, as the Titans (real and honorary) stepped out of the tower to find four different Slade look-alike robots waiting. The other four villains joined with the copies of their boss and prepared to fight.