"Ah... awake at last."

Cyborg was awake, but he definitely wasn't enjoying it. His pain-receptors were working in overdrive, and a cursory inspection of his damage report file was not promising.

Slowly, reluctantly, he opened his eyes.

And stared fully into the face of madness.

Brother Blood stood before him. Powerful, strong, triumphant. A wide grin was stretched across his face as he regarded Cyborg, a hand idly reached up to examine the side of his head, as if hoping to probe the mysteries therein.

Where they were was easy enough to guess. STAR Labs was high tech but this place also had a distinct signature built into every wall, every room, down to every single power cable. Cyborg should know, he was the one who put it together. Cyborg was strapped up against the far wall in some heavy-duty restraints on his arms, shoulders, chest, wrists, ankles and even his legs for good measure. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"How...?"

"You may not study after our fights, Cyborg, but I do my homework... although this time I suppose I used something of a cheat sheat," replied Blood cryptically, his grin growing wider.

"Access code override."

"Built into the Tower as a last resort in case of the... unforeseen. And conveniently something you forgot when I was last dragged away to prison. Still using the same numbers, I see. 292674."

Cyborg frowned darkly, biting back a caustic retort. It'd do no good to him here. Instead, he needed information. "Nice friends you're keeping of late."

"Ah yes, my students... very gifted, all of them, really... but you always were my prize pupil, even if you did have a discipline problem."

"I quit your school," said Cyborg. "And you got fired for being a lousy headmaster..."

His rant was cut off by a swift blow to the head, and Cyborg coughed, fairly certain had he much blood left his body he would've spat some out. As it was, he think there was a dent in his jaw-plate. Brother Blood's expression had gone from a maniacal grin to one of extreme annoyance in mere seconds.

"I think we're done with high school metaphors for the time being, don't you, Cyborg, old friend...?" he said, a tic showing beneath his still human eye. His words were strained too... Blood was clearly over the edge, and that made Cyborg nervous. Nothing was more dangerous than a person who'd lost sense of reality.

Mod was a prime example of that. Who else enjoyed self-stylizing themselves with the name 'Mad'?

"How did you break out of jail?" asked Cyborg. "That restraining system was..."

"State-of-the-art?" interrupted Blood mockingly, lightly he flicked a finger against one of the restraints on Cyborg's arm. "Yes, it was... as yours is now. Certainly does keep the body controlled... even on full power. On barely enough to keep alive, well... you certainly had me, didn't you?"

Blood lashed out with his flaming claws almost without warning, but missed Cyborg's head on purpose, raking them along the steel behind him. His expression was one of barely restrained fury.

"But... then again I have some... unique features that you could never hope to possess..."

"Telepathy."

"Even minimum power is enough to keep my mind active and alive... one prison guard feeds me a protein paste to keep my body alive, much as you do... always accompanied by two others. It was... a simple matter to get him to accidentally spill the water that washes it down..."

"... on the power cables..."

"... shorting out the machine," said Blood with a nod. "Enough so I could break free. Two guards were enough to kill, and the third... well... this is what I learned from my last escape."

Now to that, Cyborg was stumped. Fortunately, Blood was the gloating type, and gladly unveiled his plans for all the world to hear. How many spy films had Cyborg seen just like this? All Blood needed was a hulking henchmen with some prosthetic iron fillings.

"On reserve power, I can last for a good long while... just enough power to keep myself awake, though not move... of course, how far do I have to go, if I have someone to do the work for me?"

"The guard... he carried you?"

"Sharp as ever. But no... set loose some acquaintances from down the cellblock... they carried me to STAR labs... you know the rest."

Boy did he ever.

STAR labs had been a disaster. They'd expected only to find Brother Blood and maybe a few mind-controlled scientists, possibly some security guards. Titan's East plus Cyborg should've been able to defeat Brother Blood, but there had been another factor in the equation. A number of supervillains Blood had freed. And while he respected each and every member of Titan's East, they hadn't been at the superhero thing nearly as long as the original Titans. They were overpowered and outmatched. Only Aqualad had escaped, down a sewer pipe, before Cyborg was knocked unconscious.

"Even if you took down Titan's East, the Titans West will come for me," said Cyborg. So will Sarasim, he realized with a start. He wasn't sure if that comforted him or worried him. "We got allies now. You're out of your league."

"Titan's East are no match for my students... they're being detained upstairs right now... I highly doubt the West group are a threat either. They will fall... and be my students eventually as well. Unlike you... they do not have the power to resist me."

"They'll never join you," Cyborg spat venomously, earning himself another cuff upside the head.

Calmly, coolly, Blood flexed his metallic claws. "I think it's time we got started," he said, turning away from Cyborg. With Blood no longer encompassing his entire view, he could see specifically he was down in the basement of Titan's Tower, an unused storage room. It been cleaned out completely, and only Blood and Cyborg was there. A number of crates containing supplies and equipment were resting on shelves high above them.

Worse, he saw a tray lay before them, and Blood was surveying a vast array of rather dangerous looking tools. Doctor's scalpels and mechanic's wrenches. Their intent was clear, but Brother Blood felt a need, a perverse joy, in telling Cyborg exactly what he was going to do.

"It's time to take a proper look at what makes you tick, Cyborg... inside and out, human and machine. I only got... only got half of the picture before," he added, with a short, voiceless chuckle. Cyborg would've started sweating if he was more organic. Blood had lost it. "Only half the picture, yes... well, now it's time to see it all... so let's just... just take you apart then, shall we? Don't worry, I'm going to shut off your voice processor... this isn't going to hurt one little bit..."

Cyborg's mouth hung open, but he couldn't use it, he was paralyzed from the neck up as Brother Blood tweaked one of the switches along his neck, shutting off his voice. Which might have been a good thing, considering he was about to start screaming.

Blood held a screwdriver in one hand, a syringe in the other. He was about to get started.

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High above, in the upper levels of Titan's Tower, a meeting was taking place at the circular table aptly designed for just that purpose in mind. However, normally, it was when the six members of Titan's East would meet to discuss the latest criminal breakout or crime spree.

Right now, it was occupied by five low-life criminals and being used by them to play poker.

"Six bucks."

"Mammoth you forgot to ante up."

"Oh, sorry."

"Yeeha! Numerous trumps you all again, three of a kind!"

"Whoowhee! Lookit that!"

"Nicely done, Billy."

"Thank you Billy."

"Hehehe, you cludgemunchers are out of your league... check it out...!"

"..."

"No way!"

"Hey he's cheating!"

"Am not!"

"How do you have four aces when -I- have an ace then?"

"I... uh..."

"..."

"He -is- cheating!"

"Sonovamonkey!"

"I'm going to blind you, you traitor!"

Fortunately before things could come to blows between the teenaged supervillains, an explosion rocked the entire Tower, sending the table, all the cards (including no less than seven aces) and all the chips, as well as all five members of the HIVE Five crashing down to the ground. As one, there was a moment of confusion, disorientation, pain (Mammoth had flattened Kid Wykkyd) and then surprise, anger, and a turning to confront their foes.

The Teen Titans stood in a newly made hole in the wall, courtesy of an explosive birdarang.

"You lose," remarked Robin, making his way forward, retractable bo staff extended.

The five gathered Titans squared off against the HIVE Five (now properly five members since the betrayal of their former teammate Jinx.) Almost an even battle. One glance told the Titans what they needed to know. The Five were being controlled by Blood's hypnotism. A reddish glint lit up their eyes. Much of their personality had been left intact, it seemed, but they were still slaves to his will. They would fight to the death, if it came to that.

"Titan's, go!"

The Tower exploded into a flurry of activity. Robin charged in first, hurling a freezing disc at Billy Numerous, hoping to catch the red-clad multiplier off-guard, since he was their biggest threat. Unfortunately, Kid Wykkyd intercepted it with a quick teleport and used his cloak to knock the disc off and to the side, narrowly missing Starfire as she zoomed forward, eyes blazing. A well-placed blow from her tiny Tamaranian fist caught Mammoth full in the face, and the hulking teen went flying through the air to smash against the far wall.

A flurry of laser-blasts shot from cannons on the either side of Gizmo, but were intercepted by a wall of black energy that appeared out of nowhere to counter them, courtesy of Raven. As soon as the barrier fell, a green ram was galloping forward, wicked curved horns low and ready to inflict damage. Unfortunately, Beastboy never got his chance as a strange barrier materialized around See-More, one of his gigantic yellow eye-orbs, and Beastboy hit it and bounced off as if it was rubber. It promptly vanished as See-More adjusted the dial on his helmet to change eye-functions, powering up his laser and letting the energy fly.

Robin countered by whirling his bo-staff before him, though he stumbled backwards. Sarasim, unaccustomed to the sudden and violent display of so many varied and strange powers, was hesitating, sword in hand, by the entrance.

"Sarasim! Go find Cyborg, we'll take care of these guys!"

Grateful, she nodded. "I will return with him momentarily," she said, ducking under a flying body of Billy Numerous. The third that Starfire had picked up and was casually hurling through the air as if they were light as a pillow. Several had tried to dogpile on her, but quickly learned it was a mistake to wrestle with a woman who shot starbolts from her eyes.

Robin returned his attention to the fight and leapt up and out of the way as Mammoth smashed through the floor where he'd been standing, landing on the giant's back and running forward, hurling another three birdarangs at Gizmo, two of which took out his lasers and the third which slammed into his forehead (the tip, which was blunted) and sent him stumbling backwards. Kid Wykkyd was quick to counter-attack and lashed out at the Boy Wonder with his serrated-edge cloak. Robin countered with his own titanium-reinforce one, and they two caped boys locked gazes as they danced a deadly dance.

The doors slid shut as Sarasim slipped out.

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The explosion made the entire structure rock to it's foundation, and the rumbling overhead caused Brother Blood to look up in surprise.

"What was that!" he spat out. Then immediately, he stepped back from Cyborg, his gaze turning inward, to the mind, and through it, linking telepathically to his minions. Seeing what was happening through their eyes. Upon seeing the Titans, his orders were obvious.

Attack. No mercy.

But he was slightly puzzled by the appearance of the woman, the one Robin referred to as 'Sarasim.' She was wielding a sword from ages past, yet wearing armor that looked modern. And closely resembled the cybernetic enhancements that kept Cyborg alive.

"Who is she... hmmm..." Blood pondered, tapping a metallic claw against his chin. He glanced over at Cyborg. One look told him more than he'd ever hoped, but he decided to humor Cyborg and switched on his voicecoder anyway.

"Who's the new Titan, Cyborg? Friend of yours?"

Cyborg glared up at Brother Blood but said nothing.

"No? Ah well, I suppose I can wait for an introduction... as she's on her way here right now..." replied Blood, turning towards the door.

"Leave her alone!"

Ah, he thought. As I thought. Good... more than one way to break a tin man.

The door took a while for the barbarian warrior to break down, as it was locked, but eventually she tore open the locking mechanism with her cybernetic gauntlets, ripping it clean out of the wall and tossing it aside. Then she reached in and pushed the door open, sword upraised as she entered.

"No! Stay back!" cried Cyborg.

"Ah... welcome, new Titan," said Blood, suddenly all cultured, polite, as he strolled forward, keeping well out of sword-swing range. "And what is your cute little nickname? Tech-Girl? Cyber? No... Cyborga?"

"I am Sarasim," she replied grimly, raising up her sword and positioning it defensively, ready to counter the instant Brother Blood made his first move.

"And I am Brother Sebastian Blood the Seventh... at your service," replied the crimson cultist with a polite, mocking bow. Sarasim was unimpressed by the gesture, and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Release Cyborg."

"Afraid I can't do that, my dear..."

"Then I shall take him by force... you have been warned... prepare yourself...!" she cried, raising her sword and charging forward. Brother Blood grinned, ripping off his robes and hurling them aside, revealing the crimson and black armor beneath, filling his clawed fingers with blood-red fire.

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Author's Notes:

Sebastian Blood is the real name of the character, though I am guessing he is the seventh, as he seems modeled largely after that comic version instead of the eighth, who was more vampiric and less cultist.

Jimmy the Gothic Egg: Maybe, of course not, no (it's piloted by five, not just her), and highly likely but off-screen. Too little animated and comic material to work with.

Toddfan: I may not be good with side-splitting comedy like you and Red Witch are, but damned if I don't find some good one-liners in my stories.

Guardian of Azarath: I intend to, believe me. In the meantime, pointers? Stuff you like, stuff you hate, etc.?

SxStrngSamurai13: Like Sarasim, I couldn't resist adding that little teasing. But yes I deliberately cut that scene off to leave to people's imagination how Raven really reacted.

Ray1: Raven's not as emotionless as she'd like to think she is. I try to point that out in my stories

Blood-Debt: Well thank you kindly. Always nice to find a new fan hiding in the woodwork.

ViciousAssassin: Sarasim and Blood are going to clash, as you can see, but as for kicking butt, well, we'll see who kicks whose. And no, Brotherhood of Evil weren't involved at all.

Comet-hime: I do love my fights, but I also wanted an element of surprise concerning who their exact enemies were. Plenty of kick-ass goodness to enjoy next chapter, it's fight time!

Pnaixrose: The alternative to the story was for Cyborg to rescue Sarasim, but that's been done too much. I wanted to make this Sarasim's story more than anyone else's. Hence her chat with Raven.

Yomiori-Wolfdemon: Did you happen to spot 'Lightspeed'? If not you may be a bit lost but only for some of it, most of what you need to know comes from seasons three and four.