T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T

Jump City

January 28, 2006

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It had been a two weeks since the Teen Titans had defeated the Brotherhood of Evil.

It had been a week since they had returned to their city, rejuvenating themselves in the comfort of coming home.

Days since they had partied with their fellow Titans from around the world...

Things had been quiet in Jump City since then, almost calm.

Well, as calm as a place rife with superheroes and villains can be...

In the downtown square of Jump City...

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"Titans! Attack Pattern Delta," Robin, the caped leader of the Titans shouted, a green glove pointing at the foes before them; their rivals, the Hive Five.

The Boy Wonder broke into a quick sprint. His nimble fingers reaching for his yellow utility belt, pulling out two retractable batons, and with a flick of his wrist, extended the weapons. The Titan's yellow-black cape billowed out from his red and green jumpsuit as he charged with a loud battle cry.

All of a sudden, a shadow of a figure burst out from nowhere! Dressed in a black cape and pointed cowl, he glared at Robin with narrow red eyes. Robin took a quick hop forward, swinging his batons with quick precision, striking high and low. Kid Wykkyd said nothing, merely side-stepping and ducking the swings with a deadpan expression on his face.

The Titan arched his back and sent out a high heel kick to the temple of Wykkyd, but missed the quick shadow-walker. He quickly cocked his leg in for a quick side kick to the gut, smashing the broadside of his boot into the villain's gut.

Kid Wykkyd slid back a few inches on his heels, but didn't seem phased...

"Hiyahh," Robin yelled, spinning one baton between fingers of his left hand and catching it in a downward knife-hand hold, giving the teenaged villain a wild swing to the face.

It was quickly caught in the black grip of the silent member of the HIVE Five. The Titan leader could swear he saw a flash of a smirk on Kid Wykkyd's face...Until the impact of a black boot in his gut sent Robin flying back.

He performed a quick back roll, and landed nimbly on his feet. Robin looked to his left hand, noticing that his nightstick was missing, and turned back to his opponent.

Kid Wykkyd most definitely did smirk this time, crushing the metal stick in his steely gloved fingers, the leftovers falling to the concrete.

Robin grinned, "Might want to look up..."

Kid Wykkyd blinked and did just that, only to be greeted with a large starbolt in the face. He staggered back, rubbing the excess smoke from his dark face before looking up in what one could only assume was anger. His gaze was again met, this time with not just one, but a barrage of green energy orbs.

Up above, the orange skinned and red haired beauty known as Starfire dropped starbolt after starbolt upon the nefarious HIVE member. She put her hands together and raised them high behind her head, charging a large energy blast.

"Starfire! Look out," a shrill boyish voice, the voice of Beast Boy cried.

The Tamaranean girl hesitated, her green on green eyes looking upward.

Screaming towards her at great speed was a child, but not just any child. His diminutive body was covered in green armor, with a large jet pack leaving a tail of fire and smoke in his wake. Gizmo. Like any mad genius, he cackled beneath his goggled mask.

"Chew on this scumball," he announced, a snide nasal tone permeating his voice as he fired a set of gray missiles from his suit.

Starfire gasped and rocked backwards, flying in reverse to escape the missiles, which were no doubt heat-seekers, Gizmo's trademark. She swerved and meandered through the tall city buildings, gradually climbing in altitude. A sharp left around a tall skyscraper and she saw her chance, diving straight down to the road below.

"Thank X'hal there are no cars," her inner voice exclaimed as she broke into a spine, causing the missiles tailing her to do so as well. Starfire was about to break into a low skim along the pavement when she saw it in mid spin.

A mini-van was fast approaching down the street!

The girl quickly changed course, shooting back up in a diagonal path just above the van's hood. The missiles followed, barely missing the vehicle or the now petrified occupants inside. Starfire had no time to turn and fire off a starbolt, and the missiles were too close...She flew harder, with all her alien strength.

She glanced back and suddenly noticed, the missiles were no longer chasing her, but held in a jet black strangle hold yards away.

Down below, a small girl, clad in an ebony cape and leotard held the missiles at bay, her hands pulsating with black energy.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos...," she repeated to herself. The Titan was the mysterious Raven, her usually violet eyes a focused shimmering black.

A huge hulking figure stalked towards her from behind. His uniform was black, the edges of his suit lined with yellow metal. He sported quite a mane of facial hair for a kid his age, and his hair was long and scraggly.

Mammoth was about to pounce, when the dark sorceress trained her gaze on him, "Don't even think about it...," her monotone voice almost commanding in its firmness, "Not that you do it often of course..."

The brute chuckled darkly taking a few steps back, "Smart enough to know those are timed charges..."

Raven blinked, the full volume of his words not registering until she heard the beeping, her dark oculars going wide. She had forgotten about the missiles.

BOOOOOM!

The shock wave of the explosive missiles sent a tremor through the roads of downtown. Traffic lights shook, and people hiding in buildings fell over or flinched, before continuing to watch the spectacle of meta-human melee.

The pale-skinned girl was flung far, smacking into a parked car. The alarm began to blare, the headlights on the automobile flashing angrily at whatever had disturbed it.

She rubbed her throbbing head, fingers clutching her short indigo locks.

"What's a matta'! Baby fall down and get a booboo," the burly Mammoth sneered. He looked down on Raven, cracking the knuckles in his fists...He'd waited a long time for this, "Don't worry, I'll fix you r...Hey wait...when did it get so dark?"

He noticed the lack of sunlight shining down on both Raven and himself...

"Uh-oh..."

CRUNCHHH!

Close to eight tons of green Tyrannosaurus Rex descended behind him, it's large muscular legs cracking the ground beneath it.

Mammoth blinked, completely speechless.

"Uhh...Hi?"

"REEEOOOOAAAAARRRRR!"

If there was ever a time that Mammoth screamed like a girl, this was it. The former-Hive student dove into a roll, before running for his life.

The T-Rex followed in hot pursuit.

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

"Here Lizard Lizard Lizard," a taunt from the left. The massive dinosaur turned, baring its teeth at the voice.

See-more smirked, a green-gloved hand on the dial of his one-eyed helmet, "Gotcha!" A bright flash of a beam shot out of his single eye, blinding the T-Rex's sensitive eyes. The form quickly morphed back in to its original state.

Beast Boy covered his green eyes, trying to adjust them to the light as quickly as he could.

The brown-skinned villain laughed his...unique...Bill Cosby chuckle, turning the dial once more and letting loose a beam of yellow energy. The blast hit the green Titan square in the chest, throwing him like a rag doll. The poor elf rolled a good five times before coming to a stop in the middle of the street.

"Hey string bean! Need a ride!" Mammoth shouted.

The youngest Titan regained his sense of sight, and suddenly wished he hadn't.

There stood Mammoth in the middle of the road, his massive arms holding up a silver city bus. An old trick, but this time, there were people trapped inside of the vehicle. A few of them glanced about in horror, wondering why the bus had stopped, and a few were waving their arms out of the windows, begging for help...With one old man in the back just snoring through it all, oblivious...

"I hope you got some change little man!"

The powerful meta human hurled the bus straight at Beast Boy. The Titan was still too dazed to spring up, much less get out of the way. He clenched his green eyes shut and waited for the end...

SLAM! SCREEEEEECH!

He waited...and waited...and waited...But the impact never came, despite the loud noise.

"Shouldn't I be dead or something," he thought out loud, eyes still tightly shut.

"Not when I gotcha' back!"

The changeling's eyes shot open. The half-machine half-man, better known as Cyborg held the bus in his hands. Two deep trenches of pavement were dug out, coming to a stop on his smoking metal heels. The tin-man turned and gave his buddy a wink with his human eye. He placed the bus down with a gentle thud, and in one mighty leap bounded over the bus, sonic cannon already prepped and glowing with bright blue fury.

Mammoth flinched, before being struck with a massive wave of Cy's sonic blaster. The sound hurt his eardrums to the very core and sent him flying through a pet store window.

See-more turned his dial again when he caught sight of the robotic Titan, his eye changing to a pale blue color.

"One EMP burst, coming right u-AAAGGGHHH!"

His carefully laid out plan was cut short by a green ram head butting him into an empty car's windshield. He groaned, noting the loud crack in his back. He was going to feel that in the morning. The cyclops struggled to gain footing on the hood of the car, but couldn't move his feet. See-more looked down and noted that the hood had been warped by black talons, and had wrapped itself around his skinny legs.

"Hey Hey! What the," he was flabbergasted.

Raven floated down beside the car, but she was glaring at the pet store.

"Hey Rae! No time for payback, Robin and Star need some back-up," Cy shouted as he tapped a button on his mechanical arm.

"Yeah Raven, let's go," Beast Boy motioned for her to follow, breaking into a run to follow his friend.

"Not so fast fart-sniffers," that annoying voice called out from behind.

Gizmo had both hands trained on the three heroes, the barrels of his laser weapons glowing, ready to unleash suffering.

"Your not going anywhere," he laughed, eager to test out his new weapons on the Titans.

A tap on the tiny scientist's shoulder snapped him out of his bravado...

"What do you wha-...Crud."

A fist full of Tamaranian justice hit Gizmo so hard that the armor literally began to fall apart as he flew through the air, before getting caught on a flagpole connected to a building.

Cyborg smirked, "That's a good look for him."

Starfire didn't have time to agree as she flew off to aid Robin.

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Robin crouched down into a low stance, swinging his bo-staff with reckless abandon. To some it would have looked like he was just flailing it around, but each swing, thrust, and strike was carefully timed and planned out. It had to be, as he was surrounded by close to fifteen Billy Numerous clones.

He swung low, sweeping one red-clad hill-billy off of his feet before reversing the direction of the pole and smashing the tip of it into the nose of another clone. The Boy Wonder quickly hopped into the air, performing a double kick which sent two other Billys into a group of their own kind, all of them tumbling down like bowling pins.

Robin used the momentum from the twin kick to back flip, catching another Billy in the back of the head with his metal bo. The masked boy landed gracefully, spinning his weapon, the twirl creating a symphony of sound as it cut the wind.

PANG! POOM! PIFF!

Three quick swings sent another set of Billy-clones reeling.

Robin quickly paused, noting that the numerous number of Numerous' were backing off.

"Wykkyd...," Robin swung his staff up high and over his head, and sure enough, a loud thud signaled a hit. The Titan turned and went into a flurry of bo-swings and strikes, working like mad to keep the usually calm mute from regaining his wits.

Kid Wykkyd seemed to have a look of shock on his face, backing off in a strange kind of gliding step. Robin didn't relent, diving into a slide that sent the length of his staff between the dark mute's legs.

CLACK! CLACK! BAM!

The Titan leader couldn't help but grin...His staff went from side to side, striking Kid in the insides of his knee joints, causing the villain to grit his teeth and clutch his knees. That left his crotch wide open for an upward swing. The look on Wykkyd's face was priceless as he doubled over in a fetal position, clutching his bruised genitals.

To his left, Robin could see Starfire unleashing what she called her, "righteous fury" on Billy Numerous. All of the clones scramble and scampered to get away from the burning hot starbolts.

"Hive Five, Let's blow this dive," he shouted into his hexagon shaped communicator. With those last words he...Or they rather, sprinted off in different directions.

Kid Wykkyd, who was still doubled over, melted into a mass shadow that sped away.

Robin allowed himself a small smile, wiping the sweat from mask. A jubilant Starfire bounced over to him.

"We are victorious!"

"Yeah...Feels good to know we can hold our own against them now," he was speaking the truth...They had never quite been able to beat the Hive Five on even terms...Usually something or someone intervened on the Titan's behalf when the two rival teams would go toe-to-toe, or the Hive delinquents would escape...This time however, they ran with their tails between their legs.

Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy rushed over to their two teammates.

"Aww man, did we miss all the fun," Cyborg remarked.

"Yep...Got Kid Wykkyd square in the family jewels..."

Beast Boy broke out into laughter, "Dude! No way! Did you really?"

The Boy wonder nodded, a smug grin now fully formed on his face.

This only caused the green elf to laugh harder.

"Didn't happen to get it on video tape did you?" Raven asked, the slightest hint of amusement in her voice.

Robin shook his head with a chuckle, "Next time."

EEEEE-OOOOO-EEEEE-OOOOO!

The telltale sirens of the Jump City Police Department rang out as a squad of police cars raced toward the scene. The Teen Titans glanced around. Several buildings had scorch marks from starbolts or laser beams. Several cars had been decimated, and a good portion of the streets were cracked, completely smashed, or so scarred they wouldn't be usable for several weeks.

The young heroes simpered.

"Well...at least we didn't blow up the Pizza Cove!" Beast Boy proclaimed.

The remaining Titans groaned.

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It hadn't taken long for the JCPD to sort out what had occurred. The Hive Five were reportedly seen in the downtown square, vandalizing several vehicles and causing a violent disturbance. The Teen Titans stepped in, as usual, and sorted the mess out by getting the Five delinquents to disperse.

Sergeant Miller sighed, filling out the report as the Titans gave it to him. He had placed the white helmet of his armored uniform on the hood of his car, and was currently reclining back against the driver-side door as he wrote.

"Any motive for the attack," The pepper haired man asked.

Robin shook his head, "I dunno...I think they just wanted to have a quick rip and run through the city. With those five you can't be to sure of their motives."

"No chance it could be a part of something bigger?"

"I doubt it. The Hive Five isn't known for pulling big crimes."

"What about the time they tried to capture Kid Flash?"

"Like I said...," Robin muttered.

A pause.

"Right."

The Titan nodded to the Sergeant and began to walk off to rejoin his team.

"If you find anything, be sure to relay it to us!"

"Will do," Robin replied with a quick wave, before heading to the T-car.

Robin however, wasn't as nonchalant about the situation as he had appeared. There definitely was something amiss, but it wasn't the Hive Five he was worried about. He cupped his chin and felt his stride begin to slow as he reviewed several facts about their encounter in his head. Something just didn't smell right.

"Robin, are you alright?"

Starfire...Always worried about him.

"I'm fine."

Cyborg glanced up from his arm console, "Uh-oh...What's up?"

"Nothing..."

"Yeah, and where have we heard that one before," Beast Boy added.

"I'm serious."

"Sure you are."

Even Raven was jumping in.

Robin stopped and folded his arms across his chest, giving an impromptu "Robin-glare" to his teammates. Unfortunately, it was never quite as effective the dreaded "Bat-glare"...Maybe it was the pointy ears, but Robin could never pull it off. Once he realized it wasn't working, he tried the next best thing.

"Let's go get some pizza..."

The Titans were more than willing to give in to Robin's moody moments for a few slices of pizza. They trusted him enough, and hey there was free pizza!

They all climbed into Cy's brand new, rebuilt for the umpteenth time, T-car and sped off for Pizza Cove.

A keen eye from high above was watching them, a figure crouched low on a tall building.

"Found you...!"

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"So Robin munch what's the munch deal? Impromptu pizza-break, but you haven't gulpgulpgulp eaten a thing." Beast Boy asked his fearless leader, inbetween wolfing down his veggie pizza and guzzling his soda.

"It's just..."

Starfire turned to her dear friend, wiping a bit of mustard from her chin. It was decidedly harder to neatly eat mustard pizza than most people would think, "It is alright friend Robin. You can tell us."

" Well I..."

"Yeah Rob, you've been zoning out ever since we kicked the Hive Five's butt! You should be feelin' good right about now."

"Cy...That's not it..."

Raven sighed, "Did you think it was too easy? We have been basically training nonstop for the past few months...Fieldwork against the Brotherhood will do that."

"QUIET!"

The Titans all stopped in a stunned silence. They could practically see the throbbing vein on Robin's forehead.

"Look...I'm not worried about the Hive Five right now...I am worried about something else."

The rest of his friends leaned in, eager to hear what he had to say.

"Haven't you all felt...Well...Like something has been off lately?"

He got four sets of blank stares.

"Okaaaay...Let me try again. We defeated the Brotherhood, which was no small feat. It required the help of countless allies from all over the planet, but somehow we managed to defeat a powerful, experienced, and well established criminal organization."

Beast Boy reclined back in his seat, placing his hands behind his head and propping his feet up on the table, "Yeeeeah...No need to thank me. I was just doin' what comes naturally!"

Robin just looked at him.

"Shutting up now..."

"Thank you."

"As I was saying...We managed to do the impossible. But something happened. Everything was ripe for us to do even greater things. We had close to over forty honorary Titans ready to join up, yet when the Brotherhood was defeated we all just went our separate ways. We could have formed a more organized unit...Heck, even different chapters of Titans across the world would have been acceptable."

There was a long silence. The same thing had been on all their minds.

"Robin...You couldn't force them to choose you over their own lives. Many of them had homes, places they themselves had to defend. We can't expect them to just pack up and join us here in Jump...," Raven responded.

"I know that...I didn't want to force them to do anything. I wanted them to join of their own accord, which many did...in a way. When it came to finally getting a group formed however, everyone just bailed on us."

Cyborg swallowed another bite out of his meat lover's pizza, "Maybe some of them got cold feet. I mean, most of them had never fought anything like the Brotherhood before. If I was a young newbie I would be a little freaked too. They actually tried to wipe us out man! I mean, a month ago, being a Titan alone was dangerous."

"True...But since then, weirder things have been happening."

Beast Boy visibly flinched in mid chew, although he tried his best to hide it. Both Raven and Cyborg picked up on it but said nothing.

"That white symbiont that ran amok in town a few days ago...Slade's reappearance...Not to mention-" Robin noticed Beast Boy's discomfort, "Well...You guys get the picture."

Starfire sighed, "Robin...It is not like these events are not important, but we should not dwell too much upon them right now. There is no way to piece it all together. You yourself said so."

"Yeah, I know...I know."

Beast Boy finally built up enough courage to speak, "Y-Yeah! I mean, it's not like Slade's just gonna jump us out in the open or anything!"

"Which means he'll come at us sideways...In the dark, where we can't see him. We have to be ready for it."

Robin felt a hand on his shoulder, and smile when he felt it squeeze affectionately, "Do not worry Robin, whatever happens we will be ready. Slade will not know what has hit him! And we have faith in you!"

The masked boy couldn't help but marvel at her. She was always able to balance him, and keep him steady. He didn't want to admit, at least not aloud that she was a pillar for his strength. Honestly, what would he do without her?

Probably become like...him.

Robin shuddered inwardly at the thought.

Raven finished off her herbal iced tea, "Shouldn't we be getting back now? It is starting to get late..."

Robin nodded, "Yeah...I'm glad I could get all this out into the open though...I actually feel a lot better now."

Starfire giggled and draped both of her arms in one of his, clinging to him with a smile on her face. No matter how much the leader tried to stifle it, a blush rose in his cheeks and his body went stiff as the Titans made their way back to the T-car.

Cyborg prodded Beast Boy with an elbow, winking at the couple.

The Changling snickered silently, making kissy faces to an invisible head.

Raven just raised an eyebrow as she caught BB breaking into a full tongue maneuver with his invisible lover. Beast Boy paused in mid kiss and chuckled helplessly, scratching the back of his head, "I was just...umm...heh heh...awwwwkward..."

If she didn't think him a total idiot at that moment, she might have found it amusing.

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"Sentinel...You got a visual?"

"Affirmative, they just left the restaurant."

"What was that stuff they were eating anyway?"

"Keep focused Superboy...We have more important matters at hand."

"I was just curious."

"Uhhmm...Can we actually make a strike from here?"

"Negative Geoforce, we'll wait until they are somewhat clear of the general public."

"And what if they...don't get clear?"

"They will when they get a load of what heat vision can do..."

"That's smart...roast a few citizens while we're screwing with the time space continuum!"

"Why don't we just head over to the Tower and bash the door down, you know? Take no prisoners?"

"I thought you were stupid but I was mistaken...Your suicidal."

"Their primitive technology wouldn't be able to stop the S-man!"

"Remember that primitive technology mops the floor with you during combat practice..."

"You have upgrades, that's different!"

"Technology aside, we only have one target...We might want to limit the amount of contact with the other four...It may be unavoidable but we can at least try."

"Cut the chatter! They've gone off the main road."

"I'm still on em'...The intersection about 3 minutes ahead should be suitable for our attack."

"Everyone hear that? Three minutes, then we strike..."

"Uhh...who's going to-?"

"I-I could do it."

"Menagerie..."

"You can sit this one out girl...We'll understand."

"No...I can do it."

"But it's your-"

"I know..."

"-sigh- Alright...It's settled then, rendezvous at the north side of the intersection and wait. Once Menagerie engages, fall into Attack plan Theta."

"Will do."

"Copy that."

"Let's get it on..."

"..."

Silence fell over the communication frequency...

"Menagerie...?"

"Yes...?"

"Will you be alright?"

"I'm not afraid of-"

"No...I mean will you BE all right?"

"... ... ... Yes."

"Don't push yourself to hard."

"...Understood."

"And stay safe..."

"..."

Silence, once again.

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The T-car sped down the street as fast as Cyborg could legally go. He grinned, enjoying every minute behind the wheel of his car. Robin was at his right, still somewhat down but his mood had definitely lightened up. He even told a joke...Although it wasn't a very good one.

Beast Boy chuckled in the back seat, "Okay...Okay! I've got a good one. You guys are gonna love this."

Starfire clasped her hands together and giggled, "Oh do tell us!"

Raven kept her nose buried in a small yellow book, "Oh yes...do tell...I feel like having an aneurysm today..."

Beast Boy stuck his tongue out, but proceeded to tell his joke anyway. "Okay...What do they say in the Hamburger business?"

All four of the Titans blinked, glancing at the elf.

"Say what?"

"Huh?"

"I don't understand...?"

"Dear Azar..."

"No, seriously! What do they say in the Hamburger business?"

The silence was his cue that no one in the car knew the answer.

"They say, 'Lettuce Ketchup!'"

SMAAAAASSHHHHH!

The Titans jerked their heads forward in alert. Something had smashed on the hood of the T-car, crushing the engine beneath its massive weight.

Crouched on the hood of their car, was a green and black stripped beast, looking like a cross between a Saber tooth Tiger, and a Lion. It's claws were at least six to eight inches long, with deadly looking fangs that protruded down from the top of its mouth. The tell-tale feature of the beast however, was the four-red burning eyes that glared at the occupants inside.

"ROOOOAAAAAARRRR!"

The Titans screamed as Cyborg lost control of the vehicle, and they were sent careening towards the corner of a convenient store.

"Cy! Look out," Robin yelled, gripping the jesus bar.

They wouldn't be able to avoid it...

SKREEEEE! CRRRASSSHHHH!