We're in trouble.

This succinct assessment of the situation came as Cyborg spotted Robin's bloody and unmoving form on the wooden floor of the basketball court. A few yards away, Batman's body was also still. Slade's robots had begun to appear everywhere, and not just the drones they usually dealt with. There were at least three of the high quality Slade duplicates; the models capable of holding their own against any of them.

Slade's playing for keeps this time.

Unfortunately, Slade himself was nowhere to be found. Starfire's blast had knocked him all the way to the upper level of the arena and they quickly lost track of him as the robots blew their way into the arena from all sides.

"BB, track Slade down, but watch yourself! Raven! Starfire! Protect us from above! Try to keep 'em off of us while we check on Robin and the Bat!"

He ducked under a random energy blast and returned fire with his sonic cannon. One of the lesser robots shattered spectacularly, its components bathing the oldest Titan in a shower of mechanical parts.

When he opened his human eye again, he spotted Batgirl kneeling by the two fallen heroes.

"Batgirl!" He shouted over the din of battle, "Are they--?"

"Still alive!" She paused over the younger man for a few seconds, "But Robin's badly hurt. His arm is broken, there's internal bleeding, and he's unresponsive!"

Cyborg swore. So much for Robin giving us a hand out of the mess he made in the first place.

"We gotta get them out of here! Prep 'em for evac, and I'll—"

Pain flashed across his face as one of the Slade duplicates completed a spectacular flying kick to his head. The half-metal Titan fell to the floor struggling with the robot, further orders lost.

---

Starfire was enraged.

Fiery globs of radiant energy spat from her hands in every direction, incinerating robot after robot. Her eyes blazed like the sun, as she continued to look for the man who would dare torment the one she loved, but the villain was nowhere to be found.

She cursed in her own alien tongue, frustrated.

A split second later one of the drones dropped down on her from above.

The mechanical man's momentum drove her to the floor, as they crashed through one of the backboards, sending shattered glass everywhere.

The Tamaranean growled and used her bare hands to rip off the robot's head.

But before she could get back to her feet, three more drones buried her.

---

Raven struggled to keep her mystical shield up, but the sheer number of energy blasts were destroying dark barrier that protected her friends nearly as fast as she could reinforce it. She spared a moment to rip up an entire row of seats, which she then smashed into a large group of robots. One managed to leap to safety, but she quickly caught it in an energy cocoon. She furrowed her brow in concentration and literally used her magic to rip the machine into a dozen pieces.

For a split second, her gaze caught Robin's wounded body.

Is he--?

Something hit her hard from behind, nearly breaking her back.

Her concentration broke and she began to fall.

The hardwood floor spiraled upward to meet her.

---

Batgirl tossed an explosive Batarang at a drone.

The projectile lodged in the robot's chest and promptly blew up.

Two mechanical legs, held together by the barest hint of a lower torso, wobbled around for a few seconds and finally collapsed, but the hero had already brought out her Bat-grapple, eyes on a more important target. Aiming carefully, she focused on the head of the Slade duplicate which was doing a thorough job of battering Cyborg's vulnerable human areas.

A second later, she fired.

The grapple drove right into the sophisticated robot's head, lodging deep inside.

Batgirl pulled with all her strength, yanking the thing off the prone Titan. But the fake Slade was quick, and suddenly it was right on top of her. She attempted to roll with the vicious backhand, but was only partially successful.

As she tried to recover, something looped around her throat and tightened.

The robot was strangling her with her own line.

It lifted her effortlessly off the floor, gradually closing her windpipe.

---

Beast Boy bounded up the stairs in wolf form, seeking Slade's scent.

Two drones dropped in front of him, but he leapt forward, transformed into a green rhino, and crushed them against the concrete steps. Allowing his massive form just enough time to push off the mangled artificial remains, he changed into a wolf once more.

He didn't catch the scent until he almost reached the mezzanine.

Beast Boy barely recognized it. The smell of burned flesh and blood was almost overpowering. Still, he followed it through the opening at the top of the aisle and into the concourse that surrounded the interior of the arena.

He paused as the scent seemed to stop.

The wolf yelped in pain as a butterfly knife buried itself deep in his shoulder.

Beast Boy reverted back into human form and gasped as he pulled the knife out.

"How disappointing," a cold voice called out from above.

The jade Titan looked up.

"Of all the opponents they could have sent after me, I get you."

Slade dropped from the ceiling, sais in hand.

---

Cyborg carefully placed his sonic cannon next to the faux Slade's already damaged cranium and fired. The robot's head and a decent portion of its upper body disintegrated, releasing Batgirl from its stranglehold.

"Booyah, motherfucker."

He reached down and helped the young woman back to her feet.

"Nice mouth," she rasped, rubbing her throat.

Cyborg smiled, and immediately blasted two more drones away, "Let's get out of here, shall we?"

Batgirl hefted Robin carefully, draping him over her shoulders, "Ready when you are."

The metallic Titan lifted Batman with ease and shouted "Titans! Together!"

---

The words echoed in Starfire's ears and she immediately let loose with both her Starbolts and eye beams, incinerating all three of her foes. Then she took to the air, just in time to see Raven pull out of a dive and join her.

The two Titans streaked across the air in tandem, Starfire blasting to the left, while Raven's mystical energies covered them on their right. The pair cut a path of destruction through Slade's forces until all four of the heroes were reunited.

"Raven, get us out of here!"

The mystic nodded, enshrouding everyone in a dark bubble, which quickly began to sink into the floor.

"Wait!" Starfire exclaimed, "Where is Beast Boy?"

Cyborg blinked.

"Aw, hell."

---

The points of the sais came down in a murderous arc.

Beast Boy had just enough time to turn into a giant tortoise.

The weapons scraped along his shell, leaving vicious marks, but no serious injury. He became a rabbit and leapt off to the side, trying to put some space between him and Slade, but the villain stayed right on him, slashing and pressing his attack.

He tried an anaconda, but Slade managed to avoid his coils, stabbing him twice in the process. The shock of pain forced him back into human form.

Slade kicked him in the gut, and he crumbled to the ground.

"You always were weak, boy."

Beast Boy attempted to rise.

A kick to the head drove him back to the ground.

Slade grabbed the teen by the back of the neck, lifted him painfully as he tore away his communicator, and threw him into a wall.

"No wonder she left you."

The Titan spat out blood and rolled over painfully. But his eyes held a fierce determination. He whispered a single warning:

"Don't."

Slade's burned visage smiled, as he crushed the communicator in one hand.

"Painful memory, boy? Not for me. Terra was a fine apprentice."

"Don't you talk about her!" Beast Boy struggled to his feet, using the wall for support as he began to sway unsteadily.

"Until she betrayed me, and got exactly what she deserved."

"Bastard! I'll kill you!"

The wounded teen morphed into a Triceratops and charged, his massive bulk barely able to move within the confines of the hallway.

Slade leapt up just before the dinosaur could gore him, and used the deadly horns as handholds to propel him over the animals protective crest and onto its unprotected back. The sais became coated in blood and gore as Slade drove them deeper and deeper into Triceratop's flesh.

The dinosaur bellowed in pain and abruptly disappeared, replaced by a fly.

Slade fell to the floor, and was unable to recover his footing when a massive grizzly bear appeared, and swatted the man full in the chest, easily breaking several ribs. Slade grunted in pain, but managed to throw both sais at the bear before he hit an archway, slide to the floor, and lay still.

Beast Boy shuddered as both weapons found their mark in his chest.

He transformed back into his human form and fell to his knees.

His breathing was irregular and he began to cough up more blood.

One of my lungs must have been hit.

He grabbed the handles of the paired weapons with trembling hands and clenched his eyes shut.

This is going to hurt. A lot.

Pausing only to take in a quick breath, he yanked.

---

"Did you hear that?" Raven asked, cloak blowing in the night air on top of the basketball arena. Her gate had brought them this fallback position. Unfortunately, it appeared Slade's drones had trashed the T-ship they had parked there earlier.

"Hear what?" Batgirl said, grimacing at the wet cracking sound Robin's arm made as she set the bone.

"You are hurting him!" Starfire insisted, reaching out to stop her.

Cyborg grabbed her arm and shook his head. "She knows what she's doing, Star. Let her do her work." He turned to Raven, "Yeah, my audio sensors picked it up. A scream. Do you think it was . . ."

"Yes. Beast Boy." Raven began to float, "He's in great pain. We have to help him."

Cyborg paused, looking down at Robin.

"Go."

He glanced at Batgirl.

"Go," she said again, "I've got it covered. Help your teammate."

Cyborg nodded, "Starfire, stay here in case Slade's robots figure out where we went. Raven, take us to Beast Boy."

The alien didn't argue, green eyes focused on their fallen leader.

The mystic Titan began to chant.

Hang in there, BB.

---

Raven's portal took the two Titans to a concrete concourse behind the arena's upper levels. They found the green young man slumped over in a sitting position, his simple uniform stained red from several stab wounds. Two discarded sais, covered in blood, lay nearby. Other than a damaged archway with no small amount of blood spattered along its base, there was no sign of Beast Boy's opponent.

"Aw, man! BB!"

Cyborg knelt down to check the jade Titan's pulse and breathed a sigh of relief as his sensors detected a weak, but stable heartbeat.

"Open a portal, Raven, and let's get him out of here."

Raven nodded.

"I think not."

Both Titans whirled as Slade appeared, flanked by two of his duplicates. Despite his obvious injuries, the villain still stood defiantly, holding a steel bar as a makeshift weapon, "After all, I went through so much trouble to make sure he dies."

---

Batgirl finished placing the makeshift sling over Robin's broken arm and sat back, taking a few precious seconds to wipe the sweat from her brow.

"Are you sure Robin is going to be alright?" Starfire asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time. The Tamaranean had literally hovered over her the whole time.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm not a doctor!"

The alien flinched at her words, and Batgirl felt some guilt trickle into her psyche.

"Look, I care about him, too, you know. Trust me when I tell you that I've done everything I can for him."

The two heroines looked each other in the eye.

Finally, Starfire swallowed hard and nodded.

"Keep an eye on him, will you? I need to check on Batman."

Batgirl moved over to the fallen Dark Knight and began to rummage through her utility belt, looking for a particular pouch.

Come on, Bruce. We sure could use your help right about now.

---

Cyborg barely put an arm up in time to block the steel bar attempting to take off his head. He felt the impact through his metallic implants.

Geeze, he's even faster than his damn robots!

Slade had come for him directly, while his duplicates kept Raven busy.

He swung awkwardly with the same arm, while cradling Beast Boy protectively with the other. Slade easily ducked under it and jammed the metal shaft into the Titan's armpit. The man shoved the bar clear through the joint and out Cyborg's shoulder.

Cyborg growled in pain, as servos shorted and his arm became useless.

"I see Brother Blood's intel was money well spent," Slade said mockingly, ripping the pole free and jumping back. "Your legs are next."

"Raven! Evac, now!"

The sorceress backed away from the two robots harrying her and shot out an arm in his direction. Suddenly a portal opened from underneath and both Cyborg and his fallen friend stumbled backwards into the darkness.

The Titan realized as the portal began to shrink that she wasn't coming with them.

"Raven, no! What are you doing!"

"He has to pay for what he did!"

"Don't do it!"

But the portal had already closed.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: This story kind of expanded on me, but next chapter is truly the last, and Robin will never be the same again. Thanks for all the reviews. If you haven't left one yet, you're running out of time, so let's hear from you!