Chapter Four

The Titans convened in the sick bay of the Tower. There, Raven managed to sedate Beast Boy, and heal his wound. She then conducted a closer examination.

"How is he?" Robin asked as the mystic examined her friend.

"He's in shock, but he'll live." Rave replied. "The injury was like a combination of the effects of an electrical burn and intense radiation exposure. Good thing I managed to heal it. Otherwise, he might have gotten radiation poisoning."

Robin nodded, considering the team's next move. "Is there anything we learned about the Dalek that can help defeat it?"

"We know it's tough." Cyborg remarked. "The thing's built like a tank, with a force field to boot. I'm lucky my hands didn't melt on it."

"Beast Boy is lucky too." said Raven. "If he fully contacted the force field, he might have burst into flames."

"Am I in good condition, Raven?" Starfire asked, extending her hand.

Raven held it, examining it. She then used her powers to heal it.

"That should do." said the mystic.

"Well, now that we've attended our wounds," began Robin, "We need to work on a strategy. Suggestions?"

"The thing's tough, but it's not indestructible." said Cyborg. "Remember, it said it repaired itself. So that means it must have taken damage somehow."

"Yes, but what kind of damage?" Robin asked. "It won't do any good if the only thing that can dent it is a cruise missile."

"We may have to resort to that." Raven remarked. "There's no telling what good any of our weapons can do against it. Remember, we're not exactly equipped to defeat an alien tank creature."

"Perhaps not." said Cyborg. "Remember that weaponry set up I used when Slade brought that army of fire creatures here to get you Raven?"

"Please! I'd rather not remember that."

"Sorry. Anyway, the point is that set up could be enough to defeat the Dalek!"

"It's worth a shot, Cyborg." said Robin. "Get it ready. The rest of us will have to lure the Dalek to the tower."

Just as he finished his sentence, an alarm went off. Cyborg checked the computer.

"Too late, Robin!" he said, grimly. "It's here!"

The Titans crowded around the monitor. The Dalek was at the front entrance to the Tower.

"I'm activating security systems." Cyborg said as he typed in the commands.

"There." he said. "He won't get through that door. It's reinforced against...well, just about anything. And that lock has a billion combinations."

The Titans smiled as the Dalek extended its manipulator arm to the control panel. It worked on the panel for about 10 seconds before it opened the door.

"No way!" Cyborg exclaimed. "There's no way it could've figured it out that fast! Unless..."

"Unless what, Cyborg?" Starfire asked.

"The thing must be a genius! To crack the lock that fast, it'd probably have to figure out a thousand billion combinations in one second!"

"We're underestimating the Dalek!" said Robin. "We've got to think on our toes!"

Cyborg nodded, and then he went to the control console. The other Titans followed.

"I'm shutting down power to the elevators." he said, typing in the command. "Done!"

"Good." said Robin. "The only way up now is the main stairwell. And no matter how fast it thinks, it won't get up those."

"Are you sure about that, Robin?" asked Raven. "It made it's way across the bay, you know."

"The thing's most likely just amphibious." replied Robin. "Besides, it doesn't look equipped for flying.

The Titans watched the view screen as the Dalek made it's way from the elevators to the stairwell. Robin patched himself in to the com system there.

"It's over, Dalek!" he said. "You're trapped! And you're on our turf now! Give it up, and we'll make sure you get a nice cozy prison. The killing stops! Do you understand?"

The Dalek's eye stalk looked at the camera. Robin could only guess what it was thinking. And then...

"Elevate!" it said. The Titans watched at the Dalek now hovered. It cruised easily up the stairwell.

"We did it again!" Raven muttered angrily. "We should've figured this!"

"Any ideas?" Robin asked, nervously.

"Internal lasers." Cyborg said as he activated the system.

On the view screens, the Titans watched as lances of laser energy connected with the Dalek...and had no effect. The villain brushed past them as if they weren't even there.

Cursing, Cyborg adjusted the lasers to maximum power. The beams were brighter now, and more deadly. And as far as the Dalek was concerned, they were just as useless.

Cyborg hung his head. "That's it." he muttered. "No more defenses. I never planned on an enemy like this."

"There must be something we can do!" Robin exclaimed.

"Fight to the death!" Starfire declared. "We shall die as heroes!"

"Noble as that is, Star," said Raven, "I don't think that'll get us anywhere."

"Raven's right." said Robin. "We know brute force isn't the answer. At least, not with what we have available. There must be another way!"

Raven thought for a moment. "Well, it does have a superiority complex."

"So?" asked Cyborg.

"So, we make that our advantage."

"How?" asked Starfire.

"Well, as it told us, it has Slade's memories. But it also seems to think itself better than humanity. So, I say we use some psychological techniques to get to him."

"That may just work!" Robin exclaimed.

Just then, there was an explosion. The Titans stared in the direction of the noise; a door had been blown open. Then, the Dalek entered the room.

"At last!" it said. "It has now come to this, Titans! Your final battle! You might as well give up. I shall make your deaths painless if you surrender now."

"And if we don't?" asked Raven.

"Then you will be exterminated! And it will be very painful!"