(A/N: Guess who's back? You've all been super patient, so here's the longest and most exciting, in my opinion, chapter of the story. Happy reading!)
Starfire fired her laser gun rapidly, blasting each approaching robot in turn, defending Dr. Drakken as he typed code after code into Slade's giant computer. One adversary at a time was easy enough, but now the second one was on its feet and charging forward too, making it a lot more difficult. One robot shot a blast from its eyes that Starfire ducked to avoid. Instantly, the other one shot as well, hitting her in the middle of her exposed midriff. Star went flying, crashing onto her back many feet away. Without her powers to strengthen her, the shock of pain on her bare skin was double what she was used to. She shut her eyes and tried not to cry out.
Before she could stand up again, one of the robots placed its heavy, metal foot on her already sore abdomen. She could not move. The second robot shoved Dr. Drakken away from the machine, picked up Starfire's dropped weapon, and pointed it at him, forcing him to stay on the ground.
"Sorry, Star," the blue man said. "I tried. It's been nice knowing you."
"Do not speak like that," Star countered, though the boot on top of her made it hard to speak at all. "We are not alone. My friends will help us."
Suddenly, as if fate had a cruel sense of irony, nine new robots entered the lair. They no longer looked as shiny and new as they originally had, but their functions were still in order. Between them, they carried three teenagers. Beast Boy was unconscious. Cyborg's human features seemed in decent shape, but his electronic parts were smoking and not moving. Raven was also unconscious, but had tried casting a spell on the way in, so the robots covered her mouth with her hands just in case. The three heroes were dumped onto the same floor as Starfire and Drakken.
"Yep. Your friends are going to help us sooo much," Dr. D grumbled.
Starfire's hopes began to fade. "But Kim," she added quickly, trying to convince not only Drakken, but also herself. "Kim is still safe. And so is Shego. And Robin. And Ron. We must not forget them."
"The buffoon? Psh!" Drakken dismissed. "Kim, Shego, and the Boy Wonder maybe, but not that one."
Cyborg let out a low groan.
"Cyborg!" Starfire exclaimed excitedly. "Friend, are you okay?"
"I…can't…move," he said slowly.
"Well, we're dead then," Drakken decided. "As soon as Slade gives the order, we're dead. I'll admit, I've had a decent life. Never took over the world, of course, but you can't have everything you want. But I still had a good run. There was the brainwashing shampoo, my twenty-four hours of musical stardom, and that bottomless pit full of water and dangerous sea creatures. I'm still pretty impressed with myself that I managed to fill it. Shego was all, 'If it's bottomless, how are you filling it with water?' Ah, classic Shego. Hopefully she'll fare better than we did."
"Sh!" Starfire said softly. "I hear the footsteps! Someone approaches!"
Robin sprinted through the dark, guided only by the holographic device in his hand. Finally, he reached a door and pulled it open to reveal a much larger room, featuring slightly better lighting, a giant computer screen, and…
"Starfire!" he shouted, recognizing his girlfriend immediately despite her costume change and the fact that she was lying on the floor.
Star heard his voice. She craned her neck to see around the thick, metal leg blocking her view. "Robin? Robin!"
Robin ran toward her, but was stopped short. Someone grabbed onto his cape and jerked him backward. He regained his balance and looked up to see Slade once again.
"How…how did you get here so fast?" he asked.
"You took the long way around," his nemesis answered. "Congratulations, Robin. You've found your friends. What a touching reunion." Robin knew from his sarcastic monotone that someone bad must be coming. "A shame you could not save them, though. They put up a good fight, but now I am afraid it is too late."
"What are you talking about?" Robin demanded.
"You take one more step toward them," Slade explained, "and they're gone." To prove his point, one robotic captor per prisoner positioned its laser gun directly over the teens' (and Drakken's) foreheads, with the setting set to its highest level. The rest of the robots aimed their guns at Robin. "Your friends are powerless, Robin. A blast of that strength to skull from zero distance could finish them off. And I don't think you want to see that."
Robin looked down the line of heroes, not daring to move. He had almost lost Starfire earlier. Now, he could easily lose everyone. "What do you want, Slade?" he asked.
"I would have taken you as my apprentice," the villain replied, "but you seem to have no interest in that position. I'm disappointed to say the least."
"What do you want?" Robin asked again, his eyes focused on Starfire, not caring for Slade's embellishments.
"Surrender," Slade finally answered. "I want the full surrender of the Teen Titans and this city. Of course, I'm nearly there on the second one already." He gestured to the monitor, which revealed several parts of the city being overrun by robots. "Surrender, Robin," he restated sternly. "Surrender if you want any chance of your little friends' survival. You have no other choice."
Robin struggled to grasp what was happening. He had been in countless difficult scenarios before. Many times, his friends had been captured. Many times, he had been backed into a corner. He had always been able to break free, always. Yet now, he could see no other way out. He had to save his friends. He had save Starfire. He had to surrender. But how could he?
In the labyrinth of pipes above everyone's heads, Ron watched Robin's contemplation. After inching along and nearly falling off four times, he had finally managed to crawl to Slade's lair. He was horrified to say the least when he noticed Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire, and even Dr. Drakken trapped by Slade's robots. He was even more upset to see Robin's dilemma. If only there was a way down, he thought. If only there was a way I could help him.
Before Robin could give his answer, the door behind him opened again to reveal Shego carrying a teenaged redhead in a white battle suit. "Oh look, you're back!" Shego greeted Slade, much too enthusiastically. "Got you a present, buddy."
She laid Kim down on the floor. Her eyes were shut and she was not moving. "No," Ron whispered.
Slade took a step forward and inspected her. "She is alive," he observed. "Why did you not destroy her, apprentice?"
"Um, maybe because she's wearing a super suit?" Shego replied, devoid of any respectful tone. "She's practically invincible in that thing. You're lucky I even knocked her out."
Robin knelt by her side. His last hope for help was gone. Both team leaders were at the mercy of Slade. "Kim? Wake up, Kim!" he urged.
Slade pointed his own laser gun down at Kim's forehead. "Five seconds, Robin. Surrender in five seconds, or every single one of your friends will lose their miserable little lives. Five…four…three…"
Ron saw the gun pointed at Kim and felt a wave of panic. It became more than panic. It was panic, fear, love, hate, fury, and vengeance all at once. It grew and grew, before Ron could even be sure what it was
"two…one…"
Before Slade could reach "zero", sounds of monkey screeches filled the room's air, forcing him to look around confusedly. Suddenly, the area was filled with bright blue light as Ron jumped down from his perch, aglow with something blue and fiery. He kicked the gun out of Slade's hand and sent him flying with a strong kick to the stomach. The robots abandoned their charges and ran toward him. Ron jumped high into the air, then crashed down so hard that he sent cracks through the floor. Raven and Beast Boy awoke from the shaking. The robots broke into pieces too tiny to put themselves back together again. Kim, who had been playing unconscious according to Shego's plan, cracked open one eye. "Ron?" she gasped.
The blue glow faded and Kim's sidekick dropped to the ground, out of breath. Raven, Starfire, Kim, Robin, Drakken, and Beast Boy dragging Cyborg's still nonfunctional body crowded around him.
"Whoa, dude," BB said. "That was insane."
"Wha…what did I do?" Ron asked, exhausted.
Raven placed a hand on his shoulder. "You turned blue," she answered, "and crazy stuff happened."
Ron scratched his head and smiled. "Heh, told you I had Mystical Monkey Power." He looked around at the faces surrounding him and noticed one in particular. "KP! You're okay!" He jumped up and gave his girlfriend a big hug.
"I was always okay, Ron," she explained once he let go. "I was pretending. It was all part of Shego's plan."
"Shego?" Ron looked around for the villainess. She was at the front of the room, looking at the green crystal contained by Slade's force field.
"Any day now, Kimmie," she said, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Oh, right!" Kim dashed over and pulled out her Kimmunicator. "I'll just plug this in and…"
A large hand threw a punch at each of the battle suit bearers. A second kick sent Kim backflipping away until she landed beside the Titans. "I'm sorry to ruin the celebration," Slade growled menacingly, "but none of you are getting out of here."
"Wanna bet?" Kim asked, leaping back over to him. She jumped and aimed a flying kick at his chest, which he dodged before countering with a punch that she barely ducked under before swinging her leg around and almost causing him to lose his balance.
As they continued to exchange blows, Robin took charge once again. "Beast Boy, get Cyborg to the nearest power source and charge him up. Drakken keep hacking until the robots shut off. Raven, you help Drakken. Make sure the robots don't hurt anybody before he's done. Ron, Shego and Starfire, we're going to take out Slade."
"I don't work for you, kid," Shego reminded the Teen Wonder before running to Kim's side anyway, following by Ron.
Robin turned to Starfire. "Star, I—"
"Now is not the time, Robin!" she interrupted, pushing him out of the way of a green blast from Shego that missed its target. "Kim, here!" she shouted, bounding forward. Kim understood and threw her Kimmunicator up into the air. Starfire grabbed onto Shego's shoulders and propelled herself high off the ground, catching the device and landing behind Slade. She searched for a port, then finally plugged it into the computer.
"Starfire?" Wade said, surprised to see the alien's face.
"Friend Wade," she explained, "there is a force field protecting the powers of myself and Shego. Would you please disable it?"
Wade stretched his arms. "I'll do my best. Finally some action!" He began to type while Starfire stood guard.
Kim and Robin each attacked Slade from a different side. Had it been a one-on-one fight, the odds would have been against either of them. However, with the two of them providing a steady stream of hits and kicks, it was harder for Slade to retaliate against them both. He was fortunate enough to grab Robin's leg in midair and swing him around to block Kim. The moment he did so, Shego lunged for him. Instantly, she fell back, feeling the power leave her body in a long, painful shock. Ron jumped up and grabbed Slade's neck from behind, trying to initiate a chokehold on the larger man. Slade threw him off just in time to feel a flying kick from Kim land on his shoulder. Robin took out his bo staff and went for his nemesis's feet, trying to knock him off balance while Kim and Ron kept him occupied. Suddenly, an evil, scheming look appeared in his eye.
"You think this is the best I can do?" he taunted. His body began to glow green and he shot several large bolts of energy at all of them, knocking them to the floor.
"What's he doing?" Ron asked Shego, who he had landed next to.
"The crystal," she said, only having recovered from losing her powers a moment ago. "It holds my power and Starfire's. He can control it from his suit. He's transferring our powers to himself."
"What can we do?" Kim asked, hearing the conversation.
"Just make sure Wade breaks the shield," she answered. "If the crystal leaves its home, Slade loses all control of it."
"And what happens then?" Robin asked as he helped the others to their feet.
"Leave that to me!" Shego ran to the right and picked up Slade's dropped laser gun. She shot one beam just over his head to get his attention. "Hey, One-Eye!" she mocked. "You got a problem?"
Slade's eye narrowed and he fired several more bolts at her. She dodged them easily and fired another shot at his feet. The other teens understood and began distracting him from every possible angle, jumping out of the way in the nick of time.
Meanwhile, Drakken's fingers entered code after code into the computer. "Darn thing won't load fast enough," he grumbled. "My system at home is much higher quality."
Raven remained coolheaded. "How far have the robots gone?" she asked.
"I don't know, look at the screen! I'm trying to focus! Teenagers…"
Raven rolled her eyes and crossed her legs, levitating. She shut her eyes and said, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Her dark energy, in the form of a black raven, escaped from her body and flew up through the ground and into the air, soaring swiftly around Jump City before returning to her. She breathed deeply as it reentered her, then said, "The robots have almost reached downtown. If we can stop them before they get there, we'll avoid most of the potential damage."
"How long do we have?" Drakken asked.
"I'd say five minutes. Do you need me to stall them?"
"Maybe. Can you do that?"
"It will take a lot of energy," Raven answered, "and I don't know how long I can hold it, but it's worth a shot. If anything breaks my concentration for even a second, it won't work."
"I'll be as quiet as a mouse who can't squeak," Dr. D assured her.
"Good." She crossed legs, this time on the ground, and began to whisper her catchphrase in repetition. Once again, the black energy left her body and traveled out of the sewers and into the night. It located the army of Slade's robots and expanded into a dark dome, containing them inside. Raven could feel the strain on her spirit and gritted her teeth, focusing as hard as she could, continuing to utter as calmly as possible, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"
Starfire looked on as her friends fought, wishing she could help. "Friend Wade," she said, "have you cracked it?"
"Not quite yet," he answered. "There's one last code. It's like a password. I get it right and everything in the system opens up. It's seven characters. Do you know anything about Slade that would give it away?"
Star shook her head. "I have not the clue."
"I'll try some possibilities."
As Wade typed, a bolt of green energy hit Starfire in the back, knocking her down. She stood up and looked with rage upon the armored man before her. "You will not have me and you will not have my friends!" she shouted, running toward him and punching him in the jaw. He was too surprised to stop her, but quickly made up for it by throwing three separate bolts at her. She dodged two easily, but didn't see the third.
Robin grabbed her and pulled her out of the way just in time. "Starfire, are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered, still focused on the fight. "Thank you for the assistance."
Robin wanted to talk more, but found that both he and Starfire were thrust back into the fighting. Meanwhile, Wade searched and searched for the final code, the one that would break Slade's entire system. He discovered that the first character had to be a J. What words started with J and had seven letters? If only he had some files on Slade…
Raven could feel the robots fighting her barrier. They were shooting it, hitting it, even clawing at it. She felt the pain of every attack of her shield in her very soul. Her energy was starting to run out and she struggled to remain focused. "I…can't…hold them," she said through gritted teeth to Dr. Drakken. "You have to…shut…them…off!"
Dr. D quickly added one more line of code and pressed a big, red button. "Aha! Take that!"
The robots filling the city stopped in their tracks and fell to the ground, motionless. All of them were shut down, never to be powered on again. Raven let go of her forcefield and breathed deeply, the strain on her spirit now gone.
Slade spun around, shocked to see the blue scientist's success. "How dare you!" he boomed. "I offer you the chance of a lifetime, and this is how you repay me?" He put his hands together and threw a double-sized ball of green energy directly at Dr. Drakken.
Kim jumped in front of her arch nemesis, her battle suit's glove transformed into a catching mechanism. She threw Slade's own bolt back at him, knocking him off his balance so that he stumbled to the floor.
Just then, Wade shouted through the Kimmunicator's speakers, "Now!"
The electric cage around Aviarius's crystal disappeared. Before Slade knew what was happening, Shego bounded across the room, jumped over his head, and grabbed it in midair. She landed expertly on both feet and looked at the green glowing gem. Instantly, she could feel all of its power rushing into her body. Hot energy filled her blood, skin, bones, and everywhere else. The double dose of both her own powers and Starfire's made every part of her glow bright green. It felt like she was the most powerful being in the world in that moment. Her eyes focused on the armored man on the floor. Oh, how the tables had turned.
Starfire broke Shego's concentration with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "That was most wonderful!" she exclaimed joyfully. "Friend Shego, let us share our powers again that we may defeat Slade together!"
"Share?" Shego repeated, the word not computing in her brain.
"Yes! You have your powers, now give me mine. If we fight him together, we can truly kick the butt!"
Instead of releasing Starfire's powers back to her, Shego pushed her aside. "Not yet. I have some business with a certain former employer of mine."
Shego ran forward and grabbed Slade, picked him up with one hand, and threw him to the other end of the room so hard that a crater formed around him on the ground. She had quickly come to the realization that, since she had full control of the crystal, she had control of both her own usual powers as well as Starfire's. It was time to test them out.
She fired two extra hot energy bolts at Slade from a distance, then sprinted toward him, finally landing several leaping kicks all over his body before he could recover. In fact, he was too shocked by what was happening to know how to recover. She released all of her anger on him, finally knowing that she was the one in control. That knowledge more than doubled her usually high level of confidence, making it boundless. She could feel her feet moving quicker and lighter, not affected by gravity. Instantly, she recognized what she could do. She again grabbed Slade, bent her knees, and jumped high into the air. Soon, Shego was no longer jumping. She was flying.
She soared high up into the pipes along the ceiling, sliding between them like a glowing green eel and making as many of them hit Slade as possible. Finally, she reached the very top of the ceiling and punched a hole straight through it, opening the underground room to the paved streets of Jump City, one block away from Wayne Enterprises. She flew through the hole of her own making with Slade in tow, then threw him back down into the underground lair. After a very long fall, he crashed on the floor, forming another crater. Drakken and the other fighting Titans dropped what they were doing and crowded around him. Cyborg, now finally recharged with Beast Boy's help, returned to the scene as fast as he could.
"Dang," he breathed. "That girl sure knows how to hit hard."
"Is he…?" Beast Boy began to ask the question that was in all of their minds, but was too mesmerized by the possible end of Slade to finish the thought.
Shego landed gently on the same floor, then walked over to the other teens. "I think that sums it up," she stated matter-of-factly. "Short version: I quit."
"Shego, I think you might have killed him," Kim whispered to the villainess beside her. "He's not moving."
"Serves him right, then, doesn't it?" the green woman replied. "He deserved everything he got."
Robin stared Slade, speechless. The embodiment of all his worst nightmares lay before him, motionless. Was this the end of their rivalry? Robin had often considered the possibility that Slade was his Joker, the man who he would never be rid of and who would never be rid of him, no matter how much they hated each other. The Teen Wonder had every intention of defeating Slade while still following his no-kill policy, but he had never even entertained the idea that someone else with a different policy would step in. He knelt to the ground, examining the tall man for any signs of life.
Starfire looked on nervously, thinking of what would happen to Robin if Slade was truly dead. On the one hand, he would be rid of Slade, and that was certainly a good thing for his sanity. On the other hand, seeing him die could end up etched in Robin's mind far too long, and she could only imagine how that would affect him. However, after considering Robin's situation, she turned to Shego. She had been convinced that Shego was a hero on the inside, that she had a good heart and was not truly evil. Granted, Slade was a horrible person and she had every right to be angry with him, but Starfire had hoped that Shego was better than killing, no matter who the victim was.
"Shego," she said evenly, trying to think of the right words to say. "You…I thought…"
"That I was a good guy?" the woman sneered. "Puh-lease! If you saw any good in me, you're delusional, got it? I'm a villain. I stopped being a hero because I wasn't one, and I'm still not. That's not something that a few hugs are going to change. Anyway, you ought to be grateful to me, and I mean all of you!" She looked around at the many eyes now glued to her, except for Robin's, which were focused on Slade. "I just did you all a huge favor. Do I get a thank-you at least?"
"We don't thank people who take things too far," Cyborg grimaced. "You didn't attack him in self-defense, and you didn't stop when he was beyond the point of fighting back. As much as I hate the guy, I would have pulled back a good while ago. You still could have taken him in."
"Ugh! Am I the only sane one here?" Shego exclaimed, crossing her arms. "First off, you wouldn't have done anything, because you were plugged into an outlet somewhere until five seconds ago. Second, don't even pretend you cared about his life. You all wanted him destroyed. You just didn't have the guts to do it yourself. If having guts makes me a villain, then guess what that makes me?"
Starfire raised her hand to draw Shego's attention. "But Shego…"
"But what, princess?" she retorted. "You were wrong about me. Deal with it. I'm done helping you. I have my powers back, I defeated the worst boss on the planet, and that's all I wanted to do. You're lucky I haven't pummeled you all too. I just want to go home, relax, and forget that any of you ever existed. Come on, Dr. D, let's go."
Before she could pull Drakken away, Cyborg pointed his sonic cannon at her. "You ain't going nowhere until you give Star her powers back," he ordered. "This thing is full of newly charged electricity and I don't think you want to know how it feels."
Shego dropped one arm, then held the other one up, igniting in it a bright green flame the size of Cyborg's head. "You really want to do that?" she threatened.
Cy didn't flinch. "Powers. To Starfire. Now."
A shootout would have followed, but Robin, his hand now over Slade's mask, felt a puff of breath. The breath was followed by the opening of Slade's one eye, which stared directly into Robin's mask. The Teen Wonder jumped back and shouted, "He's alive!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone's attention was back on the incapacitated man.
"Dude, how did he even survive that?" Beast Boy wondered.
"I can hear you, you know," Slade's deep voice replied.
"Yikes!" BB ran around Raven and hid behind her cloak. She rolled her eyes.
"Seriously though," the empath asked, "how are you alive right now? That fall alone would have killed most non-metahumans."
Slade's eye remained fixed on Robin. "I am stronger than I look," he said. He moved as if to stand up, but was quickly pinned down by Kim and Ron.
"Not strong enough, apparently," the cheerleader observed.
Cyborg looked down at Slade, then at Robin in disbelief. "Are we…are we actually about to turn him in?"
"It would seem so," Robin answered, barely over his shock. "I imagine he'll have a long sentence. However, there is something I'd like to do first."
Once again, he knelt to the ground and reached his hands toward his foe's head. He grabbed onto each side of the madman's mask. He paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and pulled.
The instant the mask moved, Slade broke free of Ron's hold and pressed a button inside his suit. All the lights in the room shut off except the monitor, which turned bright red.
"SELF DESTRUCT INITIATED."
"Holy…Slade!" Robin realized that the villain had escaped before he could even complete his reaction. He looked around frantically and saw the edge of the man's boot as it slipped through the door. The doorway collapsed into rubble as the countdown began. "No!" Robin shouted.
"THIRTY. TWENTY-NINE. TWENTY-EIGHT."
"We only have thirty seconds?!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Who even programs a lair like that?"
"Apparently, Slade," Raven answered. "Come on, we have to get out of here."
"TWENTY-SEVEN. TWENTY-SIX. TWENTY-FIVE."
Raven formed a disc of black energy and waved everyone over to climb on. Beast Boy got on first. Cyborg ran to Robin, who was still looking at the remains of the lair's door.
"C'mon man, we've got to go!" he shouted. "Shego's getting away!"
Sure enough, Shego had grabbed Dr. Drakken's hand and was now pulling him toward a direct path to the surface. Cyborg shot his sonic cannon at her, but she took off too quickly. Both she and her partner were soaring to the street.
"TWENTY-FOUR. TWENTY-THREE. TWENTY-TWO. TWENTY-ONE."
The pipes burst and the walls began to crumble. As debris fell around her, Raven had no choice but to levitate her disc higher. Cyborg took a running start and jumped as high as he could. Beast Boy's octopus tentacles caught up just in time and pulled him up before morphing back into human hands.
"Robin! Starfire!" Cy called. "Get up here!"
"TWENTY. NINETEEN. EIGHTEEN."
Kim picked up her hairdryer grappling hook, left on the ground from the fight, and shot it upward so that it clasped onto the street above. "Ron!" she called out, getting her boyfriend's attention. He nodded and ran over to her, holding on for dear life as she pulled both of their bodies through falling, broken pieces of metal, concrete, and wires.
Robin heard Cyborg's instruction and looked up at the floating disc of dark energy. One person was not there. One person was not safe yet. "Where is Starfire?" he asked, looking around frantically.
"Robin, I am here!" his girlfriend shouted in response. She was in the process of climbing over a large pipe that had broken and landed in her path on top of an already intimidating pile of what used to be a wall. Immediately, Robin ran over to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her out to safety. The two of them took off running.
"SEVENTEEN. SIXTEEN. FIFTEEN."
A cinderblock crashed just a hair's width away from Raven's head. "We have to leave," she told her companions. "We could be destroyed any second now."
"But Robin and Starfire!" Beast Boy pointed out.
"I know," Raven answered. "I'll get as close as I can."
She floated through the air as large, chunky rocks and slim, sharply broken pipes fell at all angles around her. "Up here, Robin!" Cyborg shouted.
"FOURTEEN."
Still holding hands, Robin and Starfire raced to the clearest area they could find and looked up to see Raven hovering above them. "Don't worry," Robin said. "We can do this." He reached into his utility belt and pulled out his own grappling device, shooting it so that it latched onto Cyborg's strong, metal arm that mostly likely could handle the weight of two teenagers.
"THIRTEEN."
Just as Robin let go of the ground, a chunk of something hard fell behind him, knocking down Starfire. More things fell until the powerless princess was practically buried in a pile of dark, heavy rubble. Robin looked down and immediately let go of his ride to safety. He leaped to the pile and began digging her out with his gloved hands. No matter how hard he tried, the pieces wouldn't budge.
"No no no no…" he whispered, trying not to think of his nightmares.
"Go to the safe place!" Starfire shouted, her voice muffled by her surroundings. "I will be okay. You must go now!"
"No way, Starfire," he replied. "I'm not losing you again. Ever."
He pulled a big chunk away with all his might and her arm reached through to him, but the hole was too small for any other part of her to escape.
"TWELVE. ELEVEN. TEN."
As Robin dug, Shego stood on the edge of the street, looking down at Kim Possible as she came closer and closer. "Dr. D, I need you to steal a car," she ordered.
"Excuse me," Drakken replied, "but I believe I tell you what to do, not the other way around."
"And which of us can fly, lift buildings, and be basically invincible?"
"Oh. I see your point. But don't think this changes the nature of our relationship one bit!" he added as he rushed off to obey her command.
Kim climbed over the edge just as he left, pulling Ron with her. "I should have known better than to trust you," she said, preparing her fists for combat.
Shego floated into the air several feet, still glowing. "Yeah, you really should have. Kind of disappointing from a straight-A student. Aren't you supposed to be smart?"
"NINE. EIGHT."
Just as Shego lifted a glowing hand to smite her teenaged foe, she looked down and saw something. Perhaps she had clearer vision from the powers given to her, or perhaps she happened to be positioned over the least cluttered view to the lair's floor. Either way, she saw an image that called back feelings she claimed to have abandoned years ago. She saw Robin desperately trying to pull Starfire out from her prison of rubble. The alien was unable to save herself, and her teammates were doing everything in their power to save her. Shego knew it was useless. Robin could not possibly have the super strength needed to lift the rubble. He was only human.
But Starfire wasn't. Shego and Starfire shared a bond in their powers, a bond that the villainess did not understand and denied, but knew that, somehow, it existed. She had not killed Starfire when she'd had the chance. Now, Slade's lair could do the job for her. After all, what was Starfire to her but another teenage nuisance?
"SEVEN. SIX. FIVE."
Raven began to levitate upward, slowly but surely. When Beast Boy gave her an angry look, she explained, "We have no choice. This place will blow up with or without us. If we wait one more second, all of us will be destroyed."
"Robin, hurry!" Cyborg shouted, not giving up just yet.
"FOUR."
Still, Shego hesitated. Starfire had been nothing but trouble from the beginning. Why did she not want her to die? Why, for the first time in many years, was the former member of Team Go feeling a twinge of guilt as she watched another hero's demise?
Though she still didn't understand why, Shego knew she had to act. She landed a super strong kick on Kim's stomach and another one on Ron's side to knock them away, then lifted the hand holding Aviarius's crystal. She wound up her arm…and threw it down the hole as hard as she could.
"THREE. TWO."
The crystal crashed on the floor, smashing to pieces on contact. As she expected, all of the contained powers were released. Her own were restored to her. The other green glowing mass returned to Starfire, whose body instantly regained its many powers. The triumphant alien princess burst through the rubble, held Robin with one arm around his waist, and flew both of them high up into safety. Raven came out of the hole barely a second later with the rest of the team. She took her dark energy circle and made it the same size as the hole, covering it completely.
"ONE."
The group heard an explosion inside what used to be Slade's lair. Raven's shield held firm and prevented any debris from being released onto the street. The Titans, now out of danger, looked around. Shego was gone, most likely in a stolen car driven by Dr. Drakken. Slade was gone too, and there was no telling where he had gone. The night was still dark, but it would be sunrise soon.
Cyborg spoke for everyone, "Whew. Glad that's over."
"You can say that again," Ron nodded. He gave Raven a nudge. "So do I have the most badical powers or what?"
"Your Mystical Monkey Power is quite impressive," she admitted, "but I am not going to refer to anything as 'badical.'"
"Too bad Slade got away," BB said to Robin. "Do you want us to scout around for him?"
All eyes turned to Robin. The spikey-haired boy stood in silence for a moment before answering, "Not now. There's something I need to do first."
He walked straight through the middle of the circle that had formed until he was right in front of Starfire, looking directly into her big, green eyes. "Star," he said, "I have been a total jerk lately. I haven't been treating you as well as you deserve. I wanted to be everything you expected of me, I really did, but when Slade came back, my personal life took a backseat. I never meant to hurt you, but I know I did, and I cannot possibly express how sorry I am."
"Robin," Starfire said softly, "you do not need—"
"Starfire," he continued, "I do. I do need to apologize, and I am apologizing. You are more important to me than Slade, or anybody else. From now on, I'm going to prove that to you. Will you give me a second chance?"
A giant, joyful smile broke across her face. Star wrapped her arms around him in a long hug that neither crushed his bones nor squeezed out his breath. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I will."
Of the others, Cyborg was the first to react. "Booyah!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"
Robin and Starfire finally let go of each. The Teen Wonder smiled and asked, "Well, in that case, Star, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Lucky Dragon on a double date with our new friends from Middleton?"
Starfire giggled, then replied, "That would be glorious!"
(A/N: Wow, that was a lot. Thank you all for sticking with me. I have two more relatively short chapters to write that will wrap up some loose ends, but other than that, we're almost to the end!)
