Chapter Nine

Slade stood triumphantly over the charred remains of the Daleks.

"Well done, my friends!" he said to the Cybermen.

One approached him. Slade noted that the twin waveguides on either side of its head were black, rather than silver like the rest of the normal Cybermen's bodies.

"I am the Cyber Leader." it said.

"I am Slade, and I welcome you to Earth. As you can see, we have had visitors."

"We anticipated the arrival of the Daleks."

"How so?"

"As you may be aware, both we and the Daleks are not from your universe, but an alternate dimension. We detected the Dalek ship as it was falling through time and dimension. We followed in its wake."

"I see. Well, it is fortunate for both of us that I contacted you."

"Indeed. Who were the others that fled from this fight?"

"Five of them are old enemies of mine, formerly known as the Teen Titans. They are of little consequence. The sixth isn't known to me. He calls himself the Doctor."

"The Doctor? Here?"

"You know him?"

"The Doctor has interfered with the affairs of our race. He also is the Dalek's most dreaded enemy."

Slade was confused. "If you and the Daleks have a common enemy, why not form an alliance?"

"Upon our first meeting, war was declared on the Cybermen by the Daleks. They saw us as inferior. Anything inferior to them is to be destroyed."

Slade nodded. "Well then, perhaps we both should endeavor to destroy the Doctor, his friends, and the Daleks. Quite a tall order, but I think we can manage, don't you?"

"We can begin by commencing our operation, as you promised us."

"Oh yes, the upgrade of humanity."

"What about me?" asked Terra. "You have your friends with you, so why do you need me?"

Slade looked at her, then at the Cyber Leader. "I offer you your first subject, Cyber Leader."

Terra was shocked. "What do you mean? What are you going to do to me?"

"You will become one of us." said Cyber Leader. "You will be assimilated. All emotions will be removed. You will achieve immortality. In return, you will serve the race of Cybermen."

"No!" Terra screamed. "I don't want to be a robot!"

"Resistance is futile!" Cyber Leader said as a small weapon emerged from its left forearm. It took aim and fired at Terra. She fell in a heap, wincing in pain before loosing conciseness.

"She is stunned." Cyber Leader explained. "She will be taken to be upgraded."

"Very good, my friend, very good." Slade said. "And soon, the rest of humanity will follow."

"As will you." Cyber Leader told him.

"What?" Slade asked.

"To be an unconditional surrender, all humans are to be upgraded, yourself included."

"As nice as that may be, I'd rather hold off on it."

"Explain yourself!"

"I'm not too keen on loosing my independence just yet. In fact, I'd rather not loose it at all. I assume, after all, that's what happens, right? You become just another drone?"

"You could say that." Cyber Leader responded. "However, that need not be the case. You can be a Cyber Leader, like myself. But you must show you can be trusted."

"That I will, my friend." said Slade. "And if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to personalize the design of my new body."

"It shall be considered."

Elsewhere, the Titans had found yet another cave. They took shelter in it. From there, they could see activity within the city. Daleks were on the move. It was obvious to the Titans and the Doctor that the activity was in response to the arrival of the Cybermen.

"What do you think the Cybermen want, Doctor?" asked Nightwing.

"They're after many things." he replied. "One is a new home. Their own planets were lost. Also, the have a desire to convert other life forms to be like them. Upgrading is their term for it."

"You mean they're really cyborgs, like me?" Cyborg asked.

"Not quite." the Doctor replied. "The brains are kept alive in the metal body. Emotions are removed, however. They wind up serving the greater good of their own species."

"Why are emotions removed?" Starfire asked.

"Because they hurt."

"Don't I know that." Raven muttered.

"But what do the Daleks have against them?" Changeling asked. "I mean, in a way, they seem similar."

"Daleks see anything different from them as wrong. And anything wrong is to be destroyed. The Daleks are the ultimate in racial cleansing. With all their deeds, they'd put Hitler to shame."

"So," began Nightwing, "We have a race that wants to kill us on one side, a race that either will kill us or make us like them on the other, and we have no way of calling for help?"

"That's about it." said the Doctor.

"So, what can we do?"

"How do you mean?"

"Don't you have a plan yet?" asked Cyborg. "I mean, we've been waiting since yesterday for you to come up with one."

"This isn't easy, you know!" the Doctor snapped. "I'm not a soldier, okay? I don't usually go about making up miracle victories, okay? I'm more of a scientist, so I look at things in different ways that a military man might. So, give me time!"

The Titans fell silent and left the Doctor to his thinking. None felt easy with the fact that their fate was dependent on what this man might come up with to save their world.