On a screen, a screenful of static dissolved into a school crest. The field is hexagonal, black-and-white checkered within a gold border. A large H is superimposed on it in gold script; across the bottom is a white banner bearing the letters 'H. A. E. Y. P.' Behind the crest, a square corridor can be seen, with yellow walls, ceiling, and floor marked in a honeycomb pattern.
"The HIVE Academy for Extraordinary Young People is proud to introduce this year's top graduates," a female voice narrated as a platform rises in front of the crest, carrying three young individuals on it to block the crest. One is a very short girl with short hair in a jumpsuit; a pair of goggles is propped on her forehead, and assorted controls are mounted at chest and waist level. Behind her is a tall, muscular girl with collar length brown hair. Her sleeveless shirt and pants are black, and studded gold bands cross her chest and run around her shoulders. She also has studded gold wristbands. Off to the right of these two is a slim boy in a black tunic with blue edges, black-and-blue striped socks that reached below his knees, and black platform boots with blue soles. His lavender hair is bound into two large horn-like tufts that stick up above his ears, his cat-like eyes are the same color, and his skin is an odd shape of bluish-pink. A small pendant hangs from a black ribbon that encircles his throat.
They leap from the platform. The screen focuses on the runt. "Gadget, the girl genius whose intellect can conquer any problem with an inventive solution," says the narrator. Gadget presses a button on her chest control, and large metal wings sprout from her back. She takes hold of the device at her waist, and the wings respond and carry her into the air. Lasers pop out of the wall panels and open fire against her, but she easily avoids all the shots and goes for another button. Now a small missile launcher comes up between the wings and destroys all the guns.
Gadget lands on the platform she and her classmates originally stood on, then glides away as two robots step in from portals that open up in the walls. The boy takes her place. "Hexx, the enchanting sorcerer whose powerful hexes mean bad luck for his enemies," the narrator said. Hexx extends his arms to both sides and does a 360-degree spin, throwing off a wave of energy that causes a couple of wall panels to fall away. He leaps high off the platform, and the panels crash down on the robots' heads. Two others have moved in during this sequence and meet the same fate. Hexx backflips down the corridor a short distance.
Three large laser cannons emerge from recessed panels in the floor, but the giant drops into view and bends the barrel of one of them as if it were a piece of taffy. "And Massive-the genetically enhanced giant whose unstoppable strength speaks for itself," the narrator says. Massive tears the cannon from its moorings and does an Olympic-style hammer throw to sling it away. It skids across the floor and wrecks the other two. Massive looks very pleased with herself.
"Well-organized, highly trained, and combat-equipped, these new HAEYP agents are the perfect fighting force," the narrator says as the teens continue their demonstration. "And for the right price, this ideal team can be yours." The screen gives way to static before showing the crest once again. The woman that was narrating steps into the light. She has gray hair and is wearing a dark outfit with a gold hexagon on one sleeve. She is the HIVE Academy's headmistress. "Well, Mr. Slade," she asks.
Slade stands on an elevated platform. He looks down at the woman. "Impressive. Truly," he said, "however, robots and obstacle courses only prove so much. My plans demand operatives who can function in the real world. If your students are going to serve me, they'll have to pass one final exam."
A spotlight shines on Gadget, Massive, and Hexx. Another one shines on the headmistress. Slade sits in darkness. "Destroy the Teen Titans," he says to the graduates, "then we'll talk." The light on the trio goes out, and the headmistress bows before hers is extinguished as well.
"Aw, man, come on," Cyber yells. The sink and counter are piled high with dirty dishes, and the floor is strewn with garbage. "It's gotta be around here someplace," the cybernetic teen exclaims. Beast Girl, as a bloodhound, sniffs at some of the trash as a frustrated groan is heard from Cyber's direction. "I don't believe this!"
Beast Girl continues to nose through the trash while Cyber hoists up the couch and shakes it. Revan is reading a book at the kitchen table. "How could you lose the remote," Cyber asks Beast Girl. "What makes you so sure I lost it," is the reply. "Uh...'cause you're you," Cyber retorts. "Hey! Just because I lost that video game-"
"-and the toothpaste, and my football, and the waffle iron," Cyber says, cutting Beast Girl off. "Things disappear," the green girl says. "How am I supposed to know where they go?" Revan looks up from his book with an annoyed expression on his face. "Well, how am I supposed to watch TV without a remote," Cyber retorted. Revan slams his book shut and stands up.
"Simple," he said icily. "You just get up and change the channel." The two squabbling girls give him and each other a very long and puzzled look. "Don't even joke like that," says Cyber. "I wasn't joking," Revan said. "Good, 'cause it wasn't funny! Now either help us look for the remote, or go back to your nasty old book and-"
"This is a pointless argument over a useless device," the dark boy says, cutting off Cyber's rant. "You are wasting your energy and disrupting my concentration." The side door behind him opens to admit Robyn and Starblaze. "I'm telling you," Beast Girl says, "I didn't lose it! You were the one watching TV last!"
Starblaze is in the middle of explaining something to Robyn. "And that is the secret to traveling faster than light," he says. "So if you to blame someone," the green teen yells to Cyber, "look in the mirror, girl!"
"Whoa! Take it easy, Titans," Robyn exclaims, "combat practice is this afternoon!" Starblaze gets an idea. "We must mend your dispute by the sharing of unhealthy junk foods. I shall fetch them." As he walks toward the kitchen, Cyber responds to this, saying: "I don't need food!" The Titans continue to argue.
Starblaze looked inside the refrigerator. There is a jumble of half-eaten leftovers, all covered with a thick layer of blue mold-this thing has not been cleaned out in who knows how long. The growth on a wheel of cheese starts to move and screech. Starblaze shrieks in alarm and throws a star-bolt, blowing up everything inside and splattering blue crud throughout the operations center. The four Titans have just had the living daylights scared out of them, not to mention a healthy dose of the mold dripped on their heads.
"Maybe we should just go out for pizza," Robyn suggests. At the pizza place, Beast Girl and Cyber are arguing about pizza toppings. "Can we please just order something," an annoyed Revan says. "As long as it's vegetarian," Beast Girl replies. "Come on, girl," Cyber groans, "how can you deny me the all-experience?" Beast Girl looked offended. "Dude, I've been most of those animals!"
"I suggest a large pizza with pickles, bananas, and mist frosting," Starblaze said, beaming at his suggestion. Beast Girl looked disgusted by this, and Cyber and Revan didn't seem to care. Robyn leaned over to him. "Um, Starblaze," she said, "not everything on the menu is a pizza topping."
"Oh," Starblaze exclaimed, blushing. "Double pepperoni," Cyber yelled. "I'm not eating meat," Beast Girl said. "There's no meat in pepperoni," Cyber retorted.
Meanwhile, Gadget is looking through her green-lensed binoculars at the Titans. "Gadget to Hexx," she said. Hexx is standing next to a parked bus with a hand cupped to his ear-he is receiving her transmission on a hidden radio. "Begin Phase One," Gadget says over the radio.
Hexx carelessly tosses a spell at the bus, causing it to roll downhill. Back at the pizza joint; as the vehicle's horn blares from down the street, the Titans stand up from the table. The sound of a baby crying from ground level elicits a shocked gasp from Beast Girl. The bus is about to collide with a baby carriage.
"Titans! Go," Robyn yells. They immediately spring into action while the bus keeps bearing down on the crosswalk. Starblaze pushes the carriage out of the way, and Cyber and Revan plant themselves in the vehicle's path. When the bus reaches Cyber, she pushes back against the front fender to slow it down. Her feet grind against the pavement, then Revan casts a spell. The bus's gearshift lever changes from neutral to park. The tires stop spinning and go into a tearing skid, then pull back. Cyber has finally brought the thing to a stop with only a foot or two to spare between her and Revan.
The doors have come open, revealing an empty driver's seat. Cyber straightens herself up. "Um, don't buses normally have drivers," Cyber asked. Beast Girl and Starblaze look on, while Robyn peers into the carriage. She too straightens herself up. "And don't baby carriages normally have babies," Robyn asked.
The two Titans near her look in as well. Robyn is holding a teddy bear that had been taking the place of the typical occupant. Its eyes are green-the same color as the lenses of Gadget's goggles-and her voice is heard next. "Are you pit-sniffers normally this stupid?"
The bear's head swivels slightly, and the eyes suddenly glow and fire laser beams. Robyn, Beast Girl, and Starblaze are projected screaming through the air as a result of the hit, with smoke trailing behind them. Revan and Cyber are still standing in front of the bus, which suddenly seems to tilt back onto its rear wheels of its own volition. They look up, completely flabbergasted as the shadow falls over them. Massive has seized the rear bumper and levered the mode of mass transit into the air, and she brings it down on top of the two. As the dust clears, she walks forward and brushes dust from her hands, and Gadget's nasty laughter is heard. She and Hexx step into view.
"That was too easy," Gadget says snarkily, "what a buncha cludge-heads. You guys want to get pizza?" Robyn, Beast Girl, and Starblaze have ended up in an alley. Beast Girl is in a trash can, with a banana peel over her head. "This isn't over," Robyn exclaims as she dusts herself off.
Back in the street, the bus gets blasted to one side. Cyber's sonic cannon, protruding from a hole in the ground, is revealed as the driving force. "We're just getting started," Cyber says as she stands up from the hole. A bird-shaped shadow looms up behind her. It resolves into Revan as he brings his arms back in and wraps his cloak around himself.
"Who are these guys," Beast Girl asks, "and what's a cludge-head?" Gadget speaks first. "We are the HIVE," she exclaims. "Your worst nightmare," Massive continues. "And this is Attack Pattern Alpha," Hexx finishes. He and Massive scramble, and a jet pack on Gadget's back carries her into the air. She fires a volley of laser shots at the alley, chipping loose large hunks of masonry so that they fall on the three Titans. Revan and Hexx in spell-to-spell combat, then to the grappling Cyber and Massive. The HIVE alumnus is pushed back down the street at Robyn and company emerge from the rockslide Gadget set off.
"What do you call an idiot with a rocket on her back," Massive asked. "Huh," a confused Cyber said. Gadget zooms over and sticks one between Cyber's shoulder blades. "Doomed," Gadget finished. She gets clear and touches a control; igniting the rocket and sending Cyber veering crazily over the buildings. Robyn, Beast Girl, and Starblaze watch from the alley as her yells of panic drift down to them; the latter gasps.
"Cyber!" Starblaze takes off to catch up with her, but a sudden change of direction throws him off. Meanwhile, Hexx charges at Revan with a jumping spin kick, but he ducks away and gets behind the funny-haired sorcerer. Dodging two more strikes, Revan counters with a backhand. Hexx blocks it.
"You fight like a girl," Hexx taunts. Gadget is overhead, now balanced on four tall spider legs. "And you're gonna croak like a frog," she exclaims. The contraption fires a blast that hurls Revan down the street and squarely into the charging Robyn. Beast Girl passes them both. "Hah!" She emits a battle cry and turns into an elephant, continuing her rush.
However, Beast Girl is stopped short suddenly at the sound of Massive grunting. The giant has lifted her clean off her feet; Massive's fellow graduates are watching. "Massive's gonna make you extinct," she exclaimed. Robyn and Revan are on the ground. "Beast Girl," she exclaimed, getting up, "hang on!"
Massive threw the green elephant straight up into the air and hits it with a jumping punch on the way down. Robyn suddenly finds herself directly in the path of her teammate, who changes back to human form just before slamming into her. They skid to a stop near Revan. "Is it me, or are we getting our butts kicked," Beast Girl asked. "It's just you," Robyn and Revan said in unison. "Listen up team," Robyn said. "I have a plan."
Two of Gadget's shots flash into view and send Revan and Beast Girl flying. Robyn manages to get out of the way; they end up almost a block away. "Gee, scrum-buffer," Gadget said in a taunting manner, "sure hope you fancy plan includes getting fried." The weapon that fired those shots is poking over her shoulder. It levels itself at Robyn, who stands her ground.
"You'll just have to find out the hard way," Robyn said. She takes up a fighting stance, holding one hand out with its back to the trio, and flicks the fingers toward herself-"bring it on." The shoulder-mounted laser zeroes in and fires a shot, and a long crack opens in the asphalt ahead of the strike; Hexx leaps backwards, landing on his knees, and throws a spell that breaks the fissure wider. Massive leaps in with a mighty yell and brings all of her weight down on the fault line.
The net effect of the three-way combo has been to open a very wide chasm, which runs straight down the middle of the road toward Robyn. She tumbles screaming into the darkness beneath Jump City. Revan and Beast Girl arrive at the scene and peer into the hole Robyn fell in. The Titans' leader is nowhere to be found. "Robyn," Beast Girl cried.
Beast Girl and Revan walk into Titans' Tower. Beast Girl is limping. She leans on Revan for support. "That didn't just happen," Beast Girl says softly as Revan helps her into a chair. She rubs her leg. "Tell me that didn't just happen." Revan sighed. "It did happen," he said bluntly. "We cannot change the truth, no matter how much we dislike it." He holds his hands near Beast Girl's injured leg; a brief glow of healing energy envelops them. Beast Girl smiled.
"Who knew we had a doctor in the house," she joked. "Thanks." Revan returned the smile. "No problem," he said. The door opens again. Beast Girl and Revan trade nervous looks before Cyber and Starblaze walk in with ear-to-ear smiles. The former no longer has Gadget's rocket attached to her back. The door closes.
"Maybe y'all should call me Flyber," the cybernetic teen joked. "I was halfway to Gotham City before Star zapped that thing off my back. So, what'd I miss?" Revan cannot meet her eyes; neither can Beast Girl. "Tell me how we kicked their butts," Cyber urged, "come on, I gotta have the play-by-play." Starblaze looks around. "Where is Robyn," he asks. "Um, Star," Beast Girl said nervously. "We're not sure."
"Not sure?" Starblaze was confused. "Why are you not-" Revan cut him off. "We searched everywhere," he said. "And all we found was this." He pulled the Girl Wonder's utility belt from his cloak. Starblaze gasps in horror; Cyber groans and claps both hands to her forehead. "I shoulda been there," she said. "I let that kid sneak up on me and-what was I-? It was a trap, and I-I shoulda known."
"I do not understand," Starblaze said in confusion. "How could you not find her?" He looks at Revan. "People do not just vanish! She has to be someplace, so go there and look!" Starblaze shouted the last part. "Easy, Star," Beast Girl said, trying to calm him down, "come on. This is Robyn we're talking about. I'm sure she's fine. She'll probably turn up any second."
The door mechanism kicks into gear once more. "Awesome timing," Beast Girl says, relieved. "Robyn," Starblaze exclaimed. He flies toward the door. It has not yet opened, and he walks toward the threshold to see who has arrived. A moment later, the whole entrance disappeared in a mighty crash that throws him backward. The dust clears to show the HIVE team walking in; Gadget is back up on her mechanical spider legs.
"Oh, no," Beast Girl said. Massive cracked her knuckles. "Oh, yes," Hexx said. The four Titans get ready to fight. "You guys got lucky last time," Cyber said, "but you're in our house now." The trio advances. "Yeah, nice place," Gadget said. "We'll take it!" Gadget blasts at them. When the dust clears, Revan levitates some chairs and throws them at the HIVE while Starblaze tosses off some star-bolts at them.
Beast Girl gets thrown across the room, and Cyber blasts at the three villains. "Split up," she yelled. Revan and Starblaze fly up the stairs; the former throws two fire extinguishers at Massive, who knocks them away. Beast Girl-as a bobcat- dodges attacks from Hexx, who is making the wall panels fall down. "Here kitty kitty," Hexx says, grinning evilly. "What's the matter? Afraid of a little bad luck?"
Revan and Starblaze burst through the closed gym doors and slam them shut again. A star-bolt is fired against the frame and traced along the doors' outer edges to weld them closed. The two boys then back up a bit and trade a very nervous look, wondering wether the barricade will hold. This proves to be a moot point when the wall behind them blows out, throwing them to the floor. They look back toward it and find Massive's head protruding from a fresh hole-she just delivered a mother of a head-butt. "Hello, boys," she said.
Cyber retreats up the stairs as one of Gadget's long, metal legs swings into view. She walks into a room. Cyber peeks out from a corner across the hall, nips over, and peers in carefully after Gadget; she steps in boldly. Except for the light spilling from the hall, the place is completely dark. The blackness becomes whole when the door slides shut without warning. "Hey!" Cyber yelled.
A wall of TV screens comes to life, every one showing a close-up of Gadget's grinning visage. "So, Tin Woman, you got a heart under all that outdated crud-ware?" Gadget taunted. Cyber turns away, but a single giant screen, also showing Gadget, comes on next to her. "Not telling?" Gadget asked. "Guess I'll have to take you apart and find out!" The whiz kid's spider legs carried her into the light from the screens and lower her steadily toward Cyber, who can only stare in complete shock.
Beast Girl, back in human form, races around the corner and into view. Seeing no one behind her, she stops to catch her breath. "Lost him," Beast Girl said, referring to Hexx. She has spoken too soon. A couple of Hexx's spells pass just over Beast Girl head and hit the ceiling. A panel swings loose and cracks her dead in the face. Beast Girl's head rattles on her neck for a moment before she collapses; Hexx walks up behind her. "This just isn't your lucky day," he said.
Beast Girl sits rubbing her head for a second before transforming into a tyrannosaurus rex and roaring with enough force to shake the entire building. Hexx does a few backflips to get out of range, then stops and fixes a glowing stare in her. Around the green reptile, a ring of pink fire flares up briefly and toward her head before disappearing. There is a loud crackling from the floor, followed by the collapse of the section on which Beast Girl is standing due to his hex; she drops from sight. Hexx walks up to the hole and smiles.
In the storage area of the Tower, there is a large circular hatchway in the back wall. This is smashed off its hinges by Cyber, who emerges into this place unscathed. She is not alone; however; Gadget comes out of the dust clouds and moves in on her. Cyber steadily backs up before the advance; one of the metal legs swings at her, but she catches the end in both hands. "Gotcha!" She exclaimed.
Gadget just grins and swings another leg. Cyber shifts her grip to free up one hand and catch this one as well. A good strong wrenching motion throws Gadget off balance and sends her to the floor; when she hits, sparks fly from the central unit on her back. She is quickly yanked free of the legs and held aloft by the chuckling Titan. The unit is still on Gadget's back, but it is soon pulled off. "Let me go, you scuzz-munching zit," Gadget yelled.
Cyber puts her down so she can run away and then crushes the device. The cybernetic teen tosses the remains aside like a candy wrapper. Gadget runs off among the crates and boxes; now Cyber walks after her at a leisurely pace. "How you gonna fight me without your tech," she asks. A small, shadowy figure passes in front of her, and she goes after it. Gadget peeks out from behind a panel; she gasps as it is lifted away by a very pleased Cyber. The cybernetic teen suddenly looks down with surprise at the sound of a crunch. "Huh," she says in confusion.
Her foot has come down on a flashlight-like unit and damaged somewhat. Looking up again, she sees Gadget's image grin and then flicker out-it was merely a hologram projected by that unit. Cyber backs cautiously away; the real Gadget is perched on a piece of equipment behind her, and she jumps down onto the back and pulls out a tool. Sparks fly. "Yo, what are you-"
The gadget genius pops open a panel and goes to work on the circuitry. "Get out of my systems," Cyber yells. "Nobody hacks my systems!" She runs back and forth, clearly against her will due to the hot-wiring, then stops as her limbs start to flail randomly. Her right arm is raised. "Ooh, ejector arm," Gadget says. "Cool!"
She makes it pop off-hand, forearm, and half the upper arm. It rolls uselessly away across the floor. The shadows of the two combatants are projected against the far wall. "My arm," Cyber yells. The exterior of the Tower shakes and bends as the fight inside continues.
It is now later in the day. "Get off! Get off me! Stop!" Cyber's yells can be heard from outside the Tower. She flies screaming off the roof as if shot from a cannon, and lands in the middle of Jump City Bay. Another set of yells and three more splashes mark the forcible eviction of Beast Girl, Revan, and Starblaze. The HIVE team can be seen looking out from the top-floor window of the operations centre. "Have a nice afterlife, you snot-eating losers," Gadget yells.
Hexx casts a spell, which stirs up a huge tidal wave that leaves the foursome too scared to move as its shadow falls over them. Down comes the wall of water; the HIVE operatives smile smugly and walk away.
Two seagulls are perched on pilings. (The words in italics are voice over.)
"That didn't just happen. Tell that didn't just happen."-Beast Girl.
"Get out of my systems. Get off me."-Cyber. A soda can washes up on the shore. Now the spoken words start to overlap.
"Robin. Where is Robin? I do not understand.""Gotta go out for the others.""We searched everywhere.""How could you not find her?""All we found was this." Cyber makes her way up the slope. "People do not just vanish.""Oh, no.""I shoulda been there. I shoulda known."
The other three Titans make their way up the slope after her. "So, uh...who else never wants to go surfing again," Beast Girl says, trying to lighten the mood. "Not now, girl," an annoyed Cyber says. "Hey, I was just trying to-" Beast Girl begins to say. Revan puts a hand on her shoulder to cut her off. Cyber extends a small acetylene torch from her left forefinger. The panel on her thigh opens, revealing a plethora of sparks and short circuits. Starblaze approaches from behind as she bends down to the self-repair work. "Perhaps I could be of some assistance," he suggests.
"I got it," Cyber says. "But you are so damaged and-" Cyber rounds on Starblaze; he gasps. "I got it!" Cyber yells. "Hey! He only wanted to help! What is your problem," Beast Girl yells back. "What do you think," Cyber retorts. "We got kicked out of our house, a pint-size Poindexter took me for a joyride, and in case you haven't noticed, I just became left-handed!"
"Enough! We need to control our emotions," Revan says bluntly. "Or what? Our bad vibes will keep you from meditating," Cyber said. Starblaze sighed. "I wish Robyn were here," he said sadly. "Well, she's not," Cyber yelled. "Don't you guys get it? They won, we lost. IT"S OVER!" The four Titans stand slumped in defeat. "Then...the Teen Titans are finished," Beast Girl asks. "Not yet."
The voice draws four very surprised glances over four assorted pairs of shoulders. There, standing in front of some bushes-arms crossed, confident smile, cape waving in the breeze-is Robyn. Except for her missing belt, everything is in proper order. "Not if I can help it," Robyn continues.
At night, the new occupants of Titans' Tower have started extensive renovations to the place, as follows. One, the vertical bar of the T has been extended. Two, the lights in one half of the crossbar top floor has been put out. Three, a second vertical portion has been built to join with the half that is still lit; it reaches the same height as the central extension. The entire effect is to make the lighted Tower portions and new construction look like a giant H for HIVE, and the honeycomb pattern has been applied to the add-ons.
Gadget's hands reach into view, thumbs and forefingers extended to make a box in which she is framing a patch of blank wall. Two small robots whiz into view, carrying Cyber's detached arm-mounted as if it were a stuffed fish-between them, and follow his instructions as they hang it up. "Higher...a little to the left...a little more...perfect," she said, giving thumbs-up.
"Slade's gonna have kittens when he hears we whipped the Titans and took their stinking Tower," Gadget continued. She passes the kitchen. Massive looks in the fridge, while Hexx comes down the stairs. He has donned Robyn's belt, which sits askew on his hips similar to the way Revan wears his, and has one of the latter's spare cloaks over his arm. "Not to mention Robyn's favourite fashion statement," he says. Hexx eyes the cloak and sighs with contempt. "But that's the only thing fashionable around here."
"Tell me about it," Massive says, pulling a moldy hamburger from the fridge. "Hmph. All their food is way out of date." Despite this fact, she downs the burger in one gulp(1). "You think that stuff's rotten," Gadget calls from the operations centre; she holds up a CD. "Wait 'til you see their music." She tosses it aside, then another. "Crud...snot..." She continues to toss CDs aside. Gadget sighs. "Mega-crud...snot..."
The middle fingertip on the mounted arm pulls loose of the hand, remaining connected to it by two thin jointed armatures. It swivels to point its open end in view, revealing a tiny camera lens inside. A brief change in focus, and it turns to point elsewhere. It zooms in on Hexx, who has put on Revan's cloak.
"Does he have anything that's not blue," Hexx asks. Gadget continues to go through CDs, while Massive gorges on the food in the fridge. The tiny camera roves on, stopping at one of the computer consoles.
Hexx inspects himself with a hand mirror. The arm scuttles into view, walking on its fingers with the camera still active, and turns here and there to scope out the place. Massive eagerly lifts a moldy chicken drumstick to her mouth and licks it. The arm makes its way along a ledge on the far side of the kitchen while she eats the meat off the bone.
Gadget has another CD in her hand. She throws it and the next one away. "Ugh. Crud...snot..." The arm moves along the ledge behind her and is not noticed. It stops near one of the consoles and points its camera around the area before jumping down into the seat. Thin tentacles fly out from the joint where the limb connected to the stump of Cyber's natural arm. They press several keys, and the view cuts to an overhead shot of the keyboard as they go to work and the screen lights up with a schematic of the Tower. Piece by piece, the diagram goes red. When it has all turned this color, the screen winks out and alarms and buzzers start to sound, accompanied by red flashing lights throughout the operations center. The security systems have been triggered.
Hexx gasps and throws the cloak aside, and Massive stands up from the fridge. All the cabinet doors in the kitchen start opening and closing at random. Next Gadget stands up from the CD rack; without warning, one disc after another is ejected past her at high speed. "Hey," Gadget exclaimed.
This is the only intelligible word she gets out before trailing off into surprised yells and losing her balance to tumble on the floor. She slides backward as the rack continues its impression of a skeet-shooting target launcher. "What the hairball," Gadget said.
The chair of the nearest console swivels to give her a good look at the arm occupying it; she cries out in surprise and fear. The tentacles have retracted, but now they shoot forth again and wrap around his arms and legs. The bionic limb jumps down and speeds across the floor, dragging one very surprised pipsqueak, and pops a couple of small jet thrusters out from the forearm. These ignite and carry it into the air; the hand balls into a fist as the thing aims itself toward the ceiling and carries Gizmo up with it.
The arm closes in on an ceiling air vent and punches through; it races along the ductwork and takes Gadget for one very wild ride and out of sight around a bend. Back in the kitchen, a large shadowy hand reaches down behind Hexx and seizes him. He has time for one startled cry before it recedes into the ceiling and takes him with it-the sort of thing only Revan could do. Massive is left standing by herself; the side door opens on its own, and a star-bolt rockets into view from the left side of the screen to knock her through it. Starblaze has made it into the Tower. The door closes.
A large black raven emerges from the surface of the roof and rises, leaving Hexx there to drop to his knees. It was Revan's 'soul self'-a projection that can carry individuals from one place to another. Behind Hexx, Cyber's arm bursts out of a vent pipe and carries the screaming Gadget higher and higher before veering back toward her classmate. He gasps in shock and his eyes widen-just before he is hit head-on and both roll halfway across the roof. Having released Gadget, the arm flies away, and the closed door of the stairs or elevator leading up here slide open. A green flash of a star-bolt is seen, and Massive is blasted out onto the roof. She ends up next to the other two HIVE agents.
Robyn raises her hand; her belt lands neatly in it. "Sorry to interrupt the victory celebration," she says, fastening the belt around her waist. "But like I said, this isn't over." Cyber nods. "It's just getting started," she said. The trio stands up. "Attack Pattern Alpha!" Hexx shouts. Gadget and Massive scatter while he shouts and throws a spell. The Titans scramble to avoid it; when it hits the rooftop, a panel swells and explodes. Beast Girl comes down from her jump only to find Massive coming straight at her. She jumps away again and turns into a hawk as the giant slams her fist down on the roof and sends a shock wave toward Cyber.
Hexx lands behind the latter and vaults high over her shoulders, hurling a spell down at her as he sails through the air. It knocks out the base of a water tank and causes the whole thing to topple toward Cyber, who gets out of the way just in time before a second tank collapses nearby.
Starblaze throws a few Tamaranean fastballs at Hexx, who nimbly dodges them and ducks out of sight behind part of the new construction. Starblaze flies in after him. Cyber, meanwhile, looks around herself a bit. All clear-but that changes in an instant when Gadget jumps down from the fallen water tanks and lands on her back. "Hey Robo-Wimp," she says, pulling out a tool. "Feel like getting hacked?"
"Nope. How 'bout you?" Cyber retorts. "Robyn! Now!" Robyn jumps and throws a small device at Cyber and Gadget; it attaches itself to the machinery on the latter's back, and sparks fly as she yells in pain and frustration. Robyn drops back to the roof.
Gadget runs around, trying to pull the thing off. "Cut it out!" she yells at the device. "It's gonna crash my whole system!" She rips off her shoulder-mounted laser. "Get it off me!" Gadget yells. "Get it off me!" Robyn's device triggers the jet pack, which carries Gadget off the roof. Hexx runs like mad to avoid getting fried by Starblaze's bombardment. "Beast Girl! Go!" the latter yells.
The aforementioned Titan is back in human form and crouching on an overhead girder to watch Hexx. Flipping Starblaze a hand sign to acknowledge, she dives from her perch and transforms into a monkey to come down squarely on the face of the fleeing boy. Hexx has made his way into a framework of pipes. Unable to see, he fires spells in all directions in an attempt to get her off; finally he gets all ten fingers into the games, yanks her away, and throws her across the roof. She reverts to human form before touching down. "Your luck just ran out!" Beast Girl yelled.
Getting a running start, she again becomes a hawk and flies into the open sky. "Huh?" says a very puzzled Hexx. Creaks and groans from the pipework draw his attention. One after another, the pipe joints start to pop, having been hit by the spells he was casting every which way. One pipe bursts open and spews water and steam. The sound of a nervous little shudder is all he can manage as more lines rupture and collapse around her.
Massive is advancing on Raven. She aims a colossal punch at him, but he flies up to avoid it and comes down behind her. When she turns to charge again, Cyber rams a shoulder into her. It takes some time for Massive to touch down on the roof and stop skidding; when he does, Beast Girl, as a T-rex, is waiting for her. One snarl is all it takes to make the overgrown villain completely freak out and run for her life. Starblaze gathers all his strength for a star-bolt and lets it go, hitting Massive dead center in the gut. The hit leaves her spinning in the air as Robyn dashes over. One mighty flying kick drives Massive back into Gadget and Hexx and leaves all three in a weary, groaning pile. Gizmo is at the bottom of it; she has a transmitter in hand. "Cram it," she says "I'm calling Slade." Robyn yanks her up to eye level as the latter switches it on. "Who is Slade?" Robyn asks. "Wouldn't you like to know, barf-brain?" Gadget retorts.
Back in Slade's lair, the HIVE Academy's headmistress stands at the edge of the platform. "I assure you," she says, "such failures are not tolerated within the HIVE. Once the agents have been retrieved from the authorities, they will be disciplined." She socks a fist into her palm. "Strictly disciplined," she continued.
Slade steps out from among the pipes-the headmistress had been addressing herself to him. The light glinting off his figure shows the colors gray on the right side, and red-orange on the left side. "Actually, your agents served my plans quite well," he said. "I never expected them to succeed.
"They were merely messengers," Slade continued, "and the message has been received." On the end of this, he activates a transmitter, a counterpart of the one Gadget carried. On the monitor behind the headmistress, an image of Robyn appears-caught on film by Gadget and asking 'Who is Slade?' over and over. More images of different sizes appear to fill the screen. Soon there was an entire row of screens filled with images. That three-word question is repeated countless times by all of them. If Slade's intent was to bring his name to the Titans' attention, the HIVE crew did indeed meet his expectations.
Back at the Tower, the original architecture has been restored. "NOOOO! This is the worst thing that could ever happen!" Beast Girl yelled. She is in human form, with hands to head and ready to pull her green hair out. "My tunes! They've been," she steps back(2), "alphabetized."
She tosses CDs around the operations center as Cyber looks high and low. Robyn stands behind the couch and watches the two. "How am I ever gonna find anything?" Beast Girl whines. Revan comes downstairs, carrying the cloak Hexx borrowed. "They went into my room," he says icily. "No one should ever go into my room."
Starblaze gasps and pops up from under the kitchen counter. "Someone has disposed of all our blue furry food!" he exclaimed. Cyber lifted the couch. "You gotta be kidding me!" she yelled. "The whole place gets cleaned and I still can't find the-"
A whistle stops her short; Robyn points down toward the couch. The missing remote is laying on the coffee table-it was hiding in plain sight. "Ha!" Cyber says, dropping the couch. She sits on it with Robyn, who has started flipping channels. "I guess we really oughta be training for battles, tracking down clues, and trying to figure out who Slade is, huh?" Cyber asks. The other Titans gather around the couch to hear what their leader has to say. "We will," the Girl Wonder says. "But right now, I'm just glad to be part of the team. She points the remote at the TV, and the view turns black(3).
A/N: I hope you like this new update.
(1): That's just trifling.
(2): Me: *in Rainbow Dash voice* Pause for dramatic effect.
(3): Robin broke the fourth wall. That's just awesome.
