-Unedited summary

Slade. A criminal mastermind who is obsessed with the utter destruction of the titans. He has drones, machines and weapons, but who designed them? Who's behind them? Who designed Terra and Robin's suits? The mechanical worms? And will Terra ever return?

Three choices, two girls, and one secret behind it all.

Disclaimer 1: I do not own teen titans or the teen titan's characters – though I do wish I did.

Disclaimer 2: I do though own Max Steeler. She is a character of my original thought and design. Steal and die.

Chapter Two: The Apprentice

"Build me an army…"

Slade's words still echoed through her mind. He wanted a droid army with such droids that were not easily destroyed and could fight well on their own.

"Smart Machines…" Max reflected aloud.

The task itself would be easy enough, it would just take time. In fact, her third grade science project had been on the subject.

Slade had given her ten months to complete the task, and she had started immediately. She worked constantly, wanting nothing else but to please her savior.

Ten months later Slade approached her work table. She glanced up nervously, dropping the machinery she held. An involuntary shiver ran the length of her spine. She cringed.

"Are they ready?"

She hesitated.

"Ummm…" she began, "…I'm not exactly quit finished yet, but…"

Slade struck Max soundly, not allowing her to finish. The blow sent her sprawling across the floor and against the wall. She lifted her hand and touched her brow. Blood seeped from a curved cut beside her eye. She stared at him in disbelief.

"You have three days," he stated coldly and left.

Max's shock lasted only momentarily. She pushed herself up and continued working.

At three days completion Slade had his army.

It wasn't till her third year that the tasks became more "unusual".

Slade always complained of a group of menaces and criminals called the Teen Titans. He hardly showed up anymore and was sometimes gone for weeks at a time. When he did show, however, it wasn't necessarily a good thing. This was one of those times.

Max sat on her work table forming a round flat disc out of semi-melted steel. Her soft grey eyes sparkled as she smoothed the metal disc.

Slade slipped into the room, his eye fixed on Max. Max shifted nervously under his stare and hid the disc safely beneath the table.

"I have a project for you Max."

She would never grow used to his voice.

Slade had one massive project that could be divided into two parts.

One: Nanobytes. Tiny microscopic machines that latch on to blood cells, waiting a signal to, quite literally, destroy the infected subject from the inside. The nanobytes should be transferred by a ray of energy or a shot from a laser or laser-like firearm.

Two: One suit designed for a teenage boy. The suit would have similar qualities to Slade's own suit – baring Slade's symbol and the colors black and orange.

Max sensed this was more than a simple recruit, though she said nothing. She new better than that. Slade had left a picture of the boy to with the suit's design.

She and the boy's eyes met as she looked at the picture. He wore a mask, hiding his eyes from the world. His sleek black hair was spiked forward, and he held a serious look about him. A group of people stood around him. What was it like to have friends? To be part of a group? To belong?

She thrust the picture aside and shook her head, finally realizing who the boy was. These were the titans. The enemies. Slade was having her build something for an enemy? A criminal? This made no sense.

Everything was in place. She watched them as they peered curiously at the machine. They would try to deactivate it. Attempt to destroy the machine and save the city. What they didn't know was the city wasn't in danger. They were.

The spike-haired kid had slipped from the group long ago, heading here now. Robin. That's what Slade had called him. She shook the thought and focused on the screen, watching them through an almost invisible camera. The tin man reached inside, cutting a wire. She pressed a red button next to the monitor. A beam of red light struck them all. They were infected. The screen clicked off.

"I've have you Slade!"

"On the contrary Robin, I have you."

Max leapt out of her seat and snuck into the room next door. She remained hidden, cloaked beneath the shadows. She watched the huge screens light up, showing the infected titans. Millions of nanobytes swam inside them now, and they didn't even know it. She listened as Slade explained this to the boy.

The look she saw on Robin's face startled her. She saw the anguish and the pain through the mask. Robin then disappeared, only to re-enter the scene bearing the suit. Slade turned to Robin and told he would be his apprentice and he would grow to love it. She could feel the ire rising within her as she slipped through the door.

"He doesn't even want to be here," she mumbled to herself, "and Slade still has the nerve to call him his apprentice. Everything I've built and designed was only used to lure him here!"

The tools on the table beside her began to tremble and her eyes turned from soft grey to icy blue. Two bolts rolled of the table, one of them bending in midair.

In all reality she was enslaved. She had nowhere to go even if she did leave. People would only serve to judge her. She had nothing, and she was nothing. Now that Slade had an apprentice, she simply didn't matter. She was a pawn in the chess game of life.