The Titans found themselves at a loss in a sense. Wayne R&E finally came through with the name and address that matched the serial number of the OEM in their possession, hoping to find out who had purchased such a destructive device. Yet, to their surprise, it came back as belonging to a Harvey Johnson, a leading professor in physics and nuclear research, which once more, brought on more questions, why would a scientist who studies nuclear-related work have a sound-wave generating device in his possession. Better yet, why is he working for Brother Blood? The address was located in Steel City, nonetheless, but it was necessary to make the nearly cross-continental journey to get to the bottom of what was going on. Still, Robin, and probably the others, had an odd feeling about them as they grew closer and closer to an answer. It wasn't until they stopped by Titans East Tower, catching up on things, as well as thoroughly warning them of the impending danger of the H.I.V.E. students that were acting as an assassination squad against the Titan order. Of course, like any normal hero would be, they were rather full of themselves when it came to things of that nature, but Robin wanted to make it known that they had not only already killed a Titan, but were still on the loose, and hunting for others. They took it to heart as they should, but still put off it would be a mistake if they came after them. In any case, it wasn't long after their short visit with the Titans East, Robin and the others found themselves in the T-Car combing the suburban wasteland of Steel City, attempting to track down the residence of Harvey Johnson.
"So," Cyborg stated, breaking the silence, driving slow enough to read the numbers on the houses, some grander than others, "do we have any other leads on this guy?"
"This is it," Robin informed, holding up the address, "Wayne R&E said that this alone is an invasion of privacy, but they will get over it."
Beast Boy was restless in the backseat, unable to sit still.
"Cy, I have got to get out of this car," he finally spoke up, "I've been cramped back here for hours. Not that the nearly 20 hour trip across the country wasn't enough, but we haven't stopped anywhere since we left Titans East Tower, and that was like, three hours ago."
"Can it," Cyborg quickly replied, looking in his rearview mirror at him, "not until we find this place, and besides, you are surrounded by two lovely ladies, what's to complain about?"
"One's engaged and the other is rather young still," he informed with a blank expression, Starfire merely smiling while Terra knew he was only joking, but it still hurt to a degree.
"Here it is," Robin spoke up, pointing to a house that stood on a point, as if the road curved around the property. The house itself was large indeed, nearly a mansion, yet, even from the street, the Titans could see a building that appeared to be high-tech, just by looking at it from the outside.
"I'm going to assume that we aren't going to just rush in, are we?" Cyborg questioned as he parked the car in front of the lavish home.
"Right, he's just a suspect right now, we don't want to risk him panicking and making a run for it, so just casual questions, alright?" Robin announced, making sure that everyone heard him and wasn't going to attempt to attack him, unless he proved aggressive first.
They exited the T-Car in orderly fashion, grouping together before they even thought of approaching the door. Robin signaled for the others to follow him, making sure they weren't grouped so close together that a single attack of any kind could prove disastrous. The Titans continued their advance with extreme caution, even though it seemed like a perfect slice of suburbia, but most things were deceiving, and this could be one of them. The others fell back slightly as Robin approached the door, hesitating as he rung the doorbell. He listed, but didn't even hear any kind of response or a signal that someone was coming.
"Maybe he's not home," Cyborg deduced after Robin rung it for the third time.
"What about that weird looking shed thing out back?" Terra commented, "maybe he's back there."
"Good thinking, Terra," Robin replied, her only smiling, "come on, let's find out."
As did any good friends and teammates would do, they followed their leader around the large home, entering the backyard through a wooden gate that belonged to a fence. Even though they noticed the building's irregularity in design from the street, even up close it was rather different in nature, especially the materials it appeared to be constructed of. Once again, Robin approached with much caution and treaded lightly, checking to see if the door was unlocked, turning the lever. Sure enough, the door slowly opened, revealing that the interior was larger than what was put off, extending many feet below the surface, a stair case leading down to the true contents of the structure. At that level, not only was it awe-inspiring, but nearly every technological piece of equipment used in advanced research of any kind was presence, proving that there was serious funds at work to supply a single scientist with such a sophisticated array of materials and equipment.
"Professor Johnson?" Robin casually called out while the others looked around, his voice echoing off of the bare interior of the building. "Professor Harvey Johnson?"
Robin didn't receive an answer, but continued to perform his detective-like work as he would do with any other scene. Unknown to them, the Professor was closer than they thought.
"What do you delinquents think you are doing in my lab?" A voice called out from the top of the stairs as it neared them, as if the owner of it was taking them down to confront them.
"Professor Johnson?" Robin questioned him as he came into view at the bottom of the easily spiraling stairs.
"Yes, and who are you, better yet, what are you doing here, and why shouldn't I press charges of trespassing to the authorities?" He quickly replied, removing his pipe from his mouth.
Johnson played the part of the genius very well, sophisticated, but lacking in fashion in a sense, as he appeared to be straight from the 1950's, even though he may have been born in them, it doesn't mean he must adhere to such a ridiculous dress code.
"Sir," Terra butted in, "we are the authorities.
"Listen, Professor," Cyborg attempted to explain, quelling Terra, "we just need to ask you some questions, that's all."
"So you aren't here to steal anything?" Johnson came to the conclusion, cocking an eyebrow, "Very well then, what do you want to know?"
Cyborg approached him, holding up the OEM they had recovered.
"Do you know what this is?" he questioned the Professor.
Johnson accepted it from him, looking it over, pondering.
"Why, this is an OEM, is it not?" Johnson answered, "rather new and potent technology, might I add."
"Yes, but that leads to another question," Robin followed up, "why would you need such a device?"
"What do you mean?" He quickly second-questioned, not understanding what Robin was getting at.
"This specific OEM's serial number matches one of six that was purchased under your name, Professor," Cyborg explained, "why would a nuclear physicist need sonic technology?"
"I was using them in a cross-experimentation by measuring the amount of force a new isotope I just created could withstand before engaging catastrophic meltdown, if its any of your business. Aren't you people a little old to be playing dress-up?" Johnson aptly informed, not pleased with this unwelcome visit one bit.
"Stay with us, please," Robin interrupted, not liking the "dress-up" comment at all, "where are the other 5 at?"
"Stolen, just like that one was," he quickly informed, almost too quickly.
"Stolen?" Cyborg elaborated, wishing for an explanation.
"Yes, stolen," Johnson replied sarcastically, "while I was away on a research expedition to recover radioactive samples of uranium in a geological dig of sorts, I returned to find my lab broken into and those devices missing."
"Uh-huh," Robin commented, "but I noticed that your lab is full to the brim with some of the world's most advanced hardware, surely they would have noticed that and taken it as well, would they not?"
"They must have knew what they were specifically after, besides, it would take someone with a very profuse knowledge of advanced electronics, not to mention the equipment required to move it, so it isn't surprising." Johnson continued in his explanation, becoming visibly affected by the badgerment. "Now, are you done playing 20 questions or not? I have much work to attend to."
"I don't know if you realize this or not," Cyborg finally broke, "but you're "stolen" technology is involved with a current murder investigation. Your tech killed one of our own, and we want to know why it's involved!"
"Excuse me, young man," Johnson replied, offended, "but I have no idea as to what you are talking about. I told you, those devices were taken from me and I haven't seen them since. I am sorry for your loss, but I had nothing to do with it."
"For some reason," Robin commented, "I don't find that convincing."
"Don't you dare patronize me," he ordered, "now leave at this instance before I call the police for badgering me!"
"You heard him, team," Robin commented, his stare unchanging "let's go. I assure you though, expect us to meet again."
He merely narrowed his aged eyes at Robin as he and the others climbed back up the stairs to leave. The door closed behind them rather violently as they exited, Terra being the one to slam it shut. The Professor waited several moments before he even thought of approaching one of his machines, pushing a combination of buttons, as if he had done it many times over. Mere moments later, the vision of the insane madman known as Brother Blood appeared on the view screen, his new upgrades installed.
"Ah, Professor Johnson," he began, seeing someone had contacted him, that someone being him, "what do I owe to this visit?"
"Sorry to disturb you, but these costumed delinquents came pestering me about the technology I sold you. What did you use them for?" Johnson requested, wanting to know what he was involved in, and may have been in over his head.
"Costumed, you say?" Blood pondered, "Well, you didn't tell them anything, did you?"
"Of course not," he assured, "they left after I told them they were stolen, but I fear they don't believe me."
'It's to be expected, Professor, do not worry,' Brother Blood replied with a wave of his hand, "but, to answer your question, one of my students installed them on his suit and uses them to generate the sonic waves for his weaponry."
"Is he insane?" Johnson quickly added, "One is bad enough, but all of them together would prove deadly if used at full capacity. That must have been what they meant when they said that the OEMs had been used to kill one of their own."
"One? Professor, I don't know if you understand this or not, but I am going to commit a mass genocide on the Titan order, those costumed heroes you spoke with are that, Titans. My students are going to systematically eliminate every single one of them, and I have you to thank."
"What happens in the world is none of my concern, all I need is my payment to continue my research," Johnson heartlessly informed, "but, since they are within the vicinity, and are going to snoop around, what do you wish for me to do?"
"You're an intelligent individual, come up with something," Blood gestured with a smirk, ending the conversation.
"Very well then," Johnson realized, turning his head to a large metallic cylinder that stood apart from everything else, as if something of great importance lay inside of its interior. "I will take care of this…nuisance myself."
Meanwhile, Robin and the others attempted to come up with a solution to their current predicament.
"You know he was lying, don't you?" Cyborg informed as they made their way back around to the T-Car.
"Yeah, I know," Robin answered, "but he played it of rather well, as if he has been doing it for awhile."
"Maybe he has for all we know," B.B. chimed in, "I don't like him one bit. I don't know about you, but I have this gut feelin' that he knows where Blood is at, and we need to get it out of him some way or another."
"Man, you are on it, seriously, you are actually getting pretty smart when it comes to things like this," Cyborg commented, "usually, everyone wants you to shut your piehole, but if you want to share stuff like that, go ahead."
"Uhh…thanks?" He feebly replied, smiling.
"So we are just going to leave?" Terra questioned, attempting to get Robin's attention.
"We have to, we don't have anything on him right now, and we shouldn't have even done what we did without a warrant of some kind." Robin explained, turning his head to speak with her.
"It just seems like we could nail him for something, anything, and then we could continue questioning him since he couldn't go anywhere," Cyborg added, looking ahead at the T-Car.
No sooner than he did though, a bright yellow energy of some kind erupted, passing them, and hitting the T-Car, causing it to erupt into a fireball as it violently exploded, sending shrapnel and debris in all directions. The Titans managed to hit the deck in time to avoid injury.
"Alright," Cyborg angrily announced, forming his arm into his Sonic Cannon as he turned, like the others "whoever did that is getting that ass-whippin' of their life."
They easily saw the culprit, but found it hard to believe. The figure wore a dark blue outfit of some kind, a radioactive symbol in bright yellow on the front of it, as if it had belonged to some kind of uniform, but he wore boots and gauntlets made of some kind of metallic material. A cape fluttered from his shoulders, tattered at the ends, dark blue in color as well. The cape also incorporated a hood, as it was on the figure's head, and the only thing visible in the darkness was the intent glow of two blood-red eyes.
"I was wondering when you were going to show you're true colors, professor," Robin announced, reaching for his staff, as it seemed to be second nature to him.
"Ah, intelligence, yet, you still seem lacking," he replied, knowing it was useless to protect his identity, his voice altered by the suit he was wearing, "but I am known as Critical Mass, and it will be the last thing you will ever see."
It seemed to be a uniform reaction as they all rolled their eyes. It seemed as if their enemies and villains were getting more pathetic by the second, especially when it came to naming themselves.
"I should have figured," B.B. commented, "what a lame name, not only is science boring, but..."
He stopped after receiving an icy glare from Cyborg.
"I'm tired of playing with you children," Critical Mass informed, his hands glowing with energy as he summoned it, squeezing it into his palms.
"We're just getting started," Robin boldly replied, ready to attack, only to feel himself being pulled back by his cape.
"Don't Robin," Cyborg cautioned as he looked at his scanner that was built into his arm. "Radiation is flowin' off of him; we'll fry if we get any closer."
"You mean we can't touch him?" Robin deduced as their current adversary only gave a low chuckle, beginning to walk closer.
"Pretty much," he quickly added, stepping away from Critical Mass as he advanced.
"Any bright ideas?" Beast Boy chimed in, ready to make a break for it out of common sense more than fright.
Starfire drifted up into the air, defiantly, clenching her fists tightly as she prepared to strike.
"I am not of Earth, I am more resilient, mere radiation will not harm me," she informed, narrowing her stare at her target, Critical Mass.
She darted through the air, speeding towards him as he continued to charge up radioactive energy. Critical Mass reacted, unleashing a blast in her direction from one of his hands, only to see it aptly dodged as if it were nothing. He attempted again with the other, but Starfire's superior agility saved her once more, leaving him defenseless and her ready to strike. Star's eyes glowed an eerie green just before she released an optic blast from the, slicing through the air, and finding its target. Critical Mass was taken off his feet from the violent blast that struck him in the chest, sliding to a halt in the grass, dazed. Just as he rose to his feet, several of Robin's discs were in flight, hitting the ground around his person, and releasing their payloads of Robin's desired effect: ice. The synthetic frozen water exploded from their contained shells, running in jagged shards up Critical Mass' body, encasing him in ice, yet his head protruded. Just as they assumed they had won, the ice slowly melted to nothing but water.
"I thought you…kids were smart for your age," he beckoned, "the type of radiation my suit uses as an offensive weapon generates so much heat that it will melt nearly anything that gets too close, so I'd watch yourselves if I were you, luckily I'm not."
Not a word was said in a reply, merely a single green orb of energy striking him in the chest causing him to stumble, but the armor of his suit able to take the brunt of the attack as if it were nothing.
"Last chance, Doc," Robin attempted to persuade, "give yourself up or I will let Star here go all out on you, unless you want find out what it feels like to get hit with the force that can rip cars in half, I suggest you use your large, college-educated brain and do the smart thing."
Starfire merely gave a seemingly sinister smirk as she popped her knuckles, attempting to be intimidating, and it appeared to be working to a degree.
"It is going to take more than a girl with freakish strength and abilities to defeat me," he replied in a growl, clenching his fists to charge more of his radioactive energy.
"He's all yours, Star, just keep him in good enough shape to deliver to the police," Robin allowed with a slight smirk, even though the situation was as serious as it possibly could be.
Starfire nodded as she took off from her standing position, flying through the air towards Critical Mass. Even through the cowl of his hood, Robin noticed that their adversary was smiling, a large devious grin at that. He finally processed what was going on, but it was too late. He had sprung a trap on Starfire.
"Star, look ou-"he managed before Critical Mass struck, Starfire only mere feet from him as she had her fist drawn back to strike him.
He quickly snapped both of his palms up at Starfire's incoming form, the energy arcing from his hands, and hit his target. Starfire's body convulsed with pain as she dropped to the ground right in front of him, steam smoldering off of her person. Even though she was more resilient than the others, she was still susceptible to taking damage from a strong enough attack of radioactive nature. Just as he was about to unleash another blast on Star's downed person, Cyborg let loose a surge of energy from his Sonic Cannon, knocking Critical Mass backwards with tremendous force, enough to cause him to crash into the corner of the house, sending debris and broken glass flying from the impact, the second floor still over hanging. His person was deflected at an angle as it struck it, then sliding to a stop in the grass once more, coming to a stop just as he plowed through the wooden fence to the backyard.
"Nothing a fully-charged blast of Sonic energy can't solve," Cyborg coolly informed as he adjusted him arm-mounted weapon again, apparently turning it down from its dangerous setting.
Robin acknowledged, but was more focused on Star and her condition.
"Star, you ok?" Robin called out, not knowing it was safe to approach or not.
She stirred about, slowly rising, shaking her head as she placed her hand on her head.
"I have been quite the better," she groaned as she stood on her feet, wobbling ever so slightly. "I assure you I am fine now though, but we must focus on him."
Even though he was surprised by Star's persistence, something she rarely did, especially when it came to combating villains, Robin managed to regroup the Titans in a sense, still at a loss as to what they were to do to apprehend Critical Mass, seeing how they were unable to approach him without deadly levels of the unseen radiation penetrating their bodies, Cyborg and Starfire the only two amongst the group that could effectively attack at the moment. Critical Mass stirred once more, quickly rising to his feet, rage and fury clearly in his red, ignited eyes.
"You insolent, little pests!" He exclaimed, witnessing the damage they had wrought upon his property, "You will pay for that!"
"Bring it, Doc," Cyborg challenged with the hand gesture.
Critical Mass let out a battle cry of sorts, not bad for an older man, especially one of the likes of him, charging the Titans, knowing his advantage over them.
"Titans, scatter!" Robin yelled at all of his teammates, not to mention himself spreading out and getting as far as they possibly could away from the madman.
Out of rage, Critical Mass slammed both of his fists into the ground with immense force, mainly aided from his suit. The energy that had been charged in his gauntlets expelled outward through the ground, fissuring and cracking it, an arc finding its way to each of the Titans. Though quite painful, luckily, it was just the actual energy, the ground itself managed to act as a sponge in a sense, capturing the deadly radiation within its grasp. Nearly in unison, the team fell prey to the sneak attack of sorts, either falling under the pain or dropping to their knees, not even Terra's geomancer abilities able to save her from the pure, unbridled energy that Critical Mass set forth. He merely stood there as the steam continued to radiate off of their bodies, groaning in excruciating pain as they attempted to rise and continue.
"It's been…most enjoyable, children," Critical Mass taunted, patting his hands together as if he had finished an easy task, "but I am quite busy and I can't stay around to play with you. If you know what's best for you, don't come looking for me, I assure you I will be extremely thorough the second time around, so, ta-ta."
Though they heard his quip, they were powerless to do anything in their current state, Robin managing to look up, his brow furrowed in anger as he watched their adversary and newly-made villain Critical Mass stroll away, apparently to fetch whatever it was he needed and escape.
"No…" Robin said with gritted teeth, attempting to rise, only to fall once more, sharp pain burning throughout ever extremity of his skin.
Yet, it was too late, by the time Robin managed to get to his hands and knees, he was nowhere in sight, only the damage from their skirmish remained, and the increasing crescendo of police sirens wailed in the distance. Cyborg managed to come to the Boy Wonder's aid.
"Come on, man," he ushered, attempting to help him up, even though he was in as much pain as Robin was. "We need to get out of here; the cops will think we did this, as if they would believe what we would tell them anyway."
He understood, seeing how they had interacted with them in the past on many occasions. Robin, though still visibly hurt, as were the others, took out his communicator, flipping it open.
"Robin calling Titans East," he spoke into the walkie-talkie type device, the screen fizzling to life as the portrait of Bumblebee appeared.
"Bee here, what's up?" She asked, noticing Robin wasn't looking to great, "You guys alright?"
"Yes and no," Robin honestly informed, "listen, we need you to come pick us up, the T-Car is…indisposed of at the moment."
"Indisposed? Robin, he destroyed it," Cyborg protested, picking up what used to be part of one of the headlights.
"Enough," Robin quelled as he turned to his cybernetic friend, looking at the communicator once more. "Just give us ride back to your Tower and will tell you what happened."
"Got ya, be there in a few minutes, Bee out," she finished, seeing it was something serious, the screen turning black once more.
"That could have went a lot better," Beast Boy spoke out as he approached the battered duo, Terra and Star not far behind him.
"Not now," Robin quickly stated, "I knew he was involved, but were still back to square one. Unless we can get information out of him some way, some how, we aren't going to be able to find Blood or his Academy."
"I've got everything under control," Cyborg coolly informed with a slight smirk on his face, everyone slightly confused.
"What do you mean, friend Cyborg?" Starfire questioned, the others still dumbfounded to a degree.
He held up his forearm for everyone to see the screen on his arm, a map of Steel City in it, a red dot quickly traversing in a direction away from their current position.
"Does the little device known as a tracking bug ring a bell?" Cyborg informed. "he may have got away, but if we tail him, or at least watch where he goes, he may led us to Blood, all we need to do is give it some time. It was tough, but I managed to get one on him by-"
"Time, Cyborg? Time is something we don't have," Robin quickly replied, still mad over his current failure, "the more time any of those villains run free, the better chance that more and more Titans around the world are going to end up dead, we need to nail him now."
"Blood is our target, not him," Beast Boy corrected, "in order for us to get to Blood we need to let this whack job lead us to him, Robin. Most of the Honorary Titans in our ranks can hold their own, so it's a chance we are going to have to take."
"You know, he's right, Robin," Terra feebly reasoned, still treading lightly when she offered her opinion on anything, even getting a nod of agreement from Starfire. "I know it sounds more like a risk than anything, but if it's all we got to go on, especially since we can't outright fight that guy, then I say we do it."
Before he could voice his reply to his team's uniform decision, the sound of a T-Ship, the very same blue one that belonged to the Titans East as it hovered above them. The forward most hatch of the ship opened, Bumblebee leaning out of the opened cockpit.
"Guys need a lift?" She beckoned with a smirk of sorts as she landed the large craft with expertise.
"You have no idea," Cyborg yelled over the roar of the engines of the ship as it touched down, pointing over to the remaining wreckage that was still ablaze in the street.
"Ouch," Bee commented with a smile, "just gives you a reason to build a new and better one, doesn't it?"
"I guess, but we'll talk about it later, we need to get back to your guys' Tower first," he pointed out, hopping up on the ship, "now we just need to figure out how we can get all of in this thing."
"Scoot over," Beast Boy ordered in a sense, attempting to sit in Mas' portion of the ship.
"¿Qué? Ningún cuarto, vaya se sientan con mi hermano." He ordered, attempting to push him out.
"I don't even know what you said, but there's nowhere else for me to sit, so move over," Beast Boy reiterated, attempting to force him over.
"Children, knock it off," Bee ordered, "Mas, let him sit with you, it's only a short trip back to the Tower, so deal with it."
He merely grumbled as he scooted over, the changeling squeezing in as the canopy of the cockpit closed. Luckily, as Bee had said, it was only a short trip, in a matter of about 5 minutes, the craft touched down on top of the Tower.
"So let me get this straight," Bumblebee started after hearing the elaborate story of what happened against Critical Mass, "you guys fought this old fogie in a high-tech suit, who blew up your ride, and the escaped after putting you guys out of commission for the moment."
"Pretty much," Cyborg answered, "not our most shining moment, but we'll catch him; I managed to get a tracking bug on him when I hit him with an overpowered blast of sonic energy, or at least left my sonic signature on him anyways, and that will act as the tracking device, seeing how I can single out my own frequency. I just hope he doesn't figure it out."
"Always on the ball, aren't you?" Bumblebee joked around, patting the larger cybernetic on the shoulder.
He shrugged as he smiled, the others filing in around them. Robin motioned for all of them to take a seat.
"Listen, I know I'm not in charge around here, but you guys need to hear me out for a second," he started.
"Why wouldn't we, Robin?" Speedy questioned, "You seem competent enough."
"Always with the jokes," Aqualad seconded, turning to Robin, "go ahead, we'll listen to whatever you got to say."
"Alright, I know you guys have probably already heard about it, but Wildebeest was…killed by students of Brother Blood's H.I.V.E. Academy, and we need to prevent any others from meeting a similar fate. I just have this really bad feeling is all, I know we are capable of defending ourselves, but it's the others I'm worried about." Robin managed, hating to admit his true feelings on the situation.
"Whoa, Robin, didn't see that coming," Bee commented, "but come on, those kids will think twice before they come messing with us, especially after the severe thrashing you guys gave them."
"We got lucky," Beast Boy chimed in, "if it wasn't for Terra, they would have been able to defeat us."
"We aren't trying to scare you guys," Terra finally stated on her own, "but it's true, I don't think they could have won if it wasn't for me."
"It's pretty much a unison feeling, Bee," Cyborg added, "all we're saying is if you guys run into them, just be careful, we don't know much about them, they've killed in cold blood, and they are willing to keep doing it."
Bee stood up, facing Robin, truly showing her assertiveness as being Titans East's leader.
"If they come across us, Robin, we got it, don't worry," she assured, "you know us, we are like the best, well, next to you guys of course."
"Yeah, I know," he admitted, "I just want to watch out for my allies and teammates, that's all. Ever since…"
"Don't say it, we know," Bumblebee interrupted, not wishing to bring up the painful past that most of them had just struggled to get over. "I understand, trust me Robin, we won't do nothing stupid or arrogant, if we come across them, it's by the book, ok?"
He nodded, knowing that she was true to her word, and respected her as a fellow team leader.
"Well," Aqualad stated in the ominous-filled room, attempting to lift their spirits, "since you guys are pretty much stuck here for awhile, or at least until we feel like dropping you back off in Jump City, why not have a little get-together?"
They looked at one another, searching for an answer, then finally looking at their leader, hoping he was thinking the same thing.
"I don't see why not," Robin finally spoke, seeing they were awaiting his answer, "besides, Cyborg may be able to use some of your guys' spare stuff to make something."
"Then it's settled," Bumblebee chimed in, turning to the super fast duo known as Mas Y Menos. "Get the phone."
Mas, who was on his identical twin brother's shoulders saluted.
Sí, la Señora, atrás más rápido que usted puede decir "bien". The second added to his brother's salute, taking off.
No sooner than they left, they had returned, holding the wireless phone up for her to accept.
"You two never cease to amaze me," she joked as she gladly took it from them.
"That imbecile!" Blood exclaimed as his voice echoed throughout his chambers, slamming his fists into the arms of his throne, denting them.
"What is the problem, my liege?" One of his many violet-cloaked staff questioned, as if he had been assisting Brother Blood with something.
"That fool Johnson had the Titans in his hands and he merely left them, running away like a coward," Blood growled, attempting to control his anger, then sharply turning to Professor Chang, still enraged, "are you quite finished yet, Chang?"
"I am still running the diagnostics on your newly-installed hardware; it will take some time before they are fine-tuned and ready for use." He calmly informed in Blood's fury. "I am working as quickly as I can, Brother Blood."
"You will work as fast as you can if you wish to live to see another day, Chang, I cannot be caught off-guard if he leads the Titans here. I know my adversaries well, they will let him lead them here. It is only a matter of time. If you wish for your…project to remain a secret, I suggest you make him stable enough to transport him."
"I assure you it is," Chang said in a promising manner, "I only need a new location ready to complete the process."
"Good, prepare him for transport then, because your new location has been decided. Before you even ask, it is at a colleague of Johnson's research facility located in Gotham City, and it just so happens that it will grant you access and clearance to any and all technology that S.T.A.R. Labs possesses, seeing how this facility is owned by them, an affiliate of sorts."
"That is most generous of you, Brother Blood," Chang thanked, still typing away on his computer, which had many wires running to ports all over Blood's body as he continued to run diagnostics on his newly-improved body.
"As for the Titans," he said in a devious manner, drumming his metallic fingers together, "they will be in for quite a surprise when they come, it will be the gravest mistake of their pathetic lives, as well as their last."
"It feels most wonderful to have my flesh and blood once more," Slade commented as he deeply drew in the mountain air of the Black Forest's high-altitude alpines. "Most invigorating indeed, but on to tasks at hand, I have an entire continent to search for a single person, and no idea as to where her whereabouts are. I should really get started."
As he pushed through the low-lying branches, he walked through the dense forest, intent and deep concentration shown just through the mere expression in his eye, truthfully stating that he wasn't going to allow anything to get in his way, no matter what it be. Slade truly enjoyed his new, resurrected form, seeing how he no longer bore any scars of any kind besides his eye, unable to grow tired, never having to eat or sleep, and forever living unless severe wounds are inflicted upon his body. Hours turned into days, and the days into weeks as Slade seemed to turn over every rock within his sight, but turning up nothing, and becoming rather irritable. Just as he was on the brink of brining the entire forest down in one fail swoop by using his powers to ignite a raging inferno, he finally came across something that stood out. Luckily, the dusk of another day was still out, allowing him to see what it was that managed to catch his attention. Slade leaned down, precariously looking over what he had found. It appeared to be pieces of metal, but they were far worn and rusted from being exposed to the elements, yet, he was able to distinguish some of the features upon it. Slade picked one of the items up, running his finger across a deep, sharp grove, as well as taking notice to the many dents, even hardened crimson in the areas not exposed to the weather. After vigorously wiping away dirt and debris, he finally came to a conclusion as it was, seeing a spot where an "S" shaped insignia was once attached.
"It appears as if Raven has discarded her armor to lighten the load, or to just rid herself of any ties to me," Slade deduced, looking over the other articles, as they happened to be the remaining pieces of armor that covered her upper arms, lower arms, as well as her legs and knees. "No matter, she is only prolonging the inevitable. The sooner she meets her end as she should have before, the closer I will be to having my life restored. As old as this is, it is still better than nothing at all."
He looked up as he rose to his feet from his kneeling position, something catching his attention. Slade approached a tree that was several feet away, touching a noticeable piece of black cloth of sorts, long since tattered and ripped.
"It is undeniable," he commented, almost grinning, knowing he was on Raven's trail. "I can almost smell her fear."
As if he knew exactly where she was, Slade continued through the clearings of the forest, even though any other sign of Raven's presence had long been washed away by the elements.
"I am coming for you, Apprentice," Slade deviously said to himself, activating his powers out of pure amusement, his hand, as well as eye, ignited into a hellfire red as flames came forth from them, "nothing can save you know, I will have my revenge."