Chapter 1 – the Visitor
Why, Robin thought irritably, does it always have to be slime?
It wasn't always slime, of course- at least, not always the literal kind- but that seemed magnificently unimportant when one was lying on one's back on the street with the wind completely knocked out, and Plasmus was standing there with a look on his face- such as it was- that plainly said he intended to make one the first course of his next meal.
The ooze monster roared his triumph, and then a long, three-fingered hand snaked out from his body and reached down for the Teen Titans' fallen leader. Suddenly, though, Plasmus' cry changed from victory to fury as a bolt of light flashed down from the sky and struck him square in the torso. Plasmus went sprawling, coating everyone and everything unfortunate enough to be nearby in a thick layer of reddish-purple goo.
Robin staggered to his feet, brushing pieces of his enemy from his cape as he did so. Plasmus was far from the team's most dangerous enemy, he reflected, but he certainly was the most disgusting. That train of thought was interrupted, however, as his rescuer glided down from the sky and came to hover in front of him, a look of concern in her inhumanly green eyes.
"Robin?" she asked in a voice that spoke with the stilted hesitancy of someone unfamiliar with the language, but that carried its own music nonetheless, "Are you unharmed?"
"I'm not hurt, Starfire," Robin said as he pulled a particularly gooey piece of Plasmus from his hair. "Just a little grossed out. Thanks for the assist, though- I wasn't looking forward to becoming dinner."
"The pleasure is all mine, Robin," Star said. They both stood quietly for a moment, and then a loud voice brought them back to reality.
"Yo, lovebirds!" Cyborg called, "we need some help over here!"
Princess and warrior spun around in time to see Plasmus reforming himself in the center of the street. That was the major challenge of this particular enemy- he was almost completely mindless, but nearly impossible to damage.
From beyond Plasmus sounded a roar almost as loud as the monster's own, and more than its equal in savagery. A green tyrannosaur stalked towards the ooze creature, and plasmas rotated the upper part of his body completely around to meet this new challenge. The dinosaur hurled itself forward and was met by dozens of powerful arms that sprung out of Plasmus' body. Beast Boy roared again and tore at the slimy limbs, but they regenerated as quickly as they were destroyed. From the sidelines Cyborg fired his sonic cannon and Raven telekinetically hurled chunks of debris, but neither seemed to bother the monster in the slightest.
"All right, Starfire," Robin said, "looks like this calls for some serious firepower. Give me a hand!"
Starfire gripped Robin's arm tightly and then leapt into the air. From the higher vantage point flight offered, Robin could see the battle unfolding beneath him, and it was clear that neither side could gain any advantage. Reaching into a compartment on his belt, Robin drew out a small disk and nodded slightly. Starfire recognized the signal and dove, carrying her leader within reach of Plasmus' pulsating head. Robin deposited the bomb and then the two of them were airborne again, flying high over the battle still raging below.
"Starfire-NOW!" Robin shouted, his voice rising above the wind.
Star's eyes flared green for an instant and a starbolt formed in her free hand. With practiced aim she threw it hard at the bomb Robin had left behind. Just in time the team averted their eyes, and then a massive explosion rocked Plasmus' entire body. When the smoke cleared, small puddles of ooze littered the street, and in their midst lay a rather ordinary looking man who was fast asleep- Plasmus, in his true form.
Starfire gently deposited Robin on the ground, and then rather ruined the effect of doing so when she hugged him with what felt like enough force to crush a good-sized automobile. "We are victorious once again!" she shouted gleefully. "Now is the time for us to celebrate with the pizza and the soda!"
"Starfire," Robin said weakly as he extracted himself from her grip, "It's almost midnight."
"What's that got to do with anything?" Cyborg asked as he came walking towards them. Raven followed behind, careful not to get any of Plasmus on her cloak.
Robin smiled. "All right, team," he said. "I guess we deserve it."
"I shall bring the mustard!" Starfire declared grandly and shot off in the direction of the Tower. Robin shook his head. Only Starfire thought that mustard and pizza were two things that needed to be enjoyed simultaneously.
"Has anybody seen Beast Boy?" Raven suddenly asked. Robin quickly looked around, but he didn't see the green shapeshifter anywhere.
"How do you lose a whole T. Rex, anyway?" Cyborg asked. "Hey, BB! Where are you?"
Suddenly a particularly large Plasmus puddle began to bubble ominously, and then a small, slime coated figure rose from it, shaking himself off in a manner highly reminiscent of a wet dog.
"Next time, Robin, would you please tell us before you do that?" it demanded. "I don't think I'm going to be clean again for a weak!"
"Yep, that's Beast Boy all right," Raven said.
Beast Boy sighed and looked around the street. "I seriously hope that the police aren't expecting us to clean this up," he muttered.
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The pizza was eaten, the soda (and mustard) was drained dry, and the Teen Titans were ready to return to their rooms for a good night's sleep before once again kicking the collective butts of the world's evil the next day- or at least, that was how Beast Boy put it, much cheered after eating an entire veggie pizza himself.
Yawning loudly, Cyborg moved over to his control panel to activate the Tower security system. Robin said good night to each of the team in turn and then hurried down the hallway to his room, where he was looking forward to getting some much needed rest.
The moment he entered his room, however, the teenaged martial artist knew that something was wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but he knew at once that danger was nearby. It was only a gut feeling, but years of crimefighting- first with Batman, now with the Titans- had taught him to trust his instincts.
Robin entered the room slowly and on alert, scanning for any details that might give the danger away. The room looked empty, and everything was quiet- almost too quiet. Then, he saw a handful of birdarangs lying in the middle of the floor- most definitely not where he'd left them. Someone was here.
Robin spun around, but even as he did so a figure tackled him, and they both went sprawling on the floor. His attacker seemed to be about his own size and very skilled, but Robin had picked up some tricks over the years. Kicking out behind him, he knocked his opponent backwards and then leapt to his feet to face him.
The figure that met Robin's gaze was a familiar one- a slender figure dressed entirely in black, except for the red slash marks on his costume and the skull-mask the covered his face. Robin knew that skull very well. He'd designed it.
"Red X?" he whispered.
"Long time no see, eh kid?" the dark figure asked. "Did you miss me?"
"What do you want?"
X stood there for a moment without moving or speaking, then lowered his head and spoke the four words that Robin had least expected to hear.. "I need your help."