Night dawned brightly on the Wayne Enterprises Concert Hall, and everyone was excited to be there!

The Metropolis Philharmonic Orchestra had come to the hall to play; they had won many awards in shows across the country, and had come to Jump as part of a tour. Their prestigious reputation as a well-to-do band attracted prestigious people, among them Neil Richards, the famous fashion designer; Lillian Fairsworth, headmistress of the HIVE academy; Deborah Tennyson and Christina Hemingway, once top-level tennis players; Rebecca Cunningham, star of the soap opera Tammy's Trials; Dr. Victor Payton, a leading researcher at the LexCorp Institute of World Affairs; and Dave Lansing, an intrepid interviewer on the channel SBS.

The orchestra could be seen warming up from the windows, large score on the grey-haired conductor's stand; he tapped it with his baton; smiled, raised it, and the band began to play. Their first piece was the "Spring" movement of The Four Seasons, and the nine players did very well with it; each brought out their parts to a balanced degree, the audience listening closely as they did so. All were content, enjoying the piece; except for one, that is.

He stood on a catwalk high above the conductor, bleached blond spiky hair, spiked silver metal wristbands, sleeveless blue leather vest, ripped black T-shirt, repeatedly pierced ears, and electric guitar in stark contrast to the neatly maintained atmosphere of the concert. He was Punk Rocket, and he was going to do something about this.

"Rubbish!" he yelled, sounding quite a bit like Billy Idol. "That music's ruddy awful! So quiet and proper!"

Punk Rocket grabbed the rope of a curtain, fingerless black gloves protecting him from rope burn, and slid down, the conductor crying out in fright and abandoning his podium. The band and audience gasped loudly as the punk took to the podium, straightened up and glared at them, and brought out his axe-shaped guitar.

"Let's pump up the volume and blow 'em outta their seats!" His fingers hit the strings of the guitar-

BWEEEE.

A jarring chord, along with a massive shock wave, washed over the stage and knocked the players and their instruments back through the curtain. Now fully panicked, the audience moved to leave the hall. Punk Rocket looked over his shoulder to them, hearing their screams, and smiled evilly.

"Now that's music to my ears- the sound of chaos!"

He laughed intensely and began to strum again, sending out more shockwaves- BWEEEEEE! BWEEEEEE! BWEEEEEE! BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The moonlit sky shone over Titans Tower. Inside, the eponymous team had only just finished having a party to celebrate their formation- a half-eaten cake, plates of food, and various cups lay strewn around the ops centre. Now Robin and Cyborg focused intensely on the monitor, partaking in a game of Speed Racing, which Cyborg had forced the Boy Wonder to get, while Starfire and Windflyer stood calmly and stirred some pink goop at the kitchen counter. The sounds of roaring engines and screeching tires began to get louder- they must have been close to the end.

Cyborg grinned. "Only two more laps, Robin, and I'll be the new champion!"

Robin pushed the man away. "No way, Cyborg!" he said, frantically pushing buttons. "You're going down!"

Meanwhile, Starfire was stirring her pots at the stove, Lewa reading directions to her from a cookbook.

"Let's see," she said.

Windflyer flipped through the book and began to read. "Um- half a cup of dried… zorka berries," she put them in a pot, "and four tablespoons of melted… sputflinks." These were put in, the pot being stirred again. The Toa frowned. "Uh, sister? Are you sure we're getting this down right?"

Starfire pulled out the mixing spoon to taste it, smiling as the pot boiled over. "Yes. Almost done." She began to stir the other pot. "Soon everyone will be enjoying my favourite Tamaranean dish."

Starfire turned to Raven. "Raven! Would you like to taste my homemade Glorg Supreme?"

Raven, sitting by the counter reading, shook her head. "Not now, Starfire," she intoned. "I'm on the last chapter." A small cloudy shadow came to the counter and took a mouthful anyway, slightly gagging.

Suddenly, the door opened. Beast Boy appeared, boom box balanced on his shoulder, playing thundering rap music, loud enough to shake the entire room-

"I CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT IT REALLY IS
I CAN ONLY TELL YOU WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
AND RIGHT NOW IT'S A STEEL KNIFE IN MY WINDPIPE
I CAN'T BREATHE BUT I STILL FIGHT WHILE I CAN FIGHT
AS LONG AS THE WRONG FEELS RIGHT IT'S LIKE I'M IN FLIGHT
HIGH OFF OF LOVE, DRUNK FROM MY HATE,
IT'S LIKE I'M HUFFING PAINT AND I LOVE IT THE MORE I SUFFER, I SUFFOCATE
AND RIGHT BEFORE I'M ABOUT TO DROWN, SHE RESUSCITATES ME-"

Cyborg growled. "HEY, BEAST BOY, CAN YOU TURN THAT DOWN?!"

Robin was annoyed, too, but he took advantage of Cyborg's distraction, kicking him in the chest to try and throw off his concentration. He was unsuccessful; the two kept playing, but the music did too. Now even more irritated, Cyborg turned to Beast Boy and yelled, "I SAID, TURN IT DOWN!"

The game's music suddenly changed, sounding more triumphant than dark… Robin had won. "Yes!" he laughed. "Eat my dust!"

Cyborg was crestfallen. "Aww, man!"

Beast Boy did not seem to notice; he looked off, noticing a large piece of equipment on the kitchen table with a high-voltage sticker, and moved to look at it. He grinned. "Let's rock the house."

The boy carried his stereo over, setting it down by the equipment and unraveling the cable to plug it in. As he did so, the other Titans kept doing their activities; Robin and Cyborg started a new game of Speed Racing, Starfire and Windflyer kept cooking, and Raven continued to read. Sparks crackled from the plug as the two connected. Windflyer heard this, glancing away from his cookbook, and frowned. "Careful, brother… I think that might be a bit too-"

"SHE ******** HATES ME AND I LOVE IT.
WAIT! WHERE YOU GOING?
"I'M LEAVING YOU"
NO YOU AIN'T. COME BACK WE'RE RUNNING RIGHT BACK.
HERE WE GO AGAIN
IT'S SO INSANE CAUSE WHEN IT'S GOING GOOD, IT'S GOING GREAT
I'M SUPERMAN WITH THE WIND AT HIS BACK, SHE'S LOIS LANE-"

BOOOM!

The room shook, both stereo and unit exploding dynamically. Out of reflex, Cyborg angrily threw his controller into Starfire's pot, the goop splashing over Raven and the books. Suddenly, the lights went out, darkening the Tower bit by bit. Beast Boy's stereo, which had been been playing at ear-scraping levels before, cut off.

"Did I do that?" he asked.

The ops centre was now pitch black. Five pairs of angry eyes loomed over a scared sixth one.

"BEAST BOY!" they yelled, now very annoyed.

"How could you mess with the main power source?" Robin asked.

"You made me lose the game!"

"That was a perfectly good cookbook you just destroyed," Windflyer growled.

"Now there will be no glorg for anyone!" Starfire raised her hand and shot a beam at Beast Boy's face, hurting one of his.

"I'll never know how it ends!"

BEEP. The lights flashed back on again.

Beast Boy sighed, relieved. "Ah, no worries," he said. "Generator's kicked in."

The stereo was back on his shoulder, his eye healed. The other Titans looked at him, so outraged they could not speak, and he retreated nervously. He did not want to be reprimanded-

Suddenly; they were speaking again, although for some reason he could not hear them clearly. Robin was mad, but he wasn't nearly the loudest. Cyborg didn't seem to be packing on the decibels either. Starfire and Windflyer were screeching like angry howler monkeys, and worst of all, Raven was screaming. He wanted to hear what she was saying. "WHAT?"

Oh. The wax. Right.

He thumped the ear that had not been next to the boom box and pulled out a large yellow chunk of earwax. "There, that's better. What were you guys saying?"

Windflyer recoiled, gagging before all five of them were on him and yelling again.

This time, they were so loud, voices melding into a cacophony, that he could not make out who was was so incensed that a stream of black energy shot out of her jewel and impacted him, causing a small explosion. The yelling died down after this, each Titan satisfied, and Beast Boy shoved them away, putting the wax back into his ears. "I don't want to hear this."

He picked up the boom box, moving to leave, and-

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The room began to flash red, light bathing over everyone as it had on the Stormfront. This was the Titans Alarm System, a nifty little contraption that Cyborg had created to warn the Titans of any danger. It was connected through wires to the massive computer network, which tracked police systems, cameras, and any other methods of tracking- if anything was picked up, like what seemed to be happening at the Concert Hall, it would react and alert everyone. This was the first time it was being used, so nobody was really sure how to respond-

"Titans! Trouble!"

Oh. Okay.

Everyone save Beast Boy nodded and raced out the door; unable to hear, he frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, where's everybody going?"

His question was quickly answered, as Cyborg yanked him out.

Inside the concert hall, the sweet sounds of Vivaldi had been discordantly replaced with that of panic and screaming. On the stage, Punk Rocket continued to play, slightly disappointed at the audience turnout. "What's your hurry, blokes?" he said while strumming. "This is much better than what you paid to hear."

BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! A new chord was powerful enough to reach the patrons, sending them fleeing in all directions. Hemingway managed to slow her fall, using an umbrella to float to the floor then leaving with everyone else. All that remained was a scrap of paper, blowing around in the scant breeze.

Punk Rocket pouted. "No one's staying for my encore? That's a bloody shame. Might as well bring the whole house down-"

"Hey!"

In the wings, a group of teenagers had appeared- the Teen Titans, he realized! That was interesting! Maybe they would like his sound more than all those crummy old white people-

"Concert's over, piraka!"

Damn it.

"That's Punk Rocket to you, mate!" he yelled, bringing up his guitar. "Now let's kick it out!"

BWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The Titans were driven into a column, crumpling down to the stage. Punk Rocket smiled. "How's that for a number-one hit?"

They had landed in a heap. Cyborg groaned. "I don't think I could take another hit."

"Maybe it'd be better if I led," Robin said.

"Yeah," Windflyer rasped. "You've got the experience."

The Boy Wonder pulled himself out. "I've heard enough." He slid out a birdarang while the others got up. "Teen Titans! Go to victory!"

"That's a bit too long."

"Okay, what about Titans Together?"

"Not good enough."

"All right then…" He turned to Punk Rocket. "Titans! Go!"

The Titans charged. Robin attacked first, hurling his bo staff towards the musician, but Punk Rocket held up his guitar like a cricket bat and cover drove it back to him- it took a quickfire dive to save his hair/head. Robin watched as Windflyer flew towards Punk Rocket, weapon up, and slashed; the two fought, sword to katana, for a while, before the punk carelessly strummed on his guitar and sent the Toa flying into some speakers. Cyborg and Beast Boy rushed ahead, but Punk Rocket was prepared; he stood his ground, plucked a string, and sent a beam flying towards their faces.

At the last moment, Windflyer levitated the beam, Beast Boy becoming a pterodactyl and lifting Cyborg away, and the robotic man countered with a blast from his sonic cannon. Despite this, Punk Rocket still played, stopping the beam before it hit him and managed to deflect it up towards them; the impact sent Cyborg and a human Beast Boy straight into Starfire and Raven, respectively. They all plummeted towards the stage, Starfire straining to haul Cyborg up, Beast Boy morphing a hawk and flying away, and Raven righting herself with her magic.

Soon Robin was back in the show; he dashed towards Punk Rocket for a little hand-to hand combat, the Brit dodging a few strikes and a stomp. The two faced off on the stage, Robin coming in for a few high kicks before Punk Rocket ducked, caught him with the bridge of his guitar, and knocked him back into the audience with a chord. The Boy Wonder's cape fluttered down over his face, him quickly peeling it away.

Punk Rocket stood, hands on his hips, and smiled. "What next, mates? You up for some soft grunge?"

Windflyer got up, rubbed his head, turned invisible with the Huna, and snuck up behind him.

"Nothing? No preferences in particular? I myself quite liked Queen, but everyone else seems to think they're-"

WHUMP!

Punk Rocket sneered. Windflyer had jumped up and smacked him with the blunt end of his sword. It had hurt, but he decided not to show it; instead, he grabbed the sword, which the Toa was still holding tightly, and flung it towards Robin, hero landing with a CRASH. As the other four Titans (Beast Boy human again) gathered in the aisle, the punk laughed. "Hah! Ruddy fools! No one can stop the sound of chaos!"

Windflyer groaned. "I've heard some real bad-bands before, but this is just getting ridiculous."

Robin threw the Toa off of him, turning to Beast Boy and Cyborg. "Likewise. Listen up!" he yelled. "Those sonic waves are coming from his guitar!"

"We gotta shut him down!" Cyborg returned.

"WHAT?"

Beast Boy pulled a little wax from his ear. Cyborg scowled, ears sparking. "I SAID, SHUT HIM DOWN!"

Beast Boy grinned crazily. "OH! Okay!"

Turning into an elephant, he stampeded past the others and stomped up the stage. Trumpeting deafeningly, he tried to knock Punk Rocket down; he was met with a shockwave, though, and could not move. Although he tried to hold his ground, they eventually proved too powerful and Beast Boy soon flew off the stage, arcing past a quick-thinking Robin and Cyborg, smashing into Windflyer, and rolling with him to the exit. He and Beast Boy stood up and groaned.

"Never. Do that. Again," Windflyer spat.

"I don't intend to," Beast Boy gasped. "Think we need another plan."

"Leave that to us," Raven said, floating up with Starfire.

They flew towards the stage, Starfire screaming like a warrior and throwing a few starbolts Punk Rocket's way. They exploded around him, but he was deft enough to dive away. Before he could escape, Raven used her powers to summon a large black hand that emerged from the smoke behind the rock-and-roller and moved to grab him. Too late- Rocket had flown away, setting down his guitar and moving through the smoke and the girls. "Long live the Punk Rocket sound!" he yelled.

Flying through the auditorium, all those who were capable tried to catch him. Starfire shot more starbolts in his direction, only to find he dodged every shot. Raven's hand reached after him, stretching out on an arm and trying to snatch him away. Windflyer messed with the air currents, attempting to get him to stop and fall; this seemed to work for a bit, the guitar briefly slowing, but Punk Rocket let out another chord and was on his way. He did a barrel roll, whooped, and laughed.

"Azarath metrion ZINTHOS!"

A second hand was after him, but he athletically leaped off of the guitar and landed back on them. He grinned. "I'd like to dedicate this next song to all my female fans."

The hands came for him, only to catch air- he had dodged them and leaped for the balcony railing.

"This one's for you."

Raven added a third hand to the mix, fifteen fingers moving to pull him off, but he strummed on his guitar-

BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

And they all instantly dissipated. Raven and Starfire fell, crashing back onto the stage. Starfire was back on her feet, Raven taking a while to smooth out her cloak.

"Why does the Punk Rocket wish to hurt people with his music?" Starfire asked. "Music is a glorious expression that is supposed to make one feel happy."

"And it's definitely supposed to not be so prudish," Windflyer added, climbing onto the stage.

Raven sighed. "You obviously haven't heard any of my music."

He raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you'd listen to this kind of stuff-"

The trio's eyes widened- Punk Rocket was down on them again, head of his guitar aimed right for them. He soared past them, climbed up to the spotlights, dropped off the fingerboard, and drove his boots on the stage, guitar in place for him to reach the strings.

Robin dashed into the aisle, the others clearing off, and scowled. "All right, Punk Rocket," he growled. "What do you want?"

The punk smiled. "I want to bring the world to its knees with the sounds of chaos!"

With this, Raven, Starfire, and Windflyer were back in the aisle. "You are so one-note," Raven deadpanned.

Windflyer glared at him. "Don't even think about disrespecting the artform like that."

Soon Cyborg and Beast Boy had joined them too. "We're never gonna beat him when he's got that guitar," Cyborg said to Robin.

"Yes, we will. As long as we work together as a team."

Windflyer groaned. "Don't tell me you've been jacked on this whole 'unity' thing too?"

"What?"

"You know." His voice changed to imitate Gali's. "'Stay together, brothers! What we can do as a team far outweighs that which we can do alone!'"

Robin frowned. "No, I don't think so. It's just common sense."

"Let's go," Raven said.

Punk Rocket saw the Titans coming for him and cackled insanely, taking a curtain cord. "You're daft, thinking you can beat me!" Grabbing the cord, he continued, "Now here's something to really bring down the house!"

He yanked the curtain, causing it to open.

To the team's amazement, the action revealed a wall of speakers, stretching along the breadth of the concert hall and reaching up to the rafters.

"What is that?" Beast Boy said as they regrouped.

Punk Rocket grinned. "My grand finale." The Brit plugged his guitar into the speaker system, turned the volume to a 3, and backed away.

Robin's eyes widened. "Up to now, his whole act has been…"

"Unplugged," Windflyer finished.

Raven frowned. "Which means-"

Cyborg glowered. "He's just getting started-"

BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEE!

He could not finish his sentence, as another, more powerful chord came through and sent him and the other Titans crashing into the walls and balcony. The musician laughed. "Ouch! That looked like it hurt…" he switched the volume to 6, "but not enough!"

The robotic man stood up again, roaring as he rushed onto the stage, and shot at Punk Rocket with his cannon- unfortunately, the punk's chord completely engulfed his and sent him to his knees. As he got up, it appeared the attack had actually damaged him- his chest panel popped out, head coming loose and spinning around on the end of his spine. He was able to control this, however.

Punk Rocket gaped and covered his mouth. "Blimey!" He smiled. "That looks a bit… dodgy now, doesn't it?"

Cyborg could not stay up; he fell back down again, sparks flying everywhere and his circuits glowing intensely as they processed this. The Titans ran to him.

"Cyborg!" Starfire gasped.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked.

Windflyer moaned. "Ugh… don't die out on us, brother…"

They turned to the Toa. "Mostly… robotic… doesn't matter! Focus on Cyborg…"

The human was not faring well, either. "Sound… messing up my circuits!" Beast Boy was stunned. "Not sure how much longer… we can keep it… together!"

Hit with a sudden burst of inspiration, Beast Boy perked, smiled, and snuck towards the stage. The others looked at him concernedly, as if the sound had made him go crazy, and Punk Rocket himself continued to rock the casbah, but he ignored this and went for the jerk, straightening his sleeves. The guy had played his last good gig.

"Hey, Punky!" Beast Boy yelled. "You call that the sound of chaos? Sounds more like elevator music to me!"

Punk Rocket stopped playing and scowled. "I can't HEAR you!"

He turned the volume to an 8, now savagely clawing at the strings.

BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEE! BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEE! BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEE

The Titans groaned in agony and collapsed, hands over their ears. Cyborg and Windflyer's systems deteriorated further, moving towards a collapse.

"Beast Boy, stop!" Robin yelled.

"Are you… cross-wired?" Windflyer rasped. "It's too… LOUD!"

"We cannot endure this sound!"

Beast Boy was pushed back a bit by the noise, but he managed to keep his ground. "Dude, give it up! Your sound is old and tired!"

Surprised at this, Punk Rocket growled and reached for the knob, turning it past 8… to 9… to 10… to 11! Then he played his guitar.

BWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEE!

The chord was so powerful that it caused a small earthquake, decimating the Concert Hall. Police would later recall that it was the perfect way to mark the Titans' debut. "We didn't even believe it was real," one seismologist said. "Earthquakes never happen down here."

The speakers were the first things to be affected, shorting out and letting out sparks. Decimated by the noise, the group cowered, Cyborg and Windflyer's bodies completely spazzing out. Beast Boy smirked as his ear quivered.

Punk Rocket tore at his guitar, trying to destroy the rapscallion once and for all, but failed, rubble from the spotlights falling around him and sending him sliding back towards the speaker wall. This sent out one more devastating sound wave, disabling the weakened assembly and making the whole thing explode. The Brit cried out in surprise and dove towards the apron, just missing being crushed by a speaker; as another one crashed, it threw him towards the edge.

He got up and pouted, reaching towards his guitar- or what was left of his guitar, anyway. It had been reduced to a mess of burnt-out circuits and wires. Punk Rocket looked crestfallen at this then played it as hard as he could… nothing but a tinny little squeak. All that amplifying had completely sapped its power.

"NOOOOOOO!" he yelled, collapsing to his knees and sobbing.

The Titans gathered around him and watched as he broke down. Raven sighed, warming up her powers. "You are so not cool."

She mumbled something under her breath and the unplugged guitar cord came for Punk Rocket like an angry tiger. He screamed and went for the exit, but was quickly caught, dropped by it, and dragged away. "What… Hey!"

The wire wrapped his body up, twisting him around, lifted him up, and threw him back onto the stage. He groaned as he fell unconscious, Raven stopping the wire. Beast Boy beamed, whacking at his ear, and the blob of earwax soon fell out; with another, he took out a second, and mashed them into a ball. "Waxy buildup saves the day," he noted, tossing it away and walking off.

Windflyer and Cyborg were back up and running, the Toa curiously checking the man's forearm panel. Beast Boy came over and looked down. "You dudes gonna be okay?"

Windflyer smiled. "I… I-I-I-I-I- excuse me- I'll be fi-i-i-i-i-i-fine."

"All thanks to you, little buddy," Cyborg said, ruffling Beast Boy's hair. "Say, how robotic are you, anyway?"

"E-e-e-e-ighty-y-y perce-e-ennnt. Why?"

"You held up a heckuva lot better than I did, and now you're off track."

"Beats me as to-o-o-o whyyyyyy. Guess this te-e-e-ech-h-tech-h is pretty old-old- pretty old."

"Huh." Cyborg frowned. "I'd better check it out later."

Robin joined them, carrying Punk Rocket with the guitar cord. "Looks like Punk Rocket's next tour will be behind bars." Everyone laughed.

Daytime once again dawned on the Tower, and the Titans had resumed their previous activities; Robin and Cyborg were playing Speed Racing, Starfire and Windflyer tried cooking some more Glorg Supreme, Raven sat quietly and read a book, and the power source lay dormant in the corner.

Beast Boy, of course, was listening to music, and he came in jamming to it-

"BUT WHEN IT'S BAD IT'S AWFUL, I FEEL SO ASHAMED I SNAPPED
WHO'S THAT DUDE? I DON'T EVEN KNOW HIS NAME-"

Jamming it-

"I LAID HANDS ON HER, I'LL NEVER STOOP SO LOW AGAIN-"

I said JAMMING IT!

"I GUESS I DON'T KNOW MY OWN STRENGTH-"

"Okay!" Beast Boy yelled, raising his voice. "Before you start yelling at me for playing my music too loud, let me just remind everybody that I'm the one who defeated PUNK ROCKET AND SAVED THE DAY!"

Nobody acknowledged this. Beast Boy smiled. "SO NEXT TIME, INSTEAD OF GETTING ON MY CASE FOR NOT LISTENING TO YOU GUYS, MAYBE YOU SHOULD START LISTENING TO MOI!"

Still nothing. He glared at everyone, continuing their own actions, then shrugged and swaggered back out, throwing a wink and a gun at them before the door closed. The ops centre was quiet again; the other Titans frowned and pulled out their earplugs.

"WHAT?" everyone yelled.

Raven, Starfire and Windflyer traded a confused glance, looking towards the couch. Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Did he say something?"

Slade smiled. "That is what I meant, Wintergreen."

"Meant by what, sir?"

"You say the Titans defeated Punk Rocket, a lowly goon, but with much stress… am I not wrong?" Wintergreen nodded. "It seems they are not quite as cohesive as I had previously thought. We will have to change our plans accordingly."

The butler frowned. "And what was said plan, sir? I was never made aware of it."

"Hrrm? I thought I gave you the files."

"No… and I thought we weren't focusing on the Titans?"

Slade glared. "You attended that recital. You were there. You saw them fight. Do you think we can attempt Phase One without taking them out first?"

"No, sir." Wintergreen moved to inspect a robot that Slade was building from a STAR Labs mould. "It would be mite difficult."

"Correct. That is why we will… shake things up, first. Soften the shell, as it were. We know that the Titans have decided to fight together. They will protect Robin." Slade held up a cup of tea, which Wintergreen filled. "Thus we will prevent them from protecting Robin… turn them away, even…" The two laughed maniacally at their new direction-

Brring! Brring!

"Oh- excuse me. It appears the warden is on the line again." Slade picked up his phone and frowned. "Yes, this is Slade Wilson. What? You have an offer for me? HIM?" He sighed. "I would think a less- immoveable villain is a better option, but… all right. I suppose we will go with that. Thank you." He turned to Wintergreen and the robots. "It is time, Wintergreen… time to eliminate the Teen Titans. Begin Phase One."

Yeah, it's weird. A fanfic author starting off with The Lost Episode? Unspeakable blasphemy! It was a stylistic choice, really; it doesn't seem to fit in any other season, and the writing and acting suggests it happened early on in the show. Don't worry; I'll be going in the actual episode order now. More or less.

1. I had to change a few things to fit the story (Silkie is the one who tastes the Glorg in the episode, and Starfire uses her eye beams.) They're minor, though, and shouldn't really impact anything.

2. Yes, that is Love the Way You Lie. I don't know. It seems to fit Beast Boy. I hope people notice the other musical reference.

3. Is it in character to have Lewa want to lead at first?

4. Wow check out that continuity.

5. I've been feeling very OCD about my writing lately (it all seems to center on how much I describe in the fight scenes and how long my paragraphs are.) Tell me if you want more description or less.

Divide and Conquer buildup next! Read and review!