These Black Eyes

by P0ST

The ongoing adventures and experiences of the Teen Titans, as witnessed through the eyes of a silent newcomer.

62. Full Circle part 9

62. Full Circle part 9

The following afternoon…

The City glistened under the high, summer Sun.

Around the Bayside Plaza, the unthinkable was happening.

Huge metal grandstands and refreshment booths and port-a-potties were being set up over the courtyard, the street, and the stretch of beach beyond.

The Independence Fireworks Show was going ahead as scheduled. Workers went about setting up the location for the community on the following day.

July Fourth was just a sunset away.

In the distance, floating in the Bay, a huge floating dock of sorts was constructed. It was the launching pad for the fireworks. A skilled family of pyrotechnics directed the organization of the many cannons, electrical wirings, and flammable packaging across the floating platform.

Everything had to be set up so that the least risk was involved in the occasion. With Slade's threat of terrorism looming over everyone's head, it was going to be an effort in and of itself to soothe the City's populace into a mood of celebration.

But the people were willing to give it a shot. Frederick Smith saw to it.

The sky was partly cloudy. A few gray clouds swarmed here and there…early warnings of a cold front moving in that had the slight risk of raining down on the festivities in the coming day or two.

On a skyscraper stretched high above the Bayside spectacle, I perched on a building top. I subconsciously stroked my right fingers across my left forearm.

I sighed.

Just a matter of time…

Just a matter of time before Slade's next move….

I turned around…and blurred towards Kobayashi Towers. I ended up not having long to wait.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Snkkkkkk!!

"Greetings, Titans. I hope you enjoyed the big bangs yesterday. I must admit—whenever our two factions come at odds—we certainly keep the City on its toes. I am quite sure you are glad at the fact that there is a relatively large portion of the City left whole for you to worry about. In time, I will remedy that. I would be most happy to obliterate the five of you along with it if I have the chance. Care to dance again? If my missiles or my apprentice still isn't enough for you, then I have a new address. The Subway. Station Eighteen. Eastern District. If you're not there in thirty minutes…the station becomes a crater…along with every building three blocks emanating from the circle of destruction my carbonite bomb will cause. Better get out those running shoes, Titans. This one won't wait for you to laugh at."

Snkkkkkk!!

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"God almighty….two days in a row!!" the director of the news broadcasting crew moaned from behind his station of editing screens and switchers.

"I think his broadcast is over!" the assistant remarked.

"Crud. Just perfect. Cue the director…we gotta get a transition out of that. Man…terrorism always gives me ulcers."

The perplexed anchorpeople of JCN News floundered over sudden papers handed to them and tried to recover from the latest feed interruption of Slade.

In the dark corners of the control room—unseen by the crew—a shadowed figure in goggles gave the t.v. screens a parting glance before turning around and blurring off.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Inside the Main Room of the Tower, Starfire finished a keystroke and pressed a final button on a computer. The monitor flashed up data.

"Affirmative," she nodded, swiveled about to face the other Titans, and uttered: "There is an intense level of carbonite emissions inside Subway Station Eighteen. Slade may not be bluffing this time."

"Still…can't be too certain," Raven said, eyes narrowed.

"We should do recon while the others tag behind…," Robin said. "I"ll go ahead and scout the place out. The rest of you keep contact over the communicators."

"But Robin!" Starfire stood up. Everyone realized once again that she was taller than the Boy Wonder as she stepped forward, hands clasped together. "You heard what Slade said! We have merely thirty minutes to reach the scene. There is no telling what Slade would do if we fail to arrive on time. I suggest I perform the reconnaissance. My flight is most talented in such a punctual task."

"She's right," Beast Boy nodded. "Star's the quickest of us all now that Noir's gone."

"Okay…," Robin sighed. "Be careful, Star. This could be a trap."

She smiled and curtsied. "I am well aware of the peril."

"The rest of us…let's move out!!"

"I'll get the car ready!" Cyborg shouted.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

SWOOOSH!!

I blurred down the steps into the subway station.

I came to a stop and unsheathed Myrkblade.

CHIIIIIING!!

I looked towards the tiled wall of the underground corridor.

The huge text 'S18' splashed across a colored set of tile before me.

I took a deep breath and crept forward.

The place had been abandoned somehow. Not a single subway traveler—or worker for that matter—was present.

My black eyes narrowed.

This doesn't feel right……

Regardless, I pressed on. I snaked along the wall and peered past the ticket booths and turnstiles. Again…more emptiness. The floor was completely barren all the way to the depression where the tracks lay and stretched back and forth into dark, shadowed tunnels.

I leaned my heard forward. I looked harder.

There was something….sticking up out from the depression where the tracks were. Something tall, black, and slender.

An obelisk…..a carbonite explosive….

I blinked.

Why would Slade and Jinx plant it on the tracks?

I looked both ways.

Nobody.

I held Myrkblade at ready as I hopped over the turnstiles and crept towards the tracks. The obelisk appeared closer and closer.

Suddenly, while walking, my black hair lifted up alongside my head and settled back down.

I froze.

I glanced up.

SWOOOOOOSH!!!

Four….six…eight….ten robot henchmen dropped down from the ceiling of the underground subway and got into fighting poses in front of me.

I gritted my teeth, jumped back, and twirled Myrkblade at ready.

Slade's androids narrowed their eyes, crouched, and charged at me.

I held my breath and slashed Myrkblade up, immediately slashing in half the torso of the first mechanical advancer. I spun around with my sword outstretched to spiral-attack the next wave back. But as the entire nine of them converged on me, I had no choice but to back up and twirl my weapon in a random fashion to ward off a dozen flinging fists, serrated claws, and low kicks of metal boots.

I was backed all the way to the turnstile. I jumped backwards, flipped, perched on one, and dove forward. I plowed through two robots, slammed them to the ground, rolled, and hopped up with a downward spiral of my sword that slashed two floored androids' heads off.

The remaining seven raised their fists.

I frowned and spun Myrkblade into a ready pose.

And then…..

VRUMMMMMMMMMM!!

My lips parted.

Beyond the robots…the obelisk was raising up from inside the depression. It was on a hovercraft, and that very same hovercraft was lifting up from the racks. The entire craft turned around, facing directly at me past the androids. Its left and right side slid open compartments. Two small missiles flew out of it and down either tunnel.

SHOOOOOOM-BAM!!!! BAM!!!!

The entire subway shook.

I struggled for balance.

The exploding missiles caved in both tunnels on either side of the stretch of tracks.

That being done, the hovercraft's rear thrusters flared…and it soared straight at me.

WOOOOOOOOSH!!!!

"!!!!!!" I ducked down low to the floor.

CLANG!!!!

The robots were unlucky. Slade's own hovercraft smashed through his android phalanx. Metal limbs and sparking circuitry flew at me in a splash, then the hovercraft rocketed loudly over my figure.

I clutched my head as the thrusters streamed past me. My hair blew wildly then settled.

I spun around, gasping for breath, and stared towards the entrance of the subway.

The hulking hovercraft barely squeezed itself over the turnstile and under the ceiling. It swung heavily to the left and hovered up the stairs towards the open City streets above. It was a tight squeeze. Sides of the hovercraft scraped against the walls and rained sparks. The thrusters shook the entire foundation, causing glass to shatter and tiles to fall and scatter.

I struggled up—leaning on Myrkblade—and summoned murk. I blurred at the thundering scene.

But just as the hovercraft burst up through the exit, a rear compartment flew open. Two gray grenades fell out with a clank!-clank!-clank! and exploded in a fiery plume.

BOOOOOM!!!

I screeched to a halt and shielded myself with an arm.

The ceiling collapsed and the exit imploded in on itself. A solid wall of concrete, brick, and tile blocked the exit way.

I panted.

The way to the streets were sealed. The way down the west tunnel was blocked. The way to the east tunnel was closed off.

A well-timed ambush.

I was utterly and completely stuck.

Sweating, I turned around---

GRIP!!!!

A metal-gloved hand closed tightly around my scarred throat. I wheezed as I was spun about and slammed against the tiled wall of the subway. A heavy fist plowed into my stomach once (WHAP!!!) twice (WHAM!!) and I was then tossed mercilessly across the hard floor.

Myrkblade slid across the way to another wall.

I curled alone on the floor.

I spit blood. I wheezed for breath.

"No more running….fool….," a hideous voice slurred into my open ears from above. "If you want to be an apprentice…you will have to face the test of the Master…."

I looked up through thinned, black eyes of pain. I gasped.

Slade stood over me, his fists tightly clenched. His emblazoned eye glared as he tilted his helmet and said:

"And—unfortunately for you—this is a test you will not pass."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

WOOOOOSH!!!!!

The hovercraft rocketed down the street…and towards a Tamaranian girl.

In mid flight, Starfire gasped. "EEK!"

She swirled to the side just as the thing thundered past her.

She spun and stared at it, her green eyes wide. She tightened her muscles and flew at it.

She exclaimed into her communicator: "Friends!! The carbonite is no longer in the Subway! It is heading due West! Repeat! It is heading due West down Hunter Avenue on a hovercraft!!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Two blocks down, the other four Titans stood around the T-Car.

Everyone leaned in as Cyborg's arm communicator squabbled Starfire's voice:

"I cannot overtake the vehicle on my own! I need assistance, over!!"

"You got it!" Cyborg shouted back into the communicator. He looked at the others. "And so the cat and mouse game begins…"

"Titans! Go!!" Robin shouted.

Raven and Beast Boy took to the skies.

Cyborg and Robin leapt into the T-Car and thundered Westward with tires skidding.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

On a building rooftop overlooking the four, scrambling heroes…Jinx perched.

She placed her hands on the hips of her black and brown outfit and grinned, cat style.

She brought a hand to her ear. "The Titans are in pursuit!" She hopped from rooftop-to-rooftop, following the Titans and speaking. "All five of them are heading Westward after the hovercraft!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"They're taking the bait, just as you predicted…Master…"

"Good…," Slade's helmet nodded. He glared at me as he spoke into the communicator in his hand. "Keep close to them, apprentice. When the Titans are almost caught up with the hovercraft, cause it to crash somewhere……inconspicuous. Then radio me when they've all come close enough to be infected."

"Aye, sir. Jinx out."

Slade pocketed his communicator, looking at me.

"Did you hear that, Wyldecarde? I greatly suspect you did. Did you ever have a mother to teach you that eavesdropping is wrong?"

I glared up at him. I slowly stumbled up to my feet.

"You had a nice handful of tricks up your sleeve, fool. But even a passionate vigilante such as yourself could not resist Fate itself. The Titans are likewise helpless to my plans. Destiny is not just something you can 'deny'…."

I stared at him. I gulped. I eyed Myrkblade beyond him on the floor.

"Uh uh uh…," he slowly waved a finger. "I'm afraid I can't let you cut things up anymore. If you want to finish this…finish this with me. Right now."

I clenched my hands. I shook. I blurred at him and raised a fist with a silent scream.

He effortlessly sidestepped, hooked an arm around my chest, and flipped me over. I was airborne for a split second before Slade brought his elbow down and slammed it into the square of my back.

WHAM!!!!

I flew chest-first into the ground. I coughed…wheezing for air.

Slade knelt down, pressing his weight through a knee into my backside. He tilted my head up in a painful stretch and hissed into my ear through his helmet.

"Understand that I do not compare myself to opponents likely. But you and I are very similar, Wyldecarde. Not 'similar' like Robin and I are. But you and me, we are both snakes in the grass. Traitors to the core. Funny how—in our own opposite motives—all we've managed to do is hurt the Titans with no reward. Until now."

He hoisted me up by the back of my neck and put me into a headlock from behind.

I struggled and shook in his iron grasp.

He slurred again into my ear through his helmet. "You are my reward, Wyldecarde. I'll greatly enjoy carving your body out and stuffing you with the bleeding hearts of the Titans once the Experiment is complete!! RRRRAAUGH!!" He shouted, flung me around, and slammed me up against a wall.

I winced in pain and fell to the floor amidst a shower of tile.

He ran up to me, boots stomping, and flung a foot straight into my chest.

WHUMP!!!!

I fell back into the wall again.

More tile fell.

I slumped to the ground, wheezing. Collapsing.

He walked over and clamped a foot down over my left arm.

THWUMP!!!

I let out a silent wail. My body throbbed in pain.

"Worthless piece of mindless guile….," he spat. "I should just have had Jinx kill you in your sleep! But then…I wouldn't have the pleasure of doing the task myself as I am now. Take a deep breath, Wyldecarde. It's rather unfortunate that you don't have fresh air and blue skies to enjoy your last waking moments alive!"

He growled and kicked me hard in the side.

I tumbled across the subway like a runaway log. I slid through the fallen bodies of the ten robot henchmen, ramped over a metal arm, and rammed into the side of the turnstiles. I gripped my side, wincing.

"RRRRRAAAUGH!!!"

My black eyes peered through sweat-streaked goggles to see Slade running, jumping, and sailing down at me in a massive flying kick.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The T-Car swerved onto a four lane street, tires screeching. It sped down past a myriad of building fronts in pursuit of the distant hovercraft soaring ahead with a green streak in close pursuit.

Raven and Beast Boy flew up on the flanks and caught up with Starfire.

Suddenly, the hovercraft veered to the right.

Starfire gritted her teeth, zoomed around an antenna atop a skyscraper, and streaked after the vehicle in pursuit. Raven and Beast Boy haphazardly kept in formation with her.

Below, the T-Car swerved around traffic, road signs, and avoided pedestrians in its mad chase.

Unseen, Jinx hopped, skipped, and skirted over the rooftops…grinning…her cat eyes fixed on the hovercraft.

The sun turned from bright yellow to amber as it headed towards the horizon. The clouds turned grayer and darker. The air felt thin and cooler than normal on the eve of July Fourth.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

CLANG!!!

Slade's foot dented deeply into one of the metal turnstiles.

I rolled to the side, limped to my feet, and stumbled back.

Slade's fists hung by his side, clenched. He swiveled about and stared at me like a standing slab of metal.

"So eager to live?"

I panted, clutching my side.

"Feel free to dodge all you like…," he marched towards me. "Honestly, it makes your termination all the more enjoyable."

I clenched my teeth.

He raised his fists, sidestepped, and dove at me with a punch. "RRAAAUGH!!"

SLAM!!!!

His fist sailed into the tiled wall, sending chips of plaster flying everywhere.

After ducking, I twirled to the side.

"RGGGHH!!" he swung his fist into me.

I leapt.

CRASH!!!

His elbow smashed through the glass of a ticket booth.

I came down, literally landed on his arm, and with a blur of murk I flipped off him and landed on the other side.

He effortlessly kicked in reverse.

WHAP!!

I was sent tumbling towards the tracks from his boot.

He spun around, flexed his arms, and dove at me.

I tried standing up--

WHAM!!!

He plowed me hard in the chest.

THWAP!!!

Karate chopped me in the side.

WHACK!!!

And uppercutted me with a high kick up my chin.

I flew back, sailed over the edge of the depression, and crashed into the subway tracks below. I coughed and sputtered.

Slade stepped up to the edge of the subway station. He glared down at me for a few menacing seconds before hopping down and kneeling beside me on the tracks. He gripped my head—my arms in turn—and slammed me up against the wall inside the depression.

WHAM!!!

I flinched against the cold, concrete surface.

I was powerless to shake myself from his iron grip of my limbs and body.

I was already bruised and blood-stained in a dozen places from two days of intense chaos. He was only adding to them….

"You could have just walked away, Wyldecarde…," he sneered into my ear. He gripped me so hard, I thought I would snap. "Think about it. I gave you all the avenues of escape you needed. I gave you every reason and every impulse you could ever ask for to leave this Town!! To head back West to that god forsaken past of yours that Dagger keeps talking about. You could have disappeared. All your troubles would have been gone. You wouldn't have to take responsibility for any of the Titans or anyone else for that matter. Doesn't that appeal to you? Don't you want that sort of control…that sort of freedom…that peace?!"

He spun around and flung me hard against the debris covering the East Tunnel of the Subway.

SMASH!!!

I slumped to my knees, panting.

He marched towards me.

"But no…I had to select an absolute fool to be the scapegoat of my inner workings. The one pathetic wretch I dumped all of my negative energies on had to be stupidly selfless and devoted to lost causes. Five lost causes. Dear Wyldecarde…the Titans were doomed to die from the day they were born. Who are you to intervene with Inevitability?"

I looked up at him. I clenched my bloody teeth. I ran at him and swung a fist.

He dashed backwards.

I performed a sideways kick.

He sidestepped. He grabbed my leg.

I gasped.

He lifted me up—took a breath—and slammed me back down onto the tracks with a shout. "RAUGH!!"

WHAM!!!

I lost my breath.

He picked me up again and tossed me back onto the station of the subway.

I went rolling across the floor.

WOOOSH!!

He sailed up over me and came down with an iron fist.

"RAAAAUGH!!"

SMASH!!!!!

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

SHOOOOOOM!!!

The hovercraft screamed past buildingsides, causing windows to crack from the force of its thrusters.

Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy streaked after the vehicle's winding past.

Down in the streets, Cyborg clutched hard to the wheel as he screeched the T-Car after it.

Robin suddenly unbuckled himself and whipped out a grappling hook.

"Sunroof!"

"Huh?!?!"

The Boy Wonder pointed straight up. "Sunroof!!"

"Oh yeah!! Got it!!" Cyborg pressed a button.

A rectangular opening appeared in the forward ceiling of the T-Car.

Robin climbed up on a back of a chair so that his body was halfway up through the sunroof. He aimed his grappling hook up at the hovercraft. His eyes squinted under the white mask. He fired…

POW!!!!

The cord flew up…and contacted the bottom of the hovercraft.

CLANK!!!

"Good luck!!" Cyborg shouted.

"Yeah…hopefully," Robin clenched his teeth and retracted the device. He went sailing up by the cord through the roof of the T-Car and up several stories of blurring scenery towards the hovercraft above.

The flying Titans eyed the Boy Wonder as he climbed closer and closer to the vehicle.

Closer and closer to the carbonite core….

Suddenly, the hovercraft pivoted. Its thrusters burned through the cord.

SNAP!!!

Robin gasped. He fell like a dead weight towards the speeding streets below.

Starfire gritted her teeth, flew out of formation, and streaked down in time to grab Robin's arm. The two soared up to join the other Titans.

"I do hope you are in the mood for dangling for a while…," she exclaimed with a sweatdrop over the whipping winds.

Robin huffed and puffed, hanging onto her wrist. "If you don't mind dragging me along for that matter!!"

She smiled slightly and caught back up with the hovercraft as the chase swept towards the Western District.

The sun was setting.

A shadow ran parallel to the five on the building sides nearby.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

CRASH!!!

Tile and bits of concrete flew out from a small crater where Slade's boot landed.

I rolled to the side, hopped to my feet, and suddenly wished that I hadn't as I careened backwards in a dizzy fashion.

Slade rushed up to me and slammed me against a wall.

I winced….I glared up at him through my goggles.

His emblazoned eye glared. "Tell me what it's worth, Wyldecarde…"

I frowned. I secretly started then and there to charge up a wave of murk energy…

"Tell me why you must fight for them…"

He growled and held me up, slamming my back against the tile.

WHAM!!

I struggled in his grasp…but I kept charging murk.

"You never betrayed the Titans….not once…," Slade slurred. He slammed me against the tile again and leaned his mask up. "They betrayed you, Wyldecarde. Don't you realize that?"

He spun and flung me against the floor.

I slid for a few feet, wincing. I kept charging murk through my still limbs….

Slade marched over and glared down at me. "They jumped to conclusions. They sought for reasoning from the emotional instability of their wounded hearts and chose you as a scapegoat. It was only a matter of time, Wyldecarde. You were the 'nooby'. The strange wolf in their flock. They were all bound to distrust you at some point or another. All that Jinx and I did was point them in the right direction. Even Dagger gave them a tiny little push. Then everything went downhill from there. And you know as much as I do that it was all the Titans' doing."

He knelt down, yanked me up by my long hair, and glared in my face.

I struggled to look away from him. Murk coursed more and more in my limbs.

"The Titans were never your friends. How could they be? Friends don't treat someone they love like utter waste. They were never fully trusting of you. Only a fool like yourself would keep defending them. Only someone as wreckless, young, and immature as yourself would keep fighting for friends that do nothing but hurt you. And an even greater fool would think 'hurting them' as a villain would solve anything!!"

He shoved me down and kicked me hard in the ribs.

I went tumbling. But I didn't fight or protest. I just kept charging….

He bore his knee into my back and wrenched my arms in the direction they shouldn't go.

I let out a silent moan of pain.

"Face it, Wyldecarde. You are no more than a disgruntled villain. Like so many wretched souls, you've been dealt an incalculable pain and forever feel wronged by it. So you lash out in revenge at those who have torn you apart. The Titans. The Titans, Wyldecarde. They are your greatest adversaries. They have always been so. You fit the bill of villainy so well…I almost feel tempted to tutor you as an apprentice after all."

He picked me up and slammed me against a ticket booth. I slumped to the ground—charging secretly—as he walked over anc clenched his fists.

"But it is too late for such redemption. Even at my hands. You've crossed me one too many times, Wyldecarde. Because you attacked both the side of Evil as well as the side of Good, you are no more a villain than you are a hero. You are just a ghost. A worthless afterthought of wasted spirit and bravery, forever running away from some obscure past and slashing your sword around madly in some shallow attempt to ignore the realities of the present."

He gripped me by the neck and held me up. His other fist prepared to smash my skull in for good.

"I admit…killing you like this is far more gratifying a feeling than it should be. But I will always—gladly—eliminate everything that's pointless in my sight. And you, Wyldecarde, have bluffed your last. Send my regards to Hell…though I doubt you're even bad enough for such a fiery Abyss."

My head tilted back. Smoke started dancing out from under my goggles.

Slade's emblazoned eye narrowed.

I glared down at him, teeth clenched.

He glanced and realized that my arms were now completely covered with black murk.

"Hmmmm….," was the last thing he uttered.

FLASH!!!!

Time slowed down as I smacked his arm around my throat away, drifted to the floor, and blurred with a massive, spinning kick straight into his gut, splitting the metal mesh of his costume apart and sending black and brown shards scattering in the air.

WHAM!!!!!!

Time resumed as he stumbled backwards and my body turned into a wave of super-charged smoke that rushed at him. I materialized in front of him with a punch to the gut, teleported, materialized behind him with a chop to the back of his shoulders, teleported, and appeared to his lower side with a ramming elbow to his abdomen.

In such a hyper fashion, I let loose the remaining energy of my charged up power. I teleported and blurred and teleported and blurred in sporadic spurts all around Slade's helpless body. Each time I materialized, I did so with a punch or a kick or a shove—only to reappear on the opposite side of his body and do the same.

SWOOSH-SWOOSH-SWOOSH-SWOOSH!!!

BAMPOWWHACKSMACKWHAMTHWACKTHAPCRACK!!!!!!!!

At one point, Slade's body was practically covered with a column of smoke as I appeared and reappeared all around him with lightning fast impacts after lightning fast impacts. Soon he danced around from the multiple punches, kicks, and plows--and metal fragments from his hammered suit flew straight up in a fountain of brown and black debris. Like water. And yet no blood….

As my charge ran out, I vaulted off his shoulders, flew up, flipped, and came down with a punch straight down the back of his mask. His helmet cracked slightly as he bent over form the backwards blow. I landed in a crouch below him, took a breath, and pulsed murk through my legs. I sailed straight up with a kick that uppercutted him square in the face. His helmet cracked some more as he flew up. I came down, grabbed his body, and swung under it like a draw bridge. As he slammed hard into the ground, I slid smoothly across the subway floor, snatched up Myrkblade, twirled it, met the far wall with my feet, and pulsed murk one last time.

SWOOOOOOOOSH!!!! I blurred straight at him.

Slade stumbled to his feet and turned around.

I raised Myrkblade, let out a silent, bloody yell, and swung upward.

SLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slade's body jerked and wobbled.

I came to a screeching halt ahead of him, Myrkblade held up still at the end of my swing.

I panted.

CL-CLANK!!!

I looked down.

The sliced-off front half of Slade's helmet rattled on the floor and vibrated to a standstill, facing up.

"…," I blinked.

I slowly turned around.

My jaw dropped.

Where Slade's mysterious face should have been there was instead a series of gears and circuitry. The hollow helmet sparked and sizzled as the husk of a body stood there, wobbling.

A robot decoy……

"All we are……snakes in the grass, Wyldecarde…," Slade's electronic voice filtered out through the speakers of the android. The robot body stumbled backwards till it pressed against a wide stretch of tiled, Subway wall. "From one expert trapper to another…I salute you. Your name will be a dot in vigilante history. Commendable, but still just a 'dot'. But then…once the Experiment is ready for completion in a matter of hours……none of that will matter anymore. Farewell, Wyldecarde…"

The robot's body sparked. Shook. And glowed a bright red.

I gasped and jumped behind the nearest turnstile.

BOOOOOM!!!!!!

Flames erupted. The wall shattered into a spray of tile and concrete madness.

No sooner had the decoy exploded…the entire Subway station shook and a fountain of water exploded outward from the new hole in the wall.

I watched with a dropped jaw as a river of liquid flowed past me, around my feet, and cascaded into the depression of the tracks. The water came rapidly. Thunderously.

My black eyes twitched as I realized…

He j-just blew the Water Main!!

I stared at the smashed wall. A huge, metal pipe ran along the side of the station beyond the wall. Slade's decoy had blown a hole clear through it. Enough water to run the City was pouring. It was more than enough to bury ten Subway Stations….hell, maybe fifty.

That's what Slade wanted all along!! To drown me out!!

I spun around. It was the perfect place to be drowned out.

The exit to the City streets above was caved in.

The East and West tunnels were blocked.

In less than two minutes, this whole area would be under water.

And myself with it.

I panicked…

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Inside the mysterious, black cabin of the frigate…Slade sat silently on his 'throne' and leaned forward.

His fingers rested together before the metal chin of his helmet.

His eye stared off into space. If there was someone present, she or he might possibly spot a slight 'twinkle' in his glare. A miniscule touch of pride.

Otherwise, he was perfectly emotionless.

Slowly, he stood up and paced over to the circular window. He stared out at the amber glow of the Sun against the waves. A beat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his communicator. "Apprentice….come in…"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Jinx landed on a rooftop, grinned, and held a hand to her ear.

"Yes, Master?"

"How's the hovercraft fairing?"

Jinx ran alongside the chasing Titans to her far right.

"Well ahead of them."

"It is time…," his voice crackled coolly in her ear. "Crash it someplace where only the Titans will approach it. I only want them. Not any bystanders or cops."

"Hehehe…understood," she giggled. "And Wyldecarde?"

"What Wyldecarde?"

She gasped. "Sir, did you—"

"Carry out your mission, apprentice…," Slade's voice said. "I did what I had to do. Slade out."

Jinx smiled while running. "Wow…." A beat. She pouted. "Wish I was there."

She glanced over with her cat eyes in mid sprint.

"Oh well!!" she giggled insanely, reached a hand out, and short forth a stream of pink hex from an angle the Titans wouldn't see.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

BLAM!!!! One of the hovercrafter's thrusters suddenly exploded.

Raven's eyes widened.

Starfire gasped.

"Whoah!!" Robin exclaimed.

The hovercraft wobbled in mid-air, smoked, and began a downwards dive towards a distant construction site.

"Watch where it goes….," Cyborg chanted to himself in the T-Car. "Watch where it goes!!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Water rose up the depression. The tracks disappeared as the liquid lapped up the solid debris in front of the tunnels.

I panted.

I looked around.

I thought fast.

Robot bodies.

Robot bodies!!

I knelt down, charged Myrkblade with smoke, and jabbed into the torso of the first android body I could find.

SMASH!!

I tore its chest open.

I sweated and fished around inside the cavity of the android with my hands.

Every one of Slade's henchmen had a power core inside. A very…explosive core if handled haphazardly. I fished around inside some more and finally found the glowing, green sphere. I yanked it out and pocketed it before leaping and digging into another robot.

Water rose up from the depression and started lapping out onto the main floor of the Subway, meeting with the cascade of liquid rushing out of the torn wall.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The hovercraft veered left and right in mid-air.

A green falcon shrieked as it cautiously backed up.

Raven and Starfire—with Robin in tow—kept their distance.

Cyborg slowed the T-Car and stared breathlessly up through the sunroof.

The thrusters of the hovercraft completely died out.

It went careening into a huge skyscraper under construction. It barely squeezed through the metal bulkheads and landed on the makeshift, wooden floorboards of the eleventh story. It scraped to a burning stop with thunderous noise.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I gathered a sixth robot core and cradled it to my chest as a surf of water rushed up—foaming—across the tile and splashed around the strewn bodies of the androids. I hobbled painfully away towards the opposite side of the Subway. A layer of water kicked and sputtered at my heels.

I hopped through the turnstiles…accidentally dropping one of the cores. I knelt down and picked it up from the fresh puddle and dashed over to the far wall where ten payphones rested.

I hastily pocketed the cores, whipped out Myrkblade, and started slashing the cords to the receivers of pay phones off one by one. SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

The water rose up to my ankles.

When I had six cords, I snapped the receivers off.

The water rose to my knees.

I splashed over—panting—to the stairs leading up to the collapsed exit.

I perched halfway up the steps and started tying each cord to a respective core.

The water lapped up the steps.

Eighty percent of the station was already flooded.

The hole in the wall where the Water Main burst was gradually being covered, and the rushing exit of water thundered under the underground lake as it churned up and kissed my boots.

Working on my fourth core and cord with fumbling, sweaty hands…I scurried up the full length of the stairs. The oxygen grew thin as I bent over with my back to the ceiling and debris wall.

The lights in the ceiling flickered.

The pocket of air filled with a haunting echo of my pants. It was the loudest I'd ever sounded in five years.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The T-Car screeched to a halt.

Starfire dropped down with Robin and the both settled down as Cyborg got up.

Finally, Beast Boy and Raven landed as the five Titans huddled together.

"Stay in a complete group!" Robin shouted. "And be cautious! Let's take our time!! I want us all together as we disarm this thing!! I don't want to risk anything!!"

"Right," Raven nodded.

"Let's do this thing…," Cyborg fisted his palm.

"Come on…follow me…," Robin motioned.

Slowly, the five crept onto the bottom level of the skeletal, metal tower. The sun faded into a faint orange glow as the stars came out overhead and shadowed the half-constructed behemoth.

Pale, green lights popped to life on each of the barren floors. Eleven stories up, a smoking carbonite core waited for the five heroes.

Jinx perched on an adjacent skyscraper, smirked, and waited it all out….

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I panted.

The water was cold.

It was up to my shoulders.

I shivered.

The lights flickered in the Subway one last time…and went out.

Only my black eyes found anything recognizable in the watery firmaments.

The liquid came to my chin.

I finished my last core and cord and bundled it in my fist.

I tilted my head up.

Wet hair clung to my submerged neck.

I took one breath.

Water ran up my chin.

I took a second breath.

My ears submerged into an ambient chaos.

I took a final, huge gasp.

"!!!!!!!!"

And I dove.

SPLASH!!!!!

With smoke trailing, I torpedoed straight down the incline of stairs and into the shadowy grave of the Subway Station. I kicked my legs and skirted over the turnstiles. Bodies of dead robots floated ahead of me. I pushed myself past them and kicked off a severed torso, swishing myself closer and closer towards the submerged tracks. A bubble or two escaped my lips. My black goggles started to fog. I squinted my black eyes and kicked my legs with a blur. I swam down into the depression. I skimmed with my black and brown chest over the tracks. My eardrums bulged in. My chest throbbed. The extremities of my body tingled. I kicked again. I skirted towards the debris of the West Tunnel. I reached a quivering arm back through the currents and grabbed one cord from the bundle. I held it to the side. I twirled it in the water. Bubbles and tiny currents spread outward from the spiraling core. My lungs shook. I clenched my eyes shut. I summoned murk into my arm, up the cord, and into the core. It glowed a bright green. It vibrated….ready to blow. I jerked my whole body and flung the glowing core via cord into the wall of debris like a slingshot. My whole life rested on the brink of its impact.

Dink!

POW!!!!

I surged forward as the explosion bore a hole in the wall.

I was splurted in a fountain of water. I tumbled hard across dry railroad tracks.

I gasped.

Just in time too….

SMASH!!!!!

The entire wall of debris gave way from the pressure. A wall of water and cement mud slammed into the back of me. I tumbled some more, flew, and was submerged once again in a churning nightmare of liquid.

SPLASH!!!

I soared down the dark tunnel under water. Twirling. Bubbles flying everywhere. I tumbled forward twice, fought to keep my rattling mouth closed, and stared straight ahead of me. Through airtight goggles, I strained to see where I was hurtling towards. I saw a wall of bubbles rise up at the end of the wave of torrents. There was a wall dead ahead. The directors of the Subway system had suspended a firewall blocking the passageway at word of Slade's explosives. I reached a hand to my back and yanked at another cord. Twirling around, I spun the core in a circle and—upon coming to an end of my twirl—slung the explosive electronic forward and into the wall.

Dink!

POW!!!

Amidst a scatter of metal debris, I splashed out into the next corridor of subway tunnel.

I had only four corded cores left. I had no idea how many firewalls were left.

In the meantime, I gasped for air and went tumbling forward as the next wave of water carried my ragdoll body forward. I glided sideways, my nose and chest bare inches from the subway wall blurring by. I saw a couple of yellow, painted letters flying past me. I gasped. I whipped out a third explosive, spun it over my shoulder, and pulsed smoke energy through my legs.

SPLASH!!!

I leapt up out of the wall of water. I soared sideways down the subway, gritted my teeth, and slung the core forward.

Dink!

POW!!

The wall shattered before me. Amazingly, the water started pouring through it as well. I gasped.

It had worked!

I blurred over, fought the currents slamming against me, and burst through the hole.

I fell about ten feet into the underground canal of the City sewers. This particular tunnel ran parallel to the Subway, and at this point the two nearly met.

The hole I had formed in the subway wall became a duct through which a large fountain of liquid from the Water Main splashed. The waterfall joined the canal in the sewer and formed a heavy current that pushed me along briskly.

I managed to keep my head above water, sputtering.

I looked straight ahead.

A splash of water was impacting heavily as the current in the sewers met a 'fork' in the walls. There was a stream going both left and right. But the rushing water was so fast that—in a matter of seconds—I would have been slammed into hamburger against the brick foundation.

I held my breath in the water and charged murk up in my body.

RUSHHHH!!!!

I came flying at the wall.

I leapt out of the water with a discharge of murk.

My feet ate through the foam of splashing water.

I pivoted my body sideways.

I planted my boots against the wall.

I ran across the foundation for two seconds before diving into the sewer water rushing to the right.

WHAM!!!!!

Cracks formed into the wall as the mountain of Water Main liquid slammed into the foundation behind me. From there, the current split. The sewer water slowed in its race away from the Subway hole. I could almost swim.

I panted.

I looked to the right.

There was a rusty, metal ladder on the side of the underground canal leading to a manhole. Surely there was a street above.

I breath-stroked desperately to the right. I angled myself so that the rush of water and my forward movement would properly guide me directly to--

Clamp!!

I grabbed onto the ladder and held on tight as the water pushed my body past it. I gritted my teeth, pulled to the end of my limb. I summoned unearthly strength and flung my other arm back.

I grabbed onto the ladder with two sets of fingers.

I took another breath.

I lifted my body.

I emerged from the water. Everything was cold and stinging. I felt like my costume—and body—weighed a hundred tons. I slumped across the metal rungs of the ladder for a few seconds. I caught my breath. I shook the hair out of my hair and face.

There was a loud groaning and rumbling sound from the back of the tunnel.

I whipped my head over and looked.

A huge wall of water was catching up to me.

I panted.

I looked at the brick foundation at the round bend in the tunnel.

I balanced myself on rungs below me and reached to my shoulder. I pulled out two cores and tied the cords together with fumbling hands while leaning against the metal ladder. As the rushing water came, I successfully doubled the explosive objects. I raised them over my soaked head, spun them, and tossed them straight at the foundation.

POW!!!!

Bricks, cement, and rock went storming out and plunging into the sewer's canal. The rush of water was slowed.

I had enough time to ascend safely…and so I did.

I clamored up the rusty rungs of the ladder.

I reached the manhole at the top.

I pushed up at it.

It wouldn't budge.

I gritted my teeth and slammed my elbow into it. WHANG!! Again. WHANG!! Again… WHANG!!!

The crumbled bricks and cement started to shift.

I gasped and looked down.

SPLASH!!!!

The wave of water plowed through.

The fountains were eating their way through the canal and leaping up at me.

I summoned murk, soared it through my elbow, and struck the manhole again.

WHANG!!

The circular object of metal flew off its hinges.

The water struck. It cracked the ladder beneath me. The structure shook, shattered, and fell.

I leapt up off the rungs and reached for the open manhole….

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

CLAMP!!!

My hands gripped asphalt.

I vaulted myself upwards in a blur.

Water ate at my heels.

I rolled to the side in the middle of the room.

I panted.

I paused.

Middle of the road??

HONK!!! HONK!!!

My head rolled to the side.

The wheels of a semi truck bore down at me.

I exhaled, rolled backwards, and dove in reverse out of the street.

SCREEEECH!!!

The truck skidded past the open manhole, lost control, fishtailed, and slammed into two rows of lamppost before crunching to a stop.

Evening pedestrians gasped and ran at the scene. Others looked at me in shock.

I limped to my feet and clutched my side. I dripped all over.

I suddenly noticed that half of the crowd was actually looking in the opposite direction.

I spun around.

I popped my goggles off from over my black eyes and lifted them up some.

In my naked vision, I saw a glow from the eleventh floor of a half-constructed skyscraper. Below the metal skeleton of beams and cross beams, the T-Car resided.

A gasp escaped my empty throat.

The carbonite explosive!!

I unsheathed Myrkblade and streaked over towards the scene.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The Titans took a flimsy, makeshift elevator up to the eleventh floor. The red platform rattled against the foundation as the chained doors obscured the sight of the floors floating down past the Titans' gazes.

"Remember….," Robin said, whipping out his staff. "Be prepared for anything. Any traps. Any explosives. Any obstacle that could prevent us from deactivating this thing."

"Already on it…," Cyborg frowned, switching his right arm into a laser rifle.

Beast Boy cracked his knuckles.

Raven was silent.

"We are together…," Starfire spoke. "In such, we are strong."

"Yeah…well….let's keep it that way," Robin nodded.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Jinx stood on a building top parallel to the skeletonesque scraper. She tapped her platform shoe and smirked.

"Any minute now….," she slyly hummed. "Any minute now….."

SWOOOOSH—CLANK!….clank!!….tap.

Something fell onto the rooftop, bounced, and rolled to a stop against her shoe.

"Huh?" she looked down with squinting, cat eyes.

Resting beside her was a green glowing sphere tied to what looked like a phone cord.

POW!!!

"AAACK!!" Jinx's body lifted up into the air.

I blurred over, jumped, and struck her midair body hard in the side with the blunt edge of Myrkblade.

WHACK!!!

She went sailing across the street like a whirling disc and smashed into the thirteen story window of a hotel.

I spun and faced the construction site. I narrowed my black eyes through my goggles and gasped.

The Titans rose to the eleventh story on the elevator, got out, and wandered towards the crashed hovercraft across the open floor.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"That's right, Titans…," Slade leaned forward and stared intently at the t.v. screen displaying the camera's view from the hovercraft. "Walk into the jaws of fate. Come to me…..come to me…."

The static footage from the camera showed the five heroes slowly walking forward. Thirty feet away….twenty-five….

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Twenty….fifteen….

"Easy does it…," Robin whispered as they approached the obelisk. "As soon as we can all touch it…let's take the tower off the craft before it can fly away or something."

"I'll disarm it…"

"Wait till we're there…."

Ten feet.

The Titans were almost within the glowing aura of the carbonite core---

WOOOOOSH!!!

A black and brown figure ran up the obelisk, down it, onto the floor, and sailed at the five.

They all gasped.

"WYLDECARDE!! GET HIM—"

I held up Myrkblade, gritted glistening teeth, and swung.

SLASH!!!

CLANG!!!

Robin's staff went flying.

WHUMP!!!

So did his body after I pivoted on my sword, used it as a vaulting pole, and kicked him hard in the chest.

"RAAAUGH!!" Cyborg shouted and aimed at me.

ZAAAAAP!!

I leapt over the beam, landed on the ground, teleported around, and blurred at him.

SWOOOOSH!!

I tripped him and immediately jumped up at Starfire on the other side.

FLASH!!! FLASH!!

Starbolts flew.

I twirled around both shots, spun at her, grabbed her arm with one hand and warded off the clawed attack of Beast Boy in tiger form.

I jumped back, twirled, and swung Starfire straight into the changeling.

WHUMP!!

The two Titans got entangled, tumbled, and fell over the edge of the floor where surely they would fly away.

Suddenly, Myrkblade became encased in black energy. I did a double-take at it, and flashed a look to my side.

Raven chanted. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos—"

Before she could yank my blade out with telekinesis, I pulled out a playing card and flung it straight at her skull.

SWIIIIIIIIISH—CLANK!!!

The jagged corner of the card stuck hard into the stone of her forehead's chakra.

Startled, the girl went crossed eyed and tried to yank the projectile out of her prized gem.

FWOOOSH—WHAM!!

In the meantime, I ran and jump-kicked her hard in the stomach.

The card fell loose as she flew off and tumbled into an aluminum chute that slid her down to a lower floor.

I spun around.

Cyborg was getting up.

I blurred at him.

He had a fist ready, snarling.

I teleported behind him, jabbed Myrkblade downward in a diagonal fashion, stuck it between his metal legs, and lifted with a blur that vaulted him straight over my figure with accelerated strength. As he came over on the other side of me, I jumped in the air, spun, and kicked him hard in the titanium side.

CLANK!!!

He went rolling back to the elevator, smashing through the gates and slumping with his back to the platform's railing.

I dove to the ground at my right, rolled, swiped up the playing card Raven dropped, perched on my knees, and threw it across the floor and towards the elevator. The playing card spun in the air with a maddening twirl before it stuck into the green button with a down arrow.

The elevator platform hummed and carried a dizzy Cyborg back down the eleven stories.

A padding of heavy feet.

I glanced to the side.

Robin ran, jumped, and flew—screaming—at me with a kung fu kick.

WHAM!!!

I went tumbling from his impact.

He raised a fist and sailed his knuckles down at me.

I yanked Myrkblade up.

The Boy Wonder gasped and leaned his entire weight to his side to avoid the tip of my blade.

I swept a leg out, tripping his already off-balance step.

He slumped chest-forward to the ground, sliding and kicking up dust.

I vaulted up, swiveled around, and ran over Robin.

I reached a hand down and grasped his cape. He exhaled as I dragged him along, blurred towards the edge of the floor, jumped clear off the side, and jabbed back with Myrkblade. CLANK!!! I stuck the sword into a metal beam. I swung outward, downward, and back towards the next, lower floor in the scraper—upon which I let loose of a sling-shot Robin.

"AAAAAH!!" he screamed before landing in a wheel barrow, rolling across the floor, and slamming to a stop against a metal pillar.

CLANK!!

He tumbled onto a wooden platform, winced, and sat up.

His eyemask widened.

I was nowhere to be seen….

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Slade raised his fists. "What?!?!"

The static camera view from the hovercraft suddenly showed an empty floor.

Suddenly, my face appeared.

Slade's eyemasked widened.

I frowned through my goggles. My torso lifted up The sole of my boot suddenly sailed down and covered the screen before the entire video feed turned to snow.

Slade's hands shook.

He growled through his helmet.

"Apprentice…."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"APPRENTICE?!?!?!"

Jinx stood up, rubbed her head, and squinted painfully through the shattered window of the hotel.

"Uhhhhh…..huh? M-Master?"

"Wyldecarde is in the building!! He's at the hovercraft!!"

"B-But I thought you had taken care of him!!"

"He is there!!!" Slade's voice shrieked through the sorceress' earpiece. "Take him out!! NOW!!"

Jinx gritted her Cheshire cat teeth and leapt out of the hotel window.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Titans!! Report!!" Robin shouted into his communicator. "Where are you??"

"Flying back up to the hovercraft!!" Starfire exclaimed.

"Trying to find Wyldecarde!" Beast Boy's voice said.

"Stuck in an elevator…." Cyborg.

"Getting there." Raven.

"Change in plans….," Robin gritted his teeth. "Get Wyldecarde!! All five of us are here!! We must put him down!! You hear me?! Take him out!! Now!!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I panted. I whipped out Myrkblade and attempted to stab into the obelisk to pry out the carbonite core, grab it, and make off with it.

Unknown to me…thirty feet off and perched on the edge of the floor, Jinx hid behind a metal pillar. She glared at me. Her eyes glowed pink and her hands glowed. She slowly reached an arm out, pivoted her wrist, and aimed….

FLASH!!!!

I spun around.

A green sphere of energy flew into my chest. I flew back and landed hard on the floor.

Jinx blinked. She looked to the side.

Starfire floated into the floor. Her hands glowed bright green. She raised another starbolt over her head and let it loose. "YAAAAH!!"

Still recovering from my impact, I vaulted up into the air to avoid the impact of the starbolt. I spun Myrkblade in front of me and deflected the next two starbolts before landing and twirling my sword at ready.

The Tamaranian Titan hovered twenty feet off, hands glowing, eyes squinted and face frowning.

"Tell me…Wyldecarde….," she uttered firmly in the air. "Why is it that you wear those goggles?"

I panted, facing her and holding my sword up. I glanced to the side and checked the distance between her and the obelisk.

She was safe.

"Why do you hide your eyes, villain?" she asked. "You never truly answered me why you keep them secret." She slowly drifted towards me, glowing. I backed up, keeping our distance constant. Keeping the standoff still. "It is not the fear of bright lights. It is not some secret identity. But rather, I believe you are hiding a secret. You are holding back the very last thing in your being which you hold dear to and believe—however falsely—that it preserves whatever strength remains within you."

I bit my lip and came to the edge of the floor. I had nowhere to backup anymore.

"That one night…when you showed me your black eyes for the first time…," she spoke. She sounded wounded. "I thought that you had showed me something, Wyldecarde. I thought that you had given me hope. I thought that you had given me further things to expect from friendship. But that was not the case. You were deceiving me. And because of that, my friends….my true friends have suffered dearly. On my home planet as much as on earth, this is a transgression which I can never forgive!! And to what extent does such treachery and betrayal assist you, Wyldecarde?! Would you at least convey that to me?! Or is it that you cannot speak, for if you could your words would be just as hollow as your eyes??"

I took a deep breath. I glanced at the carbonite detonator far away. I looked back at her.

I couldn't let her go on any more. I had to get her away from the carbonite. I had to get all the Titans away from the carbonite.

I had to get them away from the building…

So I took a deep breath, summoned my villainous 'Wyldecarde' grin, and aimed Myrkblade at her.

Her glowing eyes widened.

WOOOOOSH!!!

I rushed.

She exhaled and slung starbolt after starbolt. FLASH!! FLASH!! FLASH!!

I deflected all three, twirled Myrkblade, and leapt up at her.

SWOOOOOSH!!

Blade first---

SWISH!! She twirled to the side.

I pivoted in mid air, met a metal beam in the ceiling with my feet, and stuck to it upside down with murk.

Starfire hovered around.

WHAM!!

I struck her hard across the chest with the blunt side of Myrkblade.

"Nghh!!" she cried out and tumbled to the floor.

I vaulted downwards.

She tossed a huge starbolt at me.

I teleported around it, drifted to the floor, materialized, and stabbed down at her.

CLANK!!

She rolled out of the way and jumped up with a boot uppercutting my chin.

WHACK!!

She yelled and tossed a starbolt at my flying figure. "RAAAUGH!!"

I flipped over, absorbed the energy into my blade, landed, and blurred at her.

WHUMP!!!

I tackled her and we went tumbling across the floor to the edge. She kicked me off of her.

I went sailing back hard into a metal pillar.

WHANG!!

She stood up. Her eyes glowed desperately green.

I winced. I looked at her. I gasped--

ZAAAAAP!!!

Two trails of hot green flew at me.

I ducked.

The steel behind me melted.

I slumped to the ground chest first like a snake and slid at her with a pulse of murk.

She aimed her laser eyes down at me.

The green trailed a burning path after me.

I teleported up, materialized in the air behind her, and grabbed her ribcage on either side.

She gasped.

I spun around and flung her to the edge.

She landed her boots to the floor and skidded to the stop before she could fall off the eleventh story. She spun around and froze. I was already halfway through a jump-kick sailing straight at her.

SMACK!!!!

I impacted with her chest, bounced back, and landed in a crouch on the edge. Starfire's shrieking body went sailing straight over a short building, into the block beyond, and landing through the wall of another scraper. She was sealed by the shadows with in.

I took a breath and spun around.

CRACK!!

My body jolted.

I looked down.

The makeshift floor beneath me was cracking.

SMASH!!!

A circle tore away beneath me.

I fell down a story and landed hard on my butt.

I winced and stood up.

Something large, hairy, and green growled to the side of me.

I looked over.

SWOOOSH-SLASH!!!

Three bear claws ripped through the back of my apprentice outfit and ripped at my skin.

I let out a silent scream of pain and teetered over and straight into a metal pillar.

Trickling blood rivered down my back.

I winced and spun around.

A green changeling charged at me in bear form. Three red-stained claws flew at my face.

I ducked. CLANK!!!

Sparks and metal shards flew from the pillar.

I twirled to the side, held up Myrkblade, and jabbed forward.

The bear sidestepped, turned into a green lion, and bit its mouth over the blunt edge of the blade's tip.

I gritted my teeth and charged a pulse of murk up the length of my sword.

FLASH!!!

The jaws of the feline were forced open.

I jumped, landed on its furry back, and vaulted across the floor to a pile of lumber. I landed between wooden planks and looked for an avenue of escape.

There was a shrieking sound from behind.

I turned around.

A green velociraptor pounced down at me.

I fell to my rear, lifted my legs, and shoved the changeling over me.

He tumbled into a pile of wood, his scaly limbs flailing.

I got up and stumbled backwards, panting.

The dinosaur morphed into a gorilla and charged at me, arms flailing as it roared.

My arm bumped into a two-by-four. I gritted my teeth, picked up the plank, and swung it heavily into the rushing mammal's face.

SMASH!!!

Splinters flew.

The gorilla growled and clutched his head. He soon turned into a green elf.

I panted, glaring through my goggles.

Slowly, Beast Boy lowered his hands and frowned at me. His little nose was bleeding.

"Are you enjoying this, Wyldecarde??" he sneered. "This perfect irony??"

How was I to respond? If I showed compassion, we'd get nowhere. We'd still be in this building. He'd still be at risk with the carbonite.

But if I egged him on……

I smirked and saluted.

The green elf shook. He let out an angry yell and charged at me. At the end of his run, his swinging fist turned into a handful of bear claws.

I leapt over him and batted him off with the blunt of my sword. I pushed him towards the edge with my weapon.

The bear turned back into the elf. "I can't believe I once cried over you…," he fumed. "I can't believe I ONCE CRIED OVER YOU!!!"

I glared and backed him up more with the tip of my blade.

"I worried for your life…," he grumbled, backstepping. "I even saved you once or twice!! And at Westhaven. Besides the Lake. I sobbed because you….you reminded me of how hurt I was when my parents died!! How helpless I felt!!" He stopped at the edge of the floor. We were so close. He shook his fist. "Now I know what is the truth. What you've done…Wyldecarde…it's worse than when my parents died…"

I took a deep breath and continued pointing Myrkblade at him.

"At least I knew that my parents were decent souls when they died….," he clinched his teeth. "But thanks to you…I now know what's it like to embrace helplessness. Cuz so help me, I'm helpless to save your treacherous life right now!! RrrrrrRRRRAAAAAUGHHH-ROWWWWWWWHHHHRRRRR!!!!"

I backed up as the changeling's scream morphed and he turned into a gigantic, hulking T-Rex. Jaws brimmed with glistening teeth snapped at me. I jumped back. The dinosaur's green snout smashed through piles of lumber, dented metal pillars, and slashed apart construction equipment as he stomped after me. I leapt over splinter and shard and shower of sparks in attempting to avoid the snapping teeth. At one point, my foot got entangled in extension cord from an electric light. I tripped hard to the floor. I spun around. The jaws clamped down on me. I clenched my teeth and held Myrkblade out lengthwise. CLANK!!! The teeth caught on the hilt and tip of the blade. I struggled. Dinosaur saliva cascaded down and wet my torso. I looked to my right. I spotted the electric light. I picked it up, thrust it into the mouth, and touched the hot, glowing bulb to the dinosaur's twitching tongue. Steam rose from the burn.

The dinosaur roared and let go. My sword dropped down onto me.

The changeling spun around and turned back into Beast Boy, clutching his mouth. I jumped to my feet, inhaled, and blurred towards the Titan.

The elf turned around and glanced at me with bug-eyes at the last second.

WHAM!!!!

I hooked my free arm around him. Together we blurred the distance between the center of the floor and the edge of the scraper. Just a foot and a half before we sailed over the side, I clinched my teeth and stuck Myrkblade into the makeshift floor.

CLANK!!

I gripped hard to my hilt, yanked on it, and spun around in two circles before letting go of Beast Boy completely.

The Titan's body went flying clear out into open air. In mid-fall, he turned into a stegosaurus and smashed through two floors of a nearby apartment building before careening dizzily to the streets below in the form of some heavy animal.

I panted. I yanked Myrkblade out and clutched the blood scratches on my back. I winced and hobbled towards the elevator shaft.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Jinx perched on the floor above me. She watched—panting—as both Starfire and Beast Boy were tossed far away from the scraper. She cupped a fair hand over her ear and spoke.

"I can't catch up to him!! He keeps fighting the Titans and throwing them off!! If I attack him, they'll see me and the Third Apprentice will no longer be a secret!!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Slade scratched the chin of his helmet with gloved fingers.

"What should I do, Master? I-If I wait around too long…there won't be any Titans left in the tower for the carbonite to come close to…much less infect!!"

"…….," Slade stared out the circular window of the frigate onto the starlit waters of some mysterious sea.

"Master??"

"Blow it up…."

The voice on the other side of the communication gasped.

"But Slade---!""

"Blow it up, Jinx…," he said firmly. "The three Titans left are the most dangerous. It will be unfortunate that I can't simultaneous infect all of them at once, but I'll settle for all I can at the given moment. The explosion of the carbonite should sufficiently spread carbonite emissions throughout the body of the Tower. The nanoprobes will find their hosts yet."

"Understood!! I'm on it!!"

"Fate is a fickle mistress indeed…."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

As I reached an elevator, something blue and glowing suddenly rose up before me.

I came to a limping stop. The eyebrows above my goggles raised.

Cyborg came into view…and so did his laser rifle.

"Tenth floor," he smirked evilly. "Appliances, lingerie, and kicked ass!!"

ZAAAAAP!!!!

A blue stream of blinding light thrust into my chest.

I was blown back clear across the floor and slammed into a pile of lumber that splintered around me and showered splinters around my tumbling body.

I literally smoked as I winced and sat up. I shook my head…and gasped.

Where was Myrkblade??

I was surrounded by shattered sticks, two-by-fours, and planks. Before I could start digging frantically through them to find my blade---

"RRRRAAAAAUGH!!" a titanium mountain of a hero smashed his way through with swinging fists.

I dove forward and rolled out of the way of his charge.

Cyborg whipped his hand into a laser rifle again and blasted down at me.

ZAAAP!!!

I leapt up from a fresh crater in the floor.

He fired again.

ZAAAAAP!!

I teleported forward, ducked his blast, and ran full force into his chest.

CLANG!!!!

My tackle stopped instantly.

"Nice try, shithead."

He gripped me by the metal mesh collar and tossed me into the ceiling.

WHAM!!!

I struck it, then came falling down.

WHAP!!!

I hit the floor hard.

Breath escaped my lungs.

Cyborg stomped over and hoisted me up by the back of my neck. "You know….," he muttered to the back of my ears. "After my Uncle went through what he did…I realized I had only one family left. And that family—I was concerned—consisted of those I fought alongside with. But I realize now that I was wrong." He reached into a compartment in his arm and pulled out handcuffs. "Family is not the people you fight alongside with….but people who fight for you." He positioned my arms firmly behind my back and together, wrist-to-wrist. "You never fought for me, Wyldecarde. Yes…you fought alongside me. But I realize now that it was all a guise. All a ruse to distract me from the fact that you could care less about me or what happened in my future. Whatever you fought for, it was merely to fool me long enough to hurt me really bad." He handcuffed me and locked the manacles tight. "You were willing to take away the last 'family' I have left. And I just won't settle for that…"

I panted, handcuffed. Sweat ran down my brow and trailed over my goggles.

He leaned over, frowning. "Forgive me if this sounds contemptuous….but….'what have you got to say for yourself'?"

I took a deep breath.

SWOOOOOSH!!

I teleported backwards, through his body, materialized in the air, and kicked him swiftly in the back.

CLANK!!

He stumbled forward into empty floor.

I landed, blurred my hands into smoke, and let the handcuffs drop. I kicked the cuffs back up with a reverse heel, grabbed them, and flung them straight forward.

Cyborg spun around.

SMACK!!!

The manacles struck him hard in the human side of his face. He clutched his nose.

I ran at him and tackled with a blur of murk this time.

WHUMP!!!!

We both went sliding towards the edge of the floor.

But before either of us could fall over, he yelled, grabbed my bruised shoulder, and swung me mightily towards the open air.

I flew towards the edge, gasping. I saw a miniature crane clamped over the side. I reached a hand out, grabbed the pulley system, and held on tight as I spun completely around on the creaking metal crane and flew at Cyborg.

He swung a fist at me.

I blurred and leapt off his fist and vaulted forward in a flip towards the pile of splinters. In mid-fall, I caught sight of the mahogany beam that was Myrkblade and sailed down at it. I gripped it, slid through a thin sea of wooden fragments, and spun to face Cyborg from afar.

Chu-Chting!!

ZAAAAAAAAAP!!!!!!

A steady beam of blue energy soared at me.

I gritted my teeth and held Myrkblade up vertically in front of me.

FLASH!!!!!

The blue stream split mere inches in front of my face as my murking sword cut the laser in half as it kept barreling at me with warbling destruction. My body shook as I fought to hold the flimsy blade in the middle of the impregnable onslaught of blue.

Cyborg's face tensed as his rifle glowed more and he intensified the laser.

I was shoved back a bit as the thundering beam thickened and pulsed right before my figure.

I sweat. I trembled. I took a breath and summoned a wave of murk through my body.

Cyborg's red eye blinked.

I let out a silent scream, teleported into smoke, and trailed forward literally around Cyborg's laser beam in a spiral all the way across the distance to the android's converted arm. In smoke form, I sunk into his laser hand and materialized—bursting out with Myrkblade outstretched.

SMASH!!!

Sparks flew. The laser rifle went dead. I came down from my ghostly leap with Myrkblade in full swing.

CRACK!!!!

Cyborg's right hand shattered into tiny fragments.

He gasped.

I didn't care. He had plenty of spare limbs left. I gripped his shocked neck with two arms, tilted back, and vaulted him over me with a blur.

He flipped, tumbled to the side, and fell off. CL-CLANK!! He got entangled in the chains at the end of the miniature crane and dangled ten stories above the street before. He struggled. He looked up at me.

I took a deep breath. I whipped out a playing card.

He growled. "No, Wyldecarde. NOOOOO!!!"

SWIIIIIIISH!!!

The card flew and severed the neck of the crane halfway.

SLASH!!!

Cyborg fell, smacked off an extension of a metal beam, and went tumbling in through a window of an adjacent building—crashing safely into the interior and far away from the center of the half-constructed scraper he was once in.

I took a deep breath, spun around, and rushed up a stairwell back to the floor where the hovercraft still rested.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Jinx had made her way to the obelisk and was charging it with a hex of pink when she heard the smashing sound of Cyborg's fall resound through the nearby City blocks.

She gasped, but then snapped out of it. She sent waves of pink flying into the detonator.

On the display, red digital font popped up and counted down from '5:00 minutes'.

She sweatdropped. "No!! I don't want a countdown!! Explode now!! Explode now, damn you!!"

She pounded the obelisk with girlish fists.

The sound of blurred footsteps up the stairwell to her back echoed.

She gasped. She spun around and looked panickedly at the stairwell. A beat. She turned back and looked at the countdown: '4:52 minutes'.

"Screw it…," she muttered.

She jumped down to the floor and blurred out of the building in a pink streak.

I came up the stairwell. I took one look at the countdown timer on the carbonite detonator. I gasped.

I was about to blur towards it when--

FLASH!!

I couldn't move.

I blinked under my goggles.

I looked down.

My boots were encased in black energy.

FWOOSH!!!

I gasped as I was pivoted upside down and soared skyward by an invisible force. SMASH!!!

I plowed through the makeshift ceiling/floor above me and onto the twelfth floor.

SMASH!!!

The thirteenth floor.

SMASH!!!

The fourteenth.

SMASH!!!

SMASH!!!

SMASH!!!

My whole body racked with pain by the time I reached the summit of the half-constructed scraper. I was lifted off a dozen feet into the air, let go, and dropped hard to a wooden plank of a floor.

WHUMP!!!

I winced. Hobbled up to my feet.

As my pained eyes opened, I saw Raven floating ten feet in front of me over a series of naked, metal crossbeams. Her eyes glowed bright gray and her robe billowed. Her brow furrowed as she spoke in a haunting voice of echoes: "It ends here, Wyldecarde…."

I stood up to my feet, bruised and aching all over. I panted. My face was sheen with sweat.

"You've hurt all of my friends….," she exclaimed. "You've shown your true, dark self before the naked heavens. There will be no redemption for the likes of you."

I took a deep breath. I raised Myrkblade at ready.

"Did you seriously think you could fight the entire lot of us???" she exclaimed. "After trying to stab us in the back so mercilessly??"

I stared at her. The starlight silhouetted her coldly.

"I find it hard to believe that I ever once…..ever once………," she hesitated…then spat forth: "…ever once trusted you!"

I took a deep breath.

She went on. "You seemed so trusting…so mature so……so…..receptive……" Her lungs heaved. She bore her teeth as she frowned harder and her glowing eyes intensified. "It was all deceit!! A lie!! Like so many have lied and used me before!!!"

Black objects rose in the air. Metal beams, two-by-fours, saws, various construction equipment.

I glanced at them all. I took deep breaths. I gripped harder to Myrkblade.

"How unfortunate for you that the battle is now between you and me…," she hissed. "Unlike the other Titans you've pummeled, I know very well that there is a fate worse than death. Yours will be….oh so trivial. Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!!!"

The black-encased objects swarmed in on me.

I jumped into action.

I blurred across the wooden planks

I spun Myrkblade behind me.

I deflected off a buzz saw, a jackhammer, and a board of wood.

CLANK!! SMACK!! CRASH!!!

I spun Myrkblade in front of me.

I slashed and knocked away a toolbox, a metal bar, and a swarm of nuts and bolts.

CLASH!! SLASH!! CRACK!!

Raven flung her wrist outward.

A huge beam of metal flew at me.

I leapt over it, slid down a pillar, and landed on the crossbeams below Raven. I blurred across the spiderweb of steel.

Raven's teeth grit. She twisted both hands downward at me.

Rivets popped and started flying out from the beams underneath me like bullets.

CLANK!!! CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANK!! CL-CLANK!!!

I ran at full speed, panting, as the metal exploded in fountains of shards beneath me and sailed off into the air.

The entire upper floor of metal crossbeams crumpled and warped from Raven's punishment.

I leapt off a pillar, slid across a still-solid crossbeam, twirled Myrkblade, and leapt straight up at the dark girl.

Raven's eyes flashed.

Two black bird 'talons' morphed out of the pillars to either side of me and gripped my figure hard in mid air.

YANK!!

I struggled in the grasp of pure telekinesis. I glared through my goggles as the two 'talons' lifted me up and parallel to Raven's floating form.

"I should have known why Trigon picked your body when he jumped out of me….," she grumbled. "Your knack for evil. For treachery. Your….your…."

I glared at her.

Suddenly, Raven gasped. Her head tossed back.

My jaw dropped.

My eyebrows raised in sudden concern.

My frightened thought was cut short as the 'talons' squeezed harder around me. I wheezed and sputtered for breath as I was constricted from all sides. Slowly, the black energy encasing me was being laced with glowing red.

Raven's head tilted back, and her eyes were suddenly a glowing crimson. As hatred boiled uncontrollably over her turbulent spirit, her teeth sparked with grinding fangs and a hauntingly familiar, masculine voice slithered out of her mouth.

"I haven't forgotttttttten about you boyyyyyyy!!"

I gasped, sweating.

Raven's possessed face leaned in towards me. Hot breath seeped over me.

"I couldddddd care lesssss about fattttte!! For I am fate!! Raven's fatttttte!! I wanted you to hurttttt her!! I wanted you to tearrrrr her aparttttt!! So I filllllled her with fearrrr and doubtttt!! I knew itttttt would make her huntttttt you downnnn!! And it worked!!! I was shockkkkkkked to find out you were reallllllly a traittttttor!! But such irony doesn'ttttt matterrrrrrr!! Destroy my child, boyyyy!! Destroy her and free meeeeee!!!"

The talons of energy crept up and gripped at my throat. Pain coursed through my arteries. I clinched my teeth and shut my eyes tightly as I twitched in agony.

Red smoke poured out of the girl's mouth as Trigon bellowed:

"Ha ha ha ha ha!!! It is so apppppppropriate that youuuuu do it!!! It is so irrrrrrronic that you end herrrrrr life!!! For you were the one she trusted mossssssst!!!!"

I struggled for breath. My ears throbbed. And yet I listened…

"It was you she thoughttttttt of mossssst!!! And becausssssse of that weaknesssssss, you can sink your teeeeeeth in the most and SUCK ME OUT!!!!!"

I opened my eyes. A strong current of black smoke fountained down my face from under my goggles.

Trigon's red eyes widened across Raven's face. Fear….

It was too late.

Now it's demon versus demon, asshole.

I ripped Myrkblade up through the talons. Smoke and red energy fluttered through the air.

"AAAAAUGH!!!"

Snarling, I jabbed Myrkblade straight at the glowing eyes. Not at Raven—but rather at the manifestation of her father's spirit.

SWOOOSH—CLAMP!!!

Two extra talons of red closed in around the tip of my blade.

I pushed harder and harder against Trigon's defenses.

Red smoke pumped out of Raven's mouth as Trigon's voice panickedly uttered: "No….No!! You will not summon her!! You will NOT SUMMON HER!!"

I summoned her.

I closed my eyes.

Smoke warbled out from my hands, down the length of my blade, and thundered against Trigon's field.

"AAAAAUGH!!!"

Black smoke merged with red smoke.

The talons quivered.

The connection was made.

FLASH!!!!

Blue bolts of lightning.

Metal floors covered with blood.

Swishing blades of grass under thunderclouds.

FLASH!!!

Blue eyes.

Blonde hair.

Waking up.

A smile.

A scream.

SLASH!!!

Swords and fields and smoke and--

FLASH!!!

"NOOOO!!!!

She charged forward. A bolt of green. Wisps of blonde hair kicked in the breeze. Ana smiled and righteously swung a wooden katana up and across the cheek of a red wall.

Demon blood flew.

FLASH!!!!

"AAAAAAAAUGH!!!!"

Raven's body arched back in mid air. Streams of red light beamed out of her eyes and mouth, formed the image of a shrieking bird, and sailed back into her being.

WARBLE!!!!

The talons constricting me disappeared.

My eyes stopped spilling smoke as I gasped and fell. I perched agilely on the edge of a metal beam. I panted, swallowed, and looked up.

The red glow left Raven's eyes. The screaming voice of Trigon dwindled into the natural moan of the girl's voice as her cape stopped billowing, her hood fell loose, and her blue hair streamed….as she fell straight down through three stories of crossbeams.

I gasped. I stood up, flexed my muscles, and took a swan dive.

Black hair shook and whipped past my neck as I sailed down like a cruise missile, caught up with the dark girl, and hooked a protective arm around her waist. Together we plunged towards the stretch of floor below.

I twirled Myrkblade in a free hand, charged up a wave of smoking Destruction, and stretched the blade directly forward. It formed an obsidian arrowhead around the two of us as we met the floor.

SMASH!!!

And the next floor.

SMASH!!!!!

And the next…

SMASH!!!!!!!!

Like a hot knife through butter, I plowed us effortlessly down the same stories through which Raven had initially hurtled me upwards.

At one point, I jerked Myrkblade to the side and scraped the blade across the length of a pillar of metal.

SNKKKKKK!!!!!

The cutting impact slowed us down.

I hopped to the floor, panting, with Raven's draped across my arms.

She moaned and stirred slightly.

She was unconscious….

I took a deep breath. I looked off towards the edge of the floor. I looked at Raven.

Holding onto her tight, I ran straight towards the edge and leapt strongly.

The two of us flew in the air before landing on the rooftop of a ten story building on the other side.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Meanwhile…

On the eleventh floor of the half-constructed scraper…

The detonator of the obelisk read: '2:08 minutes'.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I set Raven down lightly and drew the robe over her head.

I sighed.

I slowly turned around to leap back to the scraper and see if I could either deactivate the explosion or take care of---

"HIIIIIIIYA!!!!"

WHAM!!!!

The Boy Wonder flew down in a jump kick that sent me tumbling back and landing with my rear to the side of the roof.

I shook my head and looked up.

Robin landed on his feet, ran at me, extended his staff, grit his teeth, and swung the weapon upside my face like a golf club.

WHACK!!

I literally somersaulted backwards from the blow and fell down the edge of the building. I jabbed Myrkblade into the wall blurring up past me and cut-grind to a hault.

WOOOOOSH!!

Robin vaulted over the side and kicked down at me.

WHAM!!!

I sailed across the elevated width of the street and smashed in through a window of an apartment building across the way.

SHATTTTER!!!

I tumbled to a painful stop amidst a sea of shards. I stirred and tried to get up.

Robin swung in, landed, and whacked me hard in the side with his staff.

WHACK!!

I flew into the wall.

WHAP!! I ached all over.

Robin lifted me up. I gasped.

He elbowed me hard in the chest.

WHUMP!!

I lost my breath.

He uppercutted me with a high kick of his boot.

WHACK!!

My teeth clattered as I teetered back from the impact.

Robin reached out a grappling hook, shot it across the length of the hallway, and retracted. He slid at me with the staff outstretched. It stabbed me deep in the gut as he forced me sliding across the entire hallway of the apartment complex and straight out a window on the other side.

SMASH!!!

My body spiraled in mid air and landed to a grinding halt on a five-story building beneath the apartment complex.

I tumbled and slid on the gravel. I then lay still. Silent.

THUMP!!

Robin landed five feet away from me.

He panted.

He gripped hard to his staff.

"Get up….," he muttered.

I was still. Silent.

"Get up and fight me…," he griped. "You know you want to. It's what you were hired to do. To torment us. To play games with us. To betray us…."

"….."

He paced around my grounded figure. "Get up and fight me, Wyldecarde. The game's revolved around the table. It's your turn to deal. Go on. Surprise me. Pull out a joker card."

"….."

Robin sighed. He whipped out a pair of handcuffs and sauntered over towards my side. "Might as well end it now—"

SWOOOOSH—SMACK!!!

My leg suddenly flew up and struck the Boy Wonder across the cheek.

Sweat and saliva flew.

I snarled, teleported up into a standing position, and rammed the hilt of Myrkblade into his chest.

WHUMP!!!

He bent over.

I kneed him in the face.

WHACK!!

I spun, and slapped the length of Myrkblade's blunt side against his ribcage.

SMACK! He teetered across the ceiling, spun, and slammed into the door of a stairwell all on his own. He slumped down to the floor, but caught himself on one knee. He glared at me through a thin eyemask of pain.

I looked at him…grew dizzy…and slumped down to my knee just the same.

He gripped hard to his staff.

I held tight to Myrkblade.

Slowly….simultaneously…we both stood up.

Bitter wind from the incoming cold front blew down and kicked at our figures. My black hair danced. Robin's yellow cape whipped.

I glared.

He glared.

Clouds covered the starlight from above.

Silence.

Then…

"I hate you….," he hissed in a shaking voice.

I took a deep breath, doing my best Wyldecarde frown.

He shook his head slowly. "I thought I hated Slade with all my might……b-but I was wrong. I hate you more, Noir. Because—unlike Slade—you were once my friend."

I took a deep breath. Robin could say what he wanted. He could vomit forth what he needed. But he didn't know that I had already won. In his attack, I had diverted him incalculably far from the half-constructed scraper. All I needed to do was get rid of him….

And in the case of Robin…that meant a final fight.

CHIIIING!!! I raised Myrkblade high.

SWOOOSH!! Robin held his staff up.

Dark clouds spread overhead.

We slowly….cautiously paced around each other. A dozen feet apart. Eyeing each other through hidden eyes. Masks and goggles. White and black. Black and white.

Two warriors….screw the Balance of Morals.

He charged.

I met his attack.

SWISH-SWISH--

SWOOOSH--

CLANK!!!

Our weapons met with a shower of sparks.

He shoved his weight against me.

I shoved my weight against his.

His weight turned out to be stronger.

I slid back.

He swung high with his staff.

I ducked. My long hair was knocked aside by his metal.

I jabbed low with Myrkblade.

Robin flipped over at me and stuck my legs out from under.

I fell to the ground and swept Myrkblade out.

THWUMP!!

Robin tripped. He landed on his rear, somersaulted backwards, and hopped in time to meet my thrust.

CLANK!!

He twirled to the side and jabbed at my ribs.

I jumped back and twirled Myrkblade in time to meet his lightning-rapid advance.

CL-CL-CL-CLANG!!!

I lifted a foot and kicked him back.

He slid up against an antenna.

I swung a horizontal slash.

Robin easily ducked.

SLASH!!!

Metal severed and fell to the floor.

Robin dove forward and tackled me.

The two of us tumbled through the gravel, somersaulted, and he ended up kicking me off and towards the edge of the building.

I skidded to a stop and flailed my arms. I was precariously balanced on the wall siding of the building. I spun around to face Robin again.

POW!!---SWOOOSH!!!

I gasped as a grappling hook wrapped around me and constricted my torso tightly with a tug.

Robin stood, holding onto his end with a gloved hand over the grappling hook launcher. He had me strung up…literally.

"It's over, Wyldecarde….," he glared. "Give up before I hurt you as badly as you've hurt my friends."

I frowned at him.

"NOW!!" the Boy Wonder shouted.

"……………..," I stared. "……….." I smiled.

Robin's eyebrows lifted.

I took a breath….and leapt backwards.

SWOOOOSH!!

I fell down the length of the building.

Robin gasped. He dropped his staff to the rooftop and gripped hard to the grappling hook launcher with two hands. He was not about to let go of his new adversary. In so doing, his boots skidded along through the gravel and he was soon yanked over the side with a cry.

Soon the two of us were plummeting down the buildingside to the dark alleyway below on both ends of the grappling hook. I wrangled my arms under the binding cord wrapped around me for control of Myrkblade. When I once again tightened my fingers around the hilt, I stabbed it deep into the building side flying past me.

SNKKKKKKKK!!!!!

In so doing, I came to a scraping stop with my feet planted against the wall and murking about two and a half stories up.

Robin sailed down at me, breathless.

I charged up murk, exploded it outward through my limbs, and broke the cord wrapped around me.

SNAP!!!

I reached a free hand out and hooked it around Robin's incoming waist.

WHUMP!!

"Oof!!!"

I then yanked out Myrkblade, pulsed smoke through my boots, and vaulted off the buildingside.

WOOOSH!!!

I backflipped and sailed face-first towards the alleyway floor with Robin in grip. An open garbage stumper full of cardboard flew up at us. I gritted my teeth and tossed Robin straight down into the mess.

"AAAAAAAAH—" THWUMP!!!!!

He landed safely as I teleported to the floor, inhaled, and blurred mightily down the alleyway and out into the night-shrouded City streets beyond.

Robin kicked his way out of the dumpster and fell out. Growling, he hopped to his feet and ran in vain after me. He dashed out into the street and shook his fist at the distant figure blurring off into oblivion.

"Damn you, Wyldecarde!!!! Damn you if I don't catch up to you myself one day and—"

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

A plume of fire, flying debris, and burning dust rose up suddenly in open sight of Robin.

He immediately gasped and stumbled backwards.

The half-constructed scraper erupted into a sky-high body of plasma.

A carbonite explosion….

Robin sweated and—in a panicked fury—reached to his belt and whipped out his communicator.

"Titans!! Titans!!" he shouted in desperation. "Report!! Where are you?! Is everyone okay?!?! Is anyone hurt?!?!"

"I am undamaged……," replied Starfire's weary voice. "I'm two buildings north of the explosion. Was anyone near it??"

"Not me…," Beast Boy wheezed. "Though I'm aching all over. I was fighting Wyldecarde when I got my ass shipped by air a block away!!"

"Same here!!" Cyborg's voice joined in. "Man…that thing nearly fried me!!"

"Ughhh…," Raven's voice moaned. "Wh-What happened? I've been out of it. Whoah……big fire over here. What's going on??"

"The carbonite must have gone off!! But……I-Is everyone okay?!"

"I am perfectly fine. And it seems nobody was near the blast."

"Robin, are you safe?"

"Y-Yeah…."

"It was another one of Slade's traps!!"

"Traps?!?! B.B.! None of us are fried!!"

"How come?!?!"

"Cuz none of us………n-none of us was there…"

"Have any of you seen where Wyldecarde went off to? I was in the middle of fighting him when I conked out. What am I doing on this rooftop??"

Robin panted. He was staring dazedly at the fire as sirens lit up throughout the City's atmosphere.

He listlessly spoke into the communicator: "Titans….," he uttered. "…were you all fighting Noir when you—somehow—got away from the building before it blew?"

"Yup."

"It would appear as such."

"Yeah…what's up with that?"

"Guys…what's going on? I'm confused."

"Well I'm not….," Robin swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "Wyldecarde just beat the living crap out of us…and yet…we're all alive and breathing right now."

"…………………"

"…………………"

"…………………"

"…………………"

Robin snapped out of it. "Titans!! Regroup on the Tower! On the double!! We've got a lot to talk about now…"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah, Cyborg…," Robin breathed. "I'm sure it's what every one of us is thinking right now…."