Shazaam! In a bright flash, static on a screen resolved to form a school crest on a big monitor. The field was hexagonal, black-and-white checkered within a gold border, and a large H superimposed on it in gold script. Across the bottom was a white banner bearing the letters "H.A.E.Y.P." Behind the crest, a square corridor could be seen, with yellow walls, ceiling, and floor marked in a honeycomb pattern.
"The HIVE Academy for Extraordinary Young People is proud to introduce…" A cool female voice began to narrate as a platform rose up into view in front of the crest, carrying three young individuals. One was a very short, bald boy in a forest green jumpsuit; a pair of goggles propped on his forehead, and assorted controls mounted at his chest and waist level. Behind the small boy was a very tall, beefy fellow with collar-length brown hair and a small beard; effectively the short boys complete opposite. The larger teens sleeveless shirt and pants were black, he had studded gold wristbands, and studded gold bands crossed his chest and ran around his shoulders. Off to the right of these two was a slim girl in an off the shoulder black dress trimmed with blue ruffles, black-and-blue striped stockings, and black platform boots with blue soles. Her pink hair was bound into two large horn-like tufts that stuck up above her ears and her catlike eyes were the same color. Her skin was an odd shade of light gray and she wore a small pendant that hung from a black ribbon that encircled her throat. "…this year's top graduates." The cool female voice continued as the three leapt from the platform; the big one and the girl dropped out of the frame as the camera zoomed in on the runt. "Gizmo-the boy genius whose intellect can conquer any problem with an inventive solution." As the voice spoke, the now named pint-sized boy pressed a button on his chest control; a pair of large steel wings sprouting from the pack on his back as he took flight. Laser cannons popped out from the wall panels and opened fire against him. The runt known as Gizmo easily avoided all the shots as he pushed another button on his chest; a small missile launcher came up between the wings on his pack and unleashed a salvo of projectiles that destroyed all the guns with remarkable efficiency. The young boy landed on the platform he and his classmates originally stood on, and then quickly glided away as two large white and black-trimmed robots stepped in from portals that opened up in the walls. The girl came into the frame and took his place when he left. "Jinx-the enchanting sorceress whose powerful hexes mean bad luck for her enemies." The voice stated as the girl extended her arms to both sides and performed a 360-degree twirl, throwing off a wave of energy that caused a couple of wall panels to fall away. She leapt high off the platform, and the panels crashed down on the robots' heads. Two other robots moved in during this sequence and met the same fate as the pinkette back flipped down the corridor a short distance. As three large laser cannons emerged from the recessed panels in the floor, the giant suddenly dropped into view and bent the barrel of one of them as if it were a piece of taffy. "And Mammoth-the genetically enhanced giant whose unstoppable strength speaks for itself." The woman spoke as the behemoth tore the cannon from its moorings and performed an Olympic-style hammer throw, slinging it away before the debris skidded down the hall and wrecked the other two cannons. A robot like the ones from before then caught the huge man in its hands, but Gizmo jumped onto its back and attached a small unit, which screwed itself down into the robots back, sending up a small puff of smoke. Sparks flew from the head of the robot as the small boy leapt away, having hotwired the thing out of commission. "Well-organized, highly trained, and combat-equipped…" The narrator said as Mammoth threw off the robot, which collapsed after the teen freed itself, and Gizmo landed in a crouch near the camera before running off again. Jinx ran towards Mammoth and sprung up just before reaching him; he caught one foot and boosted her into a series of flips that carried her down the corridor. "…these new HAEYP agents are the perfect fighting force." The female narrator said, pronouncing the acronym like the word "hype." Batteries of lasers emerged from behind the walls and released a salvo of bullets against the cat-eyed girl, who continued her gymnastic advance. Not one shot hit her, but the positioning of the turrets on opposite walls resulted in their blowing each other to bits by the time she reached the end of the gauntlet. Surveying the damage in triumph, the sorceress turned to face the front. "And for the right price…" Gizmo and Mammoth slid to both sides of her, "…this ideal team can be yours." The narrator finished, the screen giving way to static, which then resolved into the HIVE Academy's crest against a dark field.
A gray-haired woman stepped in front of the monitor, wearing a severe dark outfit with a hexagonal gold path on one sleeve. "Well, Mr. Slade?" The woman asked to a shadowy figure seated behind her.
The shadowy form stood behind a railing on a slightly elevated platform across the area, wisps of steam rising from the floor. Apparently, this had been some sort of highlight reel and sales pitch that the figure had just watched. "Impressive. Truly." The shadow, referred to as Slade, stated in a measured and calm tone. "However, robots and obstacle courses only prove so much." The figure led the mistress away from the screen and deeper into the machinery, the sound of their footsteps sounded throughout the room as they walked on a catwalk, "My plans demand operatives who can function in the real world. If your students are going to serve me…" They reached a darkened area with two spotlights shining down from above. The three graduates occupied one pool of light and the woman stepped into the other while Slade kept to the darkness, "…they'll have to pass one final test. Destroy the Teen Titans," he ordered as he turned his back to the group, "and then we'll talk."
The light on the trio went out, and the woman bowed before her light was extinguished as well. Only the outline of Slade's figure and his eye were visible as he was left alone.
"Ravager." The lone figure called out. When he did, another shadowy figure, much smaller and thinner in frame, dropped down behind him, the right eye being the only visible part of the shadow. "I have a special task for you." He said before the remaining light source switched off, bathing the entire area in complete darkness.
0-0
Such a beautiful day in Jump City: the weather was perfect at 86 degrees Fahrenheit, no humidity, and a slight breeze passed through to keep those who felt hot, cool. A beautiful and peaceful day…
"Aw, man, come on!" Of course, it's always lively at Titans Tower. Inside the common room, the sink and counter were piled high with dirty dishes, and the floor was strewn in garbage. "It's gotta be around here someplace!" Cyborg groaned as he looked around the living room for… something. Beast Boy, as a bloodhound, sniffed at some of the trash as the metallic man released another frustrated groan. "I don't believe this." Cyborg sighed as he hoisted the couch above his head and shook it in search of whatever had been lost. Along with the green hound and bionic teen, Raven was situated at the kitchen table, reading a book, completely ignoring the total disarray around her. "How could you lose the remote?" Cyborg asked in an annoyed tone as he placed the couch back on the floor.
Beast Boy turned back into his human form, "What makes you so sure I lost it?" He returned as he continued to rummage through some cabinets.
"Uh… 'cause you're you." Cyborg quipped flatly.
"Hey!" Beast Boy leaned over to face the taller teen, "Just because I lost that video game-"
"-and the toothpaste, and my football, and the waffle iron-" Cyborg added as he counted on his fingers. A sight gag showed the two against a red field with a thought cloud above their heads with each item mentioned passing by before disappearing from said cloud.
"Things disappear. How am I supposed to know where they go?" The green teen asked, the mind-numbing argument between the two caused Raven to lower her book. From her face, one could see the annoyance in her eyes, as well as a vein that started to throb in her temple.
"Well, how am I supposed to watch TV without a remote?" Cyborg inquired as he pointed to the screen on the window.
"Simple." Raven said icily, "You just get up and change the channel." She answered as she slammed her book shut and stood up from the table.
This answer caused the two squabbling boys to give her and each other a very long and puzzled look. "Don't even joke like that." Cyborg said back to the mage.
"I wasn't joking." She growled evenly.
"Good, 'cause it wasn't funny!" The larger teen yelled, "Now either help us look for the remote," Raven grimaced at the idea as an angry spark flew from her head, "or go back to your nasty old book and-"
"This is a pointless argument over a useless device. You are wasting your energy and disrupting my concentration." The blue-clad mage deadpanned as the doors behind her slid open.
The black-jacketed brunette walked in and saw the status of the living room, "Great. Beast Boy lost the remote again, didn't he?" Kylar sighed as he walked over to the fridge.
"Why is it always me?" Beast Boy cried as he slumped into a corner, Cyborg chuckling at the changelings' distress.
"Remember you borrowed one of my loofas because you 'misplaced' yours?" Kylar pulled out a single aluminum can, labeled soda, from the fridge. He glanced at it and saw a weird, blue, furry substance on it before flicking it off, "I still haven't gotten that brush back." He continued as he opened the can.
"It's not missing!" Beast Boy replied, "I don't lose everything I touch!"
"The waffle iron." The brunette stated evenly. The sound of shattering glass went off in Beast Boys' head as he fell to the floor. Kylar and Raven shook their heads at the green teen as he stood back up.
"I'm telling you, I didn't lose it!" The changeling cried as he pointed a finger at Cyborg, "You were the one watching TV last!" The sliding doors in the back of the room opened to admit Robin and Starfire.
"And that is the secret to travelling faster than light." Starfire said as she and Robin entered the room. The two of them turned and gasped when they noticed the condition of the room.
"So if you want to blame someone, look in the mirror, buddy!" Beast Boy growled.
"Whoa! Take it easy, Titans! Combat practice is this afternoon." The masked teen said, trying to ease the tense situation that was happening in the room.
"We must mend your dispute by the sharing of unhealthy junk foods. I shall fetch them." Starfire said as she and the Boy Wonder crossed the room to the kitchen, passing Raven and Kylar as they walked.
As the auburn-haired teen reached the fridge, the arguing of the two remote-searchers grew louder and louder. When she looked inside the fridge, she noticed a jumble of half-eaten leftovers, all covered with a thick layer of blue mold, giving the indication that the fridge had not been cleaned out in who knows how long. She looked to the top shelf and saw the growth on a wheel of cheese start to move and screech. "EEEEEEKKK!" Starfire shrieked as she threw a starbolt at the contents in the fridge, blowing up everything inside and splattering blue crud throughout the operations center, covering each Titan as a result.
"Maybe we should just go out for pizza." Robin offered as a bit of the furry blue mold slid off one of his spiky locks, the other Titans agreeing with a nod before darting out of the room.
0-0
At the heart of Jump City, after washing up and cleaning themselves, the Titans decided to have lunch at the pizza joint that was built at the intersection of two streets at an acute angle and had a second-story patio. The floor's coloring and the placement of the tables made the entire store look like a huge slice of pepperoni. The sound of four Titans arguing could be heard as inside the restaurant, the group was seated at a booth placed in the corner, having a semi-circular seating arrangement around a rounded table. Beast Boy was squatting on his stool instead of sitting as he argued over what should go on the pizza.
"Can we please just order something?" Raven asked in an annoyed tone as the arguing stopped for a brief moment.
"As long as it's vegetarian." Beast Boy pouted as he folded his arms in front of him.
"Come on, man, how can you deny me the all-meat experience?" Cyborg asked, as he looked the menu over.
"Dude, I've been most of those animals!" the changeling returned, offended at his teammates question.
"I suggest a large pizza with pickles, bananas, and mint frosting." Starfire suggested in her usual innocent and cheery tone.
Beast Boy shot the Tamaranean a repulsed look as he stuck his tongue out in disgust, Cyborg and Raven thought just as little of it as they looked over at her with wide-eyed expressions.
Robin leaned over to her, "Uh, Starfire? Not everything on the menu is a pizza topping." He explained.
"Oh!" She blushed over the gaffe she made.
The green and bionic teen continued arguing, "Double pepperoni!" Cyborg shouted.
"I'm not eating meat!" Beast Boy returned.
"There's no meat in pepperoni!"
Raven sighed at the idiocy happening in front of her. She turned her head to see Kylar a few feet from the table, talking to one of the waitresses. "Three medium pizzas please." She heard him say, "One vegetarian, one double pepperoni, and one just plain cheese with stuffed crust." He said as he handed the waitress three twenty-dollar bills. "And thanks for putting up with us. Keep the change." He finished with a smile. The waitress bowed before going behind the counter as the brunette returned to the table and took a seat next to her.
"Where'd you get the money?" Raven asked as she raised her left eyebrow.
"Working." Kylar replied with an innocent smile.
"You work?"
0-0
Outside the restaurant, someone watched the argument between the green and the metallic teens begin anew through a scanner, marking crosshairs on each of the Titan's heads. At the bottom of the view, the words "INITIATE MISSION" flashed red.
"Gizmo to Jinx." A childish voice said over a communicator, "Begin Phase One." The pink-haired charm caster was cupping her ear as the orders rang via hidden radio. With a nod, the cat-eyed girl carelessly tossed a hex bolt at a bus, causing the vehicle to roll downhill.
Back inside the pizza joint, the vehicle's horn blaring from down the street caused the Titans to stand up from the table, stopping their argument. The sound of a baby crying from ground level elicited a shocked gasp from Beast Boy as they all looked out the window to see a carriage in the crosswalk, directly in the way of the speeding bus.
"Titans! GO!" Robin shouted as the rest of the team immediately sprang into action. Starfire pushed the carriage out of the way while Cyborg and Kylar planted themselves in front of Raven, all three of them in the path of the vehicle. When the bus reached the two of them, both males pushed back against the front fender to slow it down, the brunette's arms and legs were engulfed in his aura to keep up in strength. However, the momentum of the vehicle was enough to cause Kylar and Cybrog's feet to grind against the pavement. Raven then summoned her magic to move the gearshift lever from Neutral to Park. The bus' tires screeched as it slowed into a tearing skid, finally stopping with only a foot or two to spare between the two males and the mage.
"Um… don't buses normally have drivers?" Cyborg asked as he glanced inside to find the vehicle was empty.
"And don't baby carriages normally have babies?" Robin asked as he peered into the carriage. Beast Boy and Starfire glanced at him as he pulled a dark green-furred teddy bear with light green eyes out, having taken the place of the typical occupant.
"Are you pit-sniffers normally this stupid?" a condescending voice suddenly asked from the bear before the head swiveled around and fired laser beams from its' eyes at the three Titans looking at it. The force of the impact projected Robin, Beast Boy, and Starfire screaming through the air into a nearby alleyway as a result, with smoke trailing behind them. Suddenly, the mode of mass transit tilted back onto its rear wheels, seemingly of its own volition. Cyborg, Kylar, and Raven looked up, completely flabbergasted as the shadow fell over them. They looked down and saw that a large brown-haired villain had seized the rear bumper and levered the vehicle into the air. As he brought it down on the trio, Kylar pushed his robotic and magical teammates out from under the bus at the last second, knocking them out of harms way.
"Ky!" the African and gray-skinned teens cried as they looked back at the bus. However, the sound of nasty laughter caught the teens' attention before they could move the bus. Behind them were the three teens hired to dispose of them: Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth.
"That was too easy." The midget cackled, "Now there's only two left."
Cyborg and Raven readied themselves to attack when Robin and Starfire emerged from the alley. "This isn't over!" The masked teen returned as he dusted some garbage off. Beast Boy jumped up next to them.
Without warning, the bus behind the metallic teen and mage blasted into the air and over a building. The team looked back to see a large pillar of purplish-black energy protruding from a hole in the ground. When the energy dissipated, they saw Kylar standing in the middle of it, arms emitting his signature power and eyes glowing pure white before his blue pupils were visible again, "Not by a long shot." The brunette growled as he walked to join his teammates.
"Who are these guys?" Beast Boy asked, tossing a banana peel off his head.
"We are the HIVE!" The midget known as Gizmo answered.
"You're worst nightmare!" The hulking teen known as Mammoth added.
"And this is Attack Pattern Alpha!" The pinkette known as Jinx finished.
After Jinx spoke, she and Mammoth charged the group while Gizmo's back transformed into a jet that carried him into the air. The midget fired a volley of laser shots at the alley, chipping loose large chunks of masonry so that they fell on the three teens.
Raven and Jinx engaged in a close-quarters spell-to-spell duel while Cyborg grappled with the enhanced, brown-haired Mammoth. Kylar shot off into the sky to chase the pint-sized mechanic. As the HIVE alumnus were being pushed down the street, Robin, Beast Boy, and Starfire freed themselves from the rockslide Gizmo set off.
"What do you call an idiot with a rocket on his back?" Mammoth asked, finally getting a grip on the metallic teen and holding him in place.
"Huh?"
"Doomed!" Gizmo cackled as he slapped a large gray rocket onto Cyborg's back. Clearing away, and touching a control, the midget ignited the rocket and sent the bionic Titan veering crazily over the buildings. Robin, Beast Boy, and Starfire watched from the alley as his yells of panic drifted down to them.
"Cyborg!" The orange-skinned teen shouted as she took off into the sky after him. However, once she got close, the rocket changed direction and gained speed as it carried the cyborg further and further from the fight. Starfire flew after it, resulting in her removal from the fight as well.
At the same time the pink-haired sorceress came at the mage with a jumping spin kick, only for her attack to miss when Raven ducked out of the way. Dodging two more strikes, the gray-skinned Titan counter with a backhand, only for it to get blocked easily. "You fight like a boy." Jinx smirked as Raven jumped away from her.
"And you're gonna croak like a frog!" The bald genius shouted from above. Raven looked up to see Gizmo balanced on four tall spider-like legs that came from his back and a small cannon over his shoulder. As he readied a blast, an arc of purplish-black energy sailed by and cut through the inventors' robotic legs, causing him to fall to the ground and disrupting his aim. "WHAAAA!" He cried as the blast went off, sailing over the mages' head and hitting Robin squarely in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Raven looked back and saw Kylar flying up to her, ball of aura in hand, and connecting with her opponents' torso, hurling the HIVE student away from them. The brunette shot her a smile before they both leapt back to dodge a rocket that exploded when it hit the ground.
"HAH!" Beast Boy howled as he rushed past the Boy Wonder and transformed into an elephant. However, his charge was stopped short when the sound of grunting caught his attention. The next thing the changeling knew, the big lummox of a man lifted him clean off his feet.
"Mammoth's gonna make you extinct!" the large teen laughed as he chucked the mammal at the mage and aura manipulator, the latter grabbing his teammate and flying off to the side as the green elephant changed back into its human form.
"Is it me, or are we getting our butts kicked?" Beast Boy asked after he skidded to a stop near his two comrades.
"It's just you." Raven and Kylar replied in unison.
"Listen up, team. I have a plan." Robin said as he helped the green teen to his feet. Before he could explain, two laser blasts caught Raven and Beast Boy in the chest and sent them flying, leaving the Boy Wonder and brunette to face the threat.
"Gee, scum-buffer." Gizmo taunted as the three HIVE students approached the duo, the midgets shoulder mounted laser leveling itself at the two Titans, "Sure hope your fancy plan includes getting fried!"
Kylar and Robin shot each other a look. With a nod, they turned to face the trio of villains, "You'll just have to find out the hard way." The masked teen said as he took up a fighting stance, holding one hand out with its back to their opponents, flicking his fingers towards himself. Without saying anything, Kylar engulfed his arms in aura as he assumed a fighting stance with his back to his friend.
The shoulder-mounted laser zeroed in and fired a shot at the street, a long crack opened in the asphalt ahead of the point of impact. Jinx leapt backwards and landed on her knees as she threw a spell that broke the fissure wider. With a final follow-up, Mammoth leapt in with a mighty yell and brought all his weight down on the fault line. The net effect of the three-way combo caused a very wide chasm to run straight down the middle of the road towards Kylar and Robin. Just as the road split beneath them, Kylar ignited his legs and hovered over the gap. However, the Boy Wonder wasn't as lucky as he quickly began falling.
"Sparrow!" Kylar called as he quickly dropped and grabbed his leader by the back of his belt. He began to pull the Boy Wonder out of the chasm, but was interrupted when a rocket flew at them and exploded in between them, causing the two to separate, the brunette skidding across the street, and Robin tumbling into the darkness beneath Jump City. When the dust cleared, Kylar only had Robins' belt in his hand.
"Robin!" Beast Boy cried out before falling to the ground and holding his knee.
Kylar stared at the belt with wide eyes, an empty look on his face as he processed what just happened. "Kylar!" He heard Raven's voice call out to him, snapping him back to reality.
Kylar stood up and turned to his teammates, "Raven, take Beast Boy and get out of hear! I'll cover you're escape!" He ordered before turning back to face the HIVE agents.
"We're not leaving you!" Beast Boy shouted as he tried to stand up, only to collapse onto the ground again.
"NOW!" With a hesitant nod, Raven threw the injured Titans' arm over her shoulder and took off into the air.
"Looks like there's only one left." Jinx taunted as she brought a finger up to her cheek.
"Yeah, but I'm the one to beat." Kylar stated evenly as he buckled Robins' belt around his waist, thankful that the belt stretched to fit. "So how do you want to do this, all at once? Or one at a time?" He asked as he surrounded is arms in purplish-black energy again.
"I'll handle this!" Mammoth smirked as he cracked his knuckles. With a roar, he leapt into the air and came down at the brunette with a double axe handle. Kylar quickly jumped back, dodging the attack with relative ease as the big lummox followed up with a flurry of punches.
"Wow. Ugly, stupid, and slow." Kylar taunted as he weaved through the oncoming attacks from the much larger enemy.
"I! AM! NOT! SLOW!" Mammoth shouted between punches, the black-jacketed brunette laughing at his response. As the two of them continued down the street, Kylar deflected one punch towards the ground, leaving the enhanced villain open to attack.
Quickly, Kylar performed a reverse heel kick that connected with the left side of Mammoth's face, causing him to whirl around. The aura manipulator then followed the attack by jumping towards the HIVE alumni, grabbing his head in a three-quarter-face lock, wrapping his left arm around the back of Mammoth's head, while the rest of his body was parallel to the ground.
Before the HIVE villain could comprehend what the Titan was doing, he found himself falling to the ground before his face slammed onto the pavement, creating a hole that his head was stuck in. Kylar could hear the villains' muffled grunts as he stood up and saw his opponent try to pry his head from the ground. "Don't move." The brunette threatened.
The next moment, a missile flew past his head and exploded when it came into contact with a building. Kylar turned to see the pink-haired sorceress throw hex bolts at him while the midget took flight. Surrounding his legs in aura, the brunette shot into the air to dodge the oncoming magic attacks and flew through the buildings of the city, Gizmo flying behind him in pursuit. The genius brought out his shoulder-mounted laser cannon and blasted at the brunette with a rapid-fire barrage. Kylar weaved through the blasts with such agility that none of the shots hit his body, however one managed to slightly singe the fluff on the hood of his jacket.
The brunette then turned sharply between two buildings, surprising Gizmo and causing him to fly past the opening. When he flew back to the gap, he couldn't find any trace of the Titan. "Where did that sludge-head go?" The bald boy asked as he hovered in place.
"Boo." The boy heard a voice say in his ear, scaring the ever-living crap out of him. With a shriek, Gizmo was about to shoot into the air, only for Kylar to grab his leg, holding the boy in place.
"Let me go, barf-brain!" Gizmo cried as he struggled against the brunette's grip.
"Quite the mouth you got." Kylar responded as he punched a hole in the midgets' backpack, ripping out wiring and causing the jets to turn off. He then grabbed the controller from the boys' hands, "Foul-mouthed children should be punished." Kylar said eerily as a sadistic grin grew on his face. The young genius screamed in fear as he wondered what the brunette was going to do to him.
0-0
Kylar tossed the short boy, now bound together by his controller cord with tape on his mouth, next to the larger teen with his head still in the pavement.
"Looks like there's only one left." Kylar said as he approached the final HIVE villain.
Jinx giggled a bit, "You're not bad, handsome." She said as she began walking around him, the two of them walking in a circle opposite to each other, "Why don't you come with us? You'd make a great villain."
Kylar grinned maliciously, "Oh, you have no idea." He said as his deep-blue eyes met her pink ones.
With a pout, Jinx tossed a hex bolt at the brunette, who formed a ball in his hand and threw it to counter. When the two projectiles connected, a cloud of smoke filled the area. Jinx leapt through the cloud and began attacking the brunette with a flurry of punches and kicks, her moves releasing a salvo of hexes in an attempt to hit him, only for each attack to miss as the Titan swerved through the assault. Coming around with a right hook, Jinx found her attack caught by Kylars' left palm. The brunette pulled her in close, bringing them face-to-face, "You know, gray happens to be my favorite color." He smirked as he lifted the girls' chin with his free hand.
The sorceress released a hex from inside the brunettes' palm at the comment, causing him to fly back a bit. Landing in a crouch, he noticed Mammoth and Gizmo had freed themselves and were charging towards him. 'Gotta get back to the Tower, make sure BB and Rae are all right.' The brunette thought as he straightened himself. "Well, Pinky, as much fun as this was, I guess this is where I say goodbye."
"You're not going anywhere!" The pink-eyed villainess shouted as she threw a hexbolt at him.
Quickly jumping out of the way, Kylar ran towards the charging boys of the HIVE, "Okay fatty, I'll give you one free shot!" He called out to the larger teen.
"Who're you calling fat!" Mammoth responded, bringing his right arm up as he balled his hand. When he got close enough to the brunette, he swung his fist straight into the Titans' chest; only for the attack to get blocked at the last second by his aura consumed arms.
Using the power of the punch as a springboard, Kylar used the momentum to enhance his initial flight speed as he zipped past the pink-haired girl, "Later!" He called out as he gave the trio a two-finger salute.
Jinx growled as steam emitted from her head, "He got away." Mammoth stated in a disappointed tone.
"I KNOW HE GOT AWAY!" Jinx hissed, causing Gizmo and Mammoth to cower in fear at her outburst. "But we still have the advantage," She began after cooling down, "After all," Jinx turned to her left, Titans Tower visible in the distance, "we know where they live."
0-0
On the ground floor of the Tower, the main entrance opened to admit Raven and Beast Boy, the latter limping and leaning against the former for support. The doors behind them shut as they continued walking down the entrance hall, both walls lined with armchairs.
"That didn't just happen." The green Titan said as the mage helped him into a chair, "Tell me that didn't just happen." He began rubbing his injured leg.
Raven knelt in front of her teammate as she held her hands near the injured leg, "It did happen. We cannot change the truth, no matter how much we dislike it." She said as her hands gave off a blue and white-trimmed energy, healing the changelings knee as the energy rolled into him.
"Who knew we had a doctor in the house?" Beast Boy asked with a smile, "Thanks."
"No problem." The mage returned as she stood up and dusted her robe off.
The sound of the main doors opening caught their attention. The two Titans traded a very nervous look before turning to see who entered; breathing a sigh of relief when they saw Cyborg and Starfire walk in with ear-to-ear smiles, the former no longer stuck with the rocket on his back.
"Maybe y'all should call me Flyborg." The African metallic man said to the orange alien as the doors closed behind them. "I was halfway to Vegas before Star zapped the thing off my back. So what'd I miss?" He asked as he turned to the other two Titans. The mage and changeling looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes. "Tell me how we kicked their butts. Come on, I gotta have the play-by-play." The cyborg eagerly said trying to get the details.
Starfire looked around the room with worry, "Where are Robin and Kylar?"
"Um, Star?" Beast Boy said hesitantly, getting the auburn-haired Titan's attention, "We're not sure."
"Not sure?" Starfire gaped, "Why are you not-"
"Kylar fought them to cover our escape." Raven explained, "And Robin… we don't know."
"How can you not know?" The orange-skinned Titan asked in disbelief, "He was with-" The sound of the metal doors opening caught her and the rest of the teams' attention. They all turned to see Kylar walk through he doors.
"Guys! You're all ok!" He sighed in relief as he approached his friends.
"Friend Kylar, what happened to Robin?" Starfire asked the brunette.
Kylar was hesitant with his answer as he looked away from his teammate, "I'm sorry Star, but this was all I could save." He replied as he unbuckled Robins' utility belt and held it to her.
Starfire gasped in horror while Cyborg clapped both of his hands to his forehead, "I shoulda been there." The bionic teen groaned, "I let that kid sneak up on me and-what was I-? It was a trap, and I-I shoulda known."
The auburn-haired alien shook her head before speaking, "I do not understand. How could you not save all of him?" Her voice rising as she leaned in towards the brunette, "People do not just vanish! He has to be someplace, so go there and look!" She pointed towards the door behind the aura manipulator.
Beast Boy quickly jumped in between the two taller Titans to keep things from getting ugly, "Easy, Star. Come on. This is Robin we're talking about." Beast Boy said, holding his hands up to her, "I'm sure he's fine. He'll probably turn up any second." The sound of the door mechanism kicking into gear one more time caught their attention again, "Awesome timing!"
"Robin!" Starfire cheered as she flew towards the door. Once she landed in front of it, she walked toward the threshold to see who had arrived. A moment later, the whole entrance disappeared in a mighty crash that threw her backwards, past the rest of team. The Titans' eyes went wide as they saw the HIVE team walking in as the dust cleared; Gizmo had fixed his mechanical spider legs and was using them to stand.
"Oh no." Beast Boy cried as Mammoth cracked his knuckles with a mischievous grin.
"Oh yes." Jinx returned with a smirk.
"You guys got lucky last time, but you're in our house now!" Cyborg growled as he and the other Titans got ready to fight, Kylar buckling Robins' belt around his waist again.
"Yeah, nice place." The bald midget chuckled as the trio advanced, "We'll take it!"
Quickly, the Titans jumped back to avoid an explosion from one of the cat-eyed sorceress' hexes, causing dust to fill the corridor. When the view cleared, Raven levitated chairs and sent them in the HIVE's direction, while Starfire tossed off some starbolts from overhead. Beast Boy tumbled across the floor before clambering away from laser shots fired from the whiz kid, leaving room for Cyborg and Kylar to offer suppressing fire.
"Split up!" The robotic Titan shouted, firing his cannon at the trio while the brunette chucked aura spheres.
As Raven flew to a landing on the stairs, with Starfire flying past her, she projected a couple of nearby fire extinguishers toward the brown-haired meathead. Unfortunately, the attack had no effect as he merely swatted them away as he charged the girls.
Inside a different hallway, Beast Boy and Kylar were dodging a volley of collapsing wall panels. Kylar looked to the side to see some debris about to fall on his green comrade and, without thinking, grabbed his arm and threw him forward. The collapsing panels missed the changeling, but the brunette wasn't so lucky as he fell through a hole when the debris fell on him. "Ky!" Beast Boy cried as he looked down the hole, preparing to jump after him. Before he jumped, a pink wave of energy flew past him, causing more of the Towers' architecture to fall from the ceiling. With a cry, the green teen transformed into a bobcat and leapt through the slabs of metal.
"Here, kitty, kitty." Jinx called out as she stepped unhurriedly after him, "What's the matter? Afraid of a little bad luck?" She taunted as she caused more panels to explode from the walls.
0-0
Inside the Tower gym, Raven and Starfire burst through the closed doors before slamming them shut again, hoping to keep their pursuer at bay for the time being. The auburn-haired alien fired a beam of her energy against the frame of the door, welding it shut. The two girls took a step back and traded a very nervous look, wondering whether the barricade would hold. It proved to be a moot point when the wall behind them blew out, throwing them to the floor. Looking back, they found Mammoth's head protruding from a fresh hole he just made by delivering a mother of a head-butt.
"Hello, ladies." The juggernaut said calmly before bursting through the wall with the rest of his body at the two females.
0-0
Kylar found himself buried beneath steel beams and pieces of rebar. Engulfing his arms and legs with aura, the brunette blasted the debris in front of him, creating an opening for him to walk out. Dusting his jacket as he looked around, he noticed he was in a dimly lit room with large crates stacked high and casting shadows around him.
"Great, the storage room…" He sighed as he looked up at the hole he fell through. 'I hope the others are okay.' He thought as he formed energy around his feet, readying himself to fly back through the hole. Before he took off, three projectiles whizzed past his head, hitting the crate behind him. First glancing at the crate, he saw three shurikens stuck in the wood, then looking in the direction they came from, he saw a figure in one of the shadows, the right eye being the only thing the brunette could discern clearly.
When the figure stepped into the light, Kylar saw a girl probably around his age wearing black leather armor around her forearms and chest that cut at her midriff, held up by gray trim around her shoulders. She wore black legging that connected with her black combat boots with gray trim, and a gray utility belt around her waist. He noticed the female also wore, what he thought was, pale blue mesh that covered her midriff and any other exposed part of her upper body such as her biceps, shoulders, and hands that really showed off her thin, womanly figure. The upper half of her face was covered by a dual-colored bandana that reached down to her nose and over her ears; orange on the right side, black on the left. Long white hair flowed from the back of her head while two katanas were held with straps on her back.
"No, don't tell me there're actually four of you." Kylar sighed in an annoyed tone, "Where were you when the first attack happened?" The girl didn't respond, she only drew her weapons as she walked closer and closer to the brunette, "Not much of a talker, huh? Fine, but you wouldn't challenge an unarmed opponent, would you?" He asked with an innocent grin as he closed his eyes. This seemed to cause the female to think for a moment as she stopped advancing. The next thing Kylar noticed was one of the katanas thrown next to him, protruding from the crate he was in front of, "I see you have more honor than your teammates." He said as he pulled the sword from its resting place with his right hand, "I prefer spears, but I guess this'll do." He replied as an evil grin stretched across his face. When the brunette removed the sword, he stuck his left hand out with its back to his opponent and flicked his fingers towards himself. The white-haired teen rushed him as he formed purplish-black aura around his arms, along with the sword in his hand.
0-0
Things on the bionic Titans side seemed to be going much better as he was actually chasing the genius runt through the halls. Gizmo was fleeing from the African teen by using his long metal legs to keep distance between them. As he passed a door, Gizmo opened it and quickly scurried in as the doors shut behind him. Cyborg peeked out from around a corner across the hall to scout the area, only to find no one there. When he got to the door Gizmo hid behind, the metallic teen opened it and peered in carefully before boldly stepping inside. Except for the light spilling from the hall, the room was completely dark. The blackness became total when the door slid shut without warning.
"Hey!" Cyborg shouted in response, however his attention was drawn to a wall of TV screens that came to life, every one showing a close-up of the bald runts' grinning visage.
"So, Tin Man, you got a heart under all that outdated crud-ware?" Gizmos' faces asked through all the screens. With a growl, the African teen turned his back to the wall, only to be greeted by a single giant screen, which also projected the midgets' face. "Not telling? Guess I'll have to take you apart and find out!"
At the last words, Cyborg heard the whirring of metal as he turned around and saw the whiz kid's spider legs carry him into the light cast from the screens and lower the runt steadily towards him.
0-0
Beast Boy was running for his life down an empty hall. Back in his human form, the green changeling had retreated into the higher floors of the tower. Rounding a corner of the hallway before looking behind him, he stopped to catch his breath when he saw no one in sight. "Lost her." He said through measured breaths. Unfortunately, the young Titan spoke too soon as a couple of pink waves of energy flew by his head and crashed into the ceiling above him. A panel swung loose and cracked him dead in the face, causing his head to rattle on his neck for a moment before collapsing to the ground.
"This just isn't your lucky day." The HIVE sorceress said as she approached him from behind. Beast Boy quickly sat up and rubbed his head before transforming into a tyrannosaurus rex. Jinx performed a few backflips to space herself from the dinosaur who roared with enough force to shake the entire building. When she landed, she stared at him with glowing pink eyes. Around the green reptile, a ring of pink fire flared up briefly and floated towards his head before disappearing. A loud crackling from the floor could be heard before the section beneath Beast Boy collapsed, causing the dinosaur to morph back into the green teen and scream as he dropped from sight.
0-0
The sound of steel striking steel could be heard as Kylar and the white-haired, armored teen clashed throughout the storage area. Neither fighter seemed to have a clear advantage as both seemed to be weary from the physical strain on their bodies. The dim lighting truly showing off each of their figures as the sparks generated from the clashing blades flashed light for but a brief second when they came together.
As the orange and black masked female swung at the Titan, Kylar jumped back and landed in a crouch, breathing heavily as a result of the fighting. "You're pretty good." He said through labored breaths, "I guess you're the ace in the hole for the team, right?" The white-haired girl didn't reply. Instead, she charged the black-jacketed teen and swung her sword down at him. Kylar blocked horizontally, keeping her standing in front of him. He could hear heavy breathing coming through her nose when she was near. Kicking her back, Kylar leapt into the air and formed aura around his right arm and the sword and slashed through the air, sending a blade of purplish-black energy at the girl. The girl landed in a crouch as she saw the energy coming at her. She quickly dove to the right before reaching into a pouch on her belt and throwing something at her opponent.
When the objects reached their target, they exploded in a large cloud of dust, blocking Kylars' line of sight. "Now you're using tricks? This keeps getting more and more fun." He said sarcastically as he saw the villainess' shadow leap through the smoke at him. He brought his blade up and blocked the horizontal swing she sent at him, pushing her back with his strength when she landed.
"WHAAAAAAA!" A voice cried out, causing Kylar to get a bit distracted as he looked in the direction he heard the noise.
Noticing his lack of focus, the armored teen quickly kicked her leg up at the brunettes' hand, knocking the sword out of his grip. Following with a kick to the stomach to knock him back, she grabbed the other sword before it hit the ground and continued her barrage of attacks on the Titan; swinging both swords at him as he tried desperately to dodge each swing.
Getting pushed back against the wall, Kylar ducked as she stabbed both swords into the wall, causing both of them to get stuck. He took this chance to form aura around his arms and hold them forward. With a yell, he released the energy and pushed his opponent back with a pulse that caused her to skid across the ground.
Kylar stood up and saw his opponent not moving when she came to a stop, "Looks like… I win…" He sighed through heavy breaths. 'Gotta find the others.' He thought as he finally caught his breath. Before he could leave, however, the sounds of pins hitting the ground reached his ears. He turned to see the white-haired girl standing again and throwing what looked like grenades at him. "Oh sh-" –KABOOM-
0-0
Elsewhere, a large circular hatchway was smashed off its hinges by a large metallic teen as he entered the storage area the door blocked, a large dust of smoke behind him as he walked. However, he was not alone as a bald midget walking on metal spider legs came out of the dust and approached him. Cyborg steadily retreated as his opponent came closer and closer. Gizmo swung one of his metal legs at the Titan when he was close enough, only for the bionic teen to catch the end with both hands.
"Gotcha!" Cyborg smirked as he pulled the runt closer to him. Gizmo only returned that smirk as he swung another metal leg at him. The Titan shifted his grip to free up one hand and catch the other leg as well, and with a good strong wrenching motion, he threw the little jerk off balance and sent him to the floor. When he hit, sparks flew from the central unit on his back before his metal legs were yanked free and then held aloft by the chuckling Titan as he pulled the backpack off.
"Let me go, you scuzz-muching zit!" Gizmo yelled angrily as he swung at the air in front of his opponent.
At the order, Cyborg put the small kid down as he crushed the device. The big guy tossed the remains aside like a candy wrapper as Gizmo ran off among the crates and boxes, "How you gonna fight me without your tech?" the African Titan taunted as he walked after him at a leisurely pace.
A small, shadowy figure passed in front of him, and he went after it. Cyborg seemed very pleased as he hoisted a panel from a crate and saw the bald runt beneath him, however that happy look quickly disappeared as he looked down in surprise at the sound of a crunch. "Huh?" On the floor, Cyborgs' foot came down on a flashlight-like unit and damaged it somewhat. Looking up again, he saw Gizmo's image grin and then flicker out, revealing it to be a hologram projection. The metallic Titan backed away cautiously, only for the real Gizmo to perch himself on his back and bring a screwdriver on his back. "Yo, what are you-"
The sound of a panel popping open cut him off as the gadget genius went to work on the circuitry underneath. "Get out of my systems! Nobody hacks my systems!" Cyborg cried through strained grunts as he ran back and forth against his will due to the hotwiring. Suddenly, he stopped running around and raised his right arm horizontally.
"Ooh, ejector arm. Cool!" The tiny hacker eagerly cheered as he tampered with more wiring. In the next second Cyborgs' arm shot off; hand, forearm, and half the upper arm.
"My arm!" The metallic teen cried as he watched his separated appendage roll uselessly away across the floor.
0-0
From the exterior of the Tower, one could see the building shake and bend as the fighting from each of the groups raged on. What could be heard next was the screaming from Cyborg as he flew off the roof as if shot from a cannon and falling down in the middle of Jump City Bay. Another set of yells and four more splashes marked the forcible eviction of Beast Boy, Kylar, Raven, and Starfire. Inside the Tower, the HIVE team could be seen looking out from the top-floor window of the operations center.
"Have a nice afterlife, you snot-eating losers!" The gadget-using midget called out as his pink-haired teammate threw a spell at the water in front of their defeated targets. The hex stirred up a huge tidal wave that left the five some completely motionless as they watched it come over them, eventually crashing down on them and sweeping them into the current. The HIVE operatives only smiled smugly before walking away from the window.
0-0
On the north side of Jump City Bay, two seagulls were perched on pilings next to a deserted rock that rose from the water. Kylar leapt out of the bay, carrying Raven bridal-style, and landed on the rock, causing the birds to fly away.
"Are you ok?" He asked, breathing heavily as he helped the mage stand.
"*Cough* *Cough* Yeah… I'm fine." She replied as she began wringing the water out of her cloak.
With a nod, Kylar dove back into the water. The next time he came out, he supported Starfire under her arm as he brought her to the rock. Then he brought Beast Boy out over his shoulder and placed him on the ground. Before he could dive back in for his last teammate, he saw Cyborg pulling himself out. He quickly ran over to pull the rest of him out of the water and threw the larger Titans' remaining arm over his shoulder.
"So, uh… who else never wants to go surfing again?" Beast Boy asked as he wrung some of the water out of his magenta and black jumpsuit.
"Not now, man." Cyborg replied in a really annoyed tone as he removed his arm from the brunette and sat on the ground. Kylar began shaking his head to get the water out of his hair.
"Hey, I was just trying to-" The green teen tried to defend himself, only for Raven to put a hand on his shoulder to cut him off.
Cyborg extended a small acetylene torch from his left forefinger as a panel on his left thigh opened to reveal a plethora of sparks and short circuits.
"Perhaps I could be of some assistance." Starfire said as she approached the damaged cyborg.
"I got it." He replied evenly as he sparks flew from his thigh as he brought the torch to the circuitry.
"But you are so damaged and-"
"I got it!" The African bionic rounded on her, causing the orange-skinned Titan to gasp.
"Hey! She only wanted to help!" Beast Boy yelled back in Starfire's defense, "What is your problem?"
Cyborg stood up and turned to face the shorter changeling, "What do you think?" He asked angrily as he leaned over his teammate, "We got kicked out of our house, a pint-sized Poindexter took me for a joyride, and in case you haven't noticed, I just became left-handed!" He gestured to his right nub.
"Enough!" Raven yelled, trying to ease the tension, "We need to control our emotions."
"Or what? Our bad vibes will keep you from meditating?" Cyborg returned.
"I wish Robin were here." Starfire sighed sadly.
"Well, he's not!" Cyborg yelled as he looked back to the large ruined T in the distance, "Don't you guys get it? They won, we lost. IT'S OVER!" He shouted as he walked to the edge of the rock.
At the bionic Titans words, the other four heroes slumped in defeat as they joined their fifth teammate in staring at their captured home. "Then… the Teen Titans are finished?" Beast Boy asked with a tone of despair in his voice.
Kylar glanced down at the green teen before looking behind them. "No, not yet." He said with a determined smile, earning him confused looks from the other four.
When they looked in the direction the brunette was looking, color them surprised when they saw none other than their spiky-haired leader standing before them, arms crossed, confident smile on his face, and cape waving in the breeze. Except for his missing belt, everything was in proper order.
"Not if I can help it." Robin said as he walked to his team.
With a smile, Kylar unbuckled the utility belt he had around his waist and tossed it to the masked teen, "I was wondering when you'd show up." He remarked as Robin caught his possession.
"Let's show them what true teamwork looks like." Robin said as he fastened the yellow belt around his waist.
0-0
The following evening, the new occupants started extensive renovations of the Tower, as follows. One, the vertical bar of the T had been extended. Two, the lights in one half of the crossbar top floor had been put out. Three, a second vertical portion had been built to join with the half that was still lit, reaching the same height as the central extension. The entire effect of the changes was to make the lighted Tower portions and new construction look like a giant H for HIVE, and the honeycomb pattern had been applied to the add-ons as well.
Inside the Tower, two small spherical robots whizzed across the wall in the Ops Center, holding an oval-shaped wooden plaque with Cyborg's detached right arm mounted on it like a fish. "Higher… a little to the left… a little more… and…" Gizmo was ordering the robots before he held both of his thumbs up, "…perfect!" He smiled cheekily as he looked at the mounting on the wall. "Slade's gonna have kittens when he hears we whipped the Titans and took their stinking Tower!" He cheered as he walked away.
Among him, inside the Main Operations Center, Mammoth was looking in the fridge in the kitchen, while the sliding doors opened to admit Jinx into the room. The pink-haired sorceress was holding Kylar's spear under her arm, his small, wooden music box in her hand, and one of Raven's spare cloaks over her arm. "Not to mention some of their interesting possessions," She commented as she opened the music box, the chiming of a tune filled the air when she did, "I can't say the same for their fashion, though." She said as she looked at the blue cloak.
"Tell me about it." The genetically enhanced giant said as he pulled out a moldy hamburger from the fridge, "Hmph. All their food is way out of date." This realization did not stop him from tossing said food into his mouth and swallowing it in one gulp.
"You think that stuff's rotten?" Gizmo said holding up a CD, "Wait 'til you see their music." He tossed the disk aside before continuing his review of the music in a case, "Crud… snot… mega-crud… snot…" He muttered between tosses of CDs.
At this moment, the middle finger of Cyborg's bionic arm pulled loose of the hand, remaining connected to it by two thin jointed armatures. It swiveled around to show a tiny camera lens inside, and with a brief change in focus, continued swiveling as it scanned the room. It fixed itself on the pink-haired HIVE operative, who had put on Raven's cloak. "Does she have anything that's not blue?" She asked as she inspected herself with a hand mirror, the spear she was holding now propped against the wall. Continuing its scan, the finger panned to see Mammoth gorging himself on the spoiled food in the fridge and Gizmo at the CD rack tossing disks he didn't like behind him before stopping its scan at one of the computer consoles.
The bionic armed hopped off the wall and scuttled across the ground when it landed, using its remaining fingers as its mode of transportation. Weaving between and around the HIVE operatives before stopping near one of the consoles, the arm jumped into the seat in front of the screen. Once it situated itself, thin tentacles flew out from the joint where the limb connected to the stump of Cyborg's natural arm. The extensions quickly went to work on the keyboard and pulled up schematics for the Tower on the screen as it tapped the keys. Piece by piece, the diagram went red. When the entire picture went red, the screen winked out and alarms and buzzers started to sound, accompanied by red flashing lights throughout the operations center.
Jinx gasped as she threw the cloak aside while Mammoth stood up from the fridge. All the cabinet doors in the kitchen started opening and closing at random. The next thing that surprised them was the CD rack ejecting disks, one right after the other, towards the bald runt at high speeds.
"Hey!" Gizmo cried as each disk flew past him. However, this was the only intelligible word he could utter before trailing off into surprised yells and losing his balance, causing him to tumble on the floor. He slid backwards as the rack continued its impression of a skeet-shooting target launcher. When he crawled back more, he bumped into the back of the chair in front of the console, which swiveled around to face him. He looked up to see Cyborgs' robotic arm glare at him from up on the chair, "What the hairball?" The mini gadget genius cried as tentacles shot forth from the arm and wrapped around his arms and legs. The bionic limb humped down from the chair and sped across the floor dragging one very surprised pipsqueak as he struggled to get free, and popped a couple of small jet thrusters out from its forearm. These ignited and carried it into the air as the hand balled into a fist as it aimed itself toward the ceiling and carried Gizmo with it.
Jinx and Mammoth could hear their teammates' cries grow weaker and weaker as he was dragged away through the tower to who knows where. However, they soon realized they were in trouble as well when a large shadowy hand reached down behind Jinx and seized her. The charm caster only had time for one startled cry before the hand receded into the ceiling and disappearing from sight, taking her with it.
The only one left was the muscular bruiser standing in the kitchen. He noticed the sliding doors opening and looked around the room nervously before he was caught by surprise by a pillar of purplish-black flames that slammed him against the ceiling. On his way down, a starbolt rocketed towards him and struck the big lug through the open door before closing behind him.
0-0
On the roof of the Tower, a large black raven emerged from the surface and rose into the air after dropping the pink-haired teen on her knees. Behind her, Cyborg's arm burst out of a vent pipe and carried the screaming midget higher and higher before veering back towards his classmate. Jinx gasped in shock while her eyes widened before Gizmo crashed into her, sending both rolling across the roof and the wooden music box flying away from her. Having released the tiny teen, the arm flew away, and the closed door of the stairs leading up to the roof slid open. With a green flash from inside, Mammoth flew out from the door, sliding across the roof before stopping where the other two HIVE agents were.
"Sorry to interrupt the victory celebration." The three villains heard a voice come from behind them. They turned around to see Robin and Kylar standing with their arms crossed, "But like I said, this isn't over." Robin finished.
Kylar picked up his music box that was at his feet, "Not by a long shot." He added as he put the trinket into his jacket pocket. The other Titans soon arrived to join the two, Cyborg reattaching his arm when it flew back to him.
"Attack Pattern Alpha!" Jinx ordered as the trio stood up. When she finished, Gizmo and Mammoth scattered while she threw a spell. The Titans scrambled to avoid the explosion caused when the hex struck the rooftop.
Beast Boy came down from his jump only to find Mammoth coming straight at him with his arms raised in a double axe handle. He jumped away again and turned into a hawk as the giant slammed his fists onto the roof, send a shockwave towards Cyborg. Jinx landed behind the metallic teen and vaulted high over his shoulders, hurling a spell down at him as she sailed through the air. The spell knocked out the base of a water tank and caused the whole thing to topple down towards him, only for him to dive out of the way just in time before a second tank collapsed nearby.
In midair, Starfire threw a few starbolts at the HIVE sorceress, who nimbly dodged them and ducked out of sight behind part of the new construction while the Tamaranean flew after her.
Cyborg stood up next to the debris of the tower and looked around himself a bit, realizing everything was clear around him. But that changed quickly when Gizmo jumped down from the fallen water tank and landed on his back.
"Hey, Robo-Wimp." The bald midget cackled as he pulled out a screwdriver, "Feel like getting hacked?"
"Nope. How 'bout you? Robin! Now!" Cyborg called out, confusing the tiny hacker on his back. In mid-leap, Robin threw a small device that attached itself to the machinery on the device on Gizmos' back, causing sparks to fly from it.
"Cut it out!" The runt yelled in pain and frustration, "It's gonna crash my whole system!" He ripped off his shoulder-mounted laser as he ran around the roof, "Get if off me! Get it off me!" As he continued scrambling about, Robin's device triggered the jet pack setting, igniting and carrying the poor kid high into the sky.
Inside the renovated enhancements to the tower, Jinx was running like made between the scaffolding to avoid getting fried by Starfire's continued bombardment.
"Beast Boy! Go!" The alien Titan called out when Jinx was in the perfect position under the scaffolding.
Crouching on an overhead girder, the green teen gave his friend a toothy grin and a two fingered salute before diving from his perch and transforming into a monkey that attached itself squarely on the face of the fleeing girl when she made it into a framework of pipes. Unable to see, the villainess fired spells in all directions in an attempt to get him off. Finally, she yanked him off her face and threw him across the roof.
"Your luck just ran out!" Beast Boy smirked when he reverted back to human form before touching down. Getting a running start, he became a hawk again and flew into the open sky, leaving a very puzzled pink-haired HIVE agent.
"Huh?" Was the only thing Jinx could mutter before creaks and groans from the pipework caught her attention. Looking around, she noticed, one by one, the of the pipes started popping as a result of getting hit by the spells she threw around carelessly. The sound of a nervous little shudder was all she could manage as the pipes began bursting and collapsing around her.
0-0
Back on the main roof, Mammoth was sprinting across the Tower as he advanced on Raven. He aimed a colossal punch at her, but missed as she flew into the air to avoid the attack, landing a good distance behind him. When he turned to charge again, Kylar rammed a shoulder into him, knocking him off balance. The brunette then followed the attack with jump kick that sent the enhanced giant skidding across the roof. Once he stopped and stood back up, he turned around to come face to face with Beast Boy… as a T-rex. One snarl was all it took to make the overgrown villain completely freak out and run for his life. As he ran, Starfire gathered all her strength for a starbolt and released it, hitting Mammoth dead center in the gut. The hit left the juggernaut spinning in the air as Robin and Kylar made a mad dash towards him. Kylar quickly pulled ahead before kneeling on the ground and Robin leapt from his back like a platform as he sent one mighty flying kick that connected with Mammoth's face, driving him back into Jinx. Soon after, Gizmo fell from the sky and landed on top of the big lummox, all three of them in a weary, groaning pile.
"Cram it." The kid cried as he pulled out a transmitter, "I'm calling Slade."
Robin grabbed the small midget by the collar, or at least the part of the jumpsuit around his collar, "Who is Slade?" The masked Titan demanded as he yanked him to eye level.
"Wouldn't you like to know, barf-brain?" Gizmo chuckled, the look on his face made it clear he was not going to answer.
0-0
Inside a darkened lair, the shadowy figure sat on a black throne, looking down at the HIVE's Headmistress as she approached.
"I assure you, such failures are not tolerated within the HIVE." The aging woman began, "Once the agents have been retrieved from the authorities, they will be disciplined." She socked her right fist into her left palm, "Strictly disciplined."
The figure stood from its throne and walked onto a platform that lowered itself to the Headmistress' level, "Actually, your agents served my plans quite well." The shadow said when it reached her, "I never expected them to succeed. They were merely messengers. And the message…" The shadow held up its left hand to reveal a transmitter similar to the one Gizmo carried, "…has been received."
Activating the transmitter, the monitor behind the Headmistress turned on and projected an image of Robin. "Who is Slade?" The image repeated over and over. Soon after, more and more images of different sizes slowly appeared around the previous image. That three-word question was repeated countless times by every image. If Slade's intent was to bring his name to the Titans' attention, then the HIVE crew certainly did meet his expectations.
With a bow, the HIVE Headmistress took her leave as the images of Robin began shutting off. No longer asking the question, one final projection of the Boy Wonder was the only source of light in the darkened lair, silhouetting the armored shadow as he stared at the image.
"Ravager. I'm glad you're back." The shadow said in a very calm and measured tone as a thinner and smaller shadow walked into the light cast by the screen. "Now tell me everything you learned on your little trip." With those words, the final screen shut off, casting the entire lair in complete darkness.
0-0
Things were back to normal for the Titans. They had retaken their home, the modifications made to the exterior of the Tower had been taken down, any damages caused by the fighting that occurred were quickly fixed and replaced thanks to the Justice League and Wayne Enterprises, and no one got seriously hurt. Perhaps now they could enjoy some peace and quiet…
"NOOOO! This is the worst thing that could ever happen!" Beast Boy cried with his hands on his head, ready to pull his green hair out, "My tunes! They've been… alphabetized!" He cringed at the word as he began tossing CDs around the Ops Center. Cyborg was hard at work looking high and low for something, much like he was a few days earlier. "How am I ever gonna find anything?" The green teen added as he continued rearranging his disks. Robin was standing behind the couch, watching the two as they scurried around the Common Room.
The doors to the room slid open as Raven entered, carrying the cloak Jinx 'borrowed.' "They went into my room. No one should ever go into my room." The mage hissed icily as her grip on the cloak tightened.
In the kitchen, Kylar was restocking the refrigerator with groceries he bought earlier. "Someone has disposed of all our blue furry food!" Starfire gasped as she looked into the fridge from behind her black-jacketed teammate.
Kylar chuckled a bit, "Don't worry, Star, we could always grow more if we wanted to." He said as he continued filling the fridge with non-moldy foods.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Cyborg groaned as he lifted the couch, "The whole place gets cleaned and I still can't find the-" A whistle from Robin stopped him short. He glanced back to see the Boy Wonder pointed down towards the couch. Looking in the direction he pointed, Cyborg saw what he had been searching for, the missing remote lying on the coffee table. "Ha!" The bionic Titan cheered as he dropped the couch and sat down on it with Robin as he began flipping through channels. "I guess we really oughta be training for battles, tracking down clues, and trying to figure out who Slade is, huh?" He asked as the other Titans gathered around the couch.
"Don't forget the mysterious fourth enemy that invaded the Tower." Kylar added as he hopped the back of the couch and took a seat next to the metallic teen.
"Yeah, that too." Cyborg said.
"We will. But right now, I'm just happy to be part of the team." Robin said with a smile.
With smiles and nods from the others, Robin continued scanning through channels as they all enjoyed the peace and some well earned rest.
"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team."
-Phil Jackson
Author's Notes:
Oh my god! Praise whatever divine powers exist that I got this done! I thought I'd never get it finished.
I'm so sorry this came out so late, I thought this would come out much earlier than whenever this is getting posted. Thank you all for waiting and I hope you find it entertaining and such.
Fun Fact: Did you know in the cartoon, Slade was voiced by Ron Perlman? For those who don't know, Ron Perlman does the "War never changes" Monologues in Fallout 3 and New Vegas. If you still don't know, he is probably most known for being Hellboy in the movies. If you still don't know, Ron Perlman is the leader biker in the show Sons of Anarchy. If you still don't know, then I can't help you. I'm sorry.
For those of you who come to the end and read the Author's Notes, I thank you so, so much, this story would be nothing without you, thank you for coming and reading it. For those who don't, I still thank you because, hopefully, you still read the chapter.
Don't forget to write a review if you want to, it would help me out... I think. If you have any suggestions or questions, PM me and let me know your thoughts, I'd love to hear them.
Also, I never read the comics, so I am going to need some help on some of the things the characters that only came from the comics would do. For example, Ravager, I don't know her mannerisms, so I just left her silent this chapter... I may have also shot myself in the foot by including her, but oh well.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I changed when Cyborg said Gotham to Vegas because I thought Jump was located in California, and Gotham in New Jersey. That's the main reason I changed it.
Again, thank you all for your support. Until next time, See You Space Cowboys.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the DC Universe nor do I own anything from Teen Titans. Any other references made in the chapter belong to their respective owners, again I own nothing.