When Titans Fall

Windshear and Brighteyes were secure, handcuffed, restrained, and something hastily put together to put over the latter's eyes. Red Robin left them in the custody of the JCPD; they would handle them from there. As for him, he needed to check in on how everyone else was doing.

Much of the area around the park, and in it, was clear, you could make out the bodies of the armed men that had hidden themselves in the crowd now littering the streets. Ah, over there, the masked teen could make out Beast Boy and Terra. Little flashes of yellow gave away Kid Flash's location.

Where was everyone else, though?

The booms of explosions drew his attention, and it took going down a nearby street, one that had also been full of people trying to attend the mayor's rally and was currently vacant of any sign of life, to find out anything. The signs of Raven's demonic powers being used and on a bit of a large scale for her had an alarm bell going off in his head.

From the rooftops, he made his way over to the clear signs of an ongoing fight. The teen vigilante recalled that this was also an area that Wonder Girl and Starfire had gravitated to. Arriving, he could see the clear signs of a battle happening. Due to the rally, there was a lack of cars and vehicles to toss around, so that limited the amount of damage that could be caused. But buildings missing all of their windows? Streetlights laying on the ground far from where they had originally stood? Damage to the fronts of buildings that were either spiderwebs of cracks or people shaped indents? For as empty as the street was, there was far more damage to this little section of the city than was normal.

Right there, Raven. She was crouching, her cape covering her body and thus blocking most of it from sight. A man was approaching her from her back. Even from up here, Red Robin could make out the black and orange that colored him. In his hands was a sword, double-edged and something that might have come out from a movie about knights and princesses.

No more time to take in anymore observations. Action was needed. Now.

The electric current ran through his cape as he leapt off the rooftop, the rocket boosters in his boots firing off to grant him speed. Air buffeted him as he made a beeline not for the man in black and orange, but for Raven herself. The team leader angled his body so that his right arm was closer to the street than his left. Hands removed themselves from the cape's hardened edges and reached outwards.

It may seem odd he was doing this way, but if that man tried to cut him down, his cape not only provided flight but defense as that sword would more than likely hit that instead of his much softer body.

Seconds ticked by, the world itself seemed to slow down while every action he took remained in real time. Raven's crouched body was drawing closer and closer, the man behind her as well as his sword raised up much like that of an executioner. Everything seemed to be coming to stop when Red Robin was inches away from his teammate, and then it lingered on that moment for longer than necessary.

Such moments always resumed its normal rate, which gave the perception that everything was speeding up both in time and in movement. Red Robin scooped up Raven into his outstretched arms, passed right in front of the sword-wielding man, and then was taking back up into the air, all of that occurring in less than two seconds of time.

There was a cry of pain from Raven, but better that than literally being cut down. He felt the blade edge of the sword scrap against his back which of course was protected by his hardened cape. There was scraping, and then it was over. The two Titans were now airborne even if his cape now felt a little off.

Once they were safe, he would figure out what that was about. Right now, he'd call this act of heroism a success, and let the others handle the situation.

Now this was getting aggravating. These particular Teen Titans knew how to cut it close. Interruptions and last second rescues both. Only at the last second had he become aware of the incoming Titan and so he had tried his best to permanently knock off the girl's mortal coil.

Deathstroke's sword had struck against a surface that was much harder than it had looked, and both of these Titans were now getting away. Through his only eye, the assassin watched the flight, took in some of its instability, and began to make calculations on how far they could get combined with body weight, wind conditions, and the rising altitude.

If they thought they were going to get away, they were sadly—

The world literally spun and Deathstroke found himself facing the opposite direction that the escaping Titans were heading. He was under attack, he realized, and practically reflexively he slashed his sword to his left. A yellow blur passed under the swinging blade, and a youthful voice declared "Limbo time!" before racing further down the street only to U-turn and return.

The speedster. Kid Flash. Another interruption, or could this be considered an interception? This was going to be one of the harder ones to handle.

The cyborg had durability and strength. He knew of the girl who could move the earth, but that fight hadn't occurred yet, but she would be a problem as well. The speedster was fast, superspeed, and so hitting him would pose a problem all of its own. These three were the ones he had identified as the most problematic, though now he figured he could add that girl, Raven, to that list as well.

Everyone else so far had remained within parameter. Even with the superspeed, so too did this yellow speedster. The assassin had prepared for this particular fight as he had all the others.

The blur became a thin teenager, one that was developing a runner's build and had taken to posing now that he wasn't running. Hands on the hips, slight arch to the back, and an eager smirk on the face radiated adolescent confidence.

"You know, you look familiar," the speedster remarked, no guard to be found whatsoever. When you could travel faster than the speed of sound, what need was there for any guard? Short-sighted is what that was. "Big guy, colorful costume, a mask, sword. You wouldn't happen to know Ravager, would you?"

The cavalier mention of his dead son really helped to sharpen his focus.

A hand reached to a holster and an automatic gun was pulled out. Deathstroke fired off several rounds, all of which predictably missed. The speedster would run off to another placement on the street, he would fire several more bullets, rinse and repeat.

Naturally, the speedster had a mouth on him. "Are you part of the same Facebook group?" Run out of the way of several bullets. "You send chat requests?" A couple more shots. "What do assassins gossip about in their time off?" Bullets ricochet off a still standing streetlight. "Is that like that one movie? What they call hamburgers in France?" Switch it up with a throwing dagger. "Why does a measurement system have to change the name of a hamburger anyway? Why not call it the same thing?" Within range now, a roundhouse kick which also missed. "Do you also talk about foot massages? Recommend anyone who knows how to give a good one." One more slash of the sword that only cut through the air. "C'mon! Don't keep it all to yourself!"

Every missed shot, every evaded attack, all of it continued to increase the speedster's cockiness. Every single one physically brought the speedster closer and closer to the assassin, as if the loudmouth was trying to see just how close he could get and still emerge unscathed. This put him within close range, and the killer tossed his gun aside to focus more on his bladework.

The speedster took this as a challenge. Slashes, slices, thrusts, and swings, the yellow-clad teenager deliberately placed himself within millimeters of the blade every time. If one were to observe close by, they would only see a cloud of yellow and red blurring in front of the assassin who did not cease in his attacks.

Deathstroke could keep this up for a while. Not forever, but just long enough. From the view his single eye allowed him, he sought out those small fraction of a second stops that the speedster did, reading the body language, and noting where the eyes were focused. You would think protective eyewear would be used by someone running at incredible high rates of speed, but was this boy so arrogant to forsake them? Done correctly. It would make identifying the alignment of the pupils harder. Shortsighted, but it made it easier for Deathstroke to observe that detail.

He wasn't some random punk on the street.

"You know, can you try something different? You not hitting me is not as fun as it was a second ago. Maybe mix it up? Gun and sword action? Maybe something explosive? That was you earlier, wasn't it? With all the booming and crashing and destruction of property? I'm starting to get bored here, ya know! Hmm, maybe I should—"

Another fraction of a stop, eyes were glancing upwards in thought, a nonverbal dare to just try something, anything, it was going to miss anyway but take your best shot. It meant the idiot wasn't looking down, and so the killer's right leg was not noticed as it curved first to the left then made a sharp right. The front curve that marked where his leg and foot connected acted like a hook as it came into contact with the speedster's left leg.

Push a little upwards and when the speedster began moving again—predictably—it was with balance disrupted.

"—whoa!"

The speedster pitched forward, arms going out to catch himself. A cartwheel followed and he was half-crouched now, all attention on that quick second maneuver. The Titan's head began to turn to face him, mouth already opening.

"That was—"

The flat side of the sword slammed into the loudmouth's face and now the speedster was on his back, dazed. Without waiting, Deathstroke resheathed the sword and pulled out the sawed-off shotgun he carried. It had been strapped to his back, blocked from sight by the pair of swords he had carried with him into this fight. The safety had been kept off deliberately, the first round preemptively pumped into the chamber. All that needed to be done now was to pull the trigger.

"Oh, that was—"

A fraction of a second to aim.

"—so not very—"

Trigger pulled. The boom of a shotgun blasted.

"—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Lowering the shotgun but not relaxing his grip on it either, Deathstroke marveled at the sight. The once fast-moving and word-a-second Titan was now screaming his lungs out. Then again, why would that be surprising?

Being kneecapped was a painful experience for everyone.

The left knee was a mess of blood, bone, and tissue. Nasty. The knee itself was a poorly constructed joint as it was, and anything that caused the slightest discomfort to it would produce a number of reactions. The reflexive kick when a doctor rapped the kneecap, the loss of balance if it bent in just the wrong angle, the wear and tear that took away the cartilage happened more rapidly with that joint than with any other. All this and more, and so when it was damaged, it was rare to have any recovery from it. You were going to remember that failure for the rest of your life.

Lucky for Flash Jr., the rest of his life was going to be very brief. The spent shotgun shell was ejected and a second one was loaded up. Not once did he take his eyes off of his target. Red gloved hands reached to the destroyed knee, close to touching but never quite doing it. Fingers were curled, daring to touch the blood and mess, yet chickened out at the last instant. Open for all to see, the injured Titan's eyes were wide with pain and agony.

This was how you beat a speedster. You didn't try to beat them at their own game, move faster than them or any such bullshit. You gave them something to think about, focus their attention solely on it, and create the moment of opportunity to strike. Everything they do was fast, but they were still people with the same weaknesses as everybody else. A distracted speedster was as vulnerable as a distracted nonspeedster.

The barrel of the shotgun aimed at the Titan's chest. One round there would decimate the bone and annihilate the heart. The head was another option, but he wanted to see the life fade from those eyes. The heart was as good a place to strike at as the brain; both ensured death.

Some might throw out a little quip here, one last taunt. No, get the job done and move on to the next one

The Titan looked up from his knee, made eye contact, and there was fear there. It was as if he too realized his number was up. The killer's trigger finger tensed, began to apply pressure…

A bird slammed into his arm at a high rate of speed, throwing off his aim just as the trigger was pulled. The shotgun blast fired not into flesh but asphalt. Bits and pieces of street were flung in all directions, and the wounded speedster used an arm to shield himself from the debris.

Deathstroke followed the bird, watched as it dropped and rose up in a humanoid form. Goddamnit, did these Titans have a talent for this? The timing for each and every interruption was beyond irritating at this point. How many of them would he have to go through before one was finally gutted?

Green eyes were staring him down, the Titan shapeshifter now the primary threat. Crouched voluntarily in contrast with the other Titans, a hand pressed down on the road, this boy could increase his threat level instantly, depending on what kind of animal he chose to become.

His research into this one indicated that there was a lack of imagination there, preferences for certain forms over others. This imbued a certain kind of predictability, that is if the assassin was able to apply the same strategy as he had with the speedster.

A man of his skill, it was perfectly doable.

The landing hadn't been textbook, but Red Robin figured he could work on it later. Right now, he needed to see to Raven. The cloak-wearing girl had given out a cry of pain when they had landed, which told him she had some kind of injury he hadn't seen yet.

Her arms were around her torso. Her explanation, "Slight miscalculation. I need time."

Time for what? And what was the miscalculation? Even now, still holding back. He would have said something then, but a loud piercing scream demanded his attention. A pair of binoculars were needed, but he was able to find the source and it involved Kid Flash on his back. Increase the magnification…oh damn.

"He's down," the teen vigilante said, lowering the binoculars. Beneath his mask, his eyes were wide.

"Who's down?" Raven demanded from where she crouched.

Swallowing, "Kid Flash. This guy has him down. His leg…"

Looked mangled. The binoculars did not filter adult content and that included grievous bodily injury. The fastest teen in the world was taken down and he was still under threat from this attacker, whoever he was. A sitting duck, something needed to be done.

Pulling out his communicator, he ordered, "Someone get to Kid Flash, now! Big trouble, no time to talk, just do it!"

It felt like he was barking that out, but this was not the kind of situation for being nice. Trust the rest of the team to respond. Wonder Girl, Cyborg, and Starfire would be his first choices to intervene. Now to get Kid Flash out of there without aggravating that injury.

Turning to Raven, "Do you think you can get Kid Flash out of there?" Normally, this would be a question he would be giving to the speedster; Kid Flash was very good at timely rescues.

"Depends," Raven grunted, shoulders heaving. "Do you also want me to get Wonder Girl?"

Red Robin frowned. Wonder Girl? Why would Raven also need to get her?

The empath felt his confusion and answered. "She too is having difficulty. I sensed that she was…her mind is not sound due to physical trauma. A concussion if her balance is any indication. He also handled Cyborg and Starfire, removed them from the area. I arrived in time to save Wonder Girl."

The masked teen felt his stomach sinking with each name she mentioned. Trying to piece it all together, how it all led to the present, and least of all who was left to respond. If Cass—Wonder Girl could regain enough of her senses, fight through what sounded like a head injury of some kind…but how did she get one in the first place if her armor would always respond to any kind of attack on her person?

Who…who was that man? How did he handle Cyborg and Starfire? Cause Raven to miscalculate—mangle Kid Flash's leg!

"Calm yourself, your wild thoughts are not helping the situation."

Right, right, no sense working himself into a panic. Okay, they had a deteriorating situation with an unknown enemy who was finding all sorts of ways to take them down. It didn't seem like keeping up the fight without having some kind of advantage or knowing anything about this man was going to be helpful or productive.

"We'll need to evacuate. Fall back to the Tower. Regroup and try to even the odds. Raven, can you—"

"Locate Kid Flash and Wonder Girl? Not a problem. Expending the energy to get them out? If I ignore my ribs long enough, then yes." A grimace marred her face. "Oh, and I sense Beast Boy. He's managed to show up."

Show up, meaning he answered Red Robin's call for help. "We'll have to trust him to last long enough to complete the evacuation. I'll try to locate where Cyborg and Starfire are and get them up to speed," the lead Titan said.

He didn't like this. It felt like giving up. Trying to fight what was quickly becoming a losing fight and with the kinds of injuries sustained? No. He wasn't Batman who could pull out a win from under his cape. He was Red Robin, leader of the Teen Titans and responsible. Getting them all out alive was the priority.

"Do what you need to do," was the command that the teenaged vigilante gave, his hand gripping tightly on his communicator.

Hopefully they wouldn't be too late.

The standoff was getting old. He had better things to do than wait for a green-skinned punk to grow a pair and do something. If the Titan wouldn't make the first move, then so be it.

Deathstroke tossed the shotgun to a side. The amount of time needed to reload it would be too long. A hand reached up, grabbed the handle of his sword, and unsheathed it. A nice ring came with that.

In response, the shapeshifter increased his mass, gained some fur, and the raw strength of a gorilla. Large simian hands pounded a leathery chest. Getting into character, hmm?

"I could use a new pelt," the assassin taunted, holding the sword out and in front of him. No better invitation for the beast to make a go.

The green gorilla gave a snarl and followed that up with a charge. Long and large arms would swing forward, knuckles dug into the pavement, and leathery feet pushed back so that the massive weight was carried. The primate leapt up, quite impressive since most humans couldn't compete with that height. Now large hands were balled with the arms swinging downwards and the assassin the target.

He could have held his sword up, threatened to skewer the shapeshifter and be done with it. That, however, was a massive mistake. That was several hundred pounds of mass falling towards him, and staying there even with a sure shot would only get him crushed in the process. Deathstroke rolled out of the way and the gorilla landed right where he had once stood.

Barely had he finished the roll that the killer kicked off with his feet, sword aloft and swinging. The gorilla head was turning slowly, almost at a snail's pace. The hit would come—wouldn't come. The Titan shifted and the speed of the shift was one that he had struggled to really calculate. Instantaneous was not a number; Fugate hadn't been as precise as he had claimed to be with this one.

Human eyes were looking back at him. Of all the animals to change into, the shapeshifter turned into a human. Said human form was stumbling back, showcasing an irritating amount of clumsiness complete with a landing of ass to ground. You might even say this was the boy's first time being attacked with a sword.

Deathstroke slashed downward at the changeling and once more there was another shift. Instead of something that might be impressive, the tail of a spider monkey wrapped around his lower arm. The tail tensed and flexed and then the rest of a small furry body was attaching itself to his face. Shrill shrieks blared and the assassin grabbed at the primate to yank it off.

As tempting it was to slice back, if he missed then his own blade would be penetrating his mask. Had to get the damn thing off and then do some slicing and dicing. Fingers managed to grip a thin torso and a harsh pull removed the monkey, flexible paws clawing at his hand. With his other hand, the assassin raised up his sword and readied to gut himself a Titan.

Another shift and he had his arms full with a wolf, one that pushed with powerful hindlegs and wrenched itself away from the killer. Claws scrapped against his armor but no real damage was done.

This was an improvement over a monkey. The canine growled at him, hackles raised. Deathstroke readied himself, tried to read the animal body language. The lowering of the front section of the wolf torso, the hindlegs seeming to lengthen, the bared teeth, the growl was meaningless so ignore that, the tail that kept low…

The pounce. Metal slashed and jaws bit down. The canine snout held closed and refused to let the blade's edge go any further. Hindlegs gave up ground as Deathstroke pushed back. He tried to wretch it out, but no luck. His leg raised up then swung, kicking the wolf in the side with enough force that the jaws let go and the beast tumbled away.

Back to human form now even if the Titans kept both hands and feet on asphalt. Green eyes glared up at him. Saliva spat out of the mouth.

"Dude, do you ever wash that thing? Yuck!"

Inane banter. Slice through it. Green eyes widened when that was made literal. Another shift as a falcon took off, gaining altitude. The killer answered that with another gun drawn out of a holster. Precision shots were fired, green feathers began to fall as they were clipped off the avian body. Enough were removed that an emergency landing was necessary.

To the shapeshifter's credit, he shifted to a bull next. Twin horns stampeded towards him at close range. A stupid mistake because bovine skulls handled bullets the same way a human's did. The barrel of his gun bull's eyed right between those large, round eyes.

Something small replaced the bull, the shapeshifter seemingly catching on just as he pulled the trigger. Another bullet missed and while Deathstroke wasn't able to identify what this latest form was, the tiger that suddenly appeared made that null and void.

A big cat's jaws clamped down on the gun and tore it out of his grasp. Meanwhile, the weight of that large feline tackled into him and he was knocked off his feet for the first time this day. A minor accomplishment there, but the Titan was too distracted at tearing away the gun that he paid no mind to the assassin striking the tiger's head with his other fist, one reinforced by the fact that he still held onto the handle of his sword.

The gun spat out of the tiger's mouth along with a snarl. Booted feet kicked up into the vulnerable stomach region, though when that didn't dislodge the green animal, the legs changed tactics to wrap themselves around the lower half of the feline. Another punch to the side of the head and then he was rolling them over.

Never straddled a tiger before, but he was always open to new experiences. Both hands grasped the handle of his sword and turned it so that its tip was pointed down. Arms raised up then forced downwards, stabbing the blade into the Titan's head—asphalt. Another damn shift at the last second!

A rabbit raced away from him, but like hell he would get far. A grenade, standard, unpin and throw. The long-eared rodent made a last ditch turn, but the force of the detonating incendiary device caught up to it quick enough. A small rabbit body went flying and when it landed, it was now back in the shape of a green-skinned human in a sleeveless red and white jumpsuit.

Getting to his feet, the assassin stalked his way over, regarding the shapeshifter carefully. Even if he had begun running, a simple shift would make the effort a waste. Pace yourself, make sure that every expenditure was rewarded. As he drew closer, he could see that the back of that jumpsuit had some tears in it. Green skin peeked through the holes.

The green changeling gave a groan as he pressed his hand to his head. Head injury? A slight concussion maybe. So long as it distracted the little nuisance long enough, he would get the first kill of the day.

The street under him buckled, Deathstroke almost lost his balance, but his mind was quick to recognize and take action. Without a second thought, he leapt back as a pillar of earth tore out of the asphalt, its placement between him and the shapeshifter.

Should have expected this by now. There was so far one Titan he hadn't encountered. Now the last of the big guns was here.

A slight girl with blonde hair and a brown costume, she stepped up to the green Titan though she glared the killer down all the while.

"You want a fight? You'll get one," she growled. Large rocks broke apart the street and levitated in the air around her, a yellow glow emitting from her eyes.

He was far past tired with this. No more interruptions. Both of those Titans would be dead before the sun set, mark his words.

None of these words were spoken and he put up his stance.

It was times like these that made Beast Boy admit that having pointed ears sucked. Yeah, they looked nice, made him stand out apart from having, you know, green skin, but they weren't just for looks. Sound was amplified by them so he could hear further and clearer than most people.

This also meant when something loud like, let's say for the sake of argument, a grenade goes off, then he hears it louder than most. Rabbit ears were even better so you better believe he was knocked off his socks. There was a constant ringing that wouldn't go away, even when he returned to his usual handsome self.

Pressing his hand to his face didn't seem to change much. His head was pounding now. Man, who would have thought you'd get a headache from one of those things.? Eventually, he was able to crack open his green eyes and get a look at what was happening. What he would see was Terra was standing between him and the latest bad guy to take a swing at them.

Large rocks were floating around the blonde geokinetic and they were flying now at this dual-colored asshole. The guy dodged, jumping pretty high up into the air like some kind of anime character. Terra's rocks smashed where he had once stood, but she wasn't about to give up so quickly. Smaller rocks were flying up and after the black and orange douchebag and there was no way he was going to dodge them.

The guy crossed his arms in front of him, curled his body to make himself a smaller target. The small rocks bombarded him, small jerks rocking the man's body. The street was rushing up to greet him, and then like a blur, the guy went on the attack. He ran through everything Terra was throwing at him—everything small that was—and in seconds had closed the distance between them.

That sword was slashing, but Terra was ready. A large enough rock shot out of the pavement and blocked the blade. Douche was already swinging the sword from another direction, but Terra had another rock block that too, this time knocking the sword back. The geokinetic continued to use these stones to parry and block every slash, only pulling away when one rock finally broke into pieces.

From a slash to a thrust, the would-be killer tried to skewer the first friend he had ever made—that he could remember. Terra twisted out of the way, one foot stomping on the asphalt. In response, she was propelled up into the air by a rather large rock, getting up high before she started falling back down to earth.

It was a deliberate fall, Beast Boy knew, as she could hold up tons of rocks in the air without breaking a swear for however long she wanted to. Nah, she was hoping to crash-land on top of this asshole, break some bones in his body so that he would stay down. Naturally, the guy moved out of the way so only the street took the impact.

The green shapeshifter was getting onto his knees now, careful as he continued to watch. If a chance came up, he was going to tag in and try to help Terra take this creep down.

Boulders were being flung about now, but each one had this masked killer twisting out of the way of each and every one of them. Terra was whipping her arms about, doing her best to try and hit him while keeping him far from her. Asshole was persistent, Beast Boy would give him that.

When he got too close, Terra brought up a pillar of earth right underneath the bad guy, launching him high up into the air. Two boulders were sent after him in pursuit, the geokinetic planning to clap them together with the man trapped between them. The guy must have realized what she was doing because he stretched his arms and legs out to slow the ascent. The boulders were rapidly approaching, and he then brought his limbs close to his body to start the fall.

Must have angled himself while he was at it. Beast Boy didn't understand how, but the bad guy reached the boulder to the right, or stage right, and ricocheted off it before the boulder on the left could close in. Rock slamming against rock was loud too, and the shapeshifter winced at the sound.

But wait! Bad guy was incoming from above and quickly too. Like a freaking missile. Terra kept her cool and tore that pillar of earth out, throwing it up to intercept. But damn it, the guy spun himself around and then ran alongside the length of the pillar, using it as a flying stepping stone to get a new angle for his descent. This was like ninja stuff!

Terra braced, waiting, not doing anything. What was she waiting for? That answer came when the orange of that mask that asshole wore became too clear to see, and a wall of rock broke through the street and rose up high enough that there was no way the bastard could avoid it.

Silence followed. Perhaps it had been rock shifting against rock that had blocked out the sound of impact, but so far there was no sign of any incoming attack. Maybe he was really hurt? Could they be that lucky? Beast Boy chose to believe, attempting to stand up on wobbly legs. Back up, that's what he was going to be. If the asshole tried anything, then he could jump right in.

From over the top of the rock wall, a grenade appeared. Seriously, how many did that guy have? Terra took care of it by slamming two rocks on either side of it, crushing the explosive and preventing it from going off.

As if on cue, the bad guy was coming around the wall, a hand gripping the edge of it as the would-be killer fulcrumed his way around it. Yeah, boots were still on the ground so this wasn't an up and over bit. Charging in, still holding that sword, and incoming, death might be heading Terra's way but she wasn't flinching.

A swipe of her hand brought up a cloud of earth-based particles, creating a smokescreen. The mighty earth-wielding Titan darted to her right while raising up another rock wall behind her. The attack came out of the smokescreen just in time to run into this newest wall. Bouncing off of it, the asshole would have to put some distance between himself and the geokinetic, but a third wall of rock rose up and now he was boxed in.

Only one way out and that was through Terra who stood at the entrance of this recently made corridor. Her body was blocking Beast Boy from sight, so now he could spring a surprise all the easier.

Now would have been time for a great quip. Something to let the asshole know just how screwed he was. Hell, the two boulders that she had thrown at him earlier were slowly coming back down, being aimed at the spot where the bad guy currently stood. He had to know, didn't he, that it was over.

An orange gloved hand was slipping something from the man's belt. It was plain to see, even with Terra blocking most of the man from his sharp-eyed sight. The boulders from above began to fall faster, the blonde Titan deciding not to take a chance. Dual-colored asshole threw his hand down, and a cloud of smoke erupted—some kind of toy similar to what Red Robin used when needing cover.

The cloud of smoke blocked the bad guy from sight just as the boulders crashed down, one, two, and done. The shapeshifter could feel the impact running up his legs and he was several feet away from ground zero!

That might have been a bit too hard, but if it stopped that guy…but they were going to need to get in there and check for him. No way could he have avoided that. Blocked in, the attack from above, and Terra was still standing with no injury to herself. He was caught under, had to be.

Then it hit him and the green-skinned Titan couldn't resist. "Hey, Terra! You rocked him like a hurricane!"

Looking over her shoulder, Terra gave him a smile. Ha, she liked the joke!

Out from her back, the wrong end of a sword with blood staining it ripped through Terra. Almost hulking, their attack stood to his full height which took the geokinetic off of her feet, legs now dangling. Terra was choking, gasping, choking and gasping, a sound that Beast Boy had never wanted to hear come from her and there they were.

"For what it's worth," a deep yet smooth voice spoke, a metal ring slightly distorting it, "you almost had me."

Jaw open, eyes wide, and body tense, it felt as if he was paralyzed. Everything happening in front of him felt as if it had frozen, keeping the agony he was feeling going on and on. The shapeshifter couldn't speak, couldn't even make a sound. Lungs seemed to forget how to breathe. Heart beats took an eternity. His voice…where was his voice?

Terra had hers, and it came out as some bastardized combination of a groan and a gurgle. An orange-gloved hand placed itself on a thin shoulder and that movement finally broke the spell that seemed to have fallen over Beast Boy.

From behind him, shadows rose and a head covered in a hood reared out of it. The edges of a cloak surrounded him, pulling around on either side of the shocked Titan. Just as Raven fell over him, transporting him away, Beast Boy screamed out a name before everything became dark.

The sight of Terra impaled was the last thing he saw.

Author's Note: So. That happened. Well, another reference to the comics was in this chapter, specifically Deathstroke kneecapping Kid Flash. It was the inciting event that caused Bart to end his time as Impulse and become the new Kid Flash.