'It had to be the sewers...' Logan thought.
The Titans, minus Robin, just crawled out of sewage after deactivating a 'fake' bomb and being shot by a bright red laser.
Slade eavesdropped on their conversations these past weeks, and he really wanted to get inside Robin's head... for something.
So while the others worried for Robins safety, he walked over to the ledge of a concrete path that overlooked the docks.
It was awkward... having a stranger know things about you and your friends. He did his best to reach out to his 'family,' all the while some creep was listening in on them. A creep that got his jollies on rubbing it in your face that he was there the whole time. It was a feeling that wouldn't go away, like the smell of sewage after a shower. No, the smell would go away, the feeling of being spied on wouldn't.
The others were talking about retrieving Robin, but their adventure in the sewers and tired postures were telling them to go home and rest.
So he turned to the rest of the team. They noticed he was about to talk, so they waited for him.
"I know you guys don't want to hear this, but we need to rest up. Slade WANTS Robin, he's not gonna do anything to hurt him. We'll rest, then head out to go find him." He looked to Cyborg. "Cy, I trust that you'll lead us during the search."
He turned and walked away. The others wanted to argue that they couldn't leave Robin behind. But they looked out to the city, and had no clue where too start. So they followed.
Logan sighed. All of them will have to stay level headed when they see Slade and Robin again.
And him... he was going to have to figure out how to get, whatever these things were, out of his and his families bodies.
-
As they made their way towards the tower, Logan used his powers and senses to get a feel of what exactly these things inside him were. A short time later, he knew that he had dozens of little 'machines' inside of him. They floated along in his blood stream, all throughout his body. He didn't know Jack about what they did, but he would reach out to Cy about them.
That was another thing. Their comms were bugged… were they still compromised? And the tower? Were there microphones there too, what about cameras? How deep had Slade made it inside their home? Making sure to isolate a portion of himself that had no machines, he placed Cyborg down after flying him to the tower.
The moment the team landed on the island, a snake slithered out from the collar of his suit. He had messages that needed to be made.
—-
The next morning, after a troubled sleep, four Titans stood in the common room. Before anyone spoke, Cyborg stepped forward and placed new communicators down on the coffee table. Logan smiled to him, 'Cy thought of the same thing.' While the two females of the team realized that Slade might be listening to them at this moment. They quickly removed their communicators and tossed them on the couch, then Cyborg began to collect all four of the old ones into a frequency blocking container. Then joined the other three.
"We're gonna head out and search for Robin." Logan said. They didn't know where to look, for all they knew, Slade could be anywhere. Or maybe he wasn't in Jump at all. But they had to do something. Logan looked from face to face in the final briefing.
"Keep a level head. Don't let anything surprise you. We're going to find Robin."
The others saw the seriousness on Logan's face after he gave that order.
They hesitated, but Cyborg finally took the lead.
"I put some locations in our new communicators that we can start looking for Robin. Message if you find anything. I'll message you all later… if we don't find him."
Then they left the tower in search of their leader.
—-
Starfire flew above the stadium of JCU. She had been distressed since the disappearance of friend Robin, friend Logan's odd behavior, and all the confusion that was Slade.
As she flew over the bleachers, she was joined in the air by a dove. A dove that sang and cooed to her. She was surprised that the bird was so close to her, as other birds often flew away believing her to be a predator.
The dove cooed and flew downward in a spiral between two classrooms. Where it landed to sing and dance. She remembered friend Logan's words.
'Don't let anything surprise you'
So she flew down to the classrooms under a roofed walkway. As her legs touched the ground, a small dog barked. Or tried to bark, since there was a paper in its mouth. The dog raced to her, and after she took the paper from it, it yipped and jumped. She looked down to the note.
'Slade has placed machines inside our bodies Star. I'm going to message Raven and Cy, to see what we can do to protect us. Act normal Star, we'll all be together again. I promise.'
-Logan
Although she was scared that something unknown was inside her, she smiled. Friend Logan would not let his family down, and neither would she.
—-
Cyborg read the note that he just received from a dog that jumped out of an alley he was cutting through.
"There's small machines inside our bodies Cy. I don't know what they are, or what they do. But we need to get them out of us. I don't know if they're trackers. Be we need to watch out if Slades watching us inside the tower or out in the city. I'll message Raven about a way for us to communicate without our tech. Stay safe Cy.'
-Logan
He had the same thoughts when he was programming their new communicators. He had been walking on pins and needles since Slade played those recordings of Logan. Despite the fear of unknown machines and being spied on, Cyborg shook his head. Logan was full of surprise's. There were sentient animals making communications for him. He definitely needed to hang out and pick his brain some more.
—-
'Slade put small machines inside our bodies. I don't know what they do, but we'll have Cyborg check on them later. But I want to ask you Raven. Is there a way we can talk as a team through your magic? Right now, we can't trust the tower, and we don't know if Slade is monitoring our patrols of the city. Please find a way we can communicate.'
-Logan
She saw the raven ruffle its feathers and the dog wag its tail. Logan was really something else. So she thought of her bedroom mirror, and made plans.
—-
Logan stood on top of a financial building on the Main Street of downtown. The sun was setting, and Cyborg gave the message to head back home after not finding Robin. They'd spent hours searching, only to come up with nothing. Logan stood with his back to a shipping warehouse in the distance.
He knew where they were at. He always knew where each Titan was. From the moment he laid eyes on each one of them, he knew they were precious to him. So HE bugged them. And Slade thought he could use microphones and camera to follow them. And now these machines in their bodies.
No matter what nook or cranny Slade tried to slip into, Logan would seep right into the depths with him.
—-
The Titans were gathered in the common room as the sun had just set. They looked at each other in defeat.
"We'll try again tomorrow…" Starfire said to the group. They all looked at her with determination.
"Yeah Starfire. Let's get some rest…" Cyborg said.
"I need to meditate…" Raven said and left to her room.
Logan stood in the living room alone. He looked out onto the city with its skyscrapers lit up. Now that the Titans were home and in bed, his instincts alerted him that Robin was on the move. No doubt being forced by Slade to do something. If the machines in their bodies were any indicator, they were being held hostage. So that was Slades game, huh? He still didn't know what Slade wanted in the end, but for now, he wanted a 'boy wonder' of his own…
—-
It was the middle of the night, when Logan felt a pull. Something was asking for permission for him to be led somewhere. He had stayed in the common room, and slowed his heartbeat, paranoid that these machines could tell Slade if he was awake or asleep. He was sitting on the couch, waiting to see what Raven could do, and now he felt her presence around him. So he calmed himself and let her pull him towards the direction of her room.
He 'awoke' in… a weird space world. He was on top of floating islands of rock with a starry night above him. He was taking the view in, when he felt the presence of the others. So he turned and saw Raven, Star and Cy. He smiled.
"You're amazing Raven." She fought back a blush.
"Friend Raven, where are we?" Starfire asked, also looking around the landscape.
"We're in my mind. When I went to meditate, I sent out my soul self to bring your consciousness into my mind." Raven said.
"You really are amazing." Cyborg said with a hopeful grin. She fought back a smile.
"Truly wonderous friend." Starfire followed with her own compliment.
Now Raven was smiling.
"Cy, you find anything." Logan asked, turning serious. So they all gave Cyborg their attention.
"I had some spare frequency reading equipment put away in my room. I was able to attach it to my bed before I called it a night. It had a search and categorize feature installed in it. It told me that the machines inside us are nanoscopic probes."
The others looked to him confused, but two understood what 'nano' meant. So Cyborg explained.
"They're little machines with antennas, they travel through our bodies, and they can receive instructions from Slade." Now they were worried even more.
"Can they do anything else, Cy?" Logan asked stepping forward in Ravens mind scape. Surprised at Logan's determination, he answered him.
"No… they're just traveling in our bloodstream. Attached to our red blood cells."
"Is there anything inside them other than the antennas? Are they flowing in a certain pattern? Can they read our vitals?" The others were thrown for a loop at Logan's questions. His seriousness and the look in his eyes. Right now, even though he wouldn't accept it, he was their 'leader.'
"No… just the antennas and small magnets that would let them bond with one another."
"If they're attached to our blood cells, and they can stick to each other…" Raven let her words hang in the air, and Star understood after Cyborg told her Slade can kill them whenever he wanted. The three shared a grim look.
But Logan looked relieved. Which confused them.
"Why do you look relieved, we've got death machines inside of us." Cy wanted to know what Logan was thinking. The girls also looked, waiting for an explanation.
"The antennas can ONLY receive a signal from Slade," Logan asked and waited. And after getting a confirmation from Cyborg continued, "I was afraid they were reading our vitals. Making sure they were actually inside of us, then sending those readings back to Slade." Still confused Cyborg responded.
"Slade can still ping us through the antennas, he can send a frequency and it'll bounce off of us and go back to him. He'll know where we are."
"He does know, because Robin stepped out in the city once we got to the tower."
"You know where friend Robin is?" Starfire asked excitedly. The other two looked at Logan in surprise.
"Those animals…" Raven spoke up, " we were scattered across the city, but we were approached by sentient animals that delivered a message from you." She looked to Starfire and Cyborg for confirmation. And the two nodded their heads before all eyes were on Logan.
"… Yes. I have animals that patrol the city. And they know where Robin is right now, but let's not focus on that." How could they not, after hearing something like that.
"So what about these 'nano' machines? Starfire asked.
"I have medical equipment that can filter our blood and remove them, but the procedure takes hours. And if the towers bugged, Slade will catch on that we know about the probes…" Cyborg asked worried.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of-"
Then they were all forcibly pulled from Ravens mind.
—-
AAAHHHHHH!
The titans screamed and hugged themselves as pain coursed through their bodies. The pain inside them dragged on for a few seconds until it stopped. They each dragged themselves to the common room, shaking and in sweat.
Slades had activated the probes.
The four Titans looked at one another, then, throwing caution to the wind Logan reassured the team.
"If Slade activated them, then it means Robins fighting back. So we're going to do the same for him."
The others nodded, not wanting to feel this pain again. But more importantly, to get Robin back.
—-
Robin looked at the camera feeds hidden throughout the tower, and watched as his team were tortured awake from their sleep.
He had already stolen a military micro chip, and a blaster weapon in just one night. It really showed the efficiency and teamwork that he and Slade shared. With him out on the field, and Slade behind the computers deactivating and falsifying the security defenses.
He had spoken out of line one too many times, then threw a punch at the villain.
He received a vicious beat down after that.
Then he surprised Slade with a combination assault that he'd perfected with Logan in the training room, landing a few blows to this monster.
And as a reward, Slade sent the signal that tortured his team… his friends.
Slade cut off the feed, with the Titans screams being the last thing Robin heard in the late night hours.
"You've had a long day apprentice. Go rest up. We start bright and early in the morning."
Defeated, Robin slowly made his way to the small room that Slade designated as his 'bedroom.' After changing into another suit, he walked over to the bed and lifted the sheet. There on his mattress, was a note.
'We know Robin, we'll see you soon.'
Then movement caught his eye, and he turned to see the tail end of a snake slither away.
—-
*knock* *knock*
"He's here! Answer the door!" They couldn't believe that a Titan had casually entered the police station. He literally walked through the front door and asked to speak with the police chief.
"H-Hello Mr. Logan. How are you this morning?" The officer behind the podium asked.
'Mr?'
Logan wanted to laugh.
"Good morning," he looked down to the officers badge, "Officer Smith. May I please speak with the Police Chief?"
"Of course. She was notified the moment you walked in the door" Then a side door opened and the Chief walked through. She looked at the Teen Titan, and walked over to shake his hand.
"Hello Mr. Logan, we weren't expecting a Titan to grace us at the office this morning."
"Well I came to discuss the safety of the city, we have a problem at the moment, and I'd like to ask for assistance." Turning serious, the Chief turned to Officer Smith, "make sure we are not bothered Martha."
Martha nodded as the Police Chief and Teen Titan Logan entered the private office.
She sat at her desk, gesturing to the other chair for Logan. He took a seat.
"What can we help you with?"
"Right now, we have an active criminal hiding in an underground bunker. This bunker is beneath the shipping warehouse on Sedan Drive and L Street." After a few clicks on her computer, The Chief swiveled her monitor to a map of the city, pointing directly where the warehouse was on the map. "Our plan is to enter the bunker, but we need a detailed layout of any basement floor or tunnels of the warehouse."
With complete seriousness, the phone was at her ear.
"Get me the emergency line for the office of JC Storage on L Street… Hello, this is Police Chief Samantha Gomez. I need to speak directly to the warehouse manager on site. This is an emergency."
—-
"Woah!" A man in a suit jumped back as a golden greyhound shot through the street, almost spilling his coffee. The dog raced through the streets, dodging pedestrians and motorists as it made its way to the pier that overlooked Titans Tower. The meeting place for today's showdown with Slade. In its mouth, a rolled newspaper with the detailed basement plans of the warehouse that were faxed and printed at the police station.
—-
The Titans chose to sleep in the common room for the remainder of the night. After waking, they put on a show of paranoia from the attack they just took hours earlier, although they were really paranoid. Cyborg stood up to address the others.
"Whatever that attack was, we have to stop it from happening again. We need to find Robin and Slade asap. We can't stay held up in the tower." His eyes shifted to Logan.
"Let's head out!"
—-
They just made it to the pier, when a greyhound leapt to them. It presented the newspaper to Logan, who took it and opened it to the printed papers inside. The team were really confused and awed at the display.
"What is the newspaper for, friend Logan?"
"Not the newspaper Star," he pulled out the papers and showed the rest of the team, "but the plans of the basement where Slade and Robin are." They were shocked.
"How did you get those?" Cyborg asked.
"I got them from the plant manager of the JC Storage, who sent them to the police station after I asked for them."
"But you were with us the entire time friend, how did you speak with the police?" Starfire asked.
"I'll tell you guys another time." He then headed to Raven "I need you, to look at the basement floor and underground tunnel beneath the warehouse." He handed her the papers. "Can you please teleport us to the lowest level in the tunnel? There, we can head further down into Slades base."
Raven looked down to the plans that showed the sub floor, basement, then tunnel that was built years ago in early Jump City. She looked up to Logan who had one of his smiles. The smile that told his family that he believed in them. He wasn't ordering her to teleport the team, he was asking. Nicely.
"What about the probes?" Logan then turned to the dog… or dogs.
""W-What the heck?!" Cyborg jumped, their attentions were away from the dog, only to find out it had multiplied at some point.
Starfire crouched down and began to scratch the heads of the dogs, whose tails began to wag excitedly.
"I'm really sorry about this…" Logan said.
Then the dogs leapt at the titans before biting them on their forearms. Or shoulder, in the case of Cyborg. The Titans yelped at the pain of sharp teeth that punctured into their skin, but the pain began to lessen. Then they started to feel woozy and lightheaded before falling.
They were coming to. They didn't know how much time passed, but the sun hadn't moved much in the sky. They looked around to see Logan sitting on a cement block. He had dragged them into a shaded area, away from prying eyes.
"What happened?" Cyborgs cybernetic eye reconnected with his human half, restoring his depth perception after he was knocked unconscious.
"I removed the probes from your bodies. When the dogs bit you, I released small organisms inside you that latched onto the probes and pulled them out of you from the bite wounds. You'll only be a little lightheaded, but you guys will recover."
The three were completely silent. They didn't know what to think about this turn of events. They believed they were charging into a battle with death machines in their bodies, all with the mindset that a madman was capable of killing them from miles away. Then after all of Logan's animal surprises, he goes and pulls the probes out of them in what… an hour?
"W-Where are the probes?" Cyborg asked.
*bark* *bark*
The four dogs lied on the floor looking at the Titans as they were getting up after their dizziness wore off. Cyborg shook his head in disbelief.
Raven had been looking down at herself after she had awoken from the floor. She felt this… energy. Like she had a well rested night. And like she had meditated before a good meal. She looked up to Logan, who gave her a sheepish grin.
"Since I bit you Raven… I-I mean the dog that bit you… I gave you extra calories and body chemicals that act like REM sleep. I wanted you to teleport us all the way across town and underground to a location off of a paper map. I didn't want to ask you such a big favor, then leave you drained and weaker before a fight with Slade."
Logan never stopped surprising you…
The dogs got up and scattered across the pier. Then they disappeared over the hills in all directions, to throw off the probes that would most likely be pinged by Slade.
It was still morning time, and she had enough surprises for today.
"… We're going to need a big dinner tonight."
The others smiled. She grabbed the plans from Logan, and recalled the warehouse on L street. Soon, she and the rest of the Teen Titans were consumed in a black ball. And then, they were gone.
—-
"Grr!" *HIT* *HIT* *HIT*
"A very good combination Robin. Your training with Logan has really improved you. But it's sad that you needed a friend to get this far. How far back would you be if you were left alone to your own training."
Robin snarled. He wanted to punch that mask right off his face. But the last hour proved he couldn't accomplish that. He turned sideways to the giant monitor that showed a map of the city. With four red dots flying around it.
"Worried about your friends? It's training time Robin, I'll give them a 'call' later."
BAM!
The wall to their side blew open with shrapnel flying everywhere and a sonic blast flew inches from Slade face, before he leapt back. They both turned to see the remaining Titans enter through the hole they made. Starfire with her starbolt energy coated fist that was the tool used to enter the base.
"We're already here… Robin tear off the pad under the emblem on your suit!" Cyborg yelled out.
Robin jumped to the side, to join his team. He ripped Slades 'S' off his chest, most likely the vital scanner he monitored and tracked Robin with.
"Guys? The probes, I thought-"
"Don't worry about it Robin," Logan interrupted him.
"My my. You just are full of surprises aren't you." Slade exited the shadows that he leapt to from Cyborgs attack. He turned to the giant monitor that still showed the 'Titans' searching the city. "Another one of your tricks Logan?"
He was upset that Logan didn't give him the time of day, he was still looking at Robin.
"Let's go Robin…"
There was silence. Everyone in the base except Logan was completely confused.
"What?" Robin asked. Shocked at his words.
"We should leave Robin... we won."
They won? They didn't win anything! They were all together and Slade was right in front of them.
"We can't leave! We have to stop him!" Cyborg yelled.
"What do you mean friend Logan? We must stop Slade, for he captured Robin and put our lives in danger." Starfire said.
Raven didn't say anything, she just looked surprised he would tell the team to leave.
"Why?" Robin asked
"Because he'll kill us."
Logan finally looked to Slade. "Because he's stronger than us, has more experience than us, and he has nothing to lose."
"I can't lose any of you, and I don't think you guys can risk one of us dying and walking away."
No one said anything.
"That's all I'll ask from the team today. If you want us to fight Robin... I'll fight. But if I can make sure you all get home safe, I'll always take that option."
No one said anything
Slade looked at Logan, "you must really love them."
"I do." Logan responded, not skipping a heartbeat.
"It'll hurt, when you lose them."
"Then I'll do everything I can to not lose them… Can we go Robin?"
Robin looked between Logan and Slade. At a complete loss how the hopelessness from his capture and teams risk of death, turned to this situation. Where they had the opportunity to fight and end Slade.
"Let's go home..." Robin said.
Slade didn't move. He continued to look at the Titans, before folding his arms behind his back. "Sorry for leaving my things around your tower. Please, feel free to throw them out." Then Slade took a step back into the shadows.
Logan didn't care if the others were mad at him, or if they were disappointed. This fight would be pointless, because Slade wouldn't be stopped. Not today...
And the others looked at the two in disbelief, but eventually they all headed out through the hole they just made.
Slade watched them leave. 'This Logan was an even bigger problem than he thought.'