INNER DEMONS

by The Mighty One

Chapter 44 has been completed! Blackfire struggles to claim her prize outside The Jump City Observatory. The elemental wielders of ice and earth, are evenly matched at Titans Tower; Raven formulates a strategy with Avatar and The Squadron heroes, as the contest for Cyborg, reaches an unpleasant dilemma of its own. Meanwhile, Falcon and Elizabeth make their move.

8. Dismayed

Disclaimer: By this means, I rightfully claim ownership to this fanfiction story and my original character within it, by my trademark signature T.M.O at the conclusion of every update. Any other characters that may appear in this work and are new, these are the rightful properties by their creators as well and cannot be reproduced, or duplicated without their individual consent. I do not own anything within the DC Universe, from Warner Brothers, or on Cartoon Network. The only original character and the name that I created for him; that I accept half ownership on is Falcon from this telling. Scififanfreak222 owns the second half of him as well, for drawing him upon a collaboration of various new designs and sketches within the year of 2010; and cannot be knowingly placed into another literary document, writing community, comic book series, and or televised broadcast without either of our written or verbal consent in front of legal consultants. TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne, Scififanfreak222, xSaffire55x, Novus Ordo Seclorum, and RavenxIsxAxBlackxRose; each of these fellow writers have helped me to press onwards with this story, every-time I have come across writers block. Without their outstanding guidance, the updates would have taken me even longer to complete.

Chapter 8 is complete! A battle on The Jump City Bay Bridge rages, yet another forgotten foe emerges, while Falcon takes a stand. "Cowards die many times before their death." –William Shakespeare 1564 to 1616 –

---

Chapter 8 - Dismayed

Robin sped out of the access tunnel, as the ceiling lights from above glistened off from his back; with his black outer, and yellow undercoated cape flapping from the heavy breeze. After passing under the second thick, and heavy metal garage door that was concealed, from any would-be prying eyes of local pedestrians, hidden by bushes and fake rocks, The Boy Wonder shot up and onto the surface, destined for the main highway of Jump City.

The rumble of his bike's engine, drained out any other noises, from of his ears. All that he could think of, was catching the villain, to stop this new and terrible plot to destroy his city; the same metropolis, he had sworn to protect.

The Boy Wonder could not help but feel befuddled, in everything that had happened. Why now, would Slade return? Why would he show himself at this very moment, after all of his time in hiding? Nothing about this made any sense, and only when he was face to face with the crafty villain, then would he gain some answers.

The first time that Slade had shown himself, Robin had thought that he was just like any other criminal, only to find himself, locked in a much darker vortex, of this nasty villain's deeper mind. It was a truly dangerous game, where the hero would risk just about everything, to end the bitter struggle.

The team leader became very distraught in his own actions, after becoming Red X, where he had caused his friends to feel betrayed, shut out like Falcon did. The Boy Wonder had almost lost the girl, that he so deeply loved, and after being ordered to strike on the Wayne Enterprises building, when he was pressed into becoming his worst enemy's apprentice; it was then that he felt, he had to change his tactics. That drew in another, much more grand puzzle. It was odd that Falcon had entered into their lives and then, barely a week later, Slade had returned.

It was quiet comparable to the previous sixth member, and with all of the deceit and unsolved mysteries, arising around Falcon, one could only ponder, at any of the probabilities. Mainly, that the new details about Arkham were true, and that Falcon was harboring a dark secret, like Terra had.

It was only speculation, but in the position that he was in, Robin could not help but arrive at his own conclusions, over these tragic things.

With the geomancer, it again caused everything to quickly unravel, but it was too little, too late, to save her. Terra had some-how felt betrayed by Robin, and Beast Boy may not have been saying those exact words, that cold and lonely night, when Robin met the shape-shifter on the shore skipping the stones, yet he had a hunch.

Stranger still, when Terra and Beast Boy went on their date, did they all then learn, that she had made a hidden pact with the criminal mastermind. In return for Slade's assistance, to help her to control her tremendous powers, the geomancer would become his apprentice.

The effects afterwards caused a horrific battle, with a girl who had only just come back into their lives, then for her to rip herself away, and to fight against them, as a low tactic of espionage.

Slade wanted to destroy the Teen Titans, from within their ranks, to ruin the very fabric of what made them such a powerful rivalry to him, and to a degree, he had. Their trust was shaken, their bonds towards new potential allies, was always a question of serious doubt, but where some appeared to move on, others, more vocal about the situation, made sure that their past experiences, were never forgotten.

Once the Teen Titans regrouped from the startling attack, they pressed forwards with a new resilience, and they turned the tide against the deadly duo, of Slade and Terra. In the end, the once fearful and conflicted blond haired geomancer, she had at last focused onto the bright courage that Beast Boy held onto, and so, she sacrificed herself to save Jump City.

The information and rumors around Falcon, were piling up, where the uncomfortable lead, that Cyborg and Starfire had followed up on, it was merely a new angle to look at the situation. There was no peace in what they had unearthed, there was no proper way to go about digging into Falcon's past, especially after the fire wielder had continuously refused, to any prying notion of the idea.

Robin took a tight left turn, across a sharp bend in the highway. Both the front and rear tires screeched against the wet pavement, while the subtle sent of burning rubber, and brake fluid, ascended beneath his crimson colored helmet.

To most drivers, the rain can cause some problems, but for Robin, it was steady driving conditions. While the little pools of rainwater, sprayed across the black canvas of the highway, he slightly shifted his body-weight on both sides of the street bike, trying to weave his way around the other vehicles on the road.

The cold rain continued to pour downwards from the heavens, giving a second threat, that if he was not entirely focused about his driving, about the road, then he could slip and the asphalt would rip his flesh, right off from his body.

The rainwater was like a stuck faucet, one that could not decide, if the heavy water should persist, or not come down at all, and it constantly fluctuated between a heavier downpour, and a mild mist. The roadway lights bent over both the sides of the Californian highway, revealing the main illumination, besides his own single bulb from the R-Cycle, that beamed across the white dashed lines on the black pavement.

Twisting the throttle back further, Robin sped even faster ahead, while his eyes behind the mask squinted, like he was a cowboy in a Clint Eastwood, spaghetti-Western flick. After taking another sudden turn, the communicator inside of his helmet began to chirp, and without taking his hands off of the bars, he patched himself through, by talking into the built-in microphone.

"This is Robin … what's the situation?"

*Cyborg here, I'm halfway to the Jump City Penitentiary. From the looks of things, everything is fine.* The tin man answered to his left arm, as he looked over his driver side window, and down at the ocean.

*Friends!* Starfire's voice also patched into the conversation, with joy in her tone, after she picked up her own communication device from her belt, and she hovered in mid-air. *I am at the Jump City Bay Bridge, there are still no signs of Slade, or of his explosive devices.*

"That's alright Star." Robin replied, after a few bits of static, jumbled through on all ends. "Just make sure you do a thorough check, on all the supporting structures and everything, before making your way to the docks."

*Hey, why didn't anybody tell me, that we were doing a communication party?* Beast Boy's voice picked up, as he morphed back into his human self, while overlooking the peek of a cliff. A great body of water is blocked, behind a massive concrete curved wall, just in the distance.

*Um, maybe it's because they couldn't take your annoying jokes.* Raven's monotone replied, as she hovered in mid air over the vast desert canyon, next to the giant power-lines that headed to the metropolis.

This was the very same desert that the team had found Terra in, as the great scorpion chased her. Although, the enchantress was further into the sandy wasteland, than when they had found Terra, but, the memory of the fallen member, it brought a shiver to the sorceress's body.

"Alright, so everyone is nearing their targets. That's good; keep on the updates, or any changes in your findings."

*Right.* Is the main response, of all on the other ends, yet a silence soon befalls them, when they do not hear, from their sixth member.

*Hey um … shouldn't Falcon have picked up by now?* asked Beast Boy, as he looked to the communication device, that had the faces of all others, which were revealed on little split screens.

A few short clicks of static rises into the receivers, causing the team to groan in discomfort. Falcon's face appeared upon the device, in the center block that overlapped the other five teammates.

*Sorry for the late call, but I'm still getting used to this darned thing.* He responded with a smile, and like Raven in the background, he is shown on the other small split-screens, with his own sharp hood pulled over his face, revealing only his brown left, and white right eyes, and his mouth.

*Did ya get to either the hospital, or the train station yet?* Cyborg asked after looking from inside of his white T-Car, back to his wrist that revealed to him, the head-shots of the others.

*Well, I'm halfway through downtown, Jump City right now. I'll probably check out the hospital first, rule that bigger target out before I head off, for the train station lead next.*

"Alright team, stay sharp, and be careful. I'm sure that Slade has more than a few explosives to surprise us, when we arrive." Robin answered back, where they respond with a simple nod on their own monitors, and then they shut them off at the same time, causing the screens to go black.

Inside of Robin's helmet, he was unable see their faces because it would obstruct his view on the road, but their voices came through the thin dark headset, a neat device that he had installed. The team's leader, continued to speed his way ever faster towards the airport, following the large green signs about the highway, telling him the route markers, and the different exits that were coming up.

---

Overlooking countless monitors in a rather foreboding, and eerie room, a lone figure remained hunkered down, upon his powerful throne. Each of the televisions revealed video-feedback, from the many thousands of cameras, that were stationed around Jump City.

The cameras quickly cut in between places, to reveal the next location that one of the Teen Titans was near, from either a highway traffic camera, to a government satellite in space calculating weather patterns, to a lone gas-station in the desert, or even to security cameras about big and small facilities, such as banks and schools.

Then there was the use, of thousands of pedestrian handheld phones, where the people making and receiving calls, their calls would triangulate the cellphone towers, about the vast metropolis, to act as a giant sonar net.

This simple act done countless times by the average citizen, it bounced the calls back and forth from buildings and obstacles, and unbeknownst to the general population, it could be used as a weapon against them, to track their every movement around the city.

This terrifying feat allowed Slade, to see virtually everything, as the information was funneled into a microprocessor within his base, and within a few seconds the computers would transmit this data, into his monitors.

The United States Government, had been doing this for decades, where Slade merely used his impressive technological skills, and he wirelessly hacked into the mainframe, of the power-grid on the West Coast.

The masked villain was leaning back in his chair, where the darkness about the room consumed him. He slowly turned his head, as the metallic mask peered from one monitor to the next, as a recurring shadow, cut into the limited light from the screens. It was caused, from the great fan, rotating slowly behind his impressive chair.

The steady whooshing of the blades, was almost hypnotic, as a few windows from overhead also allowed a bit of the starlight to creep inside, yet the glow was fractured by the heavy blades of the fan.

"Captivating, to say the least Robin. It is always interesting to see your reactions, and that of your team." Slade monologued, in his rasping monotone. His focus was now glued to the flat panel revealing The Boy Wonder, racing across the highway, upon his R-Cycle.

In the very middle flat screen, the largest monitor resided. It was used to contact people, when the masterful tactician felt the moment was just right. Slade lowered his single eye, he rose up out of the chair, to make himself presentable.

Using a remote placed upon the armrest, he turned the transmitter nearby a laptop, from his desk, on, and his image was captured, then it was transmitted to his henchman.

"So, you've finally arrived at the airport." Slade began speaking, as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Are you ready?"

The image on the center screen, revealed the receiver of his call, where the shadows covered a portion of his upper body, yet the familiar letter X, in dark red slashed across his helmet's identity. The center of his mask is white, and it appeared, to look like a human skull, where the little slits distorted his voice.

*Yeah, I'm ready.* The assassin's voice carried a deadpan-like robotic pitch, through a synthesizer, to further hide his true identity.

"Good." Slade replied slowly. "But you must not underestimate Robin, or his fellow teammates. As you have fought them before, then you already know that they can be rather … crafty, at certain, climactic moments."

The white eyes upon the gun-for-hire's mask, narrowed, while he clenched his fists. He was holding onto the holographic circular device, that revealed to him, his client. Slade on his end, was a fuzzy blue picture.

This communicator was very similar to what the Teen Titans used, but it did not carry the fancy logo. The cover was a solid gray, while a small tinted X, in blood red was engraved across the top flap.

*Why send me to the airport? Why not have me just go to their base, instead of going through all of … this?*

Slade retorted; "This is only part of the plan. There are other factors that need to fall into place, and this can only work … if things happen this way."

The lone figure turned his head about his surroundings, while his black outer, and gray under toned cape, wavered about his legs.

*What of the others?*

"They will have their own battles. Understand Red X, I wanted to make this challenge, rather difficult for them to piece together, once they regroup. Which we both know, that they will." Slade leaned his body away from the screen. "I will contact you in an hour, and we shall further discuss your payment, that you desire."

*I don't know why this even matters, but as long as I get what I want, then I don't really care.*

"Only if you succeed in fulfilling your part of the deal, as we agreed." Slade squinted his eye; "And if you knew me, as they do, then perhaps you would not be so quick to miss-step in our arrangement, that we have made."

Slade clicked the remote, and the feed was cut-off immediately. Upon placing the device back down onto the arm-rest, his attention was focused back onto the other television monitors.

"Well Robin … I do hope that you are prepared for my return." Then his attention was directed to the two monitors, the one above had Beast Boy, and the other that was below it, revealed Falcon. "I wonder if you truly know about your team, as much as you think, that you do."

Slade walked down from his throne, he picked up his laptop and closed it. Turning near the fan, he walked through a doorway that led him to an elevator, he got into it, and the lift descended below the earth. All the while, creaking metal and gears expressed the facility he used, it was very old. The light from outside the shaft, rises up from his feet, and traveled beyond his head.

At the very bottom of the hidden structure, he found himself on yet another secret pathway. It split into two directions, where the one on the left would lead him to the train station, and the path to his right, goes towards a rail-car, that traveled to the Jump City Dam. Construction Workers utilized this pathway a long time ago, when the towering metropolis was still in its infancy, and parts of the city were being restructured.

The pathway that Slade was standing in, it was a side tunnel, intended to divert fresh water from the lake, to the very heart of the city, using pipes and underground canals.

It was abandoned, over the stretch of many years, and Slade took it upon himself, to repurpose the facility for his own, ill-gotten gains. There were many places to hide, from his countless enemies, and sometimes, the best place was right beneath his adversaries noses.

"It is time."

Slade looked over his shoulder, as a robot duplicate of himself, stood in the shadows. Upon pressing a few buttons on a small rectangular remote, attached to his belt, the Slade-Bot awoke after opening its single eye.

All along the walls, that this Slade-Bot stepped away from, its charging station, hundreds of other robots of a similar design, resided. Some were broken and missing pieces of their masks, others had their chest panels removed, where their inner circuits were showing.

This entire underground facility came to life, as hundreds of other versions, of duplicates and drones, were noticed in their charging stations as well, where the ceiling lights turned on one by one, as the actual Slade walked deeper and deeper, into his secluded fortress.

---

Cyborg had at last found the great concrete prison, after peering through the haze of fog and clouds, that nestled in the low atmosphere about him. The road gradually curved ahead of him, and the towering green roadsigns, led the way.

The spotlights about the prison complex were turned on, along many of the corners of the massive man-made walls, and they were pointed inwards; as various lights, were glowing from inside the small barred slits, for the inmates windows.

Apart from the island itself, a thin row of lights lit the path, along the only bridge leading into the prison. The light from the structure, it caused a throbbing hue, to gently rise about the tiny island in the coastal rain.

The windshield wipers, kept a steady streaking rhythm going, where there was no music in the dashboard playing now. Faster and faster Cyborg sped on, his white and blue chromed T-Car was inching ever closer, towards his intended destination.

There was just the one-way bridge, in and out of the Jump City Penitentiary, that connected the tiny island to the remote coast, that Cyborg was driving across. There were checkpoints, police on patrol in speed boats, and near the beach, fierce looking German Shepherds, and countless guard-towers could also be spotted, the closer he got down to the narrow bridge.

As he approached the first gate house, the sharp dragon teeth that would rip a vehicles tires into pieces, they were lowered, and once he stopped by the first gate, the obstacles were raised again, and he could not back out.

"State your business." A thin security guard walked over with a clipboard in one hand, and a flashlight in the other. Around him, stood six heavily armed military guards, carrying the latest high-powered weapons.

"It's just a check-up, from your local crime fighting heroes, the Teen Titans." The tin man held up his communicating device, to act as a pass for him. "This should do, I think."

The thin guard standing by his door, he was drenched from head to foot from the rain, and he looked at the sheet in front of him, panning the flashlight back and forth, between the recent arrival at his gate, and the clipboard in his other hand.

"Can I please have your conformation number?"

"My confirmation number?!" Cyborg cocked an eyebrow, with an upwards inflection.

"Forgive me." replied the guard. "It's just protocol."

"Right." Cyborg answered slowly. "Just give me a second to get the darn card."

While Cyborg leaned his forehead down, shifting his attention to his glove-compartment in the passenger seat, a huge explosion erupted, from somewhere inside of the prison! Smoke began to pour out of a few of the windows, as the steady sound of an alarm, like an air-raid in progress, it began to whine.

*CODE RED! All guards, CODE RED! This is not a drill!* A voice from many of the guard walkie-talkies, began to chirp all at once.

"Great." Cyborg replied, as he stuck his head back out the window. "I think you guys need my help now."

*Code Black! Officer down in cell-bay 11358 … the inmates are rioting! CODE BLACK!*

The Teen Titan's technological wizard, held the white laminated card up to his greeter. There on the blue card, a picture of Cyborg's face was clearly visible, with him holding a thumb-up sign, and the numbers in sequence, were along the bottom right corner of the pass.

For many restricted places and structures that the average citizen could not pass through, this identification card, it gave Cyborg and his teammates a great deal of freedom, and access, to all places of Jump City.

One would consider his communicator to be more that capable, but there were just some places that the extra security took no chances around. It was understandable.

"My mistake sir." The guard replied.

Cyborg looked at the badge, pinned over his right breast pocket, where he took notice to the man's name in large black letters, placed over a golden background.

"Sergeant Davis … is it?" Cyborg spoke, as he carefully placed the card, onto a side compartment of his utility belt. Above this guard's shoulders, the emblems of a Master Sergeant, in a golden pattern, was noticed.

"Yes sir." The man replied as he stood at full attention.

"If you know what kind of car I drive, if you know who is behind the wheel, if you see my face, and you know what the members of the Teen Titans look like … and I tell you, WHO I AM!" Cyborg took a short breath, to calm himself. "Then don't you think, I am, who I say I am?!"

"My mistake sir. I-I know what you are implying here, sir, but we all have our orders to follow." Davis answered, with a bit of a quiver in his tone of voice. "This is a high-class prison after all, sir."

Cyborg bit his lower lip, at an awkward angle just then.

"Yeah, it is super late anyway. My bad." Cyborg apologized for his outburst. "Can you please, just open the gate so I can do what I came here to do."

The greeter gave a quick salute, he then waved his left arm, and the doors parted in the middle, as dozens of more guards rushed in, behind his car. They were heading for a smaller court-yard of the facility, which led to even more doors, and guards on the inner walls.

A second, and much louder explosion shook the entire compound, as thick black smoke began to pour up and into the night-sky. After Cyborg parked his car in the lot, a cacophony of shouting and shrieking, breaking glass, and other noises could be heard in every direction; as the steady stream of soldiers, poured into the area.

The gigantic series of doors and locks, they closed shut behind his only way of escape, as the bridge he crossed was gradually raised, to keep anyone from leaving the island.

"Well, Cyborg, you sure can pick em." He closed his car door, and he rushed forwards with his entourage. "Alright, now who's in charge here?"

"That would be me." Says a stern voice, as two guards in front of the Teen Titan step aside; and the shadow forms over the asphalt. "I'm Captain Gregory, thank you for coming Cyborg."

The officer is of the same tall height of the regular guards, but unlike their similar uniforms of wearing a helmet with a visor, he was wearing, a simple bulletproof vest, and his gray hair is neatly buzz-cut in a military fashion, as a white scar goes across his left eye. Also different from him and the others, he possessed a simple Colt 1911 styled handgun, that was strapped across his right thigh, and he wasn't carrying a rifle.

"Listen, a threat was made, and I along with my team agreed that this would be a key place of interest, to Slade. What's the situation?" The superhero asked, as he along with the head of security, walked away from the parking lot.

The pair made their way through a series of chain fences, and other barriers, and down several metal grates of stairs. There footsteps echoed across the iron, and they hurried a little faster.

"Three criminals have escaped from earlier today; after a mysterious assailant, infiltrated the facility. Two more were very close to doing the same, but we managed to hold them down, for the time being." The commander responded, as they approached a set of doors, that led further into the massive, labyrinth-styled prison.

Just then, another loud explosion erupted from one of the side windows near the courtyard, and debris with security guards were hurled backwards.

"Great … I guess Robin's hunch was right, as usual." Cyborg spoke to himself, as he shielded his eyes with a hand from the thick smoke.

A guard quickly rushed up to Cyborg, and the head of security, he gave a quick salute and stood at attention.

"Sir!" The guard began, after coughing harshly from the heavy air; "Levels twelve and eleven have been evacuated, corridor five is ablaze, and the main garrison is holding their current positions! What are your orders?"

"It would seem, that you picked one heck of a day, to take a tour of our famous prison complex, eh Cyborg?"

"I've got to do a full search from top to bottom, on the layout of this place." Cyborg replied, as he stayed focused on the task at hand. "What I need, is to check out as much of the infrastructure as possible, going through the ventilation system, the water pipes, the drainage system, just everything!"

"Good luck, a full scale riot is in effect." Sergeant Davis responded, as he came rushing over to the group. "Between this courtyard and the outer walls, this is the end of the line, for the prison."

"What do you mean?" Cyborg asked.

"I mean, within less than half an hour, the other levels within this place are to be evacuated of all our personnel. Levels one through three are all we have secure, the rest, well … it is a free-for-all, for the inmates." The sergeant of the guards answered.

*Security Breach on levels ten and eight, secondary defensive procedure, is in effect.* A woman-like robotic voice, echoed over the loud-speakers.

"Captain!" Yet another guard rushed over from the side, "Prisoners 433 and 167, have escaped from their holding cells, and they are approaching sector 2 right now!"

"WHAT!?" Captain Gregory shouted. "Get the men into position, we need to handle this before it gets out of any more control."

Standing to the right, with his arms interlocked, Cyborg became amazed at how sloppily things had been handled. The entire prison was in an uproar, there was now debris and a tremendous amount of fear, settling in, where what started as a simple mission to scan for explosives, had manifested, into a full scale prison riot.

"Captain." Cyborg started speaking. "Pardon my saying, but it would appear that the situation, is already out of your hands."

The gray haired leader of the guards, exhaled from his nostrils quickly, to express his own frustration.

"We can beat them back." Captain Gregory said; "We must. Sergeant, get snipers to those far corridors, force a choke point here, this way if they do break through, the barricade in this courtyard will be a final wall."

"Yes sir!" The second in command gave a final salute, and he hurried away again. "I want you six men to cover that door, you three, come with me!"

All of the heavily armed security detail, they moved along, with their own orders to counter what had been happening. The alarm continued to blare in the background, as the marching of running feet, bounced about the surroundings.

"So, who were the three inmates that escaped from earlier?" Cyborg asked, while the reinforcements of armed guards, they checked their weapons and gear, preparing for the worst.

"Jinx, Dr. Light, and Cinderblock." Captain Gregory answered, as he crouched with Cyborg behind a few heavy drums of water, acting as yet another barrier in the courtyard.

"Those three, huh?" Cyborg replied. "And we just put them away earlier this week. Well, Cinderblock is a different story entirely."

A repetitive thumping, echoed from the big steel doors, it was the sound of something large smashing into it, and it was leaving a gigantic indentation mark, or welts of the violent act being committed. Someone, or something, was trying to break out.

The Head of Security un-holstered his firearm, and after switching the safety switch off, he turned back at the main entrance-way, to the belly of the prison.

"It happened barely two hours ago, the situation was under control, but …" Gregory was cut short, by another terrible tremor, of an explosion beneath their feet. "Well, the guy who did this, he had some real skill, in causing as much destruction as he could, before running the hell out of here."

"Did you get a good look at the guy?" Cyborg asked.

Captain Gregory scratched the base of his neck softly, and then he nodded his head.

"Yeah." Gregory answered. "He wore a black suit of stealth armor, with a cape or … something. He was in my line of sights, just as I was about to take a shot, and then, poof, gone, without a trace. It was some kind of-of cloaking mechanism, it made him vanish … right in front of my eyes."

"Stealth armor, high powered equipment, and a taste for impossible danger. Hmmm, was there anything else, anything that you can recall?"

"No … not really. But, there may be one thing." Captain Gregory stood up again. "He wore a mask of some kind, with a sharp X, running across his forehead." He made a gesture of the bold letter over his own face, with his free hand.

"Red X." Cyborg spoke with a hint of humor in his voice. "So, he's back then, this is just perfect."

"You know the guy?"

Cyborg lowered his gaze to the floor, and then after giving a heavy sigh, he lifted his head up as the annoying alarm, continued over the conversation.

"Let's just say, that me and my teammates ran into him a long, long time ago. I don't know him personally, no, but what I can say about him, is that he does enjoy a good scrap of a fight. What his real intentions in this debacle are … I cannot say, but, this all could be linked into why I am here, in the first place."

"And, what does that have to do, with this prison riot?"

"I think, that this is just a diversion Captain." Cyborg answered, as he clenched his fists by his sides. "And what I really think, the thing that bugs me the most about this whole mess, is if there are no coincidences, then he may be working for someone."

"Who?"

Within a few seconds, the front doors were blown clear off from their hinges, as a potent and thick grey smoke, filled the courtyard. The stench of burnt electrical wire and crushed cement, the pungent and uncommon aroma sifts through the air, like the early morning fog from a rain storm. Guards from inside the prison suddenly come rushing out, while those on the outside, they reposition themselves, and take aim at the new opening.

"Steady! Hold your ground men!" Sergeant Davis shouted above the walls. "We cannot allow any of those inmates, to leave the island. We must make our stand here!"

"Slade." Cyborg finishes his sentence from earlier, in a slow and quiet deadpan; he spoke just barely above a whisper.

"Get me the warden on the horn!" Captain Gregory demanded. "NOW!"

"Yes sir." A soldier nearby saluted, and he raced for the phone.

"Damn it, damn it all! They weren't supposed to get through that, and now that they have …"

"Don't worry Captain." The Teen Titan smiled at him. "It's a good thing that I'm here, to help clean up this mess."

"To tell you the truth," Gregory deadpanned. "I would feel better, if the rest of your teammates were here. By the way, why didn't they come with you?"

Cyborg squinted his eye, and he spoke without looking over his shoulder, to his host. "They, have missions of their own, at separate locations about Jump City. I was just the lucky one, to come here."

A lone figure began to emerge, from what was once the main doorway. The menacing shadow tossed people from his location aside, as though they were insignificant rag dolls.

Everybody, except for the technological superhero, becomes frozen from a new terror they were all witnessing, as the hidden opponent at last becomes visible. Golden colored straps cover the black body suit, as his long orange hair and short goatee beard allowed Cyborg and his allies, to see Mammoth, as their deadly foe.

The giant teenager ripped a side panel down, and he hurled it at the defenders, upon the wall to his left! Cyborg and the security guards duck low, and they race for better protection from the gigantic criminal.

"Okay big guy, you want it, come and get it!" Cyborg shouted as he stood tall, and he formed his right arm into his advanced, and deadly cannon.

"So, one measly Teen Titan has come out to play. This should be fun." Mammoth grinned, revealing a sharp fang from his lower lip, as he goaded his opponent to attack.

Cyborg fired a quick blast, where the blue beam was shot in a straight path, towards Mammoth. The criminal somersaulted to the side, and he escaped at last second, the incapacitating laser bolt.

The left red eye of Cyborg, glitters from the moon, that could partially be seen through an opening of the clouds. The heavier rain that was present on his way to the island, it is less felt and seen now, in the middle of the prison court-yard.

"Heh." Mammoth grunted, after cracking the joints between his fingers and knuckles. "My turn!"

The fierce behemoth, slides his left foot back, he unkinks his stiff neck, and then he barrels forwards, using his entire body as a battering ram.

Time gradually appeared to slow down, as the Teen Titan's heart-rate accelerated, his adrenaline and endorphins begin to scramble within his brain, as the computer side of his skull tried to calculate, and then recalculate his best options, to counter this deadly and blunt force, charging faster, and faster towards him.

He raised his cannon arm yet again, he manages to unload three more blue blasts, but they only graze the sides of his target, while the guards dart around him, to get away from the attack. Some were brave enough, to stand their ground, as those in the towers and upon the walls, fire their own deadly rifles, at the raging goliath.

CRASH! Cyborg slams his body to the side, as Mammoth hits the barrels, causing them to rupture and smash, into the walls behind them.

While Cyborg brushed himself off, and tried to aim for a knock-out blow to his opponents back, from the crouching position, another deafening explosion erupted. This time, it was from yet a second smaller hole, alongside the gaping entranceway, with more smoke and debris pouring up and out.

A bald headed, dwarf sized child emerges; as four sharp, metallic chromed, spider-like arms from his ingenious backpack, tramples forward onto the battlefield. It was Gizmo, and he was hoping to primarily escape, but with Cyborg in his sights, it was an even better chance to get his revenge, for his pitiful capture earlier in the week.

"Two H.I.V.E. members?" Cyborg muttered to himself. "Well, I did say that I wanted this one, didn't I?"

"Mammoth, keep scrap-head over there distracted!" Gizmo shouted fiercely, to his only ally.

"You two cannot possibly think of escaping this place. You're outnumbered. Just look around yourselves." Cyborg pointed to the walls.

"Oh, did you forget one minor detail bucket-head?" Gizmo retorted, with a nasty chuckle. "This is a prison after all, and being that this is a jail-break …"

The H.I.V.E. member stepped aside, as hundreds of shadows emerged from the wide opening Mammoth had made. As they walked out from the smoke, the orange jump-suits and the vast array of disgruntled faces, this revealed a near endless supply, of reinforcements.

Cyborg took a step backwards, and he stood in awe. With no fellow teammates to assist him, and with no other option but to fight, in an effort contain the chaos, this would allow him to then check for explosives, yet it was at these crucial moments, that the Teen Titan concluded, that his location was nothing more than a ploy.

The massive break-out, was used to create bedlam for the city, and anybody unlucky enough to get caught in the path, of these hundreds of overcrowded, and disgruntled prisoners.

"CHARGE!" Gizmo cried, where the droves of prisoners, they rushed forwards, with anything they could use as a weapon.

Large blasts from rifles of the security guards, and the clashing of men into one another, it continued to deafen the silence around the compound. No matter what was happening outside of the Jump City Penitentiary, Cyborg had to deal with this chaos on his own, where he could not afford to divert his attention to his allies own problems, and while he did want to warn them about the other three prisoners, who had already fled, Cyborg was in for the fight of his life.

---

Starfire in the meantime, had landed on the walkway to the Jump City Bay Bridge. The underbelly of the bridge, the trusses and great pillars, were the main focal point, for a decisive weakness to be exploited, and in having some knowledge of architecture, she flew to the side and dove beneath the long, narrow bridge.

As she hovered in mid-air, paying close attention to the details and monumental work, that was put into the suspension bridge, she finally did notice something, quiet out of place.

T.N.T. was strapped to the very middle of the base layer, with wires connecting to a near endless amount, of red and orange sticks. They were wrapped in bundles, spread outwards and strung up, along all sides of the middle column.

The Tamaranean Princess, had listened to Cyborg's lessons very thoroughly, on the various ways to disarm and handle any explosives. If she could locate the main bomb, apart of the others that were linked to it, then if it became defused, this would render the others inoperable, allowing her to move on with her next objective.

Starfire looked over her shoulder, and there in the distance, the T shaped structure of her home could be seen. The windows of Titans Tower were still aglow, and the princess sighed, to concentrate on the task. As she resumed her attention at the underside of the Jump City Bay Bridge, her eyes finally located the main device, that all of the others were attached to.

Without wasting another perilous second, she dove forwards and noticed the red numbers blinking, on a little screen that was coming from a cellular phone. It was placed onto the front of the main bundle of explosives.

The countdown must have been started, barely a few hours ago, and yet the amount of work put into concealing this, and creating this dilemma appeared to have taken a few days, while the chemistry to craft this elaborate and delicate concoction, it must have taken months of planning and preparation.

Starfire approached the large bundle, and in understanding that she herself could not just tear things apart without creating harm, she waited patiently, observing and plotting what she could do.

Then it came to her, using the impressive power of her laser vision, she concentrated, and honed her might to generate as thin of a beam that she could, of green lasers as the Man Of Steel could do. She focused onto the main wire, attached from the top, that linked with the other explosives.

It sizzled and cracked, and then finally, it came undone! The device was still active, but no longer was it connected to the rest of the dastardly explosives. Starfire now had to contend with her primary objective, and for this part, she would need to take even greater care.

The clock continued to count down, and the new day was gradually approaching. If she could only disable the timer, then the bomb squad would not have to worry about any premature detonation, and the rest of the task, could be treated as a clean-up operation.

Starfire had taken a few, truly painstaking seconds to go over the phone that was attached to the main bundle. Where the lead black wire that slunk around the pillar, it was already cut, but there were still three more wires, embedded into the TNT.

There was a red wire, to receive the coded sequence, where it would trigger a chain reaction once the timer reached zero. The second, was a green wire, and it slunk its way out of the back, and was once part of the other explosives, where a final blue wire, it had been coiled into the smart-phone, as the first red wire had been.

Deducing that the red and blue wires were the most critical to the function, of this computer, if the correct one was cut, then the connection would finally be severed. However, if the wrong one were snipped, then the base of the bridge could potentially give out, and a new and horrific series of catastrophes, would envelope the Jump City Bay area.

Starfire bit her lower lip, her heart-rate began to increase as her hands trembled in front of her. Any advice that she could have gained, it would be of little assistance. This time, she was on her own.

Closing her eyes, she grabbed hold of the red and blue wires, one for each hand, and she slowly exhaled to relax her nerves. Either way, there would be no turning back, and the choice she made here tonight, could potentially kill her.

As a tiny droplet of rainwater, splashed across her forehead beneath the bridge, she blinked her eyes and looked up. A cool gust of wind picked up around her, and the sounds of cars and trucks on the road overhead, continued on.

Without another thought, she released her grasp over the blue cord, and she placed both hands upon the red one. She tugged at it quickly, and she popped the wire, right out of the device! The timer suddenly went out, and the bomb was defused.

"Thank goodness that, that ordeal is at last over." Starfire slowly whispered. "But there are still more targets, that remain. I must contact the others."

The Tamaranean Princess flew back to the top of the bridge, and while on the walkway, she removed from the side of her belt, her Titan's Communicator. Holding the device within her clutches, she rubbed the plastic and rubber coating, between her fingers.

Starfire drew back onto the now distant memory, of Tokyo and of her beau, Robin. The city skyline drew away, the darkness and wet surroundings slowly faded into nothingness, for her green eyes.

She could not totally understand why, or for what reason that she was focusing on this moment, where she and the rest of her teammates were standing upon the stage, with confetti being thrown about from the skyscrapers.

This celebration carried an even deeper meaning, to the young and attractive princess. They had won a major victory, and a moment of relief had settled in.

Starfire could feel warmth being emanated from him, it was a deep admiration, and a moment of sincere affection, as the two held hands. She sensed, that the close bond between Robin and her, it only continued to blossom.

A sly, half-smirk rises across her face, as she blushed while dwelling over her and Robin kissing in the rain.

BOOM!

A terrible and near deafening blast, awakened the Tamaranean Princess, from her daze. She blinks her eyes a few times, to re-adjust herself, with her surroundings. As she looked up, a few pieces of tension cable tumbled downwards, with blocks of concrete, from the top of the iconic pillars!

The sounds of metal bending, of cars screeching on the wet pavement, and of horns honking echoed all about the Teen Titan. As if on a cue of its own, and with near perfect timing, one of the massive cables releases itself, from its holding structure, and begins its fast assent down, directly over a stopped car.

In realizing the impending danger, Starfire flies up and using her super-human strength, she latches onto the middle of the interwoven piece of gray wires, she grapples it and manages to stop it from free-fall.

The immeasurable weight against her, for even a few heart pounding seconds, causes her muscles to ache. After giving a grunt of discomfort, she throws it to a sidewalk that nobody was on, and she released a sigh of relief.

While hovering in the air, she pondered over what could have caused such a heavy piece of the structure to collapse, without a proper cause. Foul play quickly comes to her thoughts, and as she muses over the details, and studies the wreckage, another chunk of rubble, tumbled downwards, directly over her head.

Using her green star-bolts, she blasts the debris into dust!

"Show yourself!" Starfire demanded, as her normal and happy tone, was consumed with a pinch of hostile anger.

"Hello Starfire … I thought for sure, that of all the people, that would have been sent to battle me, Raven would be the one; but you will do just fine."

Starfire squinted her eyes, while looking up at the top of the highest set of pillars, and there on the very ledge of the right side, stood another female figure. The black outfit, the long stockings and pink hair kept in place with black bands, to keep the style upwards as though her hair was a form of demonic horns, and the purple glow in her eyes, revealed that Jinx was the culprit.

The grumpy frown that had enveloped the Tamaranean Princess's face, quivered for a moment. Dozens of questions rattled off in her noggin, as to why things led to this moment of time, and why Jinx, could have turned back to her old ways, after she so decisively and profoundly, made her intentions, so very clear against her old teammates; that she wanted to be a hero, and not a villain.

"Jinx …" Starfire paused, as she fought to understand any logic to this. "What are you doing here, h-how did you escape from the prison, why … are you doing this?"

The attractive adversary said nothing. The glow in her eyes faded away, revealing her normal eye color, as a creepy smirk spread across her face.

"I still consider you an ally, a Teen Titan, regardless of what you have done." Starfire pleaded with a hand outstretched. "I … I do not wish to do the battling out, against a former friend."

The once prominent H.I.V.E. member, turned ally, and then wandering loner, gave out a sudden and unpleasant chuckle. Jinx appeared happy, to be all on her own, but the unexpected sensation was ended quiet abruptly, as she herself felt a bit lost in the moment.

Jinx bowed her head down, as she remembered standing alongside Starfire, and the other Teen Titans against the Brotherhood Of Evil. Something had turned her against her newest allies, the Titans.

Ever since she re-appeared in the Junkyard with members of her disbanded team, questions continued to boil over in each of the city's saviors heads. Kid Flash had become a member of the Titans East, and instead of joining him, leaving Jump City and all that she had ever known, she had decided to remain behind.

The villainess was given the chance, to make a fresh start, to have a new life in a far away place. It was a way to make amends for all the wrong she had done, and to get away from the media, and other things that had hounded her, since she first became a criminal.

Jinx however, felt a deep connection to Jump City, she had lived here most of her life, where uprooting herself, and going halfway across the country, giving all of her trust to strangers and a shaky love interest, this carried a weight of fear, while Kid Flash was always hard to keep pace with in the first place.

The separation from him, it made her a little desperate, where the long distance from here to Steel City, and his commitment to fighting crime put her in an awkward position, as she could not always come first for him.

Gradually they started to drift apart, and falling back into old habits did not feel wrong to her, for the moral compass that she always had, since she was a child, took the pain away.

"You know why I am here Starfire." Jinx spoke up, "I am, to keep you from going any further."

The gymnastic and very attractive foe, she winked and cartwheeled along the side, then she twirled and spun herself around, and in-between the expanded cables, working herself to the ground level. Starfire slowly lowered herself, and before long, the two girls were standing in the middle of the road, as traffic had finally come to a stand-still around them.

Starfire's long red hair was blown about her left shoulder, as her purple skirt had ripples from a cool ocean breeze. Jinx's dress also swayed about her hips, and the two super-powered young women, they began to size up their opponent.

"So." Starfire answered. "You're working for Slade then?"

"Ah .. clever, very clever." Jinx retorted.

Starfire wanted to find some way, to plead for her former friend to come back to the light. Now that she was blocking her path, encouraging a fight that she did not want, goading her by willing to harm innocent people of Jump City, Jinx appeared to have made her choice.

The biggest priority for Starfire, was to disarm more of the explosives. If she found them at the dockyards, but this stubborn enemy was blocking her path, and she did not wish to leave, if Jinx restarted the explosives at the bridge again.

"Jinx." Starfire spoke softly, as people in their vehicles honked their horns, for the two girls to move away, from impeding the flow of traffic. "Why are you doing this?"

The crafty villainess tilted her head to a side.

"I have my reasons." said Jinx, as she thought back on the speedster hero, leaving a rose by her feet. "I'm truly sorry Starfire, but I can't let you pass."

Starfire took a few steps backwards while staring at the sorceress. After a lengthy hush befell the two, the bright pink glow from Jinx's eyes returned, while Starfire's emerald eyes burned a bright green sheen, in response.

"So be it." Starfire said calmly, while raising her hands in an attacking stance.

Jinx waves her hands in front of her, and a ripple effect of purple light, bounced across cars and lights about the road. Within seconds, a few of the streetlights shattered, some of the cars that were approaching the bridge, have their tires unexpectedly blow out, and the drivers tried to slam on the brakes, but they ended up sliding and crashing, into the line of cars in front of them!

The scent of burning rubber, and burnt electrical circuits fills the air, and while Starfire has her attention drawn to the newest commotion behind her, Jinx lunges in for a somersaulting kick to her opponents jaw.

The Tamaranean Warrior Princess, is knocked backwards from this, and she unleashes her trademark star bolt furry attack, hurling one explosive green energy blast after another, directly at the feet of Jinx!

The slender and nimble grey skinned H.I.V.E member, she ducked and dodged the onslaught. The local residents in their vehicles, get out of their cars and trucks, and they race for the walkway on the outer tier of the bridge, while the two adversaries duel in the very center, of the famed landmark.

---

While two fierce battles raged on, at very separate places across Jump City, Raven had finally arrived at her destination, and she stood upon a small hill, overlooking a vast desert canyon. Four massive cooling towers of the Power Plant could be spotted, with a rather thick white smoke, bellowing upwards, into the dark and rainy night sky.

The massive T shaped transmission lines, of solid metal that led her to this spot, they continued on, leading down a straight and narrow path, towards yet another row of rolling hills, and to the generator storage house at the end. This was used, for the electricity to be passed from this facility, where it could then be linked into the entire bay area metropolis.

Raven reached for her communicator attached to her belt, and after flipping the top open, a blank and empty video feed was revealed to her. She pressed the 'dial' button, where almost immediately, split screens began to come into view.

One showed Robin's head from inside of his helmet, Falcon's hooded face cropped into view next, as a heavy gust rippled with his attire. Beast Boy suddenly changed himself from a cheetah in a mad dash, and then back into his normal teenage self, where the other two members of their team, they had yet to respond.

"I'm at the Jump City Nuclear Plant." Raven started speaking, looking from the enormous facility just in the distance, and back to her hand-held device. "Everything seems normal, for the time being."

*Good work Raven* Robin said, as the light rain from the highway, splashed across his helmet. *Make your way down, and check on the reactor's monitoring room. That specific place, should control all of the equipment and ventilation, to the nuclear reactor.*

*Right.* The Empath rasped.

*…..*

A bit of static patched into everybody's communicators, as a a fifth corner box revealed Cyborg's sweating face. He was looking behind a barrier to a crest of a wall, while explosions and shouting echoed all about his end.

*Well … I arrived without any major trouble.*

*It sure doesn't sound like it dude.* answered Beast Boy.

*Yet it would appear, that someone aided Mammoth and Gizmo in a jailbreak.* Cyborg turned and fired a few blasts from his sonic cannon. *The local security forces are doing what they can, and I am trying to hold them off for as long as I can, but I might need some backup.*

*Divide and conquer.* Falcon deadpanned, *We knew this was coming, and yet we still fell for it.*

*Easy dude.* Beast Boy cut-in. *We're going to get through this.*

*Did you find any leads, any intel, on the whereabouts of any explosive devices, in your area?* Robin said back, while he was deeply focused on dodging traffic, speeding down the asphalt. The roar of his prized speed bike could be heard to increase to a much higher pitch, as he quickly shifted gears.

The black technological gear-head, was seen firing a few more times across the wall, where he slouched back down, and he looked to his left wrist.

Cyborg sighed heavily for a moment, it was quiet apparent that he was preoccupied. *My scanners didn't pick up anything when I got here. Hell, I don't think that Slade had any intentions of doing that here. But, I do believe that he wanted to use this as yet another scheme, in his favor.*

*Agreed.* said Falcon. *If you have your hands tied up at the Penitentiary, I can only imagine that Slade left another surprise at the Bay Bridge, for Starfire.*

Silence.

*Um Robin, I don't know if this will be of any help or not, but Red X … he's back.* Cyborg spoke, to end the unpleasant lull.

*What do you mean?* asked the team leader.

*From what I gathered here, it was Red X who started this debacle I'm in right now, he started this mess at the prison, and from what I understand, he could be working for Slade.*

*That's all well and good Cyborg, but what does it matter now?* questioned Raven.

*Just think about it, for a second.* Cyborg responded. *I have this really bad feeling, that there could be something big going on here, and we're all just a part of it.*

*We may be in a tight spot now, but it doesn't mean it's game over yet.* Robin spoke with a firm tone, to boost their moral. *Listen team, our work is far from finished. Cyborg, do what you can to keep the situation under control.*

*I'm on it!*

*But if there are no explosives at Cyborg's location, then there is still another area to check.* Raven deadpanned.

*Good point.* Beast Boy chimed in.

*Cyborg, when you do wrap things up, link up with Starfire. She will be much closer for you to get to, than the rest of us.* Robin ordered.*Keep me posted guys, Robin out.*

The screens for all heroes turned to black again, as each respective member focused back on their individual objectives. Raven placed the device back onto her belt, and she peered at the building before her.

The thick concrete walls became larger, as they towered along every angle to act as a barrier for any would-be-trespassers. Lights from inside the facility gave off a throbbing glow, as the buzz of electricity hummed, from the wires directly overhead.

The four obelisk structures in the middle of the facility, were the cooling towers, where there was a network of relay stations and other fenced off areas, that had warning signs of electrical shock, plastered all about them.

PCP pipes were lined along each of the smaller structures, where thick tubes were woven about the cement, and cooling pipes carrying cold water and a mixture of gasses, these were diverted for the reactor itself.

"Time to get to work." Raven spoke silently to herself, as her blue cloak swayed about her curvaceous figure.

The gray enchantress, whispered her famed chant, and she formed a black portal over the solid wall alongside the main road, that led her to a parking area, for employees. Once she jumped through, the portal closed behind her, and she was inside.

Turning her attention to all sides of the facility, she finally noticed the guard-house by the entrance. As she approached it, she observed two men donned in security uniforms, both of whom were unconscious, and tied up.

"Well, it looks like we were right about this place being hit, after all." Raven shook her head after kneeling down, and untying the night-watchers.

One of the security guards blinked his eyes, as he stood up.

"It's alright, you're safe. Can you tell me, what happened here?" Raven asked the man with blue eyes.

"Uh, well, Sam and me were doing our normal routine, when some kind of bright light smashed through the glass, and we fell to the floor I-I guess."

Raven studied the ground of the guard house, and she looked into the eyes of both men, where their story checked out. The window was shattered into thousands of pieces, and the crunch of the material against their shoes, it was all the proof that she needed, that they were attacked.

"Listen, I don't have much time. I came here tonight, because my team and I deduced that this place would be a high-priority target, for a most wanted criminal." Raven began to pace back and forth, and then she stopped quickly. "My name is Raven, I'm with the Teen Titans, and right now, you need to get the rest of your people, a very safe distance away from this place."

"Why?" Sam, the second guard asked, while he was helped to his feet, and he continued to rub his head.

"Because, if things don't turn out so well, you might not want to be here … in case things turn sour."

"Good point." replied the first guard.

"But if something does goes wrong, which it has, we must notify the proper authorities." implied Sam.

Raven sighed, as she stood by the doorway. "Good, go ahead and call them. I have work to do." She then turned, and made her way to the courtyard, and headed for another entranceway that led to the deeper underbelly, of the nuclear plant.

"Wait kid, what the heck are you doing?" The blue eyed guard asked, as his buddy, held the nearby phone to his shoulder, waiting urgently to dial the emergency number.

The blue cloaked, seventeen-year-old demoness turned, with her eyes burning with ire.

"I don't have time to explain. I work with the Teen Titans, now open this door, so I can do what I came here to do!"

The two security guards glanced at one another, then Sam pressed a button and the locked doors slid apart, allowing Raven to enter. Within a few minutes, an alarm began to whine, as people on the outside of the facility began to dart this way and that, brushing right by the Teen Titan.

The element of surprise, was no longer in her hand, and the Empath understood that something, or someone was waiting for her. She needed to find the highest priority target, something that could cause the most damage, and with a new hectic energy ensuing about her, a sudden mood of terror, overtook her thinking.

The many thick colored red and blue pipes, bent around the ceiling, while electrical cords and panel boxes lined the sides of walls. The sight of red warning lights flashed on and off, as the distant noise of workers footsteps, clanged against the metal grates and floors.

Raven went from a sudden jog, to a nonchalant walking pace, the deeper she went into the building. She observed a lounge area, vending machines and green sofas implanted about a long wooden table, where some stools had coffee mugs still steaming. There were some office cubicles at various parts of her journey, and a few locked closets and doors, that led to nowhere of importance.

Upon noticing a green outlined clock sticking high on a wall, the thin black hands across the bold numbers revealed the time to be 4:23 in the morning. The enchantress picked up her pace again, and she hurried down the corridors, past the bulletin boards that contained clippings of employee jargon.

As she passed by a run-down locker-bay area, a map of the inner pathways and exits was uncovered. The mark with a red arrow pointed, with the words 'You Are Here', this gave Raven a sense of much needed direction. Using her right index finger, she continued her search for the security room, to locate the one place, that the cameras could give her a much better bird's eye view, of everything.

"That's where I would go." Raven whispered, and she darted down the hallway.

Approximately eight or ten more minutes ticked away, Raven was on the right path, but she did not feel comfortable about the notion, that she was battling time. The white lights shined across the back of her dark blue hood and backside, where her shadow was mirrored off of the enamel tiled floor.

She turned by another corner, and directly ahead she noticed the door with the words; Safety Control Room. She reached down for the handle, and observed that a key card was required to gain access inside. That was not the main issue however, for even if she did have the proper clearance to get in, the machine to accept the card, it was destroyed.

Bits of electricity buzzed and popped, as black scalding marks, surrounded the wall panel.

"Whoever thought that this would stop someone from getting in, they clearly underestimated who was coming here." Raven grinned. "Azarath … Metrion, Zinthos!"

The enchantress faded through another portal, and once on the inside, her eye color returned back to normal.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." She said, and pressed forwards into the dark room.

To her left side, along the wall there were many towering computers, with the very same L.E.D. lights blinking on and off, from the switch panels that she had come across upon entering. There were signs showing a high voltage warning, plastered across parts of the equipment, and upside-down Y-shaped switches, and levers.

To the right of the room, there was a long row of computers, with the screens upon each of them revealing the temperature of the reactor, the total output of energy, steam escaping the Cooling Towers, and a near endless viewing of bar graphs, with other statistics and numbers.

As she approached this set of computers, taking notice to her surroundings, something caught her gaze from the back of this room. There was some-sort of box, with a linen white sheet covering it.

She held the fabric between her fingers, and with a sudden motion she tore away the sheet! A metal knee high, domed covered device, with canisters and wires sticking about it, sat before her. There was even an electric timer, which revealed that it was some sort of explosive, and one of the wires led to a monitor screen, where a sticky note on the front had the words, Press Play.

"This is defiantly not … what I was expecting Slade to leave me."

She leaned in and tapped the enter button upon the keyboard, where the blank screen quickly unveiled a security recording, where dozens of industrial sized oil drums, all connected with wires and timers, these barrels were lined about a room labeled; Reactor 1, and Reactor 2.

"Great, this just keeps getting more and more interesting." Raven said to herself, as she leaned back. "I think that this one here, is the main device that connects to the others, where if I can disarm it, then perhaps the others will be disarmed as well."

The gray Empath moved back to the canister alongside her, and she stood in place, looking for any possible way of cutting open the crafty machine. There were six wires strapped across the top, three wires were green, and they looped to the left side. Two more wires were crimson colored on the right edge, and they linked into the compartments on its side, as a blue wire linked to a the main computer console, that she had located near the sticky note.

Blinking red lights were counting down on a front panel, it showed the timer at twenty-seven minutes. Raven took a deep breath, she was relieved to have finally located what she came here for, but that brief calm was ended abruptly, as she concluded that if she made a wrong decision now, she and millions of other people around the western coast, would be vaporized into dust.

This was a strange game for Slade, and if the destructive antagonist was in fact staying somewhere in Jump City, it made things even more unsettling for Raven. It revealed a new grave threat, that even if Raven and her allies were unsuccessful at any juncture in their mission, then these explosives could detonate, and Slade along with everybody else would be dead.

In understanding this, Raven knew that Slade did not care for how he met his fate, it was becoming dangerously apparent that all this mad terrorist wanted, was to destroy the Teen Titans. Even if it meant his own demise, some twisted logic dictated, that he would have won. They had to stop him.

"Well, what wires would Cyborg deduce, were not of vital importance? This part is up to me … but perhaps, I don't have to cut any wires?"

The notion of finding a kill-switch for the contraption, inside of the device, quickly came to her mind. She had never been all too confident in handling delicate explosives before, where The Boy Wonder, and Cyborg, they were more capable to deal with a moment like this, but unfortunately, Raven could only count on herself.

"Azarath … Metrion, Zinthos."

She stretched her hands out into the black void, directly over the middle of the front panel, and she began to navigate by touch, the inner-components of the machine.

Wires, circuit boards, and the touch of vials containing a nasty concoction, that would trigger a chain reaction, these things were in a giant heap of a birds nest almost, not intended to be disassembled once it was put together, but this only caused a brief pause, in Raven fumbling her fingers through the big silver canister.

In the very center, at the heart of the computerized explosive, a pole like object was felt, where a vial in the middle of this, was slowly filling with a liquid. Upon a quick realization, that this could either stop the countdown, or bring about an even faster chain reaction to detonation, Raven had to take a chance.

The timer now showed twenty-six minutes were left. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead, and a sudden chill went up her spine. Raven breathed out slowly, trying to calm her shaking hands, on the inside.

"This is it Raven. You can do this."

The seconds felt to have stopped, her heart-rate was pounding away a much faster beat, echoing within her eardrums, and finally she quelled her unwanted fidgeting. Even the blaring of the alarm in the background, it went deaf to her ears, as she focused her sense of touch, and skills on this very, unbalanced moment.

Raven grasped the tube in the middle, and once she found the culprit that was filling it, using her fingers, she took the thin hose that was mixing the concoction together, from each of the shaving cream sized cans, that linked to the inner device from the outside, and she broke it in half.

The timer blinked for a few moments, and then, it turned off. The Empath sighed as she pulled her hands out, and then she removed her hood.

"Well now, that wasn't so bad."

A low chuckle began to emanate from a dark corner of the room. Raven slowly got back to her feet, turning her fixed gaze all about her surroundings. There was something, disturbing about the laughter that continued to grow louder, and it was from a voice that she was so accustomed to hearing.

"Who's there?"

There was a momentarily brief pause in the laughter, and then it started up once more. It was getting closer, and from the left side of the room.

"Show yourself!" Raven pulled her hood back over her head, as her eyes turned white. "You may have started this, but I am going to end it!"

"Very impressive Raven, truly, you always rise to the challenge and make short work of any struggle in your path." The man's voice crept ever closer. "But, you will not stop me from getting my revenge."

"SHOW YOURSELF!"

"Funny … I recall the last time those dreadful words were spoken, it was barely a week ago; it was by none other than yours truly."

" … Dr. Light?"

A blinding white flash, splashed across every corner of the room, forcing the Teen Titan to cower low, to shield her eyes and to re-examine the situation, that she was confronted with. As the ringing in her eardrums slowly subsided, the thin man dressed in a black uniform, continued to come forth from hiding.

"You may have been able to stop me in that little scrap, we had earlier." Dr. Light goaded the heroine as she got back to her feet. "But this is my domain, and the fact that we are in a place that gives an abundant supply of energy, my battle suit will be fully charged, all the time! Once I am finished with you, I can turn my total attention, to that insignificant speck of a city, that you call home!"

As he walked forwards, a pair of long cables were noticed hanging from the gloves he wore, and they connected to one of the many outlets in the room. The Teen Titan revealed a half-smile, as she was fully aware, of her adversaries deepest problem when fighting against her, the darkness.

The hum of his suit being charged, and the throbbing glow of a bright white tint, began to flow about his stature, as he got himself ready for the battle, that was long overdue.

"Oh, I think I'm really going to enjoy this." Dr. Light boasted, with a baleful grin.

Raven crossed her arms, her facial expression was completely concealed, from the blackness of her cowl. All that could be observed, was her two eyes, now burning white.

"Not as much as me."

---

A green Peregrine Falcon flying in a circular pattern over a mighty dam, quickly descended downwards, as the rain upon its feathers, made the flight a little bit of a struggle. A sudden draft from the wind picked up, and the impressive creature, used this to coast to the very center, of the curved concrete structure.

The falcon slowly shape-shifted, and Beast Boy remained standing. As he cracked the muscles in his neck and arms, he looked around and took notice, to the sound of water rushing through the man-made structure.

He approached a side guard-rail, and looked out and over, where the lake spread vastly before him. The gray super-structure, it was a masterpiece of engineering marvels, where the Jump City Dam was constructed many decades ago, to act as another energy source, and as a way to deliver twice the electrical power, to the coastline.

A cloud of white smoke, rose sluggishly from the bottom of the opposite side, leading to the desert canyon he had only just arrived from. There was an abundance of trees along the base of the dam, pine trees and shrubbery of various kinds, and even some wild-life scurrying about.

Beast Boy let a deep sigh escape from his body, while leaning against the red painted, metal railing. So much had happened in his life, there was so much pain, and anger.

The sound of rushing water, escaping from the run-off pipes, splashing out the bottom and into a large pool; in listening to this, it only made him recall the memory of his parents, falling to their deaths.

The changeling clenched his fists, as a boiling anger, bubbled within his heart. He wanted to have done something, anything but running away. Since that day, most of the conflicts which he had come across, they did not give him any other alternative, but to flee.

He continued to tell himself over and over, that the capsized raft could have been saved, and yet, if he did somehow manage to save them, if the events of the past were altered to such a gigantic degree, then he may never have met his fellow teammates.

There was a deep love for them all, each person helped him to grow stronger, to not be afraid to confront the darkness, and to help him grow up. What ever the strife or battle may have been, what ever villain, or criminal that waged war on the innocent, Beast Boy and his fellow Teen Titans, would stand strong, and confront the challenge.

While dwelling about his past, the appealing lavender perfume of Raven's cloak unknotted his dilemma. The scent was quiet strong, for despite the distance and time that had past, his animal instincts clung to that pleasing fragrance.

Each of his teammates gave off their own scent, where it was not any pungent, or foul oder, but the natural chemicals that stuck to their clothes, and secluded bedrooms. Beast Boy applied this blood-hound skill, before any person he knew approached him, before they entered his room or turned a corner to be visible, he knew without looking, just who was approaching him.

As he closed his eyes, thinking about the wisping candles and musty books lined upon her shelves, the subtle touch of everything now pointed to Raven, and as he though about her, he began to dwell over the evening, that they had shared together.

The test she had briefly told him about, was truly perplexing. The Gray Empath, did not entirely understand what any of it meant, but her words did bring a calm to his troubled spirit.

"Okay Beast Boy, it's time to stop Slade."

The green shapeshifter walked away from the railing, and he sniffed the air. There was a deep freshness to the outside wilderness, as the dry sand and rocks from the canyon, was altered to a fresh watery scent now. The air was cleaner, as the densely packed metropolis had countless oder's of car exhausts, factory smoke, and the busy noises of city life.

There in the distance, a small building could just be made out. It was part of the dam as the foundation, wrapped around it. In all likelihood, it was alternate entrance, to act as a maintenance shaft, for the workers of the dam.

Beast Boy reached for the handle of the door, he was slightly panting to catch his second wind. He did sprint across a great distance, after flying what must have been thirty or more miles to get here. Yet, it was right as he was about to reach down for the handle, a hair tingling sensation, tickled up his backside.

He slowly took his hand back, while he sniffed a new and very subtle smell, much different from his current surroundings. His animal instincts were telling him that someone, was already awaiting him just behind the door, but there was no inclination or faint memory, of who it could be.

"That's weird, why do I get this funny feeling, that this is a trap?" Beast Boy slapped himself on the head lightly, as he talked to himself. "Oh man, I really hate this."

No sooner after his bout with himself, the door was blasted clean off the hinges from a heavy kick from within! The metal divider slammed onto the concrete floor, reverberating a terrible echo about the landscape, where Beast Boy's eyes expanded in disbelief.

The buildup of smoke cleared, and the Teen Titan squints his eyes to get a better view of this terrible threat, that somehow broke reenforced steel, with brute force alone. Gradually, the leviathan shadow permeates from his new opening, stepping out from the darkness, revealing his massive block-like structure and concrete physiology. This only caused Beast Boy, to gasp in dread.

"Uh … Cinderblock!? Great, this is just great! Now I have to face off against stone-head, all by myself!" Beast Boy slowly backed up after speaking, candidly.

Cinderblock remained mute, his facial expression only revealed a new sense of dark pleasure, in a one-on-one bout, with a single foe and not the rest of his allies. The cement juggernaut locked his red eyes onto Beast Boy's green pair, as the tiny hero continued to slowly back away, from this terrifying menace.

"Breathe Beast Boy, you can do this. I think."

The changeling stopped just before his back hit another railing, and he brought his fists up and into a Kung-Fu fighting stance, one of the tiers that Robin had taught him to use, when facing an opponent five, or even ten times one's own stature.

It would come in handy, those combat and training simulations he desperately wanted to avoid, but the actual combat sparing matches, of not relying on his powers like his fearless leader, it made Beast Boy hone other skills he was lacking.

Regardless of the amount of damage he could inflict, and while extremely doubtful of inflicting a knock-out blow, there was no running away from this fight. Beast Boy had to secure the area, he needed to find the bombs, if there were any, and he had to do it, fast.

The massive stone colossus known only as Cinderblock, did not hesitate any further, where he rushed after Beast Boy. Every step that the giant took, the whole ground trembled, where the invisible ripples vibrated, across the surface of the dam.

"Don't let him make the first move, don't let him make the first move, don't let him make the first move …" The hero said with his eyes squinting, as his repetition got even quicker.

After blinking his eyes and finding an opening in the heavy-hitting assault, Beast Boy ducked and rolled to his right first, then as Cinderblock swung and missed twice, the crafty hero weaved his torso around, and he kicked the back of his enemy!

The villainous behemoth growled, as he stomped his right leg onto the ground, creating a spider-web indentation, upon the surface.

"Ha! You missed me that time, block head!"

Cinderblock charged forwards again, while Beast Boy morphed himself into a Grizzly Bear, and he slashed the chest of his enemy. He continued to claw and slash using his mighty paws, roaring a few times as the fierce, North American Grizzly, but Cinderblock slapped the changeling to the side, with a clean two-handed hit.

Beast Boy turned, he ran around a corner and transforms himself again. This time, he shape-shifted into a lion, where he roared it's mighty king roar, with his main blowing in the wind, and the tail whipping back and forth. Cinderblock stood amused, but only for a moment or two, and then he did the only thing he knew how, to run and bash his foe, with brute muscle.

The green colored lion, jumped, and with its claws outstretched, he lays a heavy blow to the upper left arm, of Slade's deadly henchman, and the monster growls a bit louder this time. Beast Boy was not trying to toy with him, he was doing what he could to find a weakness, and if a battle of muscle was needed, then in his current form, he would never fully subdue his opponent.

Beast Boy was trying to think tactically, he was learning where Cinderblock was most vulnerable, and if he agitated him enough, the attacks would come to him, and he would be able to counter with his own.

"Come on dude, you'll have to do better than that." Beast Boy provoked him, as he shape-shifted again.

"GRrrrrrrr!"

The duel continued, with Cinderblock throwing punches and kicks, all the while the Teen Titan dodged them, and he took the form of various beasts. From an African Rhinoceros, slamming its horns head-long into the hip of Cinderblock, to a velociraptor and clamping down with its powerful jaws, onto the right forearm of his enemy.

While as a chimpanzee, Beast Boy climbed around the railings, and he jumped onto Cinderblock's square head, and it agitated the massive monster only further, yet Cinderblock does grab onto the shapeshifter this time, and he hurled him into the side of the building, that he broke through earlier.

"Ugh … that hurt." Beast Boy groaned in pain, while he used his left hand, to help support himself upright. "Maybe I should try something bigger?"

"GRrrrrr!"

Another onslaught was coming, where there was little doubt, in what form the hero would take this time. As his heart beat quickly inside of his ribcage, a swift chill of the air, caused the Titan to shiver. Beast Boy took the shape of the hulking and terrifying Tyrannosaurus Rex, unleashing a freighting howl, and Cinderblock's eyes quickly became wide, as he slowed in his pace.

The green prehistoric dinosaur bowed his head, and he used his entire weight, to slam into Cinderblock as a battering ram. The many rows of sharp teeth chomp down a few times, as the changeling gave an effort to distract his prey. Cinderblock moved his hands to hold the jaws closed, where the two juggernauts, test their full strength.

Beast Boy had grown twice the size of his opponent, and the heavier he pushed, the more Cinderblock struggled to hold fast, as his feet dug into the concrete foundation of the walkway, where the pair circled the area until it was Cinderblock, who had his back to the entrance again.

The T-Rex began to push, whipping his tail from one side, then to the other and trying to divert the henchman's focus away from the gaping hole. While Cinderblock did force his left elbow to bash across the snout of Beast Boy, the changeling was quick to respond.

By using the momentum of his forward moving body, he spun around, and with all of the weight now in his tail, he slashed the lower abdomen of Cinderblock, knocking the wind out of his sails. This forced the behemoth, to tumble into the wall, and crashing through the floor!

Down, down, down, into the darkness Cinderblock plummeted, belting a mighty cry of pain as he had lost the duel. A thick and heavy dust cloud, arose from the rubble, as deep within the Jump City Hydroelectric Dam, the many layers could not provide a barrier to stop his own weight, tumbling into the cold, black void.

Beast Boy shape-shifted, back into his young and skinny teenage self, wearing his Doom Patrol outfit of black and purple. He raced forwards to observe the damage that he had inflicted, and as he approached the astounding hole in the wall, there, in the floor an even much larger crater, was uncovered.

The creaking of a lamp swaying back and forth, it added an eerie quality to everything just then, and as he looked down, into the pit, he could not locate a broken body. The steady flow of water, rushing through parts of the dam was increasing in noise, as a faint hum of turbine engines, also echoed in the dark.

"Just great, rock dude is down there, in the dark, and my only other lead on the whereabouts of any bombs, would also happen to be down in that place." Beast Boy sighed, as he looked at his increasingly dangerous milieu. "I guess I've got no other choice."

His voice bounced back, as he stood, perched over the inner railing. He shrugged his shoulders, while the uncomfortable vibe passed through his stomach, as he was about to venture into the further unknown.

Along the side, a metal ladder was placed for the maintenance workers, and as Beast Boy started to climb down, his animal senses picked up another foreign scent. It beguiled him, as the tiny hairs on his neck, stood on end.

Looking upwards to the still swaying light, Beast Boy felt that even in the pit of darkness, of all the uncertainty, there was still a job that he had to fulfill, and this new mood reassured him, of what it truly meant, being a Teen Titan.

---

The Boy Wonder slowed his R-Cycle down, as he rode past the vast parking lot, of Jump City International Airways. He turned his head from the left, and then to the right as the massive turbine engines echoed in the background, the lights from the Command Tower were shining down, as silhouettes from the inside stood up and paced back and forth, behind the thick glass as they contacted the incoming and leaving flights, to guide the pilots in take-offs and landings.

While Robin cranked the throttle a little, causing it to rumble, a massive 747 Boeing Airplane glided overhead, and the thick black tires unraveled from the underbelly, as the large gleaming aircraft, comes in for a landing.

The high pitched whistle from the jet engines, it caused the hero to turn away, as he placed his foot down to act as a kickstand, like he would when he is stopped at a red light. The drizzle of rain that seemed relentless on the highway, slowly ceases for the time being.

After looking around the entrance-way, where hundreds of cars, mini-vans, trucks and some motorcycles are parked, the Titan's leader peered away from the tall building in front, as the long glass window from the distance revealed the yellow glow inside, as shadows of many travelers walked from within.

A towering silver and gray, chain-linked fence divided the massive parking lot, from the multiple runways, and to the far ends of these, were the terminals for the people on the inside, to board their flights. The long corridors appeared to be mobile homes, sticking out of the sides of the main building, but they had no windows, as the runway lights were blinking on and off, in a red pattern, to help guide the planes.

There was a keen instinct to make his way, to the storage area for the jet fuel. Sade could have planted the explosives within the Command Tower, but if he wanted to create an even larger amount of chaos, if he ignited the high-octane fuel for the airplanes, then there would be countless innocent people, caught in the blast.

Pulling the helmet off his head, and revealing his spiked black hair and eye-mask, Robin left his motor bike, and climbed over the fence. Just in the distance, a masked adversary waited patiently in the shadows. He squinted his eyes, and stealthily followed his target.

Passing two guardhouses by the fence, Robin dashed by, and hurried on his way to a massive hanger bay, where various jets and aircraft were parked. Sixteen fuel tankers were lined up by this building, with some of their hoses connected to fuel pumps.

The Titan's leader was trying to find anything out-of place, anything that would resemble an explosive container or device, or even a package of some kind, that did not belong. His mind began to race with questions, as he tried to keep calm and attentive, on his primary objective.

Once he got to the hanger, he observed hundreds of oil barrels stacked by a corner, where red sticks of TNT, and wires were strung all over them, connecting them to detonate simultaneously. In the front stack of barrels, a rectangular metal briefcase was noticed, and unknown to Robin, like all of the other devices, a timer was placed upon it.

The time shown, that he had remaining to defuse the device was twenty-four minutes.

Robin looked over the layout of the bombs, there was not much of a struggle to disarm them, and it was very odd, in why things were set up this way. He and Cyborg were the best on the team to take out explosives, but the others on his team, began to worry him.

He hadn't heard from Starfire at the bridge, Cyborg at the main prison complex was lured into a trap, Raven and Beast Boy were at their locations, but there was no sign of how they were progressing along. Of all of this, the realization that Falcon was a new addition to their team, he had given no signs of skill, in how to disarm explosives.

The others had at least gone through training exercises on one or two occasions, but within a week's time that they had met Falcon, they did not bother with something like this. He would need to contact Falcon and walk him through this, step-by-step, once he finished with his own mission.

Robin took out his wire-cutters from one of his belt compartments, and he made short work of the device. As he stepped back, the main bomb was now deactivated, and the others could pose no real threat without it.

He stood up from the crouched position, and he released a brief sigh of relief.

"Well, I should contact the others and let them know, that things are done here." Robin grabbed his communicator from his belt, and as he was about to make the call, a second timer began to beep, then a third, and a fourth.

"What the …" Robin gasped as he spun around; "No!"

The other explosive barrels had timers on them as well, and they all revealed a time at five minutes! The main device was a decoy, where the other explosives carried, some sort of a delayed trigger mechanism. This could only mean, that there was someone nearby, with a remote, that had caused the bombs to start up again, but with an even shorter fuse.

"So much for a quick night." Robin darted back to the oil-drums, trying to re-evaluate what his options were.

The adrenaline began to pick up, where before he had the rest of the night to spare, and he could even leave his location to help any one of his fellow teammates, but now with the issue dropped back at his feet, he was stuck in a deadly predicament.

"I guess I'll have to disarm these things, one at a time then." Robin knelt back down; "Time to get to work."

As the hero began to examine things, with an even closer observation, he was stunned to have overlooked the first time, that a strange knee high transmitter with a black antenna, tucked directly behind this stack of barrels was hidden from plain view.

"If that's what I think it is, then my second hunch was right." He squinted his eyes; "Slade could be around here, with the remote that controls this entire setup."

A pair of white eyes narrowed from just outside of the hanger doors, where within his gray gloved right hand, the unseen foe was holding onto a remote control. Robin had a funny feeling, that something was foul, with this entire situation.

"Alright." Robin said with his back to the doors; "Show yourself!"

The masked foe hesitated, and then, without wasting another chance, he bolted forwards while unleashing a deadly barrage of shurikens! The metallic blades cut through the air, whooshing, and the sudden noise forced the Teen Titan, to duck and roll to the side, unleashing his famed bo-staff, twirling the weapon to deflect the rest of the projectiles.

Robin stood ready, his silver staff was held behind his back, as he used his other arm to prod his opponent.

"I knew that Slade, wouldn't have given me something that easy." Robin spoke with his total attention, directed at his new enemy. "It's been too long since our last bout … Red X."

"You're a quick learner kid, I'll give you that."

The Boy Wonder relaxed his stance a bit, as he plotted to get to the bottom of this.

"This isn't just some game, people's lives are at stake here!" Robin stared angrily at his opponent. "What did Slade promise you, Xenothium? Money? What is your angle, why did you come back?"

Red X slowly walked forwards; "You look surprised to see me chuckles. It has been too long, weeks, a little over a month since The Brotherhood of Evil's collapse?" He raised his fists, preparing to fight; "Some things in this world, they just clash."

"Humph. I see you haven't changed all that much."

"Some things never do."

Robin and Red X stared at one another, as a long and terrible silence filled the air, then they charged forwards, where the Xenothium Assassin revealed his crimson X-shaped wrist blades, while The Boy Wonder slammed his bo-staff against them, causing the scraping metal to clang.

The duel went back and forth, both sides pushing and swiping their arsenal of weapons at each-other, for better footing, and trying to whack the backside of their opponent. They were equally matched, as their shadows danced on the walls all around them.

Red X got a decent punch into the left kidney of The Boy Wonder, where Robin tossed down four smoke pellets, and as he planted his staff to the ground, he spun and kicked Red X in the back of the head.

"Why are you doing this? What could you possibly get, working for Slade?"

Red X grunted. "Sorry kid, I don't indulge that sort of information to my targets." He swiped a heavy right hook, his wrist-mounted blades spun like propellers for a second, and Robin backed up a few inches more. "But I was told, to give you a message."

The two began to pant briefly, and then Robin returned his focus to the timers upon the many oil-drums. The countdown was still initiated, and he was increasingly agitated for being stalled, to fight a criminal, that he did not have the luxury of time to duel.

"Look, I know that those explosives over there were recently triggered by a remote, and judging by the current facts at my feet, I would presume that you, had something to do with it."

Red X narrowed his eyes behind the mask, causing his skull facade to do the same, and Robin collapsed the Bo-Staff, and put it away. In turn, Red X returned his weapons to their concealed compartments.

"Give me the detonator." Robin ordered with his left hand out. "Or, I will take it from you."

"Clever, very clever."

"Don't make this hard on yourself, just hand it over. Now."

The crafty assassin tilted his head. "You're very persistent, aren't you? Well, if you want it, you'll have to catch me first!"

"There is no reason for you to do this, listen, whatever that madman has promised you, its all just a big lie! You're nothing but a pawn, in a much larger manipulative game of his! I know Slade better than anybody, I've been fighting him for too long, trust me."

"Nice try kid, but I won't fall for your tricks. Besides, I'm the one with the detonator, I'm the one calling the shots around here, remember?" He held the device up from his belt, mocking him.

"Not. Any. More."

Robin threw four explosive disks, at his enemy's outstretched arm, and as Red X swiped away three of them, one of the spherical gadgets knocked the remote to the middle of the floor! It spun upon its back for a short while, and then it stopped spinning, where both young combatant's eyes, were drawn from the remote, and back to their adversary.

"Nice shot kid." Red X remarked, as he resumed his fighting stance. "You may have the upper hand now, but in the end, you'll still lose."

"I was never one to run away from a fight." The Titan's Leader, he again took out his bo-staff, and he was ready to grab the wireless detonator. "I didn't want to have to do this, but I guess I'll just have to bring you down."

Red X nodded his head. He was accepting the challenge, where he flicked his right fingers ahead, to incite his foe to make the next move.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Red X spoke, in his synthesized voice.

---

With various places of Jump City, as major battle-grounds for the Teen Titans, the real show was about to begin, in the very center, of the complex metropolis.

Falcon was running on foot, down another dark corner as street and traffic lights, brightened up the downtown. The slick pavement, the smell of damp sidewalks and roads, the noises of cars and trucks still driving about, it reminded him that this place, was just like any other city. These minor details, also informed the wandering drifter, that many peoples lives were at risk, should he fail.

The newest addition to the Teen Titans, did not really like being in any city too much, they were overly congested with smoke, of noises and people; of heavy machinery, where everything had a bustling movement, to get from one place to the next. But, it was still a home for him, and he was gradually starting, to adjust.

Waiting at a bus-stop, a lone car was spotted driving past. The night-time, was not nearly as loud, as it could be during the day; most people were home and sleeping, totally unaware of the danger so close to being unleashed.

Falcon had just come from the major hospital, he had done a thorough sweep of the entire building, looking from the security monitors, to asking the nursing and doctor staff, of any suspicious activity, and he even took a long tour of the grounds. The entire premises, of infirmary wards, the morgue in the basement, the docking bays for medical supplies, the garages, even the roof was clear of danger.

The crimson cloaked hero was very certain, that this lead, this location would be the key place of interest to Slade. Unfortunately for Falcon, it was a dead-end, and as he looked to the skyline, a bit more color began to reveal itself. The total black and blue began to alleviate, as the late night was coming to a close, and the new day was approaching.

After an unknown amount sleepless nights, as a child, and looking at the stars to calm his nerves, Falcon had a strong sense already, that he was running out of time, and he needed to get to the train station.

If he again came up empty handed at this second location, there were a few other places he could search, but he would need to contact his teammates, to get a better picture of Jump City.

His long crimson cloak, swayed about his body, as he began to jog from the bus-station and through an abandoned alley. Rustic trash cans, and dirty pieces of paper with cardboard, littered the path, as a few stray cats hissed upon seeing him run by.

He slowed his pace down once more, and he leaned against a green dumpster. His grimly cold shadow arched behind him, and it mirrored his deeper emotions. Sooner than later, his new-found family was going to uncover things of his past life, things he wished to keep to himself.

Falcon began to contemplate leaving them, where the sharp-cowl over his face, was a testament to his conflicted, inner thoughts. Yet he was tired, he was mentally and physically exhausted, of being on the road for too long, that he was perpetually alone, and that these fellow teenagers, they wanted to help him.

It was all so, strange. Everything was coming together, the earth mover Terra Markov, she was his primary lead, and as it so happened, Beast Boy had a romantic bond with that very same girl. Even if Falcon left right now, if he opted to abandon his new home and friends, it would only bring an unsettled failure, to his already heavy heart.

He had been digging for clues and the truth, for so long, where now, he wanted to reach the end of this journey. He lifted his eyes from the grimy street, and there in front of him, he found the other building he had to go through, the train station.

He crossed the empty street, as a lone traffic light nearby changed to the color yellow, but there were no vehicles to be seen, there were no people walking about at this hour, and most of the noises were in the very distant edges of the city.

If felt surreal, like a ghost town, and the gigantic classic designed columns, the brick work and masonry about the entire structure, it was increasingly uncanny, the closer he approached the massive building.

Looking up to the drab pillar, in the middle frame of the Greek Parthenon roof, the words; Jump City Railways, was engraved. There were also, two granite lions of solid stone. Both were resting a paw, upon a round ball, on each bottom side of the wide concrete steps. The enshrouded hero took a deep unfathomable breath, while peering across the outside of the gigantic building.

To the far sides on the same street, a jewelry store with red bricks resided to the left, with its windows barred and locked. A picture of a diamond necklace, it was clearly visible on the store-front window. To the right edge, of the same street corner, a small gas station was seen, where there were four pumps.

"There is no turning back." Falcon spoke to himself; "I've got to hurry."

He ventured on with his quest, walking up the long steps to the train station. Each step he took felt to grow a little heavier, while his breathing also increased. The widespread windows lined the entrance, as dozens of smaller pillars were clustered together, to support the roof.

Manipulating the overhead lighting, Falcon's shadow engulfed him, and he phased through the darkness of the brick-layered wall, as he reached out to touch it. The doors were locked, but that would could not stop his powers. Stealth was his greatest asset, and within a blink of an eye, he was inside.

As he slowly walked forwards, his footsteps echoed a little, and he paused to hear the pitter-patter against the floor. The seventeen-year-old, looked about his surroundings, where he could view the locker bays at the far end, as directly to his left, resided the multiple ticket booths, that were sealed up tight.

It was silent as a mausoleum, there were no locomotives coming or going at this late hour, there were no passengers or busy residents, hustling around the inside of this gigantic area. As far as Falcon knew, he was entirely alone.

The ancient building was created during the boom times of the 1920's, only then to be refurbished in the late 1930's after a fire destroyed much of the infrastructure, during one of the many labor union riots, in part to F.D.R.'s bold initiative programs, to help America out of the Great Depression.

Huge archways supported the framework, and the glass-roof of the Jump City train station, where the moon could barely be seen, through the clouds and fog, yet the the rays of the moonlight came in, and illuminated his very silhouette, that followed his every move.

The pitter-patter of running feet echoed in the dark, and as Falcon looked about his surroundings, a mysterious figure just in the distance, down the opposite end of the hall was noticed. He was sprinting to a tunnel for cover, looking over his shoulder briefly, as if he already knew, that someone else was in the room with him.

Hesitating no longer, Falcon leapt into action and hurried alongside a great pillar, to conceal the outline of his own body, and from here, he waited. He planned to remain invisible, unheard if he could, to take total advantage of the element of surprise, but, something felt intolerable, with the mysterious figure, now racing for cover.

Falcon observed, and then moved in, quietly and stealthily from pillar to pillar. There were countless places to hide an explosive device, and within the vast hall of the rail station, the building was immeasurably extensive. The Shadow Manipulator understood only too well, that he could be here for a while.

The most likely place to search, that came to mind, was somewhere near the entrance, that the trains came and went from. If this particular area, were to be blocked off, then the building could be closed down for months, rendering the facility inoperable.

Upon locating the five main rail-lines, Falcon jumped down, off of the first platform, and he waited to collect his thoughts. The other four tracks were parallel to this one, and they all led towards the same wide, dark tunnel.

Unlike the subway, which traveled below parts of the city, these tracks led to the back terminal, and then to places outside, of Jump City. These five rail-lines went to other destinations, places like Los Angeles, San Diego, El Paso Texas, and even further east, to metropolises such as Keystone City, and Central City, that were linked by a massive bridge.

While cautiously walking into the wide tunnel, he looked up and stopped almost immediately. Directly above him, multiple stacks of TNT were strung about the domed ceiling, and also along the walls. They were connected by wires and cords, and they all linked further into the tunnel.

"This is it. I'm guessing these are all connected, let's see where this goes."

Falcon followed the trail, and as he walked deeper into the void, the darkness consumed the limited light behind him. Towards the back of this tunnel, two great doors that were usually left open, were found to be shut, and they created a wall. Yet right there, in the middle lane of tracks, the main device lay. It was just sitting there, as if it was intended to be found.

The rectangular device was in fact, a highly sophisticated desktop computer, where ten different wires, found their way from the back end of this contraption, to the walls and ceiling. Oil drums and stacks upon stacks, of forty and fifty pound bags of fertilizer, were piled in front of the sliding doors, as disposable track-phones, and wrist watches, were strapped to each of the explosive packages.

The computer screen had a timer, and it revealed that the detonation at this location, would trigger within ten minutes. Falcon looked at his communicator, the time was 4:43 AM, and a few beads of sweat, began to drip down his forehead.

He had to think rationally, taking out random wires was an automatic death wish, and even though he did locate what he essentially came for, he had absolutely no schooling, or technical know-how, on the proper ways to disarm any sort of bombs.

Falcon was a brawler, a sorcerer, an avid martial artist, and a reclusive detective, when it came to dealing with problems of the criminal underworld. This however, was a challenge far beyond his comfort level, and he had to adapt quickly, in order to make good on his promise, to his new friends.

"Damn it all. This is not going to work." He sighed; "The others cannot help me, there isn't any time, and the local authorities won't get here any faster either. As much as I hate this, all this city has to depend on right now, is some nobody. But, this nobody is going to at least try."

He stretched his right hand out, fearful that any sudden movement would backfire against him, and he observed everything about the main explosive. Soon, he felt colder than usual, something was greatly amiss with the musty air, hanging low about the train station, and the tingling sensation on the back of his neck, startled him. He was being watched, and he sensed it in his bones.

"Come to watch the show?"

Falcon slowly stood up, turning his back to the device, and he stared down the long and empty path. He had forgotten about the mysterious runner, that led him here. Once again, that queasy feeling within his stomach, churned once more.

"So, the wandering drifter decided to stay and fight the good fight, in a foreign city, for people that do not even know, the exact extent, of who he really is." A low voice rasped; "Admirable, truly."

"Slade." Falcon said with a hint of anger in his tone. "Stop playing games, come out of the shadows, and face me!"

A sinister chuckle, permeated through the tunnel, and Falcon glanced from the left and right. A horrifying silence remained, for an unprecedented number of minutes, until at long last, the Teen Titans greatest foe, emerged from a corner, and he stood blocking the only way of escape!

His erasing shadow arched across the floor, where Falcon locked his brown and white eyes, to Slade's single brown one.

"Well, here I am." Slade stretched both arms out briefly. "So you come to this place, even in knowing that you cannot stop the detonation, that you have become cornered in the dark, and that you can only rely on yourself. While this is incredibly noble of you, it is also terribly reckless."

"Don't lecture me!" Falcon barked; "I am not afraid of you."

"Damn the consequences, put your own life into jeopardy and risk everything, all for the simple act, of trying to win? My, my, I must admit that I find it quiet amusing, to see your total determination. You remind me of another."

"You are a monster, a villain!" The Necromancer squeezed his fingers; "An evil that must be destroyed!"

"Oh, you think I am so evil, so contrived to being a monster, bent on merciless destruction and violence. Tell me dear child, when was the last time, you looked in a mirror?"

Falcon's heart began to race, while he kept his eyes, glued upon his foe. Slade stepped forwards, sluggishly, with his hands clasped behind his back. The teenager watched, as his enemy crept closer with every step, where the left eye behind the mask, had a palpable notion about it.

"So … you've joined Robin and his team, how touching. But it does not change the fact, of what you have done, of who you really are."

"Leave. Them. Out of this!" Falcon's rasping voice boomed. "This is between you and me, just like it has always been."

Slade was standing sparsely two feet away, and he leaned in. "Just as it always has been. Tell me, I have been dying to know, if they, your new friends are fully aware, or have you, just been playing the part, of the angry little child? Have you been too terrified to have the truth exposed, fearful that it will take everything away, like it did the last time?"

Falcon remained quiet.

"Well, no matter, things have been transpiring to this very moment now, and regardless of what you do, or where you run, things will always end badly for you, and those you care about."

"Leave. Them. Alone!"

Falcon's brown eye now burned white, as he used his right fist, to generate a mighty bird's talon. He quickly grabbed hold, of the antagonizer, and pushed him all the way across the room! Dust from the scuffle rose slightly, as the shadow, began to squeeze around Slade's midsection.

Falcon walked over, and the seething hatred, began to boil his blood.

"Well now … I guess I was right." Slade replied; "You truly don't care about anything, where that anger, that pent up rage that has been laying dormant for years, now it is taking form."

"No."

"What's the matter boy? Isn't this … what you wanted, doesn't the hatred feel good?" Slade wiggled his upper torso, to allow himself more movement. "Even if you cannot admit it, despite you hiding behind that crimson cowl of yours, there is no denying that this evil, is the path you chose long ago."

"Your words are poison." Falcon used his dark energy, to tighten the grip around his enemy.

Slade winced for a moment or two, to catch his breath.

"Where I may be seen as a monster in your eyes, isn't it also true, that everywhere you go, people see you as the very thing, you are so bent to destroy?"

Falcon hesitated, easing his clenched right fist, as the shadow bird's claw did the same. This momentary lapse of judgement, was taken advantage of almost immediately, as Slade used his left fingers to tap a remote upon his right wrist, causing five flash grenades to drop out of a compartment from a hidden pouch, and the concealed devices exploded!

One after another, blinding flashes of pure white light, knocked out the complete darkness, and Falcon backed away in a dazed state, as his powers were rendered useless. He collapsed backwards, clutching his brow, where Slade lunged in with an elbow dropping to his head, knocking the wind out of the Teen Titan, who was already keeled over.

Falcon tried to tuck and roll, where Slade was one step ahead, and he unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks, to the startled sorcerer. He would not give his prey a second chance.

"It has been too long, and your skills have become … sloppy." Slade picked Falcon up, by his throat, and he tossed the protagonist to the side. "You were so keen and intent on my eradication, you were so proud, and yet, here you lie."

The menacing villain crept closer again, and as Falcon was starting to stand, Slade unleashed a kick to his kidney, knocking him down again.

"You're weak." Slade kicked with his steel toed boots; "Pathetic," another kick; "You cannot hope to save this city, or your friends." He kicked even harder, as Falcon writhes in agony; "You cannot do anything … you cannot even save yourself!"

Following the last kick, Falcon's adrenaline kicked in, and he ignored the heavy blow to his chest, and taking advantage of the morning rays, now penetrating into the tunnel, Falcon phased himself through the ice cold floor, disappearing from view!

Slade turned slowly, his back was to the main explosive he had set, and his enemy was on the run.

"Using the shadows to your advantage, are you?" Slade spoke in the dark; "Well, lets just see how you use this ability, when there are none."

The mastermind tapped onto his wrist again, and emergency lights from the entire building went out. It was pitch black, where both fighters had to rely on their four other senses, but the madman, had a hidden ace up his sleeve.

There were no shadows, and the darkness within the tunnel ate every ounce of light quickly. It was too late for Falcon, where as he tried to lunge in behind Slade, the criminal mastermind, had spun and pushed the defiant drifter in the chest.

"Did you honestly believe that, that was going to work?" Slade belittled his adversary; "There is no light to bend now, to conceal your movements. The shadows of this tunnel can not aid your powers. What will you do?"

Falcon slowly got back to his feet, as his long red cloak, swayed about him.

"I am, going to stop you." said The Necromancer.

"You will try." Slade deadpanned, where he walked forwards and stopped. "But in this total darkness, only I can see; for I have a built in, night-vision scanner to my helmet. You may think you are safe, but the thermal heat of your body, is a dead give-away!"

Slade punched through a nearby bench, and the splinters scattered across the floor, where Falcon tucked and dove for a different hiding place. The crafty villain stood up, and he cracked the joints within his knuckles, of his right fist.

"Come now child, it is pointless to resist." Slade monologued. "This is folly, and your time is almost up."

"Guess again!" Falcon tossed several fireballs where the bench was located, causing Slade to leap aside, and peer at the direction these shots were coming from.

The outline of the fire wielder, was giving off a throbbing red hue, as he hovered in mid-air. His red cloak was swishing about his figure, and the white eyes were visible beneath his sharp hood, but nothing else. He looked like a possessed demon, enraged beyond comprehension or reasoning.

"Ah, there you are." Slade tossed a handful of shurikens at the teenager, forcing Falcon to dodge this assault, and Slade raced back into the tunnel. The unhinging of his metal bo-staff, bounced across the void.

"COWARD!" Falcon caught his breath; "If you will not stand before me, then I guess, I will have to just burn you out."

The fire manipulator generated two balls of flame, one for each hand and he tossed them into the tunnel, smashing through the blackness. They caused a red trail to streak behind, only for the emptiness to consume the light. Falcon's entire attention, was drawn directly ahead of him, and he aimlessly threw many fireballs into the tunnel, hoping to hit something, he could not see.

As he paused to allow his hands to cool, to soothe the burning sting that scalded his palms, a sudden noise caused him to turn around. His opponent had slunk to the corner, he had avoided the tunnel completely, flanking around the back of the hero, and he slammed his bo-staff upon the top of Falcon's head!

The cracking noise was so loud and unexpected, that Falcon tumbled back to the earth. Slade spun his staff, as a masterful martial artist, and he kept up the relentless barrage, as the element of surprise, was now back in his favor.

A thin trail of blood, rolled down Falcon's nose, as the fierce beating had done a number on him. Slade held his captive with one hand, by his shirt collar, and he pressed him against the wall. He then leaned the staff against the boy's neck, cutting off the air supply, he so desperately needed.

Everything in sight became fuzzy, dim once more, and a throbbing beat of his heart thumped faster, against the wall of his ribcage. Slade had him pinned, he could not think of anything, but to breathe.

He gasped and squirmed, but the villain would not yield an inch. Slade twisted his head to the side, leaning in a bit, and nearly breathing against his nose, from the little slit vents, of his ice cold mask.

"Indeed, it has been too long." Slade's voice, caused a new wave of dread, to fill the stillness. "It has been over a decade of our parting, from eight years in a cell, and two more on the road; you have come so close to reaching your goal, so close to getting what you have always wanted, and yet, right in front of your eyes, you can not simply reach out … and touch me."

" … I will … beat … you …"

"Really?" Slade pulled back; "From the sound of your voice, you can hardly breathe, let alone threaten me."

Falcon gasped.

"It is quiet something, to live in fear. To have no oxygen left, with no means of escape, except to take an even more drastic, approach." Slade's eye curled, he was enjoying this; "It is the only true way to know, that you are alive. Not that it will matter in five minutes, for even if things do turn out in your favor, you still have to contend with one, slight problem."

Falcon's eyes became wide, as he struggled to breathe.

Slade retrieved a remote from his back-pocket, it had a red switch on the front panel, and was the size of a smart phone. It was a transmitter of some kind, and Falcon's left eye, returned to its normal brown color. Using one hand to hold the staff, and to keep Falcon pinned to the wall, with his other, he held the transmitter to the boy's face.

"This …" Slade answered; "Is the remote detonator, that you have been searching for. There are no other ways to deactivate these explosives, there are no other tricks up my sleeves, there is nothing you can do, to stop this from happening; and it is going to happen."

"But if you detonate it … now …" Falcon grimaced, as he reached for a better grip, against the bar to his Adams Apple; "Then … we'll both … be … killed."

As an awful hush crashed between them, where Falcon began to chuckle. This caught the villain by shock, and he was slightly perturbed.

"Why do you laugh? You cannot use your powers, you are pinned to the wall, this is the only thing to stop me and yet, you have nothing to threaten me with." Slade leaned his head forwards, to study his prey. "Why now do you laugh, at the end of all things?"

"I thought … you … would … never ask." Falcon's entire body shook, and he peered directly into the eye of the madman.

"What are you rambling on about? It is over."

"No." Falcon wrapped his fingers against the bo-staff, as tightly as he could. The aching scabs, the cracks and charcoal smudge marks, smeared the shaft, of the metallic weapon. He pressed it against his skin, and he fought through, the staggering pain. "This … story … it does not … end … not …here!"

The weapon began to glow bright red, as the flames from Falcon's palms engulfed the bo-staff, thus forcing Slade to back away, where the scalding object slammed to the ground! The fire blinded Slade for a moment, and he groaned in pain.

Falcon used this new opening, as Slade had also dropped the detonator to the floor, and while backing away to look at his hands, the hero lunged in for a powerful upper-cut!

The fire wielder threw punches and kicks, pushing his foe, far away from him, and after enough distance had been achieved, Falcon collapsed both hands on-top of each other, and a wide stream of fire was directed down, at his enemy.

The scorching heat, the flames and total rage which had knocked the master manipulator off from his footing, allowed the situation to change. Falcon just stood there, using his hands as a flamethrower, to punish his worst enemy, trying to turn everything into dust! Finally, Falcon subsided the raw power, that boiled his blood, and the fire soon went out.

The nauseating stench of burnt metal, of smoldering sulfur, sifted about the void. Falcon walked forwards, and there on the floor, the outline scalding of some figure, was somewhat visible, but there was no corpse. Falcon knew better than to believe, that he had inflicted the fatal blow. The fire wielder only wounded his arch rival, he burned him, badly, but he was not dead.

The Necromancer kneeled down, and he picked up the remote, that Slade had taunted him with. The black antenna was small, where the green L.E.D's that were blinking before, now three of the five were red. The trigger had a flip-switch across the front panel, and once Falcon hurried back to the computer, he just stared at the screen.

"This could all be, just some other ploy." Falcon whispered to himself, after swiping the smear of blood away from his nose. "But I don't have any more time, to second guess my actions. I need to stop this first, and then, continue my search for Slade."

With his thumb pressed against the lower switch, he exhaled slowly from his nostrils. "Well, here goes nothing." He clicked the button, with his eyes shielded closed, and the timer in front of him vanished.

"Now that, that's over with; I need to contact the others." Falcon reached for his communicator attached to his belt.

He opened the top flap, and while looking at the blank screen, his right eye twitched. Moments before making the call, a sharp blast hit his jaw, where Slade had dashed back into the room, and struck another devastating hit!

Falcon tumbled to the ground, he tried to hold onto the communicator yet, it sputtered down and away from him, after another punch had been delivered. The distress call had not been made, and things were becoming grim once more.

It was a tiresome brawl, just as he or Slade had the upper hand, the other would strike back and the victor would lose their balance, in the fight.

Slade kept his knee across Falcon's chest, leaning his entire body against the young man's rib-cage. He leaned in close, as the armor he donned was slightly bunt, as his cold steel helmet was discolored, as the sheen and crisp aura about it was lost, from the earlier attack.

Smoke was slowly rising about his chest and shoulders, the flames had injured him, but the armor had protected him, against the entire blast.

"Confronting your pain, to knock me back was clever enough, but to then disarm the explosives, instead of securing the area, that was a quiet the careless error, on your part."

Upon crashing to the floor, the sharp hood had come off, and Falcon's face and spiked brown hair, was entirely visible. The two scars across his white right eye, they were old battle-wounds, and Slade keyed in on this old feat.

"Your plan is finished, it's just you and me!" Falcon's voice boomed, across the walls.

Slade turned and glanced at the detonator, as it lay upon the floor, where his eye lifted to notice the computer monitor, that was now off.

"Impressive." said Slade. "You moved in for a strategic assault, but not the finishing blow."

"Your threats are useless!"

"Ah, but the truth is far more imperative to you, isn't it."

"Truth?" Falcon winced, as he tried to squirm free. "What Truth?"

"See, the truth to all of this, everything that brought you here, from your so called code of honor, or of your allegiance to the Teen Titans … none of it matters to you, does it?"

"I told you before, to leave. them. out of this!"

"I did not bring them into this, you did. The moment you came into this city, the first time you decided to spend the night in their home, where we both know, that they only wanted to be closer to you, but like everywhere else, you pushed them all away."

Falcon clenched his fists, as a tears began to form under his eyes.

"No."

"See, the real answer to the matter is this; while you may have been searching for me, I … have been preparing for this, all those years ago. Eventually, I knew your path would lead you to me, to this city, and here we are. You are so, very predictable."

"What you did, I will NEVER, forget!"

"That's just it, isn't it." Slade leaned in. "You had so much potential, so much ambition and hope, and look at what all of that, good intention has done. You may have gained unnatural powers, from that dark book, but it was you, not me, who decided to read the incantation."

"Shut-up!"

"It was you, who unleashed that fire and a demon monster, to burn down your home. I made a promise to your father, a pledge to your family, and in the end, you cast everything aside!"

"LIES! My father would never-"

"You broke your trust in me, after I warned you, told you, not, to follow this path. That it would lead to nothing but pain, and sorrow."

"Stop!"

"You brought about this, and when I returned to see what you had wrought, I knew then, that there was no turning back."

A powerful stillness abated their quarrel. Every time that Slade spoke, his carefully planted words, drove a little deeper. Falcon was pinned again, the light from the outside was too far to be of aid, while his hands were held directly over his chest, and if he used his fire ability, he would severely wound himself. He was trapped, trying desperately to get out of this perilous entanglement, that only constricted his every move.

He may have stopped the explosives from detonating, but he could not seem to defeat his worst enemy. A sudden memory popped into his noggin, and he recalled something unnerving, about his aggressor.

"Did you think Robin, or any of your new friends, could honestly help you? Especially after they learn, what you, really are."

Falcon waited to respond, as he mused over this.

"After everything that happened that night, after all the terrible things you did, I had to go back. I was compelled to discover what evil, you had accepted to unleash, and child, there is no happy ending in this, for you or anyone else."

"I do not care, about what you have to tell me. You will always be a demon, in my eyes."

Slade bent downwards, to lock his eye with the unmatched pair, of this seventeen-year-old challenger. "Think of me what you will, but you cannot escape from the truth, any longer."

"What are you talking about?"

"You may have blocked this from your mind, so allow me, to jog your memory. As it was written, in the very book you discarded."

"No."

"The die has been cast, the day of reckoning is soon to arrive; where he who who accepts this new fate, by taking the lives of his tormentors, when corrupted by its dark powers, he shall bring about an evil so terrible; that he is bound to consume the light, of all living things, into shadow, and flame."

"That is just a myth!" Falcon surged his head up, as the weight of gravity, pulled him downwards again.

"Then why do you tremble, when you hear those words?" Slade's menacing eye squinted. "You may say that you have been searching for the truth, you say … that you want to end me. But, when you hear it, when you come face to face with it, with me, why do you turn away?"

Silence.

"The Teen Titans you have allied yourself with, they are not your friends, because you chose this path." Slade continued speaking. "Robin is using you, as you used him, because it suits his needs."

"I won't listen to this!"

"The others turned to you in the Junkyard, just as they did tonight, to stop these bombs because they wanted to exploit you, to have someone else fight in their battles. Where you fumbled into their ranks, based solely on the merits of using their resources, to locate … me. That does not sound like friendship, it is the opposite."

"No. You distort the facts, you always have ever since I met you! I went, on my own free will!"

"Just as it was your own free will, to bring about the misery you claim, I am so responsible for?"

"No."

"The blood of your mother, and of your sister, are on your hands."

"STOP!"

"You can evade these facts, no longer. As you continue down this path, of revenge and hate, it will only destroy you." Slade exhaled slowly, "Pity, for all you want in life now, is to break me, but as we already know, you will never, cross that line. For fear, of what it will bring."

Falcon's eyes bulged much wider, and he gritted his teeth in an absolute fury, where the manipulative villain, felt a new concern, suddenly overwhelm him.

"As an oath to your father, I truly wanted to help your family, following his passing." Slade's harsh grip, began to constrict things to an unbearable degree, as his right knee dug into the teen's sternum, hard. "But after the things you did, now I am intrigued to see the demon, you have allowed to consume your soul."

"You can't … I won't-"

Slade's entire 260 pounds of muscle and armor, began to crush any last remnants of tolerance, that Falcon could withstand. He could not just remain here, he had to do something. It was time for a very drastic approach, and whatever the consequences would be, it was a far greater appeal, than giving up.

"Perhaps I should end your suffering. Consider this act, a way out, of your burden."

Falcon squinted his eyes, and upon reopening them, he shot a death-glare upwards, at his enemy. "I'll talk my chances!"

The sorcerer generated fire over his chest, burning into his shirt and skin, but he did not care. He shouted in horrible agony, but pressed on with the sacrifice. The intense burning, also pressed against Slade, where Falcon used the limited space, to generate a wall of flames, where he pushed up, and into his attacker's mid-section, with this deadly craft!

Slade was hurled to the back of the room, and after Falcon returned to a somewhat standing position, he dashed after his distracted foe. As he approached the corner that Slade stood near, a limited hue of light, seeped across the floor, and Falcon revealed a smirk.

The Necromancer was able to manipulate what little shadows there were, in the cold black tunnel, twisting and bending the darkness, around the villain's body. After forming a hawk's talon, he grabbed Slade, and he bashed him against the walls, countless times!

Every chance that the villain would start to get back up, Falcon would toss him back to the earth, and with the unbounded ire, erupting from deep within his soul, the crimson cloaked drifter generated larger flames over his hands, and he used this terrifying power, to increase the effectiveness of his punches.

With each blow, the dancing flames in his hands cut through the extensive armor, and when Slade's fists to block the attacks were knocked aside, with his chest exposed, Falcon unleashed his heaviest, and most devastating right punch into Slade's heart. He cracked through his chest cavity, and his hand was suddenly noticed, coming out the back-side, of the master villain!

Falcon's heart would not stop its heavy rhythm, and while Slade remained motionless, across the floor, the final stages of the fight were replayed over, and over, and over again. Nothing made sense anymore, the duel was finished, but he could not fathom it.

"Something … isn't right."

The uncanny and disturbing sound of broken electrical wires, of the buzzing and popping from within the chest, as sparks dashed outwards, this brought Falcon back to reality, and he approached the crumpled, mangled body.

While looking down, he quickly recalled, that Slade would never regrettably place himself in a situation, that there was no chance of escape from. He would never stay in the one place, that the most destruction would arise, should the explosives have detonated.

The fire wielder knew, it was all just a ruse, where the broken robotic duplicate, it was intended for a much more sinister, mind game.

Enraged beyond words, Falcon turned and slammed his right fist, against a side of the tunnel. This brutal act left an indent, against the surface. Glancing at the palms of his hands, that were now shaking, he curled his fingers inwards.

Pulling his hood over his face once more, only his mis-matched eyes were visible. He bent down, by the Slade-Bot, and he removed the mask. After tossing it aside, another blank computer monitor was seen, but it quickly turned on.

"Slade." Falcon deadpanned.

"My, my, I knew that you would fight quiet admirably, and you did not disappoint."

"Humph. Sending a robot copy of yourself, because you are afraid of the real thing? I figured as much."

"On the contrary." The real Slade clasped his hands, behind his back. "Just as I knew you would find your way here, I also understood, that I required a little more time. In order for my true plans to be completed, there would have to be some tactics of delay. It cannot only, be about you my boy."

Falcon groaned in frustration.

"You still do not see the bigger picture, like always, you have the drive to make a move, but you lack the courage to plot your next. Like our games of chess we would play, you failed to understand the key purpose, of sacrifice."

"What are you rambling on about now?"

"You misunderstand my meaning. In order to win the game of chess, you must first out-think your opponent."

"Ah, the point arises." Falcon scoffed. "Your plot here has been foiled, just as I'm sure the rest of the Titans, have been able to disrupt the other bomb locations. I consider that, check-"

"You are so confident, with the faith of your friends. But, this game has only just begun, and while you may have removed a few pawns in your path, you have only weakened your very defenses."

Slade held up a remote in his hand, and he tilted his head.

"What is this?" Falcon asked, as his rasping monotone became harsh.

"This, is how I change the game." Slade paused, "While it was true, that the detonator there, was a trigger, you must always remember, I never make a move, without having a contingency plan."

"I thought something was different about that, thing, I was fighting. I knew, I just knew, you wouldn't reveal yourself in a brawl, just yet."

"In time … but I have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Consider this, a parting gift."

"Whatever your offer is, I'm not interested."

"But this is not solely for you. It was never, just about you."

"You're threatening my friends again." Falcon's eyes burned, with pure hatred. "Leave them out of this!"

"Will you still consider them to be your loyal companions, after what happens next?"

Falcon did not respond, as a lingering silence filled the air, allowing Slade to continue speaking.

"You refuse to see, behind the lies, that they have told you. Just as I predicted, on how you would do your part, it is now time for the others, to make their moves."

The timers were heard starting up again, and Falcon's cold stare of hostility, quickly transformed into panic. The timers all revealed, less than twelve seconds remained! The Necromancer turned and looked at each of the devices, all being synchronized through-out the tunnel. This was something he could not stop, the bigger trap had been sprung, and he was caught right in the middle of it.

Slade bent forwards from the monitor, as the second detonator was raised in his hand, and he squinted his eye. All that was required, was to press this button, and the countdown would be, re-initiated.

"No."

"Something that you overlooked, which might have altered your decision by only a small margin, was in fact right in front of you, this entire time."

"What would that be?"

"You see, these explosives, are not like any typical bombs, which your friends are currently faced with. These, are the latest DX7, high nitroglycerin compact chemicals, buried deep within the protective casings, and connected to countless C4 bundles. Many more have been stockpiled around the fulcrum points, and the sewer line, that travels directly below the building you are in."

"And your point in all of this?"

Slade's eye appeared to curl.

"Just that when you used the first detonator, trying to disarm what you saw before you, it prepped the explosives, stacked beneath your feet, with those in the tunnel that only I, can control. Once combined, the devastation will generate a crater so massive, that The Jump City Railways, will become your tomb."

Falcon slowly inhaled, and then exhaled from his nostrils.

"It is interesting, to observe your reaction." Slade continued, "You have accomplished much, you have endured great pains, only now, at the end, you will have to face your greatest obstacle yet. If you survive, if you can escape this predicament, then perhaps, you will still be of of use to me."

"I've been afraid of you, all my life, but instead of running like a coward, I would rather die fighting, than to live another moment, of this slow death!"

"That can be arranged." Slade then pressed the button, and the final countdown, began.

"This isn't over Slade. I WILL, have my revenge!"

"Unfortunately for you, your time, is up."

The video feed went out, and Falcon rushed over to his communicator lying on the floor, he picked it up and knew, that his options were limited. He could not end this from happening, and that there was an ever shrinking window, to escape from this debacle.

Yet through everything, he still had a chance. He began to make his way, out of the long tunnel, and the less dark areas of the building, helped to guid him, down alongside the tracks. His lungs felt to be on fire, while the ticking of the explosives, bounced all around him.

With every step taken, he pushed his pace a little faster. He had endured a brutal beating, the lump on his head, the bloody nose, the sore left knee from getting whacked by the bo-staff, all of these recent battle scars, drew ounces of strength from his muscles. Fatigue was beginning to settle in.

He struggled in his race, but he had to make it. He did not want to die here, he needed to keep moving, and so, he pressed on.

Soon, his ribs ached, where an unexpected kidney cramp, hampered his haste. His quick speed, gradually slowed, his vision began to throb, where the cool air he inhaled through his nostrils, it did not cease his pain, instead, it ignited the burning sensation, coursing through his internal organs.

There would be one chance, but it was not what he wanted to realize. He was too far inside of the train station to escape, Slade had lured him in, much too deeply to get out, but there was one thing, that he had now, to rely on. It was the distress button on his communicator, and Falcon glanced at it, with a few drips of sweat pouring down his face.

The pitter-pattering of his feet against the cold, hard ground, resonated within the emptiness. He had come so close, there were things he needed to do, but the unwanted burden that he had failed, it clung to him, like the darkness he was so desperate to escape from. It wrapped about his spirit, with absolute grief.

From the moment he began to run, Falcon could sparsely view the opening, however, he did not hesitate too long, and he was finally out of the tunnel, and back onto the main platform. The massive windows about the ceiling, brought in a great deal more light from the moon, breaking through the heavy fog.

The abundant stars, lit up the blackness for him, and as soon as he got to the center foyer, the faint beeping from the tunnel suddenly changed tune, and a flash of flame, with a terrible rumble spread outwards, consuming everything in its path!

The very ground shook, the glass overhead shattered, as the floor heaved upwards, and dozens more eruptions, reverberated about the entire Jump City Railways. Everything was collapsing, crashing downwards, from the mighty marble columns, that were stacked about the facility, to the lockers toppling about the floor, spreading what contents they had in them, everywhere.

Metal clanged, clouds of dust and fire, rose about every corner, overhanging lights splintered to thousands of pieces, raining down shrapnel from above, as water from fountains and bathrooms erupted, and spilled across the tiled and once pristine floor.

Enormous chunks of concrete, crumbled inwards from multiple sides, where many secret explosives, which had been strategically placed, they also went off. Everything slowed in Falcon's eyes, where the tense situation, unraveled about him.

The entire infrastructure shook, as if an earthquake of epic proportions, had just fractured a major fault-line, below the city. The want-to-be-hero, was powerless to stop anything, and as he looked at the steps, that would have led him past the locker bays, one of the heaviest supporting columns, broke away from its restraints, and tumbled down, effectively trapping the poor lad!

Falcon turned, and frantically searched for an alternate way out. As he stood, a steel I beam that at one point, supported a larger section of the roof, broke in half, and the sound of scraping metal, with sparks from this new threat, forced the Necromancer to look up, only split seconds too late, as a side slammed against his hip!

The cloaked teenager rolled onto his back, he was in complete anguish, however, the sudden shock to his physical body, knocked any air out of his lungs.

Twisting and clenching his lower back, he barely dodges another I beam, slamming right near his face! The entire roof had collapsed, as his ears picked up the echo of the floor, just behind him, giving way.

Before he could try to crawl, the platform he lay upon, it slanted downwards, where he saw a new and terrible void, directly below him! Falcon tried to grab anything to pull himself up, yet a sharp triangular slab of debris, slashed across his right shoulder, and then fell into the pit.

This caused Falcon to scream in pain, where his grasp suddenly came loose! His right arm swung by his hip, as he clutched onto the communicator, with a dead-man's grip. A smear of red, streaked across the slab, and the trickling of this precious liquid, traveled down the length of his arm, to the tips of his fingers.

A copious amount of blood, was pouring out from his new wound, his shirt was torn in plenty of areas, while his renowned crimson cloak, was becoming tattered, from all of the wreckage. The cacophony of noise, enveloped an entire 12 block radius, bringing with it a horrible discovery, for the people of Jump City to witness.

Falcon glanced from his left out-stretched hand, clinging to a flipped over locker, as it was wedged between countless obstacles, and then to his right hand, soaked in dripping blood, and clutching his only salvation.

"Damn it … Damn that man!" Falcon winced in pain; "I can't … hold on … much … longer." There was a long, humbling pause, and as he felt his trembling grip, slowly loosen, he closed his eyes. "Forgive me."

He pressed the button, along the side of the device, before letting it fall into the abyss. Without opening his eyes, he felt the cool metal of the locker, slip away from his sweating right palm. The force of gravity overtook him, as he started to pick up speed, sliding on his bruised hip, down and into, the terrible fate that awaited him.

He knew that the landing would not be soft, the crater was gradually being filled, with all sorts of sharp, and broken objects, from the surface. The air whooshed by his ears, as the platform he rested upon, was gone. He needed to concentrate, to focus his dark energy and willpower, in order to fly.

A mighty migraine overtook him, and his pounding heart would not allow him, a single moment to calm down. There was just, too much chaos happening, and his anger, that guided his actions and honed his skills, it was lost, to a new and terrible feeling of remorse.

His body slammed against an un-even surface, and he opened his eyes to behold the new situation, he was in. The momentum forced his body, to tumble a few feet more, adding deeper cut along his wrists, legs, and midsection from shards of glass.

Shrapnel was embedded against his skin, and open wounds, where his long, crimson cloak was ripped to tatters. Rebar that was in the walls, became exposed, as some of the steel wires snapped away, falling to the earth like sharp, heavy spears were being thrown.

One of the rebar wires, impales Falcon through his chest! Falcon screamed, as the deadly obstacle barely missed his left lung, and heart. The foreign object, sticks out of the upper left side of his torso, causing his breathing to grow increasingly, laborious.

Then, a vending machine tumbled inwards, crashing against a hulking piece of rubble, and forcing it to slam, against his right lower ankle! He was pinned to the ground, and he had more than a few cracked bones, to suffer through.

A pool of blood, slowly began to congregate about his broken body. As he lifted a hand to his forehead, a new laceration was felt, and a great deal more, of the precious, scarlet liquid, poured down his face, mixing with the countless tears.

A bit of heavy dust, forced him to cough three times, where the third wheeze, had him spitting up blood. His body was in a state of shock, while the pain was increasingly potent, but, if he remained perfectly still, so long as he did not budge, or crawl, or flinch, the agony would somewhat recede.

As he looked up, out of the dilapidated ruins, of what was once a famous train station, the rising sun began to get a little brighter, and the stark realization of being totally alone, it humbled him, beyond measure.

"I'm sorry." Falcon coughed, as memories with the Teen Titans, of their faces came to mind. "I guess … I ... wasn't … meant … to be … a … hero …"

{{End Of Scene}}

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Mail Bag Time:

Wolvmbm: "Well it seems that Raven is caught in a love triangle as she quickly realizes Beast boy's love for her. :( Also Poor Falcon, caught within a tragic life and if what Cyborg found was true, then he is truly a messed up teen. :( I can't help but feel that this will soon cause a rift/strain between the two bonding moment of the previous chapter. :( Still with Slade back in action I can see this as a distraction that the teams needs. :D Lets hope that they can reach all the bombs in time or else it's bye-bye Jump City either way. :( "

~~I couldn't have summed it up any better myself. ;)~~

Saffire55: "I finished it! I finally finished it! well, that took a while but I finished it! Now I am proud of myself. Now it gone and I need to read the 8th chapter. I wonder if it will take that long or shorter then this one?"

~~You are quiet the avid reader. Most of my updates are a task, beyond what many would consider, "normal" to post. I'm fine with that. As long as you and all of the other fans, enjoy my work, then I guess I am doing something right.~~

VI Intelligence: "What up, Mighty?It's been too long since our last talk and i was checking out your story and i have to say that it is the bomb so far! Get it? Slade putting bombs...DA BOMB? Never mind. Anyways, this is really getting to the cake and i really am enjoying myself reading this. i would like you to check my story out if you're interested, but a mental asylum...who knew?"

~~ A quick side note: after hearing you say cake, it reminded me of GLaDOS, from the game PORTAL. I'm glad you are enjoying the story. ;-) ~~

scififanfreak222:"WHOA! Awesome chap! I can't believe the Titans found out that Falcon spent time in Arkham Asylum! O.o Poor Star. It must've been tough for her, uncovering all that, especially when she comforted Falcon earlier on :( I can't believe Raven's going along with this behind BB's back! :( Oh well, I hope everything will work out in the end, can't wait to keep reading!"

~~I hope everything will work out in the end too, but, with how this chapter ended, I, as the storyteller, cannot be too sure. I do like my cliffhangers, where now, this story can really get into a higher gear.~~

Merchant Of Menace: "Ummm...I saw the drawing of Falc, and he looks more like Robin than Rae. Also, i imagined Falcon would be taller."

~~The drawing was crafted by the person, just above your head. I told her a general description about Falcon, and she was truly kind enough, to take things to the next step. It feels really good to have such a talented artist, willing to take the time, to craft something like she did.~~

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A/N: If anybody would like for me, to look into their work and review, I would be more than happy to do so. I'm no beta reader, (heaven's for bid, I have too much here to tackle) but I do give some helpful advice. Well, this is only the first of many nail bitting finishes, that I have planned. Thank you to all, for your continued support and understanding, over the bitterly long time, that it takes me to post new updates.

~~ T.M.O ~~