Teen Titans: Return of the titans

by Goldust15

After three years, the titans encounter their old enemy Slade once more after years of peace.

6. Speed of Light

Teen Titans season 6, episode 6

Speed of Light.

Starfire stood on the top of Titans Tower, firmly on the black pavement for playing basketball, grasping her staff. With an eager breath, she turned to her sparring partner, Donna, aka Wonder Girl. She, too, was wielding a staff but with a more confident posture. Worried, Starfire turned to Nightwing, who was stoic, observing the two's training session, arms folded with a stern expression. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them, Starfire locked her eyes on Wonder Girl.

"You sure about this, Wonder Girl?" asked Starfire.

Wonder Girl grinned.

"Come on, Star! I can handle this! I feel it in my bones!"

Starfire shrugged in response and held her staff in a combat position.

"All right!" announced Nightwing.

"You know the rules, girls: the first to have all four limbs on the ground loses. And flying counts as cheating," he added.

Starfire rolled her eyes as she prepared for the sparring.

"Ok, I'm ready," she informed Wonder Girl.

The two stared each other down with confident grins on their faces. Seeing that the two were prepared, Nightwing nodded the OK to begin. The two started trading hits with their bo sticks and incredible agility. They spared for quite a few minutes, sweat coming down from each other's faces and their skills significantly improving. After a while, Starfire ended up the victor, bringing her staff towards Wonder Girl's feet and yanking it, flooring her. Starfire approached her fallen sparring partner with a look of concern over striking Wonder Girl down.

"Sorry! Did I hurt you, Donna?" she asked.

Wonder Girl just laughed.

"I'm fine, Starfire!" she finally said.

Starfire grinned and held out her hand to help her friend up.

"I gotta keep working on my sparring, don't I?" she asked.

Starfire shook her head.

"You did great! You definitely put up a good fight. Right, Nightwing?".

Nightwing nodded his head in agreement. Wonder Girl grabbed Starfire's hand and hoisted herself to her feet. The two bowed honorably to each other and followed Nightwing back into the tower. As they descended the staircase, Starfire caught up to Nightwing while they approached the main lounge.

"Nightwing, I've been thinking," she explained.

"Slade obviously knows where the Tower is since he attacked it when trying to kidnap Raven for Trigon, so why doesn't he just lead an invasion on us?".

Nightwing looked at her, still with the same stoic expression.

"I wish I knew, Starfire. Slade's a complicated man. If he hasn't attacked us now, he must have something bigger up his sleeve—much bigger."

Starfire turned back to the floor about that statement. She felt scared and turned back to the floor about that statement. Even more so, considering her sister was now one of Slade's henchmen. Starfire had looked up to her older sister for years before her enslavement. Her sister used to compliment her and praise her attributes when it counted. Now, she had turned into a monster who resented her only family for no other reason than not being granted the throne of Tamaran. Perhaps this was something to discuss with Dick; she thought to herself as she and Wonder Girl sat on the couch to relax from their session. But before she could ask, Nightwing was already approaching the elevator.

"I'm going to check on the others' training outside. We'll take five for now," Nightwing said.

Starfire nodded as the elevator closed to block Nightwing from her view. Wiping her sweat off with a towel, Wonder Girl noticed Starfire's distressed expression.

"Anything you wanna chat about, Star?" she asked.

Starfire winced a smile and folded her arms. " Sometime, maybe, but not today."

Cyborg set the controls to the training on the "average" setting. He knew Raven and Beast Boy had plenty of experience from their previous training there, but since Kid Flash had only been a member for a year and a half, he gave him a little leverage here. For the exercise, Cyborg had the 3 of them positioned at one end of the course, with the plan being to fight through the obstacles to the imaginary finish line. For the obstacles he had planned, Cyborg had set up the disc launchers and the lasers for his team's trial. Looking over his control panel, he noticed the group preparing for the course. Even Beast Boy seemed in good spirits now, despite his recent loss. The expression put a smile on Cyborg's face. He finished prepping the setup and then turned his attention to his teammates.

"Ok, Ready! Set! Go!" he bellowed, and the trio below charged into the course.

For the first obstacle, a group of metal disc launchers emerged from the ground, launching multiple projectiles at its targets. Cyborg's eyes darted back and forth as he tried to keep track of his teammate's strategies. For Beast Boy, he turned into a mouse and avoided all the hits as he scurried across the ground. For Raven, she made an energy field around her, and the bullets and missiles all but bounced off the field. The ammunition ricocheted harmlessly to the ground before exploding. To keep the explosion from getting everywhere, she used energy fields to contain the explosion.

For Kid Flash, he dashed and dodged as much ammunition as possible. He was sweating profusely through the fire. Not from the heat, though, but through his more mental struggles. Upon escaping the labyrinth, Cyborg hit them with the next obstacle: In front of the 3 was a series of metal fists hidden in the ground to test the trainee's ability to dodge obstacles from beneath. The 3 Titans each dodged them in their own unique ways: Beast Boy turned himself into a kangaroo and jumped over all the fists at a tremendous height, and Raven conjured a portal to teleport herself from one end to the other. Kid Flash hopped on each one at a time and super quick speed until landing on the last fist. The fist quickly launched him into the air before successfully landing on his feet. For the final obstacle, the three encountered a series of walls, and their goal was to get through them before the doors closed. After that, the finish line would be straight ahead of them. The three doors started sliding down as fast as the blades of a gillatein. Beast Boy went first, turning himself into a mouse and dashing under the door as it closed. The door then lifted again for another go at ducking before closing again. Raven's move was to teleport herself to the other side of each wall. Showoff, Kid Flash thought to himself.

After the walls, they'd make it to the finish line. Kid Flash was very confident that he'd make it because of his fast abilities. He dodged the first door with ease, as well as the second door. As he approached the 3rd one, though, he felt off. His mind was still on what Jinx had said in their last battle. From what Kid Flash remembered, she had apparently asked him to save her. He didn't understand it then, nor did he now. The thought pressed so hard on his mind that he felt his agility slow. Suddenly, his legs gave out, and the momentum sent him hurling towards the wall. Seeing the metal barrier getting closer, Kid-Flash quickly twisted his body to allow his back to take most of the brunt of the impact. The pain wasn't too bad. At least not physically. Emotionally, he hurt all over. His body felt worse than soon as he hit the ground. Suddenly, blackness was the only thing he saw.

When Jinx had woken up, she had thought she had a nightmare. It was of her ex-comrades forcing her to work for an evil man named Slade and being forced to hurt the one she loved. As she looked around the room, the reminders clarified it was no dream but a bad memory. And sadly, it lived on. Leaning from her bed, she walked into the main dungeon of H.I.V.E headquarters, where Slade was conducting the rest of his brotherhood of evil. Looking around the room, Jinx noticed the area where the desks were during Brother Blood or the H.I.V.E headmistress would commentate to the H.I.V.E member were now cleared out and instead were about a dozen crates being loaded in by Billy Numerous and his multiple clones. Billy Numerous and his multiple clones were loading about a dozen crates, each marked with the word "Classified" in big, bright red letters. One of numerous's clones turned to Jinx and pointed at her as if he had seen a rabid squirrel.

"Hey, Billys! Look! The traitor who got our hides locked up and frozen is here!"

The clones dropped the crates and turned towards Jinx's direction.

"Let's get, er!".

The clones started charging towards Jinx at max speed. Bracing herself for the attack, Jinx charged up her mystical energy charge from within. Before she could unleash it on the clones, a line of fire erupted from the ground and stopped the clones in their tracks. Petrified by the oncoming elemental defense front, Jinx turned to the cause of the flames. Standing in front was the hulking figure of Slade Wilson, his hand held out wide to allow the fire to emerge in front of Jinx. Straightening up, Slade snapped his fingers, and the flames vanished instantly.

"Jinx is not a threat to us, Numerous," he explained dryly.

"She has pledged her allegiance to us once more, and she is not to be harmed. Unless, of course, she misbehaves."

Numerous regrouped his clones before sneering at Jinx. She stuck her tongue out at him in return. Numerous huffed and grabbed one of the crates before pushing it into another chamber. Jinx almost felt touched by Slade's protectiveness there until she remembered his actual reasoning: if Numerous had harmed her, Gizmo wouldn't be able to keep her under their control. Slade obviously wanted her back to force her to fight her friends as torture and because he needed someone as powerful as Raven on his side.

She would have loved nothing more than just running when Slade wasn't looking and going back into Wally's arms, but then Gizmo would press the trigger and end her happiness with the man she loved. She couldn't allow that. So Jinx had to play by Slade's rules. Speaking of Gizmo, turning around, she saw Gizmo walking out from Professor Chang's chambers with a clipboard approaching Slade. Looking up at the masked man's face, he gulped briefly before explaining his report. "Professor Chang and I, so far, have created at least 15 of our Ultra Sladebots, ready to be deployed at your command." Slade bent over to face Gizmo eye to eye. Gizmo almost felt like wetting himself, seeing the towering figure bend down heavily to meet him.

"And the other 50 I requested?" he asked calmly.

Gizmo looked down at the clipboard quickly and looked back at Slade.

"We need more parts to continue our operation. There are just not enough parts available at H.I.V.E headquarters," he finished.

Rising, Slade turned to Billy Numerous before facing Gizmo again.

"Then find more parts," he hissed.

Gizmo raised his eyebrow in confusion at the demand.

"Where?" he asked.

" Where do you expect me to find spare parts in this town?"

In response, Slade turned his head towards the other end of the room. Following his gaze, Gizmo saw a pair of giant doors open to reveal Brother Blood, flanked by Blackfire, entering, holding a datapad in his hand.

" The answer to your question lies with S.T.A. R labs, my little bald friend," Blood explained.

Turning his datapad around, Gizmo slowly approached to get a closer look. It showed records and times for delivery shipments for various S.T.A.R. resources. Gizmo's eyes darted up and down on the datapad until he found a suitable delivery time.

"Aha, a delivery to be made to S.T.A. R labs Metropolis is to be made this afternoon!" he exclaimed happily.

"Shipment: promethium!"

Jinx gulped upon that knowledge.

She knew that the combination of Promethium, the same tech used in Cyborg's robotics, with Gizmo's robots would pose an incredible danger to her old friends and the city. Excited about his new mission, Gizmo grabbed the datapad from Blood and walked to Mammoth and Slade.

"Just give me a few moments to prepare my tech, and your request shall be done, Slade!"

The two bowed to each other, and Gizmo walked with Mammoth, jumping up and down as if Christmas had come early.

Jinx just rolled her eyes. Seeing him get excited over little things like holding a trigger was just pathetic to her. Knowing her place at the moment, Jinx followed her comrades until Gizmo turned around and frowned at her.

"Where do you think you're going?" he sneered.

Jinx raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you talking about? I thought I was to come with you wherever you go, or you will blow me away." She retorted.

Mammoth lashed his teeth at her before raising his fist. "Last time we fought the Titans at the waterworks, you hesitated when you saw him!" he snarled. Not sure what to say, Jinx folded her arms and darted her eyes back to Gizmo and Mammoth as if to imply she didn't know what they were referring to.

"I blinded him so we could get out of there and back to Slade," she finally explained.

"I did what you wanted me to do: I fought him so we could be together. Wasn't that the whole reason you morons forced me into this in the first place?". Then, suddenly, Mammoth quickly grabbed Jinx by the shirt and yanked her face towards him. "How dare you insult us! After all, we did for you! We were your friends, and you betrayed us! We give you another chance here, and you think you could talk to us like this?!" he growled. Jinx kept her face as stoic as possible to prevent the two from seeing the weakness within her.

On the inside, though, she was terrified of what they might do to her in this current position. Ugh, she thought. I don't know what's worse here: mammoth threatening me or his breath. Mammoth raised his fist, about to punch Jinx until Gizmo put his hand on his waist to stop him. "Hold on a sec, Mammoth. We still need her. Put her down." Mammoth grunted begrudgingly and gently lowered Jinx to her feet. Still keeping her stoic expression, Jinx wiped the sweat from Mammoth's massive hands off her blouse before folding her arms. Mammoth looked at Gizmo for directions.

"Leave her with the Control Freak, Mammoth," Gizmo ordered.

"Give him a H.I.V.E mic. If she starts any funny business, he'll let us know. Take her down to him."

Mammoth sadistically smiled at the order. Grabbing Jinx by the arm, he aggressively dragged her along with him to Control Freak's hovel. As he dragged her, Jinx was thinking to herself how to take advantage of this opportunity of her two former H.I.V.E partners' temporary departure to escape to Wally. This was her only chance.

It took him a few seconds, but Kid Flash managed to open his heavy eyelids for what felt like hours of unconsciousness. Next to him were his fellow Titans, awaiting his recovery.

"Did I win?" he asked as he reached the back of his bruised head.

Cyborg and Nightwing looked at each other, concerned, while Beast Boy snickered under his breath. Raven, annoyed with Beast Boy's insensitivity, used her magic to conjure up a black fist that pounded Beast Boy to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Kid Flash, but no," she responded calmly to Kid Flash.

"You seem to have gotten distracted, and you hit your head on the obstacle," explained Cyborg.

"I checked, and it didn't look like you had a serious concussion though," added Nightwing. Looking confused, Kid Flash slowly exited the bed and onto his feet.

"Yeah, sorry. It's just that after our last fight at the waterworks, I've been kind of…. well, slow."

He smiled weakly at his pun, but it faded when he realized it wasn't funny.

"How long was I out for?" he asked.

"About an hour," replied Beast Boy as he gripped the bed to support himself back up.

"And for the record, I won the challenge! The fastest dude in the tower!"

Everyone except Kid Flash frowned at Beast Boy's gloating. His face turned red with embarrassment.

"Uh, I mean, glad you're ok, dude!" he compensated. Raven just rolled her eyes and turned back to Kid Flash.

"Look, Kid Flash, just ignore him," she advised.

"No, it's fine," said Kid Flash.

"He won fair and square, and I commend him." He quickly gave a thumbs-up and started lumbering back to his room.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room recovering." Exiting the room, he walked through the main lounge and ascended down the hallway towards his room. He turned the door and entered the room before slipping on the ground and landing heavily on his back. His back felt like a massive spike had just pierced through his spine. Great, thought Kid Flash. My ex confuses me. I nearly got a head injury, and now my back is in massive pain. How can this week get worse? He winced in pain for a few, but he then felt a soft, squishy object on his chest. Opening his eyes, they came into contact with Starfire's pet maggot, Silky. The creature's slime was seeping through Kid Flash's suit onto his skin. Silky started licking his face as he sighed and rested his head on the ground in defeat. "Starfire!" he shouted. "Your pet is in my room again!" Luckily for Kid Flash, Starfire flew quickly into his room instead of walking in to get Silky off of him quickly.

"Oh, I apologize, Kid Flash. I'm sure Silky didn't mean to cause harm or distress towards you," she explained, stroking the maggot.

Kid Flash helped himself off the ground and got back on his feet. Brushing the slime off himself, he turned to Starfire and sighed.

"It's fine, Starfire. I just… I just need some time for myself." Starfire nodded with an empathetic expression on her face.

As she was leaving the room, Kid Flash spoke again.

"Whose room was this again? Before I came?" he asked.

Starfire, one hand on the knob and the other holding Silky, turned her head towards him, her eyebrows slumping.

"It belonged to Terra. Since she gave us her life, the room was left vacant until you joined us. Why?"

"No reason," he replied dryly.

He then turned his back to her. Starfire knew it was probably best to leave him alone for the moment and slowly closed his door. Before she closed it all the way, she said one last thing to him.

"If you are in any distress, Kid Flash, please remember that your friends will be there for you," she finished before finally closing the door.

As soon as he knew the coast was clear, Kid Flash dug under his bed and dragged out a small box. Pulling it out, he opened it to reveal two things: a little bracelet and a picture slide of him and Jinx at a mall photo booth. He remembered when he got them. About six months before he joined the Teen Titans, he and Jinx were celebrating their one-year anniversary since the defeat of the Brotherhood of Evil and the start of their relationship. He and Jinx had finished getting their photo strips at the mall and were walking through the park for their date. When they got to the bridge, the two lovers exchanged gifts when Raven appeared. She informed Kid Flash that the Titans West needed him for a special mission, so he apologized to Jinx for the temporary setback and went off to help his comrades. When he had returned to the Titans East base after the ordeal, she was gone with only a note left.

It said she had left, requested that he not try to find her, and revealed she got rid of her Titan's communicator and stole anything that could lead to her. It was then he joined the Western Front Titans for further missions. In his opinion, their company would help him cope with her departure better. He had nothing against the Titans East; he just felt they had more important things to attend to. For now, he thought, I'll just take it easy. So he leaped onto his bed and took a rest.

Machinery was no problem for Gizmo, but they had been mainly smaller tech. This new robot suit was new to Gizmo's intellect, but with some practice, he knew he could get the hang of it. The robot stood at 10 feet tall, with a glass dome on the base, where Gizmo sat piloting its complex control system, struggling to maneuver onto the nearby road. Below him on the ground, Mammoth closely kept pace with his taller companion. On the other end, Billy Numerous tried to keep pace but fell behind several times. Gizmo sighed at his incompetence.

When he returned to the road, he saw his target: a truck with the words S.T.A.R. Labs printed on its side. Ready for action, Gizmo turned, looked down at Numerous, and nodded at him. Numerous returned the nod and jumped into the middle of the road. Quickly, he multiplied at least six copies of himself, all of which held their hands out towards the oncoming truck. The truck's driver immediately slammed on the brakes, and the truck stopped a few inches from the Numerous clones. Before the driver could recover, Mammoth charged like a bull into the truck, knocking it onto its side near the highway's edge. Smiling proudly at his cohort's handiwork, Gizmo maneuvered his robot onto the road, causing several vehicles to slam the brakes and avoid colliding with its giant legs as the robot approached the damaged truck. On the floor below, Mammoth punched into the truck, ripped the door on its side off, grabbed the unconscious and injured driver, and then threw him onto the ground, hard. Grabbing a cut in the hull caused by the crash, Mammoth lifted the heavy metal into the shape of a wave to expose four yellow crates with S.T.A.R Labs logos on each of them. Gizmo smiled with glee.

The internet, thought Cyborg. So much, yet so little. After the training exercise and mending Kid Flash, he took a chill break in the main lounge with the other Titans. While scrolling through his phone, trying to find something exciting, his eyes darted toward his friends. Nightwing talked with Starfire in the kitchen, Beast Boy played video games, and Wonder Girl and Raven meditated near the monitor. All as well, he thought as he returned his gaze to his phone. After a minute of scrolling, he noticed a notification from his CNN app. After reading the notification, his eyes widened in horror. Leaping from his chair, Cyborg darted from the remote on the coffee table and turned the channel from Beast Boy's video game, enraging him. "Yo, dude! I was in the middle of a level!" he exclaimed. Noticing the commotion, Nightwing and the others gathered around to see what was getting Cyborg riled up.

"Cyborg, what has gotten into- '' began Nightwing before Cyborg stuck his finger out to quiet him.

Nightwing frowned at the gesture. Before anyone else could intervene, Cyborg finally turned to the TV channel he wanted and pointed everyone's attention towards the monitor. On the TV, a news channel projected what seemed to be an armored delivery truck turned to its side near the highway. Surrounding the vehicle was a group of figures attempting to fend off various police cars and S.W.A. T vehicles.

One was short and inside a giant robot suit, one was bulky, wearing a black, sleeveless unitard and red hair, and the others were skinny men wearing red jumpsuits. Eager for an explanation, Cyborg's eyes jotted down to the bottom of the screen where a banner reading "highway assault in progress" was located, as well as a square box housing a female reporter. He listened carefully to the report.

Recently, this afternoon, three criminals attacked and raided a shipment truck from S.T.A.R. Labs.

The station then presented three mugshots of the attackers.

"Their names.." continued the reporter, ".. are Mikron O'Jenus, aka Gizmo, Baran Filnders, aka Mammoth, and William Uno, aka Billy Numerous."

As she finished, Beast Boy laughed loudly like a hyena. Cyborg turned his head, growing at Beast Boy. Beast Boy stopped his laughing abruptly and mugged a sheepish expression. "You see, it's funny because…. His last name is Uno, which is like one and…" but after a quick look from Nightwing, Beast Boy quickly shut his mouth. Cyborg turned his head back to the TV but turned it off a few seconds later. Still frowning, he turned to the others with a bleak, stone face. "Let's go get them, guys," Cyborg proclaimed. He started to step out of the room until Wonder Girl questioned his behavior.

"Not that I'm objecting to fighting the bad guys here, but why are you so upset by this?"

Cyborg turned to Nightwing and nodded toward him as he stepped out of the room.

The team then looked at Nightwing.

"Cyborg's father is the head scientist at S.T.A.R Labs. He helped build the tower and keeps our funding going," he explained.

Wonder Girl raised a brow. "And he doesn't talk about this, why?" she asked.

"Because.." Nightwing began, but Starfire walked to his side and finished his statement before he could finish.

"Because it's somewhat of a sensitive subject for him. Cyborg said that he felt invisible to his father until after an accident that killed his mother and made him the cyborg. His father saved him and introduced him to the team." Nightwing turned to her with a look of shock. "How'd you know?" he asked. Starfire smiled. "He told me when you were in the ice cube last week," she explained.

Nightwing smiled weakly. He couldn't believe that Cyborg would discuss his dark past with someone else instead of him. Then again, he wasn't one to talk, considering his background with Batman, which he rarely told his team about. He had a good reason, though. For the time being, though, it was time to act.

"Titans, Go!" he demanded, and the others followed him down to the garage.

As they ran, Starfire stopped in her steps, remembering something.

"Hold on, I'll grab Kid-Flash!" she shouted to the others.

Nightwing turned and nodded before entering the elevator with the other Titans.

Kid Flash had only been awake for 10 minutes since his restful recovery.

Since then, he had been looking through old photos of him and Jinx together on his phone. Sure, this was unhealthy, but at the current moment, it was better than a boring nap. As he looked on, he didn't cry. Training with Barry Allen had taught him many things. One of which was dealing with grief and trauma. Barry knew what it was like. Before marrying Wally's sister, he had gone through plenty of breakups and conflicts from his attempts to hide his identity and his duties as a superhero, as well as losing his mother. Through Wally's training with Barry, he had learned much about his emotional control but also the knowledge of not completely shutting yourself down from feeling anything. So far, it was helping. Just then, a loud pounding startled him at his door. Quickly, he shoved his phone into his pocket and turned his gaze to the door.

"What is it now?!" he asked loudly.

"Trouble is brewing on the highway, Kid Flash!" came Starfire's voice from behind the wood. "We need you to come!". Sighing, Kid Flash jumped out of bed and sped to action.

During the mists of the robbery of the armored truck, Gizmo had ordered Billy Numerous to grab a handful of policemen to use as hostages to keep the rest of the cops away from their operation. The plan was working, and while Mammoth was unloading the necessary materials, Numerous and his clones were surrounding the outside of the truck, guarding it. At the same time, Gizmo aimed the blaster on his mech suit at the police around them to keep them back. Gizmo turned to check on the hostages but noticed something was wrong.

"Hey Billy!" he called down to Numerous.

"Where are the hostages?".

"Right there!" replied Numerous as he pointed to where he had them tied up.

One of his clones then tapped his shoulder and pointed to the area he had left them, and there stood a long rope on the ground with a severe lack of hostages. Shocked, Numerous and his clothes searched around desperately for the missing hostages as Gizmo face palmed in anger. Mammoth, who was busy loading the cargo into a giant container that Gizmo's mech suit could lift on its back and transport, turned his attention to Numerous and his clones, raising his eyebrow in confusion. Suddenly, he saw a yellow blur swoop past him, leaving a gust of wind and Mammoth standing there, mind blown. He then looked down and saw that where the crate should have been between his hands was now just an empty space between them. Looking around in shock, Mammoth panicked silently as he searched for the container before he felt another gust of wind, this time above his head. Mammoth gulped as he looked in the air and saw flying down on him, his missing crate hurling down on him like a freight train. The heavy metal crate slammed into Mammoth's face, nearly breaking his nose and flooring him to the hard pavement. Looking up from his injuries, Mammoth could only see what looked like a dude wearing a yellow jumpsuit and red hair. Mammoth collapsed unconscious, thinking, "Kid Flash."

Kid Flash then turned to Billy Numerous, who, to prepare for battle, had already made at least eight duplicates of himself, all in battle poses. Kid Flash just smirked.

"You in what army?!" asked the many Numerous clones.

As if fate provided the answers, the other titans charging at them with force and fury greeted the clones. Cyborg rushed 2 of them down like bowling pins, Nightwing swooped in and knocked a clone out with his ecrisma, Starfire blasted another pair down with her laser blasts, Raven used her magic to knock one out, Beast Boy turned into a gorilla and clobbered the last two clones into the ground, and Wonder Girl engaged the real Billy and managed to knock him to his feet. "Yield," she remarked. Numerous raised his hands in defeat. Wonder Girl's focus broke when she heard the sound of pounding metal. As the rest of the team gathered, Gizmo approached them in his suit of armor, and the Titans looked up in awe. Smiling evilly, Gizmo swung the fist of his armor toward the Titans, eager to destroy them immediately. Seeing the fist approach them, Nightwing nodded quickly to his teammates to bolt from the spot, and they dodged out of the way. Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl jumped to one side and hid behind a roadblock, and Raven and Beast Boy went to the other side, hiding behind a destroyed police car. Looking around at what to do, Gizmo looked at the unconscious Mammoth and shook his head. I don't have time for him to get up, he thought to himself. Numerous got off the ground and started pacing slowly toward the police car. Smiling, Gizmo used his armor to grab another police car and stalked his way toward the Titans, hiding behind the roadblock. Nightwing peered over the roadblock and saw the scene ahead of them.

"Ok," he said as he ducked his head back down.

"Here's our strategy: Starfire, Beast Boy, and I will distract Gizmo, and Kid Flash will handle Billy Numerous. Wonder Girl: you and Raven will try to hold down Gizmo's machine as long as possible."

Wonder Girl nodded at the command. Nightwing then turned to Cyborg.

"And Cyborg: you try to crack into the interior circuitry and try to short-circuit it." Cyborg smiled gleefully.

"First, go to Raven and Beast Boy to explain the plan. Titans! Go!"

Jumping over the roadblock, Cyborg ran, dunked under Gizmo's armor, engaged his arm cannon, and sent an energy blast toward the Numerous clones. The blast blew back Numerous and his clones heavily, causing them all to fall on the ground with a sickening thud. The clones then all returned to their original, unconscious host. Cyborg leaped over the roadblock where Raven and Beast Boy were hiding behind to tell them the plan Nightwing had come up with. Numerous, having regained consciousness, started walking towards the roadblock. Following the plan, Kid Flash zipped before the roadblock, blocking Numerous from his friends.

"Nah, uh, uh, Billy!" Kid Flash quipped.

"You know, it's rude to interrupt people when they are talking."

Numerous snarled at him and duplicated at least four clones of himself. Kid Flash smiled.

Bending his knees in preparation, he dashed past the clones and stopped at the side of the highway. Eager to anger Numerous, Kid Flash gave the clones a raspberry and zipped toward the other end of the road. Meanwhile, Gizmo, approaching the other titans, lifted the police car in his attempt to murder them. Suddenly, Beast Boy, as an octopus, clasped his tentacles onto the armor, causing Gizmo to drop the car near a pile of rubble, damaging it. Gizmo eventually gained the upper hand on Beast Boy by lifting him off his back and throwing him near a car lane. Now leaning on a dented car door, Beast Boy slumped down as he turned back to normal. Trying to keep consciousness, Beast Boy blinked several times to support his vision and looked around at his surroundings. He noticed a car from a few miles away, tipped upside down with a passenger hanging from the seatbelt knocked out. Beast Boy then looked down and saw a trail of liquid oozing out from the gas compartment of the car. He then noticed a spark from a loose cable from another vehicle landed on the liquid, setting a quick spreading trail of flames. Reacting quickly, Beast Boy, his back still aching from the impact, rose in front of the ground and ran towards the car as soon as possible. Please! Please let me get there in time! He thought to himself in desperation.

Realizing the fire was getting too close to the car, Beast Boy turned himself into an elephant and quickly sprayed water onto the flames, putting it out. He then approached the vehicle and turned into a sloth, using his claws to cut the passenger out of the seat. Leaning the unconscious passenger in a nearby roadblock, Beast Boy returned to the other Titans. As he was saving the passenger's life, Wonder Girl successfully caught one arm of Gizmo's armor and yanked it as hard as she could, trying in vain to yank it off. Raven used her powers to cause the other arm to pin itself to the ground.

"Hey, get your fancy powers off me, ya freaks!" pouted an angry Gizmo.

He shoved down the left trigger of the armor to apply as much strength as he could to free himself from the grips of his prey. It seemed to be working, as Wonder Girl was now slowly being tugged by the armor, regaining its stance. Raven started to sweat and strain heavily as her powers were now being contested.

"I'm losing my grip here!" Wonder Girl informed Nightwing.

Raven grunted in agreement. "Whatever you have planned, do it now, guys!" she added. Nightwing and Starfire acted quickly at their request. Starfire grabbed Gizmo's leg and lifted it while hovering. Gizmo looked behind him and frowned at Starfire's interference.

"I see the game is now on the other foot!" she stated confidently.

"That doesn't even make sense!" shouted Gizmo as he turned back to the controls and tried to bring his leg back to the ground.

Gizmo's armor was starting to falter, with sparks sizzling out from the sockets of the armor on both the arms and the legs. Kid Flash was soaring back on the north of the battlefield, nearly breathless, with the numerous clones following on his tail. He sped towards the legs of Gizmo's armor's legs when a circle appeared suddenly in front of him. In the center was an alley scene, which Kid Flash ran into.

Stopping himself, he skidded his feet and turned around. The circle closed behind him. Looking forward, he saw the alleyway led out to a busy road where various cars were going back and forth. He circled in his place to figure out where he was when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Wally?" it said.

Kid Flash turned around, and right before him was the slender figure of a young woman with pale skin and pink hair. Jinx!, he thought. He ran momentarily but stopped hesitantly, remembering to treat this situation cautiously. Jinx slowly but surely paced her way toward him with a look of nervousness on her face.

"What… what is going on here, Jinx?" Kid Flash asked with a mixture of confusion and anger fueling inside him.

Jinx looked guilty in her eyes.

"Wally, I can explain…"

"Explain what?!" demanded Kid Flash, in controlled frustration.

"You abandoned us! You abandoned me! For at least a year! I thought you changed, yet you return to these H.I.V.E idiots and…."

"IT WASN'T MY CHOICE!" yelled Jinx in an attempt to get Kid Flash to shut up and listen.

After his ears stopped ringing, Kid Flash turned his attention to what Jinx had to say.

" I'm not doing this because I want to. Gizmo made me." Kid Flash raised his eyebrow in skepticism and folded his arms.

"Go on. "

"Remember the last night we were together? On our one-year anniversary?" she asked.

Kid Flash's eyes looked back in concentration.

"Yeah, I do. We were about to exchange gifts when Raven came to me for help on a mission. You promised you'd be there when I got back. You even told me you denied a request from Gizmo and Mammoth to have a meeting. Then what happened? I came back! You were gone! Left a note dumping me and stole anything that could lead us to you! You then disappear for a year and suddenly show up with your old buddies, an envious space heiress, and a giant armored terrorist who can shoot fire from his hands!"

Soaking in what Kid Flash said, Jinx shed a tear but still tried to explain her side.

"I didn't abandon you. I never agreed to work for them," she murmured.

"When you left with Raven, Gizmo sent me another text saying that I didn't come to him, he'd come to me. I didn't want any trouble, so I went to his old hideout to tell him to leave us alone. But when I got there, Mammoth grabbed me and put a chloroform cloth on me. When I came to, I found this on my neck.".

She then softly wrapped her hands around the collar of her dress and slowly pulled it down to the end of her chest above the breast. Wrapped around her throat was a silver collar with a red button on one edge and a couple of vials of red material circling within the glass. Wally unfolded his arms and tilted his head towards the collar.

"What is that stuff?" "Nanomites," replied Jinx. Wally's eyes widened.

"You mean..?"

"Yes, it's the same stuff Slade put into Nightwing all those years ago to blackmail him into betraying his friends and the stuff Slade tried to have us push into the water supply a few days ago."

Wally gulped at the mention of it. He remembered what Nightwing had said about it. How dangerous it was.

This is bad, he thought. Jinx continued.

"Gizmo said that if I dared to defy them, they would kill me in front of you. And make you suffer. I.. I couldn't do that. All I could do was say yes. I left you the note on their orders and agreed to their terms. I'm sorry."

She then teared up and embraced him tightly. Wally thought for a second, taken aback by it, then returned the embrace.

"I don't want you to suffer!" Jinx muttered.

"I knew you didn't want me to sacrifice myself, so I did what I could."

"How did you get out here if Gizmo had you in his hands?" asked Wally.

Jinx looked up at him, trying her best to suck up her tears.

"He locked me in my room to punish me and had Control Freak monitor me with security cameras. But.." she continued with a smile. "... the fat idiot luckily spends more time talking on his little fan boards than doing his job, and I found my way out here. I can't stay for long, though. When your friends finish with Gizmo, Mammoth, and Numerous, they'll notice I'm gone and kill me."

Kid Flash let go and took a step back to think. He knew he had to help his friends at that moment and that any attempt to remove the collar without enough info would be deadly for the time being. After a moment, he came up with a plan.

"Ok, Jinx! Here's the deal," he began, his hands on Jinx's shoulders.

"I'm going back to help the others for now, but I'll convince them tonight to try to help remove the collar. Just wait until at least seven tonight and try to be strong. I'll be there for you!"

Jinx smiled weakly and started to head back; her head still turned to him in hope. Nodding toward her, Wally turned around and zipped back to the battlefield.

After seeing Kid Flash's mysterious disappearance right before their eyes, the Titans stood shocked at the sight. Gizmo, noticing this, took advantage and managed to yank Wonder Girl's lasso off the ground with her still attached. Swirling through the air, Wonder Girl thought quickly of an idea before yanking her whip as hard as she could in mid-air. The might of the pull was so strong it ripped off the arm from its socket. The armor was now having trouble staying balanced with the loss of an arm and the damage to the legs. Seeing no way out, Gizmo slammed a control and ejected the canopy. Suddenly, the backpack strapped to his back emitted flames from the bottom tips and propelled Gizmo into the air. The titans looked in the air at the sight until they noticed the machine Gizmo was using collapsing. It fell forward toward Nightwing, Raven, and Beast Boy's direction, driving the 3 of them to jump out of the way as the giant armor collapsed with a big thud to the ground. Not wanting him to escape, Starfire launched herself into the air with such speed and velocity. But Wonder Girl stopped her in her tracks by strapping her lasso around Starfire's ankle. She looked down and saw Donna holding on to the rope, trying not to yank Starfire's feet down.

"Starfire!" shouted Nightwing from down below.

"We'll get him next time! We have to find Kid-Flash and check on the materials!".

Starfire looked up, hesitating momentarily, before taking a deep sigh and heading back to the ground. Landing softly, Wonder Girl pulled her lasso around her arm, and Cyborg started charging toward the truck that Mammoth had damaged. Nightwing and the others followed him to the truck and discovered that Mammoth had disappeared, leaving a few slabs of the material scattered on the ground. Panicking, Cyborg impulsively leaped onto the truck and looked through the opening Mammoth had made. Cyborg lifted his head out in relief.

"Ok, they didn't steal everything, so I think we are good!"

Sweating from battle, Cyborg leaped from the van and landed with a mighty thud on the pavement. "I only took two slabs of the material," he reported. "Still, this could be detrimental towards S.T.A.R., though. Without the material, my dad.." he stopped before he could finish the sentence, lowering his head. Nightwing approached him gently but cautiously.

"I'm sure he'd understand, Cyborg.".

Cyborg looked up at him with a smile on his face. He then looked above Nightwing's shoulder and pointed his finger toward the distance.

"Hey, the yellow streak has returned."

Nightwing turned around, and there he saw Kid Flash standing before the destruction near the highway, looking weary but still optimistic. Ecstatic that he had returned unscathed, Starfire flew quickly over to him and hugged him.

"Oh, Kid Flash! We are so glad you are ok!" she exclaimed happily.

Looking uncomfortable and taken aback by the gesture, Kid Flash softly patted her on the back and smiled weakly.

Noticing this, Wonder Girl approached and put a hand on Starfire.

"Ok, kiddo," she said.

"'I think he's been through enough for now."

Starfire headed and released her friend. Nightwing looked up at Kid Flash.

"What was that? What did that do to you?" Kid Flash blinked a few times, trying to think of an answer.

"I'll tell you guys back at the tower!" he finally exclaimed, then zipped from the spot back to HQ in an instant. The others looked on in confusion.

"What was that about?" asked Beast Boy.

Nightwing could tell the others were wondering, too. Wanting to relieve the others' worry about Kid Flash's dilemma, Nightwing replied, "I'll talk to him when we get back to base. For now, our mission is complete. Let's go."

Late, thought Slade Wilson. Should have been back by now. He looked out the window from the H.I.V.E headquarters with furious but stoic anger at the lack of return from his new henchman. At heart, Slade knew the Titans were probably the liability for keeping the simpletons busy, but he also assumed after three years, they would have gotten more competent for these distractions. Turning away, Slade walked along the grand hallway on the 5th floor of the towering base and paced himself towards a grand staircase leading to the many lower levels of the facility. Earlier, he had sent Blackfire to the training room on the 3rd level of the base to test her skills and abilities to test her potential as his next apprentice. To him, she was influential in the goal of finally defeating the Teen Titans and conquering everything they could get their hands on. But more than that, she can be used to getting to her sister and her brother-in-law. Entering the room, he found Blackfire punching a punching bag, her hair tied, and a pair of black boxing gloves covering her hands. Despite her extraterrestrial physiology, Slade preferred most of her training to be more earth-based to assist in countering her sister's allies in combat. His philosophy was to defeat an enemy; you should be at least familiar with the enemy's combat style. As far as Slade could tell, she was doing well.

"So," he said in his calm, cold voice. "I see your training is improving."

Blackfire turned around quickly, her face covered with sweat and locks of her jet-black hair sprinkled on her forehead. Breathing heavily, she bowed towards Slade as a sign of respect towards him. Slade nodded in approval. Standing up, Black Fire wiped the sweat off and took her gloves off her hands.

"Yes, but I don't see the point of this common earthling training regime," she said as she removed the band from her tied hair.

"It's demeaning."

"The point.." responded Slade,

"Is to be experienced with your enemy's forms of combat in case they have a home team advantage that you might not have obtained."

Blackfire frowned. She was pleased to be working with this man to obtain revenge on her parental preferred sister, but she was in no interest in lowering herself to Koriandr's earthly combat skills. Slade could notice her disapproval of the task. Putting his hand on her shoulder, Slade kneeled close to her, the way a reassuring father would ease the panic of a frightened daughter.

"I know what I am teaching you may feel primitive, Blackfire. But I promise you, if you cooperate with my methods, you will finally gain the vengeance you desire against your sister. Understand?"

Blackfire bit her lip. She was royalty. She was destined for more than being assigned menial tasks by a weak earthling. Then again, she lost her royal privileges after manipulating that wedding for her sister five years ago. So, at this point, she might be at their level. But only for a short time. If she played Salde's game, she could finally eliminate her sister and her friends, assume the throne of Tamaran, and rule with an iron fist. She tilted her head up to Slade with a confident sneer.

"Yes, Slade," she said.

Slade nodded in return.

Behind them, the doorway opened, and three figures stumbled in. Slade turned to see Gizmo, Mammoth, and Billy Numerous, all exhausted and sweaty, kneeling and gasping for breath before him. Knees bent, Gizmo looked up into Slade's masked face, which felt like looking up at a skyscraper from his perspective.

"So, how did the attack proceed? Did you get the material?" he asked.

The "S" on his forehead between his mask's orange and black sides was glowing blood red. Gizmo felt all the saliva in his throat drain in fear upon the sight alone. The very thought of telling Slade that the task was only partially completed caused Gizmo's beard hair to want to fall off. But he knew the right thing to do now was to swallow his fear and be honest with him. Because if he didn't, it would be a fate worse than death.

"Well, the thing is, Slade.." muttered Gizmo.

"..we had a run-in with our old friends, the Titans, and we couldn't completely..".

Slade bent his head down to Gizmo's level. His eyebrow raised from the only exposed area of the mask. Gizmo could only imagine what the other features were expressing at the moment.

"Oh? Is that so?" he finally responded.

Gizmo took a step back in fear, regaining his composure. "But.." he continued.

"We managed to bring in at least some of the necessary materials while they were distracted by an unknown event! Mammoth!"

Mammoth dragged the massive crate of material into the room, assisted by Billy Numerous and his clones. Stopping, Numerous gathered his clones and bent his knees as he gasped for air in exhaustion.

Mammoth leaned on the crate with a confident expression on his sweaty face, like an intern trying to impress his boss. Blackfire rolled her eyes before shoving Gizmo out of her way and approaching the crate.

"Step back," she snapped towards Mammoth.

Nervous, Mammoth stepped back and watched as Blackfire blasted a bolt of energy at the crate, causing all four panels to collapse. Resting in the center was a massive slab of metal material that looked as big as a dinosaur's foot. Slade approached and spent a moment examining the material. Having returned to his feet, Gizmo took a massive gulp in fear. If Slade were displeased by this, he'd be decimated for sure. After a beat, Slade turned his attention back to Gizmo.

"You did well.".

Gizmo took a huge breath of relief and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Slade then turned to Blackfire. "Go to Brother Blood. Tell him to establish a release for Kid Wykid from the penitentiary. I think Gizmo here has earned it." Blackfire bowed to Slade and quietly paced herself out of the room. Slade's attention returned to Gizmo. "Return to the labs. Take the material and apply the material to your and Chang's creations. You have done well, Gizmo." Giddy as a schoolboy, Gizmo saluted and quickly zipped out of the room. Slade nodded towards Mammoth and Numerous, and the 2 grabbed the material and heaved it out of the room. Slade exited the room himself and ascended into the floor's main hallway.

Flanking into the main meeting room, Slade entered to find Control Freak walking into the center of the room from the other side, dragging a struggling Jinx. He approached them silently. "She went out!" exclaimed Control Freak as he yanked Jinx hard towards Slade.

"No, I didn't!" Jinx protested unsuccessfully.

Slade approached slowly and, as with Gizmo, bowed to meet her at eye level. Jinx took a huge swallow. Even though she was fairly taller than Gizmo, the sight of Slade's towering stature and his dual-colored mask made a terrifying impression on her. She then noticed the only exposed feature of Slade's face (his eye), darting towards Control Freak. "Control Freak, allow her to explain her side. It'll be better for us to determine your claim." Control Freak raised a finger in protest but lowered it out of fear. The eye returned to Jinx.

"Now," started Slade as he brought his finger towards her chin.

"Did you try to leave today?".

Jinx looked down at Slade's finger pressed upon her chin and frowned. Flicking it away, she answered, "Yes, but not to go outside of here. I was just… checking the basement… to see if I left my old stuff I had when I was here back during Brain's rulership". Slade raised his eyebrow. "Really?" he replied. Standing up, he turned to Control Freak.

"Control Freak! Check the tapes to see if our young friend's claim is true." Control Freak bowed and hobbled towards the entrance to the room. Jinx thought to herself a way out of this hard before gaining a realization. "Control Freak wasn't looking at the cameras! He was on his fansite!" she shouted suddenly. Control Freak stopped and turned slowly to Slade, his face sweating and gulping. Slade walked past Jinx and paced himself toward Control Freak. "Does she lie?" asked Slade. Control freak shook his fat head desperately. Slade was not convinced. "Well, if what you say is true, then when I look at your computer, I'll see the live video feed." He walked past Control Freak to enter his control room when Control Freak then got on his knees and broke down. "Ok, I did it! I just had to know what was going on in the Fandom! Please Don't burn me!" Slade looked up at Jinx, who gave a smug smile, then back at Control Freak, who was still moaning on the floor. "Get up!" he demanded forcefully.

Control Freak obeyed and wiped away his tears as he regained his balance. "Since you are essential to our grand plan, I am letting you live. But, if you neglect your duties again, I'll destroy all that delights you. Understand?" Control Freak nodded quickly and ran back to his lair. Thinking she was out of danger, Jinx attempted to sneak away, but Slade grabbed her arm and yanked her back towards him. "As for you, I don't know what you've been pulling, but I vow, if you dare leave our eyesight, I won't hesitate to let Gizmo pull the trigger right in front of your boyfriend. Understand?" Jinx frowned at Slade. It was unfair. She had all that power in her, yet she couldn't use it to save her life now. She couldn't let herself get killed. She nodded begrudgingly as Slade shoved her away from him roughly. Jinx scoffed off and trudged her way up the stairs towards her quarters. Please hurry, Wally, she thought to herself.

"Did you see that?!" exclaimed Beast Boy for what felt like the hundredth time. The Titans (except for Kid Flash, who had just gotten ahead of them) had returned from their battle with the H.I.V.E Five and were exhausted from combat. Beast Boy, though, was more excited than ever that he had saved a cop's life. "Yeah, Gar." replied a tired Wonder Girl. "We saw. You saved a cop's life." "Gar?" asked Raven, her eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face. "Gotta use that one sometime." Beast Boy frowned at the statement. The six arrived at the end of the hall and entered the elevator leading to the other tower floors. The doors opened to the main hang-out room, and they walked in. Beast Boy already made haste to the couch, followed by Cyborg, while the girls assembled in the kitchen area to discuss the events. "Why do you think Slade would be after some random bit of metal?" asked Wonder Girl. Cyborg turned his head to face Wonder Girl.

"Maybe Brother Blood had it set up to get back at me. By stealing stuff from my family." he retorted gruffly. Nightwing shook his head. "I doubt Slade would let petty vengeance be motivated for whatever he's planning." Raven leaned on the table with her hand propping up her head. "Maybe he wants to blackmail S.T.A.R labs," she suggested. Nightwing frowned. "I don't think S.T.A.R has anything of much that could benefit him." "Maybe he needs it to build something important!" chimed Beast Boy. Nightwing looked towards him with his eyebrow raised. Beast Boy chuckled nervously.

"Well, think about it: that material was obviously super important to steal, and the only thing he could do with it was probably use it to make a weapon or something. I mean, I doubt it's used to make fancy carpets and stuff." Beast Boy looked around and noticed everyone was looking at him in shock. "What?" he asked, confused. "You came up with all that logic? All by yourself?" said Raven firmly. Beast Boy nodded proudly. Raven looked to Nightwing in confusion as Nightwing shrugged. Nightwing figured that Beast Boy might be right on this one. Slade wouldn't have the H.I.V.E Five steal something if it weren't helpful to whatever he was planning. Slade could be building a dangerous weapon with that material for all Nightwing knew. As he thought this, he then realized someone was missing. "Hey, Guys. Did you see Kid Flash come in?" The others shook their heads. "I'm right here!" said a loud voice. The voice was followed by a breeze of wind, causing the titan's heads to turn to the hallway leading towards their bedrooms.

In the middle of the hall, Kid Flash stood with his arms folded and face sternly expressed. "Are we talking about what happened?" he asked. Nightwing nodded, then turned to Cyborg. "Cyborg, go to the computer room and contact your dad on the material." Cyborg hesitated at first, then nodded. Sitting up, Cyborg walked past Nightwing silently before descending to a lower level in the elevator. Nightwing then looked back towards the hallway to see that Kid Flash was gone. Probably in his room, He thought. "Girls, Beast Boy!". He looked around at them awkwardly. "Go.. train.. Or something. I'm going to talk with Kid Flash. I'll be back in an hour to check on progress." The girls nodded and headed straight to the training room. A confused Beast Boy followed suit. "I don't know what is going on anymore," he said

Kid Flash stood at the window of his room. Watching the slowly moving clouds, he reflected on the day's events. It only barely made sense. The last time he had seen her before the events of the past few weeks was about a year ago, during their two-year anniversary. Then, they had their own Titans team of Slade's now-deceased victims, including Battle Cat and Argent. After a night of hanging out at the local mall, they were walking through a park to celebrate. They were about to exchange gifts when Jinx got a phone message. The message was from Gizmo inviting her to get together with her old H.I.V.E comrades. She declined and attempted to continue the date when Raven arrived, needing Kid Flash to help with a mission with the Teen Titans. He promised Jinx he'd be back and went to help with the mission. When Wally returned, though, she was nowhere to be found. He searched all over the park but could not find her. Kid Flash then departed back to his base up north of Jump City to see if she was there, only to find a note left from her. The note said that she felt the relationship was not working out and needed to return to her roots, and she requested that he not search for her. He was so distraught over the dumping that he disbanded the team and became a member of the Titans West. Kid Flash's team reminded him too much of his breakup, and he believed the Titans West would be better for his mental health.

Knowing that his former teammates were a pile of ashes, he regretted the decision. As he was thinking, a knock was heard on the door. "I'm not in the mood to talk about this morning, Starfire!" he shouted. The door opened slowly. Kid Flash turned to find Nightwing in the door frame instead, arms folded with a concerned expression. "It's me, Kid Flash," he said. " I hope you don't mind, but I want to ask you some questions about our fight with the H.I.V.E five today." Kid Flash nodded and jerked his head in the direction of the bed. Nightwing unfolded his arms and paced himself to the mattress to sit. "So, what was that portal you went through, and what happened when you went through it?" he asked. Kid Flash sighed. "What do the nanobites do?" "What?" asked Nightwing, surprised at the sudden subject change. "Why do you ask?" Kid Flash just glared at him. Nightwing knew he wouldn't get an answer, so he just replied to the question.

" When Slade put those things in my friends… years ago… I initially thought it would blow them up. Instead, it did something worse. It slowly tortures you to death, and you have to watch the people you care about slowly die in front of you. Something that would have happened if we had failed to stop the brotherhood at the waterworks." Kid Flash bowed his head.

"Yeah, I thought so," he said in a depressed tone. Nightwing raised his eyebrow. What is he talking about? He thought to himself. Kid Flash walked to the window, turned his back, and rested his arms behind them.

"So that's what Jinx will be in for." he finally said. Nightwing sprung from the bed quickly and stood up at a quick pace.

"Jinx?" he questioned, confused.

"What does she have to do with this?" Kid Flash turned his head to face Nightwing.

"She made that portal to get me out of the battle. It turns out she is working with Slade because Gizmo threatened to kill her to get at me. He put those things in her bloodstream, and if she doesn't do what he or Slade says, Gizmo will activate the devices and kill her. They basically forced her to dump me and join them."

Nightwing stood silently for a beat, trying to process this. This was indeed not expected.

"So, that's why you blanked at the waterworks, I assume." Kid Flash nodded.

"She shouldn't be in this situation," he commented. "I agree," replied Nightwing.

Kid Flash shifted in surprise. Considering how Beast Boy's request was denied almost a week ago to find out about his dead girlfriend, he in no way expected Nightwing to agree with his proposal here. "You do?" asked Kid Flash.

"Yeah," said Nightwing with a quick nod.

"No Titan left behind. If Gizmo and Slade are controlling her, we'll put a stop to this. I promise."

Kid Flash smiled. Despite not having known Dick Grayson for long, he respected his willingness to leave his comfort zone to help his comrades out every so often and his kindness. Kid Flash approached Nightwing and held out his arm. Nightwing shook it.

"I'll go talk to the others about this," he said. "Just relax for now."

Cyborg glared at the bright computer screen as he talked to his father. Silas Stone was an inventor and scientist for S.T.A.R labs and, as Cyborg tried to remind himself, had great love for his son. Their relationship had been strained, though. When Victor (Cyborg's real name) was in high school, he was a talented football player and helped win many games. His father, though, had been absent for the most part due to his work being prioritized more than his son. This had caused conflict between the two and had caused various arguments. During his big championship game, his father had once more prioritized the work over his son. So Victor's mother took him to the championship in place of his father. After the championship, a bitter Victor went home with his mother when an out-of-control car crashed into the vehicle and knocked Victor out. When he had awoken, he found himself inside a S.T.A.R labs facility with very little feeling in almost all of his body. He was horrified to discover that he was covered in robotic parts and cybernetic coverings. His father calmed him down and explained that while his mother died in the crash, Vic had survived but was severely injured. He would have met the same fate if it weren't for the cybernetics. Vic was initially angered with his father for making him a "freak" but eventually became conflicted over his opinion of his father. So far, this was the first kind of thing his father had done for him.

Cyborg had remained at S.T.A.R for two months until Robin offered him a position in his newly founded Teen Titans. He accepted, and the team was formed. "Victor?" said a deep voice. Cyborg returned from daydreaming and looked up at the monitor at his father. "Yes, Dad?" he replied. "You alright?". Cyborg sighed. He both respected his father and hated him. Even though Silas had saved Victor from certain death, he still was conflicted over the fact that he had been neglectful of him for most of his life. Regardless, he had to act professionally here. "Yeah, Dad. I'm fine. Anyways, the H.I.V.E Five only got ahold of one crate filled with some unknown material. The rest of the shipments are safe." "Very good," replied Silas happily. Cyborg nodded in agreement. He hid his angst well in front of his father. Now, it was time for the big question. "What is the material exactly, Dad?" Silas raised his eyebrow in shock. This confused Cyborg as it was just a simple question to him. But he just remained silent and allowed his father to explain. "The material those criminals stole is known as Volatile Promethium." Cyborg was taken back by that revelation. That was the same material used to create the cybernetics that kept him alive. However, he couldn't understand why Slade wanted such material, even though he knew it wasn't the most vital element in the multiverse. "Why does he need that? He can whoop me to high heaven with this material on me, so what makes him think he can beat us with it?" Silas' eyes darted down. "It's a more improved version of the material I provided for your armor years ago. I didn't use it on you as it would require removing your current armor, and the process would kill you." Cyborg grimaced. What would Slade want with improved armor? This made no sense to him. "What's better about that material than mine?" he asked. "The material," explained Silas, "is more solid than yours and nigh indestructible." Cyborg's eyes widened. Now it made sense! Slade would make a weapon with that material and use it on the city and the Titans. Before he could say anything else, he heard a door open.

Turning his chair, he saw Nightwing and Kid-Flash enter the room. Cyborg then quickly turned back to the monitor. "The others are here. Gotta go, Dad!" he explained quickly. Silas nodded, and the screen blinked out. Cyborg then leaped off the chair and marched towards the others with a stern expression. "So what did you find out?" asked Nightwing. Cyborg folded his arms. "It was apparently an improved version of the armor used on me that was stolen by Gizmo, Mammoth, and Numerous today. I think they took it to be used for some sort of weapon." Nightwing's eyes widened. Not only was this terrifying, but it also made sense to him now why he hired Gizmo to work for him, as Gizmo would be a good mechanic on weapon design. Now, they needed to find a way to stop them.

"I can only imagine what kind of horror they could be building. We'll try to lure the H.I.V.E Five out tonight and take down two birds with one stone!" he announced. Cyborg's eyes widened in surprise. "Two?" He asked, confused. Nightwing nodded. Kid Flash smiled weakly in return. Nightwing then turned and started running up the steps. "Kid-Flash, catch him up! I will tell the others the plan!" he said before bolting out the door. Kid Flash looked back at Cyborg, his red eye sparkling from the computer monitor light, and rolled his eyes awkwardly. "So.. long story. You see… When I got sucked up by the portal, I came across Jinx, who told me she's being forced to work for Gizmo and Slade by the nanobots that you guys apparently had, so while we take out the H.I.V.E Five, we also try to free her tonight. Are we cool?" Cyborg just stood there for a full 30 seconds, his arms folded and his features stretched into a stern but intrigued glare. "Ok, I got some of that because of how fast you talked. You want to help Jinx, why now?"

Kid Flash sighed in annoyance. He knew he had to slow down so Cyborg could understand him. "Gizmo put nanomites inside her to force her to join Slade. Tonight, not only are we going to take the H.I.V.E Five, but we are going to free Jinx! Now come on! Let's get prepared!".

He started heading towards the door to leave when Cyborg finally spoke up. "What if she's lying?" Kid Flash stopped almost immediately after hearing that response. He turned his head to Cyborg, confused. "W..What do you mean exactly?" Cyborg rolled his eyes. "How do you know she isn't playing you, man?" Kid Flash slowly walked forward, making what sounded like a huffing sound. "Dude," he said, placing his arm on Cyborg. "I know her. If she is telling the truth, she's telling the truth. Trust me." Cyborg flicked Kid Flash's hand off his shoulder and gave him a huge frown. "No, you only knew her for two years. We've known her since the beginning. We have been in combat with her and her H.I.V.E. five buddies for years. If you think about it, it seems suspicious that she would suddenly have a change of heart after three years of being a criminal, abandon you, and then suddenly need your help after three weeks of this." Kid Flash was silent. He had never thought of that. When he first met Jinx, he saw her as a normal person who was made to do bad things. But considering the out-of-nowhere breakup and sudden beg for help, something fishy could be happening. But, then again, maybe she wasn't. She seemed up until recently to be pretty honest with him, and it wasn't like, from what she told him, that she wanted to become evil.

As he was thinking, he heard what sounded like metal rubbing against each other quickly, and he turned to see Cyborg snapping his fingers to get his attention. "Uh, Kid Flash? Earth to Kid Flash?" said Cyborg. Kid Flash shook his head quickly as he brought himself back to reality.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking of something. Anyway, do you really think she's playing me?"

Cyborg sighed and started his way up the stairs. "Just a theory, dude," he commented.

Kid Flash continued to ponder the theory as he left. How do I know if she is telling the truth or not? He thought to himself. Suddenly, he came up with an idea.

His heart was beating, and Wally wasted no time slamming his fist on Raven's door numerous times. Usually, he would've gone to her anyway, but he knew she had a habit of keeping to herself, so the best thing to do was knock first, in his opinion. The door opened quickly after probably the fiftieth knock, and Kid Flash felt Raven's hand grab his arm. She was standing at the door, without her robe, and opting an annoyed expression. "May I help you?" she asked in an irritated tone. Her arm felt surprisingly tight on his wrist, but luckily, it wasn't as hard as Cyborg's or Starfire's hands in an arm wrestling match. Kid Flash slowly pulled his hand back as he explained what was happening.

"Ok, so you know how earlier today I disappeared-" "Yeah, I know about the thing with you and Jinx." interrupted Raven.

Kid Flash raised his eyebrow in surprise. "How do you know?" he asked. Raven darted her eyes away from Kid Flash's eye contact as she folded her arms. "Beast Boy kinda overheard your conversation with Nightwing earlier." Crud, thought Kid Flash. Gotta check the door next time before I have private conversations. Straightening himself out, Kid Flash folded his arms and tried to explain things in the most professional fashion he could.

"Ok, whatever, I'll talk to him about that now; I need your help." Raven raised her eyebrow in confusion. "My help?" she asked dryly. Kid Flash nodded in response.

"You can read minds, right?" Raven frowned and approached Kid Flash slowly. He stepped back a little, arms still folded, trying to retain his professional attitude as he took his cautious reproach.

"One," snapped Raven, "As I have made it clear before, I don't read minds—just emotions. Through emotions, I see memories and motivation. I can't see what one is thinking at the current moment. And two: what are you planning with this?" Wally darted his eyes away from Raven's. He didn't know how to take this approach now, with this limitation of her abilities, and it seemed like she wasn't exactly going to approve of this plan. But he went for it anyway. "When we confront the H.I.V.E Five tonight, can you, for me, read Jinx's emotions to see if she is either genuine or a traitor?". Raven unfolded her arms and put her hand on Kid Flash's shoulder in comfort.

"Wally, I know what you want to do and your intentions for this, but I don't think invading someone's private feelings is the right way to handle it. That's like reading someone else's diary. It's considered wrong. I understand that you wanna save Jinx and make sure this isn't a trick, but I can't guarantee I can help with this."

Kid Flash's eyes met with Raven's violet eyes for the first time in this confrontation, watching him sympathetically despite the blank expression on her pale face. It felt good that someone cared enough for him to explain the consequences of his plan, but it also still ached, not knowing that the woman he loved might be threatened or playing him for a fool. He couldn't let this go yet. Not now. He was close to regaining his relationship with her and had to take a chance. "But I have to try. I need to know if the woman I love is still there," he said in a desperate but stoic plea. Raven closed her eyes and sighed. At this point, she knew there was no use talking him out of it.

"Fine," she finally responded.

"I'll help."

It had been 5 hours since her conversation with Wally, and Jinx was already feeling worse for wear. She was now being tailed almost everywhere by one of the Numerous clones to ensure she didn't act up or escape again. She was in the H.I.V.E lounge with Gizmo, Mammoth, and Kid Wykid (whom Slade recently busted out of prison), trying to read a book while being monitored by a clone. It felt very irritating to have someone (especially someone as annoying as Billy) watching over her shoulder constantly, let alone a metal collar around your neck. Frowning, she took her book and used it to whap the clone on the head in anger. The clone howled in pain as he fell to the ground. The real Numerous then ran into the room in a heartbeat with a look of horror and concern on his face as he lifted his wounded clone. "Billy 2!" he screamed. Sighing, Gizmo walked towards the two Billies and slapped the prime one on the back of the head.

"Oh, shut your mouth! It's just a bump on the head!" he shouted grumpily, turning his tiny head towards Jinx.

"And you. You mind your manners if you wanna stay on this planet another day," he threatened.

Jinx frowned at Gizmo before turning her attention to her novel and did her best to ignore him. After a beat, Mammoth piped up.

"Guys! Look at the TV!" he shouted in an excited tone.

Everyone's attention perked up towards a TV hanging from a rod connected to the ceiling, with power cords hanging from its base leading towards an outlet. On the screen was a male TV news reporter, and next to him was a monitor showing what looked like an armored truck going along the street. The newscaster bundled up his papers and turned his attention to the camera. "In other news, S.T.A.R. Labs is ushering another shipment of materials tonight, despite today's earlier attack, to a private location. Lead scientist Silas Stone promised that tonight's shipment will have tighter security measures.". Gizmo smiled at this news. An ample opportunity had emerged. If he could steal whatever this shipment is for Slade, he could get a reward beyond anything he could imagine for double the materials. He needed this advancement. He turned to look at his crew when his eyes dawned on Jinx.

He couldn't leave her here. Not after her run away certainly couldn't leave her with Control Freak either after he proved his incompetence earlier. Sighing, he knew what the only option was at this point. "Mammoth, tell Slade the news. Kid wykd, prepare my laser gun and Billy.." he turned to Numerous, who was still cradling his clone. "Grab Jinx and keep a good eye on her." Jinx widened her eyes and stood up. "What?!" she said, surprised. Numerous looked surprised as well as he merged with his clone and got to his feet. Jinx tossed her book on the couch and turned her head towards Gizmo. "Why? I thought I was grounded for the evening?" Gizmo groaned. "No, I didn't say that. Slade did. Besides, I can't leave you here unattended. Also..." He put his tiny hand into his satchel and pulled out the trigger. Jinx's angered expression turned to worry as she focused on the little red button on top. The little twerp's thumb was lightly but almost forcefully moving the button down slowly. Standing on the other side of the couch, numerous smiled wickedly. This was the first time Jinx witnessed Numerous that sadistic. She turned back to the button and lowered her head. "Fine, I'll come," she said at last. Gizmo placed the detonator in his pocket with a wicked smile. "Good," he said. "Billy, grab the transport crate. We're going to make it good tonight!"

8:00, right on time, thought Cyborg as he waited patiently by the warehouse loading area. Despite his doubts about Jinx's true loyalties, Cyborg was still flexible enough to help lure the H.I.V.E Five out by asking his father to use a dummy transport operation and announce it on the news. Cyborg looked around to ensure the other Titans were in place at the neighboring warehouses. On the left, Nightwing, Starfire, and Kid Flash waited patiently on the rooftop for the villains to arrive, while Beast Boy, Raven, and Wonder Girl were doing the same on the right. At the moment, Cyborg was peeking out of the center warehouse garage, watching the oncoming attack. He looked at the tracker monitor on his left arm and saw the red dot on the road at full speed. According to the approximate time on the left of the monitor, it would be at least 8 minutes before they arrived. The only thing going through his mind was that it wouldn't affect anything on S.T.A.R Labs' side. His relationship with his father had already been rocky, and he didn't need it to worsen.

Kid Flash looked at his watch. 8:00. He leaned back on the concrete balcony and sighed loudly. He needed this to work. He needed to free Jinx from the H.I.V.E five's control, hopefully. Internally, he hated himself for having left that night. He should have declined Raven's request to join in battle. That way, none of this would have happened. Nightwing noticed Kid Flash's down face and looked at Starfire. She nodded sympathetically. Nightwing looked back at Kid Flash and kneeled near him. "Hey, are you good?" he asked. Kid Flash looked up at his leader. "I guess. It's just…What if this is a trick?" he said as he straightened himself on the concrete. Looking for help with the question, Nightwing looked at Starfire, who leaned into the conversation. "Wally," she said as she tipped up Kid Flash's chin. "As someone who has both experienced slavery and thought someone close to me had gone dark," she paused a beat to look at Nightwing, who gave a weak smile at the remark. "...I believe you'll know who's on the right side when the time does come. And if she is on our side, then she should be free. No one deserves slavery. And you don't deserve to be enslaved to these circumstances." Kid Flash lightly smirked. "Thanks," he finally exclaimed. Nightwing extended his arm towards him. Kid Flash grabbed it and allowed himself to be hoisted back onto his feet. Suddenly, a beeping noise went off, and Nightwing reached behind him, pulling out his Titan Comm. "Yes?" he asked the mic. "They're here. Get into positions," came Cyborg's voice. Nightwing nodded and ducked down. Kid Flash and Starfire followed suit. Kid Flash peeked his head over the edge and looked down as the big loading truck pulled into the center lot. After a beat, a loud poofing noise was heard, and on the right side of the truck stood Gizmo, Mammoth, Jinx, Kid Wykkid, Private Hive, and Billy Numerous, surrounded by a brief bit of smoke

After a moment, Beast Boy looked over the cinderblock edge and saw the five scumbags surrounding the truck. He leaned back behind the cinderblock and looked towards Raven. "Can we take em now? Please?" he asked eagerly. Raven looked towards Wonder Girl. She shook her head. "Not until the signal is given," replied Raven. Beast Boy frowned. All he wanted to do tonight was rough these punks up for being a menace to them for years and now for blackmailing one of their own and using her to hurt Kid Flash. He perched his head back over the edge and watched as Gizmo had Mammoth open up the back of the truck.

The two metal doors opened with a gigantic CLANG sound. The noise didn't bother Gizmo much. All that mattered to him was the sweet materials that could get him in good, if not better, with Slade. Turning to Mammoth, Gizmo nodded, and Mammoth quickly leaped into the cargo area. After a few seconds, he reemerged. "There's nothing in there!" he shouted. Gizmo's smile dropped like an anchor. "What?!" he called in his high-pitched voice. Struggling to get over the truck ledge, Gizmo lifted himself into the truck and found an empty space inside the cargo area. His knuckles clenched. This was nothing more than a trick. How could he have been so foolish? But his troubles weren't over. Out of nowhere, a metallic creaking noise was heard, and Gizmo turned to see both doors closing on their own.

Mammoth tried to run to the doors to stop them from shutting, but it was too late. Mammoth grabbed the two handles only to be shoved back by a mysterious force on the ground. The other members looked to the left warehouse to find Raven, Beast Boy, and Wonder Girl on the ledge.

"Ready for round 2?" exclaimed Beast Boy.

Snarling, Numerous turned to Kid Wykid, who vanished in a puff of smoke. Appearing behind Beast Boy, Wyykid tackled him off the ledge, and the two started to hit and punch each other as they fell to the ground. Looking worried, Wonder Girl turned to Raven.

"Help them!" she shouted.

"I'll deal with these guys!" Wonder Girl nodded, started twirling her lasso, and hurled it toward Beast Boy's leg, catching him mid-fall. Wykid, realizing he was close to hitting the ground, disappeared once more in a cloud of smoke. On the ground level, Private Hive shoved Numerous forward to combat Raven, who had levitated herself onto the ground, grabbed Jinx, and then yanked her as they hurried to the truck. Jinx tried with all her might to free herself, but Private Hive's grip was hard as stone. She felt her arm tugged hard, and after a struggle, she gave in. A beat later, Jinx witnessed a brilliant flash of blue light erupt and felt the grip on her arm released as she saw Private Hive's body hurl through the air and land on the doors of the cargo area on the trunk before slumping to the floor unconscious. Jinx looked behind her, near the center warehouse. Standing in front of it was Cyborg, holding his arm blaster forward, with smoke rising from the tip of it.

"Compliments of S.T.A.R Labs, scum!" he announced proudly.

Jinx smiled.

"Jinx!" a voice cried, and Jinx turned her head to the warehouse on the right, where she saw Nightwing leap down from the roof and Starfire lowering what appeared to be Wally to the ground.

Jinx smiled with hope.

Wally looked intensely at the cargo area of the trunk. He knew he needed to turn off the detonator for the nanomites after the rest of the Five were beaten, but the only thing that surrounded his consciousness was Jinx. He looked at her. She was smiling. Her hope was returning. Kid Flash fist-bumped the air and charged toward Numerous and his many clones. He quickly landed punch after punch on the purple-suited thugs and floored them in seconds. Afterward, he surveyed the area. Raven and Beast Boy were in close combat with Kid Wykid, and Nightwing, Cyborg, Wonder Girl, and Starfire were all trying to subdue Mammoth, who seemed to be waning in strength from the exertion. He decided first to remove Jinx from the conflict. That way, she could be safe until they could subdue the H.I.V.E Five and take the detonator away from Gizmo. He stopped himself right next to her and took a moment to let her adjust to seeing him. Happy, she immediately embraced Walley, and he could feel his cheeks go red.

"You came," she said happily.

Kid Flash returned the grin. It was good to have her in his arms again. Before they could kiss, they heard a sizzling noise grinding on metal. They both turned their heads to the cargo box, nearly getting blinded by a bright orangish light.

After adjusting their eyesight, the reunited couple could make out the metal on the box being burned in the shape of a circle, with red and orange sparks being sprayed everywhere. The lid flew a few meters from the hole and landed with a loud bang. Gizmo slipped out, holding a laser pistol in his hand, with a furious expression. He turned his head to face Jinx, and his jaw dropped in fury when he saw her hands on Kid Flash's chest and his arm around her waist. Wally noticed quickly as Gizmo reached into his satchel for the trigger and jumped into action.

He sped up to the little twerp and tackled him to the ground just as his finger was close to touching the trigger. The trigger fell a few inches from Gizmo's hand as Kid Flash pinned him to the ground to prevent him from grabbing it.

"Wally!" shouted a worried Jinx.

She turned to the controller, reached out her hand, and allowed it to fly through the air telekinetically. Gizmo, struggling to get out of Kid Flash's grip, ripped an arm out and stuck two fingers into his mouth to whistle. Mammoth, who was in the middle of flooring Nightwing, looked behind him, saw the situation, and charged his way towards the trigger. Mammoth immediately grabbed it and shoved Jinx to the ground. This angered Kid Flash, and he released Gizmo and leaped onto Mammoth's back. As he struggled, he looked towards Jinx, who was getting up, then towards Raven, who was trying to wretch Kid Wykyd off of Beast Boy.

"Raven! Now!" he shouted.

Raven looked towards Jinx, freed one hand towards her, and a purple energy light erupted. The others covered their faces to shield themselves from the light. Doing his best to squint through the glare, Kid Flash managed to see what was happening: Raven probed Jinx's mind as she looked frozen and pupilless. He also noticed Raven getting onto one knee and sweat on her face. She was weakening.

Knowing he needed to hurry and get rid of the trigger, Kid Flash ran fast, nabbed it, and ran towards Cyborg. Cyborg was pinning down Billy Numerous with his arm cannon, aiming to ensure he didn't try to escape. He was still trying to block out the glare when Kid Flash tapped his arm. "Here! Destroy it!" Wally shouted. Cyborg nodded and aimed his arm cannon into the air. Kid Flash hurled it, and Cyborg emitted a blue blast of light, blasting the trigger to smithereens. The purple light dulled, and Raven collapsed to her knees. Jinx fell backward but managed to catch herself with her hands. The other heroes and villains could only stand shocked at what happened. Gizmo, speechless, hurried away and tried to hide behind Mammoth, who had just returned to his feet. Having clocked Private Hive, Beast Boy and Wonder Girl shoved him towards Gizmo as Numerous and Wykyd regrouped. Cyborg stood before the group, aiming his arm cannon to prevent them from fleeing.

"Don't even think about it." he snarled. Nightwing and Starfire ran up to Kid Flash to see if he succeeded.

"Did you do it?" asked Nightwing, breathing heavily.

Kid Flash nodded and pointed toward the remains of the trigger. Beast Boy, meanwhile, hoisted a weakened Raven's arm over his shoulder and stood up, supporting her.

"You ok?" he asked.

Raven weakly looked at Beast Boy. She smiled.

"Yeah… I think. Never…held…on..that long".

Suddenly, her eyes widened, and her cheeks puffed up, causing her to slap her free hand over her face to keep herself from vomiting. Conversely, Wonder Girl helped a temporarily unconscious Jinx to her feat. "What happened?" she asked, holding her dizzy head. Wally walked up to her and showed the pieces of the trigger.

"You're free," said Wonder Girl, putting her hand on Wally's shoulder in congratulations.

Jinx's eyes teared happily, and she launched herself onto Kid Flash and wrapped her arms around him happily.

Kid Flash returned the gesture. He never felt happier to have her back. "But what was the purple light about?" she asked.

Kid Flash grinned.

" It was to ensure you were telling the truth about your captivity earlier."

Jinx then released him and took a step or two back.

"What?" she said, her voice turning gruff.

Kid Flash looked confused at her response.

"Uh, yeah? And it seems like you're clean. Right, Raven?"

Raven nodded, still trying her best to hold in her vomit. Jinx did not look happy. She looked back and forth from Kid Flash to Raven about a minute before speaking.

"You… you didn't believe me?!" she said with fury and confusion in her tone.

Cyborg did his best to look at what was happening and keep an eye on the Hive Five. Gizmo noticed his attempted multitasking and raised a brow.

Meanwhile, Kid Flash was still trying to talk to Jinx. "What?" Wally asked, surprised.

"That's not what I meant. Or what I was trying to do". Jinx stood away from him and then turned furiously to Raven.

"And you! You helped violate my mind?!" she yelled.

Raven woozily attempted to speak, but she still couldn't keep her vomit down in her stomach. Beast Boy, on the other hand, was willing to speak up. "Hey, we helped free you! You should be grateful!" he shouted. Jinx marched up to Beast Boy and pointed her finger a few inches to his face.

"Don't get involved, Logan!"

Beast Boy looked down at the finger and back at her.

His frown returned.

"If my friend here weren't hurt, I'd fight you right now for your ungratefulness."

"Guys! Stop!" shouted Nightwing.

He ran up and got in between the 2, gently nudging them away from each other.

"Arguing will not solve anything here!" Beast Boy glared at her, then turned to Nightwing.

He nodded and walked a few inches back, still supporting Raven's weakened form. Nightwing lowered his arms and turned his attention to Jinx.

"Listen, don't yell at them. I was the one who approved for this. If you wanna yell at anyone…"

"No," exclaimed Kid Flash.

Nightwing and Jinx turned to him, and Kid Flash looked at them both, stoic but stern.

"Don't take the blame for me."

Nightwing nodded and stood with Starfire as Kid Flash walked towards a sullen Jinx.

"Listen, I just wanted to make sure you were telling the truth. I mean, considering your history."

He wanted to take it back right there and then, but he couldn't. He realized what he said immediately and hated himself for the explanation.

"No, no! That's not what I meant!" he tried to explain, flustered.

But it was too late. The look on her face and the tears streaming down her eyes were already self-explanatory results of her current mood.

"My history?! You mean all the manipulation and blackmail that I was put through?! You really thought I'd lie about something as serious as this?!"

Wally gulped, and his expression was smothered with guilt.

There was nothing he could do now but take it.

"I thought you, of all people, knew who I was! I thought you saw good in me! But now I see that I was lied to as usual!".

As soon as she finished her statement, her eyes started to glow pink, and pink flame-like substances began to bloom from her hands. The energy seemed to grow bigger and bigger, and from what Nightwing could tell, it looked dangerous.

"What's she doing?!" he shouted to Kid Flash.

"I have no idea!".

Cyborg, still trying his best to keep his arm blaster aimed at the five and see what was going on, seemed worried as his mouth looked like it was about to hit the floor. Impulsive, Wally ran up to Jinx and grabbed her shoulders lightly but firmly.

"Jinx! Whatever you're doing, please stop!".

She then looked up at him. Her eyes were roaring with brilliant shades of magenta, and her expression was more intense than he had ever seen in her.

"Don't!" she finally bellowed.

"Touch. Me. AGAIN!".

Suddenly, Wally felt himself blown back once more, but a thousand times harder, to the hard pavement, the magenta light still shining. As soon as the light faded, he lifted his head. His spine was still killing him from his collapse earlier. But the pain would disappear. This didn't nearly as hurt as what had just happened. Looking up, he saw his other titan comrades on the ground, struggling to reach their feet. He turned to see how Cyborg was and found him lying unconscious near the warehouse door. Looking up, he saw Gizmo, Mammoth, Numerous, and Private Hive grab onto Kid Wykyd as he teleported them back to their base in a cloud of smoke. Kid Flash got up and zoomed up to Beast Boy and Raven. Raven attempted to heave herself up but collapsed again.

"Here," said Kid Flash, gently holding her waist to get her to her feet. Beast Boy approached and once again slung her arm around his shoulder.

"Thanks," Raven said weakly as she still attempted to hold down her vomit.

Kid Flash nodded.

"Don't mention it."

He looked back to Cyborg, who was being tended to by Wonder Girl. She continuously tapped on his face until he regained consciousness.

"What happened?" he asked as he got to his feet.

Kid Flash looked at him and then at the spot where Jinx stood. There was a massive burned ring in the ground and no young, pale, beautiful girl. He looked around for a second before noticing, in an alley between the two warehouses, a figure of a woman covered in a pink glow running into the night. Nightwing and Starfire approached behind him and witnessed the sight, too.

"Should we go after her?" asked Starfire sympathetically.

Wally shook his head.

"No. Let her go. She's free now, and that's all that matters. See you guys at the tower.".

He then sped up in a gust of wind as his friends looked on in sorrow.

It had been only an hour since it happened. Kid Flash was still mourning. He stood by his window in his room, hands behind his back, and stared into the hard, cold night. The others had gotten back fine except for Raven, whom Beast Boy had been helping hurl into the toilet from magic excretion for the past hour. Wally still stared. He had lost her. Again. However, now, it was because of him that she was gone. There was no point in going after her. It would only make things worse. The only thing he could do now was be grateful that she was no longer Gizmo's slave. He then heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," he replied. The door creaked open, and Nightwing approached.

"Hey, I was just seeing how you were holding up after what happened tonight," he explained.

Kid Flash looked behind him and nodded.

"I'm doing fine."

Nightwing nodded back, but he still felt a scent of guilt within him about the night's events.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't do enough to help tonight," he apologized.

Wally turned his whole body around with a stoic expression on his face.

"This isn't your fault. This is no one's fault. We all made our own choices. I made my choice to invade her mental privacy, and she made her choice to be mad at me. A justified decision. These things happen."

Nightwing raised his eyebrow. He was honestly surprised at how well Kid Flash was taking this. Knowing that it was best to leave, he headed to the door.

"If you need anything, just let me know," he said as he approached the door.

"I'd like one thing," replied Wally suddenly.

"Don't take everything like it's your fault."

Nightwing smiled slightly and nodded. He closed the door and went to his room. The only thing they could do now was prepare for whatever came next in this mission.

End.