Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Journey Through Life ❯ Episode III: Final Exam ( Chapter 3 )

WARNING: GIZMO WILL HAVE A FOUL MOUTH!

In addition to this above warning, know that the HIVE members, particularly Gizmo, are not nice people. That goes without saying, but they will not only defeat the Titans (if you never watched the show sorry for the spoil), they will humiliate them as well.

Episode III: Final Exam

A giant screen filled with static before showing a school crest. The hexagonal crest was separated into quarters alternating black and white within a gold border. A large “H” was superimposed in gold script and across the bottom ran a white streamer that bore the letters “H.A.E.Y.P.” Behind the crest, a square corridor with yellow walls, ceiling, and floor marked in a honeycomb pattern faded into view.

“The HIVE Academy for Extraordinary Young People is proud to introduce this year's top graduates,” a cool female voice began to narrate as classical piano music began to play. A platform rose into view in front of the crest, carrying five young individuals on it. The camera zoomed in on the quintet as the school crest faded from view. A slim girl stood in the center, flanked by four males.

All five leapt off the platform and the camera followed the motion of the shortest boy. The narrator introduced him as he stood. “Gizmo: the boy genius whose intellect can conquer any problem with an inventive solution.” Gizmo wore a dark green jumpsuit covered in switches and buttons. A pair of goggles covered his eyes, with a wire connecting it to a metallic backpack. He crossed his arms and pressed two buttons on his elbows, causing a pair of large metal wings to sprout from his backpack. He pulled out a control on his waist and turned it around, holding it like a game controller. As he took hold of the device, the wings responded and launched him into the air. As he flew down the corridor, lasers popped out from the wall panels and opened fire against him. Gizmo's goggle began to glow as he pulled off some acrobatic moves that would have made some dog-fighters jealous. As he performed flips and barrel rolls, a few more commands on his controller sent a volley of missiles destroyed all the guns with remarkable efficiency. Gizmo landed on the platform he and his classmates originally stood on briefly before taking off again. The camera, however, stayed still and waited for the girl to jump in and take his place.

“Jinx-the enchanting sorceress whose powerful hexes mean bad luck for her enemies…” Jinx dressed in a black dress trimmed with blue ruffles by the shoulders. The dress fell just a few inches below her hips and showed black-and-blue striped stockings and black platform boots. The dark color accentuated her pale white skin; one might have taken her to be an albino. Her lavender hair was bound into two large horn-like tufts that stick up above her ears, giving her a slightly devilish appearance. Her eyes opened as she smiled, her pink eyes framing cat-like pupils. As she stood up, panels in the walls opened to reveal combat droids. Jinx rose slowly, stretching her back when she reached her full height and showing her slender and graceful figure, which, when combined with her movements, showed that she was well used to acrobatics and gymnastics. Jinx extended both her arms and elegantly twirled three hundred sixty degrees. As she spun, purple scythes of energy left her hands and hit panels on the wall. As the robots came closer, the wall panels fell and crashed down on their heads. Jinx back flipped off the platform and cart wheeled down the corridor a short distance. Three large laser cannons emerged from recessed panels in the floor and aimed at the girl.

The male, who could only be described as massive, dropped into view and quickly bent the barrel of one of them as easily and effortlessly as if it were Play-Doh. His collar-length brown hair and a small beard gave him an animalistic appearance, and his choice of wear was a sleeveless shirt and pants made of a type of mesh with studded gold bands crossing his chest and running around his shoulders. The same bands also encircled his wrists. He smiled at the camera for a moment, revealing black eyes and long incisors.

“Mammoth- the genetically enhanced giant whose unstoppable strength speaks for itself…” With a grunt, Mammoth tore the cannon from its connections and threw it like an Olympic-style hammer. It skid across the floor and smashed into the other two. As Mammoth stood looking quite pleased with himself, another robot rose up behind him out of a hidden platform and caught him in a powerful bear hug. Mammoth crouched forward and leapt up into the air, causing the robot to smash into the ceiling before Mammoth pulled it off his back and ripped it in half. He used the body parts as weapons as three more robots rushed in to attack him, annihilating all off them. As he began running down the corridor, a containment field rose up around him. Mammoth hammered against it but the field remained unyielding. The camera panned back to show a dark-skinned figure facing away form the camera and towards Mammoth.

The camera spun around the figure as it came up to face level. “Seemore, the combatant whose considerable cornea lets him see the weakness in any situation, as well as the solution…” Seemore's choice of wear was a white suit with a green Egyptian eye on the chest. The upper half of his face was covered in a green helmet with only one eye showing. His hand came up to a button on the side of his helmet and the eye glowed a brilliant red before loosing a stream of energy that shattered the containment field like glass. Seemore turned around and his glowed blue as he looked at the walls. His eye glowed red again and Seemore unleashed another blast of energy, blowing through the walls and destroying another few drones. This attack, however, caused parts of the ceiling to cave in and large chunks of metal began to fall towards Seemore.

A male with black skin materialized behind Seemore and put his hand on his shoulder. His eyes glowed a bright red as the metal fell around them. When the ceiling was done caving in, the two of them walked through the wreckage completely unharmed. “And Kyd Wykkyd- the stealth fighter whose mastery of the shadows gives him an edge in any brawl…” The silent fighter was dressed in a pale grey suit and a black cape that, when taken with the style of his helmet, made him look as though he had raided Batman's closet. He vanished on the spot and reappeared seven feet away. He grabbed a robot and vanished again, bringing it with him. He reappeared, jamming it in the barrel of another cannon.

As the cannon exploded from being clogged, all five of the agents appeared on the screen again. “Well-organized, highly trained, and combat-equipped, these new HIVE agents are the perfect fighting force…” Gizmo took off again on his wings as Mammoth came up behind him. Barrages of lasers emerged from behind the walls and began firing at the team. Seemore's eye glowed white and a shield emerged, protecting the team. Kyd Wykkyd grabbed Jinx and teleported her outside the shield and in the center of the hall. Kyd Wykkyd extended a hand and a shroud of darkness fell around the lasers, disorienting them and making their shots go completely random. Jinx deftly cart wheeled down the corridor, dodging every shot but hitting each and every one with her spells. As the lasers were blown to bits, Jinx landed with her back to the camera, surveying her triumph, then turned to face front, before facing front.

“And for the right price, this ideal team; this HIVE FIVE can be yours…” the narrator concluded as the other four slid into view, flanking Jinx once again. The five faded out as the HIVE Academy's crest was set against a dark field before the screen faded to black.

A severe-looking elderly woman holding a clipboard stepped in front of the screen. The hulking man that had summoned her had not said a word throughout the entire film, which had lasted a couple of hours in describing the school. In fact, he had not even moved. Had it not been for the open eye focused on the screen, the woman might have suspected he had fallen asleep. The woman had been to a variety of people wanting to hire HIVE students (usually criminals) but there was something different about this man that made the woman very uneasy. Despite the fact that Jinx, Gizmo, Mammoth, Seemore, and Kyd Wykkyd were standing nearby, the woman had little doubt that this powerful man could kill them all if he truly wished.

“Well, what do you think, Mr.…” she asked, hoping to get a name or alias, which would give her some information on this mysterious customer. She stepped forward out of the dark, revealing a dark outfit with a hexagonal gold patch on one sleeve.

The grey eye stared down at her from the shadowy form that stood behind a railing on a slightly elevated platform across the area. Machinery whirred in the background, creating a haunting tune of technology. “Impressive. Truly,” he complimented before turning around and walking away. The way his eye lingered on her made her feel comfortable to follow him, which she did. As she stayed a step behind him, she was pleased to see that her students followed her lead and stayed precisely a step behind her, never breaking their formation. The headmistress hoped very much that this man was going to take her offer: these five were worth more than the HIVE had made in a single sale in quite some time. She drew a small amount of comfort from his initial compliment.

“However…” the man continued, causing the woman's bright premonition to fall slightly as he continued to walk, “robots and obstacle courses only prove so much.”

He led her deeper into the machinery and a note of sarcasm wound its way into his tone. “My plans demand operatives who can function in the world.” The woman bristled but did not retort; there was too much at stake for this sale and she did not want to infuriate this man.

“If your students are going to serve me…” the man said, getting the headmistress' hopes up again, though she remained completely impassive, “… they'll have to pass one final exam,” he concluded, a bit of humor entering his voice at his pun. He sat down in his throne chair and stared down at them all, his face hidden but his eye gleaming in the darkness. The eye narrowed as he spoke his next words, and all emotion except a harsh finality. “Destroy the Teen Titans…” he commanded, “…and then we'll talk.” The woman thought about it for a moment. She did not like that the man was essentially getting a free mission, but she knew she could reasonably raise the price afterwards. She bowed to the man, turned to her students, and nodded. The students immediately turned around and left, their mission received…

Cyborg turned his head left and right, his human and robotic eyes both seeking desperately the object of his desire. “Aw, man, come on,” he exclaimed as he lifted the entire couch and shook it, causing socks, CD's, a controller from the GameStation, and even a can of soda to fall to the floor. “It's gotta be around here someplace,” he grumbled. Beast Boy watched Cyborg shake the couch before walking into the kitchen as a bloodhound. He sniffed around, enjoying the pungent smell of the fruit and vegetables ripening in the room. As he turned his head, a waft of lavender caught his attention and Beast Boy closed his eyes and deep in a deep breath. As he transformed into a human again, he opened his mouth and took a deep breath, activating a gland in the top of his mouth that would greatly enhance his human sense of smell. As he drank in the scent, Beast Boy was yanked back to Earth as Cyborg let out a roar of frustration and slammed the couch back onto the floor.

“I don't believe this!” Cyborg shouted in aggravation. Beast Boy walked back into the living room and began sorting through materials under the TV. Raven looked up from the corner of the room from her book with an annoyed look but said nothing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Beast Boy facing her, but when she turned to look at him, he was turning away. “How could you lose the remote?” Cyborg accused Beast Boy.

Beast Boy's eyes snapped to Cyborg as he got defensive. “What makes you so sure I lost it?”

“Uh… `cause you're you,” Cyborg said sarcastically.

“Hey! Just because I lost that video game-”

“And the toothpaste; and Starfire's necklace; and my football; and Raven's cloak in the laundry; and the waffle iron; and the GameStation; and the hair gel; and our communicators; and your own uniform; and Robin's utility belt; and the boom box; and instruction manual for the tower; and-

“Things disappear,” Beast Boy defended himself as his face flushed red. “How am I supposed to know where they go?”

“Well, how am I supposed to watch TV without a remote?”

Beast Boy's answer was cut short by the sound of a slam. They turned towards Raven to see her standing with her cloak pulled around her, her book at her side. She gazed at them, annoyed, and snapped at them: “Simple. You just get up and change the channel.”

Cyborg and looked at each other before turning to her again, their faces a mixture of confusion and horror. “Don't even joke like that,” Cyborg said softly, his voice bordering on scared.

“Yeah Raven, even my humor doesn't sink that low,” Beast Boy agreed.

“I wasn't joking,” Raven said coldly.

“Good, `cause it wasn't funny!” Cyborg snapped. “Now either help us look for the remote or go back to your nasty old book and-”

“This is a pointless argument over a useless device,” Raven said, talking over Cyborg as Robin and Starfire entered from the back. “You are wasting your energy and disrupting my concentration,” she continued, glaring at them. “You are also squandering your time when you could be training or enjoying the planet that you live on instead of viewing fake stimulation from a screen.”

“I'm telling you, I didn't lose it!” Beast Boy said, turning from Raven and defending himself from Cyborg's accusations again. “You were the one watching TV last! So if you want to blame someone look in the mirror, buddy!” As he shouted, his face stayed the same shade, though now it was red from anger rather than embarrassment.

“… and that is the secret to traveling faster than light,” Starfire said to Robin, finishing their conversation. She turned towards the room and gasped when she saw everyone's angry faces.

“Whoa! Take it easy, Titans! Combat practice is this afternoon!” he said, trying to calm his team down. It worked temporarily; the other three turned to face them.

Starfire took advantage of the silence to try to make everyone happy. “We must mend your dispute by the sharing of unhealthy junk foods. I shall fetch them,” she smiled, walking into the kitchen and looking for the snacks she had made.

“I don't need food,” Cyborg shouted at her as he saw her poking around.

“But your always hungry,” Beast Boy joked, trying to get Cyborg's attention away from the lost technological device.

“What I need is a time machine so I can go back in time and stop this little green bean from losing the remote,” he said, pointing at Beast Boy, whose face fell as he realized food was not enough to distract Cyborg.

“You know what, I'm glad Robin's here; we can ask him,” Beast Boy said, turning towards the leader. “Robin, have I ever lost anything?”

“Listen guys,” Robin said before Raven began talking.

“Robin, aren't they wasting their time. Shouldn't they be training instead of rotting their minds with the TV?”

“Uh, look…” Robin tried to say, but the other three began arguing with each other and ignoring him.

“You don't even know what I was going to watch!” Cyborg accused.

“I don't need to know; I've watched you watch TV. Your brain waves drop incredibly,” Raven retorted.

“Wait, TV really makes you stop thinking,” Beast Boy asked, thinking that had always been a myth.

“Well, you don't do much thinking ever,” Cyborg muttered.

As the argument became more and more heated, Robin tried to keep them somewhat apart so there would be no blows, but he was having a difficult time keeping the three teens separated.

Starfire, meanwhile, had found some Tamaranian food in the cupboard, but noticed that it was covered with thick blue fuzz. She slowly rubbed some off with her pointer finger and sniffed it. Sticking it in her mouth, Starfire decided that she rather liked the sourness of the fuzz and prepared to take a bite. As she leaned in, the mold made some sort of noise and began to move. Starfire squeaked in surprise and reacted instinctively: she backed up and fired a starbolt into the cabinet.

Whatever the mold was made of, it reacted quite violently to attacks and exploded, drenching the room in the goop. The argument in the living room came to an abrupt halt as the four Titans stood still, scared half to death by a mold bomb going off a few feet away from them. Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg were facing each other, with Robin squished in the middle. Only one foot was on the floor; his other three limbs were trying to push the other three away from each other. As the mildew dripped from the ceiling, Robin eyed it disgustingly and mumbled a suggestion that the others quickly took him up on: “Maybe we should just go out for pizza.” The other Titans quickly went to their room and changed. As they left, each one hoped fervently that they would not be the one who drew the short straw at the parlor, since that person would be the one who would have to clean up the mess.

Raven groaned as she watched her teammates argue back and forth about what kind of pizza they should order. She felt her frustration at their inability to agree mounting and took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself.

“Black olives and mushrooms,” Robin asserted.

“Dude, I didn't hear onions mentioned anywhere,” Beast Boy commented.

“Pepperoni's the only way to go guys,” Cyborg said as he put down his menu.

“Who else likes anchovies,” Starfire asked, getting a look from the others.

“Can we please just order something?” Raven asked, her stomach grumbling and her temper shortening.

“As long as it's vegetarian,” Beast Boy said as he squatted on his stool.

“I need some meat to clean my systems out of all that tofu you made me eat last week.” Cyborg said in a pleading tone.

“Hey, that wasn't my fault,” Beast Boy reminded him. “You made the bet with Raven, and she was the one who made the condition.”

“Come on, man, how can you deny me the all-meat experience?”

Beast Boy looked at him with a horrified expression. “Dude, I've been most of those animals,” he reminded his cybernetic friend.

“I suggest a large pizza with pickles, bananas, and mint frosting,” Starfire suggested, drawing looks from Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg.

“Okay, I'm a vegetarian, but even that's pushing it for me,” Beast Boy muttered, causing Cyborg to chuckle. Starfire looked at the three of them, who quickly turned their faces to Robin, their body language clearly telling him he would have to be the one to correct Starfire.

“Uh, Starfire? Not everything on the menu is a pizza topping,” he whispered from behind a menu.

“Oh,” was all Starfire could say, blushing at the faux pas she made.

“Double pepperoni,” Cyborg said again, hoping to convince the rest of his team. If one other person agreed with him, he could out-vote Beast Boy.

“I'm not eating meat,” the changeling argued vehemently.

“There's no meat in pepperoni,” Cyborg lied. “That's why it's got the word `pepper' in it,” he tried. Beast Boy just looked at him while the others started arguing again.

The Teen Titans were unaware that they were being observed from afar. As Gizmo leveled his goggles at them, he marked each of them off with a bull's-eye. “Idiot,” he muttered as he heard Cyborg's last comment. He raised a device to his hand and spoke into it: “Gizmo to Jinx.”

The girl in question was standing at a street corner near a parked bus. She cupped a hand to her ear to hear him better. “Begin Phase I.” She nodded to herself and carelessly waved her hand at the bus. A spark of pink electricity leapt from her hand over to the bus, which began to roll down the hill. Kyd Wykkyd sat in the seat and began to blast the horn.

The noise got the attention of the Titans, who looked at the bus curiously, but it was Beast Boy who noticed that at the bottom of the hill was a lone baby carriage. His ears twitched as the sound of a baby's crying found its way to him. He gasped and pointed. Robin saw what Beast Boy was pointing at and he quickly ordered the team into mobility.

Starfire grabbed Robin and they rushed towards the bottom of the hill. Beast Boy took Cyborg and accompanied Raven towards the bus. Cyborg landed and planted himself in front of the vehicle, catching it and slowing it down somewhat. Raven hovered near the bottom of a hill and her eyes began to glow as she extended her hand, moving part of her consciousness into the bus. She found the gearshift and discovered that it was in “neutral.” She narrowed her eyes and it shifted over to “Park.” The tires stopped spinning and went into a screeching skid before finally halting.

“Yo, are you out of your mind?” Cyborg screamed at the bus as he walked over to the doors and ripped them open. “You better get out here and explain…” he trailed off, seeing the bus was empty. He turned towards Raven and the others, scratching his head in confusion. “Um… don't buses normally have drivers?”

“And don't baby carriages normally have babies?” Robin added, holding up a green teddy bear curiously. Beast Boy walked over to it to hold it when everyone was shocked by an unfamiliar voice.

“Are you dumbasses normally this stupid?” Gizmo asked mockingly over a speaker. The voice came from the bear right before it exploded, causing Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy to go flying into an alley way. Raven and Cyborg watched this new development, stunned, when a metallic groaning caught their ears. They looked towards the bus and were astonished to see it tilting on its back wheels. It stayed stationary for a second, letting its spontaneous wheelie register in the two teens' minds before slamming down on them. As the dust cleared, Mammoth strolled up to Jinx and Seemore, who had been watching everything from the corner, while Gizmo landed from the air and Kyd Wykkyd phased up through the ground.

“Man, that was too easy,” Seemore laughed, surprised that their mission had been so simple. He had been expecting the Titans to put up more of a fight.

“Yeah, what a bunch of amentias,” Gizmo chuckled. He turned around and saw the pizza parlor up the hill. “You guys wanna get pizza?” Kyd Wykkyd nodded and began walking towards the place when a sharp voice from their right caused the HIVE FIVE to stop.

“This isn't over,” Robin declared as he emerged from the alley with Starfire and Beast Boy. All three were covered in garbage, yet other than that, they seemed relatively unharmed.

Mammoth leapt away from the bus when a gigantic sonic blast dislodged it from the crater and turned it on its side. “We're just gettin' started!” Cyborg shouted as he emerged from the hole. It was a testament to his designers that he was only scratched, not dented. A bird-shaped shadow loomed up behind him before resolving into Raven, who looked completely at ease with the situation.

“Who are these guys?” Beast Boy asked as he took a banana peel of his shoulder and looked at the five villains. “And what's an amentia?”

Leaving his second question unanswered, the five HIVE agents assumed an attack position and decided to answer his first.

“We are the HIVE!” Gizmo bragged.

“Your worst nightmare!” Mammoth grinned as he cracked his knuckles.

“We're the new bad-boy's in town,” Seemore affirmed as he brought one hand up to the side of his face.

“And this is Attack Pattern Alpha!” Jinx shouted as the group scrambled. Gizmo sprouted wings again and flew at the trio in the alleyway. He shot a salvo of laser shots at the alley, chipping loose large hunks of masonry. Beast Boy looked up and dodged the attack by becoming a bird, but Starfire had no reaction time except to cover Robin's body with hers, her own being more dense and able to take the attack.

Raven erected a shield as Jinx ran at her. Jinx stopped before crashing into the dark energy and put a hand on it. As the shield crackled with energy and repelled her, Jinx laughed.

“You think something like that's gonna keep me out?” She taunted before covering the shield with her pink lightning. Raven gasped as the spell went through the shield, but relaxed when it inflicted no physical damage.

“Don't fall to her taunts, just maintain the shield and study her attack pattern,” Raven thought to herself, concentrating. “Just maintain the shield and… I wonder how Beast Boy managed to lose his own uniform…” Raven gasped as her shield disintegrated as her concentration broke, leaving her vulnerable to physical attacks. Kyd Wykkyd teleported in front of her and threw a few punches at her. Raven blocked most of them, but was thrown off when Kyd Wykkyd started to teleport around her while attacking.

After being hit five times, Raven began to mediate off the ground and fly away. Jinx snickered and hit her with another spell, causing her meditation to become distracted again. Beast Boy swooped down and caught her before she hit the ground. Raven looked over at him silently and erected a shield just in time to block a blast from Seemore. Beast Boy rushed forward and morphed into a gorilla before attacking Seemore. Kyd Wykkyd grabbed his teammate just in time and teleported them out of range of Beast Boy. The changeling looked around for the duo but didn't hear Raven's warning in time to avoid a blast from Seemore from behind. Raven looked behind the HIVE agents and was relieved to see Starfire and Robin emerging from the rubble: three against two odds were killing her.

Cyborg struggled against Mammoth in a contest of strength, and neither teen seemed willing to back down. Cyborg was initially surprised as Mammoth's strength but he held his ground, causing the pavement underneath his feet to develop spider cracks. He pushed back, his superior strength forcing the hulking human back. Mammoth, however, seemed completely content with Cyborg's winning.

Starfire threw a starbolt at Seemore, who was now away from Kyd Wykkyd, who had left to help Jinx with Raven. Seemore's eye glowed white and shot out a shield to deflect Starfire's attack before glowing red and shooting one of his own. The two battled with projectile attacks as the other fights raged around them.

Robin bounced off a wall and launched himself at Kyd Wykkyd, who dodged the attack quickly. Robin unleashed a barrage of martial art attacks, but Kyd Wykkyd was able to always stay one step ahead due to his teleporting ability. Robin finally threw a smoke sphere, obscuring the villain's vision before landing an attack right on the psychic's chest. He rocketed himself at Kyd Wykkyd who smirked and phased into the ground, causing Robin to smack into the pavement. As he lay there, stunned, the teleportor picked him up and threw him at a wall. Beast Boy caught Robin as a falcon and let the Boy Wonder touch down before reentering the fight.

“What do you call an idiot with a rocket on his back,” Mammoth taunted as he struggled against the android. Cyborg preferred not to answer, choosing instead to use his energy to slam Mammoth into a wall. Cyborg pushed against the teen, but was distracted by a small weight on his back.

“Duped,” Gizmo laughed as he attacked a booster to Cyborg's back. He back-flipped off Cyborg and Mammoth pushed him away right before Gizmo pushed a button, activating it. The device caused the teen to fly up into the air, screaming helplessly. His cried attracted Starfire's attention, and Seemore took advantage of it to blast her into a wall. She shook off the attack and left the battle, trying to catch up to her friend. As soon as she reached him, however, the rocket changed course, sending the two in a zigzag pattern across the sky.

Raven ducked under an amateur spin kick by Jinx and backed up to avoid two more attacks. In addition to the physical strikes, Raven was kept busy by the fact that pieces of the pavement kept jutting up, trying to trip her. She had also realized Jinx's spells would break her concentration, nullifying Raven's powers. She countered a punch with a backhand, but Jinx blacked it and laughed.

“You fight like a boy,” she taunted before back-flipping out of the way.

“And you're gonna croak like a frog,” Gizmo sneered. Raven looked up at him, surprised. Gizmo's backpack had forgone the wings and had sprouted four spider legs. He was holding a small cannon and pointed it at her before firing. The impact hurled her down the street and squarely into Robin, who stopped charging the group to catch her.

Beast Boy charged forward as an ox, but Mammoth caught him between the horns. With a grunt, the giant picked Beast Boy up, no small feat, as he was a fifteen hundred pound animal, and tried to slam him into the ground. Beast Boy snorted and bellowed before changing into an octopus, his soft body absorbing the impact. He wrapped three arms around Mammoth and flung him away before noticing Seemore powering up his eye. Beast Boy quickly transformed into a snake and dodged the blasts. He tried to ram the HIVE agents but was repulsed by a shield Seemore constructed. He backed off and became a T-Rex, allowing his monstrous frame to intimidate them. Beast Boy let out a mighty roar, scaring Seemore and causing him to close his eye, lowering the shield.

As Beast Boy ran, he realized that he was not moving. He heard a growl from behind him and was jerked off his feet. Mammoth held Beast Boy above his head like a heavyweight lifting champion. “Mammoth's gonna make you extinct,” he taunted before throwing him back towards Robin and Raven, who were getting to their feet.

Beast Boy hit the ground as a human and bounced and rolled over to his comrades. He stood up shakily and turned to face them, his face bruised and a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. “Is it me, or are we getting our butts kicked?”

Raven and Robin looked at each other before they answered simultaneously: “It's just you.”

“Listen up, team. I have a plan,” Robin started, but got no further before a discharge caught his eye. He dodged to the left to avoid two blasts Gizmo had fired from a cannon from his backpack. They hit his friends and Robin watched as they went flying back a few blocks. Robin turned to face the HIVE FIVE and saw them all staring at him.

“Gee, shit-sniffer, sure hope your fancy plan includes getting fried!” The weapon leveled itself at Robin, who bravely stood his ground.

“You'll just have to find out the hard way,” he taunted as he took a fighting stance. He made a “bring it on,” gesture, provoking Gizmo. The shoulder-mounted laser zeroed in on him and fired a pair of shots. Robin crouched behind his cape, which absorbed the blasts, and leapt away to avoid another pair of shots. Jinx cast a pair of spells at him, and Robin quickly leapt onto the wall to avoid the cracks that the pavement sprouted. Seemore aimed his eye at him and Robin grabbed his bo-staff, deflecting the blast as he swung at Kyd Wykkyd. As he expected, the dark psychic teleported away, letting Robin throw one of his flash bombs.

Jinx, stunned by the explosion, received a quick boot to the stomach, and Robin's bo-staff cracked off Seemore's helmet a second later. Gizmo was tripping over himself to get away from the brawl, as hand-to-hand combat was not his style, and Robin quickly back-flipped to avoid an attack from Kyd Wykkyd. Mammoth reached out and caught Robin around the waist. Robin struggled for moment before kicking off Mammoth's face, freeing himself, but ripping his belt off in the process. As he landed, Seemore fired a blast, not at Robin, but at the ground where he would land. Jinx and Gizmo also aimed their attacks in the same area, and Robin let out a horrified yell as he fell through the hole, plunging into the sewer water below.

Beast Boy and Raven arrived at the scene and looked at what had happened. “Robin!” Beast Boy yelled, hoping to hear a response. When none came, he flung himself down the hole and transformed into a crocodile, wading through the water. Raven extended a hand towards Mammoth and snatched Robin's utility belt before following Beast Boy. Kyd Wykkyd smirked as he sank into the ground, intent on following them. Gizmo gave chase as well, firing at the pair of Titans as they ran away. One errant blast hit the utility belt out of Raven's hand, and it hit the water, floating downstream…

A couple of hours later, Raven and Beast Boy entered Titans Tower, the latter heavily bruised and limping, supported by Raven. Beast Boy winced as he took a few steps and sat lightly down in a chair, looking up at his friend through one eye, the other swollen shut. “That didn't just happen,” he said in a desperate tone. Raven looked at him from behind her hood, surveying all his injuries. She couldn't understand how he had been so damaged when she had escaped with very few marks. She chalked it up to her powers and listened as he repeated his request. “Tell me that didn't just happen,” Beast Boy pleaded.

“It did happen,” Raven said, though not unkindly. “We cannot change the truth,” she told him. Seeing his face, she added words that she had only thought. “No matter how much we dislike it.” She slowly extended her hand and enveloped it in a blue energy. Hesitantly, she touched the leg Beast Boy was limping on and took a sharp intake of breath. She closed her eyes and grit her teeth as Beast Boy felt the healing energy wash over him, missing the signs from Raven.

He rubbed his leg and felt the deep pain gone, though there was still was still some residual acheiness. He threw a half-hearted smile at her and tried to lighten the situation. “Who knew we had a doctor in the house?” Raven didn't smile; she only hovered over to a chair next to him and sat down. “Thanks,” Beast Boy said shyly.

“No problem,” Raven groaned. Both Titans tensed up as they heard the doors of the tower begin to open. Cyborg and Starfire entered the tower, both with large smiles on their faces.

“Maybe y'all should call me Flyborg: I was halfway to Gotham City before Star zapped that thing off my back,” Cyborg joked, clearly in a good mood. Obviously, the thought that the Titans had lost had never crossed his mind. “So what'd I miss?” he asked, looking around. Raven's eyes fell as he looked at her. Not surprised, as she was always the quiet one of the group, he was a bit shocked when Beast Boy's eyes also fell. “Tell me how we kicked their butts. Come on, I gotta have the play-by-play,” he continued, trying to draw some conversation out of them.

“Where is Robin,” Starfire asked, her eyes scanning the lobby for her favorite Titan.

“Um, Star…” Beast Boy said uncertainly, not sure how to break the news to the Tamaranian. “We're not sure.”

“Not sure?” Starfire said, confused. “Why are you not-?”

“We searched everywhere…” Raven said sadly, “…but all we found was this.” She brought out Robin's utility belt from beneath her cloak. Starfire gasps in horror as she saw the yellow device spattered with blood and the implications sank in.

Cyborg groaned and clapped both hands to his forehead. “I shoulda been there,” he muttered, his face in his hands. “I let that kid sneak up on me and- what was I-? It was a trap, and I-I shoulda known,” he whispered as he rested his head on his forearm, which was leaned against a wall. A tear came out of his face and he let out a small moan.

Starfire was still looking at the utility belt, confused. “I do not understand. How could you not find him?” She raised her voice and her eyes began to glow as she got close to Raven. “People do not just vanish,” she exclaimed angrily. “He has to be someplace, so go there, and look!” Starfire shouted at Raven, her face turning red.

Beast Boy saw Raven's expression and quickly put himself between the two females. “Easy, Star,” he said, trying to pacify the passionate alien. “This is Robin we're talking about,” he reminded her. “I'm sure he's fine.”

A roar from Cyborg distracted the others and they saw him slam his hand into the wall. They watched in horror as the android began to pummel the wall, causing steel to buckle and bend under his power. They watched him but made no move to interfere: Cyborg's pain had to be vented somehow, and better on the metal than on them.

“Then… Robin is gone,” Starfire whispered in despair as Raven handed her the belt. Starfire cradled it reverently as she sank to her knees, her eyes completely blank and dull.

“What are we gonna do?” Beast Boy asked Raven as they watched the team fall to pieces.

“I- I don't know,” she admitted as she touched down, favoring her right leg.

The motion in the room stopped as the door mechanisms came to life again. Starfire looked up, hope in her eyes as she flew over to the door. “Robin!” She exulted, thinking she was about to see her best friend.

As she landed by the doors, they were blown completely off her hinges, blasting Starfire back. Out of the dust came the HIVE FIVE smiling sinisterly.

“Oh no,” Beast Boy moaned as he got up off the chair. Mammoth merely cracked his knuckles.

“Oh yes,” Jinx grinned evilly as she led the group.

“Y'all got lucky out on the street, but you're in our house now!” Cyborg shouted in rage as he brandished his Sonic Cannon.

“Yeah, nice place,” Gizmo leered as he raised himself up onto his spider legs again. “We'll take it!”

Seemore charged his eye up to full power and shot a massive blast of energy that sent the four Titans reeling back. Starfire somersaulted in the air and threw half a dozen starbolts at the HIVE members to stall them. Beast Boy clambered to his feet and got out of Cyborg's way as the android backed up and fired his Sonic Cannon at Seemore, who was countering every attack with his eye beams.

“Split up!” Cyborg ordered as he smashed a panel, causing a large steel door to rise up out of the floor and cutting the HIVE off. As the Titans retreated, they saw Kyd Wykkyd phase himself and the rest of the team through the doors.

Raven flew to a landing on some stairs and tossed a pair of nearby fire extinguishers towards Mammoth. The giant swatted them away and continued chasing her. She phased through a wall, but Mammoth merely smashed his way though it. They continued this game of hide and seek for a few moments before Raven stood in the center of a room and waited for him. As Mammoth charged, Raven formed a shield around her and Mammoth's attack pounded on it, but could not penetrate Raven's dark energies.

Beast Boy dashed up the stairs and morphed into an octopus again. His muscles thanked him for the relief as he began to throw every object within reach at the advancing duo. Kyd Wykkyd teleported past the items and threw a double kick at Beast Boy's head. Though his body was soft, there was still enough force to send him back a few feet. Beast Boy stumbled to his feet when suddenly the wall panel behind him blew out. He rolled to the left and got up, his muscles protesting. He staggered down the hallway, avoiding more panels before turning into a bobcat and weaving through them.

“Here kitty, kitty,” Jinx said tauntingly as she unhurriedly followed him. “What's the matter, afraid of a little bad luck?” she smirked as she continued walking down the hallway. As she got close to the wall panels, they continued to explode around her. Kyd Wykkyd began phasing through the walls, looking for their foe.

Starfire burst through the doors of the gym and slammed them shut behind her. She quickly sent a stream of energy at the edges, welding them shut. When she was done, she looked at it nervously, wondering if it would hold. It proved to be a moot point a second later, however, when a piercing laser traced a hole through the middle of the door in a humanoid shape. As the hole fell forward, Seemore stepped comfortably through and looked at Starfire.

“I see you,” he leered. Starfire glared at him and sent a large starbolt at him. Seemore rolled to the right to dodge it and fired a blast of his own. Starfire matched his attack and the two circled the gym, their powers warring in a terrific explosion of light.

Cyborg reached the top of the stairs and saw Gizmo following him, his little body suspended by the spider legs. Cyborg fired his Sonic Cannon down, but Gizmo's legs were very nimble and able to dodge every shot. Cyborg ran down the corridor and took a few turns to try to lose the boy genius. As Cyborg crept in the corner, he held his breath and saw Gizmo making his way towards him. Cyborg waited to form his Sonic Cannon: if Gizmo hadn't seen him, the noise would give him away.

Cyborg breathed a sigh of relief when Gizmo strolled right by Cyborg's corner. He emerged silently and followed the miniscule teen. As Gizmo entered a large storage room Cyborg smiled to himself. “Perfect. That little runt's advantage is in long range. If I can keep him in there, I'll have the advantage.”

Cyborg quietly snuck into the room, getting out of the doorway as soon as he could. As he walked in, the doors behind him slid shut with no warning.

“Hey,” Cyborg said, before slapping his mouth shut.

As he took a few steps forward, Cyborg activated his night vision, allowing him to scan the room. Curiously, Gizmo was nowhere to be seen. A wall of light coming from behind startled Cyborg, and he turned around to see Gizmo's grinning face from a wall of TV's.

“So, Tin-Man, you got a heart under all that outdated crap-ware?” Cyborg frowned at the jibe but otherwise said nothing, trying to triangulate the source of the feed before Gizmo sprang a trap on him. “Not telling?” Gizmo's voice taunted as Cyborg looked around. “Guess I'll just have to take you apart and find out,” he cackled as he lowered himself from the ceiling towards Cyborg, who stared in complete surprise.

Raven stayed behind her shield while chucking equipment at Mammoth. Punching bags, weights, training equipment; if it wasn't nailed down, she threw it. Mammoth seemed unstoppable though: able to shrug off anything she threw at him. As she lowered her shield, Raven concentrated on the water pipes under the floor and brought them up. As they wrapped around Mammoth he stood and laughed at her.

“You think something like this can hold me honey?” he sneered before ripping his way free. Raven gasped, surprised by his incredible strength, and gave Mammoth the perfect opportunity to grab her. He picked her up and slammed her into a wall. With his hand around her throat, he brought her in close and whispered in her ears. “Scream for me,” he whispered.

Raven growled instead and kicked out, her feet hitting Mammoth right in the face. He yelped and let go of her, sending the teen to the floor. She blasted him with her mental energy, but Mammoth's body was capable of taking an incredible amount of punishment.

“Robin's dead, you know,” Mammoth taunted as he sidestepped her attacks. “And the other members of the team aren't as merciful as I am. They'll kill everyone,” he said, knowing the effect he was having on her.

“No,” Raven muttered to herself, trying to keep despair from overtaking her.

“Yes,” Mammoth said softly as he walked up to her. Raven had ceased attacking and was grabbing her head, trying to contain her emotions. “The other girl, the android, and that little green friend of yours,” he sneered as he lifted her up. “But if you behave, maybe the other's will let me keep you as a pet,” he coaxed as he ran a hand up her leg. Raven's eyes glowed bright red as she began to lose control. She bit him on the hand, her fangs sinking deep into his flesh. Mammoth snarled and punched her in the stomach and face, trying to elicit a scream from her. Raven snarled as she snapped and caused a massive explosion to erupt between Mammoth and her. The force threw him across the room and Raven through the wall. She gasped as she wrenched control over her emotions back and plunged into the ocean. She looked up and saw something else plummeting right for her.

Beast Boy panted as he ran around a corner. He glanced behind him, and seeing no one, let out a sigh of relief. “Lost her,” he panted, relieved. A moment later, a pink spell went over his head and hit a ceiling panel. It swung down and smacked him right in the face, knocking him backwards.

“This just isn't your lucky day,” Jinx remarked as she walked up to him.

Beast Boy sat rubbing his head for a second before transforming into a Tyrannosaurus-Rex again and roared with enough force to shake the entire building. Jinx back-flipped to get out of range before Kyd Wykkyd ran up to him. Beast Boy roared again and changed into a gorilla, grabbing Kyd Wykkyd and throwing him into a wall. The teleportor, however, phased through it, leaving nothing but a hole where Beast Boy had struck.

“What's the matter,” he taunted in a hissing voice. “Worried about Robin,” he snickered from the floor. Beast Boy let out a bellow and smashed his fist down, missing Kyd Wykkyd but punching another hole in the floor. The dark psychic continued in his taunting manner, getting Beast Boy to steadily chip away at his footing. Finally, he teleported behind Jinx. Beast Boy growled and became a rhinoceros as Jinx closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were glowing pink as she extended her hands and pointed at Beast Boy. A large pink ring came up from the floor and circled Beast Boy, who ignored it. As he charged, the floor under him gave way and he was sent plummeting down. As he fell, Beast Boy concentrated and became a falcon. He flapped his way up the hole, exhausted from the beating he had taken in the sewers and all the transformations. He became a cheetah and dashed off for the control room.

“If I can activate the tower defense, it'll give me a chance,” Beast Boy thought to himself as he ran, every muscle screaming in protest.

When Beast Boy reached the control room, he staggered in and limped over to a computer. As he reached for the computer keys, Kyd Wykkyd teleported in front of him, scaring him. Beast Boy stumbled backwards into a chair, which sent straps around him. Beast Boy sat struggling in the chair as Jinx waltzed into the room.

Kyd Wykkyd teleported out of the room and into the lobby, waiting for the rest of his team to finish taking over the tower, leaving Beast Boy alone with Jinx. “I wish I could keep you guys around: you were a lot of fun to fight,” Jinx pouted as Beast Boy continued to struggle. “But I can't and- whoops, did I do that?” she said innocently as she sat down on a control panel, activating an ejector seat. Beast Boy stopped struggling and looked at her with horror. Jinx winked at him as his seat was fired straight up, ejecting him from the room and then the tower itself.

As Beast Boy plunged into the ocean, the cold water jolted his nervous system and he began to struggle again. As the chair sank, Beast Boy tried to concentrate on becoming any kind of marine animal, but his focus was fading along with his consciousness.

A figure swam down and grabbed hold of Beast Boy. He opened his eyes feebly and saw a rush of blue. “Raven…” he tried to say, but being underwater, all that came out was a stream of bubbles. The telekinetic teen freed him from the chair and carried him over to a large piece of wreckage that she hoped would support both their weights. Tears rolled down her face as she swam.

Starfire flew into the air and flew at Seemore, who erected a large shield to stop her. Starfire smashed against the shield before charging up her starbolts and hammered away. Seemore began to sweat with the strain of keeping the shield up: his power was only effective as long as he kept his eye open, and he really needed to blink. Thinking quickly, he shot a quick burst of energy at Starfire before shutting his eye in relief. As he opened it again, he saw a table flying at him. He panicked and hit the floor, dodging two chairs as well. As Starfire threw more objects at him, Seemore activated his eye beams again and shot them out of the air, proving to be as adept of a shot as Starfire was at aiming.

Starfire thought of a strategy and seized a punching bag. She swung it at him and waited until he aimed at it before she fired one of her starbolts at it too. The combination of their powers hitting the sandbag caused it to send dirt and dust everywhere.

“What, did you think dust in my eye would slow me down? That's what the helmet's for,” Seemore laughed as Starfire took to the air again. She moved through the dust silently, tracking Seemore by his voice. As she swooped in for an attack, she was shocked when he spun around to face her and blasted her out of the sky.

“Heat vision, sweetie,” he grinned, tapping his eye with a finger. “There's nowhere you can run, nowhere you can hide. I'll always be able to see you,” he smirked as Starfire flew out of the room and waited from him in the corridor. As he turned the corner, Starfire let a massive beam fly from her hands. Seemore realized instantly that he would not be able to block it, and setting his power for maximum penetration he fired into the heart of the attack. His attack pierced Starfire's and hit her while the overall wave of hers blasted him back a few feet. Thankful that the increase in attack size downgraded the power, Seemore got to his feet and quickly shot a pink bubble at Starfire. As it hit her, it expanded and trapped her. Starfire slammed her fists against the container, but to no avail.

Seemore grew nervous as he felt the field begin to break. It showed no outward signs, but Seemore knew he couldn't hold her much longer. “Robin's gone, you know,” he said to her. Starfire shut her eyes and continued hammering away. “Even if we didn't kill him, the water did. He's probably lying down somewhere as all those cuts of his become infected. He can die a nice slow death,” Seemore laughed as Starfire stopped fighting. He smirked in triumph as she sank to her knees, her spirit broken. Seemore cackled and rolled Starfire over to a window overlooking the ocean. “In the words of the immortal Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Seemore said as he charged up his laser again, “hasta la vista, baby.”

Moments later, a beam shot through the bubble, hit Starfire, and blasted her into the ocean. She swam towards the surface and saw Raven pulling Beast Boy over to some wreckage. She swam towards them, unable to fly from her crushing defeat.

Cyborg dodged two swiped by the legs and leapt off the ground. Gizmo cursed as Cyborg punched at him, narrowly avoiding his body. Gizmo leapt back on the legs and changed into the wings again. He took off around Cyborg, pelting him with shots. Cyborg fired his Sonic Cannon at the tiny target, who laughed and sneered as he dodged Cyborg's attacks. Gizmo barrel-rolled and shot a number of missiles at Cyborg, whose shoulder blades rose up to reveal missiles of his own. The explosives clashed andCyborg backed off and picked up a TV. He tossed it at Gizmo, who narrowly dodged it before shooting a missile at Cyborg. The android jumped over it and let it blow a hole in the wall behind him. Gizmo charged Cyborg, exchanging his wings for the spider legs again and swinging his front two legs at him, forcing the android back. As one leg came swinging down, Cyborg saw his change and grabbed it with both hands.

“Gotcha,” he said in victory. Gizmo just grinned and swung another leg down. Cyborg shifted the leg he had under one arm and grabbed the other one as well. With one wrench, Cyborg broke the legs and sent Gizmo tumbling to the ground. Cyborg quickly walked over to the stunned teen and picked up the backpack. He ripped it off Gizmo's back.

“Hey, lemme go, you frikin' shit-sniffer,” Gizmo shouted, panicking. Cyborg indeed dropped him but kept one hand on the technology. He crushed the device and tossed it away, not paying any attention to it as he walked around the room, looking for Gizmo. His pace had become very relaxed, thinking that Gizmo was no longer a threat. He heard footsteps in some crates and walked over to the corner.

“How you gonna fight me without your tech?” Cyborg taunted as he moved boxes aside. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small shadowy figure and he made a beeline towards it. He lifted another box and tossed it aside, smirking as he heard a gasp. Cyborg reached down for Gizmo but was shocked when his hand went right through him. Cyborg backed off as he realized that he had fallen for a holographic projector, and he realized that Gizmo was not quite as helpless as Cyborg had originally thought.

The real Gizmo, perched on a piece of equipment behind him, jumped down onto Cyborg's back and pulled out a tool.

“Yo, what are you-” Cyborg asked before a blinding pain shot through his head. “Get out of my systems!” Cyborg exclaimed in a strained voice as he fought for control of his own body. “Nobody hacks my systems,” he defied as Gizmo mercilessly took control.

“You're not even all robot. You actually kept your organs,” Gizmo sneered as he went to work. Cyborg began to run around, growling and struggling against the whiz kid on his back. Gizmo steered Cyborg towards the common room, making the android go through walls with the human side of his face. Cyborg began to curse his mechanical half as his electronic brain refused to black out, while his human side endured ridiculous pain. When he entered the common room, his heart sank: the other members of the HIVE FIVE were there, which made it very unlikely that Starfire, Beast Boy, or Raven had had any better luck than him.

“Hey guy's, let's check out what this wimp has under his shell,” Gizmo chuckled as he began pressing controls. Cyborg began seeing red from the humiliation of his body armor popping off in front of his enemies. As the armor came off, a series of organs were seen in a sack protected by multiple layers of a clear shield. Some of his right leg was normal, and his left bicep was also revealed as flesh. The rest of his body was robotic, and the only part of his armor that Gizmo left on was his feet. “Ooh, an ejector arm. Cool,” Gizmo reveled as he caused Cyborg's whole right arm to pop off halfway between the elbow and shoulder. Cyborg watched helplessly as he watched his arm clatter to the floor, now useless.

“Hey Jinx, remember your birthday last week? We couldn't get a guy to come in and party for you, so this'll have to do,” Gizmo roared in laughter as he exposed Cyborg's hips and thighs as real. Tears of humiliation leaked out of Cyborg's eye as Gizmo made him dance and Jinx whistled and laughed. Gizmo cackled as he saw Cyborg's pain and activated the boosters on his feet. Cyborg was too deep in his shame and embarrassment to realize he had control of his body once again as he was shot out of the tower and landed in the ocean.

He looked at his teammates and his heart fell: they had lost the battle.

“Have a nice afterlife, you snot-sucking scumbags,” Gizmo laughed as Jinx cast a spell at the ocean. The tide immediately began to carry the Titans away before a large wave crashed over them, sending them towards shore and away from the tower that had used to be their home.

As the Titans drifted towards the shore, their thoughts played back over the events of the day. So much had changed in the past few hours; it was hard to believe they had started out by arguing for the remote and whether or not TV was good for you.

“That didn't just happen…”

“Get outta my systems.”

“Tell me that didn't just happen…”

“Get off me…”

“Robin. Where is Robin?”

“Gotta go out for the others…”

“I do not understand…”

“We searched everywhere…”

“How could you not find him?”

“All we found was this…”

“People do not just vanish…”

“Oh, no…”

“I shoulda been there. I shoulda known.”

Beast Boy crawled up the shore to some grass where he sat down. Out of all four of them, he looked the worst: one eye swollen shut and uniform in tatters, showing deep claw marks where Kyd Wykkyd's attacks had connected. He saw Cyborg stay in the water and pick some floating rags up. Tying them together like an apron, Cyborg emerged from the ocean only a shadow of his former self. The bulky robot the others had come to recognize was gone: his body was much more slim and sophisticated. Without the armor and with his organs and flesh exposed, Cyborg looked naked. Raven climbed up the hill, keeping her cloak around herself as she remembered Mammoth touching her flesh. Shuddering, she looked at Starfire, who alone seemed to have escaped unscathed. Raven's emphatic abilities, however, told her that while Starfire had sustained the least amount of damage physically, the alien's heart was silently shattering.

“So, uh, who else never wants to go surfing again,” Beast Boy asked.

“Not now man,” Cyborg snapped.

“Hey, I was just trying to-” Beast Boy was cut off from defending himself by Raven putting a hand on his shoulder. “I was just trying to lighten the mood,” he whispered.

“I know Beast Boy, I know,” she whispered back. “But to everything there is a proper time and place. This is neither. Look at him,” she whispered. “He's lost his weaponry and armor. No matter how it robbed him of his humanity, he's grown used to it. Without it he feels naked.”

“What about you?” Beast Boy asked after he took a few calming breaths. He watched as Cyborg extended one of his fingers and activated an acetylene torch. He sat down and began to work on one of his legs. He swung his eye back towards Raven and saw her falter.

“I'm… I'm all right,” Raven said as she blushed and looked away. “You look terrible,” she said, looking at his injuries.

“I wanted to find out what a punching bag goes through,” Beast Boy said with a feeble smile, revealing a missing tooth. “I think we should give ours a pay raise.”

“Do you ever stop joking?” Raven asked as she tried to scan his body for what she could fix.

“Not until you smile,” Beast Boy said as he moved away.

“Perhaps… I could be of some assistance,” Starfire asked tentatively as she walked up to Cyborg.

“I got it,” he said shortly as he finished his spontaneous repair on his leg and moved on to his opposite shoulder.

“But… you are so badly damaged,” Starfire protested. “And since Raven cannot heal you, and you should not perform surgery on yourself, maybe I could-”

“What part of `I got it' was too difficult for you to understand, Starfire?” Cyborg snapped as he stood and looked down at her. “I don't know how it works on your perfect fucking home planet, but when people on Earth say they've got it, they've got it!” Starfire took a step back, tears in her eyes. Cyborg had been angry before, but he had never cursed.

“Hey, she only wanted to help,” Beast Boy yelled. Yelling at him for bad humor was one thing, but he would not let Starfire be abused verbally. “What is your deal?”

“Do you really have to ask?” the android shouted. “We got kicked out of our house, a pint-sized Poindexter took me for a joyride, I performed a strip dance in front of some freaks, and in case you haven't noticed, I just became left-handed,” he finished, holding up his right shoulder joint for emphasis.

“So don't take it out on her. It's not her fault that little pipsqueak hacked you. `Split up'; great plans genius,” Beast Boy spat. “If we had worked together, we might have won. But no, you wanted your chance to be a hero and-”

Raven stared at Beast Boy as he hit the ground. Cyborg snarled as he took a step forward, his eye narrowing at Beast Boy. “Take some advice into that thick skull of yours for once,” he warned, “and shut up.”

Beast Boy got up and cracked his jaw. He walked over to Cyborg defiantly and stared at him, his body as straight as he could make it in his battered form. “Still picking on the little guy huh,” he sneered. “Guess you're still a coward.” Cyborg winced and closed his fist again. As he swung at Beast Boy, a burst of dark energy pushed him back.

“Enough,” Raven ordered. “You need to control your tempers.”

“Or what? Our bad vibes will keep you from your precious meditation?” Cyborg snapped. He was beyond rationality at this point.

“Don't you snap at her,” Beast Boy snarled.

“I wish Robin were here,” Starfire whispered.

“Well he's not!” Cyborg screamed at her.

“Fighting like this is not going to lead to anything productive,” Raven tried to get everyone focusing on the HIVE FIVE again.

“`Anything productive'?” Cyborg asked incredulously. “Don't you guys get it yet? They won; we lost. It's over!” he cried before slumping in defeat. The anger form the loss of Robin and his pride had dissipated, taking his strength with it. A long moment of silence passed over the group as they looked at their former home.

“Then… the Teen Titans are finished…” Beast Boy said sadly. If anyone had thought it was a question, his dejected tone and the air of finality he had around him took away that presumption.

“Not yet,” came a familiar voice. The Titans gasped and looked behind them to see their leader. Beaten, bruised, and battered, covered in nasty looking cuts, but alive, stood Robin. His cape flapped behind his body slightly in the breeze, and he wore the biggest smile they had ever seen. “Not if I can help it.”

“Robin!” Starfire shouted with joy and ran at him. Robin quickly back pedaled away from her, wincing when he saw the dejected look on her face.

“Sorry Star, but I can't handle one of your hugs right now,” he said, eliciting a chuckle from Beast Boy. Starfire nodded and gave him a soft hug, tears of joy running down her face. Robin patted her on the back awkwardly before turning to the others.

“Um, dude, don't take this the wrong way, and I'm totally happy to see you here, but, how are you alive?”

“Those cuts should have become infected by the water,” Raven agreed.

“I… don't get sick,” Robin said evasively. When the other just looked at him, he sighed. “I'll tell you the whole story, but let's get a fire going, and let's get out of here for now,” he said, nodding towards the tower.

“While I was working with Batman, we started getting terrorist attacks from people using biological and chemical warfare. People were dying and there was nothing we could do to help them,” Robin said in a depressed tone. “Batman did some research and found a way to strengthen our immune systems. It took some trial and error, but when he was done, me and him became immune to any disease known to man. He's considering marketing it, but the problem is you have to be in really good shape, otherwise it might kill you. It's essentially weakened diseases of every type entering your body at once: I was bed-ridden for three weeks before I felt any better,” Robin explained. “So, while these cuts burn like hell, I can't get sick from them, and my flesh isn't going to rot away.”

“Can I heal them for you?” Raven asked as she shifted closer to the fire. The heat washed over her like sinking into a hot bath and she let out a small sigh. Robin nodded and Raven began channeling energy into him. The team watched in silence as Robin's cuts slowly began healing themselves. It took almost fifteen minutes, but when Raven was done, Robin looked good as new.

“How come that took so long,” Beast Boy asked as he laid back. “When you healed my leg before, it only took a moment.”

“Different injury, different procedure,” Raven said as she moved closer to the fire again. The red light flushed her skin as she stared into the flames.

“So what's our plan?” Cyborg asked after a few minutes. Robin smiled and began drawing in the sand a basic attack pattern…

Gizmo looked at the wall and made a square with his fingers. “Higher,” he instructed two drones that were mounting Cyborg's right arm. “A little to the left… a little more… and, perfect!” The drones attacked themselves to the wall and Gizmo smiled at his trophy. “Slade's gonna piss his pants when he hears we whipped the Titans and took their crappy tower,” he laughed as he walked over to a wall with CD's.

“Not to mention Robin's favorite fashion statement,” Jinx agreed as she slung Robin's utility belt around her waist. The belt was too big for her and hung loosely at an angle, much in the way Raven's belt did. Jinx held up one of the psychic's cloaks and let out a snort. “But that's the only thing fashionable around here,” she sighed as she held it up against her body, looking at her reflection in the Tower window.

“Tell me about it,” Mammoth agreed as he sorted through Starfire's cabinet of food. “All their food is way out of date,” he commented as he sniffed the piece of meat covered in mold. He shrugged and tossed the food into his mouth. Chewing it, he decided it wasn't so bad. “Out of date, but not bad,” he said to himself aloud before grabbing something else and stuffing it down too.

Seemore watched Mammoth in disgust. “Do you even know what you're eating,” he asked in a horrified voice as his eye focused on the food. His acute vision zoomed in on the food until he could see the microscopic creatures running around on it.

“No, but he obviously thinks it tastes delicious,” Kyd Wykkyd said as he watched Seemore turn slightly green from the sight of Mammoth.

Gizmo took a handful of CD's and began sorting through them. “You think that stuffs rotten?” he called over to the pair. “Wait `til you see their music,” he said as he began throwing CD's all over the floor. “Crap… crap… crap… mega-crap,” Gizmo muttered to himself as he continued sorting through the tunes.

“Well, the TV's not crap,” Seemore said as he stopped watching Mammoth. He looked around the room for the remote and used his eye to see through things until he found it under a pile of video games. He flicked on the TV and leaned back, enjoying the movie-theater quality.

“Hey, they've actually got some good games in here,” Kyd Wykkyd commented as he rifled through them. “Wait a second, this game doesn't even exist?” he said as he pulled out a copy of “Android Ninja and the Attack of the Zombie Werewolves.” As he looked it over and read the back, he wondered where the game had come from. “Know what, I think one of them might have actually designed and made this himself,” he said incredulously.

“Lemme see,” Seemore said as he opened the box and began reading the instruction manual. “I think you might be right- there's no company logos on this. Doesn't look like a bad game either,” he said, fairly impressed, as he popped it in the GameStation and turned it on. “Dude, it's got multiplayer! Join in,” he called over to Kyd Wykkyd, who immediately dropped the other games and joined his friend.

Unnoticed by any, the middle finger on Cyborg's discarded arm began to twitch. The last knuckle popped off and supported itself on two thin, almost invisible legs. In the center was a small camera that nevertheless had amazing resolution and zoom features. It swiveled over to Mammoth, who was busy gorging himself on Starfire's food. It then zoomed in on Gizmo, who was busy discarding and rearranging CD's, before focusing on Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd.

“Oh man, did you see that sweet move?” Seemore gloated as he pulled off a combo.

Cyborg sat on the beach with his human eye closed. He didn't need to concentrate very hard to use his remote camera, but it was harder to do so with one eye showing something in front and the mechanical eye focusing on something else. “Oh man, Raven's gonna be pissed when she finds out they went in her room,” he thought to himself as he saw Jinx trying on Raven's cloak. He slowly and carefully flipped the camera around to be set in the finger before having the hand go down on the floor, supported by the other four fingers.

As the arm carefully crept its way across the room, it kept a careful eye on the HIVE FIVE. If any of them saw the arm moving, Cyborg knew they would tear it to pieces, and might even leave the tower to come after them: Gizmo would surely be able to triangulate their position.

Cyborg breathed a sigh of relief when his arm landed on a computer chair, out of sight. Four cables flew out from the joint where the limb connected to the stump of Cyborg's arm. Cyborg focused on the keyboard and deftly typed in a few commands. As he input the final code, the screen shut down and alarms and buzzers started to blare throughout the tower. Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd cried out as their game was shut down and Jinx tore off Raven's cloak as she looked around for the source of the disturbance. Mammoth pulled himself out of the cabinet, a piece of mold hanging out of his mouth as all of the cabinets started to open and close randomly. Gizmo looked at the odd scene when an object whizzed by his ear. Turning to look where it came from, he saw nothing but the CD player. Another disk shot out and hit him square between the eyes. He gave a yelp of surprise and pain as he stumbled back. The player continued to go berserk, doing its best to impersonate a skeet shooter as CD's went flying around the room.

“What the fuck is going on,” he demanded as he crawled backwards towards the chair where Cyborg's arm was hiding. As if in answer, the chair pivoted and showed the hidden appendage. Gizmo screamed in surprise and fear. The tentacles shot forth and wrapped around the midget's arms and legs. Gizmo struggled, but was unable to free himself as the bionic limb jumped down and sped across the floor dragging him. After it got a running start, a couple of small jet thrusters popped out from the forearm. The camera flipped itself around and the palm became a fist as it headed for a ceiling vent. Gizmo got taken for the ride of his life as the arm dragged him through the vent, being very careful to bang him into as many walls as possible.

Back in the kitchen, Jinx looked around, focused on spotting the next trap. What she didn't see was a large shadowy hand reaching down from the ceiling. As it seized her, she had time for one startled cry before it retreated into the ceiling, taking her with it. Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd sat stunned on the couch when a spring suddenly launched the entire piece of furniture into the ceiling. A hole opened, leaving room for the entire thing to go all the way to the tower roof. Mammoth began running for the roof but was tripped up by starbolt blasting him in the back. The force made him fly up the stairs and into a wall. He had scarcely hit the floor when another blast was deployed from hidden turret in a corner, sending him bouncing around the tower like an astray ping pong ball.

Jinx landed on the roof of the tower, paler than usual and feeling as though she wanted to pass out, or vomit; she wasn't sure which she would prefer. Behind her, Cyborg's arm burst out of a vent pipe and carried the screaming Gizmo higher and higher into the air. After a couple of seconds, it swerved back toward Jinx, and she gasped as the cables released Gizmo and shot the surprised techie into her. Stunned from the impromptu missile, Jinx had a delayed reaction when a hole opened up next to her and a sofa shot up into the air. Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd clutched each other and screamed in fear began to fall. Jinx and Gizmo rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the couch and they shakily got to their feet, looking at each other in puzzlement. A door opened up behind them and Mammoth was blasted out onto the roof in a burst of green light. He bowled over Jinx and Gizmo and the three of them hit the other two in the couch, the impact flipping the sofa over and leaving all five agents with a headache.

“Sorry to interrupt the victory celebration,” Robin said as his belt floated over to him, suspended by Raven's powers. “But like I said…” he informed the shocked agents as he hooked it around his waist, “…this isn't over.” The rest of the Titans were behind him in their standard attack formation, and all of them looked ready for a fight. Beast Boy's bruises had been healed by Raven again, though he had refused to let her heal anything deeper than that.

“It's just getting started,” Cyborg confirmed as he reattached his right arm. He looked slightly comical, with one arm was thicker than his leg while the rest of him was smaller. His mechanical eye glowed bright red before the rest of his armor came shooting out from all over the tower, propelled by small jets. They automatically fitted themselves on his body, and he smiled as he flexed his bulky frame again.

Jinx and the other HIVE agents got to their feet, their faces showing surprise but also confidence. “HIVE FIVE, eat `em alive: Gamma maneuver,” Jinx ordered, causing the other members to scatter while she threw a hex at the team. The Titans scattered from where they were standing, and where the spell hit the floor swelled up and exploded.

Beast Boy came down from his jump only to find Mammoth coming straight at him. He jumped back and changed into a mountain goat, butting Mammoth in the chest before the giant could pull back. Mammoth stumbled back and barely caught his footing before a giant fist socked him in the face. Beast Boy backed off and changed from the gorilla he had used for the hit into a hawk. He surveyed the fight and saw Jinx running at Cyborg, who was busy firing his Sonic Cannon at Seemore. As the latter blocked the attack, Jinx hopped onto Cyborg's shoulders and pushed off, sending a stream of spells his way. The spells missed Cyborg but hit two water tanks nearby, and the biomechanical teen quickly dodged the large containers.

Jinx smiled as she saw Cyborg was distracted, but grunted as Beast Boy smashed into her. As she hit the ground, Jinx saw Starfire throwing a few starbolts at her. Seemore quickly opened his shield up around himself and Jinx, but was left vulnerable from behind. Raven took full advantage of this and picked up the sofa, ripping it half. One piece was sent flying at Jinx and Seemore, who were bowled over by the couch, while the other one was chucked at Kyd Wykkyd. The dark teen teleported out of the way but was hit by Robin with a flying kick as he rematerialized. Robin took advantage of Kyd Wykkyd's surprise by throwing a freeze disk. As the teen was trapped in the ice up to his neck, he laughed at Robin.

“You don't think something like this can hold me for more than a few seconds, do you?” he taunted.

“I wouldn't try teleporting if I were you,” Robin said as he gazed through his mask. Kyd Wykkyd ignored the warning and tried anyway. As he moved, so did the ice with him. Kyd Wykkyd was stunned as he appeared a few feet away still encased.

“See, the ice is sticking to your skin cells, and anything your touching goes with you,” Robin explained as Kyd Wykkyd stood there. Robin walked up to the frozen teen and pushed him over, letting Kyd Wykkyd smack his face on the tower.

Cyborg charged Seemore, who fired his eye cannon at him. Cyborg charged his Sonic Cannon's power up to match Seemore and let loose. As the energies clashed, Cyborg kept an eye out for a certain diminutive HIVE member, knowing Gizmo wouldn't be able to resist another chance to humiliate Cyborg. As he watched Starfire distract Seemore, Cyborg backed up against one of the fallen tanks and pretended to size up Seemore. Sure enough, a few seconds later he felt a small weight land on his back.

“Hey, Robo-turd, feel like gettin' hacked,” Gizmo taunted as he pulled a tool off his belt.

“Nope. How about you?” Cyborg chuckled as he leaned up against the tank, pinning the small HIVE agent between his body and the tank. “Robin, now,” he called over to the teenager as Gizmo groaned in pain. Robin turned his head from Kyd Wykkyd and threw an electric disk with amazing accuracy. Cyborg dodged out of the way just in time to let the disk hit Gizmo right in the chest. The disk whirred to life and sent shockwaves of electricity through the boy's suit.

Gizmo began running around, trying desperately to pull the device off but unable to. Curses left his mouth like water from the Niagara Falls as his suit went haywire, firing random pieces of technology before the electricity crashed his nervous system and he slumped to the ground, unable to move except for an occasional twitch. Robin left to fight Jinx while Cyborg refocused his attention on Seemore.

Raven calmly levitated as Mammoth rushed at her. At the last second, she sank through the floor and grabbed his feet, causing him to fall to the ground. As the giant got to his feet, Robin planted both his feet on Mammoth's face and pushed off as hard as he could. As Mammoth went flying backwards Beast Boy became a pterodactyl and grabbed him by the shoulder. He soared towards the ground and released Mammoth, sending the giant on a crash course with the tower floor. Cyborg spotted the falling agent and let a blast of sonic energy hit him. Mammoth grunted from the hit, but his momentum was slowed enough so he didn't go through the floor.

Seemore was getting tired from continually switching between attacking and defending with his eye. As he dodged and blocked attacks from Cyborg and Starfire, he saw Raven fighting Jinx and Beast Boy scaring Mammoth as a raptor. He realized Robin was nowhere to be found a split second before a flash bomb went off in front of him. Seemore screamed from the pain of such bright light flooding his eye and he sank to the ground. Starfire swooped in and smashed her fist into his helmet, cracking the glass and exposing his eye to the world.

Robin tied up the cycloptic teen as he watched Starfire zoom off to fire at Jinx. The spell-caster was able to dodge the starbolts but was having less luck with the blasts Raven was sending her way. As the two females forced her backwards, she made her way towards a patch of construction she and her teammates had been planning. Starfire signaled Beast Boy, who nodded from where he sat crouched on a girder and became a monkey. As he leapt down, he let out a screech to get Jinx's attention. He leapt onto her face and started making noises to get her to panic. Jinx let loose a stream of spells as she tried to get Beast Boy off. As she finally got him in her hands, she wrapped her fingers around his throat, but Beast Boy quickly became a snake and slithered out of her grip.

“Your luck just ran out,” he told her as he became a bird and flew off. Jinx looked at him, confused, before the sound of girders snapping drew her attention. She looked around and saw the bolts popping and large pieces of metal beginning to fall. She panicked and ran out from the construction site just before it collapsed. As she got to her feet, enraged, Starfire hit her precisely in the chest with a beam of energy. Jinx was blasted back but remained on her feet, though a follow up whack to the head by Robin's bo-staff quickly changed this and put her on the ground.

Mammoth was now the only HIVE agent remaining, and it was clear that he was beginning to tire. As he charged Raven again, furious that the sorceress had beaten his team, Cyborg blindsided him with a tackle. Mammoth fell to the ground and grunted before getting up again. Beast Boy ran in and began wrestling with him as a gorilla again. Mammoth's strength, diminished by the punishment he had taken, was no match for Beast Boy's and he began to be pushed back. Beast Boy roared as he clamped down on Mammoth's hands and lifted the giant into the air. He smashed him into the floor and there the giant stayed, finally too battered to get up again.

Gizmo had by this time shaken off the effects of the electrocution he had received but quickly realized that he and his team were finished. “Fuck this: I'm calling Slade,” he grumbled as he pulled a communicator off his belt.

Robin pulled the minute teen up off the ground by his chest and leaned in. “Who is Slade?” he asked as he narrowed his eyes.

“Wouldn't you like to know, shit-for-brains?” Gizmo laughed as he reveled in the knowledge that, though beaten, he still knew something the Titan's didn't.

The Headmistress of the HIVE Academy looked nervously at the man as Gizmo's distress call signaled. She tried to cover her fear by promoting the school again. “I assure you; such failures are not tolerated within the HIVE.” The man remained completely impassive. “Once the agents have been retrieved from the authorities, they will be disciplined.” As the man made no comment or move, she socked a fist into her palm. “Strictly disciplined.”

The hulking man finally spoke up, his eye focused, not on her, but on a wall of TV screens. “Actually, your agents served my plans quite well. I never expected them to succeed,” he said sarcastically. The Headmistress became indignant over such a poor expectation of her students, but said nothing. “They were merely messengers. And the message has been received,” the man said as he pushed a button on his wristband.

The Headmistress was distracted from fuming that her student had been reduced to such an insulting job by Robin's face on the screen. “Who is Slade,” he asked as the loop repeated itself. The three-word question was repeated countless times as every screen began to show Robin's face.

“I am afraid though, that you know too much about me and where to find me,” Slade said as he sat down in his throne chair. The woman's feeling of unease and foreboding returned to the woman as she contemplated what he meant.

“I assure you, all transactions are completely confidential, and since we did not meet your expectations we are not expecting a price.”

“Nor shall you receive one,” Slade said in an amused tone. “However, neither shall you leave this place… alive,” he said as he flicked his wrist and sent a throwing star at her. The star sliced through her skull and she hit the floor, dead in an instant.

An anguished shout pierced the Titan's Tower. “This is the worst thing that could ever happen!” Beast Boy lamented as he looked at his CD case. “My tunes! They've been… alphabetized,” he moaned as he stepped back. “How am I ever gonna find anything?” he asked no one in particular as he began putting them back in a seemingly chaotic order.

“They went into my room,” Raven said in a voice that could freeze the sun. “No one should ever go into my room,” she growled as she considered the lack of privacy.

“Someone has disposed of all our blue furry food,” Starfire cried as she inspected her food cabinet.

“Those punks actually tested my game? The one that I made!?” Robin said in an outraged tone. He looked at the screen, still paused from where Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd had been playing the previous night and began grumbling to himself.

“You've gotta be kidding me,” Cyborg said in an exasperated tone as he searched the room. “The whole place gets cleaned and I still can't find the-”

Robin's whistle brought his complaint up short as he looked where the leader was pointing. Cyborg let out a cry of triumph as he saw the remote Robin was pointing to and he picked it up and began flipping through the channels. The rest of the Titans joined him around the couch and they began to settle down for a movie night.

“I guess we really oughta be training for battles,” Cyborg said as he threw a guilty look at Robin, who sat back and crossed his feet.

“And tracking down clues so we can find out where the HIVE came from,” Raven added as she settled in an armchair with a book.

“And trying to figure out who this Slade is, huh,” Beast Boy remarked as he took a spot on the floor.

“As well as begin construction on the repairs needed on the tower,” Starfire asked as she sat next to Robin and leaned on him.

“We will,” Robin assured them. “But right now, I'm just happy to be part of a team,” he said as he leaned back and stretched, content to just hang out for a little while. There was a time and place to gather clues and train, but this was neither; it was a time and place for relaxation…

Well, that was a monstrosity to write. Kudos if you managed to get through it, and I hope the fight scenes were enjoyable. Sorry the HIVE came across so evil, but I figured if they were going to beat the Titans, they would want to demoralize them too. Well, I don't want to make you read too much more, so I will simply ask for a review, wish you a good day or night, and say goodbye until next time.