Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue

"That's...quite a story, Terra." Robin finally managed to mutter as he looked down at the shamefaced blonde sitting in front of him, her head hung low with her long, bright hair covering her eyes while Beast Boy sat beside her, hand in his. Conflicting emotions were raging as he processed what she had said to them; Anger, hurt, sympathy, it all made for a painful mess before finally settling down as Terra turned her head up to look at them all again.

She'd been a mole. After the first time they had met her, when she’d gone running after thinking Beast Boy had betrayed her trust, Slade had found her again. He'd convinced her that he could help her, trained her, and then sent her back as his pawn. Tonight was supposed to have been his deathblow to the Titans; She was supposed to have sent the tower's security codes to him, and then his drones would have taken care of the rest.

But she hadn’t. In the end, friendship and loyalty had won out, and she’d instead called them all down here to make her confession. Around him the others wore expressions like his, trying to make sense of what they were hearing. Terra finally managed to speak again; her voice hoarse, ragged.

"I'm so sorry, everyone. I…I know this is beyond the pale. If you want me gone, I understand. I’ll get my things and you’ll never see me again." She did her best to maintain her composure, but Robin heard the weak sniffle at the end. She was trying to keep it together, but a guilty heart never made it easy. He knew that from experience. Beast Boy gave her hand a firm squeeze, and that seemed to calm her down again.

It was Cyborg who broke the silence after.

"Terra, you're family as far as I'm concerned. We don’t throw them aside when they make mistakes. That's all I need to say on that." Instantly forgiven. That was Cyborg, alright; The world’s greatest big brother. Robin couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile at that. Then it was Starfire's turn.

She was...well, she was Starfire.

“That is an unacceptable option, Friend Terra! You are the most wonderful friend I have ever had! The terrible, terrible Slade has lied to you and manipulated you! I will break him bone by bone for this!" She shouted as she scooped up Terra in a fierce, bone-grinding hug. That last part was a bit scary, because he believed she’d do it if she was given the chance. Slowly, Starfire realized she might have been holding onto Terra a little too tightly and let her go with a comforting little smile. Terra did her best to smile back, but it was still obvious that she didn't feel much better. Beast Boy was still quite. He'd no doubt already said his piece in private. That left Raven.

Robin honestly didn’t know what to expect from Raven. She was a hard person to read the best of times, and now it was a herculean task to even attempt. Would she just get up and leave? Chew Terra out like a drill sergeant? Or would she follow suit in forgiveness like the others?

Finally, Raven spoke.

"You followed your conscience. That's what matters now. We can't change what happened or the choices you made before. This is your path now. Make your choice count."

Raven’s tone was so gentle that it took Robin a moment to process that it was actually her speaking. Apparently, it had taken Terra by surprise too, as she just started up at the other girl in disbelief. Now Terra was an easy read. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing from everyone else here.

"I...I don't know what to say. I can't believe you're all forgiving me after this." She finally choked out. Robin looked the geomancer in the eye as he spoke.

"You’re our friend, Terra; a Titan. We’ll always stick by you.”

That declaration was the straw that broke the girl. Before he knew it, Terra was clinging to him like her life depended on it, her body shaking as she let it all out. Robin didn’t hesitate to hug her back. He barely heard her choked up words as she muttered against his chest.

"You're the best friends I've ever had."

TTTTT

Deep below Jump City, secure from intrusion by those pesky little superheroes that seemed to be cropping up like weeds all over the world, Slade Wilson seethed. Picking shards of glass from his hand was a tedious, painful process. The only solace in that was that he wouldn’t need to bother with stitches once the obstructions were gone. Healing factors were a gift that kept on giving, but they did nothing for pain.

Betrayal hurt worse.

One word. It had been one word she'd sent, but it was still enough to send his blood pressure sky high and his fist closing tight over his favorite wine glass, his remaining eye nearly bulging out of its socket in pure, unadulterated fury.

"No."

He’d given her everything she’d ever wanted. He’d trained her, given her a home, given her a place to belong at his side. He’d treated her like a daughter. Terra was his apprentice, his right hand that would make his legacy legend. He was going to use her to crush the Titans and take his rightful place in this city.

Then she’d thrown it all away for the Titans. For a boy.

Slade hissed as he drew a two-inch shard from his palm, right under his thumb, letting it drop in the sink before he started digging out the last bit. Two apprentices now. Two that had spurned his gifts for the Teen Titans, of all people. Two that had given up all he could have given them for friends.

It was opening old wounds that Slade wanted gone. He’d thought that taking a protégé, making them the perfect weapon to carry on his legacy would be the key to burning them away. Clearly that was not the case. They were too fickle. Too attached to other, lesser things. Too uncommitted.

“Never again.” He declared. “If they reject what I have to offer, then let it destroy them all.”

It was time for a change. Flexing his hand twice to test the reconnected nerves and tendons, he slid his glove back on and pushed himself away from the sink. He idly tapped his earpiece with the other hand.

“Put me through to The Calculator. I have business to conduct.

TTTTT

"When you learn to pay your dues to your agent, sweetie. You settle up first, then we talk business. Until then, don’t bother knocking.”

Calculator didn’t bother to let Livewire finish her tirade before he disconnected, taking a long, angry drag on his cigarette before he returned his attention to his real work. She was always a pain in the ass to deal with, especially when the work was slow for her. Which was all the time, in the last few months since the Justice League had firmly settled together. He was not what many would expect in a criminal mastermind; Average height, average build, with receding brown hair and thick, gold-rimmed glasses, he looked more like a used car salesman than anything else. Nobody that saw him on the streets would peg him for the man that nearly every super-criminal in the United States turned to for information.

Need work? Call Calculator. He had contacts all over the underworld.

Need muscle for a score? Calculator had developed a system that made the process as easy as fantasy football.

Need to know what superheroes are going to be a problem in your city? Calculator had dossiers he kept updated every day.

He sighed, stubbed out the nub of his cigarette into an overflowing ashtray and looked over at his array of monitors; one tuned to newsfeeds, one to a blog dedicated to superheroes and villains, and one to the Gotham City Police Department staff records. That last one was the most important now, as he opened up Detective Renee Montoya's file. Squeaky clean, a list of commendations as long as his arm, a widow with a husband killed in the gangland quagmire Gotham seemed to stew in every second of every day. Good information to have, if for nothing else but the list of next of kin. There were other sources, and if his contact in The Narrows was telling the truth, he'd soon have some very interesting photos of Ms. Montoya and a one Ms. Kate Kane, heiress and recently discharged army-wannabe, that would make her life more interesting than her Two-Face investigation.

The call came a second later, and his brow went up as he saw where it originated from. Jump City, eh? He hadn't gotten too many requests from that town in a good long while, since Queen Bee had up and disappeared. That usually meant a man that he had…mixed feelings about. He was a professional, though, and he wasn’t about to let personal grudges get in the way of a profit.

"Speak.”

"I have two special orders for you.”

Just as he’d thought. Slade even still sounded like the egotistical jackass he’d been when he first met the man under a different name. He really hated when the muscle wanted to start playing mastermind. The man’s money was green though, and that settled it.

 “By all means, then. What can I get started for you?” Calculator managed to sound like he was taking an order at Big Belly Burger, idly lighting another cigarette as he waited for Slade’s response.

“I’ll need a full team. Five of the best you can find, and an expert in biological and technical fields. Money is no object. I’ll also need you to locate a certain LexCorp product. I expect both within the week.”

That was unexpected. Slade had been content to hire locally since he’d gotten to Jump City. The freakshow and those HIVE punks must have worn out their welcome at his table. If he was shelling out money for real talent, then something had changed. Calculator made a mental note to ask after his people in town to find out what that something was.

“A rush job costs extra. I’ll see what I can do. Payment’s in the usual way, and I get a ten percent finder’s fee. What’s the product you’re looking for?”

Slade’s answer brought a whistle to Calculator’s lips. Good Lord, the man really had gone off the deep end, but it was his money.

“I think I can handle that. As a matter of fact, I heard about just what you’re looking for being moved to STAR Labs’ Jump City branch next week. I’ll throw in the details of the building free of charge for a good customer.

“Good. I’ll be expecting your call.”

The line disconnected, and Calculator took a long draw on his cigarette, and leaned back in his chair to settle in for a long night. He could fill Slade’s order no problem. He knew damn well who the crazy bastard intended to use this team on, all the better to narrow down the roster. Some of his go-to’s had gotten busted recently, but there were more than enough to build from. It was always best to make a list about twice as long as necessary, in case some didn’t bite, which he knew would be the case with a few of them.

 Fifty minutes later he had his list, hardcases one and all, from Central City to Metropolis.

Now he just needed to make his pitch calls.

TTTTT

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

While Central City wasn’t as dangerous as Gotham once the sun set, it still had its own set of dangers. Some super-powered criminals thought that, because The Flash didn’t have the raw strength of Superman or the seemingly omniscience of Batman, that they would have easier pickings there, only to learn very quickly just how poor an assessment that was. Some managed to stick around long enough to end up with The Rogues, Central City’s premiere super-criminal gang, but most either ended up in prison or moving on to greener pastures.

Some, however, simply had more luck than others. Shade was one of those lucky few, and he counted his blessings as he dumped the last of the jewelry into the sack he’d brought along. It was unceremonious, but the bills were stacking up fast, and flash in his swag bag was a luxury he couldn’t be bothered with. It was a good score, and after he’d paid off his fence’s finder’s fee, he’d clear a quarter of a million dollars off of the stones and the gold. He had twenty seconds to get out of Rosenkrantz’s Family Jewelers before his shadows would dissipate and leave his face front and center on all of the security cameras, but it was more than enough time for the lanky crook’s long legs to carry him out.

He tossed the Nightstick in first through the open rear window, the end of the thing bouncing off the passenger’s side window at the same time he swung the door open at the front. Ronnie the Rat sprung up, cursing and sputtering as he fumbled to get the car shifted into gear while Shade tossed the score in the back as well. The little getaway driver’s name was, thankfully for him, based on his looks rather than his professional ethics, not that Shade paid much attention to his hired help. His fence had vouched for him, and that was good enough. 

“We got it made big, man? You cleaned that place out?” Ronnie chattered, his voice a harsh, raspy squeak that just made Shade cringe a little hearing it. He nodded, adjusting the towering top hat before he settled into his seat.

“Yeah, I did, now drive.” He said.

Ronnie didn’t need to be told twice, and with the headlights shut off he crept out of the alley behind the jeweler’s, looking both ways before he cut a hard right. Speed was the name of the game now; They needed to put distance between them and their target fast, and then .. .well, drive casual. Lenny would be waiting with his smelters, and Shade would be keeping his lights on for a good long while.

That was when his phone rang; His personal number rather than one of the many burners he kept ready to go at a short notice. That wasn’t good. Nobody he knew would be calling at an hour, none that were sane. He didn’t recognize the caller ID either. That could be one of two things; Either The Rogues were getting ready to move in on him for poaching on their turf, or…

He answered with a flourishing flip of his wrist, a sight that he could tell impressed Ronnie, the impressional dumbass that he was.

“Speak. How the hell’d you get this number?”

“Same as I get everyone’s, Shade; Lots of favors and lots of money.”

Oh, great, it was the second option.

“What do you want, Calculator? This isn’t the best time to chat…”

“Got a proposition for you; There's a man in Jump City looking for muscle, and he’s got a blank check for anyone willing to make that trip.” 

Jump City; Home of the sidekick squad. Shade had of course heard the stories; lots of the fourth stringers from Gotham had gotten it in their heads to try their luck there, only to find out that the Teen Titans were just as on the ball as the Justice League. A blank check sounded like just the thing he needed right now, but…

“What sort of job are we talking about?” He asked. 

There was a brief pause. “Take a score and help the big man deal with the Titans.”

It was another revenge trip. Shade was getting really tired of this sort of crap. It never worked out like the boss intended, never stayed as simple as promised. They got blinded by their emotions, and inevitably made poor judgements that always came back to bite them squarely in the ass. He thought about hanging up right then and there, but then Calculator spoke up again.

“A job like this will set you up for life. Never have to worry another day about chasing cheap-ass scores like Rosenkrantz’s. One trip out to Jump City, hear the man out.”

It went against his better judgement. It was a pattern he’d seen play out too many times. The thought of chasing scores until he was old and gray, though, until his knees were creaking and agonizing, lungs burning for breath, vision gone bad…

“...I’ll catch a lift there later tonight.”

TTTTT

Breakfast was an awkward affair. Hardly a word had been spoken since Terra had wandered down from her room. Most of the others were already gathered around; Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire. The latter two didn’t waste time in coming over to her, and Terra was all too happy to have Beast Boy holding her hand again, a little physical reminder that she had made the right choice. They all ate silently for a full five minutes after she’d arrived, before eventually Cyborg spoke up.

“I know it’s…gotta be hard, Terra, but we gotta know; What can you tell us about what Slade’s got planned?”

“Dude, can it wait ‘til after she’s done eating?” Beast Boy chimed in quickly, his tone defensive. Terra for her part gently laid a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head. She appreciated his wanting to defend her, but Cy was in the right here. A little discomfort on her part was nothing.

“It’s fine.” She said, then turned to Cyborg. “I’m not sure how much of what I know is still useful.” Indeed she was kicking herself for being stupid enough to tell the bastard off before she’d confessed to everyone. If she’d just left him hanging, maybe the Titans could have caught him by surprise. What was done was done, though. “He’s got a few hideouts all over the city, but he only ever showed me one of them. Guarantee he’s abandoned it by now though.”

Cyborg just nodded. “Might still be something worth looking into there. Anything else? Like how many of those drones he’s got, any sort of backup plans he might have been cooking up?”

“A hundred of them, maybe, and if he had anything else planned, he didn’t tell me.” She looked apologetic toward the other Titan. “I’m sorry, Cy. I want to help, but..I don’t know how much of what I know is still going to be any good. He talked to a guy calling himself Calculator now and again, though. Whenever he needed something unusual and needed to know where to get it.”

From the look on Cyborg’s face, Terra thought that he recognized that name.

“Heard of the guy. Supposed to be the big information broker for supervillains, but nobody’s ever been able to find out who he is or where he does his thing from. He gets them information on heroes, robbery targets, hiring henchmen and other villains…” Cyborg suddenly frowned at that. “...wanna bet that Slade’s already called this guy for something new?”

None of the Titans liked that thought one bit.

Starfire broke the silence. “If this Calculator is so deeply connected to the criminal underworld, then perhaps one of the villains we have faced knows how to contact him?”

“...and if we can manage to get a line on the guy…” Cyborg added, a slow smile starting to creep up across his face.

“Then we can totally spy on his phone calls.” Beast Boy’s grin was positively malicious at the thought. “And then we can finally put Slade where he belongs!” 

Everyone but Raven was openly grinning at the prospect of the brewing plan. Terra did her best to smile along with them, but her heart was still weighing heavy on her. She didn’t feel right being a part of that camaraderie, not yet, not when she’d been so close to betraying them all for a man like Slade.

“We need to run it by Robin first.” Raven finally spoke up, standing up from her seat at the table while one of her spells carried her plate over toward the sink. “I’ll go talk to him.”

She was gone before anyone could argue the point, the whoosh of air as the automatic door shut behind her punctuating her departure. The other four Titans looked around at each other, their high spirits a little dampened by their friend’s sudden absence. Starfire again took it on herself to break the silence.

“This is a good plan, friends. I am sure Robin will agree, and we will have Slade behind the bars before we know it.”

Terra really hoped that was true.

TTTTT

Robin was hard at work while the others enjoyed themselves as much as they could. His father had always told him to eat a good meal early, since you never knew when it would be your last. Jack Drake hadn’t been known for his wisdom, hell he’d been known as one of the unluckiest men in the Gotham underworld,  but even his wayward son had to admit that was some sound advice. Some days though duty came first, and Robin ignored the rumbling of his stomach as he worked his way through line after line of code on Terra’s laptop screen. 

He’d been at it nearly since Terra’s impromptu meeting in the living room, and while he’d found some interesting links to what he suspected were some of Slade’s shell corporations, he was slowly coming to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to find nearly as much useful information as he’d hoped. Slade had been smart to keep the bare minimum of information on his would-be apprentice’s computer; Just enough to keep in secure contact and a few safe places to fall back to should the worst come to pass. He doubted he was going to find much at either of the locations he’d nailed down as safe havens for that bastard’s operations, but Lady Luck did smile on him on occasion. There was no harm in looking just to be sure; He’d just need to be prepared for traps, and he’d seen most of what Slade could bring to bear.

There was a knock at his door, a pair of shirt raps on metal. Raven. 

“Come on in.” He called out to her. He didn’t turn to face her as she spoke, nose stilled buried in his work.

“Cy and the others have a plan brewing. Terra mentioned an information broker Slade uses called Calculator.” She droned. Robin recognized that name, even though he only knew the man through reputation. A scumbag who helped other scumbags do their dirty deeds more efficiently. He felt a twinge of disgust at the thought.

“They’re thinking we use him to get to Slade? Does Terra have a way to get a hold of him?” He’d finally turned away from the laptop to focus his attention fully on Raven. The girl shook her head.

“No, but Starfire thinks that one of our regular troublemakers probably does. The HIVE Five, if I had to pick one bunch.”

Robin liked that plan. There was room for things to go wrong, but if they acted quickly they might just have their window into finding out just what Slade was up to. The problem was that Slade no doubt knew about the possibility too, and knowing him, he’d probably try to tie up loose ends.

“We’d have to move on it fast. As in get ready to move within the hour, and hope we pick the right ones to talk to. We can’t split up either. Slade will be hoping for that.” He said, standing up and making himself ready for action. Raven nodded in approval, but Robin thought he saw an odd look on her face. Concern, maybe? “What’s wrong, Raven?”

“I don’t think we should take Terra along.” She said it so matter of factly, too. Robin blinked.

“Why? We need all hands on deck for this. If Slade even thinks there’s a possibility that someone could compromise…”

“I know.” Raven cut him off. “But look at her; She’s vulnerable and an emotional mess right now. One wrong move, one taunt or provocation at the wrong time could…” She left it hanging there. Robin understood.

“...you don’t entirely trust she’s all on our side yet.” He stepped forward to look her in the eye. “Raven, you’re an empath. Do you get even the slightest feeling that she’s not being honest with us?”

There was a long pause. 

Finally, Raven shook her head and spoke. “No. She’s being sincere. She regrets what she’s done and she hates herself for it. That’s the part that worries me. I’m afraid she’ll do something dangerous trying to prove it. She could get herself or one of us hurt doing it, too. Slade knows that. He’ll exploit it.”

Robin couldn’t argue with that assessment. Slade had a lot of talents, and manipulation was one of his best. Terra’s betrayal might have thrown him off his game, but the Titans couldn’t know for sure. He had a responsibility to his team, to protect them and ensure they didn’t get hurt any more than their duties demanded of them. Hard decisions were a part of leadership. Another father had taught him that.

“I’ll talk to her before we go. We need to get moving fast if we want to have any hope of getting anything useful. Maybe even save some lives while we’re at it.”  Robin said. “Let’s go get everyone ready. It’s going to be a long day.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

The sun rose early in Jump City, a curse or a blessing depending on whom one asked. For the likes of the Teen Titans, it meant that they had plenty of daylight to uncover whatever nefarious schemes their rogues gallery might have been dreaming up that week. For those on the opposite side of the law? Meetings were a little awkward. 

At least whomever was paying to have Shade haul his ass out here had the sense to pick somewhere out of the way. The strip mall had been deserted for years by the look of things, and every window that hadn’t been boarded up had long since been broken, the stores looted for everything remotely of value. The only people that would set foot here were junkies and bums, the rabble nobody paid any mind to. Not that anyone would ever bother to stop to notice any of them; The place was an eyesore, and nobody in their right mind would want to pay any more attention to the ugly of it than the length of time it took to drive past it on the road. 

Shade looked down with distaste at one of those poor souls, slumped back against the dirty brick wall, muttering drunkenly to himself with his half-empty whiskey bottle still clutched in one dirty hand. Even the hooch bottle had a thin layer of dust on it. When he started to raise his head, and his other hand clutching a tin coffee mug that rattled from the change inside, Shade almost worked up the disgust to give the wretch a kick in the gut…until he saw the bright red glint in the man’s eyes. They glowed like LED lights, scanning over his lanky frame for a few seconds before that raggedy head turned back down, seemingly having forgotten his presence. 

Robots. The bastard had robots disguised as the homeless. Clever trick. It still unnerved the hell out of him. He started in through the door to what had probably once been a Ralph Lauren, and immediately he started to see the signs that there was more to this place than just another abandoned storefront; The grime and grit of the place was practically cultivated, uglied up to make anyone who wandered in want to leave in disgust, yet…there was so little dust on the floor. Almost like someone didn’t want tracks to be left in the grime.

“Shade.” The voice was familiar, deep and rumbling, and carrying an air of sophistication and smug superiority. “A pleasure to see I’m working with familiar company.”

Oh you have got to be freaking kidding me. Shade thought to himself as he turned to see the towering, white-furred gorilla, still wearing that stupid red metal girdle and the spiked suspenders. An unnatural-looking smirk had set itself on those primate features, made all the more unnerving by the equally unnatural swell of the freak’s cranium. 

“Ultra-Humanite. This is getting better by the minute.” Shade said, arms folded over his chest as he frowned at the other villain. “How’d Calculator manage to coax you out of the opera house?”

“By offering an interesting scientific endeavor, of course. And a large sum of money. You look tired. Long flight?” 

“Had to call in a favor to get a red-eye over here. What in the hell is going on that they need to bring you in?” 

“All in due time, Shade.” That was a new voice. Shade whipped around to the source, and came face to one-eyed face with a mask split between jet black and rusty orange. He took a step back, feeling his blood suddenly drop a few degrees. It was even worse than he imagined.

“Deathstroke…” He muttered shakily. That earned a chuckle that made his bones feel like they’d been turned to ice. “Didn’t know you were still in the game. Heard you were dead.”

“It’s Slade now, and I’m no mere player anymore. I’ve…decided to take a wider view of things.”

Shade had been expecting someone like Queen Bee; Some mastermind with a god complex who had developed a severe case of the ass against the Titans and had settled on blind revenge. Deathstroke…Slade…being the one calling the shots? That changed things.

Everyone knew his reputation. Baddest son of a bitch in the underworld. Twenty years as a mercenary who’d taken out some of the hardest targets anyone had ever seen. Some had even billed him as the man who’d take down Batman, should their paths ever cross. Then, one day, he disappeared. Shade had figured that he’d finally met someone even tougher than him at long last, but apparently he’d managed to get out of it with just the loss of an eye. He wasn’t going to be the one stupid enough to ask what had happened, though.

Slade spoke. “But now that you’re all here at last, we can talk.” 

As if on cue, other figures started forward out of the dark. One, then another, and another, and another. Shade whistled as he took them all in.

Parasite.

Sportsmaster.

Electrocutioner.

Atomic Skull. 

Calculator had found Slade some real muscle. The Titans weren’t going to know what hit them. They’d all started huddling together to hear the man out, even Humanite. Shade found his spot between the big ape and Electrocutioner. He wasn’t going to get anywhere near Parasite or Atomic Skull if he could help it.

“You’re all among the best in your field. Each and every one of you has faced members of the Justice League and are still standing to tell of it. You know your trade. Now I ask you to try your hand at a new challenge; Destroy the Teen Titans, and secure some equipment for a…personal project of mine.”

It was a simple declaration, cold, calculated. They’d all heard it before, but coming from a legend…what sounded crazy just might actually be possible. There were a few moments of muttering between the lot of them. Excitement, a little bit of skepticism. It was Sportsmaster who asked the obvious question.

“We can manage that, no problem at all, but what about the aftermath, eh? That bunch of punks have Batman’s brat leading them. You think he’s not going to be gunning for all of us once word gets out?”

Slade turned his gaze on Sportsmaster. Shade for his part was glad to have that cycloptic mug turned away from him. 

“An excellent question. Ultra-Humanite is already working on contingencies for the occasion. We are not entering this battle unprepared. That won’t be for some time, either; The most dangerous of the Justice League’s members are offworld. We’ve more than enough time to secure our victory here and prepare for their return.” 

Shade had heard Lex Luthor make similar assurances, but that had been Luthor. This was Slade, and he had Humanite on board for support. That was a hell of a winning combination. 

“You’ll all be paid handsomely of course, and if you like, I’ll have positions of power reserved for you when this city is under its new master. I assure you, you’ll live like kings.”

The gathered villains started another round of muttering among themselves. It was a good deal, and as Shade looked around at the others again, he realized just how well this team had been assembled. Three of them were perfectly matched counters for one of the Titans, and two more were the equals of the others. None of them would hesitate either when it came to the dirty work.

Parasite spoke, his nearly featureless mug splitting into a malicious parody of a grin. “Hell, I’m in, as long as I get a shot at Superman afterward.”

“I’m game.” Sportsmaster declared next. “Better have the checks ready. This won’t stretch out more than a few innings.”

One by one the others joined their agreement, until finally it was just Shade. A third Injustice Gang. The other two had been failures, hell, the second had nearly gotten him killed because of some stupid misandrist fool’s genocidal plot. But then again…

Third time’s the charm.

“...I think I can make sure they all sleep in the shade.”

TTTTT

“I can’t frigging believe it!” Gizmo screamed so loud that it shook the windows in their panels. He’d been like this for a full ten minutes, raving and tantruming at the injustice of their situation, and capped it off by hurling something that looked like a miniature car engine at Kid Wykkyd's head. The other teen teleported out of the way just in time to avoid losing teeth, and the engine put a hole the size of Gizmo’s head in the drywall instead. See-More was still trying to placate the little turd, but everyone knew that was going to go absolutely nowhere. It was putting Mammoth on his last straw, and if he didn’t have the prospect of steak and eggs cooking on the grill to distract him, he would have gone over and beaten Gizmo’s head in right then and there.

"A year of paying dues to that one-eyed prick and what does he do!? He cuts us loose, just like that! Says we ain't good enough for him anymore!"

It hadn’t been their week. Hell, it hadn’t been their month. There hadn’t been a worthwhile score since that shipment of sports cars that had paid for this off-campus hideout, the prospects were getting slimmer by the day. There was too much competition in town and too many Titans to worry about now. Six of them! Five had been bad enough, but that Terra girl had made things miserable for them all with those stupid geokinetic (Mammoth was proud to have learned that word) powers.

"Well screw him! We don't need him for work!" Another tirade from Gizmo.

"Dude, we get it! You're angry, we all are! But you're just making things worse! We can’t focus on a heist if we gotta worry about you having a stroke!” See-More was a nice guy, really, but he had no idea how to deal with Gizmo. There was no reasoning with him when he got like this. 

Mammoth paid no attention. He had eyes and ears only for his breakfast. He tested his steak; Firm but with just a little give. Medium rare. Perfect.

“ENOUGH!” Jynx screeched at such a volume that even Gizmo’s whining was silenced. She was dripping wet, wearing only a bathrobe secured tightly only her lithe figure, her hair undone from the signature horns and laying wet and lim across her shoulders. Her eyes were glowing with the pink energy of her magic, and as she stomped toward Gizmo, Mammoth breathed a sigh of relief that it was finally over.

She hissed her next words to Gizmo, one brow twitching dangerously under a bulging, pulsing vein in her forehead.“I don’t ask for much from you. Loyalty, teamwork, and a little peace and quiet to enjoy my morning shower. The one little thing that gets me through the start of my morning, and you can’t even let me have that?” 

“It’s the only peace you get today, foolish biological!”

That was a new voice, finally snapping Mammoth out of his food trance. It seemed to come from…everywhere in the room at once. All of the HIVE Five looked frantically to find the source, but…it seemed like it was moving. It was a hysterical, malicious laugh now, and as Mammoth lumbered over to the center of the room to hoist their couch up over his head, ready to brain whatever punk had dared to break into their home…

Gizmo screamed. It was a high, piping sound of pure agony, and the team whipped around just in time to see crackling tendrils of living electricity creeping down from the ceiling fan and enveloping their miniature techhead. Too late Mammoth realized who they were dealing with.

Overload had broken in through the hideout’s electrical system. Gizmo’s backpack was sparking and sizzling now, and by the time Overload threw the twitching little teen aside, it had caught fire. That fire was already starting to spread while the others focused on the intruder. Mammoth knew damn well he was pretty useless in this fight, and right now he should be focusing  on putting out the fire. He went for the sink, yanking out the faucet hose-

There was no water. Just a thick, disgusting red sludge that burst out from the faucet and onto the carpet. Mammoth whipped around to see more of that foulness seeping up from the sink and underneath, a single bright green orb focusing on him…then another, and another. The sludge was boiling up faster now, coalescing into one solid mass in the center of the kitchen. First a body, then legs, arms, an enormous, snaggle-toothed maw and a dozen bright green, bulbous eyes. 

Plasmus.

“Oh, come on! What, is Cinderblock comin’ next!?”

Mammoth cursed his big, fat mouth when he heard a tremendous crash from the other side of the room. There was a great, big Cinderblock-sized hole, and as the dust settled, Mammoth clearly saw the golem looming over them all, one fist raised to strike down Jynx.

“Oh no you don’t!” Mammoth roared, throwing himself into the fray with a superhuman leap that left divots in the floor behind him. He collided with Cinderblock in a thunderous crash, raining down overhead punches down on the stone monster while he still had it stunned.

“What the hell is this all about? We ain’t done nothing to you!” See-More squealed while he tried to avoid the snapping, crackling tendrils Overload was whipping in all directions. 

“That for us to know! You die, HIVE!” The electrical monstrosity bellowed back, snapping another whip-like arm at See-More and sending the HIVE punk sailing through the air in a smoking, twitching pinwheel of pain. The HIVE Five were being picked off one by one now. It was just Mammoth, Jynx and Kid Wykkyd now, and only Mammoth had any hope of taking any of these three in a straight fight.

Mammoth knew what had to be done.

“Wykked, grab the others and go! I got this!” 

Jynx looked at him in stunned disbelief, and shrieked “Mammoth! What the hell!?”

“Just do it!” The giant screamed at his teammate, catching one of Overload’s tendrils one one arm and holding firm. It burned like hellfire to do it, but it threw the elemental off long enough for him to swing Overload around and into Cinderblock, who’d finally scrambled back to its feet just in time to catch another monster full in the side. Thankfully, Wykkyd wasn’t in an arguing mood, and already had Gizmo and See-More under his arms, teleporting away with one of his silent spells. That left him and Jynx. He hoped he’d hold out long enough for his teammate to get back and teleport them out too.

“Mammoth!” Jynx screamed again, backpedaling and loosing explosive arcs of pink magical energy at Plasmus as the monster rushed them. It didn’t do much other than paint the room in disgusting slime as Plasmus’ biomass was already starting to reform. “What are you doing? You can’t win this! Stop trying to play the hero!”

“Jynx, I like you and all, but shut up and run!” He barked back, grabbing the couch again and swinging for the force at Plasmus. That slowed him down a little more as the sludge was smeared across the entire right half of the common room. “The rest of ‘em need-”

He screamed as electric fire struck hard across his back, sending him staggering right into the slippery mass of Plasmus’ smeared form. Mammoth’s beady white eyes went wide as he felt it starting to writhe underneath his hands and his knees. His hands and feet were suddenly enveloped by Plasmus’ biomass, and then…his mouth was flooded by the most disgusting taste he’d ever had to endure. It was like he was being forced to chug raw sewage; Plasmus was forcing that sludge into his mouth!

He was being drowned and strangled at once. It was the most agonizing moments of his entire life, worse even than the experiments that had turned him into what he was today. His muscles were still spasming and useless from Overload’s attack, he couldn’t fight it off. The only solace Mammoth realized he could take was that he had at least helped save at least three of his friends, and that it would be over soon.

“HEY!” 

Suddenly the flood of sewage stopped, and…reversed course. He couldn’t breath yet, but Mammoth could vomit, and he expelled every drop he possibly could of that foulness in heavy, retching heaves. He knew that voice, and for the first time in his entire life he was glad to hear it.

Robin and the Teen Titans were standing in the hole Cinderblock had made, side by side, ready to fight. The Boy Wonder already had a pair of crackling electrified boomerangs in both hands, while Starfire and Cyborg primed their own powers to fire on the trio of monsters. Raven and Beast Boy were to the right, with Raven already starting the familiar chanting of her spell. Terra was missing, but…Mammoth didn’t have time to ponder that. He just needed to breathe again.

“Their lives might not be worth much, but they’re still worth saving. So back off now , all of you.” Robin declared, coldly.

“Or this is gonna get real loud.” Cyborg added, that damn sonic boom cannon of his ready to fire.

The three monsters chose to make things loud.

TTTTT

Chapter Text

“I can’t let you guys go out there without me! Slade’s going to be gunning for all of you because of me!” Terra tried her best to keep her voice down, but with her emotions already running high, she couldn’t help her volume. It was wrong, all wrong. She should be out there with her friends helping them fight. She couldn’t sit by while they put themselves in danger. 

Robin wasn’t budging, though.

“That’s exactly the point.  He knows you know, and he’ll do everything he can to twist you into making a mistake. Something he can exploit.” He said, his tone firm but…fair. It didn’t make the truth hurt any less, though. She knew he had a good point, but instinct was still demanding that she couldn’t just let her friends walk into danger without doing…something, anything.

Then Beast Boy got involved, loudly.

“That’s crap, dude! This is unfair and you know it!” The green teen shouted. “Terra stood by us when it counted! She deserves a chance to-!”

“And she’ll get one, but not today.” Robin cut him off, coldly. He met Beast Boy’s gaze with his own, eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “When she’s had to process everything that’s happened. Go with the others and get ready to leave. Now.” 

Beast Boy wanted to argue, Terra could see that plain as day, but when Robin put his foot down on an issue, that settled it. The boy unconsciously took a step back from their leader, his expression softening from righteous indignation to somewhere closer to trepidation. He looked at Terra, and those green eyes softened further. She smiled and stepped up to him.

“It’s alright, BB. He’s…got a good point. I’ll be fine.” She leaned up to kiss his cheek, and squeezed his hand. “Just stay safe out there, please.”

Beast Boy’s face lit up like a Christmas light at those little touches, and Terra could practically see his nerves going haywire for wholly different reasons than before. He nodded slowly, and squeezed her hand back awkwardly, but firmly. 

“...I promise, Terra. We’ll…work things out when we get back, yeah?”

She knew he’d keep that promise if it was within his power. He was good at that. She only wished she’d known that before.

So Terra waited in the tower, ostensibly on monitor duty, but in truth, she figured that Robin, and probably Raven too, had just wanted her to spend some time on her own with her thoughts. Not the worst of ideas, but real, honest introspection was still new to her. She had Raven to thank for that. Maybe some meditation would help.

She had the time for it, that was for sure. Robin had only left her with orders to relay any emergency signal on the monitor to them and to keep them updated. She wasn’t to respond to any incident that wasn’t life-or-death herself, and she sure as hell wasn’t supposed to go after anything that even smelled like Slade might be involved. 

Yep. She was on support duty. She tried to keep herself occupied, to keep her mind off her friends who had gone in looking for a fight. Try as she might, she couldn’t get her mind off of her worries. One in particular made her blood turn to water.

Beast Boy.

Slade knew damn well that they were both crushing hard, he’d known it even before Terra had fully realized her feelings. He’d warned her to stay away from him, a warning she was glad she ignored. Knowing Slade, he’d put all the blame for her turning on him squarely on Beast Boy’s head.

“He’s with the team. He’ll be fine.” She told herself aloud, as if that would make it sound more convincing. The coldly rational part of brain told her that Robin was right, that she could potentially put all of her friends in danger even as she tried to protect them. Her emotional side however screamed that she couldn’t just sit idly by while Slade schemed bloody revenge against them all, especially BB. 

A sudden chime from the alert monitor snapped her out of her thoughts, her head whipping around to see what was on the screen. Surprisingly it wasn’t an alert from the police, or even a general emergency alarm. Instead she was looking at a familiar face she had never expected to see making a call to the Titans.

It was Killer Moth, and he somehow managed to look both terrified and bewildered at once, even with that stupid bug costume of his. 

“Titans, there isn’t much time. They’re breaking in- wait, where’s the rest of you?” 

Terra had to take a moment to process what was happening right then. Killer Moth, D-lister extraordinaire, had called them for…it sounded like a rescue. It would almost have been hilarious if it weren’t for whom she suspected was responsible for the attack. She could hear something heavy beating against metal on the other end of the line. 

“Out saving people. What’s going on, Moth?” Terra asked, suspicion evident in her tone. 

“What does it sound like!? I’ve got a gang of killer robots breaking into my house! They’ve already destroyed most of it, I’m just trying to slow them down now before my daughter gets home!”

That wasn’t good. Slade really was trying to tie up as many loose ends as he could, and if he was doing it in broad daylight, then he was deadly serious about it. Terra thought back to what Robin had said; Don’t respond yourself unless it was a matter of life or death. Relay it to the others and let them handle it.

There wasn’t much that was more life-threatening than Slade’s robot commandos when he really wanted you dead. Robin would still probably kill her for this, but…they needed to find a way to get a line to Calculator, and Killer Moth had been in the supervillain game long enough to have contacts. More importantly, though, his life was in danger, and she was in a position to save it. 

She’d said she wanted to be a hero, so she only had one choice to follow.

“Tell me where I’m going, and I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

TTTTT

This was going to be one hell of a fight, Robin knew it from the start. They’d fought Plamus, Overlord and Cinderblock plenty of times before, but it had always been just them and one of those monsters at a time, and it normally took the combined efforts of all the Titans to bring them down. All three of them at once? That was a whole new level of challenge. They had the advantage of numbers, and the remaining two members of the HIVE Five to help, if Jinx and Mammoth didn’t just run away on them.

Luckily none of the three were very bright, and that was their biggest advantage. The smart way to do this was to focus on one at a time, starting with the weak link. That was Cinderblock; Simple, if very potent, powers, and just as dumb as the rock it was made from.

“Cyorg, Beast Boy, hit him low!” Robin shouted, knowing that Raven and Starfire would pick up on the unsaid part; They were going to hit Cinderblock high. Almost as soon as the words had left his lips, he’d thrown a pair of explosive boomerangs at the monster’s face as it charged. Cinderblock raised one massive stone arm to block the flying weapons, protecting its vulnerable head but also blocking its vision long enough for Cyborg to fire a blast from his cannon. It caught Cinderblock in the hip, putting it off-balance and swaying, right into Beast Boy’s newly transformed body. The elephant’s head swung low and caught the other hip, sending the golem down to one knee with a crash that kicked up dust all over the room. 

Starfire was there a second later, raining star bolts down on Cinderblock’s back and head, sending it buckling down to the floor, and for a moment Robin was sure that they’d knocked it out of the fight, until Cinderblock’s right hand shot out to grab Beast Boy’s leg and hurl him at Starfire. Beast Boy thankfully had the sense to morph back into his human form before he collided with Starfire and knocked her out of the air. Raven was quick to respond, repeating her magic words and forming a pitch black bird’s foot, talons flexing and closing shut around Cinderblock’s body. It lifted Cinderblock off of the ground just high enough to slam the monster back down head first, kicking up another shower of dust and debris. Raven was preparing to give it one more go for good measure when she was suddenly knocked out of the air by a fist-sized glob of red sludge hurled by Plasmus. Robin responded immediately with another explosive boomerang he hurled at Plasmus, the muffled boom splattering the sludge all over the kitchen. It wouldn’t keep him down for long, but it would buy time for the others to recover.

Robin was surprised that Overload hadn’t joined in the fight yet, but a glance over toward the technological-elemental told him why. Jinx was laying into the monster without mercy, bolt after bolt of arcane energy that kept Overlord off balance, but Robin knew from experience that would only work for so long. Mammoth had finally gotten back onto his feet, and with a roar he came charging straight toward Cinderblock, sweeping the golem off its feet and slamming it into the ground. The gigantic teenager was an engine of destruction in that moment, massive fists raining down on Cinderblock’s head and chest, hard enough that Robin thought he could see cracks starting to form. Cinderblock wasn’t fighting back.

One down, two go go.

“Cyborg, Raven, on Plasmus! Beast Boy, Starfire, with me!” Robin’s shouted command was followed immediately, and the Boy Wonder felt the pride for his team swell as he saw Raven and Cyborg fall on Plasmus. Cyborg was already loosing blast after blast from his cannon into the blob monster’s center mass, blowing huge chunks of his body away while Raven began to call on her magic again. Plasmus shrieked and launched a torrent of that disgusting substance he was made from at the pair of them. Raven managed to swerve to the side to avoid it, but Cyborg was caught full in the chest and sent sprawling and rolling backward across the now filthy carpet. Raven grit her teeth and focused that magical energy forward, shaping it into a solid spearpoint that she drove straight into Plasmus’ open, screaming maw. It burst outward on contact, spreading that foulness all over the room from floor to ceiling, and when Robin looked back at the scene, he saw the sprawled, panting body of the poor man Plasmus was when he slept. 

Two down. Robin really hoped that Plasmus wouldn’t wake up again, but with their luck and the amount of noise they were about to make, he didn’t doubt that they’d have to put him down again. That only left Overload, and while brute force did work eventually..there was a quicker way to manage taking him down.

That way was twenty feet away in the kitchen. From what Robin could figure, Plasmus had come up from the sink, but now that all of him had exited into the HIVE Five’s home, there was nothing blocking that hose. Starfire and Beast Boy both saw what he was doing, and took the hint. Starfire concentrated her energy in a single blast at Overload’s face, earning an almost metallic-sounding cry from the villain as the force of the impact forced him to step back, toward the kitchen. Beast Boy for his part morphed into a gorilla to pick up what was left of HIVE’s couch and hurl it at Overload. That sent him sprawling, but not before he lashed an electric tendril at the pair and sent them both flying backwards and into Jinx, who went sprawling with them.

But Overload was close enough now. He let loose..and he had to admit, even he was surprised by just how much power came out of the HIVE Five’s kitchen hose. It would have been hilarious if it weren’t for the life-and-death struggle unfolding. Overload let out an inhuman, electric wail as that stream hit his face, recoiling and trying to bring his arms around to sweep Robin aside, only for a second and even more powerful stream to strike him in the back. Robin looked over the monster’s shoulder, and saw that it was Mammoth at the other end; He’d ripped some of the pipes out of the ceiling and was using that brute strength of his to make another hose. Beast Boy, now transformed into an elephant that just barely managed to avoid crashing into the ruined ceiling, was busy sucking up water from the broken pipes and laying down a third line. 

Overload didn’t stay conscious much longer. That electric body shrank and withered bit by bit until, finally, it was only that circuitboard face left, dormant once again. Robin breathed a sigh of relief as he let the hose retract toward the sink. The whole team, and Jinx and Mammoth, were all breathing hard, though thankfully none of the Titans were seriously hurt. 

“Don’t know how you knew we were in trouble…but thanks…” Mammoth grunted, still spitting bits of Plasmus. 

Robin responded. “It was good timing on our part. We’ve got questions for you about a contact you might have.”

“Of course nothing’s ever free.” Jinx rolled her eyes, scowling at the Titans, arms folded in front of her to keep her bathrobe shut. “If it’ll get you out of here so we can start getting things back in order…”

“Calculator. We need to get in touch with him.” Cyborg said. Jinx blinked, as if she hadn’t heard the question quite right. Then she laughed, a mocking sound like a hyena’s braying.

“Are you kidding? You think he’d deal with us ‘amateurs’ on our own? The academy handles dealing with him, and you’re never getting anything from them. You’ve wasted your time, punk.”

“...what she means to say is that they’re all in hiding right now, out of town. Might be we know some others who know how to get in touch though…long as you keep our names out of it. We owe you that much.” Mammoth had lowered his tone to just above a whisper, and with a gravelly voice like his…it sounded ominous no matter what he said. 

Right as Robin was about to answer, the Titans’ communicators all began to chime. When Robin looked down, he was surprised to see it was Terra on the other end.

“What’s the situation, Terra?” Robin leapt right into leader mode again.

“I’m at Killer Moth’s place, we need some help out here, it’s-”

Robin felt his blood start to run a little cold, and then suddenly rise several degrees as he processed that statement.

“You’re at-Terra, I told you to stay put unless it was-” 

“I know! But it was! He’s had a bunch of Slade’s robot commandos trying to kill him! I thought that he might have something on Calculator, too!” Terra’s voice was frantic, tired; She’d clearly been fighting for some time, and probably would be again in a moment. Robin put his anger aside long enough to look back at the others.

“Starfire, Beast Boy, go help Terra. Terra, send us some coordinates now.” 

Neither of them wasted a moment in following that order. Beast Boy was actually outpacing Starfire when Robin watched the pair leave out Cinderblock’s makeshift doorway. He turned back to Mammoth.

“Start talking. Everything you have might just save you and your team if it gets us to shut down Slade faster.”

Mammoth was about to respond, Jinx too by the look of her, before they all started to notice Plasmus’ sludge was no longer just rotting away on the carpet. It was moving again, toward the waking figure. Yep. Robin had called it.

Only it wasn’t just Plasmus stirring. Cinderblock was getting back up as well, but the motions were…stilted, lagging, almost as if its body was being controlled by some outside force. Overload’s circuit board was starting to crackle and sizzle back to life again, and as the Titans and the HIVE villains drew back away from the three rising monsters, ready to fight again…they all bore witness to the newest trick up their sleeves.

Suddenly they weren’t looking at three monsters…but one.

Cyborg said it best.

“Oh, come on.”