"Humans provide no challenge," Atlas commented.
An explosion suddenly rocked the huge robot off his feet. Atlas shook his head and looked over his shoulder at the gaping hole in his armor.
"Who?!" he demanded.
Cyborg looked up and saw Nighthawk crouched in the opening Atlas had blasted in the side of Titans' Tower -- and through their big-screen TV! -- lowering a rocket launcher. "Hey, tin man! Up here!"
With the quick application of a grapple-line, Nighthawk lowered himself to the ground and grinned ferally, "You want a challenge? Well, I challenge you. And I'll only use one weapon."
"You? Challenge me?" Atlas snorted derisively.
"I'm the only one here who's managed to hurt you."
"Valid point. Challenge... accepted."
"Good. Cyborg! Shut down your systems!"
"What? Why?"
"Just do it!"
Cyborg swallowed hard, nodded... and shut down his systems.
The world went black.
As vision returned, Cyborg blinked and looked up, "Hey, what happened?"
"EMP grenade," Nighthawk replied.
"Cool," Cyborg nodded, "and I thought I had a lot of gadgets."
"You do," Nighthawk said. "I just have more."
"Does the word... 'paranoid' mean anything to you?" Beast Boy raised an eyebrow.
"We _did_ end up needing it, didn't we?" Nighthawk shot back.
Robin shook his head as he picked up the EMP grenade, "You remind me more and more of the old man every day, Nighthawk. And I don't think that's a good thing."
"Someone's gotta keep a level head around here."
Robin frowned and looked over, "Nighthawk, why does your EMP grenade have Batman's symbol on it?"
"Umm..."
"I'm not gonna like the answer to that, am I?"
"No, probably not."
"Master Bruce, we have a problem."
"What is it, Alfred?" he replied, not looking away from the Batcomputer.
"I was doing an inventory of your supplies and found some of them... missing. And this note in their place."
Bruce turned and took the note. It was in a barely legible scrawl.
Batman,
Just letting you know I'm borrowing some of your stuff.
--Nighthawk
Alfred watched his employer carefully. What happened next was not what he expected.
"Heheheh... hahahahaha!"
"Master Bruce?"
After a moment, the Dark Knight collected himself and looked up at Alfred, "Boy's got nerve. I _like_ him."
The butler gave a resigned sigh.
"I'm not even gonna _ask_ where the rocket launcher came from," Robin concluded.
"Good idea," Nighthawk nodded, then turned and headed for the Titans' Tower entrance.
Robin twitched.
"Children, Deathstroke?" the larger man hurled the files on the desk and glared at Slade. "You want me to attack _children_? Is this some sort of joke? Where is the challenge in that?"
"Oh, I assure you, old friend, it's no joke," Slade replied. "And the challenge," he rose to his feet, "is that I want them _alive_. Alive and intact. Is that challenge enough for you?"
"Perhaps, but do not call me that. We were enemies as often as we were allies, Deathstroke. Why do you want me to avoid this one?" the larger man asked, pointing at one of the files.
"I have something... special... planned for him."
"I see."
It was the night after the abbreviated fight with Atlas, and the city status display on the backup monitor was flashing red all over the map.
"We've got alerts all over the city," Robin said. "Beast Boy, take the zoo, round up those animals. Starfire, Raven, get to that fire downtown. Cyborg, stay here and monitor everything. Nighthawk, you and I'll take the bank robbers." He looked at the Titans, "Everyone got it?"
There were nods all around.
"All right. Titans! Go!"
"...help me..."
Starfire halted in mid-air, then spun and dove into the burning building toward the voice. "Raven, I am going in! There is someone in there!"
Raven nodded, "Hurry! The building's about to collapse. I don't know how long I can hold it!"
Starfire looked around, "Hello? I am here to help."
"I know."
She turned and gasped in surprise, right before the blow landed.
"One down. Four to go."
"Starfire!" Raven called. "C'mon... can't... hold... much... longer..."
As if her words were a cue, the building collapsed. Raven slumped over and looked up, "Starfire!"
Through her exhaustion, she didn't notice the man sneaking up on her.
"That makes two."
The roar echoed, scaring the elephants back. The green tyrannosaur looked around as the zookeepers got the last of the herd back, then shifted back into human form.
"Heh," Beast Boy grinned, "not bad." He caught movement in the bushes, "Huh?"
Loping along in cheetah form, he went to investigate.
Thwip!
Beast Boy reverted to human form and blinked at the dart sticking out of his arm, "Hey! What's the... big... i-... -dea...?"
His eyes rolled up, and he collapsed.
"Three."
"Wha- hey!" Cyborg blinked as the lights and monitor cut out.
Grumbling, he rose and headed for the fusebox.
"Now, what the heck is going on here?" he muttered, scratching his head. "Circuit breakers don't turn off by themselves."
"Very good."
"Who's there?!" Cyborg turned to the voice, raising his sonic cannon, as something attached itself to his chest...
"Oh, no."
...and started draining his power cell.
"Just one more."
"They're splitting up!" Robin called.
"I got the one on the left!" Nighthawk replied. "You take the right!"
"Got it!"
Robin swerved right on the R-Cycle even as Nighthawk swerved left astride the N-Cycle. Minutes later, he swerved to a halt.
"This is too easy," he murmured.
"Yes, and that should have been your first clue."
Robin spun, and a birdarang practically leapt into his hand. His eyes widened in recognition.
"Bane."
"I have come for you, little bird."
"You'll have to catch me first, Bane," Robin retorted as he flung a quartet of birdarangs and fired a grapple-line. As he shot up, Bane negligently batted them out of the air and walked over to the building Robin had grappled, smashing his fist into it, shaking the entire building.
"Wh-whoa!" Robin lost his grip, then fired another grappler to another building.
"Oh, boy," Robin muttered as he landed on the roof and pulled out his communicator. "Titans!" he called...
...just as the R-Cycle came sailing into him.
Robin blinked and shook his head clear. After a moment, he wriggled out from under the R-Cycle and looked up.
Bane looked down at him, "No more running, birdling."
Robin rose and drew his staff, then lunged into a flurry of strikes that struck Bane repeatedly.
"Feh," Bane snorted, grabbing Robin by his shirt front, "you're too weak to hurt me."
"Maybe," Robin said, "but strength isn't everything." With a quick flick of the wrist, he hurled several gas pellets into Bane's face.
Coughing, Bane dropped the Boy Wonder, waving the gas away. "Clever," he said. "Batman taught you well."
He looked up... just in time to see Robin pole-vaulting into a flying kick.
Bane stepped to the side and wrapped his massive hand around Robin's head, smashing him into the side of an air conditioner, caving in the side of the ventilation unit.
Robin groaned as he slumped over.
Bane picked up Robin and inspected him, then sighed.
"Not bad, little bird, but still not the challenge I was hoping for."
Xander swerved the N-Cycle to a halt. After restraining the bank robbers, he had immediately gone looking for Robin. The abbreviated transmission -- and his inability to raise any of the other Titans --definitely fell in the "worrisome" category.
Xander looked around and dismounted. He knelt by the birdarangs on the ground, then ran a hand over the hole smashed into the building. Turning his gaze up, he saw a grappler dangling from the same building.
No other sign of Robin or the R-Cycle.
He fired his own grappler and shot up... then spotted the R-Cycle.
"Damn," he murmured as he traced a finger along the handprints squeezed into the R-Cycle. "Whoever did this has been eating his wheaties."
That would have been bad enough, but the whole thing smelled fishy.
It smelled like a trap.
And after losing his eye, he had gained a whole new perspective (no pun intended) on traps.
"And someone is being very, very obvious about baiting this trap," Xander muttered sourly as he looked at the monitor. The main monitor was still slagged from Atlas's rude arrival, but there were plenty of backups, as well as a secondary operations center.
All five of the other Titans' transponders were clustered together, though the location didn't match up to any building on the map.
"Which means... underground," he murmured as he swapped out the Jump City map for a map of the sewer system, then the closed up sewer networks that were no longer in use, then the subway, and finally the abandoned subway line.
"Bingo."
Robin groaned and blinked his eyes open... then launched himself at the bars of the cage he was in.
"Slade!"
"Robin," Slade nodded, then shook his head and sighed. "And I had _such_ high hopes for you."
Looking around, Robin saw Beast Boy and Cyborg in similar cages. It looked like the cages were mobile. He turned back to Slade, "What do you want from us?"
"For the moment... nothing. You've been quite the disappointment, Robin."
"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Slade replied. "Make yourselves comfortable, Titans. You'll be here a while."
Xander parked the N-Cycle in the sewer pipe. Down here, it was a lot safer -- and its upgrades more easily accessible -- than it would be up on the street. With a great deal of trepidation, he headed for the access door that should lead to the subway tunnel.
He knew it was probably a trap. Whoever it was that had the other Titans hadn't gone after him, which meant either they were bait for him... or whoever it was had made the same mistake Slade had in underestimating him _and_ was stupid enough not to think of transponders... which really was too much to hope for.
After all, they were smart enough to capture the other Titans.
And there was nothing he could do but spring it.
His eye was throbbing in anticipation as he crept along the track, below the lip of the darkened subway station platform. He cautiously peered over the edge.
Nothing. Nothing he could _see_, anyway. NVGs were unfortunately too bulky to incorporate into the costume.
Looping around carefully, he climbed the maintenance access stairs and held himself at the corner. He spun around the corner, then blinked as floodlights suddenly blinded him.
"You know, that's getting _really_ old."
"Hello, Nighthawk."
"Slade," Xander glared through the spots in his eyes. Slade was standing in the center of the subway platform, and there were several modifications to the station, including a large curtain partitioning off the back of the station.
"So good to see you again," the retired mercenary said. "I've been thinking about the last two times. You were reckless. You made some very stupid mistakes, all for the sake of a girl. Which makes me wonder, how far would you go... for the sake of three?"
He pushed a button on his remote, and one side of the curtain drew back, revealing a transparent cube.
Inside were Starfire and Raven... and Jinx. And a steadily rising level of water.
"NObody hurts my girls!"
BLAM!
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Ting! Ting ting ting! Ting ting ting!
"Tsk tsk, you really should know better by now, Nighthawk."
Xander roared and launched himself at Slade, who simply backhanded him off the platform.
"Nighthawk!" Starfire and Jinx both cried as they banged the walls of their prison.
"Now, hush and let me finish," Slade said. He gestured to the transparent box, "This is a Thanagarian holding cell. It disrupts magical energies... and is quite durable enough to resist even a Tamaranian's strength. As you can see, it is slowly filling up with water."
Slade looked at him and continued, "But you can save them. All you have to do to stop the water is throw one of those levers behind you. However," he pressed another button his remote, and Xander turned as a section of the wall opposite the platform opened up, revealing three vats of an unpleasant-looking green liquid, with a cage above each, containing Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy, "it will also release the corresponding cage, dropping one of your other friends into the vat of acid beneath him. One life for three, Nighthawk. All you have to do is kill one of them, and I let the other two and the girls go. Or do nothing and walk out with your three friends... after watching your girls drown."
"Drop dead, asshole!" Xander snarled as he charged, vaulting back onto the platform.
Starfire watched anxiously as Nighthawk attacked Slade. She turned to look at Jinx and Raven, sloshing the ankle-deep water.
"We are... 'his girls'?" she asked. "I do not understand."
"I can make a few guesses," Raven said.
Starfire frowned, "Does this mean he finds us... desireable?"
Raven looked at her and shook her head, "I'm not going to answer that."
"Nighthawk!" Jinx cried, drawing their attention back to the fight.
"You're strong, Nighthawk, but you need to work on your speed," Slade said calmly as he pinned Xander to the wall in a choke hold. "What are you going to do now, boy?"
"This," Xander said as he brought his foot up between the ex-mercenary's legs.
Beneath his mask, Slade smirked, "Did you really think I wouldn't wear a cup?"
Xander sighed and shrugged, "It was worth a try."
"And that's one reason I like you, boy," Slade smiled beneath his mask. "Unlike your idealistic friends, you're persistent enough to try _anything_ to achieve your goals."
Xander rolled his eyes, "If this is the start of some recruitment speech, skip it. I've heard it all before, and I ain't interested."
"Hmm... pity," Slade said, then threw him to the floor. "You're almost perfect. So much potential."
Xander reached down to his utility belt and hurled something back at Slade, "Here, catch."
"Wha-?" Slade caught the object out of reflex. His eye widened in surprise and he immediately tried to throw it away.
"Surprise."
It detonated a split-second after it left Slade's hand.
"Nighthawk!" Jinx and Starfire cried, pushing themselves against the wall of their potential coffin -- now knee-deep in water -- in a futile attempt to break free or at least get a better look, but the dust cloud made it impossible to make out anything in detail.
They could see Nighthawk, but where was Slade?
"Nighthawk!" Starfire called. "Behind you!"
Xander turned at Starfire's warning, just in time to duck another punch, then take bruises blocking a pair of follow-up kicks.
Slade looked at him, the left sleeve of his shirt ending in bloody tatters.
"You impress me more and more each day, Nighthawk," he said, seemingly unbothered by the missing limb. "Guns, bombs, a willingness to kill..."
"Just shut up and die, you bastard!" Xander snarled as he launched a series of punches.
"Robin would have been a worthy apprentice, Nighthawk," Slade commented as he weaved through the blows, "but you... you are _exceptional_. We're more alike than you think."
"Wrong on both counts," Xander said as he stepped back and reached behind him. A quick flick, and a stick extended into a short staff; a snap, and the head was attached, all while carefully watching his opponent. "I know _exactly_ how much we have in common, Slade, and I have _nothing_ to learn from you."
He charged.
Robin watched in impotent anger as Slade and Nighthawk went at it again, though now, Nighthawk had what appeared to be an axe in hand. It was no secret that he didn't approve of Nighthawk's methods, let alone his reasoning behind them, but the fact that Slade was more impressed with Nighthawk's ruthlessness and methods than anything else...
It made him furious! And... jealous?
While it hadn't been fun being the center of Slade's attention, being targeted to take over his bloody work, that there was now a more 'acceptable' heir in Slade's sight -- one who was willing to fight back on a level that Robin's own training with the old man forbade --galled him.
*This is insane,* he thought, shaking himself away from the train of thought. He didn't _want_ to be Slade's apprentice.
"Cyborg, since when did he carry an axe?"
"'Bout a month and a half now," Cyborg replied. "He talked to me about it right after that thing with the serrakin demons."
"I see," Robin's head dropped. "How much power do you have left?"
"Not enough," Cyborg shook his head. "I'd've blasted us out of here already if I could."
"DAMN IT!" Robin slammed his fist into the floor of his dangling cage, then went back to tracking the fight.
"Interesting choice of weapon," Slade commented. "A bit unwieldy, though."
"What can I say?" Xander shot back. "There's nothing quite like splitting your enemy's skull open like an overripe melon."
That said, Xander moved to match action to words.
"Cyborg, what can that blade cut through?"
Slade jerked back in surprise as Nighthawk checked his swing, slashing open the assassin's remaining arm, even as Cyborg answered, "Most body armor, some of the lighter metals."
"Impressive."
"'Impressive'?" Xander repeated. "'_Impressive_'? I blew your f***ing arm off, your other arm's bleeding like a stuck pig, and all you have to say is 'impressive'?!"
Slade tilted his head, "I'm very hard to impress."
"Could ya do me a favor?" Xander asked sardonically.
"Hmm?"
"Say, 'None shall pass.'"
"Hardly the time for jokes, boy. Your girls are running out of air... and time."
With a snarl, Xander charged, and Slade's eye narrowed. As Xander approached, Slade grabbed the haft of the axe, twisted his grip, and rammed the butt into his gut. Xander grunted and stumbled back, then found the haft smashed into his face, and he fell on his butt.
"You shouldn't lose control, Nighthawk. It makes you... vulnerable," Slade said as he stood over him. "So, no weapons, no friends... what do you have left, Nighthawk?"
Xander rose, reached for his shoulders, and answered calmly, "My cape."
Slade blinked in surprise as the weighted end slammed of said cape into his side.
His left side, where the wound from the bomb was still raw.
He howled in pain and reversed his grip on the axe, reflexively lashing out, but Xander backed away, wrapping the top end of his cape around his hand.
"Round two, Slade. Ding ding."
With those words, he hauled off, and Jinx winced at the punch that landed on Slade's jaw, staggering him enough to make him lose the grip he had on the weapon.
The Titan followed up with a another blow from the cape, this one to the side of the head. Slade shook his head clear... and dropped to the ground.
The next thing Xander knew, he was flat on his back, with Slade's hand crushing his throat. After a moment of struggle, he grabbed the weighted end of the cape and smashed it against Slade's head once, twice, three times, until Slade rolled off him.
Xander picked himself up, rubbing his throat, "I thought you wanted me alive, Slade? What's the matter? Losing control?"
"I never lose control, Nighthawk. I merely know when to press the advantage."
"Really?" Xander said, smashing the cape down towards Slade's chest. "Me too."
Slade rolled out of the way and rose to his feet. Xander could see the cut in his arm was already healed. "As I said, impressive, but you have a great deal to learn." He reached behind his back and pulled out a rod that telescoped into a staff. "I believe this... is round three."
"Ding ding."
"Round three" was vicious and brutal. No quarter asked, no quarter given. Both knew that there would be no more lulls and little banter.
The clock was ticking, and the water was now reaching past chest-level on the girls, and Xander was running out of time.
*Pack in danger! Enemy! Kill!*
*Not... now!* Xander mentally rebuked the hyena. *Can't win that way!*
Xander parried the staff, then twisted his cape, trying to wrench the weapon from Slade's hand, but the staff slid out like a greased bolt of lightning... and struck just as fast, snaking through his defenses.
He stepped back and swung the cape, but Slade struck the weighted end, deflecting it off-course, and brought the other end up toward his face. Xander twisted out of the way, hearing it whistle past his ear, and struck with another weapon.
It was his last throwing blade, the others already scattered across the floor during "round one."
Slade knocked it out of the air with a negligent spin of his staff. "You'll have to do better than that."
He was right, and Xander knew it. Slade was better trained, more experienced. Stronger, faster, and obviously tougher. It was devolving to a battle of attrition, and with Slade's regeneration, Xander knew he would lose.
He had to change that.
Slade started in surprise as Xander hurled something at him. The grenades detonated, emitting green gas that quickly filled the area.
"Tsk, underestimating me again, Nighthawk?" Slade scolded. "My mask is fully shielded against gas."
Suddenly, something rammed into his right side, knocking the staff from his hand as something bit into his side. He rolled with the impact, emerging from the gas cloud.
Xander stepped out, axe in hand and a gas mask strapped to his face.
Slade smiled, "Innovative." That Nighthawk was the first to recognize that he had a blind side... well, Robin had been a disappointment in more ways than one.
Xander answered with a swing of the axe, but as Slade moved to avoid it, he suddenly reversed the axe's swing, slamming the butt into Slade's gut, then bringing the axe head back down.
Slade rolled out of the way and rose unsteadily to his feet, "Very good. You're learning."
Xander swung his cape around, and Slade easily stepped in and parried it. The cape wrapped around Slade's arm... and Xander pulled, yanking Slade off-balance and swinging the axe into Slade's left side.
He grunted, and Xander smashed his fist -- still wrapped around the half the axe -- into his face, then twisted and wrapped the cape around Slade.
"Gotcha."
"Seriously, Nighthawk," Slade said, "how long do you think this will hold me?"
"Long enough," Xander replied, dropping the axe and pulling something out of his belt, which he slapped on the weighted end of the cape.
"Goodbye, Mister Wilson."
Then, he dove off the platform.
BOOM!
"Nighthawk!" Jinx and Starfire swam back to the wall nearest the fight; the explosion had knocked them back. They now barely had enough room to keep their heads above water without hitting the ceiling, and only so long as they stayed afloat.
As the dust cleared, they saw him peer over the platform and look at them... and he turned and ran.
Raven's eyes narrowed, and she said, "He left us."
"He'll be back," Jinx assured her.
"How can you be so sure?"
Starfire turned to Raven in astonishment and asked, "How can you doubt him, Raven?"
"Well," Raven looked around, "do you think he could have at least gotten us out of this deathtrap first?"
"Maybe he could not get us out with what he has?" Starfire suggested. "Perhaps he went to go get... oh, what did he call it...? Ah, yes, a 'can opener'?"
"He'll be back," Jinx repeated, grinding her teeth. She looked at Raven, "He's your teammate. Why don't you trust him?"
"He's your enemy. Why do you?"
"_I_ trust him, Raven."
"You trust everyone, Starfire, even when you shouldn't." Raven looked back at Jinx, "Well?"
"I trust him because he nearly died to save my life, both in going with me after Slade and then when the church started to collapse," Jinx said softly, "I trust him because he was kind to me when one else was, and... I trust him because he trusted me." She looked back at them and grinned, "The fact that he's cute and a great kisser doesn't hurt."
Raven warily eyed the bubbling water and wafts of steam coming from around Starfire for a moment, then said, "Somehow I'm not surprised you think he's cute."
Jinx snorted, "Like I'm the only one here who thinks so. Right, Starfire?"
"You... have kissed him?" Starfire asked carefully.
"Well..." Jinx looked away coyly.
"Wait," Raven interrupted, desperate to head off disaster. It would probably get them out, but it wouldn't do any good if they died in the process. "Didn't Robin mention this?" She looked at Jinx, "You blackmailed him, offered information for it."
"Hmph!" Starfire looked away from Jinx. "I should have known. Manipulative grimplork."
Jinx raised a confused eyebrow, "Huh?"
"We... probably don't want to know."
Any further discussion was interrupted by the sound of the N-Cycle's engine as it suddenly raced past the platform, then up the access stairs. Nighthawk swerved the bike to a halt, facing the Thanagarian holding cell.
"Get back!" he called as he pressed a button.
Raven stared at the six missiles that emerged from the front faring, then shot back incredulously, "You've GOT to be kidding!"
"Got any better ideas?" he replied.
"Something that doesn't involve you _shooting_ us?" she suggested.
"I'm waiting," Nighthawk said after a moment. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're running out of time here."
Raven growled and swam back.
Xander prayed this would work, as he was out of ideas, and once the missiles were gone, he would also be out of explosives.
He fired. And waited. And prayed.
He didn't have to wait long. Before the dust even cleared, he found himself pinned between two very wet bodies.
"Awk!"
"Nighthawk!" Jinx and Starfire cried in stereo.
Xander swallowed and thought, *I will not look; I will not think about what's pressed up against me... I ... will...* That train of though died rather quickly due to the innocent -- or perhaps, in Jinx's case, not so innocent -- rubbing that the girls were doing as they hugged him, so he tried another track, *God... God, I know we've had this discussion before, but seriously, I need a hand here. Just a little brain aneurysm, and I'd be eternally grateful. I think I've earned it.*
Raven watched this as she squeezed her cloak dry, "There is _no_ way I'm joining in on that."
*Thanks for nothing, God,* Xander thought. He swallowed hard and tried to find something to distract himself.
"So, uh," he said, "what happened to you guys, anyway?"
"Bane," Robin answered from his cage, "and if you don't mind, I'd like to get out of here sometime today."
"Oh, right," Xander said as he carefully pried himself free. He paused and frowned. "Wait," he said, looking back at Robin. "Did you say _Bane_?!"
"Yes, he did," came another voice from behind. A familiar voice.
Xander slowly turned around, and looked up.
"Oh no."
He sighed and thought, *God, I was really kinda hoping for something a little, y'know, quicker and less painful than this. I mean, getting turned into a pretzel by Bane? Kinda not what I had in mind.*
"Perhaps the Hawk will do better than the Robin."
"Don't count on it," Xander muttered.
He was acutely aware of just how tired and battered he was. Aches and sprains, bruises and scrapes, the lactic acid burning of overtaxed muscle fibers... all were clamoring for attention.
"I am Bane. I will break you."
"I have no doubt you will," Xander agreed.
Then again, maybe he could head it off. He drew his derringer.
Even Bane wasn't bulletproof.
Unfortunately, Bane knew that too, and even as he squeezed off a hasty shot that went wide, the larger man charged, grabbing the gun and crushing it in his massive paws.
"No cheating."
"Leave him alone!" Jinx shrieked as she fired a string of hexes at Bane from mid-air, who sidestepped and rammed his hand into a pillar, ripping out a piece of steel rebar and hurling it at her. It caught her across the middle, and she folded around it and fell.
"Jinx!" Xander cried.
"My turn," Raven said as she levitated pieces of rubble and sent them flying toward Bane.
"I hope you do not mind if I 'cut in'?" Starfire said, sending a barrage of starbolts at Bane.
Xander took the opportunity and raced to Jinx's side, "Jinx, are you all right?"
She blinked up at him and smiled, "Wasn't... sure you cared."
"That's the second time someone's said that," he said, shaking his head. "Y'oughtta know me better by now." He rose and turned back to the fight, eyes smoldering.
Raven choked as Bane stepped out of the dust cloud and grabbed her around the throat. He turned and hurled her head-first at Starfire.
"I am not here for you. I am here for Nighthawk."
"You want me?" Xander asked as he charged, swinging the axe in an overhead swing. "Well, here I am!"
Bane backed away as the axe swung past him. Xander pressed the attack, swinging like a madman, until the axe came to a jarring halt, embedded in the chunk of concrete Bane had blocked it with.
"Yes," Bane grinned as he tossed the concrete chunk aside, ripping the axe from Xander's hands. "Just as I had hoped. Your victory over Deathstroke was no fluke of chance."
Bane cracked his knuckles and swung.
Had he been rested and unhurt, the punch would never have had a chance of hitting Xander. But Xander was exhausted and already thoroughly clobbered, and an abused muscle chose the exact wrong moment to complain. The punch struck him in the side, sending him flying.
"Huh," Xander mused as he struggled to sit up. "I thought you'd be stronger than that..."
"Stronger?" Bane repeated in confusion. "I am Bane! I am the strongest!"
Xander picked himself up and shook his head, "Pal, trust me, you aren't the strongest. Strongest human without a magical aura? Maybe. Strongest, period? No way in hell."
"Then who?" Bane demanded. "Who is the strongest?"
"Oh, I'm sure you've heard of him," Xander said. "Wears blue and red. Big S on his chest. Ring any bells?"
Bane's eyes narrowed. "You mock me."
"Of _course_ I mock you!" Xander retorted. "That's sorta what I _do_ when I'm out of ammo."
*Mental note: Next time, bring more ammo.*
"Yo, musclehead!"
Bane turned and took the sonic cannon blast straight to the chest. Cyborg clambered up onto the platform. "You leave my friends alone."
Robin stared. Cyborg had to have disengaged some of his safety limiters to break free. He'd probably burned out his sonic cannon with that last shot.
But it wasn't enough, as evidenced by the fact that Bane was already picking himself up.
"Now, how 'bout a rematch?" Cyborg said coldly. "You, me, no tricks this time."
"Battle a machine?" Bane sneered. "Ridiculous."
"I may be half machine, but I'm still half human," Cyborg said evenly. "What's the matter? Think you're gonna lose?"
"I am Bane. I do not lose."
*Except to Batman,* Robin thought grimly. *But Cyborg's not Batman. Damn it, I've got to get out of here!*
The two charged each other and collided with such force, it sent faint ripples through the air.
And Cyborg went flying, crashing against the side of the subway tunnel and dropping down to the tracks below. Bane snorted and turned back to his main prey...
...only to receieve an iron rebar across the ribs from Nighthawk. Robin watched helplessly as Bane smiled and grabbed Nighthawk's wrist, turning and hurling him across the subway station and into the ticket booth.
"We're not done yet!"
Bane turned. "So, the little tin soldier still ticks." He glanced over to where Nighthawk lay, then looked back at Cyborg, "It appears I have the time."
Cyborg charged, but this time, they met, hands clasping in a contest of strength. Bane smirked as he caught Cyborg glancing at the power display on his forearm.
"You cannot win," Bane announced. "You are at your limit... and I have not yet begun to approach mine."
"Don't count me out just yet," Cyborg replied. *Disengage all primary safeties!* the mental command was a desperate cry, but his processors understood, and a surge of additional power coursed through his circuits. The burst of strength forced the surprised Bane a step back.
"So..." the hitman said, his voice strained, "...you have... some strength... after all..."
"Like... I... said..." Cyborg bit out the words, as he disengaged his secondary safeties and began draining his reserve power cell into his servos. The second burst of strength sent Bane backing away and crashing into the wall, and Cyborg stumbled back, finishing his statement, "Don't count me out just yet."
He killed his HUD. The error messages and damage reports were flooding in, and even an external look revealed the cracks in his arm casings.
"Very impressive," Bane acknowledged, picking himself up. "You have bested me. Had this been a year ago, this contest would be over." He smiled as he pressed a button on his wristband, "Fortunately for me, I have... 'improved' since then."
The Venom pumping into him changed from its usual milky blue to a bloody scarlet, and Bane grew. Where he was already massive before, he was now grotesquely huge.
*Oh, no,* Cyborg thought, just before Bane struck.
The punch cracked his chest plate and sent him flying once again. Cyborg rose unsteadily to his feet and found himself lifted into the air. Bane had an iron grip around his throat.
*Good thing I've got a steel one,* Cyborg thought as he smashed his fist into Bane's hand, causing him to let go.
Massaging his hand, Bane inexorably approached and said, "You put up a good fight, tin soldier. Now, be a good boy and die."
Before Cyborg could react, Bane grabbed him around the head and hurled him across the subway station, embedding him in the wall. Cyborg pulled himself out and stared in astonishment as Nighthawk struck Bane.
*Where on Earth does he get that kind of stamina?* Cyborg wondered. *Can't give up now,* he thought stubbornly as he charged into the fray. *Gotta see this through.*
Both his main and reserve power cells were close to drained, but that didn't matter. He wasn't going to let Nighthawk face this giant alone, and he'd be damned if he was going to let a little thing like "design limitations" get in his way.
Hell, he'd already proven he could bypass them if he was willing to pay the price, just like any regular guy.
"Hey, is this a private party, or can anyone join in?" a voice interrupted the battle.
"Hey, is this a private party, or can anyone join in?"
Without waiting for an answer, the newcomer charged in and swung at Bane, causing the hit man to double over.
Xander stared in disbelief, "Ab?"
She looked over her shoulder at him in surprise. "Boss? Hey," she waved.
WHAM!
Abbey went flying across the room, cratering the wall, but she simply picked herself up and said, "Hey, looks like your friends could use your help. I'll take care of this big gorilla."
Xander nodded, "Girls, Cyborg, c'mon!"
"Uhh... shouldn't we help her?" Raven asked, pointing at Abbey.
"Oh, let her have her fun," Xander said, waving it off. "Let's worry about getting the guys out first."
The other four exchanged peculiar looks before following. With the resources they had available to them, it wasn't long before Beast Boy and Robin were free. Some smelling salts, and Beast Boy was conscious again.
"She's beating up Bane," Robin shook his head in disbelief. "With her bare hands. She's _trading_ _blows_ with him."
Xander looked over and sniffed, rubbing an imaginary tear from his cheek, "Yeah, that's my little Abbey... isn't she adorable? I'm glad she's all right."
"She can do that, and you were _worried_ about her?" Beast Boy sputtered.
Xander looked at him like he'd grown two he- err, like he'd look at just about anyone _else_ who'd grown two heads, and replied simply, "Well... yeah."
Robin was still shaking his head, "Looks like she can handle Bane." He looked at Xander, "You killed Slade."
"Kill or be killed," Xander shrugged. "For God's sake, Robin, he was still kicking my ass while missing an _arm_! What else was I supposed to do? Besides, we've already had this discussion before. Look around; mass firepower _worked_."
Robin sighed, "Maybe you're right. It's just... that seems like overkill."
"As a very wise man once said, there's no such thing as 'overkill,' only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload.'"
"What wise man said that?" Cyborg asked.
Xander shrugged again, "Dunno, actually, but this wise guy agrees."
"Why am I not surprised?" Raven said, rolling her eyes.
"Nighthawk," Starfire said quietly, "who is this girl, and how do you know her?"
"She's from my world, Star," Xander said. "One of those slayers I told you about."
"I see."
"Hey, Boss!"
Xander looked up to where Abbey stood triumphantly over Bane's prone body.
"Yeah, Ab?"
"What is it this time? Stake, silver, gold, decapitation, castration...?"
Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Robin winced at that one.
Xander chuckled, "Not this time, Ab. This one's human. 'Sides with that Venom crap he pumps through himself, that last one is really kinda redundant. Anyway, I think the humiliation alone will be enough. Add some restraints, and we can drop him off with the JCPD."
"You got it," Abbey said, jumping off the platform and tugging at the rail tracks. "Uhh, a little help here?"
"I would be happy to assist, ward of my friend!" Starfire said as she matched actions to words.
"So, uh," Cyborg said, "I meant to ask this before, but... did I miss something, or do you weigh your cape down with _explosives_?"
"Stable explosives," Xander corrected. "Plastique, actually. I just yank it out, stick one of these detonators in it, set a time, and voila. The pouch is insulated, so I don't have to worry about anyone tossing lightning at me and setting me off like a firecracker, and if it's compromised, I can just drop the cape."
"All done!" Abbey dropped down, dusting her hands off as Starfire hovered above, the bound and unconscious Bane dangling below her.
"Good job, Ab," Xander said.
Xander climbed up and walked the N-Cycle back to the track tunnel, and together, they all headed out.
After a moment, Abbey started, "So... Boss... those are some nice ti-..."
"Not one word, Ab," he interrupted. "Not. One. Word."
"Or what, Boss?" she replied with an impudent grin. "Gonna turn me over yer knee? Granted, I ain't Janice, but it could still be fun."
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Xander growled. "I had no idea..."
"...that she'd like it? C'mon, Boss, everyone knew she gets off on things like that."
Xander just shook his head and sighed, "Slayers."
"Oh, the other girls are going to be SO jealous," Abbey said, still grinning.
"Why's that?" Beast Boy asked.
"Because I get to see Boss-man in spandex."
"Abbey, drop it," Xander ordered. "Please?"
"Aw, c'mon, I heard of the Speedo incident. And Oxnard."
"Buffy, if I ever get back, I'm going to kill you," Xander muttered sourly as he dropped back next to Cyborg.
"You okay, buddy?"
"I'm fine," Cyborg replied.
"Good," Xander nodded. "Hey, you know anything about powered armor?"
Cyborg whipped his head around. Where had that come from?
"Yeah, I can do a few things," Cyborg said hesitantly. "Why? You lookin' to upgrade? 'Cause I'll tell ya right now, what I can fix up, it'll mess with your fighting style."
Xander shook his head, "Not for regular use. Just something for when the big guns come out. After the beating I just took..." he trailed off.
"That, I can do," Cyborg nodded. "What do you want?"
"Well, I've got a few ideas..."
"Hey, how about Highlander?" Abbey suggested as they climbed out the manhole cover.
"You're not Scottish," Xander pointed.
"So?" she shot back. "I've got a Watcher."
Xander groaned and shook his head... then noticed something. He looked over his shoulder.
Jinx was standing near the manhole cover they'd exited by, her head down, a thoughtful and somewhat sad look on her face.
"Hey," he called, "you comin'?"
Jinx's head jerked up in surprise, then she smiled and hurried over, "Yeah, sure."
Suddenly, she stopped, noting the distrustful looks the Titans -- all except Nighthawk and that newcomer, Abbey -- were directing her way. After a moment's hesitation, she walked up and pulled Nighthawk into a bone-crushing hug.
"Hey..." Xander said soothingly.
"I can't," she murmured in his ear. "Not yet." She pulled back and kissed him gently on the lips... and flew off.
Xander blinked and shook his head, "...women."
"What's that, Nighthawk?"
"Nothing, Raven."
"How DARE she!"
Xander looked at Starfire quizzically.
"That... that... she... ARGH!"
"Star!" Robin grabbed her arm.
Starfire turned to glare at Robin, her eyes glowing, and replied, "WHAT?"
Robin shrank back, "...nothing..."
Xander blinked and leaned over to Raven, "What's with Starfire?"
*Could she be... nahhh,* he thought, not noticing Abbey biting her tongue and trying her hardest to not burst out laughing. *She's hooking up with Robin.*
Raven just rolled her eyes.
Story downloaded from
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