Titan Life Scenario: The Outskirts

An area in the forested outskirts of Jump City had been cleared away by some unknown malevolent force. Standing in the middle of the plain circle, was the black skinned figure of Sindri. He was kneeling, his head bowed in penitence. He offered his devotion and prayer to a being of untold power in a separate dimension. He could feel fel energies coursing through his veins as he continued his dark recital.

There was no trap. There was no need for them. The Demon Prince Sindri would hold the Titans here alone, so that Slade could begin his operations in Gotham City.

Robin took his team to where he could tell where this Sindri guy was. He stopped little ways from the guy when he saw him. He knew Raven wouldn't appear just yet. He had told her to wait. "We're here. Now stop the games." Robin's heart was in a tug war. Something seemed wrong about this situation. Cutting all power from Jump City wasn't that big of a crime. There was a catch to this he was sure. He just had to figure out what it was.

Starfire landed close behind Robin and let Robin lead the word with this villain. She didn't feel what he felt. She would do whatever was necessary to help the city.

"Oh Robin, this isn't like our little move at the bank. There are no games. There is no longer a need for them," Sindri spoke as he rose from prayer and turned to face Robin. He still carried his demented smile, fully confident in his abilities. He stretched a little to loosen his muscles, letting the dark energies spread through his body.

He closed his eyes in focus, waiting for more arrivals. Beast Boy would come swooping in behind him, dropping to the ground after shifting out of his hawk form. He stood as ready as Robin and Starfire, ready to take down the creep that had caused so many deaths.

Sindri decided to clear the area around him since he was effectively about to be surrounded. A green aura lit up around him, followed by an intense shock wave of pure kinetic energy. This wave traveled outward in all directions.

Beast Boy was caught unprepared for the blast and ended being blown off his feet.

Cyborg was with Starfire and Robin and had his sonic cannon charged and ready to fire. He wanted to kick this demonic looking dude's butt really bad. He was getting tired dealing with demons. Trigon was enough, they didn't need a Trigon wanna be bothering them. But either way, he was determined to take this guy down. However, when the villain struck out with a strong kinetic blast, he was caught by surprise and was knocked off his feet and sent flying back a few feet before being slammed into the ground. He was already angry, now he was even more ticked off.

Just as Robin had ordered, Raven stayed away from the team. She would be their rescuer or surprise attack if needed. She didn't like being able to do nothing, but she had her orders. She wouldn't break them unless she had absolutely no choice. Seeing her friends being knocked away by the strong kinetic blast, Raven's body tensed. Whoever this guy was, he'd be stopped, one way or another. She knew her friends were determined and wouldn't give up without a fight. She just prayed to Azar that they could stop this villain before more innocent people were hurt.

Starfire was blown off her feet as well and landed some meters away and instantly ignited her Star Bolts and her eyes shining green of fury. She was ready to fight on Robin's command.

Robin didn't fall off his footing. Instead he flipped backwards and landed safely back on the ground, this time with his favorite weapon, the Bo-staff, in his hand. He didn't shout out to his team this time. He just attacked Shindri, by running straight for him and still in the air he made a flying kick toward Shindri's head. He was pissed. No one treated his team like that and got away with it.

Sindri watched as Robin soared through the air following his explosion of energy. It would seem that he had their attention now. However, he had only just begun to have his fun with the Titans. He stood still as Robin foolishly rushed towards him. He thought of all the different things he could do to interrupt his path, but he instead opted to catch the kick heading towards his face. With a quick jerk, he made to toss Robin across the clearing.

Beast Boy, however, had recovered, speeding towards him in the shape of a Rhino. Sindri jumped into the air, landing behind Beast Boy, propelling hims forward faster by unleashing a burst of lightning.

Beast Boy was feeling the effects as he was tossed to the ground, falling out of his shape change.

"Now is this really all you can do?"

Even though Cyborg was charging at this dude, he quickly skidded to a halt when he saw what this guy could do. Standing there with his feet planted, he took a quick aim at the villain and shot a powerful sonic beam at him. Hopefully with his attention drawn to the others, he'd be able to hit him. But he wouldn't hold his breath, no one really knew what this guy was capable of. Though, when he looked around, he wondered where the witch, Raven, was. It wasn't like her to 'hide'.

Upon seeing some of the things that their current foe could do, Raven had an idea, "Robin, I have an idea. We hit him as a team, not as individuals. you know I can teleport you, and the others around. We've done it before. It has a chance of working, each time we strike, we strike with something different. Never give him a moment to rest." She was able to say this because she was speaking through the bond that she and Robin shared. It was worth a try, if that didn't work, there were always other options...

The sonic blast hit Sindri full on, however, it did little to faze him. He in turn turned to Cyborg this time. Using his demonic energies, he lifted Cyborg off the ground, and tossed him over his head. After this development, he turned to Starfire, and once more unleashed a burst of crimson lightning. He was becoming more and more disappointed with this little game. Slade had told him that if they worked together they were a challenge. Obviously they hadn't learned anything.

"This is becoming boring. Let me tell you something Titans, if you don't like me when I'm angry, you're going to hate me when I'm bored."

Beast Boy has silently turned into a rodent, clawing his way up one of the trees on the clearing. This guy was tough, he thought to himself. They'd need a new strategy now.

Robin was about to attack Sindri again but then he heard Raven's voice inside his head. He knew what this was. Their bond. He thought about it and thought it was a better idea than going at Sindri one by one. "All right Raven. Do your thing." Before he let Raven do this he shouted out to his team, "Titans together!"

Hearing his command, she nodded as if he could see him and instantly went to work. Since Cyborg was the closest to her at the time, she quickly engulfed him and teleported herself and him right to where Sindri was located. As she released Cyborg from her grasp, he instantly released a strong blast from his sonic cannon while Raven used her telekinetic powers to create several sharp 'shards' and threw them at Sindri.

Sindri was caught off guard by the blast this time. At point blank range, he moved to block, being blown back as his forearms bore the brunt of the blast. Meanwhile, he now saw multiple shards flying at him. He could feel the energy in them, and he realized these could pose a threat. He dispersed the sonic beam, and shot more lightning at the shards. However, three of the met their mark, digging into his flesh.

"Aah... not bad, you're learning."

Sindri then disappeared from visible sight. He reappeared behind Raven and Cyborg, and unleashed a shockwave of his own telekinetic energy, only this time, he focused it into a more coherent wave, aimed towards the two Titans.

Robin saw this and jumped at Sindri's back, being behind him. He wasn't going to let his friends get hurt by this demon like man. He wouldn't let anyone get hurt. The attack he pulled on Sindri was with his favorite weapon, th Bo-staff, and he swung it around his head and launched it at Sindri's back, trying to stop him in the act.

Seeing how the main attack failed and her own attack had only half way seceded, she was disappointed and more determined to take this guy down. However, when he vanished before herself and Cyborg, she went alert, trying to figure out where he would reappear from. However, as he came behind her and Cyborg, she had little time to protect herself from his attack. Naturally, she, and Cyborg were sent flying backwards a fair distance. As they fell harshly to the ground, both of them were temporarily dazed, but the moment they had regained their senses, the were on their feet, ready to make another unified attack.

The blow from Robin's staff struck him hard in the back. He fell forward a little, using the momentum to pull a cartwheel into a standing position. He channeled energy into his legs and lept forward with inhuman speed, aiming a punch at Robin's face.

Meanwhile, he reached out telepathically, connecting with Robin's mind.

"There is no trap here, despite what you may have expected. My incursion was a distraction move. Someone else, who's pulling the strings, is behind this. He's in Gotham city right now, setting up his base."

He noticed that there was a line of a deep bond that connected his mind to the mind of the dark haired girl's. Well, that worked to Sindri's advantage. Slade had been counting on Robin's recklessness, thinking he'd storm off to Gotham alone. But Sindri had other things in mind, and Slade stood far less of a chance to get in the way if all the Titans knew. Since Raven would hear the message as well, there's little chance that Robin will be able to go alone.

But to be sure, he connected his mind with Raven's simultaneously. He was cautious this time. The message he'd send her wouldn't be heard by Robin.

"I know you just heard that. Don't let him go alone by any circumstance."

He now said to the two of them," Would you like to know who it is I'm working for?"

Sindri allowed the connection to Raven and Robin's minds to linger, wanting to here their thought response. He shot lightning out at Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire, to keep them from interfering.

Robin back flipped and avoided the punch in the face, but just when he was about to attack Sindri again he heard his voice inside his head. God he hated that. He didn't like it when Raven was inside his mind anyway so when Sindri went inside he felt sickened. But he listened. Hearing how Sindri would tell him who he was working for he grasped onto Sindri's collars and almost hissed into the demon looking man's face. "Who are you working for?"

He had a bad, bad feeling about this. It was like he knew who was behind this. He just wanted to hear it from Sindri himself before he jumped to stupid conclusions that Slade might be behind this.

The moment she heard a voice in her head other than Robin's, she quickly put up a defense around her mind. She never wanted *anyone* inside her mind. She didn't want anyone, other than her time, to know the dark secrets, truths that she held within her mind. Also, the last thing she wanted was someone to use her, to find out about Robin's past. She was the only one that knew a *little* about his past, where he came from. But hearing the conversation, hearing the question, she listened carefully. She wasn't comfortable about this, this could all be a setup. But when she heard Robin's 'yell', she half way had expected that reaction. Though, when she heard the villain's 'orders' about not letting him go alone, she created a one way communication with him, making sure Robin didn't hear. "How can I trust you? That this isn't some setup?" She would go with Robin, but she'd always be alert, all this could be just another setup, to get the two of them, perhaps the entire team away from Jump City, leaving it vulnerable to attack and no one to protect the people of this city.

He noticed that Raven continued the one way conversation within their minds. Her mental defenses were quite impressive, he had to admit. He paused a moment, considering her question. It was true that he wasn't the most trustworthy person, but hat he was about to tell Robin he'd been led to believe would make him blindly angry. With his telepathy, he sent a response to Raven.

"Even if you don't trust me, you'll see why you want to listen. As for why whether or not he's alone concerns me at all, I shall say only this: No game of chess can be won without pawns, and this may prove to be a very long game indeed."

He ended that train of thought, turning to the teenager grabbing his collar. He savored the anticipation he felt inside him, and then he spoke:

"My employer is someone I believe your familiar with. Slade."

He then faded away, melting into dust and blowing away in the wind. He had a great distance to cover if he wanted to get back to Gotham city soon. Slade should have already set up enough, he thought.

Beast Boy was in pain from the recent burst of lightning, but he slowly started standin up.

"Well... that was weird."

Robin was a ticking bomb at the moment. He was so close to explode with rage. Slade was doing this. And he knew why. To taunt him. And the worst part was he had to go to Gotham City and stop him. The city where his mentor ruled. Where his entire past was supposed to rest forever, but now it was disturbed and he had to put an end to it. He knew if he brought his team they might likely find out about who he was. So this was why he had to get around them without bringing them to Gotham. He'd have to do this alone. Oh he was sure Slade knew this. How much he hated the games Slade could play. Their endless fight was to be continued in the city which held no happy memories for him. Absolutely nothing. It was there his life went wrong to begin with. It was there he lost his will to go on as his real self. So now he was just Robin. No one else. His real identity was to him very dead now. He had nothing to return to in that life. As a mere civilian he was nothing. That's where he had nothing to hold on to. But being a hero, being Robin gave him a possibility of being someone. But now he had to return to Gotham and mess up in his past. His past with Batman. A past he wanted to put behind him but Slade was making that impossible. He had to return and do what was his job. To bring Slade down once and for all. Even if it meant his own death. But he would take Slade with him if it would have to come to that. With Slade there was no such thing as a fair fight. He and Slade got a history. A history of violence and hate toward each other. The problem with Slade was that he could be Robin's father. Once when Robin was forced to be Slade's apprentice he had to admit he loved the thrill of stealing and being chased and get away with it, but he also knew it was wrong and hated it at the same time. He had done things with Batman too that he hated to this day. What had happened to them was still not clear to most heroes in the Justice society. It was between mentor and sidekick. Batman would never ever say it was his fault. He was too cold for that and Robin would never tell what happened between them because he was downright embarrassed.

Robin managed to calm himself and started to walk without a word to his team. What was there to say? He had to go. And he didn't know if he was coming back. Perhaps it was all the same in the end. Perhaps Slade and Robin had to go down together just as Batman and Joker were scheduled to go down together as well. Robin was ready. In fact he wasn't scared of death anymore. But he still had a weakness. His friends. If they were harmed to get to him he would blame himself. That was why he wanted to go alone to Gotham. Without his team...

(I will continue this at Titans Tower)