“Fuck!” Not something you’d suspect from perhaps the best trained teenager in the world, but it was the only way he could describe this day; A fucking disaster. Another explosion shook the city on its foundations. Every window that wasn't broken yet burst into a thousand pieces, and two more skyscrapers fell down, crushing dozens of abandoned houses and cars. Robin, also known as boy wonder, quickly fired his batclaw at the nearest lamppost, the guns mechanism quickly pulling Robin towards it. Ten tons of rubble crashed down on the spot Robin just stood, creating a cloud of dust that filled the street. Robin coughed and quickly placed a breathing device over his mouth. His eye mask was equipped with filters so he could still see through the dust. Being Batman's sidekick had its perks. Suddenly a loud, savage roar filled the streets, hitting Robin like a wall. "Beastboy!" Robin shouted as he looked around, trying to determine where the roar had came from. A loud crashing sound and another house collapsing told him everything he needed to know. Robin started running, but the moment he took his first step he fell down with a grunt. He clasped his right shin, but another wave of agonizing pain made him stop. His enhanced vision told him it was broken in two places. He ripped of his right sleeve and used it to attach his bo-staff, his favorite weapon, to his broken shin. With another grunt of pain he pulled himself up and gradually placed more weigth on his right leg. The pain was still agonizing, but at least he could walk. "Hold on Beastboy, I'm coming!" He shouted. Another building came crashing down, closer this time. Robin could make out two humanoid figures shooting at something behind the rubble. Then another roar filled the streets, louder and angrier this time. A green T-Rex came thundering towards the humanoids. They tried to run, jumping from place to place and making acrobatic manoeuvres, but the T-Rex simply crushed one with one of his giant feet and bit the other in pieces. A head rolled towards Robin, stopping right before his feet. It's face used to be covered behind a black mask, but half of it was now missing, revealing metal plates and wires. Robin spit on the ground, Slade's robot soldiers were responsible for a lot of misery. The T-Rex looked at Robin for a moment, and then started shrinking. "Robin, that doesn't look good." Said the green boy now standing in front of Robin. "It's nothing, Beastboy. Have you seen the others?" The boy grinned. "Not since we got separated, but I don't think Starfire will be hard to find." Robin chuckled; Starfire was a tall alien princess with long, orange hair. She could also fly and throw green lazers with her hands, not an easy person to miss. "Hey, did you-" Beastboy started, but the sound of lazers warming up all around them made him pause. They were surrounded by at least two dozen Slade bots, aiming laser pistols at them. "Uhm, Robin?" Beastboy mumbled. Robin didn't respond, he couldn't use his right leg and every escape route was cut off. Beastboy could turn into a bird and escape, but Robin knew he wouldn't walk out of here. "Robin, you're the leader, what do we do?" Beastboy asked nervously. Robin placed a hand on his shoulder. "Go, transform into a bird and go." Beastboy stared at him with wide eyes. "Dude, no! I-" but the sound of firing lasers drowned out all other sounds. Robin shut his eyes and waited for the lasers to burn them to ash.

"Dude, look!" Came beastboy's voice. Robin opened his eyes, but saw nothing but darkness. "The afterlife is pretty dark." He mumbled. But then he rotated his head and he could see Beastboy staring at him. Then his brain finally started working again. "It's Raven, she's here!" The darkness was a protective bubble of black energy, slowly fading now. They saw a figure wearing a hooded, blue cape that hid her entire body, standing on the roof of a nearby house. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" She yelled as a slender, grey-skinned arm came from her cape, pointing at the robots. A thin wave of black magic shot towards them, slicing through everything in its path, decapitating them all. "Thanks Rae!" Beastboy shouted. Raven gave them a small nod, and Robin could see her mumbling something. A large figure suddenly doomed up behind her. Most of his body was machine, except for most of his head and his upper arms. His right arm was a powered up sonic cannon, capable of bringing down an entire building.

"Hey Raven, you saved their asses again?" Raven looked over her shoulder. "Yes. Good to see you, Cyborg." Cyborg nodded. "These tin cans certainly got us this time, the city's a mess." Another explosion one block away told them the fifth and last member of the team, Starfire, was still fighting for her live out there. "You go ahead, you can fly!" Cyborg told Raven as he ran towards the stairs. Raven nodded and used her powers to levitate. "See you there." She said as she quickly flew towards the fighting. She saw a bright, orange figure flying straight up, trying to evade the lasers being fired at her. She came far, but a lucky shot hit her in the back and she started falling down to earth again. "Starfire!" Raven yelled as her eyes started glowing. Her outstretched hand became engulfed in black magic, and a giant, black circle appeared in the sky, catching the unconscious Starfire. Raven quickly, but gently placed her on a nearby rooftop and engulfed the streets where the lasers had came from in black flames, incinerating the last of the Slade bots. After she made sure nobody was firing at them anymore, she landed next to Starfire. She had a nasty burn on her back, but she'd survived worse. "Hey Star." Raven said, not sure what else to say. Starfire's eyes slowly opened, and Raven saw a feint smile forming. "Did we kick the buts?" She asked with a weak voice. "We did." Raven agreed, deciding not to tell how close they'd all been to dying. "Can you walk?" She asked, holding out a hand to Starfire. After Raven'd helped her up, Starfire blinked a couple of times and moved her arms a bit. "I believe I can, yes." She said. "Good, then let's go to the rest."

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The Titans gathered at the now completely destroyed pizza restaurant, their favorite place in the whole city, now nothing more than smoking rubble. Robin was still standing on both legs, refusing to let his pain show. Starfire was standing next to him, holding his arm and looking at his right leg with concern. "That was a complete disaster." Said Raven, breaking the silence. The rest just nodded. "Next time someone fires a rocket at our jet, let Cyborg do the evasion manoeuvres." She said as she gave Beastboy a meaningful look. Beastboy was about to answer when a gunshot came from one of the rooftops. Beastboy screamed, a red stain slowly spreading across his chest, and he fell to the ground. When his chest hit the ground, Robin heard a mechanical click. The ground exploded, knocking them all down and sending dust everywhere. A second shot sounded from the rooftop, this time targeting Raven. They were ready for it now, though, and she conjured a black shield. The shield blocked the bullet, but it had an explosive charge and the blast knocked her out cold. “Star, take him out!” Robin shouted, and Starfire raced towards the rooftop the shots came from. “No more shooting my friends!” She yelled, green energy swirling around her fists. But The gun was controlled remotely and she couldn’t see anyone. She heard loud clicks as cables were fired from surrounding rooftops, hitting her and sending 10.000 volts through her body. She fell down with a scream, crashing into the roof, out of sight. Robin Saw it happen, but he could barely stand, let alone get to that rooftop and help her. “Star!” He yelled. “Robin, what do we do!? Something’s blocking my sensors!” Cyborg asked, his normally calm and confident demeanor replaced by panic. “Show yourself, Slade!” Robin shouted to the ruins of his city. “As you wish.” Said a sinister voice from behind them. Slade didn’t give them any time to react. He kicked Robin in the back, sending him flying. Cyborg tried to take Slade in a fistfight since he was too close to use his cannon, but Slade blocked all his blows with his bo-staff. He toyed with him for a little, placing small explosives on key points of Cyborg’s body every time he got past his defense. When Slade had enough he unleashed a flurry of blows at Cyborg’s head to distract him, then hit him in the chest with a powerful kick. While Cyborg was still in the air, Slade detonated the bombs and turned Cyborg into a raging fireball. “Cyborg!” Robin tried to get up, but Slade’s kick had broken most of his remaining bones. His body was screaming at him to just stay down, but Batman had taught him better than this. He slowly tried to reach one of his batarangs that were attached on his belt, but his right arm was stuck beneath the rubble and his left one was broken in about 5 different places. "I've got to say I'm dissapointed, Robin." Slade said with contempt as he walked towards Robin. "If only you'd have become my apprentice, all of this could've been avoided. Robin looked around in panic, there had to be something he could do. Raven was lying less than a meter to his right, maybe she- "Don't think your friends can help you now, Robin." Slade said as he threw his bo-staff on the grounds and unsheathed the katana on his back. "This is just between you-" He pointed the weapon at Raven's chest, "And me." And he slowly pushed, piercing her heart. "Raven!" Robin shouted. With a primal surge of strenght he managed to get his arm loose from the rubble and reached for his batarangs. “Murderer!” He shouted as he threw a batarang at Slade's face. Slade caught it with ease but it exploded into smoke, obscuring Slade’s vision. Robin had thrown a second batarang immediately after the first one, this time aiming for one of Slade’s explosives on his belt. The batarang hit, detonating the explosive. Slade was blown to pieces before he could even make another of his infamous remarks. Robin let his head fall down on the floor again and stared at the sky as he felt the blood slowly leave his body.

“Simulation over, shutting down.” Came a mechanical voice out of nowhere. The world around Robin slowly disappeared, until everything was black. Robin pulled of his Virtual Reality headset and stood up. The virtual training program had been Cyborg’s idea, and it scared Robin every time because of how realistic it felt. "Cy, those simulations are getting harder every day." Said Beastboy as he opened the door. "That's the idea, greenbeans. Anyway, who's up for dinner?" All the Titans growled approvingly. Robin looked at his right shin and twisted his foot, his broken bones were all part of the simulation as well, but he still needed to check. It might be a good idea to have a psychic evaluation in the near future, these simulations were going really far. He opened the door to the living room, and... stopped. They were in Titans Tower, an enormous tower located just off the coast of Jump city, and the most secure building in the entire area. It was impossible to get through Cyborg's advanced security systems, not without alarming the Titans. The glass could withstand almost any explosion and there were sensors in every room. But even though all that, a hooded figure was standing across the room, looking out over the bay through the large set of windows. The figure was wearing a light-brown combat suit, with a hood covering his head. Robin couldn't see any equipment, but if he could get in here unnoticed, he was bound to have something. "I'll give you five seconds to tell us who you are and why you're here." Said Robin in a calm, but commanding voice. The figure turned around and pulled his hood down, revealing wild, brown hair and curious looking eyes. "I kinda hoped you could tell me that."