Chapter 3: Divide and Conquer

Jump City Penitentiary-Night

On a large island near the mainland, the fortress like structure that held the various low-lives and criminal meta-humans was now pouring smoke from the area of the front entrance and the bridge to the mainland. Klaxons blared as the prison guards, decked out in armor that would not be out of place in a sci-fi movie, ran towards the disturbance.

"Code red! Cell-block nine! Move out!" The leader, sporting a number one on his shoulder, barked to his fellow guards. The three ran to the courtyard, weapons at the ready.

"Main yard secure." The leader informed his men. Something large suddenly crashed in front of them.

"There he is!" A guard with a three on his shoulder shouted.

"He'll free the criminals!" Another guard, this one with an eight on his shoulder, yelled as they leveled their weapons at the intruder.

"Fire!" The leader ordered. Unfortunately, their target had already managed to bash a large hole in the wall, throwing a torn out section of wall in the guards direction. The figure currently breaking into prison was at least ten feet tall and made of concrete. The guards laser fire largely missed the golem, and the blasts that did connect didn't even phase him. The stone creature turns, revealing his small red eyes. Letting out a roar, the villain known as Cinderblock raised a massive foot, bringing it down to create a fissure, tossing dust and debris in the guards faces to spoil their aim. Inside the prison cell-block, a voice stopped the golem from advancing.

"You know, Cinderblock, normally the bad guys break out of jail." A child-like voice remarked.

"And I can think of six good reasons why you don't want to break in." Robin leapt into the room, landing in a crouch.

"One!" The protege of Batman shouted.

"Two!" Starfire swooped in and landed, looking at the intruder over her shoulder.

A green tiger lunges into the scene, turning into a green boy as he landed.

"Three!" Beast Boy cried.

"Four!" The sorceress Raven descended, a spell ready in her hand.

"Five!" Cyborg shouted, jumping in.

"And six!" Phasing through the ceiling, Danielle Phantom floated into the room, her eyes and hands aglow with ice-blue energy.

"No matter how you do the math, it all adds up to you going down." Robin stated. "So, are you going to go quietly..."

"...Or is this gonna get loud?" Cyborg finished.

Cinderblock roared, charging.

""Of course he chooses loud." Danielle deadpanned.

"Titans! Go!" Robin commanded.

The six teens charged towards their opponent, ready for battle.

Robin landed the first blow, staggering the concrete colossus with a solid kick. Cinderblock turned just in time to get a pair of starbolts in the back, courtesy of Starfire, followed immediately by a hail of icicles fired off by Danielle. Cyborg came in with a right hook, driving the larger adversary back despite the blow being caught.

Beast Boy dove in next, racking his talons across the concrete foe in the form of a hawk, sending the colossus running. Raven got in his path, raising up a chunk of floor using her powers to create a make-shift wall, getting out of the golem's path right before he crashed through the barrier. The sorceress flew out of the way as Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, and Danielle rushed him.

With a giant backhand, Cinderblock swatted Robin and Cyborg away, Danielle turning intangible and Starfire ducking out of the way. The two girls hurl their energy blasts, but the creature of rock grabs the Tamaranean teen in two massive stone hands. The alien gasped, before a smile crossed her face.

"I am sorry to disappoint you," Her expression darkened as her eyes lit up green. "But I am stronger than I look." In one motion, Starfire broke his hold and delivered a bone-breaking high kick, driving the golem against the wall.

Beast Boy charged back in with a cry in his hawk form, hitting the ground and turning into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Cinderblock answered the charging dinosaur with a mighty left hook.

"Azarath Metrion-" Raven's incantation was cut of with a gasp as she saw the shadow of a T. Rex falling over her. The shadow shifted to human as a panicked yell came from Beast Boy, who landed on the dark titan with a crash. Getting up, the changling shook his head to clear it. Raven stood up a moment later and grit her teeth at the youngest Titan before regaining control of her emotions.

"Heh...watch out for falling dinosaurs?" Beast Boy said sheepishly. Raven blew a loose lock of hair out of her face. "I'm gonna leave you alone right now." The changling said, rushing back into the fray.

The stone colossus chuckled to himself as he made his way across the area, only for Robin to put the behemoth in a headlock. The golem stumbled about, tearing a steel girder loose from the wall.

"Thrashing only makes me hold tighter!" Robin shouted. Danielle came with a few blasts of cryoplasm, burying several icicles in the golem's broad chest. The brute swung the girder, striking Danielle in the shoulder and sending her back. The behemoth tried to swap Robin off with the same girder, but the Boy Wonder jumps away, leading to Cinderblock striking himself in the head.

Cyborg spotted another girder. "Now there's an idea." The metal teen said, ripping the support beam from the wall and charging. The two swing their steel at each other, sparks flying every time the makeshift clubs collide. The smaller of the two gaining ground on the enemy, only for Cinderblock to push Cyborg back, before a mighty swing connected with the Titan, sending him and the girder skidding across the floor. Starfire descended to the brute's level, and melted the girder he was holding before he could let her have it. Starfire giggled, and Danielle phased up from the floor, planting a few more icicles in the colossus' back.

Cinderblock grunted before running down the corridor, deeper and deeper into the prison. Robin helps Cyborg back to his feet, dusting himself off.

"Want to give this guy the Sonic Boom?" The Titan leader suggested.

Cyborg smiled and shifted his right arm to its cannon mode.

"I got the Sonic if you got the Boom." He replied. The other four Titans regrouped and looked down the corridor.

"Yo, Rockhead!" Cyborg taunted. The behemoth turned to face his opponents, who were running strait for him. The duo peeled off to opposite sides of the corridor and ran up the walls. Danielle suddenly gasped as a puff of blue mist burst from her mouth. As Cyborg and Robin jumped towards each other, the former's cannon warmed up, the duo's legs became tangled, sending the individual attacks off course. Cyborg's cannon shot off as the metal teen hit the wall, striking Beast Boy and Starfire, while Robin's disk grenade slid out of his hand and blew up at Raven's feet, sending her flying into Danielle, who was too in shock from her ghost sense to turn intangible.

Cinderblock stood unscathed by the light-show, lumbering away as he smashed through wall after wall. The prisoners looked out from their compromised cells and began running in the direction Cinderblock came from. The Titans got up just in time to see the throng of would-be escapees coming at them, shouting various things. The Titans regrouped and took on the mob of convicts, who didn't stand a chance against the heroes.

Meanwhile, Cinderblock reached his destination, a cell marked "Prisoner 385901-Absolute Silence!" Cinderblock ignored the sign on the door, smashing it off its hinges to retrieve the prisoner inside. Prisoner 385901 was in floating in a glass tank, in stasis. The stone colossus ripped the tank from the ceiling, the hoses that were connected to the tank spilling. Cinderblock punched a hole in the floor before jumping through it to make his escape, stasis pod in tow.

At the entrance to the cell-block, two prisoners neared the door.

"Let's go, let's go!" the first prisoner cried.

"I think we're gonna make it!" The second remarked.

"Yeah!" The first on replied.

Before they could reach the doorway, however, the broken pieces of the metal door flew back into into the frame.

"Huh?" Both prisoners stopped in their tracks.

The gate became coated in black energy, which swirled into a vortex from which Raven emerged, the barrier now repaired.

"Think again." The dark sorceress deadpanned.

In the corridor that Cinderblock had bashed holes into, guards were leading the prisoners back to their cells, arms shackled behind their backs. Danielle Phantom was filling in the holes with ice as a makeshift repair job.

"Jailbreak? I don't see any jailbreak." Beast Boy joked.

"None of us would have seen one if Cyborg hadn't messed up!" Robin said, looking away.

"Me?" Cyborg asked angrily. "I messed up nothing! You got in my way!" the metal teen looked away as well.

Robin turned back to face Cyborg. "You were too far forward, and Cinderblock got away because of it!"

"You saying this is my fault?" Cyborg turned to face Robin.

"Want me to say it again?" Robin taunted.

"Stop! No more mean talking!" Starfire got between the two.

"Yeah. If you two are gonna fight, we need time to sell tickets." Beast Boy joked, before Raven made him back off.

"Cinderblock escaped. No amount of yelling will change that. So stop acting like idiots, and let's go home." Raven said, annoyance cutting into her monotone.

"Hmph!" Both Cyborg and Robin huffed.

"Loser" Robin huffed softly.

"Jerk." Cyborg did the same.

Both whirled around at that the others' comment.

"What did you say?!" both shouted simultaneously.

"Do you have a problem, Tin Man?" Robin challenged.

"Yeah! It's four feet tall and smells like cheap hair gel!" Cyborg yelled.

Danielle finished patching the walls, and had joined the others in cowering from the fight.

"Well you're an oversized klutz and your feet smell like motor oil!" Robin berated.

"You're bossy, you're rude, you got no taste in music!" Cyborg retorted.

"I don't even know why you're on this team!" Robin angrily shouted.

"That makes two of us! I QUIT!" Cyborg yelled, leaving everyone present wide-eyed in shock. Cyborg strode away in anger. The other Titans moved to leave for home, but Danielle stayed behind for a little longer. The halfa heard a dark, feminine chuckle, and she hurled an ecto-blast at the wall she heard it coming from, leaving a scorch mark. After Danielle left, the figure the voice belonged to faded into visibility, her form as a living shadow sporting a wicked grin with narrowed red eyes. She took a moment to savor the misery and anger she had stirred, and then disappeared in a swirl of green.

SOSOSO

Elsewhere, a figure hidden in shadow sat on a large command chair atop a raised platform. The only features visible in the dim light were the glint of body armor and a single eye.

Cinderblock lumbered into the spotlight in front of the seated figure, carrying Prisoner 385901's stasis pod. The behemoth placed the pod upright on the ground.

"Cinderblock. I see your mission was a success. Good. We will proceed with Phase Two. Wake him." The shadowed figure spoke in a smooth, measured tone.

The golem unscrewed the top of the tank, releasing thick clouds of vapor. Once the smoke had cleared, the figure inside stirred awake.

"I'm...awake? I should never be awake! I'm only human when I'm sleeping!" The prisoner panicked.

"But for what I have in mind, your human form is useless." The shadowed man said, leaning forward. "I need Plasmus."

The prisoner's form began to swell and distort within the confines of the tank. As the prisoner transformed, a green swirl materialized next to the masked man, forming into the ghost from the prison.

"I see you were successful as well, Spectra." The masked man spoke without even turning his head.

"Indeed it was, anything to get back at that Phantom brat for all she's ruined." Spectra said slyly.

The man in the tank had finished transforming, breaking the tank and formed into a large humanoid mass of purple slime with a gaping maw and tiny yellow eyes. Plasmus let out a screech.

SOSOSO

Titans Tower-The next day

Robin stood at the window, Beast Boy was trying to call Cyborg, but only got his answering machine, Starfire was making an alien dish, Raven was looking a bank of monitors, and Danielle was meditating.

Starfire finished making the alien dish, and offered a spoonful of the gray glop to Beast Boy.

"Taste." Starfire said, shoving the spoon into Beast Boy's mouth. Beast Boy immediately got sick.

"What is that? Cream of toenails?" The changling asked between heavy breaths.

"Pudding of Sadness. It is what the people of my planet eat when bad things happen." She replied, downing a spoonful herself and shivering.

The Tamaranean flew up to Raven, who was checking the monitors.

"Try. The displeasing taste will ease your troubled mind." Starfire offered the dish to the sorceress.

"My mind is never troubled. People come, people go. It's pointless to be upset about Cyborg." Raven deadpanned. Her hair suddenly flew up around her face and the monitors cracked from her powers leaking out from her suppressed emotions. Starfire was left wide-eyed, while Raven did not notice the damage.

Starfire then went to Danielle, who was hovering a few inches above the couch in a lotus position.

"Would you like to try a taste?" Starfire asked.

"No thanks. Right now, I need focus. My ghost sense went off right before the boy's combo move failed, and I heard a laugh as we left the prison." She stated calmly. "Besides, in my experience, it is easier to drown out misery with ice cream...wait a second." Danielle opened her eyes and lowered herself to the couch. "Misery...ghosts...Spectra." The last word was spat out with a heavy amount of venom. Starfire went to Robin with the 'Pudding of Sadness', while Danielle went to another bank of monitors and began typing furiously on a keyboard. A map of Jump City appeared on a monitor, followed by a set of red dots. Each red dot was a ghost sensor going off. Danielle then matched the sensor readings to known ecto-signatures, looking for the frequency that belonged to her second most hated ghost. The dot at the prison matched.

"I will find you, and you will regret what you did." Danielle said under her breath. Danielle walked up to her brother, who was still looking out the window.

"Robin, brother." She got his attention.

"What is it?" Her brother asked.

"What happened in the prison wasn't Cyborg's fault." The halfa said.

"What? Are you saying it's my fault!?" The Boy Wonder asked defensively.

"No, it wasn't your fault either. A ghost named Spectra tripped you both up and used her powers to mess with your emotions." Danielle said. "Spectra gets into your head and finds what ticks you off, what makes you miserable, and she feeds off the misery and anger she creates. I fought her twice, and the first time was one of the worst fights I ever had."

"Try telling Cyborg." he said, walking off. A look of sadness crossed Danielle's face.

On the shore of the island on which Titans Tower stood, Danielle held a modified version of the boo-merang. The original would only key in to Danielle's ecto-signature, but after the Titans were formed, she had upgraded most of her adoptive parents technology. Not only could the boo-merang be keyed in to another ecto-signature, it could also key into tech or bio-signatures. Tied to the tracking device was a note for Cyborg, who the boo-merang was currently keyed to. Taking a step back, Danielle threw the boo-merang with all her might, and the oddly-named tracking device spun off into the city.

"Please Cyborg, the Titans just got together, we can't lose someone now." Danielle prayed.

Danielle made her way to the ops center, where she heard the alarms going off. Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy were already there, and Robin joined in shortly after.

"Cinderblock strikes again?" Her brother asked.

"You wish." the changling replied.

In a chemical plant, a concoction of sickly-colored solutions ran through the pipes and came out into a fifty-gallon barrel, which ran down a conveyor belt to Plasmus, who guzzled the solution, growing a few feet taller each drink. The third barrel he picked up had a hole blown through the bottom, courtesy of Starfire.

"That stuff can't be good for you." Robin said. Plasmus belched, throwing the destroyed barrel to the side.

"Nice one!" Beast Boy complemented, earning an eye-roll from Danielle.

The monster of purple goop roared, shooting globs of sludge at the Titans. Four of them dodged, while Danielle turned intangible to avoid the purple slime. Robin landed on a crate and began barking out orders.

"Star! Danielle! Let him have it!" He commanded. The green-eyed duo gathered energy in their hands and shot a pair of emerald energy lances that shot a hole clean through Plasmus' chest.

"Did we let him have too much?" Starfire gasped.

"I'm thinking not enough." Beast Boy stated, seeing Plasmus fill in the hole with a breath.

"I think this fella needs to chill off." Danielle snarked, firing a blast of cryoplasm at the creature, who had shot an extended arm at Starfire, who was knocked out of the way by Raven. The blast struck the outstretched arm, encasing it in ice. Plasmus looked surprised, but quickly shattered the frozen limb on an overhead pipe. All the Titans ducked, Starfire and Beast Boy tag-teaming to drive the goo golem back. The creature retaliated with a barrage of tentacles. Once again the team dodged, Starfire and Danielle hurling energy blasts at the limbs, while Raven rose above them.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She shouted. A few barrels rose up into the air under her spell, and were launched end-first into the monster's chest. Regrowing his missing arm, Plasmus took a deep breath and expelled the foreign objects back in Raven's direction, forcing the sorceress to dodge. Robin leapt in with a flying kick, only to get his foot stuck in the mire, followed by his other leg and one of his hands on subsequent blows.

"Come on! Let me go, you giant zit!" The Titan leader shouted. Plasmus shot a surge of slime that carried Robin to the other side of the room where the other Titans were regrouping.

"Robin!" both Starfire and Danielle cried.

"I'm okay...sort of." Robin said, spitting out a couple wads of goo.

"And I thought Star's pudding tasted bad!" Beast Boy shouted, eyes watering profusely.

A fresh howl from Plasmus brought all five Titans back into the fray.

SOSOSO

"Disappointing." The shadow cloaked figure said.

"With one Titan missing, this is almost too easy." He continued. "I was expecting more of a challenge, especially from the ghost girl. Cinderblock."

The stone golem walked up, a piece of high caliber weaponry in his hands.

"Begin Phase Three." The chess-master ordered.

The golem grunted an answer before stomping away.

SOSOSO

Cyborg was walking next to a construction site when something struck the back of his metallic head.

"Ow." He winced, before turning around.

On the ground was a large metal boomerang with a flashing green light on the top.

"Oh." Cyborg said, picking up the boo-merang while still rubbing the back of his head. He noticed the note tied to the tracking device.

Cyborg.

What happened in the

prison wasn't your fault.

A ghost named Spectra was there.

She sabotaged your move,

and messed with yours

and Robin's emotions.

The Titans need you back.

~Danielle

"She's right." Cyborg thought aloud. "I wasn't myself back there. The Titans need me." A loud crash got his attention. The half-metal teen turned and saw Cinderblock attacking the construction site.

"But first," He said, shifting his arm into a sonic cannon. "A little payback." His cannon warmed up and fired at the golem.

SOSOSO

"Of all the ways to die," Danielle said. "Being eaten by a goop monster was pretty low on my list."

The situation wasn't looking good for the Titans. After trying to trap Plasmus, the goop monster had escaped and split into six, before chasing each Titan individually. Danielle, Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy had all been captured, and were now trapped in the creature's slimy mass.

"Teen Titans! Go!" A familiar voice boomed. A sonic charged explosion rocked Plasmus, scattering his mass, freeing the Titans, and leaving a frail man in his early thirties sleeping peacefully in the middle of the goop.

"Looks like somebody really woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Danielle quipped.

Outside the chemical plant, Prisoner 385901 was being loaded onto a heavy-duty prison transport, safely contained in a new stasis pod.

Robin spoke up. "Look, uh...sorry about..." He said to Cyborg.

"Yeah." The metallic teen replied.

"So...are we cool?" Robin asked.

"Frosty." Cyborg replied, holding out a fist. The two Titans tapped fists while the others looked on.

"You made up! Glorious!" Starfire exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I wish to initiate a group hug."

"Pass." Raven deadpanned.

"Yeah, yeah yeah, warm fuzzies all around." Beast Boy cut in. "But we still gotta stop Cinderblock."

"No, we don't" Cyborg said. 'Thought I'd bring a present, 'case you were still mad." The teen gestured behind him, where Cinderblock was hoisted up by a crane, bound with the weaponry he had been using.

"Thanks. But there is one thing that's still bothering me." Robin began. The other Titans, minus Danielle, were wide-eyed and apprehensive.

"Breaking into jail? Getting a ghost to mess with our emotions? Using Plasmus to distract us? This whole thing stinks of someone with intelligence and resources, neither of which are present with Cinderblock." Danielle said, arms crossed.

"We were thinking the same thing." Both Cyborg and Robin said at once. A sigh of relief came from the three Titans not involved in the conversation.

"Someone must have been pulling the strings. But who?" Robin asked.

"Well, whoever they are, they're no match for the Teen Titans." Cyborg boasted, trading a high five with Robin.

"I heard that!" The Titan leader said.

SOSOSO

A fist slammed down on a table, sending the teacup and saucer that were sitting on it to go flying to the ground, where they shattered. A pair of white-gloved hands swept the ceramic into a dustbin, before the butler delivered another cup of tea to his master.

"Next time my plans will succeed." The man in the shadows said. "And the Titans will pay." He looked at a small screen on the arm of his chair, showing the Titans grouped in front of the crime scene. A gloved finger pointed at one of the figures.

"Especially you, Phantom. You will pay for what you cost me." The man said, anger biting into his usually calm voice.

AN: Sorry it took so long to update, school and all will do that.

So, the Team survived its first big scuffle, Spectra made a return, and Slade has a something against Danielle. What will happen next?

NEXT CHAPTER: A HIVE of Trouble.