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Disclaimer: I'm running out of witty disclaimers...so I'll just make it brief. I don't own the Titans.


A Dish Best Served Cold-Chapter Eight





Dinner with the Titans was like no meal Sub-Zero had ever attended.

Cyborg and Beast Boy just sat around the table arguing about which diet was better: vegetarian or meat-eater, while Robin just sat and tried to put up with it as best he could. Starfire was as bright and cheerful as ever, constantly remarking about how delicious the food was or how strange it looked compared to her native Tamaranean dishes, and Raven just sat quietly in the far corner of the table sipping herbal tea. As for Jinx, she was sitting separate from the others and was eating a light salad B.B. cooked up.

Cy and B.Boy had done the cooking in the first place, so the meal itself was kind of bipolar. One half of it consisted of just vegetables, tofu, and soy food, and the other was more in Cyborg taste: pork chops, ribs, hamburgers, and hot dogs.

After settling on a couple burgers, Zero sat down at the table beside where Jinx was sitting. Personally, he despised vegetables, but he wasn't about to say that in front of the green changeling. He eyed the salad she was eating warily.

"Deuce! How can you eat that?" he asked after a moment, but being careful not to let B.Boy overhear.

"What? It's good!" she protested, wiping a bit of ranch dressing from her mouth with a napkin. He shuddered.

"Yeah well, ... back where I come from, people'd think you were mad if you went around eating things that grew out of the ground, so, forgive me if it seems a little... odd." The Ice-Adept explained. Jinx looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you telling me you've never eaten vegetables?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nope...or fruits, for that matter. Back in Norblitz, it's simply too cold to try and grow things...other than maybe small shrubs and trees."

She looked at him quizzically and asked: "Well...what do you eat?"

He shrugged casually "Oh, meats and bread mostly. To be more specific, we eat a lot of wild game, although we have cattle too."

"Wild game? Like what? Deer and stuff?" she persisted.

"Well, yes.... but not just deer. ...Wolves, bears, tusked boars. You know, that kind of thing. They're a little tricky to hunt, but very nutritious."

Jinx made a choking noise and stared at him, a small piece of lettuce dangling from her mouth. Finally, she swallowed and suddenly looked as if she had lost her appetite. "Wolves? Bears? .... Oh God, please tell me you're kidding." She groaned looking ill. He blinked innocently.

"What's wrong with that? I mean, sure, hunting wolves that are as smart as you are, and bears that would just as soon maul you as look at you is no picnic, but once you kill 'em and skin 'em, they're easy to cook and taste pretty dang good! Besides, we only have so much cattle and we can't eat the horses because we ride them, and therefore, they're too valuable to eat."

One of Jinx's eyes narrowed and twitched (A/N: Think the expression she gets on her face in ep.3 Final Exam) and she pushed her plate away with a mighty shudder, clearly not hungry anymore.

He just shrugged and chuckled before taking another a bite of one of Cy's burgers...and suddenly getting a panicked look on his face and swallowing with difficulty.

"Wha? What's wrong??" Jinx asked, startled by his reaction.

He panted and quickly took a long swig of his drink. "Too hot!" he whispered hoarsely and rasping, while fanning his mouth furiously. He picked up the burger in one hand and help up the other hand on top. Gusts of cold air began to blow from his palms, cooling off the burger to where it would be too cold for most people, but just right for someone of his tastes. He downed what was left in a single gulp, leaving Jinx staring.


"You're an odd one, you know that?" she commented.

"Who, me? Nah...I'm just.... unique." he joked. He turned around and addressed Cyborg. "Hey, nice burgers! Too bad nobody cooks like this back at home..."

The big bot just shrugged and grinned. "Thanks. It's not exactly wolf meat, but it'll do, I think!" he joked, talking about what Zero said earlier. They both laughed while Jinx and Beast Boy both looked sick to their stomachs.

The goofing off was cut short, unfortunately, when a blaring alarm suddenly went off and every light in the tower began to flash red. Zero choked on the bite he was chewing.

"What in the name of-?" he began, but he noticed Robin, B.Boy, Cyborg, Raven, and Star all running off down a hallway. "Come on!" Robin shouted, and perplexed as he was, Zero took off after them.

Jinx just sat dumbly for a minute before she realized she was the only one left in the kitchen.

"HEY! Wait!" she said getting up and running after them.

" (Huff, puff) Where are we going?" Zero asked Robin after he caught up.

" The operations room!" The boy wonder answered.

Soon enough, they arrived at a large room filled with Hi-Tech looking computers and equipment and a huge monitor screen on one wall. Robin strode forward and pressed a button on a control panel just below the big monitor screen. All at once, the alarm ended abruptly and the screen came to life with a blink and displayed what looked to be a large, detailed map, complete with labels and symbols. A large heading in bold print at the top of the screen read: 'JUMP CITY'.


A large blinking blip appeared upon it, just above a large building-looking area labeled 'The Omega Research Laboratories' in underlined words. The blip itself was gray, and it read 'Cinderblock' in italics. Robin pointed it out to the others.


"There! That's our target." He confirmed.

"Cinderblock...again?" Raven murmured, sounding exasperated.

"Man, how many more times are we gonna have to whoop him?" Cyborg asked sounding equally frustrated.

Robin narrowed his eyes. "It's not Cinderblock that worries me... It's who he works for."

Beast Boy's eyes widened and he looked a little worried. "Dude...you're not gonna flip out over him again, are you?"

Sub-Zero blinked in confusion, feeling entirely too out-of-the-loop. "Wait...Cinderblock? Please tell me that's a friend of yours. And who do you mean by 'him'?"

"Cinderblock is a large, stone monster that works for a wicked man named Slade. We have fought him before, and managed to defeat him with only a little trouble." Star explained.

Jinx suddenly flinched. "S-slade? THE Slade?" she whispered in disbelief.

"Yeah, your would-have-been boss. And once you seen the sort of thing you would have been working with, I think you'll be thanking us for beating you and your friends." Beast Boy said nodding.

Zero looked even more puzzled and groaned in exasperation. "Slade? Who's Slade?"


"What?? You've never heard of Slade? I mean, I know you've only been here a few days, but he's in the news all the time!" Jinx explained.


The swordsman shifted uncomfortably. "Er, no, ... should I have?"

"The only thing you need to know about Slade, is that he's pure evil...and also a man that's not to be trifled with." Raven said.

Robin broke in. "Look, we'll explain all this later, right now we need to go stop Cinderblock... you coming Zero?"

He bowed and nodded. "Of course! I can't very well be on the team if I don't help out, now can I?" he said with a smirk. Robin smiled back.

"I'm coming too!" Jinx said. Everyone turned and looked at her in surprise. "...You?" Beast Boy asked. Jinx swallowed nervously. "Yes... after how good you've all been to me... it's the least I could do...and besides, If Sub-Zero's going, then so am I." Zero looked surprised at the mention of his name and looked flattered.

"Uh...you're sure about this?" Raven asked "Cinderblock isn't exactly a pushover."

Jinx eyed her indignantly with feline eyes. "What do you think I am, helpless? You of all people should know better than that... and at least I don't have to recite magic words that take forever to say just to use my powers." She hissed icily.

Raven looked angry and started to retort, but Zero broke in. "Please, ladies, remember that you're on the same side now!" Jinxed blushed and looked away, and Raven just sighed and nodded.

"He's right...now are we gonna go stop Cinderblock, or what?" Cy asked.

"Right....Titan's GO!...uh, and Jinx, too." Robin corrected himself.



They made their way down the tower to the T-Car and realized too late that they were going to have a tough time fitting in two extra people.

"Don't worry about it. We'll just follow you." Zero said waving his hand.

"On foot? You're crazy." Cy laughed at the idea.

"No, not on foot. Just go on, you'll see what I mean." He insisted. Finally they gave in, got in the T-Car and drove off at lightning speed.

Jinx looked at him. "Now what?" He turned his back to her and said: "Grab onto me."

"W-what? Why?"

"Just trust me."

She reluctantly did as he said, and he suddenly took off running and did a tremendous leap into the air.

"AHHHH! Are you CRAZY???" the little witch screamed, thinking they were about to plummet onto the blacktop below. But the knight just smiled and didn't answer.

He held out his hands and sprayed frost out below him, which instantly hardened into a wide sheet of ice. He landed on it and began sliding along at an unbelievably high speed, at least as fast as the T-Car. He continued shooting out ice to continue the sheet as he slid, while the portion behind him disintegrated as he passed over it. He was gliding in midair on ice!

It didn't take long to catch up with the Titans.

"Holy.......look at THAT!" B.Boy said staring at the rear view mirror as if he'd seen a ghost. Cyborg looked at it from the driver's seat and gasped as he saw Zero gliding gracefully along behind the T-Car. He waved at them and grinned, mouthing 'I told you so!' while Jinx just clung him for dear life, and her eyes were tightly shut with the distinct expression of a person riding their first roller coaster.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God...." Jinx whimpered frantically, clinging to his back and squeezing him tightly. She was so close to him at this point, he could practically feel her small heart thumping violently against his back.

"Uhh...you can open your eyes now... I promise, you're not going to die." He joked, trying to calm her down a little.

She managed to open her eyes and look out, but the moment she realized they were still about fifteen feet above the ground (and traveling about 90 MpH...) she turned pale and closed them again.

"J-just...t-tell me w-when we g-get...there..." she moaned, sounding like she was struggling not to lose the meal she had just eaten. He laughed and just continued grinding along the sheet of ice at top speed.

Soon, they arrived at the Labs. The initial sights were not reassuring... the large wrought iron gate that led to the entrance had been ripped off of it's hinges, and the actual automatic mechanical doors that led inside had been done the same... the security panel outside the door just showed static, as if the forceful removal of the doors had shorted it out.

They cautiously made their way inside... things were just as bad in there. Computer screens were cracked and sparked, showing only static, if anything. A few pipes jutted from the damages walls, leaking and letting off steam. Many of the doors were either ripped out of the frames, or were dangling on hinges...several walls had huge gaping holes going through them, as if Cinderblock had just decided to make his own doors.

Cy whistled and muttered, "Man, somethin' tore this place up."

The power in the labs seemed to have gone out for the lights, so the labs were almost pitch black... fortunately, Cyborg had also switched on his shoulder light to illuminate the way.

They walked down several darkened corridors and hallways nervously... the darkness and derelict scenery combined with the distant sounds of malfunctioning machinery and hissing leaky pipes created an unnerving atmosphere. Even the sound of their own footsteps echoed all around them, amplified and distorted to the point of unearthliness.

B.Boy broke the silence, if only to make things a little less eerie.

"I don't get it... shouldn't we have found Cinderblock by now? I mean, somebody that huge couldn't just hide, could they?" Beast Boy asked.

"Maybe he's already escaped." Raven suggested.

Robin shook his head. "No way. The last time I checked the radar, right before we came in, he was still in this building... he's here, all right...somewhere."

Suddenly, loud gunfire could be heard in the distance.

"It's coming from there!" Zero shouted, pointing to a broken, unmoving escalator in the far corner that went down. They immediately went down it, and wound up in a basement looking area... the sounds of combat continued to echo from within.

They made their way towards the sound, and found a large vault... the door had been bashed in, and inside, there was another passage...but it was not made of steel, like the previous corridors they had walked through... it was a natural, stone passage... a cave.

As the Titans searched out the source of the disturbance, they found themselves on a large ledge overlooking a large cavern strewn with computer equipment, crates, and strange looking artifacts, and... at the bottom was Cinderblock, fighting it out with a team of armed and armored security guards.

The guards fired at the colossal golem with machine guns, but the bullets had little effect on the behemoth's concrete hide. Cinderblock bellowed angrily, and swiped the guards against the wall with his massive hand, packing enough force to make the wall give way, and crumble upon the unfortunate opponents. He growled deeply and began advancing ominously toward a cowering elderly man with a white lab coat and glasses...

"STOP!" Robin yelled out. Cinderblock looked back around.

The Titans, as well as Zero and Jinx leapt down from the ledge just in time to stop him.

"That's it pal... this time you're goin' down for good." Cy threatened.

"Yes! You have committed your final act of violence against humanity, you monster!" Star yelled hovering in midair, eyes glowing green and hands charging up with starbolt energies.

Robin took the initiative, and hurled a fistful of explosive discs, sending the big brute reeling with a massive blast, and Star quickly followed up with a barrage of searing, crackling starbolts that knocked him down for the count.

But he was soon up again, roaring with rage, and began charging his way directly at them. Robin and Star quickly got out of the way, but Cyborg was too slow, and took a direct hit that sent him flying. As the rock juggernaut moved in for the kill on Cy, a chant sounded.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Several flying crates and boulders that were all glowing with black magic hit him at high velocity, causing him to stagger and groan in pain.

The behemoth recovered and picked up some of the same crates, tossing them back at Raven who began to dodge, but caught her cloak on a pointed stalagmite. (A/N: or is it Stalactite? I forget which ones grow on the ground as opposed to on the ceiling... : ( )


She tripped with a gasp and landed on her stomach. She tried to scramble to her feet, but didn't have enough time to get out of the way. She braced herself for the impact of the large crates...but it never came.

A timely blizzard of freeze rays had found it's way to the projectiles, turning them into harmless chunks of ice that fell to Earth and shattered into a multitude of tiny pieces.

Raven opened her eyes to see Sub-Zero standing over her. She stared.

"...Thanks." She said getting to her feet

"No problem...but don't thank me yet. We still have to...ACK!" Zero was cut off mid-sentence as the huge, concrete lummox grapped him in a rock-hard grip.

"Zero!" Raven shouted. Her eyes glowed black and she began to chant again. "Azarath, Met...AHHH!" Before she could finish, Cinderblock had punched her back into one of the crates, knocking her out like a light.


Zero struggled valiantly in the stone leviathan's grip, but to no avail...he couldn't break free.

"Leave.....him......ALONE!!" Jinx screamed from behind, and her eyes started glowing neon pink. Fluorescent pinkish flames suddenly surrounded a large cluster of giant stalactites.... Moments later, they shattered at their bases for no apparent reason, raining down like huge terrible needles. They hit the hard giant dead on, but from sheer luck, never even touched Zero. Cinderblock was pushed to the ground by the sheer force of impact, freeing the icy knight from his grip.

"Nicely done!" he called to Jinx. She blushed and looked away, just relieved that he was not hurt.

While Cinderblock was pinned to the ground, Cy charged up his cannon and fired off a sonic beam that shook the cavern... when the dust cleared, Cinderblock was charred and damaged, but still very much fighting. He snarled ferociously and broke free, tossing one of the stalagmites at Cyborg with a mighty grunt. But a large green condor appeared from nowhere and caught it, swooping back and dropping it on the giant's head, where it shattered into shards. The bird landed and morphed into a rhinoceros that charged Cinderblock with his horn, and knocked him off of his feet. The green Rhino changed back into Beast Boy, and rejoined the others, who had regrouped.

"Cinderblock! Enough foolishness! Grab the artifact!" a deep, masculine voice rumbled.

The Titans gasped collectively at the terrifying realization of whom the familiar voice belonged to. Robin whispered one word, quiet but furious. "Slade....."


Indeed, they looked up to see a menacing figure in a black suit with steel arm covers, gauntlets, and shoulder guards. Over his face he wore an orange half-mask, with the other half of his face covered by a dark black material. Only one, cold, menacing eye was visible.

Cinderblock, hearing his master's words, ran over and grabbed a large, stone tablet, with several rows of strange hieroglyphics and pictures covering it's surface. It's edges were covered in complex, but bizarre looking patterns. Hoisting it over his stony shoulder he ran towards Slade.

"GET HIM!!" Robin hollered...but before they could do anything, Slade laughed, reached into his belt, and threw a small capsule to the ground. A sudden combination of white, bright, blinding light and thick billowing smoke erupted from the spot, blinding all present.

When it all cleared.....Slade, and Cinderblock, too.....were just gone, leaving a small group of bewildered superheroes in their wake...