Categories > Cartoons > Teen Titans > A Dish Best Served Cold
The Calm Before A Storm
0 reviewsA dark new alliance had been formed; the Teen Titans are blissfully unaware of it.
0Unrated
Disclaimer: The Teen Titans ain't... excuse me, ARE NOT.... Mine.
A Dish Best Served Cold-Chapter Nine
"The artifact! He's stolen the artifact!!" yelled the elderly scientist the Titans had just saved from Cinderblock. "That was a very valuable find! ... But then again, ... at least I'm alive." He added sheepishly.
Robin walked over to him. "Okay...look. What was so special about that rock, and do you have any idea why Slade wanted it so bad?" he asked seriously. The small, wrinkled man adjusted his glasses and explained.
" That 'rock' was a very valuable discovery we unearthed in this very cavern. You see, we were testing out some new radar systems the other day...we planned to use them as additional security, pity we were too late.... and, during the test run, they began to pick up.... something.... from down here."
"Naturally, we couldn't figure out what would be underground sending us these strange readings, so we immediately organized a dig. And, among other rare, ancient artifacts," he motioned around to the large golden cups, vases, and pottery, and strange jewels and crates full of other antiquities. "... We also discovered the large stone slab that they just stole."
"But why? Why would they want it?" Robin persisted impatiently.
The twitchy little man gulped nervously "I... I honestly do not know. We had just finished translating the strange runes and pictographs that covered the artifact... but it didn't make any sense... it was just... odd babble." He said. Starfire floated over spoke to him:
"Could you tell us what it said? It may prove useful in identifying Slade's reasons for stealing it." She requested.
"Of course." He replied with a shrug. "But as I said... we simply couldn't make heads or tails of it." He walked over to a small metal rolling-desk on wheels and started typing at a small computer on it. Soon, a piece of long paper began printing out...
Once it was done, he handed it to Robin. He read it aloud.
"On the wind, 'cross the sea,
Toward the lands that time forgot.
Power beyond imagination,
Many a foolhardy noble and villain have sought.
Powers of darkness, powers of light,
Might to triumph among any fight.
This might is hidden in icy maze deep,
Within the mountains, ever so steep.
The land is lost, the entrance concealed,
For it seals away things to make the very blood congeal.
But in this frozen labyrinth, take heed:
Mind your wits, your life to save,
Lest you discover an icy grave, knave..."
Robin eyed the man suspiciously. "It said all that?"
"Yes... like I said, it makes little sense. We theorize it might be some sort of myth or legend, and as such, of little importance." He said matter-of-factly.
"I thought you said it was a valuable find." Robin protested.
"Oh, it is. But not because of what it says...but how it says it." He said cryptically.
"Um...I'm afraid I don't follow you." Sub-Zero said.
The old scientist puffed up proudly and said: "These writings were not in Greek, or Egyptian, or Latin, or Old English, or any of the languages we had at first thought... there is no doubt about it. It was a completely new language, one nobody has ever discovered before! If our theories can be confirmed, we may have just discovered a lost civilization! This is major stuff we're onto, here at Omega Labs."
"All of that aside... was there anything else unusual about this particular stone?" Raven asked.
"Well... now that you mention it there are a couple of things. As I said before, it gave our radars some VERY strange readings... readings we couldn't identify."
" Also, the damned thing seems to have defied every type of test we've preformed upon it. We ran every scan we could think of, but they all came up negative, or with errors. All attempts to study except for simply walking up and looking at it... have failed.
"Beyond that... it somehow manages to keep a constant temperature. We have no idea how, as only living things are supposed to be capable of homeostasis...er, staying the same temperature..." he explained, seeing a few puzzled looks.
"But for whatever the reason, that stone relic maintains a constant 0 degrees Celsius, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit." He concluded. "What is even stranger... is that temperature happens to be the exact point at which water freezes."
Sub-Zero's interest was piqued by all this mention of ice and freezing. "So you have no idea what it means?"
"No sir... not the foggiest." The scientist said.
Much later, back at the Tower:
Robin was in his room staring at the sheet of paper the head scientist had given him. The words, for some reason, made him think of Sub-Zero... but it could only be a coincidence. He would have nothing to do with any of this... would he? Robin sighed and repeated the stone slab's words over to himself...
Hmm... it talks a lot about power... major power. That's enough reason for Slade to be interested in it though... which was true enough, considering Slade was always looking to become more powerful.
' Icy Grave' he thought. ' It sounds as if it's guarded by something...'
He continued trying to piece together the puzzle, while staring intensely at the words just in front of him.
"Arrgh!" he yelled, become frustrated and a little pissed. "Okay, okay, so it's power of some kind, and its guarded... but where is it??"
There was a knock on the door. "Come in..." he answered wearily.
".... Robin?" a soft, hesitant voice said... It sounded distinctly Tamaranean.
He turned to face her. "What do you need, Star?" She looked at him strangely.
"I was looking for you... you have been locked away in here ever since we returned home." She said. "Robin...are.... are you all right?" she asked, deciding to get to the point.
He rubbed his temples and groaned.
"Truthfully, no... I've been trying to figure this out, but... that scientist is right. It just doesn't make any sense! I mean, I understand the words themselves, but... it's like it was talking in riddles... I just can't make anything of it." He said "And its giving me a headache!" he snarled, rubbing both sides of his head.
"The man at the labs said it was just some old legend... not of any significance." Star said. "... Perhaps you are straining yourself over nothing." She finished, trying to coax him into relaxing for a while.
"Maybe... but then why would Slade steal it? For what purpose?" he demanded.
Star sighed in frustration and burst out: "Robin, you are trying to do to much! Please... if not for yourself...then for all of us... please, just come out and relax yourself... you are only harming yourself by shutting us away like this!" she stared him down pleadingly with her vivid green eyes. He blinked, surprised by her outburst... but then sighed and smiled.
"Oh, alright... I'll lay off the Slade stuff for now."
She beamed at him. "Oh, splendid! You must come down and watch Cyborg and Beast Boy! They are teaching Sub-Zero and Jinx how to play their games! It is quite amusing." She bubbled.
Robin just stared. "... They're What?"
Downstairs...
"Boo-Yah!" Cyborg yelled for the fifth time in fifteen minutes. He had just racked up the seventh kill on their game. The rest of the scorecard looked something like this:
Cyborg-7
B.Boy-5
Sub-Zero-3
Jinx-1
Beast Boy growled in frustration. He hated losing...
Sub-Zero, on the other had, was having the time of his life. "This is GREAT! Man, I've got to convince the others back home to give electricity a shot... if only to be able to do this!" This was the first video game he'd ever played.
Jinx just sat quietly. She had never cared much for games, but when Zero volunteered, B.B. had said they should find one more person to make it four... three was kind of an odd number to play with... and Cyborg had insisted for her to give it a try. She would've had more fun, probably, but she was terrible at it and kept losing.
The next match started: all combatants were armed with basic silenced pistols. The level was scattered with health, armor, weapons and ammo. The rules? Take out the other players as much as possible.
'3...2...1...GO!!' the disembodied announcer shouted.
Immediately, Cyborg's player dashed from his starting point and quickly made his way to where a machine gun was located and grabbed it. He hid behind a nearby crate and waited... in a moment, B.Boy ran by, and Cy lit him up from behind.
"Aww, that was totally weak! You sneak attacked me!!" the green joker whined, while the big bot just laughed.
But Cyborgs fun was cut short when he was suddenly taken out from behind as well...
"What the...?" he started. He turned the camera around to see another player in pink and labeled 'JINX' was standing behind where he had been with a large chainsaw. She giggled impishly and winked at him with her pink, cat-like eyes.
"It's about time..." she said, satisfied she had at least gotten another score in.
Cy and B.B regenerated and took off looking for weapons and other players... they didn't have to look far before they found each other...and since they were both stuck with little crappy pistols, they ducked behind various bits of scenery and started an old fashioned gunfight, poking their heads up only to fire off another shot.
"Face it man... I'm just too good!"
"Oh yeah? Well, we'll see about that..."
They were suddenly interrupted when a grenade was tossed in between them. They had enough time to stop shooting at each other and look dumbly at the grenade before it exploded, sending them both flying.
"Ha ha! Two with one stone...or should I say frag?" Zero cut in smugly. They turned to look at him dumbfounded.
After regenerating again, Cy got fed up with this and ran off to the nearest shotgun and grabbed it. He hunted down Beast Boy in no time flat and took him out with a well-placed pair of 12-gauge shells.
"Oh, not again!" B.Boy groaned
He found Jinx soon afterward and approached her, intending to wipe her out in one shot. She still had the chainsaw at this point, but she knew she couldn't get close enough to use it without being blown away...
"Sorry, looks like your beginners luck just ran out." Cy chuckled raising the barrel, and Jinx just gulped realizing she was trapped. She just stood and waited for the inevitable...
... ... ... ... BANG!!
A loud shot rang out... but it wasn't that off a double-barreled shotgun. Cy stared in confusion before realizing he had just been taken out with a single precision shot to the head by a powerful bullet.
Equally surprised, Jinx looked around before spotting a blue player labeled 'SUB-ZERO' standing on a nearby rooftop, holding a scoped sniper rifle.
"I say... I do believe I'm getting the hang of this 'game' thing." He chuckled while Cyborg shot him a dirty look and Beast Boy laughed his head off. The Scorecard now looked like this.
Cyborg-9
Sub-Zero-6
Beast Boy-5
Jinx-2
"Oh, all right... I've had enough." Cyborg said in mock anger. "I say, we play it again... this time just you..." he pointed at Zero "and me."
"Hmm... I'll consider that a challenge Monsieur." Zero answered in an equally sarcastic tone with a smirk. "One, which I readily accept."
So they set the match up. Cy and Zero started the level again, while B.B. and Jinx just sat and watched.
"Oh man.... Cy's gonna light you up!" Beast Boy snickered.
"No... I think Zero's going to win." Jinx said shaking her head.
B.Boy seemed surprised. "Are you serious? Cyborg been playing these all his life! This is Zero's first time! It just seems unlikely he'll win."
"Just sit back and watch, veggie boy." The sorceress giggled.
"Yeah... and us too." Robin said from behind, making everyone jump.
"Huh? Dude, I thought you were still hold up in your room." Beast Boy said smiling.
"Nah... Star thought I needed a break so..." he smiled at the alien girl. It was a good thing she was not looking directly at him, because she was suddenly blushing heavily.
"Erm... yes! We have come to watch your game!" she said, pointing to the television.
"Ahh, good.... You're just in time to see a 6-foot tall robot get his metallic hide tanned!" Zero taunted.
"Heh... we'll just see about that, Snow-Boy..."
Meanwhile, in Slade's Lair...
Slade stood in a spotlight, carefully examining his newest prize: The Stolen Artifact. Within minutes of stealing it, his hi-tech computer systems had been able to crack the ancient writings and translate it into English... a process that had taken the scientists at Omega Labs much longer.
On a monitor near the far wall, the Titans were seen in their living room, playing the Gamestation.
"Poor fools. They don't even realize the power in this magnificent stone... Robin is the only one who seems to grasp it's significance... and even HE doesn't understand it fully." The villain said coolly, his voice cold and unemotional.
Slade ran his metal hand along the stone slab fondly. "Soon... very soon... the power and omniscience spoken of in ancient lore will be mine... or should I say...ours...partner."
Slade turned around to face a slightly taller, though not as well built figure skulking in the shadows.
The silhouette walked out and revealed itself as a tall, elderly man with formally styled gray hair, and long, lavish robes in white, black, and yellow... Brother Blood. He smiled at his new 'partner'.
"Oh, yes... the Titans have foiled us both before," he said "... but with our combined powers, we shall be, in a word, invulnerable." He said all this in a friendly, businesslike tone, but his eyes remained cruel and calculating.
Both villains tilted their heads back and laughed sinisterly, a combination of Slade's coarse, rumbling chuckle, and Blood's maniacal cackling, echoing all over the walls of the hidden lair...
A Dish Best Served Cold-Chapter Nine
"The artifact! He's stolen the artifact!!" yelled the elderly scientist the Titans had just saved from Cinderblock. "That was a very valuable find! ... But then again, ... at least I'm alive." He added sheepishly.
Robin walked over to him. "Okay...look. What was so special about that rock, and do you have any idea why Slade wanted it so bad?" he asked seriously. The small, wrinkled man adjusted his glasses and explained.
" That 'rock' was a very valuable discovery we unearthed in this very cavern. You see, we were testing out some new radar systems the other day...we planned to use them as additional security, pity we were too late.... and, during the test run, they began to pick up.... something.... from down here."
"Naturally, we couldn't figure out what would be underground sending us these strange readings, so we immediately organized a dig. And, among other rare, ancient artifacts," he motioned around to the large golden cups, vases, and pottery, and strange jewels and crates full of other antiquities. "... We also discovered the large stone slab that they just stole."
"But why? Why would they want it?" Robin persisted impatiently.
The twitchy little man gulped nervously "I... I honestly do not know. We had just finished translating the strange runes and pictographs that covered the artifact... but it didn't make any sense... it was just... odd babble." He said. Starfire floated over spoke to him:
"Could you tell us what it said? It may prove useful in identifying Slade's reasons for stealing it." She requested.
"Of course." He replied with a shrug. "But as I said... we simply couldn't make heads or tails of it." He walked over to a small metal rolling-desk on wheels and started typing at a small computer on it. Soon, a piece of long paper began printing out...
Once it was done, he handed it to Robin. He read it aloud.
"On the wind, 'cross the sea,
Toward the lands that time forgot.
Power beyond imagination,
Many a foolhardy noble and villain have sought.
Powers of darkness, powers of light,
Might to triumph among any fight.
This might is hidden in icy maze deep,
Within the mountains, ever so steep.
The land is lost, the entrance concealed,
For it seals away things to make the very blood congeal.
But in this frozen labyrinth, take heed:
Mind your wits, your life to save,
Lest you discover an icy grave, knave..."
Robin eyed the man suspiciously. "It said all that?"
"Yes... like I said, it makes little sense. We theorize it might be some sort of myth or legend, and as such, of little importance." He said matter-of-factly.
"I thought you said it was a valuable find." Robin protested.
"Oh, it is. But not because of what it says...but how it says it." He said cryptically.
"Um...I'm afraid I don't follow you." Sub-Zero said.
The old scientist puffed up proudly and said: "These writings were not in Greek, or Egyptian, or Latin, or Old English, or any of the languages we had at first thought... there is no doubt about it. It was a completely new language, one nobody has ever discovered before! If our theories can be confirmed, we may have just discovered a lost civilization! This is major stuff we're onto, here at Omega Labs."
"All of that aside... was there anything else unusual about this particular stone?" Raven asked.
"Well... now that you mention it there are a couple of things. As I said before, it gave our radars some VERY strange readings... readings we couldn't identify."
" Also, the damned thing seems to have defied every type of test we've preformed upon it. We ran every scan we could think of, but they all came up negative, or with errors. All attempts to study except for simply walking up and looking at it... have failed.
"Beyond that... it somehow manages to keep a constant temperature. We have no idea how, as only living things are supposed to be capable of homeostasis...er, staying the same temperature..." he explained, seeing a few puzzled looks.
"But for whatever the reason, that stone relic maintains a constant 0 degrees Celsius, or 32 degrees Fahrenheit." He concluded. "What is even stranger... is that temperature happens to be the exact point at which water freezes."
Sub-Zero's interest was piqued by all this mention of ice and freezing. "So you have no idea what it means?"
"No sir... not the foggiest." The scientist said.
Much later, back at the Tower:
Robin was in his room staring at the sheet of paper the head scientist had given him. The words, for some reason, made him think of Sub-Zero... but it could only be a coincidence. He would have nothing to do with any of this... would he? Robin sighed and repeated the stone slab's words over to himself...
Hmm... it talks a lot about power... major power. That's enough reason for Slade to be interested in it though... which was true enough, considering Slade was always looking to become more powerful.
' Icy Grave' he thought. ' It sounds as if it's guarded by something...'
He continued trying to piece together the puzzle, while staring intensely at the words just in front of him.
"Arrgh!" he yelled, become frustrated and a little pissed. "Okay, okay, so it's power of some kind, and its guarded... but where is it??"
There was a knock on the door. "Come in..." he answered wearily.
".... Robin?" a soft, hesitant voice said... It sounded distinctly Tamaranean.
He turned to face her. "What do you need, Star?" She looked at him strangely.
"I was looking for you... you have been locked away in here ever since we returned home." She said. "Robin...are.... are you all right?" she asked, deciding to get to the point.
He rubbed his temples and groaned.
"Truthfully, no... I've been trying to figure this out, but... that scientist is right. It just doesn't make any sense! I mean, I understand the words themselves, but... it's like it was talking in riddles... I just can't make anything of it." He said "And its giving me a headache!" he snarled, rubbing both sides of his head.
"The man at the labs said it was just some old legend... not of any significance." Star said. "... Perhaps you are straining yourself over nothing." She finished, trying to coax him into relaxing for a while.
"Maybe... but then why would Slade steal it? For what purpose?" he demanded.
Star sighed in frustration and burst out: "Robin, you are trying to do to much! Please... if not for yourself...then for all of us... please, just come out and relax yourself... you are only harming yourself by shutting us away like this!" she stared him down pleadingly with her vivid green eyes. He blinked, surprised by her outburst... but then sighed and smiled.
"Oh, alright... I'll lay off the Slade stuff for now."
She beamed at him. "Oh, splendid! You must come down and watch Cyborg and Beast Boy! They are teaching Sub-Zero and Jinx how to play their games! It is quite amusing." She bubbled.
Robin just stared. "... They're What?"
Downstairs...
"Boo-Yah!" Cyborg yelled for the fifth time in fifteen minutes. He had just racked up the seventh kill on their game. The rest of the scorecard looked something like this:
Cyborg-7
B.Boy-5
Sub-Zero-3
Jinx-1
Beast Boy growled in frustration. He hated losing...
Sub-Zero, on the other had, was having the time of his life. "This is GREAT! Man, I've got to convince the others back home to give electricity a shot... if only to be able to do this!" This was the first video game he'd ever played.
Jinx just sat quietly. She had never cared much for games, but when Zero volunteered, B.B. had said they should find one more person to make it four... three was kind of an odd number to play with... and Cyborg had insisted for her to give it a try. She would've had more fun, probably, but she was terrible at it and kept losing.
The next match started: all combatants were armed with basic silenced pistols. The level was scattered with health, armor, weapons and ammo. The rules? Take out the other players as much as possible.
'3...2...1...GO!!' the disembodied announcer shouted.
Immediately, Cyborg's player dashed from his starting point and quickly made his way to where a machine gun was located and grabbed it. He hid behind a nearby crate and waited... in a moment, B.Boy ran by, and Cy lit him up from behind.
"Aww, that was totally weak! You sneak attacked me!!" the green joker whined, while the big bot just laughed.
But Cyborgs fun was cut short when he was suddenly taken out from behind as well...
"What the...?" he started. He turned the camera around to see another player in pink and labeled 'JINX' was standing behind where he had been with a large chainsaw. She giggled impishly and winked at him with her pink, cat-like eyes.
"It's about time..." she said, satisfied she had at least gotten another score in.
Cy and B.B regenerated and took off looking for weapons and other players... they didn't have to look far before they found each other...and since they were both stuck with little crappy pistols, they ducked behind various bits of scenery and started an old fashioned gunfight, poking their heads up only to fire off another shot.
"Face it man... I'm just too good!"
"Oh yeah? Well, we'll see about that..."
They were suddenly interrupted when a grenade was tossed in between them. They had enough time to stop shooting at each other and look dumbly at the grenade before it exploded, sending them both flying.
"Ha ha! Two with one stone...or should I say frag?" Zero cut in smugly. They turned to look at him dumbfounded.
After regenerating again, Cy got fed up with this and ran off to the nearest shotgun and grabbed it. He hunted down Beast Boy in no time flat and took him out with a well-placed pair of 12-gauge shells.
"Oh, not again!" B.Boy groaned
He found Jinx soon afterward and approached her, intending to wipe her out in one shot. She still had the chainsaw at this point, but she knew she couldn't get close enough to use it without being blown away...
"Sorry, looks like your beginners luck just ran out." Cy chuckled raising the barrel, and Jinx just gulped realizing she was trapped. She just stood and waited for the inevitable...
... ... ... ... BANG!!
A loud shot rang out... but it wasn't that off a double-barreled shotgun. Cy stared in confusion before realizing he had just been taken out with a single precision shot to the head by a powerful bullet.
Equally surprised, Jinx looked around before spotting a blue player labeled 'SUB-ZERO' standing on a nearby rooftop, holding a scoped sniper rifle.
"I say... I do believe I'm getting the hang of this 'game' thing." He chuckled while Cyborg shot him a dirty look and Beast Boy laughed his head off. The Scorecard now looked like this.
Cyborg-9
Sub-Zero-6
Beast Boy-5
Jinx-2
"Oh, all right... I've had enough." Cyborg said in mock anger. "I say, we play it again... this time just you..." he pointed at Zero "and me."
"Hmm... I'll consider that a challenge Monsieur." Zero answered in an equally sarcastic tone with a smirk. "One, which I readily accept."
So they set the match up. Cy and Zero started the level again, while B.B. and Jinx just sat and watched.
"Oh man.... Cy's gonna light you up!" Beast Boy snickered.
"No... I think Zero's going to win." Jinx said shaking her head.
B.Boy seemed surprised. "Are you serious? Cyborg been playing these all his life! This is Zero's first time! It just seems unlikely he'll win."
"Just sit back and watch, veggie boy." The sorceress giggled.
"Yeah... and us too." Robin said from behind, making everyone jump.
"Huh? Dude, I thought you were still hold up in your room." Beast Boy said smiling.
"Nah... Star thought I needed a break so..." he smiled at the alien girl. It was a good thing she was not looking directly at him, because she was suddenly blushing heavily.
"Erm... yes! We have come to watch your game!" she said, pointing to the television.
"Ahh, good.... You're just in time to see a 6-foot tall robot get his metallic hide tanned!" Zero taunted.
"Heh... we'll just see about that, Snow-Boy..."
Meanwhile, in Slade's Lair...
Slade stood in a spotlight, carefully examining his newest prize: The Stolen Artifact. Within minutes of stealing it, his hi-tech computer systems had been able to crack the ancient writings and translate it into English... a process that had taken the scientists at Omega Labs much longer.
On a monitor near the far wall, the Titans were seen in their living room, playing the Gamestation.
"Poor fools. They don't even realize the power in this magnificent stone... Robin is the only one who seems to grasp it's significance... and even HE doesn't understand it fully." The villain said coolly, his voice cold and unemotional.
Slade ran his metal hand along the stone slab fondly. "Soon... very soon... the power and omniscience spoken of in ancient lore will be mine... or should I say...ours...partner."
Slade turned around to face a slightly taller, though not as well built figure skulking in the shadows.
The silhouette walked out and revealed itself as a tall, elderly man with formally styled gray hair, and long, lavish robes in white, black, and yellow... Brother Blood. He smiled at his new 'partner'.
"Oh, yes... the Titans have foiled us both before," he said "... but with our combined powers, we shall be, in a word, invulnerable." He said all this in a friendly, businesslike tone, but his eyes remained cruel and calculating.
Both villains tilted their heads back and laughed sinisterly, a combination of Slade's coarse, rumbling chuckle, and Blood's maniacal cackling, echoing all over the walls of the hidden lair...
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