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Disclaimer: The Teen Titans are not of my ownership.


A Dish Best Served Cold-Chapter Nineteen



The Titans were just outside the castle, fighting off Slade's army with as much power as they could muster...

"Hiiyah!"

Sub-Zero loosed a battle cry as he shot an ice beam at a group of Robo-Commandos. Several of them were frozen solid, but a few jumped up into the air to dodge it... but they were still screwed, because Starfire blew them away with starbolts anyway.

Sub-Zero looked up at Star and grinned, waving and giving a thumbs-up. She just blushed and flew back off, ready to fry some more Slade bots.

A few robots were charging Cyborg, who stood calmly charging up a shot with his cannon... once they were about thirty feet away, he pointed at them and took them out with a supercharged sonic beam; mechanical parts flew haphazardly around the blast area... all that was left of the bots.

Robin was taking down baddies left and right, tossing his patented birdarangs with pinpoint accuracy, using them to slice off arms and legs of the robots. One of the bots got close without his noticing, and was about to grab him around the neck... but it was suddenly blown up by a pink hex spell from out of nowhere.

Robin realized he had almost been attacked from behind, and looked back to see Jinx standing there grinning with glowing eyes.

"Thank me later, Robby!" she teased, before doing a back flip out of the way of some more attacking drones.

The Boy Wonder just shrugged and grabbed some explosive discs from his belt before rushing back into the fray.

Raven shouted her spell: "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

A bunch of large chunks of ice, which had been knocked off of the castle walls during the attack, glowed with hissing black energy, and magically were lifted up and hurled at high speed towards the robots, crushing and blowing up many of them.

Jinx ran up to where Raven was, and began flinging her own hexes at the bots in addition to the chunks of ice, doubling the effectiveness of their attack. But one particular robot managed to dodge every hex and hunk of ice, knocked Raven to the ground, and pulled back it's arm about to punch Jinx... but it's arm was abruptly caught up in a flying bola cord that exploded, taking the robots arm off. It stood stupidly for a second, before being sent hurtling off into the air by one of Robin's flying karate kicks.

Robin looked at the stunned sorceresses and chuckled. "No... you can thank me, later."

Meanwhile, Starfire continued her aerial assault, hurling a barrage of bolts with impressive accuracy. Unfortunately, she didn't count on one of the mechanical brutes ripping a small, gnarled tree out of the snowy ground and hurling at her... Star had time enough for one, startled yelp before she was knocked out of the sky.

Star hit the ground with a thud, and moaned softly as her head began to throb. The bot that threw the tree had grabbed a large, dangerously sharp icicle from a dead tree branch and lifted it up, preparing to finish off the Tamaranean. But a well-timed birdarang shattered the icicle, and Robin leapt between the bot and Star. He yelled angrily and delivered a powerful karate chop that dented in the right side of the robot's head, sending a shower of sparks everywhere right before the robot slid lifelessly to the ground.

"Star! Are you alright?" he knelt down and asked the alien girl, worried to death.

She dusted herself off a little and nodded.

"Yes... I believe I am mostly unharmed." She said softly.

"Good... well... be carefully, okay?" Robin requested seriously, taking her hands in his.

"Of course... I shall." Starfire said, managing to hide a blush.

Robin nodded and ran off to continue the battle.

Cy fired off a quick volley of sonic blasts that devastated a large portion of Slade's troops and chuckled to himself.

"You'd think these guys would be runnin' by now..."

He charged up a beam and fired it out into a platoon of troops, cutting a broad swath through their ranks. Meanwhile...

"RAAAAAAAAAAAWWRRR!" Shrieked a large, green velociraptor as it leapt at a bunch of Slade commandos, slicing them up with powerful, clawed kicks. A robot attempted to grab the critter by the tail, but it whipped it's tail around and the bot ended up being smashed into the ground by it.

The raptor screeched again, and morphed into a greenish grizzly bear.

The bear bellowed and swiped it's massive paws about, sending bots flying. When one attempted a flying kick, the bear caught it in the mouth by it's leg... and proceeded to bite the leg off, drop the rest to the ground, and stomp on it, flattening it completely.

With a blur of green, Beast Boy changed again into a large, wild-tusked boar that squealed and snorted wildly before taking off towards the bots with its tusks out.

As the green piggy mauled a few robots, Sub-Zero was fencing a group of them several yards away. He was using a combination of freezing ice rays, sword attacks, and kicks; the bots didn't stand much of a chance.

"You guys never learn, do you?" he sighed, right before slicing a robot down the middle, separating it into two halves. Another bot tried a flying kick, but he froze the idiot in midair and he hung still for a split second before shattering on the ground. A robot tried a punch, but Zero blocked it with his sword, sliced the thing's fist off, and kicked it so hard in the head with his teal boot that the head just sort of tumbled off the shoulders in a shower of sparks.

It was then that Zero heard a shriek... and with a surge of sudden horror, realized it was Jinx.

He looked back just in time to see Jinx go flying into a snow covered boulder... she thudded painfully against it, and the freezing cold snow slid off onto her, leaving her stunned and helpless... the robot who had thrown her advanced slowly with menacing eyes.

"JINX!" Zero screamed, terrified.

He growled softly to himself, and drew back his left arm... a glowing burst of blue energy formed in his hand and rapidly started expanding... after a moment, he blasted a full on blue, snow-swirled freezer beam that blazed out in a straight line and blew the unlucky bot to kingdom come.

By this time, the battle was pretty much over, and the Titans had won decisively.

Sub-Zero ran over to the stunned Jinx and knelt down.

"Oh God... Jinx, are you okay?" he whispered in worry.

She looked up at him, and he was sickened to see a small trail of blood coming from her hairline...she was bleeding at the scalp where her head had collided with the stone boulder.

"Ugh... my head... hurts..." she groaned in pain, holding a shaky hand to the side of her head.

He reached into a pouch on his gray belt, and pulled out a small roll of white, sticky bandages he kept handy in case of injury.

"Here... let me have a look." He told her.

She took her hand away, and Zero brushed away several strands of bubble gum pink hair, until he found a small gash on her temple...

He removed a small piece of bandage and applied it to the gash to stop the bleeding.

"Right... here let me help you up." Sub-Zero said with a nod.

He took Jinx by the arm and gently helped her to her feet.

"Th-thank you..." she murmured softly, her voice wavering slightly.

"No, it was nothing." Zero insisted. "Just try not to hurt your head again."

Jinx shivered violently. "It's so cold..." she mumbled. "Are you cold, Zero?"

"Well, not really... but I'm just used to it." He chuckled.

He wrapped her in his cape, just as he had the other day. He removed his gloves and put his bare hands to her cheeks in an attempt to warm her up. Even in this situation, Zero couldn't help but notice the beauty of her eyes... so feral and docile at the same time; they shone luminously in the dim light like jewels.

Unbeknownst to Sub-Zero, the young witch was doing some noticing of her own... particularly of the soothing warmth radiating from his strong, and yet gentle touch. She sighed contentedly, and the dull pain in her head was soon forgotten...

They stood like that for a couple minutes, Zero holding Jinx wrapped in his cape, with Jinx resting her head on him.

Soon though, Robin found them.

"Guys, are you all right?" he asked immediately.

"I'm fine... Jinx is a little hurt on the head..." he pointed to the bandage. "...but it's not serious." Jinx nodded.

"That's good... everyone else seems to be fine, too."

The Titans regrouped and made their way back in the castle.

Back in the Castle

Just as the Titans entered the Castle again, a guard ran up and greeted them.

"Hail m'lord! I bear news of Slade." He informed them immediately.

"Slade? What about him?" Robin asked urgently. The boy wonder vowed to him self that the villainous mastermind would NOT get away this time...

"He and his ally, Blood, have broken into the castle dungeons... we couldn't stop them." The guard said with a nod.

"The dungeons? Why the Hell would they go there? Hell, WE don't even go there!" Sub-Zero asked incredulously.

"What's so bad about the dungeons?" Beast Boy asked.

"Let's go... I'll explain on the way there."

As they made their way down many flights of ice steps deeper and deeper into the bowels of Castle Norblitz, Zero enlightened them.

"The dungeons are one of the oldest parts of the castle... we don't even use them anymore..." he said. "It's like a maze down there. And God only knows how deep down they go..."

Raven stopped in her tracks, surprising everyone. She had a look of realization upon her face.

"Huh? Yo, Raven... what's wrong? You look like you had a sudden shock!" Cy said worriedly.

She looked at them with wide eyes.

"The tablet! The words on the stone tablet Slade stole! Don't you remember?" she demanded. "It said something about a maze!"

Robin thought for a moment, and then repeated the parts he could remember.

"Hmm... it said: '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...' Do you think it was talking about the dungeon?"

Zero nodded. "It's possible... we better get down there."



Meanwhile, Slade and Brother Blood were in the bowels of the dungeons... the icy walls formed a maze deep below the castle, but they had managed to find their way down.

They were now at the lowest chamber... it was a huge, darkened room dimly lit with blue-flamed candles floating in midair all over the room... at the front of the room was a large, stone podium. On it, there was a large ornate scroll. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of natural ice.

The walls, though, were adorned by... bones. Human bones. They were strung up all along the walls like decorations... and the icy floor had innumerable, bizarre symbols carved into it. The ceiling had complete, human skeletons hanging from chains...

"Well... I can't say I think much of the décor..." Blood sniffed, a little unnerved by the surroundings.

"If we're going to find something worth coming here for... this is the place to find it." Slade hissed.

Brother Blood walked up to the podium with the scroll... and picked it up. It was written in Latin, and appeared to be some sort of spell...

"Well? Go on, read it." Slade growled impatiently.

Blood cleared his throat and read aloud:

"Per lacuna scelestus, mortuus, caedos, efforo ortus."
(A/N: 'With words wicked... the dead, slain, and buried shall rise!')

For a brief, tense moment... nothing happened. Then, the entire chamber began to shake...

The Titans also noticed this as they descended into the old dungeons... not only did the Earth itself seem to be shuddering, the skies suddenly lit up with streaks of white lightning... but the most frightening part was when, for just a few moments...everything went pitch black. Then, it became visible again, the ground stopped shaking, and the skies cleared just as suddenly as it had become stormy.

"Dude... what the heck was that?" Beast Boy groaned, looking quite pale.

"I do not know... but I do not think it was good." Star sighed.

Jinx noticed something... Raven suddenly looked very startled.


"Huh....hey Raven? Raven?" Jinx tried to get her attention but she didn't respond at first. "Raven, what's wrong? You look like you saw a ghost..."

Raven took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"I... I... sensed something... like something terrible trying to force it's way into our world..." she whispered, looking uncharacteristically rattled of her.
Back With Slade and Brother Blood...

The villainous duo could scarcely believe what was happening all around them!

Skeletal hands burst forth from the ground. Half rotted humanoid shapes began to emerge from the walls. Shadowy spirits began to descend from the ceiling above. Skeletons, zombies, ghosts, and other nightmarish apparitions were beginning to materialize all around the chamber... eerie skeletons in dented, ancient armor wielding rusted weapons... bloated, decaying corpses lumbering around snarling and groaning, missing various parts and organs... and strange, hooded and horned, shadowy spirits that flew slowly around, emitting blood-curling screeches.

"Damnation! We came here for power, not a trap!" Blood yelled angrily.

"Then I suggest we remedy the situation." Slade said coldly, going into a fighting stance.

The villains prepared to defend themselves against an undead onslaught... but they were in for a surprise.

The skeletons and undead fell on their rotted knees before them and kept perfectly still... the ghostly forms hovered in front of the pair and made bowing motions with their horned heads.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Slade hissed suspiciously.

It was then that Blood was struck by realization.

"Of course..." he said..."OF COURSE! I understand now!" he cackled. "Slade, don't you see it? The power hidden here... is them." He pointed toward the unearthly monsters crowded around them. "They are a perfect army... fearless, immortal, merciless, devoid of free will, and no thought of self-preservation!" he concluded.

Slade's one, visible eye widened.

"Excellent..."



Back With The Teen Titans



Our heroes were completely unaware of the evil that the villains had just unleashed upon them... though Raven was aware that something was wrong.

They made their way carefully through the narrow, twisting labyrinth under the castle... the only illumination came from the occasional blue-flamed torch upon the wall.

"Damn... we're never going to find our way out of here!" Jinx moaned.

"It's Slade we're after remember? Not the exit." Robin reminded.

"And Blood!" Cy added vehemently. His personal vendetta with Brother Blood was every bit as strong as Robin's with Slade.

Raven still looked very nervous, a weird thing for her. Beast Boy noticed this and walked nearer to her.

"Hey, Rae... you all right?" he asked her hesitantly.

At first, she was silent... then she spoke up softly. "Something's wrong... something's horribly wrong. I can feel it."

Beast Boy shrugged. "Okay... I get that. Things are not all right. But... what I want to know is are you all right?"

She shivered. "It's ... just making me uneasy."

Without warning, she clamped B.Boy's hand tightly... and she walked like that for the rest of the time, much to B.B.'s shock. But he squeezed her hand lightly in return and patted her on the shoulder.

Star and Robin were walking up front, just behind Sub-Zero.

"Star... do you have any idea what happened earlier? With all the shaking and lightning?" Rob asked

She shook her head slowly. "No... but it was most frightening. I... hope it does not happen again."

"I don't think it will." Robin assured, trying to soothe her fear. She hugged him around the shoulder, and he ran a hand through her hair.

"But if it does..." The Boy Wonder continued, "I'll be right here with you."

They were suddenly interrupted by Zero's startled shout.

"Look out! Everybody duck!" and he did so.

As they hit the ground, a volley of arrows soared over their heads. Sub-Zero looked up and saw a sight he would never forget.

Human skeletons, moving completely of their own according, wearing armor and holding crossbows.

Zero didn't even take the time to sort it out... he just retaliated. With a 'woosh!' he sent a freeze ray their way and froze them solid.

"Whoa.... Skeletons! That's impossible..." Zero whispered in horror. "Skeletons don't move..."

But as he moved closer to examine the frozen, skeletal archers; there was no mistaking it: they were indeed skeletons.

"What's going on? You never said anything about skeletons down here!" Jinx protested.

"I didn't know!" He answered.

They didn't have time to converse further... rotting corpses began abruptly yanking themselves up through the snow covered ice floor...

"What in the...?" Cy yelled, but he was cut off as a zombie hand rose from below and yanked him down to the ground.

"Cy!" B.B. yelled in alarm. He immediately ran over and removed the hand from Cy's leg, and then helped the bionic teen up.

From the spot where the hand had been, a lumbering Zombie rose up, missing a hand.

"ZOMBIE!" screamed Beast Boy, freaking out.

Star immediately began blasting apart the corpses as they rose from the ground, and Jinx and Raven helped her with their magic. Beast Boy turned into a lion and began fighting off any that got close to him, tooth and claw... meanwhile, Cy's sonic cannon blew them away as they shuffled towards him groaning. Zero defended himself with his sword, and Robin used birdarangs and exploding discs.


About twenty minutes and about eighty zombies later...




The Titans had fended off the undead beasts... for now. But shortly after the undead stopped coming, the ground started trembling violently beneath their feet again.

"Not again!" groaned Zero, stumbling around.

A crack suddenly spread along the ground... and a fissure opened up directly below Sub-Zero, swallowing him up and he fell screaming into the dark abyss.

"ZERO!" Jinx shrieked with horror, while Cyborg made a lunge to try and catch his arm... but it was too late. He was gone...

Zero fell into darkness for what felt like forever... until finally, he hit the ground with an 'Oomph!'

He stumbled to his feet and groaned, taking stock of his surroundings.

He was in a long, brightly lit corridor... the walls were lined with torches, and at the end was a large indention in the wall. There was a pair of tall candelabras with blue flickering candles. It felt strange to have just fallen from such darkness into the bright room. The walls of the corridor were covered totally in odd glyphs, scrawling, and symbols.

Between the two candelabras was a chest... with a large roll of parchment on top. He walked up and examined it curiously. He picked up the roll of parchment, and slowly unrolled it so that he could read it... and gasped in shock and what he read:

'Sub-Zero...
If you are reading this, I am long gone. You probably never knew me all that well, boy... but me name's Dark-Shard. I will explain why you are here.
When I conducted one of my regular raids on the castle, I got mixed up and lost in the dungeons... I ended up in this very room. It was here that I used some of my knowledge of ancient writings to translate the writing on the wall.
The writing tells of a prophecy. Two conquerors will assault our land and discover a terrible power that should remain forever hidden: the power to control the dead... a young knight and his comrades will fight off the conquerors, as well as the undead. He will become a true hero, and take his rightful place in the world. Somehow, I don't know how, I knew the writings spoke of my little son...YOU, Sub-Zero.
I was uncertain how much time I had left in life, so I left you at the Castle to live.
I know you now probably think me a scoundrel, a criminal. But everything I stole, I stole for you, son. I wanted you to have anything and everything you wanted, especially after your dear mother died...
Sub-Zero, I have left something for you in the treasure chest in front of you... it is called, Snevakt. Take it, and use it to dive out the invaders! Save our lands!
With love beyond death, your old Father,
Cap'n Dark-shard...'

For several minutes, Sub-Zero stood there stunned. He felt as if he had just received a message from beyond the grave...

His father... was a noble man after all, apparently. After all these years, he'd always thought of his father as some monsterous criminal, but...

After minutes of silence, Zero noiselessly opened up the chest and stared at awe at what lied within.

It was a shield... a shield made of everlasting, unbreakable ice, just like Eviglasere. It was large and perfectly round, with a faint blue glow emanating from it. This, apparently, was Snevakt.

"Snevakt... that means... 'Snow Guard'..." Zero mumbled to him self. It would make a perfect companion to Eviglasere.

Suddenly, as if by magic, the wall began to crack and open up... and revealed a steep flight of stone stairs. Wordlessly, Zero took Eviglasere in his right hand and Snevakt in his left and started up the stairs.

"I don't know what Slade and Blood have released... but I'm going to send it back where it belongs..."