How do you greet someone you haven't seen in a long time? Hey, how's it going? No, that wouldn't have that big of an impact... Do you like jazz? Oh absolutely not... Hmm...

Well, I guess I just have to start with a giant apology for being gone for so long. I had this chapter written, but then after a while, my drive left me, and a lot of other things in my life changed, some for the worst.

Darkness took me... and i strayed out of thought and time. But I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide.

I know what you're all gonna say, "DAX, where have you been? It's been so long! What happened?" "About time, I just came here to tell you you're a hack fraud who makes people wait!" And "Nice chapter. Please update."

And to all of you... I'll have a lot more to say at the end of the chapter, so if you want to hear more from me, it'll all be down there.

"Fire beats Wood." Raven said as she tossed a card into the middle of the table, covering another card with a tree.

"But Water beats Fire." Cyborg countered, throwing his own card over the previous one.

"Sun dries up Water." Beast Boy riposted, tossing another card into the pile.

"Well, Clouds block out Sun." Kylar smirked, placing his elemental card on the table.

"And Lightning pierces through Clouds." Was Robin's comeback. At the moment, it seemed like he won the round, and he knew it too, if the smug grin on his face was any indication.

Recently, life was pretty easy for the Titans. Just a couple of weeks ago their home was under attack by the criminal mastermind, Slade. But with some help from Terra, the team managed to defeat their arch-enemy and save their home from certain destruction. Not only that, but the youthful blonde was welcomed with open arms to be a full-fledged Titan, and honestly each of the others were more than happy to have her around. Kylar's joy for his little sister being around was second only to Beast Boy's. And, as if things couldn't get any better, the amount of crime in the city had lowered a very significant amount with the added help from their new teammate, giving the team a lot more, much needed, rest and relaxation.

So, on a beautiful day like today, the group of seven decided to take it easy and try out a new card game that had been gaining a lot of popularity in Jump City. They had to move the couch to make room for the dining table to place it in the middle of the Ops Center. As stated before, it seemed as though our resident Boy Wonder had won. But speaking of Terra-

"Sorry, but Wind resists Lighting." The geokinetic disrupted her leaders' short-lived victory, a grin of her own stretching across her features. This caused Robin's eyes to widen with shock.

"I'm out." The violet-haired sorceress held her hands up in surrender.

"Me too." The changeling continued.

"Same here." The aura manipulator sighed resting his head on his right hand.

"Yeah, I can't beat that." The spiky-haired teen admitted.

"I wish to... go the fish?" The innocent Tamaranean asked with a wide grin on her face after looking at her hand. Raven and Beast Boy leaned over to check her cards.

"Uh, you want to fold, Starfire." Beast Boy suggested after seeing just what type of cards she had.

"Fold? That is good? I am victorious?" Starfire asked jubilantly, but her mood quickly flipped when her two friends shook their heads. As they leaned away, a small drop of sweat popped out on the auburn-haired Titans temple and a very uneasy look came over her face. Finally, she placed her cards face down on the table while she hung her head in defeat.

Terra let out a little chuckle, "Hehe, sorry Starfire, but it looks like I win this round." She said as she reached for the pile. But before she could sweep the cards into one deck, Cyborg placed his hand on the stack, stopping her.

"Ah-ah-ah, little lady." The bulky bionic interjected as he wagged his finger at her. "How can you win if I've still got one card?" He asked teasingly as he held up his lone card with his other hand. "Come on, girl. You know you want to play me for it. One last round, winner take all."

The challenge elicited a collective "OOOOoooohhhh," from the remaining four teens as the tense atmosphere hung over their heads. After a few minutes of thinking, the lithe girl made up her mind as a determined expression surfaced.

"Okay, Cyborg, you're on, and the loser buys pizza!" Terra smirked as she looked at her cards. Her little smirk grew into a mischievous grin that her brother would be proud of. "As the challenger, it's only right for you to go first." She offered, a very smug tone in her voice.

"Ooohhh, sounds like she already knows she won, Cy." Kylar said, trying to incite a response from his cybernetic buddy.

"Yeah, Cyborg, are you just gonna let her talk like that?" Robin added with a smirk as he raised his eyebrow at him.

Throughout the pep talks from his two comrades, the African Titan had his best poker face firmly established, not breaking eye contact with the blonde. "Well, since you offered." He broke his stoicism as he shrugged casually. Raising the card high above his head to add emphasis to the play, he slapped the card down on the pile, covering it with his large hand to hide the card. The anticipation was killing the group as they waited for Cyborg to move his hand and see just what his winning card was. After feeling they waited long enough, the bionic moved his hand and revealed a card that had a picture of the Earth with a giant crack down the middle. "Earthquake." He grinned, leaning back confidently in his chair and locking his hands behind his head. "Beat that."

The five spectators looked at the card and jammed their faces together above the pile as all ten of their eyes bulged in surprise. The play elicited yet another collective "Ooooh," as they wondered what their Earth-moving friend would do.

After looking at the pile and then back at her cards, Terra let out a sigh and hung her head, "Sorry, Cy..." The blonde quickly dropped her ploy as a sinister smirk stretched across her face and she narrowed her eyes, "...but I hope you weren't planning on having money for the next month." She took one of her cards and lifted it above her head. "HAH!" She yelled as she slammed it on the table. When she removed her hand, the card's face was revealed as a flaming meteor.

Starfire and Raven gasped, their eyes popping even wider at the revelation, while Cyborg leaned over the table, in complete shock at the turnabout.

"Meteor!" The black-jacketed brunette cheered, popping out of his chair in celebration of his adoptive sister's victory.

"The one-in-a-million card that beats all others!" The green teen explained with shining eyes, "Ohhh... it's too beautiful for words." He moaned happily as he leaned back in his chair.

A sight gag had Terra victoriously posed on a mountain of cards holding a pole with a flag of a yellow T, much like the one on her shirt while a toothy grin was plastered across her face.

"Congratulations, Terra." Robin said as his head appeared in a speech bubble above the victor.

"Oh, yes! Most impressive!" Starfire congratulated, her own head appearing next to the other.

"Yeah, awesome job." Beast Boy awed dreamily, his head appearing next to her with giant hearts instead of eyes.

Cyborg took the loss in stride: His face was buried in his hands as a rain cloud hovered over his head. Other than that, he took it rather well. The storm cloud dissipated when Kylar walked over to the somber Titan.

"It's alright, Cy." The sapphire-eyed teen comforted him as he placed a hand on his shoulder, "That's how you play the game."

"Winning isn't everything." The blue-cloaked magician added as she moved to join the two.

"I guess..." The brooding cybernetic teen sighed before his mood flipped, "But what can I say? The girl's got game." He smiled as he crossed his arms. "So what kind of toppings do we want?" He asked as he moved to get out of his chair. But before he could stand up, there was a sudden flash of white light. When it cleared, Cyborg and Kylar had vanished entirely.

"Huh?" The Boy Wonder raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the disappearance of his comrades.

"Uh, what just-" The shapeshifter was cut off when another flash caused him and Robin to disappear as well.

The only ones left were the three girls of the team, who were still in their seats and had very puzzled looks on their faces as they looked at the places their friends were mere moments before.

"This is... part of the game?" Starfire asked.

"Uh..." Raven shrugged, not having the faintest idea as to what happened.

"So... does this mean no pizza?" Terra asked with a sheepish grin as she furrowed her brow.

0-0

Somewhere beyond the vast star ocean, even perhaps in a completely different dimension, a sudden flash left the four Titans standing in a large atrium-like room that had a starry night sky visible through the dome-shaped ceiling. Balconies with windows could be seen around the room, as well as hallways that contained more doors that led to who knows where.

Before the group of four could take in their entire surroundings and ask where exactly they were, another bright flash tore through the room, dropping off another group of six teenaged males, all with equal looks of confusion on their faces. Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Kylar recognized three of the others, Gizmo, Mammoth, and Aqualad, but the other three, they had never seen before.

One of the newcomers had short red-blond hair, a domino mask similar to Robin's, a sleeveless, dark red tunic marked with an S over the heart, matching wrist guards and pants, a yellow belt, yellow boots, and a quiver of arrows slung on his back.

Another wore a black outfit trimmed with red, and his skin appeared to be transparent and filled with fire.

The last of the group was very tall, muscular, broad-shouldered, and his head resembled that of a wildebeest with a thick black mane that ran from the top of his head down the back of his neck. He also wore metallic armor beneath a sleeveless dark blue tunic and pants with plated guards around his head, neck, and waist, and matched his outfit with armored combat boots.

To add to the confusion, one more blinding flash ripped through the room, dropping off another group of six males, all looking to be in their teens, and all looking just as flummoxed as the last group. However, unlike the last group, none of these six were recognizable to any of the Titans.

The first teen in the second group had a lanky body, built for a sprinter, and wore a red and yellow one piece jumpsuit which included a yellow mask. From his head to his waist, his outfit was yellow, and his legs were red, ending with yellow ankle-high boots that complimented his long, red gloves. His mask had two big eyeholes and left his nose, mouth, and chin exposed. He had two red lightning bolts on the sides of his head where his ears would be. He also had bright blue eyes, and spiked, swept back, red hair that added significant height to his body.

The second teen, they noticed, was the largest of the group, probably matching Cyborg and Mammoth in height, if not taller. His body was reminiscent of a body builder, nearly the exact opposite of the red-haired boy before him, who could probably snap a steel girder in half if he wanted to, and he wore a dark red t-shirt with black jeans and black-and-white sneakers. But his most distinguishing features were his red eyes and dark blue, like ultramarine blue, hair that spiked up in the front and the bear pelt that was tied around his neck and hung down his back. The head of the bear was hanging loosely down his back as well and looked as though it could be used as a sort of makeshift hood, clearly a very intimidating teenager if the boys ever saw one.

The next teen they noticed was shorter than the previous entrant and seemed to be a hybrid of some sort. He had black, spiky hair, similar to Robin's, but instead of pointing up, it went in every direction. He also had brown eyes, sharp teeth, three slits on both sides of his neck, and his skin was a light gray, very similar to a shark. His attire consisted of a white headband tied around his head that covered his forehead, blue shorts, a button-up, sleeveless Hawaiian vest that was currently open to show off his toned body, and he was barefoot. The vest also exposed two scars that ran down from the top of his shoulders to down his back. If it wasn't already apparent, the four Titans would guess this teen was a shark.

The fourth teen had straight black hair in a faux hawk hairstyle and with a light olive skin tone. He looked like he was built like a swimmer. He wore jeans, a deep purple short sleeved shirt with the image of a gold four-leaf clover on it, and white sneakers. Overall, he looked to be like a normal human being, except for his very distinguishable eyes, which were purely black. Other than that, though, he looked like a normal teen.

The next teen also looked human, with a pale complexion and green eyes. He wore black pants with gray running shoes, a blue long sleeved shirt, and a white zip-up vest over it. He also wore a white beanie to match that hid his hair and came down to just above his eyes. He really just looked like a civilian that was completely out of place to the others around him.

The final member of the second group was a well-muscled teen with glowing pale blue skin. He had magenta lightning bolts running down from his shoulders and waist to a white circle on his chest and back. There were also two additional magenta lightning bolts running from his eyes to his jawline. His eyes were pure white with no pupils and had a small, black spike sticking out from the corner of them, which resembled eyelashes. He wore black gloves which were blue on his fingers, black boots, and black underwear. Each of these articles of clothing had a magenta zig-zag pattern right above them. And finally, the blue teen was bald except for a magenta, lightning bolt shaped strand on the tip of his forehead.

With all the teens in the room, they kept looking around curiously before a booming male voice startled the sixteen new arrivals.

"Welcome, champions all!" The voice shouted, capturing their collective attention. Turning to the source, they saw a powerfully built humanoid figure, standing atop a dias that was at least fifty feet tall with steps running up to it. From their distance, they could see gold bands on his biceps, wrists, and shins, as well as a loincloth-like garment similar to that worn by Roman soldiers. The chest and face were gray, while the arms and legs were white. The white was fur that ran down the sides of his face and chest and covered his limps. The exposed skin was gray, and the scalp sported short black stubble. Finally, he had a necklace with a large red jewel. "I am the Master of Games!" The powerful figure introduced himself. "And you are hereby invited to compete in the Tournament of Heroes! The Tournament of Heroes. A friendly competition between the world's greatest young champions." The Master of Games explained before the jewel around his neck glowed white. It's radiance suddenly filled the room before the group was looking at what looked like a jumbo screen.

When the screen cleared, a view of the Jump City skyline was seen.

"Robin – the combat-equipped, kung-fu-trained, one-man-army." The humanoid figure announced as Robin backflipped on screen and threw a couple of discs toward the viewers, which exploded before he launched himself through the smoke and aimed a kick at the camera.

"Hot Spot – a human flamethrower with a fiery temper to match." He announced as a clip of the fire-fueled teen played, showing him flying through the air and shooting fireballs at the camera.

"Cyborg – the high-tech teen fighting machine." A clip of the metallic Titan firing his sonic cannon appeared next before he leaped at the lens to throw a punch.

"Khei – the nigh-unstoppable powerhouse that's out of this world." The next clip showed the massive bear wearing teen fighting what looked like some sort of albino gargoyle. The creature shot a beam from its' mouth and it hit the teen square in the chest. However he didn't seemed fazed at all by the attack as he charged through it and delivered a massive punch that sent it sailing through the air.

"Killowat – a supercharged master of electricity." The clip that accompanied the announcement showed the blue-skinned teen charging a magenta colored bolt of lighting in his hands before firing it at a crowd of robots, destroying them all in the process.

"Aqualad – a water-breathing telepath with mastery over surf and sea." The Master of Games announced as the clip that played showed the Atlantean using his telepathy to summon a pair of whales.

"Wildebeest – four hundred pounds of primal heroic fury." His introduction clip showed the half-beast hero lifting a car off a city street and throwing it away from the screen, where it exploded on impact.

"Frederick Constantine – a smart-mouthed psychic with luck to spare." The next clip showed a group of bank robbers running towards the screen before a light blue glow surrounded them and lifted them off the ground. The clip then cut to the faux hawk styled teen holding up one hand with a matching blue glow while trying to cover a yawn with the other.

"Gizmo – the nasty little boy with the really big brain." On screen, a clip of the bald runt showed him leaning towards the camera on his four metal spider legs. His face appeared on many wall monitors in the background of the shot. When he leaned down closer to the camera, two lasers extended from his belt and fired.

"Shark – an aquatic hybrid whose bite is far worse than his bark." The clip showed the black-haired, light gray-skinned teen swimming through the ocean during a storm biting down on a rope. As the screen pulled away, it showed the rope tied to a cruise ship, apparently being pulled by the young contestant.

"Beast Boy – a quick-witted changeling who can turn into any animal." Beast Boy's introduction clip showed him running towards the camera before transforming into a tiger.

"Mammoth – the genetically enhanced giant with unmatched strength." The next clip showed the black-and-gold wearing HIVE villain in a desert setting, swinging around a tank in an Olympic-style hammer throw before throwing it in the distance.

"Morph – a clever fighter who tends to go unnoticed." The clip that followed this announcement showed what looked like gangsters running down a hall of a building before stopping. In the next moment, the beanie wearing teen moved from out of the wall, having completely blended himself into it and slammed their heads together, knocking them out.

"Kid Flash – the fastest teen alive with a sense of humor to match." On screen, the teen in the yellow and red jumpsuit was sprinting toward the camera, almost like a blur, and easily weaving through laser blasts from robots.

"Speedy – the agile archer with an unstoppable arsenal of energy arrows." The red headed archer appeared on screen, bow and arrow in hand, and aimed toward the camera. He was in a forest setting where a very large robot was destroying the area. He let the arrow fly and it found its' mark on the robots' head, blowing it up in the process. Speedy smirked at his success before the next clip played.

"And Kylar – a warrior of the soul who defeats anyone in his way." The Master of Games announced as the clip that followed showed the aura manipulator with his arms engulfed in his signature power. He then let loose a barrage of aura spheres from his hands that found their marks on a horde of Slade's commandos, kicking up a giant cloud of dust. When it cleared, it showed Kylar giving a victorious fist pump at the camera.

"Sixteen brave and worthy champions, but only one shall win." The Master of Games finished as each of their pictures faded and the screen disappeared.

After he finished explaining, Beast Boy was the first to speak up about the challenge. "So... does the winner get some kind of really cool prize, like... maybe... oh, I don't know... a moped?" He asked with big soulful eyes. When he asked, a thought balloon appeared over his head, showing the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Then, the green teen, dressed as a suave, beret-wearing Frenchman with a baguette under his arm, zipped back and forth on a motor scooter with Terra seated behind him, hugging his back, while several screaming, love struck women chased on foot.

"I have no moped, shape-shifter." The tournament host clarified, shooting down that fantasy quickly. "But rest assured, when the Tournament is complete, there will be magnificent prizes. And, of course, the winner shall prove that he is the greatest young hero on Earth." As the Master of Games continued explaining, some of the teenage competitors shot each other questioning looks at one another while others simply kept their eyes on him. "However, any who do not wish to compete need only say the word and I shall return you home at once." He finished, his red jewel glowing as he finished.

There was a quick, sotto-voce discussion of the offer, all seemingly in agreement of one thing. After the murmuring died down, Robin stepped forward. "Looks like we're in-all of us." He said, confirming their places in the tournament.

"The challenge is accepted. The Tournament begins! Prepare for competition!" The alien humanoid shouted as his jewel glowed again. The next moment, a huge white light flashed across the room, and when it cleared, the Master of Games had disappeared from his perch.

All the arrivals were more than a bit confused at the sudden exit, but quickly gathered themselves and decided to mingle with the others.

"Aquadude! What's up?" Beast Boy greeted the swimmer with a high five before shaking his hand. "Ready to watch me claim all those prizes?" He teased, thumping the taller teens' arm.

"No." Aqualad replied dryly, snorting a bit. "But after I win, I promise to let you have my autograph." He bragged, placing his right hand on the changeling's shoulder.

"Hey, what's he doing here?" Cyborg shouted inquisitively as he pointed down towards the pint-sized brainiac. "He's no hero! I thought this was a Tournament of-"

"What's the matter, Robo-Wimp? Afraid I'll kick your stinking can?" Gizmo shot back with a mocking grin.

"Just try it." The cybernetic Titan growled as he got in the shorter kids' face, red sparks and beams shooting between his implanted eye and Gizmo's natural one.

The aquatic hybrid shivered nervously as he stared at the hothead. "What? You got a problem?" Hot Spot asked threateningly.

"No. No problem here." Shark defended as he held his hands up nervously, as if to keep his distance from the other teen. "Just... stay as far away from me as possible." The fire manipulator looked at him with a raised brow. "I don't like fire."

Hot Spot smirked at that bit of information. "Well then, I hope I fight you in the first match." He said confidently, causing the crossbred to back away some more.

The blue-skinned teen was looking around the room before his attention was caught by a red-and-yellow blur that ran up to him. "Heya." The yellow jumpsuit wearing teen greeted after coming to a stop in front of him. "Names Kid Flash, fastest teen alive."

"Killowat." The magenta-haired teen replied, curtly.

"Cool, nice to meet you." Kid Flash smiled as he forcefully grabbed and shook Killowats' hand. "Gotta say, there's some very weird faces around here." He continued talking as he stopped shaking the electric teens' hand. "But I got this in the bag, after all, no one's caught up with me yet." He playfully boasted as he jabbed the air at supersonic speeds.

Killowat didn't say anything. It just seemed like he had a perpetually serious expression on his face.

Kid Flash noticed the serious expression and stopped punching at the air, "You don't talk much, do you?" Killowat only barely shook his head in response.

The bear wearing giant scanned his competition and after processing everything, he smirked and placed his hands on his hips triumphantly. "Everyone should just pack up and leave now. I got this in the bag." Khei said.

"Is that so?" He heard a voice come from behind him. Turning around, he saw Mammoth walking up to him. "I bet I could take you down right now, tough guy." The genetically enhanced HIVE teen got in his face.

"Oh, you think so?" Khei didn't back down. "Then you better back up those words." He said with a sinister smile.

"Same to you."

Kylar found himself mingling with the beanie wearing teen, though he was the one approached rather than going to introduce himself. "Wow, so you're Kylar of the Teen Titans? It's so great to meet you." The vest wearing teen said excitedly.

"Thanks." The brunette said as he held out his hand to shake. "Always great to meet a fan."

"The name's Morph." He said, accepting the hand shake. When they touched, Kylar felt a strange sensation run through his body. It was light, and almost unnoticeable, but he definitely felt something familiar. But he quickly decided it was nothing when they let go. "Oh hey, I've been wanting to ask you about some rumors."

"Go ahead."

"Is it true that you and Raven are dating?" Morph asked with a playful smile. This question caught the aura manipulator off guard, but a smirk quickly found it's way to his face.

"Where did you hear that?" He asked, perhaps a bit too happily. Morph's lighthearted chuckle was the only answer.

The faux hawk, punk looking teen sniffed the air disgustingly a bit as he looked around the room. "Ugh, what's that smell?" He asked, his accent revealing him as a native of Britain. "Almost like something's been rolling around in sh-" Frederick turned his head and saw Wildebeest glaring down at him. "Oh, well that explains it. Although, a dumb animal should be easy pickings in this fight." He quipped, earning an angry snarl from the animal contestant. "Easy, big fella, it was just a joke." He defended. When Wildebeest turned to walk away, Freddy tried holding back a laugh, "No it wasn't." He added under his breath.

Robin and Speedy were sizing each other up. Saying nothing at first, both domino-masked teens circled and gave each other a slightly hairy eyeball. Robin then broke the standoff by extending a hand to shake.

"Speedy. I've heard you're good – real good." The Boy Wonder complimented as the archer accepted the gesture.

"Robin. Likewise. Great to finally meet you." Speedy replied.

After breaking off the handshake, both teens continued their lighthearted conversation. "So, what are those arrows made of?" The spiky-haired leader asked, pointing to the quiver on the bowman's back.

The redhead pulled one out and held it forth for Robin to gaze at eagerly. "Polarized matrices of high-energy electrons." He explained.

"Right." The brightly colored Titan said, pulling a disc from his belt. "Same technology packs the punch in my electric discs. How do you overcome the quantum-entanglement problem?"

"Borrowed some time on a prototype accelerator and generated enough positrons to slow down the reaction so that-"

As both fighters acquainted themselves through some more confusing dialogue, Cyborg and Kylar were standing to the side, watching the exchange. A moment later, Beast Boy popped up next to them. "Whoa. Never knew Robin had a clone." He said to his two taller friends.

"Champions!" The voice of the Master of Games boomed throughout the room, catching everyone by surprise. "Round One! Face your opponents!" The next thing they all knew, a bright white flash whisked them all away to fight their first opponent. The settings varied between different worlds or dimensions, no one really knew, but the one thing they did know was they were all in for the fights of their lives.

"Robin versus Aqualad!"

"Kylar versus Hot Spot!"

"Cyborg versus Wildebeest!"

"Morph versus Killowat!"

"Khei versus Mammoth!"

"Shark versus Kid Flash!"

"Gizmo versus Speedy!"

"Beast Boy versus Frederick Constantine!"

With the matches announced, the Master of Games shouted one final time before the contestants let loose. "Let the contest begin!"

0-0

Robin vs Aqualad

Robin found himself in some sort of pocket dimension with flat stones floating on water. After landing on one of the stones, he looked around to gather his surroundings; there only seemed to be water as far as the eye could see. The flat stone he was on was also accompanied by other stones of the same shape that looked like they formed a massive circle. Looking into the water and seeing his reflection, the Boy Wonder found one thing a little out of place.

"So where is he, anyway?" He asked as he scratched the back of his head.

As if to answer his question, a patch of bubbles rising from underwater in the middle of the circle caught his attention. There, he saw Aqualad's head break the surface, throwing a bit of a scare into the spiky-haired teen for a moment.

After making his appearance known, the young Atlantean showcased his mastery over the sea by lifting himself on an inverted water tornado to tower over Robin.

"Oh..." The masked Titan's eyes shrunk as a sweat drop appeared on his temple, the setting they were in definitely gave the sea-born teen an advantage. Robin quickly found himself leapfrogging from platform to platform to avoid powerful streams of water that struck where he was only a moment ago.

"Tsk." Seeing as his opponent had made created some distance between them, the teenage Merman lowered himself back into the water and began swimming at breakneck speeds to catch up to the Titans' leader.

Thinking he was in the clear, Robin turned around to see where the water-dwelling fighter was, only to see him bobbing out of the water and approaching his platform quickly. But before Aqualad could reach his target, the spiky-haired kung-fu prodigy threw some pellets from his belt towards the Atlantean. The shocked expression on his face lasted for but a moment as the pellets exploded in front of him, sending him underwater.

Shaking his head to regain his senses, Aqualad poked his head out of the water to see Robin on one of the platforms, though this time, it was rising out of the water as a giant column. He saw the masked Titan give him a taunting salute as the some other platforms rose in the same fashion. The water-breathing teen grit his teeth in annoyance before submerging himself again.

Robin smirked to himself as the platform came to a stop. He looked down again for his opponent, but didn't see him anywhere. So, staying on his guard he began jumping from perch to perch, and was rewarded with Aqualad rising back up to his level on a column of water, where he released an uppercut that found its' mark with the Boy Wonder's chin.

The attack was effective, but the Titan was no stranger to getting hit and quickly caught himself in midair and landed on another slightly lowered platform in a crouch. Rubbing his chin to ease the pain, he then pulled out discs from his belt and threw them at the water manipulator.

The raven-haired teen was able to dodge the projectiles and continued his assault on the masked leader with whips of water. "That all you got?" Aqualad asked a bit smugly as he shot another stream of water at his adversary.

Robin only smirked as he pointed in the direction of the discs he threw. With a raised eyebrow, the water fighter turned around and saw the projectiles flying back towards him. With a startled yell, Aqualad threw up a shield of water to protect himself, but it wasn't enough to block the resulting explosions that came from Robin's weapons.

The explosions knocked the Atlanean away from his column of water, where he was completely vulnerable in the air. Taking this opportunity to attack, the spiky-haired tactician whipped out his bo staff and jumped off his platform. With a determined yell, Robin swung his staff at his target and knocked him down toward the water below.

Aqualad crashed into the water, creating a giant splash that shot up as tall as the columns surrounding him. When Robin landed on another platform, he retracted his staff and looked over to where his opposition landed. He saw the Atlanean floating face up in the water with swirls in his eyes, unable to fight anymore.

"Winner: ROBIN!" A voice resounded throughout the arena as Aqualad disappeared in a flash of white light. Moments later, another flash whisked the victor away.

0-0

Kylar vs Hot Spot

The aura manipulator was stretching his limbs as he got ready for his fight. The arena he was in looked like the inside of a cavern, deep inside whatever strange planet or dimension they were in, and was surrounded by pits that had boiling hot lava. Nothing too out of the ordinary. As Kylar finished limbering up, he looked across the giant rock he was standing on and saw Hot Spot extending short jets of fire from his arms.

After dissipating the fire, the red-hot teen glanced over at the brunette. Both traded small nods to show that they were ready, and without another moment to lose, the teen torch projected a fire stream at his opponent. Kylar quickly rolled out of the way and summoned his purplish-black aura around his arms. He then chucked a few spheres in the direction of the fire-fueled fighter.

The projectiles failed to meet their target, but did force Hot Spot to move from his spot. By spewing flames from both arms to act like a rocket engine, he was able to propel himself at a high speed towards the black-jacketed teen. As he approached, the human flamethrower flipped into an upside-down spin, and twirled his legs like a high-speed flail. Kylar tried blocking the kicks as best he could with his arms, but one kick managed to break his defense and knock him away to another rock.

After skidding to a stop, Kylar looked up and saw his opponent floating above him. A look of shock found its' way on his face, though, as he saw Hot Spot summon another ball of fire and throw it down at him. Summoning his aura around his legs, he quickly shot into the air and tried to make distance between him and the fire manipulator.

Hot Spot didn't let up, though, as he quickly followed close behind. As they were flying, the lava from the pits shot up like geysers, creating dangerous obstacles that both teens had to maneuver around. Just as another geyser shot up, Hot Spot stopped his pursuit since the lava appeared right in front of him. With this opening, Kylar flipped around and hurled another sphere at his pursuer, catching him off-guard. The projectile found its' mark on Hot Spot's chest, and knocked him out of the sky.

Before he could crash into the ground, the hot-headed teen shot streams of fire from his hands again to realign himself in the air, and cause him to land on his feet. However, he didn't have any room to breath as the aura manipulator charged him, punching him in the gut and then following up with a knee to the face.

The force of the hit caused Hot Spot to stagger backwards, and left his vision blurry. Just as he was beginning to refocus, he saw another aura sphere flying right at him and instinctively threw his hands up to block. The projectile exploded against his raised arms in a cloud of smoke, which cleared to show a very surprised face above them; the reason was that his flaming arms had disappeared. Looking up again, he saw Kylar flying at him at full speed with a punch that knocked him spinning through the air.

The brunette wasn't finished yet as he shot after his airborne opponent and positioned himself above him. He then brought his hands together for an overhead slam and struck Hot Spot down to the ground. With a pained yell, the flamethrower teen crashed into the ground, creating a small crater in it.

"Winner: KYLAR!" The voice of the Master of Games echoed throughout the lava filled cavern as the unconscious Hot Spot disappeared in a flash of white light.

"WOOOOOOHHH! Eat that, Hot Shot!" The victorious Titan pumped his fist as he cheered before another light flashed him away.

0-0

Cyborg vs Wildebeest

The arena chosen for the metallic Titan and the half-beast was truly one where strength was measured. Where these two contestants were resembled that of the Colosseum in Rome, but the architecture resembled that of alien origins.

Cyborg walked the length of the arena until he was standing in the center. Looking around to process his surroundings, he then opened up a panel on his arm to check his scanners. However, before he could get a reading as to where he was exactly, he heard the sound of hooves stomping on the ground.

"Huh?" Looking over, the titanium Titan saw the bestial teen charging him in a headlong rush. Cyborg rolled out of the way at the last second, dodging his oncoming opponent, before landing on one knee. He then looked over to the half-beast and saw him facing him again. Both fighters locked eyes before Wildebeest released a snort and a roar before charging the half-robotic teen. Cyborg let out a snort of his own before picking himself up and running to meet his foe.

When they finally reached each other, both teens began trading blows. Cyborg struck his foe with with a powerful right hook, while Wildebeest retaliated with a straight. They kept trading blows until the man-beast hit the cybernetic with a double ax-handle that launched him into the air. When he came back down, Cyborg landed with a bounce on his back. He didn't have much time to rest, though, as when he looked up, he saw Wildebeest falling down towards him.

Rolling out of the way just in time as Wildebeest crashed into where he was just a minute ago, Cyborg busted out his sonic cannon and blasted his opponent square in the side, sending the beast flying into the wall of the Colosseum.

The wall Wildebeest crashed into collapsed around him, leaving a giant pile of rubble that covered the beast-man. The sight earned a smirk from the bionic as he turned his cannon back into his hand. "Boo-huh?" His attention was caught when a boulder launched from the rubble and towards him. Cyborg didn't move as the boulder came closer to him, and when it finally got close to him, the giant rock landed right next to him, leaving him completely unharmed.

Looking back at the pile, he saw Wildebeest crawl out of it as he let out another snort. With another roar, the wild teen charged again, throwing all caution to the wind. But with a determined look, Cyborg readied himself to meet the charge head-on.

Wildebeest gained speed as he made his approach, kicking up dirt as he ran, until he finally collided with the titanium African. The force of the blow managed to cause Cyborg to slide back as his feet ground into the dirt, but he was able to stop the charging animal fully. When he finally got his hands on his opponent, Cyborg grabbed at his head. "Looks like it's time to grab this bull by the horns!" He shouted before swinging his foe like an Olympic-style hammer throw.

Round and around they went until Cyborg deemed he had enough momentum, where he then let go of the beast teen and sent him hurtling to the stands. Coming down, Wildebeest smashed into the seats, leaving a bit of a crater that tossed up a large cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, it revealed Wildebeest with swirls in his eyes, marking him unable to continue with the fight.

"Winner: CYBORG!" The Master of Games announced as a bolt of lighting struck Wildebeest, whisking him away to parts unknown.

Even though he was the victor, an uneasy feeling came over the bionic teen as he stared at the place his opponent was moments before, only for another bolt to strike him and take him away from the alien Colosseum.

0-0

Gizmo vs Speedy

Speedy was currently running through a different pocket dimension that consisted of only floating circular platforms in a never ending teal-colored abyss. Hopping from one to the next, the young archer was barely staying ahead of fusillade of laser shots coming from his currently airborne opponent.

"What's the matter, slug-face?" Gizmo laughed, "Feeling jumpy?"

Dodging another burst of projectiles, the redheaded archer dropped from the platform he was on to one directly below him.

"Ha! You can run, but I'm gonna get ya, barf-brai-huh?" The flying baldy grunted as he passed over the platform, only to find the archer nowhere in sight. "Where'd ya go, ya stupid clod?"

Little to the gadgeteers' knowledge, the person he was looking for was hanging from the underside of the platform behind him, using an arrow with a suction cup stuck to the bottom.

As Gizmo kept voicing his annoyance with his missing opponent, Speedy knocked another arrow back and readied his bow. With a smirk, the redhead let the arrow fly, where the head broke off to reveal a small electrical plug that connected with his opponents' jetpack.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The tiny teen screamed as sparks flew from his backpack while his jet sent him spiraling through the air. "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" He cried as he rapidly pushed buttons on a controller. After spinning for a few minutes, he finally pressed the right button, causing his wings to fly off and purging the arrow on his back. "AAAAAHHHHH!" Pushing another button on the controller, his backpack sprouted four mechanical legs, resembling that of a spider, and caught himself as he landed safely on one of the platforms. "Ugh, I meant to do that." Gizmo said, trying to play off the panic attack he just had.

The sound of a whistle caught his attention again. Turning around, the green jumpsuit-wearing boy saw Speedy on another platform above him, looking down with a smirk as he gave a small two fingered salute before running in the opposite direction.

With a grunt, Gizmo used his new legs to leap from one platform to the next, in hopes of catching the agile archer. Bringing out another small cannon from his hip, he continued his barrage of bullets, only this time he didn't have the advantage of the air to help him.

Speedy, again, found himself swerving across the platform to dodge the oncoming attacks, oh joy. He kept running until he heard the end of the salvo behind him. Sliding to a stop, he quickly turned around to find the bald midget nowhere in sight.

"Huh?" The bowman raised a quizzical eyebrow before pulling out an arrow. But before he could knock it back to defend himself-

"Peekaboo!" He heard a shout come from above him. Looking up, Speedy saw his opponent land right on him, having to keep two legs from pinning him down, dropping his arrow as a result. "Gotcha, ya newt-brained loser." Gizmo laughed, "What do you have to say about that?"

Straining against the force of his opponent, Speedy grunted as he spoke, "You talk too much." He felt the arrow he dropped by his foot, and quickly kicked it over to punt into the air. It sailed up behind Gizmo and exploded into a net that wrapped around the tiny gadget-user.

"Hey! Let g-WAAAAAAAAH!" He cried as an electrical current ran through the net, shocking him into submission. Once the shocks ended, the H.I.V.E. student fell to the ground with a thud.

With his opponent no longer pinning him down, Speedy got up and made his way to the downed boy. "Oohh." Gizmo groaned as he sat up. He then felt his backpack get pulled off his back. "Hey!" He turned around and saw Speedy smirk before ripping out the wiring in the pack.

"Winner: SPEEDY!" The Master of Games' voice echoed throughout the arena before a white light whisked both fighters away.

0-0

Khei vs Mammoth

An arena fit for two giants with limitless strength could only be one where they could cause as much destruction as they could. For the bear-wearing teen, it looked as though a large mountainous region would have to suffice.

"Alright, shorty, time to get the beating of a lifetime!" Khei boasted intensely as he stretched his arms.

"Who're you calling short?!" Mammoth shot back with equal intensity, cracking his knuckles.

Both giants were standing on the precipice of a mountain. The area they were on before the steep cliff wasn't to the size of their liking, but it didn't matter for these two, they had the entire mountain range to duke it out and see who was king of the... well, you know.

"You, shorty!" The bear-wearing teen shouted back, "Just try and stop me!"

As a response, the genetically enhanced HIVE student let out a threatening growl before beating feet towards him opponent. With a smirk, Khei did the same, pulling up the head of the bear so that it covered his head. Once both participants got close enough, they both reeled a fist back before letting them loose, striking each other at the same time and knocking each other back.

The blue-haired giant staggered back a few steps before stopping, "Gotta admit, that actually tickled." He smirked as he rubbed his chin.

"Hmph, not bad yourself." Mammoth replied, nursing the swelling red spot on his cheek. After another moment, he jumped high and came down with a right hook aimed directly at his opponent.

At the last second, Khei jumped away from the attack, letting Mammoth smash the ground he was just at, kicking up a large cloud of dirt. When the cloud faded, the bear-wearing teen saw his foe kneeling in a crater with his fist dug deep into the rock. To retaliate, Khei ran towards him and struck the HIVE teen with a drop kick, knocking him out of the crater and towards the cliff.

Skidding to a stop, the muscular villain quickly picked himself up and looked for his opponent. However, he was a bit confused when he couldn't see the blue-haired teen at all. Rubbing his head to ponder the sight, his attention was soon grabbed when he heard the sound of whistling. Looking up, he saw the other fighter higher up on the mountain next to a giant pile of boulders.

"How about a game?" Khei asked with a mischievous smile on his face. Taking hold of one of the boulders, he quickly threw it down towards the other teen. Mammoth's eyes bulged out of his head as the boulder neared him before he quickly ducked out of the path of the projectile.

Looking back at the falling rock, then back at Khei, Mammoth began running towards the wall before jumping up to start his climb. The bear-wearing warrior let out a maniacal laugh as he continued flinging the boulders in a non-stop flurry. But this did little to hinder the HIVE student as he continued weaving his way around the rocks, jumping over a few, and even punching through them when he needed to.

Unfortunately for Khei, when he reached for another boulder, he found it strange when he didn't feel another one next to him. Looking over, he saw that he had run out of rocks to throw. "Peekaboo!" He heard Mammoth shout at him from behind. The young fighter turned around just in time to see Mammoth approaching with another punch. This one landed square in his face and sent him sailing higher up the mountain, where he landed on his back.

Jumping after his prey, Mammoth landed right at his feet, where he grabbed the downed fighter by the ankles. A look of confusion appeared on his face before surprise surfaced as he found himself being spun around faster and faster. Mammoth then released the teen and sent him flying towards another natural elevation.

The force of the impact created another crater that Khei found himself laying in. When he finally came around, he saw Mammoth coming down at him again, but this time, instead of rolling out of the way, he held his legs up, and caught his opponent with his feet. The genetically enhanced fighter could only struggle for breath as the force of the landing knocked all the air out of his gut.

Summoning his strength, Khei kicked the giant lummox away from in and sent him hurtling towards another geological formation. This time, following him, Khei came down with a fist that completely cracked through the mountain. However, the attack itself missed as the fist struck right next to Mammoths' head.

To counter, Mammoth tackled the blue-haired teen and sent them both tumbling down the mountain. Both fighters traded punches all the way down, until they came to a stop on yet another cliff side, where they broke away from each other and glared each other down.

The staring contest lasted for a few moments before Mammoth held up his fists and brought them down to slam on the ground. The resulting shockwave caused Khei to stumble for a bit before he regained his footing, but what surprised both of them was that the patch of mountain they were on cracked off the mountain and began sliding down the side.

Even though the cliff side slid down the mountain, the fighting didn't stop. After adjusting to the constant sliding, Khei charged his opponent and connected with a three hit punching combination. But Mammoth was able to strike back with a combo of his own. They kept trading more and more blows, neither giant letting up. Unfortunately, most things must come to an end as they were interrupted when the cliff side finally reached the bottom, destroying itself in the process.

Nothing but rubble remained of the sliding rock as it seemed like both fighters had disappeared in the destruction. However, a lone hand punched its way through the debris and pulled the owner out. When the figure finally freed himself, Mammoth stood and looked around for his adversary.

When he couldn't find him, the HIVE villain let out a snort. "Looks like I'm the winner." He smirked.

"Not yet!" He heard a voice come from behind him. Looking over, Mammoth saw Khei dive at him head first. When the dive connected, the bear-wearing fighter actually speared the lummox with his bear head, knocking them both to the ground. Khei then followed this up by performing a somersault on top of his opponent, wrapping his arms around his body before coming to a squatting position. He then kicked off the ground and launched him and Mammoth high into the air, where he then redirected their positions to fall head first towards the ground in a seismic toss. Coming down, Khei slammed Mammoth right through the Earth, or whatever planet they may have been on, burying him up to his waist. Struggle as he might, but Mammoth couldn't get himself free, effectively rendering him unable to fight anymore.

"Winner: KHEI!" The voice of the Master of Games announced as a bright white flash whisked the HIVE loser away. Khei could only put his fists on his waist as he posed victoriously before another light transported him away from the battlefield.

0-0

Shark vs Kid Flash

The gray-skinned, tropical teen found himself in what seemed like a desert. The land was very hilly and had some trees on them, but other than that, this dimension he was in seemed to be very barren of life.

Shark squatted and ran his hand across the ground before grabbing some of the dirt and letting it run through his fingers. As he stood up, he felt the wind rush by him at an incredible speed that caused him to stagger a bit. When he straightened himself, he looked up and saw a familiar redhead waving at him just a few yards away. Then in a split second, the redhead ran up to him.

"Hey!" Kid Flash said with a grin. Before Shark could react, he was punched in the jaw by an uppercut that sent him reeling.

Rubbing his jaw, the crossbreed looked back over to where Kid Flash was, but instead saw no one there. He then felt a finger tap his shoulder. "Wha-?" He was cut off by another punch to the gut, followed by a kick to the head.

The aquatic-breed tried swiping at the teen, but couldn't get a hit since the redhead had lightning fast reflexes.

"C'mon, pick up the pace." Kid Flash quipped as he punched his opponent again. With one final super speed punch, the fastest teen alive sent the crossbreed sailing through the air.

When Shark came down, he landed face down in the sand. "This is impossible..." He groaned as he rubbed his head. As he picked himself up, he felt something damp under his hands. "Huh?" He looked down and noticed some water seeping through the dried ground, where his hands were resting. Thinking quickly, Shark began digging incredibly fast, causing more and more water to emerge.

"What are you doing?" Kid Flash yelled from afar. Instead of a verbal answer, what he got was a giant column of water shooting from whatever planet they were on. Inside the column, he could see the gray-skinned teen in the middle, though he looked different.

Inside the water, Shark's body began changing; the webbing on his hands and feet grew while his nails extended to look like claws. Fins sprouted from his shoulder blades and forearms, and a long shark tail grew down his backside. Additionally, his hair grew down his back, and his pupils narrowed into slits. After transforming, the crossbreed actually resembled his namesake.

"Time for the comeback!" Shark growled from inside the water, shooting multiple tendrils of water at his opponent.

"Whoa!" The speedy sprinter cried, narrowly dodging the attacks. "Time to go!" He added before sprinting away.

Shark merely laughed as he used the water to speed after him. As the chase continued, Kid Flash had to constantly dodge the tendrils of water as well as pillars that were shooting up from the ground. Though, this didn't surprise him as much as the fact that Shark was actually able to keep up with his speed while inside the water. It was almost as though the crossbreed was acting as an underwater torpedo.

"Hah!" With a wave of his claws, a wall of water grew out of the ground, right in front of the speedster.

"Wha-!" Kid Flash cried as he slammed into the water at full force. The impact caused him to lose his footing and sent him rolling on the ground before coming to a stop face up. As the wall fell, the entire area became surrounded in water. When Kid Flash sat up, he saw Shark looking down at him from inside the water. "Heh, nice one there." He complimented as he stood up. "But I got something too!" With a quick smile, he began spinning in circles around the column of water.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Shark yelled as he slowly felt himself spinning in the direction the redhead was running. The spinning continued getting faster and faster, and soon enough, he found himself disoriented and unable to keep the column of water together.

With the column falling, Kid Flash quickly readied himself for one final attack on his opponent and sprinted towards the falling teen. In one final punch to the gut, Kid Flash sent Shark sailing through the air where he landed on the ground hard, kicking up a wave of water.

When the water calmed, Shark was seen with swirls in his eyes, still dizzy from the spinning and the last attack. A second later, a flash of lightning struck the crossbreed, whisking him away from the battlefield.

"Winner: KID FLASH!" The Master of Games announced as another flash of lightning hit the winner, sending him away from the field as well.

0-0

Morph vs Killowat

"Oh man, I don't like this at all." Morph was currently crouching behind what seemed to be giant generator. It seemed like the battlefield of choice the Master of Games gave these two was a massive power plant, or at least the world's equivalent to a power plant. "I mean seriously!" He cried as he dodged a blast of electricity, "How is this fair?"

Trying to hide from the oncoming blasts, Morph quickly scurried around a few large pipes. He knew he couldn't stay there, Morph knew another blast was coming. Looking over the pipes for a split second, he quickly ducked his head back down, barely dodging another bolt as it soared over.

"This will end quickly." Killowat stated dryly as he stalked towards Morphs' hiding spot.

As he heard the footsteps of his opponent, the beanie-wearing teen quickly looked around. "C'mon, man, think!" He mentally slapped himself. His eyes darted around the area before coming to rest on what looked like a valve. "Bingo."

Killowat finally reached the pipes his opponent was hiding behind and raised his hands ready to strike, filling them with his electrical powers. But, when he turned to corner, no one was there. Confused, the magenta-haired meta dispelled his power before looking around.

What Killowat failed to notice, though, was the moving figure behind him. "Peekaboo." Morph got his attention, causing the electric teen to turn around. Before he could register what was going on, a massive block smacked Killowat in the face, knocking him across the ground.

The blue skinned fighter had to shake his head to reorient himself as he picked himself up. Once he regained his bearings, he scanned the arena for his opponent, only to find himself alone. Cautiously, Killowat summoned two orbs of electricity and made his way through the machinery.

The sounds of gears grinding and steam shooting from the pipes were the only things the megawatt teen could hear. But in the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a shadow moving and quickly spun around to shoot a bolt at the figure.

The bolt caused an explosion, knocking dust into the air. But when it settled, nothing but a destroyed generator was visible. Seeing another shadow, Killowat shot another bolt, hoping to hit his opponent. As more and more shadows appeared, more and more bolts of electricity flew through the sky, destroying more and more of their surroundings, and knocking large clouds of dust into the air.

Somewhere through the destruction, bright red lights started flashing, lighting up the battleground. Killowat didn't pay it much mind, however, as he kept his focus on any movement from his changing opponent.

Unfortunately, drops of water began falling from above. With bugged out eyes, Killowat looked up as the water fell over his body. As a result, his electricity fizzled out with steam emitting from his hands.

"Looks like you shorted out." The magenta-haired meta heard a voice say to him. Looking towards the source, he saw Morph leaning against the wall with his hands inside his pockets. "Someone must be looking out for me." Morph flashed a smirk, although Killowat didn't know who he was showing it to.

With a shake of the head, the blue-skinned meta charged the beanie-wearing teen. As he threw punches at the laid back changer, Morph was actually able to dodge every attack thrown at him. The most surprising thing, though, that Killowat noticed was his opponents' movement; he dodged every attack with the grace of a veteran martial artist. But from his appearance, Morph didn't look anything more than a lazy delinquent. Just who was this guy?

Killowat didn't have much more time to ponder his question, though, as his last punch was caught in his adversary's hand. It felt like punching a wall. In fact, upon closer inspection, he noticed that Morph's hands looked exactly like the material in the walls.

"Gotcha." The changing teen said as he reeled his right hand back into a fist. The next thing Killowat knew, he was launched across the room before slamming into the wall on the far end of the arena.

Sliding down the wall, the magenta-haired teen fell into a slump, not showing any signs of movement.

"Winner: MORPH!" The voice of the Master of Games reverberated through the factory as a white light flashed, whisking Killowat away from the battlefield.

With a relieved sigh, Morph took his beanie off and shook his head, trying to dry his hair before another flash of white light warped him away as well.

0-0

Beast Boy vs Frederick Constantine

Both fighters found themselves in a small clearing surrounded by very thick vegetation. However, while one teen was standing and getting himself ready for the fight ahead, the other was merely lying on his back, relaxing with his hands behind his head.

"Uh... aren't you gonna, you know, get ready?" Beast Boy asked the faux hawk Brit teen. He wasn't really sure what to think of the teen yet, all he did was lay down on the ground and stare into the sky.

After another moment, Frederick sat up and crossed his legs, "Eh, not really. The way I see it, I already won this match." He assured as he leaned back on his hands.

"What? And what makes you that sure you'll win?" The greenling asked, a bit offended by his comment.

"Well, if you didn't notice, green boy, I'm a mage." The purple-shirt wearing teen said as he stood up and dusted off his pants. "And unless you got something to counter that, I don't see you beating me."

Beast Boy was a bit peeved at this point, "Oh, yeah? So what? I also know someone who uses magic." He stated matter-of-factly. "What are you gonna do, some kinda card trick or something?" He asked as he pulled down on his right sleeve. As he did that, some playing cards flew out of it. "Too bad for you, mind games don't work on me." He said with a smug smirk, as if he had just revealed his foolproof ace-in-the-hole.

Frederick, though, seemed unimpressed and replied in kind, "There's an obvious insult there." He quipped as he raised his right hand to his face to examine his fingernails.

It looked like the comment went over the green teens' head until, "Hey!" Beast Boy cried with a blush of embarrassment coming across his face. This reaction caused the snarky Brit to snicker.

With a small growl, Beast Boy began running towards his opponent. In mid-stride, he transformed into a snake and continued slithering through the grass as fast as he could go. When he finally reached his opponent, he lunged to strike, but quickly found himself frozen in mid-leap with a faint blue glow surrounding him. His little snake eyes bulged from his head as he struggled to move.

"You'll have to be quicker than that." The snarky Brit smirked, holding his right hand up, which also had a faint blue glow around it. With a quick flick of the wrist, the green snake was flung through the air, changing back into his human form before landing on his back on the other side of the open field.

With a groggy moan, Beast Boy sat up and rubbed his head to get his bearings. "Whoa, and I thought Raven's powers hurt." He quickly picked himself up and transformed into a hawk. With a flap of his wings, the shape-shifter took to the air.

As he got closer to the Brit, Beast Boy transformed into a leopard, coming down with a swipe of the claws. At the last second, Frederick stepped out of the way, narrowly dodging the attack, and brought his hand up to grab the animal in his psychic power.

"Whoops, almost got me there." Frederick smirked as he swung his hand back and forth, whipping the poor cat through the air. "And off you go." The Brit yawned as he flicked the boy off into the air.

Beast Boy transformed back into his human form as he sailed through the air, screaming in fear the whole way. When he came back down, the blue power came around him again and slammed him into the ground.

"And..." Frederick placed his hands in his pockets and walked over to where he slammed his opponent and saw Beast Boy unconscious, "That's the match."

With a flash of white light, Beast Boy disappeared from the field while a voice echoed through the air. "Winner: FREDERICK CONSTANTINE!" The Master of Games announced.

"Oy! And the name's Freddie, ya nob!" Freddie shouted before disappearing in a second flash.

0-0

In one more bright flash, the domed chamber was filled with the eight winners of the first round.

After looking at his fellow survivors, Robin was the first to congratulate the group, "Speedy! All right, you won!" He said to the archer.

"But Beast Boy didn't." Cyborg pointed out with a bit of worry in his voice.

"Well played, young champions." The heroes heard the voice of the Master of Games say to them. Looking in the direction of the voice, they saw the gray-skinned humanoid atop his dais. "You have survived Round One." He added.

Something didn't sound quite right about that last statement, and it didn't go unnoticed by the Titans. "Survived?" The Boy Wonder asked, "What happened to the losers?"

"Yeah, where's Beast Boy?" Kylar shouted, stepping next to his spiky-haired friend.

The Master gave a mirthful chuckle at the questions, "Peace, heroes. Survived is merely... an expression." He explained, "Beast Boy and the other losers have been returned home safely." Robin nodded at the information, but Kylar and Cyborg shot each other uneasy glances. "But think not of the vanquished, my champions. Now that the first round has come to an end, it is time for you to relax and re-energize. Around this chamber you will find rooms fit to cater to your every need. Rest easy, for tomorrow you face... Round Two!" He exclaimed. "Oh, and do keep in mind to stay in the rooms. We wouldn't want anyone found outside and suspected of foul play." He added as one last tidbit.

With one more curious glance, the heroes began making their ways out of the brightly lit atrium and to any room they could find. As they left, though, some of the young teens mingled with each other.

"Hey, congrats on winning your match." The redheaded speedster said to the brunette after quickly running up to him. "Shame I'll be beating you in the next round, though."

Kylar scoffed at the notion, "You're gonna get captured one day with that attitude."

Kid Flash returned the laugh, "Nice one. But with this speed." He quickly zipped from the aura manipulators' left to his right in the blink of an eye. "Nothing can catch me." The brown-haired Titan only shook his head as he made his way out of the room.

"You got a problem, big man?" Freddie asked looking up at the towering bear-wearing teen. "You've been eyeing me ever since we got here."

Khei didn't reply right away, he only narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin. "No problem, shorty." He shot back, "I just can't shake the feeling that I know you from somewhere." The faux hawked teen merely rolled his eyes as he turned the corner out of the room. "Hey, wait!" The blue-haired giant called out as he ran after the other teen.

One by one, the other heroes filed out of the room. Once he was sure all the teens were out of earshot, the Master softly chuckled to himself. "Oh, what a marvelous game. No matter who is victorious, I win all the prizes." He said as he examined his red jewel. Listening closely, he could hear muffled, panicked voices from within-the eliminated competitors being trapped inside.

0-0

The Master of Games definitely didn't lie. The rooms he prepared for the winners were completely stocked with any and everything a young male hero could want. From an indoor Jacuzzi to a king-sized bed that was as soft as a cloud, to a refrigerator chock full of food and drink, the young heroes had it made as they recuperated from the days battles and prepared themselves for tomorrow.

However, just as he had finished enjoying himself and settled for sleep, Robin heard a faint knocking come from his door.

"Yo, Robin! Wake up! It's me!" He heard Cyborg speaking at a low volume from the other side of the door.

With droopy eyes and a hazy vision, the masked teen made his way over to the door and opened it. With an expansive yawn, Robin rubbed his eyes to get the sleep out of his eyes. "Cyborg? It's late." He groaned tiredly. "And you heard what the Master said about-"

"Can't sleep." The metallic Titan said raising his forearm. On it, a panel flashing BUSY in big red letters appeared while a small telephone antennae popped out of his arm. "I tried calling home to make sure Beast Boy's okay, but I can't get a signal through." He explained as he lowered his arm again.

"We're in an alternate dimension, kind of outside your calling plan." The Titan leader answered, finally waking up from his daze.

"Um..."

"I'm sure he's fine. The Master said all the losers were sent home, safe and sound." Robin reassured his comrade.

With a sigh, the bulky bionic let his worries be known, "Yeah, I know. But I've just got a bad feeling." He said, "There's something weird about this game."

Giving his friend an inquisitive look, the Boy Wonder decided that it would probably be better to investigate the seemingly random tournament they were pulled into. "I guess it couldn't hurt to have a look around." He admitted as he stepped into the hall. But after a few steps, he stopped and his eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Hold on." He said suspiciously, rotating his head around 180 degrees like an owl. "I know what you're doing."

A red question mark appeared in Cyborg's head circuits with his eye implant forming its point, "What am I doing?" He questioned.

"You're trying to trick me, to take me off my game tomorrow." Robin replied, matter-of-factly.

"I am?"

"Sure. We'll go 'investigate,' and be up all night, and find nothing. Then you'll recharge your battery in fifteen minutes while I get no sleep." The paranoid leader explained. During his explanation, a word balloon appeared between the two Titans, leading back to Robin's mouth. It showed him as Sherlock Holmes and Cyborg as Dr. Watson following a trail off footprints in front of a city skyline at night. Then the skyline changed to the domed chamber where they were appeared with both teens back in their normal outfits. Robin yawned while Cyborg reached for a plug and connected it to his chest, fully charging him in seconds. The backdrop then changed again to a spinning sunburst where the small bionic flexed his muscles and flicked the masked martial artist away.

The metallic Titan was completely blown away by the ridiculousness of what his friend just said. "Say what?!" Was his only shouted reply.

"When Round Two starts, I'll be fighting fatigue, and you'll be that much closer to winning the prize." Robin continued, "And I'm sure next round you'll do the same thing to Kylar, knocking him out just as easily."

"No, man, I was going to go wake him up next to look for Beast Boy." Cyborg defended, a little bit flustered at the accusations.

"Uh huh, sure you were."

"I'm serious! I'm just worried about BB." He added while his teammate backed up through his room door. "Come on. I don't care about-"

"Riiiiiight." Robin cut him off as he closed the door, leaving the cybernetic teen alone in the hallway.

0-0

"Sparrow freaked out, huh?" Kylar yawned as he and Cyborg made their way down a hallway. After being left in front of the spiky-haired Titans' room, the metallic teen made his way to his aura manipulating friends' room to ask for his help. After hearing the same explanation Robin did, the brunette agreed to help since he also worried about the short greenling, even if he was tired. "Can't say I'm surprised, though. You know how competitive he can get."

The bionic Titan sighed in agreement before muttering under his breath, "Crazy, paranoid, hyper-competitive, spiky-haired little-" He stopped himself when he saw his black-jacketed teammate hold his arm up with a fist.

"I hear something." Kylar said. He pointed cautiously to a corner a few feet from them and looked at the taller teen. They made their way over and slowly peered their heads around to get a better look. As quickly as they moved their heads to look, they jerked back around to hide from a shadow that passed over their location.

Both Titans traded a look before arming themselves, Cyborg with his arm cannon, and Kylar with his aura around his arms. Giving each other a nod of confirmation, they leapt from their hiding spot and prepared to attack the shadow. However, just as they brought their arms up to fire, they found themselves facing off against a familiar blue-haired giant, just inches away from grabbing their heads.

After a moment, a look of recognition passed over each of the present competitors' faces as they calmed themselves.

"Oh hey, you're one of the guys in the tournament. Khei, right?" Kylar said as the aura around his arms disappeared. The giant contender nodded in response.

"What are you doing out here?" Cyborg asked, reverting his arm cannon to his normal hand.

"I could ask you two the same thing." The bearskin-wearing teen countered as he crossed his arms imposingly, causing both Titans to trade a quick, uneasy look. "But to answer your question, I'm looking for answers. Call it a gut feeling, but something about that Master doesn't seem right." He finished, looking over his shoulder to see if anyone was coming.

"Well, what a coincidence." The brunette smirked, "We happen to be looking for a few answers ourselves."

"Yeah, you could help us out. It would make this easier." The metallic brawler added, hopefully able to persuade the massive muscle-bound teen, the more help the faster they could get through searching.

Khei was silent for a minute, giving both shorter fighters a quick once-over before finally answering, "Alright, I guess it would be best to team up." He said with a small nod of approval.

"Alright! Let's head ou-*yawn*" Kylar cut himself off, earning an inquisitive look from the two taller teens. "Sorry about that, let's go." He said as he began walking down the hallway.

Before he got too far, though, Cyborg placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Uh, maybe you should head back to bed."

"Huh? But-"

"Yeah, you're only going to give us away if you're yawning every five seconds." Khei added.

"What? I am not yawning every sec-*yawn*" This yawn earned him a glare through half-lidded eyes from the other two fighters. "What?" The brunette asked after he collected himself.

"Dude, go get some sleep. We'll be fine." The bionic said, patting his teammate on the back.

"Are you sure?" Cyborg and Khei both nodded as a response. "Okay, fine. See you guys tomorrow." Kylar yawned one more time as he walked back down the way they came, disappearing around a corner.

Once his friend was gone, the metallic Titan pointed his thumb over his shoulder to head out. With a nod, the blue-haired giant followed.

After making their way to the end of the corridor, they both heard some moving machinery. Both brawlers backed up to a wall just in time for giant metal spider legs stepped past them. Once the appendages passed, Cyborg looked out after them.

"Gizmo?" He seemed in disbelief at seeing the mechanical spider legs of the runt after noticing that he was absent from the winners of Round 1.

Inside the domed chamber, the shadow of a human figure attached to the four mechanical limbs moved across the wall. Once the shadow passed over the platform in the middle, Cyborg's hand, detached from the rest of him, scuttled onto a ledge and raised its middle finger. The tip puled loose and trained a tiny camera on the area.

Just outside the room, hidden in the shadows, the owner of the hand was kneeling on the ground and working a control on his forearm. Behind him, Khei watched as a small joystick popped out of his arm, which the bionic then started moving, causing the perspective on his forearm to shift as he tweaked the stick.

Cyborg gets the spidery silhouette in frame and zooms in to get a clear image. Both investigators had to stop themselves from gasping as the camera focused to show that the silhouette was not Gizmo, but actually the Master of Games.

"Magnificent." The Master of Games spoke as he lowered himself to the floor and retracted the legs into his back. "Absolutely magnificent prizes. Gizmo, Killowat, Hot Spot, Aqualad, Shark, Wildebeest, Mammoth, Beast Boy." As he listed off the names of the fighters, powers associated with those metas appeared, including transformations to match a shark and a wildebeest, until he finally finished with his arms transformed into those of a gorilla.

"Now that the vanquished are in my possession, their powers are mine to command!" The Master spoke again, admiring his ill-gotten gains. "I can scarcely wait to see what I win in Round Two."

"There's not gonna be a Round Two!" The Tournament Host heard a familiar voice shout from behind him. Looking off to the source, the Master saw the two hulking competitors standing in the chamber.

"Game over." Cyborg stated as his detached hand jumped to him, connecting to his wrist with a half-twist to lock it in place.

Next to the bionic, Khei cracked his knuckles, "And you're not getting a continue." He quipped.

"The game is never over, young champions, but I'm afraid you two are disqualified!" On the end of his sentence, the Masters grew the horns of Wildebeest on his head as well as changing it to match Hot Spot's. He then brought his huge, furry green arms down to break the floor. As a result of the tremor, Cyborg was flung to the wall, while Khei quickly jumped into the air and towards the Master of Games.

"HRAAAH!" The blue-haired giant shouted as he brought his right fist down for an attack. But before it could hit its' mark, the Master jumped out of the way, leaving the hulking teen to smash the ground, creating a small crater as a result.

Looking over to the Master, Khei saw his opponent summoning electricity into his hands. With a sinister smile, the alien MC held his hands out and shot bolts of electricity at the blue-haired giant. He was able to dodge two blasts that came his way, but the third one hit him in the chest. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to knock him off his feet.

"Hrk!" Khei grunted as he slid across the ground before coming to a stop next to Cyborg, who was holding himself on his right knee. "Looks like this guy has some fight in him." The bear-wearing teen growled as he sat up.

"And it looks like he's stealing the others' powers." Cyborg inquired as he stood up. Looking back to the Master of Games, he saw him lift himself into the air with Gizmo's robot legs as a whirlpool of water began growing under him. "We'll have to work together if we-"

"I can take him myself!" Khei roared as he charged the power thief again.

"No wait!" Cyborg called out to the other giant, but it was too late. Khei jumped toward the Master again, but this time the alien villain was prepared for it, transforming his right arm into an octopus' tentacle and wrapping it around the blue-haired teen.

"Hey! Let me go!" Khei struggled to get free, but he couldn't quite shake it.

"You fool." The Master of Games laughed as he held the teen directly in front of him. As he did so, the jewel around his neck began glowing.

"Wh-what?" Was all Khei had time to say before a blinding light flashed in the room.

When the light died, and Cyborg could see again, he saw only the Master held up by the spider legs, and Khei having disappeared.

"Yo!" Was all the mechanical Titan could yell before having to move due to a blast of fire lancing towards him. Once clear of the flames, Cyborg busted out his arm cannon and fired a long blast up at the Master's chest with a roar.

The blast struck the jewel dead on, but the alien thief only laughed wickedly as a result. To the bionics' surprise, red energy began feeding back along the beam. When it reached Cyborg's arm, it wrapped itself around his body and reeled him in. The bionic Titan only had time for one last yell before he disappeared into the great red gem, similar to Khei before him.

With the teens defeated, the Master dropped to the floor, head and arms changing back to normal as the metal legs retracted into his back. "Never challenge the Master." He boasted as he transformed his right arm into Cyborg's cannon. "I always win."

0-0

"Good luck today. May the best man win." Speedy said to the remaining champions as he entered the domed chamber. Looking around, he noticed Kylar and Robin doing some stretching in the middle, while Kid Flash was lying on the ground whistling a tune. He also noticed Morph standing on the side by himself, and Freddie leaning against the wall, reading what looked like a little black book.

"Right back at you, Speedy." Robin replied with a hand shake. "All we gotta do now is wait for Cyborg and Khei and we can get started." He added after letting go.

"Cyborg and Khei will not be joining us." The voice of the Master echoed through the chamber, getting the attention of the remaining combatants. Looking to the source, they saw the alien MC standing atop his high dias, just as they remembered him from yesterday.

"What? Why not?" Kylar spoke up.

"Your friends have been disqualified for attempting to sabotage their fellow teammates." The Master of Games explained as the rest of the teens gathered at the center of the chamber.

"He shoulda played fair." Robin chuckled softly as he shook his head.

Kylar, however, had a very disturbed look on his face after hearing the Master's reason. "But that doesn't-"

"Is there something you'd like to say, young champion?" The Master asked, shooting a very imposing glare at the aura manipulator.

"Uh, no, I'm okay." He replied.

"Very well. If there is nothing else, then we shall proceed to round two!" The alien announced as the red jewel began glowing. But before it could whisk the fighters away, Kylar spoke up once more.

"Wait!" He shouted, getting the attention of the Master. He knew something was wrong, very wrong. He knew Cyborg, and he knew that Cyborg would never resort to cheating of any kind. Plus, he was with the two other teens the night before. But he couldn't call out the Master with this information without revealing that he broke the rules also and getting disqualified as well. He wanted to get to the bottom of this as fast as he could, and that meant getting through this tournament faster.

"Uh... what if we just skipped to the final round." The brunette suggested. "You know, just have a battle royal, to see who truly is the greatest hero of all."

The Master of Games brought a hand up to his chin to consider the teens' request. After a moment he brought his hand down and opened it to the rest of the fighters. "If the other Champions agree, I will allow it." He responded.

After a minute it didn't seem like any of the others were going to agree to it. Kylar was actually getting nervous at the silence, at least until one spoke up.

"Yeah, I'll go for it." He heard someone say. Turning around Kylar saw that Freddie was the first to speak up. "Anything to move this along faster, it feels like we've been waiting for two years to get this done."

Kid Flash was the second to agree, "I like that idea." He said with a grin, "It'll just speed up me winning the whole thing."

"Sounds good to me." Speedy added.

"I can take that challenge." Robin said eagerly.

"And I'll agree with everyone else." Morph was the last to speak up.

Looking at the other five fighters, Kylar let out a sigh of relief before turning back to the Master. "Very well," The alien announced with a sinister grin, "With everyone in agreement, let us proceed directly to the final round!" On the end of his announcement, the red jewel hanging around his neck began glowing until a bright light flashed through the room.

0-0

Robin vs Kylar vs Speedy vs Frederick Constantine vs Kid Flash vs Morph

All Out Battle Royal

In the darkest reaches of space, on a massive asteroid floating over a lifeless moon, six bolts of lighting struck the surface, leaving the final six Champions in a circle. Each of the teens shot a glare at their opponents, watching intently to see who would move first.

"FIGHT!" The disembodied voice of the Tournament Organizer signaled for the beginning of the final brawl.

Robin was the first to move as he charged straight towards the center. To retaliate, Speedy knocked an arrow back and let it fly. Before it could hit its' mark, the leader of the Titans jumped into the air and threw a disk at the projectile. Once both connected, a large explosion erupted, knocking up a large cloud of dust that disrupted each participant's view of the battlefield.

But that first movement was enough to break the proverbial ice as the other four Champions moved to fight. Kylar quickly shot into the air as he saw some telekinetically-powered rocks fly towards him, while Morph unfortunately found himself on the receiving end of some unwelcome high speed punches.

The beanie wearing meta couldn't even keep up with the speed of the red quickster as he felt punches coming from each direction. Just as he braced himself for another punch, Kid Flash stopped right in front of him and smirked.

"C'mon, man, step it up." He taunted before taking off again. This time spinning around the poor boy faster and faster until Morph spun around like a top. After a minute, the changer was left alone to spin a few more times. Once he came to a stop, his eyes were nothing but swirls and he collapsed to the ground.

The red-haired speedster chuckled as he continued running, knowing of his handiwork. But his laughter was short lived as he realized that even though he was running, he wasn't moving anywhere. Looking down, he noticed he was floating a few feet off the asteroid with a light blue glow surrounding his entire body.

"This fast enough for ya?" Kid Flash heard a voice call out to him. Looking over, he saw Freddie holding his hand out with a matching blue glow around it.

"Oh," The yellow jumpsuit-wearing teen chirped, "COOOOL!" He then shouted as he was flung across the rock by a flick of the wrist from the faux hawked psychic.

Freddie smirked but then frowned as his eyes popped out of his head. The reason was because a rain of arrows was quickly descending upon him. He quickly beat feet to avoid impending injury.

Kylar was watching the fighting happen around him. He didn't want to participate, but he knew it would be the only way to find out what really happened to Cyborg and the others.

His thoughts, though, were interrupted when he had to dodge a kick from his masked leader.

"Robin, there's something wrong with this whole thing!" The brunette stated as he blocked a punch from the other fighter.

Robin just smirked as he pulled his hand back, "Uh, huh. Just like what Cyborg said." He mocked as he took a stance for another strike. "Didn't think you were afraid to fight fair."

A vein popped from the black-jacketed teens' forehead as he shot a glare to his masked friend. "Okay fine." Kylar summoned his purplish-black aura around his arms and took his own fighting stance. If Robin wouldn't listen to him, he would communicate with him the only way he knew how. "Let's dance, Sparrow."

With a playful huff, the masked leader of the Titans charged forward and jumped up to launch a roundhouse kick at the aura manipulator.

Speedy had three arrows readied in his bow and aimed at the British teen. Freddie was currently levitating some loose rocks around him and scattering them across the battlefield, trying to hit a red and yellow blur in the distance. Before he could let the arrows fly, though, a familiar beanie-clad head poked up in front of him. "Huh?"

"Hey there." Morph greeted. The archer quickly jumped backwards to avoid any attacks. Quickly arming himself again, Speedy shot another arrow. In the air, the arrowhead popped off to reveal multiple smaller arrowheads that all struck his intended target. But when they hit, the beanie-wearing teen didn't seemed fazed at all.

A moment later, the red-haired bowman saw why the Champion standing in front of him; his face transformed into the same color as the asteroid they were fighting on. A second later, Morph took off and charged the masked archer. As Speedy stared, completely taken by surprise at the turnabout, Robin vaulted over his shoulder and off the lowered bow for a new jump. He brought his foot out for a jump kick and struck the changer in the face with enough force to send him skidding across the ground.

"Thanks, Robin." Speedy said with a relieved sigh.

"Don't thank me yet." The Boy Wonder smirked as he pointed down.

Following his finger, the bowman looked down in surprise. There, he saw one of Robin's discs lodged in the rock between them. A second later, the device turned that patch of asteroid into ice, causing Speedy to lose his balance and fall to the ground with a yelp.

"We are playing to win, aren't we?" He taunted. A moment later, he covered his face to protect his face from dust that shot up because of an explosion. After the dust cleared Robin looked over and saw Kylar flying towards him with an aura powered punch. He was able to block it, but the brunettes' momentum carried them both away from the downed archer.

With the two fighters away from him, Speedy stood up and moved his neck from side to side. "Looks that way." He readied a new arrow, this one with a large canister at its head that showed his S insignia. Once he let it fly, the canister split open, revealing a boxing glove inside that headed towards the beanie-wearing meta, whose skin no longer resembled the asteroid.

Morph only had but a split second to register the projectile coming straight for him as he sat upright. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough time as he took the full force of the blow right to the face, knocking him back even further along the ground until he came to a stop. The whites in his eyes were the only things visible as he lay on the asteroid completely knocked out.

A second later, a bolt of lightning stuck the downed teen, removing him from the battlefield.

Freddie wasn't having any luck against his speeding blur of an opponent. Trying to trip him up with some rocks and his telekinesis just so he could get a grip on him and toss him off stage. But that wasn't working.

"Okay. I've had enough of this." The British psychic clapped his hands together and summoned the blue glow around his hands. When the energy completely encapsulated his hands, he slammed them onto the surface of the asteroid.

The rock itself began trembling, shaking everyone and stopping the fighting going on. As a result, the asteroid started to crumble away.

The growing fissures were spreading in all directions, and in due course the entire mass disintegrated into fragments. The five remaining Champions rushed to get onto any solid falling rocks they could. But as Kid Flash tried to steady himself, he felt a familiar energy surround him and keep him from moving.

"Now it's easy pickings." Freddie smirked as he moved his left hand from side to side, knocking the teenage speedster from rock to rock.

"Wait, wait, wait." Kid Flash cried, getting the faux-hawked teens' attention. Freddie smiled at him in triumph, thinking he finally beat him into submission. But his smile quickly turned into a frown as the redheaded quickster had a bright smile on his face. "I wanna try something." Once he said that, he began shaking himself so fast, his body looked like it was blurring itself.

"W-what?" The British teen gasped as he felt his grip on the floating teen loosen. With a growl, Freddie held out his right hand to force more of his power on his opponent. But try as he might, Kid Flash managed to break out of the psychic hold on him, dropping him onto another falling rock. "How? How did you do that?" The angry telekinetic asked as he knelt on the ground.

"I can vibrate my molecules at superhuman speeds." Kid Flash explained with a smile on his face. "But I don't think you'll get to see much more of it." He pointed behind the kneeling teen who then looked back in confusion.

Just as he turned around, he saw Speedy jump past him, using his platform as a stepping-stone to get to a higher meteor. Robin was right on his tail, doing a back flip off Freddie's shoulders and continuing his pursuit. The young Brit was a bit confused at what just happened, thinking the two of them just ignored him, but a beeping noise caught his attention. Looking down, he saw one of Robin's discs laying on the rock beneath him. A second later, the disc exploded, resulting in the meteor the psychic was on to break and knocked him into space like a rag doll.

A moment later, another bolt of lightning struck the flying teen, making him the second Champion to be removed from the fight.

Kylar was on another descending rock watching the whole fight scene play out. To his left, he saw Kid Flash laughing to himself about how the psychic got disqualified, and to his right, he saw the domino-masked teens taking several swings at each other as they tumbled in the air, ending with Robin being thrown toward an asteroid fragment.

"Never did get a chance to fight Freddie." He mused as he looked down, finding the moon's surface approaching fast.

In one large crater, a few chunks of rock crashed down and filled the arena with dust. As the haze parted, Speedy looked around, ready to fire as he saw the three other combatants standing ready to continue fighting.

Kid Flash was the first to take off, knocking a punch at the Boy Wonder and spinning around him like a twister.

That left Kylar to charge after the bowman, who went into a high leap and shot a stream of arrows downward. The brunette jumped and swerved to avoid their explosive impacts, did a jump of his own, and hurled a sphere of his aura across the expanse of the crater. When Speedy touched down, he let fly one more shot, and the two projectiles collided in midair, detonating with terrific force. When the explosion cleared, both aggressors were eyeing each other up from opposite sides.

Kylar flew forward again, with his opponent beat feet as well, pulling three fresh arrows from his quiver on the way. As they approached, Speedy let loose his bow and launched the three he had knocked. Kylar floated up to avoid them, but found himself surprised as the projectiles doubled back and followed him into the air.

"Heat-seekers!?" The aura manipulator cried before flying away again, trying to stay ahead of the incoming threats.

At the same time Kylar was fighting Speedy, Robin was facing off against Kid Flash. Holding his staff out at full length, he took a couple of swings as he tried striking his opponent.

"You'll have to be faster than that if you wanna hit me." The redheaded speedster taunted as he effortlessly moved to avoid the attacks.

The masked leader then retracted his staff and did a couple of back flips to put some distance between the two of them. When he landed in a crouch, he pulled out three discs and threw them towards Kid Flash. In a flash, he was off and dodged the incoming projectiles. Robin continued throwing discs as they struck the ground right behind the red-and-yellow blur.

A moment later, Kid Flash stopped and yawned as he put his hands behind his head. "Looks like you're too slow, Robin." He smirked.

"Might wanna check your surroundings." The domino-masked Titan said as he pointed to the ground.

"Huh?" Looking down, the cocky speedster saw what his opponent was talking about; the entire area was covered in ice. "Uh oh."

"Incoming!" A voice from above called out. Looking up, Kid Flash saw Kylar dive bombing right towards him with the three arrows still following him. At the last second, the black-jacketed teen flew up, ditching the impending projectiles behind.

Now, he was in a corner. Either he tried his luck sliding on the ice, or take three exploding arrows to the face. With a shrug, the young sprinter took off across the ice, immediately regretting his decision.

Flying back to his opponent, Kylar summoned a sphere in his hand and threw it at the tunic-clad archer. He jumped back to dodge, but the resulting dust cloud blocked his view. A moment later, the aura manipulator jumped from the cloud and swung at the bowman. They traded blows for a few moments before Kylar grabbed the bow and swept Speedy's legs. With another kick, he sent him sailing across the crater.

At the same time, Robin was able to catch Kid Flash and was laying a few blows on him, all that ended with a kick that sent him flying back as well.

Both Champions flew towards the center, where they collided with a hard thud. Once they hit each other, a lightning bolt flashed from the sky and struck the two, whisking them away from the battlefield.

All that remained were the two Titans, who stood at opposite ends of the crater smirking at each other.

"One more to beat." Robin called out as he brandished his staff.

"I'm not gonna make this easy." Kylar returned as he summoned his aura. They both charged at each other, ready for one last all out brawl.

When they got close enough, the domino-masked Titan jumped into the air in a front flip. On his way down, he swung his staff downwards to strike, but Kylar was able to block it with his aura-infused hands.

Once his opponent was out of the air, the brunette threw the staff to the side, leaving Robin to fight barehanded. Both of them began trading blows, struggling to get the upper hand. In a moment, they were both locked in a grip with one fist caught by the other.

"You better not be holding anything back." The Boy Wonder said with a fierce smile on his face.

"It would be insulting otherwise." The sapphire-eyed teen shot back, with a smile equally savage.

Both push off and back away. Robin went into a high leap and threw a few discs downward; Kylar leaped and swerved to avoid their explosive impacts, does a jump of his own, and hurls a sphere of his aura across the expanse of the crater. When Robin touched down, he let one more disc fly, and the two projectiles collide in midair.

Giving his friend no time to rest, Kylar approached in a flying charge and tackled the spiky-haired teen to the ground. Robin quickly kicked him off and rolled over for a kick, but it got caught by the brunette.

With a smirk, the black-jacketed Titan swung his teammate in a circle before letting him go into the air. Gathering his energy into his hand, Kylar growled as he threw the ball in his hand at the airborne Champion.

Robin could only stare in shock as he brought his arms up to cover his face from the incoming projectile. When it collided, it exploded and sent the leader of the Titans crashing down.

When he landed, he brought himself up to his knee and coughed a bit. Lifting his head, he saw his taller brunette friend standing over him with his right palm pointing towards him. "I win." Kylar said with a smirk, leaving Robin speechless, but with a friendly smile on his face.

A moment later, another flash of lightning took Robin away from the battle zone, leaving the brown-haired Titan alone, the smirk disappearing from his face.

0-0

The Master of Games stood halfway up the steps of his dais as a flash deposited Kylar in a crouch.

"Well done, Champion of Champions." The tournament organizer congratulated as the final fighter stood up to face him. "Victory is yours."

However, from the scowl on the aura manipulators' face, he didn't seem thrilled at his victory at all. "Now that it's over, I want some answers." He said, pointing at the alien.

"Of course, Champion." The gamesman said earnestly, "What is it that you want to ask?"

"I know something is wrong with this game. Where are the other fighters?" The Champion demanded.

The Master of Games let out a small chuckle as he approached, "You are a lot smarter than I gave you credit for. Perhaps that was a mistake on my part." He took a moment before answering, "You are correct, there is something wrong... for you."

"What?" Kylar took a step back as the alien approached him.

"The other fighters, your friends, are mine to keep." The larger alien gripped his red jewel and held it in front of the brunette. Kylar's wide-eyed reflection was visible on the surface, and he could hear the captured contestant's voices from within. "And with their powers at my command, no one will ever defeat the Master of Games!" He boasted as his body transformed to take on multiple parts of the captured teens; Wildebeest's horns popping from his forehead, a shark tail growing behind him, his left arm transforming into a green gorilla's, his right arm becoming Cyborg's cannon, his head looking like Hot Spot and Gizmo's metal spider legs lifting him from the floor.

"I am invincible!" He finished his boast, towering over the young man.

Kylar stared incredulously for a moment before cocking his head and putting on a taunting half-smile. "How can you be invincible when I'm the Champion?"

This statement caught the Master flat-footed as he lowered himself to Kylar's level, stepping around the youth.

"You are quite skilled." He said eyeing the brunette, "And your powers are very unique."

"Then it looks like the game isn't over."

"The game is never over."

"How about one last round, winner take all?" Kylar said as he engulfed his arms in his aura. The power thief smiled and hoisted himself up.

"Kylar versus the Master the Games!" He shouted as his eyes began glowing. "Let the contest begin!"

On the last word, he shot beams from his eyes to send Kylar running for cover. The cannon blazed after him next, followed by a hail of Speedy's arrows coming from the gorilla hand.

The aura manipulator bobbed and weaved to avoid their detonation and jumped into the air, throwing a few spheres of aura at the Master. But it looked like he just shook them off, not fazing him at all.

The Master smirked as he cracked his neck before opening his mouth very wide. Inside was a gush of water, which shot out at a large speed up at the floating Titan. To avoid drowning, Kylar quickly spun out of the way but couldn't react in time at the bolt of lightning that found its' mark on his chest.

After tumbling to the ground, the brunette stood up and looked across the chamber to find the dirty dealer towering off the ground. A moment later, the Master closed the distance in the blink of an eye and swung the gorilla arm at the teen, hitting him with the back of his fist, sending Kylar crashing into the wall, and kicking up a cloud of dust.

When the dust cleared, it showed the aura manipulator leaning against the wall with his head hanging down, looking defeated. After a moment, a blue energy surrounded the downed Titan and floated him across the chamber, right in front of the Master, whose eyes were glowing the same color blue.

"I win." The tournament organizer laughed as he held Kylar in place with the telekinesis. "I always win."

To the Master's surprise, Kylar lifted his head to show a determined smile stretched across his face, "Not today." Before the Master could do anything, the brunette summoned a ball of aura in his right hand and slammed it against the Master's chest, colliding with the red jewel hanging around his neck.

Energy beams flashed everywhere before a blinding glare filled the chamber. From within the blinding glare, Speedy, Cyborg, Robin, and Killowat were propelled from the jewel, yelling as they slid across the floor toward Kylar. They stood up, one by one and looked over at the Master.

"Thanks for that." Speedy said, readying an arrow in his bow.

"Told you there was something weird about this game!" Cyborg yelled at his spiky-haired friend.

"Okay, okay, you were right." Robin replied.

"Let's finish this first, then talk." Killowat added as he summoned electricity into his hands.

Staggered by the explosion, the Master straightened up after a moment and realized that his right arm had returned to normal with the loss of Cyborg. "Victory shall be mine!" He growled.

"We'll see about that." Kylar shot back, getting his own powers ready for the fight.

With a roar, the Master barreled straight toward the five fighters, starting round two. With a wide stream of fire coming from the larger alien, the young metas scattered in all directions. When they all gathered themselves, the Champions all let out attacks; Cyborg firing his cannon blast, Robin tossing a few discs, Kylar throwing one of his sphere's, and Killowat shooting a beam of electricity. All attacks hit their target, but didn't seem to do anything more than stagger him.

"We gotta go for the jewel!" The brunette called out before having to dodge another jetstream of water.

"Got it!" Robin called back. He then rushed towards the Master, sliding under him to avoid a punch that smashed into the ground, leaving a small crater.

Standing up, the masked Titan leapt onto the cheaters' back and in one swift motion, cut the necklace holding the jewel and tossed it into the air with a savage scream.

Taking aim, the other four Champions all fired upon the airborne target.

"NOOOOOO!" The Master of Games shouted as he could do nothing but watch as an arrow, a purplish-black sphere of aura, a sonic beam, and a bolt of electricity all collided with the red jewel, resulting in a terrific explosion.

As light poured from the stone, the Master crashed helplessly to the floor as the red jewel landed in front of him. He was now back to normal as all his stolen powers left him. Looking up, he slowly looked across the chamber to see all the contestants standing in front of him.

"I lose." He admitted sadly before disappearing in a flash of light and smoke. When it cleared, the Master was gone, leaving behind the red jewel, still shining brightly on the ground.

0-0

"As far as I'm concerned," Robin spoke as he placed a Titan Communicator in Speedy's palm. "You're all honorary Titans." He said happily.

In the chamber, every fighter there was holding the same communicator that the archer just received with happy expressions on their face. Aqualad, Wildebeest, Mammoth, Khei, Freddie, Shark, Hot Spot, Kid Flash, Morph, Killowat, and Gizmo all stood with their new items.

"Cool." Gizmo cheered as he opened the device. Mammoth was nodding happily while standing next to his short teammate, admiring his own communicator.

"Yo, give me those!" Cyborg shouted as he grabbed both devices from the Hive villains, "You two aren't good guys, remember?"

Both villains gave a different reaction; Mammoth frowned as he hunched over, while Gizmo folded his arms in a pout.

"Aw..."

"Scrum-buffing tow-jamming gunk eater!"

Back to Kylar, Robin and Speedy were standing with him as they all spoke about what just happened.

"Good job out there. But how did you know the Master was up to no good?" The Boy Wonder asked his friend.

"I knew something was off when he said Cyborg was cheating," The brunette answered.

"He was with us last night when I asked you to do some digging." The bionic added as he and Khei walked over to the trio.

"Oh... right..." Robin said as he scratched the back of his head, "Sorry for being a paranoid jerk."

"It's alright, just buy us all pizza and we'll call it even." Cyborg said with a smile, holding his hand up for a high-five, one that Robin gladly returned.

"This is great that we won and all." Speedy spoke up, "But how exactly are we going to get back anyway?"

As if on queue, Freddie called out to answer, "I got it right here." The British psychic said as he held up the red jewel in his right hand and an open black book in his left. "This is our ticket home."

"How do you know that?" Kid Flash chimed in, tossing his T-Communicator from one hand to the other.

"Let's just say a cute little birdie I know back home has an affinity with magical items." The faux-hawked teen smirked.

"So what do we have to do?" Khei asked, having to catch the red jewel a moment later.

"Crush it."

The bear-wearing teen smiled viciously as he looked at the jewel. "With pleasure." He said as the other fighters gathered in a circle.

"Well dudes..." Beast Boy said as he stretched his arms above his head.

"It's been fun." Cyborg said as he took his place next to the greenling.

"We should do this again sometime." Kylar added as he stood next to Morph and Kid Flash.

"And if you ever need us, you know how to reach us." Robin said to the others.

"Right back at you." Speedy returned the sentiment.

"Right then, let's get out of here!" Khei shouted excitedly before destroying the jewel in a crushing grip.

Once the jewel was destroyed, a bolt of lightning came down and struck each teen, whisking them back to where they belonged for some much needed rest.

I want to thank everyone who waited so long for this story to update. I cannot express how thankful I am for all of you out there sending me messages saying you love the story and that you hope for an update soon.

Really, I never thought I'd get a following like the one I have with you all. So again, to everyone who waited for so long thank you. You are all the best. I'm sorry for being away, but you know things change, things out of our control, and we just try to adapt to those changes the best we can.

Now let me say some things about the chapter:

The first thing I'll point out are the OC's in the chapter. Frederick Constantine and Khei are two characters from King Katsu and his Teen Titans story Mad City. Shark is also an original character that King sent me for the tournament... So shout out to him and his story, if any of you wanna check it out. Also, I changed the characters a bit from what you sent me about them, mostly Shark, I wanted him to look more like Arlong from One Piece, if that makes any sense. Morph was actually a combination of ideas I got from some readers, he'll be coming back and meet Kylar again, but in a surprising way... OOOooooOOOOoOOOoooOoOhhh...

Second, Kid Flash and Killowat being added to the tournament was something I wanted to do when I first thought of this chapter. I like Kid Flash in the show, and I think Killowat is a really cool character that really didn't get like any screen time. So I thought of adding them here. Hopefully you all liked it.

Third, I have the heroes destroying the jewel at the end to send them home because I really didn't want to leave it open for a Tournament of Heroines. I apologize to everyone who would like one, but I really will not be doing one, nor do I want to. It would take me another two years to get that one finished, and let me tell you that I do not want that to happen. I mean, this is one of the longest chapters I've written, and it was not fun.

One more thing, while I was writing this chapter, Here We Go by Theory Hazit was playing in my head for the fighting scenes. For those of you who recognize that name, it is from the game Anarchy Reigns, remember that gem from 2013?

SO! With all that out of the way and finally finished, I want to thank everyone who made it this far reading and returning after such a long and unannounced hiatus. For those of you just joining us and not having to wait that long, welcome and thank you for taking a liking to the story. I hope I can keep you entertained in the future.

If you like what you read, leave a review, send me a DM, tell your friends, you know, the usual. If you have any questions or suggestions you want to tell me, just send me a DM, I promise I'll get back to you. Or if you just wanna chat, I'm open for that too.

With one more thank you, I wish you all a great day, night, whatever time of day it is you are while reading this. Now then, let's bring this story back and have some fun with it. I'll be updating again real soon, I promise.

But until the next chapter, See You Space Cowboys.