Jump City, Dusk — Streets and Rooftops
Doctor Light surged forward, casting searing beams of radiant energy that sliced through the city. His laughter echoed off the asphalt, triumphant and unstoppable.
"Come bask in my brilliance, Titans!" he boomed, hurling shards of solid light like crystal knives.
Robin cartwheeled aside, staff flashing to deflect the glare. "Titans, go! Close in—don't let him filibuster with photons!"
Beast Boy zipped through the chaos, morphing into a cheetah. "Yo, Doc, with all this juice, you ever think about reading by it?"
He shifted to a hedgehog as another beam zipped overhead. "Seriously, this is hotter than my mixtape!"
Cyborg stomped in, sonic cannon humming. "Hey Doc! Here's an edit for your autobiography!"
He launched a sonic blast that twisted Light's next ray into a shower of sparkling debris. "BOO-YAH! Plot twist!"
Miss Martian hovered above, psychic shields sparkling as they absorbed and bent incoming beams. "I'm keeping the glare down—but hurry, he's thinking really LOUD!"
A pulse of psychic static sent one rogue beam ricocheting off a city sign.
Raven floated forward, hands cloaked in shadow. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
Her tendrils spiraled up, ensnaring Light's legs like ribbons in a shadowy dance.
He spun a dazzling shield, sneering, "You think teamwork can outshine me? I graduated top of my class—Evil University!"
Robin answered with a smirk, flipping over a taxi: "We all know you minored in drama."
Cyborg's eyes flared as he fired. "Eat decibels, light bulb!"
Beast Boy morphed into a giant eagle, swooping overhead. "Coming in hot!" He grabbed Light midair, wings beating hard.
Doctor Light snarled, manipulating photons to slip free; with a blinding explosion, he vanished from Beast Boy's grip—leaving talons clutching nothing.
Beast Boy yelped, "Did I drop him or did he just Houdini me?"
Light shimmered back into view behind them, unleashing a burst that sent Cyborg skating down the street. "Whew, spicy lumens!" Cyborg called, shaking sparks from his head.
Doctor Light laughed, energy crackling around him. "I'm just getting started! You—"
Starfire barreled out of the sky, colliding with Light in a corona of golden fire. "Your illumination is most excessive! Perhaps you require… less spotlight?"
She loosed a flurry of starbolts, one narrowly missing Beast Boy's tail (who squawked, "Personal best, Star!").
Miss Martian swept in, telekinetically deflecting a spray of light away from the team. "He's losing focus—quick, throw shade!"
Robin barked, "Now, Raven!"
Raven's shadows reformed and twisted tight. "Let's see you shine through this, disco ball."
Light burst free, dazzling another sphere of energy. "You think your little tricks—can hold me?!"
Beast Boy shifted mid-air. "He's got enough ego for three supervillains—mind if I drop a little humility?"
He morphed into a kangaroo, bounding at Light from the opposite side.
Cyborg grinned, recharging. "You drop, I zap!"
Doctor Light, sweating, blasted a wall of light so fierce it turned dusk to midday. "You can't win! I AM illumination incarnate!!"
Miss Martian strained, her psychic shield shimmering under the onslaught. "Shields up—hurry!"
Robin's birdarang arced and struck; Starfire swept in, and Raven pressed the attack. In a whirl of powers, Light staggered in the center, fighting off blasts from all sides.
Robin spotted the opening, vaulted in, staff spinning. "He's wide open! Titans—together!"
With a coordinated assault:
Raven's shadows snapped tight.
Cyborg's sonic cannon howled.
Beast Boy's talons dug in as eagle.
Starfire's solar flare smashed down.
Doctor Light tried one last flare but Robin's staff swept in—a crisp, timed swing—knocking the villain out cold.
The street fell quiet, save the Titans' heavy breaths.
Doctor Light, blinking away defeat, managed a smirk. "Guess I was... too bright for you all... or maybe you really do need new sunglasses."
Beast Boy grinned. "Next time, SPF 5,000 and nightlight for your cell!"
Cyborg laughed. "Want a complaint form? 'Knocked out by excessive awesome' is box two."
Starfire, cheerful: "Perhaps next time, you will pick a more relaxing bulb!"
Raven, deadpan: "Try dimmer switches and fewer speeches."
Miss Martian snickered. "On Mars, we say: too much light, not enough sense."
Robin cuffed the villain. "You never quit, do you? Great work, team."
Victory had never looked brighter—or more chaotic.
***
Titans Tower — Later
Cyborg grinned widely, raising his glass. "Alright, Titans—victory feast! Pizza, games, and the best victory cake this side of Jump City!"
Starfire floated with delighted anticipation. "I shall assist in creating the cake of celebration!"
Beast Boy flopped onto the couch, tossing a slice of leftover pizza. "Man, he never saw us coming."
Raven sipped a rare cup of tea, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
Robin glanced around, feeling the warmth of his friends. "We've earned this moment."
Cyborg wheeled in a towering stack of pizzas, his cybernetic arm already claiming three slices at once. "No pineapple for Beast Boy this time. You're on pizza probation for last week's 'tofu and broccoli disaster.'"
Beast Boy threw his arms up. "Hey! That combo is ahead of its time."
Miss Martian brightened. "On Mars, we top our cakes with algae sprinkles! I could—"
Raven fixed her with a warning stare over her mug. "No algae."
Starfire, mixing a bowl in the kitchen, shouted, "The cake of victory must shimmer with joy and perhaps a hint of wasabi!"
Robin, eyes wide: "Maybe let's keep the cake—just cake?"
Cyborg peeked into the batter. "Star? Why is our cake glowing?"
Starfire held up the whisk, which pulsed with faint, ominous light. "It is happy!"
Beast Boy morphed into a raccoon and made a quick grab for a pizza slice—only to yelp as Raven's shadow tendrils gently lifted him by the tail and placed him on the other end of the couch.
"Obstacle avoidance: Level Raven," Cyborg chuckled.
Robin's comlink beeped. "No emergencies. Just perfect peace for a change."
Suddenly, Miss Martian flexed her psychic powers, levitating a stack of snacks all around the lounge. "Let's see if I can beat Cyborg at snack-tower Jenga!"
Cyborg grinned, rolling up imaginary sleeves. "Bring it on, Martian Girl. But fair warning: I'm undefeated since last October."
Beast Boy, now a penguin, slid across the coffee table and dramatically declared, "I call dibs on watching you all crash and burn!"
Raven sipped her tea, deadpan: "I'm only here for the schadenfreude."
Starfire, oblivious to chaos, declared, "The cake lives!" as something fizzed and popped in the oven.
Robin just sighed, shaking his head as laughter and bickering filled the room—a family in all but name, savoring their hard-won peace, completely unaware of the eyes watching them from afar.
***
Hidden Sanctum — Midnight
The chamber was cloaked in heatless crimson light, flickering from infernal runes that pulsed across stone walls like a heartbeat. Shadows moved when nothing did. Chains hung from the ceiling—not to restrain, but to remember. The smell of smoke and old blood lingered.
At the center, a heavy figure knelt before a swirling sphere of mist and vision.
Titans Tower glowed in the distance—warm, bright, full of laughter. Inside, the young heroes were celebrating, unaware they were under surveillance. Robin's command, Starfire's laughter, Beast Boy's chaos, Cyborg's booming laugh, Miss Martian's calm presence... all so exposed.
And Raven… always at the edge. Always apart.
His fingers trailed over the orb, tracing her outline—soft, reverent, almost possessive.
"She walks so far from the others," he murmured. "Because she knows what's inside her. That something always calls her home."
He dragged a blackened nail across a parchment beside him, carving the same word again and again: divide.
"Unity blinds them. Bonds make them weak. But even a single whisper can break what trust builds."
Each screen around him showed more than images. Sensors pulsed, psychic readings danced in demonic language. He was watching hearts—reading desires, fears. Feeding on them.
"Lust. Pride. Need. All so close to the surface..." A chuckle. "And all so easy to turn."
His chest rose, unnatural—puppet-like. The body he wore, bound with soul-thread and blood magic, twitched subtly. Familiar armor straps. A one-eyed lens, long dead. But now... alive in wrong ways.
He turned back toward Raven on the screen. Her face, calm. Her aura, fractured.
"She will bring him forth. Just like before. Just like she was meant to."
He smiled, though no joy reached it.
"And this time… she won't refuse the embrace."
With a touch, the orb snapped dark. The room dimmed into silence, lit only by the blood-red word etched over and over in the stone...
Divide.
End of chapter.