The explosion's smoke still hung thick in the air when Hikaru touched down beside Terra. She'd raised an emergency barrier of stone—jagged and uneven, constructed in pure panic—that had absorbed most of the blast's force.
"You okay?" he asked, scanning their surroundings through the haze.
"I'm fine." Her voice shook. "Hikaru, he knew. He's known this whole time—"
"Focus." He kept his tone level despite the adrenaline spiking through his system. "Where are the others?"
Terra closed her eyes, pressing her palms against the scorched earth. Her geokinetic senses rippled outward through stone and cement, mapping the battlefield. "Scattered. Robin's northeast—there's something mechanical between him and us. Cyborg's signal feels weird, like his tech's... muted. I can't pinpoint the rest clearly."
Hikaru activated his communicator. Static crackled back at him.
"He's jamming us," Terra whispered.
Of course he was. Slade had prepared for everything—analyzed their tactics, anticipated their responses, engineered personalized traps for each team member. The realization settled cold in Hikaru's gut. This wasn't just a counter-ambush. This was a demonstration.
"We need to regroup," he said, extending his senses outward. His light-based perception caught traces of electromagnetic interference patterns spreading across the industrial zone like a web. "If we can reach—"
The ground beneath them suddenly liquefied.
Terra gasped as they both sank ankle-deep into what had been solid concrete. She immediately tried reversing it, but her powers met unexpected resistance—something was interfering with her geokinesis, dampening her connection to the earth itself.
"What—?" She strained harder, sweat beading on her forehead. "I can't—it's like something's blocking me—"
Hikaru grabbed her arm, shooting upward just as the liquefied concrete solidified again with the sharp crack of a trap snapping shut. They landed on a nearby shipping container.
"Something's mixed into the ground," Hikaru realized, noticing the faint metallic shimmer in the concrete below. "It's disrupting your connection."
"He planned this." Terra's hands trembled as she stared at the contaminated earth. "He knew exactly how to neutralize me."
"He planned for all of us." Hikaru's jaw tightened. "That's what he does."
A slow, mocking clap echoed from somewhere in the smoke.
"Very good, Seraph." Deathstroke's voice carried from multiple directions—speakers, Hikaru realized. Hidden throughout the zone. "You're adapting faster than your teammates. Then again, you're not quite human, are you?"
Hikaru said nothing, scanning for the source while positioning himself between Terra and the most likely attack vectors.
"Tell me, Terra," Slade continued, his tone almost conversational. "How does it feel? Knowing your betrayal led them into this? That every injury tonight, every drop of blood spilled—it's all because you couldn't commit to either side?"
Terra flinched like she'd been struck.
"Don't listen to him," Hikaru said quietly.
"She should listen." The voice shifted direction—northeast now. "Because I'm offering her one last chance. Walk away right now, and I'll let you disappear. No consequences, no pursuit. Just... leave."
"Tara—"
"You were never meant for heroism," Slade pressed. "Too much anger, too much fear. You know what you are. A weapon. A tool. And right now, you're watching your friends suffer because you pretended to be something else."
Hikaru felt Terra's powers flare instinctively, the shipping contorting beneath them. He caught her shoulder, anchoring her.
"Breathe," he said.
She couldn't stop her shaking. "He's right. This is my fault. I led them here, I—"
"You chose the team," Hikaru cut in, his voice firm. "You've been feeding him false intel for weeks. You warned us he might know. We all agreed to this plan."
"But—"
"No." He made her meet his eyes. "Slade's trying to break you because that's his only move left. If he could beat us straight up, he wouldn't be hiding in the smoke throwing words around."
Another slow clap from the darkness.
"Inspiring speech, young angel." Slade's voice carried genuine amusement now. "But ultimately meaningless. You want to know the real trap?"
The shipping container beneath them suddenly moved—electromagnets activating, dragging it sideways along hidden rails. Hikaru and Terra leaped clear, landing on opposite sides of a rapidly widening gap as more containers shifted into position, forming walls.
"You see," Slade continued as the metal maze rearranged itself around them, "I didn't separate you by accident. I put you two together on purpose."
Hikaru landed in a narrow corridor between containers, immediately moving to rejoin Terra. But the walls shifted again, cutting off his path. He transformed into light, shooting upward—only to hit an invisible barrier, forcing him back into solid form with a hiss of pain.
"Specially created mesh," he muttered, touching his shoulder where the barrier had seared him. "Above us too."
"Correct." Slade sounded pleased. "You're in a box, Seraph. And Terra... well, she's in hers."
Through the gap between containers, Hikaru could see Terra trapped in her own isolated section. The ground beneath her glittered with some strange material, limiting her powers. Her eyes were wide, scanning for threats.
"Here's the test," Slade announced. "Terra has approximately three minutes before she dies. The material prevents her from breaking free herself."
Hikaru's blood ran cold.
"You, however," Slade continued, "have a choice. I've left one exit in your section. You can escape easily—save yourself, regroup with your scattered teammates, perhaps even mount a rescue later."
"Or?" Hikaru called out, already knowing the answer.
"Or you can break through to Terra's section. It's possible—your light constructs can cut promethium-laced steel, given enough time and effort. But by the time you free her, the exit will have sealed. You'll both be trapped when the walls complete their cycle."