Divide and Conquer

From? http://teentitans.wikia.com/wiki/Divide_and_Conquer/Transcript

(Opening shot: an overhead view of a prison at night. Smoke pours from behind the outer wall and the shattered front entrance, as well as from a spot on the bridge that leads to the complex. If these clues are not enough to indicate that something very bad is going on, the blaring klaxons and sirens settle the point decisively. Zoom in very slowly and cut to inside the entrance; three guards run in through it. Each has a number emblazoned on his shoulder-1, 3, 8.)

Guard 1: Code red! Cellblock Nine! Move out!

(The other two follow orders, and he brings up the rear. They run in a short distance and then slow to a walk, weapons at the ready.)

Guard 1: Main yard secure. (Something very large is thrown down in front of them to roll a little bit.)

Guard 3: There he is! (They advance.) Guard 8: He'll free the criminals! (They level their weapons.) Guard 1: Fire!

(Their target has already bashed a large hole through the wall of the cellblock and is on the way in-he threw part of the torn-out section at them. Seen from the back, this creature is at least ten feet tall, very blocky, and appears to be built entirely of concrete. We have just met the villain Cinderblock. Laser blasts from the guards strike the edges of the hole he has made, while a few connect with his back and others fly past. He turns to them, revealing an equally blocky face with small red eyes. The shots are having no discernible effect on him. Voicing a grating roar, he raises one massive foot and stomps the ground; this produces a long fissure that throws debris and dust into the three guards' faces to spoil their aim.)

(Cut to inside the cellblock. He moves in and stops upon hearing the next words.)

Beast Boy: (from o.c.) You know, Cinderblock, normally the bad guys break out of jail. Robin: (from o.c.) And I can think of five good reasons why you don't want to break in.

(Cut to him; he leaps across the floor and lands in a crouch.)

Robin: (voice over) One!

(Now Starfire swoops and lands, looking sidelong at the camera from over her shoulder.)

Starfire: (voice over) Two!

(Beast Boy, as a tiger, lunges in. When he comes down, he has taken human form except for his head and one arm; he quickly restores these as well.)

Beast Boy: (voice over) Three!

(Next, Raven drops in and gets ready to cast a spell.)

Raven: (voice over) Four!

(Finally Cyborg jumps in.)

Cyborg: (voice over) Five!

(The Titans stand ready for battle now.)

Robin: No matter how you do the math, it all adds up to you going down. So, are you going to go quietly... (Pan to Cyborg.) Cyborg: ...or is this gonna get loud? (Cinderblock roars and barrels straight toward them.) Robin: Titans! Go!

(They charge; Beast Boy becomes a hawk to fly behind Raven and Starfire. Yelling, the five heroes and the one oversized villain hurtle toward one another. Freeze frame and snap to black.)

OPENING THEME

Act One

(Opening shot: Cinderblock continuing his rush. The Titans do likewise. After a few seconds, the view shifts to letterbox, with the image in the top half of the screen. Silhouettes of the two sides charge ahead, after which the view returns to fullscreen and Robin lands a solid kick that staggers the foe. He turns around just in time to catch a double dose of starbolts in the back, courtesy of Starfire. Now Cyborg aims a right hook; even though Cinderblock stops it, he is still driven back by the impact.)

(Beast Boy dives in and rakes his talons across the concrete body time after time, forcing Cinderblock to run to another corner. Raven puts herself in his path and levitates a section of the floor, tilting it up until it stands vertical. She rises out of the way an instant before he crashes through this improvised barrier, then flies away as Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire rush him.)

(One giant backhand leaves only Starfire still in motion; the other two have been knocked away. She throws a couple of starbolts, but is then grabbed in those two enormous hands and pulled in with a little gasp for a face-to-face look at Cinderblock. A smile comes over her face.)

Starfire: I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am stronger than I look.

(She proves it by breaking his hold and delivering a high kick that drives him back against the wall. A cry from the o.c. Beast Boy-hawk is heard, and he swoops in again; in an instant, he has hit the ground and transformed into a tyrannosaurus rex. Cinderblock stands pat before his thundering charge and knocks him back with a single left hook.)

Raven: Azarath Metrion-

(She cuts off the incantation with a sharp, shocked gasp as she discovers Beast Boy's shadow falling over her and sees him dropping from above. Overhead view; his panicked yell from o.c. is accompanied by the shadow's change to human form. He falls on her like a ton of bricks and is the first to get up, shaking his head to clear it. Raven stands a moment later and grits her teeth in anger before getting herself under control. A lock of hair falls over her face.)

Beast Boy: (sheepishly) Heh...watch out for falling dinosaurs? (She gives him a hard glance and blows the hair aside.) I'm gonna leave you alone now.

(He bugs out. Cinderblock chuckles to himself and starts to cross the area, but Robin jumps onto his neck and tries to put him in a headlock. Stumbling about at random, the stone behemoth tears a girder loose from the wall. A chunk of concrete from the floor goes with it.)

Robin: Thrashing only makes me hold tighter!

(Cinderblock raises the girder for a swing back over his shoulder to hit Robin, but misses when the Boy Wonder jumps away just in time; he only clocks himself in the head. Cyborg looks at another girder.)

Cyborg: Now there's an idea.

(He rips it free and charges. Letterbox: he and Cinderblock, in silhouette, swing at each other, the entire screen flashing blue every time their makeshift clubs collide. Cyborg steadily gains ground on the enemy. Fullscreen: they struggle at close quarters, and Cinderblock pushes Cyborg back in preparation for a mighty swing. It connects, sending the Titan and his girder skidding across the floor. Starfire floats down from above; Cinderblock gets ready to let her have it, but the quick flash of a starbolt causes the steel to heat and soften in his hands. He grunts in surprise, and she laughs as Raven looks on.)

(Cinderblock grunts and runs off down the corridor, heading deeper into the prison. Cyborg is still flat on his back, but gets up with a helping hand from Robin and dusts himself off.)

Robin: Want to give this guy the Sonic Boom? (Cyborg smiles and converts his arm to sonic cannon mode.) Cyborg: I got the Sonic if you got the Boom.

(Their three teammates regroup and look off down the corridor. Cut to Cinderblock, still heading farther in.)

Cyborg: (from o.c.) Yo, Rockhead!

(He stops and turns around to find Robin and Cyborg running straight at him. They peel off to opposite sides and go up the walls, then jump toward each other as the cannon warms up. Whatever they were planning goes badly wrong, however, as their feet get tangled up and they are left spinning out of control in midair. Finally they fly apart and Cyborg crashes into the wall. His cannon goes off, producing a blast of sound that engulfs Beast Boy and Starfire. Robin slams against the other wall; a disc in his hand slides away and detonates at Raven's feet.)

(Cinderblock is completely unscathed by the fireworks and clumps away, smashing straight through one wall after another in his path. Prisoners step out to look after the lumbering colossus, then start to sprint out the same way he came in.)

Various prisoners: Hey, hey, look at this. It's freedom!...Let's do it!...Let's get outta here!...Yeah!

(Other voices are heard among these words. Cut to Robin, on his feet and rubbing his head; the commotion reaches him from around the corner, and soon a throng of escaping prisoners is coming straight at him. He whips out his fighting staff and extends it to full length, and he, Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire get ready to throw down. Letterbox: silhouettes of the four Titans and the prisoners against a red background. As the latter are caught by surprise, the former let them have it. Beast Boy resumes his T-rex form to scare the living bejesus out of them.)

(Fullscreen: close-up of a sign on a cell door. "Prisoner 385901-Absolute Silence!" Cinderblock's footsteps rumble from o.c. and his shadow appears over the sign. Inside the cell, which is extremely large, a cylindrical glass tank of liquid is suspended from the ceiling. Within it is the figure of a man, floating erect and clad only in a pair of underwear. The door is smashed off its hinges, and Cinderblock enters and approaches the tank. In close-up, the man is seen to be perhaps in his thirties, very thin, with a shaved head. He is asleep and snoring loudly.)

(Cinderblock rips the entire tank away from the ceiling-mounted apparatus that holds it; broken hoses spew liquid and gases about the cell. He then punches a hole in the floor and jumps through it to make his escape, pulling the tank after himself. Even though the container gets briefly stuck and has to be yanked forcibly through the hole, 385901 does not so much as stir in his sleep.)

(Wipe to just outside the entrance of the cellblock as two prisoners run out in a bid for freedom.)

Prisoner 1: Let's go, let's go! Prisoner 2: I think we're gonna make it! Prisoner 1: Yeah!

(Their perspective: they approach the smashed gate in the outer wall-which is promptly closed when the pieces fly back into the frame. Back to the prisoners, who stop in their tracks.)

Prisoners 1, 2: Huh?

(Snap to black, which resolves into a swirling vortex in front of the gate. It recedes to nothing as Raven floats in through the barrier-repaired by her telekinesis.)

Raven: Think again.

(Wipe to the corridor, near the holes Cinderblock smashed through the walls. Guards keep watch as the prisoners return to their cells, their arms shackled behind their backs. Pan from here to the Titans; Beast Boy is now a gorilla, but he quickly assumes human form.)

Beast Boy: Jailbreak? I don't see any jailbreak. Robin: None of us would have seen one if Cyborg hadn't messed up! (He looks away.)

(Sight gag: each speaker's head grows a size when he speaks, then shrinks back to normal.)

Cyborg: Me? I messed up nothing! (with great force; Robin's cape blows back) You got in my way! (He looks away as well.) Robin: (turning back) You were too far forward, and Cinderblock got away because of it!

(An angry little spark pops up on his temple during the end of this and then winks out when his head deflates. Now the background goes red and the sight gag becomes more exaggerated, with the non-speaker shrinking a bit as he gets yelled at as well.)

Cyborg: (turning back) You saying this is my fault? Robin: Want me to say it again?

(The sight gag ends. Sparks fly between both pairs of eyes before Starfire pops up between them.)

Starfire: Stop! No more mean talking!

(They turn their backs on her and each other, and the normal background restores itself as Beast Boy speaks up.)

Beast Boy: Yeah. If you two are gonna fight, we need time to sell tickets. (He backs off; Raven steps up.) Raven: Cinderblock escaped. No amount of yelling will change that. So stop acting like idiots, and let's go home.

(Cyborg and Robin throw each other a disdainful glance from over their shoulders.)

Robin, Cyborg: Hmph!

(Their respective exhalations are visible in the air. Now they stride away, leaving the other Titans nonplussed.)

Robin: (softly) Loser. Cyborg: (softly) Jerk.

(Letterbox view: they whirl to face one another.)

Robin, Cyborg: What did you say?!?

(Fullscreen: they go face to face. The background turns red again.)

Robin: Do you have a problem, Tin Man? Cyborg: Yeah! It's four feet tall and smells like cheap hair gel!

(This hits him the wrong way. Cut to the others against the wall. Sight gag: they have become scared infants, with the pair's shadows thrown across them as rough caricatures.)

Robin: (from o.c.) Well, you're an oversized klutz and your feet smell like motor oil! (Beast Boy starts to cry.) Cyborg: (from o.c.) You're bossy, you're rude, you got no taste in music!

(The sight gag ends as the camera shifts to frame all five again.)

Robin: I don't even know why you're on this team! Cyborg: That makes two of us! I QUIT!!

(These two words leave the rest of the group staring wide-eyed in total shock. Letterbox, in the top third of the screen: his silhouette stalks away from theirs against a blue field, and Robin hangs his head. Fade to black as the sound of machinery makes itself heard.)

(Fade in to a close-up of turning gears and dissolve to a series of other shots of heavy equipment hard at work-cams and pistons and crankshafts. Pan from the last view across a large enclosure illuminated chiefly by dim red light, then stop on a shadowy figure seated on a large chair atop a raised platform. No features can be seen except the glint of full-body armor and one eye, the left. An overhead fixture pours light down on the seat. This is Slade, though he will not be named for some time to come. In the harsh glare, the right side of the head and shoulder show a gray tint, while red-orange appears on the other side.)

(Cinderblock stumps into the light and places the tank containing 385901 on the floor. When Slade speaks, his tone is even and measured.)

Slade: Cinderblock. I see your mission was a success. Good. We will proceed with Phase Two. Wake him.

(The behemoth strains at the metal cap on the top end of the tank and manages to unscrew it, releasing thick clouds of vapor. When they clear, the occupant begins to stir from his slumber.)

385901: (through glass, startled) I'm...awake? I should never be awake! I'm only human when I'm sleeping! Slade: But for what I have in mind, your human form is useless. (leaning forward) I need Plasmus.

(The man's form begins to swell and distort within the tank, causing the glass to bulge and finally shatter. What comes out is a mass of purplish slime that overwhelms the nearby Cinderblock, accompanied by more fumes from the liquid inside. When the view clears, the overhead light has gone out and the ooze has formed itself into a very large, roughly shaped humanoid with an extremely wide mouth and two tiny yellowish eyes-Plasmus, the form taken by 385901 whenever he is not asleep. The reason for the silence warning on his cell's door is now abundantly clear. Plasmus comes forward and lets off a screeching roar. Fade to black.)

Act Two

(Opening shot: the exterior of Titans Tower. It is now the next day. Ringing is heard over a telephone line, followed by the click of the call being answered.)

Cyborg: (on answering machine) This is Cyborg. I'm either in the gym, playing GameStation- (Zoom in slowly.) -or kicking bad-guy butt. Leave a message. (Beep.)

(Cut to the operations center. Starfire is at the kitchen counter, Raven is looking at a bank of monitors, and Beast Boy paces with a cell phone in hand-he made the call. Robin stands at the windows.)

Beast Boy: Hello? Cy? Pick up! (Pause.) Come on, Cy, pick up! (Close-up of Raven; he paces behind her.) I know you're there. The phone's built in your arm!

(In this shot, we can now see that Starfire is mixing something in a bowl. Raven reaches up to press a key. Now Beast Boy hangs up disgustedly. Cut to an extreme close-up of Starfire, who holds up a spoonful of glop from her bowl.)

Starfire: Taste.

(Pull back; she is holding it out to Beast Boy, and she shoves it into his mouth without warning. It sends him into convulsions, which end with him on all fours and trying to keep from vomiting. Finally he spits out the mess and scrubs frantically at his tongue to remove the last fragments.)

Beast Boy: What is that? Cream of toenails? Starfire: Pudding of Sadness. (taking a spoonful) It is what the people of my planet eat when bad things happen.

(She eats it and is suddenly on the verge of blowing her own chow; after a monster effort, she gets it down and ends up having a fit as well. Raven continues checking the monitors as Starfire brings her the bowl.)

Starfire: Try. The displeasing taste will ease your troubled mind. (Raven turns to her.) Raven: My mind is never troubled. People come, people go. It's pointless to be upset about Cyborg.

(Her hair flies wildly about her face and all the monitors crack-a sudden flare-up of her powers, caused by the fact that she actually is upset about his absence. She does not notice the damage, as she is looking directly at Starfire's wide-eyed expression.)

Raven: What?

(Letterbox, top half of the screen. Robin's silhouette, against the sunlight through the top-floor windows, looks morosely out over Jump City as Starfire's flies to him with her horrid concoction. Fullscreen: she holds the bowl out to him.)

Starfire: Here, Robin. You must need this most of all since...well... (She lets it hang.) Robin: I'm fine.

(He turns away. Letterbox, top two-thirds of screen; his silhouette retreats from hers.)

Robin: Who knows? Maybe we're better off without him.

(Fullscreen: she lowers her bowl and gazes after him with obvious concern. Wipe to a close-up of him in the gym; he is punching something just o.c. with great vigor. Pull back to reveal the target as a heavy bag. He delivers a final roundhouse kick and slumps over, winded. Looking up, he sees his and Cyborg's weight benches-the latter equipped with the sort of giant barbells only that Titan could lift.)

(In the kitchen, Beast Boy hoists a stack of dirty plates onto the counter by the sink. Many others are already piled up there.)

Beast Boy: Yo! Whose turn to do dishes? Robin: (from o.c.) Cyborg.

(The green Titan cries out briefly in surprise like a monkey at this. Robin goes to the sink and starts to wash a plate. Dissolve to him on the couch in the operations center; he is now playing on the GameStation system and blasting enemy aircraft out of the sky. The screen is projected onto the windows.)

Robin: Come on, come on...I'm not scared to take...no! Yeah! Got it! Just one more and...yes!

(Close-up of the screen, which flashes red and blue and shows the message "Cyborg-1,000,000.")

Robin: (from o.c.) New high score!

(Cyborg's name is smashed away by Robin's, and the score changes to 5,000,000. However, the Titan who set it is no longer elated by his achievement. Cut to the hall; he approaches the door of Cyborg's room. It opens to show the interior, and the camera starts to swivel slowly around. Bookcase with pictures and a baseball on top, computer desk with a football by the monitor, trophy case in one rear corner, and areas for self-repair and diagnostics. A large inclined table with a footstop at its lower end is in the other rear corner-what the missing Titan uses for a bed.)

(The camera comes full circle to Robin, who has taken a picture from the dresser and is looking at it. Close-up: it is of the pair, laughing and having a grand time. Pull back into the room.)

Robin: (softly) I'm sorry.

(An alarm shatters the silence. Cut to Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven in the operations center, looking ahead at something o.c. with surprise. Cut to it: a map of Jump City projected on the window/screen, with a large flashing dot that slowly moves along. Robin runs in.)

Robin: Cinderblock strikes again? Beast Boy: You wish.

(Dissolve to a long shot of a chemical factory; it is now nighttime. Inside, jets of colored solutions shoot down from overhead nozzles and flow together in a pipeline that snakes across the factory floor. The mixture emerges from its other end and falls into a waiting barrel; pan from here to Plasmus at the free end of the conveyor on which it and others are resting. As the belt starts to move, he picks up each arriving barrel and guzzles it, growing a few feet taller after each of the first two. The third is hit with a starbolt before he can finish it; the remaining chemicals spill out the broken end, and he lifts the barrel to his eye to peer through it.)

(His perspective, swiveling across the area. The four Titans are waiting for him.)

Robin: That stuff can't be good for you.

(Back to Plasmus, who throws the barrel aside and belches.)

Beast Boy: Nice one!

(He roars and shoots gobbets of sludge from his body toward the heroes, who scatter to avoid being hit. Robin jumps and flips like mad, just barely staying ahead of the barrage, and lands on a crate near a mixing tank.)

Robin: Star! Let him have it!

(She obliges with a starbolt that blows a hole clear through the creature's chest.)

Starfire: (gasping) Did I let him have too much? (He sucks in a huge breath; the hole fills in.) Beast Boy: I'm thinking not enough.

(Its hand balled into a fist, one gooey arm extends itself toward Starfire, who shrieks as Raven plows her out of the way.)

Robin: (pulling a disc from his belt) Maybe he just needs to chill.

(He scales the projectile at Plasmus; it freezes the long arm solid upon impact. The owner of said arm looks at it in surprise, then shatters it against an overhead pipe. Robin jumps for cover, while Beast Boy turns into a pterodactyl and lifts off. Starfire blazes away from above, driving Plasmus back a bit, and Beast Boy executes several punching strikes with his talons. The foe blocks these and retaliates by lashing out with many thick tentacles from the stump of his missing arm.)

[Animation goof: He is seen to have two arms while backing up from her barrage.]

(Both Titans cut and run to stay out of the mess. Starfire throws shots every which way to fend off the attack as Beast Boy does a few evasive maneuvers. Now Raven rises into the air.)

Raven: Azarath Metrion Zinthos!

(She levitates several barrels and launches them at Plasmus; they strike him in the chest, end first, and stick there. His arm now regrown,he gathers his strength and sends them right back, forcing her to dive for cover. Robin leaps in for a flying kick only to get that leg stuck in the mire, followed by his other leg and one hand when he tries more blows. He struggles to get loose.)

Robin: Come on! Let me go, you giant zit!

(It only snarls and roars down at him before sending forth a huge jet of slime that carries him screaming along with it. The purple tide washes over Beast Boy-back to human form-as well. Dripping with it, Robin groans and gets up as Starfire rushes over.)

Starfire: Robin! Robin: I'm okay...sort of.

(He spits out a wad or two. Beast Boy, meanwhile, has made it partway to his feet; his eyes are watering profusely.)

Beast Boy: And I thought Star's pudding tasted bad!

(A fresh howl from Plasmus' direction refocuses the attention of all four Titans in a hurry. Cut to a fuzzy image of him that flickers as the camera pulls back a bit to show this as a giant monitor, with two silhouettes standing before it. One of them-large, muscular, armored-is Slade; the other is a shorter individual.)

Slade: Disappointing.

(Cinderblock's silhouette moves into the frame. Close-up of Slade and the shorter person-an elderly fellow, bald on top, in a white suit and tie and a black shirt.)

Slade: With one Titan missing, this is almost too easy. (Extreme close-up of his eye.) I was expecting more of a challenge. Cinderblock.

(Pull back. An overhead light shines down on him, enveloping the old man and part of Cinderblock. The latter can be seen holding some large piece of equipment.)

Slade: Begin Phase Three.

(An answering grunt, and Cinderblock stumps away. Fade to black.)

Act Three

(Opening shot: an open area of the factory floor. A gush of Plasmus' muck splatters down from above, and Starfire stands up within it and groans disgustedly.)

Starfire: I feel like the underside of a Zornian muck beetle. (Raven gets up next to her.) Raven: Tell me about it. (Beast Boy runs for his life as Plasmus pursues.) Beast Boy: Dude, I am not on the menu!

(Robin's birdarang sails into view trailing a long line behind it. This grappling hook flies around Plasmus' legs to wrap them up; Robin is quick to arrive as well. He grabs the free end of the line and takes a few more turns around the giant.)

Robin: Maybe the best way to take you down... (pulling mightily) ...is to tie you up!

(Beast Boy, now a rhinoceros, charges and scores a direct hit that sends Plasmus toppling backward to fall among a group of support columns. Starfire bends one over to pin him, and Raven does likewise with others. He struggles against these bonds as the four inspect the handiwork; Beast Boy is back in human form.)

Starfire: We did it! Robin: Nice work, team. Beast Boy: Yeah. Didn't think we'd pull it off without-

(Raven angrily socks him in the shoulder to cut him off. He lets off a surprised little sheep-like bleat, then laughs and sweats nervously. Robin checks a locator device briefly before tucking it away in his belt.)

Robin: We finished just in time. Cinderblock's been spotted downtown. Come on!

(The four Titans turn to leave, but a loud gurgling noise from Plasmus' direction stops Beast Boy. He turns back.)

Beast Boy: Huh?

(Cut to an overhead view of the trapped creature, panning slowly along his length, as he starts to ooze a bit under those girders. Back to a head-on view; his entire body flows together and free of the restraints, then shapes itself into a gigantic crab-like thing with one claw, an octopus-like appendage, and a snaky rear limb.)

Beast Boy: Uh...heads up.

(Now having formed a second crab claw, Plasmus rushes at the foursome; they burst out through a set of double doors. Cut to just outside as they make it through and slam the doors shut just in time, leaning against them with all their weight. Plasmus' snarling and pounding can be heard through the metal.)

Beast Boy: Four against five. Not good odds.

(He is referring to the claws/beetles, octopus, snake, and body together-five battering rams to employ against the doors.)

Robin: Forget the odds. We need a plan.

(The doors tremble even more violently under Plasmus' assault, and he finally forces them partway open and pushes a tendril out, then another. Starfire screams as the opening grows wider and the head appears.)

Robin: Titans! Separate!

(The doors are finally smashed open. Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy go in three different directions among the machinery; the latter turns into a cheetah as he runs. Plasmus' snake, separated from the rest of the body, chases Starfire; she turns in midair and bombards it with starbolts, but it lunges and catches her to drag her from the air. Beast Boy sprints along the floor, with one of the crab claws in hot pursuit. It opens wide and lashes out a long tongue that snares him. He breaks loose by turning into a gorilla, but is knocked off his feet by a flying tackle.)

(Raven, meanwhile, flies along as the octopus chases on the ground. She exerts her powers over all the machinery here, causing the bolts and screws to fall out, and the loosened vessels topple into the aisle one after another. The octopus swerves and slides to miss several of them, but is finally hit broadside. She looks back smugly only to find that it has recovered and placed itself directly in front of her; there is only time for one shocked gasp before it rears up to strike.)

(The only one left is Robin, who keeps going full steam among the other process equipment; the other crab claw is after him and not letting up. He reaches a set of double doors, and the screen snaps to black-the darkened area on the other side, which is illuminated as he hurls himself through and into space. Lurid green light rises from the direction of the floor. Something breaks his fall, and he finds himself carried along in midair as he rubs his head; pull back to show him standing on a moving conveyor belt above several large vats of glowing chemicals.)

(The crab claw lands behind him and pulls back to strike. Robin has his staff out in a snap and delivers several blows that merely splatter through the purple goo. The end is caught and broken off, but he simply extends the other end to make up for the lost length and swings again. This time, his weapon is not only blocked but dashed from his hands to go spiraling over the vats. Going into classic kung fu mode, he backs up a few steps and lunges for a high kick.)

(Cut to Starfire, still held fast by Plasmus' snake portion. As she struggles, it wraps a coil around her head and squeezes itself together into a large ball. She bursts out of it after a moment and sees the main body perched on top of an equipment cabinet, lying in wait. Beast Boy-back in human form-and Raven are carried into view, still held by their respective captor body parts, and the snake reforms at the feet of one very frightened Tamaranean teenager. She recoils at its strike.)

(Back to the conveyor. Robin steadily backs up before the opponent's advance, and it soon throws itself on top of him to pin him to the belt's surface. The Boy Wonder struggles mightily as both are swept toward the free end, which hangs over a bubbling vat. He goes partway over, then smiles wickedly and flips the claw backward off the precipice; however; he miscalculates and has to grab the corner of the belt to keep from going down with it. Close-up of this: the housing starts to pull loose, and a camera shift reveals why-the claw has seized one boot and is pulling with all its strength. Robin strains with all the power he can put into his one-handed grip, but the conveyor has had all it can take. His fingers slide away from the ripping material to leave him plummeting toward the last bath he will ever take.)

(Out of nowhere, a familiar bionic arm shoots into view and grabs his wrist. The camera turns down from him to the surface of the vat, where the sludgy apparition is dissolving harmlessly after having fallen in. On the conveyor, Robin has been hoisted up by Cyborg, who stands behind him, and tries desperately to catch his breath.)

Cyborg: (smiling) I still got the Sonic if you still got the Boom.

(Robin returns the smile-the feud between the two has ended in a twinkling. On the factory floor, Plasmus' other four body parts have reassembled themselves and the other three are nowhere to be seen. He laughs nastily, but stops short when Robin and Cyborg square off against him.)

Robin, Cyborg: Teen Titans! Go!

(They go into the same sequence of moves they used while trying to pull off the Sonic Boom attack against Cinderblock inside the prison. This time, however, they do not get tangled up in midair, and Robin hurls an explosive disc while Cyborg fires his cannon. The combined effect of the two weapons is enough to blow Plasmus apart into small puddles of gunk; when the screen clears, we see 385901 dozing among the slop and snoring fitfully.)

(Cut to Beast Boy and Raven, who sit up out of the remains of their captors, and pan to Starfire, who has already done likewise-they had been engulfed by the slime. Robin and Cyborg look down at the frail man who has just inflicted so much damage on the factory. Dissolve to them outside, watching as he is loaded onto a truck for the return trip to prison; he is contained in a new tank.)

Robin: Look, uh...sorry about... Cyborg: Yeah. Robin: So...are we cool? Cyborg: (smiling, holding out a fist) Frosty.

(Robin smiles back as they tap fists. Pan to the other three Titans in the background.)

Starfire: You made up! Glorious! I wish to initiate a group hug. Raven: Pass. Beast Boy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, warm fuzzies all around. But we still gotta stop Cinderblock. Cyborg: (from o.c.) No, we don't. (Back to him and Robin.) Thought I'd bring a present, 'case you were still mad.

(He gestures behind himself, and in response Cinderblock is hoisted up on a winch-with the equipment he had been carrying in Slade's lair wrapped around his body to bind him. The stone villain grumbles angrily.)

Robin: Thanks. But there is one thing that's still bothering me.

(Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire first react with surprise, then go wide-eyed in disbelief that anything could be bothering their leader at this point, given the events of the past few hours. Zoom in slowly on him.)

Robin: Breaking into jail? Using Plasmus to distract us? The whole plan seems to be a little too smart for Cinderblock.

Cyborg: I've been thinking the same thing.

(The other three are relieved; Beast Boy and Starfire sigh visibly.)

Robin: Someone must have been pulling the strings. But who? Cyborg: Well, whoever they are-

(Letterbox, top half of screen: the Titans are silhouetted against the evening sky, with a full moon behind them.)

Cyborg: -they're no match for the Teen Titans. (He and Robin trade a high five.) Robin: I heard that!

(Fullscreen: dissolve to a close-up of a teacup and saucer on a table or ledge. A fist is slammed down, breaking them, after which a pair of white-gloved hands reaches down with a small broom and dustpan to sweep up the pieces. Pull back; it is the elderly man previously seen with Slade-a butler. He has a fresh cup, which he sets on the arm of his employer's chair. Slade is once again seated and lit as before. Despite having just lashed out, his voice retains its control.)

Slade: Next time my plans will succeed. (Extreme close-up of his eye; zoom in as it narrows.) And the Titans will pay.

(Fade to black.)