Kid Flash moved first, a red-and-yellow blur circling Plasmus at impossible speeds. He darted in and out, trying to trip up the creature's base, but there were no solid legs to target.
"Uh, guys?" Kid Flash's voice went up an octave. "Speed's not doing anything here!"
Then his foot caught in the sludge on one pass. He struggled, pulling harder. "HELP! I'm stuck!"
Cyborg grabbed him by the arm yanking hard, pulling the speedster free with a disgusting wet sound. "Watch it, man!"
Cyborg spun, sonic cannon already charging. Blue energy gathered at his arm, building to a crescendo before releasing in a concentrated blast. The beam hit Plasmus center mass, tearing through the purple sludge. For a moment, the monster parted. Then it flowed back together like water, unharmed.
"That should've dropped him!" Cyborg backed up, cannon charging again.
Beast Boy morphed mid-leap, gorilla muscle replacing his smaller frame. He charged in with a roar, massive fist swinging. The punch connected—and sank into Plasmus like pudding. Beast Boy's entire arm disappeared into the sludge.
"Ew, ew, EW!" He tried to pull free, morphing desperately. "Gross, gross, GROSS!"
His form shifted to a pterodactyl than a bird, but he still struggled to slip free. Hikaru reacted instantly. White light formed threads around Beast Boy, wrapping gently around his struggling teammate. He pulled, extracting him fully from Plasmus' sludge.
"Thanks, dude!" Beast Boy called, shaking his wings.
Donna charged next, Amazon sword gleaming as she sliced into Plasmus. Her blade cut clean lines through the creature's mass, severing limbs and chunks of sludge. They hit the floor with wet splats. But even as she worked, the separated pieces crawled back toward the main body.
A tentacle formed from Plasmus's shoulder, whipping toward Donna. She caught herself mid-flight, sword raised defensively. "Any damage I deal just keeps regenerating!"
Hikaru fired concentrated light beams, testing. The photon blasts punched holes through Plasmus, burning momentarily before the creature's mass filled the gaps.
No point trying my light sword, he thought, banking away from a swinging appendage. Donna already proved cutting's useless.
He shifted into light form, dodging at near-lightspeed as Plasmus lashed out with multiple tentacles. The creature was getting more aggressive, more coordinated. They were giving it time to adapt.
We need one big blow. End this all at once.
Hikaru phased back to solid form beside Robin, who was analyzing the fight while tossing his various gadgets at the creature.
"Got a plan, Boy Wonder?"
Robin glanced at him, then back at Plasmus. His mind worked through variables, team capabilities, environmental factors. "Wonder Girl, Seraph keep lopping off his limbs. Raven, contain them so they can't remerge."
He pointed at Cyborg. "Me and Cyborg will hit him with a sonic boom. Seraph, shoot your largest blast the moment it explodes."
His masked gaze found Raven. "Raven, after the blast work with Seraph. You both use barriers to keep it from putting itself back together."
Hikaru ran through the plan mentally. Containment, amplification, focused destruction. Prevent regeneration long enough to overwhelm Plasmus's cohesion. It was the perfect expansion on his own idea.
"Good plan," he said, nodding. "More thorough than what I had in mind."
Robin paused, then he nodded back. "Thanks." Raising his voice he gave the signal. "Titans, GO!"
They moved like a machine.
Hikaru speed in light sword in hand with Donna close behind they became a whirlwind, white and gold mixed with silver and red, as their respective swords flashed as they carved into Plasmus. Chunks of purple sludge flew in every direction, separated from the main mass.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven's dark energy wrapped around each piece, holding them suspended in the air. Black tendrils kept the sludge contained, preventing it from crawling back.
Robin and Cyborg moved in tandem. Robin planted explosive discs in a careful pattern around Plasmus's core while Cyborg's sonic cannon charged to maximum. The blue glow intensified, building, building—
"NOW!"
Hikaru and Donna both retreated just in time. Hikaru's hands came together, white light building between his palms as he poured power into it. He unleashed the Photon Blast just in time for it to connect with Robin's explosive discs and Cyborg's sonic blast. The combined force created was tremendous—a shockwave of light, sound and force combining into a single devastating moment. Plasmus's mass exploded outward, trying to scatter.
But Raven was ready. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
Her soul-self expanded, creating a dome of dark energy around the blast zone. Hikaru's golden barriers sprang up simultaneously, light meeting darkness to form a perfect cage. Plasmus's pieces hit the walls and couldn't pass through, couldn't escape, couldn't remerge.
The purple sludge burned away under continued photon fire, steam rising as the monster's cohesion finally, completely failed.
When the light faded, only silence remained.
And there, in the center of the scorched floor, lay a man. He was unconscious, naked except for his underwear, passed out and sprawled on his side like Yamcha after taking a Saibaman to the face.
Hikaru landed softly, wings folding. Around him, the others regrouped.
"Is he...?" Kid Flash started.
"Unconscious," Raven confirmed, her dark energy withdrawing. "The transformation broke when he got knocked unconscious."
Robin approached the sleeping man, scanning him with his wrist computer. "He's stable. Looks like the mutation was chemical-based. The authorities can take him into custody, help keep him unconscious until they find a cure."
Donna touched down beside Hikaru, offering a small smile. "Good work."
"Team effort." Hikaru returned the smile, watching as Cyborg called the someone to secure the scene. Around them, the rest of the Titans gathered—messy, but whole.
Robin's hand landed on his shoulder. When Hikaru turned, the team leader nodded once. No words, but the meaning was clear: You did good.
Hikaru flashed a smile in return.
Outside, sirens wailed. Emergency crews moved in to secure the area as Seraph and his teammates left the scene together.