Robin threw another explosive disc. This time, when Deathstroke deflected it, the explosion drove him backward into a column of fire. The assassin rolled through it, armor smoking, and came up in a defensive stance.
For the first time since the fight started, he looked... not worried, exactly, but calculating.
"You're good," he said, and there might've been approval in his tone. "For children."
That word—children—ignited something in Hikaru's chest.
He'd lived two lives. Died once already. He remebered fighting his through abuse and neglect in the first. In the second he'd trained with the actual Devil, mastered powers that bent reality, but all those years combine still did'nt add up to Deathstroke's, yes—he was a teenager, but age wasn't everything.
"Starfire," he said, meeting her eyes across the room. "Maximum output. On my mark."
Understanding flashed across her face. "Together?"
"Together."
Robin caught on. "Everyone, coordinate on Seraph's signal! Hit him with everything!"
Hikaru's body blazed with golden-white radiance as he channeled every ounce of light he could contain. Beside him, Starfire's eyes and hands ignited with green energy, starbolts building to critical mass.
Deathstroke's stance shifted minutely. Preparing.
"NOW!"
Twin beams of devastating energy—pure photons and Tamaranean star-power—converged on the assassin from opposite angles. Raven's dark energy formed a containment sphere. Donna hurled her sword like a javelin. Cyborg fired his damaged cannon one last time. Kid Flash created a speed-vortex to prevent escape. Beast Boy shifted into a pterodactyl and dive-bombed from above carrying Robin who threw every remaining explosive in his belt.
The common room became an apocalypse of fire, light, sound and raw destructive force.
When it finally stopped, a smoking crater marked where Deathstroke had stood.
"Did... did we get him?" Beast Boy panted.
Hikaru approached the crater carefully, light constructs ready. As the dust settled.
His stomach dropped.
"He's gone," he said flatly.
"What?!" Robin rushed forward.
Where Deathstroke had stood, was now an empty crater.
"A field test," Raven said quietly, her eyes glowing white as she scanned the remains. "He just wanted to test us. Study our capabilities."
"Which means..." Cyborg's expression hardened.
"He now knows are moves," Hikaru finished. "He just wanted to learn our tactics." He looked around at his exhausted teammates—Robin bleeding, Cyborg's systems damaged, Donna favoring her hyperextended knee, bruises blooming across Beast Boy's green skin, Starfire's hands trembling from energy depletion, Raven's pale face showing the strain of maintaining control during combat.
They'd barely survived a test run.
Hikaru's gaze drifted to the detention area where the Fearsome Five had been secured. Empty. Of course. In the chaos of fighting Deathstroke's drone, Jinx and her team had slipped away—probably through whatever exit strategy they'd planned as backup.
"The H.I.V.E. hired him," Hikaru said, the words heavy with certainty. "They hired Deathstroke to kill us, and this was just him... what? Getting our measurements?"
Robin's jaw tightened. "He'll come for real next time."
"And he'll know exactly how we fight," Donna added grimly, testing her injured knee.
Silence settled over the damaged Tower. Through the holes in the walls, Jump City's lights twinkled peacefully, citizens going about their lives completely unaware that eight teenagers had just battled for their lives against the world's deadliest assassin.
Hikaru felt the weight of it pressing down, not just the fight they'd survived, but the one waiting ahead. Deathstroke would return.
"Alright," Robin said finally, his voice steady despite the blood on his face. "Damage assessment. Cyborg, what are we looking at structurally?"
Vic pulled up a holographic display from his arm, wincing at the readout. "Main power's holding, but we've got hull breaches on three levels, the security system's compromised, and the loading bay needs complete reconstruction. Plus my cannon's fried—gonna take days to repair."
"Common room's totaled," Beast Boy observed, poking at the destroyed couch.
"Training room took damage when they breached the eastern wall," Donna added.
Starfire drifted down beside Hikaru, her hand finding his. Her fingers were still hot from channeling starbolts. "We have won, yes? The battle?"
"Won the battle," Hikaru agreed quietly. "But the war just got a lot more real."
Robin surveyed his team—battered, exhausted, but standing. "We held the Tower. Against dozens of combat robots, the Fearsome Five, and Deathstroke." His expression hardened with determination. "When the real one comes, we'll be ready."
"Damn right," Cyborg said.
Kid Flash nodded, helping Beast Boy to his feet. Raven pulled her hood up, but Hikaru caught the ghost of approval in her eyes. Donna retrieved her sword from the rubble, testing its balance despite her injured knee.
They gathered together in the ruined common room. The Tower was damaged. They were exhausted. Somewhere out there, Deathstroke was analyzing footage of their fight, planning his next move.
But they were still here. Still standing.
Hikaru looked at his friends and felt something settle in his chest. Not certainty, exactly. But resolve.
"Let's get to work," Robin said.
And together, they began assessing the damage to their home, their spirits unbroken despite the battle scars.