Lobo's contract

"Really? My contract has me fraggin' a buncha punk kids?! I'd hoped I'd at least get another chance ta scrap with that Supergeek!"

"What do you want, Lobo?" asked Nightwing, readying himself for what was likely going to be a brutal fight.

"I'm here for the orange-skinned hottie's hot girlfriend. I got the all clear to frag any of you bastiches if you get in my way," Lobo said, smirking.

"If you come anywhere near MJ," Starfire hissed, "I'll burn you to a cinder."

"Yeah, after I beat you into the ground," Cassie added.

"And I'll tear your mind apart," M'gann finished.

"Awwwwww, you ladies all seem so fond of the redhead. How cute! Not as cute as you standin' there thinkin' you got a chance against the main man, but still, pretty fraggin' cute. Tell ya what, ladies -- I'm feelin' generous today, so I figure I'll give ya one last chance -- hand over the girl and I'll let ya keep all o' yer limbs."

"Go to hell, ugly," Cassie growled. "MJ stays with us."

Lobo cracked his knuckles, a sinister grin on his face. "I was hopin' you'd say that, sweetie."

Cassie sprang towards Lobo and hit him with a vicious right, knocking him back.

"Hmmmm... not bad, kid. I actually felt that one," Lobo said, rubbing his jaw.

"You're gonna feel this one too," Conner Kent barked as he hit Lobo with a heavy punch. Then another. Then another. Then a few more.

Lobo rose to his feet, his grin now even wider. "Heheheh. I didn't know there was a Supergeek Junior here. Looks like this'll be more fun than I thought."

Lobo swung at Cassie, sending her flying as his fist connected. Seeing Conner lunging at him, he quickly dodged and used his momentum to slam Conner into the ground, sending chunks of concrete flying everywhere. Standing over Superboy, Lobo placed a foot on his throat and smirked.

"Ain't nothin' personal kid. But that don't mean it ain't fun."

Thwip!

"What in the fraggin' frag...?!"

Lobo suddenly found his face covered in webbing, giving Kon-El time to escape. As he tried pulling it off his face, Gwen knocked him backwards with a forceful swinging kick.

"'Sup, Titans?"

"Gwen! Perfect timing," Kori smiled as she and Gwen high fived.

"Friend of yours?" Cassie asked. "You gonna introduce us?"

"Oh, right! Cassie, this is Gwen Stacy, the Ghost-Spider -- MJ's best friend." Kori explained. "Gwen, Cassie." With Gwen's identity known to both the Avengers and the Justice League, Gwen had grown accustomed to being introduced to other teams by her real name, although her identity was still unknown to the public.

"Nice to meetcha, Cassie."

"Likewise. So, what brings you to Titans Tower?"

"I swung by to hang out with MJ. I get ready to leave, and suddenly I see concrete flying everywhere -- care to fill me in on what's going on?"

"He's after MJ," Kori explained. "That's all we know."

"Huh. Welp, I guess I kinda have to help now," said Gwen. Meanwhile, Lobo had been swinging at Nightwing, who'd been keeping him occupied -- it was a gutsy move, considering Lobo's strength rivaled that of Superman himself. Luckily, Nightwing had learned from the Batman himself, and had the advantage of WayneTech armor.

"I get the feeling Dick's in over his head. We'd better go help him," Gwen mentioned.

"Fraggin' runt, stay still," Lobo yelled as Nightwing skillfully dodged his swings. Cassie used the distraction to lasso the Czarnian, while Gwen shot out a web line that stuck to him.

"On three," Gwen instructed. "One... two... three!"

Gwen and Cassie pulled on the tethers they'd restrained Lobo with with as much **** as they could muster, lifting him high into the air before slamming him to the concrete, once again creating a crater in the ground.

"Seems like we've got some good chemistry," Gwen said, holding her fist out. "Fist bump for teamwork."

Cassie smiled and bumped Gwen's fist with her own. I like her, she thought. They had little time to celebrate, though, as Lobo had crawled out of the hole and was dusting himself off.

"Man, I love coming to Earth!" Lobo hollered. "I ain't had this much fun since my last fight with Superdork. Awright, ladies. You showed me yours, lemme show ya mine."

Lobo unwrapped the chain on his wrist, dropped the hook attached to the end of the chain he'd been holding, and began swinging them wildly before howling in pain and dropping it.

"Gahhhhh! What the hell? Ain't nothin' on this planet that stings that bad..."

A green spider crawled from the back of Lobo's neck to the front before morphing into a small bird and chirping, "Yeah, but a Thanagarian Demon Tarantula's venom can even incapacitate a Kryptonian. Pretty cool, huh?" before flying off.

"Damned healthy eatin', book learnin', @$!#% geekoid... what the frag--"

Gar provided enough of a distraction for M'gann to gain a foothold inside Lobo's mind, and she proceeded to **** the mercenary's mind in the hopes of rendering him ****.

"Let me help with that," Raven said as she teleported into the fray, using her empathic powers to aid M'gann's attempts at stopping the Czarnian.

"Damn punk kids... now I'm gettin' pissed..."

"His mind... it's stronger than I thought..." M'gann groaned, surprised by the mental resilience of the seemingly savage mercenary.

"Yeah... I been dealin' with psychics for years. Ya don't become the universe's top merc with a weak mind. Gotta admit, though -- ya bastiches are pretty damned impressive."

"I... I'm about to lose control... I'm sorry, M'gann, I gotta pull back," Raven said.

"I can't hold on either..." M'gann lamented, as Lobo kicked the psychic out of his mind.

Kori immediately picked up the slack, hitting Lobo with starbolt after starbolt.

"You. Stay. Away. From. My. Girlfriend." she hissed with authority.

Lobo lay on the ground, severly burned. He wasn't moving. The Titans looked at his motionless body and couldn't help but wonder... was he dead?

They quickly got their answer as his body began to regenerate and he slowly rose to his feet, a twisted smile across his face.

"Heheheh. You little snots're actually pretty amusin', but it's my turn now -- the kiddie gloves're off. Lemme show ya why they call me the main man."

As the Titans and Gwen readied themselves for Lobo's next move, they heard a beeping noise coming from his communicator. Lobo immediately whistled for his bike and hopped on.

"Well, it's been fun, kids. But my job's done here."

"Your job's done...? Damn it! This was a distraction, wasn't it?!" realized Nightwing.

"Smart kid. I'd love ta stay and frag all o' ya little pukes, but my client was very specific about keepin' ya alive, particularly the Tamaranean hottie. Speakin' o' which, toots, while I never reveal who hired me, it was in my contract to tell ya that yer sister says hi," Lobo said before taking off.

"Komand'r...? What could she... Oh X'Hal, no. MJ!" Kori realized, taking off to her room in Titans Tower. MJ was gone, and there had been clear evidence of a struggle. MJ had no doubt put up a good fight, but there was no way she'd have been able to overcome Blackfire. Komand'r had left a video message on a nearby TV screen, which had been looping the same message, showing Komand'r, a satisfied evil grin on her face, one of her guards carrying an **** MJ over his shoulder.

"Hello, sister. You knew you couldn't hide from me forever, didn't you? I took everything from you once, and now I'm about to do it again. Perhaps I should be thanking you, however -- you've led me to my lovely new bride. Don't be too sad, though -- I'll be sure to treat her well."

Kori dropped to her knees and began sobbing. "MJ..."

Gwen placed a reassuring hand on Kori's shoulder. "We'll get her back, Kori." Cassie, M'gann and the rest of the Titans echoed the sentiment, determined to rescue their friend...