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Tag: Visual edit
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''(She begins to fly toward the front of the room, hauling him along, but he slaps her hand away and ends up bouncing across the floor to land on his feet in front of the window/screen.)''
 
''(She begins to fly toward the front of the room, hauling him along, but he slaps her hand away and ends up bouncing across the floor to land on his feet in front of the window/screen.)''
   
'''Control Freak''': Not so fast! I came here to enact the Ultimate Titan [sic] Challenge, and I'm not leaving until I fight the Titans! ''(Close-up of Speedy.)''
+
'''Control Freak''': Not so fast! I came here to enact the Ultimate Titan Challenge, and I'm not leaving until I fight the Titans! ''(Close-up of Speedy.)''
   
Speedy: You want to fight the Titans? (Pull back; all five stand ready.) You got it.
+
'''Speedy''': You want to fight the Titans? ''(Pull back; all five stand ready.)'' You got it.
   
Control Freak: I've brought the ultimate weapons, made specifically for the real Titans. You Titan-wannabes don't stand a chance.
+
'''Control Freak''': I've brought the ultimate weapons, made specifically for the real Titans. You Titan-wannabes don't stand a chance.
   
(During this line, the following things happen. One, four straps extend from behind his back and buckle in an X across his chest. Two, a large backpack swings up into place and locks itself to the straps. Three, a piece of hardware extends from the unit's uppermost portion and snaps around his forehead, setting a targeting sensor in front of his left eye. Four, he swivels to give us a full view of the backpack and a switch snaps on. After he finishes speaking, he completes his turn and three long cannons swing out to point forward-one at each arm, the third over his head. The muzzle of each is a copy of the fierce beast's head that forms the front end of his remote, and the side cannons have conveniently placed control sticks.)
+
''(During this line, the following things happen. One, four straps extend from behind his back and buckle in an X across his chest. Two, a large backpack swings up into place and locks itself to the straps. Three, a piece of hardware extends from the unit's uppermost portion and snaps around his forehead, setting a targeting sensor in front of his left eye. Four, he swivels to give us a full view of the backpack and a switch snaps on. After he finishes speaking, he completes his turn and three long cannons swing out to point forward, one at each arm, the third over his head. The muzzle of each is a copy of the fierce beast's head that forms the front end of his remote, and the side cannons have conveniently placed control sticks.)''
   
Control Freak: Victory will be mine.
+
'''Control Freak''': Victory will be mine.
   
(A new screen slides up from below, laid out as an equipment inventory from a computer game. It shows Control Freak's face in a panel at left, several weapon icons including his triple cannon, and a set of statistics across the top of the screen: "LV. 99-HP. 2214-STR. 5-DEF 3-SWK. #1." The abbreviation "EQUIP" is at top left. One rocket-shaped icon is selected, after which this screen drops out to reveal little images of the Titans East and their enemy, against a low-resolution overhead shot of the operations center. The effect is to match the adventure-game mood established by the inventory screen.)
+
''(A new screen slides up from below, laid out as an equipment inventory from a computer game. It shows Control Freak's face in a panel at left, several weapon icons including his triple cannon, and a set of statistics across the top of the screen: "LV. 99-HP. 2214-STR. 5-DEF 3-SWK. #1." The abbreviation "EQUIP" is at top left. One rocket-shaped icon is selected, after which this screen drops out to reveal little images of the Titans East and their enemy, against a low-resolution overhead shot of the operations center. The effect is to match the adventure-game mood established by the inventory screen.)''
   
(Three missiles are launched, blowing out the floor beneath the quintet's feet, and all but Bumblebee drop out. She flies toward the front of the room, throws a punch, and backs up again; the inventory screen slides back up and a bubble-shaped icon is picked out. Normal view, close-up as the inventory slides down: one of the side cannon heads is launched forward and splits apart to reveal a translucent red sphere within. This connects neatly with the lone Titan to leave her imprisoned within it-a force field-and the whole thing crashes to the floor.)
+
''(Three missiles are launched, blowing out the floor beneath the quintet's feet, and all but Bumblebee drop out. She flies toward the front of the room, throws a punch, and backs up again; the inventory screen slides back up and a bubble-shaped icon is picked out. Normal view, close-up as the inventory slides down: one of the side cannon heads is launched forward and splits apart to reveal a translucent red sphere within. This connects neatly with the lone Titan to leave her imprisoned within it, a force field, and the whole thing crashes to the floor.)''
   
(Bumblebee tries to kick through the barrier, but with no success, and the game view resumes before Control Freak's image appears front and center. Below it is a text box in which lines scroll past as he speaks-mimicking dialogue in this "adventure.")
+
''(Bumblebee tries to kick through the barrier, but with no success, and the game view resumes before Control Freak's image appears front and center. Below it is a text box in which lines scroll past as he speaks, mimicking dialogue in this "adventure.")''
   
Control Freak: Your efforts are futile! This atomic resistor capsule was built to defeat Starfire.
+
'''Control Freak''': Your efforts are futile! This atomic resistor capsule was built to defeat Starfire.
   
(Normal shot: the floor slides up into view; she pulls out one of her laser stingers and makes short work of the capsule. Game view again: her beam punches through, and his truly incensed image pops up front and center.)
+
''(Normal shot: the floor slides up into view; she pulls out one of her laser stingers and makes short work of the capsule. Game view again: her beam punches through, and his truly incensed image pops up front and center.)''
   
Control Freak: That woulda worked on Starfire!
+
'''Control Freak''': That woulda worked on Starfire!
   
(He disappears and his little sprite runs along the ledge lining the walls on one side. Pan to follow him to the kitchen, where he descends to the floor and heads toward the door. As he approaches it, the screen flashes white and clears to show him in the hall just outside-still in the game graphics. The first Titan he encounters out here is Speedy. Normal shot of him.)
+
''(He disappears and his little sprite runs along the ledge lining the walls on one side. Pan to follow him to the kitchen, where he descends to the floor and heads toward the door. As he approaches it, the screen flashes white and clears to show him in the hall just outside, still in the game graphics. The first Titan he encounters out here is Speedy. Normal shot of him.)''
   
Speedy: You got anything in there to stop me?
+
'''Speedy''': You got anything in there to stop me?
   
(Game: the dialogue image of Control Freak pops up.)
+
''(Game: the dialogue image of Control Freak pops up.)''
   
Control Freak: I devised this aerial sensory detonator to intercept Robin's birdarangs mid-flight. It will easily annihilate your puny arrows.
+
'''Control Freak''': I devised this aerial sensory detonator to intercept Robin's birdarangs mid-flight. It will easily annihilate your puny arrows.
   
(Normal view: the side cannon head he fired against Bumblebee has remounted itself, and now the one over his head changes to a giant hand and is shot ahead. Speedy stands his ground, draws his bowstring, and looses an arrow. The glowing head crackles as it sails down the hall and connects squarely with the wide red palm, throwing up a short, brilliant flash. When the screen clears, we see the detonator-pinned to the closed operations center door by the arrow-and the camera pulls back to show one incredulous madman staring at it. Slowly he turns his gape-jawed face back to the camera; cut to the justifiably smug hero.)
+
''(Normal view: the side cannon head he fired against Bumblebee has remounted itself, and now the one over his head changes to a giant hand and is shot ahead. Speedy stands his ground, draws his bowstring, and looses an arrow. The glowing head crackles as it sails down the hall and connects squarely with the wide red palm, throwing up a short, brilliant flash. When the screen clears, we see the detonator, pinned to the closed operations center door by the arrow, and the camera pulls back to show one incredulous madman staring at it. Slowly he turns his gape-jawed face back to the camera; cut to the justifiably smug hero.)''
   
Speedy: You were saying?
+
'''Speedy''': You were saying?
   
(Game; the dialogue image appears for a few inarticulate screams, then winks out, and he flees back along the hall into a side passage. As he reaches the next corner, two bright streaks flash into view and circle him at high speed: Más and Menos are on the job.)
+
''(Game; the dialogue image appears for a few inarticulate screams, then winks out, and he flees back along the hall into a side passage. As he reaches the next corner, two bright streaks flash into view and circle him at high speed: Más and Menos are on the job.)''
   
Más y Menos: Más y Menos! Sí podemos! ["Más and Menos! Yes we can!"]
+
'''Más y Menos''': Más y Menos! Sí podemos! ["Más and Menos! Yes we can!"]
   
(Normal shot: they stop in front of him and he lets out a strangled cry.)
+
''(Normal shot: they stop in front of him and he lets out a strangled cry.)''
   
Control Freak: How did you do that?
+
'''Control Freak''': How did you do that?
   
Más: (touches palms with Menos) Cuando nuestras manos se tocan...
+
'''Más''': (''touches palms with Menos)'' Cuando nuestras manos se tocan...
   
Menos: ...somos muy veloces! ["When our hands are touching each other, we're very fast!"]
+
'''Menos''': ...somos muy veloces! ["When our hands are touching each other, we're very fast!"]
   
Control Freak: I can't understand you!
+
'''Control Freak''': I can't understand you!
   
(He whips out his remote; cut to a close-up of it as he aims at Más.)
+
''(He whips out his remote; cut to a close-up of it as he aims at Más.)''
   
Control Freak: (from o.c., pressing button) Take that! (clicking at Menos) And that!
+
'''Control Freak''': ''(from o.c., pressing a button)'' Take that! ''(clicks at Menos)'' And that!
   
Más: Nothing happened.
+
'''Más''': Nothing happened.
   
Menos: Must be the batteries.
+
'''Menos''': Must be the batteries.
   
(A moment later, both scream in fright, realizing that they have just spoken English, and their monolingual foe leans gleeful over them.)
+
''(A moment later, both scream in fright, realizing that they have just spoken English, and their monolingual foe leans gleeful over them.)''
   
Control Freak: (aside) Spanish language converter.
+
'''Control Freak''': ''(aside)'' Spanish language converter.
   
(He lets off a happy little sigh before his inventory screen slides up. Now a grid icon is chosen and the shot slides down to show him aiming all three cannons straight ahead again. The eyes blaze to life, energy bolts crackling between them as a glowing sphere forms at the center of the triangle. It flashes toward the twins as a blinding beam and forms a glowing cage around them on impact. Game: the dialogue image pops up over the two penned heroes.)
+
''(He lets off a happy little sigh before his inventory screen slides up. Now a grid icon is chosen and the shot slides down to show him aiming all three cannons straight ahead again. The eyes blaze to life, energy bolts crackling between them as a glowing sphere forms at the center of the triangle. It flashes toward the twins as a blinding beam and forms a glowing cage around them on impact. Game: the dialogue image pops up over the two penned heroes.)''
   
Control Freak: I built that to be strong enough to contain Beast Boy's most powerful animals. Let's see you get outta that!
+
'''Control Freak''': I built that to be strong enough to contain Beast Boy's most powerful animals. Let's see you get outta that!
   
(He disappears again; normal shot of the cage.)
+
''(He disappears again; normal shot of the cage.)''
   
Más: It may trap Beast Boy...
+
'''Más''': It may trap Beast Boy...
   
Menos: ...but not us!
+
'''Menos''': ...but not us!
   
(Game: their captor hustles down the hall, around the corner to a dead end, and finds Aqualad waiting here. An exclamation point appears briefly by Control Freak's head, and the camera cuts to a normal shot just inside the operations center door. It opens, admitting the enemy and his new pursuer; the former runs o.c., while the latter stops short and dives away from a fusillade. Cut to the crazed artillery man, who has stopped in the kitchen and is cheerfully swiveling his body toward the tables to track his target. Shots tear up the walls as Aqualad sprints toward the front of the room and goes up for a mighty leap that brings him to floor level.)
+
''(Game: their captor hustles down the hall, around the corner to a dead end, and finds Aqualad waiting here. An exclamation point appears briefly by Control Freak's head, and the camera cuts to a normal shot just inside the operations center door. It opens, admitting the enemy and his new pursuer; the former runs o.c., while the latter stops short and dives away from a fusillade. Cut to the crazed artillery man, who has stopped in the kitchen and is cheerfully swiveling his body toward the tables to track his target. Shots tear up the walls as Aqualad sprints toward the front of the room and goes up for a mighty leap that brings him to floor level.)''
   
(Close-up of his boiling-mad face, zooming in as he lifts it to stare dead ahead. Behind Control Freak, the kitchen sink starts to do a rumbling cha-cha and finally blows clear of the counter, propelled by a geyser of water under Aqualad's control. Letterbox view, top half of the screen: the intruder is washed screaming and gurgling across the room as his assailant watches. Fullscreen: the door opens and the other Titans East rush in; Más and Menos are out of their cage. Cut to Control Freak, half-sprawled out amid his ruined cannons and reaching to pull off his weapons system, then to a close-up of it coming apart on the floor during the first sentence of his next line.)
+
''(Close-up of his boiling-mad face, zooming in as he lifts it to stare dead ahead. Behind Control Freak, the kitchen sink starts to do a rumbling cha-cha and finally blows clear of the counter, propelled by a geyser of water under Aqualad's control. Letterbox view, top half of the screen: the intruder is washed screaming and gurgling across the room as his assailant watches. Fullscreen: the door opens and the other Titans East rush in; Más and Menos are out of their cage. Cut to Control Freak, half-sprawled out amid his ruined cannons and reaching to pull off his weapons system, then to a close-up of it coming apart on the floor during the first sentence of his next line.)''
   
Control Freak: (sulkily) I brought this cool magnetic propeller for Cyborg, but who cares? (Back to him, standing up.) All these woulda worked on the real Titans. It's just, your powers are...stupid!
+
'''Control Freak''': ''(sulkily)'' I brought this cool magnetic propeller for Cyborg, but who cares? ''(Back to him, standing up.) A''ll these woulda worked on the real Titans. It's just, your powers are...stupid!
   
(He clicks his remote at himself and disappears; a second later his face pops up on the window/screen.)
+
''(He clicks his remote at himself and disappears; a second later his face pops up on the window/screen.)''
   
Control Freak: (even more sulkily) I don't want to fight you anymore.
+
'''Control Freak''': ''(even more sulkily)'' I don't want to fight you anymore.
   
(He tops this bit of whining off with a stuck-out tongue and a goofy face, after which his image gives way to a mass of static. Five young crime-fighters are left to trade very puzzled stares as the view fades to black.)
+
''(He tops this bit of whining off with a stuck-out tongue and a goofy face, after which his image gives way to a mass of static. Five young crime-fighters are left to trade very puzzled stares as the view fades to black.)''
   
 
== Act Two ==
 
== Act Two ==
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Speedy: Who zaps out in the middle of a fight?
 
Speedy: Who zaps out in the middle of a fight?
   
Bumblebee: We'll find him-somehow.
+
Bumblebee: We'll find him, somehow.
   
 
(The beautiful panorama gives way to a wall of static, then Cyborg's face. He has donned a thick coat, scarf, and knit cap to keep warm in the blizzard that frames him.)
 
(The beautiful panorama gives way to a wall of static, then Cyborg's face. He has donned a thick coat, scarf, and knit cap to keep warm in the blizzard that frames him.)
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Aqualad: We need to get more information on Control Freak.
 
Aqualad: We need to get more information on Control Freak.
   
(Alarm and red flashers go off; pull back from this end of the room as M�s and Menos lean into view and all five look up worriedly. Cut to the sign above the front entrance to the Bank of P�rez, in the city proper. The alarm is screaming at top volume, marking the source of the alert that just came in, and the camera tilts down to the further sound of a crowd in the throes of total panic. Two scared customers run for their lives, an old woman hobbles away as quickly as her arthritis will allow, and the first legs to touch down near the camera are Bumblebee's. Cut to a close-up of her and pull back as the others arrive in short order.)
+
(Alarm and red flashers go off; pull back from this end of the room as Más and Menos lean into view and all five look up worriedly. Cut to the sign above the front entrance to the Bank of Pérez, in the city proper. The alarm is screaming at top volume, marking the source of the alert that just came in, and the camera tilts down to the further sound of a crowd in the throes of total panic. Two scared customers run for their lives, an old woman hobbles away as quickly as her arthritis will allow, and the first legs to touch down near the camera are Bumblebee's. Cut to a close-up of her and pull back as the others arrive in short order.)
   
 
Old woman: Don't go in there! Wait for the Titans! (This hits them the wrong way.)
 
Old woman: Don't go in there! Wait for the Titans! (This hits them the wrong way.)
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Control Freak: So, my chat room chums, tell me. What do you know about the Titans East? Do you think they're real Titans? (A new dialogue icon appears on each of the following lines.)
 
Control Freak: So, my chat room chums, tell me. What do you know about the Titans East? Do you think they're real Titans? (A new dialogue icon appears on each of the following lines.)
   
<nowiki>***</nowiki> All lines marked with one asterisk are heard over the computer's sound system, without the speaker being physically present. ***
+
Man in chicken suit: (heard over the computer's sound system) There's a Titans East?
 
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Man in chicken suit: There's a Titans East?
 
   
 
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Skinny man: IMHO, Robin's the only real Titan.
 
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Skinny man: IMHO, Robin's the only real Titan.

Revision as of 21:09, 15 December 2018

Prologue

(Opening shot: the exterior of Titans Tower during the day. The scene is very much at peace with itself as the camera zooms in and cuts to the operations center, whose window/screen suddenly fills wit a static-distorted image of Control Freak's fat face. It winks in and out a bit before properly resolving itself; his first two words are delivered with enough force to shake the room.)

Control Freak: Greetings, Titans! Your number-one nemesis, Control Freak, has returned!

(Snap to black, which resolves into a set of convict stripes worn by the overweight geek as he gambols away from the camera. He is in a prison cell, with the identification number 257-494 on a placard hung around his neck; a reference to the last episode in which he fought our heroes.)

Control Freak: You may have thought you saw the last of me in Two-Five-Seven-dash-Four-Nine-Four. But while away, I've been studying your every move, and now I'm back.

(The background snaps to black; he rips away his uniform, exposing his usual Obi-Wan Kenobi ensemble topped with the gray overcoat, as the camera pulls back.)

Control Freak: The Ultimate Titans Challenge!

(Each of these last three words zooms up as he says it, after which he leans toward the camera for an extreme close-up and thumps up against it.)

Control Freak: A series of mind-boggling events designed to test your specific skills and stamina. (He twirls away from us a bit.) And to raise the stakes, I have crafted an arsenal of counter-technology weapons to render your powers useless.

(On the latter part of this, the camera backs up to frame some black space around him, and five silhouettes appear one by one. Alien, dinosaur, spaceship, lobster creature, satellite laser-each outline bears a big red question mark. From here, cut back to the operations center.)

Control Freak: Prepare to be defeated.

(He lets go with a gale of very nasty laughter, but breaks off abruptly after a couple of seconds and looks out with some puzzlement. Cut to just in front of the window/screen, the camera pointing out over the room-this is his perspective. Not a single Titan in sight, not so much as a loose chewing-gum wrapper on the floor. It looks as if Robin meant business at the end of "Trust," when he said that the team would stay on the road until the Brotherhood of Evil had been stopped; the place is dead quiet.)

Control Freak: Hello?

(Back to the window/screen. He points his favorite souped-up remote control at himself and clicks a button; the result is to clear away his image and materialize him here in real life.)

Control Freak: (louder) Hello!

(No response, so he rushes along the ledge that lines one wall and out the main door. Cut to just inside Beast Boy's perpetually untidy room; the door slides open and here comes the intruder with a leap and twirl. Pull back to show that he is alone here, too.)

Control Freak: Greetings, Titans! Your number-one nemesis has returned!

(Pull back again, this time to across the room; nothing here but the unmade bunk beds. Silence as he holds his pose, then back to him. Triumph gives way to confusion and then annoyance as the situation starts to work its way into his fat head. Wipe to the gym, whose door opens to let him in; one huge bound carries him to the center of the floor.)

Control Freak: Greetings, Titans!

(Cut to the T-Ship's launch bay and tilt down in steps to follow him as he zips here and there.)

Control Freak: Your number-one nemesis has returned!

(On these last two words, the camera cuts to the exterior of the Tower; a tiny speck and flashing red arrow mark his presence on the roof. Still no answer to his affront against peace and quiet, and the panel that pops up to show his steamed expression illustrates the situation very clearly. He looks from side to side, after which the view wipes to Starfire's room. The door opens, but this time he trudges in sulkily instead of bounding through.)

Control Freak: (wearily, sitting on her bed) Greetings, Titans. (loses steam) Your number-one nemesis has--

(He gets no farther before Silkie jumps onto his chest and coos happily, but the arrival of the friendly little maggot prompts him to scream shrilly and dive under the blanket. Said maggot is thrown clear by the move, while the one who made it shivers in fear beneath the bedclothes. It lands right in front of his face and gurgles some more; he sighs disgustedly at having wasted all this time and lung power.)

Control Freak: Okay. The Titans aren't home, but sooner or later...they will face my Challenge!

(He stands up to full height, throwing blanket, pillow, and Silkie in three different directions, and lets go with a gale of insane laughter. The pet spins in midair.)

Control Freak: I can wait. I can wait.

(Silkie drops headfirst to the bed and goes right back to cuddling the overweight geek, this time by nuzzling his leg. A frustrated little groan is followed by a bout of tuneless, inept whistling, which is accompanied by a stream of musical notes that float from his mouth. Fade to black.)


OPENING THEME

Act One

(Opening shot: the bright midday sun, which silhouettes a vessel flying toward the camera. As it approaches, enough detail is revealed to mark it as a duplicate of the T-Ship, but blue instead of orange. It drops a bit lower, heading toward Jump City Bay and the Tower; cut to Bumblebee in one of the five cockpits. Since the end of the third season, the Titans East have had time to get their own transportation in order.)

Bumblebee: There she is. Home sweet Tower, at least temporarily.

(Long shot of the vessel, which we shall call the East T-Ship. Panel showing the faces of Más and Menos pop up alongside.)

Más y Menos: La casa de ellos es la casa de nosotros! ["Their home is our home!"]

(A third, gear-shaped panel zaps in to the sound of a static blip on the communications line, and Cyborg's face appears within.)

Cyborg: Titans East, come in. (A fourth, squid-shaped panel, showing Aqualad.)

Aqualad: Hey, Cyborg.

(A tiny satellite dish pops up from Cyborg's panel and begins to beam in a signal.)

Cyborg: I'm transmitting a list of villains to keep an eye out for. When word gets out that the Titans are outta town, someone may try to pull something.

(Cut to Speedy, lounging in his cockpit's seat and combing his hair.)

Speedy: When word gets out the Titans East are in town, they'll think twice. (Exterior again; Cyborg's dish retracts.)

Cyborg: Hey, guys, thanks again for looking after the city while we're off fighting the Brotherhood of Evil. (A fifth, beehive-shaped panel, showing Bumblebee.)

Bumblebee: We're happy to help.

(Cut to within Speedy's cockpit; the big man's panel has popped in here and grown somewhat, losing its gear outline. The young bowman gets visibly annoyed.)

Cyborg: Now make sure you remember to activate the security lockdown every night.

(Same thing happens in one of the twins' seats; we cannot tell which one, as the harness buckle and headphones cover his jumpsuit's symbols.)

Cyborg: And if you're gonna wash the T-Car... (To the other twin, who falls out of his seat.) ...buff counterclockwise. (To Aqualad.) Oh, and don't eat the turkey leg in the fridge. (To Bumblebee.) I'm saving that for Turkey Night. (chuckles a bit) Turkey.

Bumblebee: Don't worry, Sparky. You just concentrate on stopping the Brotherhood of Evil. We have everything under control here. (His mouth falls open.) Bumblebee out.

(She breaks the connection, swinging her fist forward and bobbing her head cheerfully from side to side in the same motion. Cut to an overhead view of the Tower, zooming in on the roof as the East T-Ship comes in for a landing and a hatch opens to make way for it, then to the kitchen. Control Freak has found the refrigerator and is busily digging around; zoom in quickly as he whips out the turkey leg Cyborg mentioned. He has barely ripped off a hunk of meat in his teeth when the sound of the hatch's closing reaches him.)

Control Freak: (mouth full) Titans!

(He swallows and slides down out of sight. Cut to just inside the door, which opens to admit the five caretakers, then to behind them, pulling back slowly as they enter and get an eyeful of the place. If their jaws hung any lower, they would have to pick them up off the floor.)

Menos: Esto es increíble! ["This is incredible!"]

(Speedy slides over to one of the computer consoles near the window screen; it opens up at his approach, and after a moment's scrutiny he turns away with a slightly disgusted look. Close-up of a button marked with the Titans' insignia, then pull back across the room after he has pressed it. This control is set into the wall near the side door on the kitchen table side of the operations center, and its use causes a large bank of computer monitors to pop up next to Speedy.)

Speedy: Man, they've even got flat-panel computer displays.

(Cut to Bumblebee against a red background; the other four lean impatiently toward her. All but Speedy are chewing on toothpicks.)

Speedy: How come we don't have flat-panel computer displays? (Control Freak's face looms up huge behind them.)

Control Freak: Greetings, Titans!

(They are blown off their feet by the force of his yell, after which he wheels back to the door and brandishes the stolen turkey leg.)

Control Freak: Your number one ne--

(He cuts himself off sharply, realizing that the hero standing in front of him with face frozen is no one he has ever seen before, Bumblebee. Aqualad and Speedy pop up from behind her wings, the twins out of her large hair puffs.)

Control Freak: Hey! You're not the Teen Titans! (They recover from the shock.)

Bumblebee: We're Titans East.

(Sight gag: cut to the ridge on which Steel City is partly built, with Titans East Tower built into the slope. Bright rays of yellow and orange sunlight shine over the water despite the snow surrounding the buildings, and the team's images are superimposed as if they were cutouts from photographs. Aqualad and Speedy are on opposite sides near the top stories, while Bumblebee and the twins are standing on the waves; Más stands upright and holds the ankle of his upside-down brother. Each speaker slides o.c. in time with the following lines.)

Aqualad: Aqualad!

Speedy: Speedy!

Más: Más...

Menos: ...y Menos! (They slide off together.) ["Más and Menos!"]

Bumblebee: And Bumblebee!

(The gag ends as the operations center slides in from above; Control Freak is considerably unimpressed.)

Control Freak: (shrugs) Uh...yeah. Never heard of you. (All get in his face.)

Speedy: (shaking his fist) Never heard of us? Who is this guy?

(Snap to black, against which he slides up into view, holding a device similar to the double-blade lightsaber he commandeered during "Episode 257-494." However, this one has two pairs of blades that he extends in either direction from the central handle on the next line. Lying behind him is an empty bag.)

Control Freak: Who am I?

(The back corner of the operations center slides down behind him.)

Control Freak: (swings his weapon wildly) I am Control Freak! Master of mass media! Ruler of reality! And I escaped from prison to defeat my arch-nemesii, the Titans!

(He nearly trips over the bag and grinds one set of blades into the floor on the end of this, then advances toward the camera with a few more big swings.)

Control Freak: The real Titans.

(Sight gag: cut to the red Jump City background that appears to highlight Robin during the opening theme. The Boy Wonder drops into view, as does the fat dope, decked out in a matching uniform with a CF insignia in place of the usual R and sporting spiked hair and a mask. He has disposed of the lightsaber.)

Control Freak: Robin, (runs to follow him) teen wonder!

(Both throw a few punches and kicks at the air; Control Freak goes flat on his back and bounces away before Robin's boot shatters the scene. Now we see a solid purple field against which Raven floats backward into view. A moment later, here comes the lunatic, dressed in one of her outfits and wearing a cloak that ha no hope of ever covering his blobby body.)

Control Freak: Raven, mistress of magic.

(Spreading her arms wide, she recedes quickly into the distance and conjures up her "soul self," which lets off a shrill cry. Tilt up from here as Beast Boy leaps into frame from below, the backdrop fading to green.)

Control Freak: (voice over) Beast Boy, shape-shifter supreme!

(During this line, he does a partial transformation, showing a tyrannosaurus rex's head on his back, then turns into a pterodactyl. Sure enough, down comes nobody's favorite villain, dressed in the same black/magenta outfit and gray belt, with pointed ears, slightly tousled hair, and green paint smeared on his face. He drops toward the camera until the screen is filled with his form; from here, cut to a wall of blue circuitry. Two clenched right fists shoot into view: one belonging to Cyborg, the other a less-than-stellar copy. On the next line, pull back to show the real big man and the nutcase next to him, also decked out in full cybernetic kit. Both arms turn into sonic cannons.)

Control Freak: Cyborg, half man, half robot!

(Both fire-one full-intensity blast, one slightly surprised Silkie. The energy washes across the screen to white it out; fade in to a pink field.)

Control Freak: (voice over, tenderly) And Starfire...

(Two images of her float into view from opposite sides of the screen. The left one is ready to blow away anyone or anything that gets in her way, while the right one is armed only with a warm smile. Between them rises Control Freak, who is now defying the laws of good taste and/or physics by having stuffed himself into one of her outfits and styled his hair to match hers. His eyes have adopted her coloration as well-green with pale yellow whites.)

Control Freak: ...alien powerhouse. (aside, he leans to the camera) She's too good for Robin. He'll never appreciate her. (Más and Menos pop up, hearts in eyes.)

Más y Menos: Sí. ["Yes."]

(The extended sight gag ends with a cut to the operations center couch. Bumblebee, Aqualad, and Speedy have crashed out here with popcorn and drinks, and the entire ludicrous spectacle has left them completely speechless for the moment. The Atlantaean is first to find his tongue.)

Aqualad: (grinning) You sound more like a fanboy than a nemesis.

(Cut to the ledge in front of the window/screen. Control Freak is perched her, back in his usual outfit, and Más and Menos slide away to the couch as he stutters in search of a suitable response. The camera shifts to behind him, framing all five teens on the couch; Speedy is now looking over a stack of printouts.)

Control Freak: A great villain always studies his adversaries, okay?

(He glares haughtily away from the group; now Bumblebee leans closer to read Speedy's pages.)

Speedy: Well, if you're such a bad dude, then why aren't you on their bad-guy list?

(The top sheets are yanked away, taking the rest along-accordion-fold paper-and the not-so-bad dude in question starts to read.)

Control Freak: Eh? "List of Notorious Villains. Plasmus...Overload...Johnny Rancid...the Puppet King?!?" (rounds on the team and sputters a bit) They only fought him once! I'm a recurring villain! (leans to Speedy) So, are you, like, the Robin of the group?

(Extreme close-up of the fat bandolier-crossed chest as a brown-skinned fist closes on it, a vein throbbing on the back. Pull back to show the fist's owner, hovering just above the couch and dragging him up.)

Bumblebee: No, I'm the leader of the team! And we're done talking. We're taking you back to jail.

(She begins to fly toward the front of the room, hauling him along, but he slaps her hand away and ends up bouncing across the floor to land on his feet in front of the window/screen.)

Control Freak: Not so fast! I came here to enact the Ultimate Titan Challenge, and I'm not leaving until I fight the Titans! (Close-up of Speedy.)

Speedy: You want to fight the Titans? (Pull back; all five stand ready.) You got it.

Control Freak: I've brought the ultimate weapons, made specifically for the real Titans. You Titan-wannabes don't stand a chance.

(During this line, the following things happen. One, four straps extend from behind his back and buckle in an X across his chest. Two, a large backpack swings up into place and locks itself to the straps. Three, a piece of hardware extends from the unit's uppermost portion and snaps around his forehead, setting a targeting sensor in front of his left eye. Four, he swivels to give us a full view of the backpack and a switch snaps on. After he finishes speaking, he completes his turn and three long cannons swing out to point forward, one at each arm, the third over his head. The muzzle of each is a copy of the fierce beast's head that forms the front end of his remote, and the side cannons have conveniently placed control sticks.)

Control Freak: Victory will be mine.

(A new screen slides up from below, laid out as an equipment inventory from a computer game. It shows Control Freak's face in a panel at left, several weapon icons including his triple cannon, and a set of statistics across the top of the screen: "LV. 99-HP. 2214-STR. 5-DEF 3-SWK. #1." The abbreviation "EQUIP" is at top left. One rocket-shaped icon is selected, after which this screen drops out to reveal little images of the Titans East and their enemy, against a low-resolution overhead shot of the operations center. The effect is to match the adventure-game mood established by the inventory screen.)

(Three missiles are launched, blowing out the floor beneath the quintet's feet, and all but Bumblebee drop out. She flies toward the front of the room, throws a punch, and backs up again; the inventory screen slides back up and a bubble-shaped icon is picked out. Normal view, close-up as the inventory slides down: one of the side cannon heads is launched forward and splits apart to reveal a translucent red sphere within. This connects neatly with the lone Titan to leave her imprisoned within it, a force field, and the whole thing crashes to the floor.)

(Bumblebee tries to kick through the barrier, but with no success, and the game view resumes before Control Freak's image appears front and center. Below it is a text box in which lines scroll past as he speaks, mimicking dialogue in this "adventure.")

Control Freak: Your efforts are futile! This atomic resistor capsule was built to defeat Starfire.

(Normal shot: the floor slides up into view; she pulls out one of her laser stingers and makes short work of the capsule. Game view again: her beam punches through, and his truly incensed image pops up front and center.)

Control Freak: That woulda worked on Starfire!

(He disappears and his little sprite runs along the ledge lining the walls on one side. Pan to follow him to the kitchen, where he descends to the floor and heads toward the door. As he approaches it, the screen flashes white and clears to show him in the hall just outside, still in the game graphics. The first Titan he encounters out here is Speedy. Normal shot of him.)

Speedy: You got anything in there to stop me?

(Game: the dialogue image of Control Freak pops up.)

Control Freak: I devised this aerial sensory detonator to intercept Robin's birdarangs mid-flight. It will easily annihilate your puny arrows.

(Normal view: the side cannon head he fired against Bumblebee has remounted itself, and now the one over his head changes to a giant hand and is shot ahead. Speedy stands his ground, draws his bowstring, and looses an arrow. The glowing head crackles as it sails down the hall and connects squarely with the wide red palm, throwing up a short, brilliant flash. When the screen clears, we see the detonator, pinned to the closed operations center door by the arrow, and the camera pulls back to show one incredulous madman staring at it. Slowly he turns his gape-jawed face back to the camera; cut to the justifiably smug hero.)

Speedy: You were saying?

(Game; the dialogue image appears for a few inarticulate screams, then winks out, and he flees back along the hall into a side passage. As he reaches the next corner, two bright streaks flash into view and circle him at high speed: Más and Menos are on the job.)

Más y Menos: Más y Menos! Sí podemos! ["Más and Menos! Yes we can!"]

(Normal shot: they stop in front of him and he lets out a strangled cry.)

Control Freak: How did you do that?

Más: (touches palms with Menos) Cuando nuestras manos se tocan...

Menos: ...somos muy veloces! ["When our hands are touching each other, we're very fast!"]

Control Freak: I can't understand you!

(He whips out his remote; cut to a close-up of it as he aims at Más.)

Control Freak: (from o.c., pressing a button) Take that! (clicks at Menos) And that!

Más: Nothing happened.

Menos: Must be the batteries.

(A moment later, both scream in fright, realizing that they have just spoken English, and their monolingual foe leans gleeful over them.)

Control Freak: (aside) Spanish language converter.

(He lets off a happy little sigh before his inventory screen slides up. Now a grid icon is chosen and the shot slides down to show him aiming all three cannons straight ahead again. The eyes blaze to life, energy bolts crackling between them as a glowing sphere forms at the center of the triangle. It flashes toward the twins as a blinding beam and forms a glowing cage around them on impact. Game: the dialogue image pops up over the two penned heroes.)

Control Freak: I built that to be strong enough to contain Beast Boy's most powerful animals. Let's see you get outta that!

(He disappears again; normal shot of the cage.)

Más: It may trap Beast Boy...

Menos: ...but not us!

(Game: their captor hustles down the hall, around the corner to a dead end, and finds Aqualad waiting here. An exclamation point appears briefly by Control Freak's head, and the camera cuts to a normal shot just inside the operations center door. It opens, admitting the enemy and his new pursuer; the former runs o.c., while the latter stops short and dives away from a fusillade. Cut to the crazed artillery man, who has stopped in the kitchen and is cheerfully swiveling his body toward the tables to track his target. Shots tear up the walls as Aqualad sprints toward the front of the room and goes up for a mighty leap that brings him to floor level.)

(Close-up of his boiling-mad face, zooming in as he lifts it to stare dead ahead. Behind Control Freak, the kitchen sink starts to do a rumbling cha-cha and finally blows clear of the counter, propelled by a geyser of water under Aqualad's control. Letterbox view, top half of the screen: the intruder is washed screaming and gurgling across the room as his assailant watches. Fullscreen: the door opens and the other Titans East rush in; Más and Menos are out of their cage. Cut to Control Freak, half-sprawled out amid his ruined cannons and reaching to pull off his weapons system, then to a close-up of it coming apart on the floor during the first sentence of his next line.)

Control Freak: (sulkily) I brought this cool magnetic propeller for Cyborg, but who cares? (Back to him, standing up.) All these woulda worked on the real Titans. It's just, your powers are...stupid!

(He clicks his remote at himself and disappears; a second later his face pops up on the window/screen.)

Control Freak: (even more sulkily) I don't want to fight you anymore.

(He tops this bit of whining off with a stuck-out tongue and a goofy face, after which his image gives way to a mass of static. Five young crime-fighters are left to trade very puzzled stares as the view fades to black.)

Act Two

(Opening shot: the exterior of the Tower. As in the prologue, the day is still quite calm; cut to the operations center, where a bit of work-both routine and unusual-is in progress. The couch and coffee table have been moved out so that Más and Menos can spin through as a tornado to clean the floor, while Aqualad is reinstalling the kitchen sink. Speedy stands at the ledge, contemplating the view of Jump City Bay, and Bumblebee is working at a computer keyboard. Control Freak's face is in one top corner, and a set of crosshairs roves here and there across a map of one part of the urban center. Something flashes at the bottom; in close-up, it is revealed as the word "SEARCHING." No luck so far, it seems.)

(Más and Menos spin to a stop in the middle of the empty floor; the former is perched on the latter's shoulders, holding a broom. Both look off to one side with sudden concern, and a cut reveals Silkie huddled fretfully under a seat cushion. They zip over here with big, reassuring smiles even before the broom handle can hit the floor.)

Más: (as they reach in) It's okay, Mr. Silkie.

Menos: (pulls him out) Papi's here.

(The big larva coos happily in his arms. Back to Bumblebee and Speedy; a stack of printouts is rapidly building up next to her.)

Speedy: Who zaps out in the middle of a fight?

Bumblebee: We'll find him, somehow.

(The beautiful panorama gives way to a wall of static, then Cyborg's face. He has donned a thick coat, scarf, and knit cap to keep warm in the blizzard that frames him.)

Cyborg: The Tower's sensor detected weapons fired. Everything okay? (Aqualad comes over.)

Aqualad: We had to deal with Control...

Bumblebee: (smiling hugely) ...Controlling Silkie. (She shoves him away.) He's eating everything. Must've eaten through one of the sensors.

(Paying no mind whatsoever to the very confused look that has stolen over Speedy's face, she leans toward the equally puzzled twins and the house pet.)

Bumblebee: Bad Silkie! (It burbles at the chiding.)

Cyborg: Well, Starfire left plenty of food for him. (Explosion behind him; brief static.) Uh-oh. I gotta go.

(The window/screen again fills with static and switches off. A moment later, one irked water-breather zips back up to get in Bumblebee's face. Sight gag: on each of the next two lines, the speaker's head grows considerably, with veins throbbing all around, and the other shrinks.)

Aqualad: Why'd you do that?

Bumblebee: They're trusting us to protect the city! (Gag ends.) Do you want them to think that we're in over our heads with some second-rate bad guy who didn't even make the list?

(On the end of this, she holds up the printout-a fresh copy of the villain list.)

Aqualad: We need to get more information on Control Freak.

(Alarm and red flashers go off; pull back from this end of the room as Más and Menos lean into view and all five look up worriedly. Cut to the sign above the front entrance to the Bank of Pérez, in the city proper. The alarm is screaming at top volume, marking the source of the alert that just came in, and the camera tilts down to the further sound of a crowd in the throes of total panic. Two scared customers run for their lives, an old woman hobbles away as quickly as her arthritis will allow, and the first legs to touch down near the camera are Bumblebee's. Cut to a close-up of her and pull back as the others arrive in short order.)

Old woman: Don't go in there! Wait for the Titans! (This hits them the wrong way.)

Bumblebee: We are Titans!

(An explosion from the bank's direction draws their attention; back to the doors, which have just been blasted off their hinges. Dust boils out toward the sidewalk for a second or two before the Titans East get moving and leave the old woman by herself. Inside, the dust clouds cannot quite hide the fact that the vault has been blown open; cash flutters in all directions as a silhouette begins to emerge, dragging a bulging sack along the floor. The view clears to show the tall, broad-chested figure from behind-white bodysuit with gray collar, utility belt, gloves, cap, and coil of rope slung across the chest. This is Le Blanc, one of the villains who gathered at the end of "Homecoming" to take marching orders from the Brain.)

Bumblebee: (from o.c.) Drop it!

(Surprised, the robber does so and turns to expose the face-male, thin mustache, hooked nose, white mask over his beady eyes. He finds himself facing five angry heroes, one of whom has his bow at the ready, and speaks with a French accent.)

Le Blanc: Ha! Who is going to make me?

(He strikes a few poses to limber up and charges at the Titans East as the camera pulls back slightly. Bumblebee trades a calculating look with Speedy before launching herself ahead; a flash, and she has landed a high-heel kick across his jaw. This is followed by a walloping uppercut and a skull-rattling right hook. Cut to the other four, who wince as the sound of the thrashing drifts back to them and the camera shakes, then to the front half of the lobby. Le Blanc tumbles gracelessly across the floor and fetches up near the steps that lead down from the door.)

(His downtime lasts only a moment, as he whips back up to his feet with three lit sticks of dynamite in hand and lets fly. Now Speedy gets into the act, launching three arrows at once to sever all the fuses with pinpoint accuracy. A few last sparks fizzle out as the explosives clatter harmlessly to the floor; tilt up from them to Le Blanc, who eyes them with total disbelief and then flees the scene. Out in the street, he stops for a short laugh before running off again. The Titans East gather to watch him, not in any particular hurry, and the camera tilts down to follow Aqualad's gaze.)

(What he has noticed is a fire hydrant. Cut to somewhere down the block, just above ground level, as a gusher erupts from here, then tilt down to frame Le Blanc in full retreat. He does not get far before the high-arcing water comes down squarely on his head and puts him out of action. Dissolve to the stretch of road outside the bank; a police car is parked here, its driver is standing guard over the scene, and barricades have bee set up to keep bystanders clear. On the next line, pan to bring the foiled criminal into view, in handcuffs and being escorted to the vehicle.)

Le Blanc: With the Titans out of town, I thought I had a shot. (Zoom in on the Titans East.)

Más: We are the Titans!

Menos: It is true!

Aqualad: I'd feel better if Control Freak were behind bars too. (Beeping.) Let's get back and-

(The sound is coming from Bumblebee's belt. She pulls out her communicator and switches it on; close-up of the screen. It shows a map of one section of the city, with a few red spots flashing here and there-still searching for the fat nitwit. The view now switches to a camera-eye perspective and stays on the team for a moment before all fan out. After they have gone, pull back to show this view projected on a computer monitor, with Control Freak's reflection visible in the glass and strings of characters streaming down behind. A smaller image of himself is at bottom center, a dialogue icon similar to the one that stood for him in the Act One "game," and the sound of typing is heard. The whole effect recalls the computer control center aboard Morpheus' ship in The Matrix.)

Control Freak: Who are these guys?

(Pull back; he is watching many monitors at once and hammering the keys, and popcorn and soda sit within easy reach.)

Control Freak: So, my chat room chums, tell me. What do you know about the Titans East? Do you think they're real Titans? (A new dialogue icon appears on each of the following lines.)

Man in chicken suit: (heard over the computer's sound system) There's a Titans East?

* Skinny man: IMHO, Robin's the only real Titan.

* Girl with pigtails: These guys are just posers.

[Note: "IMHO" = chat room abbreviation for "in my honest/humble opinion."]

(Cut to a close-up of a man floundering in water; pull back to show him in Jump City Bay, not far from the waterfront. He slips beneath the surface, whereupon Aqualad rushes up to the pier railing, between two shocked onlookers, and puts his telepathic powers to work. Right on time come two dolphins, and as the drowning man sinks deeper into the bay, they dive after him and make a successful interception. He is swiftly towed up to the surface, gasps for air as his head breaks through, and gets a free ride to the shore. Aqualad smiles to himself while one of the two spectators, a teenage girl, gazes adoringly his way and hearts float up from her.)

(Cut to an overhead view of the waterfront-hero, onlookers, rescued victim, and all-and pull back to show this shot playing on one of Control Freak's monitors.)

Control Freak: (typing) Did you see that? He talks to dolphins? (The dialogue icons appear, one by one.)

* Man in chicken suit: So?

* Skinny man: Beast Boy can be a dolphin.

* Girl with pigtails: Yeah. Beast Boy rocks.

(Cut to a nervous crowd elsewhere in Jump City and tilt up to follow their sight line into the sky, where something can just be seen dangling off a roof. At this level, it is revealed to be a collapsed construction crane; two workers are clinging perilously to the hanging end. Bumblebee buzzes into view, lands on the half-snapped frame members as they buckle a little more, and draws both stingers. Her beams flash into the broken spots to begin welding them together-but before she can quite finish, one of the two men loses his grip ad drops screaming toward the street.)

(Breaking off the emergency repair job in a hurry, Bumblebee dives after him at breakneck speed and manages to catch him just short of the pavement. The crowd-including the same old woman who was at the bank-get a good view of the sharp upward swoop that carries him off safely; she then places him back on the sidewalk and gets a round of applause.)

Old woman: You look familiar. Are you Starborg?

(Sight gag: her face falls, her entire forehead flushes red with a throbbing vein, and her hair puffs fall off. The view shrinks away to nothing, exposing the character strings on one of Control Freak's monitors, and his dialogue icon appears to the sound of typing.)

* Control Freak: Stingers, huh? Well, Bumblebee's never going to be as cool as Starfire. (The other three icons appear one by one.)

* Man in chicken suit: Starfire and Robin forever.

* Skinny man: Starfire should be with BB.

* Girl with pigtails: No way!

(Cut to a long overhead view of a railroad just outside the city proper. As a train rolls into view, heading into the countryside, the camera pans ahead to a wide gorge spanned by the track. The bridge is out here; cut to a close-up of the engineer, who leans forward for a better look and then pulls the brake lever sharply. Outside again; sparks fly from the wheels as they decelerate and grind against the rails, and something catches up alongside, so fast that its passage can only be seen as a cloud of dust on the plains. A close-up reveals the source as M�s and Menos, hands joined and running flat out.)

(When they have just barely pulled ahead of the train, they zip across the track to a switch lever and Menos leaps onto M�s' shoulders to yank it. The joints clack into their new position, allowing the train to stop safely on a second track that parallels the gorge. The dismounted twins trade a high five, and the camera pulls back to show this scene playing out on one of Control Freak's many monitors.)

[Animation goof: When Menos jumps for the lever, he and M�s suddenly trade places.]

(This window shrinks away to nothing as the other three chat room regulars pop up, one by one.)

* Man in chicken suit: Big deal.

* Skinny man: Más y Menos just go fast.

* Girl with pigtails: I wonder if they eat fast too. (A fourth icon appears, a young boy.)

* Boy: LOL.

[Note: "LOL" = chat room abbreviation for "laughing out loud."]

(Cut to an overhead view of the park, where a few people have gathered, but enjoying the good weather does not seem to be a high priority right now. Close-up of Speedy's bow; he lifts it and fires into the air, and the camera cuts to the base of a tree and tilts up quickly to follow the shot. A high limb is cleanly severed, leaving a cat perched on it to drop with a startled yowl into one of the archer's hands. The cat's owner, a small boy, receives it gratefully. This white furball is either the same one Control Freak cradled while addressing his three favorite villains in "Episode 257-494," or a dead ringer for it.)

Boy with cat: Thank you, Robin. I like your other costume better.

Speedy: (incensed) I'm not Robin. I'm Speedy.

(This correction has no effect whatsoever on the boy's admiring gaze. When Speedy realizes it, his forehead goes bright red and a vein starts to throb, just as Bumblebee's did when that old woman got her name mixed up. Even this fails to change the lad's mood, so the hero stalks away in disgust. Pull back to frame this scene on one of Control Freak's monitors; on the next line, he starts typing and the camera tracks around to bring his face into full view.)

Control Freak: What do you think of the Titans East now? (The others appear, one by one.)

* Man in chicken suit: Anyone can say they're a Titan. It doesn't make it true.

* Skinny man: Who decides?

* Girl with pigtails: They should have matching jackets.

* Boy: There should be a test.

(Close-up of the overweight computer geek, whose face has suddenly gone slack, and zoom in as a wicked smile stitches itself on from ear to ear and he rubs his chin thoughtfully.)

Control Freak: There should be a test.

(Cut to the Titans' favorite pizza joint that evening. An electronic billboard mounted on the upper portion shows a news broadcast in progress; the man Aqualad saved from drowning is being interviewed. Close-up of a fresh pie on a table. Five of the eight slices are quickly scooped up by the Titans East, but no one seems to have much of an appetite.)

Speedy: This stinks! Nobody even knows who we are.

Aqualad: So what if the kid didn't know your name? (elbowing, as Speedy eats) Let it go, Robin.

(He takes a bite as well, reveling in the nasty look he has goaded Speedy into. All five look up surprised on the next line as the camera tilts to follow their gaze.)

Voice: Before I knew it, I was surrounded by dolphins.

(Stop on the screen; the man is the one speaking.)

Man: And some guy in a unitard pulled me out of the water. (Back to the table.)

Aqualad: (annoyed) "Some guy in a unitard"?

Speedy: (smirking) Let it go, Unitard Guy.

Bumblebee: We're here to protect the city, not for the recognition. And there's still a villain on the loose, so-

Control Freak: (from o.c.) GREETINGS, TITANS EAST!!

(On screen, his scruffy visage has replaced the news flash. Zoom in on the next line.)

Control Freak: Your evil nemesis is back!

Speedy: Looks like he found us.

Control Freak: (camera zooming in) That's right!

(The screen view dissolves to an extreme close-up of him in the flesh.)

Control Freak: I'm back! And this time I have masterminded the New Ultimate Titans Challenge!

(The view snaps to black for the last four words. "New" slams into place, appearing as if imprinted by a rubber stamp, and the other three flash up one by one. A lick of flame washes over the entire screen and subsides to show that the entire assembly has now become a logo similar to that of the television series Survivor. The five faces appear in circles at the corners, Más and Menos sharing one, and the title backdrop is a silhouette of Jump City.)

(Back to the table, where Bumblebee flies up to screen level.)

Bumblebee: Bring it on!

(She is now facing a scrolling backdrop of Challenge logos, and the jerk who thought this up backs away with remote in hand. He has traded his Jedi robes and overcoat for an Indiana Jones-style outfit, even down to the beat-up hat and leather satchel. Pointing the remote straight ahead, so that tts fearsome face fills the view, he hits a button-and Bumblebee winks out with a huge flash. The instigator throws a wicked grin at the camera and sends out another beam that makes the other four go bye-bye just as suddenly. Snap to black.)

Más: (voice over) Where are we?

(A spotlight is switched on, revealing the team in an undignified heap on the floor.)

Menos: I don't like the looks of this!

Control Freak: (from o.c.) Welcome, Titans East!

(On the next line, tilt up to frame his plethora of computer monitors on the surrounding walls. They have been dumped into his hideout, or someplace very similar, and his face quickly appears on all the screens. He has changed back into his usual outfit.)

Control Freak: After much analysis, I have created a series of events, redesigned to challenge your specific powers. If you succeed, you will have proven your worth as Titans. (Back to them, now on their last good nerve; he is heard over the speakers.) But failure will mean that the city the real Titans trusted you to protect will be destroyed!

(The screens again; he laughs maniacally and smiles ear to ear.)

Control Freak: Oh...didn't I mention?

(Cut to the exterior of Cook's Electronics. Several monitors are mounted above the front entrance; these events are playing out on them, and a puzzled crowd has gathered to watch.)

Control Freak: The New Ultimate Titans Challenge will be televised-

(Rooftop view of the city; screens are all over the place here, showing him from all angles.)

Control Freak: -so everyone can watch your defeat!

(Snap to black.)

Act Three

(Opening shot: a close-up of Control Freak against a scrolling black background of Challenge logos.)

Control Freak: (spinning away, as a big logo slides in) Welcome to the New Ultimate Titans Challenge!

(Cut to street level; the crowd stares up at the screen on top of a building.)

Control Freak: We're gonna find out just how real the Titans East are.

(During this line, the view shifts to inside an apartment, where the man Aqualad saved has changed into his bathrobe and fixed himself a cup of coffee to warm up while watching the show. The next shot is a head-on view of the boy whose cat Speedy got out of the tree; he clutches the animal worriedly to himself as the glare of the home TV set plays over him.)

Control Freak: (on TV) Each of our Titans wannabes-

(Cut to a common room in the prison. Guards stand watch in the corridor as a packed house of inmates watches the broadcast. A small shot of the Titans East is now below the fat face.)

Control Freak: -will attempt a physical challenge designed specifically for him or for her.

(During the end of this, cut to the audience, which includes Le Blanc and Punk Rocket; neither seems too impressed by the entire spectacle. Next we see a subway station platform, where Bumblebee materializes as a train thunders by.)

Control Freak: (voice over) Bumblebee- (She flies toward the camera, stingers drawn; freeze frame.) -the little bee who packs a big sting.

(As he finishes, graphics showing her name-as two words-and bar graphs for various attributes slide into view before the entire shot shrinks into the top left corner of the screen. Abilities: Strength, Speed, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence. Fullscreen: a stretch of the traffic-choked bridge over Jump City Bay, where Speedy is transported in.)

Control Freak: (voice over) Speedy- (He clenches a fist; freeze frame.) -whose fantastic arrows perform awesome feats.

(His name and abilities slide in during this and the entire shot shrinks to bottom right. Fullscreen: overhead view of a water treatment plant next to a lake or reservoir, then dissolve to somewhere beneath the surface of one storage tank. This is where Aqualad is zapped in.)

Control Freak: (voice over) Aqualad- (He swims toward the camera; freeze frame.) -bold and daring marine marvel.

(Same graphics as the others; shrink to top right. Fullscreen: an empty patch of road, in which M�s and Menos appear and clutch fearfully at one another.)

Control Freak: (voice over) And Más y Menos- (Freeze frame.) -the tiny twins with amazing speed.

(Same graphics as the others; shrink to bottom left, leaving the screen tiled with the four profiles. Now they slide out of the way to make room for the man himself as he pops up in front.)

Control Freak: Let's see how these Titans do when we challenge their superpowers.

(Back to Bumblebee. As the next train pulls in, she beats feet-or wings, in this case-to get out of its way.)

*** All lines marked with two asterisks are heard over a hidden speaker at the scene. ***

** Control Freak: Bumblebee, your challenge.

(Close-up of a bomb; a train rolls by, passing neatly over it, and it floats slowly up to secure itself to the undercarriage.)

** Control Freak: An explosive device has been attached to the bottom of the 12: 02 express train.

(It rumbles off down the tunnel. On the next line, cut to a map of the subway system and follow the train's plotted route.)

** Control Freak: Unless you can stop the train before it gets to First Street, the device will go off.

(It reaches its destination and blows away the station icon. Back to the platform; the "NEXT TRAIN" sign shows the 12:02 on its way. In the darkness down the tunnel, the familiar headlights make themselves visible to mark its progress.)

Bumblebee: No problem.

(She is hit by a beam from an overhead monitor, on which the crazed gamesman's face is displayed.)

Bumblebee: Huh?

(Against her will, she shrinks down to tiny size, barely big enough to keep from falling in between the railroad ties, as the camera tilts down to keep her in frame. The two halves of an iron collar clamp together around her neck as the train comes in.)

** Control Freak: This collar will keep you from getting any big ideas. Let's see you stop a train...

(The cars grind past, barely missing her head and creating enough of a wake to throw her aside. Sparks fly from the rails; after all the wheels have passed, she tumbles disheveled to the tracks.)

** Control Freak: ...when you're the size of a fly!

(Looking up, she sees the taillights receding rapidly-very little time before that bomb goes off-and sets after it as fast as her wings will allow. Cut to the water treatment plant, then to the surface of an open storage tank. A patch bubbles briefly before Aqualad's head breaks through, right next to a screen that has been set at the tank's edge. The familiar face winks on here.)

Control Freak: Aqualad, on the other side of the reservoir is a tank filled with polluted water.

(As he says this, pan away from the tank to frame the one in question-bearing a radiation hazard symbol. Close-up, tilting down to its base and into the interior of a pipe connected to it. A bit of filthy brown water dribbles along the line, followed shortly by a full-bore gush.)

** Control Freak: I have diverted the flow of the water so the polluted water is headed straight for the reservoir.

(On the end of this, cut to an overhead view of the plant. A red circle/arrow labeled "Polluted Water," and filled with the muck, appears near the tank, and a second arrow tracks the flow toward the reservoir. A similar, unlabeled marker for Aqualad pops in to mark his position.)

** Control Freak: If you cannot shut off the main valve in time... (It appears, labeled.) ...the city's water supply will be contaminated.

(As he finishes, a label appears for the water supply and a huge radiation hazard symbol superimposes itself over the entire scene. Back to the Atlantean.)

Aqualad: Piece of cake!

(He dives; cut to within the tank as he dives toward its bottom, then pull back to within a connected pipe. He makes his way in here, teeth gritted in a fierce half-smile, but stops short in surprise just before reaching the camera. The view shifts to behind him, showing something on its way from the light at the far end.)

** Control Freak: While fighting a ferocious shark?

Aqualad: Did you forget? I can speak to animals.

(He gets his telepathy going against the oncoming adversary, which has now advanced far enough to be clearly seen as the aforementioned predator. Cut to the wacko in charge.)

Control Freak: No-which is why I devised a mechanical shark who only listens to my commands!

(Out comes the remote for a swift click. Back to the pipe.)

** Control Freak: Get him, Glen!

(Several hundred pounds of steel, circuitry, and very sharp teeth close in. Cut to M�s and Menos in the street.)

** Control Freak: Más y Menos!

(Cut to a longer shot of the pair; they are near a tower that stands several stories tall, with a digital timer showing 05:00 at its upper end. Screens on buildings come to life, showing him.)

Control Freak: For you, I have created an amazing race through the city.

(Cut to a close-up of a large, glowing red button set on the pavement. On the next line, pull back quickly, rotate 180 degrees past the boys, and zoom in quickly on an identical button set a considerable distance away.)

** Control Freak: If you are able to push these two buttons located across town from each other...

(Back to ground zero; the timer begins to count down as he watches from the screens.)

Control Freak: ...then you will stop my device. (Zoom in on briefly on the countdown.)

Menos: Okey-dokey!

Más: We got it!

Control Freak: But you have to touch both buttons at the same time, which means- (touching index fingers; sparks fly) -you can't be touching! (Big smile.)

Más, Menos: How can we be in two places at once?

(Cut to an overhead view of the bridge across Jump City Bay, zooming in slowly, then to Speedy.)

** Control Freak: Speedy, your challenge is to fend off my indomitable incoming missiles.

(On this line, pull back and track around Speedy to bring a salvo of these projectiles into view. The camera then cuts to a long shot of the bridge and zooms in quickly as they roar ahead.)

** Control Freak: If you cannot, the bay bridge will be annihilated. (Back to Speedy, who reaches for an arrow.) Ah-ah-ah. (A flash; his quiver disappears.) No arrows!

(The change of equipment leaves him-and everyone else-at a loss for words as the missiles home in on the bridge. Back to the water pipe; Control Freak's mechanized terror charges toward Aqualad, who sidesteps only to get pinned against the roof by that oversized tail. Looking ahead with sudden shock, he forces the fins away and races off, barely staying ahead of the snapping jaws. Overhead view of the tank; swimmer and shark leap out as while polluted water surges through a nearby main. The chase jumps from tank to tank along the row.)

(Cut to the drowning victim, who has now stuck his feet in a bucket of hot water to warm up more quickly; his entire attention is on the TV.)

Man: Come on, kid. You can do it.

(The subway tunnel; the train roars into view from around a bend with Bumblebee hot on its tail. An expert dive carries her down between the wheels, and in due time she has reached the explosive fixed to the undercarriage. Both stingers are brought to bear against its baseplate, then both fists, but she cannot even budge the device. Her next idea is to pull out in front of the train and throw all her weight against the leading end in an attempt to keep the booby trap away from any innocent victims.)

(Overhead view of the street in which Más and Menos have been challenged to their race. They flash back and forth from one button to the other, passing the timer tower at the main intersection, and the camera cuts to each end as they reach it. However, they do not press the buttons, remembering Control Freak's instructions, and a question mark pops up by M�s' head. The psycho laughs himself stupid from the nearby screens as the timer counts down with just over three minutes to go.)

(The bridge, where Speedy has still not come up with a good plan for dealing wih the air-to-ground assault. He looks frantically behind himself, but a slow pan across the stunned onlookers-his perspective-yields no immediate inspiration. That is, until he turns his attention to a tow truck stuck in the traffic; back to him, eyebrows rising, a wicked half-smile curving across his face. In no time flat, the vehicle is driving away and pulling back one of the bridge's cables, along with Speedy, who has loaded himself in like a human slingshot stone.)

(The tension builds, slowing the truck's motion considerably; finally, the force is enough to stop it altogether. At this point, Speedy flips a hand signal to the driver, who releases the catch and sends the teen hurtling far over the bay. He and the missiles streak toward each other; when they are about to collide, cut to the boy whose cat he saved. The feline absolutely could not care less.)

Boy with cat: That's my friend Speedy!

(Cut to a screenful of the character strings that have played across Control Freak's monitors. His dialogue icon appears to the sound of his typing and crazed laughter, and those for the other speakers slide into view in time with their lines.)

* Control Freak: I have devised the perfect challenges for these second-rate Titans!

* Skinny man: I could've thought up better challenges.

* Girl with pigtails: Yeah. A mechanical shark has been done a thousand times.

(Underwater, the entrance to one of the water treatment plant's tanks. Here comes Aqualad, then Glen the shark too close for comfort; the Titan dives to the floor and gets his hands around the main valve wheel. While cranking the thing slowly around, he throws a glance toward another connecting pipe, which begins to fill with the dirty water Control Freak let loose, now safely diverted here. The brown current thunders along the line, closing in fast-but before Aqualad can turn the valve wheel any farther, Glen reduces it to scrap iron with one bite. Here come the filth and the shark at the same time, from opposite directions; their mutual target dives out of the way just in time to let the robotic beast hit the wall hard. The wipeout earns a mocking smile from Aqualad, as well as a round of cheers from several observers glued to the street screens.)

(The celebration is abruptly cut off when the image shrinks into the top left corner of each monitor, leaving Control Freak's visage fully exposed.)

Control Freak: Maybe Aqualad found a way around my mechanical shark... (The subway tunnel; he is heard on speaker.) ...but there's no way Bumblebee's gonna stop the train in time!

(It rounds the curve on the end of this, and Bumblebee keeps trying to slow it down with every muscle in her miniaturized body. After some seconds, she drops away and dives underneath again, aiming both stingers while flying on her back. Close-up of the explosives; the beeping of the attached timer is heard, and the camera pans to it-ticking past 11: 59. Back to the tiny Titan, who opens fire against this end of the device.)

** Control Freak: What is she doing?!?

(She stops shooting. No visible damage or effect; she glances here and there, noting the sparks that fly up from the electrified third rail, and makes a new move. This time, she scrapes one stinger along the rail, so that the voltage begins to course up her arm and across her shoulder blades. When it reaches her free hand, she fires that stinger point-blank into the heart of the timer. Amplified by the track's current, her shot puts the circuitry out of commission in an instant, one second before 12:00.)

Bumblebee: Next stop, First Street.

(Cut to the platform at this station and pan slowly across the track as the train comes in.)

Man in chicken suit: (voice over) She stopped the timer!

Skinny man: (voice over) Guess you didn't think about that, Control Freak.

(Back to Más and Menos, who have stopped near the timer tower-fifteen seconds and counting. A buzzer has started to sound off. Close-up of them, pulling back slightly. On each of the next two lines, a thought bubble appears above the speaker's head, showing his idea, then disappears.)

Más: We could build a slingshot!

Menos: We'll get a thousand clothespins and string them together! (Both think hard for a moment.)

Más: I got it!

(He yanks his brother away at full speed. Overhead view of the tower's base, tilting up as they race along a built-in incline to the top; here they spin around the pivot of their joined hands fast enough to blow every tachometer ever built. The final seconds keep ticking ruthlessly away, the whirling continues, and we see a close-up of the boys' hands. After all this buildup, they let go-and the momentum sends them flying in opposite directions toward the two buttons. Split-screen view: they are slammed down at the same instant.)

(Fullscreen: the timer shows three seconds to go, still counting-but at 0: 01, the entire rig shuts down, deactivated by the pair's success. Cut to the prison; the inmates are still watching intently, and Le Blanc gets to his feet.)

Le Blanc: The Titans East are clever, no? That is how they captured moi!

(Midair. Speedy's human-slingshot trick carries him toward the locked missiles. He claps all his fingers onto the first one he can reach and steers it out of formation, peeling off far to one side and doubling back. As it zooms along, he stands easily by the fins and jumps clear with only a fraction of a second to spare before it slams head-on into another missile. When the glare of the resulting explosion has cleared, we can see Speedy atop another warhead and steering it in for a crash. He repeats this maneuver-jump on, steer, jump off before wreck-over and over until there is only one left. Pointing it into the sky, he hops down onto the bridge and watches it disappear in a mighty airburst high in the night. Wild cheering erupts as bits of smoking fuselage patter down here and there.)

(Back to Control Freak's character-filled monitor; his icon appears to the sound of typing, as do the others, one by one.)

* Control Freak: He used himself as an arrow! Unbelievable!

* Man in chicken suit: You never said he could use himself as an arrow!

* Skinny man: Hey, don't be a Titans East hater.

* Girl with pigtails: Titans East are cool.

* Boy: Bumblebee and Aqualad forever.

(Cut to an overhead view of Jump City, zooming in to the sound of cheers and applause, then to a pan at street level. Aqualad and Speedy-who has recovered his quiver-make their way along, Más and Menos zip up, and Bumblebee-normal size, freed of her iron collar-lands with the others. There is a dark screen here, which lights up with the defeated nut's face.)

Control Freak: You guys were so cool! (transports to the scene) I mean, I-I didn't think you could pull it off, but you did!

Speedy: I can't believe the bad guy just zapped himself in front of us.

(Said bad guy backs away slowly, realizing the gargantuan faux pas he has just committed, and brings up his remote-but it is promptly plucked from his hand by the twins' rush. Close-up of Control Freak, who looks uncomprehendingly at his empty fingers, then pan to them; Más has the device balanced on one finger.)

Control Freak: Uh-oh.

(Pan back to frame Bumblebee, who has planted one hand on his shoulder and is looking daggers at him. His perspective of her; the free fist is cocked back.)

Bumblebee: Your Ultimate Challenge has been cancelled.

(The punch lands; a burst of red, which fades to show a close-up of a police car's flasher. The siren sounds off before the camera pulls back to frame the entire vehicle-a prison transport van, with two guards standing ready. A third wheels the lunatic backward toward the open doors. He has been trussed up like Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs-in a straitjacket, strapped to a dolly, a mask over his face to keep him from speaking. After a moment's straining, the mask's straps break and it falls loose.)

Control Freak: All right, Titans East! Now that I know what you're capable of, I'm gonna make things even harder for you! (Cut to them; he continues o.c.) I'll be back!

Más y Menos: Hasta la vista, Control Freak! ["See you later, Control Freak!"]

(His Spanish translator has been disposed of, then. Bumblebee's communicator beeps under this; she pulls it out and opens it. Cyborg is on its screen, still dressed warmly as in Act One and very concerned.)

Cyborg: I got reports of missiles, explosive devices, and a... (sight gag: he leans out of the screen briefly) ...mechanical shark? (Flashbulbs pop among the crowd.)

Bumblebee: Don't worry, Sparky. We've got everything under control.

Cyborg: (relaxing) Great. I knew you could handle it. It looks like we're gonna be gone for a while. (Cut to her; he is heard over the line.) You mind staying longer?

(Pan to follow her gaze toward Speedy and the bystanders who have been decisively won over by the team's heroics. One fellow even waves a flag with the Titans' insignia. Cut to an overhead shot of the street, pulling back slowly; Control Freak has been loaded into the van and the doors are closed.)

Bumblebee: Nah. This place is beginning to feel like home.

(Fade to black.)