86 CHAPTER 86

When Yuri emerged from the sea, he saw the Titans each controlling their captives, gathering together just in time.

And then, seeing Yuri appear alone and empty-handed, they were all visibly astonished.

"Yuri, what about the demon you were dealing with? Did you take care of it?"

Beast Boy blinked, asking curiously.

Well, having a massive green octopus blink at him left Yuri feeling a bit unnerved, to say the least. Of course, if others knew what he was thinking, they would likely say that his curren form also looks pretty unsettling...

"I buried it about a thousand meters below the sea."

Yuri waved his hand dismissively.

"Bro! You can do that?!"

Beast Boy was astonished.

"What about Tim?"

Starfire looked around and noticed one teammate missing.

"I didn't have time to explain earlier, but Tim is currently facing Deathstroke alone. We need to go help him as soon as possible!"

Superboy said.

"Wait, did you say Tim went to confront Deathstroke alone?"

Starfire's face turned pale, and she exclaimed anxiously, "You haven't fought Deathstroke before, you don't know how dangerous he is. Tim is in danger now!"

"Where are they?"

Seeing Starfire's urgency, Superboy also grew nervous. He had full confidence in Robin's intelligence, but that trust was in Robin's strategic mind, not necessarily his combat skills.

Superboy signaled with his eyes the direction in which he had thrown Robin.

"You'd better deal with the demons in your hands first, or even if you go over there, it won't be of any use. I'll go find Tim first, and you catch up quickly."

Yuri reminded them.

Superboy, Starfire, and Beast Boy each bound a demon. They had restrained not only their enemies but also themselves.

Now Robin might be facing Deathstroke alone, and according to Starfire, the situation probably wasn't looking good.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Yuri transformed into Speedstar(XLR8 2.0) and rushed in the direction Superboy had indicated.

As for Starfire and the others, they flew back to Alcatraz Island.

Regular ropes wouldn't be enough to bind these demons; something much stronger was required to temporarily restrain them.

Conveniently, the abandoned prison on Alcatraz Island had plenty of steel fences scattered around. Despite the recent massive fire on the island, the fire's temperature hadn't reached the level needed to melt steel. It only blackened the surface a bit.

The three of them chose to bind the demons to the tallest watchtower on the island. Superboy wound countless steel bars around each demon's body, wrapping them in three layers inside and out.

He didn't stop until the thickness was nearly half a meter. With this level of restraint, not even Starfire would be able to break free easily, let alone these little demons.

On the other side, within seconds, Yuri arrived at the spot where Robin was fighting Deathstroke.

There he saw Deathstroke lying on the ground and an unfamiliar young man dressed as a superhero.

Robin was crouching not far from them, looking somewhat disoriented.

As for the Raven who had been taken by Deathstroke, she lay unconscious by the distant shoreline.

"Hey! Tim, wake up! What just happened here?"

Yuri stepped forward, shaking Robin's shoulders incessantly.

"Ugh... You, you are..."

The intense shaking made Robin notice Yuri, but he still seemed to be in a dazed state.

At least he was awake now. Yuri stopped shaking Robin's body and turned to observe Deathstroke and the unfamiliar young man on the ground.

"Are you okay?"

Yuri asked, facing away from Robin.

"Thanks, I'm much better now, just a slight... concussion."

Despite his weakness at the moment, Robin answered in his usual calm and emotionally restrained tone.

"I didn't expect Deathstroke to have such gray hair in his prime years; being a mercenary really seems to take a toll."

Yuri turned Deathstroke over, face-up. Seeing the well-known face of the legendary mercenary Deathstroke, he couldn't help but sigh.

"You're a bit off. Deathstroke is over sixty years old this year. He injected a super serum called Mirakuru, which granted him enhanced physical attributes and brain development beyond human levels."

Robin explained, "This serum also slows down the aging process in his body, which is why he looks like a middle-aged man."

"I see." Yuri's mind stirred. Wasn't this essentially a super-soldier serum in disguise?

It sounded intriguing. Maybe he could get some for research and see if it could be used on himself.

Yuri stroked his chin and then produced a syringe from somewhere, drawing a sample of blood from Deathstroke's arm.

"What are you doing?"

Robin stared at him in shock, asking.

"I want to see if I can create a serum with effects opposite to Mirakuru, which might counteract Deathstroke's enhanced physique. That way, I could turn Deathstroke back into a normal person. Wouldn't that be perfect?"

Yuri replied casually, his words probably even unbelievable to himself.

Robin was left speechless.

"And who's this person? Do you know him?"

Yuri pointed at the unconscious Nightwing on the ground and turned to ask Robin.

At that moment, Yuri and Robin's gazes met for a fleeting second.

Though Yuri had only glanced at Robin before turning to check Nightwing's breathing and heartbeat, their eyes still briefly met.

Simultaneously, hidden deep within Robin's gaze, a nearly imperceptible halo of light silently flickered to life.

And then...

"Huh?"

Yuri looked back at Robin in confusion. "Tim, don't you know this person? Why aren't you saying anything?"

'Huh?'

Upon hearing this, Robin trembled all over, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. His mind screamed, 'Why? Why can't I enter this person's body?'

Not long ago, Deathstroke had removed his helmet and revealed that he was actually Jericho. When Deathstroke had killed Jericho, Jericho's strong survival instinct had allowed him to forcefully enter Deathstroke's body and hide within Deathstroke's own soul.

Jericho's ability might sound like possession, but it wasn't. He merely transferred his own soul into someone else's body to seize control over it. He couldn't push someone else's soul out, nor could he annihilate their soul.

Originally, with Deathstroke's powerful will, Jericho had no hope of taking control. He could only stay hidden within Deathstroke's body for the rest of his life.

However, one day, Deathstroke encountered disciples of Trigon who enhanced Jericho's power, enabling him to seize control of Deathstroke in a single move.

Starfire had mentioned that Jericho's power originated from some kind of malevolent entity, which was indeed Trigon! This was also why the current "Deathstroke" was working for the Church of Blood.

Jericho had used his abilities against Nightwing and Robin. Nightwing had closed his eyes in time, but due to Robin's lack of understanding of Jericho's power, he was a step behind and got possessed by Jericho.

Having been suppressed for too long, Deathstroke's own soul had fallen into a brief slumber. As soon as Jericho's soul left his body, Deathstroke collapsed unconscious on the ground.

Following this, Jericho controlled Robin's body and struck Nightwing on the back of his head with a staff.

Nightwing probably wasn't dead, most likely just knocked out.

Then, the scene Yuri had witnessed upon arriving here followed. Just as Yuri and "Robin" had locked eyes, Jericho had attempted to possess Yuri, only to find he couldn't! It was as if something was repelling Jericho.

Yes, it was the protective mechanism of the omnitrix again, triggered automatically to prevent malicious souls from possessing the wearer.

Jericho, who had never failed at possession before, felt panic and shock, rendered speechless by the situation.

Seeing Robin in this state, Yuri shook his head internally. Tim usually acted mature, not like a teenager, but now he seemed like a startled bird.

Who knew what Deathstroke had done to him just now.

"Dick!"

At that moment, Superboy and the others arrived.

Upon seeing the unconscious young man on the ground, Superboy was taken aback, and with a quick motion, he rushed over, clearly alarmed.

°°°

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