“Teen Night in the Crescent City” opens with the team enjoying a night on the town in New Orleans. Tim is even willing to lighten up. Tim gets an phone call, it is Batman. Batman heard about the run in with Amanda Waller and also heard that Waller had all the charges against the Titans dropped quietly. Batman even goes as far as to admit that he was wrong about Tim’s Titans project. Suddenly the call is dropped. The power grid and the phone lines have all crashed. Raven senses a terrible presence coming. Gar turns into a dog and he is able to sense the evil as well. Unfortunately it is too late.
The city is under a psionic attack blanking out all the people’s minds at once. Raven erects a shield to protect the Titans who are now in uniform, but she is unable to protect them for long. Red Robin recognizes the symbol that have appeared on the people’s foreheads. It’s from the organization known as H.I.V.E. Tim reports that this group is lead by the H.I.V.E. Queen. Bunker asks Tim how he has the time to research everything. Tim just says that his superpower is his brain.
The hypnotized population starts to go to work. The Titans follow to see what is happening but they are not noticed. The people are too intent on their task. Power Girl and Wonder Girl both get a birds eye view in their unique ways and see that the people are building transmitters throughout the city. Gar yells at a man to get him to snap out of his trance but all the people start to summon the H.I.V.E. Queen. She appears to arrive and notices that Raven is able to resist her mind control. Soon they to will come under her will and help build the psionic amplifiers that will allow the HIVE to take over the United States. Wonder Girl attacks but finds that the Queen is just an psionic projection. The Queen orders the people to attack the Titans and wait until Raven looses her strength. The Titans escape up a roof and Tim gives his plan.
The team is to separate. Raven protests that she cannot protect the team if they separate and Red Robin knows. He cannot divulge his plan because when she assimilates one of the Titans, then she will know what the plan is. Red Robin asks the team if they are in and unanimously they agree with “Titans Together”. Wonder Girl and Bunker head off to attack the transmitter on the Super-Dome. Power Girl and Beast Boy are to take out the one in Jackson Square. They are to do as much damage as they can before they are assimilated into their HIVE collective. Raven and Red Robin will pinpoint the Queen’s location but Raven is weakening. The groups start their assault and the Queen orders her drones to attack the Titans giving Red Robin a heat trail to locate the Queen. The rest of the team succumb to the Queen leaving only Raven and Red Robin free. Red Robin takes off for the Queen.
They touch down and immediately face resistance at a condemned amusement park. Tim fights them into the compound to face the queen. Raven’s power fails and she and Red Robin fall under the Queen’s power but the two are seen holding hands. The Queen touches Red Robin’s head to see what makes him so special and to see his secrets. She suddenly screams and her hold over everyone is broken. The Queen collapses in front of Red Robin and Raven. Raven tells Tim that she would follow him through the gates of Hell.
Later Tim reveals how he defeated the Queen. He set a chaos trap in his mind that was supercharged by Raven’s magic. When the Queen touched Tim she was faced with a tornado of non-rational thought that overcame her freeing her victims and knocking her out. Tim apologizes for using the team as pawns and Beast Boy says that that is how he won and the Teen Titans always win.
This was a great issue. I particularly liked that Tim again is shown as the leader he is. He did not use the teams powers to bring down the Queen, instead he used his intellect. This is finally showcasing Tim as he should be shown. The capable leader and not the whining emo teen we had been subjected to up until these last two issues.
The issue was a quick but very satisfying read.
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